PM Lists, got it
Note: I am SOOOO sorry for how long this took. I blame college. They just don't let you focus on important stuff like Pokemon when they want you to be studying microbiology. Also other fanfics on FF.com. Also writers block. Also just a tad bit of lazyness.
The point is, I'm really sorry. On with the show!
Chapter 3: A Pleasant Thrashing
"Zane?" Ethan looked back down at the red-haired boy's trainer card, "That's your name right? Says so right here."
"Give that back." Zane growled at him, roughly yanking the card out of the other boy's hand.
Ethan put his hands up in a defensive posture, "Hey, sorry! I didn't mean to pry. Anyway, I gotta rush. Professor Elm down in New Bark needs me so, see ya later I guess."
Before Ethan could run however, an idea occurred to Zane. He had a new Pokemon, which he still needed to test out. He had a Pokemon that was more rare and powerful then any other in the area in fact, outside of two, and he didn’t even know exactly what kind it was. A battle with someone who held one of the other two was exactly what he needed to test his new acquisition.
And besides, something about this Ethan kid ticked him off.
The moment before the other boy had dashed out of reach, Zane grabbed onto upper arm, holding him in place.
“Hey - what?” Ethan stuttered in surprise for a brief moment before collecting himself, “Let go of me, I need to get back to New Bark as fast as I can!”
“Why?”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, “The Professor has been robbed. I need to get back there as soon as possible to help out.” His voice was almost threatening, and his hand twitched towards the small Pokeball at his belt.
Zane smirked, glad that he was getting under the other boy’s skin, “Again I ask, why? If this Professor of yours was robbed, he’s going to call the police. What, do you think that you’re better then them? What are you supposed to do?”
Ethan stared at Zane blankly for a moment, too stunned to respond.
“You’re a Pokemon trainer.” Zane stated, glancing at the red and white orb on Ethan’s belt, “As am I and I’m challenging you to a battle.”
“What? No, I can’t right now. I told you, people need me!”
Zane rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so full of yourself. You’re a trainer, not a cop, so let the cops handle their jobs. Besides, I guarantee that you’ll waste more time arguing with me then battling me. This shouldn’t take long.” He smirked.
Ethan turned his head away and Zane could tell that he was thinking it over. It only took a moment for him to give his answer, “Fine…one-on-one, let’s get this over with quickly.”
Zane smiled to himself. In spite of the other boy’s words, he could see the battle lust glinting in Ethan’s eyes.
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Two young boys stood roughly 40 feet apart from each other, staring each other down, one with an over-confidant smirk, the other sporting simply a determined mile-long gaze.
Zane was the first to move, his finger pressing the tiny button on the Pokeball, causing it to grow from the size of a ping-pong ball to the size of a large softball.
“ATTACK!” The red-haired trainer called out as he tossed his ball forward. There was a flash of red light and a small figure emerged, taking shape from the energy which was released by the red and white orb.
The Pokemon which formed out of the red light was small, no higher at the top of its head then Zane’s knee. Its head was crocodilian in shape, with small fangs protruding from it’s mouth and raised eyes, designed so that it could keep it’s entire body submerged while still holdings the tips of it’s eyes out in the air.
Totodile’s body was covered with reptilian scales, not as tough as they would be when it reached its full potential, but still strong enough to provide some protection from direct blows. From an offensive standpoint, the crocodilian possessed five tiny but very hard claws on its fingers, a jaw of remarkable power for a creature of its size, all on top of the numerous water attacks that all water types were capable of learning. Along the small water Pokemon’s back were three ridges of crimson red spines, and although its feet had not yet grown claws, its paddle-like toes and rudder-like tail would greatly aid the creature in the water.
Zane grinned with excitement. That crazy old Professor hadn’t been lying. Totodile were amongst the rarest Pokemon in existence, and if trained properly were amongst the strongest water types in existence as well.
The Totodile blinked in surprise and its head turned left and right slowly, taking in its new surroundings. It seemed confused, though Zane supposed that this was to be expected, considering where it had suddenly found itself.
“TOTODILE!” Zane called out, and the bright blue reptile twisted its head around to glance at Zane, cocking its head to the side in a questioning manner.
“To?” The creature questioned.
“Totodile,” Zane spoke, “This is your first battle, and that is our opponent.” He pointed at Ethan.
Totodile glanced first at Ethan, then at Zane, “To?” The small blue creature paused for a moment and then pointed, first at Zane, then at itself.
Zane immediately understood what Totodile was trying to ask, whether or not he was going to be the Pokemon’s master. Zane nodded gravely in response.
What happened next was a blur of motion and blue color that was so sudden that it left Zane lying down on his back with a heavy weight on his chest without any real understanding as to how he got to that point.
“TOTOTO!” The crocodilian Pokemon called out as it nuzzled its snout against Zane’s chest, a look of elation on its face.
“Ah ****,” Zane whispered under his breath. Just his luck he would get a Pokemon that was
affectionate.
“You know,” Ethan called out, “you don’t seem to have very good control over that Pokemon.”
A sudden change came over the Totodile. It glanced back over towards Ethan and its eyes narrowed in a manner that looked eerily similar to its new master. The small reptile jumped off of Zane’s chest and growled ferociously at Ethan. Clearly, despite having only just recently discovered that it had a new owner, it took any perceived slight of its master as a personal offence.
Zane rose back to his feet, “My Totodile is untrained. I’m going to use you to break him in.” He gave an arrogant smirk, “I’m willing to bet that I can still wipe the floor with you.”
Ethan’s smirk was more fun-loving, “Well, we’re not that far off from each other. My Pokemon is pretty new as well.” He reached to his belt and retrieved the single Pokeball from its clip.
“Lets go, Ace!” The capped boy called out as he pressed the button on the ball and a flash of red light shot out from inside.
The creature revealed seemed slightly smaller then Totodile, though this might have been an illusion coming from the fact that this creature was hunched over and looked like it would be more comfortable running as a quadruped rather then a biped. Its eyes were closed almost to slits, and its long thin snout looked as though it would be useful in foraging for insects. Most notable of all however were the four small pads on the small creatures back, a slightly brighter shade of red then the burgundy fur that covered the creature’s back and head. Within moments of the small rodent-like creature’s release, these four pads erupted into fire.
“A Cyndaquil, eh?” Zane deadpanned, “And you called it Ace? How original.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, more in annoyance then actual anger, “Like you can talk. You haven’t even given you Pokemon a name yet. Anyways, let’s get this over with quickly, all right? ACE, ATTACK TOTODILE!”
The fire mouse Pokemon charged Totodile in a mad sort of tackle, not yet experienced enough to use or utilize any of its elemental or more advanced moves. Totodile however was not really any more skilled then his opponent and was hit dead on with a surprising degree of force, knocking it to the ground.
“Totodile, get up and fight back!” Zane yelled. This might be the only time that his Totodile would have the opportunity to fight a fire Pokemon without the aid of its type advantage and as such would be perhaps the best possible time to see just how naturally strong his Pokemon really was.
Zane was glad to see that Totodile seemed to take the battle just as seriously as he was, and moved forward to attack with wild ferocity, the claws on its hands glinting in the sunlight.
Cyndaquil has slightly more battle experience then did Totodile, and hopped out of the way of the first swipe, but took a direct hit to the face from the follow up attack, leaving three shallow cuts on its face.
Cyndaquil wasted no time in retaliating, slamming its head forward and head butting its foe. Totodile stumbled back from the force of the blow and Cyndaquil pressed the advantage, slamming into its opponent over and over again.
Zane cursed under his breath. Cyndaquil’s attacks were more brutal in fashion, with Totodile’s claws being far too short to do any sort of real damage. If only he knew what sort of proper Pokemon attacks his new fighter knew, then perhaps he could get somewhere.
In the back of his mind, he remembered one of the very first lessons that his fathers tutors taught him.
“Most Pokemon who are too inexperienced to know their own attacks, usually before level 7 or 8, will instinctively favor brawling in a manner that is somehow reminiscent of attacks that they are capable of using, but don’t know it yet. A young Pokemon who happens to have access to the move Pound, for example, will focus its brawling in the form of rough slams and punches.”
Zane nodded and considered how Totodile had been fighting so far, with the sharpness of its claws. The red-haired boy knew of several different types of moves that involved claws, Metal Claw, Shadow Claw, Slash, Dragon Claw, but considering that his Totodile wasn’t likely to be any higher then level 5, he knew that none of these were anywhere near probable. He wracked his brain trying to remember what the lowest level of claw-based Pokemon attacks was.
He cursed his tendency to zone out when his tutors mentioned the words “is the weakest”.
He glanced back up and saw that his Totodile was putting up a very determined fight but was quickly being beat down. The Cyndaquil had a few more light scratches of its face, but nothing that would properly deter it, while it kept up the much more forceful tackles that were quickly taking his Totodile apart. Damn, it! He wished that his little blue croc would at least have the intelligence to use its powerful jaws, even if it didn’t yet have the experience to know instinctively to do so. It would be more effective then these pathetic scratches!
Suddenly Zane froze. That last word in his thoughts had triggered something in him. Scratches…
“Totodile!” Zane called out, “Use your Scratch attack!”
The blue gator jumped back from its aggressive enemy and, almost as though unbidden if Totodile’s look of surprise was any indication, its three fingers all began to glow with a pale white light. Surprised though it may have been, it wasted no time before charging its foe and striking with its claws as hard as it possibly could.
The difference between a scratch and a Scratch with a capital S, was astonishing. Cyndaquil was thrown back from the force of the blow, landing almost four feet away from where it had been a second before, and it took more then a little bit of effort for the fire mouse to scramble back to its feet.
Zane grinned in triumph. That one attack had made up almost all the difference in damage between the two. He could still win this. He might even win it easily.
Ethan raised an eyebrow, “Hey, pretty good. Since this is obviously your first battle with this Totodile, and you aren’t using a Pokedex, I assumed that you didn’t know what any of your Pokemon’s attacks would be. Either you already knew a bit about this species or your must be one clever guy.”
Zane’s eyes narrow, “I don’t need your condescension!” he growled.
Ethan shrugged in response, “Fine, then I’ll stop playing around. Cyndaquil, use Tackle!”
The fire mouse charged at Totodile again, but although there was no visible energy as with Totodile’s Scratch, there was still something different about the overall feel of the attack. A sort of strength which was invisible to the naked eye but which made the hair on the back of Zane’s neck prickle in anticipation.
“Totodile, get out of the way!
The water Pokemon needed no further encouragement, jumping clumsily out of the way as Cyndaquil charged past him.
“Use your attack again Totodile!”
Once more, Totodile’s claws began to glow with a pale light as he charged. Unfortunately, Cyndaquil’s Tackle attack was not yet finished. The fire mouse pivoted with remarkable agility and charged forward, hitting Totodile directly in the chest, tossing the gator back even farther then it had been thrown by Totodile’s Scratch.
Totodile was hurt badly, and Zane knew it. It was absolutely out of the question that he should lose this battle…this first battle…but he knew that this was going to be a hard thing to pull back from. The way that he judged it, Totodile had just one more good hit in him left before he collapsed.
Cyndaquil had two, if he was lucky.
“Totodile, play defense for now. Don’t let him hit you again! Only attack if you can find an opening!”
The little croc nodded adamantly, spreading its legs out and lowering its head, as though preparing itself to sprint at a moment’s notice.
Ethan smirked, “Ace, use your Smokescreen!”
The fire mouse Pokemon opened up its small mouth and began rotating its head in a circular pattern. Almost immediately a thick black smoke started spraying from Cyndaquil’s mouth, coving nearly half the battlefield in an opaque smog that made seeing anything farther out then a couple feet nearly impossible.
Zane’s eyes narrowed, “What was the point of that? If my Pokemon cannot see, then neither can yours.”
Ethan’s confidant but amiable smirk was really getting on Zane’s nerves, “Oh, Cyndaquil doesn’t need to see. That long snout of his is like a sensor for movement. In the wild the breed usually burrows underground in the area around volcanoes and their eyesight is terrible regardless.”
For the first time, Zane’s face adopted a look of astonishment. How the heck did this guy know that!? Did he just happen to be an expert on the Cyndaquil line? Or, more likely, did that Professor take the time to explain all of the traits and capabilities of Cyndaquil before giving it to him.
As though reading his mind however, Ethan reached for a small, red object that was attached to his belt. Zane hadn’t noticed it before. It looked like either a highly shrunken down version of a personal laptop computer, or some sort of highly advanced smart phone. He had never seen anything like it.
Ethan seemed to notice his look of cautious curiosity, “It’s called a Pokedex. I got it from the guy who lives in this old wooden cottage up on route 30. The guy is a genius! You just scan a Pokemon with it and it tells you basically everything that’s known on the breed. I got like 4 pages of stuff just on the behavior of Cyndaquil in the wild, plus 2 more on common battle tactics. Of course you can also set it to just hit the highlights for the heat of battle. On top of that, when you scan a Pokemon, it can give you that Pokemon’s level and all the moves that it currently knows! Awesome, right!?”
To say that the red-haired boy was astonished would have been a vast understatement. Of course, he was also somewhat ticked and, if he were to be completely honest with himself, more then a little jealous. An object like that would not only give a person the advantage in battle, but it would also be an enormous advantage when it came to training. As far as he was concerned, the tech was out of this world as well. Of course there were machines that could do everything that he had just described, but they were so huge that they filled up entire rooms, and could ordinarily be found only at Pokecenters and the like.
He made a mental note to make a visit to this guy on route 30 some time later.
Zane was knocked out of his thoughts by his opponent’s call, “Ace, charge with Tackle!”
Zane’s eyes scanned the smoky field trying to catch a glimpse of burgundy, but knew that even if he, with his higher viewpoint, could see the little rat, by the time the shorter Totodile saw it would already be too late to dodge. In desperation, he did the only thing that he could think of, “Totodile! You won’t be able to see him until he is right on top of you! Prepare a Scratch attack and
try to time it so that you’ll hit him at the apex of his charge! With any luck you’ll knock him to the side and be alright!”
Totodile, its loyalty astonishing for such a new Pokemon, nodded its understanding and concentrated a tiny amount of power (by the standards of well trained Pokemon, though to these neophytes it was actually quite strong) to its claws.
Almost immediately, Cyndaquil charged out from behind the curtain of smoke. Totodile was ready for it, and almost immediately lashed out at its charging foe. The small croc’s aim was true, landing a direct strike on Cyndaquil as it was in mid-flight. Unfortunately, Cyndaquil’s own charge was not stopped. Its own momentum too powerful to be knocked away, Totodile was still hit with the full blunt force of the fire Pokemon’s attack.
At this point, by all accounts it should have been over, the victory going to Cyndaquil. Their attacks were of comparable strength, but Cyndaquil simply had more remaining stamina. But sometimes things happen in battles that are not so easy to predict.
Had Cyndaquil been hit by your average, ordinary, everyday attack, it would have remained standing, victorious. But it wasn’t. It had been charging at full speed when it was hit, which meant that it had suffered from not only the force of Totodile’s blow, but its own as well. The relative speed of Totodile’s claws had jumped up tremendously simply because both forces were heading directly towards each other.
Cyndaquil had suffered twice the ordinary damage. It was what was commonly called in the trainer’s vernacular, a Critical Hit.
Both Ethan and Zane watched the battlefield with intensity. The smokescreen was beginning to dissipate, but until then, neither could see the outcome of the battle.
Slowly the fog lifted. Two figures could be faintly seen through the fog, roughly 4 or 5 feet from each other. The gentle breeze continued to clear up the field, but it was nearly 10 seconds still before either of the trainers could properly see the outcome.
Both Totodile and Cyndaquil lay on the ground, exhausted and defeated. It didn’t happen often in this world, but it was an honest to goodness tie.
Ethan let out a sigh of what looked to Zane like relief, whipping off his hat and running his fingers through his hair which looked like it had been matted down with sweat, perhaps due to the battle.
“Well, that was certainly an intense battle. I gotta say, I haven’t lost yet, so to tie to a guy who seems like he’s just starting out, it must mean that you’re pretty darn good.”
The raven-haired youth walked over to his downed Pokemon and gently picked it up, cradling it in his arms like one would a newborn baby and stroking its snout.
“You did great Ace. Looks like we still got a lot to go before we’re good enough to take on whole Johto League.”
Zane watched the whole scene with disgust. His clenched fists were actually shaking he was so mad. Somehow the idea of loosing against a guy who had a more experienced Pokemon, though distaistful, was nowhere near as bad as a tie. It was like fate was tantalizing him by allowing him to be so close to victory but at the same time dangling it just out of reach.
And what was 1000 times worse was that his tie had to be to this...this...this damn, soft-hearted WEAKLING!!!
Slowly, trying to restrain his temper, Zane walked over to where his Totodile lay on the ground, its eyes half closed from sheer exhaustion.
“Get up.” Zane growled at the tiny blue creature. Totodile didn’t move.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Ethan asked, his voice laced with repulsive concern.
Zane ignored him, “Get up!” he spoke again, this time with much more force.
Ethan now walked over to the redhead and placed a hand on his shoulder, the other arm still cradling his fallen fire mouse, “Stop that. Your Totodile is fainted. It can’t fight anymore and there’s no sense in pushing it.”
Zane roughly brushed away Ethan’s hand, but otherwise continued to ignore him, “Totodile, as your master I COMMAND you to get on your FEET!”
The gator’s body stirred, and slowly it opened its eyes and raised its head to stare at Zane. For a moment, it seemed as though it might disobey, but then it placed its little hands and legs on the ground and attempted to rise to its feet. It wasn’t having any success.
Ethan had had enough, “Listen to me! You can’t treat your Pokemon like tha-ARGH!”
Zane had had enough. Before Ethan could finish his statement Zane had violently slammed his elbow into the other boy’s face. Ethan fell to his butt, barely keeping his hold on his unconscious Cyndaquil. His nose appeared to be broken and his entire upper lip was covered in red.
“Don’t you tell me how to treat MY Pokemon. I took him fair and square and he’s mine now. If you want to be one of those ‘positive reinforcement’ morons, you go ahead and do that, but that’s not how I was taught. I only care about strength, I don’t care about feel-good stupidity, and…” he turned his attention back to the Totodile, “I DON’T ACCEPT FAILURE!”
Ethan gingerly touched his nose and then held his hand back to see the blood on his fingers. After a brief moment of shock, his face took on a look of shock, quickly followed by realization, “Took?” He repeated under his breath, “You’re the thief that attacked the Professor! That Totodile is stolen!”
Zane scoffed, “Wow, you really are sharp. You just figure that out? I mean, how many other Totodiles can there be floating around out there?”
Ethan was cursing himself for not having looked at the other two Pokemon in Elm’s lab. But he had felt such an immediate connection to Cyndaquil that he knew that he would never have picked any other Pokemon.
Filled with a decent bit of anger both at Zane and at himself, Ethan scrambled back to his feet, “You’re going to give that Totodile back to me, right now!”
Zane laughed, “Am I? Are you going to make me? Don’t be stupid, your Pokemon might have been able to match mine, but I could kill you right now if I wanted to.”
Ethan jumped to his feet and charged at the red-haired boy, swinging his fist forward. A moment later he was curled into the fetal position on his side, gripping his stomach in pain. It had happened to quickly for him to have reacted. In the middle of his punch, Zane had grabbed his fist, elbowed him in the upper chest, and then slammed a knee into his gut.
Zane watched his rival writhe on the ground beneath him with little satisfaction. There was nothing to be gained by breaking down such a weakling, but at the moment he didn’t want to be distracted. He turned his attention back to his Totodile.
“Totodile, today was your first test as my Pokemon and you failed me. Now prove to me that you deserve to be my Pokemon and get BACK ON YOUR DAMN FEET!”
Totodile’s eyes met Zane’s and it nodded in a sort of acceptance. Gingerly, the small creature steadied its large, paddle-like feet onto the ground and attempted to push itself upward. Its arms were small and its exhaustion made the going slow, but steadily the water Pokemon began to rise.
It took longer then Zane was happy with, and it still looked as though a decent gust of wind could knock it over, but in the end Totodile was on its feet before Ethan was.
Zane nodded, “Good enough.” And he returned Totodile to its Pokeball, “I suppose you could use a quick healing trip to the Pokecenter, then well be on our way.”
Ethan forced himself to his feet and glared at Zane as the red-haired boy walked away, “I’ll find you again!” he called out, “And I’ll stop you, and I’ll bring the Professor his Totodile back!”
Zane just ignored him and continued to walk away.
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Lyra continued to apply the wet salve to Geoffrey’s bruised neck. Poor scientist had been essentially unharmed when the thief had attacked him from behind, but it still hurt if he moved his head around too much.
“Lyra, it’s really okay.” The man stated, “Go see if the Professor needs you. My neck will be okay by tomorrow.”
The girl sighed, not wanting to leave her charge, but knowing that he was right, “Okay, but if you need anything don’t be afraid to holler.”
Although the laboratory was vast, it took Lyra only a few moments to find Professor Elm. She knew exactly where he was bound to be. As she walked into the Pokemon starter room, she saw both the figure of the man whom she had come to know as a second father speaking with a policeman. The cop was listening to Elm’s tale and taking down notes.
“And at first I didn’t see the boy, because it was the middle of the night you see and the curtains were closed. He seemed to be able to tell where he was going though because he bolted straight for the window as soon as I walked in the room. I was able to turn on the lights and catch a glimpse of him just before he got away. I recognized him immediately because I had spoken to him earlier that same day.”
The policeman nodded, “Can you describe him for me?”
The Professor thought for a moment and looked as though he was blanking, “Uh, well...he had red hair and...well...I’m not sure what else to say really.”
“I can describe him for you.” Lyra stated from the doorway, her face an indignant scowl.
Professor Elm seemed to jump at her sudden appearance, but the policeman simply nodded at her to continue.
“He looked like he was maybe my age, maybe a year or so older, so about 15 or 16. He was taller then most, almost a half a head taller then me. He was really lean too. And he had odd features as well, like they were soft and harsh at the same time.”
She paused for a moment to try and think further on the thief’s features. “Uh...his face was really pale. Like the Professor said, he had red hair, and it was long for a boy, almost to his shoulders. He also had red eyes, I think, sort of creepy. He’s hard to miss with that hair of his. I think he might be from north, given how pale he was and with his red-hair. Oh, and I don’t know if he has changed his clothes yet, but he was wearing a black jacket with red lining that looked expensive and was really well fitted, and blue jeans.”
The policeman nodded to her as he jotted down these notes, “That was quite impressive.” He stated, “We know that witnesses don’t always have the best memory when it comes to these things, but this should still give us a decent bit to go on.”
Lyra rubbed the back of her head and looked embarrassed, “Well I met him earlier in the day and I have a nearly photographic memory so...yeah.”
The Professor nodded, “I can attest to that. She has a history of remembering just about anything that she sees.”
The cop looked thoughtful, “Well that certainly makes things easier. Still, I can’t promise anything. My jurisdiction only goes so far as Cherrygrove and Route 30. If he crosses into Route 31 then there is nothing that I can do other then alert the authorities of Violet City and hope that they take the time to hunt him down.” He nodded as though to himself, “I gotta say that it would sure be easier if we knew what this guy’s name was.”
Professor Elm shook his head, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you there. I know that I probably should have gotten his name first thing when he came to my lab, but I’m not used to this kind of thing. No one has ever tried to rob me before.”
“I understand that. Most of the crimes that I get could have been prevented except that everyone in these parts has basically the same mentality. They know that these things happen, but they think that there is no way that it could happen to them. Well if that’s all that you got, I’d better get going. Our best chance at catching this kid is if we can manage to get to him before he moves out of our jurisdiction. Violet city, despite its large size compared to here, is basically run by the monks and they don’t like to arrest people if they can help it.”
The Professor showed his understanding and wished the officer well as he left the laboratory. After the other man was gone, Professor Elm turned back to Lyra and paused for a moment. He opened his mouth as though to say something but seemed to rethink the idea and closed it again.
“What is it Professor?” Lyra asked after a moment of waiting.
This question seemed to steel the Professor’s resolve and he replied with more confidence then was his norm, “Lyra, I want you to have the third Pokemon to go on your quest with.”
Lyra was surprised, “But Professor I couldn’t! You need to have one for yourself don’t you? Now that the thief has taken one, if you give me the last one, you won’t be able to study it like you wanted to!”
Professor Elm nodded, “This is true, but I have two reasons for doing this. First off, when it comes right down to it, field studies are more important then lab studies. It would have been nice to be able to conduct some experiments myself in the lab, but it is much more important that I get data from multiple different subjects in the field. Your experiences are bound to be different from Ethan’s, and it is important for me to be able to compare and contrast them.”
Lyra thought about this for a moment and then slowly nodded her understanding, “Okay, I guess I understand that. But what is the other reason?”
Elm looked rather sheepish as he responded, “I promised you that you would have one. I’m not going to break that promise just because some guy stole one of the Pokemon. By right, the third one is yours.”
Now it was Lyra’s turn to look embarrassed as she began waving her arms in front of her face, “Oh, Professor, you don’t have to do that! I understand the circumstances!”
Elm nodded, “I know, but I’m going to anyways. You and Ethan are both fantastic kids, and if anyone in Johto is going to be a good trainer for these Pokemon, I know that it will be you two. I just feel sorry for that poor Pokemon who has to be with that young delinquent.”
Lyra opened and closed her mouth a few times, as thought she wanted to say something but just couldn’t quite find the right words. After a moment, she just nodded, her head drooping in a sort of partial bow, “Alright then Professor. I accept. Thank you.”
“There is just one thing that I need you to promise me.”
Lyra looked confused, “What is it?”
The Professor looked worried, “I need you to swear to me Lyra, that you will not use this Pokemon to try and hunt down the thief.”
Lyra looked as though she were about to protest but Professor Elm interrupted her, “No, listen. I know you Lyra. You’ve got a justice streak a mile long, and I know that you’ve been thinking about this. Ever since you were a little girl you were always the type of person to stand up to bullies and you usually got yourself hurt doing so. But Lyra, this isn’t some playground bully who will knock you into the sandbox but who is ultimately harmless. This guy choked out one of my scientists. He could be seriously dangerous, and I will not have you getting hurt because of this whole thing.”
Lyra hung her head but slowly nodded, “Yeah, okay.”
Elm placed his hands on Lyra’s shoulders, “Promise me Lyra. Please. Look me in the eye and promise me that you won’t do this. You’re like a daughter to me and I couldn’t bare it if anything were to happen to you.”
Lyra slowly raised her head and looked directly into the man’s eyes, “I promise Professor.” She whispered.
Content, Elm nodded, “Good. Now come on, let’s go and meet your new Pokemon!”
Lyra nodded and followed the Professor towards the large round display that held now only a single Pokeball. She hesitated for a moment and glanced at Professor Elm, who nodded at her to continue. Gingerly she picked up the orb, feeling the weight of it in her hand, heavier then she would have expected for something so small.
Elm smiled, “Well, let’s see then, open in up.”
Lyra pressed the button on the front of the Pokeball, growing it to around the size of a softball. She gently tossed the ball and it hit the ground, opened with a red flash, and bounced back up into her hand.
The Pokemon revealed by the red flash was short, the top of its head barely reaching Lyra’s knees, though the large green leaf that grew from the top of its head made it seem slightly taller. It was simple looking enough, saurian in shape, with smooth green skin that seemed to be of the same texture as the stem of a small flower. The only other distinguishing features were the large soft eyes and the ring of tiny green buds positioned in a ring around the Pokemon’s neck.
Lyra had no idea what sort of Pokemon it was.
“Chiko?” The Pokemon had apparently been sleeping but was now waking up.
“Lyra, meet Chikorita.” Elm said as he grinned, “A very rare breed of grass type Pokemon.”
Chikorita was now fully awake and on its feet, “Chiko?” It glanced at Lyra with trepidation.
Lyra had to admit that she felt somewhat nervous herself, but she choked up a smile and reached her hand out to stroke the plant creature’s head. Chirkorita recoiled from the touch. Lyra tried again, reaching out farther, but Chikorita got to its feet and stepped back so quickly that she wasn’t able to touch the Pokemon.
Elm chuckled, “Well, it looks like this Chikorita is rather timid. Don’t worry, she just needs to warm up to you.”
Lyra raised an eyebrow, “She? It’s a girl?”
Elm scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “Well, I have to admit, I’m not the leading expert when it comes to plant type Pokemon. I guess I just called the Chikorita a girl when I first found her in the woods, but I don’t think that you can really tell just by looking over the Pokemon. You’d need a DNA analyzer, which unfortunately by little lab doesn’t have.” He grinned, “I guess she just sort of seemed like a female to me.”
Lyra decided that it was best not to be distracted by such things at the moment, and turned her attention back to Chikorita, who was now hiding behind the legs of one of Elm’s desks, peeking out every few seconds to glance fearfully at Lyra and the Professor.
“What happened to her?” Lyra asked, “Where did you find her?”
Elm’s face darkened, “I saved her from a poacher’s trap.”
Lyra looked shocked, “Poachers?”
Elm nodded, “Yeah. Chikorita are an endangered species you see, because their crown leaves are highly valued as aromatics and as a potent sleeping agent, essentially a natural anesthetic. It has, uh, other effects as well, if you heavily process it first. Makes a lot of money on the black market selling to people who can afford it and who don’t care about how illegal and unethical it is.”
Lyra could practically feel her eyes going red. Now that she was taking a closer look, she could see the faint outline of a thin scar around Chikorita’s right hind leg, which she imagined must have fit the outline of a small toothed foothold trap. She couldn’t help but feel enraged on the behalf of the poor little creature. In her mind’s eye she saw the poacher standing over Chikorita and other small and mostly defenseless Pokemon, sadistic joy marring his face. In her vision, the man's face was that of the hated thief.
She shook off her anger and realized that at the moment, it was less important to take out her anger on the horrible people of this world and more important to comfort the victims of those people, starting with Chikorita. She got down, sitting on her knees so as to make herself not seem so much large to the small Pokemon.
“Come on little girl.” She spoke as softly as she could as she held her hand out, “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
Chikorita stuck her head out slightly farther, staring at Lyra’s hand, but didn’t move further.
“It’s okay. Come on. You can trust me. I’m going to be caring for you from now on, and I’m going to make sure that nothing bad ever happens to you.”
Now the thing about Pokemon, was that they were not really beasts in the sense that we usually think about beasts. Although they looked like types of beasts, and although they were far more instinct driven then logic driven, they were also far more intelligent then any wild animal. This was why, despite not having the proper vocal cords to speak any human language, most of them who had spent time around humans could understand human languages.
Chikorita was not yet one of these Pokemon. For most of the grass-type's life, it had been living in the deep forests with essentially no human contact, and when it had been captured by poachers, it had been trapped in a cage for weeks without anyone speaking more then a few words around it. After the Professor had come to save it, he had tried to speak with it a few times, but he had apparently given up trying to get the Pokemon to open up to him. As such, Chikorita really had no idea what it was that Lyra was saying to it.
However, it did understand the kindly tone of voice. It was somewhat comforted by the fact that this human seemed to be so much softer voice, appearance, and even smell then those other humans that it had met. Most importantly, its instincts were strong enough to tell that the girl’s words, whatever they meant, were honest.
Slowly, cautiously, Chikorita moved out from behind the desk and began moving towards Lyra’s outstretched hand. Lyra felt compelled to try and move forwards herself, but also knew that any sudden movement might negate all of the progress that she had accomplished thus far and leave her worse off then when they started, so she kept still.
It took a while, but eventually, Chikorita reached her hand and gingerly pressed its forehead into her open palm.
Lyra smiled, “Good girl.” she whispered as she gently rubbed Chikorita’s head, “Don’t be afraid. You never have to be afraid of me.”
Elm grinned like a child who had just been told that Christmas was coming early, “Great job Lyra!” he spoke in that odd sort of voice that was both an excited shout and a quiet whisper, trying not to startle the timid Pokemon, “I knew that you could do it! I had hoped that Chikorita might respond better to you then she did to me!”
Letting his excitement get the best of him, Elm stepped forward just a little bit too forcefully.
“CHI!” Chikorita jumped in shock, directly into Lyra’s arms. Lyra herself was so surprised that she nearly dropped the Pokemon. Chikorita squirmed in fear and nuzzled as deep as it could into her shirt. Dumbfounded, she held the creature as close to her as possible and rubbed it comfortingly.
Elm glanced at her and she glanced at him. They couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zane glanced at the shiny red object in his hand, smirking. This “Mr. Pokemon” guy didn’t want to part with the object easily, but he had been aggressively persuasive.
Grinning, he held up the Pokeball that contained his Totodile, newly recovered from an unsuspecting nurse joy, and linked up a connection between the machine’s scanner and the Pokeball’s button.
The dex screen flashed on and a list of schematics appeared which the machine began verbally reading to him
“Data Acquired: Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokemon, Dex no. 158
Gender: Male
Nature: Adamant
Name: Unknown
Type: Water
Original Trainer: Unknown
ID No. Unknown
Level: 6
Battle Moves Known –
Scratch - (Power: 40, Type: Normal, Additional Effects: None)
Leer - (Power: 0, Type: Normal, Additional Effects: Causes fear in opponent and may reduce opponent’s defensive capabilities)
Ability: Sheer Force (Attacks with a secondary effect are increased in power, but lose their secondary effect)”
Zane was happy with the information. Sure, the attacks were weak, but these would be improved as he trained the Pokemon and its level was raised. This Pokemon had the potential to be a powerhouse, and when he was done with it, it would be.
Before long, no one would be able to stop him.
