Slow Beginnings, Chapter 24
"Good morning, Star! Did you sleep well?" Mrs Elm greeted me with a cheerful demeanor. She was making something that smelled quite delicious in the kitchen.
"I did, thanks. Where's the Professor?"
"Downstairs in the lab. He was going to see Oak off, but that was quite a while ago." Right as she finished, Professor Elm walked through the door.
"Ah, you're up. I'm sorry you didn't get to say goodbye to Professor Oak, but he had to hurry back to Pallet Town early this morning."
"Already? How did he go back?" Since we had driven over here courtesy of Mr Pokemon, I seriously doubted Professor Oak would walk back to Pallet.
"By car, of course. Mr Pokemon was kind enough to give him a ride back this morning. Care to join us for breakfast?"
"What are you saying, dear? Of course she'll be joining us!" Mrs Elm brought a few plates to the table, placing one in front of where I was standing. "I've already prepared her some!"
Breakfast with Professor Elm's family was a experience. He had a son, a little boy named Joey, who idolized his dad. Mrs Elm was also very supportive of him, despite the fact he was probably downstairs in the lab ninety percent of the time. Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I finished breakfast, thanked Mrs Elm, and was promptly on my way out the door.
Outside, before I could get far, Professor Elm stopped me, and asked me to come inside the lab for one more thing before I set out. I did so, and gave him my Pokedex when he asked for it. He hooked it up to his computer for a moment.
"It's an update for the Pokedex, allowing it to recognize Pokemon indigenous to the Johto region. Professor Oak asked me to remind you to use the Pokedex more often, until it becomes second nature."
"I know. I didn't use it before because I had memorized an encyclopedia I got as a present." Not that it was much of an excuse for Oak, I learned that day.
Elm finished the update, and handed me back the Pokedex.
"Well, you're all set, Star! It's been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope your journey here in Johto is safe and productive." Elm offered me his hand, and right as I was about to take it, my Pokegear started to ring. I glanced at the screen, seeing the word 'MOM' flashing on it.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but I have to answer this."
~o~
After my daily phone call with Mom, despite my asking that she not call me everyday, I started out from New Bark Town. It reminded me a lot of Route 1 from Pallet Town; just a quiet, forested road, with several familiar Pokemon fluttering about in the bushes. Rattatas were everywhere here, which had Vulpix on edge. After walking for a while, I ran across a small group of a new kind of Pokemon. Remembering Oak's request, I pulled out the Pokedex, and aimed it at the strange critter.
"Sentret, the Scout Pokemon. A very cautious Pokemon, it raises itself up using its tail to get a better view of its surroundings."
And just like the Pokedex said, once the Sentret party noticed me, they fell off their tales and went scurrying about into the bushes. Though it was a cute little Pokemon, I had lost my chance of catching one, so I just kept moving forward. By this point, I had to carry Vulpix again, as she wouldn't stop growling at every little critter we ran across. Unlike Route 1, this road was far more rural, forcing us through plenty of tall grass and trees. I was just amazed more Pokemon didn't come outright to attack us.
A short while later, the road forked, with Route 29 ahead, and Route 46 heading north. I put Vulpix down and checked the map on my Pokegear, seeing that while Blackthorn City, one of the stops for me was in that direction, it was quite a hike uphill. Since this was more of a pleasure trip, I continued on Route 29.
As I turned a bend past some trees, I saw yet another grouping of a new kind of Pokemon. I stayed hidden behind the tree, and aimed my Pokedex at them.
"Hoppip, the Cottonweed Pokemon. It can be carried away on even the gentlest breeze. It may even float all the way to the next town."
I watched the group of Hoppip from afar, seeing them float about in the air, like they were balloons bouncing around. I looked down at Vulpix, who wasn't growling or looking angrily at the group of pink puffballs. That was a lucky sign of a Pokemon I should try catching. I checked the Pokedex again, seeing that Hoppip's type was grass and flying, making it an easy snatch for Vulpix.
"Vulpix, Ember on the group!"
The small fox leapt towards the group of Pokemon, releasing a small hail of flames. A few of the Hoppip instantly took to the air, avoiding the attack, while two stayed behind and were burned up pretty badly. I followed Vulpix out, throwing my last Pokeball at one of the Hoppip. The critter was trapped inside the ball, while the other flew off into the sky with its friends. The Pokeball shook a couple times before it went silent.
Knowing the routine, I picked Eevee's Pokeball from my belt, and then picked up Hoppip's. Eevee's Pokeball started to rubble a bit, and was then whisked away to Bill's storage center. Vulpix barked a few times in celebration of a new friend acquired, and I attached the Pokeball to my belt. Just ahead was the next town, so I picked Vulpix up, and started skipping along the road towards the city limits.
Cherrygrove City, a rather quaint little town nestled between Routes 29 and 30, and right next to a small beach. The entire city smelled like a flower garden, even though it was already nearing the end of summer. I saw a few kids playing on the beach, and met a few people as I made my way to the Pokemon Center. There was a Nurse Joy here, too, but that no longer felt strange to me. It's like every center came equipped with a Joy.
Since Cherrygrove had no gym, and was shockingly small to boot, I figured there was no point in staying any longer than I should. The sun was still high in the sky, so decided to push towards the next stop while I could. If the road ended up being longer, I'd just have to camp out. Been a while since I did that, anyway. When I took back my Pokemon from Nurse Joy, she noticed the Pokegear on my wrist.
"Pardon me, but do you happen to use the Pokemon Storage System?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Well, I just wanted to let you know, in case you didn't already hear, the creator has made some modifications to the system. If you check the computer terminal over there, you can see it for yourself."
I could spare the time, so I walked over to the computer, taking a seat in front of it. I didn't really care for the things, and seeing as how Bill, the very same guy who made the storage system, was turned into a Rattata because of it, you could say I had developed a bit of a fear of the things. Irrational, perhaps, but the thought of being trapped in the body of a Pokemon forever was a scary one. Unless I was a Vulpix, though; that'd just be too cool to describe!
I pressed a random key, and the screen instantly lit up. It asked if I wanted to access the Pokemon Storage System, so I pressed the 'Y' key like it asked me to. It asked me for my trainer card, so I pulled out the Johto card and had it scanned by the device on the left side of the computer. It made a loud beeping noise, then told me to wait for a moment. Eerie how these things asked you politely to wait. Eventually, the screen showed me a list of Pokemon I had in the system. Beedrill, Clefairy, and now Eevee.
Before I could do anything else, a small square popped up over the list, saying I had a phone call from Bill. I pressed the phone key to a corner of the keyboard, and the screen shifted to show me Bill himself.
"Well, if it isn't Star! How are you?"
"Great! It's been a while, Bill."
"I'll say. I saw that you're using a Johto trainer card now. Why'd you leave Kanto?"
"I finished exploring, so I came here to continue my adventure. How did you know?"
"Whenever someone accesses the system, they have to scan their trainer card. I'm told just who is accessing the system, where they're from, and what they're doing. That's actually the update I just uploaded into the system." So he was constantly getting notified by his computers that people were accessing the system. Thousands, tens of thousands of trainers out in the world. How did he sleep at night?
"Bill, where are my Pokemon? Just where is the box where they're stored located?"
"Sorry, Star, that's classified. If anyone found out where they're kept, there'd be no stopping thieves or even Team Rocket from stealing everyone's Pokemon. You understand."
"What do you mean Team Rocket? I thought they disappeared after Silph?" Perhaps it was wishful thinking on my part.
"Oh, you haven't heard? Rumors floating about that Team Rocket is on the move again, with plenty of activities in both Kanto and Johto, now. Guess they didn't learn their lesson after Silph." That, and Giovanni was still pleasantly sitting in his gym.
"Well, I've got get going Bill. It was nice seeing you again."
"Same here, Star. If you happen to be anywhere near Goldenrod, look me up! I'll be staying there starting next week with my folks."
"Okay, I will."
After hanging up with Bill, I was taken back to the storage screen. Since I had no intention of swapping out my Pokemon, I hit the 'Escape' key, which turned off the computer completely.
Back outside, I took in a deep breath, enjoying the mix of flowers and sea breeze. Though I was tempted to stay the night in Cherrygrove, just so I could take a nice dip in the ocean, I kept moving. At least, I did for all of two minutes, but I cracked. After all, I wasn't trying to catch up to anyone anymore, I could take as long as I wanted in every city. I ran back inside the Pokemon Center, intent on setting up a 'reservation' with Nurse Joy to stay the night, and find a place to change into my swimsuit. I made sure to bring it with me this time!
~o~
It looked like school was out for the time, seeing as how the small beach was packed with kids of all ages. I noticed a few here and there playing with their Pokemon in the sand, mostly pet Rattatas or Krabby. Thus, when I showed up on the beach, sporting a different fashion of swimsuit compared to the other girls on the beach, and with Vulpix at my side, I drew much attention. Quite a contrast from what happened a few days back at Pallet Town, but all the same I didn't want the attention on me. I would be eleven in a few months, and I still looked like I belonged in second grade. So I was a bit self-conscious about myself when too many people were looking.
I had borrowed a towel from the Pokemon Center, so again I stood out by having the only bleach white item on the beach. The only other thing I had with me was Lapras's Pokeball, in case I wanted to go our further into the water. After a little while, I noticed people went back to their own activities, so I set up my towel near the water, and told Vulpix to guard it while I went in for a splash. Before I could, though, a few other kids walked up to me.
"Nice Vulpix. Where you from?" The boy asking looked older than me, probably twelve or thirteen.
"Pallet Town," I said, doing my best to sound cheerful. "I'm on my way to Violet City."
"You a Pokemon trainer?" I took a moment to answer, scanning the eyes of every boy there.
"N-No," I said, trying to hide the Pokeball in my hands behind my back. "I'm just on a little trip."
"Really? That's a shame," he said turning slightly to the left. He made a swift motion, reaching behind me with his right hand and snatching the Pokeball from my hand. "Then what's this? A Pokeball?"
"Give it back!" I said, jumping for the item. The boy sidestepped me, sticking his foot out so I could trip and land in the sand. His friends started laughing at me.
"It has a Pokemon inside," he said, shaking the ball. "Why don't we see just what kind of Pokemon she has!"
I turned around, catching the sight as Vulpix leapt onto the boy, biting on his arm. He dropped the Pokeball and backed off, but that had already set it off. The Pokeball exploded, releasing Lapras right there in front of everyone on the beach. As you'd guess, everyone on the beach backed away gasping.
"Whoa, what is that!?"
"That," I said, walking up to my large critter, "is Lapras. Say hi, Lapras."
The eight foot tall blue beast let out a soft growl. The group of bullies backed away slightly, but most of the other people on the beach started getting closer. Lapras was a pretty rare Pokemon in Kanto, so in Johto it was next to unheard of. I walked towards the boy, who was rubbing his arm where Vulpix had bitten him.
"I am a Pokemon Trainer," I told him, holding up the empty Pokeball. "And I came here to relax, not be bothered by bullies with no Pokemon. Please leave us alone."
He couldn't come up with any kind of retort, so he just turned around and left, his small group of friends following after him. I sighed, relieved it didn't end up becoming a Pokemon battle right there in front of everyone. What's more, I was surprised at the level of courage I displayed. I guess what had happened in Pallet Town hadn't been a one-time fluke.
When I turned around, I saw Lapras being overrun by most of the younger kids on the beach. The large Pokemon lowered its neck, allowing itself to be conquered by the hyper children. Guess that was easier than resist. I walked up to Lapras, his eyes pleading me to save him from this cute onslaught. But I had a better idea.
"Who wants to take a ride on Lapras's back?" I asked the crowd. Every single kid there started raising their arms up high, screaming for me to pick them. I smiled at them, and helped the few that couldn't climb up on Lapras. I asked Lapras to give them a short ride around the area, allowing me to finally enjoy the water myself.
As I splashed around like a happy kid in the shallow water, I could hear the cheers coming from the other kids as Lapras came around for a second pass. It was at this point that I noticed the small island just off shore. Intrigued, I waved for Lapras to come back to the shore. I climbed up with the group of kids, though I was practically riding on Lapras's neck thanks to all of them.
"Lapras, head for that island over there. That alright with everyone here?" A few of the kids said no, most said yes, and one got off the Pokemon right there, running back to his mom on the beach. Confused, I asked why some didn't want to go.
"That island belongs to the older kids," said one of the little girls. "They don't want us on there."
"Don't you worry about them, if they try to bother us, Lapras will scare them away again."
That seemed to calm most of the kids, so Lapras swam out again, heading straight for island. To my surprise, I felt Vulpix lick my face, and I wondered just when she managed to sneak onboard Lapras. The blue critter arrived at the island, stretching out its neck so I could get off. Only Vulpix followed me onto the island, which was really just a large, flat rock in the middle of the ocean. There were a few trinkets and toys lying around, evidence of the kids that supposedly 'owned' the island.
"Can we go? I don't like it here." One of the little girls said.
"Just a minute," I called out to the kids. Something had caught my eye on the far side of the island. I walked over to it, seeing something shiny and yellow stuck in the rock. I tried to pull it out, but it was stuck in there pretty good.
"Vulpix, help me dig this thing out."
She started clawing at the rock around the yellow stone, while I continued to pull at it. After a moment of digging, she managed to loosen it enough for me to finally free it from the ground. It was a yellow piece of rock, but it was too shiny to be a normal rock. I thought it could be gold, but what were the odds of that? Still, at the very least it was a souvenir for Mom, so I ran back to Lapras with the item. Once I was back on his back, Lapras made for the shore.
"What did you find?" Asked one of the kids. I showed them the yellow rock.
"I think it's treasure, maybe gold."
"I know what it is! It is gold! A gold nugget!" Answered another one. The rest of them all let out a collective 'ooooh'.
"Really? You think so?" I inspected the nugget closer, watching as it shined in the sunlight.
"Yeah! You're going to be rich!"
"I wish I was rich!"
Every kid on Lapras threw in their opinion, and I couldn't help but smile at them. I remembered when I was like them, not too long ago. Back on the beach, everyone jumped off Lapras, and thanked me for giving them the ride. I was even thanked by a few of the parents for being such a nice person.
As the day marched on, more and more of the kids left the beach. I didn't stay much longer myself, splashing around in the shallow water for a while after getting back on shore. Even Vulpix splashed around with me, which was surprising considering she didn't like getting her fur wet. With Lapras back in his Pokeball, I wrapped myself up in the towel, and made my way back to the Pokemon Center.
The day's activities were a bit distracting, but like I told myself before I jumped into the ocean: this was a fun trip, and having fun was the important thing!