Chapter 6: On Route 36
Well, they didn't exactly run us out of Golden City, but from the look on the face of that café owner, I figured we wouldn't be welcome there much longer. We left as soon as the sun was up, durable trainer gear on and ready to roll (and that's only partially a figure of speech, as you will soon find out).
The first order of business was to travel to Violet City to compete in the first gym. Since there were four of us that would be challenging the gym, I figured we would be there for a while, so we would need a place to stay. Ergo, we needed money.
And we managed to get… some. Battling trainers doesn't get you much, and it's not always reliable because you never know if the kid you're fighting will pay up or not, but we got a sizable sum. Of course, all of this vanished instantly when we arrived at the Johto National Park, just north of Goldenrod. Richard was smitten at once and crashed in to take first prize in the next Bug Catching Contest. He proudly left with his prize, an eccentric Yanma, and informed us that he had used all the money we had made to enter the contest in the first place. After several minutes and two beatings, we turned west onto Route 36 and continued toward Violet City. That night, we camped in the woods and ate the last of our rationed food (we lacked the money to buy more). Dana looked concerned, but we experienced trainers knew that we would be back in lap of luxury soon enough.
Speaking of Yanma, Richard and Casey were both making adjustments to their teams. Upon arriving in Johto, Richard had returned all of his Pokemon except for Charizard, Kingler, and Electivire. Casey's team consisted of Crockanaw, Pikachu, and Ursaring; also, she had gotten her Pigeot back from Professor Beech, who hadn't exactly been thrilled to hear from his foster daughter.
"You didn't even call when you went out on your little vendetta quest! If anyone had found out about that, do you realize what would have happened to my career? Do you?"
"Look, just give me Pigeot back and you won't have to worry about me again for a while, ok?"
She had taken the Pokemon, turned off the video-chat, and pointedly not looked at the PC again.
I was perfectly happy with my team. To me, it was pointless to put up the Pokemon you've already bonded with just to start over with new ones.
The next day, we continued east. The sun was bright, the sky a perfect clear blue, and a few puffy clouds drifted quickly by overhead. A few trainers had passed us on bicycles just after dawn, but had declined a match. Seeing them reminded me of the bicycles Richard and I had once had. There was a pang of jealousy in my stomach. Well, if we got enough money…
But at the moment, that was a long way away.
Dana was skipping happily, way ahead of the rest of us, apparently oblivious to anything that might possibly be negative in the world.
To our left, a heavily forested mountain sloped down toward us. On the right, it rolled away into a valley. It was beautiful countryside, as Casey was all too happy to point out, and a gorgeous day. Casey seemed to have lightened up since the day before. She had accepted that, one way or another, Dana would be traveling with us for a while, and as long as she didn't have to deal with Dana directly, things would be fine between them.
Well, so much for that plan.
Suddenly, a rumbling, clattering noise filled the forest… something big and dark was moving downhill from above us.
"Look out below!" the last syllable was stretched out into a deep, hysterical laugh.
The foliage on the hillside exploded and a procession of dark, tire-like shapes blasted out. Leaves and shattered wood flew everywhere as the wheels bounced across the road. My eyes subconsciously traced their path… oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!
"Dana, move!" I called.
Instantly Saturn was beside me and vines were reaching out to pull Dana to safety, but I was too late.
She had turned and seen the rushing wheel shapes, but didn't have nearly enough time to move. Her Snubbull, Chowchow, was growling threateningly from her shoulder, and though he jumped into the path of the first object, it was clear that he didn't stand a ghost of a chance. Chowchow went flying with a loud concussion, and his trainer followed immediately. The two vanished into the trees, tumbling down into the shade.
Saturn's vines seized empty air. The whole ordeal took about four seconds.
But where had that voice come from?
Uphill, the forest shook a final time, and one more wheel burst out. It was at least twice as big as the previous ones, and scrambling to balance on its treads was a hefty man with a thick red beard and plaid shirt. He looked like a friendly mountaineer, but the infuriating grin of a thief glinted from under his facial hair.
"Follow me if you want to save you friend!" he bellowed before vanishing into the flora on ther side of the road.
And then, nothing.
"What just happened?" asked Richard, dumbstruck.
"No idea," I said. I returned Saturn and replaced him with a smaller, more agile Pokemon. Frankly, I wasn't sure my Venusaur could fit between the trees. I decided on Combusken and summoned her deftly. Since my fight with Rook (and Combusken's encounter with my brother's old Dragonite), she had been the picture of obedience. Combusken followed my instruction to the letter… unless she constructed a more effective plan on her own. "But we've got to get down there, fast."
With a duo of crimson flashes, Electivire and Crockanaw were by my Pokemon's side. Together, we charged into the forest after Dana.
(-o-)
Dana landed (and almost bounced) on the springy mulch of the forest floor. The mud she landed in exploded on impact; her clothes were thoroughly spattered. Dana rolled through the loamy mix of rotting wood, soil, and leaves, coming to a stop at the root of a massive tree.
She stayed still, shocked, until her brain unfroze enough to tell her to move. As she climbed unsteadily to her feet, Dana was sure of three things. One: that something had knocked her off the road and that her entire body felt like one big bruise as a result. Two: that Chowchow had been thrown somewhere nearby, but she did not know where. Three: that being a trainer had suddenly become a lot scarier and a lot less fun.
As Dana reached her feet, she heard a series of deep grunts, and thuds like a rubber ball bouncing on concrete. She looked up the slope and saw what had sent her flying.
Bounding toward her through the trees were five tire-shaped things. Three were dark gray and two or three feet thick. The other two were smaller and blue-gray with bright red plates around their circumferences. Like a circus act, the five wheels bounced off of the surrounding terrain –the ground, trees, each other- around Dana before coming to a stop in a rough ring. Each wheel rested, turned as if to roll toward her, and then… unfolded.
Standing around her were three Donphan and two Phanpy. The various elephant Pokemon watched her, not with anger, but with the determined curiosity of a predator watching its prey.
Dana turned, watching her captors. Fear tightened its grip on her lungs, making it harder to breath. Slowly, she reached for her second pokeball, which held Treecko…
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, miss," said a deep, earthy voice from uphill. Dana followed the voice and saw, descending toward her, a robust man dressed like a lumberjack treading backwards on top of an abnormally large Donphan.
The Pokemon and its rider came to a stop on top of a fallen tree a few yards away. The lumberjack hopped to the ground and his Pokemon uncurled beside him. It was about twice as big as he was, and the man wasn't by any standard small.
"Afternoon, little lady," he said gruffly. "Having a lovely day, I trust?"
"What do you want?" Dana demanded, backing up. She remembered the Donphan behind her, reconsidered, and froze on the spot. Then, an idea. "Look, I'm a strong trainer. Return your Pokemon and I'll save you the humiliation of defeat!"
Ian would have liked that, she thought. It was a good bluff, and Dana thought she puffed herself up to make it look convincing.
"Judging from the way your little Snubbull flew into the horizon, I'd say you're a starting trainer –at best. And with you as my hostage, I can collect all the cash your friends are carrying…"
"But we're completely broke!" protested Dana.
The hefty man paused, scratched his whiskers, considering this possibility.
"You're probably just pulling my leg again," he decided after a moment. "Just stay where you are. If your friends care about you, they'll be along shortly."
Dana swallowed and tried to make herself as small as possible.
(-o-)
"Dana!" I called. "Where are you? If you can, shout!"
"Down here!" came a muffled cry from the thick foliage below.
"Let's go!" said Richard, skidding down through the trees toward Dana's voice. Electivire screeched in agreement and jumped after his trainer.
"Whoa, boy," called Casey. She grabbed Richard's shirt collar and he almost fell over. Crockanaw caught hold of Electivire's tail and jerked him to the ground similarly. Casey and her Pokemon assumed the same akimbo stance, eyes closed, mouth half-open and poised to lecture. "We have no idea what we're up against, and jumping into the battle like that could be suicide. From the look of it, that trainer was some sort of highwayman using the steep hill and his Donphan to attack trainers."
"Donphan?" I asked. I had had the holographic trading card of the elephant Pokemon as a kid. It had been one of my favorites then, but I hadn't yet encountered the Pokemon in the wild.
"Yeah, that's right. Ian and I should be fine with the Pokemon we've picked, but Electivire's not going to stand a chance. You should swap Pokemon, Richard."
"No way," he said, shaking his head stubbornly. "I don't care about type advantages. Electivire is stronger than anything this guy can throw at us: he'll be fine."
Electivire struck a confident pose as well to show he agreed. Electivire was practically obsessed with Richard: it would have followed him anywhere, no matter what the odds.
Casey sighed indignantly.
"Alright then, I guess Ian and I will have to handle most of this by ourselves," said Casey. She started walking purposefully down the hill, stepping easily around the trees despite the steep decline. "They say that it's easier to fight from the high ground so let's stay uphill of him. It'll be what he expects, but it's the only logical plan we've got. Let's go boys, we've got a newbie to save."
I wondered why Casey had suddenly taken such initiative to rescue Dana. It was strange… but still, I was glad she was doing it. Maybe she had finally warmed up to Dana, and maybe it was just a protective instinct. Whichever, it didn't matter. Getting poor Dana to safety was the important thing.