First Encounter
Picking up a piece of fruit from a nearby stall, a young women leaned against a wall while pressing some coins into the vendor's hands. As she bit into the red skin, thoughts and questions began to pop up like weeds in her mind.
How long has it been since she arrived here? Two weeks? A month? Maybe more? And she still had no Pokemon. How was it possible? She wasted so much money on Pokeballs, only to see them fall apart as their would-be captors escaped.
True, she didn't have any Pokemon of her own to weaken them. But the Pidgeys and Sentrets she attempted to capture shouldn't be able to break free every single time. She seen other trainers gain their first Pokemon with only one toss of the ball, what was she doing wrong? What did they, the people that probably have no idea as to what they're doing, have that she, the prodigy of the Battle Frontier, lacked?
It frustrated her to no end. This place, Zatao, made no sense, and it seemed that fate didn't want her to understand things just yet.
At least the food here was delicious. Tossing the apple core into the nearby trashcan, she wiped the juices off her hands and headed over to the nearest Pokemart. Time to get started with the Pokeball wasting then.
The trainer took a step through the automatic doors before a peculiar sound caused her to turn around. It didn't sound like a broken car or anything. It sounded like a Pokemon, a very rare one at that...
The odd noise rang out again, and it sounded like a Turtwig with its head stuck in a glass jar. A Pokemon alright. Though as she made her way towards the source, there was no sign of a Turtwig or glass jars.
Suddenly, a raptor-like creature burst out of a pile of trash bags and sped into the crowd of people. The bystanders, including the girl, instinctively dodged the incoming dinosaur but did nothing to stop it otherwise.
It let out another strange wail, and stomped through without any care to whatever it damaged. Stalls were knocked over, boxes were squashed by the Pokemon's feet, and the market dissolved into chaos. The trainer could tell that it wasn't on purpose, however. Taking note of its wide eyes and flared nostrils, she assumed that it was scared out of its wits and was panicking along with the rest of the people in its own way.
She also figured out that the Pokemon was a Cranidos, revived from a fossil. And it was unusually colored at that. How did it get here, she had no clue.
Fueled by curiosity and concern for the stumbling beast, she made her way across the debris and followed it.
It wasn't long until the Pokemon reached a busy street, complete with loud traffic and polluted air. These things seem to upset it more, and as it roared once more, it broke into a run and started overturning cars as it went. The onlookers were stunned by the display of strength, but the trainer knew that with such power, its defenses were as weak. If one of those cars or trucks collided with the Cranidos, it might not survive that encounter.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she glanced up to find the Pokemon frozen in fear by a large van. That was rushing right towards it. The driver was fully aware of the strange being in front of it, but even as he braked as hard as he could, the vehicle wasn't going to stop in time.
Everything seemed to slow down from there. Swearing under her breath, she leaped from her spot and shoved the Cranidos aside in one fluid motion. All the commotion was muted as both Pokemon and human tumbled off the road and into a bush. She could hear nothing except her own heart racing and the creature whimpering softly.
She laid there for a moment, with the Cranidos as her pillow. Now her joints were starting to ache, and she could see some cuts on her arms and legs. It's not like she could move anyway. If she got up, the dinosaur would scurry away and get itself into more trouble.
It was better to just stay here and wait for its trainer to come by...
Her 'pillow' disappeared in a flash of red. She thumped her head on the ground, and moaning a bit, picked herself up to find whoever returned the Pokeball.
"Are you ok?"
Well, she was bruised all over and picked up a headache to boot. But if ok meant there was no critical injuries, then yeah. She was fine.
"I'm alright." She muttered as she glanced at the person who spoke. A police officer. How did she manage to get such a rare Pokemon?
"I'm so, so sorry that Starlily got loose. He doesn't like the city, really. Too much noise and pollution, not to mention the technology. After waking up from millions of years from being a fossil, those kinds of things would scare you too."
"Starlily?" The trainer scoffed at the ridiculous nickname.
"Uh-huh. He didn't like all the other names I gave him. Sorta weird, huh?"
She didn't reply. Rather, she stood up despite the pain and brushed off the dirt from her clothes.
"Hey, what's your name? I'm Piney."
"Lizzie." She wondered why the officer was getting so social with her. Didn't she have any work to do or anything?
"Ok. Lizzie, I have a favor to ask you. I can't bring Starlily with me on my job cause he's afraid of the city. And apparently I can't leave him alone either. So can you take care of him for me?"
Handing the Cranidos's Pokeball to the awestruck trainer, the girl couldn't make any reply. Only just stare at her in disbelief and wondering if she was crazy.
"I mean, you saved his life. I don't think I can trust anyone else with him, and he might already like you. So give it a shot?"
Lizzie, slowly taking the orb from the officer's hands, said nothing for several long moments. Yeah. She was definitely crazy. But she was right, in a way. The trainer could take better care of him than she could, since she would practically have her eye on him all the time.
And she would be stupid to turn down this offer. A rare and powerful Pokemon, just handed to her, for free. Minus the scrapes she got right now.
"... Why not?"
How long has it been since she arrived here? Two weeks? A month? Maybe more? And she still had no Pokemon. How was it possible? She wasted so much money on Pokeballs, only to see them fall apart as their would-be captors escaped.
True, she didn't have any Pokemon of her own to weaken them. But the Pidgeys and Sentrets she attempted to capture shouldn't be able to break free every single time. She seen other trainers gain their first Pokemon with only one toss of the ball, what was she doing wrong? What did they, the people that probably have no idea as to what they're doing, have that she, the prodigy of the Battle Frontier, lacked?
It frustrated her to no end. This place, Zatao, made no sense, and it seemed that fate didn't want her to understand things just yet.
At least the food here was delicious. Tossing the apple core into the nearby trashcan, she wiped the juices off her hands and headed over to the nearest Pokemart. Time to get started with the Pokeball wasting then.
The trainer took a step through the automatic doors before a peculiar sound caused her to turn around. It didn't sound like a broken car or anything. It sounded like a Pokemon, a very rare one at that...
The odd noise rang out again, and it sounded like a Turtwig with its head stuck in a glass jar. A Pokemon alright. Though as she made her way towards the source, there was no sign of a Turtwig or glass jars.
Suddenly, a raptor-like creature burst out of a pile of trash bags and sped into the crowd of people. The bystanders, including the girl, instinctively dodged the incoming dinosaur but did nothing to stop it otherwise.
It let out another strange wail, and stomped through without any care to whatever it damaged. Stalls were knocked over, boxes were squashed by the Pokemon's feet, and the market dissolved into chaos. The trainer could tell that it wasn't on purpose, however. Taking note of its wide eyes and flared nostrils, she assumed that it was scared out of its wits and was panicking along with the rest of the people in its own way.
She also figured out that the Pokemon was a Cranidos, revived from a fossil. And it was unusually colored at that. How did it get here, she had no clue.
Fueled by curiosity and concern for the stumbling beast, she made her way across the debris and followed it.
It wasn't long until the Pokemon reached a busy street, complete with loud traffic and polluted air. These things seem to upset it more, and as it roared once more, it broke into a run and started overturning cars as it went. The onlookers were stunned by the display of strength, but the trainer knew that with such power, its defenses were as weak. If one of those cars or trucks collided with the Cranidos, it might not survive that encounter.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she glanced up to find the Pokemon frozen in fear by a large van. That was rushing right towards it. The driver was fully aware of the strange being in front of it, but even as he braked as hard as he could, the vehicle wasn't going to stop in time.
Everything seemed to slow down from there. Swearing under her breath, she leaped from her spot and shoved the Cranidos aside in one fluid motion. All the commotion was muted as both Pokemon and human tumbled off the road and into a bush. She could hear nothing except her own heart racing and the creature whimpering softly.
She laid there for a moment, with the Cranidos as her pillow. Now her joints were starting to ache, and she could see some cuts on her arms and legs. It's not like she could move anyway. If she got up, the dinosaur would scurry away and get itself into more trouble.
It was better to just stay here and wait for its trainer to come by...
Her 'pillow' disappeared in a flash of red. She thumped her head on the ground, and moaning a bit, picked herself up to find whoever returned the Pokeball.
"Are you ok?"
Well, she was bruised all over and picked up a headache to boot. But if ok meant there was no critical injuries, then yeah. She was fine.
"I'm alright." She muttered as she glanced at the person who spoke. A police officer. How did she manage to get such a rare Pokemon?
"I'm so, so sorry that Starlily got loose. He doesn't like the city, really. Too much noise and pollution, not to mention the technology. After waking up from millions of years from being a fossil, those kinds of things would scare you too."
"Starlily?" The trainer scoffed at the ridiculous nickname.
"Uh-huh. He didn't like all the other names I gave him. Sorta weird, huh?"
She didn't reply. Rather, she stood up despite the pain and brushed off the dirt from her clothes.
"Hey, what's your name? I'm Piney."
"Lizzie." She wondered why the officer was getting so social with her. Didn't she have any work to do or anything?
"Ok. Lizzie, I have a favor to ask you. I can't bring Starlily with me on my job cause he's afraid of the city. And apparently I can't leave him alone either. So can you take care of him for me?"
Handing the Cranidos's Pokeball to the awestruck trainer, the girl couldn't make any reply. Only just stare at her in disbelief and wondering if she was crazy.
"I mean, you saved his life. I don't think I can trust anyone else with him, and he might already like you. So give it a shot?"
Lizzie, slowly taking the orb from the officer's hands, said nothing for several long moments. Yeah. She was definitely crazy. But she was right, in a way. The trainer could take better care of him than she could, since she would practically have her eye on him all the time.
And she would be stupid to turn down this offer. A rare and powerful Pokemon, just handed to her, for free. Minus the scrapes she got right now.
"... Why not?"
