XxxxxX
"how's the view from up there Aster? Can you see which direction we need to go?" I yelled out towards my new companion as she flew high above the clouds, circling for a moment until she began her descent onto my shoulder.
"Star-Starllyyy…" she responded as she crossed her wings in front of her into an X and slumped her head in defeat.
Mimicking her I too slumped my head, it's been around 2 weeks since we got lost on the route 203 forest and I'm beginning to understand how Ash got lost in the show so much… "THERE'S TO MUCH FOREST!" I cried out much to the amusement of my other companion who was now snickering in my hood as I turned to face him, "Don't laugh Nova! We've been stuck out here for so long we're almost out of food!" I grimaced, mentally counting how much I had left in my bag, "we've got enough for another 3 days, maybe 5 if we ration well enough… haaah… why cant traveling by easier?" I asked neither of my companions in question.
"I cant wait until you're fully evolved Aster, you'll be large enough to fly us places… I wonder what other regions have to offer? Hopefully less forest." I spoke causing both my partners to nod in agreement.
We had been training nonstop since the morning and the results were showing in spades. I had Aster training her flight speed by shooting around the clearing and Nova was trying to toughen up so Aster was hitting him with tackles as she shot by, almost hitting him with quick attacks at the speed she was going.
Calling the two to take a break as the day was getting late, the sun far past its peak. Walking back to the center of camp my shoulders weighed down by the weight of both Pokémon, as I sat down letting them both down on the ground.
I continued to chat with my Pokémon as we came upon a small clearing with a spring flowing through. "hmm… this looks like a good spot to sleep for the day what do you two figure?" I asked looking as my partners inspected the area, "Starly! / Cin!" they both called out as I slumped over. Massaging my shoulder as I slung off my satchel. Thank God for Silph-Co, the people who took the PokéBall shrinking tech and put it into other items so people could travel easier, too bad most people cant afford one, thank God for the Prof.
"Hah… Silph is really one of the best damn things to exist. I honestly cant imagine traveling light when I can fit a house inside a bag the size of a small backpack." Stretching as I began taking out our supplies, I don't think I'll need a tent since the weather's so pleasant just the sleeping bag tonight, I should probably get a fire going, thank God Nova's a fire type I've never been good at getting a campfire going.
Humming as I took out a small packet of dehydrated food and the poffin maker, something I learned is more beneficial in the long run as poffins made Berries seem like a waste since they enhanced the effects of the berry used in making them. Say you used to Orans to make a poffin, instead of healing 20hp the poffin made from them heals around 30hp, not much of an increase but definitely an upgrade.
Clapping my hands and gathering the attention of my team, "alright you two what kind of poffin do you want tonight? We've only got the ingredients for spicy or sweet, so which do you prefer?" I asked causing nova to answer with a ember and for Aster to answer by grabbing the two Mago berries we had left.
"Alrighty then, spicy for Nova and sweet for Aster got it!" calling out as I began cooking. Laughing as I saw Aster drooling when I dropped the Mago's in the pot. "Its coming, its coming just wait a minute alright?" I chuckled as she began to nudge my arm almost drooling into the pot before I moved her over to the table to wait.
Not much longer the Pokémon and I were fed as I had rehydrated a pack of mashed potatoes and steak. Its something you might think would taste gross but Silph-Co has great scientists working for them, Just like Devon Corp, although they focus more on products for Pokémon like training devices or machines like the PokéNav.
Flopping back in my sleeping bag as I watched the moon begin to rise as both Nova and Aster laid down, rubbing the feathery pendant I was given upon the beginning of my journey from Rowan. Man I miss my bed… it was so comfy… "Haaaah, good night both of you." I whispered out getting a swift, Cinda! And a quiet Starr! In response.
XxxxxX
Yawning as I stretched awake, I was quickly greeted by my Pokémon as they rolled off my bag onto the ground. "haaan, good morning to you as well, what do you both say to some breakfast? Let me just grab… my… bag…?" I finished reaching out to where I had left my bag the previous night only to find it missing.
"What the heck? Where did it go… did either of you move it last night?" I asked as they both shook their heads. "Where the heck did it go then its not like it suddenly grew legs and walked away…" I finished while looking at the trail of something being dragged of into the woods, something large enough to be my satchel. "Well, I think I know where it went guys. Aster can you fly above and follow the path and find where it ends? Nova and I will follow on foot." I ask as I quickly roll up my bag thankful that I had put my other furniture back inside before I went to bed.
Throwing my sleeping bag over my shoulder I started to follow the path leading to what I assume must be deeper into the woods, "alright Nova lets try and catch up to Aster. Who knows how far the thief took my bag."
As I began to jog, I noticed the light shining through the trees begin to lessen as the trees grew thicker, taller. I was right, we most definitely are going deeper in.
After another twenty minutes of jogging, we finally caught up to Aster who was waiting with an impatient look in her eyes as she used her wings to tell us to be quiet.
"What it is girl? What took my bag?" I whispered out tiptoeing closer to the tree she was ducked behind.
"star-ly-ly-Star" she quietly chirped out as she pointed out a large clearing filled with webs.,
"Oh shit… those are… oh fuck me…" cursing out I could only look back over to Aster as she shook her head in agreement. "Did you see where the bag ended up?" I prayed to whatever the god of this world was that it was nowhere near that sticky mess of terror.
Seeing as she once again pointed at the webs I couldn't but curse my luck, "it just had to be in the web of a fucking spider didn't it? Haaah… I thought I was far enough away from the lab that I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore…"
You see, the last time we had to deal with this certain group of spider Pokémon it ended with a… rather large fire in their nest, and a very large amount of Ariados chasing both myself and Nova all the way from lake Verity back to Sandgem… which is roughly around 4 or 5 kilometers. I think? But ever since then Nova and I have been attacked whenever we even got near a stray piece of webbing.
"Well shit, alright you two here's the game plan. Nova and I will show our faces a few meters down, while we get their attention I want you Aster, to go and grab the bag as fast as you can and rush back towards us. We're going to have to run for a good while so be prepared, I think I roughly know where we are now that were near the nest so we're going to head…" I paused as I looked around, finally figuring out which direction we needed to go based on the nest and the now fully risen sun. pointing I spoke, "north, we are going to head north. Sandgem is almost directly south of Jubilife and since were on the opposite side of the nest we burned we should be only a day or two from Jubilife… Alright you two get ready."
As I Mentally prepared myself, I glanced over at Nova who gave me a fired-up look as he was ready to cause some mayhem, and looking over my shoulder I could see Aster stretching her wings, ready to swoop in and grab the payload.
"Already you two, 3…2…1… GO!" I yelled out as I began running further along the giant web covered trees, clapping and shouting as Nova charged alongside me lighting the path with the fire on his back.
As we kept running away, I could hear angry screeching behind us, foolishly I looked back and was reminded why I hate spiders. "ARIADOS-DOS-RIAA" I began to run as fast as I could after seeing the entire population of Ariados and Spinarak chasing behind me, all gnashing their pincers and rage bubbling in their eyes.
Thankfully Aster flew ahead of me with the bag but for some unknown reason a large portion of the spiders took off towards her leaving me and Nova with two very angry looking Ariados.
Looking at them I could tell something was off, they looked hesitant. Like they didn't actually want to attack me.
"Look, I don't want to fight either of you. I just wanted to get my bag back that's all. So if this doesn't have to end with a fight I'd be more than grateful." Finishing with a mental prayer that I wouldn't have to fight the two, watching as they began to chitter to one another.
Waiting until the two nodded to one another, and smiled? Up at me finally letting out the breath I hadn't realised I was holding I gave them back a tired smile until I realised that Aster was still being chased.
"Thank you, both of you. But now I need to help my friend out from being chased. Do you think you could get the others to stop attacking us?" I asked hoping that they could be of some help, they seemed like decent Mon and hopefully I could get that other incident explained and be forgiven for the fire we accidentally started.
XxxxxX
After a long time running, we finally caught up to the other Ariados surrounding a large tree standing alone in the middle of a clearing, as I got a better look I could see why.
"STARLY!" Aster was currently blasting Aerial Ace after Aerial Ace knocking out Ariados left and right as they climbed the tree, as she sat exhausted at the top.
Looking at the ground around the tree I couldn't help but be shocked at the sheer amount of downed Ariados laying around the tree, my girl was a true powerhouse. You almost couldn't see the ground below it.
We need to help her… that's it! "Hey… do you think you could talk to them for me? tell them I want to explain myself? And to apologise for starting the fire." I gave her a small apologetic smile, hoping she would go and convey my words.
Nodding at me with a smile of her own, she walked over to the remaining group and began to talk with them while getting their attention.
As I watched from afar I couldn't help but be amazed at them all, so completely different from animals in my world, there it took hours of training for simple commands to be learned. But here? Every Pokémon could perfectly understand human speech like it was their own, even between different species their was no barrier, only humans couldn't understand what they said… its rather incredible that even with that barrier people and Pokémon can grow so incredibly close.
A short while later the group of Ariados turned towards me, a curious look in their eyes albeit some tainted with distrust. Clearly they weren't all sure I was truly sorry.
Slowly I walked towards them, nova at my side ready to help in case things go south. "First things first, I wanted to truly apologise for the distress and anger I have caused to you all. I should have made sure Nova and I were farther away from flammable objects before we started out training, I apologise for causing so much destruction to your home. Haaa… and I apologise for the distress we caused today when we went to retrieve my satchel we saw no other way to get it back at the time and in doing so caused this large mess." I spoke out with as much sincerity I could, while nodding my head towards the large group of knocked out bugs.
As they looked at me, a new level of respect clearly showing in their eyes giving me the peace of mind that I had been forgiven, watching as Aster flew down from the tree perching on my shoulder handing me my bag back.
As I slung the bag around my shoulder the group of Spinarak and Ariados began to depart, save one.
"Huh? Aren't you leaving with your family?" I asked the female Ariados from before, getting a puzzled look as she shook her head until she tapped an empty space on my belt. Realizing what she wanted I reached into my bag and grabbed one of the empty PokéBalls Rowan had given to me before I had left.
"Is this what you want? Do you really want to join me? I mean you've seen me; I cant even help my own Pokémon without someone to help me out." I spoke not realising a frown had grown on my face, until she nodded at me, shocking me as I wondered why she would want to join my team.
"Well, if your sure. Welcome to the team… Aria." I spoke while a gentle smile grew on my face as she tapped the empty PokéBall and getting sucked inside.
*Wobble
*Wobble
*Kerchunk!
The PokéBall finished the capture and registration sequence perfectly as it finished rolling in my palm. Mentally cheering for the new teammate to grace my party.
"Alright guys! We just got another member of the team!" I shouted out to an amused Aster and Nova as Aria beamed herself out of the ball with an amused smirk on her face.
My moment of glee came crashing down when Aster poked me and held up her wings as if to ask where we have to go to get to Jubilife from here.
Slumping over in defeat, I looked over to Aria praying she knew what direction to head towards. "Aria, do you know which way we have to go to get out of the forest and get to Jubilife?" mentally preparing myself for her to say no.
Thankfully she smiled at me and nodded, "Ari! Aria-dos-dos Ari!" she began nodding her head excitedly while pointing towards a hard to see path along the clearing edge, opposite from where we entered.
Sighing in relief, I looked towards her in thanks, "thank you so much! Now we just have to get out of this giant forest!"
"But first, Lets take a look at you from the pokedex girl!" I called out taking the Dex out from my bag.
{Ariados – The long leg Pokémon}
{Ariados is a red arachnid Pokémon that resembles a spider. It has purple eyes, a pair of white mandibles, and a white horn on its forehead. Around its abdomen are two black stripes and there are two black spots and a yellow spinneret on its rear. The spots and spinneret together form a pattern similar to a face. Ariados can produce thread from both its spinneret and its mouth. It has four yellow legs with two purple bands each; on its back are yellow structures similar to its legs with a single purple stripe each. Its feet are tipped with tiny hooks that allow it to climb ceilings and vertical walls.}
{Ariados makes its nest in the depths of temperate and tropical forests and leaves after dark to hunt prey. While Ariados wanders in search of prey, it spins a single thread from its rear that leads back to its nest. When prey is captured, it is wrapped in thread and then attacked by fangs. Ariados then drinks the victim's bodily fluids at leisure. Sometimes, it will instead release prey with only a single thread attached. The thread is then followed to both the caught prey and its friends.}
{this Ariados has the ability – Sniper}
XxxxxX
Walking along the path. Which was thankfully filled with other trainers and travelers alike, Rusk and co. were finally nearing Jubilife. Even a week ahead of schedule thanks to Aria's watchful guidance.
"Thank God! I cant wait to be in a city again! It's been to long since we started walking… Hoh! I just realised! I can take an actual shower!" I called out in a cheer amusing Nova, who was nestled on my shoulder. While the other two members of the party slept away inside their PokéBalls.
Suddenly a hand latched onto my shoulder causing me to jump freaked out from whatever had just grabbed onto me.
"FUCK-ing jeesuss!" freaking out as I turned around to see… a kid? Laughing at me…
Putting my hand over my heart, "jeez kid! Don't sneak up on people like that! nearly gave me a heart attack… did you need something?" I asked, taking deep breaths to calm myself down as I looked at the young kid in front of me.
"YEA! I wanted to see if you wanted to battle! One on one!" he cried out clear excitement in his eyes.
Confused I asked, "aren't you too young to have a Pokémon?" knowing for a fact that trainers in Sinnoh had to be a minimum 16 years of age to legally own and train a Pokémon.
Shaking his head while bouncing back and forth, "technically yes but it doesn't count if its your parents Pokémon! Kids like me can still have battles with trainers as long as we get permission!" he cheered out as if he had practiced that line over and over.
Shaking my head in amusement I thought it over. It has been a while since I actually had a proper battle, that actually had rules and not just against wild Pokémon.
"Sure kid, one on one, no items sound good?" I asked as he nodded quickly and jumping back a few feet, a PokéBall ready in his hand. "I'll take that as a yes. Alrighty then, on three?" I called out across the field, getting another nod in response.
'Now I just need to decide who to use… Nova and Aria have had battles with me before so I should probably use Aria. "Perfect! 3!... 2!... 1!.… GO ARIA!" I shouted out releasing my new partner onto the field.
"Awesome! GO Sparky!" the kid shouted out, releasing a small blue and black lion cub. "SHINXXX" it cried out as sparks flew out around it.
Smiling as I saw the Shinx in front of me growl, but instead of being intimidating it was just cute.
"Alright! Lets go! Aria, use scary face and follow it up with a bug bite!" I shouted out, and in an instant Aria made a terrifying face in the air freezing the Shinx for a moment as she lunged towards it bug energy glowing on her mandibles.
"Du-a-Sparky! Dodge it quick!" the kid shouted out after snapping out of stupor, however the command came to late as before the Shinx had a chance to snap out of his fear Aria was upon him sinking her fangs down on the small cub as it cried out.
Cheering on Aria as she threw her opponent across the field doing some heavy damage as it crashed down. Watching on as the small cub laid down for a moment before shakily standing up.
"Uh… use… Thunder Shock sparky!" the kid cried out with a sad look on his face… to bad for him I guess, no point in coddling him, I've learned fairly early on that the wild's of the Pokémon world aren't to be trifled with.
The small blue lion began to slowly charge electric power, sparking across its body, "SHIIIINNNXXX!" crying out as a small arc of lightning shot out from it towards Aria.
"Dodge it quick, then use shadow sneak to get close, follow that up with a absorb if necessary!" I called out to Aria as she nimbly dodged the blast as it scorched the ground where she stood previously. "Nice dodge girl!" I praised her as she began to turn into a ghostly shadow and blasted towards the Shinx who was trying to run away from her.
Unfortunately for the young Shinx, Aria was much faster and rammed into him with a ghostly aura sending him into a nearby tree. "Shiiiinnnnxxx…" it whispered out before fainting against the crater in the tree.
I waited a moment to see if it was going to get back up before cheering, "WOOO! You did it Aria! Our first battle together and we kicked butt!" running up to her as I picked her up pampering her as she blushed from my praise.
"You were wonderful darling! You are getting whatever treat you want once we get into the city!" happily cried out to her as she took a spot on my back peering over my shoulder.
Taking a moment to look over at the kid who was just looking at his Pokémon in shock and just looked distraught. 'Haaah maybe I took it too far.' "Hey kid!" I shouted out scaring the kid as he looked on the verge of tears.
"You did good for your first attempt; I just have more experience than you, I'm sure someday you can be a strong trainer too." I gently spoke trying to make him feel better.
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as he stuck up his middle finger and shouted at me, "Fuck you! Asshole! Fuck off you green-haired dick!" as he returned his Shinx and stormed off.
I couldn't help but sit there for a moment in shock my mouth agape trying to figure out what I had said wrong. As I sat there I could hear Nova pop out of his ball and roll on the ground in tears as he laughed at me, forcing me to snap out of my shock and give him a light glare, "Oh, find that funny did you? Guess who isn't getting any treats while we're in Jubilife hmm? Bet you aren't laughing now!" alright I was a little petty but so was Nova so I figure fairs fair!
As I finished speaking I just smirked at him as he jumped up and started trying to make me forgive him as he pleaded by my leg.
Sighing in annoyance I looked down at him, "hmmm I don't know… maybe if you were nice the rest of the trip and don't try to make fun of me anymore?" I finished, smiling at Nova as he took my suggestion as a personal affront, before a moment passed and he nodded in defeat.
Grinning I turned towards the direction the kid ran off in, no way he lived outside of the city. Therefore, the way he returned is the way we need to go. "Alrighty folks! Onwards to Jubilife!" crying out as I began to trek off towards the city of joy.
XxxxxX
That is chapter 4 revised! Things aren't changing much in this one, but things around chapter 9 have finally been figured out!
Anyways, I really like getting feedback from you all so don't shy away from reviewing!