Gupta- Mudkip, level 10, Taillow, level 6
Thailand appears in this chapter as the poor man under attack. And his canon pet too (turned into a pokemon of course).
Also, sorry for any fans of Kenya who think she's a little too evil here. She's more of a punch clock villain in the long run, which should become more apparent as the Admins begin to have a role.
Petalburg Woods was a quiet place. Or at least, it was on the late afternoon day when Gupta walked into it. Only the slightest rustling of leaves was audible to him as he began to walk through the forest. A few steps from the entrance, he became aware of a straight path running through the woods to the exit on the horizon. The path appeared to have no trainers or obstacles of any kind... Except for the numerous ledges along it, that prevented anyone entering from Gupta's side from just walking straight through. Instead, the only path viable for the teen to take winded around trees and through patches of tall grass, taking a meandering route to the same destination. Gupta sighed. Just perfect.
Deciding he had no choice, the boy set off towards the first patch of grass, noticing a sign stapled to a tree as he did so.
'Trainer Tips: Any Pokémon that appears even once in a battle is awarded EXP Points. To raise a weak Pokémon, put it at the left of the team list. As soon as a battle starts, switch it out. It will earn EXP Points without being exposed to any harm.' The sign read. Gupta stared at the sign, wondering what the team list was and what the importance was of having a Pokémon on the left of it. Then he wandered off into the grass.
Almost immediately after he set foot into the grass, Gupta found himself challenged by yet another trainer.
"I'm Lyle and I'm going to destroy you!" The Bug Catcher stated confidently.
"Gupta. And I doubt it." The teenager shot back coldly, still wondering what kids were doing with Pokémon.
"That's what you think! Go Wurmple!" He shouted, throwing a Pokeball into the grass and releasing the Pokémon inside in the process.
"Urmple?" It questioned.
"Okay," Gupta mused, deciding which Pokémon he wanted to use and getting its Pokeball ready. "Go Taillow."
"Tail," Taillow chirped as she appeared from the Pokeball and began to look around. She almost instantly spotted the opposing Pokémon, and understood what she had to do.
"Alright Taillow, use Peck," Gupta decided. Taillow swooped forwards and pecked the bug Pokémon, knocking it to the ground. It didn't get up. Gupta couldn't help but feel that the Wurmple had been especially weak.
"Aww, you're really strong," the boy complained, returning his Pokémon to its ball. "Good thing I have more where that came from!" He called, throwing a second Pokeball that brought forth a second Wurmple.
"He has two of those?" Gupta mused aloud. Taillow looked almost as confused as he was.
"Wurmple, use String Shot!" The Bug Catcher commanded his Pokémon.
"Peck again Taillow," Gupta directed. Taillow connected with the Wurmple first but this Wurmple stayed conscious, and proceeded to spit sticky threads at Taillow that gummed up her wings. She ended up having to land, and looked thoroughly annoyed at the fact.
"Peck it Taillow," Gupta advised. Taillow looked back at him as if to suggest she had been wanting to do just that, and hopped towards the Wurmple at speed, pecking it again before it could do anything. This time, the Pokémon fainted.
"Wow, you really are good," the trainer complimented. "Too bad you'll lose eventually though. You'll get caught up in the string and then we'll beat you! Go Wurmple!" He shouted, letting loose a third Pokémon. Gupta stared at it in disbelief. How could he have another Wurmple...?
Several minutes and three more Wurmple later, Taillow sat on the ground trying to preen her feathers from half a dozen String Shots, the trainer was defeated, and Gupta was wondering if the kid knew even the first thing about battle strategy.
"Well, I suppose that's what happens when I focus too much on just catching Pokémon and not training them..." The Bug Catcher mused as he handed over some prize money. "I only just got this team from the wild, and I'm out of Pokeballs too. Time to call it a day." He decided, waving at Gupta. "Goodbye!"
Gupta stared after him before walking over to his Taillow. Her wings were still stuck with the string from the Wurmples.
"Annoying, isn't it?" He empathised, trying to help get rid of the tacky substance. As he worked, he came up with an idea.
"Hey Taillow... Can you use Quick Attack?" He queried, thinking it would be good to try now that it was safe. Taillow looked at him for a moment and broke her wings free, before seemingly deciding to try it, swooping up into the air and charging towards a tree as fast as she could. Unfortunately, although she was fast, she was not fast enough, and it was obvious that no attack could come from the speeds she was reaching. She also crashed into the tree. Gupta managed to catch her as she fell.
"Maybe you need to be a little stronger..." He mused, checking her over for any injuries.
As he did this, the teen became aware of somebody shouting. Deciding to investigate, he placed Taillow onto his shoulder to rest, and walked a few hundred metres uphill to the end of the tall grass, at which point the path veered to the right. He took the now clear path, noticing he had climbed uphill enough to pass the first of the ledges, and then wound back around to the left, until he was heading North again. It was here that he caught a glimpse of the trouble in the distance.
A young man with glasses and rather unruly brown hair was standing against a tree, being harassed by a strange figure who looked oddly familiar. In front of the young man was a Pokémon Gupta didn't recognise- a blue four-legged Pokémon with a long nose and ears. It appeared to be suffering badly.
"Don't hurt Toto like that," the young guy fumed, clearly annoyed at the figure who Gupta assumed had to be an attacker.
"Well give over those goods then. If you do that then I won't have to." The woman threatened, and Gupta realised why she had seemed so familiar. She was the same strange woman who had been tearing pieces off of the Oldale Town ruins earlier in the day.
"Give over the goods...?" The man frowned a little (something which looked completely unnatural on his face for some reason), before his eyes hardened. "I can't do that." He shook his head. "You can't threaten me like that,"
"Well, I suppose something bad will have to happen then... You know how Pokémon can get..." The woman smirked.
Gupta stood and stared at the exchange in shock. Where were the police? Did nobody else care that this was happening? It was then that Gupta noticed the Poochyena at the woman's feet. The Pokémon growled at the man. The teen knew that those Pokémon were renowned for chasing their opponents until they won (even if Sadik tended to over-exaggerate Asena), and decided he had no choice but to step in.
"...You already defeated his Pokémon. Just take his money and go," Gupta spoke up as he walked towards the pair, seemingly sounding like just another trainer. The woman and man both turned to the teen; he looked surprised to see someone, while her face lit up in recognition.
"You... You're the kid from Oldale," she noticed. "This isn't just some trainer battle. This man has something that I need."
"So you're going to threaten him to gain it?" Gupta glared her down. "You shouldn't be using Pokémon as tools to do your dirty work." He wondered why exactly he was lecturing on ethics, but he supposed it was true. It was cowardly and cruel to the Pokémon, and it seemed there was nobody other than Gupta to do anything about it.
"Don't tell me what to do," she huffed. "Poochyena, get him first!"
"Why did I have a feeling this was going to happen...?" Gupta wondered to himself, before deciding it was better to just take care of the Poochyena. Taillow still looked as though she was recovering from crashing into the tree, and in fact appeared to have fallen asleep, so he decided to use Mudkip.
"Kip?" The Pokémon questioned as he was sent out.
"We have to fight," Gupta tried to explain as the Poochyena reached them, and stared Mudkip down while waiting for orders.
"Just Tackle!" The female commanded.
"Water Gun Mudkip!" Gupta responded. Mudkip nodded at Gupta, but failed to notice the Poochyena running towards him. He was sent flying back before he responded with a Water Gun in the direction of the Pokémon.
"Okay Mudkip, use Tackle," Gupta directed.
"Sand Attack Poochyena," the woman responded. This time, Mudkip ran forwards towards the Poochyena only to be hit in the face with some dirt. He began to panic a little and broke off his charge... But tripped over and barrelled into Poochyena anyway with his excess momentum, sending both Pokémon flying.
"Kiiiip!" He complained, landing onto his back.
Poochyena fell to the ground after the attack and didn't get up. Mudkip rolled back onto his front and stared at it curiously, before looking to Gupta and smiling.
"Damn, you're tough for a kid," the mysterious woman cursed, returning her fainted Pokémon to the Pokeball. "Still, if you think that's the only thing I can throw at you, you're mistaken." She threw a second Pokeball as she spoke, and released a Pokémon that Gupta didn't recognise.
"Purrloin!" Purrloin growled.
"Mud." Mudkip answered back.
"Purrloin, Scratch that Pokémon!" The figure demanded.
"Water Gun Mudkip," Gupta guided.
Purrloin charged towards Mudkip, who took a Scratch to the face before he had time to react, and then responded by spitting water towards the cat-like creature. It was forced back by the jet, and began to panic a little.
"Purr..." It complained to its trainer.
"Just Scratch again," she shot back, clearly annoyed.
"...Water Gun again," Gupta stated, deadpan.
The Pokémon belonging to the strange woman ran up to Mudkip and scratched him yet again, but Mudkip retaliated with a spray of water that knocked the Purrloin back against a tree. It didn't try to move again.
"Damn! How could I lose to a kid like you?" The figure seethed, returning her Pokémon to its Pokeball. "Guess I have no choice but to use my own force then." She turned to the man she had been harassing before, who for whatever reason had been watching the battle instead of doing the sensible thing and running away. "You're going to hand over those goods right now, or you'll have my fist to answer to!"
The man, who before had looked worried, was now confident. He clearly didn't fancy this woman's chances without her Pokémon. "Try me." He stated defiantly. The woman seemed to hiss in annoyance at his bravado, but it was soon shown to be down to more than simple words. When she tried to aim a punch at the man, attempting to take him down herself, he blocked her effortlessly, and managed to spin her around and onto the ground with a finesse Gupta rarely saw in a person.
"You see, without your Pokémon to bully me, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," the man stated, standing over the figure. "Still... I suppose I can let you go... So long as you abandon your plans for stealing these goods."
"Huh. We have many plans. Many different operations going on... Plenty that have nothing to do with you. In fact, there's a team on its way to Rustboro right now..." The female replied cryptically.
"If you can do so well without me, go." He demanded, leaning away from the woman.
"...Fine." She spat, springing to her feet. "You haven't seen the last of Team Aqua," she insisted, before turning tail and running from the scene.
"Tail?" Taillow chirped from Gupta's shoulder, waking up from her nap and appearing refreshed.
"...Mud." Mudkip huffed, glad it was all over.
"Thank you for helping me," the previously harassed man spoke up, a wide grin appearing on his face as he walked over to where Gupta was. The teen couldn't help but feel like the smile looked completely natural for the man's face.
"It's no problem," Gupta stated. "Although, you looked like you could handle it."
"I couldn't handle Pokémon like that. I can't fight such powerful beings myself," he insisted. "The only protection I have out here is Toto, and he looks far too tired to fight." He looked back towards the blue Pokémon from before, who was still unconscious on the ground. Mudkip followed his gaze and began walking towards the downed Pokémon.
"...Why didn't you return him to the Pokeball if he's so tired?" Gupta queried.
"I never got the time. And I don't like to keep him in the ball unless I have to. He doesn't like it." The man replied. Meanwhile, Mudkip reached the strange Pokémon and began to poke it.
"Mudkip, leave the poor Pokémon alone," Gupta sighed. His starter looked towards him and yawned.
"I suppose I'll have to return him to the ball now though... He's too heavy to carry by myself," the guy continued, walking over to his Pokémon and picking a Pokeball out of his pocket before returning the Pokémon to the ball. Gupta noticed that the ball was black with some kind of pattern on it.
"Anyway, I should thank you for helping us," the man smiled again, reaching back into his pocket and pulling out a different kind of Pokeball, with blue and red markings on it. "This is a Great Ball. We make them at my company, so I'll let you have one for free."
"Thanks," Gupta replied, taking the item.
"I'm Kasem by the way. You look like a nice kid, so you should come by and visit the corporation sometime," the employee decided.
"I could," Gupta stated non-committally.
"Well, I'd better get moving. I'm meant to be handing these goods to someone... See you around!" Kasem waved as he headed off in the direction of Petalburg City. Gupta wondered if he was going to be alright. And also what he had been doing in this part of the forest when he could just have walked down the ledges.
"Kip." Mudkip called randomly, walking over to Gupta and sitting at his feet.
"We need to go too." His trainer replied, picking up the dopey Pokémon and making his way further down the winding path.
Gupta had almost made it to the end of the forest when another trainer ran up to him wanting to battle.
"Hey, it's a good thing I didn't go home, huh?" He laughed to himself. "Finally, some training!"
"You don't like training with wild Pokémon?" Gupta assumed.
"It's boring. But you look interesting!" The kid smirked. "I'm James, and I'd really like to try and beat you."
"You can try." Gupta responded.
"Okay then, go Nincada!" James shouted excitedly, throwing a Pokeball and sending out another Pokémon Gupta didn't know a lot about.
"Nin." The Pokémon looked back to its trainer and nodded as it emerged.
"Right." Gupta weighed up his options. He supposed that Mudkip had to be tired after the fight with the strange woman, so chose to use Taillow.
"You fight Taillow," he told the Pokémon.
"Low!" Taillow chirped in affirmation, flying from Gupta's shoulder to the forest floor.
"Kiiip..." Mudkip complained, struggling in Gupta's arms.
"You can fight next time," the trainer promised.
"If you're done talking," James whined. "Nincada, use Leech Life!"
"Peck Taillow," Gupta responded.
Taillow swooped in, getting the edge on the opponent's Pokémon, who took the hit straight on. However, while Taillow still remained in contact with the Nincada, the Nincada leant up and bit Taillow on the neck.
"Low?" She questioned, wondering what it was trying to do before shaking it off with ease. The Pokémon fell to the ground and appeared to not be able to find Taillow, if its frantic looks around the area were anything to go by.
"...That didn't look very effective." Gupta commented.
"Oh nuts! Yeah, Bug types are weak to Flying..." James mused. "Okay then Nincada, use Scratch!"
"Peck again Taillow." Gupta repeated.
Taillow swept forwards to Peck again, and Nincada felt the air moving as the bird approached, turning around to stick its claws out and landing a Scratch on Taillow's face as Taillow used Peck on it in turn. Taillow shrugged the wound off, not losing face at all.
"Wow, your Pokémon are tough," the Bug Catcher commented.
"Taillow, use Peck and finish this," Gupta finalised.
"Scratch Nincada!" James shouted to his Pokémon. But he was too late to act, as Taillow's swiftness brought Nincada down before it could hear its trainer's command.
"Oh drat... You won I guess. I really need to pay attention in school," James laughed to himself as he returned his Pokémon to the ball.
"You go to the Trainers' School?" Gupta inferred.
"Yeah, but I'm just starting out. I need more practice." The kid decided. "Anyway, you won so you can have this." He pulled out a few random coins and handed them to Gupta. "Well, my parents will kill me if I don't get home. I wish I was grown up like you and could go where I want. See ya!" He smiled and waved as he left. Taillow swooped around and landed back on Gupta's shoulder.
"Low." She smiled to herself.
"He thinks I'm grown up?" Gupta shook his head. He wasn't that old...
Gupta didn't see anyone else on his walk through the woods, and only a few hundred metres down the road from where he had met James, he turned a corner and saw light streaming out of an exit to the forest a few hundred metres more in front of him. The light looked red, and Gupta assumed the day was coming to an end rapidly. He hadn't exactly made it through without any hold-ups, which blew his plan a little out of the water. Perhaps if nothing else happened he could still make it to Rustboro.
As he walked towards the exit, Gupta saw a second sign.
'Trainer Tips: In addition to Hit Points [HP], Pokémon have Power Points [PP] that are used to make moves during battle. If a Pokémon runs out of PP, it must be taken to a Pokémon Centre.' The sign read. The teenager wasn't exactly sure what the second sign was going on about either. He'd never heard of Power Points... But then, he didn't know what Hit Points were either. He shrugged it off as he walked through the exit into the outside world, with Mudkip in his arms and Taillow perched on his shoulder.
