Here is the 4th chapter of The Search! Enjoy!
Petalburg Woods – Reigan POV
The sun began to shine through the thick trees of the dark Petalburg Woods as the bustling life began to slowly awake from their slumber. Most of them begin their day with a drink from the nearest water source or going around, looking for berries to eat. The Pokémons would rush through the bushes of the forest but would quickly dash away once finding an unfamiliar or a human presence.
Reigan stared at several wild Zigzagoons dash away when they encountered his resting body. He smiled at them rushing away, obviously afraid of people. He pushed himself slightly off from the trees as he bent forward to stretch his body.
It has been several days since Reigan had left Petalburg city and currently they were almost out of the forest, just another day or so of travel left. He had been battling with several trainers before heading into the forest and now was focusing on battling several wild Pokémons that came into their path. Thanks to the battles, his PDA had told him that his Jolteon was level 20 allowing him to use Thunder Fang, his Ralts was now 10 close to 11 and finally his newest addition, Treecko was about 8.
Not a bad start. Reigan thought as he jumped onto his feet and stretched his leg before he made his way towards a small tent opposite from where he slept. He peered into the tent to see Haruka sleeping soundly. Her expression was one of peace and calm with her breath steady. The smell of fragrance of the tent hit his nose as he smiled softly at her. Seeing her calm and peaceful expression, Reigan could not dare himself to wake her up as he turned on his heels and walked quietly out of the area.
Haruka was an interesting girl to say the least. She was kind and optimistic, always there to congratulate him whenever he won a battle. She was always visibly amazed at how he would command his Pokémon professionally. Reigan liked her company at times but there were times where he just wanted to be alone thus he usually spends his morning alone and somewhere quiet without waking her up.
He shook his head as the sounds of water running entered his ears. He glanced up to find a stream in front of him with several trees around the area. The stream was about waist length deep as he knelt down in front of it before splashing cold water onto his face. He could feel the cold sting his skin slightly as it helped him wake up. He glanced around the stream to see if there was anything nearby. He was able to notice several Zigzagoons and Shroomishs hiding nearby, quietly watching him. He smiled at the supposed audience before he removed his jacket and shirt, placing it near a small boulder near the stream. He turned to a nearby tree before jumping up and grabbed it as he began to pull himself up. He took deep breathes before he began to swing forward and backwards.
Gradually the moment began to build up as he waited for the right moment. As his body swung backward he let go of the branch before kicking in mid air as he took a nosedive down into the stream. He hit the water with a splash before his body completely vanished into the stream. The Pokémons stared at the stream from their hiding place as the rippled water began to quiet down. Before they could come out and check the water, Reigan jumped out of the stream and landed on the bank with drips of water dripping from his body. He fixed his wet hair slightly as it spiked back up before grabbing his shirt and jacket. He slung it over his shoulders before walking back to where he came.
Reigan mused with delight, the dive into the water allowed him to cleanse himself slightly as well as see if his body could still keep doing the tricks he learned during his stay with the Neo Cipher. His eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance at recalling his brutal training while he was with them.
The training was often brutal as he was often forced to endure the physical extremes such as running long distances, going many days without food or having your senses blocked off to be aware of your surroundings through instinct or a sixth sense. He would recall days were the instructors would often beat them if members failed to accomplish his demands. These were not very pleasant memories he did not want to experience again. Moreover, he didn't want others to experience it because of how brutal it was for him.
Reigan shook his head once again as he stepped in the vicinity of their campsite. Quieting his steps once more, he made his way towards the burnt campfire before making his way towards his bag as he quietly looked through it, trying to see what he could make for breakfast. He pulled a pair of canned spam before pulling out bread, small slices of cheese and tomatoes. With this, he would be able to make several small sandwiches for the two of them for breakfast. Of course he would prefer to make a more elaborate breakfast but wanted to save the other ingredients he had in his bag for dinner. He pulled out two large cans of Pokémon food before he grabbed several bowls left from last night as he poured the Pokémon food into it. He then walked over to his jacket and pulled several Poké balls from its pocket before he threw them onto the ground as a white light illuminated the area.
From the light appeared Treecko, Jolteon and Ralts, the three Pokémon stretching their arms and legs. Ralts then rushed towards Reigan who kneeled and petted her head while Treecko grabbed his tray and jumped onto the trees. Jolteon meanwhile stared at the tent before turning back to its master, his eyes obviously wanting to wake the sleepy head up.
"Alright, alright… I guess I will go wake her up… After I make the sandwiches." Reigan said with a sigh as he pulled out a wooden board and walked over to a tree stump before preparing the sandwiches for breakfast. His Pokémons meanwhile were busy eating the foods given to him with delight as he stared at the three of them.
Jolteon, his first Pokémon, was the calm and collected one of the team. He had the utmost trust towards Reigan and believed in whatever they were going to do. He held a strong love for battles and also had a strong sense of justice. To the other Pokémon, he was like their leader.
Ralts, the first Pokémon he caught in the Hoenn region was very shy and timid. She would take some time to open up to new comrades and would constantly make her way towards Reigan, asking him to pet her or hug her. She was like his little daughter, constantly needing love and attention.
Finally, his newest Pokémon to his team was Treecko. He was a Pokémon who was the most inexperienced of the group and tended to be the reckless one of the group. Of course, he knew how to handle such Pokémon without much trouble.
This was not his full team as he still had three other Pokémons, all of them he left in the Pokémon Storage System. The first was Houndour, a battle maniac who loves to battle. He, like Jolteon had a strong sense of justice and was always ready to save others from harm. The second was Pidgeotto who was hardworking and calm. He always likes to get his job done quickly and also provides reliable information on where things are when spying. Finally, there was Rhyhorn. He was physically one of the strongest but at the same time was one of the laziest members of the group. He had a huge love for relaxing and sleeping but was always ready to get serious.
Reigan smiled to himself as he made his way towards with the finished sandwiches on the board towards the tent before stopping in front and sitting down on the grass.
"Hey, Haruka. Wake up. It's morning already."
"Unn… Give me a second…" Haruka called out drowsily as Reigan sighed and placed the wooden board on the ground while he waited for Haruka to come out. It took several minutes as he can hear her groom herself, stretch and mumble before she popped her head out with a smile.
"Good morning Reigan! What's for breakfa…!"
Before Haruka could finish her sentence, her cheeks began to brighten up in red with steam slowly puffing out of her ears. Reigan stared at her with cocked eyebrows, wondering why she was reacting like that. She covered her eyes with her hands and looked away, her face still colored in red.
"Haruka? What's wrong?"
"Yo-Your… sh-shirt…" Haruka mumbled out as Reigan stared down at his chest to see that he was still half naked. Finally understanding what she meant, he looked over at Jolteon who only shook his head at his trainer, occasionally unaware of his surroundings. He grabbed his shirt with mouth and made his way towards his trainer who petted his head for delivering the shirt. Reigan pulled the shirt over his head as he turned to Haruka who was still looking away.
"Okay I'm wearing something… You are an innocent one huh." Reigan mused with a smirk as Haruka turned back to face him with a small annoyed pout. Reigan snickered for several seconds before bringing the sandwiches in front of her as she snatched one and took a massive bite into it. Reigan grabbed one as well and bite down on it as the taste of spam and the juice of the tomatoes entered his mouth. The two of them chewed on their food quietly in a comfortable silence as Haruka took glances towards Reigan, obviously still slightly embarrassed for seeing his chest while Reigan's attention was on the surrounding area around him.
Something is not right… Reigan noted in his mind as he took another bite into his sandwich while his eyes narrowed. His eyes moved to Jolteon whose attention was moved from his food to the surrounding area. His eyes then proceeded to move to Ralts who proceeds to shiver slightly from the surrounding area.
Ralts is able to read people and Pokémon's feelings as well as sense things. If she senses happiness, she also becomes happy and begins to approach people. However if she feels hostility then she tends to shiver and hide behind him or anything else that could conceal her from other people. Her shivering shows that something is going on in the forest.
Due to the thick forest, he had to rely more on his ears as he tried to heighten his sense of sound to pick up something wrong going on. Seeing that he needed to focus more, he stopped eating and closed his eyes, earning a confused look from Haruka. His Pokémons also sensed their trainer focusing as they turned their attention towards him.
Suddenly Reigan opened his eyes before jumping onto his feet, his eyes focused at one direction. Haruka looked up at him and saw his narrowed eyes as he quickly finished the sandwich before turning to his Pokémon. He pulled out Ralts and Treecko's Poké ball and quickly returned them back into it.
"Reigan…? What's wrong?" Haruka asked curiously as she stared up at him, eyes narrowed and face serious. It was an expression she had yet to see and normally her heart would begin to beat faster but she knew the situation was not great for that. Before he could answer, he bolted towards the direction as Haruka tried to stop him but to no vain.
"Ah, Reigan! Mou, wait up!" Haruka called out as she quickly ate her sandwich and grabbed her green bandana before she dashed out of the tent. She noticed Reigan's Jolteon waiting for her as he dashed for the forest with Haruka following him. The two of them dashed through the bushes and twigs as she tried her best to dodge them so they wouldn't scratch her skin.
In a matter of minutes, her run began to slow and her breathing heavy while Jolteon continued to dash forward before he came to a stop and ducked slightly under the bushes. Haruka soon stopped at the place he stopped and looked around.
She was still in the cover of the thick forest of Petalburg Woods but could see a clearing in front of her. However due to the thickness of the trees, she was unable to see much of the clearing in front of her. Not only that, she could not see any signs of Reigan.
"Where are yo-!"
Before Haruka could call out Reigan, she felt herself pulled towards her right side as her back slammed into the tree. Tears began to drip from her eyes and fear rushed into her mind as she prepared to squeal when a hand covered her mouth and nose. She fearfully looked forward when she realized that it was Reigan holding her mouth quiet as he signaled her to be quiet before pointing diagonally to the left. She slowly turned to the left when her eyes widened, surprised at the sight that filled her eyes.
A small area of the clearing was now visible to them that they were unable to see due to the thickness of the trees, which was filled with large steel cages with several figures laughing and grinning, all of them wearing the same white armor. Haruka moved her attention from the laughing men to the cages to find several Pokémon, all of them shivering in fear from their captors and given up hope for escape. Most of the Pokémon were native to this forest, which will most likely be sold or hypnotized as weapons. Reigan removed his hand from her mouth as his eyes narrowed and clenched his fists in anger. Haruka stared at him before staring back at the cages and then to the laughing men.
"Are they Pokémon Poachers?"
"I'm not sure but whoever they are, I'm not going to forgive them." Reigan lied at first before his anger was almost about to radiate out of his eyes. Of course he knew whom they were but decided to play someone who doesn't know what is going for the safety of Haruka.
"How are we going to stopped them?" Haruka asked as Reigan turned his attention back to her.
"We?"
"Yeah, we. Don't tell me you are going to stop them by yourself?" Haruka inquired as Reigan bite his lip before she narrowed her eyes at that reaction. She sighed once before pushing him slightly off as she grabbed a Poké ball from her waist pack.
"I'm going to help you free them and I am not taking no for an answer." Haruka said as Reigan stared at her, trying to deter her from going but seeing no way to stop her, he raised his hands in defeat as she smiled at him. The two of them took one last breath to ready themselves before they dashed out of bushes towards the men.
"Go, Combusken! Use Ember!" Haruka said as she threw her Poké ball where a two-legged chicken like Pokémon appeared. Its upper body was yellow while most of the lower body was orange. It had a feather crest on the top of its head with three orange points. It has orange eyes and a short, wide beak. It has three sharp claws at the ends of its long arms with scaly, gray legs. Combusken opened its mouth and began to spew fire forward at their enemies as they tried to step away from the fire only to be engulfed by the flame as they screamed out in pain.
"Jolteon! Thunder Shock!" Reigan followed up as Jolteon followed him and began to shoot a bolt of lightning towards them as they bodies were wrapped in sparkling electricity before they began to drop down with their eyes white. The two of them continued to dash forward when Reigan pointed at the cages as Haruka dashed for them when one of the grunts through out a Poké ball with Magnemite flashing out of it. It's body sparked before shooting a bolt of lightning that was easily dodged by Jolteon.
"Jolteon, Quick Attack then Double Kick!"
Jolteon dashed forward with incredible speed before kicking the Pokémon twice, knocking him out quickly. Suddenly from the right side, something came dashing for Reigan as he jumped back to dodge the attack.
Standing in front of him was humanoid Pokémon with gray skin. It had brown ridges on the top of its head with large red eyes and short stubby tail. It flexed its muscles before it charged towards Reigan. Reigan clicked his tongue at the Machop as he dodged another one of his Karate Chop's. Reigan jumped back and pulled out a Poké ball as Ralts appeared with white light.
"Ralts! Confusion!" Reigan ordered as her eyes began to light up before a weak pulse of psychic energy flashed forward at the Machop. The Machop could feel its effects affect him deeply before he flew over backwards. Reigan smiled at her work before turning to his Jolteon who was busy finishing off another Magnemite.
"Jolteon, jump back!" Reigan ordered as Jolteon obeyed, successfully dodging a stream of acid as it hit the ground. Reigan turned his attention to the left to see a serpentine Pokémon with purple scales and a large hood under its head. The hood had a design of a scary face. It slithered forward before trying to intimidate Jolteon and Ralts who stood unfazed except Ralts who hide behind his leg.
Suddenly another Pokémon appeared from the right followed by a Neo Cipher grunt, whose expression was one of anger. Reigan noted that he was the leader of this group as his attention moved to the Pokémon he had with him. It was a blue box shaped bipedal Pokémon with a huge yellow mouth peg like teeth on each corner. The ears are ringed and circular, making it appear like a sound system on a stereo. Reigan narrowed his eyes at both Pokémon, identifying them as Arbok and Loudred as his scanner extended over his left eye to scan if they were hypnotized and to search for their levels. It quickly revealed to him that they were not hypnotized and that the two of them were 20 to 25. Reigan clicked his tongue in annoyance as this would be a problem for Ralts who is not strong enough to deal with them, meaning that he might have to overwork Jolteon.
"Combusken! Flame Charge!" Haruka's voice entered his ear as he turned around to see her Combusken covered in flames as it tackled another Pokémon who bursts into flames. Reigan smirked, seeing that Combusken was a very powerful and experienced Pokémon as he turned his attention back to the battle in front of him.
"Arbok, Acid on Jolteon! Loudred, Astonish on Ralts!" the grunt ordered as Arbok began to spit a stream of liquid acid while Loudred tried to scare Ralts.
"Jolteon, dodge it with Quick Attack! Ralts, Double Team!" Reigan followed up as Jolteon dashed forward in incredible speed, successfully dodging all of Arbok's Acid and tackling into Arbok as it staggered backwards while Ralts began to multiply in number to create illusionary copies of herself with Loudred trying to find who was the right opponent.
"Arbok, Crunch him! Loudred, Echoed Voice!"
Arbok quickly recovered from Jolteon's attack as it slithered forward to try to bite down heavily on Jolteon while Loudred prepared to blast out a loud sound wave towards the many Ralts.
"Jolteon, dodge it. Ralts, Teleport!" Reigan ordered once again as Jolteon jumped back to avoid Arbok's bite while Ralts teleported out of the blast of the voice. Jolteon stood in front of Reigan; its posture read to pounce back forward while Ralts appeared in front of him as he stood there contemplating on his next move. Even though his Pokémons had the advantage of type effectiveness, his Ralts was too weak to damage a Pokémon whose level was in its 20's. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, seriously hating that the only way to win was for Jolteon to overwork itself. The said Pokémon glanced behind its back at him as Reigan nodded his head before Jolteon dashed forward, making its way towards the Arbok. Arbok slithered forward as it tried to bite into Jolteon once again.
However before its teethes could bite down into Jolteon's body, Jolteon dashed quickly out of the way as Arbok's teethes clenched together. Jolteon began to charge his teeth with electricity as he bite down on the cobra Pokémon. Arbok screamed out in pain from the bite and the subsequent electricity that ran into his body.
"Stomp Jolteon, Loudred!" the grunt ordered with his teethes gritting in anger as Loudred jumped into the air before trying to deliver a dive kick into Jolteon. However in a flash, Ralts teleported to where Jolteon was before the two of them teleported out of the way. Loudred smashed down into the ground with rocks spewing into the air as he looked around for his opponent.
"Loudred, above you!"
"Too slow! Jolteon, Double Kick Loudred! Ralts, Confusion!" Reigan called out with a smirk as Loudred attention was ripped from the ground to the air. However before he could react, the top of his head was slammed by two kicks to the head. The sheer force of the attack caused him to drop to the ground as Jolteon back flipped after his attack. Arbok, his body still cackling from electricity glared at Jolteon before a pulse of psychic energy hit him as he shrieked in pain. Ralts teleported out of the sky and landed near Jolteon as the two Pokémons stared at their opponents, both of them too weak to be able to fight. The grunt gritted his teeth in anger once again at Pokémons lousy performance.
"Come on you two fools! Arbok, Acid him and Loudred, Echoed Voice!" the grunt ordered as the two Pokémon, using their last bit of strength launched their respective attacks. Reigan stared at them before he snapped his fingers as his Pokémon once again teleported closer to them, the Pokémons widening their eyes at how close they were. Jolteon's body began to cackle as a bolt of electricity flung itself towards the two of them while Ralts's eyes began to brighten up as a pulse of psychic energy slammed the two of them. The two Pokémons, unable to dodge the attack, took the brutal attacks head on before the two of them fell over backwards. The grunt slumped down to the ground, shocked that his Pokémon lost. Before he could do anything, he felt his eyelids heavy as he fell forward onto the ground with Reigan standing over him with his hand forming a karate chop.
Reigan breathed a sigh of relief before turning around to the cages to see Haruka ordering her Combusken smashing a lock with his claws. Reigan walked over to another cage nearby and stared inside to find several Poochyenas, Zigzagoons and Shroomishs cowering in fear inside. Reigan smiled at the Pokémons to reassure them before glancing behind at Ralts. She stared at the lock as it soon hit the ground with a loud thud. Reigan pulled cage door open as he watched the numerous Pokémons dash out of the cage to their freedom. He watched them run towards the forest before catching one Poochyena stopping briefly to stare at Reigan. Reigan stared back at it before the Poochyena followed its fellow Pokémon back into the forest.
"Well, that's done." Haruka said as she made her way towards Reigan, her expression telling him that she was pleased to be able to save the Pokémons while Reigan watched her quietly and stretched the muscles of his body.
"How did you manage to find something like this was going on?"
"There had been increased activity of poachers lately and I heard some of them scream out for help."
"You heard them!? We are about 20 minutes away from our camp! How were you even able to hear them…!?" Haruka exclaimed with her eyes widening in shock at her traveling companion.
"I have good ears." Reigan said bluntly with a shrug before crouching down to pet his two Pokémons with a small smile. Haruka stared at him with a deadpanned expression, obviously annoyed at him replying with an obvious and straightforward answer. Reigan continued to pet them for several minutes before he pulled out their Poké balls as he returned them into the balls for their well-deserved rest.
"By the way, that Combusken seemed very powerful and experienced. I'm guessing you have been using him a lot?"
"Well… I trust her the most out of all my Pokémons. Oh, and Combusken is a 'she'. Don't forget that."
"That's cool…" Reigan replied bluntly with a deadpanned expression as Haruka pouted at him with her cheeks puffing out.
"Jeez! You don't have to be so mean! Mou! I will see you at the camp!" Haruka said before she dashed towards the trees as she disappeared into the thickness of the trees. Reigan sighed as he followed her towards the camp, not before stopping once as he looked at the cages. He knew that the two of them had to get out of here quickly before anyone returns to pick up the cages as he pushed forward, annoyed at the coming events.
- § -
[Sir, it seems like our grunts who were collecting Pokémons in Petalburg Woods were suddenly attacked and wiped out with the Pokémons released from their cages.]
"Is it the same as the one Elcia described that attacked facility in Petalburg Woods?"
[We cannot confirm that sir. However there were traces of fire and electricity near the area.]
"I see… I doubt they would have gone too far so send some grunts in disguise to Route 4 and also have some head to the Pretty Petal flower shop for any suspicious trainers. Report anything they deem suspicious to me."
[Yes, sir!]
"What do you think?"
"They are strong but whoever they are, they will regret messing with us."
"As expected of the Elite Twelve, you staying here reassure the men."
"It's Elite Eleven now since the traitor left… Call me if you find more about our enemy."
"Understood."
Hey guys! Hope you liked the 4th chapter! This chapter shows a bit of their travels and the interactions between Reigan and Haruka. Original I was gonna skip over this but I added this after an idea popped in my head which forced me to change the whole chapter. (hence the reason for taking a while) The movements of the Neo Cipher will escalate as well so stay tuned for that.
Now for some answers to reviews:
Withdranwnmadness000: I will take only one vote from each reviewer. By the way, thanks for always reviewing man. Appreciate it :)
Guest: Thanks for your input!
Here is list of Pokémon Reigan currently has:
On hand:
-Jolteon (Male) Level: 20 Moves: Thunder Shock, Quick Attack, Double Kick, Thunder Fang
-Ralts (Female) Level: 10 Moves: Teleport, Confusion, Double Team, ?
-Treecko (Male) Level: 8 Moves: Pound, Leer, Absorb, ?
Pokémon Storage System:
-Pidgeotto (Male) Level: ? Moves: Fly, ?
-Houndour (Male) Level: ? Moves: ?
-Rhyhorn: (Male) Level: ? Moves: ?
So far the preferences for the love interest's are:
Kotone(Lyra): 0
Haruka(May): 1
Hikari(Dawn): 1
Mei(Rosa): 0
Serena: 0
Sana(Shauna): 0
Mikan(Jasmine): 1
Ibuki(Clair): 6
Asuna(Flannery): 1
Nagi(Winona): 0
Kamitsure(Elesa): 1
Corni(Korrina): 4
Mache(Valerie): 0
So far, Ibuki is still on the lead with 6 votes with Corni the nest highest. Next chapter I will be removing any of the members with 0 votes. However they will still fall for him, just not be chosen as the one who becomes his couple. Anyway hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I will be updating the Cursed Luck next so stay tuned for that. See you guys later! :)