Route 4

Jasper watched Riza's face light up and shine through the gloominess that had lingered before, like the early morning sun breaking through the clouds to captivate all with it's warm, peaceful glow. Rolling his eyes at her ecstatic smile, Jasper lifted Memory from his shoulder and cradled her in his left arm like a mother or father holding their child close around those they do not know.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The Skitty almost jumped into the air and meowed loudly, as if telling all the pokemon in the world that Jasper Oakheart, the 19 years old from Adinitium City, had said yes.
"Now why do I get the feeling that I'm going to regret this...?" He thought to himself, smiling slyly. This did not last long however as the little voice in his head gave him a chastising rebuke that would be inappropriate to show small children.
"And don't worry, in the next town, if you don't want me around, I will be gone." This seemed a little harsh, even to Jasper: to accept her company while travelling along a small area of land only to dump her in another town. It would feel like he was just using her: having Riza there as company so that he wouldn't get lonely. He shook his head and turned to his new companion.

She picked up the fluffy pink and white feline that had been winding itself in between her legs. The trainer gently, lovingly, lifted her up and tenderly kissed the Skitty's head.
"This is Skitty.... I haven't thought of a name for her yet though." Jasper carefully lifted his Ralts slightly higher for Riza to observe.
"This is my pokemon, and friend, Memory. Go on, say hello." His Pokemon's timid nature prevented her from moving from her position, though she did manage an almost unnoticeable wave of her little hand. Sighing, he started to explain.
"I'm really sorry about memory. She's really shy. The first time we met she hid under my couch and only came out when I was asleep. I remember waking up to her sleeping in between my arms. It was really cute."

Jasper let his eyes wander to the path. He gazed into route 4, the next step of their journey, and regretted every getting a pokemon. Although, at the same time, he also was glad that he had a pokemon. Shaking his head he lowered Ralts to the ground. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Jasper began the short walk to the beginning of their new life. He twirled, hands still in his pockets, and grinned.
"Shall we?" Switching back to the right direction, he stopped.

Jasper inhaled deeply, as did Memory, and as one they stepped over the line that they had never crossed before in their life. They were finally in route 4.
"Our destiny awaits..."

Riza smiled at the Ralts named Memory. "Thats a pretty name." she uttered then listened to the story of when Jasper first met her. It was a lot better then the story of when she first met Skitty. "Thats really sweet and I understand. I heard a lot of people are shy." she replied then watched his gaze move from her to Route 4. Her eyes also moved over to the edge of the town and the beginning of the forest.

Her heart began to race a little and she couldn't keep a small smile off her face. Though she loved being home, she had been waiting all her life to go out and see the world! She couldn't wait to see a ghost type pokemon, as well as all the other types there were out there. She wanted to see the world with her own eyes.

Riza's eyes glanced back at Jasper as he set down Memory and shoved his hands into his pockets. He walked ahead a little bit before turning around. "Shall we?" He asked making Riza smile widen a bit. She nodded her head before setting Skitty down gently. "Alright, lets go!" she cheered before walking over to him and the edge of the route. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the city limits and onto the first patch of land that was Route 4. Skitty let out a cheerful meow as she took her first step. "This is the beginning of a great adventure!"

---

"Well, now that we're all friends..." Carter said. Of course the air of awkwardness didn't escape him. Though, he always tried to fight that with a big mouth. Perhaps it'll work here? Either way, Carter had stood back with Seph and watched the whole thing. He couldn't help but feel the whole thing was his fault, but he had quickly shrugged that off. He wasn't the sort to dwell on that kind of thing. Seph had repositioned himself on top of Carter's head- the Totodile had a restless habit much like his trainer.

"So, shall we begin this shebang?" Carter said, pointing towards the entrance of Route 4. A calmer mind would have went to the battle club and sharpened their skills before setting out... Carter was not of a calmer mind. He had waited for this day for so long, he could taste the freedom, the adventure. His body language screamed the need for action. He was fidgeting, he had a death grip on his bag strap, and he shuffled his feet. The restlessness must have been affecting Seph as well, as the pokemon kept grabbing and releasing tufts of Carter's hair.

He just couldn't stand it any longer. Eagerness won, and Carter strode- rather quickly- forward. He didn't even spare a backwards glance to see if his companions were following him. Seph leaned forward as the sudden surge of activity managed to soothe the Totodile's nerves. Seph was just as excited as Carter was, and once past the threshold of Adinitium City and Route 4 both felt the wave of jubilation. They had finally began their journey... Now what? "Say... How about we add to team Carter? We got this one Pokeball burnin' a hole in my pocket." Carter asked Seph. His answer was a sharp rapt on the top of his skull. "Ow, ow! Fine-fine! Team Seph?" Carter relented. His reply was a satisfactory "Toto" and a pet. Carter began to wonder which was the trainer and which was the pokemon.

"Right then," Carter said, rubbing his tender head. "How about something grassy? You know, to even out the team?" Seph replied with a shrug. Not like he cared, he wanted some action. The fact that a grass pokemon would be a difficult opponent for Seph didn't quite kick in yet. "Then let's go shuffle around over there!" Carter called dramatically pointing in a random direction. Caught up in the action, Seph stood on top of Carter's head and mimicked his action. Thoughts of both Bo and Rowan was firmly lodged in the recesses of his mind. In other words, they were an after thought... Though if they needed him, all it would take was a quick pop in the back of the head.

Without further to do, Carter ventured into the route looking for a pokemon to add to his team. His thoughts lingered on whether anyone else had added a number to their team yet- David specifically. He'd have to challenge him to a friendly battle when they met again...

Bo merely skated after Carter, Warden clinging to her shoulders as she avoided the grass unless she had to go through it, and even then she hopped through it. She wanted to catch one of the cuties she saw whenever she walked through her but she wanted to ask her partner as well. She looked at Warden over her shoulder, who was sparking. "Well, should we catch another Pokemon as well? A flying type would come in handy, no?" Warden seemed to think it over before shaking his head. "Wanna wait for those Heal Balls then..?" He nodded and the two watched Carter and Seph shuffle through grass.

"They're so... Excitable... It's quite endearing and frighting at the same time..." Bo muttered, rolling over the shorter grass around Carter. Warden agreed with her. They both enjoyed the duo's company though, seeing as Warden had a sparring partner and Bo had a friend in them. But some days Bo wondered where all his energy came from.

She looked up in the trees at all the hidden Pokemon. They peeked out of the leaves at the new trainers, the bolder ones protecting the meeker. She waved at them, who shyly waved back. She smiled and rolled over to a tree, plucking a couple berries from it. She didn't need them but they were for eating not using in battle. "You can never have too much food," her mother always told her. She tossed Warden a Mago Berry, who greedily clutches it in his claws and eats it.

"Little glutton aren't ya?" she asked jokingly, Warden huffed and continued nibbling on his prize, content on ignoring his owner and friend for a berry. She smiled, rolling her eyes at him, and ran a hand over his fur. He sent little static sparks over her hand that tickled more than hurt. "Wonder how Jasper's doing..." she muttered. Warden, who seemed to have an answer for everything today, made a curious clicking noise.

---

JC stepped out into the cool night again, silently frolicking in the bliss that it wasn’t terrible cold to travel. He walked away from the city center and towards Route 4 located north of where he was but he decided to meander the town, his Starly still perched upon his shoulder. The walked through the city streets for a long while until the Starly flew off his shoulder.
“Hey! Starly, where are you going?!!” He pulled out the Pokeball that his mother gave him and pushed the button on its face to return the bird to the sphere but the commonly seen red beam of light did not shoot out of the machine. “This would happen to me just at the beginning of my journey!” He returned the defective Pokeball to his pocket and ran after his companion who was headed in the opposite direction he had been walking.
The chase went on for about 15 minutes when JC finally caught up to his Pokemon. It was perched on a sign which read “Ardinitium City Limits- Now Entering Route 4”. JC gave a sigh of disappointment in himself. “Well we have been partners now for-“ he glanced at his Xtransceiver which read 10:45pm- “45 minutes now and you’ve figured out that I don’t like being without other people. I’m sorry you have to put up with my oddities but we are partners now, right? Just because I don’t have people with me doesn’t mean I’m traveling alone! I have you!” The Starly leapt off his perch and right into his partner’s arms. JC laughed as he hugged his tiny companion, his beak nuzzled firmly against the trainer’s chest.
“I say we really start our journey and leave this town right now! You’re seem to be as fit as you can be and I did nothing all day in the store; that’s basically sleep. Why find a place to stop for the night when we can just go right now?” He took three steps and passed the sign which laid infront of him and continued on his journey.
From what he had seen of Route 4 before this had been very different than what he saw now. During the day it was a fairly lively road with people and pokemon traveling along it. The trodden down path was about the width of a city street and changed foundation along the way- paved with a sidewalk leading out of the city to a dirt road and finally a beautiful cobblestone and brick patterning near the Ardinitium Ferry Dock.
But tonight seemed different. The sidewalks were bathed in an eerie blue light, given off by a mixture of lamp posts and moonlight. After the sidewalks and lanterns ended, it was very near complete darkness if the moon hadn’t been out. The cheery path seemed abandoned and forgotten, no life passed by and no sound was made except a sweet melody of a Kricketune in the distance and the occasional call of a Noctowl overhead.
“Haha, this isn’t so bad… right Starly?” JC half stumbled over his words. He looked to his shoulder and the bird pokemon seemed to have dozed off. JC pulled out the malfunctioned Pokeball a last time and clicked the button that would return the Pokemon to the sphere and again no red beam shot out but the ball opened to show its metallic interior. “Before I go any further I need to figure out why your Pokeball isn’t working correctly.” He sat down on the ground and gently placed the Starly on the ground beside him in a small divot which the bird seemed to fit nicely into. He reached in his bag and retrieved the new Pokeball he had purchased that earlier from Mr. Wright.
“Okay, when I push the button on your Pokeball it opens,but its supposed to recall you back to it. The empty Pokeball does the same thing… huh, your Pokeball is acting as if it was empty. That can’t be right because my mom—“ His mind stopped. He had never actually seen his mom capture Starly before. She only nursed him back to health and let him play with herself, JC and her Furret, Coon, when his stepfather wasn’t around. Mr. Wright’s words echoed in his ears. He had said something about Starly standing guard at the shop ever since JC’s mom healed it. He pulled out his pokedex and scanned the bird sleeping beside him.
“STARLY: THE STARLING POKEMON. THEY FLOCK IN GREAT NUMBERS. THOUGH SMALL THEY FLAP THEIR WINGS WITH MUCH POWER.” JC clicked a button which gave to him additional information. “BECAUSE THEY ARE WEAK INDIVIDUALY THE FORM LARGE FLOCKS. THEY WILL START TO BICKER IF THE FLOCK GETS TO BIG.” JC closed the Pokedex and thought to himself. ‘Why would the Starly stay and protect the store on its own? Was it kicked out of the flock because it got to big or did he leave by his own will?’ The questions swam around in his mind but it did not matter. For some reason the Starly decided to stay with his mom so he could be bestowed as a graduation present upon JC and for whatever his motives for doing so they were partners now. Everyone is allotted the ability to keep secrets, especially those without a voice to tell them. JC stood putting the two Pokeballs in his pocket and bent over picking up the Starly keeping him in his same orientation and cradled it in his arms like one would an infant. He decided to let the Starly join him when it wanted to and not while sleeping and having no say in the matter. It opened its eyes and looked up at his traveling partner and gave a small “Staaaa!” as he stretched his wings. It gave a great burst of energy and popped out of JC’s hands.
JC laughed “I think it’s time we get you a little fight practice going! I don’t know what I plan on doing, whether it be contests or gym battles but either way we should start training!” JC turned with the Starly once again perched on his left shoulder and made his way off of the road and into the grassy area beside the path.

Jasper breathed in the warm mid morning air. There was a divine mist of sweet smelling herbs and flowers enveloping them that was so familiar to Jasper. The mix of scents was heaven to his nostrils.
"Lavender...Marigold..." He inhaled again. "Violets, mint... and... just a hint of thyme I think..." Memory gazed up at him, understanding fully why he knew this. His mother had been quite the gardener. She taught him everything she knew about growing plants, making herbal remedies, cooking with the herbs and of course which plants were poisonous. A few times after he received his first pokemon Ralts had been sitting near him, watching and analyzing him. The majority of the time he was either reading, gardening, mixing herbs together into remedies or painting.

A flash of brown to his left made Jasper look up. Whatever was there had vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
" I really hate pokemon when they do that..." He shook his head and pushed away all thoughts of being followed.

Jasper took a few more steps down the path and saw another flash of brown to his right this time.
"Memory, come here please." The little Ralts obeyed and stepped towards Jasper until he could lift her.
"It's getting dangerous here Riza. Keep your guard up. What moves does Skitty know anyway? What the-!"

The conversation was halted as a walking acorn stepped out of the grass. Jasper froze...then relaxed.
"A Seedot. Mom told me about these... But what did she say?" Slowly, he reached for his pokedex. It flipped open and analyzed the pokemon.



Nodding, Jasper put away the pokedex and met the eyes of the Seedot.
"I don't want to hurt you...but I've got no other choice..." He felt his emotions change as he shifted his stance.

"Stay back Riza! I wanna take this one." He said with a devilish smile. His emotions were bubbling over in a dangerous concoction of exhilaration and terror which threatened to send him over the edge any second. The adrenaline was pumping through his body. The speed of his breathing increased rapidly. His heartbeat was erratic.

Finally Jasper lowered Memory to the floor. She took a few wobbly steps towards her opponent, Jasper's out of control emotions overwhelming her, causing her to be somewhat unstable. Jasper closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried his hardest to tame the wild, raging emotions within his soul. Though it didn't fully reverse the effect, Ralts held herself up better, no longer looking dizzy.

The earthen colored Seedot before pokemon and trainer glared at them defiantly. As quick as lightning the Seedot stepped back, closing its eyes slightly and tightened it's muscles as it used Harden. His eyes practically screamed "I dare you" to Jasper.
"Challenge accepted..."

"Confusion!" Memory put her hands out in front of her and used the psychic move. An invisible wave of psychic energy pulsed from her hands, distorting the image past the air before her as if it were a heat wave radiating from her. The telekinetic force struck the Seedot, causing him to stumble back a step, while the telepathic aspect of this move missed. The confusing part did not affect him and the attack was weaker than it should have been due to Seedot's protective ability.
"This could be bad..."

The little pokemon closed his eyes and started concentrating on something.
"Wait...I remember mom telling me something about them now... Due to their ability Chlorophyll they are faster in sunlight, well that explains a lot, and the first offensive attack they learn is...bide!"
"Oh crap! Growl Memory!" The Ralts looked up at him, clearly confused but obeyed her trainer's order. She inhaled a deep breath, waited for a second and then growl with all her might at her opponent. The sound of it made the seedot jump but he refused to be intimidated by it. At least, not completely intimidated...

The Seedot remained still, waiting fruitlessly for the attack that would never occur. memory growl yet again at her owner's command, the sound ripping from her throat. Finally, the Seedot was ready to rebound the damage that he should have received but he had nothing. He opened his eyes with defeat and started to back away from the trainer and pokemon.
"Oh no you don't! Confusion!" The telekinetic/telepathic blast flowed from her hands and struck the Seedot with a critical hit. The Seedot closed it's eyes as it was lifted slightly off of the ground. Landing with a thud, he opened his eyes. The confused look on his face said it all.

Standing up slowly he looked around and found the pokemon and trainer. Jasper held his breath the grass type decided what to do on unsteady feet. Finally, to Jasper's horror, he hardened his muscles.
"If I hit it again with confusion I'll knock him out... it's better to just let him hurt himself. Memory, Growl." Memory, now understanding Jasper's intentions released a terrifying growl.

Seedot swayed dangerously from side to side. The threat of dropping was high. He tried to take a step forwards but dropped to the ground, hurting himself.
"So that's what a confused pokemon looks like." The Seedot was obviously in pain. He couldn't even get himself to stand up. He was so close to fainting ...

"I hope this works..." Jasper said taking out the pokeball that his mother had bought him. "Help me mom..." Closing his eyes, he steeled himself. Taking a deep breath, hearing nothing but the blood pumping quickly through his body, he opened his eyes and threw the pokeball.

---

Rowan followed the other two out onto Route 4, satisfied with her choice to do so. Though summer was on the side of "slightly too warm" for her preferences, she could not deny that today was an excellent one. The heat was kept at bay by a cool breeze, one that stirred her loose hairs and played gently over her face. Echo seemed to be enjoying even more than she, her ardent nature making itself evident not so much in extraneous movement as in the obvious intelligent curiosity and ardor with which she examined everything around them.

Carter, of course, charged right off into the grass first thing, and Rowan smiled to herself. He'd do well as a trainer, she decided, even if the academy hadn't really been his thing. She, on the other hand, was for the moment most interested in finding something she wanted to study more, and perhaps write on. Her most secret dream was to one day write something that would impress a professor enough to take her on as an apprentice researcher, and that meant finding something original and important to write about.

This in mind, she too, ventured into the grass, picking a different section from Cater's and moving about with a god deal more care. She had her travel journal out already, noting the date, time, weather and location in pencil before sticking the writing implement in her French braid and tucking the journal under her arm.

She was just settling down to way for something to happen when a rattata, perhaps alerted to her presence by the rustling in the grass, charged out at her from the left. Straightening her posture again, Rowan stood still as Echo slid to the ground, ready and willing to battle on her trainer's behalf. The advantage of both speed and surprise, however, belonged to the purple rat pokemon.

The quick creature wasted no time, diving in for a Quick Attack, catching Echo a glancing blow to the side. Both pokemon placed heavy emphasis on attack, but though Echo was slower, both her power and her defense were easily superior, so as long as Rowan managed this battle effectively, her pokemon would be fine.

She could also cancel rattata’s greatest advantage. “Thunder Wave,” she directed calmly, and Echo emitted an electrical pulse, causing rattata’s nerve endings to seize up and paralysis to take hold. With its speed down to a quarter of its normal value, she knew she had an opportunity. “Now, Growl.” Cutting into the opponent’s attack stat made the next Tackle hurt less than it might have otherwise, and Echo was able to shake off most of the damage and Wrap herself around rattata, squeezing tightly.

The attack itself wasn’t terribly strong, but the residual sensation would cause lasting damage, compounded by the fact that when rattata tried to use Tail Whip, it’s paralysis took hold and prevented the move from finishing properly. Wrap was still hurting, and Echo only repeated the move on the next round, constricting with her sinuous length and then sliding away.

There was something about this that made Rowan uncomfortable. All her life, she had seen pokemon come through her home damaged and forlorn. She’d never thought to be the cause of pain for one of them. It brought and ache to her chest, a hollowness that hurt a bit, and she bit her lip to see it.

Yet, Echo was only defending her, in the way a loyal friend would. If anyone was to blame in this situation, it was her for walking into this grass in the first place. The least she could d was end it quickly, and that she did, asking Echo to use Wrap one last time after taking a Tail Whip that actually worked.

The rattata fainted away, and she estimated that Echo was at about half-strength. Perhaps it was better to take her to a Pokemon Center now, then. With the Dratini back in her place around her trainer’s body, Rowan picked up the unmoving rattata and carried it, as well. She knew that it would wake up on its own, with time, but she wanted to make sure it was safe in the meantime. Taking it back to its nest was too risky for her personally; she might well run into several more. Instead, she wandered about until she found a decent shrubbery, then cleared a spot for the pokemon to sleep under cover.

“There you go,” she murmured, placing the limp pokemon beneath the branches and stepping away. Her insides were sill twisting strangely, and she wondered if she had the stomach for battling or not. She should have asked her father how he reconciled being a gym leader with his current profession. How could someone who helped battered pokemon justify fighting with them? She didn’t understand it, but there had to be an answer somewhere.

Exiting the grass, she caught sight of Carter in a full-blown panic. At one point, she would have scolded him for his foolishness in not realizing the obvious solution to his predicament, but her own musings had left her in a much more sympathetic state of mind. “Center’s back in town,” she reminded him in softer tones than she was accustomed to using. She was headed that way herself, anyway, and made for it with all due haste.

---

With the Starly once again perched on his left shoulder, JC made his way off the road and onto the grassy area beside the path. He wandered around not wanting to lose the path in the darkness but at the same time traveled slowly farther and farther away from it. He heard a rustling from a nearby bush making him jump back while his Starly rushed forward ready for a fight. The Starly adamantly picked up a small rock nearby in its beak and flung it towards the bush. The rock struck something as the bush made a dignified “Bi-Bi!” noise and an agitated brown Pokemon crawled out of the shrub



A wild Bidoof appeared! JC pulled his Pokedex out of his pocket and scanned the Pokemon.
BIDOOF: THE PLUMP MOUSE POKEMON. IT LIVES IN GROUPS BY THE WATER. BIDOOF ARE MORE AGILE AND ACTIVE THAN THEY APPEAR
“Starly what have you gotten yourself into?” JC whispered under his breath. “Oh well looks like the battle is on! Starly use Tackle!” The small bird took a couple steps, beat its wings twice, lifting it into the sky and firmly landed its body on the head of the small Bidoof. The small Pokemon picked its head up off the ground and with its forepaws wiped the dirt and dust off its angry face. It put its paws on the ground and bounded towards the bird that hovered slightly above the ground. “Starly it’s using Tackle! Get out of the way.” But it was too late, the Bidoof smacked its body against the small bird sending it backwards towards its partner.
“AH! Starly are you okay?!” JC scrambled towards the bird but it stood and stuck its wing out to hold him back. He had determination in his eyes and refused to lose another fight after what had happened the last time. JC saw this and took a few steps back towards where he was standing previously, “Okay then. Let’s try to finish this! Use Tackle again!” The Starly shot up into the trees and darted gracefully between the branches before flying straight down and plowing its body into the body of the grounded Bidoof. The hit looked very damaging and the Bidoof lay in the ground, too tired to get up.



“Haha! That was great Starly!” JC hugged the little bird that flew over to him and landed in his chest. The Starly flew up back on its usual perch upon JC’s left shoulder as the trainer walked over to the bush which the Bidoof came from. He picked a couple leaves from the bush and bent over to feed them to the Bidoof. It happily ate the treat and allowed James to pick him up and place him in the divot beneath the bush which the Bidoof called home. He started walking away and said “Well looks like we should get you back to the Pokemon Center and rest you up! Of all the traits I have inherited from my mom, healing Pokemon out of their habitats is not one of them. Being kind to Pokemon is a different thing though!”
The two made their way back towards the Route. “I know you aren’t actually my Pokemon.” JC stated to the bird on his shoulder. The Starly looked to him giving him a half shocked and half disappointed in itself look. “But I don’t care. I understand it’s hard getting used to others. And it has to be even harder taking orders from someone you just met. That’s why I don’t mind if you don’t want to be my Pokemon after I start capturing others. You have a life too. You are allowed to make decisions.” The Starly continued to listen intently. “We make a good team, you and I. If you don’t end up staying I won’t be sad and you shouldn’t either. Everything that happens in the past forms you.” The Starly reached a wing up to its featherless right eye and swooped to the ground in front of the trainer putting both wings out, not allowing him to pass. He looked down as the Starly tweeted a rant: “Sta Sta Sta Sta Star-Lee-Leeee!!!” and hopped forwards and wrapped its tiny wings and body around James’ leg. “You want to be the first Pokemon I catch?” The Starly nodded decisively, already having made up its mind from the second the two left the general store together. JC reached in his pocket and pulled out the Pokeball inscribed with the small letter ‘S’ on the side. The Starly backed up and the trainer tossed the ball enclosing the small bird in a beam of red light as it fell to the ground. It shook once… twice…three times and clicked shut!
The trainer picked the ball up in his hand and he could feel the energy of the bird Pokemon bouncing around in the sphere. He threw it up in the air and a beam of light illuminated the small grove he was standing in. The Starly appeared flying in the air releasing a loud “STAR-LEE!” cry as the ball flew back to the trainer. “I get to nickname you now right? Hmm… Your new name should encompass your past with me and yourself. How do you like the name Windscar?” The bird gave a loud chirp of approval and flew to its usual perch.
“WURRRRRM!” A loud screech sounded from a branch and a whistling noise came from the same space, ending with a loud splat on the back of JC’s hat! The hat flew off his head and into the trees! “HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!!” JC’s hands flew to his hair that had been flattened by the hat that rarely ever left his head. He spun around and saw a little red pokemon wearing his hat- which was much too large for the little Pokemon- climbing down the side of a tree.



JC whipped out his Pokedex as the electronic voice shouted the information. “WURMPLE: THE WORM POKEMON. IT SPITS A WHITE SILK THAT TURNS STICKY IN THE AIR. IT IS USED TO SUBDUE FOES.”
“Okay then! Star- I mean Windscar, use quick attack and get my hat back!” The Starly flew of his shoulder and around his body twice picking up speed and darted through the air and hit the Wurmple with its beak knocking the hat off its body. He circled in the air and caught the hat in its mouth and dropped it on its trainers head before returning to the ground. The Wurmple, knocked off the tree reoriented itself on the ground and shot another String Shot attack, this one aimed at Starly. The web struck the bird and brought the Pokemon to the ground, its wings tied to its side.
“Windscar if you can get free do it then use Tackle!” The Starly struggled as the Wumple charged at the Starly, using a Tackle move itself. It struck the small bird and it rolled over on the ground. The rolling caused his wings to come untangled and the bird got up, beat its wings, lifting it into the air and landed its body on the small pokemon.
The tired Wurmple looked at the trainer locking eyes. “WURRRM” the little pokemon cried as it gave a final stand against the bird that outmatched it. JC took a deep breath as he reached in his pocket and grabbed the little sphere. “You wanna travel with me? Let’s do it then.” He tossed the Pokeball in the air and it opened engulfing the Wurmple in a red beam of light.

Taru kicked a rock ahead of him as he walked down the path that would lead him to the awaiting route four. The little stone made a slight ruckus as it cleaved through the gravel, and rolled forward only to stop, where the boy would eventually catch up to it and kick it again. Despite the sense of adventure that this day should hold for him, Taru - ever lasting optimist as he was - had a frown on his face, his hands buried so deep into his jeans pockets that you'd almost think they'd come out again through the holes of his ankles. He kicked the rock ahead of him again. He walked in silence, apparently swallowed by his own thoughts. It was difficult to discern just what it was that he was thinking, but in reality he just felt really disappointed. It wasn't that he necessarily had to travel with the traveling buddy who had dropped out - it was just that, well, this was a terribly bad time for him to change his mind, you know? You only have a first day of your journey once, and Taru felt so silly having begun it alone. He.. just didn't see it coming. David had been so psyched for this. Then.. just announced that he was quitting. Before he even begun. He didn't even properly explain himself..

Taru wasn't angry with him or anything. He knew David, and that boy wasn't a fool, or an idiot. He probably had his reasons. But whatever they were, they were just so damn inconvenient. He kicked the stone again, then sighed and tilted his head backwards as he walked. He closed his eyes and turned them towards the light of the sun. The transparency of his eyelids turned his vision kind of red and meat-colored, and for a moment he just focused at the warmth against his skin. Weatherwise, the day was perfect. The sun hadn't stopped shining, and the world hadn't yet been destroyed by the approaching army of secret, evil ninja space Clefairies. He knew that he really needed to cheer up. This wasn't a good day to mope. "... Bah." he grunted and looked down just in time to see the stone again at his feet. He kicked it. Again. He felt sort of sorry for it. Poor stone. Getting kicked around like that. Like a.... stone.

That's right a little voice in his head told him cheerfully. The situation could be worse. He could have been a stone right now, getting kicked around by some mopy teenager who didn't have the guts to do anything on his own! What a sucky fate THAT would be. He stopped, looking down at the little clump of hard, gray matter at his feet. That's right, he was treating the stone like crap. He should cheer up, so that this poor stone didn't have to be kicked around by a mopy teenager anymore. It might have family! How rude of him to kick it round like that! The thought amused him, and a slight smile broke through his dimmed face. The stone probably didn't care about the difference, but as he gave it one last kick, at least it wasn't by a mopy teen. It was kicked by a mopy teen who had cheered up a little. "Goodbye, stone." he said happily as it made impact and sunk through the water. It was in a better place now... probably.

"Aaargh, dammit!" he said, stretching his hands out towards the sky in a stretch. "Enough of this already!" [color=#B80BF00]"Electrike!"[/color] Bless barked and ran up to his feet. She had been following him from behind for a while, stopping and sniffing at the many little things that interested him. Now, though, she returned her attention towards his trainer, hoping that he wouldn't be such a downer anymore. She carried a stick in her mouth, wagging her tail from side to side. Taru suddenly felt silly about the way that he had been acting. Like hell he had been alone. Bless never left, right? "Wanna throw it?" he said and bent down, resting his palms against his knees. "Rrrrr!", Bless growled playfully and shook the stick from side to side. Taru chuckled, happy to be back to his own, usual self. Bless was an even simpler being than he was, and he greatly respected her for it. The Electrike barked, and after a short tug of war over the stick - which Bless lost - Taru flung it through the air with as much force as he could gather. It landed in the water, and Bless jumped in after it. A short swim later, she was back on land and shook the excess water off her pelt. "... Trike!" she exclaimed, suddenly noticing that Taru, laughing his rear end off, was running as fast as he could down the path by the river. "Triiiiiike!" she howled, dropped the stick, and happily ran off after him with a speed that greatly surpassed that of her trainer.

As Jasper's pokeball twitched back and forth, Riza silently prayed it wouldn't pop out. She had heard of several cases in class, where a pokemon would pop out of a pokeball and then that pokeball was useless. Suddenly, the pokeball stopped, making Riza stare at it. A small click came from the ball, a sign the pokemon had been caught.

"Yes!" Riza cheered, though it was very soft compared to the cheer Jasper had let out. However, before she knew it, Jasper was kneeling down with the Seedot out of its pokeball. At first, she wasn't sure what he was doing, but then she got a good look at the pokemon. "oh..." She whispered then watched as he used a potion and healed the pokemon.

When he was done, she felt a small surge of excitement as it would soon be her turn to catch a pokemon. She wondered what it would be. Hopefully it wouldn't be a Seedot too. Though they were nice pokemon, it wasn't exactly her 'type'. Then again, her type didn't really include a Skitty, and yet she had one.

The sudden cursing from Jasper pulled her from her daydreaming though. Before she could ask what it was, he was already asking her if they could go back into town. She felt a small amount of disappointment before nodding her head and forcing a smile. "Sure. I don't mind." She replied while telling herself that it would be better to go back anyways. It would be a great chance for him to teach her about herbs and which ones to mix. "Hey, do you think you can show me what herbs are what and which ones to mix? At least the basics?" she asked, in a very hopeful tone.

A woman sat beneath a tall tree, studying a fold-out map like one might a strange, foreign object. The mental strain was evident on her face, which was twisted and contorted into a look of mixed confusion and contempt. She struggled a few moments more before heaving a frustrated sigh and folding the map back up. Hauling herself up, she took up meandering again, simply hoping she might stumble upon the path.

Jaime Collier was a stranger to the Faria Region, and it showed. If one could see her, they'd notice how worn and weathered her clothes were, how her glasses had a thin layer of dirt coating the lenses, how her hair stuck out at odd angles, and that her lips were both dry and well-chewed from her habit while concentrating. In one word, Jaime was a mess.

Still, she persevered in her quest to find civilization again; how else was she to become the world's foremost Pokemon Breeder?

After walking through forest and shrubbery for what seemed an eternity, the girl heard a sound she hadn't in a long while - running water. The sound was musical after so long lost and dirty. Closing her eyes, she tried to pinpoint exactly where the noise seemed to emanate from; it didn't work. Instead, she had an idea.

"C'mon out, Cream!" She cried, plucking a Pokeball from her belt and tossing it in front of her.

Following a bright flash of light, a large cow Pokemon appeared before her.

"Moo!" The Miltank said, ears twitching slightly.

"Cream, listen," Jaime commanded, holding a finger to her lips, signaling for silence; the sound of rushing water could be heard again. "I need you to find the water, Girl," She told her Pokemon, silently praying it could, "And I need you to do it quickly!" The idea of sleeping one more night filthy was more than she could bear!

The Miltank sat for a moment, sniffing the air and listening intently, before finally giving a nod; Jaime literally jumped with excitement.

"Alrighty then! Cream, use Rollout!"

Contorting itself into a tight ball, the Miltank began to roll at a high velocity in the direction it had determined the water was. It knocked over trees and uprooted bushes as it rolled, but Jaime was too anxious for a bath to really worry much about the environment. She chased after the live wrecking ball with unparalleled determination, following blindly, even as she and her Pokemon careened over the edge of a cliff.

Water surged around them, filling Jaime's nose and mouth as she struggled to breathe. Once, when she managed to surface for more than a second, the girl saw a bridge and the vague shape of a person. She tried to call for help, but the sound was drowned by the water.

---

The second he turned and left the route to search for Pokemon to train his newest partner, Windscar twitched upon his shoulder. His ability spotted a Pokemon and its trainer has fallen off ledge and into the river. "LEE-LEE!!!" it screeched gesturing towards the water. With the blue light of the moon JC barely made out the image of a person and a fairly large Pokemon splashing in the cool night water and he could hear a gurgled scream through the sound of the river.
JC sprung into action remembering what his Pokedex had told him and delivered orders to both his Pokemon: "Windscar, I need to be as strong as you can and try to lift the Pokemon out of the water! Wurmple you stay here and use String Shot on me and the other Pokemon! I'll grab the trainer!" The team leapt from motionlessness to sprinting! JC detached his bag, and removed his sweatshirt and tee underneath, quickly checked his pockets and raced towards the ledge. Wurmple sat already at the ledge and used String Shot landing square on JC's back and shot the other end landing on a tree. Windscar had already taken to the air and grasped onto the Miltank's horns and beat its wings as best it could. JC dove into the water and started swimming towards the girl. Wurmple used another String Shot move, directed towards the Miltank and reeled it in to all his strength. JC grasped the girl in his arm and swam back towards the water's edge and laid her on the ground. He detached the String Shot from his back and grasped the end of the other Shot and helped pull the Miltank towards the side of the river.
When it was there, he turned to the girl who was laying in the sand at the side of the water and for an instant he stood wondering what to do. He then realized that he had spare clothes and a towel for swimming in his bag. He ran up the hill grabbed his things and ran back down. He pulled the towel out dashed his shoulders dry and then wrapped the girl in the towel to dry off. He put his clothing back on his body as to avoid catching a cold and sat next to the girl. Windscar quietly floated onto his usual perch on JC's shoulder, while Wurmple tentatively creeped around the Miltank, trying to figure out whether she was a friend or foe. JC leaned over and asked "Are you alright?"

---

JC watched the girl in the sand for a few moments as she coughed and then fell back into a blissful sleep. With a heavy heart he decided it would be best to let her rest. He picked her up in a bridal carry and brought her up off the sandy beach and into a slightly wooded area, visible from the bridge and the river. Her Miltank stood, carrying JC's Wurmple in its arms sat back down next to his trainer, who now was laying under a tree. Windscar had now returned to his trainer's shoulder and he picked up the Wurmple from the Miltank and placed her back on his bag.
"You're a cute little Pokemon, aren't you bud." He bent down and tussled the hair atop the Miltank's "hood" looking the Pokemon up and down. He pulled his Pokedex out and scanned the Pokemon that was standing in front of him with a large smile. "MILTANK: THE MILK COW POKEMON. ITS MILK IS PACKED WITH NUTRITION MAKING IT THE ULTIMATE DRINK FOR THOSE WHO ARE SICK OR WEARY." He placed the Pokedex back in his pocket with an affirming 'hrmph!'
JC stood up and looked at Pokemon and said "Well, we should be off to get back to training you guys." The Miltank stood up in a panic looking around for a way to keep the travelers there with the two of them. JC stared at the cow and chuckled to himself, then said with a smile on his face "Don't worry! We are going to wander right around here. I'm not planning on leaving sight from you two! That’s not safe and its rude. I will make you a fire and be back in a little less than a half hour!"
He bent down and pulled out his camping supplies, Windscar returned with a large amount of sticks and twigs while the Wurmple gathered some dead leaves. The new trainer took out his flint and started up a fire. He then reached into his bag and pulled out a blanket that he had. The lady was still unconscious beneath the tree where he had left her and she seemed much dryer than she had when he pulled her out of the river. He laid the blanket on top of her and made sure it wouldn’t fall off. He looked to the Miltank and nodded towards the cow who returned the gesture. JC turned his back towards the Pokemon, the warmth of the fire and her trainer for an intended short period of time, going back into the tall grass looking for Pokemon again.

---

The fire's warmth and light bending over his shoulder and Pokemon, slowly faded as JC and his Pokemon wandered away from the kind Miltank and her unconscious trainer. The young man kept walking into the dark glancing at his two Pokemon, Windscar the Starly and his Wurmple out of the corner of his eye. For once he thought that his journey was starting to enter a courageous new chapter which he very much reveled in. He started thinking of the future and how he and his Pokemon would change throughout the journey until he tripped over a root sticking out of the ground, breaking his fall with his face. Windscar flapped his wings, hovering and avoiding the crash while the Wurmple fell to the ground and rolled into a hole at a base of a tree. JC stood and shamefully dusted the dirt off his shoulders and face as he heard his Wurmple and another Pokemon growling as each other. His Wurmple crept backwards with its horn locked , fighting with a tiny Bug Pokemon.


"Ack! Why does Wurmple always have to get into trouble?" JC pulled his Pokedex out of his pocket and scanned the Weedle. The Pokedex sounded its normal electronic voice "WEEDLE: THE HAIRY BUG POKEMON. IT EATS ITS WEIGHT IN LEAVES EVERY DAY. IT USES ITS POISONOUS BARB ON ITS HEAD TO FEND OFF ENEMIES." JC slid his Pokedex back into his pocket and realized that the Weedle was much faster than he expected. The Weedle's spike on its head was glowing an eerie purple with a Poison Sting attack and lunged it directly at Wurmple and struck her in her abdomen. Wurmple rolled over a couple of times and returned to her feet. "Wurmple, use String Shot to slow him down!" Wurmple shot a line of web out of her mouth and it struck the Weedle constricting it.
"Nice haha! Now use Tackle!" Wurmple crawled towards the struggling Weedle as fast as it could move and smashed its body into the wild Bug Pokemon the Weedle which spun backwards, finally steadying itself. It got up and used a powerful String Shot aimed at the Wurmple and landed the shot! "Wurmple this isn't good its faster than you again! Dodge this poison Sting attack and then tackle him again!" The Weedle's barb was already glowing purple again and it was traveling towards the Wurmple. Wurmple struggled to get out of its web and finally broke free! Just as the Weedle got close it hopped a tiny bit to the side and evaded the attack! The Weedle kept traveling in the same direction and fell into some bushes, emerged from the shrub shortly afterwards without its horn glowing anymore. Wurmple crawled once again at her top speed toward the Weedle and once again smashed into the Pokemon. It was sent towards a tree landing firmly against it and fainting on the spot.
The wild Weedle fainted!
"YEAH! Great job Wurmple!" JC shouted with joy and ran over to the bush that the Wurmple was next to. He smiled and picked the tiny Bug Pokemon up and hugged her. Just then was a loud almost whining quack coming from the bush that the Weedle ran into earlier. JC put his Wurmple down on the ground and reached into the bush and pulled out a poisoned Lotad. "Oh no, you must have been hit with the Weedle's Poison Sting attack. You need help. Come on." He picked up the Lotad in his arms, returned Wurmple to her Pokeball and started to run back towards the light and the river. Windscar sat on JC's shoulder and watched the little Water Weed Pokemon get sicker and sicker with almost every step JC took and although JC was moving urgently his mind was in a different place.
He pictured the images in his head that he had when his father told him stories of the first day of his own journey almost thirty years ago. His first battle with his new partner was against one of his good friends as a boy, but it was an unfair fight. His friend Tyler's father gave him 2 TMs to use on his starter at the beginning of his journey for his Zubat. Almost instantly JC's father, James, was on the defensive with a young Zubat already having known strong moves like Aerial Ace and Toxic on top of his already known Leech Life and Supersonic. James and his new partner Carlos were almost immediately knocked out, and James had to carry his Pokemon sprinting to the Pokemon Center for it got sicker and sicker every step he took. His Pokemon looked up to him and gave him a thankful "Lo-tad" croak just before fainting.
The memory's abrupt ending shook JC back to reality as he ran back towards the fire and the edge of the river. He arrived there and looked around- the trainer was still unconscious but the Miltank was up eagerly awaiting JC's arrival. "Miltank, does your trainer have any spare Antidotes? If there's only one, its okay I can run to the Pokemon Center but if there is a couple I would like to help this Pokemon out." The Miltank hopped up and ran over to her trainer's bag. She dug through it and came up with three Antidotes. JC grabbed one and used it on the Lotad, which slowly got better as time passed. The Miltank then offered to give it some milk which it happily enjoyed and got it back to full strength.
It joyously hopped and walked around finally ending its happiness in a nice little rest on JC's lap. Windscar flew down from JC's shoulder and happily started "talking" with the Lotad and after releasing her from her Pokeball again, Wurmple crawled over to the Miltank and mirrored the Lotad on JC's lap while she "talked" with the Miltank. JC watched as the Pokemon interacted with each other and marveled at his how friendly his own Pokemon were. Watching his Wurmple and the Miltank having become such good friends as well as Windscar having befriended this new Lotad. JC rested his hand inside the Lotad's lily pad. It was softer than a normal lily feeling and Windscar and Lotad seemed to be hitting it off well. JC looked over to the other trainer wrapped in his favorite blanket, which seemed to be keeping her warm. He wondered when she would get up and what other Pokemon she had. He wished there was some way to wake her from her sleep. He yearned human interaction and desperately wanted to hear English words back instead of Windscars "Star-Lee" chirp in response. The Lotad looked up at JC with a smile "Lo-Taad-Lo!" it croaked with delight. JC smiled at the Pokemon and watched it continue to interact with his Starly. He pulled out his Pokedex and scanned the Water Weed Pokemon. "LOTAD: THE WATER WEED POKEMON. IF IT DOES NOT DRINK ENOUGH WATER THE LEAF ON ITS HEAD WILL WILT. IT SERVES AT A FERRY TO POKEMON THAT CANNOT SWIM."
JC marveled at the Pokemon- having always had an affinity for Pokemon with unique typing. Windscar and the Lotad played and talked very much while JC watched. He watched the two Pokemon for a while and in a lull in the "conversation" between the two he looked at the Lotad and said "You're a cute Pokemon and I love your company but I think it is time to battle! What do you say?" The Pokemon happily croaked in response "LO-TAAD!"


JC looked to his Wurmple who was asleep with the Miltank so he called Windscar to the battlefield. "Windscar use Quick Attack!" The tiny bird who was hovering near his head gave a nod of acknowledgement and as before circled his trainer twice picking up speed and darted towards the Lotad which was now in the sand off the side of the river. Windscar struck the Lotad with its beak sending the Pokemon back towards the water's edge.
When the Lotad regained its footing and balanced itself again it looked away from the Starly then squealed like it had when it was injured and poisoned making a horrid face back at the Starly it was fighting. Windscar looked at the Water Weed Pokemon with an inquisitive stare and didn’t move an inch. "What the hell was that?" JC pulled out his Pokedex and flicked it to the "Moves" section and rescanned the Lotad who was persisting tp scare Windscar with its face. "ASTONISH: A GHOST TYPE MOVE. THE USER WILL SHOUT AND MAKE A HORRIBLE FACE. THE TARGET MAY FLINCH AFTERWARDS." He slid the Pokedex back in his pocket and realized why it didn’t phase his Pokemon. Starly was part Normal type, which is totally unaffected by Ghost type moves.
"Okay, Windscar, use Tackle but hit him away from the water and back towards us so he can be easier to hit!" Windscar took to the air again and flew over the water, turned back towards its trainer and opponent picking up more speed and sent its body straight into the body of the little Pokemon. It was sent rolling over itself again and again only being stopped by JC. The trainer had bent down to catch the Pokemon and break its fall. "Show me what you can do." JC whispered as the Lotad struggled to stand. It staggered to the right and looked back up at the trainer. It took a deep breath in and let out a deep Growl that seemed to pulse through the air and finally stopped with running into the Starly. The previously fierce look in Windscar's eyes seemed to disappear and the strength that it beat its wings with seemed to fade into the air.
"Wow. I know Starly can do that but I never knew how much that could change in a Pokemon's behavior." JC stared at the Water Weed Pokemon that was barely able to stand at his feet. He looked over to his Starly and motioned it to return to his perch. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his spare Pokeball. He pushed the button on the front of the ball expanding it to the size of his palm. He looked at the Pokemon who returned his gaze. He dropped the Pokeball onto the Pokemon. It hit its head and bounced off the lily pad into the air, opened and engulfed the little Pokemon in a red light as it smiled and gave a "Lo-tad" as it disappeared into the ball, which dropped to the ground.

Queen's approval

Riza continued to bite her bottom lip until her nerves nearly gave out. She took a deep breath then shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't go." She mumbled before taking off running, waking the sleeping Skitty in her arms. The kitten gazed at her with a sleepy and confused look before yawning slightly. She ran to the edge of town onto Route 4. There she finally stopped running and took another deep breath. "I should feel bad..." She told herself, thought she was already feeling bad. "What kind of freak is scared of people's parents?" She wondered while rolling her eyes. Though she wasn't paying attention, her feet were still moving. Her eyes stared at the ground before her, though she on some sort of human auto pilot.

---

JC awoke and sat up in the bright morning sunlight, causing quite a ruckus among the sleeping Pokemon using him as a nest and a pillow. Calming down, Lilly and Windscar shifted slightly to allow JC to get up then returned to sleeping. The Miltank and Wurmple rested by the still unconscious trainer as JC walked down to the river's edge and gathered water in his container. He made his way back to the others and set out bowls of food for the Pokemon and started to eat a granola bar himself. Windscar and Lilly eventually woke and went to their respective bowls. After waking Wurmple and Miltank got up only to ignore the food put out for them to eat leaves and grass respectively.
JC put the untouched food back in his bag and pulled out his Wurmple's Pokeball. Windscar flew over landing on his shoulder and Lilly sat by the leg JC was kneeling on. He called over the Wurmple who respectively did so. "Wurmple, I may have acted rashly. I caught you without consulting you. You have made great friends with Miltank and I bet her trainer is very kind too. You know this area. I want you to stay here with them and help them out. Will you do that?" The Wurmple looked up with joy in her eyes and gave a loud "WUUURM!!!" JC placed her Pokeball in her bag and wrote the trainer a note.



JC turned, picked up Lilly and carried her off back over to the bridge and back over it. He walked a while until finally coming to an house on the side of the road. He walked over to it and saw on the door a sign that said "Old Sally's Rest Stop: Come In"
JC grabbed the knob in his free hand and opened the door, to see a girl in a green hoodie talking with an old woman and her Joltik. He knew that instant who the girl was, for she was in his graduating class at the academy, her name: Du. His first chance to battle an actual person and her team! He couldn't give up the opportunity. "I am sorry to interrupt, but Sally, if you could heal my Pokemon that would be fantastic, because I need to battle Du."

---

"My name is Bo. Du is a last name and maybe if you asked me for a battle, I'd give you one. Luckily for you, you caught me at a time I need some experience for Warden. You're quite rude…"
JC shoved his hat over his eyes and wanted to scream. He felt horrible. He somewhere inside himself that her name was really Bo, but he had always thought that Du was her first name. He was so embarrassed he couldn’t even look at her. She continued: "You ready to battle, punk?" He looked up at her, "Yeah!" At that the woman healing the Pokemon perked up. "Well your Pokemon is healed! Let me show you to the field!" JC stood stunned. Field? "What do you mean?"
The woman led them through the front door and around the house, past a large tree where an Abra was teleporting here and there around its trunk. Windscar started flapping his wings on JC's shoulder but JC calmed him with a shush-shush-shush and with his free hand rubbed his thumb upwards in the Starly's forehead circle. Coming around to the back of the house the two new trainers and their Pokemon were met with a large rectangle of dirt cut into the earth with official white chalk outlines around the borders. "No way" JC said to himself. He had never seen a licensed battleground before in person- only on TV when he would watch the championship tournaments. "Sally, how did you get this?! I though you have to be a part of the Pokemon league to get something as legitimate as this!"
"After living such a long life, you get to know a few people." She smiled and made her way to the center of the sidelines. "I will referee the match! Get to your spots you two!"
JC- half out of courtesy half out of wanting to set foot in an actual field sprinted to the end opposite where the trainers stood stunned. When he got there and Bo was in her spot Sally called out the rules: "This will be a one on one battle! Each trainer can use one Pokemon each. Last Pokemon standing wins the battle!"
JC looked across to Bo who had her Joltik in her arms and thought too himself: "Bo had an entire day to run around and catch Pokemon before me. She will use something else." To his dismay this was incorrect, for upon seeing all the trainers and their families going in and out of the Pokemart leaving on their journey JC thought they had all left. In actuality they were just buying the necessities to go home and prepare to pack to leave the next day! Bo and everyone else had started their journeys only hours earlier and JC left in a rush to try to catch up to people!
He placed his Lotad on the ground in front of him and stood at the ready and watched the Joltik jump out of Bo's arms, prepared to fight. She called out from the other end of the field: "Warden use Leech Life!" The bug sped across the large field and jumped onto the Lotad's lily pad! It big down hard and sucked the life out of the Water Weed Pokemon only to hop off and speed away from its enemy.
"Lilly! Use Growl to give us some time!" Lilly nodded and took a deep breath and released the deep croak that seemed to pulse through the air. When the Joltik heard the noise it shuddered and seemed to calm its movements, making them much less erratic as they previously were.
Bo called out from the other end of the field for her Joltik to repeat its attach and it again jumped onto Lilly's back and drained the energy from her body but JC quickly responded. "Lilly use Astonish!" Lilly this time released a loud squealing quack knocking the Joltik off her back out of fear. Lilly looked in bad shape as she stumbled around, almost falling over.
Bo screamed out of excitement: "WARDEN ONE LAST LEECH LIFE! DO IT!" The Joltik, with newfound speed, sprinted over to the Lotad and clamped its jaws tight in her side and sucked the last life out of her. She fell to the ground, tired from exhaustion and Sally called out: "The battle is over! BO AND WARDEN ARE THE WINNERS!!!"
JC sprinted onto the field and picked up the tuckered out Lotad in his arms. "You did amazing Lilly. I will give you some rest until you're healed up." He pulled out her Pokeball and as the Pokemon gave a "Good-bye" mirroring "Lo-Taad!" quack, she was engulfed in a red beam of light and disappeared inside the sphere.

---

Traveling together? JC couldn’t believe she forgave him that easily. Actually he couldn’t believe how adamant of a person she seemed to be. There was a purpose to every one of her sentences. "My name is JC," he responded in a tone trying to mask the disappointment of losing his first trainer battle. "We had one or two classes together at the Academy, but I don’t think we ever really talked." He stretched his arm out towards her saying, "I would be pleased to travel with you Miss Du, and I promise the next time we battle things are gonna turn out differently!" She grabbed it firmly with her free hand- the other holding an egg- and shook hands giving a "challenge accepted hrmph" as she did so.
That moment Sally came walking down from her home cradling an egg of her own and placed it in JC's hands. "Here you go, sonny. I have a feeling you two are going to do well together out there in the world and grow very much attached to each other in the process!" JC looked down at the life he held in his hands. The egg was a dark red-orange color on the top half and the bottom was an even darker and deeper color, that curled making full spirals.
"Uh… Sally I'm sorry to disappoint you but I am not your best choice to give an egg to. Bo is the real breeder here. I don't know the first thing about breeding. Plus I don't have an egg canister." He looked back down at the egg which, unbeknownst to him, he had pulled in close to his body. The egg did not feel in the slightest bit like he thought it would. It was soft and seemed warm.
"Oh pish posh! You two were made for each other! You're an unprepared breeder without a canister and the Pokemon inside that egg doesn't need one! Look you've already grown attached to it-" she noted him examining the egg in his arms- "and plus if you will be traveling with Bo you will be fine! She is very knowledgeable about breeding and Pokemon eggs! Take my word, raising a Pokemon egg will be a highlight of your journey. Now you two stay here and let me heal your Lotad for you." JC handed the woman Lilly's Pokeball and she went back in the house.
He walked around to the front of the household and sat down leaning against the tree with Bo now by his side. Windscar and Bo's Joltik- his name was Warden- seemed to recognize they would be spending much more time together and started talking, Windscar tweeting up a storm and Warden chittering and clicking where he could get a word in. JC laughed at his Starly, always with so much to say! JC decided to take after his Pokemon and strike up conversation with Bo: "So now that we are going to travel together what's our first move? Are we planning on waiting for anyone?"

Riza smiled at the woman and bowed her head slightly. "Thank you." She replied before fallowing the woman to the back where everyone else was. Her eyes stayed on the ground until she noticed Sally had stopped. Her eyes moved onto the two figures before she realized that she knew one of them. "JC." She whispered before hearing Sally speaking to her. "Yes ma'am, I know him." She replied with a small smile. Her eyes moved back to the boy she went to school with. There had been many of times she was thankful he was around in her classes, since she didn't like working with anyone else. He was also one of the few people she didn't mind spending time with or meeting his parents, since she knew them too. It was tragic when his father passed and she had done her best to help JC through it. "Hey James." She replied then gave a small wave before walking closer to him. "How have you been?" She asked, since she hadn't had much contact with him in quit a long time. Her eyes then moved to the girl sitting beside him. She gave the girl a small polite smile and wave before moving her eyes back onto JC.

Riza smiled as she watched James stumble through his words and explaining about the two eggs. Her eyes moved to the two eggs before a small smile crept onto her face. It was slightly surprising that James would be carrying around an egg, at least to her, however she didn't say anything about it. When Sally walked in, she moved her eyes onto the woman before raising her right brow, rather surprised that she had to battle someone, since she hadn't really planned on it. Her eyes moved to James, hoping he would battle her, since it had been a long time. When Bo explained she rather watch, Riza gave a small, thankful smile. She listened to the explanation, that made sense. "Alright, well I only have one pokemon." Riza told James before glancing down at her Skitty who had moved to sit next to Riza's feet.