Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. And school starts tomorrow. Again. Hooray.
So… in this chapter, RJ should make an appearance. If I have the time to finish writing this today, anyway. Hopefully you'll all enjoy this next chapter of Pokémon Go!
They stepped into Fluoride City with more than a little wonder in their expressions; the three of them had never seen any other city than Rubidium, but while Rubidium was large and, in a way, nice-looking, Fluoride was built on an entirely different scale. Where Rubidium was large, this place was enormous; shops flourished on every corner even in the waning sunlight.
As the meeting point of the Great North Road and the trails toward Mount Lead in the east and Lake Baria in the northwest, Fluoride was bustling with signs of trade and commerce; trainers all had to pass through this town some way or another, although major influxes of tourists during the holiday season were far from uncommon.
The buildings here ranged from high-rise apartments to large, sprawling complexes. All steel-glass, all sleek and really shiny; Ditto was examining its reflection in one of the black-tinted windows. In a way, it seemed like Rubidium City, only more.
Caught up in looking at the architecture around them; the activity which only seemed to heighten in intensity the later it got, the three of them only realized they were standing on a road when a twenty-seven vehicle pileup magically appeared behind them.
I think I would've noticed that…
Fine. When a car almost crashed into a building in an attempt to avoid them.
"Get off the roads!"
Hurriedly, they stepped to a side and allowed the car to pass. The roads here seemed almost unnoticeable amidst the landscape of asphalt, concrete, and glass. In a few seconds three more cars passed them by.
While cars weren't exactly uncommon in the region, hardly anyone could afford one since the government organization known as the Organization (the same one that had initiated the Pokémon League in the Elem region) had raised the cost of practically everything related to owning a car.
After all, they were trying to promote a cleaner and safer environment. There were apparently plans to build a magnet train like the one in the Johto-Kanto region; plans which were nowhere near fruition.
The PokéCentre here was a sleek, shiny, all-black affair. The Pokéball dome that constituted its roof was also entirely black, and the sliding door was tinted black. Ash stopped at the door and motioned for the other two to enter first.
"What's with him?" Dave whispered.
Ditto quietly made all sorts of strange motions in an attempt to explain. Ash looked at the three of them talking, more than a trifle suspicious.
"He's got an irrational fear of sliding doors now," Erynn translated, "ever since he first began randomly crashing into them. But don't tell him he said that."
The interior seemed to have been designed with a minimalist's view. The room was almost entirely empty but for two really long and flat sofas, a small table made of black marble, and a PC situated in a corner of the room. Lamps hung from the ceiling; the light seemed stark in contrast with the black walls and black marble floor.
When Dave rang the bell for service, another nurse popped up as quickly as before, forcing Ditto into potato-mode. This time, though, the nurse was dressed in a sleek black leather suit; everything in this town seemed to be sleek and black. The counter was made of black marble as well, and was cool to the touch. The nurse also had a badge pinned to her chest.
Nurse Joy
"Have I seen you somewhere before?" Ash interjected, "because you look very familiar."
Nurse Joy shook her head.
"No, first time today. And what can I do for you?"
In a few minutes they had set their packs away in their rooms and were standing in front of the Fluoride Gym.
Fluoride Gym – Synchro Badge
Gym Leaders: Lyam and Leya
Opening Hours: 9 AM to 5PM
Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.
Trainers must have a Double Battle partner to participate.
They looked at the sign askance.
"But it's Friday today! We can't battle till Monday…"
Erynn tapped Ash on the shoulder.
"I think there's a more pressing problem than that. You haven't got a Double Battle partner, remember...?"
Dave nodded a tad sheepishly; he was sort of just tagging along and all, but…
"Erynn and I've already battled together once before, so we can do it again, but you…"
Ash turned to Ditto, who shook its head.
"No way I'm transforming into a human, Dit…"
He sighed.
"Fine… I still have two days to find a Double Battle partner, anyways. Let's go back to the Pokémon Centre and decide what we're going to do tomorrow…"
They sat in the room, quietly chewing on their dinner. Ash chewed for a bit, before removing a small, multicolored piece of eggshell from his mouth.
"These omelettes…"
Erynn sat on the upper bunk of her bed, across from Ash's, a salad on her lap.
"So… what about tomorrow?"
Dave munched on a bucket of fried Pidgey, sitting on the lower bunk under Ash. I mean, he munched on the fried Pidgey in the bucket. Not the bucket.
"Well I really want to go see Mount Lead… I've heard there're some really cool Pokémon there."
Ash took a sip from a glass of MooMoo Milk. He really did like the stuff. Then he looked back at the crumpled-up map of the Elem region and fingered the area they were in.
"Well we can either do that or go look around the town… of course, there's always Lake Baria you might want to visit… or you could go down to the beach."
The beach spanned along the south-eastern area of Fluoride; the south-western side was occupied by a large port. Along the beach a gauntlet had emerged, on which was perched Mount Lead. Apparently the mountain had a subterranean passage deep under it which actually led under the ocean, but it didn't actually lead anywhere, so the Organization had fenced it off to visitors.
Erynn put her salad aside and removed a small handbook from her bag.
"It says here that Fluoride is an excellent place for shopping… Lake Baria is a natural habitat for many varieties of Grass and Water Pokémon unique to Elem, while Mount Lead contains mainly Fire and Ground types… it all depends, I guess."
While most Pokémon flourished in most, if not all of the regions, there were certain unique Pokémon, native to a particular region. These Pokémon were often uncommon, due to their inability to adapt to different climates; this explained their scarcity in other regions.
It was much the same in Elem; when foreign Pokémon had first been introduced here, the pure environment had allowed them to flourish and grow far more rapidly than the native Pokémon.
Ash sighed and tossed the plastic container into the bin from his seat on the upper bunk. It missed and hit the wall, landing on the floor. Dave shook his head and dumped it in for him, dumping his empty bucket at the same time. Ditto had eaten its own food container, so there wasn't any trouble there.
"So… what do you guys want to do?" Ash spoke here.
" Mount Lead for me. I haven't caught any fire or ground-type Pokémon yet."
"I think I'm going to stay here in the city… I need to get kitted out… and…"
"… all girls love to shop." Ash spoke again. Ditto shook its head in the background.
"He hasn't got a clue…what he's getting into…"
Erynn chucked the salad container at him. Her aim was true.
Ash sank into a plush armchair which lay conveniently in reach, gratefully setting down the mass of shopping bags on the floor.
How can there be so many black-and-purple clothing designs…?
"Hey, Erynn… you do know you're going to have to carry these around in your backpack?"
She shrugged, busy looking at herself in a set of black leather. Her third try here. Frowning, she walked back into the fitting room and emerged, shortly after, in her original outfit once more.
"Not here… let's go visit the one a few streets back…"
"What…! But this is the first one with conveniently placed armchairs!"
She made a happy humming noise and nodded.
"Let's go then…"
Ash dragged the bags along the ground miserably.
"Oh, and…"
She turned around abruptly; if Ash hadn't been moving so slowly, he'd have crashed into her.
"I'm not going to be carrying these… you will."
Dave stood at the entrance to Mount Lead. A few other trainers were standing close beside him; a tall boy leaned against the side of the cave and spoke to what appeared to be two of his friends. One of them he recognized; it was Fior, the Pidgeotto-girl. He wondered where Taera had gotten to.
"So three of us are here… Fior, where's Taera?"
The girl looked sheepish.
"She got freaked out by Terry's Butterfree and locked herself into the toilet. I couldn't get her out."
The short boy, Terry, protested his innocence; the tall boy slapped his forehead.
"We can't get in without the light from Taera's Vulpix…"
So they were a group making final preparations. He turned to Espeon and nodded. She tossed her head disdainfully, and then settled down.
Gradually the red jewel on her head began to emit a white light, allowing the two of them to see in the dark as they trudged cautiously into the cave. A warm wind blew in the cave; the walls were damp, but not cold.
Espeon walked ahead of her owner, leading the way. Quietly, Dave released Rattata as well.
You can never be too careful…
Gradually the light faded from the entrance behind him. A few turns later, he was in total darkness, but for the light shining from atop Espeon's forehead. Warily, he looked out for wild Pokémon… Rattata's fur was bristling, but he didn't see any obvious danger...
Wham
He was knocked to a side by a swift shadow. Rattata landed on top of him, only to be knocked off in a second attack. Espeon turned and hissed a late warning, then returned to her owner's side.
"What was that…?"
In the dim light he could barely make out a darker patch against the light stone wall. He couldn't be sure but…
"Rattata! Quick Attack!" He pointed in the general direction.
Immediately Rattata sprung and slammed itself into the wall. Just before it struck, however, the dark patch took shape again; the mystery assailant flew off the wall and melted into the ground, leaving Rattata to slam its head against the hard stone wall.
"Espeon… see if you can track the creature!"
Espeon nodded, the light from its jewel glowing brighter as it concentrated. The cave was silent, but for the sounds of Dave's heavy breathing.
All of a sudden, the creature emerged in an eruption of earth and stone. Tensing, Dave covered his face with an arm; then slowly lowered it.
It was caught in the power of Espeon's psychic embrace. The creature looked like the head of an enormous snake, only entirely made out of soil; its eyes glowed white in the darkness. Flipping his PokéNav open, he activated the PokéDex program and pointed the sensor at the strange creature.
Mudross, the Earth Shaker Pokémon. This Pokémon has a body composed almost entirely of earth, and is thus able to melt into rocks and soil, becoming virtually undetectable. If this Pokémon comes into contact with a substantial amount of water, however, it hardens and dies. This Pokémon is native to the Elem region.
A/N: It's pronounced Mewdres… like… New with an M and Us with a 'Dr' in front.
Nodding, he closed the PokéDex. Detaching a Pokéball from his belt, he got ready to capture it.
"Rattata! Use Quick Attack on it while it's caught in Espeon's attack!"
Rattata rushed at the creature again, this time scoring a direct hit. Under the flurry of blows from Rattata, the creature gradually weakened; the white glow in its eyes began to dim.
"Espeon! Use Confusion one more time!"
The jewel on its head grew brighter, beginning to pulse. Dave could almost see the psychic energy in its intensity.
Now…
"Pokéball, go!"
The weakened Pokémon entered the Pokéball easily. It struggled once, twice, and then stopped. Satisfied, he bent over and picked the Pokéball up from the ground. He stared at it for a few seconds, then clipped it on his belt, recalling Rattata as well.
Turning to Espeon, he nodded. The two of them set off again.
She flitted in and out of the shops like a Beautifly; he didn't know where she got her money, but she seemed to be inexorable. As the day wore on, he began to count the minutes by the number of packages he held.
It's quite cute, though… that under her cool exterior she really is just a girl…
Erynn turned to look at him strangely.
"What're you smiling at…?"
Now she had on a purple tube top under a black biker's jacket with matching pants.
Black and purple must be really popular colours or something…
He shrugged.
"Are you going to buy that…?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"What… it doesn't look nice?"
Ash shrugged. Ditto tapped him twice on the head.
"Err… yes… it looks very nice… I guess…"
She turned to the shopkeeper.
"Fine; I'll take this as well."
Ash would've slapped his forehead, but he was holding too many bags to do any such thing.
The boy looked unassuming, but for his black, spiked hair; he was built along the lines of a soccer player or some sort of athlete. He wore a soccer shirt and shorts, like almost every other youngster in the neighborhood, and at his waist hung three Pokéballs.
But there was an air of confidence around him. Without being overly egotistical, he seemed capable of taking on the world and coming out smiling. A Pokémon stood beside him, a grey-green humanoid, muscular despite its small stature.
The two of them were staring at the sign which stood at the entrance to the Fluoride Gym.
"Ahh… we're here too late. Look here, Machop… it says here we've got to have a Double Battle partner…"
With a sigh, the boy turned and headed for the Pokémon Centre, his Machop following behind. A Double Battle partner might be hard to find…
But then again, he still had two days.
A/N: The end of the 13th Chapter in the Pokémon Go! series! I hope you enjoyed it… with the introduction of RJ the next few chapters should be interesting…
As again I've got to say that the school term is starting again so I probably won't be able to write so much… though most of the time I ditch my homework for these things anyways so maybe not.
So… hopefully you all did enjoy this chapter; I've decided to include unique Pokémon after all, so please review if you've got anything at all to say.
And R'N'Rer? Sorry about not letting Dave catch a Zubat… by the time I'd read that review I was almost done with this thingy already…