Chapter 13; a peculiar pokemon
Sonic and raichu were walking through the valley heading towards the rock tunnel at the end, both in high spirits.
They had encountered several trainers along the way defeating them all with ease. Several wild pokemon also blocked their path from time to time including a couple of onix but with an iron tail from raichu and a water pulse from wartortle they had fled in fear. Sonic felt powerful at the sight of the two gigantic rock snakes fleeing.
"Nothing can stop us" he thought to himself.
While walking through the valley he heard an explosion behind him far away. Turning in surprise he saw a hot air balloon in the shape of a meowth head fly fast towards the valley. Its side had been pierced and the hot air was leaving fast. The balloon crash landed in front of him and raichu blocking the path. Out of the wreckage rolled 3 familiar faces.
"That certainly was a strong blast off" a male voice was heard.
"You!" Sonic said in anger.
Jessie and James, who was holding an almost fainted meowth looked at the direction the voice came from and saw a very angry Sonic and his raichu next to him. Horrified they crouched back.
"Please don't!" Jessie said in fear.
"We're beaten already. Please, I can't take any more electricity today!" James begged Sonic.
"Yes please!" meowth also begged "that pikachu was too much already!"
Sonic contemplated making sure they would be out of commission for a while so they wouldn't try to steal more pokemon but sighed, deeming them not a real threat.
"Raichu. Thunderbolt"
"Nooooo!" Jessie and James screamed covering their faces.
Raichu discharged its thunderbolt sending it towards the sky. Team Rocket looked confused as Sonic walked past them calm. After a few steps Sonic heard sirens behind him as well as the 3 criminals panicking.
"Hopefully the police will contain them this time, if they catch them of course" he thought to himself.
Raichu looked up to him.
"Rai"
"Man" Sonic thought "that voltmeter was useful in understanding raichu. Unless the situation is obvious, it's going to take a long time before I start realizing what it means.
"Rai" raichu cried out again as it mimicked a pikachu's movements.
"Wait. Are you wondering about the Pikachu those 3 idiots mentioned?"
"Rai" raichu cried out shaking its head positively.
"Yes. Kind of reminds me of us a few days ago. Who knows. Maybe we will meet that Pikachu and its trainer on our journey" Sonic said.
After about another hour of walking they came across a river. Stopping to rest for a while, Sonic sent out Wartortle and Kadabra to rest as well as he laid on the grass and looked at the clouds. One of the clouds reminded him of Amy.
"No damnit. Stop thinking about her" he thought angry "Tails is right. Shadow will never be as awesome as me. When she sees it her heart will break. I'm sure of it" he said as he daydreamed of it.
He came out of his daydream hearing a wild pokemon cry. His pokemon also heard the cry. Sonic followed the river towards the cry. Hiding behind a rock, both him and his pokemon saw a blue colored pokemon drinking from the river.
"Woah is that a nidorina? That must be a powerful one. Wild evolved forms are usually strong" he thought as he recalled how he had lied to that doctor about encountering a wild charmeleon.
"Maybe I should catch it" he thought to himself taking out a pokeball and looking at his team.
"Ok guys here's the plan. I will try to catch it without battling first. There's a good chance it won't get caught. Kadabra, if it breaks out, I want you to confuse it so it won't flee and we won't have to chase it. Wartortle get in the water. If things go south, come out and begin the battle. Raichu with me if it comes to it. Am I clear?" Sonic asked them.
They all nodded positively. Sonic aimed at the pokemon and threw the ball striking it in the back and catching it by surprise. The ball wiggled 3 times. Sonic was about to order Kadabra to confuse the poison type pokemon so as to prevent it from realizing the pickle it was in. Instead however the ball stopped wiggling and the successful catch sound was heard.
"Huh that was easy" Sonic said smiling.
Him and raichu as well as wartortle and kadabra approached the pokeball. Sonic sent out the pokemon, intending on having his team approach it first to make it feel safe. The pokemon came out and looked at Sonic and his team in fear and took a defensive stance. As raichu and the 2 other pokemon started talking to it, Sonic couldn't help but notice something quirky about it.
"Huh. That's strange. I thought nidorina didn't have a horn. And… why is it on 4 legs? I'm pretty sure nidorinas prefer to sit on 2 legs most of the time" he said slowly rubbing his chin.
Nidorina having finished conversing with Sonic's pokemon slowly approached Sonic. Sonic knelt to meet its eyes. Nidorina looked at it and cried out its name.
"Nido. Nido. Nidorino".
Sonic's eyes widened in shock.
"Did it just cry out Nidorino?!"
He composed himself again and smiled as he pet the pokemon who continued staring at him despite resisting closing its eyes to the touch.
"Good to have you on my team little one" Sonic said calmly as he decided they would set camp next to the river for the night before heading to the tunnel.
After making a campfire and deciding to roast some marshmallows for the night, Sonic looked at his pokemon playing with their new friend. Sonic wanted to think they were playing with nidorino but decided to call his brother not only to catch up but also to tell him about this strange encounter. He took out his phone and facetimed.
"Good evening champion in the making" Jet joked.
"Hehe. Hey there bro" Sonic said.
"Tails arrived a few minutes ago. Run into him while jogging. He told me about your battle. And about your raichu. So sick I'm jealous" Jet said.
"Yeah I'm proud of it" Sonic answered "so um, I caught another pokemon earlier today"
"Yo! Slow down there" Jet joked "the tournament is still a long time from now".
"I know. But there is something strange about it".
"What do you mean?"
"Well I thought it was a nidorina. I mean I've seen it in pictures so I thought I identified it. But when I got close and personal with it… it cried out nidorino".
Sonic saw Jet's eyes widen in shock and a moment later the camera became blurry and then black as Jet dropped the phone. Picking it back up, Sonic was surprised to see his brother borderlining on a panic attack.
"Woah, woah. You ok?" Sonic asked.
"Do me… do me a favor" Jet said trying to be calm.
"Tell me".
"Scan it.. with your dex… it can't be…" he said to himself in the end.
Sonic still not understanding what the big deal was took out his dex and scanned his new pokemon as he took a bite from his marshmallow. The dex analyzed the pokemon and started speaking.
"Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokémon. The evolved form of the male Nidoran. Its highly developed horn is extremely powerful".
A picture of nidorino was also shown on the pokedex's screen. Unlike Sonic's nidorino the picture showed a purple one. Sonic and Jet, through the phone call, saw it at the same time. Jet exclaimed in shock and tripped on the side of his bed falling to the ground causing Sonic to almost choke on his marshmallow.
"Dude you ok?" Sonic asked him now totally confused.
"Sonic!" he screamed in a combination of excitement, shock and disbelief "you found a shiny!"
"A what?"
"A shiny! A different colored version of a pokemon!"
"Different colored?" Sonic said intrigued.
"Yes! They're extremely rare! Analysts say the odds of actually encountering a shiny pokemon is 1 in 8192!"
"What?!"
"You possess one of the rarest nidorinos in the world!"
Sonic looked at his nidorino in awe.
"A shiny…"
"Yeah! Tell me you will raise it to a nidoking!"
"Of course I will. That's what I caught it for. And plus. It would be cool to give team rocket a taste of their own medicine. Nidoking's part ground. So their poison types will fall even easier".
The rest of the phone call was about the two brothers commenting on the rarity of the newly caught Nidorino as well as Sonic learning about shinies from Jet, being very intrigued by the concept. After about 2 hours, Jet hang up to go to bed as Sonic laid by the campfire while his pokemon curled and also fell asleep. Sonic looked at the blue nidorino still taking in how cool the idea of a shiny pokemon was.
The next morning after both Sonic and his team woke up he decided to test nidorino's strength and moves to see what he could learn to become an even more versatile pokemon. After a few rounds of moves Sonic witnessed his new shiny team member knowing poison sting, horn attack, double kick and leer. Though double kick would now give them an advantage over steel and ice types, the face that it didn't know any ground moves worried Sonic a bit but decided to remember his rule of one step at a time. After that they continued their way reaching the rock tunnel after a while.
"Hm…" Sonic said as he sat near the entrance of the tunnel "too dark. Not this time" he said as he took out a flashlight. Opening it to illuminate the path he proceeded forward.
The results of the flashlight were imminent. They started getting jumped by wild pokemon. Sonic deciding he didn't have the patience to battle them all one by one, sent out all of his pokemon and ordered them to cover him as they proceeded forward. Raichu took the lead, kadabra the rear, and nidorino and wartortle the sides. Sonic was pleased to see them repelling the wild pokemon so efficiently. Nidorino was also proving to be quite strong. Just like the pokedex explained, its horn attack was very strong.
After a lot of battles with wild pokemon and a couple of battles with lost trainers who Sonic was kind enough to allow them to follow him towards the exit, they all reached the end of the tunnel. The bright light once again blinded Sonic for a while. The trainers thanked him and went on their way. Sonic recalled his team apart from raichu and kept going for a while more finally reaching lavender town. He immediately got an feeling of uneasiness just by being in the town, especially by the big tower at the mountain foot. While sitting to get some lunch with his team with him getting a burger and his pokemon some pokemon food, he asked the waiter what that tower was.
"Oh that. Well… it's a pokemon graveyard. Trainers from all around the region come here to put their pokemon to rest. I hope you never have to visit" he said after bringing Sonic his burger.
Sonic regretted asking. He looked at the tower.
"I hope that too" he thought chewing.
After lunch, while heading to the west exit of the city, Sonic heard voices from a run-down building. Recalling raichu and approaching slowly, crouching at the same time to not be seen he saw 2 team Rocket grunts discussing.
"Are you sure this a good idea?"
"I don't know if it's a good idea all I know is that boss wants us to catch ghost type pokemon that live in the tower".
"What's with him desiring ghost types all of a sudden?"
"How exactly will we take over saffron city completely you moron? If team Rocket attempts it as we are there is a high chance the city gym leader will come to the city's aid. And you know she wields psychic types".
"Yeah. They are one major weakness".
"Exactly. Boss needs powerful ghost types to even the odds".
"But we still can't execute the plan. Not without the scope".
"Boss said he will examine it first. After he gives the ok, the silph co will mass produce them for us".
"I see. But how long will that take? I get the chills just by being here".
"As long as we need. Boss is multitasking right now. Overseeing the completion of the new base in Celadon city" –Sonic almost gasped hearing this but covered his mouth to stop himself – "and awaiting the prototype. Probably by the end of this week will have the ok".
"A week here?" the grunt complained. Sonic crouched away and run outside the town. He had heard everything he needed to hear. The hideout was in Celadon. He wished he had exchanged phone numbers with Mike to let him know.
"Best thing we can do is train and then invade the base. But I need nidorino to learn something good first".
Thinking quickly he called Tails.
"Hey Sonic" Tails answered without any color in his voice. He seemed distant.
"Hey Tails. Quick question. Does you cousin know of any pokemon move tutors in Celadon city?"
"You already there?" still no color in his voice.
"Not yet. But team Rocket has a base there. I'm planning to raid it but I will need the new addition to my team to learn a good move. More specifically a ground move" he said unveiling his new shiny nidorino.
"Fascinating" Tails said somewhat intrigued "I'll call my cousin to see if he knows anyone, after he is the one who lives there".
"Tails why are you this cold?"
"Have you considered my words?"
"Is that what this is about?"
"Did you?"
"Tails I'm telling you…"
"Did you?"
Sonic sighed.
"I did".
"And?"
"Look I'm not like Shadow ok? I'm just becoming more confident that's all".
"Real confidence doesn't need flaunting Sonic. Neither does it require to show off. I hope you realize it soon. I'll call you back in a while" Tails said hanging up. Sonic clenched his fist in frustration.
"I'll show you" he thought as he sent raichu back out so they could go on their way to Celadon city.