FicWad

Author's Note: Sorry about the lateness of this. Erk. It dragged on and on. And then Jamie was born into the fic. I love her. She got me through a difficult section. Anyway, enjoy 16 pages of ficcy goodness.

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“Yeah Mom. No, I haven’t caught anything new since Chartreuse. I wanted to do some more training. Difficult battles? Well, um, we ran into a pair of psychics, and they had some really high level pokemon. Alex’s charmander got creamed,” Scott relayed to his mother over the phone in the pokemon center.

“I wish he wouldn’t take such relish in saying that,” Alex muttered to his cereal as he and Chris waited for their turns.

“Why not, it’s true, innit?” Chris grinned impishly, and then ducked as Aex catapulted a soggy cheerio at him.

“Would you like to have a battle with Corazon?” the boy asked dangerously.

“Give her some more easy experience? No thanks,” Chris stuck out his tongue. “Wait until we meet at Koga’s gym.”

“So, you’re not going to Saffron, then?” Alex inquired.

“No fear. Those stuffy psychics can take their mystic weirdness, put it in their pipes and smoke it,” Chris commented.

Alex looked as thought he was about to say something, but seemed to change his mind. His dark eyes darted back to his breakfast, and his spoon lowered into the proper position for an eating implement, rather than a weapon of milk sopped revenge. “I don’t think I’m going to call my parents until tonight. Time is moving on, and I have some battles to participate in,” Alex commented suddenly.

“Oh, did your dreams challenge you?” Chris snickered.

“No, but it’s nearing the end of Summer, right? So, what happens in Viridian at about that time?”

“All the schools begin,” Chris said, realizing what Alex was getting at. “You’re seriously not going to run the gauntlet of wanna-be trainers in this town? I thought we all agreed last night that you need a second pokemon.”

“Really? I remember no such conversation. I merely recall informing the two of you as to why I choose to only train with Corazon at the moment,” Alex stood to bus his tray. Corazon gave Chris a contemptuous glance. [i]Don’t underestimate me. Or I will blow flames up your bottom.[/i]

“Raindancer!”

Alex rolled his eyes. “What did she do this time?” he asked, mainly to humor the annoying boy. Chris would just keep making pointed hints about the unjustness of his psychic pokemon if Alex didn't, after all.

“Translated Corazon's thoughts directly to my head,” Chris grumbled. “I hate this!”
He pushed back from his table, and went to stand by the counter, and Scott, who was still monopolizing the phone. “Hey get off for a minute, I wanna talk to Mom Ferrara.”

“Hey, Mom, do you mind? Chris wants to call his mother,” Scott said, turning away from Chris, as if Chris could some how determine embarrassing Mother talk through the phone. “Yeah, yeah, we're being careful. Yes, I know what happened to Wash Pot-—you've told me several times. Sorry, Mom, I promise I won't call her Wash Pot.”

“Momma's Boy,” Chris hissed, grinning.

Scott rolled his eyes, hung up the phone, and walked over to Alex. “You ready to hit the locals for some cash and experience?” he grinned down at the cereal eater.

Alex smiled back, trying to make his expression as sly as possible. “You bet. The park thing they've got here, you think? I'll bet its great for pokemon battles.”

“Sure. If you can keep Corazon from fainting,” Scott replied flippantly, as he picked up his long cold toast and took a bite.

Alex's glare became steely. “Are you implying something about my charmander?”

“Nuh-thing,” Scott replied in a sing-song voice, before dancing towards the counter of the pokemon center. “Hi, excuse me, Miss, is my zubat ready?”

“Sure thing, honey,” the forty-year old woman smiled kindly. “You had the little 'un named Nocturne, right? Came in on the wrong end of a psychic attack?”

“Yep, that's me,” Scott nodded, and reached out for the pokeball. This nurse seemed a lot more easy-going than the girl who had been on duty last night, for which he was glad. He had heard the lecture the one from last night had delivered to Alex, and decided to leave the nurse alone until a new one was switched in. Clearly he had made the right decision. It always paid to have good nurses.

“You just keep that girl safe, you hear? She's getting sunburned,” the nurse called after him.

“I know!” Scott turned around from his rush to the door. “I'm trying to find some kind of lotion for her, and battling at night. I think it'll help. Thanks, ma'am!”

She looked a little confused, but shrugged a scrub covered shoulder, and went back to reading Better Homes and Gardens. The article about humane oddish weeding was extremely informative, and she hoped not too many young people would get into fights today, since she was interested to read the interview with Gardenia without interruption.

Scott skipped out the door, and brought out Jenna's pokeball. Grass Green was close enough to Celedon that oddish were going to look pretty easy to challenge, being a familiar grass type. Jenna looked up and winced away from the brightness of the sunlight on her leaves. She wasn't as badly off as Nocturne, but she didn't happen to like being awake this late.

“Yeah, I know,” Scott said, correctly interpreting her look. “Look, you're just bait for trainers looking for easy prey in the last few days. I'm mainly going to be using Seed, and hopefully Wavey if I can find a stream or something.”

Jenna's eyes widened. So, she was just easy prey, was that it? Chopped radish to her high and mighty trainer, huh?! Well, she'd, well—ohhh! The plant pokemon set her minuscule mouth in defiance, and marched off to the grass. If that was the way he was going to be, well, fine! She was going to plant herself, and let him find her.

“Hey, Jenna, get back here!” Scott exclaimed, running after his pouting oddish.

He wasn't certain what had gotten into her. Wavey—now if the goldeen could have stalked off on dry land he could sort of have expected that. Wavey was newly caught, and he didn't know her very well because he hadn't had a lot of opportunities to use fish pokemon. His current plan was going down to Fushia, now, and find some sea master, or something in their little harbor, to get some tips and tricks on raising her.

However, Jenna had been with him for a while. He had caught her the first night he had trained Nocturne, and he thought that he understood her moods fairly well. But clearly, he had done something to set her off. Maybe it was the sunlight. He began to apologize for the day training again as his long legs caught up with Jenna's shorter ones.

“Hey, um, is that your oddish?” Scott slowed down his power walk to look at the little girl in the bright red sun dress. “She's wicked cute,” the girl added. “Can I challenge you to a contest with her against my Nan?”

“Um, sorry. I'm a trainer. I don't go in for contests,” Scott replied, trying to save his dignity. If he pointed out that only girls cared about contests certainly word would get back to his sisters, and then he'd be in for it. If it was Gladiola who heard, she would bore him with an hour long lecture on why beauty mattered, while Casey would tell him about every successful male contest winner since time began, Taylor would beat him up, and Margret would get inventive. Never mind that none of them knew anything about contests. If they heard he'd dissed something because it was girly, and he wasn't into girly, they'd become instant experts before raining down their wrath upon his head.

“Oh but it's easy, I'll teach you!” the girl replied happily.

“Really, I'm just out here to relax, and train with my oddish during the day,” Scott protested. “I'm not interested in contests. Those will take too long.”

“Oh,” the girl sighed, but brightened up. “A battle then? Will you go easy on me? I'm new to battles.”

Scott nodded, smiling. Score! Not five minutes, and he'd already gotten an opponent. She would be the first in his line of trainers he was going to take to the cleaners today. “Sure. I'm Scott, by the way, and this little girl here is Jenna. We'll have a one on one, and no money, if we're just doing this for fun.”

“Yeah, great! I'm Amy! And you'll soon see Nan.”

She skipped across the grass of the green, while Jen looked up at Scott resentfully. “Odd odd, ish odd oddish?” she questioned sullenly. Scott didn't have time to puzzle at the comment from the normally very quiet pokemon, as Amy had reached the distance she felt was good enough for a battle, and threw a red and white pokeball at the ground.

“Go, Nan!”

“Ledyba!”

Scott stared, and then scrambled for his pokedex. “What is that?!” His eyes glanced at the pokedex's screen, and a few key phrases jumped out at him.

Ledyba. Johtoan pokemon. Bug type. Active during the day.

“Oh shoot,” Scott moaned. Not only was Jenna having an attitude today for whatever reason, which was never a good way to open a battle, her opponent had a type advantage, and probably was enjoying the daylight. Well, at least Nan wasn't a fire type.

“Jenna, stun spore,” Scott requested, as a way to start the battle off. He had to admit, Jenna was getting to be his favorite battler just because she had so many status problem inducing moves.

“Nan, quick attack!” Amy replied.

The red bug's exoskeleton split open, and clear wings began to whir, as Nan shot forward through the orange spore cloud. The dust lifted from around the bug, and she hit Jenna without a spore touching her. The solid body of the plant pokemon resisted the attack, mainly because Jenna had been burying her feet in the soil, and Nan bounced back.

Jenna looked at Scott, and then ignored his shouted command for a second stun spore. It was clearly not working, and she knew it, even if her trainer—who was too disrespectful to live—had not realized this fact. She uprooted herself with a grunt; it was long enough time for Nan to recover from the slight bounce back, unfortunately. Jenna felt her annoyance and hurt boiling in her gut. She knew it wasn't really the emotions that were bubbling and hissing, and that they weren't in her stomach, but her personal feelings always helped her out when she was about to expel all of the toxins that her little body had managed to absorb.

“Quick attack and supersonic!” the dark leafed human yelled to the bug, who zoomed at Jenna. This time Jenna held her attack, watching with her weak eyes as the ledyba came at her. The bug slammed into the top of her head, knocking Jenna over. The oddish's mouth opened, and acid gushed right at the creamy exoskeleton of Nan's belly.

“Roll, Jenna!” Scott yelled, and the oddish obeyed, splashes of acid hissing down, taking small smoky holes out of her leaves in the process.

“Right, no more playing around,” Scott ran his hands through his hair, feeling stupid because Jenna knew more than he did about these things. “Acid until the ledyba is K.O.”

“I don't think so!” Amy yelled. “There was a second part to that attack. Nan!”

The ledyba, who was rubbing her underside against the ground in pain chirpped, and her back opened up again. The gossamer wings whirred, producing a high pitched noise that sent Scott to his knees.

Jenna drew herself up, and spat more poison at the bug, seemingly unfazed. The bug type caught the purple liquid right in her face this time. It splashed over her shell, and left little smoking craters and canals all over the shiny red exoskeleton.

“Lediiiiiiiiiiii!” Nan screamed, trying to reach her eyes with her flexible limbs.

“Nan!” Amy grabbed her pokeball. “Return!,” the red bug was engulfed in red engergy, and Amy began to head for the pokemon center. As she passed Scott, the young trainer hissed: “Your stupid oddish!”

“Jenna's smarter than you think!” Scott retorted, turning to follow Amy with his eyes, and realized that he had gained an audience. “Hey,” he waved at the town boys watching from the street. Anyone else wanna go? One on one, no money prizes?”

“I'll take that,” a youngster from the crowd volunteered, leaping forward with a snubull at his heels; probably a house pet of some sort. On the benches outside the pokemon center Chris watched Scott send Jenna out again, and then looked over at Alex.

“Is it just me, or do all of these kids have pokemon that are way too rare for them?”

“What are you talking about?” Alex asked, looking over at Chris with contempt. “That's really rich, coming from a guy who has an abra on his head.”

“C'mon, I couldn't help that,” Chris defended. “Raindancer is an annoyance. I mean all these weird pokemon. Yeah, snubull can be house pets, but not a lot of people who aren't really rich have them.”

“What are you talking about? They're common as muck,” Alex replied. “You can't go out of Blackthorn in the autumn without getting ambushed by ledyba. And everyone breeds snubull.”

“Oh, I get it.”

“Get what?” Alex asked, already regretting it. Chris had a superior smirk on his face.

“You said it yourself. Grass Green's a breeder's town, and they must import from Johto. Or haven't you noticed that we aren't anywhere near Blackthorn City?”

Alex looked around, and then glared at Chris. “Oh, shut up.”

“You shut up. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be training Corazon?” Chris asked. “Heck, I want to work on Darkfang a bit more. He's got to get his defense straightened out.”

“I would be training her, but Scott rather has the field monopolized,” Alex waved a languid hand, where Scott was engaged in a third battle, now. “Besides, I keep on feeling like I'm being watched. I'd rather the person just come out and challenge me.”

Chris looked around, and then snickered as Raindancer said something to him privately. “Well, if you feed them, they will follow,” he rose from the bench, and walked over to a townie kid watching Scott's match with Jenna.

“Hey,” the kid said, looking over at Chris and his abra hat. “Who are you?”

“Just a trainer passing through, looking for some battles. I might challenge that guy, again. How's he doing, anyway?”

“Well his oddish is pretty tough, actually,” the boy replied. “I'm Josh. You are?”

“Chris. You got any pokemon on you?”

“A spearow,” Josh shrugged, “but I'm not very good with her. She's cranky. You should challenge Camden. He's got a machop. Wow! Did you see that? How on earth does his oddish ignore supersonic like that? Jerry's zubat nearly always gets me with that move.”

“Have you ever looked at an oddish before?” Chris asked. “Well, next time you do, tell me where it's ears are. They can hear, of course, unlike my ekans, but it's not quite the same as humans hear, for instance. Oh sure, supersonic can disorient them, but it's not as easy as it is to disorient another pokemon with more conventional means of hearing. So, where's this Camden?”

“He's over there,” Josh pointed, at a boy with a machop who looked as though he was itching to take Scott on, now that Jenna was running rings around a zubat flapping weakly on the ground.

“All right, Jenna, just jump on it,” Scott yelled in encouragement.

“Odd,” Jenna snorted in agreement, bringing a rooty foot down on the zubat's windpipe. The bat pokemon cheeped plaintively, and disappeared in a burst of red. Jerry looked angry, and ready to hurt something.

“Bad luck,” Scott told him. “My starter is a zubat. I know how to fight them pretty well, now. Anyone else?”

“Yeah,” the boy with the machop said, charging over to replace the disappointed Jerry. “I'm gonna cream your oddish. Fist, you know what to do.”

“Hey, give me some time to switch out,” Scott protested. “Jenna's gone for three straight battles, I'm not putting her through any more for a while. Nocturne, go!”

Jenna was trotting back across the field when the machop raced for her. Nocturne's pokeball was slowly descending to the ground, and one blue fist smashed it off the trajectory, before hammering home on the top of Jenna's leafy head. It was daylight, and Jenna had been in several more battles than she was used to, all at once without rest. The karate chop came as a staggering pain filled blow, driving her into the ground with lights flashing on and off in her eyes. After leech life upon leech life, and the punishing tackles of a bug, and the quick attacks of a blocky dog pokemon, the karate chop that she could normally have shaken off was enough to stun her.

“Foul!” Scott yelled, staring at the machop. “Total foul!” His angry cry was taken up by some of the children on the fence. Others, however, remained silent. Camden just smirked.

“Give over, newbie,” he told Scott. “I've beaten your single pokemon. Do you yield? The plant's still there enough to attack—getting away is her problem.”

“You're cheating!” Scott gasped, outraged. He didn't want to lose to this creep. “You fight Nocturne.”

“A fresh mystery pokemon? I think not,” the local boy shrugged. “I want a win, and I want the experience for Fist. I'll take it from your oddish.”

“But. It's. Against. The. Rules,” Scott ground out.

“Give over,” the boy repeated. He rolled his eyes, as his machop loomed over the oddish, waiting for an order. “So, a win, or experience?”

[i]Neither![/i]

Darkfang was a purple blur heading across the field. His mouth was open. The rat's fangs seemed to be longer, whiter, and sharper than normal. He crashed into the blue skinned fighting type, and bit down sharply on the machop's bicep. Fist yelled in pain as Darkfang broke skin, and blood gushed out.

“You know, Raindancer, you almost took away the element of surprise,” Chris complained, as he watched Darkfang disengage from the hyperfang he had just given the machop.

[i]You should be glad that both Darkfang and I agree on something,[/i] the abra replied.

“Alright, before the machop regains his senses,” Chris yelled, “get his left shoulder.”
Darkfang jumped high, aiming for the shoulder, his teeth gleaming again. Fist was holding her arm in red eyed agony. However, just as Darkfang jumped, Raindancer yelled out a barely articulate warning: [i]Look out![/i]

The bloody hand holding the machop's shoulder arched upwards in a move that was no doubt going to smash into the rat's jaw. Darkfang saw it coming like a slowpoke lumbering to water. His fangs were already glowing. He took the slim advantage, opening his jaws wide as Sinslither. The fist smashed into his open mouth, and he bit down, even as he choked. Blood glutted his throat, along with tiny shards of his canines and incisors.

The machop howled, shaking the offending rodent off her fist. Darkfang flew high in the air, only to land limply in the grass. He struggled upright, grinning through a mouth full of broken and bloody teeth. Pain stabbed at him, making him want to turn and run. However, he could feel the thread of Chris' will through Raindancer, and knew it would be harder than it was worth to run right now.

Fist was wobbling dizzily on her feet. Her blue skin was now almost purple from the red streams that gushed from her arm and hand. Chris breathed carefully. Camden was staring in shock at the mangling that his sturdy machop had taken. It would take a while for the boy to snap out of it. If Chris could think of an attack that wouldn't hurt Darkfang's face any more, he would win.

“Quick attack,” he hissed suddenly.

The rattata pulled his legs close to his body, and then took off. He didn't have too much room, but it was enough for his little body to blur in a streak. Darkfang crashed his shoulder into the wounded arm. Fist shrieked, her eyes rolled up in her head, and she staggered backward before falling.

Darkfang wove away, feeling shaky, although the surge of sudden adrenaline left him feeling stronger and tougher than a raticate. Whoo—the victory rush was really intense, probably because of his proportional weakness.

[i]Get back here, you idiot rat,[/i] Raindancer snipped after him, and Darkfang felt her mental tugging turning him around.

“You both should recall your pokemon,” Alex said from behind Camden, making both boys jump. “C'mon, Camden, was it? Your pokemon needs to go to the pokemon Center. I'll take you there.”

He put a guiding hand on Camden's shoulder, which was shaken off, but the youngster joined him. Alex knew that Chris would get Darkfang taken care of on his own, and he wanted to make certain that this kid was not allowed out of his sight until the policeman Alex had run for was questioning Camden. It was doubtful that anything could actually be done, but it was really dangerous to the pokemon to battle like that. Permanent injury to either side represented a lot of lost money in fines, and possible serious hospitalization fees if either pokemon went out of control. As it was, Chris might have to pay for his rattata's teeth to be fixed at an orthodontists rather than leaving it up to the energy recall of a pokemon center.
He walked to the pokemon center, engaging Camden in a discussion of his machop. “Where did you get one? They aren't common outside of the mountains. Mount Moon doesn't have any, and that's the only one close,” Alex pointed out.

Camden shrugged. “Mom has a machamp she lets breed. I got Fist because she's female, and females are rarer.”

“Oh?” Alex asked, dismissing the idea of Camden's mother having a machamp. It was depressing to think of such a strong pokemon reduced to some sort of brood mare. Probably she had been useful until Camden's family had bought her. “Does that mean that they're stronger, or something?”

“No, just rarer,” Camden shrugged again, as they came inside the glass doors of the pokemon center.

Alex was about to pose another question when he saw a young female officer approaching. From her lipstick to her high heels he already could guess that this was a Jenny. Indeed, when she hauled Camden aside, the interrogation was more like a first grade teacher disciplining an erring student. Alex saw red for a moment, as he heard: “Were you not respecting battle rules, again, Camden? Do I have to tell your mother about this?”

Alex stomped outside at that, and sat down on a bench. There was a rustle in the decorative bush that separated the Center's outdoor patio area and the street. He looked over and saw the meowth from last night. It had soot marks in its fur, now, and seeing Alex, it backed up.

“What have you been in?” Alex muttered to himself, staring at it, his mind slowly clicking through the possibilities.

“Char!”

The meowth leaped from his perch, turning only to hiss at Corazon, who was scuttling through the grass on all fours, looking furious. She had red scratches all over her leathery skin. With an effort, she reared on her hind legs, and blew hot coals at the meowth. The pale cat reacted with admirable speed, leaping to the top of the bush, and then jumping to an umbrella, where it then pretended to wash itself, uncaringly.

“Mander, char char,” Corazon grumbled, coming up to Alex, and tugging on his pant leg. Alex stood, picking up Corazon to check her over. She looked alright. The scratches had merely raised welts on her skin, rather than opening bloody gashes. “Ignore the pest,” Alex advised, beginning to walk over the grass to where he left his pack. “You're a brave little girl, you don't need to get into an argument with the locals to prove it.”

Corazon looked up at him beseechingly. “Char,” she gripped his black t-shirt, and shook it slightly. “Char! Mander man mander char.” Alex clearly didn't understand the problem. She had failed him, and now the black backpack lay on the grass, completely ransacked by the meowth.

Alex came to a standstill, seeing the open leaves of the bag in the shadow of the fence. “Oh. Oh well, this is just perfect!” he yelled, kicking the fence. The trainer knelt down, putting Corazon on the ground. “I can see why you tried to fry him. Nice try, flame heart. C'mon, let's get this stuff picked up.”

He discovered that predictably his pre-packaged meat had been broken into, although Corazon had scared the scavenger off before the meowth could steal the shiny pokeballs, or potions, one of which he sprayed on Corazon. She smiled, and handed him the t-shirt which had been flung from his pack in the meowth's scrabble to get at the food.

“Thanks,” Alex scratched Corazon's shoulder blades.

Her throat thrummed with vibration in response, before the lizard's blue eyes narrowed in anger. Alex turned his head. A few posts down on the fence, the scrawny feline watched the pair. The human felt the same surge of anger that must be going through the charmander, but he kept his head. “We can't fight that kitty,” he forced his head back to look at Corazon. “He will just light off if we go near him, and the fence runs close to that hot dog vendor. See how the roof of the wagon is just a jump away from the roof of the bicycle repair shop over there?”

Corazon nodded, impressed by the forward thinking, but annoyed that she couldn't get at the cat who had so egregiously destroyed her trainer's space. The feline in question flicked his tail at the pair, and decided to saunter away. Orange tinged smoke curled from Corazon's nostrils as she tried to contain an instinctive ember.

“Let's get back,” Alex suggested. “We gotta see what's up with Chris, and I've lost my taste for this town.”

The pokemon and trainer walked back slowly to the pokemon center. The morning sun was growing hotter, and the grass peeked deliciously through Corazon's toes, even though Alex could not appreciate it, what with his insistence on wearing his black sneakers. Oh, well, the fire type thought, his loss. He compensated for his weaknesses wonderfully in most other categories. He was just stupid about shoes. She had seen lots of the older trainers they had challenged between Grass Green and Viridian wearing no shoes.

Well, perhaps, not lots. At least, Corazon tried to reckon up the time. This was a moment of deep cogitation for the charmander. It was difficult to think of things that long ago. But it had to have been lots. Dozens, at least. Well, perhaps six. About two or three that she could remember. Corazon was certain.

The pair entered the pokemon center, only to see Chris there, grinning with Scott. He hailed the entering trainer and pokemon without even turning his head, probably because Raindancer was sleeping on his hair.

“Hey, Darkfang's got more luck than a chansey!” he exclaimed. “The signal from when I healed him this morning hadn't been wiped from the machine, yet, and they were able to reconstruct his face with the old code,” Chris grinned, stepping aside to reveal Darkfang, nibbling gingerly on an aprikot, and wincing occasionally. His front teeth were jagged, and looked a lot more menacing, but other than that, he appeared to be fine.

He looked up at Chris, his whiskers dropping. “Raaaaaaat.”

[i]It still hurts![/i] his voice complained at the trio.

“Don't worry, though,” Chris replied excitedly, “you'll do fine once you get used to it.”
“Rattata also have their fangs grow continually throughout life,” Alex pointed out, kneeling down to Darkfang's level. “You'll be able to wear away the painful bits soon enough.”

“I'm not quite sure that's how the RN explained it,” Scott said uncomfortably. “Jenna's fine, though,” he brightened up. “I'm giving her more time in her pokeball. The RN said she's getting tired from all the sunlight. Puts her system in overload, or something.”

“Well, oddish are known for their chlorophyll ability,” Alex replied, picking up Corazon, and standing again. “Since they're nocturnal, they probably store the energy they get from it normally during the day, and then use it at night. It's probably a bit difficult for Jenna because she's spending her energy faster than she's used to.”

“Char char mander? Man man char mander char,” Corazon commented exasperatedly. [i]Can we stop talking about the silly plant? She'll be used to it if you just use her more often, after all. I tried to defend my trainer's property today. Let's talk about that.[/i] The charmander glared at Raindancer. She had not wanted her thoughts couched in such selfish terms in front of her trainer. In fact, she hadn't even given permission for Raindancer to poke around in her head at all!

The abra made a noise that sounded like a snicker.

“Right, lunch time,” Chris said quickly. “Sheesh, I'm beginning to see why Raindancer doesn't often translate for Cora.”

“Hey, don't call her that!” Alex protested, annoyed, both with Raindancer, and the rudeness of Corazon. “Her name is Corazon. Cora just sounds girly.”

“Char char,” Corazon pointed out, and Chris knew that she was issuing the same threat of Embers up his bottom that she had earlier that morning.

“Right, whatever. Anyone know what happened to that Camden creep?”

“A total Jenny took him aside, and smacked him on the wrist,” Alex told Scott, annoyed.

“No freaking way!” Chris exclaimed. “That's not even fair. I mean, I've got a rattata who probably shouldn't be doing any more heavy battling for a week, at least, and he just gets to walk away!? This is wrong!”

“And what about Jenna? He seriously could have hurt her. There's a rule!” Scott fumed, as they entered the cafeteria area, and walked over to the counter to scan their pokedexes in the reader so they could pay for their meals.

It was really too early for lunch, but one of the two tables was already occupied by a hulking girl in a sun dress, working her way through three waffles with extra whip cream. Alex stared at her, and then shook his head. Women that ugly shouldn't try to wear floral patterns, in his opinion. There was a thin, rangy blue cat pokemon that Alex wasn't familiar with, but suspected that it came from Hoenn or Sinnoh, sitting by her side, washing its paws with deliberation.
Scott caught Alex's look, and appeared thoughtful. “Maybe I could challenge her to make up for what that kid tried to pull--,”

“I don't take challenges from newbies,” the girl told them indistinctly around her waffle. She took a big gulp of oran juice. “Especially not before I've shaved. Go get your food, kiddies.”

Chris snickered at something, possibly the calm way the teenager hadn't even looked at them, or something Raindancer had said, or the idea of a girl declaring her intent to shave her legs in public. It was hard to know. He picked up a sandwich, as Alex began to sort through the packs of synth meat bad-temperedly. Scott blushed, and grabbed a turkey sandwich in his confusion.
The trio sat around the other table, and began to eat, although Chris kept sneaking looks at the cat, and putting Darkfang out of the hooded eyes' sight. The moon shaped head swiveled to watch the rodent each time Chris moved, however, and finally the young boy asked in exasperation: “Could you keep that cat in her pokeball or something?”

The blond haired woman looked up from her food. “Oh, sorry about that. Glamor just ate, anyway. I didn't realize she was such a greedy guts. Just like her mommy, I suppose,” the trainer grinned. “She's young though, I doubt she could take down your rat without a lot more trouble than she wants. Isn't that right, lazy button?”

The feline Glamor purred, and rubbed her head against the smooth leg of her trainer.
The group of three new trainers, though were looking at the older trainer in shock. There was something off about the woman. It was either the five o'clock shadow, or the adams apple, but something was hinting that this wasn't an ordinary trainer.

“Who are you?” Alex finally asked faintly.

“Jamie Hiden of Hearthome,” the blond replied, grinning, and shaking her long blond hair back. “I took the Sinnoh league tournament three years ago--admittedly, it was an off-year tourney, but I like those, less stress. Anyway, you might have heard of me.”

“Yeah,” Scott said, his mouth twitching. “My sisters all think you're the greatest.”

“Cool, nice to know I have fans,” Jamie nodded, “but seriously, I am not going to battle newbies. That's just wrong, and I've got some pride.”

“Not much,” Alex muttered, not quite soto voice.

Jamie's blue eyes narrowed viciously. “You, I might make an exception for, emo boy,” she growled.

“Corazon does need some training,” Alex replied neutrally, eying the older trainer with an expression verging on the realm of distaste. “I'm Alex Hango of Blackthorn City.”

“Hango?” Jamie asked, her eyebrows raising. “but—sheesh, kid, you were at the Johto League thing, weren't you? It was all over the news after I won. Sorry about that. Still, that was not a nice comment you made. Finish your lunch and then I'm going to spread the grass with your charmander.”

“So you say,” Alex replied.

Jamie scowled, and went back to her food. Some world it was if she was getting mocked by ten-year olds. She had expected maybe a “men don't wear dresses” or “you're weird” but the cruel calculation about her pride had stung with the force of an adult insult.

Still, it wrong to level grind on new trainers. Glamor was probably too high leveled for the Johtoan to take, since she had been with Jamie since a little before the trainer had gotten on the ship bound for Kanto. The bond the two had might be too strong to allow for defeat. Well, she could always try for the pokemon she looked upon as her Kanto starter, the jigglypuff. The type match-up wasn't in her favor although the stats were fairly good, and Jamie hadn't been training Sparkle for long.

She finished her meal, and stood up, patting Glamor on the head. “C'mon girl, let's get Sparkle from the RN's clutches, huh?”

She walked to the counter, and rang the bell. The Vet-RN looked up from the interview with Gardenia, slightly put out, but willing to get anything as long as it was a reasonable request. “Yes?”

“I'd like my Jigglypuff, Sparkle, please?” Jamie requested.

“Coming right up, sir,” the nurse replied.

Jamie debated telling the woman for a third time that she preferred to be referred to as “ma'am,” or “miss” but honestly, the argument didn't seem to be getting through, and it seemed petty to do so when she wasn't likely ever to be in this pokemon center ever again. She had only stopped in Grass Green because she had read an article about a breeder who had displayed fine togepi here at the annual breeder's show. However, it turned out that Fredrika Brown lived in Pallet, despite what the article had led Jamie to believe.

Grass Green wasn't really her kind of breeding town, as they seemed to concentrate on bug types, or rougher pokemon like snubull and machop, neither of which fit Jamie's fighting style. Not that Solaceon, back home, was stellar, preferring to breed for contests than trainers. Such was the problem of living near Hearthome, Jamie thought with a resigned sigh.

“Here you go,” the RN handed back his pokeball, and the trainer released the jigglypuff.

“Jig?” it asked, staring up at him with round green eyes. Jamie smiled slightly. She hadn't had the normal type long enough to be able to understand what she was saying, but Sparkle seemed to be like a naïve eight year-old most of the time, and it was pretty endearing.

“C'mon, let's go outside,” the Sinnohan trainer told the balloon pokemon.

They headed for the grassy square and stood waiting expectantly. The boys and girls from before had gone off to play somewhere else, which, all things considered, made Jamie glad. If there was one thing that Jamie couldn't stand it was being challenged by homestays. They were young, inexperienced, and usually cried after being soundly beaten. All in all, it just wasn't the right thing to do, but they were always so earnest about challenging travelers, you felt bad for refusing.

The dark little cloud of a boy came out of the pokemon center a few minutes later, his fire type at his heels. This Alex slouched over to an approximate field's end in the grass, and dug his hands into his pockets. He was looking cross. “Before this starts I have been instructed to apologize,” he muttered. “Apparently my friend's abra believes that the my comment was uncalled for. I am sorry.”

“You're apologizing because an [i]abra[/i] told you to?” Jamie asked incredulously

“I find pokemon tend to be better endowed when it comes to common sense,” Alex replied, his tone somewhat lofty. “Although I have my doubts about Raindancer.”

“Psychics do tend to put on airs,” Jamie agreed, still feeling annoyed, despite Alex's apparent contrition. The kid didn't exactly seem very repentant, and Jamie would have preferred if the boy had come to the conclusion on his own.

“Well, I suppose the battle lines are fairly clear,” Alex said, somewhat awkwardly. “I will be using Corazone in a one on one match, no money involved.”

“Right,” Jamie agreed, “Sparkle, you're up! Sing!”

“Growl!”Alex rejoined, as his charmander hopped in front of him, making the most discordant noise.

Jamie looked non-plussed, as the soft melody of his soundproof pokemon continued to wave over the battlefield. He'd thought that Alex had a fair number of battles under his belt, but the trainer didn't look as though he was normally cautious. However, Sparkle's song wound down before Corazon's harsh growl came to an end. Sparkle flicked her ears back and forth, wondering what she should do, since the enemy charmander did not seem charmed by her melodious song.

This was the moment that Corazon had caught her breath, and then without waiting for Alex's signal, beyond a “roughtest hit you can manage,” she lunged at the jigglypuff. Gleaming claws tore into Sparkle's sides, left and right. The rubbery skin withstood any actual cuts, but Sparkle screamed, letting out all of her air that she was beginning to build for the next song.

“Continue,” Alex instructed, as Corazon batted Sparkle left and right, with strong metal claws.

“Roll back!” Jaime exclaimed, knowing that Sparkle's lighter weight was not going to keep her on the ground anyway. He might as well use that.

The pink pokemon Defense Curled, and pushed backward with her small feet, bouncing over the field to the left as Corazon's final right came at her.

Curses, Jamie thought, knowing that it was still too earlier to expect a strong Rollout from the jigglypuff. She didn't have the discipline of experience to force herself to keep that inward roll that was needed to pull off a Rollout, yet. Indeed, Sparkle had already unrolled somewhat dizzily.

“Sing, again,” Jamie ordered, hoping that the distance between the pokemon would give Sparkle more time to work her music.

“Growl,” Alex ordered again, “don't rush until I give the signal.”

Jamie breathed out, feeling surprised. Sparkle was a good girl, but this charmander was putting her on the ropes. Perhaps she should have used Glamor. She would like to bet that this boy's strategy to counter Sing had been invented because of the commonness of jigglypuff between Pallet Town and Grass Green.

“Sparkle, Defense Curl and go with the breeze,” Jamie told the little pink pokemon. She was too young to attack on her own, but the charmander might not be as dependent on her trainer, and if Sparkle could surprise Corazon into ignoring Alex's calculated orders, they just might win this. There was even a slim chance that Alex might flounder in his orders, as Sparkle rolled away to the left.

“Wait for it,” the dark haired kid said, watching Sparkle with the intensity of a fearow. This wasn't a normal strategy for jigglypuff tainers, who typically put their foes to sleep before trying anything. Even hoppip trainers only used the wind currents to avoid attacks, but there was nothing for Sparkle to avoid, given her Soundproof ability. The jigglypuff couldn't roll out, because if she had been able to do that, Jamie would have already used it, so what was he up to?

“Circle around, you're going off the field,” Jamie warned, as the jigglypuff continued to bounce merrily along, barely touching the grass.

One small paw came down, and suddenly the light body pivoted, and came rolling back towards Corazon. However, Alex could already see that the jigglypuff was going to pass wide of his charmander. But now that she was approaching, Corazon could close the gap.

“Have at her, Corazon,” Alex nodded, and the orange lizard ran at the rolling pink ball.

“Towards me now,” Jamie grinned, and idea forming.

Sparkle pivoted again on the next bounce, and Corazon chased her up the field at Jamie.

“Left,” the Sinnohan trainer called as Sparkle got within a yard.

The pokemon flipped directions, and Corazon skidded to a halt, before looking back at her trainer, panting a bit. She was fast over short distances, but with something that was lighter than air, and constantly on the move she couldn't catch it. Well, maybe she could. If Alex thought she could, he was probably right. He knew everything.

In this case he knew that he couldn't win the speed game with the jigglypuff. “Come back here, Corazon.”

“Going to rest her for a bit?” Jamie gloated, whistling for Sparkle, who rolled to a stop, and stood up, feeling a lot tougher after having outwitted the fire type.

“Not on your life,” Alex growled. He hadn't wanted to do this. Normal types could put up with fire damage a bit better than most pokemon. They weren't resistant, but they could shake off most special attacks. On the other hand, Corazon couldn't catch up physically with Sparkle, so he had to use a ranged attack. “Ember!”

Corazon spat burning coals at Sparkle. Many fell short of the mark, landing in the grass to hiss merrily before going out. Others hit, however, and Sparkle shrieked like a rabbit in pain.

“Sparkle, come back here,” Jamie said biting her lip.

“Do you forfeit?” Alex called out.

“Yeah,” Jamie admitted, walking closer, the singed balloon pokemon at her heels. “I'm not going to win without doing something nasty to Sparkle, and I like her a lot more than I like winning.”

The Johtoan raised his eyebrows in some surprise. He was willing to push Corazon to her limit if he had to, but that was because she wanted that win as much as he. “That's an interesting strategy.”

“Hey, it's why I prefer off-season tournaments,” Jamie shrugged her broad shoulders, as she began to head back to the pokemon center. To her surprise, Alex followed after a minute.

“Still, heck of a strategy.”

“I'm a heck of a gal,” Jamie winked, and watched Alex control his recoil of horror. It hurt, and anyway, the sixteen year old didn't think it was kind to tease. “Anyway, when you come down to it, you gotta ask yourself: is the little creature that depends on you going to think you made the right decision the next day?”

“I suppose,” Alex began, but they were interrupted by a hissing yowl from somewhere near by.
Jamie's head swung around. “That was Glamor. C'mon Sparkle.”

Alex followed as they turned toward the sound. It was coming from around the corner of the pokemon center, where the spring-tailed cat was hissing at the scrawny meowth. It glared back, claws out, and ready to scratch.

“Call your pokemon off,” Alex advised. “That dirtbag seems to only get happier when it has the attention of trained pokemon.”

“Glamor,” Jamie snapped her fingers.

The blue pokemon slunk over to her master, glaring disdainfully at the dirty alley cat. The meowth licked some matted fur, and glanced at Alex smugly. With an all mighty crash, some cans were knocked over, scattering their contents over the alley, and two rangy growlithe moved up, glancing at the felines, humans, Corazon, and Sparkle. Glamor immediately sat primly, giving both dogs a haughty stare. Alex moved instinctively to Jamie's other side, between the small meowth and the canines.

For a while the feral dogs stared at the group, but made no move. One finally sniffed the air, and both trotted away.

“Well, one less wild battle,” Jamie commented.

All three trained pokemon exchanged somewhat disgusted looks. They had wanted the fight. The meowth began to wash, hoping to dislodge the wet napkin that had draped over one ear when the bins overturned. Alex sighed, and signaled to Corazon. “Come on, we have to meet up with the others.

The small group exited the alley, Alex trying to ignore the fact that the meowth was following in a very casual manner that said fear hadn't even crossed his mind when he had seen the dogs. Certainly not. He was just following to annoy the others.

Alex met the other two companions after he turned away from the desk. Chris was still babying Darkfang, letting the rat run over his shoulders while breaking up apple slices to feed the rat pokemon. Scott waved, relieved that Alex was back, and the boredom would be no more.

“Hey, let's try to get to the top of Cycling Road before the end of the day,” he suggested. “It's not that far off.”

“Yeah,” Chris sounded less than enthusiastic. “Cycling Road and then down to Fuchsia.”

“I thought you were excited to train with Koga,” Scott protested, as the two boys stood up.

“I am, I just don't want to run into any more psychics,” Chris explained. He shouldered his pack, and glared up at Raindancer, resting on his head. “Shut up!”

“Okay, rule number one of traveling with us,” Alex commented, as they made their way out the sliding glass doors, “you stop talking out loud to Raindancer. I don't care if you're thinking at each other, I don't want to be forced to listen in on one half of your conversation.”

“Agreed,” Scott said decisively.

They walked out of town, chatting about nothing in particular. It was much like the journey into town the day before, only fewer people managed to hassle them. The day had all the markings of a lazy, late summer afternoon, reflected in the half-hearted wave from an ice cream vendor, and the bare nod of a police officer. Alex was feeling pretty good about things, all in all, although he kept seeing a dingy white blob at the corner of his eye, which would whisk around a corner each time his head was turned.

It was still there, three minutes down the dusty road, when the boys began to climb the verge, excited to face wild pokemon, and glad not to be kicking up quite so much dust.

“You know,” Chris commented, puffing as they reached the top of the incline, “that meowth has been following us since this morning.”

“I might have accidentally fed it last night,” Alex admitted uneasily.

“Softie,” Scott declared, grinning. “Hey, she spoke to me!”

“The no answering Raindancer rule applies to you, too!” Alex declared threateningly, glaring at the abra.

You really think I'm afraid of your righteous anger? Raindancer taunted.

“So what do you think we should do about it?” Scott asked, looking down the embankment. The meowth sat by a clump of bushes, feigning disinterest, and pretending that he had been there all day.

“I'll deal with it,” Alex sighed.

Corazon grinned, stepping forward, her amber eyes locked on the meowth below. At last, her sparkling voice filled their heads with visions of popping logs in a merry blaze. I do really dislike that thing. How do you want me to dispose of it.

“I mean,” Alex said awkwardly, holding his hand out to stop her from sliding down the embankment to confront the scratch cat, “I'll make certain that it doesn't interfere with any of us as we travel. At some point it will give up, or find a good home. Unless you want to catch it.”

“Well,” Scott began, looking thoughtful. Persian were really strong, and he could always use another pokemon.

However, Chris cut across his line of thought. “No, we don't want the cat. But you're getting it flea dipped if you don't catch it and take it to a pokemon center. And if it tries anything with Darkfang, I'll personally have Raindancer throw it in the river. Hear that fleabag?!”

“I've got to find a better name for it,” Alex grumbled, wincing at the epitaph.

He wasn't interested in training a non-dragon-esque type, but still, Fleabag didn't seem dignified. Also, it was one of Chris' names, and the ones the boy gave things usually stuck. Look at Wash Pot. Scott slapped him on the shoulder. “Sure you will. It'll probably leave us alone, anyway, once we camp for the night.”

They walked on, letting the afternoon shadows swallow them, until they came in sight of the bike path cutting though the turf, and over a land bridge spanning a small pond. Scott whistled, and then looked around. The purple twilight cast everything in shadow, but the area looked flat enough to set up camp. “Hey, any oddish in the area?”

“I think the clump that we ran into a while back was as close as they get,” Alex replied, rummaging around his backpack for the bag carrying the flexible tentpoles and the nylon tent cover. “Hey, Chris, do you have my tarp?”

A pause, filled with the organized noises of boys setting up their camp, and then Chris replied: “Raindancer says that you should look in your smaller pocket. She thinks she saw you pack it away there.”

Alex unzipped the third portion of his backpack, and pulled out the plastic sheet. “Thanks.”

The camp camp together haphazardly, but quickly, as the boys had several days of experience at it now. Corazon stamped and clawed up a bare patch of soil to make a fire pit. Darkfang helped her, occasionally shooting the strange feline suspicious glares, and muttering to himself. The meowth contentedly curled up on the grass, watching Corazon's flame bright tail. Without warning, the tall human-who-gave-out-food, sat down next to him. The meowth felt eyes inspecting him, but the nice pale strips of meat were dangled in front of his nose, before being dropped before him. He purred in a quick recognition, and then wolfed his scraps.

Alex watched the small cat, thinking awkward thoughts about cuteness, that were certainly too feminine. Still, he caught an evilly amused glare, and was only able to move his fingers away just in time. Feline claws scratched the air, and then retreated into oily fur, which the meowth sat up to wash, the dying light bouncing from his head charm.

“Here, Chris,” Alex tossed a book of matches to Chris. “Start the fire, will you? I want some food.”

“Start it yourself,” the matches came sailing back, and Alex rolled his eyes as he caught them. Scott came from his tent bearing two packets of ramen, and Alex's collapsible cooking set. “Beef flavor okay with everyone?”

“Fine with me,” Chris shrugged.

Alex remained silent for a few moments, turning the matches over and over in his hands. He finally broke one from the pack, and struck it. It roared with life, causing Corazon to croon, and the newest member of the party to look up with interest. Alex noted how the meowth followed his arm as he reached out to light the tiny paraffin stove Chris had plunked in the bare soil of their “fire” pit.

“I think I'm going to call this one “Light” for as long as he follows us,” Alex commented, shaking out the match. “Only, something cooler. Like “Light” in a different language.”

“Please tell me that's not how you named Corazon,” Scott complained.

“It was,” Chris groaned. “Do we have to dump you in the pond?”

“Hey, Mr. I'll-just-name-my-pokemon-Darkfang,” Alex defended, “I'll name my pokemon as I like.”

“Light is Luz in some language,” Scott hazarded.

“Sounds like a girl's name,” Alex scoffed, looking at the match book's cover once more. Real Blue Light Lucifers, he read. “Light comes from Lucifer.”

“Name the meowth that and I'll call him Lucy,” Chris said flatly.

“Do that, and I think Lucifer will scratch your eyes out himself,” Alex replied smugly.

You two were made for one another Raindancer told them dryly.

Shut up, you overgrown rat, a young voice that reminded them all of hot metal, and the smell of a back alley.

See, see, what I mean, Raindancer complained.

“Whatever,” Alex shrugged. “Scott, let's see about that ramen, huh?”

“Sure,” Scott waved, catching the “safe water” bottle that Alex tossed at his head.

Every good trainer filled up some kind of safety bottle whenever they hit a pokemon center. Alex contentedly looked up at the sky, supporting his weight on his arms. Corazon padded over, her throat vibrating with a suppressed growl. If you know what's good for you, fluff ball, you'll scram.

Oh, you know you want to feed me, Raindancer snickered, and she translated the rumbling mewl Lucifer returned.

Corazon just glared at both of them. She was going to be a great pokemon one day. She enjoyed getting stronger and tougher, and Alex understood that. She was just worried, maybe now that the cat, who was a thief and lazy, was tailing them, Alex might forget that she was his starter. She knew he didn't approve of females of his own species. He might remember that she was a girl, too, one day.

“So, you're heading to Celadon, then?” Chris asked, flopping on the grass, as Scott amiably tended their supper. “I always thought you wanted more of a challenge than the Grass type gym your first time out.”

Alex looked at Chris side long, and then smiled. “I do, but it's like you said yesterday. I only have one pokemon. I've got to pick my battles well. Erika looks like a safe bet. Corazon can take down anything. Even a vileplume.”

Darn right, the charmander said emphatically.

“True,” Chris acknowledged, flopping back before his neat blue tent. “Do you guys think that those psychics will find me if I don't want to be found? And Rainy, stay out of this.”

Don't call me Rainy, Raindancer grumbled.

There was quiet for a moment, and then both Scott and Alex said: “Well, yeah.”

“They're psychics, Chris,” Scott pointed out.

“Not to mention, it might be a good thing,” Alex replied. “In Blackthorn the Dragon Clan restricts the number of dragon-type trainers for a lot of reasons, and they put their trainers through a ton of tests to make certain no one will be smashed by the anger of their own dragonite. I mean, what do you think could happen if you treated Raindancer badly?”

“But I wouldn't, and she can tell me if I am. She's capable,” Chris pointed out angrily.

“Well,” Scott shrugged.

Our senses get sharper and better as we age, Raindancer said slowly. Yours and mine both. They aren't worried that you'll hurt me. They're worried about what will happen if someone hurts you.

“I'm not that powerful,” grumbled Chris. “You've always said so. And I have a plan for my life! I'll get plenty of discipline with Koga.”

But I won't, Raindancer retorted. It's not just about you, you know! It's about us! About me! And who cares how good of a psychic you are. If anyone hurts you, I'll destroy them.

Alex felt the blood leave his face, and he noticed that Scott had stopped watching the pot. “Careful of the pot!” he warned nervously.

“Sorry, right, dinner's ready!” Scott said, dry mouthed.

I'm not sure I'd go to that length, Corazon commented critically in a burst of “Char”s. But I think I speak for those of use who don't have our minds joined together when I say we're here to protect you humans--,

Yeah right, Lucifer curled up inside the warmth of his own tail. He wanted to get closer to the lizard's warmth, but his own body heat was fine.

--Just as you're here to protect us, Corazon finished.

I guess what she says is true enough, Darkfang piped up as he came back through the grass, his mouth full of seeds. Luckily, the onus for me and Sin is all on the yellow sister, so meh.

“They're really talkative today,” Scott said uncomfortably.

“Raindancer just feels more like translating, I guess,” Chris suggested, as Darkfang began to gnaw on a seed with his crooked teeth. Darn, still hurts, he grumbled.

I want to show that I've been training on my own when we reach Saffron, Raindancer replied primly.

“Who says we're going?” Chris snapped.

“You're going,” Scott said, suddenly. “I mean, obviously. Raindancer's right. And if she wants to go, you should let in. I mean, seriously. The people who run that school can read your mind. They'll know that you want to be learning ninja stuff, and they'll probably try to help with that, right? I mean, clearly, they don't want anything bad to happen to you. That's why you've got this offer. You're special, after all.”

Raindancer turned her head at Scott. Special. She and Chris were special. Scott wasn't. She wondered suddenly why not every human had a psychic for them. It seemed unfair.

“Alright,” Chris grumbled, grabbing his bowl of noodles. “I'll think about it.”

Alex chuckled, and then lifted his bowl away from his lap, as Lucifer was investigating with a questing nose. “Shoo!”

Make me, the cat replied.

“Ever get the feeling that we've bitten off more than we can chew?” Chris asked, slupping the broth.

“All the time,” Scott said with feeling. “Have you ever met my sisters?”

“Not per se,” Chris began.

The night deepened as the three boys sat around their meager suppers. Conversation and arguments kept them going until way past any time that their mothers would have approved of. But that was the point of going on a journey, in any case. Testing the boundaries and growing up enough to make everyone proud.