Chapter 4: Steady Footing

A Chapter by Danny

Danny meets a familiar stranger on Route 46; Naomi sees the man she needs to deliver an important message; Fletcher arrives at Cherrygrove's Pokemon Center with mysterious wounds.

The day the Naomi arrived at the Cherrygrove City Pokemon Center was also the day that the Johto Weekly newspaper was shipped to Pokemon Centers and households across the region. She looked up into the sky as a large Noctowl descended gently in front of Naomi, and reached into the knapsack strung across the bird Pokemon. It protruded a single issue of Johto Weekly, folded thrice and tied together with a thick, blue string. Naomi reached for it gracefully, and as she grabbed it, the Noctowl cooed approvingly and, without warning, launched itself into the evening sky.

“Huh, this is strange,” Naomi muttered to herself as she, and her shoulder-resting Totodile, scanned the front headline in (well in Blue’s case comically false) fascination.

In large, bold lettering at the top of the page read “Johto’s Chief of Police Continues Search for Mysterious Head of Team Rocket”. Below was a picture of a man dressed in a police uniform. He had long, red hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and he held his hat against his chest. His steely eyes looked past the camera to some unseen horizon, and he held a piercing glare.

Naomi’s eyes widened with the dawn of realization. “So this is Silver, huh…” She muttered to herself. She studied the intensity of his face. “He looks a lot like his father,” she said decisively.

She looked at Blue, who gripped her shoulder tightly with his front claws and studied Silver intensely. “Everything okay, boy?” She inquired.

Blue snapped to attention, and nodded affirmatively. “Toto to!”

“Okay, good,” she whispered softly. “And now we know who we need to look for, so it’ll make things a lot easier.

Her stomach growled loudly and she looked down at it. “Well, I guess we should get some food first, huh buddy?”

Blue nodded slowly, also becoming aware of his own hunger.

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Danny began climbing down the far side of the rocky crag with incredible caution. Pincushion hid in Danny’s backpack, and poked his head out of the large pocket every so often to look down nervously, only to pull himself back into the pocket in fear. Eventually, Danny’s feet touched a small cliff that was just large enough for Danny to sit and dangle his lanky legs over.

He kicked his legs in slowly and admired the landscape of the northbound Route, and considered whether he should turn back or not. He looked down at his map to judge the distance to Blackthorn City. As he did that a sharp voice echoed across the valley in front of him.

“Hey, kid!” It shouted.

Danny snapped his head up and scanned the valley for the source of the voice. He looked to the other side of the valley, and saw a figure cloaked in blue standing on a very narrow ledge. He cupped his mouth to yell. “Yeah?!”

He could barely make out the figure - a woman with long blue hair - cup her mouth with one hand. “What are you doing in a place like this?!”

Danny cupped his mouth to respond but she yelled “Never mind, come down! We’ll talk closer!!”. Danny nodded in affirmation, and began to climb a little quicker.

The woman, who made the descent infinitely more quickly than he, stood in halfway between the two plateaus. As he drew closer to her, he began to make out more details about her. She had energetic, steely-blue eyes, and her features were pulled back in an elegant fierceness. She wore an indigo unitard underneath a billowing blue cap that cascaded behind her dramatically. Around her neck was a silver necklace with a large, jagged fang dangling from the chain. It fascinated Danny.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to look at a girl’s chest, kid?” The woman asked, in mock accusation.

Danny’s face grew bright red as he became flustered. “I-I… I’m sorry… I wasn’t look that, I was -”.

The woman chuckled before cutting him off. “I know kid, you were looking at the fang. You’ve never seen anything like it, huh?”

Danny tried to snap out of his fluster. “N-no, not even in books.”

The woman cackled loudly, throwing her head back. “It’s a Salamence fang!” She boasted. “I guess you don’t know what that even is. It’s a Pokemon that isn’t found in Johto. You don’t know much about other regions, do yah?”

Danny blushed as embarrassment resonated through him. He had done so much research before he became a trainer, but he never thought to research other regions other than his home. His past narrow-mindedness horrified his current self, and he barely stammered out “N-no, I don’t…” He looked down quickly and held his gaze with the earth.

He thought he heard her chuckle softly before she spoke again. “It’s okay, kid, I didn’t know about much outside of here until I joined the League. Don’t feel too bad.”

This caught Danny’s attention and snapped him back to his senses. “You’re part of the Pokemon League?!” He exclaimed, excitedly.

The woman winked at him. “You got it! My name is Clair. It’s a pleasure to meet you, young man.” She extended her hand inviting him to shake it.

Danny shook it solidly, his confidence returning. “You’re the eighth gym leader?!” Danny shouted, as the familiarity of her name clicked. He had researched all of the gym leaders in the region, and had read the tale of a woman from Blackthorn City who was raised to be a Dragon master. She was the gym leader of the city, and the final gym leader in the Pokemon League, Clair.

Clair grinned proudly. “In the flesh! You know, when a woman gives you her name, it’s polite to give your name in return.”

Danny yelled “Oh!” and quickly introduced himself. “My name is, Danny,” he felt his Cyndaquil protrude from his back. “And this is Pincushion,” he said, pointing to the small Pokemon.

A charming laugh emitted from Clair that caught Danny off guard. “It’s a pleasure to meet the both of you. Now tell me, Danny, where are you headed?”

Danny blushed again. “I was trying to get to Cherrygrove… We’re kinda lost…”

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Fletcher sat up right on the side of his bed and stared gleefully at the shining red Pokeball in his hand, and a large grin crossed his face. His Chikorita, now healed from her wounds inflicted by Route 31, bounced up the stairs of the Cherrygrove City Pokemon Center. Fletcher had arrived the evening following the morning Naomi had left.

Chika approached her master and eagerly jumped into his lap. Fletcher laughed happily. “It’s good to see you feeling better, Chika!”

Chika beamed. “Chika chika!”

Fletcher patted his Pokemon tenderly. “So Chika, are you ready to meet your new teammate?”

Chika nodded excitedly and Fletcher held the Pokeball in front of him. “Okay, Pidge, go!”

A beam of red light poured out of the ball and took the form of a small bird Pokemon A white light radiated and as it died, Fletcher saw the form of his Pidgey before him. The Pidgey ruffled himself, and his golden eyes locked onto his master. He held his gaze for a moment, and then chirped merrily.

Fletcher grinned widely at his Pidgey, revealing a broken tooth. “Pidge, we’re gonna get along just fine.”

Fletcher intently watched as Chika walked up to Pidge and nudged him softly. Pidge looked intently at Chika, until Chika sighed, and climbed onto the bed. Pidge stood awkwardly for a moment before hopping over to the bed, and flapping his wings eagerly. Fletcher bent down, cupped the small bird in his hands, and placed him on the bed by Chika.

Fletcher was so absorbed in his Pokemon that he didn’t notice the nurse who stood patiently beside her cart. “Fletcher?” she asked, softly.

Fletcher snapped to attention and looked apologetically at the nurse. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you here.”

She smiled gently. “It’s quite alright, but we do need to change your bandages.”

Fletcher chuckled, and held gripped his bandaged right arm with his left. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. These ones are pretty bloody.”

The nurse’s brow wrinkled, worried. “Do you mind me asking what happened to put you in this condition.”

Fletcher sighed and looked down. “I ran into something I wasn’t strong enough to beat… That’s all.”

The nurse struggled to maintain her smile. “I understand. I hope you’ll be able to defeat them someday.”

Fletcher looked up in shock. “Yeah… I hope so too.”

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“Blue, use Water Gun!”

A powerful blast of water hit the thick oak tree, and bark flew everywhere. “Alright, try it again!” Blue planted his fore-claws firmly into the soil of Route 30, tilted his head up and aimed his jaw at the lone oak tree in front of him. A blast of water spewed from his mouth and hit the tree in the same spot once again, yet the tree stood unyielding.

Naomi sat with her legs crossed, and her brow furrowed in deep thought. “Okay, Blue, maybe we should start training Pokemon…” Her Totodile looked up at her intently. “And we should probably catch some teammates for you too.”

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Clair looked down at Danny as he timidly made his way up the rocky outcropping several feet behind her. “Hey kid, you should really stop shaking if you’re that scared of falling!” She called down.

Danny looked up at her nervously. “A-a-are you sure?”

She nodded firmly. “Yeah, if you keep shaking like that you won’t be able to find your footing. If you want to get through this okay, you’re going to need to keep steady footing.”

Danny nodded firmly and closed his eyes. He gripped the rocky wall tightly and focused on stopping the shaking. This proved difficult for Danny because it wasn’t nervousness that caused Danny’s muscles to shake; it was exhaustion.

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After the nurse changed Fletcher’s bandages, Chika rested in his lap, and he stroked her gently as she slept. “I’m so sorry, Chika,” Fletcher said, as tears welled up in his eyes, “I’ll be strong enough to protect you someday.”

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