Author's Note:
Here it is, the only in-between chapter between Verdanturf and Mauville but they are pretty close together and we had a long journey between Slateport and Verdanturf so not too bad. Any who, based on the title you can guess who'll be getting caught. I've tried to keep her similar to her anime counterpart, if only because I loved her anime personality. This chapter is a combination of the episode by the same name but also the episode Delcatty got your tongue. Also, something I noticed was how similar this Pokémon is in the anime to Dawn's Buneary: a pure normal type, caught fairly early on in their respective journey's, with a pretty developed personality, while it could evolve it doesn't and they each know some sort of ice move. Just a coincidence I noticed during planning. This chapter is also slightly on the shorter side, but I had a three-part movie arc, contest, and gym battle all within the span of six chapters (thanks past me for planning it that way) not to mention I became sick over the course of writing it (not the dreaded that shall not be named). We also get a brief introduction to a character who... probably should've showed up sooner. Maybe he'll be important later. One final point, don't expect Skitty to have the biggest character arc. Just like all cats, she won't change much but still just loveable. Don't forget to vote in the Poll and with that, let's begin!
Chapter Twenty-Eight: I Feel Skitty
May sighed as she sat on the grassy field, somewhere between Verdanturf and Mauville. While it's been a couple days since her loss to Harley in the small towns contest, it hardly feels like any time has passed. The entire final encounter just kept replaying in her head.
Her eyes danced over the current squad they had out at the moment. Poochyena was making the most noise out of her team, seeming to spar with Brock's Aron, although he appeared to be struggling to help him. Combusken was running alongside Grovyle, matching his embers against the wood gecko's pure grass type. Beautifly was high up in the air, battling in a seemingly three on one battle. She teamed up with Dustox and Murkrow to take on Taillow... it didn't take her long to figure out whose idea that was.
Over by the pond was Serena, who appeared to be in some sort of conversation with her Feebas. She knew something happened when the water type visited the ranch back in Pallet but not exact details. While Clamperl sat nearby, clearly offering moral support. While Mudkip and Lotad swam back and forth.
A series of explosion drew her attention, as she saw Corphish locked in a battle with Serena's Cacnea. Meditite was nearby, practising her psychic abilities with Kirlia. Donphan spewed past with a high speed. She barely had chance to blink as Pikachu appeared by his side, whacking him with an iron tail. It was still surprising to see such a small Pokémon be able to control the larger one in such a way.
She glanced over to Brock, where he was on a blanket. Slakoth was fast asleep next to him, as he finished changing the bandage on his Electrike's leg with his Sudowoodo's help. Her pure electric type was nearby, performing some sort of cheering act to keep the injured Pokémon entertained. The sight brought a smile to her face. Serena's Ralts' appeared to be practising some sort of dance as a blue light surrounded his body. Clearly using psychic to better control his movements with exaggerated leaps. While Sylveon and Mawile were nearby, giving him some pointers.
"Hey."
She turned to the source of the voice and found Ash looking down at her. Her head fell slightly as he took a seat next to her.
"Still upset over what happened?" he asked, although she didn't feel much like talking, "it's nothing to be ashamed about. Everyone loses and we all get rivals like Harley. There was a girl in Johto who competed against Serena, because her father was some rich business CEO, he had all her Pokémon breed and trained by professionals. She was a real character who'd throw a hissy-fit over the simplest-"
"Thanks Ash but it's not just because I lost," she cut him off, letting out a long sigh, "it's more because of what he told them. About Tentacool."
"Max didn't know what Harley was planning or that he was being recorded," he insisted, "and I know he feels real bad about being tricked."
"I know... I know," she sighed, "and I don't blame him... well part of me does but not completely. I'm upset because he so easily tricked me."
"You trusted him, and his nice guy routine was good," he replied, "I almost fell for it."
"But you didn't," she seethed.
"No," he admitted, "but that was more because of Serena than me. Had she not been here and sensed something was off then I'd be none-the-wiser."
"So how do I stop myself feeling stupid?" she asked.
"You don't let him trick you again," he replied, "you're likely to run into him again. If not at another contest, then at the grand festival. That's what you're both aiming for, after all. So, when you do, don't fall for whatever he tries and don't let it get to you."
"And until then?" she asked.
"Catch a Pokémon, have a battle, come up with a new appeals performance," he stood up, stretching his arms, "you still need four more ribbons before reaching the grand festival so don't let this bump in the road slow you down. Sooner your mind is on something else, the sooner you'll forget your shame."
She stood back up, her eyes set on Minun, ready to perfect her new routine they've been planning. When a bush rustled.
She turned to the source and quirked one eyebrow up. Intrigued, she stepped closer as a pink blur shot out. It zoomed across the field, tackling Pikachu over, with them rolling inches out of the way of Donphan. It bounced up and down as it padded his tail. It was now May could take in the full appearance.
It was a small, pink, feline Pokémon with a stumpy body and four short legs. The face was a cream-colour, with crescent-shaped marking and pink fur on top. Slit-like eyes and tufted ears with purple interiors. A small button nose and small mouth just made her look adorable. She had a slender tail with a bulky pink section at the end, terminated by three pin-like structures with yellow ball-like tips. Stopping just a little bit away from her, she tilted her head to the side with a seemingly curious look.
"Who's that Pokémon?" May wondered aloud. Glancing over to Ash, as he already had his Pokédex out.
"It's a Skitty," Max commented, "remember dad's Delcatty? Well, Skitty is the pre-evolution."
"So, this little one evolves into a Delcatty?" May mumbled, staring down at the feline. Her mind filled with an image of her father's pure normal type, usually prancing around the place like show owned it. While Max got on great with Linoone, playing with him whenever he got chance. It was a shame last year when old age caught up with her. Shaking the upsetting feelings out of her head, she narrowed her eyes, Ash's suggestion from a couple moments ago ringing in her head, "I'm gonna catch her."
"Nya?" the normal type seemed to ask, staring back up to her. Tilting their head to the side.
"Busken," her starter declared, stepping forward.
"You want to help me catch Skitty?" May asked.
"Ken," he nodded, a glint in his eye. Swiping one foot across the dirt field, he crouched. Narrowing his gaze at their target.
"Nya!" Skitty cried out, crouching ready to pounce. The pink tail swaying back and forth.
Charging forward his claws glew and extended. Quickly covering the distance between them.
Skitty leaped up, slapping her tail into her starter's face. He froze in place, claws returning to normal. Leaping overhead, the pink Pokémon landed behind her fire fighting type. Turning her head to the side, she looked up with a wide smile on her tiny face.
"You are just the cutest!" she gushed.
"Combusken!"
Her starter spun around, shooting out a series of fire balls. The embers scattered across the ground surrounding their opponent.
Swinging her pink tail back and forth, she knocked a couple of them away. Turning around, she ducked out of the way of a round-house kick.
Shooting forward, she ran between his legs. Swiping her tail to the side, it patted her starter's ankles but hardly seemed to affect him. A swift kick in the face sent her flying across the makeshift battlefield. Rolling on the ground she weakly pushed herself out.
May's fire fighting type took a deep breath, letting out a stream of flames from his beak. It quickly engulfed the normal type from her view.
With a mighty cry a blew cold wind blew back. It smashed through the flames, breaking it apart.
"Whoa, where did it learn blizzard?" May asked.
"I dunno," Ash mumbled from the side-lines, "it's hardly like an ice type would be out here for her to learn from."
"She could've gotten it from one of her parents," Brock suggested, "Pikachu's not a ground type but his kids could know dig out of the egg thanks to him."
"Pikapi!"
She couldn't pay attention as the pure normal type jumped up to her starter's face. Whacking her tail back and forth, the pink appendage delivering blow after blow.
"Combusk!" he growled, swiping a claw down in a slash. Knocking their opponent to the floor. With a swipe of his head, a flurry of fire balls shot out.
Crouched on the floor, the feline Pokémon
"Hold on Combusken!" May called out. Her starter stopped and turned to face her. Eyes narrowed with a twitching beak, he never looked at her with such ferocity back when he was a little Torchic... not wanting to comprehend how he changed when evolving, she pulled out a small basic device, "go Pokéball!"
The red and white ball flew through the air and struck the beat-up normal type. Absorbing her inside with a red flash of light, it landed on the ground and began shaking back and forth. Crossing her fingers, her eyes locked on the device. Breath refusing to pass through her lips as she watched.
After what felt like an eternity, it stopped and dinging. A smile grew on her face as she ran forward. Picking it up, she performed a little hop, holding it up to her face, "alright! We did it Combusken!"
"Busken," he muttered, turning around, and walking away. Her eyes lingered on him as he walked over to Grovyle, initiating another practise battle. Shaking her head, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her Pokédex. Using it to scan her newly caught Pokémon:
Skitty, The Kitten Pokémon. Skitty is known to chase around playfully after its own tail. In the wild, this Pokémon lives in holes in the trees of forests. It is very popular as a pet because of its adorable looks.
Type: Normal
Ability: Cute Charm
Hidden Ability: Wonder Skin (Note: This hidden ability is currently unlocked)
Gender: Female
Nature: Sassy (Note: This is could change when/if this Pokémon evolves)
Move(s): Fake Out, Growl, Tail Whip, Tackle, Foresight, Sing, Attract, Disarming Voice, Double Slap, Captivate, Blizzard, Assist
May's Pokédex switched screens to a list of her current on hand team, although all the images were silhouettes except for Skitty, "please select which Pokémon you wish to send back."
Her eyes scanned over the top of the device to all six of her team members. Most had returned to what they were doing before but her mind was working double time. She hadn't decided who she'll use in the next contest for either round but seeing as she isn't showing favouritism, it should be one of the four who've already competed. Plus, she'll need all the help she can get when preparing for the battle rounds, evidently so that leaves either Clamperl or Beautifly.
She darted her eyes between the two before landing on Clamperl. After Mauville, they'll be heading up to Mt Chimney for both Fallarbor and Larvaridge. That sort of location wouldn't be nice for a water type like herself in the slightest. With her decision made, she reached for her belt and recalled her water type. She hit the image of her bivalve Pokémon as it turned from the shilluette, and the device teleported out of her hand.
"Congratulation May," Brock smiled, approaching her, "if you'd like, I could give Skitty the once over. After her battle with Combusken, I mean."
"Thanks Brock," she smiled, handing the device over to him. He gladly accepted it and walked over to the blanket where both his Electrike and Slakoth were snoozing. She barely had to turn around to find Serena stood over her, "gonna tell me I could've done that better?"
"No," she replied, "and you need to stop beating yourself up over losing to Harley. Everyone loses sometimes. It happens."
"Yeah, yeah," she dismissed, "in case you didn't realise, even Combusken blames me. He handled that battle without my help at all. He doesn't even like me anymore."
"Actually, I think he loves you," Serena replied, "he just has a... unique way of showing it. Though I'm not surprised."
"What do you mean?" May asked.
"Think back to his time as a Torchic," she explained, "the first time you showed him real attention over the others was just before trick house."
"Not this again," she sighed, "I've learnt my lesson. I'm not showing Beautifly or anyone else favouritism anymore."
"I know you're not," she replied, "but I don't think Combusken sees it that way."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well before the trick house, he acted up. Corphish stole his food," she replied, "and then you two spent the day together. I think that made a connection in his head that to get your attention he has to act up. That's why he lost control in the battle with Harley and why he volunteered to battle Skitty. He wants your attention."
"But if I give him attention for acting out, wouldn't that just encourage him to do it more?" she asked.
"Probably," she nodded, "you need to show him you're showing everyone attention and treating the team like a team. Without encouraging the attitude."
"And how do you suggest I do that?" May asked.
"I honestly don't know," she replied, "neither myself, or Ash. Or Brock or Misty for that matter never had a Pokémon in this situation."
She frowned and turned her attention towards her starter. He was running beside Grovyle, in some sort of fast-paced race whilst matching slashes with leaf blades... she really wished she listen to them sooner when it came to her favouritism with Beautifly. This attitude won't be sorted overnight.
She yawned. Stretching her body out backwards, she shook herself and took in her location. She found herself stood on a something grey, at first, she thought it was a rock of some kind but tapping it with her paw revealed it to be far softer than any rock... and she'd never sleep on something so rough and tough.
Climbing over the top, she stumbled forward and rolled. Landing on her back, she tilted her head to the side at the sight.
Turns out the grey thing was legs of some human with spikey hair. He had a smile on his face as his hands reached down and picked her up, turning her around. She was held up to an eye level, as he appeared to be studying her... obviously being the best Skitty he could study.
"You seem back to fighting condition," he smiled, "you shouldn't need to worry for the time being."
"Well duh," she replied, rolling her eyes, "I take perfect care of myself."
He placed her down and she shook her body. Turning around, the pink puff caught the corner of her eye. Normally she'd teach it a lesson right her, right now but something else caught her eye. A large settlement of people and Pokémon. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head. A strange scent of de ja vu clouding her head. The image of one of the Pokémon, the skinny-feathery one, kicking and attacking her at the front of her head.
Deciding not to tempt fate, she turned away from said wannabe bird. Incidentally, she found a Poochyena lying on the ground, licking his paw. Looking roughed up and covered in dirt. She hated not being in a pristine condition. She decided to walk over to him and make it clear how he should get cleaned up.
"Hiya," the dark type greeted, tongue hanging out of his mouth, "you're the Pokémon May caught!"
"Excuse me but no-one asked if they may catch me?!" She declared.
"No, not may catch but May!" he replied, rolling over before standing up, "that's our trainer's name!"
"I suppose one such as myself is better suited for the life of luxury over that of street trash," she mused, "very well, I may meet this trainer!"
"No! Our trainer is called May!" the canine howled.
Not liking his action, she turned on a heel and bolted away across the grassy field. Casting a glance behind her, she found the mutt chasing after her. Darting from one side to another, she avoided as he made pounces. The pink puff thing still bugging her out of the corner of her eye.
As he came close to her, the pink puff thing whacked him in the face. He rolled across the ground and away from her.
She caught sight of the water. Looking closely into the aqua sheen, she found her quiet dashing appearance. As she admired her reflection, she allowed a grey-scale aquatic Pokémon pop up, destroying her image, "fish?"
"Feebas. Nice to meet you," she smiled.
"You're not another of my teammates, are you?" she asked, "I was expecting a certain level of pristine and class. The mutt was bad enough, along with hot wings."
"No... I've got a different trainer, but they travel together," she sighed, "sorry for not being up to your standards."
"It's nothing personal but look at you," she meowed, "your hardly in the same class as myself."
The fish plopped under the water and out of sight. Shrugging, she turned around and found a pair of legs in front of her. Turning her head upwards, she found another human, this time female dressed in red. She smiled and reached down, picking her up.
"There you are Skitty," the human smiled. She rolled around as the girl moved her arms, nuzzling into her to get comfortable, "you are just so cute! I can't wait to see what sort of appeals performance we can come up with."
"I'm not some circus mankey that performs... for... anyone..." she purred as the human scratched a particularly pleasant spot under her chin, "you'll... need... to speak to... my agent..."
She lost herself into a series of purrs at the enticing sensation. She could really get use to this sort of treatment. Maybe having a trainer won't be too bad.
As she lost herself in the attention from the brunette, she barely had chance to look ahead and find the other Pokémon and humans circling around. Her eyes lingered on a Beautifly flying overhead... she always liked the pretty shiny scales of the species; she'll make a fine teammate.
"Should we just camp out here and continue training?" the other female humans asked, "or should we continue onward to Mauville?"
"Actually, I was hoping we could stop by a local surgery which specialises in natural medicines," the tallest human who she first saw when waking up suggested, "it's ran by one Doctor Abby and she's to be a top coordinator as well. Although she retired from Pokémon contests."
"It'll be nice to see Doctor Abby again," the raven-haired boy smiled, "she was one the doctor's who came to help after the carnival commotion."
"Of course, we can visit her surgery," the other female in the group smiled.
Skitty rolled around in her new trainer's arms as they recalled most of the other Pokémon. A few of them stayed out still, but she couldn't be bothered to see who.
May sighed as she snuggled her Skitty close to her chest. They stood outside the clinic where Doctor Abby worked. It was a decent sized building with a glass room leading out into some sort of garden and a modern but wooden design with a striking, rectangular roof. Not what you'd expect from a doctor's surgery.
Brock led the way up to the building, giving a few gentle knocks before waiting. Taking a deep breath, she felt each second past slower than the previous.
The door opened and they saw a women walking towards them, carrying an Aron under her arm. With a wide smile on her face, "thank you for everything!"
"You're welcome and remember not to let Aron gorge himself on rocks again otherwise he'll end up with another stomach-ache," another women replied, as she appeared through a doorway, "and how can I help you- oh, hello Ash. How are you feeling?"
"A lot better thanks," he smiled, "and had the check up in Verdanturf like you suggested. I'm as good as new."
"Hmm, that is quite remarkable, given the condition I found you in," she mused, shaking her head a smile replaced the frown, "but if you're feeling fine and a fellow medical profession has cleared it then who am I to argue? Stranger things have occurred in the medical world, after all."
"Actually, Doctor Abby," he spoke up, "the real reason we came to visit. You see, our friend Brock wants to learn all he can about the different types of medicine, so we were hoping you'd be able to show him what you do here."
"Certainly, I'd love to show you what sort of procedures I preform here," she smiled, "and they work for both people and Pokémon so before we start, do any of you have a Pokémon we can demonstrate on? They don't need to be ill but even just under stress."
"Maybe you could use Grovyle," Ash suggested, following the doctor into the other room, "he's been training hard for our Mauville gym battle."
"Excellent," she smiled, gesturing towards the massage bed in the room, "well if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course," he smiled, taking out his Pokéball. With a flash of light, his grass type materialised in front of them.
"Gro?" he seemed to ask.
"I thought you could use a little relaxation after how hard you've been working," Ash explained with a smile, "especially with the gym in a few days."
"Vyle," he muttered.
"Now if you wouldn't mind, Grovyle, would you lie down on bed please," Doctor Abby requested.
Without a word, the pure grass type laid down on his stomach. With the female doctor moving around the other side, so she was facing them, Brock was up front with a notepad and pen in hand. Taking in the walls around them, she found diagrams of different Pokémon of all body shapes with labels to different points on their body. Some humanoids, some not.
"At this clinic, we treat most Pokémon with natural medical procedures. Namely press points to relieve stress," she explained as she ran her hand over Grovyle's shoulders, "by stimulating these points, it helps relax the Pokémon. They already have amazing regenerative and healing capabilities, so this just helps put them into the right state to allow nature to take it's course."
"With humans, massaging the body can relieve fatigue and tension right," Brock spoke up, "so you must've realised it's the same thing for Pokémon."
"Exactly," she smiled, "take Grovyle here. He mainly fights by using his legs to leap from place to place and his arms as dual swords with his leaf blade. So, we need to focus on the joints connecting all four limbs as those would've collected the most stress. If we, however, had a fighting type. Let's say Hariyama. A lot of it's strength comes from the core, so we'd focus on the spinal cord to relieve the stress."
"This is amazing," Brock announced, "I knew there was stuff about press points I didn't know but getting to learn it is something else."
"Well Brock, now that I've shown you what to do, would you like to try?" she asked.
The doctor-in-training nodded, putting away his notepad and pen. Stepping up to the wood gecko he placed his hands in the same place that Doctor Abby once held her's. Following a similar technique, he seemed to be a little slower than the experienced doctor.
Inwardly sighing, she turned on a heel and silently made her way out back to the waiting room. Taking a seat, she looked down at her newly caught normal type, who glanced up with an adorable glint in her eyes, "nya?"
"I'm alright, Skitty," she replied.
A soft purr drew her attention. With a new Pokémon jumping down in front of her, slowly walking towards her as she took in the appearance. He was a quadrupedal, feline Pokémon with a similar tanned-coloured body to her newly caught Skitty covering most of the body. He had a pointed, whisker-like protrusion on each cheek. The purple ears had three tufts of fur at the tips, and there was a purple ruff-like collar with pin-like extensions around the neck. He had slim legs with tiny, digit less paws. Also possessing a purple, flower-like tuft of hair on the end of his thin tail. Despite recognising him, she pulled out her Pokédex, after all, last one she saw was back before she became a trainer and belonged to her dad:
Delcatty, The Prim Pokémon. The final evolved form of Skitty. Delcatty prefers to live an unfettered existence in which it can do as it pleases at its own pace. Because this Pokémon eats and sleeps whenever it decides, its daily routines are completely random
"Oh, that's Johnny," a familiar voice explained. She turned to the source and found Dr. Abby walking towards her, "your friends are busy giving the massage therapy a go themselves. I'll have to go back to them in a couple minutes."
"Sorry," she whispered, "guess this medical stuff doesn't really interest me."
"That's fine," she smiled, "but I got the sense something else is on your mind."
"Why is Johnny here?" she asked, "don't take this the wrong way but he doesn't seem to be a very... medical, Pokémon. Wouldn't Chansey be better?"
"Maybe but having a calming presence around can help quill even the rowdiest of patients, which he helps with," she explained, taking her own seat next to her. The fully evolved normal type walked over and affectionationately rubbed her head against Abby's leg, "he was my partner before my medical career."
"Before?" she asked.
"I was a top coordinator and together with Johnny, he was still a Skitty back then, we came through to win our first grand festival," she explained, "it was fun, if not fully fulfilling."
"I know what that feels like," she sighed, "I'm a coordinator too... or was, at least."
"Was?" she asked, "that doesn't sound good. Care to speak about it?"
"I won my first contest but... I recently lost the Verdanturf one," she sighed, "I'm not made out for the contest world. Heh, I've heard Serena had some role in contests back in Johto, but I guess she lost and realised the same thing."
"Maybe but you can't make one decision based on one loss," she shook her head, "tell me, why do we fall?"
"I dunno," she muttered, "gravity."
"We fall... so we can learn to pick ourselves up," she explained, "I can't say for certain about your friend, but I do know that everyone, trainer, coordinator, doctor, breeder, whatever career you take on, is filled with challenges. It wouldn't be rewarding to conquer if they didn't."
"So, you're saying I shouldn't give up on contests?" she asked.
"I'm saying you should consider all your options before making a big decision," she replied, standing up once more, "if you don't enjoy them very much then that's a different matter but it doesn't seem to be the case. Just make sure you're making your decision for the right reason. Now if you'll excuse me, I should go and check to see how your friends are getting on."
Giving a small nod, she turned her gaze downward. She sat down on the sofa in the main living room of the surgery. Skitty rolled around on her lap as she ran her hand over the pink fur. Since learning about contests, with each new capture her mind ran with multiple thoughts of how to use them either in appeals or performance-battle... but not now. She couldn't be certain how much time passed since the doctor left either, everything seems to stand still.
"How are you feeling?" she turned to find Serena standing over her.
"Pretty good," she shrugged, casting her glance down to her newest capture, "just playing with Skitty some. Ya know how it is."
"I'm glad," she smiled, taking a seat next to her, "heh, with how playful she is, reminds me of Furret."
"Oh, Furret," she mumbled, "she was the Pokémon you lost to that hunter, right?"
"Yeah," she sighed, "I hope to find her one day but until then... we'll just keep moving forward. Which-"
"Is something I should be doing," May cut her off, "Ash already spoke to me about it."
"Well... he's not wrong," she mused, "but I get the sense you didn't tell him everything."
"Just a sense huh?" she deadpanned.
"No, I didn't read your mind," she replied, "but unlike Ash, I'm fluent in body language. Your clearly more upset than you're letting on."
"..."
"You can tell," she encouraged, "whatever it is. I won't judge you."
She sighed, "I... might be angrier with Max than I originally let on."
"Go on," she placed an encouraging hand on her shoulder, "you'll feel better with it out in the open."
"I never wanted him to come on this journey... he was always the one into Pokémon. It meant he'd spend way more time with dad, even just playing with some of the Pokémon in his greenhouse," she explained, "so this journey was my chance to... I don't know... have something for myself."
"It's alright" she encouraged, "wanting something for yourself? I mean."
"Then our parents decided to send him anyway... and if anything happened to him..." she shook her head, "he was always the smallest kid on the playground, and often the target for bullies. Of course, he'd never remember the time on the jungle gym at Petalburg park."
"He thought he was helping Harley out," she replied, "I bet having such a strong older sister had something to do with that."
"He certain succeeded in helping Harley out," she muttered, "and I know he might have had a good reason but... that doesn't make me feel better."
"It doesn't need too," she reassured, "but moping about won't help you either. You need an outlet for your frustrations."
"What would you suggest then?" she asked.
Serena smiled, jumping to her feet, "come with me. I think you'll like this idea."
Shrugging, she stood up and followed the older girl across the building. Leaving through the glass slide-door, they stepped out into the therapy-garden and walked past the differing flower beds. She came to a stop as she noticed her little brother sat silently on a bench, watching his legs swing slowly.
"What are we doing here?" she asked.
"Your gonna have a battle," she smiled, "what other way will you learn just what Skitty is capable off?"
"With you?" she asked.
"No, with Max," she smiled, producing a Pokéball in her hand, "I spoke to Brock, and he thinks this little one will be perfect for his first proper battle."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because when you face someone in battle, you get to share something," she explained, "I might not have a sibling, but I've got as good as, and if nothing else then you'll be able to let out all that frustration you're feeling."
"You're really going with this?" she asked.
"Heh," she shrugged, "it'll be good for both of you. And tell me, when you faced Drew in Slateport or even Brendan back in Dewford. Didn't it effect you?"
"I guess it did," she offered a weak smile, letting her newly caught normal type hop down to her feet, "so I'm really gonna do this? Battle my own brother."
Serena smiled and stepped forward across the open garden towards her little brother, "hey Max, catch!"
The young boy looked up just in time to see the Pokéball fly towards him. In a bit of a stumble, he attempted to catch it but with his arms waving, he almost dropped it instead. Once securing it within both hands, he looked up towards her, with May walking out behind.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Your gonna have your first battle," Serena explained, "I've already checked with Doctor Abby and she's happy for us to do it here. So come on, we don't have all day."
"Wh-who am I battling?" he stuttered, "a-and why?"
"May," she smiled, "and because it'll be fun. What other reason do you need?"
"Who will I be using?" he asked.
"Why not give it a toss and find out?" she smiled.
He shrugged handheld the device out, his hand visibly shaking. Tapping the middle button, it burst open, and a white light shot out. On the grassy field in front of him materialised Brock's pure water type.
"Mud?" she tilted her head to the side, "kip."
"Mudkip?" Max asked, "but why-"
"She's the closest we have to a new starter," Serena explained, "seemed like the best choice for your first battle. Now let's get this started."
"Alright," she mumbled, stepping forward, glancing down to the normal type by her feet, "guess you're up, Skitty."
Her newest capture ran out in front of her, crouching low against the mud fish Pokémon. Her tail raised high in the air, waving back and forth.
"This will be a one-on-one battle with no time limit. Skitty verses Mudkip," Serena declared, "let the battle begin!"
May VS Max
She watched her newly caught Pokémon leap from side to side, avoiding separate jets of water which crashed into the ground. Seeing the look in her normal types eyes, she could just tell she wasn't fond of the idea of getting wet.
"Disarming voice then get in close!" she hollered.
Skitty stopped in one place and took a deep breath. A powerful shock wave with a pink tint echoed out, destroying the oncoming water attack.
Darting from her spot, she quickly closed the distance across the floor. Charging straight for the borrowed first stage starter.
"Protect!" Max shouted.
A semi-transparent shield with a green tint surrounded her. With the normal Pokémon bouncing into the forcefield and rebounding off.
"Rock Smash!" Max howled.
The mud fish Pokémon flew forward with the fin on her back glowing with an orange tint. Spinning around it came straight down on her head.
Skitty, however, pounced out of the way. Rolling on the ground, she spun her tail around, whacking their opponent mercilessly.
"Bite!" Max shouted.
Mudkip cried from the double slap attack. Opening her mouth, she snapped it down on the pink puff part of her tail. Causing her newly caught normal type to leap in place with a yelp of pain. Bolting off from the starting place, she ran around, swinging Mudkip around, who only seemed to tighten her bite.
"What was her other moves? What was her other moves?" she thought in a panic. Her eyes widened in realisation, "use assist!"
Jumping up in place, she held one of her small paws out. A bright orb formed around the limb and her tail flipped their opponent right in the way.
A powerful stream of flames shot out, knocking the mud fish Pokémon away in a tornado of flames. Her normal type landed as the flames dispersed, revealing a burnt and beaten Mudkip, struggling back to her feet.
"So, assist is the same thing as Combusken's fire spin?" she mused, pulling out her Pokédex:
Assist: The user uses a random move one of the user's teammates knows. Not even the Pokémon knows what will appear until it does
"Alright Skitty, let's try assist again!" May hollered.
Leaping back into the air, another orb formed around her paw. A thick string shot out and covered their opponent, hindering her movements.
"Wash it away with water gun!" Max instructed.
With a much smaller blast of water, the mud fish Pokémon tried to wash the stick string off. She smiled seeing the chance to finish it.
"Charge in and tackle!" she hollered.
Skitty landed and pounced forward. Smashing straight into the distracted water type she raised a paw. A bright ball formed once more, and two small bolts of electricity jumped out.
"Protect!" her brother cried.
A green shield surrounded their opponent once more. Easily deflecting the nuzzle... spark... whichever of Minun's moves she summoned. A decent sized jet of water shot out and knocked her newly caught Pokémon backwards.
"Assist once more?!" May shouted.
The normal type shook herself dry, looking quite annoyed. Leaping up once more, another bright bulb appeared with a pink-tinted wind blowing out.
"Rock throw for a shield!" Max ordered.
Mudkip stood tall and closed her eyes. Despite the fairy wind blowing past her, she concentrated, and a rock began to form in front of her.
Slowly it grew in place. Blocking out the surprise move from the kitten Pokémon and protecting herself.
Stopping the attack, she landed back on her feet. Darting forward across the grassy-makeshift field, she barely managed to avoid the rock as it launched.
As the rock flew past her, she turned to see her newest team, expecting her to tackle their opponent straight on. However, she was stood still in place, without their target anywhere to be seen. As her mind tried to think of what was going on, her eyes widened.
"Rock smash!" he hollered.
Mudkip came flying out of the nearby flower bed. Landing on top of their opponent, she smashed her fin into her, sending her flying.
"You used the rock as cover to hide?" she questioned.
"Got the idea from Pikachu using dig," he admitted, "but since Mudkip doesn't know dig, we had to improvise. I just whispered it, so you didn't catch on."
"Guess we'll need to step it up," she smirked, "assist again!"
Skitty leaped up and used the move once more. A series of fire balls shot out and struck their opponent. Her eyes widened, seeing the water type stop in place, using one arm to block it rather any of the other shields. Just the apprehension was what she needed.
"Follow up with Blizzard!"
Her paws lowered and she took a deep breath. Landing on the ground, she unleashed a powerful wind with icy shards within.
It struck the still immobilised mud fish Pokémon with ice forming all around. A rock tried to form in front of her but much slower than before.
Running forward, her newly caught normal type started skidding across the slightly frosted ground. It was very adorable. Performing a spin as she used the slippery momentum, her tail whacked into the half-frozen water starter. Knocking her over to her brother, landing on her side with swirls in her eyes.
"And Mudkip is unable to continue," Serena declared, "so May and Skitty are the winners!"
"Alright! Way to go Skitty!" May cheered.
"Nya!" Her pure normal type laid down, licking her paw.
She ran across the makeshift field and scooped her up in a hug. As she celebrated with her newly caught Pokémon, she caught sight of Serena kneeling next to her little brother, as he cradled the mud fish Pokémon. He gave a small nod and stood up, half-running inside with the fallen Pokémon in his arms.
"I told him to take her so Brock and doctor Abby can give her the once over," Serena explained, standing back up.
Holding her hand out, a wave of esp flew out and surrounded the field. Lifting off the ice, rock and any other minor damage caused during the battle with her powers. It took less than a minute until the garden appear to be exactly as it was before.
Smiling at her female friend, May realised that she felt amazing... best she's felt since her battle with Harley. Maybe she had more anger towards her brother than she even realised herself.
May stretched her arms up under the warm Hoenn sun. It's been a couple days since their visit to Doctor Abby's clinic. She allowed them to stay the night before they set off once more.
Right now, her arms were hugging Poochyena tightly. He had his own practise battle with her brother, this time he ended up use Serena's Cacnea and despite both their best efforts, he was able to come out on top. Had it been a proper contest battle, then she doubts the same could be said. Her brother has been battling all of them, borrowing different members from each of them. Beautifly rested neatly on her head, as they watched the world go by.
Combusken was sulking in his Pokéball. Having lost his battle with Brock's Sudowoodo, although that one wasn't against her brother.
Ahead of them was Minun and Skitty. The two of them had become fast friends, almost like sisters. It was clear that her normal type was the one trying to catch the electric type, as Minun avoided her attempts with cheer movements. The sight brought a smile to her face as she remembered her other decision that she made over that time. Minun would be in her next contest.
While she would've liked to use Skitty, she also didn't want to overshadow the work of her others. Mawile has put in the most effort to perfecting her performance and deserves the chance to shine... and as the last capture for her first official team of six, Minun just made the most sense.
She glanced down to the side. Her steal fairy type walked beside her, almost like a little sister.
"Hey!" Ash's voice drew her attention, "I think we're here at Mauville!"
Turning her attention forward, she ran to the top of the small hill where the others were waiting. As she reached them, her eyes widened at the sight in front of them. Massive cranes and different construction sights surrounded the square city landscape. It almost looked like a they were building an entire building around them the city.
"It sure looks different," May mused, "I remember mum brought us here shopping before. It's meant to be the biggest shopping centre in Hoenn."
"And it seems the mayor wanted to emphasise that point," Brock explained, looking up from his guidebook, "it says here that the entire city is under construction to be turned into a giant mall. All the same attractions and places will be located but with three floors it'll house far more people and turn the heart of Hoenn's mainland into the biggest city as well. It even plans on having a massive park on the roof."
"That sounds awesome!" Serena beamed, "Celadon, Saffron and even Goldenrod were far bigger but having an entire city inside a mall would be surreal. Too bad it's not complete, I would've loved to see it."
"Well construction started last year but with such a big job, it's schedule for another four," Brock explained, as he started to lead the way down the hill, "heh, guess we'll need to come back when it's done just to see what a city sized building actually looks like."
"Just imagine where we'll be five years from now," Ash smiled, "or how many other regions would've been too by then. We could be revisiting regions because we ran out of new regions to explore."
"I love you, Ash," Serena sighed, wrapping her arms around his and resting her head on his shoulder, "but you do know how big the world is, right? There's got to be hundreds of regions, if not more."
"Hehehe, guess you're right," he mareepishly blushed, "but right now I just wanna focus on my gym battle! By this time tomorrow, badge three will be all mine!"
"You might be ready for Wattson but he's just a steppingstone on the road to beat my dad," Max chimed in, "he's still-"
Her brother was cut off as he fell on his behind. Looking at what he hit, she saw a boy, maybe a year older than the little runt with sickly green hair and pale blue clothes. In his arms was a small Ralts. He held it close to his chest as he stood up.
"Hey, sorry kid," he offered a hand to her brother. He accepted it and was pulled to his feet, "my names Walley."
"Hi, I'm Max," her brother replied, "but what's the hurry?"
"Oh right, you see I live in Verdanturf, and my family are quiet protective. I used to be pretty ill, and they worry," he explained, "but Ralts and myself like to battle and explore so when we get chance, we come to visit the city... but we need to get back before they come looking. Sorry again for hitting ya."
A bright flash engulfed the boy... with both of them vanishing from sight.
"That was..." she paused, "weird."
Using the moment as an opportunity, she quickly recalled most of her team. Not wanting them to wonder off and get lost within the city or cause trouble for the construction crews. The only exception being Mawile, as she stood nicely by her side and with Pikachu and Sylveon, it just felt right to have one out.
As they continued onward into the city limit, she noticed several of the same Pokémon working alongside the builders. They were bipedal, humanoid Pokémon with grey skin covering their bodies. They had a vaguely reptilian face with a short snout, narrow red eyes, and four pointed teeth within their mouths. On top of their heads were three brown ridges. The arms were muscular with dark red, vertical stripes on them. The lower part of their body had black markings that resembled underwear, as weird as it looked. While they each seemed to be wearing a black and gold power-save belt, each identical. With large pectoral muscles that protruded slightly over the belt. She pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the workers:
Machoke, The Superpower Pokémon. The evolved form of Machop. Machoke undertakes bodybuilding every day even as it helps people with tough, physically demanding labour. On its days off, this Pokémon heads to the fields and mountains to exercise and train
"So, Ash," she decided to ask as she put the device away, "have you decided who to use tomorrow?"
"Sure have," he smiled, "assuming it's three on three. Well, I already knew Donphan and Grovyle were my best options but as for the final one, Kirlia has-"
He stopped in his tracks. A bright light flashed off his belt and his female bird materialised in front of him, squawking something at him.
"H-hey calm down, Taillow," he raised his hand, as Serena gave herself distance, "I know you like a challenge a-and an electric gym would certainly be that b-but you competed in both Rustboro and Dewford... it wouldn't be fair on the others."
"I would just give in if I were you, Ash," she decided to voice her own opinion, "have you seen the way Taillow's looking at you?"
Said normal flying type had narrowed eyes. Pupils forward with what could only be described as a death glare. Despite not being large in stature, just having experienced her in battle is enough to know Tailow... or at least Ash's... is one of, if not the most intimidating Pokémon this side of Hoenn.
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