Good day people! Live long and keep reading. Enjoy! Because I've got nothing else to actually say about this and that says something… I should really remember to think about these things. Anyway, enjoy!
REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW!
Univerce
Electric Rodents
I find it quite odd how I've managed to get stuck with these people. Could have sworn that the point of me leaving Burgh's gym was to get away from him and these fools and… do something else… Why did I leave the Castelia Gym again? Uh… And how did we get lost in the wooded areas? Oh, right… the stupid squirrel thing…
About an hour ago, give or take a few minutes, Bianca had attempted to catch a particular pokemon called an Emolga. This Emolga, though, apparently has no desire to ever be a part of the blonde's team. So even when the blonde brought out a Mincinno to battle and hopefully catch the flying rodent, said rodent avoided capture with a Discharge and made a break for it. Only to be quickly pursued by a determined Bianca and Axew, who had a pair of apples with him. No real clue on the little dragon, honestly, but Bianca sure doesn't give up. Ash and Cilan actually picked themselves up as well and chased after a slightly panicked Iris who was racing to catch her baby pokemon before he got too far.
That left me as the odd girl out. And now the odd girl wandering through the woods. Pinwheel Forest is one thing, having grown up traipsing through those trees. This place is nothing like back home.
Strolling along down a random path that was hidden by some undergrowth, the four of us – my pokemon are people, too! – keep our eyes peeled. One of the idiots is bound to pop out of the vegetation eventually. My bet is that it's Ash and he'll be dumb enough to hold still while my fist rams into the top of his head. Feet carrying me along past tree after tree, the area somehow manages to get darker with every moment. How, no honest clue aside from the trees moving in on every side…
Finally breaking away from the dense forest, my eyes land on a large expanse of water – a lake! Heck yeah! With a happy sigh, I let all my pokemon down, who quickly zoom towards the water and start to play. Pill mostly just sits in the shallow water, Shinx and Murk playing in the deeper sections. Why exactly Murk just dives in and out, I'm a bit confused, but Shinx is enjoying splashing around on the surface, crying happily every few moments.
Fun is fun, right?
Heaving a sigh, my feet move forward, carrying me to the water's edge where Pill is still sitting comfortably. Taking a seat myself, my fingers play with the laces of my shoes, undoing them and slipping off both plus the socks. That done, I lift my legs up and over Pill, testing the water with my toes before sinking my feet into the cool water. Just beneath my knees, Pill chirps happily in his buggy language, making me smile. Quite the interesting little thing, he is, with the way he manages to communicate. And somehow make me understand.
Beside me, a ringing nuisance hits my ears. Eyes turning towards my bag, a slight frown crosses my lips at the thought of answering the X-Transceiver within. Most likely it's my mother calling to nag me about not coming home yet. But knowing my father, wandering around Castelia is no adventure. Maybe wandering the sewers would be, but there's no way anyone is getting me down there into that nasty collection of much and who knows what.
With a resigned sigh, after ending the rant and debating for a moment, my hand dives into the bag. Several seconds later, after digging through numerous random objects, the ringing gets louder as the little gadget appears. Maybe strapping it back onto my wrist would be a good idea – no more digging around for it. One click on the call button smashes the idea.
"ADIE! ARE YOU OKAY!? ARE YOU HURT ANYWHERE!? TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW AND MOMMA WILL COME GET YOU!"
Not happening. "Volume, mother. I'm fine, and honestly have no clue where I am. Cilan's the one with the map and he's off chasing after an Emolga with the others at the moment. I'm just sitting at a lake and waiting for the bolts of lightning and fires to stop appearing."
"Oh, oka- WAIT, WHAT!?"
"Volume, mother," I remind her. "Pretty sure there's some Swoobat in these woods."
"MY POOR BABY'S LOST!"
"And she's gone." With a click, my eyes watch the thing in my hand before taping the button again, ceasing more ringing. "Hi, Dad. How's Mom? She having a panic attack? I suggest some strong liquor and then some chocolate."
He laughs into the line, his face appearing bright and happy on the tiny screen. "I already know that cure. And look! We have a transceiver now so we can see you!"
"Aren't we lucky."
"Ease up, sweetie. Your mother was breathing down my neck for it since she can't have you around physically. In fact, the only reason you didn't see her a second ago is because she forgot we have one of these," he chuckles. "Now stay right there while I capture a screenshot… I think… Or maybe it's the blue button?"
A long groan slips from my throat. "Seriously?"
"Yep!"
"You're so sad."
Sporadic bouts of electricity and smoke rising from the forest ensure me that the others are alive, although being 'well' is questionable. With nothing better to do, really, save talk to my parents, I call my pokemon back to me, Murk taking to the air while Pill takes his perch and Shinx cuddles in my arms. That done, the transceiver raises again to see my father, other pokemon now clearly in the shot.
"How's that picture going?"
"Oh, be quie- Got it! Uh oh… You weren't supposed to have pokemon in that picture."
A smirk crosses my face as I turn the tiny webcam away from me. "Too bad."
"Aw, come on!"
"No. You left me in the forest where who knows what could have caught me so you get absolutely no sympathy from me."
"You're so mean!"
"IS THAT MY DAUGHTER!?"
Click! No more family time. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents and whatnot, but my mother going obsessive over my health and safety has gotten on my nerves. Letting the gadget stay on my wrist, my ears block out the ringing to instead pay attention to the sounds surrounding me. There's bound to be a signal or something that they've set off. Maybe a rockslide or a few fallen trees? Wait, is Ash really that destructive? During battle, of course, but when he's just chasing after someone else looking for a pokemon? Maybe not so much…
A Scolipede stalks by, looking particularly pissed with multiple burns scattered along its body. That has to hurt. With a look at Pill and Shinx, who leap for my arms in fear, I shrug at my thought and follow after the bug, carefully keeping my distance. After a few minutes, it turns around and glares at me, receiving my bored stare in return. When we both do nothing, it turns back around and keeps walking, me still right behind it. Several minutes later, it repeats the process, giving me an even more aggravated glare. Yet again giving nothing and doing nothing, the large bug turns around and trudges off again. My feet carry me after it.
Only after several repeats of this process, with varying amounts of time between, it finally stops in a large set of bushes. Forcing its way in, pained grunts and cries are the giveaway that it definitely got attacked and needs some help. After setting Shinx and Pill down on the ground, both protesting it greatly, my hands dig through the bag at my side before pulling out a few Rawst berries and a collapsible bowl. How Dad knew I would need the bowl, beyond me.
Thank whatever that he did, though.
First thing's first, though, and I dig my fingers into the fruit, breaking them into pieces over the bowl and pulling away the cores. Setting the berries in, the lid snaps tightly on top, my eyes catching the Scolipede's attention turning back to me yet again. Carefully, my hands press down on the container, crushing the berries, before pulling it apart to full size and pressing it again. Happy that there's a lot of juices and mushed fruit in there, my hands digs through the bag again, pulling out an Occa berry and a Sitrus berry. After removing those cores, they're added to the mush and the lid is snapped in place.
When it feels like the thing is a nice paste, my attention turns to a curious looking Scolipede that stares down over me. It's a bit surprising that it moved so close to an unknown being in the woods, but then again, it probably smelled all the berries being demolished.
"Hold still, okay?" I hum, snapping the lid off the bowl. "This might hurt a bit."
Shinx bounces onto my head from wherever he was sitting and cries out, sounding muffled. It makes a little more sense, though, when the large bug leans closer to him and pulls back, another Sitrus berry in its mouth. It tosses the berry up, opens its mouth and catches the falling orb with ease. Impressive. Once it's swallowed, it calmly lays down in front of me, head still up and attentive as my hands reach out with some of the pasty berry on it. Although it hisses and growls the entire time, it never bites at me.
"All done," I sigh, patting the last bit of pasty stuff onto the bug's bent over forehead. "Whoever did this is an idiot and needs a good smack to the head."
The Scolipede just lays its head down onto the grass, no longer caring if it's out in the open or not. With a soft smile, I pat the poor thing on the head and pack up, placing Pill back on my shoulder just before Shinx leaps into my arms. After a quiet goodbye, to which the large pokemon simply huffs and gives what might have been a…bug purr? We start back off towards the sounds of explosions and electricity.
Fun.
The campsite looks just like it did before everyone ran off earlier, save a few changes to the people themselves. My eyes are currently locked onto the scene of a pathetically crouched Bianca, wondering just what exactly made the happy go lucky girl from the fishing trip and pokemon hunt disappear. If someone broke something of hers, they better apologize soon. I don't want to deal with a mopey Bianca – it's bad enough dealing with Ash. It becomes a bit clearer a few moments later when Iris bounds up to me and pulls out a pokeball, introducing me to her newest partner.
Emolga.
"So that's what happened," I huff. "Let's just eat dinner, okay?"
And with that, we all stuff our faces. The dessert is apples, much to Bianca's slight annoyance. Something about whip cream, chocolate and sugary junk she doesn't need. Ignoring her, my hand snatches up an apple, taking a large bite out of it before holding it up to Pill's mouth. With a happy cry, the bug takes his own bite, soon followed by a giddy Shinx. Murk swoops down from his perch in the tree nearby and snatches a second apple from the pile, choosing not to spend dinner with us. What a loner.
"So how'd the pokemon hunting go?" I hum, holding another set of apples up for my pokemon.
Bianca starts to wail.
Striding along behind the others with Cilan, my ears block out the nonsense the trainers ahead of us are spewing. The two of us have been having a wonderful conversation on the many combinations of berries in stews, salads, dressing, desserts and whatnot. Not to mention their versatility and medicinal purposes both in and out of battles. Talking about how great a battle would be is extremely boring, but talking about the aspects used during battles is perfectly okay with me. It's something to talk about and pass the time, at least. Sadly, though, Cilan isn't blocking out the other and his ears perk at something they said, all of us stopping in the middle of the road… They know that's dangerous, right?
"A battle between electric types!" he grins. "A spicy pairing like that could turn out to be electrifying."
"I'd hope so," I mutter under my breath, ignored by the others.
"But I asked first!" Bianca stomps. "And don't forget, I was the one who wanted to catch Emolga first!"
Ash smirks smugly, another side of him that annoys me. "That didn't quite work out, did it, Bianca?"
Said girl freezes in her spot, recovering quickly to jab a finger at him. "Now look. Remember our first battle was kind of short," Bianca reminds us. "So I say let's have a complete battle with Pignite and Emolga this time!"
Well now… This might turn out to be interesting, but not exactly fun to watch.
"Kay, Bianca," Iris smirks. "I accept your battle challenge."
That said, she dashes off, racing ahead of the rest of us who are suddenly scrambling to catch up. Well, they are. I'm quite happy to just walk to catch up to them. Murk will find them for me if need be from the air and if they just happen to be a bit too far off, we'll just catch up to them in the next town.
Following them down the road, though, obviously takes me a few minutes longer than them, so arriving at their chosen battlefield… Well, there's a lot of scorch marks from Pignite. And just as Bianca, who now has Minccino out, call for Hyper Voice, the little electric rodent across from her charges a ball of electricity. And lets it fly, disappearing from its spot as the attack hits while a bright beam from a pokeball takes its place. And last I checked, Iris does not have a Pansage-
Minccino continues with its original command, letting go a Hyper Voice that knocks into the grass type and sends it flying. Right into Emolga, no less, who goes even further away. Getting up, Pansage glares darkly at Minccino, raising its arms up to its head as a bright light grows before letting go of a Hyper Beam. Back to what I was saying, though, Iris does not have a Pansage that knows Hyper Beam, let alone a grass type, so this is clearly cheating. Especially as that Hyper Beam knocks out Bianca's Minccino.
While the blonde calls her pokemon back, stomping her foot in frustration and protests, Iris turns towards the rodent. And she looks upset.
"I don't think the recipe was followed as expected," Cilan sighs, scratching his head while watching his satisfied Pansage.
"Of course it wasn't," I chip in, stepping up to the area, pokemon racing a little further off to nap. "If it was, Emolga would still be on the field with its ear drums breaking. What seems to be the problem? Does the little rodent not know its own trainer's pokemon or something?"
Cilan just gives me a shrug, turning towards the annoying squirrel thing with a weak smile. Stopping next to him, my eyes take in the little pokemon that starts to give waterworks the second Iris begins to chastise it. How on earth is this thing going to learn if it keeps cheating its way out of lessons and discipline? Better question, how does Iris plan to work the rat into her strategies if the selfish thing won't listen to her?
"I don't think Emolga likes battling," Ash pipes up, joining us.
Bianca steps up next to him, staring down at the small electric type as well. "Maybe so. It's not really listening to anything Iris says. Emolga's just doing whatever it wants to do."
The blonde does have a point there. If a pokemon doesn't listen, then it can't exactly battle like the trainer needs it to. Emolga knows that – of course it does, if one could see the bored look on its face. But the little thing just doesn't care enough about battling to really try and do anything related to the 'sport.' Or so Dad's taken to calling it – messaged me dozens of times about it last night, the fool. It's possible that the only way to get Emolga to listen is to pull some tough love or bribe it into doing so. Maybe it'll discover that it quite likes the battling and would be willing to forgo the bribery when asked.
"But wait!" Iris cheers, almost as if a light bulb lit up above her head. "Raising a pokemon the right way is part of a pokemon trainer's training, right Ash?"
Ash, however, just looks confused. "Raising the right way?"
Yup, confused.
"It means building a trusting relationship between both pokemon and trainer," Cilan clear up for him. "The pokemon will then be able to reach its full potential."
"Iris refuses to give up," I simplify, in case he still didn't get it.
Ignoring Ash's comeback, my eyes watch the trainer in question as she crouches down next to her pokemon. Hopefully her determination will get her something good out of this, and not just a nuisance to take care of. Some pokemon just don't like working with people, no matter how much they come to like that person.
"A pokemon battle can be a whole lot of fun if you just put your heart into it, Emolga." Iris takes a shot at it, though. "What do you say we give it one more try?"
But even though they take their positions once again, and Pignite charges forward with a great deal of enthusiasm… Emolga yet again refuses, looking particularly tired of it all, and charges another Volt Switch. This time, a little Snivy pops out, Pignite staring down at the grass type with confusion just like the others. Me? I'm staring toward the direction Emolga's flown to.
Such a smart but lazy rodent.
Turning back to the others after a few good seconds of watching the blankness of Emolga's escape route, my ears tune in to Ash screa-
"You bet!" What'd I miss this time? "So bring it on!"
Clearly something important has happened, since Bianca is bouncing in excitement. Ash turns to the little grass type out on the field of battle, asking the bland question of what it thinks only to receive a shrug. Seriously missed something then. Well, crud. Better pay closer attention from now on or get used to being out of the loop and screwing things up more often than not. Or maybe just sticking next to Cilan for the rest of this adventure – that's a good idea, too.
So everyone moves into position, and barely a second after getting settled into those spots, Bianca starts off an apparent battle. If that's all I missed, then my worries were unfounded. These people are the most uncomplicated in the world. Pignite's Flamethrower, the chose pokemon and attack for Bianca, bursts through the air, quickly broken apart by a Leaf Blade from Snivy, Ash's picks. After that is a Flame Charge, the large pig knocked off course by a well-aimed Leaf Storm.
While the two of them continue to beat each other's brains out, my attention turns to the frustrated Iris standing just under a nearby tree. She's clearly found her Emolga and is rather ticked off with it. Surprisingly, the sound of her frustration stops the battle, a very effective ability, and turns the others attentions to her as well. And even more surprisingly, Snivy gives the poor girl a hand with a vine that slips out from the little grass's collar and swings up, over and around the Emolga's belly. Poor thing looks pretty tired, though, making me wonder how much power it put into using Volt Switch like that.
As soon as the cute act comes out, though, Iris stomps on it. And Emolga gets mad. And Snivy bails out.
Snivy and I watch patiently, the tiny snake-like pokemon on my shoulder, as electricity and sparks bound around the scene. Together, we both sigh and shrug at the view in front of us. Hair puffed up, but surprisingly not like afros, and with spots of dirt covering them from their falls in shock, they all look ridiculous. The connoisseur especially, with his hair spiked upwards. Bianca, though, makes the whole thing a comedy just by saying-
"I'm all over this hairstyle!"
"Is it time for food?" I sigh, watching them all.
Snivy apparently agrees with me, sighing on my shoulder. And I suppose Ash's stomach does as well, the growl it makes echoing far enough to reach even our ears. With a look at each other, my feet carry the both of us closer, completely ignoring the upset Emolga whose cuteness has been completely denied.
