xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Route 19, 9:21 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Two days have passed since Keats had arrived in the Unova region from the port in Aspertia City and in that time, the only thing he has done is get his hands on an explosive Bug type Pokémon in Pineco and bicker with a floating phone possessed by a Rotom. But now, his time has been occupied with spooking the people of Unova in a sleeping bag in the forest along the route to Floccesy Town.
"Ahhhh! A giant Pineco! Run Cottonee!" A large man in a hikers outfit exclaimed as he ran out the woods with his Cottonee flying behind him in an effort to escape the woods as a familiar man in a Pineco costume hopped after him.
"Aaahhhh..." Keats unenthusiastically sighed as he slowly hopped after the hiker as the man rushed away down the path. "Twenty six people..." He thought in the bag as he opened up his costume to reveal his annoyed expression as Rotom floated out.
"And that makezzzz twenty-" Rotom said before Keats cut off the floating screen.
"Six, I know..." Keats said as he got out of his costume before dragging it back to the woods where his Pineco was. "Ugh..." He grunted as he sat in front of the tree he had been using for his prank.
"Something wrong, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as Pineco looked at her trainer.
"I don't know, maybe it's the fact we've been camping out in this patch of woods for two days and scaring passerby's and yet we still haven't been figured out! Are the people in this region just stupid or something?!" Keats shouted in frustration as he stood up and walked behind the tree.
Set up behind the tree was a manmade fire pit and a small tent on top of a tarp that Keats and his Pokémon allies were using as a temporary base.
"We made this whole camp the same night I started pulling this dumb prank and no one has even got the faintest clue I'm a fake Pineco!" Keats exclaimed angrily as he looked at his camp. "The only benefit to this whole experience was I figured out how to set up a camp." He said with a small smile of self-accomplishment.
"What are you talking about? I looked online "how to build a tent" after you were struggling to set up anything, zzzzt..." Rotom said as it floated over to Keats whose eye twitched in annoyance at the floating screen acknowledging his lack of knowledge on setting up a basic tent.
"Shut up, you dang phone app!" Keats shouted.
"I'd recommend, how they zzzzay? "Taking a chill pill?"' Rotom said as Keats looked at the floating screen as Pineco hopped over.
"Those two kids at the beginning were funny. By the sixth person running and screaming down the route, it stopped being fun..." Keats said as he shook his head.
"Pineco-co. Co." Pineco said as she spoke up, catching Keats and Rotoms attention.
"What she say?" Keats asked.
"She basically said she's tired of scaring people." Rotom said, interpreting Pineco's words.
"Frankly, I am too. We need to get back to hunting these jerks who stole my sisters Pokémon..." Keats said as he stood up.
"Good thinking." Rotom said. "Ahh that reminds me. Keatzzzz." The floating screen asked as Keats looked at it.
"Yeah?" Keats said as he stuffed the sleeping bag back into one of the two messenger bags.
"You bring the Pokéballs I mentioned back in Aspertia?" Rotom questioned as Keats looked into the other bag.
"Yeah, I got about three of these." Keats said as he pulled out a regular red and white Pokéball. "How do these work again?" He asked Rotom.
"It's been two whole days and you still don't know?!" Rotom angrily said as Keats looked at the floating screen with annoyance once again as he put the ball in his pocket.
"Well Pineco doesn't seem to mind being out of its ball!" Keats said as he pointed at his Pineco.
"Pineco." Pineco said casually.
"See, she's cool with it." Keats said with a dumb smile.
"Maybe it has something to do with the fact you haven't put her back in one!?" Rotom said as it floated over and got in Keats' face once again, partially burning his retinas.
"Ahhh! God! Will you stop doing that!?" Keats said as he swatted away Rotom as he begun to wipe his eyes.
"We have been lucky and haven't been attacked by any wild Pokémon but we need to get moving and get stronger Pokémon as well." Rotom explained as Pineco looked at the floating screen with an offended gaze.
"Pineco! Pineco!" Pineco said angrily as it looked at Rotom.
"Hey that wasn't an insult! That was a factual analysis!" Rotom exclaimed, attempting to defend itself.
Boiling over, Pineco begun to glow once more, preparing to use "Self-Destruct." Acknowledging this, Keats quickly rushed over and grabbed Pineco with both hands, lifting her into the air slightly.
"Hey! Hey! No exploding!" Keats said towards Pineco as it continued to glow until exploding once more, causing a smoke cloud to appear as Rotom quickly floated behind a tree for cover before the cloud disappeared with Keats and Pineco covered in smoke and burns. "...Cohhhh..." He sputtered as he spit out smoke.
"See?" Rotom said as Keats pulled out one of the Revive pills from his pocket and put it on Pineco to revive her. "Pineco might know "Protect" and "Tackle" but all she likes to do is explode." The floating screen said as Keats put Pineco down before he begun to wipe his face off with the bottom of his shirt.
"Okay... Maybe you're making some sense." Keats said as he looked down at Pineco.
"Pine..." Pineco said with a bothered tone.
"...Oh come on, don't give me that "sad eyed" look..." Keats thought as he scratched the back of his neck before taking back out the Pokéball into his hand.
"We gotta catch another Pokémon to assist in our zzzzituation." Rotom said.
"How do we start?" Keats questioned.
"Well, we're in the right place for it. A forest is one of the best places to find wild Pokémon." Rotom explained as Keats looked around as he moved around his camp, starting to take stuff down.
"Then let's get moving, last thing I want is for one of the people we've pestered to call the police on us." Keats said as he put away the tent into one of the messenger bags as he, Rotom and Pineco went deeper into the woods. "Actually... You think it's a good idea we go further in?" He asked.
"We might be going away from the trail but if we keep going zzzztraight north, we should be fine." Rotom said as the group continued to move past the trees and foliage. "Oh! Zzzzhhhhhh! Look." The floating screen said as it spotted a Pokémon.
Standing in a small clearing was a spring-season Deerling sniffing around on the ground, possibly in search of food. Sticking their heads out from behind a tree was the group, observing the deer Pokémon.
"Let me read its entry... "Deerling, the Season Pokémon. A Normal and Grass type. Their coloring changes according to the seasons and can be slightly affected by the temperature and humidity as well."' Rotom said, reading Deerlings Pokédex entry.
"Huh, that's neat." Keats said with an uninterested tone. "Don't care, just gotta catch the thing." He thought as he reached into one of his bags and pulled out one of the Pokéballs he had. "It's probably a weak Pokémon right? So I probably don't need to send in Pineco to try and fight it?" Keats asked.
"I believe zzzzo." Rotom replied as Keats stood tall and readied the Pokéball.
"Okay... Just press it and throw, right?" Keats asked, still unsure.
"Yes! Exactly, zzzzt!" Rotom said. "Finally getting through to him. Took long enough." The floating screen thought as Keats eyed the unsuspecting Deerling.
Pulling back the ball and taking a deep breath, Keats proceeded to chuck it full force like a baseball player pitching a ball. Flying through the air fast, the Deerling turned its head as it looked and noticed the ball aiming for its head. Pegged right in the face, the Deerling stumbled to the ground with a bruise forming in between its eyes as tears begun to flow from them as Keats, Rotom and Pineco looked on in surprise.
"Deeeeeer! Deeeeeeer!" The wild Deerling shouted with tears running down its face as it ran away from the small clearing deeper into the woods, its cries getting softer as it ran away.
"...Huh..." Keats said as he didn't expect that to happen.
'"Huh?!" That's all you have to zzzzay?! "Huh?!"' Rotom exclaimed in frustration as it got in Keats' face as Pineco looked on.
"What?! I threw the ball like I was supposed to!" Keats said.
"No you didn't! You weren't supposed throw the ball like you were trying to kill the Deerling!" Rotom screamed in a criticizing tone.
"All I was told to do was to throw the ball! I didn't know I wasn't supposed to throw it too hard!" Keats exclaimed as Pineco looked at Rotom and Keats continue to bicker with one another.
"Juzzzzt toss it! This isn't rocket science! If it was, I'd be worried for the future of interstellar travel if you were involved, zzzzt!" Rotom shouted, throwing insults at its human companion.
"Oh shut it! I'm new at this! Cut me some slack!" Keats said loudly in his defense as he stomped away towards where the Deerling was to pick up the Pokéball but as he walked forward, his feet stomped into a small patch of nearby mud. "Oh come on!" He said in frustration as he looked down at his now dirty shoes.
"Co..." Pineco muttered as she looked on at her trainers agitated state before shifting her eyes downward at the mud. "Pineco?" She said as she noticed something unusual below her trainers feet.
Where Keats had his foot, Pineco noticed Keats was standing on something in the mud as the mud begun to shift and move in what looked like an attempt to escape from under her trainers foot.
"You're lucky that Pokéball didn't break, zzzzt..." Rotom said with continued annoyance as Keats turned around to look at the floating screen.
"Or what? You're going to tell me that the ball will just break because a Pokémon couldn't be caught in it?" Keats said with an annoyed tone.
"Actually yezzzz..." Rotom replied as Keats slammed his hand into his face, struggling to comprehend.
"Ugh! How's a ten year old supposed to figure out most of this stuff!? I'm not even a teen anymore and all I keep is hearing is rules and rules!" Keats complained, still failing to notice the mud underneath him was moving.
"Pineco! Pineco!" Pineco exclaimed, attempting to try and get her trainers attention before Keats finally shifted his eyes to look at his Bug type Pokémon.
"What do you want- huh?" Keats shouted at his Pokémon but was suddenly cut off by the feeling of a piece of mud flying up and landing on his cheek.
"Huh?" Rotom said as both it and Keats looked downward to see Keats' feet.
With their eyes on the mud, the trio looked at the sight of a pair of large round eyes appear, looking up at Keats as the round eyes furrowed into ones filled with aggravation as small yellow shocks of electricity begun to appear. As the mud begun to slide off the creature Keats was standing on, it was revealed to be a flat fish-like Pokémon with a brown colored body and yellow fins on its sides and tailend.
"Pineco!" Pineco exclaimed as it noticed the angry flat Pokémon looking up at Keats.
"That's a Stunfisk, zzzzt!" Rotom shouted.
"A what- aghaghahgah!" Keats said until suddenly getting violently shocked by the Stunfisk he stood on top of, causing him to fall to the ground. "Afhg... Ahghf..." He mumbled as his body shuttered from the aftereffects of the painful shock.
As Pineco hopped over to Keats to check on him, Rotom turned around and proceeded to scan the still angry Stunfisk.
'"Stunfisk, the Trap Pokémon. A Ground and Electric type. Thanks to bacteria that lived in the mud flats with it, this Pokémon developed the organs it uses to generate electricity."' Rotom said, reading Stunfisks Pokédex entry.
"Stun! Stun-Stunfisk!" The wild Stunfisk said in agitation as its body continued to spark up.
"It's not happy about you standing on it for so long Keatzzzz." Rotom said as it floated over to Keats as he tried to get back to his feet.
"Yeah, I could tell by the thousands of volts coursing through- gaaghghahgha!" Keats said until suddenly get shocked once again by the Stunfisk, using an Electric type attack on him as it bounced up and down in the dirt.
"Whoa hey!" Rotom said, beginning to show concern for Keats as it looked down as Keats fell to the ground again. "That was a "Thunderbolt" attack!" The floating screen said as it watched the angry Stunfisk develop a smile filled with cruel delight.
"Pineco! Pineco!" Pineco shouted at the Stunfisk to get its attention.
"Stunstunstunstun!" The wild Stunfisk laughed as Keats continued to coil in pain.
"Guhafh... Ahhh..." Keats grunted as he held at his sides from the pain as the Stunfisk proceeded to spark up once again.
"Oh no! It's going to use that "Thunderbolt" again, zzzzt!" Rotom thought with concern as it noticed the Stunfisk wasn't done attacking yet.
"Pinnnnne-co!" Pineco exclaimed as it hopped over to the wild Stunfisk and proceeded to knock into it, using its "Tackle" attack.
"Stunfisk!" The wild Stunfisk exclaimed as it flopped a few feet away from the group as Keats struggled to sit upright.
"Agh... Th-thanks..." Keats slowly mumbled as he got back to his feet, his body still shaking from the electrical attacks he received.
"Stuuuuun!" The wild Stunfisk screamed as it floundered about.
"Keatzzzz! The Stunfisk is going to attack again!" Rotom screamed as Pineco and Keats looked at it.
"Stunfisk!" The wild Stunfisk exclaimed as it shot another blast of "Thunderbolt" towards Keats.
"Ahh! Not again!" Keats thought with a fearful expression as he turned his gaze towards Pineco, noticing her eyes was displaying a desire to fight. "Pineco! Use "Protect!"' He shouted as Pineco quickly jumped up into the direction of the lightning.
Following her trainers order, Pineco proceeded to form a see-through green barrier around herself that blocked the "Thunderbolt" the Stunfisk launched at them.
"You did it! That was the right call!" Rotom said in a proud manner.
"Huh?" Keats muttered as he turned his head towards the floating screen as he looked at it.
"Pinecos "Protect" move can be uzzzzed to block an attack! But if you use it too much, it won't be as effective!" Rotom explained.
"Stunfisk!" The wild Stunfisk screamed, causing everyone to jerk their heads in its direction and to the sight of its still angered eyes as it begun to spark up again.
"Looks like we can't get out of the woods just yet..." Keats said with a worried expression as he stepped back slightly.
"Stuuuun-fisk!" The wild Stunfisk exclaimed as it fired another "Thunderbolt."
"Pineco! "Protect" again!" Keats screamed as Pineco formed another see-through barrier to block the lightning strike.
Following its Electric type move, the Stunfisk proceeded to bounce on the ground multiple times before leaping high into the air before descending down towards Pineco.
"P-Pineco! Use "Tackle!"' Keats ordered as Pineco hopped up to meet the Stunfisk in the air for a collision.
Unfortunately, the Stunfisk knocked into Pineco with more force and caused Pineco to bounce like a ball on the ground and flop a few feet away as the Stunfisk landed on the ground, ready to fight more.
"Pine..." Pineco said in pain as it twisted back up to an upright position.
"How did that move knock back Pineco?!" Keats questioned.
"That must have been "Bounce!" A Flying type move that's much stronger against a Bug type like Pineco!" Rotom exclaimed in surprise.
"That's not good!" Keats thought grimly.
"This Stunfisk is a tough one, zzzzt..." Rotom said as Keats begun to sweat.
"Pineco! "Tackle" attack!" Keats shouted.
"Pinnnnne-co!" Pineco exclaimed as she hopped forward to attack Stunfisk as it begun to bounce upward once again.
"Stunfisk!" The wild Stunfisk screamed as it used "Bounce" once again to dodge Pinecos "Tackle."
"Oh no! Not again, zzzzt!" Rotom said as everyone looked up as the Stunfisk dove downward to attack Pineco once again.
"Pineco! Use "Protect!"' Keats screamed. "Please work! Please work! Please work!" He thought, unsure of the odds of the moves success.
As Stunfisk descended towards Pineco, the Bug type mustered the power to form a green see-through barrier once more. Slamming into the barrier and failing to do damage, Stunfisk ricocheted off the shield and opened its mouth, spitting out a multitude of large muddy bullets in midair. Knocking into Pinecos shield, the barrier broke and slammed into her, causing the Bug type to get knocked back into a nearby tree.
"Pine!" Pineco muttered in pain as she looked on at the Stunfisk.
"Stunstunstunstun!" The wild Stunfisk laughed at its handiwork as it felt it had the upper hand.
"What was that move?!" Keats asked Rotom in a loud and hysteric manner.
'"Mud Shot," a Ground type move and it can cause the target hit by it to be zzzzlowed down." Rotom explained in a tone of nervousness.
"What?!" Keats replied in shock as he looked on.
"Stunstunstunstun!" The wild Stunfisk continued laughing as the tired Pineco looked on with frustration.
"I-I... I got to do something or Pineco is just going to get too badly beaten! "Tackle" and "Protect" can only work so many times but this Stunfisk is too strong and the only move Pineco knows left is "Self-Destruct."' Keats thought with worry as he looked in his hand to see the Pokéball he threw earlier at the Deerling before looking up to see Stunfisk sparking up for "Thunderbolt" once again.
"Stuuuun-fisk!" The wild Stunfisk exclaimed as it fired another bolt of lightning.
"Dodge it!" Keats screamed as Pineco managed to hop out of the way of the Electric type attack, leaving a burn mark on the side of the tree Pineco was originally in front of. "We gotta run..." He said to himself as Rotom overheard.
"For once I agree with you! This is getting too dangerouzzzz but what if Stunfisk follows us as we run?!" Rotom exclaimed in a fearful manner as Keats held up the Pokéball in his hand.
"I have a plan but if this doesn't work, this is gonna suck!" Keats answered loudly as the Stunfisk proceeded to corner the weakened Pineco in front of the tree.
Readying the Pokéball in his hands to throw it once again, Keats proceeded to throw the ball at the Stunfisk, catching its attention. As the ball knocked against the flatfish-like Pokémon, the Pokéball opened as a red light came out of the opened ball and absorbed Stunfisk inside it as it fell to the ground.
"Pineco! You okay?!" Keats exclaimed as the Pokéball on the ground shook with the button blinking.
"We didn't do enough damage! It's not going to stay inside with how aggressive it is, zzzzt!" Rotom said towards Keats.
"I kinda figured that! That's why there's more to my plan!" Keats shouted toward the flying screen. "Pineco! When it gets out, use "Self-Destruct!"' He shouted as Pineco followed his command and got closer to the Pokéball.
"I thought you weren't going to-" Rotom said before Keats grabbed the floating screen to keep it quiet.
As expected, the Pokéball failed to succeed in capturing the Stunfisk as the ball opened up, splitting into two broken pieces as Stunfisk emerged from a white light. Looking around to recompose itself, Stunfisk suddenly noticed Pineco right in front of it as she begun to glow.
'"Self-Destruct!"' Keats commanded as Pineco proceeded to explode with the resulting shockwave and smoke cloud causing Stunfisk to get launched high into the sky and disappearing from sight as Pineco was knocked out, covered in burn marks once again and swirled eyes.
"Pineco!" Keats said as he ran over to his downed Bug type as he reached into one of the two messenger bags over his shoulders and pulled out one of the spikey Revive pills.
"That wazzzz actually a good plan..." Rotom said as it floated over to where Keats was as the pill disappeared and Pinecos wounds begun to heal up as its eyes returned to normal.
"It was the only plan I had left that could work!" Keats exclaimed loudly.
"What other plans did you have, zzzzt?" Rotom asked as Keats reached into one of his messenger bags, pulling out a large military-grade knife. "Whoa! Where'd you get that?!" The floating screen said in surprise.
"It was at the shop for camping supplies. I thought about using this to maybe attack Stunfisk but then I realized it has electrical attacks, I'd probably die just holding this while that thing was around." Keats explained as he put the knife away.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that..." Rotom thought.
"I think the camping is over... We gotta go." Keats said as Pineco looked up at Keats.
"Pinepine-Pineco." Pineco said as it looked up at her trainer.
"Huh? Oh, hold on..." Keats said as he looked at Pineco before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a Pokéball. "Return?" He said as he pressed down on the button for the ball as a thin red line shot out and hit Pineco, turning its body into particles and absorbing it in to the ball. "Huh, that's voice commanded? Never knew..." Keats said towards Rotom.
"You figured out how to use the Pokéball... You're learning..." Rotom said with a surprisingly satisfied tone.
"All I learned is that the people in this region are dim and I hate Stunfisks..." Keats said with a tired tone as he walked away towards the direction of the path, Rotom floating behind him as he walked through the woods. "Alright, Floccesy Town right?" He asked.
"Yezzzz." Rotom replied.
"Okay... Next stop, Battle Club..." Keats said with a tired tone as they reached the path of Route 19 once again in the direction of Floccesy Town.
As Keats walked down the road with Rotom floating by his shoulder, far overhead of them in the opposite direction, a familiar flatfish-like figure proceeded to float and glide through the air, flapping its small fins to keep it airborne as the Stunfisk Keats sent flying looked downward at him and Rotom with contempt in its eyes as it begun to slowly glide in the direction of where Keats and Rotom were going.
Well that's not a good sign of things to come. With his prank going on for far too long, Keats and Rotom proceeded to give the inexperienced young adult a few pointers in trying to catch Pokémon but following one failure, a worse situation had occurred as a wild Stunfisk had begun to rampage and attack him and his starter, Pineco. Leaving behind the forest on Route 19, Keats sets his sights to finally get to the Don George Battle Club but it doesn't look like he has just the mysterious Pokemon thieves to contend with now. There's only more to come now!
To Be Continued...
Keats' Pokémon:
1. Pineco.
