Story Notes:
I've put much, much time into making this story as captivating as possible, I hope you'll take the time to read it.This is going to be quite a long story, with many events happening, I love getting your reviews, so don't be a stranger!Thanks for reading!
Chapter Three: The Path to Oreburgh and the Bitter Winter
The sun shone through one of the large windows in the Trainers Lodge, the beam of light seemed to shine right on Ariston's face.
Ariston lazily opened his eyes, then squinted them shut again as his pupils adjusted to the growing intensity of the sun shining on him. He sat up on his temporary bed, this low quality box-spring mattress wasn't the most comfortable of things, neither was the pillow that might as well been made of wood, but hey, he could have been sleeping on the ground, outside in the cold weather.
He looked around the room to see other trainers in their bunk beds. There weren't too many trainers in here now, not many trainers wanted to travel right now, most of them were paranoid of Team Galactic. Ariston didn't really see the point of worrying about them, in the unlikely event he -did- run into a Team Galactic Member, why in the world would they have any interest in him? He's just a beginner trainer with no badges and one Pokemon, after all.
Due to the lack of occupants in the room, Ariston slept in the bottom bunk of one of the numerous bunk-beds that lined in rows throughout the large room. There wasn't even anyone sleeping above him. He'd prefer to be on the top bunk, but he knew that he should to be close to his backpack with his egg in it. He didn't want to take any chances of it cracking.
After taking a few minutes to collect himself, and wake up a bit, Ariston swung his legs over to the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes, letting out a sigh. He loved his sleep, and having to get up early to travel to Oreburgh City was a chore. Everyday, the first thing on his mind when he wakes up from sleep is always the same thought, "Can't wait to do that again".
He knew that he had to leave early if he wanted to make the walk to Oreburgh before it got dark, he'd rather not travel at night, it made things much more difficult. Besides, the Gym would be closed at night, he didn't have any intention of fight the Gym leader today, but it would still be nice to have that option, he didn't know how much stronger he'd get on the way to Oreburgh.
Gym leaders trained from 10 AM to 5 PM on weekdays inside their gym with their various understudies training along with the Gym Leader, wanting to get stronger. If Ariston lived in a city with a Gym, he'd probably be training there once he got his license, rather than journeying. He was grateful that he got to travel.
"Alright." He said to himself as he hefted his sleepy body out of bed, getting dressed an ready to travel. He put on his blue-jeans, and an obviously worn down plain black shirt. The weather was getting cooler, but he liked the cold air, and had no problem being a little chilly today.
He put the rest of his clothes and supplies in his backpack, underneath the warm egg, and made his way to the exit of the Lodge. He pushed open the heavy steel doors, and walked outside.
The cold air woke him up instantly as Ariston was hit with a breeze. He decided to go back to "The Traveling Trainer: Restaurant and Diner" for a quick breakfast before he left.
The diner was pretty close to where he was staying, they had built the Trainers Lodge strategically close to a Pokemon/Trainer restaurant, and the cities Pokemon Center.
Now walking down the city streets, Ariston noticed the lack of people. It could be that not many were up this early in the morning, but it was still strange. Sure, there were a few business men and other people walking around, but not as many as there should be in a city. Oddly, everyone sported some sort of worried and paranoid look on their face.
After not too long of walking, Ariston found his way to the "Traveling Trainer: Restaurant and Diner". He liked this place. Walking inside for the second time, he half expected to see Shane and Conti sitting there having breakfast too. Of course they weren't, but it would have been nice to see his friends again before leaving.
Shane and Conti weren't leaving the city for quite some time, and had no reason to be up at this hour.
Taking a seat at the same empty booth he ate at yesterday, he checked his cell phone for the time. "6:43 AM" it displayed. It felt like a school day being up this early.
The restaurant had a fair amount of booths and and tables inside of it, also with a counter that surrounded the kitchen area, with some rotating bar stools. Ariston preferred to sit in booths though, they're much more comfortable in his opinion.
Soon enough a skinny waitress in her mid 30's approached him, who had blonde hair down to her neck, and was wearing the blue and white "The Traveling Trainer" employee uniform.
"Can I get you something, hun?" She asked him in a city resident accent as she pulled out her waitress pad to write down his order.
"Sure, just a glass of orange juice for me and a plain bagel." He said, but quickly remembering his Shinx and his titanic battle the night before. Ariston decided that it's best for his little friend to be rewarded.
As the waitress turned to walk away, Ariston continued, "Oh yeah, one more thing for my Shinx here."
Ariston retrieved up the pokeball that contained Shinx, waiting to release him, Ariston wanted to surprise his Pokemon with his favorite foods.
"Could I also get..." he said, pausing to think of what Shinx might like, "A side of tuna fish, a plate of milk, and an order of sesame salmon, please."
Scribbling down the order in the waitress's incomprehensible shorthand, she nodded while saying in her city accent, "Sure thing, hun.", and walked to the kitchen to place the order.
"Shinx is gonna be happy when he sees that." Ariston thought to himself as he watched the TV hung at the corner of the counter across the restaurant.
It was the news, which is usually pretty boring, so Ariston wasn't really paying attention until he heard the words, "Team Galactic" come out of the News Anchors mouth.
This peeked his attention, and he listened more carefully.
"Our sources have reported an apparent threat on Jubilife City from the terrorist organization, Team Galactic." The News Anchor said. "This group has claimed responsibility for many attacks on various cities and towns, causing destruction, theft, and even death." he continued, "No word yet on what or when the attack will be, but Channel 9 All Day News will update you as soon as we have any more details.".
"No wonder there's not many people out today, they must have heard about this threat and either left the city or are just planning to stay inside as much as they can." Ariston thought, "Good thing I'm leaving today, Dad has always told me, Team Galactic doesn't make threats lightly, they usually follow though.".
He still remember his fathers words, even though he hadn't seen his father in over a year and a half, since he was ordered to go to Snowpoint City.
Thoughts as to why Team Galactic would want to randomly attack a city played in his head. Ariston's attention was diverted when the waitress returned carrying Ariston's small order, and the much larger tray of food for his Shinx.
She placed the hot food on the table, and returned to the kitchen.
Ariston finally released Shinx onto the seat across from him. The tiny Pokemon yawned with it's eyes closed, and upon opening them, was slightly mystified by the food laid out before him.
Shinx's eyes widened had he let out multiple cheerful "Nyaa!"'s at his masters generosity.
"Haha." Ariston said to his Shinx, "Enjoy it, buddy, you earned it.".
Shinx happily dove in to his mountain of delicious fish, almost forgetting to breathe whilst he ate. Shinx wasted no time and after devouring the tuna, one of his favorites, turned his attention to Shinx's absolute favorite fish, salmon.
His master had even ordered it cooked rare, just how he liked it. Shinx was in heaven.
By the time Ariston had finished his bagel, Shinx had already finished his much larger pile of food.
Laughing at his Shinx's appetite, Ariston continued to talk to Shinx about the battle.
"That's the way I hope you always fight, you were great. You stayed in the fight, even after taking some hard hits, and used your head. It sure did pay off too, the Croagunk fell before you did, as far as I'm concerned, you won." Ariston told his friend. "When we fight other trainers from now on, I hope you act just as smart as you did last night.".
Shinx happily "Nyaa"'d at his master's praise, and shortly after, let out a high-pitched hiccup from consuming all his food so fast. Shinx's eyes widened in surprise as the hiccup left his tiny mouth.
"Lets get going then, okay?" Ariston asked.
Shinx nodded, and was withdrawn inside of his pokeball.
Ariston payed his check, left a tip, and headed outside. Ariston was also sure to pick up a take out order for the lunch he'd be eating on his way to Oreburgh, but after that, he immediately left. He wanted to leave quickly, he didn't want to get involved in anything do to with Team Galactic.
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"Dr.Michals, wait." One of the female surgeons pleaded as Dr.Michals was about to leave the room.
"Come take a look at this," she said, pointing to the brain activity monitor, "the subject's heart has stopped, but it's brain function is spiking in delta waves. By these readings alone, you'd think the subject was asleep rather than dead."
"That doesn't make any sense." Dr.Michals said, returning to the operating room, examining the brain activity more closely. "Upon dying, brain activity should steadily go down, but...Delta waves are up, and alpha and theta waves are also climbing." He squinted his eyes, trying to think of a solution to this anomaly, watching the health monitors display all the characteristics of a living patient, but with just one thing missing. A heartbeat.
Given enough time like this, of course the subject's brain would die, and all it's organs would fail, the body cannot survive with out a heartbeat supplying oxygen and blood to it. This however, may give them time to save him.
"Dr.Ariston," Dr.Michals said, "what were you doing when the subject's heart stopped?".
"Sir, I was just about to transfuse the alloy-enritched blood into his body," Dr.Ariston replied, "but stopped when I heard the flat-line."
"Humm," Dr.Michals said while thinking..."Transfuse it anyway, it's specific for this subject's DNA, there's no harm in giving it another shot.". Normally, on a patient who was flat-lining, they'd defibrillate him to try and get a heart beat, however, currently, that was impossible. The subject's chest was cut wide open, along with various other bones exposed, that many volts now would fry his organs, also destroying the artificial ones they had installed.
"Yes sir." Dr.Ariston replied as began the transfusion.
Transfusing blood was a pretty interesting thing to do, you had to completely remove all of the blood in the patients body, and replace it with a new type of blood, in this case, the red blood cells in the new blood had been infused with a metallic alloy.
As the transfusion took place, there was a high-pitched "beep" that broke the silence in the room. It was a heart beat. Quickly another beep followed, then another, and finally the pace of the patients heart returned to normal.
As the alloy-enriched blood entered his veins and arteries, the heart cells reacted to the new blood flow, and his cardiac muscles began their usual processes. His heart had started again.
"It worked!" said Dr.Ariston in surprise, "We may actually have a shot at success here, oh my god, this is incredible!"
"Fantastic." Dr.Michals said confidently as he put on a new pair of surgical gloves and approached the subject.
Subject 14's eyes opened once again, as he regained consciousness. He looked down the table to see his bloody body which was split open and being worked on. He felt all the pain, and clenched his teeth in horror. Yet remained silent.
"One...Two. Three...Four...Five...Six." Subject 14 Counted.
There were six doctors. Six doctors Subject 14 decided he was going to kill.
"Thought we lost you there buddy," one of the doctors said, looking down into Subject 14's emerald eyes, "that'd be lucky for you, wouldn't it? Haha." he continued gently slapping the subject's face, mocking the powerless creature in agony before him.
Subject 14 strained his vision to see his name tag, the pain was making him dizzy and numb, but he managed to read it. "Dr.Maizner" it said.
"Dr.Maizner" Subject 14 thought, "Dr.Maizner dies first.". These were his last thoughts of fleeting consciousness as he lost the ability to think in the extreme amount of pain.
"Beginning Organic Restructuring." Dr.Michals said.
The pain grew, Subject 14 lost consciousness.
"...Gha!" The traveler audibly exclaimed, jolting away from his light sleep once again. He'd been running for hours, and finally fell asleep against an ally way wall once he'd lost all police looking for him.
Again he'd had a nightmare, this time it was further into the procedure. It's usually just the one where his heart stops, he'd never had this one before.
No memory existed of this happing to him, but as he had the dreams, he recalled being on that cold operating table.
"Dr.Michals, Dr.Ariston, Dr.Maizner..." He said to himself...Three out of six...
The traveler picked himself up in the cold winter weather, he had found a torn white robe in one of the allies he'd ran though. It was dirty and unkempt, but provided warmth where it wasn't ripped. It was pretty thin material, but better than nothing.
He began walking once again as the doctors names played in his head. If he did nothing else before he died, he would kill all six doctors.
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Ariston set foot on the dirt road that made up Route 203. He left the asphalt roads behind and started traveling down the shabby pathway.
Route 203 was much nice than Route 202, it had a better breeze, more open spaces and fields, and best of all, stronger Pokemon.
Making his way down the path, Ariston saw the usual Bidof and Starly going about their daily business, some Budew basking in the sun, and could have sworn he even saw a rare Ralts scampering though the tall grass.
The cool temperature made for a nice walk through the grass. He enjoyed being outdoors.
The egg shook in his backpack, surprising Ariston once again at the unfamiliar movement. The egg's excitement died down after a few more minutes of walking, almost as if it just wanted to remind him it was there.
Ariston decided to let Shinx out of his pokeball to enjoy the weather. He retrieved his companion's pokeball off his belt and released the little guy on the ground. Shinx shivered a bit as he got used to the weather, but quickly stretched and began walking aside his master.
They walked together for awhile, Ariston would occasionally share with Shinx some advice on fighting other Pokemon, and some strategy with Shinx's discharge ability.
While talking, they passed by a small lake. Ariston checked his cell phone again for the time. "9:21 AM" It displayed, they'd been walking for quite some time. Ariston decided the lake would be a good place to take a break.
Ariston and Shinx sat down at the lakeside and began to relax. Ariston placed his backpack beside him, unzipping it, he let the egg into the sunlight. He then let out a sigh of relaxation and laid flat on his back, hands behind his head, he watched Starly make lazy circles in the sky above him, then shut his eyes.
Shinx, rather than relaxing, found ways to entertain himself, he'd occasionally scare flocks of Starly away, or wrestle with an aggressive Bidof.
After some fun, Shinx returned to his masters side, and stared at the deep blue of the lake.
Shinx was then startled as something poked it's head out of the water. He started furiously letting out "Nyaa"'s to alert his master, but to no use.
"Now now Shinx..." Ariston said, eyes still closed, obviously relaxing and on the edge of sleeping, "...I'll play with you in a minute" he lazily continued, rolling on his side.
Shinx decided to examine the creature by himself.
The head sticking out of the water was strange to Shinx. It was a brownish-orange color, which faded to an almost white-brown around it's mouth and eyebrows, the area around it's mouth also sported a few whiskers sticking out. This Pokemon also had a ring around its neck which seemed to be keeping him afloat.
Shinx tilted his head in question, examining this creature.
Suddenly, the Pokemon in the water withdrew it's head back underneath the surface.
Sad that this interesting Pokemon was now gone, Shinx approached the water's surface and placed his head closer and closer to it, trying to find where the Pokemon had swam off to.
The Pokemon then popped it's head back up, right in front of Shinx, their noses almost touching. Shinx, almost having a heart attack, jumped backwards at this, his tiny mouth hung open in surprise.
The Pokemon gave a friendly smile and a small amount laughter as it scared the small electric Pokemon almost to death. Coming out of the water, it revealed it's long body, which was the same orange-brown color as it's head, save for its stomach, which was also a shade of brown-white. It also had tiny arms, with blue fins attached, and two long tails.
The water Pokemon stood up on it's short hind legs and examined Shinx.
Shinx gave a playfully angry "Nyaa" for being scared by this Pokemon. The water Pokemon just smiled at Shinx and shook its fur, covering Shinx with water.
Shinx closed one eye and backed up as the water rained on him, he didn't like to get wet. The water Pokemon saw this and began playfully squirting Shinx with the water his species could shoot from it's mouth.
Shinx ran around trying to avoid the low powered water jets that splashed from the Pokemon. Seemed he had found a way to have fun with the wildlife rather than just battling it.
Some water made it's way on Ariston's face, and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Ariston immediately noticed the Buizel chasing his Shinx around.
Ariston originally thought Shinx was fighting this wild Buizel, but after watching them, he recognized that they were just having fun, and relaxed his worried nerves.
As more and more water covered Shinx and Ariston, Ariston let out a laugh and told the two Pokemon running around, "Alright, settle down you two.".
The Shinx and Buizel both started at Ariston for a few seconds in silence. Then, the Buizel simply tilted it's head to the left inquisitively, then proceeded to spray a blast of cold water into Ariston's crotch.
"Jesus!" Ariston yelled, jumping back from both the temperature and the location of the water. It obviously looked like the 16 year old trainer had pissed himself.
Confident with his work, the Buizel continued to chase Shinx around.
Ariston tried to wipe some of the water off, but it was still pretty obvious. He gave up and figured he'd just let Shinx and Buizel wear each other out, not risking another spray. Wet pants plus cold weather equals one uncomfortable Ariston.
Ariston sat back down and watched his Shinx interact with the natural Pokemon by the lake.
He let them play for half and hour or so, neither the Shinx nor the Buizel getting tired, before he called his Shinx over.
Shinx looked sadly at Buizel, then ran back to his master.
Buizel watched Shinx run away, saddened that his new friend was leaving.
As Ariston petted the damp fur on Shinx's head and body, he stood up, and began walking down Route 203 again.
He heard the footsteps of his Shinx behind him, but also the sound of something else.
He turned to see what it was, and it was the all-too-familiar Buizel, following Shinx.
"Looks like your friend wants to come with us, eh?" Ariston said to his Shinx.
Both the Buizel and Shinx looked up at Ariston and nodded.
"Alright then, I'll make you a part of the team."
With that, Ariston drew an empty pokeball from his belt and gently tossed it over to the smiling Buizel.
Pokeballs never actually make contact with a Pokemon, when they are in range of a wild Pokemon, they immediately let out their signature red light onto the Pokemon, which pushes the pokeball back, simultaneously opening it and drawing the wild Pokemon inside.
Ariston remember hearing in class that the original pokeball -did- make contact with a Pokemon, but the design was quickly discarded and remodeled due to the fact some trainers threw it too hard, harming or killing some small, or bug Pokemon. Besides, most Pokemon who were caught by that design automatically resented their master for having just throwing a hard metal ball at them.
As the Buizel was drawn inside the pokeball, it shook for a moment on the ground, then it finally made the monotone low pitched tune, indicating that the Pokemon was caught.
Ariston retrieved the pokeball off the ground, and examined it.
"Boy, that was easy, this Buizel sure seemed to like you. You've got a new friend and member to the team." Ariston told Shinx.
With that, he quickly release Buizel onto the ground next to Shinx.
"Welcome aboard." Ariston told Buizel, smiling at the water Pokemon.
Buizel just gave another inquisitive look, examining her new master, then proceeded to spray Ariston with another cool jet of water directly into his crotch.
"Ahh!" Ariston exclaimed as he jumped back once more, the tiny little Pokemon had sprayed him again, and the feeling was quite undesirable.
Laughing at Buizel and Shinx running around, he started walking again, trying to wipe some water off his pants on his shirt.
"A water Pokemon..." Ariston thought, "This is good, the Oreburgh City Gym Leader uses mostly rock type Pokemon, from what I've heard."
Buizel and Shinx running around his feet, the two Pokemon and their master made their way down Route 203.
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Miles away, the traveler had made his way out of the city. He had crossed though it to the other side, and had no desire of returning, that place was horrible.
In his right hand, he carried his medical bracelet, his left hand was gripping his right limb, he felt a stabbing pain in his biceps, and squeezed it to try and lessen the pull of gravity on it.
He walked lazily down the path, while the temperature continued to drop. His grey-silver hair fell over his face as he walked the desolate path of some unknown Route. A snowflake fell in front of him. His body ached from the wear of surgery and the drawing of metal from his blood cells into his knuckles. Maybe with time, he could focus this better, but for now, he didn't know the first thing about it.
His body should be resting right now, recovering from the massive changes that has taken place in it, instead, it's been breaking hands, punching walls, running through city alley-ways, and now, walking in the snow.
The traveler felt something warm on his chest. He looked down to see that his bandaged torso had blood seeping though the medical tape. He cursed to himself as his pace slowed, the cold stabbing at him, his pain growing.
The snowfall was constant now, covering the ground in freezing ice crystals. The traveler wore no shoes, and his feet had gone numb from the bitter cold.
He grew dizzy from both the winter weather and his blood loss. His breathing grew heavy, the cold was making it hard to breathe.
He tried to endure further down the road, trying to find some sort of shelter, but his vision started to blur. He noticed some caves far off in the distance, but in his current condition, there's no way he'd make it there.
He let go of his right arm, now applying pressure with his free hand on the increasing blood-flow coming form his chest.
"...D-Damn...it..." He struggled to say as he started seeing black.
Was he really going to die here? Was this a fitting end to his short life? Would nature be the one to kill him?
These thoughts played in his mind, but not for long as he collapsed on the snowy path below him.
He managed to blink once or twice on the ground before everything grew black. He could go no further. He felt himself slip into unconsciousness.
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"Here we are," Ariston said to Buizel and Shinx. "The Oreburgh City Gate."
The three travelers looked up at the large rocky formation, and the entrance to the dark cave.
The Oreburgh City Gate was simply a rock formation that workers had cut a hole though, in order to make it so that trainers could go from Route 203 to Oreburgh City. It was pretty convenient.
Not only was it useful, the entire cave was only about a mile and a half long, just a quick trip through here and they'd be in Oreburgh City.
"Lets head in." Ariston said confidently as the group walked inside the cave.
Upon entering, Ariston immediately noticed the large cave's ceiling, or lack there of, it stretched on into the blackness, much higher than they could see.
The path was lit with lanterns hanging on the wall, but for the most part, the cave was pretty dim. The ground was damp and cold as they ventured further inside, the walls made the tunnel pretty narrow, probably wide enough for a large car to fit through though
The cave's rock was an ugly dark brown color, with the obvious marks of man made machines that had cut through them decorating the tunnel's walls.
Some wild Geodude huddled in some of the darker corners, shooting Ariston aggressive glares.
Watching cautiously the wild Pokemon around them, Shinx and Buizel stayed close to their masters feet.
Shinx had to be the most careful, his electric attacks would be useless against these rock Pokemon.
Buizel, being the curious little thing she is, got her attention grabbed by a rather large Geodude who was alone atop a loose rock.
Buizel ran to approach it with out hesitation, as she was curious if this Geodude would play with her like Shinx had.
Ariston yelled for Buizel to stop, but that didn't slow her down, she immediately approached the large rock Pokemon who then looked down from his rock, and narrowed his eyes at the Buizel who stood on her hind legs examining him, much like she had with Shinx.
The Geodude didn't want any intruders in his area, and so with out wasting any time, took a swing with his rocky arm at the little Buizel.
"Buizel, shit! Lookout!" Ariston yelled as he saw the unusually muscular Geodude take a swing at his new Buizel. "A direct attack from that thing could -kill- her." He thought, as Shinx ran over to help.
As the Geodude swung at the inquisitive Buizel, she realized the danger of the situation and ducked her head under the hefty fist of the angry Geodude.
Ariston let out a sigh of relief.
Now seeing that this wasn't a friendly Pokemon, the Buizel let out a much, -much-, more powerful water blast than she had sprayed Shinx and Ariston with.
The blast of water from Buizel's mouth struck Geodude's center, and completely drenched him. Geodude were weak against water, and due to the force of Buizel's attack, the Geodude was pushed off his rock onto the ground.
Not wanting any further harm, the Geodude scampered into the darkness of one of the caves natural crevasses.
"Wow," Ariston said in surprise, "good job, Buizel, way to go.". He knew Buizel had an advantage over Geodudes, but didn't expect so much force paced in his new water Pokemon's attacks.
"With attacks like that, we might be able to handle the Oreburgh City Gym Leader easier than I thought." He told her, "We'll train you some more later once we reach the city."
Having learned her lesson, Buizel didn't willingly approach any more wild Pokemon in the cave.
Inevitably, some other aggressive Geodudes had attacked them along the way, along with the occasional wild Zubat.
Buizel was able to handle the Geodudes with ease, while Shinx managed to fight off the Zubat with some powerful electric discharges.
They made pretty good time though the cave, occasionally stopping to fight wild Pokemon, and taking a quick break for lunch.
He had the standard Poke-chow for Shinx and Buizel, and a take-out hamburger that he'd ordered as they were leaving "The Traveling Trainer" in the morning.
Shinx seemed upset at having to eat the bland Poke-chow, as it didn't compare to his colossal breakfast.
Buizel didn't seem to mind, she usually just ate what ever wildlife she could catch. Something already dead to eat was a nice change for her.
"Haha, don't worry guys, we'll get you some real food once we reach the city." Ariston told his Pokemon reassuringly.
After they finished eating, they continued their way to the other side of the cave, fighting some more Zubat, Geodude, and the occasional Machop.
By the time they reached the exit to the cave, about a half an hour later, both his Pokemon had grown much stronger.
Exiting the cave, he let his eyes fix upon the large city of Oreburgh, The Mining Town. He immediately noticed the Pokemon Gym as he made his way onto the city streets, it was the largest building in the area.
"We're not ready yet," he told his to eager Pokemon who stared at the large Pokemon Gymnasium, "but we will be soon, don't you worry.".
Ariston looked at his phone once again for the time, "4:42 PM" it read.
"Alright, let's get some training in, then we'll grab some dinner and head to sleep, sound good?" Ariston asked his Pokemon.
They both replied with a happy nod, willing to do whatever their master had in mind.
Ariston smiled confidentially at his two Pokemon, grateful that they'd made so much progress already. He then led his Pokemon to the outskirts of town to find some more wild Pokemon to spar with.
Ariston was so excited of training his Pokemon, he didn't even notice the now more active egg in his backpack.
It was getting ready to hatch.
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The traveler lay in the snow, his muscles numb and his consciousness lost, the strong winter winds brushing snow upon his broken body. The medical bracelet clenched in his hand was swept away by a gust of wind, and onto the ground, quickly buried with snow.
He was not alone, though.
A calm, furry, yellow-gold foot was quick to stand aside the bracelet, and pick it up.
She couldn't read human words, but she held onto it just incase.
Standing over the man lying in the snow...She thought to herself, "Humm I thought I smelled a Pokemon over here...Guess it was just this guy.".
She nudged him with her foot, and he slumped over unresponsively. "Sure is an odd place to take a nap." She said.
"Aww, I wanted to battle another Pokemon before I went in for the night, the snow's getting pretty bad..." The female Pokemon said in a pouting tone. "Pffrt, what kind of human sleeps out in the middle of nowhere covered in snow?"
"Looks awfully uncomfortable to me...Maybe I should take him back to my cave, at least it's a little bit warmer in there..."
She knelt down and shook the man on the side of the road. The travelers still unconscious body limp to her touch.
"Lazy oaf" she said to herself, "Guess I'll carry you. Ya owe me for this buddy.".
She hefted the man off the ground, and onto her reddened shoulders. She was pretty strong, despite her appearance, and had a minimal amount of difficulty carrying this man to her nearby cave.
"Urgh, you're heavier than you look." She told the unconscious man, "What's your name anyway?".
No response.
"Common, you have to have a nameeee." She teased, unaware that the man on her shoulder was still very unconscious.
"Fine, guess you're not too talkative." She continued.
After walking the rest of the way to her cave, occasionally trying to strike up a conversation with the unconscious man she was carrying, finally reached her destination out of the cold.
She dumped the man down, and he hit the cave floor with a rather loud 'THUD'.
"Oops." She said as she realized she'd dropped the man on his face.
Her cave was pretty small, maybe room for three people, also with enough room to stand, and it provided shelter from the building snowstorm outside, so it was their home for now.
She rolled the man over onto his back and noticed the blood stain on his chest.
"Looks like you're in pretty bad shape, huh?" She asked him yet again.
There was a pause of silence as the impatient Pokemon waited for a response sitting beside the man.
"Are you dead?" She then asked innocently.
Still, no answer.
She sighed and lit a small pile of twigs and leaves on fire in the center of the cave with a breath from her mouth.
"Whatever...See ya in the morning." She said, laying down on the cave floor next to the fire.
"Unless you're dead, then I wont see you..Ya know, cause you're...dead and all." She continued as she closed her eyes.
Having a quick idea, she sat up again, making use of the stranger in her cave.
The Pokemon adjusted her uncomfortable position from the ground, and lay with her head on the mans chest as a pillow.
"...You don't mind do ya?" She asked, taking obvious advantage of the mans current condition.
There was a moment of silence
"S'what I thought."
The Pokemon then quickly fell asleep, with her head resting on her new unconscious friend.Chapter End Notes:Chaaappptttteeerrrr Four is next
Ariston lazily opened his eyes, then squinted them shut again as his pupils adjusted to the growing intensity of the sun shining on him. He sat up on his temporary bed, this low quality box-spring mattress wasn't the most comfortable of things, neither was the pillow that might as well been made of wood, but hey, he could have been sleeping on the ground, outside in the cold weather.
He looked around the room to see other trainers in their bunk beds. There weren't too many trainers in here now, not many trainers wanted to travel right now, most of them were paranoid of Team Galactic. Ariston didn't really see the point of worrying about them, in the unlikely event he -did- run into a Team Galactic Member, why in the world would they have any interest in him? He's just a beginner trainer with no badges and one Pokemon, after all.
Due to the lack of occupants in the room, Ariston slept in the bottom bunk of one of the numerous bunk-beds that lined in rows throughout the large room. There wasn't even anyone sleeping above him. He'd prefer to be on the top bunk, but he knew that he should to be close to his backpack with his egg in it. He didn't want to take any chances of it cracking.
After taking a few minutes to collect himself, and wake up a bit, Ariston swung his legs over to the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes, letting out a sigh. He loved his sleep, and having to get up early to travel to Oreburgh City was a chore. Everyday, the first thing on his mind when he wakes up from sleep is always the same thought, "Can't wait to do that again".
He knew that he had to leave early if he wanted to make the walk to Oreburgh before it got dark, he'd rather not travel at night, it made things much more difficult. Besides, the Gym would be closed at night, he didn't have any intention of fight the Gym leader today, but it would still be nice to have that option, he didn't know how much stronger he'd get on the way to Oreburgh.
Gym leaders trained from 10 AM to 5 PM on weekdays inside their gym with their various understudies training along with the Gym Leader, wanting to get stronger. If Ariston lived in a city with a Gym, he'd probably be training there once he got his license, rather than journeying. He was grateful that he got to travel.
"Alright." He said to himself as he hefted his sleepy body out of bed, getting dressed an ready to travel. He put on his blue-jeans, and an obviously worn down plain black shirt. The weather was getting cooler, but he liked the cold air, and had no problem being a little chilly today.
He put the rest of his clothes and supplies in his backpack, underneath the warm egg, and made his way to the exit of the Lodge. He pushed open the heavy steel doors, and walked outside.
The cold air woke him up instantly as Ariston was hit with a breeze. He decided to go back to "The Traveling Trainer: Restaurant and Diner" for a quick breakfast before he left.
The diner was pretty close to where he was staying, they had built the Trainers Lodge strategically close to a Pokemon/Trainer restaurant, and the cities Pokemon Center.
Now walking down the city streets, Ariston noticed the lack of people. It could be that not many were up this early in the morning, but it was still strange. Sure, there were a few business men and other people walking around, but not as many as there should be in a city. Oddly, everyone sported some sort of worried and paranoid look on their face.
After not too long of walking, Ariston found his way to the "Traveling Trainer: Restaurant and Diner". He liked this place. Walking inside for the second time, he half expected to see Shane and Conti sitting there having breakfast too. Of course they weren't, but it would have been nice to see his friends again before leaving.
Shane and Conti weren't leaving the city for quite some time, and had no reason to be up at this hour.
Taking a seat at the same empty booth he ate at yesterday, he checked his cell phone for the time. "6:43 AM" it displayed. It felt like a school day being up this early.
The restaurant had a fair amount of booths and and tables inside of it, also with a counter that surrounded the kitchen area, with some rotating bar stools. Ariston preferred to sit in booths though, they're much more comfortable in his opinion.
Soon enough a skinny waitress in her mid 30's approached him, who had blonde hair down to her neck, and was wearing the blue and white "The Traveling Trainer" employee uniform.
"Can I get you something, hun?" She asked him in a city resident accent as she pulled out her waitress pad to write down his order.
"Sure, just a glass of orange juice for me and a plain bagel." He said, but quickly remembering his Shinx and his titanic battle the night before. Ariston decided that it's best for his little friend to be rewarded.
As the waitress turned to walk away, Ariston continued, "Oh yeah, one more thing for my Shinx here."
Ariston retrieved up the pokeball that contained Shinx, waiting to release him, Ariston wanted to surprise his Pokemon with his favorite foods.
"Could I also get..." he said, pausing to think of what Shinx might like, "A side of tuna fish, a plate of milk, and an order of sesame salmon, please."
Scribbling down the order in the waitress's incomprehensible shorthand, she nodded while saying in her city accent, "Sure thing, hun.", and walked to the kitchen to place the order.
"Shinx is gonna be happy when he sees that." Ariston thought to himself as he watched the TV hung at the corner of the counter across the restaurant.
It was the news, which is usually pretty boring, so Ariston wasn't really paying attention until he heard the words, "Team Galactic" come out of the News Anchors mouth.
This peeked his attention, and he listened more carefully.
"Our sources have reported an apparent threat on Jubilife City from the terrorist organization, Team Galactic." The News Anchor said. "This group has claimed responsibility for many attacks on various cities and towns, causing destruction, theft, and even death." he continued, "No word yet on what or when the attack will be, but Channel 9 All Day News will update you as soon as we have any more details.".
"No wonder there's not many people out today, they must have heard about this threat and either left the city or are just planning to stay inside as much as they can." Ariston thought, "Good thing I'm leaving today, Dad has always told me, Team Galactic doesn't make threats lightly, they usually follow though.".
He still remember his fathers words, even though he hadn't seen his father in over a year and a half, since he was ordered to go to Snowpoint City.
Thoughts as to why Team Galactic would want to randomly attack a city played in his head. Ariston's attention was diverted when the waitress returned carrying Ariston's small order, and the much larger tray of food for his Shinx.
She placed the hot food on the table, and returned to the kitchen.
Ariston finally released Shinx onto the seat across from him. The tiny Pokemon yawned with it's eyes closed, and upon opening them, was slightly mystified by the food laid out before him.
Shinx's eyes widened had he let out multiple cheerful "Nyaa!"'s at his masters generosity.
"Haha." Ariston said to his Shinx, "Enjoy it, buddy, you earned it.".
Shinx happily dove in to his mountain of delicious fish, almost forgetting to breathe whilst he ate. Shinx wasted no time and after devouring the tuna, one of his favorites, turned his attention to Shinx's absolute favorite fish, salmon.
His master had even ordered it cooked rare, just how he liked it. Shinx was in heaven.
By the time Ariston had finished his bagel, Shinx had already finished his much larger pile of food.
Laughing at his Shinx's appetite, Ariston continued to talk to Shinx about the battle.
"That's the way I hope you always fight, you were great. You stayed in the fight, even after taking some hard hits, and used your head. It sure did pay off too, the Croagunk fell before you did, as far as I'm concerned, you won." Ariston told his friend. "When we fight other trainers from now on, I hope you act just as smart as you did last night.".
Shinx happily "Nyaa"'d at his master's praise, and shortly after, let out a high-pitched hiccup from consuming all his food so fast. Shinx's eyes widened in surprise as the hiccup left his tiny mouth.
"Lets get going then, okay?" Ariston asked.
Shinx nodded, and was withdrawn inside of his pokeball.
Ariston payed his check, left a tip, and headed outside. Ariston was also sure to pick up a take out order for the lunch he'd be eating on his way to Oreburgh, but after that, he immediately left. He wanted to leave quickly, he didn't want to get involved in anything do to with Team Galactic.
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"Dr.Michals, wait." One of the female surgeons pleaded as Dr.Michals was about to leave the room.
"Come take a look at this," she said, pointing to the brain activity monitor, "the subject's heart has stopped, but it's brain function is spiking in delta waves. By these readings alone, you'd think the subject was asleep rather than dead."
"That doesn't make any sense." Dr.Michals said, returning to the operating room, examining the brain activity more closely. "Upon dying, brain activity should steadily go down, but...Delta waves are up, and alpha and theta waves are also climbing." He squinted his eyes, trying to think of a solution to this anomaly, watching the health monitors display all the characteristics of a living patient, but with just one thing missing. A heartbeat.
Given enough time like this, of course the subject's brain would die, and all it's organs would fail, the body cannot survive with out a heartbeat supplying oxygen and blood to it. This however, may give them time to save him.
"Dr.Ariston," Dr.Michals said, "what were you doing when the subject's heart stopped?".
"Sir, I was just about to transfuse the alloy-enritched blood into his body," Dr.Ariston replied, "but stopped when I heard the flat-line."
"Humm," Dr.Michals said while thinking..."Transfuse it anyway, it's specific for this subject's DNA, there's no harm in giving it another shot.". Normally, on a patient who was flat-lining, they'd defibrillate him to try and get a heart beat, however, currently, that was impossible. The subject's chest was cut wide open, along with various other bones exposed, that many volts now would fry his organs, also destroying the artificial ones they had installed.
"Yes sir." Dr.Ariston replied as began the transfusion.
Transfusing blood was a pretty interesting thing to do, you had to completely remove all of the blood in the patients body, and replace it with a new type of blood, in this case, the red blood cells in the new blood had been infused with a metallic alloy.
As the transfusion took place, there was a high-pitched "beep" that broke the silence in the room. It was a heart beat. Quickly another beep followed, then another, and finally the pace of the patients heart returned to normal.
As the alloy-enriched blood entered his veins and arteries, the heart cells reacted to the new blood flow, and his cardiac muscles began their usual processes. His heart had started again.
"It worked!" said Dr.Ariston in surprise, "We may actually have a shot at success here, oh my god, this is incredible!"
"Fantastic." Dr.Michals said confidently as he put on a new pair of surgical gloves and approached the subject.
Subject 14's eyes opened once again, as he regained consciousness. He looked down the table to see his bloody body which was split open and being worked on. He felt all the pain, and clenched his teeth in horror. Yet remained silent.
"One...Two. Three...Four...Five...Six." Subject 14 Counted.
There were six doctors. Six doctors Subject 14 decided he was going to kill.
"Thought we lost you there buddy," one of the doctors said, looking down into Subject 14's emerald eyes, "that'd be lucky for you, wouldn't it? Haha." he continued gently slapping the subject's face, mocking the powerless creature in agony before him.
Subject 14 strained his vision to see his name tag, the pain was making him dizzy and numb, but he managed to read it. "Dr.Maizner" it said.
"Dr.Maizner" Subject 14 thought, "Dr.Maizner dies first.". These were his last thoughts of fleeting consciousness as he lost the ability to think in the extreme amount of pain.
"Beginning Organic Restructuring." Dr.Michals said.
The pain grew, Subject 14 lost consciousness.
"...Gha!" The traveler audibly exclaimed, jolting away from his light sleep once again. He'd been running for hours, and finally fell asleep against an ally way wall once he'd lost all police looking for him.
Again he'd had a nightmare, this time it was further into the procedure. It's usually just the one where his heart stops, he'd never had this one before.
No memory existed of this happing to him, but as he had the dreams, he recalled being on that cold operating table.
"Dr.Michals, Dr.Ariston, Dr.Maizner..." He said to himself...Three out of six...
The traveler picked himself up in the cold winter weather, he had found a torn white robe in one of the allies he'd ran though. It was dirty and unkempt, but provided warmth where it wasn't ripped. It was pretty thin material, but better than nothing.
He began walking once again as the doctors names played in his head. If he did nothing else before he died, he would kill all six doctors.
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Ariston set foot on the dirt road that made up Route 203. He left the asphalt roads behind and started traveling down the shabby pathway.
Route 203 was much nice than Route 202, it had a better breeze, more open spaces and fields, and best of all, stronger Pokemon.
Making his way down the path, Ariston saw the usual Bidof and Starly going about their daily business, some Budew basking in the sun, and could have sworn he even saw a rare Ralts scampering though the tall grass.
The cool temperature made for a nice walk through the grass. He enjoyed being outdoors.
The egg shook in his backpack, surprising Ariston once again at the unfamiliar movement. The egg's excitement died down after a few more minutes of walking, almost as if it just wanted to remind him it was there.
Ariston decided to let Shinx out of his pokeball to enjoy the weather. He retrieved his companion's pokeball off his belt and released the little guy on the ground. Shinx shivered a bit as he got used to the weather, but quickly stretched and began walking aside his master.
They walked together for awhile, Ariston would occasionally share with Shinx some advice on fighting other Pokemon, and some strategy with Shinx's discharge ability.
While talking, they passed by a small lake. Ariston checked his cell phone again for the time. "9:21 AM" It displayed, they'd been walking for quite some time. Ariston decided the lake would be a good place to take a break.
Ariston and Shinx sat down at the lakeside and began to relax. Ariston placed his backpack beside him, unzipping it, he let the egg into the sunlight. He then let out a sigh of relaxation and laid flat on his back, hands behind his head, he watched Starly make lazy circles in the sky above him, then shut his eyes.
Shinx, rather than relaxing, found ways to entertain himself, he'd occasionally scare flocks of Starly away, or wrestle with an aggressive Bidof.
After some fun, Shinx returned to his masters side, and stared at the deep blue of the lake.
Shinx was then startled as something poked it's head out of the water. He started furiously letting out "Nyaa"'s to alert his master, but to no use.
"Now now Shinx..." Ariston said, eyes still closed, obviously relaxing and on the edge of sleeping, "...I'll play with you in a minute" he lazily continued, rolling on his side.
Shinx decided to examine the creature by himself.
The head sticking out of the water was strange to Shinx. It was a brownish-orange color, which faded to an almost white-brown around it's mouth and eyebrows, the area around it's mouth also sported a few whiskers sticking out. This Pokemon also had a ring around its neck which seemed to be keeping him afloat.
Shinx tilted his head in question, examining this creature.
Suddenly, the Pokemon in the water withdrew it's head back underneath the surface.
Sad that this interesting Pokemon was now gone, Shinx approached the water's surface and placed his head closer and closer to it, trying to find where the Pokemon had swam off to.
The Pokemon then popped it's head back up, right in front of Shinx, their noses almost touching. Shinx, almost having a heart attack, jumped backwards at this, his tiny mouth hung open in surprise.
The Pokemon gave a friendly smile and a small amount laughter as it scared the small electric Pokemon almost to death. Coming out of the water, it revealed it's long body, which was the same orange-brown color as it's head, save for its stomach, which was also a shade of brown-white. It also had tiny arms, with blue fins attached, and two long tails.
The water Pokemon stood up on it's short hind legs and examined Shinx.
Shinx gave a playfully angry "Nyaa" for being scared by this Pokemon. The water Pokemon just smiled at Shinx and shook its fur, covering Shinx with water.
Shinx closed one eye and backed up as the water rained on him, he didn't like to get wet. The water Pokemon saw this and began playfully squirting Shinx with the water his species could shoot from it's mouth.
Shinx ran around trying to avoid the low powered water jets that splashed from the Pokemon. Seemed he had found a way to have fun with the wildlife rather than just battling it.
Some water made it's way on Ariston's face, and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Ariston immediately noticed the Buizel chasing his Shinx around.
Ariston originally thought Shinx was fighting this wild Buizel, but after watching them, he recognized that they were just having fun, and relaxed his worried nerves.
As more and more water covered Shinx and Ariston, Ariston let out a laugh and told the two Pokemon running around, "Alright, settle down you two.".
The Shinx and Buizel both started at Ariston for a few seconds in silence. Then, the Buizel simply tilted it's head to the left inquisitively, then proceeded to spray a blast of cold water into Ariston's crotch.
"Jesus!" Ariston yelled, jumping back from both the temperature and the location of the water. It obviously looked like the 16 year old trainer had pissed himself.
Confident with his work, the Buizel continued to chase Shinx around.
Ariston tried to wipe some of the water off, but it was still pretty obvious. He gave up and figured he'd just let Shinx and Buizel wear each other out, not risking another spray. Wet pants plus cold weather equals one uncomfortable Ariston.
Ariston sat back down and watched his Shinx interact with the natural Pokemon by the lake.
He let them play for half and hour or so, neither the Shinx nor the Buizel getting tired, before he called his Shinx over.
Shinx looked sadly at Buizel, then ran back to his master.
Buizel watched Shinx run away, saddened that his new friend was leaving.
As Ariston petted the damp fur on Shinx's head and body, he stood up, and began walking down Route 203 again.
He heard the footsteps of his Shinx behind him, but also the sound of something else.
He turned to see what it was, and it was the all-too-familiar Buizel, following Shinx.
"Looks like your friend wants to come with us, eh?" Ariston said to his Shinx.
Both the Buizel and Shinx looked up at Ariston and nodded.
"Alright then, I'll make you a part of the team."
With that, Ariston drew an empty pokeball from his belt and gently tossed it over to the smiling Buizel.
Pokeballs never actually make contact with a Pokemon, when they are in range of a wild Pokemon, they immediately let out their signature red light onto the Pokemon, which pushes the pokeball back, simultaneously opening it and drawing the wild Pokemon inside.
Ariston remember hearing in class that the original pokeball -did- make contact with a Pokemon, but the design was quickly discarded and remodeled due to the fact some trainers threw it too hard, harming or killing some small, or bug Pokemon. Besides, most Pokemon who were caught by that design automatically resented their master for having just throwing a hard metal ball at them.
As the Buizel was drawn inside the pokeball, it shook for a moment on the ground, then it finally made the monotone low pitched tune, indicating that the Pokemon was caught.
Ariston retrieved the pokeball off the ground, and examined it.
"Boy, that was easy, this Buizel sure seemed to like you. You've got a new friend and member to the team." Ariston told Shinx.
With that, he quickly release Buizel onto the ground next to Shinx.
"Welcome aboard." Ariston told Buizel, smiling at the water Pokemon.
Buizel just gave another inquisitive look, examining her new master, then proceeded to spray Ariston with another cool jet of water directly into his crotch.
"Ahh!" Ariston exclaimed as he jumped back once more, the tiny little Pokemon had sprayed him again, and the feeling was quite undesirable.
Laughing at Buizel and Shinx running around, he started walking again, trying to wipe some water off his pants on his shirt.
"A water Pokemon..." Ariston thought, "This is good, the Oreburgh City Gym Leader uses mostly rock type Pokemon, from what I've heard."
Buizel and Shinx running around his feet, the two Pokemon and their master made their way down Route 203.
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Miles away, the traveler had made his way out of the city. He had crossed though it to the other side, and had no desire of returning, that place was horrible.
In his right hand, he carried his medical bracelet, his left hand was gripping his right limb, he felt a stabbing pain in his biceps, and squeezed it to try and lessen the pull of gravity on it.
He walked lazily down the path, while the temperature continued to drop. His grey-silver hair fell over his face as he walked the desolate path of some unknown Route. A snowflake fell in front of him. His body ached from the wear of surgery and the drawing of metal from his blood cells into his knuckles. Maybe with time, he could focus this better, but for now, he didn't know the first thing about it.
His body should be resting right now, recovering from the massive changes that has taken place in it, instead, it's been breaking hands, punching walls, running through city alley-ways, and now, walking in the snow.
The traveler felt something warm on his chest. He looked down to see that his bandaged torso had blood seeping though the medical tape. He cursed to himself as his pace slowed, the cold stabbing at him, his pain growing.
The snowfall was constant now, covering the ground in freezing ice crystals. The traveler wore no shoes, and his feet had gone numb from the bitter cold.
He grew dizzy from both the winter weather and his blood loss. His breathing grew heavy, the cold was making it hard to breathe.
He tried to endure further down the road, trying to find some sort of shelter, but his vision started to blur. He noticed some caves far off in the distance, but in his current condition, there's no way he'd make it there.
He let go of his right arm, now applying pressure with his free hand on the increasing blood-flow coming form his chest.
"...D-Damn...it..." He struggled to say as he started seeing black.
Was he really going to die here? Was this a fitting end to his short life? Would nature be the one to kill him?
These thoughts played in his mind, but not for long as he collapsed on the snowy path below him.
He managed to blink once or twice on the ground before everything grew black. He could go no further. He felt himself slip into unconsciousness.
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"Here we are," Ariston said to Buizel and Shinx. "The Oreburgh City Gate."
The three travelers looked up at the large rocky formation, and the entrance to the dark cave.
The Oreburgh City Gate was simply a rock formation that workers had cut a hole though, in order to make it so that trainers could go from Route 203 to Oreburgh City. It was pretty convenient.
Not only was it useful, the entire cave was only about a mile and a half long, just a quick trip through here and they'd be in Oreburgh City.
"Lets head in." Ariston said confidently as the group walked inside the cave.
Upon entering, Ariston immediately noticed the large cave's ceiling, or lack there of, it stretched on into the blackness, much higher than they could see.
The path was lit with lanterns hanging on the wall, but for the most part, the cave was pretty dim. The ground was damp and cold as they ventured further inside, the walls made the tunnel pretty narrow, probably wide enough for a large car to fit through though
The cave's rock was an ugly dark brown color, with the obvious marks of man made machines that had cut through them decorating the tunnel's walls.
Some wild Geodude huddled in some of the darker corners, shooting Ariston aggressive glares.
Watching cautiously the wild Pokemon around them, Shinx and Buizel stayed close to their masters feet.
Shinx had to be the most careful, his electric attacks would be useless against these rock Pokemon.
Buizel, being the curious little thing she is, got her attention grabbed by a rather large Geodude who was alone atop a loose rock.
Buizel ran to approach it with out hesitation, as she was curious if this Geodude would play with her like Shinx had.
Ariston yelled for Buizel to stop, but that didn't slow her down, she immediately approached the large rock Pokemon who then looked down from his rock, and narrowed his eyes at the Buizel who stood on her hind legs examining him, much like she had with Shinx.
The Geodude didn't want any intruders in his area, and so with out wasting any time, took a swing with his rocky arm at the little Buizel.
"Buizel, shit! Lookout!" Ariston yelled as he saw the unusually muscular Geodude take a swing at his new Buizel. "A direct attack from that thing could -kill- her." He thought, as Shinx ran over to help.
As the Geodude swung at the inquisitive Buizel, she realized the danger of the situation and ducked her head under the hefty fist of the angry Geodude.
Ariston let out a sigh of relief.
Now seeing that this wasn't a friendly Pokemon, the Buizel let out a much, -much-, more powerful water blast than she had sprayed Shinx and Ariston with.
The blast of water from Buizel's mouth struck Geodude's center, and completely drenched him. Geodude were weak against water, and due to the force of Buizel's attack, the Geodude was pushed off his rock onto the ground.
Not wanting any further harm, the Geodude scampered into the darkness of one of the caves natural crevasses.
"Wow," Ariston said in surprise, "good job, Buizel, way to go.". He knew Buizel had an advantage over Geodudes, but didn't expect so much force paced in his new water Pokemon's attacks.
"With attacks like that, we might be able to handle the Oreburgh City Gym Leader easier than I thought." He told her, "We'll train you some more later once we reach the city."
Having learned her lesson, Buizel didn't willingly approach any more wild Pokemon in the cave.
Inevitably, some other aggressive Geodudes had attacked them along the way, along with the occasional wild Zubat.
Buizel was able to handle the Geodudes with ease, while Shinx managed to fight off the Zubat with some powerful electric discharges.
They made pretty good time though the cave, occasionally stopping to fight wild Pokemon, and taking a quick break for lunch.
He had the standard Poke-chow for Shinx and Buizel, and a take-out hamburger that he'd ordered as they were leaving "The Traveling Trainer" in the morning.
Shinx seemed upset at having to eat the bland Poke-chow, as it didn't compare to his colossal breakfast.
Buizel didn't seem to mind, she usually just ate what ever wildlife she could catch. Something already dead to eat was a nice change for her.
"Haha, don't worry guys, we'll get you some real food once we reach the city." Ariston told his Pokemon reassuringly.
After they finished eating, they continued their way to the other side of the cave, fighting some more Zubat, Geodude, and the occasional Machop.
By the time they reached the exit to the cave, about a half an hour later, both his Pokemon had grown much stronger.
Exiting the cave, he let his eyes fix upon the large city of Oreburgh, The Mining Town. He immediately noticed the Pokemon Gym as he made his way onto the city streets, it was the largest building in the area.
"We're not ready yet," he told his to eager Pokemon who stared at the large Pokemon Gymnasium, "but we will be soon, don't you worry.".
Ariston looked at his phone once again for the time, "4:42 PM" it read.
"Alright, let's get some training in, then we'll grab some dinner and head to sleep, sound good?" Ariston asked his Pokemon.
They both replied with a happy nod, willing to do whatever their master had in mind.
Ariston smiled confidentially at his two Pokemon, grateful that they'd made so much progress already. He then led his Pokemon to the outskirts of town to find some more wild Pokemon to spar with.
Ariston was so excited of training his Pokemon, he didn't even notice the now more active egg in his backpack.
It was getting ready to hatch.
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The traveler lay in the snow, his muscles numb and his consciousness lost, the strong winter winds brushing snow upon his broken body. The medical bracelet clenched in his hand was swept away by a gust of wind, and onto the ground, quickly buried with snow.
He was not alone, though.
A calm, furry, yellow-gold foot was quick to stand aside the bracelet, and pick it up.
She couldn't read human words, but she held onto it just incase.
Standing over the man lying in the snow...She thought to herself, "Humm I thought I smelled a Pokemon over here...Guess it was just this guy.".
She nudged him with her foot, and he slumped over unresponsively. "Sure is an odd place to take a nap." She said.
"Aww, I wanted to battle another Pokemon before I went in for the night, the snow's getting pretty bad..." The female Pokemon said in a pouting tone. "Pffrt, what kind of human sleeps out in the middle of nowhere covered in snow?"
"Looks awfully uncomfortable to me...Maybe I should take him back to my cave, at least it's a little bit warmer in there..."
She knelt down and shook the man on the side of the road. The travelers still unconscious body limp to her touch.
"Lazy oaf" she said to herself, "Guess I'll carry you. Ya owe me for this buddy.".
She hefted the man off the ground, and onto her reddened shoulders. She was pretty strong, despite her appearance, and had a minimal amount of difficulty carrying this man to her nearby cave.
"Urgh, you're heavier than you look." She told the unconscious man, "What's your name anyway?".
No response.
"Common, you have to have a nameeee." She teased, unaware that the man on her shoulder was still very unconscious.
"Fine, guess you're not too talkative." She continued.
After walking the rest of the way to her cave, occasionally trying to strike up a conversation with the unconscious man she was carrying, finally reached her destination out of the cold.
She dumped the man down, and he hit the cave floor with a rather loud 'THUD'.
"Oops." She said as she realized she'd dropped the man on his face.
Her cave was pretty small, maybe room for three people, also with enough room to stand, and it provided shelter from the building snowstorm outside, so it was their home for now.
She rolled the man over onto his back and noticed the blood stain on his chest.
"Looks like you're in pretty bad shape, huh?" She asked him yet again.
There was a pause of silence as the impatient Pokemon waited for a response sitting beside the man.
"Are you dead?" She then asked innocently.
Still, no answer.
She sighed and lit a small pile of twigs and leaves on fire in the center of the cave with a breath from her mouth.
"Whatever...See ya in the morning." She said, laying down on the cave floor next to the fire.
"Unless you're dead, then I wont see you..Ya know, cause you're...dead and all." She continued as she closed her eyes.
Having a quick idea, she sat up again, making use of the stranger in her cave.
The Pokemon adjusted her uncomfortable position from the ground, and lay with her head on the mans chest as a pillow.
"...You don't mind do ya?" She asked, taking obvious advantage of the mans current condition.
There was a moment of silence
"S'what I thought."
The Pokemon then quickly fell asleep, with her head resting on her new unconscious friend.Chapter End Notes:Chaaappptttteeerrrr Four is next