The Z Adventure
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but we've been down this road before. I'd actually rather much own Digimon.
Kenshin: Yoroshiku, shoukun!
Takeshi: We're back to Pokemon now. This chapter, Calem duels with the...the...Yusei, read this.
Yusei: This chapter, Calem duels the darling Viola in a Pokemon Battle... Wait, why couldn't you say that?
Takeshi: Alexianna's watching me.
Journal Entry 2: Journey Out in the World
Calem falls backwards into the grass. He sighs while staring up into the sky, having captured all the Pokemon within the area. He then uses his Pokedex to look over the ones he's captured, and think over a possible team. "Maybe this. If I train these two I'll be able to have a strong team with Nanami."
He rolls over onto his feet and walks towards the city. With the sun beginning to go west, he realizes it's time to turn in. He would have to go to the Pokemon center as well and heal his Pokemon.
Upon entering Santalune, Calem heads over to the Pokemon Center, where he hands over his Pokemon to the beautiful Nurse Joy. "So, how does this work?"
"We'll take care of it." She places his Pokeballs on a tray, before entering them into a machine. Light scans over each one several times, before a tune plays. She then comes back out with the balls on the tray. "Here you go; your Pokemon are in tip top shape. We hope to see you again?"
"...What does that mean?" he asks himself, finding her choice of words rather curious. After that he heads to a free room, and lays in bed without changing his clothes.
There in his room Calem thinks over everything he's gone through up to that point: leaving his home, getting a Pokemon, traveling through a forest past a town, and making some friends. Of course, though he still doesn't see any of Serena's chums as friends, he welcomes it. He's capable of getting out into the world to change, and put that behind him. It also presents the opportunity to earn money. "Knowing mom, she needs it."
Calem closes his eyes and falls to sleep.
The next day he wakes up, and heads out in a rush; he even forgets to eat. Calem goes to the front door, but on the way he meets a lady dressed as a messenger. "Hello? Are you Calem Xavier?"
"Uh... Yeah?"
"Here you go." She hands him a square package no bigger than a bowling ball, addressed to him.
"How did you know I was here?"
"We at the United Package Service are just that good." She then gives a bow to him and leaves.
Calem checks the return address, seeing nothing. "Weird..." He then opens the package, revealed to be a small watch-like object. He attaches it to his left arm and examines. "Really weird."
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he heads towards the exit while yawning. He looks over the Pokemon he has on his person: Nanami, Yaoki and Papillon. Not a full team, it's good enough to focus on.
He walks out the door and goes to the direction of the forest. "Alright, this is where I start. I'll become a strong trainer and make allot of money. We'll make it happen!"
A flash goes off before him, and he looks ahead to see someone holding up a camera focused in on him. The device pulls away, revealing a pretty older girl with blond hair and green eyes. She has brown boots with green laces and teal pants with a white t-shirt that accentuates her busty appeal. "Perfect! That was a great shot!"
"Are?"
"Sorry, but I like to take photos of people in the perfect pose." She approaches him while adjusting her camera's focus.
Calem clears his throat before adjusting his hat. "Thanks."
"That's all you gotta say?" she asks while moving closer to him. "You must be shy huh?"
Calem looks away hiding his blushing face. "I have to go. Gym leader battle."
"Gym leader huh?" She laughs before patting his shoulder, causing him to go redder. "Then I'll wait for you there. I am the Santalune City Gym Leader Viola." She then walks past him towards the gym.
'Whoa. She was the gym leader huh?' Calem realizes as he watches her leave. 'She's real pretty.'
He looks down at the three Pokeballs he has, and sighs. "I'll focus on that first. Training my Pokemon for their gym battle is a necessity."
With that in mind, Calem heads back south to the Santalune Forest. There he has his Pokemon duo of Nanami and Yaoki battle against various bugs in his way. As this continues, he eventually comes before one Pokemon that intrigues him.
"Pika!" Crawling down a tree to nab a berry is a Pikachu, and by the looks of it a male one. He takes out his Pokedex and scans.
Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon; when angered, it releases a charge of electricity from the red spots on its cheeks. If enough gather in one spot, a thunderstorm will descend.
"Pikachu huh?" He sends out Papillon. "Papillon, String Shot!" The little caterpillar releases a fluid of webs to entangle the mouse. Pikachu notes him and moves away, but its feet get sticky. The mouse then releases Thundershock, striking the insect. "Stun Spore!"
The insect releases a wave of pollen at Pikachu, but it does nothing. "Doesn't work?" He takes out his Pokedex and checks.
Pikachu commonly hold the ability Static; it allows it to paralyze any Pokemon that comes into physical contact by 30 percent of the time.
"What does this make for me?"
Static's ability to inflict paralysis fails only against other Electric types, as they are immune to the Paralyze status.
"Oh balls." Calem looks up when Pikachu uses Quick Attack to knock Scatterbug down. "Papillon, use String Shot again!" Papillon continues to spew webs, until eventually Pikachu gets trapped in a ball. "Alright, Pokeball go!"
He throws his Pokeball and catches Pikachu, the ball shaking a bit. Calem watches as it eventually stops, before picking it up. "Alright, now I have a team of four. Welcome to the group."
He looks over at Papillon, who begins to glow brightly. "Eh?" The bright blue light dies away as he turns into a white pupa like Pokemon. "Let's see..."
Spewpa, the Scatterdust Pokemon; not even birds can peck through the white hide it possesses. It hides in the shadows and can frill up its shell to threaten predators.
"Evolution... Great!" He smiles a bit when he realizes he made that happen. He feels better being himself. He checks his Pokemon's stats for better results, and then leaves for Santalune.
Checking his 'watch', he realizes it lacks a clock. He then checks his Pokedex, which contains one for some reason. 'That's a little weird. Who had the common sense to add a clock to this?' Despite his random thought, he checks the time to see it's 11:34 a.m. "Time for lunch."
He comes to the Pokemon Center, where he and his Pokemon partners chow down on a meal. 'The center food in Kalos isn't as good as paid for food, but it's worth it to save up.'
"Speaking of which..." Calem takes out his trainer card and checks his account. 'That much huh?' He then slides the card down the side of a machine and punches in some numbers. "There we go."
With that he leaves out with his team of four to the Santalune Gym. He takes in a deep breath. "Alright, you got this. Let's go!"
He walks forward, and brushes by someone, knocking both of them to the ground. He quickly gets up and begins apologizing. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Ugh, what hit me?" The man he knocked over stands up. He's a tall male with fluffy black hair and deep red eyes. He dresses in slick, black leather, from his jacket to his pants, wears red running shoes with black streaks, and has a white shirt. He looks down at Calem, wondering, "Who are you?"
"Uh, well...I..." The guy grabs his nose and holds down on it, cutting off his breathing. He sputters and pushes him off. "What the-"
"Speak slower you," he replies. "What were you rushing for anyway?"
"I was..." Calem begins speaking slowly. "I was going for Gym Battle."
"Oh, a trainer huh?" He stares down at the young trainer's Pokeball belt. "Is this your first one?"
"Y-Yeah..." he replies.
"Well, how about I coach you through this?"
"Eh?"
"Come on, let's go!" He pushes Calem forward to the gym.
"Oi, oi, oi!" Calem tries to stop him, but he keeps moving for some reason. "I don't think I'm up for this!"
"It's a gym battle; you never are," he replies with a laugh.
"Oh, going to take on a gym huh?" The two look to the side to see a pretty, older woman looking at them with a smile. She stands tall with a shirt that holds the top half black and the bottom red, exposing a desirable amount of cleavage, beige pants and brown boots, as well as a parcel which contains a Pokeball hanging outside of it. Her dark brown hair contains a single stand that hangs out and curls. "Then you'll be facing Viola."
"O-Oui..." Calem gasps out, blushing at the sight of another pretty girl. His bad habit takes place and he looks away flustered.
"Then you must be one of the children chosen by Augustine Sycamore. Good luck," she says with a wave, and then chuckles seeing Calem shrink. Her eyes then go to the other person. "And you are?"
"Just call me Black. Everyone else does," he tells her. "Let's go kid."
"Wait, are you forcing him?"
"He pushed me over. Me watching is his price." Black picks him up by one hand and carries him over to the gym.
"You...are surprisingly strong..." Calem mutters in shock.
"Yeah, thank that guy for that." Black reaches the gym, and drops him in front of its doors. "Here you go."
Calem looks up at the bronze gym with fancy glass. The door opens up, and out steps a female skater. She looks down at him, who shrinks down again. "Are you here to challenge the gym?"
"He is." Black points down at Calem.
"Before you do, I will face you in combat first!" The skater takes out a Pokeball.
"Uh...S-Sure!" Calem takes out a Pokeball and throws it, summoning his Papillon. The biker sends out her Zigzagoon.
"Zagoon, Quick Attack!" The raccoon rushes in with a quick tackle.
"Protect!" Papillon raises his cloak to block the attack. "Stun Spore!" He then releases a pollen to paralyze it.
"Nice move, but we're not through yet! Tackle!" Zagoon tries to move, but is too stunned to.
"Papillon, use Tackle!" The pupa moves quickly to hit Zagoon, knocking the raccoon down. It rolls around and tries to move, but still feels too stunned. "Once more, Tackle!"
Papillon does one last follow up, and knocks out the raccoon for the count. "Oh crap, Zagoon!" She retrieves her Zigzagoon, knowing she's failed to win her battle.
"Nice going kid," says Black with a smile. Calem holds the back of his head sheepishly.
"You did well; way better than I expected. As a reward, you can have these!" She hands over a pair of rollerblades.
"What are these?"
"Put them on your shoes and you'll be able to skate. They also flip on and off," she says. Calem attaches them, and with the flicking of his feet and turns them off. "Nice. Good luck in your battle."
She skates off, leaving the two alone. Calem looks down at his shoes, which have returned to being skates. "Technology is amazing nowadays," Black says suddenly.
"Oh, still here?"
"You did well, but you're still a bit timid. Stiff, nice aura; you'll make a great trainer in the future." He pats Calem's shoulder and guides him inside the building.
Inside the Santalune Gym, the walls of the building are filled with large pictures of the world. Most of them are of forests and contain insect Pokemon. In the middle of the room a white thread hangs down from the ceiling into a gaping hole in the floor. On a podium, instructions are left. Calem reads, "To reach Gym Leader climb down the thread and guide yourself along the spider web walkway to reach the Gym Leader Viola."
"Viola..." Calem takes in a deep breath and grabs hold of the thread, before sliding down. Black waits for him to stop before leaping down. His impact causes the web to bounce, and knocks Calem off his footing and traps him in the sticky threads.
"My bad. Hold on." Black reaches down and grabs his hand, pulling the guy out and freeing him with ease. "There you go."
"Why are you so strong?"
"I've been through adventures. Now let's get that badge!" He pats him to move ahead. Calem scans the footing of webs that leads over to a hut on actual land.
"Over there." Calem guides himself and Black to reach the hut. As he does, he begins to contemplate what Pokemon to use.
"Alright, let's take into account your gym battle; depending on the rules you'll have to use at the very least three Pokemon or two. You need to also be prepared for type advantages," Black tells him as they move forward.
"Uh, thanks." 'Why is this guy helping me?' Calem looks back at him curiously. He only met him today, and he's already helping him win battle.
Eventually they reach the area where Viola is. Stepping onto solid ground they scrape their feet of the sticky stuff. X then says, "Viola, I've arrived."
"That determined expression… That glint in your eye that says you're up to the challenge…" She snaps photos of him. "It's fantastic! Just fantastic! Is this your first time challenging a Gym?"
"Uh, yeah... Was it...that obvious?" he asks, as Black shields his eyes.
"Fantastic! Whether it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory… They're both great subjects for my camera! Fantastic!" She puts her camera away. "This'll be just fantastic! Now come at me! My lens is always focused on victory—I won't let anything ruin this shot!" Viola takes out a Net Ball. "This will be a two on two match up. Only the challenger is allowed to swap Pokemon mid battle."
"Fine." Calem takes out his own Pokeball, and both release their Pokemon. Viola's is Surskit while Calem uses Nanami.
"Two water types against eachother..." Black comments silently to himself. He sits on the sidelines. "This should be interesting."
"Nanami, Bubbles!" The frog leaps up and spews bubbles, which Surskit avoids easily.
"Quick Attack!" Surskit then swims forward and strikes Nanami into a wall. "Water Gun!"
"Strike back with Water Pulse!" The two Pokemon combat with their water streams. Surskit then slides in a circle around Nanami, forcing him on the defensive. "Nanami, return!"
As Calem retrieves his Pokemon, he begins to form an idea. 'Yaoki is a Flying type so that could work, but I should focus on that aspect. Yaoki's not fast enough after all.' With that mindset he sends out Pikachu.
"Pika!"
"Pikachu, Thundershock!" The mouse releases a lightning bolt towards Surskit, who slides away on the surface and easily avoids the attack.
"Surskit, Bubble attack!" The water bug spews bubbles at the mouse, who avoids.
Looking down, Calem notes the floor is plenty wet. 'Wait, there's my ticket!' "Pikachu, stab your tail into the ground and shoot yourself upward!"
Though confused, Pikachu goes along with his idea; the mouse flies into the sky while looking down, and noticing the field is wet from the water strikes. That's when the Pokemon understands his intentions, as Calem shouts, "Thundershock!"
Electricity sparks through the floor, striking the gliding water bug. "Now, finish him off!" He flips down to strikes the bug in the head with his tail, leading to Pikachu's victory.
"Well, looks like Pikachu wins. Surskit is unable to battle," says Black as he holds a hand out to Calem.
"Very nice, using the previous battle to your advantage," says Viola before retrieving her bug. "Time to shine in the spotlight, Vivillon."
Viola's next monster is the butterfly Vivillon, with a sort of pink and blue wing pattern. Calem takes out his Pokedex and scans it.
Vivillon, the Scale Pokemon - Vivillon's patterns differ across the world as each one has their own affected by the climate of the region they were born in.
"Let's see... It's also a Flying type, so this should work. Pikachu, Thundershock!" Pikachu releases electricity at the butterfly, who flies away easily avoiding it.
"Vivillon, Sleep Powder!" Spores shoot out towards Pikachu, who stays away. "Don't bother running; Gust!" The butterfly releases a powerful wind that blows Pikachu off balance. The wind also blows the spores towards Pikachu, causing him to turn drowsy.
"Pikachu, don't let it affect you; Leer back!" Pikachu tries to stare, but he's still too drowsy.
"Vivillon, use Infestation!" Tiny bugs are summoned around the mouse, which rapidly bite into him.
"This isn't working; return!" Calem tries to retrieve Pikachu, but the red light fails to reclaim him. "What?"
"Infestation prevents the player from retrieving their Pokemon when they're infected. Vivillon, use Tackle!" The insect flies in and strikes Pikachu in the head, knocking him out.
"Pikachu is unable to battle. Last Pokemon," says Black before giving the point to Viola.
"Alright, let's...go, Nanami." Calem sends out his frog shinobi. "Bubbles!"
"Gust!" Nanami's bubble stream is blown away by the powerful wind from Vivillon. Taking a moment to think, Calem tries to come up with a plan to getting past that. 'Let's see... If they're stuck together maybe...'
"Vivillon, Infestation!" Bugs try to crawl up Nanami, but she leaps away to avoid them. "String Shot!" She then ducks down to avoid the threads.
An idea comes to his head. "Nanami, use Bubbles all over the area!" Nanami fires bubbles, including white ones from its mousse. The bubbles float in the air before the butterfly.
"Just what is this?"
"Now use Quick Attack!" Nanami flies through one of the white bubbles and attaching to Vivillon's chest. The added weight causes her to fall with Nanami, and the frog removes herself. "That worked out well."
"No, Vivillon!" Viola feels entirely shocked at what happened.
"Water Pulse!" Nanami fires, trapping Vivillon in a sphere of water. She then follows up with Quick Attack, striking Vivillon out of it and ending the battle.
"Vivillon is unable to battle; Nanami wins. The victory of this battle goes to Calem of...where are you from again?"
"Vaniville Town-"
"Vaniville Town!" Viola smiles before retrieving her Pokemon, and walking forward.
"You've done great Calem. You and your Pokemon have shown me a whole new depth of field; fantastic!" Viola takes out a badge and hands it over to him. "Here you go, young trainer. This is the Bug Badge."
She hands over the mahogany badge to him, which he takes and adds to his badge case. "Hmm... Well, one down and seven to go. Thank you."
"Don't thank me; you won on your own, so thank yourself." Viola gestures to the tent behind her. "If you want to leave, go out there up the stairs. Infact, I'll show you."
"Alright, thanks." Calem bows to her and walks towards the tent. Black cracks his shoulders and follows, as does Viola.
Calem walks through the halls, passing by walls filled with Viola's pictures. He looks in awe at their clarity. Eventually he reaches a door and opens, coming out to the top where he slid down the rope. With that, he heads outside the door. "I have one badge... Where to next?"
He checks his Town Map, which states that northwest is Route 4. "There. I'll head to Route 4 and then Lumiose City."
"That's where Sycamore's lab is huh?" asks Black as he peers over his shoulder. Calem falls forward in shock, leaving Black to stare wondering what's wrong. "What?"
Calem stands back up. "Why are you still following me?"
"You're following him?" He falls over again when Viola announces herself.
"... Right, that's kind of weird... I'll stop." Black holds a hand out to him, and easily lifts the boy up. "Anyway, thanks for the entertaining battle but I gotta go. I'm looking for some people."
"People?"
"Well, criminals is more like it," he explains. "They call themselves Team Flare."
Viola's eyes widen in shock. "What?! You know them?"
"Not really. I'm looking for their HQ and-wait, how do you know that name?" asks Black.
"Team Flare has been an active group in the Kalos region," she speaks before adjusting her hair. "They've been going around Kalos doing illegal actions. My sister Alexa's been looking into them, but we haven't been able to record any of their actions."
"Alexa?"
"Yeah, she's a television journalist who works with the Lumoise Press. Infact, you should run into her along the way on your adventure," Viola says with a frown. "Just don't believe her when she says I'm competitive."
The two boys look at eachother, before turning to her. Calem then nods before walking away. Black shakes his head side to side and walks in his direction, waving a farewell to Viola. The dark clothed person reaches Calem, asking, "Are you really that shy?"
"Go away."
"Alright, fine. I'll keep my distance. I need to head to Lumoise anyway and check with that Alexa woman," he replies before walking past him.
Calem looks in shock as he moves so fast in a short time compared to himself. It's like he's a Pokemon too. But, he puts that to bed as he heads northwest to reach Parterre Way, aka Route 4. "Maybe if I put on the skates I'll move faster." He jumps up off the set of stairs before him, and his skates deploy from behind allowing him to roll ahead.
Adjusting his speed, Calem moves at a steady pace before going faster. He passes into a bed of roses, where a Pokemon holds up a flower. "What's that?" He scans with the Pokedex.
Flabebe, the Single Bloom Pokemon - Flabebe find flowers when they're born and attach to them their entire life. They can draw out the hidden power of flowers.
"A fairy type..." His eyes light up and he turns to the Pokemon. "Let's go, Yaoki! Peck!"
Yaoki flies out from the ball and flies down to peck at the Fairy flower. "Now, Quick Attack!"
Flabebe twirls its flower, blowing back Yaoki in a strong wind current. 'Strong... But she can handle this.' "Yaoki, use the wind to circle around Flabebe!" Yaoki does as Calem suggests, and ends up coming behind Flabebe. She then uses Peck several times.
"Pokeball go." He throws his Pokeball, catching the fairy inside. It shakes for a while, before finally going shut. He walks over and picks it up. "That's a team of five, for now."
He then retrieves his Yaoki and slow skates up the path. He comes to a fountain where other skaters are, and ignores them to go straight ahead. An idea comes to his mind though, and he grinds down the railing like a poser. But he ends up slipping and hitting the dirt with his face.
The other skaters approach him, including one girl. "Oh crap, wipeout! You alright?"
Calem picks himself up, revealing to him a blushing face without any scratches. "Eh? You're okay?"
Calem wipes his face of dirt and continues skating ahead. "That was close." Up ahead he sees the pathway to the next town. 'That was easy. We made it before nightfall.'
By the path he sees two people in white fancy clothes. The male who has blond hair turns to him, asking, "Have you ever heard of a Pokemon called Flabebe?"
"Uh..." He takes out his Pokedex and shows him the entry.
"Oh, so you've registered it in your Pokedex. As one would expect from one of the professor's handpicked trainers."
"Huh?"
"As you can probably tell, Flabebe is one of the newly discovered Pokemon type, a Fairy Pokemon," says the purple haired woman. "Anyway, we've been battling the Fairy type against other Pokemon at Professor Sycamore's request. I am Sina, a beautiful lady with a beautiful name."
"I'm Dexio," says the male. "Two years ago, Professor Sycamore entrusted me with a Pokedex. I'm kind of a voyager veteran."
"Sycamore..." Calem cups his chin. 'The man who gave us our Pokemon...' "Where is he now?" he asks with a weird stutter.
"We can show you the way. Come on!" Sina takes his hand, causing him to go completely red, and drags him through the gate. Dexio follows after them.
They pass through the gateway and enter the vibrant city of Lumiose. Sina then continues to take Calem in, going left along the sidewalk. As they do, Calem notes a barbershop, a Pokemon center, a cafe and a cab that hits a pedestrian.
Sina brings him to a large building. "This is the Sycamore Pokemon Lab; let's go inside!"
"Un." Calem removes his skates and walks inside, still nervous as hell.
Sina brings him to the elevator. "The professor is on the third floor."
"Th-thank you," he says before going inside the elevator. He hits the button, and it closes up. After listening to 'Gitchi Gitchi Goo', the door opens to the third floor. He steps out, adjusting his hat, and comes to a blue room with red velvet carpeting.
Coming towards him, he looks up to see a labcoat wearing adult. "Oh, hello! I've been expecting you, Calem. Come this way." He leads him over to another room separated by a wall.
In his main office Calem follows, where he says, "I am Professor Sycamore. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. How has your journey been so far?"
"...Really nauseous..." he replies, and the professor laughs.
"You're exactly how your mother described you. How about we get a look at that Pokedex first?" Calem decides to go along with it, handing over his Pokedex. Sycamore begins to evaluate it. "Hmm... Looks to me you've discovered 30 kinds of Pokemon in Central Kalos. Atleast the dictionary's getting filled; you've got a certain je ne sais quoi!"
"A what?" He receives his Pokedex back.
"At first I had planned on only giving Pokemon to one person, the child of a famous Sky Battler. But when I learned the famous Rhyhorn racer returned I knew you'd be a great choice too. Here in the Kalos Region, you're far away from everything you used to know, and that really hit me here. That's why I gave you a Pokemon too, so you can get out in the world and open up."
"Uh, well..."
"Hello, Professor!" Calem and Sycamore look to the side to see Shauna and Serena coming his way. The blond says, "Sorry we're late."
"No problem. Let's have a Pokemon battle since we're here," he says.
"What for?" Shauna asks.
"It's to discover your styles. Your opponent shall be me of course," he declares while holding up a Pokeball.
"I'll go first!" Shauna says delightfully. "Let's go, Sakuya!"
Her Pokemon Fennekins appears. Sycamore sends out an orange lizard with a tail light on the end on fire, Charmander. "Let us begin. As a heads up, I'm not that tough."
Takeshi: Well, finally got this thing out. Shouldn't it be longer?
Alger: Meh. As long as we reach the end we'll be fine. But the next chapter will be noticeably longer.
Manabu: Next chapter, Calem, Shauna and Serena gain Kanto starters before heading off to their next destination. There's some evolution going on too, and a familiar face returns.
Calem: Froakie/Nanami, Fletchling/Yaoki, Scatterbug/Papillon, Pikachu, Flabebe
Serena: Chespin/Maurice, Bunnelby, Fletchling