xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Floccesy Town, 12:58 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Bouffalant! Use "Head Charge!"' Alder exclaimed as his hairy bull-like Pokémon, Bouffalant, ran at full speed with its head and horns glowing.
With its full strength, Bouffalant rammed into Pineco and Timburr with the Bug and Fighting types sent flying into the air, respectively. Bouncing off the ground on impact, Pineco and Timburrs eyes were now in the shape of swirls, no longer able to battle as Timburrs squared log went flying out of his hands.
"Oh crap! Pineco! Timbu- plugh!" Keats said loudly before getting smacked in the face with Timburrs log, causing him to fall to his knees. "...Okay... Are we done now, please?" He said in an incredibly tired and almost begging tone as clutched at his injured nose.
"Rotom, how long have we been practicing?" Alder said with his arms crossed and a smile on his face towards the floating phone.
"Approximately two hundred and fifty-eight minutezzzz." Rotom said as it paused a stopwatch function that was currently on its screen.
"...In hours, if you don't mind?" Keats said with annoyance.
"About five hours, give or take." Alder said. "But I must say, good progress." He said confidently.
'"Good progress?!"' Keats said as he jumped back up to his feet. "You said this training was to help teach me how to battle other trainers, not get my Pokémon's butts handed to them! And you said this would be a "two on two" battle or whatever!" He said as he pointed in the direction of Alders Pokémon.
Next to Alders Bouffalant was a flying white moth-like Pokemon with blue eyes and six red wings, flapping a few feet off the ground.
"That one hasn't even left that spot the entire time we were fighting!" Keats said as he pointed at the flying Pokémon as Alder walked forward towards Pineco and Timburr, taking out yellow spiked Revive pills.
"My Volcarona was only meant to watch in case Bouffalant was having trouble so it could be a proper double battle, but I felt Bouffalant would be enough." Alder said as he crushed the Revive pills, reawakening Pineco and Timburr. "My Pokémon might have been a bit too challenging for you, weren't they Timburr?" The former champion said as Timburr and Pineco got back up.
"Timburr..." Timburr said disgruntled as it walked over towards Keats with an arm extended.
"Here..." Keats said as he gave his newly caught Fighting type its log back. "Doesn't seem to hate me..." He thought as Timburr put the log over its shoulder as Pineco hopped over to join the pair.
"Do you feel like you learned anything from the past few hours, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as it floated near Keats.
"I learned I don't like league champions. Does that count?" Keats said as he stood up and took out his Pokéballs and returned Timburr and Pineco back into their respective balls.
"Hahaha! Whatever be the outcome, you can't say you didn't learn some of the core fundamentals of Pokémon battling. Against wild Pokémon." Alder said as he pointed at Timburrs Pokéball in Keats hand. "And against trainers." He continued after pointing at himself.
"Yeah... I guess... But I still feel this could've been taught to me without beating up my Pokémon..." Keats thought in frustration.
"Alright then." Alder said as he walked towards the exit of his fenced off farmland. "Grab your things from inside the house and I'm going to show you where to go." He continued as Rotom flew into Keats pocket with Keats hurrying inside Alder's home to grab his messenger bags.
Travelling through the town and passing by many homes and businesses, Keats followed Alder to the outskirts of Floccesy Town.
"The path ahead is Route 20 and it will lead you to Virbank City." Alder said as Keats looked down the dirt path in-between more woodland.
"More dirt and rocks, guess I'll be camping some more before I find a Battle Club..." Keats said with a shrug.
"I wish you good luck on your journey." Alder said as he extended his hand for a handshake.
"You know what, as much I kinda hated getting my butt kicked, you did help me catch a Pokémon and I did learn how to battle." Keats said as he reached his arm out and shook Alder's hand. "That's a lot to be tha- ahgag!" He continued as he turned his head back towards Floccesy Town before looking up and noticing something familiar gliding slowly towards the two men.
'"That's a lot to be thaahgag?"' Alder said in confusion as he looked in the direction where Keats was looking as the husky framed trainers body shook in surprise and free.
Gliding downward towards the pair was a brown flatfish-like Pokémon with an angry expression on its dopey face as Keats locked eyes with the Stunfisk that attacked him previously. Upon seeing the descending Ground and Electric type, Keats let go of Alders hand and bolted in the direction of Route 20.
"Bye Alder! Have a nice life! Ahhh!" Keats exclaimed as he fearfully ran away.
"Bu-bye?" Alder said with confusion as the Stunfisk landed on the ground next to Alder as Keats ran further and further away. "Hello?" The former champion asked towards the agitated Stunfisk as the flatfish Pokémon looked at the former champion before its body sparked up.
"Stunfiiiisk!" Stunfisk bellowed as it used "Thunderbolt" on Alder, zapping him with high powered electricity.
"Gaaaahhh!" Alder screamed as it echoed far enough for Keats to head down Route 20.
"Guh! Gotta run, gotta run, gotta- I seriously hate running!" Keats thought in fear before complaining internally.
Part of the way down road, Keats stopped to run through the bushes and into the nearby forest. Jumping into a bush, Keats looked around as he saw Stunfisk flop down the road.
"Stunfisk? Stunfisk?" Stunfisk muttered as it continued to look around for Keats, the same aggravated expression on its face before proceeding to use "Bounce" to go high up into the air.
"Rotom! Rotom!" Keats loudly whispered as Rotom came out of his pocket.
"Whatzzzz up, Keats?" Rotom said as it floated out of the bush as Keats quickly grabbed the phone and covered up the screen with his hand. "What are you doing?!" The phone Pokémon asked.
"Be quiet!" Keats whispered in a manic tone. "Stunfisk found us." He said as he looked around nervously.
"What?! How?!" Rotom exclaimed.
"Shhh!" Keats muttered to keep Rotom from speaking any louder. "I thought Pinecos explosion sent it flying?!" He said in a worried tone.
"Stunfisk that know the move "Bounce" typically have practice flapping their fins to help them glide through the air." Rotom explained as it read off a listing off the web about Stunfisks.
"That's nice to know- oh wait, it's not- eeph!" Keats said sarcastically before putting his hands over his mouth to keep Stunfisk from finding him.
Motioning for Rotom to go back into his pocket and the floating Pokémon phone doing so, Keats crept through the woods silently. Reaching a small clearing in the woods, Keats proceeded to reach into his pockets and grabbed both of his Pokéballs.
"Pineco. Timburr. Come on out." Keats said as he opened the balls and out popped Pineco and Timburr.
"Pineco-co." Pineco said.
"Timburr!" Timburr exclaimed.
"Ahh! Quiet! Quiet!" Keats said in a tone that was a mixture of loud and quiet as he grabbed Timburr and covered his mouth with his hand.
"Timb-timb-burr!" Timburr mumbled as he dropped his wooden log on the ground and tried to pull off his trainers hand from his mouth.
"We got a problem! Both of you, listen." Keats said as Timburr stopped from a moment and was placed back on the ground, the Fighting type picking back up its log. "Pineco, do you remember the Stunfisk we fought and practically tried to murder me?" He asked as Pineco looked at her own.
"Pineco." Pineco said in response with a small nod.
"Timburr?" Timburr said in a questioning tone.
"Well, it's back and it's somewhere looking for us in these woods!" Keats said in a hectic tone.
"Pineco!" Pineco exclaimed in surprise.
"Timburr tim-tim." Timburr said as it turned around and shrugged, expressing a lack of interest as Rotom came back out of Keats' pocket.
"But how did it follow uzzzz?" Rotom asked.
"It probably skulked around Floccesy Town while we were staying at Alders..." Keats guessed.
"Burr..." Timburr muttered, still disinterested.
"It seems Timburr doesn't care about thizzzz..." Rotom said as Pineco looked at her fellow Pokémon.
"Pineco-co. Pine-pine." Pineco said towards Timburr who rolled his eyes.
"He doesn't seem to care... Unless..." Keats thought until he got an idea. "Actually Timburr... That Stunfisk following us beat the ever-living hell out Pineco. It's one very powerful Pokémon." He explained as Timburr looked at Keats, a raised eye of intrigue on the Fighting types face. "It could be a good challenge before we find the perps who stole my sisters Pokémon." Keats said with a persuasive tone.
"Timburrrrr... Tim-timburr!" Timburr mumbled until expressing a form of interest in challenging Stunfisk.
"Timburr seems to want to fight Zzzztunfizzzzk." Rotom said towards Keats.
"Pineco..." Pineco said with worry in her tone.
"And Pineco isn't feeling that confident." Rotom said.
"Even with a new move she can do, she still doesn't feel comfortable going up against Stunfisk again..." Keats thought as he wiped sweat from his brow. "Maybe if we double team it, we might be able to get it off our backs." He said with a cautious tone. "Excuse me..." Keats said as he walked by a tree and pulled down the fly of his pants.
"What are you doing, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as Pineco and Timburr looked at their trainer.
"...I almost peed a little when I was running..." Keats said embarrassingly as he started to urinate on the nearby tree.
Looking at him with shock, Timburr, Pineco and Rotom looked on with exasperated expressions as they didn't expect him to say that.
"Haaa..." Keats sighed as he let loose a yellow stream against the pine with some droplets flying off in different directions.
"Why is your pizzzz so forceful!?" Rotom exclaimed in surprise.
"It's called a "Terrified Pee!" It happens when you are dealing with some serious stuff, and it comes out with a ton of force!" Keats said, explaining something weird.
"That's not a thing, zzzzt!" Rotom shouted.
As Keats and Rotom argued oddities, some of the droplets of Keats' pee flew onto a bush as it begun to rustle. Looking at the bush moving, Pineco and Timburr noticed the movement and proceeded to make concerned expressions as they noticed a blue tail-like appendage sticking out.
"I just looked up every phrazzzze dictionary on the internet and you made that up!" Rotom said in frustration.
"Who cares!? It's a- huh?!" Keats said until he noticed the nearby bushes rustling as he quickly pulled up his fly. "Dang it, forgot to "shake..."' He thought with embarrassment as he moved back towards his Pokémon as Pineco and Timburr stood in front of their trainer, ready to fight.
Stepping out from the bushes was a large Pokémon that Keats hadn't seen before that stood at roughly the same height as him. A dragon-like creature with a blue body, a red head with red spikes on its skull and body, white claws and a set of blue wings with a yellow underbelly.
"Draaaaahhhh!" The dragon-like Pokémon bellowed as it screamed into the sky.
"Ro-Rotom?!" Keats said in a worried tone.
"Looking it up in the Pokédex!" Rotom exclaimed as it flipped over to show Keats the entry. "'Druddigon, the Cave Pokémon, a Dragon type. Vicious and cunning, they take up residence in the nests that other Pokémon had dug up, treating the stolen territory as their own." The phone Pokemon said, reading off Druddigons Pokédex entry.
"Druuuuuuddd! Druuuuuudddd!" The wild Druddigon roared into the air.
"Okay! Screaming Dragon type now! Great!" Keats said as he stood behind his companion Pokémon. "Also, "stolen territory?"' He asked towards Rotom with curiosity.
"It says so in itzzzz Pokédex entry." Rotom said as the Druddigon looked at the group with rage in its eyes.
"Drudd-druddigon!" The wild Druddigon exclaimed as it pointed at its tail as everyone turned their attention towards it.
"Why's it pointing at its tail?" Keats asked.
"Hold on... It looks like there's some yellow fluid on it, zzzzt." Rotom said it examined the tail of the Druddigon.
"...Oh..." Keats said as he put his hands in his pockets and looked away with a bothered expression as Pineco and Timburr looked up at him with judgmental faces.
"Maybe you should apologizzzze?" Rotom said.
"Well... Knowing that it probably didn't own that nearby bush, I don't think I did a "bad" thing per say." Keats said as the Druddigon looked at him with anger.
"Drudd-drudd!" the wild Druddigon roared towards Keats in frustration as it begun to stomp towards the group.
"Oh no, Timburr! "Focus Energy!" Pineco, get ready to use "Protect!"' Keats exclaimed.
"Timburrrr!" Timburr said as his body glowed red.
"Pineco!" Pineco said as she stood next to Timburr.
As the Druddigon stepped forward, a small shadow appeared over its body as Druddigon was suddenly knocked to the ground, falling chest first. Looking on, the group noticed that a small flat fish-like creature had slammed against the wild Druddigons head from behind.
'"Huh?!"' Keats and Rotom exclaimed in surprise as they saw a familiar Pokémon on top of the head of the Druddigon.
Looking at Keats with the same angry expression it's had the past few days was Stunfisk as it was on top of the Druddigon, who was wincing in pain from the force of the slam.
"Drudd- gogogogon!" The Druddigon said on the ground until was cut off by a sudden electric shock.
"Stunstunstunstun!" Stunfisk laughed as it let loose a "Thunderbolt" on the downed Dragon type.
'"And there's the "Thunderbolt" from before."' Keats and Rotom thought simultaneously as the Stunfisk continued to shock the Druddigon.
"Better the Dragon type than me..." Keats muttered towards the group as they continued.
"That izzzz one very violent Stunfisk..." Rotom mentioned.
With its eyes swirling, the Druddigon was now unconscious and laid out flat as the Stunfisk flopped off its body and turned its attention towards Keats, Rotom and Keats' Pokémon as Keats nervously swallowed spit.
"Not good, not good, not good..." Keats said repeatedly as he watched Stunfisk stare at the group with a vicious rage. "Pineco! Use "Protect!"' He ordered as Pineco proceeded to get in front of Keats, Rotom and Timburr with Stunfisk prepping an attack.
Jumping into the air, Stunfisk used "Mudshot," firing multiple large pellets of mud as Pineco formed her barrier to block the Ground type attack as it hit against the Bug types shield. Landing back on the ground, Stunfisk proceeded to jump into the air once again, using "Bounce" to reach high into the air.
"Ti-Timburr! Pineco can't use "Protect" again, stop Stunfisk!" Keats said towards Timburr as it nodded.
Putting down his wooden log, Timburr jumped into the air with its hand glowing orange, using "Karate Chop." Reaching each other in midair, Stunfisk shifted to the side and dodged Timburrs move with its flat and nimble body.
"Stunstunstun!" Stunfisk exclaimed as it fired off another "Thunderbolt," zapping Timburr.
"Timburr- burr!" Timburr screamed as it was shocked with electricity until the Fighting type was sent careening into a tree with considerable force.
"Timburr!" Keats said in response to Timburrs painful landing. "Pineco! Used "Pin Missile!"' He ordered quickly as Pinecos body started to glow green.
Firing the green energy needles of "Pin Missile" at Stunfisk, the needles managed to blast Stunfisk and caused it to be slightly dazed from the attack as they continued to strike the flatfish-like Pokémon.
"A chance!" Keats thought as he quickly reached into one of the messenger bags over both his shoulders and pulled out a pair of rubber gloves.
"What are thozzzze for?!" Rotom said in response.
Slipping them on his hands, Keats rushed at Stunfisk and grabbed the flatfish-like Pokémon by its tail, lifting it up in the air.
"Fisk-stun!" Stunfisk muttered angrily as it begun to spark up once more.
Setting up "Thunderbolt", Stunfisk attempted to shock Keats once again but the electrical current failed to hit him as Stunfisks electrical shocks couldn't channel through the rubber in his gloves.
"Got you this time!" Keats said with an angry smirk as he begun to swing the flatfish-like Pokemon around in a circle.
"Stuuuuun!" Stunfisk exclaimed as it got dizzy from Keats spinning it.
"Pineco! Before! I! Throw! Up!" Keats said he started to get dizzy as well as Pineco looked on with determination. "Use! Self! Destruct!" He said as he threw Stunfisk at Pineco, her body beginning to glow white.
"Wait! We're near the radiuzzzz!" Rotom shouted.
"Pineeeeee-co!" Pineco screamed as it exploded from using "Self-Destruct."
Flying near the blast, Stunfisk was sent soaring from the force of the explosion and was launched far away into the air. Being within the radius of the explosion, Keats, Rotom and Keats' Pokémon were now charred black with soot and sprawled out on the ground, including the still unconscious Druddigon.
"...Well... Paaahhhh..." Keats said as he coughed up a black cloud.
"At least, Stunfisk izzzz gone..." Rotom said while its phone body was completely dark.
"Yeah... Hold on, I gotta help the others." Keats said as he reached into his bags and pulled out two spikey yellow Revive pills and walked over to Timburr with his log, breaking the pill in his hand and waking up Timburr.
"Timb?" Timburr muttered as he rubbed his head with one of his hands.
"Here." Keats said as he gave Timburr his log back.
"Timburr timtim..." Timburr said as he grabbed his log, nodding at Keats after picking it up onto his shoulder.
Walking over to Pineco, he did the same thing as he did to Timburr by breaking the pill in his hands and letting the dust reawaken the Bug type.
"Pineco..." Pineco muttered as she opened her eyes.
"You okay?" Keats asked as Pineco nodded. "That's good. Sorry to ask that much of you guys." He said as he looked at Pineco and Timburr as he tried to wipe the soot off himself.
"Pineco." Pineco said calmly.
"Timburr..." Timburr said with a shrug.
"They didn't zzzzeem to mind. But I wasn't expecting Stunfisk to return." Rotom said as Keats pulled out a cloth and tried to clean the phone Pokémon.
"The less I see of that thing in the future, the better..." Keats said with a disgruntled tone before turning his attention to the unconscious Druddigon. "Oh yeah, that's still here." He said while pointing at the Dragon type with its eyes still swirling.
"Oh right, I completely forgot the Druddigon wazzzz here." Rotom said with surprise as Pineco and Timburr looked on as Keats approached it.
"So what do we do with it now that it's unconscious?" Keats questioned.
"...I guess catch it, zzzzt?" Rotom replied as Keats reached into his pockets.
"...Not there... Or there? Maybe in the bags...?" Keats thought as he searched inside his pockets but failed to find a Pokéball before attempting to look inside both of his messenger bags. "I'm... Out of Pokéballs..." He said embarrassingly.
"What?!" Rotom screamed as he got close to Keats' face.
"Ahhh! Too close! You're burning my retinas!" Keats said as his eyes started to turn red.
"How can you be out of Pokéballzzzz!?" Rotom exclaimed in a frustrated tone.
"...By being out of Pokéballs?" Keats said in a dumb tone.
"I know that! But how did you lose all of them, zzzzt?!" Rotom asked.
"I guess the last one I had was used on Timburr back in Floccesy Town." Keats said as he scratched the back of his neck as he looked over at the downed Druddigon. "Well... Only idea I can think of now. Timburr, give me a hand." He said as he motioned for Timburr to assist him, the Fighting type complying as Pineco and Rotom watched.
As Keats reached under the Druddigon to lift it up slightly from the ground with its arm over Keats shoulders, Timburr begun to dig into the ground, using its squared log like a shovel. Lifting up dirt from the ground, Keats dragged the Druddigon over to the dirt pile and dropped the Druddigon back onto the ground nearby from the mound.
"Ok, Timburr, help me cover this Druddigon." Keats said casually as Rotom and Pineco looked at Keats with confusion.
"Wait... Is he gonna juzzzzt cover up the Druddigon?" Rotom thought, disturbed.
Timburr and Keats proceeded to cover the Druddigon in clumps of dirt, its body completely covered, minus its legs and tail sticking out from under all the turf they dug up.
"Okay, now everyone come around." Keats said as Pineco hopped over.
"Uhhh..." Rotom muttered as it floated nearby.
"Okay; here lies a wild Druddigon." Keats said as he begun to randomly make a eulogy.
"Zzzzince when has this become a funeral!?" Rotom exclaimed as Keats clasped his hands together.
"We only knew you for a few minutes before you were tragically beaten to a pulp, but you seemed like a giant jerk beforehand anyway." Keats praddled on. "Oh and sorry for peeing on your tail." He continued as he grabbed a rock and placed it on top of the dirt.
"Thizzzz is just weird..." Rotom said in an exasperated tone.
"Whatever. Let's get going." Keats said as he motioned for Rotom to go into his pocket and pulled out Pineco and Timburrs balls, recalling them as he started to walk through the woods.
Trekking down the road, Keats looked around at the various Pokémon of the Unova region flying overhead such as Pidoves and unfamiliar bat and duck-like Pokémon soaring through the air as well. Peering to his sides, he noticed three chimp-like Pokémon playing around and relaxing in the trees.
"Okay, not a Pidgey, not a Zubat, not a Farfetch'd." Keats thought as he looked at the flying Pokémon and then looked at the chimp Pokémon. "And definitely not Aipoms or Mankeys..." He continued to think as he judged the Pokémon, comparing them with more familiar Pokémon from his home region.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Virbank City, 7:02 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Following several hours of nonstop walking and the moon appearing overhead, Keats reached the outskirts of a large city filled with multiple concrete buildings reaching high into the sky and multiple streetlights and building lights illuminating the city amidst the darkness of the night.
"Daaaaamn..." Keats thought as he begun to walk through the massive city, enamored by the sight of everything. "Man, this place is nuts- ew..." He said to himself as he scratched his neck before he sniffed his armpit and realized he begun to stink of the woods. "I've been walking for several hours; I should probably find a place to shower and sleep." Keats thought as he casually strolled down the sidewalk.
Looking ahead, Keats saw a small crowd form in front of a bunch of televisions facing outward of a small electronics shop. Intrigued, the husky framed trainer joined the crowd to watch what was on the screens as a news report came up.
"Hello, we are on site nearby from Aspertia City as a large group of people are searching through the woods of Route 19." A female news reporter said as numerous people in scientist and archaeologist outfits were examining the trees and doing research on computers.
'"Aspertia?"' Keats thought as he watched the T.V. broadcast.
"Excuse me sir." The new reporter said as she approached a scientist. "What is the reason for this massive gathering on Route 19?" She asked.
"Oh my, hello! Yes!" The scientist said in response. "We have received word of a mysterious and large Pineco that's been terrorizing this forest for a number of days as of late. We theorize that this Pineco might be a hidden link to Unovas history, dating back to ancient times of the region." The scientist continued.
Looking on, the crowd watched the broadcast with intrigue and begun to murmur about the possibility of this alleged giant Pineco. Meanwhile, Keats' eyes widened in shock as he quietly walked away from the crowd.
"I'll take a bath later..." Keats thought as he nervously sweated as he robotically walked away.
Looks like someone's sleeping on a bench tonight... After a few hours of training with former Unova League Champion Alder, Keats ran for his life from Floccesy Town as his archnemesis, Stunfisk, chased him onto Route 20. Knocking out a wild Druddigon and Keats' Pokémon being unable to fight well enough to defeat it, Keats gambled on throwing Stunfisk at Pinecos "Self-Destruct," sending the flatfish Pokemon flying once more. After a eulogy for the defeated Druddigon, Keats trekked all the way to Virbank City, another potential location to scout out a Don George Battle Club. Let's hope he finds one this time, see you next time on Wannabe!
Keats' Pokémon:
1. Pineco.
2. Timburr.