Chapter 420: The Battle Club and Tepig's Choice!
After obtaining Oshawott's Pokéball from Professor Juniper, Sora, Kairi, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Iris, Pikachu, Angel, and Meowth all arrived in Accumula Town.
"Here it is, Accumla Town," Terra said.
"We should press on since Striaton City is beyond this point," Aqua said.
"Yeah, but we're going have to train while we're here, though," Sora said.
"Sora's right. I didn't win the Sinnoh Grand Festival by luck," Kairi agreed.
"Then the place you would want to try is the Pokémon Battle Club," Iris suggested.
"The Pokémon Battle Club? What's that?" Ventus asked.
"What a kid. The Pokémon Battle Club is a facility you can't find anywhere else but Unova," Iris said. "The Unova region has Pokémon Battle Clubs in different towns and cities to sharpen the skills of Pokémon triners."
"It kinda kinda reminds me of the kind of gyms you work out in, but for Pokémon," Sora said.
"How about I just show you to where the Battle Club is?" Iris suggested.
"Good idea," Sora said.
Iris led her new friends down the Pokémon Battle Club to wtiness the facility.
"And here we are. This is the Pokémon Battle Club. And that's the bulletin board," Iris said, pressing the screen. It displays the profiles of the trainers and what Pokémon they have. "Each trainer sets up their Pokémon, and what kind of Pokémon they want to battle against," Iris explained.
"That's very useful, Iris," Kairi said.
"It's an awesome place for trainers to make their Pokémon stronger by battling as they see fit," Iris said. She led them to a battlefield. "Perfect timing, it looks like they're going to start battling!"
"A Servine and a Dewott. So cool!" Ventus said.
"Servine! use Leaf Blade!" One trainer ordered.
"Dewott! Use Water Gun!" The second trainer ordered. Dewott launced its Water Gun and took Servine out with one hit. A large muscular pudgy man came walking up. He has a brown mustache and brown hair, and brown thick eyebrows.
"That's enough! Take your Servine to be healed," The man said.
"Come on, Servine, let's get you healed up," the trainer said, taking his leave. The man noticed the group and approached them.
"Looks like we have some new faces here. My name is Don George, and I'm the Battle Manager," Don George introduced himself.
"my name's Sora, and this is my girlfriend Kairi, and my cousin Ventus. And these are my other friends. The guy is Terra, the girl with the blue hair is Aqua, and the girl with the large hair is Iris," Sora introduced.
"Iris was telling us that any trainer can have a battle here whenever they want, right?" Ventus asked.
"That's right, son," Don George said, smiling.
"That's good to know because I'm challenging the Gyms here in Unova, so I wanna be ready," Sora said.
"And I'm going to compete in Pokémon Contests here," Kairi said.
"Let me guess, young miss, you're a Pokémon Coordinator, right?" Don George asked.
"That's right," Kairi replied.
"Well, you have come to the right place for train. Until recently, there has never been a Grand Festival in the Unova region, so the Pokémon Comittee in Unova decided to have the very first Grand Festival here in Unova," Don George explained. He spotted Pikachu, Angel, and Meowth with them. "A Pikachu, an Eevee, and a Meowth. Pikachu and Meowth can't be found in Unova, but Eevee are considered to be very rare."
"We arrived here in Unova not too long ago. Kairi, Ven, Aqua, Terra, and I are from Kanto," Sora said.
"So, you would see plenty of Meowth there," Meowth said. Don George went wide-eyed.
"A talking Meowth! I never heard a thing!" Don George exclaimed.
"The thing is, he's one of a kind," Sora said. The trainer approached Sora.
"Excuse me, is that Pikachu yours?" The trainer asked.
"Yes, he is," Sora said.
"Would you like to have a Pokémon battle with me?" The trainer asked.
"Sure thing. i could use the excercise," Sora said. Don George took his place as referee. Some of the girls came in to witness the battle.
"Hey, girls, look at that! A Pikachu! That guy with the spiky hair has a Pikachu!" The first girl said.
"Whoever he is, he's a total dreamboat," the second girl said, lovestruck.
"He's a total hunk!" The girls all said.
"He used a Dewott before, so if he uses another Water Type, then Piakchu should have the advantage," Iris said.
"True. But he might have a Ground Type, so Pikachu's Electric Type moves won't have an effect," Terra said. Oshawott came out of his own Pokéball
"Huh? Oshawott came out on his own?" Kairi asked.
"Vee?" Angel asked.
"Oshawott, why did you come out on your own like that?" Sora asked.
"Oshawott!" Oshawott said.
"Oshawott says he wants to prove himself by battling over Pikachu," Meowth said.
"Look, Oshawott, I appreciate that you want to battle, but that trainer challenged Pikachu into a battle, so you'll have the next one," Sora said. Oshawott shook his head and turned around.
"Okay, Dewott! Go!" The trainer called out. Dewott came on out to battle. Oshawott's expression turned pale and backed away, and decided to let Pikachu have a go at it.
"Glad you understand, Oshawott," Sora said, calling Oshawott back inside.
"Well, I'm glad that matter is settled," Iris said.
"Same here," Kairi said.
"Begin!" Don George shouted.
"Pikachu! Start up with Thunderbolt!" Sroa ordered. Piakchu unleashed Thunderbolt right at the otter-like Pokémon.
"Dodge it, Dewott!" The the trainer ordered. Dewott avoids Pikachu's Thunderbolt.
"Wow, that's fast!" Iris said.
"Iron Tail!" Sora ordered. Pikachu swings his tail and struck Dewott hard.
"Dewott, no!" The trainer cried.
"Now, use Quick Attack!" Sora orderd. Pikachu ran towards Dewott with his speed attack.
"Dodge it, Dewott!" The trainer ordered. Dewott avoided Pikachu's Quick Attack. "Now, use Razor Shell!" Dewott grabs its scalchops and struck Pikachu hard.
"Pikachu!" Sora cried.
Outside, three monkey-like Pokémon, stick their heads out from the trees. It was a Pansage, a Pansear, and a Panpour.
"Looks like we're clear." - Panpour subtitle.
"Good, we can move before someone sees us." - Pansear subtitle.
"Let's hurry up then." - Pansage subtitle.
The three monkey Pokémon moved quietly, avoiding detection from the sources; or so they thought. They opened the doors, unaware of a shadowy figure hiding in the storage room. The figure dashed out fast, startling the monkey Pokémon. The alarm goes off, making Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour flee.
The larm is heard from inside as the staff members came running in.
"Battle Manager, sir! It's the emergency alarm!" One of the staff members said.
"Something's in the storage room!" The second staff member said.
"It's probably them again!" The third staff member said.
"Right. We'll have to suspend your battle for now," Don George said.
"Them who?" Sora asked.
"We'll have to check it out, Sora," Kairi said.
"How cool is that?!" Iris exclaimed.
Sora, Kairi, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Iris, Pikachu, Angel, and Meowth joined Don George and his staff to the storage room.
"It doesn't look like much was stolen, sir," the first staff member said. Don George looked at the camera.
"Maybe the security camera might have caught something," Don George said. "Let's review it!'
"Sir!" The staff members all said. The group made it to the security wing.
"Just what's going on?" Sora asked.
"The food in the storage room has been stolen a lot lately, so I have a small list of suspects of who's been doing so," Don George said. "We set up the security system to get to the bottom of it."
"Suspects?" Kairi asked.
"We suspect that the food thieves happens to be Pokémon working together to steal our food," Don George said.
"If it's a Pokémon stealing food, then we'll have to drive it out of here, and make sure it try somewhere else if it wants a free meal," Sora said.
"I agree. It doesnt matter if it's a Pokémon or a human being, we can't let them do what they want," Terra said.
"Battle Mangaer, sir, we're ready to go," the first staff member said.
"Good. Let's just see what went on," Don George said.
"Sir!" The first staff member said. He activates the security footage. "Here it is!" The footage displays the myerious figure dashing from the storage room. Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour were startled by the alarm and ran off as well. "Pansage, a Panpour, and a Pansear."
"Look like Don George was right, it had to be some Pokémon stealing some food," Sora said.
"Those three has been a problem for a while now. We've chased them off the grounds so many times, but they're getting even sneakier with each attempt," Don George said.
"But the security systems caught more than those three," Don George said. This grabs their attention. "Rewind to the start of the security tape."
"Sir!" The first staff member said. He rewinds it to the mystreious figure dashing out of the storage room.
"What the heck is that?" Meowth asked.
"I don't know, but it looked like it's moving pretty fast," Sora said.
"It's like a shadow," Aqua said.
"Dark and skinny. What kind of Pokémon is that?" Iris asked.
"It might be an Umbreon. Umbreon are dark and skinny. And they have long ears," Ventus said.
"An Umbreon, please," Iris scoffed.
"He might be right, Iris. Umbreon does fi the description perfectly," Terra said.
"That's true. Umbreon can't be seen in the Unova region as much. BUt we can deal with the Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour," Don George said. The group all stepped outside. "Okay, people, fan out and find Umbreon and those other three."
"SIR!" The staff members said. They fanned out to search the grounds.
"We can cover more ground when we tag along," Kairi said.
"You're right, Kairi. We can have a much better shot by working together," Sora said. The couple took out their Pokéballs and let out their Pokémon. The Pidove, Purrloin, Deerling, Patrat, Oshawott, Scraggy, Sandile, and Lillipup all came outfor the search. "Okay, guys, we have a mystery Pokémon around here, so we'll need you to keep an eye open for whatever it is. And there's also a Pansage, a Pansear, and a Panpour around here, too, so let us know when you see them." All the Pokémon all nodded and carried on. "Pikachu, you'll have to search along with them."
"Pika," Pikachu said.
"You too, Angel," Kairi said.
"How about we do that, too, Sora?" Iris suggested.
"I was going to suggest that anyway," Sora said. Terra and Ven are with me. We'll search right there. Kairi, Aqua, Iris, you search there," Sora said.
"Gotcha," Kairi said.
The boys and the girls seperated as they searched. Panpour, Pansear, and Pansage were trapped.
"Shit! How are we going to get out now?!" - Pansear subtitle.
"Those humans and those Pokémon are sure going to find us for sure! And it's because of that mystery Pokémon!" - Panpour subtitle.
"Well, we're going have to find it first! It's bad enough that those humans had to chase us off constantly; now it got much harder thanks to that Pokémon! Let's get going!" - Pansage subtitle.
Pansear and Panpour agreed with the grass monkey Pokémon, so they had to work together to find that Pokémon before anyone else could.
Over to the girls, Iris has set the food as bait.
"There," Iris said.
"Good idea on setting up the Pokémon food as bait, Iris," Kairi said.
"Well, I figure Umbreon might be hungry and come running and see the food. It will defiently come running," Iris said.
"I wonder what kind of idea the boys are using?" Aqua asked.
Over to the boys, they leave a trail of berries to a big pile of berries.
"Okay, that's the last berry," Ventus said.
"And we have another surprise waiting for it. When the Pokémon comes eating the berries, the net will come down and we'll have it," Sora said.
"Good thinking. But I don't doubt either Umbreon, Pansage, Pansear, or Panpour will attack us as soon as it gets out," Terra said.
"Now, to check on the girls," Sora said.
The boys all left to check with the girls when Pansage came along and its mouth watered at the sight of the berries. Pansage started to wolf down the berries as fast as lightning. When it saw the pile of berries, Pansage took a Tamato Berry and the net came down on it.
"Crap!" - Pansage subtitle.
Over to Kairi, she stood by as she waited for the Pokémon to come to eat the food. Sora shows up behind her.
"How's it going?" Sora whispered.
"So far, nothing's biting. Iris suggested that we use some Pokémon food as bait to lure it out," Kairi said.
"We kinda had the same idea, but we used berries, and a net," Sora said.
"That's a good plan, Sora. Iris said nothing about a net," Kairi said.
"Vee!" Angel said.
They turned to see the mystery Pokémon approach the food.
"There it is!" Sora said.
"Pika!" Pikachu said. Sora was about to send Pikachu out when he got a much closer look at the Pokémon. It was a Tepig, but it was skinny and dirty; it also has its snout tied with a small rope.
"It's only a Tepig," Sora said.
"He's so skinny and dirty. No wonder Ven thought he was an Umbreon," Kairi said. Tepig tried to eat, but it was difficult because of the rope around its snout. Tepig tries to get it off of him. "Sora, look.
"Tepig's got a rope around his snout. He can't eat anything with that on," Sora said. He slowly comes out of the bushes to slowly approach Tepig. The fire pig Pokémon sees Sora coming and started to run. "Tepig, come back!"
"Sora!" Kairi called out, chasing after her boyfriend. Pikachu and Angel went with them as Iris came to see what the commotion was about.
"Sora, Kairi, what are you doing?" Iris asked as Tepig ran pass her with Sora chasing him.
"Wait!" Sora called out.
"We found out what the Pokémon was!" Kairi said. Iris went with them.
"Kairi, Sora, wait up!" Iris called out. Tepig ran to a dead end. He sees Sora coming. Tepig was scared.
"It's okay, Tepig. I won't hurt you," Sora said, slowly approaching Tepig. Sora slowly bends down and picks up the frightened Tepig. "There, there. It's okay." Tepig spews smoke from his snout. Kairi and Iris shows up and sees him covered in soot. "I promise I won't hurt you." Tepig was surprised to hear those words. "I can tell you're hungry, so how about we get this rope off." Tepig nodded. Sora place Tepig on his lap and started to undo the rope as gently as he could. "Don't move, Tepig. Stay perfectly still." Tepig didn't move a bit as Sora was gently getting the rope off. "Man, how can someone be so heartless?" Once the rope was off, Sora wiped the dirt off the fire pig Pokémon until he was very clean. "There, you're all clean." Kairi placed the Pokémon food down next to Tepig.
"Here you go. Eat as much as you want," Kairi said. Tepig started to chow down. Iris looked right at the couple and saw how nice they were treating Tepig.
"Hey, don't eat too fast. You'll choke if you're not careful," Sora said. He rubs Tepig's back.
"Pika," Pikachu said.
Over to Aqua, she was checking on things as Terra and Ventus went to meet with her.
"How's it going?" Ventus asked.
"No sign of Umbreon, Pansear, Pansage, or Panpour. I hope the Pokémon all had better luck than we do right now," Aqua said.
Meowth was helping with the search for the Pokémon as he was alone as Pansear and Panpour had approached him.
"Hey, you're two of those yahoos we're looking for," Meowth said.
"And look where your little search has gotten you." - Pansear subtitle.
"Hey, just for the record, you were stealing the grub around here," Meowth said.
"We didn't have a choice. Not much food where we used to live, so we didn't have a choice." - Panpour subtitle.
"I fell for you, guys, but don't you think maybe it's you own fault for getting caught red-handed?" Meowth asked. That infuriated Pansear and Panpour, making Meowth chuckle nervously. "Maybe that sounded better in my head." Pansear started by giving Meowth a Fire Punch in the face. Panpour gave him an Ice Punch. "Come on, I'm sorry! I was just stating a fact!"
"Should have kept it to yourself, pussycat!" - Pansear subtitle.
Pansear and Panpour kept up the Fire and Ice Punch pummeling.
"Ooh, I wish I had the ability Thick Fat, that why I can withstand it," Meowth said in a daze. Pansear gave Meowth a Fire Punch uppercut as he fell on his back.
The Pidove were flying by and saw the assualt so they went to tell their trainers about what was going on.
Over to Pansage, it was still in the net as Ventus, Terra, and Aqua went to check on their trap.
"You had a net ready?" Aqua asked.
"You din't think of that?" Terra asked.
"Wish I did," Aqua said. She froze in her tracks when she saw the Pansage. "Guys! It's Pansage!" They went to the grass monkey Pokémon in the net.
"That's one of them, but where are the other two?" Terra asked.
"Probably still around," Aqua said.
"We'll have to tell Don George that we got one of them," Terra said.
"Right. Ven, you stay here and make sure Pansage doesn't get away," Aqua said.
"You can count on me, Aqua," Ventus said. Terra and Aqua left as Ventus stayed behind and looked right at Pansage. "You're in so much trouble, along with your other two friends." Pansage looked right at him.
Over to Sora, Kairi, Iris, Pikachu, and Angel, Sora was carrying Tepig in his arms after eating the food presented to him.
"Rest up, Tepig, you'll need it," Sora said.
The Pokémon expect for the Pidove all approached their trainers, all looking down to the ground, not finding anything.
"Don't worry about it, guys, we found the mystery Pokémon," Sora said. He calls them back one by one as Kairi did the same thing. Don George came out and saw the them.
"Sora, Kairi! Glad we bumped into you," Don George said.
"Don George. You find Pansage, Panppour, or Pansear?" Sora asked.
"No, we didnt find them at all. We couldn't even find that Umbreon either," Don Geroge said.
"There's no Umbreon, there never was. It was just this Tepig.He was just skinny and dirty. And this rope was tied around his snout," Sora said, showing the Battle Manager the rope.
"Is that right?" Don George asked. He made a realization. "Hold on! I actually know this Tepig!"
"How do you know Tepig, Don George?" Kairi asked.
"Not too long ago, a trainer who once visted here just abandoned Tepig," Don George said. Sora, Kairi, and Iris gasped.
"Abandoned?" Kairi asked.
"Afraid so. Tepig was in a battle with a Deerling and lost badly, so his trainer said he has no need for a weak Pokémon, so he just tied up Tepig to a stake and left. I wanted to untie Tepig, but it chewed itself loose and ran off before I could get to it. Tepig must have been looking for its trainer, which would explain why it was wondering around town," Don George explained.
"Tied Tepig to a stake, and left? That's horrible!" Kairi stated. This reminded Sora a whole lot of how Paul just abandoned Chimchar after losing to Sora for a second time, so he took him in as his own Pokémon.
"How can someone be so cruel, especially after losing a battle?" Sora asked in disbelief."
"If I ever find that trainer, I'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget!" Iris said, waking Tepig up.
"Sorry for waking you up, Tepig," Sora said.
Terrra and Aqua show up to their friends.
"Sora, Kairi, Iris, Don George!" Terra called out. They turned to see the other couple.
"Terra, Aqua! What's up?" Sora asked.
"Your net worked! it caught Pansage!" Aqua said.
"I knew it would work out," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Where's Ven?" Iris asked.
"He's wathcing it now," Terra said.
"Good," Kairi said. She looked over to her boyfriend. "Is something wrong, Sora?"
"Has anyone seen Meowth around?" Sora asked.
"You're right. Meowth should have been back by now," Kairi said.
"You don't think Meowth might have gotten lost?" Iris asked.
"Not a chance. He must be in some kind of trouble," Sora said.
"Pika, Pika," Pikachu agreed.
"I'll go and find Meowth. The rest of you go and check with Ven," Sora said.
"Right," Everyone all said. Sora, Kairi, Don George, Pikachu, Angel, and Tepig went to find Meowth as Terra, Aqua, Iris, and the staff members went to check with Ventus and Pansage. Just then, the two Pidove flew to their trainers.
"What is it?" Kairi asked. The Pidove flew ahead of them.
"Let's follow them," Don George said.
They exactly that. Pansear and Panpour were still punching Meowth as they saw what was going on.
"Meowth!" Sora gasped.
"Leave him alone!" Kairi said. Pansear and Panpour saw them and set their attentions on the couple instead. Pansear unleashed Flamethrower as Panpour unleashed Water Gun. They ducked out of the way as the Pidove flew and came at them with Quick Attack. Pansear unleashed Flamethrower as Panpour unleashed Ice Beam.
Over to Ventus asn Pansage, Terra, Aqua, Iris, and the staff members all approached them.
"Ven, good work," Iris said.
"Thanks," Ventus said.
"So, what's the deal with this Pansage?" Iris asked.
"This Pansage is the leader of a trio of Pokémon, which includes Pansear and Panpour. Not too long beofre Tepig was abandoned they've been stealing our supplies. They didn't used to since their home was destroyed," the first staff member explained. They looked at the staff.
"Destroyed?" Aqua asked.
"Not too long ago, some lumberjacks chopped down the tree they were living in and they were forced out. They were arrested for chopping down trees illegally, but that didn't stop them from causing trouble," the first staff member said.
"So, that's what's going on. That's why they're stealing food when they came here. They were just trying to survive," Terra said.
"Is nothing sacred?" Ventus asked in disbelief. He felt sorry for Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour.
"Now, to make certain that they won't cause any trouble," the second staff member said. He lifted the net, making Pansage run away.
"After it!" The first staff member said.
"Wait, we should let it go," Ventus said.
"Let it go? Why?" The first staff member asked.
"Why should we let it go?" Iris asked.
"It's not their fault. It's like Terra said, they were just trying to survive. And maybe, if you leave some food out for them, maybe they won't be stealing it all the time. That might also work on some wild Pokémon, too," Ventus said.
"You're right, Ven. Sora would agree one hundred percent," Aqua said.
"We'll have to discuss this with the Battle Manager before we do," the third staff member said.
They all left to find the rest. Speaking of which, the Pidove kept up their attacks, but they had enough, so Panpour jumped up and delievered an Ice Punch on both Pidove.
"Pidve!" Sora and Kairi gasped. Tepig stepped in and decided to face the both of them.
"Tepig, what are you doing?" Sora asked. Tepig jumped up and unleashed Ember on the two monkey Pokémon. Pansear was angered, but Tepig rammed into Pansear. Sora was impressed by Tepig's burst of strength. Tepig did the same thing with Panpour. The spray Pokémon fired Water Gun, but Tepig doged and rammed into Panpour as well. Pansear and Panpour were both beaten. Tepig stood over his beaten opponents. "Whoa." Pansear and Panpour got up and retreated back to where they came.
"That's one tough Tepig," Sora said.
"He sure is," Kairi agreed. Sora didn't say anything and he pets Tepig on the head.
"You're much stronger than your last trainer said you are," Sora said. Tepig looked right up to him. "I can help you become even stronger than ever. So, how about it, Tepig?" Tepig beamed as he nuzzles Sora. Sora took out a Pokéball and Tepig flows inside it. Stars swirls around the Pokéball to confirm the catch. Sora's Pokémon Box goes off asking him if he wants to keep Tepig with him. He chose to keep Tepig in exchange for Scraggy. Sora went over to Meowth. "You doing okay, Meowth?"
"Granted that I have some frostbite in one area and some burns in another, but I think I'm doing okay," Meowth said. He stood up.
"Glad you're okay, because we have our mystery Pokémon," Sora said, letting out Tepig. The scratch cat Pokémon looked right at the fire pig Pokémon.
"So, you're what all the brew-ha-ha was all about," Meowth said.
"Tepig," Tepig apologized.
"Hey, don't be sorry, pal. It happens to anybody," Meowth said.
"Why did those two attack you like that, Meowth?" Kairi asked.
"Well, I told them about the error of stealing, but they just punched me. They said to me that they didn't have much of a choice," Meowth said.
"Guys!" A familiar voice called out. Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Iris, and the Battle Club staff members came running.
"Guys, we figured out why Pansage, Panpour, and Pansear were stealing food. They were just trying to survive since it was hard for them to find food," Ventus said.
"Is that right?" Sora asked.
"Yes. But Ven has come up with a solution for our problems," the first staff member said.
"He stated that we could just leave food out for them just to avoid the thefts occuring. That way, we won't have to worry about thefts," the third staff member said.
"That is a great idea. It will also prevent future thefts from other wild Pokémon," Don George said. Ventus looked right at Tepig.
"Is that a Tepig?" Ventus asked.
"Yeah. It was Tepig all along. You mistook him for an Umbreon," Kairi said.
"The reason you did was because he was skinny from lack of eating," Sora said.
"No wonder I made that mistake," Ventus said. Iris bent down and started to pinch Tepig's cheeks.
"Ooh, you're such a little cuite! How would like to be my Pokémon, huh?" Iris asked.
"Sorry, Iris, but Sora already beat you to it," Kairi said. Iris puffed up her cheeks.
"Seriously?!" Iris exclaimed, making everyone laugh.
Tepig has now joined the team, and has gained himself a new caring trainer. As for Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour, I have a feeling we have not seen the last of them. Also, it was only a matter of time before they eventually reached Striaton City for Sora's Gym battle, and Kairi's Contest.