It's time to unveil the final exquisite corpse of our 2021 batch--the Sinnoh Journeyfic corpse! Many pokémon fans' thoughts have been in Sinnoh recently, and it was clearly no different for the writers working on this corpse. They are:
The completed story appears below, and the author of each section is named under a spoiler tag so you can have fun trying to guess who wrote what part. Feel free to leave your comments or reactions in this thread!
Thanks to everyone who participated in this corpse, whether writing or reading. The writers gave the readers some lovely material to work with, and the readers did a fantastic job of bringing it to life. I hope all of you had a great time, and a hearty deleleleleleWHOOP to you all!
“Welcome to the world of humans!”
“Huh? What?” The Tropius asked, looking around at the rainbow void she was floating in. “Where am I?! Who are you?”
“I’m not one you should be concerning yourself over. And you’re on the way to the human world,” a voice said, coming from both everywhere, and nowhere. “Now, I need you to answer some questions for me.”
“Ummmm...ok?” the Tropius said. She wouldn’t lie, she always wanted to see a human in person. Humans were so cool, always saving the world. She’d love to meet one, and now she was being sent to a whole world of them? She should be ecstatic!
She just didn’t expect it to be like this.
“Now. Answer every question honestly,” the voice said, before asking their first question.
“You come to a shop inside a mystery dungeon. The shopkeeper looks meek and frail, but they have a Revive All Orb for sale...for all the Poke you have The only other Pokemon around are you and the dungeon Pokemon. Do you leave the orb alone, buy it, or try to steal it?”
--
Thirty minutes of questions and answers later, the voice said, “You appear to be...the hasty type.”
“Hey, what do you mean?!” the Tropius said, as she watched the white spot in the rainbow void grow closer and closer. Come on, she wanted to go to the human world already!
“Case in point,” the voice said. “Nonetheless...the starter for a hasty person like you should be…”
A strange, red and white sphere appeared in front of the Tropius. “A Buizel!”
“...that’s the weirdest looking Buizel I’ve ever seen,” the Tropius commented, staring at the sphere.
“...it’s inside the sphere,” the voice said. Before the Tropius could ask what that meant, the voice spoke up again. “Now, Coleane! Go into the human world, collect the eight badges, and defeat the Champion! Become the greatest trainer there ever was!”
“How did you know my na—”
The Tropius and the sphere were thrust through the white spot, and her vision went white.
--
“Look, a Tropius!” a voice said.
“Why’s that Pokeball with them?” a second voice said.
“I dunno, but it’d be perfect to catch that Tropius in!”
“No, I want it! I already have a name in mind for it, Tropsy!”
“...whuh? Who are you?” Coleane said, slowly opening her eyes as she began to stand up.
“D-did that Tropius just speak?!” the voice said again. Coleane could now see that the voice was coming from…
...were those humans?!
“HUMANS!” the Tropius exclaimed, immediately standing upright. “Oh, I’m so happy, I always wanted to meet a real human!”
“...what in Dialga’s name…” one of them said, staring slack-jawed at the talking Tropius.
“Oh my…” the other said, before hesitantly touching the Tropius’ neck, gasping as they felt solid skin. No, that was no illusion or hallucination, this was a real, talking Tropius.
“...you’re really cool and all, but what are you touching my neck for?” Coleane asked, craning their head down towards the human touching her neck.
“Oh, I...just wasn’t sure you were actually real,” the human said, slowly backing away from the Tropius.
“Of course I’m real!” Coleane said, looking the human who touched her neck in the eyes. “Also, do either of you know what a Champion is? A weird voice said just before I woke up here that I needed to beat it.”
Both humans’ eyes widen, and the one further away spoke up.
“Er...let’s take you to Professor Rowan. He’ll know what to do,” he said, before looking the talking Tropius in the eyes. “Come follow us, er...do you have a name other than Tropius?”
“Coleane’s my name!” Coleane said, puffing her chest out in pride.
“Guess we can’t name her Tropsy…” one of the humans mumbled.
“Ok...uh....Coleane, follow us,” the other human said, beginning to slowly walk away, and the other human did the same.
Coleane was overflowing with glee. She’d already met real humans, and they were bringing her somewhere! This was amazing!
Before following the humans, though, Coleane looked at the red and white sphere. Didn’t that voice say it was a Buizel? Odd as the Buizel seemed, she couldn’t just leave them behind. So, she scooped them up in her wings, holding them as she began to follow the two humans.
Before too long, the humans led Coleane the Tropius into Twinfoot Town, and chaos broke loose.
--
After many confused Tropius and human noises, several hastily written theories, four philosophical and moral questions, an argument about whether Coleane would count as a usable Pokemon for her team, 57 papers being knocked onto the floor by a wingbeat, wondering how a Tropius would use a bag, a demonstration of how a Tropius would use a bag, and a banana, Coleane the Tropius was registered as an official trainer.
The people in charge of the League had a headache on the way.
Coleane the Tropius, with her Buizel starter in wing, set out on Route 201, to become the first ever Pokemon trainer who’s a Pokemon.
As fate would have it, as soon as Coleane stepped into the grass, a Kricketot suddenly grew a pair and ambushed her. It looked completely ready to brawl, until it finally took notice of the sheer height difference between them. Its eyes went wide, and it stumbled back until it fell on its butt.
"A-a Tropius?!" Kricketot stammered. "He-ere?! How?!"
Coleane grinned like a human trainer in a rare candy store, and opened her wings. "Buizel, let's give this a go!" she said. Buizel hopped off her back, and sauntered in front of her.
"Ready!" Buizel said.
Kricketot's eyes narrowed at the sight. "Hold up..." he said. "Are you...training that Buizel?"
"I sure am!" Coleane beamed. "I'm going to be the first ever Pokemon Trainer!"
"Gimme a call, I'm gettin' antsy over here!" Buizel said. She was crouched, ready to tackle at a moments notice.
Coleane watched as the Kricketot's eyes traveled back and forth between her and Buizel. He did that for a long, long while, before his tiny body began to rock with intense laughter. He doubled over, grabbing his gut, while he rolled all over the grass. Coleane's smile faltered, and it slowly but surely shrunk down to a frown.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"I'll beat 'im up right now!' Buizel growled.
"No! No. Please, have mercy!" Kricketot heaved, taking a couple deep breaths to calm himself down. He stumbled back to his feet and brushed himself off, a couple of lasting giggles still escaping as he did. "This is just too good."
"I'm hearin' a lotta talk and not seein' a lot of battlin'," Buizel said. "You challenged us, so come at me!"
Kricketot raised his stumpy arms defensively. "No need. You got me. I forfeit."
Coleane blinked, then exchanged a dubious look with Buizel.
"You...forfeit?" Coleane asked.
"Yep. No battle needed, I'll be your 'Pokemon,'" Kricketot said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the last word. "I really want to see where this ends up going."
All Coleane could do was blink. She could blatantly see how doubtful this Kricketot was about her goal, but...she supposed she quite literally needed to pick and choose her battles here. Even if Kricketot was seeing all of this as a big joke, she was still trying to build a team, and a Pokemon was a Pokemon.
"Uh...okay, if you insist!" Coleane said. She raised her wings. "Hop on! We're headed for the first gym!"
"What?" Buizel gasped. "That's so lame, I didn't even get to show my stuff!"
"Don't worry, partner, I'm sure our trainer will give us a chance to show off eventually," Kricketot cracked, hobbling over to Coleane and hopping on her back. Buizel watched with narrow eyes.
"That is if I don't push you off while we're flyin' first," Buizel murmured, settling in next to Kricketot. When Coleane was sure they were both safely in place, she took off for Oreburgh.
It definitely wasn't the ideal way to catch her first wild Pokemon, but it was something. Things were definitely in motion, and she felt a little swell of hope in her gut.
I'm on my way, she thought.
“Come on, guys! We gotta get to Canalave City to get my first badge!”
Rowena ran down the sunlit path, the leaves of maple trees swaying above her. Her heart pumped with excitement, her muscles burned as they pulsed with infinite energy, the air pierced her lungs—
“Waaaaaaaait!”
She skidded to a halt and looked back to see Kricketot hopping painfully along behind her. Buizel walked alongside him, a content smile on his face as he looked around at his surroundings.
“Let’s go, you two, no time for slacking! Roark isn’t gonna be there forever!”
“What—what are we—we doing—again?” Kricketot panted.
Rowena turned and kept walking down the path, her eyes ahead as she answered Kricketot. “We’re going to beat the Pokemon League and become Champions! But to do that, I need to get eight badges first, and the first leader is in Canalave City.”
“But how does this apply to me?”
“You gotta beat his Pokemon!”
“What sorta Pokemon?”
“Uh… I’m not too sure. I think he has an Onix? And—”
“ONIX?”
Kricketot stopped walking and stared at Rowena with bulging, bug-eyes. “Have you seen me?! I’m a foot tall! I can’t do anything other than growl and fight after I’ve been attacked! What do you expect me to do?!”
“Well, that’s okay, Buizel can take this battle!”
“So what am I there for? To sit on the sidelines? Let him take the experience?”
“I mean, yeah, if you don’t think you can fight against Roark’s Pokemon. You can provide moral support?”
“Oh, so THAT’S what I am now? Just the cheerleader? ‘No experience for you, Kricketot, just sit on the side and watch!’ “
“You said you didn’t want to fight Onix!”
“But I don’t want to be left behind, either!”
“Then what do you want to do?!”
“You’re the trainer, that’s your job to figure out!”
Rowena’s cheeks burned as anger flared through her. This was her fault now, was it?!
“It would be nice,” Kricketot went on, “if you, y’know, asked me before shoving me into that little ball and taking me along for a ride that I never got on in the first place!”
“Kricketot, I’m done with this conversation.”
“Oh, not gonna listen to your companion? The one who is supposed to get crushed by a giant rock-snake for you? Too good for that? Afraid to engage in a little therapy? Afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and face hard truths?”
Rowena’s ears perked up—she distinctly heard voices and the thud of footsteps ahead.
“Kricketot,” she whispered urgently, “I think you need to hush.”
“Silencing your opposition now, are you?! It is my right as a law-abiding citizen of Sinnoh—”
“No, Kricketot, I think I hear some—”
“I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!”
His shrill voice pierced through the forest and he clacked his antennae together, sounding through the trees like notes from a xylophone.
A group burst through the trees and bushes before them: men and women clad in black-and-white uniforms with a yellow “G” emblazoned on their chests. Each of them had the exact same bright green bowl-shaped haircut. They all held Pokeballs at the ready, glaring at Rowena and her Pokemon.
Rowena’s heart beat furiously in her chest; her skin tingled with nerves and anxiety. Who were these people? Why did they look so angry? They looked ready for a Pokemon battle—there must have been five or ten of them. Could she take them all on at once?
Behind her, she heard Kricketot mutter, “Oh, f…”
A woman with crimson hair and matching eyes gazed coolly at Rowena. “What are you doing here? We can’t have kids around.”
Rowena’s eyes strayed from the strange people to their surroundings; she saw Lake Verity sparkling behind them. She thought she saw a helicopter—
“Purugly, take them out!”
The red-headed woman tossed a Pokeball in the air and out came the largest Purugly Rowena had ever seen. It hissed and tied its twin tail around its waist, buffing out its chest and leg muscles.
Rowena nervously glanced at Kricketot and Buizel. Kricketot looked like he was about to pee himself—he was whimpering and shaking so badly. Buizel had the same small, amused smile fixed to his face that he always did.
“Okay, uh, Kricketot, use bug bite! Wait, do you know that move? Use growl!”
“Is that how you’re going to handle this? Have us fight each other like barbarians instead of engaging in civilized discussion? I’ll have you know—”
“Oh my gosh, Kricketot, why are you so useless?”
“Wouldn’t that depend on how you define ‘useless’?—”
“Buizel, get in there!”
Rowena had had enough of Kricketot’s griping. If there was any hope, it lay with Buizel!
He stepped forward, staring bemusedly at the pugnacious Purugly. For the first time all day, Buizel opened his mouth.
“Wow, that thing is pure-ugly!”
Rowena closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. She didn’t even look up as she heard a SMACK! and Buizel screaming as he sailed through the air, or Kricketot chattering away in fear and indignation.
"Don't worry, I've got this!" Barry's voice came from somewhere behind, increasing in volume. Rowena barely dared to look up and turn her head to find him running towards the scene in his usual enthusiastic way.
The prospect of his help gave her the courage to turn back toward the Galactic grunts. Buizel was lying flat on the ground, fainted, and she recalled him. Kricketot, though, was stubbornly standing as the two Zubat fluttered in her face - not exactly doing anything, but standing.
"Wh--kgh!" Rowena looked frantically back to see Barry had tripped over a rock in his hurry, landing hard. Was he unconscious? Oh, oh no. What was she supposed to do? Help him? How? She knew she should've learned first aid! She wrung her hands together pleading for--
"Krrrick!" Kricketot took on a red glow, and an explosion of energy flattened both Zubat to the ground. Rowena gaped. That was... Bide...?
Kricketot celebrated with a triumphant victory strut, only for one of the Galactic members to recall her Zubat for a Glameow. It sprang towards Kricketot, all coiled energy, and Kricketot screeched in surprise as it knocked her down and rolled her along the ground like a ball. Rowena cringed, pulling out Kricketot's Pokéball, but hesitated as the bug Pokémon started to glow with a white light.
She gasped as Kricketot's stubby little hands grew into long, bladed arms. Glameow hissed in surprise, hackles rising, batting at Kricketune with its claws, but with a furious, melodic cry, the bug retaliated with a slash, blades glowing with green energy.
...And the Glameow didn't seem to mind much at all, but Kricketune quickly built up momentum, each strike more powerful than the last, and after a few, the cat Pokémon was yowling and turning tail. The Galactic grunt recalled it, and the two of them hightailed it out of there.
"DeleleleleleWHOOP!" Kricketune cried, bowing as if after a performance.
Rowena ran over to Barry. He was conscious, she could see now, but holding his head. "Nggh, don't worry! I'll--"
"Um, Kricketune sort of handled it." Barry blinked as Rowena pointed to the bug Pokémon, now back to a victorious strut.
“Mn, seems so,” I mumbled, watching Kricketune continue her victory dance. She paused just long enough to let out a delighted ‘delelewhooooop.’ I was… stunned, to say the least, by how quickly the battle had unfolded. One moment, we’re discussing how to catch that greedy pachirisu stealing all our food and toying with Rowena’s expensive research instruments, the next… Well. Like Barry said, it was handled.
Cautious, I crouched and inched toward the downed rodent, holding my hands in front of me in hopes of appearing non-threatening. The pachirisu climbed to their feet. Beady little eyes glared at me as they let loose a few warning sparks.
Kricketune stopped dancing and began to approach, ready for round two, but I held up a hand to hold her back.
“What are you going to do?” Barry asked, raising a brow. “If we let them go, they’re just going to come back again, aren’t they?”
“Hold on, I’m thinking,” I replied as I slowly reached a hand into my bag. The pachirisu watched, growling as I shuffled, only to quiet when I retrieved an oran berry and held it out in my open palm. I don’t know what they expected, but it wasn’t that.”
They inched forward, tail flicking up and down, with a nervous rhythm. No malice lingered in their eyes. Only caution and, perhaps, curiosity. When they finally reached the berry, they hesitated for a moment before swiping it and running back several feet to devour it in ravenous bites. From just the one berry, they already seemed to do better.
And that’s when the idea struck me.
I averted my gaze slightly and tilted my head to the side as I spoke. “You know, Pachirisu, I could use someone with your... skills on my team. What do you say, want to travel with us?”
The Pachisru pondered. Sure she could probably carve out a support niche in this Trainer's team or something.
But they were about to challenge Fantina. And she was spoooooooky.
<I... I guess I could...>
"Great, come on!" said the Trainer.
She clonked me on the head with an Ultra ball and I was promptly sucked in.
---------
When I was sent out next I was in a dark Gym, face to face with a Driftblim.
I screamed.
And screamed.
And screamed and screamed and screamed and-
<For the love of Giratina just hit me already,> said the Driftlim.
I obliged with a Thunderbolt. The Druiftblim whirled from the shock.
<Oof, you're good....> said the Driftblim.
"Shadow Ball!" said Fantina!
The Driftblim sent an orb of ghostly energy atme. I squeaked in pain as it hit me. I didn't have many options.
"Discharge!" said my new Trainer.
Would this really work?
I screamed again and let out a massive wave of electricity. The Driftblim comnvulsed and promptly deflated.
"Ohoho fabulous!" said Fantina. "You've beaten all of my :Pokemon!"
All of them? I thought. There was just the one the whole time?
(I only learned later that my teammates I hadn't met yet had taken out the rest.)
"You get THIS!"
Fantina tossed a Badge and a TM, bonking mynew Trainer on the head.
"Ow!" she said. "Uh, thanks?"
"Well, farewell!"
It was then Fantina produced a Mary Poppins umbrella and floated off.
----------
As we exited the Gym my new Trainer hugged me. It was a nice, soft, pleasant feeling.
"You did it! I knew you were a good pick!"
<Hehehe, thanks..." I said.
I couldn't believe it. I had found a Trainer and actually IMPRESSED her. Things were going grea-
It was then purple smoke appeared, and strange disco Star Trek people emerged from it.
"We are Team BrilliantShiningGalactic and we demand your CLOUT"
I started blankly at them. “Isn’t that name kind of long? Also, I uh… I don’t have any.”
“Don’t have any,” repeated the peon on the left. “Explain.”
I fidgeted a bit. “I mean, have you seen my Twitter account? Totally dead. I could sing the praises of TeamSparkleGalaxy—”
“BrilliantShiningGalactic.”
“Right… Anyway, I could sing your praises all day long, but it wouldn’t really matter if I don’t have any followers who’d see it, right?” I chuckled nervously.
The peon on the right clapped her hands together. “Singing our praises all day long sounds like a great place to start.”
“What no.”
“Begin immediately and maybe we’ll consider leaving you be~” the other peon sang. “Refuse and we’ll have no choice but to bring you to our glorious leader.”
I raised both hands disarmingly. “Whoa, okay, back up. I’m supposed to be a Pokémon Trainer—I can’t just spend all day advertising you guys.”
First peon contemplated this for a bit. “Hmmm. In that case, we’ll do it for you.”
“Please relinquish your login credentials,” the second added.
“Um. How about no.”
“Would it help if we sent you a 100% legit, totally-not-suspicious helpful link to click on?”
“No!!” I rubbed my temples. “Look, if you’re going to be this much trouble, you can just have the password. I hardly use that account anyway.”
“Excellent! We’ll also be taking your bank account number.”
“.......I’m leaving.”
“And we’re pursuing!”
Ah, crap.
I broke into a run. Aaand the space cadets were after me. Fantastic. As they ran, they trailed the same purple smoke that they’d appeared from. Something told me I didn’t wanna breathe that stuff in. Maybe I could lose them? Nope, they were gaining. Why did I have to be so out of shape? Was there anywhere I could hide? Or get help?
There! The gym!
I burst through the doors of the Eterna Gym and yelled, “Help, TeamSparkleGalaxy—I mean— BrilliantShiningGalactic is after my login info! Oh and my money too I guess.”
Gardenia approached at my entrance, her Roserade following behind her. “What do you mean? What’s going on? Who's BrilliantShi—”
“Cyrus,” I interrupted. I bent down on my knees to catch my breath. “He rebranded again," I panted. "Anyway, they’re at the Pokémon Center, trying to hack the PCs so they can steal all the Pokémon, and cash! We need your help.”
Gardenia’s eyes widened. “But I can’t help a trainer who hasn’t proved themself! It just doesn’t work like that.”
“I know,” I said. “But I’m ready.” I straightened.
I took a pokeball into my hand, took a deep breath to steel myself. “Gym Leader Gardenia, I challenge you to a battle.”
Expression grim, she nodded. “I won’t be able to go easy on you. How many gym badges do you have?”
“Just one,” I admitted. I clutched my ball tighter.
“Very well.” Gardenia led me the gym’s arena, wrangling one of her gym students to serve as a ref as she went. She went to her side of the field, and I went to mine.
I selected my pokémon. “Go, Kricketune!” Gardenia released her Turtwig at the same time.
With its distinctive cry, Kricketune materialized onto the battlefield. “Fury Cutter,” I yelled. No time to waste—this had to end quickly.
Kricketune charged at Turtwig Gardenia, but—at its trainer’s order—a translucent shield shimmered before it. A Reflect!
Kricketune slashed, but its blades slowed in the light of the Reflect. It backed around, crooning in confusion. I grit my teeth. “Just keep going, Kricketune!”
Kricketune slashed and slashed. Gardenia’s face was stoic, but the girl serving as ref kept eyeing me nervously. In my mind’s eye, I saw my rival sneering at me. ‘Is your strat just to spam your most powerful move? Pathetic.’ I had hoped Kricketune would be able to cut through Gardenia’s team with its type advantage. Please, I silently prayed at my Pokémon. You can do it.
Eventually, Kricketune knocked out Turtwig—only after it got off a Sunny Day. Gardenia released her Cherrim into the sunlight. The Cherrim barely finished blooming before it revenge-killed its partner.
“R-Release your next Pokémon,” the ref said, looking to me with plain desperation in her eye. I had a plan if my type advantage failed, right?
With Kicketune gone, I had only two not very effective Pokémon left against Gardenia. But I had to win this—or else BrilliantShiningGalactic would hack into the PC system and steal everyone’s funds and Pokémon.
" " Human speech
# Pokespeech #
"Sparx, go!" I shouted! My Pachirisu ran out on the field!
All we had to do was defeat this Turtwig.
"Okay Sparx, hang in there! Use Quick Attack!" Spark raced forward and tackled Turwig really fast, before it could move. Turtwig grunted and staggered back.
Gardenia smiled coldly. "I won't let you win that easy! BrilliantShiningGalactic is counting on me."
Her last sentence she said super quiet, but I still heard her. I knew she couldn't be trusted.
Gardenia gestured to Turtwig. "Tackle!" Lowering its head, Turtwig gave a loud cry and charged forward surpisingly fast. It rammed Sparx, knocking him back, but he managed to get up again. I frowned. This wasn't looking good. Maybe I should return Sparx, this would be too hard-
As if reading my mind, Sparx turned around and gave me a dirty look. I didn't need my special aura powers to understand him. If I returned him now, he'd be really mad.
Gardenia didn't wait. "Tackle again, don't stop!"
Suddenly, an idea occured to me. "Okay Sparx, just wait!" I called. Sparx tensed up. Just before the Turtwig struck, I called my next command.
"Spark, get on its back!" Electricity cloaked Sparx body and with a shrill cry, he hurled himself onto his opponent. Turtwig howled as it was shocked again and again, and it began shaking its head, trying to dislodge its opponent.
Turtwig raced desperately forward, straight for a tree. Sparx kept shocking it. I gritted my teeth. A second later Turtwig smashed Sparx into the tree, knocking the little squirrel at. Still reeling, Turtwig stumbled away, then seized up, body trembling.
Too tired to fight, Sparx gave a devious grin. I grinned too as I returned him. Maybe we still had a chance!
Gardenia, however, did not look pleased. "Well? Are you going to send out your last pokemon?" she demanded.
"It's up to you, Buizel!" I shouted determinedly. I tossed out my last pokeball, and my Buizel popped out, then immediately yawned. "Buizel, its paralyzed! If we attack now, we can win! Use Aqua Jet."
Buizel sighed. #Fine.# then proceeded to attack, cloacking himself in water and bursting forwards.
"Move!" screeched Gardenia. Turtwig flinched, but remained locked in place. Buizel slammed into it once, twice, thrice. And that was it. It slumped to the ground, too tired to press on.
"NOoOO!!" wailed Gardenia, returning him.
"Thats it!" I declared triumphantly, putting my hands on my hips. "I beat you, so now you have to run away and you and BrilliantShining Galactic can't do your plan anymore!"
Gardenia's face contorted. "No!!! No!!" Suddenly everything flashed. She took a step towards me.
Was a context sensitive cutscene about to start? But if this battle had a second phase, how would I win? Unless this was one of those times my team would be miraculously restored?
Gardenia withdrew a black and yellow ball from her pocket and threw it out. Light brust from the pokeball and a Roserade popped out. Except this Roserade radiated a strange power. It's eyes glowed bright red! Was this ShiningBrilliantGalactics master plan? Steal all the pokemon and turn them super strong?
"Leaf Shuriken!"
Roserade gave a devious grin and flicked one of its boquets. A sound like a Glock 17 9MM handgun echoed across the field. A single leaf shot forth like a big green orb and crashed into Buizel, knocking him out instantly. My heart sank. Now what!?
"You'll never stop the new BrilliantGalacticShining! Our pokemon are perfect! You see, we realized making the perfect world was impossible. But if we couldn't change the world, then we could make everything in it perfect. Remove the spirit. Now, since I'm not allowed to say the word kill, I will strike you down where you stand!"
All I could do was stare. I was helpless. Would my journey really end here? I wanted to become a champion and do... things!!! Thats what every kid wanted. I was gonna be the best trainer. Memories of my journey flashed through my mind.
FLASH!
I suddenly remembered something that happened just two days ago. I was out exploring when I came across an injured Riolu, being attacked by vicious Pidgey and Starly. I ran at them and chased them off, but they came back! They kept attacking both of us.
FLASH!
I remebered panicking, and then my hands began glowing blue! A big burst of energy shot from them and scared the birds away. Riolu stared at me in surprise. But then it mysteriously ran away!
Roserade raised its boquet one last time. The sound of the Glock 9mm rang out and in slow motion, I saw the green bullet fly towards me.
WHAP! A blue blur intercepted the green sphere and WHAM! knocked it away where it exploded in the trees.
I gasped. Before me stood... a Riolu.
As soon as I caught Riolu with my fifth Pokeball, I felt a great sense of joy and excitement that overwhelmed my emotions knowing that sooner or later, the last Pokemon that I’ll catch would complete the team that I need in order to get stronger for the upcoming challenges ahead.
I raised my right fist up in the air, and exclaimed, “I am going to become the strongest trainer in the world!” It didn’t matter if there were other trainers around the area nor if they laughed at me, in that moment, what mattered to me is that I made my voice and challenge known to anyone out there that I could face in the journey ahead. Now, all that’s left for me to do is…
Then all of a sudden, the bushes to my left rustled as if someone, or something, was watching me from a hidden safe distance. Normally, I’d brush this off as some sort of wild Pokemon that found a stray berry inside the bushes and carelessly ran off like a hungry beaver, but then I am reminded that this is Eterna Forest, a place where you don’t want to get caught with your guard down. It is clear to me now that I am being followed by whoever it is that wants to stop me from becoming the strongest trainer in the Sinnoh region. Whoever it is, they won’t get far.
Putting on my “detective glasses”, I slowly approached the bushes with caution. The sounds of my own footsteps and the rustling leaves beneath my feet sent chills down my spine, prompting me to have my Pokeball at the ready in any case of an ambush. As soon as I got myself close enough and was about to unveil whatever it was that hid inside the tall bush, something else caught my eye; a dim glow of light was now visible from the back.
“Now I got you!” I thought to myself triumphantly as I recklessly stepped in and threw my Pokeball, sending Buizel out for the fight; but instead, we were met by the sight of an empty camping site accompanied by a dying campfire, as well as some light camping gear and a variety of Pokeballs on the ground. “Who in the world would leave their camping site unattended…?” I said to myself. “Then again, this is the perfect chance to investigate and find out some clues as to who’s following me, and why.”
The cold, unforgiving breeze of the forest pierced my skin; the sounds of rustling bushes alerted me once more to the threat. Thankfully, Buizel is here to protect me when it comes down to that. “Now, let’s see what we have here…”
As I carefully unzipped the tent’s flap, there was something that caught my eye - a small journal that was seemingly left behind by the unknown stalker. Picking it up, I opened the journal and carefully checked its contents… and there’s nothing but timestamps and notes about the Pokemon that the writer had encountered. Ugh! There’s no clues! Just as I was about to close the journal, I noticed a familiar name on the first page, and… wait, what!?
“Lucas!?” I shouted. Now I’m in big trouble! If Lucas were to find out that I’ve read his journal, of all things! Panic overtook me, but regardless, I have to make this look like as if it wasn’t touched or grabbed by me or any Pokemon! I carefully placed the journal back to where I originally found it and backed away from the tent. “Whew! That was close. Ugh, you done goofed up this time, Barry!” I reprimanded myself. Just as I was about to leave the site like a thief in the night, I felt a hand that grabbed my left shoulder which brought me to a standstill. I felt like I was frozen and vulnerable, like a lamb left for the slaughter - so I closed my eyes and steeled my nerves for what was about to come next.
“Fancy seeing you here too, Barry.”
Barry stood there behind us with a face bold as steel. Pachirisu chirped. The little one could sense the tension in the air too. He climbed up my shoulder as I stood upright as a mountain to face Barry.
Barry narrowed his eyes and huffed. "It has been five years, Lucas, and you still owe me sixteen dollars."
We stared at each other, the next few seconds dragging on like eternity. Barry's face slackened and then he snickered. I couldn't hold back my own either, and we both burst into laughter. We closed the distance and shook hands like warriors after a long battle.
"Did you see us, Barry??" I asked, still smiling. Pachirisu also chippered merrily on my shoulder. "We finally did it. We beat Crasher Wake!"
Barry grinned and swung his arm over my shoulder. "Of course I did bro, that was really close! Waaaay too close!" Barry's laughter echoed over the cliff's edge.
"Pachirisu!" He held a fist out to the squirrel. "You were the absolute MVP in that battle, little man! That Thunderbolt came real clutch, I tell ya."
Pachirisu squeaked and blushed from the compliment, then he balled his paw to accept the fistbump.
"It only took two months, and a ton of losses…"
"Yeah, no kidding. I was starting to think I'd have to up my bets on Wake."
"Dude, really?!"
Barry chuckled, waving his arms frantically. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
I rolled my eyes and playfully nudged him on the shoulder. After that, we chatted a bit more about the battle and how it went down. Soon, we found ourselves sitting on the bed of grass in silence. The calm breeze brushing against our faces as we watched the velvety blue sky ahead.
Our newly earned badge sat snug in my palm, sunlight reflecting off its rims. Even now, it felt unreal to have it in my hands like this.
Barry wrapped his arms over his legs and smiled. "So, what now? Which gym should we hit next?"
I shrugged. "Well for starters…"
I clenched the badge in my hand and lifted my chin up at the heavens. Pachirisu snuggled against my other palm and flashed me a confident smile of his own. That's right, our journey has only just begun.
1. Adamhuarts
2. Le Artiste
3. Chibi Pika
4. Dragonfree
5. Equitial
6. Flyg0n
7. IFBench
8. Sinderella
9. Starlight Aurate
10. Umbramatic
11. windskull
2. Le Artiste
3. Chibi Pika
4. Dragonfree
5. Equitial
6. Flyg0n
7. IFBench
8. Sinderella
9. Starlight Aurate
10. Umbramatic
11. windskull
The completed story appears below, and the author of each section is named under a spoiler tag so you can have fun trying to guess who wrote what part. Feel free to leave your comments or reactions in this thread!
Thanks to everyone who participated in this corpse, whether writing or reading. The writers gave the readers some lovely material to work with, and the readers did a fantastic job of bringing it to life. I hope all of you had a great time, and a hearty deleleleleleWHOOP to you all!
Thousand Roads' Exquisite Corpse 2021
Sinnoh Journeyfic
Sinnoh Journeyfic
“Welcome to the world of humans!”
“Huh? What?” The Tropius asked, looking around at the rainbow void she was floating in. “Where am I?! Who are you?”
“I’m not one you should be concerning yourself over. And you’re on the way to the human world,” a voice said, coming from both everywhere, and nowhere. “Now, I need you to answer some questions for me.”
“Ummmm...ok?” the Tropius said. She wouldn’t lie, she always wanted to see a human in person. Humans were so cool, always saving the world. She’d love to meet one, and now she was being sent to a whole world of them? She should be ecstatic!
She just didn’t expect it to be like this.
“Now. Answer every question honestly,” the voice said, before asking their first question.
“You come to a shop inside a mystery dungeon. The shopkeeper looks meek and frail, but they have a Revive All Orb for sale...for all the Poke you have The only other Pokemon around are you and the dungeon Pokemon. Do you leave the orb alone, buy it, or try to steal it?”
--
Thirty minutes of questions and answers later, the voice said, “You appear to be...the hasty type.”
“Hey, what do you mean?!” the Tropius said, as she watched the white spot in the rainbow void grow closer and closer. Come on, she wanted to go to the human world already!
“Case in point,” the voice said. “Nonetheless...the starter for a hasty person like you should be…”
A strange, red and white sphere appeared in front of the Tropius. “A Buizel!”
“...that’s the weirdest looking Buizel I’ve ever seen,” the Tropius commented, staring at the sphere.
“...it’s inside the sphere,” the voice said. Before the Tropius could ask what that meant, the voice spoke up again. “Now, Coleane! Go into the human world, collect the eight badges, and defeat the Champion! Become the greatest trainer there ever was!”
“How did you know my na—”
The Tropius and the sphere were thrust through the white spot, and her vision went white.
--
“Look, a Tropius!” a voice said.
“Why’s that Pokeball with them?” a second voice said.
“I dunno, but it’d be perfect to catch that Tropius in!”
“No, I want it! I already have a name in mind for it, Tropsy!”
“...whuh? Who are you?” Coleane said, slowly opening her eyes as she began to stand up.
“D-did that Tropius just speak?!” the voice said again. Coleane could now see that the voice was coming from…
...were those humans?!
“HUMANS!” the Tropius exclaimed, immediately standing upright. “Oh, I’m so happy, I always wanted to meet a real human!”
“...what in Dialga’s name…” one of them said, staring slack-jawed at the talking Tropius.
“Oh my…” the other said, before hesitantly touching the Tropius’ neck, gasping as they felt solid skin. No, that was no illusion or hallucination, this was a real, talking Tropius.
“...you’re really cool and all, but what are you touching my neck for?” Coleane asked, craning their head down towards the human touching her neck.
“Oh, I...just wasn’t sure you were actually real,” the human said, slowly backing away from the Tropius.
“Of course I’m real!” Coleane said, looking the human who touched her neck in the eyes. “Also, do either of you know what a Champion is? A weird voice said just before I woke up here that I needed to beat it.”
Both humans’ eyes widen, and the one further away spoke up.
“Er...let’s take you to Professor Rowan. He’ll know what to do,” he said, before looking the talking Tropius in the eyes. “Come follow us, er...do you have a name other than Tropius?”
“Coleane’s my name!” Coleane said, puffing her chest out in pride.
“Guess we can’t name her Tropsy…” one of the humans mumbled.
“Ok...uh....Coleane, follow us,” the other human said, beginning to slowly walk away, and the other human did the same.
Coleane was overflowing with glee. She’d already met real humans, and they were bringing her somewhere! This was amazing!
Before following the humans, though, Coleane looked at the red and white sphere. Didn’t that voice say it was a Buizel? Odd as the Buizel seemed, she couldn’t just leave them behind. So, she scooped them up in her wings, holding them as she began to follow the two humans.
Before too long, the humans led Coleane the Tropius into Twinfoot Town, and chaos broke loose.
--
After many confused Tropius and human noises, several hastily written theories, four philosophical and moral questions, an argument about whether Coleane would count as a usable Pokemon for her team, 57 papers being knocked onto the floor by a wingbeat, wondering how a Tropius would use a bag, a demonstration of how a Tropius would use a bag, and a banana, Coleane the Tropius was registered as an official trainer.
The people in charge of the League had a headache on the way.
Coleane the Tropius, with her Buizel starter in wing, set out on Route 201, to become the first ever Pokemon trainer who’s a Pokemon.
IFBench
---
As fate would have it, as soon as Coleane stepped into the grass, a Kricketot suddenly grew a pair and ambushed her. It looked completely ready to brawl, until it finally took notice of the sheer height difference between them. Its eyes went wide, and it stumbled back until it fell on its butt.
"A-a Tropius?!" Kricketot stammered. "He-ere?! How?!"
Coleane grinned like a human trainer in a rare candy store, and opened her wings. "Buizel, let's give this a go!" she said. Buizel hopped off her back, and sauntered in front of her.
"Ready!" Buizel said.
Kricketot's eyes narrowed at the sight. "Hold up..." he said. "Are you...training that Buizel?"
"I sure am!" Coleane beamed. "I'm going to be the first ever Pokemon Trainer!"
"Gimme a call, I'm gettin' antsy over here!" Buizel said. She was crouched, ready to tackle at a moments notice.
Coleane watched as the Kricketot's eyes traveled back and forth between her and Buizel. He did that for a long, long while, before his tiny body began to rock with intense laughter. He doubled over, grabbing his gut, while he rolled all over the grass. Coleane's smile faltered, and it slowly but surely shrunk down to a frown.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"I'll beat 'im up right now!' Buizel growled.
"No! No. Please, have mercy!" Kricketot heaved, taking a couple deep breaths to calm himself down. He stumbled back to his feet and brushed himself off, a couple of lasting giggles still escaping as he did. "This is just too good."
"I'm hearin' a lotta talk and not seein' a lot of battlin'," Buizel said. "You challenged us, so come at me!"
Kricketot raised his stumpy arms defensively. "No need. You got me. I forfeit."
Coleane blinked, then exchanged a dubious look with Buizel.
"You...forfeit?" Coleane asked.
"Yep. No battle needed, I'll be your 'Pokemon,'" Kricketot said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the last word. "I really want to see where this ends up going."
All Coleane could do was blink. She could blatantly see how doubtful this Kricketot was about her goal, but...she supposed she quite literally needed to pick and choose her battles here. Even if Kricketot was seeing all of this as a big joke, she was still trying to build a team, and a Pokemon was a Pokemon.
"Uh...okay, if you insist!" Coleane said. She raised her wings. "Hop on! We're headed for the first gym!"
"What?" Buizel gasped. "That's so lame, I didn't even get to show my stuff!"
"Don't worry, partner, I'm sure our trainer will give us a chance to show off eventually," Kricketot cracked, hobbling over to Coleane and hopping on her back. Buizel watched with narrow eyes.
"That is if I don't push you off while we're flyin' first," Buizel murmured, settling in next to Kricketot. When Coleane was sure they were both safely in place, she took off for Oreburgh.
It definitely wasn't the ideal way to catch her first wild Pokemon, but it was something. Things were definitely in motion, and she felt a little swell of hope in her gut.
I'm on my way, she thought.
Sinderella
---
“Come on, guys! We gotta get to Canalave City to get my first badge!”
Rowena ran down the sunlit path, the leaves of maple trees swaying above her. Her heart pumped with excitement, her muscles burned as they pulsed with infinite energy, the air pierced her lungs—
“Waaaaaaaait!”
She skidded to a halt and looked back to see Kricketot hopping painfully along behind her. Buizel walked alongside him, a content smile on his face as he looked around at his surroundings.
“Let’s go, you two, no time for slacking! Roark isn’t gonna be there forever!”
“What—what are we—we doing—again?” Kricketot panted.
Rowena turned and kept walking down the path, her eyes ahead as she answered Kricketot. “We’re going to beat the Pokemon League and become Champions! But to do that, I need to get eight badges first, and the first leader is in Canalave City.”
“But how does this apply to me?”
“You gotta beat his Pokemon!”
“What sorta Pokemon?”
“Uh… I’m not too sure. I think he has an Onix? And—”
“ONIX?”
Kricketot stopped walking and stared at Rowena with bulging, bug-eyes. “Have you seen me?! I’m a foot tall! I can’t do anything other than growl and fight after I’ve been attacked! What do you expect me to do?!”
“Well, that’s okay, Buizel can take this battle!”
“So what am I there for? To sit on the sidelines? Let him take the experience?”
“I mean, yeah, if you don’t think you can fight against Roark’s Pokemon. You can provide moral support?”
“Oh, so THAT’S what I am now? Just the cheerleader? ‘No experience for you, Kricketot, just sit on the side and watch!’ “
“You said you didn’t want to fight Onix!”
“But I don’t want to be left behind, either!”
“Then what do you want to do?!”
“You’re the trainer, that’s your job to figure out!”
Rowena’s cheeks burned as anger flared through her. This was her fault now, was it?!
“It would be nice,” Kricketot went on, “if you, y’know, asked me before shoving me into that little ball and taking me along for a ride that I never got on in the first place!”
“Kricketot, I’m done with this conversation.”
“Oh, not gonna listen to your companion? The one who is supposed to get crushed by a giant rock-snake for you? Too good for that? Afraid to engage in a little therapy? Afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and face hard truths?”
Rowena’s ears perked up—she distinctly heard voices and the thud of footsteps ahead.
“Kricketot,” she whispered urgently, “I think you need to hush.”
“Silencing your opposition now, are you?! It is my right as a law-abiding citizen of Sinnoh—”
“No, Kricketot, I think I hear some—”
“I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!”
His shrill voice pierced through the forest and he clacked his antennae together, sounding through the trees like notes from a xylophone.
A group burst through the trees and bushes before them: men and women clad in black-and-white uniforms with a yellow “G” emblazoned on their chests. Each of them had the exact same bright green bowl-shaped haircut. They all held Pokeballs at the ready, glaring at Rowena and her Pokemon.
Rowena’s heart beat furiously in her chest; her skin tingled with nerves and anxiety. Who were these people? Why did they look so angry? They looked ready for a Pokemon battle—there must have been five or ten of them. Could she take them all on at once?
Behind her, she heard Kricketot mutter, “Oh, f…”
A woman with crimson hair and matching eyes gazed coolly at Rowena. “What are you doing here? We can’t have kids around.”
Rowena’s eyes strayed from the strange people to their surroundings; she saw Lake Verity sparkling behind them. She thought she saw a helicopter—
“Purugly, take them out!”
The red-headed woman tossed a Pokeball in the air and out came the largest Purugly Rowena had ever seen. It hissed and tied its twin tail around its waist, buffing out its chest and leg muscles.
Rowena nervously glanced at Kricketot and Buizel. Kricketot looked like he was about to pee himself—he was whimpering and shaking so badly. Buizel had the same small, amused smile fixed to his face that he always did.
“Okay, uh, Kricketot, use bug bite! Wait, do you know that move? Use growl!”
“Is that how you’re going to handle this? Have us fight each other like barbarians instead of engaging in civilized discussion? I’ll have you know—”
“Oh my gosh, Kricketot, why are you so useless?”
“Wouldn’t that depend on how you define ‘useless’?—”
“Buizel, get in there!”
Rowena had had enough of Kricketot’s griping. If there was any hope, it lay with Buizel!
He stepped forward, staring bemusedly at the pugnacious Purugly. For the first time all day, Buizel opened his mouth.
“Wow, that thing is pure-ugly!”
Rowena closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. She didn’t even look up as she heard a SMACK! and Buizel screaming as he sailed through the air, or Kricketot chattering away in fear and indignation.
Starlight Aurate
---
"Don't worry, I've got this!" Barry's voice came from somewhere behind, increasing in volume. Rowena barely dared to look up and turn her head to find him running towards the scene in his usual enthusiastic way.
The prospect of his help gave her the courage to turn back toward the Galactic grunts. Buizel was lying flat on the ground, fainted, and she recalled him. Kricketot, though, was stubbornly standing as the two Zubat fluttered in her face - not exactly doing anything, but standing.
"Wh--kgh!" Rowena looked frantically back to see Barry had tripped over a rock in his hurry, landing hard. Was he unconscious? Oh, oh no. What was she supposed to do? Help him? How? She knew she should've learned first aid! She wrung her hands together pleading for--
"Krrrick!" Kricketot took on a red glow, and an explosion of energy flattened both Zubat to the ground. Rowena gaped. That was... Bide...?
Kricketot celebrated with a triumphant victory strut, only for one of the Galactic members to recall her Zubat for a Glameow. It sprang towards Kricketot, all coiled energy, and Kricketot screeched in surprise as it knocked her down and rolled her along the ground like a ball. Rowena cringed, pulling out Kricketot's Pokéball, but hesitated as the bug Pokémon started to glow with a white light.
She gasped as Kricketot's stubby little hands grew into long, bladed arms. Glameow hissed in surprise, hackles rising, batting at Kricketune with its claws, but with a furious, melodic cry, the bug retaliated with a slash, blades glowing with green energy.
...And the Glameow didn't seem to mind much at all, but Kricketune quickly built up momentum, each strike more powerful than the last, and after a few, the cat Pokémon was yowling and turning tail. The Galactic grunt recalled it, and the two of them hightailed it out of there.
"DeleleleleleWHOOP!" Kricketune cried, bowing as if after a performance.
Rowena ran over to Barry. He was conscious, she could see now, but holding his head. "Nggh, don't worry! I'll--"
"Um, Kricketune sort of handled it." Barry blinked as Rowena pointed to the bug Pokémon, now back to a victorious strut.
Dragonfree
---
“Mn, seems so,” I mumbled, watching Kricketune continue her victory dance. She paused just long enough to let out a delighted ‘delelewhooooop.’ I was… stunned, to say the least, by how quickly the battle had unfolded. One moment, we’re discussing how to catch that greedy pachirisu stealing all our food and toying with Rowena’s expensive research instruments, the next… Well. Like Barry said, it was handled.
Cautious, I crouched and inched toward the downed rodent, holding my hands in front of me in hopes of appearing non-threatening. The pachirisu climbed to their feet. Beady little eyes glared at me as they let loose a few warning sparks.
Kricketune stopped dancing and began to approach, ready for round two, but I held up a hand to hold her back.
“What are you going to do?” Barry asked, raising a brow. “If we let them go, they’re just going to come back again, aren’t they?”
“Hold on, I’m thinking,” I replied as I slowly reached a hand into my bag. The pachirisu watched, growling as I shuffled, only to quiet when I retrieved an oran berry and held it out in my open palm. I don’t know what they expected, but it wasn’t that.”
They inched forward, tail flicking up and down, with a nervous rhythm. No malice lingered in their eyes. Only caution and, perhaps, curiosity. When they finally reached the berry, they hesitated for a moment before swiping it and running back several feet to devour it in ravenous bites. From just the one berry, they already seemed to do better.
And that’s when the idea struck me.
I averted my gaze slightly and tilted my head to the side as I spoke. “You know, Pachirisu, I could use someone with your... skills on my team. What do you say, want to travel with us?”
windskull
---
The Pachisru pondered. Sure she could probably carve out a support niche in this Trainer's team or something.
But they were about to challenge Fantina. And she was spoooooooky.
<I... I guess I could...>
"Great, come on!" said the Trainer.
She clonked me on the head with an Ultra ball and I was promptly sucked in.
---------
When I was sent out next I was in a dark Gym, face to face with a Driftblim.
I screamed.
And screamed.
And screamed and screamed and screamed and-
<For the love of Giratina just hit me already,> said the Driftlim.
I obliged with a Thunderbolt. The Druiftblim whirled from the shock.
<Oof, you're good....> said the Driftblim.
"Shadow Ball!" said Fantina!
The Driftblim sent an orb of ghostly energy atme. I squeaked in pain as it hit me. I didn't have many options.
"Discharge!" said my new Trainer.
Would this really work?
I screamed again and let out a massive wave of electricity. The Driftblim comnvulsed and promptly deflated.
"Ohoho fabulous!" said Fantina. "You've beaten all of my :Pokemon!"
All of them? I thought. There was just the one the whole time?
(I only learned later that my teammates I hadn't met yet had taken out the rest.)
"You get THIS!"
Fantina tossed a Badge and a TM, bonking mynew Trainer on the head.
"Ow!" she said. "Uh, thanks?"
"Well, farewell!"
It was then Fantina produced a Mary Poppins umbrella and floated off.
----------
As we exited the Gym my new Trainer hugged me. It was a nice, soft, pleasant feeling.
"You did it! I knew you were a good pick!"
<Hehehe, thanks..." I said.
I couldn't believe it. I had found a Trainer and actually IMPRESSED her. Things were going grea-
It was then purple smoke appeared, and strange disco Star Trek people emerged from it.
"We are Team BrilliantShiningGalactic and we demand your CLOUT"
Umbramatic
---
I started blankly at them. “Isn’t that name kind of long? Also, I uh… I don’t have any.”
“Don’t have any,” repeated the peon on the left. “Explain.”
I fidgeted a bit. “I mean, have you seen my Twitter account? Totally dead. I could sing the praises of TeamSparkleGalaxy—”
“BrilliantShiningGalactic.”
“Right… Anyway, I could sing your praises all day long, but it wouldn’t really matter if I don’t have any followers who’d see it, right?” I chuckled nervously.
The peon on the right clapped her hands together. “Singing our praises all day long sounds like a great place to start.”
“What no.”
“Begin immediately and maybe we’ll consider leaving you be~” the other peon sang. “Refuse and we’ll have no choice but to bring you to our glorious leader.”
I raised both hands disarmingly. “Whoa, okay, back up. I’m supposed to be a Pokémon Trainer—I can’t just spend all day advertising you guys.”
First peon contemplated this for a bit. “Hmmm. In that case, we’ll do it for you.”
“Please relinquish your login credentials,” the second added.
“Um. How about no.”
“Would it help if we sent you a 100% legit, totally-not-suspicious helpful link to click on?”
“No!!” I rubbed my temples. “Look, if you’re going to be this much trouble, you can just have the password. I hardly use that account anyway.”
“Excellent! We’ll also be taking your bank account number.”
“.......I’m leaving.”
“And we’re pursuing!”
Ah, crap.
I broke into a run. Aaand the space cadets were after me. Fantastic. As they ran, they trailed the same purple smoke that they’d appeared from. Something told me I didn’t wanna breathe that stuff in. Maybe I could lose them? Nope, they were gaining. Why did I have to be so out of shape? Was there anywhere I could hide? Or get help?
There! The gym!
I burst through the doors of the Eterna Gym and yelled, “Help, TeamSparkleGalaxy—I mean— BrilliantShiningGalactic is after my login info! Oh and my money too I guess.”
Chibi Pika
---
Gardenia approached at my entrance, her Roserade following behind her. “What do you mean? What’s going on? Who's BrilliantShi—”
“Cyrus,” I interrupted. I bent down on my knees to catch my breath. “He rebranded again," I panted. "Anyway, they’re at the Pokémon Center, trying to hack the PCs so they can steal all the Pokémon, and cash! We need your help.”
Gardenia’s eyes widened. “But I can’t help a trainer who hasn’t proved themself! It just doesn’t work like that.”
“I know,” I said. “But I’m ready.” I straightened.
I took a pokeball into my hand, took a deep breath to steel myself. “Gym Leader Gardenia, I challenge you to a battle.”
Expression grim, she nodded. “I won’t be able to go easy on you. How many gym badges do you have?”
“Just one,” I admitted. I clutched my ball tighter.
“Very well.” Gardenia led me the gym’s arena, wrangling one of her gym students to serve as a ref as she went. She went to her side of the field, and I went to mine.
I selected my pokémon. “Go, Kricketune!” Gardenia released her Turtwig at the same time.
With its distinctive cry, Kricketune materialized onto the battlefield. “Fury Cutter,” I yelled. No time to waste—this had to end quickly.
Kricketune charged at Turtwig Gardenia, but—at its trainer’s order—a translucent shield shimmered before it. A Reflect!
Kricketune slashed, but its blades slowed in the light of the Reflect. It backed around, crooning in confusion. I grit my teeth. “Just keep going, Kricketune!”
Kricketune slashed and slashed. Gardenia’s face was stoic, but the girl serving as ref kept eyeing me nervously. In my mind’s eye, I saw my rival sneering at me. ‘Is your strat just to spam your most powerful move? Pathetic.’ I had hoped Kricketune would be able to cut through Gardenia’s team with its type advantage. Please, I silently prayed at my Pokémon. You can do it.
Eventually, Kricketune knocked out Turtwig—only after it got off a Sunny Day. Gardenia released her Cherrim into the sunlight. The Cherrim barely finished blooming before it revenge-killed its partner.
“R-Release your next Pokémon,” the ref said, looking to me with plain desperation in her eye. I had a plan if my type advantage failed, right?
With Kicketune gone, I had only two not very effective Pokémon left against Gardenia. But I had to win this—or else BrilliantShiningGalactic would hack into the PC system and steal everyone’s funds and Pokémon.
Equitial
---
" " Human speech
# Pokespeech #
"Sparx, go!" I shouted! My Pachirisu ran out on the field!
All we had to do was defeat this Turtwig.
"Okay Sparx, hang in there! Use Quick Attack!" Spark raced forward and tackled Turwig really fast, before it could move. Turtwig grunted and staggered back.
Gardenia smiled coldly. "I won't let you win that easy! BrilliantShiningGalactic is counting on me."
Her last sentence she said super quiet, but I still heard her. I knew she couldn't be trusted.
Gardenia gestured to Turtwig. "Tackle!" Lowering its head, Turtwig gave a loud cry and charged forward surpisingly fast. It rammed Sparx, knocking him back, but he managed to get up again. I frowned. This wasn't looking good. Maybe I should return Sparx, this would be too hard-
As if reading my mind, Sparx turned around and gave me a dirty look. I didn't need my special aura powers to understand him. If I returned him now, he'd be really mad.
Gardenia didn't wait. "Tackle again, don't stop!"
Suddenly, an idea occured to me. "Okay Sparx, just wait!" I called. Sparx tensed up. Just before the Turtwig struck, I called my next command.
"Spark, get on its back!" Electricity cloaked Sparx body and with a shrill cry, he hurled himself onto his opponent. Turtwig howled as it was shocked again and again, and it began shaking its head, trying to dislodge its opponent.
Turtwig raced desperately forward, straight for a tree. Sparx kept shocking it. I gritted my teeth. A second later Turtwig smashed Sparx into the tree, knocking the little squirrel at. Still reeling, Turtwig stumbled away, then seized up, body trembling.
Too tired to fight, Sparx gave a devious grin. I grinned too as I returned him. Maybe we still had a chance!
Gardenia, however, did not look pleased. "Well? Are you going to send out your last pokemon?" she demanded.
"It's up to you, Buizel!" I shouted determinedly. I tossed out my last pokeball, and my Buizel popped out, then immediately yawned. "Buizel, its paralyzed! If we attack now, we can win! Use Aqua Jet."
Buizel sighed. #Fine.# then proceeded to attack, cloacking himself in water and bursting forwards.
"Move!" screeched Gardenia. Turtwig flinched, but remained locked in place. Buizel slammed into it once, twice, thrice. And that was it. It slumped to the ground, too tired to press on.
"NOoOO!!" wailed Gardenia, returning him.
"Thats it!" I declared triumphantly, putting my hands on my hips. "I beat you, so now you have to run away and you and BrilliantShining Galactic can't do your plan anymore!"
Gardenia's face contorted. "No!!! No!!" Suddenly everything flashed. She took a step towards me.
Was a context sensitive cutscene about to start? But if this battle had a second phase, how would I win? Unless this was one of those times my team would be miraculously restored?
Gardenia withdrew a black and yellow ball from her pocket and threw it out. Light brust from the pokeball and a Roserade popped out. Except this Roserade radiated a strange power. It's eyes glowed bright red! Was this ShiningBrilliantGalactics master plan? Steal all the pokemon and turn them super strong?
"Leaf Shuriken!"
Roserade gave a devious grin and flicked one of its boquets. A sound like a Glock 17 9MM handgun echoed across the field. A single leaf shot forth like a big green orb and crashed into Buizel, knocking him out instantly. My heart sank. Now what!?
"You'll never stop the new BrilliantGalacticShining! Our pokemon are perfect! You see, we realized making the perfect world was impossible. But if we couldn't change the world, then we could make everything in it perfect. Remove the spirit. Now, since I'm not allowed to say the word kill, I will strike you down where you stand!"
All I could do was stare. I was helpless. Would my journey really end here? I wanted to become a champion and do... things!!! Thats what every kid wanted. I was gonna be the best trainer. Memories of my journey flashed through my mind.
FLASH!
I suddenly remembered something that happened just two days ago. I was out exploring when I came across an injured Riolu, being attacked by vicious Pidgey and Starly. I ran at them and chased them off, but they came back! They kept attacking both of us.
FLASH!
I remebered panicking, and then my hands began glowing blue! A big burst of energy shot from them and scared the birds away. Riolu stared at me in surprise. But then it mysteriously ran away!
Roserade raised its boquet one last time. The sound of the Glock 9mm rang out and in slow motion, I saw the green bullet fly towards me.
WHAP! A blue blur intercepted the green sphere and WHAM! knocked it away where it exploded in the trees.
I gasped. Before me stood... a Riolu.
Flyg0n
---
As soon as I caught Riolu with my fifth Pokeball, I felt a great sense of joy and excitement that overwhelmed my emotions knowing that sooner or later, the last Pokemon that I’ll catch would complete the team that I need in order to get stronger for the upcoming challenges ahead.
I raised my right fist up in the air, and exclaimed, “I am going to become the strongest trainer in the world!” It didn’t matter if there were other trainers around the area nor if they laughed at me, in that moment, what mattered to me is that I made my voice and challenge known to anyone out there that I could face in the journey ahead. Now, all that’s left for me to do is…
Then all of a sudden, the bushes to my left rustled as if someone, or something, was watching me from a hidden safe distance. Normally, I’d brush this off as some sort of wild Pokemon that found a stray berry inside the bushes and carelessly ran off like a hungry beaver, but then I am reminded that this is Eterna Forest, a place where you don’t want to get caught with your guard down. It is clear to me now that I am being followed by whoever it is that wants to stop me from becoming the strongest trainer in the Sinnoh region. Whoever it is, they won’t get far.
Putting on my “detective glasses”, I slowly approached the bushes with caution. The sounds of my own footsteps and the rustling leaves beneath my feet sent chills down my spine, prompting me to have my Pokeball at the ready in any case of an ambush. As soon as I got myself close enough and was about to unveil whatever it was that hid inside the tall bush, something else caught my eye; a dim glow of light was now visible from the back.
“Now I got you!” I thought to myself triumphantly as I recklessly stepped in and threw my Pokeball, sending Buizel out for the fight; but instead, we were met by the sight of an empty camping site accompanied by a dying campfire, as well as some light camping gear and a variety of Pokeballs on the ground. “Who in the world would leave their camping site unattended…?” I said to myself. “Then again, this is the perfect chance to investigate and find out some clues as to who’s following me, and why.”
The cold, unforgiving breeze of the forest pierced my skin; the sounds of rustling bushes alerted me once more to the threat. Thankfully, Buizel is here to protect me when it comes down to that. “Now, let’s see what we have here…”
As I carefully unzipped the tent’s flap, there was something that caught my eye - a small journal that was seemingly left behind by the unknown stalker. Picking it up, I opened the journal and carefully checked its contents… and there’s nothing but timestamps and notes about the Pokemon that the writer had encountered. Ugh! There’s no clues! Just as I was about to close the journal, I noticed a familiar name on the first page, and… wait, what!?
“Lucas!?” I shouted. Now I’m in big trouble! If Lucas were to find out that I’ve read his journal, of all things! Panic overtook me, but regardless, I have to make this look like as if it wasn’t touched or grabbed by me or any Pokemon! I carefully placed the journal back to where I originally found it and backed away from the tent. “Whew! That was close. Ugh, you done goofed up this time, Barry!” I reprimanded myself. Just as I was about to leave the site like a thief in the night, I felt a hand that grabbed my left shoulder which brought me to a standstill. I felt like I was frozen and vulnerable, like a lamb left for the slaughter - so I closed my eyes and steeled my nerves for what was about to come next.
“Fancy seeing you here too, Barry.”
CinderArts
---
Barry stood there behind us with a face bold as steel. Pachirisu chirped. The little one could sense the tension in the air too. He climbed up my shoulder as I stood upright as a mountain to face Barry.
Barry narrowed his eyes and huffed. "It has been five years, Lucas, and you still owe me sixteen dollars."
We stared at each other, the next few seconds dragging on like eternity. Barry's face slackened and then he snickered. I couldn't hold back my own either, and we both burst into laughter. We closed the distance and shook hands like warriors after a long battle.
"Did you see us, Barry??" I asked, still smiling. Pachirisu also chippered merrily on my shoulder. "We finally did it. We beat Crasher Wake!"
Barry grinned and swung his arm over my shoulder. "Of course I did bro, that was really close! Waaaay too close!" Barry's laughter echoed over the cliff's edge.
"Pachirisu!" He held a fist out to the squirrel. "You were the absolute MVP in that battle, little man! That Thunderbolt came real clutch, I tell ya."
Pachirisu squeaked and blushed from the compliment, then he balled his paw to accept the fistbump.
"It only took two months, and a ton of losses…"
"Yeah, no kidding. I was starting to think I'd have to up my bets on Wake."
"Dude, really?!"
Barry chuckled, waving his arms frantically. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
I rolled my eyes and playfully nudged him on the shoulder. After that, we chatted a bit more about the battle and how it went down. Soon, we found ourselves sitting on the bed of grass in silence. The calm breeze brushing against our faces as we watched the velvety blue sky ahead.
Our newly earned badge sat snug in my palm, sunlight reflecting off its rims. Even now, it felt unreal to have it in my hands like this.
Barry wrapped his arms over his legs and smiled. "So, what now? Which gym should we hit next?"
I shrugged. "Well for starters…"
I clenched the badge in my hand and lifted my chin up at the heavens. Pachirisu snuggled against my other palm and flashed me a confident smile of his own. That's right, our journey has only just begun.
Adamhuarts
