Pokémon: Delta Emerald

Chapter 2: Mauville Mudfish!

Uploaded October 13th, 2014

With Kaleb's help, getting through the rest of Route 110 was a piece of cake, and they soon reached Mauville City. "So, this is Mauville, huh?" she said, looking around at the flashing electrical lights that were on 24/7 in this electrical city.

"Yep – my home," Kaleb said, admiring his hometown. "So, the center's this way," he said, leading her to the Pokemon Center.

"So, Kaleb," Jessica started, wondering about something. "Why were you wanting to trade for a Minun?"

"Well, you see, I'm an electric-type trainer," Kaleb started. "I want to train at the Mauville Gym, so I need at least two electric-type pokemon."

"Okay so you have Plusle," Jessica continued. "And you need Minun… but what other pokemon do you have?"

"Well, my parents run the Daycare Center to the west of town," Kaleb said. "So, whenever pokemon that a trainer leaves have an egg, and the trainer doesn't want it, or can't take care of it, my family raises it! So, I have a Roselia and a Poochyena, but those are ones that have trained with me for a while, so…"

"So…" Jessica pushed.

"If you'd like, you could have one of the pokemon that've hatched pretty recently," he said, going over to the PC and logging in. "Here – pick one," he said as Jessica's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?" Jessica asked as Kaleb scrolled through page-after-page of young pokemon. "Any of them?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he replied. "You'd be surprised how many trainers leave their pokemon eggs here."

"…I am," Jessica admitted, looking through the extensive list of pokemon. "…But, I don't know,"

"What?" Kaleb asked. "Isn't there one you want?"

Jessica looked over the screen again, still in awe of the many pokemon. '…I'm gonna regret this,' she said in her mind as she pulled out Minun's pokeball. "…Here," she said, releasing Minun. "Release." Minun came out in a blue light, instead of the normal red as Kaleb's jaw dropped.

"…Why did you do that!?" he shouted as the Minun stared at him. "You released it! Now we can't trade!"

"No," Jessica replied. "Now you can catch it." Kaleb stopped and stared at her for a moment before turning to the Minun. "…Mi?" Minun asked, tilting its head to one side in confusion.

"…Are you sure?" Kaleb asked.

"Yeah," Jessica replied, giving Kaleb an oran berry to give to Minun. "I prefer to catch my pokemon anyway."

"Thanks!" Kaleb hollered after her as she went back to the main lobby of the center to have Dratini healed up. Afterward, she went to go look for the Gym.

"Now, if I were an electric-type Gym," she muttered. "Where would I be?" She found a large building with the word 'GYM' on the front in big, red letters. "…Oh," she said to herself, glad that she was alone.

"NOOOO!" Jessica jumped as she heard the scream from someone running out of the Gym. He ran into her. "…Ow," he said, getting up and rubbing his head.

"Hey!" Jessica got up, scolding him. "Watch where you're going!"

"Me?" the guy asked as he fixed his short, spiked-back white hair. "I was running away just fine until you… stood there!" he said, trying to find a good excuse.

"That… That makes no sense!" Jessica argued, glaring at the guy.

He got up and dusted himself off. He looked about Jessica's age, with shiny, blue eyes and a black headband with a green pokeball symbol on it. He wore a red-and-black shirt and jeans, as well as green converse and green, fingerless gloves with black cuffs and edging. "Whatever," he said, walking away. "I need to go train, anyway."

Jessica watched as he sulked by. "…Weirdo," she said, walking into the Gym. Inside the Gym was mainly yellow with electrical currents flashing between pillars creating gates that blocked her way through the building. "…Wow," she said, looking around at the various parts of the Gym. "They sure know how to make a trainer feel welcome.

"Hey, up-and-coming trainer!" Jessica turned to see a man in a blue, Hawaiian-flowered t-shirt greet her. "You come to challenge the Mauville City Gym?"

"Yeah," she replied, looking around and spotting the Gym Leader. "Aha!" she said… and then noticed that the gates were blocking her path. "…Oh."

"Wondering how to get to the Gym Leader?" the man asked. Jessica gave a nod. "Well, it's pretty simple. You see that switch over there?" he said, pointing to a switch on a wall behind a trainer. "Press that switch and the gates will open!"

"Easy," Jessica said, preparing to walk over as the man stopped her again.

"Oh, you think?" he asked, chuckling. "That's not all. You see, that switch doesn't just turn the gates off, it turns other gates on!" he said as Jessica scratched her head. "And to get to the switch," he added, pointing to the Gym Trainer. "You have to beat him first."

"…How many trainers am I gonna have to battle?" she asked, noticing the varied trainers dotted around the Gym.

"Well, one trainer was able to get to the Gym Leader after only battling two of them," the man said as Jessica thought over this. 'Okay, even if Dratini's my only pokemon, that shouldn't be much of a-' "On the other hand, one trainer had to fight all of them before he figured out how to get to the Gym Leader." Jessica paled. "Oh, by-the-by, a little friendly advice," he added. "The Gym Leader uses electric-type pokemon, so using a ground-type pokemon would be a way to super-charge your chances of victory!"

"…Thanks," Jessica muttered as she turned to leave.

"Hey what's wrong?" the man asked. "You haven't even started yet."

"Well, I kinda left my other pokemon in the PC," she said as she left. "I'll be right back!"

At the Pokemon Center Jessica twiddled her pokeballs in her hand. "So, I have Dratini," she mumbled, "and an Electrike… A team of victory," she mumbled, smacking her head into the table she sat at as her Dratini nuzzled her hair. "…Thanks, Dratini," she said, absently petting it as it sparked slightly. "…Right – I always forget that," she mumbled, making sure that no one had seen the spark. "Pet on the frills," she said, petting Dratini's frills. It didn't spark this time as she continued to pet her partner pokemon, who gently nuzzled up to its trainer.

"…Don't worry Dratini," she said as she felt its sadness. "We'll get home someday."

"…What do you mean!?" Jessica and Dratini jumped as she turned to find the guy from before shouting at Nurse Joy.

"I'm very sorry," Nurse Joy replied, keeping her composure in spite of the boy's outburst. "But the only place you can find ground-type pokemon at is in the desert on Route 111. And you couldn't possibly go there without protective goggles."

"Ground-type pokemon?" Jessica asked, and then remembered what the man from the Gym had said. 'The Gym Leader uses electric-type pokemon, so using a ground-type pokemon would be a way to super-charge your chances of victory!' This put together with the fact that this kid had shouted 'NOOO!' while leaving the Gym… It was pretty obvious to Jessica what he was doing.

"Well, do you sell protective goggles here?" the kid asked desperately.

"I'm sorry, we're all out," Nurse Joy said. "But we're expecting a shipment of them next month."

"Next month!?" the kid shouted in shock as Jessica pouted. She was hoping to get a ground-type pokemon, herself. "Are you sure there are no ground-type pokemon anywhere else nearby?"

"I'm very sorry, but-…Oh, hold on," the nurse said, thinking about something. "Actually… a trainer came in the other day with a ground-type pokemon he said he had caught just outside of the desert on Route 111."

"Really?" the boy asked as Jessica was listening. "What was it?"

"It was a Barboach!" the nurse replied. "Yes! He was fishing in the lake by the Winstrate house and caught a Barboach!"

"Fishing?" the boy asked. Nurse Joy nodded, still smiling as always. "Ugghhh," he moaned. "I don't have a fishing rod."

"Well, what do you know," Jessica commented as she remembered something that was in her backpack. "That compact fishing rod Jean gave me is gonna be useful after all." She got up to leave as the boy ran out the center doors.

"Nurse Joy?" Jessica asked as Dratini hopped onto her shoulder. "Where did you say that the trainer caught the Barboach at?"

"On Route 111," the nurse replied. "Just north of town there's a lake beside a house. It's very easy to spot, and you shouldn't have to deal with many pokemon on the way there.

"Thanks," Jessica replied, heading out and toward the route. "Wow, it was close," she said. Less than three minutes into the route she had found the house, and the lake… and the boy from earlier.

"Thank you!" the boy said to someone who was in the house's doorway. He then ran behind the house.

"…What is he doing?" she asked, walking behind the house to see what he was up to. The boy was sitting in a collapsible lawn chair, a stick with a string on it clenched tightly in both fists as a small berry bobbed in the water. "…You've gotta be kidding me," Jessica said as she watched the boy stare into the lake, unblinking, as though a Barboach was just gonna jump up at any second.

Suddenly, the berry went under! "Alright!" the boy shouted, reeling the string in with his gloved hands. Suddenly a Barboach leaped up, on the line! "Yes!" he cheered as Jessica's jaw hung loose and Dratini just blinked. He began to pull it in but without a reel he was having trouble holding the line. "No!" he called as the line let out some.

"Careful!" Jessica shouted, running over to help. "Here, let me help!" she said, grabbing the line he had already reeled.

"Thanks!" he said, getting a steady grip once more.

"Thank me later!" Jessica replied, knowing that the Barboach could slip out at any moment. "You pull it in, I'll hold it!"

"Right," the boy replied. He began pulling and Jessica held the rope. The Barboach got close and then- "Bar!" the mudfish shouted, spraying the two with water for just long enough for it to get the berry and get loose!

"No!" the duo cried as it began to swim away. "Dratini, use shock wave!" Jessica cried on instinct.

"Umm, are you sure about-" but, just as the boy was asking, Dratini let out a shock wave, zapping the Barboach who, as a ground-type pokemon, was unaffected. However, because Jessica and the boy were still wet from the water gun, it did manage to zap them.

The duo fell to the ground, lightly toasted and with no Barboach. "…Ow…again," the boy said, the two trainers leaning back-to-back as they sat. "I tried to tell you that that wouldn't work," he mumbled, still slightly dazed.

"Sorry," Jessica mumbled, also dazed. "Instinct."

After the two had gotten up and fixed themselves, the boy turned to Jessica. "Thanks, by the way," he said.

"What? Oh," Jessica realized, going over to the chair. "No biggie."

"Well, we almost had it," he said, smiling. "I'm sure I'll catch it in a few more tries."

"Not with that thing," Jessica commented, pointing to the now-fried fishing-stick.

"NO!" he shouted, picking up the stick, which broke in his hands. "…I have no way to fish now!" Jessica sighed, sitting on the chair and pulling her own fishing rod from her bag. "…What's that?" he asked when he saw it.

"This," she said, extending her fishing rod. "Is my fishing rod. I'm going to use it to catch a Barboach and challenge the Mauville Gym."

"…You took my idea!" he accused, glaring at her slightly.

"…No," Jessica refuted, not looking directly into his eyes. "I just heard you talking about it and… thought it was a good idea," she said sheepishly

He gave her a deadpan look. "…Really?" he asked as she baited the hook with an oran berry. "…I want a Barboach!"

"Then use your fishing po-" she said as she realized something.

"You broke it!" he argued.

"…Oh," Jessica mumbled, realizing that he was right.

"You owe me a fishing pole!" he shouted.

Jessica paused for a moment, sat down her fishing rod, walked over to a tree, broke off a branch, and threw it at his feet. "There," she said, sitting back down. "Good as new – in fact, it's better."

He stared at the stick for a moment and then sighed. "Alright, how about thi-" he was cut-off as Jessica lurched forward, being pulled by something on the end of her line. "…You've got something on the line," he said as she struggled with the fish.

"Ya' think!?" Jessica hollered back, pulling with all her might. "What is this – a Wailord!?" she asked, wondering how any fish could put up such a fight. "Help me out, would you?"

"Hmm, I don't know," the boy said as she pulled back only to have the fish pull more. "After all, you did break my fishing pole, and steal my idea…"

"Come on!" Jessica argued. "At least I tried to help you!"

"…Good point," the boy said with a shrug, running over and helping her pull against the fish. "Dang, this is hard!" he exclaimed.

"Really?" Jessica replied sarcastically. "I didn't know!"

"…If I wasn't so focused on catching a Barboach I would let go right now!" he warned as they both were pulled forward again. "Great Galloping Gogoats, what is this thing!?" he shouted, wondering what in the world could be this strong in such a tiny lake.

Suddenly Jessica spied the pokemon's shadow on the water. "Dratini!" she called. "Use dragon breath on the shadow!" Dratini shot a blue-ish breath at the shadow, making the pokemon jump into the air and land on land.

"…I don't believe it," Jessica said, staring at the pokemon that she had been struggling to pull in for the last ten minutes. It was a bright orange, flailing, gasping Magikarp.

"…Is that even possible!?" the boy shouted, staring at the weakest-known pokemon in existence.

"Karp-karp-karp-karp Magikarp-karp-karp," the fish gasped as it flopped ashore.

"…Ti?" Dratini was even confused as the boy picked up the Magikarp. "Go back to the depths, foul beast!" he cried as he threw it in. A moment later, a Barboach came flying out of the same spot in the water. "…What?" Jessica asked as her eye twitched.

"But we- I just- and then it- how did-" the boy mumbled as the Barboach yawned. "Baaaaaarrr," it yawned, stretching and rubbing its head in the dirt. "…Yay!" he decided, ignoring every logical thought in his mind. "Now I'll catch it!"

"No way!" Jessica argued, jumping up. "It was my rod that…" she stopped as she tried to figure out exactly how she had a claim to the Barboach. "…It's my pokemon!" she shouted, unable to find a claim.

"Okay then," he said, pulling out a pokeball. "We'll have a battle! The winner gets to try to catch it!"

"…How do we know it won't just go back into the lake while we're battling?" Jessica asked. The two trainers turned to see the Barboach lounging in the mud it had created with a water gun and watching them. "…Bar?" it seemed to ask, blinking at them.

"…Okay, fine, we battle," Jessica replied as Dratini jumped down from her shoulder.

"Alright!" the boy cheered. "Go, Torchic!" he called, letting out a Torchic. "Chic!" it cheeped, scratching its head.

"Alright, Dratini, let's go!" Jessica called, watching the corner of her eye to make sure that the Barboach was still there.

"By the way," he said. "I don't think I know your name."

"Jessica," Jessica replied. "Jessica Squall."

"Ben L'air," the boy replied. "You can make the first move."

"Okay, Dratini, use shock wave!" Dratini coiled up and released an electrical pulse.

"Torchic, dodge it!" Ben called, but Torchic was hit anyway.

"Shock wave's an attack that can't miss," Jessica explained. "Again, Dratini!" she called.

"Torchic, use fire pledge!" Ben countered. As Dratini coiled up Torchic shot embers at Dratini and a column of fire erupted under the dragon-type. "Yeah!" he cheered.

"Dratini!" Jessica called as Dratini shook off the attack. "Alright, use dragon breath!" she called.

"Dra-tiiiiii!" Dratini called, firing the blue flame at Torchic.

"Agility!" Ben called. Torchic ran out of the way of the fire. "I was hoping you'd use that move! Now, use mirror move!" A light shone in front of Torchic like a mirror and a dragon breath attack came out! Dratini was slammed into the ground. "Oh yeah!" he cheered as Dratini had swirls in its eyes.

Jessica sighed as she picked up Dratini. "You did good, buddy," she said as it made a 'mewing' sound.

"And now for Barboach!" Ben said, turning to find an empty mud pool. "…No," he whispered as Jessica looked around. "NOOOOO-"

"He's over there," Jessica interrupted, pointing over to a rocky wall where the Barboach was examining a small crack.

"…Oh," he said, running over to get it. Barboach poked the wall with its feeler. "Ready to help me catch a Barboach, Torchic?" Ben asked his partner. Barboach sprayed the crack with water. "Torchic, use fire pledge!" Torchic shot Barboach with the column of fire, but the mudfish only glowed green… wait. "Umm, why's it doing-" But he was cut-off as the crack in the wall began to grow and the ground shook. Barboach shot rocks into the crack and it sealed back up, leaving only the original small crack.

"…I am… so confused," Jessica said as she watched the strange display.

"…Me too," Ben agreed as the Barboach came closer and sprayed Torchic with water gun. "Torchic!" Ben called. He turned to Barboach who was now hissing as it waited for a fight. "Okay, if you're ready to fight, we'll fight!" he said with a smirk. "Torchic, use peck!" Torchic ran at Barboach and pecked it!

The Barboach jumped away onto a patch of grass and began to glow green again. This time it shot leaves at Torchic! "How is it doing that?" Jessica wondered aloud as she used a revive on Dratini and gave it an oran berry.

Torchic was knocked back into the mud. "Torchic, use mirror move!" Ben shouted. Torchic made the mirror appear before it, but instead of leaves or rocks, mud shot out at Barboach! "What is happening!?" Ben shouted as Barboach used water gun, weakening Torchic further. "Torchic!" Ben called in a panic.

"Hey!" Jessica called, getting his attention. "Barboach is pretty weak already," she said. Ben looked and Barboach was breathing heavily and hunched over. "Use a pokeball!"

"Oh," Ben said, smiling as he pulled out a pokeball. "Okay then. Go, pokeball!" he called out as he tossed the ball at Barboach. The mudfish was absorbed in a red light as the pokeball hit it, being sucked in a moment later as it fell.

It shook once…

"Barboach is mine!" Ben cheered as Jessica sighed.

"You know it has to shake three times, and then it might signify a successful capture, right?" she asked.

It shook a second time…

"…Really?" Ben asked as Torchic fell over, tired out.

"Yes!" Jessica shouted as Dratini went over to Torchic. "Haven't you ever caught a pokemon before!?"

It shook a third time…

"No, this is my first," he said as Torchic gave a nod next to him.

"What!?" Jessica shouted as Dratini poked Torchic with its tail.

It clicked!

"…What was that?" Ben asked as Jessica's eye twitched.

"That was your pokeball!" she shouted as Torchic pecked Dratini back. "You caught it!"

"…Really?" Ben asked as Jessica resisted the urge to face-palm. Ben walked over and picked up the pokeball, smiling. "I caught my first pokemon!" he said, holding up the pokeball and striking a victory pose. "…Torchic, pose with me!" he said. After no Torchic joined him, he turned to find the two pokemon wrestling on the ground. "…" He silently returned his Torchic to its pokeball as Jessica picked up Dratini.

"You are a weird kid," Jessica said as Dratini gave a nod.

"Yep," Ben agreed with a smile. "But I'm a weird kid who knows how to help you get a pokemon that's strong against electric-types."

Well, there it is – Chapter 2! I'm really hoping that you guys are liking this and I think I may be able to get another up soon! But, we'll see.

So, this is the part where I share my thoughts with you!

…

…

…Well, happy reading!

Oh! There is one thing. For those of you who know about the latest CoroCoro scans that came in recently – ISN'T THIS AWESOME!? For those who haven't seen them (or don't want spoilers)… it was so boring. Boohoo. I am rapt with dullness.

And, while I'm ranting, this is a cry that I believe all those in the US can understand… WHEN WILL WE GET THE DEMO! EVERYONE ELSE GETS IT THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW!? …I'm gonna look so stupid if it comes out tomorrow. :P

So, now that I've bored you with the typing of my voice – please review me with your thoughts! Or PM me! I don't care which! Adieu!