Welcome once again, to a new chapter of The Gawaro Chronicles. Last episode we had a relaxing evening in Barme Town as well as hearing a legend about a hero and a Pokémon. We also meat Sean, a young boy with a strong conviction in his beliefs. So to mix things up, this chapter is more action oriented. This is currently the last chapter betaread by Tyhe2476, so a big thanks to him as well.
Without further ado, let's get to the chapter.
Chapter 4 – Corphish the Ruffian
Thursday the 8th of Silversun
11:07, Route 702
Casey and Tyson were climbing a hill, the sun steady overhead. The duo had left Barme Town early in the morning, following the route east, then north, towards Relyb City. It was another great day with lots of sunshine and only a few clouds in the sky. The grass on both sides of the road was vividly green. As they reached the hilltop, they could see the road ahead was winding between the hilly country, all the while going steadily east, in the direction of Mt Modnaid, the single largest mountain in the Gawaro region. The mountain was located practically in the center of the region and was so vast, that its status as a mountain was often disputed, as some geologists thought of it as a mountain range instead.
"Last one down the hill is a Slowpoke!" Tyson grinned and burst into a run down the hill.
"Oh, no you don't!" Casey shouted after him and started running after him. Casey ran harder and soon caught up with Tyson, only to overtake him.
"Hey, no fair!" Tyson called and sped up, chasing his friend, the fight of yesterday seemingly forgotten. Tyson caught up and side by side the two ran downhill, getting ever closer to Relyb City.
Thursday the 8th of Silversun
11:45, Route 702
"Phew, I'm beat," Casey panted as he bent over to support himself on his knees. Tyson panted an agreement. They had run continuously since the hill and were fully out of breath.
"How… about… we stop… for lunch?" Tyson asked between gasps of air. Casey nodded and pointed ahead of them. Tyson looked and saw what appeared to be a small lake a few hundred meters on. "At the lake… Good thinking."
The pair staggered their way to the lake. Once there, both boys squatted down at the lakefront, took off their shoes and soaked their feet in the cold water. It tickled at first, but the pleasure soon overcame the tickling.
"This is nice," Tyson said, lying on his back with his feet in the water.
"Yeah," Casey agreed as he stared over the lake. There was hardly a breeze in the air, so the lake was nearly mirror-like in its appearance. A single cloud passed by overhead, making an odd white spot on the lake. A Finneon jumped up through the water, trailing droplets behind its tail. The water on its light- and dark-blue body glistened beautifully. Then it descended, dived below the water and was gone. The boys relaxed for another few minutes. It would be nice to have a Water-type Pokémon Casey thought, picturing himself swimming with a Goldeen and a Finneon.
"So, how about that lunch?" Tyson said as he sat up again. Casey nodded and the two began to prepare lunch, letting out Twurt, Corona and Clamper as well. Soon the three Pokémon were munching on Pokémon food, while Casey and Tyson were making sandwiches. Once done, they began eating, looking out over the lake, where a red Magikarp jumped up and landed back in the water.
"How far along are we?" Tyson asked between bites.
"We've actually come pretty far" Casey said and found the map. "See this lake," he tapped the map, "I believe it's the one we're sitting by now. And the river mouth over there fits with this river that runs along the road on the map."
"Really?" Tyson asked surprised. "With that kind of progress, we'll shave a full day off of our journey to Relyb City."
"You're right," Casey said as he put away the map, "but we shouldn't forget to enjoy the journey too."
"I know," Tyson said and lay down on his back. "Just think of all that happened yesterday. We got our first Pokémon, battled a horde of Teddiursa and a single Ursaring and then I got Clamper. And after all that, we still managed to get to Barme Town before sundown."
"Yeah," Casey agreed taking a bite out of his sandwich. "Still, that Sean kid sure did give you an earful."
"Urgh, don't remind me," Tyson said, waving a hand at his friend to dismiss the subject.
The two finished eating, then packed their stuff and recalled their Pokémon, who by now were dozing in the sunlight. They started walking along the road once more. Overhead, only a few lazy clouds were drifting along, doing nothing to hide the heat of the summer sun. The sun reflected perfectly in the water, only rarely disturbed by a small gust of wind.
"Ski," a cry came suddenly from ahead.
"What was that?" Tyson asked, more surprised than concerned.
"I don't know," Casey replied, "but it came from up ahead. Let's go." The two boys started running towards the cries, which kept on coming.
"It's coming from the river," Tyson said, as they got closer to the source.
"Yeah," Casey said, scanning the river with his eyes as he ran. Then he spotted something. "Look, out there." Casey pointed out over the river, towards a small, blue creature with a yellow top. Its body was round, and four thin, long legs extended from the body. The Pokémon looked severely injured.
"How do we reach it?" Tyson asked. In answer to his question, Casey had already thrown of his bag and was rushing to get his clothes off. Soon, he was down to just his underwear and jumped in. He took a good few, strong strokes and in no time reached the Pokémon. Grabbing hold of its body, he turned and swam ashore again. Tyson helped him and the Pokémon up.
"The poor thing is injured," Casey said, indicating a large gash on its side. "Find some food for it while I get dressed." Tyson did as he was told and while Casey took his clothes back on, Tyson poured the blue Pokémon some food. It sniffed it apprehensively, but hunger quickly got the better of it. Soon it was eating, though slowly.
"What Pokémon is that?" Tyson asked as he watched it eat.
"Let us see," a now dressed Casey said, finding his green Pokédex.
"Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon," the encyclopedia read out. "Surskit inhabits ponds, rivers, and similar wetlands. From the tips of its feet, Surskit secretes an oil that enables it to walk on water as if it were skating. This Pokémon feeds on microscopic organisms in ponds and lakes. If Surskit senses danger, it secretes a thick, sugary syrup from the tip of its head. There are some Pokémon that love eating this syrup."
"I wonder what happened to it," Tyson said out loud.
"I don't know," Casey replied, then crouched down beside the injured Pokémon. "Hey there." Surskit looked at him, a scared look in its eyes. "No need to be afraid," he said, slowly extending a hand. Surskit tensed up. Slowly, Casey extended his arm a little more, petting the Surskit. For a few seconds, Surskit froze completely. Then, as Casey started stroking it, it seemed to relax a little. "Tyson, do me a favor and call out Clamper."
"Uh, okay," Tyson said, then found Clamper's Poké Ball. He pressed the button and the usual white energy was released, forming the shape of a Karrablast.
"Karrablast!" Clamper said, happy to be out of its Poké Ball.
"Clamper, could you talk to Surskit and tell it how we helped you?" Casey said, standing back up to give the two some space.
"I don't understand," said Tyson. "Why do you need Clamper to talk to it?"
"Because that Surskit is injured," Casey explained. "It's thankful for the food, but it doesn't quite trust us and why should it? With a gash like that, I would be wary of everything around me as well."
"I get it now," Tyson exclaimed. "So you're using Clamper to show that we can be trusted and we only want to help."
"That's right," Casey replied. They looked down at the two Bug-types, who seemed to be chatting the day away. "Your Karrablast sure is a chatterbox."
"I'll say," Tyson agreed. They watched the two Pokémon talk a little longer, before Clamper turned around.
"Karra Blakast Blar!" Clamper said excited, its small stubby arms waving.
"Whoa, slow down there, we don't understand," said Tyson. Clamper nodded to Surskit. Surskit jumped back into the river and started skating upstream. Karrablast turned and ran after it, shouting at Tyson and Casey all the while. "I think we should follow them," Tyson said, not sure what was going on. Casey just nodded and the two boys started running after the two Bug-types.
The small Pokémon lead the two boys up the stream, off the road and soon into a veritable jungle of lake grasses. "I'll say this," Tyson panted, "we sure get a lot of exercise on this journey."
"Shh!" Casey hissed and crouched down. Tyson sat down beside him and Casey slowly pulled away some of the grass to get a better look. Ahead of them was a group of Surskit, standing close together. They were shivering, cowering in fear. At first, Casey didn't understand why, then he spotted the reason. A predominantly red Pokémon, with a lobster-like body and huge pincers was walking towards the Surskits. Casey took out his Pokédex, turned down the volume and scanned the Pokémon.
"Corphish, the Ruffian Pokémon," the Pokédex read out softly. "Corphish catches prey with its sharp claws. Once it grips prey with its large pincers, it will never let go, no matter what. It has no likes or dislikes when it comes to food - it will eat anything. It adapts to any environment, will drive out its inhabitants, and claim the territory for its own."
"So that's what's going on," Casey mumbled and put away his Pokédex. Tyson looked at him but didn't say a word. "That Corphish is trying to drive the Surskit that live here away."
"What are we going to do?" Tyson asked, as the Corphish laughed at the cowering Surskit and stepped closer.
"I'm going to stop it," Casey said and stepped out of the grass, revealing himself. The Surskits were surprised and scared, not knowing if this new arrival was friendly or not. When the Surskit they had taken care of followed only a second later, they relaxed visibly. Corphish turned its head, clearly annoyed at the disturbance. Finally, Tyson and Clamper got out as well. "Hey, Corphish!" Casey called, "I challenge you to a battle for the ownership of this river."
"Corphish?" the red Pokémon said, cocking its head a little.
"If I win, you leave the Surskit alone and disappear from this river." Corphish's eyes narrowed, clearly not glad about that part of the deal. "If you win, we'll find the Surskit a new home." Tyson gasped, as did Clamper and the Surskit. Corphish nodded and turned its entire body towards Casey. "Let's do this," he mumbled, pulled out Twurt's Poké Ball and letting it out. The green turtle with the brown shell appeared in front of him.
"Good luck!" Tyson called, "Don't let the Surskit down."
"I won't." Casey then turned all his attention to Corphish. "Let's begin." Corphish wasted no time, charging straight ahead towards Casey's Turtwig. "Twurt, use Tackle!" Casey called and Twurt started running. Just as Turtwig was about to hit its opponent, Corphish shot its right pincer forward, getting a good grip on Twurt.
"Turtwig!" the Grass-type screamed, as the pincers dug into its shell and underbelly.
"That must be ViceGrip," Tyson sounded from the sidelines. Casey just grunted, praying that Turtwig wasn't hurt too badly. The damage done, Corphish flung its opponent away. With Turtwig sailing through the air, Corphish followed up with another attack. This time soft, transparent bubbles formed at its mouth and flew towards Turtwig.
"Is that BubbleBeam?" Tyson asked.
"No, just Bubble," Casey replied. But what do I do? he thought to himself. Turtwig can't dodge in midair. But then, I don't have too. Then he said, "Twurt, use Withdraw!" The green turtle, who by now had corrected himself in midair withdrew into its shell, mere seconds before the bubbles made contact. The bubbles burst against the shell, seemingly harmless, with the sole effect of making the dirt on Twurt's shell moist. The shell fell down to earth and the turtle popped out.
"Turt!" Turtwig said, full of energy.
"Yeah, that's it!" Casey said, glad his partner didn't seem to be hurt too much. "Alright Twurt, let's go on the offensive. Use Seed Bomb!" Twurt acknowledged Casey's commands and started charging energy at the top of its head. But their opponent wasn't about to let them do so, as Corphish started to run towards Twurt. But Corphish was too slow and before it could reach Turtwig, Twurt had built up enough energy and fired the attack directly at the incoming opponent. Corphish flew back with a loud cry. "Nice work, Twurt."
"Twig!" it replied smiling.
"Phish Cor Corphish!" Corphish shouted as it got back on its legs and started towards its opponent.
"Twurt, use Tackle!" Once more Twurt ran towards Corphish, but this time, Corphish was a second to late with the pincer and took the full force of the Tackle. But instead of flying off, Corphish grabbed hold of Twurt's shell with a ViceGrip.
"Oh no!" Tyson gasped and several of the on-looking Surskit looked away.
"Twurt!" Casey shouted. Slowly, almost comically, Twurt turned its head.
"Tur?" it asked, unfazed by the pincer squeezing its shell.
"Doesn't it hurt, pal?" Casey asked concerned. The green turtle just shook its head. "I don't understand…" Casey started, then he remembered something from last night. While they had eaten dinner, they had looked up information about their Pokémon in the Pokédex. "What did it say about Turtwig…" Casey muttered, then he remembered. "Ah yes," he said out loud, "That was it. 'Its shell is made of earth and when it absorbs water, it becomes harder.' That's why Twurt isn't hurting now – the water from the bubbles provided us with the perfect defense."
"Who would have known?" asked Tyson. "I mean, I know Water-type attacks don't do well against a Grass-type, but this was unexpected."
"Let's wrap this up, Twurt. Use Seed Bomb at close range!" Turtwig started charging up energy, its small sapling glowing wildly. Corphish grunted, let go and jumped away, trying to get clear. "FIRE!" Twurt released the energy, directly at Corphish. Having no time to dodge, Corphish instead threw up its pincers tried to guard against the attack. The attack connected, resulting in a small explosion. The dust cleared and everyone gasped. Corphish was still standing.
"It must have used Harden," Casey muttered. "Use Tackle, Twurt!" Twurt quickly crossed the small distance before Corphish could recover. The force of the impact sent Corphish flying. "Poké Ball, GO!" Casey shouted as he ripped a Poké Ball from his belt and hurled it at the Corphish. The ball hit its mark, opened and absorbed Corphish as a mass of red energy. The sphere fell to the ground and started shaking. "Come on…" Casey said as he clenched his hands, willing the ball to stop wobbling. Another few shakes, then the button in the middle turned from red to white and there came an audible ping-sound.
"YEAH!" Casey shouted running over to pick up his Poké Ball, "I got a Corphish!"
"Turtwig!" Twurt chimed in.
"It's alright now," Casey said to the Surskit, a few of which were still cowering in fear. "Your home is safe now."
"Surskit Skur Si!" the Surskits said, flocking about Casey, thanking him for saving them. Casey laughed with them.
"All's well that ends well, I guess," Tyson said, recalling Clamper, who was rejoicing as well. Then he walked over to Casey. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Casey looked at him, not quite sure what he meant. "To catch Corphish," Tyson explained. "That was your plan along. That's why you made that bet, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you're right," Casey said. "I figured I needed to give it a challenge it couldn't resist. Besides, I never had any intentions of losing."
"And you used to lecture me about this sort of thing," Tyson said with a sigh.
"He he, yeah, sorry about that," Casey laughed.
"Shouldn't we get going, though?" Tyson asked.
"Yeah, you're right," Casey said and shook the remaining Surskit off him. "We need to get back on the road." Then, to the Surskit he said, "You guys take care now okay?" The Surskit replied enthusiastically. The boys started walking, waving as they ventured through the grass, back towards the road to Relyb City.
Thursday the 8th of Silversun
23:30, ?
It was a dark night for summer. The sky was overcast, it was going to rain tonight. There was not a star to be seen, not even the silver glow of the moon that could usually penetrate the cloud cover. Just darkness. It was for that very reason, that the room was lit by a soft glow from a lamp in the corner. The room itself wasn't too special. It looked like an elderly man's study, filled with bookshelf after bookshelf. The books themselves covered all kinds of topics; economy, business management, wildlife welfare, Pokémon training and much more. In the middle of the room was a large wooden desk, the pride of the room. The dark mahogany perfectly complemented the lighter wooden floor. Three large chairs, all mahogany as well, stood around the desk, one behind it and two in front. Of these chairs, two were currently occupied. The desk was clean, containing naught but a single laptop on the left side as well as a paper tray on the right. In the middle of the desk lay a single sheet of paper.
The man sitting behind the desk took the paper, holding it up to better read it. He was younger than the room would have the casual observer believe, being middle-aged rather than elderly. He was strong of build, both in body and face, with big cheeks and a large chin. He had three small stripes of beard, one above each side of the lips, arching down below his mouth and a small strip on his chin. His clothes were formal, yet he wore them casually, as if he had already put them away once today already and had only taken them back on out of necessity.
"What do you think of our proposal, Mayor McCoy?" the man sitting in front of the desk asked. He was younger than the big man behind the desk. Thinner too. He wore a grey business suit complete with a tie. A briefcase rested on his lap. "I am sure you will find it more than satisfying," he added, his thin mouth smiling eerily.
The large man shuddered and put down the piece of paper. "I'm afraid I cannot accept it," he said. "I simply will not take the risk."
The thin man in the suit frowned. "So be it," he said and rose. "If our offer cannot persuade you, then perhaps this can." The man suddenly produced a Poké Ball and opened it. A white mass of energy came out and took the shape of a Pokémon. The flash disappeared and a purple and black Pokémon, standing on its hind legs had appeared.
"Wait," the older man said. "What are you doing?"
"Convincing you," the thin man said with a twisted smile.
Pure horror crept over the big man's face, as the Pokémon took a step closer. "No, please" he said, sweat running down his forehead. "Stop it, I… I…" Pure panic could be heard in the man's voice now, but the man in the grey suit just smiled. A purple glow enveloped the purple and black Pokémon, before it concentrated on the two small, deep-black pearls on its head. It took a step closer and the big man grew pale and then screamed. The thin man in the grey suit just smiled.
At first, I wasn't very happy about this chapter. I didn't feel like it lived up to my own standards. However, going back and reading it after Tyhe betaread it, I found that the chapter had grown on me. I knew for a while that I wanted Casey to catch a second Pokémon as well, but I had trouble figuring out which. And even after I decided on a Corphish (because Crawdaunt), I still had to find out how and why. Using established lore, I had Corphish trying to takeover someone's territory. But for some reason, I was unhappy about it. God knows why now. The last part I added recently, probably why I was finally pleased with the chapter.
On a side note, it's a good thing that you guys can't see the map I've made for the region. Not only is it a crude Paint project that is updated as I'm going along (I've already plotted in all major towns and cities, just missing landmarks now), it also places this lake and river rather far inland, which then begs the question: How did the ocean Pokémon Corphish wander who knows how many kilometres up a river in order to find a home?
UPDATE 18/12/2013: Of course, with the map now available on deviantart (same username), you can witness my great MS Paint skills in all their glory. _ Look, it's a map, okay? Nothing fancy.
As always feel free to leave a comment, on what you think was good and what you thought was bad.
Party listing:
Casey:
Turtwig; Male; Nickname: Twurt; Type: Grass; Ability: Overgrowth; Current Moves: Tackle - Withdraw - Seed Bomb
Corphish; Male; Nickname: ?; Type: Water; Ability: Hyper Cutter; Current Moves: ViceGrip - Harden - Leer - Bubble
Tyson:
Torchic; Female; Nickname: Corona; Type: Fire; Ability: Blaze; Current Moves: Scratch - Growl - Flame Burst
Karrablast; Male; Nickname: Clamper; Type: Bug; Ability: Swarm; Current Moves: Peck - Leer - Endure