Gantun: Onset

[geoff]

After months of pre-planning, GANTUN: has finally started!

I'll probably only get up to chapter 3 before school starts (august 7th). And everything underlined within the story is a link to a corresponding picture. Just wanted everyone to know. So now, without further adeu, the prologue! Chapter 1 will be posted right after it. =) ENJOY!


GANTUN: Prologue [Past, Present, and Future]

The year is 2253, roughly 250 years after “it” happened- explosions, roaring seas, jutting land masses, burning lava, massacre. Some called it the biggest backfire a plan could ever have, but most simply called it horrific. Two groups of misguided humans nearly tore the world apart because of their love for the ocean and land. Team Magma and Team Aqua, whose plans were to awaken the Great Groudon and Kyogre and expand the land and sea, were responsible for this. Once these great beasts were awakened, they began battling constantly. The two teams’ foolishness caused despair and destruction; their love caused death and misery among the masses.

Once this started, the peoples’ only hope was Rayquaza- this mythical winged dragon was the only being that could calm the two earth beasts and end the catastrophe. It was only a legend, though, so most thought the world would inevitably be destroyed. But in time, people began reporting sightings of it around the Sky Tower. Skeptics thought that these people were merely hallucinating out of hope, but soon the destruction suddenly stopped. Very few actually witnessed the meeting between the three beasts, but some witnesses say that Rayquaza’s mere presence calmed the two into a deep sleep.

Luckily, the world still exists today, but it is greatly reformed. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and countless other regions are drastically different from what they once were. Everyone was forced to rebuild; millions lost everything they owned and had to start anew. Some Pokemon species were even on the brink of extinction. They survived, however, by having their populations spread to other lands and slowly regenerating their numbers with time. As for Team Aqua and Team Magma, all of their members died during the destruction.

As you can guess, countless new regions were also formed with the battle. One of them, Gantun, was originally three peculiar islands- their mountains containing the most exquisite resources on the planet. The best rock, the hardest steel, the coldest ice. Contrary to what the media once told people, these resources were the sole components of the Three Regi’s- Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. Scientists, not content with creating a clone of the most legendary Pokemon, set out to create Pokemon out of inorganic substances. Somehow they came across those three islands, and ended up with the most unique of legendaries. Yet, like Mewtwo, these creatures were too powerful to be confined. The scientists decided that it was best to seal them in hidden places in Hoenn before the three realized the true limits of their power and cause any harm. Their tombs were buried beneath the lands during the explosions shook, and have never been seen since. After everything quieted down, scientists found that the three small islands had become much bigger, as did their mountains. Once establishing Gantun, the three mountains were named Mt. Stonerth, Mt. Metolid, and Mt. Glacisk.

Today, Gantun is one of the biggest regions of the world, with 23 cities that are spread across 5 large islands and countless other small islands. It is located southwest of Hoenn, and numerous tourists flock to Gantun to witness its beauty. Because of its size, most threatened Pokemon species were brought to this region in hopes that they will adapt and grow in numbers. But an unexpected thing happened- over time, some species evolved and adapted so much that they were considered to be new Pokemon. 30 of the species did so, and today all 416 species of Pokemon can be found in Gantun.

250 years ago, a child of the mere age of 10 could quit school and start the life of a Pokemon trainer. Decades later, the consequences of this were evident. Millions of adults had no High School education, and unemployment was the highest it had ever been because employers refused to hire most people without a High School education. The average IQ of an adult in Johto dropped significantly. Kanto and Hoenn, among other regions, were also showing a large decrease of intelligence. Something had to be done, so the age at which you could quit school for any reason became 16. Most children became highly disappointed, but it was in the best interest of the people. The idea of your first Pokemon being given to you by the nearest professor has gone away as well. Today, in all regions, teenagers register for the Pokemon League and receive their first Pokemon from the nearest Gym leader. Professors just don’t have the time to give out Pokemon anymore, as they are far too busy with their studies and research.

Futuristic technology has greatly improved upon the tools of a Pokemon trainer. The Pokedex, PokeGear, and PokeNav have all been replaced by the PokeCom- a computing machine that does the job of all three devices. The best part is that it is compact, so traveling trainers don’t need to lug around extra things on their journeys. Badges are now required by Pokemon League rules to be kept in the official Badge Case, which is made of plastic with fabric where the badges are to be pinned. These tools are no longer free, though. Now, you are required to pay fees to register with the Pokemon League and receive a PokeCom and Badge Case. Yet even with the fees and age restriction, the Pokemon League is as popular as ever, and new trainers start their journey every day.

[DannyBoy]

Ok, you started this out in a intresting way by having this tradidy make something new and different. I like the idea of the islands were made by the Rejis. The war of Grouden and Kyrouge brought to peace by Rayquaza sounds a little bit like the 3 legendary birds and Lugia but you didn;t go on about that so i guess its ok. You were good describing the whole ordeal and I would need to see a chapter to really rate this but I think your starting really good. THis seems intresting adn different. I hope your story is good, original, and has some twists. i will def. keep reading to see how this goes. Keep it up!

[geoff]

*make sure to DRAG the links to the address bar, cuz it's geocities. And thanks IloveX-TINA, I hope you like it. =) *

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 1 [The Ending of One, the Starting of Another]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

“Oh, come on!” Geoff groaned as he sat in his seat, glued to the clock in the wall to his right. It was three-o-three, seven minutes before school was out for the summer. Well, for Geoff, school would be out forever. He was in his Algebra II class, and his evil teacher was making the whole class do math problems until the bell rang. Geoff found math much easier than most of his classmates, so he had already finished his work twelve minutes ago. Watching his friends work became boring long ago, so he just decided to watch the second-hand spin around until school was let out. Occasionally he gave mean looks to the teacher when he wasn’t looking, but would quickly return to gazing mindlessly whenever the teacher glanced in his direction.

His teacher knew Geoff didn’t like him. The fact is, he knew that no one really did. He was one of those teachers who liked to torture students. He hated kids, and that’s what made Geoff think that he never should’ve become a teacher. No one like that should choose a job where you work with kids seven hours a day. But that didn’t really matter to Geoff right now, as the school year was about to end.

His mind began wandering like it usually did when he was bored. He thought about life beyond Coveldt City. Coveldt was a pretty small city located on one of flatter areas of Mt. Stonerth, which was pretty much in the middle of the Gantun region. The city was by no means level- most areas had to be leveled off with loads of dirt before buildings could be put there. He imagined that most places didn’t have to do that.

His thoughts returned to the clock when the end-of-the-day announcements started being delivered through the intercom. They were mostly about overdue library books and summer scheduling for next year. It was three-o-six. Only four more minutes.

Geoff fiddled with his pencil while noticing that most of his other classmates were finishing the math assignment. His heart started racing as the time got closer and closer to three-ten. His teacher stood up from his seat and made his way to the row closest to him. “You all should have already finished the assignment, but I notice that some of you haven’t yet. For those of you that have, pass them up. For those who haven’t finished, turn it in before you leave,” he said in a creepy monotone voice. He started picking up the papers, then added “oh, and have a good summer.”

Have a good summer? Geoff thought as the teacher picked the papers up from his row. He doesn’t want any of us to have a good summer. But unfortunately for him, I’ll be having the best summer of my life. The bell rang- freedom! The students piled out of the classroom and hurried to their lockers.

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Geoff walked out of the main entrance to the school while daydreaming, like always. He ended up tripping on his shoe like he did so frequently. After he embarrassedly stood back up and brushed himself off, he stopped and turned around for a second to look at his school one last time. It was a small school, only one story high. It was gray and metallic-looking, with a weird sense of discomfort to it. Behind the school was a wall of rock- the mountain jutted upward there, making it near impossible to scale any higher. Foliage surrounded most of the school, with the most obvious exception being the main entrance, which was paved. The place itself always seemed oddly structured to him, but he liked it that way. I sure will miss this place and all my friends. But I’m pretty sure the experience I’m about to have will be worth it.

He turned back around and walked off the campus, then turned right and followed a paved path surrounded by grass on either side for a while. His house wasn’t far from the school, so he always walked home. Sometimes he wished he had a bike, since the semi-bumpy path went slightly downward. It’d be fun to roll down the path on his way home, he thought sometimes.

I’m so glad that I’m finally leaving Coveldt. Staying here for sixteen years is enough- I’m ready to see what the rest of Gantun has to offer. I’m sick of living on Mt. Stonerth and seeing the same Pokemon. But most of all, I want to have Pokemon of my own; Pokemon that I can train and make friends with and win battles with. Sure, it’ll be sort of scary on my own for the first time, but I won’t really be alone.

He noticed how much smoother the walk home was without loads of books to carry in his dark brown and black backpack. For once, his shoulders weren’t sore from the weight. I’m definitely not carrying too much stuff in my backpack during this journey; just the essentials. No more sore shoulders for me!

He turned right again, this time onto a path with a few small houses near it, and started thinking about how he wished Coveldt had a gym. He figured that gym battles had to be stressful, especially your first one. Having it in a familiar setting would make the experience better. He thought about going to Marloam City first, which was on the other side of Mt. Stonerth. Its gym leader is Grant, Geoff’s uncle. He’d known and looked up to Grant all his life, but nixed the idea since he knew that Grant’s ground Pokemon were far too strong for beginning trainers like himself. He’d often played with Grant’s Dugtrio and Donphan as a kid and had witnessed them battle. There’s no way he could beat them so early on in his journey.

He entered his driveway and looked at the dying flowers and trees in the yard. His dad never could keep up with the lawn since he was so busy working, and his mom never tried. His dad worked at the Lab with a team of researchers, and used to tell him interesting facts about certain Pokemon when he was a kid. Geoff already forgot most of what his dad told him, though. He walked up the steps to the beige house. It was originally dark blue, but his mom thought that beige looked more inviting. He agreed.

As he opened the door, he noticed a Poke Ball was on top of the brown package he received on his birthday in late March. He pulled off his shoes, having to tug extremely hard on the right one, then picked the ball and package up off the coffee table. Grant gave him the package, but told him not to open it until his mother said he could.

“Mom, I’m home,” Geoff informed his mom as he put his backpack by the light brown couch in front of him. He sat down in it and looked over the package again. His mom told him that he could open the package once school was out. The Poke Ball was new, though. His mom entered the room with an empty, blue laundry basket in her hands. She is a mid-sized woman with long, curly red-brown hair and is wearing a white t-shirt and light blue sweatpants with glasses. Although she is in her late thirties, she still looks quite young, and her attitude expresses that.

“Oh, hi Geoff. I see you noticed the Poke Ball. Grant came over earlier and dropped it off,” his mom said to him. “Wait one second while I put this back.” As she left the room, Geoff wondered if there was a Pokemon in it.

His mom reentered the living room smiling and sat down beside him. “He had to leave early because he had things to do at the Gym. How was school?”

“It was fun.. except Algebra II. He made us do work.” Geoff frowned and tossed the Poke Ball around in his hands. “But that’s all over with now.”

“Yep. Hmm, I was going to make you wait until your father came home to open the package, but he won’t be home for a couple hours,” his mom said while looking at the clock above the TV. “And you’ve already had to wait almost two months. I’m pretty sure you already know what’s inside because of the timing, but go ahead and open it.”

Geoff put the Poke Ball on the table and flipped the package over. He tore the paper off the backside, then continued to the front. Something surrounded in bubble wrap now lay in his lap, along with shreds of brown packaging paper. Geoff glanced at his mom, then started to unravel the bubble wrap. He figured out what it must be weeks ago, but he decided to play dumb so his mom could think that he had no idea. He’d imagined this very moment many times before, but for some reason it still thrilled him. The bubble wrap now lay beside him, and in his hands was the newest edition PokeCom (http://geocities.com/armi330/pokecom.html). He turned it over many times as he soaked it all in. The silver and dark brown plastic was so smooth, and he was happy to see that Grant knew what version he wanted- the dark brown version. Color was the only difference between the versions, but it added a personal touch.

“So, you like it?” his mom cheerfully asked while putting her hands together.

“It’s... amazing. But I thought we were going to Marloam today to register. Well, this saves us the trip,” Geoff uttered, still playing stupid, while paying little attention to her. He noticed something else was in the bubble wrap beside him. He picked it up and looked it over.

“A Badge Case (http://geocities.com/armi330/badgecase.html). It matches your PokeCom,” she explained to him. He opened it, and inside were eight indents in he fabric lining. “League rules require you to store your badges in it. Oh, and look at this.” She brought his attention back to his PokeCom. “If you press the button in the middle of the disc....”

Geoff pressed the button, and the PokeCom opened. All except the disc part flung open, and hinged around to the back. “Press the middle button. Grant told me all about it today.” He did, and his picture appeared on the screen, along with some vital information.

“Trainer, Geoff Shokou,” the machine said in monotone.

“This thing already has my trainer information in it?” Geoff exclaimed to his mom.

“It already has everything you need.” She pressed the third button. “The left button is your, oh yeah- Pokedex, the middle is your trainer information, and the right button is the Gantun Map.” The whole map of Gantun appeared on the screen. “It sure is large.”

“Yeah, but I’ll be okay.” Geoff told her. “My Pokemon will protect me if I need them to. Plus, I’m 16. I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“I know, but...” Her eyes watered as she talked to him. “It’ll be the first time you’ll be alone, and you’ve never been to most of the cities.”

“Mom, that’s what makes it so exciting,” Geoff reassured her as she grabbed a tissue and dabbed her eyes.

Her eyes brightened as she remembered something. “Oh, Geoff, speaking of your Pokemon,” she said as she picked up the Poke Ball. “This is yours. I know we were supposed to go to Marloam and you’d pick one up yourself, but Grant said that this was definitely the one you wanted. I know your dad wants to be there when we find out what it is, so we’re going to have to wait. I don’t even know yet.”

Geoff smiled as she said that. He knew, or rather he hoped he knew, that it had to be a Sandshrew. Ever since he first saw Grant’s Sandslash, he wanted one of his own. He admired Sandslash’s digging power and thought that his spikes were really neat. Of course, he made everyone well aware that he wanted one.

He took the Poke Ball from his mom and put it in his right pocket. He grabbed his new PokeCom and Badge Case as well, putting them in his left. “Can’t we just go to the Lab now instead of waiting two hours?”

“I suppose. I know you’re dying to meet your first Pokemon. Do you mind walking that far?” his mom questioned. The Lab was in downtown, and they lived on the northwest part of town. The walk was over three times long as the walk to school.

“It’s fine with me. I love going to the Lab!” Geoff exclaimed while getting up. “Maybe the scientists will even give me a few pointers on Pokemon.”

His mom gave him a confused look. “I thought your father’s been giving you tips for years!”

Geoff shrugged. “Yeah, but I never really made it a point to remember anything he said.”

“Wait- anything?” His mom gave him a sneaky look.

“Oh, you know what I mean!”

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The two of them were now in what was considered downtown; the tall buildings made that evident. Geoff had been thinking about his birthday on the way and how his mom made him wait until he finished the school year to become a Pokemon trainer. He agreed with her decision- he didn’t want all that schoolwork he had done thus far in the school year go to waste. More trainers wait until the school year is over to begin their journey anyway, so he figured he’d probably meet up with some beginners that he could travel with.

His mom’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “Oh, good. We’re almost there. Another added bonus of us going here is that the team can check out your new Pokemon to see what kind of shape it’s in,” she explained while walking up to the Lab. The building was all white, and the sign above the door read ‘Coveldt City Laboratory- The Future is Now’.

“Cool. I wonder if they’re running any tests,” Geoff added while his mom opened the glass door. The Lab was one of the bests in all of Gantun, so tests were usually being run on all types of Pokemon to further their observations and findings.

“Ah, hello Sandra,” the reception lady said as we walked into the Lab. She was a very cheery person, and her long blonde curls bounced as she talked. “Your husband just completed examining a wild Shuppet from Tenebrosk. I heard that it had been causing a lot of trouble to the residents, so it was brought here to see if anything seemed odd. But, you know, they never tell me anything so I could be wrong.”

The room was brightly lit, with seats to their right and a door to their left. Geoff’s mom laughed while walking up to her. “It’s the same here, Charlotte. Dirk always tells the children everything and leaves me behind. But thanks for telling me.”

“Oh, that’s right- how is your daughter doing? She’s working at the Marloam Gym, right?” Charlotte asked. Throughout all this, Geoff was trying to look into the lab rooms. He was completely uninterested in their conversation.

“Yeah, Tara’s doing just fine. She called me the other day and told me all she’s learned. Oh, and Geoff just became a Pokemon trainer today. He was registered in March, but I wouldn’t give him his gear until school ended.” His mom was in her element, so Geoff knew that it’d probably be awhile.

“Following in his big sister’s footsteps, huh? I remember you holding Tara back until school was over, too. What was her first pokemon again?”

“A Numel. I heard that it’s getting really strong through battling in the Gym. Grant claims that he’s the main reason it’s so strong, but I know better.” Geoff knew he had to cut in now. Otherwise it’d never end.

“Uh, mom? Can we go see dad now?” Geoff asked her in an impatient, slightly bored manner.

“Oh! Okay, honey. See you later, Charlotte!” His mom started walking over to Geoff as Charlotte waved goodbye.

“He’s probably in his workstation. Let’s go!” Geoff picked up his pace. He was tired of waiting, not to mention how he thought it was stupid how he had to wait for dad to be with him in order to meet his Pokemon.

“Wow, hi Geoff! Hi honey! What a nice surprise,” Geoff’s dad exclaimed as he noticed the two walk into his workroom. His father was a heavy-set man of his early forties. He had thin, black hair and was wearing a white lab coat and blue jeans. He got out of his seat and hugged Geoff, then kissed his wife. “What brings your two here?”

“Mom said that you had to be here when I find out what my very first Pokemon is,” Geoff explained to his dad.

“Oh, that’s right! You become a Pokemon trainer today. Are you sure you’re ready?” He asked his son, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, you know he is. With all that advice you’ve given him throughout the years...” His mother looked at Geoff with a smirk while saying that. Geoff shrugged.

“So can I finally find out what it is?” he asked and pulled out the Poke Ball. He pushed the button to make it normal-sized.

“Well, sure! I’m even excited to find out!” his dad told him.

Geoff’s heart began racing as he looked at the Poke Ball. He began wondering- what if it wasn’t a Sandshrew? He then shook his head, took in a deep breath, then pushed the button again. The ball open up, and bright pink energy came out of it. Geoff’s dad moved out of the way as it took form close to where he was standing. A Sandshrew, sprawled out with its eyes closed, was now on the floor. Geoff gave it an odd look.

“Is it, sleeping?”

“I, I think so.” His dad picked the creature up and tickled it’s neck. It merely squirmed a little, then returned to sleeping. He then lowered it close to the ground and dropped it. It continued sleeping. “Wow, it’s out cold. Let me see if any of this equipment can wake it up.”

Geoff thought about how lucky he was to actually have his dream Pokemon- well, the pre-evolution to his dream Pokemon. Sandshrew was still really cute, though. His dad put it on the table by him while he looked through his tools. The Sandshrew yawned, rolled over, and fell off the table. Geoff ran over to his Pokemon to see if it was okay. He tried picking it up, but fell to his knees before he could. Just then, an idea came to him. “Dad, could you get a glass of water, please? I have an idea.”

“Well, sure son. I don’t get it though,” his dad said while walking over to the sink. He grabbed a paper cone cup and filled it with water.

“Great. Thanks, dad.” Geoff took the cup and kneeled back down to the Sandshrew, now sleeping on it’s back and twitching every now and then. Geoff took the creature’s tail and slowly dipped it into the water. Surprisingly, it did nothing. “I thought Sandshrew hated water...” Geoff splashed the water at Sandshrew’s face, and it finally shot up. It ran around the room, frantically trying to get the water off its face.

“Shroooooo!” it screamed while rubbing its face and shaking its head. Geoff’s mom picked the creature up and padded its face with her shirt. The Sandshrew smiled and hugged her. “San...”

“I’m really sorry, Sandshrew, but I wanted you to get up!” Geoff apologized while walking over to it. Unfortunately, Geoff started hearing snoring. “Oh, come on!”

“Does this thing just sleep all day?” his mom questioned while handing it over to Geoff. Geoff rubbed Sandshrew’s neck like his dad, but it still didn’t work. “BOO!” Geoff screamed, right in its ear. Sandshrew slowly opened its eyes, then glared menacingly at Geoff. Geoff could only facedrop while handing it over for his dad to examine.

His father put it on the table again, and looked at its arms and legs, then its tail and head. He than checked its breathing, heart rate, and vision. “The only thing I can see wrong with this Sandshrew is that it likes to sleep too much. Other than that, it’s a very healthy male Sandshrew.”

“San!” Sandshrew replied. It scratched itself, then yawned.

[DannyBoy]

That was a good first chapter. You described things very well adn the length is good. You are original with Geoff getting a Sandshrew and it was from his dad not a proffesor and thats a plus. THis seems really good. I like the pcitures they are pretty cool. As long as there is a twist in it, it iwll be good. Just don't go collecting badges and battling. Geoff seems like a regular teen not liking school and such. Keep it up! Also Sandshrew has a funny personality. I bet it will be intresting to see when it wnats to battle.

[geoff]

Chapter 2 is up! Maybe I'll get farther than I thought I would. Once school starts, I'll have less time to write this. But for now, enjoy chapter 2!

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 2 [Following Footsteps Differently]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

It was night now. Geoff’s mom was coming into the living room from the master bedroom to the left in a long, pink nightgown. She usually sleeps in the room next to Geoff’s, as her husband’s snoring keeps her awake. He was already sleeping. Geoff was sitting in a chair in front of the television, with Sandshrew’s Poke Ball by his side.

“Well, I’m going to bed,” his mom announced, like she did so every night to Geoff. “I thought you’d have Sandshrew out of his ball.”

“He’s not that interesting when he’s sleeping, so I figured he could sleep in his ball. Plus, he was snoring,” Geoff explained to his mom while channel surfing.

“Tomorrow’s the big day, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Good night, son.” She walked away, into her bedroom. Geoff looked at the clock; ten-fifty.

Hmm... I guess I’ll go to bed now, he thought to himself as he turned the television off. I should get up early tomorrow, so I need some sleep. Let’s just hope I actually can fall asleep, ‘cause I usually wait until one a.m. to sleep. Geoff got up and picked up Sandshrew’s Poke Ball.

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His room was pitch black, except the small area lit by his alarm clock‘s dim orange light. Geoff was laying in his bed, located far to one wall, with the covers only allowing his head to be seen.

I hate it when I can’t sleep, but I knew this would happen. He turned and looked at his alarm clock. Through the light he could read two-twenty-four. He then turned to look at the Poke Ball, sitting on his dresser. He couldn’t really see the dresser, which was on the other side of his room to his left, but he pictured the ball sitting there on it in his mind. At least one of us doesn’t have a problem sleeping, Sandshrew. Then again, your problem is sleeping too much. He covered his head with the covers. Lucky.

He sighed. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I end the lifestyle I now know and begin a new one. Tomorrow I see if Sandshrew can do anything besides sleep... and run around when in pain. I wonder if I can make it. I’m pretty sure it’ll be hard. Too bad Tara never competed in the Pokemon League; she’d be able to tell me what I was in for. But even if she did, I guess, my story would still be different from hers. She began with an unruly Numel; I will begin with a lazy Sandshrew. Geoff uncovered his head and tried to think of nothing. He’d never get to sleep if he kept thinking about things. Whatever happens, happens. At least I know that this will be the most exciting summer vacation I‘ve ever had.

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BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Geoff shot open his eyes, and turned to look at his alarm clock. It read eight o’clock. He shut it off and sat upright. Today’s the day.

He put on a black shirt, then a beige shirt over that. After picking out some brown jeans and putting them on, he slipped his PokeCom into the left pocket and Badge Case into his right. He remembered Sandshrew‘s Poke Ball, and picked it up while walking out of his room.

Walking into the white bathroom next to his room, he set the Poke Ball on the counter in front of him and grabbed his blue toothbrush. He put toothpaste on it and started brushing his teeth.

After doing his habitual morning activities, Geoff walked toward the kitchen and noticed his dad was there.

“Hey, Geoff!” His dad was standing in front of the stove, making eggs for breakfast.

“You’re... making breakfast? You never make breakfast.” Geoff thought it odd that his father wasn’t just getting some waffles out of the freezer and heating them up, which he usually did.

“Today’s different. Today, my son takes his first step to becoming a Pokemon Master!” His dad flipped the eggs, then smiled at him.

“Personally, the journey is much more important than the title. But, whatever.” Geoff walked toward his dad and watched him put two eggs and a sausage patty on a plate. Geoff put the Poke Ball in the middle of the table, then walked to the stove. His dad handed the plate to Geoff. “Thanks, dad.”

“No problem, son. I had extra time this morning, so I decided to make my son breakfast. It’s the least I can do to help you start it off good.” His dad took a couple eggs himself and sat down at the kitchen table by Geoff. “Oh, I almost forgot! There’s something else I can do.”

He got up and went into the master bedroom. After the sounds of a few drawers opening and closing, he returned with his hands behind his back. Geoff gave him an odd look.

“What’s behind your back?” Geoff asked, then cut his eggs.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” His dad sat back down, still concealing what he had. “Just a few things I managed to steal, err... take, from the Lab. I’m pretty sure they’ll come in handy.” He placed three balls near Sandshrew’s, then a black belt-like item next to them.

“What kind of Poke Balls are those?” Geoff stared at the three balls while continuing to eat.

“Well, there’s a Fast Ball, Luxury Ball, and Net Ball,” his dad said while pointing to each one. He picked up the red one with two yellow lightning bolts. “The Fast Ball. The name pretty much tells you what it’s used for. If you want to catch a Pokemon but it keeps running away, use this baby and it’ll probably catch.”

Geoff took the ball from his dad and examined it.

“Next there’s the Luxury Ball. It’s the black one. Pokemon caught with this thing will become your best friend. I’d wait to use it on a Pokemon that really doesn’t seem to like you, though.”

Geoff rolled the Fast ball back toward the others on the table, and it tapped the Luxury Ball. “And what about that Net Ball?”

“That ball was specifically designed to catch bug and water Pokemon. Chances are, you’re going to catch at least one bug or water Pokemon during your journey, so I made sure to take that.”

“Thanks, dad! I can’t believe you stole for me- I feel so special,” Geoff said jokingly.

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” His dad started eating his breakfast. “I helped make those balls; I deserve to be able to steal a few when I need to!”

Just then Geoff’s mom walked into the dining room area.

“Remember, Geoff. Stealing is wrong. This is the first and only time he’s stolen.” His mom eyed his dad with a playful look.

“Mom, I think I know that stealing is wrong.” Geoff finished his breakfast, then washed the plate and put it by the sink. He then poured himself a glass of orange juice and sat back down. His mom remembered something, and fished it out of her pocket.

“You’re going to need money during this, so I’m giving you this Trainer-Credit Card. There’s 1,000 Poke-Dollars in your account. Your PIN is 1245. You can access your account in any PokeCenter. Oh, and make sure you don’t carry a whole lot on you at any time. Here’s 200 for right now.” His mom gave him the silver card and money.

“You’re the best, mom and dad. Believe me, I’m sincerely grateful for all your doing for me.” Geoff put the items into his right pocket.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you about the belt. There are six spots that contain magnets that greatly attract the metal inside of Poke Balls. Try it on!” His dad handed it to him. Geoff got up and laced it through his belt loops. Then he took Sandshrew’s Poke Ball and put it near one of the spots. The ball automatically moved to the belt. “The balls won’t ever simply drop off. You have to pull them off, but it doesn’t take much effort.”

“This thing is amazing! Did you help invent it?” Geoff asked while pulling the ball off.

“Well, uh... no. But that doesn’t matter.”

“Looks like you’re all set, honey. You better get going if you want to make it far today,” Geoff’s mom suggested as her eyes filled with water.

“Yeah. I just need to pack!” Geoff walked back into his room. He found his backpack and put a few pairs of underwear in it, among other clothes and necessities. He carried it back to the kitchen table and zipped it up. He unzipped the small, front compartment and put the three balls in it. After zipping that up, he took Sandshrew’s Poke Ball and pushed the button on it. Pink energy shot from it and materialized as Sandshrew.

“San!” Sandshrew looked up at Geoff curiously.

“Today, you and I start an adventure,” Geoff told him. Sandshrew smiled dumbly. Geoff put the Poke Ball on his belt and took out his PokeCom. “Let’s check you out.” He pushed down on the button in the middle of the disc, which opened the machine. He then pushed the left button- the Pokedex. He aimed the machine at Sandshrew. The disc started turning slowly, then stopped as Sandshrew’s picture popped up on the screen.

“Sandshrew, the sand mouse Pokemon. This Pokemon is able to survive in arid locations by storing water without waste. Its dry hide becomes thicker and stronger as it ages. This allows for added protection, especially when rolled into a ball. Sandshrew usually dislike water in any form.”

“Wow, that thing’s pretty hi-tech,” Geoff’s dad commented.

“I thought you said you designed this!” Geoff asked his dad while realizing that he had lied.

“I... I never said that. You must have been mistaken!” His dad laughed nervously. “Shouldn’t you be going now? It’s almost nine o’clock.”

“Oh, yeah. Guess I should. But, which direction should I go?” Geoff pushed the right button on his PokeCom, and the Gantun Map appeared on the screen. “If I go south, I’ll be heading toward Marloam. There’s no path northward, and to the west is rock. East is the only option, I guess.”

“Wharlevee is that way. It’s a perfect place to start! Plus, you’ll have plenty of chances to catch Pokemon along the way,” His dad explained to him.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Geoff picked up his backpack and put it on. Sandshrew extended his arms, suggesting that he wanted to be held. “What? You can walk!”

Geoff, his parents, and Sandshrew walked to the door, then outside onto the still-dying lawn. It was a gorgeous day, almost perfect. The sun was shining brightly, high in the crystalline sky. Sandshrew had his arms folded, mad that he had to actually walk instead of being held. Geoff hugged his parents, and thanked them once again for everything they’ve done.

“It’s a long road ahead of you son. Be prepared, but have fun.” Geoff’s dad playfully hit him in the shoulder.

“We’re only a phone call away. Remember that.” His mom’s eyes watered again. “Oh, great. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. But, I did the same with Tara. It’s going to be somewhat lonely without you here, Geoff.”

“Oh, mom. You’re making it sound like I’m dying or something. I’m only leaving for a little while. I’ll probably visit you after I reach Marloam.” Geoff smiled, then started walking away. Sandshrew just stood there, refusing to move. Geoff noticed this, sighed, then walked back. “Fine, you win.” Geoff picked Sandshrew up and put him on his shoulders. He then looked at his parents to say one last thing. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine!” Then, Geoff and his Sandshrew started walking away.

His mom looked at her husband. “Do you think he’ll really visit us after defeating Grant?”

“I’m sure of it. And with the direction he’s going in, I figure it won’t be too far in the future.”

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Geoff and his Sandshrew had finally made it to the other end of town. On the way, Geoff acted as a tour guide, showing Sandshrew what Coveldt had to offer. Unfortunately, Coveldt didn’t offer much of anything interesting. But Geoff just exaggerated and made the best of it.

“Here we are, Sandshrew!” Geoff said while putting Sandshrew down and gazing at the forest off in the distance. His attention then turned to the jutting rocks in the downward hike directly in front of him. “Now, all we have to do is scale down the mountain.”

Sandshrew looked at him oddly, then rolled into a ball. “Shroo!”

“Well I can’t exactly roll into a ball. So you’re going to have to walk down it just like me.” Geoff slowly started walking down, but Sandshrew suddenly rolled passed him. Angered at his Pokemon’s disobedience, Geoff started shaking his fist and yelling at him to stop. “Listen here, you better stop right now! You’re going to make it down there ten times faster than me, and who knows where you’ll wander off to!”

Sandshrew was too far away to hear him, so Geoff just got its Poke Ball out and tried recalling it. Unfortunately, the Poke Ball couldn’t lock in on Sandshrew’s location, so none of the beams hit him.

“Well this is just great!” Geoff put the Poke Ball back and began carefully running down. But as luck would have it, one of the rocks he was standing on fell through and he began quickly sliding down the mountain. “Oh great, I’m going to die!” he said as he shielded his face.

Sandshrew reached the bottom of the mountain and unrolled himself. Then he looked up to see where his trainer was, only to find out that his trainer was sliding right toward him.

“Sandshrew, look out! Move to the side! To the SIDE!” Sandshrew just tilted his head, only beginning to comprehend what was going to happen to him. Geoff crashed down as Sandshrew managed to roll away.

“I... I think I broke something,” Geoff said as he tried to get up. He rubbed his head. “Are you okay, Sandshrew? ... Sandshrew?” Sandshrew was nowhere in sight. “Oh, no! SANDSHREW?” Geoff sprang to his feet and began looking around.

“San.... shroo.... san...” Geoff spotted Sandshrew by a tree- sleeping.

“This is unbelievable. Here I am, thinking you’re hurt, and you’re just laying down by a tree sleeping. Weren’t you even worried about me?” Geoff picked Sandshrew up and he awoke.

“... San?” Sandshrew squirmed out of Geoff’s hold and dropped to the floor. He then gave Geoff an innocent smile.

Geoff sighed. “Let’s just go.”

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“We need more followers. Activate Plan Recruit.” A dark figure was standing in front of a large telescreen that took up the entire wall. The rest of the room was black. On the screen was a face covered by a plain white mask with two eyeholes and a frowning mouth. It seemed to be based on those theatre masks. “You know what two do.” His voice was deep and foreboding. The man staring at the telescreen bowed.

“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.” The transmission ended, and the man walked away.

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Geoff and Sandshrew had been walking for a little while, but decided to take a break. The two of them were sitting against a tree.

“This is odd. We haven’t seen one Pokemon yet. I wonder where they are,” Geoff thought out loud as he looked around. Just then, he noticed some grass move. He stood up. “It has to be a Pokemon! Sandshrew, get ready! Sandshrew?”

Sandshrew was sound asleep. Geoff would’ve yelled at Sandshrew for sleeping again, but he didn’t want to scare away whatever was coming toward them. Suddenly, Sunkern and Oddish were popping up out of the ground everywhere!

“So that’s why the grass was moving- it wasn’t really grass! That’s also why we haven’t seen any Pokemon- they were hiding in the ground!” Geoff took his backpack off to get a Poke Ball out, then stopped. “These Pokemon aren’t fast, they seem friendly already, and they aren’t bug or water types! Oh, great dad. I have nothing to catch them with. I don’t want to waste a specialty ball on it.”

Geoff watched all the little Pokemon scamper away. “I wonder why they all suddenly left. Oh, well. Sandshrew, let’s keep going.” Geoff nudged Sandshrew, and it woke. As it yawned, Geoff heard something running toward them.

“Zag, Zigoon!” The small, furry creature yelped as it ran passed them in a zigzag pattern. It was running so fast that Geoff couldn’t get a good look at it.

“I guess that thing’s chasing the grass Pokemon. They must've heard it coming, so they ran away. Come on, Sandshrew! Let’s follow it!” Geoff put on his backpack and picked up Sandshrew, knowing that it wouldn’t run. He then started chasing after the creature.

[DannyBoy]

That was a good chapter, now the fun begins! Sandshrew is funny, I love that pokemon always sleeping. I like that his dad stole him some special pokeballs. I wonder what he might use them on. GOod length and good description. Keep it up!

[geoff]

Chapter 3 is up now! =) Oh, if you're reading this- please comment. Cuz 1) I need to know if something's wrong or needs improvement and 2) it looks like only IloveX-TINA is reading it. ^_^;

GANTUN: Chapter 3 [The First Battle- Preparing for Zigzagoon]
Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

The creature looked like a streak of beige lightning as it yelped and chased after the Sunkern and Oddish. Geoff ran as fast as he could to keep up with it, starting to get tired since he had to hold Sandshrew because it was too inactive to run far.

“Zag, Zag!” The streak yelped as it caught up to one of the Sunkern. It slowed down and gently picked up the seed Pokemon with its jaw, then tossed it into the air. When it came back down, the furry creature stood on its two hind legs and balanced the Sunkern on its nose.

Geoff stopped ton watch. “Is that a Zigzagoon?” He got his PokeCom out and activated the Pokedex feature.

“Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon. This Pokemon restlessly wanders everywhere at all times, as it is very curious. It rubs its hard, bristly back fur against trees to leave its territorial markings. Zigzagoon are excellent item finders because of their great sense of smell.”

“I guess this little fellow likes to chase things as well.” Geoff put the PokeCom away and took his backpack off. He got out the Fast Ball. “This is perfect for catching a Zigzagoon. Fast Ball, go!”

Zigzagoon dropped the Sunkern just in time to realize that a Fast Ball was heading toward him. The ball sucked it inside, and closed. The button flashed red many times and wiggled about as the Sunkern started scampering away.

“Wow, I caught my first-” Geoff couldn’t finish his sentence because the Zigzagoon broke the seal of the Fast Ball. The ball flew back to Geoff as the Pokemon ran away, chasing the Sunkern again. “Darn. I guess I need to weaken it first. That means that you, Sandshrew, need to battle it first.”

Sandshrew looked up at Geoff, then merely stuck his arms out again.

“I’m not going to hold you. You need to learn to walk for yourself.” Sandshrew then pointed at his Poke Ball, stuck on Geoff’s belt. “When we finally get that Zigzagoon in our sights again, we need to surprise attack it. So I can’t waste time on letting you out of your Poke Ball.” Sandshrew started pouting. Geoff sighed, and gave in. He picked up Sandshrew and put him on his shoulders.

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Geoff looked up to the sky. Dark clouds were hovering above them. It had been a few hours since they started searching for the Zigzagoon, and Geoff was tired. He checked his PokeCom- they still had a ways to go before reaching Wharlevee.

“Looks like it’s going to rain before we find that Zigzagoon again, Sandshrew. We should probably find an area covered by trees to wait until the rain stops.” Geoff started looking around, checking each area to see if the tree limbs would block the water. Sandshrew was just standing there. A drop of water landed on Sandshrew’s nose, and it started freaking out.

“SHROO!” Sandshrew started running around furiously as a few more raindrops landed on him.

“Sandshrew, calm down! Freaking out will only make it- Come back here!” Geoff began running after Sandshrew, who had ran off the path they were following. “Oh, it’s just a few raindrops! Get over it!” Geoff pleaded for Sandshrew to stop. “Please? I don’t want to run anymore today!”

Sandshrew only ran faster as the rain got harder. It was now pouring, and Sandshrew was completely freaking out. Just then, he tripped over something and landed in a big puddle.

“Sandshrew, I’m coming!” Geoff ran toward Sandshrew, but halted when he realized what Sandshrew tripped over. An Ekans was hissing at Sandshrew, who had now rolled into a ball for defense. Just as the Ekans was getting ready to sink its teeth into Sandshrew, Geoff pulled its Poke Ball out and threw it toward Sandshrew. It hit the Ekans in the head, then captured Sandshrew. Geoff caught the Poke Ball, but he still had the Ekans to worry about.

Here I am, in the middle of the forest in an extremely dense area, with an Ekans slithering toward me. How am I supposed to get out of this one?

Geoff heard a yelp off in the distance. “That sounds familiar...” Just then, the Zigzagoon latched its jaws onto the Ekans and flung it off into the distance. Geoff thought the furry little creature had smiled at him for a second before running off after the Ekans. “That is one odd Pokemon. And it just saved me, although it was probably inadvertent.” Geoff sighed, then looked ahead. Strangely, there was a clearing up ahead, with a small cottage in the middle.

“I’m soaking wet, so I might as well try.” Geoff walked into the clearing and noticed odd a familiar grass was growing on either side of the cottage. Geoff thought nothing of it, and knocked on the door.

“I’ll be right there!” was heard coming from inside. It was a feminine voice. Geoff heard footsteps coming toward him from inside, and a beautiful girl opened the door. She looked to be eighteen or nineteen, and long, wavy blonde hair. She was wearing a dark green sweater and black slacks. “Hi there. I don’t get many visitors here.”

“Uh, hi. I’m Geoff.” He extended his hand, to which the girl shook.

“I’m Clover. I live alone here with my Pokemon. What brings you here?” She asked him.

“Well, I’m just traveling through here to get to Wharlevee. It’s pouring outside, and I nearly got attacked by an Ekans. I was wondering if I could come inside until the rain stops.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Geoff walked inside and took his shoes and backpack off at the door. He looked around and saw pictures of the girl and some Oddish, Sunkern, and a Gloom. Clover got a towel out and wrapped Geoff in it. “There you go.”

“Thanks a lot, Clover. You’re really generous for doing this.” Geoff sat down on the green couch beside him. “Oh, is it okay if I let my Sandshrew out? He hates water but he’s soaking wet.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Clover sat down on the wooden chair to the right of him. Geoff released Sandshrew in his lap, who was still rolled up. He slowly unrolled himself as he realized that the Ekans was gone. Geoff dried him off with his towel. “I knew I should’ve packed an umbrella.”

“That’s a cute Sandshrew you got there.” Clover picked up a Poke Ball on the table beside her. “I have one of my own. Gloom, go!”

“Gloom,” the Pokemon cried as it noticed the strangers.

“It’s okay, Gloom. They’re good people.” Clover smiled at her Pokemon while Geoff got out his PokeCom. He opened it, and pushed the left button.

“Gloom, the Weed Pokemon. It secretes a sticky, drool-like honey from its mouth that attracts prey. Although sweet, it smells repulsive. Gloom also release a foul fragrance from the pistil of its flower. The stench worsens when faced with danger.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen a Gloom in person before. Hmm, it doesn’t really smell to me.”

“Gloom only smells bad to people and Pokemon she doesn’t like.”

“Pretty cool. Is this your only Pokemon? I see others in these pictures.” Geoff glanced at the pictures again.

“Those Pokemon don’t belong to me, but I take care of them. Lately, though, a wild Zigzagoon has been bothering them.” Clover had an annoyed look on her face as she thought of the Zigzagoon.

“Oh, I’ve seen that Zigzagoon chasing a bunch of Oddish and Sunkern!” Geoff remembered the Zigzagoon balancing the Sunkern on its nose. “But that same Pokemon saved me from the Ekans.”

“It did? That really surprises me.” Clover got up to light the fireplace as she said that.

“Well, I’m pretty sure it didn’t mean to save me. It was just playing with the Ekans. But nevertheless, it did. Earlier I was trying to catch it, but it got away.” Geoff looked at Sandshrew. “Next time I’m going to have Sandshrew weaken it.”

“So you’re determined to catch this thing? Excellent!” Clover smiled. “If you catch it, it won’t bother my Pokemon anymore.” She sat back down.

“So we both win, huh? That’s great.” Geoff started frowning. “But, Sandshrew has never battled. I don’t know how strong it is. It could be too weak to defeat the Zigzagoon.”

“I know how we can find out its power level. It can battle my Gloom! But I have to warn you, Sandshrew probably won’t win. I’ve had my Gloom for almost three years now.”

“That sounds great!” Geoff glanced outside. “Hey, it’s stopped raining!”

“Good. Since Sandshrew hates the water, we’ll battle when the field dries.” Clover smiled at me. “I haven’t battled in awhile- it should be exciting. But until then, do you want to meet the Pokemon I take care of? Gloom and Sandshrew can stay inside and talk.”

“Sure, I’d love to. Let’s go.” Geoff and Clover got up and walked outside. The field was still damp, but the sun was shining so it would dry soon. Clover brought Geoff over to the familiar grass.

“C’mon out, guys!” Clover clapped her hands and the grass popped up. Standing in front of them were numerous Sunkern and Oddish.

“Wow, it’s cool how they can disguise themselves as grass!” Geoff got his PokeCom out again to find out more about the Pokemon.

“Oddish, the Weed Pokemon. During the day, it keeps its face buried in the ground. At night, it wanders around sowing its seeds. During the daytime, while it is planted, this Pokemon's feet are thought to change shape and become similar to the roots of trees.

Sunkern, the Seed Pokemon. It tries to move as little as it possibly can to conserve all the nutrients it has stored in its body for its evolution. It will not eat a thing, subsisting only on morning dew. Its only means of defense is to shake its leaves desperately at its attacker.”

“This place is like a haven for them, away from the wild Pokemon that want to mess with them or eat them. Taking care of them also takes up my free time, which is good since I have too much free time.” Clover picked up a Sunkern and hugged it.

“I’d imagine it gets pretty lonely out here, in the middle of the forest. Good thing you have so many Pokemon friends!” Geoff smiled at Clover.

“Hmm, can I ask you a question?” Clover put the Sunkern down and walked closer to Geoff.

“Well, sure.”

“You’re a traveling trainer, so where’s your hometown?” Clover asked him.

“Coveldt City. Today’s actually my first day being a traveling trainer.” Geoff glanced at the field around him, and noticed that the sun had dried up all of the water.

“Oh, now it makes sense. I was wondering why your Pokemon had never battled before.” Clover looked at the grass as well. “Looks like we can battle soon. Do you know any attacks Sandshrew can use?”

“Yeah, my dad tells me about Pokemon so I’ve gathered some attacks. Let’s hope Sandshrew knows them....”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay, are you ready?” Clover and Geoff were standing in front of the cottage. Gloom and Sandshrew were by their trainers. There were a few clouds overhead, but it didn’t look like it would rain anytime soon.

“Yes. Let’s get this thing started!” Geoff had his fist in front of him, in a fighting stance.

“Okay, Gloom! Start with your Acid!” Clover commanded Gloom. The weed Pokemon spit out a stream of white, gooey acid at Sandshrew.

“Hurry, Sandshrew! Roll into a ball!” Sandshrew turned around to look at his trainer and got bombarded by acid. Its eyes grew big, and he started running around screaming. “Uh, Scratch Gloom!”

“That’s... odd. Gloom, dodge it!” Sandshrew was randomly running in different directions, so it was pretty much impossible to dodge it. eventually, Sandshrew’s flailing arms hit Gloom- viciously scratching it numerous times. “Gloom, Stun Spore!”

Gloom sent out a cloud of yellow spores from its flower. They landed on Sandshrew.

“No, Sandshrew! Get away!” It was no use, as Sandshrew was now lying on the ground, paralyzed. Its mouth was still open, and its arms were still in a flailing position.

“Was that Flail Sandshrew was using?” Clover looked puzzled.

“I don’t think so. It was just it’s, uh, special battling technique?” Geoff was staring at Sandshrew, hoping the spores would wear off soon.

“Whatever. Gloom, Absorb!” Gloom turned a bright green, and its eyes focused on Sandshrew. Soon Sandshrew was glowing as well, and green orbs transferred from Sandshrew to Gloom.

“Oh, no. Soon Sandshrew won’t have any power left! C’mon, get up Sandshrew! You can do it!” Geoff tried and tried to get Sandshrew to try to fight the spores, and soon Sandshrew’s eyes blinked. “Yeah, keep trying!”

Sandshrew’s tail began moving around, and eventually he pushed himself up. He grabbed some dirt from the ground and threw it at Gloom as he got up and turned around.

“I think that was some kind of Sand Attack. Good job, Sandshrew!” Geoff watched as Gloom stopped its absorb. “Now, dig underground!” Sandshrew looked at its trainer again. “...you know, with your claws!”

Sandshrew got the idea as Gloom was getting ready to spray more Acid. He dug into the ground and disappeared. The Acid missed, and Gloom was looking around for Sandshrew.

“Be ready to use Sleep Powder when it comes up, Gloom!” Clover ordered.

“Now, Sandshrew!” Geoff told Sandshrew. Underneath Gloom, Sandshrew popped up and Gloom went flying. “Use Sand Attack!”

As Gloom landed, it sent out some green Sleep Powder out of its flower. Sandshrew countered the cloud by blowing sand out of his mouth at Gloom. The two clouds met in the middle of the field, and meshed together. Sandshrew began getting sleepy.

“Oh great, like he wasn’t sleepy anyway. Try to stay awake! Use Scratch!” Sandshrew sleepily walked toward Gloom in the sand/powder cloud, but started falling while raising his arm to scratch Gloom.

“Gloom, finish this battle. Absorb!” It didn’t take long before Sandshrew was knocked out. “Good job, Gloom!” Clover clapped her hands together.

“Sandshrew, return!” Geoff returned Sandshrew to his Poke Ball. While looking at it, he said, “You did good.”


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Clover and Geoff were back inside. Geoff was spraying Sandshrew with one of Clover’s potions while Clover was taking care of Gloom.

“Thanks for letting me use one of your potions, Clover.” Sandshrew was coming to. “Your Gloom is an amazing battler.”

“Thanks, it’s no problem. I like to help.” Clover smiled. “Your Sandshrew performed well for your first battle. One thing I should tell you, though, is to research what moves Sandshrew knows. Your PokeCom should tell you that. Also, tell Sandshrew to try and run away from things like spore clouds. They might dissipate before they hit him.”

“That’s great advice, thanks. Let’s see what Sandshrew knows.” Geoff pulled out his PokeCom.

“Sandshrew normally know Scratch, Defense Curl, Sand Attack, Poison Sting, and Dig. As they mature and grow, they learn new attacks.”

“Good to know. I’ll try to remember that next time.” Sandshrew stood up and yawned.

“Shroo!” Sandshrew smiled.

Geoff looked outside. “It’ll be dark in a few hours. I guess Sandshrew and I should go look for that Zigzagoon. That battle was great practice- I’ll surely catch that Zigzagoon now!”

“I hope you do. Make sure to come back when you catch it. I want to make sure it won’t bother the Pokemon anymore.”

Geoff got up, and he and Sandshrew opened the door and walked outside. “Bye, Clover! See you later!”

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Geoff looked up at the night sky. He and Sandshrew were sitting up against a tree. He wasn’t too sure where Clover’s house was, so he just decided to sleep in the forest. The Zigzagoon search wasn’t going to well, so they quit for the day at sunset. They would continue tomorrow.

“San... shroo... san.... shroo....” Sandshrew was sound asleep, scratching himself every now and then.

Geoff looked around. A few lights could be seen in the distance moving around. They seemed to be following something. Geoff wondered if they were Pokemon, so he got out his PokeCom.

“Volbeat and Illumise. Illumise attract a group of Volbeat with its sweet fragrance and leads the lit-up swarm in drawing geometric designs on the canvas of the night sky. This Pokemon is said to earn greater respect from its peers by composing more complex designs in the sky.”

“Wow, that’s really cool.” Geoff watched the Volbeat’s lights form different shapes- squares, triangles. Sometimes he saw more complex shapes, and thought he once saw a Zigzagoon being formed.

“I’ll get you tomorrow, Zigzagoon!” Geoff said to himself before falling asleep.

[DannyBoy]

That was a good chapter. You are getting better as a writer. I like the idea of Zigzagoon bothering pokemon and now Geoff wants to catch it. Sandshrew did ok for its first battle but it will get better I bet! Your coming along good. Keep it up!

[geoff]

Another chapter hasn't been finished, but I have finished the names of all 23 cities! They are listed in the order that Geoff will visit them. If you figure out what they mean, you can probably imagine the general feel of the city/town. I've also listed pronunciations, so no one's confused. *All Caps=big emphasis, first letter capitalized=small emphasis, no caps=no emphasis. Example: Emphasis City [EMM-fah-Sis]*

1. Coveldt City [COH-velt]
2. Wharlevee Town [WAHR-leh-Vee]
3. Littorine City [LIT-ore-Ine]
4. Anchoralt City [ANK-or-Alt]
5. Induron City [IN-durr-On]
6. Effulgorse City [EFF-uhl-Gorse]
7. Lumineppe Town [LOO-mihn-Epp]
8. Dapfen Town [DAPP-fen]
9. Boghelm Town [BOG-helm]
10. Lavarry City [lah-VAHR-Eee]
11. Marloam City [MAR-lome]
12. Harbay Town [HAHR-bay]
13. Prospice Town [PROSS-pis]
14. Firond City [FUR-ond]
15. Nebulf Town [NEH-bulf]
16. Sleetundra City [slee-TUHN-drah]
17. Tenebrosk Town [TEN-eh-Brosk]
18. Rapturf City [RAP-terf]
19. Archaesil Island [ahr-KAY-Sihl]
20. Swardell Town [SWOHR-dell]
21. Gladense City [GLAY-dens]
22. Chaparid City [chap-AIR-idd]
23. Opulim City [OHP-you-Lim]

Gantun Map is in the works.

[Darien Shields]

I read most of Chapter 1 and it's pretty good... You brought up the point that's been playing on my mind for a while though, that in pokemon and Harry Potter their turning out these great streams of illiterate, inumerate fat (less so in Pokemon, since they walk around) kids, good at nothing but training pokemon/using magic. I'll read this all later (I'm in an airport now and only have 18 minutes left on my paid time), but look out for my post in the Writer's Lounge.

[geoff]

Chapter 4 is up! Thanks to anyone who's reading this, including Darien Shields. =)

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 4 [A Long-Awaited Fast Capture]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

“Spee!” Geoff’s eyes shot open as he heard the piercing noise. Right in front of his face, on his stomach, was a Spearow. It had screamed into Geoff’s ear. He started freaking out as he realized that an unfriendly Pokemon species was so close to him that it could peck his eyes out.

“Ah! No, get away! Bad bird, bad bird!” Geoff swatted at the bird, but it wouldn’t go away. Geoff stood up and ran around, but the Spearow continued to chase him. “Sandshrew, help!”

“San...” Sandshrew was sleeping through the whole thing.

“Okay, this tops the cake as your most unbelievable moment!” Geoff continued swatting the bird away. “Here I am, being attacked by this crazy Spearow, and you’re just sleeping. Ridiculous!” Geoff tried to kick Sandshrew out of frustration, but Sandshrew rolled to the side and Geoff fell on his back. “Ow!” He rubbed his back while the Spearow hovered above him. “Grr... Sandshrew! You wake up right now!”

Sandshrew twitched a little, then continued snoring.

“You are NO help whatsoever!” Geoff got up and sprinted behind some bushes. “If you were in a situation like this, I wouldn’t be sleeping! I’d be helping you!” The Spearow dove toward Geoff with its beak wide open.

“Row!” Geoff watched as the Spearow came closer and closer, then closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. After awhile of nothing happening, Geoff slowly opened his eyes.

“Zigga!” Spearow had been knocked to the ground by the wild Zigzagoon, which came from nowhere. It proceeded to toss the Spearow around playfully and wait for it to react.

“How come that Zigzagoon always seems to arrive right when I need him?” Geoff wondered as he watched the Spearow try to get up. Eventually, it got tired of the whole situation and flew off.

“Zagoon!” It barked as it watched the Spearow fly away. Not even noticing Geoff or Sandshrew, it began chasing after the bird.

“No, wait! I have to catch you! Zigzagoon!” Geoff tripped over the bushed while trying to get to the Fast Ball in his backpack. “This is becoming a little too routine for me.”

Geoff slowly rose to see Sandshrew finally waking up. “A little too late there, buddy! That Zigzagoon had to save me.”

Sandshrew’s ears shot up at the sound of ‘Zigzagoon’. Its face crumpled up and had an angry look to it.

Geoff stood up and stretched his back muscles. “I hope I never trip and fall again... ever.”

Sandshrew walked over to Geoff and hugged his leg. “San?” It seemed to ask.

Geoff smiled. “Don’t worry, Sandshrew. I don’t like that Zigzagoon more than you. Who wouldn’t love a lazy Pokemon that always sleeps?” Geoff said, with the last sentence being sarcastic. He picked up his Pokemon. “Today we’re finally getting that rascal Zigzagoon!”

Geoff put Sandshrew down and picked up his backpack. “It went that way, up the path,” Geoff said while putting his backpack on. “Let’s start following it.”

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Geoff and Sandshrew were both panting. Sandshrew collapsed while Geoff sat down. They were surrounded on all sides by trees, and had come across a shaded spot.

“Nothing can run that fast,” Geoff commented while wiping the sweat off his face. “I mean, even if anything could, it’d still have to rest every now and then. How can it have that much energy?” Geoff looked at Sandshrew, who was also breathing heavily. “This’ll be a lot harder than I thought.

The two of them had caught up to the Zigzagoon many times, but it seemed to always get away from them.

“There has to be a way to stop that Zigzagoon. Maybe one of Sandshrew’s attacks...” Geoff thought about all the attacks Sandshrew knew. “Sandshrew wouldn’t be able to touch that Zigzagoon with any of his offensive attacks. But maybe Sand Attack would confuse it. Or if Sandshrew dug a hole and Zigzagoon fell in. Hmmm...”

Sandshrew jumped up happily. It then rolled into a ball and circled around Geoff.

“What are you doing, Sandshrew? This is no time to roll around.” Geoff eyed the Pokemon oddly as it unrolled itself in front of Geoff. Sandshrew sighed at Geoff, then got on all fours and began barking.

“Impersonating Zigzagoon won’t help.” Geoff continued thinking while looking at Sandshrew.

Sandshrew continued his Zigzagoon impersonation, then rolled into a ball and circled once around Geoff. After unrolling, he did his impersonation again, then ran on all fours around Geoff. Rolling again, he jumped up, then unrolled in the air and pretended to die after he landed. Sandshrew then got up and looked to see if Geoff got it.

“Oh, wait! Yeah! Zigzagoon will surely chase after you when you’re rolled into a ball. Then you can unroll when your ahead of him and surprise attack it! It’ll think you’re playing, so it’ll fight back. Then you two will battle, with you winning, and finally I catch the Zigzagoon!” Geoff gave Sandshrew a thumbs-up sign. “Great plan! Guess you’re not really useless after all!”

Sandshrew stuck its tongue out at Geoff, then started walking in the direction they last saw Zigzagoon go.

“Wait for me!” Geoff stood up and ran to catch up to Sandshrew.

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“So, how about him?” A man and woman, hidden by trees and bushes, were spying on Geoff and Sandshrew. The man had binoculars, while the woman had a hearing device. The man, which from his silhouette you could tell had short hair, was talking. “A possible candidate?”

The woman spoke up, who presumably had shoulder-length hair. “I’m not sure. The kid seems a little slow. The Pokemon’s somewhat intelligent, but it’s way too young.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. The boy seems to be relying on his Sandshrew to think, instead of him.”

“Definitely not Nemesis material. Let’s just keep searching.”

“We’re bound to find a trainer with potential eventually.”

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“I’m starting to think that we’re never going to find that stupid Zigzagoon again.” Geoff put his weight on a nearby tree and took a break. “Maybe we should stop searching for it and wait for it to stumble upon us. That’s how we’ve come across it before.”

Sandshrew plopped onto the ground and stared up at Geoff. His eyes wandered above his trainer, and he found something quite peculiar.

“What are you staring at?” Geoff asked his Pokemon. Suddenly, a Wurmple appeared on his face, and started crawling down his neck. Geoff stood still, with a look of confusion on his face.

“Werm!”

Geoff did run away from it, though, when it started spitting silk around it’s body. “Ah! What’s it doing!?”

The Wurmple dropped to the ground and began glowing as it wrapped silk thread around its body. When the light faded, A purple oval-shaped creature was left.

“What is that thing?” Geoff pulled out his PokeCom.

“Cascoon, the Cocoon Pokemon. It makes its protective cocoon by wrapping its body entirely with a fine silk from its mouth. This causes its body to harden. If it is attacked, Cascoon remains motionless- even if it is badly hurt. It does so because if it were to move, its body would be weak upon evolution.”

Just then, the Cascoon shot a thread up to a tree branch from its mouth and started rising. “I guess it stays that way until it evolves. Pretty neat.” Geoff turned to Sandshrew. “Let’s see if there are any other bug Pokemon around here!”

The two of them searched around for any other bug Pokemon, but they couldn’t see any. Then, Geoff caught two round figures in the corner of his eye, and started walking toward them.

“Hey, Sandshrew! It looks like there’s some hidden opening over here!” Sandshrew scurried toward Geoff as he saw what was inhabiting the clearing. Loads of cocoon Pokemon were hanging from the trees, and many caterpillar Pokemon were munching on the leaves around them. “It’s like a haven for bug Pokemon!”

Geoff looked around in awe of all the different Pokemon. There were Metapod, Silcoon, Cascoon, Kakuna hanging from the trees, constantly hardening their casings. Around them were Weedle, Wurmple, and Caterpie- all happily munching on the trees and bushes.

Sandshrew jumped onto a Kakuna and started swinging on it. The thread broke, and the Kakuna crashed down with a thud. “Sandshrew! Why’d you do that?” Sandshrew slowly backed away from the angry Kakuna. It started making noises, then glowing!

“Oh great, it’s evolving! And I think I know what Kakuna evolve into...” Geoff started backing away as well, but bumped into a sleeping Cascoon. It, too, began glowing. “Sandshrew, let’s get out of here!”

Before they knew it, they were running for their lives with a Beedrill and Dustox chasing them. The Beedrill started shooting its needles at them, while the Dustox shot out poisonous needles.

“Come on, fight back! Use Sand Attack!” Geoff ordered Sandshrew, and the two of them stopped running and turned around. Sandshrew took in a deep breath, then blew out sand at the two Pokemon. The Beedrill and Dustox were caught in a cloud of hazy sand, and decided to turn back and return to their home.

Geoff wiped his forehead. “Wow, that was really close.” Sandshrew imitated Geoff.

The two turned around and began walking and staring at the clouds. After awhile, Geoff heard a loud thud. He looked down at Sandshrew and saw that he had tripped on a Silcoon.

“No, not again! Oh, please no!” Geoff became nervous as he looked at the Pokemon, but it seemed to smile at him. It began glowing, and both of them quickly started running away.

Sandshrew looked back to blow a Sand Attack at it, but found that it wasn’t chasing them. He tugged on Geoff’s pant leg, and Geoff turned around to notice it as well.

“It, isn’t chasing us?” They slowly walked back to the Beautifly and found that its eyes were watery. “Aw, we hurt its feelings! I’m sorry, little guy. We ran away because of, uh, past experiences with evolving cocoons.” Geoff hugged the creature, then got out his PokeCom.

“Beautifly, the Butterfly Pokemon. Its favorite food is the sweet pollen of flowers, which it collects by using its long mouth that is shaped like a coiled needle. Beautifly ride the spring winds as they flit around gathering pollen.”

The butterfly Pokemon flew around Geoff and landed on Sandshrew’s back. “You seem pretty peaceful and nice! We’re sorry again for running away.” The Beautifly happily looked at Geoff.

“Zigoon!” Geoff heard the familiar voice off in the distance.

“Sandshrew, I hear the Zigzagoon! Get ready to activate Operation Capture!” Geoff put his fist in the air. “I WILL catch it!”

The Beautifly’s eyes widened at the yelping of the Zigzagoon. It flapped its wings and hid behind Geoff. “You know about this thing, too? Heh, it must be a real pain in this forest.”

The Zigzagoon appeared on the path, happily running toward the group with its mouth open and tongue off to one side. “Zag!” The Beautifly tried to conceal itself behind Geoff.

“Sandshrew, do it now!” Sandshrew rolled into a ball, and Geoff picked him up. “C’mon, boy. Zigzagoon, you want the ball? You want the ball? Go get the ball!” Geoff threw Sandshrew down the path, and the Zigzagoon furiously began running after it. Geoff then ran after the Zigzagoon, and Beautifly clung to Geoff’s shirt. “Keep rolling, Sandshrew!”

Sandshrew led the Zigzagoon to a small clearing, then reversed itself and slammed into it. Sandshrew unrolled and prepared to battle the furry creature.

“Yeah, Sandshrew! That was awesome!” Geoff praised his Pokemon. “Sand Attack- confuse it!”

Sandshrew did just that, blowing sand at Zigzagoon. It got up to its feet and shook the hit off, then noticed that it was surrounded by a dust cloud. Sandshrew seemed to blend in with the dust, so it couldn’t tell where anything was. Confused, it started running in a random direction.

“Sandshrew, Scratch it!” Geoff told him. His Pokemon scratched Zigzagoon repeatedly when it got near him. “Poison Sting?!” Geoff wondered if Sandshrew knew the attack. Unfortunately, Sandshrew stared at his trainer, confused about what that was. “Never mind, just Dig and surprise attack it!”

Sandshrew dug into the ground as the sand started dissipating. Zigzagoon could see again, but Sandshrew was nowhere to be found. It looked around, only to be surprised when Sandshrew popped up right where it was!

“Great, a direct hit! Maybe I can catch-” The Beautifly had come out of hiding, and Zigzagoon had noticed it. It began running toward it, and Beautifly got scared. Out of self defense, it blew Stun Spore at Zigzagoon as the furry Pokemon was in the air lunging at it. After falling to the ground, Zigzagoon stopped moving, hit with paralysis.

“.... catch... it...” Geoff finally completed his sentence. He hurriedly took off his backpack and got his Fast Ball out of the small, front compartment. “Fast Ball, go!” Geoff said while throwing the ball at Zigzagoon.

The Fast Ball sucked it in, then closed and hit the ground. After a few seconds of flashing and wiggling, it made a sound that signified Zigzagoon’s capture.

Geoff couldn’t help jumping for joy. “I caught my first Pokemon! Yes!” He ran and picked up the Fast Ball, then kissed it and put it on his belt. After picking up Sandshrew and dancing with him, he walked up to the Beautifly. “Thanks for inadvertantly helping me catch Zigzagoon. It won’t bother you anymore. You know, you’d make a great addition to my team, but I know someone who could probably use you more. Do you want to meet one of my friends?”

Beautifly shook its head ‘yes’. Geoff smiled. “Great.”

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Geoff knocked on the cottage door. “Clover! I did it!” It had taken many hours, but they had found Clover’s house. It was night now, and Geoff could tell that the fireplace was lit. Oddish were roaming around freely in the clearing, while the Sunkern were sleeping.

Clover opened the door, with a cup of hot cocoa in her right hand. “Oh, hey Geoff! You caught the Zigzagoon?!” She had a look of excitement on her face.

“I sure did. I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Cool, well come on in!” Clover invited them in. “Hey, Sandshrew! Hmm, did you catch that Beautifly, too?”

“I’ll explain that, too.” Geoff, Sandshrew, and Beautifly went inside and made themselves comfortable.

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Clover was listening to Geoff tell her of how he caught Zigzagoon. Beautifly was sitting on Clover’s head, and Sandshrew and Geoff were on the green couch. Geoff pulled his Fast Ball off his belt.

“I went to throw the ball when Zigzagoon jumped at Beautifly! Beautifly stopped its attack by blowing Stun Spore at him. After he fell, I caught him.” Geoff let Zigzagoon out, and it materialized on the table.

“Zagoon!” It yelped.

“I guess you’ve recovered from that Stun Spore, eh?” Zigzagoon barked happily at its new trainer.

“Wow, so Beautifly helped you catch him. Did you catch Beautifly, too?” Clover asked.

“No. I decided that it could help you protect the Oddish and Sunkern from any other bothersome Pokemon.” Geoff smiled at Clover.

“Wow, you brought it here for me? Thank you so much! This will help out a lot.” Clover looked up and Beautifly flew off her head and into her lap.

“It’s the least I could do to repay you for being so nice.” Geoff remembered about Wharlevee. “Oh, can I stay here tonight? I need a place to stay before heading off to Wharlevee tomorrow.”

“Sure! I don’t mind at all. Want some hot cocoa?”

“... in the middle of summer? It’s already hot enough!”

“I guess. I just love hot cocoa too much. I drink it all the time.” Clover smiled at Zigzagoon, happy that it’d finally leave the forest. Zigzagoon unexpectedly jumped into Geoff’s lap, catching him off guard.

“Welcome to the team, little guy.” Geoff rubbed Zigzagoon’s ears.

[DannyBoy]

Good chapter, good length, good description! That was cleaver of Geoff to do that with Sandshrew and then Beautifly helping him catch it. I wonder what else he will catch. Keep it up!

[Meganium]

Hi I am New Poster to the fic but i must say, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST FICS!!! Its so descriptive I can see it all in my head, its a humor/action story. Its the best I will keep reading. Keep up the good work, Keep Up.

[geoff]

Wow, thanks readers! I'm really flattered. I'm posting this at two other boards, and I'm getting nothing but good comments. =) Really, this is flattering.

I'm writing Chapter 5 now, but it might take a little longer to be posted than the other chapters. This is mainly because I have to draw up a character that premiers in chapter 5. And that means that, sooner or later, that character will be an integral part of the story.

EDIT: I decided to wait till Chapter 6 to into him. =) Chapter 5 coming soon!

[geoff]

Chapter 5 is up!

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 5 [The Worst Way to Arrive]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

“Geoff, get up! I want to show you something!” Clover was nudging at Geoff, who had slept on the green couch. “Hurry, or you’ll miss it!” Clover stepped back and waited for Geoff to get up.

Geoff rubbed his eyes and yawned. After stretching a little, he got off the couch and looked at Clover. He noticed that she was wearing black pants and a somewhat revealing pink t-shirt, but he certainly didn’t mind. He grabbed his Poke Ball and Fast Ball, containing his two Pokemon, off the table and followed Clover outside. The moon was still out, and was the only source of light.

“What? It, it’s not even dawn yet!” Geoff groaned as he tiredly dropped the two balls and released his Pokemon. The two pink lights lit up the whole area, but it returned to darkness as they materialized. Sandshrew was snoring, but Zigzagoon was jumping up and down like a hyper puppy, wondering why he was called out.

“That’s the whole point, Geoff. I want you to see the sunrise. It’s almost magical.” She smiled at Geoff. “There’s no way I can describe it in words. I wake up this early everyday just to see it. It starts my day out happy.”

“Okay, okay. When will it happen?” Geoff said as he followed Clover again. They both sat down in front of the left part of the field. Zigzagoon rolled the snoring Sandshrew over to his trainer. Geoff laughed as he saw Sandshrew being rolled, arms and legs sprawled out every which way yet still snoring loudly.

“It’ll happen in a few minutes. Just wait.” Clover smiled again, then gazed out at the horizon. Geoff did the same, but couldn’t help looking over at Zigzagoon every now and then. Try as he might, he couldn’t wake Sandshrew up. After nudging, biting, and pushing for awhile, Zigzagoon gave up and ran to his trainer. Geoff let him jump onto his back and crawl around Geoff. Of course, Geoff put him on the top of his head when Zigzagoon completely covered his face, blocking his view.

“It’s starting!” Clover said, and all three watched as the sun slowly rose above the horizon. The new day’s light glistened off the morning dew on the leaves and sprouts of the Oddish and Sunkern, who were returning to their hiding spots. It made them seem like diamonds. the whole field was like that- loads of diamonds glistening from the sun’s morning rays. Geoff wasn’t much for ‘nature sights’, but this was an exception.

I’m going to remember this all my life, Geoff thought. Zigzagoon was becoming restless, so Geoff let him down.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Clover asked him. She noticed Zigzagoon creeping toward the Oddish and Sunkern. “Geoff, your Pokemon plans on bothering the Oddish and Sunkern one last time.”

“Oh, oops.” Geoff grabbed onto Zigzagoon’s bristly tail to restrain him.

“Why don’t I make you breakfast before you leave?” Clover got up and looked at Geoff.

“That’d be really nice of you, Clover.” Geoff noticed that he was starving. “I’ve been surviving off rice patties and granola bars the past two days.”

“That’s all you’ve been eating? Wow. You do know that lots of foods stay good for a very long time. I’ll have to see if I have anything to give you for the road.” Clover started walking back to the cottage, and Geoff and Zigzagoon did the same.

“Oh, Zigzagoon! Could you get Sandshrew, please?” Geoff asked his Pokemon. Zigzagoon barked a ‘yes’, and ran back.

Sandshrew was still snoring heavily. Tired of him sleeping, Zigzagoon walked back a bit, then charged at Sandshrew and head butted him awake.

“Shroo!” Sandshrew shot up from the attack. Zigzagoon merely smiled and ran after Geoff. Sandshrew did the same, except much slower.

Once they were all inside, Clover went to the small kitchen behind the living room. A wall separated the two rooms. Clover got out a box of pancake mix. “Are pancakes okay?” She asked Geoff. She had to raise her voice because she wasn’t sure where he exactly was.

“Yeah, that sounds great!” Geoff shouted back.

“You like apples and tomatoes?”

“... On pancakes?”

“No! Just in general!”

“Yeah. Why?” Geoff walked into the kitchen. Clover was holding two plastic bags- one with dried apples and one with dried tomatoes.

“Oh, there you are,” Clover said as she noticed Geoff in the kitchen. “These are the only things I have that can last long. But I also have a water bottle that you can take with you if you don’t have one.”

“Wow, that’d be great!” Geoff smiled. “You’ve got to be the most generous person in Gantun.”

“Oh, I just like to help trainers.” She blushed. “Plus, not many of them stumble upon me and this cottage.”

“Well, I don’t think I would’ve found you if it weren’t for the rain. Sandshrew freaked out and somehow ran to this place.” Geoff took the bags from here.

“Maybe it was fate. I mean, who knows if you would’ve caught Zigzagoon without Sandshrew first battling my Gloom.” She poured the dry mix into a bowl and began adding water as she stirred it. “But, who knows if Zigzagoon would’ve ever gone away if you hadn’t come.”

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“These pancakes are great, Clover!” Geoff exclaimed as he happily ate it. He and Clover were sitting and eating at the small, round dining room table while Sandshrew, Gloom, Zigzagoon, and Beautifly were eating on the floor. Clover made each of the Pokemon mini pancakes.

“Thanks, Geoff!” Clover looked around and saw that everyone liked it. “So, you’re going to Wharlevee Town. I heard there’s no Gym there, but the next city has one.”

“Really?” Geoff seemed surprised. “Darn. I was hoping there was. Oh well. Guess Sandshrew and Zigzagoon will be even stronger by the time I get there.” Geoff finished his pancakes, and saw that everyone else had, too.

“I can’t wait to start training my Beautifly. It can battle Gloom, and both can gain experience! The stronger they are, the safer the forest Pokemon are. And it wouldn’t be able to happen without you, Geoff.”

“Do you have any plans to take part in the League in the future?” Geoff asked her, hoping she’d say yes. That way, there’d be a greater chance of them meeting in the future.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’d be able to leave all the forest Pokemon.” Clover gave Geoff a look of indecision.

“You know... in other forests, all the Pokemon have to fend for themselves. It’s just nature.” Geoff was clearly trying to change her mind.

“True, I’ll keep it in mind. But I’ll also keep you in mind. I hope you’ll come visit me if you come back to this area.” Clover smiled at Geoff.

“I will. I’m coming back here after I go to Marloam. Hey, that’d be a good place for you to start! Marloam Gym specialized in ground types. Both Gloom and Beautifly are strong against ground types.”

“Hey, you’re right! I probably will. Hey, maybe we’ll battle in the League competition!” Clover laughed, and Geoff realized that she was joking about that last sentence.

“Hey, you never know.”

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“Bye, Clover!” Geoff shouted as he and Sandshrew walked away from the cottage. Clover and her two Pokemon were standing at the door, and Clover was waving back.

“See you later, Geoff! You’re going to be a great Pokemon Trainer!” Clover shouted back.

He turned to look at the path ahead of him. “Sandshrew, you and I- and Zigzagoon- are going to be the best team ever. All we need is practice... among other things like badges. But we’ll get those along the way.”

After a while of walking, Geoff got out his PokeCom and hit the third button. On the screen was the map of Gantun, and a box was flashing where Geoff was. They were about one-third of the way there. There was also an arrow attached to the box that was pointing down.

“So we’re facing South, but we need to go East.” Geoff looked ahead, at the path. “The path goes South, so we need to go... this way.”

Geoff was pointing to his direct left. Sandshrew began walking that way.

“Too bad the path doesn’t lead East... looks like we have to go through the forest,” Geoff said while walking into the woods.

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“You haven’t found ANYONE?” the telescreen shouted with anger. The same shaded man was standing in front of it while the same masked face was on it.

“No, sir. All the trainers we’ve surveyed either had little experience or worthless Pokemon.” The man’s voice was oddly calm.

“You buffoon!” The masked man shouted. “All we need are bodies! Mindless drones! Our technology will GIVE them experience, and they’ll catch competent Pokemon once they are under our control!”

“So any kid will do?” The man asked, still calm.

“Yes! But I need many bodies! Get them to me NOW!” The transmission ended, and the man simply sighed.

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Geoff had small scratches on their bodies from the trees and vines. They had been walking for quite awhile. “I am so sick of the forest! I just want to get OUT OF HERE!” Geoff yelled to release some built-up anger toward the forest.

“Looks like someone has issues,” a voice said. It came from Geoff’s right. He looked and saw a man dressed in black leather sitting on the hood of an orange jeep. “Want to battle?”

“Who are you?” Geoff asked the stranger. “And why is your car orange, of all colors?”

“You got a problem against orange cars?” He asked defensively.

“No, just wondering.” Geoff was becoming nervous- he didn’t like this guy.

“Where you heading?” The man stood up. He was lean, maybe in his early twenties, and had slick black hair.

“Wharlevee Town- why?”

“How about I help you out. I’ll give you a ride to Wharlevee, but you have to battle me first.” He squinted.

“Uh, okay.” Geoff told himself to play it safe, and run if anything odd happens.

“Two Pokemon each. Ready?”

“Bring it.”

“Alright, come on out Seedot!” The man got a Poke Ball from his pocket and threw it, releasing the small Seed Pokemon.

Geoff smiled. “Zigzagoon, go!” He pulled off his Fast Ball and released his new Pokemon. The man was taken off guard as he thought Geoff would use Sandshrew.

“Bide, baby, Bide!” He commanded his Seedot. It glowed gray, then returned to normal.

“... Okay. Zigzagoon, Quick Attack!” Geoff told it. He started running in a zigzag pattern, then hit Seedot head on. Seedot flew back, but did nothing else. “Um, Tail Whip it, then Bite!”

His Pokemon slapped Seedot with its bristly fur, then tried biting it. Unfortunately, Seedot was too round to really bite.

“Alright baby, give it back times two!” The man ordered. Seedot glowed gray again, then sent a gray beam out that hit Zigzagoon, knocking it into the air. It then landed on its back.

“Zigzagoon! Do you still want to battle?” Geoff asked. Zigzagoon slowly got back up, then barked ‘yes’. “Alright, Headbutt!”

“Hurry and fire Bullet Seed!” Seedot shot green seeds from its mouth before Zigzagoon could reach it. Seeds kept pummeling Zigzagoon.

“No! Fight it, then Headbutt!” Zigzagoon tried running around, but Seedot was locked onto its target. “Okay, Sand Attack!”

Zigzagoon stirred up sand by running around Seedot. It also managed to confuse it.

“Alright! Finish it with Headbutt!” Geoff was excited, as he might win this. Zigzagoon slammed his head into Seedot while it was still confused, knocking him out.

“Return, Seedot!” The man returned Seedot to its Poke Ball and got out another one. “C’mon out, Staryu!”

A star-shaped Pokemon came out of the Poke Ball. “Hiyah!” it shouted.

“Zigzagoon, Headbutt again!”

“Harden, Staryu!” Staryu hardened its body as the furry Pokemon ran closer. “Rapid Spin!”

Zigzagoon hit Staryu, but got knocked back by Staryu’s spinning.

“Water Gun!” Staryu shot out a blast of water that hit Zigzagoon. Zigzagoon collapsed from exhaustion.

“Zigzagoon, return! You were awesome,” Geoff said as he returned his Pokemon to its Fast Ball. “You’re up, Sandshrew!” Geoff looked at Sandshrew, but moaned when he saw that Sandshrew had fallen asleep. He kicked Sandshrew, but he didn’t wake up.

“Ahahaha! This is too easy!” The man laughed. “Water Gun it awake, Staryu!”

Geoff smirked. Perfect.

Staryu blasted Sandshrew with water, which made his eyes shoot open. Instantaneously, Sandshrew started running around, screaming, with its arms flailing everywhere.

“What the... Staryu, Rapid Spin it!” Staryu began spinning, then flew at Sandshrew. Luckily, Sandshrew’s hand knocked it away while scratching it. “Huh? Staryu, Swift it!”

“Sandshrew, roll into a ball!” He didn’t listen. “A ball! You know, round, and... A BALL!”

Sandshrew was beginning to snap out of its water fit when Staryu blasted him again. “SHROO!” Sandshrew furiously ran at Staryu, picked it up, and threw it like a Frisbee. Staryu hit a tree and crashed down. Its red orb was blinking.

“Aw, crap! Staryu, return...”

After the man returned Staryu and Geoff dried off and hugged Sandshrew, the two of them started talking.

“.. Does that Sandshrew know Rage?” the man asked.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea.” Geoff smiled.

“Well, you earned that ride to Wharlevee, kid.” He got in his jeep. “Hop in.”

“Wait- I don’t even know your name!” Geoff exclaimed.

“Uh... err, it’s... Timothy?” the man told Geoff.

Geoff rolled his eyes. A ride’s a ride. And it’ll take a lot less time. “Okay, whatever.”

Geoff got in the passenger seat and put Sandshrew in the back.

“How come that thing stays out of its Poke Ball?” ‘Timothy’ asked.

Geoff looked right at his eyes. “Protection.”

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They had driven for hours silently. It was night now, and Geoff was getting tired. He had been staring at his PokeCom the whole time, just to be sure they were actually heading toward Wharlevee Town.

Suddenly, the jeep stopped. They were right by Wharlevee. Without saying a word, ‘Timothy’ took a cloth and wrapped it around Geoff’s eyes.

“What are you doing? Sandshrew!” His Pokemon was sadly asleep as ‘Timothy’ tied Geoff’s hands together around his back. He then took an oddly-smelling rag and put it up to Geoff’s face.

“You’re going to make a nice addition to Nemesis!” ‘Timothy’ told his victim.

“What’s Nemesis? Grr, I knew you were bad!” Geoff began getting dizzy, but he managed to scream out ‘SANDSHREW!’ before fading into unconsciousness.

Its ears perked up and its eyes popped open. Once Sandshrew realized that the man was hurting his trainer, he jumped onto the man’s head and pulled on his hair. He then scratched up his face.

“You stupid mouse! Ahhhh!” ‘Timothy’ stopped what he was doing and tried to get the creature off. But after Sandshrew started pushing his eyes in, the man got out of the jeep. Sandshrew bit the man’s shoulder before getting off his head.

“Nothing’s worth this!” he screamed before running away. Sandshrew scampered to Geoff’s belt and pushed on the Fast Ball, releasing Zigzagoon. Sandshrew filled the little guy in about what happened before they began trying to pull Geoff out of the jeep.

Wharlevee could be seen off in the distance.

[DannyBoy]

That was a good chapter. Geoff os becoming very strong. Sandshrew is very funny when it got woken up and threw Staryu like a frissbee! That was great. You are getting really good, keep it up!

[Meganium]

Nice chapter, its hillarious how Sandshrew throws water fits then it was funny how he threw staryu (sp... maybe) like a frisbee.

[geoff]

GANTUN: map is done! yay!

MAP! (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/gantunmap.html)

And chapter 6 is up. [The length between 5 and 6 is similar to what the length between the other chapters will be cuz of school]. Oh.. I normally don't put puns in titles, but this one sorta fit. Plus, I couldn't think of anything else.

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 6 [A Ferry Odd New Relationship]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html) and Ronan Dagny (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ronandagny.html)

“Oh my god!” A lady screamed as she walked outside her house. In the middle of the road was an unconscious teenager being dragged by a Sandshrew and Zigzagoon. Sandshrew was still trying to drag him by his arms, but Zigzagoon was too worn out to continue helping. Yesterday’s battle took most of the energy from him, and he collapsed.

The lady dropped her suitcase in her yard, then ran over to the kid and checked his pulse. She had short brown hair and had high heels on. “He’s still breathing. Okay.” She began thinking of what to do. She was wearing a blue business suit because she was going to go to work. “We need to get you to a hospital, or... the Pokemon Center! Yeah, Nurse Joy will know what to do!”

She first picked up the collapsed Zigzagoon and put him in the left inside pocket of her jacket. She then held struggled to pick up the boy, but couldn’t. “Help! I need help! Somebody, this boy’s unconscious!”

A few people ran out of their homes when they heard the lady screaming. A man ran over and helped her pick the kid up. Another woman picked the tired Sandshrew up. The three of them then began hurriedly walking to the Pokemon Center.

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Geoff opened his eyes slowly and sat up. He found himself in a room with white walls and an off-white tile floor. He was sitting in a small bed with white sheets.

Nurse Joy went in to check on him. “Oh, you’re awake!” Nurse Joy said as she noticed he was sitting up. Like all Nurse Joys, she had a white nurse uniform on and pink hair. “Don’t worry, you’re Pokemon have been healed. They sure were little troopers!” She smiled.

“What?” Geoff rubbed his head. He still felt a little dizzy. “What are you talking about?”

“This morning some people brought you and your Pokemon here. You were unconscious. One of the ladies said that she found you on the ground, with your Pokemon trying to drag you.”

Geoff tried to remember what happened. I battled this guy... Timothy, yeah. After, he... drove me to Wharlevee! So why was I unconscious? Geoff’s eyes widened. He stopped, then blindfolded me! The last thing I remember is breathing some strange chemical in. My Pokemon must’ve dragged me into town. He smiled at how courageous they were.

“Do you remember anything, sir?” Nurse Joy asked. She looked worried.

“Yeah. This guy, he was giving me a ride here. But he stopped right before we entered the town, and he blindfolded me.”

“With this?” Nurse Joy held up a piece of black fabric. “Your Zigzagoon had it in its mouth.”

“He must’ve taken it off me.” Geoff was proud of Zigzagoon. It had been knocked out only hours earlier, but it came through for him.

“Do you know how or when you became unconscious?” She asked.

“After blindfolding me, the guy put a cloth over my nose and mouth. It smelled really odd...”

“Oh, no. It must’ve been coated with some chemical that knocked you out. Well, I checked you out while you were still unconscious, and you had no wounds. I wonder why he knocked you out if he wasn’t going to do anything to you.” Nurse Joy had a puzzled look on her face.

Geoff then remembered something else. “He said something to me. He said... ‘You’re going to make a nice addition to Nemesis...’. What’s Nemesis?” Geoff asked her. The dizziness had gone away, and he felt fine.

“I don’t know... I’ll go tell the police. Why don’t you come with me?” Nurse Joy began walking out, and Geoff followed. They walked to the front of the center. She reached below the counter and grabbed a Poke Ball and Fast Ball. “Here. I’m sure they’re worried about you.”

Geoff took his Pokemon and released them while Nurse Joy dialed the police.

“San!” Sandshrew hugged Geoff‘s leg, happy he was safe. Zigzagoon just smiled and jumped up and down... a lot.

“Thanks you guys. You saved me!” Geoff smiled at his Pokemon, and thought they were the best Pokemon a guy could have.

“Yes, officer. He said the man talked about Nemesis,” Nurse Joy told the officer on the other line. “Just a moment.” She covered the receiver. “Geoff, the police are on the other line. They want to talk to you.”

“Okay.” Geoff walked over. “... How do you know my name?”

“Your PokeCom.” She smiled.

“Hello?” Geoff talked into the black phone.

“Yes, sir. We need you to give a description of this man that attacked you.” The police officer sounded old.

“Okay, well... he was dressed in black leather. He looked to be maybe in his early twenties, and had short, black hair that was slicked back. He was also thin.” Geoff answered.

“Okay, sir. Now, do you remember what type of car it was?” The officer asked through the phone.

“Yes. It was a darkish orange jeep. I asked him why it was orange, but he got defensive so I let it go.” Geoff told the officer everything he knew. “He had a Seedot and a Staryu, if that helps. He said his name was Timothy, but I don‘t believe him.”

“Okay, thank you. You’ve been lot of help.” The officer said before hanging up. Geoff gave the phone to Nurse Joy.

“Well, you’re free to go. Just call the police if you think of anything else.” Nurse Joy told Geoff. He returned Zigzagoon and picked up Sandshrew.

“Okay, thanks for everything you’ve done. Oh, don’t call my parents. It’ll only worry them for no reason.” Geoff began walking out, but turned back.

“Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Of course. What is it?”

“I was wondering where the nearest Gym city was.” Geoff was a little embarrassed, as he sounded like some tourist.

“That would be Littorine City. It’s located Northeast of here, but it’s on an island. You’ll have to take the ferry. Just go left out these doors, then take a left again. Walk straight, and you’ll find the ferry.”

“Thanks, Nurse Joy!” Geoff opened the glass doors and stepped outside. He looked around to see what the town looked like. It was pretty small- he could see the ocean to his right. He put Sandshrew down, then checked his PokeCom and saw that he was facing west. He turned left, like the Nurse said, and began walking. It took Sandshrew a little bit to figure out that Geoff was walking away. All the houses were small, yet were painted brightly. Probably to make the town seem more lively... Geoff thought.

He turned left again, and looked ahead. He checked the map- he was now facing east. He put his PokeCom away and focused on finding the ferry.

“Let’s see... Nurse Joy said it’d be straight ahead.” Geoff squinted, and saw what looked like a boat or ferry of some sort. He quickly ran toward it, and noticed that the road was entirely empty. Wow, this town sure is small.

He stopped when he realized the size of the ferry. It was a huge boat with a flat bottom. Most of it was white, but the bottom parts were dark blue.

“Wow. I didn’t think it was that big... I guess it transports a lot more than people.” Geoff stared in awe, then began walking toward it.

Just then, he heard someone fall behind him. He turned around to see Sandshrew rolled into a ball and a kid face down on the ground.

“Oh great, Sandshrew!” Geoff sighed, then ran toward the kid. “Are you okay?” Geoff asked and extended his hand.

“I’m okay,” the boy said as he got up on his own. “That Sandshrew rolled right under my foot, and made me fall.” He glared at Sandshrew, now unrolled, angrily.

“... San...” Sandshrew said to the boy. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and had on a long-sleeved zip-up shirt. He brushed off his white pants and stretched his back.

“I’m really sorry... Sandshrew is a little slow to react sometimes.” Sandshrew frowned at Geoff’s excuse. “I can tell he’s really sorry as well.” Geoff looked at Sandshrew, and made an apologetic face. Then his attention returned to the boy. “My name’s Geoff Shokou, by the way.”

The boy looked at Geoff without any emotion. “Ronan, Dagny. So this thing is yours?”

“Yeah. I’m a beginner trainer from Coveldt.” He pulled off his Fast Ball. “I have Sandshrew, and this Zigzagoon.”

“I live here in Wharlevee. My family lives right over there.” Ronan pointed somewhere to the left of the ferry. “My parents run a Pokemon breeding service for water Pokemon.”

“That’s cool. Do you plan on becoming a Pokemon breeder?”

“Never... I’d take the thrill of battling over breeding any day.” Ronan looked at the ferry. “Well, I was on my way to getting onto the ferry before your stupid Sandshrew tripped me.” He now had anger in his eyes.

“Sandshrew’s not stupid!” Geoff told him before picking up Sandshrew, who was staring at Ronan with a sad face.

“Whatever.” Ronan began walking away.

“Wait!” Ronan turned around. “When does the ferry leave?” Geoff asked.

“In twenty minutes.”

“Oh.” Geoff continued looking at Ronan.

“What?” Ronan seemed annoyed.

“Well, I have time to spare, so... umm, why don’t you show me your parents’ business? I’m really interested to see what it’s like.”

“No.”

“.... Please?”

“I said no.”

“Aww... Come on!”

Ronan sighed.

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Ronan had reluctantly led Geoff to the beach, where the Dagny’s lived. They were now standing at the shore. The ocean was choppy and violent today.

“Everyday, my parents search the sea for injured Pokemon, although they rarely find any.”

“That’s really neat. Do they take care of them?” Geoff asked.

“No, they put them in tanks and let them die.” Ronan gave Geoff a look, signifying that he thought Geoff was an idiot. “They capture them in a net and transport them to a tank. They then care for them until they are at full health, then release them back into the sea.” Ronan stared out into the ocean.

“I’m guessing they don’t get paid to do that, so what do they do for money?” Geoff looked at Ronan. Sandshrew was holding onto Geoff’s left leg, staring at the sea while shaking uncontrollably.

“... The breeding service, duh.” Ronan shook his head at Geoff.

Geoff looked around dumbly. “.... Oh. Yeah.”

Ronan sighed, obviously wanting to get away from this loser. But he had nothing better to do until it was time for the ferry to leave. “It’s only been around ten minutes, so I guess I’ll show you the business.” Ronan began walking toward a large sea-foam green house, and Geoff followed. It was hard to walk with Sandshrew on his leg, though, so he shook him off. Sandshrew then walked beside him.

“My parents run the business from their house, although they have separate rooms for the Pokemon.” Ronan and Geoff walked inside the house. Geoff found himself in a living room with white walls and leather furniture.

“Mom, Dad! I know I said I was leaving, but this person wanted to check out your business so I led him here.” Ronan’s mom entered the room. She looked rather old, maybe in her middle fifties. Her hair was gray and she was wearing a light blue uniform- Geoff assumed that she was in the middle of working with a Pokemon.

“Why hello there, boy. I was just tending to a few Pokemon. I can show you if you like.” She walked back out of the room. Her voice was raspy. Geoff decided to follow her, as did Ronan.

The two of them found her petting an Azurril while two Totodile ran around the white room with Poke Balls painted on the walls.

“This is what I do all day- care for water Pokemon. The marine ones are in tanks in another room. I’ve taken care of this Azurril for awhile now. We found it floating in the ocean. It had a nasty cut on its stomach, but we healed that. Right now, I’m hoping someone will buy it. It’s just so cute that I know some girl will.” The lady put down the Azurril and looked at Geoff. “Unless... you want it?”

“Nah, I don’t think I have the money to.” Geoff knew about his account, but thought that he’d catch all of his Pokemon instead of simply buying them. “But someone will.”

“Oh, well that’s fine. Are you going to travel with my son during his journey?”

“Mom, I don’t think so. You know I like being alone.” Ronan shot a nasty look at Geoff. “You wouldn’t want a traveling partner anyway, right?”

“Uh... of course not.” Geoff was beginning to not like Ronan. “Will the ferry be leaving soon?”

“Oh, yeah. I think so.” Ronan looked at his mom. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you in awhile. Bye!” With that, he left the room.

“I better go to, I don’t want to miss the ferry. Goodbye, Mrs. Dagny! You have a nice service!” Geoff and Sandshrew waved to her and left.

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Geoff ran up the dock and got on the ferry just as it was about to leave. Sandshrew wasn’t too far behind, but had to jump to get on.

“We made it, Sandshrew!” Geoff exclaimed as he hugged his Pokemon.

“Thank you for choosing to use Wharralt Ferry Service. That will be 50 PokeDollars,” the man beside Geoff told him. He was a large man with a long, white beard. “It’s usually 100, but I can see that you’re a trainer. Trainers travel for half the price.

“Oh, okay. That’s really cool, thanks! ” Geoff fished 50 dollars out of his pocket. “Here.”

“Thank you, young man. Please ride again!” The man walked off after receiving the money and giving Geoff a ferry ticket, proving that he paid.

“Let’s go see if we can find Ronan. Even if I think he doesn’t like me... at least we know him. And maybe he knows what kind of Gym Littorine has.” Geoff and Sandshrew began walking along the deck, seeing various people and Pokemon. But no Ronan. “He must be inside.”

Geoff and Sandshrew went downstairs inside but found no Ronan. “He did get on the ferry... right? Eh, maybe he missed it. That’d actually be better, since he’s sort of mean.”

Just then, a voice came on the loudspeaker. “The ferry will reach Littorine Island in approximately one hour. I repeat, we will reach Littorine Island is approximately one hour. Have a nice time, and make sure to use Wharralt Ferry Service for your future ferrying needs.”

“So we have one hour to reach Littorine.” Geoff and Sandshrew went back up to the deck. Geoff sat down in an empty chair by the stairs and looked out at the ocean. “I wonder what type the first Gym Leader is.”

Sandshrew blinked, then stared at the ocean in horror.

“Let’s see. I have a Normal type and a Ground Type. Having it be a Fire, Electric, or Poison Gym would be awesome. But it could also be a Grass, Ice, or Rock Gym. That would be bad. But, with my luck.. watch it be a Water Gym. That would be the worst possible type there could be.” Geoff turned to Sandshrew. “But, what are the chances of that actually happening?”

[DannyBoy]

That was a ok chapter. I liked the beginning with Geoff's pokemon helping him get help by bringning him into town. That shows how loyal his pokemon are to him. I can see Ronan being Geoff's rival with Ronan's personality. That would be cool to see. Keep it up!

[Meganium]

Another Totally Awesome chapter I like how u blend humor into your storys. Ronan is a JERK, in fact hes the jerkiest jerk who ever jerked up this jerky world. :D Anyway excellent length, description, yatta yatta yatta, etc. etc. etc. the usual.

[geoff]

Chapter 7 up! School starts tomorrow, so... I'm figuring about 1 chapter a week from now on... hopefully. ^_^;

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 7 [Watery Woes During the Gym Challenge]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html), Ronan Dagny (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ronandagny.html) and Reese [Gym Leader] (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/reese.html)

Geoff tilted his head and sighed. The ocean had calmed down a little, and it sparkled in the light. I never thought an hour could go by so slow! His leg began twitching. Sandshrew was in his lap, sleeping. I guess I’m just antsy. I want to battle now!”

“Well then go downstairs. Trainers are battling there, you know.”

Geoff looked to the right in shock, and saw Ronan standing there. After a long silence, Geoff spoke. “What did you say?”

Ronan rolled his eyes. “I said that trainers are battling their Pokemon downstairs. If you want to battle so bad, just go there.”

Geoff’s eyes widened. Can he... read my mind? And how did he manage to just pop up?

“I wasn’t trying to find you, Geoff.” He laughed a little and shook his head. “The ferry isn’t so big that you can’t accidentally run into someone.”

Geoff freaked out and stood up in shock. This is too weird. He picked up Sandshrew, who had plopped onto the floor when he stood up out of the metal chair, and ran to the nearest stairs.

Ronan smirked as Geoff ran away. What a fool. Ronan began walking in the opposite direction.

Geoff ran down the stairs, then stopped at the bottom. He was panting loudly. He looked around to see a large, dark room filled with teenagers and Pokemon.

“What’s your problem?” one of the kids there asked. “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Maybe just a ghost Pokemon!” another exclaimed, and the whole group chuckled.

Geoff glared at the boy, and stopped panting.

“You here to battle or something?” A girl asked. She had long, black hair put in pigtails. She had a brown tank top on and blue trousers.

“Yeah.” Geoff managed to get out. He was still in shock over what Ronan had done.

“Good. I’m in the mood.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poke Ball. “One on one sound good?”

“That’s fine with me.” Geoff touched the Fast Ball.

“Cool,” She said as she began to throw the Ball toward the area between them. “C’mon out, cutie!”

Geoff was shocked. The girl didn’t seem like the girly-girl type. As the light from the Ball faded, a little red reptilian thing with small claws and a ducky nose was standing between Geoff and the girl. The other kids backed away toward the walls to give the Pokemon more space. “Bee!” The creature said in a baby voice.

Geoff smile. “Yes, a fire type!”

“Type’s not everything! My cutie wootie Magby is strong, too!” The girl clutched her hands together and made a baby face as she praised her Pokemon.

“But it’s still a lot!” Geoff said, then kicked Sandshrew. “Wake up! You’ve got to battle!”

Sandshrew yawned, then sat up and rubbed its eyes. “Shroo...” He walked toward Magby clumsily, still waking up.

“Oh, this is pathetic. Smokescreen, Cutie!” The girl ordered. Black fumes shot out of Magby’s mouth and engulfed Sandshrew.

“Oh, please. Sand Attack the smoke away!” Geoff told Sandshrew. Sandshrew yawned in, then let out a small blast of sand that mixed with he smoke and moved over to Magby.

“Well that didn’t work.” She frowned. “Leer through the smoke, then Pound the shrew!”

Magby’s eyes became red, and Sandshrew couldn’t help but stare at the mystifying eyes. Out of nowhere, the Magby jumped high out of the smoke and used its tiny hands to Pound on Sandshrew.

Sandshrew winced, then Scratched the Pokemon off. Unfortunately, Magby’s body burned Sandshrew’s hand, and it leaped up in pain.

“Oh, no! Sandshrew, roll into a ball!” After coming back down, Sandshrew formed its body into a perfect sphere.

“Ha! It’s called Defense Curl, you know. ‘Roll into a ball’, that’s genius!” The girl and her friends laughed.

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Ronan stood by the door, where the stairs were. Too bad I can’t listen to the battles from up here. It was oddly windy, and his blonde hair swayed about. Why don’t I just walk down there? No... He looked to his right, where a group of people were laying down on towels. Towels? What’s wrong with chairs? Ronan dismissed the oddity as his mind began became jumbled with their thoughts.

Am I actually thin enough to look good in this bikini? one of the girls thought.

There sure are a lot of fine honeys here today. I wonder if I can hook one? A guy thought.

Oh my god, who does she think she is?

La la la... sure is nice out today. Perfect for tanning!

“Garbage!” Ronan screamed as he gripped his head with his hands.

What’s his problem?

Someone has issues.

Ronan closed his eyes and blocked their voices out. “I hate this...” he whispered to himself.

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“Ember!” The girl shouted. She was really into the battle.

“Sandshrew, roll around Magby!” Geoff ordered. Magby began shooting flames at Sandshrew, but found it hard to hit its target when it’s rolling around him. Sandshrew then hit Magby and unrolled himself. “Good, Magby is all confused. Scratch!”

“No, umm... Ember again!” Magby ended up singeing the girl’s left pigtail out of confusion. Sandshrew’s claws grew white and he scratched Magby up. The tiny Pokemon fell down, dazed and knocked out. “Oh, great... return, Magby!” She returned it to its Poke Ball and walked over to Geoff.

“Yeah!” Geoff said and did a thumbs-up to Sandshrew. He tried doing the same but found it difficult to do with short, stubby claws for fingers.

“Good battle, kid.” The two shook hands. “The name’s Sue.”

“Geoff.”

“You headed to battle the Gym?” She asked as she checked out her burnt left pigtail and frowned.

“Of course. Do you know anything about it?” Geoff became excited.

“Well... I heard the Leader’s name is Reese. Passing trainers in Anchoralt have told me he likes Water types.” She tried fixing her hair.

Geoff’s head sunk. “Water types?” He groaned.

“Hey, I could be wrong. I just hear this from passing trainers.” She tried to explain.

“You’re from Anchoralt? Where’s that?” Geoff tried to take his mind off the Gym.

“To the west of Littorine. I was visiting family in Wharlevee, and now I’m going home.” She looked at Geoff. “There’s no Gym, in case you were wondering.”

Grr.. there’s too many non-Gym cities! he thought, then remembered Sandshrew. “Are you alright, little guy?” he asked as he walked over to him. Sandshrew smiled.

“San!” He happily told Geoff.

“Attention- we are now boarding Littorine dock. Please prepare to exit the ferry if your destination is Littorine Island,” the loudspeaker boomed. Many of the kids groaned as they walked over to their belongings.

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Geoff took a deep breath and smelled the salty air. He was standing on the wooden dock leading from the ferry to the shore. Buildings could be seen not too far away. Sandshrew was staring at the water right by him, carefully walking on the dock.

“Sandshrew,” Geoff looked down at his Pokemon, “are you ready? Today’s our first gym battle. That Magby was a pushover, and I hope that the leader’s Pokemon are easy, too!”

Sandshrew attempted a thumbs-up, but it didn’t really work. “Shroo!”

Just then, Geoff was pushed down from behind. After pushing himself up into a sitting position, he turned to find Ronan staring at him.

“Oops.. didn’t see you.” Ronan smirked. “Guess we’re even.”

Geoff was a little scared from his last encounter with Ronan, but tried not to show it. “Maybe you should look where you’re going next-”

“Maybe you should not stand around in the middle of the dock,” Ronan butted in.

Jerk, Geoff thought, knowing Ronan could hear him. Ronan smiled.

He stopped smiling as he realized something. “Oh! You know, I thought you looked familiar, Geoff. I saw you on the news this morning. What was it... your Pokemon had to drag you into town ‘cause you were doped up?”

Geoff glared at him. “I wasn’t doped up. Someone from some Nemesis thing attacked me.” Sandshrew imitated Geoff’s glare.

“Whatever.” Ronan began walking away. “I’m going to get my Pokemon now.”

“I hope you don’t like it,” Geoff commented.

Ronan stopped, but didn’t turn around. “Oh, I’ll like it. I like all...” He turned around and looked at Geoff, “... Water Pokemon.” He walked away, laughing.

“Oh, great. Now it’s really a Water Gym.” Geoff stood up and made a fist. “But... that doesn’t matter! We can beat him. Like Sue said! Type’s not everything.”

Sandshrew looked at Geoff and folded his arms, trying to remind Geoff that he had beaten the Magby.

“... that’s, different.” Geoff sighed. “Bleh, let’s just give it our best shot!”

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The two were now standing in front of a large building. Behind them was the ocean, and waves were actually hitting them. The building reminded Geoff of waves as well. The front was actually made of two plastic waves- coming from opposite directions and splashing into each other above the clear glass door.

“You’d think they wouldn’t put a building so close to the ocean. Oh well, let’s just go inside.” Geoff opened the door, and he and Sandshrew walked inside to find that the floor was modeled to look just like water- there were even little waves now and then. “Major safety hazard...”

The cloud-like roof was flat and near to the ground. “This place feels so small...” The walls were sand-colored. It looked just like a beach.

They walked to the middle of the room, where the service desk was. A blonde surfer dude was standing behind it.

“What’ll it be, dudes? Registration or battle?” He had a Hawaiian shirt on.

“Battle.” Geoff answered. “My first Gym one.”

“Wow, that’s cool. Well, right now Reese is registering a trainer. You’ll have to wait a little bit, but good luck dude!”

“Thanks.” He and Sandshrew walked over to the left wall, where a few blue benches were.

In another room that was similar to the main room, Reese was talking to Ronan. Reese had a khaki headband and pants on, and a blue-green shirt. His blue hair was wet, so he had probably been in the water earlier. He was standing in front of a computer, with a blue version PokeCom hooked up to it.

“Ronan Dagny, from Wharlevee Town. Age sixteen.... birthday?” Reese asked.

“June 1st,” Ronan answered. You could tell he was excited.

“Ah, you just turned sixteen then! Well, it’s all ready.” He unhooked the PokeCom and gave it to Ronan. “Now, the fun part! Be right back.” Reese walked away, and returned with four Poke Balls and a matching Badge Case.

“Okay, I’ve got four Pokemon for you to choose from. But first, take this.” He handed over the Badge Case, and Ronan put it in his pocket. “Okay, first we have Surskit!”

He released the small water skater Pokemon, and it smiled at Ronan. “Eh... maybe. A little too cute, though.” Ronan commented.

“Okay, next is a Poliwag.” Reese threw the Poke Ball to the ground, and a blue tadpole Pokemon materialized. It had a swirl on its stomach.

“I’m not really into the Poli’s...” Ronan said. Reese recalled the Poliwag.

“There’s also this Tentacool...” Reese released the squid Pokemon and it flopped around. Its two tentacles flung everywhere.

“Eww, no!” Ronan screamed. He hated slimy things. Reese recalled the Tentacool as Surskit yawned.

“Last one is a little Clamperl.” The Clamperl didn’t even reach Ronan’s knees, but his eyes lit up.

“That one’s perfect!” Ronan picked it up and it’s insides jiggled around. Clamperl smiled and laughed.

“Clam!” It squealed with delight.

“Good decision!” Reese said as he returned Surskit and gave Ronan Clamperl’s Poke Ball. “I’m sure you two will get along great. I’ve got to go now, so please excuse me.”

Reese walked out the door and into the main room. Geoff stood up.

“Oh, you got a challenger right over there, Reese,” the surfer guy told the Gym leader.

“Oh, great. I’ve been itching to battle.” Reese walked over to Geoff. “What’s your name?”

“Geoff Shokou. I would like to battle you in order to... umm, receive my first badge.” Geoff was shaking because he was so nervous. Why am I being like this? It’s just a battle...

Ronan walked into the room with the Clamperl in his hands. Geoff’s butterflies went away when he saw Ronan. Unfortunately, they were replaced with extreme anger.

“Let’s get this thing started!” Reese said and clasped his hands together.

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Reese and Geoff had gone outside and walked over to another dock, by the Gym. Sandshrew was first retuned to his Poke Ball, of course. They walked a bit before coming upon a battlefield... in the water. It was two white square pillars with two large round pillars in the middle of the area surrounded by four smaller ones. All the pillars came up to about a foot above sea level.

Oh great. Sandshrew’s going to freak! Geoff thought as carefully got on one of the square pillars. Reese hopped across the pillars and reached the other square one.

“Okay... this will obviously be the battlefield... err, battle area.” Reese laughed. “How many Pokemon do you have?”

“Two,” Geoff replied. He became very nervous again.

“Okay, it’ll be a two-on-two battle for my Ripple Badge.” Reese got out a Poke Ball. “Ready?”

“... Yeah.” Geoff touched Zigzagoon’s Poke Ball. He really hoped that Zigzagoon could defeat both of Reese’s water Pokemon. Sandshrew would go crazy if he saw where he’d have to battle.

“Go, Seel!” Reese threw the Poke Ball into the water, and the whole area turned pink. The Poke Ball flew out of the water and into Reese’s hand before the white sea lion Pokemon surfaced.

“Seel, Seel!” It clapped its hands while saying its name.

“Okay, go Zigzagoon!” Geoff carefully tossed the Fast Ball onto one of the large round pillars. Out came Zigzagoon, who started jumping up and down out of excitement.

“A Zigzagoon, eh? looks like you’ll have no type advantage in this battle,” Reese noticed, remembering that Geoff also had a Sandshrew.

“That’s not all that counts, though!” Geoff told him. “Let’s show him, Zigzagoon! Tackle!”

“Slam, Seel!”

Zigzagoon jumped to the pillar on his left, which was closest to Seel. He thought for a second, then jumped into the water and hit Seel on its face. Unfortunately, Zigzagoon couldn’t swim very well, and was helpless in the water. Seel hopped into the air, then slammed down on Zigzagoon.

“Oh, no! Try to swim away!” Geoff suggested to Zigzagoon. He tried to paddle, but Seel merely splashed him away from the pillars with its flipper.

“Ha, ha. This isn’t very fun now, is it? Finish it with Aurora Beam!” Reese laughed.

“No!” Geoff yelled. How does Seel know such a powerful Ice attack?

Seel’s horn glowed white and a pink and blue beam shot out and hit Zigzagoon, freezing it and the water surrounding it.

“No! Grr.. return, Zigzagoon.” Geoff pointed the Fast Ball at Zigzagoon, and the beam returned Zigzagoon and the ice too the ball. Geoff sighed. “Well, let’s just hope.... c’mon out, Sandshrew!”

The Poke Ball hit the pillar and opened, causing Sandshrew to materialize.

“Now, don’t be scared-” Geoff tried to calm Sandshrew, but all he was thinking about was how he was surrounded by water.

“Shroo!” He leaped into the air, then rolled into a ball when he came back down.

“Sandshrew, you need to fight! Use Sand-Attack!” Geoff tried pleading with his Pokemon, but it was no use. There was no way Sandshrew was going to go anywhere near the water. And since Seel was in the water, there was no way he was going to battle Seel.

“Oh, boy.” Reese felt sorry for the kid. “I’ll make this as painless as possible. Aurora-”

“Wait!” Geoff exclaimed. “I ..... I forfeit.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Geoff hung his head low as he returned Sandshrew to his Poke Ball.

[Meganium]

Wow I never thought he would forfeit but it was for Sandshrew s own sake. Good Chapter though. It was funny I cant name a part cuz i cant remember just that i laughed.

EDIT:] Um when is the next chapter gonna be up, I didnt make it a real post cuz that would be spamming.

[DannyBoy]

That was a good chapter. The Magby vs Sandshrew was really. Sandshrew did really well and I am glad it won it. It sucks Geoff had to forfit but if he didn't Sandshrew would have gotten it bad. Keep it up! Can't wait to find out what happens next if he catchs a new pokemon or trains.

[geoff]

I'm really sorry, guys. The next chapter's not up because of school (seriously, I have lots of homework every night). So the weekend is the only time I get to write any substantial amount. I'll try to get the next chapter up within the next three days, but don't get you're hopes up. =/ It'll be a really good chapter, though! ^_^;;;;

[geoff]

After probably over two weeks of waiting (sorry guys), Chapter 8 is actually up! In my personal opinion, it's the funniest chapter so far. I think it's the longest too, but by probably only half of a Words Document page (in other words, it's not that much longer). Stuff happens too, and we learn a little more about Ronan!


GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 8 [An Addition, A First Badge Win]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html), Ronan Dagny (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ronandagny.html) and Reese [Gym Leader] (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/reese.html)

Geoff walked past the Gym, holding Sandshrew tightly in his arms. He looked rather depressed, and Sandshrew looked up at his trainer.

“It’s not your fault, Sandshrew.” Geoff looked back toward the dock and sighed. “Everyone has a phobia.”

“From the looks of it, you didn’t win.” Ronan was standing on the shaded side of the Gym. “I knew you’d lose.” He walked out into the light.

Geoff didn’t bother to look at Ronan, but did stop walking. “What, can you predict the future as well?”

“No.” Ronan smirked. “But you’re team never stood a chance against Reese’s water Pokemon.

“So?” Geoff was now staring at Ronan.

“So I suggest you make your team better.” Ronan walked toward Geoff. “Whether it be increasing your team or just training your Pokemon.”

“And where would I do that?” Geoff tried to sound sarcastic, but he really did want to know.

“This island isn’t exactly small, stupid. Most of it is wildlife. Why don’t you try there.” Ronan made Geoff sound like an idiot with his words and tone.

“I will.” Geoff walked away on the beach.

“The Pokemon are that way, genius.” Ronan pointed inland.

Geoff became furious. “I think I know that!” He stormed away, toward the city. Stupid Ronan... why can’t he be nice to anyone? Ronan, I hope you here this!

“I do.” Ronan smiled as he watched Geoff go into the city, then shook his head. Fishing through his pocket, he pulled out his Poke Ball. “Go, Clamperl!”

“Clam!” The small marine Pokemon said in a beautiful voice.

“Aren’t you so cute?” Ronan asked his Pokemon and picked her up. “You better be strong, too!” He laughed playfully and walked to the Gym’s door.

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Geoff was standing in front of a large white building, similar to the PokeCenter in Wharlevee, with a blue roof. Sandshrew was sleeping.

“All I have is a Luxury Ball and a Net Ball. But I need something like a Grass or Electric Pokemon.” Geoff through for a while. “Hmm... That’s what they gave me money for!”

He opened the glass door and walked inside, He noticed that the small store was empty, except for a bored young man. He had long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“Excuse me,” Geoff said. The man let out a yawn before standing straight up.

“Wow, a whole two customers in one day. Please tell me you’re here to buy something.”

“Yes, I need a Poke Ball.” Geoff walked up to the counter. “Guess business is slow.”

“Very.” The man walked out from behind the counter. “Most people here aren’t interested in catching Pokemon. The only trainers we get are out-of-island ones.”

Geoff followed him to the opposite side of the store. On the wall were dozens of Balls.

“Wow, that’s a lot of different Balls.”

“Yeah, the good side of slow business is that I never have to restock things.” He pulled a white Ball off a shelf. “May I interest you in a lovely Premier Ball?”

Geoff looked at the oddly colored Ball- it was all white, except for red in the middle. “What’s it do?”

“Nothing special... just a different form of Poke Ball. It was designed so trainers could differentiate between all of their Poke Balls better. Right now only a few have been made, and this is the only one I’ve gotten in a while.” He tossed it to Geoff, but ended up hitting Sandshrew in the head and landing in his lap. “Oh, sorry!”

“Oh, that’s okay.” Geoff looked at his pal, who was still sleeping. He picked up the Premier Ball. “This should be fine. How much is it?”

“$250, kid.” He walked toward the counter.

Geoff reached into his pocket and pulled out the money he had. “Hmm... only $200.”

“Well that’s okay.” He stepped behind the cash register. “Do you have a PKTR account?”

“Umm... I think so.” Geoff put the money away and got out his card. “You mean this thing?”

“Yeah. I can just access it and pull out the $250.”

“Okay.” Geoff walked up to him and gave him the card. The man slashed it through a machine and typed something. He then pointed to a pad in front of Geoff.

“Type your PIN there.” Geoff thought for a moment.

“Aww crap... what was my PIN again?” Geoff tried to remember what his parents had told him that day. “Oh yeah, 1-”

“Don’t say it out loud, man,” the guy warned. “Just type it.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Geoff typed 1245 on the pad while trying to hold Sandshrew with his right hand.

“Okay, and...” the man typed a few more things, “there you go!”

Geoff took his card and Premier Ball and put them in his pocket. “Out of curiosity, who was the other person to come in today?”

“Some odd dude with blonde hair. He was wearing blue, and purchased a Net Ball and Luxury Ball.”

Huh? He bought the two Balls that I already have? That’s really coincidental... Geoff turned to leave. “Okay, thanks!”

“Anytime.”

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“So how many Pokemon do you have?” Reese asked as he stepped onto his pillar.

“Still just one.” Ronan said nonchalantly as he prepared for battle.

“Looks like I have the advantage of knowing what it is, then.” Reese commented as he got out a Poke Ball. “One on one, obviously.”

“Let’s do this.” Reese had Clamperl’s Poke Ball clutched in his right hand.

“Okay, Wingull!” Reese threw his Poke Ball high into the air, and the small seagull Pokemon was released. Reese caught the Poke Ball as it landed.

“C’mon out, Clamperl!” Ronan tossed the Poke Ball underneath the sea, and Clamperl lit up the ocean as it materialized. The Poke Ball flew out of the ocean and into Ronan’s hand. “Looks like this one’s pretty much air versus sea!”

“Not quite, Ronan.” Reese smiled. “Wingull, Slam!”

“Oh- Clamperl, Withdraw!” Reese ordered. Underwater, Clamperl withdrew its body into its rock-hard shell and awaited Wingull. “How can Wingull hit Clamperl when it’s underwater and practically blends in?”

“Wingull has the Keen Eyes ability- nothing can lower its great accuracy!” Reese explained.

I wonder what special ability Clamperl has.... Ronan wondered.

Wingull pierced the water and slammed into Clamperl’s shell. The small Pokemon was pushed hard into the sandy bottom.

“Aw, no! Water Gun!” Ronan guessed that Clamperl took some damage from that attack, but not much.

“Out of the water, Wingull!” Reese commanded. Wingull shot out of the water, quickly followed by a stream of water. The seagull Pokemon turned and evaded the attack.

“Whirlpool!” Clamperl began spinning around in place, causing a small whirl to appear.

“Ha- that can’t harm my Wingull.” Reese shook his head.

Clamperl just continued spinning, and the whirlpool slowly began growing. Eventually, the whirlpool reached the ocean floor, which wasn’t all too far from the surface, and Clamperl stopped spinning.

“Now, Wing Attack!” Reese told his Pokemon. “But be careful not to hit the sides of that thing!”

“Stay still, Clamperl! But get ready,” Ronan nodded his head and Clamperl got the picture.

Clamperl focused on Wingull as it came closer, wings white with energy. Ronan smiled as he saw Clamperl jump up at Wingull when it was close enough and latch onto Wingull’s right wing.

“What?” Reese was shocked. “Oh, I see. Clever, using Clamp to stop Wingull’s attack.”

Clamperl then let go of Wingull and blasted it straight into the side of the whirlpool by using Water Gun.

“No, Wingull!” Reese tried to think of what to do.

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Geoff and Sandshrew had finally reached the edge of Littorine City, and were facing the tropical forest ahead of them. Sandshrew was awake now, and was standing to the left of Geoff.

“Wow, it sure did take less time to get here than I thought it would.” Geoff looked back at the small city and mid-sized buildings. “Now remember, Sandshrew- we’re looking for grass or electric Pokemon. So keep your eye out.”

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“Supersonic!” Reese said as he made a fist with his hand. You could tell that he was really into it now. Wingull, now looking tired, got ready to let out a high-pitched sound wave.

“Withdraw!” Ronan was smart in using evasive attacks- one thing his father told him to remember during his travels.

“Grr...” Reese saw Clamperl, now on the middle platform, clamp up. He knew that the supersonic waves would never penetrate that shell.

“Wing Attack, Wingull!”

“Wait....” Ronan was looking for the right time to attack. When Wingull was only a few seconds from crashing into Clamperl, he ordered a Water Gun. Clamperl opened its shell and let out a fast stream of water. The blast knocked Wingull back unexpectedly, and it fell into the water.

“Come on, get back up! Wingull!” Reese was hoping that his Pokemon could continue battling. Unfortunately, Wingull’s eyes were all ‘x’-ed out when it resurfaced in the water. Reese got out the Poke Ball after seeing his friend laying upside down on the water. “I have to hand it to you, kid- I thought I’d win. I mean, your Clamperl was at a much lower level. But your battling skills gave you the advantage.”

“Thanks, I learned from the best.”

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“Here, Pokemon...” Geoff was now extremely bored, and his voice showed it. “Oh, come out Pokemon! Calling all grass or electric types!” Suddenly, Geoff and Sandshrew heard noises coming from a nearby bush. “Yes, come on out! Just don’t be another
Taillow, Aipom, or freaking Yanmas!”

Geoff was surprised by water hitting his face, then a small blue reptile hopping around him.

“Crap! I don’t need a water Pokemon!” Geoff noticed it was a Totodile. “Come here, you! You’re going to pay for bombarding me like that!”

The Totodile, sensing Geoff’s anger toward it, immediately started running away. Geoff began running after it, and surprisingly Sandshrew did as well. As far as Geoff could remember, it was Sandshrew’s first time to actually run. He got a little emotional, but began laughing inside when he realized how funny Sandshrew looked when he ran. His legs were moving like crazy, but his short arms were just sticking out his sides, being pushed back by inertia. Plus, Geoff couldn’t exactly stray from his current goal- focusing on getting back at the Totodile.

Geoff and Sandshrew were led through a part of the tropical forest, and eventually came across a large pond. Totodile jumped up and into the water, and Geoff had to stop quickly to refrain from running into the pond.

“Phew- that was close!” Geoff exclaimed, but he spoke too soon. Sandshrew couldn’t stop soon enough, and ran into Geoff. The two of them landed face-first into the pond, and stirred up the waters. This caused some of the Pokemon that dwelled there to surface.

Geoff opened his eyes and saw many different Pokemon. “Yeah, Pokemon!” Geoff frowned, though, when all he saw was more water Pokemon. “This place is supposed to be tropical! Geez!”

“SAN!” Sandshrew, covered with water, was leaping in the air to try to stay out of it.

“Just go to the shore, Sandshrew! I’m pretty sure that will prove to be more-” Geoff stopped talking when a huge Gyarados, out of nowhere, shot out of the water. “Oh my god, that thing is ginormous! Wait a second- I’m still in the water. With the Gyarados. AHH!”

Geoff swam to shore as the Gyarados slammed back down into the water and disappeared. Safely on land, he let out a large sigh. Sandshrew had managed to balance himself on one of the random lily pads floating on the pond. The huge splash from the Gyarados created a large ripple that pushed the lily pad- and Sandshrew- right at Geoff. Once crashing into the edge of the shore, the lily pad and Sandshrew bounced up and at Geoff.

The lily pad landed in Geoff’s lap, and Sandshrew landed on his head. Oddly, though, the lily pad wasn’t really a lily pad. Geoff looked down at his lap to find a Lotad sitting there. The Lotad was looking all around, utterly confused at what just happened these last few seconds.

“That was so completely random and odd...” Geoff was trying to figure out what exactly happened himself, as well. “Why hello there, little guy!”

“Tad?” the Duckweed Pokemon said in a cute, ducky voice. It almost sounded like it said ‘quack’. Wondering why exactly he was in some strange human’s lap, the Lotad slowly began backing up.

“Hey, wait a second!” Geoff realized something. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s a leafy lily pad you’ve got growing on your back. And if I’m right, that means you’re a grass Pokemon! Unless you’re like Sudowoodo, of course. Bleh, why don’t I just check my PokeCom. It better be waterproof.”

Lotad had backed out of Geoff’s lap during his ramblings, and was now just staring at him while he reached into his pocket. After getting the PokeCom out and opening it, Geoff pressed the Pokedex button.

“Lotad, the Duckweed Pokemon. This water and grass species lives in ponds and lakes, floating on the surface. They are said to have dwelled on land before, but it is thought that they returned to water because the leaf on its head grew large and heavy. On rare occasions, this Pokemon travels on land in search of clean water.”

“That’s pretty neat.” Geoff said while putting it away. “Both water and grass types. Come to think of it, you’d be a nice addition to my team. Then I’d have ground, normal, water, and grass types covered!” Sandshrew smiled at the Lotad, who didn’t exactly comprehend what Geoff was talking about.

“Okay, I should battle you first. Then you’ll be easier to catch!” He pulled off his Fast Ball. “Zigzagoon, come out and battle!”

Zigzagoon materialized near Sandshrew after Geoff threw the ball there. “Zig! Zigzag!”

“Yeah, full of energy! Good, now Tackle that Lotad right there!” Geoff ordered after standing up and moving away from the Lotad.

The Lotad sighed before moving to its left and dodging the attack. Zigzagoon just turned around and tried again. Lotad’s eyes turned gray as it stared at Zigzagoon, and soon Zigzagoon turned gray as well. He froze in place as Lotad began walking away.

“What? No, don’t go away! Fight it, Zigzagoon! Headbutt!” Geoff commanded. Soon the effect wore off, and Zigzagoon charged into Lotad. Now ticked off, Lotad’s lily pad turned bright green. Green orbs came out of Zigzagoon and traveled to Lotad’s lily pad and disappeared.

“Looks like Absorb! Umm, Sand Attack!” Zigzagoon stirred up some sand that blocked Lotad’s view and stopped the attack. “Headbutt again!”

After Zigzagoon smashed into Lotad a few more times, Lotad finally just gave up. “Wow, it sure has low willpower,” Geoff commented before taking his backpack off and unzipping the pouch containing his Balls. At first he reached for the Premier Ball, but he saw the Net Ball he had and realized that it would work better, since Lotad was part water. “Okay, go Net Ball!”

Geoff threw the Ball at Lotad, and it hit Lotad’s large lily pad before sucking the Pokemon inside. He ran over toward it as the Net Ball jumped up and down. Come on... just give in... you’ll like me as a trainer, you stupid thing!, Geoff thought to himself as he got annoyed. Eventually, though. the Ball stopped moving and he picked it up.

“Woo! Go me, yeah!” Geoff shouted in excitement and began dancing. “Who’s got three Pokemon? That‘s right, I do! Who’s going to win that stupid Ripple Badge? That’s right, I will!” Sandshrew started dancing as well- but got tired fast, and Zigzagoon jumped up and down like he always did.

Geoff stopped dancing when the Gyarados reemerged. This time, though, the Totodile was dancing on top of its head.

“Hey, Totodile!” Geoff remembered how the Totodile spat water in its face. But then he realized that Totodile led him to the lake. “Thanks! But... how did you get up there?”

[Zee Sage]

Nice chapter Geoff I personally think the chapter where Sandshrew threw Staryu like a frisbee was the funniest but its just my opinion. I can't wait for the rematch. Oh yeah BTW Im a new reader.

[DannyBoy]

That was a good chapter. That was a funny Totodile and I am glad he caught a Lotad. That is a pretty cool pokemon. Good length also, you are getting good. Keep it up!

[geoff]

Eheheheh.... what you've all been waiting for! Not only another chapter *everyone screams 'finally!!!'*, but also the rematch between Geoff and Reese. It's the longest battle I've written (around 4 Works Documents pages), and it's also the longest chapter I've written (10 Works document pages, as opposed to the other 8 chapters, that were 7-8 WD pages long). I really hope this chapter won't disappoint you, cuz I think it's one of the best yet. And YES, all chapters will probably have a two to three week interval between them.. I'm really sorry, but this year school's pushing me.

Oh, and you might've noticed that all the chapter titles now say "GANTUN: Onset" instead of "GANTUN:". I've decided to split the whole GANTUN: saga into about 3 "books", with the first one (Onset) ending after either the 3rd gym battle or the 4th one. I'm trying to get the title of this topic changed to "GANTUN: Onset" to attract more viewers (cuz I think GANTUN: Onset looks more interesting... hehe). Well, HERE WE GO:

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 9 [Rematch- The Lily Pad and the Seagull]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html), Ronan Dagny (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ronandagny.html) and Reese [Gym Leader] (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/reese.html)

Geoff was laying on his side, trying to fall asleep. He was watching his newly-caught Pokemon sleep soundly. It was pretty dark, but the moon was almost full and shone down on the forest. They were still by the lake, as it was getting dark by the time Geoff was ready to go back to Littorine. Sandshrew was to the right of Lotad, and was twitching every now and then. Geoff had put Zigzagoon inside the Fast Ball because he was too restless to keep outside all night.

What to do tomorrow... how to win? Geoff had been thinking about a strategy to use against Reese and his Pokemon. I know to use Lotad and Zigzagoon, but how? Seel is so strong, and Zigzagoon didn’t fair all that well against him. Maybe using Lotad against Seel would be better... Lotad can go in the water, and has grass attacks. But what else does Reese have? Hmm...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pokemon Center was quiet- Ronan was the only trainer there. He was sitting on a bench, talking to his Clamperl. Nurse Joy was at the counter, typing things onto her computer.

“You were really great today, Clamperl. I can tell that you’ll be incredibly strong someday.” Reese smiled at his Pokemon, and Nurse Joy looked over at him.

“How long have you had that Pokemon?” she asked.

“Well, I just got him.”

“Wow- it seems like you two have known each other for a long time. Have you battled Reese?” Nurse Joy walked to the door and locked it.

“Yes today. I beat his Wingull.”

“Cool. I’ve heard about his Wingull- it’s pretty fast and can maneuver quite well in both the air and water.” She shut down her computer.

“Yeah, it was a tough battle. But I managed to knock it out.”

“Well, I’ll need you to go to your room, now. It’s really late and I need to sleep.”

“Okay. Good night, Nurse Joy.” Reese walked to the left of the counter and into a hallway. I wonder what Geoff was up to today- he better have trained if he wants to beat Reese.

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Geoff opened his eyes slowly, and stretched his arms. He noticed that it was light outside.

He shot up out of excitement. “Yeah, today I can-” Geoff stopped talking when he realized that both Sandshrew and Lotad were gone. “What? Where- where are you?” He stood up and looked all around. His backpack was still there, but neither Pokemon were to be found.

“Nemesis? Don’t tell me that Nemesis thing took my precious Pokemon? SANDSHREW?” After screaming for a little bit, he gave up and tried calming down.

“Tad!” Geoff was hit with a stream of water in his back, and he turned around. Lotad was in the lake, with Sandshrew laying down on top of it. Lotad looked incredibly bored with the situation. Sandshrew had probably coaxed Lotad into giving it a little ride.

“Grr... you shouldn’t be using Lotad as a flotation device, Sandshrew!” He stormed toward the two, and Sandshrew got the picture. He jumped off of Lotad and onto the ground, then began running frantically from his trainer. “And don’t scare me like that ever again!“

“You’re so pathetic, Geoff.” Geoff froze, and looked all around him. Then he remembered whose voice that was, and sighed, continuing to chase Sandshrew in a circle.

“Clamperl, Water Gun that Sandshrew!” Ronan ordered after stepping out from behind a tree. He had been watching the whole time. Clamperl was in Ronan’s hands. Ronan laughed at Sandshrew.

“Ronan, no!” Geoff tried to tell him. Unfortunately, it was too late. Geoff had to dive at Sandshrew and catch him before the little guy went ballistic.

“How about a battle, Geoff?” Ronan walked over to him, then looked at Lotad. “Is this Lotad yours?”

“Yes. Why?” Geoff dried Sandshrew off with his shirt before going over to Lotad and picking him up.

“Eh, it might help you against Reese.” Ronan shrugged, then flashed the Ripple Badge (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ripplebadge.html) he earned.

“You actually beat him... on your first try?” Geoff was a little shocked, especially since Ronan had just received his Clamperl.

“Yes. So about that battle...” Ronan looked at Lotad again, who looked thoroughly uninterested in the conversation. In fact, Lotad usually looked thoroughly uninterested at all times. “How about your Lotad versus my Clamperl? I want to see if Lotad stands a chance against Reese’s Pokemon.”

“Sure, it’ll be much-needed experience.”

“Good. Then it’ll be over the water- that way we’ll see both Pokemon’s ultimate best, considering both are water Pokemon.” Ronan began walking toward the lake. Lotad sighed, beginning to squirm around. He wanted to get out of Geoff’s arms and float about in the water again.

Geoff began walking as well, then stopped. He remembered how Clamperl had been Ronan’s for only one or two days. Yet... it beat Reese?

Ronan stopped at one side of the lake. “Okay, you go over there, and we’ll start.” He pointed to the opposite end.

“Wait. How could Clamperl win when you’ve had for two days tops?” Geoff had a confused look on his face, which then turned accusing.

“I call it a good strategy. I’ve learned a lot about strategic moves from my father.” Ronan was beginning to understand what Geoff was really saying.

“Yeah, well I call it cheating!” Geoff shook his head in disbelief.

“What are trying to say, Geoff?” Ronan asked to be sure if Geoff was accusing him of using his gift.

“In case you’ve forgotten, Ronan, I know that you can read minds! How could you stoop so low to read Reese’s mind and learn what kind of strategy he was thinking of?”

Lotad managed to wriggle out of Geoff’s hands, as Geoff was too focused on Ronan, and walked back to the water. He then proceeded to simple float about in glee.

“I can’t believe you’d accuse me of that! I would never even think of doing that. I battle fairly!” Ronan was now angered, although he knew that Geoff was partly right.

“So, you can turn that thing on and off? You can decide when you can read minds and when you can’t?”

“I... umm... okay! Okay! I don’t know how to turn it on and off, but I block it out of my mind the best I can!” Ronan felt really low. “I’m... sorry. Sometimes I can’t help but listen. Of course, other times it drives me insane.”

Geoff stormed away from Ronan and went over to his backpack. “You think I’m going to battle you now?” He put on his backpack, and pulled off his Net Ball. “Come on, Lotad. Let’s go.”

After recalling the little lily pad, he gestured for Sandshrew to follow him. I just can’t believe him. I thought he was mean, but not a cheater. He shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the League, Geoff thought, knowing that Ronan would hear.

The people of Gantun take Pokemon very seriously and strongly disapprove of cheating, as well as Pokemon abuse, so Geoff was acting just like anyone else would after finding out that a certified trainer had cheated in a Pokemon battle. Such was one of the reasons Team Rocket failed miserably in all their schemes in Gantun. The bond between Pokemon and humans is incredibly strong nowadays.

Ronan was looking at the ground as Geoff and Sandshrew walked away. Clamperl, still in Ronan’s hands, looked up at her trainer and frowned. She knew Ronan didn’t mean to cheat, and tried to cheer him up by smiling and dancing in his hands.

“Thanks, Clamperl.” Ronan smiled a little. “I can’t let this shake me. We should probably train for the next gym battle, eh?”

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Geoff squinted at Littorine City in front of him. It was now bustling with people. Maybe I was too hard on him.

Sandshrew looked up at Geoff, who was staring off into space.

I mean, maybe it wasn’t his fault. How would I know? It’s not like I have anything like that. Bleh, whatever. I have bigger things to think about. Geoff noticed Sandshrew. “Should we proceed to the Gym?”

He nodded, and the two of them walked into the crowd of people, trying to make their way toward the shore.

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“You want to battle Reese, dude?” The same blonde surfer guy with the Hawaiian shirt was behind the service desk.

“Umm, yeah. It’s a rematch battle.” Geoff was getting a little nervous. I better not lose again...

“Okay. Good luck!” He typed some things onto the computer. “Reese is out battling someone right now, but he’ll be back soon. You can wait over there.” He pointed to the left side of the room, where the blue benches were.

“Thanks.” Geoff and Sandshrew walked across the foamy, blue floor, with Sandshrew tripping on a wave on the floor. “It makes no sense! Safety hazard!”

“Yeah.. umm, the designer thought it was a cool idea. Unfortunately, a couple people have been injured from tripping. We’re arranging for someone to redo the floor.” The surfer dude shook his head as he remembered the designer.

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“Geoff! Back so soon?” Reese smiled at the trainer.

Geoff sleepily looked up to see that the leader was standing in front of him. He fell asleep after waiting for awhile. He got the idea from Sandshrew, who was snoring. “Hey Reese,” he said through yawning.

“I’m assuming you want a rematch?”

Geoff perked up as he remembered today’s goal. “Yeah, I am. Are you ready now?”

“Sure. I just have to heal my Pokemon. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Reese walked to the door to another room and opened it. After Reese closed the door, Geoff nudged Sandshrew off the floor. He quickly awoke.

Geoff pulled off his Fast Ball and Net Ball, and threw them at the floor. “Come on out, guys!”

Zigzagoon happily jumped onto Geoff and licked his face, then jumped down and ran around the room. Lotad merely blinked.

“In a few minutes-” Geoff sighed. “Zigzagoon! Over here! Here, Ziggy!” After clapping for a little while, Zigzagoon ran back to Geoff. The surfer dude laughed.

“Okay, soon the both of you are going to battle Reese’s Pokemon in a gym battle. Now, this is very important to me, so try to do your best. Plus, you wouldn’t want his stinky Pokemon to beat you, right? ‘Cause you’re better than them!” Zigzagoon jumped into the air and wagged its tail in excitement. Lotad smiled and plopped down on the floor, then noticed that it wasn’t really water. It then sighed and looked up at Geoff.

“Oh, boy. This should be interesting,” Geoff said as he recalled Zigzagoon and Lotad. He didn’t want Reese to know what new Pokemon he had.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Reese was at one end of the battlefield, standing on a square white pillar. Geoff was doing the same. In between the two of them were two large round pillars surrounded by four smaller ones. Geoff was a little nervous, but he was confident. Mostly, though, he wanted to get that badge... finally. Especially since Ronan already had.

“How many Pokemon do you have?” Ronan asked.

“Well, three, but Sandshrew... umm, you remember what happened last time.” Geoff had recalled Sandshrew earlier because he would only be a distraction.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be nice and do a two-on-two battle.” Ronan reached into his pocket and got out a Poke Ball.

Zigzagoon first, Geoff thought as he pulled off the Fast Ball. But I’ll have quite a different strategy.

“Wait! I’m coming!” A voice said. A small white powerboat came up to the battlefield with a girl inside. She was wearing a pink bikini, and had long blonde hair. “I’m here!”

“And you are...?” Reese was puzzled.

“I’m the referee, silly!” She giggled at the man, then surveyed the field. “Neat little battle thing you got here.”

“No way!” Reese looked a little angry. “I sent out a request for an official referee months ago, when I got cited for not having one. And after all these months, all they managed to get was you?”

“You make it sound like I’m incompetent. Heh, I am certified by the Gantun Region Pokemon League! That’s G.R.P.L. for short. I know what I‘m doing.” She laughed again. Geoff sighed.

“Wait a second- I just remembered! Our last battle had no referee. Wouldn’t that make it illegal?” Geoff asked Reese.

“No.” The girl butted in. “The G.R.P.L. was low on officials, but they couldn’t just shut down the Littorine Gym until they had one. Then there’d only be seven gyms in Gantun, and that can’t happen! Plus, they know that Reese is a good leader, and can basically ref the battles himself.”

“.... Oh. Okay.” Geoff got in a fighting stance. “Well then, let’s battle!”

“Two-on-two, girly,” Reese informed her.

“Okay!” She cleared her throat. “This will be a two-on-two gym battle between Leader Reese and challenger... umm...”

“Geoff.”

“.. and Challenger Geoff! Either side may switch out Pokemon during the battle, and there is no time limit. Okay, battle!” She exclaimed.

“Go, Zigzagoon!” Geoff threw the Fast Ball at the large round pillar closest to him, and Zigzagoon escaped from it. The raccoon dog looked around, then got into a fighting mode. Geoff caught the Ball. “Let’s do this!”

“Seel, go get ‘em!” Reese threw the Poke Ball at the water, and the Ball dove into it. The area lit up pink from the energy, and the Ball and Seel surfaced at the same time. Reese caught the Poke Ball. “Aurora Beam!”

“Seel, Seel!” The sea lion Pokemon exclaimed while clapping its flippers. It began charging its horn up.

Starting out with that? Okay... Geoff thought. “Hop around on the six pillars, Zigzagoon!”

“Zagoon!” Zigzagoon happily jumped up and down, to and fro. Seel repeatedly fired the aurora beam from its horn, but it missed every time.

“Ah-ha, you’ve developed a strategy. Very well, Headbutt it, Seel!” Reese ordered.

“Lie down, Zigzagoon!” Geoff wanted to wait till the very last second. Seel jumped out of the air and came at Zigzagoon. “Wait... wait... now, jump onto Seel!”

Zigzagoon barked and jumped up, onto Seel’s back.

“Headbutt it!” Geoff exclaimed. Zigzagoon’s head glowed white, and he smacked Seel’s back with it before jumping back onto the pillars. “Yes!”

“Grr...” Reese thought about what to do next. “This isn’t working, return Seel!” Reese shot a beam from the Poke Ball out, and Seel went back into its Ball. He then got out another Poke Ball. “Go!”

He threw the Ball up into the air, and it released a Wingull. After catching the Ball, he told Wingull to use Water Gun. “Ween!”

“Wingull? Oh great..” Geoff said sarcastically. “Okay, dodge it!”

Wingull fired multiple streams of water while flying overhead. Zigzagoon didn’t even look at where the streams were headed, he just hopped about, barking when the streams grazed him.

“Zigzagoon, look at the water streams and dodge them!” His Pokemon glanced at him before complying. “Good, see? Now they’re not hitting you! Okay, umm... Sand Attack!”

Zigzagoon scratched at the pillars, but it didn’t do much. Then he tried shaking himself, which somehow managed to disperse a lot of sand.

“.... Remind me to wash you later. Eh... yeah.” Geoff was surprised at the amount of sand that was in his bristly fur.

“Ha! Wingull can still see, it’s eyesight is superb!” Reese laughed. “Wing Attack!”

Wingull’s wings began glowing white, and it dived down into the sand cloud.

“You’ll never hit Zigzagoon in that cloud!” Geoff boasted, but unfortunately he saw Zigzagoon get knocked off the pillar and into the water. “Oh no!”

“Supersonic!”

Wingull let out a sharp cry, confusing Zigzagoon. Soon he was splashing about in the water, unable to figure out what to do next.

“No! Try to swim onto the pillar! Zigzagoon!”

“Heh. Finish it off with Water Gun!” Reese commanded. Wingull blasted Zigzagoon with water, pushing him underwater. When he resurfaced, he was knocked out.

“Zigzagoon is unable to battle. The winner is Wingull!” the referee girl proclaimed.

“Nice job, Zigzagoon. You weakened the two of them.” He returned his Pokemon to the Fast Ball before grabbing his Net Ball. “Okay, let’s go Lotad!”

The Net Ball splashed into the water and released the lily pad Pokemon. “Low, tad!” it quacked. It seemed sort of cheery, probably because he was in the water.

“Okay.. hmm, do the black eye freeze attack!” Geoff remembered how Lotad froze Zigzagoon during their battle. “Yeah, you know! It was like... umm, Astonish!:

Lotad got the idea, and stared at Wingull.

“Oh, no you don’t! Return!” Reese returned Wingull to its Poke Ball, and got out Seel. “Freeze that Lotad cold! Seel!”

“Seel!” It clapped after materializing.

“Ah! Hurry, Astonish!” Geoff became worried.

Lotad’s eyes turned gray and seemed to grow bigger as he stared at Seel, who also became gray.

“Yes! Now, Nature Power!” It was the only attack that Geoff knew a Lotad would know. He learned it from his father.

Lotad closed its eyes, and water began swirling around him. After it got a good speed up, Lotad opened its eyes and the water surged at Seel, forming a huge wave that Lotad was surfing on top of.


“That’s so cool! It’s like a Surf Attack!” Geoff was happy to see that it was a strong attack in the water. The wave crashed into the paralyzed Seel.

“No! Seel!” Reese hoped his Pokemon was still okay. As the wave subsided and the area grew calm, Seel could be seen floating in the water, unconscious.

“Seel is unable to battle! The winner is Lotad!” The referee explained. “Each trainer only has one Pokemon left. This is so exciting!”

“I’ll still beat you, ‘cause I still have the advantage!” Reese recalled the knocked out Seel, and released Wingull again.

“Absorb, fast!” Geoff wanted to catch Wingull and Reese off guard. Lotad made its lily pad grow bright green, and green energy orbs began coming out of Wingull and going toward Lotad. “Great!”

“Get away, Wingull!” Wingull flew away from Lotad, and Lotad couldn’t lock onto it to absorb energy from it anymore. “Water Gun, Wingull!”

“Lotad, Water Gun as well!” Geoff hoped that his stream would overpower Wingull’s. The two streams of water met directly in between them, and they seemed to battle with each other before Wingull overpowered Lotad and smacked it with water. “Crap!”

“Fly around Lotad near the water! Kick up a whirlpool!” Reese ordered.

“Wingull knows Whirlpool? WHAT!” Geoff was surprised, and was delayed in giving Lotad instructions. A whirlpool was soon formed around Lotad, and he was caught. “Okay.. I can get out of this. Hmm...”

“No one’s ever escaped Wingull’s mighty whirlpool! Ha!” Reese boasted.

Wait a second, that looks kinds like Nature Power! Hmm... Geoff thought about what to do. “Okay, try Nature Power again!”

“That won’t work! Water Gun!” Reese commanded.

Wingull repeatedly hit Lotad as it swirled around in the whirlpool. Lotad closed his eyes and focused on using its power. The whirlpool suddenly sped up and seemed to come out of the water. Lotad regained control and the wave blasted up and hit Wingull directly.

“Awesome, Lotad!”

Wingull was pushed under the water as the wave came down on it. After everything settled down, the referee noticed that both Wingull and Lotad were tired. This’ll end in one attack. It seems really close! she thought.

“Let’s end this, Lotad. Water Gun!”

“Water Gun, too! You’re more powerful, Wingull!”

The two attacks met in the middle again, but with much less power. Lotad ha a determined look on his face, and pushed as hard as he could with the attack, hitting Wingull and knocking it out.

The referee took a deep breath, and said, “Wingull is unable to battle. The winner is Geoff, with his Lotad and Zigzagoon!”

“Oh my god, we won! Lotad, we won!” Geoff jumped onto the pillar closest to Lotad and smiled at his new friend. “You’re awesome, little guy.”

Reese smiled, and returned his Pokemon. “Rest up, buddy. You did good.”

Geoff looked up at Reese. “You won, Geoff. You deserve it, too.”

He got his Lotad out of the water and hugged it.

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Lotad was floating in the ocean, by the shore. Geoff was sitting on the beach, near the water, looking at his newly earned Ripple Badge (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ripplebadge.html) in the top-left part of his Badge Case. Sandshrew was staring at the ocean as it crept toward him with each wave. Of course, he inched farther away from the wave each time. Zigzagoon was running about near Geoff.

“One down, seven to go.” He looked around at his three Pokemon. “I think I’m doing pretty good.” He smiled, proud of himself.

[Zee Sage]

HI new reader and um.... well... I CANT DESCRIBE HOW GOOD THIS FIC IS AND OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS SO GREAT WHEN IS THE NEXT CHAPTER???????

Edit: boy I feel really stupid I didn't see the new chapter, I'm gonna be in that corner twidling my thumbs in embaressment.

[DannyBoy]

That was a good chapter, good gym battle. In the beginning, after the first ----- thing, Ronan is known as Reese. You might want to fix that up. I thought the gym battle was done pretty good and was described good. It was a good length and you made the pokemon last long. Still with the dialouge, its a coma that goes ater it not a period. Keep it up!

[geoff]

Wow, thanks dratinihaunter13! I'll let you know (but, again, it'll probably be January at the earliest).

Zee Sage: =D I'm really glad you think it's great. I hope you enjoy the future installments as well.

IloveX-TINA: ^_^; Just noticed that mix-up, thanks for pointing it out. I remember when I was writing the Reese Vs. Ronan match... I kept mixing up the two names. And I never noticed that I put periods instead of commas.. hmm, guess I'll have to be more observant of that. Thanks!(Oh, BTW, I love Christina as well. Hehe)

I'm starting to write chapter 10- cross your fingers for getting it up Sunday! (I'm so sad... but school comes first! Stupid AP Euro and Chemistry taking up my free time... Grr.)

[Zee Sage]

What Happened to the new chapter? Please GIVE ME A FRICKIN NEW CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

[geoff]

I'd guess two people tops have even heard about this fic I started, so I decided to bring it back (only got to ch. 9 last year). YES, it's a trainer fic. But I think it's an original, well-developed one. =P And, as the first part of the prologue suggests, it will EVENTUALLY become darker (but not in the near future!).

I will have drawings of all the main characters / gym leaders / badges, as well as a couple other things. So when you see a linked word/s anywhere in the chapter, click it to go to a pic of it.

Oh, and just so you know- Gantun isn't a name I pulled out of my rear end for a region name. I made it up after compiling several Japanese words that I felt described the region very well, being:

Ganmou- wish, aspiration
Gan’en- rock salt
Ganban- bedrock
Ganganto****a- craggy, steep (as of a mountain)
Ganpeki- wharf, steep cliff
Gantou- shore/wharf; top of a massive rock
Nanten- the southern sky
Seiun- blue sky; prosperity
Unga- canal; waterway

Yeah, pretty jumbly, but I think Gantun emcompasses them all (both by name and attribute).

And the main characters' names have meanings as well. For instance:

Geoff- obvious pun with 'Geo' (also my first name, but meh =P)
Shokou- Japanese for 'thriving hill'

Sense the earthy theme? Good! =D Oh, and if you wanna go the Japanese way, it's "Gahn-Toon" (gahn like gone) and "Show-Kow". *Hehe, I suppose the 'dubbed' region name would be Gontune. =P* But, of course, feel free to say it however you like!

And finally, before it starts, here're the nifty Gantun Map I spent forever on! YAY!

CLICK FOR NEAT-O MAP! (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/gantunmap.html)

And NOW, the fic! (PS~ ANY and ALL comments are welcomed and highly recommended (please, just reply with anything to know it’s being read)! Thank you SO MUCH!)


GANTUN: Prologue [Past, Present, and Future]

There is a story passed through the generations. A story about a mysterious, vile being that plagued the world. As the legend goes, it was a long time ago. Maybe even before Pokemon ever existed. No one saw it coming, and everyone thought it would never end. Out of nowhere, something was unleashed that threatened to tear the world apart. Very few saw the being, and most simply saw a flash of dark violet light flying across the sky, directly followed by earthquakes, fires, and death. For months it terrorized the globe, and its only goal seemed to be to cause the demise of life itself. But, luckily, everything suddenly stopped. The dark violet flash stopped appearing and the world became peaceful. No one every realized what had happened, how it started, or how it ended. Or did they?

Some two-hundred fifty years ago, something similar happened, but not to the same agree. There were floods, lava, hurricanes- nature had gone wild. It reminded them of the purple flash they were told about when they were young, although no one reported anything of the sort appearing. It lasted a few weeks, and it stopped as suddenly as it had begun- like in the story. Some claimed it was a threat from the dark violet being, but they were labeled as lunatics. But it never was explained.

Luckily, the world still exists today- which is the year 2254, but it is greatly reformed. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and countless other regions are drastically different from what they once were. Everyone was forced to rebuild; millions lost everything they owned and had to start anew. Some Pokemon species were even on the brink of extinction. They survived, however, by having their populations spread to other lands and slowly regenerating their numbers with time.

As you can guess, countless new regions were also formed with the battle. One of them, Gantun, was originally three peculiar islands- their mountains containing the most exquisite resources on the planet. The best rock, the hardest steel, the coldest ice. Contrary to what the media once told people, these resources were the sole components of the Three Regi’s- Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. Scientists, not content with creating a clone of the most legendary Pokemon, set out to create Pokemon out of inorganic substances. Somehow they came across those three islands, and ended up with the most unique of legendaries. Yet, like Mewtwo, these creatures were too powerful to be confined. The scientists decided that it was best to seal them in hidden places in Hoenn before the three realized the true limits of their power and caused any harm. Their tombs were buried beneath the lands during the explosions, and have never been seen since. After everything quieted down, scientists found that the three small islands had become much bigger, as did their mountains. Once establishing Gantun, the three mountains were named Mt. Stonerth, Mt. Metolid, and Mt. Glacisk. Today the rock, steel, and ice are the region’s top three exports.

Today, Gantun is one of the biggest regions of the world, with 27 towns and cities that are spread across two main islands and a few other small islands. It is located southwest of Hoenn, in the southern hemisphere, and numerous tourists flock to Gantun to witness its beauty. Because of its size, most threatened Pokemon species were brought to this region in hopes that they will adapt and grow in numbers. But an unexpected thing happened- over time, some species evolved and adapted so much that they were considered to be new Pokemon. Numerous species did so, and today all species of Pokemon can be found in Gantun.

Two-hundred fifty years ago, a child of the mere age of ten could quit school and start the life of a Pokemon trainer. Decades later, the consequences of this were evident. Millions of adults had no High School education, and unemployment was the highest it had ever been because employers refused to hire most people without at least a High School degree. The average IQ of an adult in Johto dropped significantly. Kanto and Hoenn, among other regions, were also showing a large decrease of intelligence. Something had to be done, so the age at which you could quit school for any reason became sixteen. Most children became highly disappointed, but it was in the best interest of society. The idea of your first Pokemon being given to you by the nearest professor has gone away as well. Today, in all regions, teenagers register for the Pokemon League and receive their first Pokemon from the nearest Gym leader. Professors just don’t have the time to give out Pokemon anymore, as they are far too busy with their studies and research.

Futuristic technology has greatly improved upon the tools of a Pokemon trainer. The Pokedex, PokeGear, and PokeNav have all been replaced by the PokeCom- a computing machine that does the job of all three devices. The best part is that it is compact, so traveling trainers don’t need to lug around extra things on their journeys. Badges are now required by Pokemon League rules to be kept in the official Badge Case, which is made of plastic with fabric where the badges are to be pinned. These tools are no longer free, though. Now, you are required to pay fees to register with the Pokemon League and receive a PokeCom and Badge Case. The payments go toward the Pokemon League and to help fund Pokemon Research. Yet even with the fees and age restriction, the Pokemon League is as popular as ever, and new trainers start their journey every day.


GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 1 [The Ending of One, the Starting of Another]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

“Oh, come on!” Geoff groaned as he sat in his seat, glued to the clock in the wall to his right. It was three-o-three, seven minutes before school was out for the summer. Well, for Geoff, school would be out forever. He was wearing a beige tee-shirt with green markings on the end with a long black undershirt as well as a pair of brown jeans. The weather in Coveldt allowed long sleeves and the like, and Geoff just so happened to like wearing them. He was in his Algebra II class, and his evil teacher was making the whole class do math problems until the bell rang. Geoff found math much easier than most of his classmates, so he had already finished his work twelve minutes ago. Watching his friends work became boring long ago, so he just decided to watch the second-hand spin around until school was let out. Occasionally he gave mean looks to the teacher when he wasn’t looking, but would quickly return to gazing mindlessly whenever the teacher glanced in his direction.

His teacher knew Geoff didn’t like him. The fact is, he knew that no one really did. He was one of those teachers who liked to torture students. He hated kids, and that’s what made Geoff think that he never should’ve become a teacher. No one like that should choose a job where you work with kids seven hours a day. But that didn’t really matter to Geoff right now, as the school year was about to end.

His mind began wandering like it usually did when he was bored. He thought about life beyond Coveldt City (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/zoom_coveldt.html). Coveldt was a pretty small city located on one of flatter areas of Mt. Stonerth, which was in the mid-eastern part of the Gantun region. The city was by no means level- most areas had to be leveled off with loads of dirt before buildings could be put there. He imagined that most places didn’t have to do that.

His thoughts returned to the clock when the end-of-the-day announcements started being delivered through the intercom. They were mostly about overdue library books and summer scheduling for next year. It was three-o-six. Only four more minutes.

Geoff fiddled with his pencil while noticing that most of his other classmates were finishing the math assignment. His heart started racing as the time got closer and closer to three-ten. He tried not to think about how he wouldn’t see most of his school friends again. Although being a sentimental person who looked for strength and leadership in others, he decided to focus his thoughts on the positive rather than the negative.

His teacher stood up from his seat and made his way to the row closest to him. “You all should have already finished the assignment, but I notice that some of you haven’t yet. For those of you that have, pass them up. For those who haven’t finished, turn it in before you leave,” he said in a creepy monotone voice. He started picking up the papers, then added “oh, and have a good summer.”

Have a good summer? Geoff thought as the teacher picked the papers up from his row. He doesn’t want any of us to have a good summer. But unfortunately for him, I’ll be having the best summer of my life. The bell rang- freedom! The students piled out of the classroom and hurried to their lockers, some of them cheering.

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Geoff walked out of the main entrance to the school while daydreaming, like always. He ended up tripping on his shoe like he did so frequently. After he embarrassedly stood back up and brushed himself off, he stopped and turned around for a second to look at his school one last time. It was a small school, only one story high. It was gray and metallic-looking, with a weird sense of discomfort to it. Behind the school was a wall of rock- the mountain jutted upward there, making it near impossible to scale any higher. Foliage surrounded most of the school, with the most obvious exception being the main entrance, which was paved. The place itself always seemed oddly structured to him, but he liked it that way. It was quirky. I sure will miss this place and all my friends. But I’m pretty sure the experience I’m about to have will be worth it.

He turned back around and walked off the campus, then turned right and followed a paved path surrounded by grass on either side for a while. His house wasn’t far from the school, so he always walked home. Sometimes he wished he had a bike, since the semi-bumpy path went slightly downward. It’d be fun to roll down the path on his way home, he thought sometimes.

I’m so glad that I’m finally leaving Coveldt. Staying here for sixteen years is enough- I’m ready to see what the rest of Gantun has to offer. I’m sick of living on Mt. Stonerth and seeing the same Pokemon. But most of all, I want to have Pokemon of my own; Pokemon that I can train and make friends with and win battles with. Sure, it’ll be sort of scary on my own for the first time, but I won’t really be alone.

He noticed how much smoother the walk home was without loads of books to carry in his dark brown and black backpack. For once, his shoulders weren’t sore from the weight. I’m definitely not carrying too much stuff in my backpack during this journey; just the essentials. No more sore shoulders for me!

He turned right again, this time onto a path with a few small houses near it, and started thinking about how he wished Coveldt had a gym. He figured that gym battles had to be stressful, especially your first one. Having it in a familiar setting would make the experience better. He thought about going to Marloam City first, which was on the other side of Mt. Stonerth. Its gym leader is Grant, Geoff’s uncle. He’d known and looked up to Grant all his life, but nixed the idea since he knew that Grant’s ground Pokemon were far too strong for beginning trainers like himself. He’d often played with Grant’s Dugtrio and Donphan as a kid and had witnessed them battle. There’s no way he could beat them so early on in his journey.

He entered his driveway and looked at the dying flowers and trees in the yard. His dad never could keep up with the lawn since he was so busy working, and his mom never tried. His dad worked at the Lab with a team of researchers, and used to tell him interesting facts about certain Pokemon when he was a kid. Geoff already forgot most of what his dad told him, though. He walked up the steps to the beige house. It was originally dark blue, but his mom thought that beige looked more inviting. He agreed.

As he opened the door, he noticed a Poke Ball was on top of the brown package he received on his birthday in late March. He pulled off his shoes, having to tug extremely hard on the right one, then picked the ball and package up off the coffee table. Grant gave him the package, but told him not to open it until his mother said he could.

“Mom, I’m home,” Geoff informed his mom as he put his backpack by the light brown couch in front of him. He sat down in it and looked over the package again. His mom told him that he could open the package once school was out. The Poke Ball was new, though. His mom entered the room with an empty, blue laundry basket in her hands. She is a mid-sized woman with long, curly red-brown hair and is wearing a white t-shirt and light blue sweatpants with glasses. Although she is in her early forties, she still looks quite young, and her attitude expresses that.

“Oh, hi Geoff. I see you noticed the Poke Ball. Grant came over earlier and dropped it off,” his mom said to him. “Wait one second while I put this back.” As she left the room, Geoff wondered if there was a Pokemon in it.

His mom reentered the living room smiling and sat down beside him. “He had to leave early because he had things to do at the Gym. How was school?”

“It was fun.. except Algebra II. He made us do work.” Geoff frowned and tossed the Poke Ball around in his hands. “But that’s all over with now.”

“Yep. Hmm, I was going to make you wait until your father came home to open the package, but he won’t be home for a couple hours,” his mom said while looking at the clock above the TV. “And you’ve already had to wait almost two months. I’m pretty sure you already know what’s inside because of the timing, but go ahead and open it.”

Geoff put the Poke Ball on the table and flipped the package over. He tore the paper off the backside, then continued to the front. Something surrounded in bubble wrap now lay in his lap, along with shreds of brown packaging paper. Geoff glanced at his mom, then started to unravel the bubble wrap. He figured out what it must be weeks ago, but he decided to play dumb so his mom could think that he had no idea. He’d imagined this very moment many times before, but for some reason it still thrilled him. The bubble wrap now lay beside him, and in his hands was the newest edition PokeCom (http://geocities.com/armi330/pokecom.html). He turned it over many times as he soaked it all in. The silver and dark brown plastic was so smooth, and he was happy to see that Grant knew what version he wanted- the dark brown version. Color was the only difference between the versions, but it added a personal touch.

“So, you like it?” his mom cheerfully asked while putting her hands together.

“It’s... amazing. But I thought we were going to Marloam today to register. Well, this saves us the trip,” Geoff uttered, still playing stupid, while paying little attention to her. He noticed something else was in the bubble wrap beside him. He picked it up and looked it over.

“A Badge Case (http://geocities.com/armi330/badgecase.html). It matches your PokeCom,” she explained to him. He opened it, and inside were eight indents in the fabric lining. “League rules require you to store your badges in it. Oh, and look at this.” She brought his attention back to his PokeCom. “If you press the button in the middle of the disc....”

Geoff pressed the button, and the PokeCom opened. All except the disc part flung open, and hinged around to the back. “Press the middle button. Grant told me all about it today.” He did, and his picture appeared on the screen, along with some vital information.

“Trainer, Geoff Shokou,” the machine said in a female, monotone voice.

“This thing already has my trainer information in it?” Geoff exclaimed to his mom.

“It already has everything you need.” She pressed the third button. “The left button is your, oh yeah- Pokedex, the middle is your trainer information, and the right button is the Gantun Map.” The whole map of Gantun appeared on the screen. “It sure is large.”

“Yeah, but I’ll be okay.” Geoff told her. “My Pokemon will protect me if I need them to. Plus, I’m 16. I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“I know, but...” Her eyes watered a little as she talked to him. “It’ll be the first time you’ll be alone, and you’ve never been to most of the cities.”

“Mom, that’s what makes it so exciting,” Geoff reassured her as she grabbed a tissue and dabbed her eyes.

Her eyes brightened as she remembered something. “Oh, Geoff, speaking of your Pokemon,” she said as she picked up the Poke Ball. “This is yours. I know we were supposed to go to Marloam and you’d pick one up yourself, but Grant said that this was definitely the one you wanted. I know your dad wants to be there when we find out what it is, so we’re going to have to wait. I don’t even know yet.”

Geoff smiled as she said that. He knew, or rather he hoped he knew, that it had to be a Sandshrew. Ever since he first saw Grant’s Sandslash, he wanted one of his own. He admired Sandslash’s digging power and thought that his spikes were really neat. Of course, he made everyone well aware that he wanted one.

He took the Poke Ball from his mom and put it in his right pocket. He grabbed his new PokeCom and Badge Case as well, putting them in his left. “Can’t we just go to the Lab now instead of waiting two hours?”

“I suppose. I know you’re dying to meet your first Pokemon. Do you mind walking that far?” his mom questioned. The Lab was in downtown, and they lived on the southwest part of town. The walk was over three times long as the walk to school.

“It’s fine with me. I love going to the Lab!” Geoff exclaimed while getting up. “Maybe the scientists will even give me a few pointers on Pokemon.”

His mom gave him a confused look. “I thought your father’s been giving you tips for years!”

Geoff shrugged. “Yeah, but I never really made it a point to remember anything he said.”

“Wait- anything?” His mom gave him a sneaky look.

“Oh, you know what I mean!”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The two of them were now in what was considered downtown; the tall buildings made that evident. It wasn’t particularly busy, as it was around four o’clock and most people were at work. Geoff had been thinking about his birthday on the way and how his mom made him wait until he finished the school year to become a Pokemon trainer. He agreed with her decision- he didn’t want all that schoolwork he had done thus far in the school year go to waste. More trainers wait until the school year is over to begin their journey anyway, so he figured he’d probably meet up with some beginners that he could travel with.

His mom’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “Oh, good. We’re almost there. Another added bonus of us going here is that the team can check out your new Pokemon to see what kind of shape it’s in,” she explained while walking up to the Lab. The building was all white, and the sign above the door read ‘Coveldt City Laboratory- The Future is Now’.

“Cool. I wonder if they’re running any tests,” Geoff added while his mom opened the glass door. The Lab was one of the best in all of Gantun, so tests were usually being run on all types of Pokemon to further their observations and findings.

“Ah, hello Sandra,” the reception lady said as we walked into the Lab. She was a very cheery person, and her long blonde curls bounced as she talked. “Your husband just completed examining a wild Shuppet from Tenebrosk. I heard that it had been causing a lot of trouble to the residents, so it was brought here to see if anything seemed odd. But, you know, they never tell me anything so I could be wrong.”

The room was brightly lit, with seats to their right and a door to their left. Geoff’s mom laughed while walking up to her. “It’s the same here, Charlotte. Dirk always tells the children everything and leaves me out of everything. But thanks for telling me.”

“Oh, that’s right- how is your daughter doing? She’s working at the Marloam Gym, right?” Charlotte asked. Throughout all this, Geoff was trying to look into the lab rooms. He was completely uninterested in their conversation.

“Yeah, Tara’s doing just fine. She called me the other day and told me all she’s learned. Oh, and Geoff just became a Pokemon trainer today. He was registered in March, but I wouldn’t give him his gear until school ended.” His mom was in her element, so Geoff knew that it’d probably be a while.

“Following in his big sister’s footsteps, huh? I remember you holding Tara back until school was over, too. What was her first pokemon again?”

“A Numel. I heard that it’s getting really strong through battling in the Gym. Grant claims that he’s the main reason it’s so strong, but I know better.” Geoff knew he had to cut in now. Otherwise it’d never end.

“Uh, mom? Can we go see dad now?” Geoff asked her in an impatient, slightly bored manner.

“Oh! Okay, honey. See you later, Charlotte!” His mom started walking over to Geoff as Charlotte waved goodbye.

“He’s probably in his workstation. Let’s go!” Geoff picked up his pace. He was tired of waiting, not to mention how he thought it was silly how he had to wait for dad to be with him in order to meet his Pokemon.

“Wow, hi Geoff! Hi honey! What a nice surprise,” Geoff’s dad exclaimed as he noticed the two walk into his workroom. His father was a heavy-set man of his early forties. He had thin, black hair and was wearing a white lab coat and blue jeans. He got out of his seat and hugged Geoff, then kissed his wife. “What brings you two here?”

“Mom said that you had to be here when I find out what my very first Pokemon is,” Geoff explained to his dad.

“Oh, that’s right! You become a Pokemon trainer today. Are you sure you’re ready?” He asked his son, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, you know he is. With all that advice you’ve given him throughout the years...” His mother looked at Geoff with a smirk while saying that. Geoff shrugged.

“So can I finally find out what it is?” Geoff asked and pulled out the Poke Ball. He pushed the button to make it normal-sized.

“Well, sure! I’m even excited to find out!” his dad told him.

Geoff’s heart began racing as he looked at the Poke Ball. He began wondering- what if it wasn’t a Sandshrew? He then shook his head, took in a deep breath, then pushed the button again. The ball open up, and bright pink energy came out of it. Geoff’s dad moved out of the way as it took form close to where he was standing. A Sandshrew, sprawled out with its eyes closed, was now on the floor. Geoff gave it an odd look.

“Is it, sleeping?”

“I, I think so.” His dad picked the creature up and tickled it’s neck. It merely squirmed a little, then returned to sleeping. He then lowered it close to the ground and dropped it. It continued sleeping. “Wow, it’s out cold. Let me see if any of this equipment can wake it up.”

Geoff thought about how lucky he was to actually have his dream Pokemon- well, the pre-evolution to his dream Pokemon. Sandshrew was still really cute, though. His dad put it on the table by him while he looked through his tools. The Sandshrew yawned, rolled over, and fell off the table. Geoff ran over to his Pokemon to see if it was okay. He tried picking it up, but fell to his knees before he could. Just then, an idea came to him. “Dad, could you get a glass of water, please? I have an idea.”

“Well, sure son. I don’t get it though,” his dad said while walking over to the sink. He grabbed a paper cone cup and filled it with water.

“Great. Thanks, dad.” Geoff took the cup and kneeled back down to the Sandshrew, now sleeping on it’s back and twitching every now and then. Geoff took the creature’s tail and slowly dipped it into the water. Surprisingly, it did nothing. “I thought Sandshrew hated water...” Geoff splashed the water at Sandshrew’s face, and it finally shot up. It ran around the room, frantically trying to get the water off its face.

“Shroooooo!” it screamed while rubbing its face and shaking its head. Geoff’s mom picked the creature up and padded its face with her shirt. The Sandshrew smiled and hugged her. “San...”

“I’m really sorry, Sandshrew, but I wanted you to get up!” Geoff apologized while walking over to it. Unfortunately, Geoff started hearing snoring. “Oh, come on!”

“Does this thing just always sleep?” his mom questioned while handing it over to Geoff. Geoff rubbed Sandshrew’s neck like his dad, but it still didn’t work. “BOO!” Geoff screamed, right in its ear. Sandshrew slowly opened its eyes, then glared menacingly at Geoff. Geoff could only facedrop while handing it over for his dad to examine.

His father put it on the table again, and looked at its arms and legs, then its tail and head. He than checked its skin, armor-like coat, breathing, heart rate, and vision. “The only thing I can see wrong with this Sandshrew is that it might like to sleep too much. Other than that, it’s a very healthy male Sandshrew.”

“San!” Sandshrew replied. It scratched itself, then yawned.

[PSmurf]

YES! The fic that inpsired me to write Trainer Fics (Along with FRTC by Brit Chris!)

Well awesome kinda sorta revision, I cant wait for later chapters. This fic if I remember was the most descriptive I've ever read.

Anyway, good spelling, good grammer, but when this is said also their is no chapter with out them. Good plot and let me say Bravo on the new first chapter.

Ta.::.

[Mew Trainer Rose]

Looks very good so far. This looks to be a very well thought out fic, judging by the fact that you've put enough work into this to come up with the map (which i love, by the way), other pictures, and various other details.

Geoff looks like he'll have his hands full trying to get his pokemon to do anything. That ought to be very interesting to read. :) I look forward to seeing how he gets on in his journey.

[Mew Trainer Rose]

And he's off! Hey, we get to see Sandshrew awake and doing more than yellign in pain in this chapter. :) Maybe he'll be more active (and obedient) as a Sandslash.

Nice, he's got some fancy pokeballs. The perks of having a dad who works in a pokemon lab, eh? Tho as a avid reader, i prefer having the perks of havign a mom who's a librarian. ^_^ Free books are good. especially when you go to conferances when you can get them autographed and keep them. anyway, looking forward to his journey. Ooo, Zigzagoon! I like those things, especially when they pick up stuff in R/S. :)

[PSmurf]

Great! Chapter II is up. I loved it again. I like how you add humour and stuff to it, I can't wat for the part that was hillarious that involved Frisbees. (Trying not to spoil for new readers.) I cant wait for new chapters but I can wait.

Keep up the good work!

Ta.::.::.Ta

[Chris 2.1]

(Along with FRTC by Brit Chris)

Wow...you're too kind ^^;;

Ok Geoff, I've read Chapter 1 as part of my community service (j/k), and I thought it was pretty darn good. Description, length, character, grammer, punctuation, it's all good, my only problem was that we knew what Geoff was going to get before he got it - Sandshrew.

Ok, it's expected, and in Trainer Fics, which are frowned upon a lot, being so common, you have to take every oppertunity to blow us away, and having Geoff have something different (say, a Sandshrew, which gets eaten by a Seviper he catches) or something utterly unique would mae it stand out much, much more.

It should be a good fic, though, you're clearly talented. Great work with the map, all the whatjamajigs and thingamadodds look great. The PokeCom looks just like an Anime Hoenn Dex, but they're funky-monkey anyway.

Great work!!

[geoff]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I really appreciate it.

And that's something I never really thought about, Brit Chris. I think I will make it a point to be more surprising in the future! Thanks for pointing it out to me! =)

EDIT: Chapter 3's up! Just want to tell everyone that these daily chapters will only last till chapter 9. =P I don't want to be rushed into popping out new chapters daily n all. ^_^; Well, here you go!

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 3 [The First Battle- Preparing for Zigzagoon]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

The creature looked like a streak of beige lightning as it yelped and chased after the Sunkern and Oddish. Geoff ran as fast as he could to keep up with it, starting to get tired since he had to hold Sandshrew because it was too inactive to run far… or at all.

“Zag, Zag!” The streak yelped as it caught up to one of the Sunkern. It slowed down and gently picked up the seed Pokemon with its jaw, then tossed it into the air. When it came back down, the furry creature stood on its two hind legs and balanced the Sunkern on its nose.

Geoff stopped ton watch. “Is that a Zigzagoon?” He got his PokeCom out and activated the Pokedex feature.

“Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon. This Pokemon restlessly wanders everywhere at all times, as it is very curious. It rubs its hard, bristly back fur against trees to leave its territorial markings. Zigzagoon are excellent item finders because of their great sense of smell.”

“I guess this little fellow likes to chase things as well.” Geoff put the PokeCom away and took his backpack off. He got out the Fast Ball. “This is perfect for catching a Zigzagoon. Fast Ball, go!”

Zigzagoon dropped the Sunkern just in time to realize that a Fast Ball was heading toward him. The ball sucked it inside, and closed. The button flashed red many times and wiggled about as the Sunkern started scampering away.

“Wow, I caught my first-” Geoff couldn’t finish his sentence because the Zigzagoon broke the seal of the Fast Ball. The ball flew back to Geoff as the Pokemon ran away, chasing the Sunkern again. “Darn. I guess I need to weaken it first. That means that you, Sandshrew, need to battle it.”

Sandshrew looked up at Geoff, then merely stuck his arms out again.

“I’m not going to hold you. You need to learn to walk for yourself!” Sandshrew then pointed at his Poke Ball, stuck on Geoff’s belt. “When we finally get that Zigzagoon in our sights again, we need to surprise attack it. So I can’t waste time on letting you out of your Poke Ball.” Sandshrew started pouting. Geoff sighed, and gave in. Again. He picked up Sandshrew and put him on his shoulders.

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Geoff looked up to the sky. Dark clouds were hovering above them. It had been a few hours since they started searching for the Zigzagoon, and Geoff was tired. “How can something that small be so fast?” He exclaimed as he groaned. He checked his PokeCom- they still had a ways to go before reaching Wharlevee.

“Looks like it’s going to rain before we find that Zigzagoon again, Sandshrew. We should probably find an area covered by trees to wait until the rain stops.” Geoff started looking around, checking each area to see if the tree limbs would block the water. Sandshrew was just standing there. A drop of water landed on Sandshrew’s nose, and it started freaking out.

“SHROO!” Sandshrew started running around furiously as a few more raindrops landed on him.

“Sandshrew, calm down! Freaking out will only make it- Come back here!” Geoff began running after Sandshrew, who had ran off the path they were following. “Oh, it’s just a few raindrops! Get over it!” The whole ‘freaking out when water touched me’ thing was already starting to get old. “It’s not like drops of acid are raining on you!” Geoff pleaded for Sandshrew to stop. “Please? I don’t want to run anymore today!”

Sandshrew only ran faster as the rain got harder. It was now pouring, and Sandshrew was completely freaking out. Geoff just stood there in the middle of a clearing, arms folded, waiting impatiently for his little partner to stop running around him in circles and quiet down. Just then, Sandshrew tripped over something and landed in a big puddle.

Geoff merely sighed. “… I’m coming…” Geoff walked toward Sandshrew, but halted when he realized what Sandshrew tripped over. An Ekans was hissing at Sandshrew, who had now rolled into a ball for defense. Just as the Ekans was getting ready to sink its teeth into Sandshrew, Geoff pulled its Poke Ball off and threw it toward Sandshrew. It accidentally hit the Ekans in the head before capturing Sandshrew. “Oops!” Geoff caught the Poke Ball as it flung back to him, but he still had the Ekans to worry about.

Here I am, in the middle of the forest, with an Ekans slithering toward me, mad because I sort of knocked its head with Sandshrew‘s Poke Ball. How am I supposed to get out of this one?

Geoff heard a yelp off in the distance. “Hmm... that sounds familiar...” Just then, the Zigzagoon sprung out of a cluster of trees and latched its jaws onto the Ekans’ tail and flung it off into the distance. Geoff thought the furry little creature had smiled at him for a second before running off after the Ekans, soaking wet from the pouring rain. “That is one odd Pokemon. And it just saved me. Eh, it was probably inadvertent.” Geoff sighed, then looked ahead. Strangely, there was a clearing up ahead, with a small cottage in the middle.

“Wow, that’s pretty convenient. I’m soaking wet, so I might as well try.” Geoff walked into the clearing and noticed that a familiar grass was growing on either side of the cottage. Geoff thought nothing of it, and knocked on the door.

“I’ll be right there!” was heard coming from inside. It was a feminine voice. Geoff heard footsteps coming toward him from inside, and a beautiful girl opened the door. She looked to be eighteen or nineteen, and had long, wavy blonde hair. She was wearing a dark green sweater and black slacks. “Hi there. I don’t get many visitors here.”

“Uh, hi. I’m Geoff.” He extended his right hand- as the left one was holding Sandshrew‘s Poke Ball, to which the girl shook.

“I’m Clover. I live alone here with my Pokemon. What brings you here?” She asked him, looking around and noticing that he was alone and drenched.

“Well, I’m just traveling through here to get to Wharlevee. It’s pouring outside, and I nearly got attacked by an Ekans. I was wondering if I could come inside until the rain stops.”

She shrugged. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” Geoff walked inside and took his shoes and backpack off at the door. The room had wooden walls and a red brick fireplace. He looked around and saw pictures of the girl and some Oddish, Sunkern, and a Gloom. Clover got a towel out and wrapped Geoff in it. “There you go.”

“Thanks a lot, Clover. You’re really generous for doing this.” Geoff sat down on the green couch beside him. “Oh, is it okay if I let my Sandshrew out? He hates water but he’s soaking wet.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Clover sat down on the wooden chair to the right of him. Geoff released Sandshrew in his lap, who was still rolled up. He slowly unrolled himself as he realized that the Ekans was gone. Geoff dried him off with his towel. “I knew I should’ve packed an umbrella.”

“That’s a cute Sandshrew you got there.” Clover picked up a Poke Ball on the table beside her. “I have one of my own. Gloom, go!”

The Gloom materialized from the Poke Ball. “Gloom!” the Pokemon cried as it noticed the strangers.

“It’s okay, Gloom. They’re good people.” Clover smiled at her Pokemon while Geoff got out his PokeCom. He opened it, and pushed the left button.

“Gloom, the Weed Pokemon. It secretes a sticky, drool-like honey from its mouth that attracts prey. Although sweet, it smells repulsive. Gloom also releases a foul fragrance from the pistil of its flower. The stench worsens when faced with danger.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen a Gloom in person before. Hmm, it doesn’t really smell to me.”

“Gloom only smells bad to people and Pokemon she doesn’t like.”

“Pretty cool. Is this your only Pokemon? I see others in these pictures.” Geoff glanced at the pictures again.

“Those Pokemon don’t belong to me, but I take care of them. Lately, though, a wild Zigzagoon has been bothering them.” Clover had an annoyed look on her face as she thought of the Zigzagoon.

“Oh, I’ve seen that Zigzagoon chasing a bunch of Oddish and Sunkern!” Geoff remembered the Zigzagoon balancing the Sunkern on its nose. “But that same Pokemon saved me from an Ekans.”

“It did? That really surprises me.” Clover got up to light the fireplace as she said that.

“Well, I’m pretty sure it didn’t mean to save me. It was just playing with the Ekans. But nevertheless, it did. Earlier I was trying to catch it, but it got away.” Geoff looked at Sandshrew. “Next time I’m going to have Sandshrew weaken it.”

“So you’re determined to catch this thing? Excellent!” Clover smiled. “If you catch it, it won’t bother my Pokemon anymore.” She sat back down.

“So we both win, huh? That’s great.” Geoff started frowning. “But, Sandshrew has never battled. I don’t know how strong it is. It could be too weak to defeat the Zigzagoon.”

“I know how we can find out its power level. It can battle my Gloom! But I have to warn you, Sandshrew probably won’t win. I’ve had my Gloom for almost three years now.”

“That sounds great!” Geoff glanced outside. “Hey, it’s stopped raining! That‘s pretty convenient as well. Neat!”

“Good. Since Sandshrew hates the water, we’ll battle when the field dries.” Clover smiled at me. “I haven’t battled in awhile- it should be exciting. But until then, do you want to meet the Pokemon I take care of? Gloom and Sandshrew can stay inside and talk.”

“Sure, I’d love to. Let’s go.” Geoff and Clover got up and walked outside. The field was still damp, but the sun was shining so it would dry soon. The light from the sun made the area glisten. Clover brought Geoff over to the familiar grass.

“C’mon out, guys!” Clover clapped her hands and the grass popped up. Standing in front of them were numerous Sunkern and Oddish.

“Wow, it’s cool how they can disguise themselves as grass!” Geoff got his PokeCom out again to find out more about the Pokemon.

“Oddish, the Weed Pokemon. During the day, it keeps its face buried in the ground. At night, it wanders around sowing its seeds. During the daytime, while it is planted, this Pokemon's feet are thought to change shape and become similar to the roots of trees.

“Sunkern, the Seed Pokemon. It tries to move as little as it possibly can to conserve all the nutrients it has stored in its body for its evolution. It will not eat a thing, subsisting only on morning dew. Its only means of defense is to shake its leaves desperately at its attacker.”

“This place is like a haven for them, away from the wild Pokemon that want to mess with them or eat them. Taking care of them also takes up my free time, which is good since I had too much of it.” Clover picked up a Sunkern and hugged it.

“I’d imagine it gets pretty lonely out here, in the middle of the forest. Good thing you have so many Pokemon friends!” Geoff smiled at Clover.

“Hmm, can I ask you a question?” Clover put the Sunkern down and walked closer to Geoff.

“Well, sure.”

“You’re a traveling trainer, so where’s your hometown?” Clover asked him.

“Coveldt City. Today’s actually my first day being a traveling trainer.” Geoff glanced at the field around him, and noticed that the sun had dried up most of the water.

“Oh, now it makes sense. I was wondering why your Pokemon had never battled before.” Clover looked at the grass as well. “Looks like we can battle soon. Do you know any attacks Sandshrew can use?”

“Yeah, my dad tells me about Pokemon so I’ve gathered some attacks. Let’s hope Sandshrew knows them....”

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“Okay, are you ready?” Clover and Geoff were standing in front of the cottage. Gloom and Sandshrew were by their trainers. There were a few clouds overhead, but it didn’t look like it would rain anytime soon. The field had obviously dried. It must not have rained recently, as the ground retained all the water fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the grass stopped glistening because of this.

“Yes. Let’s get this thing started!” Geoff had his fist in front of him, in a fighting stance.

“Okay, Gloom! Start with your Acid!” Clover commanded Gloom. The weed Pokemon spit out a stream of white, gooey acid headed straight for Sandshrew.

“Hurry, Sandshrew! Roll into a ball!” Sandshrew turned around to look at his trainer and got bombarded by acid. Its eyes grew big, and he started running around screaming. “Ugh…. Umm, try to Scratch Gloom!”

“That’s... odd. Gloom, dodge it!” Sandshrew was randomly running in different directions, so it was pretty much impossible to dodge it. Eventually, Sandshrew’s flailing arms hit Gloom- viciously scratching it numerous times. “Gloom, Stun Spore!”

Gloom sent out a cloud of yellow spores from its flower, encompassing much of the area. Some landed on Sandshrew.

“No, Sandshrew! Get away!” It was no use, as Sandshrew was now lying on the ground face first, paralyzed. Its mouth was still open, and its arms were still in a flailing position.

“Was that Flail Sandshrew was using?” Clover looked puzzled.

“I don’t think so. It was just it’s, uh, special battling technique?” Geoff was staring at Sandshrew, hoping the spores would wear off soon. He somehow doubted it, though.

“Eh, whatever. Gloom, Absorb!” Gloom turned a bright green, and its eyes focused on Sandshrew. Soon Sandshrew was glowing as well, and green orbs transferred from Sandshrew to Gloom.

“Oh, no. Soon Sandshrew won’t have any power left! C’mon, get up Sandshrew! You can do it!” Geoff tried and tried to get Sandshrew to try to fight the spores, and soon Sandshrew’s eyes blinked. “Yeah, keep trying!”

Sandshrew’s tail began moving around, and eventually he pushed himself up. He grabbed some dirt from the ground and threw it at Gloom as he got up and turned around.

“I think that was some kind of Sand Attack. Or Mud Slap. Eh, you never know. Good job, Sandshrew!” Geoff watched as Gloom stopped its absorb. “Now, dig underground!” Sandshrew looked at its trainer again. “...you know, with your claws!”

Sandshrew got the idea as Gloom was getting ready to spray more Acid. He dug into the soft earth and disappeared. The Acid missed, and Gloom was looking around for Sandshrew.

“Be ready to use Sleep Powder when it comes up, Gloom!” Clover ordered.

“Now, Sandshrew!” Geoff told Sandshrew. Underneath Gloom, Sandshrew popped up and Gloom went flying. “Use Sand Attack!”

As Gloom landed, it sent out some green Sleep Powder out of its flower. Sandshrew countered the cloud by blowing sand out of his mouth at Gloom. The two clouds met in the middle of the field, and meshed together. Sandshrew began getting sleepy.

“Oh great, like he wasn’t sleepy anyway. Try to stay awake! Use Scratch!” Sandshrew sleepily walked toward Gloom in the sand/powder cloud, but started falling while raising his arm to scratch Gloom.

“Gloom, finish this battle. Absorb!” It didn’t take long before Sandshrew was knocked out. “Good job, Gloom!” Clover clapped her hands together.

“Sandshrew, return!” Geoff returned Sandshrew to his Poke Ball. While looking at it, he said, “You did good. Sort of… hehe.”


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Clover and Geoff were back inside. Geoff was spraying Sandshrew with one of Clover’s potions while Clover was taking care of Gloom.

“Thanks for letting me use one of your potions, Clover.” Sandshrew was coming to. “Your Gloom is an amazing battler.”

“Thanks, it’s no problem. I like to help.” Clover smiled. “Your Sandshrew performed well for your first battle. One thing I should tell you, though, is to research what moves Sandshrew knows. Your PokeCom should tell you that. Also, tell Sandshrew to try and run away from things like spore clouds. They might dissipate before they hit him.”

“That’s great advice, thanks. Let’s see what Sandshrew knows.” Geoff pulled out his PokeCom.

“Sandshrew normally know Scratch, Defense Curl, Sand Attack, Poison Sting, and Dig. As they mature and grow, they learn new attacks.”

“Good to know. I’ll try to remember that next time.” Sandshrew stood up and yawned.

“Shroo!” Sandshrew smiled.

Geoff looked outside. “It’ll be dark in a few hours. I guess Sandshrew and I should go look for that Zigzagoon. That battle was great practice- I’ll surely catch that Zigzagoon now!”

“I hope you do. Make sure to come back when you catch it. I want to make sure it won’t bother the Pokemon anymore.”

Geoff got up, and he and Sandshrew opened the door and walked outside. “Bye, Clover! See you later!”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoff looked up at the night sky. He and Sandshrew were sitting up against a tree. He wasn’t too sure where Clover’s house was, so he just decided to sleep in the forest. The Zigzagoon search wasn’t going too well, so they quit for the day at sunset. They would continue tomorrow.

“San... shroo... san.... shroo....” Sandshrew was sound asleep, scratching himself every now and then.

Geoff looked around. A few lights could be seen in the distance moving around. They seemed to be following something. Geoff wondered if they were Pokemon, so he got out his PokeCom.

“Volbeat and Illumise. Illumise attract a group of Volbeat with its sweet fragrance and leads the lit-up swarm in drawing geometric designs on the canvas of the night sky. This Pokemon is said to earn greater respect from its peers by composing more complex designs in the sky.”

“Wow, that’s really cool.” Geoff watched the Volbeat’s lights form different shapes- squares, triangles, circles. Sometimes he saw more complex designs, and thought he once saw a Zigzagoon being formed.

“I’ll get you tomorrow, Zigzagoon!” Geoff said to himself before falling asleep.

[PSmurf]

Cool! Chapter 3 is awesome Again but a little boring and bland beside the first battle is was very boring.

But oh well It was good cant wait for chapter 4.

[Chris 2.1]

I guess Zigzagoon is a challange for Geoff now? I hope he isn't caught next Chapter - this is an interesting idea! How about every time Geoff tries catching Zig, he catches another Pokemon instead, which is how he builds his team up!

Person: Nice team!
Geoff: Funny story, I never wanted any of them

:lol:

Ok, nevermind, ignore me ^^

[Mew Trainer Rose]

That Sandshrew needs to learn how to do something else other than run around screaming and sleep. Hey, I bet he could learn Rest pretty easily. :P

Looking forward to the next chapter, and whenever he catches Zigzagoon.

[geoff]

Papa Smurf~ I hope that all the battles don't turn out to be boring. ^_^; I guess maybe most first battles are since the trainer isn't very experienced. Or something. Well, hopefully anyway.

Brit Chris~ Darn, stop being psychic! Well, not about everything, though. =P *Hint: Didn't feel like dragging the whole Zigzagoon thing out as there's a whole lot more to write about / do. lol* It would've been a really cool idea, though. I'll keep it in mind for anything in the future.

Mew Trainer Rose~ *steals an idea for you and will possibly apply it in the future* hehe, never know. ^_^

Thanks all of you for reading and commenting! I'm also posting this at another board... with no such luck whatsoever. I dunno why, but so far I've gotten 0 replies. Hopefully someone'll start reading it over there. Cuz I think the thread's at that 'wow, that's pathetic' point. lol Anyway, since I couldn't get online yesterday (at all), I've decided to post two chapters today! Chapter 4 had a major rewrite just for fun at the beginning, but mostly everything else in these chapters is the same.I hope you'll find them enjoyable. =P

GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 4 [A Long-Awaited Fast Capture]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

“ARIIIAAAA!” Geoff’s eyes shot open as he heard the piercing noise. Right in front of his face, on his stomach, was a really creepy-looking Ariados. It had screamed at Geoff and was now staring right into his eyes, its pincers moving right by its neck. Naturally, Geoff started freaking out as he realized that a really scary spider Pokemon was inches away from either chopping his head off or sucking his bodily fluids out. Well, or so he thought. Obviously, Geoff was just a little afraid of spiders.

“Ah! No, get away! Please don‘t eat me!” Geoff was paralyzed with fear, but eventually managed to stand up. “Sandshrew, help!” Geoff screamed as he was swatting at his stomach in hopes of getting the rather large, reddish spider Pokemon off of him.

“San...” Sandshrew was sleeping through the whole thing.

“Okay, this tops the cake as your most unbelievable moment!” Geoff continued freaking out like a little girl, and even rolled around the ground in hopes of squishing it. “Here I am, being attacked by this terrifying Ariados, and you’re just sleeping. Ridiculous!” Geoff tried to roll into Sandshrew out of frustration, but Sandshrew rolled to the side and Geoff hit a tree. “Ow!” He rubbed his back while the Ariados screamed again and tightened its grip around him. “Grr... Sandshrew! You wake up right now!” he yelled while also screaming in fear.

Sandshrew twitched a little, then continued snoring.

“You are NO help whatsoever!” Geoff got up and threw himself at some bushes. “If you were in a situation like this, I wouldn’t be sleeping! I’d be helping you!” The Ariados merely stayed latched on and squeezed tighter, all while smiling.

Sandshrew finally peeked at Geoff, realized that the Ariados was merely hugging him, and went back to sleep after rolling its eyes at Geoff’s melodramatics.

“Someone help me! I’m too young to be dinner to a bug!” Geoff’s screaming caught the attention of a familiar face, who dashed right at Geoff and head butted Geoff’s stomach. The Ariados fell off of Geoff as he fell to the ground. “Can’t….. breathe…. pain…. stomach…”

Geoff rolled onto his back and noticed that Zigzagoon was throwing the freaked-out Ariados around like a chew toy. “How come that Zigzagoon always seems to arrive right when I need him?” Geoff wondered after he recovered from the head butt. “Pretty cool.”

“Zagoon!” It barked as the Ariados tried crawling away from its nemesis. Not even noticing Geoff or Sandshrew, it pounced on the spider, threw it in the air with its mouth, and chased after it.

“No, wait! I have to catch you! Zigzagoon!” Geoff tripped over a root and fell face-first while trying to get to the Fast Ball in his backpack. “This is becoming a little too routine for me,” he said as he wiped the dirt away from his face.

Geoff slowly rose to see Sandshrew finally waking up. “A little too late there, buddy! That Zigzagoon had to save me.”

Sandshrew’s ears shot up at the sound of ‘Zigzagoon’. Its face crumpled up and had an angry look to it.

Geoff stood up and stretched his back muscles. “I hope I never trip and fall again... ever.”

Sandshrew walked over to Geoff and hugged his leg. “San?” It seemed to ask.

Geoff smiled. “Don’t worry, Sandshrew. I don’t like that Zigzagoon more than you. Who wouldn’t love a lazy Pokemon that always sleeps?” Geoff said, with the last sentence being sarcastic. He picked up his Pokemon. “Today we’re finally getting that stupid Zigzagoon that keeps running away!”

Geoff put Sandshrew down and picked up his backpack. “It went that way, up the path,” Geoff said while putting his backpack on. “Let’s start following it.”

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Geoff and Sandshrew were both panting. Sandshrew collapsed while Geoff sat down. They were surrounded on all sides by trees, and had come across a shaded spot.

“Nothing can run that fast,” Geoff commented while wiping the sweat off his face. “I mean, even if anything could, it’d still have to rest every now and then. How can it have that much energy?” Geoff looked at Sandshrew, who was also breathing heavily. “This’ll be a lot harder than I thought.”

The two of them had caught up to the Zigzagoon many times, but it seemed to always get away from them.

“There has to be a way to stop that Zigzagoon. Maybe one of Sandshrew’s attacks...” Geoff thought about all the attacks Sandshrew knew. “Sandshrew wouldn’t be able to touch that Zigzagoon with any of his offensive attacks. But maybe Sand Attack would confuse it. Or if Sandshrew dug a hole and Zigzagoon fell in. Hmmm... a little too cliché for trying to capture something.”

Sandshrew jumped up happily. It then rolled into a ball and circled around Geoff.

“What are you doing, Sandshrew? This is no time to roll around.” Geoff eyed the Pokemon oddly as it unrolled itself in front of Geoff. Sandshrew sighed at Geoff, then got on all fours and began barking.

“Impersonating Zigzagoon won’t help.” Geoff continued thinking while looking at Sandshrew.

Sandshrew continued his Zigzagoon impersonation, then rolled into a ball and circled once around Geoff. After unrolling, he did his impersonation again, then ran on all fours around Geoff. Rolling again, he jumped up, then unrolled in the air and pretended to die after he landed. Sandshrew then got up and looked to see if Geoff got it.

“Oh, wait! Yeah! Zigzagoon will surely chase after you when you’re rolled into a ball. Then you can unroll when your ahead of him and surprise attack it! It’ll think you’re playing, so it’ll fight back. Then you two will battle, with you obviously winning, and finally I catch the Zigzagoon!” Geoff gave Sandshrew a thumbs-up sign. “Great plan! Guess you’re not really useless after all!”

Sandshrew stuck its tongue out at Geoff, then started walking in the direction they last saw Zigzagoon go.

“Wait for me!” Geoff stood up and ran to catch up to Sandshrew.

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“So, how about him?” A man and woman, hidden by trees and bushes, were spying on Geoff and Sandshrew. The man had binoculars, while the woman had a hearing device. The man, which from his silhouette you could tell had short hair, was talking. “A possible candidate?”

The woman spoke up, who presumably had shoulder-length hair. “I’m not sure. The kid seems a little slow. The Pokemon’s somewhat intelligent, but it’s way too young.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. The boy seems to be relying on his Sandshrew to think, instead of him.”

“Definitely not Nemesis material. Let’s just keep searching.”

“We’re bound to find a trainer with potential eventually.”

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“I’m starting to think that we’re never going to find that stupid Zigzagoon again.” Geoff put his weight on a nearby tree and took a break. “Maybe we should stop searching for it and wait for it to stumble upon us. That’s how we’ve come across it before.”

Sandshrew plopped onto the ground and stared up at Geoff. His eyes wandered above his trainer, and he found something quite peculiar.

“What are you staring at?” Geoff asked his Pokemon. Suddenly, a Wurmple appeared on his face, and started crawling down his neck. Geoff stood still, with a look of confusion on his face.

“Werm!”

Geoff did run away from it, though, when it started spitting silk around it’s body. “Ah! What’s it doing!?”

The Wurmple dropped to the ground and began glowing as it wrapped silk thread around its body. When the light faded, A purple oval-shaped creature was left.

“What is that thing?” Geoff pulled out his PokeCom.

“Cascoon, the Cocoon Pokemon. It makes its protective cocoon by wrapping its body entirely with a fine silk from its mouth. This causes its body to harden. If it is attacked, Cascoon remains motionless- even if it is badly hurt. It does so because if it were to move, its body would be weak upon evolution.”

Just then, the Cascoon shot a thread up to a tree branch from its mouth and started rising. “I guess it stays that way until it evolves. Pretty neat.” Geoff turned to Sandshrew. “Let’s see if there are any other bug Pokemon around here! Well… besides that Ariados.” Geoff shuddered at the thought, and Sandshrew laughed at him.

The two of them searched around for any other bug Pokemon, but they couldn’t see any. Then, Geoff caught two round figures in the corner of his eye, and started walking toward them.

“Hey, Sandshrew! It looks like there’s some hidden opening over here!” Sandshrew scurried toward Geoff as he saw what was inhabiting the clearing. Loads of cocoon Pokemon were hanging from the trees, and many caterpillar Pokemon were munching on the leaves around them. “It’s like a haven for bug Pokemon!”

Geoff looked around in awe of all the different Pokemon. There were Metapod, Silcoon, Cascoon, and Kakuna hanging from the trees, constantly hardening their casings. Around them were Weedle, Wurmple, and Caterpie- all happily munching on the trees and bushes.

“Good, no Spinarak or Ariados. Phew!”

Sandshrew jumped onto a Kakuna and started swinging on it. The thread broke, and the Kakuna crashed down with a thud. “Sandshrew! Why’d you do that?” Sandshrew slowly backed away from the angry Kakuna. It started making noises, then began glowing!

“Oh great, it’s evolving! And I think I know what Kakuna evolve into...” Geoff started backing away as well, but bumped into a sleeping Cascoon. It, too, began glowing. “Sandshrew, let’s get out of here!”

Before they knew it, they were running for their lives with a Beedrill and Dustox chasing them. The Beedrill started shooting its twin-needles at them, while the Dustox shot out poisonous needles.

“Come on, fight back! Use Sand Attack!” Geoff ordered Sandshrew, and the two of them stopped running and turned around. Sandshrew took in a deep breath, then blew out sand at the two Pokemon. The Beedrill and Dustox were caught in a cloud of hazy sand, and decided to turn back and return to their home.

Geoff wiped his forehead. “Wow, that was really close.” Sandshrew imitated Geoff.

The two turned around and began walking and staring at the clouds. After awhile, Geoff heard a loud thud. He looked down at Sandshrew and saw that he had tripped on a Silcoon.

“No, not again! Oh, please no!” Geoff became nervous as he looked at the Pokemon, but it seemed to smile at him. It began glowing, and both of them quickly started running away.

Sandshrew looked back to blow a Sand Attack at it, but found that it wasn’t chasing them. He tugged on Geoff’s pant leg, and Geoff turned around to notice it as well.

“It… isn’t chasing us?” They slowly walked back to the Beautifly and found that its eyes were watery. “Aw, we hurt its feelings! I’m sorry, little guy. We ran away because of, uh, past experiences with evolving cocoons.” Geoff hugged the creature, then got out his PokeCom.

“Beautifly, the Butterfly Pokemon. Its favorite food is the sweet pollen of flowers, which it collects by using its long mouth that is shaped like a coiled needle. Beautifly ride the spring winds as they flit around gathering pollen.”

The butterfly Pokemon flew around Geoff and landed on Sandshrew’s back. “You seem pretty peaceful and nice! We’re sorry again for running away.” The Beautifly happily looked at Geoff.

“Zigoon!” Geoff heard the familiar voice off in the distance.

“Sandshrew, I hear the Zigzagoon! Get ready to activate Operation Capture!” Geoff put his fist in the air. “I WILL catch it!”

The Beautifly’s eyes widened at the yelping of the Zigzagoon. It flapped its wings and hid behind Geoff. “You know about this thing, too? Heh, it must be a real pain in this forest.”

The Zigzagoon appeared on the path, happily running toward the group with its mouth open and tongue off to one side. “Zag!” The Beautifly tried to conceal itself behind Geoff.

“Sandshrew, do it now!” Sandshrew rolled into a ball, and Geoff picked him up. “C’mon, boy. Zigzagoon, you want the ball? You want the ball? Go get the ball!” Geoff threw Sandshrew down the path, and the Zigzagoon furiously began running after it. Geoff then ran after the Zigzagoon, and Beautifly clung to Geoff’s shirt. “Keep rolling, Sandshrew!”

Sandshrew led the Zigzagoon to a small round clearing, then reversed itself and slammed into it. Sandshrew unrolled and prepared to battle the furry creature.

“Yeah, Sandshrew! That was awesome!” Geoff praised his Pokemon. “Sand Attack- blind it!”

Sandshrew did just that, blowing sand at Zigzagoon. It got up to its feet and shook the hit off, then noticed that it was surrounded by a dust cloud. Sandshrew seemed to blend in with the dust, so it couldn’t tell where anything was. Confused, it started running in a random direction.

“Sandshrew, Scratch it!” Geoff told him. His Pokemon scratched Zigzagoon repeatedly when it got near him. “Poison Sting?!” Geoff wondered if Sandshrew knew the attack. Unfortunately, Sandshrew stared at his trainer, confused about what that was. “The PokeCom said that you know it!” Sandshrew gave a ‘no’ expression.

“Never mind, just Dig and surprise attack it!”

Sandshrew dug into the ground as the sand started dissipating. Zigzagoon could see again, but Sandshrew was nowhere to be found. It looked around, only to be surprised when Sandshrew popped up right where it was!

“Great, a direct hit! Maybe I can-” The Beautifly had come out of hiding, and Zigzagoon had noticed it. It began running toward it, and Beautifly got scared. Out of self defense, it blew Stun Spore at Zigzagoon as the furry Pokemon was in the air lunging at it. After falling to the ground, Zigzagoon stopped moving, hit with paralysis.

“.... catch... it...” Geoff finally completed his sentence. He hurriedly took off his backpack and got his Fast Ball out of the small, front compartment. “Fast Ball, go!” Geoff said while throwing the red and yellow ball at Zigzagoon.

The Fast Ball sucked it in, then closed and hit the ground. After a few seconds of flashing and wiggling, it made a beeping sound that signified Zigzagoon’s capture.

Geoff couldn’t help jumping for joy. “I caught my first Pokemon! Yes!” He ran and picked up the Fast Ball, then kissed it and put it on his belt. After picking up Sandshrew and dancing with him, he walked up to the Beautifly. “Thanks for inadvertently helping me catch Zigzagoon. It won’t bother you anymore.” After thinking for a little bit, he added, “You know, you’d make a great addition to my team, but I know someone who could probably use you more. Do you want to meet one of my friends?”

Beautifly shook its head ‘yes’. Geoff smiled. “Great.”

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Geoff knocked on the cottage door. “Clover! I did it!” It had taken many hours, but they had found Clover’s house. It was night now, and Geoff could tell that the fireplace was lit. Oddish were roaming around freely in the clearing, while the Sunkern were sleeping.

Clover opened the door, with a cup of hot cocoa in her right hand. “Oh, hey Geoff! You caught the Zigzagoon?!” She had a look of excitement on her face.

“I sure did. I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Awesome! Well, come on in!” Clover invited them in. “Hey, Sandshrew!” She looked behind Geoff and noticed the cute butterfly Pokemon hovering around. “Hmm, did you catch that Beautifly, too?”

“Not quite… I’ll explain.” Geoff, Sandshrew, and Beautifly went inside and made themselves comfortable.

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Clover was listening to Geoff tell her of how he caught Zigzagoon. Beautifly was sitting on Clover’s head, and Sandshrew and Geoff were on the green couch. Geoff pulled his Fast Ball off his belt.

“I went to throw the ball when Zigzagoon jumped at Beautifly! Beautifly stopped its attack by blowing Stun Spore at him. After he fell, I caught him.” Geoff let Zigzagoon out, and it materialized on the table.

“Zagoon!” It yelped.

“I guess you’ve recovered from that Stun Spore, eh?” Zigzagoon barked happily at its new trainer.

“Wow, so Beautifly helped you catch him. So did you catch Beautifly, too?” Clover asked.

“No. I decided that it could help you protect the Oddish and Sunkern from any other bothersome Pokemon.” Geoff smiled at Clover.

“Wow, you brought it here for me? Thank you so much! This will help out a lot.” Clover looked up and Beautifly flew off her head and into her lap.

“It’s the least I could do to repay you for being so nice.” Geoff remembered about Wharlevee. “Oh, can I stay here tonight? I need a place to stay before heading off to Wharlevee tomorrow.”

“Sure! I don’t mind at all. Want some hot cocoa?”

“... in the middle of summer? It’s already hot enough!”

“I guess. I just love hot cocoa so much. I drink it all the time.” Clover smiled at Zigzagoon, happy that it’d finally leave the forest. Zigzagoon unexpectedly jumped into Geoff’s lap, catching him off guard.

“Welcome to the team, little guy.” Geoff rubbed Zigzagoon’s ears.








GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 5 [The Worst Way to Arrive]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html)

“Geoff, get up! I want to show you something!” Clover was nudging at Geoff, who had slept on the green couch. “Hurry, or you’ll miss it!” Clover stepped back and waited for Geoff to get up.

Geoff rubbed his eyes and yawned. After stretching a little, he got off the couch and looked at Clover. He noticed that she was wearing black pants and a somewhat revealing pink t-shirt, but he certainly didn’t mind. He grabbed his Poke Ball and Fast Ball, containing his two Pokemon, off the table and followed Clover outside. The moon was still out, and was the only source of light.

“What? It, it’s not even dawn yet!” Geoff groaned as he tiredly dropped the two balls and released his Pokemon. The two pink lights lit up the whole area, but it returned to darkness as they materialized. Sandshrew was snoring, but Zigzagoon was jumping up and down like a hyper puppy, wondering why he was called out.

“That’s the whole point, Geoff. I want you to see the sunrise. It’s almost magical.” She smiled at Geoff. “There’s no way I can describe it in words. I wake up this early everyday just to see it. It starts my day out happy.”

“Okay, okay. When will it happen?” Geoff said as he followed Clover again. They both sat down in front of the left part of the field. Zigzagoon rolled the snoring Sandshrew over to his trainer. Geoff laughed as he saw Sandshrew being rolled, arms and legs sprawled out every which way yet still snoring loudly.

“It’ll happen in a few minutes. Just wait.” Clover smiled again, then gazed out at the horizon. Geoff did the same, but couldn’t help looking over at Zigzagoon every now and then. Try as he might, he couldn’t wake Sandshrew up. After nudging, biting, and pushing for awhile, Zigzagoon gave up and ran to his trainer. Geoff let him jump onto his back and crawl around Geoff. Of course, Geoff put him on the top of his head when Zigzagoon completely covered his face, blocking his view.

“It’s starting!” Clover said, and all three watched as the sun slowly rose above the horizon. The new day’s light glistened off the morning dew on the leaves and sprouts of the Oddish- who were returning to their hiding spots- and the sleeping Sunkern. It made them seem like diamonds. The whole field was like that- loads of diamonds glistening from the sun’s morning rays. Geoff wasn’t much for ‘nature sights’, but this was an exception.

I’m going to remember this all my life, Geoff thought. Zigzagoon was becoming restless, so Geoff let him down.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Clover asked him. She noticed Zigzagoon creeping toward the Oddish and Sunkern. “Geoff, your Pokemon plans on bothering the Oddish and Sunkern one last time.” She laughed.

“Oh, oops.” Geoff grabbed onto Zigzagoon’s bristly tail to restrain him.

“Why don’t I make you breakfast before you leave?” Clover got up and looked at Geoff.

“That’d be really nice of you, Clover.” Geoff noticed that he was starving. “I’ve been surviving off rice patties and granola bars the past two days.”

“That’s all you’ve been eating? Wow. You do know that lots of foods stay good for a very long time. I’ll have to see if I have anything to give you for the road.” Clover started walking back to the cottage, and Geoff and Zigzagoon did the same.

“Oh, Zigzagoon! Could you get Sandshrew, please?” Geoff asked his Pokemon. Zigzagoon barked a ‘yes’, and ran back.

Sandshrew was still snoring heavily. Tired of him sleeping, Zigzagoon walked back a bit, then charged at Sandshrew and head-butted him awake.

“Shroo!” Sandshrew shot up from the attack. Zigzagoon merely smiled and ran after Geoff. Sandshrew did the same, except much slower.

Once they were all inside, Clover went to the small kitchen behind the living room. A wall separated the two rooms. Clover got out a box of pancake mix. “Are pancakes okay?” She asked Geoff. She had to raise her voice because she wasn’t sure where he exactly was.

“Yeah, that sounds great!” Geoff shouted back.

“You like apples and tomatoes?”

“... On pancakes?”

“No! Just in general!”

“Yeah. Why?” Geoff walked into the kitchen. Clover was holding two plastic bags- one with dried apples and one with dried tomatoes.

“Oh, there you are,” Clover said as she noticed Geoff in the kitchen. “These are the only things I have that can last long. But I also have a water bottle that you can take with you if you don’t have one.”

“Wow, that’d be great!” Geoff smiled. “You’ve got to be the most generous person in Gantun.”

“Oh, I just like to help trainers.” She blushed. “Plus, not many of them stumble upon me and this cottage.”

“Well, I don’t think I would’ve found you if it weren’t for the rain. Sandshrew freaked out and somehow ran to this place.” Geoff took the bags from here.

“Maybe it was fate. I mean, who knows if you would’ve caught Zigzagoon without Sandshrew first battling my Gloom.” She poured the dry mix into a bowl and began adding water as she stirred it. “But, who knows if Zigzagoon would’ve ever gone away if you hadn’t come.”

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“These pancakes are great, Clover!” Geoff exclaimed as he happily ate them. He and Clover were sitting and eating at the small, round, wooden dining room table while Sandshrew, Gloom, Zigzagoon, and Beautifly were eating on the floor. Clover made each of the Pokemon mini pancakes.

“Thanks, Geoff!” Clover looked around and saw that everyone liked it. “So, you’re going to Wharlevee Town. I heard there’s no Gym there, but the next city has one.”

“Really?” Geoff seemed surprised. “Darn. I was hoping there was. Oh well. Guess Sandshrew and Zigzagoon will be even stronger by the time I get there.” Geoff finished his pancakes, and saw that everyone else had, too.

“I can’t wait to start training my Beautifly. It can battle Gloom, and both can gain experience! The stronger they are, the safer the forest Pokemon are. And it wouldn’t be able to happen without you, Geoff.”

“Do you have any plans to take part in the League in the future?” Geoff asked her, hoping she’d say yes. That way, there’d be a greater chance of them meeting in the future.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’d be able to leave all the forest Pokemon.” Clover gave Geoff a look of indecision.

“You know... in other forests, all the Pokemon have to fend for themselves. It’s just nature.” Geoff was clearly trying to change her mind.

“True, I’ll keep it in mind. But I’ll also keep you in mind. I hope you’ll come visit me if you come back to this area.” Clover smiled at Geoff.

“I will. I’m coming back here after I go to Marloam. Hey, that’d be a good place for you to start! Marloam Gym specialized in ground types. Both Gloom and Beautifly are strong against ground types.”

“Hey, you’re right! I probably will. Hey, maybe we will battle in the League competition!” Clover laughed, and Geoff realized that she was joking about that last sentence.

“Hey, you never know.”

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“Bye, Clover!” Geoff shouted as he and Sandshrew walked away from the cottage. Zigzagoon became too excited, so he recalled it. Clover and her two Pokemon were standing at the door, and Clover was waving back.

“See you later, Geoff! You’re going to be a great Pokemon Trainer!” Clover shouted back.

He turned to look at the path ahead of him. “Sandshrew, you and I- and Zigzagoon- are going to be the best team ever. All we need is practice... among other things like badges. But we’ll get those along the way.”

After a while of walking, Geoff got out his PokeCom and hit the third button. On the screen was the map of Gantun, and a box was flashing where Geoff was. They were about one-third of the way there. There was also an arrow attached to the box that was pointing down.

“So we’re facing South, but we need to go East.” Geoff looked ahead, at the path. “The path goes South, so we need to go... this way.”

Geoff was pointing to his direct left. Sandshrew began walking that way.

“Too bad the path doesn’t lead East... looks like we have to go through the forest,” Geoff said while walking into the woods.

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“You haven’t found ANYONE?” the telescreen shouted with anger. The same shaded man was standing in front of it while the same masked face was on it.

“No, sir. All the trainers we’ve surveyed either had little experience or worthless Pokemon.” The man’s voice was oddly calm.

“You buffoon!” The masked man shouted. “All we need are bodies! Mindless drones! Our technology will GIVE them experience, and they’ll catch competent Pokemon once they are under our control!”

“So…. any kid will do?” The man asked, still calm.

“Yes! I’ve already told you this! But I need many bodies! Get them to me NOW!” The transmission ended, and the man simply sighed.

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Geoff and Sandshrew had small scratches on their bodies from the trees and vines. They had been walking for quite awhile. “I am so sick of the forest! I just want to get OUT OF HERE!” Geoff yelled to release some built-up anger toward the forest.

“Looks like someone has issues,” a voice said. It came from Geoff’s right. He looked and saw a man dressed in black leather sitting on the hood of an orange jeep. “Want to battle?”

“Who are you?” Geoff asked the stranger. “And why is your car orange, of all colors?”

“You got a problem against orange cars?” He asked defensively.

“No, just wondering.” Geoff was becoming nervous- he didn’t like this guy.

“Where you heading?” The man stood up. He was lean, maybe in his early twenties, and had slick black hair.

“Wharlevee Town- why?”

“How about I help you out. I’ll give you a ride to Wharlevee, but you have to battle me first.” He squinted.

“Uh, okay.” Geoff told himself to play it safe, and run if anything odd happened.

“Two Pokemon each. Ready?”

“Bring it.”

“Alright, come on out Seedot!” The man got a Poke Ball from his pocket and threw it, releasing the small Seed Pokemon.

Geoff smiled. “Zigzagoon, go!” He pulled off his Fast Ball and released his new Pokemon. The man was taken off guard as he thought Geoff would use Sandshrew. Geoff caught the ball and put it back on his belt, noticing that the man was slightly caught off guard.

“Bide, baby, Bide!” He commanded his Seedot. It glowed gray, with a menacing look on its face, then returned to normal.

“... Umm, okay. Zigzagoon, Quick Attack!” Geoff told it. He started running in a zigzag pattern, then hit Seedot head on. Seedot flew back, but did nothing else. “Um, Tail Whip it, then Bite!”

His Pokemon slapped Seedot with its bristly fur, then tried biting it. Unfortunately, Seedot was too round to really bite.

“Alright baby, give it back times two!” The man ordered. Seedot glowed gray again, then sent a gray beam out from it’s acorn top that hit Zigzagoon, knocking it into the air. It then landed on its back.

“Zigzagoon! Do you still want to battle?” Geoff asked. Zigzagoon slowly got back up, shook it off, then barked a ‘yes’. “Alright, Headbutt!”

“Hurry and fire Bullet Seed!” Seedot shot green seeds from its mouth… area before Zigzagoon could reach it. Seeds kept pummeling Zigzagoon.

“No! Fight it, then Headbutt!” Zigzagoon tried running around, but Seedot was locked onto its target. “Okay, Sand Attack!”

Zigzagoon stirred up sand by running around Seedot. It also managed to confuse it.

“Alright! Finish it with Headbutt!” Geoff was excited, as he might win this. Zigzagoon slammed his head into Seedot while it was still looking around confused, knocking him out.

“Return, Seedot!” The man returned Seedot to its Poke Ball and got out another one. He seemed slightly angered. “C’mon out, Staryu!”

A star-shaped Pokemon came out of the Poke Ball. “Hiyah!” it shouted.

“Zigzagoon, Headbutt again!”

“Harden, Staryu!” Staryu turned white and shiny and hardened its body as the furry Pokemon ran closer. “Rapid Spin!”

Zigzagoon hit Staryu, but got knocked back by Staryu’s spinning.

“Water Gun!” Staryu shot out a blast of water that hit Zigzagoon. Zigzagoon collapsed from exhaustion.

“Zigzagoon, return! You were awesome,” Geoff said as he returned his Pokemon to its Fast Ball. “You’re up, Sandshrew!” Geoff looked at Sandshrew, but moaned when he saw that Sandshrew had fallen asleep. He kicked Sandshrew, but he didn’t wake up.

“Ahahaha! This is too easy!” The man laughed. “Water Gun it awake, Staryu!”

Geoff smirked. Perfect. Maybe this whole water fear thing’ll come in handy.

Staryu blasted Sandshrew with water, which made his eyes shoot open. Instantaneously, Sandshrew started running around, screaming, with its arms flailing everywhere.

“What the... Staryu, Rapid Spin it!” Staryu began spinning, then flew at Sandshrew. Luckily, Sandshrew’s hand knocked it away while scratching it. “Huh? Staryu, Swift it!”

“Sandshrew, roll into a ball!” He didn’t listen. “A ball! You know, round, and... … A BALL!” Luckily he swatted away all of the stars from Staryu’s Swift.

Sandshrew was beginning to snap out of its water fit when Staryu blasted him again. “SHROO!” Sandshrew furiously ran at Staryu, picked it up by one of it‘s legs, and threw it like a Frisbee. Staryu hit a tree branch and was caught in the tree. Its red orb was blinking.

“Cool. Sorta like a real Frisbee getting stuck in a tree!” Geoff laughed at the situation.

“Aw, crap! Staryu, return...”

After the man returned Staryu and Geoff dried off and hugged Sandshrew, the two of them started talking.

“.. Does that Sandshrew know Rage or something?” the man asked.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea.” Geoff smiled.

“Well, you earned that ride to Wharlevee, kid.” He got in his jeep. “Hop in.”

“Wait- I don’t even know your name!” Geoff exclaimed.

“Uh... err, it’s... Timothy?” the man told Geoff.

Geoff rolled his eyes. A ride’s a ride. And it’ll take a lot less time. “Okay, whatever.”

Geoff got in the passenger seat and put Sandshrew in the back.

“How come that thing stays out of its Poke Ball?” ‘Timothy’ asked.

Geoff looked right at his eyes. “Protection. And stuff.”

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They had driven for hours silently. It was night now, and Geoff was getting tired. He had been staring at his PokeCom the whole time, just to be sure they were actually heading toward Wharlevee Town.

Suddenly, the jeep stopped. They were right by Wharlevee. Without saying a word, ‘Timothy’ took a cloth and wrapped it around Geoff’s eyes.

“What are you doing? Sandshrew!” His Pokemon was sadly asleep as ‘Timothy’ tied Geoff’s hands together around his back. He then took an oddly-smelling rag and put it up to Geoff’s face.

“You’re going to make a nice addition to Nemesis!” ‘Timothy’ told his victim.

“What’s Nemesis? Grr, I knew you were bad!” Geoff began getting dizzy, but he managed to scream out ‘SANDSHREW!’ before fading into unconsciousness.

Its ears perked up and its eyes popped open. Once Sandshrew realized that the man was hurting his trainer, he jumped onto the man’s head and pulled on his hair. He then scratched up his face.

“You stupid rat! Ahhhh!” ‘Timothy’ stopped what he was doing and tried to get the creature off. But after Sandshrew started pushing his eyes in and scratching at his scalp, the man got out of the jeep. Sandshrew bit the man’s shoulder before getting off his head.

“Nothing’s worth this!” he screamed before running away. Sandshrew scampered to Geoff’s belt and pushed on the Fast Ball, releasing Zigzagoon. Sandshrew filled the little guy in about what happened before they began trying to pull Geoff out of the jeep.

Wharlevee could be seen off in the distance.

[Mew Trainer Rose]

Yay, he finally got Zigzagoon! It's cute, in a hyper sort of way.

Eep, the resident up-and-coming evil group almost got him. Hurray for Sandshrew and his ability to attack the guy until he was too annoyed/hurt to stick around! I hope they don't feel he's worth the effort after all and come back. But, then again, the antagonists would be uninteresting if they didn't interact with the protagonist again.

[DannyBoy]

First thing first, I think you posted chapters a little to fast. If you post chapters to fast you may fall behind and then wait long periods of time inbetween chapters...trsut me, I know.

But good to see this fic back up. Haven't heard of this in a while. Good reading about Sandshrew and Zigzagoon. Don't see many of them in fics. I loved its main big chapter. It was hilarious balancing Sunkerns on its nose. I could see that and laughed a little.

From a guess on remembering which with me isn't that good but I can see a slight improvement from when you first did this. But everyone improves over time so will see how this goes. See ya!

[PSmurf]

Immortal he said that he would post fast until chapter 9 cuz he has all those written!

Anyway that cool that he finally caught the Zigzagoon. I can't wait till the new chapters start!

[geoff]

Hmmm, ImmortalDreams, I believe you may have a point. I think it actually would be best to slow down the chapter-posting beginning now, as this next chapter (6) introduces the 2nd main character to the mix~ Ronan Dagny. Plus, school starts Monday and this way I can readjust to school while not having to take the time to create new chapters every week. I think I might push chapter 6 back till Friday... then I could have chapter 7 sunday. And from then on it would be weekly (posted every Sunday, more than likely. Maybe Saturday as the boards are probably busier then).

Ohhh, that's also good timing as Chapter 7 is arguably more important than Chapter 6- a rather surprising (and MEGA important) fact about Ronan is discovered and Geoff faces his toughest opponent yet. I love it. =P

So, as of now expect Chapter 6 to be posted Friday, then Chapter 7 two days later. Awesome suggestion, ImmortalDreams (and may I say, I very much still love X-Tina! lol). But let's get to replying to the other comments!

Mew Trainer Rose: I'm glad you enjoy Zigzagoon! He's a very comical character. And of course this 'Nemesis' group will interact with Geoff in some way again (as well as with Ronan and all other main characters, of course). The course of events will definitely be altered by Nemesis.

ImmortalDreams: Thanks for stopping by! And thanks for telling me I've improved a little. It's easier to make something better when you've written a year ago, but I'm glad you noticed.

Papa Smurf: Unfortunately, with my new revelation Chapter 10 won't be posted until like, 3 weeks from now. Sorry! But there's still some good stuff to read before that. ^_^;;;


Well, to tide you over till Friday (hopefully), I think I'll describe the changes I've made to it. I'm hoping that it'll get both groups (first-time readers and... rereading readers... hehe) interested in Chapter 6.

1) I've eliminated Nurse Joy from the fic. In retrospect, it seemed too overdone and unoriginal. Instead, the nurses will look like actual people. =P And different from each other.

2) The conversation between the nurse and Geoff has been lengthened because of further dialogue and description.

3) Ronan's attitude has been toned down some. In short, he's less of an a-hole. =P The comedy in his conversations with Geoff are still there IMO, though. Their first conversation has also been lengthened.

Well, see you all soon and have fun waiting n such! =D

[geoff]

Well, it's Friday, and that means that Chapter 6 will be poted today! Err.. now! I already went over the changes, so that's all said and done.

I think I'll try to remember to post the pic of the new town/city premiered in the chapter (if there is one) before the actual chapter. Just so you can immediately envision its layout and whatnot. =D So:

Wharlevee Town! (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/zoom_wharlevee.html)

And, without further delay, the next chapter of GANTUN: Onset! Hope you like it.


GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 6 [A Ferry Odd New Relationship]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html) and Ronan Dagny (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ronandagny.html)

“Oh my god!” A lady screamed as she walked outside her dark green house. In the middle of the road was an unconscious teenager being dragged by a Sandshrew and Zigzagoon. Sandshrew was still trying to drag him by his arms, but Zigzagoon was too worn out to continue helping. Yesterday’s battle took most of the energy from him, and he collapsed.

The lady dropped her suitcase in her yard, then ran over to the kid and checked his pulse. She had short brown hair and had high heels on. “He’s still breathing. Okay.” She began thinking of what to do. She was wearing a blue business suit because she was going to go to work. “We need to get you to a hospital, or... the Pokemon Center! Yeah, Nurse Joy will know what to do!”

She first picked up the collapsed Zigzagoon and put him in the large, left inside pocket of her jacket. She then struggled to pick up the boy, but couldn’t. “Help! I need help! Somebody, this boy’s unconscious!”

A few people ran out of their homes when they heard the lady screaming. A man in a white bathrobe ran over and helped her pick the kid up. Another woman in a tee shirt and jeans picked the tired Sandshrew up. The three of them then began hurriedly walking to the Pokemon Center.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoff opened his eyes slowly and sat up. He found himself in a room with white walls and an off-white tile floor. He was sitting in a small bed with white sheets.

A nurse peeked inside the room to check on him. “Oh, you’re awake!” The nurse said as she noticed he was sitting up. She was wearing a white nurse hat and uniform, and had wavy brown hair tied back in a bun. Her hat had a red cross on it. “Don’t worry, you’re Pokemon have been healed. They sure were little troopers!” She smiled.

“What?” Geoff rubbed his head. He still felt a little dizzy. “What are you talking about?”

“This morning some people brought you and your Pokemon here. You were unconscious. One of the ladies said that she found you on the ground, with your Pokemon trying to drag you.”

Geoff tried to remember what happened. I battled this guy... Timothy, yeah. After, he... drove me to Wharlevee! So why was I unconscious? Geoff’s eyes widened. He stopped, then blindfolded me! The last thing I remember is breathing some strange smell in. My Pokemon must’ve dragged me into town. He smiled at how courageous they were.

“Do you remember anything, sir?” The nurse asked. Her name tag said “Debra”. She looked worried.

“Yeah. This guy, he was giving me a ride to Wharlevee. But he stopped right before we entered the town, and he blindfolded me.”

“With this?” Nurse Debra held up a piece of black fabric. “Your Zigzagoon had it in its mouth.”

“He must’ve taken it off me.” Geoff was proud of Zigzagoon. It had been knocked out only hours earlier, but it came through for him.

“Do you know how or when you became unconscious?” She asked.

“After blindfolding me, the guy put a cloth over my nose and mouth. It smelled really odd...”

“Oh, no. It must’ve been coated with some chemical that knocked you out. Well, I checked you out while you were still unconscious, and you had no wounds. I wonder why he knocked you out if he wasn’t going to do anything to you.” Nurse Debra had a puzzled look on her face.

Geoff then remembered something else. “He said something to me. He said... ‘You’re going to make a nice addition to Nemesis...’. What’s Nemesis?” Geoff asked her. The dizziness had gone away, and he felt fine.

“I don’t know... I’ll go tell the police. Why don’t you come with me?” Nurse Joy began walking out, and Geoff followed. They walked to the front of the center. She reached below the counter and grabbed a Poke Ball and Fast Ball. “Here. I’m sure they’re worried about you.”

Geoff took his Pokemon and released them while the nurse dialed the police.

“San!” Sandshrew hugged Geoff‘s leg, happy he was safe. He was surprisingly perky. Zigzagoon just smiled and jumped up and down... a lot.

“Thanks you guys. You saved me!” Geoff smiled at his Pokemon, and thought they were the best Pokemon a guy could have. Well, reasonably speaking.

“Yes, officer. He said the man talked about Nemesis,” Nurse Debra told the officer on the other line. “Just a moment.” She covered the receiver. “Geoff, the police are on the other line. They want to talk to you.”

“Okay.” Geoff walked over. “... How do you know my name?”

“Your PokeCom.” She smiled. Geoff thought he looked stupid, and laughed nervously. “Oh, yeah.”

“… The phone?”

“Oh!” Geoff took the black phone, and began speaking into it.. “Hello?”

“Yes, sir. We need you to give a description of this man that attacked you.” The police officer sounded old. And uninterested.

“Okay, well... he was dressed in black leather. He looked to be maybe in his early twenties, and had short, black hair that was slicked back. He was also thin.” Geoff answered.

“Okay, sir. Now, do you remember what type of car it was?” The officer asked through the phone.

“Yes. It was a darkish orange jeep. I asked him why it was orange, but he got defensive so I let it go.” Geoff told the officer everything he knew. “He had a Seedot and a Staryu, if that helps. He said his name was Timothy, but I don’t believe him.”

“Okay, thank you. You’ve been lot of help.” The officer said before hanging up. Geoff gave the phone to Nurse Debra.

“Well, you’re free to go. Just call the police if you think of anything else.” The nurse told Geoff. He returned Zigzagoon and picked up Sandshrew.

“Okay, thanks for everything you’ve done. Oh, don’t call my parents. It’ll only worry them for no reason.” Geoff began walking out, but turned back.

“Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Of course. What is it?”

“… this IS Wharlevee, right?”

“Oh! Yes, of course. Wharlevee Town (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/zoom_wharlevee.html).”

“Good. I was wondering where the nearest Gym city was.” Geoff was a little embarrassed, as he sounded like some tourist.

“That would be Littorine City. It’s located Northeast of here, but it’s on an island. You’ll have to take the ferry. Just go left out these doors, and walk straight. You’ll find the ferry.”

“Thanks, nurse!” Geoff opened the glass doors and stepped outside. He looked around to see what the town looked like. It was pretty small- he could see the ocean not too far away. He put Sandshrew down, then checked his PokeCom and saw that he was facing east. He turned left, like the Nurse said, and began walking. It took Sandshrew a little bit to figure out that Geoff was walking away. He scurried to catch up. All the houses were small, yet were painted brightly. Probably to make the town seem more lively... Geoff thought.

He looked ahead and checked the map- he was now facing north. He put his PokeCom away and focused on finding the ferry.

“Let’s see... Nurse Joy said it’d be straight ahead.” Geoff squinted, and saw what looked like a boat or ferry of some sort. He quickly ran toward it, and noticed that the road was entirely empty. Wow, this town sure is small.

He stopped when he realized the size of the ferry. It was a huge boat with a flat bottom and a large open space for cars, boxes, or anything else needing transport. Most of it was white, but the bottom parts were dark blue.

“Wow. I didn’t think it was that big... I guess it transports a lot more than people.” Geoff stared in awe, then began walking toward it. “It almost seems bigger than this town… “ Geoff said with a laugh.

Just then, he heard someone fall behind him. He turned around to see Sandshrew rolled into a ball and a kid face down on the ground.

“Oh great, Sandshrew!” Geoff sighed, then ran toward the kid. “Are you okay?” Geoff asked and extended his hand.

“I’m okay,” the boy said as he got up on his own. “That Sandshrew rolled right under my foot, and made me fall.” He glared at Sandshrew, now unrolled, angrily.

“... San...” Sandshrew said to the boy, scared. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and had on a long-sleeved zip-up shirt. He brushed off his white pants and stretched his back.

“I’m really sorry... Sandshrew is a little slow to react sometimes.” Sandshrew frowned at Geoff’s excuse. “I can tell he’s really sorry as well.” Geoff looked at Sandshrew, and made an expression to his Pokemon that seemed to say ‘Geez!’. Then his attention returned to the boy. “My name’s Geoff Shokou, by the way.”

The boy looked at Geoff without any emotion. “Ronan, Dagny. So this thing is yours?”

“Yeah. I’m a beginner trainer from Coveldt.” He pulled off his Fast Ball. “I have Sandshrew.. obviously, and this Zigzagoon.”

“I live here in Wharlevee. My family lives right over there.” Ronan pointed somewhere to the left of the ferry. “My parents run a Pokemon breeding service for water Pokemon.”

“That’s cool. Do you plan on becoming a Pokemon breeder?”

“Never... I’d take the thrill of battling over breeding any day.” Ronan looked at the ferry. “Well, I was on my way to getting onto the ferry before your stupid Sandshrew tripped me.”

“Sandshrew’s not stupid!” Geoff told him before picking up Sandshrew, who was staring at Ronan with a sad face.

“Whatever.” Ronan began walking away.

“Wait!” Ronan turned around. “When does the ferry leave?” Geoff asked.

“In twenty minutes.”

“Oh.” Geoff continued looking at Ronan.

“What?” Ronan seemed annoyed.

“Well, I have time to spare, so... umm, why don’t you show me your parents’ business? I’m really interested to see what it’s like.”

“No.”

“.... Please?”

“I said no.”

“Why not?”

“Let’s see… we just met! And I don‘t like you.”

“So?”

“So, no! Leave me alone.”

“Aww... Come on!”

Ronan sighed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Ronan had reluctantly led Geoff to the beach, probably just to make him stop bothering him, where the Dagny’s lived. They were now standing at the shore. The ocean was choppy and violent today.

“Everyday, my parents search the sea for injured Pokemon, although they rarely find any.”

“That’s really neat. Do they take care of them?” Geoff asked.

“No, they put them in tanks and let them die.” Ronan gave Geoff a look, signifying that he thought Geoff was an idiot. “They capture them in a net and transport them to a tank. They then care for them until they are at full health, then release them back into the sea.” Ronan stared out into the ocean.

“I’m guessing they don’t get paid to do that, so what do they do for money?” Geoff looked at Ronan. Sandshrew was holding onto Geoff’s left leg, staring at the sea while shaking uncontrollably.

“... The breeding service, duh.” Ronan shook his head at Geoff in disbelief.

Geoff looked around dumbly. “.... Oh. Yeah.”

Ronan sighed, obviously wanting to get away from what he considered a loser. But he had nothing better to do until it was time for the ferry to leave. “It’s only been around seven minutes.”

“So…. Would you mind…”

Ronan sighed. “Fine. I guess I’ll show you the business.” Ronan began walking toward a large sea-foam green house, and Geoff followed. It was hard to walk with Sandshrew on his leg, though, so he shook him off. Sandshrew then walked beside him, grumbling.

“My parents run the business from their house, although they have separate rooms for the Pokemon.” Ronan and Geoff walked inside the house. Geoff found himself in a living room with white walls and tan leather furniture.

“Mom, Dad. I know I said I was leaving, but this person wanted to check out your business so I led him here.” Ronan’s mom entered the room. She looked rather old, maybe in her middle fifties. Her hair was gray and she was wearing a light blue uniform- Geoff assumed that she was in the middle of working with a Pokemon.

“Why hello there, boy. I was just tending to a few Pokemon. I can show you if you like.” She walked back out of the room. Her voice was raspy. Geoff decided to follow her, as did Ronan.

The two of them found her petting an Azurril while two Totodile ran around the white room with Poke Balls painted on the walls. She was rocking in a dark brown rocking chair.

“This is what I do all day- care for water Pokemon. The marine ones are in tanks in another room. I’ve taken care of this Azurril for awhile now. We found it floating in the ocean. It had a nasty cut on its stomach, but we healed that. Right now, I’m hoping someone will buy it. It’s just so cute that I know some girl will.” The lady put down the Azurril and looked at Geoff. “Unless... you want it?”

“Nah, I don’t think I have the money to.” Geoff knew about his account, but thought that he’d catch all of his Pokemon instead of simply buying them. “But someone will.”

“Oh, well that’s fine. Are you going to travel with my son during his journey?”

“Mom, I don’t think so. You know I like being alone.” Ronan shot a nasty look at Geoff. “You wouldn’t want a traveling partner anyway, right?”

“Uh... of course not.” Geoff was beginning to not like Ronan. “Will the ferry be leaving soon?”

“Oh, yeah. I think so.” Ronan looked at his mom. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you in awhile. Bye!” With that, he left the room.

“I better go to, I don’t want to miss the ferry. Goodbye, Mrs. Dagny! You have a nice service!” Geoff and Sandshrew waved to her and left.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoff ran up the dock and got on the ferry just as it was about to leave. Sandshrew wasn’t too far behind, but had to jump to get on.

“We made it, Sandshrew!” Geoff exclaimed as he caught and hugged his Pokemon.

“Thank you for choosing to use Wharralt Ferry Service. That will be 50 PokeDollars,” the man beside Geoff told him. He was a large man with a long, white beard. “It’s usually 100, but I can see that you’re a trainer. Trainers travel for half the price.”

“Oh, okay. That’s really cool, thanks! ” Geoff fished 50 dollars out of his right pocket. “Here.”

“Thank you, young man. Please ride again!” The man walked off after receiving the money and giving Geoff a blue ferry ticket, proving that he paid.

“Let’s go see if we can find Ronan. Even if I think he doesn’t like me... at least we know him. And maybe he knows what kind of Gym Littorine has.” Geoff and Sandshrew began walking along the paneled deck, seeing various people and Pokemon. But no Ronan. “He must be inside.”

Geoff and Sandshrew went downstairs inside but found no Ronan. “He did get on the ferry... right? Eh, maybe he missed it. That’d actually be better, since he’s sort of mean.”

Just then, a voice came on the loudspeaker. “The ferry will reach Littorine Island in approximately one hour. I repeat, we will reach Littorine Island is approximately one hour. Have a nice time, and make sure to use Wharralt Ferry Service for your future ferrying needs.”

“So we have one hour to reach Littorine.” Geoff and Sandshrew went back up to the deck. Geoff sat down in an empty chair by the stairs and looked out at the ocean. “I wonder what type the first Gym Leader is.”

Sandshrew blinked, then stared at the ocean in horror.

“Let’s see. I have a Normal type and a Ground Type. Having it be a ….Fire… Electric…. or Poison Gym would be awesome. But it could also be a Grass, Ice, or Rock Gym. That would be bad. But, with my luck.. watch it be a Water Gym. With… water everywhere. That would be the worst possible type there could be.” Geoff turned to Sandshrew, slightly frightened at the mentioning of ‘water’ so many times. “But, what are the chances of that actually happening?”

[PSmurf]

Cool chapter, I can't wait for the next chapter its hillarious how you set Geoff up for that gym in which the type is unknown. Cool keep up the good work.

Spelling and grammer still needs a few work but its getting better.

[Mew Trainer Rose]

“But, what are the chances of that actually happening?”
hillarious. bet it's on an island, and that's why they need to take a ferry.

nice work, looking forward to the gym.

[DannyBoy]

Iremember Ronan, I hated him. He just sucks but that good though for the fic. Readers need somone to hate and I just didn't like his personality which you did a good job on. SLowly remembering more and more about this Can't wait for more and I think I know the next gym battle and what happens. Can't wait to see if im right, see ya!

[geoff]

Papa Smurf~ I'm glad you're liking it. Yeah, maybe in a way I gave away what type of gym it was, but that just gives the fic a little dramatic irony. hehe

Mew Trainer Rose~ Yep, Littorine City is on the coast of a fairly small island. But far ahead in the future something very very close to that island will play a huge part in the climax of the entire "GANTUN:" series. ;D

ImmortalDreams~ Hmm, I didn't realize the importance of a hated character in a fic before. That's good though- although I toned down Ronan's character (and the chapter I'm currently writing shows him at his least hateful), something in Chapter 11 (or around there) will happen that will make everyone hopefully just hate him again. Maybe even more than before... but maybe not. XD

Well, moving on, it's time to post up Chapter 7! And since this premieres Littorine Island/City, here's the new zoomed map:

Littorine Island/City! (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/zoom_littorine.html)

And with that, here is chapter 7! BTW, with all future chapters being posted weekly (on the weekend), I think I'll do a little preview-ish thing on Wednesday or Thursday in order to keep people interested. Let me know if you think it's a good idea or not, and... enjoy chapter 7!


GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 7 [Watery Woes at Littorine Gym]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html), Ronan Dagny (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ronandagny.html) and Reese [Gym Leader] (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/reese.html)

Geoff tilted his head and sighed. The ocean had calmed down a little, and it sparkled in the light. I never thought an hour could go by so slow! His leg began twitching. Sandshrew was in his lap, sleeping. I guess I’m just antsy. I want to battle now!”

“Well then go downstairs. Trainers are battling there, you know.”

Geoff looked to the right in shock, and saw Ronan standing there, looking at him. After a long silence, Geoff spoke. “What did you say?”

Ronan rolled his eyes. “I said that trainers are battling their Pokemon downstairs. If you want to battle so bad, just go there.”

Geoff’s eyes widened. Can he... read my mind? And how did he manage to just pop up?

“I wasn’t trying to find you, Geoff.” He laughed a little and shook his head. “The ferry is so big that you can accidentally run into someone pretty easily.”

Geoff freaked out and stood up in shock. His face turned pale. This…. is…. too weird! He picked up Sandshrew, who had plopped onto the floor when he stood up out of the metal chair, and ran to the nearest stairs.

Ronan smirked as Geoff ran away. He’s so stupid. Ronan began walking in the opposite direction.

Geoff ran down the stairs, then stopped at the bottom. He was panting loudly. He looked around to see a large, dark room filled with teenagers and Pokemon.

“What’s your problem?” one of the kids there asked. “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Maybe just a ghost Pokemon!” another exclaimed, and the whole group chuckled.

Geoff glared at the boy, and stopped panting.

“You here to battle or something?” A girl asked. She had long, black hair put in pigtails. She wore a brown tank top and blue trousers.

“Yeah.” Geoff managed to get out. He was still in shock over what Ronan had done.

“Good. I’m in the mood.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poke Ball. “One on one sound good?”

“That’s fine with me.” Geoff touched the Fast Ball.

“Cool,” She said as she began to throw the Ball toward the area between them. “C’mon out, cutie!”

Geoff was shocked. The girl didn’t seem like the girly-girl type. As the light from the Ball faded, a little red reptilian thing with small claws and a ducky nose was standing between Geoff and the girl. The other kids backed away toward the walls to give the Pokemon more space. “Bee!” The creature said in a baby voice.

Geoff smile. “Yes, a fire type!”

“Type’s not everything! My cutie wootie Magby is strong, too!” The girl clutched her hands together and made a baby face as she praised her Pokemon.

“But it’s still a lot!” Geoff said, then kicked Sandshrew. “Wake up! You’ve got to battle!”

Sandshrew yawned, then sat up and rubbed its eyes. “Shroo...” He walked toward Magby clumsily, still waking up.

“Oh, this is pathetic. Smokescreen, Cutie!” The girl ordered. Black fumes shot out of Magby’s mouth and engulfed Sandshrew.

“Oh, please. Sand Attack the smoke away!” Geoff told Sandshrew. Sandshrew yawned in, then let out a small blast of sand that mixed with he smoke and moved over to Magby.

“Well that didn’t work.” She frowned. “Leer through the smoke, then Pound that shrew!”

Magby’s eyes became red, and Sandshrew couldn’t help but stare at the mystifying eyes, becoming entranced. Out of nowhere, the Magby jumped high out of the smoke and used its tiny hands to Pound on Sandshrew.

Sandshrew winced, then Scratched the Pokemon off. Unfortunately, Magby’s body burned Sandshrew’s hand, and it leaped up in pain.

“Oh, no! Sandshrew, roll into a ball!” After coming back down, Sandshrew formed its body into a perfect sphere. “Hey… he actually did it this time.”

“Ha! It’s called Defense Curl, you know. ‘Roll into a ball’, that’s genius!” The girl and her friends laughed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Ronan stood by the door, where the stairs were. Too bad I can’t listen to the battles from up here. It was oddly windy, and his blonde hair swayed about. Why don’t I just walk down there? No... He looked to his right, where a group of people were laying down on towels. Towels? What’s wrong with chairs? Ronan dismissed the oddity as his mind began became jumbled with their thoughts.

Am I actually thin enough to look good in this bikini? one of the girls thought.

There sure are a lot of fine honeys here today. I wonder if I can hook one? A guy thought.

Oh my god, who does she think she is? She looks like a tramp.

La la la... sure is nice out today. Perfect for tanning!

“Gah!” Ronan screamed as he gripped his head with his hands.

What’s his problem?

Someone has issues.

Ronan closed his eyes and blocked their voices out. “I hate this...” he whispered to himself.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ember!” The girl shouted. She was really into the battle.

“Sandshrew, roll around Magby!” Geoff ordered. Magby began shooting flames at Sandshrew, but found it hard to hit its target when it’s rolling around him. Sandshrew then hit Magby and unrolled himself. “Good, Magby is all confused. Scratch!”

“No, umm... Ember again!” Magby ended up singeing the girl’s left pigtail out of confusion. She screamed and hopped around, asking for help. Sandshrew’s claws grew white and he scratched Magby up. The tiny Pokemon fell down, dazed and knocked out.

The girl managed to get the flame out and noticed that her Pokemon was knocked out. “Oh, great... return, Magby!” She returned it to its Poke Ball and walked over to Geoff.

“Yeah!” Geoff said and did a thumbs-up to Sandshrew. He tried doing the same but found it difficult to do with short, stubby claws for fingers.

“Good battle, kid.” The two shook hands. “The name’s Sue.”

“Geoff.”

“You headed to battle the Gym?” She asked as she checked out her burnt left pigtail and frowned.

“Of course. Do you know anything about it?” Geoff became excited.

“Well... I heard the Leader’s name is Reese. Passing trainers in Anchoralt have told me he likes Water types.” She tried fixing her hair.

Geoff’s head sunk. “Water types?” He groaned.

“Hey, I could be wrong. I just hear this from passing trainers.” She tried to explain.

“You’re from Anchoralt? Where’s that?” Geoff tried to take his mind off the Gym.

“To the west of Littorine. I was visiting family in Wharlevee, and now I’m going home.” She looked at Geoff. “There’s no Gym, in case you were wondering.”

Grr.. there’s too many non-Gym cities! he thought, then remembered Sandshrew. “Are you alright, little guy?” he asked as he walked over to him. Sandshrew smiled.

“San!” He happily told Geoff.

“Attention- we are now boarding Littorine dock. Please prepare to exit the ferry if your destination is Littorine Island,” the loudspeaker boomed. Many of the kids groaned as they walked over to their belongings.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoff took a deep breath and smelled the salty air. He was standing on the wooden dock leading from the ferry to the shore. Littorine City (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/zoom_littorine.html) could be seen not too far away. Sandshrew was staring at the water right by him, carefully walking on the dock.

“Sandshrew,” Geoff looked down at his Pokemon, “are you ready? Today’s our first gym battle. That Magby was a pushover, and I hope that the leader’s Pokemon are easy, too!”

Sandshrew attempted a thumbs-up, but it didn’t really work. Again. “Shroo!”

Just then, Geoff was pushed down from behind. After pushing himself up into a sitting position, he turned to find Ronan staring at him.

“Oops.. didn’t see you.” Ronan smirked. “Guess we’re even.”

Geoff was a little scared from his last encounter with Ronan, but tried not to show it. “Maybe you should look where you’re going next-”

“Maybe you should not stand around in the middle of the dock,” Ronan butted in.

Jerk, Geoff thought, knowing Ronan could hear him. Ronan smiled.

He stopped smiling as he realized something. “Oh! You know, I thought you looked familiar, Geoff. I saw you on the news this morning. What was it... your Pokemon had to drag you into town ‘cause you were doped up?”

Geoff glared at him. “I wasn’t doped up. Someone from some Nemesis thing attacked me.” Sandshrew imitated Geoff’s glare.

“Whatever.” Ronan began walking away. “I’m going to get my Pokemon now.”

“I hope you don’t like it,” Geoff commented.

Ronan stopped, but didn’t turn around. “Oh, I’ll like it. I like all...” He turned around and looked at Geoff, “... Water Pokemon.” He walked away, laughing.

“Oh, great. Now it’s really a Water Gym.” Geoff stood up and made a fist. “But... that doesn’t matter! We can beat him. Like Sue said! Type’s not everything.”

Sandshrew looked at Geoff and folded his arms, trying to remind Geoff that he had beaten the Magby.

“... that’s, different.” Geoff sighed. “Bleh, let’s just give it our best shot!”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The two were now standing in front of a large building. Behind them was the ocean, which was far too close for comfort in Sandshrew’s opinion. The building reminded Geoff of waves as well. The front was actually made of two plastic waves- coming from opposite directions and splashing into each other above the clear glass door.

“You’d think they wouldn’t put a building so close to the ocean. Oh well, let’s just go inside.” Geoff opened the door, and he and Sandshrew walked inside to find that the floor was modeled to look just like water- there were even little waves now and then. “Major safety hazard...”

The cloud-like roof was flat and near to the ground. “This place feels so small...” The walls were sand-colored. It looked just like a beach.

They walked to the middle of the room, where the service desk was. A blonde surfer dude was standing behind it.

“What’ll it be, dudes? Registration or battle?” He had a red Hawaiian shirt on.

“Battle.” Geoff answered. “My first Gym one.”

“Wow, that’s cool. Well, right now Reese is registering a trainer. You’ll have to wait a little bit, but good luck dude!”

“Thanks.” He and Sandshrew walked over to the left wall, where a few blue benches were.

In another room that was similar to the main room, Reese was talking to Ronan. Reese had a khaki headband and pants on, and a blue-green shirt. His blue hair was wet, so he had probably been in the water earlier. He was standing in front of a computer, with a blue version PokeCom hooked up to it.

“Ronan Dagny, from Wharlevee Town. Age sixteen.... birthday?” Reese asked.

“June 1st,” Ronan answered. You could tell he was excited.

“Ah, you just turned sixteen then! Well, it’s all ready.” He unhooked the PokeCom and gave it to Ronan. “Now, the fun part! Be right back.” Reese walked away, and returned with four Poke Balls and a matching Badge Case.

“Okay, I’ve got four Pokemon for you to choose from. But first, take this.” He handed over the Badge Case, and Ronan put it in his pocket. “Okay, first we have Surskit!”

He released the small water skater Pokemon, and it smiled at Ronan. “Eh... maybe. A little too cute, though.” Ronan commented.

“Okay, next is a Poliwag.” Reese threw the Poke Ball to the ground, and a blue tadpole Pokemon materialized. It had a swirl on its stomach.

“Eh… I’m not really into the Poli’s...” Ronan said. Reese recalled the Poliwag.

“There’s also this Tentacool...” Reese released the squid Pokemon and it flopped around. Its two tentacles flung everywhere.

“Eww, no!” Ronan exclaimed. He hated slimy things. Reese recalled the Tentacool as Surskit yawned.

“Last one is a little Clamperl.” The Clamperl didn’t even reach Ronan’s calves, but his eyes lit up.

“That one’s perfect!” Ronan picked it up and it’s insides jiggled around. Clamperl smiled and laughed.

“Clam!” It squealed with delight.

“Good decision!” Reese said as he returned Surskit and gave Ronan Clamperl’s Poke Ball. “I’m sure you two will get along great. I’ve got to go now, so please excuse me.”

Reese walked out the door and into the main room. Geoff stood up.

“Oh, you got a challenger right over there, Reese,” the surfer guy told the Gym leader.

“Oh, great. I’ve been itching to battle.” Reese walked over to Geoff. “What’s your name?”

“Geoff Shokou. I would like to battle you in order to... umm, receive my first badge.” Geoff was shaking because he was so nervous. Why am I being like this? It’s just a battle...

Ronan walked into the room with the Clamperl in his hands. Geoff’s butterflies went away when he saw Ronan. Unfortunately, they were replaced with annoyance.

“Let’s get this thing started!” Reese said and clasped his hands together.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Reese and Geoff had gone outside and walked over to another dock, by the Gym. Sandshrew was first retuned to his Poke Ball, of course. They walked a bit before coming upon a battlefield... in the water. It was two white square pillars with two large round pillars in the middle of the area surrounded by four smaller ones. All the pillars came up to about a foot above sea level.

Oh great. Sandshrew’s going to freak! Geoff thought as carefully got on one of the square pillars. Reese hopped across the pillars and reached the other square one.

“Okay... this will obviously be the battlefield... err, battle area.” Reese laughed. “How many Pokemon do you have?”

“Two,” Geoff replied. He became very nervous again.

“Okay, it’ll be a two-on-two battle for my Ripple Badge.” Reese got out a Poke Ball. “Ready?”

“... Yeah.” Geoff touched Zigzagoon’s Poke Ball. He really hoped that Zigzagoon could defeat both of Reese’s water Pokemon. Sandshrew would go crazy if he saw where he’d have to battle.

“Go, Seel!” Reese threw the Poke Ball into the water, and the whole area turned pink. The Poke Ball flew out of the water and into Reese’s hand before the white sea lion Pokemon surfaced.

“Seel, Seel!” It clapped its hands while saying its name.

“Okay, go Zigzagoon!” Geoff carefully tossed the Fast Ball onto one of the large round pillars. Out came Zigzagoon, who started jumping up and down out of excitement.

“A Zigzagoon, eh? looks like you’ll have no type advantage in this battle,” Reese noticed, remembering that Geoff also had a Sandshrew.

“That’s not all that counts, though!” Geoff told him. “Let’s show him, Zigzagoon! Tackle!”

“Slam, Seel!”

Zigzagoon jumped to the pillar on his left, which was closest to Seel. He thought for a second, then jumped and hit Seel on its face. Unfortunately, Zigzagoon couldn’t swim very well, and was helpless in the water once he landed in it. Seel hopped into the air, then slammed down on Zigzagoon, stirring up a large ripple of water.

“Oh, no! Try to swim away!” Geoff suggested to Zigzagoon. He tried to paddle, but Seel merely splashed him away from the pillars with its flipper. The poor little guy was now flailing around in the water, scared by it.

“Ha, ha. This isn’t very fun now, is it? Finish it with Aurora Beam!” Reese laughed.

“No!” Geoff yelled. How does Seel know such a powerful Ice attack?

Seel’s horn glowed white and a pink and blue beam shot out and hit Zigzagoon, freezing it and the water surrounding it.

“No! Grr.. return, Zigzagoon.” Geoff pointed the Fast Ball at Zigzagoon, and the beam returned Zigzagoon and the ice to the ball. That was humiliatingly fast! Oh great… it’ll take a miracle… Geoff sighed. “Well, let’s just hope.... c’mon out, Sandshrew!”

The Poke Ball hit the pillar and opened, causing Sandshrew to materialize.

“Now, don’t be scared-” Geoff tried to calm Sandshrew, but all he was thinking about was how he was surrounded by water.

“Shroo!” He leaped into the air, then ran around one of the large round pillars in a circle trying to get away from the water.

“Sandshrew, you need to fight! Use Sand-Attack!” Geoff tried pleading with his Pokemon, but it was no use. Sandshrew merely rolled into a ball in the middle of the platform and stopped moving.

“Oh, boy.” Reese felt sorry for the kid. “I’ll make this as painless as possible. Aurora-”

“Wait!” Geoff exclaimed. “I ..... I forfeit.”

“Are you sure?”

“… Yes.” Geoff hung his head low as he returned Sandshrew to his Poke Ball.

[Mew Trainer Rose]

Aww, poor Geoff and Sandshrew. Didn't really have a chance in that fight.

It's wierd that Ronan can hear thoughts. I wonder how he can. He certainly doesn't seem to like the ability much.

haveing a chapter preview sometime during the week sounds like a good idea, a nice way to keep interest up. If you decide to go with it, I'll keep my eye out for the first preview.

[PSmurf]

Cool Chapter but poor Sandshrew and Ziggy. Maybe Geoff's *next* Pokemon will help him win.

GTG Bye.

[geoff]

Thanks all for reading it! I'm very busy with 11th grade so I have to make this sorta quick. ^_^;;;; Sorry! Well, a short little appetizer for Chapter 8. It's gonna be sort of random, so just stay with me here. lol

Title~ Chapter 8 [An Addition, a First Badge Win]

Summarized Preview~ After forfeiting the battle, Geoff isn't really sure what to do. Ronan and him meet up again, and after making fun of Geoff, Ronan suggests that hr go to the rural, foresty area to train or catch a Pokemon or something. Antics in the tropical forest ensue and a first gym badge is won.

Changes from Original Version~ Nothing major. Again, dialogue between Ronan and Geoff has been altered and lengthened. The odd happenings in the forest (which include a Totodile and a Gyarados) have been altered slightly as well. The gym battle has been given more details.

Tentative Release Date~ Sunday, August 15th


I also have a little game for anyone who's bored. Basically, try to figure out where the names "Coveldt" [COH-velt], "Wharlevee" [WHAR-leh-Vee], and "Littorine" [LIT-or-Ine] (Ine like Pine) come from. An example would be like Verdanturf coming from Verdant + Turf (in other words, I think, really green land). Also, try to find out the name meanings of Ronan Dagny. Both names are important to a certain extent, but they don't share the same general relation. By that, I mean that Geoff and Shokou both deal with land/earth, but Ronan and Dagny don't share the same concept. This little puzzle is more challenging in that they aren't English words. =P

See you all Sunday with the new chapter! And enjoy your vacation... arg...

[geoff]

Hi all! I'm back... this time with chapter 8! I think it's my personal favorite chapter thus far. School's being really difficult unfortunately, so I'm really glad I decided to hold back on the chapter-posting. hehe

No new city or anything today. And... I'm not really thinking of anything else to say, so here it is! Chapter 8 of GANTUN: Onset.


GANTUN: Onset
Chapter 8 [An Addition, A First Badge Win]

Featuring Geoff Shokou (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/geoffshokou.html), Ronan Dagny (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/ronandagny.html) and Reese [Gym Leader] (http://www.geocities.com/armi330/reese.html)

Geoff walked past the Gym, holding Sandshrew tightly in his arms. He looked rather depressed, and Sandshrew looked up at his trainer.

“It’s not your fault, Sandshrew.” Geoff looked back toward the dock and sighed. “Everyone has a phobia.”

“From the looks of it, you didn’t win.” Ronan was standing on the shaded side of the Gym. “I knew you’d lose.” He walked out into the light.

Geoff didn’t bother to look at Ronan, but did stop walking. “What, can you predict the future as well?”

“No.” Ronan smirked. “But you’re team never stood a chance against Reese’s water Pokemon.

“So?” Geoff was now staring at Ronan.

“So I suggest you make your team better.” Ronan walked toward Geoff. “Whether it be increasing your team or just training your Pokemon.”

“And where would I do that?” Geoff tried to sound sarcastic, but he really did want to know.

“This island isn’t exactly small, stupid. Most of it is wildlife. Why don’t you try there.” Ronan made Geoff sound like an idiot with his words and tone.

“I will.” Geoff walked away on the beach.

“The Pokemon are that way, genius.” Ronan pointed inland.

Geoff became furious. “I think I know that!” He stormed away, toward the city. Stupid Ronan... why can’t he be nice to anyone? Ronan, I hope you here this!

“I do.” Ronan smiled as he watched Geoff go into the city, then shook his head. Fishing through his pocket, he pulled out his Poke Ball. “Go, Clamperl!”

She materialized in the sand. “Clam!” The small marine Pokemon said in a sweet voice.

“Aren’t you so cute?” Ronan asked his Pokemon and picked her up. “You better be strong, too!” He laughed playfully and walked to the Gym’s door.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoff was standing in front of a small white building, similar in design to the PokeCenter in Wharlevee, except this building had a blue roof instead of a red one. Sandshrew was sleeping in Geoff‘s arms.

“All I have is a Luxury Ball and a Net Ball. But I need something like a Grass or Electric Pokemon.” Geoff through for a while. “Hmm... That’s what they gave me money for!”

He opened the glass door and walked inside, He noticed that the small store was empty, except for a bored young man slouching over the blue counter. He had long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing a sky blue collared shirt with ‘PokeMart!’ written on the left side in white. His nametag was below it and read ‘Steve’.

“Excuse me,” Geoff said. The man let out a yawn before standing straight up.

“Wow, a whole two customers in one day. Please tell me you’re here to buy something.”

“Yes, I need a Poke Ball.” Geoff walked up to the counter. “Guess business is slow.”

“Very.” The man walked out from behind the counter. “Most people here aren’t interested in catching Pokemon. The only trainers we get are out-of-island ones.”

Geoff followed him to the opposite side of the store. On the wall were dozens of Balls.

“Wow, that’s a lot of different Balls.”

“Yeah, the good side of slow business is that I never have to restock things.” He pulled a white Ball off a shelf. “May I interest you in a lovely Premier Ball?”

Geoff looked at the oddly colored Ball- it was all white, except for red in the middle. “What’s it do?”

“Nothing special... just a different form of Poke Ball. It was designed so trainers could differentiate between all of their Poke Balls better. Right now only a few have been made, and this is the only one I’ve gotten in a while.” He tossed it to Geoff, but ended up hitting Sandshrew in the head and landing on the floor. “Oh, sorry!”

“Oh, that’s okay.” Geoff looked at his pal, who was still sleeping. He picked up the Premier Ball. “This should be fine. How much is it?”

“$170, kid.” He walked toward the counter.

Geoff reached into his pocket and pulled out the money he had. “Hmm... only $150.”

“Well that’s okay.” He stepped behind the counter. “Do you have a PKTR account?”

“Umm... I think so.” Geoff put the money away and got out his card from his right pocket. “You mean this thing?”

“Yeah. I can just access it and pull out the $170.”

“Okay.” Geoff walked up to him and gave him the silver card. The man slashed it through a machine and typed something. He then pointed to a pad in front of Geoff.

“Type your PIN there.” Geoff thought for a moment.

“Aww crap... what was my PIN again?” Geoff tried to remember what his parents had told him a few days ago. “Oh yeah, 1-”

“Don’t say it out loud, man,” the guy warned. “Just type it.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Geoff typed 1245 on the pad while trying to hold Sandshrew with his right hand.

“Okay, and...” the man typed a few more things into the computer, “there you go!”

Geoff took his card and Premier Ball and put them in his pocket. A receipt was printed out, and he took that as well. “Out of curiosity, who was the other person to come in today?”

“Some odd dude with blonde hair. He was wearing blue, and purchased a Net Ball and Luxury Ball, I think.”

Huh? Ronan bought two Balls that I already have? That’s really coincidental... Geoff turned to leave. “Okay, thanks!”

“Anytime.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“So how many Pokemon do you have?” Reese asked as he stepped onto his pillar.

“Still just one.” Ronan said nonchalantly as he prepared for battle.

“Looks like I have the advantage of knowing what it is, then.” Reese commented as he got out a Poke Ball. “One on one, obviously.”

“Let’s do this.” Reese had Clamperl’s Poke Ball clutched in his right hand.

“Okay, Wingull!” Reese threw his Poke Ball high into the air, and the small seagull Pokemon was released. Reese caught the Poke Ball as it landed.

“C’mon out, Clamperl!” Ronan tossed the Poke Ball underneath the sea, and Clamperl lit up the ocean as it materialized. The Poke Ball flew out of the ocean and into Ronan’s hand. “Looks like this one’s pretty much air versus sea!”

“Not quite, Ronan.” Reese smiled. “Wingull, Slam!”

“Oh- Clamperl, Withdraw!” Reese ordered. Underwater, Clamperl withdrew its jiggly body into its rock-hard blue shell and awaited the small seagull Pokemon. “How can Wingull hit Clamperl when it’s underwater and practically blends in?”

“Wingull has the Keen Eyes ability- nothing can lower its great accuracy!” Reese explained.

I wonder what special ability Clamperl has.... Ronan wondered.

Wingull pierced the water and slammed into Clamperl’s shell. The small Pokemon was pushed hard into the sandy bottom.

“Aw, no! Water Gun!” Ronan guessed that Clamperl took some damage from that attack, but not much because the soft sand probably took in some of the force as well.

“Out of the water, Wingull!” Reese commanded. Wingull shot out of the water with a splash, quickly followed by a stream of water. The seagull Pokemon turned and evaded the attack.

“Whirlpool!” Clamperl began spinning around in place, causing a small whirl in the water to appear.

“Ha- that can’t harm my Wingull.” Reese shook his head.

Clamperl just continued spinning, and the whirlpool slowly began growing. Eventually, the whirlpool reached the ocean floor, which wasn’t all too far from the surface, and Clamperl stopped spinning.

“Now, Wing Attack!” Reese told his Pokemon. “But be careful not to hit the sides of that thing!”

“Stay still, Clamperl! But get ready,” Ronan nodded his head and Clamperl got the picture.

Clamperl focused on Wingull as it came closer, wings white with energy. Ronan smiled as he saw Clamperl jump up at Wingull when it was close enough and latch onto Wingull’s right wing.

“What?” Reese was shocked. “Oh, I see. Clever, using Clamp to stop Wingull’s attack.”

Clamperl then let go of Wingull and blasted it straight into the side of the whirlpool by using Water Gun.

“No, Wingull!” Reese tried to think of what to do.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoff and Sandshrew had finally reached the edge of Littorine City, and were facing the tropical forest ahead of them. Sandshrew was awake now, and was standing to the left of Geoff.

“Wow, it sure did take less time to get here than I thought it would.” Geoff looked back at the city and buildings. “Of course, we did make a direct path through it.” They began walking again. “Now remember, Sandshrew- we’re looking for grass or electric Pokemon. So keep your eye out.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“Supersonic!” Reese said as he made a fist with his hand. You could tell that he was really into it now. Wingull, now looking tired, got ready to let out a high-pitched sound wave.

“Withdraw!” Ronan was smart in using evasive attacks- one thing his father told him to remember during his travels.

“Grr...” Reese saw Clamperl, now on the middle white platform, clamp up. He knew that the supersonic waves would never penetrate that shell.

“Wing Attack, Wingull!”

“Wait....” Ronan was looking for the right time to attack. When Wingull was only a few seconds from crashing into Clamperl with its shining white wings, he ordered a Water Gun. Clamperl opened its shell and let out a fast stream of water. The blast knocked Wingull back unexpectedly, and it fell into the water.

“Come on, get back up! Wingull!” Reese was hoping that his Pokemon could continue battling. Unfortunately, Wingull’s eyes were all ‘x’-ed out when it resurfaced belly-up in the water. Reese got out the Poke Ball after seeing his friend laying upside down on the water. “I have to hand it to you, kid- I thought I’d win. I mean, your Clamperl was at a much lower level. But your battling skills gave you the advantage.”

“Thanks, I learned from the best.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“Here, Pokemon...” Geoff was now extremely bored, and his voice showed it. “Oh, come out Pokemon! Calling all grass or electric types!” Suddenly, Geoff and Sandshrew heard noises coming from a nearby bush. “Yes, come on out! Just don’t be another
Taillow, Rattata, or freaking Yanma!”

Geoff was surprised by water hitting his face, then a small blue reptile hopping around him.

“Crap! I don’t need a water Pokemon!” Geoff noticed it was a Totodile. “Come here, you! You’re going to pay for bombarding me like that!”

The Totodile, sensing Geoff’s anger toward it, immediately started running away. Geoff began running after it, and surprisingly Sandshrew did as well. As far as Geoff could remember, it was Sandshrew’s first time to actually run. He got a little emotional, but began laughing inside when he realized how funny Sandshrew looked when he ran. His legs were moving like crazy, but his short arms were just sticking out his sides, being pushed back by inertia. Sandshrew was also looking a little pudgy. But Geoff couldn’t exactly stray from his current goal- focusing on getting back at the Totodile.

Geoff and Sandshrew were led through a part of the tropical forest, and eventually came across a large pond. Totodile jumped up and into the water, and Geoff had to stop quickly to refrain from running into the pond.

“Phew- that was close!” Geoff exclaimed, but he spoke too soon. Sandshrew couldn’t stop soon enough, and ran into Geoff. The two of them landed face-first into the pond, and stirred up the waters. This caused some of the Pokemon that dwelled there to surface.

Geoff opened his eyes and saw many different Pokemon. “Yay, Pokemon!” Geoff frowned, though, when all he saw was more water Pokemon. “This place is supposed to be tropical! Geez!”

“SAN!” Sandshrew, covered with water, was leaping in the air to try to stay out of it.

“Just go to the shore, Sandshrew! I’m pretty sure that will prove to be more-” Geoff stopped talking when a huge Gyarados, out of nowhere, shot out of the water. “Oh my god, that thing is ginormous! Wait a second- I’m still in the water. … With the Gyarados. … AHH!”

Geoff swam to shore as the Gyarados slammed back down into the water and disappeared. Safely on land, he let out a large sigh. Sandshrew had managed to balance himself on one of the random lily pads floating on the pond. The huge splash from the Gyarados created a large ripple that pushed the lily pad- and Sandshrew- right at Geoff. Once crashing into the edge of the shore, the lily pad and Sandshrew bounced up and at Geoff.

The lily pad landed in Geoff’s lap, and Sandshrew landed on his head. Oddly, though, the lily pad wasn’t really a lily pad. Geoff looked down at his lap to find a Lotad sitting there. The Lotad was looking all around, utterly confused at what just happened these last few seconds.

“That was so completely random and odd...” Geoff was trying to figure out what exactly happened himself, as well. “Why hello there, little guy!”

“Tad?” the Duckweed Pokemon said in a cute, ducky voice. It almost sounded like it said ‘quack’. Wondering why exactly he was in some strange human’s lap, the Lotad slowly began backing up.

“Hey, wait a second!” Geoff realized something. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s a leafy lily pad thing you’ve got growing on your back. And if I’m right, that means you’re a grass Pokemon! Unless you’re like Sudowoodo, of course. Bleh, why don’t I just check my PokeCom. It better be waterproof.”

Lotad had backed out of Geoff’s lap during his ramblings, and was now just staring at him while he reached into his left pocket. After getting the brown PokeCom out and opening it, Geoff pressed the Pokedex button.

“Lotad, the Duckweed Pokemon. This water and grass species lives in ponds and lakes, floating on the surface. They are said to have dwelled on land before, but it is thought that they returned to water because the leaf on its head grew large and heavy. On rare occasions, this Pokemon travels on land in search of clean water.”

“That’s pretty neat.” Geoff said while putting it away. “Both water and grass types. Come to think of it, you’d be a nice addition to my team. Then I’d have ground, normal, water, and grass types covered!” Sandshrew smiled at the Lotad, who didn’t exactly comprehend what Geoff was talking about.

“Okay, I should battle you first. Then you’ll be easier to catch!” He pulled off his Fast Ball and stood up. “Zigzagoon, come out and battle!”

Zigzagoon materialized near Sandshrew after Geoff threw the ball there. “Zig! Zigzag!” He looked around frantically while jumping around and pouncing at the air.

“Yeah, full of energy! Good, now Tackle that Lotad right there!” Geoff ordered after moving away from the Lotad and pointing at it.

The Lotad sighed before moving to its left with it’s stumpy blue legs and dodging the attack. Zigzagoon just turned around and tried again. Lotad turned around and its eyes turned gray as it stared at Zigzagoon. Soon Zigzagoon turned gray as well. He froze in place as Lotad began walking away.

“What? No, don’t go away! Fight it, Zigzagoon! Headbutt!” Geoff commanded. Soon the effect wore off, and Zigzagoon charged into Lotad. Now ticked off, Lotad’s lily pad turned bright green. Green orbs came out of Zigzagoon and traveled to Lotad’s lily pad and disappeared.

“Looks like Absorb! Umm, Sand Attack!” Zigzagoon stirred up some sand that blocked Lotad’s view and stopped the attack. “Headbutt again!”

After Zigzagoon smashed into Lotad a few more times and throwing it around with its teeth, Lotad finally just sighed and gave up. “Wow, it sure has low willpower,” Geoff commented before taking his backpack off and unzipping the pouch containing his Balls. At first he reached for the Premier Ball, but he saw the Net Ball he had and realized that it would work better, since Lotad was part water. “Okay, go Net Ball!”

Geoff threw the Ball at Lotad, and it hit Lotad’s large lily pad before sucking the Pokemon inside with a pink light. He ran over toward it as the Net Ball jumped up and down. Come on... just give in... you’ll like me as a trainer, you stupid thing!, Geoff thought to himself as he got annoyed. Eventually, though. the Ball stopped moving and he picked it up.

“Woo! Go me, yeah!” Geoff shouted in excitement and began dancing. “Who’s got three Pokemon? That’s right, I do! Who’s going to win that stupid Badge? That’s right, I will!” Sandshrew started dancing as well- but got tired fast, and Zigzagoon simply jumped up and down like he always did.

Geoff stopped dancing when the Gyarados reemerged with a roar. This time, though, the Totodile was dancing on top of its head.

“Hey, Totodile!” Geoff angrily said as he remembered how the Totodile spat water in its face. But then he realized that Totodile led him to the lake, and his anger went away. “Thanks! But... how did you get up there?”

[Mew Trainer Rose]

Yay, Geoff's got a new pokemon! Quite a bit of luck there; it being part water-type gives it an added resistance to water-type pokemon.

Hmmm, looks like Ronan's sort of helpfull after all, tho he isn't very nice about it. He was clever in that battle, tho.

I'm rooting for Geoff. He's deffinitely the more likable character. :)

[Chris 2.1]

Awesome work XD. Ronan DID seem to be the friendly sidekick at first, but he's developed into the rival. I half hoped he'd be just...some random guy with less of a fixed role. I also was surprised he picked Clamperl...doesnt Poli interest him more? No? Fair enough. I can guess it will evolve into Huntail. It battled very well.

Also a very noble thing for Geoff to do, throwing in the towel. I do hope he trains Lotad first...I'm sure he'll need it, and breezing through after just catching Lotad would be a little silly.

Good work, keep it up!

[dragonmage]

hi this is the first time i have read your fic and i like it so far. I think i will follow it. hope the next chapteris up soon. :lol:

[ShadowStalker30]

Hope it's ok to post here. Hey, Geoff. Nice fic. Can I join?