Pride of Your Soul
Chapter 5: Complex Girls
AN: Hey there guys! Here's a brand new chapter for ya! But before that:
To the guest who reviewed a few days ago, saying that they would leave a review everyday until I posted a new chapter: while I'm glad you like my story enough to incline you to do that, and don't get me wrong; I feel flattered; I'd like it if you didn't do that. Repeatedly posting a review asking me/telling me to post the next chapter is essentially bugging me to rush it, and it kinda gets to me since you're not offering me any insight on how you think the story or a particular chapter was or any tips or suggestions, just you telling me to make the next chapter. This chapter was almost finished when you started posting the reviews, so you kinda got off lucky; but don't expect these to come out so quickly. It takes time for me to write these up, and I'd like it if people didn't tell me to essentially rush it. Hey, I'm not mad or anything, and it's not like you did anything particularly wrong, I would just like it if you would be patient. And you were pretty civil about it; I remember back at Color of Your Soul where there was this one guy who was kinda hostile when telling me to make the next chapter before he eventually mellowed down, that I kinda felt inclined not to make it just to teach him patience.
I know it's also my fault (sort of) since I tend to take a while to make these, but I'd really hope you understand when I ask you to be patient and to refrain from posting daily 'reviews' telling me to write the next chapter, and I'm sorry if this offended you in any way. I know you didn't mean any harm, and believe me I'm not upset or mad at you; just please be patient with these things before this gets out of hand.
Sorry about that mini-rant (if that could be considered a rant since I wasn't particularly angry), but I'd rather deal with this before it does get out of hand, because trust me, I saw that sort of happen back in the prequel, and his language wasn't exactly 'kid-friendly'.
Anyways, let's go on with the story.
The Virbank Complex. A construction zone that lies south of the harbor city of Virbank. There is a wooden dam that separates the waterway of Virbank City from the rest of the sea. It also serves as a training place for trainers, with trainers free to fight one another, or challenge the wildlife that makes the construction zone their home.
Our familiar trio made their way to the complex, taking in the sight of the large construction sight.
"So this is the Virbank Complex, huh..." Hugh muttered.
"Hard to believe that Pokémon made such an industrialized place into a home," Rosa commented.
"That surprises you?" Nate asked. "Pokémon are pretty perseverant. They can adapt to a lot of environments should the need arise."
"So, you have any idea what kind of Pokémon live here?" Hugh asked Nate.
"Mostly Fire and Electric types," Nate commented. "You two would probably benefit from catching a Fire-type."
"A Fire-type...that would be great," Hugh commented.
"What about you?" Rosa asked. "You already have a Fire-type."
"I'm probably just gonna train up Tep," Nate said as he released Tep. "Maybe catch a new Pokémon if it interests me enough."
"-We're gonna do some training, Boss?-" Tep asked.
"Yep," Nate said. "It's about time I gave you some proper training."
Tep snorted out some flames from his nose, raring for a fight to finally improve his skills. Nate simply chuckled at Tep, before heading off.
"Wait, aren't you gonna watch us?" Rosa asked.
"What do I look like, your babysitter?" Nate asked. "You guys can handle yourselves. Or do you want me to make sure you don't get in trouble?"
"Fine then!" Rosa growled in annoyance by Nate's condescending tone.
"Alright then," Hugh said. "You wanna meet up back at the entrance before nightfall?"
"Sounds like a plan," Nate said before heading off.
"Seriously, what is with his attitude?" Rosa huffed.
"We've only been with him for a day," Hugh said. "He won't open up to us that quickly."
"I'd wish he'd respect me a little more," Rosa pouted.
"C'mon, let's go find a Fire-type," Hugh said.
Rosa sighed as she followed Hugh into the complex, in search of a Fire-type suitable for their likings.
"Ember!"
Tep shot a stream of embers at an opposing patrat, sending the chipmunk into a steel poll, knocking it out. Nate looked around, spotting a robotic sphere-like Pokémon with magnets on the side charge electricity, aiming for Tep from behind.
"A magnemite," Nate muttered, before taking out his knife and flinging it at the magnemite.
The knife clashed with the magnemite's metallic body, making the robotic sphere flinch from the sudden impact and bouncing back the knife. The collision also made a loud clang sound, alerting Tep of the magnemite behind him, where he turned and shot another stream of embers at the magnemite. The magnemite screamed in pain as it fell.
"-Thanks Boss!-" Tep exclaimed.
"Your back is way open," Nate scolded lightly. "You should've sensed that."
"-S-Sorry...-" Tep muttered ashamed.
"It's alright," Nate assured his partner. "You're still training. I don't expect you to be perfect from the start of the bat."
As Tep looked relieved, Nate took out his pokédex and scanned the fallen patrat and magnemite, recording their data into the dex. As he finished scanning them, another pair of patrats showed up from some bushes, seeing their fallen comrade and glaring at Tep and Nate in fury.
"Oh? Is someone mad?" Nate taunted. "Come on. We need a better challenge."
The two patrats snarled as they charged at Tep.
"Smog!"
Tep released a thick gray smoke at the incoming patrats, stopping them in their assault and making them cough furiously, desperately trying not to inhale the gases.
"Flame Charge!"
Tep cloaked himself in flames and charged into the smog, smashing into one of them while it was blinded by the smog. The other patrat saw Tep in the gases and tried to attack him, but Tep swiftly jumped over it, and landed on the second patrat's face, knocking it out.
"-Heh! Too easy!-" Tep snorted with pride.
"Not bad," Nate complimented as he checked up on Tep with the pokédex. "Alright, Ember, Smog, Flame Charge, Tackle. Probably should get rid of Tackle for something. Maybe a Fighting-type move. That'll help against Rock-types."
"-Boss, if you want me to know a Fighting-type move, then just wait 'til I evolve!-" Tep told Nate. "-Then I'll be a mighty pignite and vanquish even more morons!-"
"While that's a good thing and I like your enthusiasm, you're still not a pignite yet," Nate replied. "So for now, teaching you something like Rock Smash will have to do."
"-I see,-" Tep said. "-So what're we waiting for?-"
"Well, I don't have the TM for it," Nate muttered. "And Luca doesn't know Rock Smash, so she can't just teach you a move she doesn't know. Sorry about that."
"-It's alright Boss,-" Tep assured his trainer. "-You've already done so much for me.-"
"Is that so," Nate said. "Alright then, according to this thing, we can find a growlithe, a magby, and an elekid. An elekid would be nice, it can evolve into an electivire, which would really help against–."
"-Hey, Boss,-" Tep suddenly mentioned. "-Look over there.-"
Nate looked at Tep, who was pointing to another direction. Nate followed the direction that he was pointing to, to see two construction workers, seemingly harassing a girl.
"C'mon, what's the harm?" one of the construction workers asked in a serenading tone. "No one will know."
"Uh...no really, I just want to–," the girl timidly tried to shoot them down.
"No need to be shy," the second worker said. "We can take some time off and show you around the city."
"No, really that's alright–," the girl said.
The girl was shyly trying to turn down the two construction workers, but to no avail. Nate watched the event, and rolled his eyes.
"Pathetic," Nate muttered. "Just reject them already."
"-But it looks like they won't let her,-" Tep noted.
Nate rolled his eyes at them. It was just pathetic. Watching the two grown men hitting on a girl who was obviously younger than them; and obviously a minor at that. And watching the girl trying to reject the two men with pitiful results was pathetic to him.
"-Wow...she looks totally helpless like that,-" Tep commented.
"Helpless..." Nate muttered, eyes widening slightly.
Hearing the word 'helpless' sparked something in him. Strangely, another kind of nostalgic feeling, something he was familiar with in the past. A feeling that kept haunting him throughout his life.
Unlike the other nostalgic feelings in the past, this one irritated him to no ends.
"Tch...Watching this shit is pissing me off..." Nate hissed under his breath as he approached them.
"C'mon, just a little bit," the first worker said.
As the girl tried to get away, a sound of a camera snapping got their attention, as they all turned to Nate, holding an Xtransceiver like a camera.
"H-Hey...what do you have there?" the first construction worker asked nervously.
"Oh I dunno, just a picture of you two grown ass men sexually harassing a girl who's clearly a minor," Nate said in a mischievous tone.
They all looked horrified at the Xtransceiver, the girl looking the most horrified out of the three, which Nate had in his hands with a devilish grin.
"Oh I wonder what would happen if I showed this to your boss?" Nate asked. "Or worse, the police for that matter?"
"H-Hey, let's not get hasty here," the second worker said nervously.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON!?"
Everyone looked to see a new face, an older, and very angry looking construction worker.
"Shit! The Boss!" the first one gaped.
"You two!" the third worker, their boss supposedly, snarled. "I was wondering where you two went...what the hell were you two doing?!"
"No-nothing, nothing at all..." the second one muttered.
"Oh reaaaally?" Nate sneered from the side, holding the Xtransceiver in his hand.
"If you two aren't doing anything, then get the hell back to work!" their boss growled. "Unless you want to be fired?!"
"N-NO SIR!" the two yelled, before running off to their work.
"Seriously...fucking slackers..." the boss growled, before turning to Nate and the girl. "Sorry about those two...today was a slow day, so a bunch of my workers decided that slacking off would be a good idea...I hope they weren't a bother."
"No, not at all," Nate lied.
"Still, this was my fault for not keeping them in line," the boss said, before taking out a disk. "Here. This is for you."
"Huh?" Nate asked, before accepting the disk and examining it. "A Technical Machine...Rock Smash?"
"Think of this as my apology for my stupid subordinates," the boss said.
"You sure?" Nate asked.
"Keep it," the boss insisted. "I have spares."
"Oh, thanks," Nate said.
With that, the boss bid the two farewell, leaving them to themselves. Nate glanced back at the girl, who was hiding her expression underneath her hat, seemingly intimidated by Nate's leer.
"And you," Nate decided to address the girl. "You alright?"
Upon closer examination, the girl had light pink hair that went down to her shoulders with a side fringe, light blue eyes, and was wearing a white and hot pink panama, a white shirt with small sleeves and a baby blue long-sleeved shirt underneath.
"Uh...yes, I'm fine," the girl replied timidly. "Uh...thank you for helping me out there."
"Ah, don't worry about it," Nate said. 'It's not like I did it because I wanted to.'
"-You should be thankful that the Boss decided to save you!-" Tep snorted to the girl.
"You know she can't hear you," Nate muttered to Tep.
"Um..." the girl stuttered. "A-About that picture you took..."
Nate took a glance at his Xtransceiver, checking it to see that the picture he took of the two workers harassing her was intact. He took a quick glance at the girl, who looked extremely distressed under her hat. Her expression says it all; she definitely doesn't want that picture to exist. The picture held a lot of power over her. He could use it to gain something from her; that was for sure.
He could use the picture for blackmail for sure.
"...Right..." Nate said, before promptly deleting the picture. "There, deleted. Happy?"
"Eh?" the girl asked, surprised.
"Blackmailing innocent girls isn't really my thing," Nate said. "While I'm known for doing a bunch of things, that isn't one of them. Besides..."
Nate stared at the girl, who stared back curiously.
"It's not like I would gain anything particular from blackmailing you," Nate said.
"Wh-What makes you say that?" the girl asked.
"Just a hunch," Nate shrugged.
"O-Okay..." the girl said, sighing in relief, before smiling. "Thank you...for that..."
"Whatever," Nate rolled his eyes. "Although, that was a pathetic display, to put it bluntly."
"Eh?" the girl asked.
"You should've been more assertive to reject those two," Nate said. "At that rate, they would've been able to do whatever they wanted."
"I-I guess..." the girl muttered. "Sorry..."
"Why're you apologizing to me?" Nate asked. "Just be more assertive."
"I will," the girl said. "By the way, what's your name?"
Nate glanced at the girl, examining the girl.
I guess there's no problem telling her that, at least.
"The name's Nate," he said.
"Nate..." the girl repeated it in her mouth. "Alright. My name's Yancy."
"Alright then," Nate said. "Since you're out of trouble, I'll be on my way–."
"Ah, wait!" Yancy exclaimed, stopping him. "I was wondering..."
"Ah?" Nate asked.
"I was wondering...if you can help me catch a Pokémon," Yancy asked.
"Huh?" Nate asked. "Speaking of which, what the hell's a frail-looking girl like you doing here, anyways?"
"Uh...I was...uh...visiting a friend! Yeah, I was visiting a friend," Yancy said. "She was busy, so I decided to visit the complex while I was here...and maybe catch a Pokémon for memories' sake."
"Uh huh..." Nate said. "Well, why don't you go catch a Pokémon? Why do you need my help?"
"Well...I never caught...a Pokémon before..." Yancy mumbled, her face flushing in embarrassment.
"...Huh?" Nate asked. "You never caught a Pokémon before?"
Yancy simply nodded in response.
"...Okay then..." Nate muttered. "Do you at least have Pokémon on you?"
"Oh, yes!" Yancy said, taking out two Pokémon and releasing them.
From the two pokéballs, came out two bear-like Pokémon, one landing in front of Yancy, while the other landing behind her, making a huge thud equivalent to a small earthquake. The one in front of Yancy was a small, bipedal, ursine Pokémon covered in short, orange-brown fur with a tan crescent marking on its face, which looked cute and cuddly to the eyes of many.
However, Nate and Tep gaped at the other bear behind Yancy. The other bear was huge; a bipedal, dark blue-green bear-like Pokémon with a cream-colored face, where the majority of its huge body was made up by its large stomach.
"...A teddiursa...and a snorlax..." Nate muttered. "And you're sure you never caught a Pokémon before?
"-Holy crap that thing is huge...-" Tep gaped at the sight of Yancy's Snorlax.
"Yes...these two were actually gifts from my father," Yancy said as she carried Teddiursa in her arms. "I never actually caught one before..."
"...Okay, I can buy that..." Nate muttered, still shocked by the sight of the gargantuan bear behind her. "A-Alright then...let's go find something for you to catch."
"Really?" Yancy asked. "You'll help me?"
"I mean, I was gonna plan to catch something anyways," Nate muttered. "Bringing extra company wouldn't change much."
"Thank you!" Yancy exclaimed excitedly, gleefully following her new friend.
Meanwhile, Rosa and Hugh were walking through the depths of the complex, with Ottavia and Snivy out front.
"-So...where are we?-" Ottavia asked Snivy.
Snivy simply shrugged his limbs as he ventured forward.
"-You don't...talk much...do you?-" Ottavia asked.
Snivy shook his head in response.
"-Can I ask...why?-" Ottavia asked.
Snivy pointed to his neck.
"-Your neck?-" Ottavia asked.
Snivy nodded.
"-...You...can't speak?-" Ottavia asked.
Snivy nodded.
"-I...see...-" Ottavia muttered.
Meanwhile, Rosa and Hugh were observing their starters' conversation.
"I wonder what they're talking about," Rosa pondered.
Hugh, on the other hand, was paying close attention to Snivy's gestures to Ottavia, specifically when he was pointing to his neck.
'So he can't speak...is that it?' Hugh thought.
As the group ventured into the complex, Snivy stopped them.
"Snivy?" Hugh asked.
Snivy leered at the field of grass in front of them, seemingly getting ready to fight. Hugh got the message, and prepared himself, which Rosa took note of and did the same. From the grass, two Pokémon walked out of it. One was a small, orange quadruped canine with black stripes and cream-colored fur on its muzzle, chest, belly and tail. The other one was a bipedal red Pokémon with a yellow, flame-shaped marking on its stomach.
"A growlithe...and a magby," Hugh said. "Lucky. Two Fire-types at the same time."
"Oh my gosh! I MUST have that growlithe!" Rosa squealed. "It's just too cute!"
Hugh sweat-dropped at Rosa, as he scanned the two Fire-types.
"Growlithe, the puppy Pokémon. Extremely loyal to its Trainer, it will bark at those who approach the Trainer unexpectedly and run them out of town."
"Magby, the live coal Pokémon. It's small, but its body temperature is over 1,100 degrees F. Embers escape its mouth and nose when it breathes."
"Ottavia, get ready!" Rosa commanded. "We're capturing that growlithe!"
"-R-Right!-" Ottavia responded.
"Snivy, your target's Magby!" Hugh exclaimed.
Snivy nodded in response as he got ready to fight the magby.
"-What are these people?-" Growlithe asked.
"-They want to fight,-" Magby told his friend. "-So let's give them a fight!-"
Growlithe barked enthusiastically as she growled at Ottavia, as Magby spat out embers, glaring at Snivy.
"Ottavia, Water Gun!"
Ottavia shot a stream of water at Growlithe, who dodged it and charged at Ottavia.
"Guard it!" Rosa yelled.
Ottavia detached her shell and used it as a shield, defending herself from Growlithe's attack and pushing the pup back. Meanwhile, Magby shot a stream of embers at Snivy, who swiftly evaded it.
"Wrap!"
Snivy shot his vines at Magby, wrapping them around Magby and strangling the Fire-type, before repeatedly slamming him down to the ground.
'Snivy's pretty good with close quarters...' Hugh thought. 'Completely opposite from Vibrava...'
Magby managed to free himself from the wrap and approached the snake disarmingly, before suddenly jumping behind him and slamming his foot at Snivy, who barely blocked it with his vines.
"Tch, he's pretty good," Hugh muttered. "How's yours doing?"
Hugh turned to Rosa, who was paying more attention to Ottavia as she dodged a burning growlithe.
"A little rough," Rosa commented. "Razor Shell, Ottavia!"
Ottavia jumped back, and created a blue blade from her shell, brandishing it as Growlithe charged back at her, fangs bared. Ottavia ducked under to avoid Growlithe's Bite attack, and slashed Growlithe with the blue blade as she fell.
"Now!" Rosa yelled as she took out a pokéball and hurled it at the fallen growlithe.
The ball smacked Growlithe on the head, where the pokéball opened up and shot a red beam at Growlithe, sucking her into the pokéball. The ball dropped, shook three times, and a light sparkled around it.
"Success!" Rosa cheered as she went to pick up the pokéball. "Growlithe is caught!"
"-Phew...-" Ottavia sighed in relief as she put away her shell.
"You see that, Hugh?" Rosa asked gleefully as she showed him the ball. "I caught my target!"
"Yes, yes, congratulations," Hugh muttered, not paying attention to her. "Not now!"
Snivy kept blocking all of Magby's attack with relevant ease, irritating the magby.
"-AAGH THAT'S IT!-" Magby growled as he recklessly charged at Snivy.
"Now! Leaf Tornado!" Hugh commanded.
Snivy turned upside down and spun rapidly, creating a tornado of sharp leaves that shot at Magby, slashing him with the leaves. As Magby tried to defend himself, Snivy took the opening and dashed behind Magby, slamming his vine across Magby's back. Hugh saw the opening and hurled a pokéball at Magby, where the same process occurred, successfully capturing Magby.
"And that's that," Hugh said as he retrieved the pokéball. "Nice job, Snivy."
Snivy receded his vines as he smiled.
"Hehe! I caught mine's first!" Rosa boasted.
"Of course you would, since you were using a Water-type against a Fire-type, while I used a Grass-type against a Fire-type," Hugh simply retorted. "Frankly it would've been embarrassing if I actually caught mine's first."
Rosa grumbled at Hugh who simply put her down, and was about to say something, until something caught her eye.
"Huh?" Rosa asked.
"Hm?" Hugh asked as Rosa was staring at something. "What's wrong?"
Rosa squinted her eyes at something, where Hugh faced the same direction. To his surprise, he saw Nate, who was accompanying a girl, who was carrying a teddiursa.
"What the...? Is that Nate?" Hugh asked.
"More importantly, who's that he's with?" Rosa asked. "I-Is he with a girl?!"
"Well I'll be," Hugh said. "Never expected Nate to actually take interest in a girl."
"We're going after him," Rosa suddenly declared.
"For once I agree with you," Hugh said. "This is too interesting not to pass up."
The two of them quickly recalled their starters as they followed Nate and the girl.
Nate and Yancy walked through another part of the complex, venturing into a darker path of grass.
"Uh..." Yancy mumbled. "Where are we going?"
"We're going to find you a Pokémon to capture," Nate said matter-of-factly. "The best way to teach someone is with a demonstration, after all."
"I see..." Yancy replied.
"Preferably something easy though..." Nate said. "Any type preference?"
"I-I like Normal-types...if that's okay..." Yancy replied.
"Normal-types, eh?" Nate mumbled. "So a patrat would be good...wait, there's gotta be something easier..."
As they looked around, a large patch of grass was shaking restlessly, catching the duo's attention.
"-Who's there!?-" Tep growled, getting ready to fight.
As Nate reached for his knife, the Pokémon revealed itself to be a bipedal, pink-and-cream Pokémon with oval, blue eyes, and a patterning on its fur that resembled a jacket.
"An audino..." Nate muttered.
"So cute..." Yancy gushed slightly at the audino as Nate scanned it.
"Audino, the hearing Pokémon," it read. "Using the feelers on its ears, it can tell how someone is feeling or when an egg might hatch."
"So I guess you want this one, eh?" Nate asked Yancy, who nodded. "Alright then, get your teddiursa ready for battle."
"R-Right," Yancy said as she set her teddiursa on the ground. "Alright, Teddi, get ready."
"-Okay!-" Teddi replied as he got ready to fight.
"Alright then," Nate said. "Now, pay attention to your opponent's actions, and weaken it to a point where it can't resist the capture–?!"
Nate suddenly glanced up to the right, where he took out his knife, grabbed Yancy, and slashed at a stray electric shock headed for Yancy's direction.
"H-Huh?!" Yancy blurted, her cheeks somewhat red.
"Looks like we have a party-crasher," Nate growled as he glanced up.
Sitting on top of a distillation tower was a yellow, round-bodied Pokémon with black stripes; its head having two horns that resemble the prongs of a plyg, complete with holes in their sides.
"An elekid?" Nate muttered as he scanned the Pokémon.
"Elekid, the electric Pokémon," it read. "Spinning its arms around to generate electricity makes the area between its horns shine light blue."
"-You're that trainer with the tepig who's been going around fighting the other mons in the complex, eh?-" the elekid asked.
"Oh? And if we were?" Nate asked Elekid.
"-Haha! You can actually understand us Pokémon!-" Elekid laughed. "-How interesting!-"
The elekid pointed one of his claws at Nate and Tep, before wagging it in a taunting manner.
"-Fight me,-" Elekid said. "-I want to see if you two are as strong as the mons in the complex keep saying you are.-"
"-Who the hell do you think you are?!-" Tep growled back. "-If you wanna fight Boss, then you're gonna have to take me down first!-"
"-Heh! Fine by me,-" Elekid smirked as he lifted his arm, where a pale blue aura surrounded it. "-I'm really itching to see what you two are made of.-"
Elekid jumped off the tower and plummeted towards them. Nate grabbed Yancy and jumped out of the way, as Elekid slammed his arm at the ground, freezing the grassland around him.
"This one knows Ice Punch..." Nate mused as he saw the ice encase the ground around Elekid. "Interesting..."
Yancy glanced at Nate, shaking in slight fear as she witnessed Nate sport a murderous grin and feral eyes.
"You're on..." Nate said in a predacious tone. "If I'm gonna catch something to add to my team, then you'll definitely fit the role."
Tep snorted flames in aggression as he faced the Elekid, who grinned and lunged for Tep with ice punches ready. Elekid then proceeded to jab at Tep rapidly with Ice Punches, where Tep avoided them barely.
"-C'mon, c'mon!-" Elekid roared. "-Pikc up the pace, will ya'?!-"
Elekid let loose a nasty left hook, socking Tep in the cheek and sending him flying back.
"You alright?!" Nat asked as Tep got back on his feet.
"-I can still fight, Boss!-" Tep shouted.
"Alright then...Ember!" Nate quickly commanded as he confirmed Tep's status.
Tep shot a stream of embers at Elekid, who quickly spun his arms around and shot a jolt of electricity at the incoming embers, erasing it.
"Not bad..." Nate muttered.
"Are you alright?" Yancy asked Nate.
"Yeah," Nate replied. "More importantly, focus on your battle."
Yancy glanced back, as Audino rammed into Teddi, sending the small bear back.
"Ah–Teddi!" Yancy cried.
"See? What did I tell you?" Nate asked. "Focus on the battle!"
"S-Sorry!" Yancy said. "Teddi, use Slash!"
Teddi got back up, rushed at Audino and slashed at it, sending the hearing Pokémon back. While Teddi was battling the audino, Tep rammed at Elekid, who blocked the tackle with his arms and pushed Tep back. Elekid then rushed for Tep and swiped his leg across Tep, making the pig trip. As Tep fell, Elekid granned Tep with one claw, while spinning his other arm rapidly, producing several electric currents that shocked Tep.
"-AAAAGH!-" Tep screamed in pain.
"Ah, your tepig!" Yancy exclaimed.
"I know!" Nate reprimanded. "I know you can handle that much! Flame Charge!"
Tep glared at Elekid, before cloaking himself with fire while withstanding the electricity, burning Elekid.
"-GAH!-" the Electric-type screamed in pain, forcing him to let go and stop the attack to tend to his burned arm.
Meanwhile, Tep was having trouble moving, paralyzed from the current of electricity.
"Shrug it off! Rock Smash!" Nate yelled.
Doing his best to ignore the paralysis, Tep rushed at Elekid and slammed his tail at his head, right between the prongs on his head. Elekid groaned in pain as he tried to recover from it, before lunging for Tep madly with an Ice Punch.
"Charge through!" Nate yelled.
Tep nodded as he charged at Elekid, ducking underneath the Ice Punch and slamming into Elekid's gut. As Elekid fell, Nate took out a pokéball and hurled it at Elekid, smacking him in the gut again while the device opened up and sucked Elekid in with a red beam. The ball dropped and shook three times, before it flashed, signaling its capture.
"And that's that," Nate said.
"You caught Elekid!" Yancy rejoiced.
"Yeah, and you still need to capture Audino," Nate said.
"R-Right," Yancy said. "Teddi, are you alright?"
Teddi nodded in response as he jumped back, avoiding a slap from Audino.
"C'mon, we can do this!" Yancy cheered. "Close Combat!"
"...Heh?" Nate asked, as Teddi's eyes suddenly glinted as he rushed at the audino and furiously slapped the hearing Pokémon into a pulp before slapping it away.
"Now! Throw a pokéball at it while it's down!" Nate exclaimed, snapping out of his initial shock.
"R-Right!" Yancy stuttered, taking out a pokéball. "Go!"
Yancy threw the pokéball at the audino, where it hit the audino on the head and dragged it in. The ball dropped, shook three times, and flashed, indicating that the audino was captured.
"I-I did it!" Yancy exclaimed.
"Not bad," Nate said. "Didn't expect the teddy bear to know Close Combat though..."
"Yeah...a lot of people don't expect it either," Yancy admitted.
"Well, there you go," Nate said. "You caught your audino. Happy?"
"Yes," Yancy said. "Thank you for helping me."
"I didn't really do much other than getting you to face it," Nate shrugged. "You did most of the work while I fought something else."
"But I still couldn't have done this without your help...and you even defended me from that elekid's attack," Yancy smiled. "So thank you."
Nate glanced at Yancy, who was smiling sincerely at him. Seeing someone showing sincere gratitude like this; someone so innocent. He was certainly not used to this kind of gratitude. At least not from a human at least.
"...Whatever..." Nate muttered, scratching the back of his head.
"Um...if you don't mind..." Yancy said. "You seemed like you were talking to that elekid. Can you understand them?"
"Ah? Yeah," Nate replied offhandedly.
"Really?" Yancy asked, fascinated. "That's really cool!"
...Strange. Normally people would be weary of that fact; considering that the only two other people who were historically recorded to share his ability were terrorists and 'heroes' alike. It was an unnatural ability. People should be off-put; unnerved by that.
"I-I guess..." Nate muttered, not knowing how else to respond.
"-Of course he's cool!-" Tep snorted. "-That's the Boss for ya!-"
"She can't hear you," Nate muttered to Tep.
"Y'know, you're a lot nicer than you look," Yancy commented.
"Huh? What makes you say that?" Nate asked.
"I mean, you saved me from those two harassers," Yancy explained. "And you even helped me catch a Pokémon. You do look pretty shady and intimidating...but you're still pretty nice."
Nate leered at Yancy. Something about that statement irked him.
Him? Being nice to humans?
While there were certainly a few exceptions in this world, he being nice to them was something he found unthinkable. Especially after all the shit he's been through and seen.
"Look, the only reason why I decided to help you out there was because I found you pathetic back there...it was irritating to watch..." Nate said bluntly. "It wasn't because I wanted to play the nice guy or anything."
Yancy looked a little shocked and discouraged at Nate's confession and sudden cold tone as the boy glanced away. Despite this, however, she didn't stay down.
"Even if that's true," Yancy insisted. "You still helped me out, and you did a pretty good job at playing the nice guy, even if you detest it."
Nate glanced at Yancy, surprised that she actually defended her opinion on him. She actually thinks that he's...nice...
...This wasn't right. People were supposed to treat him like trash; manipulate him; hate him. Not like him and thank him like what she was doing, or think that he was nice.
"This was my first captured Pokémon..." Yancy said, placing Audino's pokéball to her chest. "She's the symbol of our meeting, and our time here. I'll treasure her no matter what."
...This DEFINITELY wasn't right. He literally told her that she was pathetic to him, and irritating. He has an ability that was branded as 'unnatural'; an ability that branded him as something akin to a freak of nature. She should at least have some feeling of contempt towards him. And yet...nothing. He couldn't see anything like that from her and her innocent smile.
This girl was naïve. Innocent, quick to believe anyone that showed her a decent level of kindness, and gullible to accept anything, and unsuspecting of it. He could've been a swindler who did all of this just to sway her, take something important from her, whether it be money, valuables, her Pokémon, or her virginity for that matter, if you wanted to go that far.
Not that he would actually go that far...even if she was admittedly 'cute'. It was just a possibility. A naïve girl like her, with a boy as shady as him. Surely people would assume that should they see them together at the moment. Or assume that they were a couple. They would surely think that before he makes them go through a horrendous fate for even assuming something like that.
...She was different. She was unlike the several hundred; thousands of humans that treated him like dirt or a freak. And that got on his nerves.
But not as much as the two eavesdroppers.
"So, care to get out from those bushes, you two pieces of shit?" Nate snarled at a bush away from them.
The bush shook, before Rosa and Hugh slowly emerged from it.
"H-How did you know...?" Rosa asked.
"Please, I could tell that you two were there from a mile away," Nate scoffed.
"More importantly, who's this?" Rosa asked, pointing to the girl.
"And why the hell do you care all of a sudden?" Nate asked.
"Well, I mean you're with a girl," Rosa said. "...That's kind of a thing we never expect from you. So who is she? You didn't deceive her, did you?"
"He did not deceive me!" Yancy suddenly yelled at Rosa. "He saved me from sexual harassment and helped me catch a Pokémon!"
Rosa and Hugh glanced at Nate curiously for an answer.
"Long story," Nate muttered.
"Well, regardless," Hugh said. "We still found it surprising that you were with a girl, and curiosity got the better of is."
"Well at least you're honest," Nate said.
"YANCY!"
Everyone looked around, until they saw a girl with white hair and a purple dress rushing up to them.
"Roxie?" Yancy asked.
"You're friends with the city's gym leader?" Hugh asked.
"Yeah," Yancy said.
"There you are!" Roxie sighed. "You had me worried, y'know. You disappeared when I was dealing with my dad."
"Oh right...sorry..." Yancy said uneasily. "But I wanted to visit the complex before I left, and you seemed to be in a bad mood."
"Oh...Sorry..." Roxie said uneasily as well, rubbing the back of her head. "It's just that my idiot dad ran off to the studios and leaving his duties as captain. He's causing a lot of trouble, y'know?"
"I see," Yancy said.
Roxie then took notice to the trio, before glancing back at Yancy.
"And who're these three?" Roxie asked her.
"Oh, this is Nate," Yancy introduced the boy to her. "And these are his friends, Hugh and...Rosa."
Roxie glanced to the three.
"Hm..." Roxie muttered, examining the three. "I see...so you're the three noobs from Aspertia...well two noobs and a maverick."
"Who're you calling a 'noob'!?" Rosa yelled.
"And how do you know us...?" Hugh asked.
"Cheren told me about you three," Roxie explained. "Two rookie trainers...and an irregular trainer working to complete the pokédex. He said you three would show up to Virbank soon."
"Well there goes the element of surprise," Nate muttered.
"So? You three planning on challenging the Virbank Gym?" Roxie asked.
"Of course!" Rosa proclaimed.
"That's what we came here for," Hugh said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa there," Nate interjected. "Whoever said I wanted to take part in gym battles?"
"Huh?" Roxie asked. "Well you did beat Cheren, right? And at Challenge Mode at that."
"Yeah, but first of all, I only fought Cowlick so that he wouldn't call the cops on me," Nate said. "And second of all, I don't even care about the gym battles anyways."
"-Wait, but Boss!-" Tep argued. "-I wanna partake in a Gym Battle!-"
"Heh?" Nate asked, looking down to Tep. "You wanna fight?"
"-Of course, Boss!-" Tep exclaimed. "-I wanna prove myself in battle, and what's a better opportunity than a gym battle?-"
"I guess..." Nate muttered. "But I really don't have any obligations to continue this shit, and there're other ways to get stronger..."
"Uh..." Yancy made herself known to them.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Nate asked.
"I...kinda want to watch your gym battle too..." Yancy said timidly.
Nate looked slightly surprised at Yancy's request, as the pink-haired girl hid her expression under her hat again.
"What's the matter, scared?" Rosa asked smugly.
"No he's not!" Yancy suddenly yelled at Rosa, before cowering back under her hat. "S-Sorry..."
"...Weird..." Nate muttered, before Hugh got his attention.
"C'mon, it wouldn't hurt," Hugh reasoned. "Besides, while you are right in that there are other ways to get stronger besides partaking in gym battles; that can also mean that a gym battle would be much more effective than other means."
Nate looked slightly conflicted. The spikehead did have a point. Battling a trainer with a high amount of skill, such as gym leaders, would certainly improve his overall skills and his team's skills much more efficiently than compared to sparring against wild Pokémon. The higher the rank, the more likely that they would push him; more specifically Luca; to her limits.
"...Tch fine," Nate muttered, giving in.
"Good," Roxie said. "Why don't you guys visit my gym tonight? Use the time to prepare beforehand."
"Fair enough," Hugh said. "We should at least head to the pokécenter and heal up everyone."
With everyone in agreement, they all headed back to the pokécenter to heal up those who got wounded in their own runs. As Nate blankly headed back, Rosa got besides him, close enough for whispering levels.
"Being serious though, who is this girl?" Rosa asked Nate.
"Beats me," Nate whispered back. "I just found her getting harassed by a bunch of construction workers and scared them off."
"Hmph...Typical men," Rosa grumbled. "Greedy pigs, the lot of them."
"Hey, I'm right here," Nate said.
"You're greedy in the sense that you want free food and money," Rosa shot back.
"Point taken," Nate shrugged. "What about Hugh though?"
"Oh he's greedy for something, alright," Rosa muttered.
"And that would be?" Nate asked, earning silence. "Seriously, what the hell's his problem? Sure he acts civil most of the time, but whenever Plasma gets introduced into the mix, he loses a gasket and completely goes berserk. We're stuck travelling together for a while, so might as well let me in on his problem. Even a little hint."
Rosa had a rather difficult look on her face, before sighing.
"I'll tell you later," Rosa muttered.
Nate eyed Rosa, before eyeing Hugh and staring at him. He failed to notice that Yancy was beside him, so when he glanced besides him, he got startled.
"Gah!? What the–?!" Nate blurted. "Uh, can I help you?"
"I-I'm looking forward to see your battle," Yancy mumbled. "G-Good luck."
"Uh..." Nate said, somewhat uneasily. "Okay..."
"C'mon, Yancy!" Roxie called out.
"Ah! Coming!" Yancy called back. "I'll see you tonight, Nate."
"Sure," Nate said.
Yancy smiled at him, before rushing over to Roxie, as the two headed back to where he would assume to be the direction to the gym.
"Seriously, what did you do to her?" Rosa asked.
"I did nothing," Nate grumbled. "Jesus Christ, woman, you're acting like I conned her or something."
"Considering that you're a thief, I still have my suspicions," Rosa muttered.
"Well at least you're honest," Nate rolled his eyes.
"C'mon, you two! Hurry up!" Hugh called out.
"Hold on!" Rosa yelled. "C'mon."
Nate shrugged as Rosa went ahead. The boy followed after her, until he noticed something on the ground.
"The hell?" Nate murmured as he picked it up.
It appeared to be an Xtransceiver. A really old model from what he could tell. Nate was never really good with technology. Hell, he spent an all-nighter learning how to use an Xtransceiver and the pokédex at Cowlick's place.
What was something like this doing here? Perhaps someone dropped it? It looked pretty old, so he doubted that it would sell for much.
"Nate!" Rosa called out.
Nate looked up, before shoving the old Xtransceiver in his bag and followed Rosa.
Once they reached the pokécenter, the trio healed up their Pokémon, before gathering up at the lobby.
"So what did you two get?" Nate asked.
"Curious, are we?" Rosa smirked.
"Hopefully you two actually took my advice and caught a Fire-type," Nate said.
The two took out their pokéball and released their new captures; Growlithe for Rosa, and Magby for Hugh.
"Meet my new addition, Nina!" Rosa said proudly.
"Nina...?" Nate asked.
"Y'know, since she evolves into an arcanine..." Rosa said.
"Oh, I get it," Nate said. "...Well at least you tried."
Growlithe, or Nina, alongside Magby, looked towards the new boy, as he took out a pokéball and released a rather aggressive-looking elekid.
"Did I give you a nickname yet?" Nate asked Elekid.
"-Nope,-" Elekid shook his head.
"Alright then..." Nate mumbled. "...Alright, 'Kid' it is."
"-Really?-" Elekid, or 'Kid', asked incredulously. "-That's the best you can come up with?-"
"Hey it's simple," Nate retorted. "Don't ask me for creative nicknames. I prefer short, simple, and to the point. Don't worry, I'll change it once you evolve."
"-Fair enough,-" Kid shrugged.
"You caught an elekid?" Hugh asked.
"-You can talk to Pokémon?-" Magby asked Nate.
"Yes, and yes," Nate answered them. "Hm...A magby huh...that's a pretty good choice, considering your playstyle."
"-Keh, these guys don't look so tough,-" Kid scoffed.
"-Oh yeah!?-" Magby growled. "-Why don't we show you otherwise!?-"
Kid suddenly thrusted his fist at Magby, inches away from hitting his mouth, where an icy aura began to cover his fist.
"-I'm game,-" Kid smirked.
"Your elekid knows Ice Punch?!" Rosa gasped.
"Yeah, you can see why I caught him," Nate smirked as he took out his remaining pokéballs and released Tep and Luca. "Kid, you know Tep. Meet Luca. She's your boss whenever I have to do something else."
Kid eyed Luca critically, before nodding. He could sense the power within Luca. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance fighting her as he is now.
"-Nice to meet you, lady,-" Kid said.
"-Likewise,-" Luca greeted Kid. "-Hopefully we can get along. Nate's such a hassle to deal with, so I'm glad I have another hand to help.-"
"What're you, my mom?" Nate asked irritably.
"-Might as well be, considering how many times you throw yourself into a stupid and/or dangerous situation,-" Luca sighed.
"Shaddup," Nate grumbled.
"-Wow, you can speak to us?-" Nina asked Nate.
"Yes," Nate said. "Now then, why don't you go talk to the otter that I'm pretty sure beat you up."
"You don't have to say it like that," Rosa muttered as she released Eve and Ottavia.
"-Hi there, friend!-" Eve barked to Nina. "-I'm Eve! Nice to meet you!-"
"-Hi there!-" Nina barked to Eve. "-I'm Nina! Likewise!-"
"-Uh...hi...-" Ottavia said timidly. "-Sorry for beating you up there...-"
"-Ah, it's alright,-" Nina said. "-You were pretty good out there!-"
"-Th-thanks,-" Ottavia mumbled.
Meanwhile, Hugh released Vibrava and Snivy to join up with Magby.
"-So you're a new member, huh,-" Vibrava said. "-Well, nice to meet you.-"
"-Likewise,-" Magby greeted Vibrava, before turning to Snivy. "-You were pretty good out there. But don't think that makes you better than me! I'll beat you for sure!-"
Snivy glanced at Magby, and nodded in response, grinning at the Fire-type.
"Alright then, it's almost time to head to the gym," Nate muttered. "Might as well go."
"Hey, what about something to eat?" Rosa asked.
"Huh?" Nate asked.
"I mean, you can't fight with an empty stomach," Rosa said.
As if on cue, Nate's stomach growled.
"Ah..." Nate muttered, his face flushing in red with embarrassment, which led to the others snickering and chuckling at his expense. "Shut the hell up. Fine we'll eat and then go to the gym."
After the group had something to eat at the café and decided on who had to pay (via rock-paper-scissors), Rosa begrudgingly paid for the meals with the grace of a sore loser, before they all headed for the gym.
"If the map's right, then it should be here..." Rosa said, "But..."
The trio was in front of a small, unsuspecting and rather dirty-looking building, supposedly the city's gym. The only thing that's indicating that it's the gym is the Unova's Pokémon League sign adorned on the building.
"Is this really the gym?" Hugh asked.
"I guess..." Rosa muttered.
Nate stared at the door, before opening it. There was a staircase that led way down into the underground. Seeing no other option, they went down the stairs, where they were met with two steel doors, with Yancy sitting behind a desk.
"Ah, Nate!" the girl happily said.
"Oh, it's you," Nate said. "Uh...Yancy, right?"
"Uh huh," Yancy said. "So you three are here to challenge Roxie?"
"That's the plan," Hugh said.
Behind the metal doors, faint music could be heard.
"So what's the challenge, anyways?" Rosa asked. "I mean, usually the gyms have some kind of gimmick."
"Well, yes, Roxie's gym does have a gimmick," Yancy said. "Although...I suggest you cover your ears."
"Huh?" the three asked.
Covering her ears, she gestured one of them to open the doors. Confused, Nate volunteered and pried the steel doors open.
"D-O-G-A-R-S DOGARS!"
Violent levels of music blasted through the doors, and pierced their ears.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH WHAT THE FUCK!?" Nate screamed as he held his ears in pain.
They looked to see Roxie, rocking it out on her guitar with her band, blasting the music throughout the gym. She was so focused on playing her music that she failed to notice the group come in, or the fact that they're in excruciating pain.
"Yeah...she tends to not know the term 'volume control'," Yancy groaned.
"What're we supposed to do!?" Rosa yelled.
"Get her to stop playing!" Yancy yelled back.
"I wouldn't really call that a 'gimmick'..." Hugh grumbled. "How do we even stop her?"
Nate looked around, until he found a steel rod. He proceeded to pick up said rod, and slam it on a table, breaking it in half while making a very loud sound from it; loud enough to catch Roxie's attention.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell?!" Roxie yelled as she and her band stopped.
"Finally you stop playing," Nate sighed. "Oh God, I think my ears are bleeding."
"That's an overstatement," Hugh said.
Roxie got down from her podium and recognized the group.
"Oh, it's you guys," Roxie said. "You here for the challenge?"
"Yes," Rosa said. "Challenge Mod please!"
"You're way over your head on this one..." Hugh sighed. "What are the rules?"
"Hm...Well since there's three of you...and I still have to get my moronic dad from Pokéstar Studios," Roxie mumbled. "How about this? A three v three. But you all take turns fighting me only using one mon, while I can use three; one for each of you. If your side manages to score two wins, then you all win and get a badge. Deal?"
"Sounds fair," Nate muttered.
"Great," Roxie said. "So? Who's going first?"
"Me!" Rosa yelled enthusiastically.
"Alright Bunhead," Roxie said, earning her the ire of Rosa from that irritable nickname. "Get on the other side of the field."
Rosa looked around, and noticed the chalk lining of a battle filed on the large floor, and got to one side, while Roxie got to the other.
"One Pokémon, huh," Rosa said, before taking out a pokéball. "This outta be good. Ottavia!"
Rosa released Ottavia, who landed on the field. Smirking, Roxie threw a pokéball, where from it came out a floating spherical Pokémon with vacant eyes, a wide mouth, and a cream-colored skull-and-crossbones marking on it.
"Koffing, the poison gas Pokémon," Rosa's pokédex told her as she scanned it. "Toxic gas is held within its thin, balloon-shaped body, so it can cause massive explosions."
"Alright, this is a gym battle, Ottavia!" Rosa called out. "Give it all you've got!"
Ottavia nervously nodded as she braced herself.
"Get ready!" Roxie roared. "I'm gonna knock some sense outta ya!"
To be continued
AN: And that outta be a good place to stop. Next chapter is obviously gonna be their gym battle with Roxie. For this chapter, it was basically the Virbank Complex; the biggest change being that I introduced Yancy MUCH earlier than she should appear in-game. Does that mean a certain side-quest is null and void? Not exactly...
And here's some interaction with Nate and Yancy (how's that Transceivershippers?) and some insight on why I kept Hugh's Snivy a mute this entire time while virtually every other Pokemon said something. And Rosa catches herself a growlithe, Hugh a magby, and Nate an elekid.
And with that, I can finally update this thing:
Current Team Roster:
Nate: Luca (Lucario) / Tep (Tepig) / Kid (Elekid)
Rosa: Eve (Eevee) / Ottavia (Oshawott) / Nina (Growlithe)
Hugh: Vibrava / Snivy / Magby
Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the chapter, tell me what you think of this new change in plot, and as always, look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time!