~ Chapter 11 ~

En Route to Oreburgh

"We set out from Jubilife the day after the Team Galactic incident. Our next stop was Oreburgh City, and my first Gym Battle. I planned to practice long and hard to prepare. Niya and Jeremy helped me to prepare, and even Alyssandra joined in, hoping to improve her battling skills for her next Pokémon Contest. We practiced like this once a day—but don't get the wrong idea, just because we devoted most of our time to practice didn't mean that we weren't without our distractions or adventures. You will soon come to learn—if you haven't already that is—that our adventures through the years have always tended to lead us into very…interesting situations."

"Good job!" cheered Niya as Sam's Staravia took out her Roserade, "Your Pokémon are almost at Gym battle potential."

"Almost?" complained Sam as he returned his Staravia to his Poké Ball.

"Well, I'm comparing you to my Aunt Fantina, and those who have challenged her," said Niya, "I know she's a lot higher up in the Gym Leader roster than Roark, but it's better to train yourself to be better than the opponent you're going up against."

"Fair enough," said Sam as he sat down on a nearby stump, "Can I take a break at least? If not for me, for my Pokémon; they're still tired from battling that Turtwig I caught yesterday."

"All right, take a break," said Niya, "It'll give my Pokémon a chance to rest as well, plus I'm hungry. You and Jeremy can keep training your Pokémon after lunch."

"Are we going to keep teaching Staravia and Luxio those moves you've been telling me about?" asked Sam as he and Niya walked back to the camp.

"Of course," she said, "Your Pokémon need a lot more work on them if you want them ready to use for your Gym Battle."

Sam nodded. "I understand," he said, "I'll do whatever it takes. Staravia and Luxio may be at a disadvantage type wise, but with these secret weapons, I'll be able to even the playing field."

"Not to mention you'll have the element of surprise," added Niya, "That is the key to gaining the upper hand against your opponent in both Contests and Battles."

"If I haven't said this before, I love that you're on this adventure with us," joked Sam as he and Niya sat down around the fire at the campsite.

"You could stand to mention it more," joked Niya, "But like I said with Lyss, I'm more than happy to help you guys out and pass on my knowledge. I've been where you guys are, and I had help when I needed it, so it's only fair I do the same for you guys."

Alyssandra walked from the girls' tent. "How'd training go today?" she asked as she sat beside Niya.

"It's going well," answered Niya, "Sam's starting to look like a real Trainer and not just some kid with a Pokémon."

"Very funny," said Sam, rolling his eyes, "I take back what I said about enjoying you being here."

"That's all right," said Niya jokingly, "I don't enjoy your company either."

"So, what have you guys been doing all day?" asked Sam, "Mourning my absence?"

"Actually, Jeremy has been preparing lunch, and I have been scouring the nearby forest for a Buneary," answered Alyssandra.

"A Buneary?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, the pre-evolved form of Lopunny," replied Alyssandra, "I've always wanted one! Valentina had one when she was still travelling around Sinnoh, it's with my brother on his travels now."

"Any luck?" inquired Sam, to which Alyssandra shook her head.

"Nope, none!" said Alyssandra, "I've looked everywhere, which is really weird because this forest is nicknamed the Buneary Playground. It's supposed to be overflowing in them."

"Maybe they've migrated somewhere else because of food or weather," suggested Niya.

"Or maybe they're all in hiding," joked Sam, "They took one look at a scary girl with a Poké Ball and dove into their little warrens."

Alyssandra shot Sam a glare, which instantly caused him to look away in terror.

"I'm going to go out and try again after lunch," sighed Alyssandra, "I just hope I find one today—I don't want to hold up our journey."

"Hang in there," said Niya supportively, "I'm sure you'll find one. If it's worth fighting for the it's worth waiting for."

"So, what's for lunch?" asked Sam, as he looked over to the small tent where Jeremy had set up the cooking fire inside.

"Why isn't Jeremy using this fire here?" asked Niya.

"He says he needs a tight enclosed space," replied Alyssandra, "He refused to say what for, or what he's cooking for lunch either."

"Well it smells good," said Sam as he sniffed the air, "Kind of like meat, actually…wait a minute, this is—"

Sam stopped mid-sentence as Jeremy exited the tent, smoke billowing from opened flap and a covered pot in his hands. He placed the pot down on a nearby rock, and smiled at Sam.

"It's exactly what you think it is," he said, "The De Oliveira Secret Recipe for Smoked, Glazed and Barbequed Chicken!"

"I didn't know that you could do all of that to a single piece of meat," said Niya.

"My mother's family found a way," said Jeremy as he opened the pot and showed the glazed, delicious chicken legs and breasts that lay in the pot, "The secret is to do all three at once. You need to cook it in a small, airtight windowless room, and then build up a lot of smoke. This smokes the chicken, and while it smokes you want to grill it over a flame on a grill or barbecue. Then, after it's grilled, you dip it into the family's secret glaze, and voila! It's finished!"

Jeremy quickly reclosed the lid of the pot and placed it inside of the burning campfire in the middle of the camp.

"I need to keep it warm," said Jeremy, "The rice is cooking now, but it's almost finished—in fact I think it's done just about now, I'll be back."

"Have you ever had his family chicken?" asked Niya as Jeremy re-entered the smoking tent, "I don't ever remember that recipe from when we used to eat dinner there as children."

"Yeah, it's delicious," said Alyssandra reassuringly, "We've had it many times during summer nights when we'd go over to Jeremy's house; after you moved away that is. We've had it made by almost every member of the De Oliveira family, and Jeremy's is no lesser quality than anyone's. He's a pretty good cook."

"Good, I'm glad," said Niya, "I wouldn't want to be poisoned so soon in this Journey. It may be my second time around, but I plan to see more of Sinnoh this time."

"Hey, Sam, can you bring me a carrot from the food bag?" called Jeremy from the tent, "I want some vegetables to add to the rice."

"Coming!" replied Sam as he rummaged through the bag for a carrot.

As he got it, he walked towards Jeremy's tent, when suddenly, a flash of beige and brown dashed passed Sam, and grabbed the carrot, before landing on the other end of the camp.

Everyone looked at the Pokémon that had stolen the carrot, and to Alyssandra's surprise and happiness, it was a Buneary.

"Buneary!" cried the Pokémon as he looked at everyone.

"It's a Buneary!" exclaimed Alyssandra, "I'm going to catch it!"

As Alyssandra grabbed her Poké Balls and an empty Poké Ball from her nearby bag, the Buneary jumped up over the nearby foot high ledge and ran off into the forest.

"I'll be back in a bit! Keep the food warm!" shouted Alyssandra as she ran off after the Buneary.

"You better come back here with that carrot too!" shouted Jeremy after her, "Or don't bother coming back at all!" Jeremy was very serious about his cooking.

Sam sighed as he sat down on the stump again. "And I have a short attention span," he said.

Niya shrugged. "Oh well, that'll just give us more time to train you, come on Sam, let's get some battling done while she's gone."

Alyssandra ran through the forest, closely behind the Buneary, but was forced to stop as she lost sight of the Pokémon.

"Hey," said Alyssandra as she looked around the nearby clearing, "Where'd you go?"

All of a sudden, the Buneary jumped from the bushes behind Alyssandra, and used its Jump Kick attack to knock her to the ground.

The Buneary continued to bounce until it stood before Alyssandra, its hands on its hips and a determined look on its face.

Alyssandra stood up. "That wasn't very nice!" she cried, "But you're probably feeling threatened with me standing in your territory like this huh?"

"Buneary!" shouted the Buneary angrily.

"Well, I'll just have to battle you then," said Alyssandra as she drew a Poké Ball, "If I want to catch you that is—" Alyssandra threw her Poké Ball quickly, "—Go, Piplup!"

"Piplup!" chirped the small, penguin-like Pokémon as it was released from its Poké Ball.

"Piplup, use Peck attack!" cried Alyssandra, but Buneary was too quick, and jumped as Piplup came at it, then jumped off Piplup's head and jumped into the air.

Buneary then quickly spun around, with its foot pointing straight down at Piplup.

"Piplup, dodge!" shouted Alyssandra with slight panic. Piplup was too slow, and Buneary landed its attack on target, sending Piplup to the ground, while Buneary bounced off Piplup and jumped back, preparing for its next attack.

"Piplup are you okay?!" called Alyssandra with desperation in her voice.

Piplup nodded and stumbled as it stood up, to which Alyssandra was both proud and worried.

"Can you keep going Piplup?" she asked.

Her Piplup nodded vigorously, refusing to back down.

"All right then Piplup," she said, "Let's keep our distance then, since Buneary seems to prefer counter attacks and close combat, try a Bubble attack!"

Buneary dodged the attack again and hopped towards Piplup.

"Piplup, it's prepping for a Jump Kick again!" cried Alyssandra, "I want you to hold you ground, understand? Don't move until I tell you to!"

Piplup held strong as it was told and waited as the Buneary neared to landing its attack.

As Buneary jumped into the air and prepared to Jump Kick Piplup, Alyssandra took the moment to strike. "Now, Piplup, use Peck, but hold still and let Buneary come to you!" she cried.

Piplup, once again, did as asked and Buneary came in for the attack, but the attack didn't land, as Buneary's foot struck Piplup's glowing, beak.

The Buneary jumped back in pain and hopped on one foot as pain shot through its foot.

"Now's our chance, Piplup!" shouted Alyssandra, "Use Bubble and knock the Buneary down!"

Piplup shot several bubbles from its mouth, which struck Buneary and sent it flying back, but the Buneary wasn't done yet, and it quickly stood back up.

"Buneary!" cried the Pokémon, angrier than ever.

The Buneary charged towards Piplup, readying a Dizzy Punch, its ears glowing in preparation for the attack.

Alyssandra acted on instinct and did the first thing that came to mind. "Charge it, Piplup!" she shouted, "Charge Buneary and use Peck!"

The two Pokémon rushed at each other, with both of their attacks ready to land, but neither of them knew who the victor would be, only that this would be the strike that would win the match.

Sam, Jeremy and Niya eyed the pot of food that sat in the fire while they waited for Alyssandra.

They had been waiting for almost an hour while Alyssandra was out chasing and battling the Buneary that had stolen the carrot.

After twenty minutes Jeremy gave up on her, and got another carrot instead, but still everyone refused to eat without her—despite how painful it was.

Finally, after Jeremy was about to reach into the pot and throw caution to the wind, Alyssandra returned to camp, a large smile on her face and a Poké Ball in her hand.

"I did it!" she cheered, "I caught the Buneary!"

"Congratulations!" shouted Jeremy, "Can we eat now?"

Alyssandra nodded as she took a seat and picked up her plate and cutlery.

Jeremy quickly handed food out to everyone, and then hungrily began to dig into it himself.

"So," said Sam between bites of chicken, "How'd you do it?"

"Well, it wasn't easy," said Alyssandra, "They took powerful shots at each other—my Piplup and the Buneary—and just when I thought I had it beat, the Buneary struck with a Dizzy Punch before my Piplup's charging Peck could land, and my Piplup fainted."

"So, it ran away, and you kept chasing?" asked Jeremy, "Is that why it took so long?"

"No, not quite," said Alyssandra as she bit into her chicken, "I wasn't going to let it run away again, so I quickly recalled my Piplup and then sent out my Shinx. It was another long, tough battle, but just as it seemed my Shinx was about to collapse, it let out a final burst of lightning, and the Buneary fell to its knee. So, I threw my Poké Ball, and as if by some stroke of luck, managed to catch the Buneary!"

"You know," started Niya as she finished her rice, "By the way this food is amazing—anyway, as I was saying, some Pokémon can't be caught by just knocking them out and catching them, sometimes you need to make the Pokémon acknowledge you and your strength as a Trainer before it submits to being caught."

"Niya's right," said Sam, "And other times it's just a stroke of sheer dumb luck."

"And then there are the times when you catch a Pokémon and it still won't submit after being caught," noted Niya, "My Buizel was very much like that when I first caught it. It refused to listen to a single command I gave it. I never used to use it in battle or Contests because it just wouldn't listen to me; ugh it was so frustrating, and at the same time it made me worry if I was doing something wrong to it."

"So how did you get it to listen?" asked Alyssandra, "Just in case my Buneary starts to give me problems."

Niya paused between bites and thought for a minute. "You know I don't really know, but I kept at it, no matter how many times I was told to release it. Eventually, it grew to trust me and respect me as a Trainer, and now we get along famously. In fact, it was thanks to Buizel's strength that I won the Battle portion of the finals in the Sinnoh Grand Festival two years ago, and it also won me the Appeal portion of the semi-finals in the Wallace Cup—which I also won that same year."

"You've had a busy life," joked Sam as he and Jeremy started to spoon seconds onto their plates.

"Well, I think this advice is great," said Alyssandra, "Now I know how to take care Buneary if it gets difficult. It's definitely a wild one, I'll give it that."