Chapter 145:  Latest Catches (Part A) by Michael Keens/Exodus  

“Did it hurt... when you fell from heaven?...”  
“Are you serious with that pick-up line?...” huffed the recipient of the 
comment.  
“Well if you’d prefer I ask you out I could do that Beautiful.”  
“You don’t ask girls out often, do you?”  
“Oh I ask them out very often.  I just get rejected a lot.”  
“Sorry, but I’m not interested...”  
“Aw man...” groaned Vincent, slumping down on one of the Pokémon Centre’s 
seats, he peered into an adjacent mirror and pulled a leaf out of his long 
tied back green hair and sighed at what could only add to his embarrassment.  
“Spheal...” comforted his faithful Spheal Frosty.  
“Skull! Skull! Skull!” laughed the newest member of his team, a grey wisp of a 
Ghost Pokémon with a white skull for a face and a red light that served as an 
eye that alternated between its sockets, Solo was an easily amused Duskull but 
not a particularly considerate one.  
Both Pokémon were looking a little rough considering it had been a long day, 
Vincent had yet to have them healed but had gotten distracted while waiting 
for the local Nurse Joy or one of the assistant Chansey to become available.  
“Solo...  You’re meant to support everything I do...” Vincent complained.  
“Ska-ha-ull!” it continued to cackle out.  
“We’ve really got to work on your attitude before challenging the local Gym 
Leader, I know you’ve got the moves, it took me all night to catch you after 
all, but I need to know you respect me and-  Oh you’re beautiful will you let 
me take you out for a coffee or something?”  
The two Pokémon gave off questionable looks before turning and realising 
Vincent had stopped talking to them and started calling out to a passing girl, 
a girl who turned a corner and was gone without realising Vincent was talking 
to her.  
“Don’t say a word Solo...” Vincent threatened nonchalantly.  

“Go Kit!” called Roslyn happily, a black Pokéball flung into the air.  
It exploded open and her little Skitty appeared and looked around curiously, 
upon realising there were no opponents in sight it rushed to its trainer who 
was forced to embrace it as it dived into her arms.  
“Nyah Nyahnyah!”  
“Wow, that little girl really loves you.” commented Ellie, “I wish my Pokémon 
were half as loving towards me.”  
“Maybe it’s for the best.” Roslyn suggested which put a complete look of 
confusion on Ellie’s face.  
“What do you mean?”  
“There is such a thing as becoming Too close to your Pokémon.”  
“But that little Skitty was obedient in battle, it did everything you asked.”  
“It’s taken a while to achieve that and it wasn’t easy.” Roslyn 
explained, “Kit wasn’t hard to catch but regardless I decided to use a Luxury 
Ball I was given; it’s a different kind of Pokéball that helps Pokémon become 
more loving to their trainers.  It took a while before I could separate my 
Skitty from me long enough to participate in battles...”  
“At least it knows when to battle and when it can relax.” comforted Ellie.  
“And then there’s its fascination for objects, usually the round kind, most 
Skitty act this way so I’ve not yet managed to stop it chasing things in 
battle.  Remember how it chased the sphere of energy regardless of the risk?”  
“I do, I was just so down about my own Pokémon I didn’t really think about it, 
I just assumed Kit was trying to keep my Treecko from acquiring it.  What 
about your Roselia?” explained Ellie before striking another question.  
“Extremely vain; if anything happens to put a hair out of shape...  I mean 
vine...  Leaf?...  Anyway, she drops everything to fix it before anything 
else.”  
“Like when my Kecleon licked it.” figured Ellie.  
“So you see? My team isn’t perfect either but I’m sure with time and 
commitment we’ll both become closer to our Pokémon and they’ll work with us to 
achieve our dreams.” comforted Roslyn.  
Ellie sighed, “You’re so positive Roz’...  All I’ve done is complain about my 
Pokémon’s flaws and whine at them to fix them, maybe if I really make an 
effort my Pokémon will grow and change.”  
Roslyn turned to her Skitty and lovingly stroked it on the head, it purred 
happily.  
“Kit, I brought you out to train, there’s another Pokémon Contest nearby and I 
want you as my star for this one.”  
“Nyah?”  
“You’ll be performing in front of many people and I’m sure you’ll easily melt 
their hearts, we just need to practice your opening act.”  
“Opening act?” Ellie questioned.  
“The co-ordinator and Pokémon get a minute on stage to use their abilities and 
skill to create displays of beauty or talent.  Unfortunately I’ve yet to 
achieve a high score to qualify for the battling rounds.” briefed Roslyn.  
“So you used your Roselia last time, would you mind my asking what you meant 
when you said you messed up the routine?”  
Roslyn sighed before reminiscing, “I wasn’t concentrating fully, someone was 
being nasty to me and it simply threw me off.  I was trying to be as graceful 
as I could on my part in throwing objects into the air for my Roselia to hit 
accurately with Leech Seed and then scatter with Poison Sting but our aim was 
off...  One of the objects hit Thorn on the head and she stopped midway 
through the act so the seeded objects shattered on the ground and covered her 
in pieces of vine.”  
“I can relate to failure on my Pokémon’s part.” spoke Ellie negatively.  
“No no, I don’t blame Thorn in the slightest, I accept her need to look 
perfect and even though I was distracted, it was my fault the act went wrong, 
not hers.” Roslyn spoke out in defence.  
“Sorry Roslyn, I wasn’t thinking.  I just get so infuriated that I’ll never 
get anywhere until my Pokémon can take instructions well.  If I could just 
catch a fresh one that would work with me-”  
“That one’s mine.” said Roslyn, completely interrupting Ellie.  
“What the-  What is?” Ellie asked without a clue.  
“Don’t make any sudden movements.” Roslyn whispered forcefully.  
Ellie turned slowly to see a small Pokémon peeping out the bushes, it was 
mostly white with limbs that looked like a draping dress, it had bowl-shaped 
green hair covering most of its face with a red spike jutting out the centre 
of its head.  
Ellie pulled her Pokédex out of her pocket high enough for it to scan the 
foreign Pokémon to her.  

“Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon.  The horn on its head is said to be used to sense 
people’s emotions, it is rarely seen except by those with a positive 
disposition.”  

“That Pokémon is extremely rare and I’ve always wanted to find one and raise 
it with love.” Roslyn whispered.  
“What are you waiting for, catch it then.” Ellie whispered.  
“Ralts?” the Pokémon spoke as if Ellie’s words were a siren, turning and 
disappearing into the bushes.  
“Was it something I said?” Roslyn said in disbelief, raising her hands so her 
Skitty would leap out of them and in front of her.  
“Sorry, that Pokémon probably ran from me, I have been a little hostile 
towards certain Pokémon as of late.” Ellie apologised.  
“It’s not too late, I’m going after it.  Follow that Ralts Kit!”  
“Nyah Nyah!” it squealed, leading the chase.  

Back at the Bismuth Pokémon Centre, the automatic doors slid open perfectly 
with a subtle whooshing sound upon detecting the proximity of someone wanting 
to enter... followed by several sloshing sounds as a figure covered in mud 
tiredly slumped inside leaving a dirty trail of footprints behind her.  
A round Pokémon with tiny yellow eyes covered in as much in dirt in ratio to 
its size followed with a similar disposition.  
“You’re a piece of work sometimes Acre.” the woman complained, “What was Dad 
thinking when he decided this Hoenn Pokémon would be a good Starter’ for me.”  
“Seedot.” the Pokémon grumbled.  
“Don’t talk back at me, I gave up a lot of my time to try and teach you Leech 
Seed like the magazine said, and I would have thought a Pokémon trained by my 
father would know some more reliable attacks than Bide and Nature Power.”  
“Dot...” Acre growled.  
Selene brushed her hair dripping with slime away from her face and held a 
Pokéball with another hand.  
“But at least we got this Electrike in the end; just remind me never to have 
you use Nature Power in a muddy area until you learn some control...” Selene 
complained before adding, “You did good Acre.”  
“Seed.” it huffed proudly.  
The female stopped at the front desk only for her hair to fall out of place 
and splat against and cover her face.  
A Chansey turned away from whatever it was working on and jolted in 
surprise, “Chan-SEY!”  
Selene sighed, brushing her hair aside before speaking, “I apologise for the 
mess, I’ll clean it up myself if you want, just organise a room with a shower 
for me and heal and clean these two Pokémon if you don’t mind.”  
She placed a muddy Pokéball on the tray with six indentations which was big 
enough for the dirty little Seedot to gracefully leap onto, followed by its 
empty Pokéball.  
The Chansey gave off a disturbed uncomfortable look as it lifted and carried 
the tray into another room only for some of the liquid dirt to sway and 
splatter several droplets all over the place.  
Selene sighed as she leaned on the counter and then ducked her head down so no 
one could make out who she was through the mess on her face; this day had been 
embarrassing enough without people knowing exactly who had made such a mess in 
the lobby looking the way she did.  
Selene’s gaze was at the counter waiting until she heard the sound of either 
the Chansey returning or the Nurse Joy in charge, she hardly expected a 
Pokémon to suddenly phase through the counter and invade her personal space.  
“Skull?”  
“Agh!” Selene briefly yelped, falling back and landing hard on her rear, the 
Duskull rudely floated just as close to her and swept the dirt off her face 
while brushing her hair away.  
“Skah Ha Hull!!!” it bellowed out, alerting attention from anyone situated in 
the room that hadn’t already begun staring at the mud-covered young woman.  
Selene gasped and felt humiliated as all eyes stared at her fully exposed 
face, only for her hair to fall away again and hit her face with an 
undignified splat.  
She heard several giggles from people trying to hold back full-blown laughter 
and felt infuriated that this Pokémon had caused further unnecessary 
embarrassment for her.  
“Whose Duskull is this?!” she shouted, having reached out and grabbed what 
could only be classed as the Pokémon’s tail.  
“Don’t make me repeat myself...” Selene growled, tightening her grip, but the 
Duskull easily escaped by becoming intangible as soon as she had turned away 
from it and went rushing back through the air to its owner.  
Vincent had lost sight of his ghostly new partner but had been watching the 
woman more or less since she came in only to become unable to tear his eyes 
away since his own Pokémon caused her to slip up.  
For the first time since her face had become revealed to most she glared in 
his direction after his Duskull had chosen to flee towards him but he didn’t 
see her clearly as he pre-emptively scrambled around the corner and hid in a 
corridor, recalling Solo as quickly as he could in case the woman decided to 
chase after it.  
Luckily she did not, as by now Joy had arrived and kindly escorted the walking 
mud pile to a room without laughing or complaining once.  

Two people sitting next to each other on a bench-like seat who couldn’t help 
but snigger at the misfortunate girl raised the newspapers they had been 
holding and turned to each other.  
“Are you sure this is worth our time? All I can see are beginner trainers.” 
whispered the female of the two, dressed in many robes of orange and green 
with a veil over the upper area of her face with long jet black hair.  
“Maybe so but certainly a fair lucky few have managed to snag some rare 
Pokémon or some experienced trainers are passing through.” a male answered, 
dressed in a colourful blue and purple suit with a mask that only covered his 
eyes and bright blonde hair.  
“That’s what I’m afraid of, did you hear D’ and C’ failed for the very first 
time? I hope you have a brilliant idea to pull this off without alerting too 
much attention.”  
“Freya, Freya, Freya...  Have you no faith in our Pokémon’s abilities.”  
“I did... but this loss from our other half has got me thinking...”  
“Don’t.  Your powerful Skarmory, my graceful Girafarig...”  
“Tens of opponents to outnumber us like our partners...  Just forget it 
Llewellyn, I’ll devise the plans...”  

The sun was setting on this day and the skies were a bright shade of orange, 
but still the team of two girls and an enthusiastic Skitty were chasing a wild 
Ralts through the forest.  
Its tiny footprints were visible and a constant path was always visible to the 
eyes of Roslyn’s Skitty so that was a comfort in that it couldn’t teleport 
regardless of it being a Psychic Pokémon with the potential to do so.  
The crowded path led to a wide open space made specifically for Pokémon 
Battles what with the traditional lines drawn in the ground to signify an 
official arena with the well known League logo.  
The Ralts was here and panting which made Roslyn feel sorry having chased it 
for so long.  
“I don’t want to hurt you...” Roslyn panted in kind, she and Ellie both had 
been running straight for what felt like an entire hour, yet her Skitty was 
full of life and energy.  
“What are you promising that for?” Ellie tried to whisper, but her voice came 
out louder than she’d intended, “You’ll have to weaken it with physical 
force.”  
“I may not have to.” Roslyn replied, drawing a Pokéball and choosing her 
moment to throw it swiftly.  
She wasn’t as skilled as a trainer should be as the ball landed in front of 
the Ralts, however it bounced and kept moving forward and just clipped the 
Pokémon enough to activate the catching mechanism.  
The Ralts transformed into energy and was vacuumed inside the ball which 
closed with a loud snap, but the inevitable shaking of an unwilling Pokémon 
followed, and then the ball exploded open.  
“Ralts...” spoke the Ralts, shaking its head and regaining its bearings.  
“Looks like you’re going to have to battle it after all Roz’.” Ellie spoke.  
“I feel guilty but okay...” sighed Roslyn.  
“Is this about what the Pokédex said about it?” questioned Ellie.  
“A little, if I catch that Ralts I want it to see I have a good heart and 
would care for it, but to catch it I have to inflict damage upon it and I’m 
afraid it might affect how it thinks of me.” replied Roslyn.  
“Trust me, it can’t be as bad as my Kecleon, go for it and feel free to ask 
for help if you-”  
“No thank you, I think it would be unfair to outnumber that Ralts.” declined 
Roslyn, “I’ll catch it with one Pokémon at a time or not at all.  Kit...”  
“Nyah!” it yelped, understanding its instructions from Roslyn’s nod, to 
Ellie’s surprise.  
“... Begin with Growl and then Tackle.”  
“Nyahhh!!!” Kit squealed trying to sound as menacing as possible with little 
success.  
“Ralll!...” the Ralts called out with a high pitched scream that overcame the 
Skitty’s same technique and stunned it for a moment, by the time it regained 
its focus it gave off a surprised look as it was floating in the air with a 
blue aura surrounding it.  
“It’s using Confusion.” Ellie stated.  
“Ny-Ah!!!” squealed Kit as it was propelled into a tree incredibly fast; it 
slid down dazed but not defeated.  
“It’s stronger than I thought...” Roslyn commented.  
“Maybe you should try inflicting it with a status condition; can your Skitty 
use Attract on it?” suggested Ellie.  
“It won’t work; didn’t you see that Ralts’s eyes when it used Confusion?” 
Roslyn pointed out.  
“What about them?”  
“When you’ve been raised in Hoenn you get to know the local Pokémon, and that 
is a female Ralts.  Attract won’t work from a girl Skitty.”  
“Your Roselia then?”  
“It’s worth a try.  Kit, Return.”  
Roslyn extended her Luxury Ball and withdrew the Skitty and with the other arm 
tossed a regular Pokéball.  
Her Roselia appeared and looked itself over, it drew a battle stance after 
analysing its body and decided it looked perfect, Ellie had seen it do so in 
her prior battle against it but hadn’t realised it was a flawed personality 
trait.  
“Poison Sting.”  
“L-Ia!” it spoke out in a high pitch, extending its large red rose and 
shooting a lot of needles straight at their mark perfectly.  
“Ral...  Ral...  Ralts!” moaned the Ralts oddly as it stumbled to the sides 
clearly under the effects of the poison, however it suddenly shouted out and a 
rushing aura shot forward and through the Roselia.  
“What was that? An attack?” questioned Roslyn desperately.  
“Rose...” Thorn jolted and held herself as if weakened, it flopped down under 
the infection only to realise this and prop herself up to look as normal as 
possible, then weakened again and repeated the process.  
“Is it... poisoned?...  I didn’t know Ralts could use Poison attacks like 
that.” stuttered Roslyn in disbelief.  
“I’d better check this through.” Ellie said, returning to the information on 
Ralts in her Pokédex but in more detail, “Oh...  This might be it, it says 
that some Ralts have an ability called Synchronize; if it’s affected by a 
Status condition including Poison then so is it’s opponent, that must be it.”  
“Abilities...  I didn’t take that into account.” sighed Roslyn.  
“Don’t worry about it; I didn’t even know Pokémon had these natural 
abilities.” comforted Ellie.  
“Too bad my Roselia doesn’t have Natural Cure; it’d solve this problem 
immediately.” Roslyn commented, recalling her Roselia and bringing out her 
Skitty again.  
“I wonder what Abilities My Pokémon have.” Ellie questioned in thought, “Looks 
like I’ve got a lot of homework to do...”  
“Nyah Nyahnyah.”  
“Tail Whip Kit.”  
“Nyah...  Nyah...” the Skitty loudly spoke as it charged forward, it swung its 
tail through the Ralts, literally, the opponent had disappeared from the 
strike, however it was now spinning in a circle around Kit creating multiple 
images of itself.  
“It’s using Double Team, what should we do?...” Roslyn asked.  
“If that was a question rather than a statement, I can help.” Ellie offered.  
Roslyn turned to Ellie so she continued, “Double Team is one of the oldest 
tricks in the book; there are plenty of ways to find the real Ralts.”  
Roslyn gave a slightly annoyed but pleading look to signify for Ellie to tell 
her just one of the solutions.  
“Oh, sorry, I’m more like my father than I think; it’s moving in a circle 
rather than staying still so simply block its path.”  
“Oh right.  Kit, lay down your tail across the circle!”  
It did so and soon enough the Ralts was knocked off its looping route and fell 
with minimal damage to the Skitty.  
“Tackle!”  
The Skitty dived at the Ralts but fell through it again, yet it hadn’t gone 
into Double Team again.  
“No...  It just learned Teleport; I’ll never find it now.” moaned Roslyn.  
“Ahem.” Ellie coughed deliberately, Roslyn turned to her to see her pointing 
with her thumb towards an area not very far away but above the ground.  
The Ralts appeared and was then tugged down by gravity; it had just learned 
Teleport but was hardly skilled with it yet.  
“Kit!” Roslyn called, the Skitty once again chased the Psychic Pokémon which 
was now teleporting again and again but only gaining a small distance each 
time.  
“Looks like another jogging session for us then...” Roslyn sighed before 
following it.  

End of Chapter 145A  

Back to Chapter 144B
Chapter 145B
Back to Story List #141 - #160
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