First Journeys Chapter 2
by MacrossGreen
Author's Note: Not much to say here. I'm not entirely sure how to finish up with this little fanfic without feedback, but I think I know where to go at this point. I think it'll be a pretty long series, at this rate. I seem to have taken my style from the Mega Man Legends fics I've written and transferred it over to this pokemon fic. Correct me if I'm wrong about that, of course. hehe
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Arik was woken up in the morning by Tsai's little cry. "Niiii! Ni! Niiiidorrr!" and Arik smiled a little before his face went blank, his eyes showing how serious he got as he remembered the Dratini that was lying beside Tsai. He began to panic a little, his steps slow as he headed over to the pokemon on the bed. He came over the bed, eyes somewhat wider than normal (from another's perspective) as he looked at the bandaged pokemon. Her eyes were open slightly, and the pain was evident in them. "Looks like you made it. I'm glad." he said quietly to her, coming down so that they were at about eye level, his hand moving to cup the Dratini's muzzle again so she could tell that he was there again.
Tsai looked up and behind Arik as its ears twitched, and then bounded off the bed and over to the door that led into the ICU. Arik heard the door open, but paid it no heed as he smiled to the little Dratini, who licked at his fingertips once. "Hmm, hungry? Let's see what we can do about that, okay?" he told her, and then as he stood, he knew someone was there beside him. Arik looked over to see Nurse Joy, and he smiled at her as he saw that she had some soft pokemon food on a small plate. "Thanks, Nurse Joy." he said to her, and she smiled as she took one of the small chunks and placed it on her palm before setting it in front of the Dratini.
"Don't push yourself, Dratini. Eat only what you can, okay?" she said sweetly, almost whispering to the pokemon as she motioned for Arik to get outta there with her free hand. He noticed that she was still wearing the nurse's uniform, but her hair wasn't curled again yet. He nodded and walked quietly over to the door, walking outside from it just as he heard the sliding door open in the lobby, and he walked out that way. He smiled politely to the boy who had entered, remembering him from the other day when he'd brought in his pokemon and left his Sandslash to recuperate.
"Ah, welcome back. Ready to see your Sandslash?"" he asked, moving to motion the trainer down the hall to the ICU ward. The trainer grinned before speaking. He looked to be American more than anything else- no really distinct features that would give away his lineage. Blonde hair, brown eyes, about 6ft tall, maybe?
"Yeah, I miss that Sandslash of mine. Toxic attacks are incredibly strong!" he stated, and Arik chuckled softly at that. He might be stating the obvious, especially to someone who had dealt with pokemon suffering from those attacks for quite a while now, but hey, he was also used to people talking about the attack as well.
"Yes, they are, but you should remember that poison types are immune to poison attacks. Try using your poison type pokemon to battle Janine next time." Arik told him, and the trainer nodded in agreement. A tug at Arik's pant leg caught his attention, and he smiled as he saw Tsai there. "Hey you, come on up here buddy." and Arik kneeled down to pick up the little Nidoran. "Done eating now, Tsai? Here, meet the trainer of that Sandslash you saw earlier. This guy's name is Tsai." he said, holding Tsai in his arms as he looked to the trainer. The trainer reached over and scratched Tsai's head gently, smiling a little.
"I've never seen a Nidoran this small before... he must be a newborn, huh?" he asked, to which Arik nodded slightly. "I think so. I caught him in the Safari Zone yesterday, along with a pokemon in the ICU right now. Let's go and get your Sandslash now." Arik replied, and while still carrying Tsai, walked over to the door that led into the ICU ward. Through the large window, they could see that Nurse Joy was still inside, and Arik smiled as she saw her doing something with the Dratini. "Go on in, Nurse Joy can help you if you need anything." he said to the trainer.
The young man walked into the room and to his Sandslash, who had been otherwise motionless all morning. It was up on it's feet now, arms raised as the two hugged. Arik couldn't help but to smile, and Joy did the same as she picked up the bloody bandages that she'd taken off from the Dratini. The trainer looked over and saw the Dratini, and watched it for a moment. Arik walked into the room now, closing the door behind him as he took slow steps over to the Dratini. The sound of running water at the sink told him Nurse Joy was washing her hands now, and as Arik saw his Dratini, he smiled a little bit. "Well now, you look much better than you did yesterday, little one." he says, setting the Nidoran down on the bedside before he moved over to the head of the bed to look over the over 5ft long, serpent-like body that was before him.
"All we need is a Hyper Potion to finish healing her, Arik." Nurse Joy told him, even as he took stock of the injuries. She had cuts all over, including a long one that might remind someone of a cut that would be used to gut a fish. He shivered a little and looked to the Dratini's face, seeing her pain-racked eyes with his own eyes simply made him shiver again. He couldn't help it, he could only guess as to how much pain she must be in at the moment.
"Only one problem with that... the PokeMart here in Fuchsia doesn't sell Hyper Potions, does it?" he asked, and when Nurse Joy nodded at that comment, he sighed. "Damn. And the pokemon center doesn't keep any around, either. It's a long way to Cinnabar, and I don't have any pokemon that can Surf, either. Hm..." and he closed his eyes, trying to think of something he could do to get a Hyper Potion and get it back here fast. Then, Arik blinked, remembering something. "I'll be right back... I might actually have one." he says, and he rushed out of the ICU ward and back to the lobby. Looking around, he didn't see anyone else around, so he walked quickly over to the little PC corner and logged in.
This PC was kept around for the trainers- there used to be more, but since fewer trainers came around these days, the other PCs were sent to other centers around Kanto. At least this one remained, along with the item teleporter, and he pulled up his own item list. It was updated pretty often, actually. His parents kept their own items in with his listings, and with a grin, he found a Hyper Potion. Quickly, he typed in the command to retrieve the healing spray from the PC, and sent an e-mail with details about why he took it to his parents. With a grin on his face as he watched it as it materialized in the transporter, he waited for it to finish. After a few more seconds, the transfer was completed, and he logged out of the PC.
The trainer with the Sandslash was already gone by the time he got to the ICU room, and he smiled a little as he held onto the spray bottle carefully as he walked over to the table. Joy was there already, petting the Dratini to comfort it. They couldn't let her get wet yet, simply because then the spray would be diluted thanks to the water. "Got it... kinda got lucky, there was only one in the PC." he said, even as he cracked the seal and set the spray so that it would cover a small area. Then, with his fingers on the 'trigger' in front of the bottle itself, he gently pressed inwards, the spray came out in a fine mist that soon landed upon the Dratini's body. He sprayed directly onto the wounds, a startled cry escaping the Dratini as it felt the cold, somewhat painful sensation on her wounds. But, the healing spray was certainly working, as he saw the pokemon's scales seem to regenerate immediately and he smiled, emptying the bottle on the Dratini's body. Joy smiled as well, lightly rubbing the pokemon's ear ridges as it shivered against her and the bed.
"Looks like it's working, huh?" he asked, and Nurse Joy nodded, both still smiling as the Dratini fully opened its eyes to look at them. "How are you feeling now, Dratini?" he asked, reaching over to rub the scales on it's back gently. A cry escaped her as she slid over to Arik, lightly entwining his hand in her coils before she licked the back of his hand lightly. "Dra! Ditini! Draaa!" she went, and Joy patted Arik on the back. Tsai nudged up against the Dratini, who turned to look at the horned pokemon and rubbed her head against Tsai's cheek lightly
"I'd say she's alright. It was pretty close when you first brought her in, I should say." Nurse Joy told him, smiling still before scratching the pokemon's back lightly. "She's so light... better be careful with her for a while until she has her strength back, Arik." she said before pointing over to the counter where there was a small stack of papers. "You'll probably want to look through those for some information on your Dratini and Nidoran. Professor Oak left an e-mail earlier, saying that the pokedex should be here later tonight. He's sending it express by Fearow, along with something he called a starter kit. I guess it's a good way for you to begin."
Arik smiled a little, and tried to get his arm out from where his Dratini had wrapped around it- no dice, he thought, as she continued to keep herself around his forearm. "Yeah, I guess so... hey, Joy? Could you transfer information from the park balls to normal pokeballs for me? I think the park will want those back before the end of the week, you know." he asked her, chuckling softly as finally the Dratini got his attention more by Wrapping about his arm and squeezing even more. "Ack... Careful there, Ame." he said to the Dratini, coming up with a name for her on the spot. Joy, Tsai, and the Dratini looked at him in surprise at that word. "Yeah, that's right... I've decided to call you Ame, short for Amethyst." he told the pokemon, who seemed pleased enough about the name, started to squeeze his arm even harder, nearly dragging him to the floor.
"She may not weigh much, but she's obviously pretty strong, Arik. And yes, I'll go and do that now." she said, and headed to where the two pokeballs were set on a counter, taking them out of the ICU ward and towards the counter area. With Joy gone, he looked to his two pokemon and groaned slightly as he felt the pokemon constrict on his arm yet again. "Hey, Ame, stop that. It's starting to hurt... I don't want you to strain yourself." he told her, and she looked sorry as she unravelled from him. Tsai looked as if he was simply going to laugh his little ass off at the way these two were dealing with one another.
"Alright, come on you two. Let's get outta here." he said, and both pokemon got off the bed and headed for the door, with Arik right behind them. He pulled the door open, and with a "Niidor!", both Tsai and Ame hurried towards the lobby. Arik could hear a sharp cry of surprise come from Nurse Joy, and he laughed at about the same time that she did as he came out to the lobby. Tsai was up on the counter and Ame was simply coiled about Joy's legs while she sat behind the counter. The two park balls were having the information copied to the new pokeballs- normal Poke Balls, from the coloration on the new ones. "Hey! Come on guys, leave Nurse Joy to her work now." he told them, and Ame uncoiled herself from the pink haired nurse, who was by now laughing uncontrollably.
"Nurse Joy! What's so funny?" came a voice not from the two of them, and all eyes were drawn to the computer behind the counter. On the screen, unknown to them until now, was Professor Oak's image again. "I hope you received my E-mail earlier, Nurse Joy... oh! Is that the Dratini I see there?" he asked, as Ame moved up to look directly into the camera. Nurse Joy nodded, and then realized that Oak couldn't see her do that with Ame in the way, as she was at the moment.
"Yes, this is Ame, Arik's Dratini, professor. She lasted the night and we managed to get a Hyper Potion to heal the rest of her wounds a little while ago. She seems to be quite alright now, actually." she replied, and Arik grinned a little. Ame moved away from the camera after bumping against it with her muzzle, and she gave a little cry as she slithered back up over the counter to wrap about Arik's chest. "She seems to be pretty energetic, I'd say."
Professor Oak laughed a little at her words and nodded. "Well, has the Fearow arrived yet? Fuchsia isn't that far from Pallet Town, you know. Anyway, I hope Arik will be able to spare Ame for a day or two sometime soon, because I can't wait to start studying her!" Oak said, and Arik chuckled softly afterwards. He somehow knew that he was going to say that. Nurse Joy glanced up to Arik, and then looked back to the camera, shaking her head slowly to reply to Oak's question. "No, huh? Well, I guess that's alright. It should be there soon. The little starter kit I sent to help you both out includes two pokedexes, a dozen pokeballs, and a couple of potions. Those should get you both ready for your journeys, though I must say, I was surprised that you said you wanted to be a trainer too, Nurse Joy." Professor Oak remarked.
Nurse Joy's face went a little red and Arik looked bewildered- she'd never told him that she wanted to be a trainer too! From the look and sound of things, however, she didn't want anyone to know. "Ah... Joy?" he asked, his voice kind of quiet. She glanced at him, her face still red, and then she looked to the floor again quickly, hands in her lap as she clasped them together. On the other end of the line, the Professor had heard his voice and smiled a bit into the camera.
"Oh, is Arik there? Come on into view, please, unless you're busy helping someone?" he said, and Arik obliged by coming around. Unfortunately, the move sort of startled Ame, and he had to pet along Ame's long body softly to calm her down again. "I see that your pokemon have taken a liking to you already. I had heard that dragons are notoriously difficult to tame, but your Ame must be an exception to the rule, hm?" he commented, a little laugh escaping him.
"Maybe... I didn't even know anything about Dratini's until yesterday, professor, so that might be true. She's certainly a little skittish, but like-able. She's friendly towards Nurse Joy and myself, so maybe that is only because we helped her when she was badly hurt." Arik replied to the professor, who nodded in agreement. It was quite probable, the professor knew, that that was likely the case. No matter, really. To study a dragon pokemon found in Kanto... that would be very interesting to him. Very few dragon-type pokemon he had ever seen came from Kanto. Most came from Johto, where a clan of Dragon Trainers resided in Blackthorn City. They even had their own gym and badge, and only very few trainers managed to defeat the woman who was the gym leader there.
"Mm, I see. I updated the pokedex I sent you with the most up-to-date information I have on pokemon, including Dratini, but there's really very little on that particular subject. I could tell from when I saw your Nidoran that he is a newborn. I put in some information on raising young pokemon as well, so be sure to read up on that. Finally, if you have any questions about pokemon, about where things are, etc, the pokedexes I'm sending both you and Nurse Joy both have several other functions- Trainer ID, a Kanto Map, and an AM/FM radio adapter. If you have the radio playing, you cannot use any of the other features though." the professor went on, and Arik nodded slightly before being pushed aside as Nurse Joy got out of her chair and ran off.
"What the... um, professor, thank you, for both myself and for Nurse Joy. I think I should go see if she is alright, so we'll have to talk again another time, alright?" he asked, and when Professor Oak nodded and hung up, he did the same. "Tsai, follow her!" he said, and he walked after Joy, wondering just what had happened there as he continued to pet Ame. "Nurse Joy?" he called out, walking down the hallway- he hadn't had the chance to see which hallway she had disappeared down, but he was pretty certain he knew where she was. Each pokemon center had a bedroom for the Nurse Joys who operated them, and he smiled a little as he came to the door to her room- there was a red light near the lock, which told him that it was locked and without the correct numerical password for the key pad lock, there was no way for him to get in.
"Nurse Joy... why didn't you ever tell me you wanted to be a pokemon trainer? It's not that big a deal, is it?" he asked through the door. Tsai was at his feet, lightly scratching at the door with his horn at the same time. Ame made a small cry, though likely it would travel through the door to reach her ears. "Ditini! Draaaa!" Arik smiled a little, and sighed softly. "I thought, at times, that you weren't satisfied just by healing pokemon, Joy. You always went out more than most of the other Nurse Joys I've met. You make more friends. You even hired me on here, for some reason. Come on boss, talk to me. You don't always have to be alone, you know." he said, talking to her, even with the door in the way. He stepped back a little and leaned against the wall behind him, touching it with his shoulders as he watched her door.
It took about two minutes before the red light turned green, and the door was opened as Joy came out. Trails of moisture glistened down her cheek, and her outfit was lightly stained darker by her tears as they dripped from her chin. Arik smiled softly to her, and Ame slithered from around Arik's body as Joy came over to him, closing her eyes as she hugged her friend tightly. Her body seemed to shake as the tears wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes, and Arik hugged her gently at first, and then more firmly, letting her get everything off her chest as she obviously needed to. "Shh... it's okay, Joy." he told her, whispering into her ear as he felt his own shirt become wet with her tears as she cried.
"I always wanted to be a trainer... not a... not a nurse, Arik!" she said, her voice muffled against his chest as she spoke between sobs. "I want to... wanna... travel with... with pokemon. I don't wanna just... stay in one... one place, forever!" she said, sobbing still as she hugged Arik tighter. He could tell she was getting everything out now, that this must be hard as hell for her to say. Ame and Tsai were quiet as they watched this go on, and Arik just held the pink-haired girl against him softly, letting her say what she obviously need to.
"Arik... You're a good friend." she says, sniffling a little before slipping away, her hands rising to wipe away her tears from her cheeks. "Oops... looks like I made a little mess on your shirt." she says, her face pretty red and flushed as a result of her crying. Arik shook his head a little and hugged her again softly. He hadn't really realized how much she needed a friend before, and had no idea that she was so insecure. She always seemed completely together, almost every day that they worked together. Who could have known that she was really sad about how she had wound up, up until now?
"Don't worry about it, Joy... but if you're going to be going on a pokemon journey, you had better let your family know, so that another Joy can be sent here to run the center. Not to mention that this way, they won't need to worry about you, too." he tells her, smiling as he looked her in the eyes before releasing her from his hold on her. She sniffled once more before smiling again, her arms leaving from around his body now as she stepped out from the hug that they had been sharing.
A few hours later, preparations were being made. For the first time since he had arrived back at the center with Ame, Arik's pokemon had been returned to their new pokeballs. His backpack was getting stuffed with as much as he could carry: a small cage-like protrusion underneath the pack had room for a sleeping bag there. Inside, a few small things- The center pocket of the front of the backpack became a place for 'utility' tools- a flat blade screwdriver, a small container hold a knife, fork, and spoon. A umbrella hung along the side, held fast by a bungee cord. The main part of the pack became the storage area. Two notebooks and an air-tight container for mechanical pencils, lead, and erasers took up very little room.
Much of the rest of that area became room for food- a trip to the grocery store produced quite a bit of food, but unfortunately for them, neither had specialized in cooking in the wild. A medium-sized frying pan was hanging on the other side of the pack, held up with a bungee cord as well. Still, he packed canned foods, some bread in a tupperware container so it wouldn't get squashed, and a small refrigeration device provided a place for a few bottles of water, soda, and milk. An even smaller, yet sturdier area of that device allowed for half a dozen eggs to sit within without worry of breaking the eggs inside. A 'whisk' was also set into the refrigeration device, something he'd need if he was to cook eggs. Finally, a dozen large packs of pokemon food (generic, unfortunately) was stuffed inside as well. A small recipe book found its way into the pack as well, and then the zipping of the backpack was finished. It looked about twice as large as it should be, but because it was a high-quality backpack made for trainers, it wasn't about to snap, break, or rip. In the side pouches (one on each side of the pack), he filled with potions, antidotes, and a few Full Heal items for use with his pokemon.
Nurse Joy was on the phone still, he could hear, as he walked back from the bunk room he had been packing in. He pulled his jacket on, before slipping the backpack on completely, the frying pan swaying slightly against his back and backpack. On his jacket, his two pokemon hung in their pokeballs. He had a satchel on his right side, looped around his belt to keep it in place there. In here, he put in the few pokeballs he had managed to purchase from the PokeMart- four of them. They'd have to do until the Fearow arrived, he thought, and he smiled as he looked over to Nurse Joy as he neared the counter. She looked like she was crying again, and so he didn't bother getting any closer- he didn't want to make things worse or anything. She glanced up at Arik and smiled gratefully to him, then went back to talking with her family again.
He walked to the sliding door, and when it slid open, Arik walked outside, looking up to the sky. It was still pretty overcast, with clouds overhead, when he blinked and looked around slowly. His eyes narrowed as he looked about slowly, wondering what it was he sensed out here. Then, it happened, and he narrowly slipped away from the soft 'whish' sound that struck past his head. The sound came twice more in rapid succession, and when he looked to where each object made a 'thunk' sound in the pokemon center's wall beside him, he saw a total of three shurikens there. With a smirk, Arik looked towards the person who was now visibly walking towards the pokemon center.
"Well now, Janine, there wasn't a need to do that... I'm not about to challenge you to a gym battle, after all." he said, teasing the gym leader who was headed his way. Her raven-black hair streamed back behind her, held together by a tie about 3/4 the way down the length of it. She just assumed a cocky grin as she came up idly, walking slowly as if she had done nothing at all. Her rather dark purple cape flowed behind her in the wind that had been blowing since before he had stepped outside. Her black and purple-lined kimono hugged to her body tightly, much like the outfit her father wore when he was gym leader a few years back.
"Perhaps not, but I do need to test your reflexes once in a while. One never knows when another makes progress until that person is tested." she replied, a somewhat cryptic remark given in response to his own much more direct comment. "After all, it seems to me that you've finally become an actual pokemon trainer, and not some flunky to the Pokemon Center. I was disappointed when you didn't become a pokemon trainer a few years back, remember?" she said, and he shrugged a little. She had been a bit of a rival in school before she became a pokemon trainer, and now she was already a gym leader. "And you have two pokemon already? Must be a Pidgey and a Rattata." she said, laughing haughtily as she passed by him, their shoulders brushing against one another's before she was past. She stopped to pull out her shuriken from the wall of the pokemon center, even as he turned to watch her.
"Oh, I wouldn't quite say that, Janine... though I wouldn't mind those pokemon in the slightest. Each pokemon has their own strengths, after all." he replied, grinning again as he heard her laughter stop as she stepped inside, turning to face him once more. She looked him over critically, unaware that Nurse Joy had been about to say something to her before she had opened her mouth to speak with Arik again. She still had that smug look on her face- Arik wanted nothing more than to knock that particular look off of her face.
"Well then, why do you not challenge me to a gym battle, eh, Arik? You know you'll just be defeated by my sinister techniques." she tells him, and to that Arik laughed, walking into the pokemon center after her. The door closed behind him as he stepped away from the doorway, and he watched her warily. He was sorely tempted, but with a young Nidoran and a recovering Dratini, he knew when he was outclassed and overpowered.
"Because one of my pokemon was badly hurt at the Safari Zone before I managed to catch it, and it is recovering right now. And, the other is a bit young to battle right now." he replied, admitting that he had only managed to catch them recently (as in yesterday). She figured that much out pretty quickly, and shrugged slightly. She looked at him with contempt now, as he stood there. She hadn't been defeated in a gym battle for a while now, and obviously she was a bit more hard-headed and annoying than she had been for quite some time.
"Fine, hide behind your excuses, but I expect you to come and battle for a badge with me sometime, Arik. I cannot wait to defeat you in a battle, old friend." and she grinned as she said that, spinning on her heels before walking over towards the counter that Joy was standing behind, smiling benignly to the gym leader. If there was anyone Janine was intimidated by, it was Nurse Joy- simply because she had defeated Janine once when she had first begun training pokemon. Nurse Joy had used the Chansey and Janine, a Beedrill. By the time Chansey had finished with Beedrill... it wasn't a very pretty sight.
"Why do you need to torment him, Janine, hm?" was what the cold, sweet voice that came from Nurse Joy asked the local gym leader. Janine, for her part, suddenly backed up slightly in surprise at the coldness that could be detected by anyone who heard the nurse. Never before had she used such a tone of voice to anyone, but obviously, something had changed within the good nurse recently. Janine took about 20 seconds to compose herself again, the time seemingly forever in that short moment before she cleared her throat and actually spoke again.
"Why? Because we were supposed to get our pokemon at the same time, but the fool got sick. We've always wanted to battle each other since school. It's his fault that we haven't battled yet, and even now that he has pokemon, he won't battle me. He deserves this treatment!" Janine said, defending herself as she glanced back at Arik with a glare that could freeze an Articuno. He shivered slightly, part in shock and part in anger as he watched the ninja girl as she looked back to Nurse Joy. His fault that he'd gotten sick? How was that possibly his fault at all?
Then Nurse Joy gave a mischievious giggle as a thought came to her. Then she laughed out loud softly, and both Arik and Janine couldn't help but to walk over to see if she was alright... not to mention, to find out why she was laughing now. "I... I should've guessed it! You like him!" she cried out, and then she laughed harder. One arm slid across her stomach- she was laughing that hard. Arik, for his part, simply raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and laughing as well.
Janine, on the other hand, had a very red face and a look that held visible anger and embarassment. Quickly, she set two pokeballs on the counter and turned around, walking towards the door with what little dignity Nurse Joy had left her with. "Please heal those pokemon... I'll be back in a while to pick them up." she said aloud, sternly, before she looked back to the two laughing people in the pokemon center with her.
"I never would've guessed!" Arik exclaimed, a grin crossing his face as he watched Janine's reaction. His own arms were wrapped around his stomach, the heavy pack on his back shuffling up and down in time with his shoulders as he laughed with vigor renewed, Joy's laughter doubling again as they both held their stomachs gently, their bodies shaking that hard as they saw Janine's reaction. Her hair seemed to be sticking up and her entire body was shaking- not to mention red in anger and embarassment. After a few seconds, she reached to her belt and pulled out a pellet, throwing it at the floor and it exploded upon impact, a cloud of smoke exploding into view as she left.
When the smoke cleared as per a ninja's style, of course, she was gone. Joy and Arik, however, were still laughing their asses off.
Janine had wandered back to her gym after the little encounter, and was now in her private room. She had been replaying that scene for a while now, and finally just sighed. After receiving the chance to test for becoming a Gym Leader and passing with flying colors, defeating her own father for the right to take his place, she had felt herself become distant from her one-time friends. Arik had figured prominently in her childhood- they'd been good friends back then, a friendly rivalry had developed as they neared the age of becoming pokemon trainers. In fact, they were scheduled to receive their pokemon on the same day!
But no, instead of having a battle as they had planned as that fateful day drew closer, he had never shown up. Despite having a good reason as to why he hadn't arrived, she grew resentful, and soon most all ties between them had simply died, save for their rivalry. Janine was hurt that he had never become a trainer, and had remained that way until today. Today, she had seen her one-time friend with a pair of pokeballs and a large pack on his back. That in itself had made her happy enough to get his attention.
He had spent a lot of time at the gym, back when Koga had led it. She had been training there and had been the one to find Arik when he snuck in somehow to see what the gym was all about. They quickly became friends, even though the Weedle she had at the time immediately tied him up with String Shot. After that, he'd been dragged into the gym after a little talk between them, and taken before Koga. Since he hadn't a pokemon and wasn't, in the slightest, a trainer yet, he'd been set to work cleaning the entire mansion that was used as their training ground. Janine's father had been surprised at his apparent skill in entering the gym undetected- even in those days, much of the place was monitored by video cameras. He never had managed to figure out how Arik had done it.
Janine grinned- so, he was a pokemon trainer now. "About damn time." she mused, speaking aloud to herself as she looked to the ceiling. He had two pokemon, and she had no idea what they were. As it should be, she knew, from experience. Very few who had come to the gym these days provided her a challenge, and none since the first match had managed to defeat her. She just laughed, remembering her poor showing in her first match as gym leader- She hadn't been able to defeat her opponent's Alakazam. Damned psychics from Saffron City, she thought, as she shook her head again.
"Ah well. I wonder when he'll be back to challenge me?" she muttered, to herself again. Then, there was a knock on her door, and she stood up from the bed she was sitting on, and walked over to the door. "Yes?" she asked, opening the door. One of the trainers who didn't wear clothing to pretend to be her was standing at the door, on his knees with one fist placed against the floor. Janine didn't care too much for that stance, but it had been tradition in this gym for as long as she could remember. She wasn't about to change it yet, after all. Ninja tradition was something that was difficult to change, if not impossible.
"We have a challenger for you, Janine. She's defeated your highest trainers already and is prepared to challenge you." he informed her, and she smiled slightly. A female trainer had come in and defeated the gym's best trainers already? Janine had heard when a trainer had entered to challenge her, but it was also tradition for the trainer to defeat the two best trainers in the gym before facing the gym leader. Once the trainer had qualified, and made it through the invisible wall maze, they were permitted to formally request a match, which had been done, and had taken less than an hour for her to do.
"I see. I shall be right out, then." she replied. Janine had sent a junior trainer of the gym to the pokemon center to retreive her pokemon, but he had not returned yet. So, she grabbed her strongest pokemon- a Koffing, a Golbat, and a Muk. They weren't as powerful as the ones that she had wanted to use against in a battle, but maybe this way she'd have the challenge she'd been craving. The trainer nodded and then seemed to vanish, leaving to inform the trainer wanting to challenge her. "Dammit Arik, get your ass this way and battle me. We've got a score to settle!" she seemed to yell in her mind, although she didn't say anything out loud again. With a mental sigh, she trudged off to the arena to get the battle over and done with.
"FEEEE-AA-OOW!" was heard as the flapping of large wings kicked up a lot of dust outside the pokemon center. Inside, Arik was relaxing, checking his supplies: half a dozen Potions, two Super Potions, half a dozen Antidotes and two Full Heals. In the other pouch were 4 spare pokeballs, and 2 Great Balls. He couldn't afford anything much better at this point, without dipping into his reserves. He'd given Joy about half his stock as well, so she could start out as well as he was doing. Joy, on the other hand, was packing things up in her room, so when that loud, nearly ear-piercing cry came from outside, it was Arik who came out from the Pokemon Center and walked over to the Fearow.
"Well now, you must be the Fearow that Professor Oak was talking about, huh?" he called to it, and the Fearow walked over to him on the ground. It was a gangly thing, a very long neck and a beak that looked like it could simply go through glass. It gave a little cry and seemed to nod, turning around to show the pack that was on it's back. An ingenious device, Arik thought, as he saw the way that the professor had hooked everything in on that 'backpack'. He walked over and took out everything from the pack- pokedexes, pokeballs, and a booklet of pokemon information. He leafed through the book idly, not really looking inside before he looked over to the Fearow and smiled again.
"Go on back now, and thanks for making the trip, Fearow!" he told the pokemon, and it cried out before unfurling it's wings and began to flap. Arik had to sling an arm around his face to keep the dust out of his face as it took off, and coughed as the dust settled down. "Hoo-boy, gotta get outta the way next time... plah!" he muttered, coughing again as he got the dust out of his mouth and headed back into the pokemon center. When he entered, he yelled out to Joy. "Hey Joy, the stuff Professor Oak sent is here!" he cried, even as he walked over to the counter, dividing things up. Half a dozen pokeballs for them both, a pokedex for both, and another two potions for each of them to set away.
"Okay, I'll be out in a minute!" she yelled back, and Arik grinned. She was definitely cute before, but now that she was getting ready to do something that she'd wanted to do for years now, she seemed to be feeling infinitely better and more confident already. She'd never yelled before, or at least, he'd never heard her yell while he was around. He picked up the pokedex and pressed the button on the side. It was a horizontal-based device, not much at all like a cell phone in the slightest. If he had to guess, it was much more like one of those old portable video game systems. One portion flipped up, unlike his old pokedex, which was one of those vertical ones that flipped to the side for all the information to be displayed on the screen.
The part that flipped up held the screen. The part that slid out, to the left, was a small disc player- a mini-disc player, one that couldn't play music CD's but informational ones, specially configured for the pokedex. It had it's own hard drive filled with pokemon information, the town map, and more. With the mini-disc player there, it can be upgraded easily, as well as read information kept on the CD's. He grinned a little, pushing the drive back in firmly before noticing that it was prompting him for his information. Arik had been setting in his information with the small, cell phone-like 'keyboard' when Joy had come back out from her room in the back.
"Heya Arik. Is that everything?" she asked, and he turned around to face her- and was floored by what he saw her wearing. His jaw dropped somewhat as he saw her wearing a pair of jeans and a black shirt that wasn't very revealing, but did reveal her curves enough to be distracting, to say the least. It took what seemed to be a few minutes (but was only about 15 seconds) before he managed to pick up his nerves again and for his face to flush. Joy just smiled and spun in place before clapping her hands together, bending slightly to look at him with a look of mischief in her eyes. "Well?"
Arik was still blushing when he looked down to the floor. "Um... yeah..." he said quietly. She was acting so goddamned cute! Her outfit didn't help much. She was more of a flirt than he'd ever seen her, and there was a glint in her eyes that he couldn't remember ever seeing there before. Her smile had never seemed, so... well, she'd just never looked so happy before, ever since he'd met her. "You'll need to put your information into your pokedex, and you can have half a dozen of the pokeballs that're on the counter." he told her, finishing putting his information into the pokedex. He pressed the enter button, and his information was saved. The ID was completed, as his picture was already set into Trainer ID program.
"Oh... well, alright then. Thanks, Arik." was Joy's reply, and she turned to get her things done, even as Arik grabbed the miniaturized pokeballs and set four in his pocket, and the other two in his now heavy and quite large pack. He knew the rules- you could only have half a dozen pokemon with you at one time. Arik had two, and could carry only four more with him without sending any more to a research lab via the PC system. He smiled a little, looking back to Joy, when he heard the little musical tone that signified that pokemon were finished being healed. Just as he turned to go behind the counter to get the pokeballs, one of the trainers from the gym arrived, the sliding door opening and he appeared. Arik turned and nodded to the trainer, knowing what he had come for.
"Just a sec." he said, Joy looking over to the trainer and smiling as she finished up with the pokedex information. Arik walked over and took the pokeballs from the tray, three of them, and then threw 'em over to the trainer. The trainer caught all three, one after the other, and nodded, disappearing from the center quickly without a word. Arik shook his head as the sliding door closed up after the trainer left, and then looked over to Joy again, who was now looking at him. "So, will you be waiting for someone from your family to arrive before you leave, Joy? And what pokemon will you be taking with you?"
"Well, I'm taking Chansey, of course. And yeah, I have to wait until my cousin Joy arrives. She's coming here on a Pidgeot from Lavender Town, and she should be here within a few more hours, I think." was her reply, and she smiled softly, happy beyond anything she had been for a very long time. It was evident in her manner now, anyone could see it plainly. Arik couldn't help but to smile brightly to her and nod in acknowledgment, wondering why she hadn't taken the plunge before today to just get out on her own.
"I see. Well, I'm thinking about heading to Route 15 to start training my pokemon out there, maybe get a head start on everything. How about if you come on out that way when you're ready?" he asks, winking to her playfully as he walks towards the door now. He stopped at the chair that his pack was sitting on, and pulled on the straps, slipping it onto his back before he looked back over to her. He was wearing his jacket again, and he smiled once more as he saw her watching him as he waited there.
"I guess I could, but I was thinking about heading along Cycling Road on my bike and go to Celadon City." she replied, seeming a little disappointed about their different directions that they had in mind. Arik nodded slightly at her words, a little disappointed as well, but he had a feeling that they'd have to go their seperate ways eventually. Definitely, he would have enjoyed having her around along the trip, but at least this way he could simply do things on his own for a while, get used to being independant.
"Alright... I would have gone that route, but you know... I don't have a bike anymore. My last one was the recipient of a Weepinbell's Acid attack a year ago. Remember that battle outside the center then?" he replies, chuckling softly. Joy nodded, remembering that little incident, and sighed softly. She'd seen the whole thing, trying to stop the battling before anything happened (as it obviously had). He, on the other hand, had been busy with trainers inside the pokemon center. The Acid attack had been dodged by the Spearow that it had targeted, and the blob landed directly onto the middle of the bike. The crossbars had melted through, the wheels destroyed by some of the spray, and the handle bars had molded into a useless shape of what was once actual 'material'. The bike was a write-off, and Arik had never been reimbursed for the bike.
"Ah well... I hope that you have luck, Joy, and we meet up again on the road soon." he says, walking back over to her, arms spread wide before moving about her, holding the previous nurse in his arms as he hugs her gently to him. He closes his eyes as he feels her arms around him, and he smiled a little, hugging her a little more firmly before he opened his eyes and let her go. "You're my best friend, Joy. Take care of yourself, alright?" he told her, whispering into her ear as he feels her arms loosen from around his waist and he stepped back a little bit. She was smiling softly, watching him, and nodded to him, her eyes glancing to the floor before she looked back to him once more.
"Yeah, you too, Arik. I hope you and your pokemon stay safe." she says, smiling still as she just stood there, as if wanting to say something to him but it just couldn't get spoken out loud. With a nod, Arik smiled still as he walked towards the door now, glancing back to his best friend one last time. He probably wouldn't see her for a while, but he remembered that he could still e-mail her from other pokemon centers when possible. That would be a good way to keep in touch.
"I'll e-mail you, Joy, when I get to a new pokemon center. Alright?" he asks, the sliding door sensor catching him in it's sight and it opened behind him as he stood there. She nodded, and he nodded once in return to her before stepping out from the pokemon center. Free from work and too many worries, he headed east along the street, jumping the low fence carefully, not wanting to jostle everything he had in the pack too much. He sighs softly, one hand rising to pat the pokeballs that were fastened to the front of his jacket, and he smiled a little. First time, really, on his own completely. He felt he was ready- he hoped that he really was, but he'd miss Joy.
His steps took him further down along the street- the pokemon center was soon out of sight, and he was coming up to the guardhouse for the pokemon trainers who go in and out of the city. He passed through, surprising Officer Jenny as he waved to her when he walked past, and just grinned as he walked out the door and onto Route 15. It was bright out today, and there were few clouds in the sky. A flock of Pidgey flew overhead in the distance, and Arik took a deep breath as he headed towards the forest in the north. It took him half an hour to walk that far, but soon after, with his first step into the woods, he could already tell that he felt better now about his leaving Fuchsia City than he had in a long time about much of anything.
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Author's Note: Expect one of these before and after each chapter. Comments would be very appreciated. I just had a friend over and he took one look at this fic, realized it was Pokemon, and he couldn't believe I actually wrote a fanfic based on it. Keep in mind I only suggest the games, never the anime, to anyone. The only good seasons are the first two or so that were based on the original Red and Blue games (and even then, it was extremely cheesy). Orange Islands were really bad. Johto, not that bad, but Hoenn is probably the biggest pile of feces I've ever seen outside of certain other anime. Ew. Suggestions are welcome as well, e-mail them to me, though, at
Author's Note: Not much to say here. I'm not entirely sure how to finish up with this little fanfic without feedback, but I think I know where to go at this point. I think it'll be a pretty long series, at this rate. I seem to have taken my style from the Mega Man Legends fics I've written and transferred it over to this pokemon fic. Correct me if I'm wrong about that, of course. hehe
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Arik was woken up in the morning by Tsai's little cry. "Niiii! Ni! Niiiidorrr!" and Arik smiled a little before his face went blank, his eyes showing how serious he got as he remembered the Dratini that was lying beside Tsai. He began to panic a little, his steps slow as he headed over to the pokemon on the bed. He came over the bed, eyes somewhat wider than normal (from another's perspective) as he looked at the bandaged pokemon. Her eyes were open slightly, and the pain was evident in them. "Looks like you made it. I'm glad." he said quietly to her, coming down so that they were at about eye level, his hand moving to cup the Dratini's muzzle again so she could tell that he was there again.
Tsai looked up and behind Arik as its ears twitched, and then bounded off the bed and over to the door that led into the ICU. Arik heard the door open, but paid it no heed as he smiled to the little Dratini, who licked at his fingertips once. "Hmm, hungry? Let's see what we can do about that, okay?" he told her, and then as he stood, he knew someone was there beside him. Arik looked over to see Nurse Joy, and he smiled at her as he saw that she had some soft pokemon food on a small plate. "Thanks, Nurse Joy." he said to her, and she smiled as she took one of the small chunks and placed it on her palm before setting it in front of the Dratini.
"Don't push yourself, Dratini. Eat only what you can, okay?" she said sweetly, almost whispering to the pokemon as she motioned for Arik to get outta there with her free hand. He noticed that she was still wearing the nurse's uniform, but her hair wasn't curled again yet. He nodded and walked quietly over to the door, walking outside from it just as he heard the sliding door open in the lobby, and he walked out that way. He smiled politely to the boy who had entered, remembering him from the other day when he'd brought in his pokemon and left his Sandslash to recuperate.
"Ah, welcome back. Ready to see your Sandslash?"" he asked, moving to motion the trainer down the hall to the ICU ward. The trainer grinned before speaking. He looked to be American more than anything else- no really distinct features that would give away his lineage. Blonde hair, brown eyes, about 6ft tall, maybe?
"Yeah, I miss that Sandslash of mine. Toxic attacks are incredibly strong!" he stated, and Arik chuckled softly at that. He might be stating the obvious, especially to someone who had dealt with pokemon suffering from those attacks for quite a while now, but hey, he was also used to people talking about the attack as well.
"Yes, they are, but you should remember that poison types are immune to poison attacks. Try using your poison type pokemon to battle Janine next time." Arik told him, and the trainer nodded in agreement. A tug at Arik's pant leg caught his attention, and he smiled as he saw Tsai there. "Hey you, come on up here buddy." and Arik kneeled down to pick up the little Nidoran. "Done eating now, Tsai? Here, meet the trainer of that Sandslash you saw earlier. This guy's name is Tsai." he said, holding Tsai in his arms as he looked to the trainer. The trainer reached over and scratched Tsai's head gently, smiling a little.
"I've never seen a Nidoran this small before... he must be a newborn, huh?" he asked, to which Arik nodded slightly. "I think so. I caught him in the Safari Zone yesterday, along with a pokemon in the ICU right now. Let's go and get your Sandslash now." Arik replied, and while still carrying Tsai, walked over to the door that led into the ICU ward. Through the large window, they could see that Nurse Joy was still inside, and Arik smiled as she saw her doing something with the Dratini. "Go on in, Nurse Joy can help you if you need anything." he said to the trainer.
The young man walked into the room and to his Sandslash, who had been otherwise motionless all morning. It was up on it's feet now, arms raised as the two hugged. Arik couldn't help but to smile, and Joy did the same as she picked up the bloody bandages that she'd taken off from the Dratini. The trainer looked over and saw the Dratini, and watched it for a moment. Arik walked into the room now, closing the door behind him as he took slow steps over to the Dratini. The sound of running water at the sink told him Nurse Joy was washing her hands now, and as Arik saw his Dratini, he smiled a little bit. "Well now, you look much better than you did yesterday, little one." he says, setting the Nidoran down on the bedside before he moved over to the head of the bed to look over the over 5ft long, serpent-like body that was before him.
"All we need is a Hyper Potion to finish healing her, Arik." Nurse Joy told him, even as he took stock of the injuries. She had cuts all over, including a long one that might remind someone of a cut that would be used to gut a fish. He shivered a little and looked to the Dratini's face, seeing her pain-racked eyes with his own eyes simply made him shiver again. He couldn't help it, he could only guess as to how much pain she must be in at the moment.
"Only one problem with that... the PokeMart here in Fuchsia doesn't sell Hyper Potions, does it?" he asked, and when Nurse Joy nodded at that comment, he sighed. "Damn. And the pokemon center doesn't keep any around, either. It's a long way to Cinnabar, and I don't have any pokemon that can Surf, either. Hm..." and he closed his eyes, trying to think of something he could do to get a Hyper Potion and get it back here fast. Then, Arik blinked, remembering something. "I'll be right back... I might actually have one." he says, and he rushed out of the ICU ward and back to the lobby. Looking around, he didn't see anyone else around, so he walked quickly over to the little PC corner and logged in.
This PC was kept around for the trainers- there used to be more, but since fewer trainers came around these days, the other PCs were sent to other centers around Kanto. At least this one remained, along with the item teleporter, and he pulled up his own item list. It was updated pretty often, actually. His parents kept their own items in with his listings, and with a grin, he found a Hyper Potion. Quickly, he typed in the command to retrieve the healing spray from the PC, and sent an e-mail with details about why he took it to his parents. With a grin on his face as he watched it as it materialized in the transporter, he waited for it to finish. After a few more seconds, the transfer was completed, and he logged out of the PC.
The trainer with the Sandslash was already gone by the time he got to the ICU room, and he smiled a little as he held onto the spray bottle carefully as he walked over to the table. Joy was there already, petting the Dratini to comfort it. They couldn't let her get wet yet, simply because then the spray would be diluted thanks to the water. "Got it... kinda got lucky, there was only one in the PC." he said, even as he cracked the seal and set the spray so that it would cover a small area. Then, with his fingers on the 'trigger' in front of the bottle itself, he gently pressed inwards, the spray came out in a fine mist that soon landed upon the Dratini's body. He sprayed directly onto the wounds, a startled cry escaping the Dratini as it felt the cold, somewhat painful sensation on her wounds. But, the healing spray was certainly working, as he saw the pokemon's scales seem to regenerate immediately and he smiled, emptying the bottle on the Dratini's body. Joy smiled as well, lightly rubbing the pokemon's ear ridges as it shivered against her and the bed.
"Looks like it's working, huh?" he asked, and Nurse Joy nodded, both still smiling as the Dratini fully opened its eyes to look at them. "How are you feeling now, Dratini?" he asked, reaching over to rub the scales on it's back gently. A cry escaped her as she slid over to Arik, lightly entwining his hand in her coils before she licked the back of his hand lightly. "Dra! Ditini! Draaa!" she went, and Joy patted Arik on the back. Tsai nudged up against the Dratini, who turned to look at the horned pokemon and rubbed her head against Tsai's cheek lightly
"I'd say she's alright. It was pretty close when you first brought her in, I should say." Nurse Joy told him, smiling still before scratching the pokemon's back lightly. "She's so light... better be careful with her for a while until she has her strength back, Arik." she said before pointing over to the counter where there was a small stack of papers. "You'll probably want to look through those for some information on your Dratini and Nidoran. Professor Oak left an e-mail earlier, saying that the pokedex should be here later tonight. He's sending it express by Fearow, along with something he called a starter kit. I guess it's a good way for you to begin."
Arik smiled a little, and tried to get his arm out from where his Dratini had wrapped around it- no dice, he thought, as she continued to keep herself around his forearm. "Yeah, I guess so... hey, Joy? Could you transfer information from the park balls to normal pokeballs for me? I think the park will want those back before the end of the week, you know." he asked her, chuckling softly as finally the Dratini got his attention more by Wrapping about his arm and squeezing even more. "Ack... Careful there, Ame." he said to the Dratini, coming up with a name for her on the spot. Joy, Tsai, and the Dratini looked at him in surprise at that word. "Yeah, that's right... I've decided to call you Ame, short for Amethyst." he told the pokemon, who seemed pleased enough about the name, started to squeeze his arm even harder, nearly dragging him to the floor.
"She may not weigh much, but she's obviously pretty strong, Arik. And yes, I'll go and do that now." she said, and headed to where the two pokeballs were set on a counter, taking them out of the ICU ward and towards the counter area. With Joy gone, he looked to his two pokemon and groaned slightly as he felt the pokemon constrict on his arm yet again. "Hey, Ame, stop that. It's starting to hurt... I don't want you to strain yourself." he told her, and she looked sorry as she unravelled from him. Tsai looked as if he was simply going to laugh his little ass off at the way these two were dealing with one another.
"Alright, come on you two. Let's get outta here." he said, and both pokemon got off the bed and headed for the door, with Arik right behind them. He pulled the door open, and with a "Niidor!", both Tsai and Ame hurried towards the lobby. Arik could hear a sharp cry of surprise come from Nurse Joy, and he laughed at about the same time that she did as he came out to the lobby. Tsai was up on the counter and Ame was simply coiled about Joy's legs while she sat behind the counter. The two park balls were having the information copied to the new pokeballs- normal Poke Balls, from the coloration on the new ones. "Hey! Come on guys, leave Nurse Joy to her work now." he told them, and Ame uncoiled herself from the pink haired nurse, who was by now laughing uncontrollably.
"Nurse Joy! What's so funny?" came a voice not from the two of them, and all eyes were drawn to the computer behind the counter. On the screen, unknown to them until now, was Professor Oak's image again. "I hope you received my E-mail earlier, Nurse Joy... oh! Is that the Dratini I see there?" he asked, as Ame moved up to look directly into the camera. Nurse Joy nodded, and then realized that Oak couldn't see her do that with Ame in the way, as she was at the moment.
"Yes, this is Ame, Arik's Dratini, professor. She lasted the night and we managed to get a Hyper Potion to heal the rest of her wounds a little while ago. She seems to be quite alright now, actually." she replied, and Arik grinned a little. Ame moved away from the camera after bumping against it with her muzzle, and she gave a little cry as she slithered back up over the counter to wrap about Arik's chest. "She seems to be pretty energetic, I'd say."
Professor Oak laughed a little at her words and nodded. "Well, has the Fearow arrived yet? Fuchsia isn't that far from Pallet Town, you know. Anyway, I hope Arik will be able to spare Ame for a day or two sometime soon, because I can't wait to start studying her!" Oak said, and Arik chuckled softly afterwards. He somehow knew that he was going to say that. Nurse Joy glanced up to Arik, and then looked back to the camera, shaking her head slowly to reply to Oak's question. "No, huh? Well, I guess that's alright. It should be there soon. The little starter kit I sent to help you both out includes two pokedexes, a dozen pokeballs, and a couple of potions. Those should get you both ready for your journeys, though I must say, I was surprised that you said you wanted to be a trainer too, Nurse Joy." Professor Oak remarked.
Nurse Joy's face went a little red and Arik looked bewildered- she'd never told him that she wanted to be a trainer too! From the look and sound of things, however, she didn't want anyone to know. "Ah... Joy?" he asked, his voice kind of quiet. She glanced at him, her face still red, and then she looked to the floor again quickly, hands in her lap as she clasped them together. On the other end of the line, the Professor had heard his voice and smiled a bit into the camera.
"Oh, is Arik there? Come on into view, please, unless you're busy helping someone?" he said, and Arik obliged by coming around. Unfortunately, the move sort of startled Ame, and he had to pet along Ame's long body softly to calm her down again. "I see that your pokemon have taken a liking to you already. I had heard that dragons are notoriously difficult to tame, but your Ame must be an exception to the rule, hm?" he commented, a little laugh escaping him.
"Maybe... I didn't even know anything about Dratini's until yesterday, professor, so that might be true. She's certainly a little skittish, but like-able. She's friendly towards Nurse Joy and myself, so maybe that is only because we helped her when she was badly hurt." Arik replied to the professor, who nodded in agreement. It was quite probable, the professor knew, that that was likely the case. No matter, really. To study a dragon pokemon found in Kanto... that would be very interesting to him. Very few dragon-type pokemon he had ever seen came from Kanto. Most came from Johto, where a clan of Dragon Trainers resided in Blackthorn City. They even had their own gym and badge, and only very few trainers managed to defeat the woman who was the gym leader there.
"Mm, I see. I updated the pokedex I sent you with the most up-to-date information I have on pokemon, including Dratini, but there's really very little on that particular subject. I could tell from when I saw your Nidoran that he is a newborn. I put in some information on raising young pokemon as well, so be sure to read up on that. Finally, if you have any questions about pokemon, about where things are, etc, the pokedexes I'm sending both you and Nurse Joy both have several other functions- Trainer ID, a Kanto Map, and an AM/FM radio adapter. If you have the radio playing, you cannot use any of the other features though." the professor went on, and Arik nodded slightly before being pushed aside as Nurse Joy got out of her chair and ran off.
"What the... um, professor, thank you, for both myself and for Nurse Joy. I think I should go see if she is alright, so we'll have to talk again another time, alright?" he asked, and when Professor Oak nodded and hung up, he did the same. "Tsai, follow her!" he said, and he walked after Joy, wondering just what had happened there as he continued to pet Ame. "Nurse Joy?" he called out, walking down the hallway- he hadn't had the chance to see which hallway she had disappeared down, but he was pretty certain he knew where she was. Each pokemon center had a bedroom for the Nurse Joys who operated them, and he smiled a little as he came to the door to her room- there was a red light near the lock, which told him that it was locked and without the correct numerical password for the key pad lock, there was no way for him to get in.
"Nurse Joy... why didn't you ever tell me you wanted to be a pokemon trainer? It's not that big a deal, is it?" he asked through the door. Tsai was at his feet, lightly scratching at the door with his horn at the same time. Ame made a small cry, though likely it would travel through the door to reach her ears. "Ditini! Draaaa!" Arik smiled a little, and sighed softly. "I thought, at times, that you weren't satisfied just by healing pokemon, Joy. You always went out more than most of the other Nurse Joys I've met. You make more friends. You even hired me on here, for some reason. Come on boss, talk to me. You don't always have to be alone, you know." he said, talking to her, even with the door in the way. He stepped back a little and leaned against the wall behind him, touching it with his shoulders as he watched her door.
It took about two minutes before the red light turned green, and the door was opened as Joy came out. Trails of moisture glistened down her cheek, and her outfit was lightly stained darker by her tears as they dripped from her chin. Arik smiled softly to her, and Ame slithered from around Arik's body as Joy came over to him, closing her eyes as she hugged her friend tightly. Her body seemed to shake as the tears wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes, and Arik hugged her gently at first, and then more firmly, letting her get everything off her chest as she obviously needed to. "Shh... it's okay, Joy." he told her, whispering into her ear as he felt his own shirt become wet with her tears as she cried.
"I always wanted to be a trainer... not a... not a nurse, Arik!" she said, her voice muffled against his chest as she spoke between sobs. "I want to... wanna... travel with... with pokemon. I don't wanna just... stay in one... one place, forever!" she said, sobbing still as she hugged Arik tighter. He could tell she was getting everything out now, that this must be hard as hell for her to say. Ame and Tsai were quiet as they watched this go on, and Arik just held the pink-haired girl against him softly, letting her say what she obviously need to.
"Arik... You're a good friend." she says, sniffling a little before slipping away, her hands rising to wipe away her tears from her cheeks. "Oops... looks like I made a little mess on your shirt." she says, her face pretty red and flushed as a result of her crying. Arik shook his head a little and hugged her again softly. He hadn't really realized how much she needed a friend before, and had no idea that she was so insecure. She always seemed completely together, almost every day that they worked together. Who could have known that she was really sad about how she had wound up, up until now?
"Don't worry about it, Joy... but if you're going to be going on a pokemon journey, you had better let your family know, so that another Joy can be sent here to run the center. Not to mention that this way, they won't need to worry about you, too." he tells her, smiling as he looked her in the eyes before releasing her from his hold on her. She sniffled once more before smiling again, her arms leaving from around his body now as she stepped out from the hug that they had been sharing.
A few hours later, preparations were being made. For the first time since he had arrived back at the center with Ame, Arik's pokemon had been returned to their new pokeballs. His backpack was getting stuffed with as much as he could carry: a small cage-like protrusion underneath the pack had room for a sleeping bag there. Inside, a few small things- The center pocket of the front of the backpack became a place for 'utility' tools- a flat blade screwdriver, a small container hold a knife, fork, and spoon. A umbrella hung along the side, held fast by a bungee cord. The main part of the pack became the storage area. Two notebooks and an air-tight container for mechanical pencils, lead, and erasers took up very little room.
Much of the rest of that area became room for food- a trip to the grocery store produced quite a bit of food, but unfortunately for them, neither had specialized in cooking in the wild. A medium-sized frying pan was hanging on the other side of the pack, held up with a bungee cord as well. Still, he packed canned foods, some bread in a tupperware container so it wouldn't get squashed, and a small refrigeration device provided a place for a few bottles of water, soda, and milk. An even smaller, yet sturdier area of that device allowed for half a dozen eggs to sit within without worry of breaking the eggs inside. A 'whisk' was also set into the refrigeration device, something he'd need if he was to cook eggs. Finally, a dozen large packs of pokemon food (generic, unfortunately) was stuffed inside as well. A small recipe book found its way into the pack as well, and then the zipping of the backpack was finished. It looked about twice as large as it should be, but because it was a high-quality backpack made for trainers, it wasn't about to snap, break, or rip. In the side pouches (one on each side of the pack), he filled with potions, antidotes, and a few Full Heal items for use with his pokemon.
Nurse Joy was on the phone still, he could hear, as he walked back from the bunk room he had been packing in. He pulled his jacket on, before slipping the backpack on completely, the frying pan swaying slightly against his back and backpack. On his jacket, his two pokemon hung in their pokeballs. He had a satchel on his right side, looped around his belt to keep it in place there. In here, he put in the few pokeballs he had managed to purchase from the PokeMart- four of them. They'd have to do until the Fearow arrived, he thought, and he smiled as he looked over to Nurse Joy as he neared the counter. She looked like she was crying again, and so he didn't bother getting any closer- he didn't want to make things worse or anything. She glanced up at Arik and smiled gratefully to him, then went back to talking with her family again.
He walked to the sliding door, and when it slid open, Arik walked outside, looking up to the sky. It was still pretty overcast, with clouds overhead, when he blinked and looked around slowly. His eyes narrowed as he looked about slowly, wondering what it was he sensed out here. Then, it happened, and he narrowly slipped away from the soft 'whish' sound that struck past his head. The sound came twice more in rapid succession, and when he looked to where each object made a 'thunk' sound in the pokemon center's wall beside him, he saw a total of three shurikens there. With a smirk, Arik looked towards the person who was now visibly walking towards the pokemon center.
"Well now, Janine, there wasn't a need to do that... I'm not about to challenge you to a gym battle, after all." he said, teasing the gym leader who was headed his way. Her raven-black hair streamed back behind her, held together by a tie about 3/4 the way down the length of it. She just assumed a cocky grin as she came up idly, walking slowly as if she had done nothing at all. Her rather dark purple cape flowed behind her in the wind that had been blowing since before he had stepped outside. Her black and purple-lined kimono hugged to her body tightly, much like the outfit her father wore when he was gym leader a few years back.
"Perhaps not, but I do need to test your reflexes once in a while. One never knows when another makes progress until that person is tested." she replied, a somewhat cryptic remark given in response to his own much more direct comment. "After all, it seems to me that you've finally become an actual pokemon trainer, and not some flunky to the Pokemon Center. I was disappointed when you didn't become a pokemon trainer a few years back, remember?" she said, and he shrugged a little. She had been a bit of a rival in school before she became a pokemon trainer, and now she was already a gym leader. "And you have two pokemon already? Must be a Pidgey and a Rattata." she said, laughing haughtily as she passed by him, their shoulders brushing against one another's before she was past. She stopped to pull out her shuriken from the wall of the pokemon center, even as he turned to watch her.
"Oh, I wouldn't quite say that, Janine... though I wouldn't mind those pokemon in the slightest. Each pokemon has their own strengths, after all." he replied, grinning again as he heard her laughter stop as she stepped inside, turning to face him once more. She looked him over critically, unaware that Nurse Joy had been about to say something to her before she had opened her mouth to speak with Arik again. She still had that smug look on her face- Arik wanted nothing more than to knock that particular look off of her face.
"Well then, why do you not challenge me to a gym battle, eh, Arik? You know you'll just be defeated by my sinister techniques." she tells him, and to that Arik laughed, walking into the pokemon center after her. The door closed behind him as he stepped away from the doorway, and he watched her warily. He was sorely tempted, but with a young Nidoran and a recovering Dratini, he knew when he was outclassed and overpowered.
"Because one of my pokemon was badly hurt at the Safari Zone before I managed to catch it, and it is recovering right now. And, the other is a bit young to battle right now." he replied, admitting that he had only managed to catch them recently (as in yesterday). She figured that much out pretty quickly, and shrugged slightly. She looked at him with contempt now, as he stood there. She hadn't been defeated in a gym battle for a while now, and obviously she was a bit more hard-headed and annoying than she had been for quite some time.
"Fine, hide behind your excuses, but I expect you to come and battle for a badge with me sometime, Arik. I cannot wait to defeat you in a battle, old friend." and she grinned as she said that, spinning on her heels before walking over towards the counter that Joy was standing behind, smiling benignly to the gym leader. If there was anyone Janine was intimidated by, it was Nurse Joy- simply because she had defeated Janine once when she had first begun training pokemon. Nurse Joy had used the Chansey and Janine, a Beedrill. By the time Chansey had finished with Beedrill... it wasn't a very pretty sight.
"Why do you need to torment him, Janine, hm?" was what the cold, sweet voice that came from Nurse Joy asked the local gym leader. Janine, for her part, suddenly backed up slightly in surprise at the coldness that could be detected by anyone who heard the nurse. Never before had she used such a tone of voice to anyone, but obviously, something had changed within the good nurse recently. Janine took about 20 seconds to compose herself again, the time seemingly forever in that short moment before she cleared her throat and actually spoke again.
"Why? Because we were supposed to get our pokemon at the same time, but the fool got sick. We've always wanted to battle each other since school. It's his fault that we haven't battled yet, and even now that he has pokemon, he won't battle me. He deserves this treatment!" Janine said, defending herself as she glanced back at Arik with a glare that could freeze an Articuno. He shivered slightly, part in shock and part in anger as he watched the ninja girl as she looked back to Nurse Joy. His fault that he'd gotten sick? How was that possibly his fault at all?
Then Nurse Joy gave a mischievious giggle as a thought came to her. Then she laughed out loud softly, and both Arik and Janine couldn't help but to walk over to see if she was alright... not to mention, to find out why she was laughing now. "I... I should've guessed it! You like him!" she cried out, and then she laughed harder. One arm slid across her stomach- she was laughing that hard. Arik, for his part, simply raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and laughing as well.
Janine, on the other hand, had a very red face and a look that held visible anger and embarassment. Quickly, she set two pokeballs on the counter and turned around, walking towards the door with what little dignity Nurse Joy had left her with. "Please heal those pokemon... I'll be back in a while to pick them up." she said aloud, sternly, before she looked back to the two laughing people in the pokemon center with her.
"I never would've guessed!" Arik exclaimed, a grin crossing his face as he watched Janine's reaction. His own arms were wrapped around his stomach, the heavy pack on his back shuffling up and down in time with his shoulders as he laughed with vigor renewed, Joy's laughter doubling again as they both held their stomachs gently, their bodies shaking that hard as they saw Janine's reaction. Her hair seemed to be sticking up and her entire body was shaking- not to mention red in anger and embarassment. After a few seconds, she reached to her belt and pulled out a pellet, throwing it at the floor and it exploded upon impact, a cloud of smoke exploding into view as she left.
When the smoke cleared as per a ninja's style, of course, she was gone. Joy and Arik, however, were still laughing their asses off.
Janine had wandered back to her gym after the little encounter, and was now in her private room. She had been replaying that scene for a while now, and finally just sighed. After receiving the chance to test for becoming a Gym Leader and passing with flying colors, defeating her own father for the right to take his place, she had felt herself become distant from her one-time friends. Arik had figured prominently in her childhood- they'd been good friends back then, a friendly rivalry had developed as they neared the age of becoming pokemon trainers. In fact, they were scheduled to receive their pokemon on the same day!
But no, instead of having a battle as they had planned as that fateful day drew closer, he had never shown up. Despite having a good reason as to why he hadn't arrived, she grew resentful, and soon most all ties between them had simply died, save for their rivalry. Janine was hurt that he had never become a trainer, and had remained that way until today. Today, she had seen her one-time friend with a pair of pokeballs and a large pack on his back. That in itself had made her happy enough to get his attention.
He had spent a lot of time at the gym, back when Koga had led it. She had been training there and had been the one to find Arik when he snuck in somehow to see what the gym was all about. They quickly became friends, even though the Weedle she had at the time immediately tied him up with String Shot. After that, he'd been dragged into the gym after a little talk between them, and taken before Koga. Since he hadn't a pokemon and wasn't, in the slightest, a trainer yet, he'd been set to work cleaning the entire mansion that was used as their training ground. Janine's father had been surprised at his apparent skill in entering the gym undetected- even in those days, much of the place was monitored by video cameras. He never had managed to figure out how Arik had done it.
Janine grinned- so, he was a pokemon trainer now. "About damn time." she mused, speaking aloud to herself as she looked to the ceiling. He had two pokemon, and she had no idea what they were. As it should be, she knew, from experience. Very few who had come to the gym these days provided her a challenge, and none since the first match had managed to defeat her. She just laughed, remembering her poor showing in her first match as gym leader- She hadn't been able to defeat her opponent's Alakazam. Damned psychics from Saffron City, she thought, as she shook her head again.
"Ah well. I wonder when he'll be back to challenge me?" she muttered, to herself again. Then, there was a knock on her door, and she stood up from the bed she was sitting on, and walked over to the door. "Yes?" she asked, opening the door. One of the trainers who didn't wear clothing to pretend to be her was standing at the door, on his knees with one fist placed against the floor. Janine didn't care too much for that stance, but it had been tradition in this gym for as long as she could remember. She wasn't about to change it yet, after all. Ninja tradition was something that was difficult to change, if not impossible.
"We have a challenger for you, Janine. She's defeated your highest trainers already and is prepared to challenge you." he informed her, and she smiled slightly. A female trainer had come in and defeated the gym's best trainers already? Janine had heard when a trainer had entered to challenge her, but it was also tradition for the trainer to defeat the two best trainers in the gym before facing the gym leader. Once the trainer had qualified, and made it through the invisible wall maze, they were permitted to formally request a match, which had been done, and had taken less than an hour for her to do.
"I see. I shall be right out, then." she replied. Janine had sent a junior trainer of the gym to the pokemon center to retreive her pokemon, but he had not returned yet. So, she grabbed her strongest pokemon- a Koffing, a Golbat, and a Muk. They weren't as powerful as the ones that she had wanted to use against in a battle, but maybe this way she'd have the challenge she'd been craving. The trainer nodded and then seemed to vanish, leaving to inform the trainer wanting to challenge her. "Dammit Arik, get your ass this way and battle me. We've got a score to settle!" she seemed to yell in her mind, although she didn't say anything out loud again. With a mental sigh, she trudged off to the arena to get the battle over and done with.
"FEEEE-AA-OOW!" was heard as the flapping of large wings kicked up a lot of dust outside the pokemon center. Inside, Arik was relaxing, checking his supplies: half a dozen Potions, two Super Potions, half a dozen Antidotes and two Full Heals. In the other pouch were 4 spare pokeballs, and 2 Great Balls. He couldn't afford anything much better at this point, without dipping into his reserves. He'd given Joy about half his stock as well, so she could start out as well as he was doing. Joy, on the other hand, was packing things up in her room, so when that loud, nearly ear-piercing cry came from outside, it was Arik who came out from the Pokemon Center and walked over to the Fearow.
"Well now, you must be the Fearow that Professor Oak was talking about, huh?" he called to it, and the Fearow walked over to him on the ground. It was a gangly thing, a very long neck and a beak that looked like it could simply go through glass. It gave a little cry and seemed to nod, turning around to show the pack that was on it's back. An ingenious device, Arik thought, as he saw the way that the professor had hooked everything in on that 'backpack'. He walked over and took out everything from the pack- pokedexes, pokeballs, and a booklet of pokemon information. He leafed through the book idly, not really looking inside before he looked over to the Fearow and smiled again.
"Go on back now, and thanks for making the trip, Fearow!" he told the pokemon, and it cried out before unfurling it's wings and began to flap. Arik had to sling an arm around his face to keep the dust out of his face as it took off, and coughed as the dust settled down. "Hoo-boy, gotta get outta the way next time... plah!" he muttered, coughing again as he got the dust out of his mouth and headed back into the pokemon center. When he entered, he yelled out to Joy. "Hey Joy, the stuff Professor Oak sent is here!" he cried, even as he walked over to the counter, dividing things up. Half a dozen pokeballs for them both, a pokedex for both, and another two potions for each of them to set away.
"Okay, I'll be out in a minute!" she yelled back, and Arik grinned. She was definitely cute before, but now that she was getting ready to do something that she'd wanted to do for years now, she seemed to be feeling infinitely better and more confident already. She'd never yelled before, or at least, he'd never heard her yell while he was around. He picked up the pokedex and pressed the button on the side. It was a horizontal-based device, not much at all like a cell phone in the slightest. If he had to guess, it was much more like one of those old portable video game systems. One portion flipped up, unlike his old pokedex, which was one of those vertical ones that flipped to the side for all the information to be displayed on the screen.
The part that flipped up held the screen. The part that slid out, to the left, was a small disc player- a mini-disc player, one that couldn't play music CD's but informational ones, specially configured for the pokedex. It had it's own hard drive filled with pokemon information, the town map, and more. With the mini-disc player there, it can be upgraded easily, as well as read information kept on the CD's. He grinned a little, pushing the drive back in firmly before noticing that it was prompting him for his information. Arik had been setting in his information with the small, cell phone-like 'keyboard' when Joy had come back out from her room in the back.
"Heya Arik. Is that everything?" she asked, and he turned around to face her- and was floored by what he saw her wearing. His jaw dropped somewhat as he saw her wearing a pair of jeans and a black shirt that wasn't very revealing, but did reveal her curves enough to be distracting, to say the least. It took what seemed to be a few minutes (but was only about 15 seconds) before he managed to pick up his nerves again and for his face to flush. Joy just smiled and spun in place before clapping her hands together, bending slightly to look at him with a look of mischief in her eyes. "Well?"
Arik was still blushing when he looked down to the floor. "Um... yeah..." he said quietly. She was acting so goddamned cute! Her outfit didn't help much. She was more of a flirt than he'd ever seen her, and there was a glint in her eyes that he couldn't remember ever seeing there before. Her smile had never seemed, so... well, she'd just never looked so happy before, ever since he'd met her. "You'll need to put your information into your pokedex, and you can have half a dozen of the pokeballs that're on the counter." he told her, finishing putting his information into the pokedex. He pressed the enter button, and his information was saved. The ID was completed, as his picture was already set into Trainer ID program.
"Oh... well, alright then. Thanks, Arik." was Joy's reply, and she turned to get her things done, even as Arik grabbed the miniaturized pokeballs and set four in his pocket, and the other two in his now heavy and quite large pack. He knew the rules- you could only have half a dozen pokemon with you at one time. Arik had two, and could carry only four more with him without sending any more to a research lab via the PC system. He smiled a little, looking back to Joy, when he heard the little musical tone that signified that pokemon were finished being healed. Just as he turned to go behind the counter to get the pokeballs, one of the trainers from the gym arrived, the sliding door opening and he appeared. Arik turned and nodded to the trainer, knowing what he had come for.
"Just a sec." he said, Joy looking over to the trainer and smiling as she finished up with the pokedex information. Arik walked over and took the pokeballs from the tray, three of them, and then threw 'em over to the trainer. The trainer caught all three, one after the other, and nodded, disappearing from the center quickly without a word. Arik shook his head as the sliding door closed up after the trainer left, and then looked over to Joy again, who was now looking at him. "So, will you be waiting for someone from your family to arrive before you leave, Joy? And what pokemon will you be taking with you?"
"Well, I'm taking Chansey, of course. And yeah, I have to wait until my cousin Joy arrives. She's coming here on a Pidgeot from Lavender Town, and she should be here within a few more hours, I think." was her reply, and she smiled softly, happy beyond anything she had been for a very long time. It was evident in her manner now, anyone could see it plainly. Arik couldn't help but to smile brightly to her and nod in acknowledgment, wondering why she hadn't taken the plunge before today to just get out on her own.
"I see. Well, I'm thinking about heading to Route 15 to start training my pokemon out there, maybe get a head start on everything. How about if you come on out that way when you're ready?" he asks, winking to her playfully as he walks towards the door now. He stopped at the chair that his pack was sitting on, and pulled on the straps, slipping it onto his back before he looked back over to her. He was wearing his jacket again, and he smiled once more as he saw her watching him as he waited there.
"I guess I could, but I was thinking about heading along Cycling Road on my bike and go to Celadon City." she replied, seeming a little disappointed about their different directions that they had in mind. Arik nodded slightly at her words, a little disappointed as well, but he had a feeling that they'd have to go their seperate ways eventually. Definitely, he would have enjoyed having her around along the trip, but at least this way he could simply do things on his own for a while, get used to being independant.
"Alright... I would have gone that route, but you know... I don't have a bike anymore. My last one was the recipient of a Weepinbell's Acid attack a year ago. Remember that battle outside the center then?" he replies, chuckling softly. Joy nodded, remembering that little incident, and sighed softly. She'd seen the whole thing, trying to stop the battling before anything happened (as it obviously had). He, on the other hand, had been busy with trainers inside the pokemon center. The Acid attack had been dodged by the Spearow that it had targeted, and the blob landed directly onto the middle of the bike. The crossbars had melted through, the wheels destroyed by some of the spray, and the handle bars had molded into a useless shape of what was once actual 'material'. The bike was a write-off, and Arik had never been reimbursed for the bike.
"Ah well... I hope that you have luck, Joy, and we meet up again on the road soon." he says, walking back over to her, arms spread wide before moving about her, holding the previous nurse in his arms as he hugs her gently to him. He closes his eyes as he feels her arms around him, and he smiled a little, hugging her a little more firmly before he opened his eyes and let her go. "You're my best friend, Joy. Take care of yourself, alright?" he told her, whispering into her ear as he feels her arms loosen from around his waist and he stepped back a little bit. She was smiling softly, watching him, and nodded to him, her eyes glancing to the floor before she looked back to him once more.
"Yeah, you too, Arik. I hope you and your pokemon stay safe." she says, smiling still as she just stood there, as if wanting to say something to him but it just couldn't get spoken out loud. With a nod, Arik smiled still as he walked towards the door now, glancing back to his best friend one last time. He probably wouldn't see her for a while, but he remembered that he could still e-mail her from other pokemon centers when possible. That would be a good way to keep in touch.
"I'll e-mail you, Joy, when I get to a new pokemon center. Alright?" he asks, the sliding door sensor catching him in it's sight and it opened behind him as he stood there. She nodded, and he nodded once in return to her before stepping out from the pokemon center. Free from work and too many worries, he headed east along the street, jumping the low fence carefully, not wanting to jostle everything he had in the pack too much. He sighs softly, one hand rising to pat the pokeballs that were fastened to the front of his jacket, and he smiled a little. First time, really, on his own completely. He felt he was ready- he hoped that he really was, but he'd miss Joy.
His steps took him further down along the street- the pokemon center was soon out of sight, and he was coming up to the guardhouse for the pokemon trainers who go in and out of the city. He passed through, surprising Officer Jenny as he waved to her when he walked past, and just grinned as he walked out the door and onto Route 15. It was bright out today, and there were few clouds in the sky. A flock of Pidgey flew overhead in the distance, and Arik took a deep breath as he headed towards the forest in the north. It took him half an hour to walk that far, but soon after, with his first step into the woods, he could already tell that he felt better now about his leaving Fuchsia City than he had in a long time about much of anything.
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Author's Note: Expect one of these before and after each chapter. Comments would be very appreciated. I just had a friend over and he took one look at this fic, realized it was Pokemon, and he couldn't believe I actually wrote a fanfic based on it. Keep in mind I only suggest the games, never the anime, to anyone. The only good seasons are the first two or so that were based on the original Red and Blue games (and even then, it was extremely cheesy). Orange Islands were really bad. Johto, not that bad, but Hoenn is probably the biggest pile of feces I've ever seen outside of certain other anime. Ew. Suggestions are welcome as well, e-mail them to me, though, at