Time was never really easy to track but at least with the sun available it was possible. It was someday two weeks after they left. They could've arrived earlier but they decided to travel slowly to train.
It did pay off in the end, Flare had managed to create a flow with Shay. As a result the Dratini had managed to be able to start recognizing Fire type energy and could even slowly build it up a bit, allowing the young dragon to spew flecks of fire once or twice every few days. It was nowhere near enough for Flamethrower but had the potential for her to learn it in the coming months. The move Twister has proved difficult for the dragon but it was improving.
Flare's ghostly power on the other hand had strengthened to the point where an eighth of Aella's mind was occupied by Flare. The candle has also successfully learned how to form Will-O-Wisp and is working on learning the execution of the move.
The little electric spider Joltik, now has a mostly working Agility and Shay had learned an unstable and sporadic version. Along with light Thunder Wave battles between the two, Joltik's Electroweb is now mostly stable, symmetrical and created in under 7 seconds.
"Haa I'm going to be happy when we have some potions so we can start having proper battles to begin mastering your moves." Aella mumbled, agreements came from all around with Joltiks and Shays being the loudest.
The only real battles they've had were against territorial Rattata and fish stealing Krabby. A pokemon can learn and become good at a move in only a month or two with incredibly fast build, striking use, decent power and control, but some can take far longer, sometimes half a year to just learn.
Of course learning a new move could easily be sped up to just a few minutes with the use of TMs and TRs but those were watched by the league and cost a hefty fortune. Something they couldn't draw the eyes of or afford in any way.
But mastering a move requires battling with it over and over again for months, sometimes years. Learning to utilize the move in unfathomable ways, having complete control. Only the very basic of moves can be mastered in such a short amount of time. Leer and Minimize are two of those since they're so simple.
As the sun passed its zenith flashes of blue appeared between the trees in the distance. For a second she thought it was sky or water but as they got closer she saw the grainy touch in the blue. It was wooden planks dyed blue. She taped Shay, the silence signal for her to disappear and her lithe body slipped into the backpack.
Joltik bounded ahead to find a tree that will allow them to look over most of the village. Apparently there was a potion shop, unfortunately it didn't list where. There really wasn't any map she could look over.
It took Joltik a good while to find a tree, much longer than expected. When she did return she chattered fast and the Litwicks flow filled in most of the blanks. Joltik did not find a tree but the potion shop and apparently the village was a lot smaller than planned. Small enough that everyone knew everyone and they'd stand out no matter how hard they'd try to fit in. There wasn't even a pokemon center.
"Okay that, that changs things… let's take a look at this potion shop and go from there." Aella nodded, gesturing for Joltik to lead them through the brush.
The shop as it turns out was more of a tent than any sort of building, setup in an open patch near one of the main roads if you could call a dirt road a main road. There was a house nearby, probably where the owner lived.
"This might be a bit easier than I thought, though it depends on where they keep their books," she contemplated as her legs straddled a sturdy branch high in a tree. "Did you look for those or no."
"Tik." The spider shook her head. "Mmm okay could ya take a peek?" More clicks were given before shooting down the tree with Agility.
"Let's see what we can get from people watching…" she mumbled as a group of five teenage trainers left the path, one of them smacking a bell that hung just in the entrance.
It wasn't possible to hear them from a distance and even though she had been trained in reading lips, it was a lot harder than it looked, especially with limited practice. Add on to the fact that many of them ducked into the tent and her lip reading went to zero. Flare's hearing wasn't great. Ghosts feel their environment more than hear it and Shays was so-so, being young didn't help. The only thing the trio could really do was wait for Joltik to return.
—
Aella was startled out of her doze when she nearly fell out of the tree. Her jerky movement woke a sleeping bag dragon. Shay popped her head out of the bag clearly exasperated over the constant sudden waking.
Aella yawned and offered an apology in which the dragon gave a humm to. Flare simply watched her body swayed; her flame had been snuffed out with a Minimize as the day had turned to dusk. Flare gave the signal representing Joltik not too long after. A streak of yellow zipped up round the tree.
"I take it you found something to take that long. Were you listening in?" A positive chatter came from Joltik before waving her legs and miming for new words. Flare gave a hand, well mind flow in translation as well.
"There are books on lots of plants and some with lots of items…lists and…" Aella watched their movements and notes, "Instructions, there's instructions to make potions… maybe potions."
"Alright," she shifted, her legs were falling asleep. "Since they probably live in the house nearby will head down at night and copy stuff down then scram."
Joltik tapped out a warning and the flow gave the same notes with the addition of the sign for unknown, living and object. "Something there?"
"Tik tik," the spider then imitated a lower grunt guard walk. "Team Rocket…" a heavy negative pulsed through. "No…no it's a guard, a night guard."
Flare clarified, "A pokemon night guard. Ok that complicates things."
Aella leaned back against the trunk of the tree, "Did you see it?" A clicked yes sounded through the tree. Through a back and forth game of yes and no, Aella determined it was a predator that had good hearing, smell and night sight.
"There's no way we can leave undetected then. Will just have to catch it off guard and take it down." Malicious grins flashed around her family, "Subdue not kill," their glee dwindled. "Their not Team Rocket or criminal or have done horrible acts."
Joltik nodded and Shay silently accepted the fact though Flare was unhappy with the missed feeding opportunity.
"Alright then Joltik, since you've been in there, when night settles and the owner leaves, tie up and muzzle it–them." She gave a shake of her head. "Shay Wrap them till they're unconscious. Don't break their ribs." Two nods of agreement and a miffed flow response from Flare and they moved, settling into a clear vantage point.
—
Joltik was the first to descend, minutes after an older lady, the owner, left the tent. The others followed from a distance, silent steps trod across the cool dirt. The spider slipped under the hem of the tent, while Aella, dressed in her old uniform and the rest went round to the entrance, sticking just beyond the brush. Shay stayed coiled deep in her bag and Flare hung onto Aella's collar.
She bounced on her heels, checking the road once, twice, then diving into the tent. And startled a drowsy Meowth. Its claws skidded on the smooth wooden surface as they arch their back to hiss. A String Shot clamped its mouth shut. The cat raised a paw to scratch it off but was met with more String Shot. A yowl was attempted to raise the alarm, thankfully the String Shot muffled it to whisper levels.
Aella called for Shay and the dragon slithered down her arm and shot towards the cat in a blur of blue. Most normal children would flinch or cry at the brutality the Dratini showed to the cat. Slowly letting in less and less air every time the poor thing breathed out. For Aella, for one with a deranged and gruesome background, the act was very tame.
"Good work, Shay, keep an eye on the cat. Joltik the books please." she thanked them for their hard work and slung her bag, plus now lit candle, back over her shoulder before following her yellow spider.
Flare's light bounced off shelves lining the tent with jars of plants in them. Looking around the tent was actually more of a tarp covered building. Aella felt like this was a more unusual building.
The electric ball of fuzz leaped onto a shelf full of books along the far wall and tapped one of the heavily frayed ones. She pulled the book down bringing very little dust with it and flipped through the loved pages.
"It's all on herbs for sickness, infection, bleeding, drowsiness, energy and so many more…I'll copy the most common of what we don't have and maybe a few of the more uncommon ones if we have time. Is there one on berries as well?"
"Tik," she crab walked and tapped another well worn book binding.
"Okay, will skim through that one as well." Setting her bag down in a dark corner of the desk after Flare scooted off and settled down next to an old candle holder.
The container's lid popped off with a quiet crack, it was joined with the ruffle of papers. Giving a tap to Flare for light as she flipped through the pages. The sound of scribbling filled the stagnant air and the tension in the room drifted into nothingness.
Lavender has pain relieving, antifungal, antivirus and wound healing properties. It also acts as an effective sleep aid and can be combined with chamomile in tea.
Peppermint is antimicrobial, some trainers chew peppermint while drinking from a stream to kill microbes in the water. Tea made from peppermint leaves is soothing for a sore throat, cough, or cold.
Chamomile can be taken for minor digestive problems and can be used as an anti-inflammatory, digestive aid, and can calm oneself. Externally it has been used in hair wash, hair dyes, and for sore skin or blisters.
Lemongrass is a good mosquito and insect repellent.
Echinacea is commonly used to treat or prevent colds, flu, and infections, and for wound healing.
Ginger is most commonly known as an herb for easing nausea and motion sickness.
Feverfew was traditionally used to treat fevers. It is now commonly used to prevent migraines and treat arthritis.
Burdock can help create an appetite and aid in overall digestion.
A/N: Info above is not to be used as a medical guide. This is a summed up version of what I got for an hour of medical herb research. I don't know a lot about medical herbs. What I do know is that you should do your research and talk to professionals.
Of course she made sure to list the potential side effects and what part of the plants were safe. As she wrote the name Lucy popped up over and over again she guessed it was the owner's name.
"Tik jo Jo," she tapped Aella roughly, staring at the tent entrance. Aella paused, her hands twitched at the quiet sound of footsteps and her heart jumped into her throat.
In mere moments her stealth training kicked in. She snapped the book closed, hastily placing both back onto the shelf. Joltik gathered up the papers and snapped something at the candle. Flare's flame wavered in response and Shay's scales could be hard sliding across the floor. She dragged the poor still passed out cat with her to the storage boxes in the corner.
Not wanting to make a lot of noise, Aella left the container open on the bottom of the bookshelf. The papers were placed under it.
The human and spider darted into the dark spice racks. Giving a candle a mental note to Minimize. Flare sitting on an antique candle holder looked nothing more than a simple unlit candle.
The ruffle of the fabric entrance flap was met by footsteps that transcended from dirt to wood rang loud in the silence.
"Honestly I think mother was right, old age is the stage where memory is your enemy!" a lady, clocked in the night, said and sighed.
"Now I just need…ah that will do," the elderly lady or Lucy grabbed a dusty palm sized box from the drawers and pulled the candle holder closer, the very one Flare sat on.
Lighting Flare's wick before gliding around the room. "Now where did I put it?" Aella's nose twitched from the spices. She placed her knuckle under her nose and allowed the sharp scent that permeated the air to cover her palate.
"Honestly, some customers these days expect me to have all the answers. There is a cure for tiredness, not for lack of sleep. The only way to fix that is by sleeping."
The owner's footsteps traveled to the front of the store where the sound of items were ruffled around. All the while talking about bothersome customers before changing her tune, to family.
"Oh but at least my granddaughter is showing a love towards plants as of late. I do hope this fascination of her sticks around. Though I must admit her pink obsession phase was quite cute. I love to teach Cassandra all the tricks and trades of– oh here's my shawl!"
Lucy grabbed what looked like a woven blanket with ties on opposite ends and set Flare down on a nearby shelf. Tossing the fabric over her shoulder before adjusting it into place, she blew out Flare's flame. Her mumblings about an ungrateful guard cat that only seem to love hunting mice instead of doing her job, was heard as she tottered out the door, the felt flap wisping close behind her.
A weight leaves her shoulder and a yellow body zips across the floor. Peeking out into the night to watch them leave. Aella stayed low observing a distorted store through glass jars. Flare stayed frozen in place but Shay's white nose appeared from behind a set of paper boxes. Joltik pulled back and a heavy note from the flow gave the all clear.
She breathes a sigh of relief crawling out, picking her waterproof box of knowledge and papers, placing them back upon the desk next to a lit Flare. Aella's sneeze breaks the silence. Shay moved the poor cat again, it was used as a step stool for the dragon to clamor on top of the boxes.
Aella gives a mental shake to rid the last of her fear, pulling both books back down and flipping back to her forgotten page. "Joltik could you find the pages on potion recipes please?" mumbled words were spoken around scribbling.
Clicks of mandibles and taps of feet were heard as Joltik hunted down the papers they desperately needed. The scratch of her pencil was interrupted by the sound of two strikes and a clank as metal hit wood.
"Hey, hey, hey breaking things in a team rocket base is one thing but this is someone's store!" Aella chastised. Her sharp clicks redrew her attention, what was once a locked cabinet held folders of papers with near hundred recipes. "Okay yea my bad." Joltik smugly tapped her shoulder. "Yeah I know my lock picking sucks and there's no way we'd get into it in time okay?" she grumbled.
"Mmmm," she turned to her dragon who slithered over, clean unused paper was clamped in her jaw.
"That's…huh," Aella took the sheets and placed them on the desk for later use. She didn't like it. It went along with the cruel things she was taught. The very thought made her queasy.
Flopping down in the wooden chair she picked up her pencil and noticed the lead had become quite worn down, it would need to be…sharpened, 'There's a thing called a pencil sharpener but I don't have one so would a knife work?'
Slipping her stolen treasure free, the sound of the blade grinding against the built in sheath's whetstone echoed on the walls. The shick sound of metal scraping wood caused Shay to coil and hiss.
"Sorry," she paused, "I need to sharpen it to access the lead for writing." The little dragon mechanically nodded. She didn't like it. Her tiny scales ground against the floor as she moved back to the boxes with the Meowth, best to make sure it doesn't wake up right?
Sifting and skimming through the recipes, Flare decides to add more light, speeding up the process. "Will leave the area and sleep then spend the next few days collecting ingredients and making potions. After that will start to push down on our training on the way to Fuchsia."
She kept talking as she wrote, "Will stop a few hours walk from Fuchsia. It's an old style city with nihon kenchiku or minka style buildings." The sensation of question marks came through the flow. "I don't know it's the name of a really old style of building at least that's what I read. Fuchsia is one of the oldest cities in Kanto okay?"
She sighed before continuing, "I want to keep time in Fuchsia short for multiple reasons. One it's known for its poison types, it's on the small side for a city, honestly it's more of a large town and its got a League run gym and I do not want to get near that."
The score of her pencil mixed with Shay's humm, "So to sum up, poison types are a pain to deal with, small city means will stand out and the league is self-explanatory."
Conversation trickled off after that, the herb book was shelved and the berry book and recipes were skimmed.
—
Her breath left her mouth in a sigh as the last of two dozen recipe sheets, she had deemed worthy of writing down, was placed upon the pile of papers. Gathering and shuffling them into a semi-neat stack before standing. They were placed back in the cabinet though there was nothing they could do about the broken lock.
Morning light seeped under the entrance flap, as day brought the chirping of birds alive. "All right all, let's go before the day gets any farther along," the snaps of the container coincided with her voice.
"Leave the Meowth in the center of the room so the owner can find it," she told Shay as books were placed back on the shelf. Angry growls and thumps were heard from a very peeved feline when it was dragged by her dragon out from the boxes. It squirmed ferally against Joltiks restraints but her String Shot had become strong over the months.
Aella held up Shay's pokeball, "Just for a few minutes I don't want to risk you getting seen," she gave a grumpy whine before disappearing in particles of red.
"Flare Minimize," the Litwick instantly snapped at her flame. "Joltik check outside for people." A blur of yellow moved to the tent flap, flattening herself to the ground before sticking her head out to survey.
Flare slid into her hand after her pack was thrown on. A 'clear' from Joltik was passed down the flow from her candle's mind link. Not wanting to waste any time, Aella dashed out of the tent and into the trees, Joltik hot on her trail.
They went at full sprint since they just needed fast distance not long. The trees were indistinct from each other but their roots and any ground ruts were clear. The sound of her steps felt too loud, she made a note to work on that.
Her breath became rough as the trees became denser, she was forced to slow to avoid getting wacked by branches. Aella released Shay and told her, "We keep moving, when the sun's rays break the trees then will sleep."
The air was muggy but cool, cedar and spruce were abundant with sycamore and elm adding variety. Her knowledge of trees only went as far as where to best find the herbs. She almost wanted to do more research on trees. It was surprising that something seemingly as simple and backgroundly? as trees could have such a large variety.
'Arceus this goes back to my last statement; the world is really really big,' the rays of sun landed upon the leaves that crunched under her feet.
"Okay Joltik you're up," Joltik gave a call before she shot off to find a worthy tree. Shay slithered by her side and Flare stayed quiet, her flow an ever constant presence in the back of her mind.
—
They woke when they're tiredness had ebbed away enough for the sun's rays to wake them. Granted they were still tired but sleep would not come again till dusk arrived.
A yawn broke past Aella's lips, "Alright start with finding a river, grab any berries needed for potions along the way, then locate the necessary herbs, make a fire and make some potions… right! Let's go."
They came upon a river hours later. It was fast and wide but it was fine as long as they didn't take a dip in it. The berry trees were plentiful during their walk and with a full and ripe pecha berry tree not a 10 minute walk away; she could make emergency poison cures. Because of Joltik reading over her shoulder last night she was able to identify a few herbs necessary though some were similar imitations.
"Shay sticks. Flare light em. Joltik, scour the area for any more herbs. I'll join you in a minute when I get a pot of water going," noises of agreement were voiced before everyone moved.
Aella's pack slammed into the dirt before she dug through for the pot and backup berries that they surprisingly didn't need to touch all that much. Her nose twitched at the unfamiliar smell that emulated from the sack. She hummed in confusion as she undid the ties and an even more potent version of it wafted out.
"That's weird what's causing that…" she tipped the contents out and noticed some unusual developments on some of the berries.
Picking one up it seems to have had some fuzz growth on one side and had become softer and more squishy. She lifted it close to her face to sniff but a loud "DRA," and a tail batted it from her hand.
"Hey! What was that for?" Aella looked to the river that had swallowed the berry. Shay gave a low hum as her tail sifted through the pile; sending most into the river. Negative notes signaling bad and danger came down the flow.
"It's bad…but it was fine earlier?" Shay nodded her snout up at the sun. "Sun?" The little dragon gave a yes then swung her head in a circle a few times over.
"Days? Time?" Another yes for both before tapping the berries leftover and pointing at the river with a shake of her head, "So berries go bad over time?"
A yes came from both the dragon in the candle this time and Flare even pointed out a nearby dead bush. "Right things die over time and I guess can also go bad…alright will just have to look out for that."
She stood up to go find herbs as a thought popped into her head, "Wait, can potions go bad to?" Shay gave a hum to that. "Okay well, will have to keep a close eye on them then."
They got lucky and managed to scrounge together enough ingredients for their very first potion. Unfortunately Aella's high of good luck ran out.
—
"Mmm…" Aella leaned back on her hands and her foot tapped to an unseen rhythm. "Okay this is not going so well."
Bits of plants sat around their space, some pulverized others plucked. Berries both mashed, cut and peeled were mixed into the mess. Her hands were sticky with berry juice and thankfully the papers were dry from being handled by Joltik and Shay.
"I believe I may have deeply underestimated the difficulty in making potions," she glanced up at the late evening sun and a yawn broke through. Flare gave an immediate mental agreement fed up with the constant failures. Joltik was tired and Shay was tired and confused on why they even did this in the first place.
"Okay let's clean up, sleep and try again tomorrow. Maybe a non tired mind will help," she stood up and stretched kicking wasted berry mash into the river.
X
Aella turned her head to stare at the haze blue of sky with the soft golden rays breaking the tops of the trees. She just lay there listening to her air exit her nose, the slight sway of the bed and the cool dampness of the breeze. A buzz traversed her mind, Flare knew she was awake but didn't disturb the peace.
Aella let her mind wander to the disastrous yesterday, "I could just collect ingredients and try again or…maybe start with something else today," her legs shifted and she brushed the bag containing their tools and resources.
'I wrote down a lot but I guess I really didn't think about its importance. Instead I just followed the recipe to the best of my degree.'
"Maybe I should start there…" she mumbled and she felt the curiosity of Flare.
She formed a workable plan for the day as the last two of her family woke, "Ok I've got something of an idea for today."
Aella sat up in the hammock with a dragon on her lap and a spider on her shoulder, "Breakfast, then I'm going to relook through the papers to better understand potion making. Joltik you'll work on Electroweb and practice Furry Cutter when I'm making potions later, Shay, start with Twister and Dragon energy control."
She glanced down at Flare by her knee, "Will-O-Wisp and lots of ghost energy manipulating for Hex. Okay?" Nods and notes of agreement were given. "Right, let's go."
—
A sigh came from the young female placing the paper down, 'Yea i'm starting to see why yesterday's attempt failed,' she glanced around the clearing, seeing how the others were progressing.
Joltik's Electroweb was produced a bit faster and the electricity was less scattered, looking even more refined than it did days ago, 'Give her another week or two and Electroweb should be good in a fight.'
Her candle had a Will-O-Wisp floating around her, 'Looks like Flare has finally figured out the execution side of Will-O-Wisp…is it possible to control multiple, make a sorta burning field.'
She hummed muttering over looking into that later as an unnatural wind blew by. Her eyes roved over to a serpent in the center of whistling winds. Though nearly powerful enough to hide the dragon from sight it was a bit too out of control for her liking. Aella decided to wait to see if she would recognize the danger and tone it down on her own. She had warned Shay, at this point, five times of the danger of what an out of control Twister can do but the warning hasn't sunk into the prideful dragon.
Aella gave an alert to Flare who in turn signaled Joltik. They moved a safe distance away from the evermore dangerous Twister. Aella snapped the lid closed to avoid losing any precious papers and sighed, 'I really don't wanna do this but she might need to learn the hard way.'
It took another two minutes before her consent warnings about the danger, happened. The Twister spiraled out and collapsed in itself, sending the poor dragon smashing up into the branches and crashing back down into the brush with a thud.
The young human walked over and removed the scratched up draconian from the plants. She wasn't bleeding, just a bit bruised. Aella placed her down next to her reading spot, leaving a helping of oran berries before her, "When you're feeling better practice Wrap and Fire energy creation."
Shay didn't respond; her pride had taken a heavy beating.
—
Night came with potion progress, it was bitter and without a proper sealing liquid container would probably only last for a few days but it was a healing potion.
"Mmm it seems will have to go back through Matcha," Flare's curiosity perked and Shay slammed her tail in disagreement.
"Well I'm sorry I didn't think about the fact that we needed bottles to store potions and the only good sealing bottle I have is our water bottle," Aella continued shuffling her bag. "They won't last very long if not stored properly.
"Will travel fast this time and limit training time and I don't see a reason to stop at any libraries," Shay was more than happy with that answer.
Aella rambled on, "And another thing I want to try, Twister is proving to be a quite challenging move to learn. Although I read Dragon type moves are notoriously difficult to learn."
She lay back in the hammock on her back this time allowing the young dragon to lay across her stomach and chest. Her spider created a rolling out prevention railing as Flare heated the air.
"Shay, I want you to focus on Dragon energy manipulation, building and control on the way to Matcha and you'll be trying out Dragon Tail on the way to Fuchsia."
A cocked head and a questioning call was her response, "Because maybe if you practice controlling Dragon energy in a different way it could help give you a better understanding of it overall…does that make any sense?"
The sky became a few shades darker before she got her answer. A hummed agreement along with a question that her ever helpful ghost translated mentally.
"Twister? I'll have you practice it from time to time but I want to try a new tactic and hopefully we can make some better progress into Dragon moves for you."
A yawn that came from Joltik signaled the end of conversation and the start of sleep.
X
Days later the traveling group was introduced to a new phenomenon that was known as weather-that-hindered. The air had gained a new quality hours before Aella felt wetness on her head. She glanced up at the gray clouds above. More plops of water fell accompanied by the sound of leaves being tapped.
The noise increased with the water hitting them, "It's rain, it's raining, that's amazing!" Aella and Joltik couldn't help but stop and stare in amazement, Flare was both awestruck and disgusted and Shay was just annoyed.
"We've seen morning mist and cloudy days but nothing like this!" Shay was the one to snap the three out of their trance.
"DRA!" Her cries were captivating with a sense of urgency and it took Aella a second to realize, "right rain makes us wet, that in turn can make us cold and that can make us sick."
"Aahhh okay! Where's one of those big leaf berry trees?" Shay took off in a western direction and the rest followed. Aella ducked and could feel wet leaves and twigs smack against her face and hair as she ran.
Keeping the slithering Dratini in sight, they ended up under a chesto berry tree. She felt a shiver go down her spine, "Joltik could you try to layer your string shot to create a cover for us?"
"Tik tik," her spider took off to create a shield against the pouring liquid. Flare increased the temperature to ward off the cold.
"Thanks when this ends will find a river and bring up some fish," Aella said to her companions.
—
They spent the next few hours talking about plans and dreams. Aella wanted to see the world and when strong enough travel to a distant region somewhere Rockets can't get to and find a way of living.
Joltik had a similar way of thinking, she never wanted to be used as she was again. Getting strong or escaping to a place they could never touch was the only way.
Shay of course wanted to get strong, for dragons strength ment respect. She hated the fact that Team Rocket was able to push her around like that.
Flare liked freedom and wanted to evolve to move more freely; she also had a desire for revenge on those that wronged her that imprisoned her.
The pattering of rain slowed to a trickle, though it hadn't stopped it was time to move. They ended up catching enough fish to have some leftover Aela filleted the extra and placed them in the berry sack for later after checking that all the berries were still good and the sack was clean.
X
The trip to Matcha was quick, only slowing for sleep, food and a diversion to avoid a Beedrill nest. The tall skyscrapers of west Matcha could be seen in the distance. They made a stop at a creek startling a group of balloon pokemon causing the Wigglytuff to suck in air and wave its arms and ears to scare them off.
"Sorry we didn't mean to frighten you, we're just here for water," Aella and her sisters moved up stream, away from the bunch. Little Igglybuffs watched with interest as their evolved forms made sure they didn't wander over.
Honestly Aella did not want to get in a conflict with the bunch; she could see spots on the Wigglytuff where bits of fluff were missing and replaced with scars. This one was no pushover.
Deciding it would be better to stay together they collected dead branches as a group. "Flare, start the fire," she said over her shoulder, preoccupied with collecting water.
The fire crackled under the pot and Aella rested next to her candle. The air was chilly today. She believed it was called a cold snap apparently it was when a mass of cold air came through.
Shay went further up the creek, swayed to a unheard beat and small tendrils of wind whipped around her. Sometimes the energy churned around her tail. Joltik was doing something similar with her electricity, it roved around her, up her fur, down her legs. The spider then turned toward a nearby tree and slammed an Electroweb into it.
'At this rate Joltik will have Electroweb down in a few days rather than weeks,' Aella analyzed letting her thoughts wander through possibilities.
"Ig iggly," Aella heard coming up behind her. She turned to see an Igglybuff shadowed by a Jigglypuff waddle over. The rest of the group except for the Wigglytuff had moved into the brush.
"Hi, you're friendly," she said quietly. "There's a pecha berry tree straight south of here that's full and ripe," she told them.
A curt Jig was her only response from the often assumed talkative species the Igglybuff on the other hand babbled away.
The sound of boiling water redrew her attention. She gave the fire a poke as Flare manipulated the flames' temperature. She heard the two behind her converse and notes came down the flow. Apparently the Igglybuff wanted closer but the Jigglypuff didn't like Litwick.
'Makes sense their species specializes in Normal type moves and Fairy does little to Fire types,' she gave a mental shrug in return.
Another alert from the flow told her their water was clean. She used her old uniform shirt to pull the pot off the campfire. The heavy boil slowed and the water was left to cool. Joltik joined them, done with electric practice and gave a greeting to their visitors.
Aella layed back to watch the sky as Joltik talked with their guests. No matter how cute the Igglybuff was, it was far too young to leave home and none of the others seemed interested. The clouds were pretty as they floated by.
—
She jolted awake from a hard mental prodand felt her drowsiness fade. Sitting up and looking around it had probably been about two hours. The Igglybuff and Jigglypuff were gone, 'Probably re-joined the group.'
Shay was still far up the creek and had a decent amount of dragon energy swirling around her. Flare had stayed next to her and Joltik… was talking with Wigglytuff.
Flare was unable to explain through the flow and instead pointed at Shay's swirling draconic energy and flicked her flame on and off, "Their talking about energy Normal type energy right?"
Aella hummed to Flare's yes, "Well it will be useful down the line." Stretching and finding the water now cool enough to be stored, her bottle was refilled.
Deciding to sit and let Joltik finish her conversation, throwing dirt over the embers before packing up, "Alright let's keep going, we should hit Matcha tonight and either tomorrow or the day after will head to Fuchsia."
Shay looked more than happy to be moving though didn't voice it, any dragon would shy away from a fairy with superior power. She dipped into the creek swimming to the far side and crunched on a fish while Aella slung her bag over her shoulder and picked up Flare. Joltik followed by taking to the trees her light body allowing the spider to cross using the branches.
"Iggy! Igglybuff!" she looked back to see the young balloon bouncing and waving enthusiastically. Aella let a smile and chuckle grace her face waving back and giving her goodbyes.
—
The imposing skyscrapers of Matcha loomed just past a small outerband of buildings and a fast moving road. The sun warmed her left as it sank. Aella asked her team, "Awake but silent or out and unconscious?"
They all chose to stay awake, Joltik could help, Flare wanted to be a night light source and Shay was a stubborn dragon, "Alright assume positions and let's go."
Their first dozen bins were nothing but useless junk. Their next dozen ended in partial success with a second pair of pants; they weren't jeans but some soft stretchy kind.
As the sun rested on the horizon they were able to breeze through 15 more thanks to Joltik willing to clamer down into the bins. She didn't like it, her fur became matted and sticky but it was necessary if they were to get what they needed and leave faster. They found one workable small bottle for potion storage though they had decided to aim for six so the search continued.
—
Hours later they had amassed five bottles, two pairs of soft stretching pants and one similar shirt. Additionally she had come across a lightly used bar of soap, a stirring spoon and a pair of fitting socks and underwear all would be washed before use.
X
They slept between vents on a roof and washed down at the creek where they had met the bunch of balloon pokemon.
Next was potion making and light training and sparring. Aella keeped an eye on her family's progress as the potion boiled. Flare was having no trouble in executing Will-O-Wisp; she decided to check that one off but let her candle continue practicing it for the time being.
Aella had gotten Joltik to finish teaching Shay Agility the dragon could perform the move inconsistently. She had not been pushing Shay to practice it and instead the young dragon had gone off and focused on Twister. Add onto the fact that Aella had decided to forgo Agility for draconic energy practice on the way to Matcha wasn't helping.
Returning her attention to the pot and stirring its contents Aella tossed in bits of ground oran berries.
—
The sun dipped behind the western trees as the last potion was poured into the bottle. The cap was screwed on causing some to spill from overfill but it didn't bother her just as long as there was no air inside.
"Ok that makes three healing and two poison antidotes," she glanced at the two antidotes. "Not the best quality but easier to carry around than super delicate berries."
Turning to her group and telling them they were done for today, "Joltik if you would please." A click came from the spider as they left to find a tree.
They cleaned up camp and Aella pulled out the map of the local area. Flare became curious though Shay was less interested.
"Will be traveling through the center of the peninsula when we hit Fuchsia and will travel down and around since the gym is on the northeastern side near the edge of the Safari Zone."
A call from Joltik who was attached to a nearby tree grabbed their attention. They wandered through the trees to a great oak that they would be sleeping in tonight. Aella repeated the travel plans to Joltik before changing the conversation to training.
"Joltik, I want you to work on Electroweb, you're nearly there with it and then start on Bug Bite during our travels. Do you want me to explain the move tomorrow or are you good?" The spider clicked an all good, snapping her mandibles.
"Alright, ask if you get stuck. Next Shay you will be learning Agility from Joltik in the morning and Dragon Tail with me in the afternoon," the serpent gave a nod of agreement.
"Flare, I want you to start with Will-O-Wisp. I want to see if it's possible to make and control multiple Will-O-Wisps at once. Will try that for a week then move to starting Hex."
The ghostly candle was more then happy to hear that especially since Shay would be completing Agility and that meant she could start learning Psychic energy control.
X
"Alright this should be far enough today," they stopped in a clearing around noon. "Let's get some sparring and training done."
Flare created a ghostly flame to whirl around her stabilizing it before attempting to create another; her flame burned bright twitching from the strain. A second Will-O-Wisp was created but dissipated a minute later.
"So it's possible but difficult…" Aella hummed watching, "Keep trying and altering to improve and efficiently use."
An affirmative note came from the flow along with the feeling of wanting something else. "Patience you'll get to learn Imprison. I will promise you that," a smile slipped back onto her face when she felt Flare's giddy excitement.
A blurred whizzed past in the corner of her vision with another slower less consistent blur followed. Joltik was giving Shay a very fast crash course in Agility and it seemed to be working. The spider had been having the dragon chase her all morning with only a few brakes between.
"Ok that's enough,"" she hollered to the blurs' watching them come to a rest, "Take a break then continue with Electroweb and Shay come to me for teaching."
After a lunch break and a dead squirrel courtesy of Shay. She started teaching the young draconian Dragon Tail.
"Ok Dragon Tail when done correctly will lace your tail in Dragon energy and give off a bluish green glow. As you get better at it, it should have a shining outline and the color will become darker," Aella continued.
"It's like a flexible coating of armor that's fused to your scales. You've been working on manipulating Dragon energy and having it flow around you so let's try manipulating the energy to flow just around your tail then stall it and tighten it to your tail."
The first few minutes was just energy circling her tail with not much change. After the fourth minute Aella started to see the energy slowing; pausing for mere moments. It wasn't much but it was progress.
"Alright, that's good. Keep working on just holding it and will move from there," Shay gave a pleasant hum at the sight of improvement.
—
Travel was smooth but slow and over the coming days Shay's Agility improved by leaps and bounds and would likely have it down in a few days. Dragon Tail was much slower to progress but improvement was there. Unfortunately Twister was showing almost no improvement though Shay had learned her lesson and was now keeping it well incontrol.
Flare had gotten the hang of controlling two Will-O-Wisps, well for about seven minutes every hour and was working on three. The ghost was also eagerly awaiting Shay's completion of Agility.
Joltik had a breakthrough with Electroweb thanks to all the electric manipulation she had been doing during their trip to Matcha. She could now create a near perfect net every time in only a second or two. She had also started on Bug Bite, the spider could form it but it snapped out during performing.
Aella found herself naturally avoiding crunchy leaves and sticks placed to snap and during times of rest, enjoyment and waking a smile graced her face. Reaching her arms out in front of her and grabbing air in her stretch as the group plotted along in the early morning sun.
Dew drops hung on the underside of the leaves and in shady areas. They were shaken from their grasp as a fuzzy ball lunged by with a lithe pale blue form following from the roots.
A candle's flame shone bright sitting on a backpack, its yellow eyes trained on the forest they left behind. The forest had slightly changed over the days, becoming thinner with more gaps where sunlight streamed through.
Joltik was suddenly launching back, skidding to a stop in front of Aella with Shay hot behind with Agility and neither were looking happy. Shay slammed her tail into the dirt and let out a hissing snap sound Aella recognized as the warning sound she would give to Rattata if they become overly aggressive for trying to steal their berries.
Two Bellsprout appeared from the thin brush there color and look camouflaging them. They eyed Joltik in a way that made her hair stand on end. Bellsprout were technically classified as flower pokemon but were also part of the flycatcher species. They specialize in catching bugs. Joltik's mandibles clicked.
"Joltik back to me," Aella's voice became cold and smooth with no room for objection. She reached behind for Flare, mentally urging her to increase her heat and ignoring the discomfort.
Two hollers of "BELL!" rang out before a Vine Wipe and Poison Powder were released.
"Thunder Wave, Fury Cutter the vines when they get close! Flare burn the powder!"
A melody like cry rang out as Shay sent a wave of electricity under and through the poison vaporizing some of it. Embers followed by the fastest Will-O-Wisp Aellas seen burned through the rest of the powder. Joltiks natural speed coupled with Agility made quick work of any vines with her claws.
Neither of the grass pokemon were happy with the result as sparks of electricity flew off of them. They shook their leaf arms letting small Razor Leaves fly…well one did the other stuttered under the shock before following suit.
Again Joltiks speed made her hard to hit and her typing wasn't doing them any favors. Shay on the other hand was a dragon; she had scales, pride and a natural defense against the classic starter trio types. The only thing it did was piss her off to the point that Aella had to remind her to not charge at a pokemon that was known for spewing acid and poison.
One decided to take that mention as a heavy suggestion and fired a glob of Acid.
"Move! Flare!" Joltik turned into a blur with Shay seconds behind. The ghost let out a wail and an Ember tour through the Acid and sent it splattering outward onto the surrounding foliage. The plants that were required to be tough to survive against the power of pokemon attacks withered under the potency. Her Astonish wave slammed them over moments later.
They picked themselves up looking less keen on fighting. Aella gulped her breathing heightened. "LEAVE!" Aella hollered at them. "Or will torch your roots!"
They jerked back, they didn't care if it was from fear or static but she had their attention. They gave a call that was harsh on the ears and Aella's stomach dropped when she heard a reply; multiple replies.
"Melee, conk them out," Shay was more than happy to oblige, shot off with a perfect Agility, Joltik hot on the dragon's tail. The plants sucked in a breath but the static and burns that covered their cuticle hindered their moments.
A rudimentary Dragon Tail canceled the plant's attack and a particularly brutal Furry Cutter took them down, "Ok now we run," Aella took off straight west, replying to Flare's alert.
"Yes I know the calls came from the southwest but we still need to go west and maybe some south." she scooped up Shay as her Agility failed. "Hopefully will be far enough along that will pass them without crossing and yes I know it's risky."
Vines shot out of the ground in front of her. She caught a glimpse of a yellow bell-like shape moving by the use of vines.
"Weepinbell of course it's a Weepinbell," she groaned. "Screw it we're going north," Aella hollered to her group.
It released copious amounts of Poison Powder in its anger in striking its plantmates. The rest of its fern consisted of three other Bellsprout. A Razor Leaf embedded itself deep into the tree feet in front of her so she dipped to the left. She had lost sight of Joltik but knew the bug was sturdy and fast and she'd reappear later.
Their furious cries along with cracking trees and groaning branches echoed from behind. Powders and the stink of Acid burned her nose. Aella wasn't sure how long she ran but long enough her breathing became coarse. She ignored any of the pain from either running or successful hits and kept running.
It took her a solid minute before she realized their voices had become softer and more distant. She shifted her erratic running into a paced jog. She gulped and felt her throat stick from dryness.
Aella glanced around for a ball of yellow nearly tripping over a large fallen tree branch in the process. Finely spotting her first friend high in the canopy above her. With their pursuers' voices gone she decided to stop before a small sunbaked clearing in the forest.
A lone Oddish made itself scarce and a Butterfree gave them a cautious glance before continuing with their nectar snack. Aella collapsed under the shade of a tree and let sweet water moisten her throat.
The water bottle landed with a thunk next to her as her breath continuously came out thick and heavy, 'We're alive we get to continue moving under the ever blue shy,' she stared up at the vibrant blue patch above.
Shay coiled herself nearby under the warm sun. Flare stayed in the shade and rested comfortably on Aella's backpack. Joltik chose to stay closer, attaching to Aella's arm with her nervous emotions shown through her fluffed out fur.
After everyone had calmed down, rested and eaten save for Flare who asked to sleep in her pokeball. The fight had taken a lot out of her and she hadn't had many souls in the past few days. Shay eventually brought up a question. The little dragon pointed at Aella's remaining three empty pokeballs and nodded back in the direction they came from.
"No, I was not going to catch two Bellsprout with personalities like theirs," Joltik also chattered away, less than pleased with the suggestion.
Aella nodded, "They saw Joltik more as food than anything else and would continue to do so for a while. Besides they have a family, I don't want to take them away from it."
Shay agreed without complaint and later a pine was chosen for tonight. The hammock was built near the canopy instead of a few branches above the ground like usual.
X
It took another two days to reach the outskirts of Fuchsia. Along their travels the group ran across mostly Poison pokemon although there were still Bug and Flying types dotted about as well.
With Pidgey calling in the canopy and Hoothoot sleeping in any darkened spot. There were Oddish and Caterpie using their coloration to hide and Pineco in pine trees she avoided stepping under.
The forest felt more alive then usual or maybe she was just more perceptive of her soundings as of late. A hiss caught her attention. A purple snake with a yellow band poked out. The Ekans was mad from them getting too close to its hiding spot.
Shay spat a hiss right back and even though she was only a fourth of its size the toxic snake backed off. Aella had started to notice that most creatures were cautious around Shay even though they were double their strength or size. It was probably because she was a dragon.
A scent both pleasant and a poisonous reminder wafted through the forest ahead of them. Flare gave a wail of glee. Notes of the word souls came over and over again.
"Ok we're getting near Fuchsia, when the buildings start to appear or the sound of people grows close…Shay? Flare?"
Soft cries of agreement though reluctant came from the brush but Flare brought up something she said days ago back in Mossgreen. "I know I know I said we would keep a distance but we've been running into more pokemon as of late.
"We have used and made five healing potions and three poison cures and lately any berry trees we have come across lately have been picked clean. I can't make new potions without ingredients."
Aella sighed, "I don't like it either. It's not that big, though bigger than expected and there's still a gym," receiving an understanding yet lackluster response from the ghost before they moved on.
A gap in the cedar tree revealed curved tile roofs that had a distinct look to them. "Wow, the buildings look really forest-ey. It's way different than Matcha's buildings."
She glanced around like a tourist as the path she stumbled onto turned from dirt to gravel to stone. Buildings with roofs made of tile in a dragon scale like pattern and dark wooden beams contrasted with the white paper looking paneling wall spots. Aella had read many odd words when researching Fuchsia but had no clue what any of the names went to.
She jumped at the sliding of a door somewhere nearby…wait what was door, what was wall and what was window. It wasn't as blatantly obvious as it was in Matcha, "Well I may not have seen much yet but it definitely gives the feeling of being old."
Slowing and looking around she realized she should have looked at her maps before walking in town, 'Too late now I guess keep where it's busy and go west.'
As much as it bothered her she headed north where a group of… camera-using people walked bunched together with kids her size hopping about.
Merging with the group as some big hat person at the front yapped about something that was not pokemon history or trees so she lost interest quickly.
Aella did a double take when she saw a green Grimer with a sign that said, 'My name's Ted my owner lets me live in the sewer,' that was interesting…
"Grimer aren't usually green are they," Joltik was lost as well and Flare sent nothing but confusion and befuddlement.
The group's guide eventually led them far more north and she was comfortable with, so when they passed through a crowded plaza she slipped off. The streets winded and twisted based on the landscape; it made navigation difficult and she was glad for all the traveling she had done beforehand. Aella had a vague sense of a west direction.
—
"Okay I'll admit Fuchsia is bigger than expected," she glanced around at the changing buildings. Many still had the minka style but it looked more…modern? There were also buildings with looks from both Fuchsia and Matcha.
'Not only that there's been a new scent I keep getting whiffs of,' it was a strange mix of pungent and fresh and almost smelled like when she'd gut fish for dinner. Long and short high pitched bird calls caused her to look up.
Long white wings with a single blue band flew above with one or two others with giant tan beaks. They circled the air above, many in the far distance.
"Wingull and Pelipper cool…wait don't they hang near the ocean…" sucking in air through her nose she took off in the direction of the birds.
New sounds came into range, a bell clanging, wood and metal colliding, hollering and shouting and a distant horn. The stone path turned to concrete and wood. She stared off though was forced to move to the side as men and women tromped by with bags and nets slung over their shoulders.
Boats of all sizes bobbed in water, so much water. Past them was blue on blue of water and sky.
"We've made it," Aella breathed, glad to have made it to their destination and the view beyond just made it all the nicer.
Joltik taped her shoulder and clicked for answers, "I told you right? Or did I not mention the past Fuchsia plan?"
Joltik's squinted dead stare told her everything, "Ahh sorry I had it all made up in my mind I guess I didn't voice it fully," she let out a sheepish chuckle as the feeling of an irritated candle and the squirming of a miffed dragon was felt.
"Right I'll explain it fully in bed," she trotted down the docks to find the line that separates civilization from wildness.
—
Aella sighed as she flopped into Joltiks hammock. They had traveled a fair distance away from the boats and houses. Finding a suitable tree was a bit more difficult considering the sheer amount of pokemon that lived in the area.
"Right, what's the whole plan and where are we going?" She answered Flare's prodding mind. "Well the simple version is, somewhere we're Team Rocket can't touch us."
"Tik tik jo."
"I know they inhabit the entirety of Kanto and Johto. Let me explain the long version."
"So" –she shot up– "a bit of backstory, in the past Fuchsia was one of the first settlements in Kanto and after a century or so another big settlement came into being called Celadon."
Aella had pulled out and spread the map of Kanto, "Fuchsia and Celadon are separated by the Gulf of Kanto so trade between the two great cities was difficult and they had no choice but to go around the gulf which is why Vermilion exists."
She looked around at the faces of her family but they all were bored and wanted her to get to the point, "Okay okay, point is they needed a better route so the Cycling Path was created.
"It's not really a path to be honest, at least not for walking. Instead it's a path for boats. In the past boats couldn't travel that distance so they, get this, made mini floating villages and towns as rest stops in the gulf."
Shay tilted her head and raised her tail making a waving motion while slowly moving her tail away. "They're anchored so they stay put and since people live on those little floating islands they never got rid of them."
Aella sucked in a dramatic breath even though she knew they already knew where she was going with this, "We're going to take the Cycling Path.
"From what I learned in Matcha the Cycling Path takes about one to one and a half months so 30 to 50 days to cross." The group flinched at the heavy time frame. " The largely varied time is because boats or ferries that travel between them usually only travel on specific days and weather can affect that too."
Flare looked at the map and tapped it lightly but Aella shook her head. "No it's the only way to cross well, the only way we can take."
Joltik clicked, "There's two other ways but they both cost money which we don't have. One is a direct ferry and the other is the way that most people take today is the underground underwater Kantoian vactrain or as everyone refers to it as The Gulfs Boom Tube!"
She couldn't help but giggle at the name, "Plus I read something about taking the cycling path is a right of passage or something. I don't know but it should be fine, besides will be in the ocean they'll be plenty of fish.
"From Celadon I want to go north along the side of the Moon range that separates Celadon and Pewter."
Shay asked why, "Because that leads up to the Hisui Mountain range." She gave a cry, "You know of it?" the little dragon nodded.
"I know it's an absolutely massive mountain range and I know it's a long shot but I want to try to cross it."
Both Joltik and Flare asked why in their own ways. "The Hisui Mountain range separates Kanto and Sinnoh. The only way for us to cross it right now is by foot. It's a country border so even if we got money for the tram we don't have any sort of identification thing, that's apparently necessary to cross borders."
Shay released a distasteful humm and Aella understood why she didn't approve of tackling the range. The Hisui Mountain range, to put simply, is massive. Crossing it would take months. They would have to walk through areas covered in snow that never melts. Many absurdly powerful and temperamental pokemon live up there, some even live for the battle.
"I know it's risky and crazy but something I learned a long time ago when that monstrosity used me as something to throw her anger at," Aella's hands balled up in anger at the cruel treatment and her pokemon were no better. She had to take a breath before continuing.
"From what I learned Team Rocket is struggling to get a solid footing in Sinnoh. Their police force is something not to be reckoned with."
She flopped back in the hammock, growing tired of this rough talk, "Team Rocket had built an iron grip on Kanto and Johto before anyone released just how dangerous they are, even now I don't think the League is fully aware."
"Sinnoh on the other hand has some underground-ish Organization called Galaxy Exploration Team that keeps Team Rocket out," Aella sighed. "So yeah I think that's everything I've got planned for now other than future training plans but we can talk about that later."
Agreements all around they all needed time to take in and process everything so fishing was quiet. Aella bathed in a nearby river; she could hear the Wingull less than a mile away. She sat in the shallows for a moment, leaving when her body's temperature dropped low enough for her to shiver.
Flare's heat evaporated the water from her skin as the water in the pot boiled in rolls. Water was added to the water flask and clean clothes were thrown on once dry.
A spider, her first family member and a dragon, her third family member talked. Her candle, her second family member gave notes that prodded their minds. With their attention gained she gave the final piece of the plan.
"Tomorrow we stock up and if the ferry is still here we take the first step onto the Cycling Path."
Two things I'd like to mention. For one next chapter is unexpectedly going to be a bit longer and two, college has started up for me. In turn this will cut into a chunk of my writing time so November's update may be skipped. This is still a maybe and not a guaranteed but a heads up.
Thank You for Reading Next update will be October 1