Pokemon Hellfire and Brimstone

Karuke

Opening notes:

Look. I know you're all wondering why the hell I'm starting a third fic when my track record with keeping up with them is kind of, well, sucky. Well, this is purely from me and I take all responsibility for it. I'm actually writing this for Naruke and Kori. Because we're all three of us Pokemon freaks. My DS has an emo Bonsly sticker on it. Hell, I have a Diamond and Pearl sticker book. I found it in a book store and decided that I must have it.

Anyway. This is a really easy, laid-back fic, which is why it's rated M. I'm not restricting my language or anything, because I have a really hard time doing that in YH2 and BSSM. Anyway, this is a blatant SI fic set in the D/P universe. I'm using my own plot, by the way, because it's more interesting. I do it for the lolz, Jane.

Chapter 1: Oh Shit, Was That Really All I Had to Do?

Caryn opened her front door and blinked at the sunlight. "Fucking old man telling me to come to his house at the fucking crack of dawn for some stupid Pokemon…" She sighed and pulled her hat lower over her long black hair and set off down the road to the Professor's lab. She hiked up her backpack and sighed. At least her mom had given her all her old lightweight equipment from when she'd been traveling.

It was a long walk--half an hou--through tall weedy grass to get to the next town where the lab was set up. Caryn trudged her way through the grass with a scowl, muttering about the ticks she was sure she had by now. She paused to roll her jeans up and fix her sandals, and then set off again. When she reached Sandgem Town, she immediately found the lab by light of the fact that it was the biggest building in the whole town.

She walked in, rolled her jeans down, brushed the dust off of herself, and marched right up to where the professor was standing. There was a girl already standing there talking to him. The girl was short, skinny, and definitely clad for traveling. She was wearing green-gray hiking boots, khaki shorts, a plain green tee-shirt, and her short brown hair was pulled back under a gray bandana.

"So I'll stop by the 'Mart before I leave and then I'm on my way. I told Corey I'd meet him in Jubilife. Thanks, Professor!"

Professor Rowan smiled indulgently at her. "Indeed. Oh, Kate, this is the other girl I was telling you about. Come here, Caryn."

Caryn edged forward watching the girl who was clutching a red and white pokeball in her hand. "Um, good morning, Professor."

"Kate, this is Caryn. She's starting her journey today."

The other girl held out her hand with a smile, and Caryn shook it. "Nice to meet you! Good luck with your training, okay?" She smiled again and turned. "I've gotta get going now. Bye Professor, thanks again. And bye, Caryn!" She walked out and Caryn turned to the Professor.

"Well, I suppose you're ready to go, then?" he asked as Caryn took off her book bag.

"I'd like to go as soon as possible, Professor. It's a long walk to Jubilife and I'd like to get there before nightfall."

"I won't delay you then. On the table there are three Pokemon: Piplup, a water type; Chimchar, a fire-type; and Turtwig, a grass-type. Do you have a preference? Have you thought about it?"

Caryn looked through the transparent red of the pokeballs at the tiny forms within. "I'd like Piplup," she said slowly, picking up one of the balls and looking in at the blue penguin-like creature.

"All right. Here, these are for you." The Professor handed Caryn a belt, a small bag of five pokeballs, and something flattish and red.

"What's this?" she asked, looking at the red thing closely.

"It's your Pokedex. It's almost complete, but I'm getting too old to go around all over Sinnoh now. So I want you to do your best to finish it for me. Kate, whom you saw earlier, and her friend have their own, too. They're working hard to finish it for me."

"So no pressure," Caryn muttered, looping the belt through her jeans and fastening the empty pokeballs into the small metal clasps at her side. She looked once more at Piplup and smiled.

"Well, there's really not much more I can offer to you, Caryn, except good luck on your journey."

"Thanks, Professor Rowan," the girl responded, attaching Piplup's ball to her belt as well. "I'm going to stop by the 'Mart before I go."

"Be careful! And stop by and visit me sometimes," Rowan called after her as she left.

Caryn waved as the door closed behind her. "Now I'll pick up some potions and be on my way." She walked slowly down the street to the Pokemart and opened the door. Inside, she nearly tripped over a large hiking pack that lay next to the door. "What the--!"

"Oh, sorry about that!" the girl from earlier came over with her arms full of items. "I leave my stuff by the door usually because it gets heavy after a while."

"It's okay," Caryn said, flexing her bruised toes. "You're Kate, right?"

"Yep! And you're Caryn, right? Starting your journey today?" Kate walked over to the counter and unloaded her purchases. The woman there began to ring them up as Kate dug around in a pocket and pulled out a wallet.

"Yeah." Caryn began to browse the shelves, pulling out several items as she went.

"Good for you," Kate replied, bringing her stuff back over to her pack and sorting things out into different pockets. "Stocking up on supplies before you go is smart. Most new trainers just head right out into the wild and never think twice about needing restoratives."

"Yeah, well, I'm a genius, what can I say?"

Kate laughed. "Where you headed after this?"

Caryn brought her stuff to the counter and paid. "Up north to Jubilife. I'll stop there for the night, poke around, and then head east to Oreburgh."

"Cool. Want to go together? I'm leaving for Jubilife myself today."

Caryn looked the short girl up and down as she dumped all her stuff into her book bag. "Sure. It's safer to travel with someone than alone, especially if you aren't familiar with the road. And I'm reasonably sure you aren't an axe murderer in disguise."

Kate grinned and pulled her pack on. "I like you already. You set?"

"Yep." Caryn put on her back pack. "Let's go."

The walked out of the store chatting idly and headed up the road that led to route 202.

"I'd really like to see the ruins in Celestic Town," Caryn was saying as they trudged through the tall grass.

"Eh, there's really not much there but some cave paintings on a wall. And it's such a pain to get to Celestic. I mean, you can take 211 from Eterna to Mount Coronet, which is a pain, or you can go the long way around through Hearthome, Solaceon, 215, and 210. 215 is really long, and 210 is right on the edge of the mountains, so it's very craggy and full of bridges over lots of waterfalls and things."

"You can always enter Mount Coronet and travel north through there."

"You can, but it's a tough road and a lot of the easier paths are blocked by water. So unless you have good water Pokemon or some excellent swimming skills…"

"Yeah, but I'd still like to see it. I love history stuff. You should see my bookshelf at home."

"I can imagine. I'm a fan of some local history, like the area around Sandgem and Jubilife."

"Did you grow up here?"

"I'm from Sandgem, originally, but we moved to Jubilife a few years back. That's where I met Corey. He's in Jubilife now; we decided that since we were in the area we'd travel together for a little while."

"Cool. How long have you been traveling?"

"Only since about April. Corey's been training since November, though. He's way stronger than I am. He's got the first four badges; I only have two."

"So you only have the Coal and Forest Badges?"

"Yep. Wanna see?"

"Sure."

Kate reached into a side pocket of her pack and pulled out a long, thin case, handing it to Caryn. Caryn opened it, revealing the two small badges within. "Cool." She handed the case back and Kate put it away.

"We should hit Jubilife by dinner time," Kate went on. "Oh, hold on, let me tell Corey we'll be there tonight." She paused, and pulled a pokeball off the belt that was slung over her hip and attached at the front and back of the one she was already wearing. "Staraptor, come out." The ball expanded and out came a large dark gray and white bird with quick dark eyes and a funky growth of feathers over its head. Kate pulled a notebook out of her pack and a pen from her pocket and began to write. She tore the page out when she was finished and rolled it up, handing it to Staraptor, who took it in his beak. She stroked his neckfeathers lovingly. "Take that to Corey in Jubilife, would you? You can stay there with him for a while; we'll be back tonight. Can you do that for me, handsome?" The Pokemon chirruped around the paper in its beak and began a short hopping run, launching himself in the air and flying off north.

"So you use him sort of like a carrier pigeon?" Caryn asked, watching the spot in the distance rapidly diminishing.

"Something like that. Corey has a Staravia, and he does the same thing. That's usually how we find out when we're not too far from each other. And they're such good navigators; Staraptor's never come back without delivering a letter."

"That's cool. Oh, here, let me show you something." Caryn lifted her hat off her head and two long, dark pigtails fell out from under it. From one of them, a pokeball was dangling on a string. "Come on out, Ninja!" The ball expanded briefly, released a small form, and then shrank again. It was a small brown bird, barely reaching Kate's knee. It popped the leek it was holding into its beak and fluttered up to sit on Caryn's head. "Hey, no you don't," she said, moving her down onto her shoulder.

"What's that Pokemon called?" Kate asked, reaching for the back pocket of her shorts. She pulled out her Pokedex, green rather than red.

"Farfetch'd," Caryn replied, watching in rapt fascination.

"They're not from Sinnoh, are they?"

"No, a friend of the family sent me her for my birthday several years ago. Farfetch'd are originally from Kanto."

"Cool." Kate removed a stylus from the side of the Pokedex and began to press things on the screen.

"Farfetch'd," the electronic voice repeated. "A duck-type Pokemon wielding a green onion like a sword."

"Is that accurate?" Kate asked.

Caryn blinked at her. "Um, yeah, I guess so. How'd you do that?"

"Oh, Rowan didn't give you a Pokedex? I thought he was going to."

"No, he did," Caryn pulled hers out and showed it to Kate. "I just haven't played with it yet."

"I see. Well, Rowan wants us to finish them, right? And that means when we run into new Pokemon, we need to enter data on them. So what you do is you press this white button—it's blue on yours, see, right there?" Kate pointed.

"Okay." Caryn pressed it.

"Then you enter the name of the Pokemon, and press the next button down. That activates a small camera that takes a picture for the entry."

Caryn pulled out her stylus and typed in Farfetch'd's name. Then she aimed the Pokedex at her shoulder and pressed the camera button. When she looked at the screen, there was an image of her Pokemon with the name below. "Now what?"

"Press the button on the bottom; mine is black, but yours might be something else."

"It's white." Caryn pressed it and on the screen of the 'dex appeared a blank text box and a display like a keyboard.

"Now you enter what you want it to say."

Caryn fiddled with her stylus for a minute and then began to press letters on the screen. "And then…"

"Press the green button next to the screen."

"Okay." The screen faded, and then the picture she took appeared with the information entry underneath.

"Farfetch'd," the voice confirmed. "A bird-type Pokemon with a strange obsession with leeks."

Kate laughed. "You can edit previous entries, too, but I'll show you that later. Shall we continue?"

"Yeah, let's get going."