Wow! This chapter certainly was fun to write, and I hope you enjoy it. Today, everybody will be heading to Vermilion, but is that it? Of course not, but find out what happens now! Please review honestly and take part in the poll, it WILL affect the storyline!
Chapter 10 – The Route to Vermilion
I woke up the next day rather crusty eyed as Pidgey was constantly waking me up, asking if she could snuggle in to me (of course that meant staring at the small screen of the Pokédex every time too). I replied every time that she could, yet she still asked every two hours. I rubbed my eyes groggily and my vision stayed blurry for the next 15 minutes as my eyes cried out for just 5 minutes more sleep. I walked outside the Pokémon centre after absentmindedly shovelling cereal and finally getting dressed (it took a few attempts to put my t-shirt on the right way) and yawned heavily. Charmeleon looked at me in confusion, because he'd slept like a baby, and Machop walked off to the edge of town.
"Where are you going?" I asked Machop as Blue, Green and Zach came out of the centre.
"So, Machop's abandoned you?" asked Blue cruelly. Green flicked Blue for that and Zach looked very concerned. Machop then came back from where he was going with something in his hands.
"Ma-chop!" said Machop, holding out the items to me. They were berries and I used the Pokédex to translate exactly what was being said.
"Chesto berries."
"Thank you, Machop," I said. I bit down on it and felt wide awake, but also felt the need for a drink. "Duth anybody hath thum watur?" I asked with my tongue out, hoping for something from the air. Green handed me a bottle of water she carries and I drank a substantial amount, whilst Blue put the rest of the berries in his backpack. Pikachu jumped on to my shoulder and I petted her causing jealousy from Pidgey. She flew on to my other shoulder and I petted her too. Charmeleon stood beside me and Machop to the other side and Beedrill lay herself down on my bag and we all set off towards Vermilion City (for real) until suddenly…
"YOU AGAIN!" was heard from the same house as two days ago. Blue and Zach ran on ahead and I walked over with Green, as Pidgey was adamant about staying on my shoulder. We arrived at the house to see Zach and Blue out the back, blocking the exit and a Team Rocket grunt trying to get past.
"Stop right there!" I shouted across, Machop and Charmeleon helping to block the grunt in.
"Feel the wrath of Team Rocket. Go, Drowzee and Ekans!" the grunt called.
"Go, Beedrill!" I shouted. Beedrill got up off my bag and hovered to the battle area.
"Take 'em down, Fearow!" yelled Green. Fearow dropped out of the sky and almost crashed into the ground. He then flapped his wings and squawked loudly.
"Use Twineedle on Drowzee!" I shouted. Beedrill sped over to Drowzee and jabbed at it with her arms. Drowzee suddenly looked very ill and fell to one knee in pain.
"How DARE you poison my Pokémon! Use Headbutt and Wrap on Beedrill!"
"Block them off with Aerial Ace!" shouted Green. Fearow zoomed over to the grunt's Drowzee with his wings glowing, slapped his wings on Drowzee's body and flew in front of Ekans' Wrap. Ekans tried to get around Fearow, but got blocked off.
"Just use it on Fearow!" cried the grunt. Ekans wrapped is long body around Fearow and squeezed.
"Use Fury Attack on Ekans!" I ordered.
"No, Drowzee, Confusion on Beedr- WHA!" the grunt exclaimed as a huge burst of fire exploded on Drowzee. I turned to Charmeleon who was looking upwards in utter astonishment as a Charizard landed on the ground.
"Release Fearow and give back what you took," said the figure from the Charizard authoritatively. The grunt withdrew his Ekans and Drowzee, dropped the TM and ran for Vermilion.
"Thank you, sir," said Green. The man stepped down off of Charizard's back and walked over to us, smiling yet concerned.
"Your Pokémon aren't hurt, are they?" asked the man. Me and Green both shook our heads and he sighed. "Thank goodness. My name is Lance…"
"LANCE!" shouted Zach. Lance nodded and Zach screamed like a fangirl and ran over to him, shook his hand viciously and yelped. "He's LANCE!"
"Uh, we don't know why your so excited," said Blue. Zach's mouth dropped he shook Blue's shoulders.
"He's Lance!" shouted Zach. Lance rolled his eyes at this and reached into his pocket.
"I'm one of the members of the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau," he explained, showing us a copy of his certifications. "I'm the main user of dragon type Pokémon. This is my Charizard."
"I thought Charizard was fire and flying, not dragon," I said confused.
"Actually, you're right. There aren't many dragon type Pokémon available to us in the Kanto Elite Four, so I have to use Pokémon who can be perceived as a dragon, such as Charizard, Gyarados and Aerodactyl."
"Chaaar!"
"I've got to go back to Indigo Plateau. I'm sure I'll see you around," said Lance. I nodded in response and we all waved as he climbed back on to his Charizard and flew back to Indigo Plateau. I was looking forward to any opportunity to battle him, and hoped it would be in the near future.
I walked over to the dropped TM and picked it up.
"So, I guess we should go and deliver it to the rightful owner," said Zach. I gave to TM to Pikachu to hold as we walked back to the robbed house. We knocked on the door and out came a rather red-eyed man.
"What?! What do you want from me?!" he shouted, sounding irritable and discontented.
"Well, actually sir, we have the TM that was stolen from you," announced Green as Pikachu handed it over to him.
"You do?" he asked as he inspected it. "Oh, brilliant! Here, take these with you as my thanks." He handed us a selection of evolutionary stones and we each took one that would evolve our Pokémon. Green took a Moon Stone with a courteous smile, Zach took a Fire Stone (though he didn't tell us why), I took a Thunderstone whilst smiling at Pikachu and Blue took a Leaf Stone.
"Why did you take a Leaf Stone when Eevee doesn't evolve from one?" I asked.
"Why would I need to evolve Eevee again!" laughed Blue. Me, Green and Zach all looked at each other in confusion and Blue continued to explain, "I evolved Eevee into Jolteon and trained him whilst you three went on you little adventure…"
"So why did you get a Leaf Stone?" I asked. Blue shrugged his shoulders, thanked the man and walked out. Green shook the man's hand, wished him well and left with me and Zach in tow.
We all headed out to Route 5 and saw a small building in the distance. We arrived there to see a large amount of dust being kicked up and a scared old woman stood outside.
"Are… are you ok?" Blue tentatively asked. The old woman turned around and looked rather sad.
"There is an Exeggcute in there. She's been abandoned by her old trainer and is causing a ruckus in there. Maybe you could go in there and calm her down," she said hopefully. Blue nodded and we all ran in. The Exeggcute had split into its six separate seeds and was busy destroying everything. They then all turned to the door, saw us and regrouped.
"Exeggcute!" It shouted to Blue.
"Go, Pidgeotto! Use Twister!" shouted Blue as he flung the Poké ball. Pidgeotto flew upwards and dodged the seeds being shot at him. Pidgeotto then thrust his wings and a small twister appeared in the middle of the floor, causing Exeggcute and the Bullet Seed to be sucked in. Exeggcute jumped up and head-butted Pidgeotto in the stomach multiple times. Pidgeotto then flew back upwards and waited for another order.
"Quick Attack," said Blue. Pidgeotto then flew so fast towards Exeggcute that a white trail was left behind it. The Exeggcute were slammed against the wall and, as they recovered their bearings, they could barely find the energy to hop back to where she was. Blue then got a Poké ball out of his pocket and threw it at Exeggcute whilst saying, "I'll look after you. I'll never abandon you."
"Egg!" shouted Exeggcute as she went into the Poké ball. 1… 2… 3… Pop! Exeggcute broke out of the ball and fired off a strange pink beam. Pidgeotto fell to the floor and stayed there, snoring away.
"Wake up. Wait…" said Blue as he fumbled about in his bag. He pulled out a spray bottle and spritzed it on Pidgeotto. He then woke up and cooed at Blue as Exeggcute fired off a small red bullet towards Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto fell back as Exeggcute fired off a series of seed-like bullets, each getting weaker. Blue pushed his way through the seeds to see that the Exeggcute were crying as she fired off the seeds. The seeds soon just fell to the floor as the Exeggcute bawled noisily. Blue picked each seed up and placed them in his lap, cooing to them as he tried to calm them down. As they stopped crying they looked up to see Blue's smiling face.
"Like I said, I promise that if you come with me I'll never abandon you," said Blue. Exeggcute jumped out of Blue's lap and looked to Green.
"It's true, he's a good trainer!" said Green with a smile. Exeggcute looked a little more relaxed and looked to Zach for another opinion.
"I've not known Blue for too long," said Zach, producing a disappointed look from Green and myself. It also made Exeggcute look rather panicked. "Let me finish! Though I've not known Blue for too long, from what I've seen, he's a faithful and honest trainer. You'd be lucky to have Exeggcute, I think, Blue."
"I would," agreed Blue. Exeggcute looked highly contended with that report and turned to me for my opinion.
"Not only is Blue a faithful friend and companion," I started. Exeggcute already looked like she had made her mind up from the first sentence. "But he is also a great battler, a fantastic strategist and also looks after his Pokémon well, doesn't he Pidgeotto?"
"Pidge?" said Pidgey on my shoulder, confused by Red asking for Pidgeotto.
"I meant Blue's Pidgeotto, silly!" I laughed as I tickled Pidgey on the underside of her beak. Pidgeotto nodded in response to my previous question and Exeggcute turned back to Blue.
"Do you want to come with me?" asked Blue. Exeggcute jumped up and down happily and Blue got out a Poké ball, tapped it on the middle seed and all six were sucked into the ball. 1… 2… 3… Ping!
Blue got up and held the ball close to his chest as I got out my Pokédex to check its data.
"Exeggcute. This Pokémon exudes a special psychic power, which allows it to communicate with other Exeggcute and members of its clan. These always form a group of 6, no more, no less. Nature: Lonely. Level: 27. Moves: Bullet Seed, Barrage, Confusion, Hypnosis."
"Well, looky here, you managed to get it under control!" said the old lady cheerfully as she walked back into the house. "I'm going to need some help clearing up the mess though. Could I trouble you to help a woman in her plenties?"
"Of course," I said, smiling at her little joke. I asked Green, Zach and Blue to send out their Pokémon to help. They all agreed except for Blue.
"I suggest that Exeggcute doesn't help, as she's had a traumatic experience," Blue explained. We all agreed and we sent out our Pokémon, commenting on evolutions that have occurred since we last saw them. Green's Butterfree helped Blue's Pidgeotto, my Beedrill, Green's Fearow and my Pidgey with the items that required a higher reach, my Machop and Zach's Electabuzz carried the heavier items, Green's Ivysaur and Zach's Bayleef helped out wherever possible with their vines and my Pikachu, my Charmeleon, Blue's Wartortle, Green's Clefairy and Zach's Golduck helped to clear the rubble Us four trainers. After an hour's work, the place looked very neat and resembled a play area. Delighted with the work of the Pokémon we all sent our Pokémon to our Poké balls and gave them to the old woman.
"Your Pokémon have worked hard, let me heal them up," said the old woman as she placed them in a large machine. After plenty of whirrs, beeps and a small amount of steam, Charmeleon and Machop were stood to my sides, Beedrill was smiling down from me above and Pikachu and Pidgey were back on 'their' shoulders.
"Thank you," thanked Blue.
"It's no problem," said the old woman with a smile. "Now that we're all clean, allow me to welcome you to the Pokémon Day Care Centre. Here, you can leave a Pokémon for training and collect it later. Are there any you'd like to leave?" I thought about it for a while, as Blue walked over to the PC in the corner, and remembered that Pidgey was at a much lower level than the rest of my team.
"Pidgey," I started. Pidgey turned to look at me sadly, as she had been listening to what the Day Care lady had said. "I just want you to know that I would like you to be trained here, so long as you're OK with it." Pidgey looked at me with a look of melancholy, yet seemed to understand what I was saying. She then cooed, rubbed her head against my chin and flew over to the Day Care lady. "I'll come and visit, I promise," I murmured.
"I'd like to leave my Mankey with you," said Blue as he took a Poké ball out of the PC. Blue handed it over to the lady and she thanked him. I handed over 5000 Poké dollars as Zach headed over to the PC himself and withdrew a Poké ball.
"Please can you swap the last Pokémon I left here for Vulpix?" asked Zach. The Day Care lady walked into the back room and we stood around for 20 seconds, twiddling our thumbs. The Day Care lady then came out with a Poké ball in her hand and exchanged it for Vulpix's ball. Blue handed over 6000 Poké dollars and Zach handed over 3400 Poké dollars and an IOU note, thereby telling her to raise Vulpix until he came to collect her.
We all left the Day Care centre, of course after a few tears, and headed to the gateway.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to let you pass. If you need to get to Vermilion, I suggest you take the underground path," said the guard. We turned to see a small house with a smaller doorway and squeezed ourselves in. We headed down the stairs situated in the middle of the room and headed into the underground. We saw a few stalls and a battleground. Me, Blue and Green headed to the nearest stall and Zach headed off to investigate the battleground.
"Hello, young travellers!" said the stall owner. He looked rather fat and laughed loudly. "Here, you can buy super-rare and reasonably priced Poké balls."
"What's so different about them?" asked Blue.
"Ah, an inquisitive mind!" shouted the man with a smile on his face. "Well, these Poké balls work better with different Pokémon. For example, this one is called a Fast Ball and catches faster Pokémon, such as Growlithe and Ponyta, much easier."
"Wow! That sounds cool! I want… no NEED it!" shouted Blue as he thrust his money into the man's hands.
"This," he said pointing to the strange pink ball "Is the Love Ball."
"IT'S MINE!" shouted Green as she shoved handfuls of cash into the man's hand.
"Well, I have a Heavy Ball too. This one captures Pokémon easier if they're heavier. Would you like it?" asked the man to me. I obliged and paid 1000 poke dollars. "Wait, these Poké balls are mega rare! How dare you pay me 1000 Poké dollars!"
"Hold on whilst I get a second opinion," I replied. "ZACH!"
"Yup, how can I help," said Zach after he scurried over. He looked at the ball I had in my hand and sniggered. "You need help on how to use a Heavy Ball?!"
"No, I need a decent price to pay for them," I retorted. Zach looked at me apologetically.
"They're worth minimal money. Albeit they are rarer now that access to Johto has been cut off, but these'll be worth around… 500 Poké dollars at most."
"WHA!" screamed the man. "These are not easy to come by nowadays, believe me."
"Yes, so had to come by that every trainer has one?" said Zach sarcastically.
"I want the money back I gave you for this!" shouted Blue. The man quickly packed his things and fled from the underground path.
"I've got us places at the battle arena," said Zach casually. Green and Blue stood there, shocked by their sudden loss in cash and I walked over with Zach to the battle arena.
"So, who will we be facing?" I asked Zach.
"Each other in a Double Battle!" announced Zach happily. He then turned to see Green and Blue walking over slowly. "I thought this would give us good training for the S.S. Anne tournament tomorrow."
"Well, let's do it. I'll use Machop," I stated. Machop fist pumped and walked on to the arena.
"I'll use Jolteon," said Blue as he threw out a Poké ball. Jolteon landed on the arena with a soft thump and raised his spiny fur.
"I'll use Clefairy," said Green as Clefairy jumped out from behind her and floated into the arena.
"Alright, I think I'll use my Rhyhorn, he'll need to be trained with me for a bit to get used to me," said Zach as he threw his Poké ball on to the arena. Rhyhorn landed on the arena with a heavy bang.
"How about me and Blue team up against you and Green?" I asked Zach. All three nodded and we all took our positions.
"Machop, use Karate Chop on Rhyhorn!" I ordered. Machop rushed forwards and smashed his hand into Rhyhorn's side.
"Rhyhorn, counter with Stomp!" shouted Zach.
"Stop it with Double Kick, Jolteon," said Blue. Jolteon jumped forwards and kicked Rhyhorn square in the face, sending it back towards Zach.
"Use Metronome!" sang Green. Clefairy waggled his finger and started to produce a large, ghostly claw out of thin air and slashed Machop across the chest.
"Shake it off and use Ice Punch on Rhyhorn," I said to Machop. Machop brushed off the dust and made his hand freeze.
"Stop Machop with Metronome, again," said Green. Clefairy waggled his finger again and started to flop randomly on the floor. Green, Zach and Rhyhorn sweat dropped and Machop smashed his fist into Rhyhorn's jaw. Machop stood back and started to glow. His body became much bigger, his muscles more defined and he also managed to gain a power belt. I reached for my Pokédex to see his data.
"Machoke. This Pokémon needs to wear the belt it gains upon evolution in order to control its power. Nobody knows what happens if you remove it…"
"Alright, use Seismic Toss on Clefairy, Machoke!" I ordered. Machoke stepped towards Clefairy and chucked him upwards.
"Use Metronome to try and get Bounce," yelled Green. Clefairy waggled his finger and suddenly became panic-stricken as he fell faster.
"Ugh, I think that's not Bounce," stated Blue. "I think that's Gravity. Use Thundershock on Clefairy when he drops." Jolteon fired a small spark, but got drawn to Rhyhorn's horn.
"Lightningrod! Use Bulldoze on them," said Zach. Rhyhorn stamped front feet on the ground and knocked everybody else over, making them look slower in the process. However, Clefairy now had to be withdrawn from battle due to fainting.
"Use Revenge on Rhyhorn!" I shouted. Machoke smashed his fist into Rhyhorn's lower jaw and Rhyhorn flew backwards into Zach.
"Now finish it with a Quick Attack!" shouted Blue. Jolteon shot off like a rocket and slammed into Rhyhorn. Rhyhorn however was still standing strong and roared at Jolteon.
"Use Rock Blast on Jolteon," said Zach calmly. Rhyhorn opened its jaw and blasted rocks from its mouth into Jolteon and he fainted from the damage.
"Alright, use Ice Punch!" I shouted as Blue returned his Jolteon to his Poké ball. Machoke froze his hand and hit Rhyhorn in the mouth, sending him flying, once again, into Zach. Rhyhorn struggled to get back up and hobbled over to the arena.
"Use Scary Face on Machoke to slow him down!" shouted Zach.
"Close your eyes, Machoke," I stuttered. Machoke closed his eyes, then opened them too early and got frightened by Rhyhorn's move. "Try to use Seismic Toss on it."
"No, use Rock Blast to keep him at bay," protested Zach. Rhyhorn tried to use Rock Blast, but fell over when trying to stand fully on its legs. Machoke grabbed him by his back legs and threw it upwards. Rhyhorn flew in the air for a while and when it came back down it crashed through the arena floor, leaving a rather large hole and Rhyhorn fainted.
"That was a good battle; we now know a bit more about each other's battle techniques and we got some training for the tourney tomorrow!" summarised Green. We each congratulated each other and I received a Pearl from the arena manager. We all headed away from the underground path and into Route 6. By this time it had become the afternoon and Green handed out some Magost Berry jam sandwiches and we all tucked in as we sat down by the pond.
"So, going back to what you said a fair while ago, what is Johto?" I asked. Zach swallowed his mouthful and wiped his mouth of crumbs.
"Johto's the place next to Kanto. There hasn't been anybody coming in or out of Johto since that landslide 6 months ago. Also, the radio signals and the TV signals that come from Johto are incredibly weak, so you may never have had any transmissions from there. Johto is where I got my starter Pokémon from, though it was through Prof. Oak."
"So, Bayleef isn't native to Kanto?" asked Blue. Zach nodded and continued to eat his sandwich.
"Right, so where are you from?" asked Green.
"Mmmummum phumm," said Zach through a mouthful of sandwich. He then swallowed and tried again. "Pallet Town."
"Hey, we're from Pallet Town!" shouted Blue. Green rubbed her ear and flicked Blue on his cheek.
"Really?" asked Zach. I nodded and Blue rubbed his cheek. "Strange, I don't remember you from my random walks around the town…"
"Well, it's still daylight, if we start to walk now we should make it to Vermilion by evening," said Green. We all packed our items away and headed in the direction of Vermilion, stopping every now and then for Blue to catch a Poliwag and a Krabby.
As we arrived in Vermilion, the sun was setting and we were all starting to get hungry again. We stopped by the Pokémon centre and looked up to see a seemingly disused lighthouse. We entered the Pokémon centre, booked a room and headed to the dining hall, excited for tomorrow.
As I woke up the next day and sat up, I saw Pikachu and Charmeleon already on the bed, waiting for me.
"Are you ready to go?" I asked them. Beedrill buzzed above and Machoke nodded.
"Pikachupi!" said Pikachu as Charmeleon jumped up and down excitedly. I told Pikachu she could wake Blue up and got dressed. Blue jumped upwards as I was pulling on my jacket and headed out the door, my Pokémon in hot pursuit. We all shovelled our breakfast down and rushed out to the S.S. Anne, desperate to see who we'd be fighting first.
I know I've written the typical start of the next chapter now, but I needed that in order to concentrate better on the battles. Please review, favourite, take part in the poll and join in the conversation on the forum. The current question is "Which is your favourite Gen 6 starter pokemon?"
I've also decided that, for you, I will put all the pokemon data in the Author Notes, so this'll start next chapter. Don't forget that there is an open opportunity for an OC. He/She will be the child of the safari zone warden, and will be with the group until Fuschia City. To submit, either write the character's name, surname (optional) and party pokemon, and send it to me in a PM, via the forum or even through a review. I hope to see you next time. Bye!