Chapter Five: The First Catch
Leigh stuffed her breakfast, which was a cheese sandwich that Kata had prepared, down her throat as she violently jerked the stakes that held the tent they had slept in out of the ground. None of the children's Pokemon was able to help her, because neither Fern the Oddish nor Bug-Master the Weedle had arms. And Kata's Pidgey, Candie, had too much dignity to try and pull a stake out of the ground with her feet. Travis sat cross-legged on the ground, his face buried in his Pokedex, ignoring his food, while the twins wolfed down their sandwiches so that they could help.
"Too good for work, eh, Travis?" Keiji asked sullenly as he got up and headed over to the tent. Travis mumbled something inaudible in reply, not bothering to look up. Kata had decided to begin to ignore Keiji's rude comments about Travis, because if she frowned at him every time he insulted her friend's intelligence, she would have wrinkles by the time she was fourteen.
It took what felt like hours for Leigh, Keiji and Kata to roll up the teal canvas to be small enough to fit into the tiny package that it had come out of. Meanwhile, Travis was scribbling something into a mint green notepad that he had pulled out of one of the many pockets in his vest. Keiji suggested that he was learning his colors, while Leigh thought that he was probably mapping out his way to becoming a 'Pokemon master'. Either way, it was a poor excuse for not helping.
When they had finally finished tearing down camp, they put their backpacks back on and headed back towards the route, which they would continue on heading west until they reached Gooseberry Town.
The route, at this point, was cut through tall, willowy grass that was, for the most part, a dusty golden color. The end of the valley that they were in was drawing nearer, so they could see less and less of what was ahead of them and more of its end sloping upwards. Fern seemed to be enjoying the grasses surrounding them, while Bug-Master was completely oblivious to his surroundings and was circling around Travis endlessly. Candie would fly around them occasionally, scoping out the area and showing off how gracefully she glided through the air.
"Oddish!" yelped Fern suddenly, who had fallen behind by just a little. Everyone turned around immediately, and saw that a Rattata had pounced on top of her and had now opened its mouth, boasting two large, gleaming front teeth, ready to bite at the Oddish's bulbous blue face. Travis pointed his gleaming blood-red Pokedex at the offending Pokemon, staring at the screen intently.
"Use Absorb, Fern!" Keiji commanded, and then the Rattata was surrounded in a bright green glow as Fern drew life from it. The Rattata rolled off of the Oddish as its stamina was slowly sucked away. When Fern stopped, she was looking rejuvenated, while the Rattata was merely a heap of mulberry fur, lying on the route and twitching uncontrollably. It lifted its trembling head, and then suddenly charged at a deeply surprised Fern at incredible speeds. Without being told, Fern wriggled herself free of the smaller Pokemon's grasp and began to draw life from it again. A bruise on her back healed, while the Rattata was once again reduced to a heaving purple pelt.
A red and white pokeball flew over Fern's head, falling before the Rattata and opening, the unaware rat Pokemon disappearing into it with a flash of white light. The tiny ball wriggled violently and then, all at once, stopped. A beaming Keiji walked over to it, kneeled, and picked it up, attaching his first catch to his belt. Kata and Leigh were both deeply impressed, neither of them ever having seen a Pokemon caught properly before.
"…If you see one, it is certain that forty more live in that area," said Travis aloud, who was still reading his Pokedex. As if the travelers had been jinxed, there came a rustling in the grasses when he had finished. Then Rattatas began pouring out behind them, squeaking variations of 'Rattata!' angrily.
"Run!" yelled Keiji, and they all bounded away from the blur of tiny rat-like Pokemon. Fern and Bug-Master were both returned to their pokeballs since neither were excellent runners, while the children and Leigh had to sprint at full-speed in order to keep sight of Candie. They made good time, running as fast as humanly possible, and had left the valley far ahead of schedule. The Rattatas only desisted when they had completely exited it.
Wheezing and huffing, the children and Leigh stopped to take a rest. Candie the Pidgey circled around like a vulture, checking to make sure that none of the Rattatas were still around, and then landed lightly next to Kata, who was laying on her back, her chest heaving as she stared into the pale blue sky. Leigh was the only one who hadn't collapsed on the spot, as she was much more fit than the children. She pulled a tankard of water out of her backpack and took a large gulp, then spat it out impromptu. It had been lying around in her bag for ages, and it had a foul, bitter taste to it.
"Can I have some of that?" Keiji gasped, gesturing to Leigh's tankard. Leigh shook her head furiously and stuffed it back into the large compartment of her backpack. Keiji looked confused as to why she was depriving him of hydration.
"It's awful, it tastes surprisingly like Miltank dung," Leigh explained, and Keiji asked no more. Travis flung a large bottle of water that sparkled in the sunlight out of his own backpack. The twins looked at it longingly, their tongues becoming dryer with every second they spent watching Travis down it. He finished his huge gulp and then glanced at a panting Keiji and Kata with fake surprise, pretending he had only noticed now how thirsty they were.
"Oh, you look thirsty," Travis said to Kata, "here." He tossed her the bottle and she beamed at him gratefully, taking a well-earned swig of the shimmering water. When she had finished, she looked relieved and threw it back at Travis.
"Can I—?" Keiji asked, transfixed on the water. Travis chuckled. Leigh glared. Kata shot Keiji a 'you're-getting-what-you-deserve' look.
"How about you trade me your Oddish for it?" Travis asked with a mischievous grin, waving the water around in the air. Keiji snorted. It wasn't necessary to reply – it was the most outrageous proposal he had heard from the senseless boy yet. Travis shrugged when he didn't accept and stuffed the bottle back into his backpack.
"Fancy a swig of essence of Miltank dung?" Leigh offered, but Keiji declined.
Leigh and the children sat around for a while longer as they rebuilt their strength. Everyone (except Travis) discussed what he should name his new Rattata; Keiji decided on naming him Contremo by Leigh's suggestion. Travis just scribbled more notes, glancing up to give Keiji a look of sheer jealousy every now and then. How could he have caught a Pokemon before him? He wasn't even trying! It was just because the Rattata decided to go after Fern first...
They heard footsteps and looked up. Passing them was a man wearing a well-tailored black tuxedo, his black hair slicked back with what must have been an entire bottle of hair gel. He looked very out of place, dressed so formally. The man had sickly pale skin and his eyes and cheeks were sunken in. Walking next to him was a Clefairy. It didn't have a Clefairy's usual cheery charm, and instead she had her head down, watching her feet intently. She looked clean enough, but the long scars across her back were unmistakable. The man and his melancholy Pokemon stopped to examine the children. His eyes stopped at Leigh, and she gulped nervously. She recognized him – it was the man that she had sold the prized Clefairy to. The powdery pink fluff ball with rosy red cheeks standing next to him was the reason that she was here in the first place. She couldn't help but feel a little angry at it – but perhaps it was inevitable. Could she have possibly gone on like she was forever? But then again, her father had…
The man turned his head, hair unmoving, and smiled, baring crooked coffee-stained teeth. He said nothing, to Leigh's relief. The children looked at him skeptically, and then at Leigh.
"Cle-fairy," hissed the Clefairy in a shockingly hoarse voice. The man noticed his Pokemon's reaction, and began to walk away.
"Come on, Pippi, let's go..." he mumbled, and they disappeared without a single word to the travelers. Travis was obviously doing an intense reading about the Clefairy now, as his face was almost entirely hidden by his Pokedex. He had his nose so close to it, Leigh wondered if he was in desperate need of glasses.
"Friendly, wasn't he?" commented Keiji as they got to their feet. They had rested long enough. Kata, however, seemed to think that there was more to it. Leigh got a sinking feeling in her stomach that she would never be able to escape her identity. Perhaps she was doomed to be a thief forever; maybe she would be better off returning to Team Paradise. It would have been easy for her to steal the children's Pokemon and then return to her father, explaining she had taken it upon herself to find her own Pokemon to steal. He would have been proud, Leigh thought.
Leigh nodded at Keiji's comment and they continued down the route, Travis nearly tripping several times as he refused to look where he was going since he was so intent on studying his Pokedex. Leigh and Keiji didn't complain, as they were enjoying the first period of silence they had gotten since they had met him (excluding when they were sleeping).
"We're nearly there!" Kata shouted excitedly, pointing ahead of them. Sure enough, Gooseberry Town was clearly distinguishable at this point. Kata, Keiji, Leigh and Travis began to pick up the pace at this, eager to get to the Pokemon Center where they could sleep in proper beds and where Fern and Contremo could get some healing. There was nothing quite as satisfying as civilization after two days of Travis.