Little Tsu: Next segmant.

Pokemon: 4 Deaths: 0 Badges: 0

Ch:3

~Oh come on! What is it with you and attractin' female pokemon?!~

It was the next day, early morning, and they had been making their way through Route 104 when a female Wurmple had suddenly peeked out of the grass. The insect pokemon held a shy look within her eyes as she skittered through the grass. Aya cocked her head slightly to the side as she watched the pokemon before finally kneeling down on one knee. Shifting through her pack, she soon found what she wanted and pulled out some pokefood, much to Vash's dismay since he commented on her shoulder that she shouldn't be feeding wild pokemon.

Ignoring her starter, she merely watched as the shy little Wurple closed the distance and happily began to eat the food from her palm as if she hadn't had anything to eat in quite a while. During that time, Aya took the chance and tapped the top of her head with a pokeball; instantly catching the small pokemon.

(Wurple/Twilight Gender: Female Nature/Characteristic: Bashful/Loves to eat Place: Route 104)

Vash couldn't help but hold a deadpanned expression to his features as he gazed down at the pokeball in his trainer's hand as she went to attach it to her pilot's jacket. ~Ya know...Wurmple make better food than teammates...~ At the look Aya was giving him, stating 'You're not gonna eat her', he shrugged with his little wings nonchalantly. ~Hey. Was jus' sayin' is all. 'Sides, it's not like that bug's gonna stay on the team, right?~

Aya didn't answer that and instead began to head off to continue training her team.

~H-Hey. I'm right, right? We're not keepin' the bug on the team?...Aya? Ah come on! She's a meal! Not a fighter!~

Aya arched a brow at him from behind her goggles before she chuckled lightly at his whining. She was actually starting to like all this journeying with pokemon thing. She was actually finding it kinda fun and it certainly got her away from her mother, who practically breathed down her throat; thinking something would happen to her even though it had been her idea in the first to go outside and get some fresh air. Well,...this definately counted as fresh air.

A whole lot of it...

As they continued their training a bit more, Aya heard a voice from behind her and she turned her head to glance over her shoulder. A teen of about her age was walking over and he was wearing a suit. That confused her and she sent him a questioning look.

"What? I come from a rich family. There's no way I would be caught dead in some peasent's clothes." The teen rested a hand onto his hip as he gave her an almost distasteful look when he looked her up and down. "...That attire is not suiting at all for a young lady...And why are you wearing something as tacky such as...goggles anyways? I would understand if you were in a desert, which Arceus forbid I ever set foot in one, but still..."

Aya sighed softly before lifting a gloved hand as she raised the left side of her goggles. When she did, she made sure that she was in a shaded area before she opened her eye, revealing their pale amethyst coloration along with the scar better for him to view. "Sensitive..."

Staring at her eye in slight confusion, he finally understood after a few seconds on just what it was she was showing him and why she said 'sensitive'. "I see now...So you're blind in that eye...I suppose you have my sympathies for what happened, but I still expect a battle. My prized companion needs a workout and I suppose you'll do well enough..." When he saw Aya nod her head lightly in acceptance of the battle and brought her goggles back down over both of her eyes, he released the pokemon he possessed from it's luxury ball, revealing a male Zigzagoon.

Aya studied the pokemon for a moment and had been about to send out her Torchic, but instead, a flash of light from her jacket appeared as Rona had automatically let herself out. Blinking slightly in surprise that this happened, she opened her mouth to protest on this, but quickly shut her mouth when Rona growled and bared her fangs. ~Don't even think about returning me Aya! I'm sick of that stupid chicken getting most of the action! I'm just as strong as he is!~

Instead of waiting for Aya to say something towards fighting, Rona turned to face her opponent, only to have her ears lay back against her skull when the Zigzagoon used Growl. Baring her fangs at this, Rona narrowed her crimson eyes in a glare and charged in as her fangs became incased in ice, unleashing Ice Fang. However, just before she made contact, the raccoon leaped to the side in a narrow dodge and smashed into her side with a Tackle.

Yelping slightly in surprise at this, she pulled herself back up onto her feet and retaliated with another Ice Fang; this time hitting as her fangs sunk into the opponent. Grinning through the bite at the pained cry from the pokemon, she went to bite down even harder when one of the Zigzagoon's paws swiped along the ground; kicking up sand right into her face. Barking in slight frustration at the Sand Attack getting in her eyes, Aya's Poochyena stumbled back and shook her head again as she tried to get rid of the sand and unblur her eyesight. Growling under her breath at this, she glared in the direction that her opponent was in and dug her claws into the ground a bit while the fur on the back of her neck bristled up. ~You stupid rat. I'll kill you for that! You think a stupid Sand Attack is gonna stop my attacks from hitting?!~

Beginning to lose her temper with this battle again, she didn't listen to Vash's arguing yells of telling her to switch out with him. Instead, she rushed in and lashed out with another Ice fang; this time aimming for the neck to finish the job. Just as she snapped down on where she knew the neck was, her eyes widened as her iced over fangs only met with each other. It was then, that her gaze caught something below her, but she hadn't been able to react quickly enough. The ducked down Zigzagoon smashed into Rona's chest and neck; a sickening cracking sound being emitted as the Poochyena coughed up a tiny bit of blood.

Aya's eyes widened in shock as this happened and finally cried out as she rushed over to her fallen wolf pup.

Vash on the other hand, clenched his beak tightly in rising anger before flames licked around the edges. He then unleashed Ember, blasting the Zigzagoon right in the side of the head. The opponent fell while the side of his head was bloody and burned from the flames. Watching as the rich teen scowled and returned his dead pokemon, Vash hurried over to his trainer, who was cradling Rona in her arms while sitting on her knees. ~H-Hey. Rona, ya ok? You can't die. You said ya were gonna get stronger and travel.~

Rona peeked an eye open weakly as she gave a breathless chuckle. ~L-Looks like...that won't be happening...I let my jealousy of you...get in the way of my common sense...T-Take care of the team and...our trainer...you poofed up...chicken...~ Her voice then slowly faded as her eye closed one last time causing Vash to panic.

Aya bit her bottom lip and pulled her broken Poochyena up close to her face as she hugged her tenderly. "I'm sorry...So sorry Rona..." A few tears fell as she slowly lowered her back down from her face and drifted her saddened gaze towards Vash. "We...We best bury her..." She hated this. Aya didn't wanna bury her! She wanted Rona to still be alive! Rising up unsteadily to her feet, Aya got herself set to making a grave by the beach after releasing her other pokemon from their pokeballs so they could help.

Finishing up in covering the grave with the last bit of dirt, they placed a good sized stone that Leon had found nearby with the help of his Confusion on the grave as the headstone. All five of them gazed at the grave sadly for a moment as resting against the headstone was Rona's pokeball and some flowers they had found. After a moment, Aya finally returned all of her pokemon save for Vash and continued on their way...

"Goodbye Rona...We'll miss you..."

(RIP Rona Lvl: 5-7)

{Petalburg Woods}

The silence was rather deafening, but both Aya and Vash were having trouble with this. They had just lost a teammate and friend even though she and Vash had bickered often. Glancing around the forest, the duo finally decided to take a little break and took a seat with Aya's back resting against a tree trunk. Both closed their eyes gently as they tried to clear their minds with the peaceful sounds of rustling leaves from the gentle breeze brushing through the trees. The relaxing had started to work, but a rustling in the bushes was heard ahead of them causing both to open their eyes drainedly. At spying a Shroomish, Aya didn't even bother to battle it and tossed her only Ultra Ball at the pokemon; catching it instantly.

(Shroomish/Zell Gender: Male Nature/Characteristic: Naive/Scatters things often Place: Petalburg Woods)

Gazing down at the ultra ball as Aya walked over and picked it up, she seemed to be deep in thought before she softly spoke, which was a surprise since she had been speaking a bit more than usual since Rona's death. "We need to train harder..."

Blinking slightly, Vash turned his gaze to stare at Aya's face while still perched on her shoulder. ~Aya...?~

"...Don't wanna lose anyone else..."

Vash seemed to understand at that point. Rona's death had hit Aya pretty hard since it was apparently her first death. After all, he'd think she'd say anything if she ever had any pokemon before all this, right?

As the grinding began, one Zigzagoon that Twilight had been fighting began to get the better of her, but then Vash quickly jumped in and unleashed Ember to stop the oncoming Tackle. He then finished it off with Scratch. Twilight watched the movements in slight awe as she blushed faintly. ~Th-Thank you Vash. You s-saved me. Huh?~ Blinking slightly in shock as her form enveloped itself in a blinding light, she began to change in shape before a Cascoon appeared in the Wurmple's spot. ~O-Oh wow. I-I evolved! H-How do I look?~

Vash glanced over at Twilight as he stared at her before shrugging lightly. ~Ya look like a Cascoon. You best hurry and evolve again soon. You're a sittin' duck in that form...~ With that, Vash walked over to Aya, who was setting up everyone's lunches. Apparently, he wanted to help since he felt like he had done enough grinding for a bit. He was still the strongest on the team so he wasn't worried about any danger. The others soon joined them for a lunch break, including their newest member, Zell.

As they took their time eating, Zell was enjoying his food while sitting within Aya's lap. It was easy to see that the pokemon had made himself at home; especially around his trainer. Smiling a bit, Zell nudged around his pieces of pokefood as if mixing it more before eating a few more bites.

"Ah, excuse me miss. Do you have a moment?"

At the voice behind her, Aya shifted in her spot on the ground and glanced behind herself as she spotted a middle aged man in a lab coat and a pair of glasses. "...Yes...?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry to disturb your meal. It's just that I was wondering if you've spotted any Shroomish while you've been in the forest? I can't really seem to spot any and I love the pokemon; they're my favorite." It was then that he spied the Shroomish in the girl's lap and seemed to get excited, but that ended when someone yelled out to them. The man in the lab coat jolted in place before sharply turning back around. Standing there before them was a man in a strange red uniform with a hoodie over their head. Yelping slightly, the scientist noticed that the girl behind him was beginning to stand and immediately rushed over as he hid behind her despite the height difference. "Wh-Who are you?! What do you want?!"

The strange man shot a glare at both before shaking his head. "You know exactly what I'm after since you're a Devon Reseacher. Hand over those papers that you have in your hand and knowone gets hurt, got it?"

"N-No! You can't have them!" The researcher then glanced down at Aya while still standing behind her and gave her a pleading look. "Y-You're a trainer, right? Please, you've got to help me. Y-You'll help me, right?"

Aya parted her lips to try and give an answer, but the stranger in red spoke up first.

"What's this? You actually going to protect that guy? No one who crosses Team Magma gets any mercy, not even a kid! Prepare to lose your pokemon brat!" With what the strange man released the pokemon he had in his possession, revealing it to be a Poochyena. "Get her and take out the girl's pokemon Poochyena! Tackle!"

As the Poochyena went to strike Aya, the pokemon was quickly hit in the chest as he was knocked back with an Ember. Landing on the ground between the two, Vash narrowed his eyes as he glared at the enemy. ~Back off mutt! I'm not about ta let you and your wacky dressed human hurt my trainer!~ He then quickly charged in and used Scratch as his talons dug into the side of his face; taking him out.

Cursing under his breath, the man returned his fallen pokemon and glared at Aya and her pokemon. However, the longer he stared at the girl, the more his expression began to change. "...A Torchic...And you look familier somehow kid..." After a moment, his eyes finally widened as he took a step or two back. "There's just no way...You're-" Hesitating in speaking any further, he suddenly took another step back as he muttered to himself, which only seemed to confuse Aya and Vash even further. "This is bad...Boss isn't going to like this one bit..." Shaking his head, he took yet another step. "I got to get out of here. Team Magma are also after something in Rustboro..."

Before they could stop him, the strange man turned around quickly and bolted off. Brows knitting further in confusion, she stared at the spot where the man had been while the researcher came out from behind her, seeming to be in relief at the moment.

"Whew...That was awfully close...Thanks to you, that strange man didn't get these important papers that I have on me. I really need to thank you somehow...I know! Here, take this." He then walked up to Aya and handed her a strange device. "It's called an Exp. Share. It's a really high-tech device that'll help you in raising your pokemon a bit more easily." He then fell silent as he thought for a moment before suddenly panic crossed onto his features. "Wait...Didn't that Team Magma thug say they were after something in Rustboro, too? Ah! That's not good! I got to get back!" With that, the researcher quickly hurried off; stumbling slightly in the process.

Aya merely stood there as she watched all this go on. Vash though, glanced behind himself and up at her with a strange look on his features. ~The heck jus' happen?~

Aya merely sighed softly to herself and shook her head lightly before returning her other pokemon and gathering up their things so they could continue on. As she did though, with Vash's help of course, she mumbled softly to herself. "...What just happened...?"

To be continued.

Little Tsu: Ok so...First casualty & a faint insight on the plot at hand. As for Rona...Yeah, that was a stupid move. I didn' expect her ta miss that last time & I had only needed ta hit that Zigzagoon one last time...Zigzagoon critted her though.:(