Chapter 8:
Well Well Wellspring
Location: Route 3
With my time at the Daycare finished, it was time to comtinue down Route 3. The autumn trees stood tall beside me as I came to the crossroads.
The crossroads went west and south respectively. It was the south road that led to Nacrene City. However, I wouldn't be taking it just yet, for reasons you're about to find out.
"Hilbert!" Cheren shouted, running after me. "So glad I caught up to you. Now that we both have exactly one Badge, do you maybe want a battle? Last time didn't go so great for you."
That sounded like a plan. Since that last time, I'd acquired two new teammates. It was time to see what a battle with a more diverse Party would be like.
"Let's rock and roll!" I shouted.
Hilbert Vs. Cheren
"Go Pidove!" I yelled.
"I choose Snivy!" Cheren shouted. Snivy had gained a few levels since last time, and it was going against my first timer Pidove. "Use Tackle!" Snivy ran quickly, then jumped up to my Flying Type and tackled it.
"Pidove, come back with Gust!" Pidove started flapping its wings. It created a gust of wind so fast that Snivy was blown back.
"Now use Wrap!" Snivy jumped up again and wrapped its body around Pidove.
"Use Gust Pidove!" Pidove created another Gust by getting its wings free. Snivy was briefly blown off, so I used this opportunity. "Now use Quick Attack!" Pidove dashed at great speed into Snivy. It fainted.
Cheren recalled the fainted Grass Type and clapped for me. "I must applaud you. For a first battle, this Pidove is pretty good. But is it good against Panpour?" Cheren sent out a Pokémon that looked like Pansage or Pansear. This one had a blue tufted head and had its eyes closed.
Panpour (ヒヤップ)
021
Water Type
Spray Pokémon
2'00" (0.6 m)
29.8 lbs (13.5 kg)
The water stored inside the tuft on its head is full of nutrients. Plants that receive its water grow large.
"You know, Panpour doesn't like dry environments, so-"
"Pidove, Quick Attack!" Pidove dashed into Panpour. It flew back but landed on two feet.
"Panpour, Water Gun!" Panpour shot water at Pidove. It was hit and finished.
I recalled Pidove. "Oshawott, go!" It was Water vs. Water. But I had a plan. "Oshawott, Focus Energy!" Oshawott started to get pumped.
"Panpour, Scratch!" Panpour scratched Oshawott, but it blocked with its scalchop.
"Now use Tackle!" Oshawott slammed into Panpour. It was a Critical Hit! Panpour was finished.
"Ah, Focus Energy. A move that increases Critical Hit ratio. Good thinking. But let's see if it works against Purrloin!" Cheren sent out his sly Pokémon. "Use Assist!" Purrloin suddenly summoned vines. It then whipped them with Oshawott. "Do you like it? Assist had the Pokémon use one of its Party members moves."
Oshawott was hanging by a thread. "Water Gun!" Oshawott shot water, but it wasn't a Crit.
"Purrloin, Fury Swipes!" Purrloin scratched Oshawott repeatedly till it fainted.
"Help me Pansear, you're my only hope!" I yelled, as Pansear entered the ring. "Use Incinerate!" Pansear shot a flame at Purrloin. It was almost finished.
"Assist!" This time, Purrloin came back with Lick. It didn't do much.
"One more Incinerate!" That was enough to sizzle Purrloin.
"Looks like you've improved" Cheren said, shaking my hand. "Here, let me get your friends healed up."
After healing, Cheren grabbed his backpack handles. "Well, onwards to Nacrene City!"
"You got it!" I said.
"Hey, out of the way!"
Running towards us was a pair of Team Plasma Grunts. We didn't even think to stop them; we just jumped out of the way of their running path down the west fork.
"Oh no what now?" I said concerned.
"Mr. Hilbert!" It was Dorothy, who had Bianca with her. Dorothy's face was red from crying. I could only guess that the two matters were related.
"Bianca, what happened?" I asked.
Dorothy answered for her. "They stole Blitzle! The one you watched me catch yesterday, they said they're going to release it!"
Those scoundrels. Stealing a young girl's Pokémon, few things disgusted me more. I looked at Cheren, and we nodded.
"Stay with Bianca" Cheren told her. "You will get your Blitzle back, I promise." Cheren looked down the path that went west. "Down there is Wellspring Cave. You can't get far without Surf and there isn't anything else down that path aside from another way back here. Bianca will take them out if they attempt to come back. Either way, they're cornered. Come on Hilbert, no more time wasting."
Swiftly, the two of us ran to the entrance to Wellspring Cave. It was a cave situated in some rocks. The entrance was dripping with water.
"This cave is well known for being the collection from water wells dating back hundreds of Unova's years. They can't be hard to find, let's head on in!"
Location: Wellspring Cave
Water dripped from the ceiling of the damp cave. It wasn't dark, but the only light was from the entrance, which was right behind us anyway.
"Team Plasma!" I shouted. "There's nowhere to run! Give the girl back her Blitzle, or we'll force if off you!"
My voice echoed through the cave. From the blackness flew multiple small fluffy blue Pokémon with black wings. Their noses were red but had a black heart shape on them.
"Woobat" Cheren said. "You know, they're mating ritual involves-"
"Let the Pokédex do the talking Cheren" I said.
Woobat (コロモリ)
033
Psychic/Flying Type
Bat Pokémon
1'04" (0.4 m)
4.6 lbs (2.1 kg)
Suction from its nostrils enables it to stick to cave walls during sleep. It leaves a heart-shaped mark behind.
After they cleared, we saw the Grunts. Blitzle was shaking behind them, petrified.
"Give it up!" I said. "Blitzle is not yours!"
Both Grunts just laughed.
"Listen kid, this is grown up stuff gotcha?" Grunt F told us. "You may not understand what's going on, but as far as we're concerned, we're doing Blitzle a favour. This Blitzle will just be beaten to the ground repeatedly if it stays with its Trainer. From its first moment as a Trainer to the day when its long evolved into Zebstrika, is that what you want?"
No. We wanted to take them down.
"Cheren, let's team up."
Cheren adjusted his glasses. "Yeah. We promised Dorothy."
Hilbert and Cheren vs Team Plasma Grunts
"Patrat!" both of them shouted, sending out the check puffed Pokémon.
"Oshawott, go!"
"Snivy, come out!" Both our friends were sent onto the rocky ground. "Okay Snivy, hit it with a Vine Whip!" Instead, Snivy started spinning. "What now?" Cheren asked, as Snivy shot swirling leaves at one of the Patrat.
"Patrat, use Bite!" Patrat jumped towards Oshawott, but it missed.
"Wait, that was Leaf Tornado!" Cheren shouted. "It's a Grass Type moves that can potentially lower Accuracy! Nice job Snivy!"
"Oshawott, Water Gun!" Oshawott shot water at the Patrat, knocking it out.
"Patrat, use Bite!" The Patrat sunk its fang into Snivy's tail. It cried out in pain.
"Leaf Tornado!"
"Oshawott, add Water gun to it!"
Snivy started spinning and making the Leaf Tornado. Oshawott squirted water into it, making the water spin and hit Patrat. Once the tornado died down, Patrat was finished.
"PLAAAASSSMMMAA!" they both shouted. Whilst they were wailing, Blitzle ran passed the Grunts and into my arms.
"Let's get you back to Dorothy" I told it.
"I don't think so!" Grunt F shouted, running towards us. Just then, two Vine Whips grabbed both pairs of legs.
It was Bianca and Dorothy with their respective Pansage!
"Glad to be of help!" they said.
Both let go of the Grunts.
"You have one minute to run" I told them. "We won't be so nice next time."
Both Grunts made a dash for it.
"Plasma will prevail!" they yelled, running out the cave.
"How vile can you get?" Cheren asked.
Blitzle started licking Dorothy's face playfully.
"Thank you Mr. Hilbert and Mr. Cheren, and you to Miss. Bianca."
"No prob" I said, as I noticed a dust cloud in the distance. Wondering what it could be, I walked over to it, where something jumped out of the hole that was there. It was grey, had two long white claws and a small pink nose.
Drilbur (モグリュ-)
035
Ground Type
Mole Pokémon
1'00" (0.3 m)
18.7 lbs (8.5 kg)
It can dig through the ground at a speed of 30 mph. It could give a car running aboveground a good race.
"Pidove, Quick Attack!" I shouted, sending it out. It dashed into Drilbur. Drilbur started scratching Pidove multiple times with Fury Swipes.
"Go Pokeball!" I shouted, hoping it would stay in. We all watched it shake, before closing. I had a new friend!
"Sorry about that" I said. "Hey, that was weird. What was it?"
"A shaking area!" Dorothy said. "They happen from time to time, including around here. That was a rarer Pokémon than usual."
"Let me give it a go" Cheren said, as he walked through the cave, but instead came across a different Pokémon. It was small, grey, chunky, had one big eye and a small rock on its head.
Roggenrola (ダンゴロ)
030
Rock Type
Mantle Pokémon
1'04" (0.4 m)
39.7 lbs (18 kg)
They were discovered a hundred years ago in an earthquake fissure. Inside each one is an energy core.
"Snivy, come out!" Cheren said. "Use Leaf Tornado!" Snivy shot spinning leaves at Roggenrola. It was left with 1HP. This is because Roggenrola has the Sturdy Ability, which prevents OHKOs. Roggenrola came back with Headbutt, then Cheren threw a Pokéball.
After two shakes, it was free.
"No!" Cheren shouted. "That was my last one!" Roggenrola used another Headbutt as Snivy just finished with Wrap.
"Oh man, I wasted the rest of mine trying to catch this one Pokémon yesterday" Cheren said.
"Cheer up!" I told him. "There's always next time! Head to the Pokémart when we get to Nacrene City. Plus, look on the bright side; we saved the day!"
We saw the entrance to the cave was started to turn orange; evening was already upon us.
"I need to get home" Dorothy said. "Thanks again all of you." She went into her pocket and got out multiple stones.
"These are evolutionary stones!" Cheren said, picking up the blue one. "This is a Water Stone, which Panpour can evolve with. Hilbert, the orange one is the Fire Stone. Use it to evolve Pansear. As for you Bianca, the small green one, otherwise known as the Leaf Stone, can evolve Pansage."
We each took our respective stones.
"However, if you evolve them, they won't learn anymore level up moves. We should wait a bit, but its good that we have these now."
Location: Route 3
We were back at the fork when we said goodbye to Dorothy.
"So, we're together, should we journey for a little bit?"
"Er, no!" Bianca said. "I'll reach Nacrene before you!" she sang running off.
"Typical Bianca. I'll join you tomorrow, but after a while I'll go at it alone. I have lots of training that needs to be done. Snivy isn't too far from evolving, and neither is Oshawott."
"Oshawott" I said, holding its Pokéball. "Your dream is coming true."
Today was, eventful. I don't want to say it was fun because, well, Team Plasma were up to their despicable ways. But overall, we got some good training in and we helped someone. Sometimes that's all you need for a successful day!
