Ask to Join Journey through Johto!

[BloodRedRobot]

Dante nodded with a grin and quickly ran over and jumped into the stands, and sat next to Jake and Sonny.

<First gym battle I've ever seen...where's the popcorn?> Dante joked.

<Oh, please. You should see Galar gym battles. Huge stadiums, massive crowds, broadcast live on tv, smell of food...>

Sonny said casually.

Dante stared at him in awe.

<...you're kidding.>

<Nope.>

 

[JC111414]

Rick sat down next to Jake. "This is going to be interesting," he said looking at Hoothoot and Pidgey flying around.

He raised a thumbs up to Victoria and said, "Good luck."

"What about you, Jake, are you challenging gym leaders as well?" he asked turning his attention to Jake.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm not...I'm technically just on a vacation to this region from Galar. Thought I was here to deliver an egg to Professor Elm, turns out I get a break to travel around Johto...oh, and keep the egg." He said, and opened his bag a bit to reveal the brown and tan egg. "Hm...looks like it might hatch relatively soon..." he thought out loud, as Dante looked at the egg curiously.

Jake shut the bag and looked back at the battle, as Sonny kicked his feet back and forth a bit.

 

[JC111414]

"An Eevee?" he thought but he also said it loud enough for him to hear it. "That is cool. I heard tales of Galar being a big region, with many different locations completely different than Kanto and Johto!" he said remembering how a traveler once spoke to him about the region.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

"Well I guess that's true...but to a local like me, I guess it seems kinda small after a while. Its funny really...its a 'big' region, but only around seven hundred people live in it." He said.

"I think it's an eevee, but you can never be sure...breeding can be weird sometimes. This one's parents were an Espeon and a Manectric..." he said in thought.

"Breeder dropped it off at the pokemon center where my mom works, it was the last one of the litter...she told me to take it to Professor Magnolia since I'm her assistant...next thing I know, I'm on a boat ride to Goldenrod City. So...I guess in an odd way, it always belonged to me."

 

[JC111414]

"Seven hundred?! That is a lot of people," he said, "I have only been to several small towns and cities. Nothing as big as what you are saying."

"That is interesting. I have a feeling it is a Eevee as well," he said. He took out his pokeball that contained Scyther. He sent it out.

"Okay, Scyther, now we watch the match, because soon it will be our turn," he said.

 

[BlueMew392]

Falkner smriked a bit when Victoria sent out Hoothoot. "Starting off with a flying-type yourself, I see. I like your style," he said, showing his affinity for flying-types.

"The battle between Victoria, from Lumiose City, and Falkner, the Violet City Gym Leader, is about to begin!" The referee announced, "Each trainer will only use two Pokémon, and the match will be over when both of one side's Pokémon are unable to continue. Furthermore, only the challenger may substitute Pokémon. Now, let the battle begin!"

"Now Hoothoot, use Peck!" Victoria said to Hoothoot.

Hoothoot proceeded fly towards the Pidgey with the intent of hitting it with a Peck attack.

"Fly up!" Falkner ordered, and Pidgey did just that to dodge Hoothoot's attack.

"After it!" Victoria shouted.

Hoothoot flew after Pidgey, and from there, the match became a sky battle. Hoothoot would try to hit Pidgey with Peck, but Pidgey kept dodging.

"Use Wing Attack!" Falkner shouted.

Pidgey seized dodging and flew towards Hoothoot for a Wing Attack. Since Hoothoot was busy trying to land his Pecks, he failed to react in time and got slammed by Pidgey's wing. However, since Pidgey was now close, Hoothoot used this opportunity to launch a Peck attack, which landed successfully. An exchange of Pecks and Wing Attacks began, but it soon ended when Hoothoot delivered a clean Peck on Pidgey's chest. Pidgey fell from the air and landed flat on the ground, now fainted from the final blow it received.

"Pidgey is unable to battle! Hoothoot is the winner!" The referee declared.

"Spectacular, Hoothoot!" Victoria said happily to Hoothoot.

Hoothoot landed back on the ground before turning to Victoria. "Hoothoot!" He chirped happily.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Dante grinned widely and hopped up onto the seats' railing, and cheered happily as he clapped his hands together, and beat his tail against the rail.

Jake gave Victoria a smile, and gave her a thumbs up, as Sonny continued to kick his feet back and forth.

 

[EmoKitty21]

Storm smiled, and noded as Sean left. He was hoping that Sean would come with him, but the time away would be helpfull with getting to know his own feelings. With the goodbye out of the way, Storm walked with Alice to the clothing store. He knew what style he wanted, and went straight for the dresses. He decided to go for a short cold shoulder dress that has an A line skirt. The dress seemed to fit her very well considering that it did not need to be altered.

Alice on the other hand decided to get a hat. This hat happened to be a dark blue ballcap. It had cherry blossoms on the front. Once she had chosen her hat, she went to pay for it, and wore it out. Storm did the same with the dress he bought. He was glad that he could pay for things like the dress without the restraint of money.

Once their shopping was done, the two siblings, decided to head to the accessory department. Once there, it seemed to have stired Dawn out of her sleep. She nearly floated off of Jolz, and started to inspect everything. There were hats, scarves, and even some clothing that pokemon could wear. It seemed that the eeveeultion, was in her element. What she found was a dark purple bow that she brought to Storm. "I see you found something you like Dawn. Well lets see how you look." With that he bent down to her level, and tied the bow around her ear. "There you go, you look great with it. I think we should buy one or two. What do you say." Dawn however turned to Joltz, and as she wanted his opinion. "So what do you think Joltz?" With that she done this tilt of her head, that showed the sparkle in her eye.

 

[JC111414]

Rick gave Victoria a thumbs up. He was thinking of ways to deal with that Pidgey when he heard the referee say a two pokemon battle. He didn't had any other pokemon, but he was confident that Scyther would be more than enough.

 

[BlueMew392]

Victoria turned towards the seating area, where Jake and Rick are at, and saw them give her a thumbs up, to which she smiled in response before turning back to the battlefield.

Falkner returned his Pidgey back into its Pokéball. "You did great, now rest up," Falkner said to the Pokéball before putting it away and directing his attention back at Victoria, "That Hoothoot of yours was rather impressive."

"Thanks," Victoria said in regards to Falkner's complement about Hoothoot, "Truth be told, I actually caught it just recently."

"I see, and yet you two appear to have already formed a bond with each other," Falkner said and pulled out another Pokéball, "But let's see if your bond is enough to take out my final Pokémon!" He tossed the ball and out came a Pidgeotto.

"A Pidgeotto!" Victoria said. She could tell that this Pidgeotto was a strong one, which made her a bit nervous. "It looks strong, but we're just going to have to do our best," she said, "Ready, Hoothoot?"

"Hoot!" Hoothoot chirped as he was faced towards the Pidgeotto.

"Alright, use Peck!" Victoria called out.

Hoothoot flew towards the Pidgeotto with a Peck attack that was ready to hit.

"Pidgeotto, use Aerial Ace!" Falkner ordered.

With great speed, Pidgeotto charged towards Hoothoot with white streaks of light surrounding its body and quickly flew past the small flying-type, which caught Hoothoot by surprise. At first, it seemed like nothing happened, but after a few seconds, Hoothoot fell to the ground and fainted.

"Hoothoot is unable to battle! The winner is Pidgeotto!" The referee announced.

Victoria was in shock. Not only because Hoothoot lost, but also because of how quickly Pidgeotto took him out, especially in one hit. Granted, Hoothoot did take some damage from the battle with Pidgey prior, but still, it was enough to catch her by surprise.

Bulbasaur was also surprised like his trainer.

 

[JC111414]

Rick was also surprised that Hoothoot fell to such ease. Pidgeotto was going to be a bigger threat than Faulkner's previous pokemon. Rick gulped, but he still encouraged Victoria to win. "Don't worry, you still have one left," he told her, but in a sense he was the one who was worried the most.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Joltz and Arboria walked along the store, looking at the many cute accessories and dresses for Pokemon, while Joltz found a snazzy little black bowtie. Joltz felt the familiar comfort of Dawn leave his back as he watched her get the cute dark purple bow to her ear. A blush crept to his face as he saw how well that bow fit her and really brought out her eyes. He nodded and couldn't help but stare, try as he might to rip his gaze from her. Arboria just chuckled softly as Joltz gave her a deadpan look before going back to staring at Dawn's beauty.

Meanwhile, Sean had figured out what his Hoppip and Chinchou were like and had trained them enough to actually do well in a battle against the first gym. Whatever gym that was. He kind of forgot. He returned his team and walked back to the dress store.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake bit his lip as he watched Hoothoot get knocked out of the match.

"You can do it! Don't give up!" He shouted encouragingly.

Sonny looked at him, and slowly stood up on the seat to watch the match better.

Dante stood up on the railing.

<BUST HIS KNEECAPS!!>

<...>

Sonny looked at the Aipom.

<...what? I'm being encouraging!> Dante said as he looked back at the Raboot with an eye roll.

 

[BlueMew392]

Victoria returned Hoothoot back in its Pokéball. "Rest easy now," she said to the ball, "You've battled spectacularly." She then put the Pokéball away, looked towards her friends after hearing them cheer for her, and then looked down at her Bulbasaur. "Looks like this battle all lies down to you," she said with a smile.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur said with determination and stepped into the battlefield.

"A Bulbasaur? You are aware that grass-types are at a huge disadvantage against flying-types, right?" Falkner asked, starting to have some second thoughts about Victoria.

"Oh believe me, I am well aware," Victoria cleared up, "But being at a disadvantage is nothing that my Bulbasaur can't handle."

"We'll see. Pidgeotto, Aerial Ace!" Falkner ordered.

Pidgeotto charged at Bulbasaur with white streaks of light once again surrounding it.

"Dodge it!" Victoria called out.

Bulbasaur jumped to the side to dodge Pidgeotto's attack. After it missed, the flying-type proceeded to turn back around and try again.

"Remember Bulbasaur, wait for the right time to charge!" Victoria said to the grass-type, to which he nodded. As soon as Pidgeotto was close enough, Victoria yelled out, "Dodged, and use Headbutt!"

Bulbasaur jumped to the side once again, but this time he jumped back towards Pidgeotto and slammed it on the side with a Headbutt.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

<Ya think he'll win?> the Aipom asked the Raboot curiously.

<Mm...dunno. He might be strong enough, but type advantages are a major factor...>

<...ill bet you five bucks.>

<...on who to win?>

<...yes.>

<...I swear to Arceus if you keep that up the rest of this trip, I WILL set your tail on fire.>

Dante smiled innocently.

 

[JC111414]

Rick and Scyther were anxious. Rick looked at Scyther, who was fidgeting his hands. He didn't understand pokemon, but he could read his actions and expressions. He knew Scyther was nervous about the battle. He patted his back. "Don't worry, you'll do great. I know it," he said.

 

[BlueMew392]

Pidgeotto got knocked away by Bulbasaur's Headbutt, but it managed to pull itself together and fly back up in the air.

"Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!" Falkner called out, and Pidgeotto charged at Bulbasaur with intense speed.

"Knock it out of the air by using Vine Whip!" Victoria called out as well.

Bulbasaur brought out his Vine Whips and tried to hit Pidgeotto with them. However, Pidgeotto was able to dodge them with ease and managed to land a direct hit on Bulbasaur, making him tumble back from the collision.

"Bulbasaur!" Victoria cried out as she watch her grass-type get hit. She watched Pidgeotto fly back to it's side and knew this was their chance. "Quickly, now's our chance! Use Vine Whip to slam it down to the ground!"

Bulbasaur got back up and used his Vine Whips to grab Pidgeotto by its talons before it could fly back up, which caught it by surprise. From there, Bulbasaur would pull the flying-type down and slam it on the ground hard.

"Great job!" Victoria cheered.

Falkner was also left surprised by the course of action. "Hurry back up, Pidgeotto and use Aerial Ace!"

Pidgeotto got back up, shook a bit to pulled itself together once more, and flew towards Bulbasaur with great speed. Bulbasaur was then hit by a super effective Aerial Ace and tumbled back to the ground.

"Oh no, Bulbasaur!" Victoria said in worry.

Having taken a lot of damage, Bulbasaur slowly got up, struggling a bit and now covered in scuffs. Pidgeotto started to fly back up on its side to prepare to launch the final blow.

"Now, finish this Pidgeotto!" Falkner ordered.

"I don't think so! Bulbasaur, Vine Whip like before!" Victoria ordered as well.

Bulbasaur used Vine Whip to grab on to Pidgeotto's talons and tried to pull it down like before. Although, this time the flying-type was not willing to go down so easily as it flapped its wings as hard as it could to keep itself in the air.

"Keep at it, Pidgeotto! Don't let it bring you down!" Falkner said.

"Stand your ground, Bulbasaur! This is our chance!" Victoria encouraged the grass-type.

It was now a tug of war between Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto. Both desperately trying to triumph over the other. As the tug of war continued, particles of sort were being sucked into Bulbasaur's bulb as if he was charging up for something, which was unbeknownst to Falkner and Pidgeotto.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Dante watched Bulbasaur's bulb as it charged up, and slowly grinned to himself as he did.

He didn't mention it, and instead opted to sit back and watch in curiousity, as his tail swished a bit.

<This is gonna be goooood....> he said quietly as he snickered, which caused Sonny to raise an eyebrow and follow the Aipom's gaze.

His eyes widened as he stared at the bulb, and stood up to watch intently.

 

[JC111414]

Rick was on the edge of his seat. The fight was getting pretty intense, and he knew she had to have a plan. He waited to see if her plan was about to be reveal, and he saw the bulb charging. He came up with a hypothesis. She was going to use Solar Beam. He looked at Jake, and he saw his grin, and knew he was right. But Faulkner did not seem to have notice it, which might favor Victoria.

 

[BlueMew392]

Bulbasaur was dragged a bit during the tug of war, making it seem like Pidgeotto was gaining the upper hand.

"Your Bulbasaur fought valiantly Victoria, but this little tug of war proves that my Pidgeotto outclasses it. So I would suggest giving up," Falkner recommended.

After hearing what Falkner said, Victoria looked down, her fedora covering her eyes. It looked like she was about to give up, that is until a smirk appeared on her face. "Who ever said we were trying to win this little tussle?" She said as she looked back up at Falkner with her smirk, "If you recall, I told to my Bulbasaur to wait for the right time to 'charge', and that this was our opportunity."

"What!?" Falkner looked at Bulbasaur closely and finally noticed the particles being sucked into his bulb, which finished collecting a second later and made the inside of the bulb glow. "Pidgeotto, get out there!" Falkner shouted.

"Too late," Victoria said, "Bulbasaur, Solarbeam!"

Bulbasaur fired the Solarbeam that he had been charging at Pidgeotto, who had no time to react. A big beam of solar energy was shot out of the grass-type's bulb and engulfed the flying-type, resulting into an explosion shortly after. Pidgeotto fell to the ground and fainted.

"Pidgeotto is unable to continue! The winner is Bulbasaur, and the victory goes to Victoria from Lumiose City!" The referee declared.

"We did it, Bulbasaur!" Victoria said to her grass-type.

After retracting his Vine Whips, Bulbasaur turned to his trainer and rushed to her to jump into her arms. "Bulba~!"

Victoria opened her arms and caught Bulbasaur. She lifted him up for a bit before giving him a hug to celebrate their victory.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake smiled widely and clapped, as he stood up.

Dante grinned and hopped up and down in excitement.

He grabbed onto the rail with his tail and swung around it, and held onto it with his tail as he watched.

Sonny cracked a small smile as he stood up, and adjusted his paws in his pockets.

A semi bright flash of light then emitted from Jake's backpack for a second or two.

Sonny (who was stood next to it) blinked and looked over.

<....huh.>

He commented to himself, as he looked around for anything that could have been the source of the light.

 

[EmoKitty21]

Dawn chuckled as she saw the look that Joltz gave her. She really enjoyed the way he looked at her, and treated her. "Thank you Joltz. I think Storm and Alice are ready to head out." With that Dawn walked up to Joltz and rubbed up against the electric type.

Storm smiled as he saw his pokemon's affection for the other eeveelution. Grabbing a couple of more things, he went to register to pay for them all. "Hey guys you ready to head out?"

Alice had on her new hat. It was a cute on with an aipom on the front of it. She noded towards her brother and went to pay for her selections of items. They mainly consists of things for her Eevee, and a couple outfits for herself.

 

[JC111414]

Rick stood up and clapped alongside Jake. He jumped over the seating area and ran towards Victoria. "I knew you could do it," he said. He hugged her, not knowing how she would react to his gesture and quickly backed away, as his cheeks turned bright pink. Scyther followed Rick to where Victoria was. Faulkner saw Rick arriving, and upon seeing Scyther, he smirked.

 

[BlueMew392]

Victoria set Bulbasaur down, and before she knew it, she received a hug from Rick after he rushed towards her from the seating area. A blush appeared on her face as he hugged her, and it remained after he seized hugging and back away. "Th-Thank you," she said before clearing her throat, making her blush disappear, "Thank you, all of you, for cheering for me." She looked at Rick, Jake, and their Pokémon before looking down to Bulbasaur. "And most importantly..." She said before going on to pick up Bulbasaur again, "I have to thank you and Hoothoot for battling hard for this victory."

"Saur Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur said cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Falkner returned Pidgeotto into its Pokéball. "You battled great, Pidgeotto," he said to the ball before approaching Victoria.

Victoria turned to Falkner's side of the field and saw him approaching her.

"Victoria," Falkner said after he approached her, "It's been a while since a challenger has outwitted me like that, especially with a grass-type. So as proof of your victory here at the Violet City gym, I give you the Zephyr Badge." He then hands Victoria the Zephyr Badge.

"Thank you very much! It was an honor battling you," Victoria said before accepting her badge. She then showed it to Bulbasaur, who she's still carrying. "Look Bulbasaur, our first Johto gym badge," she said.

"Bulba," Bulbasaur said as he looked at the badge.

 

[JC111414]

Rick smiled at them. He saw Victoria blushing when he hugged. He turned to Faulkner, signaling his finger at him. "If you don't mind, I will also like to challenge you to a gym battle."

Faulkner went over to a healing station on the far right of the gym. "Greetings," he began, "I saw you enter before, but I didn't catch your name."
"My name is Rick from Viridian City," Rick went to the challenger side.

"Good. As you probably know, my name is Faulkner, and I am the Violet City Gym. Now tell me how many badges do you have, young man," Faulkner asked.
"None," Rick responded.

"I'll use the same pokemon that I used against Victoria. You might think you know them well by seeing the battle, but I still have surpirses left.
"One thing," Rick said looking at Scyther, "I only have one Pokemon."

The referee looked at Faulkner and Rick, who were both on their respective spots. "This is not allowed. Battles are usually done with two pokemon," the Referee looked at Faulkner.

Faulkner smiled. "I'll allow this one exception. A one-on-one gym battle," he grabbed a pokeball, "Ready?"
"Yes," he returned Scyther to his pokeball, "I'm ready."

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake and his two pokemon stayed in the stands, and then scooched over to give Victoria and Bulbasaur more room to sit.

"Great job out there," Jake smiled to her, as Dante jumped off of the railing and landed near Bulbasaur with his signature grin.

<I'd totally have done the same move. Sneak attack, that they aren't expectin'.> he commented while he swished his tail.

Sonny rolled his eyes slightly,

 

[BlueMew392]

As Rick challenged Falkner, Victoria set Bulbasaur down, took out her badge case, and put her newly acquired Zephyr Badge in it. She admired it for a bit before turning to Rick. "Good luck," she said to him with a smile.

Victoria and Bulbasaur made their way to the seating area. "Thank you," she said to Jake with a smile after hearing him congratulate her. She sat down next to Jake and his Pokémon and admired the badge in her badge case once more.

Bulbasaur sat next to Victoria and saw Dante land next to him. <Well, let me tell ya, it wasn't exactly easy to pull off. We were lucky they didn't noticed in time.> Bulbasaur replied to Dante, <Anyways, glad you enjoyed the show.>

 

[BloodRedRobot]

"Anytime," Jake smiled as he sat down, and looked back to the battlefield.

<It was alright...but it could maybe use a bigger crowd. I mean sheesh, it's like an elementary school gym in here. Heck, Sonny made Galar gym battles sound epic. Definitely added to my bucketlist.>

<Bucketlist? You have a bucketlist?> the irish-accented Raboot raised an eyebrow. <Of what?>

<Places I wanna go. Castelia City, Lumiose City, Ryme City, Hammerlocke, Eterna Forest...>

<Lotta cities on that list, huh?>

<What can I say? I was born in Goldenrod. You might be able to take the pokemon out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the pokemon.>

<You were born in Goldenrod...what was growing up there like?>

Dante hesitated.

<...oh, look, Scyther is gonna battle! Woo, go Scyther!!> the Aipom changed the subject quickly, and hopped back onto the railing.

Sonny blinked and looked at Bulbasaur with a raised eyebrow, silently asking a question.

Out of everyone's eyesight, Jake's backpack flashed for a second or two again, before it went dim once more.

 

[JC111414]

Rick looked at Victoria saying good luck. "Thanks," he said. 'I'll need it', he whispered to himself. Scyther felt the uneasiness of his trainer, but Rick smiled at his pokemon.

"Let the battle between Faulkner, the Violet City Gym Leader, and Rick, the Challenger from Viridian City, begin!"

"Go, Pidgeotto," Faulkner sent out Pidgeotto, as he flew around the gym.

"You using the same one?" Rick said, "Fine, I'll use Scyther," Rick sent out Scyther, as he began to hover over the ground.

"A bug type? I guess people nowadays don't respect flying types," he said, "Bringing grass and bugs was a big mistake. I might have fallen for that Solar Beam, but this battle will be different. Pidgeotto use Aerial Ace!"

Pidgeotto's wings began to glow as he charged at Scyther. "Scyther, dodge it," Rick commanded, but Pidgeotto slammed against Scyther, landing a direct hit. Scyther fell on his knees.

"Scyther, can you stand?" he asked. Scyther nodded. "Good, use Wing Attack," Scyther launched air-based projectiles at Pidgeotto.

"Dodge and use Aerial Ace once more," Faulkner said.

Pidgeotto dodged the attack and with tremendous speed, managed to land another direct hit. "Your Scyther doesn't compare to my Pidgeotto in terms of speed," Faulkner said.

Scyther fell to the ground, grunting and barely able to stand up. Rick looked in horror. His first gym battle was going for the worst. He needed a plan before Faulkner landed the last move and ended the match in an instant.

 

[BlueMew392]

Victoria put away her badge case after admiring her badge and watch Rick's Gym Battle.

Bulbasaur listened to Dante and then turned to Sonny, also questioning about the Aipom changing the subject. He didn't say anything on the matter, however, and just opted to watching the battle at hand.

After watching Pidgeotto outclass Scyther in both speed and power, Victoria started to become worried. "Oh, no. Scyther can't endure another hit," she said before shouting to Rick, "Don't give up! You can still turn this battle around!"

 

[JC111414]

Rick stood there silently. He felt as time began to slow down. He looked upwards to see Scyther staring back at him. Scyther smiled. He heard as Victoria shouted at him. He heard the words echo on his mind. He knew he could turn it around, but would it work?

'I have to try,' he said to himself. He looked at Victoria and smiled. "Thanks."

Faulkner saw Rick's expression change as Rick looked directly at Faulkner. Faulkner looked at Pidgeotto. "Pigeotto, finish this with Twister," Faulkner commanded.

"Quick, use Double Team," Rick said to Scyther. Scyther multiplied himself to create shadow versions of himself. Pidgeotto sent a tornado-like attack at Scyther, hitting multiple clones, but not the original. "Now use agility," Rick said. Scyther began to gain momentum.

"Don't let him gain more speed, use Wing Attack," Faulkner said. Pidgeotto began to send gusts of wind at Scyther, but it was too late. Scyther was faster than Pidgeotto. "Now, finish it with Slash," Rick said.

Scyther's claw began to glow. "Dodge it," Faulkner said. Pidgeotto tried to dodge it, but Scyther was too fast and landed a direct hit, making Pidgeotto crash against the ground. The referee went to check.

"Come on, Pidgeotto, stand up," Faulkner pleaded. Smoke was covering the area around Pidgeotto, and no one knew if he fainted until the smoke began to clear up.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Joltz blushed furiously as Dawn rubbed up against him and he returned the gesture, with Arboria sighing before her ears flickered. She heard her trainer's footsteps. She knew those footsteps from anywhere. She serenely walked out of the shop and saw him on his PokeGear. Something was wrong, as she could tell by the smell he was excreting. He got off the phone and his face was pretty pale. He returned Arboria quickly and went inside to find Storm and Alice checking out. He walked over to them, a look of apology and worry on his face.

"I'm sorry to leave so soon, but something came up with my mother. I have to go. Here," he gave Storm and Alice a little group hug before he looked back at Joltz. Joltz looked at Dawn apologetically and licked her face before rubbing up against her. With that goodbye kiss, Sean returned Joltz and, again, apologized to his two new friends. "I'm so sorry, but I have to go. I may see you guys around later."

With that, he ran out of the shop and a Pidgeot came down to pick him up.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Sonny and Dante watched as the smoke slowly started to dissipate, as the latter coughed and rubbed his eyes with his paws to get the feeling of smoke out of them, and stumbled a bit as he did, and landed in Victoria's lap as he switched to his tail.

Sonny looked at the Aipom with a small smirk, and a chuckle. <Amateur.>

Dante moved his tail out of the way of one of his eyes and glared at the Raboot.

<Listen, not everyone can be a fire type and be used to smoke, longears.>

<I know. Doesn't mean I can't relish when it has it's benefits, though.>

Dante huffed and slowly sat up on Victoria's knee, before he blinked a few times to make sure the smoke was gone.

<Ya think that's bad? Try getting pecked in the face by a Cramorant...who you were forced into getting along with from that point on.>

<I'm guessing that's another member of my new 'family' back in Galar?>

<Yup. Charlie. I care about him, but...we all think he wasn't the smartest chick in the nest. At least...we hope he wasn't, or i'd hate to see his siblings if he has any.> Sonny shuddered a bit.

<Regular old see, catch on sight?>

<Nah. Word of advice, listen to people when they say "don't feed the wild pokemon"...otherwise they'll want more, then they'll snatch your trainer's phone, fly into the pond with it, your Corvisquire buddy will have to go fight in midair for it, and your trainer will have to catch the problem child just to get their stuff back.>

<...So all this and more happened in Galar and I missed it all.>

<Mmhm.>

<so Charlie's the problematic one?>

<It's...kinda? Sometimes? Baltimore's the helpful one, Scamp's alright, Fabian's okay until he sees a girl, Charlie is 'slow'...and then I told you about Chester.> Sonny shuddered.

Dante was quiet, as he tilted his head to the side.

<And don't get me wrong, Jake helps a lot...And Baltimore is hopefully keeping the others in check back home while helping Jake's dad patrol the Wild Area, but now there's you, and anyone else that tags along, and now this kid-> the Raboot motioned to the backpack that contained the egg.

Sonny paused, and took a deep breath.

<...you...alright...?> Dante asked, as he looked at the Galarian pokemon.

<Just...yeah. Just...stressed. That's all. Just...a bit stressed.> the Raboot rubbed his forehead with a paw.

<But...i'll be fine. I've made it this far, I might as well keep going.> Sonny said and tried to take his mind off it, and looked at the battlefield.

Dante was quiet as he swayed his tail a bit, and slowly did the same.

As if on que, the backpack emitted another unnoticed flash.

Any minute now.

 

[JC111414]

After the smoke begins to clear out, Pidgeotto was still standing. Rick and Scyther looked in shock as Faulkner saw his pokemon had hold on. Faulkner held his arm up. "Pidgeotto is standing, but he can't move. He is far too weak," Faulkner returned Pidgeotto back to his pokeball. The referee looked at Faulkner and nodded.

"The winner is Rick, the challenger from Viridian City!" the referee raised Rick's hand alongside his.

Rick couldn't believe it. Faulkner walked towards him and handed him the badge. "Here, your first badge. Congratulations. You beat me with a disadvantage. I'm impressed. Good luck on your journey," he said.

"Thanks," he said as he clipped the badge in his jacket and ran towards Jake and Victoria. "Look! My first badge!" he said as Scyther ran alongside him.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake smiled as he stood, and looked at the badge curiously.

"Woah...first badge I've seen in person and not on the telly," he said as he looked at it.

Dante looked at Sonny with a raised eyebrow.

<...Galarian slang.>

<Ohhhhh....>

<You'll have to get used to it. He uses it, I use it sometimes, the rest of the team uses it...>

<Alright...no promises though.>

Sonny rolled his eyes slightly as Jake grabbed his backpack and slung it around his shoulders.

"Next is...Azalea Town, right?" He asked as he stretched.

"Bugsy's a bug type gym leader..."

He thought out loud, before he turned to look at Sonny and Dante.

"...you guys can borrow Sonny or Dante if it'll help," he offered with a shrug, and smiled.

Dante grinned widely at the opportunity, as Sonny huffed, because he knew that his own typing, fire, was more effective then Dante's normal type.

 

[JC111414]

Rick looked at the new badge as he heard Jake speak about the next town. "Bugs? Huh, I never expected a gym leader to use bug types. Most people find them weak or repulsive. I really want to meet someone that uses and loves bug types as much as me," Rick said adjusting his backpack. "Is ok," he said responding to Jake, "I'll find something in between towns."

 

[BlueMew392]

Victoria and Bulbasaur were both on the edge of their seats during the climax of the battle, with Victoria petting Dante's head after he landed on her lap, but both soon sighed in relief once Falkner forfeited.

"Congratulations!" Victoria said Rick after he ran towards them, "I knew you could win!" She then got up from her seat and heard Jake ask if Azalea Town was where the next gym was. "I believe so," she replied as she slipped on her bag as well and then heard his offer about borrowing Sonny and Dante, "I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to also decline. I have Rapidash and Hoothoot to take care of any bug-types the gym might throw."

Just as they seem to be ready to leave, a thought came to Victoria's mind. "Before we depart to the next town, we should probably head to the Pokémon Center to heal our Pokémon," she suggested, "They're mostly likely exhausted from all the battling."

<I'll say.> Bulbasaur said with a bit of a tired tone.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake smiled and nodded in understanding as the group started to walk out of the gym, as Dante scampered up Victoria's shoulder with his signature grin, and swished his tail.

<You feelin' alright?> Sonny asked him as he looked over, and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we should probably head to the pokemon center...I don't do gyms, but I've seen how tired pokemon can get." Jake said as they exited the building.

His backpack flashed again.

He stopped and blinked, as he looked around.

Sonny stared at the backpack.

"...oh, the egg!" Jake realized, and quickly sat on his knees, as he took the backpack off and sat it on the ground, and unzipped the backpack as Dante tilted his head to the side.

Jake carefully pulled out the incubator, and opened it to carefully pull out the rapidly cracking brown and tan egg, and carefully set it on the ground in front of him.

He took a small scooch back, as the egg continued to break.

Then, a bright light filled the near area for a few seconds.

When the light faded, a newborn Eevee stood where the egg was.

It slowly unflattened its ears, and opened its eyes.

"Woah..." Jake slowly smiled as the eevee blinked and looked at him, and tilted its head to the side.

"Hey..." Jake said calmly, as he looked at it.

It raised an eyebrow at him as it sat, and swished its tail.

"Vee...?" It questioned.

"....I should probably uh..."

Jake said awkwardly, and carefully picked up the eevee.

He then looked at it carefully.

"...male." he said after he checked, and blushed in embarrassment.

"Well...welcome to the team." He smiled at the eevee, and carefully set it down.

 

[JC111414]

Rick looked at Victoria blushing, "Thanks." He followed Victoria and Jake outside when the egg began to open. Rick sat next to Jake and saw the Eevee popping out of the egg. "Nice, congrats," he told Jake. Rick was happy and he hoped to get an egg in the near future as well.