Goodness, I am the absolute worst at updating anything. I haven't necessarily been dead, but severely lazy and more active on deviantART instead of on here. Most of my writing lately has been directed there over being directed on . I thought that I had uploaded this chapter, though it appears I did not yet until now.
There's a few stories that I need to get back to working on as well that I'm motivated to write yet don't. Circi's Pokémon Adventure is one of those things.
As something to note, there will be less Author's Notes as we progress onward. They're a little annoying to write and I don't need to open the chapters every single time as we get the point.
Like usual, I own nothing except for my OCs.
Here's chapter 8!
-o-o-o-o-
Chapter 8: Night in the Chateau
Hey guys! I'm back with another recap…
Last time was sort of uneventful, but impactful. I defeated Commander Mars of Team Space-Cosplay (or Galactic, if you're into technical terms), reunited the little girl with her dad after driving out said Team Space-Cosplay, and reunited with my (useless) teammates. I'm still mad at them for ditching me and leaving me to deal with them ALL BY MYSELF however.
I haven't done much of a team recap. Perse is at Lv. 12, Jowee is at Lv. 16, and then Grassly and Heather are at Lv. 15 but nearly at 16. I have no idea when Grassly evolve, but I have a gut feeling he's almost there. Or he's the highest level of my team. I need to do better as a trainer of keeping track of levels, so my Pokedex may be a good resource.
I'm kind of worried about my next gym battle against Gardenia. The thing with her is that I'm at a disadvantage with a lack of proper type advantages against her, such as Flying-types and whatnot. I would get a Starly, but I still haven't forgiven that thing, so I won't yet.
Now it's time to start getting back to the adventure!
XxXxX
Circi and her party finally headed into the Eterna Forest. Upon entering, Circi felt a creepy, crawly feeling up her back and shuddered. There was a likely chance that this place was infested with Bug-type Pokémon! Then again, they were just bugs. Circi wasn't really bothered by them. For some reason, she felt like she was supposed to be escorting someone through the forest. The person wasn't there, so she assumed that someone else handled the escort.
That meant she wasn't as hindered throughout traveling the forest, so she guessed that now would be a good time to explore. Especially as she had to get through a living maze that was the Eterna Forest (perhaps it wasn't a maze, but Circi didn't know). From what Circi had heard, almost every region in the world had a forest area of some sort, so if she intended to become a world traveler, she'd have to learn to deal with it. Getting used to it now would be for the best.
While Circi observed the area, considering her moves while her teammates were chattering in the background, she spotted pairs of trainers ahead. That meant there were some double battles she'd need to put up with on her way. Doubtfully, Circi looked at her three teammates. She didn't know whether or not she'd have to fight the trainers alone. Or maybe she didn't if Roselyynn was paying attention and had perceptive like Yami and Saki and could stop talking for three seconds.
However, when she did start progressing through and her teammates followed, Circi failed to notice the rotation that Roselyynn, Yami and Saki had set for helping Circi in a battle. With the first fight, Saki assisted Circi with her Growlithe, and in the next one, Roselyynn assisted with her Chikorita. Circi was almost impressed that Roselyynn was actually doing something helpful for once, but she didn't vocalize it. She was very close though.
While the party continued, Circi ended up tripping over something while she was running through and hit the forest ground. She felt something pound her left calve with frustration, and Circi sat up to see a very annoyed Buneary staring her in the face. Yami was excited to see it, clasping her hands and squealing, "Ooh! It's a Buneary! It's so cute in person!" She gasped. Circi raised and eyebrow at Yami, only for the Buneary to attack her.
A battle then stirred, and Circi decided to use Grassly, whom she was currently training. Except he knocked it out. When the Buneary was heading off, Circi noticed how it seemed to swear payback in an irritated grumble. Still, it was nearing sundown (from what Circi could tell by the forest lighting) the longer they lingered here. Roselyynn kind of wanted to get to Eterna City before sundown. She quickly processed that no, they were not going to get there.
Saki crossed her arms and considered the situation. "Hm. Maybe we should camp for the night and continue through this tomorrow? It's a little dangerous to roam through forests at night." She suggested to the others. Circi crossed her arms and surveyed her surroundings. The Pokémon in the trees and foliage stared at her eerily.
Circi took a breath. "Yeah, I'm not gonna sleep outside yet. There's probably shelter somewhere." Circi said, moving ahead just as her allies were going to set camp up. Roselyynn stared at Circi in disbelief and back at Yami and Saki, not exactly knowing what to say or do. They ended up following the ten-year old further after gathering their things.
It finally hit sundown when Circi saw a beacon of hope in the distance, that being a chateau in the forest! She was pretty sure it would be fine to crash there in case it rained in the night. As she headed towards it, Roselyynn decided to be the voice of reason and maybe stop her teammate from being foolish. She seemed to recognize the house too, which troubled her. "Uh… Circi. I don't think we can just head there now…" However, Circi was running towards the chateau and didn't really care. Roselyynn tugged on her pink locks in fury.
There was a problem though. There were trees that required Cut, and as Roselyynn and the others caught up, a triumphant smirk appeared on Roselyynn's face as Circi was trying to figure out what to do. "Oh Circi, I guess we can't stay here. You have to beat Gardenia in order to use Cut." Circi stared at the thin threes. One could slide past them just fine, but she knew that the others would complain like with the Rock Smash incident where she could jump over the rocks fine to pass.
Circi thought about it. Was there truly no way to pass without a Gym Badge? Was it hopeless and sleeping outside was inevitable unless they trekked to Eterna City through the night?
Well…
There wasn't any rule about fence-jumping, was there? The short fence in front of the house was clearly jumpable. When Circi moved back, Roselyynn thought Circi was giving up, only for the girl to bolt forward and get a running start, flawlessly hopping over the fencing. After landing, Circi turned and grinned at her teammates (who were shocked at what just happened) upon landing.
Roselyynn called at her from the other side of the fence. "You're not supposed to jump fences either! Main protagonists aren't allowed to jump in this universe unless it's over ledges!" Circi brushed herself off and her grin grew wider. "Well too bad! That was awesome and you all know it! Besides, there were no rules about not being able to jump over fences in my Adventure Rules!"
Roselyynn groaned, briefly putting her hands in her face with agony. Rolling her eyes, she sent out a Bellossom. "Blossom, use Cut!" she ordered, and her Pokémon obeyed. Cutting down the trees allowed the other three to pass like a normal person who obeyed rules of the world. The group analyzed the house before them, which was old and eerie, and in a state of disrepair as if it was abandoned. Roselyynn and Yami shuddered at what could possibly be in it. Circi didn't care, and was excited to go into the house.
Pointing at it, she gleefully said, "In case it rains, we are going to stay in there tonight!"
"Uh... Circi? I think it might be haunted…" Yami warned, beginning to shiver.
Circi scoffed, and patted Yami on the back. "So? Ghosts aren't THAT scary." Roselyynn and Yami disagreed, remaining uneasy. Circi, on the other hand, bravely went forward and showed no fear as she headed in.
Saki was indifferent to the house. She didn't outwardly express her concern about Roselyynn and Yami's well-being in this place. The two of them didn't tolerate ghost Pokémon very well…
XxXxX
When Circi Fox opened up the doors to the Old Chateau, they let out a loud "creaaaaaaak". The lights present was dim, mainly as it was relying on natural light, but it got darker as the night cycled in rather fast. Circi went in first, with the other three following. Saki closed the doors with a slam, scaring the other two girls who were huddling close together for dear life.
However, once it got dark, Circi sent out Heather and Perse. She didn't know if they could provide any light, but she was hopeful that they maybe could. "Could you two light this place up somehow?" Circi asked politely. Heather's tail lit up with a pale yellow light, and Perse's cheeks glimmered with electricity. "Thanks, guys."
Circi had her Pokémon beside her as she decided to explore throughout the house to see if there were any new Pokémon she could find. The downside was that there was only Gastly (with the occasional Haunter) in here. Their giggling and cackling was heard while Circi kept looking around.
In fact, there was basically just Gastly, with a lower chance of Haunter, in this Arceus-forsaken house. Plus, Circi was pretty sure she was starting to hear voices, and her Pokémon were getting weirded out. "Did you guys want me to send you back in your Pokéballs for now? I don't mind doing so if you're scared." While Heather stood her ground, Perse pondered on the offer for a few seconds. She decided that she didn't want the Luxio to think of her as a coward and stayed out to protect Circi from the paranormal creatures and Pokémon wandering throughout here.
While Circi was wandering around the house, Saki was defending her cowardly friends from the Gastly and other ghosts (who were very few and basically weren't there at all) in this creepy old place. The thing that annoyed Saki was how they were being trumped by a ten-year old girl in courage. Or maybe Circi's seemingly boundless confidence gave her courage. Regardless, the way they were acting was absolutely pathetic in Saki's eyes.
As Yami and Roselyynn were starting to get spooked by the occasional Gastly that came and went, they had to hold back their screams. They had no idea where Circi had gone, but all they could guess was that she was exploring. Why? Roselyynn and Yami didn't want to think about why she happened to be exploring, mainly as they were holding back terrified screams. Saki felt like she was the only rational person in their trio right now.
This was going to be a very long night.
XxXxX
After exploring for a while, Circi was getting tired. She let out a yawn as she started to stumble through the corridor she had been exploring in the Old Chateau, concerning Heather and Perse. Heather was more vocal, meowing at her trainer and pawing at her, urging her to get some rest. Perse noticed, but wasn't really willing or cared enough to help her trainer right away. It was weird not being a wild Pachirisu anymore.
Though Heather was the only one relatively being proactive in anything, Perse kept getting a weird gut feeling. It felt like something was following them that shouldn't have been in this house (which was amazing, because there were many things that shouldn't be there). Perse was pretty sure it was a ghost-type. If it was a Gastly, she could have sniffed its presence (from a safe distance), but it didn't seem like one. Perse nearly stopped in her tracks when she heard a growl from the shadows.
Then, something attacked Perse, tugging on her tail. Perse yelped, and Heather's green eyes flashed back at what it was. It was small, but bluish green and looked to have lilac-tipped "hair" and a "dress" with red gems around its neck. Heather, who went into protection mode, went at the Misdreavus with a roar.
She drove it off and made it flee, but the Misdreavus tugged on Circi's orange hair before vanishing. She had seen a glimpse of it, and pulled out her Pokedex groggily while rubbing her head a moment. When she looked up Misdreavus and where it lived, she found that it did live in the Eterna Forest and came out at night. However, it wasn't supposed to be anywhere in the Old Chateau. Either it was Gastly playing a trick, or this Misdreavus somehow got into the Old Chateau and was lost.
Circi wasn't as concerned about catching Pokémon at the moment as she was with sleeping. She was not sleeping in the hall with Pokémon about, so she decided to find a safe room. That is, if there was a "safe room" in this house. After searching for a while, the novice trainer found a room upstairs with a TV in it, and though there wasn't a bed, Circi was able to make herself comfortable. It was better than sleeping outside, with risk of Pokémon attacking at night (such as bug-poison types).
Were Ghost-types worse to deal with? Yeah, probably. Still, Circi felt like it was safer to deal with ghost types due to never knowing if a bug Pokémon would sneak up on you at night in the forest. As long as she didn't move about too much or mess with anything, Circi knew that she would probably be fine to be here.
Circi decided to start shutting down for the night. While looking around for a blanket, she remembered that she had a bag. Maybe something there was of use? Her mother had probably packed something of significance in there. Digging through the bag, Circi found a pink journal (she wasn't impressed), a blue blanket and a medium-sized travel pillow. The journal was probably supposed to be a travel record of some kind, but she'd deal with that in the morning. After getting changed into her PJs, Circi sent Grassly and Jowee out to not leave them out of their adventure.
After checking the door, Circi yawned and said goodnight to her Pokémon before going to sleep. It took a while for her team to get some shut-eye, but they figured something out. Throughout the night, Circi had awoken a few times, or had nearly done so. First was the TV static, which partially woke her. The TV wasn't on before, but when she yelled at it to shut up, it went quiet. She went back to sleep, only for an hour later to wake up when books and other objects were knocked over.
Perse was close by to Circi. She thought that her Pachirisu was stirring up trouble, causing Circi to murmur for her to stop, but it wasn't Perse. Perse was sound asleep, curled up and laying her small head on her fluffy tail. Circi guessed that she was hearing things in the night.
She heard a voice later that woke her for a third time. She was quite done with being interrupted, and looking around groggily. She didn't see much as her vision wasn't as clear yet, but she did hear the voice. It whispered by her ear. "Mis…dre…vus…"
Circi fell back asleep, oblivious to what had actually happened.
However, Heather, who was very alert once she heard things get knocked over, was looking around with her emerald gaze. She wanted to know what was going on and put an end to any nonsense. She didn't see anything until she looked over at her trainer. There, floating by Circi, was that goddamn Misdreavus from earlier.
Heather and the Misdreavus met gazes. A ghostly smirk appeared on its face, and Heather narrowed her eyes. It began to near closer to Circi's hair, and Heather's agitation grew. She let out a low, threatening growl, as if to say, "Don't you dare touch her".
The smirk grew bigger. It grew closer to further irritate the Luxio, and Heather started to rise from her lying down position to standing up. In warning, she shimmered with a charge of electricity. The smirk grew bigger, perhaps wider, and it drew even closer to Circi.
Heather stood now, shaking her head. She charged with electricity once more, shimmering with a soft yellow glow. Additionally, her green gaze flashed with a leer for part two of her warning.
The Misdreavus seemed to enjoy messing with Heather. It was like it was playing some kind of sick game with her, and she sure as hell didn't like it. It seemed to be deliberately trying to piss her off in some way. Heather gave one final warning, with a fierce glare, a brilliant electric charge, and a brush of her paw to the ground.
As for Misdreavus, it decided to set Heather off, pulling on the sleeping Circi's hair. Then, it picked Perse up by the tail, causing her to squeal and waking Jowee and Grassly, and then while carrying Perse, the Misdreavus casually opened up the door and left. Heather roared, rushing out the door with Jowee following after her.
Grassly woke Circi up, staring at her. "Turtwig. Twiiig!" He chattered at her, causing her to wake up. While Grassly dealt with Circi, there was a chase in the halls outside. Heather and Jowee (who was not keeping up with Heather as well as he would've liked to) were chasing the Misdreavus down the halls. Perse was angry yet scared and hating her current situation.
For Perse was just a wee Pachirisu. She didn't know exactly what was happening, but she didn't like it. Heather and Jowee were like bulls as they trampled down the halls. Though they were a party of two (at the moment), Heather was quite loud and aggressive in her chase. In Heather's mind, this ghost had gone too far.
Jowee didn't understand what was going on, but he knew that something was happening. He didn't really know what it was though, but as Heather was upset and Perse was in the air, it seemed to be pretty important. Plus they didn't want to lose Perse to a Misdreavus. That would be pretty bad, and tragic at that. He didn't want Circi to be sad.
The Bibarel watched Heather gain more speed, and with a leap, she rammed into the Misdreavus and bit it, knocking Perse out of it's grasp. Jowee caught the Pachirisu on his back and checked to see if she was alright. Heather was beyond angry at the current situation. Her icy glare theoretically could have frozen the soul of the Misdreavus (Heather didn't know or care if it did or didn't have one). Perse shuddered and rolled off Jowee's back, hiding by him. She found some solace that her teammates had saved her in the night and didn't let her get tormented by the fiend.
Heather growled at the Misdreavus, her voice dripping with venom. "(Alright buddy. Why are you here and what do you want? Folks like you belong outside. You better answer or you're gonna get hurt!)" The Luxio pawed against the ground, ready to go in whenever.
The Misdreavus huffed at Heather, unfazed by her threats. "(Why does it matter? You aren't from the Eterna Forest either. You have no business speaking to me as an outsider, nor a Pokémon with a human master.)"
Jowee came into the conversation briefly, only to point a fact out. "(Actually, you've kinda been bothering us all night. Don't Misdreavus typically live in the forest area outside and show up at night? How'd you get in here anyway?)"
"(I'm a Misdreavus with class, and I want to be here.)" Briskly replied the Misdreavus with a huff. "(Besides, even if this place is run-down, its more sophisticated than living out there.)"
Perse still trembled, but she decided to speak up. It was probably a mistake and she probably should have left this to Heather, but talking seemed to feel right. With a snicker, she mocked the ghost who had been ruining her evening. "(Ha! You're saying that you are a mischievous snob of a ghost? That's so funny that I could curl up and die from it!)"
Perse wasn't making this weird situation better. She was making it worse, and wasn't exactly helping for that matter. Especially with her next comment. "(Oh wait, why would dying matter? I mean, you're already dead, aren't ya? You ARE a ghost.)"
Jowee and Heather sighed. That was bad, and probably the worst thing that could be said at a time such as this. Perse was going to get them screwed over by a Misdreavus with her big mouth, especially as she irked the Misdreavus. Around this time, Circi (who was still in her pajamas and had her bag with her) and Grassly found the others. Circi was still sleepy, but was happy that her team was safe.
The trainer ended up finding them when she saw Perse trash-talking a Misdreavus and really irritating it. Grassly had no idea what had happened while he was trying to get his trainer up and explain the situation (not that Circi understood what they were saying), and was horrified to see and hear what Perse was doing. "Twig? Twig!" He spoke, moving forward as fast as his body could take him. He kind of wanted Perse to stop.
Heather, on the other hand, already knew what was going to go down. She made Perse stop speaking and batted her aside with her paw. Then, she looked to her trainer with gleaming eyes, and growled with the determination to take initiative for this battle. She roared at her trainer to show she was ready. "Luxio!"
Circi tiredly rubbed at her eyes. She wasn't easily getting the gesture that Heather was giving her. "Hah…? What's goin' on…? Why are you guys all out in the hallll?"
Heather didn't appreciate her trainer's cluelessness at this time. Now was not the time for this nonsense. She proceeded to stamp her paw on the ground to emphasize that now was the time for business and battle. "Lu-xi-ooo!"
"Heather… I don't understand whatcha want… iss early…"
Heather brought her paw to her face and shook her head. Rolling her fierce green eyes, she pointed over at the Misdreavus with her paw, further hammering in the point that she really wanted to fight right now.
Circi understood the notion for battle, but she didn't understand why Heather would want to fight at this time. "Why d'ya want to fight sooo early in the morninnng?" The Luxio gave up at this point and used Spark to ram into the Misdreavus without warning. Circi tried her best to direct Heather, though at this time of night, she wasn't remembering as well. Heather had done a good amount of damage off the Misdreavus—and it knew this. Frustrated, the Misdreavus growled at Heather to reduce her attack.
While Heather was determining her battle tactics, she eyed her trainer's belt. Right now, she had four Pokémon. She had some spare Pokéballs on her belt, though the Luxio knew her trainer had more in her bag. This got Heather thinking. Evidently, this Misdreavus had an ego from how it acted as well as it's lifestyle choices. The worst thing that could be done to it to bring it down from it's self-imposed pedestal would be to catch it with a Pokéball. Circi was too tired to process what was going on. To make up for it, Heather came up with a brilliant plan. She was going to get a Pokéball from her trainer's bag, and then throw the ball at the Misdreavus while it had its guard down.
Circi ordered Heather to use leer. It took a moment for her to remember that her Luxio was able to do that. Heather obeyed the command and avoided an astonish from the Misdreavus. Then, she found her opening when it had it's back turned in a rush to get back to it's position and hopefully attack again. Heather grabbed a Pokéball from her trainer's bag with her mouth, and with no hesitation, she chucked the capsule at the back of the Misdreavus's head and took it off guard. As Heather hoped, the Misdreavus hadn't expected it, and somehow, Heather managed to catch it.
None of Circi's Pokémon realized that it was possible to just do that. It didn't click with Circi right away either for that matter. While the young trainer was trying to figure out what happened, Heather picked up the Pokéball with her mouth again and gave it to her trainer.
Reality was finally setting in when the Misdreavus disruptively came out of it's Pokéball, well aware that it was captured and generally unimpressed with life. Circi pulled out her pokedex once she was more 'awake' (and generally less of the groggy mess that she had been during this whole debacle). The pokedex gave Circi information about it, and also registered it as one of Circi's Pokémon. She then decided on a nickname for it while taking a good, long look at the ghost type.
It reminded her of someone. "…Y'know, you remind me of a guy I know. As you're a male Misdreavus, which helps make the name more perfect, I'll call you Wilfre! I think this is one of the best names I've thought of so far."
"…dreavus?" The Misdreavus, who was now deemed Wilfre asked. He knew he was captured, but he didn't know who chucked the Pokéball.
Well, he didn't until Heather triumphantly strutted over and put a paw on the smaller Pokémon's head. She growled in his ear (or whatever was closest to it), "(I caught you with that Pokéball. Now you're one of us, buddy, so get used to it.)"
Wilfre blinked, and slowly turned to face Heather. Biting his lip, he said, "(You two-timing, tricky little…)" and proceeded to rant at Heather in complete and utter dismay. Circi had no idea what it was saying as she let out a yawn. Now was as good of a time as any to get back to sleep.
With a stretch, Circi said, "Alright team, it's time to get back to sleep! We have a long day of training ahead of us tomorrow!"
And from there, Circi, her team, and its newest member proceeded to head back to the room and everyone mostly got to sleep.
As for Circi's other teammates who were in another place of the Chateau?
Well, they managed.
-o-o-o-o-
I don't really have much else to comment on or give clues for the next chapter as it is pretty straightforward. It is mainly Circi teambuilding and grinding up.
Please review if you'd like, please refrain from flaming and please tell me how I can improve! Note that from now on, unless there is a circumstance for explanation, notes like this will show up less commonly.
I'm pretty sure the reasoning for that relates to how I handle most of my fanfiction writing nowadays, which is mainly on deviantART and I put my notes in the description.
That's all I have to say for now. I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Ciao!
