A/N: Whew, finally updated! Sorry this took so long...this chapter was hard to write for some reason. I think it's because I kept getting distracted with other stuff every time I attempted writing. XD Anyway, it's not extremely eventful, but things will pick up soon. I hope. :P
Thank you for all the reviews and support~!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
The sky overhead started fading to a pale shade of pink as I made my way back towards Route 29. I briefly considered checking out the Poke Mart again, but I was pretty sure they still didn't have any Poke Balls, so I decided against it. Maybe when I made my way back here again…I'd have to visit the beach here, too. I couldn't exactly go fishing for any water Pokemon, but after all this bullshit, I think I deserved a day off.
Nothing else really happened that was noteworthy; I passed a few police officers and tried to blend in with the crowd, even though I was pretty sure they wouldn't even know who the hell I was anyway. Flammie was currently taking a ride in my tote bag, his head poking out. I could see that he was taking care not to sit on the egg, and once again praised him in my mind for his intelligence.
We passed by the area where I had battled Silver, and I paused to regard the bloodstains that had been left behind. My lip curled in distaste; though it wasn't too bad or even noticeable at all to the average passerby, I still couldn't believe that Pokemon could make each other bleed. The thought of it was still an absurdity to me. Then again, reality was never kid friendly, now was it?
I sighed, passing by the blood as Flammie peeked out of my bag curiously. He looked around for a minute, before settling back into the little space he had made for himself.
"Here's hoping we don't run into any more Hoothoots," I said to him, continuing down the forest path. Flammie chattered in agreement, and I had to grin. Well, it was still early evening, so we were (hopefully) safe from any further assaults.
The walk back to town was about as exciting as it had been when I had been going in the opposite direction, minus my embarrassing little blunder with the owl Pokemon. To pass the time, I attempted to name off a few more legendaries in my head, trying to figure out which one could have brought me here.
Let's see…it hadn't been small, but it wasn't particularly huge, either…Mew or Mewtwo? Latios or Latias? One of the later generation Pokemon that I really wasn't familiar with? Geez…this was going to be difficult, I could tell already. What if it was a Pokemon from the Hoenn or Sinnoh regions? Was I going to have to travel all over the freaking world for this thing?
"This is way too freaking complicated…" I grumbled, mostly for Flammie's benefit. Though talking to him did help me, too; it made me feel a little less alone.
Oh! There was one thing I had forgotten, now that I had time to think…
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Pokedex that Professor Oak had given me, flipping it open. After a second or two I was able to find the power button, and the two screens lit up.
"Gee, this feels familiar," I remarked with a snort, noting that one of them was a touch screen. I messed around with it, and found that it looked remarkably similar to the Pokedex used in HeartGold. That wasn't too much of a surprise, I guess. The familiarity was kind of comforting, though; if I tried hard enough, I could pretend that I was playing the game on my DS, instead of being caught up in this mess. As I walked down the path, avoiding tall grass where Pokemon might be hiding, I fiddled around with the device as Flammie watched curiously.
Suddenly I came to a red button on the screen that said "SCAN". Well, it couldn't hurt to get a first entry, right? I turned the Pokedex around, looking at the back side of it, and saw what looked like a camera lens. Okay…so I just pointed it at a Pokemon, then?
I pointed the lens at Flammie, and pressed the button. The screen blinked for a second; when a loading bar popped up, I pulled the device out of Flammie's face and continued my little investigation. After a few seconds, a picture of Flammie popped up on the screen.
"Ha!" I grinned with amusement, and then took a closer look. There were some statistics beneath Flammie's picture, displayed on the screen below.
"It is timid, and always curls itself up in a ball. If attacked, it flares up its back for protection."
That sounded familiar, too…eh? There was more information here…its type, its weaknesses and strengths, its diet…man, there was all sorts of extra stuff here. I had a feeling this was going to be very helpful in the future…but really, how did it get all that information from one simple scan?
After messing around with the Pokedex for a few more minutes, I finally figured it out. From the looks of it, all the scan did was detect what type of Pokemon it was—then it went to an online database to retrieve more information. Whenever I encountered a Pokemon that Professor Oak had already documented, all I had to do was scan it and I'd have all the information I needed. Hmm…I wonder what ones he hadn't encountered yet? That must have been what he had meant when he had said it was still incomplete.
So by scanning new Pokemon, especially ones that I had caught, I was effectively gathering data for the professor to document. Well, it wasn't quite as simple as it had been in the game, but I wasn't complaining.
Flammie's diet…speaking of which, maybe Professor Elm would have some food for the little guy once I got back.
My stomach suddenly growled at the thought of food, and I let out a groan. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, either.
Pocketing the Pokedex again, I trudged onward, intent on getting all of this crap over with. Hopefully Annette would take pity on me and give me something to eat. Otherwise, I was gonna fry me up a Hoothoot…
"Hello? Professor?" I knocked on the doorframe as I walked in, since the lab door was already open. It was most likely because the police had been in and out of here all day. From what I could see now, though, they were all gone.
Although there wasn't an answer, I found the researcher rather quickly once I had gone further into the room. He was on his knees, attempting to look under some large machinery as he reached for something that had clearly gotten lost under there. Now that I was looking more closely, though, I could see a lot of papers scattered on the floor, too.
"Professor Elm," I called, a little more loudly. He jumped, bumping his head on the machine he had been looking under, and I nearly facepalmed. Instead, I settled for a wry smile. "Uh…do you need some help?"
"Brittany!" He got to his feet, smiling a little sheepishly as he attempted to cover up his blunder. "Well, it's good to see you made it back in one piece. Unfortunately, as you can see, all the chaos from today has left me a little disorganized…"
I had a feeling he was just disorganized in general, but I didn't voice that thought. Instead, I just settled for a shrug.
"Well, at least it's over with," I said, and reached into my bag. "Anyway, I brought the egg."
Flammie climbed out of the tote bag to make way for my probing hand, and I bent my knees a little so he could hop to the floor. Then I scooped the egg up with one hand, reaching in with the other to support it as I pulled it out of the bag.
Professor Elm's face lit up when he saw the egg, and he carefully took it from me to examine it.
"Ah, I see…" he murmured, sounding intrigued. "I don't think I've seen this kind before. I'll put it in the incubator."
I watched curiously as he turned away from me, walking up to some other machine that I hadn't really paid any attention to before. An incubator, huh…interesting. Did it speed up the hatching process, or what? I didn't think Pokemon eggs required the same treatment as normal eggs…
"So," the professor said as he messed around with the machine, "did Mr. Pokemon have anything to say regarding your situation?"
"He and Professor Oak said they'd look into it," I replied, frowning a little. "But they didn't have any immediate solutions, no."
Professor Elm looked over at me, surprised. "So Professor Oak was there, was he? I didn't know he was in the area."
I nodded, and then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right," I murmured, fumbling for the device in my pocket. "He gave me this, too." I pulled it out, holding it up where the professor could see. I saw his eyes widen, and he made his way over to me after setting the egg down.
"Is that…" He paused to adjust his glasses, taking a closer look. Then his face broke out into a cheery grin. "It is! That's a Pokedex, and the latest version, from the looks of it. Do you know what this means, Brittany?"
"Uh…" I faltered, blinking. "I'm well equipped?"
He laughed at that. "Professor Oak doesn't entrust those to just anyone. He must have seen great potential in you as a trainer!"
I shifted a little, frowning. "I don't know about that, Professor. I mean…I'm just a clueless teenager. Really." I didn't want to tell him about the whole Hoothoot thing if I didn't have to, but…
"You don't give yourself enough credit," the researcher said, fiddling around with something on his desk.
"After all," he said, looking over one shoulder, "I can see that your Cyndaquil has taken quite a liking to you."
"Eh? Flammie?" I looked down to where the Pokemon sat, and he stared innocently up at me.
"Not only that," Professor Elm continued, "it seems you handled yourself well when you encountered that thief. It was smart of you to rush to the Pokemon Center like that—"
"Aw, but professor, that's just common sense," I said, frowning. "What else would I have done?"
"Chased after the thief," he replied, raising his eyebrows. "But even in that situation, you knew what took priority. Either way, it's a comfort knowing that I won't be making a mistake when I let you keep that Cyndaquil."
"Oh, uh…" I faltered. "Wait, what?" Well, it was good to know I was following the right path, but…
"He's yours," Professor Elm said, smiling. "Oh, and could you stand against the wall for just a moment?"
Confused, I just did as he asked, and suddenly he pulled out a camera. Was that what he had been fiddling with at his desk?
"Say cheese!" he told me. I didn't, but I did attempt a smile, though it probably looked pretty fake. What the hell did he need my picture for? I was starting to get kind of nervous.
"Not bad," the professor said, smiling as he examined it.
"Uh…what exactly is that for?" I asked hesitantly.
"Your trainer card, of course!" he explained. "If you're going to be running around Johto looking for that Pokemon, you're going to need some form of identification. While we're at it, why don't you fill out this form for me? This should be all the information I'll need to make the card for you."
I took the form from his hands, staring at it. Trainer card…something like the one Silver had had, right? It was probably like this world's form of a driver's license…well, for Pokemon trainers, at least.
Let's see…name, age, height, eye color, birth date…yeah, that was all the same general information. As my sole method of identification, this would probably be very useful. Professor Elm handed me a pen, and I immediately started filling it out.
"Hmm…what else are you going to need? Some Poke Balls, I suppose…oh dear, I'm all out."
"Everyone's all out," I mumbled distractedly as I wrote.
"Well, I'm sure it won't be that big of a problem," the professor mused. "You could always—"
"Hello? Hellooo~?" A familiar voice called, causing us both to look up. "Oh my, what a mess…"
"Anne?" Professor Elm called back, looking mildly embarrassed at her remark.
I saw the woman walk into the room, smiling. "Oh, professor. There you are. I was wondering—ah! Brittany! I had a feeling you were back."
Now she was looking at me, and I couldn't help but smile back at her. "Um, hi, Miss Thompson—"
"Anne," she corrected automatically. "I'm glad you're back. Are you hungry? I've fixed up some dinner. You don't mind if I borrow her for a bit, do you, professor?"
"U-Uh…" I feebly attempted to protest, but then my stomach growled again. As I glared at it, Professor Elm chuckled, taking the filled out form from my hands.
"No, go right ahead, Anne," he replied.
"You sound hungry," Annette said to me, laughing. "Oh, has your Cyndaquil eaten? I'll find something for him to eat."
She took my arm, pulling me along, and I glanced over my shoulder at the professor. He just watched me with amusement for a moment, before turning back to clean up his messy lab.
Although it felt like things were suddenly moving far too quickly for me to grasp, I just allowed her to lead me towards her house. I was starving; I'd just worry about the rest later. Maybe a healthy dose of normality would do me some good…even if I was just about to eat dinner with a complete stranger. Well, at least she was a nice stranger…
As Annette set the table with more than enough food for two, all I could do was watch her with a blank look on my face. I was really hungry…but I felt like I was imposing way too much. I mean, she barely even knew me…why was she doing all of this? On the way over here, she had made it clear that Professor Elm had informed her of my situation, but that still didn't explain her behavior to me. It didn't change the fact that I was still some random girl. She didn't have to give a damn about me.
Was it because this wasn't Earth? No…there were assholes here, too. Silver proved that. Ah, well… maybe Anne was just a really nice person? I guess that was the best explanation I was going to get.
"Here, Flammie," Annette said cheerily, handing the Pokemon some fruit I had never seen before. Ah…were those berries? Now that I was looking a little more closely, some of them did seem kind of familiar…
Flammie sniffed a few of the berries, before selecting a lighter colored one and starting to eat it. I stared hard at the fruit and made a note to myself of what it looked like, so that I would at least know one food he liked. Okay, so he didn't like pancakes, but he liked...yellow pear-berry things…oh! Sitrus berry? Yeah, that was what that was called!
"So, how was your trip? Did you like Cherrygrove City?" Annette asked as she sat down, smiling.
"It wasn't much of a trip, but…" I mumbled, trailing off. Then I looked up at her, and spoke a little louder. "Cherrygrove City was nice. It was bigger than I thought it would be."
"If you thought that was big, just wait until you see Goldenrod," the woman replied, looking a little wistful. She then seemed to catch herself, immediately perking up when she saw that I hadn't touched my food yet. "Oh, don't let me ramble. Go ahead, try it!"
I realized that I hadn't even examined the food she'd put in front of me yet, and looked down at my plate. Hey, was that a hamburger? It was like I had never left America!
"It's my specialty," Anne remarked happily, "the Cinnabar Volcano Burger!"
That caused me to hesitate in the middle of reaching for the burger. I glanced over at her, biting my lip. "Uh…is it hot…?"
Her smile widened. "Just try it! I know you'll like it."
"Okay," I mumbled, taking a bite and hoping it wouldn't kill me. If the food had the word 'volcano' in it, it just gave me the image of someone soaking it in hot sauce…
It was spicy, but thankfully not enough to make me physically ill. Actually, it was really good. But…wait a minute. Cinnabar Volcano Burger…that sounded oddly familiar. Where had I heard of it before? I couldn't figure it out…
The room fell silent for a moment, as I grew distracted with mulling over this new thought. Well, it was just a food; it couldn't be that important, right? It was probably just a thing one of the townsfolk mentioned in the game or something. Yeah, that was probably it.
"Brittany…you're planning on leaving again soon, aren't you?" Anne asked after a pause.
I frowned, swallowing a bite of food. "Mm…yeah. If I want to find my way home, I've gotta go looking for that Pokemon."
"I see…" she murmured, and I couldn't help but feel troubled by her sudden quietness. "In that case, could you do me a favor?"
"A favor?" I repeated, and then nodded. "Of course, anything. What is it?"
"If you ever make it to Goldenrod City…there's someone I'd like you to look up for me," she explained, pulling out a slip of paper and writing a few things down on it. After a second or two, she handed it to me, elaborating on what she had written.
"His name is Russell," she said, "and he's a security officer at the Radio Tower. Just ask for him at the front counter, and tell the person you ask that Annette sent you. He should be fairly easy to spot otherwise; he's always being followed by that Houndour of his."
I double checked the paper she had given me to make sure it had all the information she had just told me, and then nodded. "Okay, that sounds easy enough. But why are you looking for this person, anyway?"
I inwardly smacked myself for asking that question so quickly; that was kind of rude. Annette just shrugged it off, though, and smiled.
"Oh, he's just someone I haven't talked to in a while. I've been wanting to check up on him, but the path to Goldenrod was blocked the last time I tried to go there…"
"I'll try getting there, if I can," I said, trying to sound confident. To be honest, I wasn't sure how much I could accomplish in this world. "I mean, I at least owe that favor to you."
"Thank you, Brittany," the woman said, looking away for a moment. I saw her shoulders shake slightly, and my lips tugged down in a frown; when she looked back up at me, though, the smile was back in place.
We finished eating soon after that, holding casual conversations in between bites of food. I was still feeling a little troubled by Annette's behavior, but she didn't mention Goldenrod City again. I guess I would find out what was up when I went there, anyway.
When we were finished eating, Anne stood up and started gathering up our plates. I offered to help her wash the dishes, but she adamantly refused.
"Well!" She said when she was finished cleaning up, turning to me. "If you're going to be traveling a lot, you'll be needing some supplies. Let me get some things together for you."
"Ah, you don't have to do that…" I feebly protested, even though that was a problem I had been worried about and I was inwardly relieved that she was offering. Annette probably saw this, because she just smiled and went into another room, where I could hear her shuffling around.
I let out a sigh, glancing over at Flammie. He had finished his Sitrus berries and was now looking pretty satisfied with himself. I ran one hand softly down his back, feeling the warmth of the flames there. They were burning low, so I guess that meant the Cyndaquil was feeling relatively comfortable at the moment.
"Here we are," Annette said, returning to the room with some things in her arms. She handed me a wallet. "This can hold your trainer card, and I've left around two thousand Pokedollars for you in there, as well."
My first impression was one of shock—that was, until I realized she had said Pokedollars, which were far different than regular U.S. Dollars. Thank goodness…I wouldn't have known what to say if she had left me some ridiculously large sum. Two thousand Pokedollars…that was enough for me to buy a few Poke Balls, and I'd still have some left over for staying at inns and such. I'd have to get some money of my own eventually, though. How I was going to do that was beyond me. Did trainers really fork over money to the victor of every battle?
"And you're going to need a change of clothes, too," the woman continued, showing me the bundles of cloth in her arms. There were a few pairs of pants, some tank tops, and something that was a pretty sky blue color.
She saw my curiosity and placed most of the clothes on the table, so that she'd have a free hand to unfold the blue item. It was a long sleeved top with an off-the-shoulder style; the neckline was folded down to form a band that would wrap around, just below the shoulders. On the left shoulder was the design of a white silhouetted Poke Ball. The edges of the neckline, sleeves, and shirt itself were trimmed in white as well.
"Do you like it?" Anne asked cheerfully. "I just bought it from the store this morning."
"I really do," I said, looking at the shirt with raised eyebrows. The fact that there was a Poke Ball on it once again served as a reminder to where I was, but…if I was gonna be waltzing around Johto for a while, I'd might as well try to blend in. And then there was the fact that I really liked that top, and I didn't particularly want to wear my current t-shirt for the next few days without washing it.
She showed me a few other things she had prepared for me, helping me arrange everything in my tote bag so that it would fit. I still had a potion or two from the supplies Professor Elm had given me, and Anne added some berries to the mix; she had put them in a Ziploc bag so that they wouldn't get crushed and make everything in the bag all sticky. On second thought, were those plastic bags even called Ziplocs here? I'd have to be careful to avoid mentioning brand names when I was talking to people here…they might give me a strange look.
After Anne was finished preparing me in every way conceivably possible, I decided that it was time to pay Professor Elm another visit. Hopefully he'd be done with my trainer card by now; though for all I knew, the process could take weeks. I remembered my driver's license hadn't immediately come in the mail, either. Then again, was dealing with a scatterbrained professor this time around, not the DMV.
When I arrived back at the lab, I knocked on the door. I heard the professor call for me to let myself in, so I did.
"Ah, Brittany," he said, smiling. "You're just in time."
"You're finished, then?" I asked curiously, keeping an eye on Flammie as he roamed around the lab.
In reply, the professor walked up and handed me a small plastic card. I saw my picture as well as the hesitant smile on my face, and had to snort. At least it wasn't as bad as my passport photo had been.
"You're all set," Professor Elm said. "You should be able to use that card for just about anything. You'll probably need it if you're going to stay in a big city at any point, or if you plan on participating in any sort of tournaments. I hear the Pokeathalon is pretty popular—"
"I don't think I'll have time to be worrying about that," I said with a wry smile, but he only offered a smile of his own.
"You'd be surprised how much activities like that increase the bond between Pokemon and their trainers," he said. "And that bond is what will help the both of you become stronger as a team."
I blinked, seeing the truth in his words. "Yeah…I guess you do have a point," I admitted. Actually, contests and tournaments sounded a lot nicer compared to participating in battles. At least Flammie was less likely to get injured in a contest. Still, though…I couldn't really avoid battles. I didn't want Silver to beat the crap out of Flammie next time I ran into him. Actually, on second thought, I was just going to avoid Silver as much as possible. Too bad I couldn't remember the next time we were supposed to meet…
"Speaking of bonds…there is one thing I'd recommend you try, as well," Professor Elm remarked.
"What's that?" I asked, frowning. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say.
"There are eight Pokemon gyms spread across Johto," he explained, confirming my suspicions. "Each one has a leader that can be challenged. If you win, you'll receive a badge that signifies your victory…and even if you lose, you'll still gain considerable experience in battle. Your Pokemon will grow stronger, too."
"Am I really ready for that kind of thing?"
He chuckled. "I wouldn't recommend challenging a leader with Flammie at this point, but it's just a suggestion for when you've been traveling for a little while. Not only that, you'll receive a decent amount of prize money for winning, as well."
"Prize money, huh…" I mumbled thoughtfully. Now, that I would need. But if I lost…would I have to pay up? Ah, screw it, I'd just ask someone at a gym when I got the chance.
"Speaking of money…are you prepared adequately?" the researcher asked. "Do you think you'll be okay from here on out?"
"I think so," I said, amused. "Anne wouldn't let me leave without accepting excessive doses of her hospitality, so I'm pretty sure I'll be all right."
Professor Elm's smile fell a little. "I'm glad you're humoring her," he said. "She doesn't get company often, you know."
I stared at him, that same troubled feeling from earlier coming back. "…Professor?" She was okay, though, right? I mean, she was so cheerful all the time.
"Well, I have a lot of cleaning up to do," the professor said suddenly, and I wondered if he had even heard me. "Why don't you head back to Anne's house and get a good night's sleep? I'm sure you'll need it."
"Oh, um, okay," I said, giving him a confused look. He just smiled, ushering me out of the lab and telling me to visit him before I left the next day. Before I could get in a reply, he had retreated back into the lab, shutting the door behind him.
"…Everyone around here's so weird," I sighed to Flammie, who chattered in what I hoped to be agreement.
Well, there was nothing left to do besides going back to Annette's place. I'd just have to worry about everyone's quirkiness some other time…
A/N: And there you have it. Like I said, not extremely eventful, but at least it's got some character development.
Review, review, review~! :D
Next time: Catching the first Pokemon! This won't be pretty.