Hello, Poke fans. My name is Victoria Pell, known by me fanfic alias VPVPVP. I have been writing stories for this site for a good number of years and have written several stories for Rio and one for Chronicles of Narnia, all of which are finished except for perhaps for some corrections in spelling mistakes and punctuation errors that might need correcting. Anyway, introduction aside, let's move on to the next step.

I have decided to write a series of one-shots around the franchise of Pokemon. These one-shots which I have named Pokeshorts will be published as a series, sort of like chapters to a story but each chapter will be a separate short story involving different themes and different Pokemon. I have chosen this method for I don't really like uploading each Pokeshort by itself and I feel it is better as a series instead. I might even make a crossover of Pokemon with another series but that depends on what Pokeshort I have planned for this series. Due to the sheer number of Pokemon species in existence in the franchise (there are almost 900 species invented now), I will only be using a handful of Pokemon species throughout my Pokeshorts, and each Pokeshort will have a theme to it. Anyway, without further ado, let's get started on the first Pokeshort.

Pokeshort one- an unlikely rescuer of some young Zangoose from some Team Rocket poachers

The Hoenn region was home to a vast diversity of Pokemon species, some of which are exclusive, or endemic, to the region, just like every other region in the Pokemon world. The Hoenn region itself was rather an interesting landmass. Part of it was mostly land and had few water regions in the form of lakes, rivers, ponds and streams while the other part was mostly sea with few fragments of islands and small land patches strewn like rocks across the blue seascape. Based on the part-land, part-sea arrangement of the region, Hoenn's culture and mythology were mostly associated with the balance of land and the sea, even having Legendary Pokemon said to be the embodiment of the two different and opposite parts, both of which were ruled by a Legendary Pokemon of the sky. At some point in Hoenn's history, two villainous groups with conflicting ideals tried to examine one component or the other via the manipulation of the Legendary Pokemon of the land or the sea with dire consequences that were thankfully halted by a brave Trainer who saved Hoenn and the world from certain doom. However, those two villainous groups had largely disbanded and moved on, and peace had been restored for the land.

Life in Hoenn continued to flow by with new Trainers starting their Pokemon journeys, Pokemon living in their various habitats and other humans continuing their day-to-day activities with a certain professor continuing his research in Pokemon diversity and handing out the three Starter Pokemon of the region, the Grass-type Treecko, the Fire-type Torchic, and the Water-type Mudkip, to new Trainers. While Pokemon in most areas of Hoenn can be captured by Trainers, there were a few reserves that had been set up to protect Pokemon, especially the species that were rare, from capture in order to preserve their numbers in the wild and ensure balance between the number of Pokemon caught and domesticated by Trainers and their numbers in the wild. And although security was extremely tight in these Pokemon reserves with strict rules enforced, such as the throwing Poke Balls, the tools used for catching Pokemon, being strictly prohibited, this did not stop certain humans from sneaking into these reserves to catch Pokemon via another, and more inhumane way.

In one Poke reserve, a clan of white cat-like Pokemon with pink-red markings on their bodies were living together, all interacting with each other and other Pokemon residents on the reserve, playing or play-fighting, or feasting on Berries, a type of fruit that grew in the Pokemon world which like Pokemon came in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. These white-furred Pokemon were called Zangoose and they were amongst the rarer Pokemon species of the Hoenn region, and this clan was under the strict protection of the reserve, alongside a number of other rare Pokemon species plus the commoner visitors like Taillow, a swallow-like bird Pokemon, and Zigzagoon, a common critter Pokemon resembling a raccoon.

While the clan of Zangoose continued their activities, an adult Zangoose took three smaller Zangoose, all young Zangoose pups, and a medium-sized Zangoose, a teenager, for a little walk in a certain direction. The larger, adult Zangoose wanted to teach the four youngsters something which was why she was talking the quartet on this little walk. Then as soon as the five were near a bush and a Berry tree that grew the common Oran Berries, the female adult Zangoose gazed at the land ahead and turned to the four younger individuals with her. (In some of these shorts, a translation to English will be provided so that we can understand what the Pokemon are saying).

"As you four know," said the adult to the four younger Zangoose, "This land," she gestured a pink-red clawed paw to the land on which the Zangoose clan lived, "is our territory, the turf of the Zangoose clan. Over there, however," her pink eyes then morphed into a frown of vitriolic rancour as she gestured to the distant land with her paw, "is the land of that clan of REVOLTING... legless... slimy overgrown Wurmple known as Seviper..."

The teenaged Zangoose and the three pups continued to listen as the adult female Zangoose leaned close to them, a firm look on her face.

"And everything," she continued with sternness in her voice, "EVERY... SINGLE... FACT... you four have been told about Seviper is ALL true... WITHOUT ANY question. Those slime-Snake Pokemon are NOTHING but trouble. They intrude on our land, steal our food, and pick fights with us. That is why we have patrol groups from our clan on guard duty and keeping an eye out for any sign of those fang-faced Poison-scum and drive them off without hesitation, even if they happen to stray too near our border..."

The teenaged Zangoose exchanged glances with the three pups and resumed their gazes on the adult female Zangoose as she continued, a stern look on her face.

"Now if you guys see ANY of those Seviper scum-skins ANYWHERE near our border, you MUST alert a patrol group and NOT attempt to take on those Snake-faces yourselves," she continued, "Though we are immune to their poison, with an EXTREMELY tiny handful members of our clan being prone to poisoning from those wretched slime-Snakes albeit with an added bonus of dealing even greater damage to those Snakes when the patrol groups attack them..." a sadistic smirk formed on the adult Zangoose's face, "those Snakes are powerful foes and could end up severely injuring you if you try take them on by yourselves, so you MUST keep your distance until you are old enough to deal with those Snakes yourselves..."

"I have a question ma'am," said the teenaged Zangoose.

"Shoot," said the adult female.

"Are there any Seviper that care for us and can they befriended?" asked the teenager. The head of the adult female, her face twisted into a look of UTMOST disgust, shook her head.

"No, and don't you EVEN try to do that," she replied sternly, "ALL Seviper are the scum of Hoenn and deserve to be beaten up. ABSOLUTELY NO Seviper cares for us ONE BIT. Anyway, let's return to our clan. We've been out here long enough..."

As she said this, however, one of the Zangoose pups had spotted something. At this, the Zangoose female ran on all fours over to him and followed his gaze. However, when her eyes landed on what the Zangoose pup had found, those eyes became flooded with a caustic rancour and her teeth bared, saliva dripping from her scowled mouth along with a hiss filtering through her teeth. Her fur also bristled and her claws were flared. The other two Zangoose pups and the teenager came in and also found the object of the adult female's fury.

Lounging not too far away from the group of five Zangoose were two Snake-like Pokemon, one an adult and the other younger based on its size. Both these Pokemon had gold patches on their legless bodies, fangs hanging from their upper lips and a sword-like tail tip, and they were picking Pecha Berries from a Pecha Berry tree when the bigger of the two spotted the five Zangoose as the adult female assumed a threatening position. The teenaged Zangoose looked on as the female adult then reared on her hind legs and flared her claws, her hiss increased in loudness. The two Snake Pokemon, wary of the Zangoose's threatening stance, immediately retreated in the direction of their land but not before the larger individual returned the glare of mutually vitriolic, EXTREMELY acidic rancour to the adult female Zangoose and slamming its sword-like tail to the ground as a threatening gesture as if to say, "I'll deal with you five later, you FILTHY FURBALLS!" before following the smaller, younger one with their stash of Pecha Berries. The three young Zangoose pups also felt a flash of hatred for the Snakes as they left as well but the teenager tilted his head to one side in curiosity. The adult female Zangoose then withdrew her threatening posture, retracted her claws and returned to all fours, before gazing at her four younger companions.

"See what I mean, you four youngsters?" she said, "Those two Seviper have just made off with those Pecha Berries."

"I just felt a flash of hatred for those Seviper, Miss," said one of the pups, the other two nodding in agreement. A small smile formed on the adult female Zangoose's face.

"That's an EXCELLENT sign, you three," she said with gladness, "That's EXACTLY what I'd like to hear. Those Seviper's guts are to be DESPISED and LOATHED to the VERY CORE. Now let's return to our clan. This lesson on Seviper, our arch-nemeses, is over for now."

With that, the five Zangoose turned round and walked back to their clan. However, the teenager flashed a glance back at the territory of the Seviper in curiosity and followed his companions.

Zangoose and Seviper had ALWAYS been natural arch-nemeses for as far back as anyone could remember, and believer me, the mutual rancour the two species had for each other's guts was EXTREMELY VITRIOLIC, and I DO mean VITRIOLIC. But despite this mutual detestation the two species had for each other, could there actually be a sliver of care one species had for the other?

Later

Dusk was approaching and the night was eating away at the day over the Hoenn region. In the reserve, the Zangoose clan was preparing for bed while its patrol groups began their night duty to keep an eye out for any marauding Seviper, whose clan also had patrol groups. The teenaged Zangoose, together with his two sisters, also teenagers, had decided to go out and pick some berries as well as stargaze. Their mother had told the three to not be out for too long as it was nearly their bedtime and the three had nodded that they will be back at the specified time before leaving. Now, as the clan was turning in for the night with their co-inhabitants on their turf, among them a small flock of Beautifly, one of the final forms of Wurmple, the trio left on their little journey. Within moments, the trio was a good distance away from their clan but they made sure that they were not too far away from their clan's location and as soon as they were amongst a grove of Berry trees and bushes, the three teenaged Zangoose began to pick some berries, mostly Oran and Sitrus Berries.

As the trio continued to pick the Sitrus and Oran Berries to take back to their clan, the nocturnal Pokemon residents on the reserve, such as Zubat and Golbat, preparing for their nightly activities ahead, the sound of a twig snapping alerted the trio, promting the three to shoot a wary glance behind them, their fur bristled.

"I hope it's not one of them pesky Snake-Wurmple," hissed one of the teenaged Zangoose male's sisters warily. Her sister and brother continued staring behind them for a few seconds before resuming picking their desired number of Oran and Sitrus Berries. However, as the trio continued to pick their berries, one of the teenaged females, the other one, slowly backed away from one of the Sitrus Berry trees when she suddenly felt something odd about the earth beneath her feet. At this, she froze, prompting her siblings to approach her, curious and concerned looks on their faces.

"Something wrong, sis?" asked the male but before the wary female could give a reply, the ground under all three teenaged Zangoose crumbled, and the three Cat Ferret Pokemon flailed in alarm.

"ZAAAAAAAANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!" screamed all three of them as they then plummeted into a hole where they crash landed hard at the bottom. The impact of the fall was so hard that it knocked all three of them out so the trio of Zangoose lay there, their eyes replaced by spinning spirals.

The noise of the three Zangoose screaming in alarm in response to the ground crumbling beneath them had sent the sounds of wing flaps erupting into the air as startled Zubat, Golbat, and Taillow and several other species of Flying Pokemon lofted into flight, before silence fell over the scene, the three teenaged Pokemon lying spiral-eyed and unconscious at the bottom of the hole. It appeared that the hole had been purposefully dug and concealed so that any unsuspecting Pokemon would step onto the loose land and their weight would collapse the covering and send the victim literally falling into the pit. And unfortunately, the three teenaged Zangoose were those victims and now that they were unconscious in the pit, the Oran and Sitrus Berries they had been picking scattered around them and around the lip of the pit, they were extremely vulnerable to what was about to happen next, and they needed rescuing and fast.

As the trio of teenaged Zangoose continued to lay in the pit, a Swablu flitted past. When it saw the three teenaged Zangoose in the hole below it, it flew on. Another Zangoose, an adult that was not a member of the main Zangoose clan, then came by but when it saw the pit and the three unconscious Zangoose adolescents in it, it flinched and scurried off into the bushes, not wanting to get involved in what was about to happen to the trio. Then two Bagon walked by but they also backed away from the three Zangoose in the pit and darted away. After the two Dragon-type Pokemon had disappeared, another Pokemon species appeared from a bush and slithered out into the area around the hole. It was a Seviper, and the same youngster that had seen the five Zangoose when the adult female threatened them with a battle pose as if to say 'Get out or I'll claw ya skin off!'. When the Seviper, also a teenager, slithered into the clearing amongst the grove of Oran and Sitrus Berry trees and bushes, he noticed something odd about the land. A hole. When the Snake Pokemon saw the hole, he flinched. This was NOT at all right but then he was compelled to investigate to see if there were any unfortunate Pokemon that had literally fallen into the hole. As the Seviper peered carefully into the hole, he saw three white furred Pokemon with reddish-pink markings lying in a scatter of Sitrus and Oran berries, their eyes spiralled and their bodies not moving. When he saw the three Zangoose sprawled out unconsciously in the bottom of the pit, the Seviper flinched in horror. At first, he felt the urge to flee and leave the three Zangoose in the pit as just like every young Zangoose had been taught about his species being the scum of Hoenn, every young Seviper had been taught the very same thing about Zangoose as well, and in the Seviper's eyes, all Zangoose were REVOLTING, SMELLY FURBALL VERMIN. However, despite this instinctive rancour the Seviper had for the Zangoose species, as the teenaged Seviper gazed at the three teenaged Zangoose in the pit, an unlikely emotion washed over him, and that emotion was concern, worry and pity, and the Seviper knew he had to get those three unconscious Zangoose out of that pit ASAP.

But before the Seviper could slither into the pit to lift the three Zangoose out, he heard the sounds of footsteps through the bush. At this, the Snkae Pokemon flashed a glance in the direction of the sounds and darted off into a bush. There, the Seviper peered out just as a trio of creatures, all three bipedal HUMANS, stepped into the clearing and made a beeline for the pit. At this, the Seviper squinted at the trio as they then stood at the rim of the pit in which the Zangoose lay. At first, the Snake Pokemon thought the trio were three of the human wardens on the reserve but then he noticed a glinting of something in the arms of one of them through the darkness. As the Seviper squinted to identify the silvery object, he realised that it was two flat, rectangular slabs connected by a series of small poles around their edges and in one side, a hole with a door joining it was present. Horror tore through the Seviper when he identified this object. A cage!

As this popped into the Seviper's head, and as he saw one of the humans climb into the pit and proceed to lift the three Zangoose out of it, it all became clear to him, especially when he noticed a large letter drawn onto the back of one of the humans as the man had his back turned to him. The Seviper was only partly familiar with the letters of the human alphabet but he was able to identify some letters and as he examined the letter's shape, he realised it was an 'R'. The Seviper flinched. These three humans were poachers and it seemed they had managed to penetrate the tight security bubble surrounding the reserve and sneak into the protected area to poach rare Pokemon for money. And it seemed that the three humans, all three wearing dark uniforms with the letter R on their backs had dug this pit and covered it to catch an unsuspecting Pokemon, and those three Zangoose who were still unconscious had been those unfortunate victims. The Seviper knew he had to do something or the three Zangoose will be carried off by the poachers. As he planned this, he glared fiercely at the trio of humans as they locked the three Zangoose in the cage. As soon as this was done, the Snake Pokemon prepared to make his move.

The three humans who were actually a part of an infamous team of villainous poachers known as Team Rocket as indicated by the letter R on their uniforms, then flashed wary glances this way and that as they prepared to make off with their catch in the cage which was locked with a special super-lock designed to keep even the toughest Fighting-type Pokemon trapped within it, and as the person climbed out of the pit, to make sure that no-one was looking or watching from the darkness enveloping the trio. However, they were totally unaware that a certain Pokemon was hiding in a nearby bush, watching them intently and the moment all the three unconscious Zangoose were in the cage, they were jumped by that Pokemon!

A loud hiss exploded from the Pokemon as it leapt at the three Team Rocket poachers like an Arbok ambushing its prey then before any of the three humans could react, the poacher holding the caged Zangoose was struck in the shoulder by a poison-laced sword-tail. An extremely loud scream of pure agony erupted from the poacher and he grasped his shoulder, dropping the caged Zangoose in the process. As the cage slammed into the crowd, the Seviper turned his attention to the other two poachers and struck them down as well. He tackled the second one as the man lunged at him right in the torso and also struck the third with Poison Tail. The pair then fell like trees with one of them falling into the pit dug by the three poachers themselves. This done, the Seviper seized the cage containing the three Zangoose and fled into the darkness, leaving the dazed, agonised and bewildered Team Rocket poachers in a state of discombobulation.

The Seviper continued fleeing from the poachers with the Zangoose in their cage in his tail, slithering like mad until he was sure he was far away from the area of the poachers as possible. As soon as he was sure that he and the Zangoose were safe, he turned his attention to the Zangoose and began to wake them. He knew he could not open the cage due to the design of the lock. When he saw that the three Zangoose were starting to come round, the Seviper suddenly caught sighted a Flying Pokemon out on a hunting trip. At this, the Snake Pokemon called him over.

As the Flying Pokemon, a Crobat, the final evolved form of Zubat, descended from the sky, the Seviper handed the caged Zangoose to it.

"Get these three Zangoose pups to the reserve's Pokemon centre and ensure that they get them out of this cage and treated for any injuries they may have had," said the Snake Pokemon firmly to the Crobat as it examine the cage and the three still-unconscious Zangoose, indicated by their spiral eyes, flinching when it realised that such devices should NOT be on the reserve unless the wardens want to catch an injured Pokemon for treatment, "And also alert the wardens of the presence of those three poachers. I have managed to cripple them so that they have little chance of escaping."

The Crobat nodded and took the cage in its teeth and prepared to fly to the nearest Pokemon Centre on the reserve. Just as the Seviper passed the cage to the Bat Pokemon, one of the Zangoose, the teenaged male, slipped out of unconsciousness and got a glimpse of a black form with a golden patch on its face, before slipping back into unconsciousness. Then within moments, the three Zangoose were hauled off in their cage by the Crobat and whisked to the Pokemon Centre.

Morning

By daybreak, the three Zangoose were out of the cage, having been freed by a warden specialised in dealing with these types of cages and nursed back to health in the Pokemon Centre. And as soon as the three teenagers were fully restored, the Nurse Joy who worked there released them back to the Zangoose clan, where they were reunited with their mother who had been worried sick when she realised that the three teenagers had been gone longer than they had promised, but when she saw her on and daughters rush towards her, relief swept through her and she hugged them tightly. As for the three Team Rocket poachers, they were caught, arrested and deported out of the Hoenn region back to Kanto to be jailed. If it weren't for the heroic Seviper who had intervened and rescued the three Zangoose teenagers, it was likely that the three poor Pokemon would have been removed from the Hoenn region and sold as mere items for money, and their mother and clan would never have seen them again. And although Zangoose and Seviper were vitriolic arch-nemeses by nature that absolutely LOATHED each other's guts, this story shows that this was not always the case as a handful of individuals do get along despite the natural enmity... especially in dire situations such as if a member or members of one species is in a threatening situation, like poachers.