A/N: Good morning! Hope everyone is staying safe and doing well. I realized I put Ava on the back burner during Brandon's gym battles and figured it was time to learn a little more about her. In the future, I will work on making sure they each get enough time to shine, even if Brandon has his gym match. A couple of questions I would like to answer:
Sonic – The reason why Omanyte's is mostly blank is because of poor planning lol. I meant for you guys to learn more of him before this chapter.
BB-8 – I would love to include different types of Pokeballs. In fact, luxury ball is my favorite type. Maybe when they visit Celadon City, they might buy one or two different types.
Anyways, have a great week! :)
Pokemon Journey: Indigo League
Chapter 8: Curiosity
"Eevee, catch," Ava said, throwing a ball towards the young brown fox-like Pokemon. Eevee bounced towards the ball with enthusiasm before picking it up with her teeth and bringing it back to Ava. Ava again threw the ball, watching Eevee wagging her tail and chasing after it. Ava then switched her attention over to her new Pokemon.
Omanyte is very curious about the area around him and began exploring with Squirtle watching over him. Omanyte began to crawl around the food area, almost bumping into Brandon, who was cooking. Brandon chuckles and steers Omanyte towards Ava and Eevee.
Omanyte slithers near Ava and settles down, watching the game. Eevee, instead, brings the ball towards Omanyte and drops it at his feet. Curious about it, Omanyte picks up the ball with his small hands, brings it to Ava and offers it. Ava takes the ball, giggling a little before rolling it towards Omanyte. Omanyte stares at the ball coming towards him before rolling to a stop right in front of him. He picks up the ball again and brings it towards Ava again but this time, he drops in just before he gets to her, grinning mischievously. Ava chuckles as she picks up the ball and rolls it towards the young Pokemon. For the next few minutes, they played catch, which Omanyte is enjoying very much before Brandon calls them to dinner. Squirtle subtly (at least he tries to) shakes his head, before eating the canned food.
"Wow, this is, errr," Ava said, trying to find words as she takes a bite.
"Sucks? I've heard that before," Brandon says, with a quick glance at Surtitle, who wore a "I-told-you" look and grins at Brandon. Beside Squirtle, Tangela was eating quietly, enjoying the sunset.
It has been two days since they had set out from Pewter City. Nothing noteworthy happened during those days. Brandon continued to train his team, having Squirtle and Tangela work on accuracy. Ava began to help out but for the most part, she sat back and watched as Brandon began to develop his training.
It was nearly the end of the second day and the duo decided to stop for the night. Brandon and Ava quickly set up camp before Brandon offered to cook rice and beans. Ava took that time to play with Eevee and Omanyte and began to try and understand her new Pokemon.
"We need to teach you how to cook, right Squirtle?" Ava said, teasing him. Squirtle nodded vigorous while grinning at his trainer.
"Next time, you cook and I play," Brandon retorted with a grin as he finishes his dish.
"As much as it was playing, it was also training," Ava replied, taking a bite.
"Training?" Brandon asked.
"Yeah. I gained a few things, things I can use later on," Ava explained. She saw Brandon's look and puts down her bowl. "Given that Omanyte hatched 4 days ago, it's natural for him to be curious. But I noticed that he is start to develop a mischievous side, which tells me he will be better at special attacks. Eevee, although we have known each other longer, I still learned that she likes to run. In my mind, I am already trying to think of potential evolution's based around that. Of course, the final say would be hers."
"Oh wow. I didn't know that," Brandon exclaimed, amazed that she could get all that by playing catch.
"Don't worry about it. Most new trainers don't develop that skill for a few years," Ava said, finishing her bowl. She saw the look in Brandon's eyes and quickly spoke. "I know that look and I would advise against it. Being a new trainer is hard enough. Don't over-complicate things right now."
"Guess you're right," Brandon said, getting up and washing his dish. "You know, you have met my parents and my sister but I don't know about your family."
"Let's just say, we aren't as close as your family is," Ava said, getting up to wash her dish. "It's a story for another time."
"Very well," Brandon said, not wanting to push and pry. He put on a kettle for some hot chocolate and sat down beside the fire. The sun had completely set, covering the place in darkness. He looked up at the stars that were just starting to sprinkle the darkened sky.
"What are you thinking about?" Ava asks.
"Honestly, not a whole lot" Brandon admits. The kettle whistles, signaling that the water was hot enough. He got up and pours himself a cup of hot chocolate and sits back down. "When I was younger, I told myself I wanted to be an astronaut."
"That's pretty cool," Ava remarks, also getting herself a cup of hot chocolate. "What changed your mind?
"My dad sat me down and explained what space exploration was truly," Brandon says, chuckling at the memory. "You see, I always thought it was like the movies but as it turns out, it's not. That kinda dissuaded me. What about you? Did you always want to be a trainer?"
"Actually, no," Ava said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate as Eevee, Omanyte, Squirtle and Tangela were sleeping around the fire. "I always wanted to become a cop."
"What changed your mind?" Brandon asks, taking a sip of his drink.
"My parents kinda forced me into becoming a trainer," Ava explained, finishing her drink.
"That's rough," Brandon empathizes, getting up and washing his cup. "Is that why you are taking a year off?"
"More or less," Ava admitted, also washing her cup. "Don't get me wrong. I love travelling around Johto and now Kanto.."
"But it's not what you truly want to do," Brandon finishes her sentence. He stifles a yawn. "I'm going to head to bed, Goodnight Ava."
"Night Brandon," Ava replies, staring into the fire. She hears the tent zip up but she doesn't move. Instead, she stares into the fire, that moment replaying in her head, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Beside her, she can feel Eevee and Omanyte stir and shuffle towards her, offering her comfort. She soon falls asleep as the fire dwindles down.
Omanyte slowly wakes up and notices that Eevee and Ava were sleeping. He was rarely left out of the Pokeball, so this was he chance to explore. He slithered away from the campsite and into the darkness, not a care in the world. Shortly after he left, Eevee began to wake up and realize that Omanyte wasn't around. She stretches and tries to track down Omanyte.
Omanyte stares in wonder around him. Trees were actually taller than he thought, as well as bushes were thicker. With the moonlight to guide him, Omanyte slithers along the ground until something caught his noise caught his attention. Slithering towards it, Omanyte finds the source of the noise. With a delight cry, Omanyte began to play with it, not realizing the mistake until several Ekans' heads pop up, all glaring and hissing at Omanyte. Only then, did Omanyte realize this was a mistake and released an ear shrieking yell.
Back at camp, Ava snaps awake, looking around and noticing both Eevee and Omanyte were missing. She curses and stands up, preparing to go look for them when Brandon pokes his head out of the tent.
"What's going on?" Brandon asks.
"Both Omanyte and Eevee are missing," Ava states. "I'm about to head out and look for them."
"We'll help out," Brandon says as Squirtle and Tangela both nod their heads. "They couldn't have gone that far."
"Let's go," Ava orders, leading the way into the bush with Brandon (and his Pokemon) in tow.
Back to Omanyte, he was trying to run away but Ekans wraps his tail around the young Pokemon, licking his chops. As Ekans lowers his mouth upon Omanyte, Omanyte withdrew into his shell. Ekans couldn't get through the hard shell, so he tightens his tail around Omanyte, who was shrieking in pain until a brown ball slams into Ekans, forcing it to drop Omanyte.
Eevee stood in between Omanyte and the Ekans pack, not backing down. The Ekans that held Omanyte waves his tail, telling his group mates to stand down. This was a battle between Eevee and this Ekans.
Ekans charged towards Eevee, who dodges to the right before slamming into the side of Ekans. Ekans cries out in pain and charges right at Eevee again. Once again, Eevee dodges and hits Ekans in the side, causing it to cry out in pain again. However, this battle provided a distraction as a big purple snake snuck up on Omanyte and wraps his tail around him, causing him to shriek again.
Eevee hears this and looks over towards her friend. Glaring at the snake, Eevee starts to run towards it as the snake begins to lower his mouth onto Omanyte. Eevee began to pick up speed and uses a burst of energy to fly at the new snake and slams into it just as it was about to take a bite. Furious, this new snake glares at Eevee, who once again stood in between Omanyte and the pit of snakes.
"Eevee, Omanyte!" Ava shouts, coming into view. Omanyte sees his trainer and starts to crawl towards her. Eevee keeps herself in between the Ekans and Omanyte, panting. Ekans sees the humans and the additional Pokemon and decides it's not worth the trouble and slithers away into the bush.
Ava bends down and picks up Omanyte, who feels like he's in trouble. Instead, Ava just hugs him as Eevee comes towards them. Ava lets Omanyte down, who crawls over to Eevee to help her.
"Omanyte, next time you want to explore, let someone know, alright?" Ava tells him. "And Eevee, thank you for protecting him."
"Ev," Eevee replies with a smile.
"Good news, it seems you learned a new move Eevee," Ava beams at her. "Come on, let's head back to the campsite and get a good rest."
The sun rays are peeking through Ava's eyelids as her body wakes up. She can feel Eevee beginning to stir as well. What she didn't feel, though was Omanyte. Ava immediately sits up and scans the campsite, only to find Omanyte playing with Tangela as Brandon is cooking eggs. Ava lets out a sigh of relief as she packs up her sleeping bag and joins Brandon around the stove.
"Surely, you can't mess up eggs right?" Ava says, a teasing smile on her face.
"For your information, yes I can," Brandon admits. "But I figured you guys were tired from last night and decided to try and make breakfast."
"Thank you," Ava says gratefully, watching Omanyte and Tangela playing a version of tag. "Do you know how long until the next Pokemon Centre?"
"Should be only a couple of hours," Brandon says, flipping the eggs. "At least, according to my Poketch."
"Wait. You don't have a physical map?" Ava asks, a little surprised.
"Why? My Poketch does the same thing," Brandon points out as he plates the eggs.
"I'm going to invest in a Kanto Map," Ava states, accepting the plate from Brandon. She takes a bite, mentally trying to prepare herself but it turns out the eggs weren't bad at all.
"You can if you want," Brandon shrugs, laying out 4 bowls of Pokemon food. Soon, Squirtle, Tangela, Omanyte and Eevee were eating. Brandon sat back and began to eat his eggs as well.
"How well do you Kanto?" Ava asks, taking another bite.
"I know Viridian City pretty well. I've been to Celadon City a couple of times but other than that, not really well," Brandon answers, finishing his plate. "Isn't that the whole point of traveling around a region? To get to know it better?"
"Absolutely," Ava confirms, finishing her plate. "I learned so much about Johto during my travels."
"Squirtle, Tangela return," Brandon says, recalling his partners as he does a final sweep of the campsite and straps on his bag. "Ready?"
"Eevee, Omanyte return as well," Ava says, recalling her partners as well. She straps on her bag and stands beside Brandon. "Let's go!"
With that, Brandon and Ava proceed forward, towards the ever-looming Mt. Moon.
Team Listings:
Brandon Adams:
Squirtle - Male, Torrent ability. Knows Water Gun, tackle, Withdraw
Tangela - Male, Leaf Guard ability. Knows Bind, Stun Spore, Absorb, Growth
Ava Mcarthur:
Eevee - Female. Run Away ability. Knows tackle, Quick Attack
Omanyte - Male. Unknown ability. Knows: Withdraw