Chapter 7: Next Stop: Tsubaki Mura
"Come on guys! You're moving way too slow!" Rina yells out to them from the other side of the small clearing. She pulls her clothes off of the line she set up earlier that the morning. "Thank you for blow drying my clothes." She reaches out petting Pidgeot on the head causing him to smile and his feathers to stand up with happiness.
"When did she become a morning person?" Seiji asks as he yawns.
Daisuke shrugs his shoulders as he finishes packing his clothes and other supplies. Abra sits on the ground fast asleep taking apart the tent using his telekinetic powers. Michio takes a hold of the separated pieces putting them back in their bag. Michio returns all of his Pokémon back to their Pokéballs as he thanks them all for helping disassemble the camp.
The Mankey slowly opens his eyes as he wakes up from his long slumber. He makes a chattering sound causing Rina to look up from her bag. She shoves the rest of her clothes into the bag and closes it walking over towards him. She stands over him and smiles down at him holding her hands out to him.
"Hi there. I'm sorry that I hit you over the head with a rock. You just scared me. I thought you were a pervert."
He reaches up taking her hands in his and making motions to be picked up. She pulls her arms back picking him up. She hoists him onto her hip holding him in her arms. She pets him on the head as he looks over at Michio. Michio looks up as the Mankey pushes his face into her breasts. She giggles and playfully hits him on the head. The Mankey looks back at Michio from Rina's chest and a smirks forms on his face. He latches onto Rina's right breast and squeezes it in front of Michio causing him to grow angry.
Michio walks up to Rina and the Mankey with his fist balled up on his side. He swiftly brings his fist up hitting the Mankey on top of the head. A large lump begins to form on his head as Rina glares at Michio. The Mankey starts to let out yelps of pain as he grips her tighter.
"What did you do that for? He already has head trauma." She cuddles the poor Mankey in her arms trying to calm him down.
"He grabbed your chest. That's...inappropriate!" He says as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. He then says under his breath, "I'm not the one who gave him the original head trauma anyway."
"What was that?!" She yells causing Daisuke and Seiji to look over at them.
Mankey turns his face back to Michio and sticks his tongue out at him.
"Why you little-" He brings his fist back up to hit him again when Rina slaps him. Michio brings his hand up to his face that now has a red mark forming across it. "What in the hell?!"
"It's a Pokémon. Stop being jealous." She says as she turns Mankey away from Michio to protect him.
He starts stammering as his face turns red from the blush forming. "I'm not j-jealous! Why would I be jealous over you? You're just a kid."
She grows silent as a mixture of anger and sadness starts showing on her face. Vixy looks up at her trainer with a worried look on her face. Rina bends down allowing Vixy to jump onto her shoulder. She turns her back to him as she stands up and walks away. Michio opens his mouth to speak but decides against it. He finishes packing the last few things as Rina smiles a bright, fake smile passing Seiji and Daisuke. They both give each other a confused look then shrug their shoulders as they follow her.
"Come on or we're leaving you." Rina yells to Michio over her shoulders.
He puts his backpack over his shoulder and follows behind them thinking to himself. 'That stupid Mankey. I got in trouble for no reason. He'll get what's coming to him one day. After all I did to tend to his wounds last night, he decides to be an asshole. He must know how I feel about Rina-chan...'
They make their way back to the pathway and start following it back into the woods from the clearing they rested in the night before. Mankey and Vulpix latch onto Rina who is fast walking in anger. Daisuke and Seiji try to keep up with her as Michio gets lost in his thoughts and starts falling behind. The party stays silent for minutes as the sounds of the forest echo around them. Vulpix starts to perk her ears up as she hears the faint sound of footsteps amongst the trees. She lifts her nose sniffing the air and letting out a soft growl.
Rina stops walking and stands in the middle of the pathway. She looks all around her but doesn't see anything except for trees. Michio looks up as he bumps into Scyther. He notices the look of concern on Rina's face as the Vulpix stands up on Rina's shoulder, her fur standing up as she continues to growl. Michio walks over to Rina and pats Vixy's head.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I don't see anything, but she's growling again. It may just be another Pokémon. We should tread lightly." Rina responds.
"I have a better idea. Why don't we just have Abra teleport us there? He's been there before so he knows how to get there. That's how I made it back home so quickly. It will cut our trip short. By my calculations, we have a few more hours until we get to Tsubaki Mura." He pulls out his map from his pocket and shows them.
"I guess you're right. I've never Teleported before. Does it hurt?" Rina asks him with a concerned tone.
"No. It doesn't hurt at all." He reassures her.
A scowl forms on Scyther's face as Trixie starts growling. Seiji and Daisuke starts consoling their Pokémon as they both agree with Michio's teleportation idea. Michio brings out Abra again who lies on the ground still fast asleep. Michio motions for everyone to come closer as he picks Abra up from the ground.
"Everyone, hold onto each other and make sure your Pokémon are touching you. We don't need anyone getting left behind." Michio grabs Rina's free hand.
They all grab a hold of the person or Pokémon next to them as Abra's eyes open wide and start to glow white. Rina closes her eyes tightly bracing herself for possible pain. The mixed group starts glowing white with the Abra as they disappear from the woods.
Takeshi lowers his binoculars from his face as a scowl forms. "You have to be fucking kidding me."
"What's wrong?" Kyoko looks up from her book as he stands up quickly.
"They got away." He punches the tree next to him. "I wasn't expecting them to use Abra to teleport out of the area."
"They had an Abra in the party? Why didn't you tell me?" She closes the book as she stands up. She pulls her map out of her skirt pocket and opens it up revealing the large map. She looks over every trap she had set the night before making sure she remembers all of the exact locations. Takeshi steps over the bushes he was hiding behind and stands in the road. He walks over to the spot they were just standing on before they vanished. He continues to walk around the area pacing back and forth as he thinks.
"Hey. You should be careful. There's a trap…" The sounds of the ground crumbling and a yell sounds as she steps out from behind the trees. "...there…" She finishes her sentence as she closes her map and sighs as she peers into the hole. She bends her knees looking down at him from the top of the ground. She waves her hand in front of her face to clear some of the dust out of her face.
"Son of a bitch…" Takeshi looks up at her from his lying position in the hole coughing in an attempt to clear his lungs of the dirt that made its way in.
Kyoko giggles causing Takeshi to become even more infuriated. "You must like holes. You seem to find yourself inside of them a lot. Sadly, you only seem to find large ones."
"Must be why I hang out with you." He says in response.
She stands up quickly, kicking more dirt into the hole. She walks around the hole, sticking her tongue out at him as she scoffs. He sits up and notices her leaving.
"Hey. Where are you going?" He yells up at her from his seat in the hole.
"To the next town. I was smart and packed a bike with me this time. See you later." She waves at him as she takes a small object out of her pocket. She unfolds it revealing a black and red bicycle that she sets on the path in front of her. She straddles the seat and starts pedaling the bicycle to the next town.
"Don't leave me! Kyoko-chan! Dammit." He stands up in the hole and brushes off his pants and his shirt. "I wonder how I am going to get out of here." He starts looking around for places to climb up when he hears hissing noises around him. Red eyes start glowing from the shadows as he turns around. A group of Rattata and a black Raticate start walking towards him. His eyes widen as he throws up his hands in defeat. "Oh, come on!"
~In Tsubaki Mura~
The group begins rematerializing in the next village. They continue to glow a pale white until their full form reappears up in front of a Pokémon Center. Abra's eyes go back to normal as he closes them and falls back asleep. Rina lets go of Michio's hand as she pulls out her Pokégear and looks at the time.
"Wow! We made great time! That took literal seconds." She says excitedly.
She looks at her surroundings seeing a few small houses and businesses. She notices two buildings side by side that look familiar to her. One stood tall containing two visible stories with a bright red roof. The other was a smaller one story building with a bright blue roof. She heads over to the building with the bright red roof.
"I'm taking Mankey to the Pokémon Center to get checked out by Joy-san if she's not too busy." She says over her shoulder as she waves to them.
"Well, I think I'm going to check out the Poké Mart," Daisuke walks in the direction of the blue roofed building.
"I'll go with you." Seiji passes Michio following his brother to the store.
Michio lets out a sigh and walks across the clearing in the middle of town towards the edge of the forest. He sits down underneath one of the trees relishing in the shade it is providing. He leans back against the thick trunk of the tree watching the leaves sway in the wind above him. Small streams of light peer through the branches as he yawns and closes his eyes slipping into a light sleep.
The door slides open in front of Rina as she steps on the mat. She walks through the doorway and into a large, white room. Groups of Chansey are seen walking from one end of the room to another going in and out of various door. Rina walks past them up to the counter where she sees no one. She looks around noticing the empty room around her.
"Hello? Joy-san?"
A woman with pink hair stands up from behind the counter. She reaches behind her and ties the ribbon on her white apron. Her pink dress is knee length with ruffled shoulders and short sleeves. She straightens her white nurse's hat that has a pink cross in the middle of it. Her hair seems long but is kept pulled back in round pigtails.
"Gomennasai (I'm sorry). I must have fallen asleep. We had a big emergency here last night and I didn't get the chance to sleep." She yawns placing her hand in front of her mouth.
"I need to get this Mankey looked at. He has some minor head damage and needs to be seen. Also, I just caught this Rattata and need it looked at as well." She hands Mankey over to Nurse Joy and pulls the Pokéball containing Rattata off of her belt, setting it down on the counter.
Nurse Joy picks up the Pokéball and places it in the machine behind her. "This machine will analyze the damage done to your Pokémon and heal it. Does your Mankey normally stay out of its Pokéball?"
"Well, it isn't mine. I haven't caught it. I just wanted to bring him here since I knew he was hurt."
"That's very nice of you." Her gaze meets Vixy's as the small Pokémon tilts her head. Nurse Joy looks her over checking for any bruising or cuts. She notices some small damage and looks back at Rina. "What about your Vulpix. It seems to have some minor damage. I can take care of her too for you if you would like."
Rina picks Vixy up from her place on her shoulder. "What do you think, Vixy-chan?"
The Pokémon barks and nods her head in response. Rina sets Vixy down on the counter as a Chansey carrying a stretcher comes into the room. Nurse Joy places the Mankey onto the stretcher and Chansey takes him to another room. She carefully lifts Vixy from the counter following the Chansey into the next room. Rina walks over to one of the seats and sits down on the bench in the main room. She places her face in her hands using her elbows to prop herself up on her knees.
After about ten minutes of Rina sitting there bored, Chansey comes out of the door and walks up to her beckoning for her to follow. Rina stands up quickly and follows the Chansey through the doors into another room. The room is dimly lit and looks like a typical hospital infirmary. There are rows of beds on each side of the room with curtains separating them from each other. The beds are nicely made with white sheets and pillows.
Vixy walks up to Rina barking excitedly. Rina bends down and picks her up turning to face Nurse Joy who is standing over Mankey bandaging his head with some gauze. She places it snugly over the lump on his head tying it off.
"There we go. You'll be fine in no time. Now, lie down and rest." She places the extra gauze back in her medical kit sitting on the table next to the bed. "Mankey will be fine. He just needs to get some rest. As for your Vulpix, she's almost in perfect health. You've done a great job taking care of her. Most trainers aren't this good at taking care of Pokémon."
"Well, Okaasan taught me everything I know about Pokémon. I'm training to be an amazing trainer and one day a professor."
Nurse Joy's ears perk up when she mentions "professor". She examines her getting a good look at her facial structure. "Oh! You must be, Hana-chan. Your okaasan has told me so much about you!" She smiles at the younger girl. "Lets go check on your Rattata and let Mankey rest."
Rina nods in agreeance and follows the older girl back into the main waiting room. Nurse Joy walks behind the counter and pulls the chart from the side of the machine placing her fingers across the see-through object. Words start appearing on the chart as she continues sliding her fingers across the screen analyzing the data in front of her. She smiles setting it down on the counter and picking up the Pokéball from the machine. She turns back around placing the ball in Rina's hands.
"Your Rattata is just fine. It didn't seem to take any serious damage. He's all fine now."
"That's good." She says in a relieved tone. "Thank you, Joy-san."
"You're welcome, Hana-chan."
The ball shrinks back down to its normal size, and she places it back on her belt. Rina waves to Joy telling her good-bye. The nurse waves back, telling Rina to tell her mother hello for her when she talks to her again. Rina turns around facing the door she came through to enter the building. As she's about to go through the automatic door, her Pokégear starts ringing. She stops walking and reaches in her pocket pulling out the ringing object. She holds it up to her ear as she answers the call.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Ohayo, Rina-chan. How is your trip going?" A woman's voice says on the other end.
"Ohayo, Okaasan! Things are going great! I'm already in Tsubaki Mura. Michio-kun's Abra used Teleport, and it was awesome." She says in an excited tone.
"That's great! I saw that you caught your first Pokémon. Congratulations."
"Arigato! It was pretty cool." She starts thinking about the previous night and remembers the pink Pokémon she ran across. Maybe her mother would know more about it. "Hey, Okaasan? Have you ever heard of a pink floating Pokémon? It had telekinetic powers like Abra. It made me start floating in the air after surrounding me in a pink bubble."
Her mother goes silent for a minute and then responds, "I've heard of a mysterious creature like that before. We have no idea what it is or what it does though. No one had ever been able to get that close to it."
"I see. It was really cute though."
An explosion is heard in the background followed by screaming. Her mother starts yelling out orders to put out the fires. She drops back down to her normal tone. "Well, I have to go now. Some idiot mixed two things together that they shouldn't. If you see that creature again then be sure to let me know. I love you!" She hangs up the line.
Rina places her Pokégear back into her pocket and continues out the door. She looks around the town noticing Michio lying underneath the shade of a tree. She crosses the middle of town heading over towards him. She opens her mouth to speak but stops herself when she hears light snoring coming from him. She giggles as she stands right next to him looking down at him.
'I can't stay mad at him long. He's peaceful when he sleeps.'
She sits down next to him and watches, through the branches of the trees, as the clouds pass by. Michio turns in his sleep, his head leaning against her shoulder. She jerks up unintentionally as he startles her causing his head to land in her lap. A blush begins forming on her face as she notices Daisuke and Seiji leaving the Poké Mart. They look around and spot her underneath the tree and start heading her way, bags of items in their hands.
'Oh no! They'll think something weird is going on! How do I move him without waking him though?'
She starts sweating as she grows more and more anxious the closer her friends get to her. She starts inching herself out from under Michio's head when his arms wrap around her body, his hands firmly gripping her bottom. He starts nuzzling his face into her thighs making her face turn beet red. When Daisuke and Seiji reach them, Rina panics and quickly jumps up knocking Michio off of her.
"Nothing happened!" She yells at them as she storms off.
Seiji and Daisuke stare down at the now very awake and confused Michio. He sits up rubbing his head and looking at his two male companions.
"What just happened? I was sleeping peacefully and then all of a sudden she knocks me to the ground. What gives?" He yawns and stretches.
"I don't know. You two were all snuggled up to each other then she freaks out for now reason." Seiji says.
"She was probably just embarrassed." Daisuke responds.
'Wait...snuggled up to each other?' Michio's face turns a light shade of red as he stands up. Out loud he says, "Lets go find her."
"Okay." The brothers respond in unison.
As the group walks through the automatic Poké Mart doors, an exhausted woman enters from the trees into the city. She walks her bicycle into the town gasping for breath. She leans it up against a tree and slumps down next to it.
"Here I am calling Victreebel a fat ass...maybe I need to lose weight. I'm exhausted. I really hoofed it here though. That trip should have taken a lot longer. Luckily, I knew all of the short cuts. Next time, I'm bringing my motor bike."
She pulls the water bottle off of her bicycle and drains the small amount of remaining water. She pulls out a small pair of binoculars and starts scanning the town in search of their target group. She catches a glimpse of them through the Poké Mart's windows. She pulls down the binoculars from her face smiling and letting out a wheezing laugh.
"Time to set up some new traps."