First Journey
Chapter 3
by MacrossGreen
Author's Note: I'd like to thank the two who took the time to look over the last two chapters and write comments on them. Antithesis, your comments are appreciated, as are the comments from the other person who reviewed the last two chapters (I'm sorry, I'm not at an internet-capable machine at the moment, as I don't actually have a phone-line in my apartment right now. So, I can't remember the name too well). I had this chapter finished before I saw your reviews, but I've made a few changes since then to reflect 'reality' a bit better. I'll admit, as well, that I'm not entirely sure where I'm taking this- coming of age story, definitely, but I think I'll also try and insert a bit more of a plot into the story than just that. If you like this series, try the 'Terra' trilogy (Back to Terra, Rescue on Terra, Battle for Terra) that I have on here as well, and see if you like those, too, if you have ever played Mega Man Legends.
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Arik had been walking for a few hours without much chance to catch any pokemon since leaving Fuchsia City. In fact, the only pokemon he had seen since leaving was a Spearow, which had promptly flown away as soon as they had locked eyes. It was getting dark now, as he came across a small stream, and he shrugged as he sets his pack down. With night coming, and without a flashlight (he thought he'd forgotten something- unfortunately, he was right about it), he knew it was time to rest for the night. He could hear the calls of Pidgey and Spearow in the distance as they seemed to sing a goodnight to the sun, even while he broke out his supplies. He unraveled the sleeping bag and set it out for use a little later, and then broke out two small bowls that he had secured alongside the frying pan.
He started to dig out the can opener and one of the cans of pokemon food, and cut open the top of it. Arik poured out roughly half the can into each bowl, and then put the can into a sack at in his backpack, so he wasn't littering. Then, with a grin, he reached up to the two pokeballs on his jacket and pulled them off of it, holding them up with the indicators out. "Dinner time! Come on out, Ame and Tsai!" he said aloud, and the pokeballs opened, the red beams coming forth from the bottom half of the pokeballs to make the Nidoran and Dratini materialize in front of him. They both gave a cry as they seemed to stretch afterwards, and then Tsai looked behind him to see Arik. "Nii!" it cried again, and then blinked, sniffing the air.
Ame did the same, and then both pokemon looked to the bowls with their food in them. They looked at each other, almost seeming to smile, before darting over to eat. Arik just laughed a little bit and grinned as he watched the two eat- he'd have to watch them, see how much they ate, so he could know just how much to feed them. He knew that a Nidoran didn't eat much, but a Dratini he didn't know about. Their eating habits would be interesting to see, he thought to himself, as he got into his own food. He'd packed a few granola bars (chocolate chip, of course) in his pack, and he grabbed one out to enjoy as he watched his pokemon eat.
It only took five minutes before they were done, and then Ame seemed to yawn as it moved over to the sleeping bag, resting on top of it as it coiled up. Tsai, on the other hand moved over to eat the remnants of Ame's meal, and Arik had to stop the little Nidoran. He stood up and walked over, but by the time he got there, Nidoran had finished with the last of the food. With a chuckle, Arik knelt down and rubbed Tsai's ears gently. "Now, we'll have to do something about that appetite, I think." he told the little Nidoran, even as Nidoran shook itself. It was starting to get cold, actually, and Arik shivered slightly before going back over to the sleeping bag. "Don't wander far, you two. Let's get some sleep. We'll start actually training tomorrow." he told them, and he slipped into the sleeping bag with Ame still laying on top of it.
Tsai looked a little surprised as he saw his trainer crawl into the bag, and walked over quietly. Ame was already asleep by the time Arik had crawled in, and Tsai gave a sleepy "Niiidaaarn" before coming up alongside the bag as well, settling down there. Soon, both pokemon were fast asleep, and Arik was still wide awake, looking up towards the nearly-blocked out sky overhead. He closed his eyes after a while, listening now to the few sounds that he could hear- his pokemon's breathing, mostly. Some rustling in the bushes, and the sound of running water nearby at the stream. Within a few more minutes, his breathing slowed and and conciousness was washed away a he fell asleep as well.
Arik woke in the morning to a bright and sunny day- but mostly, to some splashing taking place in the stream. Some drops of water had hit his face, causing him to stir, and then the light of the sun just seemed to zero-in on his face, forcing him awake. With a yawn, he brought a hand to his eyes and rubbed them before opening his eyes slowly to see what was going on. The familiar cries of his Dratini and Nidoran he could hear, and he grinned as soon as he could see well enough to see what they were doing. Obviously, the two were playing and roughhousing in the stream, with Ame getting the upper hand over Tsai easily. He laughed softly, watching the two pokemon play, before he noticed that there were a few apple cores on the ground not too far away. "So you two already ate, huh?" he asked 'em, but they didn't pay him any attention as they kept playing.
With a grin, Arik just looked around slowly as he crawled out of the sleeping bag and started rolling it up. They had a long way to go, since they hadn't gone all that far last night, and as a result were still rather close to Fuchsia City. He chuckled softly, putting the sleeping bag away before pulling out his pokedex to see just how far away from Lavender they really are. Opening the pokedex, he sighed softly as he saw the length of the routes he'd be going on just to get up that way. "Routes 15, 14, 13, and 12... This could take a while." he muttered, shrugging as he collapsed the pokedex and stuffed it into the jacket's inside pocket.
Arik looked over to the stream as he heard the splashing around die down, and he blinked as he saw the two just drying off a bit in the sun. He smiled and took out their pokeballs again, pointing the button-like indicators on the 'front of the pokeballs at the two. "Return!" he said, and the command took effect as the pokeballs' red beams drew the pokemon back into their respective pokeball. With a grin, he picked up his backpack and hefted onto his back before heading east now, through the forest. He had a feeling he'd be able to train his pokemon today, though he suspected that he'd have to read up on information regarding his Dratini before training it too much.
And behold, it wasn't even an hour into his walk before he happened across another trainer! The trainer was relaxing, wearing some sort of fighter's 'Gi'- a loose robe about the torso and baggy white pants. He seemed to be going barefoot, too. With a chuckle, Arik walked around the trainer as he rested on a rock, only to hear the guy say, "Hey, hold up! Let's have us a battle!" Arik hadn't wanted to have a battle yet but the trainer's code tells every trainer that a challenge should be met unless there are mitigating circumstances. The trainer threw a pokeball, and out came a Machop from it, cutting off Arik's direction of walking.
With a sigh, he turned to the trainer and nodded to him in response to the challenge before taking his top-most pokeball from his jacket and threw it. "Come on out, Tsai!" he called, smiling slightly. He knew that Tsai had an attack that could deal with a Machop... if he was lucky, that is. His Nidoran appeared, and the Black Belt came up to stand behind his pokemon as he grinned upon seeing the size of the Nidoran that Arik had. Arik just waited to see what the trainer would do first.
"Machop, use Low Kick on his Nidoran!" the man said, and the Machop was off as soon as the attack was named. It swept forward with its left leg as it attacked, it's gray and heavily muscled body heaving it's weight and strength at the small, purple pokemon that Arik had waited in order to tell it to do something. The look in Tsai's eyes was one of strain, as if doubting he'd be able to escape the attack.
Arik, on the other hand, knew a few tricks, even if he was only a beginning trainer. "Tsai, jump over the kick and use Peck!" he called out. Tsai reacted immediately, jumping up and towards the Machop with it's head down and its horn pointing at it. The kick missed but Tsai's horn made impact against the Machop's tough body, causing it to stagger back as a result. A red welt appeared on the Machop's hide where the horn had impacted, and Machop's breathing became a bit more ragged. Tsai landed on the ground after the attack, not breathing hard at all. Getting into the groove, perhaps.
"Alright, Machop... Karate Chop!" the trainer yelled out, and Arik winced, knowing that if that hit, Tsai could get badly hurt. Arik wasn't sure what he could do to counter it, but then remembered an attack he'd seen Nidorans use before. He smiled, hoping that Nidoran could use that attack at Tsai's age, even as he prepared to issue the order. He waited for the right moment, letting the Machop's hand slam forward before telling Tsai what to do.
"Tsai, use Leer to stop it!" he yelled out, and with a "Niii!", Tsai's eyes glowed a bright yellow as it stared down the Machop as it swung it's hand. Startled at the sudden change in the Nidoran's demeanor, the Machop's hand slowed in its attack, and then it struck Tsai anyway, batting the Nidoran away a few feet before Tsai's paws managed to halt its movement. "Tsai, use Peck again!" Arik called out again, and Tsai charged the Machop once more, horn outwards as the Machop was slow to move again.
The Machop went flying after the charging attack of Tsai's Peck attack. Tsai was breathing hard, hurting obviously, as it waited for the Machop to land. As did Arik, but the trainer of the Machop wasn't waiting. "Shrug it off, Machop! Get on your feet!" he yelled out, even as the pokemon came down for a rough landing on its back. A rather loud thud came from the Machop as it landed, and it's eyes closed as the pokemon's body went limp. With a grin, Arik called out for Tsai to come on back, pulling out a potion to heal the small pokemon up, after that Karate Chop had connected. "Good work, Tsai." he told him, spraying the potion on Tsai's side carefully, making sure it actually covered the bruised part of the pokemon's back before looking over to the trainer.
He'd recalled his pokemon and came over to where Arik and Tsai were, smiling as he saw that the pokemon was alright. "Well, I'm glad your pokemon isn't badly hurt. I'm Greg, what's your name?" he asked. The rather muscled man was about twice Arik's size, but at least seemed like a nice guy. "Sorry, I should've introduced myself and set the rules before we battled." he said as well. Well now, Arik thought. Maybe battling other trainers will be alright. His hands were busy, one rubbing behind Tsai's ears as the pokemon rubbed back against his hand, his other hand dealign with the now empty potion bottle.
"My name's Arik. You almost had us there, I'd say." he replied, chuckling softly before using his hand to draw the pokeball out. "Return!" and Tsai returned to the pokeball. "I got lucky, really. Fighting type pokemon just aren't that good against poison types like my Nidoran, after all." he said, grinning a little as he stood up, only to find that Greg had in his hand, outstretched to Arik, about $20.00. "Um... what's with the money?" he asked, not knowing that if you lose a match outside of a tournament, the winner receives half the money that the loser has on him or her.
"Well, Arik, you must be kinda new to being a trainer. When someone loses a match, they have to give up some money to the winner. Keep your money in the bank, if you're smart, so that if you lose a match out here, you won't lose too much." Greg informed him. Arik nodded- glad he'd left about 3/4 of his remaining money in the bank now, as he smiled slightly. "And since I do just that, this is what you get. Twenty dollars. Unless you'd rather not take my money, that is. I wouldn't have any problems with that."
Arik laughed and so did Greg, though Greg also set the bill into Arik's hand. "It was a good match. Thank you, Greg." he said now, pulling out his wallet to put the money inside. This money would buy quite a few supplies, he knew, and he couldn't wait. Greg just nodded before bowing to Arik and then headed back to where he'd been resting on the large rock. With a shrug, Arik nodded back, and then walked off into the forest again. A basic match, he felt, though he knew that it was all luck that Tsai had managed to defeat that Machop so quickly. Even if the Nidoran had a type advantage over the Machop, it was luck that dealt most of the damage that allowed Tsai to win.
It was a few hours later when Arik decided to take a break again. Unfortunately, the place he decided to take a break in was in a small clearing in which he had the sneaking suspicion that something else was here, he just couldn't figure out where, or what. But, as he came into the clearing, a dust in the air quickly got his attention and he got out of the way as the wind came up and blew it the other direction before it got too close to him. "Yeesh... Stun Spore!" he muttered, and then he took out his pokedex, turning on the search feature as he pointed it towards the ground, slowly moving the sensored top portion of the pokedex around carefully so it could lock onto a pokemon that might possibly be using it.
He knew Butterfree weren't in the area- they never were. Only grass and bug pokemon other than Butterfree or possibly Venomoth would use that particular attack when threatened. Finally, the pokedex came up with a match. "Oddish." the speaker came up with, and he looked to where the pokedex was pointing towards. He saw its leaves poking out of the ground, and he nodded slightly, remembering that Oddish was a nocturnal pokemon. What was worse, is that they often spread their own powder (often Stun Spore) out at night, before going to sleep for the day, to keep trainers and other pokemon away and out of their territory. "Fine... we go around, then." he says to himself, going through the forest again, just continuing on. Eventually he'd wind up along Route 14, where there really wasn't any forests about since it was close to the ocean.
But before another 10 minutes passed, there was a small problem- Arik was under attack! A gust of sand flew into his face from someplace, and as he ducked out of the way, behind a tree, he realized that only one certain family of pokemon would use sand like this, to keep intruders away. And when he looked around, he saw it- a Pidgey. With a small grin, he grabbed one of his pokeballs from his jacket and threw it towards the Pidgey. Out came Ame, who gave a small cry before looking up to the startled Pidgey. "Ame, Wrap attack!" he told his Dratini, and with a "Tiniii!", Ame leapt up and managed to catch the small bird in its coils, wrapping itself around the Pidgey before squeezing it between the length of itself.
The Pidgey gave a cry- "Kurrrrooookoooo!" and fell from the sky, wrapped as it was in Ame's coils. It cried out each time the Dratini constricted its coils about the small bird, and soon it was breathing very heavily, its cry strained and softer as there wasn't enough air to make it through to its lungs while it was slowly being crushed. Arik watched as Ame did this, timing his next command so that she would let go of it at the right time, and he could throw a pokeball at the small bird pokemon.
Soon, the Pidgey was about to faint. "Release!" he called out, and Ame let go of the pokemon, the Pidgey falling from between the Dratini's coils to the ground. It rose up, unsteadily, on its claws as Arik pulled an unused pokeball from the pouch at his waist and aimed for a split second. Then, his foot came forward as he threw the pokeball at the Pidgey. It connecting, bopping the small bird on the head before opening up and drawing it inside. The ball fell to the ground, and began to rock back and forth quickly. Once, twice, three times the ball rocked to the left and then to the right in a back-and-forth action, and then it popped open, the charge in the pokeball spent and the Pidgey burst out, flapping its wings to gain some altitude. "Amazing..." he said out loud- he hadn't thought that the Pidgey would have enough strength to keep fighting like it was doing. Can't be right all the time!
But sure enough, it used Sand Attack again, this time on Ame, who was now unable to see too clearly thanks to the sand that had blasted it's eyes. Then, the Pidgey darted in towards the Dratini, ramming it with its body from one direction, and then the other. Arik watch as this happen, and then winced as a particularly powerful Tackle caused Ame to fall down completely, almost knocking it out. Suddenly, he could see some sort of surge from within his Dratini, and he watched as an electrical discharge coursed along its serpentine body. "Thunder Wave?" he asked aloud, watching as that very attack trapped the Pidgey, causing the pokemon to fall from the sky before actually connecting with Ame again.
"One more time." he muttered, and he drew out another pokeball, expanding it, and then he threw it as the pokemon was falling. He barely managed to tag it, and this time it hit the ground as it entered the pokeball. The pokeball rocked back and forth, much slower than before, and after the third rocking, the indicator went red and then black again. "Good job, Ame!" he called out, running over to make sure that it was alright. She shivered, bruised in several places from the force of the Pidgey's attacks, and he smiled a little, pulling out a potion and applying the healing spray along her body. It took a moment for it to take effect, and then the wounds were gone. "Return, Ame. Good work." he said, and he held out Ame's pokeball, the red beam returning his pokemon to its ball before he turned to pick up his now dead pokeball, setting it into his backpack in its small form before picking up his new pokemon's ball.
"You, my friend, were a bit of a pain, you know." he told the Pidgey, who was undoubtedly nursing its own paralyzed body in the pokeball. "I think I'll call you Arrow." he said, chuckling softly. Tough little Pidgey, obviously, and he smiled as he stretched before setting the pokeball on his jacket, underneath Tsai's and Ame's pokeballs. He smiled, wondering if he'd come across a small town sooner or later, where he could pick up some supplies (not that he needed them yet), or at least a pokemon center so he could heal his pokemon without continuing to use his potion supply. He hoped so, because at this rate, he'd probably be out of Potions by the middle of Route 12- and that was if he didn't run into many more trainers!
He couldn't help but to start wondering how Joy was doing. She must be out along Cycling Road by now, he thought, going uphill the whole way. With a shrug, he turned his attention back to the path at his feet, looking at the different trees that were on either side of him and to the front. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew he was headed west, he would otherwise be lost. "Let's see... what to do?" he asks himself. He wished that there was someone around- travelling by himself was something he wasn't too fond of. Time went slowly and he'd been lonely for a while, ever since he'd battled with that trainer back there.
Arik had seen a pair of people coming his way along the route he'd found himself on about 10 minutes ago, and now that he could see the two people, he found it was a man and a woman travelling together. They looked, from here, to be boyfriend and girlfriend, if their identical clothing told him anything. Black pants, white shirt barely noticable behind a black jacket that had a rather large red 'R' stamped into the middle. The woman had long brown hair and was of average height- he couldn't tell just how attractive she was from this far away, yet. The man had blonde hair, and was significantly taller than the woman was. Both seemed to be physically fit, considering that they were keeping up a steady pace.
The three were about to pass one another after a few more moments, the pair coming close enough for Arik to actually see the color of their eyes. The woman had brown eyes, the man had blue eyes. They nodded to Arik as they passed on either side of him, and Arik nodded to them both- it took but an instant to realize that they hadn't nodded to him, but to each other, as both the man and woman stepped to him quickly. The man's hands reached for Arik's arms, even as Arik attempted to move forward to get out of the way. "What the hell are you doing?" he exclaimed, even as he felt the woman's hands on his chest, but not in a pleasing way. Her fingers seemed to move about to try and grab the pokeballs that were resting on his jacket, but all she managed to do was knock them to the ground.
"Hey, leave 'em alone! They're my pokemon!" he cried out, wresting himself out of his jacket as the struggle continued, the man now holding his empty jacket in his hands before Arik managed to duck down and pick up his miniaturized pokeballs quickly, before the woman could react. His training at the Fuchsia gym had helped quicken his physical response time quite well. The man that was behind him now dropped the jacket and moved forward and downwards, arms outstretched towards Arik. Arik managed to move just enough to toss the pokeballs- one of two triggers known to unleash them from their pokeballs, this one being the non-verbal command. "Come on out! Arrow, Tsai, Ame!" he called, and the three pokeballs burst open as their trainer was restrained on the ground, the man's knee in the middle of his back.
The woman and man looked up to face the pokemon that were unleashed. First came the recently caught Pidgey (named Arrow, of course), flapping its wings slowly as it hovered in place a few feet away. The next was Tsai, at about the same time, escaping his pokeball to stand in place before it. It shook its head and yawned, a "Niiiiiioraaah!" escaping it before looking over to see the predicament its trainer was in. Last was Ame, who appeared just after Tsai did but saw, immediately, what was going on. The Pidgey didn't seem to care, but stayed hovering in place, even as the other two stared down the two people who were completely disrespecting their trainer.
"What the hell... hey, that's a Dratini! Dratinis are one of the rarest pokemon in the world! We gotta get that thing!" the woman exclaimed, standing up from where she had been about to smash Arik's face into the ground. The man above Arik, who had sat his weight on Arik's back, just grinned slightly as he held down the squirming pokemon trainer almost effortlessly. Arik, on the other hand, hearing the woman's words, put two and two together: The 'R' on their jackets, the fact that they assaulted him, and now that they wanted to steal his Ame. That was something he couldn't allow to happen, no matter what!
"Help me out, guys!" he yelled out to his pokemon, just before the woman did do what she had been about to a moment earlier- she used her boot this time, and forced his face into the ground with a stomping action. With his face in the dirt, Arik closed his eyes in pain and humiliation. He didn't know how to wrestle, really- he'd done martial arts, but this guy above him had him in more of a wrestling hold than anything else. And damn, was he holding him down for all he was worth!
"Hey, hey! We don't want a battle, kid. Just give us your Dratini, and you can keep the rest of your pathetic pokemon. We'll even let you go and we won't bother with ya again. Great deal, don't ya think?" the man told him, digging his right knee directly into the middle of the trainer's back, causing a pained groan to escape him. Unknown to the man, who was looking at the back of Arik's head that was pushed into the ground still by the woman's foot, but known by the woman since she was watching ahead of them, Arik's pokemon were about to do something.
"Draaaaaa! Tiniii, Draaaainiii!" came Ame's cry, and the serpentine pokemon launched herself at the man. At the pokemon's cry, the man looked up in time to find himself forced off of Arik as she coiled about his arms, pinning the man's arms and hands against his body. He cried out in pain as she constricted her coils about the man somewhat, a serious, almost dark look in the already dark eyes of the pokemon. Tsai had even gone ballistic, charging at the woman with its horn at the ready, pointing at her chest. The woman, however, threw two pokeballs quickly, coming to land in front of Tsai before opening up and releasing their contents- an Ekans and a Rattata.
"Watch it, kid... we're part of Team Rocket. You sure you wanna make us your enemy?" the woman told him, using her booted foot to grind his face further into the dirt. A muffled yelp escaped him before he managed to bring his arms around, and then he pushed up quickly, the force driving the woman off of him and to stagger back a bit before she could actually reassert her pin on him. Arik opened his eyes and spat out the dirt that he'd been forced to 'eat', before coughing and looking over to his pokemon. Unlike his Tsai, Arrow just hovered in place, not really caring about what had happened to its new trainer. That pokemon, right now, had a bit of an attitude, and Arik couldn't blame it.
"Well now... I know what you're about then. Ain't gonna happen... Tsai, use Peck on the Ekans! Arrow, Tackle attack on her Rattata!" he called out, quickly getting out from close range to the woman, who looked about ready to attack him personally. He grinned slightly, looking over to the man who was getting tightly squeezed in Ame's coils. "Good job, Ame!" he called, encouraging his Dratini. Unfortunately, as a result, it released the man, with a cry, and darted over to Arik to coil around his feet slightly.
"Rattata, Hyper Fang on that Pidgey! Ekans, Poison Sting!" came the call from the woman trainer, and the pokemon all leapt into action. Tsai had already jumped into the fray, and his horn slammed home into the Ekans before it could open its mouth. Surprised at Tsai's sudden attack, the Ekans was thrown away by the impact, forcing its attack to miss Tsai by a mile as its head was turned away from its target. Arrow had attacked as well, broadsiding the Rattata. Too bad for Arrow that it didn't have the strength or mass to knock it for a loop, because right afterwards it leapt back up with glowing fangs and snapped them against the Pidgey, knocking it out of the air. The small bird pokemon fell to the ground, landing in a very small heap. It stirred slightly, but was barely able to get up, flapping its wings slowly as it rose into the sky again.
"Arrow, Sand Attack! Tsai, use Leer!" he called out, quickly. He'd seen the damage done to Arrow and knew it couldn't last another attack that could hit it. Ame remained at his side- he couldn't afford to use it in a battle against them yet. She was his ace in the hole, since he doubted that the Rockets would want to actually harm the Dratini. They wanted to steal her, after all... and then he heard a groan come from the man that had been unconscious after Ame had finished wrapping him up. A second afterwards, he heard the impact of a pokeball on the ground, and then the other, and a flash of red light told Arik that there were two more problems to deal with.
"Raticate, Hyper Fang attack! Zubat, use Supersonic!" he yelled out, and Arik groaned slightly. Those two attacks could really do some damage to his pokemon, he knew, but there was very little he could do about it. He looked to Ame, and nodded slightly- no choice in the matter, he knew. A moment later, the woman was alongside the man, laughing a little as she pointed at him. He knew what she meant, all too well. Tsai faced the Ekans again, its eyes glowing into a golden yellow before managing to stare down that pokemon. Arik's Pidgey finally managed some altitude and flapped its wings furiously, causing a small gust of wind to carry sand into the Rattata's eyes.
The sand didn't stop there, but it didn't stop the Raticate from jumping over the blown sand and striking Arrow with its teeth. Arrow was hit once again by a Hyper Fang attack, and was knocked end over end before falling to the ground in a heap that just wouldn't get up again. The impact caused Arik to wince- would Arrow be alright? He ran over to it, even as Ame remained where she was, facing the four pokemon along with Tsai. Then a sound erupted in the air that would cause Arik to shiver as a result of it, and Tsai just dug its head to the ground, forcing one ear against it to keep the sound from having the desired effect on it.
Now kneeling beside his fallen Pidgey, Arik looked at it carefully before picking it up in his hands. "I hope you'll be okay, Arrow. Back into the ball, now." he says, and returns the fallen bird pokemon to its pokeball. He felt a change in the wind, and Arik looked back to his two pokemon facing off against a Rattata, a Raticate, an Ekans, and a Zubat. He could only wonder what it was until he saw where the wind was generated from.
It was Ame. She stood mostly on just the tip of her tail as she spun in place, and a dirt devil grew around it. The winds whipped around her before expanding from just a small twister to a larger one, and then Ame stopped, giving a cry that sent the Twister towards the Ekans and Rattata, which were side by side after Tsai and Arrows earlier attacks. "What the hell?" Arik said aloud, as he watched the Twister go between the two pokemon and then expand before falling silent, even as the twister's winds blew the pokemon apart and back. Both fell to the ground, and then didn't move again- obviously, Tsai's Leer had done some good against the Ekans.
Tsai was breathing heavily, its purple hide glistening in the sunlight as its body heaved up and down slowly. Ame wasn't breathing hard at all- she'd only now joined the battle, after all. The remaining pokemon didn't seem to be too tired either, and Arik had to wonder if he'd be able to pull this one out of his hat. The two Rockets just watched as Arik's Dratini managed to knock two of their pokemon out of the fight at the same time, and the woman seemed to be pissed off beyond all belief. Arik had to grin at that, and then glanced back to the other two pokemon that were in the battlefield, left to do the rest of the damage to deal with his pokemon. "Oh, shit." he muttered to himself. "They're fresh, Tsai's not... and that Raticate's tough."
The man across the 'field' from Arik couldn't help himself from grinning- he knew that with his evolved pokemon, that there was little that the runt could do to keep himself from losing his Dratini. That Dratini would evolve into a Dragonair, and then again into a Dragonite, which was one of the most powerful and rare pokemon ever to be used. No one in Team Rocket, in Kanto, even had access to a Dragon-type pokemon. If he captured it, he'd become an executive almost immediately! Forget his worthless partner, who for some odd reason always kept the Ekans that she had. It was a worthless pokemon to be sure, but had a few (very few) good uses.
"That's it... Raticate, use Quick Attack on that Nidoran! Zubat, Leech Life on that Dratini!" he yelled out, and Arik sighed- an attack like Raticate's on Tsai would probably knock it out! He had to think of something faster than that Raticate could move, but with the fact that a Raticate was obviously faster, stronger, and more experienced...
"Just great... Ame, Wrap Raticate! Nidoran, Peck Zubat!" he yelled out, hoping to be able to deflect the Raticate's attack by giving it three problems. One- a moving target. Two- a moving, attacking target. Three- the chance of hitting its own partner while attempting to hit its named target. It was a bit of a problem for the Raticate that Ame managed to wrap around it just as it leapt into the air with its attack towards Tsai! The added weight slowed it down just enough to give Tsai the narrow escape it needed, and it managed to down the Zubat with a powerful attack in the flying pokemon's chest, knocking it out in midair to fall to the ground.
Ame cinched her coils tighter around the Raticate, forcing the pokemon to cry out in pain. However, with a movement too quick for Arik to really see, it escaped from the Dratini's attack and darted out into the open. It was breathing heavily now, and now, the numbers advantage had changed to favor Arik's team. Ame was breathing a little harder now and Tsai looked about ready to collapse. Arik could feel his own body heat rising, as if he was willing the pokemon in the battle against the other that the Rockets had sent against him. The man across from him looked to be in shock- that his pokemon's Quick Attack had missed and his Zubat had been knocked out with a single hit (luck, of course, he knew, but still).
"Tsai, use Leer! Ame, use Wrap attack again!" Arik called out, barely before the man could open his mouth to call to his Raticate. There was little that Arik could do at this point, since having Tsai fully attack would just bring it into simple 'Hyper Fang' range. He hoped that Tsai could bring himself up to using another attack, because that Raticate was probably going to be the end of him if he couldn't! Ame looked pretty apprehensive, unsure if she wanted to initiate the attack, but immediately struck out at Arik's command. Tsai, on the other hand, seemed to wobble in place, and needed to take a deep breath before being able to begin it's own commanded attack.
"Raticate, Hyper Fang on that Dratini!" was the man's response to Arik's commands, and Arik winced. He didn't want to see another mess like what had happened to her back in the Safari Zone. It was too late though- Ame was already on her way towards the Raticate, and Tsai's eyes glowed a bright yellow at Raticate, shocking it just a little, but not stopping its movements towards the darting Dratini. It bit down quickly at Ame, its two front teeth converging upon the blue scales of its target, digging into and then parting the scales as it bit into flesh completely.
Ame's cry erupted in pain as it thrashed against the Raticate's attack, and it visibly shivered as its blood seeped from the wound when the Raticate's teeth left the Dratini's body. "Not again!" he said, loud enough for his opponents to hear, though they likely wouldn't care. "Tsai, Peck attack now! Ame, return!" he yelled out, picking out Ame's pokeball to return the Dratini to its pokeball. "Good job, Ame... I'll get you healed as soon as I can." he tells it inside the pokeball, and he sets it back in the miniturized mode onto his jacket before he glanced back up and over to the two remaining pokemon.
Tsai immediately lunged forward, somehow regaining strength from the moment it had had to recover its breath, and drove its horn into the Raticate's chest. Not a particularly powerful attack, it had, however, punctured deep into the Raticate's flesh, and blood flowed from it as a result when the Nidoran backed up, shuddering as it smelled and felt the sticky blood on its muzzle and horn. The Raticate fell down, twitching, as the Rocket who had been giving it orders stared in disbelief. "No! How the hell could my Raticate lose to a measly little bastard Nidoran!" he yelled, falling to his knees. The woman beside him shook her head and sighed, having watched the proceedings the entire time.
"Kid, we'll be after you from now on. Count on it!" she called over to Arik, who simply smiled slightly as he recalled his pokemon. Soon afterwards, he was gone, not saying anything to the Rocket members but to his pokemon, hurrying off as fast as he could to the north now, winding up on Route 14. He had to hurry along and find a place to rest and heal his Dratini's wound before it became infected or it bled to death... He hoped that the Raticate would at least receive the same treatment from Team Rocket.
Team Rocket, Kanto Division Executive Roland, Kanto branch
With the defeat of the leader Giovanni, both as a Team Rocket mastermind and as the leader of the Viridian City Gym, operations in Kanto has ground to nearly a standstill. Many operatives have fled to the Johto regions, along with the few remaining Silph scientists that are still loyal to our cause. Our base in the islands of the Kanto region was destroyed by the same trainer who had defeated Giovanni. Without a permanent base in the Kanto region now, our operations have dropped by 90 from what they once were. Most operatives have been apprehended or have simply left the organization. With our numbers dwindling each month, it is only a matter of time until Team Rocket is no longer a functioning crime syndicate in this part of the world.
Giovanni has gone into training somewhere in the world, after the incident on the island. None of our operatives have managed to obtain information as to his whereabouts, which leads our remaining executives to believe he is in seclusion, either in Africa or South America. Given his interest in the pokemon known as 'Mew', it has been suggested that we concentrate our search in South America, where the last vestiges of this pokemon was found, according to notes retrieved from Cinnabar Island before the volcano erupted. He is also interested in attempting to find the genetically enhanced pokemon, Mewtwo, that he created a few years ago, but was promptly lost thanks to its psychic powers.
Our few operatives in the Kanto region number only in the low hundreds. None have managed to obtain any extremely rare pokemon, however, a pair of operatives near Fuchsia City has reported an encounter today with a trainer who has managed to capture a Dratini, and with it, managed defeated our operatives, despite a numerical advantage on our operatives' part. All remaining operatives available have been given orders to head to Fuchsia and Lavender Town, to steal the Dratini as the opportunity arises. As of yet, there has been no other sightings of this trainer, save that he is, perhaps, 15 years old and is wearing a light blue jacket and jeans. Half a dozen flunkies as well as a pair of executives are converging on Lavender town, and half a dozen more (including the pair that made contact with the trainer before) are moving along Route 14 to seal any escape on the trainer's part.
Two operatives are still tailing the trainer who defeated Giovanni, and have tracked him to the Johto region. However, he has eluded our team for the past month, having flown to someplace that we do not have charted. Rumors have speculated that the trainer may have gone to Mt. Silver, in which case it will be very difficult to confront him. We have operatives stationed in all major gyms as well, to learn of any leaders that may be interested in joining our cause. As of yet, however, none have been found.
End progress report.
A day later, and Arik was still on the road- he hadn't stopped at all, not even taking time to sleep at night. He felt very tired, and had both Arrow and Tsai out to keep watch as he trudged along. His legs felt heavy and he barely noticed when the ground he walked on started taking an uphill turn. All of his pokemon other than Ame had kept him company (and awake) during the night, and he had to use two Potions to heal Ame's puncture wound so that she wouldn't be in pain for a long time. He used a potion on both Arrow and Tsai as well, though he knew he was running out of them already. He'd only begun with She retained the wound, however, a scar on both sides of her serpentine body down near her tail. As the day came back, both Arrow and Tsai remained out, healed already and somewhat rested.
More rested than Arik, at least, and he yawned slowly, even as Arrow flew overhead- he hadn't found anyone following them, and Tsai obviously couldn't hear anyone coming towards them. Arik's eyes were barely half open as he walked along the route. Of course, that was only until Arrow gave a cry and landed on Arik's shoulder, and Tsai gave a growl. His eyes opened wide, alert for a moment or two at least, as he looked ahead of them to where they had seen someone. It was some trainer wearing overalls... seemed to have a cage of sorts beside him, too. He didn't have much hair, but what he had was black hair anyway.
"Hey, let's have a battle!" came the voice of a trainer. The trainer was a guy, yes, but he didn't have any pokeballs on his person. At least, not that he could see, anyway. Arik sighed softly and shook his head slowly as he heard those words- he knew that he couldn't afford a battle at this point. His pokemon were tired and besides, he had a bit of trouble right now, after all. Arik just looked to the trainer again, barely keeping his eyes open now, as he shakes his head at him. The black haired trainer muttered under his breath as he saw Arik's reaction, and then stepped up to confront him. "Well, why not? Think you're too good to battle me, huh?"
"It... haaah!.. It's not that..." he said, yawning as he attempts to speak with the trainer. "I haven't slept for over 24 hours, and I've got..." he continued, having to break off as he yawns once more. "I've got some Team Rocket guys trying to catch up with me, I think." he finished. Even as he said this, he knew that it sounded bad- Team Rocket hadn't been heard of for quite a while, after all, at least not in Kanto. "I'm tryin' to get to Lavender Town quick, otherwise they'll probably catch up. I beat 'em yesterday, but I bet that we won't be able to defeat them again when they cheat like they do, ya know."
The trainer just watched him, trying to decide if Arik was lying or what. He'd heard of some trainers in the area having lost their pokemon after a battle against some shady-looking people. But then... Team Rocket? They'd been defeated two years ago! Arik could tell that the trainer was considering his story, and he sighed softly. "I can't really afford to sleep, otherwise they might catch up with me and steal my pokemon while I'm asleep, ya know? I can't really stop them unless I'm awake." Arik told him, even as he pulled his two pokeballs out and returned Arrow and Tsai to them. Then, he pulled the third ball out. "Ame, come on out." he said, and his Dratini materialized, much to the trainer's surprise. The trainer obviously recognized that particular, blue and white colored, serpent-like pokemon immediately, which surprised Arik and gasped.
"A Dratini?! You can't be serious! No wonder they'd be followin' you. Alright, I think I can help you out." the trainer said, and grinned a little as the Dratini was returned to its pokeball. Arik sighed softly- he couldn't take much more of this. Caffeine was something he hadn't stocked up on when he had packed up for the trip, and since he was no longer moving on while he talked with this guy, sleep was really coming after him with a vengeance. The trainer seemed to realize this, and he just smiled slightly. "Come on, I'll take you over to my camp. You can rest there for a while, and if anyone comes around askin' for ya, I'll tell 'em I haven't seen any trainers come by, okay?"
"Sounds good to... haaaahh! Me..." Arik replied, trailing into a yawn as he put a hand over his mouth to be polite. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back up again quickly, looking back to the trainer who just laughed before walking off. Arik walked after him, almost dead on his feet at this point. With another deep, lasting yawn, Arik managed to keep going after the nice trainer, and soon they were at the camp that the guy had mentioned. The flap of the tent was opened for Arik, who smiled as well as he could as he managed to get inside, then just sprawled out off to the side just before falling asleep. "Thank you..." was all that he could say, even as the flap was closed behind him. The sound of footsteps walking away wasn't heard within the minute after he had fallen asleep- Arik was out like a light.
"Dammit! I can't believe we lost to that kid yesterday, even if he did have a Dratini!" the woman's voice yelled out, as the pair walked along Route 15. The man just sighed- he'd had to listen to her for hours on end about that trainer they'd faced. The kid had been right, too. They didn't have his name, and just about anyone who was a pokemon trainer would blend in among others after a little work at the most. He was also a bit worried about his partner- Amy had been threatening to quit Team Rocket and work on her own as a trainer lately. They hadn't had any luck facing new challenges, and it was rare that they managed to steal anything. He could understand why she was disturbed by their lack of progress.
"Quiet down, Serra. No need to yell, I'm right here. And remember, there's a bunch of other operatives closing in on Lavender Town. It's the only place that kid can go, other than Vermilion City, after all. And there's two routes between him and both of those towns, so there's no way he can escape our trap that's waitin' for him." he told her... for the fifth time today. He chuckled softly, watching as she relaxed for the moment. It wouldn't last long, he knew. It hadn't after each time he'd told her that, after all. "And with our new pokemon, the kid doesn't stand a chance." he said, grinning slightly. The world didn't know many dragon pokemon, but their weaknesses were rumored to be extreme cold. A Dragon-type was often difficult to defeat, and usually took several different pokemon to actually knock one down. Dragonites were the most well known Dragon-types in Kanto, and they were very powerful in both attack and defense. A trainer had gone against the one-time Pokemon Master in the Elite Four, and was beat down almost immediately by it's ferocious attacks.
"Yeah, I know, Jim. I'm just pissed that he got the better of us, not just his pokemon." she said. Finally, a different answer other than silence after half the day had gone by. They'd been walking along the route since early this morning, after a quick stop in Fuchsia to heal the pokemon they had, and transfer them back to their temporary base to get new ones. She smiled slightly, to herself, when she saw her partner not watching her. She kinda enjoyed their bout with that trainer who had defeated them- he was pretty sarcastic and skilled, to say the least. There wasn't much that had been said between the Rocket members and the trainer, but she had the feeling that even if he was a beginner, he was obviously more knowledgable about pokemon than most trainers that the pair had ever come across.
"He can't have gotten too far, if he went ahead and stopped for the night last night. He's probably still on Route 14, I bet." Jim said, and both of them grinned. "Once we catch him, getting that Dratini from one brat won't be a problem at all. I'm glad the higher-ups decided to give us stronger pokemon than those poison types... They ain't really the best pokemon type there is. But why you decided to keep that Ekans, I'll never figure out." Serra just smiled to herself as he made that little comment. Little did he know that this particular Ekans was one from the family that her old Ekans had been part of. Unfortunately for her, her original Ekans had met its demise at the hands of an Electrode that used Explosion while it had been wrapped up around it.
"Personal preference, Jim. Poison types are pretty good... well, against most pokemon, at least." she told him, and then became quiet, much more calm now and thinking deeply, walking along the route beside her teammate. After their report and subsequent posting to go after the trainer, she had to wonder if that was truly the best choice, for her, and her teammate. She knew he didn't care for her in the slightest, and not once, in a battle, did he ever help out her pokemon unless it was to make sure that they would win. He believed, fully, in Team Rocket's ideal of using Pokemon as if they were tools, and nothing more. Serra, on the other hand, believed in training a pokemon herself- she knew from experience that the ones you train will work hardest for the trainer, unlike ones that are simply used by just anyone. That was likely why that Raticate had lost to that runt's little Nidoran, she thought, and she thought even more as she wandered with her partner down the route.
Behind the two Rocket members was a woman who traveled lightly concealed in the woods as she darted from tree to tree, watching and listening. She knew who they spoke of- she had talked with the ex-nurse Joy in Fuchsia before she left, the day before yesterday. She wore a black and purple kimono, along with the same-colored shawl that hid most of her face other than her eyes. Indeed, it was Janine. When she'd heard that her friend had set off already, and after Joy had told her what his two pokemon were, she couldn't help but to feel as if he had simply given up on their ever having a pokemon battle together. Hurt, but after she had listened in on the conversation of the two that she was now trailing while she was in the pokemon center, she could almost understand what had happened.
She knew Arik better than anyone other than Nurse Joy did. He had enough strength to keep going for over 24 hours, but he had never improved on that since Koga had left the gym. With a grin, Janine moved quickly, faster than the two members of Team Rocket, and took a shortcut through the forest that only members of her gym would know of. She'd get to Arik first, and have her battle with him if possible- she only hoped that it wasn't too late. Joy had continued on her way after their talk, heading out along Cycling Road, but Janine went immediately after Arik along Route 15. She was faster than he was, though he was pretty good at moving quickly himself, and therefore much faster than the two she had passed up a few minutes ago. She had a good idea as to where he might be, several miles away. She kept tabs on all the trainers within 10 miles of her gym, the few that there were these days at least. Of course, she had personally kept tabs on Arik more than most other trainers other than other gym leaders.
"We will have our battle, my friend..." she told herself, though she spoke out loud and to no one withing earshot. Arik was someone she needed to battle- these feelings of unrest needed settled. Koga, her own father, had told her once that she needed to focus more upon herself and her training rather than upon others. He had not known, nor had she provided him any information, with regards as to whom she might have been focused upon so much. Koga had, however, been suspicious that she was interested in Arik, and as such, if he was keeping her mind off of her training, had banished him from the Gym, except when on Pokemon Center or Gym-related business. Now, however...
"Arik, you will not get away from me!" she muttered under her breath, even as she stopped behind a tree, seeing a Pokemon Ranger looking in her direction. She waited for the ranger to look the other way, and then she was gone, moving quickly enough not to be seen. Janine, however, wasn't really being truthful with herself. She'd been waiting for a chance to travel with Arik ever since she'd received her starting pokemon. They'd had it planned out, that after they had their battle that they would go their seperate ways for a while, but would catch up with one another in either Saffron City or Vermilion City, and travel together from there. The crush she had once had on Arik never really left her. But then, she'd become so interested in other people that the crush had only fueled their rivalry to become more than just a friendly one. With a smirk, she hurried onwards, certain that by the end of the day, she would find her old friend. If not... well, she hoped he could hold his own with his pokemon long enough for help to arrive. Namely, her.
Around six hours later, Arik woke up to the sound of thunder overhead. With a sigh, and no one else around this late, he took out his pokedex as he sat up, crossing his legs as he rests there. "Information on Dratini." he said to the pokedex, and instead of letting it tell him the information, he had it printed on the screen. An older model pokedex, he realized, and a smile crossed his face as he read what information that professor Oak had been able to provide him. A slow evolver- many dragon types rarely evolve fully before the original trainer gives up training pokemon. They learn many attacks, but an early dragon attack that Dratini learns is Twister. Normally, pokemon of this family are only obtained somewhere in Johto.
Of course, the Pokedex didn't tell him too much that he didn't know already. But the attack would be useful information. With a sigh, he stretched slowly before walking out from the tent, and then blinked in surprise as drops of water fell onto his face. It was lightly raining, and he sighed softly as he looked up to the sky. The clouds were fairly dark, and it was pretty dark to begin with, anyway. With a grin, he grabbed his notebook and wrote a note for the trainer who had helped him out- he didn't say where exactly he was going or how he was going to get there, of course. There was no telling if there was anyone following behind him, and if there was, if they'd ransack this little camp if they could find it. He thanked the trainer for his help, and left a five dollar bill under his sleeping bag. Before he left, he set the bill under the guy's sleeping bag, and with a smile, Arik walked out into the rain, now heading directly west along Route 13.
He knew that he couldn't afford to wait through a storm- his sleep that he'd just received would now be put to good use. He zipped up the jacket he was wearing, the temperature getting pretty cold out, even for him. With a smile, he continued through the rain, not running into any trainers along his way. He made good time, thanks to the steady, light rain that was coming down. Most trainers and other people wouldn't bother being out and about in a thunderstorm like this, even if the majority of the bad weather seemed to be centered down in or around Fuchsia City. He'd be out of the weather himself, if it were possible, if it wasn't for the fact that he'd get more distance from the people he was sure would be following him. Again, he couldn't help but to wish he was traveling with someone else. It was pretty, well... lonely, all by himself, with no one to talk to. Or was it simply that misery loves company?
Time alone was time for reflection: he found himself recalling his recent battle (as in just yesterday) with Team Rocket. It had been his first battle, actually, and knew now the he could have done better against them. Or, at least, he thought he could have. It had been three against four, and he'd been lucky that Arrow managed to defeat that Zubat so quickly to begin with. His pokemon seemed to be a little weaker than he had hoped they were, though... At least his pokemon were fast and able to respond to his commands quickly. Tsai had done pretty well, too, managing to take down that Koffing before Team Rocket managed to give it orders to Self-Destruct or use Explosion. Ame had taken down a Raticate and the Ekans. Chances are that he'd underestimated his pokemon's strength, maybe even over-estimated Team Rocket's strength at the same time. "If there's a next time... I won't make mistakes like that again." he told himself.
The weather grew worse as he walked eastward. This length of the route was short, however, and pretty soon he was going north again, even though the wind was picking up. "Sheesh... this is ridiculous." he muttered. Maybe Lavender Town was a bad idea? It was certainly possible. And if he remembered correctly, about halfway up Route 12 there was an entrance to another route that led towards Vermilion City. That city might be faster to get to, he thought, and a grin crossed his face. Besides, there was bound to be a guardhouse in that direction, too, and he could get some rest up there. The Rockets wouldn't do a thing right in the plain sight of police officers, after all. With that in mind, he continued along the route with slow, careful steps, so he wouldn't slip on the muddy road at his feet. He just hoped that his intuition would serve him well in this case- he needed to get his pokemon to a Pokemon Center before he got into many more battles.
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Author's Note: Well, here's the latest chapter. As I said in the beginning, I had most of this done before I managed to get online to check for reviews on the last two chapters. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter half done (or more) before I get to check for more reviews, too. Are there really a lot of childish pokemon fanfics (worse than this, I mean)? I'm trying to fit this series into the niche that seems to be between Adult (NC-17) ratings and Childish (G & PG) ratings. I haven't had the chance to look up other pokemon fanfics on , so I don't know just how bad or good the fanfiction in this category has been. I think I've ended up basing this off of the re-released blue/red games, LeafGreen and FireRed, which are much better than the originals were, so any inconsistencies along those lines should be solved here and now. lol
by MacrossGreen
Author's Note: I'd like to thank the two who took the time to look over the last two chapters and write comments on them. Antithesis, your comments are appreciated, as are the comments from the other person who reviewed the last two chapters (I'm sorry, I'm not at an internet-capable machine at the moment, as I don't actually have a phone-line in my apartment right now. So, I can't remember the name too well). I had this chapter finished before I saw your reviews, but I've made a few changes since then to reflect 'reality' a bit better. I'll admit, as well, that I'm not entirely sure where I'm taking this- coming of age story, definitely, but I think I'll also try and insert a bit more of a plot into the story than just that. If you like this series, try the 'Terra' trilogy (Back to Terra, Rescue on Terra, Battle for Terra) that I have on here as well, and see if you like those, too, if you have ever played Mega Man Legends.
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Arik had been walking for a few hours without much chance to catch any pokemon since leaving Fuchsia City. In fact, the only pokemon he had seen since leaving was a Spearow, which had promptly flown away as soon as they had locked eyes. It was getting dark now, as he came across a small stream, and he shrugged as he sets his pack down. With night coming, and without a flashlight (he thought he'd forgotten something- unfortunately, he was right about it), he knew it was time to rest for the night. He could hear the calls of Pidgey and Spearow in the distance as they seemed to sing a goodnight to the sun, even while he broke out his supplies. He unraveled the sleeping bag and set it out for use a little later, and then broke out two small bowls that he had secured alongside the frying pan.
He started to dig out the can opener and one of the cans of pokemon food, and cut open the top of it. Arik poured out roughly half the can into each bowl, and then put the can into a sack at in his backpack, so he wasn't littering. Then, with a grin, he reached up to the two pokeballs on his jacket and pulled them off of it, holding them up with the indicators out. "Dinner time! Come on out, Ame and Tsai!" he said aloud, and the pokeballs opened, the red beams coming forth from the bottom half of the pokeballs to make the Nidoran and Dratini materialize in front of him. They both gave a cry as they seemed to stretch afterwards, and then Tsai looked behind him to see Arik. "Nii!" it cried again, and then blinked, sniffing the air.
Ame did the same, and then both pokemon looked to the bowls with their food in them. They looked at each other, almost seeming to smile, before darting over to eat. Arik just laughed a little bit and grinned as he watched the two eat- he'd have to watch them, see how much they ate, so he could know just how much to feed them. He knew that a Nidoran didn't eat much, but a Dratini he didn't know about. Their eating habits would be interesting to see, he thought to himself, as he got into his own food. He'd packed a few granola bars (chocolate chip, of course) in his pack, and he grabbed one out to enjoy as he watched his pokemon eat.
It only took five minutes before they were done, and then Ame seemed to yawn as it moved over to the sleeping bag, resting on top of it as it coiled up. Tsai, on the other hand moved over to eat the remnants of Ame's meal, and Arik had to stop the little Nidoran. He stood up and walked over, but by the time he got there, Nidoran had finished with the last of the food. With a chuckle, Arik knelt down and rubbed Tsai's ears gently. "Now, we'll have to do something about that appetite, I think." he told the little Nidoran, even as Nidoran shook itself. It was starting to get cold, actually, and Arik shivered slightly before going back over to the sleeping bag. "Don't wander far, you two. Let's get some sleep. We'll start actually training tomorrow." he told them, and he slipped into the sleeping bag with Ame still laying on top of it.
Tsai looked a little surprised as he saw his trainer crawl into the bag, and walked over quietly. Ame was already asleep by the time Arik had crawled in, and Tsai gave a sleepy "Niiidaaarn" before coming up alongside the bag as well, settling down there. Soon, both pokemon were fast asleep, and Arik was still wide awake, looking up towards the nearly-blocked out sky overhead. He closed his eyes after a while, listening now to the few sounds that he could hear- his pokemon's breathing, mostly. Some rustling in the bushes, and the sound of running water nearby at the stream. Within a few more minutes, his breathing slowed and and conciousness was washed away a he fell asleep as well.
Arik woke in the morning to a bright and sunny day- but mostly, to some splashing taking place in the stream. Some drops of water had hit his face, causing him to stir, and then the light of the sun just seemed to zero-in on his face, forcing him awake. With a yawn, he brought a hand to his eyes and rubbed them before opening his eyes slowly to see what was going on. The familiar cries of his Dratini and Nidoran he could hear, and he grinned as soon as he could see well enough to see what they were doing. Obviously, the two were playing and roughhousing in the stream, with Ame getting the upper hand over Tsai easily. He laughed softly, watching the two pokemon play, before he noticed that there were a few apple cores on the ground not too far away. "So you two already ate, huh?" he asked 'em, but they didn't pay him any attention as they kept playing.
With a grin, Arik just looked around slowly as he crawled out of the sleeping bag and started rolling it up. They had a long way to go, since they hadn't gone all that far last night, and as a result were still rather close to Fuchsia City. He chuckled softly, putting the sleeping bag away before pulling out his pokedex to see just how far away from Lavender they really are. Opening the pokedex, he sighed softly as he saw the length of the routes he'd be going on just to get up that way. "Routes 15, 14, 13, and 12... This could take a while." he muttered, shrugging as he collapsed the pokedex and stuffed it into the jacket's inside pocket.
Arik looked over to the stream as he heard the splashing around die down, and he blinked as he saw the two just drying off a bit in the sun. He smiled and took out their pokeballs again, pointing the button-like indicators on the 'front of the pokeballs at the two. "Return!" he said, and the command took effect as the pokeballs' red beams drew the pokemon back into their respective pokeball. With a grin, he picked up his backpack and hefted onto his back before heading east now, through the forest. He had a feeling he'd be able to train his pokemon today, though he suspected that he'd have to read up on information regarding his Dratini before training it too much.
And behold, it wasn't even an hour into his walk before he happened across another trainer! The trainer was relaxing, wearing some sort of fighter's 'Gi'- a loose robe about the torso and baggy white pants. He seemed to be going barefoot, too. With a chuckle, Arik walked around the trainer as he rested on a rock, only to hear the guy say, "Hey, hold up! Let's have us a battle!" Arik hadn't wanted to have a battle yet but the trainer's code tells every trainer that a challenge should be met unless there are mitigating circumstances. The trainer threw a pokeball, and out came a Machop from it, cutting off Arik's direction of walking.
With a sigh, he turned to the trainer and nodded to him in response to the challenge before taking his top-most pokeball from his jacket and threw it. "Come on out, Tsai!" he called, smiling slightly. He knew that Tsai had an attack that could deal with a Machop... if he was lucky, that is. His Nidoran appeared, and the Black Belt came up to stand behind his pokemon as he grinned upon seeing the size of the Nidoran that Arik had. Arik just waited to see what the trainer would do first.
"Machop, use Low Kick on his Nidoran!" the man said, and the Machop was off as soon as the attack was named. It swept forward with its left leg as it attacked, it's gray and heavily muscled body heaving it's weight and strength at the small, purple pokemon that Arik had waited in order to tell it to do something. The look in Tsai's eyes was one of strain, as if doubting he'd be able to escape the attack.
Arik, on the other hand, knew a few tricks, even if he was only a beginning trainer. "Tsai, jump over the kick and use Peck!" he called out. Tsai reacted immediately, jumping up and towards the Machop with it's head down and its horn pointing at it. The kick missed but Tsai's horn made impact against the Machop's tough body, causing it to stagger back as a result. A red welt appeared on the Machop's hide where the horn had impacted, and Machop's breathing became a bit more ragged. Tsai landed on the ground after the attack, not breathing hard at all. Getting into the groove, perhaps.
"Alright, Machop... Karate Chop!" the trainer yelled out, and Arik winced, knowing that if that hit, Tsai could get badly hurt. Arik wasn't sure what he could do to counter it, but then remembered an attack he'd seen Nidorans use before. He smiled, hoping that Nidoran could use that attack at Tsai's age, even as he prepared to issue the order. He waited for the right moment, letting the Machop's hand slam forward before telling Tsai what to do.
"Tsai, use Leer to stop it!" he yelled out, and with a "Niii!", Tsai's eyes glowed a bright yellow as it stared down the Machop as it swung it's hand. Startled at the sudden change in the Nidoran's demeanor, the Machop's hand slowed in its attack, and then it struck Tsai anyway, batting the Nidoran away a few feet before Tsai's paws managed to halt its movement. "Tsai, use Peck again!" Arik called out again, and Tsai charged the Machop once more, horn outwards as the Machop was slow to move again.
The Machop went flying after the charging attack of Tsai's Peck attack. Tsai was breathing hard, hurting obviously, as it waited for the Machop to land. As did Arik, but the trainer of the Machop wasn't waiting. "Shrug it off, Machop! Get on your feet!" he yelled out, even as the pokemon came down for a rough landing on its back. A rather loud thud came from the Machop as it landed, and it's eyes closed as the pokemon's body went limp. With a grin, Arik called out for Tsai to come on back, pulling out a potion to heal the small pokemon up, after that Karate Chop had connected. "Good work, Tsai." he told him, spraying the potion on Tsai's side carefully, making sure it actually covered the bruised part of the pokemon's back before looking over to the trainer.
He'd recalled his pokemon and came over to where Arik and Tsai were, smiling as he saw that the pokemon was alright. "Well, I'm glad your pokemon isn't badly hurt. I'm Greg, what's your name?" he asked. The rather muscled man was about twice Arik's size, but at least seemed like a nice guy. "Sorry, I should've introduced myself and set the rules before we battled." he said as well. Well now, Arik thought. Maybe battling other trainers will be alright. His hands were busy, one rubbing behind Tsai's ears as the pokemon rubbed back against his hand, his other hand dealign with the now empty potion bottle.
"My name's Arik. You almost had us there, I'd say." he replied, chuckling softly before using his hand to draw the pokeball out. "Return!" and Tsai returned to the pokeball. "I got lucky, really. Fighting type pokemon just aren't that good against poison types like my Nidoran, after all." he said, grinning a little as he stood up, only to find that Greg had in his hand, outstretched to Arik, about $20.00. "Um... what's with the money?" he asked, not knowing that if you lose a match outside of a tournament, the winner receives half the money that the loser has on him or her.
"Well, Arik, you must be kinda new to being a trainer. When someone loses a match, they have to give up some money to the winner. Keep your money in the bank, if you're smart, so that if you lose a match out here, you won't lose too much." Greg informed him. Arik nodded- glad he'd left about 3/4 of his remaining money in the bank now, as he smiled slightly. "And since I do just that, this is what you get. Twenty dollars. Unless you'd rather not take my money, that is. I wouldn't have any problems with that."
Arik laughed and so did Greg, though Greg also set the bill into Arik's hand. "It was a good match. Thank you, Greg." he said now, pulling out his wallet to put the money inside. This money would buy quite a few supplies, he knew, and he couldn't wait. Greg just nodded before bowing to Arik and then headed back to where he'd been resting on the large rock. With a shrug, Arik nodded back, and then walked off into the forest again. A basic match, he felt, though he knew that it was all luck that Tsai had managed to defeat that Machop so quickly. Even if the Nidoran had a type advantage over the Machop, it was luck that dealt most of the damage that allowed Tsai to win.
It was a few hours later when Arik decided to take a break again. Unfortunately, the place he decided to take a break in was in a small clearing in which he had the sneaking suspicion that something else was here, he just couldn't figure out where, or what. But, as he came into the clearing, a dust in the air quickly got his attention and he got out of the way as the wind came up and blew it the other direction before it got too close to him. "Yeesh... Stun Spore!" he muttered, and then he took out his pokedex, turning on the search feature as he pointed it towards the ground, slowly moving the sensored top portion of the pokedex around carefully so it could lock onto a pokemon that might possibly be using it.
He knew Butterfree weren't in the area- they never were. Only grass and bug pokemon other than Butterfree or possibly Venomoth would use that particular attack when threatened. Finally, the pokedex came up with a match. "Oddish." the speaker came up with, and he looked to where the pokedex was pointing towards. He saw its leaves poking out of the ground, and he nodded slightly, remembering that Oddish was a nocturnal pokemon. What was worse, is that they often spread their own powder (often Stun Spore) out at night, before going to sleep for the day, to keep trainers and other pokemon away and out of their territory. "Fine... we go around, then." he says to himself, going through the forest again, just continuing on. Eventually he'd wind up along Route 14, where there really wasn't any forests about since it was close to the ocean.
But before another 10 minutes passed, there was a small problem- Arik was under attack! A gust of sand flew into his face from someplace, and as he ducked out of the way, behind a tree, he realized that only one certain family of pokemon would use sand like this, to keep intruders away. And when he looked around, he saw it- a Pidgey. With a small grin, he grabbed one of his pokeballs from his jacket and threw it towards the Pidgey. Out came Ame, who gave a small cry before looking up to the startled Pidgey. "Ame, Wrap attack!" he told his Dratini, and with a "Tiniii!", Ame leapt up and managed to catch the small bird in its coils, wrapping itself around the Pidgey before squeezing it between the length of itself.
The Pidgey gave a cry- "Kurrrrooookoooo!" and fell from the sky, wrapped as it was in Ame's coils. It cried out each time the Dratini constricted its coils about the small bird, and soon it was breathing very heavily, its cry strained and softer as there wasn't enough air to make it through to its lungs while it was slowly being crushed. Arik watched as Ame did this, timing his next command so that she would let go of it at the right time, and he could throw a pokeball at the small bird pokemon.
Soon, the Pidgey was about to faint. "Release!" he called out, and Ame let go of the pokemon, the Pidgey falling from between the Dratini's coils to the ground. It rose up, unsteadily, on its claws as Arik pulled an unused pokeball from the pouch at his waist and aimed for a split second. Then, his foot came forward as he threw the pokeball at the Pidgey. It connecting, bopping the small bird on the head before opening up and drawing it inside. The ball fell to the ground, and began to rock back and forth quickly. Once, twice, three times the ball rocked to the left and then to the right in a back-and-forth action, and then it popped open, the charge in the pokeball spent and the Pidgey burst out, flapping its wings to gain some altitude. "Amazing..." he said out loud- he hadn't thought that the Pidgey would have enough strength to keep fighting like it was doing. Can't be right all the time!
But sure enough, it used Sand Attack again, this time on Ame, who was now unable to see too clearly thanks to the sand that had blasted it's eyes. Then, the Pidgey darted in towards the Dratini, ramming it with its body from one direction, and then the other. Arik watch as this happen, and then winced as a particularly powerful Tackle caused Ame to fall down completely, almost knocking it out. Suddenly, he could see some sort of surge from within his Dratini, and he watched as an electrical discharge coursed along its serpentine body. "Thunder Wave?" he asked aloud, watching as that very attack trapped the Pidgey, causing the pokemon to fall from the sky before actually connecting with Ame again.
"One more time." he muttered, and he drew out another pokeball, expanding it, and then he threw it as the pokemon was falling. He barely managed to tag it, and this time it hit the ground as it entered the pokeball. The pokeball rocked back and forth, much slower than before, and after the third rocking, the indicator went red and then black again. "Good job, Ame!" he called out, running over to make sure that it was alright. She shivered, bruised in several places from the force of the Pidgey's attacks, and he smiled a little, pulling out a potion and applying the healing spray along her body. It took a moment for it to take effect, and then the wounds were gone. "Return, Ame. Good work." he said, and he held out Ame's pokeball, the red beam returning his pokemon to its ball before he turned to pick up his now dead pokeball, setting it into his backpack in its small form before picking up his new pokemon's ball.
"You, my friend, were a bit of a pain, you know." he told the Pidgey, who was undoubtedly nursing its own paralyzed body in the pokeball. "I think I'll call you Arrow." he said, chuckling softly. Tough little Pidgey, obviously, and he smiled as he stretched before setting the pokeball on his jacket, underneath Tsai's and Ame's pokeballs. He smiled, wondering if he'd come across a small town sooner or later, where he could pick up some supplies (not that he needed them yet), or at least a pokemon center so he could heal his pokemon without continuing to use his potion supply. He hoped so, because at this rate, he'd probably be out of Potions by the middle of Route 12- and that was if he didn't run into many more trainers!
He couldn't help but to start wondering how Joy was doing. She must be out along Cycling Road by now, he thought, going uphill the whole way. With a shrug, he turned his attention back to the path at his feet, looking at the different trees that were on either side of him and to the front. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew he was headed west, he would otherwise be lost. "Let's see... what to do?" he asks himself. He wished that there was someone around- travelling by himself was something he wasn't too fond of. Time went slowly and he'd been lonely for a while, ever since he'd battled with that trainer back there.
Arik had seen a pair of people coming his way along the route he'd found himself on about 10 minutes ago, and now that he could see the two people, he found it was a man and a woman travelling together. They looked, from here, to be boyfriend and girlfriend, if their identical clothing told him anything. Black pants, white shirt barely noticable behind a black jacket that had a rather large red 'R' stamped into the middle. The woman had long brown hair and was of average height- he couldn't tell just how attractive she was from this far away, yet. The man had blonde hair, and was significantly taller than the woman was. Both seemed to be physically fit, considering that they were keeping up a steady pace.
The three were about to pass one another after a few more moments, the pair coming close enough for Arik to actually see the color of their eyes. The woman had brown eyes, the man had blue eyes. They nodded to Arik as they passed on either side of him, and Arik nodded to them both- it took but an instant to realize that they hadn't nodded to him, but to each other, as both the man and woman stepped to him quickly. The man's hands reached for Arik's arms, even as Arik attempted to move forward to get out of the way. "What the hell are you doing?" he exclaimed, even as he felt the woman's hands on his chest, but not in a pleasing way. Her fingers seemed to move about to try and grab the pokeballs that were resting on his jacket, but all she managed to do was knock them to the ground.
"Hey, leave 'em alone! They're my pokemon!" he cried out, wresting himself out of his jacket as the struggle continued, the man now holding his empty jacket in his hands before Arik managed to duck down and pick up his miniaturized pokeballs quickly, before the woman could react. His training at the Fuchsia gym had helped quicken his physical response time quite well. The man that was behind him now dropped the jacket and moved forward and downwards, arms outstretched towards Arik. Arik managed to move just enough to toss the pokeballs- one of two triggers known to unleash them from their pokeballs, this one being the non-verbal command. "Come on out! Arrow, Tsai, Ame!" he called, and the three pokeballs burst open as their trainer was restrained on the ground, the man's knee in the middle of his back.
The woman and man looked up to face the pokemon that were unleashed. First came the recently caught Pidgey (named Arrow, of course), flapping its wings slowly as it hovered in place a few feet away. The next was Tsai, at about the same time, escaping his pokeball to stand in place before it. It shook its head and yawned, a "Niiiiiioraaah!" escaping it before looking over to see the predicament its trainer was in. Last was Ame, who appeared just after Tsai did but saw, immediately, what was going on. The Pidgey didn't seem to care, but stayed hovering in place, even as the other two stared down the two people who were completely disrespecting their trainer.
"What the hell... hey, that's a Dratini! Dratinis are one of the rarest pokemon in the world! We gotta get that thing!" the woman exclaimed, standing up from where she had been about to smash Arik's face into the ground. The man above Arik, who had sat his weight on Arik's back, just grinned slightly as he held down the squirming pokemon trainer almost effortlessly. Arik, on the other hand, hearing the woman's words, put two and two together: The 'R' on their jackets, the fact that they assaulted him, and now that they wanted to steal his Ame. That was something he couldn't allow to happen, no matter what!
"Help me out, guys!" he yelled out to his pokemon, just before the woman did do what she had been about to a moment earlier- she used her boot this time, and forced his face into the ground with a stomping action. With his face in the dirt, Arik closed his eyes in pain and humiliation. He didn't know how to wrestle, really- he'd done martial arts, but this guy above him had him in more of a wrestling hold than anything else. And damn, was he holding him down for all he was worth!
"Hey, hey! We don't want a battle, kid. Just give us your Dratini, and you can keep the rest of your pathetic pokemon. We'll even let you go and we won't bother with ya again. Great deal, don't ya think?" the man told him, digging his right knee directly into the middle of the trainer's back, causing a pained groan to escape him. Unknown to the man, who was looking at the back of Arik's head that was pushed into the ground still by the woman's foot, but known by the woman since she was watching ahead of them, Arik's pokemon were about to do something.
"Draaaaaa! Tiniii, Draaaainiii!" came Ame's cry, and the serpentine pokemon launched herself at the man. At the pokemon's cry, the man looked up in time to find himself forced off of Arik as she coiled about his arms, pinning the man's arms and hands against his body. He cried out in pain as she constricted her coils about the man somewhat, a serious, almost dark look in the already dark eyes of the pokemon. Tsai had even gone ballistic, charging at the woman with its horn at the ready, pointing at her chest. The woman, however, threw two pokeballs quickly, coming to land in front of Tsai before opening up and releasing their contents- an Ekans and a Rattata.
"Watch it, kid... we're part of Team Rocket. You sure you wanna make us your enemy?" the woman told him, using her booted foot to grind his face further into the dirt. A muffled yelp escaped him before he managed to bring his arms around, and then he pushed up quickly, the force driving the woman off of him and to stagger back a bit before she could actually reassert her pin on him. Arik opened his eyes and spat out the dirt that he'd been forced to 'eat', before coughing and looking over to his pokemon. Unlike his Tsai, Arrow just hovered in place, not really caring about what had happened to its new trainer. That pokemon, right now, had a bit of an attitude, and Arik couldn't blame it.
"Well now... I know what you're about then. Ain't gonna happen... Tsai, use Peck on the Ekans! Arrow, Tackle attack on her Rattata!" he called out, quickly getting out from close range to the woman, who looked about ready to attack him personally. He grinned slightly, looking over to the man who was getting tightly squeezed in Ame's coils. "Good job, Ame!" he called, encouraging his Dratini. Unfortunately, as a result, it released the man, with a cry, and darted over to Arik to coil around his feet slightly.
"Rattata, Hyper Fang on that Pidgey! Ekans, Poison Sting!" came the call from the woman trainer, and the pokemon all leapt into action. Tsai had already jumped into the fray, and his horn slammed home into the Ekans before it could open its mouth. Surprised at Tsai's sudden attack, the Ekans was thrown away by the impact, forcing its attack to miss Tsai by a mile as its head was turned away from its target. Arrow had attacked as well, broadsiding the Rattata. Too bad for Arrow that it didn't have the strength or mass to knock it for a loop, because right afterwards it leapt back up with glowing fangs and snapped them against the Pidgey, knocking it out of the air. The small bird pokemon fell to the ground, landing in a very small heap. It stirred slightly, but was barely able to get up, flapping its wings slowly as it rose into the sky again.
"Arrow, Sand Attack! Tsai, use Leer!" he called out, quickly. He'd seen the damage done to Arrow and knew it couldn't last another attack that could hit it. Ame remained at his side- he couldn't afford to use it in a battle against them yet. She was his ace in the hole, since he doubted that the Rockets would want to actually harm the Dratini. They wanted to steal her, after all... and then he heard a groan come from the man that had been unconscious after Ame had finished wrapping him up. A second afterwards, he heard the impact of a pokeball on the ground, and then the other, and a flash of red light told Arik that there were two more problems to deal with.
"Raticate, Hyper Fang attack! Zubat, use Supersonic!" he yelled out, and Arik groaned slightly. Those two attacks could really do some damage to his pokemon, he knew, but there was very little he could do about it. He looked to Ame, and nodded slightly- no choice in the matter, he knew. A moment later, the woman was alongside the man, laughing a little as she pointed at him. He knew what she meant, all too well. Tsai faced the Ekans again, its eyes glowing into a golden yellow before managing to stare down that pokemon. Arik's Pidgey finally managed some altitude and flapped its wings furiously, causing a small gust of wind to carry sand into the Rattata's eyes.
The sand didn't stop there, but it didn't stop the Raticate from jumping over the blown sand and striking Arrow with its teeth. Arrow was hit once again by a Hyper Fang attack, and was knocked end over end before falling to the ground in a heap that just wouldn't get up again. The impact caused Arik to wince- would Arrow be alright? He ran over to it, even as Ame remained where she was, facing the four pokemon along with Tsai. Then a sound erupted in the air that would cause Arik to shiver as a result of it, and Tsai just dug its head to the ground, forcing one ear against it to keep the sound from having the desired effect on it.
Now kneeling beside his fallen Pidgey, Arik looked at it carefully before picking it up in his hands. "I hope you'll be okay, Arrow. Back into the ball, now." he says, and returns the fallen bird pokemon to its pokeball. He felt a change in the wind, and Arik looked back to his two pokemon facing off against a Rattata, a Raticate, an Ekans, and a Zubat. He could only wonder what it was until he saw where the wind was generated from.
It was Ame. She stood mostly on just the tip of her tail as she spun in place, and a dirt devil grew around it. The winds whipped around her before expanding from just a small twister to a larger one, and then Ame stopped, giving a cry that sent the Twister towards the Ekans and Rattata, which were side by side after Tsai and Arrows earlier attacks. "What the hell?" Arik said aloud, as he watched the Twister go between the two pokemon and then expand before falling silent, even as the twister's winds blew the pokemon apart and back. Both fell to the ground, and then didn't move again- obviously, Tsai's Leer had done some good against the Ekans.
Tsai was breathing heavily, its purple hide glistening in the sunlight as its body heaved up and down slowly. Ame wasn't breathing hard at all- she'd only now joined the battle, after all. The remaining pokemon didn't seem to be too tired either, and Arik had to wonder if he'd be able to pull this one out of his hat. The two Rockets just watched as Arik's Dratini managed to knock two of their pokemon out of the fight at the same time, and the woman seemed to be pissed off beyond all belief. Arik had to grin at that, and then glanced back to the other two pokemon that were in the battlefield, left to do the rest of the damage to deal with his pokemon. "Oh, shit." he muttered to himself. "They're fresh, Tsai's not... and that Raticate's tough."
The man across the 'field' from Arik couldn't help himself from grinning- he knew that with his evolved pokemon, that there was little that the runt could do to keep himself from losing his Dratini. That Dratini would evolve into a Dragonair, and then again into a Dragonite, which was one of the most powerful and rare pokemon ever to be used. No one in Team Rocket, in Kanto, even had access to a Dragon-type pokemon. If he captured it, he'd become an executive almost immediately! Forget his worthless partner, who for some odd reason always kept the Ekans that she had. It was a worthless pokemon to be sure, but had a few (very few) good uses.
"That's it... Raticate, use Quick Attack on that Nidoran! Zubat, Leech Life on that Dratini!" he yelled out, and Arik sighed- an attack like Raticate's on Tsai would probably knock it out! He had to think of something faster than that Raticate could move, but with the fact that a Raticate was obviously faster, stronger, and more experienced...
"Just great... Ame, Wrap Raticate! Nidoran, Peck Zubat!" he yelled out, hoping to be able to deflect the Raticate's attack by giving it three problems. One- a moving target. Two- a moving, attacking target. Three- the chance of hitting its own partner while attempting to hit its named target. It was a bit of a problem for the Raticate that Ame managed to wrap around it just as it leapt into the air with its attack towards Tsai! The added weight slowed it down just enough to give Tsai the narrow escape it needed, and it managed to down the Zubat with a powerful attack in the flying pokemon's chest, knocking it out in midair to fall to the ground.
Ame cinched her coils tighter around the Raticate, forcing the pokemon to cry out in pain. However, with a movement too quick for Arik to really see, it escaped from the Dratini's attack and darted out into the open. It was breathing heavily now, and now, the numbers advantage had changed to favor Arik's team. Ame was breathing a little harder now and Tsai looked about ready to collapse. Arik could feel his own body heat rising, as if he was willing the pokemon in the battle against the other that the Rockets had sent against him. The man across from him looked to be in shock- that his pokemon's Quick Attack had missed and his Zubat had been knocked out with a single hit (luck, of course, he knew, but still).
"Tsai, use Leer! Ame, use Wrap attack again!" Arik called out, barely before the man could open his mouth to call to his Raticate. There was little that Arik could do at this point, since having Tsai fully attack would just bring it into simple 'Hyper Fang' range. He hoped that Tsai could bring himself up to using another attack, because that Raticate was probably going to be the end of him if he couldn't! Ame looked pretty apprehensive, unsure if she wanted to initiate the attack, but immediately struck out at Arik's command. Tsai, on the other hand, seemed to wobble in place, and needed to take a deep breath before being able to begin it's own commanded attack.
"Raticate, Hyper Fang on that Dratini!" was the man's response to Arik's commands, and Arik winced. He didn't want to see another mess like what had happened to her back in the Safari Zone. It was too late though- Ame was already on her way towards the Raticate, and Tsai's eyes glowed a bright yellow at Raticate, shocking it just a little, but not stopping its movements towards the darting Dratini. It bit down quickly at Ame, its two front teeth converging upon the blue scales of its target, digging into and then parting the scales as it bit into flesh completely.
Ame's cry erupted in pain as it thrashed against the Raticate's attack, and it visibly shivered as its blood seeped from the wound when the Raticate's teeth left the Dratini's body. "Not again!" he said, loud enough for his opponents to hear, though they likely wouldn't care. "Tsai, Peck attack now! Ame, return!" he yelled out, picking out Ame's pokeball to return the Dratini to its pokeball. "Good job, Ame... I'll get you healed as soon as I can." he tells it inside the pokeball, and he sets it back in the miniturized mode onto his jacket before he glanced back up and over to the two remaining pokemon.
Tsai immediately lunged forward, somehow regaining strength from the moment it had had to recover its breath, and drove its horn into the Raticate's chest. Not a particularly powerful attack, it had, however, punctured deep into the Raticate's flesh, and blood flowed from it as a result when the Nidoran backed up, shuddering as it smelled and felt the sticky blood on its muzzle and horn. The Raticate fell down, twitching, as the Rocket who had been giving it orders stared in disbelief. "No! How the hell could my Raticate lose to a measly little bastard Nidoran!" he yelled, falling to his knees. The woman beside him shook her head and sighed, having watched the proceedings the entire time.
"Kid, we'll be after you from now on. Count on it!" she called over to Arik, who simply smiled slightly as he recalled his pokemon. Soon afterwards, he was gone, not saying anything to the Rocket members but to his pokemon, hurrying off as fast as he could to the north now, winding up on Route 14. He had to hurry along and find a place to rest and heal his Dratini's wound before it became infected or it bled to death... He hoped that the Raticate would at least receive the same treatment from Team Rocket.
Team Rocket, Kanto Division Executive Roland, Kanto branch
With the defeat of the leader Giovanni, both as a Team Rocket mastermind and as the leader of the Viridian City Gym, operations in Kanto has ground to nearly a standstill. Many operatives have fled to the Johto regions, along with the few remaining Silph scientists that are still loyal to our cause. Our base in the islands of the Kanto region was destroyed by the same trainer who had defeated Giovanni. Without a permanent base in the Kanto region now, our operations have dropped by 90 from what they once were. Most operatives have been apprehended or have simply left the organization. With our numbers dwindling each month, it is only a matter of time until Team Rocket is no longer a functioning crime syndicate in this part of the world.
Giovanni has gone into training somewhere in the world, after the incident on the island. None of our operatives have managed to obtain information as to his whereabouts, which leads our remaining executives to believe he is in seclusion, either in Africa or South America. Given his interest in the pokemon known as 'Mew', it has been suggested that we concentrate our search in South America, where the last vestiges of this pokemon was found, according to notes retrieved from Cinnabar Island before the volcano erupted. He is also interested in attempting to find the genetically enhanced pokemon, Mewtwo, that he created a few years ago, but was promptly lost thanks to its psychic powers.
Our few operatives in the Kanto region number only in the low hundreds. None have managed to obtain any extremely rare pokemon, however, a pair of operatives near Fuchsia City has reported an encounter today with a trainer who has managed to capture a Dratini, and with it, managed defeated our operatives, despite a numerical advantage on our operatives' part. All remaining operatives available have been given orders to head to Fuchsia and Lavender Town, to steal the Dratini as the opportunity arises. As of yet, there has been no other sightings of this trainer, save that he is, perhaps, 15 years old and is wearing a light blue jacket and jeans. Half a dozen flunkies as well as a pair of executives are converging on Lavender town, and half a dozen more (including the pair that made contact with the trainer before) are moving along Route 14 to seal any escape on the trainer's part.
Two operatives are still tailing the trainer who defeated Giovanni, and have tracked him to the Johto region. However, he has eluded our team for the past month, having flown to someplace that we do not have charted. Rumors have speculated that the trainer may have gone to Mt. Silver, in which case it will be very difficult to confront him. We have operatives stationed in all major gyms as well, to learn of any leaders that may be interested in joining our cause. As of yet, however, none have been found.
End progress report.
A day later, and Arik was still on the road- he hadn't stopped at all, not even taking time to sleep at night. He felt very tired, and had both Arrow and Tsai out to keep watch as he trudged along. His legs felt heavy and he barely noticed when the ground he walked on started taking an uphill turn. All of his pokemon other than Ame had kept him company (and awake) during the night, and he had to use two Potions to heal Ame's puncture wound so that she wouldn't be in pain for a long time. He used a potion on both Arrow and Tsai as well, though he knew he was running out of them already. He'd only begun with She retained the wound, however, a scar on both sides of her serpentine body down near her tail. As the day came back, both Arrow and Tsai remained out, healed already and somewhat rested.
More rested than Arik, at least, and he yawned slowly, even as Arrow flew overhead- he hadn't found anyone following them, and Tsai obviously couldn't hear anyone coming towards them. Arik's eyes were barely half open as he walked along the route. Of course, that was only until Arrow gave a cry and landed on Arik's shoulder, and Tsai gave a growl. His eyes opened wide, alert for a moment or two at least, as he looked ahead of them to where they had seen someone. It was some trainer wearing overalls... seemed to have a cage of sorts beside him, too. He didn't have much hair, but what he had was black hair anyway.
"Hey, let's have a battle!" came the voice of a trainer. The trainer was a guy, yes, but he didn't have any pokeballs on his person. At least, not that he could see, anyway. Arik sighed softly and shook his head slowly as he heard those words- he knew that he couldn't afford a battle at this point. His pokemon were tired and besides, he had a bit of trouble right now, after all. Arik just looked to the trainer again, barely keeping his eyes open now, as he shakes his head at him. The black haired trainer muttered under his breath as he saw Arik's reaction, and then stepped up to confront him. "Well, why not? Think you're too good to battle me, huh?"
"It... haaah!.. It's not that..." he said, yawning as he attempts to speak with the trainer. "I haven't slept for over 24 hours, and I've got..." he continued, having to break off as he yawns once more. "I've got some Team Rocket guys trying to catch up with me, I think." he finished. Even as he said this, he knew that it sounded bad- Team Rocket hadn't been heard of for quite a while, after all, at least not in Kanto. "I'm tryin' to get to Lavender Town quick, otherwise they'll probably catch up. I beat 'em yesterday, but I bet that we won't be able to defeat them again when they cheat like they do, ya know."
The trainer just watched him, trying to decide if Arik was lying or what. He'd heard of some trainers in the area having lost their pokemon after a battle against some shady-looking people. But then... Team Rocket? They'd been defeated two years ago! Arik could tell that the trainer was considering his story, and he sighed softly. "I can't really afford to sleep, otherwise they might catch up with me and steal my pokemon while I'm asleep, ya know? I can't really stop them unless I'm awake." Arik told him, even as he pulled his two pokeballs out and returned Arrow and Tsai to them. Then, he pulled the third ball out. "Ame, come on out." he said, and his Dratini materialized, much to the trainer's surprise. The trainer obviously recognized that particular, blue and white colored, serpent-like pokemon immediately, which surprised Arik and gasped.
"A Dratini?! You can't be serious! No wonder they'd be followin' you. Alright, I think I can help you out." the trainer said, and grinned a little as the Dratini was returned to its pokeball. Arik sighed softly- he couldn't take much more of this. Caffeine was something he hadn't stocked up on when he had packed up for the trip, and since he was no longer moving on while he talked with this guy, sleep was really coming after him with a vengeance. The trainer seemed to realize this, and he just smiled slightly. "Come on, I'll take you over to my camp. You can rest there for a while, and if anyone comes around askin' for ya, I'll tell 'em I haven't seen any trainers come by, okay?"
"Sounds good to... haaaahh! Me..." Arik replied, trailing into a yawn as he put a hand over his mouth to be polite. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back up again quickly, looking back to the trainer who just laughed before walking off. Arik walked after him, almost dead on his feet at this point. With another deep, lasting yawn, Arik managed to keep going after the nice trainer, and soon they were at the camp that the guy had mentioned. The flap of the tent was opened for Arik, who smiled as well as he could as he managed to get inside, then just sprawled out off to the side just before falling asleep. "Thank you..." was all that he could say, even as the flap was closed behind him. The sound of footsteps walking away wasn't heard within the minute after he had fallen asleep- Arik was out like a light.
"Dammit! I can't believe we lost to that kid yesterday, even if he did have a Dratini!" the woman's voice yelled out, as the pair walked along Route 15. The man just sighed- he'd had to listen to her for hours on end about that trainer they'd faced. The kid had been right, too. They didn't have his name, and just about anyone who was a pokemon trainer would blend in among others after a little work at the most. He was also a bit worried about his partner- Amy had been threatening to quit Team Rocket and work on her own as a trainer lately. They hadn't had any luck facing new challenges, and it was rare that they managed to steal anything. He could understand why she was disturbed by their lack of progress.
"Quiet down, Serra. No need to yell, I'm right here. And remember, there's a bunch of other operatives closing in on Lavender Town. It's the only place that kid can go, other than Vermilion City, after all. And there's two routes between him and both of those towns, so there's no way he can escape our trap that's waitin' for him." he told her... for the fifth time today. He chuckled softly, watching as she relaxed for the moment. It wouldn't last long, he knew. It hadn't after each time he'd told her that, after all. "And with our new pokemon, the kid doesn't stand a chance." he said, grinning slightly. The world didn't know many dragon pokemon, but their weaknesses were rumored to be extreme cold. A Dragon-type was often difficult to defeat, and usually took several different pokemon to actually knock one down. Dragonites were the most well known Dragon-types in Kanto, and they were very powerful in both attack and defense. A trainer had gone against the one-time Pokemon Master in the Elite Four, and was beat down almost immediately by it's ferocious attacks.
"Yeah, I know, Jim. I'm just pissed that he got the better of us, not just his pokemon." she said. Finally, a different answer other than silence after half the day had gone by. They'd been walking along the route since early this morning, after a quick stop in Fuchsia to heal the pokemon they had, and transfer them back to their temporary base to get new ones. She smiled slightly, to herself, when she saw her partner not watching her. She kinda enjoyed their bout with that trainer who had defeated them- he was pretty sarcastic and skilled, to say the least. There wasn't much that had been said between the Rocket members and the trainer, but she had the feeling that even if he was a beginner, he was obviously more knowledgable about pokemon than most trainers that the pair had ever come across.
"He can't have gotten too far, if he went ahead and stopped for the night last night. He's probably still on Route 14, I bet." Jim said, and both of them grinned. "Once we catch him, getting that Dratini from one brat won't be a problem at all. I'm glad the higher-ups decided to give us stronger pokemon than those poison types... They ain't really the best pokemon type there is. But why you decided to keep that Ekans, I'll never figure out." Serra just smiled to herself as he made that little comment. Little did he know that this particular Ekans was one from the family that her old Ekans had been part of. Unfortunately for her, her original Ekans had met its demise at the hands of an Electrode that used Explosion while it had been wrapped up around it.
"Personal preference, Jim. Poison types are pretty good... well, against most pokemon, at least." she told him, and then became quiet, much more calm now and thinking deeply, walking along the route beside her teammate. After their report and subsequent posting to go after the trainer, she had to wonder if that was truly the best choice, for her, and her teammate. She knew he didn't care for her in the slightest, and not once, in a battle, did he ever help out her pokemon unless it was to make sure that they would win. He believed, fully, in Team Rocket's ideal of using Pokemon as if they were tools, and nothing more. Serra, on the other hand, believed in training a pokemon herself- she knew from experience that the ones you train will work hardest for the trainer, unlike ones that are simply used by just anyone. That was likely why that Raticate had lost to that runt's little Nidoran, she thought, and she thought even more as she wandered with her partner down the route.
Behind the two Rocket members was a woman who traveled lightly concealed in the woods as she darted from tree to tree, watching and listening. She knew who they spoke of- she had talked with the ex-nurse Joy in Fuchsia before she left, the day before yesterday. She wore a black and purple kimono, along with the same-colored shawl that hid most of her face other than her eyes. Indeed, it was Janine. When she'd heard that her friend had set off already, and after Joy had told her what his two pokemon were, she couldn't help but to feel as if he had simply given up on their ever having a pokemon battle together. Hurt, but after she had listened in on the conversation of the two that she was now trailing while she was in the pokemon center, she could almost understand what had happened.
She knew Arik better than anyone other than Nurse Joy did. He had enough strength to keep going for over 24 hours, but he had never improved on that since Koga had left the gym. With a grin, Janine moved quickly, faster than the two members of Team Rocket, and took a shortcut through the forest that only members of her gym would know of. She'd get to Arik first, and have her battle with him if possible- she only hoped that it wasn't too late. Joy had continued on her way after their talk, heading out along Cycling Road, but Janine went immediately after Arik along Route 15. She was faster than he was, though he was pretty good at moving quickly himself, and therefore much faster than the two she had passed up a few minutes ago. She had a good idea as to where he might be, several miles away. She kept tabs on all the trainers within 10 miles of her gym, the few that there were these days at least. Of course, she had personally kept tabs on Arik more than most other trainers other than other gym leaders.
"We will have our battle, my friend..." she told herself, though she spoke out loud and to no one withing earshot. Arik was someone she needed to battle- these feelings of unrest needed settled. Koga, her own father, had told her once that she needed to focus more upon herself and her training rather than upon others. He had not known, nor had she provided him any information, with regards as to whom she might have been focused upon so much. Koga had, however, been suspicious that she was interested in Arik, and as such, if he was keeping her mind off of her training, had banished him from the Gym, except when on Pokemon Center or Gym-related business. Now, however...
"Arik, you will not get away from me!" she muttered under her breath, even as she stopped behind a tree, seeing a Pokemon Ranger looking in her direction. She waited for the ranger to look the other way, and then she was gone, moving quickly enough not to be seen. Janine, however, wasn't really being truthful with herself. She'd been waiting for a chance to travel with Arik ever since she'd received her starting pokemon. They'd had it planned out, that after they had their battle that they would go their seperate ways for a while, but would catch up with one another in either Saffron City or Vermilion City, and travel together from there. The crush she had once had on Arik never really left her. But then, she'd become so interested in other people that the crush had only fueled their rivalry to become more than just a friendly one. With a smirk, she hurried onwards, certain that by the end of the day, she would find her old friend. If not... well, she hoped he could hold his own with his pokemon long enough for help to arrive. Namely, her.
Around six hours later, Arik woke up to the sound of thunder overhead. With a sigh, and no one else around this late, he took out his pokedex as he sat up, crossing his legs as he rests there. "Information on Dratini." he said to the pokedex, and instead of letting it tell him the information, he had it printed on the screen. An older model pokedex, he realized, and a smile crossed his face as he read what information that professor Oak had been able to provide him. A slow evolver- many dragon types rarely evolve fully before the original trainer gives up training pokemon. They learn many attacks, but an early dragon attack that Dratini learns is Twister. Normally, pokemon of this family are only obtained somewhere in Johto.
Of course, the Pokedex didn't tell him too much that he didn't know already. But the attack would be useful information. With a sigh, he stretched slowly before walking out from the tent, and then blinked in surprise as drops of water fell onto his face. It was lightly raining, and he sighed softly as he looked up to the sky. The clouds were fairly dark, and it was pretty dark to begin with, anyway. With a grin, he grabbed his notebook and wrote a note for the trainer who had helped him out- he didn't say where exactly he was going or how he was going to get there, of course. There was no telling if there was anyone following behind him, and if there was, if they'd ransack this little camp if they could find it. He thanked the trainer for his help, and left a five dollar bill under his sleeping bag. Before he left, he set the bill under the guy's sleeping bag, and with a smile, Arik walked out into the rain, now heading directly west along Route 13.
He knew that he couldn't afford to wait through a storm- his sleep that he'd just received would now be put to good use. He zipped up the jacket he was wearing, the temperature getting pretty cold out, even for him. With a smile, he continued through the rain, not running into any trainers along his way. He made good time, thanks to the steady, light rain that was coming down. Most trainers and other people wouldn't bother being out and about in a thunderstorm like this, even if the majority of the bad weather seemed to be centered down in or around Fuchsia City. He'd be out of the weather himself, if it were possible, if it wasn't for the fact that he'd get more distance from the people he was sure would be following him. Again, he couldn't help but to wish he was traveling with someone else. It was pretty, well... lonely, all by himself, with no one to talk to. Or was it simply that misery loves company?
Time alone was time for reflection: he found himself recalling his recent battle (as in just yesterday) with Team Rocket. It had been his first battle, actually, and knew now the he could have done better against them. Or, at least, he thought he could have. It had been three against four, and he'd been lucky that Arrow managed to defeat that Zubat so quickly to begin with. His pokemon seemed to be a little weaker than he had hoped they were, though... At least his pokemon were fast and able to respond to his commands quickly. Tsai had done pretty well, too, managing to take down that Koffing before Team Rocket managed to give it orders to Self-Destruct or use Explosion. Ame had taken down a Raticate and the Ekans. Chances are that he'd underestimated his pokemon's strength, maybe even over-estimated Team Rocket's strength at the same time. "If there's a next time... I won't make mistakes like that again." he told himself.
The weather grew worse as he walked eastward. This length of the route was short, however, and pretty soon he was going north again, even though the wind was picking up. "Sheesh... this is ridiculous." he muttered. Maybe Lavender Town was a bad idea? It was certainly possible. And if he remembered correctly, about halfway up Route 12 there was an entrance to another route that led towards Vermilion City. That city might be faster to get to, he thought, and a grin crossed his face. Besides, there was bound to be a guardhouse in that direction, too, and he could get some rest up there. The Rockets wouldn't do a thing right in the plain sight of police officers, after all. With that in mind, he continued along the route with slow, careful steps, so he wouldn't slip on the muddy road at his feet. He just hoped that his intuition would serve him well in this case- he needed to get his pokemon to a Pokemon Center before he got into many more battles.
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Author's Note: Well, here's the latest chapter. As I said in the beginning, I had most of this done before I managed to get online to check for reviews on the last two chapters. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter half done (or more) before I get to check for more reviews, too. Are there really a lot of childish pokemon fanfics (worse than this, I mean)? I'm trying to fit this series into the niche that seems to be between Adult (NC-17) ratings and Childish (G & PG) ratings. I haven't had the chance to look up other pokemon fanfics on , so I don't know just how bad or good the fanfiction in this category has been. I think I've ended up basing this off of the re-released blue/red games, LeafGreen and FireRed, which are much better than the originals were, so any inconsistencies along those lines should be solved here and now. lol