"So I guess we will go without a cooked meal for a while. I mean I can make Ramen but I don't have the supplies for it." Misty nodded as the two began unfolding their sleeping equipment.
"Yea, I mean I can make chowder but like you said I don't have supplies. So, these energy bars will have to hold us over." Misty pulled two out of her single strap bag and handed one to her new partner. "Well make it last," Misty laughed a little bit as she thought back to those hot meals that her old team would share.
"Don't worry, we won't be too long in between cities this is a one time only thing." Ray took a bite out of the candy bar and relaxed on the grass. "I think I need to get a new backpack while in Cerulean. I mean I'm used to the grass and all but a sleeping bag would be comfortable. Plus I have some extra money from all those contests."
"What contests?"
"Well random tournaments held around the region. Nothing too big, I didn't want my name to actually spread." Misty nodded crumpling up her wrapper and placing atop a wooden stump. Instantaneously Misty paused and reminisced back to her first time with Ash in the Viridian Forest. It was where the Caterpie had evolved into a Metapod under the full moon. Misty looked up and noticed it was a full moon tonight as well. "Hey Misty," coming back from her thoughts she looked back at Ray. "I think you should leave all your Pokemon at Cerulean…"
"What? Why should I do something like that?"
"Just hear me out, you want to be the greatest Water-Pokemon user right? To do that you have to not only see more water Pokemon, but you have to be able to use more of them just as efficiently as you would the Pokemon you have with you right now. I would suggest only taking one of the Pokemon in your group you have with you right now." Misty actually had to think now about what Ray had just said. "Well that's all I have to say. I'm going to sle…" Ray heard the rustle of grass not to far away. Ray looked to Misty for confirmation. "You hear that?" As she nodded Ray turned to face the direction he was hearing the sound from. He could make out a figure that was rather small in the grass. "Hey you come out of hiding!" Suddenly the figure burst out from the shadows and leapt into the air. Before any identification could take place the figure landed neatly in Ray's arms.
"It's an Eevee!" Ray nodded confirming the Pokemon as it buried its head into his chest. Misty struggled out of her already zipped sleeping bag and hustled over to Ray to see the Pokemon. "It looks terrible; someone must have scared this poor Pokemon to death." Misty stood across from Ray as he stroked the obviously frightened Eevee.
"No, that's not it at all, he's worried. Apparently he had an experience with some bad people and is worried they'll come back… what's this?" Ray held the Eevee out at arm's length and noticed that the Pokemon was holding a small strange looking orange stone as it shook. "A fire stone? And its not a whole stone but a piece of one. I wonder what this little guy has been through." Ray took the Eevee back into his arms and began stroking it. "No worries little guy, you can stay with us for the night until we find your owners." The Eevee nodded as it began to calm down. "Well let's get some sleep; we'll start sorting this out in the morning. That ok with you Misty?" Misty yawned as the sleepiness returned after being suppressed for a time.
"Yea that sounds like a plan, good night." Misty crawled back into her sleeping bag and ran up the zipper. Ray laid down on the grass and put the Eevee at his side and stroked the Eevee's brown fur. Only after the Eevee fell asleep did the Pokemon trainer reach attempt to reach dreamland.
"All right Marowak, drink this!"
"Maro!" Misty's sleeping bag rustled a bit as the zipper began sliding down. The redheaded trainer sat up and looked about to see what the commotion was about.
"Drink this and you'll become nice and strong." The words caught Misty's attention and she scrambled over to Ray and his Marowak while still struggling to free herself of her sleeping bag.
"What are you giving it?"
"Relax; it's not Pokemon steroids or anything. Actually I've learned to make these nutrient drinks after a nice Lady I knew in Celadon city taught me about them. It requires special berries to be ground together to bring out the utmost nutrients possible and then you simply add water. I actually have two sets of drinks made for my Pokemon, but since you are coming along and are my partner I thought I would use one set on Marowak and the other on a Pokemon of your choosing." Misty nodded finally able to take the sleeping bag completely off being stationary and all
"Oh, how is it you manage to read my mind? And if that's not bad enough it looks like you can stretch these powers out to Pokemon as well."
"I always chalk it up to spending more than half a year with nobody but Pokemon while I was training for the Indigo League. If it's not that then…" Ray shrugged his shoulders. Misty couldn't help but giggle a little from the casual response. "Well, it seems that we are actually gunna have a little fun on this journey after all."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?"
"Well I noticed you were looking off into space a lot yesterday and my guess is that you were remembering the good old days with Ash. Trust me I do that all the time."
"Remember the good old days with Ash?"
"No, reminisce on past experience, but try not to make it a habit ok?" Misty nodded and looked at Marowak who was twirling his club around pretty much ignoring the entire conversation.
"Oh! What happened to that Eevee?" Ray pointed to the tree stump that they had slept by and Eevee was peacefully resting atop it. "He's so cute…"
"Yo! Ray!" Ray sighed as he looked in the direction of the voice. Ray picked out the figure amongst the grass and watched as it approached.
"So Gideon decides to grace us with his presence ey?"
"Gideon?"
"Yea his name is…"
"Oh, beautiful maiden let me introduce myself. I am the one and only Gideon Verletz the runner up to the Indigo League Champion last season." Gideon winked and ran his hand through his brown hair trying to bedazzle Misty with his green eyes.
"So you're that Gideon… Ray how do you know him?"
"Well let me put it like this. Gideon is to me like Gary is to Ah."
"Oh! So he's your rival who is always one step ahead of you." Ray was confused at the response he got.
"Was Ash always a step behind Gary?" Misty nodded.
"Back to me!" Just like what he said Ray and Misty turned back to man no younger than 19. "I was actually passing by when I noticed you had a Marowak. No doubt copying me and my Marowak." Ray shrugged not giving a complete answer. "Well no matter, I was actually about to head out to the Johto league and take over that region with my prowess. To be fair of course I have to start from scratch so all I'm taking with me is my Growlithe."
"So why are you telling me this? Just leave if you're gunna go."
"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, no need for such a harsh tone. Actually I wanted to test your Marowak against mine in a one on one duel." Gideon threw a black and yellow poke ball releasing his own Marowak. Immediately the Marowak looked at Ray then at Ray's Marowak then began ranting.
"Maro-maro! Marowak!" Gideon's Marowak held out its bone club and Ray's Marowak responded by holding out its own club.
"It appears that our Marowaks want to raise the stakes." Ray nodded as Misty looked at the two opposing Marowaks staring each other down fiercely.
"The loser will lose their bone club?" Gideon agreed to Ray's terms and the battle was set to start.
"Look we need to find that Eevee or the boss will chew our heads off."
"I know I know, but I don't know where to look. I mean it is a pretty small Pokemon. Maybe we should just hang around Cerulean. We do have the stone after all so we will spot the Eevee eventually."
"All right we'll hang around for a maximum of five days before we start a general sweep of the area." The two people looked at each other and snickered for a little.
"They've been at this for two minutes now…" Misty looked on as the two Marowaks wielded their clubs with expert precision. Ray's Marowak bent backwards then to the side followed by a cartwheel to evade Gideon's Marowak's Bone Rush attack.
"Good Marowak now use Bone Club!" On Ray's command and on his command only did the Marowak pull back his club and thrust it forward with extreme speed. Gideon's Marowak threw his club in the way and there was a short thwap before the two Marowaks jumped backwards a bit to size up their opponent once more. Breathing heavily the two Marowaks eyed each other with their respective trainer mere inches away from them. "All right Marowak, let's show them our spirit. Use the signature move that we used on Ash's Pikachu." Marowak nodded as he cocked back.
"Signature attack ey? It's just a Bonemerang… Marowak, dodge this. Show them their futility." Marowak nodded as it prepared for the attack. As expected Ray's Marowak chucked its bone club and it came full speed for the other Marowak's chest. "Now!"
"Maro!" Gideon's Marowak leapt in midair avoiding the attack.
"Use your Bonemer… what the…?" Both Gideon and his Marowak looked to see that there was no opponent to fight. "Quick! Turn around and get ready for the roundabout on that club." Marowak nodded landing swiftly on its feet and eyed the incoming club. With a sharp cry Marowak slapped the bone up into the air.
"Let's go Marowak!" On Ray's call Marowak burst out of the ground driving a clenched fist into its opponent's skull helmet forcing it to set out of place.
That move is really something special… I never get tired of watching it because it displays a Pokemon's trust with his trainer and absolute obedience and skill… Ray really is a masterful trainer.
Misty watched as Marowak continued to soar upwards and then it grabbed hold its the airborne club.
"Instead of the usual Bone Club use Bonemerang!"
"Maro…" Ray's Marowak pulled back ready to launch the club once more. "Wak!" At once the club was sent spinning towards Gideon's Marowak who was still struggling to reset his helmet correctly. The club slammed into the skull helmet sending a strong vibration throughout the Marowak's body.
"Now! Bone Rush!" The club thrown by Ray's Marowak returned to its owner and the Marowak came down slamming its club onto the enemy Marowak's forehead. The jolt sent another vibration through Gideon's Marowak. Gideon could only watch in dismay as he knew nothing he could possibly say would turn around the events that were gunna take place.
"And that's game!" Ray smirked as he looked at his Marowak still using Bone Rush. Ray's Marowak pulled back for a final strike and hit Gideon's Marowak in the chest using its club like a baseball bat. The blow sent Gideon's Marowak sailing backwards into a nearby tree. Mid-flight Gideon's Marowak dropped its club which Ray's Marowak decided to pick up knowing that the battle was over. "Nice job Marowak…" Gideon walked over to his own Marowak and knelt down beside him.
"It seems I neglected you too much Marowak… this defeat is my fault. I didn't continue giving you proper training. I just assumed you were strong enough… I'm sorry." The battered Marowak could barely get any sound out of its mouth. "You don't have to speak. I'll make you even better without the club," pulling something out of his backpack Gideon sprayed his Marowak. Almost instantly signs of recovery could be seen, but before his Marowak could get back up to its feet the experienced trainer returned Marowak to its poke ball. After standing up Gideon turned to face Ray. "That club is yours, but mark my words. If we meet again I'll show you that my Marowak doesn't need a club to be truly strong. Until next time Ray…" Gideon through a poke ball out. The poke ball cracked in two revealing the Pokemon held inside.
"Pidgeo!" The majestic Pideot stood erect before Ray and Misty. Gideon mounted the large Pokemon and it instantly began flapping its wings.
"We're going back to Pallet town… there's a ship waiting to take us to Johto." On Gideon's command the Pideot took off leaving the two trainers and the Marowak behind. Sighing at the sight of his departing rival Ray looked over at Misty who was still gawking.
"Crazy guy huh?" Misty nodded coming back to reality. Ray went to a knee and beckoned his Marowak who hustled over. "All right Marowak; let's show the world that you can be the first Marowak to use two clubs instead of just one. We'll train a lot, but it will be worth it all right?" Marowak nodded and Ray patted his Pokemon on the head. "Good job… you can return now." Ray opened up the proper poke ball and Marowak was gone with a flash of red.
"Eevee!" Misty turned around to find that the Eevee was atop the tree stump looking at the two trainers.
"It looks like it just woke up." Ray nodded heading over with Misty at his side. As the two got closer they noticed the smile that the Eevee had on. "It's pretty happy too… I guess he thinks we're gunna take care of him."
Axelpro: I thought it would be pretty neat to have a dual wielding Marowak. Personally out of all the original Pokemon I would have to say Cubone/Marowak are the coolest.