Chapter Five: Who's That Pokémon?
The sound of HootHoots and Kricketots start echoing through the woods as the sun steadily sets making way for the bright stars. Rina takes her map out of her pocket and presses a button on the side of it. The holographic image pops up in front of her. She examines the route they are currently on as she sits down on the ground next to the fire. Michio comes back from the forest with some sticks and limbs in hand. Seiji and Daisuke start putting together one of the tents that were packed away in Rina's bag of infinite holding.
Michio adds some more wood to the fire and sits down next to Rina. He unclips a couple of his Pokéballs from his belt and releases them. Vapor comes out of his ball and stretches, pushing his front paws into the ground. Rina holds up her Pokédex to the Vaporeon. It blinks and records Vaporeon's data. Slash pops out of his Pokéball doing a backflip and lands behind Vapor. Rina moves her Pokédex towards the Sandslash. When he sees the device blink signaling that it is recording his data, he begins making poses in front of it.
Rina giggles and pets both of the them on the head. She reaches in her pocket and hands them each a Pokémon treat. Michio starts setting up bowls of food and water for each of his Pokémon. As he pours the water, he unclips another ball and releases his third Pokémon. A small white Pokemon appears out of the ball and lets out a yawn. Its head contains what looks like a green bowl with a light red horn sticking out of it. Rina looks it over with a curious look.
"I've never seen that Pokémon before."
She holds her Pokédex up to it and it blinks, "Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts is the pre-evolved form of Kirlia. It can use the horns on its head to read human emotions. Ralts rarely shows itself to humans, but may occasionally approach when it senses positive or happy feelings."
She blinks in confusion. Her gaze moves from her Pokédex to him as a perplexed look forms on her face. She ponders for a moment as he finishes setting up his Pokémon's food. He sits down next to her getting ready to release his next Pokemon. He feels her gaze and turns to look at her.
"What?" He says, looking into her eyes.
She looks away and blushes. "Well, you see," she pauses for a moment then continues. "There is something I want to ask you, but I don't know how to."
His heart starts beating rapidly in his chest. 'What does she have to ask me?' "Just spit it out." He crosses his arms in front of his chest.
She starts stammering, "Well, umm…"
"Just say it!" His tone becomes a mixture of irritated and nervous.
"Okay!" Her voices to begins to raise as his tension startles her. "How did someone like you catch a Pokémon like Ralts?"
His face falters as his expressions turns into a blank one. "Nani?"
"Well, from what my Pokédex said, it approaches people with positive energy. You have a tendency to be an asshole." She takes a deep breath to calm herself back down.
"Hey. I'm a positive asshole." He says as a smirk forms on his face.
Seiji and Daisuke's voices start to become loud and argumentative. Rina and Michio stand up and look over at the guys who are yelling at each other. Ralts slinks over towards Michio grabbing onto his leg in fear. It starts whimpering. Michio glares at both of them and walks over towards them. He unclips another Pokéball and releases his next Pokémon. A large bird flies out of the Pokéball and hovers above them.
"What is going on?" Michio asks with an irritated tone.
"He's doing the instructions wrong." Seiji snatches the page out of Daisuke's hand.
"No." Daisuke grabs it back. "You're doing it wrong!"
They continue getting louder as Michio hits both of them on the head. "Will you two stop fighting?! You're acting like children. Now, go sit down, or I'll have Pidgeot pick you up and take you both to the nearest water source and drop you. I hear the lake around here has a Gyarados."
They both stand still and shiver in fear. Rina points her Pokédex at Pidgeot and it starts blinking. "Pidgeot, the Bird Pokémon. The evolved form of Pidgeotto, it can fly at twice the speed of sound at an altitude of nearly one mile. Its outstanding vision allows it to spot splashing Magikarp, even while flying at 3,300 feet."
"I don't think you two want to be dropped from over 3,000 feet in the air. Though, you would definitely be swimming with the Magikarp at that point." Rina says as she nods.
"Now, hand me that." Michio grabs the instructions from them. "I gave you two the easy job. Go sit down over there and keep the fire steady."
They both walk over to the fire pit and sit down with dejected looks on their faces. Daisuke starts picking at the fire with a stick, sulking like a child. Seiji pulls a book out of his bag and starts reading in the dimly lit light from the fire. Rina sits back down and sighs as she looks up at the stars.
Michio releases his last two Pokémon. An Abra and a Haunter come out of their Pokéballs and smile at their trainer. "Haunter, you can go eat. Abra, would you mind helping me with this? Your telekinesis would be very useful to get this done faster."
Haunter floats over towards the campfire. His eyes brighten as he notices Rina sitting there. He stops in mid air next to Rina bringing slightly colder air with him. Rina shivers bringing her hands up to her arms to warm them. She turns her head and makes eye contact with Haunter. Haunter smiles and nuzzles up to her as her face turns white. A chill runs up her spine as she jumps up and screams. She runs away from the campfire as fear fills her. Haunter forms a saddened look on his face as she runs off.
Michio looks up from the tent and sees her run into the woods. He quickly moves over to the fire pit looking at Haunter with a worried look.
'Damn. I forgot that she is afraid of ghost Pokémon!' "Rina-chan!" He runs into the forest after her.
"Should we go after them?" Daisuke asks his brother.
"No. Michio-kun is the best person to help her. You know how much she likes him."
Daisuke nods, "That is true." He pauses then says, "I'm hungry."
Rina looks behind her while running making sure the Haunter wasn't following her. Her right foot catches on an uprooted tree root and she falls forward. Her right knee and her hands catch the ground first, softening her fall as her face hits the dirt. Her vision goes darks for a few moments as the wind gets knocked out of her lungs. As her eyes open, she sees a pink blur pass in front of her.
"Oww…" She pushes herself up with her muddy arms and sits back onto her legs. She looks around as she hears leaves crunch and twigs crackle under something's weight. She braces herself moving back closer to the tree. From between the trees a small, purple Pokémon emerges walking up to her. It smiles at her and makes a low, squeaking sound. She sighs with relief and pulls out her Pokédex.
"Nidoran , the Poison Point Pokémon. Its large ears sense danger. It extends its toxic spikes when angry. The size of its body thorns indicates its toxicity."
"Well, I guess I should be careful with you then." She stands up brushing herself off and stretching. The Nidoran sits down in front of her and continues squeaking. She reaches in her pocket and pulls out a Pokémon treat. She bends down wincing in pain from her fall. She holds out her hand as the Pokémon comes closer to her. He sniffs her hand and takes the treat in between his teeth. He runs back into the surrounding trees and vanishes.
"I guess I really shouldn't carry those with me all the time. I should head back. They're probably worried, and I think I may have hurt Haunter's feelings."
She turns around to head back to the camp as a pink Pokémon forms in front of her. She lets out a surprised yell and almost falls back onto the ground. It has a short, wide snout and big, blue eyes that lock with hers. It is a cute Pokémon whose long, skinny tail contains an oval bulb at the end. It starts making cat like noises and floats around her.
The Pokédex in her hand blinks and says, "There is no data. There still are Pokémon yet to be identified."
"Wow." Her eyes start to radiate excitement as she pushes off her pain. "I wonder what you are." She reaches out to touch the Pokémon as a pink orb forms around it. It continues making cat like noises and waves its three-fingered paws playfully. A pink bubble forms around Rina lifting her into the air. She looks down to see the ground begin to get further and further away.
"Rina-chan!" The sound of Michio's voice echoes through the trees. "Where are you?"
"Michio-kun…" She looks up at the pink Pokémon as it lets her back down on the ground and pops her bubble. It giggles and floats away at such a fast speed that she doesn't have the chance to chase after it.
Michio pushes back branches and bushes still yelling out her name. He hears her respond and follows the sound of her voice. He reaches the area she is and sighs with relief. He looks her over noticing dirt all over her face and clothes. He places his hands on her arms looking into her eyes with concern.
"Are you okay? What happened?" He grips her arms tightly.
"Oww...that hurts." He loosen ups his grip. "I tripped over that root and fell. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing."
"Well, that's not surprising. You are a klutz." He says smiling.
She glares at him then laughs as she playfully kicks him. "We should go back. If you left the fire to them, they may burn the whole forest down." She pauses and says in a sincere tone, "I'll try really hard to not be scared of Haunter. I know he didn't mean it."
"Good. He just likes you a lot."
"I know, but you know why I have my fears. I'll conquer them one day."
They quickly head back to their campsite making sure to not trip over anything else. When they reach camp, they stand there staring in amazement. The tent was set up perfectly with the boy's sleeping bags around the fire. Abra is seen sleeping on top of Michio's sleeping bag while the other Pokémon are chatting amongst themselves and playing. Michio and Rina look at Daisuke and Seiji who are still in the same spots that they left them.
"Wow. I'm guessing you two didn't do this?" She giggles and notices Abra sleeping. She turns to Michio and asks, "Is that the same Abra from before?"
"Yep. He's the same Abra. He doesn't have any desire to evolve so I don't force him."
"Oh. I see. Well, he's still at cute as ever." She sits back down in her earlier spot prompting Daisuke and Seiji to look up from what they're doing.
"What happened to you?" Daisuke asks as he notices the dirt.
"A wild Pokémon came out of nowhere and attacked me. You didn't hear me screaming?" She says in an overly dramatic tone.
"Are you serious?" Seiji asks in a worried tone.
"No. I'm just messing with you." She laughs and actually looks down at her body. The fire reflects across her body revealing the large amounts of dirt and mud still stuck to her. She sighs and stands back up trying to brush herself off more.
"Maybe you should go take a bath. There is a lake nearby." Michio points north of their camp.
"You're probably right. This won't come off. I can wash these clothes off too while I'm at it." She walks over to Vixy and bends down causing her to wince again. "Would you like to go with me? I know you don't like water very much."
The Vulpix shakes its head as a disapproving look forms on her face.
"I can always go with you." Michio says in a joking tone.
Rina stands up and pulls another Pokémon treat out of her pocket throwing it at him. "You're such a Poochyena." She grabs her bag and starts walking in the direction he pointed to before.
"Oh, come on. Can I at least be a Mightyena?" He chases after her catching up.
"No. Don't follow me."
"Fine. Since you know where you're going and all." He says sarcastically as he turns back towards camp.
"Wait. At least show me how to get there. Just don't peek at me." She says as she looks at him.
"You don't have to worry about that. Why would I want to see you naked?"
She doesn't look at him as a glare forms on her face. She goes quiet for the rest of the trip as they trek through the trees. After a couple of minutes of ducking under branches and jumping over fallen trees, they reach an opening in the trees. As she looks past the two trees in front of her as a beautiful lake stands before them. The crescent moon reflects in the crystal blue waters as the small ripples form on the water from the wind.
"Wow. It's so pretty." She looks around and notices a boulder on the side of the lake to her right. "That looks like a great spot." She strides over towards the boulder and places her bag on top of it. She pulls out a towel and sets it on top of the boulder.
Michio starts moving back into the woods. "Umm...I'm going to go back to camp. You should be able to find your way back. If you can't, call me."
Rina nods and yells behind her, "Okay!"
She listens to his footsteps fade until she can't hear them anymore. She takes off her shoes and her socks placing them on a smaller boulder next to the large boulder. She strips off her shirt and shorts placing them on the same boulder. She unhooks her bra looking it over in the pale moonlight. She doesn't see any dirt on it so she places it back in her bag. She pulls down and steps out of her underwear and tosses them on top of her shirt.
She shivers as she steps up to the edge of the water. She places her big toe in the water and quickly pulls it back by the cold feeling moving through her body. 'Damn. It's cold.' She rubs her arms across her breasts to warm them up. She lets down her hair from the ponytail holder keeping it out of her face. She backs up and rushes towards the water at full speed.
"It's now or never." She runs through the shallow water and jumps in fully emerging herself. She resurfaces and shivers more."Oh my Arceus, this is so cold!" She ducks her head back under the water making sure all of her hair is wet. She pops back up and begins washing all of the dirt off.
In the nearby trees, a man looks through his binoculars watching Rina wash the dirt and mud off of her body. He lies flat on the ground underneath some brush amongst the trees. He feels his Pokégear vibrate in his pocket. He looks away from Rina and reaches down pulling out his Pokégear. He holds it up to his face to see that he is receiving a call. He presses the accept button and answers the call.
As he places it up to his left ear he says, "Hello?"
"Hey. Are you still running surveillance on our target?" A woman on the other end says.
"Yes. I followed her from her camp. She was dumb enough to be alone. I have one of my smaller Pokémon keeping watch over the camp. He's been told to come back to warn me if they start to move back towards her."
"If she's alone then why aren't you catching her?"
"Because," he pauses for a minute as he looks back through the binoculars zooming in on her chest, "I'm busy. I'm waiting to catch her while she's vulnerable. Plus, we have to get rid of her companion."
"I'm working on it. You know we can't go back to headquarters without her."
"Yeah. Yeah. Just keep working on setting up traps for him. He's our main concern right now."
Over the phone, he hears her sigh. "Fine, Takeshi-kun. Just keep an eye on her. We don't need them moving this way prematurely."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I have my eye on her." He snickers and thinks to himself, 'And nothing "prematurely" will happen from me.'
"I'll see you back at our campsite. Bye."
"Bye, Kyoko-chan." He hangs up the Pokégear and focuses his attention back to Rina.
Rina swims over to the boulder and stands up, her hair covering her breasts. She reaches into her bag pulling out her shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. She sifts through everything else and finally finds her washcloth. She pours some of the shampoo in her hand and starts washing her hair. She ducks under the water running her fingers through her hair rinsing it out. She pops back up and finishes washing her hair and her body.
She places the bottles back into her bag after drying them off with her towel. She lays the washcloth on the boulder and sinks back down into the water. She closes her eyes as she floats in the water, relaxing. She giggles as she feels fish move underneath her feet.
"Stupid, Michio-kun. How dare he say that he has no reason to want to see me naked." She looks down at her body and starts to frown. "I guess he's just always going to see me as a child."
She looks up at the sky watching the clouds move in front of the stars. She hears a loud splash and sits up quickly in the water. She looks around her but doesn't see anything. She covers her chest with her arms as she quietly makes her way over to the boulder. She feels another splash next to her as something moves up her leg. She lets out a loud scream as she starts hitting at the water. She picks up a large rock the size of a grapefruit with both of her hands and searches around her for the culprit.
Vixy looks up from the fire back at the camp and starts barking. She stands up and starts running into the woods towards where Rina is. Michio jumps up and follows the small, Pokémon as he hears a faded scream begin to echo. Daisuke and Seiji stand up quickly and run after them. Michio ducks under one of the branches from before.
"Watch out for the branches!"
Daisuke and Seiji say in unison, "What?" As the word leaves their mouth, they both land head first into the branch. They fall back onto the ground and grab their heads with their hands.
"Son of a bitch." Seiji says as he lies there on the ground.
"You know, maybe we should have been paying more attention." Daisuke looks over at his brother.
Seiji looks at his brother with a dumbfounded look. "I am not even going to respond to that. Oww…"
Vixy and Michio emerge from the trees as Michio yells out Rina's name. She turns around and screams again as she stands there in the waist deep water. She hurls the rock in her hands at him and drops down into the water to cover her body. The rock hits Michio in the head making him see stars. He shakes his head to snap out of it.
"What in the hell was that for?" He yells out at her. "I fucking came to help you!"
She glares and points to an unconscious Mankey on the ground next to him. "Thank you for saving me from the big, bad Mankey."
Michio leans down and pets him on the head. "Do you pelt rocks at everything?"
"He scared me. I felt something touch my leg. I didn't know what it was."
"Well, stop being scared about everything. There's no one else out here. The only things out here are us and some poor Pokémon that you keep hurting."
She flares up in anger, "Just go back to camp so I can dry off and get dressed. You pervert. I'll wash my clothes in the morning."
"Whatever. Like I said, not like anyone wants to see you naked anyway." He starts walking back to camp as his head throbs. He passes Seiji and Daisuke still lying on the ground. He stops and helps them up. They start walking towards the lake. Michio grabs both of them by the shoulder and stops them. They turn to look at him, and he points to the mark slowing getting bigger on his forehead.
"Come with me if you want to live. She is vicious today."
They all head back to camp together and Rina dries off her body and puts on a tank top and sleeping shorts. She brushes out her hair and puts it up in a bun. She looks down at Vixy and sighs. The Vulpix looks at her with a confused look.
"I guess he was right." She puts everything back into her bag and zips it up putting it on her back. "There's no one out here but us. I need to stop being so jumpy all the time." She bends down allowing Vixy to jump into her arms. "Lets go get some rest."
As Rina walks out of his view, Takeshi stands up and follows her from a distance. He looks through his binoculars trying to hone in on her location. While distracted, he steps forward and falls into a hole in the ground. He lands on top of something that softens his fall. Red eyes form around him from the darkness as he feels something bite into his thigh.
"What the fuck?" He jumps up quickly and turns on the light from his Pokégear as he looks around. A large group of Rattata start snarling at him as they move in closer to him. He looks around him but can't find an opening to get out of the hole."Oh, shit."