Thanks I.C.2014 for the review!
I do not own Pokemon!
Chapter 10: Rain, Rain, Go Away
Saturday, May 27th
Early the next morning, I woke up and began to hastily pack all of my things. The weather forecast was a bit discouraging, but I decided to ignore it and move on anyways. It called for even more rain starting tomorrow, maybe even late tonight. I suppose it's all the more reason to move fast.
After a quick breakfast I hastily left the Center, returning my key to Nurse Joy as I went. Totodile had been very tired still this morning, so he remained in his Pokeball. I made my way around Violet City, until I could head south onto Route 32.
For now the weather was sunny, with just a few clouds dotting the sky. The grass was lush and a vibrant green color thanks to the previous rain, and the ground was still a bit squishy too. As the sun began to get brighter I watched as a group of cute little Hoppip floated above me, squealing happily.
"So cute," I mumbled to myself, smiling a little. The Pokemon were very active this morning. The cool air and wet environment were probably why, but I quite liked it. I wasn't feeling super motivated, so I didn't try to catch anything, but besides the Hoppip I did see Rattata and Pidgey, completely unconcerned with me while they scoured the ground for seeds and berries, I thought I caught a glimpse of an Ekans slithering away into some shrubs, and I even saw a Wooper before it dashed away, jumping into a huge puddle made from the rain, which was less of a puddle and more of a pond.
After a couple of hours, when my shoes were thoroughly soaked through, I met up with a trainer who challenged me to a battle, finally tearing me away from my own thoughts.
"I'll bet you think you're tough with that Badge and everything, huh? Well, we'll see after a battle!" The boy was grinning, his intentions innocent and excited, and I mimicked him. "Go Rattata!"
"Weedle, I choose you!"
"Use Quick Attack!"
"Hurry and use String Shot on the ground around you!" Weedle spat out some sticky bug stuff, and as Rattata made his way towards Weedle, his feet got caught in the webs, and he tripped, rolling straight past Weedle and wrapping himself up in the string. "Nice! Now use Bug Bite!" Weedle proceeded to bite down on Rattata, releasing him from the string as he struggled but also doing some damage.
"Get up and Tackle Rattata!"
"Wee!"
"Tee!"
"Careful Weedle! Use Poison Sting now!" Weedle flung a series of violet stingers at Rattata, who took them straight to his front, and ended up being poisoned too.
"Crap! C'mon Rattata, you can do it! Use Quick Attack again!"
"Look out!" Weedle didn't manage to get away in time, and was instead knocked several feet backwards, struggling to stand. "Use String Shot again!"
"Dodge it with Quick Attack!" The normal type ended up getting caught in the sticky substance, but at his high speed he fell over and in a high speed roll knocked right into Weedle, doing damage to both Pokemon.
"Hurry Weedle, get up and use Bug Bite one last time!" After chomping down on the opposing Pokemon again, Rattata fainted, and the other trainer returned him to his Pokeball. The trainer then swallowed, putting away the capsule, but still confidently pulling out another one.
"Don't you go thinking you've won yet! I've still got one partner left!"
"I've still got someone left too, in fact-" Grinning, I returned Weedle to his shiny Pokeball and threw out Totodile instead. "Are you ready boy?" The starter Pokemon quacked joyfully, jumping up for a moment.
"You're next up Zubat! Supersonic!" Even before Zubat had fully materialized from the flash of blue energy, waves of yellow circles were heading towards Totodile, making a horrible noise.
"Move out of the way!" My warning came too late, and before I could react anymore Totodile was stumbling around, barely staying on it's own two feet. "Oh no..."
"Now use Astonish!" The loud noise that Zubat made when he knocked into Totodile caused the water type more surprise than anything, as he fell backwards onto his bottom, unable to even stand again.
"Snap out of it Totodile, come on buddy!"
"Again Zubat!" This time Zubat knocked Totodile over backwards, and flipped over his head, landing on his cute little stomach. This seemed to knock the confusion right out of him, as Totodile shook his big head, holding it as if it hurt, but eventually steadying himself.
"Alright, use Water Gun Totodile!" Though he sprayed a strong stream of water multiple times at the flying and poison type Pokemon, it easily dodged his attacks every time. It hears the water every time, that's why it can dodge... What can we do? Leer won't do anything, since Zubat can't see...Then it's up off the ground, so he won't be able to reach with SCratch and Bite... Oh boy, what can we do?
"Use Leech Life Zubat!"
"Counter it with Scratch!" Totodile easily managed to destroy the power sapping needles with his claws, then I commanded even more Water Guns. Eventually we got lucky and one of them finally hit Zubat, knocking him off balance. "Now use Water Gun to get yourself up off the ground and use Bite!"
"Zubat, watch out!" Zubat wasn't able to stop spinning and gain control of himself in the air, so once Totodile had propelled himself up off the ground with Water Gun, he was easily able to Bite down on part of Zubat's wing and body. Then, he began pulling Zubat down to the ground.
"Alright, now once you get down use Water Gun again!" After forcing Zubat down, and onto the ground, Totodile jumped back a bit, spraying his opponent with a forceful stream of water. "Good job Totodile, we did it!" I called out as I saw the other trainer grabbing his final Pokemon's Pokeball.
"Wow, you guys really are the real deal, huh?" After picking up my starter Pokemon in my arms, I went to meet the other trainer.
"I guess so! I never expected to be this strong, and we can only get stronger! I hope you do to! See you!"
"Bye!" The rest of the day was relatively uneventful, and by evening dark was coming much quicker than usual because of the heavy, almost black clouds that had moved in. I decided to set up camp as soon as we passed around a large rock formation. Before I had made it all the way around it though, I heard a girl's voice chattering away nonstop.
"Hello?" A girl about my age came into view, with blue pigtails and a cute green dress. She was holding her Pokegear up to her ear, while her voice tittered away. A small blue Pokemon with buck teeth was sitting next to her feet, looking very much bored. When it noticed me it looked up and smiled, standing up. I waved and grinned at it excitedly, before taking out my Pokedex and getting the entry on her.
"Nidoran , the poison pin Pokemon. Although not very combative, it will torment its foes with poison spikes if it is threatened in any way."
"You sound dangerous, but... You're such a cutie!" Nidoran came towards me, and I scratched behind her ear. She was wearing a lilac bow around her neck. Her trainer still hadn't noticed me. After a minute I stood up, and tapped on her shoulder.
"Eek!"
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Frowning, the girl looked stared at me, then at her Pokemon.
"Sorry, I'm on the phone, if you want to battle you're going to have to wait." I shrugged at her awkwardly. I hadn't really been looking for a battle, but a campsite, and actually, this area seemed pretty high up, and the ground wasn't wet either... "Sorry Samantha, what were you saying?"
I pouted as the girl began to ignore me again, but I just turned away and set my bag down. I dug through it for a moment, taking out my little tent and beginning to set it up near the girl, trying to get it underneath an overhang on the rock formation. As I glanced to my left, I saw the girl staring at me. I gave her a small smile, and then went back to my tent.
"What are you doing?" I answered her quietly.
"Setting up my tent. It's late, and probably going to start raining soon."
"Right here?"
"Mm hm." I nodded my head. "Do you have a tent too? There's not much room in mine, but I wouldn't want you to freeze to death or anything..."
"No, I've got one, don't worry. Oh, sorry Samantha, I'm going to have to call you back... Yeah, I'm still on Route 32, and it's about to rain, so... Talk to ya later!" She put her Pokegear away then looked back at me. "I'm going to start setting up my tent too now." After a couple of minutes she spoke up again. She really seemed unable to stop herself, which was kind of like me, except that this girl made me a bit nervous... "My name is Liz. We can talk, if you want."
"Cool! It's kind of lonely around here, so that'll be nice... I'm Lyra."
"Nice... So you're a trainer too then?"
"Yup! Actually, I just got my first Gym Badge."
"Really? I got mine from Falkner a few days ago too. They're just so shiny!" We giggled together, and I finally began feeling a lot more comfortable. We talked a lot about our Pokemon, then Liz began going on about how handsome Falkner had been. When I told her about how I had spent the day with him, she got all excited and asked a lot of questions, which made me a little uncomfortable... After we'd finished with our things though, we started up a fire next to our tents and began to cook some grilled cheese sandwiches with Liz's hobo pie makers.
"I swear, food cooked over the fire is the be-est!" Liz sang, taking another bite of her sandwich.
"It really is though! Especially if you're hanging out with someone else..." I elbowed Liz playfully, and she laughed.
"You know Lyra, you must be a pretty good trainer if Professor Elm gave you an egg. How about we battle in the morning?"
"I think that's a great idea! I really hope it's not raining too hard though." And just as I said that, a huge droplet of water fell into our fire, creating an odd sizzling noise. Within minutes, the fire was flickering out, and the sound of rain was almost all that we could hear. Liz and I were huddled against the back of the rocks, trying not to get wet. Nidoran was sitting on Liz's feet, while Totodile had run out into the open, trying to catch water droplets in his huge mouth. Weedle had gone to sleep a while before in my tent, and the egg was in there as well.
Suddenly though, there was a flash of white light in the sky, and a thunderous boom caused us all to jump. Totodile quacked loudly, obviously scared and surprised, rushing back towards me and jumping into my arms, all wet and slippery.
"Oh, Totodile... I think we should probably get into our tents now..." Liz nodded, and we rushed into our separate tents, trying not to get soaked. Inside, the rain was even louder. "I'm not sure how I'm going to sleep tonight..."
"Toto!" Suddenly over his fear from before, Totodile waddled over to where the egg's case was standing, wrapping his arms around it and closing his eyes, seemingly instantly falling asleep. I smiled a bit at him.
"I guess rain doesn't really bother you, huh cutie?" Sighing, I struggled to put on some pajamas, but after putting on some fuzzy pants I gave up on that, just pulling on a light jacket over my shirt and crawling into my sleeping bag.
I was up for a really long time, becoming more and more tired but unable to sleep because of the noise. Eventually though, I slipped into sleep, and woke up the next morning exhausted and uncomfortable.
Rain was still pounding outside. I frowned, pulling the hood of my yellow raincoat on, and peering outside. The fire had long been out, and the rain showed no sign of letting up. Sighing, I put on some jeans and began packing some of my things. My other clothes, my flashlight, sleeping bag, and hat. Then I stepped outside, my socks inside my red shoes instantly becoming soaked and squishy. My face scrunched up in disgust. Liz still must've been sleeping, as her tent was still sitting there and she wasn't outside.
"Well, this isn't so bad. At least there's no more thunder or lightning. Okay then, let's eat breakfast!" I went back inside the tent, already getting the inside wet and muddy. Totodile was slowly beginning to awake, yawning loudly and stretching out his tiny little arms. "Morning bud, how about some food?" That woke him right up, and Totodile stood up from his place among my blankets, carrying the egg awkwardly with him as he sat down in front of me.
I poured my starter a big bowl of Poke Food. and he began picking up the pieces and eating them one by one, occasionally putting one of the pieces up against the egg's case. I laughed at him, but didn't correct him that the egg couldn't eat anything. It was cute, and sweet. I ate a breakfast bar and a handful of Frosted Flakes, then heard Liz's amazingly loud voice over the rain.
"I cannot believe this!"
"Liz?" She must not have heard me, but did keep talking, though I couldn't understand what she was saying. Maybe she's on the phone again? I packed up all of the food, and returned Weedle to his Pokeball, put the egg in my bag, and finally left the tent for good, with Totodile right behind me. "Liz!" I said a little bit louder. I jumped as she poked her head out through her tent's door.
"This is ridiculous! I can't believe that it's still raining! I mean, I sat up for for like, ever waiting for it stop the first time, and now it's raining AGAIN! And my Pokegear isn't even getting a signal!"
"Um, sorry? That's just how it's like when you're on a journey. So I think that I'm going to get going, um, do you still want to battle?"
"In this?! You must be crazy! I don't even have a coat! Sorry Lyra, but I am staying right here until further notice!"
"Alright Liz, well then-"
"WAIT! Give me your Pokegear number!"
"My number? I thought you said that you didn't have a signal?"
"Well, I don't, but I can still put you in my contacts and call you later, right?"
"Of course!" After we exchanged numbers I told Nidoran and Liz goodbye, and I continued on my way down Route 32.
It was impossible to not walk through puddles. The whole route was basically a puddle. That, and the rain, even with my rain jacket, I was thoroughly soaked through after just a half hour. My mood was getting worse and worse with each slopping step that I took. I ended up taking out my Pokegear and headphones and listening to some pop.
I ate lunch as I walked, and just as I was finishing up a ham and cheese roll up the cliffs rising up on my left gave way to water. There was a set of stairs which went down into a small grassy area, then a long dock full of fishermen. They all looked positively miserable, hunched over holding their poles. Can they really catch anything when the weather's like this? The water was rising, and beginning to slosh over the dock. It looked pretty dangerous, actually. I wondered if they should be getting out of there pretty soon...
I had the option of taking the dock's path, or continuing along the cliff, and I obviously chose the cliff. Even this way didn't exactly seem the safest though. It was on a bit of a slant, and all of the rain water was running down it and into the water below. It was almost like a giant slip n' slide. I went up as far as I could, along the tree line, and walked carefully along, doing my best not to slip and fall and be swept away.
As I slowly made my way along, I watched the fishermen, one by one, get angry as the water started rising over the docks. They all packed their things, and eventually left. I started to shiver. It was only two o'clock when I decided that enough was enough, and I headed into the forest on my right.
I was absolutely miserable. I was cold, and soaked to the bone. The rain didn't come through the thick forest quite as badly, but because it was coming down so hard it was by no means dry. I need to be dry, somehow... My clothes need to be hung, so does my tent... my sleeping bag should be alright... Everything else in my bag is probably soaked though...
"Aw man... What am I supposed to do?" Sighing, I took my soaking tent, rain fly, and my raincoat, and hung them about eight feet up in the air in between some trees, making a shelter of sorts. Thanks to my mom I had several lengthy ropes with me to help me with this. Using the rest of the rope, I created some clothes lines to hang all of my wet things up with, and even managed to make a very unstable hammock using my only somewhat damp sleeping bag and a large quilt.
Then I started a very nice fire and sat my cold butt down for the rest of the day, hands held up to the fire.
"I can see why Liz didn't want to leave her tent... Oh well, I guess you can't expect your journey to be perfect."
"Dile!"
"Wee!" Both of my Pokemon gave cries of agreement, and we listened to music and the sound of rain for the rest of the day. I fell asleep humming 'Rain, Rain, Go Away'.
Sunday, May 28th
This chapter was a bit boring, I'll admit... Sorry for the wait you guys, hopefully it will be getting much more exciting as soon as Team Rocket comes into play.