The walk towards Mauville was rather uneventful, to say the least. There were Surfer and Ziggs chatting with Power in an attempt to help him warm up to the team, an action which Power felt surprised, but appreciated the two's efforts. Woody and Grace, the quiet ones, were just smiling while looking at them from behind as usual.
However, you never knew when your adventure would turn upside down.
The peaceful atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by a man wearing a pair of glasses, a dark blue cap and a black suit running towards us, appearing to be in a hurry. He accidentally bumped against Woody and fell onto the ground. He quickly got up and was about to apologize but noticed my presence.
"Y-You! You're a trainer, right?"
Slightly surprised by him, I responded, "...Yeah?"
"T-Take this for a few minutes, please!" Immediately, he handed me a parcel which was decently weighed and continued, "M-Meet me at Verdanturf later, alright? A-Also, if you heard anyone asking if you've seen me... Say nothing." Without waiting for a response from me, he ran towards Verdanturf at lightning speed.
Confused by the man's behaviour, I helped Woody up, who seemed to have the same reactions as me.
Whatever it is... I suppose inside the parcel is something important. Perhaps I should head back to Verdanturf-
"YOU THERE!" Someone screamed in front of me, interrupting my thoughts. In shock, I looked at the two men standing in front of me. The letter "W" was enmarked in their clothing followed by striking red colours. They also appeared to be extremely impatient, "Have you seen a strange looking man? He wore a black suit, and had a parcel with him."
P-Parcel?! Realization dawned on me that I still had the parcel with me. I tried to hide it from them, only to find out it was no longer in my hands.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about, sir." I replied while trying to locate where the parcel went. Suddenly, I heard rustling in the bush behind the two men as I took a peek, seeing the parcel slowly getting moved towards the bush by some mysterious powers. I then saw my Kirlia sending me a reassuring smile, implying she was the one behind the disappearance of the parcel.
"Bud, chill out. You scared this trainer. I don't think he knows anything." The other men told his partner. His partner nodded, before they headed towards another direction to search for their target. I sighed in relief and retrieved the parcel hidden in the bush once the two were out of my sight.
I should hurry and meet up with that man.
"Let's head back to Verdanturf." I told my Pokémon. They agreed as we started heading back to the town we once were.
The confusion on what was going on still lingered as we reached Verdanturf Town. We looked around the small town, trying to locate the man but to no avail.
Suddenly, we heard a muffled voice to our right, "Shh... over here."
I looked to my right, and saw the man hiding in a corner beside the PokéCentre. I handed the parcel to him, which he accepted gratefully.
"Thanks, trainer. Who knew what would happen if those people got the parcel instead."
"What was inside the parcel, anyway?" I asked.
"Well... it's supposed to be a secret, but I suppose I can trust you." The man said, "Inside the parcel contains-"
"Ah-ha!" The two men suddenly appeared in front of us, "Found ya, sneaky man! Hand us the parcel!"
"H-Huh?! How did you find us?" The man panicked.
"We followed the trainer, duh! That trainer looked suspicious the moment we saw him." One of them replied.
"Now that we found you, give us the damn parcel!" The other said, approaching the man beside me.
He immediately hid behind me, "S-Save me, trainer!"
"Humph, I don't think anyone can save you today!" He said, as the two sent out their respective Pokémon. One of them was a bipedal, chicken-like Pokémon and the majority of its body was red with accents of beige, yellow, and gray. Meanwhile, the other was a large amphibian-like creature with a primarily cobalt-blue body and four limbs, including two long forelimbs and short, thickset back legs along with orange conical gills.Surprised by their enormous sizes and strong looks, I scanned them with their Pokédex to gather more information, [Blaziken, the Blaze Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Combusken and the final evolutionary form of Torchic. It learns martial arts that use punches and kicks. Every several years, its old feathers burn off, and new, supple feathers grow back in their place.] [Swampert, the Mud Fish Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Marshtomp and the final evolutionary form of Mudkip. If it senses the approach of a storm and a tidal wave, it protects its seaside nest by piling up boulders. It swims as fast as a jet ski.]
They look strong... Must've been the power of evolutions. I need to be careful.
"Woody and Grace, I believe in you two!" The two nodded as I sent the others back to their Pokéballs temporarily to prevent any danger. My two Pokémon took their time to examine their opponents before getting ready to battle.
"Your Pokémon won't be able to stop us! Blaziken, use Ember on Treecko!"
"Swampert, use Water Gun on Kirlia!"
"Be careful, you two! Woody, use Bullet Seed towards Swampert, and Grace, use Psybeam at Blaziken!" They were able to skillfully dodge the attack, and Woody quickly followed up with the Bullet Seed attack, hitting the slower Swampert as it winced in pain of the super-effective attack.
Grace also shot the psychic rings of energy towards Blaziken, but the Blaze Pokémon dodged them easily. Its trainer commanded, "Blaziken, use Scratch on Grace!"
"Swampert, assist Blaziken with Mud Slap!"
The Mud Fish Pokémon formed mud and hurled it towards Grace. Grace was unable to dodge it as her vision was blocked by the mud. While trying to recover from the attack, the Blaziken ran towards her, ready to send out its attack at the Emotion Pokémon.
"G-Grace!" Woody dashed towards Grace and pushed her away from the attack, as a result taking the Scratch attack for the Psychic type. However, Woody did not take as much damage as Grace quickly got up and looked at my Wood Gecko Pokémon, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, "...Thanks, Woody."
"It's... it's okay." Woody lightly nodded and smiled, his face slightly red from the appreciation of his action, "L-Let's focus on the battle."
I was happy to see their teamwork as I continued, "Woody, use Absorb on Swampert! Grace, follow up with Magical Leaf!"
Woody managed to hit Swampert with the red beams, causing the Water and Ground type to glow red as its energy got sapped by my Grass type. Grace quickly followed up with the Grass type attack, the glowing light green leaves landing directly at the Swampert. The two respective Grass type attacks appeared to be too much for the Water and Ground type to handle, as it collapsed on the ground, unable to move.
The other grunt did not give up and commanded, "Blaziken, use Ember again!"
"Grace, counter with Psybeam! Woody, assist with Pound!"
Grace was hit by some of the flames, but did not seem to take much damage. Woody then dashed towards Blaziken as a form of distraction with his attack, forcing Blaziken to move away from my Grass type as Grace found the right time to release the psychic rings of energy, hitting Blaziken with the super-effective attack. However, the Blaziken was not willing to give up just yet.
"Blaziken, use Double Kick on that Treecko!" Blaziken took a huge leap and rushed towards Woody, ready to deliver the powerful kicks to my Treecko. Before I could command a counter, the psychic rings of energy fortunately hit the Blaziken mid-air, causing the Blaziken to stop its attack, wince in pain and finally collapse on the ground.
Woody looked at Grace, who was smiling in relief, "I guess I somewhat made up for you saving me twice."
Woody shyly responded, "T-Thanks, Grace. That was an impressive shot."
"It was risky, but I'm glad I pulled it off." She grinned.
"I knew these Pokémon were nothing good to begin with!" One of the men grunted.
"We can just take the parcel by force!" The other suggested, and they immediately rushed towards us, ready to retrieve the parcel by any means.
However, Grace was not going to let them do what they wanted. She closed her eyes, focused her powers and lifted them towards the air. The two struggled to escape, but it was to no avail.
Then, one of the Pokéballs on my belt shook as Surfer let himself out, "Time to end this once and for all. I'm sure the two would enjoy a nice bath."
Saying that, Surfer formed a bigger spiral of water than usual, then released it upwards towards the two men. The two men were hit by the Water Gun attack, and were launched towards the sky.
"Darn it... I swear I remember this scene happening to some other villain team as well!" One of the grunts said.
"Save meeeeeeeeeeee!" The other yelled, as they disappeared into the sky.
I sighed in relief, "Nice work, Surfer."
"No worries! Just wanted them to have a taste of riding the waves." Surfer smirked.
The man finally came out of hiding after the danger was no longer there. He thanked us, "You all are amazing! There was no way I could keep the parcel safe on my own..."
"Y-You're giving us too much credit, sir." I lightly waved my hands.
Grace asked, "Lows... the two Pokémon didn't seem to be as strong as we thought. Their moves were not as powerful either."
"I agree... we didn't take much damage from them." Woody followed.
Before I could reply with an answer, the man said, "The result of manipulating Pokémon evolution. Serves you right, Team Willpower!"
"T-Team Willpower? What is that?" I asked.
"Oh, I suppose it's normal for you to not know." The man explained, "Team Willpower is a villain team recently on the rise after Team Magma and Team Aqua disbanded from the past events. They seemed to cause misery in the region here and there, and their aim is to take over the world, similar to what Team Rocket wanted to accomplish."
"Is that part of the reason why they wanted to steal your parcel?" I guessed.
"That is right! Continuing from where we left off, the parcel contains blueprints of a certain device which could improve tracking on Legendary Pokémon around the region. It is something Devon Corporation had been working on with Pokémon Professors and the Weather Institute in order to protect the Legendary Pokémon from any further danger after the chaos caused by Team Magma and Team Aqua involving them."
"Wow... technology is astounding. It'd be nice to have a look of it."
"You did save the parcel from getting stolen from Willpower, so I trust you. I don't think you would understand too much of it, anyway." He said as he took out one of the blueprints and unfolded it, revealing the design of a modern looking device.
"Looks cool! How does it work?"
"Well... we're still in the planning stages. But how it's supposed to work is through detecting real-time weather patterns in areas around the region.Legendary Pokémon here move around between different habitats, one of the signs implying so is the unusual droughts and rainstorms caused by their migration in different areas. Once we are able to detect their migration patterns, it will be easier for us to check on their conditions to make sure they don't cause chaos due to another villain team like Team Willpower again."
"It's a good thing they didn't manage to get the parcel, then..." I said.
"Yeah, apparently they managed to develop some strange technology to help with their goal, such as controlling Pokémon for their own use, manipulating Pokémon evolution and many more."
"That explains it..." I said, "They won't have the time to train up to become stronger or learn stronger moves. My sister told me that in order for my Pokémon to reach their full potential, you must treat them well, letting them evolve when the right time comes. It should be a celebratory moment, not something to be manipulated."
"You said what I wanted to say, trainer." The man said, before getting himself ready to continue his journey, "I should hurry along back to Devon before they come back for another attempt. Thanks again, trainer!"
"No worries, sir." I replied and watched him enter Rusturf Tunnel. After that, I sent out my Pokémon, ready to continue our journey to Mauville.
However, Ziggs asked, "Lows, you have a sister?"
Surfer continued, "Yeah, you never told us about her at all."
I smiled somewhat wistfully, "Well... yeah. I think that's a story for another day, though." Before they could continue, I said, "Now, let's head to Mauville."
I assumed they probably understood my hesitance to talk about her, as they stopped asking further and continued our walk to our destination. I smiled, grateful that I had such understanding Pokémon.
Some things... shouldn't be revealed just yet until the right time comes.
The journey felt less interesting after the incident was over. However, I would prefer that over meeting more strange individuals any time of the day.
Finally, we reached our destination as I reached the entrance to this mostly-indoor city. The city was stuffed with various shops, giving a modern feel to visitors and being a huge contrast compared to Verdanturf.
Mauville City
"The bright and shiny city of fun!"
My Pokémon and I were in awe for a few moments before Surfer broke the silence, "Lows, this is such a cool city!"
"It really is." I grinned.
"We should explore around the area! I even saw a casino somewhere near us." Ziggs suggested.
"W-Wait, isn't Lows illegal to gamble?" Power asked.
"Besides, gambling is bad." Grace advised.
"There are still other places to explore other than the casino!" Ziggs lightly protested.
Looking at my excited Pokémon, I calmed them down, "We can do some exploring later, but for now, let's check if there's any rooms for us in the PokéCentre before we have to live in the streets for today."
That seemed to work as they quieted down and headed towards the PokéCentre. Luckily, there were still rooms available for us to stay for a few days. After storing our belongings in the room and taking a short break, we went out of the room, fully energized and ready to explore.
However, as I was about to walk out of the PokéCentre, I bumped into a man and clumsily fell onto the ground. I hurriedly stood up and apologized, embarrassed.
The elderly man had white hair that stood up and had a white beard. He also wore a yellow jumpsuit with pockets on his hips. He responded with a laugh, "No worries, trainer! It's actually amusing seeing energetic trainers excited to explore around the city. The city is my pride, after all!"
Suddenly, I heard the nurse's voice from behind, "Good evening, Mr. Wattson!"
"Good evening! Glad to see you doing well in work as usual. Hahaha!"
Ah... so that explains a lot. He's the founder of Mauville and the Mauville Gym Leader.
The Mauville Gym Leader reverted his attention back to me, "Anyways, you're a new face. I assume you'll be challenging me for the Gym Badge soon?"
I nodded, and he laughed again, "I'll be looking forward to battling you soon, then! Hahaha! Just register at the Mauville Gym when you're ready to battle me."
With that, he left the PokéCentre before we followed shortly after to begin our explorations.
"I'm exhausted!" Surfer panted as we went back to our room. We took our time exploring this mostly-indoor city with various shops and floors. The shops sold all kinds of items, from useful items for Pokémon battling to clothes and accessories for teenage trainers who wanted to satisfy their stylish needs. However, some shops had very expensive items for sale, to say the least, so we just did some window-shopping before heading back.
Before returning, we also checked out the Mauville Gym and registered ourselves for a gym battle. We scheduled the battle to be in two days. We still had time to train, so I was not too worried about it at that moment.
As my Pokémon were resting in our room, I quietly went out of the room to use the PC at the PokéCentre and do research on the Mauville Gym Leader, Wattson.
Wattson, the Mauville Gym Leader specializes in Electric type Pokémon. His battles are 4 on 4 singles battles, and his main Pokémon is Manectric, the evolution of Electrike. It also said that there will be a task given at the start of the Gym Challenge: some sort of puzzle? I wonder what can that be about...
I guess we should start training tomorrow then, I thought before returning to our room.
We did not have our dinner yet as my stomach growled as a protest. Not wanting to wake up my tired Pokémon for dinner outside, I decided to cook for ourselves. Once I decided to do so, I immediately went to the kitchen of the room, took out my Berry Pots and collected some berries that I grew during my free time for the ingredients of the dishes I planned to cook.
I washed up the berries and carefully used the knife to slice some Cheri Berries and Tamato Berries before mixing them together in the pan to fry them. After that, I poached some Rawst Berries, then used some fresh vegetables, some Pecha Berries and Aspear Berries to make a large bowl of salad.
I was satisfied with the results as I put the dishes on a small table and called them for dinner.
Surfer first entered my sight, as his sleepy eyes showed a hint of surprise upon seeing the dishes on the table. One after another, they showed up around the table, all having similar reactions to Surfer's.
"Lows, you cooked this?" Grace asked.
I chuckled, "Yeah. My parents always head out for work early in the morning, so I always have to settle lunch on my own. I'd say I did pretty well."
"Not just 'pretty well', it smells great!" Ziggs happily exclaimed.
"That's too much, Ziggs." I petted him, "Let's start eating, you all."
Overall, my Pokémon and I were delighted with the meal. Power was unable to endure the spiciness of the fried Cheri and Tamato Berries, but he enjoyed the other dishes. The salad was the most popular among our Pokémon, with Power, Surfer and Ziggs liking the sweet taste of the salad mix. Woody however, enjoyed the fried Cheri and Tamato berries while Grace ate most of the poached Rawst Berries.
After the meal, we spent the rest of the night watching replays of intense Pokémon battles on the television. The most memorable battle for me is the battle between Cynthia and Gold. They were able to make it a grand showdown for the audience all over the world. In the end, Cynthia's Garchomp was barely able to take out Gold's Typhlosions and became victorious.
Then, I spent time with my Pokémon, checked on my Pokégear and went to bed for training tomorrow.
We woke up early in the morning, more than ready to start our training.
While we looked around the city for a good spot to train, we noticed someone walking out of the gym while passing by it. The female trainer cheered, "That was amazing, Flare! Let's keep at it for the next battle."
That voice was oddly familiar as I looked at the owner of the voice. Just as I thought, it was my good friend, Cassie.
"Cassie!" I called.
She turned to me and was delighted, "Lows! I'm so happy to see you."
"I am too." I grinned, "How are you doing?"
"I've been doing pretty well! I just won against Wattson and got my third badge. You?"
I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head, impressed with how quick she was at obtaining gym badges, "I only have the Stone Badge. I'll be battling Wattson tomorrow."
"That's fine! Go at your own pace."
"I suppose. We gotta catch up soon though to ensure we're qualified for the Ever Grande League."
"I'm sure you'll get them all in time. Are you going to train before the gym battle?"
"Actually, I was just going to do that." I nodded.
"There's a good spot somewhere around the city! Let me guide you there." Cassie grinned as I followed her to an open field perfect for our training.
I thanked Cassie as she suddenly suggested, "Lows, let's have a short battle! It could be good practice."
"A-Are you sure?!" I was shocked, "You already have three badges, I will definitely not be a match for you."
Cassie blushed slightly but replied, "The number of badges don't determine your skill, Lows. The results of the battle might be more surprising than you think. Let's do it!"
I thought about it and accepted her suggestion, "Sure."
"Great! Let's have a two on two singles battle." She immediately took out a Pokéball from her belt and threw it into the air, "Battle time, Bubbles!"
A blue, mouse-like Pokémon appeared on the field, excited to battle. I scanned it with my Pokédex, [Marill, the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Azurill. The end of its tail serves as a buoy that keeps it from drowning, even in a vicious current.]
I decided to let Power try out battling, "You got this, Power!" I threw his Pokéball and the Superpower Pokémon appeared on the field. He appeared slightly nervous, but he took a deep breath and readied himself.
"You can have the first move, Lows." Cassie smiled. I nodded and commanded, "Power, Focus Energy!" Power stayed in his position, his eyes turning red.
Cassie returned her command, "Bubbles, use Water Gun, then Rollout!" Bubbles released a spiral of water towards my Fighting type. My Pokémon took the attack face on as the water blocked his vision, allowing the Aqua Mouse Pokémon to roll her body around the field and towards Power.
I encouraged my panicking Machop, "Power, stay calm! Recover your vision and use Mach Punch to stop Bubbles!"
Power took a deep breath and shook his head, shaking the water off from his face. After regaining some vision, he saw where Bubbles was coming from and gave it a powerful punch, stopping Bubbles' attack as she went back to Cassie's side, panting.
"Power, finish off with Karate Chop!" Seeing that we had the advantage, I quickly commanded. Power rushed towards the tired Bubbles and repeatedly chopped it with his opened hand, knocking her out.
"Well played, Lows." Cassie smiled, "Thanks for your help, Bubbles." She returned Bubbles after thanking her.
"Sorry, I didn't expect Power to be that strong!" I said while patting Power's head, which he appreciated and slightly smiled.
"Don't worry. It just shows how stronger you've become with your Pokémon!" Saying that, she took out another Pokéball and threw it, "You got this, Flare!"
A Pokémon who looked slightly different than the Charmander I saw before appeared on the field. I scanned the Pokémon with my Pokédex as usual, [Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Charmander. It lashes about with its tail to knock down its foe. It then tears up the fallen opponent with sharp claws.]
"We can start now," Cassie smiled, "Flare, use Metal Claw!"
As the Fire type dashed towards Power, I commanded, "Counter with Mach Punch!"
Flare's claws glowed silver as he slashed Power with them. Power gritted his teeth in pain, as he endured the attack and countered with a powerful punch, hitting the Charmeleon away from him.
"Finish Power with Slash!" Cassie commanded, as the Charmeleon rushed towards my Fighting type once again.
"Power, use Karate Chop!" However, Flare was able to deliver his attack first, slashing Power with his sharp claws. This time, Power was unable to endure the impact as he collapsed.
"Thanks for your work, Power." I returned him back to his Pokéball, proud of his progress. I took out another Pokéball, throwing it as I said, "Do your best, Grace!"
The Kirlia appeared on the field as she calmly examined her opponent. Cassie scanned her with her Pokédex and said, "Interesting choice, Lows. I thought you would choose Surfer for sure."
"I was going to, but I wanted others to train since Surfer will probably not go against Electric types."
"You got a point." Cassie smiled, "Let's start. Flare, use Flamethrower!"
The energetic Charmeleon excitedly yelled, "Yeah, burn it up!" Then, a large stream of fire bursted out from his mouth towards my Psychic type.
I immediately commanded, "Grace, counter with Magical Leaf!" She shot the leaves towards Flare, but the glowing light green leaves were burnt into ashes the moment they came face to face with the hot Flamethrower. Grace's attack did not work out as she was hit by the Fire type move, but she did not take as much damage as she is more capable at taking special attacks.
"Flare, use Metal Claw!" Cassie quickly followed up upon noticing the slight advantage she had. Flare's claws glowed silver once again as he dashed towards my Psychic type. I knew exactly what to do to counter against the Fire type.
As the Fire type got closer, I commanded, "Grace, teleport away and attack!"
Grace grinned, knowing my plan as she disappeared from the Fire type. The Flame Pokémon was filled with confusion as he looked around before getting hit by Grace's Psybeam attack. However, the sturdy Charmeleon was not giving up there.
As Flare locked sight of Grace, Cassie commanded, "Flare, use Slash!"
"Grace, counter with Psybeam!"
The psychic energy rings were released almost immediately upon command as they hit the Fire type directly. However, Flare endured the pain and dashed towards my Psychic type, slashing her with his sharp claws. Grace let out a small wince of pain, not enduring the physical attack too well. I also noticed Flare showing signs of tiredness, knowing the battle was nearing its end.
"One last shot, Grace! Use Psybeam again!"
"Flare, finish her off with Flamethrower!"
Flare released another large stream of fire towards Grace, while the psychic rings traveled through the flame, hitting Flare. However, the Fire type attack continued its fiery rage as it engulfed my Psychic type. The attack seemed to be too much for Grace as she was seen collapsing on the floor after the Flamethrower attack. Flare seemed to have used up his final energy as well, as he lost consciousness and fell onto the ground, surprising both of us. We immediately checked on our Pokémon, thanking them and returning them back to our Pokéballs.
"Who exactly... won the battle?" I asked.
"I'm not sure... Let's call it a tie, then." Cassie shrugged.
"I agree. Knowing you, you'll argue about who won the battle for at least two hours if we continue on." I chuckled.
She laughed along, taking the joke light-heartedly as she shook hands with me, "See? You're not that bad at all. I'm sure you can defeat Wattson with your skills."
I grinned, accepting the compliment as my confidence returned. We thanked our Pokémon for their efforts and returned them. Then, we went back to the PokéCentre and healed our Pokémon.
"You're battling Wattson tomorrow, right?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah, I am."
"I'll stay for another day to watch you battle, then! I wanna support my friend for the battle." She grinned.
"Y-You sure? I don't want to delay your gym badge collecting..."
"No worries! A day or two won't affect too much. Besides, I have so much to catch up with you. We usually spend time together all the time, and I feel somewhat lonely after separating with you and Disc."
"Alright, sure." I nodded, grateful for her offer.
We spent the rest of the day helping each other train, updating each other on our journeys so far and even had a good meal together.
Tomorrow will be another day of battling.
I don't know how strong Wattson will be, but I'll try my hardest.
Let's do our best.
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Wartortle, Male) Jolly Nature, moves: Withdraw, Bite, Water Pulse, Water Gun
Ziggs (Zigzagoon, Male) Naive Nature, moves: Tackle, Growl, Headbutt, Rock Smash
Grace (Kirlia, Female) Calm Nature, moves: Teleport, Magical Leaf, Double Team, Psybeam
Woody (Treecko, Male) Lonely Nature, moves: Pound, Quick Attack, Bullet Seed, Absorb
Power (Machop, Male) Timid Nature, moves: Focus Energy, Mach Punch, Karate Chop, Low Kick