I have an announcement to make: this story has now received over 100 hits! Awesome. From those numbers, I figure at least ten different people have read part of my story. I'm so happy, I'm crying. But not really.
Anyways, I don't own Pokemon, and I hope you enjoy chapter 7!
Chapter 7: Two For All
The boys and their Pokemon had been walking for several hours when the sun began to set across the tree line. Realizing that walking through the woods in the dark was a bad idea, even with a path, Stephen turned to his friends.
"I think we should start looking for a clearing near the path to use as a campsite. We should get a goodnight's sleep, and then get an early start for Pewter in the morning." Ethan nodded his head in agreement as Peter turned to Scizor, who was currently carrying a wiped out Totodile in a very motherly fashion.
"Scizor, do you think you could find us a good place to make camp near the path?" The red female nodded her head as she handed Totodile over to Peter. After shaking and stretching out her limbs, the steel and bug type leapt into the nearest tree and shot off to find an appropriate spot. It didn't take long, as five minutes later the armored female rematerialized from the woods, gesturing for the group to follow her.
…..
The spot Scizor had found was about half a mile further down the path and about another tenth of a mile into the forest. True to her mission, Scizor had found the ideal spot for the group to camp in. The ground was not only nice and grassy, but it was also dry and level. A small creek lay not far away, and there was a beautiful view of the darkening night sky that would be absolutely gorgeous when the stars came out. Peter looked over at his new Pokemon, smiling approvingly.
"Excellent job, Scizor. This is going above and beyond the call of duty." Scizor smiled back at her new master, and then leapt into the branch of a tree outlining the clearing, seemingly intent on serving as the night watch from her vantage point. Turning back to Ethan and Stephen, Peter began rubbing his hands together.
"Well, I guess we should get camp set up before it gets too dark to see." Nodding their agreement, the three boys set off to do their separate tasks. Stephen and his Pokemon went out to gather firewood, Ethan and Chikorita refilled the canteens, and Peter began to unpack the food for dinner. Peter had just pulled out some collapsible cooking equipment from his bag when Stephen and his Pokemon returned with the wood. The blonde teen gestured to the equipment as he began arranging the wood in the pit they had made.
"What's with the cooking set, Peter?" It wasn't Peter who answered, but Ethan, as the olive skinned teen had just returned from his water gathering.
"Oh, Peter loves to cook. Whenever he had the remote at his house, we'd either be watching some cooking show or a mystery movie." Peter shot Ethan a friendly glare.
"I'll have you know that learning to cook is a very important skill, Ethan. We won't be able to count on our parents to feed us forever, and pizza and junk food only get you so far." Stephen cut in at this.
"I don't know, Peter. Pizza and junk food could take me pretty far." As Ethan and Stephen laughed, Peter let out an indignant huff.
"Well, if you want to clog your arteries, be my guest." Without waiting for a response, Peter pulled out several containers from his pack. Popping the lids of several of them, the brown haired teen began to pick his ingredients. Without looking up from his work, he said: "Stephen, could you get a fire going?"
"How about it, Charmander?" The fire lizard, who had been gazing up at the night sky, smiled happily at his master, opening his mouth and breathing a small flame onto the firewood. The dry timber caught immediately, and soon a good size fire was burning in the pit. Stephen, Ethan, Chikorita, and Machop gathered around the pretty blaze, warming their tired bones after a hard days work. Charmander, who really didn't need the fire, moved off a couple of feet and lay back on the grass, watching the stars beginning to wink into existence. Chikorita looked over at Charmander and, seeing he was alone, made her way over to give him some company. Charmander's smile as she approached quickly turned to a blush as the female grass type snuggled up to him for warmth and comfort. Scizor continued to sit up in her tree, keeping half of her attention on the clearing and the other half on the forest surrounding it. Peter continued with his culinary endeavor, his Totodile sleeping in a ball next to him.
…..
"Alright, guys, food's ready." No sooner had the words left Peter's mouth than had Stephen rushed over. When the blonde teen was close enough he sniffed the air appreciatively as his stomach growled noticeably.
"Wow, Peter, it smells great. What is it?" Peter smiled and gave Stephen a plate, answering him as he did.
"It's chicken fried rice. Not the fanciest thing ever, but it gets the job done." Stephen turned his attention away from the meal and looked over at Charmander, who was currently trying to get over to the food without waking up Chikorita, who had fallen asleep next to him. Peter noticed this and nudged Stephen playfully.
"What do you think their kids will look like?" Stephen laughed quietly at this, shrugging his shoulders as he replied.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Peter. They just met today, and it might not really mean anything." Peter raised his hands in a placating gesture.
"Easy, Stephen, I was just making a joke. What's really funny is that Ethan hasn't noticed at all."
"Noticed what?" Stephen and Peter looked up as Ethan sat down and took a plate of rice, gazing at them intently.
"No, that would ruin the surprise." Ethan stared at Stephen for a moment, shrugged, and when back to eating. Stephen and Peter exchanged knowing glances and went back to their own meals. Charmander soon arrived to grab some chow as well, having successfully managed to move without waking Chikorita. Machop was the next to arrive, briefly taking a break from his meditation to grab a bite to eat. Scizor remained up in her tree, eating some assorted fruits she had found while searching for the campsite. The only two who didn't eat were Chikorita and Totodile, both of whom were sleeping soundly.
After finishing dinner, the trio of teens took the dirty plates to the creek and cleaned them. Charmander walked over to the tree Machop was meditating next to and laid against it, almost immediately falling asleep. Stephen smiled at his two Pokemon, giving them each a good night pat on the head before pulling out his sleeping bag. Saying a polite goodnight to Ethan and Peter, the blonde teen curled up in his bag and quickly fell asleep. Peter followed soon after, picking up Totodile and his sleeping bag before saying goodnight to Ethan and lying down beneath the tree Scizor was positioned in. Not long after, Ethan fell asleep next to his Chikorita, and all were asleep, every single person exhausted from the first day of their journey.
…..
The next morning, Peter and Ethan awoke to find that they were alone in the camp. Their brief panic that came with the realization of this fact was quickly assuaged when they heard Stephen's voice about thirty yards downstream. Following the sound of the blonde trainer's voice, Peter and Ethan soon emerged into another, smaller clearing than the one their camp was in. In this new clearing were all their Pokemon and Stephen and his own. Catching site of his two new friends, the blonde trainer smiled and waved.
"Good morning, guys. How'd you two sleep?" The other two teens replied and gestured to the Pokemon.
"Why is everybody here, Stephen? You almost gave me a freaking heart attack." said Peter. Stephen put on an embarrassed smile and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry about that. I woke up early, and seeing as how Charmander and Machop were already awake, I figured we'd get some training in. We were trying to leave camp quietly, but Scizor saw us and came over." Scizor nodded her head in affirmation at this, and then Stephen continued.
"When I told her what we were going to do, she thought it would be a good idea to bring everybody. I said I didn't want to wake anybody, but at that moment Chikorita and Totodile woke up, so we decided to bring them as well. Sorry again." Ethan waved the apology off.
"Nothing to forgive, man. It looks like everybody's working hard." And Ethan was right. All five Pokemon were giving their all, and the battles reflected that. Scizor and Machop were sparring in hand-to-hand combat. One could barely comprehend the speed at which the punches were flying, albeit Machop's bandaged hand was a severe handicap. Still, the battle was intense, each Pokemon parrying, countering, and dodging so fluidly and powerfully it was amazing that not a single blow landed against either.
Meanwhile, Charmander was engaged in a two-on-one battle against Chikorita and Totodile. Surprisingly, the fire lizard appeared to be winning the fight. Ethan and Peter watched as Totodile shot a blast of water at Charmander, who then gracefully leapt over it while at the same time shooting a carefully controlled Ember at Chikorita, who had been coming in from behind. The grass type jumped backwards to avoid the hit, which was all that Charmander needed. Completing his aerial spin, the orange lizard landed into a roll and came up swiping at Totodile with Scratch. The blue croc hopped back to avoid the blow, but it was exactly what Charmander had been expecting. Using the momentum of his scratch to continue spinning, Charmander lashed out with his tail and caught Totodile around the legs, which sent him sprawling to the ground. Quick as a flash, Charmander was on top if the blue croc, pinning him down. Smiling, the orange lizard tapped Totodile on the forehead, signaling that he had won the mock battle. Charmander then got off the water type and offered him a friendly hand off the ground. Smiling, Totodile accepted the offered assistance and let himself be yanked off of his back.
"Dilediledile Totodile diledile!" Charmander waved the praise off modestly.
"Charcharchar mander Charmander." Chikorita walked over to the pair, shaking her head at Charmander's humbleness.
"Chika chikorita chikorita." Charmander blushed fitfully at Chikorita's words of admiration, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Ch-char." Chikorita smiled happily at the blushing fire type; a small part of her was thrilled that she could make him turn so scarlet. Turning around, Chikorita ran over to Ethan and smiled up happily at him. The olive skinned trainer smiled as he knelt down and patted her head.
"Good morning, Chikorita. It looks like you were training really hard." The grass type closed her eyes and nodded happily in affirmation.
While Ethan was talking with his Chikorita, Peter made his way over to Totodile, who was currently sitting next to Charmander and watching Machop and Scizor spar. The curly haired teen popped a squat next to his blue croc, patting him on the head as he did so.
"Morning, Totodile. It looks like you did really well in your fight with Charmander." Totodile's smile, which had begun to form as Peter spoke, vanished at the last part, a flush of embarrassment taking its place. Charmander looked over and noticed this, patting the croc on the back.
"Charmander mander char." Peter nodded his agreement.
"See, Totodile? You don't have to be embarrassed about losing. It's just a part of getting stronger. If you never lose, how will you learn?" Totodile didn't seem much comforted by this, gesturing to Charmander as he replied.
"Dile dile dile." Peter didn't know quite what to say to that, scratching the back of his leg to buy himself some time.
"Well, yeah, Charmander hasn't lost a match yet. But, um…" Peter was saved from his bumbling attempt at a pep talk by the timely arrival of Stephen.
"But that doesn't mean he won't lose, just like it doesn't mean that you won't win. You just have to keep working your tail off, and before you know it you'll be stronger than you ever thought you could. The only way you'll ever truly lose is if you give up." Totodile brightened at this, looking up at Stephen and smiling.
"Dile!" The blonde teen smiled down at the blue croc, happy his pep talk ad had its desired effect. As Stephen opened his mouth to respond, a sharp cry rang out through the clearing.
"Pidgeo!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and whirled around to find the source of the noise. Situated in a tree was a large bird. It had mainly brown feathers on its body, but the plumage on its tail and head were a vibrant reddish color. Stephen pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the new arrival.
"Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokemon. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its large territory. If its living space is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws." Putting the Pokedex away, the blonde trainer turned to his two friends.
"If my gut feeling is right, we must be trespassing on Pidgeotto's territory." Peter nodded his agreement.
"I think you're right, Stephen. So what's our next move?" It wasn't Stephen, but Ethan, who answered the curly haired teen,
"Well, I think I'm going to try and catch it." Stephen briefly turned his gaze away from the glaring bird, giving Ethan a skeptical look.
"I don't know, man. That's a pretty big type disadvantage there." Ethan looked down at his Chikorita, who simply nodded her head. Smiling, Ethan looked back at Stephen.
"I believe it was somebody I know who said something about doing it if my Pokemon believed it could. Plus, you and Peter each have two Pokemon, so it's time I join the club." Stephen couldn't help but smile at the olive skinned trainer, moving out of the way as he replied.
"Good luck, Ethan. I'm sure you'll be able to catch it." Peter nodded his agreement, and then the two teens and their Pokemon vacated the clearing, giving Chikorita room to battle.
"Alright, Chikorita, let's start things off with Razor Leaf!" Chikorita nodded and spun the leaf on top of her head, shooting several sharp leaves towards the stationary Pidgeotto. The bird Pokemon took off in the nick of time, the leaves cutting through the branch it had just vacated. Letting out a call of challenge, Pidgeotto flew into the sky and looped around, coming down hard towards Chikorita.
"Quick, Chikorita, dodge it!" Chikorita rolled out of the way as Pidgeotto swooped past, barely missing the grass type. "Nice dodge, Chikorita. Now hit it with Tackle." Chikorita nodded and rushed towards Pidgeotto, lowering her head and turning her shoulder in preparation. But just as the grass type was about to hit, Pidgeotto began flapping its wings frantically, which created a strong wind that blew Chikorita back across the clearing and into a tree. Chikorita fell to the ground and shakily rose to her knees, not looking like she would last much longer.
"This isn't good." Stephen commented from the sidelines. "That Gust is a flying type move, so it did some major damage. And I'm sure crashing into a tree didn't exactly cushion her fall." Charmander was having to restrain himself from not rushing out to help Chikorita, and instead tried cheering her on.
"Charchar Charmander!" Chikorita looked over at Charmander, smiling weakly at his exuberant cheering. Suddenly, Chikorita felt something stir inside her. Looking up at the sun, Chikorita began to feel a power flowing through her body. Letting the power take her over, Chikorita found herself enveloped in a white light. When the glow dimmed, Chikorita felt as if she had just woken up this morning, almost a hundred percent better than how she had felt just a few moments before. Ethan smiled and cheered when he realized what had happened.
"Chikorita learned how to use Synthesis! Way to go, girl!" Chikorita smiled and looked over at Charmander, winking playfully at him. Charmander blushed horribly, giving Chikorita a fumbled thumbs up. Giggling to herself, the grass type turned back to the task at hand.
The Pidgeotto, sensing Chikorita's sudden revitalization, rushed at her again. But this time, Ethan had a plan.
"Chikorita, dodge it and use Razor Leaf at close range." Chikorita did as she was told, waiting as the brown bird closed. When Pidgeotto was right on top of her, she rolled out of the way and struck it square in the side with Razor Leaf. The bird Pokemon faltered at this, grunting in pain as it attempted to gain altitude. Sensing its plight, Ethan called out another command to Chikorita.
"Okay, Chikorita, finish it off with Tackle!" Chikorita rushed at the slowed bird, slamming into its back with enough force to send it flying into a nearby tree. As Pidgeotto slowly slid to the ground, Ethan pulled out a poke ball and threw it at the downed bird.
"Alright, poke ball, do your thing!" The ball struck Pidgeotto in the back, and then popped open and sucked it in. After wobbling back and forth for a few seconds, the red light finally dimmed, and Pidgeotto was Ethan's. Smiling, the olive skinned trainer ran up to the poke ball and picked it up, waving it over his head ecstatically.
"Aw yeah, baby! We did it!" The group came back into the clearing and crowded around Ethan, all offering their own congratulations. Everybody was so wrapped up in the trainer that they didn't notice Chikorita peck Charmander lightly on the cheek as a way of thanking him for cheering her on. Nor did they notice the fire lizard collapse in response. For the three teens, it was enough to know that they had all caught their first Pokemon.
…..
There it was. I was both happy and disappointed with this. Oh well.
What did my readers think? The button for reviewing is down there if you have and opinion.
Well, I hope you enjoyed, and see you next time!