Chapter 2:
"I Like That Stump You're Sitting On."
Authored by:
Scene 1 - Raven the Ravenous & Tsukikari Kitsune
Scene 2 - Raven the Ravenous & Thoughtless7
Scene 3 - Raven the Ravenous, Thoughtless7 & Mog Anarchy
Scene 4 - Raven the Ravenous, Thoughtless7 & soaringdragon43
Scene 5 - Raven the Ravenous & soaringdragon43
Scene 6 - Thoughtless7 & Tsukikari Kitsune
"My word, what was up with that Trainer? She stole that poor girl's Pokémon! What kind of stingy, jealous, cold-hearted person is she to do something like that? That's just so... Argh, MEAN!" Alessandra ranted as they began the trek back towards town.
"And what's with that Ninetales of hers? It was all weird-looking, and just exuded this strange aura..." She tapered off, lost in thought.
Licking off the remnants of the chocolate bar on his fingertips, Raven had not heard a single word Alessandra said. Instead, he looked around and pointed to the left. "Is Cherrygrove City that way?"
Alessandra glanced at him, bemused. "Now, do you really think I would know something like that?" She said, with a grin.
"Hmm, I think I have a map of Johto somewhere... in here," Raven said, beginning to rummage through his pack that he had somehow forgotten he was carrying on his back.
"Aah, here it is! Lessee, the map says..." Raven mused, as he folded it back and put it back into his pack.
"OK, it's west. Onward towards the west!" - He cried out, raising a fist up in the air.
Krow, being the only Pokémon of his that was out, could only slap his own face with his wings. His Trainer could be such an idiot sometimes...
"Yes! Off we go!" Alessandra cheered, practically skipping. Krow looked at her strangely, but Gallant just howled in joy. "Wait... Which way is west?" She asked, stopping mid-step.
"Uh... I don't know?" Raven replied sheepishly. "I don't have a compass."
"What are you doing with a map and no compass?" Alessandra giggled.
"That's a funny story, actually. This one time-"
"You know what? I think I have one." Alessandra said, cutting him off while she rummaged through her bag. "Jeebus, where is that thing?" She said to herself, growing frustrated.
"Ah, screw it." She tipped her bag over, dumping the mess onto the forest floor. It was a massive pile, mostly consisting of random containers of food and items for her Pokémon. Raven looked on in surprise and amusement as she bent over, spreading the mess around.
"Finally, here it is!" She said cheerfully, holding the small disc up as if it was a first place trophy. "Let's see... West... West..." She muttered, turning around in a circle.
"Ah, west is this way!" She stopped and pointed off to their right. "Good thing we checked the compass, huh? We were going in the wrong direction!" She said happily as she began stuffing her things back into her bag.
"Uh, yeah..." Raven said. "We were?" - He thought to himself.
They set off deeper into the forest.
Walking through the forest wasn't what Raven had in mind, but with what happened a while ago, he wasn't in the mood to be used for target practice out in the open; and besides that, he felt right at home walking through a forest, which he used to taking strolls through in back in Sinnoh.
Raising his arms up to stretch while walking, Raven smiled. "Aah, sure feels great to walk through a forest again. No people, no cars, and best of all, no annoying Trainers that run up to you after every five minutes asking for a battle…"
As he caught the words he said: "Crap, shouldn't have said that!"
He turned to Alessandra. "Hey uh, if you see a Trainer, avoid letting them see you okay?" He turned back to facing forward whilst grumbling to himself, "Because I don't wanna deal with annoying, newbie Trainers that seek battles 24-7..."
"Hmm? Aw, what's the fun in that? Don't you want to get stronger as a Trainer? You can't get stronger if you don't battle!" Alessandra pouted. "I understand that it can be annoying sometimes, especially when there's quite a few in a row, but you can't get any stronger with a mentality like that." She said, pointing to her head for emphasis.
"Aww but really, what if your Pokémon are all about to faint and then just when you think you're in the clear upon seeing a Pokémon Centre nearby, some Trainer catches your eye and runs after you? And because of the rule of battling is that if two Trainer's eyes meet, they have to battle? Luckily that one time, Gibs went wild - he was a Gabite at the time- and threatened to Crunch the guy's Skuntank since he wasn't feeling well," Raven said, continuing on about his story.
"Gibs was paralysed recently by a Trainer's Roselia's Stun Spore and couldn't eat his oranges so..." - He continued on, unable to stop his story and forgetting the reason he was trying to explain.
"Oranges?" Alessandra questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Whatever... Never mind." She dismissed, waving her hand.
"Well, that's why you train and get stronger, so things like that don't happen! Find a place where you know the trainers and wild Pokémon are a low enough level to beat easily, but strong enough so it's at least a bit of a challenge. It also helps to bring lots of potions and full heals with you. I always have some extra on me, just in case. That way I don't get stranded with my Pokémon in bad shape that often." She said gleefully, kicking a rock and watching it skip across the dirt.
Raven turned to the girl. "Well, that's the problem. All of my Pokémon have their own interests. Troy is lazy and when he does battle... He kinda gets out of hand... Whilst still acting like a clown. Like when he used Wood Hammer on this Juggler's Electrode back in Kanto, he deliberately hit me with the attack too while he pretended to 'lose' balance. Then there's Glalia. Uh no wait, she's not that bad... If she would stop embarrassing me in front of people during battles..."
He started to count the rest off on his fingers. "Lumen is... Well, he's a coward. He only evolved into a Luxio when some crazy woman that hated Electric Pokémon tried to catch him just to torture him. He fought off her Pokémon in just that ONE time and evolved. So, that leaves Krow, Gibs, and Seare. Krow is okay with battles; he's been with me the longest. Gibs is... Well, let's just say you'll wish you hadn't met him and Seare... He's... cocky. Yeah, he likes to taunt his opponents after he beats them. So really, only three out of three really like battling. And about the potions and full heal... I'm out of them - not to mention I'm broke." - He finished, showing her how empty his wallet was.
"Well, I usually do battles for money, where we both bet a certain amount, and the winner gets the money. That's how I earn mine, along with doing odd jobs in towns whenever I can. And really, no Trainer has a perfect team of Pokémon. Even my own have their share of problems. For example, Darby, my Magmar. He hates to battle, and is so shy and timid that he doesn't even like to be out of his Pokéball. In fact, it's so bad that quite a few times when I called him out, he just sat there doing nothing while my opponent whaled on him. And then there's Angora, who's on the other side of the spectrum... she's been known to continue attacking even after the opponent has been beaten." She sighed, glancing at Angora who was busying herself with a pebble, knocking it ahead of them and chasing after it.
"And then there's Blithe, who doesn't battle unless he deems the Pokémon strong enough for him. Luckily I have Gallant, my knight in shining armour." She giggled, and gave Gallant an affectionate rub on the head. "But if you really want to avoid a battle, that's ok with me, I guess. I'm just happy you're helping me get to town."
The man rubbed the back of his head. "Ehehe, yeah. I'm just glad I won't have to travel alone. Anyways, you really train Fire Pokémon? I liked the idea of being a Fire-types only Trainer but because Sinnoh, which is where I'm from, doesn't have any except for Ponyta and Rapidash along with Chimchar for the beginning Trainers... I had to give that up. Although…" - He continued, petting Krow on his shoulder.
"I've gotten over that. As for Krow here, I met him one night in Eterna Forest. Gotta admit, he saved me from a stray Gastly."
Raven then noticed that they had been walking for a long time whilst they had chatted. "I wonder when we're going to reach Cherrygrove City? I'm hungry."
"Eh? You just ate!" She said incredulously.
"I know but I'm hungr- hey what's that!?" He yelled, pointing at the red fox-like creature with six tails.
"Hey, isn't that..." His voice trailed off, as he pulled out a card that had a picture of a creature that looked close to what he saw. "Oh wow, it's a-"
"It's a Vulpix!" Alessandra shouted, her eyes growing wide. "I know! I'm gonna catch that Vulpix and train it to become a much better Ninetales than that mean girl's! I'll show her that stealing Pokémon and then somehow... Altering them... IS NOT THE RIGHT OR BEST WAY TO DO IT!"
She ran ahead, full speed towards the Vulpix, who jumped up in surprise and ran in the opposite direction.
"Oh no you don't!" Alessandra called after, jumping over a bush and giving chase.
Raven watched the girl rushing straight after the Pokémon, following it over a bush and deeper into the forest. He immediately began chasing after her, hoping she didn't get too far ahead or else she'd get lost. "Hey, wait up! Don't go leaving me here all alone!"
He kept running and running, all whilst trying to see her figure which was quickly becoming smaller in the distance, that is, until he tripped over a tree root and fell flat on his face.
"...Ow." He groaned. He got up slowly and tried to look for the girl, who had long since disappeared after the Vulpix.
Raven made a face. "Aww man, I lost her and the Vulpix. Not only that, where the heck am I? Which direction I was running?"
Not knowing which way was north, east, west, or south without a compass, Raven continued on in a different direction, continuing his search for Alessandra in the forest...
Well... This was rather unpleasant.
Well, no; not that it was all that terrible. Yes, Taylor decided, she had been in far worse situations, and this was child's play. The optimistic girl smiled. It was even kind of nice, all things considered. Sure, she was dangling precariously above churning rapids, hanging onto a branch only by her backpack, and any sudden movement would have her careening to her death... But she had a view, at least. She twiddled her brown, red-streaked hair in two fingers.
'Ah! Look at the Magikarp!' - She thought, her grin wider.
A school of Magikarp jumped out of the water, making brilliant splashes of water droplets that reflected the sun. She had seen Staryu, Goldeen, even a Dratini... She counted herself lucky, on that respect.
Taylor glanced at her watch. About an hour since she'd fallen from the cliff and onto the branch. 'That's a sturdy branch!' She thought, grinning. She was only a few feet away from the top of the cliff, too. The walls were too smooth to climb up, though... Ah, well...
"Hm?" Taylor glanced upward, shielding her green eyes from the sun with her hands. She couldn't see anything, but she definitely heard footsteps. "HELLOOOO? Anyone there?"
The footsteps stopped for a moment, then quickened, and a form appeared, eclipsing the sun. "HOLY--! Uh, are you okay?!"
A pleasant breeze blew. Taylor grinned sweetly up toward her potential saviour. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He seemed to be very antsy. Taylor decided that was probably normal, but hanging out with her accident-prone Pokémon had made her take situations such as these very lightly.
"H-How long have you been there?!" He stuttered.
"Around an hour, I suppose," Taylor said.
"Jeez!! A-All right, I'll save you!"
Taylor smiled, swaying a bit in the wind. 'What a nice guy!' She decided. She watched, bemused as he tried to persuade a Charizard he released save her.
"Go save her, Seare!"
At that moment, they heard a snap! - as the branch finally collapsed under her weight. Taylor yelped as she began plummeting down towards the water, but was quickly rescued by the fast Charizard.
"Thanks, Charizard!" Taylor sang, situating herself more comfortably on his back, rubbing the Fire-type's head affectionately. He made a grunting noise in acknowledgement.
The Charizard, who was apparently named Seare, flew up to his trainer. Taylor stumbled a bit as she got off of the Pokémon, then balanced herself. She smiled sweetly at the relieved looking male trainer as she held out a hand.
"Hello there! Thanks for saving me!"
"No problem..." he said, relief in his voice as he shook her hand."Uh, h-how did you fall down there again?"
"My wonderful luck, of course! Ah, that reminds me..." Taylor took off her backpack, digging through and pulling out three Pokéballs. "They're probably getting annoyed, 'specially Larcena..."
Taylor's three Pokémon all were released from their Pokéballs, consisting of a Hoppip, a Persian, and a Wooper. The Persian snarled immediately, kicking her trainer as she walked away. Taylor swung her arms wildly as she tried to regain her balance, ready to fall off the cliff again. Raven jumped, startled, but Taylor managed to get her balance. She laughed sheepishly. The Persian didn't pay her trainer any mind, and just started cleaning herself.
"Eh heh... Don't mind Larcena..." Taylor said, referring to the Persian. "Anyways... I'm Taylor."
Raven suddenly jumped back as her Hoppip flew in front of his face with the biggest smile on its face, auditing a hello through its name, of course. "That's Dandy, and this..." Taylor pointed to the Wooper hiding behind her leg. "This is Olotl, my sexy beast!" Taylor chirped. Olotl blushed at that.
"I'm Raven," he introduced, grinning, "And this..." The Charizard suddenly seared Raven with a flamethrower. Raven coughed away some ash. "This is Seare. Don't mind the Flamethrower, it's a habit," he said, as he gave the Pokémon a narrow look. "An annoying, bad habit."
Taylor giggled to herself, looking over Raven. He was almost as tall as her, which was a very hard feat to accomplish, considering how tall Taylor was. He had dark messy hair and brown eyes. He looked around eighteen or nineteen; in other words older then her. Taylor was only fifteen.
'A shame. He's kind of cute!' Taylor laughed to herself. 'But he's too old.'
"It's lucky that I met you today. I have this habit of getting into... Situations..." Dandy plopped onto his trainer's head, still wearing that huge, ditsy smile. "Now, let me guess... You're a Trainer... On a journey."
"Yeah... How'd you know that?" Raven asked.
Taylor laughed. "Oh come on, Raven! This is an RPG! That's always the story!"
Raven had no idea what that meant. "Well, I do need to get back to the journey. It was very nice, if not a bit, erm... Interesting, meeting you," Raven said, smiling nervously and walking away.
Taylor pouted and followed him. "W-Wait! Where are you going?"
"I'm on a quest to find my former friend and get back something precious I lost," Raven said darkly, his eyes gleaming at mentioning the main reason why he came to Johto. He perked up. "Now I'm going to Cherrygrove."
Taylor mulled a moment on this angsty revelation. '...The yaoi fangirls are just dying to meet this friend of his, I know it. Uh, best not alarm Raven with that...'
"How interesting!" Taylor thought aloud. "Mind if I tag along for a bit? We seem to be going in similar directions."
Normally, Raven would probably refuse and not get involved, but...
'Well, she does have a cute face and nice hair,' he debated. 'But once again, I'm lucky enough to get a young one...'
Raven took a decisive stand. 'I don't have to get involved with her; we'll just travel to the next town. Like Gramps said, 'safety in numbers', right? And I don't wanna be alone at night. Scary things at night...'
"All right then."
"Awesome!" Taylor suddenly hugged Raven from behind, an action nowadays called "glomping." He blushed, shying away from the affectionate girl, but she had already let go. She grinned blankly, tilting her head a bit.
'I can't tell if she's a ditz or just really, really affectionate,' Raven thought grimly with a nervous smile as she skipped ahead.
After managing to navigate their way out of the forest and keep Taylor from falling into any more rapids, the two Trainers finally made it outside into a big plain and a hill where a huge tree stood along with a rock half the size of the tree.
There was remote tree stump and on it was seated a slightly chubby girl with long blonde hair, dark green eyes, and freckles. She wore thick-framed glasses, black denim jeans with chains hanging from the belt and a black T-shirt with a "Cannibal Corpse" logo embossed upon it. She was wearing a black jacket, covered in patches and badges, with numerous safety-pins embedded all over it - scuffed, black Converse upon her feet, and she was drawing rather violently in a sketchbook, resting in her lap.
Raven wondered what was someone doing out here in, well, somewhat the middle of nowhere since there were trees and rocks and some Pokémon in grasses here and there. So the two Trainers walked up to the girl, wanting to know if they were nearing Cherrygrove City. Raven had meant to ask the girl the question but Taylor stepped forward and did the asking.
"Why hello there! Look at you, all on your stump with your sketchbook and stuff." Taylor smiled kindly. "We were wondering if you knew where Cherrygrove City was, 'cause we have very little sense of direction. Well, I don't know about Raven, but I certainly-"
"...Go away." The girl growled, snapping her sketchbook shut, folding it across her lap - before turning to face Taylor and Raven, a scowl smeared across her face.
"...Aw, but we'd really like to be there," Taylor said, wearing her most convincing, pleading pout. "You don't know where it is? Ah, well..."
"...Do I look like a fucking map?" This uncouth teen snapped, narrowing her eyes towards the ones who had interrupted her drawing time.
"Well, not really. Maps have pictures of towns on them, of course!" Taylor smiled as if this was a perfectly logical question. "Well, I, of course, have no idea what's in your sketchbook, and I can't see if you have any tattoos of towns on your body, since I just met you. I'm Taylor, by the way. I like that stump you're sitting on." Taylor grinned.
The now-infuriated girl before them sucked a cold breath through her front teeth, before proceeding to growl something under her breath: "I smash your fucking head in, until brains seep in..."
"Aw, and you're a poet! You're just darling." Raven cocked an eyebrow at Taylor's unwavering cheerfulness. "Ah, but since you don't know where Cherrygrove City is, I guess we have to go." Taylor pouted, glancing at Raven. She leaned in toward the blonde girl. "He's on a quest, y'know," she whispered.
"...That wasn't poetry, you friggin' dolt! That was a death metal chorus. Cannibal Corpse's finest: Hammer Smashed Face." She paused, flicking her fringe out of her eyes. She jumped slightly, her dark green eyes now focusing properly upon Taylor. "...Wait... Don't I know you?!"
"Eh?" Taylor tilted her head to the side in confusion. "W-Well, maybe. I'm really, REALLY bad with names. It took me three months just to learn my first friend's name, y'know... So, uh, if we have, sorry if I forgot..."
Grimacing in slight disgust, the blonde girl turned away, opening her sketchbook at her previous page; taking her trusty red ink pen in her right hand, she began jabbing furiously at the girl she had been drawing earlier.
Taylor looked at Raven pleadingly, but all he did was shrug. He didn't really want to get involved if the two had a past history.
"You're mad now, aren't you? Gah, I'm sorry. I'm kind of scatter-brained. I'm really bad with names, like I said." Taylor tried to gauge any response from the blonde, but all she did was stab at her sketchbook.
"...Leave me be..." The blonde sighed, as she swapped her red ink pen for a black biro. She began carefully drawing an anvil hanging above her paper victim's head.
Taylor was silent for a moment, debating on her options. Raven was beginning to look antsy. But Taylor didn't want to leave unless this girl was cheered up, or at least Taylor had a firm grasp on whether or not she'd met her. Curiously, Taylor stood on her toes, trying to steal a glance at the sketchbook, but the girl snapped it shut.
"Oi! ...This is my private artwork! ...If you must know, I'm plotting sweet revenge, so that stupid twat with the Hoppip and the Meowth will finally get what's coming to her one day..." The blonde one growled, clenching her fists in fury.
"Oh, no, that's no good." Taylor suddenly slid down on the log, sitting next to the blonde and putting an arm around her shoulder.
Raven sighed to himself. 'Yup, definitely over-affectionate.'
The blonde looked infuriated and uncomfortable at her broken personal space.
"Revenge is really bad, y'know? You feel like crap, the whole time! And even when you get revenge, it's never as sweet as you think it'll be! So I just push bad stuff to the back of my mind. Focus on the good stuff."
The blonde ground her teeth in anger, hating the close contact to another human. "...Don't fucking touch me!" She grunted, attempting to push Taylor away. The sketchbook, now unguarded by the pale hands of this violent girl, fell open to the front page; revealing another carefully inked torture diagram.
This one consisted of the girl she had been drawing earlier, the same styled brown hair, being stretched brutally upon a Medieval torture rack. Beside her were a Hoppip and Meowth, pickled in glass jars, their eyeballs protruding from their skulls.
The blonde girl stared at Taylor, waiting for a reaction. Taylor stared blankly at the page for a good five seconds. Then, reading off the inside cover: "'Dixie Astrid Stonehall'? Your name's Dixie! Nice to meet you Dixie!" Taylor smiled, shaking her hand. Dixie's hand went limp at the shock of how dense the girl was. "Great drawing! Hey, do you have any of Judas's Cradle? Those are a bitch to draw, really. I always mess up on the pyramid!" Taylor laughed lightly.
Dixie's eyes were aflame in rage - for a start, this irritating Trainer had not only interrupted her drawing time, not only continued to bug her when she'd asked her to leave, not only hadn't realized the true meanings of her drawings, not only hadn't realized the almighty lyrics from a Cannibal Corpse track - she'd called her Astrid.
"...Don't call me fucking ASTRID!!" Dixie screamed, leaping up from the stump, shoving Taylor forcefully in the chest.
Taylor waved her arms wildly, trying to regain her balance on the stump. Dixie may have been a good ten inches or so shorter then Taylor, but she wasn't a pushover. 'Oh, I made a pun. I'm so witty,' Taylor thought for a moment as she fell with a dull thud.
"All right now, that's enough!" Raven said, finally talking. "Unless you've bribed me with brownies, I think that was a mean thing to do! She was just trying to be nice! I don't think there is a reason for you to be that mean to her?"
Dixie looked slightly guilty, shuffling her feet awkwardly - hating being scolded. "...Yeah well... She shouldn't have pissed me off... ...I don't even know her and she managed to piss me off..."
"I'm sorry," Taylor apologised, sitting up. "I know I'm a little pushy and nosy."
Dixie narrowed her eyes. "...Some say I'm quick to violence, but I don't use that as an excuse."
Taylor opened her mouth to respond, but suddenly a light shone from her backpack. She yelped slightly as the backpack began moving until Dandy broke out, giving a cheer for breaking out of his Pokéball. He landed on Taylor's head for a moment until he saw the new arrival, Dixie.
So, being the friendly ditz he was, he flew past his trainer and into Dixie's personal bubble, singing "Hoppip!" as a hello.
"Oh, that's Dandy." Taylor grinned.
Dixie flinched, attempting to dodge the incoming pink ball of joy. "...Certainly isn't dandy to me." She muttered, brushing herself down.
Dixie suddenly blinked, a switch activating in her brain. She took a double-take, glancing from Dandy, to Taylor and back again. Then her eyes suddenly hardened.
"...It's you! ...What the fuck?!"
"...Yes, it is me! Yeah." Taylor laughed uneasily, not understanding. She glanced at Raven, who was looking away, eating a spare brownie from his bag. Taylor looked back at Dixie, who seemed to have realized something.
Dixie seemed appalled, yet wore an expression of bewilderment on her face. "...You don't remember me?!"
A look of confusion took over Taylor's face. "So... We have met?" Taylor's face drooped to a shame-filled frown. "Sorry..."
"Don't give me the innocence act, arsehole!" Dixie clenched her teeth in fury, her right hand reaching to her spiked leather belt, which clipped on one side, were two shrunken Pokéballs. "Give this liar what for! Go, Dour!"
Dixie threw her Pokéball to the ground at Taylor's feet, and out erupted a distraught-looking Houndour.
Taylor fought back a smile. "...He's so cute!"
Taylor's demeanour suddenly changed from ditsy to calm and collected. "Okay, I don't know why you're mad at me... But I'll battle you, if that's what you want." Dandy retreated back onto Taylor's head as she pulled out a Pokéball, throwing it in the air. "Larcena, time to battle."
The Persian emerged from the ball, not abusing Taylor like she usually did; instead stretching slightly in anticipation and giving a throaty growl. The Houndour backed up a bit, intimidated.
"...Dour, use Ember!" - Dixie ordered, her left leg twitching slightly, as if she was thinking about administering the Houndour a swift kick up the backside.
The Houndour trembled, seeming uneasy on his feet. He stretched his tiny jaws apart, before spitting out a small stream of orange flames in the direction of his foe.
"Dodge it!" Taylor commanded, though the Persian needed no motivation. Larcena limberly dashed away from the tiny flames, a smug smirk on its face at the Houndour's obvious fear.
"All right, Water Pulse."
The tiny canine's eyes brimmed with fear as he watched his downfall hurtling through the air towards him. He closed his eyes tightly, chewing nervously upon his lip; knowing if he made any attempt to dodge, he wouldn't be fast enough.
Dour was hit with the full-force of the liquid onslaught, which rendered him helpless, knocking him backwards onto his face. He skidded along the ground, stopping eventually beside Dixie, his pink tongue hanging from his mouth, agonised drool dribbling down his chin.
"...Dour! You fucking weak Starly guano! What the fuck was THAT?!" Dixie snapped, holding his Pokéball above him, shaking her head in despair as she returned him.
Taylor laughed uneasily, returning to her usual self for a moment. "U-Uh, after we battle, I have some potions, so you could borrow them if you-"
"Shut the fuck up, you!" Dixie snapped, whipping out her second Pokéball. "...You better not fail this time... Go, Emily!"
From Dixie's second Pokéball popped out a cuddly Eevee; her dark eyes shimmering in delight.
"O-Okay." Taylor glanced at Larcena, holding out her Pokéball. "Return, Larcena."
The Persian growled in annoyance, wanting to battle more. 'Heh, that thing wasn't worth the exercise,' the smug Persian thought as it was returned to its Pokéball.
"You wanna go for it, Dandy?" Taylor asked the Hoppip on her head calmly.
In response, Dandy flew down a few feet in front of Emily, a confident look on its face as it hovered in excitement.
"Emily, Quick Attack!" Dixie yelled; her tone seeming less harsh to when she'd ordered Dour.
Emily smiled gently, nodding in determination, as she tightened her muscles and began rocketing towards Dandy.
'This Pokémon's braver, and stronger,' Taylor noted. Despite that, Taylor grinned to herself. 'Trying to get close to Dandy is suicide, though.'
"Sleep Powder."
Not noticing the sudden haze of purple dust that was now lingering in the air around her target, Emily increased her pace, ready to charge into the Hoppip with all of the power she possessed.
Dixie sighed, slapping her hand to her forehead as the thud of her now-sleeping Pokémon reached her ears. "...Oh Emily... Open your bloody eyes..."
Dandy giggled to himself as his familiar plan came into fruition. The words he was expecting his trainer to say followed: "Swords Dance, now, Dandy."
Dandy performed the dance, feeling his power increasing as Emily snoozed away, much to Dixie's frustration.
"Damn it! Emily, wake UP!"
Emily's eyes cracked open slowly as the Eevee blinked away bleariness. Taylor took this as her cue. "Aerial Ace, Dandy!"
"...Fuck." Dixie whispered, not bearing to watch.
Dandy smirked as he flew as fast as he could toward Emily, the wind whooshing by him. Emily, startled by the Hoppip propelling full speed toward her, had no time to move as Dandy crashed into her with all of his might, making the Normal-type cry out in pain.
Dixie slid across the ground on her knees, not caring for the mud and grass stains her jeans acquired as she did so. She held out both of her arms, catching her falling Eevee gently, cradling her close to her chest.
"...You did it again, didn't you?" Dixie sighed, stroking Emily's bleeding nose with her fingertips.
The Eevee looked embarrassed and upset - her dark eyes shimmering in sadness. She buried her face in her Trainer's chest, whimpering quietly.
The battle being over, Hoppip retreated to the roost of his trainer's head. Taylor jogged over quickly and kneeled in front of Dixie and Emily. "That offer for potions is still there..." Taylor said, sounding a bit unsure and apologetic.
"...Piss off you." Dixie growled, her face flushing red in embarrassment. She furiously picked herself up from the ground, balancing Emily with her left arm, as she rummaged in her pockets with her right.
"Take that, and die." Dixie spat, throwing a handful of coins at Taylor's feet.
Dixie picked up her fallen sketchbook from in front of the stump she had been sitting on, tucked it inside her jacket and began to walk away.
Taylor began to hold out her hand, ready to say something, but just sighed in defeat, morosely picking up her winnings. 'I would just get her angrier...'
A bit unsure, Raven went to Taylor's side. "You okay?"
Taylor smiled sadly. "I guess... Tell me, did I say something rude, Raven? I have this weird way of missing the obvious..."
"I think you were nice to her. Much nicer then she was to you," he pointed out. "So you really don't remember if you met her before?"
"I... I don't remember her at all." Taylor shrugged, her shoulders sagging. "Ah, let's just get to Cherrygrove..."
Dandy rubbed his trainer affectionately. She laughed. "Ah, thanks."
Raven smiled. "Cheer up; we'll just get to Cherrygrove."
Taylor smiled back at the older male. "Yeah, you're right; let's go." With that, Raven set off. Taylor glanced at the stump Dixie had been sitting on before following Raven.
"So... You're telling me... You have a map, but... You don't have a compass?"
Taylor sighed in disbelief as Raven laughed uneasily. "Eh heh... Yeah..."
Taylor was crossed between amusement and disbelief as she wore a confounded smile. "I dunno if I should laugh or what..." She laughed anyway. "That's like brushing your teeth with a toothbrush and no toothpaste..."
"Wait, how is that like- …oh never mind. Anyways, I hope we get to Cherrygrove City soon...I'd like to sleep in a nice bed..." He said, thinking of a nice, fluffy bed to lie down in.
"Ooh, gotta love those beds. Genius, whoever invented them. Wonder what people slept on before?" Taylor was silent for a moment, apparently thinking. Dandy was still on her head, smiling like the cheerful ditz he was, looking around through the forest but never leaving his perch. "I heard, though, ancients slept on rocks."
Raven grimaced at the idea of sleeping on a hard, uncomfortable rock instead of on a cosy mattress. "Not fun."
Taylor laughed. "I can just imagine it- oww!" Taylor suddenly hunched over, as if she was older. "I'd throw out my back, jeez."
"So... What brings you to Johto?" Raven asked, changing the topic of sleeping on a rock.
"This is my home region, of course! Though I've been to Kanto." Taylor grinned. "I want to travel to Sinnoh and Hoenn. Maybe even Orre. Better work on my luck, though, or I'll be killed in Orre... Heh..."
"Sinnoh?" Raven responded back. "Hey, I'm from Sinnoh. It's pretty nice there, considering I was raised there most of my life. I'm originally from Kanto but my family moved back to Sinnoh 'cause it's our home region."
"Ah, I heard it was nice there!" Taylor commented. "I love to travel. Ever since I was little, I wanted to travel. When I hit ten, I was so excited to leave, but my parents convinced me to train for a while with my new Pokémon." Taylor gestured up toward the Hoppip on her head. "So we've been together around five ye-"
"Oh hey look! A clearing! Finally, I hope there's a nice log to sit on... My legs ache from all this walking!" Raven interrupted while pointing at the clearing ahead.
"Let's go sit, then... We're probably not making too much progress, Mister Forgets-his-compass." Taylor giggled as she skipped to the clearing, sitting down. Raven crossed his arms in embarrassment, following her.
While walking to the clearing, Raven decided he wanted to know more about the rather... interesting girl. "So, Dandy seemed really uh, dandy when it came to battling back there?" he said, referring to her battle with Dixie.
Taylor giggled. "A pun. You're witty too. We're all witty. Pun party, seriously." Taylor high-fived her Hoppip.
"Well, Dandy and I have been together for five years. He was my starter. He's been with me the longest, and considering I don't have that many Pokémon, we battled together a lot." Taylor suddenly hung her head. "I'm not very good at catching Pokémon... Technically I didn't even catch Larcena and Olotl, those were unusual circumstances..."
"But anyway," she continued, "I always wanted to be a Trainer, so I could travel, and see the world, and everyone in it. All the Pokémon, all the people..." She stopped for a moment, a contemplative look on her face.
"When I was a really little kid, my mom had told me that everyone was different. So I asked her why. But she couldn't answer me. Part of me just wants to meet a lot of people and Pokémon, so I could see why... I kind of want to see how everyone ticks, y'know? And I always thought it was interesting how different the natures of all Pokémon and of all people are. Well, obviously. It's mostly 'cause we're raised so different. Humans have technology, Pokémon have nature... But then again, every human is different, as are all Pokémon..." She looked frustrated.
"I'm not making much sense, am I?" She sighed. "I just want to meet a lot of people. Psychology and the brain is just... Interesting, to me."
Raven didn't quite understand everything she said, but he did understand that she wanted to go out and meet lots of people and Pokémon. "Well, being the only boy living with his mom, older sis, little sis, and grandma, not to mention living on the outskirts of the city near a forest, I gotta say, I thought I was the only one who lived a boring life but the day I met Krow, my Murkrow. Actually, let me bring him out so he and Dandy can get acquainted with each other. Krow, c'mon out!"
Raven called out the crow Pokémon as he perched on the man's shoulder and gave Taylor a strange, untrusting look. "Relax, she's okay. Sorry, he doesn't like cute things," as he gave the bird a look that told Krow to apologize for his rudeness.
"Krow's been with me since the beginning, before I began my journey. Ever since, we've been formed an unbreakable bond. Oh yeah, as for Seare," he continued on, calling back out the Charizard who roared loudly in an attempt to show off the roar he's been practicing for a while.
"He's actually the first Pokémon I originally had but had to leave back in Kanto. But long story short, we met again while I was in Kanto. He can be a bit arrogant at times but he's pretty okay once you get to know hi-" before being Flamethrower-ed again.
Taylor gave a large belly laugh at Raven's antics. "Ah ha..." She wiped a tear from her eye. "Ohh, you're hilarious. I like you." Taylor grinned. "Nice to meet you Krow, and good to see you again Seare. Thanks for that oh-so-daring rescue of yours."
Seare puffed out his chest, flapping his wings, as if to agree that yes, he was oh-so-daring and gallant enough to save damsels in distress.
"Ah, here are mine." Taylor held out her remaining two Pokéballs, calling forth her Persian and her Wooper. Larcena whacked Taylor "accidentally" with her tail as she yawned, and Olotl shuffled his feet, seeing the imposing figure of a Charizard.
"Eh heh, Larcena's actually sweet," Taylor said, waving her hand dismissively. Larcena held up her chin as if to disagree. "And Olotl is my sexy beast! Aren't you, Olotl?" Taylor cuddled the Wooper, who blushed.
"Larcena was stealing things back when she was a wild Meowth. I found the loot, so they let me have her if I made sure she didn't steal again. That's why I nicknamed her Larcena... Larceny...it's another pun." Taylor smiled warmly at Larcena, who only yawned, laying down and cleaning herself.
"I caught Olotl later. He was being bullied by other Pokémon, so I shooed them away. So he came with me to try to get brave like Dandy and Larcena are."
Olotl blushed again shyly. Taylor pinched his cheeks. "And he's a little toughie; yes. Taught him earthquake and everything." Taylor puffed out her chest.
Dandy looked up from his spot on Taylor's head, then suddenly flew off through the trees quickly. Taylor and Raven jumped up. "Dandy!" Taylor gave a frustrated sigh. "He always does this! Not that it's all that bad... Well, aside from getting into situations...at least it's interesting..." Taylor called her other Pokémon back into her Pokéballs and began to run.
"Don't worry, we'll get him back together, I mean, it shouldn't be too hard to catch some pink creature with a plant growing out of it's head right?" he asked, calling back Seare and racing after the Hoppip with Krow flying besides him.
"Raven, Dandy is an explorer. He's been in Ursaring caves and Gyarados lakes. So... On that note... Be careful. Let's split up!" Taylor suggested cheerfully as she ran in the other direction. Raven heard a thud, followed by a loud "OUCH," and assumed Taylor hit her head on a tree. It wouldn't be out of character.
Raven decided to assume that Taylor would be okay and continued to chase after the Grass-Flying-type, jumping over bushes and tree roots and dodging anything that didn't seem pleasant like...
"B-Beedrill!"
Raven quickly ducked while running as the bee-like Pokémon buzzed right over his head before he got his head back up with a freaked out look. "I don't like Beedrill," and continued chasing the Hoppip, once again jumping over bushes and plants and tree roots and any neighbouring Pokémon so as to not disturb them. "Okay, I take back what I said before; this Hoppip is ridiculously good at running off!"
Taylor stopped for a moment, catching her breath. 'Bleh, I'm so out of shape. She shook her head. Running... Who invented it?'
"Pidge! Pidgey!"
Taylor glanced up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Hm... Judging by the fact that all Pokémon say their name, sans the ones that only growl, of course, I'd say that's a flock of..."
Taylor couldn't finish her sentence as multiple talons from the Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot gripped her arms and shoulders. "Geez... Can't we talk first?" She asked pleadingly, but the Pidgey began flying away, with her as their prey.
Taylor yelped: "I taste really bad! I swear!"
But it was of no use. She was left with only one option. She decided to enjoy the ride.
"Maybe I could see Dandy from up here... And Cherrygrove..." she wondered idly. She suddenly pointed into the opposite direction of where the flock was taking her. "There's Cherrygrove! Ah, I feel so silly, we were close to it."
Raven had lost sight of the Pokémon. Damn whoever invented flying; he'd curse them for all eternity... Unless he got wings of his own... Which he'd never have considering he was a human being.
Looking around, he had no idea how long he had been running; the area around him looked exactly like the other, all trees and grass and Pokémon. "Great... Now I'm lost. I hope Taylor's all right, and isn't having some weird accident..." He muttered, as he called out to Krow. The crow was tired as well, as the man decided that he was going to rest here and luckily found a nice place to sit on... a rock.
"Come back Mr. Houndour! I neeeed you--"
WHAP!
Electrinz gave his trainer an annoyed look as she fell to the ground, stunned. "Alena, do you ever look to see where you're going?"
The girl spat out something that looked suspiciously like fragments of tooth. "Me? Look to see where I'm going?" She scoffed. "As if that would ever happen. I happen to take pride in my ability to run into almost every tree in existence!" She rose to her full height, a measly five feet, before proclaiming, "I am the best when it comes to running into oaks, pines, maples, giant sequ-"
"Alena, as much as I respect your ability to slam into my leafy companions out of sheer closed-mindedness, I would suggest that we continue on the search for that dreadful girl and a Houndour." Twig said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Alena and Electrinz both looked at Twig in shock. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed today, Twigtile?" Electrinz taunted mischievously.
"That's it! No one, NO ONE, calls me Twigtile! Prepare for your death, Electrinzo!" Twig's Leaf Blades began glowing, growing to a length of perhaps three feet.
"You're going DOWN!" Electrinz charged at Twig with Return, glowing red. Twig used his greater speed to his advantage and jumped out of the way just in time, swiping at the Pikachu with Leaf Blade. Electrinz went flying into a tree, dust and debris rising up and preventing Alena from seeing exactly what happened next. One moment she was coughing and spiting stray leaves out of her mouth, and the next Twig and Electrinz were wrestling on the ground.
Twig was seemingly paralysed, one Leaf Blade held in between Electrinz's two forepaws, and the other was being batted away with an Iron Tail.
"I hate it when you two do this," Alena muttered, dragging the rodent off the tree-lizard and holding them apart. "Okay, STOP FIGHTING, and find some poor traveller in the woods that will give us all their food. I'm hungry and we're out of pretzels. It's time to go mooch off of someone else!" The two Pokémon gave each other a look that said: "How did we get stuck with her as a trainer?"
Twig sighed and chased after the retreating figure of his trainer, Electrinz following.
Seated on the rock, Raven was eating the last brownie he had left in hopes that he'd reach Cherrygrove City soon. All six of his Pokémon were out for two reasons: Protection, and because he didn't want to be alone. "Look guys, sorry about getting lost... again... for the 30th time."
Gibs gave him a glare while eating his orange. He wondered what made him stick with this Trainer of his in the first place. Troy was enjoying being in the forest, his home territory being part Grass-type. The tortoise-like Pokémon had snuck up behind Seare, who was eating his favourite food - jalapenos - before the dual Grass-Ground-type shoved him with Wood Hammer, which prompted in the Charizard stumbling forward and falling on his face along with swallowing the rest of them in one gulp.
While Raven struggled to keep Glalia from getting too... physical with him, Lumen was looking fearfully at Seare, who was flailing around like a Magikarp out of water. The Luxio then heard a sigh as Raven ran over there to help the Charizard using the Heimlich manoeuvre.
"Not again! Troy, what did I tell you about doing those kind of pranks? Jeez, Krow, help me out here with Wing Attack to his back!"
The crow-like Pokémon flew over once he was called for and began to help his Trainer get the several or so jalapenos out of Seare's throat. Raven continued to use the manoeuvre but couldn't wrap his arms all around the Charizard's belly as Troy sighed and lifted up his right foot and gave a nice yet not too powerful Wood Hammer to Seare's belly from the front.
The force of the impact caused the jalapenos to fly out of the Charizard's mouth and onto the grass as Seare immediately turned to Troy and started roaring angrily at him about trying to kill him. Troy merely shrugged it off as Seare says something in the Pokémon language that Raven could only wonder what he meant, as Krow merely slapped his wing up at his own face.
Once he saw that, Raven then realised that the Pokémon were fighting again as Troy responded hotly at the Charizard. Soon the other three Pokémon noticed this as Krow muscled in between the Torterra and Charizard to get them to stop bickering, only to be knocked aside by Seare's tail.
Raven grumbled bitterly. This was NOT his day...
"PRETZELS!"
A blue blur suddenly came rushing over to the Charizard, jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Hi, do you have pret- hey wait, I know you...YOU'RE THE TURD WHO ATE MY FREAKING CHOCOLATE!" She jumped off of the none-too-pleased Charizard and glared at the older boy.
"Good God, she's getting Flamethrower-ed, isn't she?" Electrinz muttered in annoyance.
"Yep. She sure is."
"Turd? Chocolate? Wait, did you EAT her chocolate, Seare?" Raven asked the Charizard as the Pokémon smacked him with his tail. "Ow! What was that for!?"
"YOU ATE MY CHOCOLATE!" Alena suddenly lunged at Raven and grabbed his backpack. In a flash, she had grabbed a bag of pretzels and stuffed them into her mouth.
"Sorry, she goes nuts when she's hungry." Electrinz explained. "Give her a sec and she'll calm down."
Of course, all Raven heard was: "Piika pikaa pikapika piika!"
"What the? Why is a Pikachu trying to talk to me? I don't speak Pokémon. And since when did I have a bag of pretzels? ...Damn, I wish they were chocolate pretzels..."
Electrinz sighed. "You know, I really wish humans would just learn to speak Pokémon. It would make things much easier." He grabbed a stick and began drawing in the dirt. He drew a stick person, then put a minus sign, then an apple. Finally, he drew an equal sign and drew a stick person crazy eyes and swirls around their head tackling an apple.
Raven looked down at the drawing in the dirt, analysed it a bit before looking back at the Pikachu with his head tilted to the side. "Oh, you can draw in the dirt? That's really clever!" he said, patting the Pikachu on the head. Apparently, that wasn't what the Pokémon was trying to explain to him.
Electrinz growled at the hand in warning, holding himself back from a Thundershock. He pulled on the hem of Raven's pants, tugging him over to Alena. The girl was still stuffing her face full with pretzels, but Electrinz put a stop to that with a Thunderbolt.
The shocked girl lay twitching on the ground, as Electrinz shook his head. "Alena stop eating that-" He knocked a pretzel out of her hand - "and ask him if he's seen a Houndour already!"
"Have Houndour seen you today?" she asked.
"A Houndour?" Raven responded. He then thought about it, seeing as he had seen many Pokémon since he arrived in Johto... "Well, maybe... Or maybe not? Uh... Would you take those answers?" He asked nervously as he didn't really know if he'd seen a Houndour.
But then, if this girl was chasing after a Houndour like Alessandra was chasing a Vulpix... "Hey, can I ask if you saw a girl with dishwater blonde hair wearing a black and red bandana with crossbones on it, chasing after a Vulpix? Or if you saw a brown haired girl chasing a Hoppip by any chance?"
"Nope, sorry. I did see a flock of Pidgey and their evolutions carrying a brown-haired girl! They were over there!" Alena jabbed a finger over Raven's shoulder, coming awfully close to poking out his eye. Meanwhile, Electrinz was laughing at Twig, who had just now managed to catch up with the others, having said "Hello!" to all the trees along to way.
Raven flinched when her finger came dangerously close to his eye before raising a brow. "Wait, a flock of Pidgey and their evolutions are what?" He asked, as he thought about the "brown-haired girl" detail though, since Alena was here, then that meant...
"Holy crap, that's Taylor! She's been kidnapped by a bunch of rogue pigeons! Everyone, return!" he cried out, calling all of his Pokémon back. "Except you, Krow, I need your help to-"
But he didn't get a chance to finish as a Pidgeot had appeared and used Whirlwind on the crow Pokémon, sending him back into his Pokéball. Raven looked nervously at the big bird. "Uh... H-hello? Nice weather we're having to today uh..." - And that was when he noticed that there were a bunch of nests in the trees in the area where Taylor was last spotted.
"Mr. Big Bird... S-sorry to step into your uh... t-territory!" he finished running back to Alena.
"Hey! Stop!" Alena yelled at the giant bird, waving her arms around. "Bring his friend back you dweeby birds!"
Unfortunately, being able to understand Pokémon could be a royal pain sometimes.
"Dweeby birds?!" The Pidgeot screeched, "Now troops, battle formation!"
"Oh dear." Alena gasped. "Eat HIM, not me!" She shoved Raven at the Pidgeot and ran down the hill as fast as she could - right into a tree. Electrinz rolled his eyes and began charging energy for a Thunderbolt.
Having been shoved at the Pidgeot, Raven ducked and saw that the Pikachu was readying a very powerful attack.
"Whatever he's doing, I am NOT going to be fried like Mr. Big Bird here!" He quickly turned around in the opposite direction and ran, tripping over a rock which sent him tumbling down the hill, past where Alena crashed into a tree before he crashed into a rock.
The gathering flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto hovered around the electrical rodent. "I'll give one last chance!" Pidgeot called out. "Leave out territory now, or we'll attack without mercy! We are the elites of the Pokémon world!"
"You stand no chance against us!" - One of the Pidgey yelled.
"We'll crush you!" - Screamed another.
"Leave now, foolish crea-"
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTT!!
Electrinz poked one of the scorched birds with a paw. He sighed in relief before rushing over to Twig, who was carrying Alena over his shoulder.
"I is not potato!" Alena yelled, having been knocked silly by the impact.
The Pidgeot and his "army" suddenly perked up at the mention of the word potato, rising into the air as one and cawing: "Food, food, foodfood! Food, food, foodfood!"
"Alena, snap out of it!" Electrinz yelled, trying to get Alena's attention, "We need to get away!"
Raven slowly regained consciousness after having a very pleasant yet short dream about a girl. Of course... That dream was interrupted when he heard Pidgeot and his army cawing out something about food. Raven blinked a few times before seeing the army of birds about to strike at the girl, who was unconscious. He reached for his Pokéball.
"Shoot, I need your help Gibs!"
Out of the Pokéball came the very irritated Garchomp, who had been enjoying his wonderful dreams of being in Orange-land, only to have it interrupted by his idiotic Trainer. Raven noticed the Pokémon's ticked-off look before looking at the birds then getting an idea.
"Oh look... Food!" before throwing the oranges he had quickly pulled out of his pack at several of the birds, pelting them and covering them in the juices. This was quickly noticed by Gibs, whose eyes widened and went into a dark trance-like state before roaring loudly and chasing madly after the bird Pokémon.
The Pidgeot saw this and soon noticed that the Garchomp was on an unstoppable rampage and looked VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY VERRRRRY hungry - before issuing orders to his troop and flying away as quickly as possible to keep from becoming the dual Dragon-Ground-type's lunch!
Raven grinned at the fleeing birds as he saw Gibs' sad expression but soon turned angry and at him as he immediately called back the Pokémon before he became the new course on the menu!
Afterwards he went to check on Alena, who was slowly coming out of her daze although she was still muttering 'potato' or some other food word he had no idea of. He waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hey, you alright? How many fingers do I have?" he asked, holding up a hand.
"Forty-three... Potatoes... Three fingers... Oh!" Alena wriggled free of Twig's grasp and shook her head. "Sorry about that." she said, "I really wonder if I ought to start wearing a helmet whenever I go outside..."
Raven wanted to agree with that thought about helmets but he didn't have time to think about that. He tried to look for the Pidgeot and his flock and saw that they were about to become a small speck in the sky.
"Dang, they're getting away! ...I should've stuck jalapenos on their wings and sent Seare after them? Oh well," as he turned to the girl. "Glad you're okay, you crashed into a tree."
"Yeah, I do that often. Anyway, maybe we should go into town and ask if they'd seen any flocks of flying Pokémon lately so we can find your friend!" Alena stated.
"Well, the next town is Cherrygrove, and it should be over there, according to the map," Twig explained, folding the town map back up.
Raven's eyes lit up. "Really!? Okay then, let's get going to Cherrygrove City and my comfortable and fluffy bed!" - He exclaimed, raising his fist and running off in some direction.
It didn't take long for him to come back and ask: "Which way to Cherrygrove City again?" - Which prompted his newfound companions to wonder, how'd he get through life?
Taylor twiddled her thumbs, measuring roughly how high up she was.
'Hm...we're about 45 feet up in the air...'
Taylor suddenly struggled with all of her might. The flying types were taken aback by the girl's sudden motivation to free herself. Taylor took the opportunity to strike the only Pidgeot that was carrying her, making the Pidgey and Pidgeotto falter a bit before dropping her.
'Don't panic don't panic...' Taylor told herself. She spread out, trying to slow her fall, bending her knees and trying to land feet first as she approached impact. Instead of landing on the ground, though, Taylor was battered by branches as she fell through the trees, her speed slowing abruptly.
After being bounced around painfully by the branches and being scratched, she abruptly stopped above the ground, awkwardly caught in the tree in an unmovable position.
Suddenly, from the foliage, Dandy emerged, holding a berry. Taylor sighed in relief, then winced in pain. That fall was painful.
"Hey Dandy, found you... Went skydiving, too..." Taylor groaned in pain slightly, trying to dislodge herself, but to no avail. Dandy tried to help, but there was little the one pound Pokémon could do.
"WHA!?" A girl screamed, startled by the snapping sounds coming from the tree above her. She darted away, out from underneath the sound, but nothing came down. Hearing a groan and a muffled voice, she cautiously walked back under the tree, looking up into the leaves.
"Uh... Hello? Anyone up there?"