Bony Battles
By: Kat of Pokemon: The Hokubu & Nanka Trek
"I hate this route," Medira panted as she trudged along behind everyone else, including the camera men.
The team was heading northeast on Route 56. Route 56 was one of the longest trails in Nanka, and it wasn't too pleasant either. There was either sun or darkness, no in between. You were either out in the open or in a forest, nothing like shade. Eevy was regretting taking this route. She would have taken the bus, had they not missed it thanks to Mizu and Sooney shopping all afternoon.
"Look," Sooney pointed a finger, "It's Magnolia Town. We're almost there."
"Good," Yuu-Yuu moaned, "Too bad it's already so late."
Mizu reached the entrance gate and toppled over, "Go, Kingler."
"Kookie kookie!" the Kingler opened and closed his pincers with noises like the sound of sheering metal.
"Cool Kingler," Sooney admitted.
"Kingler! Use your Bubble attack!"
Mizu paid the stinging of the bubbles no mind as her Kingler sprayed her. She stopped him and swung her head back and forth, sending spritzes of water everywhere.
"Hey!" Eevy shouted, speaking for the first time all day, "Watch it!"
"Look!" Medira pointed to Eevy, "It speaks!"
"Hey, shut up," Eevy tromped in the gate and headed for the Pokemon Center.
"Woo," Medira said, "Now there's a reaction for you."
Eevy walked in the door of the Center and slopped down into a chair, "It's so good to sit."
"You're telling me," Medira slouched down next to her, "These boots are murder."
"That was the most treacherous walk we'll ever have," Sooney said as she fell to the floor to sit.
"No. Not even close," Eevy leaned her head back on the wall.
"Excuse me?" Yuu-Yuu's eyes widened in alarm, "What do you mean?"
"The Moss Bogs are so much more difficult than 56."
"You seem to know a lot about Hokubu," Medira said as she stared at her.
"I do. Living so close to Hokubu gives you lots of time to study."
"How close is Rose to the border?" Yuu-Yuu asked, "I know Lily is about a mile from the break."
"There's a stretch of Moss Bog connecting Rose to Cutter Town. It's considered Route 64 and 65, though I'd call it more of a death trap than anything. Pokemon get caught in that slime all the time. Most of them…never get out."
"That's really sad. Isn't there a bridge or something?" Sooney asked.
"There was, but the Muk and Grimer there destroyed it. It's over flowing with the perfect sludge for Muk, Grimer, Slugma and Magcargo to thrive. It really is a threat to both human and Pokemon health, but there's nothing anyone can do."
"We're going to have to take that route sooner or later, aren't we?" Mizu asked.
"You don't. But I do. You don't have to go when the time comes, and you probably won't want to."
"Ah, what's a little mud and goo if it means seeing Taylor bite the dust?" Medira joked, "As long as I don't have to go in the stuff, I'm fine."
"Well, I just burst your bubble for crossing then."
"Gross."
"Well, there's nothing more we can do here in town," Eevy took her Poke'Balls from the Nurse, "Should we head out?"
"After all that walking?!" Sooney shouted, "Are you nuts?! I can't walk any more today!"
"What a wimp. Well, I'm going. There's no reason to stay here," Mizu grabbed her bag.
"Same here," Eevy grabbed her pack and Poke'Ball chain.
"I'm with them," Medira hooked her Poke'Balls to her belt.
"You're leaving us here?" Yuu-Yuu shrieked, "No fair!"
"You want a day of rest, take it alone," Eevy walked out with Mizu and Medira behind her.
Yuu-Yuu and Sooney jumped up and ran after them. The group walked for about ten minutes before hitting the opposite side of town. Eevy took off toward the sign on the side of the road. She read over it and suddenly flailed for her map. She looked back and forth from the city to the sign to the route to the map. Medira looked over her shoulder and also began the same pattern. The duo leaned from left to right from front to back.
"That's freaky," Medira mused.
"You bet."
"What's so incredibly weird?" Mizu asked.
"This sign. It says we're on Route 58."
"So?" Yuu-Yuu asked.
"Where'd Route 57 go? We came into town on Route 56 and are leaving on 58. But where'd 57 go?" Eevy asked.
"Maybe the sign's misprinted," Sooney said hopefully.
"No. The map says the same thing. And 57 isn't even listed on here," Medira looked over the map, "That's really bizarre."
"You really don't want to go down Route 57," JP said quickly as he bolted up behind them, "Trust me."
"And why is that?" Mizu scowled, "And what are you doing here? You're supposed to keep away from here."
"No," Eevy said, "It's fine. We're all cool again."
"That's what I figured. Now, why don't we want to be on Route 57?"
"It's overrun with really malevolent Pokemon and covered in brush. It leads into the middle of nowhere anyway."
"And malevolent means…?" Yuu-Yuu questioned.
Sooney leaned to her ear, "Nasty and mean, you moron!"
"I'm no moron! I bet there are a bunch of great Pokemon down there! Maybe even a Cubone!" her eyes burned with hearts, "I love Cubone! I'm going! Where is it?"
"I'm not telling," JP scowled, "Forget it!"
"Too late. The old sign is still here, just covered in weeds," Mizu pulled away a vine, "Let's go, Yuu-Yuu!"
Mizu, Yuu-Yuu and Sooney took off up the route. Medira and Eevy almost fell over.
"They could get hurt!" Eevy started to go, but JP stopped her.
"I wouldn't. I really wouldn't," he said, holding her wrist.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" she scowled at him, "Let them get hurt?"
"They'll be fine. After a little walking they'll come flying back out."
"Let go of her, JP," Phantom snapped, walking up from nowhere, "Let her go. She can handle it."
"No way! I'm not letting her go up there and get hurt!"
Eevy was getting mad, really mad, "Want to play rough, huh?"
Without any warning, Eevy spiraled, moving herself up his arm. With a quick jab in the stomach, she pushed him back and forced him to let go. She made a nasty face at him sitting on the ground and bolted for the path. She was snapped back with more force than even she could use and held firm around the wrist.
"Don't think so," Dragon commented, pulling her back.
"Hey! You let go!" she pulled as hard as she could.
She wasn't strong enough to flip him, no way! She couldn't weasel her hand away and wouldn't even cause a dent if she kicked him. She got a sneaky idea and decided to try her luck. She stopped pulling and waited for his arm to relax. With one quick and heavy thrust, she yanked her wrist from his hand and took off up the uphill route.
"Hey! That was cheap!" he ran up after her, but she was a lot faster.
Medira slouched down and looked over as JP brushed himself off, "That was easy for her."
"Ha, ha, ha," JP snorted, pulling grass from his shirt, "Don't we have a sense of humor."
When she didn't answer him, he looked up and all around to see where she was, "You coming?" she shouted from the path.
"Hey! Don't go up there!" he took off after her, "Come on, Phantom!"
"I'll stay here thank you," Phantom sat down, "Incase someone comes out without their traveling buddy."
*^~^**^~^*
Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu had gotten detoured from their path. Eevy and Dragon were on another hidden path off Route 57. Jason and Medira were still on the path, but going really slow.
"This is not good," Sooney said, "We're completely lost."
Eevy slipped on a rock and fell flat on her face, "Ouchy," she mumbled as she stood up.
"Shit!" Medira slipped again because of her heels, not bothering with minding her speech, "This is like a maze!"
"Crud!" Dragon called as he fell over flat on his back, "This was a really stupid idea."
"Ah man!" JP went sliding down the hill ever so slightly, "This is nuts!"
"It's really late," Yuu-Yuu whispered, "There'll be all sorts of malevolent Pokemon out now," she'd decided malevolent was her vocabulary word for the day.
"How did we get into this?" Mizu asked worriedly, "And more importantly, how do we get out again?"
*^~^**^~^*
Medira caught her foot in a Diglett hole and fell flat out on the ground at the same time that Eevy slipped on another loose stone. Both came close to twisting their ankles and had a horrible time standing up. Neither could see where Dragon or JP was and both were getting worried. Eevy was the first to find Dragon when he accidentally tripped and landed at her feet. Medira happened upon JP holding a gash on his arm about ten minutes later. Mizu, Yuu-Yuu and Sooney stopped in a really small clearing for the night, as they had no clue where they were. Eevy's ankle made it too hard to walk, and she and Dragon stopped. Medira pushed for about another fifteen minutes before she too had to stop. Poor Will sat at the bottom of the path, fidgeting nervously. Eevy moved her foot every now and then to test it, as she was up and out of there when she could walk again, whether in the pitch black or blinding light. Medira kept hitting her head on a tree for getting into this in the first place. Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu leaned up against each other so each was facing a different direction, just incase. Dragon pulled his coat and cloak tighter as temperature dropped. JP rubbed his arm and tried desperately to ignore the pain.
Dragon heard Eevy shiver, "You're cold."
"Yeah, I'll survive."
JP heard a similar noise, "You alright?"
"Peachy keen."
"You'll get sick," JP said.
"I'll live through it. I've been through worse," Medira shook.
"What are you doing?" Dragon asked as he looked around the tree at Eevy.
"Trying not to freeze," Eevy mumbled as she continued stomping her foot to keep her blood moving.
"I wish I was at the Pokemon Center," Yuu-Yuu grumbled.
"This was your idea in the first place," Sooney snapped, "I'm never listening to you again."
"Hey," Mizu commented, "You're the one that followed us. Nobody told you to."
Eevy pulled her knees up to her chin, "I'm getting sick. I can t-t-" she sneezed right in the middle of her sentence, "…tell."
"She'll catch a cold if she stays cold much longer," Lance mused silently.
Being extremely careful not to let his hood fall back, Lance maneuvered his coat off, leaving him in his black T-shirt and hooded cape. At the same time, Jason was doing the exact same thing. After removing the pin, Lance reached around the tree he was leaning on and pushed Eevy's shoulder.
"What?" she asked.
"Take this. You'll freeze," he dropped the coat next to her.
Jason reached around and did the same, "Here."
He heard the bubble of gum Medira had been blowing pop, "Huh?"
"What about you?" Eevy asked.
"You think this cape thing is cold?" Dragon asked, "I was actually sweating."
Whether he was sweating because he was hot, because of the predicament they were in, or because she was so near yet so far, he wasn't sure. She slowly drifted off, and he drooped more and more each minute until he too was out. Medira spit her gum off to the side and settled to sleep and Jason moved to a position where his arm wasn't in too immense of pain and slowly fell asleep. Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu each fell asleep within minutes of each other. Will, still sitting by the sign, dozed off a little after that, no matter how hard he fought not to.
*^~^**^~^*
Yuu-Yuu, Mizu and Sooney awoke first. All three stood up and brushed off. It was about 5:30 a.m. they guessed. They looked around in the misty morning air, trying to spot the path with no luck. As Mizu went to step forward for a different view, she heard a bush shuffle behind her. She whirled and was forced to duck a flying Cubone Bone. She stayed down long enough for it to boomerang back and stood up. When a whole group of them came flying from every which direction, the trio took off in the direction where the least had come from.
Lance was the next to awaken, spotting Eevy on her side with his coat over her. He looked up at the sun and judged it to be about 5:45 give or take a few minutes. She stretched and sat up, pulling a leaf from her hair. It was still freezing cold, so he left the coat to her for the time being. As they stood up, a Cubone Bone whipped out just to the left of Eevy's face. It arced back just to her right. She stepped back with her mouth hanging open. More flew from the bushes around them as Dragon jumped and pushed her down. The two of them jumped up and ran in the opposite direction, hopping lines of bushes and swerving around trees.
Medira woke up next and checked the sun's position, choosing to say it was about 6:00. She stood up and brushed off, noticing JP still sleeping behind the tree. She then realized she still boasted his coat. She dropped it over his head, sending him into a frenzy to see what had covered him. As she laughed and he stood up, a white object flew out in front of them, twirling back in the direction it came. As another flew from the other direction, JP pushed Medira around the tree. They heard a thud crack as the Cubone Bone imbedded itself into the reverse side of the tree. They ran to the side as a few more whirled around the trees.
Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu ran to the east, Eevy and Dragon to the west and Medira and JP to the northeast. All three groups broke out of the woods and into a clearing which wasn't so clear at all. It was filled, literally filled, with bones. Most looked to be Donphan and Phanpy bones, but some were so eroded they were unidentifiable. Eevy looked as if to be sick and Dragon struggled to breathe. Medira let her mouth hang open, shaking her head as JP stared around vacuously. Yuu-Yuu thought she fell over and Sooney held onto a tree to keep just that from happening to her. Mizu just blinked without moving and hardly breathing. Eevy took a step forward, but Dragon grabbed her wrist. When she turned to shout at him, he put a finger to his mouth and pointed to the tallest pile of bones. Perched on top was a Marowak of immense proportions. It wasn't bigger than a normal Marowak, but looked a lot more muscular. By his side was a group of Cubone, one without his bone. Judging by the way they were conversing only with each other, they hadn't seen any of the humans standing around their field yet. The one missing his bone seemed to be the center of attention and was getting pushed around, obviously for not having his bone. As Eevy stepped back to Dragon, she cracked a twig. The Marowak's head shot up.
"Oh snit," Eevy said as she stood still, "He saw me."
"Marow! Marowak!" the Marowak swung his arm up and swung down his bone, pointing directly at Eevy.
"Run!" Mizu cried without thinking.
Dragon grabbed Eevy's hand, dragging her into the woods. Two of the Cubone took off after them, throwing their bones as fast as they could. Each time they threw them, they would arc back, making it twice as hard to avoid them. Dragon ducked one that whirled back toward Eevy who also ducked. That same bone spun back to the Cubone that threw it, cracking him in the head, knocking him unconscious. The other still didn't give up, and played a dirty trick. He threw it towards Eevy's knees, sending her flying down. Dragon followed, still holding her hand. The bone landed on the ground beside them, which caught Eevy's attention. She reached out and grabbed it. Standing up, she held the bone high above her head.
"Get any closer," she threatened, bringing it down and holding it in both hands, "and I'll snap it in two!"
The Cubone stopped dead in his tracks, falling to his knees and pleading, "Cubone! Bone, bone Cubone!"
"I hope they're alright!" Sooney shouted.
"Who cares about them?! What about us?!" Mizu ran as fast as she could from the two Cubone following them.
Medira ran screaming with JP swinging his arms rapidly beside her as three more followed them, "I'm glad my leg feels better!"
"No kidding!" JP shouted, "Keep going!"
Eevy and Dragon ran out into the clearing, "Quick!" Eevy called, "Get their bones!"
Mizu made a flying leap for a tree branch. Swinging back down as the Cubone following her passed. She snatched the bone right out of his hand.
"Thank you!" she laughed as she jumped down.
"Cubone bone!" it cried, jumping up her side to get at it, but he was too short.
Yuu-Yuu jumped behind a tree. After hearing thud crack and the angry and sad calls of a Cubone, she reached around and un-jammed the bone from the tree's bark. No matter how hard he tried, the Cubone couldn't get at it.
JP and Medira kept running as two more Cubone took off after Eevy and Dragon. Jason spotted a long vine and decided to mimic all those movies he'd seen, purely because he had an all-too-active imagination. He grabbed it and pulled it down to the ground. As the poor little Cubone passed, he caught his leg on the vine, falling face first to the ground. His bone popped into the air in front of JP, spiraling like a baton.
He reached out and snatched it from the air, "Practicing Baton Pass now?"
"Cubone," in mumbled into the dirt.
Medira got her own stroke of genius. Pulling out yet another piece of gum, she ran and chewed, trying desperately not to swallow.
"Now is no time to be blowing bubbles!" JP called to her.
Medira spit the gum to the ground. The poor little Cubone stepped right in it, taking another two steps before getting elasticized back onto his head. He jumped up and flailed, trying insanely to get away. Medira walked up and popped the bone from his hand.
"Sorry there, buddy," she said to him, "But that's what you get for attacking me."
"Bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone!" It kept crying as it tried to pull away from the sticky pink goo gluing him to the ground.
"Nice touch," JP nodded as he walked over, watching the Cubone flutter.
"Thank you," Medira winked, "I can do other things just as good."
"I'm sure," he cleared his throat as she walked away.
Eevy ran as fast as she could, but couldn't figure out any ways to get the bone from the Cubone following her. Dragon ran up beside her, pushing her back to get her running faster.
"Any more cute ideas?" he asked frantically.
"Not one!" she answered as they split to run around a tree, "These Cubone are too strong for my Pokemon and your Dragons wouldn't be able to maneuver well enough."
Eevy spotted two trees about three feet beside each other. A light bulb seemed to flash above her head. It would probably hurt her more than the Cubone, but she was in trouble if she didn't do something. She ran faster as the Cubone tossed his bone. As she reached the trees, she jumped up, slapping one leg on each trunk. She balanced there, legs stiff apart with her heels jammed in the trees. As the bone arced back, she swung down using her legs as a bar and grabbed the bone from the air. She flipped down, dizzier than ever, but shook it off.
"Nya nya!" she turned and spit her tongue out at the depressed little Cubone.
"How in the world did you do that?" Dragon asked, paying the Cubone behind him no mind.
"Look out!" Eevy pointed behind him.
"Geez!" he leaned back as the bone whisked past his nose, "Ah…" he fell backwards.
The bone whirled past trees with each of the girls and JP dodging it as fast as they could. It arced around and headed straight back, meeting a reverse pattern of people. The Cubone that threw it stood ready to catch it again.
"Somebody stop that bone!" Eevy cried.
"Goldeen, Water Gun!" they heard as Yuu-Yuu summoned her Goldeen.
"Goldeen, goldeen!" with impressive accuracy, Yuu-Yuu's Goldeen blasted the bone from the air, burying it somewhere in the grass.
The group headed back in the direction of Yuu-Yuu's voice. They found her watching the Marowak intently with her Goldeen in front of her.
"Goldeen! Waterfall, now!"
The Marowak tried to avoid, but his heavy body made that hard. He tripped and was hit head on by the waterfall, toppling backwards. Yuu-Yuu noticed the pillar of bones he was standing on creek and sway at that.
"Marowak! Marow!" the Marowak threw his bone straight for Goldeen.
"Goldeen! Horn Drill!" Yuu-Yuu pointed out the Marowak's bone.
Goldeen launched forward, cracking the bone dead on, sending it spiraling to the ground. The Marowak was too indignant to come down off his pile of bones to retrieve it. Yuu-Yuu picked it up and spun it between her fingers.
"OK, Goldeen. Waterfall again!"
This time, Goldeen release twice as much pressure as it had the first time and began glowing white, "It's evolving!" Mizu called.
The Goldeen doubled in size, its tail flowing like cloth behind it. Its horn grew to three times its original size. In a few moments, a hulking Seaking swayed in midair in front of them as the Waterfall pounded away at the Marowak and his bone throne. That time, with that sudden burst of power, the bones in the center of the heap cracked and smashed, sending the tower into a tipsy crash.
"Seaking! To my side! Hurry!"
The Seaking flew to his master's side, "Sea king, king!"
"Surf attack, now!" Yuu-Yuu hopped on Seaking's back as he powered forward.
"Go, Novo! Let's Surf!" Eevy cried, catching Yuu-Yuu's idea.
"Dragonair, Surfing time!" Dragon pulled JP up behind him.
"Qwilfish, Surf!" Sooney released her only Surf-able Pokemon.
"Azumarill, hang ten time!" Mizu sent out her evolved Marill.
Will, sitting and watching the top of the hill, spotted the water and jumped up, "Ho!" he cried, "Kadabra! Light Screen, now!"
A wave of water whipped down the side of the hill as Will cowered behind his Kadabra and its Light Screen attack. The water plowed with immense power, pushing them back a few steps even with the Light Screen. At the shouts he heard, Phantom's head shot up.
"No we're talkin'!" Eevy was balanced on her Vaporeon.
"This is too cool!" Sooney shouted.
"What a blast!" Mizu called.
"Look out, Phantom! We're moving in!" JP screamed.
"Oh no," Phantom ducked down as far as he could as the ice cold water plummeted over Kadabra's Light Screen.
The water cleared after a while and seeped into the ground. Everyone was laid out on the ground, completely drenched. Yuu-Yuu and Seaking were the last to land. Yuu-Yuu searched frantically for something as Eevy pushed Novo off her arm so she could sit up.
"What're you looking for?" she asked, looking at Yuu-Yuu.
"There! There he is!" Yuu-Yuu shouted and ran off towards the Marowak sprawled out in the center of Route 58.
"He took a big beating with that huge group Surf we just put him through," JP sat up and shook the water from his ear.
"Marowak! Marowak! Can you hear me?" Yuu-Yuu pushed at his side, but he didn't move, "Don't be dead."
"He's not," Phantom shook his shirt, "Just really needs a Pokemon Center."
"Go, Poke'Ball, go!" Yuu-Yuu's Poke'Ball flew forward, smacking the Marowak's side.
After only one shake of rejection, Marowak gave in and the Poke'Ball locked. She reached out and picked it up, running towards the Pokemon Center back in Magnolia.
*^~^**^~^*
"Is he alright?" Yuu-Yuu pleaded as Nurse Joy walked into the room steadying the Marowak beside her.
"He should be fine. Just bruised up a bit. Maybe a bit tipsy turvy for a while too, but nothing major," Nurse Joy ensured.
"That's good," Eevy sighed, "Sorry about that, Marowak. We didn't mean to hit so hard."
"Marowak marow," he shrugged.
"No hard feelings?" Yuu-Yuu held out her hand.
"Marow," the Marowak shook her hand enthusiastically and clung to her leg, "Maro wak!"
"Huh?" Yuu-Yuu pulled away, "What are you doing? Let go!"
"I think he likes you," Mizu mused, "You did capture him, if I remember correctly."
"She's right," Medira added, "You did."
"But I was just going to let him go back with the other Cubone."
"Maro! Maro! Marowak!" he pulled away and shook his head vigorously.
"Seriously?" Yuu-Yuu asked him, "You want to come?"
"Mar o wak!"
"Great!" Yuu-Yuu jumped for joy, "I caught a Marowak! Will Ash ever be jealous! Here's your bone, by the way."
*^~^**^~^*
"Onward to Sunflower City?" Dragon asked Eevy as she stood staring down Route 58.
"Yeah. Tomorrow, not now."
"Maybe…" he stopped and choked a bit, "Maybe I could go just this once."
"Really?" her eyes lit up, "What about JP and Phantom? And where's that girl that was with you?"
"You mean Lu-uh…Starla? She's back home. And those two goons can come if they want."
"Why the sudden change of tune?"
"Uh…" he scratched his head, "I don't know."
*^~^**^~^*
"That's a good but bad choice," Raikou mused as he listened to Eevy and Lance, "What if she sees him minus his hood?"
"Give him a chance," Entei said, "I hear Jason inviting himself with Medira right now…She's saying she'll have to ask Evangelina."
"What about Will, Suicune?" Raikou asked.
"He's speaking to Lurianna about it right now…She's pondering…Still thinking…Never mind," Suicune broke off.
"Why?" Entei asked.
"He 'interrupted' her, if you catch my drift."
"Oh," the other two Beasts said together.
"Oh no," Raikou said flatly, "No! No! No!"
"No? No what?" Entei asked quickly.
*^~^**^~^*
The Beasts were not prepared for this, not one bit. Eevy and Lance shouldn't have gotten close for a long time, but there was no stopping it now. Good thing it was nothing more than a peck on the cheek. It could have jump-started her memory of his face if it had been anything more.
"Good night," Eevy left Dragon dazed and completely elated.
"Yeah. Good night," he said in a fog, "Good something anyway."
At the same time, Medira had done the same to Jason, leaving him at a loss for words. There was too much progressing too fast. These meetings on the road would have to stop. They were risking too much and getting way too close way too fast.
^*^In The Next Chronicle:^*^
Steam Engine Senses
~*~Notes~*~
Koo koo ka choo bop. I really went nuts with this chapter. A giant wave? Where in the world did I get that? Too many times at watching "The Perfect Storm" maybe? Swinging like that on the trees? Too many Jackie Chan movies, I guess. ANYway...Today it was a 3:33 in the morning chapter. I've really got to get to bed. The next chapter looks interesting, don't you think? I've also linked the beginning stages of my Team Rocket clique down there. The link on the bottom. I like 'em!
*^~^*Pro_V*^~^*
http://powerprincesses.cjb.net/
http://gertanrin.cjb.net/
http://www.rainflower.net/
http://KawaiiRoketto.cjb.net/
Comments would be most appreciated! Please send them to:
proeeveebreeder@pokemonarena.net
By: Kat of Pokemon: The Hokubu & Nanka Trek
"I hate this route," Medira panted as she trudged along behind everyone else, including the camera men.
The team was heading northeast on Route 56. Route 56 was one of the longest trails in Nanka, and it wasn't too pleasant either. There was either sun or darkness, no in between. You were either out in the open or in a forest, nothing like shade. Eevy was regretting taking this route. She would have taken the bus, had they not missed it thanks to Mizu and Sooney shopping all afternoon.
"Look," Sooney pointed a finger, "It's Magnolia Town. We're almost there."
"Good," Yuu-Yuu moaned, "Too bad it's already so late."
Mizu reached the entrance gate and toppled over, "Go, Kingler."
"Kookie kookie!" the Kingler opened and closed his pincers with noises like the sound of sheering metal.
"Cool Kingler," Sooney admitted.
"Kingler! Use your Bubble attack!"
Mizu paid the stinging of the bubbles no mind as her Kingler sprayed her. She stopped him and swung her head back and forth, sending spritzes of water everywhere.
"Hey!" Eevy shouted, speaking for the first time all day, "Watch it!"
"Look!" Medira pointed to Eevy, "It speaks!"
"Hey, shut up," Eevy tromped in the gate and headed for the Pokemon Center.
"Woo," Medira said, "Now there's a reaction for you."
Eevy walked in the door of the Center and slopped down into a chair, "It's so good to sit."
"You're telling me," Medira slouched down next to her, "These boots are murder."
"That was the most treacherous walk we'll ever have," Sooney said as she fell to the floor to sit.
"No. Not even close," Eevy leaned her head back on the wall.
"Excuse me?" Yuu-Yuu's eyes widened in alarm, "What do you mean?"
"The Moss Bogs are so much more difficult than 56."
"You seem to know a lot about Hokubu," Medira said as she stared at her.
"I do. Living so close to Hokubu gives you lots of time to study."
"How close is Rose to the border?" Yuu-Yuu asked, "I know Lily is about a mile from the break."
"There's a stretch of Moss Bog connecting Rose to Cutter Town. It's considered Route 64 and 65, though I'd call it more of a death trap than anything. Pokemon get caught in that slime all the time. Most of them…never get out."
"That's really sad. Isn't there a bridge or something?" Sooney asked.
"There was, but the Muk and Grimer there destroyed it. It's over flowing with the perfect sludge for Muk, Grimer, Slugma and Magcargo to thrive. It really is a threat to both human and Pokemon health, but there's nothing anyone can do."
"We're going to have to take that route sooner or later, aren't we?" Mizu asked.
"You don't. But I do. You don't have to go when the time comes, and you probably won't want to."
"Ah, what's a little mud and goo if it means seeing Taylor bite the dust?" Medira joked, "As long as I don't have to go in the stuff, I'm fine."
"Well, I just burst your bubble for crossing then."
"Gross."
"Well, there's nothing more we can do here in town," Eevy took her Poke'Balls from the Nurse, "Should we head out?"
"After all that walking?!" Sooney shouted, "Are you nuts?! I can't walk any more today!"
"What a wimp. Well, I'm going. There's no reason to stay here," Mizu grabbed her bag.
"Same here," Eevy grabbed her pack and Poke'Ball chain.
"I'm with them," Medira hooked her Poke'Balls to her belt.
"You're leaving us here?" Yuu-Yuu shrieked, "No fair!"
"You want a day of rest, take it alone," Eevy walked out with Mizu and Medira behind her.
Yuu-Yuu and Sooney jumped up and ran after them. The group walked for about ten minutes before hitting the opposite side of town. Eevy took off toward the sign on the side of the road. She read over it and suddenly flailed for her map. She looked back and forth from the city to the sign to the route to the map. Medira looked over her shoulder and also began the same pattern. The duo leaned from left to right from front to back.
"That's freaky," Medira mused.
"You bet."
"What's so incredibly weird?" Mizu asked.
"This sign. It says we're on Route 58."
"So?" Yuu-Yuu asked.
"Where'd Route 57 go? We came into town on Route 56 and are leaving on 58. But where'd 57 go?" Eevy asked.
"Maybe the sign's misprinted," Sooney said hopefully.
"No. The map says the same thing. And 57 isn't even listed on here," Medira looked over the map, "That's really bizarre."
"You really don't want to go down Route 57," JP said quickly as he bolted up behind them, "Trust me."
"And why is that?" Mizu scowled, "And what are you doing here? You're supposed to keep away from here."
"No," Eevy said, "It's fine. We're all cool again."
"That's what I figured. Now, why don't we want to be on Route 57?"
"It's overrun with really malevolent Pokemon and covered in brush. It leads into the middle of nowhere anyway."
"And malevolent means…?" Yuu-Yuu questioned.
Sooney leaned to her ear, "Nasty and mean, you moron!"
"I'm no moron! I bet there are a bunch of great Pokemon down there! Maybe even a Cubone!" her eyes burned with hearts, "I love Cubone! I'm going! Where is it?"
"I'm not telling," JP scowled, "Forget it!"
"Too late. The old sign is still here, just covered in weeds," Mizu pulled away a vine, "Let's go, Yuu-Yuu!"
Mizu, Yuu-Yuu and Sooney took off up the route. Medira and Eevy almost fell over.
"They could get hurt!" Eevy started to go, but JP stopped her.
"I wouldn't. I really wouldn't," he said, holding her wrist.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" she scowled at him, "Let them get hurt?"
"They'll be fine. After a little walking they'll come flying back out."
"Let go of her, JP," Phantom snapped, walking up from nowhere, "Let her go. She can handle it."
"No way! I'm not letting her go up there and get hurt!"
Eevy was getting mad, really mad, "Want to play rough, huh?"
Without any warning, Eevy spiraled, moving herself up his arm. With a quick jab in the stomach, she pushed him back and forced him to let go. She made a nasty face at him sitting on the ground and bolted for the path. She was snapped back with more force than even she could use and held firm around the wrist.
"Don't think so," Dragon commented, pulling her back.
"Hey! You let go!" she pulled as hard as she could.
She wasn't strong enough to flip him, no way! She couldn't weasel her hand away and wouldn't even cause a dent if she kicked him. She got a sneaky idea and decided to try her luck. She stopped pulling and waited for his arm to relax. With one quick and heavy thrust, she yanked her wrist from his hand and took off up the uphill route.
"Hey! That was cheap!" he ran up after her, but she was a lot faster.
Medira slouched down and looked over as JP brushed himself off, "That was easy for her."
"Ha, ha, ha," JP snorted, pulling grass from his shirt, "Don't we have a sense of humor."
When she didn't answer him, he looked up and all around to see where she was, "You coming?" she shouted from the path.
"Hey! Don't go up there!" he took off after her, "Come on, Phantom!"
"I'll stay here thank you," Phantom sat down, "Incase someone comes out without their traveling buddy."
*^~^**^~^*
Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu had gotten detoured from their path. Eevy and Dragon were on another hidden path off Route 57. Jason and Medira were still on the path, but going really slow.
"This is not good," Sooney said, "We're completely lost."
Eevy slipped on a rock and fell flat on her face, "Ouchy," she mumbled as she stood up.
"Shit!" Medira slipped again because of her heels, not bothering with minding her speech, "This is like a maze!"
"Crud!" Dragon called as he fell over flat on his back, "This was a really stupid idea."
"Ah man!" JP went sliding down the hill ever so slightly, "This is nuts!"
"It's really late," Yuu-Yuu whispered, "There'll be all sorts of malevolent Pokemon out now," she'd decided malevolent was her vocabulary word for the day.
"How did we get into this?" Mizu asked worriedly, "And more importantly, how do we get out again?"
*^~^**^~^*
Medira caught her foot in a Diglett hole and fell flat out on the ground at the same time that Eevy slipped on another loose stone. Both came close to twisting their ankles and had a horrible time standing up. Neither could see where Dragon or JP was and both were getting worried. Eevy was the first to find Dragon when he accidentally tripped and landed at her feet. Medira happened upon JP holding a gash on his arm about ten minutes later. Mizu, Yuu-Yuu and Sooney stopped in a really small clearing for the night, as they had no clue where they were. Eevy's ankle made it too hard to walk, and she and Dragon stopped. Medira pushed for about another fifteen minutes before she too had to stop. Poor Will sat at the bottom of the path, fidgeting nervously. Eevy moved her foot every now and then to test it, as she was up and out of there when she could walk again, whether in the pitch black or blinding light. Medira kept hitting her head on a tree for getting into this in the first place. Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu leaned up against each other so each was facing a different direction, just incase. Dragon pulled his coat and cloak tighter as temperature dropped. JP rubbed his arm and tried desperately to ignore the pain.
Dragon heard Eevy shiver, "You're cold."
"Yeah, I'll survive."
JP heard a similar noise, "You alright?"
"Peachy keen."
"You'll get sick," JP said.
"I'll live through it. I've been through worse," Medira shook.
"What are you doing?" Dragon asked as he looked around the tree at Eevy.
"Trying not to freeze," Eevy mumbled as she continued stomping her foot to keep her blood moving.
"I wish I was at the Pokemon Center," Yuu-Yuu grumbled.
"This was your idea in the first place," Sooney snapped, "I'm never listening to you again."
"Hey," Mizu commented, "You're the one that followed us. Nobody told you to."
Eevy pulled her knees up to her chin, "I'm getting sick. I can t-t-" she sneezed right in the middle of her sentence, "…tell."
"She'll catch a cold if she stays cold much longer," Lance mused silently.
Being extremely careful not to let his hood fall back, Lance maneuvered his coat off, leaving him in his black T-shirt and hooded cape. At the same time, Jason was doing the exact same thing. After removing the pin, Lance reached around the tree he was leaning on and pushed Eevy's shoulder.
"What?" she asked.
"Take this. You'll freeze," he dropped the coat next to her.
Jason reached around and did the same, "Here."
He heard the bubble of gum Medira had been blowing pop, "Huh?"
"What about you?" Eevy asked.
"You think this cape thing is cold?" Dragon asked, "I was actually sweating."
Whether he was sweating because he was hot, because of the predicament they were in, or because she was so near yet so far, he wasn't sure. She slowly drifted off, and he drooped more and more each minute until he too was out. Medira spit her gum off to the side and settled to sleep and Jason moved to a position where his arm wasn't in too immense of pain and slowly fell asleep. Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu each fell asleep within minutes of each other. Will, still sitting by the sign, dozed off a little after that, no matter how hard he fought not to.
*^~^**^~^*
Yuu-Yuu, Mizu and Sooney awoke first. All three stood up and brushed off. It was about 5:30 a.m. they guessed. They looked around in the misty morning air, trying to spot the path with no luck. As Mizu went to step forward for a different view, she heard a bush shuffle behind her. She whirled and was forced to duck a flying Cubone Bone. She stayed down long enough for it to boomerang back and stood up. When a whole group of them came flying from every which direction, the trio took off in the direction where the least had come from.
Lance was the next to awaken, spotting Eevy on her side with his coat over her. He looked up at the sun and judged it to be about 5:45 give or take a few minutes. She stretched and sat up, pulling a leaf from her hair. It was still freezing cold, so he left the coat to her for the time being. As they stood up, a Cubone Bone whipped out just to the left of Eevy's face. It arced back just to her right. She stepped back with her mouth hanging open. More flew from the bushes around them as Dragon jumped and pushed her down. The two of them jumped up and ran in the opposite direction, hopping lines of bushes and swerving around trees.
Medira woke up next and checked the sun's position, choosing to say it was about 6:00. She stood up and brushed off, noticing JP still sleeping behind the tree. She then realized she still boasted his coat. She dropped it over his head, sending him into a frenzy to see what had covered him. As she laughed and he stood up, a white object flew out in front of them, twirling back in the direction it came. As another flew from the other direction, JP pushed Medira around the tree. They heard a thud crack as the Cubone Bone imbedded itself into the reverse side of the tree. They ran to the side as a few more whirled around the trees.
Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Mizu ran to the east, Eevy and Dragon to the west and Medira and JP to the northeast. All three groups broke out of the woods and into a clearing which wasn't so clear at all. It was filled, literally filled, with bones. Most looked to be Donphan and Phanpy bones, but some were so eroded they were unidentifiable. Eevy looked as if to be sick and Dragon struggled to breathe. Medira let her mouth hang open, shaking her head as JP stared around vacuously. Yuu-Yuu thought she fell over and Sooney held onto a tree to keep just that from happening to her. Mizu just blinked without moving and hardly breathing. Eevy took a step forward, but Dragon grabbed her wrist. When she turned to shout at him, he put a finger to his mouth and pointed to the tallest pile of bones. Perched on top was a Marowak of immense proportions. It wasn't bigger than a normal Marowak, but looked a lot more muscular. By his side was a group of Cubone, one without his bone. Judging by the way they were conversing only with each other, they hadn't seen any of the humans standing around their field yet. The one missing his bone seemed to be the center of attention and was getting pushed around, obviously for not having his bone. As Eevy stepped back to Dragon, she cracked a twig. The Marowak's head shot up.
"Oh snit," Eevy said as she stood still, "He saw me."
"Marow! Marowak!" the Marowak swung his arm up and swung down his bone, pointing directly at Eevy.
"Run!" Mizu cried without thinking.
Dragon grabbed Eevy's hand, dragging her into the woods. Two of the Cubone took off after them, throwing their bones as fast as they could. Each time they threw them, they would arc back, making it twice as hard to avoid them. Dragon ducked one that whirled back toward Eevy who also ducked. That same bone spun back to the Cubone that threw it, cracking him in the head, knocking him unconscious. The other still didn't give up, and played a dirty trick. He threw it towards Eevy's knees, sending her flying down. Dragon followed, still holding her hand. The bone landed on the ground beside them, which caught Eevy's attention. She reached out and grabbed it. Standing up, she held the bone high above her head.
"Get any closer," she threatened, bringing it down and holding it in both hands, "and I'll snap it in two!"
The Cubone stopped dead in his tracks, falling to his knees and pleading, "Cubone! Bone, bone Cubone!"
"I hope they're alright!" Sooney shouted.
"Who cares about them?! What about us?!" Mizu ran as fast as she could from the two Cubone following them.
Medira ran screaming with JP swinging his arms rapidly beside her as three more followed them, "I'm glad my leg feels better!"
"No kidding!" JP shouted, "Keep going!"
Eevy and Dragon ran out into the clearing, "Quick!" Eevy called, "Get their bones!"
Mizu made a flying leap for a tree branch. Swinging back down as the Cubone following her passed. She snatched the bone right out of his hand.
"Thank you!" she laughed as she jumped down.
"Cubone bone!" it cried, jumping up her side to get at it, but he was too short.
Yuu-Yuu jumped behind a tree. After hearing thud crack and the angry and sad calls of a Cubone, she reached around and un-jammed the bone from the tree's bark. No matter how hard he tried, the Cubone couldn't get at it.
JP and Medira kept running as two more Cubone took off after Eevy and Dragon. Jason spotted a long vine and decided to mimic all those movies he'd seen, purely because he had an all-too-active imagination. He grabbed it and pulled it down to the ground. As the poor little Cubone passed, he caught his leg on the vine, falling face first to the ground. His bone popped into the air in front of JP, spiraling like a baton.
He reached out and snatched it from the air, "Practicing Baton Pass now?"
"Cubone," in mumbled into the dirt.
Medira got her own stroke of genius. Pulling out yet another piece of gum, she ran and chewed, trying desperately not to swallow.
"Now is no time to be blowing bubbles!" JP called to her.
Medira spit the gum to the ground. The poor little Cubone stepped right in it, taking another two steps before getting elasticized back onto his head. He jumped up and flailed, trying insanely to get away. Medira walked up and popped the bone from his hand.
"Sorry there, buddy," she said to him, "But that's what you get for attacking me."
"Bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone, bone!" It kept crying as it tried to pull away from the sticky pink goo gluing him to the ground.
"Nice touch," JP nodded as he walked over, watching the Cubone flutter.
"Thank you," Medira winked, "I can do other things just as good."
"I'm sure," he cleared his throat as she walked away.
Eevy ran as fast as she could, but couldn't figure out any ways to get the bone from the Cubone following her. Dragon ran up beside her, pushing her back to get her running faster.
"Any more cute ideas?" he asked frantically.
"Not one!" she answered as they split to run around a tree, "These Cubone are too strong for my Pokemon and your Dragons wouldn't be able to maneuver well enough."
Eevy spotted two trees about three feet beside each other. A light bulb seemed to flash above her head. It would probably hurt her more than the Cubone, but she was in trouble if she didn't do something. She ran faster as the Cubone tossed his bone. As she reached the trees, she jumped up, slapping one leg on each trunk. She balanced there, legs stiff apart with her heels jammed in the trees. As the bone arced back, she swung down using her legs as a bar and grabbed the bone from the air. She flipped down, dizzier than ever, but shook it off.
"Nya nya!" she turned and spit her tongue out at the depressed little Cubone.
"How in the world did you do that?" Dragon asked, paying the Cubone behind him no mind.
"Look out!" Eevy pointed behind him.
"Geez!" he leaned back as the bone whisked past his nose, "Ah…" he fell backwards.
The bone whirled past trees with each of the girls and JP dodging it as fast as they could. It arced around and headed straight back, meeting a reverse pattern of people. The Cubone that threw it stood ready to catch it again.
"Somebody stop that bone!" Eevy cried.
"Goldeen, Water Gun!" they heard as Yuu-Yuu summoned her Goldeen.
"Goldeen, goldeen!" with impressive accuracy, Yuu-Yuu's Goldeen blasted the bone from the air, burying it somewhere in the grass.
The group headed back in the direction of Yuu-Yuu's voice. They found her watching the Marowak intently with her Goldeen in front of her.
"Goldeen! Waterfall, now!"
The Marowak tried to avoid, but his heavy body made that hard. He tripped and was hit head on by the waterfall, toppling backwards. Yuu-Yuu noticed the pillar of bones he was standing on creek and sway at that.
"Marowak! Marow!" the Marowak threw his bone straight for Goldeen.
"Goldeen! Horn Drill!" Yuu-Yuu pointed out the Marowak's bone.
Goldeen launched forward, cracking the bone dead on, sending it spiraling to the ground. The Marowak was too indignant to come down off his pile of bones to retrieve it. Yuu-Yuu picked it up and spun it between her fingers.
"OK, Goldeen. Waterfall again!"
This time, Goldeen release twice as much pressure as it had the first time and began glowing white, "It's evolving!" Mizu called.
The Goldeen doubled in size, its tail flowing like cloth behind it. Its horn grew to three times its original size. In a few moments, a hulking Seaking swayed in midair in front of them as the Waterfall pounded away at the Marowak and his bone throne. That time, with that sudden burst of power, the bones in the center of the heap cracked and smashed, sending the tower into a tipsy crash.
"Seaking! To my side! Hurry!"
The Seaking flew to his master's side, "Sea king, king!"
"Surf attack, now!" Yuu-Yuu hopped on Seaking's back as he powered forward.
"Go, Novo! Let's Surf!" Eevy cried, catching Yuu-Yuu's idea.
"Dragonair, Surfing time!" Dragon pulled JP up behind him.
"Qwilfish, Surf!" Sooney released her only Surf-able Pokemon.
"Azumarill, hang ten time!" Mizu sent out her evolved Marill.
Will, sitting and watching the top of the hill, spotted the water and jumped up, "Ho!" he cried, "Kadabra! Light Screen, now!"
A wave of water whipped down the side of the hill as Will cowered behind his Kadabra and its Light Screen attack. The water plowed with immense power, pushing them back a few steps even with the Light Screen. At the shouts he heard, Phantom's head shot up.
"No we're talkin'!" Eevy was balanced on her Vaporeon.
"This is too cool!" Sooney shouted.
"What a blast!" Mizu called.
"Look out, Phantom! We're moving in!" JP screamed.
"Oh no," Phantom ducked down as far as he could as the ice cold water plummeted over Kadabra's Light Screen.
The water cleared after a while and seeped into the ground. Everyone was laid out on the ground, completely drenched. Yuu-Yuu and Seaking were the last to land. Yuu-Yuu searched frantically for something as Eevy pushed Novo off her arm so she could sit up.
"What're you looking for?" she asked, looking at Yuu-Yuu.
"There! There he is!" Yuu-Yuu shouted and ran off towards the Marowak sprawled out in the center of Route 58.
"He took a big beating with that huge group Surf we just put him through," JP sat up and shook the water from his ear.
"Marowak! Marowak! Can you hear me?" Yuu-Yuu pushed at his side, but he didn't move, "Don't be dead."
"He's not," Phantom shook his shirt, "Just really needs a Pokemon Center."
"Go, Poke'Ball, go!" Yuu-Yuu's Poke'Ball flew forward, smacking the Marowak's side.
After only one shake of rejection, Marowak gave in and the Poke'Ball locked. She reached out and picked it up, running towards the Pokemon Center back in Magnolia.
*^~^**^~^*
"Is he alright?" Yuu-Yuu pleaded as Nurse Joy walked into the room steadying the Marowak beside her.
"He should be fine. Just bruised up a bit. Maybe a bit tipsy turvy for a while too, but nothing major," Nurse Joy ensured.
"That's good," Eevy sighed, "Sorry about that, Marowak. We didn't mean to hit so hard."
"Marowak marow," he shrugged.
"No hard feelings?" Yuu-Yuu held out her hand.
"Marow," the Marowak shook her hand enthusiastically and clung to her leg, "Maro wak!"
"Huh?" Yuu-Yuu pulled away, "What are you doing? Let go!"
"I think he likes you," Mizu mused, "You did capture him, if I remember correctly."
"She's right," Medira added, "You did."
"But I was just going to let him go back with the other Cubone."
"Maro! Maro! Marowak!" he pulled away and shook his head vigorously.
"Seriously?" Yuu-Yuu asked him, "You want to come?"
"Mar o wak!"
"Great!" Yuu-Yuu jumped for joy, "I caught a Marowak! Will Ash ever be jealous! Here's your bone, by the way."
*^~^**^~^*
"Onward to Sunflower City?" Dragon asked Eevy as she stood staring down Route 58.
"Yeah. Tomorrow, not now."
"Maybe…" he stopped and choked a bit, "Maybe I could go just this once."
"Really?" her eyes lit up, "What about JP and Phantom? And where's that girl that was with you?"
"You mean Lu-uh…Starla? She's back home. And those two goons can come if they want."
"Why the sudden change of tune?"
"Uh…" he scratched his head, "I don't know."
*^~^**^~^*
"That's a good but bad choice," Raikou mused as he listened to Eevy and Lance, "What if she sees him minus his hood?"
"Give him a chance," Entei said, "I hear Jason inviting himself with Medira right now…She's saying she'll have to ask Evangelina."
"What about Will, Suicune?" Raikou asked.
"He's speaking to Lurianna about it right now…She's pondering…Still thinking…Never mind," Suicune broke off.
"Why?" Entei asked.
"He 'interrupted' her, if you catch my drift."
"Oh," the other two Beasts said together.
"Oh no," Raikou said flatly, "No! No! No!"
"No? No what?" Entei asked quickly.
*^~^**^~^*
The Beasts were not prepared for this, not one bit. Eevy and Lance shouldn't have gotten close for a long time, but there was no stopping it now. Good thing it was nothing more than a peck on the cheek. It could have jump-started her memory of his face if it had been anything more.
"Good night," Eevy left Dragon dazed and completely elated.
"Yeah. Good night," he said in a fog, "Good something anyway."
At the same time, Medira had done the same to Jason, leaving him at a loss for words. There was too much progressing too fast. These meetings on the road would have to stop. They were risking too much and getting way too close way too fast.
^*^In The Next Chronicle:^*^
Steam Engine Senses
~*~Notes~*~
Koo koo ka choo bop. I really went nuts with this chapter. A giant wave? Where in the world did I get that? Too many times at watching "The Perfect Storm" maybe? Swinging like that on the trees? Too many Jackie Chan movies, I guess. ANYway...Today it was a 3:33 in the morning chapter. I've really got to get to bed. The next chapter looks interesting, don't you think? I've also linked the beginning stages of my Team Rocket clique down there. The link on the bottom. I like 'em!
*^~^*Pro_V*^~^*
http://powerprincesses.cjb.net/
http://gertanrin.cjb.net/
http://www.rainflower.net/
http://KawaiiRoketto.cjb.net/
Comments would be most appreciated! Please send them to:
proeeveebreeder@pokemonarena.net