My Main Pokemon:
Soren – Cyndaquil
Victor – Pidgeotto
Kadela – Weedle
Joseline – Bellsprout
Rhine – Gastly
Helia – Zubat
"I hope you get torn limb from limb," Leon said before turning to leave the Pokemon Centre.
"I hope you get swarmed by Beedrill!" I called out to his retreating form. He didn't acknowledge my comment, but I smiled as I continued on with my business.
When I finished in the Pokemon Centre my eyes weren't feeling heavy yet, but I knew that I needed to sleep either way. I briefly debated going back to Kurt's and seeing if he'd let me stay the night, but I decided against that and proceeded to the woods north-east of his house instead. I didn't find a clearing in the first few hundred feet in, so I just chose a smooth spot without roots to settle down in for the night.
When I removed my shirt I felt the pain of my burns, and I realized that I forgot to buy burn ointment when I was still in town, but I was already sitting down and the day was starting to catch up with me. A thought occurred to me, and I dug through my bag to pull out my one and only Burn Heal, which I had found at some point during the day, I couldn't remember where. Releasing the safety I positioned it behind my neck and squirted it on my neck.
I dropped the bottle and clenched my hand as the spray hit my skin, stinging more than the explosion had. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes, breathing in sharply. The pain subsided to bearable after about twenty seconds. I wiped at my eyes (which had watered slightly from the force with which I was clenching them shut) before feeling at my neck gingerly to see if the Burn Heal had caused any more damage. The skin felt smooth, and while tender it didn't hurt when I touched it.
Encouraged, I reached back for the bottle and sprayed a small amount on my shoulder where I'd be able to see the effects it had. I was able to brace myself but the pain was just as bad the second time around. Once I was able I opened my eyes and looked at the skin on my shoulder. It was still red, but the wrinkling and cracking had smoothed out, and when I touched it it also only felt tender instead of hot and painful.
Over the course of the next several minutes I applied the Burn Heal to all my burns (spraying it on my hands and applying it to the skin on my face, afraid of what would happen if I accidentally got some in my eyes). As I sat through the pain I wondered if it was painful for Pokemon to receive these medicines too, or if the pain was a human allergic reaction to something in the solution. Victor always seemed happy when I sprayed him with a Potion, but then again the Potion was meant to heal the wounds of an already weak Pokemon, so perhaps it was an exception, and the same for Antidotes. I decided to watch Victor's reaction closely when (if?) he got burned and I gave him a Burn Heal.
I had stripped off my tank top to apply the Burn Heal to my back, and as I looked at it on the ground beside me I knew it was a lost cause, the back almost completely gone. It was cool but not cold out so I put my jacket on and took my emergency blanket out of my bag but didn't unfold it.
I lay down on the ground, resting my head in the crook of my elbow. I fell asleep almost immediately.
I woke up at some point very early in the morning (the light of the sun just starting to appear), but I closed my eyes and fell asleep again. When I woke up again it wasn't quite noon, and while my eyes were heavy I decided that I needed to get moving and defeat the Gym.
I pulled one of my other tank tops out of my bag and put it on. I looked down at my burned tank top, and decided to take it with me in case I ever hurt myself and needed the extra cloth. I used my scissors to cut off the completely burned parts and put what was left at the bottom of my bag under the rest of my clothes. I gave my hair a quick brush, packed up my bag, and made my way back into town.
I stopped at Kurt's first to pick up my Pokeballs, and he had just been sitting down to lunch and offered me some food. I had been planning on getting food next, so I agreed. There was some small talk as we ate, but I was more concerned with filling myself up. He gave my Pokemon some food as well, so they'd be ready for the gym in the afternoon.
Before I left I gave Kurt my Red Apricots, and he said he'd try and have them ready for me by the end of the afternoon, since I mentioned that I would be moving on after taking on the gym. After thanking him for the food and returning my Pokemon, I left. After a stop at the Mart for Antidotes (a bug gym? My Pokemon were sure to be poisoned at least once) I still had over 10 000д left over, and I felt rich now that each trip wasn't putting me back down to ground zero. Satisfied that I was prepared I finally headed to the gym, a slight knot in my stomach that may have been from fullness or nervousness.
When I entered the gym I found myself in a small entrance room, with a door that must lead to the rest of the gym. There was only one person in the room, a short fat guy – the same one from Falkner's gym? Before I could ask anything he started talking, explaining that the gym was essentially a giant nest, and that the bug Pokemon the trainers used didn't like fire (oh, you don't say?) or flying-type moves. At that I realized that this would be another Victor-domination – not that that was a problem, of course.
I released Victor, then pulled the double doors ahead of me open. I couldn't help but feel that I was making a grand entrance, but I couldn't see anyone – ahead of me there was a long-ish hallway with what looked like grass at the end. I shrugged, and walked through, Victor walking along behind me (he was very good at walking, which was good since he wouldn't have been able to spread his wings in that hallway).
Once I was through the hallway I found myself at the edge of a giant chasm. Thick white tubing that was probably supposed to look like or imitate an Ariados web connected both sides, the image further encouraged by the Ariados-shaped vehicle thing in front of me that I supposed was for riding from side of the chasm to the other. I noted that there seemed to be several different paths the vehicle could take along the tubing, unless the extra tubing was just for decoration.
Victor and I stepped into the vehicle, and were moved across the chasm to our first opponent.
To make a short story even shorter, we Gusted our way through all the junior trainers. Victor gained several levels, and during a double battle I accidentally sent out Soren (I made a mental note to mark everyone's Pokeballs at some point so I wouldn't make a similar mistake again), and he gained a level from that.
During our last battle Victor managed to break one of the web piping pieces with an extremely strong Gust (it was a good thing I had been bracing against them or I might have been thrown back into the chasm – the Spinark that the attack had been aimed against was thrown almost to the other side before it was retracted back into its Pokeball), so I didn't even have to worry about the switches that controlled the web layout after that – after entering the vehicle again it took us straight to the gym leader, whom Kurt had called Bugsy (okay seriously did she have her name changed or what?). I had seen pictures of Bugsy on the internet along with pictures of other gym leaders, and I was in for a big surprise when he spoke.
"Welcome to Azalea gym, challenger. I'm Bugsy -"
"Wait, you're a GUY?" I said out loud before I could stop myself. I covered my mouth with my hand. "Sorry. Pictures are deceiving. Please continue."
Bugsy had raised his eyebrows at my outburst, but continued on as if I hadn't interrupted him. Him. "I'm going to become the authority on Bug Pokemon someday, so allow me to demonstrate what I've learned through my studies. I hope you're well prepared, because when it comes to Bug types, I never lose!" he said that last bit with a smile before pulling a Pokeball out of his pocket and releasing a Scyther.
I motioned for Victor to go forward, whispering "Quick attack" as he passed to stand in front of me. I felt a slight breeze at my back as he prepared to propel himself forward in his attack.
After a few attacks Victor had barely damaged the Scyther at all. I was getting a little concerned, then I remembered the move Victor had learned during training earlier. "Victor, use Whrilwind," I said. I felt the wind spin around us and Bugsy's Scyther was lifted off the ground then thrown towards Bugsy, forcing him to return it before they collided. The wind pulled one of his other Pokeballs into the air, and a Kakuna was released. "That's better," I said with a grin. "Gust!"
It was a one hit knock out.
Bugsy didn't seem to be bother by the fact that he had just lost his Kakuna. Without a word he released his Scyther again. I saw that he still had one more Pokeball, so I decided to bring Victor in to heal before finishing the battle – he was pretty low on health, so I figured I'd need at least two turns to get him back to normal with Potions. I ran my fingers over my belt, trying to decide who to send out. I ran through strengths and weaknesses quickly, trying to find someone who would be safe against the Scyther for a round or two. My memory was failing me and I had to withdraw Victor before the Scyther attacked, so I went with the first option that sounded logical in my head. "Kadela, go!" I said, releasing her from her Pokeball, and she landed in front of the Scyther.
I knew immediately that that had been a very, very bad idea.
Without so much as a word from Bugsy the Scyther reached out with one of its arms and cut Kadela's head off.
My hand, that had been feeling around one of my pockets for a Potion, froze. My eyes widened and my mouth fell open as I stared at the two halves of Kadela's body. I felt something rise up in my throat – not bile, but the spit the precedes it. I swallowed and kept my throat tensed.
I looked past the Scyther at Bugsy, who was looking straight ahead with unfocused eyes. I could see his clenched jaw though.
My hand found a Super Potion and I pulled it out before dropping down to one knee beside Victor to apply it to his wounds quickly (the Scyther had managed to scratch him with its blades a few times when he got too close). For once Victor was completely still and quiet, his eyes fixed on Kadela. The world around me felt like it was frozen.
I finished healing Victor and stood back up, depositing the empty bottle back into my pocket. The grass around Kadela's body was now stained with red, and I wondered whether I could still withdraw her into her Pokeball. I clicked her Pokeball and first her head, then her body were withdrawn back into it. I cleared my throat, not feeling like I'd be able to get a clear word out. "Whrildwind," I said, the last syllable catching slightly on the coating in my throat. It felt like I had eaten a platefull of salty fries without so much as a sip of water.
Victor hopped forward with the wind he stirred up, and I was almost lifted off my feet before Victor focused the spinning air on the Scyther. Bugsy had heard my command and had his Pokeball at the ready to withdraw his Scyther. A Metapod was released from his last remaining Pokeball. I opened my mouth to give a command to Victor but he had already unleashed a powerful Gust that sent the Metapod straight into the wall behind Bugsy, and there was an audible crunch that seemed to echo through the otherwise silent gym.
Bugsy turned to look over his shoulder before returning the Metapod to its Pokeball and sending out his Scyther once again. When he turned back around his expression was what I could only describe as hard, and I imagined it mirrored my own at that point. "It's usually at this point in the battle that I say that bugs are tough," Bugsy said as he pocketed the Metapod's Pokeball. "But I think we both know better than that – not all of them are." He paused. "Focus Energy," he said to his Scyther, which proceeded to close its eyes as it carried out the command.
My brain was mulling Bugsy's words over when I caught sight of Victor's eyes. Normally they were open wide, almost innocent-looking. And above all, happy – always, always happy. But they were narrowed, and he didn't look like himself.
He looked like Leon.
Did he kill the Metapod on purpose? The thought ran through my head, because I was sure that after the sound it made on impact that it was dead. I could feel the Gust Victor sent in the Scyther's direction, and it was probably only due to its mass that it wasn't blown backwards by the attack. I should have him try and combine Whirlwind and Gust for strength, I thought before bringing my mind back to the task at hand. That task being that I wasn't sure if my Pokemon was on a murderous rampage, and that I had to stop him if he was.
My eyes focused on the Scyther when I saw movement, and I saw it eat a Sitrus berry. "Fuck," I muttered, suppressing a groan of frustration. I wanted to stop my Pokemon from being a murderer, but there was no guarantee that the Scyther would hesitate to decapitate another one of my Pokemon if given the opportunity.
In that moment, Pokemon battling had never felt so real, and I had never felt so alive.
My focus was renewed, and it was as if Victor sensed it as well because the next Gust he unleashed sent the Scyther rolling to the side; it was weakening, though Victor still wasn't doing as much damage as I would have liked. The Scyther sent a Leer in Victor's direction as it returned to its feet and prepared to attack. At a word from Bugsy, however, it retreated to his side. Bugsy gave it a Super Potion, and I wanted to hit something.
The Scyther was back in the battle in a flash, catching both Victor and I off-guard. It hit Victor with a Quick Attack, and its aim was right on – the Focus Energy must have helped. Victor started bleeding profusely, and I called him back immediately. I gave him another Super Potion, and he was good as new. As I was applying it I whispered to him. "Calm down, okay? Just knock the Scyther out, don't kill it, all right? There's time to be angry and sad later, once we win this." I couldn't place the way Victor was looking at me, what he was trying to tell me without words. I only hoped he listened to me.
But why should he, really? The Scyther had killed Kadela – thinking it felt more like stating a fact than something that had actually happened in front of my eyes, but I felt a twist in my gut all the same – and revenge was a logical retaliation.
I closed my eyes and breathed out heavily. Just because it was logical didn't make it right. Did it?
Victor jumped away from me and towards the Scyther in a Quick Attack, but the Scyther must have anticipated that that was what he'd try because it avoided the attack. Luckily its attack missed its mark as well. Victor turned around quickly and tried to land another Quick Attack, but the Scyther dodged again. Dodging Victor caused it to lose its balance, however, and before it could recover and attack Victor he used Gust and sent the Scyther flying – a critical hit most likely.
Needless to say, the Scyther didn't get up, but I was pretty sure it was still breathing, which caused me to be sigh in relief. Bugsy withdrew it for a final time and stepped forward. We met in the centre of the clearing.
"You're quite the Pokemon expert," he said, holding out my victory money – 1800д! – and my new badge. "The Hive Badge will ensure that Pokemon up to level 30 obey your every command." He pulled a TM out of one of his pockets. "Take this as well. It's TM89, U-Turn. I think it would work well if combined with Whirlwind." He paused, looking at a point over my shoulder. "I am – sorry about what happened during the battle. It happens, it's just a fact of this sort of life – which is something you may want to include in your calculations as you continue to develop your strategy." I blinked and he shrugged before turning away. "Good luck," he said before I turned away as well. Victor had used Gust to glide over the chasm towards the exit, and I hurried to catch up.
When we got outside I saw that it was mid afternoon. I took a breath in my eyes widened as I remembered again. Kadela was dead. Decapitated. Killed. Because of my own stupidity.
What had I been thinking? I had decided she wasn't cut out for battling, so I hadn't been training her, she was small and weak and so innocent and didn't deserve to be dead. Bug types aren't resistant to bug attacks for crying out loud!
My face started to burn, and I could feel the pressure of tears building behind my eyes. I took a deep breath (which almost turned into a sob) and blinked rapidly, taking quick steps towards the Pokemon Centre. I wouldn't let my grief get in the way of logic and survival.
I almost broke down again when the nurse asked for my Pokemon and I almost handed her Kadela's Pokeball. I grabbed a permanent marker from the counter and put it in my pocket while her back was turned – I still needed to mark the Pokeballs of my other Pokemon.
I knew that I had to get out of Azalea, so once I had my Pokemon back I went straight for Ilex Forest. Bug Pokemon were supposed to be abundant there – I would catch another Weedle.
My thoughts were scattered and incomplete as I stumbled through the darkness in the forest. I happened upon a Kakuna not far in, and decided to catch it. One Nightshade courtesy of Rhine and one Pokeball later, he was mine. The name Kaiden came to mind, but I didn't even take the time to look at his information on my PokeDex, because I was full out crying by the end of the battle.
I continued along the path with my eyes closed half the time, my balance off from the tears that leaked from my eyes. I'm pretty sure I was talking to myself and making other noises, but I wasn't registering anything that was happening around me. For the first time ever I understood the expression "blinded by grief." I had Rhine out, and she must have been keeping the bugs at bay.
Of course, she didn't warn me before I ran into something. Well, someone.
Leon, of all people.
I could see the surprise on his face when he looked down and saw mine. I straightened and took a step back, wiping at my face with the back of my arm, resisting the urge to sniffle. Leon had his eyebrows raised when I looked at him again.
"So I take it the gym didn't go so well? Figures."
"For your information I won," I snapped, wiping at my face to get the water I had missed. He waited for me to continue, and I reluctantly did. "But there were casualties. Well, one on my side, anyway."
"You lost a Pokemon," he stated. It wasn't a question. I nodded, and he chuckled. "That's what's got you so worked up? And here I was starting to gain some respect for you-"
"Stop!" I yelled, the volume and strength of my voice surprising me. His eyebrows and lips twitched in amusement, making me angrier. "Just stop and shut up and leave me alone, okay?"
"Get over yourself," Leon said, crossing his arms. "Just crush the Pokeball and move on, there's nothing you can do about it now."
I opened my mouth to say something, then paused. "Crush the Pokeball?"
Leon nodded. "Easiest way to deal with a corpse, since I doubt any of your Pokemon know Dig."
I hadn't yet given any thought with what to do with Kadela now that she was...no longer with us. "I've read about the temple in Lavender Town – there's nowhere like that in Johto?"
"Nope. And if you were thinking about it, Lavender Town is a bit far for a detour."
"I'm not stupid," I snapped at him again, my hands becoming fists at my side. "And don't you dare say could have fooled me."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Leon said in what was clearly sarcasm. I glared at him. "So, did the old man give you the money?"
It took me a moment to figure out what Leon was referring to. "Hmm, yeah. Wait, dammit, I didn't pick up my Pokeballs," I said, letting out a huff of frustration. Talking to Leon was distracting me, though, which I guess was a good thing. "Oh well, it would take too long to go back anyway," I said, not mentioning that I had no idea where I was in the forest, which way to go, nor how far in I actually was. I saw a path to my right slightly behind Leon, and decided it was a good a path as any at this point. I could get my bearings once he was out of my face. I went to walk past him and follow it. "Now if you'll excuse me-"
"It's a dead end," Leon said without even turning his head to look where I was heading. "And you were heading in the wrong direction anyway. The main path is back the other way."
"So what are you doing down here then?" I asked, turning back to face him and crossing my arms.
He shrugged. "Investigating. Sometimes people drop items, plus some rare Pokemon tend to stay away from the main paths." I could see the smirk on the edge of his face from my place behind him. "You have no idea where you are, do you?"
"Of course I do, I'm in Ilex Forest," I replied, hoping the sarcasm would mask that fact that I was actually lost. He snorted. "Okay fine smartass, I wasn't watching where I was going and I lack a bearing. Happy?"
"Doesn't matter to me whether you're lost or not," he said with a shrug before he started walking back the way I had come. I caught up to him quickly and fell in step with him. "Did I say you could follow me?" he asked after a few moments.
"Like you could stop me if you tried."
"Is that a challenge?"
"I don't know, is it?"
Leon glanced over at me before returning his eyes to the path ahead. Leon's Gastly and Rhine were about eighty feet ahead of us, clearing away any Pokemon that ventured onto the path in front of us. "And what do you plan on doing once you reach Goldenrod?" he asked, changing the subject.
My eyes widened and I pulled my PokeGear out of my pocket, turning it on and moving quickly to the map application. There it was, north of our current position – Goldenrod. Fuck, I thought, having forgotten that I'd be passing by there next. Not wanting Leon to notice my slight panic, I concentrated on keeping my voice even as I came up with a vague answer. "I probably won't stay long, then I'll head north up to Ecruteak." A thought occurred to me. "Shit, that'll only work if the creepy tree's gone."
"So you've encountered it huh?" Leon said as we turned onto what must be the main path he was referring to. I didn't notice much difference between it and the path we had just been on. I looked up at the sky through the thick tree covering above us and could see the intense light from the sun coming from our left. So we were heading north then – makes sense that the main path would be direct. "It's still there, and probably won't be moving any time soon." I was about to ask what he meant by moving, but he continued. "The only way to get around it is through the forest."
"I tried that," I interrupted, finally feeling like I had a bit of an upper hand. "It's fenced in, at least from the east."
"It's fenced in from the west as well," Leon replied, and I felt myself deflate a bit at not having special knowledge. "The crossroads is a bottleneck the police use to catch any criminals that escape from the Goldenrod Jail. There's no way for them to get anywhere without passing through the crossroad at some point, since Olivine is fenced off as well."
Police bottleneck. Great. I saw a smug look on his face when I looked over at him. "You know a way past it."
"Of course," he said, a full on smirk appearing. "There's a dead zone in the fence this side of the crossroads. Go through that, cut through the forest, easy. The trees are high around Ecruteak, it's a simple matter of climbing one and dropping down on the other side of the fence." I nodded as we continued walking. "I still haven't invited you to come with me," he noted.
"You have yet to try and stop me," I countered. "Not that it would work."
"Keep telling yourself that," he said, but didn't do anything besides put his hands in his jacket pockets as we continued to navigate the forest.
We delved quickly into the paths that branched off the main one, but didn't find anything of interest. There were a few junior trainers that were hardly worth our time (my Pokemon were ten levels above most of theirs), and we made good time. Or so it seemed to me.
I tried to make small talk a few times, finding the silence of the forest a little odd, but I only succeeded in engaging him when I brought up Team Rocket. He talked about how he hates weak trainers and Pokemon, how he hates to see them hanging around places in general (which is probably why he was very harsh in battles with the trainers in the forest) – it seemed to me as if their very existence offended him. He explained that Team Rocket members were the worst of all, because they think themselves strong and tough when in a group, but the moment you get them alone they're weak and cowardly. Apparently he hates every single last one of them. I couldn't imagine that being the only reason he hated Team Rocket, but I couldn't get anything more out of him once he stopped talking other than the fact that if I got in his way he wouldn't treat my any differently. I laughed and taunted him some more, but to no avail.
When we exited the forest it was dusk. The moon was out and provided a good amount of light to compensate for the quickly setting sun as we made our way down the path. Leon said that the hole in the fence was before Goldenrod, so we wouldn't pass through it – I was silently extremely thankful for that – but there were still trainers to defeat before we reached it. We each took separate challengers, moving ahead to the next opponent once we finished.
I had Rhine out after dealing with a trainer's Sandshrew, and she was floating by my head as I walked down the narrow path between patches of tall grass (this shit was actually really tall, reaching my shoulders). Ahead of me Leon and the guy he was battling were taking up the entire path with their battle (he had his Croconaw out against a Snubbull), so I cut into the grass so that I could walk behind him and avoid getting hit by a stray Water Gun - the damn things didn't seem to like me and had come close to soaking me back in the forest.
I was a few steps into the grass when my foot hit something, and I almost lost my balance. Pushing some grass aside with my hands I saw an Abra curled up at my feet. It looked like it was asleep, until it lifted its head and sat up, lifting its head to look up at me even though its eyes remained closed. I might have found that odd except that it was acting just like Soren when he hadn't had any coffee.
I had read about Abra on the internet, and I knew that at the first sign of hostility they would Teleport away. I caught sight of Rhine out of the corner of my eye and very nearly cried out in happiness. There were moves that could trap an Abra, and my Gastly just happened to know one of them. "Mean Look," I said calmly, even though inside I was anything but. I'd never thought I'd ever get the chance to catch an Abra, but apparently their evolutions were awesome Pokemon. I was already excited at the prospects.
The Abra stayed sitting where it was, but cocked its head to the side – probably from confusion as to why it couldn't Teleport away after Rhine's attack. "Nightshade," I said, hoping the attack would be weak enough to not knock the Abra out. It slumped down against the force of the attack but was still conscious. "Hyponsis," I ordered, a slight shake in my voice as I dug through my bag for the Fast Ball Kurt had given me the day before. The Abra was completely limp now, and I dropped the Pokeball on it. Despite being so weak it gave up quite a struggle before the Pokeball clicked to signify a successful capture.
"Haha!" I cried, reaching down to grab the Pokeball and holding it above my head in triumph. I walked out of the grass (Leon had finished his battle and was battling with the next trainer up ahead, and the guy he had just defeated was still healing his Pokemon) and released the Abra into my arms before pulling an Awakening and Potion out of my cargo pants and administering them. It squirmed slightly in my arm as I put away the empty bottles, but only so that it could wrap its arms around my bicep. I fished out my PokeDex and opened it to see the information on my new Pokemon.
The Abra was a boy, level 10, was somewhat stubborn and had a naughty nature. "You'll get along well with Victor then, Drew," I said, adjusting my grip on him. Rhine floated down in front of me to inspect him, but Drew just tucked his head into the crook of my armpit. After a few moments I realized that he was asleep. "Dude, I just wasted an Awakening on you!" I growled quietly. I quickly read the additional information the PokeDex provided me – Abra need to sleep at least 18 hours per day in order to be able to use its teleportation and telekinetic abilites, but luckily it can still attack in its sleep (though Drew only knew Teleport, which was a bit annoying). They can also read minds and levitate over water. I pocketed my PokeDex before walking over to Leon, who had just finished off another trainer.
His eyebrows twitched when he saw Drew in my arms. I hoped that was jealousy I saw on his face, but I couldn't be sure. Not that I cared. I couldn't wait to level Drew up so that he learned more moves. "News travels fast," he said once I was beside him. We started to walk, the path clear of trainers for now. "That last guy had heard about what happened at Slowpoke Well."
"What did he think happened?" I asked, suddenly worried that maybe Kurt had said something about me. My grip on Drew tightened slightly. If my father knew I had been there-
Speak of the devil. We turned a corner in the path, and there my father was.
Author's Notes – I'm probably the first person to ever sacrifice a Pokemon as a plot device. I'm a horrible person.
Now that I have Drew the complete Victor-Gust domination is over. For those that were getting tired of it (I know I was getting tired of writing it). There's only so much I can do with that moveset. Speaking of Draw, I'll be basing his evolution's abilities off of their Bulbapedia entries. I'll also be supposing that evolution doesn't cause him to lose the abilities of his previous forms (because that would be dumb).
And YES I CAUGHT AN ABRA IN A NUZLOCKE SUCK IT~
Oh, and I suppose an apology for the super long wait is in order as well. I didn't have a lot of time or motivation to write during the summer because I was at summer camp, and college can get pretty hectic too. I got thinking about this again during spring break and came up with an (awesome) ending, which got me motivated to get going again because I'll only get to write it if I finish this! But that's still a LONG way off, trust me (as long as I don't die/fail). Lots of fun stuff to come between now and then!