Kris: Hi! Hi! Everyone! It feels great to be updating this story after so long!
Ash: Yes! I haven't been cancelled!
Max: Not yet anyway…
May: Don't say stuff like Max!
Brock: So, what's going on?
Kris: It's an update! Aren't you excited?
Brock: Uhm…yeah I guess…
Kris: Hmph! For lacking enthuse you must do the disclaimer!
All: -gasp-
Brock: Okay, you don't own Pokémon?
All: Fail!
Disclaimer: Let a pro show you how it's done. Ahem! KrystalClear101 doesn't not own Pokémon…AT ALL!
Kris: Thank you sooo much! Please enjoy!
All: Start the Party!
Chapter 20
What to do in Dewford
It was a nice calm, quiet day in Dewford as our heroes docked on the shores of the small town. Full of excitement, they walked off the bridge of the boat and bid their captain a happy farewell before stepping onto the sandy ground.
"Man! Three days of nonstop sailing can really take a toll on the body." May exclaimed as she stretched her arms out. The three males seemed to agree as they all made their way to the pokémon center on the west side of town.
Max was currently holding May's PokeNav and leading while the other three opted to stand behind and take in all the sights. Brock flipped thoughtfully through a town brochure, Ash kept an eye out for the gym and May was looking for something, anything interesting.
"Well guys, there's a number of things we can do here before and after Ash gets his badge, so what'll it be?" Brock said as he pocketed the book. Max continued staring at the LCD screen as the group walked on.
"Well, we definitely need to stop at the Pokémon center before we do anything. Then I'd like to train before I go to the gym." Ash said. The rest of them seemed to agree.
"Hmm, well Ash can train but I would like to explore the island." May added with a wide grin. Max seemed intrigued by this idea.
"I think exploring would be pretty cool. I've already got the whole map of Dewford on the PokéNav so we could go together!" he exclaimed.
"That's the spirit!" May ruffled his hair playfully. "What about you Brock?" May asked.
"I should probably go to the market and pick up something. Then I'll probably meet up with Ash later on in the day." Brock said. They all seemed to agree on the plans.
"We can call each on Ash and May's PokeNav if anything happens. Let's meet at the Pokémon center when it's all said and done, okay?" the group nodded and stepped foot into the cool building. Ash, May and Brock handed over their pokémon to Nurse joy and waited as she healed their pokémon.
Max fiddled with the PokéNav, picking out which places him and May could check out while also finding a good training spot for Ash. For some reason, he always had a knack for figuring out things about technology better than others. Once the pokémon were all healed up, they rented a room for their stay in Dewford.
"So Max, find any good places to explore? Maybe a cave or something." May suggested. Max cocked a brow then smiled as they exited the center.
"There's Dewford cave. You wanna go there?" he asked. May brought a thoughtful finger to her chin as she began to pace the lobby floor.
"Dewford cave, huh? Well, now that you mention it, me and caves don't get along all that well. Plus they're pretty dark and mysterious. But then again, I do like exploring. Okay! Let's do it!" She decided. Max rolled his eyes at her as the two stepped back out into the early afternoon after May grabbed her pokéballs.
All the while this was happening, Ash and Brock watched as the girl had an entire conversation with herself and acted like it was okay. Brock shrugged and Ash gave a small smile before they too retrieved their designated pokéballs and started for the exit as well.
"This is just like old times, huh Ash?" Brock asked. Ash nodded with a cocky grin. He gave Pikachu a quick scratch behind the ears before looking over the town once more. It was a small quaint town with a few houses here and there, a general store and a nice beach by the shore.
"Yup. It feels good to be on land again. Now we can get down to business and do some serious training for my second Hoenn badge!" he exclaimed. "Come on out guys!" he tossed two pokeballs into the air and out came Treecko and Tailow. Both acknowledged their trainer with a quick nod.
"Let's go!" With that, Ash took off running with his three pokémon trailing behind him with Brock watching from a distance with a familiar grin on his face.
"Some thing's never change." He chuckled lightly.
Ash savored the cool ocean breeze as he sprinted across the warm shore. It was moments like these that made him love being a trainer. Just being outside with his pokémon and running like there was no tomorrow. He turned back to look at the three who were keeping a steady pace with him, Tailow flying above and Pikachu with Treecko running side by side.
"All right! Now that we're all warmed up, let's work on some attack moves!" he exclaimed. The three cheered right along with him in excitement. Unbeknowst to them, they were being watched by one pair of interested eyes from the bushes.
Let us divert our story over to May and Max and their cave excursion.
"So this is Dewford cave? It's nice…if that's what you want to call it." May commented.
"It's a cave, what else can you say about it? It's nice…" he rolled his eyes at her. May fumed and walked ahead of him with her head held high.
"Who cares what you say Max, you're just jealous of my insight." May laughed lightly as she gave him a gently shove. He smiled and pushed her hand away.
"STOP!" a manly voice yelled from in front of them. May's eyes widened and Max instinctively clung to her side. In front of them was a large burly man wearing brown jacket with tons of pockets and brown pants with tons of pockets as well. Around his neck was a red scarf and a hiker's hat on his head.
"It's dark in Dewford cave! You must have the hidden machine FLASH in order to make it through the rest of the cave!" he exclaimed. May swallowed her anxiety and took a slight step forward since Max was hanging on her like koala on a tree.
"Uhm, can't we just use a flashlight?" she asked, cautiously. The man looked baffled for a quick second before a grin broke out on his beard covered face.
"YES! That works also! But please, take this Hidden Machine FLASH and teach it to one of your pokemon!" he handed May a white cd with the words FLASH written across it. May took it in her hands an examined it for a quick second before shrugging and placing it in her fanny pack.
"Thanks, er…"
"Hiker Hank my dear!" he shouted causing them to flinch.
"Uhm, Trainer May and…little brother Max?" she answered questionably. With that, they waved to the large fellow and continued on their way.
"That wasn't creepy at all." Max sighed.
"Tell me about it. Thanks for the marks you left in my leg, I've always wanted them." She remarked sarcastically. Max recoiled back with an embarrassed blush on his face. She smiled and placed a hand on his head. Soon they came upon a ladder that led to the bottom level of the cave.
"I'll go first." May piped. She bent down and grabbed onto the sides of the ladder and slowly slid herself down. She took it one step at a time until she reached the bottom where it was completely pitch black. "Whoa, I guess that guy was right." She said as she dug into her pack for her flashlight.
She flipped it on and called for Max to make his way down as well. Once he was at her side, they walked on, relying on the light from the handheld device to guide their way. May moved the light from side to side as they walked and kept a close eye on everything that was going on.
Suddenly, there was a screeching in the distance that startled them both, May maneuvered the flashlight over to where the sound came from and spotted a bat looking pokémon luring dangerously over them. Max quickly dug in her pack and pulled out her pokédex.
"Zubat. The bat pokemon. It lurks in dark places, mainly at night and uses supersonic waves to confuse prey." The machine hummed.
"Zubat huh? Go Wurmple!" she exclaimed. She tossed the pokéball and out came her first caught partner. He slithered around a bit before getting in a battle stance.
"Hey buddy, ready for a battle?" she asked.
"Yup!" he replied, happily.
"Okay, use string shot then go into poison sting!" she called. He quickly shot out a stinky shot of web at the bat and managed to tag its left wing, causing it to come tumbling to the ground. Before his opponent could respond, Wurmple shot a series of purple needles lined with poison.
"Good, now use tackle!" she command. Wurmple moved as fast as he could but wasn't quick enough to hit Zubat before it recovered from his last it attack. Once up in the air, Zubat opened its mouth wide and screeched out a loud supersonic directly at the worm pokémon, confusing it.
"That's Zubat's supersonic, May. Wurmple's probably confused." Max commented. May gritted her teeth in frustration and tried to focus the light in such a way so that both Zubat and Wurmple would be visible.
"Come on little guy, snap out it so we can finish this! Tackle!" she called it. He squinted his glazed over eyes and made a quick run at Zubat who was staggering in its flight patterns a bit. Through his confusion, Wurmple shot at the flying pokémon and hit the main part of its body, sending it to ground once again.
"All right!" May cheered. Zubat struggled a bit but was deemed unfit to battle after a few seconds.
"Phew! That was close." Max sighed. He was about to put May's pokédex back in her pack when he noticed a bright light coming from where Wurmple was sitting at. "May look!" he shouted.
"Hmm? What the…" she gasped at the sight before her. Her Wurmple was engulfed in a blinding light that lit of the whole bottom floor of the cave easily.
"He's…he's evolving…Max! He's evolving! Wurmple's evolving!" she cheered as she watched his form change slowly. He went from a worm looking thing to a…cocoon looking thing?
"Silcoon. The cocoon pokémon. After evolving, Silcoon develops hardening techniques in order to protect itself from predators." The pokédex hummed once more. May ran to the newly evolved Silcoon and picked up in her arms.
"You evolved! I'm so proud of you! Gosh, just wait until Torchic hears, she's gonna be super jealous!" she gushed at him. He smiled approvingly and nodded in his own little way.
Back to Ash and Brock
"Yeah! Good job guys!" Ash called out to his panting group of partners. They took a quick break on the sand and just stared out at the ocean. "Man, this next battle is gonna be epic."
"Pika pi, kachu pi pikachu?" the electric type asked.
"Hmm? I guess we should figure out the type. Heh, that would help." He laughed sheepishly. Pikachu sweat-dropped and returned to its reclining position.
"All done for the day, Ash?" Brock asked from above him. In his arms where several bags from the general store.
"Not quite. I want to get one more in before we go look for May and Max." He replied.
"Okay, don't work too hard." Brock advised before he turned and looked back to the direction of the pokémon center. Ash stretched on good time before he hopped onto his feet with that air of confidence around him once more.
"Back to work guys!" the three pokémon stood and stretched before resuming their respective training regimes. The pair of eyes was still watching with anticipation to interrupt the session with its presence. One can assume the urge got too strong since it decided to burst out of the bushes and strike an obvious pose.
"Corphish!" it exclaimed. Ash and the rest looked on in surprise while Ash decided to pull out his pokédex.
"Corphish, the shellfish pokémon. It uses its large pincers to eat and protect itself."
"A Corphish, huh? This could be great practice! Let's go Tailow!" he called out to the bird pokémon. "Use tackle!"
To start, Tailow flew low to the ground then increased its speed right when it was in front of its opponent and struck it hard with its beak. Corphish tumbled backwards but eventually got back on its feet and opened one of its pincers for a nice bubblebeam attack.
"Whoa! That's Corphish's bubblebeam." Brock pointed out. Tailow came tumbling down to the ground with a thud and struggled to pick itself up from the.
"Come on Tailow, you can do it!" it twitched a bit with one eye clenched shut from the dust that had gathered after its fall. With one last burst of energy Tailow managed to push itself off the ground, but not quite in the air. "Alright. Take it easy pal and got in for a tackle attack!"
Corphish narrowed its eyes and let a shine go across its entire body, preparing itself for another attack. Tailow went it for the tackle but staggered back once contact was made for its opponent had secretly used Harden in order to boost its defense.
"T-tai…l-low…" it growled out before falling to the ground for the final time. Not only was it battle battered but tired from training as well. Ash gave a sad smile as he pulled out Tailow's designated pokéball.
"Good work, you rest now. Let's finish this up Treecko!" The grass type hopped up from behind and immediately went on the offense with a surprise pound attack which surprised Corphish out of his arrogance. It fell on its side and angrily stood up, aiming its pincer for another bubblebeam.
"Dodge it!" Ash commanded. Quick on his feet, Treecko sprinted around the water type until it ran out of bubbles, tired and dizzy. "Now use bullet seed!"
"Tree-cko!" a rain of seeds shot right out of his mouth and onto Corphish where it created a cloud of dust that made it nearly impossible to see. Ash saw this as he opportunity to strike.
"Now's my chance, pokéball go!" he shouted at he tossed the familiar red and white ball in the direction of the wild pokémon. It made a solid hit and sucked the pokémon into the ball and fell to the ground.
One wiggle.
Two wiggles.
Three wiggles.
Kris: Bahahahaha! I'm so evil!
May: You're ending it here?
Ash: I'm stil awesome!
Kris: Yes…yes I am.
May: ?
Brock: Hey! I was in this chapter!
Kris: Yes…yes you were.
Max: Right…stay tuned for her next update…which will be approximately one year!
Kris: Max!
All: Thanks for reading! 4 Sure!
R&R