Chapter Four
The Nidoqueen in the cave roared a challenge to a rather chastened and confused looking Nidoking. The Nidoking growled meekly, and turned to walk out of the cave. The Nidoqueen darted forward and bit his tail as he left, making him jump in surprise and pain, but he didn't retaliate.
"Don't come back until they have fur, you imbecile!" the Nidoqueen bellowed.
She turned and walked back into the cave, navigating through the twisting tunnels easily. Soon, muffled squeaking could be heard. The Nidoqueen rounded a last corner and came into a giant nesting chamber.
In a pile of downy material, scavenged from various places, a dozen tiny Nidoran shuffled about. They had no fur as yet, but in a few days they would have luxurious coats to keep them warm. Only then would the Nidoqueen allow the father into the chamber to see his offspring. She snuggled close to them; giving them her body heat to keep their tiny lives alive.
The Nidoqueen nuzzled her babies, feeling the tiny hairs that were already starting to develop. Soon, she would be able to name them all, following a tradition that went back eons.
One tiny female was much more adventurous than the rest, she would climb all over the cave, exploring every thing that could be explored. The Nidoqueen would have to follow her movements closely, or it was likely that she would get stuck in a hole or some other obstruction.
As the female climbed a high rock, a small, glowing speck drifted down from her back and landed on the ground before the Nidoqueen. The Pokemon looked at it in curiosity before it faded. She heard a frightened squeak, and sighed; it was time to come to the rescue again...
Three months later...
"Go, Blue!"
The blue Girafarig made a grand entrance onto the arena, like all Shiny's do, and lowered his horns in a sweeping movement, much like a bow, to his opponent. The Raticate took no notice, and bared its teeth threateningly.
"Raticate, use Hyper Fang!"
"Blue, Psybeam!"
As the Raticate dodged about the battlefield, trying to find an opening, Blue watched carefully with lowered horns. Suddenly, the Raticate became impatient and shot forward, making a beeline for Blue. This was what the Girafarig had been waiting for, and he let loose a wavering beam that hit the Raticate square on.
The Raticate screamed in pain as the powerful psychic attack took its toll. It abruptly fell to the ground, defeated.
"Raticate, return!" called the woman Tessa was battling, "Go, Alakazam!"
The Alakazam stood patiently on the other side of the arena, waiting for Blue to make the first move.
"Blue, use Stomp!"
"Alakazam, Psychic!"
The Alakazam glowed and suddenly, the glow engulfed Blue as well. Blue was thrown back to the other side of the battlefield, but was mostly unharmed.
The woman opposite them smirked.
"Have you had enough? You know I'll beat you every time with my Alakazam."
"Not likely!" called Tessa, taking advantage of the woman's overconfidence, "Blue, use Crunch!"
The woman gasped as Blue shot in and finished her Alakazam with a single attack. The crowd watching cheered. The woman called back her Pokemon and sighed in defeat. Tessa congratulated Blue as the woman left the arena.
"Such a good job, Blue, you were magnificent!"
"Thanks, Tessa! I never would have thought I would be here a few months ago, that's for sure!"
"Yeah, we've beaten the Elite Four three times already! I never thought I'd come this far, either!"
A man in a suit walked up to them, carrying a large briefcase with him.
"Here's your prize money for beating the current trainer house Champion! Are you sure you don't want to stay and be the new Champion?"
"Yes, I'd rather go adventuring than stay inside, no offense."
"I know what you mean." the man said, "Thank you and goodbye."
Tessa took the prize money and walked to the PC. She deposited most of it, but kept some out for emergencies. She turned to Blue.
"Since you won the last battle, you get to decide where we go next."
"Let's go to Mount Silver!" said Blue enthusiastically.
"Great choice, Blue!" Tessa exclaimed, calling out Flame, "Let's go!"
Lavender the Nidoran sniffed around an interesting shoot of grass. Her mother, a Nidoqueen, watched her carefully out of the corner of her eye, knowing how much trouble the little Nidoran could get herself into when unsupervised. Lavender, after thoroughly inspecting the grass, opened her mouth and snipped it off, chewing thoughtfully.
The small Nidoran hopped to a rock, generating sparkles with each jump. She began thoroughly grooming her rich, purple fur, and soon, she shone with pride at her clean pelt. Her mother had told her that her fur was special, and she believed it; she was the only female in her family with a purple color.
She calmly watched a Butterfree flit from flower to flower, drinking the sweet nectar that the blooms secreted. Suddenly, her mother thumped her tail against the ground, signaling danger! Lavender jumped up in surprise, and ran towards the safety of the cave, but a shadow fell before her, making her skid to a halt.
Lavender looked up in terror, and saw a huge Fearow spreading its vast wings out before her like a massive cloak. The feathers blocked the sun for a moment, and then Lavender felt its sharp claws sink into her back, pinning her poisonous spines down. She shrieked in terror, struggling desperately as the Pokemon rose in the air. The Fearow only curled his claws tighter, making the pain even more intense. Lavender twisted around and bit the Fearow's foot as hard as she could. The bird screeched in pain, and released its hold on the Nidoran.
Lavender fell a great distance, finally landing with a plop in a puddle of water left by recent rain. Taking a moment to regain her wits, she darted for the cover of a large rock nearby.
The Fearow above shrieked in anger, circling moodily before finally flying off to find easier prey. Lavender breathed a sigh of relief, and twisted around to clean her injuries. She gently licked the already matting blood off her back, letting the wound bleed freely, as her mother taught her to do long ago.
She tried to think where she was, but she had never been far from home before, and her sense of direction was completely disorganized. She realized with sadness that she was now alone.
Lavender woke after a long, confused dream. 'Where am I?' she thought, and suddenly, the events of the previous day returned to her. She knew that she was now a lone, wild Nidoran, and would have to live like one.
"I think I'll start by finding food." she said to herself.
She hopped cautiously to the edge of the shelter, sniffing carefully and scanning the sky for any predators. It was dusk, so she would have only a little time to feed before she had to return to the safety of the rock.
Convinced that all was quiet, she stepped out into the dim light. Not far from her, a large patch of tall grass grew in profusion. She made a beeline for this, mind focused on how good it would taste, and not on the danger it may present.
As she approached the clumps, a pale purple Ekans emerged from the dense cover, hissing. She jumped back, startled, and it was this sudden movement that saved her from the deadly jaws as the Ekans lunged for her. Lavender quickly used a Sand-Attack to disorient the snake, and dashed for her rock.
The Ekans followed, shaking the sand from its eyes, and tried to squeeze under the rock to get to its prey. Its head was too big to get through, and as it tried to dig under the rock, Lavender bit its nose. It hissed and reared up in pain, finally slithering away to find something easier to eat, like a Pidgey or Spearow.
Lavender breathed a sigh of relief; that was way too close! She would have to search for a safer place to live, and soon. She checked more carefully for danger this time, using her keen sense of smell and vision to be certain that all predators had gone. After what seemed like a long time, she was finally convinced that all was well. The Nidoran slowly hopped out from cover, ate a few blades of grass, and began her journey.
One month later...
Tessa looked up at the sky from her position on a log. The campfire blazed merrily, and her pokemon were snoring gently around her. She sighed, she was one of the most powerful pokemon trainers in the world, but she was not as happy as she thought she should be. There was just no challenge anymore; she beat any trainer she came across that wanted to battle.
'I need another Pokemon...' she thought, 'that would be a new challenge!'
Blue opened his eyes, watching his trainer as she thought to herself quietly. Tessa saw him, but continued to sit silently on the log.
"What's wrong?" he asked in a whisper.
"We need a new challenge, Blue." she replied, "Things are becoming too easy for us, and it's getting very boring."
"I know what you mean, and so do they," said Blue, gesturing towards the sleeping forms of Ruby and Flame, "But what could we do?"
"I was thinking... Why don't we train another Pokemon? It would be a great challenge, and it would help get our lives back on track again!"
"That's a pretty good idea!" exclaimed Blue, "We'd have to find the perfect one to train, though."
"Yeah, tomorrow we can start searching!"
Blue and Tessa smiled at each other, and behind them, hidden by the fires shadows and feigning sleep, Ruby and Flame smiled too.
In Kanto...
Orange the Persian groomed her beautiful fur thoughtfully, cleaning the dried blood and bits of black feathers left over from the nights hunting. As she had done countless times over the past months, she wondered why her fur had to be so different from the others. Why couldn't she have been born with the normal, dull yellow fur and the dark ears? Why was her fur whitish orange and her ears a light pink? And last of all, why did those annoying sparkles follow her wherever she went? They made it difficult to hunt anything but Murkrow, and that was the reason that her entire family had chased her off!
She sighed and continued grooming. Whatever the reason for it, she was unusually proud of her fur. It was no question that she was the most unique Persian around, and any male should find her beautiful to behold. But, strangely, none did. They all ran away when she tried to talk to them; maybe it was because living alone had made her grow twice the size of a normal Persian?
A howl sent shivers down her spine; the Houndour had found prey. She listened as they converged on their victim. There was one agonized squeal, then all was quiet again; their prey had had no chance.
Orange purred contentedly and stretched out in her den, claws extending and retracting with pleasure. A gentle pattering of rain on dry turf started, and she sat by the entrance and watched as the drizzle fell, fascinated by the movement of the water. Something else moved behind the sheets of rain, and she focused her eyes to see it better.
A bedraggled and bleeding Abra shuffled through the mud. His left back leg was gashed almost to the bone, and he was heading towards Orange's cave. Orange watched in amazement as the small creature reached out to her, but fell, exhausted, to the ground before it could get to her.
Orange sat, staring at the Abra for a long time, making up her mind on what to do. This must have been the prey that the Houndour were stalking, and they must have grabbed it before it teleported. She made up her mind and, taking the small creature by the scruff of the neck, and brought him into the den.
The Abra hung limply in her jaws, and she began to fear that he was already dead, but a twitch of his tail calmed her fears, and she went about tending to his wound. The gash was deep, and would need better treatment than most Pokemon were able to administer. Luckily, Orange knew of a Chansey not far from where she lived.
She put a few berries beside the Abra's head, in case he woke, and set out into the downpour to find the Chansey. The wind was furious, and the rain stung every time it hit her coat. She walked on, and soon found the small, hollow tree where the Chansey took cover in storms. Lightning flashed as she entered the knothole, and she was suddenly in a dry, warm room.
"Hello," said a squeaky voice in the shadows "What brings you here?"
"I found an injured Abra, and his wounds need treatment." replied Orange.
"Oh, my!" said the voice, turning into a Chansey as the Pokemon revealed itself from the shadows, "I need to get there right away!"
Orange led the Chansey through the storm and into her den. The Chansey immediately got to work as soon as she saw the Abra, and soon his leg was stitched up and bandaged. The Chansey turned to Orange.
"Now, I don't know why you saved this Abra tonight, but since you did, you are going to have to look out for his well being until he's healed. I've bandaged his leg, and I'll come back every few days to make sure he's okay, and re-bandage it. The rest is up to you, so don't eat him." she said as she hurried back out into the storm.
Orange looked at the Abra in the corner; why did she save him? Persians were natural predators, and under any other circumstances, she would have eaten him. He didn't look much different from any other Abra she'd seen, except for the darker brownish purple markings and the faint sparkles...wait. He was a different color than most Abra's, and he had sparkles just like her! That must have been why she subconsciously saved him for no reason; he was like her, and she would finally have someone to talk to.