The group walked through the forest peacefully. There was a nice silence surrounding them as they took the time to look around.
"Is Striaton really a place you guys need to go?" Cheren asked after a while.
"Not really," Paul shrugged. "But we're going to be traveling across the region looking for these pokémon, so why not."
"It does seem like a sensible thing to do," Cheren said. They lapsed into a silence with Cheren looking at them in thought."When did it happen?" He questioned out of nowhere. Dawn and Paul looked back at him.
"What are you talking about?" Paul huffed.
"The transformation, when and how did it happen?" Cheren clarified.
"Well for me, someone tried to steal my Piplup. I couldn't do anything, but I couldn't lose him. Something hit me, and I thought it was wind. Next thing I knew I was flipping over the thief and punched him so hard he got confused and passed out. When I looked at my reflection I had transformed," Dawn explained.
"My brother Reggie was out getting a new pokémon to take care of. These two pokémon under his care led me outside and trapped me so their trainer could take all the pokémon. I transformed and ran to the house. I knocked down the door and beat up the thief," Paul shrugged. "Come to think of it, when I transformed I felt a burst of wind hit me too."
"Did you feel it for other transformations?" Cheren asked.
"Not really," Dawn said.
"Neither did I," Paul told him.
"Hmmm, I wonder if that 'wind' was just energy washing over you," Cheren hummed, placing a finger on his chin.
"Probably," Paul shrugged. "Is that all?"
"For now," Cheren answered with a small smirk.
"So he has a sense of humor." Paul smirked.
"Is he always like this?" Cheren asked Dawn.
"Oh I don't doubt it." Dawn chuckled. Paul let out a huff and rolled his eyes.
The three had stopped for lunch.
"Yay!" Tepig cheered as he ran around the little rest site. "Oh wow!" he gasped, seeing a flock of Pidove fly over head. "This is so much better than the lab!"
"Glad you think so," Dawn said.
"What'd he say?" Cheren asked.
"He said that this is better than the lab," Dawn answered.
"That's good," Cheren said. "I would hope that he thinks it's better out here."
"Alright, we should get going," Paul muttered, finishing his soup. Snivy's vines grabbed the bowls and Oshawott washed them with his water gun.
"We could have done that," Dawn said with a laugh.
"This is faster," Snivy told her.
"Tepig, finish your food and we can go, alright?" Cheren told him.
"Kay!" the fire pig pokémon oinked. He walked over to his bowl and was about to dig in when a string came out, grabbing a pellet of food. The string came back out, covering the whole bowl. "Hey!" His shout gained the attention of the trainers and other pokémon.
"What happened?" Cheren asked.
"Food thief!" Tepig shouted, glaring at a bush.
"Oshawott use water gun," Paul ordered. The otter nodded and shot water at the bush. A shadow jumped out, moving to another bush. The stream of water followed it, forcing it out into the open.
"Oh no," Dawn groaned, seeing the tiny yellow spider.
"It's a Joltik," Cheren muttered. Paul held up his watch and it scanned the tiny pokémon.
Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. Joltik cling to larger Pokémon, and absorb static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch.
"Well, at least it doesn't eat people like Galvantula," Dawn muttered.
"Food thief!" Tepig shouted once more. "Make him pay!"
"I'm a girl you pig!" The spider shouted.
"I don't care!" Tepig shouted back. "I want you to pay!"
"Why would you steal Tepig's food?" Cheren asked.
"To eat of course!" Joltik huffed. "It's survival of the fittest!"
"Let's just go," Paul said with a sigh. "It's not like the thing can do much to us, she's harmless."
"Harmless?" Joltik repeated angrily. She shot web at Oshawott trapping him. Lightning flashed around the web, shocking the water type. "I may be the runt of Ma's litter, but I'm the strongest!"
"Fine, you wanna play that way, you little brat," Paul growled. "Oshawott, break free!" The otter pokémon struggled against the bindings, finally snapping them.
"Use Razor Shell!" Paul ordered. The otter ran at the spider, trying to strike it. Joltik jumped back and jumped around, dodging the blow.
"That's strange," Dawn hummed as she and Cheren watched the battle.
"What is?" Cheren asked.
"Joltik is performing like a trained pokémon," Dawn answered. She held up her watch, scanning the tiny spider.
"Bug Bite!" Joltik shouted. Her fangs glowed white and became slightly longer. She lunged at Oshawott, biting his head.
"Throw her off!" Paul ordered. Oshawott shook his head, trying to get the attaching pokémon off. Joltik jumped off and shot an Elctroweb at the otter. Oshawott yelled in pain as he was badly damaged.
"Use razor shell to break the threads!" Paul ordered. The otter took the shell off its chest and cut the string. He glared at Joltik, who glared right back. "Use Water Gun!" Paul ordered. The pokémon obeyed and shot a spray of water at the spider. The spider jumped in the air to avoid it. The water followed her, hitting her mid-air. Joltik flipped around and landed on her back.
"Hey! I'm stuck!" She shouted, moving her little legs.
"You're…stuck?" Oshawott brought a flipper to his mouth to try and cover his laughter, but it was no use. "You're stuck!" he laughed, rolling around on the ground.
"Paul," Dawn called, walking over to him.
"What is it?" He asked.
"According to this, Joltik live in caves and deep in the forest in large trees," Dawn told him. "According to the map, there aren't any trees large enough for a Galvantula nest, and there aren't any caves deep enough. Plus, this Joltik is trained."
"I noticed that too," Paul said. "So, what are you doing here?" he asked the Joltik. He walked over to her and picked her up.
"My brothers kicked me out of the nest because they thought I was too weak. And Pa stood by them," Joltik explained. "Then my trainer thought I wasn't strong enough for him and released me in favor of a Woobat."
"That sounds familiar," Dawn smirked, looking at Paul.
"Shut up," Paul muttered. "So, what do you want? Why'd you steal Tepig's food?"
"Yeah! That wasn't nice!" Tepig shouted.
"That's none of your business!" Joltik yelled back. They heard a tiny growling and Cheren smirked.
"Sounds like someone is hungry," he said.
"I am not!" Joltik growled, wiggling out of Paul's grip. She dropped to the ground and scurried away.
"Well I am!" Tepig shouted.
"Someone get him some food," Snivy sighed.