Ichigo has succeeded in winning in his first gym battle and earned the Game Badge. Now that he has, our heroes are hitting the road for his second gym battle in Boota City. Of course, they might have a couple detours.
They all just kept walking down the path, but something unexpected happened. The ground collapsed right under Ichigo and he fell in a small hole.
"Ichigo!" Orihime called as they all looked down. "Are you okay?"
"What the heck? Who put a hole here?" Ichigo asked. He got his answer as something moved through the ground. It opened up and saw a pair of eyes came out and looked right at Ichigo. Ichigo didn't know what this was, but he knows that this is a little weird.
You're just a kid on a quest
To be the best of the best
Someday your destined for power and glory
You know you're up to the test
There's only one way to tell this story
Be a hero
Be a hero
All the power is at your command
Face your fears and show you're a hero
The future of the world is in your hands
Pokémon
(Orihime's voice) Hospital-potas
"What is that?" Ichigo said as those eyes looking at him looked weird.
"Hippo..." It was actually a pokemon that was crawling out of the ground. Chad reached down for Ichigo and easily pulled him out as they all got a better look at that pokemon.
"Cutie!" Orihime said as she loved how that pokemon looked. "Who is that adorable pokemon?!"
"It's a Hippopotas." Rukia said. "It looks like it's a male. However, I do wonder what it's doing here. Hippopotas usually live in deserts or sandy places. What's it doing underground like that?"
"I don't know, but I do think it's a cute pokemon. I got to catch it." Orihime said.
"You think it's cute? Looks a little weird if you ask me." Ichigo said, but Orihime still went through with it. Orihime pulled out a pokeball and was ready to throw it. However, Hippopotas appeared to have gotten scared. He breathed out sand and blew it right in front of their faces. "Did it really have to blow sand in our faces?" Ichigo coughed as they all tried to deal with it. Hippopotas used the opportunity to climb out of the hole and ran away.
"Hippopotas, wait!" Orihime called out as she chased after it. "Don't runaway! I swear I'm not going to hurt you!"
"Orihime, wait!" Rukia called out.
"I think we should follow her." Chad said.
"Good idea." Ichigo said as they all chased after Orihime. Orihime tried finding Hippopotas, but she lost sight of it and had no idea where it went.
"Where'd it go?" Orihime said as she was disappointed that she lost it with others catching up to her. "Aw... I wanted to catch it."
"Sorry, Orihime." Rukia said.
"What's that over there?" Chad questioned. They looked further ahead and saw a building.
"Maybe someone there saw that Hippopotas." Orihime said as she hurried over to it with the others following. As they got closer to the place, Rukia spotted a sign that told them what the place was.
"This place is a children's hospital." Rukia said. "I doubted anyone really saw anything. They were probably a little busy."
"Excuse me. Can I help you?" All of them turned to see a nurse with auburn hair tied into a bun.
"Hello. We're sorry to bother you." Orihime said. "We were following a Hippopotas that I wanted to capture and it ran in this direction."
"A Hippopotas? I'm sorry, but we don't really have pokemon in this hospital." The nurse said. "Wait a minute. Are all of you pokemon trainers?"
"Yeah. I'm Ichigo and this is my Absol."
"Absol."
"My name is Orihime."
"I'm Rukia."
"And my name is Chad."
"Hello. My name is Samantha. I happen to be a nurse that works at the hospital. If you all don't mind, would you mind coming in for the children. You see, all the children in this hospital love pokemon. I'm sure it would make them all really happy if they could meet all of your pokemon."
"I say we do it." Orihime said.
"Sounds like a good idea to me." Rukia said.
"Agreed." Chad said.
"Sure. We'll do it. We'll even help out around the hospital if you need us to." Ichigo offered.
"Great." Samantha said as she knew the children were going to love this. She brought Ichigo and his friends in the hospital to meet the children. "Listen up, children. We got some nice pokemon trainers here that are going to let you see their pokemon." All of the children loved it as they were excited to see all the different kinds of pokemon.
"Go on, Absol. Go say hello." Ichigo said. Absol walked into the room for the kids to get a good look at them. All of the kids loved Absol alone. "Umbreon, you come out and say hello." Ichigo called out Umbreon as well.
"Umbreon." The kids loved that their were two pokemon around.
"Fun fact, most Umbreon aren't this color." Ichigo said.
"You guys should meet our other pokemon." Orihime said as she and the others brought out all their pokeballs. They called out all of their pokemon. Orihime's Sylveon, Solrock, Roserade, Swanna, and Azumarill; Rukia's Dewgong, Cryogonal, and Jynx; and Chad's Hawlucha, Poliwhirl, and Sableye. They let all their pokemon interact with the children and the children loved it.
"Thank you for doing this." Samantha said.
"No worries. The kids look like they're having fun." Ichigo said. Orihime was happy to see all of this, but she one little girl with shoulder-length blonde hair sitting in her bed and didn't look as happy.
"Who's that little girl over there?" Orihime asked.
"That's little Milly." Samantha said. "She's been nervous because she has an operation to go through in the next day or two."
"Poor little girl. An operation of any kind must be scary to a little kid." Rukia said. Orihime felt pretty bad for her. She walked right over to Milly and tried to cheer her up.
"Hi there." Orihime said. "Do you want to play with the other pokemon?"
"No, thank you." Milly said.
"Samantha just told us how you have an operation to go through. I know it might be scary, but it probably won't be as bad as you think." Orihime said. She tried cheering Milly up, but Milly didn't seem interested in what she said. All she did was climb out of bed and walked out of the room.
"Excuse me." Milly said as she moved past everyone and walked out of there.
"Poor girl." Rukia said.
"She needs to see that she has to have the operation. It's for her own good." Ichigo said.
"Say it a little more harshly. I don't think you were stern enough." Rukia said with annoyance.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Ichigo question. The two of them started arguing, but Orihime was more interested in trying to help Milly. When she had the chance, Orihime stepped out and tried looking for Milly.
"Milly! Where are you?!" Orihime called out as she looked around for Milly. She soon spotted her outside and it looked like she was sitting in the dirt. Orihime went outside and went over to talk to her. "Milly, what are you doing out here?" Milly turned to look at her, but that's what allowed Orihime to see that the Hippopotas she was trying to catch earlier was there with her. "It's you!"
"Hippo..."
"Milly, what are you doing with that Hippopotas?" Orihime asked. "Is it yours?"
"Sort of. Hippopotas here is my friend." Milly said.
"I see." Orihime said as she got down on her knees. "I feel a little silly now. The reason my friends and I came to this hospital was because I followed this little one here when I was trying to catch it. I had no idea it was yours."
"Hippopotas has been making my time here better, but Samantha doesn't know about it. It's just me and Hippopotas here." Milly said as she petted Hippopotas. "Ever since I came here, Hippopotas has been coming by everyday to make me feel better. Still, I didn't think the nurses would allow Hippopotas to stay. When Hippoptas isn't here, it's a little scary here."
"I understand." Orihime said. "Hippopotas must mean a lot to you."
"He does." Milly said.
"Hippo!" Hippopotas was happy to hear that.
"Now I have to get an operation, but even Hippopotas can't help me because Hippopotas can't be there." Milly said as the thought was scaring her.
"I know how you feel." Orihime said. Milly listened to her from saying that. "I was going to go on a journey with my big brother, but that never happened. I was scared to go on my own, but that all changed when I met Ichigo and the rest of my friends. Going on a journey with them has been a lot of fun, and made it easier. Everything is easier when you have your friends with you. Just like when I'm performing in Pokemon Talent Star."
"Pokemon Talent Star? What is that?" Milly questioned.
"It's a fun competition where you show off the best qualities of your pokemon." Orihime said. "I'm usually pretty nervous whenever I go out there because I never know if I'm going to win or lose, but I have Sylveon and my other pokemon there to give me the courage to go through with it." When she said that, it gave Orihime an idea. "In fact, how would you like to see a performance."
...
Later
Orihime set up a small stage for her and her pokemon. All the kids came out with Milly having Hippopotas next to her.
"That explains why that Hippopotas is around here, but what's Orihime doing?" Ichigo questioned.
"She wants to perform for the kids." Chad said.
"Let's see what's she got." Rukia said. Orihime came running out with all of her pokemon.
"Are you all ready?!" Orihime asked with all the kids cheering. Orihime started some music and the show was about to begin. "Roserade and Sylveon, go!"
"Sylveon!"
"Roserade!" Sylveon and Roserade jumped out as they danced around. Sylveon looked like a ribbon dancer while Roserade was like a ballet dancer.
"Sylveon, Fairy Wind! Roserade, Stun Spore!" Orihime said. Both of them twirled and launched their attacks in the air. "Solrock, Gyro Ball!"
"Solrock!" Solrock twirled around in the Fairy Wind and Stun Spore with rings of light. Solrock gathered all that he could and had them sprinkle like glitter. The kids were loving it with Orihime dancing around with Roserade and Sylveon. "Azumarill, Waterfall! Swanna, Aqua Ring!"
"Azumarill!" Azumarill called for a pillar of water and it shot straight up at Swanna.
"Swanna!" Swanna formed rings of water around itself. The pillar connected with Swanna. Swanna looked as graceful and beautiful as a Swanna could. Azumarill provided the support of a great friend. On top of that, the colliding water attacks created beautiful rainbows. The children absolutely loved all of it. When the performance came to an end, Orihime and her pokemon all took a bow. All the kids loved it, especially Milly and Hippopotas. Orihime walked over to see what she thought.
"Did you like it?" Orihime asked.
"I loved it!" Milly said.
"Hippo!"
"You were really afraid to do that?" Milly asked.
"I still do, but my pokemon give me the strength I need to get through it." Orihime said. "Hippopotas can do the same for you. He can give you the strength to go through with the operation. Samantha, isn't there any way for Hippopotas to be with Milly during her operation?" Both of them looked with the hope that there was.
"I think we can figure something out." Samantha said with all of them glad to hear that.
"Thank you, Orihime. When I get older, I'm going to be a performer like you and compete in Pokemon Talent Star with Hippopotas." Milly said.
"You wish to compete in Pokemon Talent Star, Orihime?" Samantha asked.
"Yeah, but I still need to find where my first competition in Kalos is going to be." Orihime said.
"You're in luck. Pokemon Talent Star is going to happen in Emerald Town." Samantha said.
"Emerald Town..." Rukia said as she pulled out a map. "It looks like we have to take a detour, but Emerald Town will lead to Boota City."
"That settles it. We'll head to Emerald Town first." Ichigo said.
"Great! I can't wait." Orihime said as she was getting excited for her upcoming competition. The time at the hospital was fun, but now is the time for them to leave. They all head out with the children and Samantha waving them farewell.
"Bye and good luck!" Samantha called as they were leaving.
Pokemon are great friends. They give us the strength to do the things that would be tough for us. Now, our heroes are hitting the road again. Their next destination is Emerald Town for Orihime's talent star competition, and hopefully her first win in Kalos.
To Be Continued...
Pokemon Question: Okay, future trainers. The answer to the last question was...Meloetta. Meloetta's singing is said to bring joy or misery to others. Here's the next question. What pokemon chants incantations that can bring people nightmares?
