Chapter 4: New Fortunes

The road to Kindle City continued for a week. Cody felt tired from the endless trail, but he kept his spirits up with his Squirtle and Diglett, both who grew stronger with every battle fought, whether said battles ended in a win or loss.

He soon realized after catching the Diglett that the mole was a very feisty pokémon, and it wasn't just because he had disturbed him. His newest pokémon had a serious Napoleon complex, as he was only eight inches tall, but he thought he was as big as an Onix. He tried to bully Cody's Squirtle on a regular basis, but thankfully, the turtle cared more about his trainer's opinion more than that of the mole.

It took Cody a lot longer to gain the Diglett's trust than it did with his Squirtle. He had to constantly dig up roots for the little pokémon to eat, and eventually, the mole eventually began to accept Cody's training. He even befriended the Squirtle after some effort on Cody's part, but the two could not cooperate in double battles since the Diglett believed he could do everything himself while the Squirtle watched.

Despite this new pokémon's stubbornness, Cody was able to turn him into a fighting machine that would listen to his commands. He continually trained both his pokémon against the numerous trainers he met on the road, most of whom were new like himself. There was one trainer that Cody fought who had ten badges. Since his pokémon were much better, he agreed to fight Cody on a handicap, using his Arcanine against Cody's Diglett and Squirtle in a double battle. Even with these limitations, he decimated Cody's in less than a minute, mostly because the Diglett was way too reckless. Cody figured that he may have been able to last longer if his Diglett had been more careful in the fight, but he knew it wasn't a battle that he could have won that early in his training.

Food was always an issue. His pokémon were good at finding their own food, but his supply ran short fast, forcing him to scavenge. Occasionally, he would meet up with other trainers, and everybody would share food, but that was a best-case scenario. There were two nights that he had to camp alone, and on those nights, he slept lightly in fear of the wild.

Despite these troubles, however, Cody remained in a good mood. He was happy, and so were his pokémon. It was the eighth day of his travels when Cody finally reached the mountain that was several miles off of Kindle City. The city looked smaller than Stone Rise, but it was still pretty large, branching into suburbs and smaller towns. However, like Stone Rise, it wasn't exactly a hub for training. As Cody walked through the trails, he saw many trainers, experienced and newbies, who trained in the forested area. Upon seeing a new trainer, many of them asked to battle, but he declined these offers. His pokémon had been battling all weel and Cody figured that they needed some rest at one of the pokémon center's in town.

As morning turned to afternoon, Cody finally reached an outskirt bus station that would take him into the city when the next bus arrived… in thirty minutes, according to the schedule. He sighed and sat down on a bench. His Squirtle, who was out of its pokeball, sat next to him in an attempt to copy his posture. He was getting noticeably bigger, having barely been a foot tall, but in a few short days, he had grown several inches. Cody figured it might be from all of the training they did. Or maybe it was just the kibble he had been feeding him. Or maybe it was because the Squirtle was still young, and he grew faster at that age. The newbie trainer didn't know, but he was happy to see his pokémon getting bigger. Leaning his head back, he looked up at the puffy clouds and his eyes began to close.

"You know that there isn't going to be a bus coming till 1:30, right?"

Cody was startled by the voice that broke the silence. He was only shaken for a moment before he turned around to see who it belonged to. It was a girl (a pretty one at that), about his age. Her chocolate-colored hair fell down below her shoulders, and her eyes were of the same color. She wore a purple short-sleeve shirt, and knee-length jeans, with two pokeballs hanging off of her belt.

"Uh… yeah, I just had nothing better to do right now, and my pokémon are really tired. I need to get to the pokémon center soon," Cody told her, letting the words carelessly slip from his lips. He felt exhausted and just wanted to sleep in a real bed for a night or two. His Squirtle slowly rose out of his sitting position and sniffed the air where the girl stood. Slowly, she extended her hand and stroked him right above the nose, causing him to wrinkle it at her touch. She looked back at Cody, curiously.

"I've never seen you around here though. Are you from out of town or something?" she questioned as her gaze shifted between him and his pokémon.

"Yeah, I'm from Stone Rise. I left about a week ago," he stammered. He didn't feel focused as he explained his situation. Normally, he would have shown interest in talking with a girl, especially one who was that attractive, but he just wanted to get some rest.

"Look, do you wanna battle real quick? I'm pretty new too, and I really need to pull in some wins." After she said this, Cody smiled weakly.

"I would any other day, but my head is killing me and my pokémon are too tired to fight right now," but the moment he said the word "fight," Squirtle sat up with a jolt.

"He looks willing," she pointed out. "Come on, please?"

He sighed. The girl wasn't going away. "Sure, I guess I can go for battle. But I only have two pokémon."

"So do I. How much do you want a wager?" she asked, getting excited.

"Umm… I'll go sixty I guess."

"Fine, let's go to that grassy spot over there," and they went over to opposite sides of the patch. In the next minute, the battle began.

"Okay Feathers, let's win!" she shouted as she released a little Pidgey onto the field. The cute pigeon chirped as it fluttered near its trainer. Cody wasn't shaken though. His Squirtle had already fought countless Pidgey in the past week, wild and trained, so in theory, that battle shouldn't have been much different.

"Okay Squirtle, this looks like a job for yo-" but before Squirtle entered the patch, a flashing light burst from his belt. His Diglett had released himself into the earth, squeaking with fury.

"Agai- Come on Diglett, why do you have to do this all the time?" He noticed the girl giggling.

"Does that happen a lot?" She asked through her laughter.

"Yeah, he's too eager to battle. Hopefully, he calms down or I'm gonna have to chain him up inside or something." He then turned to his Diglett, who was still rearing to go. "Okay, you can battle, but you better prove yourself. This is kinda outta your element. Use Sand-Attack!"

The Diglett popped under the earth and reappeared in a flash, spitting fresh mud in the Pidgey's direction, but the girl saw it coming. On her command, the bird blew the dirt away with a gust, though the Diglett stood sturdy enough to not be blown away too.

"Now follow it up with a diving tackle," she commanded as her bird swooped at Diglett. The mole immediately ducked, but when it reemerged, it had to duck again to avoid Feathers again as it attempted to strike him once more. This pattern continued for about half a minute, and Cody noted that Feathers seemed to know where Diglett would come up every time out of instinct.

"Okay Diglett, you'll have to scratch it when it comes down!" Diglett seemed to comprehend and managed to slash the Pidgey as it made another attempt to tackle it. But as the bird rose above the Diglett's range again, the girl countered.

"Quick Attack!" she shouted and the bird slammed into Diglett at top speed, leaving the mole dazed. "Again!" The little bird smacked into the mole a second time, and though Diglett hit it with a scratch, Feathers seemed to ignore the hit. "One more time!" But as it approached again, Diglett snapped underground, dragging Feathers's foot with it. The bird tried to fly free, but the dirt had compacted around its foot.

"Dig!" Cody commanded, and it popped up under the bird, sending it flying up and then into the ground. It tried to get to its flight again, but the Diglett used Dig again to send it into the ground. "Now use Headbutt!" Diglett charged across the field and smacked its head into Feathers's chest, causing it to pass out. The girl stood there for a moment, in shock over the speedy conclusion before recalling her pokémon.

"Good try Feathers, return!" she said as she reached for her other pokeball. "I didn't expect a Diglett to beat a flying-type. But now, it's go time. Come on out Somnos!" and her pokeball exploded to reveal a little two-legged tadpole. Cody felt his adrenaline rush. He hadn't fought a Poliwag yet. He pulled out the field guide and turned to Poliwag.

Poliwag are typically uncomfortable fighting outside of water. However, they can begin walking on land a few weeks after birth. The most common Poliwag tactic is to hypnotize the opponent before-

"Hey, are we going to start soon?" the girl questioned impatiently. Slightly disappointed, Cody nodded as he put away the book. He knew what he needed to know, however.

"Okay Diglett, you have to keep moving. Scratch!"

The mole squeaked and ducked under the surface, just barely dodging a Bubble. He resurfaced next to the Poliwag and took a swipe at his chest, hitting the swirl pattern. Somnos flinched upon being hit, but something was wrong. The Diglett's paw was stuck in his gooey chest.

"Now's your chance! Hypnosis!" The girl ordered.

The pattern on her Poliwag's chest began swirling, caused a hypnotic force that even Cody could feel from where he was standing. The Diglett struggled, trying to escape, but ended up falling into a slumber, allowing the tadpole to capitalize.

"Water Gun!" A spray of water shot out of Somnos's mouth, striking Diglett at full force. Its body went limp.

"Good effort Diglett! Return!" The moment Cody recalled Diglett, Squirtle left his side to enter the fray. "Strike it with a Water Gun!" Cody shouted, but when the blast that hit the Poliwag, it didn't seem to get injured at all. Then Cody remembered something he had read about Poliwag before. Water won't damage a pokémon with the ability to absorb water!

"Bubble!" the girl commanded, and Somnos shot a stream of bubbles at Squirtle, who was too slow to escape. He didn't take much damage by the way he had absorbed the shot, but the Bubbles slowed his movement. Cody ordered his turtle to tackle the tadpole, but the Poliwag easily dodged his hindered movements. He was in need of a new plan.

"Tail Whip!" Cody shouted, and his pokémon wagged its tail, provoking Poliwag to try using a close ranged Double-Slap. But his Squirtle was crafty. It fell to its chest, causing Somnos to trip over his shell. Before Somnos stood back up, Squirtle managed to tackle the prone polliwog.

"Don't let it phase you Somnos! Use Hypnosis!"

"Withdraw!" he commanded, and his pokémon hid in its shell. But the Poliwag was persistent. Cody figured that the attack might be able to make Squirtle drowsy, even in the shell. But a light bulb went on in his head. "Use Water Gun!"

Squirtle poked his head out of his shell and shot a stream of water at the ground. By luck, his head was facing away from the tadpole when he withdrew, and when he shot a jet at the ground, his shell launched into Somos's body, knocking it to the ground. "

Now tackle it!"

His Squirtle jumped into the air before tackling the tadpole, but something odd happened. Instead of using a Tackle, it flipped and swung its tail into the Poliwag's chest. As the tail made contact, it glowed silver for a second. The impact was enough to put Poliwag out. But Cody looked in awe at what he had just seen.

"What the… what the hell was that?" he asked himself in amazement. The girl, who was now picking up her pokémon, heard him.

"I don't know, but it looked like it was trying to use Iron Tail," she guessed. "That was really fun though. I thought I had you for a moment."

Cody went over and picked up Squirtle, who was beaming with pride. "Yeah, I don't know about that. But yeah, good fight. I got lucky with that shell launching thing though." He shook hands with the girl and accepted his winnings. Turning his focus back to his turtle, who seemed elated, yet exhausted in his victory, he asked, "How in God's name did you learn Iron Tail?" It wasn't as if he had TMs or anything. Of course, he had no answers.

"Yeah, great battle," she replied, smiling. She looked incredibly cute, but Cody turned his attention away as he saw a city bus pulled up to the stop. "Hey, the bus is here early. Let's go!"

The girl got on the bus first, showing a bus pass before boarding. Cody followed behind her, putting a few coins in the payment box. The bus was mostly empty. Only a few seats were taken by a few adults and another trainer who was asleep. Cody was about to sit down, but the girl motioned for him to sit with her. He couldn't complain. He set his gear in the seat next to him and sat with her.

"So I didn't catch your name," she said casually as the bus began to move.

"Me? It's Cody. Cody Storm," he answered quietly trying not to wake up the trainer in the seat behind him. But this effort was pointless when she giggled.

"That's an interesting name," she said, "Sorry, I wasn't laughing at your name, I was jus-"

"No, it's cool," he replied. "Happens from time to time. Yours?"

"Oh, my names Heather Landon," she responded. Her Poliwag was now asleep on her lap, its snores sounding like little churos.

That's a pretty name, Cody thought to himself. "You live here in Kindle?"

"I live out in the suburbs, but yeah. How long do you plan on staying here?"

"Umm… maybe a few days before I get out again. I'm heading up to Tempest Valley. I'm gonna try and take the Skitrex League Challenge and there's supposed to be a gym up there, so you know. Gonna give it a shot, I suppose, but I can't imagine it's easy. You have to be ungodly talented to earn even half of the badges, right?"

"Well, I guess your right, but it would still be fun to try," she replied, looking somewhat bummed out as she shifted her gaze to the seat in front of her.

"Yeah… I don't know though. I guess if I get good enough, I'll give it a shot," he said as he held out a piece of kibble for Squirtle, who eagerly snatched it from his hands.

"You should. I wish I was in your shoes. My parents are all hesitant about me leaving and everything," she said with a slight tone of sorrow in her voice.

"Hey, it took me a year of convincing to finally get out here," Cody admitted. "My mom was freaky about the whole thing because of Der…" he trailed off for a moment. Talking about the past with strangers would be was awkward. "Yeah… she just kinda freaked out. But you know, a lot of people do the training and traveling thing, so why can't I?"

"That's what I said!" Heather agreed, almost in a shout, waking the sleeping trainer behind them. "But also, my friends; the ones with pokémon, don't want to leave. I mean, it would suck to go it alone, right?" But at the mention of friends, Cody suddenly remembered his.

"Oh crap, thanks for reminding me," he said as he pulled out his phone. It had enough bars now. He was about to dial Laurence's number, but he suddenly stopped. "You know what, I'll do it later. How many stops do we have until we reach the pokémon center?"

"About five."

"Okay, it can wait 'till then." Since he had been invited to sit with her, it would be rude to be on his phone. Besides, after a week of wandering the wilderness with a few pokémon he couldn't have conversations with, talking with a cute girl was a welcome change.

The two trainers chatted for the rest of the ride. The subjects the discussed shifted from pokémon to food to music as the buildings changed from houses to towers.

"So, you play guitar?" Heather asked as the bus pulled up at the pokémon center. It was a huge domed building with trainers entering and exiting at every second. Pokémon of all species were standing outside with their trainers, ranging from Zigzagoon to Infernape.

"Yeah, a little bit," Cody responded humbly. "I would have brought it with me, but it was kinda bulky and all. It's hard enough to walk all day with a big of a load of gear without it." When the bus opened its doors, the two stood and up Cody grabbed his stuff, strapping it onto his back before picking up his Squirtle.

"I used to play piano, but I quit a few years back. It just got kinda tiring after awhile, you know?" The two of them were now exiting the bus and heading up to the center, weaving their way through the crowd.

"Yeah, I gotcha. So, how does this work inside? My Squirtle is registered, but I never actually went to one."

"Oh, it's easy," she said. You just sign some papers, hand them your pokémon, they give you an estimate on how long they'll be treating at your pokémon, and then you wait. They have a food court and a lounge with an internet connection, so there's plenty to do. They also have free rooms to sleep in, but getting a room is first come, first serve, so they're usually filled."

At that point, they had already entered the center and were in line behind a few other trainers. Eventually, Cody got his papers and signed in his pokémon before handing their pokeballs to the nurse behind the counter, who released them onto a table behind her, giving them a look over.

"They look pretty healthy. Just tired. Come back to pick them up in an hour or so," the nurse said in a cheerful yet somewhat scripted response.

"Okay thanks," Cody replied as his pokémon were carted away. They both had worried, puppydog looks in their eyes as they looked between him and the nurse who took them.

"They look kinda scared," he muttered to Heather, who had finished handing off her pokémon to a second nurse.

"Don't worry. Most pokémon are worried when they are first handed to the nurses. And your pokémon are young, so they might be having some separation anxiety," she answered, speaking from experience. "Mine were the same way. Come on, you wanna get some pizza or something?"

"Sure, why not?" he replied, and they went to one of the buffets, grabbed some slices, and found a table.

"So you think you'll be leaving tomorrow or in a few days?" Heather questioned.

Cody took a few bites of his pizza. It tasted kind of dry, but it was still decent eating, all things considered, especially after a week. "Yeah, I'll make a decision in the morning. I'm just glad I could get some food in my stomach for right now. I'll probably drop by a mart to pick up some supplies. Mostly antidotes. We ran into so many Weedle on our way-" he stopped as he felt his phone vibrating. "Hold on," he said as he opened up his phone.

"Hey, Cody, why the hell did you leave without telling us? I got worried, and you wouldn't answer your phone!" Angie's voice came through the phone in almost a shout.

"Hey Angie," he answered, slightly bewildered in hearing a voice from home again. "I'm sorry, but my mom more or less told me to leave as soon as possible after I got a pokémon, and the forest I walked through was filled with reception blocking trees. You could have just left me a message or something. My phone would have vibrated if I had hit any spots that got reception." As he was talking, he noticed Heather was watching a wall TV now, where two pokémon were dueling on the screen.

"I tried to, but your mailbox is full, genius! And you are shit at answering texts."

"Oh, what? Ugh… fine. But hey, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. It's going to get dull around here without you. I'm gonna be stuck with Paul, and you know how he is," she said as her voice started to calm.

"It's not like you don't have any other friends," Cody reminded her.

"Yeah, I guess, but you guys are… crap, I have to go. My mom is yelling at me again. Look, I wanna hear all about your journey so far. Call me later or something. I want to hear all about your new pokémon and stuff. Send me a pic!"

"Sure thing Angie. See you later." He closed his phone and turned his head to see what battle Heather was watching. It was the first round of the major battles in the annual Diamond Beach Tournament. Cody recognized the one trainer. An elderly man named Simon Kojiti was battling. He was a high ranked trainer in his day, but out of all the tournaments he competed in, he had never won the big one in Skitrex. His final pokémon, an ancient looking Hitmonchan, was sparring with a youthful looking Ivysaur, controlled by an equally young trainer. The younger trainer looked about 17 or so and whenever the camera panned in on him, Cody could practically feel his intensity.

"Who was that? Girlfriend?" Heather asked, curious in tone.

Cody laughed. "Close. Ex-girlfriend. But we're still friends and stuff."

"Oh, that's good. Things can get super awkward after a breakup. I know what that's like," she answered, though her focus was still on the TV.

"Yeah, it was for us. But a friend of mine kinda patched things up between us. Good thing too. But hey, who's battling right now?"

"Um… Simon Kojiti, and… I don't know. They haven't mentioned the other guy's name. He's really good though. But he's kind of young. They're both on their last pokémon." She said, not taking her eye's away from the screen. The announcers were calling each move of both pokémon as the fight progressed.

"Wow, look at that Babylon go! It's amazing that it can dodge those punches so easily! Kojiti definitely trained his pupil well!"

"You got that right Joel! But you gotta consider that 'Lightning' Luger is pretty old now. The oldest member of Kojiti's team to be exact. It wouldn't be farfetched to think that a youthful pokémon like this Ivysaur could outperform an older pokémon. But he better stay on his guard. His elder may have a trick up his sleeve. Still, I definitely believe that Constantine is a dark horse in this tournament" The boy's name appeared on the bottom of the screen. Constantine Torres.

"Never heard of him before. But damn, that Ivysaur can move. He must be a good."

They continued to watch the two pokémon battle. The Ivysaur had now moved onto the offensive as four vines shot out from under its tulip. Two of the vines lashed at the older pokémon's fists, trying to immobilize them. The other two vines tried to wrap around the Hitmonchan's feet in an attempt to trip him. The flowered pokémon also kept shooting green spores at the fighting-type, though the Hitmonchan ducked to avoid these clouds. Despite its efforts, the Ivysaur had to keep stepping backwards so that it wouldn't get hit by the punches that the elderly pokémon was throwing. But soon, the Hitmonchan had pressured the flowered pokémon to the edge of the battlefield.

"Babylon, Razor Leaf!" Constantine commanded.

Sharp leaves shot from the pokémon's back and slashed Hitmonchan's face. He had blocked such attacks earlier, but he was caught off-guard. Working with the distraction, the Ivysaur managed to halt the pokémon's punches with his vines, and lunged at its chest which was now wide open, knocking the Hitmonchan onto its back. But as it landed with a slide, the Ivysaur suddenly flew into the air from a fiery blast. Luger's right hand had broken free, and landed a Fire Punch on the Ivysaur's chest, sending it upward. The elderly pokémon then hopped to its feet and with a short hop, it connected its fist to the Ivysaur's chin as it fell back down. The flowered pokémon landed on its back, but before it could stand back up, the Hitmonchan leaped into the air and landed a Mega Punch in its chest. Babylon let out a loud groan before falling limp.

"There you have it, folks! Simon Kojiti has defeated his pupil to move on to the second round! But what a showing from Constantine. This kid is one we gotta look out for next year!"

"You said it. His battling skills were almost flawless. Almost. Maybe next year! But this may be Simon's year to add the Skitrex Cup to his collection of accolades! Stay tuned folks! Holly Choice vs. Kyle Noran will be on in ten minutes!"

"Wow that was intense," Cody said with an amazed voice. His mind was replaying the last moments of the battle.

"Yeah, and Simon's pokemon didn't even need to be told what to do. Talk about awesome," Heather replied, still looking at the screen. Both trainers were now hugging in the center of the center of the field after shaking hands. The old Hitmonchan stood next to his trainer. It looked really frail when it wasn't battling.

"I wish I could be mentored by him…"Heather added, sighing sadly.

"Yeah, that Constantine guy is one lucky dude," Cody answered, his voice trailing off. "Damn, it would be prime to fight on that level of competition," he said in a surreal voice.

"Yeah, it wou-" Heather stopped suddenly as she picked up her phone. After staring at it for a second, she put it away and looked up. "Well, my mom wants me home for some reason. Look, Cody, it was really nice meeting you. I hope you do well out there," she said, smiling.

"Thanks. Maybe you'll get out there too someday," he replied returning her smile.

"Nah, I doubt it. You know how parents are," she said, her smile now weakening.

"You just gotta appeal to their better nature. No harm in trying again. But I'm not gonna come in and tell you what to do. I mean-"

"No, you're right. Again, good luck Cody," and with a wave, she was gone.

"Okay man, PLEASE delete your voicemail or reply to your texts for once. I kept trying to call you all week, you know."

Laurence and Cody had been talking for about ten minutes as Cody walked through the streets of Kindle. His pokémon were back with him and his Squirtle walked by his side. He felt more comfortable with a pokemon out since the city didn't feel as safe as Stone Rise.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. But hey, enough about me. How have you been doing?"

"Oh, I'm cool," he, Laurence replied, always eager to talk about himself. "I actually skipped Kindle and went to Marin Village."

"Where?" Cody asked. "Never heard of that place before."

"Marin Village. It's this little village in the mountains, kinda northeast of where you are. There's no electricity there, except for the one phone they have. They didn't even have a traditional pokémon center; just a few doctors that used herbs. But it was nice. Kinda rustic and natural, ya know? I'll be reaching Tempest Valley a week earlier, but that's assuming I don't get sidetracked. I need to capture another pokémon before I can challenge the gym."

"I assume you already caught a second one then?" Cody questioned. He remembered what that bug catcher, Izzy, told him about how many pokémon a person needed to challenge a gym.

"Yeah, a Shellos. Cute little pokémon. I'll email a picture of it to you when I reach town. But yeah, I need another pokémon. I'm looking for an electric type. Maybe an Elekid or something. I'm already at a disadvantage, considering that Flex is a fighting-type going into a flying-type gym."

"Well, good luck to you. I'm probably leaving tomorrow. Gonna head north over the Leathron Mountains," Cody informed him.

"Well, good lu- What! Look, I'm on the phone… Fine. Sorry Cody, some jerk is harassing me about battl- Yes you're a jerk! I'm on the phone! Sorry, I'll catch you later," and before Cody could say goodbye, Laurence hung up.

Shrugging it off, Cody kept walking. He wasn't walking anywhere in particular; just trying to stretch his legs before sleeping. He had gotten a jolt of energy after eating that pizza, and he had to burn it off. Heather kept drifting back into his mind, but he didn't understand why though. She was cute, but she was just another girl. He probably wouldn't see her again if her parents were going to be hard-assed about her traveling. It wasn't a huge deal, though. There were a lot of people out there worth meeting. He figured he was just happy to have a good conversation for the first time in the past few day.

He found himself on a street filled with vendors, selling all sorts of things. Probably black market goods, but that was just an assumption. His Squirtle seemed to be getting nervous by all the shouting from vendors aimed at the passerbys as they tried to find buyers, so he clung to his trainer's leg.

There were a lot of cool looking things on market. One man was selling what looked like masterballs, but they were obviously fake. Feeling anxious and a little unsafe, he turned around to leave before somebody could get a chance to scam him. But a scream forced him to halt.

"Child, you're stepping on my mat!"

Cody was pulled out of his thoughts as he stepped back. An old woman was sitting on a mat, surrounded by little sculptures and old looking jewelry, was glaring at him.

"Oh God, I'm sorry!" Cody stammered, and his face went pale. The woman was wearing old shawls and her face looked as if her skin were flowing like water. But the most noticeable thing was her left eye… or lack there of. As she opened her mouth to speak again, he saw that she was missing a good number of teeth. The ones that were left were rotting. In one of her hands, she held a long pipe that was smoking from one of the ends.

"Children today can't even be bothered to pay attention to where they walk. You irresponsible brats should be home and not running around with your little pets," she said, motioning to Squirtle, who stood behind Cody's leg, shaking violently. Cody noticed that the little pokemon looked terrified, so he picked him up as the old woman continued. "Now you almost crushed one of my precious statues. These were not easy to get, so I demand you buy one for almost causing them harm. I have to deal with enough on this street as is!"

"Look, I said I was sorry, and I really can't buy any of your knickknacks. I have to save mon-"

"These are not knickknacks!" The woman screeched. People nearby began to stare as Cody stepped back slowly. "These are precious artifacts from the Arcean Ruins here in Skitrex! Very hard to sneak out! Now buy one, or face the consequences!"

"Fine, fine! Christ…" Cody groaned. He wasn't quite sure what kind of "consequences" such an elderly woman could impose, but he decided he'd rather not find out. He knelt down to look at the statues and artifacts the woman was selling. They looked really odd, but they were all still very intriguing. Most of them were formed like legendary pokémon that appeared in pictures of history books. There were also nice pieces of jewelry, but they all struck him as being feminine. "What do you think I should get?" He asked Squirtle, but the pokémon wouldn't respond. It kept staring at the woman, shaking in fright.

"Look, these… things… are all very nice, but I really don't want or need any of them."

The old woman would not accept that answer. "I deserve compensation!" she blurted at him, spit flying from her mouth as she spoke.

"Compensation for what? I didn't break anything!" Cody yelled back, feeling the frustration rise within him. "Look lady, I don't want to buy anything so please just let me leave." But she shook her head.

"Then pay me five dollars so I can read your fortune. I'm not letting you leave until you pay me something," she replied firmly.

"Uh… yeah, I don't believe in fortune telling," Cody responded, but seconds later, he felt like that was the wrong thing to say to this woman.

"I am a Seer of Arceus," she stated proudly. "Now let me read your palm!"

"Yeah, I don't believe in Ar- Wait, if you're a seer, why were you stealing this stuff from- ugh, forget it, I'll get my stupid fortune read."

With a sigh, he pulled a few crumpled bills from his pocket and handed them to the crone. Seconds later she pulled out his palm causing him to lurch in fright. His Squirtle was now in his shell, quaking rapidly from the moment she touched the trainer. After a minute of being in this uncomfortable position, she began to talk as she traced the lines of his palm with her right index finger. The mere touch of her hand made him feel incredibly clammy.

"Hmm… good child… but you are rash… your love line is notable… and… wait, that can't-" she stopped and looked at him with confusion in her eye. She turned around and pulled out a glass sphere filled with a lavender mist. "Put your hand on this!" She commanded her voice cracking.

He felt a wave of apprehension pass through him. Something was bothering this woman. Shivering, he extended his hand and pressed his palm against the orb. She stared at the patterns, her eye following the swirling mist. After doing this for a minute or so, the orb slipped out of her hand with a thud, and she stared at Cody with a look of absolute fear and confusion.

"Child, you are marked!" She exclaimed with shock. He looked back with bewilderment.

"Yeah… that's nice. Look, I gave you your money, so let me go. It's getting dark." At this, Cody tried to pull away, but the woman held her grasp.

"That's what I am saying! You are marked by the Dark One! He shall be stalking you now! The secret is revealed! You must be wary of his temptation!" She was getting so frantic that people around them were beginning to stare again. Cody's Squirtle was getting panicky again as he tried to squirm out of his trainer's arms after being picked up.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Now let me go!" But the woman would not relinquish her grip, pulling his face close to hers. Her breath reeked of decay.

"The Dark One knows! You are now in his gaze! Your palms speak the truth! Pray to Arceus for protection! Pray to God for purity! You are not safe!" Her screaming was getting louder. In the midst of the noise, Cody pushed her off of him and clutching the fearful Squirtle in his arms, he burst into a run, dodging vendors and pedestrians. Amongst the commotion, he could hear her shouting, "Sleep lightly and with the sun out!"

After getting out of the vendor street, Cody collapsed against a building wall, panting immensely. He hadn't been that frightened in a long time.

"That woman is crazy," he gasped as he tried to catch his breath. His Squirtle, who now looked calm, looked into its trainer's eyes and sensed discomfort. He nuzzled his friend's chest. Cody hugged the little pokémon and felt a little bit more at ease. He could feel passersby looking at him, but it didn't matter. The whole experience… it all seemed so off, for a lack of a better term.

"Hey kid, you okay?" Cody looked up to see a vendor, a middle-eastern man, looking down at him.

"Yeah, I'm cool. That was just-"

"Freaky? Yes." The man interrupted. "That woman who read your fortune… Her name is Madam Stella. She's crazy. I mean, absolutely delusional. I would have run too. What the hell did she tell you?"

Cody though for a moment, trying to recall her exact words. "I honestly… something about 'The Dark One' or something."

"Well forget it kid. She don't know a thing about anything. Don't worry about anything she said." The vendor said. Cody had stood up now, and he inhaled deeply, finally adjusting his breathing.

"Thank you, sir."

"Do you need help getting home?" He asked, but Cody shook his head.

"No, I don't live here. The pokémon center is only a few blocks away. But thank you."

After a quick wave, the two separated. But thoughts of what Stella had said still wavered in Cody's mind. He didn't believe them, but they still scared him. He had never met a person like that.

"Let's never go down a back alley again," he whispered to the little turtle he carried. The little pokémon yawned as if in agreement. He chuckled quietly, but his mind wasn't set at ease. It would not for a while.

This chapter was edited on 1/7/18. There may still be continuity or grammatical errors. If you notice any, please alert me in a review or a private message.