Hey, sorry for the wait on this one. Next week I'll be Skiing in Austria, so I won't be able to write or post. Oh, and from now on please PM me the grammar errors.And without further adieu, enjoy!
Chapter 5
Zubat
It faced the great horizontal wall of sedimentary rock. It could feel the ancient power pulsing through the molecules. So close. Its prey was so very close.
The creature focused and started creating the chasm. Somewhere, it detected resistance. Not enough to be a nuisance, but enough for confirmation.
Whatever was down there did not want to be found.
With good reason.
***
Edward's heart almost leapt into his mouth. The perfectly smooth sphere had never seemed more beautiful. Edward staggered over to the ball and picked it up gently, admiring the complete roundness of the object.
And within, of course, his key to battling invincibility.
Euphoria and excitement suddenly built up, and Edward found himself whooping and punching the air.
“Yes!” he yelled. “Did you see that, Mudkip? You were brilliant! You were really-” Edward's cry was cut short as he saw the mud fish.
He was quaking, his small legs wobbling, struggling under the weight of his body. The laceration on his side was still seeping dark blood. His large eyes were losing their focus. He started to fall.
“No! Mudkip!” Edward roared in horror as his starter Pokemon collapsed to the ground. Shakily, he gripped Mudkip's Pokeball out of his pocket, and recalled it.
He stared at the balls in his two hands. One brought him so much joy, whilst the other terrified him completely. After a second he snapped out of his daze. Mudkip would be fine. Pokeballs acted as a life-support machine. Pokemon trapped inside were basically frozen in time. They felt, they thought and they experienced nothing, unless they were poisoned, of course.
Now comfortable that his water type was fine, Edward grinned triumphantly at the other ball. A Ninjask. His first capture. Then another part of him – Wait until Nuria sees this.
Suddenly Edward found himself running full-pelt back toward the camp-site. Anticipation kept him from getting tired, as well as helping him to manoeuvre around the many trees. Soon he saw the feint outlines of the tents against the bushes and other foliage, and slowed his pace. As he entered the clearing he made for the little red tent. Looking inside, he couldn't see anything, bar Nuria's unloaded sleeping bag. Edward groaned.
“Because I was here first! Got a problem with that?” Came the scathing growl from the other side of the clearing. Nuria.
He hurried over to the other side, to see Nuria confronting a short, bristling boy in front of the regeneration machine, obviously fighting over who was to use it next. His face was angry, but Nuria's was already beyond livid.
“Says who?” demanded the boy. He had to stand up on his tip-toes to get his face to reach hers. Both had limbs shaking in anger. Edward knew it was time to step in, as he had so many times before. He managed to worm his way betwixt the two, pushing Nuria away, and facing the boy.
“I'm ever so sorry,” he began, as though reciting a well rehearsed script, “for everything she has said and done, she does not mean it, and when she has cooled off she too will apologise.” Nuria hissed behind him, but stopped resisting. The boy too looked significantly less angry. Edward spread his arms out in front of him in a calming gesture.
“Now, use the machine, you'll both apologise, and we will go our separate ways.” Edward felt the tension in the air diffuse as the boy nodded stiffly. He turned to the machine, inserted two Pokeballs and a lime green Pokedex, waited a second then removed them. He caught Edward's eye, then turned to the seething female.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, eyes now on the floor. Edward brought up his leg back and caught Nuria's shin. She hissed again, but too mumbled an apology. The boy walked away, toward the group of tents. Instantly, Nuria turned on him.
“I said it once, I'll say it again – stop babying me!”
Edward could only grin. She'd calm down soon enough. As she walked off to use the machine, a tentative Nurse Joy walked over to him.
“I'm sorry I couldn't be any help. I haven't -” she yawned loudly, “-had any sleep since last night. Anyway, I think I'd better man the restoration machine from now on.” She hobbled over to the side of the bulky machine. Edward could only wonder how she had managed to get the bulky thing there.
Edward saw Nuria walk over to him. She looked sufficiently calmed down.
“Little brat,” she muttered. “Tried to push in.” Edward couldn't help being sceptical. The day Nuria got in a fight she didn't start, the world was sure to implode.
Edward grinned and reached into his pocket. He maximised it and held it out proudly in front of him. Nuria raised her eyebrows.
“Finally,” she said. “So, what is it?”
Edward intensified his grin of superiority.
“You'll see. I've just got to heal it.” He turned toward the Nurse and passed her two Pokeballs.
“It gave Mudkip a nasty slash,” he explained to Nuria. Nurse Joy took the balls, and turned to the machine, blocking his view of the small screen.
“What do you think of my first caught Pokemon, Nurse Joy?” Edward enquired, a note of strained innocence in his voice.
“Well,” Nurse Joy said in sluggish surprise, “this is a very unusual first capture.” Edward grinned as Nuria raised her eyebrows. “Very fast too. Covers Mudkip's weaknesses nicely.” Edward's grin only grew larger and larger. “It's nice to see a trainer who actually trains a Zubat nowadays.”
“Ninjask.” Edward corrected.
“No...” Nurse Joy answered, “It's definitely a Zubat. Ninjask are impossible to catch; they're too fast for Pokeballs.”
“B-but,” stuttered Edward, his chest hollowing, “but, I saw-” Suddenly it all fell into place. He turned cold as realisation coursed through him. Nuria laughed at his gaping mouth.
He hadn't seen Ninjask get caught. Edward played through the scene in his head. Ninjask flew into the tree. The Pokeball followed it into the tree. A screech, a flash of red...
But he hadn't actually seen the process of capturing take place. Shakily, Edward received the Pokeballs and Pokedex the nurse handed to him, and, in autopilot, walked over to the tent. He sat down on the damp grass in front of it, resting the Pokeball on his lap. Nuria came and sat next to him, an ill-concealed grin just trying to infect her entire face.
“Why you so glum?” She asked, nearly breaking into giggles. “What's so bad about Zubats anyway?”
“You know!” Edward shot back, thoroughly irritated.
“Know what?” She asked, her grin slowly growing in size.
“Because...” Edward flailed, lost for words. “Because...Because everybody has a Zubat.”
“Now, that's not true,” Nuria continued, managing to stifle a bark of laughter.
“No!” Edward amended. “It's that everybody everywhere can catch a Zubat, but they don't, because they're so common and they believe that everyone else will catch one!”
“Yeah...Sucks to be you!” and as though waiting for the best opportunity, the laughter came, causing Nuria to roll onto the back, eyes watering, rocking back and forth.
“Thanks a load,” Edward muttered vengefully.
“You – you should have -” She burst into a new fit of giggles, rolling onto her front, kicking the floor. “You should have seen your face,” she giggled, “when she said Zu-Zubat!”
Edward ground his teeth. He rose, leaving Nuria to her maniacal hysterics.
Stomping into the forest, he drew his Pokedex from his pocket. Clicking the Pokeball icon on the top-right hand of the screen, two small Pokemon avatars appeared. The small blue creature resembled Mudkip, whilst the other was such a dark blue and purple that its outline was very hard to make out. He pressed the creature the touch screen.
Suddenly the picture blew up, and Edward saw the dark blue ovoid of a body, the inner of dark purple wings and two tail-like appendages that shot out like spikes at the end. Instead of eyes upon its head were two large, almost conical ears above a gaping, four-fanged mouth. Frustration coursing through his body, he selected it again, and read the information on the screen:
“Name:Zubat.
Gender: Male
Type: Flying/Poison
Level -”
Edward almost choked on his gasp.
“Level: 7”
Edward stared confoundedly at the screen. So, not only did he miss out on capturing the fastest Pokemon on Earth, he also missed out catching a level twenty-plus Pokemon and instead had attained a level seven.
“Moves:Leech Life, Supersonic.”
Edward cursed inwardly. Not even a strong move in sight.
He drew the bat's Pokeball from his pocket, mulling over what to do. Release it? The suggestion sounded absurd. What kind of trainer released his second ever Pokemon? He threw the ball gently in his hand, thinking it over.
Zubat were fast, that much he knew. And Nurse Joy was right; it did cover Mudkip's weaknesses quite nicely.
But still, the other part of him groaned, to have such unrivalled speed... And it seemed like fate that he should have caught the Ninjask...
On the other hand, he reasoned, he knew Golbat and Crobat were more hardy than Ninjask. Only a Mud-slap managed to disable the ninja momentarily.
Confidence slowly started to well within him. Sure, Zubat weren't the most unique Pokemon in the world, but unique typing might come in handy... And, according to the nurse, Ninjask were impossible to catch. Edward began to grin. Maybe Zubat wasn't so bad...
Edward threw his new Pokemon's ball into the air, and caught it as it fell. From the ball appeared the Zubat in a glow of white. He flapped quickly and desperately to keep himself airborne. It made a screeching sound, and turned to face Edward. There was a moment of silence, which was then broken like the bat, screeching in its own, high pitched language;
“Bravest and most noble of trainers, pray tell, was it by thine hand I was captured?”
The human was a too startled to reply. Was his Pokemon communication off?
“Noble sir, I beseech thee, didst thou capture me with thine fine hand during my rest?”
Edward nodded shakily. Since when did Zubats appear to speak old-English?
“Jolly good! I commend you, good sir, on thine great intelligence, thine great cunning and nobility! I must apologise most graciously for my poor speech, for we Zubats have rarely chance to communicate with humans as deserving as thineself.”
Edward was lost for words. Sure, talking to Pokemon was a two-way thing. The Pokemon had to have a basic grasp of civilised communication of the listener for humans to be on speaking terms with them. But still, surely Pokemon could be understood without such... specific speech character? Perhaps Zubats don't usually communicate by normal means. Of course, Edward thought, Zubats use echolocation for communication, therefore their normal talk must be... out-dated, especially if they rarely met humans. Edward pondered on how to address it.
“Erm,” he began, “so, it's okay that I caught you while you were sleeping?”
“Why, kind sir, hadst thou caught me any other way I wouldst take you for a simpleton! The element of surprise is one's most advantageous... advantage. Obviously you viewed my magnificent frame from the ground and felt thine desire overtake thee. To demonstrate my humble affection for thee I shalt train with thee.”
“Good.” Edward said, at a loss for any other words. Then he realised the full meaning. “I mean, brilliant! Yeah, I can't wait to train with thee – you – too!” He grinned widely. Somewhere in the back of his mind, however, he jotted down a mental note never to mention the Ninjask to the bat.
“Jolly good, jolly good,” the Zubat muttered. “Know, shall we make battle now or later?”
“Later,” Edward decided. He held up the ball and returned the Zubat. Hands in pockets, he walked back into the clearing. Nuria was in the same place, looking extremely thrilled, but more calmed down. She raised her eyebrows as he approached.
“You look happy. Have you released the Zubat?” She asked.
“Nope.” Edward replied. “I think I'll keep it with me.”
Nuria raised her eyebrows further.
“Seriously? Oh, God, you're serious.” She thought for a second. “Want a Pokemon battle?” She asked.
Edward grinned and shook his head. Did she really take him for an idiot?
“Yeah, that'd be fun. Your Chikorita could Razor Leaf Mudkip to death, and Ralts could-” He broke off. “How's Ralts coming along, actually?”
Nuria grimaced.
“Proving dead hard to train. The best that I've done is made it use Growl against a group of Wurmple while they pounded it with Tackle. It finally learned Confusion, but was too shaken up to use it.” She spat on the floor. “Honestly, what's the point of getting Ralts to level six if it's just gonna fail on me?”
Edward said nothing. She was wound up. He'd forgive her for this lapse in Pokemon respectability for now.
“How about Mudkip versus Ralts? That sounds more fair.”
Nuria grinned, rising.
“Sure.” She narrowed her eyebrows. “What's he doing?”
Edward followed he gaze, and saw the boy from earlier approaching them. When he reached them, he stood straight, rolling his eyes.
“Nurse Joy told me to tell you that the Rustburo Gym Leader is coming here tonight because the north part of the Route 104 has flooded.” He started to walk away.
“Thank you!” Edward called behind him. He nodded, but didn't stop walking away. Edward turned his head back towards Nuria.
“You could have said-”
“Shut your face,” she growled. She thought for a while. “Maybe we should train separately. For the Gym Leader.”
Edward shrugged. Extra training might be useful.
“Yeah,” he said, “It's a rock type gym, isn't it?”
Nuria nodded. Edward smiled. Sure, Zubat would have a problem with that, but Mudkip would take down any rock type thrown at him.
“See you later,” Nuria said, and walked off out of the clearing. Edward rose too, and made off in the other direction out of the clearing. Knowing that Mudkip was a level lower than Zubat, he released the mud fish. After the white glow dispelled, Mudkip stood, eyes drooped, tearful.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, bowing his blue head. Edward raised his eyebrows.
“Sorry? Why are you sorry?”
“Because,” he closed his eyes, a tear rolling down his orange cheek, “I got knocked out by a measly Scratch from a Ninjask. I'm sorry. I don't deserve you.” He collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Edward gaped.
“Don't cry!” Edward demanded, at a loss for anything else to say. After hanging around made-of-bricks Nuria all his life, he hadn't any real experience with crying. He kneeled into sitting down in front of Mudkip, and placed a reassuring hand on his head, next to his fin. He tensed under Edward's touch, but continued to cry. Edward sat down. Mudkip buried his head in Edward's lap.
“I'm – I'm too weak!” Mudkip cried. Edward sighed.
“You realise that was a level twenty-plus Ninjask, and you're, at the moment, only level six?”
The Mudkip nodded shakily, taking shallow, ragged breaths.
“Would you like to train some more?” Edward asked.
Mudkip gasped and shot his head up.
“You'll still have me? You, you won't replace me with Ninjask?”
Edward ginned.
“Of course not. By the way,” he added, “turns out we didn't capture Ninjask. Turns out a Zubat was sleeping in the tree, and...”
Mudkip nodded, visibly more cheerful.
“So, shall we find another battle?”
Mudkip nodded excitedly, together they stood up, and made their way deeper into the forest.
Pokemon Language Explanation Time
There are two main ways in which Pokemon communicate; by their movements and expressions, and by tension on syllables they say out loud (E.g, Pi-KA-chu, ROOaaRRRR!).
Zubats, as a rule, speak to each other in high pitch screeches, too high for humans to hear. So, when they deign to speak our language, they have to revert to using traditional Pokemon-style communication. As Zubats rarely communicate with other species, they very rarely have to talk this way, meaning their speech has not evolved at the same pace others have.
Now, if you can speak a language very well, the only way there can be miscommunication is if the other person speaks in an outdated way. Hence why Zubat appears to speak old English: it is the closest translation to english that it is saying in Pokemon. On top of that, it speaks old English badly, to emphasize it doesn't speak that way often.
Chapter 5
Zubat
It faced the great horizontal wall of sedimentary rock. It could feel the ancient power pulsing through the molecules. So close. Its prey was so very close.
The creature focused and started creating the chasm. Somewhere, it detected resistance. Not enough to be a nuisance, but enough for confirmation.
Whatever was down there did not want to be found.
With good reason.
***
Edward's heart almost leapt into his mouth. The perfectly smooth sphere had never seemed more beautiful. Edward staggered over to the ball and picked it up gently, admiring the complete roundness of the object.
And within, of course, his key to battling invincibility.
Euphoria and excitement suddenly built up, and Edward found himself whooping and punching the air.
“Yes!” he yelled. “Did you see that, Mudkip? You were brilliant! You were really-” Edward's cry was cut short as he saw the mud fish.
He was quaking, his small legs wobbling, struggling under the weight of his body. The laceration on his side was still seeping dark blood. His large eyes were losing their focus. He started to fall.
“No! Mudkip!” Edward roared in horror as his starter Pokemon collapsed to the ground. Shakily, he gripped Mudkip's Pokeball out of his pocket, and recalled it.
He stared at the balls in his two hands. One brought him so much joy, whilst the other terrified him completely. After a second he snapped out of his daze. Mudkip would be fine. Pokeballs acted as a life-support machine. Pokemon trapped inside were basically frozen in time. They felt, they thought and they experienced nothing, unless they were poisoned, of course.
Now comfortable that his water type was fine, Edward grinned triumphantly at the other ball. A Ninjask. His first capture. Then another part of him – Wait until Nuria sees this.
Suddenly Edward found himself running full-pelt back toward the camp-site. Anticipation kept him from getting tired, as well as helping him to manoeuvre around the many trees. Soon he saw the feint outlines of the tents against the bushes and other foliage, and slowed his pace. As he entered the clearing he made for the little red tent. Looking inside, he couldn't see anything, bar Nuria's unloaded sleeping bag. Edward groaned.
“Because I was here first! Got a problem with that?” Came the scathing growl from the other side of the clearing. Nuria.
He hurried over to the other side, to see Nuria confronting a short, bristling boy in front of the regeneration machine, obviously fighting over who was to use it next. His face was angry, but Nuria's was already beyond livid.
“Says who?” demanded the boy. He had to stand up on his tip-toes to get his face to reach hers. Both had limbs shaking in anger. Edward knew it was time to step in, as he had so many times before. He managed to worm his way betwixt the two, pushing Nuria away, and facing the boy.
“I'm ever so sorry,” he began, as though reciting a well rehearsed script, “for everything she has said and done, she does not mean it, and when she has cooled off she too will apologise.” Nuria hissed behind him, but stopped resisting. The boy too looked significantly less angry. Edward spread his arms out in front of him in a calming gesture.
“Now, use the machine, you'll both apologise, and we will go our separate ways.” Edward felt the tension in the air diffuse as the boy nodded stiffly. He turned to the machine, inserted two Pokeballs and a lime green Pokedex, waited a second then removed them. He caught Edward's eye, then turned to the seething female.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, eyes now on the floor. Edward brought up his leg back and caught Nuria's shin. She hissed again, but too mumbled an apology. The boy walked away, toward the group of tents. Instantly, Nuria turned on him.
“I said it once, I'll say it again – stop babying me!”
Edward could only grin. She'd calm down soon enough. As she walked off to use the machine, a tentative Nurse Joy walked over to him.
“I'm sorry I couldn't be any help. I haven't -” she yawned loudly, “-had any sleep since last night. Anyway, I think I'd better man the restoration machine from now on.” She hobbled over to the side of the bulky machine. Edward could only wonder how she had managed to get the bulky thing there.
Edward saw Nuria walk over to him. She looked sufficiently calmed down.
“Little brat,” she muttered. “Tried to push in.” Edward couldn't help being sceptical. The day Nuria got in a fight she didn't start, the world was sure to implode.
Edward grinned and reached into his pocket. He maximised it and held it out proudly in front of him. Nuria raised her eyebrows.
“Finally,” she said. “So, what is it?”
Edward intensified his grin of superiority.
“You'll see. I've just got to heal it.” He turned toward the Nurse and passed her two Pokeballs.
“It gave Mudkip a nasty slash,” he explained to Nuria. Nurse Joy took the balls, and turned to the machine, blocking his view of the small screen.
“What do you think of my first caught Pokemon, Nurse Joy?” Edward enquired, a note of strained innocence in his voice.
“Well,” Nurse Joy said in sluggish surprise, “this is a very unusual first capture.” Edward grinned as Nuria raised her eyebrows. “Very fast too. Covers Mudkip's weaknesses nicely.” Edward's grin only grew larger and larger. “It's nice to see a trainer who actually trains a Zubat nowadays.”
“Ninjask.” Edward corrected.
“No...” Nurse Joy answered, “It's definitely a Zubat. Ninjask are impossible to catch; they're too fast for Pokeballs.”
“B-but,” stuttered Edward, his chest hollowing, “but, I saw-” Suddenly it all fell into place. He turned cold as realisation coursed through him. Nuria laughed at his gaping mouth.
He hadn't seen Ninjask get caught. Edward played through the scene in his head. Ninjask flew into the tree. The Pokeball followed it into the tree. A screech, a flash of red...
But he hadn't actually seen the process of capturing take place. Shakily, Edward received the Pokeballs and Pokedex the nurse handed to him, and, in autopilot, walked over to the tent. He sat down on the damp grass in front of it, resting the Pokeball on his lap. Nuria came and sat next to him, an ill-concealed grin just trying to infect her entire face.
“Why you so glum?” She asked, nearly breaking into giggles. “What's so bad about Zubats anyway?”
“You know!” Edward shot back, thoroughly irritated.
“Know what?” She asked, her grin slowly growing in size.
“Because...” Edward flailed, lost for words. “Because...Because everybody has a Zubat.”
“Now, that's not true,” Nuria continued, managing to stifle a bark of laughter.
“No!” Edward amended. “It's that everybody everywhere can catch a Zubat, but they don't, because they're so common and they believe that everyone else will catch one!”
“Yeah...Sucks to be you!” and as though waiting for the best opportunity, the laughter came, causing Nuria to roll onto the back, eyes watering, rocking back and forth.
“Thanks a load,” Edward muttered vengefully.
“You – you should have -” She burst into a new fit of giggles, rolling onto her front, kicking the floor. “You should have seen your face,” she giggled, “when she said Zu-Zubat!”
Edward ground his teeth. He rose, leaving Nuria to her maniacal hysterics.
Stomping into the forest, he drew his Pokedex from his pocket. Clicking the Pokeball icon on the top-right hand of the screen, two small Pokemon avatars appeared. The small blue creature resembled Mudkip, whilst the other was such a dark blue and purple that its outline was very hard to make out. He pressed the creature the touch screen.
Suddenly the picture blew up, and Edward saw the dark blue ovoid of a body, the inner of dark purple wings and two tail-like appendages that shot out like spikes at the end. Instead of eyes upon its head were two large, almost conical ears above a gaping, four-fanged mouth. Frustration coursing through his body, he selected it again, and read the information on the screen:
“Name:Zubat.
Gender: Male
Type: Flying/Poison
Level -”
Edward almost choked on his gasp.
“Level: 7”
Edward stared confoundedly at the screen. So, not only did he miss out on capturing the fastest Pokemon on Earth, he also missed out catching a level twenty-plus Pokemon and instead had attained a level seven.
“Moves:Leech Life, Supersonic.”
Edward cursed inwardly. Not even a strong move in sight.
He drew the bat's Pokeball from his pocket, mulling over what to do. Release it? The suggestion sounded absurd. What kind of trainer released his second ever Pokemon? He threw the ball gently in his hand, thinking it over.
Zubat were fast, that much he knew. And Nurse Joy was right; it did cover Mudkip's weaknesses quite nicely.
But still, the other part of him groaned, to have such unrivalled speed... And it seemed like fate that he should have caught the Ninjask...
On the other hand, he reasoned, he knew Golbat and Crobat were more hardy than Ninjask. Only a Mud-slap managed to disable the ninja momentarily.
Confidence slowly started to well within him. Sure, Zubat weren't the most unique Pokemon in the world, but unique typing might come in handy... And, according to the nurse, Ninjask were impossible to catch. Edward began to grin. Maybe Zubat wasn't so bad...
Edward threw his new Pokemon's ball into the air, and caught it as it fell. From the ball appeared the Zubat in a glow of white. He flapped quickly and desperately to keep himself airborne. It made a screeching sound, and turned to face Edward. There was a moment of silence, which was then broken like the bat, screeching in its own, high pitched language;
“Bravest and most noble of trainers, pray tell, was it by thine hand I was captured?”
The human was a too startled to reply. Was his Pokemon communication off?
“Noble sir, I beseech thee, didst thou capture me with thine fine hand during my rest?”
Edward nodded shakily. Since when did Zubats appear to speak old-English?
“Jolly good! I commend you, good sir, on thine great intelligence, thine great cunning and nobility! I must apologise most graciously for my poor speech, for we Zubats have rarely chance to communicate with humans as deserving as thineself.”
Edward was lost for words. Sure, talking to Pokemon was a two-way thing. The Pokemon had to have a basic grasp of civilised communication of the listener for humans to be on speaking terms with them. But still, surely Pokemon could be understood without such... specific speech character? Perhaps Zubats don't usually communicate by normal means. Of course, Edward thought, Zubats use echolocation for communication, therefore their normal talk must be... out-dated, especially if they rarely met humans. Edward pondered on how to address it.
“Erm,” he began, “so, it's okay that I caught you while you were sleeping?”
“Why, kind sir, hadst thou caught me any other way I wouldst take you for a simpleton! The element of surprise is one's most advantageous... advantage. Obviously you viewed my magnificent frame from the ground and felt thine desire overtake thee. To demonstrate my humble affection for thee I shalt train with thee.”
“Good.” Edward said, at a loss for any other words. Then he realised the full meaning. “I mean, brilliant! Yeah, I can't wait to train with thee – you – too!” He grinned widely. Somewhere in the back of his mind, however, he jotted down a mental note never to mention the Ninjask to the bat.
“Jolly good, jolly good,” the Zubat muttered. “Know, shall we make battle now or later?”
“Later,” Edward decided. He held up the ball and returned the Zubat. Hands in pockets, he walked back into the clearing. Nuria was in the same place, looking extremely thrilled, but more calmed down. She raised her eyebrows as he approached.
“You look happy. Have you released the Zubat?” She asked.
“Nope.” Edward replied. “I think I'll keep it with me.”
Nuria raised her eyebrows further.
“Seriously? Oh, God, you're serious.” She thought for a second. “Want a Pokemon battle?” She asked.
Edward grinned and shook his head. Did she really take him for an idiot?
“Yeah, that'd be fun. Your Chikorita could Razor Leaf Mudkip to death, and Ralts could-” He broke off. “How's Ralts coming along, actually?”
Nuria grimaced.
“Proving dead hard to train. The best that I've done is made it use Growl against a group of Wurmple while they pounded it with Tackle. It finally learned Confusion, but was too shaken up to use it.” She spat on the floor. “Honestly, what's the point of getting Ralts to level six if it's just gonna fail on me?”
Edward said nothing. She was wound up. He'd forgive her for this lapse in Pokemon respectability for now.
“How about Mudkip versus Ralts? That sounds more fair.”
Nuria grinned, rising.
“Sure.” She narrowed her eyebrows. “What's he doing?”
Edward followed he gaze, and saw the boy from earlier approaching them. When he reached them, he stood straight, rolling his eyes.
“Nurse Joy told me to tell you that the Rustburo Gym Leader is coming here tonight because the north part of the Route 104 has flooded.” He started to walk away.
“Thank you!” Edward called behind him. He nodded, but didn't stop walking away. Edward turned his head back towards Nuria.
“You could have said-”
“Shut your face,” she growled. She thought for a while. “Maybe we should train separately. For the Gym Leader.”
Edward shrugged. Extra training might be useful.
“Yeah,” he said, “It's a rock type gym, isn't it?”
Nuria nodded. Edward smiled. Sure, Zubat would have a problem with that, but Mudkip would take down any rock type thrown at him.
“See you later,” Nuria said, and walked off out of the clearing. Edward rose too, and made off in the other direction out of the clearing. Knowing that Mudkip was a level lower than Zubat, he released the mud fish. After the white glow dispelled, Mudkip stood, eyes drooped, tearful.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, bowing his blue head. Edward raised his eyebrows.
“Sorry? Why are you sorry?”
“Because,” he closed his eyes, a tear rolling down his orange cheek, “I got knocked out by a measly Scratch from a Ninjask. I'm sorry. I don't deserve you.” He collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Edward gaped.
“Don't cry!” Edward demanded, at a loss for anything else to say. After hanging around made-of-bricks Nuria all his life, he hadn't any real experience with crying. He kneeled into sitting down in front of Mudkip, and placed a reassuring hand on his head, next to his fin. He tensed under Edward's touch, but continued to cry. Edward sat down. Mudkip buried his head in Edward's lap.
“I'm – I'm too weak!” Mudkip cried. Edward sighed.
“You realise that was a level twenty-plus Ninjask, and you're, at the moment, only level six?”
The Mudkip nodded shakily, taking shallow, ragged breaths.
“Would you like to train some more?” Edward asked.
Mudkip gasped and shot his head up.
“You'll still have me? You, you won't replace me with Ninjask?”
Edward ginned.
“Of course not. By the way,” he added, “turns out we didn't capture Ninjask. Turns out a Zubat was sleeping in the tree, and...”
Mudkip nodded, visibly more cheerful.
“So, shall we find another battle?”
Mudkip nodded excitedly, together they stood up, and made their way deeper into the forest.
Pokemon Language Explanation Time
There are two main ways in which Pokemon communicate; by their movements and expressions, and by tension on syllables they say out loud (E.g, Pi-KA-chu, ROOaaRRRR!).
Zubats, as a rule, speak to each other in high pitch screeches, too high for humans to hear. So, when they deign to speak our language, they have to revert to using traditional Pokemon-style communication. As Zubats rarely communicate with other species, they very rarely have to talk this way, meaning their speech has not evolved at the same pace others have.
Now, if you can speak a language very well, the only way there can be miscommunication is if the other person speaks in an outdated way. Hence why Zubat appears to speak old English: it is the closest translation to english that it is saying in Pokemon. On top of that, it speaks old English badly, to emphasize it doesn't speak that way often.
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