I'm back, and here's chapter six:
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They rested until early the next morning in two small rooms above the Pokemon Center. Oldale was not a very big town, and few trainers went there so the rooms were hardly ever full. After handing in their keys, the pair headed to the mart to purchase potions, pokeballs and other useful items. After that, they walked the cobbled streets; to the western exit of the town. The little wooden archway had a single police officer on watch duty, and he gave them a tired-looking nod to signal that they could pass.
"Where to now?" Rohan asked.
"Petalberg is just through this wooded area here." Kerensa muttered, studying the map on her Pokenav. Rohan nodded.
"Meet you at Petalberg, then." He said, with a hint of mischief in his voice. He suddenly took off towards the west: grass and bushes crashing apart in his wake.
"Wait! Ro!" his sister called.
As she took a hesitant step after him, something gave a loud 'Caw!' above her, and she turned to see a Wingull land on a branch nearby.
"A Wingull?" she inquired.
"Win-GULL!" it cawed. She smiled and called out Mudkip from his pokeball.
"You're mine; Wingull." She growled.
The Wingull wasted no time in rising to waist height and swooping forwards with a tackle attack that knocked Mudkip backwards.
"Mudkip" Kerensa shouted "Mud slap!"
The little creature used its tail to fling a shovelful of mud at the flying pokemon, but it dodged the attack with a quick attack and then slammed into Mudkip's side.
"Are you okay?" she asked her starter. Mudkip got up; an angry expression on his face.
"Caw!"
"Look out!" Kerensa warned, and Mudkip deftly dodged a second swooping tackle. He responded by pouncing on the Wingull; tackling it from above, and knocking it out of flight. As it got to its webbed feet; dazed, he tackled it twice more and defeated it.
"Pokeball go!" Kerensa called, throwing a ball at it. The Wingull disappeared in a flash of white light, the ball shivered and twitched as though something was trying to get out, and then it was still. A shrill click from the pokeball confirmed the catch.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, picking up her Mudkip in her black-gloved hands "We caught our first new team member!"
"Muuud!" Mudkip yawned, happily.
Kerensa released Wingull from its pokeball, and stroked its white, downy head.
"You're with us now, understood?" she asked. It considered for a moment, then nodded its beaked head and settled on her shoulder. After healing the pair with potions, Kerensa continued on through the trees.
"Hey!" a voice called "Kerensa?"
Kerensa turned and saw a familiar figure approaching her from behind.
"You're that kid I saved from the Poocheana, aren't you?" she thought, aloud.
"Yeah…" Stan muttered, embarrassed. He had on a pair of comfy Jeans, a black t-shirt and a rucksack. His Belt already had two Pokeballs on it.
"You caught more pokemon?" she asked. He nodded; long brown hair blowing slightly in the breeze.
"Yeah, I thought I'd need more than just Torchic to protect me." He confessed, pulling off both of the containers. "Go; Torchic and Taillow!"
Torchic gave a delighted squawk, and ran over to greet Mudkip: they obviously recognised one-another from the battle. The newcomer to Stan's team sat solemnly on his shoulder: a small sparrow with blue and red feathers and a hooked beak.
"Nice" Kerensa acknowledged "they look in good condition"
"I've been training them" Stan smiled, stroking Taillow "I wanted to battle you, to see if I've done enough"
"Then I accept your challenge" she declared "A two-on-two battle with no time limit."
--
"Go: Taillow!" Stan ordered.
"I choose Mudkip!" Kerensa decided "Mud-Slap!"
The globule of mud was easily dodged by the agile bird Pokemon.
"Ground attacks have little to no affect on birds!" Stan informed her "quick attack!"
Taillow flitted around Mudkip's attacks and slammed into the side of him; causing the little creature to stagger backwards.
"I have other tricks up my sleeve" she smiled "Water gun!"
Mudkip spat a high-pressure jet of water from his mouth, hitting Taillow's wing and dashing him against the floor.
"Taillow!" Stan gasped
"Finish him: Tackle!"
Mudkip knocked the stunned bird into a moss-covered tree. He slid down the trunk and settled upside-down in the mud.
"Oh crap!" Stan muttered, picking up the tiny swallow pokemon "Go Torchic!"
"Hah: fire is no match for Water. Water gun"
Mudkip spat another stream of water, but Torchic was gone.
"What…?" she gasped. Torchic dropped from a low-hanging tree-branch, which it had used quick attack to reach, and performed scratch.
"Ember, then another quick attack" Stan ordered. Torchic scorched the little mud pokemon with a hail of embers, then head butted him into a tree.
"No, Mudkip!" Kerensa gasped.
"Nice one, Torchic!" Stan beamed, and scooped up the fiery bird.
"The battle isn't over yet! Go; Wingull" Kerensa called. The seagull pokemon swooped low, and Torchic leaped out of Stan's arms to attack.
"Ember" Stan ordered.
"Quick attack" Kerensa told the bird. The seagull dodged the scattering of embers, and then smashed into Torchic; face on.
"Quick; scratch!" Stan commanded. Torchic drove the Wingull back with scything claws, but Wingull used a water gun to pacify the rampant creature.
"Finish this: Water Gun again!" Kerensa barked. The jet of water hit the stunned Torchic, square in the forehead, and it fainted.
"What!?" Stan exclaimed "Torchic! Are you alright?"
"Tor…" his starter twittered; miserably
"You did well: return…" he sighed, returning the pokemon to its pokeball.
"You fought well" Kerensa told him. He shook his head, sadly.
"Thanks, but I really wanted to win. Ah well; I'll just train some more. You'd better do that too, or you'll loose next time we meet!"
He turned and strode back towards the town, whilst Kerensa healed up her Pokemon and continued.
--
On her way through the woodland, Kerensa fought a couple more battles with young trainers, her pokemon growing stronger with each victory. She felt herself growing, in a way: she was becoming more confident and caring towards her pokemon. She reached the other side of the woodland in half an hour, and was about to follow the path into Petalberg city, when something attracted her attention. It wasn't a sound, more like a feeling. It was like someone brushing you on the arm to get your attention, but it was in her mind: pulling her towards a particular group of bushes.
"Oh no!" she gasped. In the clearing was a little pokemon, lying against a tree. It was humanoid, about a foot tall, and wore a white robe-like garment. Its skin was a pure, pearly white, and a mop of green hair covered its eyes. A red horn protruded from its forehead.
"Ralts…" it murmured.
"You poor thing…" she cried "what happened to you?"
Kerensa heard a growl from behind her, and turned. A Poocheana was standing behind her: fangs bared. In fact, she realised, it wasn't just a Poocheana; it was the Poocheana: one of the ones she'd battled in the clearing with Stan.
"You're going down!" Kerensa snapped "Go; Mudkip!"
"Muuud!" gargled her pokemon, appearing in a flash of light.
Without waiting, the Poocheana leaped forward and performed a quick attack. Mudkip dodged, and tackled it.
"Now use mud slap!" Kerensa ordered "then water gun!"
The mud spattered the doglike pokemon across the face, and then, as it blindly tackled the space where Mudkip had been, a jet of water blew it off its feet. Without thinking, Kerensa pulled a pokeball from her bag and threw it. The pokeball clicked open and the Poocheana disappeared inside the capture device. It vibrated, angrily, as the creature attempted to escape, but then it was still, and a click announced the newest addition to her team.
"I'm going to have to teach him some manners…" Kerensa mused, turning back to the injured Ralts.
"Raaaalts…" it whispered.
"It's okay, I'm going to capture you and take you to be healed at the Pokemon center in Petalberg." Kerensa pulled out another pokeball and knelt by the Ralts, but the little being cowered away from her.
"You don't want to be put in a pokeball?" Kerensa asked, gently. Mudkip came over and made a worried noise, before looking at Kerensa meaningfully. Kerensa got the drift: if she didn't get the Ralts to a pokemon center soon, she could die. The wounds were serious.
"Okay: I'll carry you, then" she offered. Ralts made a terrified noise and curled up in a ball. Kerensa considered capturing her, despite her fear of the pokeball, but Mudkip suddenly let out a strict-sounding gurgling noise. Ralts looked up, confused, and Mudkip gave what could only be described as the bark of an order. Ralts, a frightened look on her face, sat up straight. Mudkip went to his mistress' bag and tugged at the medicine pocket.
"Good idea!" Kerensa smiled "we patch her up and carry her to the pokemon center."
Kerensa pulled out a few berries and a potion, and Mudkip helped Ralts to eat, while his trainer sprayed the restoring fluid on the creature's side. Kerensa went to pick up Ralts and she let out another, terrified squeak, but Mudkip made a soothing noise in his throat that seemed to calm the injured Psychic pokemon down.
"Come on, little one…" Kerensa whispered, cradling Ralts in her arms "Let's get you fixed up…"
--
There was no sign of Rohan as Kerensa entered Petalberg, so she just continued towards the Pokemon center. Petalberg was not a large city, but it was pretty industrial; houses bunched together like grey bouquets of flowers. Smoke and fog marred this town, making it a crime den at night, but during the day it was a bustling, normal place to be: cinemas, shops and the gym attracted people in their droves. The sun was setting as she crossed the border, and headed up a sign-posted street towards the large, red-roofed building.
"We're here, hold on now…" she whispered to the Ralts, shouldering her way inside the building. It was pretty crowded, but Nurse Joy took one look at the Ralts and waved her into the emergency ward.
This room was a lot quieter, with one or two, worried looking trainers sitting on plush seats. Kerensa took a seat, and Nurse Joy came over to her.
"Is that your Pokemon?" she asked, in a serious voice. Kerensa shook her head
"No, ma-am. I found her lying on the ground in the woods." She replied.
"I'm afraid we can't do anything for wild pokemon: otherwise we'd have to double the amount of medicine we buy." Sighed the nurse
"And if she was mine?"
"We'd heal her right away."
Kerensa pulled out a pokeball, and placed it on her lap, beside Ralts.
"It's for your own good…" she whispered "please understand."
Ralts was very calm. She nodded her little head and sat back to wait for the ball. Kerensa pressed the button on the front against the little creature's torso. It clicked open and Ralts was converted to data in a second, before being stored inside the ball in a flicker of red light. The Pokeball shivered once, and then was still.
She handed over the pokeball to the pink-haired nurse, then decided to heal up the rest of the team, and handed them over, too. Then she sat, anxiously waiting for news.
--
As Kerensa fretted about her new-found Pokemon, Rohan was heading to the gym. He passed an old, robed man who sat on a bench and nodded at him, knowingly.
"Loon…" he muttered, ignoring him and finding his way to the big, orange-roofed building. As he reached the big, glass doors, it began to drizzle. Rohan hurried inside and was surprised to discover Dan, sitting in the lobby.
"Hey little bro!" he called, waving at Rohan. He approached his older sibling, smiling. It was rare to meet him while he was working, but Dan became a whole different person then: he was more serious, responsible and his laziness disappeared like it had never been there. He wore the badge, and he upheld the law.
"What are you doing here?" Rohan asked, taking a seat opposite Dan, across a coffee table.
"I'm here to see the gym leader; the receptionist's just gone to get him." Dan answered, darkly.
"Why? Are you going to arrest him?" Rohan became excited at this prospect. Dan shook his head.
"No, I just need to make some enquiries about something."
"Oh, what's that then?"
"-Classified; so I can't tell you."
"Darn."
At that moment, a sliding door hissed open and the gym leader emerged. Rohan got his second surprise of the day. He felt a mixture of pride, shock and excitement in his gut as Kiran, his other brother and the second oldest of the family, emerged from the doorway. Dan seemed nonchalant, however. He obviously knew that Kiran had become the gym leader of Petalberg.
"Well if it isn't two little trainers, come to take me on…" Kiran drawled, attempting to sound cool.
"I see your new job hasn't done anything for your attitude" Dan sighed, facepalming as Kiran struck a pose.
"What; I need to intimidate challengers, and this is the best way!"
"You've got a lot to learn…" Dan said, matter-of-factly, and Kiran sat beside them. The pretty, blonde receptionist went and put a "not accepting registrations" notice in the window.
"What're you guys doing here?"
"I was going to ask you some questions; police business, but I can do that another time."
Dan stood.
"I'll be seeing you guys later." He called over his shoulder as he shrugged on a trenchcoat and left the room.
"What's with him?" Kiran asked. He was a tall, dour-looking guy, with shoulder-length, messy black hair and brown eyes. His nose was slightly pointed, another family trait, and his cheeks were thin.
"No idea; he was here when I got in." Rohan answered. Dan was acting slightly weird. He had seemed….worried…about something. Kiran shrugged.
"Well, whatever; he was always the wonder-child…" he sniggered "…mum and dad wonder why they ever had him…"
Rohan grinned; Kiran was as immature as ever. He was only two years younger than Dan, but he was a skilled trainer. This was proved by his new job. There had been a vacancy at Petalberg gym ever since Norman had moved to Sinnoh, and Kiran had got it.
"So you're here to challenge me?" Kiran asked, after his little joke had worn off.
"Well…I was…." Rohan hesitated. He knew Kiran was good, definitely better than himself.
"Forget it, kiddo. According to league rules, I'm the fifth gym leader in Hoenn. Get four badges and then challenge me." His tone was serious there; at least he was taking his job seriously.
"Damn" Rohan sighed.
"Check this out though: I had four battles today! My first day in office and already four challengers!" he smiled.
"Four?" Rohan asked "how did they go?"
"I won three" Kiran looked sad all of a sudden "but this fourth guy was immense: he crushed me with two pokemon."
Rohan was about to ask further questions, when the door burst open. Both of them looked over at the thin, blonde-haired youth there, maybe a year older than Rohan, with surprise.
"I'd like to get a pokemon, please." He breathed, relieved to get that off his chest. Kiran turned to look at Rohan.
"I'm busy at the moment, but you can help him there, can't you?" he asked. Rohan nodded; eager to impress his brother.
--
Outside, in the pouring rain, the hooded man smiled, triumphantly.
"The pieces of the puzzle are coming together…" he intoned.
Please review; I know it was a bit rushed towards the end of this chapter, but just drop a word or two! The Character Competition is still on: so keep the entries coming!