Chapter 5: Forest Frolics (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus “Here she is.” said one of the two, a short blonde kid, “The freaky girl who’s much too calm.” “I didn’t know I was public news.” she said simply. “Don’t walk away!” said the second kid, a red-head. I decided to help her. “Is there a problem?” The girl looked up at me but showed no signs of remembering who I was. “Yeah, this girl is mondo rude! She’s not normal!” “Didn’t I see you in the Safari Zone?” I asked her. “I, have never been to the Safari Zone.” she answered. “But-” “I’ll take my leave from this band of freaks.” she said walking away. “You can’t just walk away!” screamed the kid. “Stop that!” I shouted. “I won’t!” The kids ran towards the girl. “Sparky...” she said waving her hand lightly. “CHU!” The kids were shocked by the Pikachu and ran away crying. Even at the risk of being shocked, I still ran after her. “I’m sure I saw you in the Safari Zone and you ran away scared, unless it was your ‘mysterious’ twin sister.” I accused. Then I remembered the two Nurse Joys I had met and so didn’t pursue that subject any longer. “Scared? Me? I don’t think so, and I’ll say it again, I have never been to the Safari Zone.” “Hey you, how come you’re so mellow? You’re still young, you should be cheerful and outgoing.” advised Emily. “So I can be more like you? I’ll pass.” I could see Emily get a little frustrated, she chased after the girl until she blocked off her route, “How’d you ever become so rude?” “I don’t have to tell you anything.” “If my friend says he saw you in the Safari Zone then he saw you, Tetsubo isn’t the sort to lie!” “Do you want your hair turned black? My Pokémon could arrange it.” “Your Pokémon is a lot more energetic than you are, how can that be when you show no signs of joy and emotion?” “They are weaknesses, I can prove that a person doesn’t need to be overly excited to be a trainer. If you wish, I shall battle you.” “Okay!” “Emily, are you sure that's a good enough reason to battle her?” I asked. “Back off Tetsubo, I know what I’m doing!” “Do you wish to battle with four Pokémon?” asked the girl calmly. “Fine, but I won’t need all of them, how can Pokémon be motivated if their trainer can be so negative about everything?” The way I saw it, this girl was the total opposite of Emily and the two’s personalities clashed with each other, still, I just knew it was her that threw a Safari Ball in my face and ran away, how could she not remember that? “Pixie, show this immature lady that you like being my Pokémon.” “Clefairy!” “Lucky! Let’s show this empty little girl what we’re made of!” “Chansey!” The Pokédex was instinctively drawn, this girl probably had some interesting Pokémon, and I’d finally get to see all of Emily’s. “Clefairy, the Fairy Pokémon. Very rare and in high demand as a pet, this Pokémon is cute and has some magical appeal.” “Lucky! Use Egg Bomb like I taught you!” The girl sighed calmly, “Pixie, Metronome...” The Clefairy was blasted back by the explosive egg rounds but then a Fire Blast struck the Chansey. “No! Lucky, use Soft Boiled!” “Pixie, Use the Double Edge.” “Cle-FAIRY!” “Chan-Sey!” Emily’s pink Pokémon rolled backwards and landed in a heap. “Lucky!” “Emily, Chanseys are known for having powerful special attacks but low physical defense.” I explained. “Thanks for the advice, but its a little late now... Blossom, you’re on!” “Oddiissh!” “Use your Sleep Powder!” “Minimize...” The dust flew into the area where the Clefairy was, before it disappeared at the last moment. It then grew back to normal size. “Pound it.” “Blossom! Look out!” “Dish!” Emily’s Oddish blasted a green slime over the girl’s Clefairy before it pounded. “What was that?” “Acid.” I replied, “Your Oddish just learned a new attack.” “Pixie, Return. Go on, Foxfire.” “Vulpix!” “Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. It grows one white tail that splits into two, as it grows, the tails split and form even more tails.“ “Uh oh, Blossom Re-” “Ember.” interrupted the girl. The blast hit the Oddish before the beam from Emily’s Pokéball did. She threw the ball into the air, juggling it. “Hot, hot, hot! You little monster! Making sure I can’t bring Blossom into the battle later or else she’ll be burnt!” “I’m tactical. So sue me.” replied the girl. A good excuse to smile but in this girl’s case, apparently not. “Grrr, Buzzer!” “Bee!” So that was her Flying/ Poison-type Pokémon. “Buzzer, use your Twineedle!” “Fire Spin...” said the girl as if she had everything under control, unfortunately, she did. The Vulpix dodged the first lance joust and blasted Emily’s Beedrill sky high, it landed hard, but it pulled itself up. “Pin Missile!!!” screamed Emily, she was getting really upset over the outcome of this battle. The missiles hit the Vulpix hard, as if the Beedrill was releasing all the rage in Emily, speaking of which... “Rage!” “Give it a Quick Attack, Foxfire.” The two clashed, the Quick Attack damaged Emily’s Beedrill and Rage took effect, increasing Buzzer’s power, it swung the lance-like stingers and hit Foxfire twice, the Vulpix collapsed. “Good job anyway Foxfire. Sparky, its your turn.” “Pika-Chu!” Now was my time to record that Pikachu’s data. “Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon. It stores electricity in its cheeks, and zaps enemies with it, it dislikes having its lightning-shaped tail yanked, and usually bites anyone who tries.” “Finish it with a Thundershock.” “Pi-Ka-CHU!” Emily’s Beedrill was out of power now. “No... Now I’ve got to beat two Pokémon... It should be no problem for... Discharge!” “Magnamite!” “Magnemite, the Magnet Pokémon. They appear as if out of nowhere, this mechanical Pokémon floats using anti-gravity and discharges electricity from two side-mounted units.” “Discharge, use your Sonic Boom attack.” “Quick Attack, Sparky.” The Magnemite’s Sonic Boom swept across a couple of metres lengthways, a definite hit to the Pikachu. “Go Supersonic!” shouted Emily. “Chhaaa...” The Pikachu was walking awkwardly now. “Tackle!” The Pikachu was out for the count. “... So you’ve brought it down to the last Pokémon. I’m afraid you have already lost.” said the girl simply. “And how do you figure that?!” “You’ll soon see, Armour, finish this battle.” “RRRHHYYY!” Uh oh. It was a... “Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokémon. A dangerous Ground and Rock-type, its bones are 1, 000 times harder than human bones, and Rhyhorn’s strength can destroy tall buildings. Use extreme caution with these Pokémon.” “Emily, that's a Ground and Rock-type and a very strong one at that, if she’s trained that thing right and it actually obeys her...” I warned. “... Uhhhh, Discharge! Try another Sonic Boom!” She knew very well not to try Electric attacks against a strong Ground-type. The winds swept up but the Rhyhorn remained on the ground, there wasn’t much chance that Emily could win this one. The Rhyhorn had a fear inducing stare, just like the girl, it was quite calm about the situation, but it had good reason to be. “Just Horn Drill it and let’s get going...” “Rhhyy.” The Rhyhorn walked towards the Magnemite, and then jumped forward, horn spinning, and connected, a one-hit knockout and Discharge fell to pieces, literally. “Discharge!” shouted Emily recalling it, all the pieces were transported into the ball. “I told you that you wouldn’t win, and this proves to you that a person with any sort of personality can make it as a trainer.” She abruptly turned and walked away, her Rhyhorn following her like some sort of giant dog. “Wait,” I called, “You lied to me, if you hadn’t been to the Safari Zone, how did you catch that Rhyhorn? You’d have to take a boat far away before you found any other Rhyhorns in the world!” She totally ignored me. It was strange how the three Pokémon were really energetic but the Rhyhorn was the only one that acted like her. “Emily... I’m sorry you lost.” I said to Emily, picking her off the floor, she was majorly upset about it, her Pokémon had lost, and it looked like it was for the very first time. “Emily, I know what’s its like to lose a battle but I lost a shred of dignity with my first loss...” I was referring to Bryan and that stupid promise, the people at our home would think of him as a decent person, but I knew he was a common thief. “Tetsubo, what do you mean?” “Oh, I... I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.” Emily appeared to wipe something from her eyes. “Next time... I’ll make sure the result is different...” I didn’t say much, Emily needed time to think, but she’d be back to her normal self, given some time. We reached an opening, and walked over a rocky road, a cliff overlooking a city: Pewter City. “Finally, we made it! Last one to the Pokémon Centre is a rotten Grimer!” I called running away childishly, she always wanted me to loosen up, and now she needed to be cheered up. Emily smiled, “No one beats me in a race.” Then she chased after me. I took one final thought of the girl we had met, there was something about her that didn’t quite feel right, I’d find out the truth someday. End of Chapter 5B Back to Chapter 5A Next Chapter Back to Story List #1 - #20 Back to the Pokézone