Episode 7: The poached Pokémon
"Cyllage City is pretty far away," Warren said, looking at the map in Charlotte's Kalos guidebook. "We've got a long ways to go, it looks like."
"First stop looks like…Camphrier Town…?" Niko asked as they took turns looking at the map while walking down the busy streets of Lumiose City. "That looks like it'd be a couple of days away, right?"
"Yeah," Charlotte replied, taking the book, "we have enough supplies for that, right?" Niko and Warren turned to each other before nodding. "Good."
Getting to Camphrier Town required travelers to walk through route 5. Unlike route 4, this route was far less forested, and ran primarily across rivers and over hills.
Niko and Charlotte took some time to train for their upcoming gym battle in Cyllage City. Despite having more time than they usually did for training, the two trainers wanted to be as prepared as possible. Like she declared to herself in Lumiose City, Charlotte elected to start training Larvitar, while also working to improve on her other Pokémon's movesets and skills.
The Rock Skin Pokémon had a fair amount of difficulty with training, at least initially. Their first morning on route 5, Larvitar got hit by Fennekin's ember and, out of shock, bellowed out his screech attack, forcing everyone in the vicinity to cover their ears and causing flocks of pidgey and fletchling to flee the treetops around them.
"Larvitar, it's fine," Charlotte said in an attempt to console her Pokémon. "In battles, you're going to take hits. You need to prepare yourself for that," Larvitar looked at Charlotte, who was now eye-level with him, and nodded. He felt hurt, pointing to a burn mark on his arm. "Oh, let's fix you up then," Charlotte pulled out a spray bottle from Warren's bag and pressed it in front of the burn mark. Larvitar yelped quickly, but seemed to calm himself after a moment of watching the burn mark fade away. "Feel better?" she asked. Larvitar nodded. "Let's get back to it, then."
That evening, the group was sitting by a fire conjured up by Smeargle and Fennekin, as they usually did. Charlotte was sketching, Warren writing, and Niko was reading the book he got from the bookstore in Santalune City. However, he couldn't keep focus on what he was reading, and closed the book after a while.
"Niko? What's up?" Charlotte said, looking away from her sketch, this time of Larvitar.
"Nothing, why?"
"You closed your book in a, well, authoritative way, I guess."
"Just couldn't focus on it. Got other things on my mind."
"Like what?"
Niko shuffled a little before answering. "Well, I feel like I'm not doing enough to help my Pokémon improve. Fletchling has proven herself to be a very capable fighter, but I don't seem to making too much ground with Chespin," he said, shifting his eyes to look at the Spiny Nut Pokémon sleeping near the fire. "We've got a gym battle coming up. I know it'll take a while to get there, but I still feel rushed—like I'm running out of time."
"You aren't, Niko," Charlotte said, the shadows around her smile dancing in sync with the fire in front of her. "Plus, you've gotten out of tough spots before this. What makes now so different?"
"I know. I guess I've always had trouble with confidence."
"Well, so do I, but I got over the fear of having a gym battle. I didn't think I could win, but you helped me get through it."
"Hmm?" Niko asked, perking his head up.
"You don't believe me?"
"I don't see how I did anything. You won that badge on your own."
"You encouraged me, Niko. That's why I asked you to tell me about your first gym battle. I had known that you—with the dozens of gym battles you've competed in—that you knew a thing or two about them, and weren't nervous about taking them on. I wanted you to confirm for me that they weren't as bad as they sounded, and that I would be alright. You did that."
"I guess so—"
"And when Fennekin's ability activated, you told me what it was, and that I should take advantage of it. That was you!" She exclaimed, catching Warren's attention now. "You're a more knowledgeable, caring trainer than you believe. I think you can get through this, and I think you can win the Kalos League."
"Even if you're competing in it?"
"Well, only if you beat me in battle to get it," Charlotte said with a smirk.
"Heh. Thanks, Charlotte," Niko said, feeling better. "It helps to talk about these things."
"It really does," Charlotte pulled up her sketchbook and continued drawing, with Fennekin watching to her left side. Niko turned to Chespin, watching the grass type sleep peacefully while he mulled over ways to get the Spiny Nut Pokémon to listen to him.
Niko woke up to Charlotte and Warren having a practice battle—Charlotte's Frillish versus Warren's Pidove.
"Frillish, water pulse!" she shouted.
"Pidove, dodge and use air cutter!" Warren commanded. The Pigeon Pokémon skillfully evaded the attack before striking at Frillish with light blue blades of air; the water pulse missed and Frillish was knocked backwards. Without needing any further guidance, Pidove unleashed another round of attacks, but they looked different from air cutter. This time it was a single blade of air that struck Frillish, knocking it into the ground. "Did…did you just learn a new move?" Warren asked, looking at Pidove. He turned and nodded proudly. "Well done."
"Frillish, you did just fine. You're still getting used to battling," Charlotte said, realizing at that moment that the Floating Pokémon hadn't really participated in an official battle before. The pink ghost type nodded, albeit feeling melancholic due to her loss. "We'll get better, I promise."
"Morning, Niko," Warren shouted as they walked back to their camp on the top of a hill. "Sleep well?"
"Eh," Niko said, making a shifty motion with his hand. "So-so."
Warren and Charlotte fixed up something to eat while Niko conducted his own training with Fletchling and, briefly, with Chespin as well. The former was a success, as usual, and the latter was a complete failure, with Chespin falling asleep midway through a practice battle with Fletchling.
Sighing, Niko walked over to his friends and ate with them. As he was mulling over new ways to train, he suddenly heard something off in the distance.
"Did you hear that?" Warren asked instinctively. "It was a cry of some sort."
"I don't recognize it. Could it be a Pokémon?" Niko wondered, standing up. "Let's go check it out. C'mon," he motioned to Charlotte and Warren.
"I'll stay here," Warren said, "You two go on ahead."
Nodding in agreement, Niko and Charlotte got up and ran off with their Pokémon returned to their pokéballs, Fletchling the exception. Niko commanded the Tiny Robin Pokémon to go on ahead and alert them if it was something serious. Hoping not, Niko kept running with Charlotte following closely behind, trying to sling her bag over her shoulders while moving faster than she ever thought she could.
Niko's hopes were crushed when Fletchling flew back to them, clearly in a panic. "Go tell Warren—somehow—that we should alert the authorities, and come straight back to me. I might need you," Niko said urgently. Fletchling nodded and sped off towards their camp. I hope I don't have to just rely on Chespin…he thought to himself, and hating himself for thinking it.
Just after that, a small green goat ran in their direction nearly hitting Charlotte on accident. She attempted to move out the way while running, only to get nicked on the side by the goat's tiny horns and collapsed to the ground.
"Charlotte!" Niko shouted, running over to his friend. The goat stopped and turned around worriedly. "You alright?"
"I'm fine…but what's that…?" she asked, looking at the goat and pulling out her pokédex:
"Skiddo, the Mount Pokémon. Grass type. Thought to be one of the first Pokémon to live in harmony with humans, it has a placid disposition."
"What a cute little Pokémon…" she said. "Hi, skiddo, I'm Charlotte. This is Niko."
Ironically, the skiddo took a few nervous steps backwards, nearly falling over on itself. Charlotte got up and cautiously approached the skiddo, holding her hand out in a friendly manner. She tried to pet the dark green fur on its forehead, but skiddo moved back with a worried look on its face.
"Someone must've done something to make this Pokémon afraid of people," Niko said. "Skiddo, what happened?"
Skiddo didn't verbally respond; instead, it looked behind Niko and Charlotte towards a valley below them. The two trainers looked and saw a small cage with Pokémon that resembled skiddo. On the outside of the cage was a larger green goat-like Pokémon—presumably related to the skiddo—fighting a massive panda-bear Pokémon.
"Someone's trying to steal your friends or your family?" Niko said, turning back to the skiddo. It nodded, emitting a small whimpering sound. "Charlotte, we have to do something."
Sighing, she nodded. "I agree," she pulled out a pokéball. "Let's stop that man, whoever he is," she looked to skiddo, who seemed ready to book it in the other direction. "You don't have to come with us, but we're going to do whatever we can to save your friends."
Skiddo looked up at Charlotte, its black eyes gleaming. It's expression suddenly changed, and the Mount Pokémon nodded before trotting up to them.
The three approached the valley cautiously, watching the large goat fight off what looked like a Pokémon poacher and his panda-like companion. Noting that the poacher looked strong, Niko wondered aloud if they could even stop it, since his only available Pokémon was one that disobeyed him.
"We can," Charlotte whispered as they peered over from behind a pair of bushes, watching the poacher finally defeat the large goat and carry it into the cage with the skiddo. "We have to."
Just as Niko was about to hesitantly summon Chespin, Fletchling came back, landing on his right shoulder. "Alright, I'm ready, too. Fletchling, agility and quick attack!"
Fletchling shot out from her position in the bushes to strike at the panda-like Pokémon, who took notice and whacked the Tiny Robin Pokémon away with what looked like hammer arm. Confused, the poacher turned to see Niko and Charlotte leaping out of the bushes. Charlotte summoned Fennekin and commanded her to use ember, to which the panda used protect before charging at the small Fox Pokémon.
"Fletchling, peck!" Niko shouted. Fletchling got up from the ground and quickly zoomed over to the panda and struck it in the shoulder as it unsuccessfully used hammer arm. "Great job!"
"What're you kids doing here!?" the poacher asked. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Busy stealing Pokémon?" Niko spat back. "Why do you want those skiddo anyways?"
"Because I plan on selling them to buyers in other regions! They're only found here in Kalos!"
"Well, that's a dumb plan," Charlotte muttered aloud. "Fennekin, use scratch!"
"Not when you need the money, it isn't. Pangoro, crunch!" he shouted. The panda-like Pokémon's mouth opened wide as it contorted its head to catch Fletchling mid-quick attack. It bit down on the flying type and thrust it to the other side. Fletchling hit the side of the truck and crumbled to the ground. "Pfft, pathetic Pokémon. Why bother? You can't save these Pokémon anyways. C'mon Pangoro, let's go."
"No! You can't!" Charlotte shouted.
"But I can, and I will."
Overwhelmed with emotion, Charlotte let out a high-pitched scream, commanding Fennekin to attack with everything she had. The Fox Pokémon charged at her opponent. For a moment, Charlotte thought the little fire type was lighting up on fire. However, it dissipated quickly after, and Fennekin landed a scratch on the back of Pangoro's head before using a close-range ember attack, which seemed to bother Pangoro at best.
"Hmm? Still fighting? Hammer arm."
Pangoro's arm lit up a bright white color as it smacked Fennekin in the side of the face with it, launching her across the grass field they were in. Desperately, Charlotte summoned Deerling to attack with double kick. While it was successful, Pangoro's now-effective hammer arm quickly brought down the Season Pokémon as well.
"Fletchling, keep going!" Niko shouted, but to no avail. Fletchling was nowhere near as powerful as the Pangoro, and was getting beaten up incessantly. Meanwhile, Charlotte was in a panic—her Pokémon were quickly losing as well. And the entire time skiddo was sitting in the back, watching with fearful eyes.
Charlotte groaned a little as Fennekin was launched away by Pangoro's hammer arm. Fortunately, Deerling managed to land a leech seed that crept up around the fighting type Pokémon and sapped some of its energy before Pangoro ripped it apart. Furious, Pangoro then turned and kicked Deerling clear across the field.
"Give it up, kids!" the poacher sneered. "Stop trying to be the hero!"
"We won't let you take them!" Charlotte said. "They're the friends and family of this skiddo. You're ruining relationships!"
"Then why doesn't that skiddo come with me? I can find a better home for it!"
"No! No, you can't!" Charlotte shouted. Just then, the Pangoro charged at Charlotte angrily, in a clear attempt to stop her from shouting at its trainer further. Arm glowing white, it was about to slam a hammer arm down on Charlotte when skiddo pushed her aside and took the blow instead. "Skiddo!"
"Fletchling, quick attack!" Niko shouted. Fletchling charged at Pangoro, crashing into it and relentlessly pecking at it. Fennekin and Deerling also attacked Pangoro, bringing the Pokémon to its knees. "Fennekin, go break the gate with ember!" Niko called out, since Charlotte was preoccupied.
"Skiddo…" Charlotte said, scooting over to the injured Mount Pokémon. "You monster!"
"Monster? You attacked me first!" the poacher said. "You're the one who's going to pay!"
"GOG!" a husky voice sounded from behind him and Pangoro. The poacher slowly turned around to see the large green goat standing alongside the dozen or so captured skiddo.
"How did you get out!?" the poacher cried out before noticing Fennekin trotting over to the goat's side. "YOU IDIOTS!"
"GOG!"
"SKID!"
All of the goats summoned a wave of razor-sharp green leaves at the poacher and Pangoro, defeating the latter and leaving the former with numerous cuts on his body. Just as he lay on the ground in defeat, Niko heard a vehicle blaring behind them. It was Officer Jenny, accompanied by Warren.
"Guys! Are you alright?" Warren shouted, leaping out of the vehicle and running over to his friends.
"Yeah, but Charlotte's Pokémon aren't," Niko said, turning to their brunette friend, who was doing what she could to nurse the skiddo back to health. "That skiddo took some serious damage."
Without thinking about it, Warren summoned Leavanny to help skiddo, while Officer Jenny apprehended the poacher and forced his Pangoro to return to its pokéball. "Thanks for tipping us off. We had heard rumors of a poacher around here, but no confirmed evidence. Nice to know we were able to get here in time."
"Just in time," Niko said. "Thanks."
"It was all you, Niko," Warren said.
"Nope. All Charlotte, actually. She really pulled the weight here," Niko said, turning to their friend who was helping Leavanny heal skiddo. The other skiddo and the larger goat—whom Niko identified as a Pokémon called gogoat—joined Charlotte in helping the injured skiddo get back onto its feet. It wore a bandage around its to right legs, but managed to walk well enough.
Officer Jenny took the poacher and his Pangoro away, pledging to come back for the rest later. Niko and his friends waited there as morning turned into afternoon. In the meantime, Leavanny patched up the other injured Pokémon—Fletchling, Deerling, and Fennekin.
"Thanks for saving me, skiddo," Charlotte finally said. The Mount Pokémon looked up at her and nodded, this time with a smile.
"It's got courage, that's for sure," Warren replied.
"It does…say, skiddo, would you like to join my team?" Charlotte asked. She had been thinking of it since skiddo saved her from Pangoro's hammer arm.
The Mount Pokémon's eyes widened, but with a mixture of wonder and fear. It turned to the other skiddo and the gogoat for confirmation. The skiddo cheered for it, and the gogoat—clearly the elder one in the group—nodded sagely. Skiddo then looked back at Charlotte and nodded.
"Well, just so you know what you're getting yourself into: I'm a Pokémon trainer travelling the Kalos region, battling gyms and hoping to compete in the Kalos League one day with my friend Niko. If you're up for battling and getting stronger, then you're welcome to join us."
Skiddo quickly nodded affirmatively, which made Charlotte smile.
"Alright then," she said, looking to Warren. "Could I please get a pokéball from my bag?"
Warren, who had clearly packed up their things, reached over to Charlotte's bag and tossed her an empty pokéball. Charlotte caught it, and lay it in front of skiddo. The Mount Pokémon leaned its head down, lightly touched the button in the center, and immediately went inside. The pokéball wiggled around a few times before ultimately clicking.
Charlotte took a sigh of relief. She had another companion, and another friend, join her that day. More than all of that, she felt brave. She felt like she did something good that day.