Pokemon: Crimson and Azure

Chapter 9: The road to Vermillion City

In this chapter:

~The Robbed House-Daycare Center-Special Training-Vermillion City Arrival~

~The Robbed House~

A most sinister deed…

Another morning came, the first rays of sunlight entering Crimson's Pokemon Center room, waking the girl up. Crimson was quick in having her breakfast, morning exercise and brushing her teeth. She didn't forget about her Pokemon either, feeding each of them individually. It only took her about an hour to gather her stuff and get the heck out of there and into the fresh morning air.
Heading up the road, she stopped by at the same house that was robbed and guarded the other day. However, this time, the guards were gone. Just in case, Crimson decided to check in and see how things are.
A kind young lady opened up the door for Crimson. She had long, flowing, blonde hair and ocean blue eyes.
"May I help you…?" She asked politely, wondering what this kid wanted.
"I was just passing by and decided to check on you people. I heard you were robbed yesterday."
"Well, yes… But it'll take too long to explain it here. If you are curious, please, do come in. My grandpa will tell you all about it."
"If that's okay with you…"
"Great then! Please, come in!" The lady smiled, opening the door fully for her to enter.
Inside was a total mess. Looks like the folks didn't have enough time to clean up the mess the robber left. There were still muddy footprints on the floor here and there, books on the floor instead of in their slots on the bookshelves, a pot was knocked over…
"Why didn't you guys clean up this mess?"
"Well, you see…" The girl began explaining as she was closing the front door. "Yesterday the police was busy tracking Team Rocket, but they said they would send a detective here to investigate the next day, which is today. The guards told us to keep everything as it was so that we wouldn't ruin any evidence."
"I see.." Crimson said, examining the room.
"I will go and get my grandpa now. Make yourself at home … although it's such a mess…" The kind girl chuckled awkwardly before running up the stairs.
Crimson was suddenly reminded of those Team Rocket people. Could they have been behind this terrible deed, too? She still had no idea what was stolen, but she was about to find out…
Voices could be heard from upstairs, and soon after, the girl came running down the stairs, with an old man slowly following her from behind. "God damn kids and their curiosity these days …. The old man can't even have his sleep…" he grumbled to himself.
"I'm sorry for the trouble…" Crimson felt a bit uneasy by the elder's words.
"Don't worry about it." Said the blondie. "My gramps is always like this when he gets up. He doesn't really mean it."
The old man sat down on a chair and told the girl, whose name was apparently 'Sara' to make some coffee for him. In the meantime, Crimson sat down near him.
"So, you want to know what happened, young lassie? Gee, you are more curious than my granddaughter… Well, me and Sara were out shopping, and when we came back, we found the ground floor like this! Looks like the thief never went upstairs, but their shoes were muddy, as you can clearly see on the floor, meaning they have come from somewhere elsewhere … a forest, maybe? There was a lot of rain the other day… Anyway, the only thing the thief was interested in was my precious TM containing the move Dig. I have a lot of Diglett to help me with my lawn and gardening, you see… And that TM is very rare and holds a valuable move!... Oh well, I guess I can just teach dig to my Pokemon without a TM. What's lost is lost, I suppose." The old man coughed a bit. Right after he had finished, his granddaughter had brought him his coffee.
"Do you want some too, miss…?" she asked, unsure of the girl's name.
"Crimson. And, no thanks, I don't drink coffee…"
"Ah, Crimson. What a lovely name! It suits you with that fire red hair of yours! Hohoho!" The old man laughed and took a sip of his coffee. "Are you sure you don't want any, though? My granddaughter makes coffee unlike any other!"
"I'll pass… Well, thank you for telling me everything. But, mind if I check your backyard?"
"Oh? Why is that?" the old man asked.
"I have a feeling I might find some clues there…"
"Oh, okay then. Just be careful not to tamper the footprints. That detective really needs them. "
"Understood." Crimson nodded, getting off the chair and heading towards the backdoor, opening it and heading outside.
The garden seemed peaceful enough. It wasn't that big to begin with… but that's when she noticed something shuffling around in the bushes. "Who's there? Show yourself!" She spoke in a brave tone.
To her surprise, a man dressed in the same outfits as Team Rocket came out of the bushes with his hands up in the air. "Please don't shoo-… Oh, it's just a kid. I thought it was the cops or something." He shrugged.
"Cops…?"
"Ehm… aha! What are you doing here, missy? Don't you know you shouldn't be on other people's property? That's trespassing!"
"Says the guy who has been hiding in the bushes all night."
"Ah, me? I'm just an innocent bystander, I swear!"
"Give it up. I know you guys. You're from Team Rocket, aren't you?
You're nothing but a criminal, like all of your friends. I know you are behind this crime. So hand over the TM and I will let you go…"
"Haha, being commanded by some kid! In your dreams! Let's battle instead!"
"Now you're speaking my language…"
"Hehe, prepare to loose!" He said, pulling out his only Pokeball from his belt. "Go, Zubat!"
Crimson was experienced with Zubats by now. She had battled so many of them in Mt. Moon, she wasn't even remotely phased by it. She calmly sent out her Ratatta, easily taking it down with one hit. And at that moment, her Ratatta finally evolved into a Raticate and learnt Hyper Fang, a really powerful and useful move.
"Ah, stop, please! I give up! You win! Here, you can have your stupid TM back!" The grunt wined, retrieving his fainted Zubat to it's pokeball and throwing the disc to her. She managed to catch it with one hand, looking like quite the hero.
"I'll be going now, bye!"
"Wait!"
But before Crimson could say another word, the grunt had already fled.
With a sigh, Crimson returned to the house, and Sara with her grandfather were surprised to see her holding the TM.
"Oh goodness! You found it!" Sara said happily.
"Oh, I see how it is… You were the one who stole it all along, weren't you, missy? Now you will confess to your crimes? Well, that's alright, I suppose. I can let you go if you give it back to me!"
"I'm sorry about that… my grandpa really has childish imagination…"
"You shut up! Now, hand it over…"
"Alright…" Crimson said, placing the disk on the table. "But I am the innocent one here. I found a Team Rocket grunt in your back garden. He was hiding in some bushes and he had the TM all along. You slept with a thief in your backyard.
"What? Nonsense! I would have noticed him!" Sara's grandfather said.
"His outfit was black, it would have been impossible with your old vision and in the darkness of the night…"
"Gah! It's still hard to believe he hadn't fled…"
"I guess he passed out because he was tired."
"Where is he now?"
"He managed to run away, but I at least got the TM back. I am sorry that I couldn't get him…"
"It's okay, Crimson! At least you got the TM back… And, you know what? That crazy Team Rocket person made me realize that working hard feels more rewarding than just using a cheaty device like this. So, you can have it!"
"Oh, are you sure?" Crimson asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable about this.
"Sure I'm sure! Take it, you earned it!"
"Okay then… take you very much." Crimson nodded with a smile, picking up the TM and placing it in her Pokedex TM slot, seeing who could learn it. In the end, she taught it to Flare.
"I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm a travelling trainer and I need to get to the next town by the end of the day…"
"That's quite alright! Stay safe on your journey!" Sara smiled at Crimson.
"Good luck to you, and have fun using your new move!" The grandpa laughed again, ending his laugh with a slight cough.

~Daycare Center~

Letting someone else raise your Pokemon isn't always a good idea…

Bidding her farewell, Crimson exited their house at around 10:30. She made her way down the grassy pathway, coming across an odd house in the middle of nowhere. Approaching it, there was a sign above the door, reading: "Daycare Center"
Crimson decided to take a look inside, entering the small and seemingly empty building. She rang the little bell on the counter and sooner than later, an old man came to her aid.
"Hello and welcome to our little Daycare Center! Leave a Pokemon with us and come back any time to get it back with new moves! We will even evolve it for you, if you so desire."
"Uhm… that sounds nice, but I rather raise my Pokemon my own way."
"Oh, okay then. So why did you enter in the first place, lass?"
"Well, I was wondering if you have a little restaurant service, too…? I kind of forgot to get my lunch…"
"Oh, of course! My wife will whip up something for you!"
"Why thank you very much, sir! How much will it cost…?"
"It's on the house! She has to make lunch for ourselves anyway, so there's no pain in giving you some!"
"I am really grateful.." Crimson smiled.
She stayed until the meal was done. Meat and potatoes, her favorite. It wasn't as good as mother's, but it's been a long time since she had something else besides sandwiches, so it felt nice to have something cooked for a change. She stayed and chatted a bit to them, finding out they didn't have very many customers in general, and that their last one was actually her rival. She had left her Abra there. "That lazy bum…" Crimson thought to herself. Crimson also let her Pokemon play in the large, open backyard the couple had.

~Special Training~

With some training every once in a while, everything is possible!

After everyone had their fun, Crimson left at 1 PM. Since her Pokemon were energized and relaxed after they managed to have some fun, Crimson started doing some special training against wild Pokemon, catching a few new species such as Bellsprout in the process. Her new Squirtle finally became obedient after realizing how much Crimson cared for her Pokemon, and quickly leveled up by a lot, learning the Water Gun move that Azure's Squirtle already knew. Her other Pokemon grew, too. Her Pikachu, for example, already knew Thunderbolt.
The Pokemon she trained the least was Flare, as Flare was already pretty powerful on her own. Crimson liked to keep her Pokemon balanced. She also avoided using Raticate, as she was planning to store it, seeing as it wouldn't be that useful, even with a new move, plus, she needed to free up some room for other Pokemon to raise and unlock more dex pages… and get closer to them in the process.

~Vermillion City Arrival~

Finally, a new town awaits!

After a good three hours of training, both her and her Pokemon were exhausted. With their last strength, they made their way to Vermillion City. Crimson stopped for a while to enjoy the view of the town and the ocean behind it.
After she felt satisfied with the view, she made her way down the cliff and entered town, stocking up on supplies and registering at the Pokemon Center for the night, healing her Pokemon as well.
It was still 5 PM at the time, and the Gym was still open, but Crimson decided to take a break and pass this time. She would have her battle the next day, after she had checked out that cruise ship she still had a ticket for …
After some sightseeing and enjoying a lovely late afternoon at the beach, Crimson went back to the Pokemon Center, had her dinner and went straight to bed. At first, it was difficult for her to fall asleep, since her mind was buried in thoughts about all the adventures she has had, and all the adventures that were awaiting her … But soon enough, she fell asleep and slept like a rock throughout the entire night.

/ Next time: Azure's Vermillion Battle and Tour