I don't own Pokémon. Sorry for taking so long for updating, I'm behind on all my stories.
Amy scowled as she headed towards the Dream Yard. She had just arrived in Striaton City, which was massive compared to Nuvema Town, and had healed up to battle the Gym. When she got there, the Gym Leaders wouldn't even look at her. When she demanded a battle, a red haired man named Chili grudgingly agreed and defeated both Snivy and Lillypup. Without any effort, he simply sent out this little fire monkey he called Pansear and wiped out her entire team. Snivy didn't stand a chance against the Fire type and Lillypup wasn't strong enough to fight.
"You aren't raising your team at all," He told her. He shook his head sadly. "And you had such potential. But you're just like every novice. You find your favorite Pokémon and you stop caring about the others."
His words still stung and Amy grumbled as she wandered around the Dream Yard. Lillypup was scampering beside her, happy as could be as it bounded left and right. She wondered if Chili was right. She hadn't battled much with Lillypup, instead relying on Snivy for all her battles. She sighed and Lillypup scampered over in concern. She reassuringly stroked its head and smiled at the small Pokémon and wandered to where the other trainers were practicing.
One of the trainers called over, "Hey, want to battle? It's just for practice." Amy looked over and held in a sigh. She knew she needed to, even if it would take a lot of work.
Instinctively she reached for Snivy's Pokeball but Chili's words rang in her ears. Sliding the ball back on her belt, she looked down at Lillypup. "You up for this?" She asked it. A confident yip from Lillypup was all the answer she needed as they prepared for battle.
Amy giggled slightly as she listened to Lillypup quietly snoring. It had battled most of the afternoon, and had surprised Amy by taking on most of the trainers Pokémon and easily winning. It was a lot stronger than before but after four or five battles, it had been exhausted and Snivy had taken over. Now, Snivy was seated comfortably on her shoulder as Lillypup rested.
As she sat there, she started to stare at the clouds and doze s bit when a voice called over, "Excuse me!"
Amy sat up straight, looking around for the source of the voice. "Excuse me young lady," A woman, around the age of Amy's mother, ran forward, panting as she approached Amy. "Are you the trainer with the Lillypup that was battling earlier? And with that Grass type?"
Amy nodded slowly and the woman tugged at her arm. "Please, I need your help. I'm a Pokémon Breeder and two people, a man and a woman just stole one of my Pokémon, a Pansear." Amy grimaced at her memory of the Pokémon but the woman didn't seem to notice. "They ran off into the construction zone. I'm not a battler; I'm not strong enough to get it back. Please, I need your help."
Snivy was anxious to go, obviously wanting to help the Pokémon and Lillypup had woken to the woman's distress and was whining, gently licking the woman's hand in an attempt to help. Amy forced herself to her feet and told her, "Of course but this is my first time in the Dream Yard. Where did you say they ran off to?" The woman turned and hurriedly led Amy to a large and seemingly abandoned construction lot.
Snivy and Lillypup both jumped ahead, intent on finding the thieves but the woman called Amy back. "Before you go, here," She thrust a Pokeball into Amy's hand. "It's a water type; if Pansear get's violent it may help you subdue it."
Amy nodded and quickly thank the woman, taking off after her Pokémon. The woman watched her for a moment before turning to address the empty area. "You are her friend. You should go after her."
Bianca emerged from behind her, looking sheepish. "Thought that you didn't notice me." The woman simply looked at her, waiting. Bianca shook her head. "I can't go with her. I can't help Amy; I'm not strong enough. My Pokémon are but I'm not."
"Maybe you are. Maybe you just won't give yourself a chance. Who is your partner?" She asked her. Bianca called Tepig out to show her. The woman smiled. "Well, perhaps this partner will help you grow stronger. Now go on; your friend needs you."
Bianca looked at the Pokeball, seeing the face inside snile back. With a smile and nod, Bianca ran off after Amy with Tepig in tow.
Amy and Bianca made their way through the grassy clearing as quietly as possible. They hadn't seen the two thieves anywhere but they also had found a declining amount of Pokémon as the made their way deeper into the construction zone. Their Pokémon were on high alert, quickly dealing with any frightened Pokémon that tried to take out their fear out on the two humans invading their territory.
Splitting up, Amy and Bianca started searching around the thieves among the support pillars. Both scoured around the rubble, disappointment building as they didn't find any sign of the thieves. As the sun started to set Amy was about ready to throw in the towel when Bianca gave a small triumphant cry and waved Amy over. She pointed to a small clearing where Amy could barely make out two figures in the fading light. Both were standing in the middle of the clearing, cursing loudly and focussing on something.
Bianca stared, slowly losing her elation of finding the thieves as she realised that this now meant that she had to confront them. Amy was moving closer to the two, urgently waving for her friend to catch up. Bianca gave a viable swallow as she followed Amy towards the two in the field.
The two were dressed in gray, the material reflecting the remaining light as they focussed on a smaller object between them. "Come on!" One snarled, the harsh voice identified as male. "How hard can it be, just to get the stupid dust?"
"I'm just tired of hunting for this thing," The other snapped, the voice female and tired. "It will give us the dust, now won't you, you worthless Munna."
The creature gave a pitiful mewl and tried to run but the two stopped it before it made it any distance. "Oh no you don't!" The woman snarled. "We worked too hard to catch you and I won't let you get away without giving us the Dream Dust. Now give it to me!" With that, she lashed out and kicked the Munna.
Amy gasped and Bianca gave a muffled cry, her hands flying to her mouth. The man knelt down and shook the creature. "Well?" He demanded it, "Where is it? Why won't you just give us the Dream Dust!" When it whimpered and struggled, he drew back and hit it. "Just keep going," He told his partner. "It will give it to us eventually."
Amy was shocked at the cruelty of the two. She heard motion beside her and was shocked as Bianca, no longer frozen in fear, charged forward shouting, "Stop it!"
The two adults looked up, shocked as the ten year old blonde flew forward and knocked the woman away from the Munna. She turned to the man and punched him straight in the face, her left fist smacking right into his mouth. The man let go, falling back and holding his mouth in shock.
Amy ran up, calling Snivy and Lillypup to her as she hurried to join her friend. Tepig was already there, snorting and staring down the two adults who were now both on their feet and snarling. Amy was shocked as she saw them, both standing in front of her in Team Plasma uniforms.
"Brats," The woman growled. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Stopping you from abusing that poor Pokémon!" Bianca snapped. "I saw your organization. You both are disgusting hypocrites! How can you claim to want what's best for Pokémon, or want to liberate Pokémon from evil trainers when you yourselves attack a harmless wild Pokémon!"
"You have a big mouth kid," The man snarled. "Let's see how good you are at a battle." The man threw a Pokeball in the air and in a flash of light a small purple Bug Pokémon was out and ready to battle.
Bianca's Pokedex flashed as well as it identified the bug Pokémon as a Venipede. "No problem, right Tepig?" Bianca called out. Tepig shot fire out of its nose in agreement and stood ready to battle.
The woman looked at Amy with a malicious grin. "Looks like that leaves me to deal with you sweetie," The woman told her, "I think that one of my "liberated" partners would be best." She threw the ball in the air and out came a somewhat disgruntled Pansear.
Amy winced as she saw the Pansear and the memory of her earlier battle became all to clear. "Snivy, sit this one out," She called over. "Lillypup, you ready for this?"
Lillypup gave a bark in agreement and ran ahead. "Ok Lillypup, Tackled!" Amy called.
"Not so fast! Pansear; use Incinerate!" The woman shouted. Pansear tucked its head, cowed as it spat the stream of fire at Lillypup.
"Lillypup!" Amy cried as the fire licked its way across her Pokemon's fur. "Get back out of range. Wait until it stops and use Bite!"
Lillypup gave a tiny whine and stumbled back. Pansear stopped attacking and was shocked when Lillypup charged in to use Bite. It fell back, the blow knocking it away and Lillypup failed to latch onto its opponent to do any serious damage.
"Pansear, while it's close use Scratch attack!" The Team Plasma woman yelled. The Pansearhesitated before appologetically bringing its arm down.
The Scratch attack sent Lillypup flying. "No!" Amy cried out as she picked it up. Lillyup gave a half yip, half whimper as it passed out. The damage from this battle, on top of all the other battles it had fought that day were too much for it. Amy looked down worriedly as she looked at Snivy.
'Grass won't do me any good in this fight,' Amy thought as she looked at Lillypup. 'And I don't have any Potions to heal Lillypup. I can't win this.'
Amy's hand reached involuntarily to her belt as she felt another Pokeball on it. Confused, she pulled it out and recognised the face in it. After a second's hesitation, she threw the ball and out burst a small blue monkey Pokémon. "Pour," it announced happily as it landed gracefully.
Amy looked at the small monkey, which appeared to be a water type counterpart to Pansear. She knelt down to look it in the eye. "I'm not your trainer," Amy told it, "But I need your help. That Pokémon there is your brother, and it needs you. That woman is hurting him and other Pokémon with his help. I'm not strong enough to beat him alone. Do you think you can help me?"
Panpour looked at her for a moment, then slowly inclined its head. "Pour," It stated firmly, squaring off against its brother. Amy looked at the woman, her confidence coming in waves as the battle started.
"Incinerate Pansear," The woman ordered and fire shot out of the Pokemon's mouth.
"Water Gun," Amy countered. A vast cloud of steam met in response to the attack, and cleared quickly showing neither side injured. "Ok Panpour rush towards him for a Scratch attack!"
"Don't let it get close to you; keep up using Incinerate!" The woman shouted.
"Water Gun and keep running!" Amy ordered, hoping her plan would work. Water Gun and Incinerate met three times after, steam bursts following wherever the attacks went. After the final attack, the field was cloaked in a fine shield of mist.
Amy and the woman were silent, having lost their Pokémon and opponents in the steam cloud. Amy watched for movement, quielty counting to herself as the steam cleared from the darkening field. As the steam cleared, Panasear was standing alone in the middle of the field.
Pansear made a confused sound, swaying and the woman scowled as she looked around. Seeing no sign of Panpour, she grinned and told Amy, "Looks like I win. That thing's run off and you have no Pokémon left."
Amy just smiled smugly. "Are you quite sure about that?" She asked, looking calmly at Pansear, who was breathing very heavily. The woman's eyes followed and widened. "No, you couldn't have..."
A sudden burst of movement came from the bushes as Panpour slashed its hand over Pansear's face, adding another scratch to its injured brother. With a startled cry it fell backwards and Amy called out, "End it Panpour; Water Gun!"
The single burst of water was all that was needed to knock the poor Pokémon out. The woman looked at it with disgust and recalled it to its Pokeball. "Stupid thing," She snarled. "What good are you if you don't win?"
"More than someone like you deserves to find out," Amy snapped. "Snivy!"
There was a snap as a vine from Snivy reached out and grabbed the Pokeball from the woman's hand. She cried out and glared at Amy, looking back to her partner for support. But Amy looked over too and was surprised to see Bianca battling a small rock shaped Pokémon with what appeared to be a green monkey Pokemon. "Come on Pansage you can do it!" She called to it.
"Roggenrolla, show her she's wrong. Use Rock Blast!" He yelled.
The small rock type silently complied, firing rocks from its mouth and slamming them into Pansage. "Pansage no!" Bianca cried out.
Amy thought about intervening but Bianca needed to win this battle on her own. Still, a little advice might help. "Bianca!" She yelled over. "Pansage is a Grass type right? So use a Grass move! It has to know one."
Bianca looked franticly down at her Pokedex. "Umm... Grass type, right. Pansage, try using Vine Whip," She commanded. Pansage lept forward and brought its arm down, the sharp cracking sound following that showed that it scored a hit.
"That won't be enough, Roggenrolla, Tacked attack," The man ordered.
"Dodge it by jumping and hit it with Vine Whip from above," Bianca told Pansage. Pansage complied, striking the Rock Pokémon from above as it barreled towards the small monkey. The second attack barely grazed it but it was still enough to take it down. Without a sound, the Pokémon went down and stayed down.
The man stared at the Pokémon in shock. "No way," He muttered. "How could that happen." Amy wondered it to but it was the female Team Plasma agent who spat the answer.
"You relied on Sturdy you fool!" She snapped. "Sure Rogenrolla could take one hit like that from a stronger Pokémon but its ability only saves it from one strike! Why did you send it to attack?"
"It doesn't matter," The man told her quickly, staring at the girls. "These two beat our Pokémon. But we're still here and I owe that one for this." He fingered his jaw, which was forming into a bruise.
"That's right. And I'm willing to bet that we're even safe from the Pokémon. After all," She sneered. "Pokémon can't attack humans."
Tepig, who was lying down obviously injured, looked up at Bianca with worry. Snivy stood beside Amy, looking murderous but didn't make any agressive actions. The woman was right; Amy and Bianca's Pokémon wouldn't attack a human that didn't hurt them. Bianca looked at Amy with fear starting to show and Amy felt the same dread. These two were bigger than them; they wouldn't be able to beat the two Plasma Grunts.
Just as the Grunts started forward, there was a sudden flash of movement. Suddenly, a massive figure with green hair towared over the two Grunts. "What do you two think you are doing?" He snapped.
The Grunts froze. "L-l-l-lord Ghestias," They managed to stutter out, staring in fear at the man in front of them.
"You two were to report in hours ago. Where have you been!" He glared down at the two. With another flash of movement, he was beside them and ordered, "Get out of here and report back to base now! No delays, and no stupid questions." He waited and then exploded, "THAT MEANS NOW!"
The two Grunts nearly screamed and took off, running as fast as their legs could carry them through the dark field. Then, as suddenly as he had appeared, Ghestias vanished.
Amy and Bianca exchanged a look. "What was that?" Amy wondered as she approached Bianca.
"I'm not sure. But I'm going to check on the Munna. Do you have any Potions?" She asked. Amy showed her the Hyper Potion and Bianca pushed it away. "Besides that? Shoot. I think we need to get it to the Pokémon Centre. Amy, can you give me a hand here?" Amy didn't reply. Bianca turned around sharply. "Amy? I said-"
Bianca froze. Standing in front of Amy was a massive pink Pokémon, which looked to be a large Munna only with different spots and some sort of balloon coming out of its mouth. Bianca stared at it in horror. It looked powerful, angry and ready to take that anger out on the girls as easily as looking at them.
Amy looked at it intently before nodding slowly. "You're a Mursharna, aren't you?" She asked it. "That Munna's your child and you just used your Dream Dust to save it and us, didn't you?"
The Mursharna looked at Amy in surprise before slowly inclining her head. Amy continued, "Your child is hurt. We cannot help it here, and I don't think you can either. But we know a place where it can be safe and healed. And it can return to you, easily as before. Please, let us help it."
The Mursharna looked at Amy oddly, trying to judge what was happening. Snivy approached cautiously and quietly began talking to the Pokémon. It slowly inclined its head again and approached the Munna and Bianca.
Bianca gave a whimper but didn't move, staring down at the injured Munna. The Murshana floated down to its child and made a few gently noises. When the noises were returned, Mursharna floated back up and opened its eyes. Amy hadn't realised before this that her eyes were closed. Now open, they were a glowing pink as she gathere Psychic energy.
The Pokémon all looked startled but didn't move, waiting to see what happened. Amy was shocked when a Pokeball floated out of Bianca's bag and rested into her hand, just on top of Munna. The glow ceased and Bianca stared at the ball in shock. The Mursarna touched the Munna again with a sad sound, looked at Bianca with soulful eyes and slowly floated away.
Amy and Bianca stared in shock as they both stared at the departing Pokémon. Bianca looked at the Pokeball, then the Munna and finally at Amy. "That really just happened, didn't it?"
Amy nodded. "That Munna must want to go with you Bianca. The Mursharna understood that and helped you understand it too. Now hurry up and use that ball; we don't need Munna getting any worse."
Bianca noddeed and touched the ball to Munna. In a short flash of light, it was gone and the ball was settled gently in her hand. "Now I need to get to the Centre," Bianca stated. She paused though, picking up Tepig and looking at her exhausted Pansage. "But how am I going to do that? It's dark and my Pokémon are in no shape to fight. I don't even know how to get back from here."
Amy looked around, equally as lost. Pulling out a Pokeball, she sent out her tired Lillypup. Lillypup stretched and whined and Amy told it, "I know but I need your help. I need you to do an important job for me." Lillypup shot its head up as though snapping to attention. "Bianca needs to be brought back to the Pokémon Centre that we healed at this morning and her Pokémon are too tired to fight. Can I count on you to keep her safe and guide her back."
Lillypup gave an affermitive bark and raced over to Bianca. Bianca let Lillypup sniff her hand while she recalled Tepig and Pansage. "Ok Lillypup," She told it with a giggle as its tongue tickled her hand. "Lead the way."
Lillypup bounded off with Bianca in pursuit as Amy watched them leave. Snivy made to follow but Amy stopped her. "We need to see that woman, right?" She reminded her. "Pansear and Panpour are hers. I think she gave Pansage to Bianca so she should be fine but we need to head back to her. Panpour, do you know the way?"
Panpour nodded and led Amy downa different path from Bianca's, at a much gentler pace. Amy and Snivy followed, soon disapearing into the night.
The woman was happy to see Amy, after she had woken up from waiting in the same spot the two had met. "I see you found them then, and you saved Pansear. Thank you so much." The woman smiled as she took the Pokeball back.
"Thank Panpour, it fought with its brother to bring him back," Amy told her. "Without it, I wouldn't have managed to save him."
The woman looked at Panpour in surprise. "Really? Well that is a shock. Panpour has never fought a battle in his life."
That surprised Amy. "Really?"
The woman nodded, though it was strangely happy. "I had hoped this was the case. It seems Panpour has chosen you to be his trainer."
Amy looked shocked and looked at the two Pokémon. Snivy glanced at Panpour and shrugged, while the water monkey looked quite pleased with itself. "Are you certain? I'd hate to take a companion from you."
The woman shook her head. "I'm a Pokémon Breeder. I raise the Pokémon and then release them or give them to Trainers. I think Panpour's parents will be proud to know it paired with such a good trainer." Looking up at the sky, she told Amy, "It's very late. Panpour will show you the way to the Pokémon Centre. You best get to bed."
Amy looked very startled but slowly agreed. Panpour patiently led the way, with Snivy having jumped on Amy's shoulder to catch a nap. The woman watched her go and help up Pansear's Pokeball. "You too shall find a trainer. And if they are anything like those two girls, you, your brother and your sister, will do great things in Unova. I just hope they are ready for it."
Bianca was waiting for Amy in the Pokémon Centre, looking relieved as soon as she came through the door. "What took you so long? The Pokémon are almost healed."
"I was returning that Pansear to the woman who gave you Pansage. She told me that Panpour here wants to come along with me." Amy told Bianca.
"Wait, return Pansear?" Bianca asked. "I didn't give her back Pansage! I'm a Pokémon thief!"
Amy laughed and told her, "Relax B, she gave me Panpour and it sounded like she gave you Pansage too. She said that she wanted them to go with good trainers. How's Lillypup doing?"
Bianca grinned. "Great. It got me here real fast. And it's tough too! Even as tired as it was, it fought off three Pokémon so I could get here safe and sound. Here, it's all rested up." Amy took the ball with a grin and then gave a huge yawn. "It's getting late, isn't it? I'm heading to bed. You should too." Amy nodded and talked to the nurse about lodgings.
The nurse was kind enough to see Amy to her room. It turned out that rooms were free in Pokémon Centre but she was going to need to pay for any food she or her Pokémon ate. Amy shrugged at this, not really surprised as she settled into her room with her team. All three were out of their Pokeballs and curled up with Amy. Human and Pokémon alike were exhausted and without thoughts of anything else, all four curled up on the bed and dropped straight to sleep.
The next morning as Amy woke up in her clothes, she did so with a bit of surprise. She didn't remember where she was but quickly calmed down after seeing her Pokémon beside her on the bed. She gently woke each of them up and went to see the nurse about what she did for food.
The nurse showed her where the cafeteria was, which was completely automated and would dispense food when the right amount of money was given. Amy was shocked at how much one meal was just for her, let alone how much it was for each of her Pokémon. It was almost three hundred dollars for one meal. At three meals a day, she only had enough money to eat for just over three days.
The nurse smiled sadly at her surprise. "Why do you think there aren't that many people who travel as trainers?" She asked Amy. "Most people can't afford to take care of more than one Pokémon, and how can you feed more Pokémon without a steady income? You have to be a very sucessful trainer to afford to keep travelling, and only if you constantly battle." Amy nodded slowly, the weight of her realisation just sinking in. The nurse left shortly after, leaving Amy alone as she and Pokémon ate.
Bianca joined her, also shocked at how much it cost for food. "Doesn't matter though," She told Amy. "Look what I fond last night." Bianca held up two large, glittering specks of metal, making Amy gasp in shock. "Those goons last night dropped them. Cheren told me they're Nuggets and sell for five thousand , this one's for you."
Amy gingerly took the rock of gold, shocked by the weight and even more by the value Bianca had passed on to her. Bianca continued, "Cheren's heading over to the Dream Yard to see if he can find any more. But he's pretty sure that there won't be any more. Did you know that if you have a battle with another trainer with a liscence, the loser has to pay the winner money? Cheren warned me about that this morning, I figured that I'd better tell you about it."
Amy, her mouth full, just nodded and let Bianca talk throughout breakfast. She was surprised when her blonde friend finished before she did, and Bianca quickly cleared her place before standing. "Well, I'm going to head off. I need to train my team some more before I challenge the Gym here. See you later Amy." Amy waved and Bianca bounded off happily.
Amy slowly picked at her own meal, watching her Pokémon eat. She noticed that Lillypup was eating away from the others and was watching Bianca leave with a sad look. It slowly finished its meal, being the last of her three Pokémon to be done eating. Amy was worried as she led her Pokémon out of Centre, thanking the nurse on her way out.
Amy approached the Gym, having trained her team the day before. The only Pokémon who hadn't trained much was Panpour but it seemed to be as strong as Snivy already, so she figured she'd be fine. With her Pokémon out and ready, Amy took a deep breathe and prepared for her rematch.
It was early afternoon by the time the battle was over and Amy triumphantly left the Striaton Gym, clutching her Trio Badge with pride. She had beaten Chili, without her Pokémon becoming too damaged. Snivy was able to easily take down his Lillypup and Lillypup and Panpour had alternated to take out his Pansear. Chili had been pleased and impressed by the win, as had his brothers. They had given her a TM as well, the move Work Up. Amy didn't know if she would use it but she thanked them all the same.
She prepared to leave town, healing her Pokémon in the Centre and stopping at the store to sell her Nugget. The storekeeper had been shocked to see her with one but he didn't try and cheat her, offering her the full five thousand on a separate card and advising her on travel goods. Amy did by three more potions but didn't think she would need anything else. Thanking the man, she left and called out her Pokémon as they headed for the road.
Just before they left town, Amy heard Bianca approaching the Gym with her team. She stopped and watched as her friend nervously approached the gym, acting uncertain of any chance of victory. Amy heard a slight whine beside her as Lillypup watched, edging closer to Bianca anxiously.
Amy watched Bianca struggle with her fears in front of the Gym and Lillypup's obvious desire to join her. "You can go with her if you want," Amy told it. Lillypup looked up at her, startled. "I told you that when you joined me that you were free to leave at any time. You've been a good companion and you are a good friend but you don't owe me anything. If you want to travel with Bianca, feel free."
Lillypup looked up at her, pain in its eyes. It wanted desperately to go with Bianca but didn't want to leave Amy after travelling this far with her. It looked back at Snivy and Panpour, neither offering any advice to its dilemma. Indecisive, it kept looking back from Amy to Bianca, finally settling its gaze on Bianca.
Amy knelt down, stroking Lillypup's head and smiling sadly. "Here," She held out her hand, Lillypup's Pokeball in it. The Pokémon delicately picked it up in its mouth and stood there, confused. "I told you you got to choose. You give that ball to whatever trainer you wish." She stood up and starting walking out of town with Snivy and Panpour beside her.
Lillypup looked at her, waiting for a few moments before uncertainly trotting over to Bianca. Amy watched from a distance, smiling sadly as she wiped her eyes. Snivy hopped on her right shoulder, Panpour on her left and the three set off for the next length of their journey.