Episode 12: The sewers

By the end of the same day Niko received the Toxic Badge, him and his friends made it back to Castelia City—their home. That evening, Niko stayed at his apartment while Warren went back with Sydney, and Charlotte went to her home with her mother.

"This is where I live, Rufflet." He said, showing the Eaglet Pokémon his apartment. Rufflet, who was sitting on Niko's shoulders, got off and flew around the apartment, exploring the area. "Yeah, it isn't much. Especially now that Warren has left…" He looked down at Snivy. "Looks like we might get a new roommate soon, buddy."

The Grass Snake simply shook her head, as if denying Niko's statement. Confused, Niko eyed Snivy briefly before walking into his room and collapsing on his bed. It had been a long day for all of them.

Niko reached over the side of his bed and grabbed the two badges he's received so far—the Basic and Toxic badges. Holding one in each hand, he studied them carefully. The two badges were, to him, a symbol that he was a trainer once again. Niko didn't feel like a trainer, and he didn't want to be one. But he saw how excited Warren got, seeing him battle and do well. He noticed Charlotte seemed to enjoy the journey as well. In addition, and more importantly, Snivy and Rufflet wanted to battle, and wanted to get stronger. He didn't want to deny them that opportunity.

"Hey Snivy, Rufflet." Niko said, lowering the badges to see Snivy laying at the end of his bed. Rufflet, who was still flying around the apartment, flew into Niko's room and perched himself on the nightstand to Niko's left. "I know the gym battles so far have been difficult but…do you both enjoy battling? What I mean is, would you both want to continue going on this journey with Warren?"

He waited for Rufflet and Snivy to respond. Rufflet nodded wildly, but Snivy waited to see if Niko wanted to continue. As it turned out, Niko had more to say.

"There's a gym here in Castelia City. And Warren will head north next, and there's bound to be gyms there as well. If you both want to continue doing this, then I will too. But I'm hesitant because…I don't like being a trainer. I have had, well, bad experiences with it, and my preference is to not do this again. But I know you both enjoy this, and I want to see both of you be the very best you can be. Does that make sense?"

Snivy sagely nodded. It's clear that she understood Niko's conundrum, but wasn't necessarily able to figure out a reasonable solution to it all. Rufflet, on the other hand, nodded vigorously.

"Well, I think I'll pay Charlotte a visit tomorrow, and then Warren and Sydney. Maybe talking to them would help." Niko said before falling back on his pillow and collapsing into slumber.

The following morning, Niko woke up to see his Pokémon still resting. The previous day had been exhausting for the both of them, despite the copious amount of rest they had gotten in the aftermath. Lumbering down the hallway from his room and into the kitchen, he lazily put something together for Snivy and Rufflet before getting ready for the day.

Looking around the apartment, he realized how much he missed having Warren around. It had only been a single night, but he liked the presence of other people more than he had initially thought. He hardly knew Charlotte, but he appreciated her company as well. It helped to further convince Niko that he would be better off going on a journey throughout Unova, collecting gym badges, meeting Pokémon, and continuing his journey to become a Pokémon Master.

"Alright you two, let's head off to meet Charlotte." Niko said, getting up off of his couch after a while of sitting, eating, and thinking. He was to meet his friend down near Unity Pier, which was the closest to both of their homes. On the trip, he kept Snivy and Rufflet out of their pokéballs so they could enjoy the walk through the city as well. It was Rufflet's first time in a city of this size, and at first, he felt very overwhelmed by the amount of people and Pokémon roaming around. He even tried to peck at a Purrloin walking by, only for Niko to grab him and pull him inwards, profusely apologizing to the Purrloin's trainer. She wasn't very happy with Niko and Rufflet.

They arrived at the café looking out on Unity Pier, finding Charlotte standing outside waiting for them. Upon seeing Niko, she smiled politely and waved to them. Leading them inside, she sat down at a table across from Niko, and their Pokémon sat at their feet, conversing with one another.

"So…" He finally said, unsure of what to begin with. "How are you readjusting to home life?"

"Good so far. Told my mom about some of the things we got to do. She was glad we got to go visit Pokéstar Studios, and is happy for your two gym victories." She paused, looking down at her hands. "How about you?"

"Fine. Just went home and fell asleep. Rufflet seemed to enjoy flying around my apartment, but he got over it quickly I think. Snivy felt right at home, though." Niko also paused, looking down at the cup of tea sitting in front of him. He waited for it to cool down, and simply played with his hands. "Anyway…"

"Anyway…" Charlotte said. They looked at each other for a moment. "Warren keeps talking about wanting to continue his journey northwards. Do you plan on joining him?"

Niko was silent for a moment before nodding slightly. "Yes. I'm sure I will join him. I don't have a job anymore, don't have a roommate, I don't seem to have a choice."

"You always have a choice, Niko." Charlotte said, more sincerely than before. "If you don't want to, then don't. I get that you don't feel comfortable. I don't know the reason, and I don't need to, but I've noticed you haven't felt entirely comfortable this past week or so."

"Well, that's sort of right. It would make sense if I explained it, but I'd prefer not to…I guess. But I don't feel like this is about me. It's about Warren, Snivy, Rufflet, you."

"Me?" She asked.

"Well, yeah. You wanted to come on a journey with us. It only makes sense that I would want you to be happy, too."

"Oh…I appreciate that, Niko." Charlotte said, smiling slightly. "But…you should consider what you really want to do."

"I am." Niko said, drinking his tea. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, he asked a question that had been on his mind for the past day or so. "Do you want to join us?"

"I would." Charlotte said, rather quickly. "But I don't know how my mom would feel about it. I'd have to run it by her."

"I'll come with you, then." Niko said. "It might make it better if I'm around, you know?"

"Sure, that makes sense. Well, she is off work today I think, so do you want to just come over and we can talk to her?"

"Let's do that." Niko put down his tea. "Hey Snivy, Rufflet, we're heading out now. C'mon!" Snivy and Rufflet got up from under the table and follow Niko and Charlotte out of the café and onto the streets of Castelia City.

Since Unity Pier was relatively close to the both of them, the trip to Charlotte's home wouldn't take too long. During the walk, they made small, light conversation. As they were walking down a street, roughly three or so blocks from Charlotte's place, they heard a sound coming from below them. Looking around, Niko stopped and twisted his head around in search of the odd sound, which was more like a "bang."

"Did you hear that?" He asked, turning to Charlotte. The brunette looked to him, and then around as well. She shook her head, but it was clear to Niko that Snivy and Rufflet heard the sound, since they were running around on the sidewalk and in the street. Cautiously, Niko and Charlotte continued down the street for a minute or so until they heard something smashing together beneath the street. "Oh! There it is again! Right over there!" He said, pointing to the street. "It's…under the street."

"What is it…?" She said just as a manhole cover burst several feet away from them. It launched several feet into the air. "Woah!"

"Snivy, Rufflet, be prepared to fight, just in case." Niko said, watching the uncovered manhole carefully. He slowly stepped towards it. Once he got close enough, he peered over to see what was hidden under the manhole. "Err…there doesn't seem to be anything down there…" He motioned for Charlotte to join him, but she didn't move. "You don't want to follow?"

"Nope. I have no idea what's down there."

"You'll be fine. Come on." Niko said, reaching his hand out, even though they were both standing still on stable ground. Charlotte didn't take his hand but chose to walk over all the same, also peering over into the manhole. "I think we can just climb down."

"Climb down? We're not going in there, are we?"

"Sure we are. Let's explore it!" Niko said. "I'm not a fan of dirty, damp places, but this seems kinda fun. Let's go!"

"But we don't have any light!" Charlotte protested.

"What does your Smeargle know?" Niko asked. He knew Charlotte's Smeargle could learn sketch, and there was a chance it knew some sort of fire type move, or flash.

"Uh…I think it might know ember, actually. Smeargle, can you use ember and keep it on your tail?"

The Painting Pokémon nodded, and the group reluctantly climbed down into the manhole to investigate the source of the sound. Once they reached the damp bottom of the manhole, Smeargle waved her tail around to light the area up, and Niko and Charlotte quickly realized that they were in a sewer system.

"Well then, looks like there's nothing around here…" Niko said just as they heard the ground shake underneath them. "Spoke too soon, I guess."

"Y-yeah…" Charlotte said before turning around. "I don't see anything, Niko. Why are we here?"

"To investigate, but it doesn't seem like there's anything around here. Niko, can we go back up?"

"I guess so…" Niko said, looking around. However, just as they were about to climb back up the manhole cover, Niko turned to look behind Charlotte and saw two large, white eyes peering at him. "Charlotte, don't…turn around…" Niko said cautiously. "Snivy…stand by, but don't do anything."

"What's happening, Niko…?" Charlotte said, looking down at Niko from the ladder on the edge of the manhole. She then made the mistake of defying Niko and turning around to see the pair of eyes.

She then let out a short scream, which seemed to agitate the monster. Niko then grabbed her off of the ladder, put her back down on the floor and, grabbing her wrist, began running. Smeargle, Rufflet, and Snivy also broke into a dash down the sewer tunnel, the Pokémon ripping through the sewer tunnel behind them.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Charlotte yelled as they ran through the tunnel.

"It's an Onix, I think." Niko said, honestly unsure. He forgot what Onix's eyes looked like, but he was quite sure it was the Rock Snake Pokémon. "Snivy, can you fight?" He asked, turning back to see the Grass Snake Pokémon running behind him. She nodded. "Alright, next intersection we hit, let's fight."

"Are you crazy!?" Charlotte asked.

"Don't worry, we've got this, right Snivy?" Niko asked. Snivy nodded, and as soon as they could turn into another sewer tunnel, they did. "Snivy, vine whip!"

Snivy spun back around and released green vines just as Onix's face appeared in the intersection. The vine whip didn't seem to help, however—it only enraged Onix even more. The Rock Snake Pokémon then roared out, which seemed to frighten Snivy slightly. Niko then commanded another vine whip while Charlotte, Rufflet, and Smeargle watched. Rufflet, who wanted some of the action, charged forward and used fury attack on Onix's face, but was buffeted by the hardness of Onix's head. Gritting his teeth, Niko then commanded another vine whip, but it wasn't doing anything.

"Okay, this isn't working." Niko said. He turned to Charlotte, who was terrified, and motioned behind them, indicating that it was their time to flee once more. "Snivy, Rufflet, let's go again. I think we've got it stuck."

Turns out they didn't force Onix to get stuck. As Niko forgot to consider, Onix's body was thickest towards the front of its body, and thinned out at the end of its tail, which made it easy to turn. Surprised, Niko broke into a faster sprint, nearly leaving Charlotte far behind him. Before he noticed this, Charlotte was dangerously close to Onix.

"Snivy!" He said as he stopped and shouted. The Grass Snake leapt forward and somersaulted through the air. Just as she was about to unleash a tornado of leaves from the tip of her tail, essentially mastering the move leaf tornado, another attack hit Onix first, blinding it by kicking dirt into its eyes. "Great job Snivy—wait what?" Niko asked bemusedly, looking to see a tiny little Pokémon standing in front of the blind—and angry—Onix. Snivy landed right next to it, turning and smiling at it in thanks. Rufflet, who wasn't quite done fighting, rushed forward and made another attempt at fury attack, but it was clear Onix wasn't in the mood for fighting anymore, and slowly backed up and left, leaving Niko and Charlotte with the mysterious Pokémon that helped them.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked, pulling out her Pokédex:

"Roggenrola, the Mantle Pokémon. Rock type. The hexagonal-shaped hole is its ear. It has a tendency to walk in the direction the sound is coming from."

"That's probably how it found us, actually." Niko said, crouching down to the Roggenrola. "Thanks for the help, buddy. My name's Niko. This is my friend, Charlotte, and my other Pokémon, Snivy and Rufflet." He pat the Roggenrola on the tip of its rock head, which was a brown, rocky oblong atop its spherical, navy blue rock head. It's "ear" was bright yellow and hexagonal-shaped.

"We really appreciate the help, Roggenrola." Charlotte said in a kind tone, crouching down. She stood back up and turned to Niko, who was petting Rufflet and issuing praise to the Eaglet Pokémon. "Hey, Niko."

"What's up, Charlotte?"

"You should try to catch this Roggenrola. It looks strong, and it might be a nice addition to your team."

"You think so?" Niko asked, turning to Rufflet, and then to Snivy.

"Yeah! It helped take down a Pokémon multiple times its size. It's got courage, that's for sure." She turned to Roggenrola.

"Well Roggenrola, do you want to join us? I'm challenging gyms across the Unova region, and I might need some more help. You'd get a chance to grow stronger, too…I hope." Niko said, nervously scratching his head.

Roggenrola tilted its head a little in confusion, as if trying to figure out the answer on its own. Eventually, it nodded by moving its entire head forwards and back.

"I'll take that as a yes. Hey, Snivy, want to fight this Roggenrola?" Niko asked. Before Snivy could answer, though, Rufflet leapt off of his trainer's shoulders and dove down at Roggenrola to use wing attack. However, just like with Onix, the attack didn't seem to faze the Mantle Pokémon, who hurled a flurry of rocks in varying sizes at the Eaglet Pokémon, who skillfully dodged most of them before getting hit in the chest directly, sending it hurtling into the sewer wall. "Rufflet…" Niko said, shaking his head. "I appreciate the effort, but it's harder for you to fight rock types. Your attacks don't do as much damage. Snivy, use leaf tornado on Roggenrola!"

Snivy leapt into the air, spinning forward and unleashing a leaf tornado at the tiny rock type, engulfing it in leaves and throwing it into the air. Niko then commanded Snivy to use vine whip, which successfully hit Roggenrola in midair.

However, the Mantle Pokémon was harder to beat than Niko thought. While in the air, it rotated its brown rock point and dove down at Snivy using its weight to maneuver through the air. It crashed down into the Grass Snake Pokémon, who retaliated with another leaf tornado that launched Roggenrola backwards. Niko then saw his chance.

"I—I don't have a pokéball, though!" Niko said, frantically running his hands through his bag and pockets. "Charlotte?"

"Err…maybe, actually. Let me check." She said, unzipping her own small bag and picking through it while Snivy and Roggenrola continued to exchange blows. Eventually, somehow, she found one. "So…all I have is this Ultra Ball." She said, pulling out a black and yellow pokéball. "I got this as a gift at some show I went to months ago, but I haven't ever needed it. Here." She said, tossing it to Niko, who then threw it into the sewer tunnel, past Snivy and directly at Roggenrola, who began to glow bright red and went inside the Ultra Ball. The ball fell to the damp floor and began to wiggle around before ultimately clicking, indicating the successful capture.

"Thanks, Charlotte." Niko said cordially before walking over to Roggenrola's pokéball and picking it up. "Welcome to the team, Roggenrola. Now," He said, turning to his friends. "Let's go to Charlotte's."

"Mom! I'm home!" Charlotte said as she walked through the door. Niko followed, having put his Pokémon back into their pokéballs. Moments later, Emily—Charlotte's Mom—walked out of a room down the hallway and waved.

"Niko! How're you?" She said, walking up to Niko and shaking his hand. "Charlotte told me you've become a Pokémon Trainer now."

"Yes, guess so." He said, slightly exasperated. "But it's good. We just got back from me catching a Pokémon, actually."

"Oh? What happened?" She asked.

"Don't ask." Niko and Charlotte both said simultaneously, which seemed to end that conversation. "Anyway Mom, I have something to ask you." Charlotte continued.

"Yes…?" Emily asked, curious and cautious.

"Niko asked if I wanted to continue journeying with him and Warren through Unova. Niko is going to take on the gym leaders, and Warren just wants to travel. Can I go with them?"

"Oh, Charlotte…" Emily said, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You're old enough to make those choices. If that's what you want to do, I'm all for it. Just make sure you don't get yourselves into trouble, alright?" She said, also addressing Niko, who nodded.

"Well, it made sense to ask." Charlotte added, and Emily seemed to understand. "But great! I'm going to start packing. When do we leave, Niko?"

"Err…I don't know. I think I'm going to challenge the Castelia Gym, maybe tomorrow too. But I need to go talk to Warren first. So, why don't we meet at Unity Pier tomorrow afternoon, and we can decide from there?"

"Sure! And if you're challenging the gym, can my Mom come?" She asked.

"Oh, of course she can if she wants to. But I'm not the most entertaining trainer…"

"Please, your battles are great to watch!" Charlotte said, nodding happily before walking down the hall, presumably to her room with Smeargle by her side. Niko and Emily shrugged before the former said his farewells and left the home to go visit his other travelling companion, Warren.

"Niko!" Sydney said, opening her arms for a hug. Niko gladly accepted, and was welcomed into her apartment, where Warren was sitting on the couch with Poliwag and Swadloon. "How's your day been?"

"Good. Hung out with Charlotte for a bit, and then—"

"Oooh? Charlotte?" Sydney said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not like that." Niko said dryly, which ended that conversation. "Anyway, we ended up in the sewer system beneath Castelia City fighting an Onix—not sure why or how—but I caught a Roggenrola!"

"You caught another Pokémon?" Warren asked, sitting straight up and on the edge of the couch. Niko nodded, pulling out the Ultra Ball Charlotte gave him. "I think I've seen a Roggenrola before. It's a little rock thing, right?" Niko nodded again, summoning the Mantle Pokémon. "Wow! Hi, Roggenrola! I'm Warren, Niko's friend. And these are my Pokémon—Poliwag and Swadloon. You might not get to see them much, since I'm going on a journey soon."

"Yeah, speaking of which—when're we leaving?" Niko asked, sitting down in a nearby chair.

"We?" Warren asked, raising an eyebrow before it dawned on him what Niko was trying to say. "No…you're doing it!?"

"Yep. I'm gonna begin with the Castelia Gym and get my third badge." Niko said. Warren's face lit up with happiness. He then leapt off of his spot on the couch and embraced Niko tightly, which seemed to alert Roggenrola, who lightly hit Warren with a headbutt, but strong enough to send the message.

"Ow!" Warren said, gripping his side. "What was that for!?" Warren sat back on the couch next to Sydney, who looked both concerned and slightly amused. "To answer your—err—question, Niko, we could leave as early as tomorrow, or maybe the next day so you can get your things together."

"You can leave some of your stuff here too, Niko." Sydney said cheerfully.

"Thanks, Sydney. I'm going to talk to the landlord tomorrow and deal with the logistics of all of this. I'm also meeting Charlotte tomorrow afternoon. She's joining us, by the way."

"Oh? Awesome!" Warren said, equally pleased with this news. "Are you going to challenge the gym tomorrow, too?"

"Probably. I'm meeting Charlotte at Unity Pier, and we can just walk to the gym from there, if you two want to come along."

"Of course!" Warren said. "Sydney, you need to see Niko in action. His Pokémon are incredible."

"I don't work tomorrow, so of course I can! It'll be fun!" She said.

The three went through the logistics a little more before Niko eventually left the apartment for his own. In a couple of days' time, he would officially leave his new home for a new adventure in Unova.