x-x-x
Episode 9: A Virus Attacks!
Month Six - January
"I'm Dr. Charon Pluto, second in command of Team Galactic." The man grumbled, running a hand through what was left off his gray hair. It only held hints of the dark violet color it once had. "And this experiment is proving to be terribly mundane to my tastes." He adjusted his glasses, reviewing the monitors on the pokemon before him. All the stats on this Chikorita were normal, for now. "I realize of course that this pokerus virus would prove highly useful in powering up our pokemon, but it has nothing to do with our ultimate mission!" He grit his teeth as he filled the syringe up with fluid. "And it has proven incredibly arduous to recreate synthetically. No matter what I do, it never comes out right." He walked toward the restrained Chikorita with no expression. This sort of thing used to bother him, but it sparked no emotion for him now.
"Chika!" The tiny green pokemon tried to wriggle free, but everything, including the giant leaf on her head was held down with metal restraints. "Chika-chik!" She held a look of fear in her large red eyes.
He plunged the needle into her soft green skin, delivering the serum.
"Chika!" The Chikorita screamed out, struggling as the virus coursed through her.
"There." He pulled out the needle, and immediately turned to the monitors. "Now to see if it worked."
A grunt walked in, just as the stats on the screen began to climb. "Dr. Pluto sir? Cyrus sent me to get word on how this project is going."
He didn't respond, but watched as the chikorita's stats doubled, and visibly, the muscles in her body tensed up and enlarged. "This could be it." He smirked.
"Chika!" The Chikorita began fighting her restraints, nearly pulling loose from them with incredible strength.
"Yes. Yes!" Dr. Pluto grinned, reveling in his genius.
"Chik…" Chikorita suddenly dropped her defenses, relaxing on the table. She looked ill now.
"Drat." Pluto spat. "It was so close too."
"Sir?" The grunt approached him cautiously.
"You can tell Cyrus I'm done trying to recreate pokerus. It's a symbiotic relationship between virus and host, and the only version I've found that can be reproduced by human hands, ends up making the pokemon actually ill. I'm closing this mission, whether he likes it or not." Pluto released the restraints on the motionless Chikorita and handed it to the grunt. "I have better things to do with my time then waste it on this. Dispose of this pokemon."
The grunt took the pokemon uneasily. "What do you want me to do with it?"
"Like I care." Pluto turned his back. "Throw it out with all the other failed experiments. Just be sure you get it far away from here. It will infect all the pokemon in the lab if we don't get it out soon.
"Yes sir." The grunt left through a back door in the lab, heading straight outside.
"Chika…" The chikorita groaned, barely able to hold her eyes open.
"Gosh." The grunt looked down at her sadly. "I'm sorry little thing, but I can't help you. The only thing I can do, is make sure you spend your last days in a better place than this."
"Chik." The Chikorita closed her eyes as the galactic bundled her up under a long trench coat.
x-x-x
I yawned from the front desk of the day-care center. Glancing up, I saw that ridiculous picture sitting there in a frame. I pushed it down onto the counter, wishing I could pitch it. I hated that picture. Though it was the only photo we had of us, I hated how Travis had made it look. Somehow in that split second, I looked like his girlfriend. Him with his arm around me, and me staring deep into his eyes.
I scoffed at it. It had been a boring day, with no customers. The only amusement I had got out of the day, was when Riolu had snuck behind Stephen while he was sleeping on the job, and gave him a good force palm to the shin. He nearly scared the pants off Stephen. I chuckled remembering it, as the bell went off on the front door. A man with green hair in a bob cut walked in with a thick brown trench coat and hat. He gave me the creeps, and I wondered what he had held under his bulging coat.
"Can I help you?" I stuttered.
"I have a pokemon to drop off." The man slowly lifted a very weak looking chikorita up to the counter.
"Sure." I pulled out a paper for him to fill out, and handed it to him. "Sir, this Chikorita doesn't look well. Is it alright?"
"Yeah." He scribbled away with the pen nervously. "It's just tired. We just got off from a hard battle." He shoved the paper back into my hands.
The chikorita just closed her eyes, dozing off on the counter. "I really think you should take it to the pokemon center first sir. It doesn't look well at all."
"I already did!" He stammered. "She said it will be fine with a little rest."
I reviewed the form. "You didn't put a time you'd be picking her up at."
"I'll be back later tonight." He rushed toward the door. "Fill that in for me okay? I've really got to hurry and get back to my work now!"
"Hey wait!" I raised my hand up to try and stop him, but the man fled. "Wow. He sure was in a hurry." I looked over the tiny chikorita again. She was breathing hard. "That must have been some battle little one." I stroked her head gently, and she winced at my touch. "Hmm…"
"Lu!" Riolu burst in through the small flap door on the door to the field. He hopped up onto the counter to see the new pokemon. Pikachu came from the rear of the room and did likewise. I watched as they inspected the pokemon. "Lu?" Riolu leaned in close.
"Pi cha!" Pikachu held him back.
"Lu lu." Riolu whined, wanting to greet the chikorita.
"Stay back Riolu. She may be sick." I scooped up the Chikorita in my arms, and headed out the door. I quickly headed by the field, when Travis ran over to me.
"Hey Shonna! Where are you going?" He yelled.
"To the pokemon center! I think this pokemon that just got dropped off is sick. Tell Mary if she comes back where I went, and keep an eye on Stephen."
"Will do." He headed inside as I walked toward the pokemon center. It was just across the dirt road from the day-care center, and I was glad of it. I rushed inside.
"Shonna?" Nurse Joy jerked her head up from the counter to look at me.
"Nurse Joy," I handed her the chikorita. "Someone just dropped off this pokemon. Something's wrong with her. I can tell."
"Let me see." She took it over to a scanning machine that ran over the Chikorita's body. It took a few minutes, but it eventually yielded some results on the monitor. "Thank goodness." She sighed.
"What is it Nurse Joy?"
"It's only the Pokerus virus." She lifted chikorita up and placed her back into my arms.
"That sounds bad!" I exclaimed.
"It's really not." She smiled. "It's a very rare life form that affects pokemon from time to time. I've never actually seen a case, but everything I've read says it's a good thing. It makes your pokemon very strong. They grow at twice the level they would normally."
"Wow." I looked down at the weary chikorita. "So then, why is it so tired? The guy said they'd been battling hard, but I don't know if I buy it."
"It's probably true." Joy pet the leaf on Chikorita's head. "I mean, maybe he was training it too hard, trying to make it evolve."
"If that's the case, why would he stop to drop it off with us?"
Joy didn't seem concerned. "Well, you all train the pokemon while they're at the center right? Maybe he knew he couldn't, so he wanted to leave it somewhere where it could still get some training in." She smiled again. "Trust me Shonna, all the studies on pokerus so far have proven it harmless. And, it should wear off within 24 hours."
"What do you recommend then Joy?" I readjusted chikorita in my arms.
"Well, I can keep it and monitor it through the night, but I believe it just needs rest, which you can give it as well, right?"
"Yeah sure." I held chikorita up high, trying to cheer it up. "I know a nice comfy stable back at the center where you could take a nap Chikorita."
"Chika chik." Chikorita gave a hint of a smile to me.
"Come on then." I walked out, and back across the road. I carefully hopped the fence and approached the barn. It was nice, and well-kept thanks to Travis. Then again, he had experience cleaning barns. "The pokemon come in here when the weather gets bad. But you can rest here tonight." I sat her down on the soft hay. "I'll come back to check on you chikorita. You get to feeling better." I left her to sleep, and closed the barn door behind me. "It sure would be cool to have all my pokemon get strong, but I wouldn't dare subject them to a virus, even if Nurse Joy says it's beneficial." I huffed off back into the center. Stephen and Travis turned to look at me as I walked in.
Travis's eyebrows furrowed. "I called the number on this form to tell the guy his pokemon was sick. It was a bad number. Says it was disconnected."
"This is all really strange." I held a hand to my chin. "I'm worried about this whole situation."
"Lu!" Riolu reached his arms out, begging me to pick him up. I did so, and he crawled up to my shoulder.
"Pika pi." Pikachu had a grave look on her face.
x-x-x
I checked on the chikorita several times during the day. She had gained a little color to her skin, and her breathing was not as labored, but she slept the whole evening. "Your trainer overdid it with you." I shook my head in anger as I walked out, making sure to close the door behind me. Riolu sat outside impatiently as the sun began to set. "Yes I know." I smiled at him as he followed me inside the center.
Travis noticed me signing out. "You leaving already Shonna?"
"Yes. You and Stephen will have to close today. I didn't get to on Saturday, so I promised Riolu we would spend this evening training." I looked down at him with a smile.
"Lu!" He jumped happily.
"I see." Travis grinned. "Well don't worry about it. I can take care of it."
"It's not you I worry about." I switched my gaze to Stephen.
He just laughed as I walked out.
"Lu! Lu!" Riolu sang happily as we walked to the northern part of town. There was a big empty field up there that we loved to train at.
"You seem in good spirits Riolu!"
"Lu!" Riolu raced to the field, almost invisible in the tall grass.
I knew Riolu loved to train, but I only did so during the evening. I had done a little research, and found out that he could evolve if I trained him during the day, and we had met a certain level of friendship.
"Lu!" Riolu popped out of the grass, making me jump.
"Whoa! You scared me!"
"Lu lu lu!" He laughed at me. The expression on his face, and the happy aura signals I was getting from him, made me certain that we were already friendly enough to meet that requirement.
x-x-x
"Stephen! Come on!" Travis yelled from across the road. "I've already taken care of everything, and you know Ma will be mad if we ain't home in time for supper!"
"Hang on bro! One of the pokemon took my favorite football! I'll be there as soon as I get it back."
"You really shouldn't bring things like that to work!" Travis sighed. "Fine. I'm headed on. I'll tell her you'll be late." He walked off toward their home.
"Now. Come here you little vaporeon!" Stephen crept toward Shonna's pokemon, watching as she held the football gently in her mouth. "Give it back or else!" He charged toward her, only to have the pokemon leap away. He couldn't stop himself in time to not fall straight into the pond. "Ah jeez! Not again! You did that last time too!" He climbed out, soaking wet.
"Por por por!" The Vaporeon laughed, tossing the football to Shonna's Butterfree.
"Give me that!" He lunged for it, but the butterfree floated up, out of reach.
"Free!" It chucked the football to a gible on the grounds, and the pokemon clenched onto it with its sharp fangs, making the ball pop.
"No! No! No!" Stephen screamed. "That was signed by my favorite quarterback!" He grabbed the limp football angrily. "Stupid pokemon!"
His yelling made them flee to their hiding spots.
Stephen threw the flimsy football, feeling mad. It slung into the barn door. "Hey hold up." He struggled to think. "Shonna told me once that the barn door was supposed to be open at night, so the pokemon could go in and sleep if they wanted. Bro must have forgot! Ah man, she'd chew his head off for that." Stephen shoved open the wooden door. "He'll thank me for this later. Heck, maybe Shonna will thank me too." He secretly imagined her clinging to his muscled arm, falling all over him with gratitude. "Heheh." He chuckled. "Oh yeah." He skipped over the fence and toward his home, just as some of the pokemon began to approach the stable.
x-x-x
I looked toward the stars now, as they lit up the night sky. I was sitting on a rock, head in my hands. I was growing used to life now, but I couldn't resist daydreaming of Kanto. Or maybe not even Kanto, only its resident I so badly wanted to see once more. Though it was slowly getting easier, my heart still longed for him. I imagined him right beside me, telling me how to go about training Riolu. Giving me helpful tips.
"That sounds like something he'd do." I looked down at the grass, now imagining him telling me I was beautiful, or that he needed me just as much as I needed him. It was a foolish daydream, and though it made my heart flutter, it didn't last long before turning into the same dull ache. I looked up to the full moon, wondering if he might be looking at it too. Though I rarely spoke it, his name escaped my lips. "Oh Kyle…" I whispered to myself.
"Lu!" Riolu kicked a tall rock in front of me, grabbing my attention. The rock smashed into dozens of little pieces.
"Wow Riolu." I watched in amazement as he kicked each piece into dust. "I'm impressed. You're looking really strong tonight."
"Lu." He smiled, approaching another rock, this one was even bigger. It was at least ten times bigger than him.
"Riolu! That's too big for you!" I yelled. "You've got to start small!"
"Lu!" He pounded the rock with a force palm across the base. I was amazed to see it split in two, then crumbled around him. "Lu lu lu lu lu!" He cried as he kicked each piece into rubble.
"Riolu?" I stood, scooping him into my arms. He was so excited, he almost had a go at me.
"Lu!" He pulled his paw back with a look of apology.
"It's okay." I said, holding him close. "But I think that's enough for tonight. Let's head on home."
"Lu." He looked disappointed, but sat up on my shoulder as I walked back to the house.
x-x-x
I yawned, stretching the next morning in the bed. I got up, and got dressed as usual, but Riolu never moved from the bed. He remained huddled up under the covers.
"Hey Riolu. Time to wake-up sleepy head." I gently shook him.
"Lu." He rolled over, pulling the blanket up tighter on him.
"You worked too hard yesterday." I said, putting my hands on my hips. "Fine. You stay here and rest today. I'll come back and check on you at lunch though, so you better be up by then."
"Lu…" He pulled the blanket over his ears now.
I laughed, headed downstairs and out the door. It was a cold and frigid day that morning, making me wish I could go curl up beside Riolu and go back to bed as well. I kept a smile on as I walked into the center. The door was already unlocked. "Hello hello!" I glanced through the hallway. "Anyone here?" There was no answer, and even Pikachu didn't come out to greet me. I signed in and grabbed the clipboard with the roster. Taking notice to the fact that Chikorita's trainer never came back to pick her up, I walked out to the field. Travis was outside. He stood beside the barn and hung his head, pulling his hat down.
"Travis!" I waved. "You're here early!"
He looked up at me with a strange expression, that's when I noticed the barn door open.
"How long has that been open?" I yelled, furious with him. "I trusted you to make sure it stayed closed."
"Stephen told me this morning that he had opened it before he left last night. That's why I rushed over here as soon as I could." His voice was low.
"You guys are so incompetent!" I screamed. "I ask you to close just one day for me and you screw it up!"
He winced, looking hurt from my comment.
I sighed, pushing my way by him. "Well, too late now. So how's the chikorita? Is it feeling any better?" I had almost made it into the barn when Travis grabbed me by the shoulders and held me back. He was forceful about it, making me jump for a split second. "What are you doing?" I yelled. "Let go of me Travis!"
"Don't go in there Shonna." He stepped in between me and the barn. "The Chikorita, it… it passed on."
"What?" I stepped back now, making him drop his hands loosely to his sides. "What… what do you mean?" Nothing like this had ever happened here, and it was incomprehensible to me.
"It's dead." He said bluntly.
"No it can't!" I yelled. "It was still so young. It was getting better!"
"Please don't go in there Shonna." He glanced over to the center entrance. "Mary's here now. I'm going to go tell her what's happened, then get a shovel. Give it a proper burial." As he closed the barn door, I peeked in to see the tiny motionless body inside.
I was still gripping onto my blue clipboard, but I followed Travis inside to hear their conversation.
"What?" Mary threw her things down in surprise. "What do you mean a pokemon died on the premises?"
"I mean just that." Travis reached down to collect the old woman's belongings, sitting them on the counter.
"Was it one of the older pokemon?"
"No, it wasn't." Travis hung his head once more.
"Then," Mary picked up the phone. "It had no apparent reason to die. We should call Nurse Joy over to look at it." Mary looked over at me as the number was dialing, seeing the distress on my face. "Go help Shonna Travis."
"Okay." He turned and took the clipboard from me and walked out to the field. I followed him, unsure of what to do. This whole thing had me stunned. "Shonna, do you see any of the pokemon? They normally come out for us."
I looked around, not seeing any. Including my three. "No, where could they be?"
We took a look around, spying a faint line of vaporeon at the bottom of the pond, asleep. Then, we found the hoothoot and gible that were staying with us, hiding in a bush sleeping. Butterfree sat high in a tree, sleeping away.
"Well they aren't up and raring for the day, are they?" Travis checked each one of the list.
"Something's not right." I reached down to touch Vaporeon in the water, and I could feel her chest moving in and out quickly. My heart nearly dropped to the floor when I realize what had happened.
"Shonna!" Mary cried out. "I phoned for Nurse Joy. She's on her way, but there's something inside here I think you need to see."
I didn't want to leave my pokemon now, but reluctantly followed them inside.
"Cha. Cha. Cha." Pikachu was laying down on her stomach, sweating and breathing hard. She reached her paw out to me. "Piiii…"
"Oh no Pikachu!" I grabbed her up, feeling the tears in my eyes. "How could this have happened?" I held her up close to me. "Whatever that Chikorita had, must have infected all the others! Where is Stephen?" I screamed. "I'm going to kill him for leaving that door open!"
"He ain't coming." Travis stated. "Probably on account of how he thought you'd react." He looked angry as well. "I don't blame you for being mad though Shonna. This is awful."
"The coward!"
"Pi pika…" Pikachu struggled to hold her head up to look at me.
"Pikachu…" I wiped away some tears from my eyes. "Did you and the other pokemon go in the barn to check on Chikorita?"
"Pi. Pika." She nodded sadly.
"I know you were only trying to help." I brushed off some perspiration from her head. "Pokemon always come to one another when they're in need."
It was quiet after this, until the bell sounded above the door.
"Where is it?" Nurse Joy asked, carrying in a doctor's bag.
"Out in the barn." Travis motioned for her to follow him, but as they walked out, I sat Pikachu down in her bed and stomped after them.
"Nurse Joy!" I yelled. "You said that this was just a virus. And a helpful virus at that! You promised that it wouldn't hurt them!"
She just looked at me sadly as her and Travis entered the barn. I was mad at her. I was mad at Stephen. I was mad at just about everyone right now. It took several minutes before Nurse Joy emerged once more.
"All the readings I'm getting say it's pokerus." She looked down. "But something's different about this. It must be a new strain, that makes the pokemon ill as well. This could be a huge problem." She turned to Mary, who stood glumly beside me. "I'm afraid you'll have to close down the center for the time being. We don't want anymore pokemon coming in contact with this. We could have a pandemic on our hands."
"I understand." She nodded.
"Shonna." Joy turned to me. "I'll need a little time to get all the pokemon at the pokemon center right now put back in their pokeballs. After that, we'll get these pokemon over there so I can work with them. We'll have to quarantine the place."
"Right." Though I hated having to waste more time, I knew that was the best course of action.
"I'll work on it as soon as possible." Joy walked back in the center and back to the outside, glancing over to us in the field. "If any of you can think of any more pokemon that may have been exposed to that Chikorita, please bring them over right away. Pokerus spreads from pokemon to pokemon, but I don't know anything about this, so if there were any that any of you had contact with, you'll need to bring them in as well." She took off toward the pokecenter.
Mary just sighed as she walked into the day-care center, flipping the sign on the front door to closed. She walked out without a word.
I rushed over to the pc to video phone home. I prayed mom hadn't left for work yet. The telephone rang, bringing up an image from our living room.
"Shonna? Are you already on break? What's up?" Mom's cheery voice answered.
"Mom! Thank goodness you hadn't left yet!"
"I was just about to." Now she looked concerned. "What's wrong Shonna?"
"I don't have time to explain!" I leaned in toward the screen. "Are Duchess and Delcatty okay? Do they seem fatigued at all?"
Mom glanced down. "No more then their usual cat-napping selves. Why?"
"Are they breathing hard, or sweating any?"
"No…" She looked down again. "Hey you two. Get up and show her you're okay?"
"Dellll!" Delcatty yawned, stretching up to look on the screen.
"Pur!" Duchess leaped up happily.
"Okay good." I sighed in relief. "Mom, could you run and get the pokeballs from my dresser and recall them. There's a virus going around, and I don't want them to catch it."
"Sure!" Her eyes widened and I watched her in the background of the screen run up the stairs.
"I'm so glad you two are okay." I laughed as Duchess and Delcatty pawed at the screen. It was taking mom a while to get back downstairs. When she did, she recalled them.
"Thanks mom!" I smiled, about to close the call.
"Shonna wait!" She looked worried. "The little one, when I went up there, Riolu…"
I could feel my throat drying when I realized I'd forgotten the little pokemon who always sat atop my shoulder. "No." My eyes widened. "Not Riolu!"
"You'd better get over here." She clicked the call off. For a second, I stared at the black screen. Then, I bolted out of the chair, nearly tripping as I ran out the front door. When I stepped outside, I was forced to stop. Officer Jenny and a group of reporters stood waiting.
"Here comes one of the workers!" Suddenly a reporter shoved a microphone in my face. "Can you tell us what happened here?"
"Excuse me!" Officer Jenny attempted to shove them away. "I need a statement on the young man that dropped off the pokemon yesterday!"
"No! Get out of my way!" I looked back at Travis, who leaped the fence to stand beside me.
"Ask me whatever you need to!" He looked back to me, nodding.
For as much as I disliked him, I was grateful that he knew I needed to leave. I shoved my way through the crowd, and began to run, as fast as my legs would carry me. I grabbed the front door knob and jerked it open. Mom stood in the hall, watching me run up the stairs. I jerked the sheet off Riolu, where he was curled up in a fetal position. He was sweating, and breathing hard. "Riolu! No!" I scooped him up in my arms, looking down at him.
"Lu… lu…lu." He exhaled deeply, not even opening his eyes. He felt hot in my arms.
"Hang on Riolu!" I ran down the stairs, and back out the door. Tears were streaming down my face as I made the short run to the pokemon center. The heavy snow that had built up, only made it harder to run. It was locked up, with a quarantine sign on the front door. I pounded on it with one fist. "Let me in! Let me in Nurse Joy!"
She opened the door and took Riolu immediately. As she walked to the back of the center, she spoke sadly. "Officer Jenny took the body of the Chikorita to a research team in Jubilife City. They're going to work on finding a cure." We walked by a glass room where I could see all of the pokemon from the center, with the exception of Vaporeon, already there. "Travis was nice enough to start bringing the pokemon over." She sat Riolu down on a new bed.
"Joy!" Travis's voice startled me as he carried vaporeon in his arms. He was drenching wet, indicating to me, he'd dove into the pond to get her.
"Sit her here Travis." She pointed to an empty bed. Travis sat her down, where she showed similar symptoms to the others. After attending to Vaporeon, Joy went back to Riolu's bed, and rigged up an oxygen mask. He still looked like he was struggling to breathe. "This isn't good." She mumbled.
"What? What is it Joy?" I felt tears run down my face again.
"Riolu is still pretty young right?" She looked back down at him. "His immune system isn't very strong. He's more at risk."
"At risk for what?" I felt numb all over.
Joy looked down, like she didn't want to say. "For the same fate as the young chikorita."
My heart broke when she said that. I gasped, looking down at Riolu as he rolled around a bit, looking uncomfortable. I felt ill, lightheaded, and the world started to turn black around my vision of riolu. I was blacking out. Eventually, it went dark, and I couldn't see a thing. But I could hear. I could hear what sounded like Riolu. He was crying, and I could feel a painful, stabbing pain I hadn't felt since he had ran off into the Lost Tower. He was trying to tell me something through his aura. What was most strange, was I could hear something other than riolu's cry. Something like a small child's voice, but it was muffled under a new voice, one I recognized.
"Wake up!" Travis said, shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes and saw he was holding me up. I held my head as I gathered the strength to stand on my own. "You fainted."
"For good reason." Joy reminded, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that."
"What can I do?" I shook off my dizzy feeling. "There's got to be something I can do Joy."
"Unfortunately there's not much we can work with. This is a completely new virus to my knowledge. We could wait for a cure, but who knows how long that will be." She stared out the window. "Their fevers are climbing quickly. I'm worried. The treatment we've tried so far as done nothing to lower it."
"Okay, then what?" Travis stepped forward. "What else can we try?"
Joy sighed. "It sure would be nice to have a bunch of Sitrus berries on hand. They might have an effect on the fever."
"Where can we find Sitrus berries?" I yelled.
Joy jumped back a bit. "Um… They don't grow in this area. The closest would be in Sunyshore City, where it's a warmer climate."
"Then I'm going." I clenched my hands in a fist, ready to run out.
"Wait!" Joy called. "You can't Shonna! A blizzard is coming! It's already staring to pour snow out there! Besides, there's no guarantee that there will be any in this cold winter we've had this year."
"Does that matter? I've got to try!" I reached for the front door, watching as Travis and Joy followed behind.
"Okay fine!" Joy grabbed a pokeball shaped object. "Here." She tossed one to me and Travis. "If you find them, stuff as many as you can into these item holders."
"Huh?" I looked up at Travis, who looked just as surprised.
"Well I'm not letting you go alone. That wouldn't be safe!" Joy shoved us out. "Good luck you two! I'll be waiting." She slammed the door, leaving us stunned.
"She's right you know." Travis pulled down on his hat, blocking the snow. "It wouldn't be safe to travel out there alone."
"Whatever. By this point I don't really care. It'll be a short trip anyway." I cupped my hands around my mouth, and took a deep breath. "Aerodactyl!"
I awaited the beating of her huge wings, but she never came.
"I doubt she'll come." Travis said.
"Why not?" I barked back.
"The pokemon know something's going on here. Haven't seen a wild one come near. They're probably avoiding this area. Not to mention, it'd be mighty hard to fly through this snow."
I looked down, feeling defeated. "So, then what do we do?"
"Hey don't cry now!" Travis threw up his hands. "Flying's out, but maybe we could ride on our Rapidashes. They'd be real good in the snow, and keep us warm."
"You're right." I ran forward, away from town, and tossed out Rapidash's pokeball. "He seems fine. Being locked away in the pokeball must have kept him from being exposed."
Travis released his rapidash and hopped on. "Yup! That goes for my pokemon too."
"Okay then." I threw my leg over Rapidash, and placed my hands on the back of his blue fire covered neck. It felt warm to the touch. The snow that was coming down heavily around us, felt like nothing but a slight chill on the back of my warm fire-type.
Soon, Travis rode up beside me, extending his hand. "I know we've never really seen eye to eye, but let's try to make the most of this, for the pokemon."
I looked down at his hand for a minute, before taking it and shaking briefly. "For the pokemon."