Chapter 17: Marie

(A/N: Or "The Chapter you all have been waiting for)

"So the S.S. Aqua goes from Olivine City to Vermillion City." Aaron said looking at his ticket.

"I just can't believe Professor Elm had the tickets." Andy stated.

"I'm going to go train a little bit more here."

"Alright. I'm going to find Jenny."

Aaron rolled his eyes as he went to an area around where he saw the rare pokemon.

"Alright Static. Try a Thunder attack."

"PPPIIIIIIKKKKKAAAACCCCHHHHHUUUUUU!"

"Wow Static. I think that was your strongest ever."

"Pikachu" (Thanks)

"Spearow" (Get him!)

The Thunder attack woke up a flock of sleeping Spearows.

"What are those?" Aaron said pulling out his pokedex

"Spearow. The Tiny Bird Pokemon. Very protective of its territory, it flaps its short wings busily to dart around at high speeds."

"I don't think they're here to play." Aaron said to Static.

"Chu." (I agree)

"FEAROW!" (ATTACK!)

"Fearow. The Beak Pokemon. It cleverly uses its thin, long beak to pluck and eat small insects that hide under the ground."

"It's obviously not happy to see us."

"Pikachu?" (Run?)

"Oh yeah."

Aaron and Static ran a good while before starting to run out of breath.

"They're still behind us!"

"Pikachu?" (Why are they after us?)

"I don't know. Probably because we interrupted their nap."

"Pika!" (Look!)

The Fearow was in a battle with a Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot. The Bird Pokemon. It spreads its beautiful wings wide to frighten its enemies. It can fly at Mach 2 speed."

"Interesting. But we still have to get away from them." Aaron said pointing to the Spearows

"Pikachu" (How about that?)

Static was pointing to a river.

"This isn't a swarm of Beedrill, Static. I don't think jumping in a river will help"

"Pikachu" (Worth a shot)

"Alright."

SPLASH

However, Aaron and Static were not counting on a strong current and the fact that it was going to storm any minute.

0000

Further downstream, a young girl about 12-13 years old was fishing. She had been there for hours waiting to catch a pokemon. Preferably, a rare one. Just then, there was a tug on her line.

"It's about time. I hope it's a male Dratini."

When she yanked the catch out, she was fairly disappointed.

"Aw. It's only a kid. And a Pikachu. Are you alright?"

"I think so." Aaron said.

"Not you. I'm talking about your pokemon."

"Static? Are you alright?"

"Pi" (Cough)

"He must have swallowed too much water." Aaron stated.

"SPEAR" (THERE HE IS)

"I've got to go." Aaron said grabbing the scooter.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm borrowing this." He said as he put Static in the basket in the front.

"But, that's my scooter."

"I'll give it back." Aaron said as he pushed away.

"Boys." The girl sighed.

0000

Aaron was only a few miles away from Cherrygrove.

"Hang in there Static."

"SPEAROW" (GET HIM)

"Whoa!"

The scooter hit a rock and sent the trainer and the pokemon flying.

"Hang on Static."

"Chu" (Behind you)

Aaron looked and saw the flock of Spearows ganging on them.

"There has to be something we can do." Aaron said thinking.

Static knew that there were two options for Aaron. One: Get rid of the Spearows. Two: Find a way to keep Static safe while the Spearows attacked Aaron. And Static also knew that the only way to keep him safe would be the dreadful pokeball.

Before Aaron could even think of the pokeball, Static coughed up some more water and fried the Spearows with a stronger Thunder attack than before. However, he forgot to warn Aaron who was also fried as well as the scooter.

A few minutes later,

"Ok. THAT was the strongest Thunder. We will discuss this later." Aaron said when he regained consciousness.

Static was unconscious after that huge Thunder.

Aaron walked the rest of the way to the Pokemon Center in Cherrygrove. Andy was still trying to get a date.

"Static will be just fine Aaron" Joy told the trainer. "He just needs to rest."

"Thank goodness."

"Care to tell me what happened?"

"Static and I were training and we woke up a flock of Spearow. Then they started to attack us nonstop. And there was also a Fearow, but a Pidgeot came and distracted it. However, the Spearow were still after us. So, we jumped in the river in hopes of escaping, but they found us after we got out. That was when Static used Thunder on them even though it had swallowed so much water from the river."

"Well, Static will be alright."

"That's good."

"There you are!" A female voice came from the door.

Aaron turned around and saw the redheaded girl from earlier.

"I've been looking everywhere for you! Look at what happened to my scooter!" she yelled showing him her burnt scooter.

"Sorry about that." Aaron said.

"Oh no. Sorry doesn't cut it. Do you know how much this scooter cost me?"

"Not really."

"Well. You are going to pay me every cent of what it cost."

"What's the cost?" Aaron sighed.

She whispered the amount.

"YOU'RE KIDDING!"

"Nope."

"My Dad's a single parent. Even with the money from training, it'll take me ages before I can repay you."

"Well then, I suppose I'm going to have to travel with you until you get the money."

"What? Now wait a minute, I have another travel partner. And we're on our way to Kanto."

"Well, I guess I'm coming with you." She said

"But…but…"

"Forget it Aaron." Joy spoke up. "There is no use arguing with her."

"I suppose. I'm just a little nervous about how Andy's going to take this."

"So, when are we leaving for Kanto?" the girl asked.

"When we get to Olivine. Wait. We need another ticket if you're coming."

"No problem." She said. "I've had a ticket for the S.S. Aqua for a while now."

"Great." Aaron said sarcastically.

"Pika?" (Aaron?)

"How are you feeling Static?"

"Pikachu" (Tired)

"I bet. That was quite a Thunder attack you performed even though I didn't tell you to use it."

"Pi Pikachu pika chu pi ka" (It was either that or go into the pokeball)

"What are you talking about? I promised you our first day together you will never go into your pokeball. I would never go back on my word."

"Pikachu pika" (Circumstances might change things)

"Is it going to be alright?" the girl asked.

"He's going to be just fine." Aaron told her.

"Pikachu?" (Who's that?)

"She's uh. I don't know?"

"My name is Marie. I'm a native of Cherrygrove. My goal is to be a researcher in Legendary pokemon and Legends concerning them."

"I'm Aaron Ketchem from New Bark. My goal is to be the World's Greatest Pokemon Master. And this is Static."

"Pikachu" (Hi)

"Well, I need to go tell my brothers that I'll be leaving."

"Alright."

"YOU are coming with me."

"Why?"

"Someone needs to tell my brothers about what happened."

"Fine" Aaron sighed.

0000

At Marie's house,

"BILL! SAM! ERIC! WHERE ARE YOU THREE?"

"Hey Marie." A blue haired boy came down the stairs.

"Did you catch anything?" a blond boy asked.

"Yeah. This guy. Aaron, these are two of my brothers, Bill and Sam. Guys, this is Aaron."

"So you finally found yourself a boyfriend?" a redhead asked from the kitchen.

"No Eric. Aaron destroyed my scooter."

"It was an emergency." Aaron defended himself.

"Anyways." Marie continued, "We're going to Kanto."

"It's about time you went off to travel." Bill said.

"Yeah. Those pokemon of yours aren't going to get any stronger if you stay around here." Sam agreed.

"So it's going to be just the two of you?" Eric asked.

"No. I have a friend who's traveling with me. He's training to be a gym leader." Aaron told the brothers.

"Alright." Sam said.

"Where is he now?" Bill asked.

"Probably with Officer Jenny."

"Just take care of yourselves." Eric said.

"Don't worry. We will."

0000

At the Pokemon Center a few minutes later,

"Alright Aaron. Are you ready to go?" Andy said coming into the Center.

"Yeah. How are you feeling Static?"

"Pikachu" (Great.)

"Well, let's hit the road." Andy said as he started to walk out of the Pokemon Center.

"We can't just yet." Aaron said.

"And why not?"

"We have to wait for Marie."

"Who?"

"Alright. I'm ready." The redhead said coming into the center with her backpack.

"Andy. Marie. Marie. Andy." Aaron introduced.

TBC