Green Cherrim
GREEN!
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Hey. This is my favorite fic I've ever written, and I'm still working on it. Its about Danny Teach, his Houndoom, Jeff, and his various companions. I'd like to think of it as funny, but that's really your opinion. So, here you go. The first...chapters. I think up to chapter...uh, 16.
Regional Map:
Larkon
Chapters not on Page One:
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 28.5
Chapter 29
Okay, so, here we go. hope you like it.
Chapter 1, or Prologue, Whatever: The Dour Chap
Danny Teach strutted down the boardwalk, his Houndour, Jeff, trotting behind him. His glasses glinted in the bright sunlight, outshone only by his smile. People stopped and stared at the strange lad, walking around on the board walk in long pants on. But he didn't care. he had just won his second badge.
The Board Badge of Beachburg. This was another step on the way to becoming League Champion, a dream Danny had had for an astounding seven days. He was 11 and had just started his journey through the region, something he thought he wouldn't do. He had wanted to be a funk singer, but his parents insisted he go on a journey like everyone else. 'What the heck' he figured, 'How hard could it be?'
And it certainly wasn't. While the other kids were still struggling to get along the road with their measly Rattatas and Pidgeys, Danny had already caught a Murkrow, which he named Witches, a Sneasel, named Emril, and a Stunky, named Crapper, after the guy who invented the toilet. His journey was going smoothly.
He stepped into a Pokemon Center to heal up his team. After the nurse took them into the back room, Danny sat down at one of the couches scattered around the room. he started reading a his favorite magazine, Darkness and Destruction Weekly, when he heard a loud voice coming form a TV.
"This Ray Ecca, reporting to you live from the Larkon Coliseum!" said the brightly dressed reporter. Behind her two people were battling, a black-haired girl in a blue hoody and tall, blond women in a smiley-face tee. The black-haired girl commanded a Jynx against the blond one's Butterfree. "Victoria Gordon of Hillsburrow is on her second battle in an attempt to defeat the Elite Four! Many say that Victoria will become Champion after her defeat of the final Gym Leader using only her Donphan. And from what I see here, it seems to be true!" Victoria's Jynx shot a powerful Ice Beam at Butterfree, fainting it immediately.
A few other trainers gathered around the TV with Danny. They cheered as Victoria's Jynx fainted the next Pokemon, a Beatifly, in one hit. Danny watched in awe at her command of the Jynx. It took down one after another of the blond's Pokemon, all with one hit.
"She's good." said an older trainer, probably in his teens, to his companion "She's really good. Nobody's gotten past Sunny Starbright since this one guy with all Fire-types. I think this girl is getting the title."
"Certainly." his friend replied, "I battle her once. She took me out with one Pokemon. All six of my monsters, with one Pokemon! She's getting it."
Danny watched for awhile with the other trainers, then picked up his team and left. He walked down to the beach and continued on his way out of town, Jeff skipping behind him.
"You should have seen this, Jeff." Danny said, still in awe from the girl's battle, "This girl was like, a super freak. She took out an entire team in with one Jynx! That's funky!"
Jeff barked in agreement. 'Of course, I could take out her Jynx in one blow' he thought. He barked at Danny again, smiling and evil grin.
"What are you thinking?" Danny asked as the walked out of the town gate, "That you could take her Jynx on and win? I don't know, Jeff, she was pretty tough."
They walked awhile in silence, both thinking their won thoughts. They walked a straight three hours before stopping a Pokemon Center.
Danny rented a room from the nurse and requested a wake up call for 7:15. He crawled into the bed and fell into a dream of funk and battling.
"Someday..." he mumbled in his sleep, "I'm battling that girl..."
So, what do you think?
Oh, and a note: John Crapper invented the toilet, look it up. I didn't name the Stunky that for an excuse to cuss, I actually thought that was a good name.
Guess I'll start Chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Naked People in the Woods
Danny was awoken by the nurse the next day, 7:15 sharp. He washed hsi face in the bathroom and headed out onto the route again, Jeff at his side.
It was a beautiful day for hiking. The sun shone brightly but it wasn't to hot, and the humidity was just right. Chatot sang cheerily in the trees and Kricketot provided background music.
"It sure is nice today." commented Danny, "The perfect time for funk!" He took out his MP3 player and put on headphones.
Humming to the music, he walked at a brisk pace. Jeff ran ahead and started sniffing patches of weeds and ferns along the path, sometimes catching a sent and finding a Pokemon, which he'd take out with a swift Bite. Danny simply watched Jeff do this, figuring he could get stronger that way anyway. It's not like Danny actually wanted any of the Pokemon he found out here. He was into Dark-types, even if he was voted "Most Happy Kid in the Grade" five years in a row. He didn't know what it was about them, but Dark-types just were his thing.
A rustling in some bushes jolted Danny from his music. He turned to find some freaky looking men running from them. They wore gray armor and white helmets with dark visors. The looked the same except that one had a red ascot and the other a blue.
The one with the blue ascot jumped when he saw Danny. "You didn't see anything, kid." he said. In his hands were some Pokeballs, too many to be his own team. Which could only mean...
"Are you selling those?" he asked, pointing to the balls. The men glanced at each other and ginned.
"Um, sure, but not right now." said the red ascotted one. He ran off, his partner close behind. Danny watched them run of into the distance.
As he was about to he resume his walking, a shirtless guy in boxers and one sock ran out from the same bushes. He had ropes around his ankles and and his wrist, but they weren't tied. He ran over to Danny.
"Why didn't you stop those guys?!" he shouted. Danny looked up at his panicked face.
"You need help." he said, walking away. The weird guy stood there in shock as Danny and Jeff trotted into the distance.
Not worried at all about this strange occurrence, Danny hiked an hour and ended up in the next town, Bogenswamp, home of not only a disgusting, murky swamp but also the next Gym. Danny checked into the Pokemon Center and sat down in front of the TV with some other trainers. They were watching a news report.
"The latest in a series of crimes, a man was robbed of both his clothes and Pokemon on the road between Beachburg and Bogenswamp. He reports that the criminals were wearing matching gray armor and white helmets, along with colored ascots. If you see these men, please contact local authorities."
'Strange...' thought Danny, 'That reporter is amazingly ugly."
Okay, now Chapter 3: Murky Waters
Danny set out from the center early the next day. He had no set plan in mind, except that he was getting his third badge today. Before that he decided to look around town. Bogenswamp was supposedly known for its amazing culture and odd superstitions.
"Hey kid, want a tarot reading? Only fifty bucks! For fifty more, I'll shave your back!"
"Okay, enough of their culture..." said Danny, sickened by the one resident he had met so far. He instead headed for the Gym.
The Bogenswamp Gym was built on stilts above the marsh. It looked to have been a cabin of some sort at a point in time, but now it more resembled a pile of rotting wood stacked in a box-like way. A short women with blue-gray hair sat on a rocking chair near the door.
"You here to challenge the Gym Leader?" asked the woman, her face hidden behind a board straw hat.
"Yeah, probably. Unless you're having a funk party of something." said Danny, leaning to the side. Jeff found a weed to chew on and started making growling noises.
The woman raised her face and looked at Danny with a quizzical expression. "Why would we be doing that?" she asked slowly.
"Wishful thinking, I guess." Danny shrugged.
The women shook her head. She tossed off her hat and stood up. "Well, I am the Gym Leader here! If you wish to challenge me, please follow." She started inside the shack.
"Didn't see that one coming." Danny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Jeff spit out the weed and skipped in behind him.
The inside of the Gym looked a lot like the outside. The walls had holes in them where Bug Pokemon had inevitably chewed through. The roof had a large hole in it as well, patched clumsily with a gray tarp. The Leader looked back at Danny as he gazed around the room with a cynical expression.
"I having repairs made next week." she said, "I was originally going for a swampy look, but the League said my Gym was a health hazard."
"Oh really..." Danny said, staring at the mold clinging to the floor, "So, what's it going to be, lady? Standard or double?"
The Leader took her spot at the other end of the room. "Standard with no switch outs. And the name is Patti Zun." she angrily added. Danny didn't notice and returned Jeff.
"Okay. I choose Emril!" he said, tossing his Sneasel onto the field. A dark vortex burst from the Dark Ball and the sharp clawed weasel appeared with an evil grin.
"All right then. I start with Muk!" Patti shouted, tossing a regular Pokeball onto the field. A large pile of sludge emerged, dripping menacingly all over the floor.
"Ew." Danny queasily commented, "Emril, use Ice Beam so you down have to touch it." Emril opened his mouth and an icy ray of light shot out. It struck Muk, freezing its hand.
"Muk, use Sludge Bomb!" shouted Patti. The gross creature spat a dripping glob of poison at Emril.
"Dodge it and use Ice Beam again!" Danny said, pointing to a desirable spot. Emril jumped to it and shot another freezing ray, freezing the blob's other hand.
"Muk, try Acid Armor!" Patti commanded. The Muk melted into a gross puddle covering the entire floor. Emril's face turned green, but Danny saw an opportunity.
"Use Ice Beam on the floor!" Danny said with glee. Emril obeyed and soon was skating on the frozen remains of Muk.
Patti slapped her head. "Duh! Why didn't I realize that?" she said, returning the block of sludge and tossing up another ball. This one contained a Dustox.
"Too easy. Ice Beam then Slash, Emril." Danny lazily ordered. Emril shot the icy ray once again and slashed the stunned moth before it could make a move. Patti's face turned red as she returned it.
"Okay, how about this?!" she shouted, tossing up another ball. A floating head appeared, grinning with pointed teeth. A Haunter.
"Easy again! Shadow Ball!" Emril tossed a ball of dark energy at the spirit. Patti grinned evilly as the ball was about to strike.
"Destiny Bond!" she shouted at the last second. Haunter sent a ghostly chain at Emril, fainting him along with itself when the Shadow Ball hit. Danny cheerily returned the fainted weasel.
"But you didn't see that one coming." Patti boasted, tossing up another Pokeball. Danny chuckled.
"Of course I did. I'm actually glad. Sneasel's no good with Swampert." Danny said, commenting on her choice. Danny tossed up another Dark Ball. A jet-black crow appeared in front of him. "Witches, let' finish this up quickly."
"Swampert, Earthquake!" Patti shouted. The mudfish slammed its giant arms, shaking the entire structure. Danny fell onto his back, but Witches took to the air.
"Night Shade!" Danny shouted, gingerly getting back up. Witches glew a sinister black, send a shadow over the Swampert. It struggled its way out, wheezing. "Now Aerial Ace!" The crow slashed her scraggly beak on Swampert's back, but didn't do much damage.
"Swampert, Hammer Arm!" Patti yelled. The muscular fish slammed it's huge arms onto to Witches, crushing her. She fell down and didn't fly back up.
"All right, now let's finish this, Crapper!" Danny yelled, tossing yet another Dark Ball as he returned Witches. The skunk glared angrily at Swampert.
"Hammer Arm again!" ordered Patti. Swampert went in for the kill, but Crapper had other plans.
"Explosion." Danny simply murmured. Crapper knew this was his role, and he promptly combusted, blowing another hole in the roof. When the smoke and saw dust cleared, the martyr Stunky and defeated Swampert lat atop each other.
Patti's face turned a violent shade of red. "GAHH! I can't believe I was defeated by the dirtiest trick in the book!" she screamed. Danny walked over to her and stuck his hand out.
"Yeah, that's what they all say, now gimme my badge." Danny said impatiently. Patti thrust a Bog Badge in his hand and kicked him out the door.
Danny sent out Jeff and patted his head. "Another one down." he said, walking off in the direction of the Pokemon Center.
Chapter 4: Manly Meetings
Danny set out early again the next day, heading south. He decided, since he would be in the area that he’d drop by his old school, the Battle Academy, and visit his cousin. Then he could continue south to Spaciginville and his next badge.
The countryside grew hilly as he neared Hillsburrow. It was another beautiful day, and Jeff was taking full advantage of it, jumping around and pouncing on anything that moved. Danny had his MP3 out again and was listening to, of course, funk.
“Oh, we want the funk. Gotta have that funk! Oh…” he sang quietly as they walked. His funking was suddenly interrupted when he saw a kid running toward him.
He was wearing a gaudy yellow shirt and jeans. His hair, which was oddly enough green, was cut into a nerdy bowl cut. In his arms he carried a very injured looking Seedot. It had large gashes on its sides and its hat had a chip in it.
As the weird kid neared Danny, he tripped on what must have been the only rock in five miles. He fell dramatically to the ground, sending the Seedot spinning at Danny’s feet. It rammed into his leg and fell over.
Danny and Jeff regarded the acorn with interest. The human took out his PokeDex while the dog sniffed the poor Seedot, causing it to flinch.
“Seedot, the Acorn Pokemon. Seedot sits in trees, waiting for people to walk under it, at which point it jumps on their heads and kills them. It will then drag the body away to its nest to eat with its fellows.”
“Sounds neat! Go Dark Ball!” Danny said, dropping the ball onto the little acorn. It didn’t even make an attempt to break out and was easily caught.
The weird kid, who surprisingly hadn’t said anything or attempted to stand up while this was going on, stood up and said something.
“That was cheap.” He said, wiping dirt off his shirt, “You caught it while it was weakened.”
“Duh, what did you want me to do, heal it and then battle it?’ Danny scoffed, “So, what were you running from?”
“Two Ninjask, which are right behind me.” He said, pointing over his shoulder at the angrily buzzing cicadas. “They were attacking that innocent Seedot, so I had to jump in and save it. Then they kind of started chasing me.”
“Because I ordered them to!” shouted an angry voice.
Danny, Jeff, and the weird kid turned around and saw another weird guy. He was wearing a white helmet and had gray body armor on. In his hands were two Pokeballs.
“They were attacking that Seedot because I was training them, you idiot.” He said, angrily tossing a rock at the weird kid.
“They must be at least level 30, which is totally unfair!” shouted the weird kid. Danny whistled for a second, then sighed.
“Um, well, I kind of do that, too.” He said, pointing at Jeff. He was attempting to eat a severely beaten Oddish.
“Yeah, it’s a normal thing for trainers to do.” said the weird guy. The weird kid turned red.
“It was still unfair! Two fully evolved Bug types versus a weak Grass type is the most unfair battle I’ve ever seen!” he shouted. The weird guy grew red as well.
“Shut up, you stupid hippy!” he shouted, “Ninjask, use Slash on that tree-hugger!”
The cicadas flew towards the weirdo, preparing to slash. Then they were both burned to a crisp.
“Wha?”
Danny stood with a smoking-mouthed Jeff. “I like hippies.” he simply stated. The weird guy returned his Pokemon in disbelief.
“I’m outta here.” he said, running past Danny in the direction of Bogenswamp.
The weird kid grabbed Danny in a hug, but was quickly burned by Jeff. As he put out the flames, he shouted happily, “That was great! You sure showed him!” he stomped the last flame off his pants and stood straight up. “I’m Spencer Irachna, by the way.”
Danny ignored him and turned his MP3 back on, starting down the road again. Spencer ran after him.
“Wait!” he shouted, “I want to travel with you!”
Danny turned around and glared at him. “And what makes you think I want to travel with an unfunky guy like you?” he asked, a chill in his voice.
Spencer chuckled. “I’m a co-ordinater, so my Pokemon aren’t the best battlers.” he said sheepishly, “You could protect me.”
Danny was walking away again.
“Hey, wait up!” shouted Spencer, “Please?” He ran after Danny, with Jeff barking behind him.
Chapter 5: You Dare Interrupt the Funk?!
Danny had almost reached the Battle Academy, and that hippy Spencer was still following him, attempting to reason with him as he sang funk under his breath,
When the school was in sight, Spencer lost it. He ripped Danny’s headphones off his head.
“Will you just listen to me?!” he shouted. Danny glared evilly, a shadow crawling across his face.
“I was listening to funk.” he said, his voice two octaves lower, eyes glowing red, “Nobody interrupts my funking except my mother. NOBODY!” A flock of birds flew out of nearby trees. Spencer crouched down as Danny towered over him.
“I…I mean…I just…” he stuttered, Danny’s face sending waves of hatred over the cowering child.
Danny raised a fist, swinging it at Spencer. Somewhere between there and Spencer’s face, his fist turned into a shadowy mass, glowing purple with an evil as old as time itself (Okay, maybe a million or two years younger). As it made contact with the hippy, it exploded with evil energy, sending him flying back while Danny stood still, unable to be moved by anything. The sky glowed red, and the clouds turned black. Spencer collided with a tree, causing it to fall over.
Then it all stopped.
Danny wrapped up his headphones and put them away. He looked causally over at the school.
“Oh, I’m here.” he said, as if he hadn’t just sent a kid flying into a tree. Jeff, who had been apparently elsewhere during this whole event, showed up and barked happily, wagging his tail.
Spencer gingerly got up, holding his head. Unfazed by this strange happening, he figured this was a good time to talk to Danny.
“Look, please, I have no where else to go, I just want a friend!” he said, following Danny through the school gates and into the dormitory. Danny sighed heavily and turned to him.
“Look, Stephen, I don’t really want someone tagging along with me interrupting my funk sessions and constantly being ungroovy. I have already have Jeff for a companion.” Danny answered, gesturing to the Houndour. He growled happily, chewing on a shoe it had found in the hall.
“It’s Spencer, not Stephen!” Spencer shouted, and then noticed Danny had entered a room. He hurried in after him.
The dorm was small, only about the size of an executive office. Two sets of bunks stood in small indents in the wall, and two doors to either side of them led into what was inevitably were closets. At the far end of the room was a small desk with a pretty nice computer.
The only other people in the room were two small girls, around age 9. The both had the same wide-eyes, magnified by their glasses, and the same color of brown hair, and pretty much the same face. One girl, however, had long hair, reaching her waist, while the other had hers in two short pigtails.
The long haired girl jumped out of her bunk and ran to Danny, hugging him. “Hi, Danny! How’s it been?” she asked, face glowing with youthful enthusiasm. Danny hugged her back, making a happy sound.
This was his cousin, Rebecca Teach. A happy girl, she was hyper and peppy most of the time, but when she gets angry, you’d better watch your limbs, because she’ll rip ‘em off.
The girl sat in her bunk, reviewing notes on a conversation she “accidentally” over-heard and recorded on tape and video. She was Rebecca’s best friend, Re Ecca, daughter of the top reporter of the region, Ray Ecca. Because of their similar appearance and name many people think their twins, which they use to their advantage.
Re grunted a hello, not looking up from her notes. She and Rebecca were reporters for the school newspaper, and Re took her job very seriously. Rebecca led Danny over to her bunk and sat him down. She sat down next to him.
“So, how’s the whole trainer thing going?” she asked, picking up her own Pokemon, Psyduck, from the floor and holding it in her lap.
“Pretty good, and a lot easy than Pat made it out to be.” Danny said, referring to their other cousin, Pat McNepen, “And it’s also not as nearly as funky as I thought it would be.”
“Well that stinks. I love funk.” said Becca, hanging her head. She glanced up at Spencer. “Who’s the hippy?”
“I’m not a hippy!” shouted Spencer, stomping his foot, “My name is Spencer Irachna, and I am a co-ordinater!”
“-hippy.” Danny added, “Yeah, he’s this weird guy who’s been following me around. I beat him up and keep telling him I don’t like him, but he followed me all the way here.”
“Want us to deal with him?” Re asked, looking up from her notes with an evil grin, staring down at Spencer from the top bunk. Danny considered this for a moment.
“Nah, I think I can handle it myself.” he said finally. Spencer slumped onto the bunk opposite them defeated.
“All I wanted is a travel companion.” he said grumpily. Jeff started chewing his backpack that he had dropped. That’s when Danny made a decision.
“Okay.”
“What?!” Spencer asked in disbelief.
“I said okay, you can travel with me. As long as you don’t do any of that weird hippy stuff.” Danny said. He pointed at Jeff. “Jeff likes to chew on your backpack. So that means that you must have a good taste in backpacks, which means you are funky, sort of.”
Becca’s Psyduck tilted its head in confusion, and the rest followed suit.
“Um, okay…” Spencer said, confused by Danny’s reasoning, “I guess it doesn’t matter the reason as long as you accept.”
Danny and Spencer later left the Academy, both a little happier, and, in Spencer’s case, a whole lot funkier.
Chapter 6: The Sound of a Babbling Hippy
The funk pair reached Sougan by nightfall and checked into the Pokemon Center. After leaving their Pokemon with the nurse, they decided to watch the tube a little. One of the older trainers had it set to the news channel, and they squeezed up to the screen through a small crowd who had gathered around.
“This is Ray Ecca, reporting to you live from the Hillsburrow Pokemon Center.” said the newscaster, “Sightings of the criminal syndicate, the Mysteriously Unknown Hidden Guys, or MUHG, occurred right here at around 2:15 today. Witnesses report that the duo came running down the rode with stolen Pokemon, but were by confronted by Pokemon League Champion Victoria Gordon and an unknown companion in a trench coat. The two battled the criminals, but were unable to capture them or retrieve the stolen Pokemon. Ms. Gordon and her colleague then left the scene before anyone could question them.”
“Those MUHG fellows are getting to be trouble.” said a blond girl to her friend. She nodded glumly.
“They stole from Henry up on Hill Glen.” said the friend, “Stripped him down to his boxers and took everything he had on him.”
The two girls started talking to another trainer, and Danny and Spencer left to go to bed.
As they climbed the stairs, Spencer asked Danny if he had ever seen an MUHG agent before, besides the one that he saved him from.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve seen two others.” said Danny, remembering back a few chapters, “Up on Hill Glen. Must have been the ones those girls were talking about.”
Spencer gasped. “Why didn’t you stop them?!” he said, staring at Danny with shock. Danny shrugged, opening the door to the room they had got.
“They said they were selling the Pokemon, so I figured they were telling the truth. Come to think of it, they probably did sell them.” Danny said, climbing into bed, “Now get to sleep.”
Spencer got into the bed across form Danny. “Yeah, don’t want to be tired for my contest.” He grinned at Danny as he turned off the light.
Danny rolled his eyes. Spencer had been talking about Sougan’s contest all the way from the Battle Academy. It would be his fifth ribbon so far, which was about the only thing Danny liked about the conversation. That meant less travel.
Spencer woke Danny up early the next morning, resulting in Danny choking him. After the air returned to his lungs, Spencer started babbling cheerily.
“Today, I get a ribbon!” he said, posing heroically as they got their breakfast. Danny punched him with his death shadow fist while picking out a cereal from the food machine.
“Yeah, I get the stupid idea, now get your cereal.” he said, taking the bowl from the machine and sitting down in the Center’s lobby. Spencer soon followed, sitting down across from him to make it harder for him to punch.
“This ones really simple, too. I just appeal the first round and battle through the second with a different Pokemon.” he said for the umpteenth time. Danny munched his cereal, glaring at Spencer evilly.
They left the Center soon after, heading out to the shore for some battle practice. Danny figured that a cliff was a great place to battle, since it was high up and you could see the ocean from it. And if Spencer got to close too the edge, well…you get the idea.
“Crapper needs some practice, since he usually just explodes.” Danny told Spencer on their way up, Jeff trotting behind, “Who are you using?”
“My Scyther, it hasn’t battled since the last contest.” Spencer said, showing Danny a Net Ball, “She’s really powerful, so your Stunky had better watch out.”
“Yeah, sure…” said Danny. He’d see.
They started as soon as they reached the cliff. Crapper, happy to get out of his ball, jumped around the edge cheerfully. Spencer’s Scyther was amused at this, and started to chase him.
“Hey, let’s get this started already!” Danny shouted to the Pokemon. Crapper skipped over to him, and Syther buzzed in front of Spencer.
“All right, Night Slash!” shouted Spencer. Syther’s blades grew longer and glowed purple. She rocketed at Crapper.
“Crapper uses Toxic-no, wait, never mind…” Danny started to command, stopped when a girl came running up to them. She was wearing a long, blue dress and was carrying a matching handbag.
“I heard you talking about the contest.” she said, running up to Spencer. Danny gave Crapper an apologetic look and returned him, along with Jeff.
“Yeah, why?” asked Spencer. The girl giggled.
“Registration is ending in ten minutes!” she said, bouncing, “I didn’t want you to miss it!”
Spencer yelped and ran down the hill, shouting about how he’d be late.
“So, who are you?” asked Danny offhandedly to the girl. She brushed some of her blonde hair out of her face before answering.
“Carla Belle.” she said, extending a hand to Danny, who shook it. “I’m a co-ordinater, like your friend. I’m from south region, Spaciginville. How about you?”
Danny grinned happily. “I’m Daniel Percival Teach, but you can call me Danny. I’m from Dark City, and, of course, love Dark Pokemon.”
Carla chuckled. “I could guess by the fact you have all Dark Balls.” she said, pointing to his hand, in which were Jeff’s and Crapper’s balls.
“Well, they are the best type, after me, of course.” said Danny, “We should probably be getting down to the contest hall.”
“Hey, want to meet me in the lobby after the contest?” asked Carla as they started to walk.
“Sure.” Danny said, grinning devilishly. Carla laughed again, and they ran down to the hall.
Chapter 7: The First Kill-I Mean, Contest
Danny sat on his hard, plastic seat looking out over the contest area. The specters around him chatter incoherently about contest and the co-ordinaters in them. Personally, Danny couldn’t care less. He turned up his MP3 and started listening to ‘Brick House.’
Right at the good part of the song (it always is), a tall kid poked Danny in the head. Danny retaliated with his shadow fists of death, but the kid came back. Danny paused and took of his headphones.
“What do you want?” he asked, grabbing the kid by the front of his gray shirt. The kid, still unaffected by this, gazed broadly at Danny with gray eyes.
“I’m Mike.” he said finally. People were staring at them, so Danny released him. He stood up to his full, intimidating-to-anybody-but-Danny height.
“That’s nice.” said Danny, tilting his head slightly. ‘Must be one of them crazies.’ he thought.
Mike stared down at him with a spacey gaze. “I have heard of you. You are apparently a good battler.”
“Thank you?” Danny said, confused.
“We shall meet again.” he said, walking off into the stands again. Danny watched him go with a befuddled glare.
“Freak.”
A short, stout woman in refined green blazer and gray skirt walked out into the arena. She held a microphone and had a Cherrim on her shoulder, with odd, green petals. She smiled cheerfully at the audience.
“Hello!” she shouted, receiving a ‘hello’ form the crowd, “This is Avium Prunus, Mistress of Cherrymony and Judge for Larkon Pokemon Contests, as you all know! I’m happy to welcome you all to the Sougan Pokemon Contest!” The crowd cheered.
“Hm…” Danny thought aloud, “She seems familiar.”
“I’d like to introduce you to the other judges for today’s contest, guest judge Hede Masters I and Sougan’s own Nurse Anger!” Avium joyfully shouted, waving her arm toward the judge table. An old, balding man in a silver suit, who Danny recognized to be the final gym leader, Hede Masters I, waved to the crowd. On the other end of the table sat a very angry looking woman in nurse uniform. She crossed her arms and grunted. Everyone cheered again.
“All right, let me hand you over to our MC, Ms. Sabrina Noun, and let this contest begin!” The crowd, who was tired of all that cheering, simply clapped appreciably, and a skinny woman with long, silver hair took the mike.
“Thank you, Avium. Here they are folks, the contestants!” She bowed and stood to the side of a long line, about 16 people, bowed to the crowd as well. Danny could see Spencer and Carla next to each other, Spencer trying to look dignified and Carla laughing her head off.
‘Strange girl.’ Danny thought.
Then the preliminaries began.
Spencer was up first. He tossed a Net Ball onto the field, releasing an Ariados. It reared up on its hind legs and waved to the crowd.
“Okay, Ariados, use Spider Web!” Spencer shouted. The red spider jumped up and shot a web at the ground, making it peak like a mountain. “Now Poison Jab!” Ariados’s front legs turned purple as it jabbed the web, dying it a light pink. “Psychic!” Ariados landed on the web, eyes glowing pink. The web flew around it in a tornado of pink, expanding until it formed a pot-shaped ball. It then exploded, showering the field with a pink powder.
“HACK! COUGH COUGH!” Sabrina thumped her chest, “Sorry about that, breathed it in. Now, let’s see what the judges have to say about it!”
“Nice timing, and the Pokemon and trainer defiantly connected.” Hede said, his mustache ruffling as he spoke.
“It was pretty, but Toxic would have been a better choice for the dying.” Avium chirped, nodding wisely to Spencer.
“It wasn’t completely ugly.” Nurse Anger said.
“That’s a pretty good score, now on to our next competitor, Bianca!”
Three people later, Carla got on field. She waved to Danny, who awkwardly waved back.
‘She must be one of them stalkers.’ Danny thought, nodding.
Carla daintily threw a Great Ball into the air. A green lizard with emo-goth makeup under his eyes appeared in front of her, its red eye glinting. Danny scanned it with his PokeDex.
Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokemon. Larvitar often cries about how its life sucks and takes out its aggression on passers-by. It attacks their face, biting it, and then leaving them to bleed to death.
“That was disturbing.” Danny commented to the person next to him. He nodded in agreement.
“Larvitar, use Rock Slide!” Carla shouted, raising her arm in excitement. The goth lizard stomped on the ground, sending rocks flying into the air. “Follow up with Sandstorm!” Larvitar spun its tail, whipping up a dust cloud that enveloped it like a cloud. “Finish with Dark Pulse!” From with in the storm, a dark wave of energy exploded outward, sending the Rock Slide rocks flying into the walls. The dust blew up onto the ceiling and settled around the grinning Larvitar.
“ACHOO!” Sabrina sneezed into the mike, “Today has not been good for my allergies. Judges, your verdict?”
“Beautiful display of strength, expert timing with the Rock Slide.” Hede winked at Carla, who suppressed a giggle.
“Perfect. I see no flaw.” Avium beamed.
“It was fine.” Nurse Anger said, slumping lower into her chair.
The other 11 people performed, ranging from mediocre to expert. Danny, bored, walked down to the waiting room to see Spencer.
“How do you think I did?” he asked when Danny came in. He was sitting on a cushioned bench, waiting for results to appear on a near-by screen.
“Fine, I guess.” said Danny, shrugging, sitting down on a bench across from him. Carla walked over and sat down next to Spencer.
“Hey, y’all.” she said, crossing her hands lady-like fashion in her lap, “You’re Danny and Spencer, right?”
“Yeah, that’s us.” Danny said, smiling his devilish smile, while Spencer simply nodded. Carla chuckled.
The room quieted as the finalist appeared on screen. Spencer and Carla jumped happily when they saw their faces appear, later being followed by man with black hood covering his face and girl with long brown hair in a school-girlish uniform.
“Good luck.” Danny said, exiting the room, “You’re going to need it.”
Chapter 8: Still Part of the Contest
“I don’t see why it takes two chapters to have a contest but I only get one to do a gym battle.” Danny said to the person next to him, who nodded understandingly.
Spencer and Carla were set to battle each other in the semifinals. The winner would move on the battle George, the hooded man who had one the first battle. They stood at opposite ends of the arena, Spencer trying to act proper while Carla shook with laughter.
‘Once again, strange girl.’ Danny thought.
“Scyther!” Spencer shouted, throwing a Net Ball above his head. The scythe mantis appeared with its arms crossed against its chest. Danny took out his PokeDex, more out of boredom than out of ignorance.
Scyther, the Scythe Pokemon, at least I think it’s something like that. It flies around slicing things up with its razor-sharp scythes so they don’t dull. It shown great progress in the field of vegetable chopping. The female has a long abdomen than the male, presumably for egg-laying purposes.
Danny noted Spencer’s Scyther was female, comparing it to the picture in the Dex.
Carla turned serious at the sight of the mantis. She gloomily tossed out a Pokeball, a Misdreavus floating lazily out. It glanced at Scyther and lowered a little, apparently too tired to levitate.
“Scyther, Swords Dance!” Spencer commanded. Scyther hopped around the field, eyes locked on Misdreavus, her blades slashing an intricate pattern. The ghost simply watched with one eye, the other half closed.
“Misdreavus, try Astonish!” Carla shouted, her voice sadder than it was before. Misdreavus suddenly disappeared, reappearing in front of Scyther’s face, shouting loudly. Scyther hopped back in fright, filling Misdreavus with a sudden energy.
“Scyther, Night Slash!” Spencer shouted, but Scyther couldn’t move, still in shock from Misdreavus’s attack.
“Shadow Ball.” Carla ordered her ghost. Misdreavus’s necklace glowed, blasting a chunk of ghostly energy into Scyther’s chest. She was blasted back, but flew in a loop to avoid crashing into the wall. Spencer saw a chance.
“Night Slash, Scyther!” Spencer shouted, a confident smile across his face. Scyther slashed her now black blade at Misdreavus as she came down from her loop. The poor spirit degenerated, its necklace falling to the ground. A tear ran down Carla’s cheek as she returned it, but no more followed.
“Scyther wins! Spencer Irachna moves onto the final round!” shouted Sabrina. The crowd cheered as Carla left the field, George taking her place. She wound her way up to Danny, sitting down next to him.
“Um, hi, uh…Carla?” Danny said awkwardly. Carla looked very gloomy. “Your Misdreavus isn’t very good.”
“Thank you so much.” she said sarcastically, then brightened. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”
“I think I know what…” Danny said through gritted teeth. Carla giggled.
“Well then, can I travel with y’all?” she asked, waving her hand for emphasize. Spencer had started the battle, but they didn’t notice.
Danny sighed. “Inevitably, yes. But on one condition: how many ribbons do you have?” Danny asked, a stern look in his eyes.
Scyther scored a direct hit on George’s Drifloon. The balloon spirit flew backwards making a screeching sound, covering Carla’s answer. “I said,” she shouted over the screech, “I have six. I only need two more!”
Danny grinned happily. Even less travel.
“And that’s the end of it!” shouted Sabrina, the Drifloon lying deflated on the floor. George returned it to its special all-black Pokeball and left the field without a word.
“Congratulations, Spencer!” Avium said, presenting him a shield-shaped metal with yellow ribbons, “You have won the Sougan Contest!” The crowd cheered as Spencer raised his arms in joy. Danny and Carla clapped a little, and then went out to the lobby to wait for him.
When Spencer came out into the lobby, Danny took him aside from the crowd. He and Carla took him to the far corner of the room and placed him there.
Danny sighed again. “I have something to tell you…” he said, pointing over his shoulder at the smiling Carla.
Chapter 9: Nosy Leaves
Danny and Jeff walked on to Route 309 with a bounce in their step. They figured since they got a boy and a girl, no new characters, right?
Spencer, however, was not as happy. He didn’t need another co-ordinater to battle against for ribbons, and certainly not one who was as hyper as Carla was. And besides that, Danny didn’t seem to care that Carla was there, but when he tried to join him, it had taken two chapters of arguing. What’s with that?!
“Will y’all stop brooding back there?” Carla shouted back to Spencer, who had fallen behind the group, “Danny found a Shroomish!”
“Yeah, it’s really ugly!” shouted Danny, holding his PokeDex over it while Jeff sniffed. The screen showed a brownish mushroom thing with stubby legs, but a lot less ugly than the real thing.
Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokemon. Shroomish is always angry about its looks, since it is considered one of the ugliest of all Pokemon. They run around slamming into trees in an attempt to make their faces look nicer, though most end up giving themselves brain damage or dieing.
“What the heck kind of PokeDex is that?” Spencer asked, taking it from Danny’s hand, “All the entries are so disturbing!”
“I’ve noticed.” said Danny solemnly, taking it back, “I think Dark City gets them from an army surplus store or something. Now about Shroomish…” He took his Dark Balls from his pockets, checking them for Seedot’s. “Seedot could use some training, and this funkless creature needs to be put out of its misery.” He found Seedot, tossing the ball into the air. The tiny acorn jumped angrily out of its ball, attacking Shroomish before being ordered.
“Does it always do that?” asked Carla, pointing a wary finger at Seedot, who was attempting to gouge Shroomish’s eyes out.
Danny shrugged. “I’ve never used him before. I guess it had some childhood trauma or something.” The four of them watched (from a safe distance) as Seedot stomped the mushroom, bit it, and shot lasers at it. Where there was once a Shroomish, there was now only a smoldering pile of plant.
“Um…” Spencer started after an awkward silence, “I think Seedot needs psychoanalysis.”
“Yeah…HEY! He’s glowing!” shouted Danny, pointing excitedly at the acorn, which had turned white and started giving off a bright light. Arms slowly extended from his sides and his legs grew longer and bulkier. A head took form and his weird hat was replaced by a leaf. The glowing stopped, and Seedot was now a-
“Sharpedo!” shouted Danny, making Jeff bark happily. Spencer sighed.
“No, he’s a Nuzleaf.” he said, taking out his own PokeDex, “Let’s see what the Dex has to say.
Nuzleaf, the Wily Pokemon. This Pokémon pulls out the leaf on its head and makes a flute with it. The sound of Nuzleaf's flute strikes fear and uncertainty in the hearts of people lost in a forest. This Pokémon dislikes having its long nose pinched.
“That’s stupid.” said Danny, taking his PokeDex out, “I like mine better.”
Nuzleaf, the Wily Stalker Pokemon. Nuzleaf will often follow travelers in the forest, playing its flute eerily. It waits until its stalkee stops, launching itself on them and eating their heart out, literally. It then rips their head off and feeds it to its apprentice, usually a Seedot.
“EW! Never use your PokeDex again, Danny!” Carla yelled, covering her ears. Spencer looked queasy, and Jeff had barfed on the side of the rode.
‘Rotten breakfast.’ he thought, barfing some more.
Danny walked over to Nuzleaf, patting it on the head. “Now I get it. You’re not deranged, you’re just being natural.” he said, Nuzleaf smiling appreciatively. He returned the gremlin and walked back to Carla and Spencer. “On to Spaciginville, then?” he asked.
“Yup.” Carla answered, recovered from the PokeDex, “Hey, maybe we can visit my folk’s ranch!” She beamed at Spencer and Danny, making them back away.
“Yeah…” said Spencer, starting to continue, “And maybe we could get Danny’s Dex fixed, too.”
Chapter 10: Meat the Parents
“Here we are!” Carla called back at Danny and Spencer. They were in front of a mansion-ish white house with a beautifully long porch. Danny walked cautiously up to the door with Carla.
“This is your house?” he asked, looking down the porch, “This is almost as tall as the building I live in, and I live in the rich part of Dark City!”
“Yeah, Pa’s always trying to impress the neighbors.” Carla said, ringing the door bell. Danny returned Jeff and Spencer walked up beside them.
A large man in a cowboy hat answered the door. He wore hideous blue overalls over an equally hideous blue shirt. His hair was the color of straw and his eyes were black and tiny.
“Well, if it ain’t my co-ordinater!” he said, grabbing the three of them in a hug. Carla giggled, but Spencer struggled to get away.
“Excuse, uh, sir…” he tried to say, “We don’t really know you at all…uh, sir?” He turned to Danny. “Maybe you could try that shadow fist thing?”
Danny punched his shadow fist into the man’s face, but it didn’t do much. “Too much Southern.” Danny said gloomily, “Cancels out my funkrific powers.”
Finally, the enormous man let them go. “So, Carla, who’s y’all new friends?” he asked, gesturing to Danny and Spencer with a large hand. Carla giggled.
“This is Danny.” she said, pulling Danny over to them by his pack, “He’s from Dark City. And that hippy over there is Spencer; he’s from…um…Enip or something.”
Spencer’s faced glowed red. “I’M NOT A HIPPY!” he shouted, not noticing nobody was listening.
“So…” Danny said, scratching his arm, “What exactly do you do, Mr. Belle?”
“I raise Miltank to be chopped up for hamburger, of course!” he said, leading them inside the house. It was decorated in an odd style, with leather brown walls and Tauros skulls hanging all over the place.
“You like the decor?” Carla asked, looking over her shoulder at Danny. Danny shrugged.
“What exactly do they represent?” he asked, sticking his tongue out a stuffed Pachirisu mounted on the wall.
“They don’t represent anything, silly!” Carla chuckled, “They’re mementos we brought when we moved here from Texas!”
“What’s a Texas?” Danny whispered to Spencer, who had finally realized they had left.
“Some place in that big country, America or whatever.” Spencer whispered back, “They’re obsessed with size; everything they own has to be big.”
“Freaks.” Danny said, Spencer nodding in agreement.
Mr. Belle led them into a large kitchen, also decorated in this foreign style. He sat them at a large wooden table and disappeared into the pantry to get drinks.
“Sorry Payton, Tyson, and Ma couldn’t be here.” he called, “But your brothers had a football game and Ma’s at an art convention.” He emerged, carrying three cans of soda and a Manectric Light for himself. He sat down across from them, opening the bottle with his bare hands.
“So, Carla, these boys been treating you nice?” he asked, eyeing Danny and Spencer suspiciously. Danny grinned widely and waved.
“Oh, yeah, they’re right gentlemen.” Carla said, and then turned to Spencer, “Okay, maybe not the hippy, but Danny’s okay.”
Spencer turned red again. “FOR THE LAST TIME: I’M NOT A HIPPY!” he shouted, spraying everyone with his spit.
Danny repelled him with a shadow punch. “Yeah, this conversation is very entertaining, but we’re kind of tired.” he said, yawning, “We kind of just walked five miles.”
Mr. Belle laughed a hearty laugh. “Well of course you are!” he said, getting up. He gestured fro them to follow. “You and the hippy can sleep in the guest room across from Carla’s room.”
“Thanks, Pa!” Carla said, rushing into her room, “I needed to pack some more clothes anyway!”
“Don’t sleep too deep!” Mr. Belle said as he walked off, “Tomorrow I can show the meat grinder!”
Chapter 11: One Small Step for Mon, One Giant Leap of Monkind
(One Very Short Chapter from Me)
Fortunately, Danny and Spencer were spared of seeing the meat grinder by Mr. Belle’s own forgetfulness. When he awoke, he realized he had a Meat Ranchers Union meeting on the other side of the region, and had to leave with barely a good-bye to Carla.
“Yay.” Danny commented.
They also left early, and soon reached Spaciginville. Wasting no time in travel description, the intrepid trio went immediately to the Gym. The Spaciginville Gym was located inside the region’s only space center, Joule Space Center. The leader was the vice president of engineering for the center, as well as a leading figure in the community.
“Welcome!” shouted the attendant who answered the door, “Welcome to Joule Space Center, home of Spaciginville Gym!”
“Yeah, thanks, but we can read.” Danny said, pushing the attendant out of the way and pointing to the paragraph above.
Leaving the now crying attendant (telling people that was his only point in life) to wallow in self pity, they burst through a door labeled ‘Gym’.
“Hey!” Danny shouted, “Anybody here!”
“Yes, you fools!” a short man in a polo shirt shouted back, standing next to Danny, “I am the leader here! Now will you stop shouting?!”
“You’re the leader here?!” Carla gasped, “But you’re shorter than Danny! And a tad uglier, too.” Spencer and Danny nodded in agreement.
The short man said nothing, pulling on a cowlick in his red hair. “Yes, I am the leader.” he said finally, walking across the room to the leader side, “And I’d like to get this over with. I have a meeting at three.”
“But it’s only 11.” Spencer commented, taking a seat in the bleachers that lined the wall.
“There’s a two hour pre-meeting, so I don’t want to be late.” he said, “And before we begin, I am Nathan Sa. This will be a Double Battle, and only two Pokemon to each side.” He tossed a two Pokeballs into the air, one releasing a red boulder with yellow rocks stuck out around it. The other sent out a crescent-shaped white rock with large, red eyes. Solrock and Lunatone.
“Why does everyone assume I care about their names?” Danny thought aloud, gesturing for Jeff to get on the field. The magma mutt bounded cheerfully into position, howling. Behind him, Danny sent Crapper skipping out of his ball, happy to finally get some real battling in.
“Solrock, Rockslide, and Lunatone, Blizzard!” Nathan commanded, pointing for emphasis. The red sun’s eyes glowed, psychic energy ripping rocks from the floor and tossing them at Jeff, while its moon partner sent a hailstorm spinning toward Crapper.
Danny yawned. “Jeff, Flamethrower on the Blizzard. Crapper, Dark Pulse on Solrock.” he said, almost bored. Jeff jumped up and sent a wave of flames from his mouth, incinerating the ice attack and scorching Lunatone, not very effectively, of course. Crapper jumped over Jeff, glowing a dark purple, then sending a ripple of dark energy through the air toward Solrock. The red sun was knocked back into Lunatone, hurting both of them immensely.
Nathan took the attacks better than previous opponents. “Solrock, Earthquake, and Lunatone, Sandstorm.” The celestial bodies spun, on sending a shock through the earth and the other covering the field with a whirlwind of sand.
“How’s Danny gonna counter that?” Carla wondered aloud. Spencer tried to answer, but inhaled sand and started choking.
Danny, it appeared, wasn’t bothered by the deadly attacks. “Jeff, cut off Sandstorm with Smog. Crapper, moisten the ground with Toxic.” Jeff made an ugly hacking sound, producing a cloud of purple gas that diluted the sand. Meanwhile, Crapper spat a disgusting poison all over the ground, weakening the Earthquake considerably.
Both attacks poisoned Nathan’s Pokemon as well, making their colors fade as they tried to keep hovering. The engineer sighed. “I forfeit.” he said, returning the sickly rocks and walking over to Danny. “Your strategy is very unpredictable. I cannot beat you.” he glumly stated, handing a rocket ship-shaped badge to Danny, who took it grinningly.
“Thank you very much!” he said, shaking Nathan’s hand and gesturing for Carla and Spencer. They left the building without another word to the defeated leader.
“Now what?” asked Spencer when they were outside. Danny patted Jeff on the head before answering.
“My home town, Dark City.” Danny said, taking out a map he apparently had the whole time and pointing to a large dot. “‘The City of Gloom’, as they say. Also, funk capitol of the world.”
Carla laughed. “As if we couldn’t guess that!” she chuckled, covering her mouth, “Now, do they serve hamburgers?”
Regional Map:
Larkon
Chapters not on Page One:
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 28.5
Chapter 29
Okay, so, here we go. hope you like it.
Chapter 1, or Prologue, Whatever: The Dour Chap
Danny Teach strutted down the boardwalk, his Houndour, Jeff, trotting behind him. His glasses glinted in the bright sunlight, outshone only by his smile. People stopped and stared at the strange lad, walking around on the board walk in long pants on. But he didn't care. he had just won his second badge.
The Board Badge of Beachburg. This was another step on the way to becoming League Champion, a dream Danny had had for an astounding seven days. He was 11 and had just started his journey through the region, something he thought he wouldn't do. He had wanted to be a funk singer, but his parents insisted he go on a journey like everyone else. 'What the heck' he figured, 'How hard could it be?'
And it certainly wasn't. While the other kids were still struggling to get along the road with their measly Rattatas and Pidgeys, Danny had already caught a Murkrow, which he named Witches, a Sneasel, named Emril, and a Stunky, named Crapper, after the guy who invented the toilet. His journey was going smoothly.
He stepped into a Pokemon Center to heal up his team. After the nurse took them into the back room, Danny sat down at one of the couches scattered around the room. he started reading a his favorite magazine, Darkness and Destruction Weekly, when he heard a loud voice coming form a TV.
"This Ray Ecca, reporting to you live from the Larkon Coliseum!" said the brightly dressed reporter. Behind her two people were battling, a black-haired girl in a blue hoody and tall, blond women in a smiley-face tee. The black-haired girl commanded a Jynx against the blond one's Butterfree. "Victoria Gordon of Hillsburrow is on her second battle in an attempt to defeat the Elite Four! Many say that Victoria will become Champion after her defeat of the final Gym Leader using only her Donphan. And from what I see here, it seems to be true!" Victoria's Jynx shot a powerful Ice Beam at Butterfree, fainting it immediately.
A few other trainers gathered around the TV with Danny. They cheered as Victoria's Jynx fainted the next Pokemon, a Beatifly, in one hit. Danny watched in awe at her command of the Jynx. It took down one after another of the blond's Pokemon, all with one hit.
"She's good." said an older trainer, probably in his teens, to his companion "She's really good. Nobody's gotten past Sunny Starbright since this one guy with all Fire-types. I think this girl is getting the title."
"Certainly." his friend replied, "I battle her once. She took me out with one Pokemon. All six of my monsters, with one Pokemon! She's getting it."
Danny watched for awhile with the other trainers, then picked up his team and left. He walked down to the beach and continued on his way out of town, Jeff skipping behind him.
"You should have seen this, Jeff." Danny said, still in awe from the girl's battle, "This girl was like, a super freak. She took out an entire team in with one Jynx! That's funky!"
Jeff barked in agreement. 'Of course, I could take out her Jynx in one blow' he thought. He barked at Danny again, smiling and evil grin.
"What are you thinking?" Danny asked as the walked out of the town gate, "That you could take her Jynx on and win? I don't know, Jeff, she was pretty tough."
They walked awhile in silence, both thinking their won thoughts. They walked a straight three hours before stopping a Pokemon Center.
Danny rented a room from the nurse and requested a wake up call for 7:15. He crawled into the bed and fell into a dream of funk and battling.
"Someday..." he mumbled in his sleep, "I'm battling that girl..."
So, what do you think?
Oh, and a note: John Crapper invented the toilet, look it up. I didn't name the Stunky that for an excuse to cuss, I actually thought that was a good name.
Guess I'll start Chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Naked People in the Woods
Danny was awoken by the nurse the next day, 7:15 sharp. He washed hsi face in the bathroom and headed out onto the route again, Jeff at his side.
It was a beautiful day for hiking. The sun shone brightly but it wasn't to hot, and the humidity was just right. Chatot sang cheerily in the trees and Kricketot provided background music.
"It sure is nice today." commented Danny, "The perfect time for funk!" He took out his MP3 player and put on headphones.
Humming to the music, he walked at a brisk pace. Jeff ran ahead and started sniffing patches of weeds and ferns along the path, sometimes catching a sent and finding a Pokemon, which he'd take out with a swift Bite. Danny simply watched Jeff do this, figuring he could get stronger that way anyway. It's not like Danny actually wanted any of the Pokemon he found out here. He was into Dark-types, even if he was voted "Most Happy Kid in the Grade" five years in a row. He didn't know what it was about them, but Dark-types just were his thing.
A rustling in some bushes jolted Danny from his music. He turned to find some freaky looking men running from them. They wore gray armor and white helmets with dark visors. The looked the same except that one had a red ascot and the other a blue.
The one with the blue ascot jumped when he saw Danny. "You didn't see anything, kid." he said. In his hands were some Pokeballs, too many to be his own team. Which could only mean...
"Are you selling those?" he asked, pointing to the balls. The men glanced at each other and ginned.
"Um, sure, but not right now." said the red ascotted one. He ran off, his partner close behind. Danny watched them run of into the distance.
As he was about to he resume his walking, a shirtless guy in boxers and one sock ran out from the same bushes. He had ropes around his ankles and and his wrist, but they weren't tied. He ran over to Danny.
"Why didn't you stop those guys?!" he shouted. Danny looked up at his panicked face.
"You need help." he said, walking away. The weird guy stood there in shock as Danny and Jeff trotted into the distance.
Not worried at all about this strange occurrence, Danny hiked an hour and ended up in the next town, Bogenswamp, home of not only a disgusting, murky swamp but also the next Gym. Danny checked into the Pokemon Center and sat down in front of the TV with some other trainers. They were watching a news report.
"The latest in a series of crimes, a man was robbed of both his clothes and Pokemon on the road between Beachburg and Bogenswamp. He reports that the criminals were wearing matching gray armor and white helmets, along with colored ascots. If you see these men, please contact local authorities."
'Strange...' thought Danny, 'That reporter is amazingly ugly."
Okay, now Chapter 3: Murky Waters
Danny set out from the center early the next day. He had no set plan in mind, except that he was getting his third badge today. Before that he decided to look around town. Bogenswamp was supposedly known for its amazing culture and odd superstitions.
"Hey kid, want a tarot reading? Only fifty bucks! For fifty more, I'll shave your back!"
"Okay, enough of their culture..." said Danny, sickened by the one resident he had met so far. He instead headed for the Gym.
The Bogenswamp Gym was built on stilts above the marsh. It looked to have been a cabin of some sort at a point in time, but now it more resembled a pile of rotting wood stacked in a box-like way. A short women with blue-gray hair sat on a rocking chair near the door.
"You here to challenge the Gym Leader?" asked the woman, her face hidden behind a board straw hat.
"Yeah, probably. Unless you're having a funk party of something." said Danny, leaning to the side. Jeff found a weed to chew on and started making growling noises.
The woman raised her face and looked at Danny with a quizzical expression. "Why would we be doing that?" she asked slowly.
"Wishful thinking, I guess." Danny shrugged.
The women shook her head. She tossed off her hat and stood up. "Well, I am the Gym Leader here! If you wish to challenge me, please follow." She started inside the shack.
"Didn't see that one coming." Danny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Jeff spit out the weed and skipped in behind him.
The inside of the Gym looked a lot like the outside. The walls had holes in them where Bug Pokemon had inevitably chewed through. The roof had a large hole in it as well, patched clumsily with a gray tarp. The Leader looked back at Danny as he gazed around the room with a cynical expression.
"I having repairs made next week." she said, "I was originally going for a swampy look, but the League said my Gym was a health hazard."
"Oh really..." Danny said, staring at the mold clinging to the floor, "So, what's it going to be, lady? Standard or double?"
The Leader took her spot at the other end of the room. "Standard with no switch outs. And the name is Patti Zun." she angrily added. Danny didn't notice and returned Jeff.
"Okay. I choose Emril!" he said, tossing his Sneasel onto the field. A dark vortex burst from the Dark Ball and the sharp clawed weasel appeared with an evil grin.
"All right then. I start with Muk!" Patti shouted, tossing a regular Pokeball onto the field. A large pile of sludge emerged, dripping menacingly all over the floor.
"Ew." Danny queasily commented, "Emril, use Ice Beam so you down have to touch it." Emril opened his mouth and an icy ray of light shot out. It struck Muk, freezing its hand.
"Muk, use Sludge Bomb!" shouted Patti. The gross creature spat a dripping glob of poison at Emril.
"Dodge it and use Ice Beam again!" Danny said, pointing to a desirable spot. Emril jumped to it and shot another freezing ray, freezing the blob's other hand.
"Muk, try Acid Armor!" Patti commanded. The Muk melted into a gross puddle covering the entire floor. Emril's face turned green, but Danny saw an opportunity.
"Use Ice Beam on the floor!" Danny said with glee. Emril obeyed and soon was skating on the frozen remains of Muk.
Patti slapped her head. "Duh! Why didn't I realize that?" she said, returning the block of sludge and tossing up another ball. This one contained a Dustox.
"Too easy. Ice Beam then Slash, Emril." Danny lazily ordered. Emril shot the icy ray once again and slashed the stunned moth before it could make a move. Patti's face turned red as she returned it.
"Okay, how about this?!" she shouted, tossing up another ball. A floating head appeared, grinning with pointed teeth. A Haunter.
"Easy again! Shadow Ball!" Emril tossed a ball of dark energy at the spirit. Patti grinned evilly as the ball was about to strike.
"Destiny Bond!" she shouted at the last second. Haunter sent a ghostly chain at Emril, fainting him along with itself when the Shadow Ball hit. Danny cheerily returned the fainted weasel.
"But you didn't see that one coming." Patti boasted, tossing up another Pokeball. Danny chuckled.
"Of course I did. I'm actually glad. Sneasel's no good with Swampert." Danny said, commenting on her choice. Danny tossed up another Dark Ball. A jet-black crow appeared in front of him. "Witches, let' finish this up quickly."
"Swampert, Earthquake!" Patti shouted. The mudfish slammed its giant arms, shaking the entire structure. Danny fell onto his back, but Witches took to the air.
"Night Shade!" Danny shouted, gingerly getting back up. Witches glew a sinister black, send a shadow over the Swampert. It struggled its way out, wheezing. "Now Aerial Ace!" The crow slashed her scraggly beak on Swampert's back, but didn't do much damage.
"Swampert, Hammer Arm!" Patti yelled. The muscular fish slammed it's huge arms onto to Witches, crushing her. She fell down and didn't fly back up.
"All right, now let's finish this, Crapper!" Danny yelled, tossing yet another Dark Ball as he returned Witches. The skunk glared angrily at Swampert.
"Hammer Arm again!" ordered Patti. Swampert went in for the kill, but Crapper had other plans.
"Explosion." Danny simply murmured. Crapper knew this was his role, and he promptly combusted, blowing another hole in the roof. When the smoke and saw dust cleared, the martyr Stunky and defeated Swampert lat atop each other.
Patti's face turned a violent shade of red. "GAHH! I can't believe I was defeated by the dirtiest trick in the book!" she screamed. Danny walked over to her and stuck his hand out.
"Yeah, that's what they all say, now gimme my badge." Danny said impatiently. Patti thrust a Bog Badge in his hand and kicked him out the door.
Danny sent out Jeff and patted his head. "Another one down." he said, walking off in the direction of the Pokemon Center.
Chapter 4: Manly Meetings
Danny set out early again the next day, heading south. He decided, since he would be in the area that he’d drop by his old school, the Battle Academy, and visit his cousin. Then he could continue south to Spaciginville and his next badge.
The countryside grew hilly as he neared Hillsburrow. It was another beautiful day, and Jeff was taking full advantage of it, jumping around and pouncing on anything that moved. Danny had his MP3 out again and was listening to, of course, funk.
“Oh, we want the funk. Gotta have that funk! Oh…” he sang quietly as they walked. His funking was suddenly interrupted when he saw a kid running toward him.
He was wearing a gaudy yellow shirt and jeans. His hair, which was oddly enough green, was cut into a nerdy bowl cut. In his arms he carried a very injured looking Seedot. It had large gashes on its sides and its hat had a chip in it.
As the weird kid neared Danny, he tripped on what must have been the only rock in five miles. He fell dramatically to the ground, sending the Seedot spinning at Danny’s feet. It rammed into his leg and fell over.
Danny and Jeff regarded the acorn with interest. The human took out his PokeDex while the dog sniffed the poor Seedot, causing it to flinch.
“Seedot, the Acorn Pokemon. Seedot sits in trees, waiting for people to walk under it, at which point it jumps on their heads and kills them. It will then drag the body away to its nest to eat with its fellows.”
“Sounds neat! Go Dark Ball!” Danny said, dropping the ball onto the little acorn. It didn’t even make an attempt to break out and was easily caught.
The weird kid, who surprisingly hadn’t said anything or attempted to stand up while this was going on, stood up and said something.
“That was cheap.” He said, wiping dirt off his shirt, “You caught it while it was weakened.”
“Duh, what did you want me to do, heal it and then battle it?’ Danny scoffed, “So, what were you running from?”
“Two Ninjask, which are right behind me.” He said, pointing over his shoulder at the angrily buzzing cicadas. “They were attacking that innocent Seedot, so I had to jump in and save it. Then they kind of started chasing me.”
“Because I ordered them to!” shouted an angry voice.
Danny, Jeff, and the weird kid turned around and saw another weird guy. He was wearing a white helmet and had gray body armor on. In his hands were two Pokeballs.
“They were attacking that Seedot because I was training them, you idiot.” He said, angrily tossing a rock at the weird kid.
“They must be at least level 30, which is totally unfair!” shouted the weird kid. Danny whistled for a second, then sighed.
“Um, well, I kind of do that, too.” He said, pointing at Jeff. He was attempting to eat a severely beaten Oddish.
“Yeah, it’s a normal thing for trainers to do.” said the weird guy. The weird kid turned red.
“It was still unfair! Two fully evolved Bug types versus a weak Grass type is the most unfair battle I’ve ever seen!” he shouted. The weird guy grew red as well.
“Shut up, you stupid hippy!” he shouted, “Ninjask, use Slash on that tree-hugger!”
The cicadas flew towards the weirdo, preparing to slash. Then they were both burned to a crisp.
“Wha?”
Danny stood with a smoking-mouthed Jeff. “I like hippies.” he simply stated. The weird guy returned his Pokemon in disbelief.
“I’m outta here.” he said, running past Danny in the direction of Bogenswamp.
The weird kid grabbed Danny in a hug, but was quickly burned by Jeff. As he put out the flames, he shouted happily, “That was great! You sure showed him!” he stomped the last flame off his pants and stood straight up. “I’m Spencer Irachna, by the way.”
Danny ignored him and turned his MP3 back on, starting down the road again. Spencer ran after him.
“Wait!” he shouted, “I want to travel with you!”
Danny turned around and glared at him. “And what makes you think I want to travel with an unfunky guy like you?” he asked, a chill in his voice.
Spencer chuckled. “I’m a co-ordinater, so my Pokemon aren’t the best battlers.” he said sheepishly, “You could protect me.”
Danny was walking away again.
“Hey, wait up!” shouted Spencer, “Please?” He ran after Danny, with Jeff barking behind him.
Chapter 5: You Dare Interrupt the Funk?!
Danny had almost reached the Battle Academy, and that hippy Spencer was still following him, attempting to reason with him as he sang funk under his breath,
When the school was in sight, Spencer lost it. He ripped Danny’s headphones off his head.
“Will you just listen to me?!” he shouted. Danny glared evilly, a shadow crawling across his face.
“I was listening to funk.” he said, his voice two octaves lower, eyes glowing red, “Nobody interrupts my funking except my mother. NOBODY!” A flock of birds flew out of nearby trees. Spencer crouched down as Danny towered over him.
“I…I mean…I just…” he stuttered, Danny’s face sending waves of hatred over the cowering child.
Danny raised a fist, swinging it at Spencer. Somewhere between there and Spencer’s face, his fist turned into a shadowy mass, glowing purple with an evil as old as time itself (Okay, maybe a million or two years younger). As it made contact with the hippy, it exploded with evil energy, sending him flying back while Danny stood still, unable to be moved by anything. The sky glowed red, and the clouds turned black. Spencer collided with a tree, causing it to fall over.
Then it all stopped.
Danny wrapped up his headphones and put them away. He looked causally over at the school.
“Oh, I’m here.” he said, as if he hadn’t just sent a kid flying into a tree. Jeff, who had been apparently elsewhere during this whole event, showed up and barked happily, wagging his tail.
Spencer gingerly got up, holding his head. Unfazed by this strange happening, he figured this was a good time to talk to Danny.
“Look, please, I have no where else to go, I just want a friend!” he said, following Danny through the school gates and into the dormitory. Danny sighed heavily and turned to him.
“Look, Stephen, I don’t really want someone tagging along with me interrupting my funk sessions and constantly being ungroovy. I have already have Jeff for a companion.” Danny answered, gesturing to the Houndour. He growled happily, chewing on a shoe it had found in the hall.
“It’s Spencer, not Stephen!” Spencer shouted, and then noticed Danny had entered a room. He hurried in after him.
The dorm was small, only about the size of an executive office. Two sets of bunks stood in small indents in the wall, and two doors to either side of them led into what was inevitably were closets. At the far end of the room was a small desk with a pretty nice computer.
The only other people in the room were two small girls, around age 9. The both had the same wide-eyes, magnified by their glasses, and the same color of brown hair, and pretty much the same face. One girl, however, had long hair, reaching her waist, while the other had hers in two short pigtails.
The long haired girl jumped out of her bunk and ran to Danny, hugging him. “Hi, Danny! How’s it been?” she asked, face glowing with youthful enthusiasm. Danny hugged her back, making a happy sound.
This was his cousin, Rebecca Teach. A happy girl, she was hyper and peppy most of the time, but when she gets angry, you’d better watch your limbs, because she’ll rip ‘em off.
The girl sat in her bunk, reviewing notes on a conversation she “accidentally” over-heard and recorded on tape and video. She was Rebecca’s best friend, Re Ecca, daughter of the top reporter of the region, Ray Ecca. Because of their similar appearance and name many people think their twins, which they use to their advantage.
Re grunted a hello, not looking up from her notes. She and Rebecca were reporters for the school newspaper, and Re took her job very seriously. Rebecca led Danny over to her bunk and sat him down. She sat down next to him.
“So, how’s the whole trainer thing going?” she asked, picking up her own Pokemon, Psyduck, from the floor and holding it in her lap.
“Pretty good, and a lot easy than Pat made it out to be.” Danny said, referring to their other cousin, Pat McNepen, “And it’s also not as nearly as funky as I thought it would be.”
“Well that stinks. I love funk.” said Becca, hanging her head. She glanced up at Spencer. “Who’s the hippy?”
“I’m not a hippy!” shouted Spencer, stomping his foot, “My name is Spencer Irachna, and I am a co-ordinater!”
“-hippy.” Danny added, “Yeah, he’s this weird guy who’s been following me around. I beat him up and keep telling him I don’t like him, but he followed me all the way here.”
“Want us to deal with him?” Re asked, looking up from her notes with an evil grin, staring down at Spencer from the top bunk. Danny considered this for a moment.
“Nah, I think I can handle it myself.” he said finally. Spencer slumped onto the bunk opposite them defeated.
“All I wanted is a travel companion.” he said grumpily. Jeff started chewing his backpack that he had dropped. That’s when Danny made a decision.
“Okay.”
“What?!” Spencer asked in disbelief.
“I said okay, you can travel with me. As long as you don’t do any of that weird hippy stuff.” Danny said. He pointed at Jeff. “Jeff likes to chew on your backpack. So that means that you must have a good taste in backpacks, which means you are funky, sort of.”
Becca’s Psyduck tilted its head in confusion, and the rest followed suit.
“Um, okay…” Spencer said, confused by Danny’s reasoning, “I guess it doesn’t matter the reason as long as you accept.”
Danny and Spencer later left the Academy, both a little happier, and, in Spencer’s case, a whole lot funkier.
Chapter 6: The Sound of a Babbling Hippy
The funk pair reached Sougan by nightfall and checked into the Pokemon Center. After leaving their Pokemon with the nurse, they decided to watch the tube a little. One of the older trainers had it set to the news channel, and they squeezed up to the screen through a small crowd who had gathered around.
“This is Ray Ecca, reporting to you live from the Hillsburrow Pokemon Center.” said the newscaster, “Sightings of the criminal syndicate, the Mysteriously Unknown Hidden Guys, or MUHG, occurred right here at around 2:15 today. Witnesses report that the duo came running down the rode with stolen Pokemon, but were by confronted by Pokemon League Champion Victoria Gordon and an unknown companion in a trench coat. The two battled the criminals, but were unable to capture them or retrieve the stolen Pokemon. Ms. Gordon and her colleague then left the scene before anyone could question them.”
“Those MUHG fellows are getting to be trouble.” said a blond girl to her friend. She nodded glumly.
“They stole from Henry up on Hill Glen.” said the friend, “Stripped him down to his boxers and took everything he had on him.”
The two girls started talking to another trainer, and Danny and Spencer left to go to bed.
As they climbed the stairs, Spencer asked Danny if he had ever seen an MUHG agent before, besides the one that he saved him from.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve seen two others.” said Danny, remembering back a few chapters, “Up on Hill Glen. Must have been the ones those girls were talking about.”
Spencer gasped. “Why didn’t you stop them?!” he said, staring at Danny with shock. Danny shrugged, opening the door to the room they had got.
“They said they were selling the Pokemon, so I figured they were telling the truth. Come to think of it, they probably did sell them.” Danny said, climbing into bed, “Now get to sleep.”
Spencer got into the bed across form Danny. “Yeah, don’t want to be tired for my contest.” He grinned at Danny as he turned off the light.
Danny rolled his eyes. Spencer had been talking about Sougan’s contest all the way from the Battle Academy. It would be his fifth ribbon so far, which was about the only thing Danny liked about the conversation. That meant less travel.
Spencer woke Danny up early the next morning, resulting in Danny choking him. After the air returned to his lungs, Spencer started babbling cheerily.
“Today, I get a ribbon!” he said, posing heroically as they got their breakfast. Danny punched him with his death shadow fist while picking out a cereal from the food machine.
“Yeah, I get the stupid idea, now get your cereal.” he said, taking the bowl from the machine and sitting down in the Center’s lobby. Spencer soon followed, sitting down across from him to make it harder for him to punch.
“This ones really simple, too. I just appeal the first round and battle through the second with a different Pokemon.” he said for the umpteenth time. Danny munched his cereal, glaring at Spencer evilly.
They left the Center soon after, heading out to the shore for some battle practice. Danny figured that a cliff was a great place to battle, since it was high up and you could see the ocean from it. And if Spencer got to close too the edge, well…you get the idea.
“Crapper needs some practice, since he usually just explodes.” Danny told Spencer on their way up, Jeff trotting behind, “Who are you using?”
“My Scyther, it hasn’t battled since the last contest.” Spencer said, showing Danny a Net Ball, “She’s really powerful, so your Stunky had better watch out.”
“Yeah, sure…” said Danny. He’d see.
They started as soon as they reached the cliff. Crapper, happy to get out of his ball, jumped around the edge cheerfully. Spencer’s Scyther was amused at this, and started to chase him.
“Hey, let’s get this started already!” Danny shouted to the Pokemon. Crapper skipped over to him, and Syther buzzed in front of Spencer.
“All right, Night Slash!” shouted Spencer. Syther’s blades grew longer and glowed purple. She rocketed at Crapper.
“Crapper uses Toxic-no, wait, never mind…” Danny started to command, stopped when a girl came running up to them. She was wearing a long, blue dress and was carrying a matching handbag.
“I heard you talking about the contest.” she said, running up to Spencer. Danny gave Crapper an apologetic look and returned him, along with Jeff.
“Yeah, why?” asked Spencer. The girl giggled.
“Registration is ending in ten minutes!” she said, bouncing, “I didn’t want you to miss it!”
Spencer yelped and ran down the hill, shouting about how he’d be late.
“So, who are you?” asked Danny offhandedly to the girl. She brushed some of her blonde hair out of her face before answering.
“Carla Belle.” she said, extending a hand to Danny, who shook it. “I’m a co-ordinater, like your friend. I’m from south region, Spaciginville. How about you?”
Danny grinned happily. “I’m Daniel Percival Teach, but you can call me Danny. I’m from Dark City, and, of course, love Dark Pokemon.”
Carla chuckled. “I could guess by the fact you have all Dark Balls.” she said, pointing to his hand, in which were Jeff’s and Crapper’s balls.
“Well, they are the best type, after me, of course.” said Danny, “We should probably be getting down to the contest hall.”
“Hey, want to meet me in the lobby after the contest?” asked Carla as they started to walk.
“Sure.” Danny said, grinning devilishly. Carla laughed again, and they ran down to the hall.
Chapter 7: The First Kill-I Mean, Contest
Danny sat on his hard, plastic seat looking out over the contest area. The specters around him chatter incoherently about contest and the co-ordinaters in them. Personally, Danny couldn’t care less. He turned up his MP3 and started listening to ‘Brick House.’
Right at the good part of the song (it always is), a tall kid poked Danny in the head. Danny retaliated with his shadow fists of death, but the kid came back. Danny paused and took of his headphones.
“What do you want?” he asked, grabbing the kid by the front of his gray shirt. The kid, still unaffected by this, gazed broadly at Danny with gray eyes.
“I’m Mike.” he said finally. People were staring at them, so Danny released him. He stood up to his full, intimidating-to-anybody-but-Danny height.
“That’s nice.” said Danny, tilting his head slightly. ‘Must be one of them crazies.’ he thought.
Mike stared down at him with a spacey gaze. “I have heard of you. You are apparently a good battler.”
“Thank you?” Danny said, confused.
“We shall meet again.” he said, walking off into the stands again. Danny watched him go with a befuddled glare.
“Freak.”
A short, stout woman in refined green blazer and gray skirt walked out into the arena. She held a microphone and had a Cherrim on her shoulder, with odd, green petals. She smiled cheerfully at the audience.
“Hello!” she shouted, receiving a ‘hello’ form the crowd, “This is Avium Prunus, Mistress of Cherrymony and Judge for Larkon Pokemon Contests, as you all know! I’m happy to welcome you all to the Sougan Pokemon Contest!” The crowd cheered.
“Hm…” Danny thought aloud, “She seems familiar.”
“I’d like to introduce you to the other judges for today’s contest, guest judge Hede Masters I and Sougan’s own Nurse Anger!” Avium joyfully shouted, waving her arm toward the judge table. An old, balding man in a silver suit, who Danny recognized to be the final gym leader, Hede Masters I, waved to the crowd. On the other end of the table sat a very angry looking woman in nurse uniform. She crossed her arms and grunted. Everyone cheered again.
“All right, let me hand you over to our MC, Ms. Sabrina Noun, and let this contest begin!” The crowd, who was tired of all that cheering, simply clapped appreciably, and a skinny woman with long, silver hair took the mike.
“Thank you, Avium. Here they are folks, the contestants!” She bowed and stood to the side of a long line, about 16 people, bowed to the crowd as well. Danny could see Spencer and Carla next to each other, Spencer trying to look dignified and Carla laughing her head off.
‘Strange girl.’ Danny thought.
Then the preliminaries began.
Spencer was up first. He tossed a Net Ball onto the field, releasing an Ariados. It reared up on its hind legs and waved to the crowd.
“Okay, Ariados, use Spider Web!” Spencer shouted. The red spider jumped up and shot a web at the ground, making it peak like a mountain. “Now Poison Jab!” Ariados’s front legs turned purple as it jabbed the web, dying it a light pink. “Psychic!” Ariados landed on the web, eyes glowing pink. The web flew around it in a tornado of pink, expanding until it formed a pot-shaped ball. It then exploded, showering the field with a pink powder.
“HACK! COUGH COUGH!” Sabrina thumped her chest, “Sorry about that, breathed it in. Now, let’s see what the judges have to say about it!”
“Nice timing, and the Pokemon and trainer defiantly connected.” Hede said, his mustache ruffling as he spoke.
“It was pretty, but Toxic would have been a better choice for the dying.” Avium chirped, nodding wisely to Spencer.
“It wasn’t completely ugly.” Nurse Anger said.
“That’s a pretty good score, now on to our next competitor, Bianca!”
Three people later, Carla got on field. She waved to Danny, who awkwardly waved back.
‘She must be one of them stalkers.’ Danny thought, nodding.
Carla daintily threw a Great Ball into the air. A green lizard with emo-goth makeup under his eyes appeared in front of her, its red eye glinting. Danny scanned it with his PokeDex.
Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokemon. Larvitar often cries about how its life sucks and takes out its aggression on passers-by. It attacks their face, biting it, and then leaving them to bleed to death.
“That was disturbing.” Danny commented to the person next to him. He nodded in agreement.
“Larvitar, use Rock Slide!” Carla shouted, raising her arm in excitement. The goth lizard stomped on the ground, sending rocks flying into the air. “Follow up with Sandstorm!” Larvitar spun its tail, whipping up a dust cloud that enveloped it like a cloud. “Finish with Dark Pulse!” From with in the storm, a dark wave of energy exploded outward, sending the Rock Slide rocks flying into the walls. The dust blew up onto the ceiling and settled around the grinning Larvitar.
“ACHOO!” Sabrina sneezed into the mike, “Today has not been good for my allergies. Judges, your verdict?”
“Beautiful display of strength, expert timing with the Rock Slide.” Hede winked at Carla, who suppressed a giggle.
“Perfect. I see no flaw.” Avium beamed.
“It was fine.” Nurse Anger said, slumping lower into her chair.
The other 11 people performed, ranging from mediocre to expert. Danny, bored, walked down to the waiting room to see Spencer.
“How do you think I did?” he asked when Danny came in. He was sitting on a cushioned bench, waiting for results to appear on a near-by screen.
“Fine, I guess.” said Danny, shrugging, sitting down on a bench across from him. Carla walked over and sat down next to Spencer.
“Hey, y’all.” she said, crossing her hands lady-like fashion in her lap, “You’re Danny and Spencer, right?”
“Yeah, that’s us.” Danny said, smiling his devilish smile, while Spencer simply nodded. Carla chuckled.
The room quieted as the finalist appeared on screen. Spencer and Carla jumped happily when they saw their faces appear, later being followed by man with black hood covering his face and girl with long brown hair in a school-girlish uniform.
“Good luck.” Danny said, exiting the room, “You’re going to need it.”
Chapter 8: Still Part of the Contest
“I don’t see why it takes two chapters to have a contest but I only get one to do a gym battle.” Danny said to the person next to him, who nodded understandingly.
Spencer and Carla were set to battle each other in the semifinals. The winner would move on the battle George, the hooded man who had one the first battle. They stood at opposite ends of the arena, Spencer trying to act proper while Carla shook with laughter.
‘Once again, strange girl.’ Danny thought.
“Scyther!” Spencer shouted, throwing a Net Ball above his head. The scythe mantis appeared with its arms crossed against its chest. Danny took out his PokeDex, more out of boredom than out of ignorance.
Scyther, the Scythe Pokemon, at least I think it’s something like that. It flies around slicing things up with its razor-sharp scythes so they don’t dull. It shown great progress in the field of vegetable chopping. The female has a long abdomen than the male, presumably for egg-laying purposes.
Danny noted Spencer’s Scyther was female, comparing it to the picture in the Dex.
Carla turned serious at the sight of the mantis. She gloomily tossed out a Pokeball, a Misdreavus floating lazily out. It glanced at Scyther and lowered a little, apparently too tired to levitate.
“Scyther, Swords Dance!” Spencer commanded. Scyther hopped around the field, eyes locked on Misdreavus, her blades slashing an intricate pattern. The ghost simply watched with one eye, the other half closed.
“Misdreavus, try Astonish!” Carla shouted, her voice sadder than it was before. Misdreavus suddenly disappeared, reappearing in front of Scyther’s face, shouting loudly. Scyther hopped back in fright, filling Misdreavus with a sudden energy.
“Scyther, Night Slash!” Spencer shouted, but Scyther couldn’t move, still in shock from Misdreavus’s attack.
“Shadow Ball.” Carla ordered her ghost. Misdreavus’s necklace glowed, blasting a chunk of ghostly energy into Scyther’s chest. She was blasted back, but flew in a loop to avoid crashing into the wall. Spencer saw a chance.
“Night Slash, Scyther!” Spencer shouted, a confident smile across his face. Scyther slashed her now black blade at Misdreavus as she came down from her loop. The poor spirit degenerated, its necklace falling to the ground. A tear ran down Carla’s cheek as she returned it, but no more followed.
“Scyther wins! Spencer Irachna moves onto the final round!” shouted Sabrina. The crowd cheered as Carla left the field, George taking her place. She wound her way up to Danny, sitting down next to him.
“Um, hi, uh…Carla?” Danny said awkwardly. Carla looked very gloomy. “Your Misdreavus isn’t very good.”
“Thank you so much.” she said sarcastically, then brightened. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”
“I think I know what…” Danny said through gritted teeth. Carla giggled.
“Well then, can I travel with y’all?” she asked, waving her hand for emphasize. Spencer had started the battle, but they didn’t notice.
Danny sighed. “Inevitably, yes. But on one condition: how many ribbons do you have?” Danny asked, a stern look in his eyes.
Scyther scored a direct hit on George’s Drifloon. The balloon spirit flew backwards making a screeching sound, covering Carla’s answer. “I said,” she shouted over the screech, “I have six. I only need two more!”
Danny grinned happily. Even less travel.
“And that’s the end of it!” shouted Sabrina, the Drifloon lying deflated on the floor. George returned it to its special all-black Pokeball and left the field without a word.
“Congratulations, Spencer!” Avium said, presenting him a shield-shaped metal with yellow ribbons, “You have won the Sougan Contest!” The crowd cheered as Spencer raised his arms in joy. Danny and Carla clapped a little, and then went out to the lobby to wait for him.
When Spencer came out into the lobby, Danny took him aside from the crowd. He and Carla took him to the far corner of the room and placed him there.
Danny sighed again. “I have something to tell you…” he said, pointing over his shoulder at the smiling Carla.
Chapter 9: Nosy Leaves
Danny and Jeff walked on to Route 309 with a bounce in their step. They figured since they got a boy and a girl, no new characters, right?
Spencer, however, was not as happy. He didn’t need another co-ordinater to battle against for ribbons, and certainly not one who was as hyper as Carla was. And besides that, Danny didn’t seem to care that Carla was there, but when he tried to join him, it had taken two chapters of arguing. What’s with that?!
“Will y’all stop brooding back there?” Carla shouted back to Spencer, who had fallen behind the group, “Danny found a Shroomish!”
“Yeah, it’s really ugly!” shouted Danny, holding his PokeDex over it while Jeff sniffed. The screen showed a brownish mushroom thing with stubby legs, but a lot less ugly than the real thing.
Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokemon. Shroomish is always angry about its looks, since it is considered one of the ugliest of all Pokemon. They run around slamming into trees in an attempt to make their faces look nicer, though most end up giving themselves brain damage or dieing.
“What the heck kind of PokeDex is that?” Spencer asked, taking it from Danny’s hand, “All the entries are so disturbing!”
“I’ve noticed.” said Danny solemnly, taking it back, “I think Dark City gets them from an army surplus store or something. Now about Shroomish…” He took his Dark Balls from his pockets, checking them for Seedot’s. “Seedot could use some training, and this funkless creature needs to be put out of its misery.” He found Seedot, tossing the ball into the air. The tiny acorn jumped angrily out of its ball, attacking Shroomish before being ordered.
“Does it always do that?” asked Carla, pointing a wary finger at Seedot, who was attempting to gouge Shroomish’s eyes out.
Danny shrugged. “I’ve never used him before. I guess it had some childhood trauma or something.” The four of them watched (from a safe distance) as Seedot stomped the mushroom, bit it, and shot lasers at it. Where there was once a Shroomish, there was now only a smoldering pile of plant.
“Um…” Spencer started after an awkward silence, “I think Seedot needs psychoanalysis.”
“Yeah…HEY! He’s glowing!” shouted Danny, pointing excitedly at the acorn, which had turned white and started giving off a bright light. Arms slowly extended from his sides and his legs grew longer and bulkier. A head took form and his weird hat was replaced by a leaf. The glowing stopped, and Seedot was now a-
“Sharpedo!” shouted Danny, making Jeff bark happily. Spencer sighed.
“No, he’s a Nuzleaf.” he said, taking out his own PokeDex, “Let’s see what the Dex has to say.
Nuzleaf, the Wily Pokemon. This Pokémon pulls out the leaf on its head and makes a flute with it. The sound of Nuzleaf's flute strikes fear and uncertainty in the hearts of people lost in a forest. This Pokémon dislikes having its long nose pinched.
“That’s stupid.” said Danny, taking his PokeDex out, “I like mine better.”
Nuzleaf, the Wily Stalker Pokemon. Nuzleaf will often follow travelers in the forest, playing its flute eerily. It waits until its stalkee stops, launching itself on them and eating their heart out, literally. It then rips their head off and feeds it to its apprentice, usually a Seedot.
“EW! Never use your PokeDex again, Danny!” Carla yelled, covering her ears. Spencer looked queasy, and Jeff had barfed on the side of the rode.
‘Rotten breakfast.’ he thought, barfing some more.
Danny walked over to Nuzleaf, patting it on the head. “Now I get it. You’re not deranged, you’re just being natural.” he said, Nuzleaf smiling appreciatively. He returned the gremlin and walked back to Carla and Spencer. “On to Spaciginville, then?” he asked.
“Yup.” Carla answered, recovered from the PokeDex, “Hey, maybe we can visit my folk’s ranch!” She beamed at Spencer and Danny, making them back away.
“Yeah…” said Spencer, starting to continue, “And maybe we could get Danny’s Dex fixed, too.”
Chapter 10: Meat the Parents
“Here we are!” Carla called back at Danny and Spencer. They were in front of a mansion-ish white house with a beautifully long porch. Danny walked cautiously up to the door with Carla.
“This is your house?” he asked, looking down the porch, “This is almost as tall as the building I live in, and I live in the rich part of Dark City!”
“Yeah, Pa’s always trying to impress the neighbors.” Carla said, ringing the door bell. Danny returned Jeff and Spencer walked up beside them.
A large man in a cowboy hat answered the door. He wore hideous blue overalls over an equally hideous blue shirt. His hair was the color of straw and his eyes were black and tiny.
“Well, if it ain’t my co-ordinater!” he said, grabbing the three of them in a hug. Carla giggled, but Spencer struggled to get away.
“Excuse, uh, sir…” he tried to say, “We don’t really know you at all…uh, sir?” He turned to Danny. “Maybe you could try that shadow fist thing?”
Danny punched his shadow fist into the man’s face, but it didn’t do much. “Too much Southern.” Danny said gloomily, “Cancels out my funkrific powers.”
Finally, the enormous man let them go. “So, Carla, who’s y’all new friends?” he asked, gesturing to Danny and Spencer with a large hand. Carla giggled.
“This is Danny.” she said, pulling Danny over to them by his pack, “He’s from Dark City. And that hippy over there is Spencer; he’s from…um…Enip or something.”
Spencer’s faced glowed red. “I’M NOT A HIPPY!” he shouted, not noticing nobody was listening.
“So…” Danny said, scratching his arm, “What exactly do you do, Mr. Belle?”
“I raise Miltank to be chopped up for hamburger, of course!” he said, leading them inside the house. It was decorated in an odd style, with leather brown walls and Tauros skulls hanging all over the place.
“You like the decor?” Carla asked, looking over her shoulder at Danny. Danny shrugged.
“What exactly do they represent?” he asked, sticking his tongue out a stuffed Pachirisu mounted on the wall.
“They don’t represent anything, silly!” Carla chuckled, “They’re mementos we brought when we moved here from Texas!”
“What’s a Texas?” Danny whispered to Spencer, who had finally realized they had left.
“Some place in that big country, America or whatever.” Spencer whispered back, “They’re obsessed with size; everything they own has to be big.”
“Freaks.” Danny said, Spencer nodding in agreement.
Mr. Belle led them into a large kitchen, also decorated in this foreign style. He sat them at a large wooden table and disappeared into the pantry to get drinks.
“Sorry Payton, Tyson, and Ma couldn’t be here.” he called, “But your brothers had a football game and Ma’s at an art convention.” He emerged, carrying three cans of soda and a Manectric Light for himself. He sat down across from them, opening the bottle with his bare hands.
“So, Carla, these boys been treating you nice?” he asked, eyeing Danny and Spencer suspiciously. Danny grinned widely and waved.
“Oh, yeah, they’re right gentlemen.” Carla said, and then turned to Spencer, “Okay, maybe not the hippy, but Danny’s okay.”
Spencer turned red again. “FOR THE LAST TIME: I’M NOT A HIPPY!” he shouted, spraying everyone with his spit.
Danny repelled him with a shadow punch. “Yeah, this conversation is very entertaining, but we’re kind of tired.” he said, yawning, “We kind of just walked five miles.”
Mr. Belle laughed a hearty laugh. “Well of course you are!” he said, getting up. He gestured fro them to follow. “You and the hippy can sleep in the guest room across from Carla’s room.”
“Thanks, Pa!” Carla said, rushing into her room, “I needed to pack some more clothes anyway!”
“Don’t sleep too deep!” Mr. Belle said as he walked off, “Tomorrow I can show the meat grinder!”
Chapter 11: One Small Step for Mon, One Giant Leap of Monkind
(One Very Short Chapter from Me)
Fortunately, Danny and Spencer were spared of seeing the meat grinder by Mr. Belle’s own forgetfulness. When he awoke, he realized he had a Meat Ranchers Union meeting on the other side of the region, and had to leave with barely a good-bye to Carla.
“Yay.” Danny commented.
They also left early, and soon reached Spaciginville. Wasting no time in travel description, the intrepid trio went immediately to the Gym. The Spaciginville Gym was located inside the region’s only space center, Joule Space Center. The leader was the vice president of engineering for the center, as well as a leading figure in the community.
“Welcome!” shouted the attendant who answered the door, “Welcome to Joule Space Center, home of Spaciginville Gym!”
“Yeah, thanks, but we can read.” Danny said, pushing the attendant out of the way and pointing to the paragraph above.
Leaving the now crying attendant (telling people that was his only point in life) to wallow in self pity, they burst through a door labeled ‘Gym’.
“Hey!” Danny shouted, “Anybody here!”
“Yes, you fools!” a short man in a polo shirt shouted back, standing next to Danny, “I am the leader here! Now will you stop shouting?!”
“You’re the leader here?!” Carla gasped, “But you’re shorter than Danny! And a tad uglier, too.” Spencer and Danny nodded in agreement.
The short man said nothing, pulling on a cowlick in his red hair. “Yes, I am the leader.” he said finally, walking across the room to the leader side, “And I’d like to get this over with. I have a meeting at three.”
“But it’s only 11.” Spencer commented, taking a seat in the bleachers that lined the wall.
“There’s a two hour pre-meeting, so I don’t want to be late.” he said, “And before we begin, I am Nathan Sa. This will be a Double Battle, and only two Pokemon to each side.” He tossed a two Pokeballs into the air, one releasing a red boulder with yellow rocks stuck out around it. The other sent out a crescent-shaped white rock with large, red eyes. Solrock and Lunatone.
“Why does everyone assume I care about their names?” Danny thought aloud, gesturing for Jeff to get on the field. The magma mutt bounded cheerfully into position, howling. Behind him, Danny sent Crapper skipping out of his ball, happy to finally get some real battling in.
“Solrock, Rockslide, and Lunatone, Blizzard!” Nathan commanded, pointing for emphasis. The red sun’s eyes glowed, psychic energy ripping rocks from the floor and tossing them at Jeff, while its moon partner sent a hailstorm spinning toward Crapper.
Danny yawned. “Jeff, Flamethrower on the Blizzard. Crapper, Dark Pulse on Solrock.” he said, almost bored. Jeff jumped up and sent a wave of flames from his mouth, incinerating the ice attack and scorching Lunatone, not very effectively, of course. Crapper jumped over Jeff, glowing a dark purple, then sending a ripple of dark energy through the air toward Solrock. The red sun was knocked back into Lunatone, hurting both of them immensely.
Nathan took the attacks better than previous opponents. “Solrock, Earthquake, and Lunatone, Sandstorm.” The celestial bodies spun, on sending a shock through the earth and the other covering the field with a whirlwind of sand.
“How’s Danny gonna counter that?” Carla wondered aloud. Spencer tried to answer, but inhaled sand and started choking.
Danny, it appeared, wasn’t bothered by the deadly attacks. “Jeff, cut off Sandstorm with Smog. Crapper, moisten the ground with Toxic.” Jeff made an ugly hacking sound, producing a cloud of purple gas that diluted the sand. Meanwhile, Crapper spat a disgusting poison all over the ground, weakening the Earthquake considerably.
Both attacks poisoned Nathan’s Pokemon as well, making their colors fade as they tried to keep hovering. The engineer sighed. “I forfeit.” he said, returning the sickly rocks and walking over to Danny. “Your strategy is very unpredictable. I cannot beat you.” he glumly stated, handing a rocket ship-shaped badge to Danny, who took it grinningly.
“Thank you very much!” he said, shaking Nathan’s hand and gesturing for Carla and Spencer. They left the building without another word to the defeated leader.
“Now what?” asked Spencer when they were outside. Danny patted Jeff on the head before answering.
“My home town, Dark City.” Danny said, taking out a map he apparently had the whole time and pointing to a large dot. “‘The City of Gloom’, as they say. Also, funk capitol of the world.”
Carla laughed. “As if we couldn’t guess that!” she chuckled, covering her mouth, “Now, do they serve hamburgers?”
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