Archie - Pokémon: 6 Deaths: 0
Blue - Pokémon: 4 Deaths: 0
{Monua 25th, 9:43AM}
{Route 205}
Archie watched as Blue went and put his bag down by the tree before straightening again and turning to look at the river. The gym leader absently reached for his belt, carefully running his fingers over the Pokéballs attached to it. Now that Archie was seeing them for the first time- and was close enough to actually take note of the details of each one- he was starting to feel genuinely curious about Blue's team.
Archie's team all waited patiently with him. Warin, being a small and squishy Wurmple, was easily clinging to Archie's hip with head only poking out a little bit from underneath the Aqua Leader's coat. The poor bug-type didn't consider the cold air to be that fun. Prince and Star were standing on either side of Archie, Prince staring at Blue and waiting to see what was going to come out first, Star glancing at the flower crown on Prince's head and sulking quietly. Basil, the timid little Buizel they'd encountered barely an hour ago, was nervously clinging to the fabric of Archie's pants. Seeing the gym leader touch the Pokéballs on his belt made Archie reach for Mark's and run his fingers over it to make sure it was still there. Just a tiny bit more…
Blue glanced over in the Aqua Leader's direction when the latter walked over to the edge of the river, releasing Mark into the water.
Archie knelt down in the grass. "Alright Mark, are you ready for a bit more training?" he asked, grinning. "This isn't the same as a pond with still water, so I'm gonna start by asking you to do something to get used to the stream. I want you to swim all the way over to the corner over there, where the river takes a right turn, grab any rock, and come back with it. How does that sound?"
"I...I think I can do that," Mark said with a nod. "I'll be back soon, I promise!"
"I don't doubt it..." Archie muttered after the Magikarp vanished under the surface. Archie got back to his feet and crossed his arms. "Any minute now."
As it turned out, it didn't even last a minute. Within thirty seconds, the surface rippled open in front of the Aqua Leader, leaving a figure to come out- and rise up, up, up…
Archie grinned up at the titanic creature, ignoring the short cascade of water that splashed all over him and took a few steps back. The object that was placed in front of him either qualified as A Very Big Rock or A Small Boulder.
"We did it," the Gyarados said. Despite his attempt at speaking quietly, it felt as if the ground under Archie's feet rumbled along with the serpent's voice. "I evolved. We did it, Archie."
Archie stepped around the large rock and reached and hand up to gently rub the Gyarados' jawline. "I know," he murmured back. "I told you, didn't I? I'm proud of you, Mark." He gave Mark a playful tap and jogged back a few steps again. "C'mon Mark, gimme your best roar!"
"A-Are you sure?" Mark asked.
Archie gave him a thumbs-up. Mark hesitated for another moment, but eventually sucked in a breath and roared. Star winced a little, Basil giving a terrified squeak and diving to hide behind her, Prince covering his ears with his wings and laughing. Blue simply waited for Mark to finish before sticking his hands in his pockets and whistling approvingly.
"That was fantastic!" Prince beamed. Mark ducked his head shyly.
"It's pretty convenient," Archie chuckled. "Now that you've evolved, we can introduce you to Blue's team as a Gyarados straight away instead of a Gyarados-to-be. Are you ready for it?"
"I think feel ready for anything now," Mark said, turning to Blue. "You're, um...welcome to start whenever you want. If you want, I mean."
Blue nodded and took a hand back out of his pocket, reaching for his belt again and pausing as he let his fingers glide over each one.
Archie tensed a little when Blue finally made a decision and, of all the Pokéballs on his belt, he plucked off the cleanest-looking one first. It made the Aqua Leader wonder if that was his most recent member among the ones Blue had, or if it was just the Pokéball that happened to be spared from various accidents and damage the most. Shanks' Pokéball had been obviously re-painted a fair amount of times in effort to hide the scuffings and scratches and the wear and tear of time, but that was because it was old- Blue had definitely not had his team anywhere near as long and yet they looked almost just as worn. If not more.
"Alright, decided to start with Adam," Blue said. He casually tossed his Pokéball up in the air, the capsule opening as it reached its peak and slowly fell back into Blue's hand.
The Pokémon that materialized in front of them wasn't something that Archie recognised. The overall shape looked humanoid with canine features, its golden fur being partially covered by a sort of brown armor. He guessed that it was a psychic-type, since it was floating in mid-air with its legs crossed, but despite the reasonable height its mustache was long enough to reach the grass. The only question Archie could come up with looking at it was 'Why spoons?'
"I like spoons," the psychic said casually. Archie jumped in surprise before chuckling sheepishly and mumbling out a 'Sorry'.
"Wow! You're an Alakazam, aren't you?" Star gasped in awe. "I've never seen anything beyond Kadabra. Alakazam are really rare in the wild."
"We have never seen one so powerful, either," Prince mused. "We believe the length of an Alakazam's mustache is a fair gauge of their age and power, correct? Yours appear to be at least twice as long as that of an average one… Your name was said to be Adam, yes? We are Prince, youngest son of the Water Lord Edric of Pastoria," Prince said, sticking out his chest proudly. He then started pointing to each of the others. "These are our comrades Star the Luxio, Mark the Gyarados, Basil the Buizel, Warin the Wurmple, and Archie the Human."
"Ah, so you are the one in charge of the group?" Adam asked with an odd smile. "If I may, do you also send out your Human to battle against your opponents? They're awfully frail, you know."
Archie coughed. Prince blinked and stared for a second, but quickly rallied. "We are confident that Archie is a powerful Human and capable of holding his ground just fine, but he- as well as our young Basil- are exempt of combat duties."
"I see," Adam said with a sage nod. He looked at Archie. "So tell me, how does it feel for a human to be under the authority of a Pokémon?"
Archie blinked. "Uh..."
"Blue, if you would be so kind, we would request that you introduce us to your next companion," the Prinplup demanded.
For a moment, Blue simply stared and didn't move.
"...Is something the matter?" Prince asked, sounding a little concerned.
"You didn't say the magic word," Blue said placidly.
Prince's eyes widened with genuine curiosity. "Magic word? We were not aware that we required magic words to command you, Blue. Are you perhaps some unearthly creature?"
Archie bit his lip and tried very hard not to burst into laughter. Although he ended up failing as soon as Adam casually answered with "This is a fairly accurate description of Blue, yes" and Blue tried to give the conveniently-floating Alakazam a well-aimed kick up the ass.
"Blue, your Mega Kick is rather weak. I would not recommend sending you into battle," Adam said mildly.
"That's what I have you assholes for." Archie tried to bite the snickering back down and watched as Blue reached for his next Pokéball, one with a bunch of scorch marks on it. The next thing that materialized was something big.
"That's...an Arcanine, right?" Archie ventured. He was almost sure he'd seen one being used by one of the Magmas a couple years back, some foreign lady from Johto. The general shape reminded him of his own Mightyena- but although Magellan was just barely big enough to carry Shelly or Coral on his back, the Arcanine looked to be big enough to carry three or four people on its back.
The Arcanine tilted its head curiously. "We're not battling, are we? Doesn't look like it." A new thought visibly crossed his mind as his tail started whipping around eagerly. "Hey, does that mean Blue's finally travelling with a human friend now? Congrats Blue, you're making progress!"
"Not really friends, just gotta watch his ass and make sure he doesn't run off," Blue said.
"Well, you're still travelling with another human," the Arcanine grinned. "Hiya! My name's Gary, and I'm a Badass. I'm also the one in command, after Blue," he said, preening.
"You still haven't beaten Sam," Adam reminded him mildly.
Gary's ears drooped a little. "Oh, fine, second-in-command, after Blue and Sam… But I'll definitely beat her one day!"
"I know that all species don't have the same social rules, but I'd have never imagined a male challenging a female for a leader position," Star commented, staring up at the Arcanine.
"Wait, you guys pick leaders based on their genders?" Gary said, blinking. "Damn, that sounds unfair."
"Well, you recall that the Marowak clan from Lavender have a similar structure, don't you?" Adam said.
Gary sighed."I'll still beat her," the Arcanine mumbled.
Blue took the next Pokéball off his belt. Archie noted that it had an especially large amount of scuffings and claw marks on it, and that some of the paint had been scratched off, revealing a couple silver streaks. The next Pokémon that came out was a very large avian Pokémon, like a brown and cream Swellow with a longer and more colorful headcrest.
"This is Pete, a Pidgeot," Blue said. "He's the one that helped me get my team onto the ship, and also the one that carried me to the island cave."
"Oh, you're that man we were chasing down, aren't you?" Pete asked, looking at Archie curiously. "Hmm, you don't seem to have white hair anymore."
"It was just hair-dye," Archie replied, a little nervously. "Since I was trying to dress like my brother."
"I see. And now you're travelling with Blue?"
"Pretty much," Archie sighed.
Pete nodded and glanced around. "I'm seeing everyone but Sam."
"That's because I've been introducing you guys one by one," Blue replied, palming his last Pokéball. Archie mentally noted that the Pokéball looked pink instead of red. Not as bad as Pete's Pokéball, but it still had its fair share of scuffings and scratches, and the paint had obviously dulled over years of use. The Pokéball itself was actually probably older than Blue. Is it something he inherited from someone…?
Blue juggled with it a bit, looking at Archie pensively. "Sam's a water-type," the gym leader said, "so I wouldn't be surprised if you knew thirty-billion things about her. Hope you're ready though."
Ready for what? Archie wondered. Was Sam difficult to handle or something?
When the last of Blue's team finished materializing, Archie held his breath. It was like a gigantic Torkoal standing up on its hind legs, a round blue face instead of a long orange one, and its brown armor visibly protecting more of its body than just its back.
Star scowled. "If it's a water-type, I could just zap her..." she grumbled.
Sam blinked. "Well, if it's an electric-type your size, I could just Hydro Pump you two cities over-" there was a small clicking sound as two cannons appeared to drive that point home "-but I doubt you'd appreciate that."
"Can, um-" Archie stopped to clear his throat, trying to get the small knot out. Sam looked at him curiously. "Is it alright for me to come closer?"
Sam glanced over to Blue. "If you wanna touch her or something, I'll leave that decision up to her," Blue said, shrugging. "She doesn't need me to punt you into the next decade if you do something she doesn't like."
"Who is that?" Sam asked.
"The dude we were swimming behind after we jumped ship."
"Oh, the one with the fast water-type?" Sam turned to look at Archie again. "I like to think I'm quick, but even I could just barely keep up with that thing of yours."
"I've been told that Sharpedo are only outmatched in speed by Milotic, and Shanks is pretty powerful," Archie said, a little weakly. "At least in the Fairlands. You're really powerful if you can match his speed." All of Blue's Pokémon were powerful. Archie didn't have to be an expert of anything to tell that much. Trying to consider things as objectively as possible, Shanks could probably handle Adam and Gary as long as he was the one that struck first. Pete was a maybe. Sam completely outclassed Shanks. Even if the Aqua Leader got his Sharpedo back from Blue, there was no way he could take on Blue in a Pokémon battle. Not with Shanks alone. And even at the rate that the rest of his team was growing, none of them would be able to get close enough in power to actually do anything.
"Archie, what sort of Pokémon is that?" Prince asked curiously.
"Sam is a Blastoise," Archie explained. "They're one of the best water-types when it comes to defensive abilities, having a fair balance against both physical and non-physical attacks. They've also got a pretty big range of fire thanks to the cannons in their shells, and can reach high enough water-pressure when shooting that they could split rocks in half by aiming right. There used to be a fairly big colony in Kanto on Route 12, just south of Lavender, before the war wiped out the majority of them. Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise are near-extinct at this time, and are almost entirely raised in laboratories until we can get a new colony started that's big and strong enough to survive out in the wild on its own."
"Sounds more or less just like what the good ol' professor said," Sam confirmed with a nod. "You a Pokémon professor too?"
"Not really..." Archie said, chuckling sheepishly.
"Our comrade Archie is an expert in water-types," Prince said proudly. "We were only the smallest of Piplup before meeting him, but in merely a week he has already helped raise us to a Prinplup! His knowledge of water-types is not to be taken lightly."
"I think I'm set in terms of training, thanks to Blue, but you have curiosity," Sam said with a small chuckle. "Were you thinking of giving me a check-up of sorts?"
"You look plenty healthy to me," Archie replied, ducking his head slightly. "But I've...I've never seen a real Blastoise before. I've wanted a Squirtle partner for as far back as I can remember, but then the war happened and...well..."
"Feel free to poke around a bit, I guess," Sam allowed. Archie took a few nervous steps forward, until Sam was just an arm's length away. He took a deep breath and held it, slowly reaching a hand out. His fingers brushed against the front of her shell. He carefully pressed his palm down and exhaled.
The shell under his palm felt rough. It wasn't the same kind of rough as what he was used to, the kind of rough that he handled every time he touched his Sharpedo, but it wasn't the smooth surface he would've expected to feel from the shell of a Blastoise, and only went to show how harsh life in Kanto had probably been for them. The events in Hoenn could've turned out so much worse… Archie thought, suddenly feeling guiltier than he already did. He pressed his lips and left his hands wander, making sure that everything he did was well within Sam's sight so that she could stop him from going to touch somewhere she didn't like. He quietly ran a hand across her arm, almost absently counting the amount of scute rings on her skin. Blue mentioned that he'd had her for about five years… estimating the age of a Blastoise from scute rings had been deemed inaccurate, mostly because some of the older scutes could fall off, and he had no doubt that in an environment like Kanto's Sam had lost plenty of them. She appeared...maybe six years old? Knowing that Blastoise could easily live up to a hundred, and knowing that Sam was already insanely powerful for a Blastoise of her age…
"Can I check out your cannons?" Archie asked, glancing at Sam. "It means sticking my hand in them. It'll probably feel weird, but shouldn't hurt you. And if it does, let me know and I'll back out."
"You looking for anything?" Sam asked, leaning down just enough for Archie to reach a hand in and start patting around the inside of the steel surface. "...Okay, you weren't kidding when you said this was gonna feel weird."
"Just gimme three seconds." Sam waited patiently, and sighed in relief when Archie pulled his hand out again and inspected his own palm, looking at the slight but definitely green tint that he'd dragged back out. "Hmm… It's not necessary, but if you're up for it- and if Blue is, too- we could clean out your cannons a bit next chance we get. Most of the junk that can form in them usually gets blasted out by Hydro Pump and such, but it doesn't always get rid of all of it. Since you're probably the kind that uses water-based attacks a lot, it's not something you have to actively worry about, but sometimes if you don't pay attention to how clean the cannons are on the inside the algae can spread down into your interior reserve and make you really sick. Having clean cannons can also give your shots more power and accuracy. A regular Blastoise is recommended to clean them out about every ten years or so, but you've been travelling with Blue for a while and probably been through all sorts of places and weather conditions, so...well, I mean, like I said, it's not exactly necessary, so if you don't want to-"
"Hey, you said it can make my shots stronger and better, so why not?" Sam laughed. "Even if I like to think I'm already pretty damn good at what I do," she added with a wink.
"I don't doubt it," Archie chuckled. "We're all gonna training on the way up to the forest anyway, so you can show me what you've got in that time."
"Training?" Warin finally piped up from under Archie's coat, poking his head back out from behind Archie's hip again. "But it's so cold out. I sure hope I evolve quick, then, maybe I'll feel a bit less cold with a cocoon to protect me."
"I hear that bug-types are especially quick to evolve, so don't worry, I'm sure you'll evolve in no time," Archie said. "You hoping for Beautifly or Dustox?"
"Neither, really," Warin said with a shrug. "Figured I'd just make the most out of whatever I become, instead of hoping for the one and then being disappointed if I became the other."
"Wise words," Sam said, laughing again. "Alright everybody, who's up for a bit of training? I'm feeling pumped!"
{Monua 26th, 7:02AM}
{Route 205}
"C'mon! Get up!"
Archie opened a tired eye at the urging hiss that was ordering him to wake up. He sat up, watching wearily as Star pawed at Blue's shoulder. Archie wasn't a morning person and- judging from the sky still being dark and faint mist hovering in the air, it was still really early in the morning- he hated being woken up so suddenly. Although, to be fair, right now what he was hating even more than waking up so early was the alarmed look on Star's face.
"Star, what's going on?" Archie mumbled.
"People. In the forest."
"Aren't those just regular trainers?" Blue asked as he sat up with a small shudder, trying to ignore the cold morning air.
"No," Star insisted. "There are other trainers, but according to the Pokémon that live here, those trainers are around often enough that they smell like the forest, and don't talk about things like 'test subjects'."
"...Okay, that's not good," Archie agreed, sleepiness immediately chased out from his mind. Blue quickly got up as well. "Let's check it out."
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Bluh I've just been so tired lately that I don't always know what to do with myself. But Mangaluva is coming over to visit in three and half weeks, so that's a nice thing for me to look forward to. If I can get my hands on the rest of the equipment I want, we might do some game streaming while we're together. And if I don't get the equipment I want...we'll do some streaming anyway. Because fuck plans that don't go the way you want them to.
ARCHIE
Shanks the Sharpedo, Prince the Prinplup, Star the Luxio, Mark the Gyarados, Warin the Wurmple, Basil the Buizel
BLUE
Sam the Blastoise, Pete the Pidgeot, Adam the Alakazam, Gary the Arcanine