Story Notes:
Yoy for disclamers. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.Yawn. At least now I can't be sued by people who find joy in pages of dullness, i.e lawyers.
What do trainers do?
"Somehow I thought this would be more climactic." Tom said, disappointed. " A new life, a new adventure, and new friends. I'm just not feeling the buzz I was expecting to."
Tom and Sylva were stood at the edge of route 104, brand new pokéballs on belt, with Golde inside one of them, Tom all decked out in the latest trainers' gear he had got with some of the remains of the money he had from the (expensive) clothes shop, as well as the traditional backpack, and looking out at the journey that stood before him with some trepidation. Tom looked back at his hometown, the sun beating down on him, knowing that he would be back soon enough. He'd do his grieving then. As for now, he needed something witty to say to start off his journey. He thought about it. He kept on thinking.
'Hey, are we actual-ly going to go some where? We spent enough time in the center!' Sylva's voice rang, while she looked annoyed.
"Just hold on a minute, I'm thinking for something witty to leave my journey with." Tom replied, a thoughtful look on his face.
They held on a minute.
They held on another 23 seconds.
"Got it!" Tom shouted happily. "They said I was mad... well this will show them!'
Several heads in Rustboro turned. Sylva turned and looked at him. The city and the woods seemed to go silent with this remark. Tom's cheeks reddened.
'That wasn't witty, that was just despe-rate.' Sylva said, holding in laughter. Tom secretly agreed with her. "Oh well, I'll have to learn to live with it. Shall we go?" Tom asked. He stretched his leg forward, and brought it down on the cool grass.
They started walking through the route, Tom constantly looking around in search of rare pokémon for the catching, and finding nothing but trainers staring at his ralts, and standing aside. He swore he saw one of them drooling. He got nervous.
"You sure you don't want to go in your pokéball? I'm getting kinda worried at all the stares we keep getting." Tom asked nervously.
'It's nothing; people don't usually have pokémon that stay out of pokéballs is all.' Sylva replied calmly.
"It's only for translation. Hey, do you think that some of them will think i'm mad through talking to myself and leave me alone? To them, it's literally a one-sided conversation."
'Do you really need to? Do you want to be seen as a psych-otic maniac?'
"Not particularly."
'No, then.'
As they paused talking, some of the more experienced trainers finally seem to get over the unusual sight, and one trainer gets a cheap shot in at the pokémon he was fighting. Some eyes still followed them, probably because they hadn't seen a pokémon that rare before.
"So do you want to go in the pokéball or not?" Tom asked, getting worried at the yell he was now hearing, turning his neck so that it popped slightly.
"Why do you want me in there so much?" Sylva asked curiously as they reached the bridge leading to the forest, many eyes still on them.
"From a trainers' point of view, people will know to bring out a dark or bug pokémon, to weaken your special attack power..." Tom said, displaying his knowledge from his time at trainers' school.
'I get the point. But you haven't even asked us what our moves are.'
"You know confusion and growl." Tom said smugly.
'What? How did you know?'
Tom shook his head. "Sylva, Sylva, Sylva..."
'Is this going to last long? If it is, don't bother telling me. '
"Fine, then. By the way, you're getting better with the language. How about saying: how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? "
'No. '
"HEY!!"
The shout made Tom jump and turn quickly, looking for the shouter and making a small dent in the soil as he kept on turning and barely stopped himself from falling. Sylva laughed, pointing in front of them at a brunette wearing the same type of uniform as Tom, but obviously in a girl's version. She was staring at them with bright-eyed curiosity.
"Tom! Is that you? It is you! How you been? I've been great, I just started my brand new journey with my starter pokémon I got from Birch, and I've been looking for you, but I haven't caught any other pokémon yet. Did you know that I got out of trainers' school about a week after you? You said you weren't going to actually be a trainer, you said it seemed like too much responsibility for you to handle, and that's why you left early, so why have you got a ralts with you? Huh? Huh? " The girl said all this extremely quickly and in only one breath. Tom sighed, and remembered Holly. They had both been to trainers' school together, but he had left while she was still in the school to sort out the money that had been left to him. And at the time,
"Hi, Holly. Firstly, i'm fine, secondly I decided to change my mind and become a trainer. I'm on my way to see Birch now, to get a pokédex. Breathe." He groaned inwardly. He could tell by her expression that she wanted a battle, to show off her brand new pokémon.
"Well do you want some practice? My Castle is ready to go anytime! But if you don't want to lose straight away, I won't mind. It looks as though your ralts isn't ready for a real battle yet!" Holly said, laughing at him. While Tom wondered where the castle was, Sylva answered in a deadly tone, inside Holly's head.
'Someone's a little confid-ent, aren't they? I'll fight you. And my name is Sylva, not "that ralts."' Holly looked around, but only saw the trainer stalkers, Tom and that ral- Sylva. She was confused, but glad she had found an opponent.
"Come on then, Sylva! Go, Castle!" Holly exclaimed, enlarging and throwing her ball in the air, revealing a mudkip, which growled menacingly, looking at Sylva. Sylva stepped forward, hoping she would finally win a match, and directing a lot of the hate she felt towards James at this opponent. Not many ralts' can look insanely angry, but she managed it. Tom, having just twigged what had happened, sighed, dropped his bag on the grass and said: "Go, Sylva."
"That's my enemy? I was hoping for a challenge!" Holly said, far too confidently. These words cut deep into Sylva from all the battles she had lost, and felt determined to prove that she wasn't a pathetically weak pokémon, and that she was worthy of being Tom's pokémon.
Sylva shot a confusion attack at the mudkip before anyone could act, making the mudkip glow blue for a second and then lifting it into the air and hurling it into a conveniently sharp rock. The mudkip smashed into the rock, shouting in pain. Holly screamed at the speed of the attack. There was an 'ooh' from the crowd. However, the mudkip got up, shaking its head in pain and confusion.
"It's confused! Sylva, shoot another one of those confusion attacks at it!" Tom shouted happily.
'Gladly.' Sylva said, charging up another confusion and letting fly.
"NO! Castle, dodge it!" Holly screamed, but the mudkip wasn't responding to her, too confused to listen. It got lifted highly into the air again, and this time hurled into a large oak tree, gravity increasing the damage. The battering was too much for the beginner mudkip's body, and it let darkness overtake its confused brain. Its legs gave way, and it slumped onto the grass, quite clearly out for the count. Holly didn't look happy, and that was just speaking lightly.
Tom whooped, and said, "YES! Sylva, you won!" He then scooped the elated ralts up, who grinned widely. "Sorry, Holly. Guess you lost. Is your mudkip okay? "
Holly looked over at Tom, and couldn't help but feel happy for him. She smiled, and in as cheerful a voice as she could muster, she said, "Yeah, he'll be fine once I get him to a center. Was that your first win? Well done! And your ralts... Sylva? She didn't even take a hit! Great!" Even in defeat, she wouldn't stop talking in her usual speedy tone.
They stood there for a moment, Tom looking round at the beginner trainers' stares.
"Uhhh, we had better get going, then. Good luck on your journey, I might see you soon enough anyway." Tom started counting in his head.
"Okay then! (3) Hope you do well! (2) You know, I want a rematch against you. (1)
How about I come with you to Bi-"Holly noticed Tom was chuckling. "Did I say something funny? Anyway, as I was saying, How about I come with you to Birches place while you get one of these. "She shoved a pokédex into Tom's nose. He backed up, and looked at it for a moment. "It's a high-tech encyclopaedia! At least, I think that's what it is."
"Don't all the professors say something like that? I'll have to ask. Beats me why he would give out such a valuable thing anyway." Tom said, looking confused.
'Maybe they all have to. Prob-ably the league has something to do with it.' Sylva said, hr voice entering both Tom and Holly's brain, as she copied Tom's confused frown.
Holly looked around again for the speaker. Tom pointed at Sylva, who still looked deep in thought. Holly's mouth became a round O of understanding.
"We off then? The random trainers seem to have gone now since the action is over. On to the woods! No, I'm not a gardener, so let's ignore the berries that just happen to be around." Tom said in a determined tone, walking towards said woods. Sylva and Holly followed his march into the woods. Without looking at either at them, Tom turned right around, walked back the way the came, and picked up his backpack, his face reddening in embarrassment.
"Okay, let's try this again." he said, resuming his former determined expression. "On to the woods! This will be a long walk, so I'm getting you back in your ball."
"Who, me?" Holly asked quickly, laughing. Tom sighed again.
"Yes, of course you. I'm just going to ram you in there, because you are so obviously a pokémon. " Tom replied sarcastically, enlarging Sylva's pokéball. " Sorry, Sylva, but it has to be done, these woods are just too big for you." Sylva nodded, and was returned to her pokéball, the button turning white instantly.
"For the third time, but it's sort of lost its effect. On to the woods! " Tom said, marching towards Petalburg woods' entrance. Holly marched with him, giggling.
********
"These woods are very woodsy. Wild pokémon creeping around, the general sound of these pokémon, the fact that the high trees make it seem like night, and a certain something else..." Holly said mysteriously.
"It couldn't be the actual wood, could it? Stay close, I don't want to get lost in this place, it's big and..." Tom struggled for a word to describe the wood, and gave up, knowing what the response would be. "Woodsy."
"HEY! That's my word! You stole it from me! I'll see you in court matey! Why I oughtta..." She would have gone on for a while, if Tom hadn't stopped her.
"Finished yet? Only I already said I don't want to stay here too long, and I might fall to sleep waiting for you to finish." Tom cut across her, while Holly grumbled herself into silence. "Now did you notice an easy way out with no shady characters? Because the woods seem like a good place for shady characters to hang out. Shady characters." He turned, and realised Holly was tapping her foot.
"Finished?"
" ... Yes."
"Good. I want to get out of here soon, because of shady characters."
"See you in court. Is it just me, or is this conversation going round in circles?"
"Yes. Let's go." She looked far too triumphant. Tom cursed himself over the logic of the female mind.
They started walking through the woods, looking for a path that would lead them to safety out of the woods in vain. They lost track of time in the woods, because of how dark it seemed. While in the forest, their strategy was to fend off various bugs by shouting 'Boo!' at them, making the bugs scuttle away in fear. At one point, Tom got tired of trying to scare off a rather confident silcoon through shouting at it, forgetting that it wasn't the fastest mover, and it took the opportunity to fire a string shot around him, aiming perfectly, but not really doing anything. Instead of going over and knocking the bug out himself, he decided to give Golde some practice instead.
"Gaah! Stupid bug! Go, Golde! Knock 'em outta town! Use tackle on it! "
Golde emerged, and hesitated, looking at her first opponent with worry, which hissed at her, or what it probably thought was a hiss, but what sounded more like a loud shuffle.
"What's the matter? Just tackle it so we can go! It's too weak to hurt you anyway."
Tom shouted at her. Golde looked at it. It made another shuffling noise and slowly moved in her direction. The air was thick with tension.
"Just tackle it! It's a weakling! Look at it; do you think it could do you any real damage? You can do it!" Tom shouted at her. After these words of encouragement, and a smile from Holly, the riolu figured the tiny silcoon really couldn't hurt her, and that it was an easy target. She ran to it, and before the weak silcoon could brace itself, it got knocked back into some bushes, and didn't come back. Golde stared at the bushes for a few seconds, before realising she had finally beaten another pokémon.
Golde smiled, and grew in confidence as well as level. "Alright! Let's keep going. Golde, you do me a favour and stay out of your ball to knock out any more bugs. You could end up beating real trainer pokémon if you keep practicing! This is your, er, first mission as my pokémon! You may even get a reward! " Tom said, to try and build up Goldes confidence. She smiled, and started concentrating on her first 'mission', jumping around and tackling any wurmple or silcoon that came near, gaining experience and learning how to take out enemies more easily, as they walked through the seemingly endless forest. As they walked, Tom thought about how the forest looked the same no matter which way they were going, and thought about how easy it would be to get lost in Petalburg woods. While thinking this, he gained some experience himself in learning how to block out the never-ending chattering coming from Holly. Soon, the forest exit was in sight, easily noticeable from the amount of light shining through it. Because Tom was getting weary at this stage, Holly noticed it first.
"We're nearly there! Come on! We can make it! Gogogogogogogogo!" Holly shouted, and as she ran Tom picked up Golde and started running in desperation through a clearing to the exit as well.
As all three of them were running to the exit, something rammed itself against Tom's leg, knocking him and Golde over, Golde jumping out of the way, Tom falling face first on the grass. Holly turned and winced. Tom lay there for a moment, and looked up. He sighed, got up, and said, "Look, sod off will you? You've missed your cue; we've already talked about shady characters. And I can't really be bothered with having my pokémon stolen today. So can you go away and come back some other time? Bye." He tried to sound like he really wasn't bothered about meeting some Team Aqua idiot; with the standard poochyena they all seemed to have. He was actually shaking on the inside, afraid of having his pokémon taken away from him again. The particular Team Aqua idiot was dressed in the usual gear: jeans, striped shirt, and bandana.
The Team Aqua member was taken aback, but composed himself. "That's a nice pokémon you've got there. What's it called?" the Aqua member said, greed etching every syllable. What the member said didn't agree with what his voice said, which was: "Isn't that MY riolu? Oh, so it is. I'll take it back now."
"Her name is Golde. Is there something you want? Because if there isn't, then can you move out of the way, please? Or do you want something to do with Golde or something?" Holly said this in her usual fast manner, cutting Tom off. The Aqua member pieced together what Holly had just said, and smiled evilly. He took out a card from his jeans pocket and began reading it aloud with a sort of pained authority.
"Why, yes, as it happens. Er, on behalf of Team Aqua, I am commandeering your riolu, or Golde as you call it, to, er, aid in the expansion of the sea. Should you not wish to relinquish your riolu, I'm afraid that I will not, er, hesitate to take it by force. If you have any problems with this, we suggest that you contact Team Aqua immediately. Have a nice day." The Aqua member sagged, still looking at the card. "I hate having to do that every single time. Oh well... You trainer! Gimme that riolu, or I'll have to fight you for it! If I win, I get the riolu! If you win, you get... er... honour and prestige! Go, poochyena!" The poochyena mentioned stepped forward as its name was called out, and voluntarily howled, boosting its spirit.
"Hang on; what's the point of reading out from a card to avoid legal prosecution? You're a criminal organization!" Holly asked quickly, stopping the Aqua member in his tracks.
"Uhhh, that's a good question. Take it up with Archie, why don't you? Now, are we fighting or not? I want that Riolu!" The Aqua member said angrily; they were only beginners and they were taking the mickey out of him. He may be an Aqua member, but he did still have some pride.
"Did you read that last bit from the card as well? Never mind. Now we learn why all Aqua members are trainer school dropouts. Go, Golde! Get ready for your first battle! You can do this!" Tom shouted confidently, waking Holly up from her reverie induced by the Aqua members' speech. Golde jumped forward, and, for once, looked determined.
"I doubt you Aqua members know what the word 'rules' mean, so pretty much anything goes. Golde! Quickly use tackle! "
"Dodge it, poochyena! Then use bite!" The Aqua member shouted. The poochyena tried to dodge it, but wasn't quick enough. As it moved, Golde rammed its rear legs, so that it span when jumping out of the way. It growled, regained its stance, and it jumped forward and managed to bite Golde on the arm, drawing blood. Golde screamed in pain, but the poochyena wouldn't let go, no matter how much she shook her arm. Tom, getting desperate at the increasing amount of blood that was coming out of Golde's arm, quickly shouted, "Hang in there, Golde! Use counter with everything you have left! Finish that poochyena off!" Golde closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and with her free paw hit the poochyena on the back of the head. The poochyena's eyes widened, and it let go of Golde's arm and fell sideways, knocked out.
The Aqua members' eyes widened as his pokémon fell to the ground. "NO! Just you wait, I'll get you back for this! You'll have the whole of team aqua after you for this! I'm outta here!"
The Aqua member returned his pokémon and returned to the woods in a hurry, while Tom put his bag on the ground, searched through it, found a potion, and sprayed the potion on Golde's arm. Golde looked away. Gradually, the blood that had been streaming out thinned, and then stopped flowing. When Golde had the courage to look back at her arm, she couldn't see anything past the fur on her arm. At least there didn't look like there was any lasting damage.
"Can we get out of these woodsy woods now? Golde, I'm gonna have to return you now. It's too dangerous to have you walking around; you're just too rare for your own good. Return!"
Golde bowed her head, and the red beam sucked her back into the ball. Tom placed the ball back on his belt, and he faced the woods' exit. "Let's get outta here." He said in a tired manner.
"Couldn't agree more." Holly said.
They started walking out of the woods, and were almost at the entrance when Tom stopped, cursed, and ran back to get his backpack on his shoulders.
"Don't-say-a-word." Tom said forcefully, feeling himself going red again.
"Okay! I won't say anything about how you stupidly left your bag in some grass, where anyone could've picked mmphfflemmph." She said quickly, stopped by Tom's hand over her mouth. Without a word, he went behind her and started shoving her out of the woodsy woods, one hand still over her mouth.
"Can we hurry to the center now? I want to beat you so that I can go on my journey again! Coming with you was a waste of time!" Holly moaned. This had the same effect to Tom as if Holly was squealing, 'Are we nearllllly theeeere yeeet?' every 5 seconds. Tom felt irritated, exhausted, and amazed at how long they must have been in the woods for. He quickened his pace down the path leading to Petalburg city, his blessed final goal for the day, though he hadn't counted on becoming a trainer at the beginning of the day.
********
Night had long since fallen, so thankfully there weren't that many trainers on the route, but that didn't stop the actual route being bumpy and painful on his feet, which were soon aching from a trek through the woods. It was also close to total darkness as well, which didn't help, and meant he needed to devote attention to staring at the ground, and trying to ignore Holly at the same time. Tom looked forward to sleeping in a warm, comfortable bed that relaxed him body and soul in the pokémon center. That would probably never happen, but a trainer could dream.
Soon, amid whining from Holly, Tom dragged himself to the pokémon center, with Holly in tow. Wearily, they stepped up to the automatic doors, dirty, dishevelled, and not far away from falling to their knees on the tiled floor of the center. Gasping, Tom struggled his way to the desk, at which a rather depressed looking Nurse Joy sat. Tom heard Joy mutter to herself as they came near to the desk. "Oh GOD, more trainers..." Nurse Joy's head disappeared from sight, and came up again, wearing the traditional smile that all the nurses seemed to be genetically born with. Tom was taken aback, but his body spoke through his mouth for him.
"Do you have any beds for the night? We've been in the forest for hours. And can you heal our pokémon, please? Oh, my name's Tom and this is Holly. " Tom said wearily, indicating Holly, who waved happily. Tom tried and failed to look the nurse in the eyes: his head drooped instead, and didn't come back up again. Joy felt full of sympathy for the trainer: he wasn't the first one to come in the center through a walk in the woods, half-asleep. The last trainer had actually clawed her way across the floor in exhaustion. Joy looked at Holly as well, and one experienced look identified her as the whiney baby that sits in the back of the car: the wide eyes gave her away. Joy made a mental note not to engage her in conversation, o even speak directly to her, if possible.
"Yes sir, right this way. We have many rooms available tonight, luckily for you. Follow me, please." Joy said sympathetically. Tom didn't last to the end of the sentence, however, and slowly slid down onto the floor in exhaustion, sound asleep. The other trainer looked at him and grimaced, reaching down and taking the balls off his belt, and placing them onto a counter, along with one of her own.
"Do you have two rooms? This guy snores. And can you heal my pokémon as well, please?" Holly asked politely, grabbing both Tom's arms and dragging him to where Joy stood. Joy nodded, and summoned a chansey from nowhere to take care of the balls that they had left behind. She then started to lead the trainers to two spare rooms.
When Holly saw her room, she dropped Tom's arms (causing his head to land with a thunk on the polished floor) and jumped onto the only bed in the room, bouncing upon it happily. Joy smiled at her happiness, and closed the door. She then rolled Tom into his room, until he came level with the bed. She then tried to roll him upwards onto the bed, and overdid it, pushing him too far over, where he dropped, with another 'thunk'. Tom opened his eyes blearily, and while pushing his trainers off his feet, rolled underneath the covers, licking his lips as he fell to sleep again, and started snoring. The conditions in the room were bad; there was no bathroom, the walls were green from moss growing, there was even a crack on one wall. However, this didn't bother the sleeping Tom, and Joy quietly withdrew from the room, leaving Tom dreaming of fame, fortune, and the day he would be able to get rid of Holly. It was a dream reserved for the status 'heavenly bliss'.
The Aqua grunt ran through the damp cove, as quickly as his legs could take him. The information he had was worth a lot to the boss, and the faithful worker never lets an opportunity for a promotion pass. He ran through the various teleporters dotted around the wet base, as fast as his legs would take him. He thought the idea of keeping the base wet was pretty stupid: they may be the eco-friendly Team Aqua, but working in a base that you could easily slip over in and that could make electrical units malfunction in was pretty damn stupid. Or perhaps they couldn't afford to pay for a caretaker. But he wasn't supposed to think about this: he was only a grunt. So, he just went through the base, to the boss' chamber, and avoided the puddles that appeared, like traps in a game. Soon, he reached his destination, and saluted.
"Sir! Reports of a trainers' riolu near Petalburg city! What are your orders, sir?"
A figure rose from the chair behind the desk in the room, and smiled widely. At last, he had a chance to realize the glory that Team Aqua had been straining to achieve for decades! But first, he needed a lucario. This could be the only chance he would ever get, lucario were extremely rare, especially in this region. Archie turned and stared at the messenger, a wide grin on his face.
"Brilliant! This could be the greatest moment in the history of Team Aqua! Make sure that we have a squad of grunts monitoring that trainer at all times. Drop a soothe bell in their path if you have to, just make sure that as soon as that riolu evolves, I get that pokémon!"
"Yes sir! Get a squad of grunts on the trainer right away! Yes sir!"
"No, you idiot! Just monitor it for now, and let me know when the riolu evolves!"
" Let you know when the riolu evolves! Get that pokémon! Yes sir!"
Archie really hated hiring cheap labour nowadays, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided: you only get so much money as the leader of Team Aqua.
"Listen to me now. Watch. The. Riolu. Let. Me. Know. When. It. Ev. Olves. Got it?"
"Yes sir! I respect your right to be as slow as you want to be when talking!" The Aqua member, having shouted these words in a mechanical way, saluted and left the room, leaving Archie in a state of suppressed rage. Archie strode over to his desk, jerked a drawer open, and yanked out a notebook, in which he jotted all important events.
' Today, heard reports of a riolu in Hoenn. This could be the chance to make Team Aqua's dreams come true! P.S: Avoid hiring cheap Aqua members at all costs.'
Archie sat back in his chair. It had been a good day.Chapter End Notes:I worked hard on this one, and feel I am pretty proud of the result. Bring on the reviews! As always, constructive critism is appreciated.
As an old friend once said to me: WHAT! You have to pay for things nowadays? Damn
Tom and Sylva were stood at the edge of route 104, brand new pokéballs on belt, with Golde inside one of them, Tom all decked out in the latest trainers' gear he had got with some of the remains of the money he had from the (expensive) clothes shop, as well as the traditional backpack, and looking out at the journey that stood before him with some trepidation. Tom looked back at his hometown, the sun beating down on him, knowing that he would be back soon enough. He'd do his grieving then. As for now, he needed something witty to say to start off his journey. He thought about it. He kept on thinking.
'Hey, are we actual-ly going to go some where? We spent enough time in the center!' Sylva's voice rang, while she looked annoyed.
"Just hold on a minute, I'm thinking for something witty to leave my journey with." Tom replied, a thoughtful look on his face.
They held on a minute.
They held on another 23 seconds.
"Got it!" Tom shouted happily. "They said I was mad... well this will show them!'
Several heads in Rustboro turned. Sylva turned and looked at him. The city and the woods seemed to go silent with this remark. Tom's cheeks reddened.
'That wasn't witty, that was just despe-rate.' Sylva said, holding in laughter. Tom secretly agreed with her. "Oh well, I'll have to learn to live with it. Shall we go?" Tom asked. He stretched his leg forward, and brought it down on the cool grass.
They started walking through the route, Tom constantly looking around in search of rare pokémon for the catching, and finding nothing but trainers staring at his ralts, and standing aside. He swore he saw one of them drooling. He got nervous.
"You sure you don't want to go in your pokéball? I'm getting kinda worried at all the stares we keep getting." Tom asked nervously.
'It's nothing; people don't usually have pokémon that stay out of pokéballs is all.' Sylva replied calmly.
"It's only for translation. Hey, do you think that some of them will think i'm mad through talking to myself and leave me alone? To them, it's literally a one-sided conversation."
'Do you really need to? Do you want to be seen as a psych-otic maniac?'
"Not particularly."
'No, then.'
As they paused talking, some of the more experienced trainers finally seem to get over the unusual sight, and one trainer gets a cheap shot in at the pokémon he was fighting. Some eyes still followed them, probably because they hadn't seen a pokémon that rare before.
"So do you want to go in the pokéball or not?" Tom asked, getting worried at the yell he was now hearing, turning his neck so that it popped slightly.
"Why do you want me in there so much?" Sylva asked curiously as they reached the bridge leading to the forest, many eyes still on them.
"From a trainers' point of view, people will know to bring out a dark or bug pokémon, to weaken your special attack power..." Tom said, displaying his knowledge from his time at trainers' school.
'I get the point. But you haven't even asked us what our moves are.'
"You know confusion and growl." Tom said smugly.
'What? How did you know?'
Tom shook his head. "Sylva, Sylva, Sylva..."
'Is this going to last long? If it is, don't bother telling me. '
"Fine, then. By the way, you're getting better with the language. How about saying: how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? "
'No. '
"HEY!!"
The shout made Tom jump and turn quickly, looking for the shouter and making a small dent in the soil as he kept on turning and barely stopped himself from falling. Sylva laughed, pointing in front of them at a brunette wearing the same type of uniform as Tom, but obviously in a girl's version. She was staring at them with bright-eyed curiosity.
"Tom! Is that you? It is you! How you been? I've been great, I just started my brand new journey with my starter pokémon I got from Birch, and I've been looking for you, but I haven't caught any other pokémon yet. Did you know that I got out of trainers' school about a week after you? You said you weren't going to actually be a trainer, you said it seemed like too much responsibility for you to handle, and that's why you left early, so why have you got a ralts with you? Huh? Huh? " The girl said all this extremely quickly and in only one breath. Tom sighed, and remembered Holly. They had both been to trainers' school together, but he had left while she was still in the school to sort out the money that had been left to him. And at the time,
"Hi, Holly. Firstly, i'm fine, secondly I decided to change my mind and become a trainer. I'm on my way to see Birch now, to get a pokédex. Breathe." He groaned inwardly. He could tell by her expression that she wanted a battle, to show off her brand new pokémon.
"Well do you want some practice? My Castle is ready to go anytime! But if you don't want to lose straight away, I won't mind. It looks as though your ralts isn't ready for a real battle yet!" Holly said, laughing at him. While Tom wondered where the castle was, Sylva answered in a deadly tone, inside Holly's head.
'Someone's a little confid-ent, aren't they? I'll fight you. And my name is Sylva, not "that ralts."' Holly looked around, but only saw the trainer stalkers, Tom and that ral- Sylva. She was confused, but glad she had found an opponent.
"Come on then, Sylva! Go, Castle!" Holly exclaimed, enlarging and throwing her ball in the air, revealing a mudkip, which growled menacingly, looking at Sylva. Sylva stepped forward, hoping she would finally win a match, and directing a lot of the hate she felt towards James at this opponent. Not many ralts' can look insanely angry, but she managed it. Tom, having just twigged what had happened, sighed, dropped his bag on the grass and said: "Go, Sylva."
"That's my enemy? I was hoping for a challenge!" Holly said, far too confidently. These words cut deep into Sylva from all the battles she had lost, and felt determined to prove that she wasn't a pathetically weak pokémon, and that she was worthy of being Tom's pokémon.
Sylva shot a confusion attack at the mudkip before anyone could act, making the mudkip glow blue for a second and then lifting it into the air and hurling it into a conveniently sharp rock. The mudkip smashed into the rock, shouting in pain. Holly screamed at the speed of the attack. There was an 'ooh' from the crowd. However, the mudkip got up, shaking its head in pain and confusion.
"It's confused! Sylva, shoot another one of those confusion attacks at it!" Tom shouted happily.
'Gladly.' Sylva said, charging up another confusion and letting fly.
"NO! Castle, dodge it!" Holly screamed, but the mudkip wasn't responding to her, too confused to listen. It got lifted highly into the air again, and this time hurled into a large oak tree, gravity increasing the damage. The battering was too much for the beginner mudkip's body, and it let darkness overtake its confused brain. Its legs gave way, and it slumped onto the grass, quite clearly out for the count. Holly didn't look happy, and that was just speaking lightly.
Tom whooped, and said, "YES! Sylva, you won!" He then scooped the elated ralts up, who grinned widely. "Sorry, Holly. Guess you lost. Is your mudkip okay? "
Holly looked over at Tom, and couldn't help but feel happy for him. She smiled, and in as cheerful a voice as she could muster, she said, "Yeah, he'll be fine once I get him to a center. Was that your first win? Well done! And your ralts... Sylva? She didn't even take a hit! Great!" Even in defeat, she wouldn't stop talking in her usual speedy tone.
They stood there for a moment, Tom looking round at the beginner trainers' stares.
"Uhhh, we had better get going, then. Good luck on your journey, I might see you soon enough anyway." Tom started counting in his head.
"Okay then! (3) Hope you do well! (2) You know, I want a rematch against you. (1)
How about I come with you to Bi-"Holly noticed Tom was chuckling. "Did I say something funny? Anyway, as I was saying, How about I come with you to Birches place while you get one of these. "She shoved a pokédex into Tom's nose. He backed up, and looked at it for a moment. "It's a high-tech encyclopaedia! At least, I think that's what it is."
"Don't all the professors say something like that? I'll have to ask. Beats me why he would give out such a valuable thing anyway." Tom said, looking confused.
'Maybe they all have to. Prob-ably the league has something to do with it.' Sylva said, hr voice entering both Tom and Holly's brain, as she copied Tom's confused frown.
Holly looked around again for the speaker. Tom pointed at Sylva, who still looked deep in thought. Holly's mouth became a round O of understanding.
"We off then? The random trainers seem to have gone now since the action is over. On to the woods! No, I'm not a gardener, so let's ignore the berries that just happen to be around." Tom said in a determined tone, walking towards said woods. Sylva and Holly followed his march into the woods. Without looking at either at them, Tom turned right around, walked back the way the came, and picked up his backpack, his face reddening in embarrassment.
"Okay, let's try this again." he said, resuming his former determined expression. "On to the woods! This will be a long walk, so I'm getting you back in your ball."
"Who, me?" Holly asked quickly, laughing. Tom sighed again.
"Yes, of course you. I'm just going to ram you in there, because you are so obviously a pokémon. " Tom replied sarcastically, enlarging Sylva's pokéball. " Sorry, Sylva, but it has to be done, these woods are just too big for you." Sylva nodded, and was returned to her pokéball, the button turning white instantly.
"For the third time, but it's sort of lost its effect. On to the woods! " Tom said, marching towards Petalburg woods' entrance. Holly marched with him, giggling.
********
"These woods are very woodsy. Wild pokémon creeping around, the general sound of these pokémon, the fact that the high trees make it seem like night, and a certain something else..." Holly said mysteriously.
"It couldn't be the actual wood, could it? Stay close, I don't want to get lost in this place, it's big and..." Tom struggled for a word to describe the wood, and gave up, knowing what the response would be. "Woodsy."
"HEY! That's my word! You stole it from me! I'll see you in court matey! Why I oughtta..." She would have gone on for a while, if Tom hadn't stopped her.
"Finished yet? Only I already said I don't want to stay here too long, and I might fall to sleep waiting for you to finish." Tom cut across her, while Holly grumbled herself into silence. "Now did you notice an easy way out with no shady characters? Because the woods seem like a good place for shady characters to hang out. Shady characters." He turned, and realised Holly was tapping her foot.
"Finished?"
" ... Yes."
"Good. I want to get out of here soon, because of shady characters."
"See you in court. Is it just me, or is this conversation going round in circles?"
"Yes. Let's go." She looked far too triumphant. Tom cursed himself over the logic of the female mind.
They started walking through the woods, looking for a path that would lead them to safety out of the woods in vain. They lost track of time in the woods, because of how dark it seemed. While in the forest, their strategy was to fend off various bugs by shouting 'Boo!' at them, making the bugs scuttle away in fear. At one point, Tom got tired of trying to scare off a rather confident silcoon through shouting at it, forgetting that it wasn't the fastest mover, and it took the opportunity to fire a string shot around him, aiming perfectly, but not really doing anything. Instead of going over and knocking the bug out himself, he decided to give Golde some practice instead.
"Gaah! Stupid bug! Go, Golde! Knock 'em outta town! Use tackle on it! "
Golde emerged, and hesitated, looking at her first opponent with worry, which hissed at her, or what it probably thought was a hiss, but what sounded more like a loud shuffle.
"What's the matter? Just tackle it so we can go! It's too weak to hurt you anyway."
Tom shouted at her. Golde looked at it. It made another shuffling noise and slowly moved in her direction. The air was thick with tension.
"Just tackle it! It's a weakling! Look at it; do you think it could do you any real damage? You can do it!" Tom shouted at her. After these words of encouragement, and a smile from Holly, the riolu figured the tiny silcoon really couldn't hurt her, and that it was an easy target. She ran to it, and before the weak silcoon could brace itself, it got knocked back into some bushes, and didn't come back. Golde stared at the bushes for a few seconds, before realising she had finally beaten another pokémon.
Golde smiled, and grew in confidence as well as level. "Alright! Let's keep going. Golde, you do me a favour and stay out of your ball to knock out any more bugs. You could end up beating real trainer pokémon if you keep practicing! This is your, er, first mission as my pokémon! You may even get a reward! " Tom said, to try and build up Goldes confidence. She smiled, and started concentrating on her first 'mission', jumping around and tackling any wurmple or silcoon that came near, gaining experience and learning how to take out enemies more easily, as they walked through the seemingly endless forest. As they walked, Tom thought about how the forest looked the same no matter which way they were going, and thought about how easy it would be to get lost in Petalburg woods. While thinking this, he gained some experience himself in learning how to block out the never-ending chattering coming from Holly. Soon, the forest exit was in sight, easily noticeable from the amount of light shining through it. Because Tom was getting weary at this stage, Holly noticed it first.
"We're nearly there! Come on! We can make it! Gogogogogogogogo!" Holly shouted, and as she ran Tom picked up Golde and started running in desperation through a clearing to the exit as well.
As all three of them were running to the exit, something rammed itself against Tom's leg, knocking him and Golde over, Golde jumping out of the way, Tom falling face first on the grass. Holly turned and winced. Tom lay there for a moment, and looked up. He sighed, got up, and said, "Look, sod off will you? You've missed your cue; we've already talked about shady characters. And I can't really be bothered with having my pokémon stolen today. So can you go away and come back some other time? Bye." He tried to sound like he really wasn't bothered about meeting some Team Aqua idiot; with the standard poochyena they all seemed to have. He was actually shaking on the inside, afraid of having his pokémon taken away from him again. The particular Team Aqua idiot was dressed in the usual gear: jeans, striped shirt, and bandana.
The Team Aqua member was taken aback, but composed himself. "That's a nice pokémon you've got there. What's it called?" the Aqua member said, greed etching every syllable. What the member said didn't agree with what his voice said, which was: "Isn't that MY riolu? Oh, so it is. I'll take it back now."
"Her name is Golde. Is there something you want? Because if there isn't, then can you move out of the way, please? Or do you want something to do with Golde or something?" Holly said this in her usual fast manner, cutting Tom off. The Aqua member pieced together what Holly had just said, and smiled evilly. He took out a card from his jeans pocket and began reading it aloud with a sort of pained authority.
"Why, yes, as it happens. Er, on behalf of Team Aqua, I am commandeering your riolu, or Golde as you call it, to, er, aid in the expansion of the sea. Should you not wish to relinquish your riolu, I'm afraid that I will not, er, hesitate to take it by force. If you have any problems with this, we suggest that you contact Team Aqua immediately. Have a nice day." The Aqua member sagged, still looking at the card. "I hate having to do that every single time. Oh well... You trainer! Gimme that riolu, or I'll have to fight you for it! If I win, I get the riolu! If you win, you get... er... honour and prestige! Go, poochyena!" The poochyena mentioned stepped forward as its name was called out, and voluntarily howled, boosting its spirit.
"Hang on; what's the point of reading out from a card to avoid legal prosecution? You're a criminal organization!" Holly asked quickly, stopping the Aqua member in his tracks.
"Uhhh, that's a good question. Take it up with Archie, why don't you? Now, are we fighting or not? I want that Riolu!" The Aqua member said angrily; they were only beginners and they were taking the mickey out of him. He may be an Aqua member, but he did still have some pride.
"Did you read that last bit from the card as well? Never mind. Now we learn why all Aqua members are trainer school dropouts. Go, Golde! Get ready for your first battle! You can do this!" Tom shouted confidently, waking Holly up from her reverie induced by the Aqua members' speech. Golde jumped forward, and, for once, looked determined.
"I doubt you Aqua members know what the word 'rules' mean, so pretty much anything goes. Golde! Quickly use tackle! "
"Dodge it, poochyena! Then use bite!" The Aqua member shouted. The poochyena tried to dodge it, but wasn't quick enough. As it moved, Golde rammed its rear legs, so that it span when jumping out of the way. It growled, regained its stance, and it jumped forward and managed to bite Golde on the arm, drawing blood. Golde screamed in pain, but the poochyena wouldn't let go, no matter how much she shook her arm. Tom, getting desperate at the increasing amount of blood that was coming out of Golde's arm, quickly shouted, "Hang in there, Golde! Use counter with everything you have left! Finish that poochyena off!" Golde closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and with her free paw hit the poochyena on the back of the head. The poochyena's eyes widened, and it let go of Golde's arm and fell sideways, knocked out.
The Aqua members' eyes widened as his pokémon fell to the ground. "NO! Just you wait, I'll get you back for this! You'll have the whole of team aqua after you for this! I'm outta here!"
The Aqua member returned his pokémon and returned to the woods in a hurry, while Tom put his bag on the ground, searched through it, found a potion, and sprayed the potion on Golde's arm. Golde looked away. Gradually, the blood that had been streaming out thinned, and then stopped flowing. When Golde had the courage to look back at her arm, she couldn't see anything past the fur on her arm. At least there didn't look like there was any lasting damage.
"Can we get out of these woodsy woods now? Golde, I'm gonna have to return you now. It's too dangerous to have you walking around; you're just too rare for your own good. Return!"
Golde bowed her head, and the red beam sucked her back into the ball. Tom placed the ball back on his belt, and he faced the woods' exit. "Let's get outta here." He said in a tired manner.
"Couldn't agree more." Holly said.
They started walking out of the woods, and were almost at the entrance when Tom stopped, cursed, and ran back to get his backpack on his shoulders.
"Don't-say-a-word." Tom said forcefully, feeling himself going red again.
"Okay! I won't say anything about how you stupidly left your bag in some grass, where anyone could've picked mmphfflemmph." She said quickly, stopped by Tom's hand over her mouth. Without a word, he went behind her and started shoving her out of the woodsy woods, one hand still over her mouth.
"Can we hurry to the center now? I want to beat you so that I can go on my journey again! Coming with you was a waste of time!" Holly moaned. This had the same effect to Tom as if Holly was squealing, 'Are we nearllllly theeeere yeeet?' every 5 seconds. Tom felt irritated, exhausted, and amazed at how long they must have been in the woods for. He quickened his pace down the path leading to Petalburg city, his blessed final goal for the day, though he hadn't counted on becoming a trainer at the beginning of the day.
********
Night had long since fallen, so thankfully there weren't that many trainers on the route, but that didn't stop the actual route being bumpy and painful on his feet, which were soon aching from a trek through the woods. It was also close to total darkness as well, which didn't help, and meant he needed to devote attention to staring at the ground, and trying to ignore Holly at the same time. Tom looked forward to sleeping in a warm, comfortable bed that relaxed him body and soul in the pokémon center. That would probably never happen, but a trainer could dream.
Soon, amid whining from Holly, Tom dragged himself to the pokémon center, with Holly in tow. Wearily, they stepped up to the automatic doors, dirty, dishevelled, and not far away from falling to their knees on the tiled floor of the center. Gasping, Tom struggled his way to the desk, at which a rather depressed looking Nurse Joy sat. Tom heard Joy mutter to herself as they came near to the desk. "Oh GOD, more trainers..." Nurse Joy's head disappeared from sight, and came up again, wearing the traditional smile that all the nurses seemed to be genetically born with. Tom was taken aback, but his body spoke through his mouth for him.
"Do you have any beds for the night? We've been in the forest for hours. And can you heal our pokémon, please? Oh, my name's Tom and this is Holly. " Tom said wearily, indicating Holly, who waved happily. Tom tried and failed to look the nurse in the eyes: his head drooped instead, and didn't come back up again. Joy felt full of sympathy for the trainer: he wasn't the first one to come in the center through a walk in the woods, half-asleep. The last trainer had actually clawed her way across the floor in exhaustion. Joy looked at Holly as well, and one experienced look identified her as the whiney baby that sits in the back of the car: the wide eyes gave her away. Joy made a mental note not to engage her in conversation, o even speak directly to her, if possible.
"Yes sir, right this way. We have many rooms available tonight, luckily for you. Follow me, please." Joy said sympathetically. Tom didn't last to the end of the sentence, however, and slowly slid down onto the floor in exhaustion, sound asleep. The other trainer looked at him and grimaced, reaching down and taking the balls off his belt, and placing them onto a counter, along with one of her own.
"Do you have two rooms? This guy snores. And can you heal my pokémon as well, please?" Holly asked politely, grabbing both Tom's arms and dragging him to where Joy stood. Joy nodded, and summoned a chansey from nowhere to take care of the balls that they had left behind. She then started to lead the trainers to two spare rooms.
When Holly saw her room, she dropped Tom's arms (causing his head to land with a thunk on the polished floor) and jumped onto the only bed in the room, bouncing upon it happily. Joy smiled at her happiness, and closed the door. She then rolled Tom into his room, until he came level with the bed. She then tried to roll him upwards onto the bed, and overdid it, pushing him too far over, where he dropped, with another 'thunk'. Tom opened his eyes blearily, and while pushing his trainers off his feet, rolled underneath the covers, licking his lips as he fell to sleep again, and started snoring. The conditions in the room were bad; there was no bathroom, the walls were green from moss growing, there was even a crack on one wall. However, this didn't bother the sleeping Tom, and Joy quietly withdrew from the room, leaving Tom dreaming of fame, fortune, and the day he would be able to get rid of Holly. It was a dream reserved for the status 'heavenly bliss'.
The Aqua grunt ran through the damp cove, as quickly as his legs could take him. The information he had was worth a lot to the boss, and the faithful worker never lets an opportunity for a promotion pass. He ran through the various teleporters dotted around the wet base, as fast as his legs would take him. He thought the idea of keeping the base wet was pretty stupid: they may be the eco-friendly Team Aqua, but working in a base that you could easily slip over in and that could make electrical units malfunction in was pretty damn stupid. Or perhaps they couldn't afford to pay for a caretaker. But he wasn't supposed to think about this: he was only a grunt. So, he just went through the base, to the boss' chamber, and avoided the puddles that appeared, like traps in a game. Soon, he reached his destination, and saluted.
"Sir! Reports of a trainers' riolu near Petalburg city! What are your orders, sir?"
A figure rose from the chair behind the desk in the room, and smiled widely. At last, he had a chance to realize the glory that Team Aqua had been straining to achieve for decades! But first, he needed a lucario. This could be the only chance he would ever get, lucario were extremely rare, especially in this region. Archie turned and stared at the messenger, a wide grin on his face.
"Brilliant! This could be the greatest moment in the history of Team Aqua! Make sure that we have a squad of grunts monitoring that trainer at all times. Drop a soothe bell in their path if you have to, just make sure that as soon as that riolu evolves, I get that pokémon!"
"Yes sir! Get a squad of grunts on the trainer right away! Yes sir!"
"No, you idiot! Just monitor it for now, and let me know when the riolu evolves!"
" Let you know when the riolu evolves! Get that pokémon! Yes sir!"
Archie really hated hiring cheap labour nowadays, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided: you only get so much money as the leader of Team Aqua.
"Listen to me now. Watch. The. Riolu. Let. Me. Know. When. It. Ev. Olves. Got it?"
"Yes sir! I respect your right to be as slow as you want to be when talking!" The Aqua member, having shouted these words in a mechanical way, saluted and left the room, leaving Archie in a state of suppressed rage. Archie strode over to his desk, jerked a drawer open, and yanked out a notebook, in which he jotted all important events.
' Today, heard reports of a riolu in Hoenn. This could be the chance to make Team Aqua's dreams come true! P.S: Avoid hiring cheap Aqua members at all costs.'
Archie sat back in his chair. It had been a good day.Chapter End Notes:I worked hard on this one, and feel I am pretty proud of the result. Bring on the reviews! As always, constructive critism is appreciated.
As an old friend once said to me: WHAT! You have to pay for things nowadays? Damn