Young Writers Society

Kristine | Viridian City | Festival

Kristine dug in her pouch, oblivious to the Pidgey that landed on her shoulder. Oddly enough, the Pidgey didn't say a thing. Making sure her pokemon didn't decide to go mute, she asked while searching, "What is it, Peach? What have you--oh, my."

Peach had dropped a small stuffed bulbasaur in her pouch. Some of the stuffing was already coming out. Kristine sighed and smiled weakly, forgetting everything about the money she needed. "Was this really necessary?"

The Pidgey squawked his usual reply, lifted into the air, and flew off through the festival. Kristine shook her head and ran after him after paying the small due for the berries, the toy held firmly in her grasp.

She dodged as many people as she could, though there were so many pokemon fans that it was next to impossible to not bump into stands or knock prizes out of people's hands. At one point, she had run head-first into a couple trainers challenging each other to a battle, by the sounds of it. With quick apologies, really bright cheeks, and nervous laughter, she ran after her Pidgey who chirped at her irritably.

Finally, they had stopped running, and Kristine tried to catch her breath. The site of the booth in front of her caused a fit of giggles. It was a Catch-the-Pidgey game, a bunch of cardboard Pidgeottos, and Pidgeots plus the single, smaller Pidgey were sliding back and forth at different speeds, the contestants required to knock the pidgey down for the prize.

"You silly, those aren't real Pidgeys." Kristine looked up at Peach who was extremely tense while watching the cardboard figures get hit. He squawked, and Kristine smiled widely at the kids watching them. "I think it's time to move on, Peach," she said without abandoning her grin and walked back the way they had come.

Kristine found herself playing with the destroyed bulbasaur and decided it probably wasn't the brightest idea to keep it in her possession. Her own bulbasaur would be a bit perturbed to see it, surely. Perhaps a Growlithe or Houndour would want the now-dubbed chew toy?

Sure enough, after a bit more walking, a Houndour and its trainer passed them by, the Houndour looking very excited to be in such a busy place full of people and pokemon, quite like a hyperactive puppy. Kristine looked at her Pidgey for a little support before approaching the boy and offering his Houndour the plush Bulbasaur. The Houndour and trainer were both thrilled by the offer, though the trainer had his hands full with that Houndour. It jumped about excitedly and demanded to play some catch.

Kristine laughed with the trainer boy. "Have fun, then! Glad you could use it."

"See you later."

A quick and polite farewell sent Kristine on her own with Peach. "No more presents," she muttered dryly yet smiled at her own (pathetic) attempt at sarcasm. "My ego can't handle the attention."

Nick | Viridian City | Carnival Day

Nick watched David leave with the new girl with little interest. She was tall, like him, and very colourful, like the festival. That was just like David, though, always making friends. Nick counted himself lucky to be one of them.

After a minute or two, and several challengers later, Nick approached the 'Spot the Voltorb' stall with quiet purpose. The tall bald man squinted down through the dust and the heat to greet him.

“Hello there, little one,” he said in a strong accent that Nick did not recognise. “Come to try your luck?”

From watching David's game earlier, Nick was fairly certain that “luck” did not feature in this man's game – it appeared he had managed to misplace his Voltorb.

“Actually no, sir,” he said, feeling a little guilty all the same. “But could you show me what you're eating?”

Nick was far more interested in the bowl that rested on the back edge of the stall. Every now and then, the stall owner would pluck one of the luscious green leaves from the bowl, chew it thoughtfully for a few minutes, and then spit the resulting mess into a bin behind the stall. Nick had never seen this plant before and curiosity had got the better of him.

“Aha,” said the stall owner, leaning towards Nick to speak in lower tones. “These are Chesto Berry leaves. Prime cuttings! They're gonna keep me lively today so I don't fall asleep on the job.”

The stall owner finished with a conspiratorial wink, and looked so pleased with himself that Nick didn't have the heart to tell him Chesto Berry leaves were, in fact, a vivid pink.

“Please, sir?” he asked with his sweetest smile. “Would you mind if I took some? I think it's going to be a long day.”

The stall owner startled Nick with a sudden laugh that grew into a full-chested guffaw. He gave Nick's hair a friendly ruffle and held out the bowl for him.

“Help yourself, little one,” he said. “It's going to be a long day for us both.”

It was then the stall owner's turn to look startled as he saw Nick's definition of 'some'. Nick removed a cloth bag from his satchel and started heaping leaves into it. He had unloaded almost half the leaves from the bowl before the stall owner composed himself and snatched them back.

“How many of them do you need?” he asked with noticably less good humour. Nick, however, remained oblivious to this.

“Thank you very much, sir,” said Nick, a grin forming in the anticipation of new discoveries. “Also, I think your Voltorb might have accidentally fallen off the table.”

And with that helpful comment he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

The stall owner watched him with narrowed eyes.

“Amazing how quickly you can change your mind about someone,” he muttered and turned away.

Eve looked David up and down as they walked, nodding as he pointed things out. He had blue eyes that glittered as he told her about each of the stalls, pointed out ones he’d seen in the past, and speculated about ones he hadn’t seen before. His walk was confident, and is stride was relaxed and sure footed, and she felt clumsy walking beside him.

“And over there, you’ll see the people lining up for the pokemon competition. It took off in the other regions- this city doesn’t really have it all sorted yet, but they still try.”

“Pokemon competition?”

“Yeah. Where people judge on who’s the coolest, the cutest, and stuff.”

“Oh.” Eve paused, staring at the trainers lined up with their pokemon. There were bulbasaurs with hats, pidgeys with ribbons, and squirtles with a high-gloss shine on their shells. She frowned. “The pokemon don’t look too happy.”

David squinted at them, then smiled. “Would you be, if someone spent hours buffing your shell and tying ribbons in your feathers?”

Eve laughed a little, and turned away from the line, sure that if she had entered, her pokemon would win through their personality and health alone.
Eventually they pushed through the crowd to a makeshift stadium, where two trainers faced off and called frantic commands to their struggling pokemon. Perched up on a overlooking platform was a commentator, calling out the action to the milling crowd.

“...oooh, that was a weak tackle from Nidoran, will he be able to recover-”

“Hmph. Dax wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake.”

Eve turned, a little startled by the outburst. Then it clicked. “You have a Nidoran?”

“Only the best one of his kind.”

“I’ld like to meet him someday.”

David grinned. “How about you? What are you hiding in those balls of yours?”

Eve puffed up in pride. “I have Tina and Ellie.”

“And?”

“Tina is a Dratini, and Ellie is a seel.”

David whistled. “Nice. Maybe we can battle someday.”

“Maybe.” Eve grinned, and turned back to watch the battles. “...If you can handle it.”

David

"...I'm really itching to battle now." David watched the arena, tilting his head as the kid's Nidoran got pwned by a girl's Pikachu. "I don't get it," he said, "Nidoran is really good at ground attacks...but this kid never asked for one."

"Hm." She looked on excitedly, probably imagining what would happen if her own Pokemon were on the field. David imagined that she was a great trainer off the bat, especially having two rare Pokemon already. And her strengths were better than David's...which meant she'd be a good challenge.

The boy on the field pulled back his Nidoran and threw out another Pokeball, releasing a Magikarp onto the grassy field. The crowd roared with laughter. David felt bad for the kid, really. There was nothing a Magikarp could do in a battle like this. And in a battle in the water, it could maybe swim away...but that was it. Poor kid.

The fishy just flopped around while Pikachu did what it does best...and shocked the sense outta him. The judge sitting on the lifeguard's chair called out the winner, who happened not to be the Magikarp boy.

Poor kid.

David grinned, looking at Eve. "You know, I'm really itching to compete in this thing now!" She turned her head up to look at him, nodding, but not looking too sure of herself. "What's wrong?"

"Viridian is pretty dusty...and grimy." She shrugged. "Iunno if they're suited for the weather?"

"Last call for entrants!"

“What are they going to do, pull out a paddling pool for me?”

David laughed. “I’m sure they’ve done weirder things before.”
“Maybe I could stand on the sidelines and splash them with my water bottle. No, I think it’s all you, buddy.”

The boy beamed, nodding. “Alright, Eve. Imma win this for both of us.” He grinned, and they both walked to the registration table where there was, surprisingly, no line. David looked around, confused. “Where are all the participants?”

The registrar was a scrawny old man wearing a baseball cap. He had a long beard and smiled at everything. “It seems that a few of ‘em got spooked. Nothin’ new, really. Care to test your Pokemon skill?”

David nodded. “I sure do.” He signed his name in the book and looked at the old man, who pointed towards the tent-style arena. Then he turned to Eve.

“How about you, little lady?”

“Not until you get an olympic size swimming pool here.”

The old man laughed harder than David thought he could. It was weird. “Well, then. I guess that’s a no.” He shook his head. “You’re in for a treat when you get to Cerulean, though.”

“Cerulean?”

The man pulled out a guidebook from under the table, putting it in her hands. “It’s your kinda place.” He fanned his hand out in front of them. “Water, water everywhere...”

Eve looked mildly disgusted. “No, but it’s my pokemon’s kind of place. That’s what counts.”

Old coot man grinned again and nodded. “You’ve got it,” he said. Then he nodded to David. “You’d better hurry. Sounds like the battle’s almost over.”

And it was, oddly enough. Just as the three looked up, an Ekans squeezed the last bit of health out of some Rattata, dropping it to the grass.

“...right.” David winked at Eve and walked out to the arena, leaving her with the old man.

I wonder if Nick would wanna see this... He stopped in his tracks and slammed his palm into his face. Nick. David looked up from where he was standing and saw the announcer with the mic...and had an idea.

Nick | Viridian City | Carnival Day

Nick was looking for somewhere quiet to examine his leaves, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it. Stall by stall he made his way further into the centre of festivities, surrounded by more and more people and Pokémon, and clamour and colours. He felt trapped by it all. Enclosed. And, just for a moment, he wondered if this was how his Pokémon felt in the balls at his waist...

Unable to bear the crowd any more, Nick stumbled to the side of the road and leant against a lamp post. He closed his eyes and let his head rest against the lamp post's cool metal surface. He felt dizzy and a little nauseous, and instinctively started sifting through his satchel to find a Persim Berry.

But Nick was startled from his claustrophobia by a familiar voice.

Wakey wakey, Nick Lyell!

Nick spun around looking for David but he was nowhere to be seen. He could have sworn his friend was just beside him – he sounded so close!

I hope you're done looking at those plants--

It was David. Couldn't be anyone else. But it sounded like his voice was coming from... surely not the loudspeakers?

--'cos I need you in the battle stadium right now!

Nick clipped his satchel shut and slung it back over his shoulder. His left hand caressed the Pokéballs at his side – yes, they were both still there – and he set his sights firmly on the battle stadium. To be honest, it was more of a field with a fenced bit than an actual stadium. Still, David needed him and Nick wouldn't let him down.

“His first competition battle,” Nick wondered aloud as he dodged his way through the crowded streets. “Let's do this!”

Kristine | Viridian City | Festival

--'cos I need you in the battle stadium right now!

Everyone was looking at each other. Some giggled hysterically, figuring someone had stolen control of the mic. Others muttered about idiot kids (mainly the adults). Kristine was one of those gigglers, looking around for the Nick Lyell that would be running for the stadium.

There was no one in sight, though. The moment didn't last long, and everyone went back to their business. Kristine resumed watching the kids pull out the plastic Psyducks from the bucket of water in hopes of winning that grand prize -- the giant stuffed Psyduck.

Peach was practically a contestant himself, chirping at the kids that were reaching for the wrong one (or so he thought). Kristine had to prod him a couple times when he got obnoxious again, but overall, he was the joy of the game.

"Excuse me, thank you. Pardon me--oh, no!"

Someone ran full-force into Kristine's back, nearly dunking her into the water. Fortunately, Peach was there to ease her fall, and he fell into the bucket instead.

The boy stopped running and looked into the bucket with Kristine and the other kids, making sure the Pokemon was alright. The furious Pidgey flailed, shot out of the bucket, and flew straight for the boy.

"Peach, no!" Kristine said, just barely grabbing his tail so he didn't go any further, though if the boy hadn't ducked, things could have gotten bad. She pulled him back to her face. "It was an accident. You'll be fine, just go fly around." She let go of the Pidgey, who rebelliously settled back onto her shoulder, soaking her shirt right through. Kristine looked up at the boy, who was still recovering from the Pidgey. "Are you alright?" she asked, smiling.

He nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks.... Sorry about that."

"No problem! I should apologize for Peach, really. He can get a bit defensive."

"A bit, yeah," he said, smiling. "I just... got a call and I have to help a friend out. In a rush. See you!" He made to run off again, but Kristine held him back with her laughter.

"You're not Nick, are you?"

Nick cleared his throat, turning around and thinking of the right words. "Well, yes. I guess I am." He was meandering backwards, itching to leave for the stadium.

"I'll call you Nick for now, then, until I get to know your real name. Are you off to the stadium?"

"Oh, no, I really am Nick! I just, uh. Yeah, I gotta... meet him there. It'll be his first battle, and I don't want to miss it."

She laughed. "Well, go on! Don't keep him waiting. He seems to really need you there, and I don't want you to disappoint. Name's Kristine, by the way. Kristine Cook." She gave Peach a keen eye, muttering, "To think you almost stabbed him, failbird." Peach nipped her sharply in the ear.

Nick smiled and nodded. "Well, I'm sorry again for running into you. Thanks for holding back your Pidgey!"

She laughed. "He means no harm, really. And actually, I think I'm headed your way now," Kristine said, ignoring the Pidgey's protests. "Your friend's called quite a crowd his way, so I think I'll just come along for the ride."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose he did! He does that sometimes. It'll be a good battle though, I promise." And they both made a mad dash for the stadium.

David

“Challengers David and Aaron, please come to the arena!”

It was adrenaline, David was sure, but something he hadn’t felt before was making him feel like he was about to fight to his death. The crowd around the arena tent had multiplied--at least doubled--after his little stunt (that almost got him kicked out of the battle tent), and he just hoped that his friend had come to see him.

But, if not, he had Eve, and she was proving to be enough of a cheering squad for anyone.

Both boys took their places in the grass where boxes had been drawn in chalk for them to stand. David grinned and focused on the field, and slid his fingers over the smooth balls at his belt. It was go time.

“Both challengers may use only two Pokemon!”

He imagined winning some huge trophy--something he’d display on his shelf until he had to make room for abigger trophy--and his grin widened. He wanted to look confident. BE confident.

“Ready!’

He would start with Dax, show that other trainer with a Nidoran how it was done, and then have Vash wipe the floor with whoever was against him.

“Set!”

Then again, the kid could have types stronger than his...and that could prove deadly.

Oh man.

“Go!”

David gulped.

“Go, Voltorb!”

Aaron threw a Pokeball out into the grassy field where...another Pokeball? appeared, center-stage.

David nodded. “Alright. I choose you, Dax!”

David threw his first Pokeball onto the field and, in a flash of great white light, released Dax, a Nidoran, onto the field. The tiny creature was a deep shade of purple and had spikes jutting from all places on its back and head. He had two determined red eyes that stared at the Voltorb with ambition. It was only a matter of time before he would get scuffed up, but David knew that Dax could take it...and dish it right back out.

“Dax, give that Voltorb a tackle!”

“Voltorb, repel him!”

Nidoran took off at top speed towards Voltorb, gaining momentum down the field. Voltorb began rolling in place, like he was on a treadmill, and began sparking from its sides. Dax lifted off the ground to tackle, but slowed down in mid-air, somehow cushioned by Voltorb’s spinning.

David arched his eyebrow and clenched his fist.

“Keep trying, Dax!”

Nidoran took off once more, repeating the tackle only to get thwarted near the end. Nevertheless, Nidoran kept it up, determined to get through the forcefield.

“David!” It was Nick’s voice calling from the crowd. David jerked his head to the side, seeing Nick and some girl push through the crowd, a pecking Pidgey on the girl’s shoulder. “David, Voltorb’s made a force field! Astounding, isn’t it?!”

David looked back to the field where Dax kept up his assault.

Eve called out this time. “He’s trying to wear down Nidoran! Attack from a distance!”

David nodded and turned back to the field, calling out to Dax. “Give it a Poison Sting!”

Little purple, determined Nidoran stood his ground and lowered his head, shaking as a fan of needles burst from his spikes and thrust through Voltorb’s force field, too small to repel. Voltorb rolled back, slowing its spinning from the pain.

“Do it again, Dax!”

“Try to charge energy and force more out, Voltorb!”

Voltorb spun faster and began to glow, making the magnetic aura visible itself. A wave of “Ooooh”s fanned from the audience. Dax ran closer to Voltorb, lowering its head again as it shot out another fan of needles, piercing the force field one final time. Voltorb lost its focus, dropping the magnetism from around him.

“Now tackle, Dax!”

Nidoran began running, giving Voltorb a full-on slam, unrestrained. Voltorb flew back towards its trainer, unconscious.

The announcer threw a green flag proudly. “Voltorb is unable to battle! Nidoran wins!”

Aaron withdrew Voltorb, a huge grin on his face. “You’re good,” he said, “but I don’t think you’re good enough for my trump card...”

__ __ __ __ __ __

“Your call with the ranged attack was brilliant, Eve.” David was leaning against a brick wall, his arms crossed with the others surrounding him. He’d even built up a tiny fan base after that battle, and to be honest, it had his head a little bloated. It felt good to be recognized.

“It nearly got me mugged by the folks standing next to me!” She laughed, and the others joined in.

“I’m still amazed how you dealt with that Tangela... it looked so strong for its age.” Nick was just as awestruck as ever--first the force field, then a rare grass Pokemon...it was like he was in Heaven.

“Tangela doesn’t like fire,” David quipped, “and Charmander happens to love it.”

The girl with the Pidgey--David was having the hardest time in the world remembering her name--smiled around at her new friends, just seeming excited to be in a group. She always smiled, though, and David wondered if her mouth was stuck that way.

“Well if you ask me,” came another voice. It was different--definitely not of their group--and belonged to another boy, “your battling style could use a lot of work.” The kid walked into their little mob and grinned at David right in the face. “In fact,” he said, “I want to challenge you back to the arena.”

David arched an eyebrow, not sure about his confidence.

“That is, unless you’re scared of a challenge.”

Well, that didn’t settle well with David’s inner country boy. Not one bit. Instinctively, Nick got a grip on David’s jacket to hold him back. “Alright,” David said, “I’ll battle ya.” He grinned and looked at his new friends and Nick. “And I’ll win.”

Eve excused herself from the man, muttering to herself “So much oooold .”
She weaved her way through the crowds, trying to get the best vantage point to see David’s fight. On the way she paused, shocked to hear his voice over the loud speakers.

Nick? I guess he already had friends here.

Eve continued her way through the crowd, jostling elbows and stepping around smaller children sitting on the grass. She wasn’t going to miss a minute of a real-life pokemon battle- her father had always said the strongest pokemon were produced by good genes and care, not by battling. It was surprising he had been as supportive as he was when she left to train Ellie and Tina. Battling their temporary charges was strictly forbidden in his household, as even friendly battles could mess up a pokemon’s coat and potentially a trade, and definitely the family’s reputation.

Eve smiled a little, her thoughts on her family as she watched the two trainers line themselves up at opposite ends of the field. Her backpack was full of medicines and guides given to her by her father, because “if you’re gonna go out there with the finest Dratini I ever got my hands on and the most loyal seel I ever did see, then you can at least take goddamn care of them.” And take care of them, she would.

David’s opponent- Aaron, the announcer told the crowd- summoned a voltorb. Eve was suddenly doubly pleased she had not entered- that was the second electric pokemon she’d seen since arriving, and she would not be pleased having to subject her seel to that , and she couldn’t expect dratini to do it on her own- not out on the ground with no water.

Her eyes swung towards David, who chose the aforementioned Nidoran. It was a determined looking beast, Eve could swear she could see the concentration in his eyes from this distance. David opened with a tackle, only to be repelled again and again by some kind of force field affect by the voltorb. What is he doing?

“He’s trying to wear down Nidoran! Attack from a distance!” she called, to earn dirty looks by those around her. “What?” she muttered, mainly to herself. “No rules say I can’t yell at him.”

After switching to needle attack, the voltorb faultering was inevitable. The tackle was a strong one, sending voltorb flying backwards to land at his trainer’s feet. Eve wondered vaguely how Ellie would handle something like that. In water his Nidoran wouldn’t touch either of my pokemon.

Eve was starting to hope she would find water soon.

Jason

"And start!"

What, no introduction? No flashy announcer screaming their names to the fans, no fans screaming there heads off, or fangirls diving at the stage? Weak, Jason thought. He figured his first real battle would be amazing, like he was a rock star boxer, duking it out with a weakling who didn't stand a chance. Nope, they were just there, two Pokemon on a beaten down grass floor, with barely visible chalk marks around it.

The boy across from him, David, sent out his Pokemon, it was a Charmander. "I got this!" Jason told himself, and he sent Gumbo onto the field.

David didn't even flinch, though, he didn't care that a water type was going out against him. Boy was he dumb, Jason thought.

"Gumbo, use Vicegrip!" not that he was any smarter.

"Vash, dodge and use scratch!" The Charmander easily dodged the slow crab, rolling off and leaping in with a fearsome swipe.

Gumbo took the hit and shook it off, and went in with another vicegrip, this time snagging Charmander right as it was running away. "Now, use Bubble!" a weak spurt of water shot of his claw, moving at an oddly fast speed chased at Charmader. The fire type dove to the ground, but the bubble blasted it's tail, putting it down to a small speck of light.

Charmander let out a weak cry, then rolled over.

"Charmander is unable to battle!"

David looked down at his Pokeball. "You did good, Vash." a moment later he let out his next choice, a Nidoran.

The little Nidoran charged at Gumbo, once, twice, three time it hit before Krabby pushed it off. The crustacean crouched down more, it didn't have a lot of battle left in it. "Gumbo, use vicegrip!" the Krabby began to charge in, claws wide and ready to crunch down on it's opponent. The Nidoran stood his ground, pretty much letting Gumbo clamp down on it's head, and Gumbo found out why right after. Right as Gumbo has clamped down, Nidoran shot out a poison sting, sending all the toxins right into Gumbo. The status effect kicked in a moment later, the pokemon turned purple, falling off it's legs in pain. It was still up, though, down to the tiniest sliver of health.

"Finish him off with Mud Slap!" David was just adding insult to injury.

"Krabby is unable to battle!"

Jason brought back Gumbo. "Good job little guy."

"Come on out, Watt!" Jason yelled, sending out his pride and joy.

"Wtut, use Thundershock!" The Elekid began to spin his arms, electricity generating between his horns before blasting towards Nidoran. The purple beast tried to dodge, but the electricity grabbed it's lower half and threw it to the wall. It wasn't down, though, and rushed in with a Mud-Slap, coating Watt in a thick layer of dirt.

"Hit it with another Thunder shock!" Watt's arm's started to spin, but this time Nidoran acted fast, slamming into Elekid with a Fury Attack. Once, twice, thrice, tetrice, pentice. Five times it hit, each one putting a good amount of damage onto Elekid, bringing it right to the edge of the arena. Nidoran jumped back, getting ready to charge in with another Fury Attack, but this time it fell to the ground, sparks of electricity flaring from it's body. It was paralyzed, thanks to Watt's Static ability. The purple beast was unable to move, just sitting there, struggling to get out it's attack.

"Elekid, finish it off with twin Thundershocks!" Watt nodded, spinning his arms at max speed, right as the first thunder shock left he charged up again, finishing off the unmoving Pokemon.

"Nidoran is unable to battle. Jason is the winner!"

Art
Pewter City Museum
Day of the Viridian Festival

Art could barely contain his excitement. Over the quiet hum of machinery he could just make out the sounds of a PA system and a screaming crowd: there was probably a match going on over at the festival. This, of course, was much more significant. From the head researcher Dr Moss' demeanour, he clearly didn't agree.

"Isn't the Viridian Festival on today?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Art as they made their way down the hallway to a door labelled REJUVENATION CHAMBER. "Why aren't you down there ridin' on stuff? Bein' a kid?"
"Are you kidding?" Art exclaimed jubilantly. "I'm about to witness the birth of an ancient Pokemon from a forgotten time! And then I'm going to get to raise it! Who needs ferris wheels and crooked carnival games?"
"You coulda done this tomorrow, though."
"Hey, I've waited four years for this. Today's my tenth birthday and I finally have a license to have my own Pokemon; Lex had to be registered under my dad's name until this morning. I'm getting my Omanyte and starting my journey ASAP."
"Fair enough."

They entered the Chamber. A tall cylindrical device sat in the middle. Moss hit some buttons on the side: a latch clicked and the door smoothly slid open.
"Okay, toss me the fossil."
Art decided instead to carefully hand the Helix Fossil over. Moss whistled as he inspected it.
"This is one of the cleanest fossils I've seen. You excavate this yourself?"
Art nodded proudly. "Took me ten hours."
"Nice. You should take my job here." Moss chuckled, almost bitterly.
"But you get to bring new life into the world on an almost-daily basis!" Art insisted. "Doesn't that just thrill you?"
"Sure, kid. It thrilled me - the first nine thousand times. And I'm stuck in this stuffy lab all day. I'll take an outdoor job first chance I get."
"Of course. Studying the behaviour of the Pokemon in its natural habitat must be astounding!"
Moss rolled his eyes. "Alright, here we go."

The device was beginning to hum. Art dropped the conversation and watched in wonder.
"The fossil is being coated with stem cells," Moss explained. "They'll pick up the DNA from the fossil and grow accordingly into the Pokemon that left it."
The mass had already begun to expand and pulsate. It was actually quite disgusting, but Art was much too fascinated to care.
"It's so quick!"
"That's one of the perks of this job," Moss replied, brightening slightly. "Only a year ago, a process like this would take at least a month. These temporal accelerators work wonders."
"Do you mean to tell me that these machines actually accelerate the flow of time?"
"Mmhmm. We got 'em after someone hooked a microwave up to a Celebi feather. Not like we haven't had issues with it though. A week after we installed 'em, someone thought it'd be funny to leave a Magikarp in there. I came in after lunch and a Gyarados wrecked the place. Your Omanyte's formin'."

Art knew this, of course; his eyes - no, his entire face - was practically glued to the viewport. Gradually, a stony shell became visible, and tiny blue tentacles wiggled out. Art barely even heard his Pokedex beeping, only pulling it out of his pocket and flipping it open out of instinct, still without averting his gaze from the machine.
New entry found, stated the robotic woman's voice (Art had bought a girl's Pokedex as the store had sold out of boy's models in a few minutes).

Omanyte.
Species: Spiral Pokemon.
Type: Water and Rock.
A prehistoric Pokémon that lived in the primordial sea, it swims by twisting its 10 tentacles about. Although long extinct, in rare cases, it can be genetically resurrected from fossils.

Adding to list of obtained Pokemon... the Dex stated, then with a small ding continued, Obtained Pokemon count: two.


"Thank you so much once again!" Art repeated on his way out, clutching his new Pokemon, Ess, in his arms as it purred - well, it was more of a gurgle, but it sounded content. "And I hope things work out for you. If you don't like it here, maybe you should leave and go find something new."
Moss sighed. "I'd like to, I really really would. But there's no one else that wants this position. If I leave, the lab closes and fifteen other people are out of a job."
"Tell you what," Art suggested. "I'll come back in ten years to take over."
"If I haven't been committed by then, I'll hold you to it."

David

After the battle, David had pushed onto the field to pick up Dax, making sure he was okay. He had, after all, taken a really hard hit from Elekid. David sighed, smiling after Dax opened his eyes. “Tired, buddy?” The Nidoran just nodded and closed his eyes again. “You can rest now. You did great.” David recalled Nidoran into its Pokeball and had joined the rest of the group on the side lines where Jason was standing, arms crossed, watching him.

“Good battle.” David stuck out his hand to Jason, who quickly distracted himself watching two girls prepare for battle. For a minute, David’s hand just hung there, unattended. Then he retracted it. “Right.”

Jason looked back at him, shrugging with his hands out, palms up. “No offense or anything, but you’re just no competition for my team. No use shaking hands if there really wasn’t any challenge involved.”

Nick grabbed the hem of David’s shirt again and tugged at it like he had David on a leash.

Kristine’s Pidgey didn’t seem to like him any more than the others. It fanned its feathers out on her shoulder, cawing out something that David wasn’t sure would be child friendly in Pidgey language.

David shrugged. “If that’s what you think,” he said, closing his eyes, “then I’ll just have to prove you wrong.”

“You never will.”

“...many, many times.” His accent made things lighter.

Jason grinned, crossing his arms. “Fine, then, Davey boy. If it’s a rival you want, then I can afford giving you a little bit of my attention.” He smirked. “After all, a little punching bag never hurt anyone.”

David tried to smile, eyes still closed, and nodded. “...right. Then we’ll settle this at the Indigo Plateau.” He grinned. “The Pokemon League.”

“That’s assuming you ever make it to the Pokemon League.” He shook his head. “There are tons of powerful trainers in Kanto, and you have to get at least eight badges before you can take on the Indigo Conference.”

Nick’s hold on David’s shirt tail tightened, but David relaxed and just shook his head. “I’ll be there, alright.”

Nick grabbed David’s attention, beaming. “There’ll be tons of amazing Pokemon to discover...and adventures!”

“This is beautiful and all,” Jason said, “but I have to be off to Vermillion. The tram through Diglett’s tunnel won’t be in Viridian for much longer.”

“Pardon me,” came a new voice. The gang turned their attention to the source, another guy--this one dressed up like he was about to go to a ball. “Did I hear you say you were going to Vermillion?” He was blond and scrawny and made David think he was a little...whimpy, to say the least. He could hardly hold in a snicker.

Jason smirked. “I guess you want a bodyguard.”

“Rightfully not,” the boy said. He then smiled. “I am Sinclair Audley, only son of former champion Audley.” He paused, waiting for adoration.

None came.

Kristine | Viridian City | Festival Stadium

“Ahem. Anyway, I would like to join you on your journey to Vermillion as I myself have business there.” He beamed. “And, it’s as my mother says, ‘If you’re traveling, travel with company!’ And mother always does have the best advice...except for when she tries to tell me to starch my sports coats in a certain fashion...I do hate that.”

Jason sighed. “Fine. You can come. I could use a cheering squad.” He coughed. “And money.”

“Actually,” piped up Kristine, causing Peach to jump, “I wonder if perhaps I could tag along? I’ve never been to Vermillion before, though I’d love to see where my dad went when he visited.”

Jason smirked. “Of all the people to tag along, I get a bunch of pansies. Fine by me, just don’t get in the way.”

Pidgey protested, but Kristine grabbed his beak and smiled at Jason. “I promise, everything will be fine and dandy! You’ll hardly know we’re there,” she added, giving Peach a little shake.

Sin straightened himself and nodded. “It’ll be a pleasure, of course.”

Kristine smiled, then turned to Nick and the others. “Do you guys know where you’re headed yet?”

“Probably toward Pewter City, though we haven’t made final plans,” Nick said, looking at the others for confirmation.

“I’m not sticking around for this. I’ve got a League to win,” Jason said. He looked to David without a word and left them.

Kristine watched him leave, but Sin spoke up. “That’s my ride, I’m afraid. Wonderful meeting you, but of course, time is money. Come along, Kristine. It appears he won’t be waiting up for us.”

Kristine let go of Peach’s beak, forgetting her hand was left up there, but the Pidgey remained silent. She turned to Nick, David, and Eve. “We’ll run into each other, then! See you at the Pokemon League.”

“You can count on that,” David said, still looking back at Jason.

“See you later, Kristine. Sorry about your Pidgey again.”

She laughed. “Memories are money, don’t you think?” And with that, she ran off.

Nick | Viridian City | Carnival Evening

“Memories are money, don’t you think?”

With a parting smile, Kristine turned on her heel and dashed after her new friends. Something inside Nick felt tight, like fabric stretched over too great a gap, and for a reason unknown even to him, he watched their new rivals until they vanished down the street and out of sight. When they had gone, Nick turned his attention to the ground and scuffed his shoes against the dusty surface.

“Almost had her eating out of my hand,” said Nick with more than a touch of disappointment. “It felt like we were really getting to know each other.”

Nick looked up to see David’s eyebrow raised in skepticism. He looked worn out. To his left, their new companion, Eve, was still squinting after Jason’s lot with a grim expression. It seemed to Nick that she’d taken his comments personally.

Hope I don’t have to hold her back from a fist-fight, he thought. I bet she trains fire-types or something.

Nick sighed and turned around. “I can’t believe she just flew off with them. Just like that! I didn’t even get a peck on the cheek!”

“So,” he said, eyebrow still aloft, “you and Kristine got on pretty well huh?”

A small smile broke free from David’s dejected state. He was worn out -- it wasn’t hard to tell. Nick was relieved that David wasn’t too shaken from his, appropriately, shocking defeat at the hands of Jason.

“We did, actually,” said Nick, “but I was talking about her pidgey!”

David rolled his eyes. He’d really fallen for that one. At least Eve had the decency to laugh.

“Do I have to put up with jokes like that all the way to the Indigo Plateau?” she asked, though not unkindly. She rearranged her scarf as she spoke, a subconscious movement that looked like she was stroking and petting it as she would a Pokémon.

“Not if I can help it,” said David, his smile slipping away as the events of today settled in. “Anyway, let’s get moving. Vash and Dax need a Pokécenter.”

“Wait, you don’t look after your own pokemon?” Eve looked concerned. “I wouldn’t trust my pokemon with those pokecenter things.”

Nick looked to the sky and, sure enough, the afternoon sun had waned to a rosy evening light. Eve was right. If they set off now they might reach a good campsite before the sun set.

“I can take care of them on the move,” he offered. “I’ve got plenty of potions with me.”

“That sounds like a plan,” said David, somewhat relieved.

“And there’s these new leaves that I want to try out,” Nick continued, eagerly. “I haven’t a clue what they are!”

“Y’know, that doesn’t sound so great now,” said David. “Could we just stick with the potions tonight?”

“Come on,” Nick called out happily as he walked towards the junction for Route 2. “Viridian Forest is this way!”

David watched as Nick strode away from the Battle Tent that would always harbour painful memories for him. He took one last look and then turned his back on it for good. He had already learnt from that battle. Next time would be a different story altogether.

“Does Nick actually know where he’s going?” asked Eve. David was glad that she’d waited for him -- he might have lost face, but he was still the leader of this little lot. That was something, at least.

“Funnily enough,” he said, following his friend towards Route 2, “this time he actually does. He’s been here before on a school trip.”

“I thought you said he used to skip school,” said Eve, but followed him nonetheless.

“He did,” said David, increasing his pace to catch up with Nick. “But he certainly came on that trip. You should ask him about it sometime.”

The pair walked in silence until they reached Nick who was waiting for them at a crossroads. Then, also without words, the trio took the road North and onto Route 2. As the sun dropped lower in the sky to their left, three shadows stretched out from the three trainers as they walked, side by side, towards Viridian Forest: their next adventure.

David

“GET. IT. OFF.” Eve stood still, arms spread wide, as a Caterpie nommed on her neck. Its tiny mouth was harmless, but with each nom, it secreted a sticky white string fluid that dripped down her neck and onto her shirt. David thought it was disgusting.

Nick may as well’d been taking pictures. “Stay still, Eve! It’s fascinating. Really fascinating...”

David stood back, watching Dax nibble at his berry leaves. He didn’t quite get what kind of magic they worked, but they really did do the trick. Nick had just popped a single berry into Dax’s mouth and he could move again, like he had never been paralyzed at all. Nick called it a Cheri Berry, which David thought was awesome. He felt like it should be on an ice cream sundae.

“DAVID.” Eve was thrashing at this point. It was weird--David never knew she was afraid of bugs. But maybe it was one of those universal girl things that he’d never get. Were there universal guy things? “DAVID.” He wasn’t really sure...maybe a love of chocolate pudding, or maybe there was some kind of food that all guys found disgusting. “DAVID.” He bet it was either broccoli or celery. David couldn’t stand celery.

“DAVID GET THIS THING OFF OR SO HELP ME.”

Davey looked up from his zoning out zone and saw Nick reaching for a Pokeball. “C’mon out, Daisy!” The ball popped open in his hand and his sweet little Oddish appeared on the forest floor, dancing around happily. Dancin’ Miss Daisy.

David snickered.

Daisy smelled amazing, though. The minute she appeared in the woods, the trail filled with a soft perfume that was just perfect. It even seemed to calm down Eve and the Caterpie.

“Daisy, could you stun Caterpie with stun spore?”

Daisy hopped and pipped in excitement as it shook its leaves, making a faint yellow dust float out from its head. David took a step back as it got near him, not sure if it affected people, too.

“Cover your nose and mouth, Eve,” Nick said, and she did. The Caterpie froze from its nomming and fell limp to the ground. Eve relaxed and shivered, trying to get the silken goop off her neck.

David looked back to Dax, who had just finished chewing up the last of his Oran leaves. He looked even peppier than he had before the battle, which was great. David patted his hand on his leg and smiled as Dax jumped into his arms, snuggling into a hug. When he looked up, David grinned. He never would’ve expected what Nick was about to do!

Nick | Viridian Forest | Day 1

With the Stun Spores taking effect it didn’t take long before the wild Caterpie slid over Eve’s shoulder, leaving a gooey trail down the back of her shirt. It landed on the forest floor with an audible plop, mouth still chewing a non-existent neck.

“I’ve never seen such sticky String Shot!” said Nick, shaking his arms in excitement. It looked like he was thinking of Butterfrees already. “And so white -- I wonder what it’s been eating?”

“Looks like it’s got a taste for people,” said Eve, her voice finally returning to its normal volume now she was free from the vicious predator. “This ‘String Shot’ had best come off easily!”

She turned and headed towards a brook they had passed earlier in the day. Nick didn’t understand this fascination with being clean. He’d already stood in Pikachu poo earlier in the day (and even surreptitiously taken a sample while the others’ backs were turned!) and he hadn’t felt the need to put on a full change of clothes.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Nick bent down to try and examine the new bug Pokémon. Daisy, however, had other ideas, and danced her merry way around the Caterpie, her little legs (and lack of arms) giving her gait a curiously off-balance feel. When she had picked an appropriate spot she gave a sudden squeal and toppled over onto her back and blinked upwards at Nick adoringly.

“That Oddish is mad,” said David with a grin. “What on earth have you been feeding her?”

“Well--” Nick began, but David quickly cut him off.

“It’s ok, I think I’ll check if Eve needs any help,” he said, a grave expression crossing his face. “There might be more dangerous bugs that need peeling off her.” Nidoran cried cutely, nibbling on his jacket.

“You can take him with you, if you like,” said Nick. “He’s eaten enough Oran leaves for now -- you wouldn’t want him to turn blue.”

It turned out that David didn’t, after all. When he was alone, Nick turned his full attention back to the caterpie. In this situation it was traditional to use a Pokédex to classify, catergorise and catalogue the new species, but Nick had other ideas.

When he was sure that none of the others were watching, he reached out and dipped his index finger into some of the leftover String Shot. As he expected, the consistency was wrong. All wrong.

“You wouldn’t be able to shoot that out at all, would you little fella’?” Nick said, partly to the Caterpie and party to himself. “What’ve you been eating?” Daisy, thinking the question was aimed at her, began pipping away (in what must have been great detail) about her many and varied meals that day.

Again, checking that none of the others were watching, Nick lifted the gooey finger to his face, stretched out his tongue, and licked it. Strange, he thought. It’s usually more bitter than this. Now satisfied with his preliminary investigation, Nick wiped his hands on the grass and stood up.

“Y’know,” he declared to the cute little Caterpie, “I used to think that bug-types were boring. But not you. You’re coming with me, little guy!” Daisy, knowing her time was at hand, leaned forwards in excitement trying to get her top-heavy body back onto its feet. After a couple of tries she succeeded and pirouetted her way to face the poor paralysed Caterpie.

“Daisy!” he yelled, the feeling of a real Pokémon battle flooding through him. “Hit him hard with ta-- Oh...” he stopped. “I guess you’ve gotta use Absorb, haven’t you?”

Daisy squealed an affirmative and dutifully did exactly what she wanted. She even continued her dance, now a kind of waltz, around and around the Caterpie as she sucked a strange kind of green bubbles from the bug-type into her open mouth.

“Your foe’s weak, Daisy!” Nick cried out, enjoying the glorious rush of victory. “One more Stun Spore and I’ll catch it!” This command seemed agreeable to Daisy and so she bent down, rustled her leaves, and poofed another cloud of spores over the Caterpie.

“Here we go, Daisy!” Nick could barely contain his excitement as his thrown Pokéball arced over his Oddish’s head to land exactly on target. The lid opened and with a flash of light (accompanied by a yell from Nick) the Caterpie was caught and the Pokéball closed.

“Well done, Daisy,” he grinned, giving his favourite grass-type an affectionate tickle before recalling her as well. He walked forwards and picked up the other Pokéball. It always surprised him how light they felt, though the Caterpie he had fought was surely inside. Clipping the newest member of his team to his belt, his mind turned to nicknames.

Every Pokémon should have one, he thought. I wonder if they’d let me call it ‘Eve’?