Re: Pokemon: Ribbons of Destiny (Chapter 4, 6-7-08)
Chapter 5: Uncertain Future
“I can’t believe this is happening!!” Jake shouted to the sky, running his hands through his hair frantically.
After escaping from Team Rocket under Mount Moon, officials from both Pewter and Cerulean city came shortly after parts of the mountain started to collapse. No one inside the main tunnel was injured due to the quick actions of Pokémon Rangers stationed at the nearby Pokémon Center. Parts of the path blocked by cave-ins and water filling in the cave, making it unusable until either city could send someone out to examine the total damage. Authorities from Cerulean had found the escaped scientists, along with Denny and Rose, taking them to the City of Water to be treated for the injuries they and their Pokémon had suffered from the fight with Team Rocket.
While in Cerulean, Zakrzewski made the comment that as part of Jake’s training in the sciences under him, that the youth should travel around with Denny and Rose. Of course Jake refused, not seeing the point. Zakrzewski had just replied that he was injured and couldn’t be of much use. If Jake wanted to learn, there was more he could learn outside of the lab than inside it.
At the doctor’s urging, Jake was now with Denny and Rose.
With her Pokémon healed Rose went on to challenge Misty. From the sidelines, Denny and Jake got to see the other trainer battle. Cerulean’s Gym was a massive aquarium for various plain and exotic fish. While looking for the main Gym the group had walked through a massive network of glass overhead that showed large fish swimming above them, dwarfing even Loch’s massive body.
When they had actually found the main battle area, even Rose was taken aback by the size of the arena. The aquarium they had walked under earlier was apart of the actual Gym arena. Parts of the Gym were built to recreate habitat while also connect them together, giving the massive aquarium a transition similar to the open sea, fluvial environments, and even small scum pools where sluggish organisms thrived. The arena was home to several glaciers bigger than the ones in the Pewter City Gym. They floated and crumbled, letting smaller glaciers float freely in the carefully controlled water.
Between Rose and Misty it was a close match. The Gym Leader only chose to use two Pokémon, while Rose was allowed to use as many as she wanted, her entire team if she choose. Misty herself floated across the arena riding side-saddle on a Lapras while Rose had to perch herself on one of the floating glaciers.
The fight was a long one, with Rose managing to win at the last possible second before she would have needed to send Loki out to the dogs. With another badge under her belt, and Denny getting more drawing practice in, the group got supplies in Cerulean before following the river eastward, closer to the eastern coast of Kanto.
Denny and Rose sat with their Pokémon calmly in a small grassy area next to part of a river that was flowing towards the sea, Denny had his sketch pad in his lap and working on another image. Jake’s Chikorita was sitting with Zephyr, now a Pidgeotto, Nymph, and Loki, enjoying some of their own food. Chikorita chewed on some fresh leaves, adding color to her plumage, Zephyr pecked at some rice balls that held pieces of insects and fresh meat. Loki used his claws to pick up dumplings with hot peppers and sauce before setting them inside his mouth. Nymph fluttered around the area, sniffing the local flowers and using a small proboscis inside her mouth to ingest the nectar.
Denny’s Pokémon were enjoying their food as well. Nausica’s belly was full with half a dozen eggs they had bought back in Cerulean that morning, basking on a rock. Mani slowly worked his way on some tuber vegetables, nawing on them with every few bites, rolling the food around in his mouth before nawing again. Rafiki, like the Mankey’s namesake, was jumping around, three different fruits in his hands and one of his feet.
The river that they were camping next to started to get more rough as something large moved under the water. The object rose to the surface, the water tension causing a large bulge to form before it broke, sending a large wave out in all directions. Loch roared as he raised his head high above the water, the liquid running down his body in sheets. Niji laughed as she rode on top of the Gyarados’ head, waving towards Denny on shore.
There was another Pokémon sitting with Niji on Loch’s head. The body was spherical, the belly with a thin membrane that showed a spiral shape curving inwards towards the center of the body. It had a small mouth with big lips resting between two eyes that rested on the top of the head. Two large paddle like feet were in front of it as the Pokémon sat on Lock’s horns with Niji. A large flat, elliptical, tail was behind it, able to give it extra control while swimming.
“Susanoo,” Rose called to her Poliwag. “Hurry up or your food’s gonna get eaten!”
“Who’d eat the scum we drug up out of the river edge?” Denny responded.
“Shhh!” the female replied.
“Are you two listening?!” Jake shouted.
“Yup, yup,” Rose replied. “You can’t believe this is happening. You’ve been complaining about it for ten minutes now.”
“Fifteen,” Denny corrected.
“Then why don’t you two do something about it?!”
“If I understand it right,” Denny stated. “Zakrzewski wanted you to get some real world experience.”
“But I didn’t sign up for that! I’m supposed to be working in the Pewter Museum right now!”
Jacob Spade was an interesting young man. He wasn’t from Kanto like Denny and Rose, he was originally from Johto, Kanto’s neighboring region to the east, and his light tan complexion showed it. His hair was cut short, combed close to his head, with a small wisp in the middle of his forehead curved towards the right. Like Denny, he was wearing glasses, small oval frames resting high on the bridge of his nose. He was wearing simple jeans and a belt, with a bright green shirt tucked into his pants. In the center of the shirt was the icon for the Grass Element, a sphere with a single black leaf in the middle.
Jake was older than Denny by a few months, and had completed the Johto Exam months before the season started for either Johto or Kanto. After completing the exam, he had applied for extra options to the League. With his League License he could do anything Pokémon related, and went after his passion: science. Jake seemed to have an affinity for Pokémon biology, paleontology, evolution, anatomy, physiology, and ecology. All the areas Denny had flunked out on during his impromptu exam. Such high scores had made Jake eligible for several apprenticeships all over the continent. He had chosen the one with Dr. Richard Zakrzewski in the Pewter City Sternberg Museum of Natural History. However, when he had arrived with Chikorita, he found out that his advisor had been missing for weeks after going through Mount Moon to Cerulean. Jake decided to go after him, and was then caught by Team Rocket and forced to work, until Denny and Rose showed up in the cavern.
And now he was on a rant and venting over the hand fate had dealt him. For the last few days after Zakrzewski had told him what he had to do, Jake was still in denial, and now it was all sinking into the young scientist’s mind.
“Oh, calm down,” Denny said. “You’re acting like I was thinking when Rose decided to tag along with me.”
“And you should be glad I did,” Rose added. “You need me to explain stuff to you so that you don’t end up getting kicked out of the league and losing your license.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“My life is over…” Jake mumbled, crying to himself.
Niji came flying in, spinning, and landing on Denny’s head, purring loudly as Susanoo paddled up to the water’s edge, cheerful, before awkwardly waddling out of the river.
“You’re soaked! Have fun Niji?” The Mew nodded before shaking the water off her fur, getting everyone else around her drenched. Denny sat there, his now wet sketchpad in his lap. “Well, there’s one drawing pad gone.” He said bluntly, while Niji giggled.
“Okay,” Jake stated, taking his glasses off and drying them off. “That ended that.” He sighed. “I have no clue what Z’s planning with this .. group effort thing. But since I wasn’t told anything else, and going home to Blackthorn’s pointless.”
“Oh come on Jake,” Denny said, drying himself off. “You can’t mean that we’ve been that bad of company since you met us.”
“I met you both in an underground cavern and you nearly got me killed twice.”
“Only twice, and within 10 minutes of each other,” Rose commented. “Not that bad considering he nearly died five times in that hour.” She looked at Denny with narrowed eyes.
“Keep rubbin’ it in why dontcha?” the Pallet trainer replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Denny rested his now soaking wet sketchpad down on a rock near Nausica to dry in the sun while he took off his jacket and let it rest on a rock to dry as well. They were still waiting on the Pokémon to finish their meals to the group had time to spare. The trainer grabbed a towel and dried himself off. The water that Niji had shaken off only got through his jacket and Jake and Rose’s first layers of clothing, so there wasn’t much else to do but let it dry on its own. The artist took out a new sketchpad and started to draw once more, letting his hand sketch away.
His mind floated back to the last few days. He had started his journey alone, with Niji and whatever Pokémon he managed to catch. All the friends he had already had several days head start, and were probably much stronger than him. But then again he didn’t care for the Gym Battles, but he did have to keep training and catching Pokémon to keep his License within the League, and keep looking after Niji. He had already seen a few Gym matches, and nearly lost his life in Mount Moon against Team Rocket. Denny’s memory from the event was still clouded by instinct and his annoyance at the scientists unwilling to do anything, until he took a stand for them.
And now, as he looked at the group he was with, found himself wanting to protect them too. Rose was an interesting companion, and Jake had his own quirks but was mostly like Denny in some of his interests. They were oddballs, but Denny was starting to look at them more like friends.
Niji sat on the rock near Denny, looking at the human as she sensed his surface thoughts. The thoughts were strange. Joy. Protectiveness. Will. Caring. Niji was confused and a little shaken by the feelings she was getting from Denny. Wanting to shake her trainer out of the mental lock he was in, she grabbed his pencil and started to float away, chanting at him.
“Huh… Hey!” he shouted as the Mew tore him out of his own mind and back to the real world. Standing up he ran after his Pokémon before tackling her to the ground, careful not to hurt either of them in the fall.
Niji looked up at her trainer, afraid at the reaction she got from Denny. Normally he would be smiling. He looked at her, serious, holding her close before taking his pencil from the Mew’s small hands. She looked back up at him, afraid. Denny looked into those big blue eyes and his frustration melted as he realized what Niji had done. Gently and lovingly, he petted the Mew’s head, feeling the soft pelt under his skin.
“Thanks Niji,” he said smiling at her. “I needed that.”
The Mew smiled at her trainer, glad to have him back to normal.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jake asked, annoyed at Denny body-tackling Niji to the ground.
“Oh,” Rose replied for Denny. “Niji doesn’t like Denny to be in a grumpy mood.” Niji floated around Rose and she quickly snatched the Mew out of thin air and proceeded to pet and cuddle the small Pokémon like a newborn kitten. “Don’t you Niji?”
Everyone, except Jake smiled at the event, while the young scientist just threw his hands up into the air as he stormed away, muttering under his breath. Denny laughed as he pushed himself up, brushing dirt and grass off his shirt.
“Denny? Denny is that you?”
The group heard a young, stern voice call out from the bushes near their campsite. Denny recognized the voice before he saw the figure of Gary Oak, push his way through the bushes and into the small clearing.
“Gary,” he muttered.
“Well, well,” Gary stated. “It is you. What are you doing so far from home? Your mom dump you off out here or what?”
“No,” Denny replied. “My mom did not dump me off here.” Gary, as expected, was still as cocky as ever. Just because his grandfather was Professor Oak, it made the teenager a bit uppity in his mannerisms. However, Denny couldn’t deny that being the grandson of one of the greatest Pokémon researchers wasn’t wasted. He remembered that Gary had scored high on the entrance Exams for the League, and had a better idea of what he was doing than Denny did.
“So what’s going on?” he asked looking at the Pokémon and humans in the clearing. “Goin’ camping with a girlfriend or something?”
“Girlfriend?!” both Rose and Denny shouted at the same time.
“Look you,” Rose said steaming mad at the way Gary was acting so holier than thou towards Denny and putting down the other trainer. “I don’t know who you are but you can’t talk to him like that. He has a Pokémon License and is on the road to see the world, which means he can be wherever he wants to be!”
“An Indigo League License?!” Gary scoffed before he laughed. “That’s a good one.”
Niji was out of Rose’s arms, but hid partly behind Denny. She looked at Gary, unsure what to think of the human trainer. His outer thoughts were messy. Seriousness combined with some high regard for himself and not others. She could tell that Gary’s taunting was making Rose angry and Denny was just getting frustrated with the whole thing.
“Easy Rose,” Denny commented. “Gary’s always like that.”
“You mean you know him?”
“Since we were little,” Gary commented. “And Denny’s always been at the back of the pack. He never took the exams, which is why he can’t have a license.”
Catching the movement out of the corner of his eye, Gary saw Niji, staring right at him. The young man stopped, even ignoring Rose’s response.
He was silent, wide eyed at Niji hiding behind Denny. Faster than anyone could have expected, Gary reached for a Pokéball and threw it towards Denny and Niji. Erupting from the light was a Charmeleon, with piercing grey eyes, and the number “one” on its upper left arm. “There it is Charmeleon, get it!”
Gary’s Charmeleon lashed out, claws bared and sharp, right at Niji. Her claws hit home, slashing across flesh, skin, and clothes.
Clothes?
The Charmeleon was surprised. She swiped outward with her claws, Denny had turned and took the brunt of the attack, wrapping his arms around Niji. The impact forced him into the clearing, causing his, Rose, and Jake’s Pokémon to scramble away.
“What are you doing Denny?!” Gary shouted. “I almost had it!”
“Are you crazy?” Jake shouted back. “Your Charmeleon just sliced his back open!”
“He should of got outta the way!” Gary protested before turning back at the chaos before him. The Pokémon looked angry, and it was questionable why. They all looked like normal Pokémon from the area, except for the Charmeleon, and the quadruped green one.
“Ni-Niji,” Denny said through the pain in his back. “Are you alright?”
The Mew just looked up at him, she could almost feel the pain covering his mind. She started to mew at him frantically, panic in her voice as she tugged at him. Tears were swelling up in her eyes as she tried to demand why. Why did he jump in front of the attack like that?
“Ow,” he muttered, trying to push himself up, with Niji still in his arms. “That hurts,” he gritted his teeth through the pain.
“You jerk!” Rose was mad now. “What’s your problem?!”
“What?!” Gary shouted back. “Didn’t you see it?!” He pointed at Niji as the Mew still mewed at Denny.
“What are you talking about?” Rose said. “Of course we see Niji. What’s your point?”
“Niji?!” Gary exclaimed. “It has a name?!”
“Look, just explain yourself,” Jake demanded, him and Chikorita ready for a fight.
Gary looked at the group. Their general confusion and anger towards him was odd. Didn’t they know? “You mean you don’t know? You really don’t know?”
“Go on,” Jake urged. “Spill it.”
“That,” Gary pointed at Niji. “Is a Mew. It’s the rarest Pokémon on earth, and many claim it as a mirage.”
Jake and Rose glanced at each other before glaring back at Gary.
“Don’t believe me? Then check your Pokédex’s.”
Taking his out of his pocket, Jake started up the Dex and pointed it at Niji who was still worried about Denny. A ray came forward that hit the Mew, scanning her into the Pokédx for analysis and identification.
Pokémon Analysis Initiated
Scanning…
Scanning…
Scanning…
Scanning…
Scan Complete!
Pokémon Identified:
Pokémon: Mew
Kanto Identification: 151
Height of Specimen: 0.19 m
Weight of Specimen: 1.3 Kg
Training Record: 1-0-1
Owner: Denny Roth, 926374
Number Identification: 1
“It’s…. just Niji,” Jake commented. “And it proves that Denny’s a trainer.”
“Well then where’s his License?” Gary demanded.
“It’s in my coat,” Denny replied as he stood up, Niji still tugging at him. Rafiki, watching this all, hopped up and flipped onto the rock where his trainer’s coat was. The Mankey started to sift through the pockets, looking for the Pokédex. After getting caught up in the coat, the Pokémon found the dex and then came hopping up to Denny, holding it in his foot.
Denny picked it up and started it up, pulling up his trainer information to show Gary. Gary Oak had only been proven wrong a few times, each time he acted like it was trivial anyway. However right now, in front of him was the proof that Denny was a trainer, and that Niji, this Mew, was his.
“How’d you get that Mew?” Gary asked. “And how’d you get a License?”
“Professor Oak let me take the test and let me have Niji since the other trainers had already gotten their first Pokémon.”
“My grandpa wouldn’t do a thing like that!” Gary exclaimed. “Doing so would threaten his own standing in the league. He’d get expelled.”
“Wait!” Rose said, looking at both of them, slightly confused. “You mean…” her hand pointed between both Denny and Gary, back and forth, looking at them in disbelief. “You,” she pointed at Gary. “Are Professor Oak’s grandson?!”
Gary wasn’t paying attention to her, but her comment was right. He was looking at Denny and Niji in front of him. Mew was supposed to be powerful, able to disappear in seconds, calm storms with its mind, and hold all sorts of mystical powers. Why it wasn’t in the Pokédex was disturbing, and what got him even more riled was that it was Denny’s first Pokémon.
“Okay Denny,” he said, eyes narrowing. “Let’s have a battle. My Charmeleon against your Mew!”
“Wait! What?!”
“Mew is supposed to be powerful, and if I can defeat it, then I can show that I’m the strongest trainer in Kanto.”
“But the season just started two weeks ago,” Rose replied. “You couldn’t have gained that much strength.”
“I train my Pokémon hard,” Gary replied. “All day and night so they can be the strongest ever and win the championship at the end of the season. And beating Mew will even further prove that I’m the strongest Trainer. Go Charmeleon, Slash!”
Gary’s Charmeleon poised her claws and rushed forward again, right at Niji, while Denny was still close. He held the Mew as Gary’s Pokémon dashed at them. Denny knew that Niji didn’t want to fight, and he wasn’t about to force the Mew to do what she didn’t want to do. But Gary didn’t understand any of that, in fact Denny was just as surprised that Oak didn’t tell his grandson about what had happened.
Right now, coming at the trainer and Pokémon was a battle-ready Charmeleon, claws bared and a sneer in her eye. A flash of movement, and Loki locked claws with the Charmeleon, stopping the assault before she could land a strike. The two flame Pokémon stood there, pushing each other, but Loki was losing ground, being pushed back by Gary’s Charmeleon.
“Loki, Seismic Toss!”
Loki glared at the Charmeleon before him. He shifted his weight, planting his feet and got ready to heave his opponent away.
“Stand your ground!”
The look on Rose’s Pokémon’s face would have been comical if this wasn’t a battle. Despite shifting his weight and planting his feet, Loki couldn’t get the pivot point he needed to lift the challenging Charmeleon, let alone throw her. Gary’s Pokémon sneered before slashing out with her claws, leaving three crimson red marks across Loki’s face. The wound wasn’t deep, but it did sting and forced Loki to back off, closing one eye against the pain.
“Submission.”
Gary’s Charmeleon crossed her arms staring at Loki with defiance in her eyes. Loki stared back, his perception off with blood running into one of his eyes, and he kept it closed. He was usually ready for anything, and was sure he could fight one of his own kind. But this one. This one was strong. She had stopped his Seismic Toss by pure strength and force of will. And now he could feel her prepare for her next attack. The Charmeleon started to glow with a faint aura before she rushed forward, slamming hard into Loki, sending the male Charmeleon flying backwards, skipping along the ground like a stone on water.
The fourth bounce came and Loki dug his claws into the ground, leaving the trio of claw marks etched into the soft earth. Denny and Niji managed to roll out of the way before Loki’s deceleration finally slowed him down, and the other Pokémon scrambled out of the way. Rose ran up to keep up, and Gary and his Charmeleon continued to press the assault.
“Mega Kick!”
Through the pain and aches going through his body, Loki concentrated his energy towards his foot, using his other to balance himself. His foot started to glow from the energy, through the pain, he was going to land a decent hit. As she got closer, Loki dropped, grabbing the ground and twisting his body, giving himself leverage, speed, and power.
“Counter.”
Loki’s foot connected with the Charmeleon, the speed and power he gave himself lent him a slight edge in the attack. However, Gary’s was trained enough to act in a split second. She had raised one of her arms to block the attack as Loki’s energy charged foot was a few inches away from connecting with her, his shin blocked by her fore-arm. The Charmeleon’s jaw dropped at the thought. He had been stopped, in a split second by someone stronger. They two were stopped in that counter, before Gary’s Charmeleon swung with her other hand, slamming it right into Loki’s midsection.
The Charmander evolution line has a set of stomach ribs that give their chest and torso support as well as extra surface area for muscle attachment. These gastralia and the muscle attachment deny the strength of their punches and slashes due to the apparent size of their arms. The support it gives is also important because it protects the internal organs from severe damage. However, such force on the right area can knock the wind out of even a Charmeleon. This is how Loki felt as the female Charmeleon hit him square in his stomach, and went sprawling.
“Loki!”
“Damn that’s a strong Charmeleon,” Jake commented, watching the fight.
Niji wouldn’t have stood a chance against it, Denny thought, watching as Loki got thrown to the side like nothing.
“Okay,” Gary said. “Now, come on Denny, let’s see what your Mew can do.” His Charmeleon glared at them both.
“Forget it Gary,” he replied. “Niji doesn’t want to fight, and I’m not going to force her.”
“What? A Pokémon and trainer who don’t want to battle?” Gary was confused. “Then what’s the point of getting your license?!”
“Well for one, it’s not all about strength,” Jake replied. “Your Charmeleon is strong, very strong. But not everyone with a license aims for the top of the League. But they have to be a part of it to work with Pokémon.”
“To do what? Just have them as a pet? Pokémon are about battles. Strength is the only thing that matters, and proving that you’re strong.” He was disgusted with this. Denny was known to be a bit wishy-washy, but not a coward. Denny didn’t want to fight, even though fighting was all that Gary had done, to get stronger, to beat every opponent. What point was there in fighting a weakling when your strength was already known.
He turned and started to walk away, his Charmeleon following.
“Hold it!” Rose shouted. Gary stopped and looked back.
Loki was pushing himself up, blood still in his eye, but the wound was healing now. His body was sore but the determination in his eyes didn’t falter, even though he was having trouble standing. The look in his eyes was mirrored by Rose’s own. She wouldn’t lose like this, not to an upstart like Gary.
“We’re not finished here,” she said.
“I think we are,” Gary replied. “I beat your Pokémon and made my point. There’s no reason to keep beating you down.”
Denny watched as Gary continued to walk off. He had seen that part of Gary’s personality, the stubbornness about being the best compared to everyone. It was what drove the young man forward, and getting his Trainer’s License only made his competitive side worse.
“Get back here!” Rose shouted, fuming mad. “We’re not done until I beat you!”
“She’s… tenacious. Isn’t she?” Jake commented.
“You have no idea,” Denny replied.
* * *
Denny’s injuries from Gary’s Charmeleon were decent, but not life-threatening. Jake and Rose used the group’s first aid kit to clean the wounds before wrapping them with cloth. Niji didn’t want to leave his side for the next few days, hovering by her friend and staying in his arms when she could. Through the pain, he was going to be alright, but Niji’s concern and the attention from Rose and Jake re-affirmed Denny’s own thoughts about earlier.
True, he couldn’t be a Pokémon Trainer and shoot for the League. Battling was fun, but that’s all it was to him. Fun. It was a challenge, but he didn’t want to force his Pokémon into a fight just to prove their strength. What point is there in fighting if you don’t enjoy life? There are those who fight to prove something, rather than learn from what they’ve done in the past. After he started his own trip he had drawn and sketched along the way, enjoying the sights, sounds, watching Rose’s battles, and Jake’s quips.
They traveled to the eastern ocean, enjoying the sun-set before they headed south, though a collection of mountains separate from the Silver Range, and caused more by plate tectonics. The edges of a continent pushing against each other and building mountains out of flat-lands.
Traveling south, they had to detour through the Rock Tunnel, stopping at the Pokémon Center stationed outside the entrance. Just like with Mount Moon, it was a place to stop, rest and prepare to head through the pitch-black darkness of the Tunnel. Inside, it was so dark that they ended bumping into each other frequently, before Rose let out Loki and had him light the way for them all.
Of course the result of that ended up with trainers who were also traveling the tunnel wanting a battle. Not all of them did, a few spent their time with lanterns sitting at small stops along the way, resting before continuing on. Others were there incase the tunnel started to collapse, the incident at Mount Moon fresh in everyone’s mind. The tunnel itself was more intricately carved out than Mount Moon, and the lighting fixtures were faulty, leaving the tunnel in darkness most of the time.
The group had continued to catch what Pokémon they could find, sometimes catching them, and sometimes leaving them alone and watching as they went about their lives. Jake added a Krabby to his team, and then an Onix that had cornered them in one of the lower terraces of Rock Tunnel. Rose found something really rare, a Vulpix, and nearly got burned because she tried to hug it before catching it. While unsure about catching it, Denny had managed to catch a Nidorino that took an odd liking to him, maybe he shouldn’t have fed it so often.
After two days in the tunnel, the group saw an opening and stepped out, into a cool early morning.
“Whew!” Rose said, lowering her arms and letting her shoulders slump. “Glad that’s over.” Loki was standing next to his trainer, sighing at her.
“Sunlight! At last!” Jake exclaimed.
“Looks like it’s straight south from here,” Denny said, petting Niji as she rested on his shoulder.
The trail before them wasn’t straight or even. Mountains rose off either side, leaving their only course of movement down a river-valley carved out of the rocks around them. There was a trail, although it was small, and unsteady, it was the only clear way away from the tunnel and to their next destination.
Denny lead the group, letting Rose bring up the rear she and Loki had been at the front, finding their way through the Tunnel. Niji rested on his shoulder looking up at the trees that were growing around them, amazed at the leaves that blocked some of the sunlight through.
“So,” Jake said, looking at the map of Kanto on his Pokédex. “After going through Rock Tunnel, and headed south… we should be near a place called Lavender Town.”
“Lavender Town, eh?” Denny said, still walking in front. “After camping on rocks it should be nice to get a decent place to sleep huh?”
“You could say that,” Rose replied, holding her back and trying to pop it back into place after sleeping on some odd rocks last night.
They continued walking southward, the light of the early morning slowly raising while a fog started to cloud their path. The group walked, following the valley southward. Walking down the path, the trail inclined downward, showing a fog covered area before them. Thick, the fog let only the highest parts of the tree canopy escape into the sun shining down on them. There was something else, a tall spire of rock seemed to stretch into the sky, piercing it like an arrow.
With every step they got closer, and could see that the spire striking the sky, was actually a building, over seven stories tall, the top half sticking out over the fog. Closer still, they could see lights shine through the fog. Buildings started to emerge as they walked into the fog, following the trail into Lavender Town.
The town was famous for its massive tower, a burial place for deceased Pokémon. In the valley where Lavender rested, a massive thick fog constantly swamped it every morning, except for some of the hottest parts of the year. The fog would hover around the town, sometimes not dissipating until early afternoon or late evening. Such a fog gave the town a constant eerie feel, like it was Halloween every day. Street lights were on, the light showing the way through the fog that covered the town.
The lights of the Pokémon Center glowed through the fog, like a lighthouse to lost ships at sea. The group went in, glad to be out of the chill of the fog which hovered over Lavender Town like a blanket of death.
“Brrr,” Rose commented as she walked through the doors, rubbing her arms to get rid of the numb feeling. “What’s with the fog?”
“Finally,” Jake added, a shiver running down his spine. “Cold sucks.”
Denny looked back at them and smiled. The cold didn’t bother him that much, of course Niji managed to snuggle right into his jacket, so he had a little Pokémon using him for warmth. “It wasn’t that bad guys,” he commented right before the Mew popped her head out from inside his jacket, shivering and voicing her disagreement. “What? It wasn’t.”
“That’s Lavender Town’s famous fog,” said the head nurse of the Center. “It rolls in every morning and stays sometimes till dusk. Are you all trainers.”
“Some of us,” Jake retorted rubbing his hands, urging warmth into them. The sensation of a cold skin meeting the warm interior of a building cut off from the outside running up and down his hands. Denny narrowed his eyes at the young scientist’s comment as Niji squirmed back down into his coat, he kept a hand there to give the Mew some support as she curled up within his jacket.
“Could we get a couple of rooms?” Rose asked, handing her Pokéballs to the nurse.
“Of course,” she replied, taking the group’s Pokémon to be treated. “It should be a few moments before your Pokémon have been treated.”
The doors to the center opened and a cold wind came blowing in, causing Jake to shiver again.
“Damn cold,” he muttered.
“My my,” said an elderly voice. “Such weather we have today. Hello Ms. Heather.”
The group looked behind them, at the man who just entered the Center. He was shorter than they, by about a foot. His hair was gone and the lights reflected off of his clean head. White eyebrows rested on his brow and his nose was shaped like a crone’s. The man walked without a cane, but with some spring in his step, as if his age didn’t bother him as much as it should. There was a slight hunch to his posture, but he kept a smile on his face. A large brown trench coat was wrapped around him as he walked in, smiling.
“Oh, Mr. Fuji, thanks for coming on such short notice,” she said placing Denny, Rose and Jake’s Pokémon in the machine to restore and revitalize them. She walked back behind the door to the office and then came out holding a pet carrier. It was obvious that something was moving around inside the carrier, but its shape was difficult to make out.
“We found the poor thing in the dumpster outback, it looked like it hadn’t eaten in days. There was a trainer mark on her, but the Pokéball finally shattered and the mark went away.” She placed the carrier on the counter.
“What is it? A Pokémon?” Denny asked.
“She just said there was a trainer mark that came off, duh,” Jake replied.
“Who abandoned it?” Rose asked.
“We’re not sure,” the nurse replied. “But whoever it was must have mistreated her badly. When we tried to treat her, but she attacked some of the staff. We had to place her on some heavy sedatives to be able to treat her wounds.”
Mr. Fuji, calmly opened the carrier door, and everyone heard a loud “rawr” followed by a hissing spit. Unphased, Fuji lowered himself so that he could look inside the carrier. Slowly he offered his hand to the Pokémon inside the cage.
“Come now. No one will hurt you. No reason to be afraid.”
The hissing seemed to stop as Fuji spoke. Such calm reassurance in his words. Slowly, the Pokémon came out of the carrier, still scared, but calmed down. A cat-like head popped out, with large blue eyes and a golden coin structure protruding from the head. Thick collections of whiskers stuck out from the sides of the face and brushed against the edges of the cage. Carefully the Meowth walked out of the cage, watching everyone cautiously. She sniffed Fuji’s hand, meowed at him, before rubbing up against his hand, letting out a soft purr.
“Thank you Mr. Fuji,” Heather said, smiling. “She was giving us such trouble.”
The old man just chuckled. “Oh she’s no trouble at all. A might friendly though,” he replied picking up the Meowth in his arms and letting it curl up there.
“Wow,” Denny said, wide eyed. “That was amazing. How’d you do that?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?” Fuji said smiling.
“Calm her down like that.”
“Mr. Fuji here is renowned around Lavender for his kind heart. He takes in abandoned Pokémon and raises them so that they can go back to the wild.”
“Some claim that Pokémon can sense those with kind hearts and are more accepting to such humans. I suppose it’s a natural gift,” Fuji added, petting the Meowth gently.
Denny reached out with his hand to pet the Meowth, which was a bad idea.
Still upset on some level, the feline Pokémon lashed out just as Denny’s hand had gotten within range. With a spitting hiss, she swiped at the hand as if it were a rival for her very survival, claws and teeth bared. His reflexes saving his hand, Denny pulled back at the last minute, even taking a step back.
“Easy, easy there,” Fuji reassured the Meowth, speaking calmly and soothingly, touching it gently. The Pokémon’s hair relaxed and it repositioned itself in Fuji’s arms. “I’m terribly sorry about that. Seems that this one is still traumatized. Allow me to make it up to you.”
“Um… sure?” Denny responded.
“Wait!” Rose sounded. “Him, make it up to you? You’re the one that got the Meowth fighting mad again!”
“Oh it’s no trouble, I assure you,” Fuji responded. “I enjoy having a few guests over who understand what I do. And I know the perfect kind of food for weather such as this.”
“But our Pokémon..” Jake protested.
“They’ll be fine here,” Heather reassured. “I won’t let anyone else have them, I promise. Rest will do anyone some good, so go enjoy yourselves.”
* * *
