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Chapter 7: Of the Same Earth

Daylight chased away the darkness as both Sulfur and Topaz stood at the entrance to Route 205. With supplies restocked and new devices to play with they were on their way to Floaroma. The route was dotted with lakes and trees leading into unexplored unknowns but the two trainers followed the set path cleared by those who made the journey before them. Even with a mostly cleared route, it was not without its own hazards. Many dangerous plant life were known to populate this route.

"Whoa...there's a lot of lakes here. I wonder what Pokémon besides Psyduck reside within them?" Sulfur asked himself having just recently scanned a fainted Psyduck Walter stood proudly before returning to his pokeball.

"Yeah. That was a real disappointment. You keep doing you." Topaz responded half distracted. She was parting every bush she saw, peeping any place she could. It was how they found the Psyduck in the first place.

Sulfur looked puzzled. So far, Topaz had always been the impatient one trying to get to their next destination as soon as possible but now she had been looking around as if she had lost something important.

"You know as much as I appreciate the help, what exactly are you looking for?" Sulfur asked.

"Nothing. There's just Magikarp and maybe a Goldeen if you're lucky but we don't have a rod, so you know. It happens." Topaz replied back, not answering the current question. "They have to be here somewhere!" Topaz walked to another bush as she spoke.

"Right … well, whenever you get back from Lala Land, make sure to let me know." Sulfur replied quizzaciously.

Suddenly, Ren cried out and pointed Sulfur in another direction. "What is it Ren?" Sulfur asked.

Turning in the direction Ren pointed stood a tiny green Pokémon, stunned by the fact it had just been caught attempting to sneak by.

"Wow what's that thing?" Sulfur asked pulling out his pokedex.

Topaz also turned around to see. When she caught a glimpse of the new Pokémon, Topaz let out a happy squeal.

"Ren you found one! You're amazing! I can't believe you found a Budew!" Topaz continued to squeal as she rushed over and picked up the panicked Budew. Topaz quickly turned to Sulfur stuffed the small Pokémon in his face. "Quick! Sulfur! Scan if it's a female!"

"Uh this seems a little unorthodox. But alright." Sulfur said turning the pokedex on the frightened Budew. "It appears to be male." Topaz frowned at such announcement.

"Well it looks like we're gonna have to do this the old fashion way." Topaz said. She placed the Budew on the ground and scared it away. It ran in one direction, crying all the way. "Quickly! After him!" Topaz yelled out as she chased the small Budew.

"I am not comfortable with this." Sulfur said following Topaz into the woods, while Ren was barely holding on.

They rushed through trees, tall grass, and other dangerous hazards until they finally came across a small patch of Budew.

"Yes! I did it! I found more Budew!" Topaz happily said as she crouched down behind a bush.

"Not exactly the best method but we did find them. What are you planning on doing?" Sulfur asked.

"This." Topaz stood up and walked over to the grouped up Budew. "Goldie! I need you for this to work." Topaz picked up a random Budew as Sulfur walked over. "Scan it."

"It's a female. Alright, capture it so we can move on." Sulfur said, about to put away his pokedex.

"Um, I don't think so. I never said we were done. Scan it again and see if has the Poison Point ability." Topaz said firmly, still holding up the small Pokémon.

"If it had poison point, you'd be dropping it immediately." Sulfur said annoyed.

"Touché." Topaz dropped the Budew in her hands and moved on to the next one. "Scan this one."

"Male." Sulfur responded immediately after scanning. Topaz quickly dropped the Pokémon and picked another one.

"This one."

"Male."

"This one?"

"Female."

"Ooh! Poison point?!" Topaz asked excitedly. Sulfur raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"No need to be rude, Goldie."

This small back and forth continued until Topaz screamed out in pain. She threw away the Budew she had recently grabbed and hid behind Sulfur.

"It hurt me!" Topaz cried out as she pointed at an angry, discolored Budew. "Scan it!"

"Female. Not only that, it appears to be a shiny!" Sulfur exclaimed. Topaz pulled out Achi's pokéball as she faced the Budew.

"Perfect! And it clearly has Poison Point so let's catch it!" Topaz threw the pokeball and Achi quickly appeared. "Alright Achi. Let's do this without getting poisoned. Ember!" Achi launched out his signature move on command. The small grass type took significant damage as it fell to the ground. Topaz quickly threw an empty pokeball at the fallen Budew and was happy when the capture was complete.

"Yes! I got a Budew!" Topaz yelled triumphantly as she held up the pokeball. "Great job, Achi." Topaz walked over to Sulfur. "Okay, let's make our way back to Floaroma."

"It's about time this foolishness was over. Let's be on our way." Sulfur said,

already making his way out. Topaz happily followed Sulfur with Achi behind her.

The small group had travel twice as fast for all the time lost. They tried to avoid any hazards in the small forest in order not to disturb any other poor Pokémon nearby. With a new companion, Topaz seemed more easy going which allowed the group to reach a small tunnel more quickly.

"You mind explaining what the whole Budew incident was about?" Sulfur asked.

"What's there to explain? I just wanted to get the perfect Budew." Topaz replied back as she had Achi take the lead.

"Right, as if that was all there was to it." Sulfur said entering the tunnel.

"Well shouldn't that be enough to answer your question?" Topaz replied back, trying to avoid any explanation. Sulfur glanced at her before continuing.

"For now."

Besides a select few Geodudes, the tunnel was a short trip. Walter made it easier by making short work of the would be attackers. As they left the small tunnel, Topaz noticed that the sun sat in the middle of the sky.

"We're not going to make it to Floaroma even if we ran. We still have to climb a small hill and still walk through another small forest." Topaz noted.

"I guess the least we can do is travel a bit further before setting up camp again." Sulfur reasoned. Topaz nodded and continued on the path to Floaroma.

The lingering rays of sunlight began to die down as the two trainers made themselves comfortable around their campsite. Most of the Pokémon talked and ate while their trainers hung around the fire pit thinking of what was next to come. Sulfur had taken the time to play around with the pokétch while Topaz had taken out a notepad and was quietly doodling. Sulfur stopped fiddling with his poketch and looked at Topaz.

"I think it's about time." Sulfur stated abruptly. Topaz glanced up at Sulfur from her notepad. She darted her eyes to a side and back at Sulfur.

"Um, if you wanna go to sleep, go right ahead but you're not my mama. I'm not tired and you can't ground me." Topaz replied back and continued on with her doodle.

"I meant you should probably let that Budew out." Sulfur sighed. Topaz again avoided eye contact.

"Wouldn't it be better to leave Budew in her pokéball until we get to a center? Have her cool off maybe?" Topaz asked.

"Budew can either make you look like a bad trainer in front of me, or in front of Nurse Joy. If I were you, I wouldn't take that chance with my trainer's license." Sulfur explained.

"Fine. But if I get beat up by a grass type, I'm blaming you." Topaz said as she pulled out a pokéball. She made a small toss and released a still agitated Budew. The small Budew turned away from Topaz and wandered over to the small group of Pokémon. Topaz looked over to Sulfur. "Happy now, Goldie? Now you can scan the poor thing all you want. Mister 'I'm-obsessed-with-research'." Topaz went back to doodling. Sulfur scoffed.

"I'm obsessed? Says the girl who had me check the gender and ability of a specific Pokémon. Maybe you should elaborate on that, Rocky." Topaz ignored the bad nickname and continued on drawing.

"There's nothing to tell about that. Besides, I already told you the reason."

"Would it be much of an issue if I asked you to further explain? I'm sure there is more to this than you let on." Sulfur said pressing the conversation. Topaz placed her notepad down on her lap.

"You're not going to leave me alone about this, are you?" Topaz tiredly asked.

"As long as we continue to travel together, no I will not." Sulfur replied. Topaz sighed.

"Fine. You always win in the end. It's too long of a story to tell but let's just say that I owe my life to a Roselia. Most Roselia have Natural Cure as their ability but it was Poison Point that actually helped me. I guess I just felt like I owed it to myself to have my own Roselia. Possibly a Roserade." Topaz explained while looking over to the discolored Budew.

"Interesting…" Sulfur said taking a break to think about it before continuing again. "Feeling indebted to a Pokémon that saved your life is not uncommon. I can understand."

"So will you leave me alone now?" Topaz asked as she picked up her notepad.

"I think that will suffice, yes." Sulfur finished.

As Topaz was vaguely explaining her obsession to Sulfur, the small Budew had decided to acquaint herself with the other Pokémon.

"*Is there room here for another? I wouldn't mind eating.*" Ray nudged over some Pokémon food to Budew.

"*Well, this is our dinner for the moment.*" Ray sat down next to Budew.

"*Thank you.*" Budew leaned her face downward and began to eat.

"*Looks like Achi burned another one. Welcome to our little pack.*" Ren said greeting the new Budew. "*Hey you got a name yet?*"

"*I don't believe I've been renamed by my captor, if that's what you mean.*" Budew answered.

"*Wow um...*" Ren was at a lost for words as she rubbed the back of her head. "*So, you already got a name then?*"

"*Well my birth name, yes of course. My patch would refer to me as Lila because of how I look.*" Budew replied.

"*I had forgotten wild pokemon had names as well.*" Walter said. "*Ray, did you have a name before your trainer named you?*"

"*Um no actually. We had to earn our names as we grew. Ray is the only name I've ever had.*" Ray explained. "*Ren, you were also wild. Don't you have another name?*" Ray asked while taking another mouthful of Pokémon food.

"*Well no, I didn't have a name until I met Sulfur. I had lost my parents a long time ago so I was never given a name.*" Ren answered.

"*Wow,*" said Walter, "*so then I guess this is the first time someone came in already having a name. Ren, can you tell Sulfur Budew's name?*"

"*I don't know how to use human symbols so I cannot communicate with him.*" replied Ren sadly.

"*That's rather unfortunate.*" Walter finished.

"*Well that's alright. It's part of the deal when one is captured.*" Lila said calmly.

"*You seem to be taking being captured well.*" Ren stated.

"*I had my small bit of revenge when I pricked my captor so in a way, I'm satisfied. My kind are captured frequently so we have come to accept capture as a part of our life.*" Lila explained as she continued to eat.

"*My species tend to stay away from humans as much as possible so we rarely worry about being captured.*" Ren said standing up. "*In any case I think you'll be fine here.*"

The Pokémon ate in silence for the rest of the meal. The moon had finished its assent to the sky and the woods had become quiet. The Pokémon brought their empty bowls of food to their respective trainers and huddled together to sleep. Both trainers took this as a sign to get some rest themselves. Much awaited them in Floaroma.