Setting:
•Route 31, Johto•
•After 6 PM•
•Late February, the same day•
•Amber (Wolfe Alias) POV•
Chapter Seventeen
When the Sky Came Down
Carrying Mudflaps on my shoulder, I limped along Route 31. Concentrating on getting to the Pokémon Center so I could heal up my team and maybe bandage myself while I was at it and change my dirty clothes, I ambled as fast as I could. My arm hurt from banging into walls so many times, and the attacks from the Golbat and Zubat didn't help. I knew my knee was pretty scraped, too, from that fall into the underground lake. My injuries aside, though, I was concerned about Chika. I gazed at her from her pokeball, and she seemed to be pretty weak with scrapes and bite wounds covering her torso. The Zubat must've had a feast on her.
Walking past a pretty lake with water that glistened as the sun sank lower on the horizon, I spotted an apricorn tree and a man that was apparently asleep underneath it. Noting to come back later to pick apricorns, I moved onward until I came upon a ledge that was too steep to climb. Knowing I had to walk around, I ventured into some knee-high grass and passed a rather busy bug catcher who seemed to be trying to round up a herd of Caterpie.
I walked onward, finally making it back onto the main path. With the city's gate in sight, I ambled forward even more, opening the door to the air-conditioned rest stop that marked the entrance of Violet City.
The guard, who seemed startled at my entrance, gave me a look over silently. He nodded as I walked through, making my way to the door that would lead to Violet City. Suddenly from behind, I heard the door, which I had just entered through previously, slam shut and a pair of feet race past.
Turning around, I was rather startled by what I saw. Panting in front of me was none other than Gold with a very tired looking Hino riding on his shoulder. Gaping at the spectacle in front of me, I forgot Mudflaps was riding on my shoulder. He immediately jumped off and investigated my friend.
"Phew! I caught up!" Gold panted. He looked like he was going to collapse from exhaustion.
"You were following me?" I asked dumbly.
"Yeah. Professor Elm wanted me to go with you until that Mudkip hatched." He glanced at Mudflaps, who was sniffing his shoe. "But I guess I'm a little too late for that…" He sighed heavily.
"Yeah, Mudflaps hatched about an hour ago, actually; right buddy?" I looked at my Mudkip.
"Mudkip~" Replied the blue mudfish, who jumped on Gold's other shoulder and sniffed at the Cyndaquil on Gold.
"Ugh. That means I have to go all the way back to the lab now!" He groaned.
"Wait a second! Hold on, Gold. You mean you ran all this way to catch up?" I asked in alarm.
"Yeah. It was important I did that. Professor Elm wanted to make sure that Mudkip would be alright… And I kinda forgot to take my bike… again." He said sheepishly.
"Well then, we can video call him once we get to the Pokémon Center tonight." I decided before he ran himself ragged.
"Eh, I guess…" He trailed off.
"Don't worry. I'm sure Professor Elm doesn't expect you to come back tonight. That'd be pretty crazy to run all the way here and back. You'd kill yourself from exhaustion."
"Well, okay. Sounds like a good idea." He admitted. "Alright Hino, let's go to the Pokémon Center"
"Quil!" Replied Hino rather cheerfully, happy to not have to return home yet.
"By the way, what happened to you?! It looks like you got caught up in a whirlpool or something." Gold asked curiously.
I laughed. "I'll tell you all about it once we get to the center. I need to get Chika healed as soon as possible. She took some nasty damage from a swarm of Zubat."
"This'll be interesting," he smirked as we began walking out of the gatehouse and into the city's main street.
We approached a signpost that I could make out thanks to the city's flame lanterns, which were lit. It was getting dark outside. It read: Violet City: The City of Nostalgic Scents.
"Nostalgic scents, huh? Wonder what that means…" I thought aloud.
"I heard that Violet City respects its past, so it's kept things pretty much the same throughout history. For example, the Pokémon center is built traditionally rather than like a modern center." Gold supplied.
"Interesting," I spoke as we looked at the town's map on the sign. Locating the center, we headed in that general direction and passed a few people on the streets as we walked.
The center was nicely built with a wooden roof and a rather classical looking exterior. Walking inside, we located Nurse Joy, and I gave her Chika, whom she immediately rushed to an emergency room. Deciding that all of my Pokémon could use a rest, I recalled Mudflaps into a spare pokeball that I had lying around and handed Nurse Joy's Chansey my three other Pokémon.
Walking over to the Center's sofa, Gold and I sat while Hino jumped into my lap. I petted Hino as I assessed the damage to my clothes and myself.
"So, what's been happening since you left? You look like a mess, and you have two new Pokémon aside from Chika and that Mudkip. Pretty impressive." Gold looked eager to hear more.
I sighed as I relaxed onto the sofa and petted Hino's soft fur. "Truthfully, not a single one of my Pokémon were captured. My two new ones were old friends that I left with a good friend. As for what happened… Heh… I'll simply put that Dark Cave is very dark…and more dangerous than I thought."
"You seriously went into Dark Cave without any Pokémon to light it up?!" He asked.
"Not my choice. Chika ventured off…and was attacked by Zubat. So, I went in after her…and almost became Gyarados chow." I grimaced.
"Wow!" He whistled impressed. "How'd you get out?"
"Mudflaps hatched just in time. He used that fin on his head to sense which direction to go."
"You really lucked out. I've heard rumors of people getting lost in there for months… I've heard some never made it out." He said with a shudder.
That sent a chill down my spine. "I guess I really did luck out then."
Feeling somewhat tired, I decided to check on Chika's condition, and so I placed Hino on the sofa, got up, and walked over to the desk. After hearing that Chika would be feeling better in the morning, I asked for directions to the nearest local hotel. Returning to the couch, I picked up my bag since I had left it near Gold.
"Where you off to?" He asked.
"Checking into the hotel for the night. Care to join?" I decided to offer.
"Ehh, It's not that I hate you or anything…but…" He trailed off nervously.
"I'd get you your own room." I glared at him.
"Oh, uh, right. Sure. Thanks!" He got up and placed Hino on his shoulder.
Grabbing his bag, he followed me out of the Pokémon Center and down Violet's main street. Turning off onto a dark alleyway, I searched around to see if I had taken the right direction.
"Uh, were we supposed to go this way?" Gold asked.
"I think so…" I replied, doubting myself.
"Eh, okay, I think we need to retrace our steps." I concluded as I realized that the hotel was not on that street.
We walked back down to where the alleyway intersected onto the main street and took the main street once more, searching for the correct road. By then, the moon was out in full force, mostly illuminating the cobblestone street.
As I spotted the correct street down the road, an immense shadow covered the moon, darkening the area around me.
"Ah! Wolfe! Look out!" Gold cried in horror. Looking up I saw what he meant, only it was too late.
Before I could think about moving out the way, a rather large, rather hefty flying lizard had knocked me down flat on my back and onto my bag.
"Don't you touch her!" Gold nearly shrieked as the large form, which I unfortunately recognized, loomed over my face.
"Ugh, I'm so sorry about that. She usually flies really well, too. I don't know what got into her." Stated a sturdy female voice that I could not locate from my position. "Charry! Get off of that girl at once!"
Ignoring the woman, my old friend bent over my face and began to slobber it with very wet, very slimy Charizard kisses. Smiling despite this, I could feel Gold giving me a very incredulous look.
"Nice to see you too, old friend," I chuckled softly to where only my first Pokémon could hear me.
"Charry! I said off!" Commanded the voice.
Turning her neck to look at the woman, who had rushed over to my side to check if I was all right, Charry got off of me and extended her arm to help me up. Taking it, I got up shakily.
"I'm so sorry that happened! Are you alright?!" The woman asked. She looked maybe a little older than me—about my height too.
"Yeah, thanks." I laughed. "That certainly woke me up."
The woman sighed with relief. "Phew, I'm glad. My name's Liza, by the way. And this Charizard is Charry."
"Ah, so you're the one who runs the Charicific Valley." I stated putting two and two together. I never actually met her in person before.
Gold looked utterly lost, as did Hino, who simply did not seem to care.
"Yep! That's me. I'm surprised you heard of the Valley." Liza grinned.
Knowing I had to keep my cover, at least for now, I stated. "Yeah, I heard a lot of good things about the Valley and the Charizard who live there. Though, something tells me Charry isn't exactly a wild Charizard, is she?"
"You're right, there. She actually belongs to a top trainer from Kanto, but she fits in perfectly with the wild Charizard who live at the Valley. She gets along great with my own Charizard, too, Charla. She's pretty tough for being domestic. Still, sorry that she tackled you. I've never seen her act like that before."
I laughed, knowing that Charry must really have been on her best behavior if Liza had never seen *that* antic before. "So, you normally fly on Charizard at night?" I asked curiously.
"Actually, no" she flustered. "You see, I'm looking for Charry's trainer. We have something to give her. Only problem is, I don't know where to look. I'm supposed to be in Kanto right now, but for some reason, Charry came here to Violet City instead after circling around New Bark Town once."
"Hm… Sounds to me like Charry might be onto something." I said quietly, giving my starter a knowing smile.
"You think? All I know is that she's never disobeyed me before like that. And then when she attacked you, I thought maybe she lost her mind or something!" Liza exclaimed.
Gold shifted his feet, as he grew somewhat bored. Realizing that Gold was pretty much excluded from the conversation, I mentioned him to come over and handed him some money. "Here Gold, go get us some rooms at the hotel, I'll be there shortly."
He yawned as he accepted the money. "Okay, thanks. See ya in a little while." He took off down the road, walking with a new spring in his step as he approached the hotel.
Waiting for him to enter the hotel, I stood silently, patting Charry on the shoulder as I did. When he was out of sight, I said. "I think I might be able to help you look for Charry's trainer."
"Really!? You know her?"
I chuckled. "Actually, I am Charry's trainer. That's why she tackled me and slobbered my face. It's habit. Right, girl?"
Charry snorted and let me scratch behind her horn-like ears.
"Really?! That's wonderful! I guess Charry knew what she was doing, after all. Well then, here, this is something I wanted to give to you." She took off a small bag from her back and opened it.
Inside of the bag was a device that I started to become accustomed to seeing: an egg incubator. Inside was an orange egg that I could only assume was a Charmander egg.
Startled, I glanced from the egg to Charry and back again. Nodding, Charry nudged the egg inside of the incubator towards me. Gaping a little since I didn't expect this of all things, Liza started. "Yep. It's a Charmander egg. You see, Charry and this really mammoth sized Charizard in the valley hit it off. Before I knew it, I found this one day, and she was guarding it. After some coaxing that I'd give it to her trainer, she allowed me to put it into an incubator. Unfortunately, it's been pretty hard trying to track you down."
"Sorry about that. Since Charry trusts you, I suppose I can, too. You see, I'm undercover on the trail of Team Rocket." I explained quietly in the deserted street.
"Ah, I see. Makes sense why it was hard to find you."
I laughed. "Except for the fact that Charry can smell me from miles away."
At this, Charry gave a guttural laugh as well. I accepted the egg and placed it inside of my bag.
Looking at my old friend, our eyes met, and a mutual understanding came about us. She understood why we weren't traveling together, and she accepted it, but at least her offspring could take her place.
Looking into those deep violet eyes, I nodded and said seriously, "Don't worry Charry. I'll take very good care of your egg. And when this is all over, you'll be able to meet your child. That sound great to you?'
At this, she let out a happy roar, letting fire stream from her mouth into the night air. Turning her head to me, she nuzzled her face against my chest as smoke puffed out of her nostrils. I truly did miss my Charizard, as she missed me, but it was for the best that we'd be apart—for now at least.
"Well, I guess we'd better get going if we're to make it back to the Valley by morning. Be sure to visit sometime." Liza handed me a slip of paper.
"That's a map to the Valley from Violet City. Maybe when the Charmander in the egg evolves into a Charizard, you two can fly there. That'd be pretty cool." She smiled.
I nodded in agreement, still cradling Charry's enormous head in my arms. "You take care of yourself, okay girl? Next time we meet, I want to see how much you've been training. Make me proud okay?"
She gave a low rumbling growl in agreement. Hugging the enormous dragon-like Pokémon, I let her go, and Liza climbed on her back.
"Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention about that egg. Don't be surprised if it hatches soon. It's been a good few months since I discovered it. It took that long just to locate your last known whereabouts. Well, anyway, take care! Don't worry about Charry! She'll be fine."
"I know she will be. Thanks, Liza! See you again sometime!" I yelled as she and my friend took off into the skies.
Charry's powerful wing beats raised them higher and higher, and with an incredible speed, the two soared out of sight within a minute. Staring at the egg in my unzipped bag, I looked at it fondly, knowing that I'd take good care of that Charmander inside, and that it'd be great just to have another Charmander on my team again after such a long time.
Looking at my pokegear, I realized how late it was, and hurriedly, I ran to the hotel, got my keys for my room, took out my contacts, and went to bed without even meeting up with Gold.