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Chapter 11: Back On The Road

Tuesday, November 5th

Five days. A ridiculously long time to wait. I was falling way too far behind Cheren and Bianca, even Alex, although he wasn't challenging any Gym Leaders, and neither was Bianca. Still though, I was itching to get out of here. I'd spent enough time in Nuvema Town, and was bored of Striaton. I needed to get moving. Besides, my Pokemon needed the training. I was doing the best I could, challenging any trainers who went through town, but I guess I'm more intimidating than I thought. A lot of them rejected me. They all said it was because they needed to 'save their strength for the Gym Leaders', but I say they were just scared. (I later found out that Nurse Joy had warned all of the trainers coming into town not to encourage, provoke, or battle me.)

Now was my final checkup before I could get my ankle cleared and leave town. Although Nurse Joy did a few small checkups, a real doctor was the first to take a look at my ankle, and the last as well. As the doctor felt up my ankle, looked over x-rays, and asked me a lot of questions, I impatiently flicked my eyes around the room, waiting.

"Alright Touko, I think you're ready to go. You were on your ankle much more than I recommended, but it's healed up nicely. Please just be careful from now on." I rolled my eyes, but immediately hopped off of the examination table. I stretched my arms up and stood on my tip toes, and I smiled.

"Thanks doc! And no offense, but I hope to Arceus that I never see you again!" I waved the man off, and he chuckled.

"Touche Touko. Have a nice trip."

My very first goal when I returned to the Pokemon Center was to pack. Lillipup watched playfully as he ran around my room begging me to play fetch with him. I complied as I put away all of my clothes and belongings into my messenger bag.

"Alright Lillipup, come here boy!"

"Yip!" Lillipup dropped the pair of socks we had been using for fetch and ran away from me as I chased after him. I was fully enjoying my returned foot and stomped around the room after him. Lillipup dashed underneath the bed and I dove after him, unsuccessful in catching the little guy. I laughed as I jumped over the bed and grabbed him as the normal type came out the other side, and then stuffed him into my bag.

"There we go, all packed and ready!" Lillipup dug himself into the bag before turning around and sticking his face playfully out of the biggest pocket. "Haha, alright, but just for a little while boy. You're heavier than you look you know." I threw the strap over my shoulders and positioned the little dog Pokemon comfortably. "Also, you'd better not make me look like some, I don't know, girl or something." I ruffled the top of Lillipup's head smiling as I left the room.

After I dropped my keys off to Nurse Joy, I left the Pokemon Center, practically skipping down the steps. Twenty minutes later I was leaving Striation City through the city gardens.

The gardens aren't very famous, or popular. I couldn't really see why though, they were quite beautiful. Alex and I had trained here before my Gym battle, but I hadn't really gotten to look around all that much. Just like before, the hedges were neatly trimmed, and the flowerbeds kept neatly. Even the ponds were a brilliant blue color, reflecting the sky and hedges around it.

"Yip pip!" Lillipup managed to wriggle himself out of my bag and jump out, trotting over towards one of the ponds and lapping up some water.

"Come on boy, we've got a long way to go." Nacrene City was by no means close by, and it would take four or five days to get there. Lillipup wagged his tail and began following closely behind me. As we were leaving the garden we passed underneath a large and elegant archway. I briefly wondered if it was new or not. It looked new, but I couldn't be sure. Some sort of vines were growing around the dark wood, creating a mystic sort of feel as we walked underneath it.

"Purrr," Just as I was about to pass the arch onto Route 3, I stopped. I turned back, slowly looking up at the vines hanging from above, and the wood they grew around. Peeking out from atop the wooden beams was a familiar, but certainly not delightful, furry face. I watched her suspiciously, but smiled at the same time. Purrloin did the same to me, looking down as her tail swished back and forth.

"I can't be sure but... You're the same Purrloin whose ass I saved a while back, aren't you?" She rolled her eyes and smiled, crossing her paws and meowing again. I crossed my own arms and smirking up at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Ruff!" Lillipup barked up at the cat Pokemon, curious and alert. Purrloin appeared to be less than interested in whatever the puppy Pokemon had to say.

"Hush Lillipup, just relax. Purrloin, what is it that you want? And hurry up will you, we don't have all day." Purrloin stood up and jumped quietly down from the archway, landing steadily and gracefully on her paws. She then stood on her back legs, her free limbs resting on her hips.

"Loin!" I looked suspiciously at the dark type Pokemon, finally beginning to realize what it was that she wanted.

"You want to battle?" I fully turned around to face Purrloin, but wasn't prepared when I saw her scraping her claws together, then jumped straight for us using Fury Swipes. "Hey!" Lillipup and I each jumped to the side, rolling back into standing positions.

"Lillipup, use Tackle!" Purrloin jumped right over my own Pokemon, causing him to hit one of the poles from the wooden arch and yelp. "Careful boy, let's move out to open space!" I ran out from under the archway, onto the paved road which leads throughout a section of Route 3. Lillipup followed me, and avoided another Fury Swipes from Purrloin by jumping right over her. Once we got a decent distance away from the arch and onto the road, my partner and I stopped suddenly and turned around, now ready to fight.

"Purrr!" Purrloin went back on all fours, pouncing towards Lillipup.

"Dodge it!" Lillipup ducked underneath Purrloin with her claws stretched out, but as soon as he turned back around Purrloin slid across the ground and kicked her paws out, sending dirt and sand flying into Lillipup's eyes.

"Rup!"

"Watch out Lillipup!" Purrloin jumped onto Lillipup while he was unable to attack, using Fury Swipe to ravage his underside. "Use Bite, get her off of you!" Without being able to see, the puppy Pokemon grabbed onto Purrloin with his jaws. She shrieked at him, before Lillipup threw her off to the side and he managed to wipe away the sand from his eyes using his paws.

"Alright, use Take Down!" While Purrloin was still on the ground, Lillipup rammed into her with all of his might. Purrloin skidded across the pavement, now greatly in pain, and I was suddenly reminded of when I first met Purrloin. She had been attacked by those Zebstrika, cruelly and relentlessly. Then we'd gone through that whole ordeal during the thunderstorm, and I'd never seen her again until now. She kind of abandoned me, but to be honest I couldn't really blame her. That had been some scary shit. And suddenly, before I knew it, I was reaching for a compacted Pokeball buried in one of my pockets.

"Here goes nothing," I mumbled, pressing the white button in the middle of the Pokeball and throwing it straight for Purrloin. At the last second though, her large green eyes snapped back open, and in a fraction of a second Purrloin had sliced the capsule right in half with her razor claws. "Dammit... What are you playing at Purrloin!?" I glared towards the small Pokemon, watching her as she panted. She didn't move. I was beginning to lose my temper now, not knowing what she wanted.

"Fine then! Keep fighting! There's no way we'll let you win! Lillipup, go and use Tackle!"

"Bark!"

"Now use Bite!" This time when Purrloin went down it didn't look like she would be getting back up again, yet she still refused to back down. I grit my teeth in frustration. I didn't want to hurt her anymore. Why does it seem like all Purrloin have a habit of not fainting when they really should, you know, before it can be considered torture to keep battling them? First N's, and I had to cut the battle short, and now this one!

"Get in the damn ball will you?! God, I want to take you with me for Arceus' sake! Lillipup, pin her down!" Still though, Purrloin gathered up what remained of her strength and managed to dodge Lillipup. I heard an odd noise next to me, and when I turned to look Snivy was out, glaring at the scene unfolding before her. Gritting my teeth I turned away from her, trying to concentrate on the battle.

"Sneev,"

"Not now Snivy!" I heard the starter groan, and suddenly a huge gust of wind knocked me forward, and a few razor sharp leaves cut through my right arm. I grunted and attempted to keep myself upright while Snivy whipped by in the midst of a Leaf Tornado. She knocked into both Lillipup and Purrloin, sending both Pokemon flying. I didn't see where Lillipup ended up, but Purrloin skidded off of the road and into the nearby grass.

"Snivy, cut it out!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, rushing over to Purrloin. She was finally unconscious, but really badly beat up. Gingerly, I took the small dark type into my arms, stealing a last glare back at Snivy before beginning my search for Lillipup.

Even though I called his name many times, I never heard an answer. When I eventually did find the puppy Pokemon, he too had fainted, and was stuck up on a branch in a tree.

"Great..." I mumbled, one handedly taking Lillipup's Pokeball from my belt, and returning him. "I'll have to heal you up later boy, but thanks for everything." Once I was back on the path, I crouched down, and looked through my bag for something to heal the Pokemon up with. When I found some of the herbs that my mom had given me at the start of my journey, I contemplated using the Revival Herbs. They would work perfectly well, but I only had three, and those things weren't cheap. Oh come on White, are you really going to choose money over Pokemon? Seriously, I don't know what I'm thinking... With a sigh I placed Purrloin onto the pavement and released Lillipup so that he too was lying down comfortably. Snivy waltzed over while I was in the middle of doing this, as if everything was just peachy. No.

"Get out of here will you?! I mean, what's your problem anyways?! I didn't tell you to do anything, yet you just butted into our battle just like you always do, and what's worse, you knocked out your own teammate! Just go!" With ever so slightly widened eyes, Snivy took a few steps back, and I decided that it would be best for all of us if I just ignored her for now.

I did the best I could to feed each Pokemon a revival herb, but it was harder than you'd think, getting them to open their mouths and chew and swallow the bitter plant. And after that I had to wait for one of them to regain consciousness, so that I could at least figure out if the herbs had worked or not. So far though, it seemed like they weren't. I just stared at the two Pokemon, dog and cat, growing more nervous by the second.

"Prrrgh," Just as I was beginning to think that they were both dead as I cradled my hand in my hands, I heard someone stir. Quickly looking up, I saw Purrloin peering at me with one narrowly opened emerald eye.

"It's about time," I whispered to myself, sighing in relief. "Here, I have a treat for you. If you want it. I know you're picky." I placed a small Pokemon Treat in front of Purrloin, but she didn't blink, or move, or even look at it. She only stared at me. I didn't take much notice of that though. I was expecting Purrloin to bolt any second now, and was more concerned about Lillipup's health at the moment. After some time I noticed that Lillipup's breathing was much less shallow, and instead deep, and somewhat relaxing to watch. Good, he's just asleep now. With yet another sigh I returned the normal type Pokemon to his ball for some rest, before standing up.

I blinked when I realized that Purrloin was still there, sitting upright and erect like a little angel.

"Really though Purrloin, what was that? A test, trying to get on my nerves?" Purrloin shrugged, going back on all fours as she approached me.

"Purrr," I frowned slightly as the small cat Pokemon rubbed up against my leg, in what appeared to be affection, but it was hard to tell with this one.

"Okay... Well, I should really get going." I stated, placing my hand on my Pokeball belt, reassuring myself for a moment. Except that action was completely un-reassuring because I was missing someone. I took a look, around the surrounding area and picked up her Pokeball, just to make sure, but my starter Pokemon was most definitely not there. Suddenly I remembered how I had yelled at Snivy to leave, and I felt almost like I had been stabbed. What if she really did just leave? I mean, Snivy are known for abandoning trainers that they don't like. Oh Arceus, what had I done...

"Snivy! Snivy?! Um, Lillipup is okay!"

"Prowr." Purrloin headbutted me on the leg when I didn't mention her name.

"Purrloin is too I guess! I um, I'm sorry for yelling at you! We're all cool now Snivy, so you can just come on back!" I waited for several minutes on the road after yelling before I swore to myself and approached the woods, timidly looking into them. If she really had just left, there was no way I'd find her in there. After almost an hour of sitting in the same spot just hoping she would come back, it really seemed pointless.

"Snivy..." I stared at the trees, at a loss for words. I... I don't know how to feel. I know that we don't really get along, but still. Snivy was my first partner, and the strongest on my team. She was smart too... What am I going to do without that snobby brat? Suddenly I was doubtful of my journey as a whole. I kept going though, with Purrloin still following at my heels.

The road was long but uneventful, and I ended up making camp on the side of the road. Despite Unova's warm climate, it was getting late into the autumn. The warm colors of the leaves falling at a very quick pace in no way reflected the temperature. It took a while for me to set up my tent, and it seemed kind of useless in the end anyways. To stay warm I needed a fire, and I'm not quite dumb enough to set one in the tent. I huddled up in my sleeping bag with two other blankets next to the fire that night, and even Purrloin, who by the way was still following me, crawled into the bag and curled up by my feet.

The next morning when I woke up, I was immediately hit with the reality that Snivy had not returned, and probably never would. It took me much longer than usual to pack up and get out of there without my usual motivation. Lillipup was feeling much better, but continued to sniff at my belt where my Pokeballs were. I didn't know if he knew that Snivy was missing, but he definitely was jumping on me and licking my face more than the usual. Purrloin was still around too by the way.

Just as I had finally stood up to leave, Purrloin pranced her way in front of me, blocking my path.

"Loin," I sighed before bending down to pick the small dark type up, and held her up in front of me. She meowed again, with a small smile on her cute little face.

"Are you finally going to come with me Purrloin, or are you just going to follow us and eat up all of our food forever?" She rubbed her cheek up against my hand, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Lillipup growling at her. He didn't much care for Purrloin, first because he's a dog and she's a cat and those two normally just don't get along anyways, and then the battle Lillipup had with Purrloin was just a bad experience all together. But, Purrloin seemed to like me, and now that I was down to one Pokemon, it'd be nice to have someone else on the team. "Alright girl, but this is the last time I'm going to try this."

I set Purrloin down on the ground and reached for an empty Pokeball. This time when I tossed the device onto her, she didn't try to get away, and was immediately sucked into the capsule. I counted the shakes, three before the finalized click.

"One more member of the team," As I went to put the Pokeball away, Purrloin popped out of the ball on her own, into my arms. I frowned, dropping her to the ground, and she let out an irritated hiss. "Sorry, but there's no way that I'm going to carry you anywhere. Either walk by yourself, or stay in your Pokeball." My mind once again flashed back to Snivy, who used to hitch rides on my shoulders all the time. With a shake of my head though, I pushed my lost starter to the back of my mind, and began to walk again.

Purrloin teased poor Lillipup the entire way, using her superior speed and climbing skills to get away each time until we came to two large buildings. One was very colorful and new, with a playground on it's left, and the other while in good shape, was obviously older. Both were fenced in, and the older building even had a small pond next to it.

"Maybe we can rest here for the night?" I wondered aloud, making my way up the steps and toward the buildings. Little did I know I was about to face one of my worst nightmares.

"Trainer!" As soon as I heard my title being called, I turned, expecting to see a trainer about my age. Instead I was met with a stampede of beings even shorter than I was, all yelling and screaming and pushing, waving Pokeballs at me from below. Some of them weren't even real!

"Battle me!"

"Trainer, over here!"

"Eek, look at those cute Pokemon!"

"I can take her!"

"PLEEEEEEAAAAAAAASE BATTLE ME!" Lillipup was more than happy to throw himself into the pit, what with all the tiny arms there to pet him. Purrloin however was more on my side, disgusted by their sticky faces and pulling hands.

"Jesus, where did all these kids come from!? Go away, shoo, we don't want you! Don't you know what personal space is?!"

"Oh boy- Kids, come here! Please don't bother that poor girl!" I looked up to the woman who was apparently watching all of these beasts, motioning for her to do something as I was surrounded. She swallowed and nodded, and suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs. "ALRIGHT, SNACK TIME EVERYONE! IF YOU'RE NOT INSIDE IN THREE MINUTES YOU DON'T GET A RICE KRISPIE TREAT!" That lady must have some kind of magic powers, because I have never seen anything move that fast. Within seconds all of the kids were gone, and the woman approached me.

She looked to be about in her mid twenties with dark purple hair tied up in a ponytail. Her bangs were bobby pinned back and the clothes she was wearing were covered in stains.

"I am so incredibly sorry about that, but some of those kids have Pokemon, and they all love Pokemon and battling,"

"Aren't they a little young for Pokemon?" The woman sighed.

"They are, but a lot of these kids have richer parents. You see, this daycare I run will allow kids to say here for as long as two weeks to allow parents some time off, and a lot of richer parents like to just dump their poor kids off here with Pokemon they're not ready to take care of. I don't mind too much though, I love the kids, and the Pokemon make it interesting to say the least."

"So this is a daycare?"

"Sure is! And right next door is my parents' place, a Pokemon day care! I'm sure you'd find that place a lot more appealing!" I nodded, finally managing a small smile.

"Thanks."

"And I'm sure if you're willing to deal with the children, my parents will let you stay the night! I'll try to keep them away from you as much as possible, and again I'm sorry."

"Ah, it's alright... Come on Lillipup." The three of us turned right and entered the Pokemon day care. The old couple there was happy to have us, and I didn't even need to ask for a room since they offered me one as soon as I mentioned being on my first journey. They even cooked me a damn dinner even though I told them not to worry about it. Afterwards, at about seven o'clock, the woman asked me to bring her daughter some papers next door, and even though I was terrified of going into that building with all the children, I couldn't very well say no.

To my surprise a lot of them had just been put to sleep. Although a few kids were around, they were quiet and didn't take much notice of me. In fact, they were all huddled in a circle playing a board game and giggling. The woman I had met earlier was in the back cleaning dishes.

"Uh, excuse me? I have something for you from your parents." She turned around and smiled immediately.

"Thank you! I was looking for these... And I forgot to ask earlier, but what's your name trainer? My name is Taylor."

"It's White. So um, bye."

"Oh, wait for a moment!" Taylor laughed. "You sure are in a hurry White! Anyways, I could tell from the way you reacted earlier that you're really not a kid person, but they were pestering me about you all day, and I really think that they would love it if you would maybe tell them a bit about your life as a trainer?" My immediate thought was no. I did not like children very much, and yet as much as I told them that, they seemed to like me a lot. Besides, I wasn't really in a giving mood.

"Look, I'm sorry and everything, but I've had a really crappy couple of days and..." I trailed off. As blunt as I usually am, this lady hadn't done anything to me, and I didn't want to be mean to someone who has to watch kids all day.

"White?" I looked over my shoulder at the sound of my name. Although she wasn't wearing her usual hat, there was no mistaking her. Or the god damn fucking SNIVY SITTING IN HER LAP.

Wednesday, November 6th

Ahh, sorry about the excessive swearing there :3. And honestly I'm not really sure how well this chapter worked out, so please feel free to review and tell me what you thought! Thanks for reading!