Chapter 2 - Battles, Shadows, and talk with a mayor
“…It’s hard to explain. I was in Pyrite town when I was kidnapped. I saw a… peculiar Pokemon. It was chasing Pokemon and then it attacked a person. Then, when I shouted out for help… I was suddenly chased, grabbed and thrown into a sack,” explained Rui, smoothing out her small ruffled jacket. “Hey, did they use an odd Pokemon?”
She saw a peculiar Pokemon that was attacking people? Could she have seen a Shadow Pokemon? pondered Wes. Maybe she got kidnapped because Team Snagem didn’t want her spilling the beans... but those people didn't look like Team Snagem to me... thought Wes grimly to himself.
“You saw a Pokemon attacking people?” questioned the athlete, a puzzled expression on his face. “But why would they kidnap you because of that? And no, they didn’t have any odd Pokemon… just incredibly weak ones.” The athlete snickered at the thought of two Whismur being a threat to people.
“I have no idea what they wanted to kidnap me for. Maybe they didn't want to have people knowing about that Pokemon,” claimed Rui. “But the important thing is that I got rescued.” Rui turned to Wes and beamed at him, while Wes tried to make himself invisible. “Thanks you, my gallant prince!” she exclaimed loudly, making Wes cringe.
“Espeon!” (The girl seems to be embarrassing Wes…) remarked Espeon, observing Wes’s reaction to Rui’s comments.
“Umbre.” (Heh. It seems he has a weak spot.)
“Ah, can you escort me for now, please?” Rui continued suddenly.
Wes was surprised by this question, and the suddenness of it. “Umm, no, I’m busy and have… um, no idea about this city. I don’t know where things are…”
“Only I’m a bit worried, what with being kidnapped and all. Please, Mr…?” Rui pleaded, ignoring Wes’s protests. She then started using the infamous puppy dog look.
“Oh jeez…” muttered Wes to himself, before giving up. “Ok, I will. My name’s Wes, by the way."
“Yay! Thank you!” Rui said with a smile. “I thought you’d say that.”
Wes, Espeon and Umbreon sweat dropped.
“Espi…” (She’s… persuasive,) commented Espeon, scrutinizing the conversation.
“Umbreon.” (This could get interesting,) replied Umbreon
“I know what you can do!” said the lady abruptly, to the relief of Wes. “You should see the mayor. He’ll know what to do!”
“Okay!” said Rui happily. It seemed that she already forgot about her ordeal - she was smiling more then ever before. “Only, I don’t know where it is…”
“Oh it’s…” began the athlete, only Rui had already run off into the distance, singing happily.
“Hurry up Wes!” she called, as she ran into a nearby house.
“Oh dear… she's energetic, isn’t she? Well, you better catch up to her then. I’ll go back to practicing for my race!” said the athlete, who ran off. He started running around the magnificent water fountain in the middle of the town.
“You look like an attractive couple,” smiled the lady, who also seemed to have forgotten the recent kidnapping. She walked off as well; leaving Wes thoroughly confused by the recent events. A kidnapped girl who didn’t seem affected all that much by her ordeal, odd people who had Shadow Pokemon – which the girl saw - and Whismur, and an athlete which seemed to have a liking for running around fountains. Bewildered, he stumbled off to find Rui.
***
When Wes got inside the house, Rui was already talking to the people inside.
“This isn’t the mayor’s house… is it?” asked Rui. “Only I need to talk to him about a kidnapping that was occurring here.”
“Kidnapping? Huh,” replied a woman. “Well, this isn’t the mayor’s house, but… A KIDNAPPING?!? Huh - wait - come back!” she shouted in dismay - Rui had already left the building upon hearing that this was the wrong house.
“Sorry about that,” muttered Wes.
A teenager, seemingly oblivious to the recent occurrences within the house, turned to Wes and started commenting about the lack of anime programs around recently.
“I mean, there’s all these news reports about a person blowing up Team Snagem’s base… it’s not THAT interesting…” he said, as Wes turned to leave.
What a very odd place this is, he thought. And how DARE he think that anime is better than what I did to Team Snagem’s base! …Oh, there’s Rui he added to himself. Rui had already run off a fair distance, and was approaching a large building in the centre of the town. He ran to catch up to her.
***
Rui burst into the building, with Wes panting shortly behind her. “Is this the mayor’s house?” she asked.
“No. This is the Prestigious And Highly-Esteemed Preparation Training Facility. Or Pre Gym for short,” answered a nearby person, who was standing by the door.
Rui and Wes looked around to observe their surroundings. There was an elevated platform in the middle of the room - it looked like one could battle on it. By the battling arena there was a lift leading to a level below. On their right, there was a control room, and to the left, there was a lesson on Pokemon going on. The teacher was looking frustrated at her students. Espeon and Umbreon trotted off to satisfy their curiosity.
A man clad in a white uniform came up to Wes and Rui and introduced himself.
“Hello. My name’s Justy. Interested in taking part in a Pokemon battle challenge? It’s 4 trainers in a row, 2-2 battles.”
“I WOULD LIKE TO BATTLE!” shouted Rui happily. “But… I have no Pokemon,” she added, suddenly downcast. Her mood swings unsettled Wes somewhat.
“You have no Pokemon?” inquired Wes. “You should get some, if only for protection...”
“Yes, I guess you’re right,” sighed Rui.
“Well,” said Wes to Justy, “I guess I will take part in the challenge. The mayor can wait, Rui,” he told her, having quite enough of running around town after her.
“I guess so,” answered Rui.
“Great!” replied Justy enthusiastically. “When you’re ready, step up to the battle area on the left. I look forward to watching some enthralling battles.” Justy smiled and walked off to a control room situated to the right of the room.
“Okay, Umbreon, Espeon, get ready! ...Where are they?” wondered Wes.
“I’ll get them,” said Rui, as she marched off into the general direction where they went. Wes sighed and followed her.
Meanwhile, Espeon and Umbreon were observing an interesting class in maths.
“Now then,” began the teacher. “Pokemon battles are an important part of life, as that’s all people seem to care about these days. However, if you want to be a good battler, you must be able to do a bit of simple maths.”
Collective groans were made at this speech.
“Now then - we’ve been at this for the last week, and we need to get some progress. Jimmy! Here’s an addition question. If I had two Pokemon, and then got two more Pokemon, how many would I have?”
Jimmy looked rather surprised at being asked a question.
“Umm… you would have some Pokemon.”
“Yes… and no. Look - one, two, three, four. So how many are there?” The teacher drew some circles on the board to resemble Pokemon.
“Let me think..." answered Jimmy. “There are three…and that one.”
“Three and that one,” repeated the teacher with a sigh. “So if I add THAT one to the other three, what will I have?” The teacher went as far to hold up four fingers in front of Jimmy’s face, in a desperate attempt to have him get the answer.
“OH! Um… Some circles.”
“Espeon…” (He’s rivalling the two idiots we saw before in stupidity!)
“Umbre!” (And winning!)
“Ah! There you are!” shouted Rui. She quickly scooped the pair up and handed them to Wes.
“ESPI!” (Put me down!) Espeon cried, surprised that Rui would simply scoop him up like a lost toy.
“Hello!” greeted the teacher. “Don’t worry, those Pokemon were well behaved. And what fine evolved Pokemon they are! Jimmy! What do YOU think of these Pokemon?
“Um… well behaved fine evolved Pokemon?” answered Jimmy, struggling to keep up with the sudden subject change.
“No, that’s what I think. What do you think? Try to have a thought of your own, Jimmy, thinking is so important. What do you think?” explained the lecturer patiently.
“I think...thinking is so important,” replied Jimmy.
The teacher sighed and turned to Wes. “Never mind Jimmy, he’s been at this for years. Hmm, do you have a P*DA?”
Wes frowned. “Yes. I am a trainer, as you can see.” He held his P*DA – Orre’s somewhat less-then-inspiring equivalent of a Pokedex - for the teacher to see.
The teacher gasped upon seeing the P*DA. “You don’t have a Strategy Memo!”
“No, I don’t,” admitted Wes. Personally he thought he could rely upon his own memory and knowledge to know which Pokemon were good against others.
“Tell you what, if you beat the Pre Gym challenge, I will upgrade your P*DA,” offered the tutor.
“Thanks! Well, I better get started then…” Wes walked up the stair nearby up to the battle arena and took the left side of it, with Espeon and Umbreon next to him, prepared for battle.
“I’ll cheer for you Wes!” shouted Rui enthusiastically.
“OK! First challenge is… Botan! You’re up!” shouted Justy from the control room, before pressing a button, summoning a lift next to the battle arena to suddenly appear. Sure enough, a person by the name of Botan walked out of the lift.
“Wes, Wes, beat Botan, if you can’t do it, no-one can!” cheered Rui as Botan took up his position opposite Wes. Everyone sweat dropped at this… behaviour.
***
All in all, the pre-gym challenge was a cinch. Even Jimmy would have beaten it, Wes reflected.
After Botan proclaimed his love for all things green and grass types, he sent out a Sunkern and a Hoppip. Only, when his Pokemon caught sight of the well-trained Espeon and Umbreon, the small pink Hoppip jumped back into Botan’s Poke ball out of fright. Sunkern could not dive into its own Poke ball, being a small, weak pineapple-looking seed Pokemon lacking legs or the ability to jump. Left without any other options, it resorted to waving its leaves as viciously as it could at Espeon. Shortly before Wes even ordered an attack, the Sunkern fainted out of pure fear.
The second battle was against a girl by the name of Liqui, who boasted that nobody liked water types as much as her. Her team was considerably better than Botan’s, consisting of a small blue mouse Pokemon called, Marill and a Surskit. However, the battle lasted after only one attack. Espeon’s powerful Return had struck Marill right into the small water spider, knocking both out instantly.
The third battler was a posh looking boy with the slightly less posh name of Dugo. He had a Trapinch and a Swinub. As soon as the orange Trapinch was sent out, it oddly started dancing. This seemed to help it, as it successfully evaded both Espeon’s Return and Umbreon’s Bite attacks. Meanwhile, Swinub (a small pig-like Pokemon) burrowed through the ground by using Dig, meaning that Wes’s Pokemon could not target it. Unfortunately, instead of attacking Espeon and Umbreon from below, it ended up burrowing underneath and hitting the dancing Trapinch, knocking it out. Swinub then got thumped thanks to a swift Bite by Umbreon, after Espeon helped it with Helping Hand, jumping on top of the pale pink pig Pokemon.
The last battle was a relatively straight-forward one. The final battler, an uppity Lady Gwin, sent out two defensive rock-typed Pokemon - Geodude and Ryhorn. Geodude, an odd-looking head with arm that defied physics and levitated, started off with a moderately-powered Magnitude attack. This however, besides unsettling all in the room, dished out severe damage to its rhino-based partner in Ryhorn, while Espeon and Umbreon held their ground, making the battle easier for Wes. After Ryhorn fainted, Geodude stood no chance against the combined forces of Bite and Confusion, clutching his head as he fainted and stopped floating in the air.
Oddly enough, Lady Gwin after the battle huffed at Wes distastefully.
“My battle style must have been too sophisticated for you.” She struck her nose to the air, and walked off.
Odd comment to make after losing, thought Wes. Meanwhile, Rui ever so causally stuck out her foot, resulting in Lady Gwin having a squashed nose.
“Great work!” smiled Justy, commenting upon the battles. “You beat the Pre Gym Battle Challenge!” He tried to make it sound like a fantastic accomplishment, but both Wes and Rui felt that Justy knew how ‘challenging’ it really was.
“As an award, you win… this WHITE HERB!” Justy handed a small white herb to Wes, with the same level of fake enthusiasm, if not more.
“Ah… thanks…” said Wes, before he stuffed the small object to the depths of his bag, probably never to be seen again.
“I would like you to battle me, Wes. But only when you get a full party of six Pokemon,” Justy continued in a similar fashion.
“Sure. I’ll swing by when that happens,” smiled Wes. On his way out, he got the upgrade for his P*DA from the teacher, who seemed to be using this as an excuse to stay away from her students. Wes didn’t blame her. She even gave Rui a P*DA, even though she wasn’t a Pokemon trainer, let alone have any Pokemon.
***
The moment they walked out of the Pre Gym, Rui started to rush off again into the depths of the white stone city, towards a long allay with various water features - seemingly Phenac city liked to show off its large reservoir of water at every opportunity. Luckily, Wes pulled her up short.
“Stop running off!” he said sternly. “If you want some help from me, you’ll have to stop rushing off into every house. From now on, just follow behind me. OK?”
“Yes…” said Rui, somewhat reluctantly.
“Good,” said Wes, confident that he got the hyperactive Rui under control for now. He started walking towards a house to the left. He had talked to someone upon leaving the Pre Gym, so he knew the location of the mayor’s house. To his frustration though, Rui started walking directly behind him.
“Rui…”
“Yes?” replied Rui innocently.
“Can you please stop walking DIRECTLY behind me?”
“But you said to follow behind you,” answered Rui mischievously.
As Wes went to say something impolite to Rui, he suddenly bumped into a man, who had walked out of the mayor’s house.
“Hey!”
“Oww! Sorry…” apologised Wes, before stopping short. Rui also gave out a gasp of surprise.
The man was a tall skinny person, who didn’t have much of a dress sense. He had long white hair, and unattractive purple clothing, save for a red, skirt-like thing. His eyes were cold and cutting. Overall, he had the appearance of an ugly, poisonous flower.
The man… 'smiled' at Wes.
“You are a travelling trainer?” he asked. He smirked at Wes and Rui’s looks of bewilderment. “I like your expression. Fufufu, I have a feeling we will meet again somewhere.” The man then abruptly walked off.
“Well…” said a bemused Wes. “That was… odd.”
“And… scary,” added Rui.
“Umbreon!” (People in this town are strange, aren’t they?)
“Espeon!” (I agree with you on that one.)
“Well, let’s go in,” encouraged Rui, not one for waiting around.
As they entered, they saw the complete opposite to the man they just encountered. The person seated before them was a fat, short rounded figure, with a brown suit that somehow managed to contain his mass within. This, along with possibly having to talk with his previous visitor, didn’t seem to detract the mayor to welcoming them with a wide smile.
“You must be travellers! Welcome!” greeted the man. He waddled up to Wes and Rui. “I am Es Cade, the mayor of this town. Is anything the problem?
Suddenly Rui stepped up.
“I saw… IT!” she answered.
The mayor looked blankly at Rui.
“Oh… sorry. Well, I saw a peculiar Pokemon, no, that’s not quite right.” Rui was stumbling for words.
“Well, what was peculiar about it?” asked the mayor.
“Well," began Rui hastily, "I was walking around Pyrite Town when I saw two people having a Pokemon battle, and one of them had this Pokemon and it was giving out a black aura, and it was very odd, and then the man told it to use a odd move that sounded something like shadow rush, and I didn't think that was a real move, and then the Pokemon attacked the other Pokemon, and it looked very evil and I said “why does it have a black aura”, but nobody could see the black aura, and the Pokemon attacked someone, and they ran away screaming, oh and I like cake, and it looked like a fighting machine, not a Pokemon and then the man asked me what I saw and I ran away but then I was kidnapped by the man and this other man, and they put me in a bag took me here, and then I was rescued by Wes who had very strong Pokemon, and I’m really scared, and yeah.”
The mayor blinked at Rui. “I think you need to explain that again, slowly, and more clearly… much more clearly…”
Ten minutes of explaining later…
“Well, then. So basically, you saw a scary Pokemon with a black aura? And it attacked people, and some shady characters kidnapped you because you could see it. If that is true, it would be scary. But I do admit I find it hard to believe at face value…"
“But it’s true! MISTER MAYOR! It’s the truth!!” protested Rui rather loudly.
“No, no, I didn’t say I DON’T believe you,” said the mayor hastily, holding his hands up to stop Rui’s outburst. “I’m just saying that it is quite the story… anyway. I will investigate this…”
“Thank you!” gushed Rui.
“Don’t thank me! It’s my job and I cannot allow this. Give me time to investigate and I will get back to you with information on how we are going later! By the way, are you Pokemon trainers?"
Wes nodded.
“Well then, while you’re here, why not go to our Colosseum, and take up a challenge? It’s state of the art, and the pride of our town.”
All right. I already beat the Pre Gym challenge - this can't be much harder, thought Wes.
As Wes and Rui left the building, Wes thought he saw something in the mayor’s face.
A look of contempt? Anger? Hate?
Nah, I probably was just imagining it, thought Wes.
***
Please reply on your thoughts! And I hope you enjoyed it! From here-on in, the chapter do start to get longer as well...
Oh, and in the next chapter, everyone's favourite afro-wielding music-loving Ludicolo-fanatic guy will make an appearance as well.
Chapter 3 may come on Sunday (my Sunday - live in Australia so for some Saturday...) as well, depending on time and availablility of internet.
And here is the spoiler on characters and such in the game:
“…It’s hard to explain. I was in Pyrite town when I was kidnapped. I saw a… peculiar Pokemon. It was chasing Pokemon and then it attacked a person. Then, when I shouted out for help… I was suddenly chased, grabbed and thrown into a sack,” explained Rui, smoothing out her small ruffled jacket. “Hey, did they use an odd Pokemon?”
She saw a peculiar Pokemon that was attacking people? Could she have seen a Shadow Pokemon? pondered Wes. Maybe she got kidnapped because Team Snagem didn’t want her spilling the beans... but those people didn't look like Team Snagem to me... thought Wes grimly to himself.
“You saw a Pokemon attacking people?” questioned the athlete, a puzzled expression on his face. “But why would they kidnap you because of that? And no, they didn’t have any odd Pokemon… just incredibly weak ones.” The athlete snickered at the thought of two Whismur being a threat to people.
“I have no idea what they wanted to kidnap me for. Maybe they didn't want to have people knowing about that Pokemon,” claimed Rui. “But the important thing is that I got rescued.” Rui turned to Wes and beamed at him, while Wes tried to make himself invisible. “Thanks you, my gallant prince!” she exclaimed loudly, making Wes cringe.
“Espeon!” (The girl seems to be embarrassing Wes…) remarked Espeon, observing Wes’s reaction to Rui’s comments.
“Umbre.” (Heh. It seems he has a weak spot.)
“Ah, can you escort me for now, please?” Rui continued suddenly.
Wes was surprised by this question, and the suddenness of it. “Umm, no, I’m busy and have… um, no idea about this city. I don’t know where things are…”
“Only I’m a bit worried, what with being kidnapped and all. Please, Mr…?” Rui pleaded, ignoring Wes’s protests. She then started using the infamous puppy dog look.
“Oh jeez…” muttered Wes to himself, before giving up. “Ok, I will. My name’s Wes, by the way."
“Yay! Thank you!” Rui said with a smile. “I thought you’d say that.”
Wes, Espeon and Umbreon sweat dropped.
“Espi…” (She’s… persuasive,) commented Espeon, scrutinizing the conversation.
“Umbreon.” (This could get interesting,) replied Umbreon
“I know what you can do!” said the lady abruptly, to the relief of Wes. “You should see the mayor. He’ll know what to do!”
“Okay!” said Rui happily. It seemed that she already forgot about her ordeal - she was smiling more then ever before. “Only, I don’t know where it is…”
“Oh it’s…” began the athlete, only Rui had already run off into the distance, singing happily.
“Hurry up Wes!” she called, as she ran into a nearby house.
“Oh dear… she's energetic, isn’t she? Well, you better catch up to her then. I’ll go back to practicing for my race!” said the athlete, who ran off. He started running around the magnificent water fountain in the middle of the town.
“You look like an attractive couple,” smiled the lady, who also seemed to have forgotten the recent kidnapping. She walked off as well; leaving Wes thoroughly confused by the recent events. A kidnapped girl who didn’t seem affected all that much by her ordeal, odd people who had Shadow Pokemon – which the girl saw - and Whismur, and an athlete which seemed to have a liking for running around fountains. Bewildered, he stumbled off to find Rui.
***
When Wes got inside the house, Rui was already talking to the people inside.
“This isn’t the mayor’s house… is it?” asked Rui. “Only I need to talk to him about a kidnapping that was occurring here.”
“Kidnapping? Huh,” replied a woman. “Well, this isn’t the mayor’s house, but… A KIDNAPPING?!? Huh - wait - come back!” she shouted in dismay - Rui had already left the building upon hearing that this was the wrong house.
“Sorry about that,” muttered Wes.
A teenager, seemingly oblivious to the recent occurrences within the house, turned to Wes and started commenting about the lack of anime programs around recently.
“I mean, there’s all these news reports about a person blowing up Team Snagem’s base… it’s not THAT interesting…” he said, as Wes turned to leave.
What a very odd place this is, he thought. And how DARE he think that anime is better than what I did to Team Snagem’s base! …Oh, there’s Rui he added to himself. Rui had already run off a fair distance, and was approaching a large building in the centre of the town. He ran to catch up to her.
***
Rui burst into the building, with Wes panting shortly behind her. “Is this the mayor’s house?” she asked.
“No. This is the Prestigious And Highly-Esteemed Preparation Training Facility. Or Pre Gym for short,” answered a nearby person, who was standing by the door.
Rui and Wes looked around to observe their surroundings. There was an elevated platform in the middle of the room - it looked like one could battle on it. By the battling arena there was a lift leading to a level below. On their right, there was a control room, and to the left, there was a lesson on Pokemon going on. The teacher was looking frustrated at her students. Espeon and Umbreon trotted off to satisfy their curiosity.
A man clad in a white uniform came up to Wes and Rui and introduced himself.
“Hello. My name’s Justy. Interested in taking part in a Pokemon battle challenge? It’s 4 trainers in a row, 2-2 battles.”
“I WOULD LIKE TO BATTLE!” shouted Rui happily. “But… I have no Pokemon,” she added, suddenly downcast. Her mood swings unsettled Wes somewhat.
“You have no Pokemon?” inquired Wes. “You should get some, if only for protection...”
“Yes, I guess you’re right,” sighed Rui.
“Well,” said Wes to Justy, “I guess I will take part in the challenge. The mayor can wait, Rui,” he told her, having quite enough of running around town after her.
“I guess so,” answered Rui.
“Great!” replied Justy enthusiastically. “When you’re ready, step up to the battle area on the left. I look forward to watching some enthralling battles.” Justy smiled and walked off to a control room situated to the right of the room.
“Okay, Umbreon, Espeon, get ready! ...Where are they?” wondered Wes.
“I’ll get them,” said Rui, as she marched off into the general direction where they went. Wes sighed and followed her.
Meanwhile, Espeon and Umbreon were observing an interesting class in maths.
“Now then,” began the teacher. “Pokemon battles are an important part of life, as that’s all people seem to care about these days. However, if you want to be a good battler, you must be able to do a bit of simple maths.”
Collective groans were made at this speech.
“Now then - we’ve been at this for the last week, and we need to get some progress. Jimmy! Here’s an addition question. If I had two Pokemon, and then got two more Pokemon, how many would I have?”
Jimmy looked rather surprised at being asked a question.
“Umm… you would have some Pokemon.”
“Yes… and no. Look - one, two, three, four. So how many are there?” The teacher drew some circles on the board to resemble Pokemon.
“Let me think..." answered Jimmy. “There are three…and that one.”
“Three and that one,” repeated the teacher with a sigh. “So if I add THAT one to the other three, what will I have?” The teacher went as far to hold up four fingers in front of Jimmy’s face, in a desperate attempt to have him get the answer.
“OH! Um… Some circles.”
“Espeon…” (He’s rivalling the two idiots we saw before in stupidity!)
“Umbre!” (And winning!)
“Ah! There you are!” shouted Rui. She quickly scooped the pair up and handed them to Wes.
“ESPI!” (Put me down!) Espeon cried, surprised that Rui would simply scoop him up like a lost toy.
“Hello!” greeted the teacher. “Don’t worry, those Pokemon were well behaved. And what fine evolved Pokemon they are! Jimmy! What do YOU think of these Pokemon?
“Um… well behaved fine evolved Pokemon?” answered Jimmy, struggling to keep up with the sudden subject change.
“No, that’s what I think. What do you think? Try to have a thought of your own, Jimmy, thinking is so important. What do you think?” explained the lecturer patiently.
“I think...thinking is so important,” replied Jimmy.
The teacher sighed and turned to Wes. “Never mind Jimmy, he’s been at this for years. Hmm, do you have a P*DA?”
Wes frowned. “Yes. I am a trainer, as you can see.” He held his P*DA – Orre’s somewhat less-then-inspiring equivalent of a Pokedex - for the teacher to see.
The teacher gasped upon seeing the P*DA. “You don’t have a Strategy Memo!”
“No, I don’t,” admitted Wes. Personally he thought he could rely upon his own memory and knowledge to know which Pokemon were good against others.
“Tell you what, if you beat the Pre Gym challenge, I will upgrade your P*DA,” offered the tutor.
“Thanks! Well, I better get started then…” Wes walked up the stair nearby up to the battle arena and took the left side of it, with Espeon and Umbreon next to him, prepared for battle.
“I’ll cheer for you Wes!” shouted Rui enthusiastically.
“OK! First challenge is… Botan! You’re up!” shouted Justy from the control room, before pressing a button, summoning a lift next to the battle arena to suddenly appear. Sure enough, a person by the name of Botan walked out of the lift.
“Wes, Wes, beat Botan, if you can’t do it, no-one can!” cheered Rui as Botan took up his position opposite Wes. Everyone sweat dropped at this… behaviour.
***
All in all, the pre-gym challenge was a cinch. Even Jimmy would have beaten it, Wes reflected.
After Botan proclaimed his love for all things green and grass types, he sent out a Sunkern and a Hoppip. Only, when his Pokemon caught sight of the well-trained Espeon and Umbreon, the small pink Hoppip jumped back into Botan’s Poke ball out of fright. Sunkern could not dive into its own Poke ball, being a small, weak pineapple-looking seed Pokemon lacking legs or the ability to jump. Left without any other options, it resorted to waving its leaves as viciously as it could at Espeon. Shortly before Wes even ordered an attack, the Sunkern fainted out of pure fear.
The second battle was against a girl by the name of Liqui, who boasted that nobody liked water types as much as her. Her team was considerably better than Botan’s, consisting of a small blue mouse Pokemon called, Marill and a Surskit. However, the battle lasted after only one attack. Espeon’s powerful Return had struck Marill right into the small water spider, knocking both out instantly.
The third battler was a posh looking boy with the slightly less posh name of Dugo. He had a Trapinch and a Swinub. As soon as the orange Trapinch was sent out, it oddly started dancing. This seemed to help it, as it successfully evaded both Espeon’s Return and Umbreon’s Bite attacks. Meanwhile, Swinub (a small pig-like Pokemon) burrowed through the ground by using Dig, meaning that Wes’s Pokemon could not target it. Unfortunately, instead of attacking Espeon and Umbreon from below, it ended up burrowing underneath and hitting the dancing Trapinch, knocking it out. Swinub then got thumped thanks to a swift Bite by Umbreon, after Espeon helped it with Helping Hand, jumping on top of the pale pink pig Pokemon.
The last battle was a relatively straight-forward one. The final battler, an uppity Lady Gwin, sent out two defensive rock-typed Pokemon - Geodude and Ryhorn. Geodude, an odd-looking head with arm that defied physics and levitated, started off with a moderately-powered Magnitude attack. This however, besides unsettling all in the room, dished out severe damage to its rhino-based partner in Ryhorn, while Espeon and Umbreon held their ground, making the battle easier for Wes. After Ryhorn fainted, Geodude stood no chance against the combined forces of Bite and Confusion, clutching his head as he fainted and stopped floating in the air.
Oddly enough, Lady Gwin after the battle huffed at Wes distastefully.
“My battle style must have been too sophisticated for you.” She struck her nose to the air, and walked off.
Odd comment to make after losing, thought Wes. Meanwhile, Rui ever so causally stuck out her foot, resulting in Lady Gwin having a squashed nose.
“Great work!” smiled Justy, commenting upon the battles. “You beat the Pre Gym Battle Challenge!” He tried to make it sound like a fantastic accomplishment, but both Wes and Rui felt that Justy knew how ‘challenging’ it really was.
“As an award, you win… this WHITE HERB!” Justy handed a small white herb to Wes, with the same level of fake enthusiasm, if not more.
“Ah… thanks…” said Wes, before he stuffed the small object to the depths of his bag, probably never to be seen again.
“I would like you to battle me, Wes. But only when you get a full party of six Pokemon,” Justy continued in a similar fashion.
“Sure. I’ll swing by when that happens,” smiled Wes. On his way out, he got the upgrade for his P*DA from the teacher, who seemed to be using this as an excuse to stay away from her students. Wes didn’t blame her. She even gave Rui a P*DA, even though she wasn’t a Pokemon trainer, let alone have any Pokemon.
***
The moment they walked out of the Pre Gym, Rui started to rush off again into the depths of the white stone city, towards a long allay with various water features - seemingly Phenac city liked to show off its large reservoir of water at every opportunity. Luckily, Wes pulled her up short.
“Stop running off!” he said sternly. “If you want some help from me, you’ll have to stop rushing off into every house. From now on, just follow behind me. OK?”
“Yes…” said Rui, somewhat reluctantly.
“Good,” said Wes, confident that he got the hyperactive Rui under control for now. He started walking towards a house to the left. He had talked to someone upon leaving the Pre Gym, so he knew the location of the mayor’s house. To his frustration though, Rui started walking directly behind him.
“Rui…”
“Yes?” replied Rui innocently.
“Can you please stop walking DIRECTLY behind me?”
“But you said to follow behind you,” answered Rui mischievously.
As Wes went to say something impolite to Rui, he suddenly bumped into a man, who had walked out of the mayor’s house.
“Hey!”
“Oww! Sorry…” apologised Wes, before stopping short. Rui also gave out a gasp of surprise.
The man was a tall skinny person, who didn’t have much of a dress sense. He had long white hair, and unattractive purple clothing, save for a red, skirt-like thing. His eyes were cold and cutting. Overall, he had the appearance of an ugly, poisonous flower.
The man… 'smiled' at Wes.
“You are a travelling trainer?” he asked. He smirked at Wes and Rui’s looks of bewilderment. “I like your expression. Fufufu, I have a feeling we will meet again somewhere.” The man then abruptly walked off.
“Well…” said a bemused Wes. “That was… odd.”
“And… scary,” added Rui.
“Umbreon!” (People in this town are strange, aren’t they?)
“Espeon!” (I agree with you on that one.)
“Well, let’s go in,” encouraged Rui, not one for waiting around.
As they entered, they saw the complete opposite to the man they just encountered. The person seated before them was a fat, short rounded figure, with a brown suit that somehow managed to contain his mass within. This, along with possibly having to talk with his previous visitor, didn’t seem to detract the mayor to welcoming them with a wide smile.
“You must be travellers! Welcome!” greeted the man. He waddled up to Wes and Rui. “I am Es Cade, the mayor of this town. Is anything the problem?
Suddenly Rui stepped up.
“I saw… IT!” she answered.
The mayor looked blankly at Rui.
“Oh… sorry. Well, I saw a peculiar Pokemon, no, that’s not quite right.” Rui was stumbling for words.
“Well, what was peculiar about it?” asked the mayor.
“Well," began Rui hastily, "I was walking around Pyrite Town when I saw two people having a Pokemon battle, and one of them had this Pokemon and it was giving out a black aura, and it was very odd, and then the man told it to use a odd move that sounded something like shadow rush, and I didn't think that was a real move, and then the Pokemon attacked the other Pokemon, and it looked very evil and I said “why does it have a black aura”, but nobody could see the black aura, and the Pokemon attacked someone, and they ran away screaming, oh and I like cake, and it looked like a fighting machine, not a Pokemon and then the man asked me what I saw and I ran away but then I was kidnapped by the man and this other man, and they put me in a bag took me here, and then I was rescued by Wes who had very strong Pokemon, and I’m really scared, and yeah.”
The mayor blinked at Rui. “I think you need to explain that again, slowly, and more clearly… much more clearly…”
Ten minutes of explaining later…
“Well, then. So basically, you saw a scary Pokemon with a black aura? And it attacked people, and some shady characters kidnapped you because you could see it. If that is true, it would be scary. But I do admit I find it hard to believe at face value…"
“But it’s true! MISTER MAYOR! It’s the truth!!” protested Rui rather loudly.
“No, no, I didn’t say I DON’T believe you,” said the mayor hastily, holding his hands up to stop Rui’s outburst. “I’m just saying that it is quite the story… anyway. I will investigate this…”
“Thank you!” gushed Rui.
“Don’t thank me! It’s my job and I cannot allow this. Give me time to investigate and I will get back to you with information on how we are going later! By the way, are you Pokemon trainers?"
Wes nodded.
“Well then, while you’re here, why not go to our Colosseum, and take up a challenge? It’s state of the art, and the pride of our town.”
All right. I already beat the Pre Gym challenge - this can't be much harder, thought Wes.
As Wes and Rui left the building, Wes thought he saw something in the mayor’s face.
A look of contempt? Anger? Hate?
Nah, I probably was just imagining it, thought Wes.
***
Please reply on your thoughts! And I hope you enjoyed it! From here-on in, the chapter do start to get longer as well...
Oh, and in the next chapter, everyone's favourite afro-wielding music-loving Ludicolo-fanatic guy will make an appearance as well.
Chapter 3 may come on Sunday (my Sunday - live in Australia so for some Saturday...) as well, depending on time and availablility of internet.
And here is the spoiler on characters and such in the game:
Rui - in the game, after revealing that she can see Shadow Pokemon, she then requests you to take her to the Mayor’s house (never mind you just saved her, and that you don’t know the place, but at least she asks nicely), and follows directly behind you all the time. If you played the game, you’d know just how annoying it gets - especially as she does so for the ENTIRE GAME! Yes, in the game, you’re stuck with her through thick or thin. Even if when you snag loads of Pokemon, and she never gets one. Anyway, her and various issues concerning her shall be addressed in due chapters.