Chapter three: Great Mother
As Buck had suspected, Sparky was a little chatter box. When questioned about it, she grinned and said, "Oh, I like rambling. It's a bit of a hobby. You should try it sometime; it's fun."
"Well, I DO sometimes have very interesting conversations with myself."
"Me too! One that comes to mind is when I got really hyper and ranted for half an hour about Mario."
"Mario? What's that?"
"It's a videogame series. Or rather, the title character of a videogame series. The game play is terrific, but the plot makes little to no sense."
Their animated, albeit somewhat one-sided, conversation was cut off by a chorus of angry and frightened shrieks. They startled, looked at each other, then followed the sound. They came to a small clearing where a small army of Rattata and Raticate were trapped in a circle of black-clad humans.
Buck growled deep in his throat. "Those damn Rockets!"
"Why would they want all them Rats?" Sparky asked.
"They don't. They want her." Buck pointed at a huge, grey muzzled, battle-scarred Raticate. "That's Great Mother, matriarch of that Raticate clan. The humans call her 'Old Crusty.' She's over seven years old, and has never been caught by humans. She's very powerful, very smart, and a very good ally."
"Oh. So whaddo we do?"
"You stay here, Sparks. I'm gonna knock out some o' them Rockets so the Clan can escape."
"Careful, Buck."
Buck smirked and disappeared into the brush. A moment later, he reappeared as a screaming demon and rammed his head into a grunt, sending her and her snare-on-a-pole flying over his shoulder. He roared and gave another an uppercut, then sent another into a tree with his tail. He glared at the others and screeched like those 'raptors from "Jurassic Park." Great Mother's clan speed past him into the brush. The old Raticate herself waited until everyone else had escaped, and as she began to flee herself, was engulfed by a large net.
Buck screeched and charged at the net-holder, but was abruptly cut off and knocked to the ground. The Rocket with the pole had slipped the snare around his neck while he was preoccupied. Buck snapped at her and made an attempt to struggle, but she tugged on the pole, half-choking him. She laughed and said, "Old Crusty AND Mewtwo in one catch! This is great!"
"What do we do with Justin and Talor down there?" asked a male grunt, indicating their unconscious comrades.
"We take care of them after we get these two in Poké..."
She was cut off by a large stick striking her in the head. Holding it was Sparky, who made a noise that was some bazaar cross between a howl and a roar. (Kind of like the iguanodons from "Dinosaur.")
Buck freed himself and stalked menacingly toward the five remaining Rockets, growling deeply.
"Let's get outta here!" one cried, and they raced into the brush. Buck howl-roared after them.
Sparky dropped her weapon and took the net off Great Mother. "Thank you, human-kit,"
said the old Raticate "although I know you don't understand a word I'm saying..."
"But... I understand every bit of it!" said the surprised human.
"You speak Lowger?"
"Speak what?"
"Language that all creatures except humans understand." Buck explained as he sauntered over to them. "No one really knows why humans don't speak it."
"I never understood Lowger in my own Universe..."
Great Mother looked impressed. "A human that both understands us and is a Traveler? Brother, where did you find such a strange being?"
"She fell out of the sky near where I was sleeping. She even Named me! I'm Buck now. She's gonna be my Trainer."
Great Mother nodded knowingly. "And you have chosen well, Brother. And what is your name, Sister Human?"
"Sparky..." she responded with an expression of pure amazement.
"Well then, Sparky, Buck, good luck to you. Farewell." And she trotted off after her clan.
Sparky stared blankly ahead, saying more to herself than Buck, "That was weird."
Buck placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shall we? Pallet's about five minutes away."
"Uhhhhh... sure. Say, Buck?"
"Yeh?"
"Why didn't those Rockets use any of their own Pokémon?"
"'Cause they're a bunch of bloody idiots. Let's go"
As Buck had suspected, Sparky was a little chatter box. When questioned about it, she grinned and said, "Oh, I like rambling. It's a bit of a hobby. You should try it sometime; it's fun."
"Well, I DO sometimes have very interesting conversations with myself."
"Me too! One that comes to mind is when I got really hyper and ranted for half an hour about Mario."
"Mario? What's that?"
"It's a videogame series. Or rather, the title character of a videogame series. The game play is terrific, but the plot makes little to no sense."
Their animated, albeit somewhat one-sided, conversation was cut off by a chorus of angry and frightened shrieks. They startled, looked at each other, then followed the sound. They came to a small clearing where a small army of Rattata and Raticate were trapped in a circle of black-clad humans.
Buck growled deep in his throat. "Those damn Rockets!"
"Why would they want all them Rats?" Sparky asked.
"They don't. They want her." Buck pointed at a huge, grey muzzled, battle-scarred Raticate. "That's Great Mother, matriarch of that Raticate clan. The humans call her 'Old Crusty.' She's over seven years old, and has never been caught by humans. She's very powerful, very smart, and a very good ally."
"Oh. So whaddo we do?"
"You stay here, Sparks. I'm gonna knock out some o' them Rockets so the Clan can escape."
"Careful, Buck."
Buck smirked and disappeared into the brush. A moment later, he reappeared as a screaming demon and rammed his head into a grunt, sending her and her snare-on-a-pole flying over his shoulder. He roared and gave another an uppercut, then sent another into a tree with his tail. He glared at the others and screeched like those 'raptors from "Jurassic Park." Great Mother's clan speed past him into the brush. The old Raticate herself waited until everyone else had escaped, and as she began to flee herself, was engulfed by a large net.
Buck screeched and charged at the net-holder, but was abruptly cut off and knocked to the ground. The Rocket with the pole had slipped the snare around his neck while he was preoccupied. Buck snapped at her and made an attempt to struggle, but she tugged on the pole, half-choking him. She laughed and said, "Old Crusty AND Mewtwo in one catch! This is great!"
"What do we do with Justin and Talor down there?" asked a male grunt, indicating their unconscious comrades.
"We take care of them after we get these two in Poké..."
She was cut off by a large stick striking her in the head. Holding it was Sparky, who made a noise that was some bazaar cross between a howl and a roar. (Kind of like the iguanodons from "Dinosaur.")
Buck freed himself and stalked menacingly toward the five remaining Rockets, growling deeply.
"Let's get outta here!" one cried, and they raced into the brush. Buck howl-roared after them.
Sparky dropped her weapon and took the net off Great Mother. "Thank you, human-kit,"
said the old Raticate "although I know you don't understand a word I'm saying..."
"But... I understand every bit of it!" said the surprised human.
"You speak Lowger?"
"Speak what?"
"Language that all creatures except humans understand." Buck explained as he sauntered over to them. "No one really knows why humans don't speak it."
"I never understood Lowger in my own Universe..."
Great Mother looked impressed. "A human that both understands us and is a Traveler? Brother, where did you find such a strange being?"
"She fell out of the sky near where I was sleeping. She even Named me! I'm Buck now. She's gonna be my Trainer."
Great Mother nodded knowingly. "And you have chosen well, Brother. And what is your name, Sister Human?"
"Sparky..." she responded with an expression of pure amazement.
"Well then, Sparky, Buck, good luck to you. Farewell." And she trotted off after her clan.
Sparky stared blankly ahead, saying more to herself than Buck, "That was weird."
Buck placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shall we? Pallet's about five minutes away."
"Uhhhhh... sure. Say, Buck?"
"Yeh?"
"Why didn't those Rockets use any of their own Pokémon?"
"'Cause they're a bunch of bloody idiots. Let's go"