xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Ecruteak City Pokémon Center, 4:11 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"So... What's in it?" Keats asked towards Rotom as he held the Friend Ball in his hand.
"I won't be able to regizzzzter it until you let it out." Rotom said as Keats sighed.
"Alright then, let's see what's inside." Keats said as he opened up the ball and out came a beam of light.
As the light dissipated, what emerged from the ball was a small, thin and flat creature whose head and body were red and orange with dark brown sections across the underside. As well, it featured a large series of stubby legs on its sides and a set of whiskers made of fire on its tiny face, under its yellow eyes.
"Sizzli!" The flame whiskered Pokémon exclaimed.
"Sizzlipede has been registered to your PokéDex!" Rotom said as Keats looked at the Pokémon.
"Pede?" Sizzlipede said in confusion as it looked around at the unfamiliar location it was in.
"Oh hey!" Keats said with a smirk on his face. "Obviously a Fire type Pokémon just by looking at it, I don't have one of those!" He continued as Sizzlipede looked up at Keats and then at Rotom as the phone Pokémon scanned it for its Dex entry.
'"Sizzlipede, the Radiator Pokémon, a Fire and Bug type. It stores flammable gas in its body and uses it to generate heat. The yellow sections on its belly get particularly hot."' Rotom said, reading off the PokéDex for information. "Alzzzzo, this particular Sizzlipede is female." The phone Pokémon continued.
"It has heating pads underneath?" Keats said as he took a knee and placed his head on the floor to look and see the underside of Sizzlipede, the Fire and Bug type Pokémon making a face of confusion and nervousness at the unknown person examining her.
"Siizzzz..." Sizzlipede muttered as she shifted backwards.
"Huh?" Keats muttered as he noticed Sizzlipede backing away from him. "Something wrong?" He said as he watched Sizzlipede.
"Remember Keatzzzz." Rotom said as it caught Keats' attention. "Sizzlipede was traded over from somewhere else from a different trainer. Most likely she's going to be a bit wary." It said as Keats raised an eyebrow as Sizzlipede backed away further.
"Hmmmmm... Oh!" Keats muttered as he formed a thought as he got on his knees. "I know what will calm her." He said as he reached into his pocket with a smile.
"...He's either going to pull out something strange or something useful, I can never tell anymore..." Rotom thought, expecting the worst from Keats.
"Sizzlipede..." Sizzlipede said as she turned her head away, looking at Keats from the corner of her eye as she backed up near the Wonder Trader machine as Rotom noticed.
"If she damages the Wonder Trader, that'll be the second Pokémon Center we've caused fire damage inside of..." Rotom thought with worry as Keats pulled out an Oran Berry from his pocket.
"Here, want this?" Keats said as he offered the Oran Berry to Sizzlipede as the flaming centipede-like Pokémon smelled something that she liked.
"Sizz? Sizzlipede-pede!" Sizzlipede said with confusion until turning her head to see what was in Keats' hand.
"Why do you have an Oran Berry in your pocket instead of your bags, zzzzt?" Rotom said with a digitized raised eyebrow on its screen.
"Snack for later, I like the salty taste." Keats replied as Sizzlipede shuffled away from the Wonder Trader and got closer to Keats, the husky framed trainer sweating slightly from the amount of heat she was giving off. "Here, take it." He said as Sizzlipede looked at Keats for a brief moment before he put the Berry on the ground.
"Sizzli... Pede!" Sizzlipede said as she sniffed the Oran Berry for a brief moment and then proceeded to coil around the Berry, taking small bites out of it. "Sizz! Sizz!" The Fire and Bug type Pokémon said in happiness as she munched on the offering.
"Picked it from someone's garden on the way here." Keats said with a smug tone as he looked at Rotom.
"You really have to stop with the "five finger discounting" of other people's stuff, zzzzt." Rotom said with a judgmental tone.
"If you want me to return the Berry, I could stick my thumb and middle finger in Sizzlipede's mouth and then she'll-" Keats said with a straight face until Rotom cut him off.
"Forget it! Forget it! It'zzzz too late now..." Rotom replied as Keats shrugged and Sizzlipede finished eating, getting through half of the Oran Berry.
"Better?" Keats said towards Sizzlipede as the flaming centipede-like Pokémon nodded in response.
"Sizzlipede!" Sizzlipede said with a content tone.
"Nice!" Keats said as he grabbed the other half of the Oran Berry and took a bite out of it. "A bit burnt but still good..." He thought as he chewed the Berry before putting the rest of it away, back into his pocket. "Glad to see I finally got a Fire type now. Thought I would have to go into the mountains or something to find one like a Slugma." Keats said as Rotom looked at the husky trainer.
"You wanted to catch a Zzzzlugma?" Rotom questioned. "Not sure that's the best idea given how they're hotter than the sun." The phone Pokémon thought.
"I considered it, but we would need to go to where it's super-hot and I would have had to bring a ton of charcoal too, it would have just been a hassle." Keats said as Rotom made a confused expression.
"Why would we need charcoal, zzzzt?" Rotom asked.
"Ohhoho? Someone never heard of the "charcoal trick?"' Keats said with a smug expression as Sizzlipede looked at him. "There's a trick to being able to take care of Slugma and Magcargo that's a bit of a trade secret in the world of Pokémon Daycare workers." He continued.
"Huh, zzzzt?" Rotom muttered.
"Slugma and Magcargo live in the mountains where its hot because their bodies are made of magma so it's borderline impossible to touch them... However!" Keats explained until suddenly shouting in a confident tone. "What you won't find online is that Slugma and Magcargo are actually able to be touched when fed a diet of charcoal!" He exclaimed.
"I've... Never heard that..." Rotom thought with wide eyes.
"When they eat charcoal, it helps to regulate their body temperature so that way they can be touched by a regular human being without their bubbling lava bodies melting skin down to the bone. My sister taught me that trick when someone left a Magcargo at the ranch one time and we were worried the thing would set the backyard on fire worse than that time I did when I was playing with sparklers." Keats explained before revealing another moment from bizarre delinquency. "Man, that was a fun day when I was eighteen." He thought as he reminisced.
"I've never heard of a zzzzingle analysis of Slugma or Magcargo that says that's possible." Rotom said.
'"Secret of the trade," remember?... Hehe. "Trade secret."' Keats said until chuckling at the irony of his words. "Get it? "Trade secret?"' He said towards Rotom before pointing at Sizzlipede, who was just staring at the conversation they were having. "Because I traded for Sizzlipede and we're talking about a secret of the-" Keats continued until Rotom spoke up.
"I get it! It was a stupid pun, zzzzt!" Rotom exclaimed in annoyance. "He knew something I didn't even know... This is a strange day..." The phone Pokémon thought.
"So, Sizzlipede. Who was your previous owner?" Keats asked towards the Fire and Bug type Pokémon.
"Lipedepede." Sizzlipede said as Keats looked at Rotom.
"Zzzzhe said she was owned by a heating company." Rotom translated.
"What?" Keats said with confusion. '"A heating company?"' He thought.
"Sizzlipede-sizz. Pedepede-siz." Sizzlipede said further.
"Sizzlipede zzzzayzzzz she used to be a part of a buyable package for a furnace." Rotom said with a tone that sounded like it was unsure of what it was hearing.
"Sizzli!" Sizzlipede said with a furrowed brow. "Pedepedepede!" She continued with an angered tone.
"Whoa, easy." Keats said as he reached down and picked up Sizzlipede, holding her in both palms. "What'd she say now?" He asked towards Rotom.
"Apparently, Sizzlipede was sent into the Wonder Trader because the company was too far from an appropriate area to release her back into the wild and no one was willing to take her home with them, zzzzt." Rotom said.
"Why were they getting rid of you in the first place?" Keats asked towards Sizzlipede.
"Sizzlipede!" Sizzlipede said.
"The heating company used Friend Balls to catch Fire types so they wouldn't be too confrontational when put inside furnace systems, zzzzt." Rotom translated.
"...Okay?" Keats muttered in confusion. "Well... To be fair, it's a smart business strategy... And most don't know the charcoal trick for Slugmas. They'd probably be a big hit for home heating." He thought.
"Sizzlipede!" Sizzlipede said loudly.
"She broke out of her furnace at the factory, but the workerzzzz put her back in a ball." Rotom said. "Oh, I think I got it. Because you were too far from a decent habitat and you broke out, the company thought trading you away was a good cost-effective move, right?" The phone Pokémon asked as Sizzlipede nodded in response.
"Sizzli..." Slugma said as she looked at Rotom before looked at Keats. "...Sizzlipedepede?" She said as Keats raised an eyebrow.
"She asking me something?" Keats questioned.
"Zzzzhe wants to know if you have plans to put her in a furnace." Rotom said as Keats' eyes slowly shifted towards Sizzlipede, who was now glaring at him with a judgmental expression as Keats started to feel like his hands were warming up.
"Sounds like she doesn't want to be put inside of a pipe..." Keats thought. "Nah, I'd probably just use the heater I already have in my trailer." He said as Sizzlipede calmed down slightly. "Actually... Hey, you mind if I try something?" Keats asked towards the Fire and Bug type Pokémon.
"Sizzlipede?" Sizzlipede muttered.
"Crawl up my shoulder and coil around my neck slightly." Keats asked as Rotom made a confused expression.
"What are you azzzzking her to do?" Rotom questioned.
"Just let me see if it will work." Keats said towards Rotom before shifting his attention back to Sizzlipede. "Okay?" He asked as Sizzlipede proceeded to slowly crawl up Keats' right arm.
Reaching his shoulder, Sizzlipede proceeded to shift towards Keats' neck, her heated lower pads now facing Keats neckline as her head popped up on Keats' side. Standing up from his kneeling position, Keats felt the warmth given off by Sizzlipede and proceeded to scratch the top of her head that was next to his with his index finger.
"Nice and warm!" Keats said with a smile as Sizzlipede looked at her new trainer. "You make an awesome scarf." He said with an earnest tone towards the Fire and Bug type as she was coiled around Keats' neck.
"Pede! Pede!" Sizzlipede said as she appeared to be enjoying the light scratching Keats was giving her as her lower body continued to generate more warmth in response.
"If I ever get brutally cold in the winter, I can have Sizzlipede here help." Keats said towards Rotom as Sizzlipede proceeded to nuzzle her partially flaming face against Keats'. "Ow! Ow!" He muttered as he felt her burning whiskers start to singe him. "Okay, maybe not get too close." Keats said towards Sizzlipede as she inched back slightly.
"Didn't want to be put in a furnace but zzzzhe'zzzz okay with just heating up one person with her internal temperature." Rotom commented as Keats and Sizzlipede looked at the floating phone Pokémon.
"Pedepede-sizzli!" Sizzlipede said with a bothered tone.
"Hmmm?" Keats mumbled.
"Zzzzizzlipede hopes that furnace company that placed her in that heater explodes." Rotom said.
"Well... Coincidently..." Keats said with a malicious smirk forming on his face. "How'd you feel if I told you that the Pokémon you got traded with just happen to be a sociopathic little killer who attacks everything she saw without prejudice?" He said with an evil tone in Sizzlipede's direction as her yellow eyes widened.
"Sizz? Pedepedepede!" Sizzlipede said with surprise until starting to chuckle with a devilishly happy smirk.
"Hehehehe." Keats laughed with a similar evilness as Rotom looked on at Keats and Sizzlipede.
"...I better keep an eye on world news if a factory exploded somewhere in the next few hours." Rotom thought with worry at the possible blowback from Keats' trade.
"Well then, Sizzlipede. Want to see your new home and friends?" Keats said towards the flaming centipede-like creature around his neck as Sizzlipede looked at her new trainer with a content expression. "Come on back." He said as he pointed the Friend Ball at the Fire and Bug type Pokémon and recalled her back inside of it. "She's definitely a step up from Surskit, that's for sure." Keats said towards Rotom.
"Indeed, zzzzt." Rotom said. "I got worried after a certain point of what you could've gotten from that trade machine." The phone Pokémon continued.
"Could've been anything... But I'm happy with what I got." Keats replied.
"If it was something dangerous like a Tyranitar or an Aggron, he never would've been able to control it at his current skill level. He got super lucky with Sizzlipede." Rotom thought as Keats put away the ball into his pocket.
"Let's grab Venonat and my stuff from the tarp back in the main foyer." Keats said as he walked towards the door.
"Ye-uh, zzzzt?" Rotom said as the phone Pokémon looked down at the ground to notice scorch marks on the tiled floor from where Sizzlipede previously was. "...Must have given off enough heat to singe the floor... Probably aren't going to tell Nurse Joy about those..." It thought as it floated after Keats with a bothered expression.
Walking towards the front desk, Keats casually greeted Nurse Joy as she handed him back the Pokéball that contained Keats' Venonat. Putting her ball into his pocket, he walked over to the tarp he was sitting on previously that had one of his messenger bags on it. Grabbing the bag and putting it over his shoulder, Keats began to clean up his mess before walking out of the Pokémon Center.
"We zzzzhould probably get home. It'zzzz getting late." Rotom suggested as Keats shook his head.
"No, not yet. We got one more thing to do before we go home." Keats said with a serious look on his face.
"What, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as Keats reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a slightly worn plastic grocery bag that was filled to the brink with familiar rocks.
"I want to see if we can get rid of these dumb stones." Keats said as he showed Rotom the bag filled with Evolution Stones that he had inadvertently collected from his trip to Alola. "Looking at these things is giving me new reminders for why I hate the tropics." He thought as he reached inside, pulled out a black stone with a purple center and stared at it for a moment.
"You sure you want to get rid of all of them, zzzzt?" Rotom questioned. "Seems like such a waste." The phone Pokemon thought.
"Yeah, why not?" Keats replied.
"I mean, you could catch zzzzome Pokémon that could use these stones to evolve." Rotom suggested.
"Yeah, but I don't know what actually uses these things to evolve outside of a small handful. And I refuse to catch an Eevee." Keats said towards Rotom.
"...I'm going to regret asking thizzzz but why?" Rotom thought with an exasperated expression on its screen.
"Long story short, I sneezed on one of the Kimono Girl's Pokémon that evolves from Eevee, and it responded to my sneezing on it by slicing the belt for my pants with its claw and caused me to accidentally flash one of the girls. And that was the last day I wore briefs before making the switch to boxers." Keats said as he recalled an embarrassing moment from his past. "Thankfully it was the eldest sister, Sayo, whose three years older than me... Who only laughed at my exposed underwear when I was nineteen and didn't report me..." He thought as he slumped his head.
"Ugh... Zzzzt." Rotom groaned, expecting nothing less from Keats.
"...Let's just go..." Keats said with an embarrassed tone as he walked away from the Pokémon Center.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Ecruteak City PokéMart, 4:39 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven." The female PokéMart clerk behind the counter said as Rotom's eyes widened, and Keats stood with his hand on his face.
"...Didn't you count fifteen zzzztonezzzz last time?" Rotom questioned towards Keats.
"When I crashed onto the beach on Akala Island, more must have got into my bags..." Keats thought with annoyance.
"Okay, that's; four Fire Stones, four Water Stones, two Moon Stones, two Sun Stones, one Leaf Stone, five Dusk Stones, three Dawn Stones, four Shiny Stones and two Ice Stones." The PokéMart clerk said. "Gotta say, color me impressed. Twenty-seven total Evolution Stones." She said as Keats took his hand off his face.
"And if "bothered" was a color, I'm covered in it." Keats replied as the PokéMart clerk made a confused expression.
"Oookay?" The PokéMart clerk replied. "So, what do you need specifically?" She asked.
"I'm looking to sell these stones. All of them." Keats said as the clerk made a surprised expression.
"Umm... I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?" The PokéMart Clerk said.
"The stones. I'm looking to get rid of them. I'm a bit in the red and could use the cash injection." Keats said as Rotom turned towards the husky framed trainer.
"What'zzzz that supposed to mean?" Rotom questioned.
"Plane tickets, ship tickets and a bunch of other junk I've been buying lately has been doing some real harm to my wallet." Keats said towards the floating phone.
"That's what happens when you buy copious amounts of useless stuff like sneakers filled with concrete and more than one hotplate..." Rotom thought as it was quietly judging Keats.
"I'm sorry but I can't take all of these." The PokéMart clerk said as Keats stared at her.
"What the- why?!" Keats exclaimed in frustration.
"This is too many stones for the store to accept." The PokéMart clerk replied. "At most, we can only accept upwards of a two to three Evolution Stones for sale at a time." She continued.
"Then... Can't you take them incrementally? two in one order, three in the next?" Keats said with a nervous tone as the clerk shook her head.
"I'm sorry. Store policy. Best recommendation I can give is that you use them on your Pokémon." The PokéMart clerk said as Keats bit his lip before slowly beginning to put the Evolution Stones back into the bag he brought them in with.
"...Can you maybe take half?" Keats said, pleading to get rid of the stones as he stopped moving the stones into his bag for a brief moment.
"...Twenty-seven doesn't divide by two..." The PokéMart clerk said, confused by his suggestion.
Upon hearing this, Keats reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a small hacksaw to the bewilderment of both the store clerk and Rotom. His eyes darting around, Keats proceeded to grab one of the Fire Stones he had in his possession and prepared to saw it in half.
"Keatzzzz, that's not going to work!" Rotom exclaimed as Keats stopped. "The stone isn't going to have any value if you cut it in half! And it won't work anymore either!" The phone Pokémon continued as Keats put the saw back in his messenger bag in frustration.
"Sir, please leave." The PokéMart clerk said, requesting Keats to leave because of his bizarre behavior.
"Thanks for nothing, asshole teenager." Keats thought with annoyance as he walked out of the store with Rotom floating behind him and taking the rest of his stones with him.
"Not zzzzurprizzzzed by what happened. It was a lot of stones." Rotom commented as Keats glared at the bag in his hands. "Of any Pokémon you have that evolve with stones, that would be Cloyster and Raichu. But they already have reached their final stages." The phone Pokémon explained.
"Great... Fantastic... Spectacular!" Keats said as he grew increasingly more annoyed at the situation as he raised the bag over his head. "And now I have a stupid collection of rocks I have zero use for! I wish these could just disappear!" He shouted.
Suddenly, without a moment to react, the bag actually disappeared from his hands as Rotom and Keats looked upward to notice it wasn't there anymore. Surprised, Keats lowered his hands and looked at them as a thought entered his head.
"...I wish for a bottomless jar of pickles!" Keats exclaimed loudly with a smile on his face as he raised his hands. "I got one wish, maybe I'll get another!" He thought.
"Keatzzzz! Look!" Rotom exclaimed as Keats lowered his hands again and shifted his attention in the direction of where Rotom was looking.
In the sky, flying away towards the woods outside of Ecruteak City, was a flock of nine small black crow-like creatures with yellow beaks, yellow feet and their feathers on their heads shaped like witches' hats. Held in the mouth of one of the flying creatures was Keats' bag that contained the absurd amount of Evolution Stones.
'"Murkrow! Murkrow!"' The flock of crow-like Pokémon muttered as they flew towards the outskirts of the city.
"Thozzzze are Murkrow!" Rotom exclaimed as it and Keats looked on before looking up information. '"Murkrow, the Darkness Pokémon, a Dark and Flying type. Feared and loathed by many, it's believed to bring misfortune to all those who see it at night. This Pokémon shows strong interest in anything that sparkles or glitters."' The phone Pokémon said, reading off the PokéDex.
"Surprised they're hated, those guys just did me a favor." Keats said with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face.
"We have to get those zzzztonezzzz back!" Rotom said as it floated in front of Keats.
"Hell no, it's getting late, and I didn't need those things." Keats said with an apathetic tone.
"Keats... Murkrowzzzz evolve into Honchkrows from Dusk Stones. You had five of them..." Rotom explained as Keats looked at the floating phone.
"...How dangerous are... What was it again? Honchkrows?" Keats questioned as Rotom looked up information on it.
'"Honchkrow, the Big Boss Pokémon and the evolved form of Murkrow, a Dark and Flying type. Becoming active at night, it is known to swarm with numerous Murkrow in tow. It is merciless by nature and if one utters a deep cry, many Murkrow gather quickly. For this, it is called the "Summoner of Night."' Rotom said as it flashed an image of an even larger crow-like Pokémon that sported feathers on its head in the shape of a fedora, a prominent white crest of feathers in the front of its body and a large red and white tail that resembled a broom.
"That thing looks terrifying..." Keats said as he was taken aback by the threatening appearance of Honchkrow.
"Nighttime is juzzzzt around the corner and if they make a group of Honchkrow from those Dusk Stones, it's going to be a massive disaster if they come back into town!" Rotom shouted as Keats winced.
"...Well... Uhhh... Oh fine..." Keats said until he decided to go after the crow-like Pokémon.
"Come on, we gotta hurry, zzzzt!" Rotom said as it floated into Keats' pocket as he ran in the direction of where the Murkrow went.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Route 38, 7:03 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Okay, Okay... Where did they go?" Keats thought as he walked along the trail of Route 38 while holding a flashlight in his hands as the sun went down and the moon was beginning to rise.
"I'm not seeing much of anything either, zzzzt." Rotom said as it floated next to Keats with its flashlight function on.
"I need to think..." Keats said as he put down the flashlight on the ground and proceeded to enter his thinking pose by putting his hands on his face and hunching forward.
"Hopefully you can come up with a decent idea." Rotom thought as Keats suddenly stood upright.
"Got it!" Keats exclaimed as some of the trees rustled.
"Quieter, Keatzzzz. We don't want to spook the Murkrow." Rotom whispered.
"Right, sorry." Keats muttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Venonat's Pokéball and Sizzlipede's Friend Ball. "Sizzlipede, Venonat, you're on call." He said quietly as the balls opened up and out came his Pokémon.
"Venonat!" Venonat said as she landed on the ground.
"Sizzlipede!" Sizzlipede muttered as she appeared as well.
"Venonat?" Venonat said as she turned to notice the new Pokémon.
"Oh right. Venonat, this is Sizzlipede. She's a new friend of ours." Keats said, introducing his new Pokémon.
"Natnat." Venonat said with a wave of her small hand as Sizzlipede nodded.
"Sizzlipedepede." Sizzlipede said in a polite manner.
"Venonat, you have really good eyesight, right?" Keats said as Venonat nodded. "I want you to use your special vision to search the trees for the bag of stones that the Murkrow took." He explained as Venonat moved forward and proceeded to concentrate her sight towards the trees, her eyes glowing pink in response.
"Pedesizz?" Sizzlipede said as Keats turned his attention towards the Fire and Bug type Pokémon.
"Sizzlipede, I want you to be on standby for a fight. Think you can do that?" Keats asked as Sizzlipede made a determined expression. "What's her moves, by the way?" He asked towards Rotom.
'"Ember," "Smokescreen," "Bite" and "Wrap."' Rotom explained as it listed off the moves that Sizzlipede can use.
"Sizzlipede!" Sizzlipede said as Venonat continued to examine the trees until her pink glowing eyes started to flash in intervals.
"Venonatnat!" Venonat said as she pointed one of her small hands in the direction of the trees.
"She zzzzayzzzz over there!" Rotom exclaimed as Keats picked up his flashlight and pointed with it.
Upon the flashlight hitting the tree, a bright sparkle suddenly went off as Keats noticed the shine. Popping out of the brambles was the group of Murkrow that had stolen the bag of Evolution Stones with one of them holding two of the Fire Stones in its wings.
"Hey!" Keats exclaimed as the Murkrow eyed him, Rotom and his Pokémon. "There you are you little bastards! Give me back those stones!" He shouted as the Murkrow looked at each other before simultaneously sticking their tongues out him. "Hey!" Keats said in response as the Murkrow proceeded to go back into the tree, ignoring him.
"Sizzlipede?!" Sizzlipede said in surprise.
"Venonat!" Venonat said with an angry look in her eyes.
"What wazzzz that?" Rotom said, surprised by the actions of the Murkrow as Keats stomped over to the tree and begun to climb up it. "Keatzzzz!" The phone Pokémon said as it noticed Keats' actions.
Climbing, Keats popped his head up and spotted the Murkrow, perched on the branches inside the tree. With one placing the Fire Stones back into the bag, the Murkrow appeared to be squawking at one another with some appearing to be agitated and other's trying to be calm.
"Krow!" One Murkrow said.
"Murkrowkrow!" A different Murkrow muttered.
"Krowmurk!" A third Murkrow said as it pointed its wing at the one holding the bag.
"The heck is going on here?" Keats said, loud enough for the Murkrow to hear as they all stopped looking at each other and noticed Keats was in the tree. "...I think I should've used my inside voice there..." He thought as he began to sweat in nervousness.
Looking on from the ground still was Rotom, Venonat and Sizzlipede as they wondered what was going on inside the tree after Keats climbed up. Suddenly, they overheard Keats screaming from within the tree and branches cracking.
"Gah! Ahh! Arugh!" Keats exclaimed as he fell down the tree and landed on his backside with his clothes ripped. "Grugh!" He grunted as he clutched at his backside.
"What happened in there, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as Keats looked up at the floating phone Pokémon.
"Oh sure, ask about the tree and not me and my problems! "Hey Keats, how's your spine?! Is it broken!?"' Keats complained as he shifted himself into a seated position while rubbing his lower back.
"Oh man... Zzzzorry." Rotom replied as Keats made a disgruntled expression. "What happened with the Murkrow?" It questioned.
"If you must know, I think a political discussion... Ow..." Keats said in pain as Venonat and Sizzlipede approached him.
"What, zzzzt?" Rotom muttered in confusion.
"They were just standing around, talking to each other and one was holding the bag with all of the stones in it." Keats said as he looked at Rotom.
"Hmmmm... They must be dizzzzcuzzzzzzzzing who gets one of the Dusk Stones." Rotom said, theorizing.
"Huh?" Keats mumbled.
"Whomever getzzzz the stone evolves into a Honchkrow. That one that evolves typically becomes the leader of the flock." Rotom explained as Keats stood up.
"Those bastards steal my rocks, peck at me and just hold a debate on leadership afterwards!?" Keats thought with annoyance as he looked up at the tree. "Sizzlipede, Venonat." He said as he limped over to the trail and his Pokémon proceeded to follow him. "Let's clear them out and get my stones!" Keats said, angrily as Venonat and Sizzlipede nodded in agreement.
"What are you going to do, zzzzt?" Rotom questioned.
"Venonat! Use "Poison Powder" and aim for the tree!" Keats said as he pointed at the tree.
"Venonanat!" Venonat said as she shook her body and out came a mist of toxic dust.
With the Poison type move entering the tree, the Murkrow suddenly noticed the dust as it covered over them as they argued over who gets to evolve. Poisoned, the Murkrow began to spit up purple bubbles from their mouths as some even fell out of the tree towards the ground.
"Sizzlipede, get ready to use "Ember" if they try to fly away with the stones!" Keats said towards Sizzlipede.
"Pede!" Sizzlipede muttered with a nod.
"A bit brutal but effective." Rotom thought, mildly impressed by Keats' strategy.
"Krow!" One Murkrow muttered in pain on the ground as more of the Murkrow fell out of the tree.
"Kro-krow!" A different Murkrow said as it coughed up poisonous bubbles.
"Murrrkrrroooow!" A third Murkrow said as it fell out of the tree alongside the bag of stones.
"Ah-ha!" Keats said as he quickly rushed over and grabbed the bag. "No stones for you!" He said, taunting the poisoned crow-like Pokémon. "We got 'em!" Keats said in a celebratory fashion.
"Sizzlipede!" Sizzlipede exclaimed in happiness.
"Venonaaat!" Venonat said while hopping up and down.
"Good job, zzzzt." Rotom commented.
"Yeah! God, I love poisoning!" Keats said as he took out three random stones and started to juggle them to celebrate the small victory over the Murkrows as Venonat overheard what Keats' said.
"Venonanat!" Venonat muttered as she jumped into the air and begun to spread "Poison Powder" again.
"Huh?!" Keats muttered as he noticed his Pokémon used her Poison type move once more. "Whoa, wait Venonat!" He said as he and Rotom ducked down to the ground to avoid breathing in any of the "Poison Powder."
"Natnatnat!" Venonat said with a happy tone, ignoring Keats' calls for her to stop throwing poisonous dust around.
As the toxic dust went airborne, a breeze suddenly rolled in and proceeded to carry it into the forest, spreading around like a plague as Keats watched on with his hands over his mouth and nose.
"Ummm... Keatzzzz..." Rotom said with a worried tone.
"...Maybe it's fin-" Keats said until he heard a sudden cough.
Looking out into the forest, Keats, Rotom and his Pokémon looked upward and noticed several poisonous bubbles ascending towards the sky, coming from multiple different trees. Staring in surprise, Keats and his Pokémon allies watched as several Pokémon that were in the woods such as Ledybas, Caterpies, Rattatas and Hoothoots had emerged, coughing up toxic bubbles.
"Leeeedy..." A Ledyba said.
"Rattataaaa..." A wild Rattata moaned.
"Hoot... Hoot..." One of the Hoothoots muttered as it sat on the ground, in pain from the toxins in its body.
"That much powder... Probably poizzzzoned a large portion of the woods." Rotom said as Keats looked at Venonat, the purple fuzzball-like Pokémon embarrassed by her actions.
"...God damn it..." Keats said with an annoyed sigh as he put his hands on his face. "Something tells me a "Pokémon Rights" group is going to harp on me if they come around and ask these Pokémon who poisoned them... So... Let's go find some Pecha Berries before things get worse." He said with an aggravated face as he put away the bag of stones into his messenger bag and stepped over some of the poisoned Murkrow. "There better be a tree nearby..." Keats thought.
Before he could step further into the woods, one of the Murkrow that was coughing proceeded to grab Keats by his leg with its wings. Stopping, Keats looked down at the Murkrow and saw it holding onto him as it spat out more purple bubbles.
"Krooooww..." The Murkrow muttered with a weak voice.
"Look, if you're stopping me to get me to help. Don't even ask, I'm already trying to do that." Keats said with a bothered tone as he looked down at the Murkrow.
"Krrooow... Krowkrow." The Murkrow said as Rotom, Venonat and Sizzlipede approached Keats.
"Translation?" Keats asked towards Rotom.
"Thizzzz Murkrow is begging for a Dusk Stone." Rotom translated.
"What?! No, you little bastards took my stones and now you expect me to give it to you willingly?" Keats said as he picked up the crow-like Pokémon with both hands.
"Muuurrrk-krrrrooow... Krow!" Murkrow muttered as it spat out more bubbles with one popping in front of Keats' face.
"Blagh! Guh!" Keats coughed in response. "Ugh, why do want one of the stones now?" He asked as the woozy Murkrow put its wing on its head in pain. "Crap, this guy ain't looking too good... And neither are the rest of you..." Keats thought as he looked at Murkrow before shifting his attention to the other Pokémon that were poisoned.
"Pedeped-sizz." Sizzlipede said as she noticed some of the Ledyba were coughing violently.
"Venonatnat!" Venonat said with worry in her tone as she looked at some of the Hoothoot on the ground.
"That much poison must be really screwing them up." Keats said as he looked at the other Pokémon before turning towards Murkrow. "I better not regret this." He thought as he quickly reached into his back and pulled out one of his Dusk Stones. "All or nothing..." Keats said towards his Pokémon before placing it on Murkrow.
As the stone disappeared, Murkrow was suddenly enveloped in a blinding white light as the crow-like Pokémon's body begun to expand. Placing it down on the ground, Murkrow was now a Honchkrow as it sported a larger body, but its face was still slightly purple, indicating it was still poisoned.
"Honchkrow-ow!" Honchkrow exclaimed as Keats and the others looked on before it coughed up more bubbles. "Honchkrowkrow-honchonch." It said as Keats looked towards Rotom for a translation.
"Murkrow turned into a Honchkrow zzzzo it could have the strength to look for a Pecha Berry tree." Rotom translated. "Must be trying to help." The phone Pokémon thought.
"There, you've evolved! Now, help your flock. You're the leader now, right? You're not going to do much if you have no group to lead." Keats said as he pointed at the coughing Murkrow as Honchkrow nodded. "I don't think one Honchkrow is going to do much damage... And I did get rid of one stone so there's that too..." He thought.
"Krowkrow!" Honchkrow muttered as it took flight.
"Let'zzzz follow after it." Rotom suggested as Keats looked at the floating phone Pokémon.
"Yeah, sure. All of you stay here and-... Well, you're all poisoned so you aren't really going anywhere anyway, you know what I mean." Keats replied to Rotom before turning to all of the other afflicted Pokémon before chasing after Honchkrow with Rotom, leaving behind Venonat and Sizzlipede to look after the poisoned Pokémon.
Flapping its wings and examining the woods as it flew through the air, Honchkrow spotted a tree filled with a ton of pink and purple Berries that were heart shaped with two green leaves on the ends. Stopping under the tree, Keats and Rotom looked up as Honchkrow descended towards a branch that contained some of the Pecha Berries.
"Found it, zzzzt!" Rotom exclaimed.
"Thank goodness." Keats said with a sigh of relief as Honchkrow proceeded to pluck one of the Pecha Berries off the branch and ate it.
"Hooonch-krowkrow!" Honchkrow said as it ate Berry, swallowing it and curing itself of poison as Keats and Rotom looked on.
"You all good?" Keats asked towards Honchkrow as the large mob boss-like crow Pokémon was still facing away from him. "Now we can get these Berries back and help your-" He continued until he suddenly stopped talking upon noticing something peculiar.
"Honchkrowkrow! Honchhonchhonch!" Honchkrow exclaimed as it charged up power and proceeded to fire a beam of coiled black energy at the base of the tree.
'"Huh?!"' Keats and Rotom grunted, simultaneously.
From hitting the front base, the tree begun to stir and topple forward as Honchkrow moved out of the way. Looking on in shock, Keats and Rotom were caught off guard as the Pecha Berry tree was now falling towards them.
"Get out of the way!" Keats shouted as he grabbed Rotom and jumped to the side to avoid being crushed, landing on his side on the grass.
"Krowkrowkrow!" Honchkrow laughed at Keats as the husky framed trainer looked up from the ground with an offended expression.
"Are you nuts?!" Keats shouted angrily as Rotom popped out of his hand.
"You could have killed uzzzz!" Rotom exclaimed in equal agitation.
"Hon-krrroooww!" Honchkrow said as it stuck out its tongue at the pair, blowing a raspberry at them before turning around and starting to fly away.
"Hey! Get back here!" Keats shouted as he stood up and took out his Fast Ball. "It's running away so the Fast Ball should be double effective! I'll make this bastard pay for that!" He thought, vengefully.
Pitching it at Honchkrow, the mob boss crow-like creature twisted slightly and used its wing to knock back the Fast Ball in Keats' direction. With the same force behind it, Keats was pegged right in the face with his own PokéBall as he fell onto his butt, clutching at his face in pain.
"Argh-gurhg!" Keats muttered in anger as Honchkrow flew away, towards the mountains and away from everyone else. "What the hell was that about?! Firing a "Dark Pulse" at the tree and trying make it fall over! Urgh!" He questioned in frustration towards Rotom as the floating phone Pokémon looked at Keats.
"When it evolved into Honchkrow, it must have grown a more sadistic perzzzzonality. It also stopped caring for the wellbeing of its flock once it healed itself first." Rotom said, attempting to explain what just happened. "It's probably off to find a new gaggle of Murkrow to lead..." The phone Pokémon thought.
"What a dickbag!" Keats exclaimed as he grabbed his Fast Ball and put it back in his bag. "Ow... Urgh." He moaned while clutching his nose to try and alleviate some of the soreness.
"No time to deal with that now. We need to get thezzzze Pecha Berries back to those Pokémon." Rotom said as Keats stood back up.
"R-right... Ow..." Keats said while still clutching his nose. "Stupid selfish mafia Pokémon thing!" He thought with frustration as he looked in the direction of where Honchkrow flew off to.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rarest Level Ranch, 6:02 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Haaaaa..." Keats yawned as he walked down the street towards home. "How the hell did Anik learn to handle going so many nights without sleeping. I can barely go one..." He thought as he wiped his eyes.
"Thank goodnezzzzzzzz, we're finally home." Rotom said as it floated next to Keats.
"No kidding... I want to do nothing but sleep when we get back to my trailer." Keats said as he looked at the floating phone. "Still have all these stones... Still losing battles... Had to spend all night feeding Pecha Berries to wild Pokémon that Venonat poisoned... Ugh." He mentally complained.
"Don't forget to let Sizzlipede out zzzzo she can meet everybody." Rotom said, reminding Keats of something he needed to do.
"Yeah, yeah..." Keats said in a nonchalant manner.
Reaching his sister and her husband's ranch, Keats proceeded to walk over to the fence and opened the door to enter the backyard. Walking over to Marie and Adam, he raised an eyebrow as he looked at Adam's Stoutland and an unfamiliar Pokémon that looked like a tiny knight on fire.
"Yo! Who's the flaming dwarf?" Keats said as he appeared with Rotom floating next to him and his sightline looking down at Charcadet.
"Where have you been?" Marie said towards her brother as she noticed his clothes were slightly torn. "And why do smell like tree bark?" She thought as she got a whiff of Keats.
"Long zzzztory." Rotom replied as it looked at Keats.
"You were gone all night." Adam said as everyone looked at Keats.
Taking a deep breath, Keats proceeded to reach into his back pocket and pulled out Sizzlipede's Friend Ball to present to the pair. Soon after, he reached into his other pocket with his free hand and pulled out the Fast Ball he had in his possession from before he left for Alola.
"It's a veeeerrrry long story... And don't get me started on Venonat!" Keats said as Marie and Adam looked at each other.
A Sizzlipede scarf... That sounds like an amazing idea for apparel! Why the heck hasn't the Pokémon Company thought of selling something like that! I gotta draw up an idea and pitch that to them, I can be rich and finally stop having to narrate for some guy's original Pokémon story- I have been told that if I insult the writer one more time, I'm going to be canned from this job... Okay then... Keats has obtained his new Pokémon from the Wonder Trader; a Fire and Bug type known as Sizzlipede! After learning that she used to be kept inside of a furnace as a part of a business that sold Fire type Pokémon within heating systems, Keats welcomed his new flaming centipede-like creature with open arms and the ability to make a decent scarf. Trying to sell off his massive unwanted collection of Evolution Stones, the pile would then be stolen by a group of Murkrow. A group that got poisoned by Keats' Venonat and then poisoned the rest of the forest outside of Ecruteak City. With one bad encounter with a newly evolved Honchkrow, Keats returns home to tell the story of what happened in the woods to his sister and Adam, just as the latter is catching himself a Charcadet. A lot can happen in twenty-four hours! But only time will tell when Keats begins his third manhunt to take place in the Sinnoh region! Let's see what happens next time on Wannabe!
Keats' Pokémon (on-hand):
1. Venonat. Gender: Female. Ability: Tinted Lens. Moves: "Tackle," "Poison Powder," "Bug Buzz," "Sleep Powder."
2. Sizzlipede. Gender: Female. Ability: Flash Fire. Moves: "Ember," "Smokescreen," "Bite," "Wrap."
Keats' Pokémon (in rotation):
1. Porygon.
2. Pineco.
3. Dragalge.
4. Cloyster.
5. Timburr.
6. Swalot.
7. Raichu - Alolan Form.
8. Stunky.
9. Druddigon.
Released/Traded Away:
1. Diglett - Alolan Form.
2. Surskit.
Authors Note: (Okay... Several things.)
1. I didn't know Venonat couldn't learn "Poison Gas," so I went back to previous chapters and fixed it to "Poison Powder." I am sorry for the continuity issue, but I am trying my hardest to make sure I have the moves be accurate to the Pokémon. I've screwed up this before with Pineco and Timburr, but I am choosing to be transparent about it and apologizing now. I'm trying my best here.
2. I'm no longer going to be doing the move set parts at the end of the chapter for the Pokémon in the rotation section. I feel like it's arbitrarily giving me work for something that won't matter if they're not on hand when Keats uses them so expect only Pokémon on hand with Keats when he updates the move sets to have their move pools shown.
3. The writers block I had when it came to that Friend Ball was HORRENDOUS. I kid you not, the Pokémon that was in the Surskit trade went through SEVEN or EIGHT potential candidates before I settled on Sizzlipede. I like it to be known now that whatever Keats will catch in the future of the story, there will NOT be any more Bug types added but I will admit, Keats is getting ONE last Poison type Pokémon in the future. No spoilers as to what it is.