Sorry to my other readers to my other stories, I've been out of the loop for some time
I'm trying to type this story to help get my groove back before I continue the others
To those who haven't read my other one's, forget what I said and enjoy the read and I hope its up to your expectations of a story.
"Human speech"
Human thoughts
[Pokemon speech]
Pokemon thoughts
ooOOOoo
On the outskirts of Pallet town, where the wind reached its full velocity and swept through the tall grass with powerful yet gentle hands, a lone trainer sat on a stump. Watching as her starter Pokémon scurried curiously around a bush, giving a few sniffs before backing off and trembling nervously as it began to quiver to life.
Angelica watched as her Charmander sprinted back and proceeded to hide behind her bag sitting at her feet, poking its head out every few seconds. The fire lizard gave a yelp when the shrub erupted violently in an eruption of leaves, a flock of Pidgey flying off into the forest further up the trail.
She gave a sigh at this; this wasn't part of her plan, well, more like a drawback on her pre-planned journey. She was positive that the little lizard would have a backbone, on the show Pokémon Planet all the Charmander were tough. Following their instincts to try and be dominant over their brethren by being the strongest and the toughest. Though, that show rotated around the lifestyles of Pokémon born and living in the wild, not domesticated Pokémon that were born and raised in a lab.
This Charmander was skittish, easily frightened, and too shy to even raise its voice unless he became alarmed. She had chosen Charmander for his final evolutionary form, Charizard. A Pokémon with fire hot enough to melt rock, that could soar hundreds of feet in the air and could keep up with the fastest of Pidgeot when trained properly. Angelica wasn't stupid enough to start off blind; she did her research beforehand and knew that a Charizard would be perfect for her team.
And she was lucky; very few people were able to obtain one of the three original starters these days. Needing to resort to using other Pokémon like Sandshrew and Rattata to be eligible to begin their journey's as trainers. Angelica was lucky that she had a very rich family that was able to convince Professor Oak in giving her a Charmander.
She was grateful to her father allowing her to start her very own journey and grateful that he helped her obtain the fire-tailed lizard, but that was the only help she wanted. Father thought she would give up being a trainer in a month or two, thinking she would grow irritated with the hard life of a trainer and come home to be schooled to further profit his company, soon to be her company.
She would prove him wrong.
Angelica wanted to be more than a stuffy company owner, worrying about dead money from a product recall or a loss in sales. She wanted to travel, make her own adventures, and fill the gaping whole in her life that craved for passion. She wanted to rise above all by her own power, be the best in the world because she worked for it, and not have it handed to her on a silver platter.
She wanted to be a Pokémon master. Better than the ever elusive, silent fighter, Red.
She did a study on him weeks before starting her journey, wanting to find possible tips on how to get as good as he did. The boy conquered the Pokémon League in a year at the age of ten and brought down the crime organization Team Rocket, if anyone had claimed this would happen beforehand they would be labeled insane, or dangerously over optimistic, either way.
Angelica was sixteen and she didn't think it possible for her to do, despite the age difference. But she couldn't doubt herself; if a boy six years her junior could do it, so could she. Although, it was going to take a lot of training that would push her to the limits along with her Pokémon, so she needed Pokémon with as strong a commitment and will as she did.
And that led Angelica to her current problem, the Charmander.
It looked up at her and she met his gaze, his red orbs meeting her own blue ones. It flinched and lowered its head submissively, too intimidated to even look at her now.
Angelica gave a sigh, tucking a stray strand of her ebony hair behind her ear, "you really need to pull yourself together and stop being scared, it will do us no good in the long run."
He still kept his head down only giving a nod with a muttered, "Cha-Charman." His new owner scared him a little, her eyes cutting through him like icy blades. Reminding him of the ice types, teasing him for his irrational fears and tendency to overreact in fright during the times the Professor released them to play. He knew he was a scardy-Meowth, and he did try to toughen up, he really did, but he just couldn't help himself sometimes.
He saw those Pokémon with owners' train them, lifting groves of trees from their roots, flinging boulders with shear strength alone, and make the ground shake as if a stampede of Tauros were right on top of him. That last one injured him significantly; sending the poor little fire type to the ground in pain and making him cry endlessly the rest of the day. The nice Professor cradled Charmander in his arms after the machine healed the worst of it, waiting patiently for the little lizard to stop crying.
A Rhydon and her trainer were given a very strict scolding afterwards.
So the fire Pokémon had a good reason of being terrified a lot, there would be something mentally wrong with him if he wasn't. So to this day, to his logic, if Pokémon that were trained could do that to him without trying, then the wild ones that wished him harm were much worse.
Angelica stood, throwing her purple bag over her shoulder before continuing on the path to Viridian City, "come on, were heading out."
The Charmander gave a yelp before sprinting after her on his stubby legs; he didn't want to be left alone.
During the walk she kept her eye out for Spearow and Pidgey that she could use to train Charmander, and at the same time trying to think of a good name for him. She couldn't keep calling him by his species that would bring about confusion if they ever fought against other Charmander or so on.
Ember, no it's not very creative. Maybe Flint, or even Alex, glancing down at her Pokémon, she hoped that by looking at him that it would somehow help her figure out a name. The orange leathered lizard took big strides to keep up with her pace, needing to sometimes sprint to keep from falling far behind. She took notice of a very faint pattern of red stripes from the top of his head to the tip of his tail; she defiantly didn't see that before.
She defiantly wasn't going to call him Stripe that was just stupid. There was a sudden rustle in the grass ahead, making her stop and had Charmander sprint past her and almost hit the shuddering greenery. Now noticing the possible danger, Charmander back peddled in fear making him trip over a rock and fall on his butt in a very ungraceful manner.
"Coward," she felt shock at her own words and covered her mouth, it just came out, she didn't mean to say it out loud. The Charmander looked up at her, dropping his head to the side in a confused and hurt manner. She hoped he didn't mistake that as his name, if he did then he would only react to that name, at least until she went to a Name Rater. A type of Pokémon psychologist that could make a Pokémon forget its current name to be replaced by a new one.
A Rattata jumped out, giving a screech and flashing its sharp teeth in an intimidating manner. Charmander took a step back, poking its claws together nervously. She decided to test if the Charmander did mistake her slip up as his name, "Charmander."
No response.
She tried again, "Charmander," still nothing.
"….Coward?" the Charmander rose his head to her instantly. She mentally cursed herself for being so stupid and slipping up like that. This was not going to help her starter's issues at all. She had to forget about it for now though, fighting off the wild Rattata was the most important issue at the moment.
"Coward, use scratch!" the Charmander rose its claw, albeit reluctantly, and slowly edged closer to the purple rodent. The Rattata gave a hiss and lunged, scaring the charmander and forcing him to back up and raise his arms to his face protectively, the rodent spun around and used its tail to lasso Cowards arms. With its lower center of gravity, the Rattata pulled Coward off balance and forced him to face plant into the ground.
"Escape from its hold, Coward, then try Scratch again!" she yelled in panic, hoping that he could escape and pull through this fight without being seriously harmed.
Coward gave a cry of panic, squirming in the wild mouse's grip and failing to release himself. Rattata gave another hiss and began clawing at Coward's unprotected head, enticing another scream from him but this time in pain.
"H-hey, stop that! Let him go!" Fear gripped Angelica's heart, fear for her Pokémon's safety and she ran over to them, hoping to pry off the Rattata and stop the charmander's pain filled wails. When she made a grab for them, the Rattata gave a growl and swiped at her, digging its claws deep in her hand.
She inhaled through her teeth and clutched her hand in pain, blood already dribbling from the three cuts. Coward, now given time to take a breather, continued to sob before coughing up a cloud of black smog from his lungs that rose and covered the area. The Rattata gave a screech in surprise and hissed in pain as the smog came in contact with its eyes, releasing the fire type and running off back into the thick grassland. Angelica sighed in relief, still clutching her cut hand, and walked up to her crying Pokémon as the Smokescreen settled.
He slowly pushed himself up from the dirt, crying and still coughing up puffs of black wisps that danced around his scratched face before dissipating into the air. Coward tried to stop the tears, attempting to force them from falling from his eyes before giving up and trying to wipe them away with his paws. He retracted his paw away immediately after a harsh sting burned his face and starting up a whole new batch of tears.
Angelica gave a grimace; a particularly deep cut ran vertically down Coward's right eye, dribbling a small stream of blood across his face. Unclipping Coward's pokeball from her belt, she expanded it and called back the whimpering reptile.
Coward was in no condition to battle again, and she knew better than to force her Pokémon to continue. At least he learned a new move that was a good thing, even if it was purely by accident.
ooOOOoo
After sprinting the rest of the short way to Viridian, Angelica made her way through the small city toward the local Pokémon Center. The door gave a soft 'ping' while pushing through it and she quickly made her way to the counter where a pink haired woman stood typing into a computer.
"Hello, how may I help?" the Nurse Joy asked, well, joyfully. Angelica hid a grimace, the woman seemed offly happy to be working at a place where sick and injured Pokémon were taken. There was a word for it; peppy…..she didn't like peppy people.
"umm, well, my Charmander got injured pretty bad and I was hoping you could help me," she knew the Nurse Joy would, it was her job, but it didn't hurt to be polite. It was more than a likelihood that she would be staying the night, so she didn't need someone giving her lip because she was rude.
"How bad, if it's too bad than the machine may not be able to heal it fully," she asked, setting the keyboard aside and focusing fully on the young trainer in front of her.
Angelica pulled Coward's ball from her belt and released him onto the counter, "do you mean like this?"
After the white flash of his release faded, Coward sat atop the counter clutching his wound in pain and trying to stop the bleeding. Angelica wondered that even if the ball put him in stasis, if it was possible for him to continue crying because wet streams still fell from his eyes.
Instantly, the woman's happy visage hid away and seriousness possessed her now sharp eyes. "Shhhh, its okay I'm just gunna take a look at it." Angelica didn't notice the she had taken a step away from the woman. Those eyes were scary.
Coward relaxed at her soft voice, not noticing that after she moved his arms that Nurse Joy gave a stern glare at his trainer, who averted her eyes and took another step back. Continuing her work she muttered her inspection, "multiple lacerations on the scalp, and two deep ones on and above his right eye, possible signs of infection."
Lowering her eyes, Nurse Joy began searching for other wounds. Feeling around the Charmander's pudgy arms and legs in search of any broken or fractured bones, before moving to his chest and continued the search. Coward squirmed awkwardly, uncomfortable with the Lady's hands all over him.
"We will take care of him, you may wait in the lounge till were done," Joy turned to a door behind her, "Chansey!"
She was rewarded with a similar call of 'Chansey!' before a round and pink Pokémon waddled out with a gurney. The Normal type picked up little Coward, who kicked and cried out in fright, and placed him on the gurney before rolling him into a room with a needle above the door that soon lit up.
The Woman followed right after, leaving Angelica standing at the counter awkwardly. How dare that woman glare at her, she didn't do anything wrong! All she did was try to have Coward fight a Rattata, its not like she could have predicted that the thing would practically tear the Charmander's head off! In fact, Rattata were weak in general, was her Pokémon so weak that he couldn't have even untied himself from that rat's tail!?
Unknown to her that the weaker Pokémon on those routes grew used to the constant beatings that helped furthered the ambitions of young trainers. They had learned, adapted, they refused to be used as punching bags anymore.
She could practically feel the steam flying out her ears, she was so mad. The other trainers sitting in the lounge watched the mixed emotions on Angelica's face before she finally stomped her feet toward a couch and planted herself on a cushion. Two of the trainers muttering, "Greenhorn," and returned to their own devices before the abrupt arrival of the now steaming sixteen year-old girl.
Angelica heard them and sent a glare that could melt ice, these kids are younger than I am and they have the nerve to call ME an amateur. The only reason for that being it took forever to convince her parents in letting her go on a journey, that meant making up for lost time. The thought of her parent's stubbornness only increased her rage.
Thankfully, when Coward was done being patched up, they could rest and leave again in the morning to continue their journey and training. Meaning that they would never have to see that nurse's pink haired, peppy, smiling face ever again.
If only she knew.
ooOOOoo
Arceus, why did everything have to be so difficult!?
The next morning, after she rented and stayed in a room for the night, she got back Coward and the Nurse Joy had made a list of what he couldn't do. If Coward exerted himself too much, the stitches in his head would open and they would need to hike back to the Pokémon Center to stitch him up again. That meant no Headbutt's, Tackle attacks, Scratch, or any other physical moves.
Meaning they had to rely on special type moves, but he only knew Smokescreen and Growl and nothing else, but he was too meek to growl and still had trouble making Smokescreen. That left him completely useless in a fight and unable to gain experience that would help him learn a new special move. This also meant that she would be unable to catch more Pokémon, needing Cowards help in weakening them first.
On top of that, even if Coward could fight, the gym leader was not even at his own gym! Evidently Green, the gym leader, went off somewhere in the region to help Professor Oak with a side project in his studies.
No one knew when he would return, so that left Angelica no choice but to wait for Cowards stitches to heal while hiking through Viridian Forest to the next gym in Pewter City. So, needing supplies for the trip, she went in search of a PokéMart for potions, antidotes, and extra Pokéballs. Not wanting to hike back because she was unprepared if Coward got injured, again.
But it couldn't be easy, no; she had to wander around taking sketchy directions from the civilians. 'You have to go- Yeah, just take two lefts-Turn right on- its close by actually, just over- wow kid, your way off. It's on the other side of town.'
Even when she found it, the prices were outrageous! Her father's company didn't even charge this much for medicine. Angelica even complained, but the owner just frowned and said that gear was expensive.
"Come on kid, I need to make a liv'n. Just find someone to battle for cash, I bet you have tons of really strong Pokémon, with you being a trainer and all."
She wanted to tear his head off.
After finally getting supplies and hiking North through Route 2, they began there walk through the forest. Now the little Charmander tried clinging to her leg every few steps after hearing a Caterpie squeal or a sudden rustle in the canopy. She had to seriously restrain her self from kicking him after the seventh time he almost made her trip. This was becoming so frustrating, and she didn't want every day to be like this. It made it seem like her father was right in predicting that she would quite shortly, but she didn't want him to be right, again!
And if she had to explain to yet another persistent trainer that she couldn't battle with Coward still healing, she probably would end up hurting the rival trainer or Coward.
She stopped mid step, she forgot to search for a Name Rater for Coward in Viridian…..
Coward kept a few feet behind Angelica now, starting to sense his trainer's already high frustration and anger rise skyward. He watched worriedly, absentmindedly scratching at his stitches, as she started pulling at the roots of her ebony hair, cursing loudly and punching her leg in rage while yelling 'stupid, stupid, stupid!'
His trainer wasn't anything like Nurse Joy, always silent and thinking and staring at him with those icy sea blue eyes. Joy was always smiling and talked warmly to him as she stitched up his wound, it stung a lot but he bore through it to make her happy. She reminded him of the Professor, kind and patient and always being nice.
She talked to him before being given back to Angelica, whispering into his ear, "stay strong for your trainer, and in no time you will come to love her and she, you."
"She will make mistakes, and so will you, but you two will grow on one another and in no time become inseparable."
That was the last thing she said to the young Charmander, before recalling him into his ball and handing him to his trainer. She had known he was a meek and shy pokemon, having worked with them before, and it clashed with his trainer's own personality so she felt a need to help. She had already planned on telling Angelica the same thing, but the young girl grabbed the ball after Joy's warnings and explanation about pushing Coward, and briskly walked out.
So now he swept his fear aside, worrying about his trainer as she continued to hurt herself in frustration. He spotted a young boy walk through the bushes, hand raised in greeting, before growing alarmed and turned tail away from the raging girl a second later. Smart move on his part.
Coward wasn't sure what to do; he was never placed in such a situation before, but he would do this for his trainer, for her and Nurse Joy's sake. Walking over to Angelica, he raised his paw, hesitating for a second before tugging her pants lightly, "Char-Charmander?"
She reeled on him, "WHAT!? What is it now!?" The action pushed him back and made him fall on to his butt, tears already forming at the edges of his eyelids.
She stopped her berserking instantly, now feeling terrible that she was making her starter cry again. She rubbed her face, hoping to force off the stress away and frustration.
"Look, I'm sorry, it just that-"she cut it off there, looking up into the sky were the sun began to set.
"Let's just get some sleep, were not even halfway through the forest and we need to rest for tomorrow," She slipped the bag off her shoulders, and took out a thick purple sleeping bag.
She laid it out and slipped inside, pulling her pack over to use as a pillow, "g'night," she muttered.
Coward watched as she fell asleep instantly, being so tired as to not even bothering to put up a tent and fire or return him to his ball. A feeling of anxiety crept into his heart soon after, he was the only one awake in a dark forest filled with wild Pokémon.
There was a sudden rustle and a cry of pain in the distance, sending Coward in a fit of terrified shaking. He slowly tiptoed closer to Angelica and took a seat against her small frame, pulling his tail in front of him and using the radiant flame as a candle to fight back the ever growing darkness that just seemed to slowly swallow the world.
Coward jumped at the sound of another screech and cry, there was no way he was going to get any sleep tonight.
ooOOOoo
Coward gently held his fire-lit tail, head starting to fall lazily as he closed his eyes before growing alarmed and shaking his head to rid of his body's want of sleep. The sun was completely absent and the activity only seemed to rise in the surounding forest, making Coward Paranoid to the extreme and glancing at every derection that he thought he heard something close by.
Hours went past for all he knew but with the activity slowly dying now he guessed that it was offly late and that even the nocturnal Pokémon were starting to sleep. Feeling a peace of mind at this thought, Coward slowly laid down next to his trainer, curling his tail around his body and snuggled up to Angelica's side.
He felt a numbness come wash through his body, the arousing feeling of sleep wrapping around his tired form and began to pull him into the depths of slumber along side his trainer.
"persict't't't't, 'crunch' sict't't't't," and now it was gone.
Bolting up from the ground, Coward trembled as he scanned around them for the sudden noise and he soon found it. A large, brown caripace stood over Angelica's pillow/bag, wripping and tearing the fabric as it dug around the clothing and equipment for the food it smelt.
The Pinsir had just returned to its tree after a failed night of froraging for smaller bug Pokémon and berries when the most delisious arome flew through the air. Compresing the large ivory mandibles on his head in anticipation, the Pinsir gave a 'click' before manuvering through the brush in search of the possibly delicious meal.
Now he stood in front of Coward, stickly arms working through the pack and alliciting a groan from Angelica from its rough actions. Coward watched, eyes wide and body shaking, the robust Pinsir as it leaned its head down to inspect the inside of the pack more closely. Big horns, pinching, coming closer to his trainer's head, he reacted without thinking.
"Charmander!" Coward roared, before tackling the larger Pokémon's chest and making it tumble to the ground. The Pinsir cried more in surprise than pain after hitting the dirt and it pulled itself up before growling, flexing its horned crown and nashing its rectangular teeth together threateningly.
Coward could feel blood oozing down his cheeck, but thought nothing of it as he dodged Pinsir's own tackle at him. Sidesteping the barbaric charge, Coward slaped the back of its head with his tail, the flame burning bright now as it collided against its exoskeleton and left a burn.
Pinsir gave a screech and retaliated, spinning round to face Coward and throwing a glowing fist into his stomach. Coward felt the wind get knocked out of him, the Mega Punch sending him soaring and crashing against the tree with a load 'crack'.
He fell to the ground with a dull 'thud', the stronger Pokémon's strength nearly making him black out after hitting the unforgiving bark. Coward lifted his head, the stitches now fully ripped and blood gushing from the scratches, watching the Pinsir lose interest in him and now walking back to his still sleeping trainer.
Coward felt fear, but it was different, it wasn't a fear that rose when his own well being was threatened, it was for Angelica's. He rose on shakey legs, anger building in the pit of his stomach and filling his vains with hot fire. Subconsciously activating his natural ability, Blaze, Coward gave a loud growl that made the Pinsir flintch and turn back to face him.
Coward blasted a Smokescreen into the air, the black smoke filling the area and rendering Pinsir's sight useless. The bug type coughed and swung its body around in search of his opponent, failing miserably as the thick cloud stung its eyes and made it stumble on loose dirt.
Hearing a scuffle to its left side, Pinsir threw a blind Mega Punch and hit nothing. It threw another glowing fist to its right when it heard more noise, but the attack only swept up the smoke around its stickly arm. This continued for a short time before Pinsir grew anraged and began throwing random Mega Punch's and kicks then following up with a swing of his ivory mandibles in attempt of a Guillotine attack.
Coward kept his distance from the swirling smoke that he knew was the Pinsir, only making noise to attract its attention and blowing more Smokescreen if the cloud began to dissipate. It was tiring out and that was just what Coward wanted, he had seen those other trainers at Oaks lab use tactics like this in their training and it was proving highly effective in his current situation. His plan was to wait for the Pinsir to exsaust itself before following up with a few more wacks with the tip of his fire lit tail, burning it and hopefully force it to pass out.
That plan was thrown out the window when Pinsir began to make its way closer to Angelica, throwing a barrage of sporadic, but still deadly, attacks. Coward felt the familiar bubblying of anger stir in his stomach and veins, charging in without thinking again, he drew the heat into his throat and to his mouth.
Pinsir, still angry and confused, paced forward in search of the pesky fire Pokémon before bumping his foot against something soft. [Found You] Pinsir brought down his horns, planning to end Cowards life as slowly and painfully as possible with a Vicegrip. A sudden heat burned its back and the Pinsir swung around to come face to face with a open maw filled with fire.
The Ember attack blasted Pinsir in the face, flames licking hungrily around his armored head before blasting it off its feet and into the canopy in a burning, red fireball. When the attack finally ended, Coward fell to his rump in exsaution, panting and out of breath before falling to his back in a heap of scales.
I….I did it, I actually did it without being scared! Coward thought happily. Though, slightly untrue because the adrenaline was finally dieing and his fearful shakes arose again. His happy/scared moment was ruptured by a scream however.
"AAAAHHHHHH! Coward, what did you do!?" Angelica screamed, jumping up from her sleeping bag and now using it to beat down the rising flames on her bag. She gave another scream when her sleeping bag ignited and she resorted to padding down the flames with her hands, determined to save her supplies.
Coward, not noticing that he had set the grass on fire along with her stuff, stood up to help and began stopming on the little embers burning in the grass.
Soon the threat of losing supplies and a forest fire were now over, But Angelica still sat on her knees over her bag, eyes shrouded and eerily quiet.
Coward walked over and nudged her shoulder hesitantly, "Ch-Ch-Char?"
She rose to her full height and swung to his direction, "Why did you have to do that!? Why would you try burning my stuff and set the forest on fire!?"
Coward took a step back from her outburst, "Ma-ma-mander?"
"why has it been nothing but trouble since I started with you!? Are you just a magnet for bad luck, are you the Charmander's equivalent of a Kadabra!?" her face grew red, the day's earlier little misfortunes stacking apon each other along with her own thoughts making her anger immeasurable at the moment.
She stopped her yelling to look at Coward's shaking form and bloody head, "and look, you even opened your stitches! Now we have to turn back! If I-" she gave a pained hiss and clutched her hand in pain,"and look what you did to my hands!"
She stopped after having a thought, "You know what, no, I'm not taking you back! I'm going back to have a doctor check my hands and you can stay here!" She swiped up what was left of her things and turned back in the direction to Viridian.
This wasn't fair on his part, and she knew that. But she was just so angry and she was acting on impulse now, barely even thinking before acting.
Coward chased after her slowy catching up to her walking form, "Char charmander man char!" he called after her in panic.
She quickly picked up her pace and began sprinting around the tress, "no! you stay here, maybe you'll grow a backbone if you live in the wild!"
He cried out to her begging, pleading her to not leave him behinde in the scary wilderness. She kept running though, his cries falling on deaf ears and Coward lost sight of her before triping on a root and falling on his tan belly.
Many Pokemon woke up, hearing the small Charmander's cries. Little of them slept the rest of the night.
ooOOOoo
It is said in Pokemon that if you see a Kadabra's shadow bring the person bad luck
Sorry if that confused you, this is why I'm putting it down to tell you
I hope you will continue to enjoy later chapters.