Run. That's all she could think about. Was to run. She knew she wasn't nearly as fast as a Rhyhorn, much less the herd that was after her. But she also knew that if she stopped, she'd have no chance.
She didn't have to run far before she'd gotten into a forest. The trees weren't too dense, but they were dense enough to slow down the Rhyhorn. She didn't care. She kept running.
"Zee! Is there anything you can do?" She shouted in panic. Her breathing was starting to deepen. She was quickly running out of energy, and it was scaring her. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to get away from the Rhyhorn.
{Nothing that can stop this whole group! I'm sorry!} Zee shouted back to her. Sumi kind of felt sorry for him. He was trying to stay calm in this horrific situation, but the panic was evident in his voice.
The time to stop running, however, came upon them. The Rhyhorn had led them into the side of a small cliff. It was just too high for Sumi to make it up on her own, and there didn't seem to be any other people around to help her up.
She turned around, pressing her back against the cliff face. Zee stood in front of her protectively, growling deep in his throat again. He didn't know what he could do, but he knew he'd have to protect her at any cost.
The Rhyhorn appeared around them, coming between the trees and cutting off their escape. Sumi's breath caught in her throat as she saw what was happening. A path was made between them, a larger, dinosaur-like Pokémon coming up. This one was about twice the size of the others, and it was standing on two legs. It didn't have the plate armor-like skin, instead having a grey flesh that looked as hard as a rock. It only had one horn, on the tip of its snout, but its rock-hard skin jutted out from the top of its head between its ears, acting like another horn.
"W-what is this thing?" Sumi asked in fear.
Zee growled again, barking cutely at the thing. In response, it just roared back at him, stomping on the ground a few times, probably trying to appear menacing. While all of this was happening, Sumi pulled her Pokédex out. She wanted to know what it was. Perhaps the device could tell her why it was attacking her?
Rhydon. The Drill Pokémon. Standing on its hind legs freed its forelegs and made it smarter. It is very forgetful, however.
"Forgetful? Why can't it just forget me and go away?" Sumi asked in panic.
{I've got some bad news… It just said that it's the mother of the Rhyhorn you captured!} Zee said in a panic.
"Really? Oh no… I just wanted to start building my team! I'm sorry, Rhydon!" Sumi shouted with a guilty look.
The Rhydon roared once more, getting onto all fours and growling. It was preparing to charge her!
"Capture, on!" a voice suddenly echoed through the trees.
A small, red object, looking like a spinning top, came from above her, at the top of the cliff. It flew down, spinning around Rhyhorn, seeming to draw circles around it.
Actually, looking closer, Sumi could see it was drawing circles around it! A thin, yellow trail of light was following the top, forming a thin circle around the Rhydon. It watched the top curiously, more confusion than rage suddenly in its face. The rest of the Rhyhorn looked worried and shocked, not sure what was happening.
A few seconds passed, and the top flew back to where it came from. The light ring around the Rhydon suddenly closed in, but didn't bind it like it looked like it did. Instead, the Rhydon glowed with a golden aura for a few seconds. It got back up onto its hind legs, becoming calm.
"Capture complete!" the same voice from before echoed. Directly after, a young man hopped down from the top of the cliff, landing in a crouch next to Sumi.
She jumped, not expecting this new visitor.
The boy walked up to the Rhydon, smiling warmly. "Go back to your territory. You don't need to bother this trainer anymore." He said in a friendly tone.
The Rhydon looked around to the rest of the Rhyhorn herd, making its roar once again. It turned, walking back the way they came. The rest of the Rhyhorn all roared back in response, also turning and following it out.
The boy turned to face Sumi, looking worried. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Now that she wasn't in a panic, she could get a good look at him. He was wearing black pants with yellow trim around the base of each leg, a belt around the rim holding a small pouch at his waist. His shirt was plain, the bottom half being black while the top half was white. A red, short-sleeved jacket hung on his shoulders, the trim around the neck and high-cut base of it yellow, while the trim on the short sleeves were a white color. An emblem was patched onto the right shoulder, a globe that stood above and upside-down triangle, looking almost like a jewel. He also wore a pair of fingerless gloves, black with a white trim around the wrist, with a red patch on the front. There was a watch around his right wrist, a blue disk rimmed in yellow with a red border, the band of which is white. To complete the outfit, a yellow bandanna hung around his neck, and a pair of red-rimmed goggles sat on his head, holding back the bangs of his short, light brown hair.
He looked only slightly older than her, maybe only around 16 years of age.
She nodded, smiling slightly. "Y-yeah. Thanks. I thought I was done for!" she said happily.
Zee stepped in front of her with a protective look, glancing up at the man suspiciously. {This guy seems nice, but how did he stop the Rhydon like that? He didn't even use a Pokémon of his own.} he asked.
"I was wondering the same thing. What is that thing you used? It looked like one of the toys I used to play with Zee with." She asked curiously.
He smiled, holding up his wrist with the strange watch. "You mean to tell me you haven't seen a Ranger in action before?" he asked with a confident smirk.
Zee growled. {Ranger? You're not a bad guy or anything, are you? Because if you can control Pokémon like that, you could be dangerous…} he said in a low voice.
The boy knelt down, holding his hand out to Zee, looking like he was trying to coax over a Skitty or something. "A talking Pokémon? That's really rare… Don't worry, little guy. I'm not a bad guy. My Capture Styler, what I used earlier, isn't to control Pokémon. It conveys the feelings of the ranger, of our love for Pokémon, to them on an emotional level. It's to show they're in no danger, that we're friends." He said with a friendly smile.
Zee padded up to him, sniffing his fingers a bit. {But it listened to what you said, after it tried to bulldoze over me and Sumi…} he mumbled curiously, sitting back on his haunches and looking up at him.
"That's because I was able to calm it down. Most Pokémon, when we befriend it like that, they're willing to help us. When I conveyed my feelings, it understood that I was concerned for your trainer, and decided to leave her alone. You wouldn't want to upset a friend, would you?" he asked.
Zee looked down in thought, then shook his head. {No, I guess not.} he muttered before walking back up to sit next to Sumi.
"By the way, my name's Skylar. Skyy for short." He said. He held out his hand, walking up to Sumi with it extended as if asking for a handshake.
Sumi slowly reached out, cautious of the stranger, before taking his hand, shaking it timidly. "I'm Sumire. But you can call me Sumi." She said.
"It's very nice to meet you, Sumi. Beginning Pokémon Trainer I'm guessing?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yeah. Zee and I just left home this morning." She said.
"I see. And your Zee. I haven't seen a Pokémon like him anywhere around this area. He's got a shape almost like a Flareon, but with the beautiful, fine fur and an attitude kind of like a Vulpix. What is he exactly?" he asked.
Zee jumped back up on Sumi's shoulder, his smirk returning alongside an arrogant gleam in his eyes. {I'm beautiful like a Vulpix? This guy's cool. I like him.} he said with a small snicker, impressed by the compliments.
"This is my little Zee. He's a Pokémon my dad brought home from an adventure at a place called Unova. He's been with me for a few years, and Professor Oak said since we were already so close, I could use him as my beginner Pokémon." She said, tilting her head slightly to rub her cheek against the side of Zee's head.
Zee cuddled against her cutely, closing his eyes happily. {We're partners! And her dad smelled really good.} he said.
"Unova? I was positioned over there before I got reassigned here in Kanto." The Skyy explained to them.
{You've been to my home?} Zee asked curiously.
"I'm not sure. I've never seen any Pokémon like you before, even over there. You must be incredibly rare." He said. He suddenly glanced down at his Styler. A small beeping noise had started coming from the small device. "Oh, I'm getting there later than I thought I would…" he mumbled.
"Is something wrong? We're not keeping you from something important, are we?" Sumi asked.
"Well, yes and no. I have plenty of time to make it to where I was going. I'm just trying to get there early so I can start the investigation today instead of tomorrow." He explained. He looked down in thought. "Wait a moment… You're on your way to Viridian City, aren't you?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yes. I heard there's a Pokémon Gym there, and I'd like to challenge the leader. I need to get prepared for the Pokémon League!" she said confidently. Her smile then slowly faded, and she looked down. "At least that's what I was hoping for. I heard he's gone missing."
{Which means we're just passing through. Pewter City's our next stop, and then some sort of cave. And that's all I really remember from the map.} Zee explained.
"Then in that case, would you mind if I accompany you? I'm heading there as well, to investigate the missing Gym Leader. I won't interfere with you capturing any Pokémon, but I won't be helping you either." He asked.
She nodded. "Yeah! That sounds fine!" she said, happy she'd at least have some human companionship for a while.
{Do you have any Pokémon? Or do you release all the ones you control? Like the Rhydon back there?} Zee asked.
"I do have a Pokémon, but it isn't mine officially. Rangers get a partner. The only one we're allowed to bring out of its natural habitat. He's been my best friend from his Trapinch stage." He said, smiling a bit as if he were reliving some good memories. "Unfortunately, he isn't here right now. He's back in Unova, helping the Professor over there with some things, then he's going to meet me back at the main Ranger Base here in Kanto."
"Okay, I see. Then which direction is the town?" Sumi asked. She got a bit of an embarrassed look. "When the Rhyhorn was chasing me earlier, we kind of got turned around. I'm not sure where we are now, or even what direction we're facing." She said.
He chuckled, looking up at the sky. "Actually, it's starting to get dark. I think we need to think about making a camp for the night." He suggested.
{Camp? Why not just walk at night?} Zee asked, looking confused.
"Because if you or your trainer don't get enough sleep, what would happen if you ran into a wild Pokémon that didn't let you just run away from it? If you're tired, you can't attack very well, and if Sumi's tired, then she wouldn't be very strategic or helpful in battle." Skyy explained. He glanced at Sumi with a worried look. "You should know things like this if you're going to be a good trainer."
Sumi looked a bit embarrassed. "Well that's half of the journey is to learn things like this, isn't it?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He said. He glanced around, then started walking. "The city's this way. It's about a day's walk." He told them.
Sumi nodded, following him. "Thanks. And I was wondering. Do you know any of the Gym Leaders? I'd like to know about them before I face them." she asked.
He shook his head. "No, I know of them. But I don't really know anything about them." He confessed.
{We don't need to know about them! I'm strong enough to kick their butts!} Zee said with his confident little smirk.
Sumi giggled. She was happy that he was so confident. "Then onto Pewter City!" she said with a happy look.
"Well, Viridian City first. That's my destination. But I'll point you in the direction of Pewter when we get there." Skyy said with a small smile.
She nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate your kindness." She told him.
{Well I'm sleepy. Wake me when you get there, or if something happens.} Zee said, squirming his way into Sumi's still-open backpack. After some adjustment to get more comfortable, the small Pokémon grew still, trying to get to sleep.
With that, they headed on their way to Viridian City, leaving the ordeal with the Rhyhorn behind them.
