Standing just outside Newbark Town, Cora gazed at the simple dirt path that meandered lazily through swathes of grass that swayed in the wind. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and began striding down the trail, turning and glancing back to see that Flambe was huddling near a signpost and glaring at her.
"What's the matter?' She demanded as she strode over and crouched in front of her pokemon. "I know it's a bit of a hike, but if those short little legs of yours can't handle it, I'm sure you'll fit in my backpack. Or you could always go back into your pokeball."
"I'm trying to figure out if you're naive or just plain stupid." The pokemon finally answered after a few moments.
"Ah! I knew you could talk!"
"Yeah but you're the only one who can understand me. That's part of the curse."
"Curse? What curse?"
"The Nuzlocke curse."
"What on earth is the Nuzlocke curse?" Rolling his eyes, Flambe gave Cora a pitying look.
"See it's already affecting you. You already believe that you're actually a part of this world, when in reality, you're nothing more than a glitch."
"Wait...you're saying I'm not real?"
"Oh you're real. But you're not actually here. Your essence or soul or whatever you call it has become caught in the game, making you believe that you're actually a character."
"So how do I get out? And for that matter, how do you know all this?"
"Getting out is hard, you have to beat the game. I know all this because I've had five trainers before you who all attempted to beat the Nuzlocke curse - and failed."
"What happened to them?"
"I don't know. They killed me before they beat the game, so I can't tell you if they were successful or not."
"They killed you?!?!"
"Not intentionally I think. See, that's also part of the curse. Normally, if a pokemon faints you can take it to the pokemon center or use a revive and they're fine. For those infected with Nuzlocke though, fainting means the end of the road."
"You mean...?"
"Death." Flambe confirmed somberly. "So you'll have to forgive me if I'm not overly keen to start round 6." Yawning he laid his head down on his front paws.
"Okay," Sitting on the ground beside cyndaquil, Cora reached over and pulled him into her lap, stroking his back lightly as she rested back against the signpost.
"I get that you've had a pretty rough time. But I can't stay here forever. As you said, I don't belong in this world and so I need to do what I can to find my way back to where I'm from. And unfortunately, I can't do that without you. So here's the deal. You stick with me until I catch the next pokemon at which point you decide if you want to carry on or if you want to be released back into the wild. If you carry on with me, I promise to do my best to try and avoid putting you in a situation where you could be killed. Also, you can choose at any point in the journey to ask to be released and I will respect that wish."
"And if I do continue to help you and you screw up and I die?"
"Then if I manage to make it out of the game, I'll destroy the game cartridge so you'll never be pulled into another Nuzlocke again." Flambe closed his eyes as he considered her offer, his back arching under her stroking fingers, though his flame remained banked and still beneath his fur.
"You'll really let me go if I ask?"
"Help me catch another partner first and then yes, if you wish to leave, you can."
"Okay, deal." Jumping up out of her lap, Flambe started bounding towards the trail. "Pickings around here are pretty slim, mostly Hoothoots and Ratatas, but they're better than nothing right." Stopping just before the first patch of grass, he looked back over his shoulder at Cora. "You have some pokeballs on you, right?"
"Oh, um..." Unzipping her bag, Cora began to rifle through the various pockets, grinning sheepishly as her hunt turned up nothing but a small stash of potions and some money. "Nope." As Flambe glared at her again, she smiled and put everything back. "But it's no problem! I have some money here and there should be a mart in Cherrygrove that sells them."
"Well this adventure is starting out great." Flambe grumbled as they started down the path.
"Look, I know I'm not your idea of the perfect trainer, but I'm actually smarter than you think I am. Remember, I'm now limited by the rules of the game. So we just have to do our best with what we have."
They walked in silence for a while before Cora glanced down at Flambe, uncertainty flickering across her face as she debated whether or not to ask him the question that was niggling at the back of her brain.
"What?" He finally demanded grumpily when he caught her looking at him.
"Oh...well...no, don't worry."
"Go on and ask what you want to. It'll just keep annoying you otherwise."
"What's it like? You know, between trainers?" Flambe stared straight ahead for a moment, silent as he contemplated the answer.
"It's dark. It's like you're asleep, but at the same time you know you're not. And all you can do is wait until you're brought back into this world for another try."
"That sounds horribly lonely." Acting on impulse, Cora reached down and picked Flambe up, cuddling him close to her chest as she kept walking.
"Hey what are you doing?"
"Giving you some good memories to hold on to, just in case you wind up back there. Or if you decide to leave, I want you to go knowing that at least one of your six trainers gave a damn about you."
Staring up at her, Flambe finally reached up with a tiny paw and touched her cheek, snuggling his face into her neck. Smiling, Cora walked on ignoring the occasional rustling in the grass nearby, stopping as she came to the top of a small hill and saw the small town spreading out in front of them.
They had arrived at Cherrygrove.
~//~
Next time, a guy with a weird thing about shoes, a pokemon mart with limited stock, meeting the mysterious Mr Pokemon and other fun times! Stay tuned.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Monday, February 20, 2017
Chapter One: Hard mode activate.
Author's note: This is just for fun. Pokemon remains the property of Nintendo and Game Freak and I am doing this for the hell of it, not for profit.
~//~
Stretching out on her bed, Cora stifled a yawn as she stared up at the ceiling, sighing with irritation. She was so bored, but wasn't certain what she felt like doing. Rolling over onto her stomach, she reached over to a nearby shelf and started flicking through the games stacked there, hoping to spark some inspiration. As she shifted a stack to the side to get a better look at some of the titles at the very back of the shelf, something small and round clattered to the floor.
Picking it up, Cora ran her thumb over it to clear the fine layer of dust off the tiny screen, the dual hemispheres of red and white. It was the pokewalker that had come with her copy of SoulSilver. Setting the device beside her on the bed, she began flicking through her DS titles until she found SoulSilver, pulling it out and running her fingers over the cover art of Lugia.
She'd read somewhere on the internet about a set of rules for making a play-through of any pokemon game more interesting. It was called the Nuzlocke challenge. She'd never before tried it because she knew she tended to get very attached to the pokemon she caught and raised and the idea of losing them when they fainted was...mildly terrifying.
But...maybe just this once....
Popping open the case, Cora gently tugged the cartridge free and slotted it into her 3DS, powering on the console and settling herself back against her pillows, drawing her knees up and propping the 3DS against her thighs. Glancing at the icon in the top right of the upper screen, she noted that she had only 1/4 of the battery remaining, but that it should be sufficient to clear the save data and start the game again. Loading the game she waited until the title screen appeared and held down the up, select and B buttons. A menu appeared asking if she wanted to delete all saved data and that once it was done there would be no way to recover it. Telling the system to proceed, Cora yawned and stared once more up at the ceiling as she waited for the game to delete the data, no noticing that the power light had started to flash urgently.
"Now what starter should I pick?" She mused to herself as she began recalling everything she knew about Johto and its pokemon. "Normally I pick the water type, but maybe I should change it up, seeing as it's a whole new challenge and all? Huh, before I begin I should probably grab a drink and some snacks so I don't have to take a break later." Sliding the console onto the bed Cora swung her feet down and stood up bounding up and leaving the room, never noticing the power light give a few more feeble flashes before slowly fading, the screens going black.
~//~
"Okay, I have food, a drink and have been to the bathroom. Time for a marathon gaming session!" After organizing the supplies on her bedside table so they'd be in easy reach while she was playing, Cora leaped back onto the bed, the mattress bouncing beneath her as she wiggled back up to her previous position and picked the 3DS back up. Glancing at the screens she pressed a few buttons and groaned as she realized that it had switched off.
"Oh not good. I hope the game finished deleting before the system died. Otherwise it could be completely screwed." Leaning over the side of the bed, she fished around underneath until her fingers brushed against a cable. Pulling it out, she glanced at the end and shook her head. "Nope, cellphone cord." Another, "Tablet charger. Ah here we are!" Pulling out the thin grey cable, she plugged the end into the socket in the console, swearing softly as she felt a zap. "Ow, hey! No zapping, I'm trying to breathe life back into you here." Her tone was scolding as she sucked on her tingling finger, glaring at the 3DS as she hit the power button, watching the screens flicker back to life.
"Okay, here we go." Holding her breath, she clicked on the icon for SoulSilver, hoping that it would not only load, but also be okay to play. But as she hit the A button, bright light filled her vision, her ears filling with the crackling buzz of electricity as the stinging scent of ozone filled the room. She only had a few seconds to think electrical fire before everything went dark.
~//~
"Hello? I say hello, can you hear me?"
What? Who's that talking? Where am I? Forcing her eyes open, Cora allowed her gaze to track around as she attempted to get her bearings. Not that there was much to see. From what she could tell, she was standing in a small room, though there were no doors, no windows. And the harder she looked, the blurrier everything became around the edges. Weird.
Lifting her gaze, Cora realized that someone was standing in front of her, an older man with a deeply lined face, white hair and eyes such a deep brown they were nearly black. He wore a labcoat over a bright red shirt and neatly pressed chinos...and in his hand he was holding a pokeball!
"Ah, you're awake. I was worried."
"Who are you? Where am I?" Rubbing her aching head, Cora tried to remember what she had been doing before she'd found herself in this place, but found that her memories were fuzzy and that trying to focus on them was rather like trying to hold water in her hands. As hard as she tried, eventually it trickled away.
"I am Professor Oak. But everyone calls me the pokemon professor. Pokemon are creatures that inhabit this world and work and play alongside us."
"You can spare me the lecture Professor, I know all about pokemon." Cora interrupted, folding her arms across her chest and she swore she saw a slight smirk flit across the man's face.
"Very well, Are you a boy or a girl?"
"Are you serious?? I'm a girl, obviously."
"What's your name?"
"Cora."
"Well Cora, I hope you're ready. Your very own pokemon adventure is about to unfold!" Before she could reply, she felt the ground beneath her feet shift before crumbling away completely, causing her to tumble backwards into complete darkness. "Good luck to you!" Professor Oak's voice chased her down into the blackness, and just as she opened her mouth to scream, she felt her body jolt as she opened her eyes and found herself lying in bed. Sitting up, Cora scrubbed her hands over her face, wondering what had just happened? Had it just been a dream? Surely it must have been, for this was her room...wasn't it? Looking around she nodded. There was her desk with her computer sitting on it, currently shut down as she did every night before bed. But...were those her dolls sitting on the shelves? She didn't have pokedolls...did she?
Getting out of bed, she crossed to the wardrobe, opening the door and finding herself staring into a mirror, but the face reflected in it was definitely not the one she knew. Instead of being a short cap of red, her hair was long and a light brown, caught in twin tails on either side of her head. Her eyes were a similar shade of brown instead of their usual dark green.
"Who am I?" She whispered. But the longer she stared at herself, the more the feeling of wrongness dissipated until she simply shrugged and got dressed, wondering why she had been so worried. Not her face? What silliness.
"Cora? Cora!!!!" A woman's voice floated up the stairs and she recognized the sound of her mother's voice.
"Coming!!" Closing the wardrobe, Cora turned and skipped down the stairs, emerging out into the living area where her mother sat at the table finishing her morning tea.
"Good morning mum." She greeted, leaning down to kiss the woman on the cheek.
"There you are darling. Are you okay? I thought I heard you shouting."
"It was nothing. Just a weird dream. I'm fine."
"If you say so dear. Professor Elm just called. He said he'd like to see you at the lab next door, if you have a moment."
"Did he say why?"
"No, just that he had something he wanted to ask you."
"Okay, I'll head over there now."
"Oh! Before you go darling, remember to take your bag, it's hanging in the hall closet."
"Yup, got it, see ya!"
Running through the front door, Cora screeched to a halt as something banged into her legs and she looked down to see a small blue, ball-like pokemon grinning up at her.
"Marill!" Waving it bounced off to where a young man waited nearby before they raced away towards another house in the small town. Laughing softly at Ethan being Ethan, Cora shoved her hands in the pockets of her overalls and hunkered down against the cool wind lashing Newbark Town. Following the path she found herself standing at the door of a large building, pushing it open and slipping inside, grateful to be out of the wind. Wandering further inside, Cora noted the shelves full of research notes, the various aides hunkered over research.
"Ah Cora there you are! I've been waiting for you." Drawn by the male voice, Cora headed right to the back of the lab where Professor Elm was indeed waiting, a smile on his face as she approached.
"Do you know anything about my research?" He questioned, gesturing her to move closer. "As you know, pokemon are carried in pokeballs these days. But before the pokeball was invented, people used to walk with pokemon. Just like your friend Ethan does. Pokeballs are great because you can carry many pokemon. But walking with Pokemon must have some advantages. It could have something to do with how pokemon grow or evolve..."
As the Professor explained his research Cora nodded absently, her eyes tracking around the lab. In a machine nearby, she could see the gleam of three different pokeballs and absently wondered what pokemon were held inside. "So I'm going to give you a pokemon!!"
"Wait, what?" Her attention snapped back to Elm at his announcement. "A pokemon?"
"Can you walk beside this pokemon, outside of its pokeball, to see if this brings any special feelings or bonds between pokemon and people?"
"Uh...yeah I guess so."
"Excellent, that device over there has some pokemon you could choose from." He gestured to the machine with the three balls inside that Cora had been looking at. Before he could escort her over to it, his computer let out a soft dinging sound that had him crossing to it.
"Oh! I got an email." Clicking open the message Cora waited patiently for him to read the contents - she figured it would be rude if she just went and grabbed a pokemon now.
When he was done reading, Elm turned back to Cora. "Hey, listen. I have this acquaintance that people call Mr Pokemon. He keeps finding weird things and raving about his discoveries. Anyway, I just got an email from him saying that this time it's real. It's probably another pokemon egg, but we're still so busy with our pokemon research. Oh I know! Cora, you can go in our place right? Can we count on you?"
Reminding herself that this nutty professor was giving her a pokemon, Cora smiled and nodded.
"Of course you can professor!"
"Great! Choose one of the pokemon over there." As he gestured to the machine, Cora walked over, wiping her suddenly damp palms on her shorts. Pressing a button on the machine a ball rolled into view, a small screen showing the pokemon inside, along with its type.
Hmm, Chikorita, Totodile or Cyndaquil? She mused as she flicked through them. Totodile was cute, but so was Cyndaquil. As much as she liked the look of the cute little water crocodile, she found herself being draw back to the Cyndaquil. As the ball rolled out of the machine and into her hand, she released the creature from inside, white light coalescing into the small fire-mouse.
"Oh! You're so cute!!!!" Overwhelmed, Cora scooped the cyndaquil into her arms and hugged it close, screaming in pain as fire erupted from the creature's back to scorch her arms and hand, causing her to drop it back to the floor where it bounced a couple of times before glaring back up at her.
"Are you all right?" Elm asked and Cora nodded slowly as she rubbed her aching arms.
"It burned me a little."
"Well you possibly frightened him by coming on a little too strong."
"Him?"
"Yes, that cyndaquil there is male. Do you wish to give him a nickname?"
"Yeah, how about Flambe? Cos that's totally what he did to my skin just now."
"Excellent, Flambe it is. So how do you like walking with your pokemon? It's not bad is it? You can take it all the way to Mr Pokemon's house. Now if your pokemon gets hurt you can use this other machine behind me to heal him. Just follow the instructions on the PC."
Turning back to Cora, Elm sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Mr Pokemon goes everywhere and finds rarities. His house just a small ways north of Cherrygrove. Thanks for doing this Cora, I'm counting on you."
"Sure, no problem professor. C'mon Flambe." Girl and pokemon eyed each other with a sense of mutual distrust, the small creature folding its tiny arms and turning its head away. Smiling at the professor, Cora dropped to the floor and hissed, "Look you, I am not playing around. Either you get up and walk out of here with me, or I'll just pick you up and cram you back into your pokeball and then duct tape it shut." Small black eyes stared up at her as though gauging her seriousness.
"Pah, whatever." It said as it clambered back to its feet and looked at her expectantly.
"Did you just? Professor! I think my pokemon just talked!"
"What?" Running over the professor looked down at cyndaquil who merely tilted his head quizzically at the professor and let out a soft "Quil?"
"I swear he did! He said whatever!"
"Haha sounds like you're bonding already. Pokemon can't talk, but the closer a trainer and their pokemon grow, the more easily they understand their body language and inflections, making it seem like they can talk to us. Looks like you and Flambe are getting to know each other already! Keep up the good work."
"But I...yeah you're right. Let's go Flambe, Cherrygrove is close but still a fairly decent hike away."
With Flambe at her heels, Cora left the lab, only to run straight into Ethan, as though he were waiting for her. "Oh Cora you got a cute pokemon! You should go show it to your mum! Bye!" Shaking her head, Cora led her reluctant new partner back home.
"Mum I'm back!"
"Cora? Oh, you have a pokemon. Professor Elm gave it to you?"
"Yeah, he wants me to run an errand for him and figured it would be easier if I had a pokemon with me. Although I don't think Flambe likes me yet."
"Well give it time sweetheart. Oh, before I forget, your pokegear came back from the repair shop." Picking up a package she handed it to her daughter who opened it and pulled out something that looked like a flip-phone with several slots on the side as though waiting for cards.
"Great, thanks mum."
"So what's the errand?"
"Oh, I need to go to see Mr Pokemon and pick up whatever awesome discovery he's found this time."
"That sounds difficult, but Professor Elm wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important."
"Yeah, Well, I better get to it. See you when I get back."
Leaving the house, Cora looked down at Flambe and sighed softly before turning and starting down the road that would lead to Cherrygrove city, the pokemon trailing reluctantly behind. Wondering if her pokemon would ever accept her, let alone trust her, Cora never noticed the boy lurking beside the pokemon lab, staring in through the window with hungry, covetous eyes...
~//~
Here ends part one. Next time, the journey to Mr Pokemon's house and the reason behind Cyndaquil's bad attitude. Stay tuned!!!
~//~
Stretching out on her bed, Cora stifled a yawn as she stared up at the ceiling, sighing with irritation. She was so bored, but wasn't certain what she felt like doing. Rolling over onto her stomach, she reached over to a nearby shelf and started flicking through the games stacked there, hoping to spark some inspiration. As she shifted a stack to the side to get a better look at some of the titles at the very back of the shelf, something small and round clattered to the floor.
Picking it up, Cora ran her thumb over it to clear the fine layer of dust off the tiny screen, the dual hemispheres of red and white. It was the pokewalker that had come with her copy of SoulSilver. Setting the device beside her on the bed, she began flicking through her DS titles until she found SoulSilver, pulling it out and running her fingers over the cover art of Lugia.
She'd read somewhere on the internet about a set of rules for making a play-through of any pokemon game more interesting. It was called the Nuzlocke challenge. She'd never before tried it because she knew she tended to get very attached to the pokemon she caught and raised and the idea of losing them when they fainted was...mildly terrifying.
But...maybe just this once....
Popping open the case, Cora gently tugged the cartridge free and slotted it into her 3DS, powering on the console and settling herself back against her pillows, drawing her knees up and propping the 3DS against her thighs. Glancing at the icon in the top right of the upper screen, she noted that she had only 1/4 of the battery remaining, but that it should be sufficient to clear the save data and start the game again. Loading the game she waited until the title screen appeared and held down the up, select and B buttons. A menu appeared asking if she wanted to delete all saved data and that once it was done there would be no way to recover it. Telling the system to proceed, Cora yawned and stared once more up at the ceiling as she waited for the game to delete the data, no noticing that the power light had started to flash urgently.
"Now what starter should I pick?" She mused to herself as she began recalling everything she knew about Johto and its pokemon. "Normally I pick the water type, but maybe I should change it up, seeing as it's a whole new challenge and all? Huh, before I begin I should probably grab a drink and some snacks so I don't have to take a break later." Sliding the console onto the bed Cora swung her feet down and stood up bounding up and leaving the room, never noticing the power light give a few more feeble flashes before slowly fading, the screens going black.
~//~
"Okay, I have food, a drink and have been to the bathroom. Time for a marathon gaming session!" After organizing the supplies on her bedside table so they'd be in easy reach while she was playing, Cora leaped back onto the bed, the mattress bouncing beneath her as she wiggled back up to her previous position and picked the 3DS back up. Glancing at the screens she pressed a few buttons and groaned as she realized that it had switched off.
"Oh not good. I hope the game finished deleting before the system died. Otherwise it could be completely screwed." Leaning over the side of the bed, she fished around underneath until her fingers brushed against a cable. Pulling it out, she glanced at the end and shook her head. "Nope, cellphone cord." Another, "Tablet charger. Ah here we are!" Pulling out the thin grey cable, she plugged the end into the socket in the console, swearing softly as she felt a zap. "Ow, hey! No zapping, I'm trying to breathe life back into you here." Her tone was scolding as she sucked on her tingling finger, glaring at the 3DS as she hit the power button, watching the screens flicker back to life.
"Okay, here we go." Holding her breath, she clicked on the icon for SoulSilver, hoping that it would not only load, but also be okay to play. But as she hit the A button, bright light filled her vision, her ears filling with the crackling buzz of electricity as the stinging scent of ozone filled the room. She only had a few seconds to think electrical fire before everything went dark.
~//~
"Hello? I say hello, can you hear me?"
What? Who's that talking? Where am I? Forcing her eyes open, Cora allowed her gaze to track around as she attempted to get her bearings. Not that there was much to see. From what she could tell, she was standing in a small room, though there were no doors, no windows. And the harder she looked, the blurrier everything became around the edges. Weird.
Lifting her gaze, Cora realized that someone was standing in front of her, an older man with a deeply lined face, white hair and eyes such a deep brown they were nearly black. He wore a labcoat over a bright red shirt and neatly pressed chinos...and in his hand he was holding a pokeball!
"Ah, you're awake. I was worried."
"Who are you? Where am I?" Rubbing her aching head, Cora tried to remember what she had been doing before she'd found herself in this place, but found that her memories were fuzzy and that trying to focus on them was rather like trying to hold water in her hands. As hard as she tried, eventually it trickled away.
"I am Professor Oak. But everyone calls me the pokemon professor. Pokemon are creatures that inhabit this world and work and play alongside us."
"You can spare me the lecture Professor, I know all about pokemon." Cora interrupted, folding her arms across her chest and she swore she saw a slight smirk flit across the man's face.
"Very well, Are you a boy or a girl?"
"Are you serious?? I'm a girl, obviously."
"What's your name?"
"Cora."
"Well Cora, I hope you're ready. Your very own pokemon adventure is about to unfold!" Before she could reply, she felt the ground beneath her feet shift before crumbling away completely, causing her to tumble backwards into complete darkness. "Good luck to you!" Professor Oak's voice chased her down into the blackness, and just as she opened her mouth to scream, she felt her body jolt as she opened her eyes and found herself lying in bed. Sitting up, Cora scrubbed her hands over her face, wondering what had just happened? Had it just been a dream? Surely it must have been, for this was her room...wasn't it? Looking around she nodded. There was her desk with her computer sitting on it, currently shut down as she did every night before bed. But...were those her dolls sitting on the shelves? She didn't have pokedolls...did she?
Getting out of bed, she crossed to the wardrobe, opening the door and finding herself staring into a mirror, but the face reflected in it was definitely not the one she knew. Instead of being a short cap of red, her hair was long and a light brown, caught in twin tails on either side of her head. Her eyes were a similar shade of brown instead of their usual dark green.
"Who am I?" She whispered. But the longer she stared at herself, the more the feeling of wrongness dissipated until she simply shrugged and got dressed, wondering why she had been so worried. Not her face? What silliness.
"Cora? Cora!!!!" A woman's voice floated up the stairs and she recognized the sound of her mother's voice.
"Coming!!" Closing the wardrobe, Cora turned and skipped down the stairs, emerging out into the living area where her mother sat at the table finishing her morning tea.
"Good morning mum." She greeted, leaning down to kiss the woman on the cheek.
"There you are darling. Are you okay? I thought I heard you shouting."
"It was nothing. Just a weird dream. I'm fine."
"If you say so dear. Professor Elm just called. He said he'd like to see you at the lab next door, if you have a moment."
"Did he say why?"
"No, just that he had something he wanted to ask you."
"Okay, I'll head over there now."
"Oh! Before you go darling, remember to take your bag, it's hanging in the hall closet."
"Yup, got it, see ya!"
Running through the front door, Cora screeched to a halt as something banged into her legs and she looked down to see a small blue, ball-like pokemon grinning up at her.
"Marill!" Waving it bounced off to where a young man waited nearby before they raced away towards another house in the small town. Laughing softly at Ethan being Ethan, Cora shoved her hands in the pockets of her overalls and hunkered down against the cool wind lashing Newbark Town. Following the path she found herself standing at the door of a large building, pushing it open and slipping inside, grateful to be out of the wind. Wandering further inside, Cora noted the shelves full of research notes, the various aides hunkered over research.
"Ah Cora there you are! I've been waiting for you." Drawn by the male voice, Cora headed right to the back of the lab where Professor Elm was indeed waiting, a smile on his face as she approached.
"Do you know anything about my research?" He questioned, gesturing her to move closer. "As you know, pokemon are carried in pokeballs these days. But before the pokeball was invented, people used to walk with pokemon. Just like your friend Ethan does. Pokeballs are great because you can carry many pokemon. But walking with Pokemon must have some advantages. It could have something to do with how pokemon grow or evolve..."
As the Professor explained his research Cora nodded absently, her eyes tracking around the lab. In a machine nearby, she could see the gleam of three different pokeballs and absently wondered what pokemon were held inside. "So I'm going to give you a pokemon!!"
"Wait, what?" Her attention snapped back to Elm at his announcement. "A pokemon?"
"Can you walk beside this pokemon, outside of its pokeball, to see if this brings any special feelings or bonds between pokemon and people?"
"Uh...yeah I guess so."
"Excellent, that device over there has some pokemon you could choose from." He gestured to the machine with the three balls inside that Cora had been looking at. Before he could escort her over to it, his computer let out a soft dinging sound that had him crossing to it.
"Oh! I got an email." Clicking open the message Cora waited patiently for him to read the contents - she figured it would be rude if she just went and grabbed a pokemon now.
When he was done reading, Elm turned back to Cora. "Hey, listen. I have this acquaintance that people call Mr Pokemon. He keeps finding weird things and raving about his discoveries. Anyway, I just got an email from him saying that this time it's real. It's probably another pokemon egg, but we're still so busy with our pokemon research. Oh I know! Cora, you can go in our place right? Can we count on you?"
Reminding herself that this nutty professor was giving her a pokemon, Cora smiled and nodded.
"Of course you can professor!"
"Great! Choose one of the pokemon over there." As he gestured to the machine, Cora walked over, wiping her suddenly damp palms on her shorts. Pressing a button on the machine a ball rolled into view, a small screen showing the pokemon inside, along with its type.
Hmm, Chikorita, Totodile or Cyndaquil? She mused as she flicked through them. Totodile was cute, but so was Cyndaquil. As much as she liked the look of the cute little water crocodile, she found herself being draw back to the Cyndaquil. As the ball rolled out of the machine and into her hand, she released the creature from inside, white light coalescing into the small fire-mouse.
"Oh! You're so cute!!!!" Overwhelmed, Cora scooped the cyndaquil into her arms and hugged it close, screaming in pain as fire erupted from the creature's back to scorch her arms and hand, causing her to drop it back to the floor where it bounced a couple of times before glaring back up at her.
"Are you all right?" Elm asked and Cora nodded slowly as she rubbed her aching arms.
"It burned me a little."
"Well you possibly frightened him by coming on a little too strong."
"Him?"
"Yes, that cyndaquil there is male. Do you wish to give him a nickname?"
"Yeah, how about Flambe? Cos that's totally what he did to my skin just now."
"Excellent, Flambe it is. So how do you like walking with your pokemon? It's not bad is it? You can take it all the way to Mr Pokemon's house. Now if your pokemon gets hurt you can use this other machine behind me to heal him. Just follow the instructions on the PC."
Turning back to Cora, Elm sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Mr Pokemon goes everywhere and finds rarities. His house just a small ways north of Cherrygrove. Thanks for doing this Cora, I'm counting on you."
"Sure, no problem professor. C'mon Flambe." Girl and pokemon eyed each other with a sense of mutual distrust, the small creature folding its tiny arms and turning its head away. Smiling at the professor, Cora dropped to the floor and hissed, "Look you, I am not playing around. Either you get up and walk out of here with me, or I'll just pick you up and cram you back into your pokeball and then duct tape it shut." Small black eyes stared up at her as though gauging her seriousness.
"Pah, whatever." It said as it clambered back to its feet and looked at her expectantly.
"Did you just? Professor! I think my pokemon just talked!"
"What?" Running over the professor looked down at cyndaquil who merely tilted his head quizzically at the professor and let out a soft "Quil?"
"I swear he did! He said whatever!"
"Haha sounds like you're bonding already. Pokemon can't talk, but the closer a trainer and their pokemon grow, the more easily they understand their body language and inflections, making it seem like they can talk to us. Looks like you and Flambe are getting to know each other already! Keep up the good work."
"But I...yeah you're right. Let's go Flambe, Cherrygrove is close but still a fairly decent hike away."
With Flambe at her heels, Cora left the lab, only to run straight into Ethan, as though he were waiting for her. "Oh Cora you got a cute pokemon! You should go show it to your mum! Bye!" Shaking her head, Cora led her reluctant new partner back home.
"Mum I'm back!"
"Cora? Oh, you have a pokemon. Professor Elm gave it to you?"
"Yeah, he wants me to run an errand for him and figured it would be easier if I had a pokemon with me. Although I don't think Flambe likes me yet."
"Well give it time sweetheart. Oh, before I forget, your pokegear came back from the repair shop." Picking up a package she handed it to her daughter who opened it and pulled out something that looked like a flip-phone with several slots on the side as though waiting for cards.
"Great, thanks mum."
"So what's the errand?"
"Oh, I need to go to see Mr Pokemon and pick up whatever awesome discovery he's found this time."
"That sounds difficult, but Professor Elm wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important."
"Yeah, Well, I better get to it. See you when I get back."
Leaving the house, Cora looked down at Flambe and sighed softly before turning and starting down the road that would lead to Cherrygrove city, the pokemon trailing reluctantly behind. Wondering if her pokemon would ever accept her, let alone trust her, Cora never noticed the boy lurking beside the pokemon lab, staring in through the window with hungry, covetous eyes...
~//~
Here ends part one. Next time, the journey to Mr Pokemon's house and the reason behind Cyndaquil's bad attitude. Stay tuned!!!
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