Authoress: Here is the next chapter! It is the longest so far, so I'm proud of myself! I wanted to include the Gym battle, but the story literally told me No. I was sad, but that means the next chapter just has to come up sooner. I also re-did chapter 1 because, let's face it, it sucked. So I improved it.
Disclaimer: Cynda, Cyndaquil Cyndaquil.
Bright sunlight hit my eyes, managing to wake me up from a good sleep. It had been a while since I had woken up to sunlight. It was refreshing. I got out of the bed stretching out my back and legs, when I heard the sound of running water. I looked around to find the source, only to realize it was coming from the bathroom. I assume Silver's in there. I guess I better clean up too. I started to groom myself with my tongue. It wasn't my favorite way to bathe, but I doubted Silver was going to wash me like the assistants did at the lab.
After carefully washing my back, the water stopped. Silver came out of the bathroom in his usual clothes rubbing a towel over his hair. He noticed I was up, gave me a short nod, and walked to the desk. He shuffled through the potions and Pokeballs that cluttered the top.
"Next time I'm stealing a bag…" Silver grumbled to himself. I jumped off of the bed and used the chair to climb on top of the desk. I watched him fill his pockets like the day before. When he finished, he turned to walk out the door. He paused and turned as he noticed I was still standing on the desk impatiently.
"What? What do you want? We need to go." He huffed out in annoyance. I sat on the desk.
"What? You don't want to go?" He eyed me carefully, watching for any changes I made. I shook my head and pointed to my shoulder.
"You want to ride my shoulder…" Silver deadpanned. I nodded. Silver sighed and stretched his arm out to me, allowing me to climb up his arm.
"Lazy Pokemon." He grumbled to himself. I wanted to burn his hair again for the comment, but memory of last nights punishment resurfaced, and I didn't want to push him too far. It's a miracle he's even allowing me to ride his shoulder.
We walked out of the room to find Bok Choy awaiting us at the top of the stairs.
"Ah, are you ready for your challenge?" He asked politely. Silver was about to reply but my stomach beat him to it. I blushed, embarrassed that my stomach was rumbling at a time like this.
"Oh! How rude of me. I forgot you two need breakfast." Bok choy stated. We were quickly led down the stairs to another wooden room with a dining table and chairs.
"Just one moment."
Bok choy arrived with a fairly delicious meal, although lacking meat. They're probably vegetarian Monks. I nibbled on my food happily, and on the table, not the floor.
Finally, we arrived at the first floor of Sprout tower, fully fed and ready to battle.
"This is where I leave you. Good Luck." Bok Choy ran behind a wall.
"Let's make this quick, I want to face the gym leader today." Silver grumbled.
And it was quick, battle after battle, Bellsprout after Bellsprout, they all came down after one blast of my ember. And with each victory, Silver's smirk grew wider, until we reached the last floor.
"That was pathetic. They all have the same Pokemon." Silver remarked. I huffed out a flame in annoyance. It was like they were lining up to be slaughtered. "You need more speed, though. Then you wouldn't have gotten hit so many times." I growled.
"Fine, I'll work on it." I grumbled to myself, knowing I had gotten hit more times than I should have.
"You make a good team." A voice whispered behind me. I stiffened and froze in place. Silver continued forward to pick up a potion someone left on the ground. Clumsy humans.
"Guy has an attitude though." The voice mocked. I turned around to find the source of the voice, but I only found air.
"You're not going to find me down there." The voice chided. I looked up to see a floating ball of gas staring at me. Literally, because it had eyes.
"Well hello there!" The talking smoke cloud smirked. My eyes narrowed.
"Who the Mew are you?" I asked, curious as to why this pokemon was talking to me.
The smoke ball chuckled. "I am Gastly, but I hope not to be." Gastly's face turned and he vanished all together.
"What does that mean?" I huffed in annoyance. This ball of gas is playing mind games with me.
"Well, if I am not Gastly, but I am still me, what can I be?" I turned around to see his face inches from mine.
"You would have evolved?" I answered quickly. Way too close, WAY too close.
"Correct, such a smart girl." He said in a degrading tone. I didn't know which makes me angrier, Silver calling me a stupid pokemon, or the way this guy said 'smart girl'.
"Alright, so you want to evolve. What do I have to do with that?" I crossed my front paws and stared directly into Gastly's eyes. It seemed as if he was testing me, seeing how far he could push me around. It was a challenge I wasn't going to back down from. I was far too stubborn to do so.
"If the Monks are so low leveled, do you think the wild Pokemon they train on are any better?" I shook my head no and waited for him to continue. "This tower can only get me so far. You have a trainer, a ticket out of this mundane and drab place. I simply want to use that ticket to my advantage." Gastly turned again and vanished.
"So you want me to get my trainer to take you away from here? Just be caught and then released when you're far away?"
"On the contrary, I want to join your trainer and, of course, yourself. I am sure it will be," He appeared right in front of my face again. "interesting." I held my ground and I guess he was pleased because he backed up to a respectable distance.
"So you want to stay caught?" he nodded.
"What do I get in return." A smirk Silver would be proud of flashed on my face.
"Feisty, I can respect that. You don't expect to win all of the Red-head's fights, do you? What if a ground type faced you? I have levitate, you on the other hand…" He smirked.
"And why do you think I want Silver to succeed?"
"Because you wouldn't even consider this if you didn't want to win too."
"I see your point," I grumbled unhappily "I think I can arrange it. If you're tough. Silver doesn't like weak things."
The Gastly laughed. "Deal!" I smirked.
"You owe me big time."
"Oh, I'm sure I do, Feisty."
I glared at Gastly before running over to where Silver was stuffing the potion in his already full pocket.
"Stupid bottle won't fit." He grumbled to himself.
I quickly tackled his leg, causing him to fall, and his pockets to empty onto the floor.
"What the hell was that for, you stupid Pokemon? Do you want to be locked up in your Pokeball again?" He growled out menacingly. I didn't look at his face, knowing I wouldn't like what I saw, and raced for an empty Pokeball. I picked it up in my mouth, careful not to hit the button, and ran back to where the Gastly was floating and laughing at my plan. Silver turned to chase me, but stopped as he saw the smoke pokemon.
"Come back you, Gastly?" Silver looked confused for a moment before spotting me behind the floating ghost.
"So what? A Gastly." I dropped the Pokeball on the floor in front of his feet.
"You want me to catch the Gastly?" I nodded.
"Why? Is it strong? It looks weak to me." Gastly looked offended, but I shook my head and pointed to the Pokeball.
"Try." I ordered. Silver looked at me, and then back to the Pokeball.
"Fine, but if he's weak, you're going back in your Pokeball." I nodded in agreement. I also gave a glare to Gastly, silently telling him he'd better not screw up. Gastly just smiled and gave me a wink of reassurance.
Silver picked up the Pokeball, and with a scowl on his face, he threw the ball at Gastly. After three rings, the ball sealed and Gastly was officially on the team. I blew out a sigh of relief. Honestly, I thought that plan would never work.
Silver looked forward at the last three monks blocking his way. He tilted his head in my direction.
"If he's strong he can take out all three monks without a break. You beat the others easily enough. If a weakling like you can, surely it isn't too much to ask." Silver smirked. I growled in response to his 'weakling' comment, but he ignored me and walked forward to his next challenge. I followed, making sure to keep within watching distance of the battle.
"Welcome child. I am Monk Char siu. I will be your next opponent." The old monk bowed before sending out a Bellsprout. The Bellsprout flexed its leaves a little.
"Time to take out the unworthy." Bellsprout cried in a deep voice. I shook my head in disbelief. What a lame line.
"Go." Silver stated, sending out his newly caught Gastly. Gastly came out of the Pokeball with a big smile on his face.
"What can kill you, and cannot lose?" Gastly asked Bellsprout in a polite and gentlemanly manner. The Bellsprout put a leaf up to its chin in thought.
"uh, A legendary?" The Bellsprout guessed.
"Gastly, prove you are strong." Silver growled out.
Gastly smirked, hearing its new trainer's command. "Sorry, you're wrong."
Gastly vanished, leaving the Bellsprout frightened and confused.
"The correct answer was," Gastly appeared behind the frightened Bellsprout and a wicked smile appeared on his face "ME!" Gastly licked the Bellsprout causing the Bellsprout to have a mini seizure.
"HAhahahahahahahaha!" Gastly laughed openly. The Bellsprout, scarred out of its wits, ran to its trainer and hid behind him.
At this point, I was sure the battle was over, and I was right. The torture of the other monks' Pokemon, however, was just beginning. The other two monks sent out their pokemon believing they were disciplined enough to defeat the new foe, but Gastly had a unique way of finding the opponents fears and twisting them to his advantage. Silver didn't even have to command him. It was quite amusing to watch the weaker pokemon quake with fear, while the stronger ones looked almost unaffected, if not for their quivering lips. I was enjoying the show, knowing I had passed Gastly's fear challenge already, and I was not the only one. I could see Silver's face. On it was a smirk I found scarier than Gastly. It was a smirk that said 'I'm going to use this to my complete advantage', and knowing Silver, he would.
The last Bellsprout fell to the ground shivering and hugging itself against its knees.
"No more flames, no more birds." It chanted as it rocked back and forth.
I walked up to Gastly, who was chuckling to himself. He stopped when he noticed I was beside him, and the wicked smile he had had on his face softened to a regular one.
"Well hello, Feisty!" Gastly bowed his head in a gentlemanly manner.
"Will you stop calling me that? And don't you think you went a little too far on that last one?" I asked impatiently. Gastly smile grew bigger.
"No, I believe it suits you, and," Gastly looked over to where the Bellsprout was rocking back and forth in place. "Yes, I might have gone a bit too far on that one." Gastly sweat dropped.
"Well, from what I saw you'll have no problem staying." I looked towards Silver, who was receiving his victory money and scowls from the monks.
"We give you luck on your final challenge." said one monk through gritted teeth.
Silver smirked and walked forward with Gastly and me trailing behind.
"So, who do you think has the next battle?" Gastly asked as he floated along.
"Maybe you, maybe me. I don't particularly care." I replied. Not exactly true, I would like to fight again, even if it is only Bellsprouts. I sighed, huffing out a small red flame.
"I think you do care!" Gastly began to circle me as we followed after Silver.
"I think you're delusional." I responded. Gastly chuckled.
"Really? I always thought my head was in a poisonous cloud."
Silver turned to face us, and we stopped talking.
"Your technique won't work on all pokemon, anyone bigger than you would crush you." Gastly's confident smirk fell.
"You need to raise your attacking power. You didn't take out your opponents; you just made them too afraid to battle. Your vanishing also needs to be quicker, or else you will get hit before you are completely gone." Silver paused. "But, I can still make use for you, and maybe you won't be so pathetic." He turned and continued towards the final monk.
"Who does he think he is? I did fine! In fact, I did the better than I have in ages." Gastly spat out angrily.
"Don't get too angry. He may say it like a jerk, but he's usually right." I reassured him.
"Well, this time he's wrong. I'll prove it." Gastly's wicked smile came back.
Silver stopped and we took our places on his left and right side.
"So, you are the one who has beaten my monks?" Out of the shadows was a man older than all the others. His head was bald, but is beard was long and white. He smiled brightly and threw his Pokeball without any hesitation. It was a Bellsprout. I looked up to see Silver send out Gastly. I have a bad feeling about this.
The Bellsprout went down like all the others, easily. Gastly's confidence in his own skills, and the belief that Silver was wrong, grew with the victory. I wanted to be relieved that Gastly won, but the feeling that something was going to go wrong was growing. The Elder sent out his next Pokemon, and I figured out why I felt so bad. It wasn't a Bellsprout, it was a Hoothoot. A Normal type. Oh, no.
Gastly looked unaffected by the opponent change, and quickly rushed forward to begin his torment.
"Time for some fun!" Gastly chuckled. He floated forward and licked Hoothoot. His tongue went right through the bird Pokemon.
"Huh?" Gastly was confused.
"It's part Normal! Your Ghost moves have no effect on it!" I shouted from the side lines. Silver heard me and glared, silently telling me not to interfere. I sighed and looked forward, hoping Gastly would figure out a way to win.
"You know, your friend over there is right." The Hoothoot spoke. "You are a Ghost and Poison type meaning only a move not of the Ghost type would affect me, but seeing as your first non Ghost move is at Level 22, well. I highly doubt you can even hit me right now. Hohoho." The Hoothoot chuckled. Gastly's face grew into one of realization.
"But you can't hit me either." Gastly was grasping at straws.
"On the contrary, I," started the Hoothoot "learn my first flying move at Level 13." And the Hoothoot got a direct hit on Gastly with Peck.
Gastly floated backwards, his face turning from realization to panic. No! You have to keep cool! You'll never beat him without thinking it through.
"Gastly, Spite." Silver commanded. Gastly ignored him, going in for a Hypnosis attack.
"You can't hit me if you're asleep!" Gastly stated, feeling confident he had the upper hand.
"I believe you should have listened to your trainer." The Hoothoot said calmly.
Gastly's confidence was falling fast as the hypnosis had no effect on the bird.
"Why won't you sleep?" Gastly whimpered, realizing the futility of his actions.
"Why I have Insomnia. Lovely ability keeps me from falling asleep." stated Hoothoot.
I turned my head, not wanting to see the rest of the battle. I could hear Silver giving out commands, but I knew, by Silver's tone, that Gastly wasn't listening. He had lost his cool, and now he was a victim of his own fear of being useless. I sighed, feeling sympathy, but no pity for a Pokemon who refused to listen to its trainer. Even I put aside my feelings to beat Chikorita.
Finally, I heard a cry of pain and then no more noise. Everything was silent, and I could only turn slowly to see what had occurred. Standing triumphantly was Hoothoot, whose clawed toes were individually sheathed around Gastly's right eye. Gastly himself had fainted, and if not for the fact his smoke was still surrounding him, I would have thought he was dead. My eyes widened at the sight, but I knew it was over, and Gastly would eventually recover. I looked up at Silver, whose face was shadowed by his hair. He returned Gastly to his Pokeball and pointed to the battlefield.
"You better not fail like the last pathetic Pokemon did." He growled out.
I knew he was angry, and his behavior was enough indication that failure was not an option. I remembered his last threat. If he's weak, you're going back in your Pokeball.
"Oh, so it's your turn now?" The Hoothoot asked "Are you going to avenge your teammate? HoHoho." The Hoothoot chuckled.
"No." the Hoothoot stopped chuckling.
"What do you mean 'no'? I almost killed your teammate! Don't you care?"
"It is unfortunate he got beat by such a puny runt, but I warned him that my Trainer didn't except weaklings. He ignored me and my Trainer, therefore it was only natural he lost." I had taken a page from Silver's book without really realizing it. I was mad at Gastly for possibly ruining my chances of staying outside the wretched capsule and I was going to take my anger out on this Hoothoot.
"You know I haven't had fried chicken before." I growled. Hoothoot's eyes widened.
"Peck, Hoothoot." The Elder cried. Hoothoot sprung into action, charging forward as fast as it could.
"Dodge, then Ember." Silver stated monotonously. I got on my paws and jumped to my right, watching the bird pokemon fly past where I was a second ago. I built up a fire in my mouth and aimed it at the bird. I launched the flame out at him, engulfing him in a red blaze. The Hoothoot started to hop on his one leg and tried to blow out the flames on his feathers.
"Finish him." Silver called out. I nodded my head and charged forward with a tackle, knocking the burning Hoothoot into a wall. Hoothoot had fainted.
The Elder sent out his last pokemon with as little hesitation as he did previously. It was another Bellsprout. I shot another Ember at him but before it connected, the Bellsprout had hit me with a quick vine whip. The Bellsprout fainted from the Ember.
"Tch, still slow you lazy Pokemon." I growled, but returned to Silver's side. I can't remember why I was starting to like this guy.
"You have beaten our challenge, but you are too harsh to your Pokemon. They are your teammates and you should respect them as such." The Elder spoke as he handed Silver a platinum disk. I nodded my head in agreement.
"Like I have time to listen to an old man who lost." Silver sneered. He took the disk and shoved it in his pocket.
"This way, the Elder has just finished his challenge with the other trainer." A monk's voice sounded.
"Oh, Thank You." A feminine voice replied.
Silver and I froze. It was a familiar voice. A voice that knew who we were and most likely what we had done. Silver and I turned simultaneously.
"Oh! Hey Silver!"
It was Kotone, the trainer from New Bark town.
Could this get any worse?
Can it? So Silver finally catches another pokemon. One who basically con'd his way on the team... oh well.
Do you like him? Who do you like better?
Cyndaquil? Gastly? or maybe Berry? or that random Sentret?
Review and tell me!
MyuuMay