GARNET'S POV
"Celadon City!" I took in a deep breath of the fresh air and exhaled dramatically. "I really need to reload stuff. And get some like, souvenirs, y'know? So! Teal, where's the like, store, or whatever?" I quickly questioned, "Oh, and do you know why Aubrey gave us her Pokeballs and stayed at the Celadon Hotel? I mean, I know she's sick, but seriously, did she have to do that?"
"Garnet, if you were paying the slightest bit of attention, you would know she's sick. Not that it matters, anyway. We're doing the battle tomorrow." Teal explained logically. "And the Celadon Department Store is around the middle of the city, so we can do some sight-seeing and then go to the store." Teal slightly fumbled with her hair while observing Celadon's beautiful surroundings.
About an hour passed in silence. It was boring, I'll tell you that. Teal and I've walked to a local café for a quick energizer, thing… Mhm! It was only a few minutes of distance away from the store, and a muffin with a mocha abused by whipped cream? Yeah, that made it so much funner and easier. And yummier. And awesome! "Hey, here we aree! Whoa. It's huge…" I gaped in slight amazement at the department store. Teal rolled her eyes in a mocked manner, "Well, Garnet. It is a department store, eh?" She laughed slightly and ran towards the glass entrance.
"Oww!" I whined and rubbed my battered forehead, "What happened?" Teal walked up to me, unimpressed.
"Well, ya see… I was running to the doors like you were! Like in the movies and stuff? I didn't even do my amazing full speed! Just like, a little jog! For you know, the 'effect'? Well, anyways, yeah, I did that. And then, some mean poophead of a turd opened the door and it hit me! Hit me! And then, it hurt! And it hit me! Yeah! It hit me! In the forehead!" I gasped slightly to apply pressure to the abused forehead, "Now kiss it better, Teal! Make it better!" I pouted slightly and flipped back my bangs.
"Garnet, shut up. I'll buy you a bandaid." Teal sighed. "What do you want? A Cherubi one?"
"Yes please." I automatically replied in a mix of an excited child who's beginning her Pokemon journey and a monotone robot.
"Woah. Teal. It's huge." I gaped, swirling my head around to observe the somewhat empty bottom floor. "Well, Celadon's a big, big city, Garnet." Teal laid a hand on my shoulder, leaning on it, "And, plus, you said that already." Teal remarked.
"Hi random delivery man!" I ran up to him, disregarding the fact that he seemed to be struggling with a bundle of letters, and took his hand in for a shake. Papers fell everywhere. Woops?
"Oh, don't worry about him." A young lady with orange-blonde hair in a red suit spoke up. "Welcome to the Celadon Department Store! Did you know that Celadon City is the biggest city in Kanto, and eighth largest in the Pokemon World? Even surpassing Saffron City!" The lady gave the slightly interesting fact before I spoke up excitedly, "I live in Saffron City! Well, not anymore, I guess. But that's where my journey all began! And then I came to-"
"Excuse me, but there is the board which directs you to the layout of the store. Please contact any of our staff if you get lost, which is very unlikely." The lady gestured towards the glass board.
"Oh please, she gets lost in her own room." Teal muttered darkly. Not true, by the way. I walked up towards the large item, running my eyes over the multiple words, "Teal! You read it." I whined and walked off to observe the posters. "You know, Teal, my brother likes to shop here sometimes. Something about buying some capes and blah. Lance is weird like that, who buys multiple capes and has a section of his closet just for capes? It's not like he's a superhero or anything. Maybe he's here so I can see him! I haven't really seen him since like, a long time, and like-"
"Garnet. We'll see, okay?" Teal walked up towards me, pulling my arm to press the elevator's 'up' button.
"Awesome!" My eyes ran over the banner that read, "Top-Grade Items for Trainers!" in slight amusement. "I think this is where my bro would be, so look for a giant head of red hair, " I paused, tugging at a strand of my hair in the direction of Teal's face, "a bit darker than this! Kay? Also, he has like this broad face, and then-"
"Garnet, hair description is enough. Thanks." Teal smirked a tad and took off towards the left. "Nah, don't see anything today!" Teal stated after ten minutes of browsing around the store. "Aw, shucks! That sucks because usually he's here! Like all the time. Talking a bout his capes and whatnot. But I guess you're right, I mean, who can miss a giant porcupine of red hair, right?" I reasoned with myself.
I went to the cashier, grabbing two Super Repels, one Awakening, one Super Potion, two Parlyz Heals, and two Antidotes. "Kay, Teal! I'mma check out!" I loaded my items to the cashier, and Teal added her addition of four Super Repels and three Super Potions. "That'll be 6600P." The cashier said simply, "Okay, dokie!" I handed in my money, and waited for Teal to deposit hers. "Thank you!" I quickly grabbed the plastic bag and ran for the elevator, pressing the up button repeatedly. "Char…Charmeleon." The Fire Pokemon awoke slightly in Teal's hands, yawning slightly. "Oh! I'll take my Pikachu out! And my Vulpix. I haven't been paying much attention to my Vulpix, which kinda sucks."
I took out my Pokeballs, throwing them gently, "Wee! Come on out, hehe!"
My Vulpix and Pikachu came out, looking at me. "Look at the third floor! Ooh! Elevator opened!" I sang gently and waltzed into the small space. "Char-Charmeleon!" The Pokemon stirred again, gently, and shook itself awake. "What's that stupid buzzing noise?" I asked in confusion. "Garnet, those indicate that we've passed a level." "So shouldn't we be on the third floor already?" "No, Garnet. The third floor probably has all these useless TMs and blah, not like we'll use those." Teal reasoned and shrugged off my querying. "Mkay! We're here!" Teal declared and stepped into the cold tile flooring. She started walking towards the displays of goods, shuffling through her bag. Her Charmeleon dragged sluggishly behind her, but instantly perked up and let out an enraged "Char-meel-meleon!"
"Hm?" I turned my head over to the growling Flame Pokemon, "Are you hungry, Charmeleon?" I offered some Oran Berry flavored Pokemon food. "Ow!" I shrieked, jumping back on instinct. That level devil blew fire into my hands! I dropped the burnt ashes and rubbed the blistering hand on my denim shorts and skin. "Teal! Your stupid Charmeleon burned me!" I scowled at the glaring Pokemon. "Teal!" I hollered again before she came over to me, "What was that, Garnet?"
A red flame dictated our eyeballs.
TEAL'S POV
My Charmeleon jumped forward, snarling at one of the tables. I peered over, and saw three Clefairy dolls, staring back with pink button eyes. Charmeleon opened her wide mouth, and bursts of fire hurled themselves at the pastel Pokémon dolls. Garnet gasped at my Charmeleon's behavior, and I noticed the stares coming from the customers as the Ember attack burned the Clefairy dolls to a crisp. "Char!" my starter Pokémon screeched once the plush toys were nothing but blackened Clefairy.
"Wow…" I mumbled, staring at my apparently angered Charmeleon. "I guess Charmeleon really hates Clefairy…" "Charmeleon!" she huffed in agreement. Garnet stared at the charred dolls, her jaw dropping open.
"Gosh, Teal! Your stupid Charmeleon burned all those Clefairy dolls!" she ranted. "Well, except for that one by the corner over there, but like, your Charmeleon has a huge temper! Jeez! Control her!" I rolled my eyes at the red-haired girl, folding my arms and blocking out the endless rambles.
"Oh, hush, Garnet. They're just Clefairy dolls. I stopped playing with them when I was five." I snapped at her. Garnet huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest as we escalated up to the next floor.
"Teal! Teal!" Garnet squealed at me, jumping up and down like a little kid. "Let's go take a picture with the photo booth!" she grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me towards the booth. "Guess I have no choice, eh?" I muttered as we climbed into the booth. Garnet happily clapped her hands, and proceeded to punch in the settings.
"Oh my gosh!" Garnet squeaked as she saw the photo. "I didn't think the camera got my sneeze!"
"Or my cross-eyes." I laughed. In the picture was Garnet and I, the former in the middle of a sneeze while my eyes were crossed. I happily ripped the paper along the jagged edge, until I had two copies of the photo. I offered one to Garnet, who took it with pleasure.
"I'm keeping this in my bag!" Garnet chirped as she placed it in one of the pockets. I took mine and folded it in two, tucking it into a small pouch on the side of my faded gray bag.
"I wanna evolve my Vulpix, like, really badly!" Garnet announced as we arrived on the next floor. "I hear um, a Fire Stone evolves Vulpix into Ninetales, and you can buy them here!"
"Yeah…" I said, looking around at the store's selection of evolutionary stones. I absentmindedly rubbed my thumb against the Water Stone necklace around my neck when my gaze lay upon the aqua-colored stone.
"Where are all the Fire Stones?" Garnet squeaked, looking frantically through the glass box. "Oh, we're sorry, miss!" the young woman at the counter apologized. "We're all out of Fire Stones…"
"That's alright," I shrugged. "Vulpix can wait until later to evolve." Garnet groaned in frustration, and she tugged at my sleeve. "Teaal!" she whined. "I want to evolve my Vulpix right now!" "Well, you can't do that, tomato-head!" I retorted. Garnet huffed at her new nickname, and snapped her fingers impatiently.
"However," the woman cut in, "There have been rumors that there's a Fire Stone in the cave north of here. If you two wish to go there, you may." Garnet immediately froze, and her mouth opened and closed like a Magikarp.
"A-a c-c-cave…?" she stuttered. The worker nodded her head, and Garnet squeaked in fear, grabbing onto my gray jacket. "T-T-Teal!" I brushed my bangs out of my eyes, and took a deep breath, giving Garnet a pat on the back.
"Let's go, tomato-head."
GARNET'S POV
"I'm not going in there." I stated firmly, my voice wobbling slightly. "Oh, come on! It's just a cave, and I'll be with you the entire time!" Teal tried persuading me to enter that death hole they call a cave. I took my Pokegear, expertly running my trembling fingers over the tiny buttons, my message came out like this, "Mrlani, I don wna go ti rtg acave,!"
It was originally supposed to say "Melani, I don't want to go into the cave!" Luckily enough, Melani understands what I like to now call, The National Garnetex. I could've just come back to the Department Store later on, right? Oh, stupid me, being so impatient. "Teal! Let's go to the store again later on! Surely they'll have a Fire Stone in the next week, at the most. Heh?"
"Nope. They said they're having trouble finding 'em, so we might as well give it a shot. Now let's go." Teal shoved me towards the dirty entrance.
"Ew!" I gagged a tad bit, "What's that horrid smell?" I wrinkled my nose, shoving my hand over my mouth. "Eh, probably Zubat poop." Teal shrugged. "Okay, Vulpix, light the way with some fire." I gasped out in a nasally voice. "Vul-Vulpix!" It gave a small cry before releasing a medium-sized flame. "Teal, seriously. How can you not be bothered by this horrid smell?" I stared into the dimly lit eyes in frustration. "Eh, maybe I'm immune to it. My grandpa's Crobat once laid an egg, and it hatched into a Zubat that pooped everywhere." I gagged, clenching my throat for dramatic effect.
I fumbled out my repel and sprayed it on twice. "Guh," I grunted and took timid, small steps. "Alright, team! Let's go!" I released all my Pokeballs, "Now, my lil' hun bunches, go find mama a Fire Stone for Vulpix!"
"Ivyy-saur!"
"Hor-seeaa!"
"Pika, pika!"
"Vulll-pix!"
"Kay, Vulpix," I paused, looking quickly outside of the cave for a long branch or twig. I picked one up close to the entrance, almost slipping on the disgusting Zubat poop. I may hate my gorgeous heels, but they're gorgeous, and cost money, so I'm using them as long as my feet are comfy in them. Well, comfy enough. Well, not, but I'm using it until it breaks.
"You do realize that the store had a Thunder Stone for your Pikachu, too, right?" Teal pointed out. "Um, really…?" I scratched my forehead in embarrassment, "Woops. But whatever, Pikachu's the strongest of the bunch, then my lovely Ivysaur, Vulpix, and Horsea, I'm supposing. Pikachu can wait. Fire stone, must get." I pointed in a random direction, wiggling my very much not flexible eyebrows.
TEAL'S POV
I dug through the rocks, cringing at the dust gathering underneath my fingernails. Ugh. I thought, making a mental note to scrub them clean once I got back to civilization. "Char?" my Charmeleon asked me, as if saying, 'Why are we here anyways?' I brushed my hands each other and rubbed the top of her head. "Garnet wants a Fire Stone, and I figured we could do some training here." I shrugged. Charmeleon growled, and used Ember on one of the rocks. My Sandshrew timidly curled up to my newly evolved Fearow. After it had defeated a wild Golbat with no problem, it started glowing, and the tiny Spearow become a Fearow. I was already in love with the speed and strength.
Charmeleon eyed Fearow with slight jealousy, and I stifled a snicker. Tossing away a stray rock, I said, "Don't worry, Charmeleon. You'll evolve soon enough!" Charmeleon responded with a determined 'Char-Charmeleon!'
"H-Have y-you found a F-F-Fire Stone, yet?" Garnet came up to me, her Ivysaur and Pikachu attempting to console her. She was visibly shaking, fear written across her face.
"Nope." I reported in a monotone voice. Garnet pursed her lips, and glanced over at her Vulpix, who was burrowing through the rocks.
"O-okay." She replied, and for a moment I was reminded of my Sandshrew, who was curled up in a tight ball next to Fearow.
"Char!" I whipped my head around at the sudden cry, and a blinding white light met my gaze. I squinted my eyes, adjusting to the light surrounding my Charmeleon. Garnet let out a gasp, exclaiming, "T-Teal! Your Charmeleon!" "It's evolving!" I triumphed, smiling brightly. I loved Charizard. I always thought it looked so strong and awesome, and now I had one.
"Charizard!" my starter Pokémon growled, flapping her wings with pride. I bit back a squeal of joy, and promptly gave my Charizard a hug. "Good job, girl!" I praised warmly. "You've grown so much since you defeated Garnet's Bulbasaur back in Pallet Town!"
"Hey!" I heard a cry of protest from Garnet. "You had the type advantage, lotion-head!" "Sand?" the timid noise from my Sandshrew made me spin around to see my ground-type Pokémon drop a Fire Stone. It hit the floor with a tiny plip, and Garnet immediately raced over to pick up the Fire Stone, sending Sandshrew scurrying into my arms.
GARNET'S POV
I grabbed the disks I have gotten. TM17 (Protect), from the Department Store. A man had taught my Ninetales Flamethrower, already, I found him in a secluded corner in a busy street. It was only about 2500P, and I found a rare Overheat TM, not found, really, in Kanto. Lucky me, right? I gave my Ninetales the Protect TM and the Overheat TM. I wasn't really sure what to do, and I did want to watch, really. I fell asleep, however.
"Hehe! Yay! It's my turn first!" I excitedly gathered my hair to one side and reached for three Pokeballs. "Hiyas Erika!" I hollered at the Gym Leader.
"Hm, well, Pikachu, your turn!" I looked at the Tiny Mouse Pokemon move towards the rectangle box provided. "Victreebel, come on out." Erika said gently. "Mkay, so, uh! Thunderbolt, let's go!" I pointed towards the squash-like plant Pokemon. It looked that way, merged with a Venus Fly Trap.
"P-Pikaaa..!"
"Victreebel, PoisonPowder!" Erika's eyes narrowed slightly, and the squash fly trap thing released a deep purple haze. "Oi, Oi! Try, to like.. Go out of its reach.." I knew it was probably the stupidest thing I've ever said during a battle. The purple fog had evened out and was practically surrounding the Pikachu everywhere. "Pi..ika!" It cried out and wriggled around, trying to avoid the immense pain and discomfort. "I guess I have to use this.." I sighed, grabbing an Antidote quickly. "Pikachu, come here.." I gestured calmly, the poisoned Pokemon staggering and coughing slightly. I opened the tight cap, pouring the liquid down my Pikachu's mouth. A few seconds have passed.
"P..Pi..Pika!" It grinned slightly, "Alright, Pikachu, use Discharge!" I giggled slightly, watching the powerful electricity go to the Victreebel. I wonder if it paralyzed it, hah, doubt it. But yet again, I'm usually always wrong. This is one of those times. "Aw! Pffft, yeah, Pikachu!" I cried out, punching an arm in the air, "Use Thunderbolt again and finish it off!"
A man dressed casually in a striped red and yellow shirt took two steps forward. "Victreebel is unable to battle, Pikachu is the victor."
Excuse me? Weren't those referees supposed to be all fancy with a tucked in black and white pin striped shirt? With a cap? And a whistle? And slacks? And dress shoes? Hrmph! Way to kill the moment.
I looked down at the puffing Pikachu, it seemed out of breath and unbalanced. "Oh, poor baby!" I kneeled down, hugging the pudgy arms slightly. "You were great, Pikachu!" The red laser light absorbed the exhausted Pokemon. In exchange, I grabbed my Ivysaur Pokeball, calling its entrance. "Tangela, your turn." Erika stated.
To be completely out of the subject, I wonder if the TMs I used on Ninetales were a success. Hopefully they were.
"-nstrict!"
"Wah?" I yelled out immediately. I focused my blurry eyes and saw long creeping vine-like tentacles going to reach around for the Ivysaur. "Quick, Vine Whip!" The vines quickly sprouted out and immediately began struggling to fight and swat away the grabbing vines. "Never mind, jump up and use Leech Seed before the vines can get ya!"
"Ivvyy!" Its uneven cry echoed slightly when it jumped up, somewhat unbalanced from the different motions of the vines. "Vine Whip, hurry!"
Vines emerged from my beloved Ivysaur, and I saw the effects of the Constrict wear off into the Tangela wincing. "Now use PoisonPowder!" Once again, a purple haze expanded out to fit the exterior of the room. "Um, use your Razor Leaf to finish it off!" The sharp leaves took flight towards the poisoned Tangela quickly, almost incredibly. "Awesomeee!" I did a quick dance and went to hug my Ivysaur, "You were amazing!" I stood up, dusting the invisible lint away from my shorts. The referee, still in his horrid shirt, announced out, "Tangela is unable to battle. Ivysaur is the victor."
"Can you battle Vileplume, Ivysaur?"
"Ivy!" A determined face. Plus an Ivysaur. Battle time.
"Vileplume, use Mega Drain!" Well, I'm doomed. "Um, Ivysaur, PoisonPowder..?" I slurred out unconfidently. "Fine, Vileplume, use PoisonPowder, too!" This was just a wonderful poisonous battle, today, ain't it? I saw both Pokemon brush the PoisonPowder off as if it were nothing. "Now quickly use Petal Dance!" Before my mind fully comprehended what had happened, I saw lovely rose petals surround my Ivysaur, "Oh! Rosess! I love roses!"
"Garnet, it's gonna confuse your Ivysaur!" Teal warned out, annoyed and anxious at the same time.
Too late.
My Ivysaur began staggering slightly, its eyes dilated and unfocused, "Ugh, Ivysaur, return!" I whispered to the Pokeball, "You were great, buddy."
"Alright, Ninetales, I choose you!" A luxurious and beautiful Ninetales gracefully entered the battle arena. "Awesome!" I admired its beautiful lush tail. Looks fluffy!
"Sleep Powder!" Erika quickly gave the command, not a meer second after my Ninetales gave its lovely entrance. "Protect!" A turquoise color shimmering haze surrounded the slightly curled Ninetales. "Confuse Ray, quick!" It released its Protect, quickly jumped in the air, in of course, the most graceful manner possible, and shot out a sickly green ball of magic and confusion. Oh yes.
"Hehe, yes!" I saw the Confuse Ray, a success, on the dizzy Vileplume. "Finish it off with an extremely powerful Overheat!" A gigantic explosion occurred, a flurry of red, orange, burning fire, something like a bomb, too.
"Vileplume is unable to battle. Garnet is the victor!"
"Yay!" I hugged the Ninetales with affection, "You rocked! You evolved! You ate your TMs and behaved!" I cried out. I quickly poked the Ninetales with the Pokeball, it returning into it quickly. My eyes sought out Teal, finding her jumping over the border to come and hug me, "It's my turn next! Was it easy for you?"
"Nope!" I sang happily.
The all-hailed Erika walked up to me calmly, "Oh! I must concede defeat. You are remarkably strong! I must confer you to the Rainbow Badge." She gave me rainbow colored flower-like badge before handing in something that was about 3000 Pokedollars. "Thanks!" I bowed somewhat to Erika, who was already on her way to either go to sleep, or heal her Pokemon.
MELANI'S POV
I watched in dread as Auburn boarded the ship, my eyes starting to get moist with tears. "Cu?" I had forgotten my Cubone was still out of his Pokeball from the gym battle. I looked down at him and smiled. "Let's go to the Pokemon Center so I can heal you all up," I sniffed and got up from the bench I was sitting on. I returned Cubone to his Pokeball and made my way to the Pokemon Center. As Nurse Joy healed my Pokemon, I looked around and spotted Nikki and Nalani, the two other girls who I shared a room with when Auburn and I stayed here.
"Hey guys!" I greeted as I walked over to them.
"Oh, hey uh... Auburn? Or were you Melani? Well anyway we have to go. We just were in Kanto to visit some relatives. So sorry, buh-bye!" Nikki waved her hand and grabbed her luggage, and then followed her sister out the door. "Okay then..." I sighed and turned back to Nurse Joy. My Pokeballs were neatly placed on the counter next to her.
"Thank you," I told her as I took my Pokemon back. "Now what?" I asked myself as I set my things down on a small table. Garnet and Teal were probably not too far. I quickly grabbed my bag and began rummaging through it for my Pokegear.
Garnneet! I need to find you guys x3 Auburn had to leave because of her stupid dad ): I should have just stayed with you guys and have Auburn stay with us. Soooo where are you guys?
I quickly sent the text hoping for Garnet to reply quickly.
MELANII! We're in Celadon right now. Hurry up and get heeree! Hehe!
As soon as I finished reading her message, I tossed my Pokegear back in my bag and ran out of the PokeCenter. Walking to Celadon would take too long, so hopefully there was some other form of transportation. I began walking about the city, scanning my eyes for any kind of bus or trolley thing. Soon enough I spotted a small little bus and ran over to it. It was pretty empty, so I got a seat up front.
"And where are you headed to?" The driver asked me.
"Oh, to Celadon," I told him. He nodded and turned back around. A few more minutes passed before he began driving. As we drove along, I looked out the window at the scenery I would usually be looking at if I were traveling with Auburn, Garnet, and Teal. Then I began to drift off and sure enough, fell asleep. Later, a sudden jerk woke me up as we arrived in Celadon. I jumped up, payed the driver a small tip, and ran out of the bus.
"Whoa... Celadon is much bigger than Vermillion," I said quietly to myself. Garnet told me in a later message to meet by the Pokemon Center, so I headed towards it. As I made my way, I began to make out the forms of my two friends. "Garnet! Teal!" I called out to them. They both turned and I raced over to hug them.
"Remind me never to leave you two again. It was kind of boring without Teal's Charmeleon lighting things on fire."
"Make that Teal's Charizard," Teal corrected me proudly. "She evolved? Awesome!" I congratulated her. "Yeah, yeah, we can catch up on all of this stuff over lunch. Now let's go," Garnet tugged on both of our sleeves and pointed to a cafe down the road. "Okay, I'm hungry too. That bus ride was long," I told them. "Have you guys been to that big department store here?"
"Yup, it had everything!" Garnet exclaimed. "Well, except a Fire Stone." She glared sadly into the air. "She needed to one to evolve Vulpix, but we found one in a cave, thanks to my Sandshrew," Teal said. "Oh, cool. Well we're here, so let's go eat."
"I agree. This place looks good," Garnet licked her lips as if she were a hungry beast, and we all walked into the cafe laughing.
There it is, folks. Longest chapter for Across Kanto so far, I think. NO ONE EVEN READS THIS. LULL. x3