Cilan, Iris and the Pokemon Train
Part 1
When they could no longer see Ash and Pikachu outside of their train door, Cilan turned to Iris.
"Well, it's time to take our seats." The Pokemon connoisseur told her.
"I guess." Iris stated. "I'm going to really miss him you know. Ash can be such a kid sometimes, but, I really enjoyed traveling with him, you know what I mean?"
"Axew." Her dragon Pokemon in her hair, agreed sadly.
"I know exactly what you mean." Cilan said. "Parting is just sweet sorrow, especially if it's someone who you known a long time like Ash. But, cheer up, he is always with us in our memories wherever we may go, and that's something to be proud of." Iris was impressed.
"Wow, Cilan! You're always so optimistic and know exactly what to say." Cilan nodded in agreement.
"I hear it helps. Why cry over spilled Miltank milk, right?"
"Right, so as you said, let's take our seats." So the two went to their assigned train car.
As soon as the automatic door opened to their car, Iris screamed. Ice Pokemon were everywhere! There were Cryogonal, Jynx, Frolass, Castform (Ice form), and more ice types.
"I know you're afraid of Ice types, Iris, but please, it'll be alright." Cilan told her. "Don't make a scene."
"Are you sure this is the right car, Cilan?" Iris asked him.
"Pretty sure. This is one of the Johto cars."
"Why are there so many ice types?" Cilan shrugged.
"Don't know. Do you want to see if we can get a different Johto car?" Iris shook her head.
"No, this car is fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll tough it out."
"Okay. If you say so." The two went into the car. But as they made their way to their seats, they noticed something odd. There were no other trainers in sight, just ice Pokemon.
"Where are all of the trainers?" Iris wanted to know. "Surely, they didn't all leave them here."
"Surely not is right." Cilan agreed. "But if that's the case, I'm sure they'll be back soon."
"You're probably right." They sat down. Iris tried to relax being surrounded by all of the different ice types.
"Axew." Axew reassured its trainer. Iris relaxed at smiled.
"You're right, Axew." Iris said. "They're just ice Pokemon. Nothing to make a whole fuss over. I just have to stay cool, calm and collected like Cilan." Axew smiled.
A half hour went by with still no trainers in sight, and that half an hour pretty soon turned into an hour. During that time, Cilan and Iris had the food that Alexa bought for them before they left.
"Hmmm, strange." Cilan observed. "How is it that an hour went by without seeing any Pokemon trainers come in and out of here? Also, how is it that no one has checked our tickets yet?"
"I don't know, Cilan." Iris said. "But if no trainer comes to reclaim their Pokemon in here, I'm going to scream." Cilan looked at her, disappointed.
"I thought you didn't mind."
"I thought that too, but that was before I knew we'd be in here for a whole hour with them." Cilan stood up.
"I'm going to see what's up."
"I'm going too." The two then went to exit the car for the next one.
As soon as the automatic door opened up into the next car, it was Cilan's turn to scream.
"What it is, Cilan?" A concerned Iris wanted to know.
"Purr-Purr-Purr-" A stuttering Cilan pointed at what he was talking about. Iris looked and gasped. There were a bunch of Purrloin in the car.
"Whoa, that's a lot of Purrloin." Cilan gulped and nodded. Iris looked at him and gave him a knowing look.
"Okay, Cilan, I had to be brave in a room full of ice types. You think you can do the same with all of these Purrloin?" Cilan sighed and looked determined.
"Of course I can!" But deep down, Iris knew he was still afraid. "Let's just mosey on through here and everything will be fine." And so, that is what they did.
The two walked from car to car, and there were Pokemon in each and every one of them.
"Cilan." Iris said to him. "All of these Pokemon being here and no sign of other human beings is sort of creeping me out." Axew agreed.
"Axew." It said.
"Hmmm, this doesn't make any sense." Cilan said. "I'm sure we saw some trainers board the train when we boarded, very mysterious indeed." He snapped his fingers. "Sounds like we have a mystery on our hands, Iris, and you know what that means!"
"Unfortunately, yes." Axew sighed.
"Axew." It uttered.
"Here we go again."
"It's detec…" But before Cilan could finish, someone bumped into him. His hat fell onto the floor. He did as well.
"Cilan, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Iris. I just bumped into…"
"No way!" Said a female voice. "Why can't I ever get rid of you? You're following me, aren't you? That's the only logical reason why I see you all of the time." Iris and Cilan looked at who Cilan had bumped into and couldn't believe it. It was Burgundy! Cilan smiled as he stood up. He put on his hat,
"Hello, Burgundy. A pleasure to meet you here and a surprise. And to answer your question, I'm not following you. You just keep showing up in the exact places my friends and I tend to be at. It's nothing more than a pure coincidence all of the time." He offered his hand down to her. "Would you like me to help you get up onto your feet?" Burgundy scoffed and got to her feet.
"Non!" She answered. "I can get up by myself, thank you very much. I've been doing it for years."
"This may be a weird thing to say," Iris began. "But I'm so glad to see another human on this train."
"I'm also glad to see humans here, although not Cilan, but I'll get what I can get I guess." She then was confused. "Say, where is that kid with the Pikachu?"
"We all separated as a group back at the train station." Cilan explained. "He went with Alexa to the Kalos region and Iris and I are headed towards Johto so Iris can catch the magnet train there. What about you?" Again, Burgundy scoffed.
"I don't have to tell you anything!"
"You're right. You don't." He then got an idea. "Hey, since you're here, you can solve the mystery of why there seems to be so many Pokemon here and a lack of trainers with us. What do you say?"
"No, thank you. I can be doing a whole lot of other stuff then play mystery games."
"Like what?" Iris wanted to know. Burgundy got annoyed by this.
"I got things, alright?!"
"You don't have anything planned, do you? You just don't want to do anything with Cilan involved." Burgundy got angry with this.
"Alright I don't, alright?! What do you expect? We're on a train. We're stuck on here until we get off."
"Don't need to get angry." Cilan stated.
"Yeah." Iris agreed. "You can just sit around and do nothing if you want. But, before you do, did you see at least one other human here?"
"I'm afraid I did not." Iris frowned. So did Axew.
"I was afraid you'd say that."
"Axew." It responded sadly.
"Now if you excuse me, I'll make my leave." Burgundy stated. And with that, she left.
"We got some serious detective work to do here, Iris." Cilan told her.
"It is strange that there seemed to be humans getting on when we boarded." Iris spoke. "And now, no humans beside you, me and Burgundy." Cilan then realized something.
"That's it!" This puzzled Iris.
"What's it, Cilan?"
"The humans that we saw get on the train might not be humans at all."
"Cilan. What are you getting at? You're not making any sense to me."
"Remember that Zorua who liked to play tricks and can change into anything? Ditto also shares a similar ability."
"So are you saying that we boarded with Pokemon that have no trainers whatsoever?" Cilan nodded.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"And they just pretended to be humans just so they could get onto this train?" Again, Cilan nodded.
"Could be a possibility, yes." He looked at Axew, then at Iris. "Tell Axew to ask the Pokemon what's going on. They might know."
"What?"
"Axew?" The dragon Pokemon questioned.
"The Pokemon on the train." Cilan put in. "We might not understand, but at least Axew will and maybe it'll lead us to a Pokemon that can speak human like a psychic type or can speak with telepathy."
"You think so?" Cilan nodded.
"It's worth a shot." Iris looked at the little Pokemon in her hair. "What do you say, Axew?" Axew looked determined.
"Ax, Axew!" The Pokemon firmly said.
"Okay, then. You heard what Cilan said. Go and find out the mystery on this train!" Axew left from Iris' hair. The two humans followed Axew as it went from Pokemon to Pokemon, but all of the Pokemon it asked didn't have a clue.
"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea." Iris stated. "Axew asked a lot of Pokemon, and none of them seemed to know. Maybe I should tell Axew to give up."
"No!" Cilan told her. "Axew hasn't asked the whole train yet. The mystery is still underway. At least one of these Pokemon must know."
"You're right." When Axew asked a Numel, the Pokemon grew happy. It turned to the humans and gave a thumbs up;.
"Well, that's a good sign." Cilan observed.
"You know the answer to the mystery, Axew?" Axew shook it's head. Iris frowned.
"Well, we wouldn't have understood you anyways even if you have known." Axew leapt away.
"Axew!" It cried. Iris noticed this. "Axew, where are you going?" Axew called back to its trainer.
"I think Axew can lead us to the answer." Cilan deduced. "Come on, Iris." He went after the dragon type.
"Wait for me, I'm coming!" Iris followed behind. Cilan then bumped into Burgundy again. Her Duwott was beside her. Axew and Iris stopped as the two fell to the ground. Axew scurried over to the fallen Cilan, looking and sounding worried.
"I'm fine, Axew." Cilan assured the Pokemon, "I just bumped into someone yet again is all."
"You again?!" Burgundy asked. "Well, I guess this is a train instead of a whole region, and you two are the other humans onboard, but still!" Cilan saw that it was indeed her that he bumped into. He smiled as he stood up.
"My, my." He said. "Long time no see, Burgundy. This is another coincidence no doubt, but we're on the same train so we were more than likely to meet up again this time around." He offered his hand down to hers. "Do you want me to help you up this time?" Burgundy stood back up on her own again before Duwott could help her up.
"Non!" She responded. "Again, I am more than capable of doing it myself."
"Okay just asking."
"Oh, and Duwott might have figured out your little mystery, Cilan."
"Huh?" A confused Cilan asked. "It has?"
"Oui. In fact, it's leading me straight to the source right now to all of this madness."
"Are you sure?" Iris asked. Burgundy looked annoyed again.
"Yes, I'm sure! I may not be able to communicate with my Pokemon, but I know it wants me to follow it, so I am."
"We'll go with you two." Cilan said. Burgundy sighed as she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, if you must!"
"Then it's settled then!"
"But you better not mess anything up for me."
"Of course not." So they all went after Burgundy and her Duwott.
They ran into the cafe car. Pokemon were on the floor eating Puffins, Pokepuffs, berries and other Pokemon food in bowls.
"Where did these Pokemon get all of their Pokemon food from?" Iris questioned out loud, looking around.
"Don't know." Cilan admitted. "But I have a feeling that we are about to find out. Behind the counter, they gasped as they saw a lady. The lady noticed them and beamed.
"Oh great, you came to help!" She said. The other humans were confused. So were Axew and Duwott.
"Help?" Iris asked. "Help with what?"
"Help us make the Pokemon food of course!"
"We will do no such thing!" Burgundy snapped.
"This must be a misunderstanding." Cilan began. "We boarded this train and were wondering why there are a lot more Pokemon than humans on this ride."
"That's easy. This is a Pokemon train."
"Pokemon train?" Cilan and Iris asked at the same time.
"Maybe I can explain." A man that approached them said. He pointed to the lone table in the corner. "Take a seat with me and I'll explain everything." The man retreated there. Cilan, Iris, Burgundy and their Pokemon followed him to the table.
"My name is Gorden." The man introduced himself as they all sat in their seats at the table. "I see you've already met my daughter, Roseanne. We run this Pokemon train you see, and make all of the Pokemon food for all of the Pokemon you see."
"But, what is a Pokemon train?" Iris wanted to know. "And how did you come up with an idea for one?"
"Well, believe it or not, the idea came to me when my daughter and I were on another train with humans. We were in the observation car and as I looked at all of the wild Pokemon out of the window, I grew sad for them as they can't get on trains like we do. Then I had a brilliant idea, so I told my daughter that maybe we could get some trains running with just Pokemon. Of course, I also told her the only humans on the trains will be the ones driving the train and ones making Pokemon food, hence Pokemon trains were born."
"It sounds stupid." Burgundy stated, which made Gorden disappointed. "I mean, how do you inform all of the wild Pokemon of the world of Pokemon trains in the first place?"
"Easy. We tell one Pokemon and they spread the word like wildfire."
"I guess, but it's still kind of stupid in a way. Why do Pokemon know and not humans?"
"Because they're Pokemon trains of course."
"Okay, then what about the humans who drive the trains and prepare Pokemon food, huh?"
"We go out to people that make Pokemon food, and train drivers around the world to see if they are interested in the job. All of our trains also have Nurse Joys on them to aid Pokemon that are sick or fainted in random Pokemon battles we might have on their journeys. We also know that some other humans, like you guys, might board our trains by accident and offer them to help us if necessary. So, will you help us out?" Iris and Cilan looked at each other.
"What do you say, Cilan?" Iris asked. "We have nothing better to do. I must admit, when Ash and I tried to cook for you, we failed, but these people will probably give me pointers."
"And I'm used to just cooking food for you and Ash." Cilan stated. "But I could change things up." The two looked at Gorden. "We'll be glad to help you and Roseanne out, Gorden." Gorden smiled.
"Oh, thank you!" He looked at Burgundy. "What about you?"
"No, thanks." She said. Gorden was once again disappointed.
"Oh, I see. Well, your friends might be enough."
"They're not my friends, especially that loser, pathetic excuse for a connoisseur, Cilan." Gorden looked at Cilan.
"You're a connoisseur?" Cilan nodded.
"Indeed I am. An A-class connoisseur."
"And Burgundy's only a C-class connaiseuse." Iris pointed out.
"But I will be a grade A class connaisseuse" Burgundy said. "Just wait and see. And I'm going to be a million times better than Cilan, I guarantee it!"
"You have a long way to go." Cilan told her. "A journey in being a top connoisseur or connoisseus is no easy feat, believe me."
"I don't need you to tell me that!" Burgundy shouted at him. She looked at her Pokemon partner. "Come on, Duwott. Let's go take our seats." Burgundy began to leave, but sensed that Duwott wasn't following her. She stopped and looked at Duwott. "Duwott? I said let's go."
"I think Duwott wants to help us make Pokemon food." Iris said to Burgundy. She looked at the Pokemon. "Right, Duwott?" Duwott nodded.
"Duwott!" It agreed.
"Fine!" Burgundy said. "You can help, whatever. I'm not going to force you otherwise."
"We'll give you Duwott back when we're done." Cilan promised her."
"Don't bother. I'll come collect Duwott myself when we get closer to our destination, Kanto."
"Au Revoir!" And with that, she left. Iris knew that Burgundy was secretly glad that she didn't have to see Cilan before they left. Cilan looked at Gorden.
"I'll let my Pansage he]'well."
"Oh, please do." Gorden said back to him. "The more help we have, the better." So Cilan called upon Pansage."
"Pansage!" The grass monkey said upon release.
"Okay, Pansage." Cilan told his Pokemon. "We're going to help Gorden and his daughter, Roseannemake some Pokémon food. Are you ready to be a little chef?" The monkey nodded.
"Pansage."
"Axew?" Iris asked her Pokémon.
"Axew!" Axew said. Iris looked at Gorden.
"Okay, Gorden. We're all ready!" She told him.
"Perfect!" He said. "Follow me behind the counter, and let's get started." They got up from the table and followed Gorden. As they walked, Iris looked at Cilan.
"Are you going to put your hat away, Cilan?" She wanted to know. "We kind of solved the mystery." Cilan took off his hat.
"Oh yeah, I guess we did. I'm going to hold on to it though. You never know if you might need it." Iris sighed.
"Of course we don't."
"Axew, ax." The dragon Pokemon agreed.
"Hey, Roseanne!" Gorden said when they all were behind the counter. "These nice people and their Pokemon are going to help us make the Pokemon food."
"That's so nice!" Roseanne responded, looking at them. "Thank you so much!"
"It's an honor to serve you and all of the Pokemon aboard this train." Cilan said with a bow."
"Pansage!" Pansage added with a bow as well.
"Alright, let's get started." Roseanne said,
The four humans and three Pokémon prepped the Pokemon food and gave them to happy Pokemon, then they started again and again. It was hard work, but they knew it would be well worth it in the end knowing that they helped feed so many Pokemon. They did this until they neared the Johto train station.
"We wish we can stay longer." Cilan began. "But since both Iris and I are headed to Johto, this is our farewell."
"But we loved feeding all of the Pokemon here," Iris put in. "and it gave us something to do, so thanks for that."
"Dad and I understand." Roseanne said. "We would sure use more help, but we will get through the rest of this journey to Kanto without it." She looked at Duwott. "Besides, we still have Duwott."
"Duwott!" Duwott said.
"We're sure you'll do fine too." Cilan agreed. He and Pansage bowed at them. "It was an honor."
"Yeah!" Iris said as well.
"Axew!" The dragon Pokemon put in. The Pokemon and trainer did their bows as well.
"You guys helped out a lot." Gorden told them "You deserve a break. Have a nice time in Johto and all of your future travels." They all said their goodbyes and Cilan, Iris and Axew left the cafe car, but not before Cilan returned Pansage to its Pokeball.
Once Cilan and Iris collected their stuff (both had to help each other out with their respected fears when they were in the Purrloin and their car with all of the ice types), they both headed to the car where they would disembark,
"I'm so excited for this!" Iris said. "Axew and I are in Johto! We are about to meet so many new Pokemon, much more than we saw while on the ship!" Cilan smiled.
"I love how excited you are." He observed. "You are acting like a lit…" Iris glared at him.
"Don't say it, Cilan! Although I admit I'm overly excited like one, I'm way more mature than that little kid, Ash."
"If you say so." Iris would say more, but she saw that they were nearing the station from outside the windows. She beamed as she almost ran over Cilan when running to the windows, looking out.
"We're almost there, Axew! Are you just as excited as I am?"
"Axew!" Axew said excitedly. Cilan grinned and chuckled a little.
"Here we go, Axew! We're going to stop in 3…2…" Iris started over when they didn't stop, thinking she started too early. "In 3….2…." They all gasped as they passed the stopping point. Iris looked at Cilan. "Uh, Cilan, weren't we supposed to stop back there?"
"Yes." Cilan answered.
"Then why…?"
"I don't know. I'm just as confused as you, but this is a mystery, and I knew keeping my hat would come in handy, so once again, it's….." He was about to put his detective hat on when Iris interrupted him.
"Something must be going on at the front of the train." Iris reasoned. "Come on, let's check!" She dragged Cilan by the hand before he could react.
"Okay."
They both ran to the first car of the train (again, aiding each other with their respective Pokemon fears).
As Iris and Cilan reached the front and looked through the window, they gasped as they saw who was driving the train. It was someone in a black uniform with the red letter 'R' on it. And next to him was two others in the same uniforms, Cassidy and Butch!