CHAPTER 15
A Familiar Face
The next morning, Zora did as she said she would and left Ecruteak City, heading back to Goldenrod City where Bill supposedly lived. She ran from every wild Pokémon they encountered and got back to Goldenrod without a problem.
Before looking for Bill's house, Zora first went to the Pokémon Center and deposited Fly Boy into the PC, so she could get the Pokémon Bill had. Fly Boy was placed next to Bushy and Dummy, and Zora left the Pokémon Center again.
After searching for a bit, she eventually found Bill's house and entered. She went directly to Bill, who sat by a table with his mother. Bill smiled when Zora approached him, as if expecting her.
"Hi, Zora!" Bill greeted. "Would you do something for me and take this Eevee? It came over when I was adjusting Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Someone has to take care of it, but I don't like being outside."
What a surprise, Zora thought sarcastically, but didn't say it out loud.
"Can I count on you to play with it, Zora?" Bill asked.
"Of course," Zora said with a smile. "I'll take good care of it."
Bill smiled. "I knew you'd come through! You're the real deal! Way to go! Okay, I'm counting on you. Take good care of it!"
Bill handed over a Poké Ball containing the Eevee, and Zora accepted it. She called it out, and it squeaked at her.
"A male," she remarked with a smile. "I'll call you Coco."
Coco smiled at Zora and leapt onto her lap. "Coco," he repeated. "I like it! I'm Coco, nice to meet you!"
Zora chuckled and pat Coco on the head. Bill smiled at the sight.
"Professor Elm said Eevee can evolve into seven different kinds of Pokémon!" Bill informed. "Though from what I've heard, only five of these Pokémon can be obtained in this region."
"That's alright," Zora replied. "I already know which one to evolve him into. Thanks, Bill. See you around. Come on, Coco, Kale."
Zora left Bill's house with Kale and Coco following behind her. They returned to the Pokémon Center to introduce Coco to the whole team.
"Welcome to the team, Coco," Crisper greeted. "Hope you're sturdy."
"Can't wait to see what you've got, kiddo," Dingbat said.
"I'm Omelet," Omelet greeted with a big smile. "I hope we can be friends!"
"Me too," Coco replied. "But… can the Trainer understand us?"
"I can," Zora replied. "I guess I should explain why."
Zora and the team began explaining to Coco about the Nuzlocke condition and their journey to lift the curse. He seemed a bit concerned at the end of the explanation.
"I… I'll do my best, I guess," Coco said. "It's hard to believe though… Have you lost anyone yet?"
"No, thankfully not," Zora said with a smile. "Everyone's still alive. You can be of great use to us, Coco, so I'm going to keep you on the team."
"Wait, does that mean Fly Boy is staying in the box now?" Bambi asked. "Are we leaving him behind?"
"He's safe in there," Zora assured. "But you will see him again. Once we get the HM for Fly, we'll use Fly Boy to get around in the region."
"You mean… Fly Boy is going to be a… like Dummy?" Kale drawled out.
"Pretty much," Zora replied. "It might not seem right, but it's for the best."
Zora looked around at the team, having more to talk to them about. "Now that we have Coco on the team, we have more things to do. Firstly, we need to go back to Violet City."
"Why's that?" Dingbat asked.
"There's a guy who will give us berries in exchange for shards. We have a few shards, but we'll need to get more, so we'll have to smash some more rocks in Violet City to get them. Once we've got a Leppa Berry, a Lum Berry and a Sitrus Berry, we'll leave and return to Ecruteak to prepare for the Gym."
"Well, then let's go to Violet City," Kale said.
Zora nodded and returned the Pokémon to their Poké Balls, leaving only Crisper out. "Let's go."
Zora and Crisper ran all the way back to Violet City without running in any tall grass. Once there, Zora remembered the Berry Pots and checked them. She watered them, followed by plucking two Rawst Berries and two Pecha Berries. The Oran Berry trees had only just bloomed, so they were left be.
Zora checked how many shards they had at the moment. Two Yellow Shards and one Green Shard.
"We need at least one Red Shard," Zora informed. "Then we'll trade them for berries. Come on, Crisper, let's smash some rocks."
"Yeah, let's smash rocks!" Crisper exclaimed with excitement.
They began smashing rocks, crushing a total of seventeen rocks before finally getting a Red Shard. Furthermore, they had gained two Yellow Shards, one Green Shard, one Blue Shard, three Revives, one Heart Scale and one Max Ether, the rest having nothing in them.
After getting the Red Shard, Zora immediately went and found the guy who wanted shards in exchange for berries. She gave him the Blue Shard, and he gave her an Oran Berry, a Chesto Berry and a Wiki Berry in exchange. She then gave him the Red Shard and got a Cheri Berry, a Pecha Berry and a Leppa Berry. She traded her Yellow Shards in exchange for four Aspear Berries, four Sitrus Berries and four Iapapa Berries, and in exchange for her Green Shards, she got two Rawst Berries, two Lum Berries and two Aguav Berries.
Having the berries, she decided to plant her Chesto Berry and Leppa Berry, having only one of each. She watered them and then put the Berry Pots away. She would check on them later.
"Alright, let's return to Ecruteak City now," Zora said and returned Crisper to her Poké Ball, instead bringing out Kale to follow after Zora.
While they went through Route 37, Zora decided to train up Bambi and Omelet a little bit before returning to the city. Bambi defeated two Pidgey, and Omelet defeated four Pidgey.
After the last Pidgey was defeated, Omelet started glowing, and after a few seconds, he evolved into Togetic. Zora squealed and picked up the egg-shaped bird for a hug.
"You're growing so strong, Omelet!" Zora exclaimed excitedly. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Yay!" Omelet exclaimed joyfully. "I evolved! I'm stronger!"
Zora let go of Omelet, and they returned to Ecruteak City to prepare for the Gym. They healed up at the Pokémon Center, then sold the Revives at the Poké Mart and bought five Super Potions, an Awakening and two Great Balls. Having stocked up on items, Zora put Bambi in the front and went to the Gym.
As soon as they entered the dark Gym, however, an old man approached them.
"You have business with the Gym leader?" the old man implied. "Morty, the Gym Leader, has gone to the Burned Tower. Sorry, but you'll have to leave. Ho ho ho."
The old man pushed Zora out of the Gym again, and the doors closed behind them. Zora looked between the Gym and Bambi.
"Sounds like we have to go to the Burned Tower if we want that Badge," Zora remarked. "Let's go. We have an encounter there anyway."
They went to the Burned Tower and walked inside. Almost as soon as they entered the frail building, they saw a big hole in the middle of the floor. What really caught Zora's attention, however, was what was below the floor; three big, colorful Pokémon, standing at the bottom of the tower.
Zora walked around the hole and past some burned logs, when a man suddenly spotted her and walked over.
"My name is Eusine," he introduced himself. "I'm on the trail of a Pokémon named Suicune. And you are…?"
"My name is Zora," Zora introduced herself.
"Zora?" Eusine repeated. "Glad to meet you. I heard rumors that Suicune is here, so I came to look. Take a look at the basement through the hole in the floor." He pointed at the three colorful Pokémon at the bottom, specifically at the blue one. "There. Suicune is down there. I could go downstairs, but I know it would run away in no time. I know. I have tried it many times…"
Zora hummed. "I'm sure you'll get it someday," she said.
Eusine stared at Zora for a long time, making her a bit uncomfortable.
"There seems to be more than meets the eye with you…" Eusine remarked.
Zora perked at the words. He knows? she thought in speculation. He knows about… me?
Spotting another man in a peculiar outfit at the corner of the floor, Zora walked past Eusine and walked over to the other stranger.
"My name is Morty," the man introduced himself as. "I am Ecruteak's Gym Leader. Because my old friend Eusine is here on the trail of Suicune, I decided to investigate the Burned Tower."
"Why here?" Zora asked curiously.
"Ecruteak has a legend about these legendary Pokémon: Suicune, Entei, and Raikou," Morty explained. "As the Gym Leader of Ecruteak, I must have a proper understanding of it."
Zora hummed in thought again. She left Morty, and she and Bambi went towards a ladder going down. They ran away from two Zubat before reaching the ladder. That's when Zora spotted Silver, who also spotted her. He approached her with the same indifferent expression as always.
"…Oh, it's you," Silver remarked as he recognized Zora. "You must be here to catch the legendary Pokémon to make yourself look strong."
"Uh, actually, I was–"
"That is only a dream," Silver interrupted her. "You see, the legendary Pokémon suits a Trainer like me who has sworn to become the strongest Trainer. A battle with Team Rocket Grunts is just right for you!"
Silver drew a Poké Ball and sent out a Gastly. Zora looked at Bambi, and they nodded at each other before Bambi stepped forth to fight.
"Bambi, use Thunderbolt," Zora ordered.
"Use Confuse Ray!" Silver ordered.
Bambi was confused but managed to break through and take out the Gastly in one hit with Thunderbolt.
"Great job, Bambi!" Zora said. "Get back and rest for a bit."
Bambi stepped back as Silver sent out his Quilava. Zora in turn sent out Crisper.
"Use Magnitude, Crisper!" Zora ordered with excitement.
Quilava blew a Smokescreen in Crisper's face, but that did not prevent Crisper from landing a Magnitude 6 on the Quilava. It didn't quite go down yet, though.
"Another Magnitude!" Zora said. "You can do it!"
Quilava blew more smoke into Crisper's face, but it still didn't prevent Crisper from landing a Magnitude 7 and taking out the Quilava.
"Well done, Crisper!" Zora praised. "Get back and rest. Bambi, you're up again."
Crisper returned to her Poké Ball, and Bambi stepped forward again. Silver returned his Quilava to its Poké Ball and sent out his Zubat.
"Take it out with Thunderbolt!" Zora ordered.
Zubat landed a Supersonic and confused Bambi, but Bambi, being the determined soldier he was, broke through and one-shot the Zubat with Thunderbolt.
"You're doing awesome, Bambi!" Zora said.
Silver snorted and returned his Zubat to its Poké Ball. "Out of desperation, weak people do okay with fighting back," Silver said. "Go, Magnemite!"
Silver had apparently caught a Magnemite, but that was no problem for Zora. Bambi stepped back, and Crisper was sent out again.
"Crisper, take it out with a strong Magnitude," Zora said with confidence.
Crisper landed a Magnitude 7 and took out the Magnemite in one hit. Silver snarled and returned the Magnemite to its Poké Ball.
"I'm not fighting with another weakling ever again," Silver hissed. "It's too much playing around."
Silver sighed deeply. "…Aw, whatever," he said, smirking. "You would never be able to catch a legendary Pokémon anyway."
Silver pushed Zora away so he could pass and leave the Burned Tower. Zora, Bambi and Crisper stared after him as he left. Zora returned Crisper to her Poké Ball and went to the ladder with Bambi. They descended to the lower floor and walked around a bit to get their encounter.
They ran from a Zubat before encountering a Koffing. Zora sighed.
"I wanted a Magmar," she complained. "But I guess we're fine with the Vulpix we have. Bambi, use Thunder Wave. Koffing doesn't know Selfdestruct yet, so we should be safe to catch it."
"Alright," Bambi said and used Thunder Wave to paralyze the Koffing, which missed a Poison Gas.
Zora threw a Poké Ball at the Koffing. It shook three times and clicked for capture. Zora picked up the ball, named the female Koffing Smelly and watched the ball materialize away to the Pokémon Center.
Having gotten the encounter at the Burned Tower out of the way, Zora and Bambi instead turned to look at the three legendary beasts standing at the bottom of the floor. Zora gulped and walked over to them.
The three beasts roared and bounced around at the approach of the Trainer. Raikou was the first to hop out of the tower, followed by Entei. Suicune hopped out of the hole but didn't leave right away. First it hopped around, paused for a while in front of Zora and stared at her with a soft gaze. Zora and Bambi both held their breaths at the pure majesty of this legendary Pokémon.
After a moment that felt like minutes, a sound was heard from the ladder. The sound caused Suicune to run off, finally leaving the tower. Zora and Bambi stared after it, not noticing Eusine's arrival until he was standing right next to them, also looking after the Suicune.
"Did you see it?" Eusine remarked. "Suicune raced by like a blur, right in front of my eyes!"
"Aha," Zora replied, not having much else to say.
Tears seemed to be forming in Eusine's eyes, and a smile formed on his face. "I have been chasing Suicune for almost ten years, but I have never been this close! I'm all choked up!"
Eusine wiped his face and got his voice under control before turning to Zora. "By the way… It was clear to me that Suicune took notice of your presence. Ecruteak's legendary Pokémon are said to come to people only when they recognize their talents. Perhaps I should be more aggressive toward Suicune…"
Zora shrugged. "Maybe," she said, not really knowing what she was saying maybe to.
"Anyway, Zora, we will meet again!" Eusine said before leaping up the ladder and left the girl behind with her Flaaffy.
Zora sighed and looked down at Bambi. "Let's go back and see if Morty has decided to return to his Gym."
They left the Burned Tower and went to the Gym, finding that the old man from before had indeed left, and the Gym guard informed Zora that Morty had returned. Zora returned to the Pokémon Center and healed up the team, then went to the lounge to talk strategy.
"Alright, this Gym only has Ghost-type Pokémon," Zora explained. "Specifically, they only have Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, which are all also Poison-type. This means they are weak to Psychic-type moves as well as Dark-type and Ghost-type moves. I think our best bet is to use Omelet and Dingbat here. Omelet will especially be good since he's immune to Ghost-type moves."
"What about me?" Coco asked. "I'm a Normal-type too. Can I be of help?"
"For now, unfortunately not," Zora admitted. "Though we do need to train you up, so you can evolve and grow strong. That will have to wait for now though. Now, Gastly and Haunter are both pretty fast, as are Gengar, so Omelet will have to hold the Quick Claw we recently got. With that, you'll have a chance of hitting them first with Extrasensory."
Zora retrieved the Quick Claw and handed it over to Omelet, who tucked it into his crown.
"Dingbat should also have a good chance in this Gym, having high speed and good attack," Zora continued, "as well as Bite for a Dark-type move. However, since he is not Normal-type, he will get hit by their Ghost-type moves. To have a better chance, we'll have to evolve some of you, especially Dingbat."
Dingbat perked by the information. "I get to evolve soon?" Dingbat repeated. "Awesome, I can't wait to get some eyes!"
"Yes, you will evolve pretty soon," Zora repeated. "I'm not sure whether we should fight the Gym Trainers now while we train or to do it after you evolve though. I think I want you all to get to at least level twenty-two before we challenge the Gym Trainers."
"That's the level I evolve in, right?" Dingbat asked excitedly.
"That's right," Zora said with a smile. "And afterwards we'll fight the Gym Trainers, train you all up to level twenty-five, and then we'll challenge Morty."
"Sounds like a plan," Kale remarked.
"Will I get trained too?" Coco asked hopefully.
"Not yet, I'm afraid," Zora said. "But we'll get to your training right after we beat Morty. I promise you."
Coco's ears dropped a bit in disappointment. "Okay…" he replied quietly.
"Hey, cheer up," Crisper said. "You're going to become the strongest Eevee, whatever you evolve into, that the world has ever seen! You just have to be patient, and it will be all worth it!"
Coco smiled at Crisper's pep-talk, and his ears went up again. "Okay, I'll be patient!" he replied. "I'll wait."
"Good," Zora said with a smile and a nod. "Now, as for where we should train… I'm thinking we should go back to the National Park and fight the Trainers we avoided before. Afterwards we can fight the Trainers in the Burned Tower."
"Sounds good," Dingbat said. "Let's go!"
They left Ecruteak City and went through Route 37, running from anything they encountered, and headed to the National Park. The first Trainer they fought was a school kid with an Oddish and a Voltorb. Dingbat took out the Oddish with a Wing Attack, but Zora had Crisper take out the Voltorb with a Magnitude 7.
After declining exchanging phone numbers with the kid, Zora went on and encountered a lady with a Snubbull. Dingbat used two Wing Attacks on it before the Snubbull licked and paralyzed the Zubat. It licked him again, and he was unable to move. After another Lick though, Dingbat managed to break through the paralysis and take out the Snubbull with one last Wing Attack.
After declining exchanging phone numbers with the lady, Zora decided to run to Goldenrod City and heal up her team before returning to the National Park and fight the other Trainers there. As she was approaching a Trainer, a Weedle jumped out at them. Dingbat took it out with a single Wing Attack.
The Trainer noticed the commotion and approached them. It was a lass with an Oddish and a Cubone. Dingbat took care of the Oddish with Wing Attack, and Kale took care of the Cubone with Razor Leaf.
After the battle and declining trading phone numbers, Dingbat learned Confuse Ray, which Zora replaced Supersonic with, and they moved on to find the last Trainer in the park. They ran into a Kakuna, which Dingbat took care of with Wing Attack.
They finally found the last Trainer, a man who had a Raichu. Zora cringed as Dingbat went out.
"No, no, no," Zora said. "You are not fighting that. Get back, Dingbat! Come out, Crisper!"
Dingbat returned to Zora's side, and Crisper was sent out and took a weak Quick Attack.
"Use Magnitude and take it out," Zora ordered.
After the Raichu landed another Quick Attack, Crisper launched a weak Magnitude 5 and didn't quite take the Raichu out. With a Magnitude 6, however, the Raichu was taken out, and both Crisper and Dingbat got some good experience from the electric rodent.
Having fought all the Trainers in the National Park, they were about to leave when Zora spotted an item, deciding to explore the park a bit first instead. She picked up a Soothe Bell, which she immediately gave to Coco, and ran around the park to see if there was anything else. There was an item on a hill, inaccessible except for climbing a steep wall, so they left it be. They did manage to find the TM for Dig, however, and finding nothing else, they left the park and returned to Ecruteak City.
After healing up the team, Zora and Dingbat went to the Burned Tower and walked around, searching for Trainers, running from any wild Pokémon they encountered. They encountered a firebreather with two Koffing and a Growlithe.
Dingbat took out the first Koffing with three Wing Attacks, as did he with the second but missed a few times when it blew two Smokescreens in his face… despite the fact that Dingbat didn't have any eyes yet. Zora opted for Crisper when the Trainer's Growlithe was sent out, and with a Magnitude 6, it was taken out as well.
Seeing Dingbat was a bit bruised, Zora was about to go back to the Pokémon Center when she remembered the berries. She checked the Berry Pots and saw that the two Oran Berry trees now had harvestable berries on them. She plucked two berries from both of them, and then she planted a Cheri Berry in one pot and a Lum Berry in the other. She watered the soil and put the pots away again.
After that was done, Zora gave Dingbat an Oran Berry, getting him back to full health before continuing through the tower.
"From what I remember, there's a firebreather here with a Charmeleon that knows Dragon Rage," Zora informed. "So I think it's best to have Crisper out front now."
"Alrighty then," Dingbat replied and returned to his Poké Ball.
After getting Crisper out to walk with Zora, they moved on, running from wild Pokémon and picking up an Antidote, until they found the last Trainer, the firebreather with a Charmeleon.
"Crisper, please use a strong Magnitude this time," Zora pleaded.
The Charmeleon used Ember and did a little damage, but enough that it could be dangerous if it launched a Dragon Rage next. Crisper, however, managed to pull off a Magnitude 8 and take out the Charmeleon in a single hit. Zora sighed with relief as they won the battle.
Zora put Dingbat back in the front to fight the wild Pokémon they encountered on their way out. They found an item among some rocks and smashed one to get access to it. It was an HP Up, which Zora decided to give to Coco, raising his health and making him happier.
As they turned around, a Koffing appeared in front of them, but Dingbat took it out with three Wing Attacks. Suddenly, Dingbat began glowing, and in the next few seconds, he had evolved into Golbat.
"Wow, I can see!" Dingbat exclaimed. "This is amazing! Whoa, my mouth opens really much!"
Zora smiled widely and hugged the big bat. "Our team is getting stronger and stronger," she said cheerfully and whipped out a Repel. "Let's get out of this tower and train somewhere more manageable."