11. An Electrifying Encounter
We rounded the corner and what we saw shocked me.
'Oh my gosh!' Jasmine exclaimed, she was about to run towards it, but Brock stopped her.
It looked like a Pokémon, but it was struggling.
It had a blue face and small blue legs, it had cream wool atop its head and blotches of wool over its body. It had two horns on either side of its head they were dark grey at the base, dark yellow in the middle and then dark grey again at the top, it was like three rings around its horn. It's tail was the same pattern, but it started with yellow and had four rings with a bronze ball at the tip.
'We need to approach it cautiously.' Brock whispered. 'If we startle it, it could become more distressed and it could get injured more, then we won't be able to help it.' Brock said.
'I'll approach it first.' I volunteered.
'Are you sure, Jordan?' Jasmine asked me.
'Of course.' I replied. 'If it settles with me, you can come after me.' I told her.
'Camilla and I will see if it's injured in any way.' Brock said.
'It's trapped.' Camilla announced quietly. 'See it's wool? It's trapped in some sort of wire.' Camilla said.
She was right, this Pokémon had been caught in a trap.
What kind of despicable humans trap Pokémon.
'Who would trap Pokémon?' Jasmine asked.
'Pokémon hunters.' Brock said with malice in his voice.
'Pokémon hunters?' I asked.
'Pokémon hunters are people who hunt Pokémon for their produce, for instance, Doduo, they are hunted for their beaks, they are used for fashion with Pokémon hunters and their feather are used in clothing for some Pokémon hunters, I imagine this Pokémon is hunted for its will and its horns, they must have something valuable to hunters.' Brock explained.
Hunters were despicable. Why would they do something this cruel to a Pokémon, even if they didn't hunt in this place anymore, this Pokémon would get really hurt or even killed by the traps that were still here.
Pokémon hunters were as despicable as team rocket, they had tried to kill humans though not Pokémon, but Giovanni was bad attacking my family and Camilla's.
I slowly approached the Pokémon,. It looked at me in alarm and started to writhe, I understood why it was skittish around people, I needed to calm it down quickly or else it would injure itself even more, I didn't want it to be hurt at all, but that was kind of inevitable as of now.
I held my hands up to show it I had no intention of hurting it.
The Pokémon looked into my eyes, it eyes held the emotion of fear.
'I'm not here to hurt you.' I said in the most comforting soft voice I could. 'I want to help you.' I continued.
I kept walking toward it slowly.
It stopped writhing and held still.
I could see it was completely petrified of humans. This would be difficult to help it, but hopefully I could help it.
I stopped a feet or so from it and held out my hand.
It looked at my hand with hesitance, but sniffed my hand and started to calm down.
I closed the distance and held its head in my hands, I started to stroke its head from its head to its nose in slow strokes.
It closed its eyes in comfort. I had calmed it down.
I nodded to my friends.
Brock took his backpack off and he and Camilla rummaged through it looking for medicine and first aid supplies.
Jasmine came toward the Pokémon and took over my role as the Pokémon's eyes were closed.
It opened it eyes when the pressure changed, Jasmine probably had softer hands than me.
It caught sight of Jasmine and had fear in its eyes before its eyes settle on me.
'It's okay.' I reassured it. 'She's a friend.' I told it.
The Pokémon seemed to calm down at my words and closed its eyes as Jasmine continued to stroke it.
I saw Brock and Camilla were wiping the wounds on this Pokémon's skin.
'Do you guys want any help?' I asked them.
'We're good here, thanks Jordan.' Brock said.
'Just keep the Pokémon calm please.' Camilla asked.
I stood next to Jasmine as Brock and Camilla continued working, helping with this Pokémon's wounds.
I didn't feel completely useless, but I knew how to approach a Pokémon like this.
Aerodactyl was quite the opposite, destructive in its wake, but I was able to tame it and catch it. We had some problems, but what trainer didn't?
I didn't blame him for his mistakes, I didn't have him long enough to get him to keep his primal instincts under control.
While Jasmine was calming this Pokémon down I decided to scan it.
'Mareep, the wool Pokémon. When Mareep's woolly coat builds up static electricity, the end of its tail glows brightly. The static charge grows as Mareep moves and its wool rubs together.'I didn't think that would happen with this Mareep, the picture I had of Mareep was completely different to the one before me.
The picture had a glowing ball at the end of its striped tail. The picture also had a full body of wool. The face was a deep blue and its horns were glossy with black and yellow looking really healthy.
Unfortunately this Mareep may not look better for a while.
This seemed like a great Pokémon to add to my team, but I would never try to catch it, especially not in this state.
'We'll make sure you get better.' I reassured the Mareep as it cooed under Jasmines soft touch.
Camilla started to sew up the wounds as Brock was cutting the wool that was struck to the wire mesh that Mareep was caught in.
'It's a lovely Pokémon, isn't it?' Jasmine asked me.
'It is, I just hope we can help it, I can't bear to see a Pokémon in distress.' I replied.
'I know, I wouldn't know what to do if any of my Pokémon were in distress.' Jasmine said.
'Any?' I asked. 'I only thought you had Magnemite.' I only remembered seeing one Pokémon.
Jasmine flushed. 'I meant if I had any other Pokémon.' She said in a rush.
Maybe she did have other Pokémon, but she didn't use them, I didn't push Jasmine, she would tell us her problems when she was ready, it does take a while to trust people, but I already considered her a friend and part of our group.
I looked over to Brock and Camilla, Brock had moved back a foot or so, Camilla was working like a pro at doing her best to sew up the Mareep's wounds.
Brock looked over to me and gave me a thumbs up to say that Camilla was doing a great job.
I wouldn't have guessed that Camilla would be great at being some kind of doctor or nurse to Pokémon. Maybe one day she could even work alongside the nurse Joys..
Maybe this was her calling, it could be her new dream.
'Okay.' Camilla said as soon as she tied off another wound. 'We should see how the other side looks, we don't know how far or how long this Mareep had the netting on its body.'
Brock gestured for Camilla to go and inspect the other side.
The Mareep had not noticed Brock or Camilla, perhaps they were gentle and cautious with the way they treated the wounds.
I moved to the opposite side of Jasmine to see if Brock or Camilla had found any wounds or some sort of injury.
'These injuries don't look too bad, Camilla.' Brock said. 'Maybe we should just clean them so they don't get infected.' Brock suggested.
Camilla took out a few tissues and started to clean the wounds.
It was only a couple minutes until both Brock and Camilla stood up.
'We've done the best we can.' Camilla said.
'Okay.' Jasmine said.
'How are you feeling Mareep.'
Mareep chirped, it was a little weak, but it was strong enough to know it was feeling and looking better.
I really wanted to catch it, but I couldn't, it would feel like I was taking advantage of its vulnerability. It wouldn't feel right.
I looked over at Camilla.
She smiled to me, I could tell she was proud of what she achieved, I was too, maybe this was her calling, healing sick and injured Pokémon.
'Hey, Mareep, what do you say to watching me train then we can get you to a Pokémon centre to get a proper check up?' I asked it.
Mareep chirped in agreement.
I needed to train both Cyndaquil and Heracross, but mostly Heracross, he was weak to flying, so getting him to a higher level would be beneficial.
Liam was able to match Falkners Pidgey with his Spinarak and Spinarak was also a bug type, except Heracross was a bug and fighting, double the weakness to flying, plus Cyndaquil couldn't take on this gym all by himself.
I decided it would be good for Heracross to battle my Cyndaquil as Heracross was also weak to fire and it would train both my Pokémon at once.
'Hey, Jasmine, could you help me train?' I asked.
'M-me?' She asked clearly surprised.
'Yeah, I've never seen how you handle Pokémon in person, I've battled Brock and Camilla before, I want to see how my new friend battles.' I told her.
She was definitely surprised by my question, she also looked hesitant.
She looked to Brock and Camilla, they both gave her a thumbs up.
'Sure.' She replied after a few seconds of silence.
'One more thing,' I started, 'can you battle with my Cyndaquil?' I asked.
'You want to battle against your own Pokémon?' She asked.
'It would help me train, you see Heracross is weak to flying type and he's also weak to fire and Cyndaquil is a fire type, so training against a Pokémon with a type disadvantage would help him.' I replied.
'Uh…sure.' She confirmed.
I let Cyndaquil out.
I crouched down to him.
'Okay, Cyndaquil you're going to battle against Heracross in a minute and I've asked Jasmine if she can help you train so I can help Heracross, can you please do as she asks?' I asked it.
Cyndaquil nodded its head. I was glad it was a trusting Pokémon.
I knew that not all of Camilla's Pokémon trusted her, but I'm sure that would change someday.
We found a small clearing after we continued further on the route and decided to have our battle there.
Mareep stood next to me where a trainer box would be on a battle field.
Jasmine stood on the opposite side of the clearing.
'I will stand as judge.' Brock announced.
'This will be a one on one battle between Jasmine and Jordan. Each trainer will use one Pokémon, the battle will end as soon as the first Pokémon faints, begin.' He called.
'Heracross, I choose you.'
'Come on, Cyndaquil, we can do this.' Jasmine said. It was a little quiet, but Cyndaquil seemed as confident as Heracross and I did.
'Okay, Heracross, this battle is to help with your weakness to flying, I know you're strong, but I don't want to take any chances.' I told him.
I decided I was going to attack first.
'Heracross, use arm thrust.' Heracross ran toward Cyndaquil.
'Cyndaquil, dodge and use ember.' Jasmine called.
Cyndaquil obeyed and jumped to the side.
Almost immediately after it shot a ball of fire toward Heracross.
Heracross was hit and I saw pain flash across his face, but he looked fine as the pain faded.
'You okay, Heracross?' I asked him.
He grunted in affirmation.
'Use struggle bug.' I said.
I knew this wouldn't be effective as it was a bug type, but I also knew that it almost always had one hundred percent accuracy, only one Pokémon had been able to dodge it and that was a Bellsprout in sprout tower.
Heracross rose into the air and let out the rays.
'Cyndaquil, use ember on the rays.' Jasmine called.
I stood there in a little shocked, I had never thought about that, the rays weren't invisible, they were hard to see, but they were still distinguishable.
Cyndaquil used ember on the incoming rays and he incinerated every single one.
I was still in shock , so much so that I wasn't ready for Cyndaquil's next move.
'Use smokescreen.' Jasmine said.
She was trying to obscure our vision to gain an advantage, an advantage that she had already possessed, not only had she stopped two of our attacks, but now she was making it even harder for us to land a hit.
I didn't know Jasmine was this good at battling, she seemed nervous when I asked her, but she seemed to know exactly what she was doing.
What else could I do now, Heracross had two other moves I hadn't used yet, but I didn't know if they would hit especially when our vision was obscured.
If I wanted to win I'd have to try a different tactic than usual.
'Heracross, use leer.' I knew this was a good move especially if Jasmine was going to try and get rid of Heracross quickly.
I had to show Heracross that he could win with a disadvantage. He hadn't won that many battles especially when he was at a disadvantage. I had to show him he was as strong no matter what opponent he faced.
I looked to Mareep who seemed really focused on the match, I was afraid it may want to join in and I couldn't let it, at least not in the condition it was currently in.
'Cyndaquil, use ember.'
'Heracross dodge.' I said.
Heracross managed to jump out the way in time.
'Use leer.' I said.
Jasmine didn't look too worried, but I needed to lower Cyndaquil's defence to get back in this battle to make it more even.
I knew exactly what I was going to do next, I just hoped Heracross was quick enough and Cyndaquil wasn't.
'Use smokescreen.' Jasmine called out.
'Heracross hide from Cyndaquil in the smoke.
Jasmine didn't expect me to use Cyndaquil's attack against it and now I had the upper hand.
'Keep an eye out Cyndaquil.' Jasmine cautioned.
I had to attack now before the smokescreen dispersed.
'Brick break.' I called.
Heracross came out of the smoke with a raised glowing hand. It brought it down straight on Cyndaquil.
Cyndaquil fell with a squeal of pain.
Jasmine looked at Cyndaquil like it had been defeated, but Cyndaquil still looked like it was willing to fight.
I thought that brick break would knock it out since I lowered its defence two stages.
Cyndaquil struggled to get to its feet, its legs shook, but it managed to stay upright.
Jasmine looked relieved that she was still in it.
'Cyndaquil, use ember.' Jasmine called.
I realised too late what was about to happen.
I guess I had underestimated Jasmine, she was a true trainer. She was not a novice, not like I seemed. I was making rookie mistakes, I had travelled two regions and I was still making mistakes.
Heracross fell due to how close it was in proximity to the ember.
But Cyndaquil also fell, that move must have worn it out. Maybe my move was powerful enough so it could only use one more move.
Brock looked to see if any of our Pokémon would get up, but they both lay still.
'Both, Cyndaquil and Heracross are unable to battle, this match ends in a draw.' Brock announced.
I returned Heracross and Jasmine returned Cyndaquil, she then came over to me and handed me Cyndaquil's Pokéball.
'You were great Jasmine, I've not drawn a battle in ages.' I told her. 'I didn't know you could battle so well, especially when I lent you a Pokémon you had never used before.' I praised her.
'Thanks Jordan, but I have trained before, I did help with keeping the Heracross at bay in Cherrygrove.'
I did remember that, but that was with her own Pokémon.
I had never been lent a Pokémon, I wondered if it would be harder to battle with someone else's Pokémon especially when you had no idea what moves it had.
How had Jasmine been so knowledgeable about that?
I decided not to ask, it wasn't important, she battled well and I was glad to have battled her now. I had now battled everyone that I had travelled with.
'Hey, Mareep.' I started, crouching down to its level. 'How about we go to the Pokémon centre and we all get rested up and then you can watch us tackle my first gym?' I asked it.
It chirped in delight and ran off toward the direction of Violet city.
Was it really that eager to have a check up? It seemed skittish around us to start with, I'm sure more humans would aggravate it, but at the moment, Mareep seemed like it didn't care if it saw any other humans.
We reached Violet city after a few seconds, we had to run since this Mareep seemed really fast.
There were a few weird looks in its direction, some people even tried to stop it.
They knew we were chasing after it and obviously wanted to help.
The Mareep seemed very agile and it was intent on a destination and just dodged the people that tried to make a grab for it.
We quickly apologised to anyone who tried to help us catch it when they narrowly missed. I couldn't really return it, it wasn't exactly my Pokémon.
I saw many of the residents shoot glares at us probably thinking why we hadn't called it back yet.
After a minute or so we saw where Mareep was headed.
The gym, it couldn't battle, it was in no condition to battle.
I couldn't let it reach the gym, it had kept the distance between us as we wove through the streets of Violet city. I wondered how did it know where the gym in this city was, had it been here before?
I would definitely have to stop it before it went in, my friends and I were starting to get tired running through the streets of a city after a Pokémon that seemed eager to get somewhere where it shouldn't want to go, for a Pokémon that was on its last legs about an hour ago, it seemed fine enough to run.
It didn't stop at the doors too long, as they opened almost as soon as Mareep reached them.
Why was this Mareep so intent on battling, did it not know the condition it was in. Maybe my battle against Jasmine had made its mind up that it wanted to battle for me in the gym, it seemed to trust me enough, but I didn't want to use Mareep, not in the condition it was in, if it wasn't injured in any way then I may have used it in the battle, but it seemed I had no choice at the moment.
I ran inside a few seconds after Mareep, my friends hot on my heels, and saw that it was waiting for me on the platform that would raise me up to battle Falkner.
I did not want to be caught on that when it decided to go up. I did not want Falkner to see me and Mareep standing together that would mean that we would have already engaged and a battle would be imminent.
I couldn't battle for a number of reasons; One, Mareep was in no state for a battle. Two, if it was in any state to battle it was only one Pokémon. Three, I needed to rest Cyndaquil and Heracross, even if Mareep was my third Pokémon.
This Mareep was on a suicide mission, and I could not let it get hurt any more than it already had.
I reached the platform Mareep was on and almost immediately the platform rose.
I looked at my friends as I was elevated up into the air.
They shouted my name as the platform rose up, but I couldn't do anything, I had no way to stop the rising platform.
Now I had unintentionally challenged Falkner.
When I finally reached the top I turned around and faced the battlefield, it would be rude if I kept my back turned.
I cursed under my breath, this is not how I expected this day to go.
I saw Falkner was on the opposite side of the battlefield, already waiting for me, but his was facing away from me.
Mareep bounded to the battlefield, it stopped when it reached halfway in my side of the battlefield. It didn't look back to see if I would follow, but I had no choice now.
I saw the referee look at the Mareep a little confused, but he pushed past the confusion and just accepted the state this Mareep was in.
I made my way to the trainer box as my friend went to sit in the stands, they had rode up the elevator.
I looked towards Falkner and sighed in defeat, I had probably lost this battle already and I was probably the worst Pokémon trainer for not being able to stop Mareep, it was just a really stubborn Pokémon.
Falkner turned around and I saw the smile on his face, he was as eager to battle me as I was to battle him, but I just wish it was under different circumstances.
'Well, Jordan, I see you have acquired a new Pokémon.' Falkner observed.
I was going to say that it wasn't exactly mine, but Falkner didn't let me get a word in.
'If it wishes to battle for you then you can use it even if you haven't caught it, though I have to say it looks a bit ill.' Falkner observed.
'It's stubborn and seems really eager to battle alongside me.' I replied nonchalantly.
'Fantastic!' Falkner exclaimed, flashing his signature smile 'Well I hope you've trained enough, you are about to witness the true might of bird Pokémon.' Falkner called.
I felt my aura activate and I immediately fell to my knees.
I slowly got up, but felt a pain pushing me down. I looked at Mareep and saw that we were connected. I could feel the pain it was in, what it was experiencing and it was horrific.
How could it stand with this much pain and torment seeping through its whole body? It was a miracle that it could walk let alone run. If I was this Mareep I would have been on the floor writing in pain.
I managed to stand up slowly.
Falkner looked confused, the referee looked at me in concern.
I then felt a surge of power fill me up, I felt like I could conquer anything, I had only felt my aura like this once, when I was battling with Pikachu just before the league in Kanto, when he created a little thunderstorm above the battlefield. In that battle I didn't need to speak to Pikachu that time, he knew what move to use without me saying anything, we were completely in sync.
This was a little different, I wasn't completely in sync, it felt like a little aura was radiating off of me to Mareep to keep it healthy enough to battle.
'I'm good.' I assured Falkner and the referee as I stood up straight.
I was better than good, but the only people that could see my aura was Camilla, when her ESP was active, and myself.
My voice sounded muffled behind my aura barrier. I wondered if Falkner even heard it, but I knew he had no idea my aura was activated, nevertheless my question was answered a fraction of a second later.
'Fantastic.' Falkner beamed before he nodded to the judge, who stood to the side of the battlefield.
'This official gym battle will be between Falkner, the Violet City gym leader and the challenger, Jordan Hale of Pallet town, both trainers will have the use of two Pokémon, only the challenger is allowed to substitute, the battle will end when both Pokémon from one side has been defeated.' The referee announced.
Neither Falkner or the referee knew that I only had one Pokémon that could battle. I wouldn't be able to substitute, even if I wanted to and Mareep wasn't even mine.
'Pidgey you're up.' Falkner called with so much energy.
How was he so optimistic? I was never that optimistic, I tried to be outgoing to always look on a sort of bright side, but I could never be as cheery as Falkner seemed.
I tried to focus my aura power, I wanted to give some of my strength toward Mareep, to keep it well enough to fight, to make sure that it's condition wouldn't be a factor in this battle. I'm sure if my aura was keeping just Mareep healthy enough to battle then it was okay, but I couldn't control when my aura activated or deactivated, it popped up at the most random and unfortunate times, normally.
I knew my aura was radiating, but if I could control it, even just a little bit the next time my father saw me he would be proud of me, he said he was going to see my sometime in Johto, but he didn't tell me when.
I needed to turn my attention to the battle else Mareep may have lost before the battle had barely begun.
'Pidgey, use gust.' Falkner called.
I couldn't let an attack hit Mareep, it may knock it out.
Fear leapt into me and my aura had a sort of purple tinge to it, but I brushed that off, I couldn't get distracted, not now.
'Mareep jump to the side and use thundershock.' I had no idea if Mareep had this move, but it was an electric type, so I could only hope.
Mareep jumped out of the way of the gust and shot a thundershock toward Pidgey, Pidgey tried to dodge, but the bolts of lightning that came down were random, so it was a fifty, fifty chance of hitting. Pidgey must have been unlucky because it was struck in the middle of its body.
Pidgey fell straight toward the ground.
A dust cloud appeared as Pidgey hit the ground with a muffled thud. The cloud was quite large for such a small bird.
Could Pidgey have stayed up through that?
No one knew, Falkner seemed uneasy about the possible outcome too. I was sure he had an incline to the result already as his smile had disappeared.
The dust finally cleared and Pidgey seemed to be still and knocked out.
'Pidgey is unable to battle, the winner is Mareep.' The referee announced.
I was glad that Mareep was able to win against Pidgey, but I didn't feel right letting it battle.
I didn't have any idea how strong this Mareep would be if it wasn't injured in any way, if it was a lot stronger than my Cyndaquil and Heracross.
Maybe it could win this battle by itself, I would have liked to use or even have the option to use another Pokémon, but Mareep seemed fine and happy enough to keep battling for now.
'You're up, Pidgeotto.' Falkner said calling out his next Pokémon.
I suddenly felt my aura wavering.
Was it going to leave, when I needed it the most? This was one of the unfortunate times, could my aura not stay until the battle was over? My aura was only with me for a short amount of time, but this seemed like the shortest time it had been activated for.
How would Mareep react?
Even if Mareep was able to win I don't think I could accept the badge.
It wasn't right. I shouldn't accept the badge, it would be a default win, if I did win I would ask Falkner for a rematch, but this time I would use both Cyndaquil and Heracross, I wouldn't let Mareep battle, especially with how it was.
I looked to my friends.
Jasmine looked on in hope, hope that both Mareep and I would be okay. Brock looked a little lost, I guessed he was kind of like me wondering if my aura would hold out long enough. Camilla looked at me in shock. She knew my aura was going to vanish any minute now, I could sense that her ESP was not active, but she knew when my aura was active or not active, she had been with me the longest so she knew how I acted depending on my aura.
All of my aura power drained out of me and vanished.
For a second everything went in slow motion.
Falkner opened his mouth and probably called out an attack, but I couldn't hear anything, the only sense I had at the moment was sight, all other senses had been ripped from me.
My four other senses had returned, but I fell to my hands and knees asa surge of discharged electricity flew across the room.
It didn't hit anyone, save for the Pidgeotto who immediately fell to the ground as Pidgey had done not too long ago. Even if it did hit anyone it wouldn't be painful as it was discharged, so I wondered how it had hurt the Pidgeotto if it wasn't a charged attack.
I hadn't even called out an attack for Mareep to use.
Falkner looked at his second bird Pokémon in utter shock, he hadn't even processed that I fell to my knees.
He was still focused on the battle. If his Pidgeotto managed to stop
Itself from falling or survive the crash I would lose the battle and I might even lose Mareep because I was being selfish.
I was breathing heavily with shallow breaths.
I heard a crash and assumed Pidgeotto had hit the ground.
I didn't look up I was still trying to catch my breath.
A few seconds passed before the referee called out the result.
'Pidgeotto is unable to battle, the winner is Mareep, the victory goes to the challenger, Jordan Hale of Pallet Town.'
I looked up and saw Mareep fall.
I quickly went up to Mareep, stumbling as I tried to catch my breath, I pushed through the pain I felt, this Mareep was the top priority, I would rest when it was in sage hands. I picked its lump body up, not bothering to collect my badge, I had to get Mareep to the Pokémon centre.
My friends were right on my heels, winning this way was not worth the badge, not even when I was already decided the winner.
My friends and I made our way to the Pokémon centre as quickly as we could.
'Oh my goodness!' Nurse Joy cried as soon as we entered the Pokémon centre, she and her Chandra came from around the counter and took Mareep from me and into the emergency wing.
Camilla: Jordan is in a depressed state at the moment, he refuses to sign off, hopefully he'll help a bit later, anyway see you next time.Chapter twelve: A Fight for Flight