Corphish, Slugma, and Shellos

'Want a cool and easy to care for Pokemon that none of your friends will have the like of? A Pokemon that's ready to rumble and still friendly enough to be your buddy? Then register now for the opportunity to purchase a Corphish, a Pokemon sure to amaze and be by your side for years to come. Limited time offer!'

A clatter on his umbrella startled him from his study of these old advertisements. There was a shadow above him as well as a tear with a red foot sticking in, so he shifted the umbrella to knock off a Corphish. "Scoo?" the crustacean asked, turning around and looking up at him.

"Ugh, you wrecked my umbrella," he said kicking a foot out. "Go on, scram."

The Corphish nipped its claws at his boots, then scurried off towards the stream. What had it even been doing to fall on him? He tilted his umbrella a little to the side and looked up the cliff. There was a nine-foot waterfall nearby. One would think that a water Pokemon would come down that way rather than jumping down the cliff onto the ground. Or rather, onto his umbrella to wreck it. He put the magazine clippings away and looked around.

Nearby, his own two Pokemon were engaged in a curious kind of dance. Ever since being brought out in this rain, the Slugma had been crawling around in circles. There were a few scorch marks on the grass, but not as much as the boy would expect for all that movement. While his Shellos had initially gone to play at the river's edge, she had come back to figure out what the Slugma was doing. Now she was circling around an imaginary spot with him, making that blubbery noise of hers as if she was trying to cheer him up. But that was a silly thing to think, since they were just Pokemon.

"And what are you two up to?" the boy asked. As he grumbled, he shifted his umbrella and got the new hole in just the right spot to drip water on his nose. "Can I go back in time and not sign up for this? It was supposed to be something cool, getting to travel around and battle with awesome Pokemon. Not sitting around in this constant rain trying to count the stupid Corphish population. My whole summer vacation is going to be wasted on this now."

The adults had told him that this was important. Something about the Corphish being a foreign species to Hoenn and seeing if they needed to take tougher measures to capture and deport them. But this was the lamest summer of his life and it had only been four days. As far as he was concerned, the old ads were lies and there were too many Corphish even if there were less than a dozen in all of Hoenn.

"Pbbbbppbbt," the Shellos said, her pastel blue color contrasting with the Slugma's deep red. She wasn't a native species either, but he had traded a Spoink for her over the trading network. It would be a better deal for him in the long run, he believed. What was so important about native or non-native? They were just Pokemon.

The Slugma made a pitiful gurgle, slowing down his part of their impromptu dance. Normally his skin seemed to glow, making water hiss off him. Now his fiery skin was dim, even black in places. The boy looked at him, frowning. What was that about? He'd never seen that happen before.

Coming over to him, the Shellos nudged him with her nose. She didn't even flinch. The boy knew from experience that the Slugma was usually too hot to handle with bare hands. Then again, the Slugma might have seemed squishy, but she was tough. She probably wouldn't get burnt easily.

"Fiiii!" a squeal came from nearby. The grasses shuffled in several places as nine Corphish crawled out of hiding. They immediately went over to the Slugma, one poking him.

"Hey, what's this about?" the boy said, gripping his umbrella. Were they expecting him to battle all of them with just the two he had? Definitely too many Corphish around if they were being bullies like this. "Couldn't you just come one at a time? Dumb Pokemon. Shellos, scare them off with me."

Instead, the Shellos whined and backed up. This allowed the Corphish to swarm around the Slugma, pick him up, then cart him off to the stairs nearby. It was so bizarre that the boy was caught his his mouth open for a few seconds. Then he shut his umbrella and scrambled to put his backpack on. Once he had his gear, he went a few feet to where the Shellos was unsuccessfully trying to catch up to the Pokemon-napping Corphish. He picked her up then ran up the stairs after them.

"Why are they being so ridiculous?" the boy said, pausing at the top to find them. The grasses were being disturbed in a big way, indicating that they were heading towards the nearby Weather Institute. Running after them, he continued, "This doesn't make any sense. What do they get out of stealing my Pokemon?"

The Shellos squeaked as his grip tightened, causing her to release a violet slime from her skin in defense. He loosed his grip a little, not wanting to get those stains on his clothes again. Already, his jeans were going to be messy from crouching in the mud and running through the wet grass. He caught up with the group of Pokemon by the air conditioner unit of the Weather Institute. The Corphish had placed the darkened Slugma next to the warm machine for some inexplicable reason.

Looking over his Pokemon, he noticed that the Slugma wasn't moving much now. His eyelids were drooping and his skin was almost like volcanic rock. But that was impossible. The Slugma always stayed like molten lava even when attacked with water and ice. At least, he had stayed like that. The boy didn't usually keep his Pokemon out with him while he worked on this tedious study. In fact, the only reason he'd had them out today was because of a conversation he'd had with a friend last night, that all the really cool and powerful Trainers often kept their Pokemon out with them. It seemed like an easy thing to do in order to be a better Trainer. But it shouldn't have caused problems. Was this lukewarm rain enough to cause his Slugma trouble? If so, not even being by the running machine was enough to loosen the Slugma's skin up.

But how had the Corphish figured that out when he didn't know about it? And why had they tried to help like this, as futile as it was? The boy looked over the crowd of Pokemon there, several glancing at him for answers. Not a battle, but answers for what would help this Slugma that they had never met before. They were just Pokemon.

Just Pokemon? Maybe they were more intelligent than he thought... more caring too, as the Shellos crawled over to the Slugma once released from his hands, to nuzzle his face and try to keep him alert. The boy felt like some idea had come to light in his mind and it would never go out for the rest of his life. These Pokemon were more than they seemed, and he needed to respect them more.

For now, he recalled the Slugma and hurried back to Fortree, hoping that the Pokecenter there would have some method of recovering his Pokemon from turning to rock.

…

Ruby entry: Corphish were originally foreign Pokemon that were imported as pets. They eventually turned up in the wild. This Pokemon is very hardy and has greatly increased its numbers.

Slugma Leaf Green entry: It never sleeps. It has to keep moving because if it stopped, its magma body would cool and harden.

Shellos Platinum entry: Beware of pushing strongly on its squishy body, as it makes a mysterious purple fluid ooze out.

Okay, NOW I have Johto finished, haha. My numbers messed up somewhere, but whatever. I have until 10/12 to finish up, and then the Kalos Pokemon can be requested. Two months, this'll be close...

I feel sorry for Slugma. It's suited for an active volcanic area and basically nowhere else.