Chapter 4
The Space Between Us
Chris raced down the stairs of the Pokémon Center, still pulling his shorts up over his boxers and trying to get his jacket on. His Pokémon belt was still slung over his shoulder as he frantically attempted to slide his feet into his shoes. The entire ordeal caught the attention of everyone in the Center until he finally tripped and fell to the bottom of the stairs.
Once the Center's nurse was sure he was alright, she proceeded to scold him loudly for his outrageous behavior while he frantically and embarrassedly tried to get his pants on. "It's not my fault!" he kept claiming as he tried to get his shoes tied. "They all left without me!"
"That doesn't excuse your behavior. You're a Pokémon Trainer now, so start acting like one!" With that, she returned to the counter. Chris managed to get his fingerless gloves on and his belt snapped onto his waist, dashing out the automated door.
The others had apparently got up way before him and left him behind. He woke up to find it was eleven in the morning, and both David and Roger were gone. Their stuff was still there, so they couldn't have gone far, but couldn't they at least have the decency to wake him up too?
Standing out in the bright sunlight, Chris squinted as he looked around. He didn't see any of the others anywhere. His options were north, south, and west.
"Poké Ball, go!" Roger called out as he threw the ball at the Mankey. The Pokémon however, was going to have none of it. Using its tail, it slammed the ball back towards Roger, which he managed to catch just before it struck him in the face. By the time he looked back towards the grassy field, Mankey was long gone.
Rachel grit her teeth. "Sorry, Roger," she said, realizing how annoying that had to be.
Roger just shrugged his shoulders. "There are more Pokémon in the sea of grass," he said simply.
Rachel said nothing more on the topic as the two waded through the tall grass. Rachel occasionally looked up to the sky, thinking about how beautiful the cloudless day was. Before this journey started, she would have sat outside on a day like this, enjoying the environment. Now she was trying to train a brand new Pokémon on how to jump, run, and catch. It was much harder than lounging around on a Saturday, but training a Pokémon is its own reward, her dad used to say.
"Over there," Roger whispered harshly. Rachel stopped cold and leaned to the side to look around Roger. In the grass was a black snake-like Pokémon, sleeping soundly. "What is that thing?" Roger whispered to Rachel.
"Don't know," Rachel whispered back. "But if I use the Pokédex, it'll just wake up."
"Whatever it is, I'm going to catch it," Roger said quietly, as he snuck closer. He crept inch by inch, trying very hard not to allow the grass to make too much noise. He'd almost made it in range, however, when the Pokémon, who was apparently playing possum, lunched forward with its teeth outstretched towards the screaming kids.
"Pecha berries," David said to himself as he picked another berry off the tree. The forest had proven to be an excellent source of berries he could use for Pokéblock and food. As he filled yet another jar with berries, Bulbasaur walked near his feet, sniffing the various plants he came across as he walked.
"Bulba?" David looked down to see Bulbasaur sniffing an odd-looking plant. "Bulbasaur!" it said happily. David bent down and opened his Pokédex to see if he could get information.
This plant is a sprout of a Mago Berry which is still in the early stages of development.
"You like this, Bulbasaur?" David asked. Bulbasaur nodded. It was apparently a berry he'd had before and liked. David made a quick note in his Pokédex that his Bulbasaur liked sweet berries. He then moved on with Bulbasaur following, and during the course of the time he spent there, he managed to gather three tall canisters of berries that barely fit in his backpack. "Want to go make some Pokéblock?" he asked Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur nodded in agreement with a big smile on his face. David nodded back and returned the smile. "Let's get back to the Pokémon Center then. There's a blender there we can use to create some food."
"Well, I guess it's awake now!" Rachel yelled as she and Roger ducked underneath the lunging snake Pokémon.
"What was your first clue?" Roger demanded as he stood up. "The loud cry of 'Seviper!' or the attempt to bite our heads?"
Ignoring the sarcastic remark with a roll of the eyes, Rachel picked up her Pokédex and let it scan the Pokémon.
Seviper, the fang snake Pokémon. Seviper have a powerful poison that can seep through their fangs and their tail. Very territorial, Seviper can move swiftly through grass to dispatch intruders and enemies. When afflicted with an ailment, they can shed their skin to become healthy once again.
"Alright then. Jolteon, you're up!" Roger tossed the Poké Ball straight up into the air, allowing it to pop open mid flight to release his partner. Jolteon stood on all fours, its fur becoming sharper with aggression. "Start things off with Sand-Attack!" Jolteon complied, kicking up sand in Seviper's face. A large cloud of dust was hanging in the air when Seviper suddenly burst through, fangs bared, ready to bite. "Jolteon, dodge that!" Jolteon jumped into the air, Seviper's attack missing by a hair.
"It's so quick!" Rachel said, amazed by Seviper's speed.
"Not quick enough. Jolteon, use Tackle!" Jolteon complied, running straight in towards Seviper. It made contact, but didn't seem to do much as Seviper bent like a rubber band in the middle. Its tail and legs began to encircle Jolteon, and squeezed quickly, bringing its legs together and causing him to fall to the ground.
"Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark," Roger commented as he thought of his next move. "Jolteon, you gotta break free!" Jolteon tried, but it was to no avail. Seviper's wrap attack had it contained too well.
Seviper began to put the squeeze on Jolteon, causing it to cry out in pain. "Jolteon!" Roger yelled. He began to pick up Jolteon's Poké Ball to recall it, but a bright light stopped him in his tracks. Seviper was suddenly overcome with pain as Jolteon released a powerful blast of electrical energy straight through him.
"Hey! Jolteon must have just learned Thundershock!" Rachel said. "Way to go, Roger!"
"Yeah…" Roger said quietly, awestruck by the incredible display of power. Seviper fell to the ground, twitching as Jolteon jumped back several feet, putting plenty of distance between himself and the Fang Snake Pokémon.
"Uh…Roger? Roger? Anyone home?" Roger snapped out of his trancelike state for a moment, looking towards Rachel. "You gonna catch it, or just stare at it for a while?"
"Oh, right," Roger said, a slight shiver going down his spine. "Go Poké Ball!" The capsule enclosed around Seviper and began to shake violently as the Pokémon desperately attempted to escape.
Chris was sitting in the Pokémon Center feeling particularly sorry for himself when he saw David walk in. He quickly jumped up right in front of him. "Dude, why didn't you wake me up?" he demanded, standing on the tips of his toes to get eye level with the taller boy.
"Bulba…" the Seed Pokémon growled at the now threatening-looking Chris. Chris noticed and felt this strange urge to back off, which he did, and now stood a few feet away from David. David looked down at Bulbasaur and gave him a smile, somewhat of an approving gesture of the young Pokémon's protectiveness of its new trainer.
"You looked tired," David explained. "I doubt I could have gotten you up even if I had tried." He set his backpack down near a blender and took a seat. "Why are you still here, anyway? Shouldn't you be out training?" His attention wasn't even focused on Chris anymore as he started to pull some of the berry canisters out of his bag and pour them out into a basket, sorting them by flavor and potency.
"Well, yeah, I guess…" he said, holding Charmander's Poké Ball in his hand.
"Then go train. We've got grassy fields to the south, some rocky ledges to the west, and a forest to the north. Just don't go too far, but don't come back until your Charmander has learned Metal Claw."
"Metal Claw?" Chris said to himself as he started to walk out the Center doors.
With the berries he'd collected finally sorted, David figured he had a good six months' worth of food for the Pokémon. But they would obviously catch more, so he knew it wouldn't actually last that long. But it certainly wasn't a bad start. Using his modified Pokédex as a guide, he started to add berries into the blender. He flipped the selector switch to "Food" and began to blend, while adding some berries to the next blender over, and selecting "Pokéblock" as the output. Once he had two machines going, it was only a few minutes before both were finished.
"Want to be my first tester, Bulbasaur?" David asked, holding a small green Pokéblock in his hand.
Bulbasaur jumped a little bit, excited to try it. David leaned over in his chair, holding the Pokéblock in his hand, and Bulbasaur ate it on the spot. Seconds later, it started screaming. "Bulbasaur! Bulba Bulba Bulbabulbabulba!" It was now running around in circles, its face contorted into a look of sheer horror.
David grimaced. "Okay, apparently not every batch of Pokéblock is a winner," he said, scratching his head. "Let's try a slightly different method."
Caterpie, the worm Pokémon. Caterpie emit a foul stench to ward off enemies. Its Shield Dust ability prevents additional effects of enemy attacks occurring. The suction cups on the bottom of its body allow it to climb surfaces effortlessly.
Chris put the Pokédex away and grabbed his Poké Ball. "Charmander, go!" Charmander emerged. "Charmander use Metal Claw!"
Charmander stood particularly still for a few moments, then turned around to glare at Chris.
"Uh…I take it you don't know that yet. Okay, then use Ember!" Chris said, scratching his head.
Charmander swung its tail in front of it, releasing small clumps of flame at Caterpie. The Worm Pokémon responded with a String Shot that blocked the flame, but was burned to nothing in the process. Chris clenched a fist, growling. "Use Scratch this time!" he called out. Charmander raced towards Caterpie in response, but instead got a face full of String Shot, slowing him down and rendering him sightless for a few moments. Caterpie took advantage of the situation and tackled Charmander to the ground.
Chris took a deep breath. "Okay, this isn't going well. Use your Ember to break through the String Shot!" Charmander's tail moved to the tangled webbing and burned it off, leaving only a sticky goop that slowed him down, but still allowed him to move around. "Try Ember again!" Chris ordered. Charmander raced forward again, prompting Caterpie to fire another String Shot.
"Now, use scratch!" Chris yelled. Charmander's Scratch attack quickly caught the string shot, and the sweeping motion of his arm pulled Caterpie helplessly towards Charmander, who swung his tail in perfect sync. Heavily burned by the intense flame at the tip of Charmander's tail, Caterpie passed out.
It was one small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
"Way to go, Roger!" Rachel said. "You caught Seviper hands down!" Roger had bent down to grip the Poké Ball in his hand, staring at it for several seconds. "Roger? Earth to Roger, come in. Do you copy, over?"
Roger snapped out of his daze and looked at Rachel. "What happened?" he asked.
"You okay?" Rachel said, looking concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Roger said, picking up the bag he'd dropped. "You want to do some training now?"
Rachel was still concerned, but let it go, since he obviously had no intention of talking about it. "Yeah…let's get started."
Bulbasaur sat in the corner of the Center, growling as David approached. "C'mon, Bulbasaur. Just try one more. I'm sure this one will be great." He leaned forward to try and give the small block to the Pokémon. Bulbasaur angrily retaliated by extending a vine and smacking David's wrist hard, sending the Pokéblock flying as David held his wrist with his other hand. "Great. My food is so bad it actually managed to teach Bulbasaur how to use Vine Whip."
The fallen Pokéblock skid across the ground and hit the foot of a boy who was talking to another in a desperate tone. As David approached, the conversation became clearer. "Come on," the pleading boy said. "It needs a home."
The other boy shook his head. "I said no. I have no need for it. I'm not going to train it." The first boy, looking dejected, started to walk away when he accidentally stepped on the Pokéblock, crushing it into small pieces. "Oops," he said, looking at it.
"It's alright," David said, bending down to pick up the pieces. "It probably wasn't that good, anyway."
"Are you a Coordinator?" The boy suddenly asked. "You're making Pokéblock. Does that mean you're a Coordinator?"
David stood and threw away the pieces of Pokéblock in the nearby trash can. "I just started my journey yesterday," he admitted, "but yeah, I'm a coordinator. Why?"
"My name's Ethan," the boy said.
"David," he said back, waiting to hear the explanation.
"I caught this Pokémon, but I'm not allowed to keep it." Ethan produced a Lure Ball, a specialized Poké Ball made in David's home region, Johto, used for catching Pokémon caught on a fishing line. "My parents say I can't become a trainer until much later, and I have to find a good person to take care of this little guy."
David pulled out his Pokédex, since the kid was apparently reluctant to identify the concealed Pokémon, and ran a scan of the ball.
Feebas, the Fish Pokémon. Feebas' hardy nature allows it to survive in both fresh and salt water. As its beauty grows, its scales will shimmer with a diamond-like shine, indicating that it is almost ready to evolve.
David hit the button to get a readout of the next Pokémon in the National Dex order. He couldn't help but wonder what Feebas evolved into. Meanwhile, Ethan fidgeted uncomfortably, convinced he'd lost another prospective trainer to take care of his Pokémon.
Milotic, the Tender Pokémon. Milotic is said to be the most beautiful Pokémon in the world. It releases an aura of energy that calms combative spirits and soothes anger.
If the picture on the Pokédex was any indication, Milotic was a gorgeous Pokémon, well worthy of any Pokémon contest ribbon. "Feebas aren't easy to find," David said. "Why won't your father hold on to it for you until you get your Pokémon license?"
Ethan sighed and shook his head. "I wish I knew. But I want to be a Trainer, anyway, not a Coordinator. No offense." David shook his head to indicate no offense was taken, and Ethan continued. "I think I'd be better off with a Magikarp. Either way, do you think you could take care of this Feebas for me?"
David smiled and nodded. "I'd be happy to," he said. "I'll take great care of it."
"Her," Ethan corrected. "She's a girl Feebas." He slowly handed the Lure Ball over to David, who took it, gripping it tightly, as if to show that he would protect the Pokémon. Ethan nodded and walked to the door of the Center, stopping short as the doors automatically opened in front of him. "One more thing," he appended. "That Feebas has…an interesting color," he said. He then left the building.