The wind rises lightly up on to the tent as my eyes flicker open being hit delicately by the rays of morning sunshine coming down. I stir as Jolteon jumps from my chest and Squirtle flops to its back still asleep
"Morning Jolt" I croak out as I yawn and stretch
"Jolt!" It calls back before jumping to the zipped up door, I pull myself over to it and unzip the door and Jolteon sprints out while Squirtle finally stirs itself awake and rubs at his eyes
"Morning Squirt, how are you feeling after the gym battle?"
We had finally taken on Janine yesterday and came out victorious with Jolteon, Squirtle and Starmie all getting the wins. Now we had 5 badges and the plan was to head to Saffron City to take on Sabrina, I had booked for us a gym challenge with her for three days time so we would need to get moving quickly
"Squirt!" He calls back stretching himself out
I pull myself up out of my tent onto the camping plot I had been staying at next to the southern centre located on what used to be the cycling road, the cycling road had been demolished a few years back due to rusting supports and a general consensus of the locals wanting to return the land to it natural state, since the removal it had become a long strip of land taken over by trees and long grass. A lot of the Pokemon that had called it home had gradually returned so it was also a prime spot to add team members to their team. I quickly set up bowls and feed everyone while stuffing my face with something quick and easy for breakfast. I return everyone except for Starmie who I can use as a ride Pokemon to move around a bit faster
"Right Starmie, lets start heading back up the path. I wanna see if we can add another member, one that can fly preferably but the main goal is to make it back to Celadon today okay?"
"Hyu!" it calls back before it begins to float and speed off up the path
"Nice, just let me know if you get tired okay?"
It nods back as we speed at pace up the path way, the salty air of the sea hits from the west, I look out and a tonne of fishing boats, container ships and cruise ships all make there way the small straight that divides the path, this is the only part of the cycling road bridge that has been kept to allow for the port of Vermillion to continue to prosper. I peak out and can see a few all moving their way west towards Johto however there also seems to be a different moving ship however this one is in the air
"What is that?" I say out loud as it looks like it is starting to slowly drift downwards
I stop Starmie and we both look on at the airship shaped like a Pidgeot. It has a distinct bird-like appearance, with a long slender body and two large wings on either side. The airship's body is be covered in feathers like sails that mimic the colouring of Pidgeot, with a mix of brown, yellow, and white. The feathers are made of a lightweight material that look similar to carbon fibre. The airship's head is be located at the front of the body, with two large eyes and a sharp beak that protrudes forward. At the rear of the airship is a large tail consisting of two feathers, similar to Pidgeot's, that help to stabilize the airship in flight. The tail has attached to it a gondola, which would be suspended beneath the airship's body. The gondola would be large enough to accommodate a small crew, including the pilot and any passengers. The airship looks to be mostly powered by a series of propellers, located at the rear of the gondola, which would provide forward motion. The eyes of the mechanical bird light and flashes, a small figure can be seen inside it
"Does that look like its coming down to you?" I question Starmie who nods in agreement
"Lets go see if we can help out"
Starmie speeds off with me attached to its back, as we get closer we can hear an announcement
"ANYONE NEAR THE RIDGE PLEASE MOVE BACK, WE ARE DEPLOYING A CUSHIONING MEASURE"
As it gets closer to the ridge a huge cushion emerges from the body of the bird and inflates, just as I getting to the edge of the ridge it splashes down, causing a huge wave to burst up
"Go Squirtle! Starmie, Squirt use Ice Beam!"
Squirtle spins in its shell fires of the bright blue beam while Starmie fires it off from its top leg, we are just in time to freeze the huge wave heading from the path to stop it from waterlogging the whole path and possibly destroying some of the grasslands up ahead
"NICE WORK KID!" I hear announced over the tannoy
"What the heck" I say under my breath jumping from Starmie's back
I look up to see the large airship bop up and down on the cushion it deployed, I look up to see a shape move across the sun before it descends quickly down next to me. With a thud a huge Charizard lands next to me accompanied by a shorter gentleman who I recognise slightly
"Nice job freezing that wave, that could have been a big issue I hadn't quite yet worked out how we were going to deal with that one" He says jumping down from Charizard back and pulling up his sun glasses
He is a short man with a muscular build. He has short blonde hair and a well-groomed beard. He is wearing a white lab coat with the emblem of the Pokemon League on it, along with a pair of aviator sunglasses. Underneath the coat is a navy blue uniform with gold accents
"Uh no problem" I stammer out lightly in awe as Squirtle jumps to my shoulder and Starmie joins by my side
"I recognise you I won't lie, what's your name?" He says tilting his head to side
"Dustin sir"
"Dustin, Dustin, Dustin where have I heard that recently" He says scrolling through his Rotom phone
"AH! You're Ryans kid!" He shouts jumping up and putting both hands on my shoulder
Squirtle taken by surprise sprays him directly in the face with water which causes him to fall back standing on Charizards tail in the process who yelps out in pain as the man falls onto his back
"Wow, that's a strong shot you have there" He says dazed on the floor
"I'm so sorry!" I shout
He pulls himself up quickly dusting himself off
"No matter, took you by surprise there" He says with a laugh
"Uh okay, well when you say Ryan you mean my mentor yeah?" I question
"Correct a mundo, nice to meet you I'm Joe" He says holding his hand out
"Thats why I recognise you!" I shout taking his hand
This was Joe, one of the four that set off from Pallet Town alongside Ryan and Callum, he had taken the Charmander that Professor Oak had offered as one of the starter Pokemon. He had originally taken on the junior championship coming in third after losing to Callum in the semi finals. He had then travelled to Unova to partake in the tournament but halfway through and after meeting Cedric Juniper he had turned to a life of study, focusing mainly on the emigration of Pokemon to different regions. I had heard he travelled the world chasing air stream in an air ship but I didn't expect it to one be so grand and two be shaped like a Pidgeot.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ryan mentioned you a few times on our chats" He bellows out with a laugh
"He mentions me?" I ask slightly overwhelmed with a sense of pride
"Of course! He wouldn't shut up about you and that Louise girl when we were tracking that Articuno!"
"Oh is that why you are here?"
"You bet! Daisy and Ryan called me and the gang in just in case that pesky bird tried to make a getaway, we been tracking it for six months now, Daisy managed to catch it eventually although Charizard took a good wack alongside Daisy's Talonflame, the only one that really held its own against it was Ryan's Aerodactyl"
"You battled it?"
"Of course, we may not be circuit battler any more but me and Charizard can hold our own can't we buddy!" He shouts slapping Charizard on the back, it lurches forward and return the smack with a wack around Joe's head with its tail
I laugh as Joe scolds it before a voice comes over the tannoy
"CAPTAIN! We found the source of the issue, can you come back up here please!"
"Oh yeah forgot about that, hey come on up with us! I'd love to show you round the place!"
"Uh sure but I will need a lift, I don't have a flying type"
"No problemo, Braviary come out!"
With a burst the hulking figure of a Braviary appears next to us and caws out in happiness
"Give our new friends a lift please?" He says and it nods back
I return Starmie and Squirtle clings onto my shoulder as we ascend up towards the top of body, as we do I pull up my phone and read Joe's profile on the trainer database
Joe, Trainer Rank: Roaming Pokemon Professor
Age:28
Hometown: Pallet Town
Achievements: 3rd Place in the 87th Junior Kanto Championship, Doctorate in Pokemon Biology from the University of Nimbasa City
Personality: Joe is a confident and knowledgeable person. He takes great pride in his work as a Pokemon Professor and is always eager to share his knowledge with others. He is patient and understanding, making him a great mentor to young trainers. Joe is also a skilled pilot and takes great care in ensuring the safety of his passengers and crew. He can be serious when the situation calls for it, but also has a great sense of humour and enjoys making people laugh.
Background: Joe grew up in a family of pilots and developed a love for flying at a young age. As he got older, he also became interested in Pokemon and began studying them in his spare time. He eventually pursued a degree in Pokemon research working under Cedric Juniper in the Unova Region and became a professor, specializing in the study of Pokemon immigration. In addition to his academic work, Joe also became a skilled pilot and now runs his own airship, travelling the world to study and research different types of Pokemon.
Pokemon: Joe's main Pokemon is a Charizard, which he raised from a Charmander. Charizard is fiercely loyal to Joe and is often seen flying alongside his airship. In addition to Charizard. He is always on the lookout for new and interesting Pokemon to add to his team.
Goals: Joe's main goal is to continue his research and study of Pokemon. He hopes to make new discoveries that will benefit the Pokemon community as a whole. He also wants to share his knowledge with young trainers and help them become skilled and responsible Pokemon trainers. Lastly, he aims to become one of the most renowned pilots in the world, continuing his family legacy in aviation.
"So cool" I think to myself as we touch down on the deck located on the top of the airship
Joe and Charizard touch down first greeted by what I assume is his crew. Their is a tall man with short slick back black hair and stubble beard, he wear an apron across his waist and has his arms folded looking stern He is accompanied by a Ambipom. There is then a girl, she has brownish blonde hair tied into two pigtails, she wears a large white t-shirts with huge splotches of paint all over it, she carries a huge canvas under one arm and is accompanied by a Lilligant. Lastly are two what look like kids probably around my age, they wear blue and red overalls, one hold a wrench and other toolbox, one has a Minun while the other has a Plusle on their shoulders.
"Ah everyone is here! Thats makes introduction easier, Dustin say hello to my crew!" He shouts as I step off Braviary"
"Hihi, I'm Nelly!" The lady says running up to me and shaking my hand
"He's Timmy" The female kid says
"And she's Tammy" The Male kid continues
"Ollie nice to meet you" The older gentlemen gruffs waving to me
"And we are the Blazing Winds Crew!" Joe says jumping in front of them all posing
"Uh nice too meet you all" I stammer out as the rest of the group shakes their head in disapproval at Joe's pose
He stands up and looks around sadly
"Oh come on guy you gotta pose with me!"
"So what's your name?" Nelly asks moving forwards
"Uh Dustin"
"Oh you are Ryans student! Cool, we were hoping to meet you!"
"Speak of the devil" Joe says as his phone begins to ring
"Ah moshi moshi" He says as the phone lifts up to in front of him
"Hey! We just saw the ship go down! Is everything okay?" I hear shouts from the phone
"You worry to much, I was in complete control" Joe says waving his hand to the camera
"Oh really? Then why did Ollie send me this video of you running around the cockpit"
"Hey! You said you wouldn't!" Joe says turning looking to Ollie who shrugs
"I made no such promise, I'm heading back to the kitchen to get us something cooked up" Ollie says before turning with Ambipom
"Hey Mr Ryan!" Tammy shouts up to the phone
"Hey Squirt one! Whats the issue?"
"One of Articunos ice attacks got jammed around one of the back propellers, it unfroze as we ascended and leaked water into the electrics we think, caused the whole right of the ship to lose power, Minun and Plusle kept it going for so long but we had to drop eventually" They both call out each taking a sentence to say
"Well, I'm sure you guys will have it up in running in no time, give us a shout if you need anything and I can get Mikel to head over"
"No worries! We got this!" They say before speeding off with Plusle and Minun close behind
"See nothing to worry about!" Joe bellows out with a laugh
"Eh hem!" Nelly coughs flicking her head towards me
"Oh yeah! Look who I found too!" Joe says rotating the camera to me
"Oh Dustin! Good to see you kiddo!" Ryan calls out from the phone, it looks like he is on the outskirts of the Seafoam Islands as the huge network of caves can be seen behind him
"Hey!" I call back with a wave
"Guessing you almost got a splash when they touched down" He questions
"Almost!"
"Dustin worked very smartly and quickly actually, he had his Squirtle and Starmie freeze the wave and stopped it from flooding the grasslands" Nelly retorts with a smile
"Oh is that so? Well kudos young man very quick thinking, well I've got to dash or Daisy will start to get itchy feet, listen to Joe, he may seem like an airhead but he got a lot of knowledge!"
"Hey who are you calling an airhead!" Joe shouts as he grabs back the phone before Ryan closes the call
"In fairness sweetie, you do always have you head in the clouds" Nelly says giving him a peck on the cheek
"I'm off to the observation deck to do some landscape drawing, oh we've been looking for a trainer to take on that injured Pokemon perhaps Dustin may be interested?" She says before skipping away
"Oh yeah! You might be perfect, let me introduce" He says throwing up a Pokeball into the air
Out bursts a Dodrio, it flutters it back feathers as each head squawks and stretches
"Oh cool" I say moving to face it
"DO!" it calls as the main head lurches forward to peck me
"Hey! No pecking!" Joe says as Charizard moves in front to block it
"This is Dustin, he's a trainer on the junior championship, it would be good for you to go with him, prove that other trainer wrong!"
"Do!" The main head screeches before racing off to the below deck
"Ah what a pain" Joe calls out rubbing his hands on his face
"So what's the story with that one?" I question moving to his side
"We don't fully know, we found it beat to shit near Lavender"
"LANGUAGE!" Comes a female shout from the observation desk
"Uh yeah, sorry!" He shouts
"We think it was a purchase from ballbuy, along with a ready set team. The last trainer it was registered too got hit with ban as it was discovered 5 of the 6 Pokemon on its team had a ballbuy tag"
"Oh but they dumped Dodrio?"
"Yeah, its quite common nowadays, trainer gets a set team bought for them by their parents and then one is an issue as they are not capable of training them, that one needs a skilled trainer, with respect it probably is a little too much for you too" Joe says calmly screwing his face
"Oh thats sad, I read somewhere that each head has its own personality and you have to win each one over"
"Now that you mention it, I do spot Dodrio all over the ship a lot, maybe its that each head gets on with different members" Joe says as the ship bops up violently.
"Jeez, I need to head to the observation deck, Dustin stick around for a little bit, speak with the crew and see if you can win Dodrio over, I think if it learns to trust you then it would be a great ally" He says giving me a thumbs up
"Okay I'll try" I say slightly nervous.
He smiles before jumping onto Charizard back and flying off to the observation desk.
I exhale deeply and return Starmie to it ball as Squirtle jumps to my shoulder.
"Come on Squirt lets see if we can find Dodrio" I say before descending to the lower deck inside the body of the ship.
I look around and the halls of the ship are quite narrow, but they seem to open at the end. I spot what I assume are the living quarters for the crew there's a small table sat in the middle. It has some flowers in a vase while a computer is sat on a desk to the back right
"This is pretty cool you know"
"Hey kid!" comes a shout from down the hall
"Have any electric types!" comes another as I turn
Down the hall way is the two twins face covered in grit and dirt while their two partners lay flat out on the floor exhausted
"Uh I have a Jolteon?" I shout back
"Can we borrow it?"
"Uh sure" I throw up Jolteons ball who emerges with a shake
"Hey Jolt can you help out those two please?" I say crouching down and petting it
HE calls back with a nod before chasing off down the hall to them
I turn back to be greeted by the three headed bird
"AH!" I shout jumping back as the left head peers in closer at me
"You okay?" I say holding my hand out, it pushes its head into it and I scratch it
Well I seem to have won one head over
"Do its feeding time" comes a shout as Ollie pokes his head out of the door connecting the living quarters to what I assume is the kitchen
The other two head turn and pulls the other away as Ollie sets down three bowls filled with berries. The middle head and left head begin to chow down while the right head stares solemnly at the bowl
"What's wrong with this one?" I question as Ollie sets a bowl down for Ambipom
"Oh that ones picky, can ever get it eating properly" He retorts
"Do you know what it has eaten at all?"
"Seems to like bitter food"
I smile and scrawl at my bag and pull out a container.
"Here try this" I say pouring out a few pellets.
The head sniffs at it before beginning to devour it
"What's that kid?" Ollie questions as Dodrio finishes.
"My grandma makes it, her Farfetch'd loves bitter food so she gave me some in case I needed it for any of my Pokemon" I say with a smile as I pour out some more
"Nice you'll have to get me the recipe from her" He say as he sits himself down
"How long have you been on the ship?" I question
"Oh a few years, I was at school with Joe and the other but ended up going to culinary school. When Joe was looking for crew members, he asked me to join and I had no ties so it was a no brainer"
"Oh so you know Ryan too?"
"Oh yeah, good lad. You one of his students?"
"Yep"
"Good, you hit the jackpot there, you'll learn everything you need to know from him"
"I agree"
Joe walks in and sits himself down at the table, he's accompanied by a Zorua this time
"Oh wow a Zorua" I splurt out
"Oh this one, she is a cute one, caught her back in Unova when I was studying, she was being pursued by some bad people who wanted to use her illusions to make money but I put a stop to that with Charizard" he says stroking Zorua who coos back happily
"What Pokemon do you have then other than Starmie and Squirtle?" he continues
"Uh well my starter was Venusaur; I have a Ninetails, Poliwrath and Jolteon too" I retort as Dodrio finally finishes all of its food
"Well that impressive all fully evolved, how many badges?" Ollie asks
"five, my next badge is against Sabrina"
"Oh we are heading towards Saffron after this, we will drop you off" Joe says
"Are you sure? I don't want to get in the way"
"Of course not, the more the merrier plus Harriet is away at the moment so there is a spare room"
"Is that another crew member?" I question
"Yeah, she's a Pokemon Biologist that I studied with at university, she visiting her family in Cerulean City at the moment"
"Oh okay, well that would be nice" I say before the main Dodrio head begins to peck at my side
"Dodrio stop" Ollie calls while Joe puts it arm across him
"You want to battle Dustin don't you?" Joe questions
The main head waves up and down
"Well then I think this is your final hurdle Dustin" Joe says as he stands up
Dodrio quickly sprints up to the top deck, I follow along with Squirtle still on my shoulder, it jumps down to infront of Dodrio and calls out challenging it
"You want to battle Squirt?" I question
It nods back in affirmation
"Okay then, bring it on Dodrio" I shout
Dodrio peaks light up and it charges in
"Duck into your shell!"
Squirtle ducks in and takes the hit
"Ice Beam"
Squirtle spins and fires off a blue light beam as it slams into Dodrio
"Hydro Pump!"
It jumps up and emerges from its shell and blast a huge stream of water off at Dodrio pushing it back, it stops itself before sprinting in with a jump kick.
"Dodge it!"
Squirt ducks out and Dodrio winces from the failed attack
"Ice Beam!"
Squirtle then fires off another ice cold beam which envelopes Dodrio, it calls out before slumping to the floor
"You did it Squirtle! I shout as I look to the water type who begins to glow blue, it contorts and burst emerging as a Wartortle
"You evolved!" I shout grabbing it and spinning around, in my excitement I teeter towards the edge of the deck and stumble, as I'm about to teeter off the edge with Wartortle I am grabbed at the waist on my jeans by Dodrio who pulls me back on
"Wow that was close, thanks Dodrio" I say standing up
It squaks and rushes over to Joe, the main head leans down and pulls it ball off his belt before sprinting back over to me, it drops the ball in front of me before moving back
"You want to come with me?" I question
It nods along with the other two head
I smile and pick the ball up before returning it
"Welcome to the team!"
Venusaur (Lv43) Female
Attacks
Sludge Bomb
Leaf Storm
Solar Beam
Giga Drain
Ninetails (Lv43) Female
Attacks
Flamethrower
Quick Attack
Solar Beam
Extrasensory
Poliwrath (Lv43) Male
Attacks
Ice Beam
Mud Shot
Waterfall
Brick Break
Starmie (Lv43) Genderless
Flash Cannon
Psychic
Hydro Pump
Swift
Wartortle (Lv41) Male
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Rapid Spin
Aura Sphere
Jolteon (Lv37) Male
Hyper Voice
Shadow Ball
Thunderbolt
Quick Attack
Dodrio (Lv35) Female
Pounce
Thrash
Drill Peck
Swords Dance