She's sure that she'll tell them eventually, but she just doesn't know when that is. Until that time, she has more important things to focus on, such as her and Ash's upcoming battles for their third badges, and not to mention Dawn's upcoming Pokemon Comtests.
So whilst Casey doesn't understand what's going on, at least she has something driving her forwards and motivating her. And, really, that's all you need in times of doubt.
Casey sighs contently as she breathes in the fresh air of the land surrounding Mt Coronet, which just so happens to be the tallest and largest mountain in the entire Sinnoh region. They aren't travelling along the rocky range of the mountain, but are instead travelling through the forest not too far from the mountain itself. It's a rather peaceful setting; it's unspoiled by infrastructure, similar to a nature preserve in many ways.
They're currently on their way to Hearthome City. They recently met up with Zoey, who informed Dawn that the next Pokemon Contest is taking place there. There also just so happens to be a Gym in Hearthome City, so Hearthome City is the next best destination for all of them. Dawn can compete in her next Contest, whilst Casey and Ash can win their third Gym Badges.
"Who's that Pokemon?"
Casey rushes to catch up with Ash and the others when Ash calls out, having fallen behind the group when she got lost in her thoughts. When reaching them the first thing she notices is the Pokemon that's stood before them. It looks slightly afraid, but it's standing its ground instead of just running off.
Casey reaches into her pocket and points her Pokedex right at the mystery Pokemon, scanning its data into the high-tech device.
"Shieldon, the Shield Pokémon. The skin on its face is very hard, and it has a habit of polishing it by rubbing against trees."
I've never seen a Shieldon before! It must be a rare Pokemon!
Casey instinctively reaches for one of the Pokeballs on her belt. Shieldon's a rare Pokemon, which likely means that it's strong. She'd love to catch it or even just battle it. She suspects that it'll be a great experience.
Her plans fall short when a nearby tree suddenly tumbles down, shaking the grassy ground when it makes contact. Casey and her friends instantly look towards the fallen tree, watching in shock as a familiar transit vehicle drives over from behind it. It must've been what knocked the tree over.
A door towards the front of the vehicle opens up and a brawny man steps out of it, Casey and Ash instantly recognising who he works for based on what he's wearing. He works for Pokemon Hunter J which can't be good.
"They're probably after the Shieldon so they can sell it!" Dawn shouts, the anger evident in her voice. She hates Pokemon Hunter J and her men as much as Casey and the guys do.
"We can't let that happen!" Casey reaches for her belt once more and throws a Pokeball out in front of her determinedly, "Electabuzz, come on out and use Thunder Punch!"
"Golbat, Wing Attack!"
The goon throws his own Pokeball out in front of him, his Golbat emerging from it in a flash of bright light. Its wing glow brightly as it flies towards Electabuzz, but the Electric Pokemon easily out speeds the Bat Pokemon and slams his electrifying fist right into it. Golbat crashes into the forest floor, the sheer power of Electabuzz's Thunder Punch knocking it out in one hit.
"That was awesome, Electabuzz!" Casey praises her Pokemon as he lands comfortably on the ground, letting out a victorious cry as he does so. Casey smiles over at Electabuzz before directing her attention back towards Hunter J's goon, another stepping out of the vehicle to see what all of the commotion is about, "Now back off!"
The first goon returns Golbat to its Pokeball with a grumble, clearly not pleased with how everything's turning out for him. He places the Pokeball back on his belt before reaching for another, his comrade doing the same.
"I've had just about enough of you kids!"
As the goons prepare to send their next Pokemon out, a powerful bolt of lightning halts their attempts immediately, the power of it causing a small explosion that sends them flying.
That wasn't Electabuzz! Who did it?!
"Shieldon! You're okay!"
Casey turns around as Ash rushes over to a boy who looks to be around their age. He's wearing a black shirt, purple pants and he has brown hair; he's kneeling down beside Shieldon alongside his Electivire, who must've been the one who fired that attack at J's goons. Ash has a brief conversation with the boy before he rushes off along with his Electivire, Shieldon and Ash both following quickly behind.
"Hey, wait up!"
Casey quickly returns Electabuzz to his Pokeball before turning and running after Ash, Dawn and Brock running alongside her. Casey is quick to question what's going on, "Brock, who is that guy? Does Ash know him?"
"That's right." Brock replies, his voice slightly staggered due to all of the running, "His name is Gary. He's from Pallet Town just like Ash and the two of them have been rivals since they were small."
Pallet Town, huh? Then what is he doing all the way out here?
"That sure is interesting, Gary." Casey replies with a smile, "Pokemon Researching sounds totally awesome!"
Gary thanks Casey for her compliments as they continue to walk through the forest, now clear of J's goons. After catching up to Gary and Ash, Dawn and Casey were quickly introduced to Ash's old friend and rival. They learned, much to their surprise, that he's actually Professor Oak's grandson, which instantly made Dawn assume that he writes poetry (much to Gary's surprise). Still, Casey has to admit that it's pretty cool that Ash has so many friends from all over the world.
"Shield-on!"
Casey's surprised to see that there's three other Shieldon waiting in a small clearing just ahead of them. The Shieldon that they rescued from J's goons rushes over to the three other Shieldon, the four Shield Pokemon conversing happily.
"Oh, wow! There's a whole bunch of 'em!"
"It's the only place in the region Shieldon live." Gary explains, moving to sit on his knees and pulling his bag off his bag, reaching inside and grabbing a laptop as he talks, "This is an awesome place! Mt Coronet's unspoiled and pure, so the Shieldon feel super comfortable. I'm part of a project that's working to make this whole area a nature preserve to protect the Shieldon."
Gary scrolls through a few applications on before finding a video call application, placing a call through to somebody who they all recognise. It's Professor Rowan! The Pokemon Professor seems to be in some kind of vehicle, presumably travelling to a designated location to conduct some of his all important research.
"Yes, Gary? What is it?"
Gary takes this time to explain their current circumstances to the Professor, who is surprised to learn about the presence of J's goons, "What? Pokemon Hunters?"
"Yeah, and it's not safe at all. I'm taking these Shieldon and leaving."
"Alright then. We're already on our way and should get to you soon." Rowan explains as a map appears on Gary's laptop screen. Casey quickly scans the map, which seems to be of Mt Coronet, and takes note of a particular flashing spot a fair distance from where they are right now, "I suggest we meet at this location."
"Got it!" Gary replies before closing down his laptop, beginning to pack it away as he glances back at the Shieldon, "We better move soon."
"You'll let us help, won't you, Gary?" Ash asks hopefully, looking at his old friend and rival with a hopeful look.
"Thanks, Ash. It's a deal." Gary replies with a firm nod, "Now lets get going!"
"It's them again!"
Casey snaps out of her relaxed state when she suddenly hears Ash yell, pointing towards an approaching transit vehicle amongst the trees. It's been a relatively peaceful journey to the rendezvous point so far, but the sudden arrival of J's goons has changed that in an instant.
Casey instinctively reaches to her belt, poised and ready to send out one of her Pokemon to defend the Shieldon. There's no way that she's letting J steal them just to make a profit. Gary seems to get the same idea as her, as he reaches for his own Pokeball and throws it out in front of him as the vehicle continues to approach.
"Quick, Blastoise! Water Gun!"
Blastoise emerges from its Pokeball and carries out its trainers command, firing an intensive Water Gun attack directly at the approaching vehicle. It doesn't do much damage wise but it does manage to slow down the vehicle, if only for a few seconds.
Let's see what we can do!
"Alright, Monferno!" Casey moves to throw Monferno's Pokeball out, glaring intensively over at the approaching vehicle as she does so, "Come on out and use Flamethrower!"
Monferno bursts out of his Pokeball and unleashes his fiery Flamthrower attack directly at the speeding vehicle. It's intense strength stops the vehicle abruptly, much to Casey's pride and Monferno's delight. His attacks sure are becoming powerful.
The vehicle door opens up once the vehicle has come to a complete stop, the same goon from before stepping out of it with a rather disgruntled expression on his face. He's clearly not happy with how everything's turning out for him.
"Enough of you kids!" He reaches for one of the Pokeball on his belt and throws it angrily, "Golbat, go!"
The goon's Golbat appears from its Pokeball once again and sends a powerful Air Cutter directly at Gary's Blastoise, the attack hitting the Shellfish Pokemon intensely and sending it down to the ground. Gary's quick to return Blastoise Pokeball, likely not wanting it to sustain further damage.
"If they want the Shieldon, then they have to go through all of us!" Ash yells.
The raven-haired trainer moves into a defensive stance beside Gary and Casey, the latter of the two mimicking his actions.
"That's right! We'll take down every single one of them!" Casey glances over at Monferno as the Playful Pokemon moves to stand beside her, "Ain't that right, pal?"
"Mon! Monferno!"
Casey smiles at her partner Pokemon's enthusiasm. Whilst she'd rather that they wouldn't have to deal without J's goons, she feels much more confident in doing so if Monferno's by her side. It's reassuring knowing that your Pokemon are by your side no matter what.
"Wait!" Casey's confidence instantly deflates like a popped balloon when Gary's sharp voice cuts over her own, his hand stretched out assertively including front of Ash and Casey, "We've gotta cool it or the Shieldon'll get hurt!"
"We can't just stand here and let them get to the Shieldon!" Casey replies angrily.
He's sure got some nerve! He wants us to just do nothing to help the Shieldon! He's out of his mind!
Before Casey's can voice her protests to Gary's command, the young Pokemon Researcher sends out another one of his Pokemon out to defend them.
"Um-breon!"
An Umbreon, huh?
Casey's half tempted to scan the Dark-Type Pokemon's data into her Pokédex, but she refrains from doing so as she knows that now's not the time for that. They have more important things to worry about.
"Umbreon, use Sand Attack!"
Umbreon kicks up a large quantity of sand in the direction of the goons Golbat, temporarily rendering the Bat Pokemon unable to see what's in front of it. Gary takes this time to order Umbreon to surge towards Golbat; the Bat Pokemon manages to brush off the sand and sends an Air Cutter attack directly at Umbreon.
"Umbreon, dodge it, quick!"
Umbreon dashes into a nearby bush as Golbat's attack speeds past it. At first nothing else occurs, which catches Casey off guard to say the least. If she were in Gary's position, she'd take this time to launch a counter attack.
What is he up to?
Casey's question is soon answered when numerous Beedrill suddenly burst out from the shrubbery that Umbreon rushed into. The swarm of Beedrill instantly rush towards J's goons, likely making the assumption that they're the cause of all the ruckus.
"Umbreon, return!" Gary returns Umbreon to its Pokeball as it rushes out of the shrubbery before turning back to the others, a determined expression on his face, "Let's go!"
Casey has no objections with Gary's suggestion, and as of such follows the Pokemon Researcher without a second thought.
"They're everywhere!"
Casey sits back on the grass with a sigh. They managed to escape the goons that were in the transit vehicle thanks to that angered swarm of Beedrill, but J must've caught on to what they were doing, as soon numerous other goons blocked off the nearby area. They all managed to take cover behind some shrubbery, but now they're completely surrounded by J's goons with no easy way out.
"It looks like all possible escape routes have been blocked off." Brock remarks, peering over the shrubbery slightly to survey the area.
"Let's just fight our way out of it!" Ash shouts determinedly, reaching for one of the Pokeballs on his belt.
Casey mirrors his actions, knowing that Monferno will gladly give it everything he's got to protect the Shieldon, "I'm with you, Ash! Let's take them down one by one!"
"You two need to cool it!" Gary orders sternly, "It's that kind of recklessness that put those Shieldon in danger in the first place!"
"Take that back!" Casey glares at him murderously, "It's your job to care for the Shieldon, so don't try and blame us when things go wrong!"
"I'm not trying to blame anybody." Gary responds coolly, "But if we just go out there and attack we'll alert them to our location, which will only put the Shieldon in further danger."
"I'm afraid Gary's right." Dawn says, "If we to help the Shieldon, we need to remain calm and come up with a plan."
Casey groans inwardly and sits back, taking a moment to calm herself down. As much as she and Ash want to take down J's goons as soon as possible, they both know that Gary's right.
"Alright, fine." Casey sighs as she looks back to Gary, "What's your plan then, Gary?"
"We'll have to change our route and go around 'em all. There's a river to the north, and a deep valley farther to the south. It's gonna be really hard bringing all those Shieldon with us." Gary explains as he checks numerous routes on his laptop, looking back to the others with a troubled expression on his face, "We've got to find a way to get to Professor Rowan, but how?"
We need to safely transport the Shieldon to the Professor, huh? It's going to be difficult to get all of the Shieldon to follow us the entire way. They could easily stray off. Unless...
"I've got it!"
"I just met up with a Officer Jenny. We'll be on our way there right away. Be careful."
Casey watches as Gary speaks to Professor Rowan over a video call via his laptop, advising him to be careful himself when travelling to meet them. They managed to reach the rendezvous point with ease thanks to Casey's suggestion...well, there was one incident where the Shieldon nearly fell off a cliff, but other than that her plan was a complete success. Now they've just got to wait for Professor Rowan and his associates to arrive and then they're home free.
"Just a little bit longer." Dawn says, the Shieldon all looking relieved at her declaration. This whole ordeal must be incredibly stressful for them, especially considering that they aren't used to dealing with such a commotion. They live in an unspoiled and untouched habitat after all.
"That was a great idea to use the rope, Casey." Gary says, looking up from his bag as he finishes packing up his laptop, "It sure worked a treat."
Casey smiles back at Gary. She's about to thank him for his compliment when she hears a loud, and regrettably familiar, roar that silences her response. It's J, and she's flying down to the ground atop her powerful Salamence, her regular greedy and malicious expression on her face.
"There's no escape!"
"Oh, so you're the big boss, huh?" Gary remarks, moving into a defensive stance as he glares up at J.
"How did you find us?"
That's what Casey would like to know as well. How in the world did J manage to find them all the way up in the mountains? It's hardly an easy terrain to search to say the least.
"Watching the movements of your friends!" J scoffs, "You're all so predictable!"
Her cocky and careless attitude angers Casey to no end. None of what she's doing phases her at all; Casey still can't understand why she chooses to be so cruel, or why anybody chooses to be cruel for that matter. She simply has to fight back, even if it's a reckless decision.
"Oh, yeah? Predict this!" Casey shouts. She reaches to her belt and grabs one of her Pokeballs, throwing it out in front of her with a fiery determination, "Monferno, come on out and use Flame Wheel!"
"Drapion, Cross Poison!"
Monferno bursts out of his Pokeball and instantly spins towards Drapion with great speed, flames igniting around him as he approaches his opponent. Drapion attempts to counter with its Cross Poison attack as J ordered, but Monferno easily powers through it and knocks Drapion back with an incredibly powerful Flame Wheel.
Monferno lands back in front of Casey with a victorious cry as Drapion pushes itself up off of the ground, albeit just barely. Monferno sure used a lot of his power in that attack.
"You ready to give up, J?" Casey calls over to the crook confidently, "I think it's time that you back off and leave the Shieldon alone!"
"Casey's right!" Ash chimes in as he and Pikachu move to stand beside Casey, looking just as determined as she does, "This time we're putting an end to all your bad stuff! No mercy!"
"You don't know no mercy!"
She just won't quit! What's wrong with this woman?!
"Drapion, Pin Missle, and Salamence, Hyper Beam!"
J's Pokemon begin to charge up their powerful attacks; Gary suddenly steps out alongside his Blastoise. Casey can't help but wonder where Dawn, Brock and the Shieldon have gotten to, but she assumes that Gary tasked Brock and Dawn with getting the Shieldon to safety. That would be the most logical option, anyway. The safety of the Shieldon is their priority, after all.
"Now, Blastoise! Hydro Pump!"
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
Casey decides to follow Gary and Ash's actions and orders Monferno to counter J's attack with Flamethrower, combining his power with that of Blastoise's and Pikachu's. Their attacks combine and collide with that of J's Drapion and Salamence but, despite the power of the tri-type attack, J's attack manages to overpower their's. Casey and Monferno, being at the edge of the group, manage to jump out of the way of the forthcoming attack, though Ash, Gary and their Pokemon aren't so lucky, and end up getting hit directly and sent flying back.
"No! Ash! Gary!"
Casey looks back at where she and her friends were once stood with grave concern; she quickly turns back towards J when she hears her blaster sound suddenly. She finds that one of the Shieldon have been turned to stone and is already being moved into one of the storage containers much to J's delight.
How did that Shieldon even get there?!
As much as Casey wants an answer to that question, she knows that right now she hasn't got the time to wait for that answer. A transit vehicle's arrived to collect the Shieldon, and J looks ready to fly away from the scene with her Drapion, likely to go and meet the client who she is collecting the Shieldon for.
I can't let her get away!
Maybe it's her anger or the adrenaline, or perhaps it's her hatred for the Pokemon Hunter, but Casey finds herself rushing towards Salamence as it begins to fly away. Monferno, as loyal as ever, follows after Casey without hesitation and the two of them just about manage to jump up onto Salamence's back as it soars up into the air. Both of them are instantly taken aback by the force of the wind from such a high altitude, but are quick to gain their footing atop the colossal Dragon Pokemon.
"Alright, J! Enough is enough!" Casey yells over the howling wind, "Stop all of this right now!"
J and her Drapion turn around when they hear Casey shout, though the trainer can't tell if the former of the two is surprised or not due to her glasses. She can however see Drapion's reaction to her presence, and the Ogre Scorpion Pokemon looks far from pleased to say the least.
"You little brat! Don't you know when to keep your nose out of other peoples business?!"
The corner of Casey's mouth quirks up, "I don't know, J. I think the main question is, don't you know how to have a good fashion sense? Seriously, those glasses aren't doing you any favours."
Casey can't exactly see due to her glasses, but Casey has a feeling that J is glaring intensely back at her. From what she's seen, the Pokemon Hunter seems to have a short temper, so Casey's comment likely set her off.
"I will deal with you myself, you insolent fool!" J seethes, "Drapion, use Cross Poison!"
I was hoping for a more peaceful solution, but I guess not.
"Monferno, counter with Mach Punch!"
Monferno's fist glows brightly as he closes the short distance between himself and Drapion, who is raising its pincers high above its head ready to attack. The two attacks collide in a flash of bright light; the intense force of the collision sends both Pokemon staggering back. They seem to be equally matched.
"Use Poison Sting!"
"Use Flamethrower!"
Drapion opens its mouth and fires numerous purple stingers directly at Monferno, but the Playful Pokemon is quick to counter with his Flamethrower attack. The hot ray of orange and red fire completely disintegrates the small poisonous stingers and continues to rush towards Drapion, hitting the Ogre Scorpion directly and rendering it unable to battle.
"Great job, Monferno!" Casey praises her partner Pokemon as he lands in front of her before glancing back at J, who is reluctantly returning Drapion to its Pokeball, "You ready to give up yet?"
Casey almost half expects J to just admit defeat right then and there, but of course nothing in life is that easy. Instead of giving up, J reaches for another Pokeball and sends out yet another Pokemon, which just so happens to be her Ariados. Casey hasn't seen too much of J's Ariados in battle, but she does know one thing that she and Monferno need to keep an eye on with the Long Leg Pokemon.
"Watch out for Ariados's String Shot, Monferno!"
Monferno braces himself for Ariados' known attack in response, moving into a stance that would allow him to use Flamethrower without a moments notice if need be. That's good. Monferno's Flamethrower would disintegrate the String Shot before it could even get close to him.
"Ariados, use Psychic."
Oh, no.
Before she can even fully react, Casey feels her entire body go rigid. She loses all control of her body from the neck down as she feels herself being lifted up into the air, much to her absolute terror. She turns her head, being the only part of her body that she can actually move, and glances over at Monferno, who's yelling angrily at J as he seemingly struggles to break free. Casey can't really tell. It's hard too when who you're watching can't express them self through movement.
"Ariados, dispose of them."
Before Casey an even glance back at J she regains the ability to control her body, but with that privilege comes a price. Without any form of warning she plummets down from her current high altitude directly towards the hard ground approaching by the second, both her and Monferno yelling frantically as they plummet to their doom.
"Monferno!"
Usually this would be the time where Casey would think logically and at least attempt to return Monferno to his Pokeball so that her partner Pokemon can avoid harm, but she seems to lose all of her logical thinking as the ground gets closer and closer. She instead reaches out to Monferno and just barely manages to grab onto the panicked Fire and Fighting-Type; she pulls Monferno towards herself and curls her body in as they both continue to fall, doing her best to shield her partner Pokemon from the approaching ground.
As Casey continues to fall towards the ground, her life surprisingly doesn't flash before her eyes like the cliche says. Instead, all of the unanswered questions that she's ever had rush to her mind. From the small insignificant ones to those that are constantly on her mind, they all cross her mind in those few moments; the answers to those questions seem all but impossible to obtain at this point.
"Geot-to!"
Casey's initially confused beyond belief when she comes to an abrupt stop, but she sure is grateful for it, especially considering how close to the ground she is. A few more seconds and that would've been it.
"Casey!"
Casey begins to gain a full of awareness of what's going on when she hears a very familiar voice call out her name. At this point she can already feel her feet touching down on the ground, and with that she lets out a much needed sigh of relief. Numerous people quickly rush towards her, Brock, Dawn and Officer Jenny included in that group.
"Are you okay?" Dawn asks, concern etched across her entire face.
"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine." Casey says shakily. She looks down at Monferno, who she is still holding tightly in her arms, "Are you okay, pal?"
Monferno nods, jumping out of her arms and standing firmly on the ground, clearly happy that he's now safe and sound. His reaction cheers Casey up slightly, though her thoughts are still drawn back to one person in particular.
"J! We've got to go after her!" She exclaims suddenly, looking over at Officer Jenny with wide eyes, "She's got one of the Shieldon! We've got to stop her!"
"We know, Casey." Officer Jenny replies calmly, "Professor Rowan and his research team are waiting at the rendezvous point for when we get the Shieldon back. She won't be getting far, I promise."
Relief rushes through Casey once again at Officer Jenny's words, though she's still rather confused about just one more thing, "Uh, how am I alive exactly?"
"You've got Pidgeot to thank for that." Officer Jenny says, nodding her head towards the space just behind where Casey is stood, "It swooped in an saved you at the last second."
Casey turns around and looks over at Pidgeot, noticing the Bird Pokemon for the first time right then and there. It's kinda hard to miss such a large Flying-Type, but Casey still managed to do so nonetheless.
"Hey, thanks a lot Pidgeot! You really saved us there!"
Pidgeot coos thankfully, clearly glad that it's receiving praise for its efforts. Still, as grateful as Casey (and no doubt Monferno) are about being saved, the former of the two still can't stop thinking about J and her callous actions. The Pokemon Hunter mercilessly sent the two of them quite literally plummeting towards their deaths, and all because they got in the way of her making a profit. She can't quite comprehend why, or even how, a person can do such a thing.
She's inhumane!
Casey groans as she sits back on the grass. They managed to regroup with Ash, Gary and Professor Rowan's research team, where they soon learnt that Ash and Gary managed to sneak onto J's ship and save the Shieldon that she stole. Everybody, including Casey, were delighted to here that all of the Shieldon are now safe and sound, but that delight soon turn to frustration for Casey when she discovered that J and her goons got away from the scene before Officer Jenny could arrest any of them.
In other words, J got away with her crimes for the second time, which only adds to Casey's disdain for the woman.
Now, as her friends converse with Officer Jenny, Professor Rowan and Gary, Casey's sat away from the group, trying not to let her anger get the best of her as she thinks about everything that's happened.
How could she have gotten away?! If somebody doesn't catch her, she'll just hurting more and more people and Pokemon! It's just not right!
"Casey." She turns towards the group when Brock calls over to her, "We're going to head off now. Are you coming?"
"Yeah. Just give me a second."
Casey stands up from the grass and begins to walk back towards the group, doing her best to plaster a smile onto her face. There's no need to stress out and worry everybody else just because she's frustrated. Still, she can't help but be agitated that J got away for the second time now, and that's just what she knows of. Who knows how many other crimes the nefarious Pokemon Hunter has committed?
Casey just hopes that she can one day stop her once and for all.
