Setting:
•Violet Inn, Violet City, Johto•
•After 12 PM•
•Late February, The Next Day•
•Amber (Wolfe Alias) POV•
Chapter Eighteen
Before the Tower Sways
I woke the next morning with pounding on my door and the sun filtering in through my 2nd story hotel window. Groaning, I stretched, got up, and answered the door. At my door was none other than Gold all dressed up in fresh clothes with Hino, his Cyndaquil, on one shoulder and Zuku, his Hoothoot, perched on the other. Still sleepy, I glared at him making sure he knew he woke me up from a nice slumber.
"Sorry to wake you, but I got a call from Nurse Joy saying your Pokémon were ready to be picked up whenever… And also, it's noon so I figured you were up."
"Eh, I'm up now… Just let me change into some fresh clothes since I didn't even do that last night. I feel like my clothes are caked in grime…" I kept my eyes somewhat closed so Gold wouldn't tell that my contacts were out.
"Okay, sure. Meet me downstairs, then." He left and closed my door behind him.
Stifling a yawn, I opened my bag to where I kept my clothing. Thankfully, my bag was pretty much waterproof, so my clothes didn't really get too damp from the ordeal in Dark Cave yesterday. Taking out a fresh gray shirt with guitars on it, I peeled off my jacket and removed my grimy shirt from the day before as well.
Checking myself in the mirror for any injuries, I found a few minor scrapes and bruises here and there but nothing very serious. Changing my clothing, I put my dirty clothes back into my bag and made a mental note that I needed to wash them somewhere later on.
Checking on the Charmander egg in the incubator, I decided that perhaps my Pokedex would help me figure out when it was going to hatch. I pulled out the dex and scanned the orange egg; the Egg Report showed the egg was making sounds inside and would soon hatch. Content, I placed the egg securely inside of my bag and zipped it up. That done, I checked my bed for any misplaced items, placed my contacts in my eyes after rinsing them, and headed downstairs to the lobby of the hotel.
Upon seeing me, Gold smiled as if he were let in on some joke that I didn't know about. "What's so funny?" I asked perplexed.
"Err, nothing," he smiled deviously.
"Uh…huh…" I stated unsure what was making him act so oddly.
"Oh, alright. It's just…your hair… Your clothes may look like you didn't travel a whirlpool anymore…but your hair still says otherwise." He snorted a little as he tried to contain his amusement.
Realizing that I forgot to brush my hair and probably had horrible bed head, I chuckled. "Oh, oops. Knew I forgot something." I smiled knowing that Gold could've worded it a lot meaner than that.
"Need a brush? I got a spare. My mom always makes me pack it," he retorted.
"Sure," I accepted the brush from Gold and ran it through my hair, getting out most of the tangles and snags before putting it up into a ponytail. "Thanks. That better?" I asked handing him back the brush.
"Yeah. At least now you look human," he joked.
I glared in response. "So, it's off to the Pokémon Center, then?" I proceeded in continuing the conversation.
"Sure. And while we're there, we can call Professor Elm from the videophone. That way he can see us both and know that I met up with you!"
"Good idea," I stated as we walked out of the hotel after returning our room keys. Gold also returned any extra money left over from getting our rooms the night before to me.
While walking down the cobblestone roads that spanned the city, I felt refreshed at the city's crisp air. Passing people on the streets, I noted that Violet was a fairly busy city despite its average size. Passing onto the main street of the city, I noticed a lake further down the road with a bridge spanning over it. On the other side was an enormous old-looking tower that seemed to sway from its foundation. Blinking my eyes, I was certain it was just a trick of the light since I could not see it move a few seconds later on second glance.
Moving in the opposite direction, we made our way to the center, entered it, and approached the front desk where a smiling Nurse Joy greeted me. She presented me a tray containing my three pokeballs, all which contained my smiling Pokémon: Umbreon, Espeon, and Mudkip.
She then wordlessly led me to a recovery room in which Chika was sleeping in a large medical bed. Approaching her, I could tell she was just faking sleep as she did not breathe deeply and her eyes kept twitching. Joy, who had other Pokémon to attend to, left the room.
Approaching my Pokémon, I placed my hand on her leaf. "Hey, feeling better Chika?" I asked.
Stretching cat-like, she got up, regarded me with her large red eyes, and smiled before playfully head butting me. "Chika!" She cried happily.
Laughing, I replied happily, "That's good to hear! Those Zubat sure did a number on you."
"Chik…" She replied distractedly. I was pretty certain her utter loss in that battle weighed heavily upon her.
"Hey, not to worry. We'll get stronger, and then, you and I will return to teach those Zubat a lesson in payback. Alright?"
"Chika!" She swung her leaf cheerfully before climbing into my arms.
Nurse Joy then reappeared in the room. "Oh, I forgot to mention your Chikorita is not quite fully recovered. She still needs plenty of rest and fluids since she had so much energy drained, so if I were you, I wouldn't send her into battle for a few days; it'd tire her out too much."
Nodding in agreement I replied, "I understand."
Chika, hearing this, looked downcast again.
"Hey, not to worry Chika! You'll be feeling better in no time. Until then, just try to take it easy, okay?" I reassured.
"Chik…" She replied, still looking a little depressed.
"Well, now that that's settled, let's call Professor Elm," stated Gold, who had followed me to the entrance of the room.
"Right," I nodded as Chika hopped on my shoulder, and we walked to the Center's main lobby.
Gold dialed the number on the large videophone's screen, and we let it ring about five times before the Professor's distracted face appeared on our end. "Yes, you've reached my lab, who is calling?" He asked glancing down at what I was pretty sure to be a book.
"Professor! It's me, Gold, and I'm here with Wolfe. We're in Violet City." Gold replied.
"Oh, Gold. Good. I see you've met up with Wolfe," stated the Professor, closing his book and finally staring straight into the screen. I saw how he had a flare for repeating what he was just told.
"I think you sent me kinda late, though. You see, the Mudkip egg hatched before I met up with Wolfe…" Gold trailed off. He must've been used to the professor's habit of repeating the obvious.
"Ah, so the Mudkip hatched. Let me have a look at it if you don't mind." Elm said to me.
"Sure!" I pulled Mudflap's pokeball out of my bag and pressed the release button. The small form appeared in my arms. At the sight of Professor Elm, Mudflaps jumped a bit startled.
"Ah, looks very healthy. That's good to see," replied the professor.
Mudflaps, curious, nudged his head towards the screen and eventually placed his front paws on Professor Elm's forehead. At this, the Professor laughed good-naturedly.
"Good to see that the little guy is inquisitive. Hello, Mudkip. I'm Professor Elm. It's very nice to meet you," he stated to my little blue Pokémon.
"Mudkip~" Replied Mudflaps rather happy to see the person on the other side of the screen.
"I'm certain this Mudkip is in capable hands. Just one more thing; does it know any special moves? At level one, a Mudkip should know Tackle and Growl. Did this one know anything else?"
"Actually, Mudflaps knows Tackle, Growl, Water Pulse, and Blizzard," I informed.
"Ah, good. This really helps my research," replied the Professor, as he seemed to jot down something on a paper out of sight.
"Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you researching, Professor?" I asked inquisitively.
"Egg moves, Wolfe. I've heard of instances where a Pokémon hatches knowing moves that it does not necessarily know normally. Your Mudkip is a perfect example. You see, I believe that your Mudkip inherited the moves Blizzard and Water Pulse from its parents. Basically, I'm trying to determine which Pokémon can be born with which moves. That's why I asked Gold to find you and follow you until that Mudkip hatched."
"That's pretty interesting," I stated, patting Mudflaps on the head.
Until then, I had completely forgotten about Chika being on my shoulder, but she reminded me by sticking her nose indignantly in the air. At this I laughed and petted her, too, making sure she knew I didn't mean to ignore her.
At that Professor Elm laughed as well. "That Chikorita is still as jealous as ever, I see."
"Indeed. Chika's quite the character. Oh yeah, about egg moves. I take it that Chika was a hatched Pokémon instead of a captured one, right?"
"You're absolutely correct. She hatched from an egg a few years ago, though it's been tough finding her a trainer. Truthfully, all of the trainers who chose her returned her. But anyway, yes; Chika's Aromatherapy is an egg move. As is her Vine Whip."
"Thought so." I agreed.
Professor Elm then turned to Gold. "Nice work, Gold. Since Wolfe's egg hatched, I suppose you can return to the lab until I have another lead to follow…" He trailed off checking something, probably a schedule or calendar.
"Actually, I have another Pokémon egg that might contain a Pokémon with egg moves, if you're interested, Professor." I spoke up.
"Really?!" He stated somewhat alarmed.
"Yep," I took my bag, unzipped the large compartment, and extracted the Charmander egg inside of its incubator.
"Hmm, that's a Charmander egg, is it not?"
"Certainly is. Liza from Charicific Valley gave that to me last night after a certain Charizard named Charry that she was riding ran me over." I laughed.
Professor Elm smirked at that without saying a word. Somehow, I knew he knew my identity by then, but that was fine by me.
"Anyway, I'm pretty certain the Charmander inside will know some very interesting moves," I continued.
"Indeed. Well then, Gold, I want you to travel with Wolfe until that egg hatches."
"Yessir!" Gold replied dutifully with a smile.
"Well, it's been a nice chat but I need to get back to my studies. I'm currently trying to identify what Pokémon will hatch from that egg Mr. Pokémon was given. It still baffles me."
"Good luck Professor!" Gold responded.
"I'll let you know as soon as that Charmander hatches," I added. The view screen then went blank as Elm hung up the videophone from his end. Recalling Mudflaps to his pokeball, I looked at Gold.
"So…now that I'm your traveling partner, where we go next?" He asked.
"The gym," I stated confidently. "It's time I get my first Johto badge."
"Okay, then! Let's go!" He replied.
We walked out of the center and searched for the billboard we saw the evening before which contained the town's map. Locating it, we found the location of the gym and set our course.
Arriving at the gym, a man blocked the entrance as if he were guarding it. Speaking up, I called out to him. "Hey! Is the gym leader there?"
The man, who had dark, almost navy blue hair with semi-long bangs, glared back at me. He stood about my height and seemed to be about my age, possibly a bit older. He wore a blue shirt with a sky blue jacket over it along with denim blue shorts and white knee-high socks.
"The gym leader only takes challenges of those who have passed the Sprout Tower Challenge," he replied somewhat coldly, eyeing Chika as if she were weak.
"Uhh, thanks," I replied somewhat uneasily. For some reason, this guy unnerved me a bit. "Could you possibly point out the direction of the Sprout Tower?" I asked politely.
The man pointed to the large building I had seen earlier. "Across the bridge. Challenge the sage at the top of the tower to receive the Flash TM. After that, you may return to the gym and challenge me," he replied as he entered the gym.
I blinked for a few seconds as I registered what he had just said. It then dawned on me that I had been talking to Falkner, the gym leader, himself.
"Was that who I thought it was?" Gold asked, apparently on the same lines as myself.
"Yeah, it sounded like it was!" I replied. "Well, if that's the case, I guess we go to the Sprout Tower first."
"Okay," he replied as we set to walking again.
"At least this'll be great battle practice for Mudflaps!" I stated more to myself than to Gold.
"Yeah! With Blizzard, I'm certain you'll freeze his flying types pretty quickly," Gold replied enthusiastically.
"Yeah," I agreed as we walked past some food stands. The delicious aromas of candy apples and funnel cakes filled the air. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten in a while.
Gold stared at me until his stomach joined my own a few seconds later. He then laughed as Hino's small stomach rumbled on his shoulder. "Heh, I guess maybe we could get a bite to eat on the go first," he chuckled, his stomach rumbling louder.
"Sounds like a good idea to me!" I replied.
Approaching the food stand, we waited in line until it was our turn to order food. Gold got a jumbo-sized chilidog while I ordered a blooming onion. We also got enough food for all of our Pokémon. Sitting down on a nearby picnic table, I let my Pokémon out of their pokeballs while Hino, Zuku, and Chika joined them. We gave them each a small bowl of poke-chow while we ate in silence.
Gold finished first and eyed my blooming onion. Since I had about a fourth left and was getting full, I offered the rest to Gold, assuring him that it would go to waste if he didn't eat it. He accepted it happily and wolfed it down. Finishing our food, we recalled our Pokémon to our pokeballs, except for Chika and Hino, picked up their bowls, and set them on the picnic table for someone to pick up. We then headed towards the bridge that would take us to the Sprout Tower.