Chapter 3: Route 29

Trouble starts for the Johto Trio early as they struggle to find their way towards Cherrygrove City; Naomi encounters a strange man.

   The first day of each trainer’s journey did not go well.  As the trio stepped onto Route 29, and said their goodbyes, the sky above them began to pour with rain.

    Danny had climbed several ridges as he made his way North towards Route 46, and the dense forest around him provided some shelter from the rain above.  

    Fletcher, who had made his way into a broad clearing, was not so lucky, and was forced to find refuge somewhere in the treeline.  The gentle rain pattered against the broad foliage above his head, and a cascade of water fell in front of him and his tiny Chikorita.  

    The Chikorita sat in his lap and stared at him.  “Chika, chika?” it asked with childlike curiosity.  

    Fletcher sighed.  “Yeah, Chika, it looks like we’re gonna be here for awhile.  I don’t want to be traveling while it’s raining like this.”

    “Chika…”  it said, disappointed.  

    “I’m sorry, Chika.  We’ll set out as soon as the rain clears.”

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    Danny slipped on the rocky outcropping of Route 46 and his Cyndaquil, Pincushion, clinged to his back and murmured in discontent.  The edge of the storm dropped raindrops gently on the travelers as they made their way through the dangerous and jagged route.  Danny pulled himself up onto the plateau, plucked the small, yellow creature from his back, and rocked him gently.

“I don’t like the rain either, Pins, but we can’t let this get us down.  We have to gather up a team before Naomi does.  If she does better, I’m not gonna hear the end of it…”  

Pincushion groaned, and fell back dramatically.  

Danny rolled his eyes.  “Don’t be such a baby, Pins.  At least this way you’ll get stronger and we can maybe have a chance against that Totodile of hers.”

Pincushion sighed and curled into his trainer’s chest.  It was going to be a long day for the young Cyndaquil.

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Naomi and her Totodile, Blue, were thoroughly enjoying the rainstorm that had been slowing the progress of their rivals.  They darted through the foliage eagerly, as wild Pidgey and Rattata scattered from the brush to avoid the twosome.

The bashful alligator Pokemon clawed at unsuspecting wild Pokemon, and knocked them off their feet while listening to the cheering of his trainer.  “That’s it, Blue!  Keep that up, and you’ll get stronger in no time!”     

    “Tota, tota!”  he cried happily as he slid through a mud puddle, and batted energetically at a low-flying Pidgey.  

The pair then leaped over a small cliff, and tumbled into a large thicket of grass.  The branches brushed them, and tangled their leaves and twigs into Naomi’s hair.  

“Young lady, you really should be less reckless.”  a deep voice said somewhere.  

Naomi looked up to find a man standing before her.  He was a tall man, with shaved, black hair and piercing brown eyes.  He wore a black pinstripe suit, and the right breast of his suit jacket bore a bright red “R” that seemed to stand out from the rest of his figure.  His stern face and stiff posture made him seem very intense.  He reached a hand out to help Naomi up.  

Naomi reluctantly grabbed his hand and was hoisted up effortlessly.  The man tugged the collar of his suit and cleared his throat.  “I advise you be more cautious with cliff faces.  You don’t know what’s going to be at the bottom.”

Naomi looked down and nodded shamefully as if she was being scolded.  She felt a tightness in her throat as she spoke.  “Yes sir, I’ll remember that, sir.”

His gazed moved from Naomi to Blue.  “A Totodile?  So you’re a trainer, and a beginning trainer at that.”

Naomi nodded again.  “Yes sir, I just started today.”  She felt her own responses coming almost effortlessly and immediately, as if wasting his time was somehow the wrong thing to do.  

“That’s good.  My son is a trainer too and he learned quite a lot from his journey.  He used to be quite the delinquent.”  The man smiled slightly.

Naomi’s eyes widened.  She would’ve never expected this man to even have a family, yet she saw pride in his eyes.  “What does he do now?”

His smile widened.  “He’s the head of the Johto Police Department.”  

Naomi’s fear abated slightly and she managed a small smile.  “You must be incredibly proud of him now, sir.”  

“Incredibly so.  He’s grown up quite a lot these past few years.”  He looked beyond her pensively for entirely too long and then snapped his attention back to her.  “Well I must be going along.  I have some things to amend.  It was a pleasure meeting you,” he hesitated.  “I’m sorry, I never caught your name.”

“Naomi,” she replied, quietly, reaching her hand out to shake his.

He shook her hand merrily.  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Naomi.  I wish you and your Pokemon a safe journey.”  He began to walk away before stopping and pivoting back around to face her.  “Oh and miss!”  

Startled, Naomi managed a “Yes sir?”

The man sighed exasperated.  “My apologies, but if you ever encounter my son, could you see to it that this letter gets to him?”  He held out an envelope, which had the same red “R” stamped to the front of it.  

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not entirely sure what he looks like.”  Naomi sputtered.

The man chuckled.  “Not to worry.  He has long, bright red hair, much like your own.  You’ll know when you see him, I assure you.”

The man made his way through the dense forest of Route 29, and disappeared from her sight.  She felt a tugging at her leg, and looked down to find Blue with his arms outstretched.  She picked him up and plopped him down gently on her shoulder before looking towards the way she had been going.  As the sun set into the horizon, and the sky began to take on a deep blue, she saw a dim light in the distance.  She was almost to Cherrygrove City.

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    On the side of a small mountain on the edge of the Johto Mountains, Danny sat on a cliff that overlooked Route 46.  From this small outcropping, he scanned the grassy crag for a sign of life.  He clutched a Pokeball tightly in his hand as he waited, excitedly, for the appearance of a Pokemon.  

    Pincushion sat impatiently beside him, and nudge the trainer with his snout every thirty seconds or so in hopes of gaining Danny’s attention, each time with little success.   He would occasionally scratch his snout absentmindedly but this only made him more anxious for attention.  Pincushion did the only thing a Cyndaquil could do in situation: he headbutted his trainer in the ribs.

    “Ow!  Pins, what the hell was that for?!”  Danny looked down angrily at his Cyndaquil.  

The slits of Pincushion’s eyes scrunched up angrily, and he turned his head in protest.  “Quil,” he scoffed.  

Danny rolled his eyes snarkily.  “Okay, fine.  Come here, Pins.  We’re going to go on a walk.”  Danny scooped up the large rodent in his arms and look towards the vast, rocky expanse of Route 46.  “I think we should go this way.”

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    Fletcher awoke from his light sleep as a bird Pokemon chirped nearby.  He shifted wistfully, and his eyes caught sight of a Pidgey sitting several yards away.  His Chikorita was not yet awake, but a youthful eagerness rose from his spirit, and he jumped up eagerly.  

“Chika, go!”  His Chikorita bounced up excitedly, and stumbled a bit.  She shook her head as if to shake off sleep, and her big, blue eyes became fierce as she locked onto the Pidgey.    

“Chika!”  Chika cried ambitiously.  

Fletcher pointed at the alerted Pidgey before them.  “Chika, use Tackle!”

Chika darted forward and threw herself at the Pidgey, putting all of her weight into her left frontal shoulder blade.  The Pidgey launched itself into the air, arched over Chika, and spun itself around as to face upwards, and soared up toward the rising sun and away from the young duo.  

Fletcher sighed in defeat.  “It got away…  I hope Danny and Naomi are doing better than I am…”  

Chika waltzed clumsily over to her master, and tugged eagerly on his pant leg.  

Fletcher looked down quizzically.  “What’s up, Chika?”

“Chika, Chika!”  she boasted happily, and nodded her head toward a small bush that another Pidgey had stepped out form.

A mischievous grin spread across Fletcher’s face as the fire returned to his spirit.  “Okay, Chika,” Fletcher shouted, “use Tackle!”

Author's Note

Oh my God, I'm so so sorry for how long this took to come out. Fletcher's part had me absolutely stumped, so if its kind of shakey, I apologize. I'm going to strive to make each part as good as the rest, but the beginning is always the hardest part for me.