-Chloe Cerise POV-
I felt Leaf's hand grabbing mine as soon as she saw Goh entering the classroom.
Beside me, Ash and Gary were looking tense, looking at me as if worried about my reaction, but tried to look calm as Goh quickly approached us.
As he walked closer, I saw his eyes quickly go to the Pokemon Gathered around their trainer. "Someone's got an Abra? Not bad but mine is still better—A Cleffa?! I hear their species are mostly seclusive, so how the heck did someone manage to get a Cleffa as a starter—Wait, is that Larvitar!? How the heck could someone be this lucky to get an Ultra-Rare Pokemon like Larvitar!?"
"That Larvitar is mine." Ash finally spoke after a brief silence with a grin, as he seemed to enjoy the bewilderment from anyone that saw his starter.
True enough, Goh looked as if he just swallowed a lemon, eyeing Larvitar with an envious look. "Man, Ash. How lucky are you to obtain Larvitar?" Goh shook his head and shrugged, "Meh, no matter. My starter is temporary anyway, since my real journey begins with Mew as my starter!"
He immediately released his starter with a quick swipe of his hand.
It was a quadrupedal feline Pokemoncovered in pale green fur. It has green ears with pale green insides, a tuft of fur on the front of its chest and a green marking around its pink eyes and nose that resemble leaves. It has a fluffy tail and small paws with pink paw pads underneath.
"... A Sprigatito…" I muttered under my breath upon seeing the Paldean pokemon.
"Mii~!" It let out a cute meow which almost instinctively caused me to hug it, if not due to it being Goh's pokemon.
"Oh my Arceus! It's so cute~!" Leaf gushed as she was about to scope the feline Pokemonin a hug, but the Pokemon jumped away from her arms, landing directly in front of me.
Sprigatito and I had a staring contest for a bit, before it mewled in delight while pressing its head against my arms, causing me to smile as I pat its head instinctively. "You're such a good boy."
"Mii~!"
"Oh, you're a female?" I asked for confirmation, to which Sprigatito meowed back, answering my question.
Such a sweet Pokemon, I just wish that my stupid childhood friend could take care of her properly.
"Hah! What do you think? Not as good as a Mew, but it's still a rare Pokemonfor my awesome start! And it also has its hidden ability which I know it's gonna be awesome as well!" Goh bragged
His boisterous claim caused me to sigh, which made me miss the annoyed look that Sprigatito sent to Goh.
Same as always, only focusing on himself and no one else—
"—Chloe! Where's your starter anyway? C'mon lemme see it!"
Goh suddenly appeared right in front of me, nearly causing me to fall backward had Leaf not grabbed my chair reflexively.
And she clearly didn't like what Goh just did, as she immediately stood in front of me while pointing her finger directly at the taller boy. "What the hell, Goh? You almost made Chloe fall out from her chair!"
"Hey! I didn't do anything! I just asked her about what starter she got since we're gonna travel together!" Goh rebuked in annoyance, "So? Fess up! What'd ya get?! Couldn't have been cooler than mine, but I won't judge you too harshly for it no matter how lame it is!"
The haughty smirk on his face always managed to get under my skin, but today, I simply couldn't summon the energy to deal with it. The dilemma, however, was real – confront him and endure his insufferable attitude all day, or remain silent and let the arrogance persist.
"... Didn't get any..."
"Huh? What did you say?" Goh inquired, leaning in closer.
"... I said I didn't get any starter," I finally muttered in a hushed tone. "I had an accident on my way home—"
"What the hell, Chloe! I thought you were better than to be late on the most important day of our career!" Goh erupted without allowing me to explain. His tantrum unfolding as if my tardiness was solely responsible for all our troubles. "How are we supposed to start the journey if you didn't get your own starter? Academy rules dictate we can't travel together without one! Didn't we promise to embark on this journey together? And what about my plan to catch Mew as my real starter then! You're dead weight, always lagging behind and causing trouble!"
"How can you say such a thing, you jerk!" Leaf practically roared, attempting to confront Goh before Gary intervened. "You're blaming Chloe without knowing about anything that happened to her!"
"Why should I care? She's the reason my plan is ruined, and now I have to wait for who knows how long for our journey!" Goh retorted, his frustration escalating as his so-called plan faced the threat of failure.
All because of 'my fault.'
"... Holding him back, he says?" I mused, as anger simmered within me, gradually taking in the weight of Goh's words. I tuned out Leaf's heated rebuke and Goh's retaliatory outburst as another verbal skirmish unfolded.
After all I had done for him - even going so far as to postpone my exam to assist him in the theoretical exam where he consistently struggled, and he calls me dead weight?!
My mind surged with disbelief and anger, I couldn't contain myself—how dare he!
My hand acted before my thoughts, delivering a resounding smack that echoed through the classroom. The pain in my numb hand matched the shock on Goh's face as well as the collective astonishment of the onlookers.
"How dare you… After everything that I did for you, You still dared to put the blame on me… Saying it like you never had any fault—!" I hissed at Goh, tears stinging the edges of my eyes.
I no longer cared about Goh or his opinions.
I've had enough.
This was unbearable.
I just can't take this anymore…
"Forget about it! Forget about me going with you and your so-called journey! I just had enough with all of this! Do whatever you want, without me! I don't care anymore!" I screamed at his face, the insufferable childhood friend, who acted like he is like fucking knows everything!
Without waiting for his response, I stormed out of the classroom, completely ignoring Leaf's pleas behind me. I barely registered anything in my haste to leave, to get away from Goh. My mind was a mess, tears wouldn't stop flowing, even asI let everything out.
My frustration, anger, and disappointment; everything.
Because of my emotional state, I didn't pay any attention to my surroundings as I collided into someone which caused me to unceremoniously fall on the floor.
"Oh, my bad! I didn't see you—Chloe?" a rather familiar voice echoed in the hall, which caused me to look upward as I stared directly at my dad who was immediately concerned upon seeing my current condition. "What's wrong, dear? Why are you crying like this?"
I couldn't answer his plea, my heart was not prepared for meeting with my dad as I furiously swiped the tears off my face as I forced a smile. "No, it was nothing."
"Chloe, please wait! I know that Goh was being more of a dick than usual, but you have to calm…down."
My dad was about to press the question, but Leaf, who finally caught up with me, just had to blabber everything at the wrong time.
His eyes narrowed upon hearing what Leaf had just said. "Is that true? Is that brat the reason my daughter's crying?"
Leaf squirmed under his intense gaze, prompting her to nod meekly before explaining the entire incident.
My dad sighed after hearing the whole explanation. "I always knew that Goh was a thorn for my daughter, despite him being her childhood friend. But I didn't think that he could be as far as blaming Chloe for what happened…"
"I know, he had been Chloe's friend for such a long time," Leaf said in a somber tone. "But his behavior has been getting worse. His goal to obtain Mew is, honestly, a little respectable; but his atrocious behavior, combined with his evident lack of social understanding, doesn't leave a good impression for anyone, especially for us who had known him for a long time…"
My dad nodded at Leaf's explanation, while I stayed silent during the conversation with my head hanging low.
"Despite his behavior, he's also a son of a close friend of mine; thus, it's not my place to say something about it except to report his behavior to his parents so they could talk some sense to him." My dad informed Leaf, who nodded in understanding.
Soon, both Ash and Gary approached us along with their Pokemonand Leaf's Cleffa, where they also got a brief explanation about our conversation, they also understood my dad's explanation.
"I don't think of him as my friend anymore," Gary said with a cold tone. "His behavior will cause anyone around him nothing but trouble, but… I at least think he needed someone to give him a wake-up slap. Hell, even I had to stop Ash here from outright punching him."
"Hey, at least he deserved it!" Ash protested.
"And that could get you in trouble, Ashy boy." Gary stated while elbowing him, much to Ash's annoyance, but nobody - not even my dad - was able to deny that fact.
Goh had it coming…
"Children, as much as I want to stay longer for chit-chat, we need to go." My dad said in an apologetic tone. "Also, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for being Chloe's friends, and also standing by her given her recent circumstances."
My friends all nodded in understanding.
"Alright then, see you around, Chloe." Leaf said, waving her hands.
"Bye Chloe! Let's meet again sometime!" Ash exclaimed with a thumbs up.
"I'll see you around." Gary added, offering a two-fingered salute.
I nodded, my eyes puffy after crying. "Yeah, I'll see you guys around…"
The walk from the school hallway to the car was completely silent. Both mom and Parker were tight-lipped the moment they saw me, they must have been told what happened to me earlier from dad.
I just silently took my seat beside my little brother, as we started the drive home.
But as I looked out the window, I realized that we're not going the usual path to our house.
"Dad," I called out. "Where are we going?"
My dad chuckled at my question, as he looked back at me from the front view mirror. "You'll see, Chloe. We're going on a Vacation!"
"... Huh?"
-Scene Break-
"... When you said we were going on vacation," I began, looking at my dad with a flat face while he just smiled back at me. "I didn't think that you would bring me into Viridian Forest."
"Well, you've been kinda down lately, so I thought a family vacation might cheer you up!" replied my dad with a big smile on his face, though it quickly faltered into a sheepish laugh the moment he saw my unimpressed expression. "... I guess it didn't work?"
I sighed, trying to humor his poor attempt. "Not really, also I don't see anything worth coming here for, even if it's for a family vacation."
"Be that as it may, you can still take this as time off to cool your head, darling." Mom said as she pulled me in for a hug. Not that it helped with my mood, but I buried my face in her chest as she started patting my head. "There, there, my baby. You've graduated so turn that frown upside down. After all, you're a big girl now."
Sure… a big girl with no starter Pokemon to show for, having finally gotten rid of one issue only to be saddled with another. It's like the whole world was conspiring to ruin my big day.
Still, it's not like I'd let it. Inhaling deep the familiar scent of my mom, I psyched myself up. Even if it's just for them, I can manage a smile. "Hmmmmm… Fine. Let's start that vacation!"
My family also got psyched as my sudden vacation to Viridian Forest started.
Our family decided to set up a camp in one of the designated spots for visitors. Once there we got to work; my dad and brother set up the tent while mom and I started to unload the car. We only had one tent, but dad had picked one that was big enough to fit all four of us comfortably, while also having enough leftover space to play a board game if we wanted.
After setting everything up, we decided to do some fishing at the nearby river, which my dad was completely thrilled to try out as soon as he could.
Though it turned out that he was completely suck at fishing. Even my mother was better as she managed to catch a few fish, much to his chagrin.
We took the fish back to the campsite, firing up the grill that dad had reserved, and mom got to work making the most delicious grilled fish. The smell had even attracted some other wandering campers, and mom graciously offered them some which they gratefully took. It ended up being so good that they left to grab their own fish to bring back for mom to cook, and we ended up accidentally starting a mini cook-out, much to my moms delight.
Despite my initial doubt, this really was the start of a wonderful vacation, I couldn't have asked for a better day than this.
I'm glad that dad brought us out here, I could already feel myself forgetting about all the shit that's happened.
-Scene Break-
"... I can't sleep." I grumbled to myself. Unlike my family who were all sleeping soundly, I was wide awake; staring at the tent ceiling as the soft snores of my brother filled the otherwise quiet night.
Even with all of the previous activities I did with my family, it wasn't enough to completely ease my mind about my current condition.
All thanks to that stupid jerk.
Having nothing better to do, I decided to get some fresh air. Still in my pajamas, I grabbed my jacket and shoes and quietly unzipped the tent door.
I walked briskly to the edge of the campsite and stood under the light of one of the installed lamps, mindlessly kicking around some rocks as my mind treacherously drifted back to the events from earlier, my good mood rapidly souring as scenes played back in my head.
All thanks to that stupid Goh.
"That stupid, all-knowing, arrogant bastard who thinks he's better than anyone else—!" I hissed in irritation.
That's right, it's all his fault!
Because of him, I had to hold my final test for a semester just because he had a failing grade and was unlikely to pass the final test had I not helped him!
And he dared to say that's it's my fault that his whole journey plan was ruined?
"Then go by yourself you stupid jerk! To hell with putting up with that arrogant prick! I'm done with him!" I shouted as I kicked a berry bush out of anger. But one of the berries flew out, bounced off a tree and then directly smacked my nose, causing me to hiss in pain as I held my face.
The pain quickly subsided, but it brought me some much needed clarity.
"... What am I doing… Ranting like an idiot when it changes nothing…" I whimpered, sinking to a crouch as I reflected on my situation.
Suddenly, I heard a sound from the nearby bushes, causing me to yelp in surprise.
"What was that?" I spoke in a hushed tone, slowly walking towards the source while trying my best to calm my beating heart.
Imagine my surprise when I spotted a pokemon; a rare one at that, especially so close to the public campsites.
It was a bipedal insectoid Pokemon whose body was primarily green with a thin, cream-colored section between its head, thorax, and abdomen. Its arms end in large, white scythes, with a pair of cream-colored wings on its back. Its feet are tall and almost extend past its thighs, rounded, and conical; each foot ends in three small, white claws on its front side.
And currently, it was badly injured.
Every part of its body bore wounds - cuts adorned its chest, segments, wings, and abdomen. Its breath hitched, its face drained of color as blood flowed freely from numerous wounds across its form. A troubling purple ooze emanated from its right leg, suggesting a likely encounter with a poison type pokemon.
The pokemon was tall, so I'm guessing that it's an adult male Scyther.
"Scy!" it tensed the moment it saw me, attempting to stand, but its leg buckled under the pain.
I debated whether to leave the pokemon alone or attempt to help it out; Scyther are notoriously difficult and known for their aggressive nature, and I would be in even more danger if its herd was nearby.
However, given the seriousness of its injuries, the choice was clear.
"I'm going to regret this…" I muttered while cautiously approaching the Scyther. It hissed threateningly as it attempted to stand, only to quickly collapse to the ground.
"Stop it, I'm trying to help you!" I pleaded, but it failed as Scyther just scrambled away from me; his eyes full of fear and caution. He even brandished his scythe arms in a threatening manner.
And once again fell on his knee due to its poisoned state.
Watching it repeatedly trying to stand and stumble somehow made my temper flare up. It felt like dealing with a certain jerk that I used to know.
It was… Annoying!
"Stop pretending like you could defend yourself in this condition, you stupid Mantis!"
I moved before thinking, ignoring the Scyther's attempts to defend itself as I took the berry that fell on my face earlier, which I recognized as a pecha berry, and shoved it forward to its mouth as I screamed at it. The Scyther, startled and astonished at my tone, instinctively closed its mouth over the berry, chewing and swallowing it before it could fully react.
The berry's healing properties quickly took effect, the Scythers face regaining color rapidly as its leg also lost that nasty purple hue. The purple ooze that flowed from its wound quickly diminished. The Scyther cautiously stood up, and this time it did not fall back down.
The Scyther, while still wary, did not make a fuss as I slowly approached it.
"... I am sorry, but that was the only way for you to recover from your poisoned state." I calmly stated, maintaining direct eye contact with the Pokemon. The Scyther nodded slowly, seemingly uncertain about the whole situation.
I took this as my cue to look over his injuries, given he was no longer being hostile towards me.
"Your injury isn't too severe, but it still needs treatment," I said, removing my jacket and using it to wrap Scyther's leg, staunching the bleeding. I conducted another check for any life- threatening injuries, but aside from its previous injuries I found nothing else alarming.
Scyther slowly nodded at me, its body gradually losing tension as it began to slowly relax under my care.
"Alright, now you need to follow me to my family tent—" I was about to walk back to the tent, but soon realized that due to having been lost in thought, I didn't realize that I walked way too far from the campsite.
Worse, I didn't know where I was.
"... There's no doubt about this," I hummed in thought while nodding my head. "I am lost."
"Scy…" my company spoke with a deadpan tone.
"I don't know exactly what you said, but I feel like you just said something insulting," I gave Scyther a glance, to which the Mantis Pokemon merely shrugged using his scythes.
"Scy, Scyther, ther."
"... Are you telling me that I have a bad sense of direction?" I asked with irritation.
"Scy." the pokemon affirmed.
'This, stupid Mantis Pokemon—!' I internally raged.
"...Fine. It's definitely my fault that I got lost trying to help a stubborn pokemon in terrible condition who, if I had not helped, could have potentially lost its life. I said sarcastically. The Scyther's eye twitched at my pointed jab, but conceded to my point as it grumbled.
We stood in silence for a while until I sighed, uncrossing my arms as my irritation left me.
"I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to get so heated." I apologized.
Scyther shrugged off my apology. It glanced at me, hesitating before it gently placed one of it's scythes on my arm, muttering gently; as if thanking me.
"... No problem, I was just worried about your condition." I said with a smile.
Our moment was interrupted by a faint sound. The Scyther's eyes widened in alarm as it quickly turned around, its yellow eyes scanning the darkened forest for danger as it cautiously backed up.
"What's wrong—"
"—Scyther!"
The Scyther abruptly cut me off, stretching his arm out as he stepped in front of me; as if to protect me. My hunch was proven right as a buzzing sound grew louder, and my eyes widened as a familiar pokemon came into view.
It was another Pokemon, a bipedal yellow insect with four legs, a rounded head, pointed mouth, and large red eyes. Two black antennas protruded from its head, bending sharply in the middle. Its forearms were tipped with long, conical stingers. Additionally, it possessed twin pairs of rounded, veined wings and another stinger on its yellow-and-black striped abdomen.
"A Beedrill…" I whispered worriedly, watching it emerge from the forest.
Its eyes shone dangerously as its large red eyes locked onto Scyther.
Scyther hissed in a threatening manner towards the Beedrill, but I could tell that Scyther couldn't back up whatever threat he just made; he had not yet recovered from it's injuries, even as his arms tensed in preparation I could see his earlier wounds begin to slowly bleed again.
Unfortunately for him, the Beedrill called his bluff as it got into a fighting stance.
Thinking fast, I whispered harshly at Scyther.
"Scyther, I know that we've just met! But I need you to trust me to guide you for this battle!"
It squawked with an incredulous tone, but I ignored it while I tried to convince him. "Please! I know what I'm doing, and you're too injured to fight this thing on your own. If we don't work together, neither of us are going to walk out of this unscathed!"
Scyther looked at me with a conflicted expression, as he was completely new on this. But seeing his opponent drew near, he quickly made his decision, nodding at me while turning back, prepared to fight against his opponent.
Scyther glanced back at me with a conflicted expression, but as our opponent drew closer he was forced to let go of his reservations. He nodded quickly at me, turning back to face the Beedrill and got into a fighting stance; awaiting my command.
I briefly sighed in relief before I got serious.
"Wait for it to come closer, that thing knows that you're injured. When it gets close, use Quick Attack to move to the right and then use Leer to intimidate it!" I ordered, delving quickly into my memories of Mr. Andersen's classes of Pokemon Movesets.
Scyther nodded quickly, much to my relief.
The Beedrills' wings began to beat rapidly, causing a loud buzzing noise as it flew directly at Scyther; both of its Stingers aimed directly at the Mantis Pokemon glowing with power. Just as the Beedrill got within five feet of him, Scyther's body was surrounded in a white power as it blurred to the right, dodging the Bee pokemon's attack with a quick attack. Before the Beedrill could react; Scyther's eyes glowed with a dangerous glint, startling the Pokemon momentarily.
"Now's our chance!" I grinned, "Quick, use Wing Attack! And then follow up with Fury Cutter!"
This was our only chance; with Scyther injured as he is, there's no way that he'll have the strength to pull this off if we wait any longer. And with Beedrill momentarily stunned, there was no better opportunity.
Scyther's wings shone a brilliant white as it blitzed towards the surprised Bee. He viciously smacked the Beedrill with a powerful Wing Attack, drawing a pained buzz from the enemy Pokemon. Scyther's arms glowed with power as it began to hammer down Fury Cutters, attacking restlessly as the Beedrill tried to retaliate; but to no avail. Despite the Beedrills' struggles to regain ground, it eventually succumbed to the barrage of blows. Powerful slash from Scyther sealed the battle, leaving the defeated Beeldrill crumpled on the ground.
It was a short battle.
But it was also my first, real battle.
And I won alongside Scyther.
My smile widened as I ran towards Scyther, hugging him joyously. "We did it! Both of us managed to defeat that Beedrill!"
I smiled wide as I hugged Scyther gently, "We did it! We defeated Beedrill!"
Scyther let out a victorious cry as he basked in our victory.
Our moment was interrupted as numerous buzzing sounds filled the forest. Scyther and I stilled, suddenly and acutely aware of our new deadly opponents.
My mind filled with dread, looking on in fear as seemingly hundreds of angry beedrills filled the forest. Their eyes shining with deadly intent, their wings beating faster as they drew closer; as if signifying our fate.
As they flew closer, Scyther tried to get into a fighting stance; but his fatigue finally caught up to him, causing the pokemon to fall, but I managed to catch him before he hit the ground. I hugged him close, trying to provide some small comfort as I tried to think of a way out of this.
But I couldn't do anything in this situation, as the buzzing sounds slowly inched closer I closed my eyes in fear—
— Before a sudden intense heat washed over my face. My eyes opened in surprise, watching the Beedrill hoard scatter in surprise from the powerful flames; though some were not fortunate enough as a few torched bodies crashed to the ground.
The Beedrill immediately switched targets, leaving Scyther and I alone as they charged towards the new danger, only to be beset by flames again; this one more powerful than the last as more bodies littered the forest floor.
Scyther and I could only sit in silence, our bodies still as stone as we watched the carnage unfold before us. The Beedrill were quickly wiped out, while the remaining members finally retreated after already losing so many to such a powerful enemy.
"Is it over…?" I whispered, before my heart skipped a beat the moment I heard something approaching.
My eyes widened in fear, gasping upon seeing the figure who just massacred the entire horde of Beedrill by itself.
It was a huge quadrupedal, draconic Pokemon with a long tail and a pair of huge red wings. It is primarily blue with a gray lower jaw and thickly scaled underside and red markings around on its throat, above its eyes, the underside of its tail, and stripes on the inner surface of its legs. It had three flat fins protruding from either side of its head, along with thick legs with three, sharp claws.
'A Salamence!? How!? This pokemon's not supposed to be around the Viridian forest!' My mind screamed in disbelief as the fearsome beast approached us. Scyther immediately tried to get in front of me, though I could see how frightened he was about the prospect of facing such a powerful opponent.
Not to mention with its size.
It was humongous!
I often saw articles and videos about Salamence, but no one was as big as this one! Its size was probably nearly twice as much as the average Salamence!
My mind went haywire as the dragon inched closer to Scyther and I, when suddenly another voice, a familiar one this time, reached my ears.
"Saph, girl, what are you doing mate? Wandering alone like this? Is it because of those pesky Beedrill agai— hmmm? Oh, if it isn't Miss Chloe? We met again, huh."
The one who stopped the blue dragon was someone I hadn't expected to encounter again so soon. My eyes locked onto the familiar tall figure with disbelief.
"... Sieg?"
-To Be Continued-
Beta Readers: Gerald of Revea, ReavesTheReader, RainbowDumDum
Author Note:
Another chapter of Ophidian down.
Fuck Goh. All my homies hated this fucker. Poor Chloe who missed her chance of getting a starter.
Glad he got slapped and Chloe decided she had enough with his antics.
Anyway here we got another chapter down with Chloe slapping Goh and having a trip with her parents which led her to meet a peculiar Scyther.
What will happen next since she finally meets Sieg again, after nearly dying and being saved by his monstrous specimen of Salamence?
Anyway, that's all and I'll see you guys in other updates.
Hope you enjoyed this and leave lots of comments since I liked it.
Also PS for EndDragon, not bashing Goh is impossible since that's my motivation to write this
Sieg's Pokémon:
All of his Pokemon are based from pick, while their extra status comes from dice rolls.
- Adam/ Haxorus - Male [Shiny]
- Regina/ Kingdra - Female [Shiny]
- Drasil/ Sceptile - Male
- Wyrm/ Drakeon - Male
- Sapphire/ Salamence - Female
Other cast's Pokemon:
Ash's Pokemon: Larvitar
Gary's Pokemon: Abra
Leaf's Pokemon: Cleffa
Goh's Pokemon: Sprigatito