Mission in the Forest, Chapter 53

Although I had managed to finish the battle with Roxanne early, I chose not to depart for Meteor Falls that same day. After all, what was the rush? Roxanne had mentioned how traversing that place would take a couple days of hiking, so an early start the next morning would be best. I could take the rest of today shopping for the necessary camping gear and provisions with Vulpix, and afterwards take in the sights of Rustboro. I'm sure there was more to see in the city than just the school.

I stopped by the market and got right to shopping. To my surprise, Vulpix reminded me about the Pokeballs, so I picked up a few of those. A couple disposable tents, food for the road, and I was off to pay for everything. Roxanne's payoff for the match was a nice sum, so everything I needed could be afforded. The last thing I wanted to do was call Mom and ask her for more money. I had spoken with her the night before and told her I was doing fine financially. I wasn't about to turn that into a lie.

On my way to the register, I noticed a girl with brown hair sitting down on a lawn chair in the outdoor goods section of the shop. Whenever I used to go shopping with Mom in Viridian City, I'd do the same. However, this girl looked quite sickly and sad, so I stopped by her side to talk to her.

"Hello! Are you alright?" The girl looked up at me with her tired, droopy eyes.

"I'm just tired," she mumbled. "And sick."

"Do you want me to call someone? Do you need a doctor?" I asked her, readying my Pokenav.

"No, it's okay," she said, letting her gaze drift elsewhere. "I've been sick for as long as I can remember."

"Oh...? Is that so?"

She nodded, and went silent. I never knew anyone who had been sick for so long, so I didn't even know where to go from there. The girl didn't seem to mind my company, or care either way. As I wracked my brain for something more to say, I remembered I hadn't introduced myself.

"I'm Star, by the way. What's your name?"

"Walda." She answered without even looking up at me.

"That's a nice name," I said. Walda? Was it supposed to be a funny spin on the name 'Wanda'? That's when it hit me.

"Hey! Want to hear a joke?" Walda looked up at me from her chair.

"What kind of joke?"

"What's a Meowth's favorite day of the week?" Walda thought on it for a few seconds.

"Monday?"

"No. Pay Day!"

There was a silence between us for a moment. Afterwards, only I was the one trying to contain a giggle.

"That wasn't a very good joke," Walda said bluntly.

"Well, let me try again! Ummm..." I tried to think of another one on the spot. I snapped my fingers after a moment.

"Here's one! When do you take your Pokemon to the doctor?"

"When it's sick?" Walda guessed.

"No, when it's Koffing!" Walda remained silent. "Get it? Koffing?"

"You're terrible at this," she said. Suddenly I felt a blush on my cheeks.

"Yeah, well, I was just trying to help," I said, eager to get away from her. Not that it would very hard; all I had to do was walk away. Not like she was healthy enough to follow me.

"I'm sorry." I said right away.

"For what?"

"That was rude," I said, before I realized I had only thought the part of her health, not spoken it. Walda was visibly confused.

"You're strange."

"Yeah, well, you know what a Growlithe says when angry?"

"What?"

"Bite me."

I turned around to leave, when I heard Walda giggle. I spun around, and saw her smiling. Had that last ditch effort actually worked?

"Thank you, Star. That was actually a bit funny." Walda got up from the chair and made for the exit.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. I think I've wasted enough time moping here."

I wasn't exactly sure what was the point of all that, but all the same I said goodbye to the strange, sickly girl. I'd like to think my stupid joke of an attempt to cheer her up helped in some way, but I couldn't be certain. I had always heard that laughter is the best medicine, so that's why I tried it.

But the best part of it all? I felt genuinely proud of myself all the same for helping Walda. Making her feel better felt like an accomplishment on my part.

~o~

Later that day, as I was lounging about the Pokemon Center, I was paid a visit by none other than Roxanne. When she finally found me on the second floor, she looked as if she had been running all over the city looking for me. I'd later learn that wasn't far from the truth, though it wasn't just me she was looking for.

"What's wrong?" I asked her once she ran up to me.

"Star, are you busy?"

"Not right now," I said, pointing to the couch where I was sitting.

"Then can you help me? I've been looking for more Pokemon Trainers, but can't seem to find any."

Roxanne went on to explain the situation. Remember that Aggron that was stomping around Petalburg Woods while I was there? Turns out that same Pokemon was causing all sorts of trouble not only in the forest, but also closer and closer to the city. The Rustboro Police asked Roxanne to look into the matter, and thus she was looking for any Pokemon Trainers willing to lend aid. After all, the woods were pretty big, and she wouldn't be able to cover all that ground on her own.

All I had to do was remember what happened to the one Pokemon that was unfortunate enough be crushed underneath the Aggron's foot. Fear alone of that happening to Vulpix or any other of my Pokemon was enough to get me to say no. But I wanted to help Roxanne; not just for her sake, but for the rest of the city.

"I'll help!" I replied after she finished explaining.

"Thank you! Now, let's get moving!" She grabbed my hand and started dragging me out of the center.

"Wait, already? Just us two?"

"I have a few of the other instructors from the school waiting at the edge of the city. They're good Pokemon Trainers in their own right, but none of them probably match our skill in battle." Guess Roxanne just wanted a little insurance policy. Not that I'd complain, since going back to Petalburg Woods would give me the chance to capture a certain bug Pokemon I wanted the first time I was there.

So we reached the edge of Rustboro, and joined up with about half a dozen other people. All of them were adults, teachers of the school. In a way, I found it a bit funny that they were all taking orders from Roxanne, a teenager practically half their size and ages, probably. Still, that was the way of things. Didn't matter how old you were, just how experienced with Pokemon you were. Out of everyone there that afternoon, I was probably the most qualified to lead this little operation.

"So here's the plan," Roxanne said after deliberating for a moment with the other teachers. "Star and I will explore the northwestern region; the Aggron was last spotted there. You guys start with the northeast, and work your way south. Split up along the way to cover more ground."

The others all nodded, and made for their part of the woods. Once Roxanne and I were alone, she released a Graveler from its Pokeball. Probably the same once I fought during our match.

"You still have that Vaporeon of yours, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, and I also have a Wingull."

"Might want to have them ready. Aggron will be a tough battle. We don't have to faint it outright, just do enough damage to send it packing back to the mountains. I'll hold it off with Graveler while you attack it with everything you got."

So with that, we marched into the forest. We didn't stay together for long, as Roxanne soon ordered me to explore on my own so we could cover more ground. At first I didn't understand why this was necessary, given that Aggron was pretty large and difficult to miss. Didn't we just have to keep our ears open and run towards the heavy stomping?

"The Aggron would've stopped to rest for a while by now," Roxanne said. "That's why we haven't heard it stomping."

So now we were looking for a giant rock, so to speak. In such a heavily forested area, I was sure that wouldn't take long to spot. Because of that, I took a moment for myself as I went crawling through the tall grass in search of bug Pokemon. Actually, the entire time I was doing this, I wondered to myself why I didn't just dress up like the typical bug catcher with a straw hat and shorts, given my fascination with the type.

After a short while of looking around, I found a small nest of Wurmple and a couple other critters. Without alerting the critters to my presence, I pulled out my Pokedex and scanned them.

"Silcoon, the Cocoon Pokemon. Silcoon was thought to endure hunger and not consume anything before its evolution. However, it is now thought that this Pokemon slakes its thirst by drinking rainwater that collects on its silk." Before I could turn the device off, it started scanning again.

"Cascoon, the Cocoon Pokemon. If it is attacked, Cascoon remains motionless however badly it may be hurt. It does so because if it were to move, its body would be weak upon evolution. This Pokemon will also not forget the pain it endured."

"So there are two kinds of those Pokemon?" I looked over at the mass of critters, suddenly noticing the slight hue difference between the Silcoons and Cascoons. I punched a few buttons on the Pokedex, and noticed both critters were evolved from a Wurmple.

"So I could get either or, huh? Maybe I should catch two Wurmple and..." I shook my head. My line up was already a bit packed as it was, I didn't want to replace two of my Pokemon for another pair of bugs. Still, I wanted at least one Wurmple, so I prepared a Pokeball.

"Vulpix, Quick Attack!" I screamed, springing out of the tall grass.

Vulpix vanished from my side, and reappeared in the middle of all those Pokemon, causing Wurmple to fly through the air and even forcing one or two of the cocoon Pokemon to be forced off the tree they were attached to. I threw my Pokeball into the fray, and it caught a Wurmple that was still in midair. The rest of the critters scurried away in fear, while the Pokeball with my capture lay silent on the ground.

I picked up the Pokeball, and chose Ariados to be whisked away to the storage system. Once the forest had quieted down around me, I heard someone wading through the grass towards me. It was Roxanne.

"What happened, Star? I heard the commotion and thought you might've run into the Aggron!"

"Sorry, just a bunch of bug Pokemon that got in my way. No luck on your end, I guess?" Roxanne shook her head.

"Strangest thing, too. It shouldn't be this difficult to find a Pokemon that large. Maybe it's already moved on out of the woods?"

Of course, a statement like that is just begging to be proven utterly wrong on the spot. And so it was; I was to busy with catching my Wurmple earlier that I hadn't noticed the strange knoll just near the tree where all the bugs were a moment ago. The knoll stirred, and out came the Aggron, refreshed and energized from its slumber. I ran behind Roxanne, while she stepped forward to do her part.

"Graveler, use Tackle!"

Her Pokemon appeared from behind some trees, crashing into the Aggron at full charge. The larger rock type held its ground, now enraged at being challenged. I reached for both Vaporeon and Wingull's Pokeballs. Once they were both out, I joined the fray.

"Both of you use Water Gun!"

Vaporeon blasted the Aggron in the face with a torrent of water, while Wingull shot small bursts at it from the air. All the while, Graveler was doing its best to keep Aggron in place for the thrashing, despite taking heavy damage from the water himself. For a moment, it looked as though the Aggron would have no choice but to flee. That is, until it threw off the weakened Graveler, nearly crushing Roxanne in the process.

"Vaporeon, use Aurora Beam! Wingull, keep up the Water Gun!"

The combined attacks would be enough to completely freeze Aggron before it could go on a rampage. Since the Pokemon was already drenched, Vaporeon's ice attack started freezing the moisture, while Wingull's continued Water Gun helped keep it frozen. The Aggron roared and forced its way out of layer after layer of ice.

"Roxanne, I need some help here!" I called out to her.

"Let it go!" She screamed at me.

I didn't know what she was getting at, but I told both my Pokemon to stop their attacks and get out of the way. Once the Aggron had broken out of the ice, it charged past all of us, and headed east. As the stomping grew faint, Roxanne finally spoke.

"Good work, Star." I looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean? It got away!"

"It went back to the mountains in the east. In case you didn't notice, I had Graveler twist its body around in place. I knew it would only be a matter of time before it broke free, so I made sure it would charge towards the mountains instead of the city."

"Are you sure it would go all the way? What if it turned north?"

"With the amount of damage it took from your Pokemon? Not likely. It'll head back to its old stomping grounds to rest up. I doubt it'll come back down to the forest again."

And whether or not it did, it wouldn't be my concern anymore. By the time we got back to the city, it was already night, and I was dead tired. The trip hadn't been a waste, though. I got the Pokemon I wanted, after all. I just had to make sure everything was fine for my departure the next morning, and to get plenty of rest that night.