Archie sighed, and then looked down at Taru.
"I'm going to do something a little different."
Taru blinked.
"You see, to give us an edge, I'll assign each move and edge. That way, the opponent won't be able to combat us as well."
Taru thought about this, then smiled.
"Okay. So razor leaf, is-"
She made an oscillating whistling noise, that sounded like something spinning in the air.
"You do know Razor leaf, don't you?"
Taru nodded. Archie grinned, then pointed at a tree.
"Okay, that's out target."
She whistled. Taru shot out spinning crescent moon leaves, which cut into the tree when they hit it.
"Good. Now, Vine whip, you know vine whip?"
Taru nodded.
"Well that's-"
She whistled two short bursts.
"Got it?"
Taru nodded.
"See if you can get that apple."
She said, pointing at a shiny red apple hanging from a tree.
She gave two short bursts.
Two vines shot out, but missed the apple.
"Oh. Well, try again." She made the noise.
This time he missed by a hair.
She made the noise.
The apple was knocked from the tree and fell to the earth.
"Yes!"
Archie ran over and grabbed the apple, taking a bite.
"Mm, not bad, want some?"
She held it out for Taru, who took a bite.
Then she put it aside and got back to training.
Archie finished assigning noises, then went on to combos. After a little while, she felt that Taru was familiar enough with each command.
"Okay, that's enough. We'll do it again later. You did well."
She smiled, and Taru felt proud.
Lolita came running back to Archie with two pokeball's in hand and her backpack on her back, completely packed (lol). She grinned up at Archie, who was about an inch taller then her and held out her fist to be punch.
"YAY! My training went great, how about you?"
Archie knocked the fist with her own.
"Great. Need a few more to get it down but Taru did wonderfully. He's a real champ.
Taru, I'm going to put you away now, okay?"
Archie fished his pokeball out of her pocket, and looked nervously at it. She didn't trust pokeball's. Taru just waited.
Archie sucked Taru back into the pokeball with a shudder, and put it back in her pocket.
"Come on."
She picked up her bag, and grabbed the apple, biting into it and spitting out the browned bit.
"So, where are we headed?"
Archie asked.
Lolita shrugged before pointing ahead in a random direction.
"THAT WAY!" And skipped off
Archie stared after her, then sighed and followed. At least she wasn't headed back to town.
{Rat: Can we time skip to the next day?}
(Reo: Ok)
Lolita yawned as she sat up in the Pokémon center room, glancing around at her Pokémon who were lying on the end of her bed. Squirtle was on his back at the end of her bed, snoring lightly, while Slowpoke was on his tummy, on her pillow, not snoring at all. She smiled happily, laying back down, listening to the movements around the room as she drifted in and out of sleep.
Archie woke up in the Pokémon center, and had a mini heart attack.
Was something wrong with Taru?
Was she still recovering?
Had the last few years been a dream?
She stared around, on the verge of a break down. She had no idea what was going on.
Why had someone put a stuffed Pokémon toy at the end of her bed? Some kind of sick joke? At least it wasn't a Charizard, which would have been too much.
She looked around wildly, to afraid to check herself for bandages.
Taru looked up from the end of the bed, and saw Archie panicking, looking around like she didn't know where she was.
"Bulbasaur?"
Archie jumped and spun around, eyes wet, shaking. She saw him struggle to get up, and let out a breath.
She crawled to the edge of the bed and began rubbing his head, still shaking a little.
"I normally wake up really slow, knowing where I am, you see. When I woke up just now, suddenly, I had trouble getting my bearings straight."
She chewed her lip, then checked her arms
The scars were as faded as ever, whirls and crisscrosses. She picked up her arm covers and slipped them on.
Black, they went from elbow to wrist, disguising the evidence of the event.
The one, that had changed her life.
Scarring her, outside, and in.
The reason, she was so frightened of Pokémon, and fire too.
She got up and began getting dressed, pulling off her long night shirt over her head, revealing crisscrossing scars on her back, along with the burn scars.
Taru watched with wide eye, stunned by the sight of the scars, which gave a glimpse into a painful secret.
She dumped her shirt on the ground, and pulled off her sea blue pajama shorts.
Last night she had picked out her clothes, laying them on the side table. She shivered, near nude, and pulled off her undies, changing quickly.
Taru didn't know whether to be embarrassed or not, with Archie getting dressed in front of him. Not, he decided,
as Archie didn't seem to mind.
Pulling on her singlet, and a plain dark forest green shirt, along with a pair of black cotton overalls, shivering as it made the scars on her back tingle, she reviewed what had made her get a Pokémon.
When she was dressed, she picked up her bag, and turned to Bulbasaur, smiling.
Bulbasaur jumped off the bed, and followed after her.
Archie walked through the halls, purposely.
After a while, she wound up at the front desk, asking about her friend.
After being told that her friend had been in the room opposite, she asked about breakfast. She was told that there should be a tray of food in her room already.
She thanked the lady and went back to her room, finding a packet of cornflakes, a little packet of milk and a little packet of Orange juice, along with an apple.
She gave the apple, to Taru, and got down to eating breakfast.
Eventually Lolita glanced at the clock and shot up, effectively waking Squirtle, although Slowpoke slept on.
"Squiiiiirrrttttllllllee~" whined Squirtle, but Lolita ignored him and quickly grabbed her stuff and ran into the bathroom, quickly stripping and having a cold shower before hopping back out after thirty seconds and pulling on her black cargo pants and light blue vest and brushing out her black hair. She tightened her light blue bandana and then pulled on her army green gloves and boots and then tied her brown pouch to her side and her brown goggles around her head before rushing back out and grabbing Slowpoke and rushed out the door, Squirtle running after her.
After all, who wouldn't rush if they realized that they had slept in till 10 o'clock?
Archie had finished breakfast hours ago, and was now sitting outside in the sun, reading a book.
Taru lay next to her, soaking up the sunlight.
She reached down and placed one hand on Taru's bulb, then gave a start and looked down. Her eye's widened and she marked her place in her book and set it down, staring at Taru.
Lolita groaned in dismay when she realized that breakfast hours were over and quickly grabbed a muffin and, after being told when Archie was, ran out side. When she went outside she found Archie staring at Taru, and when she looked too, she found she was staring as well.
Taru was, how you say, collecting sunlight.
Strange sparkles of sunlight were flowing into his open bulb.
Taru opened his eyes and looked over at Lolita.
Archie shivered, then looked over where Taru was looking, and smiled when she saw Lolita.
"Finally up I see? I could have caught a Pokémon in the time I've been waiting."
Bulbasaur finished absorbing sunlight and got up.
Archie smiled and stood up, brushing herself off.
"I'm hoping for a Murkrow."
She said, stretching.
"Bulba!" Taru said, stretching as well.
Taru then looked around for Squirtle, who was seemingly better at understanding humans. Besides, he wanted to chat.
" Unfortunately for you," Lolita smirked "You can't find Murkrow in Kanto, so nyah!(aka, :P)" Squirtle blinked down at Bulbasaur, who was looking around for something. Squirtle shrugged and tugged on Slowpokes tail, waking him up.
"Slowwwpoke, slow slow poooke" (YAWWWNN, is it morning already.)
"Squirt squiiiirrttle! Squirtle Squirtle!" (yes, now come on, lets go talk to Taru!) Both walked over to the Bulbasaur.
"Squirtle squirt?" (watcha looking for?)
"Bulba, bulasaur."
(Oh hey, there you are!)
Taru sat down with a thump and began retelling what had happened in the time they'd been apart.
(She kept saying how much she doesn't like hospitals, especially the antiseptic. Did a little mediation before she finally managed to get to sleep.)
Taru scratched an ear before continuing.
(Next morning, she freaks out, trying to figure out where she is with an expression like she was about to cry. I called out and she snapped out of it.)
Taru looked at Squirtle, standing up.
(So she crawls over and say that she wakes up knowing where is usually, but she woke up sudden. Then she gets up and gets dressed, right in front of me!)
Taru shifted weight from one side to the other.
(Did your trainer do that? I mean, I am a guy Pokémon! I didn't know where to look.) He blushed, looking down at his feet.
Archie pulled a face.
"Then we travel to where we can get one!"
She said, pulling a pose with one hand on her hip, the other pointing right up the air and her tongue poking out.
She stayed that way for 5 seconds then blinked and looked around for Taru.
She saw him a little way off, having an animated conversation with Lolita's Pokémon.
She sweat dropped then looked back at Lolita.
"So, you going to name Squirtle, or what?" She asked, scratching her nose as if nothing had happened.
Lolita blinked and tilted her head to the side, thinking carefully about the first thing she said, ignoring the comment on her naming Squirtle.
"Hm... I've GOT IT!" She smirked a pulled a dramatic pose, almost exactly like the one Archie had pulled just before... they had been friends way to long.
"WE'LL GO TO THE JOHTO REGION! They've got TOTODILES! She squealed the last bit happily; she had always adored the crocodile Pokémon.
Squirtle sighed and shook his head at Taru, he was so... NAIVE or... INNOCENT... it was almost funny, and it would have been, if he didn't keep being the receiver of the questions.
(Your trainer needs another Pokémon) he muttered under his breathe before turning to Taru, Slowpoke just sitting there, watching everything go on.
(You probably should have just closed your eyes, silly, but no, Lolita doesn't do that, and instead, she hogs the bathroom.) He pouted in mock anger (and I really need the bathroom when I get up in the mornings as well.) Slowpoke decided to put his own two-cent in as well.
(Maybe you should wait for her to wake you up first and then, when she's getting changed, just turn around, its much easier.) Squirtle blinked at him before laughing.
(Man, for a supposedly slow Pokémon, you sure are wise!)
(We're only considered slow because we don't react to things unless we have to.)
(Oh...)
(So I couldn't help seeing that her back is totally scarred.)
Bulbasaur continued, staring at Slowpoke with shock.
(Like she's been burned and scratched. All down her back, and on her arms too.)
Slowpoke sighed and closed his eyes again, while Squirtle shook his head.
(I don't know, Taru, I don't know. Just wait until she says something about it, ok, then we'll figure out what the hell is going on.)
(Language) smirked Slowpoke, eyes still closed.
Taru sighed.
(Does your trainer even know? I mean, it's pretty ugly. What could do that to someone?) He asked, sounding stunned.
He looked around then back at Squirtle.
(Wait, what do you mean, she needs another Pokemon?) He asked confused.
Squirtle shrugged his shoulders at Taru and shook his head in dismay.
(Some kind of Fire type, like Charizard, I dunno. And you need some other Pokémon on your team to get along with and battle with. You wont always have me, you know.)
Taru sighed.
(I know. Charizard you say? That makes sense. Remember how wary she was of Charmander? And besides, I don't think she's talk about it unless she has to.)
He said, then began heading back over to the trainers.