Pokémon Quest
by Lady Dawson
Chapter Two: First Capture
It took almost the entire day for Susan and Pikachu to get halfway through Route 119 that led north to Fortree City. By that time, it was already getting dark and getting let, so they set up camp for the night. While Pikachu curled up into a ball at Susan's feet, its soft breathing indicating that it was asleep, Susan stayed awake, pulling out the journal that her uncle had given her. She smiled as she turned to the first page and found a cover page written in gold, curling script: Susan's Book.
"Thank you, Uncle Keith," she whispered with a small smile. Flipping the pen on, she began to scribble on the blank page after the cover.
Dear Journal,
Today is the start of my Pokémon journey. I just left my hometown of Tree Hill with my first Pokémon, whom I sense is going to be a lifelong friend, Pikachu. My uncle gave me this journal to record what will be happening to me from now on. Everything is about to change for me and I'll want to remember everything.
Susan paused in her writing as she leaned back against the log, pulling her jacket tighter around her. Despite the fire that was providing a flickering light for her, the night was cool and chilly. Suppressing a sigh, Susan turned back to her writing.
Pikachu and I are in the middle of Route 119, heading north to Fortree City. I heard that the leader there is a woman by the name of Winona and she uses bird Pokémon inside her gym. It sounds pretty cool and I've been wanting to visit Fortree ever since I was a little girl. Uncle Keith told me that they have houses there that are treehouses and they're all built around the Fortree City Gym. The only place that is really on the ground there is the Pokémon Centre. That'll probably be my first stop when we get there.
As Susan scribbled this last thought, Pikachu's ears perked up and it looked up, as though it had heard something.
"What's up, Pikachu?" she asked, replacing the cap to her pen and returning it and the journal to her bag.
"Pika," it answered, jumping into the forest. "Pika-Pika-Pi!" Susan let out a deep sigh, smothering the fire before chasing after the electric Pokémon as it sped out into the darkness.
"Pikachu, wait up!" she ordered just as they came to the edge of a cliff. Susan shrieked, seizing hold of a tree branch just as she was about to lose her balance, and pulled herself to safety. Her Pokémon was sitting serenely at the edge, looking up at the sky.
Susan stared at it, then towards where it was looking. Her breath caught as she saw the flock of Butterfree that were flying high above in the sky, their wings fluttering as they flew past the moon.
"Wow," Susan muttered, retrieving her binoculars from her bag and peering into them to get a better look at them. It was even more amazing when she got the closer look. "That is so cool!"
She sat down onto the ground, hugging her knees and watching the Butterfree as they flew. "You know, I've never done this with anybody before, Pikachu," she admitted. "Other than Uncle Keith. He was the only person who really cared for me. Everybody else just stayed away because I was Dan Scott's other child, the illegitimate daughter of a woman that had once been his sweetheart. Nobody wanted to Nathan to think that they actually liked me, so they stayed away."
"Pika . . ." Pikachu climbed into her arms, settling itself in her lap. "Pika-Pikachu. Pi-Pika-Pi."
Susan hugged the Pokémon tightly, savouring the moment. "Pikachu?" she asked. "We're friends, aren't we?" Pikachu nodded in affirmation. "And no matter what happens, we'll be together? Always?"
"Pika." It nodded its head eagerly. Its brown eyes were sparkling as it looked up at its trainer. "Pika-Pikachu."
"Good." Susan grinned as the two of them continued to watch the Butterfree in their moonlight flight, flying up and away, towards new places, new adventures, new experiences, a new destiny.
But Susan never could have anticipated that the two of them, like the Butterfree, would soon have new adventures and experiences that neither of them could have expected. Their fates were intertwined to a destiny that neither one could understand or know about.
As far as Susan knew, her relationship with her brother would never progress into anything more than bitter enemies. And with Dan as their father, it wasn't surprising that they weren't closer than they were. But fate decreed that they would be.
--
It was later that same night that Susan and Pikachu were back in their camp, both of them fast asleep. But about three o'clock in the morning, Susan could've sworn that she heard something rustling around where they had made camp. Releasing a groan, Susan turned over into her blankets, thinking that she was still at her house in Tree Hill and something was just outside their house. She or Uncle Keith could deal with it in the morning. No need to raise the alarm for nothing so late.
"Pikachu!"
Susan jolted awake as she sensed electricity sparkling nearby. Her blue-green eyes flew open and landed on the electric Pokémon that was trying to get her awake, its cheeks sparking. When it saw her awake, however, it ceased sparking.
"What's going on?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she looked around the camp. Then she heard it, the sound of something slithering nearby, just beyond their campsite. The fire had died down, but it still created enough light for Susan to see.
"Who's there?" she demanded, staring around the campsite. Pikachu growled slightly, its cheeks sparking again as it put itself between its trainer and the danger approaching.
As Susan reached for a lit branch, she all of a sudden heard another low growl, this time coming from the woods. And she came face-to-face with another Pokémon, its red eyes glaring back at the young trainer and her Pokémon. She let out a shriek of surprise, almost stumbling over.
"What is that?" she wondered, reaching for her Pokédex and pointing it towards the Pokémon that was still in the shadows. Her blue-green eyes were wide and she was almost in panic as it clicked onto the profile, featuring a small, blue Pokémon.
"Nitoran♀, a poison Pokémon," Dexter's computerised voice spoke up from the small, red, miniature computer. "This female type of the Nitoran species has small, poisonous barbs that make her extremely dangerous. Her horns may be smaller than the male's, but they are still just as powerful. Proceed with caution when dealing with this Pokémon."
Susan stared down at Dexter just as the Pokémon came out of the bushes, revealing the same blue Pokémon that was on the computer screen. It growled at the pair of them, scraping its forefeet towards Pikachu. "Ready for this, Pikachu?" she asked. "Our first battle."
It gave an affirmative nod as it prepared for battle. "Okay, let's do this!" Susan said, a grin spreading across her face. Her first battle . . . "Pikachu, quick attack!"
Immediately, the yellow Pokémon sprung into action, slamming head-on into the blue one. Although it seemed to do damage to the Nitoran, Pikachu let out a shriek, nursing its forehead tenderly.
"Pikachu!" Susan was at her Pokémon's side instantly, wondering what had just happened. Then she understood as she took a look at the injury. It had been hit with one of Nitoran's poisonous darts. "Are you okay? Can you get up?" she asked.
The yellow Pokémon pushed itself up, its cheeks sparking as it glared at Nitoran. Its opponent had been ministering its own injuries, but now it was ready to battle again. "Are you sure you can do this?" Susan asked cautiously and Pikachu nodded. "Okay, let's try no more direct attacks. Uh . . ." Susan thought back to her uncle's lessons about Pikachu's attacks. "Let's see . . . let's try a thunder-shock, okay?"
"Pika . . . CHU!" Thunder and lightning sprung through the air and hit Nitoran full blast. The other Pokémon let out a shriek of rage and pain as it tried to scramble away, but unable to avoid the attack. As the attack slowed the Nitoran down, Pikachu leaped to the ground to deal with its own wounds, licking the poisonous injury painfully.
"Now!" Susan shouted, yanking an empty Pokéball out of her bag and throwing it towards the weak Pokémon. By now, it was lying on the ground helplessly. "Pokéball, go!"
Nitoran, too weak to avoid the Pokéball and being captured, was engulfed by a red light and sucked into the ball. The ball dropped onto the ground and the button was red as it shook slightly. Susan tensed slightly, waiting and watching. After what seemed like an eternity, the ball stopped shaking and its button turned back to white.
"YES!" Susan picked up the Pokéball triumphantly and held it in her hands, a smile spreading across her face. Her first capture as a Pokémon trainer and only on her second night out. She wondered what her uncle was going to say when she told him.
"Pika . . ." Pikachu's weak cry caught her attention and she hurried over to it, remembering about its injury.
"Oh, boy," Susan sighed as she looked at the damage more fully, reaching for her bag and retrieving one of the antidotes that her uncle had given her before she'd left. "Okay, let's see if this is going to help. Just try and stay still, all right?" Pikachu gave a weak nod as she positioned herself to spray on the wound.
"This might sting a little," she said gently as she sprayed the antidote onto the wound. Pikachu shrieked, sparking violently, but to her relief, it didn't release any lightning. "Okay, easy, Pikachu, it's all right. Shh," she crooned. "Easy, it's all right, I'm here." Bandaging the injury quickly, Susan looked down at her Pokémon. "Is that better?"
"Pi . . ." It looked up at her with overbright eyes, but it nodded, crawling into her comforting arms. Susan hugged Pikachu, wondering how she could have ever cared about someone so fast that she just met.
"We'll get you to the first Pokémon Centre that we see and have the nurse there treat it, okay?" she suggested. Pikachu nodded as it curled up into her arms before it looked at the ball that now held Nitoran. Gingerly easing itself out of Susan's arms, it approached the Pokéball and sniffed it tenderly.
"Looks like we got ourselves a new friend, huh?" Susan asked. Pikachu laughed as pressed the button on the Pokéball.
Automatically, there was a burst of light and then Nitoran took form, appearing within the camp. It growled at its new trainer and fellow Pokémon, but Susan scrounged up some Pokémon food and looked towards her two Pokémon. "So, who's hungry?" she asked with a grin.
AN: Okay, guys, thanks for the reviews. They really do keep me motivated, so don't stop! Also, don't worry, Brooke will be coming up in some later chapters, but she will be there. So just keep reviewing and wait anticipatedly for the next chapter.
