I named it Rover after a little bit of thought...he was pretty hurt from Fluffy's hit though, so I just put him in the pokeball for now. I'll get him patched up when I get to Rustboro. I smiled to my team and kneeled down to rub across Fluffy's ears for a job well done - but he was already off searching around for something.
I sighed and we went on through the forest at a leisurely pace - well, for me it was leisurely at least...Zippo was on high alert for some reason and even Octavia wasn't prancing around and humming to herself like normal. The two of them pressed right next to me with just enough room to walk. I was a bit worried to be honest...the two of them had never acted like this. Vishnu seemed to be in high spirits though...she was just soaring around us in big lazy circles letting out the occasional chittering cry. There were a few wild pokemon that attacked us, but Octavia was more...aggressive today. The one few pokemon that got close were met with a combination of Zippo's breath and Octavia's mind. There were a lot of corpses in our wake.
The sun was shining overhead as we made it to a clearing and...a guy in a business suit was standing there searching for something? Who comes to the woods in a business suit? And why? He saw me standing there and grinned widely before rushing over to me. Little girl! Little girl!
He...didn't get far before Vishnu landed on his shoulder with her barbs just inches away from his neck, Zippo standing just in front of him on one leg with the other raised up to slash at him, Fluffy huddling close to me with her teeth bared and Octavia's horn was glowing...a lot. Hehe...uh...call off your pokemon, little girl. I just wanted to ask if you've seen a Shroomish around here. I wanted to catch one...
Uh...c-can all of you come back? Please?
They didn't listen...they just stood there ready to kill this guy because he was a bit too excited about talking to me... All of you! Stop!
The guy was looking really nervous now...sweat was dripping off his body and all of my friends were...they were about to kill someone. If he moved right now they'd just let it all out and he'd end up... Stop. NOW! Return!
That one got their attention...they all slowly turned to look at me and sheepishly backed off the shaken man to come to my side. I didn't give them any attention as they did and simply stared at the man that my pokemon nearly killed. I've seen a few Shroomish. They're mostly near the Petalburg half of the forest, I've seen a lot less since coming to this side.
I sounded a lot more calm than I felt...why did they do that? What did this guy do?
He smiled at me and seemed like he wanted to step closer but then thought better of it. T-Thank you, little girl. I'll be heading back to Rustboro then...
Ugh...been waiting too long for this. Mate! Give me the research papers and I won't have me pet rip out your throat!
W-what? Who was this guy? And...what did he say he was gonna do to this man?
Poor guy didn't know what to do...but my friends did. They all ignored the Shroomish guy and stepped forward, each one of them growling at him. He stepped back and swore as he finally noticed me and them... Bah...looks like I'll have to take out this runt first then. Let's go, Pooch!
He called out a Poochyena and it growled way back in it's throat at the rest of my team...this one was quite a bit bigger than the rest of the ones we fought and it was covered in scars. It's right eye just had a slash through it and it's socket was empty...just a pulsing angry hole where it had been.
Fluffy was the first to act since she was the closest. She stepped forward and looked back at me as the rest of them understood and stepped back, ready to act. She growled at the Poochyena and it opened the battle by kicking up a lot of sand and dirt, making my eyes sting but Fluffy was ready for it even if her trainer wasn't. She just kicked up it's head with her tail like the first one and slammed her head into it's own. And she did it again as it's head swung down and then again and again until both their heads were seeping blood but the Poochyena wasn't getting back up...or moving. Worthless mutt...ye haven't seen the last of Team Aqua, lass. You just made a powerful enemy...
I was still stunned as the man called back his Poochyena and ran away while the Shroomish guy simply thanked me over and over before shoving a pokeball into my hands...no, it had blue on it. A great ball...he then ran away back towards Rustboro, making sure to keep to the clear path at all times. G-Good work everyone...l-let's get out of here.
They seemed to understand that at least and without a sound from either of them, Zippo took point and Fluffy took to my side as Vishnu kept circling overhead in a much wider circle than she had been. We went through without a sight of anything until we got near the forest's exit and came out onto a clear path. I smiled as I heard the rush of water nearby - a river. I knew that Rustboro was near a river...wonderful. We were almost there and still had enough daylight to reach it.
A few hours later we had crossed the bridge and made it to the city proper...Rustboro. This was my kinda town. Finally somewhere a decent size...The city probing the integration of nature and science.I smiled to myself and made a beeline to the pokemon center. All of them were tired and needed rest..and I was worried about Rover. I handed them to the nurse and filled out the forms for Rover as she took them all to the back. She came back about fifteen minutes later and handed me all my pokeballs but she had a sad look on her face. Listen sweety...about Rover. He's not well. Looks like he was born with a bad leg and before you caught him, he was in pretty bad shape. I wouldn't recommend putting him into any battles...they won't go well and the poor guy may need to be put down.
O-oh...t-thank you, Miss. I'll keep that in mind.
I left without another word and called out my friends one by one until each was in place in front of me. I looked at them and none of them were really scarred or damaged...but Rover obviously couldn't stand on his back leg. He kept it off the ground and limped with every movement...his paw was more a nub than an actual paw as well. No nails on it, no pads, just a hunk of flesh that looked a bit rotten...no wonder he attacked me in the forest. He was probably starving thanks to not being able to hunt with that leg.
I called them back and wondered the town for a little while, stopping in to see a 'Mister Cutter' who supposedly taught pokemon a technique to clear away brush and bushes and other things like that. I found him outside a small house and after a bit of talking from him he gave me a manual embossed with 'How to teach your Pokemon to CUT!' in big bold letters on the front...he obviously wrote it himself. I thanked him for his time and decided to stop by the trainer's school while I was in town. Maybe it's different from the one in Saffron...The smell was the same at least...blood, sweat, and musk filled the air in the small building. There was a man up front - the teacher, I guess, who was lecturing the class about how Pokemon are powerful and strong and how we must rely on them to defend us from others. A bit afterwards, he pulled up the classic training movie that showed a pair of Scyther in the wild slicing eachother up to leave one of them gashed to pieces while the other stood battered and bloody over what was left of the first before drinking it's blood. The kids were in awe of the film and soon afterwards, he showed a second one of a typical pokemon battle of a pair of high level trainers. The film was kinda grainy on this one and it was obviously amaturely done, but the effect was there. I could make out the distinct shape of a Nidorino battling against something massive and rigid...I think it was an Onix. After a bit, the massive rock snake was getting tired and couldn't do anything to hit the agile Nidorino so the creature, seeing an opening, leapt up and smashed it's foot into the Onix's form and a loud -crack- could be heard. It did it again, and again, and again while the Onix cried out in pain over and over as it was struck until it fell over with what looked like mud seeping from it's chest before the Nidorino stepped forward and pressed it's foot to the Onix's head and pressed until it went through and into it's brain.
I had seen the video before, actually...I saw it when I was about five or six in Saffron. It was a pretty typical film to show kids this age so they knew what they were getting into with pokemon. The rest of the lecture was kinda boring, really. Just a lot of talking about grooming, feeding, breeding habits, stuff like that. The teacher smiled at me after it was done and waved me forward to hand me a small claw. He told me it was a 'Quick Claw' from a Meowth and that it would help increase my Pokemon's speed. I thanked her and left the room and met the guy who said I was a rookie back in Petalburg.
He grinned at me and asked if I was brushing up on my skills and I didn't answer. He shrugged and introduced himself as Scott and told me that he was on the lookout for any strong Pokemon trainers. Guy gave me the creeps to be honest, but he didn't try anything with me.
I wondered around a bit more and saw the Gym near the north side of town.Rock types...I didn't have anything to use against that. I thought about it and left to the east of town, heading out little ways into the next route. I was hoping to find a new friend I could use against her and I found...something.I smiled to myself and called out Rover...this one looked easy and the little guy could probably weaken him enough for me to catch. The pink thing looked at both of us and it opened it's mouth and a loud screeching noise ripped from it, making me scream and Rover to fall to the ground in convulsions. I barely managed to recall it and send out Zippo when it stopped and tried to strike Zippo on the head - it succeeded, but only cause Zippo was still dazed from the Uproar it made.
Zippo growled low in his throat and scratched at the pink thing, raking it's talons down it's side and making it bleed. I chose that opportunity to toss a pokeball at it, and with a soft click that I could barely hear the little thing was mine. The pokedex chimed in once again, but I could barely hear it this time as I picked up the ball. What to name it...and where can I get some earplugs...