A/N: Here we go! Another installment of Haruhi's journeys. This is a three shot, so expect three short chapters. And expect some more familiar faces! This is pretty much a crack!fic, and shouldn't be taken too seriously. Reviews are always appreciated, though.
Soothe the Savage
Part I
When Haruhi had set out for Daisy City, she hadn't quite realized how out of shape she was.
Her legs were killing her, and her feet felt like they were cramping up within the confines of her sneakers. She silently thanked her father for at least having the foresight to buy her good walking shoes, even if she did still feel like she wanted to collapse into a heap at the nearest Pokemon Center.
On the upside, however, she'd managed to snag another Pokemon, rounding out her team to a grand and unimpressive total of two. She'd managed to capture Flutter, her Pidgey, purely by luck, catching it with a rock when it wasn't looking and blindly throwing a Pokeball when it furiously retaliated.
Flutter was currently perched on her shoulder, his bright eyes taking in the surrounding city. Haruhi was glad that at least this Pokemon seemed to accept her as it's master; Hana was still being obstinate, and refused to do much more than acknowledge that Haruhi existed.
It was discouraging, to say the least, to be fifteen, starting her Pokemon journey, and already partway failing. The only saving grace she could think of was the possibility that she might manage to win a gym badge in Daisy City. With Flutter and Hana, though, both un-evolved, and both untested in battle (Not to mention one of them being disobedient), she didn't think she stood much of a chance.
"Man, Flutter, what am I gonna do?" The Pidgey, naturally, didn't have any words of advice, but cooed consolingly, feeling a bit bad for his gloomy trainer. She was kind of a drag.
"Maybe I'll give it a shot. I mean, it couldn't be all that hard, right?" Haruhi pondered, placing a finger against her chin. "I mean, I heard the gym leader here is one of the easier ones. Maybe I'll at least have a shot at a win. And with you and Hana, I bet I could give her a run for her money!"
Flutter cooed excitedly, flapping one wing in the air. That was the ticket! Finally, this plain, boring human was showing some fighting spirit!
"But then again, Hana doesn't want to do anything I say. So I'm back to square one."
So much for fighting spirit.
"I know!" Haruhi smacked her palm with her fist. "I'll just catch another Pokemon. I hear there's a lot around Lily City's outskirts. I bet I can find something that'll help me win. What do you say, Flutter? You wanna go hunting?" The Pidgey crowed happily, nodding his head. He was eager to try out it's skills and prove to his new trainer that he had what it took to be the best! "All right. Let's go then!"
Five hours later, Haruhi was hungry, tired, and disgruntled.
Flutter wasn't much better off, but he was still optimistic about their chances of finding another addition to the team. Of course, his optimism was dwindling by the minute; after searching for so long without any luck at all, he was all but spent in the 'positive thinking ' department.
"I give up!" Haruhi cried, flopping down onto her back in the tall grass. "This is a nightmare!"
Flutter kind of agreed; it was a nightmare. He landed beside his trainer with a scowl on his beak, and settled beside her. Haruhi reached up to scratch the feathers on the crest of his head. The two sat in silence for a moment, before there was a sudden rustling in the grass up ahead.
Haruhi bolted upright so fast, she nearly sent Flutter tumbling into a heap. She gazed intently at the rustling grass, watching in awe as a small yellow and black body wiggled it's way through. "It's…" She murmured, barely daring to breathe as she realized what kind of Pokemon it was. "An Elekid…"
At the sound of her voice, the Elekid jumped around, facing her and Flutter with electricity crackling around the plugs atop it's head. Haruhi leapt to her feet, and Flutter flapped his wings, hovering just in front of his trainer. Finally, a chance to show what he was made of!
"Flutter, go! Use gust!" Haruhi directed, unwilling to let the Elekid get away. Flutter obeyed, wings pumping as it rained a shower of dust and hardened air down on the little yellow Pokemon. The Elekid cried out as it was hit, bouncing away to land in a heap in the grass.
"Great job, Flutter! Now use sand attack!"
The Pidgey obeyed, using it's little wings to kick up a flurry of sand and dirt that swept towards the still recovering Elekid, blinding the electric-type Pokemon in the process. The Elekid made a strangled sort of noise, clearly angry as it aimed a thunderbolt at it's opponent. Fortunately, the sand attack obscured it's vision, and thus, it's accuracy, so the bolt of lightning struck harmlessly to the right of Flutter.
"Now finish it with tackle!" Haruhi commanded, feeling a thrill as Flutter sped forward and landed a heavy blow on the black and yellow Pokemon. Elekid reeled backwards, stumbling from the force of the hit, and fell to one knee, looking dizzy. Haruhi dug around in her bag until she produced a Pokeball, pressing the button in the center and watching it expand to it's normal size. With a heave, she tossed the red and white ball towards the Elekid, holding her breath as it was encapsulated in the red light and swallowed up into the Pokeball.
Flutter hovered in the air, and he and Haruhi stared at the ball as it rolled a couple of times, the light flashing before turning red, signaling that it had been caught. Letting out a long breath, Haruhi smiled and picked the ball up, staring down at it with a grin. Flutter preened as he settled on Haruhi's shoulder, looking rather smug. Ha! He was the best! He sure showed Haruhi that he had fighting spirit!
"Wow, I can't believe we actually caught it," Haruhi mumbled wonderingly, and Flutter sagged.
So much for fighting spirit.
Haruhi munched on a stick of dango, leaning against a tree just outside the Pokemon center.
Beside her, the newly captured Elekid, now named Shocker, and Flutter ate their food peacefully, actually seeming to get along rather well, despite the fact that they'd battled only an hour ago. Haruhi smiled lightly, but her smile faded when she turned her head to see her other Pokemon, Hana, sitting off by herself, eating her food with an air of snobbish disdain.
She frowned to herself when she thought of Hana; their relationship was rocky, and hadn't improved much. At least Hana didn't try and knock the Pokeball out of her hands anymore, so maybe that was progress. Otherwise, the little Chikorita didn't seem interested in her at all. It didn't even like her. Or her other Pokemon.
How am I ever going to battle with a Pokemon like that? She won't listen to me! Haruhi thought discouragingly.
She'd made friendly overtures towards Hana, but the Chikorita refused to have anything to do with her, even going so far as to vine whip her hand when she tried to pet it. Frankly, she was getting annoyed with it, but if she wanted to be a good trainer like her mother, then she was going to have to work this out on her own.
"I just don't know what to do."
"Who are you talking to?"
Haruhi looked up with a start to see two identical faces peering down at her curiously, twin smirks curling over their lips. She glanced from boy to boy, noting the way their arms were hanging around each other's shoulders, and how their hair was styled exactly the same (except for the color of course). Their bronze eyes gleamed mischievously and she had a very bad feeling that she didn't want to be on the receiving end of that mischief. On one of their shoulders, a Minun perched, and on the other, a Plusle.
"Uh, j-just myself."
"Oh?" the boy with the darker colored hair inquired, plopping down in the grass. The Minun on his shoulder immediately ascended, and hopped on over to Shocker and Flutter, making friendly squeaking noises and pointing to the food they were sharing. "And what is it that you're having a hard time figuring out, hmmmm?" His twin was already making himself comfortable, eyeing Shocker and Flutter with interest. His Plusle had left it's perch on his shoulders, and joined the Minun in apparently conversing with Haruhi's Pokemon.
"Uh, well, I mean, it's not…really…"
"Hey, nice Elekid!" the lighter haired twin commented. Shocker seemed surprised to be addressed, and the little yellow Pokemon's cheeks turned faintly pink as he digested the praise. "And is that your Chikorita?" He indicated a glowering Hana with his thumb, and Haruhi nodded hesitantly. "Y-yeah, she's mine." She chanced a look at Hana, surprised the little green monster hadn't done something ridiculous, like shoot razor leaves at her for her declaration. "Um…who exactly are you?"
"I'm Kaoru!" the light haired twin proclaimed, pointing at himself. "And that's Hikaru! The Plusle is mine; her name is Yuri. And Minun belongs to Hikaru; her name is Juri. We saw you sitting here all alone and thought you looked like you could use some company. By the way, since you're a Pokemon trainer, have you challenged the local gym leader yet?"
"I'm Haruhi," the brown haired girl replied, fiddling with her now finished dango stick nervously. "And, um, well, no. I actually just caught Shocker, and I wasn't sure if I was up for challenging the leader here yet. Why-" she eyed them distrustfully. "-have you challenged her?"
"Sure did," Hikaru replied, a feline-like smile curling over his face.
"And of course we won," Kaoru continued, his look matching his brother's.
"She wasn't so tough."
"Could've done it with our eyes closed."
"So…it was that easy then?" Haruhi queried hopefully, and the twins exchanged looks.
"For us, yeah. But I don't think your Pokemon are strong enough to do much damage," Hikaru replied evenly, holding up his hands in a shrug. Kaoru nodded in agreement. Haruhi sagged in disappointment, feeling her hopes come clattering down.
Hikaru glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eye, and decided to amend his statement. "But, uh, I'm sure you could give it a shot and do pretty well. Your Pokemon look kinda strong."
"Gee, thanks," Haruhi growled, breaking her dango stick in her hand. Kaoru frowned, but said nothing as Hikaru waved his hands, trying to assuage her sudden annoyance.
"Oh, come on! Don't take it that way! I just meant to say-"
"It doesn't matter," Haruhi replied blandly. She stood and brushed off her pants. "I was just about to challenge her anyways." Truth be told, she wasn't, but hearing them practically call her Pokemon 'weak' had erased any doubt she had about challenging the gym leader. She would show them; her Pokemon were not weak!
"Shocker, Flutter, let's go," she called, and both Pokemon obediently leapt to their feet, one flapping and one running after their trainer. "You too Hana." Haruhi reached down to prod her Chikorita, who was studiously ignoring her, but the little green monster gave her a dirty look and hopped away from her hand, storming down the path in front of her. Haruhi was just glad she didn't have to fight with her to get her moving.
"See you around, Hikaru, Kaoru!" Haruhi called, lifting a hand in a careless wave as she shouldered her backpack. The twins exchanged looks with one another as Juri and Yuri clambered back onto their shoulders, waving goodbye to their new friends.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Hikaru?"
"Of course, Kaoru."
Both twins exchanged identical smirks, before rising to their feet and taking off after the steadily disappearing girl. "Haruhi, wait up! We're coming with you!"
Dear mother in heaven…
Why does this happen to me?
A/N: More to come eventually. Hope you enjoyed! I'm trying to choose Pokemon for the kids that fit their personalities and some of the stuff in the anime/manga, so expect a variety of Pokemon eventually. And as always, review please~