Hey guys! I'd like to give you a heads up. I'm going to Job Corp on the 9th and I won't be bringing my laptop with me because they won't do anything if something were to happen to it. I'm allowed to come home on weekends, but I won't be able to do that unless I reach certain requirements and my mom and I have decided on an every other weekend routine. So my updates won't be as routine as they normally are. I'll try to still stick to the once a month schedule, but the updates will most likely be a lot more random.
Dawn and Paul walked through the forest. Snivy sat on Dawn's shoulder while Oshawott trailed behind them.
"How much farther until we reach the lab?" Dawn asked.
"It shouldn't be that far," Paul answered. They reached the top of the hill and spotted the lab. "Ask and you shall receive."
"Well in that case, can I have Piplup back?" Dawn muttered. Paul rolled his eyes and began walking down the hill. Dawn followed him.
"Hello?" Dawn called, entering the empty front room.
"Can I help you with something?" An elderly man asked.
"Professor Oak?" Dawn asked in shock.
"That's me," he smiled. "You're Dawn right?"
"Yeah," The blunette nodded.
"You know professor Oak?" Paul asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, he's the one that gave Ash Pikachu and had him start his journey," Dawn answered. "I met him a few times when I was travelling with Ash." Paul hummed and tilted his head, taking in the information.
"Where's professor Juniper?" he asked.
"Oh, she had to run out real quick," Oak explained. "A trainer is coming by later and she now has to go get new starter pokémon."
"How long until she's back?" Paul asked.
"She shouldn't be too much longer." Oak assured them. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Actually, we're here to get our Unova pokedexes," Dawn explained.
"Well then I'm afraid you'll have to wait, she also went to get some of those too," Oak frowned.
"Damnit," Paul hissed.
"What do we do now?" Dawn asked.
"You're more than welcome to sit and wait," Oak said, gesturing to the couches. "I myself have to get back to work." With that the elderly man walked out of the room, heading back to the lab.
"I guess we don't have any choice but to wait," Paul sighed, walking over to one of the couches. He pulled a folder out of his bag and flipped it open.
"You've already read that thing ten times," Dawn pointed out.
"It doesn't hurt to read it once more," Paul grumbled, not moving his eyes.
"The only information in there is names and pictures," Dawn sighed. "I've already got that stuff memorized."
"Well maybe there's something hidden that might give us a hint," Paul told her.
"You know you don't have to be such a jerk!" Dawn shouted at him, standing up.
"And you should take this more seriously," Paul growled. "Have you thought about what you're going to do?"
"Going to do?" Dawn repeated.
"We're undercover, meaning we can't let anyone know what we're really doing," Paul reminded her. "I was thinking about challenging the leaders of this region, give myself a cover. What are you going to use as a cover?"
"I…I don't know…" Dawn muttered. She fell to her knees and stroked Snivy's head. "I'm not cut out for gym battles. They just aren't my thing. And this region doesn't have any contests."
"Good, I wouldn't be able to stand sitting through one of those things," Paul muttered.
"Nobody said you would have had to," Dawn said grumpily. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Have you ever heard of a pokémon musical?" Dawn and Paul both looked up, seeing a young boy wearing glasses. He had short black hair with an antenna sticking out. He wore a blue jacket over a white shirt with a red stripe running down the center.
"Pokémon musicals?" Dawn repeated.
"Correct," the boy nodded. "I'm Cheren, I take it you two are new to Unova."
"Yeah," Paul answered gruffly. Dawn picked up Snivy and smiled, standing up.
"I'm Dawn, that grump over there is Paul," the blunette smiled.
"Nice to meet you," Cheren bowed. Dawn nervously bowed back, straightening up quickly.
"What's a pokémon musical?" Dawn asked.
"It's an event in Nimbasa city. Trainers dress up their pokémon and the pokémon dance onstage acting out musicals. I saw one last month. It was of Beauty and the Beast," Cheren told her. "And it was very good."
"Can anyone participate?" Dawn asked Cheren.
"I believe so, yes," he confirmed. "Unfortunately they only take place in Nimbasa."
"Paul, when should we reach Nimbasa?" Dawn asked. Paul put the folder away and held up his watch.
"Don't know, if we don't have any business there we may just skip it," Paul told her. Dawn sighed, staring at the floor in sadness.
"You shouldn't treat her like that," Cheren scolded. "If your girlfriend wants to go to Nimbasa you should go."
"Girlfriend!?" The two shouted, staring at him in horror.
"Why the hell would I ever want to date her?" Paul asked. "She's way too troublesome!"
"Yeah well you're a jerk! And you're cruel to pokémon!" Dawn countered.
"Not dating, my mistake," Cheren muttered, backing up. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt before returning them to his face.
"Stop fighting!" Snivy shouted. Vines came out from her collar and she hit them both on the head.
"Ow! That hurt," Paul growled, glaring at the snake.
"What was that for Snivy?" Dawn cried, rubbing her head.
"You two are working together you need to not fight like this!" Snivy told them.
"We didn't exactly agree to travel together because we wanted to you know," Paul huffed.
"But she has a point," Dawn sighed, rubbing her head.
"Can you…understand your pokémon?" Cheren asked in shock.
"Yeah." Paul nodded, rubbing his head. "Can't believe you attacked me."
"You deserved it!" Snivy huffed, crossing her arms. "You should not shout at my mistress."
"Damn, your Snivy is just as annoying as you are," Paul hissed. He let out a shout as he was hit with another vine.
"We heard that," Dawn said with a frown.
"You got in trouble," Oshawott chuckled, laughing at its trainer.
"I can put you back in your pokéball," Paul threatened, taking out the object.
"No!" Oshawott screeched, running behind Dawn to hide.
"So, where are you from?" Cheren asked, trying to distract them. Luckily, it worked.
"Paul and I are both from Sinnoh. I'm from Twinleaf town, and he's from Veilstone," Dawn answered.
"Ah, so are you travelling together simply because you know each other?" Cheren asked.
"It's none of your business," Paul huffed, standing up and rubbing his head. "Once we get our pokédexes we'll probably never see each other again. Why are you so curious?"
"I apologize," Cheren said quickly. "I am here for my starter pokémon. I arrived earlier but I got the news from Professor Oak. I was just exploring around the lab. I guess I was getting a bit bored."
"That's fine, we all get bored from time to time," Dawn said, picking up Snivy. "So, what pokémon are you going to choose?"
"I don't know," Cheren confessed with a small smile.
"I'm sure you'll make your choice once you see them," Dawn smiled.
"That's what I'm hoping," Cheren chuckled with a smile.
"We've got big trouble!" Juniper shouted, running into the lab.
"Professor Juniper!" a few lab assistants gasped, running over to her.
"What happened?" Professor Oak asked.
"I don't know. Something ran in front of the jeep and I hit a tree trying to avoid it. The pokémon escaped from their pokéballs and ran away," Juniper told them. "If we don't find them quickly something bad may happen to them!"
"What pokémon were they?" Cheren asked.
"A Snivy and a Tepig," Juniper answered.
"I'll go look for them!" Cheren ran out of the building, heading towards the forest.
"We'll help!" Dawn declared, returning her Snivy.
"Why should we?" Paul asked quietly.
"Paul, a pokémon is in danger, it's our duty to make sure they're safe," Dawn hissed.
"Fine," Paul grumbled, returning Oshawott. They ran out of the building and looked around.
"There's the crash!" Dawn shouted, spotting the car. They ran over to the car and looked it over.
"Which way would they run off?" Dawn asked.
"If either of them were a water type we could look near the river or a lake…" Paul muttered.
"Should we look for spaces without trees? Grass types like to sunbathe sometimes," Dawn suggested. "Especially Snivy, they photosynthesize."
"Alright, you go look for Snivy, I'll look for Tepig," Paul nodded.
Dawn looked around a field desperately.
"There should be a Snivy sunbathing out here somewhere. I need to find it, quickly," Dawn said. "Wait!" Dawn gasped and took out her pokéball. Snivy came out in a streak of red light.
"Have you found the missing pokémon?" Snivy asked.
"No, I'm searching for the Snivy and I thought it might be sunbathing, but I don't know where to look," Dawn told her. Snivy hummed and looked at the sky. She glanced back at field taking everything in.
"It is a nice spot, but it's not perfect," Snivy told her. "If I were to sunbathe I would want to the sun be directly above me, not to the side." Snivy looked around.
"The shadows are stretching to the left, so does that mean we should travel to the right?" Dawn asked.
"Yes," Snivy agreed.
Paul huffed as he walked through the forest. He pushed a branch up as he passed, looking around.
"How the hell am I supposed one pokémon in this forest," he growled to himself.
"Get back here!" A voice shouted. Paul ran forward, pushing back a branch. He saw Cheren jump forward, landing on the ground harshly. A tepig stood away from him. The pig tilted his head and laughed at the poor boy.
"Come on, just come here so I can take you back to the professor," Cheren groaned, standing up.
"No way! This is too much fun! Can't we continue this game?" Tepig laughed. Cheren lunged forward, trying to grab the fire-type. The pokémon laughed and jumped out of the way.
"Tepig," Paul shouted, stepping into the clearing. Cheren and Tepig looked up at Paul. The purple haired teen stepped forward, standing next to Cheren. He glanced down at him and scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Pathetic."
"At least I'm trying to catch it, what are you going to do?" Cheren demanded, standing up and brushing off his clothes, not that it made the grass stains disappear. Paul rolled his eyes and stepped in front of the Tepig.
"Come on, you have to get back to professor Juniper," Paul told him.
"And why should I? It's fun out here!" Tepig shouted. "I hate being inside. It's much more fun outside."
"Professor Juniper wants to give you to a new trainer," Paul told it.
"What does that mean?" Tepig asked.
"It means that you'll be able to go on an adventure," Paul said.
"Really?" Tepig asked, his ears twitching.
"Really," Paul nodded. Tepig lowered his head to think. He gasped and looked over to the side.
"What's over there?" He shouted, running off.
"Hey get back here!" Paul shouted, running after him.
"Oh brilliant job," Cheren scoffed, running next to him.
"Hey, I had him," Paul hissed. "He's just easily distractible!" Tepig turned a corner and they saw a Snivy join it in its run. The two boys tried to stop as Dawn came into view. The three collided, falling onto the ground, with Dawn on the bottom.
"Great," Cheren sighed.
"This is just perfect," Paul huffed.
"I don't know it seems to be a field of Sunflora for me!" Dawn shouted sarcastically from below them. The two boys scrambled off of her and Dawn grumbled to herself as she stood up.
"Are you okay?" Cheren asked.
"Just peachy," Dawn muttered, brushing off her clothes.
"We lost them," Paul announced.
"Great," Dawn sighed, placing her hands on her hips.
"Well, at least they're together now," Cheren said meekly.
"Yeah I guess so." Dawn muttered.
"They were heading this way, so we should head that way as well and track them," Paul said, walking forward, keeping his eyes on the ground. He watched the footprints create a trail.
"How do you know that you're following the foot prints of Snivy and Tepig?" Cheren asked.
"If we had pokédexes we could check," Paul muttered. Dawn stepped forward, falling in step with Paul.
"But we do," she whispered.
"Not in front of him," Paul muttered, pushing a branch back. "It's supposed to be a secret."
"Right," Dawn sighed, looking down at the foot prints. "They stop." She announced, looking around. Cheren turned in a circle, his eyes sweeping over the forest sight.
"I don't see any disturbances in the foliage," he told them. The three froze as they heard several pokémon cry out.
"They came from this way!" Paul shouted, running off. Dawn and Cheren were right behind him. They came to stop when they saw a web hung up between two trees. Among the small pokémon stuck to the sticky string were Snivy and Tepig.
"Oh no, not again," Dawn groaned.
"You've seen this before?" Cheren asked.
"Yeah, before I picked my starter they got into a fight and escaped. Piplup ended up stuck to an Ariados web and we ended up being chased and attacked by them," the blunette explained.
"There aren't any Ariados in this region," Paul told her, walking towards the nest.
"But there are Galvantula," Cheren said. "The question is, how do we get them down without disturbing the nest?"
"We don't," Paul replied, taking out a pokéball. "Go Oshawott!" The blue otter came out and looked around. "Oshawott use razor shell to cut this web."
"Right!" the pokémon nodded. Her took the shell off of his stomach and raised it. A web spit out of the trees, hitting Oshawott and electrocuting it.
"Hey!"Dawn shouted as the otter as thrown onto the web.
"Oshawott return!" Paul ordered, holding out the pokéball. The pokéball was taken out of his hand by another string of web."I'm gonna kill this bug." The Galvantula scurried out of the tree, crawling onto the web. The trapped pokémon began squirming even more, desperately trying to break free.
"Galvantula! Release those pokémon!" Dawn ordered.
"Why would I take orders from a puny girl that can't even stand still?" Galvantula hissed. Dawn realized that she shaking and gulped, taking a nervous breath.
"Release the pokémon now," Paul ordered.
"While you certainly are courageous, why would I release them?" Galvantula asked. "Would you take their place in my web?"
"Cheren…what do Galvantula do exactly?" Dawn questioned nervously.
"They shock and then consume their prey," Cheren answered.
"You want to eat us in exchange for the pokémon?" Dawn asked the spider. Cheren turned towards her in shock, his eyes becoming wide.
"Yes, they are my meal, if I let them go then I will eat you instead," Galvantula declared.
"Paul, we have to do it," Dawn told him.
"Are you insane?" Paul shouted. Dawn glanced at him and her eyes narrowed. The purple haired teen blinked and noticed her arm shift towards her belt, touching the crystal pokéball. He smirked, getting her message. "Fine, but you're on own. Get my pokéball back and I'll join you," he told her.
"Alright," Dawn agreed, stepping forward.
"So are you going to become my meal?" Galvantula chuckled.
"Not exactly," Dawn said. A bright light surrounded her, forcing everyone to close or look away. When the light died, she stood transformed. "Vine whip!" She commanded. Vines came out of her hands and she threw her arms, hitting the Galvantula, and knocking him off his nest.
"Come on," Paul ordered Cheren, running to the nest. The younger boy followed him and they began pulling the pokémon off the web. Cheren pulled Tepig off and pulled the sticky substance off of him.
"Help me," he asked. Tepig oinked and nodded.
Dawn ducked as the electric spider spit an electric web at her. Another web flew at her and she let out a shout as she was hit and electrocuted. Galvantula shrieked and red rings came out of his mouth, hitting the trapped girl. Dawn let out a scream of pain and attempted to cover her ears.
"Dawn!" Paul shouted, pulling his Oshawott off of the web. The blunette nodded and weakly held up a hand, wincing as the Bug Buzz hit her ears. "L-Leaf Tornado." Her hand was surrounded by green light and leaves flew out of them, creating a small cyclone. The cyclone hit the web holding the pokéball and it dropped into Paul's hand. The teen returned his pokémon and quickly transformed.
"Razor shell!" Paul ordered. A shell, similar to the one on Oshawott's chest appeared in his hand. A white light extended from the shell, becoming a blade. He rushed at Galvantula, swinging the blade. The spider jumped back, avoiding him and stopping the attack.
"Cheren, help me," Dawn gasped, struggling to move in the web. Cheren pulled the last pokémon off and ran over to her. He pulled off the web.
"What is going on?" He asked.
"We'll explain later, just free her," Paul ordered, holding up his sword. Cheren nodded, and pulled the last of the web off. Dawn ran next to Paul and held out her hand, it glowing green once more.
"Leaf Tornado!" She ordered. Leaves blasted out of her hand and hit Galvantula, lifting it in the air. The bug hit the ground and glared at them.
"Do you really want to continue?" Paul asked, holding up his sword.
"Fine, I'll find something else to eat, seeing as how you've already taken my food," Galvantula turned around and scurried away.
"Troublesome, are you alright?" Paul asked, the sword disappearing. He transformed back, and Dawn followed his lead.
"Did you say something?" She asked, rubbing her ear.
"Let me see," Paul huffed, pulling her hands away.
"There's blood on her hands," Cheren gasped. Paul grabbed Dawn's chin and turned her head sideways. There was blood trickling out of her ear. He turned her head to the right and saw the same thing.
"Looks like that Bug Buzz damaged her ears a bit," Paul muttered.
"What?" Dawn shouted.
"Your ears are damaged," Cheren said loudly. Dawn nodded in understanding and rubbed her ears.
"Let's get you and the pokémon back to professor Juniper," Paul huffed, grabbing her arm and leading her through the forest. Cheren picked up Tepig and Snivy and carried them.