.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Chapter 6
A few hours after certain conflicts, Avegaille, Nicole May and Phil strolled through the road of Route 101 while gazing through the surroundings. Nicole May took out her Pokénav and browsed through the map to see if they were getting near Littleroot Town. Avegaille on the other hand, was too busy gazing the surroundings while Phil quietly observed Nicole May while she used her Pokénav. While everyone else was getting further, Avegaille was a few miles behind them. Avegaille quickly ran after them and she caught up to them, she started walking backwards to face Nicole and Phil.
"Hey, Avegaille, you look funny when you walk backwards," Phil remarked as he chuckled.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" Nicole murmured out as she lifted up her head and stared at Avegaille with an exasperated look.
"I'm walking backwards, can't you— Whooaa!"
Avegaille felt something tangling on her feet which lost her balance. As Avegaille fell on the ground, Linole quickly jumped off her head and landed on his trainer's chest. The Zigzagoon started to chuckle as Avegaille sat up on the ground, feeling a bit distress. Nicole May quickly untangled the straps of the shoulder bag from Avegaille's feet and wondered who owned the bag.
"Like walking backwards isn't bad enough…" Avegaille murmured out as she started to groan while Linole continued to laugh.
"Okay, I'm getting sick and tired of this. First, we find three Pokéballs lying on the ground, then we find this bag… who the heck is the owner of all these lost items?" Nicole sighed out irritably as she handed the bag over to Phil.
Linole stopped laughing as he jumped off Avegaille's lap and quickly approached Phil to sniff the scent of the bag. He noticed that it had the same scent as of the Pokéballs. As he sniffed around the route, he stopped by a tree and continued to sniff even harder from there. He felt that the scent was very strong on the spot he was at, but can't seem to figure out where it was coming from. Avegaille stood up from the ground as she looked up the tree Linole was sniffing at and noticed a guy with black hair with a beard almost shaved and wore a white lab coat and some hiking shorts. He seems to be clinging on the tree's branch, waiting for either someone to save him or trying to get away from some wild Pokémon. Avegaille seemed to remember the same person she met years ago.
"Hey mister, aren't you Professor Birch?" Avegaille shouted out to the guy clinging on the tree.
"That's right, how did you know?" he asked in return as he jumped down from the tree and approached the trainers.
"You're the professor who gave out some advanced lectures on Pokémon at Pokémon Academy but had a little trouble with some wild Pokémon on your way to Rustboro," Avegaille explained as she laughed nervously.
"Oh yes, I remember," Prof. Birch said as he placed his hand behind his head and laughed nervously. He stopped laughing as he tried to figure out why he was clinging on the tree earlier.
"Hey, Professor, why were you clinging on that tree anyways?" Phil asked as he handed over the bag he was holding to the Professor.
"Hmm, that's what I've been trying to figure out when you three came here," Prof. Birch replied as he held his chin with his left hand.
"Um, has this something to do with you trying to play with the wild Pokémon around?" Nicole interrupted as she pointed the Pokénav in front of the Professor.
Prof. Birch raised an eyebrow as he took a closer look at Nicole. Then, everyone heard a howling sound from behind them. The trainers turned around and noticed three gray furred dogs and three brown zigzag-furred raccoons with their teeth showing. Nicole raised an eyebrow as she saw the angry looks of the Poochyenas and Zigzagoons and turned back to the Professor.
"Well, Prof. Birch? This is the same thing that happened when you went to Rustboro…" Nicole told him as she closed her Pokénav and placed it in her pocket.
"Um, shouldn't we be doing something?" Avegaille asked nervously as she saw the wild Pokémon getting more irritated and started to walk slowly towards them.
"A Pokémon Battle should handle this kind of situation, but I'm afraid that the Pokémon that you all have can't do much, seeing there are more of them and less of your Pokémon," Prof. Birch explained as he observed the wild Pokémon getting closer. "Unless I had some Pokémon with me, but unfortunately, I dropped the Pokéballs somewhere in Route 102."
"Looks like we'll need all the help we can get!" Phil exclaimed out as he took out the three Pokéballs from his pocket and handed one each to Avegaille and Nicole.
"Go! Pokémon!" Avegaille exclaimed out as she tossed the Pokéball in the air. A while light appeared out of the ball as it opened and a Mudkip appeared as it landed on the ground.
"Mudkip! Mudkip!" the Mudkip exclaimed out happily as it looked at Avegaille.
"Come on Mudkip, you're going to help us drive off some wild Pokémon," Avegaille told the Mudkip as she pointed towards the wild Pokémon.
"Mudkip!" the Mudkip exclaimed out as it faced the wild Pokémon and gave out a determined look.
Nicole and Phil tossed out the Pokéball they were holding in the air. Out of the Pokéballs popped out a green wood gecko-like Pokémon and an orange furry little chick. Both of the Pokémon faced the wild Pokémon, ready to attack. Avegaille asked Linole to joined the battle as Nicole and Phil did the same for their Pokémon. Now, a Pokémon battle is ready to begin.
"Now then, call out one of your Pokémon's attacks!" Prof. Birch shouted out to the trainers.
Avegaille tried to think of an attack that a Mudkip knows as the wild Pokémon started to charge up and each one of them targeted each trainer's Pokémon. Avegaille brightened up as she saw that the wild Pokémon were about to get closer.
"Mudkip, use Water Gun on the wild Pokémon!" Avegaille exclaimed out as she pointed towards all the wild Pokémon running towards them.
"Mudkip?" the Mudkip gave out a confused look as it saw one of the wild Pokémon getting closer. The Mudkip quickly ran out of the wild Pokémon's way as the Mudkip quickly stood by the side and splashed out a strong stream of water from its mouth towards all the wild Pokémon charging towards the other Pokémon. All of the wild Pokémon stopped from continuing their attack as they stared at the Mudkip.
Nicole noticed that the Treecko she had temporarily didn't seem to even care of what's going on around. The Treecko simply folded its arms across its chest as it just stood in front of Nicole. Phil on the other hand, saw that the Torchic he was handing seemed to be so hyper as it tired to spit fire from its mouth to the wild Pokémon. The water that the Mudkip emitted from its mouth washed out the fire quickly. Sandra and Randy didn't know what to do on the battle, since they never received any commands from their trainers. Linole was getting a bit eager as he stood next to the Mudkip and started to charge up some electricity from his fur. Linole discharged the electricity from his fur to the wild Pokémon about to attack on the Mudkip. The lightning attack affected all of the wet wild Pokémon quickly and shocked them for a few seconds. After the shock, the wild Pokémon were all covered in black as they quickly ran away. Nicole May, Phil and Professor Birch all stared at Avegaille, who was a bit stunned of what happened. Avegaille noticed everyone staring at her and felt a bit nervous.
"Uh, did I just spoil the fun for everyone?" Avegaille asked nervously as she laughed nervously.
Professor Birch sweat-dropped as he approached Avegaille. He noticed that the Pokémon the trainers sent out seemed to be the ones he lost while he was on Route 102. All of the starter Pokémon gathered around Professor Birch as Nicole May and Phil picked up their Pokémon and went near Professor Birch. Avegaille picked up Linole from the ground and carried him in her arms.
"Well, actually, I think you're doing great as a Pokémon Trainer," Prof. Birch remarked to Avegaille. He turned to everyone. "And I seem to notice that the three of you already found the starter Pokémon I accidentally dropped on Route 102. Do you mind if all of you come with me at my lab in Littleroot Town?"
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The white building with an orange roof stood out in a spot full of trees and some bushes at the little town of Littleroot. As Professor Birch led the trainers inside, one of his assistants, Joshua, quickly approached the professor. Besides from his part-time job as a newscaster, Joshua was also one of Professor Birch's finest assistants. Joshua looked a bit worried as he handed over to the Professor a device similar to the one Phil received from his mom.
"I'm afraid it's going to take a long time before Capture Stylers can be available to anyone who wants to be a Pokémon Ranger," Joshua sighed out as he gave the device to Prof. Birch. "And to study more on this how this device works is not one of my expertise."
"Don't worry too much about it, Joshua, there's still plenty of time," Prof. Birch told him as he placed the Capture Styler on his lab pocket. "But anyways, I have trainers with me. Get the Pokédexes ready while I talk with them."
Joshua quickly ran towards to a room as Professor Birch led the trainers to a counter. He placed the Pokéballs of the Pokémon that the trainers used earlier on the counter. Avegaille looked curiously at the Pokéballs and wondered why the professor placed them on the counter.
"I always seem to notice that the traditional way of trainers choosing their starter Pokémon," Prof. Birch told them. "So, I decided to let the Pokémon choose the trainer they want to be instead. Since they already met you from the earlier battle, I'm surely, they can decide right now."
The Professor each let out the Pokémon from the Pokéball. All of the three starter Pokémon stood on the counter, looking at the trainers staring at them. The Mudkip seemed to notice Avegaille and quickly jumped towards Avegaille. Avegaille quickly caught the Mudkip in her arms as she gave out a sigh of relief.
"-I want you to be my trainer!-" the Mudkip told to Avegaille excitedly. "-And by the way, I'm a girl, so yeah… um, hiya once again!-"
"I'm surely we'll have fun together and with Linole also," Avegaille said in returned as she smiled. Linole smiled as he looked at the Mudkip.
"Looks like Mudkip there already likes you Avegaille," Prof. Birch told to her. He looked at the counter and noticed that the Torchic was already on the floor snuggling on Phil's leg and the Treecko cross-sitting on the counter, looking at Nicole May. "Funny how a Pokémon's personality matches their trainers quite well. While you're all at it, why don't you give your Pokémon a nickname?"
"Hmm, what name do you wish to have?" Nicole May asked to the Treecko.
"-Anything that you can think of that is a guy's name, and suits me also,-" the Treecko replied.
"Uh, does Terk work out?" Nicole asked as she looked at the Treecko with a bit of nervousness.
"-Yeah, I like that name, okay then, call me Terk from now on,-" Terk told to Nicole as he closed his eyes.
Sandra jumped off Nicole's shoulder as she landed on the counter to greet Terk, Terk opened his eyes and noticed Sandra looking at him. He gave out a smile as he turned to Sandra.
"Hi, I'm Sandra, nice to meet you Terk," Sandra told to Terk as she gave out a smile.
"Nice to meet you too…" Terk said in return as he gave out a little nervous laugh.
On the other hand, Phil and Avegaille were having a little hard time giving out nicknames to their Pokémon. Avegaille never had any experience in giving out nicknames since Linole was already nicknamed by her sister Jane. Phil on the other hand, wanted to give out a perfect name to his little Torchic. Randy tried to help out, but nothing seemed to work out for the Torchic. Avegaille didn't know where to start on giving out nicknames.
"-Hey, you know, your sister had a technique in giving out nicknames,-" Linole told Avegaille. "-She always based our names on either our species name or our evolution line."
"Hmm, Mudkip, wait… what about, Mandy?" Avegaille asked out. She looked down at the Mudkip. "Does Mandy sound like a good nickname to you?"
"-Yeah, Mandy, I like it! Suits me so well!-" Mandy exclaimed out happily as she giggled.
"Glad you like it…" Avegaille said in returned as she giggled. Linole smiled at Mandy as Mandy looked at him.
Then, Phil's Torchic suddenly came running to Avegaille's leg. Phil quickly caught up to the Torchic and carried the little chick in his arms. Avegaille, Linole and Mandy giggled as Phil looked at them with curiosity.
"Hey Phil, have you already given a nickname to your Pokémon?" Avegaille asked as she stopped giggling. "If you're having a hard time, why not try to make something out of the species name 'Torchic'?"
"Hmm, that could work… let's see, since the Torchic is a girl, I could name her… Terra," Phil said as he looked down at his Pokémon. "So, what about it, do you like the name 'Terra'?"
"Torchic!" the Torchic cried out in joy as she looked at Phil.
"Great, from now on, you'll be Terra!" Phil declared in joy as he approached Nicole. He noticed that Nicole was still watching her Pokémon mingle with each other.
Avegaille quickly approached Prof. Birch, who had been observing them for quite some time now. Joshua came back from the room he entered with Pokédexes in his hands. He quickly approached Prof. Birch and gave the devices. Avegaille looked curiously at the device Prof. Birch had on his hands. Then, Prof. Birch approached the counter and placed the Pokédexes on the counter. Nicole May looked at the Pokédex with a little bit of curiosity.
"Okay then everyone, come here for a while so that I could finally give you something which will be useful on your journey," Prof. Birch told everyone inside the room.
Avegaille and Phil quickly went near to the counter where Prof. Birch was standing in front of. Nicole May folded her arms across her chest as she waited for Prof. Birch's instructions. Avegaille on the other hand, placed Mandy on the counter and started to poke Terk's nose with her finger. Nicole May and Terk both gave an exasperated look at Avegaille as everyone else sweat-dropped.
"Okay then, before we start, I never got your names," Prof Birch told them, breaking the silence. "Since you already know me, I want you to introduce yourselves."
Avegaille stopped poking Terk as she stood up straight and looked at everyone else. Nicole May and Phil wanted Avegaille to go first. The two of them made a few signals before Avegaille was able to understand what it meant.
"Okay then, my name's Avegaille Amethyst and this is my Zigzagoon, Linole," Avegaille introduced out as she picked up Linole from her head and placed him on the counter.
"And I'm Nicole May," Nicole continued as she looked at Prof. Birch. "And over there is Phil, Avegaille's cousin."
"Okay, now that we got over that, I want each of you to have this," Prof. Birch said as he handed each trainer a Pokédex. Then, he took out Pokéballs from his pocket and gave each trainer five balls.
The trainers placed the Pokéballs in their bag. Avegaille checked out her Pokédex and scanned out Terk first. She was quite amused at the data that the Pokédex gave out about Terk and decided to keep it to herself.
"Now then, what you all received is a Pokédex and five Pokéballs," Prof. Birch continued. "You can use the Pokéballs to catch wild Pokémon and have them in your team if you like. And you can use the Pokédex to gather data about a certain Pokémon you wish to know about. Now, are there any questions?"
"Um, yeah, is there a port here that can get you to another region?" Nicole May asked out slowly.
"Yeah, there's a port here, a few miles away from my lab," Prof. Birch replied. "Why? Are you planning to go to another region?"
"Hey, if you're going off to another region, we might as well come with you," Avegaille quickly interrupted as she looked at Nicole May worriedly.
"Hmm, well, if you all plan to go to another region, the best thing to do is to visit Prof. Elm at New Bark Town in Johto and Prof. Oak at Pallet Town in Kanto," Prof. Birch told them. "They can do some certain upgrades to your Pokédex and even your Pokénav, in case you all have one."
"Hmm, it would be nice to go to another region, but which one?" Phil asked to himself. He placed Terra on the counter as he took Randy from his shoulder and carried him in his arms. "Oh well, whatever region Nicole wants to go to."
"Oh yes, and one more thing, before you all book up for a cruise in the sea, be sure to call your parents so they'll know where you're all off to," Prof. Birch added as he watched the trainers talk to themselves.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"I do not wish you guys to come with me on this trip," Nicole muttered out as she got out of the building while everyone else were already outside.
"And why not?" Avegaille asked in suspicion as she folded her arms across her chest.
Silence brimmed the surroundings as a gentle breeze blew at Nicole's face. Nicole looked down on the ground as she sighed. Phil looked a bit worried as he watched Nicole and wondered what was up with her. Sandra felt a bit depressed as she looked up at Nicole.
"Look, I do not wish to tell why, I just want to go by myself, okay?" Nicole quickly replied irritably as she lifted up her head and frowned. She quickly picked up Sandra from the ground and carried her in her arms as she ran off.
Avegaille quickly grabbed Nicole's arm and pulled Nicole right in front of her. Nicole looked at Avegaille irritably as Avegaille released her arm. Sandy felt a bit afraid as she jumped off Nicole's arm and landed on the ground.
"I don't get why you even bother trying to have me around you," Nicole grumbled out. "Most of the time, you don't want me around. If that's what you want, I might as well get out of your way."
"That's what you have been thinking ever since we went to Pokémon Academy," Avegaille quickly protested as she clenched her fists. "You started to act so different during our classes and wanted to be alone most of the time. I wanted to be your friend, but you refused to be my friend. Even now, you're still like that. I don't care if you don't want me to come with you but I'm still coming along with you anyways!"
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
End of Chapter 6
Okay, any reviews? oO;;;