CHAPTER TWO: FIRST TASTE
Amanda and Lily did a bit of small talk as they started on route 29. They would stop by a tree and look for berries occasionally, but so far, they had no luck. Then they got to an area of tall grass. Amanda was about to walk right into it but Lily stopped her.
"Amanda, there are wild Pokémon in there. You think we can handle it?" She warned.
Amanda proudly stated, "Hey, we both have our own Pokémon. I know we can handle it."
She then proceeded into the grass. Lily gulped and followed her into the grass. Once they were in, they started walking towards the exit when they were stopped; by a pair of Ledian! Amanda and Lily hastily threw their poke balls and released their Pokémon. Lily still hadn't gotten used to catching the ball though, and it went whizzing over her head.
"Whoops. AH!" She cried, as she saw her Pokémon being pummeled by one of the Ledian with a Comet Punch.
Seel couldn't keep count of the fists as they connected with different parts of its body in a blur. Meanwhile, Amanda commanded Pikachu to Thundershock the other Ledian. The attack connected with the ladybird Pokémon, and it flew back and squealed in pain. Amanda took a look at Seel, and decided to help it out. The Pokémon had blue-black bruises nearly everywhere on its body. Pikachu anticipated Amanda's command and delivered a Thundershock to the Ledian, who also squealed in pain. Amanda fist pumped into the air while uttering a celebratory "All right!" but was cut short when Lily got wide-eyed and yelled,
"Look, Pikachu!"
Amanda looked back at her Pokémon to see it being Tackled to the ground. She narrowed her eyes and went in.
Amanda's POV:
She quickly commanded her Pokémon to dodge the on-coming Tackle. Pikachu squealed in delight at the sight of its partner, then focused at its opponent. The Ledian evidently didn't suspect what was coming as it blindly rushed forward. Once Pikachu was behind it, She commanded her Pokémon to Thundershock it. The mouse-like Pokémon scurried closer to the enemy, then delivered a full-on Thundershock to the Pokémon's back. It's back smoldered a bit, then it lay down on the ground, twitching. Amanda was a bit disgusted with the Pokémon, so she watched it faint, then went over to look at Lily.
Normal POV:
She came back to see a good-bad sight. The good part was that she was looking at a Seel and a fainted, smashed up Ledian, and the bad part was that Seel was barely standing. It had bruises everywhere, and its face was a bit bloody. It half-crawled, half limped back to its trainer as she knelt down to receive it, and lay down there, breathing heavily. Lily sprayed some potion on its wounds, which made the swelling to go down, as Amanda withdrew her Pokémon and walked up to her. Lily sniffled a bit and withdrew Seel back into its ball. Amanda looked up to her to cheer her up, but was thwarted as the girl simply shook her head. As she smiled and stood up to talk to Amanda she snickered,
"Hey, my first Pokémon battle. I gotta be proud of myself, not to sniffle like a girl who lost her teddy bear. Although I have lost a lot of teddy bears…"Saying the last sentence in a bit of a whisper.
Amanda smiled at the remark Lily made about herself, although she laughed a bit at the last part. Lily frowned and gave her a glare that made her shut up. They both stood up tall and walked out of the grass.
It's amazing how Lily can become happy so quickly, Amanda wondered, as she saw Lily prancing around, behaving as if nothing had happened, barely two minutes after the battle that sent her downhill. Or is it just forgetfulness? Well if it is, I'll sure like to have that healthy dose of blissful ignorance. Amanda pondered. She stopped thinking, and picked up her pace to keep up with the highly speeding girl. Lily looked back for two seconds and didn't notice that she stepped into some grass. If it weren't for Amanda's warning one of the dozen Rattata that lunged at her, surely would've gotten her for sure. She stumbled backwards just in time, as the hissing and growling litter of rat Pokémon would've chewed her feet off. She threw Seel's poke ball again, a bit more accurate this time, but still couldn't catch it, hence the ball went flying into a bush. Seel came out of its ball, battered, but wounds slowly healing. Amanda rushed to Lily's side with Pikachu, who had been called out of its ball already. But one good look at the odds that were against them, and the logical thing that came out of both of the pre-teens mouths were,
"RUN!"
They were going as fast as they could, with Seel dragging them back because of its shuffle style of moving and all. Lily closely dodged a bite by a Rattata that would have connected with her foot, if Seel didn't blow it away with Powder Snow. Lily smiled at her Pokémon who's eyes shimmered in return, but was interrupted by a yelp of pain from Amanda. Lily screamed when she saw it; a Rattata had caught up to her and made a large leap at her back, giving her a nasty nip. Blood was trickling out of the wound a little, but Amanda decided to keep running. Pikachu got angry at the Rattata and stopped. Amanda noticed and called out to Pikachu,
"No! Pikachu! It's not worth it!"
Her Pokémon faced her for a brief second, a glint and a smirk of its eyes and mouth confidently telling her that it knew what it was doing. She nodded and with a yell of "Follow me!" jumped into a clearing with some unusually leafy shrubs, cushioning her landing. Lily and Seel gracefully tumbled after her and Lily immediately started to treat her wound by spraying some potion on it.
Pikachu's POV:
It made sure to look as Amanda, Lily and Seel jumped into the clearing by a tree. The Rattata were edging closer and closer, although a good number of them had stopped. Pikachu was only after the one that bit Amanda. It singled it out easily as it was the only one with blood on its teeth, and concentrated. Its eyes and cheeks radiated with power, then it let it all out through its hands. A large, forked Thundershock hit the Rattata head-on as it sped on through to Pikachu, attempting to use Quick Attack. It yelped with pain as electricity coursed through its body. The momentum from its run-up kept it moving though, and the unconscious Pokémon slid right by Pikachu a considerable distance before stopping. When the electric Pokémon looked around, all the Rattata had fled. It noticed Seel's ball poking out of the bush that it flew into and carefully plucked it with its mouth and proudly trotted back to Amanda with it like nothing had happened.
Normal POV:
The three of them shielded their eyes from the large flash of light they saw. Amanda walked up to the main path, and was surprised to see an unconscious Rattata slide to a skid to a stop right in front of her. She took a good look at it and considered catching it. Well, a Rattata wouldn't hurt to catch. And if I leave it here it'll die anyway, so… I'm gonna catch it!" She brought out a poke ball and aimed at the Rattata, throwing the ball as she heard the 'locked-on' ping. It bounced off the Pokémon, sucked it inside and in a flash of red light, Amanda had caught herself her first Pokémon! Just as she went back to the clearing and sat down, leaning on the tree, Pikachu jumped out from nowhere and landed softly on her lap.
"Hey, Pikachu! I caught it!"
The Pokémon rose and showed her the poke ball in its mouth. She smiled and gave it to Lily, who was beside her for her to withdraw Seel, which she did. Lily asked with a yawn,
"All this action has made me sleepy. Permission to grab some Z's, captain?"
"Permission granted, Private." Amanda replied, before watching Lily doze off a few minutes later. She petted Pikachu and held the Poke ball up to the Pokédex lens. She saw the Rattata in a simple clearing in some grass with a hole in the middle, probably for it to give birth to and keep babies. She read;
No. 019 Rattata, the rat Pokémon.
A purple, rat-like Pokémon. This Pokémon's impressive vitality allows it to live anywhere. It also multiplies very quickly. It's range of things it regards as edible is very widespread. Its also impressive speed makes up for its initial lack of special attacks.
This Rattata is currently at lv. 5 and knows them moves; Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Growl.
Amanda read on and found out that her Rattata was a female. She figured it to be more aggressive and territorial than the other's, and wondered to herself;Did I catch the mother? She shrugged off the idea and withdrew Pikachu into its ball and dozed off.
She was woken up by the sound of Lily's voice. The girl had brought out her Seel and was walking over to a small tree. She commanded Seel to Headbutt the tree, and Amanda closed her eyes to sleep again. She woke up with a start, with Lily shouting,
"Again, Seel! Headbutt!"
She abruptly stood up and saw Lily battling an Exeggcute, and winning! Seel delivered another Headbutt to the egg Pokémon, and it posed it self to attack. Midway into launching its attack, it stopped and shuddered. Lily fist-pumped into the air and yelled,
"Alright! It flinched again! Oh, look Amanda!"
Amanda replied simply, "Cool, an Exeggcute. I think you should-" but was interrupted by Lily shushing her.
"Sorry about that, but I want to catch it myself." She apologized, before concentrating on the battle again. The Exeggcute was slowly but surely recovering from the blow, and Lily noticed that. She held out a poke ball and waited for it to lock-on. Ping!. She threw the ball. In a flash of red light, the Pokémon was sucked into the ball. Lily aligned the poke ball with the Pokédex lens and giggled with excitement as she viewed her new Pokémon. It was peacefully sleeping in a simulated version of its natural habitat; a large, sturdy branch sheeted with a bunch of leaves. As the Pokédex entry about it showed up on the mini laptop, she read;
No. 102 Exeggcute, the egg Pokémon.
A pink, Pokémon made up of six eggs. The shell is very durable. Even if it cracks, it can survive without spilling the contents. If even one is separated from the group, the amazing energy bond between the six will make them rejoin immediately.
This Exeggcute is at Lv. 9 and knows the moves; Barrage, Harden, Confusion.
Lily was so happy she tried to perform a little victory dance.
"Sorry to interrupt your victory dance, my faithful ballerina, but I think we have to go." Amanda stated, pointing up at the already dim sky to prove her point. Lily sighed, and put Seel back into its ball. They kept on walking and found their way to Cherrygrove city. Once the city got in view of Lily, she knelt down and lifted up her hands to the clear, night sky, shouting
"AAH! Civilization at last!" before breaking into a run. Amanda sighed and tried to catch up to the already sprinting girl.