Chapter 25: Poisonous Problems
Everyone knows that Team Rocket can easily be identified by their black and red uniforms, and the red R emblazoned on their shirts. But outside of those uniforms, they look just like every other citizen. Instead of her stuffy uniform, Harriet thought today was the perfect day to wear a lacey white blouse over a pink tank top, a long beige skirt, a pair of chocolate brown loafers and a white sunhat with a blue ribbon wrapped around it. She clutched a letter in her hands tightly as Cookie, her beloved krabby, followed her from behind. Sideways.
"Kuukii kuukii…" Cookie warbled, opening and closing his pincers.
Harriet smiled, holding the letter to her chest. "I know, Cookie. I just have to mail this letter, then we'll go buy some food. Okay?" A deep blue mailbox came into view. Harriet wasted no time opening the mailbox and sticking the letter inside. She silently hoped her parents would get it. It had been a while since she last sent them a letter.
Food shopping proved to be just a little difficult. Pokemon weren't allowed to run around in food stores because of their potential to destroy property, so Cookie had to be put away in his pokeball. Not only that, there were crowds of people rummaging through the shelves, picking out whatever they wanted or needed. It took Harriet a while to get the things she needed. It didn't help that the checkout line was long because of one customer's items taking up the entire space of the counter.
"Hey! Move it!" One customer shouted. "I have a meeting after this!"
Being the patient girl that she was, she didn't mind standing in a line like this for very long, even if her feet did hurt from spending so much time standing. It was better than being around Team Rocket. Then again, she was a member of Team Rocket, so who was she to talk? Still, just being in Team Rocket made her feel...inhuman. At least being in here made her feel as though she had some sense of normalcy. Finally, she paid for her things and left the store.
The apartment wasn't far from the store by car, but it was on foot. Just a twenty minute walk, something that Harriet didn't mind at all. The scent of the heated summer breeze, the songs of the bird pokemon echoing in the sky as they flew overhead, the crunching of the grass beneath her feet...it was all so serene, combining into a perfect euphony that would please anyone's ears. Harriet loved the summer scenery so much that she didn't notice Ariana's white car in the driveway.
"I'm home-"
"What?!" Once again, someone yelling pulled Harriet back to reality. This time, it was Margeaux, not Ariana, despite both of them being in the living room. "The mission was a failure?!" Margeaux exclaimed, eyes wide with shock.
Ariana crossed her arms, giving the floor beneath her an austere expression. "I'm afraid so. As it turns out, the three beasts have nothing to do with J's overall goal," Ariana explained tersely, with a hint of irritation peppering her voice. She had wanted to succeed so bad. If only those children and the police hadn't gotten in the way. She was lucky she and Proton managed to get away when they did. Otherwise, the police might have arrested them. "We are no longer pursuing them."
"Is this about the special mission you told us about?" Harriet asked, putting the bag of food down on the living room couch.
"Yes," Ariana tapped her foot. "As much as I detest this, what J says goes," All of a sudden, her hand balled into a fist, and her face contorted angrily. "And do I absolutely detest this! I wanted to catch Raikou, Entei, and Suicune for J and see her sell them for big money! Those little brats just haaaaaaad to get in the way!"
Harriet was dumbfounded, not understanding what Ariana was talking about. But Margeaux had an idea. "Would one of those brats happen to have brown hair and have a shiny pichu following her around?"
"What?!" Ariana whipped her head around, her anger subsiding. "Yes! Yes she did! How do you know?!"
Margeaux told Ariana about her run-ins with Julia and her gang whenever she was with Yannick. Ariana listened attentively, nodding as the story went on. "Disgraceful," Margeaux felt as though an arrow pierced through her heart. "We're Team Rocket. We can't let a couple of kids completely derail our ambitions!"
The green haired girl kept herself out of the conversation, remaining silent all throughout. In fact, she wished someone would destroy Team Rocket completely. She clutched a piece of her skirt tightly, wanting to get the pent up anger out.
"Well, you two are low ranking grunts," Ariana brushed some crimson hair out of her face. "So the worst that can happen to you are either getting arrested or losing your jobs. By the way," The crimson haired executive turned to fixate her gaze on Harriet. The green haired girl shivered. "Can we talk in private, Harriet? There's something we need to discuss."
Harriet's arms began to tremble. Why would Ariana want to talk to her? She couldn't think of any reason for doing so. But whatever the reason, Harriet wanted nothing to do with her. But she knew she couldn't disobey an order from a Team Rocket executive. The consequences would be perilous. Anyone who disobeyed an order from Team Rocket were often subjected to harsh punishment. Harriet did not want to be on the receiving end of that. She figured she might as well hear what Ariana had to say.
The two of them went into another room. More specifically, Harriet's room. It was for the most part rather sparse, with a white bed, a mahogany desk, a window overlooking the street behind them, and grey walls. There was nothing to make it remotely individual. No pictures to hang on the wall, no colorful decor, no furniture that gave it any kind of warmth. Large boxes were still shoved in the corner of one room, with shipping tape still sealing it shut.
"Harriet," Ariana began. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"I've heard from other grunts that you haven't taken on many missions or even the ones assigned to you, and the ones you do take on, you fail," Ariana didn't mince words. Harriet squeezed her eyes shut, ready to face the music. "I must ask...are you content with your current position as a low-ranking grunt?"
Harriet's eyes snapped open. "Uhh...Yes! Yes, I am! I mean…" It didn't take long for the words to come flying out. "I'm obviously a failure as a grunt!" Oddly enough, she sounded happy when she said everything. "I can never get anything right! I personally don't mind doing grunt work! I don't want to be a burden on anyone!"
As much as she wished for Ariana to believe her, she knew that this red haired executive was a very no-nonsense person who could see through anyone's intentions. But Ariana remained quiet and crossed her arms, still giving the green haired grunt her usual austere expression. She remained in her current position, ruminating.
Then she spoke. "Look, I get that you're new here. You've only been here for about four months. It takes time for Team Rocket grunts to get the hang of things," Ariana began. "However, you should know that our other boss, Giovanni, did a good deed in housing you, Margeaux, and countless other grunts when he could have easily thrown you all out on the streets," She continued tersely. "He cares about public image, and Team Rocket cannot allow our ambitions to be known to the public eye, and the police are on our tail as it is."
"Yes, Commander Ariana," Harriet replied, staring down at her hands.
"To ascend the ranks and do your job shows that you're grateful to Giovanni for all that he has done for us," Ariana elaborated further. "That goes for J as well. If you're content with your current rank as a grunt, your current pay included, that's fine. We have no room for more executives at the moment. However," Harriet shivered as she felt the commander's crimson eyes fall straight on her. "You must do whatever I or other executives or higher ups tell you. You are a member of Team Rocket, and you are expected to do your duties as ordered."
'I don't want to be ordered to hurt others or steal pokemon…' Harriet thought bitterly. 'All I wanted was a job...not this…' But there was no backing out of Team Rocket. She knew it. If she tried, it wouldn't end well. All she could say was, "Yes, Commander Ariana."
"Good. Your pay will be the same as usual. Ascending the ranks will increase it, so if you work hard, you can live in luxury if you so wish. Just a suggestion," With that, Ariana left the room, leaving Harriet alone.
All Harriet could do was sit down on the foot of her bed. She had already known the implications of this job, that she was basically being paid to steal, hurt, and sell innocent pokemon, both wild and owned by trainers. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. Her eyes burned, and tears came streaming out, dripping onto her skirt. Before long, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed. In response, Cookie came out of his pokeball. Seeing his trainer cry wounded the crab pokemon's heart. He gently stroke his trainer's back with the side of his pincer, taking care not to accidentally poke her.
"Kuukii...kuukiiiiiii…" Cookie warbled.
"Oh, Cookie…" Harriet continued to sob. She didn't care if her clothes got wet. All she wanted was to get out. Get out of Team Rocket. "How did we get roped into this mess?"
A black sky dotted with shining stars blanketed all of Cianwood City in darkness, turning the ocean into a liquid pool of obsidian, with the white waves crashing across the surface. The people of Cianwood City had long gotten used to hearing the melody of the waves as they slept. Hearing them at night was like a lullaby to them. Crowning the night sky was a perfectly round, pristine white full moon that kept everyone company, waiting for the sun to take its place, should dawn arrive.
Deep in the mountains of Cianwood, Amara slept against a rock, covering herself with a brown comforter. Her pokemon all slept outside of their pokeballs, circling around a pile of charred, black wood that was probably used to start a campfire at one point. However, the croconaw she stole from Elm's lab as a totodile was now the biggest pokemon on her team. A large, blue alligator with long, muscular limbs, with a beige chin and a matching V shaped mark between its thighs. Three sets of red spikes dotted its body, one on its head, another on its back, and the smallest set was near the tip of its long tail.
Rustling sounds caught Amara's ears, but she just stirred in her sleep. The rustling sound returned, louder this time, finally pulling Amara out of dreamland. "Urrrgh…" She sat up, rubbing her eyes with her fists. "And I was having such a nice dream, too…" She complained in a low voice. The leaves continued to rustle. Amara pulled out a flashlight, turned it on, and tiptoed past the push.
Granbull's ears perked up, as Amara's footsteps pulled the bulldog from her sleep. Granbull saw Amara head into the bushes. Becoming curious, the granbull followed Amara into the bushes, on her guard. A few steps in, and Amara turned around to find granbull and beedrill behind her.
"What are you doing up?!" She hissed in a low whisper. Immediately after she asked that, she figured her tiptoeing might have woken them up. Right after, she said, "Don't do anything stupid."
The oval shaped light from the flashlight cut through the darkness somewhat. Amara got closer, seeing a small clearing nestled in some trees. Sitting in said clearing, basking in the moonlight's soft white glow was a lone eevee, smiling contentedly. Eevee...the memory of those two eevee she tried to catch flashed through her mind. Julia had one of them. Was this the one Amara herself tried to catch? She had no way of knowing.
All of a sudden, the moonlight's magic made the eevee glow in a white light, brightening up the entire clearing. It was so bright, it woke up all of Amara's other pokemon. The fur on its body disappeared, and its limbs grew longer and leaner. When the light dissipated, out came a creature of the night. The pokemon had a pitch black pelt, with a gold circle on its forehead, matching circles on its legs, and stripes going across its ears and tail. Its crimson red eyes glowed in the night, making it come off as a scary ghost-like creature.
Amara's jaw fell open, and she was only able to stop herself from screaming by slamming her hand on her mouth. 'Oh my lanta...an umbreon! My all time favorite pokemon!' Yes, even this self-proclaimed pokemon hater was a pokemon lover before Chanel's death, and even she had a favorite pokemon. She had always loved umbreon's elegant form, it's pitch black pelt, the range of attacks they were confirmed to use...she had to catch that umbreon. At any cost.
Pity to the poor umbreon that the trainer intent on catching it wasn't necessarily kind to pokemon.
At this point, she noticed her other pokemon were awake. This time, she didn't scold them. She needed their help. "Granbull, use Play Rough," Amara whispered.
The umbreon's ears twitched the moment granbull began glowing in a pink light. All it could do was whip its head around, barely enough time to dodge the attack. Before it could do anything, granbull was suddenly bashing the black feline all over the ground, throwing it on the ground like it was a rag doll.
"Don't you dare let up, granbull!" Amara yelled. "Make sure it's too weak to event stand!"
Amara was the type of trainer who expected her pokemon to go all out. Absolutely no mercy on the foe. Beat them up until they're too weak to go on, even beyond that. Umbreon found an opening when granbull stopped to rest and bit the bulldog on its ear, making it yelp in pain. But since umbreon was a dark type and granbull a fairy, the bite attack didn't do much damage, not that Amara was planning on taking any chances.
"Feraligatr! Use Ice Fang!" Amara commanded. The large alligator pokemon stomped over to umbreon, baring its freezing cold fangs that glowed in a blue hue. At one point, umbreon's tail glowed in a steel, silver sheen, before it slammed it into feraligatr's face. But the impact wasn't strong enough, and feraligatr successfully dug its large teeth into the umbreon's pelt.
"Breeeeeeeee!" The umbreon let out a pained howl.
"Beedrill, use Pin Missile!"
"Bzzt!" Feraligatr didn't even let umbreon go, which made the black pokemon open for a barrage of green needles digging into its pelt. Once more, umbreon let out another howl.
Now was her chance. Amara threw a pokeball at the umbreon, watching it turn into red light as it got sucked inside. The pokeball fell to the ground, wobbling left and right violently, as though umbreon was doing its darndest to get the heck out of there. Umbreon kicked, scratched, and rammed against the pokeball with all its might. No way was it going to let a human catch it. Unfortunately, all the strength seeped out of his body, and the pokeball stopped wobbling, the red light fading.
"Woohoo!" Amara cheered, throwing a fist in the air as she jumped up once. Feraligatr, snubbull, and beedrill backed away, cowed by Amara's sudden cheerful demeanor. Weepinbell simply hid behind feraligatr. Haunter and fearow didn't move.
Amara stashed the pokeball in her bag. "Phew. Got the Cianwood gym badge, caught a new pokemon...all that's left are Olivine, Mahogany, and Blackthorn," The girl slipped back underneath the blanket. Her smile faded when she saw the other pokemon simply staring at her with faces that made her think they wanted something. All she did was scowl at them. "Go to sleep, you idiots!" She picked up a nearby stick and threw it right at fearow. The stick bounced off its beak, and fearow let out a pained howl, covering its face with its wings. "Don't disturb me while I sleep! Got it?!"
"Reeeeeeeh!" ("That really huuuuurt!") The fearow trilled, its beak throbbing from the heavy stick bouncing off of it.
Unbeknownst to Amara and all the other pokemon, despite its weakened state and the gravity of its injuries, the umbreon continued to scratch at the pokeball's walls. Few people understood the true concept behind the pokeball. The beam of light it emitted was a form of radiation that was confirmed to be harmless to humans, but on pokemon, it had the effect of turning their physical forms into pure energy that was highly unstable. If the pokemon came out of its ball, it would return to its solid state. But even in energy form, a pokemon was alive, and could still do what it wanted, such as claw at the walls.
"Umbreon umbreon!" ("Let me out! Let me out of here!") No matter how hard the umbreon scratched, kicked, pounded, and rammed against the pokeball, it refused to open, its injuries adding to the problem. Finally, umbreon fell asleep, too weak to continue. "At least...I know my friend...is being treated well…"
Most pokemon had a way of knowing which humans were kind and which ones weren't.
(dream)
A small boy of about nine sat in the back seat of a car, his bushy, scraggly blonde hair still not combed since he had been yanked out of bed without warning. The silhouette of a woman with similar blonde hair stood behind the steering wheel, facing the road in front of her, never turning back, even once. Eyes still weary from sleep, all the boy figured out was that he was in a car, in an area far away from his neighborhood. He saw dead trees and a few buildings flying right by, none of which he recognized.
"Mom? Where are we going?" The boy asked, confused. His mother didn't answer. However, the more they drove, the more the boy began to tremble from the frigid cold. Despite wearing thick clothes fit for winter weather, the cold's frigid teeth bit his hands. Shoving them in his pockets only made them feel itchy and scratchy. It didn't help that the heat wasn't on.
"Are we going on a trip?" The boy asked again. No answer. The boy kept looking outside, wondering where they were and where they were going. "We're still in Blackthorn, right?" Again, no answer. What was going on? Nothing the boy said or did pulled any answers out of her.
Finally, the car stopped, and rather abruptly to the point where the boy lurched forward. He would have fallen on the floor had he not been wearing his seatbelt. Thankfully, he had one on, preventing any potential accidents.
"Jeez, Mom!" The boy complained. "You almost made me hit my head on the seat!" His mother had already gotten out of the car, running over to his side.
That was when things got strange. His mother yanked the boy's door open, forcibly removed his seatbelt, and yanked him out of the car by his arm. Her fingernails dug into the boy's sleeve, managing to reach his skin.
"Ow! Ow!" The boy yelped. "That hurts, Mom!" His mother didn't stop pulling him away from the car, even as the boy pleaded.
He had no idea where his mother was taking him. But the area around here was bitterly cold. Of course it would be could this time of year. Their boots smushed the snow beneath them down into the ground, and any wind that blew into their faces would make their skin yearn for warm summer heat. All the boy could think was...where was his mother taking him? This was not a part of town he was familiar with.
"Why are we here?" He asked as his mother continued to pull on his arm. At one point, she pulled so hard, it felt as though his arm would pop out of his socket. "Ow! Quit it!"
The boy saw a cave come into view. A large cave covered with clear, pristine ice from ground to ceiling that sparkled in the morning sunlight. The golden light reflecting off of the clear surface made the ice sparkle like diamonds. But as pretty as the cave was, the boy's eyes widened with shock. He knew this place after all.
"You took me to the Ice Path?" The boy asked. "We're all the way at the other end of town?!" He had heard his father say that the distance between his house and the Ice Path usually took about two hours by car. All kinds of questions ran through his mind. Why did his mother take him here of all places? Wasn't it extremely cold? He could tell they weren't on some kind of trip. If they were, his mother would have packed a lot of suitcases full of clothes, food, water, and other odds and ends. There was nothing of the like in the car, and it didn't look like they were staying here.
"Mom, let's go home," The boy said right as they walked to the entrance. The inside was almost pitch black despite the icicles reflecting light. "It's way too cold here."
At first, his mother said and did nothing. She continued to grip the boy's arm with an iron fist. She squeezed it so hard, the skin she grasped almost turned snow white. Then it happened. His mother dragged the boy away from the entrance and pushed him.
Into the cave.
The boy's hazel eyes were wide with shock as he fell, watching as the silhouette grew smaller and smaller. He reached a hand out to grab her, but he had fallen too far.
"Mom?! Mom!"
Before long, the silhouette disappeared. Where was his mother going? Why wasn't she rescuing him? Why was she...leaving?
"MOOOOM! HELP MEEEE!"
No answer. Her silhouette had completely disappeared.
Finally, he fell on ice with a thud. When he sat up, he looked up at the exit, seeing that it was at least thirty feet away from him. The only way to reach it was going up a very slippery rock covered in ice. That must be how he fell and couldn't save himself. The ceiling was covered with a blanket of icicles in different sizes. Small ones, medium ones, and icicles so big that if one were to break it off, it would look like a giant sword.
"Mom…" The boy's hands balled into fists, his hazel eyes burning as tears came out. "Why did you do this to me?!" Cracking sounds made him whip his head up to face the ceiling.
The edge of a particularly large, sword shaped icicle was breaking. Finally, it came right off. The icicle descended downward, charging right at the boy.
He was frozen.
"Caiseal?"
A voice echoed. But it wasn't his mother's voice.
"Wake up, Caiseal!"
The voice grew clearer.
"Caiseal! What's wrong?!"
(end dream)
Caiseal sat up on his bed with a pained scream, his face completely beaded in sweat. Even his green pajamas had dark water droplets dotting the fabric. His hazel eyes were wide as he gasped for large breaths of air, like he had run a marathon. His bangs were matted, wet from the sweat. Mallow, Apollo, and Ravenclaw all watched from the foot of his bed with worried expressions. Flippy was still sleeping, and Stacey and Viole were sitting on the other side of the room, huddled in a corner.
"Caiseal?" He turned to his side to find Julia next to him, fully dressed, looking just as worried as his pokemon. She was wearing a sleeveless light green shirt and a pair of brown shorts that went just slightly above her knees. Perfect summer attire.
"J-J-Julia?" The blonde boy's face turned red from embarrassment. "What are you doing in here?!"
"Uhhh...Perrine and I can hear your screaming in the other room," Julia pointed out. "Are you okay? You sounded like someone was murdering you."
'Yeah, nice analogy, there. Did you really think I was dying?' Caiseal thought. As happy as he was about her being concerned for him, even he could tell Julia had an odd way of processing situations, with her strange analogies and all. But even he knew he was screaming like someone had broken into the Pokemon Center, so it wasn't like she was off the mark. For a moment, Caiseal did think he was close to dying.
"Sorry about that," Caiseal grabbed a rag from his backpack and wiped the sweat off. "I just had a nightmare, that's all. Sorry if I woke you and Perrine up."
"Do you…" Julia paused for a moment. She knew that Caiseal didn't want to talk about his past, and that was okay. She didn't want to pry. But at the same time, these nightmares sent him into screaming fits. A lot. It had happened often during their journey. Just what was causing it? "Do you want to talk about it?" She finally asked. "My mom says that keeping everything inside just hurts you and makes things worse."
Caiseal got out of bed, stroking Mallow's skull helmet. "I appreciate it, but no thanks."
Julia sighed. Oh well. She figured as much. He can tell her when he's ready. It didn't seem right to press the issue or push it. "Okay. Mom, Dad, and I are gonna have breakfast at the Olivine Cafe. Do you want to come?"
"Sure!" Caiseal exclaimed, beaming. "That'd be great! Let me just get ready."
It didn't take long for both Perrine and Caiseal to get ready. He threw on a sleeveless grey shirt, a pair of loose camo pants, white socks, and his grey boots. All of his pokemon smiled at each other, happy that Caiseal was back to his old self. Still, the worry from before continued to linger in the back of their minds. By the time he put everyone in their pokeballs, Julia, Perrine, Kassia, and Truman were waiting for him in the Pokemon Center lobby.
Olivine Cafe was a popular hotspot for people to go to when they wanted a light meal or a nice dinner. It had been around for at least thirty years, and was well known for their seafood. But it served other contemporary meals as well, such as pizza and hamburgers and spaghetti. Since it was morning, the Parisa family, Perrine, and Caiseal all had breakfast. Julia secretly wished she could share some of it with her pokemon, but the cafe had a rule that pokemon were not allowed outside of their pokeballs.
"So, Julia," Truman was the first to start a conversation as soon as they were handed their menus. "Since you have six pokemon with you and we brought four of them along, would you like to send some of your friends back with us for a while?" He asked calmly.
"Hmmm…" Julia crossed her arms and ruminated. She hadn't spent much time with Saoirse since Cianwood City, so she figured she could send Papillon back home so Saoirse could stay with her. She did learn Fire Fang, and that was a decent movie to use against Jasmine's magnemite and magneton. She definitely felt Rina and Rino wanted to spend some time with her, but who could she send back home? Tsubasa certainly wouldn't be too happy about that, but since Jasmine's steelix probably knew rock type moves, she wasn't sure if Tsubasa could handle it despite her love for battling. Plus, the last time Tsubasa stayed with Truman, she wasn't on her best behavior.
After much rumination, she came to a decision. "I'd like to switch Papillon, Tsubasa, and Blossom for Saoirse, Rina, and Rino, if that's okay," She told them. "I'm planning on battling Jasmine soon, and I figure maybe they'd like to take a break for a while."
Truman suddenly became rigid. Memories of Tsubasa terrorizing the poor man flashed through his mind. But he didn't dare show his fear, even though Julia could see his shoulders hunching. "Th-Th-That's perfectly fine."
"I do kinda feel bad about sending Lucretia back though," Julia said, looking over the menu. "I know the rules say I can only carry six pokemon, but I wish I could play with her, too. I don't want her or the others to feel like I'm not a good friend to them."
Immediately, the scyther she caught back at National Park, Lavinia, came through her mind. Of all the pokemon she was never able to spend time with, Lavinia was the one she neglected the most. Well, not neglected, per say, as her parents were taking good care of her at the ranch at home. But they never interacted since National Park. Guilt weighed down on Julia's heart. She only exchanged pokemon with her parents so as to give them a break or pick the pokemon she felt would be suitable for certain gyms. She wondered if maybe she could ask for Lavinia sometime soon.
"I'm sure they'll understand," Kassia told her.
"Oh! That reminds me!" Perrine exclaimed, putting a fist on her palm. "I should get Luminita from Mom and Dad. I'll have to send Baloo over after this. She's a fairy type and weak against steel types."
"She doesn't use steel types all the time," Caiseal piped in. "I've been hearing some gossip around town. They say Jasmine uses Ampere and her two togetic in her gym battles too, and they're electric and fairy types, so I doubt she'll use only steel types in battle."
Julia smiled. A good point. Perhaps it was a good idea that she decided to keep Saoirse, Rina, and Rino with her after all. After that, once their breakfast was delivered, they talked of other things as well: their journey, their pokemon, the things they saw, heard, and experienced, etc. But there was one thing that was on Julia's mind.
"So...have you heard anything about Amara?" Julia asked.
Truman shook his head. "We reported the letter she sent us to the Olivine police, and they said they'd look into it, but they have other cases to deal with on top of that," He explained. Julia could tell from the way he looked down at his food and sighed that he was clearly sad about Amara's disappearance and her crimes. After the way Amara had been treating them over the past year and a half, and everything else she had done, who wouldn't be?
"I see…" Julia took a bite out of some bananas. Bananas were the only fruit she would ever eat. All others just didn't appeal to her tastes. "I wish you two could stay longer."
"We do too, sweetie," Kassia told her. "I'd certainly like to keep looking. But we can't ask Lauren to watch the pokemon forever, and we only managed to get this week off, so we have to go back to work starting tomorrow."
Being a parent was hard. Pair that up with raising a ranch of pokemon, two kids, and working separate jobs. Julia had to wonder how they were able to deal with stuff like that and not wind up on their knees crying. But she knew how hard they worked to put a roof over their heads and food on the table. The Parisas weren't impoverished, but making money and raising the family was important. It wasn't something they could just stop doing for a while and then go back to it. Julia wasn't an adult, but in a way she could tell doing all of that must be hard work.
Once breakfast was over, Julia watched as her parents prepared to leave for the airport. Papillon, Blossom, Lucretia, and Tsubasa sat in the back seat of the car, with their pokeballs at the bottom of the seat. Julia held Lucretia's paw gently. "Sorry, girl. I know we haven't spent much time together, but we'll play soon. I promise."
The eevee flashed a smile. "Eevee vui."
"You all take care now, okay?"
"Eeee free!"
"Gloom!"
Julia flashed a smile. "I figured you guys deserved a little break."
Tsubasa sat in her seat, tucking her feathers into her body. "Sorry, Tsubasa. I know you don't like being at home, but it's not anything you did," Julia told her reassuringly. "I just want to be smart about the gym battle with Jasmine. Don't be sad. We'll spend time together next time. You're not grounded anymore, if that helps."
The bird pokemon didn't say a word. But her feathers did twitch upon hearing that last sentence. "But if I hear that you're pecking my parents and other pokemon, I won't let you battle! Understand!" She told her feathered friend in an authoritative voice.
"Pijo pijo…" ("I promise…") Tsubasa grumbled, not happy with being sent back home. Then again, she could use the time to train herself and get stronger. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad.
"Call us if you need anything, slick," Truman said before giving his daughter a hug. "I'm so proud of you. You've come so far."
"I love you, Dad."
"Me too."
"Tell everyone I said hi."
"I will."
"Oh!" Julia rummaged through her bag and handed Truman some items. Most of them were clothes, including her blue hoodie and pink shorts. Other things included books and stuffed animals. "Would you mind taking these back home? My bag's starting to overflow."
Truman smiled, putting them in the back seat without hesitation. "Sure, sweetie."
"Julia!" Kassia suddenly ran over to her daughter. "I don't know if you'll run into Amara again, but...in the event that you do…" She pulled out a letter and handed it to her. "Can you give this to her?"
Julia looked at the letter, taking it into her hands and examining it closely. "This is my response to her letter," Her mother explained. "I think I finally understand now. I don't know if it'll help much, but…"
"She probably won't accept it, but if I ever run into her, I'll make sure she gets it," Julia replied before hugging her mother. Kassia returned the hug, happy to finally embrace her daughter after so long. But she knew she needed to get home. Now, she was confident that Julia was just fine. She had certainly grown over the past few months, and she had Perrine and Caiseal to thank for most of it.
"You all take care of each other," Kassia told them before getting behind the steering wheel. Once they said their goodbyes, the Parisa parents drove away, heading deep into the city. The three kids were now all alone in front of the Pokemon Center.
"So...do you wanna go train?" Caiseal asked. "We have plenty of time to do so."
Perrine pushed some hair out of her face. "Sure! I could use some time with Nita. What do you think, Julia?" The orange haired girl was surprised to see her friend rubbing her face. "Are you...okay?"
"Y-Y-Yeah…" Julia sobbed, her face wet with fresh tears despite forcing a smile. "I already miss them, even though I can call them any time…" Julia whimpered. Any attempt she had to hold the tears back was futile, and they just wouldn't stop flowing. It just felt so nice to be with them after so long. True, she could always call them, but hugging them and receiving their love was just so much better.
"I know the feeling," Perrine replied, wrapping her arms around the girl, giving her a reassuring hug.
Caiseal looked down at his boots. Something rose up inside him, and it had gnawed at his heart ever since Julia's parents had arrived. What was it? Seeing Julia be loved by her parents, and her parents showering their daughter with love, warmth, and affection made Caiseal feel oddly angry, like he was being betrayed. He knew he shouldn't feel this way, as it was normal for parents to love their kids. But he was not loved by his own parents. That just made it worse.
He finally found the word for it: resentment.
The shame that accompanied these feelings was instantaneous. It shamed him to resent Julia and Perrine for having loving parents. That was not a reason to resent his friends. He tried to tell himself that they were his friends and that they weren't deliberately trying to make him angry. Even if he had his own issues, that didn't mean he should resent his friends for having been dealt better hands. He pushed those awful feelings all the way to the back of his mind, hoping they'd stay there and never come back out.
After that, Perrine swapped Baloo for her chinchou, Luminita. It had been a while since they interacted, and Perrine was happy to hang out with another one of her pokemon. She figured Baloo deserved a break and would like some time at her house. Once everyone was ready, Julia let all of her pokemon out of their pokeballs. When Rina and Rino came out, Julia kneeled down to their level.
"Hey, guys!" Julia greeted them with a warm, beaming smile. "It's been a while since we hung out. Would you like to play a little before we start training?" She asked.
"Nyu!" ("No!") Rino tersely held his head up, averting his trainer's gaze. All Rina did was stare down at the soil.
"Oh…well, that's okay!" Julia rummaged through her bag and pulled out some pokemon food. "I have some food here with me. I bet you're hungry. Want some?" She put some food in her hand and showed it to the two nidoran.
The two sniffed the food for a brief moment, their noses twitching with each whiff of the food. However, Rino gave Julia a quick glare before averting his gaze once more. Rina did the same thing. Julia found herself dumbfounded.
"Uhh...what's wrong?" She asked. The two nidoran didn't answer.
"Pika?" Hikaru's ears twitched as she watched them walk away.
"That's weird," Caiseal piped in, stretching his arms out. "They were pretty set on coming with you when you first caught them. I wonder why they're being like that?"
"Me too…" Julia wondered out loud. He was right. When she first met them, they were head over heels for her despite being afraid of them herself. Exactly what changed? She had no idea. But from the way they ignored her and walked away, she wondered if maybe they were angry about something. Maybe...angry at her?
Seeing the despondent look on her trainer's face, Hikaru put a paw on her leg reassuringly. "Pikapikachu," ("Don't be sad. They'll come around.") She told her, with a twinge of doubt. "Pika pikapi." ("Just give it some time.")
"Yeah. You're probably right," Julia agreed. Still, she couldn't help but wonder why they started ignoring her. Last time she checked, she hadn't done anything to make them mad. Perhaps they weren't used to being called back, or maybe they were mad because they got taken away from the ranch. Julia told herself to calm down. It'll be okay. They'll get used to it.
That was what she thought, at first. As she and her pokemon trained, Rino and Rina continued to distance themselves from the group. Hikaru and Tokiko especially noticed that whenever the two would look their way, the nidoran would scowl at them with intense glares, like they were saying they were too good for them. Not even Julia was spared their scorn.
"Would you like to train with us?" Julia asked them. "I'm sure you'd love to get stronger."
"Nido nido nyu!" ("Just leave us alone!") Rino suddenly hissed, his tall ears standing upright in a rigid position. The hissing noise he let out made Julia jump a little, and she went two steps backward. This was not like them at all. Perrine and Caiseal both exchanged confused glances. So did the rest of the pokemon. What in the world?
Julia got the message and left them alone without a word. Aqua and Hikaru followed her to a bench that was nearby. Perrine was dumbfounded, scratching her orange hair with one hand. "Okay, this is weird," She said. "They never treated her like that before."
Caiseal found himself glaring at the two nidoran, who were occupied with themselves. "Hey!" He yelled. "What's your deal?!" His loud voice caught their attention. It didn't exactly help that since their ears were so large, their ears could pick up on any noise, no matter how low it was. The two nidoran gave Caiseal expressions that seemed to say, "You're still going on about that?"
"I don't know what your problem is," Caiseal wagged his finger at them like he was scolding a naughty child. "But your trainer wants to spend time with you and be with you and that's how you treat her?! What did she ever do to you?!"
That was when Rino did something very out of character. He stuck his tongue out at them. Julia looked away, like she had been slapped. With that, the two nidoran scurried off to another tree, probably to make out in private. Julia squeezed her eyes shut, feeling as though she wanted to hide in the darkness forever. What happened? Why were they treating her like this? She had no idea, but boy, did it hurt!
"Jule?" Even Caiseal could see the hurt on her face. It was pointless to ask her if she was okay, because she clearly wasn't. But what could he do? "Come on. Let's have a practice battle."
"Sure," Julia nodded affirmatively before accompanying Caiseal to the battlefield.
Unbeknownst to her, Hikaru and Saoirse stayed behind. The two of them exchanged confused glances. What had gotten into those nidoran? They were there when they saved them from that mother houndoom. They were happy to be Julia's friends and join her. To see them suddenly treat her like she was a nuisance completely blew their minds.
"Snubbull snub snubbull," ("I want to talk to them about this.") Saoirse said, crossing her arms. "I want to know what's going on."
"Pika-pikachu," ("Me too. This is just too strange.") Hikaru agreed. "Maybe they can give us some answers."
Holding hands, the snubbull and the pikachu ambled over to the tree where the two nidoran were sitting. Rina's large ears twitched, picking up on the footsteps approaching them, crushing the grass beneath them. This time, Rina's eyes fixated on them curiously. Once they got close, she was the first to greet them.
"Nido nido nyuu?" ("You're Saoirse, right?") Rina asked, leaning closer to get a better look at them. "It's been a while."
"It sure has," Saoirse held her hand out, letting the poison pin pokemon shake it gently.
"You're...Hikaru?" Rina cocked her head to one side. The last time she saw Hikaru, she was still a pichu. "You look so different. Did you evolve?"
"I sure did!" Hikaru announced with a friendly smile. Rina bopped herself on the head with one paw. Of course she did. She saw everything that happened. Even a chimchar could figure that out. "But enough about that. Listen...can we ask why you and Rino are…" Hikaru wasn't sure how to put this delicately. But she had to ask. "Well...treating Julia the way you are?"
"It's very unlike you," Saoirse added. "You were eager to join her back when we first met."
Finally, Rino stepped out from behind the tree, glaring at them. "She made it very clear that she hates poison types," Rino hissed, waving his small horn around. Hikaru and Saoirse didn't move a muscle. They could tell from the way his ears were moving that he had a lot of anger to release. "We thought she liked us in spite of that!"
"She does," Saoirse interrupted calmly. "She loves you a lot."
The glare Rino shot at them could kill if it was any stronger. But Hikaru held onto Saoirse's hand, not letting it get to her. "If she really loved us, then why did she leave us at that ranch?! She never even took us with her since then!" Rino argued, his voice going up an octave. The anger in his eyes was overwhelming. "She said she loved us, but she never even spent any time with us or played with us or let us come with her! She lied to us!"
Rina popped into the conversation once her friend finished. She didn't sound nearly as angry as Rino did, but the fairy and electric pokemon could tell she had to let off some steam as well. "It really hurts...to hear that someone likes you but then drops you like a piece of trash…" Rina's ears drooped, facing the grass.
"She does love you!" Hikaru interrupted. "She doesn't hate you at all, and she didn't lie to you, either!" She waved her arms up and down. "You saw the whole Raikou incident, right? A lot's happened on our journey!" She reasoned. "We barely had time to even think about hanging out, nor did we have any access to those pokeball transporter machine thingys!"
The poison pin duo gave Hikaru a look that said, "Did you, really?" Like she was telling a falsehood.
"Besides," Hikaru continued. "I hear that trainers can only carry six pokeballs. It's a rule or something. I don't know," She scratched one of her long ears. This was awkward. "But really, it's nothing you did. She doesn't hate you. She's still afraid of poison types, yeah I don't deny that, but let's face it: nobody gets over their fear at the drop of a hat."
Saoirse nodded in agreement. "She sent me to the ranch because I got seasick," Saoirse explained. "She sent me to her parents for my benefit. She felt I needed some time away from battles and traveling," The nidoran exchanged glances. "I don't like fighting, so I didn't mind at all," The bulldog walked up to Rino and put a hand on his ear. "Please understand. If Julia really didn't like you, she wouldn't have caught you at all."
The two nidoran winced. Saoirse made a good point. A really good point. They had seen the naked fear she displayed on their first meeting. But she actually tried to overcome it and be their friend. Would someone who hated them really do that? They had no idea, since she was the first human they really interacted with. Looking back, Julia did make efforts to spend time with them and give them a chance to interact with her.
But they rejected her. There was no denying that,
"I'm not gonna lie," Hikaru told them. "You guys have been pretty rude when she's done nothing but try and engage with you. I've been with her since she rescued me from a beedrill horde, so I'm pretty sure she doesn't hate you. Can you at least...give her a chance?"
An awkward silence fell on the quartet. The two nidoran exchanged glances once more before nodding. Finally, Rina spoke. "We'll try," She didn't sound irritated like before, but they could see from the way she held her paws to her chest that she still seemed guarded.
"I'm not taking any risks," Rino hissed. "If you're lying to us, then I'm bailing."
"We're not trying to force you to do anything you don't want to," Saoirse added calmly. "We just want you to understand. So…" Saoirse scratched the hem on her dress-like body. "Do you want to play with us?"
"Sure!" Rina chirruped. Rino crawled out from behind the tree. Perhaps some playing would do him some good.
Hikaru, Saoirse, and the poison pin duo played tag around the area surrounding the battlefield. The trainers and the rest of their pokemon were out, so everyone could watch them. Once she finished her practice battle with Caiseal, Julia noticed the four of them playing. Warmth enveloped her chest. Good, at least the nidoran were playing. Rino's gesture still jabbed at her heart like poison, just like his type, but she figured he needed some space. She decided to talk to him after they were done playing.
At one point, Rino broke away from the group. His tiny nose caught the fresh scent of oran berries. Mmmm. He almost bolted into a bush, only to accidentally dig his horn into something soft and fleshy. The poison pin backed away to get a better look. It was something pink peeking out from the bush. The leaves rustled. Then…
"Granbuuuuuuull!" A loud roar echoed throughout the back of the Pokemon Center, pulling everyone and the pokemon out of their current activities. A large pink pokemon shot up from the bush, its large eyes blazing with rage. Large fangs were ready to bite the purple rodent into pieces.
"Nidooooo!" ("Oh craaaaaap!") Rino bolted away from the bush as fast as his tiny legs could take him. But the pink bulldog pokemon bolted after him.
"What in the world?!" Perrine yelped.
Julia had no time to be shocked. Rino was in trouble. A granbull was chasing after him. Time to take action. She looked down at Rina. That was it! Poison types are strong against fairies. "Rina! Save Rino with Poison Sting!"
"Niiiiii!" ("I'll save you!") Rina charged right at the rampaging granbull, whose large paws stomping onto the ground made everything rumble beneath its feet. With her small horn glowing in a purple light, she rammed herself into the pink bulldog, dredging her horn into its side. Rino stopped to catch his breath.
"What's a granbull doing here?" Caiseal pulled out his PokeDex. The granbull stared at the two poison pin pokemon, its eyes still brimming with rage.
"Granbull, the fairy pokemon and the evolved form of snubbull," Caiseal couldn't help but think that granbull looked absolutely nothing like a fairy. Why didn't they call it the bulldog pokemon? To him, that classification made more sense. "Because their fangs are so heavy, they always keep their heads tilted down. Although they are normally timid in nature and easily spooked, they can make most pokemon run away simply by opening its mouth to reveal its fangs. Unless they're startled or threatened, they usually don't bite or attack indiscriminately. Their biting attacks are very powerful, and can easily break human bones."
Saoirse found herself frozen, her whole body trembling just from watching that rabid beast swat the poison pin duo into a tree with just its back legs. That thing was what she was going to evolve into? Just imagining herself evolving into that beast made her eyes widen in horror.
"Nido nido nido!" ("I didn't mean to sting you, honest!") Rino pleaded, waving his tiny limbs up and down. "Nido!" ("Sorry!")
Unfortunately for them, the granbull didn't accept their apology. In fact, the bulldog let out a mighty roar, causing them all to cover their ears. Then, the granbull got on all fours and charged at them like a loose tauros. Perrine was quick to pull her pokemon back into their pokeballs, as did Caiseal.
Not Julia. As soon as the poison pin duo ran over to their trainer, an idea hatched in her head. She had no time to think. "Rino! Rina! Hold it off with Double Kick!" She commanded. On cue, the poison pin duo threw themselves at the angry bulldog pokemon, kicking it on its face with their small legs. Julia knew it was a fighting type move, and it wouldn't do much on a fairy type. But she had to do anything to make sure this granbull didn't get into town and possibly destroy everything.
Being the pacifist that she was, little Saoirse simply hid behind Julia, cowering in fear of the large beast. "Snubbull snubbull," ("I'm staying out of this one.") She mused, finding security in her trainer's presence.
"Good job!" Julia praised. The granbull stopped to shake its head, brushing off the attack. "Rina, use Scratch on its face, and Rino, you use Horn Attack!"
The nidoran duo wasted no time attacking. Rina was the first to take the initiative, using her small claws to scratch the angry granbull's face to the point of drawing some blood. But not enough to make it gush right out. While it was distracted, Rino snuck up behind the granbull and dredged his horn into the bulldog's back. The granbull let out a roar as it swatted Rina in the air with its paw.
"Rina!" Julia extended her arms out, ready to catch the blue rodent. Thankfully, Rina fell right on top of her, and Julia caught her without missing a beat. "Are you okay, girl?"
"Nido," ("I am thanks to you.") Rina replied with a merry smile. Her friends were right. Julia did love them after all. How could she have doubted her before.
"Luminita! Come on out!" Perrine threw a pokeball, allowing the chinchou to come bursting right out.
"Chinchoooou!" Luminita announced her presence with a shrill cry, descending before the angry bulldog with just a dense look on her face.
"Use Supersonic!"
"Choooou!" The angler pokemon let out another shrill cry, accompanied by harsh soundwaves that struck the bulldog without warning. Before long, the granbull was wobbling back and forth, unsteady on its feet.
"Alright, nidos! You ready?!" Julia held her hands into fists.
Both Rina and Rino nodded affirmatively. "Nido!"
"Use Poison Sting to drive it away!"
"Nidoooooo!" The poison pin duo fired a barrage of purple needles at the bulldog. Unable to take the burning pain anymore, the granbull darted into the bushes, going deep into the forest.
"We did it!" Julia cheered, jumping into the air.
"Nido nido!" Rina and Rino imitated their trainer, this time smiling radiantly.
"Chinchou!" Luminita leaped into her trainer's arms with a smile.
"Good job, Nita. You were great," Perrine nuzzled her friend warmly.
Finally, Rina and Rino were on speaking terms with Julia. They helped drive the granbull away. Rina and Rino squeaked to each other happily, and Julia couldn't help but marvel at their battling prowess. She had truly befriended them. But her smile faded, and she kneeled down to their level. The poison pin duo noticed this and looked up.
"Nido?"
"Hey. Listen…" Julia began. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend much time with you," She apologized, using a low, calm voice. "A lot's happened, and as much as I'd love to spend time with all of my pokemon, it's hard because there are rules to being a pokemon trainer. If I could take all of my pokemon with me on my journey, you guys included, I would. But I can't. But I definitely don't hate you."
Rina and Rino could see their trainer's eyes trembling. "I know...I'm scared of poison types. I've always been afraid of them, even though I love pokemon. But…" She clutched her pant legs with her hands, telling herself to go on. "...that doesn't mean I don't love you. I'm sorry for making you think I didn't like you or that I broke my promise to you."
Guilt weighed down on the duo's hearts. So Saoirse and Hikaru were right after all. To think they themselves had been so rude to the trainer who opened her heart to them in spite of her fear. "Plus, the gym leader uses steel types, and I don't want to put you two in a situation that you may or may not be able to handle. It's more about strategizing and making appropriate choices for battles than anything. Know what I mean?"
They weren't sure what gym leaders were, but they could see what she meant. Even the two nidoran had trouble fighting enemies they couldn't handle, especially ones whose types were immune to poison. "So...can we be friends again? Please?" She held her hand out.
Rina didn't hesitate and slapped her paw onto Julia's. Rino just sniffed it for a moment before putting his paw on her palm. Julia smiled again before she scooped them both into her arms, nuzzling their heads with her cheeks. "Alrighty then! Problem solved! Do you two want to have lunch with us?"
"Nido nido!" ("Heck yeah! I want sausages!") Rino squeaked happily.
Rina rolled her eyes. "Nido nyuuu!" ("What are you, a sausage addict?") She asked. "On the other hand, I'd love to try some cheese!" She added.
"Okay then! Lunch is on me!" Julia announced, putting them down as she and her pokemon darted into the Pokemon Center.
Perrine and Caiseal shrugged. "Well, that solves that problem," Perrine added.
"I'm itching to battle Jasmine," Caiseal crossed his arms, tapping his foot. "But I could really go for some burgers right now."
The orange haired girl smiled, gesturing for her friend to accompany her inside. Their hungry stomachs were in dire need of food, and nobody could ignore hunger, no matter how much they wanted to.
Another day, another chapter done! Yeah, this one's a filler chapter. Someone I know said that Julia's nidoran didn't get much spotlight despite being hyped up back in chapter 14.5. Well, I hope this rectifies that, and you'll see more of them in the future! And yes, the kids will battle Jasmine in the next chapter. Look forward to it!
Random fact: Remember way back when, when Julia first caught Saoirse the snubbull? The original plan I had for their first encounter was drastically different from what I eventually went with. I was going to have Saoirse belong to a suicidal trainer who would cut herself, and Saoirse would have met them through asking them to help save her trainer, who was also names Saoirse. The trainer would have relinquished her trainer's license, get the help she needed, and let Julia take her snubbull, feeling that Julia could take better care of her than she herself could, and felt it was for Saoirse's own good. But I had no room to put it anywhere in the story, so I just chucked the idea and had Saoirse meet them in the wild instead.
Julia's Party:
Hikaru (Shiny Pikachu, Female, Jolly Nature)
Ability: Static
Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Volt Tackle
Aqua (Marill, Female, Mild Nature)
Ability: Thick Fat
Attacks: Rollout, Bubblebeam, Play Rough, and Water Gun
Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)
Ability: Serene Grace
Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf
Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)
Ability: Intimidate
Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face
Rina (Nidoran, Female, Bold Nature)
Ability: Poison Point
Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Scratch, and Bite
Rino (Nidoran, Male, Modest Nature)
Ability: Poison Point
Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Peck, and Horn Attack
Perrine's Party:
Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)
Ability: Flash Fire
Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack
Florian (Bayleef, Male, Gentle Nature)
Ability: Overgrow
Attacks: Razor Leaf, Tackle, Body Slam, and Poison Powder
Fuwari (Skiploom, Female, Relaxed Nature)
Ability: Leaf Guard
Attacks: Tackle, Fairy Wind, Bullet Seed, and Sleep Powder
Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)
Ability: Effect Spore
Attacks: Scratch, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain
Luminita (Chinchou, Female, Naive Nature)
Ability: Water Absorb
Attacks: Supersonic, Water Gun, BubbleBeam, and Electro Ball
Fukuro (Noctowl, Male, Sassy Nature)
Ability: Tinted Lens
Attacks: Confusion, Peck, Hypnosis, and Dream Eater
Caiseal's Party:
Mallow (Cubone, Male, Lax Nature)
Ability: Lightning Rod
Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Rush, Headbutt, and Rock Smash
Apollo (Quilava, Male, Bold Nature)
Ability: Blaze
Attacks: Flame Wheel, Tackle, Quick Attack, and Smokescreen
Flippy (Quagsire, Female, Jolly Nature)
Ability: Damp
Attacks: Water Gun, Mud Bomb, Mud Slap, and Slam
Ravenclaw (Murkrow, Female, Hardy Nature)
Ability: Super Luck
Attacks: Wing Attack, Night Shade, Dark Pulse, and Haze
Viole (Gloom, Male, Quirky Nature)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Attacks: Acid, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent
Stacey (Pinsir, Female, Serious Nature)
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Attacks: X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, and Double Hit
Amara's Party:
Feraligatr (Male, Lonely Nature)
Ability: Torrent
Attacks: Hydro Pump, Crunch, Ice Fang, and Superpower
Weepinbell (Male, Modest Nature)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Attacks: Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Slam, and Sleep Powder
Beedrill (Male, Hasty Nature)
Ability: Poison Point
Attacks: Poison Jab, Fury Attack, Fell Stinger, and Pin Missile
Granbull (Female, Quirky Nature)
Ability: Run Away
Attacks: Fire Fang, Play Rough, Lick, and Thunderbolt
Fearow (Male, Timid Nature)
Ability: Sniper
Attacks: Drill Peck, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, and Leer
Haunter (Male, Impish Nature)
Ability: Levitate
Attacks: Shadow Punch, Hypnosis, Dream Eater, and Poison Jab
Umbreon (Male, Serious Nature)
Ability: Synchronize
Attacks: Iron Tail, Confuse Ray, Shadow Ball, and Bite