Chapter Six

Ricki knew she was done for and closed her eyes tightly and lifted her hands to protect herself,

"Please Houndour…don't!"

The Houndour drew close enough so Ricki could feel the Houndours breath, it was warm and harsh.  Ricki lifted scyther's pok`eball from her belt and threw it out.  Houndour plummeted it back at Ricki with its head.  Ricki gulped and silently said,

"Pichu…"

Ricki looked over to her Pichu who was still sleeping.  Ricki was too afraid to move and knew there was only one thing left to do.  With her leg she kicked away Houndour and stood up and spit into the ground,

"Now tell me, what do you wish of me!"

The Houndour stunned stood up shaky and growled,

"Fine."

Ricki was taken by the Houndour response, since it was very rare that Pokemon could speak the human language. 

"You can talk, I knew there was something different about you"

"Does it really matter to you?"

Ricki looked at the Houndour with a stern look,

"Of course it maters to me, and why have you been attacking and stalking me?!"

"That's none of your concern!  Pokemon like myself in this matter are sworn to secrecy"

"I'm sorry, so why are you talking to me?"

Houndour lowered his head and became in deep thought,

"You dropped this," Houndour said picking up a red piece of fabric inside was money and coins.  Ricki took it and smiled,

"I guess I dropped my money"

"Rather odd of you humans to carry your money like that"

Ricki smiled half heartedly,

"Yeah well, my wallet broke right before I left on my Pokemon journey, I guess I never really got around to getting another one so I used that, I guess it fell out, thank you, that was very sweet of you"

"Don't thank me, now I'll be on my way if you please"

Ricki nodded and got out of Houndour's way,

"Are you okay?"

The Houndour turned around sharply,

"Shut up!  That's none of your concern!"

Houndour turned around and began walking back into the woods.  Ricki sighed and dialed up her dad but stopped and turned off her PGN,

"This can wait till morning," Ricki said and went back to sleep.

            "Hey Ricki, look at this tracks, they look like a dog Pokemon's"

Ricki studied the tracks and remembered her experience from the night before,

*You dropped this…* 

*I guess I dropped my money……….Are you okay?"*

*Shut up!  That's none of your concern! *

            Ricki sat down and gazed at the tracks and thought, there was something wrong with Houndour, I wonder what?  Gabby sat down next to Ricki,

"I bet they were Houndour, what do you think Ricki?"

Ricki nodded,

"Maybe, or they could be something more…we'd better get going, four more days and we should be out of here, at the rate we're going"

Gabby stood up and picked up her backpack.  Ricki grabbed her backpack and they began through the woods.  Ricki looked around and Gabby looked at Ricki puzzled,

"You've been quiet all morning, and you look like you're in deep thought, what's up?"

"Oh…. its nothing…"

Gabby dropped her smile and the two traveled silently for the rest of the day.

"It's getting dark Ricki, how much progress have we made today?"

Ricki opened up her PGN and studied the map,

"We've made pretty good traveling today, we might be able to reach the end of Viridian forest by tomorrow night…"

"Tomorrow night huh?"

Gabby and Ricki began setting up for night and they each let out their Pokemon,

"Gabby, what's pewter city like?"

"It's not too big of a city, its like it was thirty years ago, you've never been?"

"No I haven't, my father and mother…. have a bad memory there"

"Oh, I understand, looks like the soup is done"

Ricki looked at the soup and grabbed a couple of bowls that Gabby had set aside and poured the steaming vegetable soup into each bowl,

"Hey guys!  Come and get it!"

The Pokemon looked up and ran over to the soup bowls and Ricki handed each a bowl and each Pokemon wolfed down their soup.  Gabby poured herself a bowl and Ricki a bowl and they wolfed it down,

"The vegetables around here go great in your veggie soup Gabby"

"Thanks, my dad taught it to me, and he learned it from a man named Brock"

Ricki dropped her empty bowl onto the ground,

"Brock?!"

"Oh, yes, he was my uncle, he died from a knife cut"

Ricki became silent and picked up her bowl and washed it in a nearby river and came back to pick up the remaining bowls and washed them.  Gabby had begun laying out bed for the Pokemon of blankets and laid out her sleeping bag.  Ricki handed Gabby back her bowls and laid out her Sleeping bag,

"Goodnight Gabby"

"I'm sorry, Good-night"

Ricki closed her eyes tightly,

"Your smart Gabby, you were able to easily figure out that's my families bad memory"

Gabby said nothing and drifted to sleep.  Ricki stared up into the sky and sighed, thousands of bright stars lighted the sky.  She smiled and went to sleep, not hearing anything as the wind rustled through the trees.

            "Ricki wake up!"  Gabby screamed shaking Ricki violently, "Recall your Pokemon, we've got to get out of here!"

Ricki bolted up and looked around her, the forest was ablaze with fire and smoke.  Ricki coughed harshly and recalled Scyther, Chikorita and picked up Pichu and ran.  Gabby was nowhere to be seen and she raced quickly through the flames.  Her backpack fell over her back, uncomfortably.  She didn't care and ran harder and harder as charcoaled trees fell all around her.  In front of her were bright streetlights of a city, and Gabby,

"Ricki!  Come on this way!"

Ricki plowed through the forest and collapsed on the street and looked back as the forest grew brighter with the choking red flames.  In the middle of the fire was Pichu, coughing and crying.  Ricki threw off her pok`eballs and backpack,

"Gabby, if I don't make it." A loud crash sounded as a tree fell close to Pichu, creating a thick fiery barrier, "Watch my Pokemon and tell everyone I'm sorry!"

Ricki raced into the forest and leaped over the log and grabbed Pichu and held her close,

"It's okay Pichu, I got you!"

Ricki jumped back over the log and felt her foot snag onto a log.  Pichu slipped out of her arms and skidded onto the sidewalk on the city in front of her.  Pichu raced closely to Gabby who was desperately screaming,

"Ricki get out of there!"

Another log of fire fell near Ricki, hitting her face and she screamed in pain.  Gabby moved away further and Ricki tugged at her shoelace that was caught on a log.  Ricki got her foot free and as she was standing she heard a piercing cry from Gabby.  Ricki looked above her as a log of fire came from directly above her.  She screamed and tired to cover her face as it hit her, and there was no pain.

            Ricki bolted up, sweat dripped down her face,

"It was just a dream"

Ricki sat up and shivered, it was cold in the night.  Ricki looked around, Gabby and the Pokemon were sound asleep.  Ricki sighed and went to the river and cupped some water with her hands and drank, it was cold and refreshing.  Ricki wiped her mouth and went back to bed.  She looked up at the stars and couldn't fall back to sleep.  She pulled out her PGN and looked at the map and figured it would take two more days of nonstop traveling to reach Pewter city, but if they did stop, it would take three more days. Ricki put her PGN back and looked into the sky,

"That dream…it was so real…I even feel warm from the fire, and my mouth tastes like fire, but maybe I'm just coming down with something."

 Ricki put away her PGN and slowly fell back to sleep.

            It was afternoon the next day when Ricki and Gabby spotted a fenced area and large pastures.  Gabby leaned against the fences and looked at the Pokemon racing through the long grasses,

"Wow, Ponyta and Rapidash!"

"It's a farm…"  Ricki said raising her eyebrows in dislike.

"You have something against farms?"

"I hate them"

"Hate is a strong word,"

"It just doesn't appeal to me, but whatever floats your boat"

Gabby rolled her eyes and looked behind her to see a teenage boy with a bucket of oats in both his hands.  Gabby tugged at Ricki's sleeve and Ricki looked behind her and blushed.

"You gals, are you trainers?"

Ricki and Gabby nodded.  Ricki looked at the boy, he had one khaki pants and a blue denim shirt with a shirt under it.  Silver hair fell below his chin, straight and perfectly.  His eyes were blue and he smiled at Ricki,

"The names Jacob, welcome to Breeze farm"

"Are you a farmer," Ricki blurted out accidentally.

"No, this is my cousins farm, I'm just helping out, how about a battle…girls.."

Ricki stepped up,

"I'm Ricki, and I accept your challenge Jacob"

Jacob smiled and pulled a blue pok`eball from his belt,

"Let's make it a three one three battle"

Ricki pulled out Chikoritas pok`eball and nodded,

"Agreed," and threw out Chikoritas pok`eball, "Go Chikorita!"

"I choose you Ponyta!"

Chikorita appeared and a white hoarse with a fiery mane appeared from Jacob's pok`eball.

"Chikorita use vine whip!"

"Ponyta use ember!"

Chikorita slapped Ponyta with a vine whip and Ponyta aimed a fierce rain of fire onto Chikorita, who stood stunned,

"Ponyta use a tackle!"

"Chikorita use leech seed!"

Chikorita leaped out of the way of Ponyta and fired a seed into Ponyta and a set of vine wrapped around Ponyta who fell to the ground.

"Return Ponyta, not too bad Ricki, but this isn't over yet, I choose Growlithe!"

A dog with black stripes and a red body appeared,

"Chikorita use razor leaf!"

"Growlithe, use flamethrower through Chikoritas razor leaf!"

Growlithe leaped back and a mass of fire raced through Chikoritas razor leaf and straight into Chikorita.  Chikorita stood up shaky and Ricki recalled her,

"Go Pichu!"

Pichu hopped down from Ricki's shoulder and faced Growlithe, who seemed to laugh at her sight,

"Pichu use a thundershock!"

Pichu charged up and aimed a powerful thundershock at Growlithe who collapsed with paralyze,

"Growlithe!"  Jacob yelled. "You earned a good rest" Jacob said still shaking recalling Growlithe, "I choose Charmeleon!"

Ricki told Pichu to come back and sent out Scyther,

"Scyther concentrate and remember your training!"

Scyther nodded and the two faced each other with rage in their eyes,

"Charmeleon use a flamethrower!"

"Scyther use your speed and dodge it!"

Scyther disappeared just as Charmeleons flamethrower reached him and appeared behind Charmeleon,

"Scyther use slash!"

Scyther crashed its Slash into Charmeleon, who was flung into the fence, breaking it into two,

"Charmeleon, use fire spin!"

 "Get out of the way Scyther!"

Scyther zipped away and slashed at Charmeleon who use a quick flamethrower on Scyther, who fell back. 

"Charmeleon finish Scyther with another flamethrower!"

"Scyther!"

Scyther looked up and began spinning around swiftly creating a tornado, the flamethrower engulfed Scyther until only smoke emitted from the flamethrower.  Scyther quit spinning and leaped up above Charmeleon,

"Scyther finish Charmeleon with a wing attack!"

Scyther spun in the sky and whipped past Charmeleon.  Scyther landed and looked back as Charmeleon collapsed onto the ground.

"Scyther!  You did it!"

"Man…your very good"

Ricki recalled Scyther and shook Jacob's hand,

"Thanks for the battle"

Jacob nodded and looked at Gabby,

"You want to battle?"

"No thanks…I'm a breeder"

"Oh, my cousin is a breeder, you want to come in?"

Gabby nodded,

"You breed Pokemon on a farm?"

"Yeah, my cousin and his family do"

Gabby and Ricki followed Jacob to a large pink house with a light blue roof.  Jacob opened the door for Ricki and Gabby and heavenly smells of pie filled the air,

"Aunt Iggy!  I meet some trainers, can they stay for dinner?"

"Sure!  You can show them around the farm until time to eat, in about an hour or two"

Jacob led Gabby and Ricki outside and showed them a pasture of roaming Rapidash and Ponyta,

"They're the fastest in the world, and we use them for transportation, they ride out tomorrow if you need a lift somewhere"

Ricki nodded,

"We're heading to Pewter city, how much is it to go?"

"It's two dollars a head, but you two can ride for free," Jacob said winking at Ricki.  Ricki blushed and nodded slowly.

Ricki pulled out her Pokedex and pointed them to a Ponyta and a Rapidash,

            PONYTA, THE FIRE HORSE POKEMON.  PONYTA'S HOOVES ARE HARDER THAN DIAMONDS.  PONYT WILL KICK AT ANYTHING THAT STANDS BEHIND IT.

            RAPIDASH THE FIRE HORSE POKEMON.  THIS POKEMON LOVES TO GALLOP.  THE FASTER IT GOES, THE LONGER THE SWAYING FLAMES OF ITS MANE WILL BECOME.

Jacob lead them further down to a pasture full of Tauros and Miltank,

"My cousin and his family use Miltank for their milk, and they use the Tauros for rodeos they have over in Johto every year"

Ricki pointed her Pokedex at Tauros and Miltank

            TAUROS THE BULL POKEMON.  THIS POKEMON HAS MANY TAILS, WHICH IT USES TO SWAT AWAY BUGS.  ONCE THIS POKEMON STARTS CHARGING IT DOESN'T STOP.

            MILTANK.  THIS POKEMON IS HIGHLY FAVORED FOR ITS NUTISCHISH AND GOOD MILK.  IT IS COMMONLY FOUND IN PASTURE'S AND MEADOWS, TENDING TO THE INJURED AND SICK.

            "Here are the Mareep and Flaaffy, my cousin and his family cut their wool to be used in clothing.  Mareep make your average clothing, but a flaffy's is harder to made and softer, more durable."

"Flaffy and Mareep?" Ricki said pointing her pokedex at the meadow grazing Pokemon.

            MAREEP THE WOOL POKEMON.  IT STORES LOTS OF AIR IN ITS SOFT FUR, ALLOWING IT TO STAY COOL IN SUMMER AND WARM IN WINTER.

            FLAFFY.  THIS POKEMON'S WOOL IS RARE AND SLOWLY GROWS BACK AFTER IT IS SHAVED OFF.  THIS POKEMONS WOOL STORES POWERFUL ELECTRIC CURRENTS AND PRODUCES STATIC ELECTRICTY.

"That's all the Pokemon here gals, I guess dinner is ready now, so we should be heading back"

Ricki and Gabby nodded and followed Jacob back to the house, where delicious smells emitted from the pink house with the blue roof.   Jacob led them into the dining room, which supported a brilliant skylight roof and expensive plates, glasses and silverware lined the table perfectly.  Ricki sat next to Jacob and Gabby sat next to Aunt Iggy and her family.  A maid in a black and white outfit served them their dinner and after they said grace, enjoyed the meal,

"So Ricki, Gabby, where are you from?" Ms. Iggy asked, chewing on a piece of salad.

"I'm from Pewter City, if I may, I hope to ride your Rapidash"

"Of course, you may ride free, Jacob mentioned that to us"

"Ricki, what about you?" Mr. Kevin asked, grabbed another piece of chicken.

"I'm from Pallet town"

"Pallet's a nice place, many top researchers reside there, including Ash Ketchum and Misty Ketchum"

Ricki nodded and dug her fork into her salad and chicken, "Yes, they are very nice people."

They ate and chatted about the weather and soon finished up their pie.  Jacob led Gabby and Ricki around so they could tour the house and lead them to a bedroom on the second floor,

"You can stay here tonight, in the morning, when I leave to continue on my Pokemon quest I'm heading to Pewter city like you two, so we'll leave at 7:00, so we can get there by noon"

Jacob left and Gabby and Ricki each got into their own bed.  Ricki picked the blue one and Gabby picked the pink one.  They released their Pokemon and feed them and went to sleep.

            Ricki and Gabby got up early the next morning and met up with Jacob and Lee who were assigning a group of people to their own Rapidash.  Jacob noticed Ricki and waved to them and showed them to their Rapidash.  Ricki and Gabby hopped on there and Jacob smiled,

"Don't be too scared, but Rapidash run to Pewter city, these guys can hit a hundred miles an hour or more,"

Lee and the others began racing ahead and Ricki, Gabby and Jacob followed quickly behind them.  By noon they had arrived at Pewter city where a giant rock was etched with writing.

                                                                        Welcome to Pewter city

The city built on stone and made of stone

Jacob handed Ricki his PGN number, 005-90 and Ricki saved it into the memory of her PGN.  Ricki and Gabby waved good-bye to Jacob as he headed into Pewter city.  Lee tied up the Rapidash and began leading them back to his home,

"Gabby, where is your house?"

"It's in that cabin over there," Gabby said pointing to a large cabin.  Ricki and Gabby began towards the cabin and when they arrived a man in his forties flung open the door,

"Gabby!"

Gabby leapt into the mans arms,

"I've missed you so much daddy, my group left me…"

"I know, but I'm so glad your save I was so worried about you!"

"Father, this is Ricki, she helped me get back home"

Gabby's father put Ricki down,

"I can't thank you enough Ricki, is there anything I can do for you?"

"No sir"

"Please!  I insist!  Surely there's something you want?  I know, are you a trainer?"

"Yes I am"

"Then how about I just give you a gym badge?"

"No sir, I want to earn it on my own"

"Alright…we'll head to the gym at 3:00 this afternoon, I'll meet you there, you can heal your Pokemon if you need too"

Ricki nodded and said good-bye to Gabby,

"Gabby are you going to come to the gym?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, my dads a rock trainer, so I'd advise you use Chikorita"

"Thanks for the tip Gabby, I'll see you"

Ricki and Gabby waved good-bye as Ricki began into Pewter city. 

            Pewter city was a trantional town.  A few locally owned shops lined the street; many were made of brick and rock, commonly found in the area.  Ricki and Pichu looked around, they had 2 hours to shop till time to head to the Pokemon center and then the gym.  Ricki noticed a Pokemon pet store and walked in.  A lady with bright red hair asked her if she was looking for anything and Ricki shook her head,

"Just looking"

The woman retreated back to the counter and Ricki noticed cages filled with sentret, skitty, Meowth, pidgey and Nidorans.  Ricki skimmed by the rest but one caught her eye.  A Houndour sat in a pen and a necklace with an emerald hung around her neck.  Ricki studied the Houndour and looked at the price tag, 3, 500 dollars.

"Down payment?!" Ricki said aloud.

The woman at the counter smiled and explained,

"This is a very special Houndour, she is the daughter of elite four member Karen's Houndoom.  The total price is 50,000 dollars…if you have that much" 

"Dad has that much" Ricki mumbled,

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking aloud"

"Oh, well, did you see anything else?"

"No ma'am"

"Thank you for stopping by!" The woman said as Ricki opened the door to leave, then heard an alarm go off,

"However ma'am, I think that Pichu on your shoulder needs to stay here, unless you intend to pay for it"

Ricki spun around as two cops grabbed her arms,

"What?!  That's my Pikachu and I can prove it!"

The cops let go of her arms and carried Pichu over to the counter while Ricki pulled out her PGN and handed it to the two cops.  They studied it and nodded,

"So your Ash's fourth daughter huh?  I didn't know you wanted to be a trainer, like you dad"

"Yeah, can I have Pichu back please?"

Gently one of the cops handed her back Pichu, who climbed back onto Ricki's head, and angrily shook her fist at the nearby woman,

"Pichu..!"  Ricki sat grabbing the squirming Pichu and holding her.

"We're sorry ms. Ketchum, this woman here has been losing it for a while, second call this week"

The woman butted in and sneered,

"Well, last week they were all getting stolen, and the one earlier this week was too!"

One of the policemen nodded,

"Yes that's true, but, no need to blame innocent trainers and cause an uproar"

The woman made a hasty retreat into the back of the store and Ricki walked out with the two cops,

"We're sorry again,"

"What kind of disappearances?"

"Well, apparently its Team Rocket's doing's"

"Team Rocket?  They have to be getting up there in age, they were around when my dad was a kid"

"Well, you do know that Giovanni is your grandfather"

Ricki turned in haste,

"I wish people didn't know that"

"Be grateful Ricki, if not for your father and Mother, and your grandmother, and your aunts, and others, they could be a lot worse than what they are now"

Ricki nodded bitterly,

"Bad ole Giovanni, he's about sixty-seven now"

"Well we need to be getting back to our rounds, a good day to you Ms. Ketchum, and keep out of harms way"

Ricki nodded,

"I will, thanks"

Ricki headed towards the center and looked at her watch,

"Guess we can't shop now, we've got to get to the center Pichu"

Ricki quicken her pace and soon was running to the center…it was 2:45.