Kate's been training in the sewers, looking to capture a Poison type pokemon to add to her team! But there are a lot of choices in the sewers, and we can't be sure if the pokemon she'll choose are the right choice to add to her party! What will her final decision be? And can she keep going without being attacked by the Arbok? Let's find out what pokemon she ultimately decides to catch!

KedharS: Kate always has fun when it comes to catching Poison types, and it's not like she'll care all that much about the sewer. She's never had much of a mind for hygiene to begin with, after all, she should be fine.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yeah, probably not. I doubt anything bad would happen to her down there, the sewer is practically her natural habitat! With the rest of the garbage.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 859

Roxie flopped back on the bed in her gym's break room, and sighed in exhaustion. She'd been doing late performances all week, and was worn ragged. She was seriously considering crashing in the gym tonight instead of taking the time to walk all the way back home.

"Hey, Roxie, you sure you're good?" Billy Jo asked, concerned. Both she and Nicky had been worried about how hard Roxie had been pushing herself recently.

"Yeah, I'm fine, y'all don't need to worry none," Roxie assured them both, tilting her head up and staring groggily at her bandmates. "Just need a good night's sleep, an' I'll be right as rain…" She yawned and flopped back down on her pillow.

Nicky and Billy Jo glanced at each other.

Nicky cleared his throat. "Um… I have a question, uh…" It was kind of hard to bring up the topic right now given how much work they'd been going through the past week, but it had been bugging the two of them and they thought they needed to talk with Roxie about it.

"Yeah? Whazzup?" Roxie mumbled, irritated that the two of them were getting in the way of her naptime. She was curious though. There was something needling her in the back of her mind, and she wasn't sure what it was. Like she'd forgotten something really important.

"What happened to that girl, Kate?" Billy Jo almost shouted, seeing that Nicky wasn't going to get up the stones to ask. "You know, the girl from the Pokemon Academy? Wasn't she supposed to be working here in the gym under your supervision?"

Roxie blinked, perplexed.

"Yeah, we haven't heard from her since that first night," Nicky said. "What ever happened to her, anyway?"

Roxie tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Kate? Who's that now?" She didn't know anyone named Kate. She yawned and slumped back into bed, relishing the softness of her pillow as she tried to remember who this "Kate" person was.

Her eyes snapped open and she sprung out of bed, her face as pale as her hair.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" She shouted. "THAT'S RIGHT!"

"You forgot?! You actually FORGOT." Billy Jo was steaming mad as she stormed after Roxie down the streets of Virbank City, with an exhausted Nicky bringing up the rear.

"Hey, c'mon now, it's not my fault!" Roxie whined. "I was really busy this week, ya know that as good as anyone!"

"That girl was supposed to be your responsibility!" Billy Jo fumed. "And you just sent her off into the sewers on her own?!"

"It was for training!" Roxie wailed.

"Yeah, sure, fine, training, whatever!" Billy Jo spat. "But the fact remains that you FORGOT about her! Even though she's under YOUR care!"

Roxie hung her head in shame, her face turning scarlet. She had no words to fight back against Billy Jo's harsh statements. The facts were the facts, she had turned Kate loose in the sewers and then promptly forgot about her in the bustle of her daily schedule.

"It… It's not like I meant to forget about Katie Girl…" Roxie mumbled. "I was just… caught up in other things, that's all…"

Billy Jo glared mercilessly at Roxie, a halfhearted apology like that wasn't worth a damn thing in the face of the gym leader's actions.

Roxie hung her head once more and sighed.

"I've said this multiple times, Roxie, but you need to get a better handle on your schedule," Billy Jo said, crossing her arms in indignation. "What would your dad say if he knew you were pushing yourself like this?"

Roxie glared at her. "Don't mention that old man to me!" She snapped. "He's just as bad when it comes to all that acting he does, he barely goes out on his boat anymore!"

"At least he's keeping a good balance between acting and handling his job as a captain, while also being a good father," Billy Jo replied. "Which is more than can be said for someone who abandoned a high schooler in the sewers and forgot about her."

Once more, Roxie couldn't find the words to fight back against Billy Jo's accurate statements. She could only meekly nod.

"At… At least I left her pokemon in the care of the Pokemon Center, right?" Roxie offered. "That's good, so they're in good shape, right?"

"And if you hadn't done that they might all be dead by now since you would have forgotten to feed them," Billy Jo coldly noted. "Admit it, Roxie, you can barely take care of yourself and your pokemon, let alone somebody else."

Roxie knew she was absolutely right.

"M-Maybe… Maybe it was too soon for me to take on a student intern," she was forced to admit, sighing in resignation. "I guess I really am rushing into this whole gym leader thing without really thinking about the consequences, huh?"

Roxie had only been a gym leader for a couple of years, she was still practically a beginner. This was actually the first time she'd worked with the Pokemon Academy, and that was why she'd only accepted one student application. Kate was the very first student she'd had under her care, so she was kind of winging this whole "teaching" thing.

Roxie was the kind of girl who learned by doing. She wasn't good at teaching others, that was why her particular training method for Kate was to leave her to her own devices and send her off to train against the wild pokemon and catch one herself.

Kate looked at Roxie with stars in her eyes, but Roxie couldn't live up to her expectations. She was just starting out in this whole thing herself!

…Still, that wasn't an excuse for how badly she'd screwed this up, she could say that much for certain. She'd need to make it up to Kate when all this was done.

"I'm curious though," Nicky said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "You did tell her she wouldn't have to stay down there for the whole week, right?"

"Yer damn right I did!" Roxie snapped. "No way if Katie Girl is down there still it's because I told her to, she could come up at any time! As soon as she's done! I only gave her that week deadline in case she needed it!"

"But you also said you'd come back to her at the end of the week, right?" Billy Jo asked, glancing up at the moon overhead. "Looks to me like it's getting pretty late out, don't you think? We're already past midnight."

"I know, I know, ya don't hafta keep reminding me!" Roxie groaned, stomping through the Virbank Complex until she got to the sewer entrance. She checked her phone again and synched it with Kate's GPS system.

Roxie sighed in relief. "That's good, at least, according to this she's still down there. It's giving off a signal accurately too, so I think we can confirm that she's safe."

"Unless she got eaten by the giant Arbok," Nicky muttered under his breath.

Roxie froze, and then turned on her bandmate. "Sh-Shut it! Why would ya even say something like that, huh?!"

Billy Jo and Nicky snickered. They didn't think that anything bad had actually happened to Kate, but it was amusing to bug Roxie like this at least.

Roxie just fumed at them. They entered the sewers, holding their breath.

"Are you sure it was okay to come down here without hazmat suits?" Billy Jo asked, fighting the urge to vomit. The stench was unreal.

These dingy sewers were even worse than Roxie had expected. They were filled with rotting stenches of Poison type pokemon and human refuse. No one with any sense should be down in a place like this, even Poison type users like the three of them would have paused at the idea of coming down to a place like this.

"It should be fine. It ain't like we're staying down here forever, ya know," Roxie coughed. "Katie Girl's not too far away, so we should be able to find her soon enough."

She hoped that would be the case, anyway. Roxie had given Kate the week deadline because she was being cautious, but she never expected Kate would actually need to take that long to get back to the surface.

What if she'd gotten into an accident and died? Roxie didn't want to even think about that. She couldn't bear the thought of having Kate's death on her conscience. She'd promised that she would take care of Kate, that she would make looking after the girl her top priority, and look at what had happened! If she had a dead body on her hands, then the league would pull her gym license for sure, and the guilt would probably kill her!

Please be okay, Katie Girl! Roxie silently begged, terrified of the alternative. Ya have to be okay, I'm begging ya here!

She checked her phone again. They were getting closer to the source of the GPS signal, which meant they were getting closer to the determining factor. Roxie swallowed, hoping at everything would turn out okay.

The trio turned a corner and nearly lost their lunch.

"N-No way…" Roxie gasped, her face going pale. Right in front of them, where the GPS was indicating Kate should have set up camp, was a massive pokemon with golden scales that glittered in the darkness of the sewer.

"Big" didn't even begin to describe it. The sewers in Virbank City were a series of long interconnected rounded tunnels with walkways along the walls for maintenance that framed channels of sewer water that flooded around the complex.

The Arbok in front of them was so large it nearly filled up the entire tunnel, the underside of its body resting in the muck.

"ARBOK!" The pokemon howled, slithering through the grimy water towards the trio, its eyes glowing furiously.

Roxie lost the feeling in her legs.

"It… It's real…" She stuttered, so frozen she didn't even think to grab her own pokemon to fight the Arbok off.

This thing had been considered an urban legend. But here it was, right in front of her, angry and ready to kill them all. The ruler of the sewers was here, and they were trespassing. Roxie began to tear up at the thought.

What had happened to Kate? She couldn't… she couldn't be…

"Whoa there, girl! Hold it!"

The Arbok pulled back, and then Roxie spotted it. A figure was on the pokemon's back, holding onto the ridge of the pokemon's crest.

Kate pulled back the hood of her hazmat suit and stared down at the band, her face filled with surprise. "Roxie? You're here already?"

"K-Katie Girl…" Roxie gasped. "Y-You're… You're alive?!"

Kate laughed, hopping off of the Arbok's back. "What are you talking about, Roxie? Of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?"

"The killer Arbok comes to mind," Billy Jo shivered, glancing warily at the scaly beast.

"What? Oh, Ari? No, she's a total sweetheart!" Kate cooed, reaching up and tickling beneath the Arbok's chin. "Anyway, come on back for now, Ari, let's give these guys some room to breathe, okay?" She asked.

"Arbok!" Ari hissed, nodding her head. Kate recalled her to a pokeball and slipped it back in place on her belt.

Everyone else was stunned. Kate… Kate had tamed the beastly Arbok that lived in Virbank City's sewers? In only a week?

"Come on back to my campsite," Kate called over her shoulder as she walked down the tunnel, shining a flashlight. "I set up a tent and everything."

"She's been… camping down here? Seriously?" Billy Jo asked, pinching her nose. It was all she could do to keep the noxious fumes at bay and they hadn't even been down here for an hour yet. What was going on here?

"Katie Girl, I'm… I'm shocked," Roxie said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Ya actually managed to catch the Arbok of the sewers, all by yerself? With just yer Muk?"

"What? It's not like I battled her or anything," Kate shrugged. She gestured to a bag that was hanging beside her tent. "I keep supplies of my own, you see. So when the Arbok came to attack me, I just gave her some of my specially-made Poison riceballs, and she immediately took a liking to me!" Kate offered the snack to Roxie.

It smelled worse than the sewage. Roxie nearly barfed.

"W-Well, this is really something…" Roxie mumbled, handing it back. She wanted to get that poison as far away from her as she could. "I guess ya thought this out, huh? That's definitely something that Poison types would like…"

"Yup, exactly!" Kate chirped. "I really went at it hard, making a bond with Ari here! And now we're the best of pals!"

Roxie was shocked. She knew she had tasked Kate with catching a pokemon in the sewers, but she'd expected something like a Koffing or a Zubat.

An Arbok?! A massive, golden Arbok?! It was insanity!

"How long did that take you?" Nicky asked, amazed. He couldn't imagine catching a pokemon like that in just a week.

"Huh? Oh… I guess, about… an hour or so?" Kate said, tilting her head to the side. "Ari came and found me almost immediately."

Three jaws dropped in shock.

"Ya completed the task in an hour?!" Roxie exclaimed. "Then… then where were ya!? Why didn't ya come back up if ya were done that quickly?!"

Kate blinked. "Well, it's easier to bond with a pokemon if you train with them in the place you first caught them, right?" She shrugged. "So I stayed down here in order to improve my bonds with Ari before you'd come to get me. It's really been a week already? I guess the rations WERE running a bit low… still, I never noticed!"

"Well, we might as well head back then, since this is pretty clearly a success!" Roxie cheered, in good spirits now that she knew she wouldn't have to report to the pokemon league about a death on her hands.

"Yup, I'll get packed up," Kate nodded, beginning to dismantle her campsite. "I can't wait to introduce you guys to everybody."

"Yeah, it'll be pretty- wait, huh?" Roxie looked at her, confused. "Whattya mean 'everybody' Katie Girl?" She asked.

Kate gave her a confused look. "Well, I mean, it's not like Ari's the only pokemon I caught while I was down here," she explained.

Roxie was stunned. "Wait, what're ya sayin'?! Ya mean to tell me ya caught more pokemon than just that Arbok?!"

"Yeah, well, you did give me five pokeballs, remember?" Kate shrugged. "So, since I had a bunch of time left over after I caught Ari, I decided I might as well try my hand at catching some other Poison type pokemon, as long as I had the pokeballs.

"Unbelievable," Roxie said, shaking her head in shock. Kate was saying such absurd things with such a straight face.

"Come on out, everybody, and say hello!" Kate took the pokeballs off of her belt and released the pokemon that she had caught during the course of the week.

"Croagunk!" A Croagunk emerged first, cackling wickedly as he stared at Roxie, his slimy skin glistening in the glow of the lamp.

"Gulp! Gulpin!" A tiny Gulpin was next, opening her mouth wide and letting out a big yawn, her tiny eyes glowing with hunger.

"Stunky," a furry Stunky said, her natural odors making the air in the sewer smell even more vile as she approached the other pokemon.

"Trubbish!" Finally, the last pokemon Kate had caught was a Trubbish, the tiny bag of garbage hopping about excitedly.

"We've got Crow over here, he's a Croagunk," Kate said, introducing her first pokemon, "and then there's Gully, she's my Gulpin, and then Puu, my Stunky, she's a really cute one, and finally we've got little Ruben! Whattya guys think?" She asked, her eyes shining expectantly as she looked at Roxie and the others.

Roxie didn't know what to say.

Kate… Kate had caught five pokemon in the sewers?! Five?!

When Roxie sent her down there, she'd done so with the intention that Kate capture a sixth pokemon to improve the diversity of her team. Kate had done that and then some, catching an entire smorgasbord of Poison types!

When Roxie had given her that assignment, she'd never DREAMED that Kate wouldn't just catch a sixth pokemon, but would double the amount of pokemon she had at her disposal as well! No one could have expected something like that!

"It, uh… so I guess that's why ya stayed down here so long?" Roxie fumbled for words, not sure what to say in response to Kate's impressive display. Kate had more than defied her expectations, Roxie doubted even she would be able to do something so impressive!

"I guess I was a little nervous about bringing all these guys up to the surface," Kate admitted sheepishly. "But I couldn't help myself! Look at how cute they all are, how could I resist capturing them? They're all the most adorable little pokemon in the world!" She cooed, grabbing the Poison types up in her arms and giving them a big group hug.

Roxie just shook her head in amazement.

"W-Wow, Katie Girl, I gotta say… this is a sight alright," Roxie stumbled over her words, not sure how to describe what Kate had done. "So, I guess… ya gonna be training them or something? Maybe back at the gym?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Kate said, laughing sheepishly. "I can't stay down here in the sewers forever, right? We gotta head back to the surface!"

She immediately lit up as she remembered that the rest of her pokemon were back up there, too. "And even better! Now I can introduce all my new pokemon to my old team! I can't wait for everyone to meet, they'll get along great!"

Kate finished packing up and recalled her pokemon, leading the way out of the sewers with a skip in her step. The others followed after her, at a loss for words.

Not bad, Katie Girl, Roxie thought, shaking her head. She couldn't believe she'd gotten worried for Kate, considering she was able to do something like that!

Not bad at all…

So Kate's caught a brand new pokemon! And not just one new pokemon, she's caught FIVE! Who could have seen that coming?! Now she's got a whopping ten Poison types to train up, and it looks like this internship is working wonders for her! I wonder what her new pokemon will bring to the table now that she has more options to work with!