Hello and welcome to another chapter of Pokémon Journey: Hoenn!
Last chapter, the group found themselves caught up in the Trick House. However, they all managed to complete the challenges the Trick Master set for them. Part way through, Muro evolved into a loudred after a battle with another trainer.
Upload Date: 5th November 2017
Chapter 36: Marching on the Stomach!
Route 110, Hoenn
11:31am, 9th May 2006
"Dodge and use Water Gun!" Will shouted.
Toya sprang to one side as Chena jumped towards him. As he moved out of the way, he fired a blast of water from his mouth. The poochyena quickly dove low in response, just managing to avoid the attack.
"Use Bite!" Richard called.
Chena nodded and jumped forwards again.
"Withdraw!" Will shouted.
Toya wrenched himself back into his shell at the last second. Chena's jaw closed around the side of the shell with a loud crunch. He jumped back before the squirtle could counter attack, nursing several aching teeth.
"Nice reaction!" Richard grinned. "Toya's still got an excellent defence!"
"I'm glad you agree!" Will grinned back as Toya re-emerged from his shell. "We're going back on the attack now!"
Toya raced forwards, preparing to slam into his opponent. Chena, however, was quick to react. He jumped to the side as Toya reached him and countered with a tackle of his own. Toya cried out in alarm as he was struck in the side and thrown to the ground.
"It's not over yet!" Will called. "Use Water Gun!"
Toya rolled over onto his side in a smooth motion. He fired a jet of water towards Chena before he could react.
"Good attack!" Richard called. "But we're not just going to take that!" He nodded at Chena, who had pulled himself back to his feet. He gave himself a shake to clear away the water clinging to his fur before charging towards Toya.
"Withdraw!" Will yelled.
Once again, Toya whipped himself back into his shell. Chena, more cautious this time, halted and watched the motionless shell carefully. A five-second standoff felt as though it dragged on for ten minutes.
"Use Tackle!" Will finally broke the deadlock, ordering his pokémon forward once again.
Toya emerged from the shell and fired himself forwards.
"Use Bite!" Richard shouted.
Chena jumped forwards to meet his opponent. The two collided, barging into each other's shoulders. Chena immediately sank his teeth into Toya's shoulder. Crying out in pain and struggling to throw him off, the squirtle lurched forwards and bit into his opponent's shoulder as well. They continued thrashing about for several seconds before finally breaking apart, panting heavily and nursing their sore shoulders.
"I guess that's a new attack for Toya to use!" Richard grinned.
"You mean just then?" Will asked.
"Yeah. That Bite definitely packed a punch!"
"…That feels ironic somehow."
Still, Will was relieved that he and his team seemed to be improving. He was still set on catching a new pokémon to add to his team, but if Toya and Turkey fell behind, then it wouldn't help in the long run. Not for the first time, he was glad that he had gym challengers to practise with.
Over by the side of road, Nicola and James were sat patiently waiting for the other two to finish their practice battle.
"Do you think they'll be much longer?" Nicola asked.
"They'll finish up soon, I'm sure," James replied with a grin.
"I'm surprised you didn't want to train together with Muro," Nicola said, smiling at him. "You seemed so enthusiastic yesterday evening after showing him to us!"
"He's still a little bit much to handle!" James laughed. He held out a water bottle. "Want some?"
"Ah, thanks!" Nicola took the bottle. "How long will it take to get to the next town?" she asked before taking a swig.
"Not too long," James replied. "About two hours or so from here. That's why I let the others stop to practise."
"Couldn't we go further today?" Nicola wiped her mouth and handed the bottle back. "We normally go further."
"It's pretty rough further up," James explained. "I want to rest up before we try and get through."
"I see."
James put the water bottle away and waved to Richard and Will.
"What's up?" Richard asked as he walked over.
"Just thinking that we should get moving again," James replied. "We can stop and train later on when we stop for lunch." He glanced at Will. "Then there's Will wanting to catch a new pokémon as well."
Of course. They might have to stop at any time if Will spotted something he wanted to catch. Depending on how it went, that could add up to an hour to their day. Maybe even more, if it took a really long time to track it down.
"I won't take that long," Will said haughtily.
"You never know with these things," James replied with a grin. "At best, we'll have a short trip today and lots of rest. At worst, we'll have still got to where we need to, even if we're travelling for as long as normal."
"Well, let's get going." Will stepped forwards. "I want to start looking again as soon as possible."
1:38pm, 9th May 2006
Route 110 ran along an upside-down T-shaped peninsula that pointed towards Mauville City at the eastern end, while Slateport City sat at the western end. On their way up from Slateport, they'd followed a path along the northern side of the peninsula, which had taken them past the 'trunk' of the T, which linked the area to the rest of Hoenn. However, the high ground in the centre of the peninsula was much more rural than the coast. Will had insisted that they pass through to the southern coast so that he'd have plenty of opportunities to look out for pokémon.
Yet, the morning had been disappointing on that front. Despite occasionally straying into areas that were definitely off the main path, they hadn't managed to spot anything nearby.
Well, except for a zigzagoon. But Will had no interest in that.
Eventually, it was decided that they'd stop for a lunch break. Maybe there'd be more pokémon out and about later in the day.
"Use Steel Wing!" Will called.
Turkey swept down towards Toya, his wings coated in steel. Toya braced himself for the hit, but was still knocked back. Turkey spun around for another attack, but, this time, Toya was prepared and hit the swellow with a jet of water.
"They're still at it," Nicola sighed, looking over at Will and his pokémon as she helped James unpack their lunch from the backpack.
"Once he sets his mind on something, it's difficult for him to think of anything else," James replied. "He'll calm down once he's caught a new pokémon and won some more battles."
"But then, won't the same thing just happen again the next time he loses?" Nicola asked.
"Well, yeah." James shrugged. "Here." He held out a packet of crisps.
"I hope he won't accidentally hit us with one of their attacks," Nicola said as she took it.
"He's far enough away," Richard replied.
"Come on, Will!" James called. "We're going to eat!"
"Got it!" Will and his pokémon reluctantly stopped their training and came over to join them. Toya and Turkey quickly moved over to join the other pokémon, who had already started tucking into the bowls of pokémon food in front of them.
"…I'm trying to eat," James said, raising an eyebrow as Muro attempted to climb onto his lap, not for the first time that day.
"He's still acting like that even though he's not a little pokémon anymore!" Nicola laughed. "How cute!"
"It's a pain," James sighed, trying to shift Muro to the side. It was much harder now that he was bigger and heavier. And stronger.
"I thought evolution was a bit like growing up," said Will.
"Kind of," Richard replied. "But it's not as simple as that."
"Muro was just a whismur yesterday," Nicola added. "It's not like he gradually changed into a loudred. Imagine if you suddenly woke up and realised that your body had become fully grown!"
"If you put it that way…" Will mumbled thoughtfully.
"It'll take him some time," James said, giving up and letting the loudred sit down. "But now that he's stronger, I think we'll be able to fight together much better than before."
"I'm the only one without an evolved pokémon," Nicola sighed, looking over at Kipa, Mushy and Zaggy.
"They'll evolve if and when they're ready," James replied. "And look on the bright side – if they decide to never evolve, then it's probably because they're strong enough in their current forms."
"I thought that you needed to evolve your pokémon in order to get stronger?"
"I used to think that as well. But as long as you're winning battles, does it really matter how big and physically strong they are?"
"I'd say so," said Richard.
"You would," James replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I want my team to get stronger as well," Will added.
"Also unsurprising."
"I remember you mentioning before that pokémon respond to their trainers' will," said Nicola. "Does that mean that my pokémon will evolve if I really, really want to get stronger?"
"Maybe," James sighed. "I think Richard and Will's preferences come into play as well though. Richard likes bulky, strong pokémon, don't you?" He turned to his friend.
"Pretty much." Richard nodded. "I can use more agile pokémon as well though."
"I want to get stronger as well," James said, turning back to Nicola. "But I'm happy to take it slow and work out tactics to make up for my pokémon's weaknesses."
"I see!" Nicola nodded enthusiastically.
While they were ensconced in their conversation, none of them noticed a small, green blob that had slid out of a nearby bush and was quietly approaching them. It was only when Will turned back to resume eating his lunch that he noticed something was wrong.
"Hey!" he exclaimed.
"What is it?" Nicola asked. She yelped in alarm as she suddenly caught sight of it, the small creature that was stuffing itself with Will's food.
"Oh? Is that a wild pokémon?" James asked as he fed Muro a pokéblock. "They aren't normally this bold."
"Why is it always my food?" Will growled, jumping to his feet. The green pokémon quickly started making itself scarce.
"What is it?" Richard asked as Nicola whipped out her Pokédex.
"Gulpin, the stomach pokémon. Virtually all of a gulpin's body is its stomach. As a result, they can swallow something their own size. These pokémon's stomachs contain a special fluid that digests anything. While they are digesting, vile, overpowering gases are expelled."
"Sounds awful," Nicola said as she put her Pokédex away.
"Take that!" Will hurled a poké ball after the fleeing gulpin.
"You're trying to catch it?!" Nicola cried in alarm.
"No one steals from me and gets away with it!" Will replied. "Just ask Turkey!"
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you asked), the gulpin swayed to one side and the ball sailed past. There was a rustle as it disappeared into the bushes once more.
"Looks like it got away," Nicola sighed with relief. "Don't let it bother you, Will. I'll share some of my food with you."
Will ignored her and glanced over his shoulder. "Toya, Turkey, we're moving out!"
"He's really doing this, huh?" Richard said, watching as Toya and Turkey rushed to follow their trainer into the undergrowth.
"He can't serious want to catch that thing, right?" Nicola looked between the other two.
"Well, he kept chasing Turkey for two days last time," James replied.
"…We need to stop him."
"Well, someone needs to clear up the camp," said James. "Richard and I will do that. You head off and catch up to Will."
"Why me?" Nicola asked.
"Well, someone's got to," Richard replied.
"You guys just don't want to tangle with that gulpin, do you?" Nicola asked, frowning at them.
"Better hurry! You'll only fall further behind Will!" James called, making a show of collecting up everything they'd gotten out for lunch.
"…Fine," Nicola muttered bitterly. "Kipa, Mushy, Zaggy, let's go!"
The three pokémon quickly sprinted after her as she set off after Will. They disappeared into the bushes, the sound of them pushing past leaves and branches continuing for some time before finally fading away.
"Get to work." James turned back to Richard. "In five minutes, you're setting off after them, ahead of me if needed."
"Ah, I get it!" Richard grinned. He grabbed what was left of his packet of crisps and tipped them into his mouth. "It's so we don't get too far away from each other," he continued after swallowing.
"Less talk, more work," James replied firmly.
2:01pm, 9th May 2006
"I found you!" Nicola shouted as she jumped out from the bushes.
By the side of the road, an old lady jumped out of her skin.
"I'm so sorry!" Nicola cried, mortified. "Has a boy run through here recently?"
"Oh, yes." The old lady, recovering from her surprise, nodded in response. "I caught sight of him running across the road a short while ago."
"Which way did he go?" Nicola asked breathlessly.
"Straight across," the old lady replied. "Right about where we are now."
"Thank you so much!" Nicola called gratefully as she and her three pokémon tore off into the undergrowth again.
"There it is!" Will shouted to Toya and Turkey as they tore through another bush and spotted the small, green shape of the gulpin slithering away across the hillside. It must have finally become worn out after trying to get away. Now was the perfect moment to strike.
Turkey soared ahead and rushed over the gulpin to block its escape, hovering in the air and flapping his wings powerfully to make himself look as imposing as possible. With a nod from Will, Toya jumped forwards to engage the wild pokémon.
"Use Water Gun!" Will called, deciding to keep his distance while he worked out the gulpin's capabilities.
Toya was quick to respond, blasting his opponent with a powerful jet of water. The gulpin hunkered down to hold position. As Toya's attack ended, it suddenly sprang forwards and slammed into him with one of its tiny hands. The squirtle took a step back, but otherwise held his ground.
"Use Bite!" Will ordered. It was time to press the offensive.
With a nod, Toya jumped forwards before the gulpin had a chance to get away. However, instead of trying to flee, the gulpin instead opened its mouth and expelled a cloud of foul-smelling purple gas. Toya flinched as the gas passed over him, some of it entering his open mouth. He choked and started coughing and dropped back to the ground. A split second later, he was struck by a blast of sludge thrown by the gulpin.
"Toya!" Will exclaimed as the squirtle was thrown back. He glanced over at his other pokémon. "Turkey, use Steel Wing!"
With a loud cry, Turkey lifted himself further into the air and dove down towards the gulpin, his wings cloaked in a steel coating. As he got closer, however, the gulpin flattened its body against the ground. As Turkey sailed overhead, it fired another blast of sludge at him. The swellow flinched as he was struck. He maintained height and circled around again.
"This pokémon is much tougher than I thought it was," Will muttered. He grinned. "I made the right choice deciding to catch you!"
Toya had pulled himself back to his feet, but he looked visibly ill. The tell-tale signs were all there – a cold sweat, shortness of breath, an involuntary shuddering. He'd been poisoned without a doubt. Turkey seemed to be in better shape, but the previous attack had left him flying funny. The gulpin looked tired as well, however.
"Use Tackle!" Will called.
Toya nodded. He rushed forwards, only for the gulpin to dodge to the side at the last moment. It sprang forwards again, striking Toya in the side with a powerful blow. Toya lost his balance and toppled over with a crash.
"Withdraw!" Will yelled.
Toya whipped himself back into his shell just in time. The gulpin fired a blast of sludge at him, mostly striking the shell.
"There you are!"
Will glanced over his shoulder to see Nicola emerging from the bushes behind him. She seemed out of breath.
"Do you know how long I've been trying to catch up with you!"
"I didn't force you to do that," Will replied. He turned his attention back to the battle.
"Is it giving you a hard time?" Nicola asked as the gulpin fired another blast of sludge, this time at Turkey.
"It's tougher than I thought it would be," Will replied. "Toya, use Water Gun!"
With a growl, Toya burst back out of his shell and, after a split second spent locating his target and taking aim, fired a blast of water from his mouth. The gulpin was struck and blasted back.
"Now use Bite!" Will shouted, deciding to press the attack.
Toya let out a cry and rushed forwards. He sank his teeth into the gulpin, grimacing as he did. Clearly the texture of the gulpin's body wasn't that pleasant to grip. The gulpin wasn't happy with the situation either and knocked him away with another powerful hit. As Toya stumbled back, he was suddenly engulfed by a watery aura.
"Use Water Gun!" Will shouted.
Toya didn't hesitate. He fired a powered-up blast of water at the gulpin, striking it directly and sending it flying back. It smashed into a tree and slumped to the ground.
Will pulled out another poké ball and hurled it through the air. It struck the gulpin on the forehead and bounced off again. The ball popped open and sucked the pokémon inside before dropping to the ground and starting to roll. With a final click and a burst of sparks, it came to rest.
"Phew!" Will let out a sigh of relief. "Great work, Toya! You too, Turkey!"
Toya and Turkey both grinned proudly back at him as he started walking over to pick up the poké ball.
"Congrats," Nicola said as he picked up the poké ball. She frowned. "But haven't the others already warned you about relying on Torrent? What if Toya had gotten even more badly hurt?"
"Ugh." Will stood up again, the poké ball clasped in his hand. "I'm not really in the mood for a lecture right now."
"Hey! I'm trying to help you!" Nicola exclaimed. She sighed. "Well, whatever. I guess you got the result that you wanted."
"Come on out, Gulpy!" Will called, throwing out the ball.
"You've already decided on a nickname?" Nicola watched as the newly-named 'Gulpy' emerged from the ball.
"You're a pretty decent fighter," Will said, addressing Gulpy. "I'm sure that we'll do well working together!"
Gulpy looked at him for a couple of seconds, as if pondering something. Then, suddenly, both Will and Nicola clasped their hands over their noses as a truly foul smell reached them.
"I think it's digesting your lunch!" Nicola cried.
"That's a strong smell!" Will added, grimacing. It was so strong that it was starting to make their eyes water.
"I'm getting out of here!" Nicola called, starting to back up. "You better make sure you keep it in its poké ball after it's eaten!"
"I guess…" Will sighed. It seemed like he'd picked up a troublesome new team member.
2:23pm, 9th May 2006
Will and Nicola wearily trudged back through the bushes towards the main road, the still-ill Toya resting in Will's arms. Turkey had spotted James and Richard heading in their direction from overhead and was doing his best to guide the four of them together.
"I think the smell has got into my clothes," Nicola said miserably, braving a quick sniff.
"It's not that bad once you're used to it," Will replied unconvincingly, wincing as he caught a whiff of his own T-shirt.
"And all the branches have ruined my hoodie," Nicola sighed, noting all of the frayed edges and loose threads from her top. "Let's stick to the road in the future!"
"Like I said, I didn't make you follow me," Will muttered.
They pushed through the next bush and finally found themselves back on the road. Just in time to see James and Richard emerging from further up.
"Hey, guys!" James called.
The two of them came down to join them, but immediately stepped back once they were in range.
"What's that smell?" Richard exclaimed, wrinkling his nose.
"He caught the gulpin," Nicola replied bitterly.
"Wow! The Pokédex wasn't exaggerating!" James laughed, pinching his nose. "Still, nice work, Will!"
"Thanks," Will said. "She put up one hell of a fight – I'm glad that we're going to be fighting alongside each other from now on!"
"I guess we'd better get back on the road," Richard sighed. "You guys need to have a shower and change your clothes!"
"Don't say it like I don't know it!" Nicola whined. "How much further have we got to go?"
"Probably only about an hour or so," James replied. "Don't worry," he added, seeing the horrified looks on Nicola and Will's faces. "I'm sure the wind will blow away the worst of the smell on the way!"
"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Will grumbled.
"By the way, we'll be walking upwind from you," Richard added. "And don't come within five metres of me until you've had a shower!"
"This isn't my fault!" Nicola cried.
"Oh." James suddenly noticed Toya, who still looked ill from his fight with Gulpy. "Did you get poisoned?"
"I think the worst has passed," Will replied. "Do you have any medicine for him?"
"You need to make sure you carry at least some medicine with you yourself in the future," James said scornfully as he pulled an antidote from his bag. "Here." He tossed the bottle to Nicola.
"I'm sorry," Will said.
"As long as you know for the future."
Nicola sprayed the antidote onto Toya, who immediately started to perk up a bit. The four of them started moving again.
3:17pm, 9th May 2006
"Here we are!"
"The pokémon centre?" Both Nicola and Will reacted at the same time. They'd been walking at quite a fast pace for almost an hour and were starting to get exhausted. The smell had dissipated, mostly, while they'd been walking, but both could still smell it. They wanted to get changed soon.
"Not the pokémon centre yet," James replied. "But we've reached the south coast."
As they turned the corner, they caught sight of the sea glittering in the distance. The road now led down towards a seaside town in the shadow of the mountain that dominated the eastern end of the peninsula. That was their target.
"It won't take us long to get down there," James replied. "I wondered if you wanted to stop for a quick break and something to eat before we set off."
"I guess so," Nicola sighed. All the excitement of the afternoon had made her hungry. That, and she hadn't eaten that much before being sent off to chase down Will.
They quickly set up a small camp by the side of the road and started handing out the food.
"Think you can handle giving food to the pokémon, Will?" James asked.
"If I must," Will replied with a shrug. He took the bag of pokémon food that James was holding out and started spreading out bowls for each of them. The pokémon, spotting this, all gathered around him, impatiently jostling with each other as he started pouring the pellets out.
"Sometimes I think we should just have one big bowl for all of them to share," Nicola sighed as Zaggy, Dish and Nulin all attempted to start eating from the first bowl. Naro, Charka and Kacha were keeping back – they'd long since learnt to wait patiently for their food to be poured out.
"This is going to be so tiring when we have more pokémon," Will groaned as he finally poured out the final bowl.
"Good work!" James grinned, offering Will a bread roll and a chocolate bar.
"You're welcome," Will replied, taking them.
"How are we for supplies, by the way?" Richard asked.
"We should have enough to get us to Mauville City," James said, briefly glancing in his backpack.
"I hope that you're right," Will said. He seemed more relaxed now that he wasn't doing anything.
At that moment, a shadow passed over him.
Turkey suddenly gripped the bread roll and snatched it away as he was preparing to take a bite. As he shouted, and his eyes followed the fleeing swellow, he felt the chocolate bar being pulled from his other hand. He looked around to see it disappearing into Gulpy's mouth.
"Hey!" Will yelled as the gulpin started fleeing as well.
"Looks like Will's life is going to be even more hectic from now on!" Richard grinned, watching as he chased after his two renegade pokémon.
"I don't know why he keeps catching pokémon that steal his food!" James laughed.
"Get back here!" Will shouted, his two pokémon shooting cheeky grins at him as they ran.
So, Will has finally caught himself a new team member. I imagine that a gulpin wasn't a massive surprise since it's the only pokémon on Route 110 that has a 'stomach' theme, but I hope that you're looking forward to the future shenanigans Will's newest team member will get up to!
That's pretty much all I have to say about this chapter. We'll be continuing on our way up Route 110 next chapter. After all, that mountain needs to be traversed somehow or another!
As ever, I appreciate any feedback you have on this chapter, and remember to leave a like on the Facebook page.
Until next time!
Team Listings:
James Burton:
Active:
Charka (Charmeleon): male, naïve, often scatters things, likes sweet food, fire type, Blaze ability, knows Fire Spin, Smokescreen, Flamethrower and Metal Claw.
Kacha (Pikachu): male, modest, sturdy body, likes dry food, electric type, Static ability, knows Thunderbolt, Agility, Slam and Thunder Wave.
Nulin (Wingull): male, impish, highly persistent, likes sour food, water-flying type, Keen Eye ability, knows Mist, Water Gun, Supersonic and Wing Attack.
Muro (Loudred): male, careful, loves to eat, likes bitter food, normal type, Soundproof ability, knows Howl, Stomp, Supersonic and Uproar.
Richard Winter:
Active:
Naro (Nidoking): male, mild, sturdy body, likes dry food, poison-ground type, Poison Point ability, knows Thrash, Megahorn, Poison Sting and Double Kick.
Chena (Poochyena): male, docile, capable of taking hits, eats anything, dark type, Run Away ability, knows Tackle, Howl, Sand Attack and Bite.
Dish (Lotad): female, gentle, capable of taking hits, likes bitter food, water-grass type, Rain Dish ability, knows Astonish, Growl, Absorb and Nature Power.
Arro (Aron): male, naïve, loves to eat, likes sweet food, steel-rock type, Sturdy ability, knows Mud Slap, Metal Claw, Harden and Headbutt.
Nicola Hewitt:
Active:
Kipa (Mudkip): male, quiet, somewhat vain, likes dry food, water type, Torrent ability, knows Tackle, Bide, Mud Slap and Water Gun.
Mushy (Shroomish): female, calm, likes to relax, likes bitter food, grass type, Effect Spore ability, knows Mega Drain, Headbutt, Stun Spore and Leech Seed.
Zaggy (Zigzagoon): male, adamant, quick to flee, likes spicy food, normal type, Pick Up ability, knows Tackle, Tail Whip, Headbutt and Mud Sport.
Will Burton:
Active:
Toya (Squirtle): male, modest, very finicky, likes dry food, water type, Torrent ability, knows Tackle, Bite, Water Gun and Withdraw.
Turkey (Swellow): male, mild, alert to sounds, likes dry food, normal-flying type, Guts ability, knows Peck, Steel Wing, Double Team and Quick Attack.
Gulpy (Gulpin): female, mild, nods off a lot, likes dry food, poison type, Sticky Hold ability, knows Pound, Yawn, Sludge and Poison Gas.