~Emolga and the New Volt Switch!~

Chapter One: Enter Emolga

✽ Snivy ✽

It was a fine afternoon, and I was doing what I loved doing most: sunbathing. I can lie down under the sun for a long while, which is good for a grass-type like me since I get my energy from photosynthesis.

Every time I lie down like this, I would look up at the many clouds swirling past. And sometimes, my mind would go drifting away to distant places and who-knows-where.

I smiled. I once heard Iris say that of all of Ash's Pokémon, I was the most mysterious. They knew absolutely nothing of my past, before Ash caught me (or rather, before I let Ash catch myself). The others' were pretty much clear. Scraggy and Pidove have been wild Pokémon all their lives, while Tepig and Oshawott used to be someone else's Pokémon before they became Ash's.

Iris and Cilan could only guess that I used to be another Trainer's Pokémon because of my skills and high-level moves. They have surmised that since they first saw me. They surmised that the second they saw me use Leaf Blade and Leaf Tornado and Leaf Storm. Well, they were only guessing, but I had no intention of setting things straight. Let they guess all the guesses in the world, but I'm staying jolly well in the dark.

I first met Ash when he and his companions Iris and Cilan and the Pokémon were stopping to make lunch in a forest. I was a wild Pokémon, roaming the forests and patches of tall grass in Unova for food. I was really hungry when I saw a checked tablecloth on the ground with all these fancy food on top, and there was no one around. This was way better than foraging for berries. So of course no one could blame me for what I did next: I helped myself to a few.

Well, I must have gotten a bit carried away, because when the green-haired man I would know as Cilan came back, he was devastated and cried, "Our food! It's all gone!"

Ash and Iris had hurried over, and they immediately guessed that a wild Pokémon had stolen it. Then they volunteered to go and find the Pokémon that had taken the food.

I quickly ducked into a clump of tall grass, still holding some of the food I hadn't eaten yet, but Ash and his Pikachu saw me. Ash told Pikachu that he wanted to make me one of his party Pokémon, so he ran after me.

Ash had tried to catch me a whole lot of times, and he had failed every time. Oh, the tricks I used on him and his Pokémon! I remembered clearly how Oshawott, Tepig, and Pikachu had succumbed easily to my Attract, how Scraggy had tried to Headbutt me and ended up bashing a rock when I jumped out of the way the last second. Or when I loosed some rocks from a cliff so that Ash and his friends wouldn't be able to follow me. Oh, that was epic.

I had no intention of becoming anyone's Pokémon at that time. But that soon changed when I saw how much Ash cared for his Pokémon - and he cared DEEPLY for them. Then I had decided that maybe being his Pokémon wasn't a bad idea after all, and I came out so he could catch me. I may be naughty and cheeky, but I do know when and how to respect people.

Since I joined the team, I quickly got familiar with the Trainers and their other Pokémon. There was Oshawott, Ash's original starter he was given when he was about to go and explore the Unova region. Then, there were Pokémon Ash previously caught, such as Tepig, Scraggy, and Pidove, and, of course, Pikachu, Ash's very first Pokémon. Then there were Iris' and Cilan's Pokémon, such as Axew, Excadrill, Dwebble, and Pansage. They're all OK, and I don't want anything to change the way things are now.

Well.

I guess I thought that too soon.

Suddenly I was snapped into full consciousness when I heard a shrill shout.

"Whoo-hoo! Look at this, guys! I caught a new Pokémon!"

That shout, of course, came from Iris. She was that kind of girl who hardly ever keeps still.

"Where? Where? What Pokémon is it?"

There were the sounds of footsteps, which meant that Ash and Cilan were hurrying over to see Iris' new Pokémon.

"Where? Where?"

There was a softer, more feminine voice this time, and more sounds of footsteps.

I rolled my eyes. That must be Bianca's, Ash's other friend. She's almost always the one who knows news last. She is sometimes air-headed and clumsy. Her battle strategies are what I would shake my head at, but she makes a huge fuss if she loses.

Deciding that there was no way I was going to have a nap, I decided to go back to the group and see what the fuss was all about.

Ash, Iris, Cilan, and Bianca were all crowded around something. I easily slipped past their legs and finally saw what they were looking at.

It was a small squirrel-like Pokémon. It must be a kind of a flying fox or something, because it had flaps under its arms which were obviously used to glide. It had huge ears and black eyes. And it was smiling... cutely... at the Trainers.

Bianca went bonkers.

"Awwww, what a cute little Pokémon!" she cried, smiling until her smile reached her eyes which set off the dimples on her cheeks. She ruffled the new Pokémon's fur lovingly. "What's it called?"

"Well, you can ask Ash that," Iris replied, sort of pulling the newcomer closer to her. Iris often got uncomfortable whenever other people acted too lovingly to her Pokémon.

Ash quickly took his Pokédex out of his pocket and scanned the new Pokémon.

"Emolga, the Sky Squirrel Pokémon," said the drawling, mechanical voice from Ash's Pokédex. "They live on treetops and glide along using the inside of a cape-like membrane while discharging electricity."

So. A Sky Squirrel Pokémon, eh? I had a feeling that this Pokémon was going to join our party. Iris acted really pleased that she had caught it, and I doubted she was going to leave it in a PC or something of the sort.

"Hey, while we're here in open space, why don't we have a battle first before moving on?" Iris suggested. "I want to see my new Emolga's moves."

"That's a great idea!" Bianca exclaimed enthusiastically. "Have a battle with me, Iris! I want to train my Pignite!"

"OK," Iris agreed. They moved to a clearing where they could have the battle. Iris sent out her new Emolga. Bianca sent out her Pignite, like she said she would earlier. Everyone else stayed to watch the battle, but not me. I was going to take a nap and that's what I'm going to do. I went over to Ash and decided to stay in my Poké Ball where I would not be disturbed by the shrill cries of Bianca.

✽ Emolga ✽

I think one of the best things about being a Trainer's Pokémon is the love. Having a Trainer means having someone who loves you and cares about you, who are always ready to hug you and ruffle your fur. You cannot have any of those things when you're a wild Pokémon, so I was pretty much pleased when a girl Trainer caught me. I am really looking forward to having my fur ruffled.

So when my new Trainer, Iris, decided to have a battle, I was not happy.

Why does she want to have a battle so soon? Why are moves so important? Aren't I cute enough to have my fur ruffled and my head petted?

OK, fine, I thought as I watched the other girl Trainer, the awkward blond-haired one, sent out a Pignite. If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get.

First, let me just tell you this: I have unparalleled superior speed. Of course, I moved first and landed a few hits on Pignite my pal with Hidden Power.

And then Pignite almost retaliated with Heat Crash. It wasn't my fault, actually, that Pignite was suddenly so fast and I didn't even see him coming. Or maybe I was too busy posing cutely to actually see him coming. It is beyond me.

Note that I said almost, because his attack didn't really hit me. At the last minute, it dawned on me that I could use one of my moves in order to avoid being hit.

So when Pignite sprang forward, I quickly struck a cute pose and batted my eyelashes at him. Then pink hearts were everywhere, circling Pignite. And when they hit him, he had turned into a confused, bumbling Pokémon.

That's right! He was madly in love with ME!

Ash suddenly turned to look at Iris. "I know that move!" he exclaimed. "That's Attract. Snivy also has that move."

"That's what she used on Oshawott, Tepig, and Pikachu when you tried to catch her," Iris joked before turning back to the battle.

Ash grimaced. He remembered that time really well.

Meanwhile, Bianca realized that it was going to be futile to continue attacking with the confused Pignite, so she called him back in and sent out a Minccino instead.

"I can do the Attract trick, too!" she shrilled loudly. "Come on, Minccino, attack! I mean, Attract!"

Minccino batted his eyelashes, but I wasn't going to fall for it. Minccino wasn't even as cute as I was. Ahem.

I decided to use Attract too and it worked wonders in canceling Minccino's previous one. That was when Minccino suddenly sprang forward and...

He started to TICKLE me!

Oh, if there is one thing you should know about me - other than the fact that I'm cute and that I have superior unparalleled speed - is that I cannot stand tickling. So when Minccino started to tickle me, I was on the verge of laughing and crying at the same time. Believe me, I am that ticklish.

But that was when it dawned on me AGAIN that another of my moves could also get me out of this one.

The next instant, a poor Minccino realized that he was tickling thin air, because I had vanished. Just like that.

Iris was so surprised when I disappeared and was replaced by her confused Excadrill. "What was that? What just happened?" she cried.

Cilan the green-haired man spoke up. "I believe it was an Electric-type move called Volt Switch," he said. "Once that move is used, the user gets back to its Trainer and is replaced by a random Pokémon from the party."

At that Iris frowned, withdrew Excadrill, and - groan! - SENT ME OUT AGAIN. "Emolga, don't use Volt Switch unless I tell you to, OK?" she chided me. "I want to train you so don't you go quitting the battle like that."

Well. Would you look at that. If there is one thing I don't like about being a Trainer's Pokémon though, it's being told off and told what to do. I HATE being told what to do. She should just let me do whatever I want.

However, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. Have I told you that I'm terribly smart when it comes to tricks? The one I'm about to do is a very simple one.

I simply flashed my cutest, most innocent expression ever at Iris. Ha! That trick always works.

Emolga 1, Iris 0.

Iris' face softened. "I'm sorry for telling you off, Emolga," she said, giving me a quick hug. See?

However, Iris wasn't finished yet. "...But you need to be trained so you can level up and get even stronger."

And with that, she STILL sent me out again. I was stupefied. But that trick always works!

Argh. Fine. Then let me correct my earlier comment: that trick ALMOST ALWAYS works.

Emolga 0, Iris 1.

So here I was, back in battle versus Bianca's Minccino. Bianca told him to use Hyper Voice, and he started to inhale and get ready to emit the loudest yell he could muster.

I've gotten tired of battling. I've gotten tired of it and I don't feel like using any more moves now. Iris may say that I was going to battle and that was that, but to me, that wasn't that.

Before Minccino could even let out a sound, I had sprung into action (umm, have I told you about my amazing speed?) and used Volt Switch again. I was staying out of this battle and no one can make me get back in there.

Iris was surprised when suddenly Cilan's Pansage got dragged out. "What the-?!" she cried.

As for me? I was laughing gaily behind Iris because I had finally escaped from the battle. And, to make things even funnier, Pansage had obviously been taking a nap in his Poké Ball because when he was dragged out, he was still sleeping. And he was snoring.

Snork?!

He woke up with a weird little snort and got the surprise of his life when he saw that he had appeared right in the middle of a battle, and even got hit by the Hyper Voice Minccino had intended to use on your truly. He was so furious that he had been disturbed while having his nap that he used SolarBeam and just like that, Minccino fainted. I let out a small snicker. Something told me that Bianca hadn't been training her Pokémon well.

But that little snicker of mine was what made Iris immediately turn around. She was not surprised to see me hovering there.

"Emolga!" she chided me again. "What did I tell you about not using Volt Switch without my instruction?"

I pouted and again, did my Cute Face trick.

This time, it worked. Ha! It's high time I had my lucky break.

Emolga 1, Iris 1.

"Oh, I'm not really mad at you, Emolga," she said, hugging me again. "I'm sorry." She was about to pet my head and ruffle my fur when that loudmouth of a Bianca butted in.

"Hey, Iris, are we still going to battle?"

Grrrr! Way to ruin the moment I've been waiting for!

"Yes. Yes! We're still going to battle," Iris said quickly, and guess what? She sent me out again. Bianca, meanwhile, sent out her Pignite, whose Attract had worn off.

OK. My patience has finally snapped. So what if I don't want to battle? Hasn't Iris got my message already? I don't want to battle and I won't battle!

This time, I used Volt Switch right off the bat. But this time I've decided that I'd run off the second I got out of the battle, so Iris wouldn't be able to put me back in the battle quickly.

What a neat trick. If only it would work. If it did-

Emolga 2, Iris 1.