Whee. On to chapter three. And finally we get to meet my other major OC, Cameron! *grins* Lizzie catches more Pokémon, and finally gets around to calling people. She's bad about that. Heh. But, like most trainers, she makes her way to Pewter to try and begin collecting badges. This picks up about three weeks after the last chapter.
Oh, and for reference when I use some things, here's a little key:
Pokémon speech is in brackets, telepathy is in double brackets, and personal thoughts are in italics.
I hope that helps.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Nintendo, GameFreak Inc., WB and a lot of other people do. I do own Lizzie, Cameron, their Pokémon's personalities, and any original Pokémon that show up. Please do not take them without permission or I will drop a nest of evolving Kakunas on your doorstep.
Chapter 3: Don't Bug Me!
Lizzie shaded her eyes against the sunlight, blinking away the light-dazzle the abrupt glare had left her with. Once her eyes had adjusted, she stepped out of the cave, casting a disgusted look back at it. "Easier my foot. Stupid people." She patted the purple-furred insect beside her, belatedly. "Thanks, Chance, that sonar trick of yours helped."
The Venonat hummed softly in acknowledgement, and she recalled him with a faint smile, pocketing the pokéball. Her hand brushed against two others and she snorted. At least the trip through the cave wasn't a total loss. She'd caught a Geodude while wandering aimlessly in the dark. Not a single trace of a Clefairy though, for all the rumors she'd heard. And in the dark, a Moonstone would seem just the same as any other rock she tripped over. So much for Mount Moon.
Lizzie sighed and turned down the path leading away from the cave, making for the Pokécenter just in view. Daylight or no, she'd been in those caves for far too long. Both she and her Pokémon definitely needed the rest. And a bed would be very welcome.
Or anything that was at least vaguely bedlike. Rocks were a poor substitute.
Liz stared at the monitor, sighing. Well, here goes nothing. She picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. Three rings, then the screen flickered to life. "Lizzie!" Bonnor's eyebrows rose in pleased surprise. "Haven't heard hide nor hair of you since you left. Was beginning to wonder."
"Sorry…I didn't mean to worry you…just didn't have much to say." Liz brushed her bangs out of her eyes shrugging. "Just been…traveling mostly."
Bonnor snorted. "It's been nearly three weeks, and you've just been traveling? Haven't seen any Pokémon from you yet. Caught anything? How's that Eevee working out?"
Blackberry poked out of Liz's backpack to glare at the screen. "Vee." Liz giggled as the Pokémon clambered out onto her shoulder with immense dignity.
"Still doesn't like me, I take it." Bonnor snorted. "So, that answers one question." He paused. "I think."
Liz sniggered again, but stifled it quickly. "Blackberry 'n I've reached an…understanding, I guess. It works. Been taking buses, mostly, from Fuchsia to Cerulean…an' I was stuck in Fuchsia 'till my ankle was better…"
"Whoa…your ankle? What did I miss?"
Liz coughed. "Well…I went to the Safari Zone…an' there was this Tauros, and…well…I did catch him, I'm calling him Bullseye…but he didn't like me much…still doesn't actually…" The words came out in almost a rush.
Bonnor stared at the screen, almost bewildered, and broke in. "Whoa, slow down! Could you run that by me again? A Tauros? Safari Zone? When did this happen?"
"Sorry…" Lizzie took a deep breath and sighed. "I went to the Safari Zone on Christmas Eve 'n caught a Tauros 'n a Venonat, but in avoiding getting murdered by Bullseye I twisted my ankle and wound up staying there overnight." Lizzie looked down at the base of the screen for a moment, trying to keep from flushing with embarrassment.
"You were stuck in the Safari Zone overnight, on Christmas Eve? Who's Bullseye? Why did you go in the Safari Zone?" Bonnor stared at the screen taken aback. "What did your parents have to say?"
Liz winced at the last, and shrugged. "I didn't think Blackberry wanted to stay with me so I thought I could get a Pokémon there to start with instead...but since she kept Bullseye, the Tauros I was talking about, from squishing me, I think I thought wrong." She avoided the last question entirely.
Bonnor closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead, and sighed. "You are something else, you know that?" Lizzie blinked, and decided to take that as a compliment. "What else happened? Anything else interesting?" Liz opened her mouth to reply, then paused.
…a holly bush was glowing faintly…she found herself staring into a pair of pale blue eyes abruptly. The creature's glow filled the area faintly…stopped abruptly, staring straight at her, the blue eyes seemingly boring straight through her…"Mewwww!" It back flipped, giggling happily again, tail not quite hitting her face, not quite flicking Blackberry…and it was gone…
"...No…no, not really. Just got rescued by some nice folks. They invited me to come to their wedding." Liz shrugged, shoving the dream – memory – aside. "Wren 'n Alex. And Rob too, but he's not getting married. I think he's already married, actually." Liz shrugged. "Then took the bus to Cerulean 'n got lost in the Mount Moon Caverns for not quite a week…"
"So you're in Pewter?" Bonnor interrupted, almost eagerly.
Lizzie blinked. "Not yet…I stopped at the center outside Mount Moon, and was gonna head there tomorrow…why?" Now she was curious, because he looked quite pleased about…something.
"Oh…nothing much, just make sure to stop in at the Pokécenter when you get in." He grinned. "So, just caught the two Pokémon, then? Venonat and Tauros?"
"No, I caught a Geodude in Mount Moon too…hey!" Lizzie glared at him. "Don't change the subject like that! What're you going on about? What's at the Pokécenter? Bonnor…" It wasn't quite a whine.
"That'd spoil things. Let me know when you get to Pewter! Good luck, and talk to ya soon, Lizzie!"
"Bonnor..!" She blinked as the line disconnected. "He…he...phooey!" Lizzie fought the urge to slam down the receiver, and stalked over to the counter. The nurse looked curiously at her as she handed over the three pokéballs.
"Something wrong?"
Lizzie shook her head and sighed. "No, just going to head to bed for the night. Been a long day." She made her way down the hall and flopped onto the bunk she'd been given. Blackberry curled up onto the pillow next to her, looking curious. "Sometimes grownups make me so mad…telling ya just enough t'make ya know something's up, then refuse t'tell ya 'bout it."
The Pokémon yawned. "Eevee?"
"Well…if it's a surprise, I guess he wouldn't tell me about it…but it's still frustrating." Lizzie had begun to get a general idea of what Blackberry meant when the Eevee spoke up. Or at least, she liked to think she did. Mostly, she just answered her own questions with what seemed logical. "But that just means we'll hafta get t'Pewter in a hurry in the morning. 'Sides, sitting here and trying to figure it out isn't gonna get anywhere." She yawned. "An' I'm tired…so I'll stop talking on and on at ya, Berry."
She didn't bother changing out of her clothes, only removing her hiking boots and letting them tumble onto the floor before curling up under the blanket. "G'night…"
Blackberry watched Lizzie curl up and snorted. Humans were strange sometimes. "Vee." She yawned and dropped her head to her forepaws. Why worry about tomorrow until it got here?
Liz grimaced as she looked around the city, trying to find the Pokécenter. Stone, stone, and more stone. Gray, gray and more gray. It was almost depressing. "I think whoever designed this place had no creativity." Blackberry, draped around her shoulders, opened one eye to look at her, then the nearest buildings, before snorting softly and closing it again.
"Fine, be that way." Lizzie rounded a corner and blinked. Red roof. "Found the Pokécenter…" She sighed and made her way over to the building. The bells above the door jingled merrily, in counterpoint to her less that cheerful mood. She headed straight up to the counter, standing on tiptoe to peer over the counter to try and spot the nurse. "Hello?"
The door to the back popped open, and the nurse stepped into view. "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I didn't hear the door chimes. What can I do for you?" She was a young lady, perhaps mid-twenties, with light brown hair cropped short. Her gold-brown eyes matched well her ready smile. She stood at least a foot and a half taller than Lizzie, but immediately leaned against the counter so they were looking eye to eye. The nametag pinned to her blouse read Wendi.
"Um, I was told by a friend to stop here when I got into town, but I don't really know why…" Lizzie shifted uneasily as she tried to both meet the nurse's gaze and avoid it at the same time. Cheerful seemed to be the name of today.
"Perhaps they shipped something here for you. If you give me your trainer's license, I can check for you." She tilted her head, adding, "When you're out training, it's easier to have stuff shipped to a center that they're likely to be going to in the near future, so that they can get it faster."
"Oh…um…" Lizzie dug into her pockets, "here." She pulled her PokéDex out and handed it over to Wendi, dropping her gaze to the counter. She was going to kill Bonnor when she saw him again…
"Thank you. Let's see…" Wendi flipped the PokéDex open, pressing a button.
"I am Dex, Pokémon Index for Trainer Elizabeth Gimble of Stone Town. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced." The nurse nodded at that and handed it back, still smiling.
"There is a package here for you, Elizabeth. It came in a couple weeks ago, actually." She ducked under the counter as Lizzie blinked then leaned forward, trying to see over the counter.
"There is? I do?" Lizzie blinked as Wendi reappeared, plunking a box in front of her. "What is it?"
Wendi laughed. "Why don't you open it and find out?" The nurse waved towards the booths set about the center. "You could take it over to one of them if you'd like, it doesn't matter. Anything else?"
"…" Lizzie took the package, staring at it instead of the friendly woman. "Where's a store? And the Gym?" She looked up, almost reluctantly.
"The Gym's right across the street in that building, there, but the Gym leader is on vacation at the moment. There's a mart that sells Pokémon supplies is one block down Boulder Street." She indicated the building in question, then pointed in another direction. "Boulder's about a block that way. First road you'll come to. I hope that helps."
Lizzie risked another glance. She still had that smile on her face. "Thanks…" She bowed awkwardly, and hurried to the booth nearest the door, dropping the box onto it. She studied the return address, and frowned. It was from Bonnor all right. What could he have sent her?
She peeled the tape off carefully, and lifted the lid, peering inside. An oddly shaped bundle was nestled in the box, wrapped in brightly colored Christmas paper, an envelope slid between it and the edge of the box. She stared at it a moment, then all but dove for the package, tearing it open. The envelope was barely even noticed. Blackberry hopped onto the table, watching the proceedings with interest.
They both stared at what had been under the paper. It was a hat, baseball cap variety, pale beige. Lizzie pulled it out of the box and the paper by the brim, blinking. On the front, instead of some team logo, there was a beautiful hand-stitched picture in vivid orange, black and white. It was an Arcanine, seated facing forward, staring at the viewer with bright green eyes. The ears were pricked alertly, the body bright orange-red striped with black. The thick white tail curled around the powerful haunches.
It was absolutely gorgeous. And so like Bonnor's Kindle that Liz could hardly believe it. "Wow…"
"Vrreh…" A head butted her elbow, and she blinked down at the table. Blackberry held up the envelope, tail swishing.
"Ohyeah." She took the envelope, setting the hat carefully on the table, where the Eevee sniffed curiously at it. She opened it and pulled the card inside out. The front was a picture of a pretty winter scene, with 'Wishing you the best of Holidays' written across the bottom. She opened it, blinking.
'Heya Liz,
Forgot to give this to ya before you left. Considering the rest was your birthday present, this is your Christmas present. Yes, that is supposed to be Kindle. Got my sister to make it for me. She can do the impossible with a needle and thread, it seems. Best wishes, and good luck kiddo!
Merry Christmas
Bonnor'
Liz read the note several times before closing the card and sitting down, staring at the hat. Blackberry hopped back onto her shoulders, curiosity satisfied as Liz stared at the cover of the card. Minutes passed, and she finally grew impatient. "Eevee!" Blackberry batted at the girl's nose. Lizzie blinked, turning her attention to the Eevee. "Vee." The Pokémon looked pointedly at the door.
"Oh. Sorry…" Lizzie gathered up the packaging and tossed it into the trash bin, stowing the card in her pack. She stared at the cap a moment before picking it up and heading back out the door. She paused out side, and carefully slipped the hat on, tugging her ponytail through the hole in the back. "Thanks, Bonnor…"
Not that he could hear that. She looked at the building that Nurse Wendi had pointed out as the Gym and sighed. "On vacation, eh…well, let's at least see if we can't find that store, at least."
"Well, whatcha think?" Lizzie finished buckling the belt on and studied it carefully. It made it easier to find her pokéballs when she needed them, if nothing else. Blackberry, from her seat in the snow, merely blinked at her. She'd headed towards the Viridian Forest south of town as soon as she'd finished making her purchases at the store. A couple of potions to heal her Pokémon in an emergency, the belt, a small, light, weatherproof tent, a few camping supplies and a heavy-duty flashlight. She'd had enough of dark places.
And she wasn't about to spend a day in that center with the too cheerful nurse if she could avoid it.
With that thought firmly in mind, she shrugged as Blackberry remained silent, giving up on the attempt at conversation and set about trying to figure out how to set up the tent. It took her nearly an hour, but the task was finally accomplished. "There. Look good to you, Blackberry?" She turned to the Eevee, inquiringly. To find herself staring at snow. "Gueh?" A quick search of the clearing revealed that Blackberry wasn't anywhere in sight. "Blackberry?" Silence. Liz sighed. "Of course. Go ahead and explore without me."
"Eevee!"
"Not like I have anything better to do than try to set up tents…or that I was hoping…" Lizzie paused as the fact that Blackberry was actually there, tugging on her pant leg, registered. "What? Blackberry?" She stared at the Eevee as Blackberry growled, shaking her head, and incidentally Lizzie's pant leg, and tugged again. "You want me to come with you, I take it."
"Vee." Blackberry let go and bounded a few paces away. Lizzie folded her arms, glaring. "Eevee!" The Pokémon glared back, then dashed off again.
"I…wait!" Lizzie rolled her eyes and went after her companion. She caught up quickly, Blackberry waiting for her before darting off again. "This had…better be…" Lizzie staggered as she rounded a tree and nearly tripped over the Eevee, "…good…" She staggered to a halt, staring at what the Eevee had found.
It was an egg.
Back at camp, Lizzie set her pack down beside the fire she'd gotten started, peering inside to check the contents. "You sure we shoulda brought this back with us?" The egg had been not quite cool to the touch when she'd picked it up at Blackberry's insistence. The top half was a bright yellow, the bottom half jet black, joined together at an uneven jagged line. She couldn't imagine why it'd be all alone in the middle of nowhere. "I mean won't its parents be pissed about it being gone?"
"Eevee."
"You think its parents are gone?"
"Vee." The Pokémon nodded solemnly.
"Are you sure?" Lizzie looked dubious. The Eevee curled up by the pack and closed her eyes and the girl sighed. "Fine. Nevermind. But if a horde of angry…whatever that's an egg of, comes rampaging through, I'm blaming you." She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself and stared into the fire moodily.
The silence stretched out until Liz couldn't take it anymore. She stood and shook the snow off her blankets and kicked a good deal more over the fire. She didn't want to accidentally set the forest, or her tent, on fire by not watching it. The flames hissed and flickered madly, dying down reluctantly. She muttered and tossed more snow onto it. Reluctantly, it died to embers, then to faintly glowing coals.
"G'night." She tossed one last handful of snow onto the embers and grabbed up her pack and slipped into the tent. Blackberry stretched and followed her trainer inside with a yawn, disappearing onto the backpack as soon as Liz set it back down. "What, gonna sleep in there tonight?" Lizzie peered into the bag, studying the bundle of brown and white fur curled around the egg.
She shook her head and curled up next to the pack, buried under a small pile of blankets. "See you in the morning…"
Morning came quickly, and Lizzie was only vaguely surprised by the fact that no angry parent Pokémon had come to try and get their egg back. She took the tent down, sighing as it came down much more easily than it went up, and stowed it in her pack. She needed some way to earn some cash pretty soon.
"Well, let's get going, Blackberry." Lizzie paused long enough to make sure the egg was safely stowed in the pack before hefting it onto her shoulders. "Oof! Need to find some other way to carry stuff." She settled the pack on and glanced around the clearing, and pointed in a random direction. "That way looks good, don'tcha think?"
Blackberry looked at her oddly. "Vee…" Deep misgivings on her part, but the girl ignored them and set off in her chosen direction. Blackberry stared after Liz for a moment, then sighed and trotted after her trainer.
Lizzie looked around the forest, humming quietly to herself. It was better than walking in the absolute silence of the sleeping forest, at least. There wasn't even a wind to stir the leafless branches. Everything was covered in white, the dark tree trunks and branches contrasting so sharply as to look black. "Eerie." Liz finally commented, pausing and looking around the forest. "Not even a Pidgey or something. Didn't think it got this dead in winter."
Blackberry considered Liz's words and eventually gave the closest approximation to a shrug she could manage. "Eevee." Liz turned in another slow circle, searching the forest. Black and white, black, white, white and pink, black…pink?
Liz stared at the spot of pink in the middle of everything, and slowly made her way in that direction. "Wha..?" She stopped beside a rather small tree, staring at the pink spot on a patch of snow it its lower branches.
Then the 'snow' began to move. "Gueh…" The pink spot was apparently an eye, as the creature turned to peer down at her. "C-Caterpie?" Lizzie stared. It was indeed the bug type, but it wasn't any ordinary bug type. It was white, not green, and its faceted eyes were pale pink, not red. That was what had attracted her attention in this black and white forest.
"Cada…" It stared back down at her and Lizzie frowned. Bug Pokémon usually hibernated through the winter. Why wasn't this one? It had to be freezing. And it'd probably starve too. She pulled out a pokéball and tossed it at the caterpillar, watching as the bug was sucked inside. The ball tumbled to the ground and it wriggled for a few seconds, then stilled, the red 'capture' light flashing on with a faint *ping*. Lizzie nodded to herself. There. Better than letting it starve to death in the middle of winter. She scooped the ball up and turned north, planning to head back to Pewter and ask that Nurse about this Caterpie and her egg, even if it meant she'd have to put up with the overly cheerful personality.
"That was my Pokémon! Give it back!" Lizzie yelped and spun around, clutching the pokéball tightly, to find herself practically nose to nose with a boy about her age. She stumbled back a step with another startled cry as Blackberry bounded forward to growl softly at him.
He was a couple of inches taller than she was, at least, with scruffy light brown hair that wasn't quite shoulder length. His dark brown eyes glared at her as he held out a gloved hand. His clothes looked to be of hand-me down quality, patched and somewhat frayed around the edges. "Hand it over! I saw it first!" He took a pace forward.
Lizzie finally recovered from her surprise. "Seeing 'n owning aren't the same thing at all. If you saw it first, why didn't you just go and catch it first, too?" How dare he insist that she give him a Pokémon that she had caught! She glared right back, pointedly shoving the pokéball into a pocket as she took a step back to counterpoint his move forward. "I didn't see your name on that Caterpie. Just who do you think ya are?" The boy didn't answer immediately, folding his arms over his chest. They glared at each other for a long moment, then he spoke.
"Angel."
"Angel?" Lizzie blinked at him. "Izzat…" She stopped dead as something dropped out of the tree to his shoulder, then bounded from there to the ground in front of him. Blackberry quickly darted in front of her, growling warningly. "…your Pokémon's name." She frowned at the small Pokémon.
It was another Eevee. It stood taller than Blackberry by three or four inches, and insofar as she could tell it was a male. He was several shades lighter brown than her Eevee's chocolate, and he had a pair of white socks on his forepaws and a tail-tip to match the white ruff. He merely stared at Blackberry dispassionately. The boy flicked out a hand, and with no more warning than that, Angel attacked.
Blackberry dodged to the side with a snarl, paws digging into the snow, sending a spray of white at the other Eevee. Angel darted past nimbly, tail smacking Blackberry's face tauntingly. The smaller Pokémon snarled and gave chase. "Eevee!!"
"Vee." Angel spun about abruptly and tackled Blackberry, who yelped and sank her teeth into his shoulder. The two tumbled apart, circling each other, snarling softly. Angel barely seemed to notice his shoulder, as a few drops of blood began to stain the snow.
Lizzie stared after the two Eevees, then whirled back to the boy. "What is it with you?! Call your Eevee off Blackberry!" He held out a hand. Lizzie glared and shoved it away. "You…I caught it, so it's mine!" They glared.
"I saw it first, kid. Hand the bug over." He took a pace forward, trying to grab hold of her wrist.
"You're the same age as me!" Lizzie glared indignantly. "Name's Lizzie, pal. If you'd caught that Caterpie when you saw it it'd be yours. No ifs ands or buts." Lizzie backed away a few paces, as the boy advanced. "Since you didn't and I did, that means that it's my Pokémon!" She ducked aside as he lunged abruptly, and quickly released another of her Pokémon. "Geodude!"
The rock-type appeared in a flash of red between them, and the boy halted his second attempt, glaring first at it, then at her. "I saw it first. First come first serve. It's mine," he snapped, trying to go around the Geodude and halting as it raised a fist menacingly. "Call it off."
"Call off yours first, pal. You weren't making your clai…"
"Cameron."
Lizzie blinked, thrown totally off topic. "…Gueh?"
He glared at her. "My name is Cameron. We aren't 'pals.'"
"No kidding," Lizzie muttered. She returned to the subject, shaking her head. "Just quit it with the that was mine stuff, okay?" She folded her arms across her chest, glaring over her Geodude, who was now busily packing up a small pile of snowballs. "I caught it, and that's final."
Blackberry darted to the side as Angel tried sending a spray of snow in her direction. She lunged, trying to catch the other Eevee before he recovered from that attack. No such luck, Angel was ready for her, Lunging to meet her. He dropped low, snapping his jaws at one of her forelegs. She skidded to a halt and leapt back with a startled yelp, barely avoiding the attack. Angel followed up immediately, plowing into her and sending her sprawling into a snowdrift. She struggled to get back up, squealing as a heavy weight shoved her back into the snow.
Cameron glanced over at the squeal and shrugged as Lizzie followed his gaze. "If you want the bug that bad, then, I'll have the Eevee instead. Fair trade."
"What..hey…you can't..!" Liz glanced from the Eevees to Cam and back. Blackberry was pinned by the larger Angel, half buried in a snowdrift. The larger Eevee had his teeth buried in the side of her neck, half choking her. "Blackberry!" Lizzie lunged after Cameron, but froze at the strangled cry of her Pokémon as Angel ground his teeth in deeper.
"I wouldn't move unless you want him to kill her." Cameron paused, raising an eyebrow. "'Sides, it's your choice."
Lizzie stared at him. "What..? What choice?" She forced her hands to remain at her sides, though she couldn't stop from balling them into fists. She wished she could wipe that superior expression off his face… "Blackberry's mine!"
"Not anymore…unless you want to deal." Cameron made his way back over, stopping in front of her, eyes narrowing.
"Deal?" Lizzie glared up at him.
"Yes." Cameron folded his arms across his chest. "A deal. It's your choice. One or the other." Lizzie stared at him. He held out a hand. "Easy enough, I'd think. You give me that bug…or I get the Eevee."
I don't normally do postscripts, and I don't plan to regularly, but I figured I should explain how I view the Pokémon world. I just can't quite accept the reality of a bunch of women who aren't even technically related (Sister-in-laws are related only by marriage, and the cousin of said sister-in-law isn't even related at all. Feh.) to each other all somehow going into the exact same profession and looking exactly the same and with the exact same name. Sorry Joy and Jenny. Can't suspend disbelief enough to accept ya. Thus, that is where Wendi comes from. Random name, random Nurse-type.
I also view the Gyms as being set up somewhat like in Ono Toshihiro's mangas. Where they are each a specific step you have to take to reach the League. Pewter being level 1, Cerulean being level 2, and so forth. You can't try for the next level until you beat the previous level. Or something very akin to that. So that's how come Lizzie headed for Pewter to try and get a badge instead of trying to find Koga/Janine's Gym in Fushia.
I may do other postscripts, if I feel the need to clarify other things. Feel free to ask me about anything I may confuse you with, as well, and I'll try my best to answer it. Till next time..ja ne!