Chapter 3
The surrounding trees thickened dramatically as the trio plodded further into Petalburg Forest. Here was where the truly ancient oaks stood, silent guardians over the Pokemon that inhabited their range. It was here that more Wurmple began to show up, inching along branches, chewing on leaves browning for the coming of Fall.
There were also a few of Wurmple's evolved forms, an odd Silcoon here or there, and also the rare Cascoon. As they passed by these motionless figures, Tassie looked around at them with a gleam of an unknown emotion in her blank, unblinking eyes.
No other trainer was in sight, and the Pokemon around seemed to be unafraid of Mipsy and her companions, so she figured they'd passed a point where the only battles they'd be participating in were ones they challenged the wild Pokemon to. The trainer glanced through the corner of her eye at Tassie; she'd started out with Mipsy at level five, so her own evolution had to be close.
Yet again she was reminded of what the Pokemon Handbook had mentioned about Wurmple's evolutions. Even though she couldn't control the way Tassie would evolve, the off chance that she'd someday have the choice between becoming a Dustox or a Beautifly troubled the girl. She'd only known the caterpillar for under two days, of course, but in that short period of time had gotten to know her as best as the allotted time allowed.
Could she become a Dustox? Tassie didn't seem to be the type that could curb her emotions for the sake of not having excessive psychic powers. She was prone to making her little 'oou' sounds when things got too quiet, like after Razzle got done attempting, and failing, to use any form of psychic attack.
That brought up a whole different subject, what was Mipsy to do once Tassie evolved into a nearly motionless cocoon? She very well couldn't depend solely on Razzle, especially if they were to win at Rustboro Gym, and putting Cascoon or Silcoon Tassie into a battle would be just wrong.
They needed to catch another Pokemon, and soon to put some experience in for him.
Coming out of her reverie, Mipsy sighed to both Razzle and Tassie, "Be on the lookout for a Pokemon-that's not a Shroomish or Wurmple evolution."
"Oou." Tassie replied cheerfully.
"What'd she say?" The trainer asked Razzle, who'd been busy counting the roots of each tree they passed, trying to figure which was the biggest one.
"Huh?" He replied dully. "Ohhh… she said okay. I'll try too, just wait!"
The Ralts smiled and looked to the forest, where he let off a call in his own tongue and waited for a couple of seconds. A Zigzagoon came crashing out of the underbrush, his bushy tail raised high. "Wow Razzle, what'd you say?"
"I just said… the first Pokemon to attack me gets a free bunch of berries!" Razzle exclaimed in reply.
Both Mipsy and Tassie had the same expression on their faces at that point. "You just promised that Zigzagoon our berry supply?" Mipsy finally said, and groaned. They'd found a patch of Oran berries a little ways back, and had taken a couple of the more promising ones, which made their supply of berries like a miniature feast for one Pokemon.
"Yup."
"Oou…" Tassie sighed, and it must have been a reminder of the Zigzagoon, because Razzle turned back to the raccoon and growled at it.
He retaliated with a tackle that knocked Razzle over and was preparing to leap onto the Ralts. Seeing the Zigzagoon's back legs bunch up, Razzle raised one hand and attempted a confusion attack that turned into a brief flicker of power that only ruffled his opponent's fur.
Tassie was already on her way at that point. A sticky strand of thread shot from her mouth at the raccoon, and hit him on one leg, successfully pinning him down. Razzle got to his feet and stepped away, heading back to Mipsy, while Tassie hit the Zigzagoon with her horn a couple of times, before he broke away from the strands holding his leg down and tackled back.
Wurmple and Zigzagoon collided for a final time, before one of them let out a final whimper and retreated. Tassie remained where she stood, and would be smiling if she could.
And then… Mipsy was about to exclaim with joy at the win, when Tassie rose her head and gave an ear-piercingly shrill cry. Razzle had already cuffed the sides of his head, expecting something like it already. The Wurmple kept her gaze skyward as she sprayed her sticky thread upwards, intending it to fall back upon her a second later.
When her body was reasonably covered, the bright white evolutionary light took over. The plump caterpillar's form rounded out, horns sinking down, feet folding in. Tassie's trainer was too stunned to say anything, just watched with a lump in her throat. Now the question would be answered: Silcoon or Cascoon?
Finally, the light fell away, and the cocoon's color was revealed. It was somewhere in between a bright white, and a dark purple. Mipsy blinked at it and said, "Uhh… she's a Silcoon."
"No she's not, she's a Cascoon!" Razzle argued.
"No, no, she's definitely a Silcoon." She growled.
"I'm telling you, that's not a Silcoon."
They continued on like that for a while, Tassie's bright red eye going from Razzle to Mipsy, and back again, until the Ralts said, "Okay, I'll tell you what, she's both. Tassie is a Sascoon, and will someday become a beautiful-if moody-Dustfly."
And then, Tassie let off an offended little cry at him. Razzle seemed to smile, and shrugged at her, whispering, "But I secretly know you're a Cascoon."
The sun was low in the sky, casting an eerie orange shadow upon the ground, when they finally decided to set up camp for the night. Tassie, who'd grown much heavier, had already fell asleep and been returned to her Pokeball, while Razzle kept Mipsy company instead.
The two of them found a small clearing, where they had to chase off a Poochyena, before settling there. Mipsy's bedroll was off to the side, a dark blue splotch on the grass. And in the middle, a circle of stones was placed, and a fire erected in the center of it. (Even though Mipsy had to sit beside it for about ten minutes, rubbing two stones together with her eyebrows knitted together.)
While the fire crackled merrily, Tassie was released from her ball, still asleep. The cocoon was placed by the bedroll, while her two friends whiled away a bit more time in front of the fire. "Razzle…" Mipsy finally murmured, "When you first used that confusion attack, what were you feeling?"
"I was angry. Why?" The Ralts glanced over at her, and saw that the trainer was reading from her giant handbook in the firelight.
"It says that normal psychic powers are fueled by emotions." Mipsy answered, then paused for a moment, deep in thought. She racked her brain for the right way to say what she was thinking, and finally it came out, "Razzle… imagine something awful happen to someone you really like."
The Ralts coughed, "O-okay…" He stammered, "I'll do that."
"Are you imagining it?" Razzle nodded, "How does it make you feel?"
"Well, I'm confused."
Mipsy put a hand over her eyes, sighing, "This isn't working."
"What are you trying to do?"
"Get you to get angry."
"Oh that's easy." Razzle replied, "Just insult me."
"Insult you." She repeated doubtfully, wondering what kinds of things would be insulting to a Ralts. No insults presented themselves, so she said instead, "Razzle, you are so short. I mean, even Tassie is bigger than you now."
And instead of taking that seriously, the Ralts just laughed to himself. "Never mind. We'll try this in the morning." Mipsy yawned, "Then you'd better be ready for some real insults…"
At dawn, Mipsy was up and ready to go. She'd already banked the embers of their former fire, and woken her two companions up. "Five more minutes…" Razzle groaned, "…No, five more hours."
"Right now Razzle, up and at 'em!" She exclaimed cheerfully, and he groaned again. "If we make it to Rustboro in good time, we may be able to start a challenge at the gym…"
After a bit more struggle, the Ralts got to his feet and shuffled by Mipsy's side, half asleep. He looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet at any second, and almost did until Mipsy began to talk to him. Petalburg Forest gradually ended the more north they went, until the trees were behind them.
A stretch of green met their eyes, no trees were in sight. A calm lake was ahead as well, along with a few people sitting on the bridge that crossed the water. Most on the bridge were couples holding hands, admiring the view before it became too hot to just be sitting around.
There were occasional trainers here and there, and Mipsy caught the eye of one, a boy with a Torchic leaning sleepily on her trainer's leg. He looked to be about her age, maybe a bit older, and had a stocky body offset by limbs a bit too thin in comparison. "Looking for a battle?" She asked when she was within earshot of him.
"Hmm… sure, I'll take you on." The boy shrugged and took a Pokeball off his belt, "Two on two alright with you?"
"Fine." Mipsy agreed, though with reluctance at the thought of letting Tassie out to fight. She'd save her for last, if she could. He nodded and tossed the ball, revealing a Shroomish. "Go on, Razzle. And be angry."
"Angry… right…" The Ralts repeated doubtfully. The Shroomish made the first move, rushing forward to tackle him. Razzle's growl was caught up in his mouth when the mushroom barreled into his chest first.
He avoided the second tackle, and tried to throw his opponent with a psychic attack, only managing to knock the Shroomish off balance. Focusing on his thoughts, Razzle tried to think of something that he found really aggravating. Another tackle landed upon him while he was thinking, and he fell over when he finally thought back to the scene where Mipsy had just been hit by a stun spore from the very same kind of Pokemon he was battling.
Mipsy cheered when a purple aura overcame the Shroomish, and he was sent barreling away from Razzle. He didn't move from where he landed. "Shroomish, return." The other trainer recalled his Pokemon, and nudged the Torchic forward.
Razzle breathed heavily and tried to use confusion again, but couldn't picture the Torchic having done anything wrong to him. (Torchic, after all, couldn't use stun spore.) The attack returned to its useless self, and Razzle fell over, feeling faint, when the chick Pokemon hit him with an ember attack.
He was vaguely surprised when Mipsy ran over to where he'd fell and offered him an Oran berry. "Hey, what about your other Pokemon?" The boy exclaimed when she didn't appear to be going anywhere.
She looked up for a moment, having already decided, "My other Pokemon cannot battle yet, so you win." Then Mipsy turned her attention back to Razzle, even though he wasn't technically her Pokemon.
"Yay, I won!" The trainer exclaimed, sounding overjoyed at that point. His Torchic drooped a bit for some reason.
A sarcastic little laugh came from a little bit away, from an older girl standing a bit away. She might have been around thirteen, standing much taller than Mipsy. A dark gray skirt hung limply at her waist, far too big, matching the black shirt she wore that had its sleeves completely cut off. Upon her crown of fiery red hair sat a Ninjask who sported a terminally bored look.
"Only newbies refer to themselves instead of their Pokemon." She said in a deliberately loud voice, pretending to only talk to the Ninjask.
Seconds later, the boy that had originally been battling Mipsy was growling a challenge at the newcomer through gritted teeth. "Must have insulted him." She murmured to herself.
The other girl grinned and beckoned to her Ninjask, who calmly hovered off of her head and settle on the ground on eye level with the Torchic, the bored look never leaving. "Alright Torchic, you have a type advantage! Use ember!"
The small chick nodded and fired small bits of flame at the bug. "Fury cutter." The girl murmured. What happened next was in a matter of seconds; the Ninjask disappeared though the sound of his buzzing wings was obvious in the air, he appeared again behind his opponent, and slashed down with his sharp claws.
And then it was over. "Simple newbies." The girl said pointedly, "Go away now and I won't take your money." And taking that as a warning, the other trainer recalled his Torchic and darted away.
Razzle, who had been revived by the berry he'd managed to gulp down, nudged Mipsy when the other girl's gaze turned to her. "And why," she demanded, "did you only use one Pokemon when you agreed to a two on two match?"
"Because my other Pokemon is in no condition to fight." Mipsy replied.
"Good job, Jitsu." She murmured instead to her Ninjask when he returned to her head. The girl seemed to forget about Mipsy for a bit while she focused her attention on her Pokemon, and the next question came with unexpected suddenness, "What's wrong with your other Pokemon?"
"Oh, uhh… nothing's wrong with her, she's just… well, you see, she's a Silcoon." And the trainer cast a warning glance at Razzle, as if to say this wasn't the best time for them to get into an argument about what Tassie had evolved into.
"Ah." An awkward silence followed. Then: "That was sure nice of you."
"…Well… it didn't seem fair." Mipsy replied uncomfortably.
"It wouldn't have been." The girl agreed. "What's your name, kid?"
"Mipsy."
"Well Mipsy, I think you have promise. We will meet again." And with that, she swept away with a mysterious smirk, heading for Rustboro.
Mipsy and Razzle exchanged glances, and the Ralts said, "I sure hope she's right, because we're sure going to need your 'promise' for the gym match."
"At least she scared off that boy before he took his winnings." She replied, running one finger across the few bills she did have still in her pocket. "C'mon Razzle, let's get to Rustboro…"
And so they went, it was lunchtime when they reached Rustboro City. The city streets were mostly empty at this time of day because of that, and the trainer got to the Pokemon Center without many problems.
The Chansey on duty behind the front desk took one look at Mipsy, Razzle, and Tassie, and pointed one plump paw to where another couple of trainers and their Pokemon were eating from a large pot of what looked to be vegetable soup. She stared when the addition of Razzle and Mipsy quickly took bowls and the soup began to disappear… fast.
"You'd think trainers now-a-days would pack better meals for their trips." She murmured to herself with a sigh.
Tassie dozed off again, and didn't notice that she became the subject of a conversation once the vegetable soup was suitably dead. "I think she's a Cascoon." One of the trainers was saying, and Razzle nodding agreement, "…But then again, maybe she's a Silcoon."
"Maybe she's some cross-breed?" Suggested a girl with a Treecko trying to balance on her shoulder, "And will evolve into a-"
"Dustfly." Razzle interrupted, "If she's a cross-breed, she'll become a Dustfly."
"And how do you know that?" She asked pointedly.
"Be-cause." He growled, "Dustfly sounds better than Beautox. Now doesn't it?"
"You have no idea, do you?"
"Nope."
And so it continued on like that for a while, until the eye facing Mipsy on her cocoon Pokemon opened, and Tassie let out an irritated little squeak to get them to stop. "Perhaps we should leave now?" Razzle offered, "To the gym, away!"
He bounced out of the Center, and left the rest to look after him. "Better follow, something bad might happen to him…" Mipsy whispered to Tassie as she hefted her up and followed after, to a little 'oou' laugh from the cocoon.
Razzle had ambled ahead to a large building whose masonry was different than that of its surrounding fellows. Instead of bricks, large gray stone slabs had been set in place to form the gray monolith before them. At the top of each corner stood a pillar with an oversized Pokeball at the top. And to prevent and other doubts, there hung a sign made out of a thick sheet of wood with the word 'GYM' engraved in big block letters.
"Well guys, this is it." Mipsy said blankly. "…I hate to say it, but we barely have any chance at all of winning, especially since this is a rock Pokemon gym."
"At least we'll try." Razzle replied, trying to be enthusiastic, "And if we don't win, at least you'll still have me, Mipsy. Isn't that a wonderful consolation prize?"
"…Maybe." The trainer replied, "Tassie, do you want to stay out and watch?"
Razzle huffed when he heard what she had to say, and translated, "Aren't you a vote of confidence? She said sure, and that she wanted to see me get beaten up by living rocks."
The girl just laughed, and nodded, as she stepped up to the sliding doors in front of the gym. They obediently parted for her, and she entered, being followed closely behind by the Ralts. The inside of the gym appeared to be more of a cave; it had the eerie feel of one from the dim overhead lights, to the torches that instead gave off most of the light.
"Ah, another trainer." One of the people there, dressed in slate jeans and a dull-colored shirt that made her blend into the darkness perfectly, said and stepped forward, "I am to be your first test then, if you can't get past me, then there's no way you're disturbing Roxanne!"
And in the battle that followed, Razzle was indeed matched by the rock Pokemon there, a Geodude. For some reason, he was able to use confusion on the unfortunate rock, but still found himself lying on his back, barely able to breath right from having the wind tackled out of him several times.
When Mipsy resigned herself, returned Tassie and was preparing to carry Razzle out of the gym, the automatic doors swung open again. A figure stood there, and the defeated Ralts turned his head slightly to see whom the newcomer was. He was paralyzed with shock at that point, and managed to squeak out, "I-it's… you."