GETTING PREPARED FOR EVERYTHING
"So, what are we going to do first?" Gaia, Seth and Alice had just exited the academy and were walking to Treasure Town. Seth was leisurely strolling down the path with his hands behind his back, Alice was serious as usual and Gaia had a slightly feral grin on his face, something that was a bit unusual. Alice noticed the grin on the Grovyle's face. "Gaia, are you alright?"
"Me, oh I'm just feeling excited. Don't worry."
"You're really excited are you?"
"Hell yeah. I mean, we haven't done something this big forever. I mean, we've been doing have been small scale missions. This is our time to shine!"
"But there's always a chance that we'll fail…"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Gaia's grin faded.
"Okay, fearless leader." Seth spoke up, "What are we going to do now?" Gaia turned and looked at the sky. It was now afternoon and the sun was going down, turning the sky a beautiful shade of orange, "Guess that meeting took a while. We need to hurry or all the shops will be closed. Alice, you go to the Orb shop. Seth, head home, pack some supplies and place them in Kangakstan storage. I'll go to the bank and withdraw some money. Then I'll buy some items. Okay, let's split!" The three of them headed in different directions.
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Seth unlocked the front door to the house and stepped in. He was going to miss this place. Then again, they would only be gone for at least seven days, three days to get to Valley Below Wind, a couple day of exploring and three days heading back to Treasure Town. Seth immediately hurried to the kitchen and opened the door to the pantry. There were many dungeons in between Treasure Town and Valley Below Wind. This meant that there were Kangakstan Rocks in which food and water could be stored. He took out long-lasting food like instant noodles, beef jerky and cans and put them on a table. He also filled a couple of bottles with clean water. he decided to pack some luxuries, so Seth took a few chocolate and muesli bars and added them to the food pile. Cooking equipment was next. He searched through the cupboards and found some pots and matches. That would be enough. Seth then grabbed a trolley from a storage room, piled all of the supplies on it and ran to Kangasktan storage, hoping that he would make it before closing time.
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Alice was waiting in a queue and was bored. She hoped that there wouldn't be much people buying Orbs but she was wrong. I wonder what the others are doing. She thought.
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Team Super Cool was in their own base, getting everything organized. "No, Mitt," Raydir calmly said, "You cannot bring a whole toolbox full of apples."
"But why?"
"Because we already have some food stored in Kangasktan storage. Not to mention that apples go off quickly."
"But why?"
"Because bacteria consume the fruit and make it go rotten."
"But why?"
"Are you trying to annoy me?"
"Yes."
"Stop it."
"No."
"You're just like Gaia's other teammate, Seth."
"Seth, huh…" Janua's face turned a bit red. This didn't go unnoticed. "Ooh," said Mitt with a devious grin on his face, "Do you like Seth?"
"No!"
"Really? I think you do have feelings for him."
"N-n-no! I most certainly don't have feelings for him!" Then she realised what she said. "Oh, snap."
"Ha! I knew it! You do like him!"
"Shut up!" Janua blushed again. "Seth and Janua sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"I said, shut up!" Janua's face had turned so red that it could be used a beacon. "Are you two planning to get married? I can just hear the wedding bells!"
"Mitt," said Raydir, "Stop teasing Janua or I won't allow you to date my sisters."
"Okay then. Sorry Janua, it was wrong of me to tease you."
"So Raydir, are you really going to let Mitt date your sisters?" Janua was blushing heavily and was really glad to change the topic. "Of course not."
"Dammit!" cursed Mitt.
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Gaia was feeling satisfied. He had beaten Don to the item shop in Kecleon Mall and successfully bought 6 Reviver Seeds and 5 Max Elixirs. It cost him a pretty penny but then again, he had gone to bank and withdrawn quite a fair bit of Poke from Team Enforcers graduation money. As he exited the store, he noticed a poster with a familiar Elekid on it.
Name: Paikus
Bounty: 1000 Poke
Crimes: Attempting to steal important documents from Sage Forest.
So Paikus is now a criminal, thought Gaia, How interesting. I wonder if we'll see him again. Gaia smirked a bit. Paikus had been a worthy opponent and he really wanted to meet him again. The next time we do, I'll be ready. He stopped looking at the poster and ran home.
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Hundreds of miles away, Paikus the Elekid sneezed.
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"About time." The queue had finally moved enough for it to be Alice's turn. "Give me a Petrify, Foe-Hold, Foe-Fear Orb please."
"That will be will be 1800 Poke please." Said the Sandslash cashier. Alice eyed him dangerously, "Are you lying to me?" She said in a menacing tone. The Sandslash glared back, "No, I'm not."
"Then why are the prices so high?"
"Sorry, prices have gone up. There's a huge demand for these rare orbs."
"Rare orbs? Are you kidding me? These things are as cheap as dirt! You find them everywhere in dungeons!" The Sandshrew just shrugged, "Sorry lady, these are the prices. Take it or leave it." Alice narrowed her eyes at the Sandslash. "Fine, I'm leaving. I'll be sure to tell this to my father." The Sandslash's eyes widened, "Your father?"
"Oh, yes." Alice held up her purple stone. "You do realise what clan I'm from? Do you realise who my father is?" The Sandslash backed away in fear. There was a famous saying around Treasure Town: Anger a Rage Dragon and you Anger Death. "Now, are you going to give me the correct prices on do I have to beat the crap out of you?" She slammed her hands on the counter and gave the Sandslash an extremely nasty smile. "Okay, okay! It will cost you 900 Poke! Please don't hurt me!" The Sandslash was completely terrified right now. Alice handed over the money and smiled sweetly at the cashier. "Thank you, I'll be taking the orbs now." She scooped them into her bag and left. She hated using her clan as leverage, but she hated people who cheated people out of money even more.
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"So, you guys get everything done?" Gaia, Seth and Alice were eating dinner (fried rice cooked by Alice) in the dining room of their house. "Eh, carrying the food was boring and heavy; same old, same old." Mumbled Seth through a mouth of food. "Some guy gave me hassle at the counter," said Alice darkly, "I had to scare him a little to get the orbs I wanted."
"Ah, well. You find those sort of idiots every now and then," said Gaia nonchalantly as Don's face popped into his head. "So how did things go for you fearless leader," said Seth while smiling, "Did run into any hot girls like Alice? I bet she wouldn't be happy if you did!" Alice punched him in anger. Seth moaned and used Recover on himself. "No," said Gaia, trying to ignore the fact that his Gabite teammate had punched Seth, "But I did saw a wanted poster of Paikus,"
"Paikus, that Elekid we fought in Sage Forest? He's a criminal now?"
"Apparently so."
"Wow." They continued to eat their meal in silence. "Say," Seth suddenly spoke up, "I wonder how the other teams are doing."
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In the base of Team Psyclone (aka Zyphra's house), the aforementioned Kirlia was checking through Alex's bag. To her horror, she found a whole lot of perfume and ribbons in it. "Alex," she said through clenched teeth, "What the hell is this?"
"Oh, those? Those are for making me look good in front of Gaia-dear!" replied Alex happily. Zyphra promptly turned around and threw the perfume and ribbons into a bin. "Noooo! My ribbons!" wailed Alex, "I have to look good in front of Gaia-dear!" Zyphra sighed and shook her head. "Why me?" she muttered.
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"Mitt," said Raydir seriously, "Put down that scarf and go to sleep. We have an early start tomorrow"
"Awww…"
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"Seth," Gaia said calmly, "Put down that game controller and go to sleep. We need to get up tomorrow."
"Do I have to? I'm nearly up to the final boss!"
"You can play Kingdom Luvdiscs later okay? Preferably after the mission."
"Fine, fine…" Seth turned off the PGS2 (Pokémon Game System 2) and headed off to bed.
"Try not to wake up Alice."
"I know, I know."
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Day 1
5 pm
Gaia yawned, got up and stretched. Expedition time. He drowsily thought. He was tired but some coffee would wake him up. He grabbed his bag from the top of his bedside cabinet and stumbled to the kitchen. "Morning," Alice grunted. In her hands was a steaming mug, "Coffee?" she asked. "Two sugars please." While Alice was busy making the coffee, Seth entered the dining room, yawning. "Is it time already?" he mumbled, "Alice, could you make me some coffee too? Three sugars this time."
"Sure." A few minutes later, Alice gave the two boys mugs of coffee and went over to the cookers to start preparing breakfast. "When are we leaving," said Seth, while slurping down his coffee and somehow not burning his throat. If he did burn his throat, he hid it well. Over at the cooker, Alice rolled her eyes and reminded herself that Seth would need a lesson on how to drink coffee. "As soon as we finish breakfast." Alice came over to them with three plates of hash browns, bacon and eggs. After their breakfast, the three of them prepared themselves and left the house for the expedition.
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Team Enforcers arrived at the front of the academy at 6 pm sharp. All of the other teams had already arrived. "You're late Gaia!" jeered Wart. Zyphra checked her watch. "Are you sure? I think they're right on time."
"Shut up!"
"AHEM!" Master Dusk cleared his throat. Everyone stopped what they were doing and paid attention. "As of now, the expedition has begun. You should now that we are going to the Valley Below Wind, so plan your routes properly." Gaia opened his map. "I think the closest route to the Valley Below Wind is through the Blue Mountains, then through Burning Plains. Wait, Burning Plains? Aw, crap."
"Any alternative routes?" asked Alice.
"Afraid not. This is the quickest way. Now let's see where the others are goi—" He looked around and saw that only people in front of the academy were them. "Aw, crap. We're late! Come on guys, let's go!"
"What about Burning Plains?"
"Eh, I'll survive it. I hope."
