Episode 26: Hunter and hunted
"So!" Warren said as they all sat down at their booth in the Pokémon Center, just as they usually did. "Two badges to go! And then we're off to the Unova League!"
"Yep…" Niko said, proudly eying his Jet Badge. "When is the Unova League typically?"
"Mid-spring…so you've got quite a few months!" Warren said excitedly. "You're doing really well for a beginning trainer!"
Niko smiled nervously as he briefly eyed Charlotte, who looked away and smirked. She clearly got a little enjoyment from knowing something that Warren didn't. "Well, I think I'll need it if I'm going to win it all, right?"
"Of course!" Warren said. "You've only got five Pokémon right now. Maybe we should slow down a little and take some time for you to train."
"Well, depends. Where is the nearest gym? Because I don't think we should be sitting around in the dead of winter training. Servine probably can't handle being in the cold that long." He then turned to see Charlotte flipping through her book on the Unova region. He then motioned to her while shrugging towards Warren. "She's always on it!"
"You bet she is!" Warren said, slapping their friend on the back. The light force of the back slap was enough for shift Charlotte's entire body forward, knocking her stomach into the side of the table and her head to whiplash forward towards her book. "Oops…sorry."
"No…problem." She said, clearly grabbing her stomach. "Anyway…it looks like, from this book, the nearest gym is in Icirrus City."
"But Brycen isn't the gym leader anymore." Niko said, referencing his meeting with the Gym Leader-turned-actor in Virbank City. "Do they just have a new one?"
"Probably. We can go check it out." Charlotte said. "It's just northeast of here. But…oh man, looks like a long trek." When Niko and Warren studied her, she elaborated. "We have to take route 7 towards Twist Mountain, and then go through Twist Mountain."
Warren's mouth dropped. And, as usual, Niko looked at both of them with a confused expression. "What's the big deal about Twist Mountain?"
"Twist Mountain is a mountain range where travelers usually get lost. There's been construction going on for years now, trying to make it easier for people to travel through to get to Icirrus, Mistralton, or Driftveil City. But as far as I've read, it hasn't been going fast enough."
"Makes sense though…it's a big mountain range." Charlotte said. "But…if we have to do it, we will. Right?"
Niko nodded. "Whatever works. If we encounter any danger, we'll deal with it then." He said in an uncharacteristically optimistic way. He had been feeling far happier recently than he had during the previous half-year. It was probably the string of successful gym battles he had under his belt—or rather, in his badge case. It could also be his Pokémon, which he enjoyed the company of. Or his companions, who were constantly optimistic about his chances, regardless of how experienced he was.
After settling on Icirrus City for Niko's next gym battle, the group went to a store in Mistralton City to stock up on supplies. There, Niko got some carrots to create a sort of soup for Servine's cold. The Grass Snake Pokémon was still feeling under the weather and not up for battling or training. Niko figured that he might need Servine in his next gym battle and, if he was being honest, he enjoyed training with Servine. She also enjoyed training and fighting, and Niko could tell she missed it. Realizing that she had to sit out the gym battle with Skyla, she turned away from Niko and looked thoroughly pissed off.
Niko also got some Lum berries for Rufflet and some other things for his Pokémon while also grabbing supplies that he figured Warren and Charlotte might forget. Usually when they went to the supermarket for supplies, the three of them split up to save time and energy. And occasionally they would forget something. This time, with Niko thinking ahead, he grabbed everything he could think of, proudly walking towards the cashier just as Charlotte and later Warren stood there.
"Oh…" Niko said as he realized he wasn't the only one who planned ahead. Charlotte had bought more berries than she usually did, and Warren had gotten more vegetables. Niko had bought both. "Well, I guess we have more than we'll need, right?"
They both nodded, smiling at the accident.
On their first day back on the road, the trio headed north of Mistralton City, towards Twist Mountain, and along route 7. Even though it was winter, and snow was blanketing the entire valley beyond, the grass was tall enough to peek through the snow and show itself off to the world.
Despite Niko's initial hesitation to Warren's suggestion that they spend more time focusing on his training, he eventually obliged, training all of his Pokémon with the exception of Servine, who sat with Charlotte's Smeargle near a fire the latter created and ate a carrot soup that Niko and Warren put together. They watched from the sidelines in the valley as Niko's Solosis and Boldore practiced against one another, exchanging blows despite their natural effectiveness. Tynamo was off to the side simply generating electricity and trying to reach past his natural energy limit. Rufflet, meanwhile, was busy battling Warren's Poliwag, who hadn't gotten much time to battle on their journey thus far.
"Poliwag, keep it up! Use bubblebeam!" Warren shouted. Rufflet weaved in and out of the bubbles as they came to him, eventually using wing attack on the tadpole Pokémon and knocking him over and into the snow. Just then, the Eaglet Pokémon felt a kick to his side, knocking him into the fluffy white ice. Rufflet looked up and blinked as he saw Charlotte's Deerling standing there.
"Guess Deerling wants to participate, too." Charlotte said as she approached Warren and Niko from their campsite. "May we battle, too?"
"Sure." Niko said, turning to Rufflet. "Want to battle Charlotte's Deerling?"
Poliwag, looking somewhat distraught, turned away and waddled off towards the camp, where Servine, Smeargle, and now Swadloon were sitting. Poliwag sat down next to his leaf-covered teammate and huffed out loudly, watching as Deerling and Rufflet battled it out, with Charlotte and Niko watching their respective Pokémon intensely.
Just then, Warren sat down next to him. "You alright, buddy?" Warren asked. Poliwag looked up at his long-time partner and, hesitantly, nodded. "Don't worry about them. It's not a slight at you or anything. We're just giving Deerling a chance to practice, too!"
Poliwag nodded, accepting that his trainer was right. He didn't like it, though. Warren understood this and, standing up, looked back down at Swadloon and Poliwag.
"Say, you two want to go grab some firewood for the evening? I think we might just stay here for the night." He turned to Niko and Charlotte, who were too engrossed in their battle to notice him. Shrugging, he smiled and motioned for the two Pokémon to follow him.
Wading through the tall grass wasn't easy—Warren often had to ask Swadloon to use razor leaf to cut through it so that all three of them could see. It wasn't long before they found some sticks that they could use to keep their fire going. However, Warren soon discovered that the sticks were wet and wouldn't be as useful to feeding the flames. Throwing the sticks back onto the ground, he eagerly looked around for more, asking Poliwag and Swadloon to split up.
"If you find any, use either bubblebeam or razor leaf into the air, and I'll come and meet you back here, alright?" Warren asked. In that moment he desperately wished he had a flying type like Niko. Would have made everything much easier in his mind.
Regardless, the three then split up in different directions, all searching for wood. After nearly half an hour, Poliwag stumbled across some sticks lying around, but they too were wet. Swadloon also found some sticks, but they weren't long enough and hardly had any girth to them—essentially useless. At one point, she noticed a small Pidove watching her carefully, as if wanting to prey on her.
Warren found no sticks. As he walked through the tall grass—slowly, too—he discovered a small bear cub with an icicle in its nostril. The Pokémon was simply sitting there, looking almost lost. It was small, no bigger than two feet tall, and was light blue and white. Warren, curiously, pulled out his pokédex to examine the adorable little thing:
"Cubchoo, the Chill Pokémon. Ice type. Their snot is a barometer of health. When healthy, their snot is sticky and the power of their ice moves increases."
Warren crouched down to observe the snot. Oddly enough—even in the dead of winter—the snot wasn't completely solid. Concerned, he picked up the Cubchoo. "There there, let me take you back to my friends, and we can help you." He said.
As soon as he took a step to leave the area, he heard a rumbling in the tall grass behind him.
"Wait, where did Warren say he was going?" Niko asked when Rufflet and Deerling's practice battle was over. The Eaglet Pokémon perched himself on top of the Deerling as the latter was sitting down. Solosis and Boldore had also finished their joint training, and Tynamo was exhausted from his exercises.
"I think he said something about firewood. Right, Smeargle?" She asked, turning to the Painter Pokémon. She nodded, confirming her trainer's statement. "He shouldn't be gone too long, though. I'd be surprised if it took him even half an hour to find some sticks."
"True. But some of them could be wet and less useful. Who knows?" Niko said, placing himself down next to Servine on a blanket they laid out to protect from the wet snow. "Was the carrot soup good?" Servine nodded, looking happy for the first time in a while. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling a little better, then. I felt bad about not letting you battle. I promise, you'll get to battle in the next gym, regardless of what type it is, alright?"
Servine nodded, fist-bumping her trainer to solidify the agreement. Meanwhile, Charlotte was petting Deerling and watching Smeargle practice her paint strokes in midair. The Painter Pokémon usually did this whenever they took a rest stop, often just waving her tail around aimlessly. Charlotte sometimes wondered what her Pokémon was painting.
"Say, Charlotte." Niko finally said after minutes of silence. After catching her attention, he continued. "How do you think Warren will take my—err—past?"
"I think he'll take it just fine, Niko. Why do you ask?" Charlotte replied, sitting up straighter this time.
"I don't know. I just worry that it would shatter his view of me. I feel like, in some ways, he looks up to me. I don't get why, but he has this profound confidence in me. If I told him that I gave up, would that alter how he perceives me?"
"Maybe, but why would it matter?"
"Because I value his friendship and input."
"Then it shouldn't matter how he perceives you, Niko. If you truly value it, then you'd want to tell him, right? Plus, friends deserve to know these kinds of things. But at their own natural pace."
"I getcha. You're saying I should tell him whenever I feel is necessary?"
"Yeah." Charlotte said curtly, with a plain expression on her face. "Warren is an unusually understanding person. We're both lucky to have someone like him around."
"He's also unusually confident." Niko said. "I don't understand it."
"Neither do I, but like I said, we're lucky to have that." She said. "Even if we're not doing anything significant with our lives right now."
"You're referencing yourself, aren't you?" Niko asked. Charlotte may have mentioned what she wanted to do with her life, but if she did Niko had forgotten. She ultimately nodded. "Well, isn't this significant?"
"Maybe, it's certainly eye-opening in the sense that I get to see more of the world, and more of the people around me. We've met some interesting personalities on our short journey so far. And some equally interesting Pokémon." She leaned back on her hands and turned to Niko. "And I hope that continues, right?"
Niko smirked. "It will, for sure."
Swadloon looked up at the Pidove cautiously. She knew that the little bird wanted to take some sort of swipe at her, and so as she turned to leave she did so slowly, and only by side-stepping through the path of cut grass she had taken to arrive there. Just then, she heard a loud yelling that sounded eerily familiar. She looked up at the Pidove in the tree above her, and realized that the bird also noticed it. The two briefly exchanged looks before Swadloon made a dash for it (as fast as a Swadloon could run, that is) in the direction she had come from.
When she made it to the snow-covered clearing, she saw Poliwag looking around anxiously for their trainer. They then looked towards the direction Warren had run, and heard a low rumbling off in the distance. Swadloon crouched low to the ground to brace herself for whatever was coming towards them. Poliwag did the same.
Then they both noticed the Pidove fluttering off in that direction without a care in the world.
Warren slowly turned his head to see a massive white bear staring down at him angrily. The Cubchoo looked equally frightened, but for a different reason—it seemed to recognize the bear. Just then, Warren let out a yell, and began scrambling through the tall grass, ideally towards the clearing he agreed to meet Poliwag and Swadloon at.
He eventually arrived in the clearing just as both of his Pokémon had arrived, crouching low to the ground to hold their own against whatever was coming for them. "Hey! Guys! H-help!" Warren shouted, the Cubchoo still in his hands. He ran behind Swadloon and Poliwag before putting the Chill Pokémon on the ground and pulled out his pokédex to get a better understanding of what was chasing him. Meanwhile, Poliwag and Swadloon used bubblebeam and razor leaf, respectively.
"Beartic, the Freezing Pokémon. Ice type. They love the cold seas of the north. They create pathways across the ocean waters by freezing their own breath."
"Dammit, it's an ice type. Swadloon, use string shot! Poliwag, hypnosis!" Warren commanded. On accident, the string shot hit first, wrapping up the Beartic before the hypnosis could hit. Warren and his Pokémon severely underestimated the sheer power of the ice type when it ripped through the string shot, dodged the hypnosis, and used slash on both of them, knocking all of them away and clearing room to attack Warren. "Oh no…oh no no no…" Warren said, backing away. The Cubchoo then ran to the other side of the Beartic, just as the bigger Pokémon made an angry swipe at Warren.
He managed to evade the swipe, albeit barely. The Beartic was just about to take another swipe—this time likely to hit—when something flashed in front of both of them and stuck to the Beartic. Warren looked up to see a Pidove clawing at the Freezing Pokémon's face, agilely dodging each of the Beartic's attacks. It then backed up a little bit and slashed at the air in between them, briefly knocking Beartic back and giving Warren time to get out of the way.
"Poliwag, Swadloon, help this Pidove!" He shouted as he scrambled over towards his Pokémon. "Swadloon, string shot while it's distracted!"
The Leaf-Wrapped Pokémon nodded, spewing out silky string from its mouth at the Beartic, who was too busy trying to evade the Pidove. The attack knocked Beartic to the ground, just in time for Poliwag to run up in front of it and use hypnosis to successfully put it to sleep.
Warren let out a deep sigh of relief, looking at his two Pokémon, the Cubchoo and Beartic, and then the Pidove last. "Thanks, by the way." He said to the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon. "I'm Warren, by the way. I'm a traveler with my Poliwag, Swadloon, and a bunch of other friends." He then thought for a moment before speaking again. "Is there any way I can repay you for your help?"
The Pidove tilted its head for a moment before glaring at Swadloon, whose eyes widened. The Leaf-Wrapped Pokémon glared back at Pidove angrily, but Warren didn't notice this.
"You want to travel with Swadloon? Are you two friends or something?" He asked, completely ignoring—or misinterpreting—Swadloon's expression. "Well, if that's the case, mind if I catch you? I'd like to have a flying Pokémon on hand. My friend Niko is the only one with a bird, and it'll help to have more flyers with us, in case we get lost or something. How does that sound?"
Pidove turned to Warren, as if unsure. Without looking for confirmation, Warren pulled out a spare pokéball and threw it at the Pidove, who immediately went into the ball. However, it reappeared just as quickly, much to Warren's surprise.
"Alright then. Swadloon, let's fight it, yeah?" He asked. Swadloon gladly stepped forward to challenge the little bird that wished to eat it. "Use string shot!"
Swadloon unleashed a long string of silk at the Pidove, who agilely dodged and dove down at her with what looked like quick attack. The two collided, but Swadloon took the hit, especially when it meant that she could use string shot more successfully. She did so, and the Pidove crumbled to the ground in a heap of white stringy silk.
"Now, use bug bite!" Warren commanded. Swadloon opened up her leaf coat and covered Pidove in them before biting down onto the Tiny Pigeon's small talon. "Let go!" Warren said before throwing a pokéball down onto the ground. Pidove went inside, and stayed there this time. The red and white ball wiggled around a few times before eventually clicking, indicating that the capture was successful.
Warren happily picked up the pokéball and turned to Swadloon, who looked quite pleased with herself. Poliwag, on the other hand, looked passive.
"Hey guys! I'm back!" Warren said with Poliwag, Swadloon, and Pidove at his side. Niko and Charlotte both immediately got up, each with confused expressions.
"Didn't you say you were getting firewood?" Niko asked. "Also…you caught a Pidove?"
Warren nodded. "Yup! Long story, but now Rufflet isn't the only flyer in our group. In case we get lost, we also have Pidove!"
"Oh…well, smart thinking." Niko said, turning to Charlotte. "So tell us—what happened? You look a little roughed up."
Warren nodded, sitting down on one of their blankets. Poliwag sat in his lap; Pidove on his shoulder; and Swadloon to his side. He then began to talk through their small adventure, adding as much flair to it as he could. Each time he exaggerated something, one of his Pokémon would simply roll their eyes, to which Charlotte and Niko would laugh a little. They continued talking through the evening before finally falling asleep on route 7, the first day of many on their journey towards Icirrus City.