Yay, I updated way sooner than I thought I would! Thanks for the reviews!
Also, one thing that isn't Red/Blue: I use all kinds of attacks in this story, ones from all the way back in the original versions to Emerald attacks. D: Sorry, but I can't always remember which came when. Anyway, please read and review! 8D
Chapter Two: Aura and Cycling Road
Lina's slender hand lingered on the doorknob. Nails tapping gently against it, she was lost in thought, almost too worried to open the door and go through. And for good reason, really: she wasn't overly fond of bikers (not that she'd met many before, but the ones earlier were enough), and she didn't want to get jumped by them. Of course, she now apparently had a Pokemon to fight off attackers, not that she had any clue as to what exactly that Pokemon was. She didn't even know all that much about Pokemon, besides the obvious information, and a few things about ghost-types (it came with the territory in Lavender). Other than that, her mind was blank, making her uneasy. She felt she should know more. How would she find out what attacks her new Pokemon even had?
"Miss, are you going through or not?" the gatekeeper asked impatiently.
"What? Oh, yes. I am. Going through." Lina realized where she was, and how long she'd been there. However she made no attempt to move.
"So… are you going through now?"
"Uhh… yes!" Caught by a sudden urge to be brave, Lina twisted the doorknob and marched through, hopping on the bike she'd received from the Man Who Knew Everything. Her backpack was strapped firmly onto her, with most of her things in it: cell phone, a water bottle she'd picked up at the Celadon Department Store on her second stop, and of course her new Pokemon. She wore a short skirt, which wasn't the best thing to wear when one rode a bike, but it wasn't as if she could go home and change now. She pulled the skirt's ends down as far as she could. Overall, with provisions, she was basically prepared for the tedious Cycling Road. But she'd forgotten about being personally ready, and nearly fell off when she saw the group of bikers near the entrance, glaring at her.
"Just passing through," she said cheerily, pedaling by as fast as she could, trying to reach the slope.
"Not so fast!" A biker had caught up with her and loomed in her way. "Let's battle."
"Er… Do I have to?"
"Go! Koffing!" he yelled, throwing out a Pokeball and therefore answering her question. Out from the ball came a sickly-purple Pokemon who somehow resembled the moon to Lina (what with its craters and such). Its eyes were drooped and it had a huge frowning mouth, from which jagged fangs were produced. Dark gas drifted around its 'craters'.
Lina leaned to one side on her bike, balancing herself. Then she dug in her bag and pulled out the Pokeball after fishing around an awkward moment. Tossing it towards Koffing, she tried to sound official. "Go! Uh… you!"
The ball bounced on the ground before it sprang open and a Pokemon popped out. It was a tan fox-like Pokemon, with huge ears that rivaled its head in size. A bushy vulpine tail, dipped in white, curled around her haunches, and her feet were small and delicate. Cream-colored fur circled her neck in a collar. Bright, dark eyes looked up at Lina. "Eevee!" she exclaimed happily.
"Eevee?" Lina repeated. "Wow… I thought Eevees were really rare!"
"They are," said the biker, a little impressed. Then he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's still a Normal type, and those are weak!"
The Eevee frowned at him. "Vee…"
"It's okay, don't worry! We can still win!" Lina said. Her Eevee looked at her and smiled, and she smiled a tiny bit back. She'd never liked the idea of making Pokemon fight, but she'd realized that in some cases you had to – like when bikers were attacking you?
"Koffing, use Poison Gas!" the biker ordered.
"Eevee, use… uh… Quick Attack!" She remembered that Normal types didn't do any damage to Ghost-types, and that Quick Attack was one of the attacks she'd seen used against a Haunter.
Eevee didn't do anything for a moment. Lina frowned. Maybe Eevee didn't know that attack! But then, as Koffing opened its mouth and spewed out toxic gas, Eevee shot through the air and, holding her breath, slammed into the Koffing in a burst of speed that Lina almost missed when she blinked. The Koffing stopped, stunned, and Lina clapped. "Yay!"
"Koffing, Tackle!" the biker said.
"Eevee, uhh… Quick Attack again!"
Eevee darted into Koffing and sent it reeling back, but the gaseous creature slowly came back and tackled Lina's Pokemon, causing Eevee to fall back with a cry.
"Eevee! Are you okay?" Lina gasped.
Eevee got up. "Eev…"
"Koffing, tackle it again!"
Lina frowned, worried. She didn't know any other attacks Eevee knew! "Eevee… Quick Attack!"
"You'll never be able to beat me with the same attack over and over again!" the biker guffawed.
Eevee again crashed into Koffing, sending it down onto the ground. Koffing jumped up again and rammed into Eevee, tackling her.
Lina bit her lip, but realized that Koffing was panting heavily. Eevee looked tired too, but not as much as the Poison Gas Pokemon. "Eevee, do you know Tackle?" she asked.
Eevee nodded. "Eevee!"
"Koffing, Sludge!"
"Okay, use Quick Attack!" Lina said. "Then Tackle!"
Eevee leapt in a blur at Koffing again, but instead of hitting it, she jumped over it, and landed behind it. Koffing spit out rivers of sludge prematurely, then realized Eevee wasn't there, and looked around, confused. Eevee suddenly rammed into the Koffing from right behind it with a full-on Tackle. Falling forward, Koffing crashed to the ground. It had fainted.
"Eevee!" cried Lina's Pokemon happily.
"We won? Wow! Good job, Eevee!" Lina smiled.
"Hmmph. You're just lucky that Eevee was at a higher level than my Koffing," the biker muttered, recalling his Pokemon. "Come back, Koffing."
Eevee stuck her tongue out at him, and he rode away angrily.
"You did a great job…" Lina said happily.
"Vee!" Eevee smiled.
Something suddenly occurred to Lina. "Hey, I should give you a nickname, huh?"
"Eevee!" The fox Pokemon nodded, large ears flapping.
"How about… Aura?" Lina asked. That had been the name she'd always wanted when she was younger. It had always sounded so pretty to her, not that she didn't like her name too.
"Eevee!" she said happily, apparently pleased with her new name.
"Okay, Aura it is, then!" Lina agreed. "Hey, what attacks do you even have, Aura?"
Aura sighed. "Eevee," she said. Obviously she couldn't tell Lina.
"Okay, I know there's Quick Attack, and Tackle… what else?"
Aura suddenly jumped up onto Lina's bike, and dug through her backpack. "Hey, Aura! What're you doing…?"
Aura emerged with her cell phone in her mouth. She dropped it into Lina's hands, and jumped back down to the ground, looking at her trainer expectantly.
"My… cell phone?" Lina suddenly recalled a program she had on her phone, that she'd used all of one time. All the new phones these days had them: programs that recorded the information of Pokemon. She flipped open her phone and searched through her files for it, then located the program and opened it.
On the screen, there were two options: scan Pokemon and Pokedex. Lina chose scan Pokemon. Please scan your Pokemon now, the screen read. Lina pointed her phone's camera at Aura, and it made a scanning sound.
Lots of information popped up about Aura, but Lina scanned through it all to find her attacks. "There," she said, clicking on the 'attacks' button. Quick Attack, Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl. Not that she knew much what any of those meant. Lina clicked on each one individually, reading what it said about each one. Quick Attack: an extremely fast attack. Quick attack's stats were beside it. Tackle: a fairly weak full-body attack. Tail Whip: lowers the foe's defense. Growl: lowers the foe's attack.
"Okay, then!" Lina said happily, loving technology. She closed her phone and looked to Aura. "You know Quick attack, Tail whip, Tackle, and Growl?"
Aura nodded. "Eev!"
Suddenly, Lina remembered something: the bikers! She looked back to see them glaring at her still. "Oops. We better go!" She held out her Pokeball. "Uh… come back, Aura!"
Aura disappeared in red light into the ball, and Lina tucked her away inside her backpack again. Then she got back on her bike and started pedaling again, this time down the hill. Once she reached the slope, she stopped pedaling and let the hill move the bike as she sat there. It was exhilarating having her long dark hair blow back and feeling the wind in her face. Though she was still a bit nervous about her distance from home, she was in a good, happy mood. After all, she had a new friend, Aura, now! And the Eevee had liked the fight, much to her surprise. She'd felt guilty sending the little fox out to battle, but Aura had held her own and had done it happily.
She hadn't gone very far when she saw another group of bikers blocking the road in front of her. Eyes glancing side to side, she realized the only way to avoid them now would be to ride all the way back up the hill and go down a different road, or possibly swim through the water to the other side. And then, she saw, there were bikers on either road beside her too. She began to press lightly on the breaks, coming to a stop once she reached them. "Um… excuse me!" she squeaked, trying not to fight if she had to.
"Hey, it's the kid!" came a voice. Lina looked towards the speaker to see it was the biker who'd tried to steal her bag earlier, when she was walking to Celadon.
"Hey, it's… you…!" Lina gave him a fake smile. "So uh… can I get through?"
"Nice try. Rico's not here right now to protect you."
"Rico protected her?" asked another biker. She was huge – it was a wonder her bike wasn't squished – and her dirty blond hair was curly and greasy. By dirty blond, of course, it meant that her hair was a light gold color, with dirt and grime settled among it.
"He has a soft spot for little kids," the first biker spat.
"Maybe we shouldn't do anything then," hissed a voice from behind them, though Lina couldn't see who said it.
"I really have to get through," murmured Lina. "I'm in a hurry, a-and I can't be late…"
"Cheer up, kid! It'll only cost you a battle." The blue-haired biker nodded.
"She doesn't have any Pokemon," the first biker said.
"Ugh. Who would ride down Cycling Road without Pokemon?" came another's voice. This biker had gravity-defying blue hair and dark eyes.
"This little girl here, obviously." The first biker looked annoyed.
"Shut up, Jaren."
"How 'bout we each battle her?" The biker from before – Jaren – said.
"I only have one Pokemon," Lina said nervously.
"Even better!" Jaren grinned.
"I really have to get through," Lina repeated. "I have an important message for the Safari Zone Warden?"
"Fascinating," drawled the woman.
"I have an important message for you, too: NO!" said the blue-haired biker, looking proud of himself.
They all stared at him, then Jaren shook his head. "Okay. We only have one Pokemon each, too."
"But there's about six of you," Lina frowned.
"Fine! Battle me and… Andy here," Jaren said. Andy, the blue-haired biker, let out a happy yell.
Lina sighed. "Then you'll let me through?"
Jaren nodded. "Right, right. If you win, kid."
"…Fine." Lina sighed.
"I'll go first!" Jaren said. "Go, Bronco!" He threw the Pokeball and out came a Koffing, this one smaller than the one before.
Lina crossed her arms. Didn't the bikers have any other Pokemon? "Go, Aura!" Aura emerged from the Pokeball.
"Bronco, use Acid!"
"Aura, use…" Lina thought back. "Growl!"
Aura, being the faster Pokemon, growled at the Koffing, lowering its attack. Bronco spat out a mass of purple-black goo, which covered Aura.
"Aura! Are you okay?"
Aura shook herself, trying to get the acid off her coat. Other than shooting Lina a disgusted look, the vulpine Pokemon didn't seem too fazed by the attack.
"Now use Sludge Bomb!" Jaren called out.
"Aura, Growl again!" Lina didn't like the sound of Sludge Bomb. "Lower its attack!"
Aura obeyed, this time showing her white fangs. They were small, but sharp as Bronco's were blunt. The Koffing's attack fell again, though Jaren smirked. "Show them what a real fight's all about!"
Bronco took a deep breath and shot a ball of poison sludge at Aura, hitting her straight in the chest. Rolling back, Aura cried out in pain as the ball exploded on impact. Stumbling over, the small Eevee lay crumpled in a heap on the ground, eyes closed.
"Aura!" Lina exclaimed, worried. She hopped off the bike, letting it fall to the ground, and hurried over to her Pokemon. "Aura, wake up!"
Aura opened one eye. "Vee," she said.
"Oh, you're okay!" Lina said, relieved. "Don't worry, Aura, we don't have to fight anymore, okay?" Though she didn't know how she'd be able to get past the bikers now. Lina reached out to pick up the Eevee, but Aura stood up, a little shakily, and jumped back towards the Koffing.
"Aura?" Lina blinked. "You want to fight more?"
Jaren glowered at the small creature. "Bronco, use Poison Gas!"
"Aura, Quick Attack!"
The Eevee became a shot of light as she pummeled into Bronco. Then, as fast as she could, she leapt away from it, as the Koffing used Poison Gas and exhaled a sickly plum-colored smoke at her. Aura dodged it easily.
"Try again, Bronco!"
"Tail Whip!"
Aura moved closer to Bronco again and lashed it with her fox-like tail, lowering its defense. Bronco used the same Poison Gas attack as before, and although Aura didn't jump away like she had previously, the gas didn't poison her.
Poison Gas must not be very accurate, Lina thought.
"Tail Whip it again!"
"Bronco, Poison Gas again! This time, actually do it!"
Aura hit Bronco right between the eyes with her tail, and the Koffing looked annoyed. Inhaling a breath of air again, it breathed out the same gas. But this time, Aura was poisoned by it, and she fell to the ground, coughing.
"Oh no, Aura!"
"Yes! Sludge Bomb!"
"Aura, watch out! Use Quick Attack!" Lina hoped that since she'd lowered Bronco's defense, Aura would inflict lots of damage on the Koffing.
Wait, did she?
No, that was wrong! She was a pacifist. Why would she want to hurt a poor Pokemon? But she was right now, and before she had told Aura to beat the other Pokemon. So what if she wasn't doing it directly? She was telling Aura to hurt the Koffing, and that was the same thing as hurting it herself.
Aura shot back at Bronco, ramming into it. The Koffing cried out in surprise, and fell down towards the ground. For a moment, it looked like it might faint. Before it hit, though, it regained its balance, and floated back up again. Then, Bronco spat out another Sludge Bomb.
"Aura, dodge it!" Lina cried. Her Eevee leapt up, trying frantically to get away from the attack. It had hurt before, and now that she was poisoned, it would hurt more.
Aura didn't get away, and the bomb hit her. The force of it sent her sliding across the ground painfully. But not as painfully as before.
"Aura!" Lina gasped, as the Eevee stood up, a rather confused look on her face. Lina was lost also. Why hadn't this one hurt more? The girl and Pokemon both looked back towards the Koffing, and found it unconscious on the ground.
"W-what? What just happened?" Lina asked.
Jaren glared at her. "Koffing fainted, obviously. You and your stupid Quick Attacks! It used one last attack before it fainted, and with only half the power." He recalled the Pokemon, disgusted.
Lina sighed. "We won, Aura!"
"Eevee!" Aura smiled back, a bit weakly. No, the Sludge Bomb hadn't been very painful, but she was still in bad shape: poisoned and close to fainting as it was.
"Now it's my turn!" grinned Andy. Lina's mouth hung open. How had she forgotten there were two Pokemon to beat?
Aura obviously hadn't. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Andy.
"Can we do it, Aura?" Lina asked, worried.
"Vee," was the determined answer, though Aura was breathing heavily.
"Go, Choppy!" Andy called out, throwing out his Pokeball. A short human-type Pokemon jumped out: Machop. Its skin was leathery and greenish, and it had plates upon its head. It almost looked like a cross between a human and a dinosaur. Huge muscles lined its arms and legs.
"Oh no…" Lina groaned. Machop was a fighting Pokemon, and fighting types were especially strong against normal types!
"Oh yes!" Andy chortled. "Now, prepare to be DESTROYED! Choppy, Revenge!"
The Machop stood there, looking a bit confused. Aura hadn't attacked first, so it couldn't do anything with Revenge.
"Aura, Tail Whip!" Lina said, thankful for Andy's wasted attack. With enough lowering of its defense, maybe Machop would go down easily.
Aura, having used the attack continuously lately, used her tail to smack the Machop right in the face, darting away with a smirk on her face.
"Choppy, use Triple Kick!"
Choppy spun in a circle to kick Aura once, and missing the other two times. Aura had braced herself, and the attack didn't do much, even if it was super effective.
"Keep lowering its defense!" Lina told Aura, and she Tail Whipped Choppy again.
Andy laughed. "Ready for this? Choppy, Counter!"
Again, the Machop stood there motionless. Tail Whip wasn't an offensive attack, Lina knew. What was Andy doing?
"Yay! Go Choppy!"
"Andy, you're an idiot," Jaren growled.
"Why'd you choose him to fight and not me?" the woman demanded.
"…No clue."
"Tail Whip, Aura!"
"Revenge again!"
Like before, Choppy stood there, an angry look on its face, as Aura used Tail Whip to lower is defense. "Maaaa-chop," it whined to Andy.
"I know, you're doing great!" the biker said happily.
Two more rounds of Tail Whipping went by, and both times Andy told Machop to use Counter. Lina felt a tiny spark of hope. Maybe she could still win! Though Aura was being weakened every round by the poison, they still had a chance.
"Now, Aura, use Quick Attack!"
Aura jumped in a blur at Choppy, slamming right into it and knocking it over. Andy gasped. "Choppy! Be okay! Use Bulk Up!"
Choppy staggered to its feet and used Bulk Up to raise its attack and defense slightly. But even though Normal attacks were extremely weak against Fighting types, Lina and Aura had the advantage now. One more Quick Attack and Choppy'd faint. Unfortunately, Aura looked extremely tired too.
"Aura, Quick Attack!" Lina called again. Aura hit Choppy one last time, and the fighting Pokemon fell over again – this time, he'd fainted. Andy recalled him.
"Yay! Aura, you did it!" Lina cried. Aura gave a weak smile before she also toppled over, unconscious. "Aura? Oh no!"
"Calm down," Jaren spat. "It's just fainted."
Lina recalled Aura. "You did really well," she murmured, proud of her little Pokemon. "It's okay, soon I'll get you to a Pokemon center."
"Poor Choppy!" Andy moaned. "My poor little Choppy got all beat up."
"Can I go now? I have to get to Fuchsia!"
"Hey, move aside," Jaren ordered, not looking at Lina. "Let her through." The bikers did as they were told, and Lina got back on her bike. She didn't say another word to them before she took off, riding down the hill as fast as she could go.
Lina happily saw that there were no more bikers to deal with: they'd all congregated in one spot. She tried to enjoy the rest of the ride, as her hair flew back and danced in the breeze, but she was worried about Aura. She knew Pokemon fainted a lot, of course, but she hoped Aura was still okay, and that she wasn't angry at Lina for not… running, or something.
As she neared the end of the slope, Lina turned her bike, riding west for a little, then hopping off her bike completely. She had reached a guard house, and opened the door to walk through – a lot more eager to pass through the door than she had been earlier, upon entering Cycling Road. Lina hurried through the guard house, and past the patch of grass with trainers gathered around it. Her grey eyes were set on the city right in front of her, and to the Pokemon center's welcoming sign.
She ran up the few stairs leading to the plaza of the city, and rushed to the center. She was greeted by Nurse Joy, and she gave her a tiny smile. "Can you heal my Eevee?" she asked, handing the nurse Aura's Pokeball.
"Of course," Nurse Joy said kindly. "Why don't you go look around – maybe go to the zoo? It will take me a few minutes to heal it completely."
Lina nodded. "Thank you," she said, turning and leaving. Outside, she realized that the sun was beginning to go down. It had taken her awhile to ride down Cycling Road, and it had already been late afternoon when she arrived in Celadon City. Lina wondered if her dad had found out where she was from Mr. Fuji. He hadn't tried to call yet, after all. And usually he was very overprotective of her.
Lina decided she'd take a walk through the zoo. It was north of the plaza area, and held in pens rare Pokemon. As she wandered past the Kanghaskan and looked in at the Lapras, she called her father.
"Hello, hello!" he answered cheerfully. "Are you calling to request dinner?"
"Hi, Dad. Uh… no. I'm actually…" A thought occurred to her. She either had to spend the night here, or ride all the way up Cycling Road again, a task which would take a long time. And she didn't want to be around those bikers at night. "I have to stay here for the night," she told him. Nurse Joy would let her stay in the Pokemon Center. She knew they doubled as a trainer hotel.
" 'Here'? Where is 'here'?" he asked. "Aren't you up at Rock Tunnel?"
"Uh, no. I'm in… Fuchsia City."
He laughed. "Do you want lasagna for dinner?"
"Dad, I'm being serious!"
He hesitated. "Lina, how would you even get to Fuchsia City? You have to take the road along the seashore to get there, and it takes forever to walk."
"I went to Celadon first. Didn't Mr. Fuji tell you?"
"Celadon? You went to Celadon? My daughter, the one who always says it's too crowded when two people come in town to get their Pokemon names rated?"
Lina flushed. "Mr. Fuji needed me to take a message there."
"Well, that's not that long of a walk. But how did you get to Fuchsia?"
"Uh, by Cycling Road."
"You went down Cycling Road? But there's bikers!"
"I know. I battled them, though, so it was okay – "
"You battled them? With what?"
"The Man Who Knows Everything gave me a Pokemon. An Eevee."
"Who's that?"
Lina sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you everything. But you have to promise not to interrupt me anymore. Or repeat everything I say."
"Repeat everything you say?" he stammered. "Just kidding."
Lina took a deep breath, and told him the whole story – leaving out the old man stalker and certain other details he'd be less than pleased to hear.
"Wow, that's uh… quite a story." He sounded angry.
"Are you mad?" she asked.
"Not at you."
"At who, then? Mr. Fuji? Dad, you can't be mad at him. He's senile. He doesn't know what's going on."
"He apparently knows something. What exactly is beginning?" he asked, about the message she was supposed to deliver to the Warden.
"I don't know. I'm just the messenger."
"Are you their permanent go-between then?"
"No. I don't think so. This is the last one, then I'll take the seaside path back to Lavender. I'll be home tomorrow."
"Where are you staying?"
"The Pokemon Center. It's perfectly safe, and everything. You know how they are."
"I still don't like this," he said.
"I know. Bye, Dad."
"Bye, honey." He laughed a tiny bit. "Celadon, now Fuchsia. You're becoming quite the explorer. Be careful."
"I will."
Lina hung up her phone, and turned around to go see the Electrode. Once she got Aura back, she'd go see the Warden. But suddenly, as she turned around, she rammed right into someone. Her phone went flying away, though she had bigger problems right now than finding out exactly where it had landed. Pain flooding her body, she felt like her nose – which had collided with the person's shoulder – had been broken in fifty places and then stomped on a few times for good measure. She grabbed it, wincing, and looked up to see who she'd crashed into.
Oh no! xD Okay, that wasn't much of a cliffhanger, but the next chapter will be about Fuchsia City, so I had to stop this one somewhere. Anyway, please review!