Chapter 144:  Losses (Part A) by Michael Keens/Exodus  

After the traumatic mess that was yesterday, Ellie was safely transported to a 
local hospital where she was nursed back to health.  

For another trainer in Ellie’s circle of family friends, the journey had gone 
much better for her, but bad things always tended to happen sooner or later in 
everyone’s lives.  
Wanda, the daughter of the late Abby Worthington had withdrawn into herself 
after her mother suddenly fell ill and passed away.  
All she found out was that it was related to her brain, which made her recall 
the stories she used to tell her about her days as a teenager when she lost 
her memories and rebuilt herself as a person for a year before remembering 
everything but unable to resume her life as the sort of person she used to 
be.  
It was an intriguing tale but Wanda found it hard to believe that a legendary 
Pokémon would do the things Abigail claimed had saved her life.  
It was harder to believe that in doing the things she claimed to have been 
done, they had somehow lowered her lifespan and become ultimately responsible 
for taking Wanda’s mother away from her so soon.  
Rather than remain with her grandparents and Uncle Faulkner (Wanda’s father 
had long disappeared after her mother simply decided things weren’t ever going 
to work themselves out between them), she had to remain with doctors for a few 
years until she could come to terms with things and choose to live in the 
world despite her loss.  
Wanda sometimes felt that she’d have been lost without the one constant memoir 
that watched over her, and that was the Azurill her mother gave to her.  
It was her star battler though after all these years it was strange that it 
hadn’t yet evolved, especially when coupled with the apparent fact that baby 
Pokémon like Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff and the like only evolved when they were 
truly happy, did this mean her little Luriri wasn’t completely happy?  
Travelling alone in the Hoenn region, one place her mother hadn’t visited and 
therefore wouldn’t have any reminders of her was meant to be a good thing for 
Wanda; to expand her set of Pokémon and hopefully find some beauty in the 
world to compel her to carry on with her life without her parents around to 
guide her.  

Today it was the last thing on her mind, she was happy in the midst of battle 
with a Pokémon she found adorable and wanted to keep forever.  
“Wor’a Gun...” she said softly to her Azurill.  
“Azublubllblblbl...” it squealed, a small jet of water squirting directly from 
its mouth.  
“Zig-Zagoon!!!” squealed the prey, a spiky striped raccoon Pokémon called 
Zigzagoon.  
It spun back, sliding away from the Pokémon’s Water attack and then moved 
strangely like all Zigzagoon, deliberately moving forward but in a zigzag 
direction to do so.  
“Zagoon...” it growled, trying to unnerve Luriri before attacking.  
It leapt forward all of a sudden into a Tackle attack, leaping over the large 
puddle of water.  
Wanda had an idea and smiled as she commanded it, “Luriri, use Splash.”  
The Azurill leapt forward and touched down on the water, causing no damage to 
the opponent but blinding its eyes temporarily.  
It crashed down and wiped the water from its eyes, only to look right at 
Luriri’s Charm attack, briefly stopping it from wanting to fight the adorable 
blue mouse.  
“Now’s yer chance Luriri, use Tail Whip.”  
“Zu!!!” she squealed, leaping forward and twisting her body to propel her long 
bauble tail around, the Zigzagoon fought in kind but its tail was much 
shorter.  
Wanda’s eyes widened in surprise as Luriri’s tail became tangled around the 
Zigzagoon and the two were bound against each other.  
“Zagoon...” the wild Pokémon moaned.  
“Rill...” growled Luriri.  
“Use Roll’ow’.” Wanda smiled.  
The Azurill complied, diving into a roll but dragging the Zigzagoon behind it, 
forcing it up and then down across the ground in each roll.  
The tails had become untangled in the struggle so Luriri stopped suddenly and 
sent the little Pokémon crashing into a tree where it stumbled away from 
completely dazed.  
“Premier Ball...  Go!” Wanda cheered, this was her moment, the moment she 
first caught a Pokémon on her own.  
One of two white Pokéballs she had acquired connected and sucked the Zigzagoon 
inside before landing and briefly shaking.  
“‘old it...  ‘old it...  Yes! Oi got a new Pokimon!” squealed Wanda in 
delight, running to the ball and immediately releasing her newfound friend.  
“Zig.  Zigzagoon.” it spoke.  
“Oi’m sure we’re goin’ ta be great friends, an’ we’re gonna catch a whole 
bunch a’ new friends, aren’t we?”  
“Zagoon.” it smiled, nodding its head.  
There was noise from up ahead, bushes rustled and Wanda swiftly looked up.  
“... I’m sorry.” apologised the source; a lady called Penelope in a blooming 
yellow dress with a matching parasol, she had long curling flowing auburn hair 
and wore a large expensive hat, “I didn’t mean to startle you; I just got a 
little lost.”  
“Tha’s okay.” replied Wanda.  
“Cool Zigzagoon, yours?”  
“Uh huh?” Wanda answered, “Jus’ got ei’ now.”  
“So you’re a Pokémon Trainer...  You don’t look it.”  
“Oi could say the same fer you.”  
“That an insult?” Penelope suddenly accused.  
“N-No no!”  
“My Pokémon rule! And I’d be quite happy to show you!” Penelope announced 
since in an aggressive tone.  
With that a Pokéball was scooped up and a flash of white formed into a tiny 
yellow mouse Pokémon; Pichu.  
“Pi-CHU!!!” it squealed happily.  
“Okay then, Um, Luriri, Oi guess you’re up, we shouldn’ use a Pokimon tha’s 
tired ow’ from being caugh’.”  
“You haven’t been doing this long have you? My Pichu has the advantage.  Go!”  
The two Pokémon charged forward and locked eyes with each other.  
“Peachy! Use Thundershock!”  
“Chu!!!”  
“Tail dodge manoeuvre!” called Wanda.  
Moments before the blast hit, the large tail of the Azurill was swung to one 
side, and then shot back like rubber, hitting Luriri’s body lightly but 
propelling it out of harm’s way and then slamming into the ground to stop her 
movement.  
“Oi’ve been doin’ this longer than you think, moi mum an’ Oi trained this 
Pokimon together, an’ ei’s gonna be a winner.”  
“Rill!” smiled Luriri.  
“Charm attack.” both trainers called, but either neither techniques had an 
effect on each other or just weren’t that effective for the exact same amount 
of time.  
“Tha’s no good, Luriri, use Bubble.”  
“Thunder Wave.”  
The Pichu emitted several blue sparks before the bubbles reached it and popped 
all of them before they got close to burst on it.  
“Slam attack Luriri.”  
“Azu-Rill!” it cried out as it ran forward, jumping into a diving attack, but 
at the last moment, Tail Whip was called by Penelope and the Pichu sneakily 
leapt into the air and brought its tiny tail down to slap Luriri in the face 
and send it down towards the ground, giving it a hard landing since it 
retained the speed of its attack.  
“Sneaky...” Wanda briefly growled, “We’ll ‘ave ta be jus’ as much...”  
“Okay, Sweet Kiss!”  
The lovable Pichu ran forward and dived, its tiny lips puckering to touch 
Wanda’s Azurill and induce confusion.  
“Stay perfec’ly still Luriri, don’ try ta dodge.” Wanda ordered.  
The Pichu grabbed hold of Luriri and kissed her on the cheek, but before the 
confusion set in, Wanda called out “Slam ei’ now!”  
The Azurill pulled away from the smooch and rammed forward, dealing a big hit 
to the Pichu.  
It bounced hard against the floor before stopping and Luriri quickly shook off 
the confusion and used a Water Gun attack ordered by Wanda... but it didn’t 
hit.  
The reason why was because there was no longer an opponent; Penelope had 
recalled it.  
“Hey, wor’ a’ you doin’?” Wanda questioned.  
“I think that’s enough for one day, I don’t want my cute little Pichu getting 
hurt.” Penelope stated firmly.  
“But we only jus’ star’id.  You might ‘ave won if you ‘adn’t quit.” Wanda 
complained.  
“I don’t care, my Pokémon are too precious to get too involved in battles, but 
thanks.  I Would have won had we been more careful and not let my Pichu get 
batted around like that.” smiled Penelope proudly before leaving.  
Wanda sighed and recalled her Pokémon, wanting to head back to the Slateport 
Pokémon Centre before heading to the next town since both her Pokémon were a 
little tired now.  

Meanwhile in a small hospital north of the forest, Ellie awakened in a 
hospital bed, she soon recalled everything:  How desperate to replace her 
Kecleon she chased a Treecko to the point of exhaustion, and even though the 
Treecko gave her some food and water, it was too late to stop her from falling 
unconscious.  
Ellie felt like she’d slept a whole day, but it wasn’t surprising, she hadn’t 
slept much on the boat ride here due to her excitement in being free and had 
rushed into the world of Pokémon Training without eating very much at all 
thanks to her disobedient Kecleon.  
She peered out of the hospital screen to see the Eric boy from Slateport 
Beach, judging by his being asleep on an uncomfortable waiting area seat, it 
was apparent that he must have found her and brought her here.  
“Just what I need, a little boy with a crush on me...” Ellie sighed, before 
realising, “Uh oh, my stuff...”  
She frantically looked around the room and sighed in relief when she found her 
things by her bedside, but then gasped again, “What if they went through it, 
found something to trace my phone or address and got through to Dad?...”  
Ellie wanted to thank the boy, but if any of the hospital staff saw her, there 
would be questions and her father would certainly get contacted.  
“Maybe they’re so busy with other patients they considered me a lesser 
priority...”  
Ellie felt a sting in her arm as she quietly grabbed her belongings, realising 
the doctors must have injected some sort of supplement to rejuvenate her, she 
hated needles but at least she didn’t recall the moment when it was done.  
After removing it Ellie quickly opened the window and clambered out, hearing 
noise occur not long after but not stopping her run, she refused to go back 
home a failure; she needed more time at this whole Pokémon Training thing.  
Ellie ran not too far before resting in the thick forest near some bushes, she 
waited in silence for a few minutes before deciding the chase for her had 
either stopped completely or she wouldn’t be found in this area.  
She sighed and released her new Pokémon, which retained a calm look but stared 
at her a little crossly.  
“Treecko...  Um, can I call you Shredder? You’ve certainly lived up to the 
name.”  
It shrugged and nodded, “Treecko.”  
“Thank you for your help, I know I ended up in hospital anyway, but you saved 
me from that waterfall and I might have gotten sick if you hadn’t helped me 
afterwards.”  
“Treecko.” it nodded.  
“I’m...  I’m sorry I caught you after my Kecleon paralysed you; I was 
desperate.  Sneak doesn’t do a thing I ask it to and I really want to make it 
as a trainer, I know I can do it provided my Pokémon are willing to work with 
me.”  
“Treecko Treecko...” it nodded again.  
“You’re very strong, that’s why I didn’t think twice about catching you, but 
now that it’s happened can I assume you’ll help me.  I’d like to know you were 
okay with this and that we can be friends as well as partners else I might as 
well release you back into the wild.  So will you be my Pokémon?”  
“Treecko Treecko.” it nodded, but Ellie didn’t know the whole story, that it 
allowed itself to be captured because it felt sorry for her, and for that 
reason alone, its loyalty could become complicated in the future depending on 
how well they got along for now.  
“Thank you Shredder, thank you...” Ellie cried, she wanted to hug the Pokémon 
but she decided not to, this Pokémon looked like it had a lot of pride and not 
really the huggable type.  
Ellie recalled it and sighed a sigh of relief and happiness, finally she had a 
Pokémon that would listen to her, and being such a high level Pokémon, it 
would surely be able to count for two Pokémon until Ellie found others she 
liked and wanted to catch, she could hold up to six Pokémon though her Kecleon 
was dead weight and she was without a sponsor, that meant she could only carry 
four more Pokémon unless she suddenly released her Kecleon, however she 
couldn’t do that just because of a couple of days of misbehaviour; not without 
giving her Kecleon a chance.  
Her father would probably be angry at her if she did release the Kecleon when 
she eventually saw him and apparently some of her father’s friends had had 
trouble with Pokémon here and there because of strange personality traits or 
flaws but it certainly didn’t show nowadays (even her own father who 
apparently owned a disobedient Charmander which grew to be one of his most 
reliable and strongest Pokémon).  
Even the legendary Ash Ketchum had a bad first day but now he was a fairly 
famous trainer like Ellie’s father.  
Ellie was about to get up when she heard someone and quickly ducked down 
again.  
“And One and Two and Three and Four and-  Aiiiii!” a high pitched female voice 
suddenly screamed with a slight Spanish accent.  
A young lady in black and yellow clothing with a skirt, gloves and boots had 
been attempting to perform some form of dance moves while walking up the 
nearby path but tripped on the fifth step and landed right in front of Ellie 
by coincidence.  
Both girls briefly screamed upon seeing each other but now that she had been 
spotted, Ellie stood up to face the strange girl.  
She was beautiful with shoulder length purple hair held back by a yellow 
hairband which curled at the sides.  
“Sorry...  I didn’t realise anyone was here.”  
“That’s a relief.  She wasn’t looking for me.” sighed Ellie.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Um, never mind.  Are you okay?”  
“Oh, don’t worry about that, I’m used to it.  I was just trying out some new 
steps for a Contest.” the girl explained.  
“You’re a dancer?”  
“Yes, but-”  
“And you’re practising for a contest? I don’t think it’s wise to practice in a 
forest, it’s no wonder you fell.” Ellie assumed.  
“No to all of that.  I’m a dancer yes but the Contest isn’t all about me.”  
“It’s not?”  
“Nor did I fall because of the, how you say, terrain.”  
Ellie didn’t really know what to say having made false assumptions and 
remained quiet, “Oh... okay.”  
“... Sorry, did you want me to tell you more?” the dancer asked after an 
uncomfortable silence.  
“I don’t mind, where are you headed?”  
“Away from Slateport.  I was at a Contest there but I need to practice more 
before I go back, I messed up the routine and lost it completely.”  
“What a coincidence, I’m trying to get away from Slateport too, why don’t we 
travel together to Mauville City?” Ellie suggested.  
“I suppose that would be alright...  I’m Roslyn, but... you can call me 
Roz’.”  
“El-” Ellie said before realising she had put so much effort into not leaving 
a trail for her father to follow, “Elise...” she finished.  
Ellie had other names on her mind but this one was short and less likely to 
earn the nickname that everyone knew her by.  
“So Roz’, the contest?”  
“Oh right.  It’s a Pokémon Contest.”  
“Pokémon Contest? I’ve never heard of those.”  
“Um, well, it’s part beauty contest, part battle tournament.  I’ve got a flier 
somewhere...”  
As Roslyn looked for it, Ellie felt a brief drop of rain, “We’d better go look 
for some shelter, there should be a building somewhere around here we can rest 
at.”  
With that the new two acquaintances headed away as fast as they could to keep 
themselves moderately dry.  

End of Chapter 144A  

Back to Chapter 143B
Chapter 144B
Back to Story List #141 - #160
Back to the Pokézone