The Howling In the Trees
The group of Pokémon trainers continued their trek to Striaton City and perhaps a gym battle with the leader there. "It's nice to have someone that is at least somewhat familiar with this region in our group- isn't that right Yume?" Hima remarked. "It's not my fault the map was printed wrong." Yume replied. "You had the map upside down the entire time and didn't realize that it was until we reached Solaceon Town." "Do you two always have troubles traveling with directions?" Cassidy asked them. They both sighed and let out slight laughter. "We usually do have that kind of luck." Yume said. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation," Markus began, "But the sun is starting to set and I don't think we're going to be able to make it to Striaton City today. How about we head off in the trees and find a place to make a camp?" "That sounds like a good plan." Said Hima in reply. The four of them broke off of the main trail and into the trees that surrounded the path on either side. The sun was beginning to paint the blue canvas with a variety of orange, purple, and pink as it sunk lower into the west horizon. Markus and his Cyndaquil started a fire in the middle of a small clearing and were busy gathering a small pile of fire wood for the night. Yume and Hima were scouting the surrounding area for any edible berries that they could use in their meal. Meanwhile, Cassidy was training with her Turtwig near a small stream. Yume's Riolu and Hima's Pikachu were walking nearby exploring the new area. The two of them were kicking small pebbles back and forth, but stopped when they heard something move in the distance. Pikachu prepared a Thundershock while Riolu had a Force Palm ready. A howl started in distance and was followed by several other howls around the camp. The Riolu and Pikachu dropped their guard and ran back to the camp. Cassidy looked around when she heard the howling, "Yume, Hima, Do you know what's making that noise? The howls sound like a Herdier's. I don't know of a large pack around here though." The two foreign trainers pulled their Pokémon closer to them as they arrived back. "Are they dangerous?" Hima asked. Cassidy shook her head, "Normally they aren't, but something may have caused them to do this." "Where's Markus?" Yume asked. The three of them forgot that Markus was out looking for firewood.
Markus and his Cyndaquil were carrying back a couple piles of twigs and small branches when they heard the howls. Cyndaquil ignited his flames and glared into the surrounding shrubs. They stood ready to attack whenever the Pokémon making the noise appeared. The howling began to subside allowing the trainer and his Pokémon to relax a bit. Before Markus could react a Mightyena jumped out of a push barreling into the side of Cyndaquil. A couple Herdiers and a Stoutland followed the Mightyena out of the bush. "Stoutland!" The two Herdiers lunged towards the fallen Mightyena, but were intercepted by Cyndaquil's Swift. "Cyndaquil, hold them off. I'll try and get the Mightyena back to our camp. Be sure to follow me when I get moving." His Cyndaquil nodded and blew out a jet of fire towards the attackers. Markus knelt down beside the Mightyena. When it saw Markus approaching the Mightyena tried to get up, but Markus kept him down. "I won't hurt you. If you cooperate with me I'll get you back to a safe place. Once we get you fixed up you can go on your way." The wolf Pokémon got up and leaned on Markus. "Let's go Cyndaquil!" They began moving as fast they could while the Stoutland and Herdiers continued after them.
Cassidy, Hima, and Yume heard the breaking of limbs behind them, and turned around waiting to see what was going to appear. Markus broke through the foliage with a Mightyena next to him and Cyndaquil still firing bursts of fire behind him. "There is a Stoutland and two Herdiers in pursuit! Think you can lend a hand?" Markus said as he directed the injured Pokémon to his sleeping pad. "Time to get some air Charmander!" "Let's go Piplup!" Yume's Charmander and Hima's Piplup appeared out of their Pokéballs. "Use Ember!" Yume said, while Hima said, "Use Water Gun!" The two starter Pokémon let loose their attacks and hit the two Herdiers as they appeared out of the bushes. The Stoutland jumped out and used Mud Slap on both Charmander and Piplup. They were thrown backwards from force of the attack and landed near their trainers. "Cyndaquil use Flamethrower!" The Stoutland looked towards the fire mouse, but didn't react fast enough to avoid the torrent of flame. The break in time allowed Charmander and Piplup to get back up and join back in. The four trainers and their Pokémon managed to get the two Herdiers and Stoutland to turn tail and run. After a few seconds of tense silence all of them let out a deep sigh. "I'm glad that they didn't stay longer. Now I know why people always are weary of traveling in this forest." Cassdiy said. Hima and Yume looked through the packs and started pulling out some of the food. "At least now we can make some dinner for us and the Pokémon." Hima said. Markus was over by the Mightyena inspecting the damage it had taken from the wild Pokémon. The wolf moved its head pack when Markus attempted to touch it. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." The Mightyena sniffed the outstretched hand before allowing him to feel around for any injuries. "It seems like you're alright, but the real question is how you got here. Mightyena are not usually found in Unova." Markus said as he related information to the Mightyena. Cassidy walked over to them with her Turtwig following behind her. "I brought some food for the Mightyena if it's hungry. Will it be okay?" She set the bowl down beside the Mightyena and watched as it began to eat some food. Markus replied, "I think Mightyena will be fine. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, so the best thing we can do is to let time fix anything." They left the Mightyena to recover from the day's events and joined their two friends by the newly lit fire. "Good news is that we have plenty of food and there are a lot of berries growing around, so we don't have to use a lot of our food." Yume said while giving a few berries to her Charmander. Hima set a platter on a makeshift table. "So far we have some Pecha Berry Dumplings with rice on the side. As for a cook, I can only make what I have ingredients for." The four of them sat around the campfire and exchanged stories they had while they ate.
The Mightyena looked over its flank to look at the people around the fire. They had brought him in even though he wasn't a tame Pokémon. The Mightyena laid its head back down and thought back to past memories in Hoenn. The Pokémon of the trainers walked over to where the Mighyena was resting. Markus's Cyndaquil walked slowly up to the wolf. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked. The Mightyena moved his head to look at the Cyndaquil. "I'm fine thank you. Why did you come to see me? I'm not a trained Pokémon like you are." Hima's Pikachu joined Cyndaquil. "Whether you're trained or not, it doesn't change the fact we're all Pokémon." "Yeah! We're all kind of like family in a way." Yume's Riolu said to support Pikachu's statement. Cassidy's Turtwig asked, "Since you're a Mightyena, how come you're in the Unova region?" The Mightyena returned to his original position. "I was living in Hoenn before I came here. I was enjoying my life in the town of Slateport, but when I decided to take a nap in a box, I was sealed in with a few bags and put on a boat. When I arrived in the big city with lots of buildings I bolted across a bridge into this forest. I've been here since then surviving on what I could find. Apparently I had intruded upon the Stoutland's territory and they chased me up until the point where I met the one you call Markus." Hima's Piplup waddled up and placed a wing on the Mightyena's head. "I think you'll be fine by tomorrow. Then you can return to the forest." "I guess you're right. Thank you for chatting a bit with me." The Pokémon returned to the campfire, but Markus's Cyndaquil stayed behind. "You know, if you want to, you can stay with us. I don't know my trainer that much since we just met, but I'm sure he'd welcome you into the group." He then left for the fire where the other Pokémon had arrived at. The Mightyena thought on what the Cyndaquil had said. 'You can stay with us…' "No one has ever been that open to having me around." The talking around the fire had died down earlier, but the Mightyena didn't notice it right away while thinking. "Maybe it is a good idea to stay with this Markus. He didn't seem fazed by a Mightyena being in this region Unova." The wolf moved into a sitting position to look better at the four people, which were now sleeping around the slowly dying fire. "Perhaps I will stay with them. I can't just stay for safety though. I need to get stronger." With a new resolution the Mightyena walked slowly over to where the trainers were and laid down beside Markus, who was on his back sprawled next to a log.
The morning sun began sending its beams through the surrounding trees and into the small clearing with Hima, Yume, Markus and Cassidy still asleep next to their fire pit. Markus felt something brush past his nose, but as he tried to move whatever it was, the same object would continue to pester him. Markus sat up and rubbed his eyes to see what was tickling his nose. Behind him was the Mightyena from yesterday. The Pokémon opened his eyes and looked up at Markus. "Why are you still here? I thought you'd be off on your own journey by the time we woke up." The wolf stretched and walked over to Markus's satchel. He nosed around in it and rolled out one of the Pokéballs, which was inside, over to Markus. "Are you saying you want to join our travels Mightyena?" The Pokémon nodded and rolled the Pokéball closer. Markus picked it up and expanded it. He held the white button out and the Mightyena pushed its nose up against it, which caused the Pokéball to initiate the capture process. Markus held the wobbling ball in his hand, until it stopped. Markus opened the Pokéball and his new Mightyena came out. "I've never thought about it, but I should think of names for you and Cyndaquil." Upon hearing his name Cyndaquil stirred and looked over to Markus. "Quil?" Markus picked up the fire mouse, "Cyndaquil I'd like you to meet our newest friend… Domino." He set his Cyndaquil down to meet Domino. "Now, about a name for you…" Markus sat back and stared into the air to ponder a name for his Cyndaquil. Meanwhile, his Cyndaquil was talking with Domino. "I see you decided to join us. You even have a name now!" "I hope I can help out when I can. Do you know what a 'Domino' is?" Cyndaquil shrugged. "I know!" Markus said excitedly, "What about Orion?" His Cyndaquil looked at Markus. "Do you think the name sounds good Cyndaquil?" His question was replied with, "Cyndaquil!" "Orion it is then." Without noticing that his friends had woken up to his talking he started checking over Domino for any residual injuries. "Would you mind explaining to me WHY you decided to wake us up this early Makus?" Yume said still with her eyes closed. Markus jumped at the sound of a voice. "Sorry Yume. I didn't think about that. I guess I was excited when I found good names for Orion and Domino." Hima rose out her sleep, "Orion and Domino?" "Yeah! Orion is the name for my Cyndaquil, and Domino for Mightyena." It was Cassidy's turn to speak up, "Mightyena?" The three of them rubbed their eyes and looked at Domino sitting next to Markus. "Is that the Mightyena from last night?" Hima asked. Markus nodded. "Domino's tail was brushing against my nose this morning, and that's when I found out that he wanted to stay with us." Domino laid his head in Markus's and jumped a little when Markus started to scratch his head. "Afterwards, I thought he needed a name so I called him Domino. When I gave him a name I thought Cyndaquil should have one, so I thought about it and came up with Orion." Yume stretched and tried to get up with little effort, but decided to just lay back down. "Maybe we should find names for our Pokémon Hima. I never thought about giving them names." Hima actually got up and stretched her back. "I'm going to start thinking about it, but I don't know a good name for them off the top of my head. Maybe I'll think of some later, but in the meantime I think I will find some leftover food for breakfast." Markus and Cassidy got up as well, but Yume was asleep again with her Riolu on top of her head. The other three trainers prepared a quick meal of leftovers and left some for Yume before they left to go train their Pokémon. "Do you know what moves Domino currently knows Markus?" Cassidy asked. "That's what I'm hoping to find out when we're training. I'm hoping that the Pokédex can tell me something." Markus replied. They reached a small boulder field next to the same river they found earlier. "Looks like a good of spot as we can ask for." Hima said. "Come on out Piplup!" The penguin appeared from its Pokéball and jumped into the river. "Piplup!" Cassidy brought out her Turtwig and began practicing on some boulders and honing the power of Turtwig's Razor Leaf. "Alright Domino, let's see what your moveset is." Markus activated his Pokédex and let it gather Mightyena's information. "So you know the moves Bite, Double Team, Iron Tail, and… Dark Pulse? Never heard of that move before. Want to give Dark Pulse a try Domino?" "Yena!" Domino turned around to face a rock and let out a beam of what appeared to be purplish lines intertwined together. It impacted the rock and sent up a cloud of smoke and dust leaving an indent in the stone. "That's so cool!" They kept honing the moves of their Pokémon and enjoyed the good weather.
Two trainers walked out of the trees to find Hima, Markus, and Cassidy training. "What do you think they're going to accomplish by attacking rocks Brett?" "No idea Claude. I think they need some lessons in training. Go to it Gengar." The shadow Pokémon summoned a Shadow Ball and launched towards where Domino and Orion were located. An Ember from Yume's Charmander intercepted the projectile from Gengar. "Who do you think you are attacking people without a head's up notice?!" Brett looked at Yume with a flat look. "I don't believe you know who you're talking to." "I don't care if you're the Queen of England! It's not right to attack other trainer's Pokémon like that!" Markus and the others caught the sound of Yume and the two people talking. "What's wrong Yume?" Hima asked. "These two bozos tried attacking Domino and Orion while your backs were turned!" "You tried to do what?" Orion's lit up with fire. "You don't seem to understand. We've been tracking that Mightyena for quite some time now. Our boss would like him back." Claude said. "What do you mean?" Markus said. "Pokémon Hunters!" Cassidy whispered. "Finally someone who isn't clueless." Brett said, "Now hand over the Mightyena." "No." Markus said. "What did you say brat?" Claude said. Markus repeated himself again more forcefully, "I said No." Claude glared at Markus. "Who do you think you are telling us no?" "I'm the trainer of Domino. He chose to travel with us and I'm not going to let him down by giving into creeps like you." Brett nodded at Gengar, and it lunged forward using Shadow Claw. Domino swung its tail around and the Gengar was met with an Iron Tail to its face. It went reeling backwards from the force of the attack. "Then it looks like we'll have to take the Mightyena by force." Claude said, "Come on out Houndour and Jolteon." "We'll need your help too Bronzor and Pinsir." Markus stepped back, with Domino and Orion, creating a battlefield. "I'll help you out Markus." Cassidy's Turtwig jumped into place next to Orion. "Don't forget Pip and I!" Hima said as they joined in. "Let's go Riolu!" The hunters five Pokémon were met by the five of the trainers. "I don't like the look of this Claude." "They're just kids Brett. They shouldn't be a problem. Look at their runts of Pokémon." Orion growled at the name the hunters called him. "Use Swift Orion!" Orion shot out golden stars, but when they impacted Brett's Gengar, they did nothing. "Don't you know Normal Type moves don't affect Ghost Type Pokémon?" Brett said mockingly. "Not yet they don't. Use Foresight Riolu!" The Gengar stood aghast as another wave of stars impacted the Ghost. "Thanks Yume. Think you can get the other Ghost Pokémon?" "Sure thing." Brett and Claude recovered their composures quickly and responded with a volley of attacks. "Bronzor use Rapid Spin, Pinsir use Rock Throw, and Gengar use Shadow Claw!" Claude issued commands for his Pokémon, "Use Pin Missle Jolteon and use Flamethrower Houndour!" The attacks of the Pokémon Hunter's Pokémon were met by the attacks of the four trainers. Orion and Pip rushed into the smoke cloud to get the jump on their foes, but as they entered the smoke a white light began to shine brightly. "What's going on in there?" Markus said. Hima called out, "PIP!" The field was bathed in white light and held the watchers' attentions.