Chapter 5 – Friends New and Old
Jill and her two Pokemon took their time in the morning before leaving, Jubilife was full of life and had plenty to explore, but Jill was eager to get to Orebourgh and challenge the gym there. As such, once the group had finished their breakfast in the cafeteria of the Pokemon centre and Jill had restocked on supplies, they were back on their way.
Just getting through the city took the trio over two hours by foot. Chase was running around and inspecting everything he could in the brilliant sunlight, while Caladan stayed close to his trainer. He simply wasn't fast enough to keep up with Chase, which Jill mused was the main reason for his staying close, but she couldn't deny she appreciated the proximity. Finally they managed to get to the road leading out of town. Traffic here was much sparser, allowing Jill to break away from the hectic pace set in the city to walk more at her speed. Not that she walked slowly, but it was better to be able to go at her pace and slow down once in a while to take in the sights, something that was somewhat frowning upon in the city.
The trail contained some trainers who were still just starting off like Jill. However, none were good enough to go up against her two Pokemon. Both were excited to get out and battle with both learning new attacks. Chase was still only able to use tackle as his offensive move, but Caladan had both absorb and tackle. Both were great competitors however.
Two days later, and Jill and her group had made excellent headway. Jill was checking her map during a lunch break while Caladan and Chase were taking turns practicing their tackles. Rock dust was clinging to both as they laughed and charged in.
"Only you Jill could make so much noise!" a familiar voice called out. Both Caladan and Chase stopped what they were doing as Barry burst into the small clearing the group was eating lunch at.
"Barry! What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in Orebourgh by now!" Jill said standing to hug her friend.
"I was still doing some training in the area when I heard something going on over here. Thought I'd check it out and here I am!" he replied with a massive grin. Jill found herself smiling as well. He looked just the same and was still just as excited. "Got a new Pokemon I see?" Barry said squinting down at Chase who held himself up proudly, trying to look intimidating.
"I did yeah! This is Chase. I caught him about a week and a half ago now."
"That's so cool! I've been getting stronger too you know. How's about we battle again!" He jumped up and moved to one side of the clearing before Jill could even answer. Laughing she looked down at her two Pokemon.
"You two up for a battle?" she asked. Both put on their serious faces and stood beside her.
"I'll introduce you to my first new Pokemon!" Barry shouted throwing the red and white ball. White light burst out and released a Starly. Jill smiled as the small flying type glided around the clearing.
"Nice catch Barry! But it won't be enough to handle Chase!" The Shinx ran forward, tracking the avian closely.
"I bet he will! Altair use quick attack!" Starly suddenly burst forward in a fit of speed, surprising Chase who got slightly winded from the attack. Jill mentally kicked herself. Of course Barry was going to be stronger than the other trainers she had faced so far. His father was a frontier brain for Arceus-sakes!
"Chase wait for it to close again, then tackle it down!" Chase flashed his small fangs at the flyer causing it to quail a bit as it sped up for another attack. This time it wasn't so lucky and Chase ran forward and jumped over the speeding bird before its attack could land. Altair landed heavily and rolled looking somewhat dazed. Here was Jill's chance however.
"Chase use tackle again!" Chase hurriedly ran to obey the command. Bowling over his target once more, Chase knocked the tiny Starly out. Barry was upset, however, he was still laughing and looking jovial.
"Great work Altair. Now it's Zuko's turn!" Barry called out releasing his Chimchar. A part of Jill wondered if Barry was able to speak with his Pokemon as well, seeing as he was calling them by name, but it wasn't a dominating thought. She was completely focused on the battle before her. Chimchar was fast, still too fast for Chase to dodge at this point, even with his uncanny athleticism. Chimchar landed two scratches before Chase could knock him away with a tackle. The tiny monkey was grinning much like Chase did when he wasn't exhausted. Jill looked worriedly at her electric type. He was exhausted, his sides heaving from battle.
"Chase return!" Jill said holding out his Pokeball. A red beam of light shot out and withdrew the Shinx from battle. Looking down, Jill noticed Caladan grinning and looking ready to head into battle. Still she was worried. Barry hadn't used any fire attacks yet, but that didn't mean that Zuko didn't know any. And Cal was really weak against fire. Still he was her only option.
"Alright bud, let's do this." Nodding, Caladan ran and ran striking the monkey hard before he even knew what was coming. The strength of the attack sent the Chimchar sprawling. Slowly he clambered back to his feet with Barry's encouragement. Once more the two launched themselves at one another. Tiny claws scraped along Caladan's leathery shell, doing little to no damage, while the grass type managed to get himself underneath the fire type and send a huge tackle into Chimchar's gut. The attack knocked the breath completely out of the monkey.
"No way!" Barry yelled as he realized his starter had been knocked out. "I lost?" He began laughing as he recalled his fire type. "Not a bad battle Jilly, but I'm warning you, that's the last time we lose to you alright?" Jill smirked at that.
"Oh you think so hey? Careful now Barry, or else I'll have to make you eat those words!" she called back. The two met in the middle of the clearing and shook hands. Barry joined Jill for the rest of lunch, treating all the Pokemon of their minor injuries. Jill was glad to see that Zuko's scratches had only mangled Chase's fur, and hadn't really tore open the skin beneath. The stiff hair must have provided some type of protection for the little electric type.
"So off to Orebourgh now?" Barry asked as the two trainers slipped their packs back on and cleaned up their small mess.
"Yeah I think so. Should only be a few more days hike from here." Barry was nodding. "What about yourself?"
"I think I'm going to stick around for the rest of the day and continue training. The first gym is Roark's hey?" This time it was Jill's turn to nod.
"Yeah I know. Rock types. Caladan here should make short work of them" Jill said looking down at her starter. The grass type seemed to blush somewhat and look away, but he was still pleased with the compliment none the less.
"Alright well catch you on the other side! And don't keep me waiting so long next time or else I'll have to fine you!" Barry called out running off to find another glade to train in no doubt.
"That is one weird ass person" Chase commented as he cocked his head and watched the blonde run off. "Are all you humans like that blue?" he asked.
"No, just Barry. But he's got a good heart and his head is in the right place. He just moves at a faster pace than the rest of us is all. And why do you keep calling me blue?" She asked. He'd taken to giving people other nicknames rather than just calling them by their name.
"Cause you got the blue hair and all like me!" he said as though to imply she should have already known this. Caladan was laughing at her expression as Jill grabbed a small lock of her hair and eyed the blue streak running through the honey brown hair. Smiling she just began walking down the trail once more.
"Come on you two. Let's get going."
"Chase look out!" Caladan yelled. The group was getting close to the Orebourgh gate when something swooped down to take a swipe at the electric type. Contorting his body, Chase was able to evade the attack, scrabbling back to Jill's feet. The young woman glared up in the sky at whatever had attacked her Pokemon.
"Get away from here you sparkler you!" the thin voice yelled shrilly. Chase winced at the high frequency as Caladan glared at the accuser.
"Now just one minute! Chase didn't do nothing wrong!" Caladan called back.
"His kind is not welcome here!" the small bird responded, landing a few feet in front of the group.
"And what's that supposed to mean hey feathers? I was just minding my own business walking along! You attacked me for no reason!"
"Oh I've got reason enough! Your kind have been terrorizing my nest mates for days now! I've had enough!" The Starly puffed out her chest in frustration. Jill could tell that she was mad.
"Hey now, Chase here isn't the same as the Shinx in this area. He's with me!" Jill said brightly attempting to defuse the situation.
"And just who might you be hmm?" the Starly asked in a severe voice.
"This is lady Jillian! She's our trainer, the best one there is." Jill's cheeks grew warm at Caladan's introduction of her. The Starly froze somewhat at the mention of Jill being a trainer though.
"You're really a trainer?" she asked tentatively. Jill nodded.
"Chase and Caladan are my Pokemon. We're on an adventure to become champions!" The avians eyes widened and became sparkling at that, but that light was quickly dimmed.
"I've always wanted to fly away from here, but I can't leave my nest mates. I'm the strongest of us and with those nasty shockers prowling around…" Jill thought of a solution quick enough.
"What if we showed those other Shinx a thing or two about picking on someone weaker than you? Then they wouldn't bother your nest anymore and you could come travel with us!"
"What? Are you serious? Feather brain over there just tried to dive bomb me!" Chase yelled indignantly.
"That's only because she thought you were a part of the group of Shinx that have been causing so much trouble around here. Come on, you know that it's going to take more than just the three of us to become champion's right?" Jill asked of him. Chase was frowning, but Caladan had wandered over to the small bird. He was already much larger, the Starly only coming up to his chin.
"Ugh fine…" Chase said grudgingly. He was still glaring at the flying type, who was taking no notice but rather inspecting Caladan.
"So do you have a name little one?" Jill asked politely.
"My name is Star." Already Star was relaxing, seemingly feeling much safer in the company of two much more powerful Pokemon.
"Well Star, lead the way. Let's take care of these bullies."
"Who the hell are you?" one of the Shinx managed to get out between gasping breaths. Jill had tried to talk to them calmly and get them to stop their nefarious acitivities, but instead, the tiny electric types had attacked. Chase and Caladan took them out with ease, but even Star managed to get a few hits in here and there. It was over before it really even began.
"I'm your worst nightma…" Jill cut off her over eager electric type.
"We just want you to stop attacking all the Starly nests alright? It's not very nice to pick on those who are weaker than you."
"Listen lady, if we want…" the lead Shinx was unable to finish what he was saying thanks to Caladan's tackle. He'd taken offense to the rude way the Shinx was speaking to his trainer.
"I think you'd best do what we say" the grass type said quietly. The soft spoken words seemed to have an effect as the electric types all turned tail and ran away.
"Wow thank you so much! That was amazing!" Star said, landing on Caladan's back. The Turtwig looked quite happy with the result as well.
"Well hopefully now the nests will stay safe and sound and you can be free to come travelling with us!" Jill said.
"Oh yay…" Chase said just loud enough to be heard. Jill attempted to flip him with her foot but he just grinned and landed on his feet while Caladan laughed.
"You'll be a great addition to our team Star" Jill said loudly glaring down at Chase the entire time. To his credit, he didn't back down, rather just looked over at Star.
"Well I guess this is welcome to the team there feathers. Fear not, I won't try and eat you. All that fluff isn't good for digestion." Jill just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while Caladan continued laughing away. Star fluttered over to Chase and landed on his head.
"OI!" He yelled jumping and swatting at her. Laughing light glittered in the tiny bird's eyes at Chase's attempts.
"Oh I think we'll become the best of friends Chase!"
Jillian's Pokemon:
Caladan (Turtwig) - level 9, ability: Overgrow, nature: Bashful
Chase (Shinx) - level 8, ability: Intimidate, nature: Impish
Star (Starly) - level 5, ability: Keen Eye, nature: Lax
My apologies for the long lapse in updating. I have not disappeared however, there is no accurate way I could put in to words the summer I have had. However, I've come back to post a few long awaited chapters I'm sure. As my life slowly comes back to normal I'm hoping that I can continue posting. Thank you for understanding.
NOTICE: I have changed the main protagonists name. My original characters are inspired by real people I know and because of this I've decided on a new name for our heroine. She is still the same character, however just a new name. This is the update for this chapter. Thank you.