Chapter 6: Into Alph And Through Union
Angelina left early the next morning, determined to get to Azalea Town. She overheard a couple trainers talking about a place called the Ruins of Alph during last nights' dinner and decided to visit along the way. She was amazed by the serene beauty of the lakes surrounding the ruins and caves. There was also a research center set up near the front gate for tourists and Ruin Maniacs.
"Interesting place," Angelina said. She heard about the rich history of the ruins from her cousin Marcus. He told her there were ancient stories behind the mysterious Unown, Pokemon that represented the alphabet. She walked into the first chamber, the walls made out of clay bricks and marked with many deep carvings. She guessed they were ancient writings of symbols that the Unown represented.
"Hey, I found a Pokémon!" one trainer yelled. It was a young boy with raven dark hair covering his right dark-colored eye; long in the front, short in the back. He wore black pants and a long-sleeved purple trench coat.
Angelina grabbed a Pokéball from her belt. She wasn't surprised there were trainers visiting the ruins as well, looking around for the mysterious Pokemon. She sent out her Charmander, preparing him to attack.
"There's no way you're gonna capture this Unown!" the trainer said, motioning towards a floating black eye-shaped creature that resembled a letter.
Angelina took out her Pokedex. "Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown are said to have existed since ancient times. There are many in form and shape but little is known about this mysterious Pokémon."
"I don't see your name on it yet. So its fair game." Angelina grinned, her Charmander stepped forward growling.
"Go Nidorina!" the trainer called out the evolved form of a female Nidoran. She was turquoise instead of blue-lavender, the poison spikes on her ears and back were larger, and her fangs and claws looked sharper. "Poison Sting!"
Nidorina opens her mouth and fires multiple white needles at Charmander. The fire-lizard cries out, a purple mark on its face confirmed it was poisoned.
"Charcoal, use Ember!" Charmander opened its mouth and released a fireball that smaked into Nidorina.
"Hmmm.… our Pokémon appear equally powerful. This should be interesting. Unfortunately for you I don't like interesting battles," the trainer commented with a sneer. "Nidorina, return! Go Bulbasaur! Tackle!"
The Grass-type charged its body into Charmander. It was a very high level, but Charmander retaliated by using its Ember and inflicting a burn. Bulbasaur wasn't down yet, so Charmander knocked out the Grass Pokemon with its silver-glowing claws.
"Way to go, Charcoal!" Angelina praised. She checked her Pokedex and was happy that her Charmander learned a new attack, Metal Claw.
"Awww man! I wanted that Unown.…" the trainer complained. "But you fairly won.… go on, take it."
"All right!" Angelina said. She threw the Pokéball at the Unown, watching it shake back and forth a couple times as the red button glowed, then stopped. She picked up the Pokéball and clipped it onto her belt, grinning as she left the ruins and continued down the road towards Azalea Town.
Evening was approaching as Angelina walked down Route 32, taking a few hours to participate in half a dozen trainer battles so her Pokemon could gain experience. The map on her Poke-Gear pin-pointed a small fishing village that had a Pokemon Center right outside of Union Cave. That would be another obstacle for her to navigate through the following morning after she rested for the night.
Angelina walked down the dirt road along the outskirts of a forest. She user her Pokedex to scan the wild Pokemon that were walking around the grass such as Mareep, Rattata, and the occasional Pidgey.
In the distance, she saw fishermen with fishing rods standing on a bridge built over a large lake. As she walked closer, she saw two teal-colored axolotl-like Pokémon with long tails releasing spirals of water to toss a small indigo plant-bulb creature back and fourth.
"No way!" Angelina gasped, pointing her Pokedex at them.
"Oddish, the Weed Pokemon. It buries itself in the ground during the daytime to absorb nutrients, then wanders around sowing its seeds at night when exposed to moonlight."
"Wooper, the Water Fish Pokemon. They live in cold water and will leave the water to search for food when it gets cold outside."
"Leave that Oddish alone!" Angelina yelled, startling the Wooper; one of them dived into the water and swam away while the other one jumped onto a rock. Its tail began glowing a sparkling icy-blue and knocks the Oddish into a nearby tree. It fell to the ground, shivering and soaked from the attacks.
Angelina ran forward and picked up the injured Pokemon. "Oh you poor thing!" she sympathized, holding it in her arms carefully. "Let's get you to a Pokemon Center!" she could see the crimson-shingled roof peeking over the trees and made a quick jog down the dirt path.
Suddenly, a black-haired overweight man jumped out in front of Angelina from the bushes. "How would you like to have this tasty, nutritious Slowpoketail?" he asked holding out a cleaned cut Slowpoke's tail to the curious girl.
"A Slowpoketail?" Angelina questioned confused looking at the pink tail with a white tip.
"Right, it's a tail that is cut off from the Pokemon, Slowpoke. Like I said, it's really tasty and nutritious. For you right now, just $1,000,000! You'll want this!" the man excitedly persuades the young trainer into buying the chopped tail.
"No way! Who would want to buy a poor Slowpoke's tail for a million dollars?! No thanks, I'm not buying!" Angelina yelled furiously at the frightened man.
"You don't want it?" the man said puzzled at the girl. "Then, scram! Shoo!" he said with a wave of his hand, which Angelina turned away and stepped inside the lobby of the center.
"Oh my, is everything okay?" Nurse Joy gasped, noticing the wounded Oddish in Angelina's arms.
"Not exactly," Angelina said, placing the Pokemon onto the counter as she unclipped the Pokeballs on her belt. "I found this little one being tossed around by Wooper. I didn't have any ailments for its wounds so I that's why I came here. I'd also like a room for tonight as well."
"Of course, that's very nice of you," Nurse Joy smiled, taking out a tray for Angelina's Pokeballs and handed her a room key. "I'll make sure your Pokemon and this Oddish is back to full health."
Angelina smiled and thanked the nurse, then she headed down to the cafeteria for dinner so she wouldn't be going to sleep on an empty stomache. She found a seat amongst the other trainers and tucked into a plate of sirloin steak-tips with a side of mashed potatoes in gravy. She ate her in silence while looking over the map feature on her Poke-Gear; she knew the Johto Region was huge and wouldn't be easy to collect the gym badges, but she was very determined and had faith in her Pokemon that they could do it. After leaving the cafeteria, she retired to her room on the second floor; exhausted as she changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth in the bathroom. She pulled back the sheets and settled into the bed, sleep taking her immediately.
"Good morning, Angelina," Nurse Joy greeted the trainer as she approached the front counter. Angelina felt refreshed and energized after a shower and quick breakfast of fried eggs and bacon. "Here are your Pokemon." she handed her the tray with three Pokeballs. "And Oddish is back to perfect health."
"That's great!" Angelina said, taking her Pokeballs and clipped them back onto her belt. "Well Oddish, I'll be taking you back to the forest where you belong."
"Oddish!" the Oddish shook its head and jumps into Angelina's arms. Nuzzling into the surprised girl while Nurse Joy giggled.
"It seems Oddish really likes you. Maybe you should catch it."
"Really?" Angelina asked, thinking over the idea that the Grass-type would be powerful once she evolves it. She looks down at the Pokemon as it was looking up at her hopefully. "Would you like to come with me on my journey?"
"Odd!" Oddish jumped back onto the counter and nodded.
Angelina laughs, "Okay, guess that's settled." she took out an empty Pokeball from her backpack and pressed it against Oddish. The device opened up as Oddish's body was surrounded by red light and was instantly sucked inside. It started to shake in her hand a few times as the silver button was flashing red. Finally, the ball dinged, confiming the capture. "Awesome! I have an Oddish!"
"Congradulations!" Nurse Joy said. "And I hope you've enjoyed your stay. Please come back again anytime."
Angelina bowed respectfully. "Thank you," she said, then leaves the Pokemon Center so she could finally make her way to the Union Cave.
Walking inside Union Cave, Angelina noticed it was quite dark. But suddenly, a flame came out of nowhere and lit up the cave. This happened periodically every couple of seconds. When Angelina rounded the corner, she noticed what was causing it.
There was an overwight man dressed in a pink-and-blue clown outfit and wearing black sunglasses training a red-and-yellow Pokemon with a duck-like bill and black metal shackles around its neck and legs. It was lighting up the cave by breathing out fire.
"What Pokemon is that?" Angelina asked, taking out her Pokedex.
"Magmar, the Spitfire Pokemon. Born in an active volcano, its body is always cloaked in flames, so it looks like a big ball of fire."
"Hello, what are you doing here?" the trainer asked. "I'm a firebreather, I light up this cave for trainers to see."
"I see, well I'm just a Pokemon trainer on my way to Azalea Town. I also came here to capture some Pokémon."
Just then, a Geodude appeared out of nowhere. It was hopping along the ground, oblivious to the two trainers next to him. They both decided to capture it, and so the Firebreather sent out his Magmar and Angelina sent out Unown "F". Unown used Hidden Power to keep Magmar at bay. Angelina threw a Pokéball, but Magmar deflected it with Flamethrower. Angelina sent out Marill and told her to use Water Gun on Geodude. The Firebreather sent out a Magby, and it grabbed onto Marill's tail, making it unable to move. They both threw a Pokéball at him, and they bounced off each other. Angelina sent out Charmander and the Firebreather sent out Growlithe. While they started battling, Angelina threw a Pokéball at Geodude, capturing it.
"Yes! I captured it!" Angelina exclaimed.
"What?! You cheated!" the Firebreather yelled. "No, no, no! The battle was just a distraction, wasn't it?"
Angelina recalled all of her Pokémon. "Yep, it was all a distraction! Well, I guess you learned something today! Sometimes I even amaze myself!"
"That doesn't sound too hard…." the Firebreather muttered.
Angelina narrowed her eyes and glared. "Hey, shut up!"
"Yeah, whatever, just go on and get outta here!"
Both trainers were then startled by a long, echoing wail. Angelina jumped, as did the Firebreather, but didn't think twice when he walked away. The noise was reverberating off the rock walls; Angelina thought that whatever it was wasn't just going to go away.
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Angelina was walking once more, her feet barely making a noise against the rock. Her Marill, Spritz trotted alongside her trainer, smelling every rock provided she didn't range out of the torch light.
Angelina froze as there was another low wail. They were more frequent and much louder now, making them easy to follow. Spritz ran back towards her trainer and grabbed onto her leg and whimpered.
Angelina was also terrified, but she felt like that if she didn't check, she would never forget about it. She felt frustrated with herself, that she hadn't already found what was making that noise and that she let it frighten her so much.
There was another long wail, and she had to clap her hands over her ears. The sound was bouncing off the walls, seeming to amplify as it came closer and passed. The cave got larger and wider as she went along, until her torch light could no longer reach the roof. It was much more uneven here, with large jagged outcrops, and small plateaus here and there.
Angelina groaned loudly as she hauled herself another of the slopes. Spritz was safely nestled in between her back and her bag, holding onto the torch. She grabbed another of the smaller outcrops and pulled herself up, scraping her front as she went.
Spritz gave a loud, indignant squeal as Angelina grabbed hold of the top of the plateau and hauled herself up.
"Oh man, ow." Angelina muttered as she reached flat ground. Spritz eased herself out from between her trainer and her backpack, dropped the torch and ran to the other side of the plateau. The Marill stopped, before running back and rambling at Angelina in nonsensical gibberish.
"I don't understand you, sweetie." Angelina stated, her stomache feeling extremely sore and scratched. Spritz began to pull at her hair, still jabbering on.
"Ow! Quit it!" Angelina snapped, getting up and snatching the torch off the ground. "I'm coming, I'm coming. See, I'm right.…whoa."
On the other side was what could only be described as a lake. The water sparkled under the torchlight, and it was absolutely clear. It was really deep, but the water was so clear Angelina could see every rock on the bottom. She could always go for a swim. Though she wasn't sure if the torch was water-proof. Maybe if she wrapped it in plastic.…
There was a loud howl. And it was close.
Angelina looked around, flicking her torch back and forth as her heart began to feel like it was trying to tear itself out. Right in the middle of the lake was a large, blue and grey shape. It had long flippers under the water, and a large grey shell above. Its elongated neck ended in a head with a horn and large, sapphire eyes. She could recognise it as a Lapras, but only from textbooks. She had never seen one in real life before.
Angelina stared at it. Or she; most definitely a female. She opened her mouth once more and let out another wail. A long, sad, wail.
Lapras had barely noticed Angelina shining the torch in her face. Her eyes were downcast, and she just looked so lonely. Angelina felt a pang of pity for the poor thing.
Lapras let out another depressed cry, quieter than the last. Angelina gave Spritz her torch, which she held obediently onto. She found her bathing suit in the depths of her bag.
'Let's just hope Lapras don't bite. Come to think of it, do they even have teeth?'
Angelina put away her torch, getting rid of what little light she had left. After waiting a few minutes for her eyes to adjust, she could just make out the silhouette of Lapras as she made more of the mournful noises from the back of her throat.
Angelina slid into the water which, inviting as it looked, felt like thousands of little needles stabbing into her legs. Freezing cold needles.
That didn't seem to be such a problem for Spritz. The aqua-mouse dived right in, only surfacing to carry on in a sequence of blather. Lapras stopped whimpering to look at them.
Angelina swam over, with her towering over her. She was much larger than she had anticipated.
"Hi." Angelina murmured. She emitted a soft coo-ing sound and lowered her head to touch her cheek. Her skin was soft yet rubbery, like a Poliwags. Spritz surfaced beside her trainer, and she turned to nuzzle her as well.
"So you're not a ferocious beast after all, huh?" Angelina whispered, stroking her neck. She began to make a soft purring sound. Even in the dark, her eyes sparkled. She was the single most beautiful thing she had ever seen. "Just lonely."
She cocked her head, almost like a nod. Angelina felt sympathetic, but understood that Lapras was just after company, that's all those roars were about. She would have liked to stay, but her skin was becoming way too tender under its combination of wrinkles and goose bumps trying to keep her warm to no avail.
"Well, it's been fun." Angelina patted Lapras' nose as she began to swim back to where she thought shore was. "But I have to go before I freeze." she turned around and kicked her way to the surface and started towards the vague outline of land in the darkness. The moving water behind her implied that Lapras was following.
Angelina walked onto the shore and grabbed her bag, finding her torch underneath her clothes. She flicked it on, and after a few shakes, it stayed on.
Lapras floated in the shallowest water she could get into, watching Angelina even though the light was in her eyes. Eyes that were full of tears. Angelina's entire body racked with guilt.
Lapras made a small noise, almost like the mewing that baby Meowths made, only even softer and sadder. Angelina waded back into the water to pet her again, she touched the side of her face. "I don't want to leave you. I really don't."
The Water Pokemon just stared back at the trainer. Spritz floated in beside Angelina, watching Lapras as well.
"I'm sorry." Angelina sighed, leaving her hand in place and stroking her with her thumb. She leaned into her hand, still making mewling noises. She really didn't want to be alone here.
Angelina went back to her backpack. Lapras wailed as she ran back to it. "Hold on!" she yelled back at her. Spritz tried to run to her, but by the time she was even halfway, Angelina already had what she wanted and was heading back to Lapras.
"You can come with me!" Angelina exclaimed, waving the Pokeball in her face as Spritz gave a defeated sigh and ran back into the water. Lapras cocked her head at her.
"See, you get in, then I can take you somewhere where you'll have lots of company." Angelina rambled, making frantic hand gestures as well. Lapras just stared.
Angelina went on for a little longer, trying to explain a Pokeball and capture and not really making progress. But she thinks the Pokemon understood. She bowed her head and tapped the Pokeball with her nose, and vanished in a flash of red light.
Angelina was greeted by natural sunlight and felt a lite breeze moving through her hair as she reached the exit of Union Cave. She was relieved to be outside and breathing in the fresh air; four hours had gone by as she checked her Poke-Gear. She thought that was long enough to be traveling through a cave and catching Pokemon.
She thought her surroundings were peaceful as she strolled the dirt path towards Azalea Town. There was a patch of flowing grass and petals floating in the summer air.
"Hey, you there!"
"Huh?" Angelina blinked, turning around to see a large beared man waving at her. He wore a red long-sleeved button down shirt under a blue vest, a greenish-tan beenie, gray cargo pants, and black boots.
"Would you like to battle, little lady?" the hiker asked.
"Sure, I don't see why not," Angelina said, walking up to the man. "Just lemme heal up my Pokemon." She turned around and released her Charmander and Marill.
"Okay guys, time to heal up!" Angelina said cheerily, taking a couple potions out of her backpack. "Come here, Spritz!" she cooed, waving over the small mouse. She then sprayed her with the potion, where all of her wounds were located, and hugged her as the relief of the potion came. "There. Return! Now, come here, Charcoal!" It took a few minutes to avoid the flames from her Charmander's tail, but successfully healed and recalled it.
"All-righty then, you can go first." Angelina said politely, but really wanting to see what Pokemon this guy had.
"Okay. Go! Geodude!" the hiker called out the Rock Pokemon.
Angelina smirked and tossed out a Pokeball. "Let's go, Flower! Use Petal Dance!" she called upon her newly acquired Oddish; the Pokemon was female, so she thought of a good nickname that resembled its final evolutions. Oddish releases a spiral of small pink petals from its body and sent flying at Geodude.
"Dodge with Defense Curl! Then use Roll Out!" the hiker commanded.
Geodude pulls in its arms and curls into a ball, avoiding the on-coming pink petals. It began rolling toward Oddish, striking directly and sent the Weed Pokemon flying into the ground. Oddish shakily got back up.
"Use Razor Leaf!" Angelina ordered.
Oddish waves the leaves on its head and two razor-sharp leaves come out of it and hit Geodude. The Rock Pokemon couldn't move away and was sent flying into to the ground, swirls in its eyes.
"Yay Flower! Wonderful job!" Angelina cheered.
"Oddish, Odd!" Oddish jumped up and down happily. Suddenly, her whole body began to glow and took shape into a bigger Pokemon. Her body was still blue, but now had a pair of arms along with its more developed legs. The leaves curled away and looked withering, atop her head now was a reddish-brown, white-spotted flower. There was also white fluid oozing from her purple lips.
"Gloom, the Weed Pokemon. The smell from its drool-like syrup and the pollen on its petals is so bad, it may make opponents faint."
Angelina smiled and pocketed her Pokedex. "Wow, I'm glad you evolved, Flower!" she knelt down and hugged the Grass-type. Its stench wasn't foul or horrid-smelling like it was described in encyclopedias, but very pleasant and relaxing.
"Grr…. Okay then, you beat me." the hiker said, recalling his Geodude. "How about we exchange phone numbers? I watch out for rare Pokemon on my hikes. What do you say?"
Angelina recalled her Gloom and stood up. "Sure!" she took out her Poke-Gear to plug in the numbers. Then after shaking hands, she headed on her way to Azalea Town.
§To Be Continued§
*Angelina battles a Poke Maniac, but successfully captures an Unown "F" in the Ruins of Alph.
*Angelina rescues an Oddish from two mischievious Wooper; Oddish wants to travel with Angelina after being healed.
*Angelina stays overnight at the Pokemon Center on Route 32.
*Angelina battles a Firebreather, and also catches a Geodude.
*Angelina's Oddish evolves into Gloom after defeating a Hiker's Geodude on Route 34.
*Angelina travels through Union Cave and catches a Lapras; this Pokemon can be encountered every Friday in the HeartGold/SoulSilver games after defeating Morty.
Chapter 7 is on the way, remember to review! Thanks!