Pokémon: 4 Deaths: 0
"What's this cave?" Saylee asked, peering into the gloom.
"Dark Cave? It's a funny place," Peggy said dismissively. "The Pokémon down there are a bunch of weirdos, if you ask me. I'd certainly go crazy if I lived in a dark hole in the ground."
"It's lookin' scary," Chip said, peering inside.
"My map says it goes all over Johto," Saylee said, stepping inside and squinting around curiously. "I wonder if— AAGH!"
She should've felt for her footing before ducking into the cave. Straightening up just as her foot found a drop caused her to overbalance, tumbling head over heels down a steep slope.
"Lyra! Wendy!" Chip called in a panic. "Are you okay?!"
"Wendy?" Saylee asked, running her hands over the Pokémon she'd managed to keep a grip on, hoping she hadn't crushed her. "Are you okay?"
Wendy had gripped Saylee's arm with her claws during the fall. She withdrew them hurriedly, eyes swivelling as she tried to see if she'd cut Saylee.
"You've got my arm tight, but no damage," Saylee assured her, showing her the uncut sleeve. "We're fine!" she called back up, now groping around for her hat. "Just a bit frightened, that's all. Peggy, can you come pick up Wendy so I can climb up?"
Wendy extended her claws indignantly, clearly not happy at the prospect of being carried by Peggy. Saylee heard a feathery rustle as Peggy landed near her.
"I need to be able to feel my way out, it's too dark for me to see," Saylee explained. "Can you see, Peggy?"
"Just about," Peggy said, flying over and gripping Wendy in her claws. "Cheer up, buggy, I'll have you out in a tic. I'm afraid you're a bit big for me to carry, Lyra."
"Don't worry about it," Saylee said, feeling around with both hands for her hat as soon as Peggy flew off. She grinned triumphantly when she found the soft cloth and pulled it down tightly onto her head, her grin fading as she did not meet an expected resistance to the hat brim.
"Bugger!" she exclaimed, patting her face to check and then running her hands over the ground around her to search. "I've lost my glasses!"
"Would that be these, moy love?"
Something cold and hard tapped her on the arm. Saylee gripped it and felt her glasses being held delicately in a small, rocky hand.
"Thank you!" Saylee said in relief, running her thumbs over the glass. It felt undamaged. She pulled her hat up and put her glasses back on. It didn't make a huge difference in the darkness, but it allowed her to notice that there was a bit of ambient light from the doorway, enough to make out the rough shape that to which the helpful hand was attached. "You're a Geodude, aren't you?"
"That oi am, moy love, that oi am," she said. "Oi was just nappin' over there when you come crashin' down an' these go bouncin' aff moy 'ead!"
"Sorry about that," Saylee said sheepishly. "I fell. I'll find my way back up." She stood up and started feeling at the slope that she'd fallen down.
"It's a moite treacherous that way, moy love," the Geodude said, taking her hand. "You follow Georgia now, oi'll see you out safe!"
"Thank you," Saylee said gratefully. "Thank you so much. That's a huge help!"
"Aw, t'ain't nothin'," Georgia said. "Oi sees in the dark jus' foine, oi does, an' you're not far aff the exit."
A couple of minutes later, Saylee clambered out into the sunlight. Georgia winced, holding up a hand to shield her eyes, unused to the light.
"Lyra! You're okay!" Chip said, glomping her around the knees.
"Thanks to Georgia here," Saylee said, smiling down at the helpful little Geodude. "Thank you so much, really."
"Awww, t'ain't nothin'," Georgia said modestly. "Jus' glad everyone's alroight."
"Thanks to you!" Steve said. "Hey, are you made of rocks? Badass!"
"That oi am," Georgia said, stretching out her arms. "You're a funny lot, you are. You a team, are you? Funny thing otherwoise, a Pidgey, a Kakuna an' a Sentret wi' a human an… sorry, moy love, I ain't never seen nothin' loike you," she added to Chip.
"I'm bein' a Cyndaquil," he offered.
"We're bodyguards for Lyra!" Steve said, bouncing. "She's our trainer!"
"She's going to train us to be strong," Peggy said, dropping Wendy into Saylee's arms. "And we're going to travel, not sit around in some dingy little cave."
"Now, ain't that somethin'," Georgia marvelled. "Oi've always wondered what it's loike outside, but it's rather scary wanderin' off on your own, ain't it?"
"You could be wanderin' off wi' us, if you'd like," Chip offered, glancing at Steve. "You were gonna be offerin' anyways, I figured I might as well do."
"If it's not too much trouble, moy love," Georgia said. Saylee sighed and shrugged. "Fancy that, me getting' out an' about in the sunloight!"
"Fancy that indeed," Saylee said, looking across her little team that was forming. It looked like it was going to be a busy trip.
Still, she supposed, she had time before she had to face Team Rocket. Maybe a little fun wouldn't be so bad.
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They reached Violet City at about midday. Saylee couldn't help marvelling at the place. It wasn't much larger than Viridian, but it was a fully functioning community. No ruined buildings, a free clinic like the one in Cherrygrove, and all of the children playing together outside of a building signposted as the "Pokémon Trainers' School". "School" was the word Professor Oak had used for the time he'd spent teaching them to read and write and count; here, they had a whole building just for that.
They were on an autumn break, but Ethan went five days out of seven the rest of the year. He complained often about having to make a trek to Violet— which only took a couple of hours if you didn't run into as many distractions and stop to train as often as Saylee did— and about how boring it was. Saylee was always telling him to appreciate his education and the fact that he and Marina could go so far safely.
At the clinic, however, they were let in on some bad news.
"I'm afraid the road to Goldenrod's been blocked by an odd copse of trees," the nurse said as she ran Saylee's Pokémon through the healing machine. "Nobody's been able to cut them down. It's very strange. Nobody's been able to get through for nearly two weeks. I was hoping to go shopping in Goldenrod, too…"
Saylee looked at the five pokéballs that the nurse handed back to her. She could use her portpad to get Chaz or Sheska to fly her over, but there was a great risk of being spotted, especially if this blockade was drawing a lot of attention. "Is there another way around?" she asked, pulling up her pokégear map.
"Well, you could try going through Azaela and the forest," the nurse said, pointing them out on the map. "It's quite a trek, though, and I wouldn't suggest it at all if you didn't already have Pokémon. You've got to go through the Union Cave just to get to Azaela and then through the forest. You can't get to the cave without special permission from Falkner, however. It's rather dangerous."
"Falkner?" Saylee asked. The name sounded familiar, but it took her a moment to place it. "Oh… the guy that runs the training dojo for flying-types here?"
"Yes, it's just across the road from the school," the nurse said. "He inherited it from his father, you see. He'll want to test that you're a capable trainer before he lets you go to Union Cave."
"Fair enough," Saylee said, pocketing her Pokémon. "Can I have directions to the Sprout Tower? I'd like to train there first…"
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"I have failed in my training," Jin said dejectedly, scooping up his fallen Bellsprout. "Come, Bartholomew, we must meditate upon this."
Some warrior monks, Saylee thought as another monk approached, looking to spar. You've trained your whole life for a Bellsprout that Steve could take out that easily? I'd hate to see what would happen if I'd used Chip…
The Tower was infested with Rattata too, which the "warrior" monks clearly weren't doing a particularly thorough job of keeping out. Saylee ended up catching a particularly persistent one named Rei just to get her to leave them alone. Saylee sent Rei back to Vera to care for; as an ex-Rocket, she was very used to caring for a Rattata. Saylee wasn't worried about how Rei would fare under Vera's care. She'd seen Vera help look after the Pokémon coming through Professor Elm's lab in the past few months, and she'd been very dedicated to learning to care for all of them properly. When she'd finally allowed herself to acknowledge what she'd been doing for Team Rocket, her guilt complex had become overpowering.
Wendy sat comfortably in Saylee's arms, watching the battles closely. She was growing heavier as they ascended through the sparring floors. Bug-types evolved young and quickly when exposed to a lot of combat exertion, and Sprout Tower, despite the weak monks, was bursting with it.
"So bein' a hoigher level monk means you train Hoothoot an' Bellsprout?" Georgia asked after taking out one of the birds in question after Peggy blew away another Bellsprout. Hoothoot wasn't a Pokémon that Saylee was familiar with, and she'd set Georgia on it solely on the basis that it was clearly a flying-type; she'd needed the Pokédex to warn her that they tended to have psychic powers.
"Just focus on those Hoothoot and let Chip and Peggy worry about the Bellsprout," Saylee told Georgia. "Right, who's next?"
"Miss, you have bested all of the green-belt monks in single combat," one of the monks said politely. "This way to meet our elder and master. He is currently meeting with a boy of extreme promise."
As they approached the sliding door to the master's room, however, shouting could be heard from within.
"Fuck you! You're all weak! Why the hell would I want to train with you?!"
"Lyra," Chip said urgently, "in't that—"
Saylee nodded, pushing aside the door and running into the core room of the temple.
"You have a lot of anger that you cannot control, young man," the elder said patiently to Silver.
"Tell me something I don't know," Tyra muttered. She was standing by Silver's side as the two of them stood before a wrinkled old man in a more thickly-layered monks' robe. Silver looked angry, the old man somewhat sad.
"Tyra!" Chip called happily. "We found you!"
"Oh, great, just what I don't need," Tyra snapped. "And there's more of you now. Bloody fantastic."
"Silver," Saylee said, ignoring Tyra for now, "what are you doing here? Where are you and Tyra going?"
"Somewhere that isn't full of weaklings!" Silver snapped, returning Tyra and hopping out of a window.
"This is the fourth floor!" the monk that had led Saylee in yelled. Saylee shoved Wendy into his arms and ran over to the window in a panic. She was just in time to see Silver shimmy his way down the various shingled roofs and land safely at the bottom.
"Jammy little—" she muttered under her breath. "It's okay," she reassured the worried monk, going to retrieve Wendy. "He climbed down safely."
"I see…" the elder said calmly. "I had hoped that our order could be of help to that boy's troubled soul, but alas, it is not to be."
"Master, this girl is also of great talent," the monk said. "I have brought her to meet with you and receive your blessing and that of the great Bellsprout."
"Hmmm," the elder said, eying Saylee critically. "What is your name, girl?"
"Lyra," Saylee said. Lying to the serene old man was a little uncomfortable, and the local belief was that anyone who lied within the temple would be cursed by the Great Bellsprout. Saylee glanced back at the great thick beam that ran up the centre of the temple, but there was no sign of it coming to crush her. "Of New Bark Town."
"Hmm. Very well." Saylee got the distinct impression that she had not been believed. "I will test her myself, first. Bor?"
"Aye, Master?" a tall Bellsprout said, unfolding himself from a meditative position.
"You want this, Peggy?" Saylee asked.
"Second verse, same as the first," the Pidgey said, flying forward and unleashing a powerful gust of wind that knocked Bor off of his roots.
"Woo!" Steve cheered. "You go!"
After a few such passed, the elder motioned for the clearly outmatched Bor to retreat. "I call on you, Horatio."
"And I attend." A Hoothoot flapped down from the rafters. Peggy and Steve started sniggering at the somewhat antiquated exchanges. "Who is to be my foe?"
"That'll be you, Georgia," Saylee said to the rocky Pokémon.
"Alroight then, moy love," Georgia said, immediately flinging herself at Horatio in a heavy tackle. He dodged quickly, his eyes beginning to glow. The pupils rolled as he started to hypnotize Georgia.
Georgia tackled him out, completely unaffected.
"It's an interesting thing," Saylee mused aloud. "Georgia hasn't accustomed too badly to moving around in the sunlight, but the fact is she's spent almost her whole life underground. She can't see a thing in strong sunlight, or when things glow like that."
"I see," the elder said with a nod. "You have found an advantage in weakness."
Saylee pushed her glasses up her nose. "I don't believe in weakness. Everyone has strengths, and anybody can be strong." She looked down at Chip. "Right?"
"Uh-huh," Chip agreed, stepping forward to meet their last opponent, another Bellsprout.
"Vine whip, Benjiro," the Elder commanded. Long vines wrapped around Chip, holding him fast.
"Mistake," Saylee said as Chip flared up his back, severing the vines. "Now ember!"
Chip blasted a mouthful of hot embers at the unfortunate Benjiro. "We won!" he said excitedly, turning to Saylee. "Hey, what's bein' wrong wi' Wendy?"
Wendy's shell was heavy, warm and shaking, and suddenly it cracked down the middle. Two huge white wings folded out of it.
"She's made it!" Saylee yelped happily, watching Wendy first flap her wings and rise into the air. "She's a Beedrill!"
Wendy looked down at her new black-and-yellow body, her new arms and legs, and the huge, vicious silver stingers at the end of her top limbs.
Her shell crumbled off of Saylee's arms and into dust.
"Your Pokémon fight with united hearts," the Elder said, sounding pleased. "You share your energy with one another. It is a wonderful thing, and is why your Kakuna has grown so fast. Hearts like yours bring light to the darkness."
"I'm most certainly not going to eat you now," Peggy said, flying around Wendy, who was much bigger than her now.
"Don't talk about eating, you're making me hungry!" Steve wailed.
"Always thinking with your stomach," Peggy muttered. "Just like a Sentret."
"I appreciate your blessing," Saylee said, bowing politely to the Elder who was patiently watching them squabble. "Now, I guess I'd better feed these guys…"
"Here," the Elder said, handing her a flat green leaf. "Go with the blessings of the Great Bellsprout."
"Thank you," Saylee said, slipping the leaf into the pocket with her dreamcatcher. She didn't know if the leaf had any actual power, but one never knows, and she needed all the luck she could get.
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"You know, I would love to train like that," Peggy said, watching Saylee carefully cut little holes into the leaf so she could thread it into her dreamcatcher. "You know, focused, dedicated… only without sucking."
"I hear you," Steve said. "I would've gone to train with those monks a long time ago if they were any better at it…"
"Well, I'd say their focus is more on meditation and nature worship than battle anyway," Saylee said, picking up the corner strings of her dreamcatcher and dangling the web of trinkets and mementoes in the air. "You might find eternal peace, but I don't know if you'd evolve." Not that eternal peace sounds like a bad idea…
"I, personally, would much rather travel," Wendy said. She was flying in large, lazy loops in the air. "I have wings now, and I should quite like to spread them."
"That sounds noice, that does," Georgia said, watching her fly around. "Oi'd quite loike to travel moiself, o'course. It's noice, travellin' with others."
"You were travellin' from Kanto, right?" Chip said to Saylee. She nodded.
"I travelled with my mother and my big brother," she said, which wasn't exactly a lie, just outdated. "He left awhile ago and didn't come back, though."
"That sucks," Steve said, frowning. "What was his name?"
"Red," Saylee said, watching the leaf spin slightly on its string. "His name is Red."
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Sorry it's a day late… life is extremely busy right now XP More accents! Georgia's got a bit of a Wess Coun'ree accent going on. Some people have asked about Chip's… it's a watered-down rendition of a specific Irish accent spoken by a couple of people that I know. Their accent is my favourite thing in the world and I could listen to them talk forever, so I just had to give it to my partner here :)
Name: Georgia. Species: Geodude. Nature: Modest. Ability: Sturdy. Level: 4
Name: Rei. Species: Rattata. Nature: Brave. Ability: Guts. Level: 3