♬ •♩ ·.·´¯`·.·♭•♪♬ •♩ ·.·´¯`·.·♭•♪ Devin ♪ •♭·.·´¯`·.·♩ •♬♪ •♭·.·´¯`·.·♩ •♬
[from woods]
Devin came into the pokemon center, soaked and tired, but with an objective. He went around to ask trainers, hiding from the rain, to exchange notes on the pokemon he'd captured just a short while ago. He found a few trainers who had captured shroomish in the past, and one with a fully evolved breloom. And some with skitty, mareep, even one with a remoraid. Houndour was a much harder find...
"My dad used to have a houndoom," A younger
boy said, thinking back. "I don't know much about it though. It's an old lazy dog, all gray in the muzzle and stuff."
"
I see... Well, thank you anyway," Devin sighed. Fire types were really hard to find, weren't they?
"If don't mind me asking, can I battle it? Your houndour?"
"
Houndour?"
"Well, I've got six pokemon, so maybe a full party battle? I only ever get one on one battles, and a lot of people won't battle a kid, because I'm twelve--so I can't
possibly have great pokemon. But if you're asking around, then you're a rookie too, right?"
"
I guess. But I only have five pokemon, and my remoraid can't battle..." Devin blinked in a tired state.
"I guess it is kinda hard for fish-like pokemonto battle on land. Alright. How about a four on four? And if you win, I'll give my dad a call and he can tell you more about houndour. He's in Eidolon Town right now, so... I can't just ask him to come down here."
"
Ya, sure thing!" Devin quickly agreed. "
But what happens if I loose?" That was a good question...
"That's easy! If you loose, then you help me catch a psychic type pokemon!" That was... an odd request. "Psychic pokemon are crafty, and they like to play tricks or teleport to escape. So I thought that if I have some one else there, we can team up and catch one!"
"
Sure... I guess," Devin said.
- - - - - - - - -
"So the rules are simple: Four on four battle, switch outs allowed at the start of each round, and the battle is over when all pokemon from one side is unable to battle."
"
Sounds easy enough to follow," Devin said (really only half understanding).
"I'll go first then." The boy went across to the opposite side of the indoor battle ring. Small, but enough to get the job done. "Drilbur! Go!" A young pokemon was called out.
"
Skitty!" Devin called up. The match was set. "
Use sing!"
"Metal sound!" Drilbur's screeching sound overwhelmed the room, sing didn't even hit a high enough pitch to reach drilbur. "Bet ya didn't expect that from a kid, huh?"
"
Assist!" Devin pushed for a more aggressive move. Skitty glowed a moment, taking the form of absorb--a super effective move.
"Metal claw!" Drilbur hit hard on skitty, sending it flying back.
"
Copy cat!" Skitty charged in with long and steely claws.
"Dig!" Drilbur disappeared under the field. Skitty stopped, looking around with confusion. "Dig up now!" A surprise below attack.
"
Assist!" Skitty glowed once more for a random pick, and coughed out a hideous, black smog.
"Rapid spin!" Drilbur blew away the smog before any affect could be done.
'
Dammit! He's faster than me!' Devin cringed. "
Assist!"
"Rapid spin!" Drilbur leaped up and over, hitting skitty with a series of fast attacks.
"
Assist!" Skitty threw out a water gun attack. Now it was a stand off. Moments of looking down the other before both pokemon went down in a tie. Now it was time for round two...
"Starly! Let's go!"
"
Houndour!" Devin called out his tired pokemon. The match was set. "
Fire spin!" Houndour was about to launch the attack when paralysis set in and stopped it.
"Quick attack!" the bird pokemon swooped down to smack into houndour. In one hit, it was down for the count.
"
Wait, what happened?" Devin stood confused. "
Houndour was a lot stronger in the woods..."
"It's next round!" The kid called out. "I'm Sticking with Starly!"
"
Mareep!" The sheep pokemon came out. "
Thunder shock!"
"Growl!" Mareep's attack came in, but weakened to a lesser extent on delivery... "Starly! Keep using growl!" The bird pokemon stayed in air, growling and growling to drag down mareep's attack.
"
Tackle!" Devin called. But it wasn't anymore affective than the last attack. It was like starly didn't even notice the attack!
"Quick attack!"
"
Thunder wave!" Starly hit the mark, just enough to get hit by thunder wave and get stuck close to the sheep pokemon. "
Thunder shock attack!" A close range electric attack put the final nail in, and sent starly down.
"Good work starly. You deserve a rest. Round three! Cleffa!" The kid sent out a cute little pokemon.
"
I'm staying with Mareep." The match was set.
"Cleffa! Sing!" The little pokemon hummed out a soothing song, putting mareep right to sleep.
"
Mareep! Wake up! Wake up now!" Devin called, unsure of how to handle the status ailment. They hadn't gone over this yet in his beginner course. Sure, he knew about applying ailment, but what about reversing them?
"Now use dream eater!" Cleffa put on a sinister face, stealing away mareep's energy.
"
Mareep, return," Mareep was unable to battle. "
Shroomish!" He called out his frozen pokemon.
"Huh?" The kid looked confused. "You shouldn't send a pokemon that's hurt out to battle! Any trainer knows that!" He scolded.
"
Wait, so I can't battle?" Devin looked surprised.
"No you dummy! It's not like a game! Shroomish needs to see nurse Joy right away!"
- - - - - -
"I guess I might have over reacted a little, since you didn't know." The boy smiled, both of them waiting on their pokemon. "I'm Richie by the way," He said, holding out his hand.
"
Devin," They shook.
"That mareep you have is pretty sturdy."
"
Thanks. I think..."
"I don't suppose you'd be interested in a trade, would you?"
"
A trade?"
"Ya. Trading pokemon! When two trainers find a pokemon they like but belongs to another trainer, they ask to trade. It's kind of fun because some pokemon are hard to find in certain places. I got a couple of pokemon I'd be willing to trade." Devin gave Rickie a confused look. "It's not that I don't like these pokemon, it's just that I think it'd be more fun to train that mareep."
"
I think I kind of get it..." Devin still wasn't sure.
"Would you want my weepinbell? Or my doduo? Or cleffa?"
"
Cleffa?"
"The pokemon I used earlier. It's not very strong, but it does know heal pulse!"
"
Heal pulse?"
"It's a move tat helps to heal and sooth pokemon. But a really powerful one can help people deal with pain sometimes too," Richie explained. This definitely caught Devin's attention. "I got it as an egg. I just kind of found it with my mom's audino, so I thought it'd be an audino too. I was actually really surprised when it hatched into cleffa!"
"
So, cleffa can help heal people?"
"Huh? With practice it could. Not like pokemon, but it helps."
"
Then I'll trade." Devin agreed quickly.
"Are you sure? Those other pokemon I mentioned are a little stronger than cleffa."
"
I'm sure." Devin gave a determined look. "
I'll still help you look for that psychic type you wanted, like I promised, but I want to trade for cleffa."
"Ya... Sure."
- - - - - - - -
"So you put mareep's pokeball on that platform, and this machine re-registers their I.D. numbers. But be a little careful with traded pokemon. You have to work harder to get their respect."
"
What do you mean?"
"Well, when you work with a pokemon, you work as a team. When you catch a pokemon on your own, you earn their respect a little better because you bested them. But pokemon in trade don't know if you're a strong trainer, so you need to prove it to them."
"
By having stronger pokemon."
"Not really... I'll explain later--after the trade!" Richie got excited, placing down Cleffa's ball.
[Mareep lost in trade]
[Cleffa obtained through trade!]
