Castle of Shadows
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Part 1: Ideals
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Chapter 2: Accumula: The Town of Walking Irony
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Route 1; a simple route, short and sweet, with nothing much on it other than a path and a bit of grass. A few relatively weak Pokémon roamed around, usually hesitating and running from anyone that may pass. Generally, it was the route that many up and coming trainers would go to train up their weaker Pokémon, and White, Bianca and Cheren were no exception.
White wasn't sure how her other two friends felt, but to her, Route 1 was so much more than a little pointless route for training. Sure, there were more interesting places she would eventually go to, with many more interesting people. But to her, this route was the start of everything. As she walked in a line, Cheren and Bianca by her sides, Oshawott clinging to her shoulder, she was sure her racing heart was sending pulses through the would-be still air.
Even so, the feeling certainly didn't feel new. Oshawott, though the two had only known each other for less than an hour, seemed to have already made White's left shoulder her rightful seat. White didn't mind; it felt comfortable to her, making her feel safe from any danger that could jump out of the bushes. And danger certainly could come out of the bushes in such a place.
The three teenagers walked in silence for around five minutes, taking in their surroundings and getting used to the fact that they wouldn't be going home for awhile. Eventually, however, White and Cheren turned their attention to Bianca, who was softly giggling to herself under her breath.
White raised an eyebrow, stopping her walking and turning her entire body towards her. "What's up?" she asked, a somewhat suspicious tone to her voice. Bianca jumped at her sudden pause, quickly turning towards White with a defiant look on her face.
"Oh, it's nothing bad!" she insisted, waving her hands defensively in the air. "I just had a good idea, that's all!" Laughing again, a little more awkwardly this time, she rubbed the back of her neck, a pink tinge to her cheeks.
Cheren crossed his arms and shifted his weight uncomfortably. "A good idea in our eyes, or in yours?" He paused for a second, giving her a little time to answer. When she looked utterly confused, however, he decided to take matters into his own hands. "Because, you know, they're completely different things. You're ideas are usually pretty… Well, not as good as you think they are."
At this, Snivy made his way up Cheren's leg and perched up on his arm, crossing his arms much in the same fashion as his trainer always did. As White gazed at their half-lidded, smug eyes, she couldn't help but think how uncanny the resemblance was. Snivy was basically a Pokémon form of Cheren, and though she'd been a little hesitant about getting Snivy herself, she had a feeling that her childhood friend would have no trouble teaching the little snake.
Bianca stared at Cheren, too, blank faced and rather taken aback. "Oh, no, it's a good idea! Promise!" She seemed desperate now in her attempts to convince White and Cheren that her idea was good. Before either of them could open their mouths, she quickly added in, "Wait, lemme tell you. How about we have a Pokémon catching contest?"
Well, the suggestion definitely wasn't as odd as White thought it was going to be. Actually, it seemed pretty logical. It would teach them to catch Pokémon, plus give their own Pokémon some company.
Of course, Cheren found a reason that it wasn't a good idea before anyone could even have a good think about it. "Wouldn't that be a little illogical? There are only about two types of Pokémon that can be found on this route. Maybe three, but it's rare."
White rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course you find something negative about it!" she snapped, shaking her head. "Everything to you is illogical. Come on, have a little fun for once. I'm all for it."
Bianca's eyes lit up. "Really?"
White nodded. "I don't see why not." She then turned to Cheren, nudging him on the arm suggestively. "And you're in, too, aren't you?"
Seeing the glare he was now being given and the Lillipup-eyes from Bianca, Cheren couldn't quite find the heart to say no. Letting out a groan, he mumbled, "Fine, but we're going to win. Come on, Snivy."
Without a glance back, he marched down the path, head pinned straight ahead of him and spare pokéball gripped in his hand.
White turned to look at Bianca, who was pouting her lip and looking rather offended. "Wow, what a party-pooper." She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head, blond strands of hair flying around her face as she did so, only held down by her hat. "Well, I'd best be off! We'll meet outside Accumula Town, okay? Then we'll compare Pokémon."
With that, Bianca skipped off, leaving White standing alone with Oshawott.
"So, we're separating, huh…" she muttered to herself. She supposed it was reasonable; she couldn't cling to her friends all the time when on a journey for something that she wastrying to achieve. Either way, she didn't think they'd be splitting up this quickly. Maybe at least travel the first route together.
Sighing, she placed a hand on Oshawott's head and smiled. "Well, we're not going to win by standing around here. Let's go catch us a Pokémon."
-.-.-
Rustle, rustle.
White paused mid-step as the sound entered her ears. So far, her efforts in even finding a Pokémon had been futile, the route seeming abandoned, like some sort of ghost town. She was beginning to get frustrated. Until, that is, she heard the rustle beside her. It was still going, too, and now that she was concentrating on nothing but the source of the sound, she could see the leaves of the bush beside her moving back and forth between each other.
A Pokémon! She thought excitedly, slowly moving her hand down to the pocket of her shorts and making sure she had at least one spare pokéball inside of it. When she felt the lump, she breathed a sigh of relief and swirled around to face the bush, almost throwing Oshawott off of her shoulder as she did so.
With her sudden movement, the creature in the bush seemed just as startled at the otter, who was now desperately clinging onto a tangled mass in White's hair. Luckily, instead of running, the brown rat-like Pokémon decided to fight. As it leaped out, its bright yellow eyes glaring and its paw above its face, keeping the sun out, it chattered its teeth and let out quiet, high-pitched warning growls that really, with the size of the Pokémon, weren't all-that threatening.
Scrambling for her bag, White pulled open the flap – perhaps a little too harshly – and yanked her Pokédex out of the pocket that she'd previously shoved it into. Fumbling with the buttons, she quickly pointed the camera at the Pokémon and held it there, causing a confused look to appear on its face. Over the clicking of its bucked teeth, a croaky, electronic voice came out of the speakers of the device, making White jump slightly.
"Patrat; the-"
Before the Pokédex could even begin to explain things about the so-called Patrat, White slammed the device shut and shoved it back into her bag, yanking the flap back down and turning her attention back to the Pokémon. Sure, she probably could have learned more about it, but even so, she was more concerned with battling and catching it than she was actually learning.
"Pat?" The Patrat now had an utterly confused look on its face. Whether or not it had seen a trainer so close before, it had probably expected the opponent to attack rather than point a man-made machine at it. Because of this, it seemed to regain its confidence when Oshawott leaped off of White's shoulder and glared at it.
"Okay, umm…" White stared at the scene, not particularly sure what to do. Having a practice battle with Cheren or Bianca probably would have been a good idea, but it was too late now. "Uh, okay, the professor said that Oshawott knows… Ah!"
Before she could even finish her sentence, the Patrat didn't hesitate in bounding off of the ground and charging mercilessly at a now stunned Oshawott. It seemed to fly through the air, almost like it had wings, though the scene was completely over-exaggerated in the young trainer's mind. So much to the point that when the rat made contact with her Pokémon, she let out a strange, high-pitched noise of worry.
Even so, Oshawott didn't seem worried at all. Though shocked, the otter got right back onto her feet once she'd been slammed through the air by the Patrat's Tackle attack. She skidded back a few inches, tiny teeth gritted and arms out in front of her, ready for her trainer's command. Which command, even White wasn't sure, as her mind had been wiped of all logical thinking from the shock of having her Pokémon attacked.
"Osha!" snapped Oshawott, a little irritated by White taking so long. She couldn't really do much without a command, that was how she'd been trained as a baby, and the Patrat was already charging at her with another Tackle.
With the low grunting cry that Oshawott let out, White snapped back into reality a little more, though half of her head was still in a worrisome cloud. "Okay, uh, dodge!"
Breathing out a small sigh of relief, Oshawott bounded off of the ground and dived to the side, causing the Patrat to completely miss its target and narrowly dodge a tree instead. Seeing that her opponent was now the stunned one, White calmed down a little and decided to call her next command. Hey, it couldn't be that hard, right?
"Okay, Oshawott, let's have a Tackle!" she called, her voice getting less and less shaky with every word.
Smiling at the progress her trainer was making, Oshawott leaped off the ground and charged at Patrat, this time switching the roles the battle had previously taken on. Trying to dodge, the Patrat failed at its plans and ended up being clipped on the foot by Oshawott's head, though didn't seem too damaged by it.
"Pat!" it snapped, landing on a lower branch of a tree and holding its foot in the air. Oshawott stared at it, though she did seem relatively proud of her work.
White, also, was mentally celebrating. She'd called her first attack, and it had hit! "Okay, let's have a-"
Before she could call out anything else, the Patrat jumped out of the tree and butted Oshawott with its head, not particularly using any attack, but simply aiming to stun its opponent and make a quick getaway. Luckily for it, it had managed to hit Oshawott right in the face, and the startled otter fell backwards and hit her head on the ground. Not wasting any time, the rat fled into the bushes, deciding never to pick a fight with any humans ever again.
White, who was still on the other side of the battlefield that they'd made out of the clearing, could only stare hopelessly at the brown blur that was now bounding through the bushes. With her hand held out and her eye twitching, she was in slight disbelief that it had actually gotten away that easily.
"Maybe this whole trainer thing is harder than I thought…" she muttered to herself, before turning her attention to Oshawott, who was still lying on the floor. "Oh, are you okay?"
Feeling terrible that she hadn't acknowledged her Pokémon's downfall sooner, she rushed over to Oshawott and knelt down beside her. Her breath got caught in her throat when she realised that Oshawott's eyes were completely blank, and the only thing that was moving was a twitching paw.
After a few seconds, however, Oshawott let out a small, "Wott..." and rolled over to her stomach, pushing herself up with a tiny grunting sound. When she did so, she sat on the ground, looking into the dirt and digging a little bit of grass up with her foot. She'd failed…
To her surprise, White just laughed and picked her up. "Hey, it's okay," she assured, giving her a small, reassuring pat in the head. "We'll get 'em next time, okay! Besides, I learned to battle, and you learned to put up with me." She laughed again, also sitting down in the grass and placing Oshawott beside her. "Now I know how easily they get away. How about we break for lunch?"
As she looked up, the blazing sun shone above them, pretty much directly in the middle of the sky with a few clouds flowing blissfully around it. She smiled up at it, though when she realised her eyes were beginning to water from the brightness, she looked back down and swung her bag over her shoulder. Sticking her tongue out for concentration and biting on it lightly, she dug around in it until she found what she was looking for.
"Okay, let's see what Mum packed for us…" she muttered under her breath, trying to avoid the clean clothes and spare pokéballs that had been carelessly shoved inside in her haste to leave.
Finally, right at the bottom of the bag, she felt a scrunched up paper bag. "Aha!" she exclaimed victoriously, pulling out her lunch. Beside it, she felt, was a can of Pokémon food and a bottle of water. "Okay, so I've got lunch for three days, and Pokémon food for however long…" She looked down at Oshawott, who was already trying to figure out how to open the Pokémon food can. "I don't actually know how much you eat yet. But try to save some, okay? I have a limited budget."
Though her Pokémon was barely listening and really only heard the muffled voice coming out of White's mouth, she gave a small grunt in acknowledgement before holding up the can for White to open. The girl simply laughed, taking the can and pulling the tag on it to open it. Oshawott's eyes lit up as she held up her paws for the food.
"Okay, okay, calm down." White giggled, spooning out a decent amount of food for her. "Don't get any ideas. I don't think your paws are cut out for opening this. You might slice your paw open on the metal."
With food in front of her, slicing her paw open was the last thing Oshawott was worrying about. "Osh!" she cried in a demanding tone, beginning to guzzle the bowl of food that White had just given her.
"Wow, battling is hard work, huh?" said White, pulling out her own sandwich and cramming a quarter of her mouth in at once.
She didn't really see the point of talking anymore once she realised Oshawott was too buried in her food to care about anything else.
-.-.-
Lunch was pretty much silent until Oshawott finished her food. White was halfway through her sandwich when she felt a tug on the sleeve of her jacket. She looked down to see massive beady eyes staring up at her, and her eyelids automatically fell and she rolled her eyes and suppressed a groan.
"You already ate," she said, shaking her head. "I can't give you anymore."
Oshawott made her eyes bigger. "Osha…"
White glared. "Oh. Don't do that now. You're not getting anymore, alright? This is my sandwich." Letting out a "humph!" she went to take another bite of her food before Oshawott could take anymore of it. What she wasn't expecting was for a ravenous brown blur to jump out of nowhere and take it out of her hand as soon as she held it up to her mouth.
When she looked down to see an empty hand, White's eye twitched and her face became coated with confusion. "Wh-" She paused mid-word, turning her gaze down to Oshawott, who seemed just as confused as she was. Despite the previous suspicion, White's Pokémon was completely sandwich-less. It was then that she regained her mindset from the shocked state she'd previously been in and turned straight to a growling Lillipup.
"You," she muttered through gritted teeth, standing up slowly and staring at the puppy before it could run away. However, it seemed too keen on a fight to run, and she instantly turned to Oshawott.
"Osh!" she cried, saluting and turning around to face the Lillipup.
"Alright, let's make the first move this time!" said White enthusiastically, almost yelling the words. "Give it a Tackle!"
Eyes squinted in determination, Oshawott pushed herself off of the ground, using her tiny tail to push a little more, and ran straight at the Lillipup, who didn't even hesitate before barking and leaping to the side. Oshawott skidded to a halt where her opponent had previously been standing and turned towards the Lillipup, whose teeth were still gritted and lips turned up in what would have been a menacing manner if the Pokémon itself was any bigger.
I've never seen a Lillipup so aggressive, thought White, clenching her fists. The sandwich was discarded now, lying in a pile of dirt on the ground. "What a waste," she grumbled, though she regained her footing once the Lillipup began charging straight at Oshawott. "Dodge, then use Tackle!"
Oshawott only just managed to bound out of the way from the oncoming puppy as it charged at full-speed down the thin dirt track up the route, and when Oshawott landed on the ground, instead of using Tackle, she stood still and took a massive breath. White raised an eyebrow, but before she could question Oshawott's stance or command another attack, her Pokémon shot a thick stream of freezing cold water at the Lillipup.
As the stream cut through the air, it seemed that no one was expecting it. The opponent hadn't quite stopped charging from the Tackle, so when it turned around and saw a blast of water heading in its direction, it was definitely a surprise, especially when it was preparing for a Tackle. The attack hit it square in the ribs, sending it flying backwards and slamming into a tree.
White couldn't suppress a grin. "Or Water Gun, that's fine." Really, she had nothing to complain about, and though her voice was slightly croaky due to the unexpectedness of it all, she kept going with the battle. "Okay, Tackle it while it's still up against the tree!"
Oshawott, though she was expecting White to call for another Water Gun, didn't disobey, and charged shoulder-first at the puppy, who was, once again, smashed into the tree. Afterwards, Oshawott leaped back and stood in front of the Pokémon, waiting for another command. The Lillipup was completely dazed, the fur on its face scruffy and its eyes spinning in circles.
"Oshawott, don't do anything!" called White, gripping an empty pokéball in her hand. "I'm going to catch it!"
Nodding determinedly, Oshawott stepped out of the scene, leaving a free path for the pokéball to fly through the air and hit Lillipup on the back. It barked a little as it got sucked into the capsule, dissolving into red light before being enclosed. The pokéball landed on the ground with a small ping and began to twitch.
White had seen this on television before. There were all sorts of documentaries about trainers that Cheren had made her watch, and she knew perfectly well that the pokéball had to twitch three times before the Pokémon was caught. For the new trainer, those three twitches were the longest moments of her life.
"One…" She counted them under her breath, urging it on. "Two…" It twitched slower with each count, like the Pokémon was struggling less and less. "Three…"
Ping.
She didn't move at all. The capsule was perfectly still, but something was holding her feet back. She could only stare at the pokéball as it lay, a mere few inches from her fallen sandwich, on a patch of grass in front of her.
Because of this, Oshawott decided to take matters into her own paws. Huffing, she marched up to the pokéball and picked it up, carrying it over to a gaping-mouthed White, who took it from her, still in a dazed state.
She'd caught a Pokémon…
"I caught a Pokémon!" she yelled, finally grasping the concept as she punched the air with her free fist. Oshawott did the same, calling out, "Osha!" as she did so.
Excitement pulsed through White's veins, along with an extra dash of determination. Though she really didn't need much more of that, she could feel it, heating up her blood and making her brain feel a little tingly. The pokéball in her hand felt shiny and new, though, at the same time, comfortable in her palm, like it had been there for years. Excitedly, she tossed it into the air and it burst open for the first time, letting out a flash of red light and spilling a confused Lillipup onto the ground.
Smiling, White walked up to it and knelt down, causing it to jump back and snarl a little. "Hey, it's okay," she said softly, holding out a hand. "You're with us now. Well, you don't have to be… I can let you go if you want."
Lillipup's eyes widened, and it turned its gaze to Oshawott, who was, in turn, staring at it. Though it was utterly confused, it turned back to face its new trainer and stared at the hand that was now being held out to her.
"Pup?" it yapped questionably, stepping forward and sniffing the tips of her fingers, though it jumped back, startled, when White giggled at the gesture.
"Hey, that t-tickles!" she spluttered. "So, you coming?"
Lillipup turned its head to the side, though after a painful few moments, it yapped eagerly and pressed its nose against the pokéball.
"You're tired, huh?" observed White. "Alright, return and take a rest. We'll let you out again later."
After the pokéball had sucked her new Pokémon back inside itself, White stood up and adjusted the hat on her head, looking around. The surroundings felt brighter as she stood there, one hand on her hip and her feet slightly apart, a new Pokémon within her possession. Grinning, she looked down at Oshawott and scooped her up, and the Pokémon clambered onto her shoulder.
"I wonder if Cheren and Bianca are in Accumula yet," questioned White, turning up the path and breaking into a run, completely forgotten about the catching contest.
-.-.-
Around half-an-hour later, White skidded to a halt at the entrance to Accumula town, a dizzy Oshawott on her shoulder and her shoes coated in dust. Panting, she placed her hands on her knees and attempted to catch her breath. She hadn't been tired for most of the way; the adrenaline coursing through her body overtook any form of exhaustion. Now that she was finally there, though, it all came to her in one.
Ignoring the odd stares she was getting from passers-by, she stood up straight once more, picking up her right foot and attempting to dust the dirt off of her shoes, which were previously pure black. Now, they took on a slight brown colour, and she turned her nose up at the fact that she was only spreading the dirt more.
"Ugh, these are new," she grumbled, placing her foot on the ground again and tapping her hands together, now trying to get the dust off them. With the hot weather, Route 1 was dry as a bone, and everything seemed to have a layer of grittiness attached to it. Having run on the path the whole way, the dust she'd kicked up clung to her like tape, and even she felt gritty through the sweat that coated her face.
Sighing, White looked around, scanning the people that roamed the town. She didn't recognise a single face that walked past her, though it wasn't like there were too many of them. Being a town much bigger than Nuvema, the amount of people was a little underwhelming to her. She'd almost wanted there to be large crowds, but she supposed it would be best to build up and get used to it for bigger cities.
"Where would Cheren and Bianca be…" she muttered to herself, realising finally that she didn't have a clue where she was going. Despite it not being a massive town, there were a lot of paths and side alleys between houses that she didn't particularly want to walk down. She blinked a few times, as if they would just teleport in front of her if she did so. Obviously, it didn't work, but it did bring her attention to a large blue, glass building with a red roof. On the front of the roof, it read "Pokémon Center", and her eyes lit up.
"I know those!" she said, clicking her fingers triumphantly and gaining a few more confused stares from people who probably thought she was crazy for talking to herself so much.
Immediately, she kicked off of the ground and broke into a run, surprising a previously relaxed Oshawott who probably thought they were going to be walking for a bit. Her paws were aching from clinging onto White's ponytail for so long and trying to avoid being thrown of, and really, she just wanted to have a little snooze.
With her eyes drooping and her grip on White's ponytail slipping, neither Oshawott nor White noticed the person they were about to run head-first into, no matter how tall he may be. When the trainer did run into the figure, she fell immediately to the floor with a loud thud.
"Ack!" White's wrist twisted painfully as she shot her arms out to stop herself from hurting herself too much. Slightly dazed, she shook her head before looking up at the person she'd run into. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Instantly sitting up, she bowed her head multiple times and shut her eyes tight, suddenly nervous. She didn't know what kind of people were in different towns. For all she knew, the people in Accumula could have been violent.
Though, when she could see clearly, something about the man's outfit told her he wasn't a local.
"Watch it!" he snapped, brushing off his grey knight outfit. "I need to keep this clean, not have your dirty clothes smothered on it."
White's previously open mouth closed suddenly, and her teeth gritted irritably in annoyance. She felt Oshawott's grip on her ponytail tighten and could almost feel the nervousness coming out of the young Pokémon. Despite this, the man was skinny as a twig, and his aggressive attitude wasn't going to stop White from running her mouth probably a little too much.
"Wow, someone's grumpy," she growled back, standing up and crossing her arms in front of him. Now that she stood tall with a firm footing, she noticed that perhaps the knight wasn't as tall as she'd previously thought. "And I apologised, what more do you want me to do?"
The knight, too, crossed his arms. "Respect people older than you, girl." Clenching his fists beneath his elbows, he twirled around snobbishly, his grey cape fluttering elegantly behind him. As he pranced off towards the side of the city, White only just caught a small mutter of "Trainers," under his breath. Luckily, he wasn't headed for the Pokémon Center, but what looked like the edge of town. This wasn't enough to wipe the glare that was now plastered on her face off, though.
"Wow, what a jerk," she mumbled, her teeth feeling like they were glued together from being gritted for so long. "Anyway, let's not worry about it. Come on, Oshawott."
Oshawott didn't reply. She was too terrified to do such a thing, and instead had her face buried inside White's ponytail. Good thing for her it was big and poofy, suitable for hiding at least her face. She clung to her shoulder the entire trip to the Pokémon Center, never looking out in the open in case the man came back. He definitely wasn't a face she wanted to see again.
When White stepped through the automatic doors of the Pokémon Center, the blast of the air-conditioner calmed her down almost immediately. She hadn't really noticed, but it had been hot outside with the blazing sun, rarely getting covered up by clouds which were thin in the sky anyway. Suddenly stepping into a cool room was relieving on every part of her body. The atmosphere of the Pokémon Center, on the contrary, was warm and calm, mostly filled with trainers or travellers who were stopping by for a bit of food or to take up a room for the night. Along with the beeping of the Pokémon healing machine and the quiet chatters of groups of people, the thought of the man in the knight suit was completely washed out of her mind and replaced with calming thoughts; something she definitely needed after such a day.
Turning her attention to the front desk, White smiled and began walking towards it, relieved that she'd finally be able to rest her Pokémon. Maybe she'd just sit inside for the rest of the day, take her shoes off of her sore feet and not worry about travelling until tomorrow. The excitement of leaving was completely used up, and now, as she was still getting used to the fact that she was now a trainer, she was just plain tired.
As she approached the front desk, she was greeted by the smile of a tall lady in a nurse's outfit. Her bright pink hair was done up in two, oddly-looped pigtails, and she had a large pink and white Pokémon standing next to her.
"Audino!" the Pokémon chirped, pulling on the nurse's sleeve. The lady turned around and greeted White with a warm smile, placing her hands on the apron in her lap and bowing formally.
"Welcome to the Accumula Pokémon Center!" she chimed, like she'd said that sentence a thousand times over. "How can I help you today?"
"My Pokémon need a rest," explained White, picking Oshawott off of her shoulder and setting her down on the desk. Oshawott yawned and rubbed her eyes, which were droopy and ready to close.
"No problem," said the nurse. "Do you have any others?"
White jumped, suddenly remembering Lillipup. Quickly, she scrambled for her bag and began digging around for the pokéball. "Yeah, I do actually…" After a few seconds, with an, "Aha!" she pulled out Lillipup's pokéball and set it down on the table, sighing contently.
"Alright, just listen for us to call and come and get them," said the nurse, handing a too-tired-to-be-confused Oshawott to Audino and picking up Lillipup's pokéball in her hand.
White laughed as she watched Oshawott fall asleep in Audino's arms as she got taken into the nursing room. She then turned towards the lunch tables, figuring she'd get a bite to eat since she didn't get much lunch. When she did so, she saw too familiar faces sitting at one of the tables.
"There they are," she muttered, slightly relieved as she approached Bianca and Cheren. "Hey, guys!"
Bianca jumped at the voice, quickly moving out of the way and gesturing for White to sit down next to her. "Hi!" Before White or Cheren could even say anything, she jumped right into a different conversation. "So, did you catch any Pokémon?"
Suddenly remembering the contest, White nodded hastily. "Yeah, I caught a Lillipup. He's being healed right now, though. Same with Oshawott."
Bianca's mouth fell open, and she suddenly looked excited. "Really! I caught a Lillipup, too!"
White laughed at her reaction. "What about Cheren?"
When she turned to the male of the three, he had his nose buried in one of the tourist books of Accumula Town, stating all of the things you could do there. White groaned, hitting the book out of his hands and wrenching his face up to see both of them.
Cheren coughed hesitantly. "Well, I kind of caught a Pokémon…" He trailed off towards the end, turning to look down at the seat next to him which White had previously assumed to be empty. Far from that, actually, as before she could even become confused, the curious face of a purple, cat-like Pokémon popped its head up over the table and licked its lips.
Seeing White's confused face, Bianca giggled. "Well, long story short, that Purrloin's been following Cheren around since he found it on the route. When we met here, he said it won't let him catch it, it just wants to follow him for a bit."
White nodded, though still rather confused. "Right…" She paused. "So, does that count as catching a Pokémon, or…?"
Cheren shrugged. "She let me battle with her. We knocked out a few Patrat along the way, so, I guess it's up to you."
Raising an eyebrow, White nodded. "As much as I'd like you to lose something to me and Bianca, that Purrloin is pretty much yours."
Bianca nodded firmly. "Alright, then we tie!" She raised her hands victoriously. "Yes, everyone's a winner!"
White rolled her eyes. "You're such a child sometimes, you know that?"
-.-.-
"Oshawott and Lillipup are ready to be returned!"
The somewhat joyful voice came through the loudspeaker about half an hour later. When it did so, everyone's eyes turned to the counter almost simultaneously, including Cheren, White and Bianca's. Grinning, White signalled to her friends that she'd be back in a moment and walked over to the counter. As soon as she stood up, all eyes turned back to their previous positions, knowing who the Pokémon belonged to.
Thanking the nurse, White placed a now slightly hyper Oshawott on her shoulder and pocketed Lillipup's pokéball, before making her way back to her friends. When she did so, Bianca turned eagerly to her and clapped her hands, gesturing to White's pocket where Lillipup's pokéball sat.
"Let's see your Lillipup, then!" she chirped in what could have been a demanding tone if her voice wasn't so happy.
Not bothering to protest, White tucked her hand into her pocket and pulled out the pokéball, before expanding it and tossing it into the air, revealing Lillipup, who was already excitedly chasing his tail. She raised an eyebrow; it was like he didn't even realise anyone around him existed.
"Calm down, boy," said White, trying to suppress laughter. Lillipup, in hearing her voice, skidded to a halt and barked excitedly at her. "Well, it didn't take you too long to get used to being a trainer's Pokémon, did it."
Before she could even finish her sentence, Lillipup was already busy chasing his tail in circles again. For a few seconds, White considered making him stand still herself. However, just when she was about to tell him to calm down, the doors of the center opened and a man ran in. Just like when the loudspeaker had announced for Pokémon to be picked up, all eyes turned to the man. He was acting like he was going to announce something to everyone. Instead, he ran up to a group of other men and almost yelled out to them. Despite it not quite reaching yelling volume, he was still loud enough for most people to hear clearly.
"Hey, guys, you'll never believe this." In front of the group, he skidded to a halt, panting slightly and obviously eager to get his news out. "There's a creepy old man with green hair standing on the stage! He says he's representing 'Team Plasma' or something. How crazy is that?"
He hadn't noticed yet, but everyone in the center, including the nurse and her Audino, were listening in on his conversation. As soon as he'd finished speaking, the people broke into confused chatters until the group of men left, causing most of the crowd to follow them. None of them seemed to realise what an uproar they'd caused.
Cheren, his arms crossed, turned his attention back to White and Bianca. "Shall we go and have a look?"
White nodded eagerly, standing up and picking Oshawott off of the seat. As she left within a thicker crowd of people, Cheren and Bianca desperately trying to keep up with her curious pacing, Lillipup trotted beside her, looking utterly confused, yet unfazed as to where everyone was going.
When they stepped outside, White wasn't sure if she was surprised or not to see a massive crowd of people gathered around a stage that could barely be seen. It hadn't seemed that there were so many people actually in the town before they were all gathered in one spot. It was like there was a concert going on, only the whispers of surrounding people were nervous and quiet. Ignoring anyone else, White pushed her way to the front, Lillipup following closely behind her, sniffing at random people's feet. When she did get to the front, the scene she saw wasn't at all what she was expecting.
It was certainly bizarre. On the stage stood a man, a ridiculously tall one at that. As soon as she stepped towards him, she felt cold, and the sudden blast of the creepy aura sent shivers down her spine. One of his eyes was a sickly grey colour, with slanted eyebrows which made him look permanently angry. His other eye was covered by a blood-red monocle, which shone bright in the sunlight. It would have been pretty if the colour wasn't somewhat terrifying. He wore robes of green, with gold patterns swirling around the fabric that had every detail that they could possibly have.
The murmurs around White only grew louder as she stood there, not able to take her eyes off of the man. Most of the conversations she could hear were completely ignoring the line of oddly-dressed knights behind the man, holding up a large banner stroked with the letter "P". Well, at least she knew that guy she'd bumped into definitely wasn't a local. Nor did he have an obscure fashion sense. The outfit was but a uniform, and an odd one at that.
But what did the "P" mean?
Then White remembered the man who'd run into the Pokémon Center before. Recalling what he'd said, she parted her lips and absentmindedly whispered, "Plasma."
She was automatically thrown from her thoughts when the man lifted his bony hand up towards his mouth and cleared his throat quietly. Though silent, it was enough to make everyone in the crowd cut their conversations short and turn their eyes quickly towards the stage. The atmosphere automatically became tenser, like the air around everyone had suddenly frozen. White gazed, lips parted, at the man, who looked completely satisfied by the attention he was getting. Lowering his arm back to his side, he spread his arms out and began to speak.
"My name is Ghetsis," he began, his face concentrating on everything he had to say. Something about his voice, though, made White want to listen to him, like his voice was drawing in her undivided attention. "I am here representing Team Plasma."
A few hasty whispers spread throughout the crowd, and so-called Ghetsis waited patiently for them to disperse.
"You're probably wondering why I am here, no?"
No one answered.
"Well, I am here to talk to you about Pokémon liberation." Again, he silenced himself, like he was expecting the crowd to speak amongst each other.
Predictably, they did, the word "Liberation?" spreading around like wildfire. White, however, didn't move. She just continued to stare.
"I'm sure you all love Pokémon, no?" His thin lips spread into an eerie smile, making White's heart leap; this man was truly terrifying.
She felt something tugging at her ponytail, and she ignored it for a moment, totally intent on finding out what Ghetsis had to say. But the tugging did not stop, and White finally gave in and turned down to see Oshawott's worried eyes looking up at her.
"What?" she hissed, making Oshawott jump back.
"Osha!" Oshawott turned her head down to the ground, where White had expected to see Lillipup. But he wasn't there. Instead, there was just empty pavement.
White suppressed a squeak as she realised that her Pokémon had run off somewhere into the crowd. "Shoot," she muttered, turning to push through the crowd and find Lillipup.
In the back of her mind, Ghetsis' voice was still there from the stage, but he was no longer her main priority. "Lillipup!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down. No one seemed to pay attention to her, though, except the people who she was shoving out of the way trying to find her Pokémon. "Where are-?"
As soon as she looked up, White sighed with relief. Holding her Lillipup was a boy with rather odd, long, tea-green shaggy hair. He was ridiculously tall, but she wasn't paying too much attention to him. Instead, she was focussing on the relief of finding her Pokémon.
Popping up next to the boy, he didn't seem to take any notice of her. She did gain a rude stare from the man standing next to her, but that was barely noticeable. Turning her attention back to Ghetsis, her eyes became wide again and all of her hearing was focussed on him. He was pacing now, hands pocketed inside of his robes and his gaze turned down to the ground as he spoke. It was almost like he wasn't even talking to the crowd anymore, just mindlessly rambling to himself.
"Pokémon are interesting beings. They have unknown potential that we foolish humans can never understand." He clicked his tongue a few times, as if taking pity on 'foolish' humans. White found it quite ironic, as he was a human himself. "By liberating them, they can finally become… Perfect."
The way he said perfect sent yet more shivers down White's spine. He smirked afterwards, probably showing the most emotion he had since starting the talk. When he'd paced back to the centre of the stage, he turned back to the crowd, placing his hands in his lap, and bowed.
"Please, think about liberation," he requested. "Only then will Pokémon truly be their own beings. I thank you for your time."
Despite his concentration not being on them, the crowd continued to stare, open-mouthed, as Ghetsis walked between his knights, who surrounded him and marched in a protective wall beside him. His head still poked out of the top, having a significant height advantage on them. Either way, White wasn't really sure why such a man would need protection.
But as he walked, his line of sight did not stare straight ahead for the entire time. No, out of the corner of his eye, White was sure that he took a quick glance at her. Her breath caught in her throat, suddenly feeling uncomfortably scared with the situation. However, when he turned back, he didn't look back towards her. But his facial expression did change from neutral to wicked smirk.
Luckily, none of the crowd noticed, and they were all dispersing into their own smaller groups, muttering nervously amongst themselves as they tried to grasp exactly what that guy was talking about.
"Foolish humans…" White stared at her hands, not really wanting to look anywhere else. Her lips barely moved as she spoke, and her entire body was shaking. "That guy is a walking contradiction." Despite her joking, she was rather terrified at the fact that he'd gone out of his way to glance at her. Or maybe it was just her eyes tricking her. Maybe… Maybe he was looking at someone else.
Then, something hit her. "Lillipup!" she gasped, whirling around to face the boy who was holding her Pokémon. She was glad to see that he was still grasping Lillipup firmly in his arms. What she didn't expect was to see him staring at her with an oddly childish look in his eye.
As he stared at her, bright green eyes wide, he stroked a happily panting Lillipup with his free hand. He almost looked possessed, not even blinking and not seeming to breathe. If he wasn't so tall, at least a head taller than her, White would have compared him to a child more so than she already was. Around his neck was a necklace held on a long chain that resembled… An atom, maybe? If that wasn't weird, she didn't know what was.
Looking up at his face, she turned her upper lip up in a scowl and crossed her arms irritably. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," she drawled, tapping her foot impatiently.
The boy didn't seem fazed at all by her attitude. Instead, he looked down at Lillipup and smiled slightly. "This is your Pokémon?"
A little taken aback, White nodded, unable to speak with her breath caught up in her throat. He spoke almost absentmindedly, like he wasn't speaking to her at all, but rather to himself. Yet he spoke quickly, almost too quickly and quietly for White to completely understand what he was saying without having to strain her ears.
"Huh, that's nice," he continued, before suddenly turning to White, his eyes no longer wide and creepy, but somewhat curious. "My name is N."
White glared suspiciously. This situation was getting weirder and weirder. "N what?"
'N' chuckled. "Just N," he said simply, holding Lillipup out to White. She took him protectively, clutching him in her arms like he was trying to run away. Really, she just didn't want N to get his hands on him again.
"That's a weird name." Still, she didn't hesitate to be honest with him. Not like he seemed to care. "I'm White."
N chuckled. "Well, that's not the most normal name, either." He shook his head, reaching a long, thin finger out and scratching Lillipup on the ear. "Your Pokémon. He says such strange things. Can you hear him?"
White's nose crinkled. "You mean his barking?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Well, yeah, everyone ca-"
She was cut off by N shaking his head quickly.
"No, his voice." He paused, before blinking a few times, as if something had just come to mind. "Don't worry, you won't understand." With rather odd timing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokéball with his index and middle fingers. "I want to hear your Lillipup's voice more. May I battle you?"
White, though a little taken-aback, wasn't going to say no to a challenge. "Uh, sure," she said, placing Lillipup on the ground. "One on one?"
N nodded, hurling his pokéball into the air and letting out a Purrloin, who really didn't seem that keen on battling. It simply sat on the ground, not looking up at its opponent, and licked its paw carelessly. Its long, elegant tail swayed back and forth and almost made White drowsy just by looking at it.
"Okay, we'll start this one," she said, jabbing her finger out in front of her and pointing directly at Purrloin. "Lillipup, use Tackle!"
Barking eagerly, Lillipup began charging at the Purrloin, who barely gave him a second glance. When he got close to the overly-calm cat, it had barely moved an inch. Neither had N. He just stood, leaning casually on one leg, his arms crossed and his head down, almost like he was falling asleep standing up. As he did so, his black and white baseball cap shaded his eyes, giving him an almost eerie appearance.
When Lillipup was a mere few feet from Purrloin, N finally looked up, but not at the battle. Instead, he stared right at White, a smirk planted on his face. "Purrloin, Scratch, please."
Before White could even register what was going on, the Purrloin stopped licking its paw, and instead looked menacingly at a still-charging Lillipup. The paw that it was licking was no longer just a paw. Instead, it had recently shot shining silver claws out of its toes. Like scythes, they shone in the sun, perfectly sharpened. Lillipup's eyes widened, and Purrloin slashed out at him, barely even moving a muscle other than the paw.
Lillipup yelped and leaped back, his eyes shut tight and a long slash mark down his face. Growling, he shook it off, standing back on all four legs and glaring at Purrloin, who simply glanced back with a cocky expression.
Oh, how White hated cats.
To her surprise, N laughed. "Okay, we'll play fair. Your Pokémon seems to be having fun." He clicked his fingers, and Purrloin stood up automatically, not taking a little more of a battle stance. "Purrloin, let's have another Scratch."
White gritted her teeth. "Dodge, Lillipup!" she commanded, lifting her hand up. Lillipup leaped out of the way, rolling to the side and skidding to a stop as Purrloin slashed out, digging its claws into the concrete.
She was sure she saw N flinch, almost like he was feeling the Pokémon's pain. Either way, that was the least of her worries.
"Lillipup, Tackle it in the side!"
Skidding on the concrete and scrambling back to her feet after the clean dodge, Lillipup instantly ran towards Purrloin, hitting it head-first in the side and sending it flying backwards. It let out a horrible screech, landing on its side on the ground and hissing menacingly.
White was just about to call another attack when N held his hand up, his other hand buried in his pockets. She paused in her attempts, taken-aback when N walked up to his Purrloin and picked it up, cradling it in his arms.
"W-what-?"
N shook his head, stroking Purrloin between its ears. "I think that's enough. I've heard all I want your Lillipup to say."
Lillipup cocked his head to the side, as did White, and the two both stared, dumbfounded, at the trainer before them.
Finally, White spoke. "But you can't just call off a battle half-way through!" she snapped, crossing her arms and stomping a firm foot onto the floor. "It's not how it works!"
N's face turned blank as he returned Purrloin to his pokéball. Without giving her the benefit of his eyesight, he simply answered with, "But I just did."
White's fists clenched.
He shrugged. "Besides, I've never been one for battling."
And with that comment, White completely lost it. "Freaking hell! You're irony with legs! I swear to Arceus, of all the people I could have met on my first day-" But she paused as soon as she took a glance at him. He was looking thoughtfully at the ground, staring like there was some sort of war going on down there. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. He almost looked like… A child.
"I don't think too many people took Team Plasma seriously back there…" he said, his voice getting quieter and quieter with every word. Surprisingly enough, he didn't quite sound sad, just… Disappointed? "But I did. I think they have a good point."
He seemed to have a knack for making White jump. After staring at the ground for quite some time in utter silence, he walked up to White so he was only a foot or so away from her. Staring down at her, he sighed and shook his head.
"White, was it?" he questioned.
White just nodded, anger and confusion mixing oddly inside of her stomach.
He nodded. "I get a strange vibe from you."
Of all of the things he could have said, that was definitely not what White was expecting.
Swiftly, N turned around, walking down the path that led out of the city. As he walked, he spoke to himself. Only, it wasn't to himself. He was still talking to her, and it was starting to get on her nerves.
"Just think about what Team Plasma said about liberating Pokémon, okay?" He didn't look back at all. Instead, he just wandered out of the city and out of her sight, thank Arceus.
White blinked, completely baffled by the scene she'd just witnessed. "Man, it was almost like he was trying to brainwash me into releasing you guys," she joked to her Pokémon, who didn't seem any less confused than she did. Rolling her eyes, she turned back towards the Pokémon Center. "Come on, let's turn in for the night."
-.-.-
Holy muffins that was long.
Anyway, I had a lot to put in this chapter. I was considering just making this the chapter where White catches her Lillipup, but it seemed a bit boring when I put it into words. Besides, I feel comfortable getting the introduction of N out of the way. Ah, him and his mixed signals. Yes, Ferriswheelshipping will come eventually, but don't get too hasty. I plan on developing them to friends first. At the moment, he's just the weird-yet-adorable creeper of the story.
Also, happy new year! Completely off topic, but that had to be said.
Anyway, I decided to cut some of the N battle off. Not because I was lazy, but because I figured that, in the games, he only wants to battle you to hear your Pokémon speak. I kind of thought that he'd happily draw his Purrloin out of the battle to stop it from getting hurt. Eh, just my opinion, but that's why I cut the battle as a whole in half.
Next chapter might be awhile. Not sure, but I want to work on my X and Y 'fic for a bit.
On to the outro, thank you all for reading, and to those who favourited/followed and/or reviewed the last chapter, thanks for your support! I'll try to update ASAP since I'm on summer break now (I'm Aussie, so it's bright and sunny and way too hot here). Until then, though, thanks again!
