Pokemon: The Change [[IC]]

[E1Alpha]

Saffron City

Deron smiled at Dusky, before pushing himself up to follow her to the kitchen. Once there, he smiled at his pokémon as they were enjoying their meal, scratching Nidorino over his head as he settled down on a chair and reached for a piece of toast, taking a big bite out of it, obviously fairly hungry.
Soon distracted by Dusky's question, though, he turned his eyes onto her, unconsciously taking in her appearance and somewhat savoring the sight, before he focused on answering her. "They were just fine, yes. Thanks again for letting me stay over." He smiled at her, though the smile faded as it wasn't hard for him to notice that something was bothering her. "You don't seem to have slept all that well, though. Is it the wound that's acting up? Or is there something else on your mind?" He cramped the other half of the toast in his mouth, chewed a bit, before swallowing, soon planting his elbows on the table as he leaned forward, looking at Dusky as he was hoping for an answer.

Kadabra in the meantime just watched the two curiously, wondering deep down if he saw before him the possibility for his trainer's mourning for Blastoise to be completely eradicated.

Unlike Kadabra, however, his pokémon weren't bothering with this too much as Nidorino proceded to patrol through the apartment once his breakfast was done, followed closely by Kabuto, who tried to show off proud and strong by mirroring Nidorino's behaviour.

Magnemite curiously looked at the piece of toast, his eye showing nothing but confusion as he obviously has no idea what to do with it. He just looked at it for a few seconds, before he would continue hovering around idly.

[Potatrobot]

Goldenrod City

Brendan stepped out into the chilly evening air, and noticed that the doors and windows of the various buildings in Goldenrod were locked shut for the night. Even as he took this in, the door to the Pokemon Centre behind him clicked as Claire locked it. He glanced at the sun, and his jaw dropped. It wouldn't be long before it disappeared behind the horizon, so he really needed to get a move on before feral Pokemon began to wander into the city.

A faint humming caught his attention, coming from the southern end of Route 34. Squinting to get a good look, Brendan realised that it may have been far too late. Hovering under the eve of the Ilex forest gate, where a door was supposed to be, was an angry swarm of feral Beedrills.

Brendan turned on his heel and high-tailed it up the street, and the Pokemon gave chase, pouring out of the gateway to that dark forest and gaining ground at a phenomenal rate. He put as much energy as he could into pushing the ground between himself and the poisonous insects with his feet, driven by the will to get to safety, and the only door that wasn't supposed to be locked was that of the northern gate of Goldenrod city.

As he passed under the suspended magnet train track, he dared a backward glance. The Beedrills were swarming through the southern archway and into the city, and several other Pokemon had joined the stampede: Oddishes and Parases from Ilex forest and Drowzees and Rattatas from the dead grass along Route 34. He knew that he wouldn't be able to open the door to the gate and shut himself inside in time, even though he was upon the final street intersection of the city, just a dozen metres from the gate. To his left was the entrance to the underground tunnel, to the right was the gym. He needed his Pokemon to hold off the swarm, so reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out two Night balls and pressed the buttons.

PAFF-PAFF!

Gallade and Kabutops appeared by his side, hit the ground running, and listened carefully as Brendan babbled quick commands to them:
"Gallade, I need you to use psycho cut on the Beedrills. Try to hold them off for as long as you can. Kabutops, use stone edge against anything that gets in front of those Beedrills. When I call out, get inside the gate and I'll shut the door."

His Pokemon nodded in response and turned around at the same time to face the onslaught. Gallade was the first to attack, using a technique he was taught shortly after learning to use psycho cut. He lifted his foot up to his opposite knee, raised his bladed arms to that they were parallel to each other, and performed a pirouette. A powerful pirouette.

Around and around he spun on his foot, keeping his head focused on a point in front of him to prevent dizziness, and each time one of his bladed arms passed in front of the swarm, a purple crescent of psychic energy arced outwards, lacerating several bees. At this point, Gallade resembled a lethal spinning top.

Although this did not slow the feral Pokemon by much, so Kabutops was soon required to attack. Just as an infestation of Rattatas jumped in front of the flailing bees, he stepped forward (avoiding Gallade's attacks), dug one of his sickle-like claws into the paved street and flung a multitude of sharp rocks up at them. Most of them hit their mark under their chins, and the rats fell to the ground, dead and bleeding. Kabutops took a step back and repeated the process.

While this was happening, Brendan was busy trying to push the door to the gate open, but it too was locked. He started ramming his shoulder against the door when a strong hand gripped his neck and pulled him away.

Brendan was confronted by the fearsome face of a Goldenrod thug. His lips had been pierced in several places, and a tattoo of a growling Gyarados curled over the right side of his face. He held his free hand up, which was adorned with a set of brass knuckles.

"Looks like someone stayed up past their bedtime," he snarled, "didn't he? Well, naughty children need to be punished, so I'm going to take you to see-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence, because while he talked Brendan pulled the hunting knife out of its sheath and sliced upwards across the the thug's chest. The man released him and staggered back, blood soaking his torn shirt, but Brendan didn't see that because he was focused on pulling out his last Night ball and pressing the button. Scizor towered before the thug, and of his own accord, kicked the fellon hard in the chest. He tumbled backwards as a result of the power of the blow.

"Scizor!" cried Brendan, "I need to you break down the door, quickly!"
The mantis responded without hesitation, and proceeded to deliver a steel-shattering punch to the door's lock. It broke free instantly, and the door opened wide. Brendan rushed in and called back: "It's open! Get in, now!"

Kabutops and Gallade, who were making a valiant effort to keep the swarm at bay, ceased their efforts and bolted back towards their trainer. As soon as they were inside, Brendan pushed the door closed, but a booted foot appeared between it and the frame. The furious face of the thug poked in through the gap, and an arm reached forward and grabbed Brendan by the wrist.
"Oh, no, you're coming with me, you little brat! You and all your Pokemon will be-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence either, because the swarm he so stupidly ignored had just caught up. The man let roared and let go of Brendan, pulling his arm out of the doorway. He wheeled around desperately, revealing a Beedrill perched on his back with all three of its poisonous stings embedded into his spine and shoulder blades.

Other ferals latched onto his various body parts and dragged him to the ground. Brendan shoved his boot out through the door, pushed it shut and pressed his back to it, just as the unfortunate criminal started screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" The sound became more muffled as time went on, probably because the number of poisonous Beedrills crowding over his body was rapidly increasing. Then, there was a guttural choking sound, and the screaming stopped, but the furious buzzing didn't, and Brendan could only sit with his back pressed to the door as the sound of tearing flesh became louder.

He looked to all three of his loyal Pokemon, and they all looked back.

"Thank you..." he breathed gratefully, his heart racing.

[Melphina Micaela]

Cianwood City

Adelle sighed, staring at Exploud's pokeball as she made her way further toward where she thought the Pharmacy would be. The more she moved away from the main part of the city, however, the more frantic the people around her seemed to be. People weren't paying attention to where they were going and bumped into her so many times that she eventually had to stop and keep her temper in check. Okay, something's definitely not right here..., Adelle thought, putting away Exploud's pokeball only to retrieve and release Marshtomp instead.

The young Pokemon gave a small yawn after being released and stretched itself fully before turning to face its master. Adelle, meanwhile, grabbed someone off the street and asked her what was wrong. The woman, her face contorted into an expression of fear and desperation, at first would not cooperate until Adelle became frustrated and flashed a dagger at her neck. Oh, how the words began to flow then. Once she had gotten as much information as she had wanted, the trainer released the woman and turned to her Pokemon again.

It stared at her rather blankly, seemingly ignoring the chaos going on about it. Just as Adelle was about to explain the situation to him though, a loud crash sounded off not far from where they were standing causing Adelle to jump and Marshtomp to snap into reality. They both turned just in time to catch a stampede of pokemon crash through homes and send swarms of people running in every which direction. Running out of the way of the incoming traffic, Adelle motioned for Marshtomp to follow her but it instead grabbed her hand and began leading her away to safety.

Adelle grunted as they stopped further out of the city. She was thankful that Marshtomp had taken her to safety, but it really needed to learn to obey her directions a little more. She would have been just fine on her own. Pushing that small qualm aside, Adelle turned as something on the ground caught her eye. The second she saw what it was, her voice caught in her throat. "M...Mar...," was all she could sound out as her Pokemon followed suit and turned around to face the seemingly endless pile of bodies scattered throughout the area. Adelle had learned from the lady that the situation was bad, but how did it ever get to being this bad?

Swallowing down her dread, Adelle averted her eyes and motioned for Marshtomp to let her go. Doing as it was told this time, the Marshtomp obliged and then began to sniff at the bodies, seemingly looking for any body that might still be alive. After a moment of silence, Adelle followed suit. Pokemon and humans were scattered about and the more they searched the more hopeless the entire situation seemed. Just as they were about to give up, a blast of fire went off somewhere further out of the city. That's right..., Adelle thought as she watched the smoke rise steadily into the sky, We're near the Safari Zone...

[Zatory-Master]

Neji watched as some of the Travelers began to appear from their rooms and made their way to the main floor. Neji was still sitting at the entrance with his trustful lucario at his side with his arms crossed. His attention was caught by a female who’s pokemon found Lucario to be interesting. The female stood at the main counter looking back to keep a look out for her beloved companion. Her typhlosion gazed upon lucario as Zebstrika did too.

“Here, have this.” Neji took out a small poke snack and handed it to the small Zebstrika. Then put out a small hand full for the rest.
Lucario just gave a small grunt and continued watching and observing these pokemon who seem to have a diffrent life style than his.

“Cheer up, Lucario, there are not enemies.” He assured his trusty companion.
Neji stood up and began walkimg towards the counter where the brown haired girl was awaiting her supplies if any. The female wore an interesting attire that really brought out a fighter view. Her hair was short and she wore a white-bluish color clothing on her. Neji approached her.

“Hello there, are those your pokemons over there?” Neji asked smiling and pointing at the pokemon who were around Lucario. “My name is Neji by the way, I’m from Blackthorne city.” He added as he stared into the female’s eye through his glasses.

“Hmph…” Lucario grunted again as he watched the smaller pokemon. Specially as he watched ponyta. Lucario, with an act of kindness, reached out to the small ponyta keeping in mind that Typhosion was watching with its careful eyes at Lucario. Lucario kneeled down as he pet ponyta around its head.

Neji chuckled a bit as he watched Lucario act that way and waited for the female’s response to his simple conversation starting questions.

[P.K.]

Eucruteak City ~

Cathy looked back as Lily came in but returned her focus back to the counter at least till she heard the explosion looking over to the door quickly she frowned and nodded in agreement with lily. Part of her thought she should go with lily but she decided that lilly and who ever else might be there would be more then enough. She sighed leaning back on the counter "bolt" The stripped Pokemon looked her away and away from Whiny "go an check it out BUT don't kill any one unless necessary" She said eying her Pokemon. It just tossed its head to say whatever before quickly heading for the door. "he's going to get into trouble I should have sent T.Y." she mumbled.

Again she looked up as the man from the corner came over and asked if those where her Pokemon "yes Whiny and T.Y. are mine" she said "and Bolt just went out the door" she leaned on the counter looking back. Ponyta had taken a bit of the snack but not much. "Cathy from Bark Town" she said simply. She looked back once more tensing for a slight moment as she saw Lucario go to pet whiny but then remembered that she hardly knew a stranger. Lucky for Lucario anyways he was not burned but even if Whiny did know a stranger it would not be her burning them it would be T.Y.

Ponyta didn't refuse the pat but enjoyed it all the more. T.Y. after observing a while longer and noting that there was little danger here simply relaxed and set back. "lucky for your friend Whiny knows no stranger other wise he would have been burned not only by her but T.Y." she said looking back to the counter as the nurse came out wit a few things she had asked for thanking her kindly she took them and stored them in her pack. Once that was taken care of she pulled out her own food as well as some for Whiny. T.Y. always ate a sandwich with her and Bolt never took anything from her to eat and always ended up finding something himself.

Bolt found lilly not actuly hard to do but he trotted up taking in everything his main sparking a bit as he strode up and stopped some feet between thought already surrounding the man. he Pawed the ground ready to take care of the human right there by himself. Still he kept in mind what Cathy had said and as much as he hated it he staid back for now.

[Potatrobot]

Route 35, National Park

A warm light settled on Brendan's face, and he woke up with a jolt, fearing that the Beedrills had found a way into the gate. That was certainly not the case, because there was no buzzing whatsoever. In fact, they must have left a long time ago, because the light spilling into the gate was coming from the windows on the right side of the building, which was the eastern side. It was morning.

His Pokemon were still dozing though, sitting slumped against the walls and the far door. Even though they were fierce specimens, Brendan couldn't help but think that they looked cute like that. But that was a though for another time. He hoisted himself from his sitting position by the door to Goldenrod, and stretched his back. It clicked in several places, and the noise was enough to wake up his Pokemon. Scizor darted to his feet with a cry, which in turn woke up Gallade and Kabutops.

"Calm down," Brendan reassured, "we're safe. I must have dozed off after that thug got what was coming to him. Speaking of which..."

He opened the door to Goldenrod a little, and the cold, fresh morning air sent shivers down his spine. People were yet to emerge from their bungalows, and the Pokemon swarm was definitely gone. He looked at the ground. Scattered about the paved street closest to the gate were a few raw looking bones, some metal lip rings and a set of brass knuckles. He was without sympathy, so he closed the door.

"Well, that's one less criminal in Goldenrod. I say we've done our bit, so let's get moving to Ecruteak."
His Pokemon looked at each other and nodded in agreement, and they all walked the short distance to the other door of the gate. Brendan opened it slowly, and peered through to see what was outside.

It was barren and dusty, as was most land in Johto after the Change. Brendan was nine years old when the Change happened, and he could still remember what Route 35 looked like. What he saw was not the Route 35 he used to know. The path was just dry sand, and the raised platforms where grass had once grown were just more sand pits. The pond halfway up the route had shrunk to a dismal, polluted puddle. Worst of all, the thick trees that flanked the path were withered and dead. The place looked like a graveyard, but it was a graveyard they had to get through.

"OK, it's a long run to the end of Route 35," Brendan thought out loud, "and there won't be as many wild Pokemon because the trees are dead. A fair few of them will still be sleeping anyway, so I think we'll be fine this time around."

He pulled out two of the Night balls and withdrew Gallade and Kabutops, leaving Scizor with him.
"OK. One... two... three!" He pulled the door all the way open and started running with Scizor up the sandy path. His black jacket, skinny jeans and trilby hat all soaked in the morning sun quickly, so he began to feel toasty right away. He bolted straight towards the gate at the northern end on the street, passing close to the puddle that used to be a pleasant pond so long ago. Scizor had no trouble keeping up with him, in fact, Brendan had a hard time keeping up with Scizor.

They had almost made it to the gate when a multitude of shrieks sounded from his right. Sparing a glance, Brendan saw a small group of male Nidorans charge out of the dead trees and make a bee line for him.
"Hold them off while I check the door!" he called out to Scizor, who immediately responded by breaking away from Brendan and confronting the poisonous Pokemon. They all darted over to his legs and tried jabbing him with their poisonous stings, but to very little effect. Scizor's rebuttal was quite savage; he leaned forward and began pounding the Nidorans into the dirt with powerful punches from his claws. Several darted away while the rest were completely flattened.

With the wild Pokemon vanquished, Brendan could patiently try the door, which opened with ease. He stepped into the gateway between Route 35, the National Park and the Pokeathlon dome, and held the door open for Scizor. He closed it after him.

Both inside, they looked at their surroundings, and then at each other, with a powerful sense of nostalgia. This is where Brendan had first caught Scizor so very long ago, as a Scyther in the bug-catching contest. Still looking around, Brendan's eyes fell on something he had forgotten was there, in that room: a PC.
Stepping over to it, he pushed the power button, and the computer began to whir as it slowly flickered to life. It still had access to the mail and box network. Smiling, Brendan accessed his personal box, and was surprised to see a letter was there, waiting for him, from his cousin over in Sinnoh. It read:

Dear Brendan,
thanks again for sending your Meganium over to Pastoria city. Just like you said, his breath has been able to revive the crops down at the community produce centre. We're growing enough to make a surplus! We still need him, along with all the other Meganiums we've borrowed, so we can't send him back until we can get a fresh supply of water other than this dismal swamp, but he'll be kept real safe, don't you worry. We've also been taking care of your Weavile. She's still a little bit sick, but she's eating again. She never leaves your Meganium's side, except for when she's riding on his back or sleeping. We'll also keep her at the community centre with Meganium.

Best regards, your cousin.

Brendan smiled to himself, partly from the good news and partly from hearing from his cousin, who was so suspicious of the mail system he never gave his name in the letters he sent. What worried Brendan most was that didn't know when or if he would see his two other Pokemon again.

He exited the mail system and accessed his box. There was one Pokemon in it, as usual, his Gardevoir. He withdrew her from the box, stashing her Night ball straight into his pocket. The trip to Ecruteak still had some length to it and he didn't want to be ill-prepared. He shut down the computer and looked back at Scizor.

"It looks like we're going through the park, aren't we?" Brendan said, walking over to the desk near the doorway. Scizor gave an excited buzz of his wings as Brendan started looking through all of the shelves behind the desk. The top three shelves were bare, with the exception of a wad of dust, but the fourth and final shelf played host to something that made Brendan very excited: two Sport balls, shiny and intact.

Without a second thought he grabbed them off the low shelf and checked for any Pokemon inside. They were both empty, but they were in working condition. Brendan showed them to Scizor.

"Remember these?" he asked, "They must have been left here and forgotten after the change, but no one bothered to take them until now."
Almost laughing at the good fortune behind finding two, free, working Pokeballs, he stowed them into his left jacket pocket, after transferring the Night balls into the one on the right. He then walked around the desk to the door and cautiously opened it.

The National park was as dead as anywhere else in the surrounding forest. The two grass semicircles in the middle of the park were dry and brown, and the fountain in between them had become clogged with twelve years worth of grime and water no longer flowed from its pinnacle. Other than that, it was bare. Brendan stepped out with Scizor and walked across the empty park. Nothing moved but them, and the only sounds in the entire place were their footsteps and the faint rush of air across the tops of the trees. They even saw the exact spot where Brendan once battled Scizor into submission before catching him and not winning first place. They passed into the gate that led to Route 36 with nothing but the powerful memories on their minds.

[Green Lantern]

Eucruteak City

The pair woke up, prepping their bags. That night before they had a nice dinner, made of fast food from some struggling local restaurant. This was followed by sleeping in a hotel. "Li Li..... My hair's all messed up."

"Ashara, I'm only responding to tell you I don't really care." He chuckled a little, enjoying his own joke as he climbed out of his bed. "What time is it?" He went, fixing some coffee. Oh, delicious delicious coffee. Ali's was the best.

Ashara slid the window open. Seeing this, Eve hopped near her, shooting up a flame. Ashara inhaled, pausing for a moment before letting smoke out. "I fucking hate the desert." She continued smoking as she packed her bag.

After a bit the group finally made it downstairs. Ali began checking off people in the room. While they had a calm demeanor, he was silently searching for threats. Fat guy, fat lady... How do people somehow stay fat nowadays?... Meh.... Let's see, girl with pokemon, two boys with pokemon, lucario, old lad- holy shit a lucario, really? That's not very common. May need to keep an eye on him.

He leaned over to Ashara as they walked up to the desk. " Possible class PL threat... Be careful, you don't usually see those around unless they're feral or owned by a heavy hitter." Ashara nodded, trying to quiet down. She hated his habit of explaining things to her she already knew. They approached the desk.

[Preach]

Viridian City

She was ushered into an elevator, and then into some sort of board room -smaller than Mina expected it to be. Mina recognized the blonde man, who invited them to sit down. To her surprise, her companion refused. She, on the other hand, sat, choosing a chair facing the middle of the table, deciding it would be better to play their game than remain obtuse. They might be here for a while, anyway. Mina was surprised to have the option to ask questions, though her face remained stoic and unchanging. She wasn't about to squander the opportunity... Though she doubted she would get the whole truth.

"Alright, so - let's not waste any time, then. You all seem to know why he's here," she jerked her head back slightly to signal she was referring to Haru, "but I don't, how about you fill me in? And if it's him you're interested in, why go through the trouble of keeping me here too?" The blonde man was clearly the spokesman, so she kept eye contact with him. She paused, before asking her final question -"what is it exactly you're trying to do?"

Ekruteak City

Garrett woke with a start - Xatu had flown in through an open window, and had squawked loudly in his face. As far as alarms went, bird Pokemon were a pretty good choice. He rubbed his face and sat up, and it took a few seconds for him to realize that if Xatu was here, that means he had flown off the roof of the Dance Hall... Which meant something bad had happened. Garrett shot up immediately, swung his rifle on his back, and followed Xatu out of his house. The bird Pokemon flew towards the Dance Hall, then stopped suddenly and landed on the ground, staring into space. Garrett was slightly out of breath, so he took the chance to rest a bit, and ask "what... Is it Xatu?" between breaths. The Pokemon stood silent, before squawking once more and flying into the air again. Garrett followed, running again, and saw Xatu land on a building - Garrett was focused on following his Pokemon, so focused that when he turned a corner he didn't see the man running past, and ended up barreling into him. Garrett was knocked down, but the man only stumbled before running past him and into another street.

"Urgh, what was all that about?" Garrett grumbled as he picked himself up. He scanned the rooftops, but he couldn't see his Xatu anymore, and couldn't see where the running man had gone - Garrett suspected that he had something to do with what had disturbed his Pokemon. Garrett resigned himself to skulking around the streets to see if he could find what his Pokemon woke him up about.

[Potatrobot]

Route 36, Route 37

Brendan and Scizor stepped out of the gate and into Route 36. The heat from the wind was like a slap to the face, but nonetheless they continued their journey up the long, barren road. They passed what looked like the remains of an apricorn tree, long dead and dried out. It would make suitable firewood, Brendan noted, but in the heat of the sun and with Scizor to defend him a fire was not needed.

Minutes passed by, and the sun rose higher into the eastern sky. After another five minutes ticked by, the duo came upon a rather disturbing sight: two corpses. One had been shot, the other had a host of barbs protruding from his face. They had been robbed clean, indicating that they were the victims of a heartless murderer and thief. There was nothing Brendan could do.

The soft sand was hard to walk in, and Brendan knew that it would get right into his shoes. The heat from the sun was unbearable, so he shrugged off his jacket and let Scizor hold onto it for a while. The withered trees cast odd shadows upon each other, but nothing leaped out at them.

At last they came to the intersection between Route 36 and 37. Turning left, they entered the tight path among the dead trees and made their way north. There was no wind on Route 37, only an odd presence. Brendan and Scizor kept moving towards Ecruteak.

At last, the town came into sight, past some trees. To their right branched a different path, separated from theirs by a row of trees. Just as Brendan broke into a jog, the presence showed itself. It came in the form of a skulk of Vulpixes, a massive crowd of foxes almost fifty strong. They dashed out of the trees and blocked the path to Ecruteak. By his own accord, Scizor sent an air-warping punch at the skulk, but the foxes dodged the attack and sent little geysers of fire at his pincer. He recoiled.

"This way!" Brendan called, running into the path on the right. He reached for his Night balls, but realised that they were still in his jacket pocket, which Scizor still carried in his other pincer. He was left patting at his red, button-up shirt, but at least he was free to run without fear of dropping the balls.

The path went on for some distance, and Scizor caught up with Brendan before long. Brendan thought he'd be home free when he caught a glimpse of Ecruteak from the path, but his heart sank when he saw that the way was blocked by a tall ledge of sharp rocks.
"Come here!" he called to Scizor, and once the mantis was close enough, he pulled two Night balls from the pocket of his jacket. He didn't care which Pokemon they were, just pushed the buttons and let them out. Coincidentally, they were Gallade and Kabutops again. The skulk was close on their heels.

"Kabutops, I want you to use aqua jet on those Vulpixes! Gallade, help him, and Scizor, you help me get up that ledge!"
Kabutops responded with chorus of his shrill cry and turned to face the sea of foxes. He took a breath, and a soft gurgling could be heard as his lungs reached their capacity. Then, he jutted he body forward with one sharp movement, and, instantly, a high-pressure jet of water erupted from his mouth. More specifically, the bath water Brendan had him drink before they left their home. One moment there was nothing, the next it was there. There was no transition. The jet swept over the Vulpixes, some of them were lifted off their feet.

Gallade attacked shortly afterwards with a focus blast. He put his hands to his temples and closed his eyes, until a bright orange ball of psychic energy charged forward from his forehead and landed amongst the skulk. The ground in the centre of the crowd exploded in a geyser of wet soil, slaying some of the Vulpixes.

While they battled the swarm on their own again, Scizor jumped half way up the ledge with some assistance from his wings. Reaching down to Brendan, who was once again wearing his jacket, he pulled his trainer up onto a foothold on the craggy surface.

Kabutops sent another jet of water roaring at the foxes, and Gallade beheaded a few with several night slashes. More poured into the closed space, and threatened to smother trainer and Pokemon both.

Scizor jumped a little higher up and pulled Brendan a little further towards the top. By then the trainer decided that his Pokemon's efforts were sufficient.
"Come back!" he called, while more Vulpixes swarmed into the clearing. Gallade gave one last psycho cut before turning tail with Kabutops and dashing back to the ledge. Kabutops leaped straight onto the rocks and began clawing his way up on all fours, but Gallade had trouble climbing further than a few feet.

Seeing this, Brendan reached down with Gallade's Night ball, and withdrew him just as the skulk closed in and slammed into the wall. He climbed back up, and with Scizor and Kabutops by his side, he walked the final few steps into Ecruteak city.

[DuskingMorning]

Saffron City

When Deron asked if something was bothering her, she lightly shook her head - she didn't want to bother him with her small problems. "It was nothing," she told him. "I was just thinking about things - my brother mostly. It kept me up all night - but I'll be fine."

Dusky glanced at the clock and realized how late it was getting. Glancing down at her plate, she realized she had subconsciously eaten the rest of her breakfast. She looked across the table at Deron, smiling lightly, and said, "Well, I'm done. We should probably get going soon if we want to catch Shaun in time - I think I'll head down to the lobby and give Robbie the keys to my apartment - if and when I return, I may be interested in living here again."

Dusky headed to her room after cleaning her dishes and picked up her bag, slipping it on over her shoulders. She went back to the kitchen and packed up the remains of breakfast and packed it in her bag - to her surprise, her bag was still light enough to carry around. She returned Eevee and Vulpix and motioned to Growlithe and Pikachu to follow her. As she headed for the door, she turned to Deron and said, "I'll be waiting for you in the lobby - just do whatever you need to do, there's no rush. I'm sure Robbie and I can find something to talk about. When you leave though, just lock the door behind you." She tossed him a spare key. "Use that to lock the deadbolt once you're outside the apartment."

She walked out of the apartment with Growlithe walking happily by her side and Pikachu perched on her shoulder. She made it to the lobby in a matter of minutes and looked at Robbie, who seemed surprised to see Dusky up so early.

"What did you get up so early for?" Robbie asked as Dusky neared the counter. He looked surprised when she placed the keys on the smooth surface of the counter in front of him. "Why are you turning in your keys?"

"I'm leaving with Deron, Shaun, and another girl today," Dusky told Robbie. "Deron should be here in a few moments - I figure that I might as well give you the keys to my apartment. Oh, and if you don't mind, could you call Sal and James and let them know? I don't have time to swing by the diner and tell them."

"Sure thing, Dusky," said Robbie, smiling lightly. "I just can't believe it - you've lived here for so long, and now some guy comes around and you leave everything just like that."

Dusky shook her head. "It's not because of Deron, Robbie," she told him. "I mean, Deron's really nice and everything, but he's not the reason I'm leaving - I've been contemplating it for a while now - leaving that is. I mean, I've been here so long that this town has lost its sense of adventure. But outside of the town, I want to see the rest of the world - I didn't get to see much of Kanto when I moved here. I pretty much found Saffron and I feel in love. That was it. But know I finally have the chance to leave, and it won't be with just my pokemon - I'll have three other people with me. Deron was just the final push I needed to get my feet going, I suppose."

By this point, Dusky was smiling. She was truly excited about leaving. Robbie could sense this, and he smiled and said, "Well, good luck to ya', kid. I know you'll do fine. And if you ever decide you want to come back and live here, your apartment will be waiting for you in the exact shape you left it in."

Dusky smiled lightly at Robbie - he always knew what to say to make her smile. "Thanks, Robbie - hopefully I'll see you again, whether I'm just passing through or I'm here to stay."