Author's Note:
Over halfway done with Arc 2… and ATOW (at time of writing) I've just posted Episode 1. I need a hobby, and writing counts as one, so I'm doing that. Is that irony? Hypocrisy? Irocrisy? Hypony? The last one actually sounds like a new Pokémon. Hypony, Dragon/Normal type, horsey-looking Pokémon of Doom Death. You hear me, Gamefreak? I'm actually working on a design for it... I'll tell you when I post it on dA.
River's POV
Naturally, anything with Percival, Albus, or Wulfric makes me think of Dumbledore, since his full name was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (his parents were weird), and I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd. At least the Ice gym leader didn't hear my mutter.
"Hey, kid! Are you here to challenge the gym?" he boomed. I winced a bit, his voice was that physically there.
"Yes, and no," I replied. I hate those types of answers, myself. Hypocrite, much? "I'm trying to get to the Santalune Gym."
Wulfric gave a laugh that registered an 8.9 on the Richter scale. At least. "And you're here?! I'm supposed to be the last Gym leader! Did they reverse the system without telling me?" he growled.
I held my hands up to defend myself from his Icy Wrath of… iciness. "No, the rest of Team Demigod and I got lost in Santalune Forest, so we need to get to Santalune City," I said, gesturing with my hands to the Absol and Fennekin behind me.
"Ah! And you need to get back through to Santalune, I presume," he said, and I almost facepalmed myself. I just said that, bro. Way to point out the obvious.
"Yep, it'd be nice," I said, brushing my way past the Gym Leader and almost making it into the Whispering? Winding? One of those two. I almost made it into the Whisperly Winding Woods before Wulfric put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
"Hey, kid, you shouldn't go through those woods," he said. I spun around to face him, and since I'm really tall, we were almost eye to eye.
"And why not?" I asked with a bit of a Sherlock-y British accent to make it sound more inquisitive. Wulfric sighed and let me go. He called out to me just before I walked into the forest. Getting seriously ticked, I turned around. "What?"
The Gym Leader held out a Pokéball. "My Jynx here can teleport us back," he deadpanned. I stared, really embarrassed and self-conscious.
"Thanks," I said sheepishly, and Wulfric released his Jynx.
It came up to my chest, which was a bit bigger than I'd expected it to be. It looked up at me, its huge pink lips slightly agape. It was sort of cute when it looked like that, almost like one of those depressed puppies you see for those animal abuse documentaries. I don't like the abuse, they just look so depressingly adorable.
I returned Epsilon and Hecate in their Pokéballs, and, just before the two of us teleported out of the Village, I remembered the grunts. "Hey, Wulfric?" I said, "what should we do about those guys?" I gestured to them, unconscious and pretty much obscured by the meadow, and Wulfric laughed.
"Just leave 'em there. They'll go whining back to their boss when they wake up," he said with a chuckle.
"You mean Lysandre?" I asked. Wulfric immediately stopped laughing and stared at me with a shocked expression. "What?"
The Ice Trainer glared at me, growling "Lysandre is the best man I know. You do not joke about that sort of thing." I shied away from him and his Jynx, who looked ready to psychically blast me into the next millennia. Not so cute when it's ready to kill you at the drop of a hat.
"Okay, okay, sorry," I muttered apologetically under my breath. "Will we go now?" Wulfric nodded gravely as I took a hold of the Jynx's hand glove, and, for the second time ever, I teleported away.
Thankfully, all my limbs and Pokéballs stayed on me as we passed through the rainbow tunnel thing that you go through. I looked around, staring at the rainbow of… teleporty-ness. It still looked awesome, and will forever be awesome.
As quickly as we teleported out of the Village, we landed, with a stumble, in front of the Gym. I gave Wulfric a quick thank you and walked away, only to stop short after about five steps.
"Hey, Wulfric?" I asked, "I don't think you use your Jynx in Gym Battles. Why not?"
"There's a law in Kalos," he answered, "that signifies the number of Pokémon Gym leaders are allowed to use in battle. Since I have three, and that's the limit, I can't use my Jynx here," he said, patting the Jynx on her head, almost crushing it, and definitely ruining its hair.
"Oh," was all I said, as Team Demigod (who I had released from their Pokéballs) and I began to walk towards Route 21. "See you." I gave a backwards wave to the Gym Leader, who was opening his doors for the somewhat long line of challengers.
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Route 21, Mountain Kalos, Kalos Region (Still River POV)
We stuck to the main road, avoiding the tall grass at all costs. Some of which included bargaining with the other Trainers heading on their own journeys to leave us alone. I lost about 975 P there.
Now I can't get a large soda at McDonald's, I joked/whined in my head as we came across the biggest. Bear. Ever.
I've seen a bear up close once before, when I took piano lessons from a lady in town. One day I went in, looked out the window, and saw a black bear poking through a neighbor's garden. The boy who took lessons before me and I stared at it out the window until the cops herded it back into the mountains nearby.
Sadly, there were no cops to save my hide here. And this bear looked ticked. I backed away a step, my brain racking through all the bear survival tips I've picked up.
Don't look the bear in the eyes. Check. I stared at the giant golden ring in the center of the bear's stomach.
Pull up a hood, sweatshirt, etc. to make yourself seem bigger and more intimidating. Not so much of a check. All I had was a sleeveless vest and a hat, so I was still as small, meek, and tasty-looking as ever.
Back away slowly. Check. I was, at least. Hecate and Epsilon, however, were bristling, ready to attack.
I sighed, sensing a battle. Then I called out "Epsilon! Bite! Hecate, Ember spam!" The Absol sprang into action immediately. Hecate, however, looked at me curiously until I elaborated, saying "use Ember over and over again." There wasn't PP here, right?
The Ursaring, almost immediately dubbed Smokey, took a Bite to the leg, which caused it to stagger a bit. The endless barrage of fireballs (apparently there wasn't PP) nailing it in the face repeatedly singed his fur and made him all Smokey (ba-dum pschhh). I was way too overexcited; we were winning our first tough wild Pokémon battle, sure, but really. I was bouncing around like I had eaten ten Oran Berries.
And Smokey retaliated. A huge paw came flying through the air and nailed Epsilon on the side of the head. Sort of thankfully, it was the side with the face scythe, so Smokey got some free karma. However, Epsilon was out cold. I pulled her back in her Pokéball and called to Hecate.
"Hecate! You can do it!" I shouted, rummaging through my bag, searching for a Revive, or… nothing else doesn't really cure faintedness, so I needed a Revive. As I was searching, I didn't notice that Smokey had used another paw-slap on Hecate, and she collapsed in front of me. Staggering to her feet, she let out a stubborn "Fen!"
I didn't think she'd survive another onslaught. "Hecate, we're gonna have to leave. Come on!" She didn't budge. "Hecate…" I said with a dangerous undertone, "Come." She stayed frozen. I was about to return her to her Pokéball when I heard a new voice from behind me.
"Gabrielle! Venoshock!" I had no idea who Gabrielle was, until a green… thing sprang out in front of Hecate and sprayed poison out of her rose bouquet hand things towards Smokey, occupying it. A Roserade. Probably my favorite Grass Pokémon, besides Treecko or Bayleaf.
I managed to stammer out a "th-thanks…" to the mystery Trainer, who offered a hand to me. I grabbed it and used it to pull myself up, and I saw the guy who probably saved Hecate's life.
He had auburn hair stuck up in tall spikes, had gray eyes, and wore a smirk on his face. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't place his name or where I knew him from. "What are you still doing with a Fennekin on Route 21?" he asked me. I blushed a little bit (does this mean there's a love square?) and shakily replied with a stupid grin on my face.
"I got lost in Santalune Forest. Ended up here," I said, "and I'm trying to get to Santalune City. Again, thanks for keeping saving Hecate from Smokey."
His smug look turned into one of confusion. "Smokey? Is he yours?" I shook my head, and when he still looked confused, I explained.
"Giving everything that doesn't have a name one is a habit of mine," I said sheepishly. "But the Fennekin is mine. I also have an Absol, but she's out cold right now, and I have no Revives, so I really need one. I'm River, by the way."
The other Trainer introduced himself and his Roserade, who was battling Smokey. "I'm Gary, and the Roserade over there is… oh, crap," he said as he watched his Pokémon take a nasty hit from Smokey and collapse. "Gabrielle!" he called, running over to her (I doubt any boys are named Gabrielle. Gabriel, sure, but not Gabrielle) and kneeling beside her.
In the meantime, I was poking through my bag, looking for a couple HP restoring Berries. My fingers closed around a couple Oran Berries, and I pretty much stuffed them in Hecate's mouth. She choked them down, getting a spurt of energy as they did their Berry-y magic.
"Hecate, Ember!" I ordered, and the Fennekin happily obliged. Smokey focused his attention on Hecate after getting a fireball to the face. "Keep Smokey occupied!" She danced around, dodging the paws that were coming down sloppier and sloppier.
Gary's voice came out from behind, saying "Travis! Water Pulse!" I heard a growl in response, and a split second later I was drenched. Hecate, thankfully, had noticed the attack and hid behind Smokey, who ended up as soaked as I was. She popped out from behind, as dry as she normally was. Lucky fox.
Fire wasn't going to work now, so I ordered her to "Scratch!" Hecate, with a leap that brought her up to Smokey's face (does that make her SuperFox?), used her tiny, but razor-sharp claws to scratch him over his eye. Smokey swatted her off of his face with a roar, and Hecate landed hard. She retreated, shooting the occasional fiery potshot at his face, which did nothing (seeing as his face was still soaking wet) but make him ticked off.
Thankfully, Travis showed up, and I discovered that he was a Blastoise when he used Rock Smash, right on Smokey's belly ring. He doubled over, and eventually collapsed, unconscious. I scooped up Hecate, who was still bouncing eagerly on her toes, and hugged her.
"We did it! Thanks Gary, and Travis, and Gabrielle," I said.
"No problem. So where are you headed?" Gary asked.
"Santalune City. Got lost in the forest, and ended up in the Pokémon Village," I explained as quickly as possible. Gary smirked, and I immediately got ticked off. "What's so funny? And where exactly have I seen you before?"
Gary smiled, and replied "I got lost in the forest, too. Three days of wandering around the woods with Logan." At my confused expression, he added "my Blaziken."
I looked at him suspiciously. "Are you a Hokie?"
"A what?"
"A Hokie. Someone who's from Hoenn," I explained. Gary shook his head no. "So where are you from?"
"Kanto," he said, and was about to continue before I cut him off, remembering his name.
"Gary Oak!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing in Kalos?"
He looked at me oddly. "First of all, how do you know my name, and secondly, I came here because I've already beaten Unova." Oh, crap. How did I know him?! I mean, I knew how I knew, the anime and Pokémon Red and Blue and stuff, but Gary would never believe that! I racked through my brains, remembering all I knew about him, which wasn't much. After a moment or two, I gave an answer.
"I saw you challenge the Kantonian Elite Four on TV. You're grandfather's the head Professor there, right?" Gary nodded tensely; must have been a tough subject. "Hey, if you have one, I kind of really need a Revive for my Absol. I can pay you back," I said, reaching for the 25P left in my bag.
Gary reached into his own pocket and pulled out a little spiky yellow… thing. He handed it to me, saying "you don't have to pay me." He pressed it into my palm and began to walk away before I called out to him.
"Is this a Max Revive?" Gary nodded tersely without turning around. "Dude, I can't take this for nothing!"
"Yes, you can." He began to walk away again, heading for Route 22. I started to run, eventually catching up to him, frantically scribbling down something on the pad of paper I kept in my bag just in case.
I finished writing my HoloCast number, and handed it to him, saying "I owe you two, Gary. Stop being Batman; giving justice for free."
Gary stopped, turning to me with a confused face. "It's Swoobatman," he said matter-of-factly. That proved to be too much for me, and I broke out into laughter. Watching me wheeze, he asked "what's so funny with Swoobatman?"
Gasping for breath, I replied "funniest. Superhero. EVER." After a minute or two, I straightened up again, looking him in the eye as if I had never laughed in the first place. "But dude. I owe you two, for saving my Pokémon and for giving me a free Max Revive. Call me if you need anything. 'Kay?" Gary nodded and began to walk towards Route 22 again. I smiled, thinking of Swoobatman again, and pulled Epsilon out of her Pokéball.
Giving her the Max Revive that made my hand bleed a bit (those spiky things were not dull), I sat there, Hecate and I watching her as she woke up like a pair of stalkers. Are there even pairs? I know there are gangs of fangirls but I've never heard of a pair of stalkers working to get a pair of Justin Bieber's socks.
Of course, Epsilon immediately sprang to her feet when she woke up, almost scalping me. I think she actually sliced off a chunk of my hair. After making sure I wasn't bleeding or dying or anything,Team Demigod got up and began to walk towards Santalune City, somewhat slowly, since Hecate had a minor limp thanks to Smokey.
A few minutes later, we walked into the gate to Route 22, on the right track for our Pokémon journey.
Author's Note:
Gabriella is modeled after my Roserade in X, Fleur, and Travis the Blastoise is modeled after Trent the Blastoise. Gary Oak is modeled after the Gary Motherfucking Oak (yes, his initials are GMO) of Red and Blue. Never played the game, actually. I got into Pokémon in the 4th generation. Still love Paul more. He is the competitive battler who can't have weak Pokémon within us all.
Shoutout to craigprime for giving me the idea of Gary Oak. No, he is not the mystery character from Ep. 8, or 10 (you still have to wait for Arc 4), but I had a random OC here, and I decided to use Gary instead. Thanks, man. Suggestions are taken into consideration, so post an idea in the reviews if you have one. Let the people participate, since without you guys, I wouldn't be writing this story today. Luvs you all. :)
