"Where's Derek?" Rika wondered, "Not that I don't enjoy the silence..."
"I think he's out jogging somewhere with Rapid flying beside him," Tyson replied, "Did you see where Torchic went off too? He was just here a minute ago."
The two of them were sitting in the Pokémon Center on Petalburg. It was a bright morning and the sun's rays shone through the windows, almost eliminating the need for electric lights. It was pretty quiet since not too many people were there.
Tyson looked around for his Pokémon and noticed that he was trying to pick a fight with a pink Pokémon that was dressed in a cute nurse uniform.
"Torchic! Stop! Chansey's not an enemy!" he cried.
Torchic blinked and obeyed. He went back to his trainer, looking a little disappointed and a bit bored.
Just then, Derek came into the center, looking tired. Rapid was perched on his shoulder and was panting. Both of them were sweating and almost collapsed. It was a good thing the Pokémon Center's doors were automatic; otherwise they probably wouldn't have the strength to open the door.
"Morning!" he said, trying to catch his breath.
"About time. Let's go!" Rika wasn't very patient.
"Let us rest a bit first! I just ran across town and back!"
"Taillow!" the bird agreed to the suggestion.
"That's nice. We're leaving now."
"Alright, fine!" Derek was too tired to argue. He returned Rapid to his Pokéball.
After picking up their belongings, they decided to do a bit of shopping before heading for Petalburg Woods. Derek finally bought a medal case for himself. Tyson and Rika decided to buy a map of the woods just in case, since the PokéNavi didn't have a detailed one. They think it was deliberate to make people buy the map.
After finishing their shopping, they headed for the woods on Route 105. The path was pretty much the same as the last route. There were trees and bushes everywhere, along with fields of grass. The group walked along a dirt path until Tyson came up with a suggestion.
"Hey, Rika. How about a battle?"
Rika wasn't expecting the challenge and was a bit surprised.
"Do you honestly think Mudkip's ready for a battle?" she said while looking down at Mudkip, who was walking beside her. The water Pokémon looked up at her with a confused face.
"You have to battle sometime..." Tyson was right. Even though Rika wasn't going to challenge gym leaders, she still had contest battles.
"Yeah, but..."
"Just battle! It's not rocket science! Mudkip will do fine!" Derek said.
"I know that! I'm not stupid!"
"Hey! Don't start fighting again!" Tyson thought they worked things out but maybe not.
"Oh, calm down. I'm not going to let his insults bother me anymore. I'll just insult him back from now on. It's all good," said Rika. Tyson wasn't sure if anything changed at all.
"So, do you want to battle or what?" he asked again.
"Um...Mudkip, what do you think?" Rika asked her Pokémon.
"Kip, mud," she shook her head and hid behind her trainer.
"Looks like Mudkip's not ready yet..." Rika said sadly.
Putting that aside, they continued onwards. After walking for a bit, they noticed a gathering of people in front of a large stage. On the stage were a big screen, some speakers, and a microphone stand. The stage looked like it was big enough to for people to have Pokémon battles on. A green sign on top of the stage had the words "Petalburg Woods' Bug Chase."
"What's going on over there?" Tyson wondered.
The group made their way over to the crowd. All sorts of people were there, but most of them carried large nets. Everyone was talking quite loudly and seemed to be excited about something.
"Can I get everyone to quiet down?" a girl wearing what appeared to be a Beautifly outfit, was on the stage talking into the microphone on the stand. Her voice was high and had a girlish charm to it.
The chattering ceased and everyone paid all their attention on the girl.
"I guess she can get everyone to calm down," Derek whispered.
"Welcome to the annual Petalburg Woods' Bug Chase! If you don't know already know what this event is, don't fret! For I, Beth, the beautiful Beautifly, will explain everything!"
Almost everyone cheered and many people cried out her name.
"The Petalburg Woods' Bug Chase is essentially a bug catching contest! Sign-ups will begin right after the ever-popular "Flight of the Beedrill!" Now, on with the explanation!" just then, the screen was turned on and an image of Beth's face could be seen, "Everyone that signs up will be given twenty super-special Bug Chase Balls! These Pokéballs will only work on bug types and they stop working after the chase! Now, everyone will have two hours to capture the best, the most stupendous, the coolest, and the most awesome bug Pokémon! You can only have one though! You must choose very carefully! The other ones must be set free at the end! All captured bugs will be judged by none other than Bug Maniac Marcus Insecta!"
The crowd applauded and cheered as a young man walked onto the stage. He was dressed in a blue-green shirt and brown pants. He wore large round glasses that stood out and his short hair was black. On his back was a large net. He held a cordless microphone and spoke into it.
"Welcome all! It looks like this year's chase gathered many people! Okay! After I judge all the bugs, the top two will battle with their newly captured bugs! The winner of that will receive the Bug Trophy! Remember, BUGS RULE!" The crowd cheered again.
"I think he likes bugs just a little too much," Derek whispered.
"Why do you think they called him a maniac?" Rika replied.
"Now is the time for the Flight of the Beedrill!" Beth announced. The two of them left the stage and a group of performers wearing Beedrill costumes went on stage.
The performers released at least a dozen Beedrills. Their buzzing were synchronized and they all flew around in circles as the human performers danced. They twirled around and sometimes jumped across the stage in a dramatic manner. At one point, the performers were lifted up by two Beedrills each. Once the show was over, Beth and Marcus went back on stage.
"Wasn't that just absolutely stupendous?" Beth asked. The crowd's response was definitely a positive one, what with all the shouts of encore and all.
"Everyone! It's time to sign up for the chase! There are four booths behind the stage for you to sign up at! The contest officially begins at one o'clock, so you have plenty of time to get ready! Good luck!" Marcus said.
Tyson, Rika, and Derek were still standing when the crowd started to move behind the stage. They were bumped and pushed around by many people. It was a wonder why everyone was in such a hurry when they had plenty of time to sign up.
"Let's go sign up!" Derek suggested. Tyson and Rika agreed and they proceeded in moving to a sign-up booth. It was then that they noticed that there were far more things at this "chase".
Behind the stage were more tents and booths then the four that were mentioned. Everything had a "bug" feel to them. For example, the tents all had pictures of a bug-type Pokémon on them and the skies were filled with balloons of bug-types. People could be seen running around with their Pokémon and some were even battling. There were lots of games involving bug type attacks as well. One had them using Pin Missile to hit a target while another had them using Fury Cutter to see who could cut the straightest.
After signing up, Tyson and his group went off to sit at a picnic table, which had a picture of Scyther on it. They were lucky to get the table since there were so many people around.
"There are so many bugs!" Derek commented.
"Your observation skills are impressive," Rika said with a hint of sarcasm. Mudkip was sitting beside her trainer and was almost crying.
"You might want to put Mudkip back in her Pokéball until the contest starts," Tyson suggested.
Rika looked down at her Pokémon and frowned. She returned Mudkip to her Pokéball.
"Hey! Want to battle?"
A short kid with short black hair approached their table. He wore a white t-shirt and wore brown shorts. He carried a net on his back like many of the people at the chase.
"Yo, kid! Are you even old enough to be a trainer?" Derek asked.
The kid was angry at the comment and started shouting in Derek's face.
"Of course I am! I just don't have a license yet! You only need a license to enter the league! And another thing! Don't call me kid! I'm Bug Catcher Peter!"
"Alright! Just asking! People can be so rude sometimes..." That comment got a punch from Rika.
"I'll battle you, Peter," Tyson accepted the challenge.
"Great! Let's go over to that battle field over there,"
Peter led the group over to an area that was specifically used for training battles. There were four fenced fields but they were all being used. However, one battle looked like it was almost over. It was a battle between a small red worm and a small green caterpillar. The red worm, Wurmple, leaped towards the caterpillar, Caterpie, with a final Tackle and ended the match.
After the two trainers left, Tyson and Peter entered the field. Derek and Rika just watched from behind the fence.
"How about a one on one battle?" Peter asked.
"Sure," Tyson agreed.
Grabbing a Pokéball from his belt, Peter released his Pokémon.
"Let's go, Spinarak!"
"Spin!"
A small green insect came out of the ball. He looked like a spider but he only had six legs that had two yellow segments. On his head was a small horn and on his back was a small face design.
Tyson, Rika, and Derek immediately took out their Pokédexes to scan him. They knew that Spinaraks weren't found in Hoenn that often.
"Spinarak. The String Spit Pokémon. Spinarak spins a web using fine, but durable, thread. It then waits patiently for prey to be trapped."
"Awesome!" Derek said.
Tyson put his Pokédex away and released his Pokémon.
"Go, Seedot!" The acorn Pokémon back flipped out of the ball.
Rika and Derek were surprised at his choice. They knew Torchic's Ember would've been super-effective against Spinarak.
"Are you an idiot! Torchic probably could have finished the battle in one move!" Rika shouted.
"I know, but what's the fun in that?" Tyson smiled.
"Let's start the battle! Spinarak, use Poison Sting!" Peter instructed.
"Harden!" Tyson knew he had to put up a good defense. He remembered from school that poison attacks wee strong against grass types.
Spinarak scurried towards Seedot and was ready use his small horn to sting him. The acorn held his ground while the sun reflected off of him. Spinarak jumped when he got close and his horn glowed in a white light. The attack would have been effecive but due to Harden, Spinarak was bounced back.
Seedot doesn't know any offense moves except for Bide but he won't last long enough to unleash the energy, Tyson thought.
"Poison Sting again!" Peter commanded.
Tyson had to act fast.
"Seedot! Show him how you like to jump!"
The acorn started hopping and when Spinarak got close, Seedot jumped past him.
"Spinarak, try using String Shot to slow him down!"
Spinarak shot a string of web towards the acorn. The string stopped Seedot from moving!
"Now use Poison Sting again!" Peter definitely knew what he was doing even though he didn't have a license yet.
"Oh no! Seedot!" Tyson started to get worried, "Harden!"
Seedot hardened under the web and Spinarak's sting wasn't effective again.
"Don't stop! Harden won't last forever!" Peter cried out.
He's right...Tyson thought, Seedot needs to attack somehow...
"Take Down!" he shouted out the first attack that came to his mind even though he knew Seedot probably couldn't perform the attack.
Miraculously, Seedot charged out of the strings of web! He dashed towards Spinarak and tackled him backwards. However, the acorn Pokémon also got knocked backwards a little. Spinarak had let hiss guard down when he was trying to use Poison Sting so the impact from Take Down was strong. The bug Pokémon was knocked out.
"How did your Seedot learn Take Down?" Peter was confused. He returned Spinarak to his Pokéball.
"I...have no idea," Tyson was just as confused as his opponent. Seedot was hopping and doing back flips in celebration of his victory.
Rika and Derek were also surprised. Derek was going to look it up on his Pokédex but Rika already had the answer.
"I remember this from school! Some Pokémon can learn moves by having it passed on by its parents. I think they're called Egg Moves!"
"Wow...I guess I should study a bit more..." Peter said quietly.
The group left the battlefield and decided to have lunch. Pretty soon, Beth's voice could be heard informing everyone that the contest would start soon.
All the participants gathered in front of the stage again and waited anxiously. Beth and Marcus were back on the stage.
"It's time for the chase! Is everyone ready?" Beth asked the crowd.
Everyone shouted "yeah" and those that had one, raised their nets.
"Let the hunt...BEGIN!" Marcus's words signaled the start of the chase.
"Where did it go?"
"It's got to be around here somewhere!"
Tyson and Derek were chasing after a quick little bug that went by the name of Nincada. The forest was pretty dark since the trees covered the sky. There were also a lot of grassy areas and small bushes everywhere.
There was only about half an hour left in the contest and all they've caught were Wurmples, Silcoons, and Cascoons. Rika had the same captures but she spotted something different and left to chase after it.
"This is all your fault! I saw him first!" Tyson complained.
"Do you know what Nincada evolve into? Ninjask! One of the fastest Pokémon ever! He'd be perfect on my team!" Derek countered.
"Torch!"
"Taillow!"
The cries of their Pokémon meant that they've spotted the Nincada. Tyson and Derek immediately ran towards the direction of where the sounds came from, which was in a small clearing. Torchic and Rapid had cornered the Nincada at a rock. Surprisingly, this area was lighter since there weren't as many trees. Although, there were a lot of bushes around.
"Torchic, Ember!" Tyson ordered.
"Quick Attack!" Derek knew he had to be faster if he wanted Nincada.
Rapid flew into Torchic just when it was preparing to attack using Ember!
"Not on Torchic!" Derek shouted.
Torchic immediately countered by firing embers at Rapid. The two of them started to battle each other, forgetting all about Nincada. The Nincada, a "Trainee Pokémon, wasn't exactly stupid. He saw this as his opportunity to escape and dashed towards a bush
"He's getting away again!" Tyson cried, "I'm tired of chasing him! Go! Bug Chase Ball!"
"Ditto that!" Derek also threw a Bug Chase Ball.
Nincada was a bit surprised by this move and leaped into the bushes. The two green Bug Chase Balls entered the bushes at the same time and in a white flash, Nincada was captured!
Tyson and Derek ran past Torchic and Rapid's battling and looked to see who caught the Pokémon. Amazingly, both Bug Chase Balls were shaking, which meant both of them caught something! They shook and stopped with a ping.
Tyson reached to grab the one on the right but Derek stopped him.
"Wait! We don't know who's is who's!"
"Mine was on the right...Weren't you paying attention?"
"Yes I was! But they could've bounced of each other somehow or something.," Derek thought for a minute.
"Okay, how about this? The contest is almost over anyways so why don't we both release all the bugs that we've caught except for these ones," Tyson suggested.
It seemed fair so Derek agreed. After all, he had fifty percent chance of getting Nincada. The two of the proceeded in releasing all their captures while the sounds of battle raged on between Torchic and Rapid.
Meanwhile, in another part of the woods, Rika was watching her Mudkip talking to her newly captured Pokémon. She was sitting on a log in a small clearing and was tired of running. Rika had released all her other bugs except for this one.
"Mud, mud?" Mudkip looked a little confused.
"Lu, ill!" a small blue and purple firefly was waving her arms around.
Rika decided to look up the bug in her Pokédex.
"Illumise. The Firefly Pokémon. Illumise leads a flight of illuminated Volbeat to draw signs in the night sky. This Pokémon is said to earn greater respect from its peers by composing more complex designs in the sky."
"That's pretty cool..." Rika muttered.
Illumise patted Mudkip on the back, which made the mudfish feel uncomfortable. The firefly laughed and floated up beside Rika.
"What's up, Illumise?" she asked.
Illumise made a face at Rika with her tongue sticking out. This didn't make Rika too happy and the bug Pokémon laughed. Mudkip also giggled a little.
"Great...Just my luck to catch a Pokémon almost exactly like Derek. At least Mudkip's not afraid of her."
Suddenly, a loud female voice could be heard.
"The chase is now over! Will all participants please return to the stage immediately! By the way, you should pick your most spectacular bug now and release the others!"
"Looks like it's time to head back," Rika said. She returned both Mudkip and Illumise back to their Pokéballs.
"Yes, your Wurmple is cute enough but he's just not as rare as some other entrants."
Every participant went on the stage one by one to show off their capture to Marcus Insecta who judged them. Many people caught Wurmples and were disappointed when they learned others caught better Pokémon. One trainer even caught a Heracross but the beetle wasn't very healthy.
"That Illumise is awesome!" Derek complemented after Rika got back down from the stage.
"You'd think so. She's exactly like you," Illumise laughed and jumped onto Rika's head.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Derek demanded.
"Nothing..."
It was soon Derek's turn to release his Pokémon. He stayed cool and hoped that he caught the Nincada. Holding the Bug Catch Ball, he threw it and after the Pokémon emerged, many people gasped.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Tyson shouted in disappointment.
Derek's capture was mostly black except for some golden yellow on his head. The bug's white wings had red markings on them and he flew in a pattern of ups, downs, and diagonals, never changing the direction he was facing.
"A Ninjask! It's amazing!" Beth exclaimed. Many trainers agreed and applauded.
"Yeah! I can't believe it! Nincada must've evolved just when I captured it!" Derek shouted in triumph.
"Your Ninjask definitely has a good chance of winning the chase!" Marcus congratulated Derek on his capture.
Tyson was very annoyed. He couldn't believe that Derek caught Ninjask.
"You might have something better," Rika tried to cheer him up.
"Yeah, might..."
Soon after many more Wurmples, Silcoons, and Cascoons, it was Tyson's turn. He also happened to be last person. Tyson held his Bug Catch Ball in hopes that something better than a Wurmple wan in it. Time seemed to slow down when he threw the ball.
"INCREDIBLE!" Beth screamed.
Tyson's capture was floating in place and was brownish yellow in color. He had a blank expression on his face and a ring that had an uncompleted white ring above his head.
"YES! A Shedinja!" Tyson shouted in happiness.
"Extraordinary! Since Derek was the only one to catch a Ninjask, your Shedinja must have appeared when Nincada evolved," Marcus was bewildered, "That settles it! You and Derek will face each other in a battle!"
With that, Derek ran back on stage with Ninjask flying beside him.
"Good luck!" Rika said but then whispered, "Although Derek has close to no chance of winning..."
"Ready, trainers? Battle!" Beth announced. The giant screen on the stage was turned on and different angles of the battle soon followed.
"Ninjask, Fury Swipes!" Derek commanded.
Ninjask flew towards Shedinja in a blur and began to scratch him. Shedinja didn't move or flinch at all.
"Don't you know about Shedinja's special ability? His Wonder Guard protects him from all attacks except for ones that are super effective!" Tyson smiled.
"No way!" Derek was at a loss. Unless Ninjask knew attacks that were strong against the Bug /Ghost, he couldn't win.
"Use your Fury Swipes, Shedinja!"
Shedinja floated towards Ninjask slowly, who was in shock that he couldn't hurt his opponent. Shedinja's scratches definitely affected Ninjask, seeing as he got knocked to the ground.
"Shadow Ball!" Derek tried but Ninjask just looked confused. It looked like he wasn't as lucky as Tyson with Seedot.
"Fury Swipes again!" Tyson commanded. He knew there was no way for Derek to win the battle.
Ninjask was scratched multiple times again and fainted.
"Shedinja wins! Tyson will receive the Bug Trophy!" Beth shouted. The crowd followed suite and cried out Shedinja and Tyson's names.
Tyson was happy as he received the golden trophy of many different bug Pokémon. After this win, he truly felt like a trainer and was ready for his first gym battle.