Chapter 2 - The Road to Accumula Town

"So, you're first stop will be Accumula Town?" An elderly man asked on the video screen.

"Yes, Dad," Peter said, "Then through to Striaton. I'm going to stick to the main routes through the towns."

The elderly man laughed which caused his thick white moustache to quiver and deep crows feet to appear around his eyes betraying the years of hard work Peters father had done to keep the farm running, "Where is your sense of adventure?!"

"Adventure can come after I get to Opelucid." Peter said dryly, "When I have a Pokemon partner to adventure with."

"Haha, I am sure you will meet some characters along the way,"Peters father smiled, recalling his own journey, "Of course things have changed a bit since my time on the road."

"Yes, yes Dad, I remember you had it tough - struggling through with your Oshawott all alone .." Peter said mimicking his fathers voice.

"You'll see," He said looking off screen, "Wont he Samurott?"

The Pokemon barked in the background. Peter smiled at the sound, he had spent many hours playing with Samurott over the years.

"You look after him Samurott, ok?" Peter called into the screen, leaning forward.

The Pokemon barked again as Peters father laughed.

"Well you take care," The old man said, "...and don't be afraid to enjoy yourself a bit on the way, huh?"

Peter smiled at the screen, "See ya."

Peters father waved at the screen as it went blank. Peter paused thoughtfully looking into the black monitor before picking up his black medical bag. He hoped his father would be ok. He still refused to take outside help with the farm and did everything himself. It was a tough life and Peter felt a little guilty for leaving him - had his father not continued to urge Peter to go on a journey of his own he would almost certainly still be there.

He turned, flung his bag over his shoulder and stepped out into the daylight. The street was full of people shopping - many had Pokemon of various types walking by their side or up on the shoulders. Peter regarded a particularly well groomed Oshawott with a pink bow on its head, being carried in a pink handbag. The owner of the handbag was a tall girl who wore a pink dress and matching pink shoes. Her blonde hair waved around her shoulders as she took long strides through the crowd.

He looked away to see an elderly man who was picking Oranges from a stall and and handing them to a golett who was holding a box full of various food items. The old man was closely examining each one much to the frustration of the stall owner.

Peter pushed on through the crowded street. After picking up some essential food supplies he embarked on his journey to Accumula. He had heard that there was a large battle club there and was excited to see what kinds of Pokemon he would find, he had heard trainers even come from outside of Unova to battle.

He hadn't been walking long when the paved streets suddenly started giving way to gravel path. Peter walked up a short hill to a sign which read - "Nuvema Town - City Limit."

He stopped at the sign and looked back, from the hill he could see the whole town - and there on the far side was the College campus. It looked so small from here. He could just make out the Pokemon battle courts. He rummaged around in his bag and pulled out an old camera which he used to snap a few shots of the city before continuing on.

The path was quite wide, easily enough for 3 people to walk side by side. Along each side of the path was a small bank and beyond that a forest of trees. Everything was a deep green colour and the smell of flowers and grass permeated the air. He was all alone by now, having left the crowds of the city far behind. all he could hear was the sound of singing flying Pokemon, or the buzzing of some bug types. Peter almost fell into a trance at how serene this place was.

Suddenly a human shout pierced the tranquility, Peter could trace it as coming from his right, in the forest. Intrigued he scaled the large bank and passed the trees lining the top. After pushing through the branches he he stopped in awe. The landscape in front of him was carved into a natural depression, with a steep bank all around ringed by trees. At the bottom was a flat surface where two people stood facing each other. Peter carefully stepped down to the midway point of the hillside to get a better view.

On his right was a girl about 18 years old. She was wearing a long white dress which came to her ankles, just showing a pair of white sneakers. Her dress was held in place with a black belt with large buckle around her waist and her long thick golden hair shone as the sun reflected on it.

To his left stood a short chubby boy, Peter guessed he was no more than 10. He had a black T-shirt with what Peter could just make out to be a small Pokeball emblem on the left chest side, a pair of red shorts with a black stripe on the side and red training shoes. He was running his hands through his short hair whilst skipping from side to side like a boxer in the ring.

"Well, are we going to battle or not? I don't got all day." The boy called in a southern, 'cowboy' accent.

Just then movement just below him caught his attention. Peter couldn't make out if it was a boy or a girl in a long Orange coat which had a hood with protrusions shaped like the antennae on a Drangonite's head jutting out from the top.

The orange coat moved into a position centrally to the side of the two.

"Of course, I said I would." The girl on the right remarked, "My sister will adjudicate, right Jade?"

"Sure." The Orange coat shouted back.

"Well, quit stallin' and show me what you got!" The boy on the left demanded.

"Very well," Smirked the girl in the white dress, "Dewott lets show them what we can do!"

'All right!' Thought Peter, thinking back to his fathers Samurott. He grabbed his camera from his bag and used the zoom lens to get a better look.

The girl threw the Pokeball into the air and a very confident looking Dewott somersaulted and landed firmly on the ground in front of her.

Its fur was a light blue with a 'belt' of dark blue around its waist and upper legs. On each thigh it carried the familiar 'sea shell' scalchop. Peter zoomed in again and clicked the shutter button admiring the Dewott's long whiskers and messy 'hairstyle' which was obviously especially groomed.

Peter had pretty much made his mind that if the boy didn't pull out an Oshawott then he would be cheering for the girl. Even though as a Pokemon Doctor Peter was expected to use mainly bug types along with an Audino, he had a passion for water Pokemon taking after his father. Especially the Oshawott line after all the fun times he remembered working with Samurott.

"OK, Snivy lets see if you can prove yourself worthy this time." The boys words almost seemed to come out as a sigh. He snapped his wrist and flung the pokeball towards the ground.

Peter panned his camera over to the boy and watched as the Snivy appeared out of the pokeball and stumbled backwards. Peter frowned, there was something off here. He tried to zoom his camera in further but it was at maximum already. Peter realised that this Snivy was just really small, much smaller than those he had seen given as starters previously even. He maintained his watch on the small grass snake Pokemon, its head was down and it was gently swaying from side to side. It looked exhausted already and the leaf on its tail was drooping downwards.

"Hey, ummm, is it okay?" Jade asked, pointing her Orange coated arm at the Snivy, "It looks kinda... sad.."

"Mind your own business," The boy snapped, "I know the limits of all my Pokemon. You wait and see - hell, you're not even old enough to be a trainer so what'd you know anyway."

Jade dropped her arm to her side and put her hands on her hips, "Well, I guess..." She glanced over at her sister.

Peter panned the camera back to the girl in the white dress, he noticed her Dewott was looking back at her nervously.

"Fine, we will finish this quickly then.." The girl said. The dewott's head turned back to face the still swaying Snivy and the boy. At that moment the pair both crossed their arms in unison.

"If you guys are sure," Jade said, "Then begin the battle!"

"Dewott, lets finish this quickly with double razer shell!" The girl shouted, as she flung her arm forward in a gesturing motion toward the small Snivy.

"Dewwww-wHAATTT" The Pokemon called, snatching the two scalchops from its sides. Peter watched through the camera lens as they started to glow blue and form sharp pointed swords.

"Hah, Snivy counter it." The boy said smugly.

Peter panned his camera back to the snivy which stood still swaying. He took his eye away from the viewfinder and glanced over to the Dewott who was now running at full steam, scalchops trailing behind ready to strike.

The chubby boy glanced down at his Pokemon, frustrated that it had not obeyed his command.

"I said counter it you little looser!" He shouted, pushing the snivy forward with his foot.

The snivy stumbled forward two steps, directly into the path of the Dewott's attack.

The otter pokemon swang its blades with elegance, its form looked really well rehearsed as made a direct connection to the left side of the snivy's head, first one blade, then the other.

The snivy let out a screeching noise which made Peter shudder, and collapsed to the ground.

"Well Snivy, get up you're embarrassing me." The boy said through gritted teeth.

There was a short pause, Peter grabbed his bag, got up from his viewpoint and started to stumble down the bank as fast as he could. The girl in the white dress said nothing, seemingly giving the other trainer some time to recover. Dewott took two steps back and glanced over its shoulder again, breathing heavily it elegantly placed its scalchops back onto its thighs being sure they were locked in place.

"Snivy is unable to battle..." Jade announced, but before she could complete her sentence she was interrupted,

"Shut it, this isn't over yet," The boy said, gritting his teeth once more, "Get up you little looser, this is the third time today damn it!"

"Third time? Geez.." Peter mumbled as he completed his decent of the bank. He ran past the girl in the Orange coat startling her, "This battle is over." He said as he passed her.

Jade took two steps to her right looking quizzically at Peter as he ran by, "Tha-thats what I said, Snivy is unable to battle, therefore Kelly is the winner.."

"Hey jerk," The chubby kid said as Peter got closer, "Who the hell do you think you are interfering with our battle?"

Peter ignored him and crouched down next to the injured grass snake Pokemon. It was clutching the bottom of its head with its stubby arms and it was shivering.

Peter looked upwards towards the boy, "What the hell have you done to this Pokemon?!"

"I trained it." The boy said abruptly.

"Trained it?" Peter said, continuing his examination of the Pokemon, "You have nearly killed it!"

Peter turned the Pokemon onto its side, he could see that it had its eyes tightly shut. Down the left side of its head were long double scars, very close together, very clean. Both these cuts went right from the top of Snivy's head to its neck, right over its large left eye. Peter was concerned, this Snivy looked weak before the battle, it had very little energy left.

"Dont talk junk to me, this Pokemon is a total looser," Shouted the boy turning red, "It lost 3 battles today alone. Its like it just wants to humiliate me!"

"3 Battles today?" Came another voice, Peter looked over to see the girl in the white dress standing alongside him, "It must be exhausted, there isn't a Pokemon centre for miles..."

"Can someone pass me a revive?" Peter said, looking up, catching the boys eye for the first time.

"I ran out." The boy said sarcastically.

Peter turned to face the other trainer.

"I think I have something in my bag." She said, gesturing to her sister.

"Listen, I aint got time for this junk. That snivy is a useless looser. This was his last chance." The boy said, totally ignoring the seriousness of the issue, "I told him if he lost again I would leave him."

Peter suddenly had a flashback, the snivy standing and allowing itself to be hit, did it loose on purpose to get away from this jerk?

They boy turned and started walking off.

"Hey, you cant just leave, your Pokemon is hurt here!" Peter shouted after him.

"I dont want him, I aint got room on my team for pipsqueaks like that." He said, "Only reason I took him is because there was nothin' else."

"And looks like he has been paying for it all this time huh?" Peter said sharply.

"Well, if you like it so much, here's his ball." They boy took the pokeball off his belt and threw it into the forest, "Have fun."

Peter felt his muscles tighten and rage pour through him, he couldnt believe someone could care so little about their Pokemon. He was about to stand up and confront the boy when the girl in the Orange coat came trotting up.

"Here..." She panted, offing Peter a small vile.

Peter stood for a few seconds watching the fat boy walking away up the bank. He was clearly unfit and was having to excerpt a lot of effort with each step. The snivy coughed which snapped Peters attention back to the injured Pokemon.

"Thanks," He nodded as he took the small vile from the girl, "Is this all you have? There is not much left here.." Peter caught himself snapping at the girl.

"I'm sorry." The girl said guiltily.

Peter gently fed the contents of the bottle to the creature. It coughed but drank what was there.

Peter rummaged about in his bag. He only had one healing spray.

"Ok little guy," Peter said, "Lets check out that eye next."

As Peters hands touched the snivys face it squirmed. It clearly lacked any sort of real energy as its stubby arms were just softly hitting Peters wrists and he was easily able to restrain it with his other hand.

He gently opened the Pokemon's eye. It was a deep red colour and along the lines of the blade cuts the eye was turning a milky white colour, moving out ether side of the scar were what looked like white veins. This eye had almost lost its deep red/brown shine which is one of the Snivy lines main characteristics. Peter withdrew his hand and the eye snapped shut again.

Peter had noticed the two girls looking on concerned around him along with the Dewott.

Peter reached into his bag again and pulled out the spray bottle.

"That Dewott is very impressive." Peter said, glancing up at the girl, "Its form is quite excellent."

"Dewott, return" Kelly said, looking down at her feet. The Pokemon disappeared into the Pokeball in a burst of energy, "I shouldnt have battled, it was obvious there was something wrong... but I thought he might be tricking us... he seemed the type.."

Peter lined up the spray nozzle with the scarring and pulled this plunger. Nothing.

"Sorry, I didnt mean to upset you," Peter said, shaking the bottle and trying again, "My father has a Sanurott, your Pokemon reminded me of him. Besides, you are right and if your Dewott had not been so skillful then things could be much worse."

Again nothing happened. Peter could hear liquid in the bottle however. Peter looked down and noticed the Pokemon was shivering more now. The sun was setting and darkness was starting to fall over the battlefield. He stood and took off his white coat and wrapped the pokemon inside.

"Here," Jade said, taking off her dragonite coat, "Please, use this as well."

"Thanks," Peter said pausing, "Can you put that on snivy whilst I try to figure out what is going on with this?" He shook the bottle again.

Jade started to wrap the Pokemon whilst Peter tried to unscrew the lid of the bottle. It was very tight and wouldn't budge.

He looked over to see the girl in the white dress walking back and gathering her things. He gave the bottle one last twist. The top sprang off, taking him by surprise, spraying the contents of the bottle onto his trousers. Quickly Peter tipped the bottle back but only a small amount remained.

"Archeus damn it!" He grumbled angrily.

He thought for a few moments, staring into space. He thought he should have stopped that kid from leaving, he should have stopped the battle before it started, he should have prepared more before he left Nuvema and taken more supplies. What kind of doctor was he anyway? A dumb clumsy one who couldn't even open a bottle and now risked this poor Pokemon... He cast his mind back to what Professor Fir had told him 'Always return the Pokemon to the Pokeball until you can get somewhere to safely treat it...'

The snivy's Pokeball... Where did it go, he wasnt even paying attention. It could be anywhere. Out of desperation he started to fumble about in his bag, tins of food and instant noodles. Clothes, a handkerchief... Peter paused, thinking...

He carefully folded the handkerchief into a long thin strip. He looked up again to see that Jade had packed the snivy into the coat with the dragonite 'hood' on its head.

"Cute.." Peter said as he kneeled back down beside the Pokemon.

He dowsed the handkerchief with the remaining liquid and applied it as a dressing to the eye, he wrapped either end of the handkerchief around the pokemon's head as a kind of make shift eyepatch.

Just then a voice behind him said, "Oran berry."

Peter turned to see Kelly looking down at him, holding out a dark purple fruit.

"Excellent!" Peter said, excitedly taking the berry from her, "Thank you!"

Kelly grinned and looked over at the Pokemon.

The snivy was starting to get restless and was shuffling in the makeshift bedding it was wrapped in. It moaned a little as Peter offered it the berry.

"Hmm, perhaps it doesn't even have the energy to eat this.. " Peter again rummaged in his bag and pulled out a pestle and mortar dish. He quickly ground the berry into a paste.

Lifting the Pokemon into his arms, he spoon fed the mixture to the Pokemon like a baby, ensuring that the small creature had eaten the lot. Almost instantly it settled back down and seemed to drift back to sleep.

By now it was almost totally dark, Peter could just about make out the silhouettes of the two girls, it looked like they were making camp. Peter thought to do the same, but was afraid to move incase of waking his patient. He manoeuvred his bag behind his back on the bank, enough for him to lean back on at least. He shut his eyes for just a moment.