Hey readers - Here we are with another chapter : )
Now I want to get straight down to business this week since it has been incredibly busy for me, and I am beyond exhausted by this point, so let's get straight into it : )
On that note, I am very pleased to announce that the tie regarding the last voting topic has finally been broken, and we now get to know the first member of Nolan's team that comes from the Orange Islands. I am quite honestly surprised to announce that the winner was... Tentacool! Truthfully, I was expecting Mankey to win, but a Tentacool could be interesting to write about, considering how jealous Misty might be regarding the subject. Either way, I'm pleased to be adding Tentacool to Nolan's Pokemon family ; )
Beyond that, I just want to say an HUGE thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. The support that has been shown to the story is amazing, and it means so much to me, so thank you : )
Please remember that Pokemon is not mine, only my OC's are : )
I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Clefairy and the Moon Stone - Part 4
Ash bit his lip in intense concentration as the battle between him and Brock vs Jessie and James raged on. He made a surprisingly good team with the former gym leader, and through the combined efforts of his Butterfree and Brock's new Zubat, they were successfully keeping Koffing and Ekans at bay, at least for the moment. The match was far from over though, with no victory in clear sight for either team just yet, which meant that this promised to be a long drawn out fight. That was very good for their side though, the raven haired boy kept reminding himself. The longer this battle continued, the more time Nolan had to get Misty, Seymour and the wild Clefairy out of the caves of Mount Moon, and hopefully to relative safety. His best friend was doing his part, just like Ash knew he would. He could always count on Nolan to get the job done when the going got tough, a thought that only served to strengthen the raven haired boy's determination to do his own part as well. They had to stop Team Rocket, and whatever evil plan they had cooked up this time. They just had to.
"Butterfree!"
"Koffing!"
Wild shrieks from two of the four combatants was enough to drag Ash out of the thoughts he had slipped into, and back to the present situation at hand. Glancing up, he saw that Butterfree and Koffing were ramming themselves into each other, over and over again, trying to knock their respective enemy out of the air through the power of brute force alone.
"Free!" Butterfree shrieked in pain, and tumbled backwards in a downward spiral after taking a particularly hard blow. Thankfully the Bug Type Pokemon was able to catch himself in time, but that had a little too close for comfort.
Fortunately for the young raven haired trainer, Brock had seen everything. The teenaged aspiring breeder immediately had his friend's back.
"Zubat, Butterfree could do with some help!" he called out to his newest teammate, who deftly dodged an attack from Ekans, before turning in the air to give Brock his full attention, "Use your Supersonic attack!"
What happened next left Ash gaping out of sheer astonishment.
In one graceful manoeuvre Zubat had swooped down low from the ceiling of the cave tunnel that the battle was taking place in, and managed to position himself so that he was directly in front of both Ekans and Koffing at exactly the same time. The two criminal Pokemon sneered contemptuously at the other Poison Type Pokemon, but had no chance to act any further on their desire to attack him, for it was at that exact moment that Brock's newest Pokemon suddenly lunged into action.
"ZZZZZZUUUUUUBBBBBBAAAAAATTTTTT!"
Amplified by the fact that tunnels create excellent acoustical echoes, what could only be described as a pulse of pure sound energy escaped from the blue and purple Poison's wide gaping mouth. Almost immediately, all four of the humans present had to clamp their hands tightly over their ears to try and block out the awful wailing, as the deafening soundwave washed over them all. Ash's russet coloured eyes were immediately squeezed shut as he just barely managed to resist the urge to cry out in pain. The young trainer just couldn't help it though. That noise... even just hearing it for a split-second was nothing short of agony. It was even worse than Iris' Screech attack had been, back in the Viridian Forest when she had used it on him and Office Charlie.
The only small upside to the almost unbearable pain that Zubat's ear-splitting attack had brought to both Ash and Brock alike, was that it was also having exactly the same effect on Team Rocket. James was practically hunched over, his face twisted into a hard grimace, as he tried in vain to block out the incessant wailing. Jessie had her eyes shut in pain, and her fingers jammed tightly in her ears, though it did little to block out the shrill noise reverberating down the tunnel.
And then... just like that... it stopped.
It took a couple of moments for that fact to sink in, but once his somewhat dazed mind had cottoned on to that fact, Ash couldn't help but sigh in relief. The raven haired boy was about to round on his friend, perhaps to angrily demand an explanation, but it quickly transpired that he wouldn't require one. Instead, Ash's gaze became fixated upon to the two Pokemon that were their enemies, and his mouth dropped open. The raven haired boy blinked dumbly for a couple of moments, then quickly rubbed his eyes, just in case they were playing tricks on him. But no. They weren't. He really was seeing what he thought he'd been seeing, though Ash was scarcely able to believe it.
Ekans and Koffing... were attacking each other.
Ash was fully aware that his jaw was practically on the floor at this point, but he was honestly too incredulous to really care right now. He was too busy struggling to try and take in the absurd sight before him. And he wasn't the only human present that was looking on with wide, astounded eyes. Across the makeshift battlefield from Ash and Brock, Jessie and James were gaping in sheer disbelief, horrified as they watched their respective partners practically brawling with each other.
"Oh, no!" James exclaimed. What else was there to say when first with something as bizarre as this after all?
"Ekans! Koffing!" Jessie gasped out, disturbed as she watched Ekans coil himself around Koffing and squeeze tightly. That only served to frustrate the balloon-esque further however, and he redoubled his effects to break free of the serpentine creature's grip.
It was horrible to watch. Just... horrible.
"What's the matter with you weaklings?" James demanded to know, but unsurprisingly he received no reply. The cyan haired man let out a troubled sigh. He had never felt so helpless before in his entire life.
Further down the tunnel from the stunned and horrified criminals, Ash and Brock weren't quite so dejected about this latest turn of events. In fact, the young aspiring breeder had a bright smile on his face as he grinned up at Zubat proudly.
"Nice job Zubat, your Supersonic attack is working!" he exclaimed gleefully as he watched his enemies attacking each other in frenzied madness, "Ekans and Koffing are getting confused!"
Ash was still in a state of sheer disbelief about the slick manoeuvre that Brock and Zubat had just pulled off, but he wasn't about to allow that to distract him. He still had his part to play in this battle after all, and he wasn't about to allow the opportunity that his battle-partner had granted them to go to waste. So with that resolution spurring him on, the raven haired Pokemon trainer quickly issued a command of his own.
"Butterfree, Whirlwind now!" he yelled up to where his Bug Type Pokemon was hovering in the air, "Blow them all the way out of the cave!"
Thankfully Butterfree had managed to avoid being caught up in Zubat's Supersonic attack, and thus his mind remained clear. Clear enough to still follow his trainer's instructions, and so with a determined glint in his crimson coloured eyes, the Butterfly Pokemon swooped down low so that he was facing the whole of Team Rocket head on.
"Freeee!" Butterfree let out a guttural scream that was something akin to a war-cry.
In a flurry of motion that was far too quick for a human eye to track, the Butterfly Pokemon beat his wings together as quickly as was physically possible for him. It started off slow, with just the remnants of Koffing's earlier Smokescreen attack being blown away. Then the winds started to really pick up through, and in a matter of minutes, Jessie, James, Ekans and Koffing were unable to withstand it any longer. With a startled cry from each member of the criminal gang, Team Rocket were knocked clean off their feet, and sent spiralling through the air, all the way down the tunnel and into the deep darkness beyond.
"Its time Team Rocket blasted off!" James' panicked voice echoed back to them.
"You may have won this round, but we'll be back!" Jessie promised darkly, her tone filled with rage.
And then they were gone.
Only after all four members of the criminal organisation had been swept away by the wild winds he had summoned did Butterfree finally relent in his Whirlwind attack he slowed the beating of his wings, and as he did so, the stormy gale dropped down until it was nothing more than a faint breeze, which quickly faded away too. It was only after everything had returned to normal did their victory register with the two boys, and they turned to each other with broad smiles on their faces. They wasted no time in sharing a celebratory high-five as the revelled in their latest triumph.
"We did it!" Ash couldn't help but cheer gleefully, barely resisting the urge to jump up and down in his excitement, "Yeah!"
"Excellent teamwork!" Brock praised, though not just himself and Ash of course, but Butterfree and Zubat as well.
The two young trainers continue to bask in the moment of their latest victory for a couple more seconds, but then another realisation sunk in with them. Jessie, James, Ekans and Koffing had all been swept away by Butterfree's powerful Whirlwind attack, but those four alone did not comprise the entirety of the Team Rocket branch that Ash and his friends were unfortunately becoming familiar with. The two of them both noticed this at the same time, and turned to each other with an identical anxious expression.
"Hey, wait a second..." Ash said slowly, his stomach suddenly beginning to churn uncomfortably as he realised that their troubles might not be over just yet, "Aren't we forgetting something?"
"Yeah, something's missing" Brock nodded in agreement, a worried look etched into his face.
Then it hit them.
"Where's Meowth?!" the two boys exclaimed at the exact same instant.
Realising that neither of them had a suitable answer to that all important question, Ash and Brock could do little more than just gape at each other in horror. Then they took off running as fast as they could, each of them feeling a sharp knot of dread beginning to grow in the pits of their stomachs. They had to find their friends and make sure that everyone was okay.
They had to.
Misty found that she might have been a little overconfident when she had stated to Nolan that she could remember the way out of Mount Moon. After leading the group in Criss-Crossing patterns through the network of tunnels for such a long time that it was starting to get a little embarrassing however, the Water Type Pokemon Specialist eventually spotted a large circle of natural light, a light far too pure to be cast be any lantern. Grinning, the orange haired girl then quickly steered everyone else towards it, and after a short sprint, they emerged into the sunlight, arriving near one of the springs that Mount Moon was so famous for.
Clearly spooked by everything that had happened, and wanting to put as much distance between herself and the chaos that she had witnessed, Clefairy immediately took off. Worried about her safety given Meowth's earlier interest in her, Misty couldn't help but look on in concern.
"Oh, no!" the young girl couldn't help but cry out, her expression and tone both riddled with concern, "Clefairy's running away!"
Helpless to do little more than watch, Misty and Seymour looked on worriedly as Clefairy bounced away, higher and higher up the mountain side, until the small pink Pokemon was way up over their heads. Almost immediately, Seymour began scaling the rock-face himself. He was still very worried about Clefairy after all, especially considering the interest that Team Rocket had shown in her. He just wanted to make sure that Clefairy was okay.
"Clefairy, come back!" the scientist yelled out anxiously.
Unable to hold back a sigh, Misty couldn't help but shake her head in frustration. It seemed like anything that could do wrong, was going wrong today. Still, she knew that accompanying the scientist om his mission to scale the cliff was probably the right thing to do. Without someone there to look out for him, the man was liable to fall down and break his neck. She didn't need that on her conscience, and so with great trepidation, Misty began following Seymour, carefully climbing up the side of the mountain after him. She had only pulled herself a few feet off of the ground however, when a shrill cry echoed down from above her.
"Clefairy" she heard the wild Clefairy whimpering in fright.
Glancing up at the quite frankly distressing sound, Misty then saw something that sent a wave of pure and unadulterated horror throughout her entire body. The young girl's vermillion coloured eyes grew wide with panic as she saw none other than Meowth standing high up on the same ledge as Clefairy, looming over her with his claws raised menacingly. Misty felt sick. But whilst she was obviously concerned about the wellbeing of the wild Pokemon they had met, it wasn't so much her predicament right now that had Misty so worried.
No.
It was Nolan's fate that had the girl so concerned right now.
The last time that Misty had seen her golden haired friend, he had tried to lead Meowth away from them at great risk to himself, bravely trying to buy them as much time as possible so they could make their escape. So to see the Scratch Cat Pokemon standing there as bold as brass before her was extremely alarming. What had happened to Nolan? Where was he? And where was Meadow? Had Meowth done something terrible to them both? Misty had no idea, and that left an unpleasantly cold feeling in the pit of her stomach, one that chilled her all the way down to the bone. God, she hoped that her friends were alright. They had to be alright.
They just had to be.
"Meowth's got you now!" the nasally voice of the talking Pokemon was enough to draw Misty out of her harrowing thoughts, and back to the situation at hand.
"Fairy!" there came another shrill cry of fear from the small pink Pokemon, and moments later she was flying from the ledge. Whether she had been knocked off it or had jumped was unclear. Either way, she was tumbling towards the ground at terrifying speed, "Clefairy!"
WHACK!
Rather than go whizzing past the spot where Seymour and Misty were both precariously dangling off the side of the mountain, it seemed as though fate had a different plan. Instead, Clefairy smashed headlong into Seymour. The man cried out in pain, and accidentally let go of the rock he'd been clinging on to. This in turn led to him falling down, knocking Misty away from the cliff-face as well. With a short scream apiece, the two humans both tumbled down into the shallow river below, ending their unexpected journey with a very big Splash!
Spluttering for air that just wouldn't come quick enough, Misty resurfaced. She was drenched all the way through, and was shivering from the abrupt chill she was feeling. A moment later Seymour broke through the surface of the water as well, in much the same condition. Clefairy was clinging to his back with a tiny pink paw, whilst the other kept a tight grip on her fragment of Moon Stone. All three of them groaned out of sheer misery, unable to believe their misfortune.
They didn't have much time to focus on that however. Seconds later, Meowth dropped down and landed smoothly on a rock jutting out from the river, with all the grace and poise that a cat like him should have. He had a malicious sneer on his face as he looked down at them.
"All right!" the Scratch Cat Pokemon snarled in a tone that brooked no argument, "Give Meowth that Moon Stone!"
Clefairy whined unhappily, and tucked her face into Seymour's back. It was more than a little obvious that she did not want to be parted from the fragment of Moon Stone, but that she was also terrified by just the idea of any conflict. Seymour, upon noticing this, quickly spoke up in her defence.
"Meowth, I'm sure we can be reasonable about this" the scientist raised his hands in a pacifying manner.
But the Pokemon that was practically the mascot of Team Rocket wasn't having any of it.
"No, we can't!" he yelled, and without wasting so much as a single moment, the Scratch Cat Pokemon lunged forwards with his claws raised menacingly. He shot straight through the air towards Seymour and Clefairy, and judging by the malevolent glint in his eye, he meant business. He really would slash them both to ribbons in order to get what he wanted.
"Not so fast, Meowth!" Misty shouted, unwilling to allow any harm to come to those she had been entrusted to keep safe without a fight.
She had already pulled a pokeball from out of her backpack, so she quickly threw it so that it would fall between Meowth and his intended victims. With a small plop sound, the red and white sphere dropped beneath the surface of the river. There was a few tense moments before anything else happened, but when it did, a burst of bright red light shot out from beneath the water, and materialized into the figure of Misty's chosen Pokemon. Similar to her beloved partner Starmie, this creature was star-shaped as well, though with only five points. It had a pale brown coloured skin, and a heavy red jewel set in the core of its body. This was her Staryu, the pre-evolved form of her partner, but every bit as competent a battler. It stood in front of Seymour and Clefairy protectively as it faced Meowth head on.
"Staryu!" Misty called out before Meowth could get near his intended victims and do any harm to them, "Swift attack!"
The effect of those short, simple words was pretty much instantaneous.
From the jewel at the centre of Staryu's body came an intense golden coloured light that threatened to outshine the sun itself. And after a few moments, the light split up to form hundreds and hundreds of tiny star-shaped pulses if pure light energy. Before Meowth could do anything more than gape in sheer disbelief at the dazzling lightshow, he was suddenly caught up in it, and his entire body was engulfed in wave after wave of pure and unadulterated pain.
"Yow!" the Scratch Cat Pokemon let out an agonised screech as he was pummelled by the light-based attack, "Yow! Yow!"
Seeing that she had her enemy on the ropes, Misty quickly issued her combatant with another command. The sooner they had with this little problem, the sooner she could go and find her friends and make sure that they were all okay.
"Water Gun, Staryu!" the orange haired girl yelled.
Staryu instantly dropped its Swift attack, but before Meowth had a chance to gather his bearings, the star-shaped creature had repositioned itself so that one of its points was angled directly at the Scratch Cat Pokemon's face. Then, with the same level of force as you'd expect from a fire engine's hose, Staryu unleashed it's powerful Water Gun attack.
Meowth barely even had a chance to scream before he was launched flying through the air, the spray strong enough to carry him all the way across the sky, until he was nothing more than a tiny speck on the horizon. Within seconds, he was gone. As Staryu levitated over to her side, Misty allowed a soft relief to slip her lips, before the twisted themselves into a smirk that practically oozed with smugness.
"Bye, Meowth!" she shouted up at the sky, revelling in her triumph, and even giving him a sarcastic wave, "Have a nice drip!"
Safe in the knowledge that they were all out of danger for the time being at least, Misty felt comfortable enough to return her Staryu back to its pokeball so that it could take a well-earned rest. The orange haired girl then turned her attention back to the others, wanting to make sure that none of them had to sustained any injuries when they're fallen down the cliff-face. Before she could voice any of her concerns however, a familiar voice called out from behind her, and a bright smile lit up Misty's entire face just hearing it.
"Hey!" hearing the voice calling, Misty wheeled around, and saw to her utter joy and relief that Ash, Pikachu and Brock were all sprinting towards them, Ash having been the one that had spoken, "Is everybody all right?"
Having heard the genuine concern in the raven haired boy's tone, Misty couldn't help but flash him a broad grin.
"We won't be bothered by Meowth anymore, thanks to Misty the Mighty!" she winked at them playfully.
Ash smiled proudly at her, relieved that his friend was alright, and that she had been able to keep herself and everyone else safe. He then glanced around at the others, but upon seeing only Seymour and Clefairy, he couldn't help but notice that several other members of their group were still missing. A concerned expression blossomed across his face as he turned back to Misty.
"But... but where are Nolan and Meadow?" the raven haired boy wanted to know.
"Yeah" Brock nodded in agreement, "I thought he left with you and Seymour".
"Pikachu" Pikachu added.
Misty sighed sadly, concern tugging at her lips. Wringing her hands together anxiously, the Water Type Pokemon Specialist quickly began to explain what had happened.
"When we were running down the tunnels to make our escape, Nolan came up with the idea of using himself as bait in order to lure Meowth away from us" she explained, watching as the worry in her friends' faces grew with each word she spoke, "But he hasn't shown up yet, not even after Meowth did. I've no idea where he is or what's happened to him, but I hope he's okay".
"Me too..." Ash murmured, very troubled by the absence of the boy he considered his brother.
"Last I checked..." a familiar and most welcome voice suddenly chimed into the conversation from behind them, "I'm fine".
The three humans and Pikachu are whipped around at the sound of the new voice. To their utter astonishment and utmost relief, none other than Nolan Locke himself was standing there, with a smile so wide that it threatened to crack his face clean in two.
"Nolan!" the trio all exclaimed in shock.
Nolan just grinned at them all happily. In one arm, the young Pokemon trainer was holding his beloved partner in the crook of his elbow. Meadow looked just as happy as her trainer did, and thankfully just as unscathed. Meanwhile in his other hand, Nolan had a pokeball, one that he was gently tossing up in the air and catching again, over and over. He was the perfect picture of a boy that was thoroughly pleased with himself.
Ash, Misty and Brock all just gaped at the golden haired boy in shock, scarcely able to believe their eyes.
It would appear that they all had rather a lot to catch each other up on...
After reuniting and explaining to each other about their own individual experiences that had occurred since they had all become separated, it seemed as though all the trouble was over for the time being. Relieved by this, it didn't take Nolan and his friends long to decide what their next course of action should be. Between battling Jessie and James, fending off attacks by Meowth, and capturing new Pokemon; most of the day had been eaten up by those events, and the sun was already starting to cast a deep orange glow across the sky, a signal that it would surely be setting soon, and that night would be upon them.
Knowing that despite the presence of the harsh fluorescent lights where there shouldn't be any, the Pokemon of Mount Moon would naturally be a lot more active in the hours to come. And whilst said wild Pokemon were in their current frenzied state, traversing the depths of the cave system would be a lot more dangerous and difficult than it normally would be.
The decision that trying to cross through to the other side whilst the mountain was such a volatile tinderbox was a bad idea was pretty unanimous.
So with them all in agreement on that front, the young travelling trainers and their new friend Seymour had decided to make camp for the night. Then, tomorrow morning when most of the nocturnal creatures that lived in the mountain would be falling asleep, Nolan and the others would be able to make their way safely through to the other side, obviously being careful not to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves. No one was in any hurry for a repeat of the Zubat incident after all.
It hadn't taken the group very long to find a spot that they were all comfortable with, and soon enough they were setting in for the evening. Ash and Seymour were sitting together, chatting about the fabled Moon Stone and everything that the scientist had already learned about it. Brock was nearby, smiling as he prepared dinner for everyone, and since they had chosen a spot on the riverbank, Misty was down by the water, her toes dipped in the refreshing cool liquid, as she polished the jewel of her Starmie.
Everyone was doing their own thing, and that included Nolan as well. The golden haired boy had broken away from the main group, and was now sitting on one of the ledges on the mountain side, a foot or two above his friends. Meadow wasn't with him at the moment, opting to sit with Pikachu and the wild Clefairy that they had rescued from Team Rocket. The three Pokemon were deep in conversation. Nolan watched them for a moment, before turning back to his own activity. An activity that was proving a little more tricky than he'd initially anticipated.
"How about... Diamond?" the golden haired boy proposed, "I think that's a pretty name. What do you think?"
Geodude seemed to consider her new trainer's suggestion for a moment, before she crossed her arms in a X shape. A shape that Nolan was quickly learning meant 'no'.
"No good, huh?" he sighed in disappointment, "Shame. I quite liked that one. Okay... how about... ooh! Amethyst! Amethyst sounds nice".
Once again, Nolan's freshly caught teammate paused to think about the name that the golden haired boy had put to her, but again, she found herself not taking to it. She made the same negative gesture with her arms.
Nolan couldn't help but sigh again. They had been at this for a while now, with certain names like Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald all being quickly rejected. The duo of them stuck at it, yet they still didn't seem to be any closer to settling on a name for Nolan's new Geodude. Oh, the Rock Type Pokemon was adamant that she really liked the idea of taking on the name of a jewel or a precious stone, but when it came down to the actual choice, she just couldn't seem to make up her mind. Nolan with quickly realising that his new friend, despite seemingly being quite relaxed about most things, was also a little picky. Even after Seymour had realised what they were doing, and had kindly allowed Nolan to borrow one of his books on Geology that he carried around in the pocket of his lab coat, they were still no further forward. The golden haired boy had flipped through almost every page in the book by this point, and he was starting to think that they might not be able to find anything that his new Pokémon felt was suitable in there. The golden haired boy sighed again, before turning to another page. His icy blue eyes widened slightly in wonder.
"Ooh... now that's an interesting stone" he remarked as he carefully observed the photograph on the page before him, "Come and have a look at this one, Geodude"
Intrigued by her new Pokemon Trainer's request, Geodude soon found herself gently rolling across the rocky terrain to his side. She then slowly floated up into the air using her magnetism, to look at the page over the young boy's shoulder. Her eyes widened slightly in awe.
Both human and Pokemon were taken aback by the natural beauty of the stone that the book was detailing. It was hard to assign a colour to it. It wasn't green like an emerald, but it also wasn't brown like Garnet. Rather, it was a strange blend of them both. Whatever it was, it was pretty, and by far one of the more interesting minerals that the boy had read about in this book so far. Needless to say, both of them were quickly enamoured.
"It's called... Xan... Xanthite!" Nolan said after double-checking that he was pronouncing it right.
"Dude! Dude!" Geodude excitedly bobbed up and down in the air around the golden haired boy's head. She liked the crystal displayed in the book very much indeed, the colour even more so. The peculiar blend of green and brown strongly reminded the small Rock Type Pokemon of a crystalline version of the stones that made up the plated armour that her mother had worn. The type of plated armour that she herself would one day wear, should she be fortunate enough to evolve twice and become a Golem. Though the idea of battling simply for the sake of battling held little appeal for her, the idea of one day becoming the same species as her mother had once been was something that she was interested in. Very much so, in fact. It was for those reasons that the small Rock Type Pokemon cheerfully called out again, "Geo! Geodude!"
On the ground beneath the floating boulder, the young Pokemon trainer looked up upon hearing the Rock Type Pokemon's gravelly voice, and saw that she was smiling widely at him. She looked rather enthused about something. Or at least as enthused as a sentient boulder of could look. Somewhat confused by the rapid shift in attitude, Nolan looked from his new friend, down to the book in his hands, then back again. It didn't take long for the pieces to fall into place.
A soft smile graced the young boy's lips.
"I take it we've just stumbled across your new name, huh?" he said with a knowing glint in his eye.
"Dude! Dude! Geodude!" Geodude, or should that be the newly named Xanthite, beamed at him and gave him a thumbs up.
Nolan smiled broadly, unable to help but feel somewhat relieved that the naming process had finally come to a conclusion. He knew that it was always an important decision for a Pokemon to make, and he didn't register for time devoted to the task, but it seemed that he had an unfortunate habit of capturing teammates that couldn't make up their minds. Either that, or he just sucked at coming up with names for them. Either way, the golden haired boy was pleased, and promptly shut the book in its hands with a sharp snap. He grinned warmly up at his new friend as she floated in circles around his head.
"Brilliant!" he said kindly, reaching out and gently rubbing her head, musing at the unusual texture of her rocky skin as he did so, "And now that you've decided, what do you say we go introduce you to everyone properly, Xanthite?"
"Geo!" Xanthite looked happy at the thought of making more new friends.
Smiling, the golden haired boy carefully plucked her out of the air, and tugged her into his arms so that he was carrying her. Carefully slipping down the short slope so that he was back on the same level as everyone else, Nolan then made his way over to his friends. Several of them looked up upon hearing his footsteps, and they offered them both warm smiles in greeting.
"Hey you two" Ash said kindly to his best friend and the small greyish brown Pokemon in his arms, "How did the naming go? Have you managed to come up with anything yet?"
Nolan and the newly christened Xanthite both beamed at him.
"We sure did" the golden haired boy happily nodded his head in response to the other boy's question, "And it's all thanks to you, Seymour. That book you let me borrow really helped us out in the end".
Seymour blushed modestly as Nolan stepped over to him and handed his property back to him. The scientist took it and carefully slipped it back into the deep pocket of his lab coat. Then he turned back to Nolan with a quizzical look on his face.
"After the way you saved me from those Zubat earlier, I'm glad that I could return the favour in some small way" the scientist told Nolan earnestly, "But I'm curious. What precious stone did you wind up naming your new friend after in the end?"
"Yeah, come on Nolan" Ash chimed in enthusiastically, "What did Geodude settle on after all that time deciding?"
Nolan grinned, but didn't keep them in suspense for long.
"Everyone, I'd like you to officially meet the fourth member of my team. This..." he held Xanthite out from his body, presenting her to the group at large and causing her to blush slightly, "Is Xanthite. Xanthite, this is Ash, Misty and Brock. I travel with them, along with Ash's partner, Pikachu. You've already met Meadow, who is my own partner. And this is Seymour and Clefairy, who we just met whilst we were passing through the area".
As he explained who each of them were, Nolan gestured towards each person in turn as he spoke their name. By the time he was done, Xanthite was a little overwhelmed, but still nodded her understanding.
"Geodude" she smiled warmly at the group.
A chorus of hellos and pleasantries were the response that the small Rock Type Pokemon received, and Xanthite couldn't help but smile, feeling slightly touched. She had only met any of them less than two hours ago, any yet already she was being welcomed into their traveling group with open arms. It's truly was a humbling experience, but certainly not an unpleasant one.
And just like that, Xanthite was a member of the family.
Before any of them knew it, Brock had the humans' meal all ready. The teenaged aspiring breeder grinned as Nolan, Ash, Misty and Seymour are greedily slurped down the soup that he had prepared for them, and soaked up the praise as they all showered him with compliments about how delicious it tasted. The five of them quickly wolfed down the rest of their meal, before they each took on a task of the clear up. Soon enough, the chores were all done, and it was time to feed the Pokemon. Since Pokeballs conserved so much of a Pokemon's energy, it meant that for the majority of them, they wouldn't need any food until a bit later that night. But Ash and Brock still let out their Butterfree and Zubat respectively, since they had engaged in battle today, and would require sustenance prior to all the other Pokemon. Nolan on the other hand couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for his beloved team when, after releasing them from their pokeballs and quickly explaining the situation to them, Welkin and Iris both welcomed Xanthite to the team with open arms without any kind of prompting from Nolan whatsoever. In one swift moment, the two of them had all but dragged the slightly overwhelmed Rock Type Pokemon over to where Meadow stood, and the four of them were now engaged in a deep conversation in Poke-language as they started to bond and get to know each other better. It truly was enough to warm the golden haired boy's heart all the way through.
Nolan was just setting out the right amount of bowls for all of the Pokemon when he heard a question slip past his best friend's lips. Glancing up from his work, he saw the Ash was staring at something in Brock's hands in confusion.
"What's that?" the raven haired boy wondered curiously.
For a brief moment, Brock was confused as to what his friend was talking about. Then he caught the direction of Ash's inquiring stare, and he smiled as realisation dawned on him. He held up the small plastic container he had clutched in his grip and wiggled it slightly.
"This is Pokémon food made from my own secret recipe" the teenaged aspiring breeder explained, but upon noticing the perplexed expression on Ash's face, he elaborated, "The ingredients are specially blended for each Pokémon".
The aspiring Pokemon breeder held out the jar for Ash to take, and once he had done so, he held out a piece of the special homemade food for Butterfree to munch on. The Butterfly Pokemon looked very happy as he hungrily devoured the food.
"How's it taste?" Ash asked the Bug Type Pokemon kindly.
"Free!" Butterfree said happily as he accepted another chunk of the food from Ash and began nibbling away on it. Across from them, Brock smiled.
"I've been developing it for years" the former gym leader explain, feeding a piece of food from a different jar to his Zubat, who was obediently perched on his shoulder, "I keep improving on the recipe. I'll make a batch for Pikachu, and a batch for Meadow as well".
"Thanks Brock" Nolan smiled at the older boy appreciatively, "That would be great".
It was at that moment that Seymour chimed into their conversation. The young scientist had been watching the two Pokemon eating with a look of wonder in his eyes.
"If it's alright, I'd like to try some" he requested, and at Brock's nod, he accepted a piece of the food from the teenager and popped it in his mouth. He immediately began chewing on it, his expression thoughtful.
"Mm. Not bad" he complimented.
"Seymour, you do realise that that's Pokemon food" Nolan couldn't help but point out, his tone slightly disgusted. Seymour just offered him a faint smile.
"An important part of raising a Pokemon is knowing the best possible diet for it" Seymour explained patiently to the golden haired boy and said boy's best friend, "And only by tasting the food you give them for yourself can you really get an insight as to what food is better for them".
"Really?" Ash asked brightly, always on the lookout for any tips that might make him a better Pokemon trainer, "Let me taste".
The raven haired boy eagerly placed a piece of the Pokemon food in his mouth, but immediately began gagging upon doing so. Nolan couldn't help but laugh, whilst across from them, Brock rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, you might not like it Ash, but the Pokemon sure do" the aspiring Pokemon breeder said lightly.
"That's the most important part though" Nolan commented, mostly in an attempt to reassure the older boy, "It is for Pokemon after all, so it would be pretty unusual for many humans to like it anyway".
"Yeah, that's true" Brock replied, feeling a little bit better.
Ash could see that his best friend had a point. He turned around to where Pikachu and the other Pokemon were all stood conversing, and was about to call his beloved partner over to him to try some of the food for himself, but hesitated when he noticed just how deeply engaged in the conversation Pikachu was.
"Pikachu" the Electric Type Pokemon squeaked in response to something the wild Clefairy had just said.
"Clefairy" the little pink Pokemon nodded in confirmation, "Clefairy".
"Bulba? Bulbasaur?" Meadow questioned their new friend, but it wasn't Clefairy that answered whatever the Grass Type Pokemon's inquiry.
"Dude! Geo! Geodude!" Xanthite replied instead, though considering that this system of caves had been her home until less than an hour ago, it wasn't too surprising that she knew all of Mount Moon's secrets as well.
"Clefairy" the wild Clefairy nodded at Xanthite in agreement.
"Pika..." Pikachu whispered, suddenly sounding awestruck.
"Saur..." Meadow spoke in much the same tone, her crimson coloured eyes wide in amazement.
"Meadow and Pikachu both makes friends so easily" Nolan happily remarked to his own best friend from where they stood watching their partners. He was glad that Meadow had the ability to do that. He wanted her to have friends other than just him.
"I wonder what they're talking about?" Ash couldn't help but wonder aloud.
Before Nolan had a chance to reply to the raven haired boy's comment however, the conversation between the four Pokemon ended rather abruptly. Now, all of the different creatures were looking over in the direction of the humans, but it was Meadow that stepped forward to address them.
"Saur, Bulba" the little Grass Type Pokemon announced, looking her partner dead in the eye, "Bulbasaur".
And without even having to take a moment to try and work out what she was saying, Nolan quickly understood what she was asking of him. The golden haired boy recognised that serious look in her gaze after all, because he had seen it in her expression on a day not too long ago. The same day he had met Iris in fact, back in the Viridian Forest. It was the same look that Meadow got when she had wanted him to follow her.
Well... who was he to turn down such an intriguing invitation?
And that's another one down : )
I have to say, I'm really happy with the name I picked out for Geodude. There's not many cohesive nicknames you can give to a Pokemon that start with the letter X which can also have some logic applied to them. Originally her name was going to be Garnet, but when I stumbled across the stone Xanthite whilst doing research, I just knew that had to be her name instead : D
Anyway, let's move on to this week's voting topic. Now I know we've only just broken the tie for the last one, but it's already time to add another new team member to Nolan's team : ) I'm not disappointed, though are my favourite ones ; ) Now since we finally have two team members for the team, I've been able to play a little further ahead in the game, which in turn has allowed me to shuffle around the groupings of the encounters. Anyway, here are the options for this week's voting topic : )
Pokemon Options -
Navel Island: - Onix - Male - Adamant Nature - Rock Head Ability
Bay Cave: - Zubat - Female - Rash Nature - Inner Focus Ability
Mord Island: - Rattata - Female - Hardy Nature - Guts Ability
Murcott Island: - Beedrill - Male - Naive Nature - Swarm Ability
Mandarin South: - Vulpix - Female - Quiet Nature - Flash Fire Ability
Personally, I think there are two Pokemon in this group that would be amazing, and three that would not, but hey, it's not up to me XD
And I think that's just about it from me for this week. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading my story. Please considering leaving a review before you go, because I'd love to hear your feedback or ideas : )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )