Chapter 13: Bumps in the Road
"Another one down." Damian sighed with content as Gastly took down another wild pokemon. He looked around after the victory, now releasing a sigh in disappointment. "Looks like this place is becoming scarce. We have no choice but to move on, huh?" He turned to his partner, who simply let out a signature exclamation — happy that its owner was simply conversing with him. "We're still going to avoid the gym, but I guess we can move closer to Oreburgh City for now. Roark has probably gotten a lot stronger with the others going on ahead and challenging him. I wonder how many failed…"
He eventually shrugged at his own thoughts. "Come on, Gastly. Let's head out."
With his partner obliging, the two would begin their trek out of their current route. "If I had to take a guess at who would be the one to lose their first gym battle, it would be…"
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"Elekid! Elekid!" Jackson and Marcus had begun their search for the former's Pokemon, truffling through the tall grass around them as they followed the trail of weeds — the only way Elekid could run off to without being seen. Blame started to kick in as they searched, Jackson feeling awful about what he saw as neglect. "He probably ran off because of all the attention I was giving Poliwag. He's still young - I should have paid more attention to him when he said he wanted to keep training!"
"Don't go blaming yourself." Marcus reiterated peace of mind, assuring Jackson that everything would be alright. "Elekid wouldn't leave just like that. He showed no signs of dislike towards you. He just has a rash character. I'm sure he just ran off somewhere nearby to find something to do so he could get stronger while you were training Poliwag is all."
Jackson took the possible scenario with a grain of salt, running a worried hand through his hair as the two continued to look for Elekid, calling his name over and over as they searched through every inch of that patch of land. It felt nearly hopeless as Jackson stood back up after diving down into the grass once more, the blades of green reaching over both his head and Marcus's afro. They were about to turn to a different direction when a spark of electricity followed by some low growling caught both the yes and ears of the duo. "That way!" Jackson pointed, and Marcus followed by ear since he couldn't see a damn thing in the tall grass. "Elekid!" Jackson shouted, escaping the grass to the other side. Immediately he spotted his partner. "Oh god! You're safe…" His words trailed off inquisitively as he realized that Elekid was in a standoff, but with who? Jackson looked across from his partner to spot the culprit. It was a Snubbull!
The bipedal bulldog pokemon stood across from Elekid with a smug look on its face, beckoning its opponent to come forth. Its taunting caused Elekid to only get frustrated, barking and yelling in its direction.
"Elekid? You okay?" Jackson asked.
"Taunt!" Marcus shouted as he fell out of the tall grass. Quickly hopping up to wipe away the dirt that attached to his attire, he repeated himself. "That Snubbull is using Taunt. It's a known move that frustrates a pokemon into fighting as is. At the end of the day, Snubbull is attacking Elekid's pride, and it looks like he won't stand for it."
"Is that true, Elekid?" Jackson asked, but all Elekid did was growl, sparking as he took a single step towards the Snubbull. "Well then let's take it down! Elekid, use—"
Before Jackson could finish his command, Elekid held out a left arm as if to tell him to stay back. "Huh? Elekid? You want to handle this on your own?"
Elekid sounded off in agreement. Marcus stroked his chin. "Looks like that taunt really got to him."
Jackson nodded in agreement and added a bit of hesitation, the trainer stepped back. "Alrighty bud. My money is on you! Go get'em!"
His words of encouragement sounded good to himself and Marcus, but they fell on deaf ears for Elekid thanks to Taunt, and Snubbull wasn't done there as it performed another similar move, causing Elekid to throw a miniature tantrum.
"Swagger!" Marcus shouted, to which Jackson replied in confusion, "Huh!?"
"Swagger is a move that if successful, causing their opponent's attack power to raise significantly, but also cause confusion from the sudden anger they feel for being taunted so badly!"
"But…" Jackson began. "I thought Taunt stopped any status changes like that?"
"It does.." Marcus replied, becoming both surprised and impressed simultaneously. "This Snubbull is no weakling. It used Taunt first, so that Swagger would simply confuse and frustrate Elekid!"
"That's okay!" Jackson reassured. "Elekid can win still! And after that, welcome to the team, Snubbull!"
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"Alright…" Jerry began, whispering to himself. "He'll indeed use that Shuppet of his, and Abra isn't ready for a ghost type yet. I specifically taught him Focus Punch for Roark, but that's a fighting type move and that doesn't work on Ghost type. I'll wait for him to draw first, and act accordingly. Hopefully Seel can take on his Shuppet if he calls it.."
"Alright!" Oba shouted — pokeball in hand as he brushed his nose with his thumb before launching the ball high into the air. "Hippopotas! Lets go!"
From the pokeball came out the baby hippo pokemon, Hippopotas; a ground type pokemon. That out Jerry in another conundrum. "Ah…Seel has the advantage here! But if he gets too worn out, or worse, if he loses; then Abra will have to take on Shuppet and there's no winning that… But…"
Jerry shook away his thoughts. "Abra! I choose you!"
Out popped Abra, now seated across from Hippopotas, and with both ready to go, Oba made the first call. "Alright, underground!" He shouted, and the hippo pokemon followed suit by burrowing into the ground. Jerry began alert, beckoning Abra to do the same. "Get ready…" He murmured. That's when Oba shouted. "Now! Dig!"
"….Teleport!" Jerry exclaimed and just as Hippopotas reappeared from below, Abra vanished, only to reappear directly above its opponent. "Focus Punch!" Jerry called out, and Abra reared its right fist back to gather the fighting spirit required for the attack. In one swift motion, Abra swung its petite fist, slamming it directly into Hippopotas's head for an earth shaking blow. Jerry pumped his fist, excited about the direct hit, but before he could continue to plan for any future plans with Abra, when the debris of excitement cleared from his eyes, his own pupils would widen as he realized that Hippopotas was unfazed. "W-what??" Was all Jerry could muster as Oba gave another order. "Bite!"
Hippopotas followed orders, and before Abra could recover from its opponent's no-sell, it found itself painful captured within Hippopotas's jaws. A dark type move, proving to be super effective against Abra, Hippopotas thrashed about for a few seconds before Jerry shouted for his partner. "Abra! Teleport!"
But it was no use. Abra was tossed aside back to Jerry like a rag doll, the trainer catching the Pokémon before it could crash into the ground. Obviously defeated due to the swirls in his eyes, Abra groaned as Jerry hugged it closely. "That's alright, bud. You did great."
"I'll say!" Said Oba, calling his Hippopotas back. "That combination you pulled off was amazing! I can see it taking out a lot of beginners! That's how you beat Roark, wasn't it?"
Jerry nodded. "Have you faced him yet? With a Hippopotas as strong as that one, I figure you may have a couple of badges by now…"
Still smiling, Oba shook his head. "Not yet! We've just been training and traveling so far! We started in Pastoria City, and made our way all the way to Twinleaf before we challenged anyone, so thanks for this first battle! Did you want to keep going, or should we call it?"
"He came from Pastoria?" Jerry thought, quickly imagining the map to the Sinnoh Region in his mind. Yeah, it was a decent distance from Pastoria to here, let alone Twinleaf, so the current gap he just experience between himself and Oba was no longer that much of a shock to him. "Ah, if that's the case, maybe we should spare my Seel. You've already beaten my strongest anyways."
"Sounds good!" Oba replied along with calling his Hippopotas back. "This was a fun battle, Jerry. You gave me the courage to go take on Roark actually!"
"What did I do!?" Jerry thought to himself, almost insulted. "Yeah, no problem. I need to get Abra to a Pokémon center though, so I'll see you around maybe." He said, waving him off as he started to walk away.
"Do you want me to come with you? The gym can wait." Oba asked, but Jerry didn't answer. Instead he kept walking towards his new destination, leaving Oba to shrug and walk back towards Oreburgh City. "Guess not!"
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She took in a deep breath, standing before the entrance to the mines. Kodi and Eevee turned to each other with a slight nod before entering once again with a single objective in mind. That was to defeat and capture the Steelix that challenged them earlier. "I believe in you, Eevee. I always will." Kodi reassured her partner, to which Eevee called back to her lovingly, yet with the visage of a determined Pokémon. That both held expression of valor as they descended into the mines, keeping away from the other wild Pokémon around them in order to preserve their energy and strength for the upcoming battle ahead. And there it laid — the entrance to Steelix's den, and where the event last took place. Kodi gulped, but with another look at a determined Eevee, she walked forward, side by side with her partner as she neared the entrance. She wanted to enter, but something stopped her. It wasn't fear, or anxiety, but an actual noise. The sound of drilling, and the sound of Pokemon crying on pain and distress came from the other side of that entrance, and as Kodi peered her head through the doorway, she could feel tremors before her eyes could adjust to the new room. "What's going on?" She asked herself aloud, but her eyes widened with answers she wasn't expecting once they refocused into the dark cavern. A couple of men and women were seen drilling with machines, as if they were searching for something.
At the same time, Kodi could see a lot of Geodudes and Onyxs either pinned down or captured by anything that isn't a pokeball. They were in pain, as if they were just beaten down ruthlessly. It was a horrible sight, and Kodi lost herself, standing there out in the open as she looked around to see what was going on. The people manning the machine had on weird outfits, decorated with a "G" emblem on their chest. Some of them even had the same bob haircut, dyed a teal color. That's not what stunned her the most however. As Kodi scanned across the cavern once more, she spotted it. Steelix, joining the other captured Pokémon as it was strapped down by a multitude of ropes — enough to hold anything down no matter how strong they were. "Steelix!" She exclaimed in horror.
"Keep it digging, everyone! Clean this place out of every gem and fossil you can find!" Kodi looked up to see a woman holding a megaphone, also draped in the same gear as the others. The difference between her and a lot of the others was that she had purple hair, tied up both high and in the back. At the height she stood, it wasn't long until she noticed Kodi and Eevee standing at the entrance, blinking before gathering everyone's attention. "Hey! Kid! What do you think you're doing here!?"
Everyone stopped and turned to Kodi, and immediately a few of them slipped behind her, now blocking the exit. "Huh!? What am I doing here!? What are you doing here!" Kodi fired back with Eevee barking. "And why are the Pokémon in here tied up! Let them go!"
"Settle down, Officer Jenny wannabe! You don't run anything here! This is Team Galactic's property now! And now that you've seen us..
We can't let you leave here!"
