AN: Originally, I was planning to have introduce a rival here as well, but decided to save that for the next chapter. No need to do it all at once. And, to answer your question Gamelover:
The idea for Lola's starter came from a picture I saw some time ago, with each of the Loud sisters paired with a pokemon. Lori with Rotom Fan, Leni with Pikachu, etc. Seeing Lola with a Furfrou just seemed too perfect for her.
Lana was a fairly easy one too: pick a frog pokemon. It was a close battle between Crogunk and Tympole, but decided on Tympole in the end.
As for wild pokemon, I'm mostly picking off the top of my head for what may be appropriate for the route they're on, with each main character having a preference on who they could catch: Lola would seek out cute/beautiful pokemon, with a special fondness for the fairy type, while Lana...she wants all the pokemon, but would favor reptile and amphibian pokemon, as well as poison, bug and steel pokemon for her team.
As for Lincoln's, it was picked mostly by chance and vote. Took the top three pokemon types chosen in the poll, picked the most voted for pokemon in each type (as well as one or two of my own), and rolled dice until one got selected three times. Frillish won out, with second place going to Munchlax, and Buneary and Chimchar tying for third. Does that mean those pokemon will appear on his team later on...maybe, maybe not.
A friend in need
With lunch over, the Louds proceeded on their way along Route One, all pokemon back in their balls...except for one notable exception. Princess was still on Lincoln's back, holding up the umbrella he gave her to shade her from the sun. Lincoln had the map application open in his pokedex, acting as the guide, while Lana was focused on finding new pokemon. "Hmmm. If we keep going at this rate, we should hit Route 2 by nightfall," The one son said out loud. "And if we keep this pace up through there, we should reach Oakenville before the end of the week."
"...that long?" Lola complained with a whine to her voice.
"Sorry Lola, but unless one of us gets a driver's license or a flying pokemon big enough to carry us, we have to walk," Her big brother explained to her. "And the Micha region isn't exactly small. It'll take months for us to explore it all, over a year if we check out all locations off the beaten path," He continued, putting his dex away. "Not counting stops to challenge gyms, shop-"
"Ok! I get it! It's a long trip!" The pageant princess snapped before looking away with a huff.
"No one ever said the life of a trainer was an easy one," The white haired Loud said sagely, returning his focus to the path ahead. The beauty pageant participant grumbled under her breath in response, but didn't say anything directly to him.
"Nothing new…" Lana said, slightly upset by this revelation.
"We're still on Route One, Lana. Give it a little time." Lincoln told her, turning slightly to look at her. "We'll start seeing new pokemon on Route 2...or when the sun sets, whichever comes first."
"Sigh. Frill Illish Frillish Fri Frill…?" Princess complained, rolling her eyes.
"Hey! You're one to talk about whining!" The pokemon whisperer among them snapped back.
"Alright, settle down everyone." The sole son said, though he wasn't too concerned. He's been witness to (and even participated in) far too many sibling arguments to get bent out of shape about it. It rarely got serious these days. However, the verbal tussle did have an unforeseen consequence.
"You three!" A voice rang out. The two kids, one teen and pokemon turned quickly to see a smirk young man in a wide brimmed hat, white shirt and brown shorts. On his back was a butterfly net. "You're trainers, right? Let's battle!" He declared, pulling a pokeball from his net.
"Hmmm. What do you think, girls? You want to take a whack at this guy?" Lincoln asked his two younger sisters.
"I don't think so. I'm not big on battling," Lola said, turning her head away from the opposing trainer.
"I'll take him!" Lana said, grinning eagerly as she stepped forward, drawing her own pokeball. "Go, Nibbles!" She yelled as she summoned forth an especially plump Bidoof. Since he didn't have any data on the beaver pokemon, Lincoln turned his pokedex toward it.
"Bidoof, the Plump Mouse pokemon. It gnaws on logs and rocks to whittle down its front teeth. It nests alongside water. With nerves of steel, nothing can perturb it. It is more agile and active than it appears."
"Huh. It would have to be." Lincoln commented quietly as he looked at the Bidoof.
"Ha! You think that scares me!? Go, Burmy!" The bug catcher sent out a worm with a curly antennae surrounded by grass and leaves.
"Burmy, the bagworm pokemon. To shelter itself from cold, wintery winds, it covers itself with a cloak of twigs and leaves. If its cloak is broken in battle, it quickly remakes the cloak with materials nearby."
"Nibbles, attack with tackle!" Lana instructed, pointing toward the Burmy.
"Burmy, bug bite!" Her opponent ordered. Nibbles charged forward, moving with surprising speed, while the leaf covered bug sprang toward the chunky rodent. He slammed headlong into the Burmy, making its eyes bulge from the pain. However, it gave the bug pokemon a chance to put the bite on the Bidoof. Nibbles squeaked in pain, but kept right on running until he slammed it right into a tree.
"Yeah! Good work, partner!" The cap wearing twin complimented with a big smile. "Do it again!"
"Burmy, protect, now!" Bidoof leapt back from the Burmy to give himself room to ram into it again. However, before he could tackle it, a shimmering barrier surrounded the leaf cloaked bug. Nibbles bounced right off it, dealing no damage to the insect. However, the plump mouse pokemon was quite stubborn, and charged again. The bagworm attempted to throw a fresh shield up, but it was no good. His head crushed the opposing pokemon against the tree trunk. The impact was more than enough to make it faint.
"You did it, Nibbles!" Lana cheered, her Bidoof running over to her and jumping right into her arms for a hug.
"We're not done here yet!" The angered bug hunter snapped, hurling a new pokeball onto the field. "Go, Wurmple!" A caterpillar covered in sharp spikes, along with long pointed tail spikes and a horn appeared before it's trainer. Nibbles glared at it as he jumped from Lana's arms, ready to fight. "Wurmple, attack with Poison Sting!"
"Nibbles, you know what to do!" Bidoof surged forward, while the worm pokemon unleashed a storm of tiny needles from its tail spikes right at him. Unfortunately, the oversized rodent was peppered with the razor sharp spines. Even less fortunately, he started to look kind of green in the face.
"HA! Looks like your big fat rat is a little green behind the gills!" The opposing trainer taunted as Bidoof felt the effects of the poison.
"No! Nibbles, return!" The animal loving Loud cried out as she recalled her sickened pokemon, knowing that the poison wouldn't hurt her poor pokemon while it was inside. Now she was steamed. No one does that to her precious monsters and gets away with it. "Pidgey, go!" A small, brown and tan bird appeared in the air, flapping its wings and leering down at the Wurmple. The bug catcher felt a sweat drop trickle down the back of his head as he looked nervously up at the bird. "Pidgey, swat that bug with Gust!"
"Wurmple, Poison Sting!" The spiky caterpillar launched a volley of poison stings at the flying bird, but the attack was interrupted by the wind kicked up by its wings. The needles were thrown to the sides, sticking to the trunks of the nearby trees, as the Wurmple was picked up off the ground from the force of the wind. The opposing pokemon was thrown for a loop, colliding back first into its own trainer, which nearly knocked him over.
"Alright! Who's next!?" Lana asked aggressively.
"...there is no one else...that was my last pokemon…" The bug catcher grumbled, pulling a small wad of cash and tossing it at her feet.
"...huh? What's that for?" She asked, momentarily snapping out of her anger.
"It's prize money, Lana." Her older brother explained. "In a pokemon battle, the victor gains a little bit of prize money from their opponent. It's considered good form."
"And I hope both you and that chicken of yours choke on it…" The foul tempered bug trainer grumbled as he trudged off toward town.
"That, however, is not good form." Lincoln deadpanned, shaking his head as the poor sport departed. Meanwhile, his tomboyish little sister resummoned her Bidoof long enough to spray it down with some antidote.
"There we go...feeling better there, Nibbles?" The chubby rodent nodded with a low squeak. "Great," Lana responded with a cheery smile.
"We can win money from battles?" Lola inquired in surprise before smirking. "...maybe I should rethink my thoughts on battling."
"Couldn't hurt, Lola. Especially since we don't know how much money you could earn through contests."
"Besides, it can only help your pokemon to get stronger." Her twin pointed out as she recalled her two pokemon. Lola started to seriously consider this as they all continued on their way. The trip was fairly peaceful, save for Princess occasionally leaping from Lincoln's back to wipe out a spotted wild pokemon.
"Geez, what have you got against Rattatas?" Lola asked her with a hidden snicker after she bubbled her tenth rat pokemon into fainting in a row.
"I think she's trying to rush her evolution." Her trainer answered, rolling his eyes a bit as the tired jellyfish returned to his back. "There's no need to rush it, Princess. It will happen when it happens, but exhausting yourself every couple minutes won't make it happen that much faster." The pink pokemon just mumbled something in pokemon language, still clinging to her trainer. Just then-
"Look!" Lana exclaimed excitedly, pointing off to a dense section of woods up ahead where the path curved to the left. Among the roughage and trees was an armored, bipedal insect with two large, thorned pincers on its head. Its chitin was a light brown, its arms were kind of spindly, and its large mouth had many square teeth, and was almost as tall as they were. It was looking around as if checking to see if it was followed.
"Pinsir, the StagBeetle Pokemon." Lincoln's pokedex informed them all as he scanned the cautious bug. "Pinsir has a pair of massive horns. Protruding from the surface of these horns are thorns. These thorns are driven deeply into the foe's body when the pincer closes, making it tough for the foe to escape."
"Cool...I wa-" She started to say, reaching for her pokeballs, but paused for a moment, looking back at her brother and sister. "...er, sorry. Did either of you want a chance?"
"Ugh. No way." Lola replied with disgust.
"Nope. It's all yours, Lana." Her more chill brother answered.
"Sweet! Go, Hops!" Lana declared, summoning forth her Tympole and alerting the Pinsir to her presence. "Use Supersonic!" She instructed, the tadpole emitting a powerful burst of sound energy from his cheeks at the Pinsir. The bug simply ducked, the shockwave hitting a tan, vaguely human like pokemon with pink shoulder bands and a pink stripe along either side and holding a large, square log in both hands like a club. The suddenly appearing pokemon was thrown off its attempted attack and thrown into confusion as it slammed face first into the ground. The stag beetle snickered at the sight before it scurried off. "What the!?"
"Hey! What'd you do that for!?" An angry female voice sounded from the woods.
"I could ask you the same thing!" The tomboy twin yelled back. While Lana was far from as much of a force of nature her sister was when angered, she was still a tough cookie in any circumstance. She stormed her way over to the edge of the woodland just as a young lady with light brown hair and an extra long braided ponytail came into view. She wore a yellow tank top with short blue shorts, a pokeball belt around her waist, knee high socks and brown sneakers. Lincoln looked at her and frowned lightly. He felt like he knew this girl, but wasn't sure from where.
"I was trying to catch that Pinsir before you ambushed my Timburr!"
"You were what!? I saw it first!"
"No way! I've been tracking him from clear over in Larchton!" The brown haired girl screamed at the tool savvy twin while her pokemon just sat on the ground, kind of reeling from the confusion. Hearing the name Larchton sparked a memory in Lincoln.
"Jordan?" He asked in surprise. "Girl Jordan?" The girl from the woods paused in her verbal argument with Lana, turning her attention to the one who called her name. She stared right at the white haired young man for a moment or two before she responded.
"Lincoln?" The twins blinked and looked between the two as Lincoln dashed over to the forest's edge with a small smile, a similar smile appearing on Jordan's face.
"I can't believe it," Lincoln said with a chuckle, one hand set on his hip, the other on his chin as he looked her up and down. "It's been four years since I last saw you. How the heck are you?"
"Oh, doing well enough." She replied happily, her eyes scanning him as well. "And judging by the look of you, you are too."
"Wait...you know her?" Lana and Lola asked in unison, kind of lost.
"Yeah. She was a good friend of mine from back in school," The white haired teen answered. "She had moved to Larchton a few years back, though I never knew why..."
"Oh, uh...my Dad got a new job down there," Girl Jordan replied with a nervous sort of grin. "You know how it is: Better opportunity, so everyone's gotta go."
"Not really, since that never happened to us, but I do get it," Her long time friend answered with a shrug and a smile. "Anyway, girls, my friend, Jordan, though we always called her Girl Jordan in school. Jordan, my sisters, Lola and Lana." The blonde twins looked to one another for a moment as they started to remember; they had heard their brother talking about this Girl Jordan before. It was mostly gripes about dodgeball, but he had spoken highly of her before too. It was clear they were friendly; maybe not quite as close as Lincoln and Ronnie Anne had been before she moved, but still close.
"A pleasure to meet you, Jordan," Lola said with a small curtesy.
"Hey there. Sorry about sass," Lana said, rubbing the back of her head. "I promise I wasn't aiming for your pokemon…"
"...ah, don't worry about it. It was just an accident, and Timburr was just a little confused by it." Jordan responded, looking to her pokemon as he got back to his feet. He looked right as rain, if salty about the whole thing.
"So, you say you've been hunting that pokemon since Larchton?" Lincoln inquired, looking in the direction Pinsir had fled.
"Yeah. He's kind of an infamous figure back home. A real troublemaker, but one tough pokemon. I thought he'd make a great addition to my team, but it's been cat and mouse for nearly a week, with Pinsir somehow always being one step ahead," Jordan told him, looking a combination of annoyed and dejected by it.
"Well, maybe I can help you out," The one son suggested, which made the twins grin behind his back. "I mean, with the two of us, we should be able to track and trap him pretty easily."
"Make that three," Lana interjected, rolling up her sleeves. "Even if I can't catch it myself, I wouldn't mind tangling with it. Heck, I'll wrestle it myself if need be. Can't be that different from wrestling Krokoroks."
"...she seriously wrestles Krokoroks?" Girl Jordan asked in absolute shock.
"For fun," Lincoln answered, chuckling at her reaction. "Not so much these days, but back when she was six, she was reigning champ in Royal Woods."
"Six!?"
"Make that four. I don't fancy myself as much of a tracker or hunter, but a fourth pair of eyes should help." Lola offered the shell shocked Jordan, snapping her out of her daze.
"Really? I wouldn't want to impose on you all."
"It's fine, Jordan," Lana informed her, trying to put an arm around her shoulders even though Jordan was a bit taller than her. "This is gonna be fun." She then turned to look at her twin. "Hey, you think your Furfrou could help by picking up its scent?" Lola looked positively aghast for a moment, but then she remembered that she hadn't groomed her poodle pokemon yet. She wouldn't have to worry about messing up her fur. Besides, if Brittany can learn to track, just imagine how easy finding pokemon would be. But would she go for it? Only one way to find out in Lola's mind as she let her pokemon out of her ball.
"Brittany, do you think you can get the scent of that Pinsir?" She inquired. The furfrou tilted her head a bit, then leaned in to the spot where the bug pokemon stood. She took a few sniffs, moved forward a little, and whiffed again before she barked excitedly, wagging her tail. "She's got it! Follow that bug!" Lola instructed as she and Lana ran off after Brittany, with Lincoln, Jordan, and Timburr following them a couple feet behind.
"So...I have to ask, Lincoln…" Jordan started to ask, looking at the pink jellyfish on his back. "...why is your pokemon riding on your back?"
"Because if she rode on my head, we'd both look silly," The white haired teen responded in a deadpan manner, making Jordan burst out giggling. Even Princess chortled a little at that, covering her mouth with a tentacle. "But seriously, she just started doing it not long after we met. It's a bit annoying, but it's not that big an inconvenience." The Frillish smiled at him and pat him on the head, saying something that neither trainer could understand. "But anyway, how has your journey been going? I bet you have a ton of badges by now," He asked, giving her a smile. The light brunette teen flinched a bit and looked back to the front.
"Oh...uh...I actually kind of had to start over." The young lady told him, her face sweating a little.
"Start over?" Lincoln asked in utter surprise. He didn't know that was a possibility.
"Yeah. Kind of hit a figurative brick wall at one point, so I thought it would be best to start fresh to try and figure out what went wrong," She continued, a quaver to her voice. The one son just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. That didn't make a lot of sense to him. However, before he could ask any further, she suddenly looked back at him. "How about you? What has the 'Man with the Plan' been up to? Giving your little sisters a little of your expert advice?" She inquired with a smirk.
"Huh? Oh, actually, we all only just started today," He admitted to her, which brought a look of surprise to her face.
"Just started? But...you've been a trainer for years…"
"Yes, but I couldn't leave right then and there," He explained. "You've seen how big my family is. Even with my older sisters having gone on their own journeys, there were still an awful lot of us for two parents working full time to handle, so I decided to wait and help take care of my little sisters."
"Aww. That's a sweet thing to do. And now you're even accompanying them on their quests."
"Hehe. Yeah, and I'll continue to do so until they decide they'd rather go on their own," The middle son continued with a small smile.
"So, Lana...what do you think?" The beauty obsessed sister inquired in a low voice to her twin with a smirk.
"I think I'd start with a chokehold, but I don't think it even has a neck."
"I meant about-" Lola was about to snap at her, but Lana just laughed and cut her off.
"Yeah, I know. I was just messing with you. Anyway, I like her so far. She's got fight in her, and if she's willing to go this far for a pokemon, she's clearly determined." Lola seemed to calm down a little after hearing that, though she was very irked at being played for a fool, even on such a minor level.
"And she is kind of good looking," The pageant princess added quietly, glancing back at them. "Not exactly fashion forward, but still nice looking. They're also really good friends already. That alone is very promising."
"You think it's possible they could…" She trailed off just in case Lincoln may have heard them, but she traced a heart in midair with a grin.
"Ooooh, I hope so," The Loud in pink replied with a giggle. "I mean, I would have liked Linky to date Ronnie Anne as much as the next gal...well, unless the other gal is Lori…" Another flurry of giggles escaped from both twins. "...but she's so far away, and he needs a lady who can be by his side."
"Yeah. Especially after she went so quiet," Lana commented, her face falling a bit. However, this wave of blue was cast off pretty quick as she returned her view to the path in front of them. "So, what do you think we should do?"
"For now, let's keep it on the down low," Lola answered, getting a very surprised 'huh?' from her sister. "Oh, don't worry. We're going to help. Just not yet. Let the seeds be planted first; we'll be there to water them later." She elaborated with a big grin. 'Though that won't be long, giving how Lincoln gallantly offered to help hunt this monster bug.' She thought to herself.
Over an hour had passed since they had started their hunt for this Pinsir and, though they found some tracks that Brittany was now following, they still didn't find the monster stag beetle. Lincoln was beginning to see why Girl Jordan was having so much trouble catching this pokemon; it was quick and crafty. However, he was confident that they could find it together. They didn't find any new pokemon in their journey well off the beaten path (much to Lana's chagrin), but they did find a great many berry bushes. Each of them picked as many Oran, Pecha, Rawst and Nanab berries as they could as they pursued the bug. In the meantime, their quarry was keeping tabs on them as well, spying on them from a distance and chuckling as it kept leading them on this merry chase. It was thoroughly enjoying this game, which is how it perceived this whole outing. However, it wasn't happy about one thing: the Furfrou. The Pinsir saw this as cheating, and it wasn't going to let it stand. The human sized insect glared at the poodle leading the way from the tree branches, planning its move. Brittany came to a sudden stop under the tree where it was camping out, looking around in confusion. "What's up, Brittany?" Her trainer asked in concern.
"I think she lost the scent." Lana suggested. Before anyone could decide what to do next, the Pinsir fell from the tree branches, landing right in front of the Furfrou. The bug pokemon grabbed the shocked canine with its thorny horns and hurled her right into the nearest oak tree. The poor pup yelped in pain before falling to the grassy ground.
"Brittany!" Lola cried out before literal fire came to her eyes. "You big bully! Go, Pichu!" She hurled Pichu's ball toward the ground, summoning forth the baby electric mouse. It was then she realized the strategic error in her move: the Pinsir was MUCH bigger than her pokemon. The stag beetle just took one look at the little pokemon and just started laughing. This angered the spunky little sparker as re unleashed a Thundershock upon his opponent. The chitinous, horned monster hardly looked phased at all. "Gulp...perhaps I should have caught another pokemon or two…" The prissy twin said, feeling somewhat scared now.
"Timburr, Pound attack!" Jordan instructed loudly.
"Timburr!" Her pokemon replied as he leapt into the air and swung his log like a club at the Pinsir. The powerful fighting pokemon managed to get a solid hit on its head. However, this gave the stag beetle the opening to snap its pincers shut on the log and start shaking the little humanoid pokemon like a ragdoll.
"Piiiii….." The baby Pikachu growled as he gathered electricity around his body just like last time, before barreling right at the Pinsir. "...CHUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" He landed a solid Volt Tackle right into its midsection. The bug pokemon was more surprised than hurt, but it was enough to make it drop Timburr and stagger back. By this point, Lola's Furfrou had gotten back on her paws, and she was positively irate. Seeing the odds were very much against it right now, Pinsir sprang back up to the branches before leaping from tree to tree to escape them.
"Oh no you don't!" Lincoln called out. "Go, Pidove!"
"Go, Pidgey!" Lana exclaimed, the two of them summoning their bird pokemon.
"Follow it from the sky! Call out to give away its position." The one son instructed, pointing upward. Pidgey and Pidove nodded as they soared through the forest canopy, their sharp eyes scanning the woods. The former spotted the swiftly moving monster insect and flew off it. The latter, however, just kinda flew off in another direction. Pidgey chirped down toward the group on the ground, the pokemon trainers following the sound of its calls.
"Time for our secret weapon, Timburr." Girl Jordan told her heavy lifting partner. "If it's not coming down, we'll send our attacks up to it. Use Rock Throw!" The log carrying pokemon nodded, tossing the hunk of wood to the other arm and then grabbing rocks from the ground to hurl up at the trees. This made Pinsir's attempted escape much more difficult; it had a pack of trainers chasing it from the ground, with one of their pokemon throwing rocks, and one bird pokemon stalking from above. However, the beetle pokemon had a plan. It stopped in a mature oak tree and waited for the humans and pokemon to huddle up underneath. Once they were gathered, it started shaking the branches, sending a shower of acorns down on them.
"Ack! Ouch! Ow! I think I see where you were having trouble with this one!" Lincoln told Girl Jordan as he tried to cover his head to avoid getting pelted. Princess simply moved her umbrella to cover her own noggin.
"Ow! Ow! You sneaky little…" Jordan growled as the Pinsir laughed at all of them. Lola covered her head as she leaned over to keep Pichu from getting nuts dropped on it, while Brittany attempted to shield her. With her hat on, however, Lana wasn't as affected, but she still needed to protect her eyes from the rain of acorns. The stag beetle shook up the tree for a few more seconds before it attempted to jump to another branch. However, when it leapt, it ran right into Lincoln's Pidove, who was diving to get at the acorns. The startled pigeon went into a panic, flapping his wings right in the insect pokemon's face. This threw the big bad bug off its jump, squirming a bit before pushing the Pidove away and slamming face first into an oak trunk. The Pinsir fell back from the tree to the ground, a dazed look on its face. Meanwhile, the Pidove had landed nearby, pecking at the fallen acorns.
"...I should scold Pidove...but that worked." Lincoln commented as he looked at the bug, who was shaking off its disorientation. "Jordan, it's all yours." She nodded, grabbing one of her empty pokeballs and tossing it at the Pinsir. The pokeball pulled the bug pokemon in and it started to shake wildly, like it was fighting like mad on the inside. Lola shrank back from the ball, her Furfrou standing ready to strike if need be. Lincoln and Jordan were watching with bated breath, while Lana had her fingers crossed. The only one there who didn't seem to care was the oblivious pigeon pokemon. The pokeball bounced a few times, then it went completely still, making the telltale 'ding' of a successful capture. Silence filled the area for a few seconds before the three Louds and Jordan all cheered.
"We caught it! We caught it!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"Congratulations, Jordan," Lincoln told her, giving her a pat on the back before she gave her Timburr a big hug. His pageant pro sister sighed with relief, petting her pokemon for a job well done, while the handy twin called her Pidgey to her arm to give it a tasty Oran berry. As they were celebrating, the ball holding her recently trapped pokemon suddenly popped open, a scowling Pinsir leering at all of them. That brought the celebration to a screeching halt. Before anyone could do anything at all, Pinsir held a spindly hand out to Jordan and made a sort of clicking sound.
"She said, well played," Lana translated, looking back to the girl with the light brown ponytail.
"Huh? Oh, uh...thanks. You too," She replied nervously, shaking her hand. "...but, uh...why do you look so mad?"
"She said she hates losing…" The animal loving sister explained after listening to the bug pokemon's chattering. "...but it was a really fun run. She knew it had to happen sometime, and she's glad it was to someone who doesn't know when to quit." Jordan wasn't quite sure whether that was a compliment or not, but decided to take it as such before recalling the Pinsir, and then her Timburr. Once all the pokemon (save for Princess) were safely tucked away in their portable homes, the four started to head back to Route One.
"Thanks so much for the help, everyone. That chase probably would have lasted another week or so without help," Girl Jordan said, smiling appreciatively at the white haired young man and the twins.
"Glad to help," Lincoln told her in reply. "So, what are you going to do next?"
"Well, I'm probably going to head to Glenvale and take on the gym."
"Really? So are we!" Lola chirped with a big smile. "Well, Lana and Lincoln are, but after all the walking it'll take to get there, I'd be happy for a rest in an actual town, but I digress. Why don't you come with us?" Lana turned to look at her twin. She liked the idea, but she knew Lola said they wouldn't get involved just yet. The prissy twin whispered through the side of her mouth. "Just a friendly suggestion." Jordan hummed to herself for a moment as she thought about it, glancing over at Lincoln, who had looked back at her.
"What do you think, Lincoln?"
"It's fine by me. It may slow us down a little in each town as three of us need to go through the gym, but there's no rush. There's no time limit to complete the gym challenge," Lincoln replied without hesitation. "Besides, we have a lot of catching up to do."
"Hehe. Yeah. Years worth," Jordan said cheerfully. "Well, it sounds good to me. At least for a little while. We'll see what happens after once we get to Glenvale."
"Then it's settled!" The beauty centered Loud said, as if that made it final.
"So...keeping it on the down low, huh?" Lana whispered to her with a big smirk as they all continued on their way.
"It's just a little nudge in the right direction…" Lola replied with a sheepish shrug.
"I wasn't complaining. It was a good idea."
"Hehe. Right, but no more after this. At least, not yet." The twins nodded in sync before looking over at the older teens in front of them, Girl Jordan looking back at them.
"What do you think they're whispering about?" She quietly asked Lincoln, curiosity really tugging at her mind.
"Could be anything," The middle son answered, looking back at the two kids, who suddenly looked away, playing innocent. "...though I can probably make a good guess." He laughed softly, turning to look at Jordan. "I wouldn't worry about it."
"If you say so. Anyway, I bet you have some stories to tell since I moved," She said with a soft smile.
"Oh, like you wouldn't believe," He responded, laughing a little more before he started in on a story about how Charles had gotten into a fight with a Stunky in their backyard.
When they returned to Route One, the sun was starting to set, which meant some of the nocturnal pokemon were starting to come out, much to Lana's delight. Before it got too dark for them to keep going, Lana had managed to catch a HootHoot (which she boxed), and a Zubat (which she replaced the Rattata in her team with). However, when the sun set completely and they could hardly see their hands in front of their faces, it was time to set up camp for the night. Thanks to Clyde's portable campsite, they were able to set up quickly, with only needing to set up their four tents and get a fire going. Lincoln was working on a pot of curry his father had shown him how to make, using some of the berries they collected so their pokemon could enjoy it as well. Lana was playing with her six pokemon and Timburr, while Lola was petting her Pichu and brushing her Furfrou and talking to Jordan, with Pinsir over by the cooking pot with Lincoln, peeking in to see what was cooking. "You're planning to enter Pokemon Contests?" Royal Woods' dodgeball champion inquired of the little pageant princess.
"Mmhmm. It seemed like a natural move to make, with my experience in pageants." Lola explained, looking just a little pompous. This expression quickly faded to a sadder look. "...though I realize now I need to find more suitable pokemon...not just for the contests, but for battling too. Pichu and Brittany could have been seriously hurt..." Seeing her trainer look so down really upset Brittany, so she turned and gently nuzzled Lola, whining a bit.
"Hehe. Looks like your Furfrou doesn't like seeing a sad Lola." The gal with the light brown hair commented with a giggle, followed by Lola as the poodle pokemon started licking her again.
"Ok! Ok! I'm not sad anymore. Honest." She said through her giggles, gently pushing the pupper back. "What an affectionate pokemon."
"Well, she is a dog, and a good dog at that."
"No argument here." Lola agreed, petting the extremely happy Furfrou before picking up the baby pokemon. "And you're a good little Pichu too." She told him, which just made the wee mouse frown. He didn't want to be picked up, and he expressed his objection by zapping her right hand with the power of a static shock. She winced and moved the pokemon to her other hand to wave the pain out of the first. Pichu simply shocked her other hand, which made her move him back to the first. The little electric pokemon grinned. This was a fun game to him. He kept shocking each hand she held him in, forcing her to switch hands for the next couple seconds. She soon got fed up, reached into her pocket and slipped on her pageant gloves. When Pichu tried to zap her, he couldn't get through the material. Lola smirked and stuck her tongue out at him. He responded by grabbing her tongue with both little hands and refusing to let go. Girl Jordan, who had been trying not to laugh, couldn't help it anymore. She just started cracking up at the sight. "...Hith name blill be Blat!" The Loud in pink growled, her speech hindered by the baby pokemon. The newly named Brat just grinned, taking the name like a badge of honor.
"Hahaha, oh come on, Lola. He's just a baby," Jordan said as Lola managed to free her tongue from the Pichu's tiny fingers.
"He's still a brat."
"Takes one to know one," Lana whispered, snickering to herself.
"Something you want to share with the class, Lana…?" Lola snarled dangerously.
"Dinner's ready!" Lincoln called out before things could escalate. He poured some of the hot, sweet curry over bowls of rice and started handing them out.
"Thanks Linky," The cranky, short tempered twin said as she took her bowl.
"Linky?" Girl Jordan asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"It's...a nickname Lola and Leni call me by sometimes," The white haired chef said with a soft blush.
"How can we help it? It's cute," Lola said before she started to dig in. "...MMMMMMMM! This is yummy!"
"Is it?" Jordan looked down at her own bowl and eagerly took a big spoonful after the pageant princess' glowing review. "Hmmm...It's good, but a bit too sweet for my liking. It needs more kick."
"I think it's great," Lana interjected, stuffed her face with curry and rice. "Though I agree a little spice would make it perfect." Most of the pokemon seemed to be enjoying it too, or at least they were eating it. Brat, Brittany, Nibbles, and Pidove seemed to like it the best, while Pinsir and Zubat wouldn't even touch it, instead going for the pokemon food pellets Lana offered them.
"So this is what Dad had to deal with at mealtimes…" Lincoln commented quietly to himself as he watched the two pokemon turn their non-existent noses at his cooking. 'Still, they have a point. Maybe a few spicy berries, maybe a little dryness would help balance the flavor more.' He thought to himself after he took a few bites. Hovering beside him, Princess set her own bowl down after only two bites. The one son looked down at the bowl, then up to her. The Frillish looked like she wouldn't eat it. "What's the matter, Princess? There's nothing in there that you don't like." He spoke the truth, as she did like the flavor. However, she just wanted to be fussy. The middle Loud was a bit bothered by this, but he had witnessed his own parents deal with fussy eaters. He knew what to do. "Does that mean you don't want dessert, Princess?"
"...Frill illish frill?" She asked, her eyes shifting to look at him.
"Oh, just a little jam on-" He didn't even need to finish the sentence. The word jam was all the motivation she needed to start eating again. Besides, she was really hungry.
After dinner, the evening was spent in idle conversation between the four trainers as they let their pokemon stretch their legs or wings. However, soon enough, the two teens and two kids started to feel the need for sleep. Lincoln crawled his way into his tent, feeling grateful he had spent the little extra money for a larger tent. He had rolled out his sleeping bag, then caught his Frillish before she claimed. "Whoa. Not so fast, Princess," He told her. "I've got something for you too." He pulled out the large comforter he had brought with him and laid it out after folding it, turning it into a kind of mattress. The pink jellyfish floated closer to the blanket and gently prodded it with a tentacle.
"Hmmmm. Frillish," She said with a smile as she made herself comfy on it, finding it sufficiently comfortable.
"I'm happy you're happy," Her trainer said with a smile as he pulled out his pokedex. "Let's see...where's the email app...ah, there we go." Lincoln tapped the application icon on the screen, bringing up his email. He flicked through his inbox, but didn't seem to find what he was looking for. The one son sighed sadly as he closed the application. "Not a word from Ronnie Anne," He said. It had been a couple months since he had last heard from his friend, and he was really starting to get worried. She had never gone this long without talking to him before; at least, not unless she was really angry at him. Back when she lived in Royal Woods, the two were pretty close friends, and friends they remained after she moved to Great Lakes City and started her own adventure there. The two would email, chat and call each other almost every day. However, in recent times, their correspondence became less and less, until eventually complete silence. He just didn't understand it. Was she hurt? Just busy?
"Frillish?" The aquatic ghost asked, clearly able to see the concern in his face as she put a tentacle on his shoulder.
"Hmm? Oh, don't worry, Princess. Just wondering about a friend of mine," He told her, giving her a small smile before returning to his musing. 'Then again, Clyde and the others haven't really spoken to me much since they started their pokemon journey too, but that was mostly because they were so busy. Maybe I'm just worrying too much,' He decided in his head. 'Yeah. I'll probably end up running into her sometime during our travels eventually.' He nodded a little to no one in particular as he shut off his pokedex and climbed into his sleeping bag.
A little later that night, Lola was attempting to sleep inside her tent and sleeping bag. Attempting being the key word. In spite of her time in the Bluebell Scouts with her sister, the pageant participant never liked camping. The idea of sleeping on the ground didn't appeal to her in the slightest. That wasn't her problem tonight, however (though it wasn't helping). Her problem was the darkness and the noises of the night. She wasn't necessarily afraid of the dark, but being in the dark in a nice, comfortable room was one thing. Being in the dark out here, with all these pokemon milling about, most of them creepy crawly types...that was another thing entirely. The very idea left the poor young lady shaking in her bedsack. But what could she do about it? Well, if it were the old days, if she or Lana were afraid, they would ask to sleep in one of their older sibling's rooms. 'But I can't do that here...I'm a big girl. Eleven years old. Far too old for that. If Lana saw or heard me asking to stay with Lincoln, I'd never hear the end of it…' She fretted internally. "Maybe I can call Brittany out...no. She's done so much work today, She's earned a rest. I just need to relax. I'll be safe in my tent. No pokemon can get in here...and the only pokemon around here are more afraid of me than I am of them, right…?' That thought put her a little more at ease.
She smiled slightly as she laid her head against her pillow. She was about to close her eyes, but then she saw a shadow on the wall of her tent. A shadow that looked like a tall, thin monster with a round head and sharp claws on its head. "Eep! What do I know!?" Lola screeched in fear, grabbing her bag and pillow and rushing out of the tent. Just outside her tent, a green spider pokemon was resting on the outside, watching as she ran away. It blinked its large eyes before looking to the fourth wall and saying, in Pokemon,
"What's eating her?" Lola dashed over to Lincoln's tent in a panic, but as soon as she got there, she looked over to Lana's tent. The zipper was down on her tent and all was quiet.
'She's asleep. Perfect.' The prissy twin thought with a sigh of relief. She gently tapped on the flap of her older brother's tent. "Lincoln…" She whispered. After a few seconds, she heard him groan as he woke up.
"Ugh...if you're here to sell me something, get lost…" The groggy sixteen year old grumbled before peeking out of the flap. When he spotted Lola, looking scared, he opened the flap all the way, looking surprised. "Lola?"
"Ssshhhh…" Lola hushed him. "...I'm sorry to wake you, Linky...but...can I stay with you tonight…?" She asked in a soft, pathetic voice, her eyes big and sad. "Just this one night? Pleeeeease." The one son could hardly believe what he was seeing. He hadn't seen her like this in years; not since that big thunderstorm back when she was five. She followed up with a little lip quiver, which would have broken any resistances he had...if not for the fact the only reason he hesitated was because he was still half asleep. He smiled softly to her and motioned her to come in. She smiled in return and crawled right in. The moment she did, she was surprised to see Lana there, all curled up in her own sleeping bag to his left. Her jaw fell open as she looked at her sleeping twin, then to her brother. He put a finger to his mouth, then gestured to a space beside him opposite Lana. The beauty centered twin just nodded lightly, setting up her sleeping bag quietly to his right.
"Better?" he asked her in a hushed voice.
"Much…" The comforted young lady replied. "...but needless to say, this never happened."
"My lips are sealed, as long as you don't give Lana a hard time for doing the same."
"...fair enough." She answered. Even if she wanted to argue, she was simply too tired. The moment her head touched her pillow, she zonked out completely. Lincoln chuckled inaudibly before he gave each of his little sisters a kiss on the forehead, then laid back to reenter dreamland himself.
AN: Just as a note, just because Girl Jordan is travelling with them, it's no guarentee that she will be Lincoln's love interest for this story...though the chance may be good.
Main Characters current pokemon teams:
Lincoln
Frillish aka Princess
Water Ghost
Ability: Cursed Body
Pidove
Normal Flying
Ability: Super Luck
Lola
Furfrou aka Brittany
Normal
Ability: Fur Coat
Pichu aka Brat
Electric
Ability: Static
Egg Move: Volt Tackle
Lana
Tympole aka Hops
Water
Ability: Hydration
Scatterbug aka Dusty
Bug
Ability: Shield Dust
Bidoof aka Nibbles
Normal
Ability: Unaware
Pidgey
Normal/Flying
Ability: Keen Eye
Girl Jordan
Timburr
Fighting
Ability: Guts
Pinsir
Bug
Ability:Mold Breaker
(The others in Lana's team will not be accounted for until they are used)
Next up will probably be a chapter of LincolnJuice (as I'm pretty close to finishing that one), possibly followed by A Lass Called Leni.