AN: This is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy. Til next time.
Chapter 29 – A Hero (in training) is Born!
It had been about 3 days since the Team Immortal incident at Citrine City. There had been no further leads on the evil syndicate, but the city was able to establish a plan for reconstruction of the damages to Shine Square. Justin, whose injuries had fully recovered, and Aly left the city and ventured southeast towards the next gym that was Emerald City. However, the way to get there required the trainers to travel through a different environment in which they hadn't experienced in Minero so far.
Enter the Emerald Forest. A large forest region that connected Citrine City and Emerald City. The area was lush green with many tall trees and shrubs surrounding the trainers. Small amounts of sunlight filtered through the top branches, giving a light and dark pattern to appear on the ground. There was the smell of compositing leaves in the air as they walked through the crackling branches on the ground.
"Look at this forest. It's so green and beautiful!" Aly claimed as she looked all around.
"It's pretty neat, yet strange, that there's a forest all the way up north." Justin added.
During their travels to Citrine City via route 405 north, the landscape was less green and more rugged. This forest contradicted the previous path entirely, with nature and green life all over the place. The weather was very warm and nice as well, contrast from the cool and brisk air on route 405.
"I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry." Justin said.
"But we just ate like an hour ago." Aly remarked.
"C'mon Aly! It's a small request. You always request to take plenty of rest breaks while we travel. What's one little food request by me? "
"That's because I…I…fine, you win."
"Yippee!" Justin cried out happily.
Justin and Aly settled around the stump of a large tree and set out the large cloth to relax on. They both let out all of their Pokémon to enjoy the nature view and air as well. Espeon, Gible, Mudkip and Squirtle were running around playing while Combusken and Vulpix simply lied down on the grass. Justin watched both of his and Aly's Pokémon Eggs, which were inside of their respective incubators, on both sides of him while Aly set up a mini table to prepare food for Justin and their Pokémon. Justin took off his newly bought red jacket, folded it and placed it behind him in a place where he could rest his head on while lying down.
"You know Justin, you should really watch your eating habits. Eat too much and you'll become fat." Aly warned while chopping various vegetables.
"But you feed me really healthy stuff. So, it probably does more good for my body then bad. Plus, I love your cooking. That skill adds to your charm!" Justin replied.
"Oh! Well…thank you. I'm flattered…" Aly said flustered. She then smiled glowingly and fist pumped downwards.
After some work, Aly had prepared Justin a nice creamy soup with meat chunks, and berry-flavoured Pokémon food for all of their Pokémon. Everyone said their grace before digging in to their meals. Aly took her Pokémon Egg out of the incubator and embraced it for warmth. Justin used this time to examine the map of Minero further on their Poke-Tabs.
"So we're heading to Emerald City now. After, we'll go through Route 406, Slate Town, Wisdom Mountain and Route 407 before reaching Onyx City in Central Minero." Justin explained.
"Another mountain? I just hope it doesn't turn out like the last one we went through." Aly sighed.
"I hope so too. That was not a fun time back then."
After a while, Justin and all of the Pokémon finished their food and helped Aly clean and pack up everything.
"Well, I guess we better start moving again." Justin suggested.
"Yeah, you're right…Hey Justin! Take a look at your Pokémon Egg!" Aly shouted out, pointing behind her companion. Justin turned around and saw his Pokémon Egg illuminating a bright, white light.
"Um, what's going on with Herodotus?" Justin asked confused.
"It looks like it's going to hatch! Quickly, take it out of the incubator!"
Justin, Aly and all of their Pokémon rushed to the incubator, where the boy took off the cover and lifted the Egg into his arms. Soon enough, the glowing round egg began to take on a new shape. It expanded pretty wide, having a curvy outline with a short tail.
"Herodotus! What will you become?!" Justin said excitedly.
"That name is still ridiculous Justin." Aly remarked.
"At least the readers think so! I think?"
"…who?"
Justin sighed at his companion's naivety. "Never mind. Look, the light is dimming!"
The glowing light surrounding the hatched Pokémon began to fade. Justin's arms began to feel something very soft and fluffy. Cream coloured wool began to become visible, which covered almost the entire body of the Pokémon. It had 4 short blue legs, a blue head with black eyes and conical ears with a black and gold pattern. Its tail had the same black and gold pattern with an orange sphere at the end of it. Justin looked down at the Pokémon while it looked up directly at the trainer with curious, sparkling eyes.
"It's….it's…" Justin stuttered.
"It's so cute!" Aly squealed as she began to jump up and down. All of Aly's and Justin's Pokémon gasped at the surprising sight.
"Ma…Reep?" The Pokémon cried out softly. Justin used one of his hands to reach into his pocket and grab his Pokedex.
"Mareep, the Wool Pokémon. Its fluffy coat swells to double when static electricity builds up. Touching it could be rather shocking." The Pokedex stated.
"Well I'll be. Thy legendary egg, named Herodotus, has hatched! Thee revealing a majestic and fluffy creature known to thou as Mareep!" Justin exclaimed dramatically.
Mareep quickly entered a frightened state as it jumped out of Justin's arms onto the ground and crouched over before crying.
"Great job there Shakespeare." Aly remarked. All of the Pokémon looked at Justin with unimpressed expressions.
"Ah! Was it something I said?!" Justin asked confusedly while flailing his arms around. Aly put her egg incubator down on the ground and walked up to the frightened Pokémon.
"Hey Mareep. My name is Aly. It's nice to meet you." She said calmly. The Mareep stopped crying and looked up at Aly. The female trainer gave a sincere smile, which helped the electric Pokémon calm down a little.
"Now, you try Justin."
Justin nodded as he made his way towards his newly hatched Pokémon. He knelt down on the opposite side of Mareep, who then looked in his direction before starting to tear up and shake in fear.
"Wait! Don't be scared! I'm really sorry for scaring you like that Mareep. I'm just very excited to meet you as all." Justin explained. Mareep began to calm down once again as it looked carefully at Justin's expression.
"That's it. My name is Justin. I hope we can be good friends." Justin added as he stuck out his hand for a handshake. Mareep was reluctant at first, but then slowly moved its right paw towards Justin's hand.
"Aw, look at that." Aly said under her breath.
Justin watched on as the baby electric Pokémon's paw inched closer to him. Suddenly, a rush of exuberant and joyful emotions began to overtake his mind. His willingness to remain calm and collected in the presence of his new Pokémon faded quickly as he let loose his excitement.
"WOW! YOU'RE SO COOL AND CUTE MAREEP! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE ACTUALY MY POKEMON! THIS IS SO EXCITING! WE'RE GOING TO BE BEST FRIENDS!" Justin exclaimed loudly as he grabbed onto Mareep's paw and shook it energetically.
"Ma!" Mareep shrieked loudly, frightened out of its fluffy body. It jolted up in a state of shock, and then slipped its paw out of Justin's grip before running away and cowering in fear.
Aly looked at Justin all unimpressed with his recent actions.
"Really Justin?" She asked bluntly.
"…I know. I messed up. It's just I've always dreamed of having my very own Pokémon hatch from an egg." Justin sighed as he looked down.
"You're going to have to change your approach with Mareep. The poor thing is so scared of you now."
"I know…I know…"
"I'll help get the ball rolling since Mareep doesn't seems to be afraid of me. But, after that it's up to you. Try not to scare it, and do your best." Aly explained.
"Gotcha! I'm on it!" Justin exclaimed. Aly then walked up to the frightened Pokémon and kneeled beside it. Mareep looked up at her.
"Hey Mareep. Listen, there's no need to be scared of your trainer. He's just really happy and excited to meet you. I assure you he won't cause you any harm. Could you give him one more chance?" Aly said softly.
Mareep began to calm down a little. It looked up at Justin, who seemed to have calmed down and acted serious (for once…). The electric Pokémon began to walk slowly, but cautiously towards the boy. Justin gulped as he making his way towards Mareep. A few steps later, both of them met in the middle, staring at each other with uncertain expressions. Justin let out a big sigh before saying the first words.
"Hey Mareep. Again, I'm really, really sorry for acting a little over the top with you at the beginning. It's true that I can be dramatic and outspoken, but…I truly am a nice person. If you would allow me the chance to show you, that'll be great." Justin said kindly.
"Ma…reep…" Mareep cried out with uncertainty. After a few moments, Mareep made its way beside Justin.
"Great! Well, since you're new to this world, I'll teach you about stuff. Why don't we go for a walk?" Justin asked.
"Ma-reep." Mareep reluctantly nodded. It then looked up at Aly, who gave the baby Pokémon a nod of confidence.
"Just be sure to stay close in the area. And don't go for too long, ok?" Aly stated.
"Don't worry, we won't go too far. Be back soon. Take care of everyone." Justin said. Mareep and him then began walking the in the opposite direction towards the trees before disappearing from sight.
Espeon walked up to Aly and looked up at her. Aly looked down and smiled back.
"Don't worry Espeon. Let's believe in Justin that he'll get through to Mareep."
Justin and Mareep had walked for about 10 minutes and not a word or sound came out of their mouths. Mareep looked on straight ahead, still having some doubt in its eyes. Justin inhaled, and then exhaled deeply as he prepared himself to start a conversation.
"So…Mareep. While you were in your egg, I called you Herodotus, which I think is a pretty rad name. Could that be your nickname?" Justin asked.
Mareep jolted up, looked at Justin alarmed and shook its head quickly.
"Whoa! Ok! Ok! We'll just stick with Mareep. Please don't get frightened!" Justin said flailing his hands as he tried to stop Mareep from panicking.
Mareep slowly began to calm down, and nodded while smiling at the name Mareep.
"All right! Mareep it is. Yeah, I guess Herodotus was a bit silly." Justin giggled a little.
Mareep's face turned brighter as it began to giggle a bit as well.
"Ma-reep!" Mareep cried out happily. Justin breathed a sigh of relief as he got a little closer to his Pokémon.
"Anyways Mareep, since your new to the world, let me teach you some things. This is what you call a forest. It's filled with living things such as trees, grass, bushes, flowers…um, more trees, and green life!" Justin explained.
Mareep looked all around at the amount of green that surrounded it. Its eyes lit up and gleamed at all the beautiful green life. Mareep came across some flowers sprouted near a big oak tree and ran up to them. The electric Pokémon took a quick sniff at them and smiled at the beautiful smell it produced. Seconds after, it sneezed really softly.
"You ok Mareep?" Justin said as he walked over towards Mareep.
"Ma-reep. Ma" Mareep cried out sadly as tears began to form under its eyes.
"Hey! No need to cry! It was just a sneeze. Those things happen all the time!" Justin stated. After that, Mareep settled down a little, wiping its tears with one of its paws.
"Well…you're the scaredy-cat and crybaby type aren't you?"
"Ma-…"Mareep sulked.
"Hey, there's no need to get down on yourself. You just arrived into this world, so you're not going to be a super hero right away. But don't worry, we're going to work together to build your confidence!" Justin explained. Mareep looked up at him, still unsure of itself, and nodded slightly.
"Eventually, I would like you to participate in Pokémon battles. You see, I'm a Pokémon trainer on a quest to compete in the Minero League. You, the rest of the team, and I will be battling against other trainers' Pokémon in intense battles that will test one's strength, courage and determination. It's going to be an all-out war to see who will reach the top! Of course, you are in no shape to be battling just yet. Heck, you might even find this scary, am I right?" Justin explained as he looked downwards.
Mareep was nowhere to be found. Justin raised a brow as he looked all around to find the baby Pokémon. He then noticed a bush scrub to his left shaking. It had Mareep's tail sticking out of it, signalling that's where the electric Pokémon was hiding.
"C'mon Mareep. That's enough being scared, all right?" Justin said. He walked up to the bush and picked up Mareep into his arms. He then embraced Mareep closely, which startled the electric Pokémon a little.
"I promise to take care of you Mareep. To help you grow into a strong and brave Pokémon. That way, we can be partners, and better yet, friends." Justin said softly.
Mareep looked up at Justin, whose head was buried in the wool of Mareep's body. Mareep began to sense the warmth and kindness of its trainer. It smiled and nuzzled its head into Justin's chest.
All of a sudden, Justin heard some loud noises coming beyond the trees in front of him. It seemed to be crashing and banging, which caused some of the trees to shake.
"It looks like some sort of ruckus is happening there. Let's check it out." Justin said to Mareep. He started to run towards the commotion through the trees and bushes. After a while, the two of them came across quite the scene.
On the left, there was a small little Teddiursa with an evil grin on its face. On the right, there was a Linoone, who stared the Teddiursa down, in front of 3 little Zigzagoons that were shaking in fear. Behind the Zigzagoons was a pile of berries, presumably the food for them, and the Linoone
"It looks like Linoone is trying to protect the Zigzagoons and their food." Justin muttered quietly. Mareep was just focused on the commotion between the two Pokémon.
"Linoone! Li!" Linoone barked out.
"Ursa! Ursa! Teddiursa!" Teddiursa snickered as it made mocking gestures towards the group. The Zigzagoons began to sulk and became sadder. Linoone growled even louder, seeming even angrier than it was before.
"Ma-reep!" Mareep gasped, interested in the situation rather than usually scared. Justin noticed this and was surprised himself.
"Mareep?" Justin said.
"Linoone!" Linoone cried out. It then started to charge at the Teddiursa at full force head first. The speed of Linoone was way too fast for Teddiursa to react, resulting in a strong headbutt attack that sent the bear Pokémon backwards onto the ground.
"Zigzagoon!" The Zigzagoons cried out happily.
"Teddiursa!" Teddiursa growled angrily as it slowly got up. Once Teddiursa got up, it charged towards Linoone with its claws glowing for a fury swipes attack.
"Linoone!" Linoone barked out. It read the movements of its opponent and tactically dodged the incoming fury swipes. It then maneuvered back in front of Teddiursa and unleashed another headbutt attack that dealt even more damage. It sent Teddiursa backwards before landing hard on the ground.
"Zigzagoon!" The Zigzagoons cried out with even more joy as they rushed towards Linoone to celebrate.
"Mareep!" Mareep cried out in awe. It had a wide smile on its face, beaming at the scene of the Zigzagoons praising the Linoone as their hero. Justin continued to look on at his Pokémon, who was more like boy at a toy shop rather than a crybaby.
"That Linoone was pretty cool there, eh Mareep?" Justin said to his Pokémon.
"Mareep!" Mareep cried out happily, agreeing with its trainer. It had a positive and excited aura about it that Justin had never seen from it before.
"It's almost like a Linoone is a superhero. Do you want to be a superhero?" Justin asked.
"Ma?" Mareep thought about the term for a second. After a while, it looked back up at Justin smiling and nodded.
"Well, I'll help you with that. You'll be the best superhero out there!"
"Mareep!"
All of a sudden, the Teddiursa began to get up. It had scratches all over it and looked in no shape to battle, but still got up anyway. Its face showed that it was super angry and mad, probably because it didn't accomplish what it set out to do. It roared out loudly before its body illuminating brightly. The Linoone, Zigzagoons, Justin and Mareep were caught off by the phenomena. Teddiursa was evolving.
"This doesn't look good for them." Justin muttered.
Teddiursa changed shape into a bigger bear before revealing its final evolution form; Ursaring.
"RUARRRRRRR!" Ursaring roared out loudly. The loudness of its roar created a wind that blew by pretty harshly.
"Zigzagoon!" The Zigzagoons cried out in fear.
"Li…noone." Linoone muttered nervously, realizing that the fight just got a whole lot tougher.
"Mareep!" Mareep cried out in fear as well before burying its head into Justin's chest.
The Ursaring leaned back and inhaled, and then unleashed a Hyper Beam attack that was headed straight for Linoone. Linoone conjured up a shadow ball attack and sent it right back. The 2 attacks collided and were pushing against each other, however the hyper beam was too powerful and cut right through. Linoone was hit and sent backwards before slamming hard into a tree. It slid down the trunk and lied at the base looking very weak. The Zigzagoons rushed to their friend's aid to see if it was all right, but there was no movement from Linoone. Ursaring gave another loud roar as it began to walk towards the small group of Pokémon.
"We have to help them…" Justin said to himself. He looked down at Mareep, who was still scared out of its mind. He then made the decision to put Mareep down into a bush to hide.
"Wait there Mareep. I'll be back." He said before running off into the battle. Mareep tried to call out to him to stop, but was too late. Justin ran right in front of the Linoone and raised his arms up to block Ursaring.
"Hey! You've won the battle. So leave these Pokémon alone!" Justin shouted loudly.
The Ursaring's attention then focused on the small human right in front of it. It examined that Justin was trying to impede its way from getting at Linoone and the berries, making it even angrier. Ursaring let out another giant roar and started coming at Justin with its claws lit up for a fury swipes attack.
"You…You don't scare me." Justin said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Sweat started to drop down the side of his face. His pulse began to accelerate; the pounding of his heart beat louder and more rapidly.
"Crap, I don't have Espeon and the others to back me up. Linoone is down, while the Zigzagoons and Mareep are too afraid. I've really gotten myself into a pickle now, haven't I?" He thought to himself.
Mareep looked on from the side as the Ursaring charged directly after its trainer. It was then for a brief moment, it remembered the Linoone and how brave it was standing up for its fellow Zigzagoons. It also remembered Justin telling it how the two of them were going to get stronger and braver to be superheroes. Suddenly, its fear and doubts turns into bravery and courage. Mareep stopped shaking and acting like a scaredy-cat, and walked out of the bush. It moved its head back slightly and then whipped it forward, sending yellow electricity from its body towards Ursaring. The attack reached the bear Pokémon and engulfed it in a thundershock attack. Justin, the Zigzagoons and Linoone saw this and had a surprised reaction.
"Mareep?" He called out as he looked towards the electric type Pokémon. Mareep continued its attack for another few seconds before using all of its energy. It resulted in Mareep sweating and panting from exhaustion.
"Great job Mareep! You used thundershock!" Justin exclaimed. He quickly looked over at Ursaring to check the damage, only to find out that it did nothing but make Ursaring even madder. It was now staring in the direction of Mareep, who started cowering in fear once again.
"Uh-oh." Justin remarked.
Ursaring began to make its way over towards Mareep and attack it with fury swipes. Justin also began to run to his Pokémon's aid, but was clearly too far to reach it before Ursaring.
"Run Mareep! Get out of there!" He shouted out.
Mareep couldn't move it feet as its body was frozen in fear, unable to move away from the incoming Ursaring. The bear Pokémon finally made its way over and was standing right before Mareep with its arm raised up ready for an attack. Mareep closed its eyes, bracing itself for the worst attack possible.
"MAREEP!" Justin shouted out worriedly.
All of a sudden, a colour beam of energy came out from bushes behind Mareep and hit Ursaring straight in the chest, which caused it to fall backwards. Justin saw this and became confused.
"Wait, was that Psybeam?" He thought.
Justin then saw a flamethrower attack that looked twice as powerful as a normal one come out as well and hit Ursaring as it was getting up. It wasn't long before familiar faces came out into the open: Espeon, Combusken, Mudkip, Gible, Vulpix, Squirtle and Aly.
"Are you all right Justin?" Aly asked.
"Aly! In the nick of time too! Thanks a bunch!" Justin exclaimed as he made his way towards his friends. The Ursaring began to get up again after the second attack made.
"Doesn't seem like we're done here yet." He remarked as he saw the Ursaring get even angrier.
Mareep slowly started to open its eyes, seeing now that it was surrounded by many familiar Pokémon and people.
"Don't worry Mareep. I'll take it from here pal." Justin remarked confidently.
Mareep looked on at its trainer. Suddenly, the image of Justin changed from just a regular boy, to a caped figure standing in a superhero's pose. Mareep became all giddy and smile brightly at its trainer.
"RUAR!" Ursaring shouted out as it prepared to shoot off a Hyper Beam attack.
"All right everybody! Let's do this! Espeon, use Psybeam. Combusken, use Flamethrower. Mudkip, use Water Pulse! Gible, use Dragon Rage!" Justin commanded.
"Vulpix, use flamethrower. Squirtle, use your water gun." Aly commanded as well.
All of the Pokémon released their attacks towards Ursaring, while the bear Pokémon finished charging its attack and shot it towards the group. All of the attacks collided, but Ursaring's Hyper Beam was easily pushed away and the bear Pokémon was struck hard. A smoke explosion occurred around Ursaring's body and spread out across the entire area. Justin, Aly and all the Pokémon covered their faces from the smoke blowing towards them. Moments later, the smoke started to subside, revealing Ursaring on one knee panting heavily and all full of scratches. Justin walked up to the Pokémon with a smug look on his face.
"You shouldn't pick on others, especially those who are smaller or weaker than you, for things that you want. There are better was to handling these situations." Justin stated.
Aly and the other Pokémon nodded in agreement. Ursaring then looked at the Zigzagoons, who approached the bear Pokémon with some berries in their mouth while helping Linoone walk over as well. They dropped it before Ursaring and smiled at it, signalling that they were sharing the berries. Ursaring looked on, understanding what it had done wrong. It looked down at the berries, then back at the Zigzagoons, smiling and thanking them for the berries.
Justin nodded at the situation before turning around to walk back to his friends. As he made his way back, he noticed Mareep was running towards him with a big smile on its face.
"Mareep! I'm glad to see you're okay!" Justin exclaimed.
"Ma-Mareep! Mareep! Ma-reep!" Mareep cried out excitedly as it started to jump around, make superhero poses and pointing at Justin.
"Yeah! I guess I was a hero today, wasn't I? Not that I'm surprised or whatever since I'm awesome. Don't worry though Mareep, soon that'll be you!"
"Mareep!"
Justin and Mareep started laughing with each other, leaving Aly and the rest of the Pokémon confused.
"Hero? Justin? Hm…well, maybe he is." She remarked softly.
Justin, Aly and all of their Pokémon said goodbye to the Linoone, Zigzagoons and Ursaring, who all seemed to have gotten along. Once they all left, Justin turned back towards his friends.
"All right, time for a formal introduction I guess. Mareep, welcome to our travelling group. Or, what I like to say, our family. This is Espeon, Combusken, Mudkip, Gible, Aly, Squirtle and Vulpix!" Justin announced. Mareep looked around at the curious, smiling faces that surrounded it.
"Everyone, say hi to our newest member!"
Aly and the other Pokémon greeted Mareep cheerfully in their own way. Mareep bowed its head to greet everyone, but had a nervous face on because of being in the spotlight.
"I should also mention that one day, Mareep is going to be a superhero. And guess what? Mareep took its first step towards that goal today when it helped me during the Ursaring debacle. Let's give Mareep a hand and cheer!" Justin added.
Everyone began to clap and cheer, despite not being there to see the heroic act. Mareep looked around and started to feel good about itself. It smiled and began to cry out happily.
"Good job Justin." Aly whispered to her friend. "You were able to connect with your new Pokémon."
"Yep." Justin nodded as he looked down at Mareep, who was jumping up and down playfully.
"It's going to be a journey, but Mareep will turn out just fine."
