Pokemon: The Change [[IC]]

[Almost_Blue]

Still Route 39

Deeper in the cave, Beryl sat beside the minuscule pool of water as his weak-bodied Bellsprout attempted to gain the nutrients from it, by standing in the middle of it, proving just how small the source of water really was. Onix was still endlessly guarding the cave entrance, accompanied by Cloyster who sat just inside the entrance, almost expecting to attack something as it glared out at the daylight covered areas.

Beryl had been merely fiddling with the zipper on his heeled ankle boot as he watched his Bellsprout slowly walk around in the pool. Before too long he dug into the bag that he gathered from his most recent attacker, pulling out a tin cup, and filled it with water from the pool. Bellsprout watched for no particular reason, as its owner rose up to his feet and made his way over to the Cloyster at the entrance. Beryl placed a hand on top of the Cloysters shell, and knelt down beside it, holding the water filled cup out infront of it's head for it to graciously sip from. It had let Beryl know it was finished with a quiet mutter, to which Beryl smiled at, taking a sip from what was left in the cup. He let out a sigh, taking note that the area was rather quiet today, turning to look at his Bellsprout.
"Are you guys hungry?" He asked toward Bellsprout and Kakuna who were deeper in the cave, to which they both seemed to answer 'yes' in their own way.
"What about you two?" He inquired further to his Cloyster and Onix. They both responded in the same manner as Bellsprout and Kakuna, just as Beryls tummy conveniently rumbled.
"Alright, we're going to Ekruteak again then, maybe they have more to offer this time. " he said with a chuckle before returning his Cloyster and Onix to their pokeballs.

Rising up he made his way over to his other pokemon, one of which wasn't technically his yet. He smiled kindly toward the Kakuna and placed a Great Ball on the ground infront of it. "I don't want you to do anything you don't want to, but.. I have to repeat that it would be a lot safer for you if.. ..If you actually belonged to me.. I could keep you by my side always." He offered, awaiting it's response.
After a few moments of Silence he nodded, taking back the ball. "That's alright too.. I wont abandon you." He confessed, before pocketing the ball, and picking up the Kakuna to hold with his left arm.
Glancing to Bellsprout he spoke up once more; "Do you think you would be alright in your ball?" he questioned. Feeling rather spunky today Bellsprout nodded, and stepped out of the pool, as Beryl reached into his pocket to remove his only Luxury Ball, and returned the Bellsprout to the inside of it, before pocketing it once more. He grabbed ahold of his supply bag which was nearly empty as usual, swinging it over his free shoulder before exiting the cave.

Beryl slid down the dirt hill that was located just outside the entrance, a feat that would be fairly difficult for a person in heeled boots, if it were not for Beryl's natural grace. He let out a sigh, giving the Kakuna a soft pat on the head before commenting; "Both the woods and the path are probably really dangerous.. but atleast--" he said, making his way to the main path of route 39 "--we can see what's coming at us from over here." he finished, cautiously making his way down route 39; entering route 38.

[Familiar]

Viridian City

A tyranitar. And a Charizard. Oh dear. Both of these were beasts that he typically wanted to be seeing from a few hundred meters and a few dozen rounds away, at the very least. Being sandwiched between both of them in a narrow street was something that every fibre of his being rebelled against, especially with exactly how often that damned charizard was glaring at him… He was just beginning to contemplate the most subtle way of climbing over one of the buildings to get out from between the two dragons without actually needing to pass either of them by when, thankfully, the smaller of the pair, seemingly controlled by the woman that he had been sitting next to in silence, returned her pet.

Trying to keep the relief off of his face, Alex took that as his own cue to rise up, giving just the slightest nod and grunt to Mina. “ ‘s not a problem.” That said, he wasted no time in breezing past her in the direction of the inn, hoping against hope that the tyranitar wouldn’t be following along after him. In any case, he was all too happy to throw a paltry amount of money down onto the counter and get his key from the innkeeper, picking up the clothes that he had left here last time to be cleaned and sighing inwardly at the degree of stains that still covered them. Still, they wouldn’t smell of sweat and human and that was really the end goal here…

Groaning slightly as he entered his room, Alex gently placed his rifle on the bed, cracking his back with a long stretch immediately afterwards. He was used to it, of course, but carrying the steady weight of the weapon for days on end still took its toll on human muscles… His clothes followed immediately after, a soiled bundle of near rags left in a neat pile on the corner of the bathroom counter. He’d stitch up all of the new rips later that night, then leave them here to be cleaned during the next time he was out in the wild. It was a fairly nice service, actually, and one of the main reasons why he’d been lingering around Viridian City for as long as he had been.

The shower that followed lasted for as long as the hot water did and left Alex feeling more human than he had for the weeks, sighing as he turned it off and stepped back out into his room, the rough fabric of his towel drying him off within a few moments. He still smelled of earth and dirt, the slight iron of blood, the gentle scent of moss and grass… But it was subtler now, less ‘unwashed’ and more earthen, the stink of his own exhaustion having been swept away by the water as it flowed over him. A few hours later, he walked out of the inn again a new man, rifle freshly cleaned and oiled, his old clothes left behind to be ready for his next visit. Better still, there didn’t seem to be any pokemon on the street bigger than a trained ratata... Shrugging to himself, Alex walked off. Might as well get some proper food while he was in a place where it could be cooked, right?

[Marc Raehh]

VIRIDIAN CITY

Chris looked at his fellow mercenary as she passed by, and he could sense the fear coming from the man next to the centre and watched him leave with an almost need to get away from his Tyranitar, he thought he should be offended, but decided against it, deciding on going into the Pokemon center to get Romanov cleaned up and to see if he could use some of their water to clean his armor, or what was left of it. When he was pushed back by that Fearow's Sky Attack it cracked down the arm and he needed to repair it as soon as possible.

He rose up with a grunt, his side hurt, but he ignored the pain and entered the building, Romanov trailing behind him quietly and going with Nurse Joy as Chris left to wash off the blood of his latest foe and repair his armor with whatever he had left to use, it took him about an hour to take a small shower and complete the clean up of his armor, but when he returned he was greeted by his dear friend waiting for him.

"So, I guess we should go guard the town for a while huh?" he said, an almost happy tone in his voice.

The reason he was so quick to go back out there was because he didn't trust people much anymore, ever since he was little and left for dead at Mt. Silver he had this aura of distrust towards humans, almost a fear. But he learned to care for the citizens of the settlements, most of them were kind people that have protected him many times before.

Chris and Romanov left the tattered building and walked towards the Indigo Plateau, stopping right at the end of the route there, then he sat down and started to set up camp when the first group of Pokémon started to head towards Viridian, but to Chris's relief they scurried off at the sight of Romanov. They both shared a laugh at that, then continued to set up camp. When they were finished they both decided it was a good time to eat, Chris retrieved from his pack a can of dehydrated fruit, and Romanov grabbed a clump of soil and started to eat it. They both enjoyed their meal, and Chris thought to himself how he was so lucky to have had a Pokémon that eats rocks for nutrition.

About half way through the meal there was movement in the distance, and suddenly a pack of Growlithe, led by an Arcanine, pounced out and attacked, Romanov seemed to expect the attack and through his rather large share of rocks at the Arcanine with deadly accuracy, striking him in the eye and momentarily blinding him.

Chris was the next to attack, he climbed on top of his comrade and shot the Growlithe one by one using Romanov's rock body as a shield from the beast's fire attacks. This was a normal strategy between the two, since fire type Pokémon have had an exponential growth in the population they had to think of ways to protect each other, and this was the easiest way.

But the feral creatures also had a strategy, the Growlithe that managed to avoid the gunshots fired by Chris circled around the duo, and tried to flank Romanov with a group ember attack, successfully hitting Romanov, but rather than weakening him it merely enraged him, and he let loose an Earthquake attack.

The ground shook wildly and many of the Growlithe were buried alive, some fled for their lives, leaving the Alpha-male, Arcanine left. The air went silent, and all you could hear was the tired panting from Chris and Romanov, some sounds of confusion were starting to echo from Viridian City, and Chris knew they ha to defeat this Pokémon before any brave citizens decided to investigate.

There was a few moments of nothing, then both Pokémon charged at each other, Chris still clinging to Romanov's back. He could feel his friend's heartbeat grow faster with adrenaline, and he could feel the heat of the Arcanine's breath. He jumped off his friend's back and unsheathed his blade, charging towards the feral beast that threatened his partner's safety, his blade crashed into the neck of the distracted creatures neck, and it cut through the animal's spine, leaving it to flop against the ground, unable to move, Romanov gave it the mercy of death, crashing into it with a Stone Edge attack.

They looked at each other and nodded, Chris rummaged through his pack and retrieved a Full Restore, one of the last of it's kind in all of Kanto, and sprayed it on his Rock Pokemon's wounds, within a few moments Romanov felt much better and nudged him in thanks with a gentle growl coming from it's throat.

Chris worried about what happened in Viridian when Romanov let loose the Earthquake, because he knew that Tyranitars have the capability to move entire mountains, the attack wasn't nearly that powerful, but it could have damaged some of the buildings there.

[Tetsuya]

Viridian City

"Hey, kid!"

Haru jumped as Doug's voice finally pulled him out of his reverie. He hadn't noticed that they had finally arrived at Viridian City.

"You gonna be alright from here?" Doug asked.

"Uh...yeah. Thanks," Haru said, "I owe you-"

"No, you don't, Doug interrupted, "I told you I'd take you here for free. You just be sure to watch yourself out there," he said, and with a final wave, he turned and walked away.

Haru stared after Doug for awhile. That sort of kindness was not common these days. Most people tended to be more focused on themselves than others.

"Nice guy," Haru said as he turned to his Meganium. His partner, though a Grass Pokemon, was pretty resilient, and could handle long trips through the wastes. However, he was still a Grass type, and still needed frequent rests. Even now, although he tried to look otherwise, Haru could tell that Meganium was tired.

"Here, I'll take you to the Pokemon Center," Haru said, reaching inside his red jacket and pulling out a Pokeball. Meganium frowned at it- he didn't like being inside his Pokeball to begin with. But he was tired, and as such obediently withdrew inside it.

A frown once again crawled across Haru's face as he placed the ball back inside his jacket. As strong as Meganium was, he knew the environment was seriously hurting him. Ever since the Change, Haru had been prepared for the day that Meganium would suddenly succumb and die...

But these thoughts did little to help Meganium now. Without another thought, Haru proceeded towards the Pokemon Center.

It didn't take him long to reach the Center, and he immediately made his way to the counter. Nurse Joy was nowhere to be found, but that wasn't a problem for Haru- he could wait.

He was only steps away when the ground began to shake unexpectedly, causing him to trip. His head slammed into the counter, and as he did so he dropped Meganium's Pokeball.

The Pokeball suddenly burst open, and Meganium was by Haru's side, his own weakness forgotten and a concerned expression on his face- the blow had caused Haru to fall unconscious.

Amidst the panic, no one noticed a man in a long overcoat exit the Pokemon Center.

---------------

Route 2

The ground caused the charging Raticate to stumble, a screech of frustration escaping it. It's opponent, an Arcanine, seized this opportunity and, with a single leap, crossed the distance between them and had pinned down its enemy.

The Arcanine's Trainer, a tall blonde man also wearing a long black overcoat stood watching the battle, the shaking ground giving him even less pause than his partner. He silently watched the battle, not even bothering to give orders to Arcanine- he didn't need to.

He sighed as a sudden ringing sound filled the air, barely able to be heard over the two fighting Pokemon. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a PokeGear, opening it without even bothering to check the caller ID.

"What?" he asked, his voice a combination of boredom and irritation.

If the person on the other end noticed, they didn't let it show.

"Sir, we've found him."

This grabbed the man's attention. "You're sure?"

"Positive. He matches the description, and he appears to have no other Pokemon other than a Meganium."

"Where?"

"Viridian Pokemon Center, sir."

"Good. I'm currently on Route 2- I will be there shortly. Do what you can to keep him there." the man said, and then hung up before he could get a reply.

The man frowned, noticing that his Arcanine still had the Raticate pinned down.

"What are you waiting for, Arcanine? You know better than to play with your food...although you wont be able to eat it now."

The Raticate took no heed to the Trainer's words. It's red eyes were focused only on Arcanine...if only it could move it's head over so slightly-

Arcanine lunged before the Raticate could finish forming its plan.

A strong breeze blew through the area at that time, causing the man's overcoat to blow in the wind and briefly revealing a black uniform with a large red 'R' in the middle.

[Preach]

Viridian City

After getting her Pokemon back, Mina had taken a seat on the bench nearest to the corner, released her Espeon so it could keep an eye out, and promptly fallen asleep. She needed to be refreshed for when the night patrols began. She had then been woken up by Espeon - too soon, in her opinion- but before she could ask why she was jolted fully awake by a tremor. Mina jumped up, her hand instinctively going to the pistol at her hip, as the room swayed and objects fell off shelves. Her experience with flying had given her an excellent sense of balance, so she didn't fall over. The same could not be said for others around her, though. The tremor had caught everyone off guard - apart from Espeon, apparently. She patted him affectionately on the head as a sign of gratitude. The next thing she noticed was the sudden appearance of a Meganium, standing protectively over a man who was sprawled unceremoniously on the floor.

Mina dashed over, but slowed to a halt once she saw how protective the Meganium was. She took a moment to appreciate the fact that this was an actual Meganium - a legitimate, fully evolved, non-Kanto grass-type, standing right in front of her- before holding up her hands to signify she didn't want to be aggressive, and said "Hold on, relax. I want to help him." The Meganium didn't budge, and barely even looked at her, its eyes were still fixed on the man who Mina assumed was its trainer. Fair enough - she was willing to bet her Pokemon would act the same way if she was in a similar situation. Nurse Joy was nowhere to be seen, however. Mina jumped over the counter and checked the back room. Stuff had fallen off the shelves, but the Nurse wasn't around. She had probably taken her dinner break or something - shitty timing at its best. Not to mention, who leaves a Pokemon Center unattended? What poor form.

Mina was torn - she really wanted to check what had caused the earthquake - it had to be a Pokemon, and if it was a threat and she didn't do something about it she would be failing at her job. Still, she couldn't just leave someone sprawled on the floor, that would just be unkind, what if he was hurt? She debated this with herself until she arrived at a suitable compromise.

She began to search through the back room, and she quickly found what she was looking for - an ice pack. She also grabbed some herbal medicine for good measure, since the Meganium had looked tired too. Mina exited the back room, and went back over to the unconscious man. Looking straight at the Meganium, she spoke, "Listen. You want to take care of him? That's fine. Here, here's an ice pack. He was hit on the head, right? This will stop the bruising. You can put this on his forehead if you'd rather do it yourself." She put the ice pack on the counter. "I found some heal powder back there as well. You can eat it if you want. I know, it tastes disgusting, but it's here if you want it." She placed the pouch on the counter, next to the ice pack, and undid the knot so the Meganium could get to it easily if it so chose. She began to turn away, before adding, "You might want to elevate his legs, too. It'll make him come-to faster."

Mina then turned to her Espeon. It was times like these she was especially thankful for having a psychic pokemon. Still, whenever she asked him to do a 'reading', the phrasing of the question always mattered more than anything, so she mulled it over before speaking. "Espeon - Does the cause of this earthquake warrant a patrol?" His fur bristled, the gem on his forehead glowed, and his tail twitched - No. Alright, that settled that. She had learnt some first-aid, including Pokemon first aid, on her travels, so even though she was anxious to make sure the City was alright, Mina decided that her services would be most useful if she stayed at the Center -at least until Nurse Joy came back. Then, she would leave. Just as she finished that thought, a kid came in through the doors, holding an injured Rattatta. She went back into the back room, and emerged holding more herbal medicine and bandages, and began taking care of the kid's pet.

[Jacogos]

Lavender Town

Shaun stood slowly from his meal, washing the bowls in the cracked sink. As usual, there was little in the 'leftovers' department. The four of them managed to eat everything they could serve up on a regular basis. It satisfied him a little that they could say that they didn't waste much. So much had been wasted before the Change... Shaun chuckled bitterly. What was he thinking? Some small part of him felt that the world was a little better off after this Change... He shook his head in disgust. Though he wouldn't let go of the feeling, most of him disagreed with that part of him.

Turning back to his Pokemon, Shaun held out their pokeballs. "Alright guys... its time to move. I get the feeling that we're overstaying our welcome here..." Magmortor, Houndoom, and Crobat shook their heads, though, each turning towards the door with a determined look on their faces. He sighed. They had a right to walk beside him, but he felt much better if they weren't in danger... Nodding slightly, he returned the balls to his belt and grabbed his shotgun from the corner, as well as his rucksack. He opened the door and the group filed out, and he turned to lock the door. Even if something went in through the window, though, they wouldn't find anything of much value... just a few pots and pans that he didn't like taking with him...

Turning around to take in the view of the town, Shaun was greeted by the ominous Pokemon Tower looming over him. He shivered. Well... it was Thursday... Sighing, he beckoned his Pokemon and headed towards the Tower.

For the most part, the Gastly and Haunter of Pokemon Tower stayed away, though every so often one got ballsy enough for Houndoom to have to Roar them away. After a few times, they learned to leave well enough alone. On the second floor, Shaun paused by two graves on the far side of the level. Mightyena and Camerupt... Shaun sighed and swept some of the dust from the tombstones. He stilled missed his closest companions... Hearing a noise, Shaun looked behind him, realizing that Crobat was stifling a cry. She had fought beside them... Had been there when both Mightyena AND Camerupt had died...

"You still blame yourself, don't ya?" he asked his Crobat quietly. Starting in surprise, Crobat turned away, not wanting him to see her cry. She was usually more contained than this. Sighing, he stood and ushered his Pokemon away. There was no use in tears. Sparing her the shame of crying in public, he offered Crobat her pokeball, which she accepted and returned into. Wiping a single tear from his own cheek, Shaun exited the Tower without so much as tripping over a Channeler.

That done, Shaun decided to make his way through Route 7 towards Saffron City. Then he would head south towards Vermilion. For some reason, he was drawn towards the east. The quickest way there would be through the Diglett Tunnels, though he supposed that that in itself would be quite the ordeal... With any luck, Houndoom would be able to keep up his Roars so that they didn't have to spend too much time and ammo on the ferals.

However, luck hadn't really been their strong point as of late...

[Familiar]

Viridian City

Occam’s Razor, a hunting rifle and a healthy sense of paranoia were a very dangerous combination in the best of people, at the best of times. Alex was not the best of people, and the wake of an earthquake was certainly not the best of times. Even though the level of damage to the people, thankfully, appeared fairly minimal, there were more than a few smaller pokemon passed out and bleeding by the side of the road, bricks still raining from slowly dying buildings. The pokemon, it was hard for Alex to really care less about. The buildings were a different story… More than one looked as though it would need to be completely torn down before it would be safe to inhabit again, others looked ready to crumble under their own weight at any moment. In any case, it was obvious that there would be more than a few people sleeping out on the street tonight, at least if they valued their safety. It was a struggle to ignore these sights as he walked, deftly making his way through crashed bikes and bits of debris, a half crushed pidgey staining one of his shoes red as he passed it…

But, Alex knew that these were all small things. He didn’t have enough supplies to be a medic. He didn’t have enough skill to work on propping up a new shelter designed for the recently deplaced. He wasn’t loud enough or persuasive enough to organize the chaos into something productive. All that he knew was that Viridian was not a fault-line. There was no obvious reason for it to occur, except, perhaps, at the command of a pokemon. There was just one problem with that assessment, however… None of the wild pokemon that lurked in the woods that surrounded the city were strong enough to cause something like this. In fact, the only thing that he had seen recently that could have been the cause of this was a certain tyranitar... What were the odds that one of those shows up in town within the same day that an earthquake occurs?

Well, not really terrible, if Alex was being honest, but nobody had ever accused him of laziness, and he really didn’t have any other ideas at the moment. There was the possibility that it had caused this, either at the command of its trainer, or of its own free will. It would hardly be the first time that a powerful monster had snapped, after all. If it had, then it would be a danger to not only him, but the rest of the city as well. A grimace on his face, Alex hefted the rifle on his shoulder, heading over to the pokemon centre that he had seen the pair at earlier. Downside of having such a big pokemon was that it made you absurdly easy to track, the foot-claws of the beast scoring the concrete paths it walked deep enough for the hunter to follow despite the damage from the recent disaster.

There was just one thing that slowed him from moving out, a figure caught in the corner of his eye through the pokecenter door. The girl from earlier. The one with a charizard. As much as Alex hated to admit it to himself, a tyranitar would be difficult to take down with zero prep-time and nothing more than a rifle, especially if it turned out that the incident was intentional and he had to contend with the trainer as well. Swallowing his pride, he made his way into the centre, approaching the woman warily. “We both saw a tyranitar earlier today. Only thing that I can think of that might be able to cause something like this that might be around these parts. Probably nothing, but I want to be sure in case it feels like coming back or doing this again. A charizard would be helpful in making sure that things worked out well for this town, if you aren’t too busy saving the rats.”

[DuskingMorning]

Saffron City

Dusky stood in her small aparment kitchen, stirring the stew she was making just beginning to boil on the stove. Growlithe was laying on the cracked tile floor, waiting for their dinner to be done. Eevee and Vulpix were curled up on the couch, sleeping peacefully, and Pichu perched himself on Dusky's shoulder, which is where he usually placed himself. Dusky cut up the bit of Tauros meat she had been able to afford and cooked it before dropping the small pieces into the stew. A few minutes passed and soon she was pulling out five bowls.

"Time to eat," she said to everyone, though Growlithe and Pichu already knew. She filled a bowl for each of her pokemon, feeding them first. Pichu was sitting on the counter, and, as usual, looked down at his stew with much distaste. Dusky scooped the rest of what little stew was left into her bowl and gave a hefty sigh as she saw Pichu. "You have to eat," she sighed.

He looked at her sadly. "Pi. . . ." He pointed to the only picture in her apartment - it was of her brother. A feeling of sadness began to flood through Dusky as she nodded, her throat tightening as tears built up in her eyes.

"Yeah, I miss him, too," she said, her voice cracking, "but that's no reason not to eat, so go on. Eat up. You need your strength. I don't want to lose you, too."

Pichu nodded at her words and slowly began to nibble on the meat. Dusky remembered how before the Change, she always saw Pichu sitting under the apple tree they grew in their back yard, snacking on apples whenever he pleased (he was a bit of a glutton when it came to apples), so after the Change, he had to grow used to eating meat. Even after twelve years, he still hadn't grown used to accustom to eating meat from pokemon; then again, neither had Dusky. The other three pokemon had had very little problems with the change of food, so they never showed any reluctance when it came to eating.

Dusky briefly glanced out the window onto the bare streets of Saffron City. Then a simple thought crossed her mind:

Leave.

The thought of leaving the semi-safe walls of Saffron City had never entered her mind before, not after all the years she spent here. Why would it come to her so suddenly?

None the less, Dusky shook her head, dismissing the thought. She had no reason to leave. Well, not yet. So, after they all finished their food, she peered into the fridge, only to find it bare, not a scrap of food left. She sighed and brushed her hair back into a ponytail and slipped on her shoes. She had no work today, so she decided it would be a good time to head out and get some food. Dusky grabbed her draw-string bag and slipped it over her shoulder. Her pokemon were looking up from their empty bowls, wondering why their trainer was getting ready.

"Come on, we're going shopping," she smiled. The pokemon, aside from Growlithe, gave out a happy cheer. Shopping was one of the few things they got joy out of. Growlithe, however, thought it was dangerous. After all, he didn't trust anyone aside from Dusky, Pichu, Eevee, and Vulpix. But all the same, with Pichu and Eevee on her shoulders, Vulpix in her arms, and Growlithe by her side, Dusky left the apartment and headed towards the small (and only) shop in Saffron City that sold food.

It didn't take long to get to the shop. It was made of wood, and it had an old weathered sign leaning against the front of the shop that said in faded black letters: Market. Underneath it in the same faded black letters read: NO POKEMON ALLOWED!. Dusky paused to put all her pokemon away, even Growlithe, before stepping through the front door. The owner, an older, grumpy man with failing eye sight named Frank, sat behind the dusty counter and eyed Dusky as she stepped through the door.

"Hey, Frank," Dusky said before he could ask who it was.

"Oh, it's you, Dusky," grunted Frank. The man didn't like people, but if he did, Dusky would've been his favorite. "Come in for the usual?"

"Yes please," Dusky smiled, reaching into her bag for her money while Frank walked over to the freezer and pulled out some Tauros meat. "How much will it be?"

"The same as usual," he replied gruffly. Dusky enchanged the money for the meat and just as she was going to turn to leave, someone else walked in. She turned, briefly looking over her shoulder, figuring it was just someone else who came in for food. That is, until the person said:

"Do you have any pokemon?"

Usually, Dusky won't have thought twice about the questions, but the tone of the person's voice was different: demanding, rough, and very dangerous. She pulled her jacket down some to hide the pokeballs on her belt and turned around slowly. The person who walked in was a tall man with olive skin and jet black hair with dangerous grey eyes. He was tall and had a muscular build, making him look threatening. But what was the most alarming thing about him was the fact that Dusky was staring down the barrel of his gun.

"Uh, no, I don't," she replied, trying to keep her voice even and calm, "I'm terrified of pokemon."

"Give me your bag," he growled as he let his gun fall to his side.

Not wanting to give the man a reason to shoot her or Frank, Dusky quickly handed her bag open. The man snatched it away and dumped the contents out: her wallet, two empty pokeballs, and two pictures: one of her parents and the other of her brother and his Arcanine. The man took her wallet and threw her bag to her. It went over her head, so she reached for it, exposing the four pokeballs on her belt. The man laughed.

"So, you do have pokemon," he growled pointing his gun at her face. "Give 'em here."

Dusky felt suddenly couragous and boldly said, "No!"

"Well then," he muttered, "I guess I'll have to take them from you." He put his finger to the trigger and-

BANG! BANG!

The shot rang clear in Dusky's ears and she watched as two holes suddenly appeared in the man's chest, blood pouring freely from them. He looked at his chest and then to Dusky, dropping his gun as he collapsed to the floor. He was dead. Dusky slowly looked behind her and saw Frank standing there with a pistol in his hand.

"Fr-Frank," she stammered. "I-I . . . thank you."

"Don't mention it," he shrugged. "Now, pick up that gun he dropped and take your meat. Go home."

Dusky nodded stiffly. "R-right. Again, thanks."

"Like I said, don't mention it," he repeated.

Dusky slowly bent down and picked up the gun, not sure what to do with it. She slowly released the man's grip on her wallet and put her belongings back in her bag, awkwardly holding the gun in her hand.

"Go ahead and let your pokemon out," Frank instructed. "Okay, go on and get home. Just be careful."

"I will," Dusky said, still short of breath.

She let out Growlithe and she slowly walked around the body. Growlithe growled at the man, but once he realized he was dead, he followed his trainer as they headed back. Dusky was still shaken. That had never happened to her before. But now she had a gun - she only hoped she wouldn't have to use it. Still, she would if there ever came a time.

[Almost_Blue]

Route 38

Marching down the main path, Beryl was surprised that he hadn't dealt with any attackers. This was only a minor surprise as he's walked these roads many times since the change, though the danger never seemed to get any less fierce. Now no matter which path you chose to take on Route 38, there was always a bit of wilderness to stand in your way. He glanced upward to spot a Pidgeotto flying above the trees with a couple pidgey behind it, following it as if it were alpha. It was daytime, so perhaps hiding amongst the trees was a much better idea for now; and idea that Beryl did indeed take appropriate response to, leaping off of a tiny ledge that stood in the way. The minor thud and rustling of the thick grass he landed on was enough to draw attention to two Magnemite that seemed to be quite unaffected by the change.

Beryl's eyes widened as he stood perfectly still, holding the Kakuna that he merely called a friend, in his arms as he attempted to prove to the Magnemite that he was merely a statue of sorts. Magnemite were a strange type of pokemon to begin with, the brain patterns of wild ones were especially odd. One of the Magnemite slowly levitated it's way closer, inspecting the Kakuna with it's one eye, growing closer.. and closer..
"KAKUNA!" The pokemon couldn't help but call out in fear, spraying the Magnetmite with an intense amount of String shot, forcing it back onto a tree, where it was basically trapped to now. The jig was up as Beryl frowned, catching glimpse of a thundershock that was being launched in their direction. In an attempt to dodge Beryl leaped to the side, taking the bolt of tiny electricity to his left ankle, landing on his stomach with a thud as the Kakuna rolled out of his arms, into the grass; face down.

Wincing from the pain, Beryl couldn't seem to move his left leg at all, it was rather numb all the way up to his thigh. Luckily for him the Magnemite that attacked him was responding to it's friend who was now trapped against the tree. It hovered around it, as the two resonated between eachother in an attempt to communicate. Taking notice of this distraction Beryl crawled toward Kakuna, pulling it closer to whisper; "..Are you alright?..", merely getting a "Ku na" in return, before attempting to crawl to safety. Beryl followed the ledge that he leapt from, which stretched around making a corner for them to hide behind, as he sat with his back against the ledge, Kakuna in his lap.
He threw his head back against the wall, with his eyes closed in an attempt to brainstorm any scenarios that would get him and his pokemon to safety. He couldn't help coming to the conclusion of using his Onix as a means for escape and/or safety, but kept thinking of the downside; Onix may have a wondrous defense to most pokemon now, as Grass types and Water types rarely existed, but the fact remained that if he released it now, while they were in the middle of the wild, it would attract constant unwanted attention. He couldn't just sit here, and it was a matter of time before him and his Kakuna were discovered and made into lunch.

Beryl couldn't be more right, as a Pidgeotto landed atop the ledge where Beryl and Kakuna sat, staring down with a piercing look. Pebbles falling onto Beryls forehead caused him to open his eyes, as his head was tilted back, the first thing he saw was the bird, staring at the two with very hungry eyes. A few pidgey followed it's lead, landing either behind it [too stupid to know what it was doing], or beside it on the ledge, staring at the Kakuna. Beryl's eyes widened, as he very slowly reached for his pokeball in his pocket, not making any sudden movements to provoke the birds of prey. It seemed he had no choice but to completely rely on the plan that seemed to haunt his immediate thoughts, grasping the pokeball tightly. Without hesitation he fell to his side and whipped the pokeball at the Pidgeotto's head, causing it to stumble back as it was stunned momentarily. The pokeball opened to release the large rock snake that Beryl called a friend, as it's reaction was to let out a roar, causing the birds to fly for their lives, leaving a stunned alpha leader behind to gather itself after being beaned with a solid ball. "Onix.." Beryl called out, crawling onto his tail, after carefully placing the Kakuna in his backpack.
"I.. need you to bring me to Ekruteak, but we can't have wild pokemon following us, you'll have to deal with alot...I'm sorry." He expressed, hugging onto his pokemon. His Onix merely nodded, concentrating for a moment as it instinctively used Harden.

A grunt was head from above Beryl's head as the Pidgeotto slammed into the side of Onix's head in an attempt to take it down. It retaliated immediately with a headbutt, which missed entirely due to Pidgeotto's speed and evasion due to flying. Onix let out a roar as it was attacked again, this time clipping the wing of the bird using the horn-type feature on his head, causing the bird to drop to the ground. Onix raised it's tail, which Beryl was clinging onto, causing him to cling tightly with wide eyes. "O-onix!?" he called out, before the rock snake slammed it's tail onto the ground where Pidgeotto landed, forcing it into the dirt which most likely ended it's life, or severely crippled it. Beryl merely continued to cling, as he just went for quite the ride. "Th-that.. was.. insane.."
Before Beryl even had a chance to command Onix, it was attacked by a Magnemite that used a mere tackle. It seemed that it managed to free it's trapped companion as Onix was struck once again from a different angle by another Magnemite. The attacks didn't have much of an effect at all, merely leaving scratches of metal on it's large rock body.

"Onix! Hang in there.. show them what a tackle really looks like." He said with a smirk, hanging on for dear life knowing that he was about to be taken for a ride. The rock snake responded in kindness to Beryl's orders, giving the Magnemites a few headbutts, not having very much room to leap into a tackle attack. "Ugh.. keep it up~" Beryl offered in a reassuring manner as the steel, electric types continued to recover and attack, luckily they weren't targeting Beryl at all.
After a few blows the tiny magnet pokemon started to feel rather weak as they looked fairly scratched up. Onix on the other hand was doing perfectly fine, aside from a few scratches here or there that seemed to shine in the sunlight. The Magnemites were losing their metal coating as they grew weaker, proving just how tough The Change was on all pokemon. Onix shook it's head as if it had a headache, after the electric pokemon seemed to drop to the ground in a weakened state.
Beryl pet his Onix's hard snake like body as he spoke up; "Are.. you okay Onix?" he questioned, feeling as if he could stand once again. He slid off his pokemons tail, slowly limping his way around to the front and gestured for Onix to lower it's head. It obliged Beryl's gesture, leaning down for Beryl to embrace his Onix's head with a hug, closing it's eyes once again as the headache returned.
"I'm so sorry.. I.. sh-shouldn't have pushed you.." Beryl confessed, tears building up as he feared for his pokemon's health. The Onix let out a grumble, before the scratches on it's body started to glow even brighter in the sunlight.
"What's happening to you Onix?!" Beryl called out, his eyes widening as before too long his Onix's whole body was glowing. The boy took a few steps back to observe, nearly tripping on an unconscious Magnemite, watching his pokemon's body grow in size, and shape. Beryl fell to his knees out of sheer surprise, as the glow slowly faded, revealing a completely new form for his pokemon, in the shape of a Steelix.

[P.K.]

lost some where near lavender town

Meg leaned back on the tree with a heavy sigh "This week has been the worst ever" she huffed quietly to herself She thought she was on rout 7 or somewhere around there but she was to tired to think not having slept well in the last 3-4 days or so with all the attacks or just plain disasters as it was. the Dratini in her arms made a soft sort of mewling sound as it curled up tighter. Meg gazed down at it helplessly "I'm sorry" she said and carefully shifted her arms to hold it more comfortable against her chest. it let out a muffled halfhearted protest but settled back into her arms. No matter what she did the poor creature only seemed to get weaker last night she had staid up with Ev and watched over it trying to bring down its fever but nothing was working and she was running low on supply's.

Every one in Meg's small party was tired including silky who she almost never brought out to fight. But during this passed week she had to after Ru had fainted and nearly died. Ginger had gone into shock after braking hoof and thinking that Ru had died she had refused to budge it had taken every thing Meg had just to get her to eat. Evee and silky where the only two ever capable of fighting at the moment but they wouldn't last long if it came to another fight. Looking at Ev she debated with herself for a moment about getting a gun "Do you think it would be wise to get a gun?" she finely asked out loud to her old friend. Ev stared back at her as they seemed to have some sort of silent conversations Meg finely nodded "your right next town we will get one".

Meg pushed herself away from the tree and started on her path again she had to get to lavender town the last pokecenter had said they had no room and couldn't take care of any more Pokemon at the time lavender town was the closest place to go she just hopped they could help. Wryly Meg tried keeping an eye about her surroundings Ev doing the same looking for all the world like a small guard dog. Ev had a few scratches here and there at the moment but didn't seem overly hurt just more tired then he should have been. What caused the sudden change? she asked herself looking down the path. could it be that there is some higher power up there? maybe we are being punished? or maybe just being played with? the thought made her more then a bit angry what kind of sick twisted god would watch as we suffer down here scrapping what living we can from the waist land there is... Still Meg could not be sure but she was sure that no one had an explanation for what was happening to their world.

Ev stopped tensing even more if that was at all possible "what is i-" She didn't finish because Ev started shoving against her ankle wanting her to move and urgently. She shuffled a long where he guided her then quietly till she was safely behind a tree here Ev stopped at peered back out onto the path where they had just been moments later a large looking ursaring lumbered out from the opposite side of the path then began to sniff around. Meg held her breath carefully leaning back against the tree bringing one hand around and slowly putting it to Silky's pokeball if she needed to... she probably would but heavens knew none of them had the strengths to take on a full grown ursaring she quietly prayed that it would leave soon but it continued its search for what ever it may be looking for... or her.