Pokedex One-Shots (PG)

[foxyman1167]

Wow. All I can say is, mind blown.

You have such an amazing knack for detail, and such an amazingly creative way of writing a story. This one is quite a story, and a lot of the things they said and did made sense. Was also kinda funny how you referenced humans being angry at the unconventional pair.

The only real problem I can think of is that when two pokemon make an egg, the female decides what species it is, although this is based on breeding in the game, so the 10 eggs probably should have hatched into all Remoraid, not some Remoraid and some Goldeen, although it doesn't really affect the story.

I'd like you to write about Ledian in combo with another fitting Bug type like Butterfree or Ariados, but if you have done Ledian already, then do Lickitung/Lickilicky.

[MarshtompMan]

Aww, that was so sad...

One of your saddest stories, in my opinion. This now goes down as one of my favorite Pokedex one-shots.
I liked how despite their obvious differences, they still loved each other.
But couldn't have Octillery told Seaking that she was his mate?

Have you done Unown yet? I forgot...

[shiningsloth13]

Man, I missed out whilst I was gone! I love that Seaking/Remoraid story, but the ending is so sad....

Might the Sloth suggest a Mawile fable?

[growlithe_master]

that story was absolutely amazing. honestly, it was just perfect. it was sad, yet humorous at the same time. oh, and i found this funny:

But the extreme believers were the most vocal and were stating that either science was wrong or that the aquarium shouldn’t have made these two Pokemon the only ones of their kinds in the facility.

too bad for them, science cant be wrong.

[kuriboh361]

Poor guys! Why must the ballad of Seaking and Remoraid be a sad one? I liked it anyway despite the ending because I like drastic endings. I really liked that one! ^_^ How about Kricketot and Budew?

[Ysavvryl]

@foxyman: Meh, that's game rules. I can play a bit more loosely with fics. I did double check and made sure that those two could breed first.

@MarshstompMan: That was one of my rare Pokemon-as-animals stories... so she couldn't have.

At first, I had no idea what to do with Cradily. Some of its entries are kind of gross. And then it turned really silly... and the request list got long!

In Process: Walrain (12/21)
On Deck: Wingull/Pelliper, Ledian, Lickitung/Lickiliky, Unown, Mawile, Kricketot/Budew
Reserve: Stantler (12/25)


CRADILY


Once upon a time, when fossil Pokemon were as common as Tentacools, there was a Cradily that believed that he was supposed to be a Flying Pokemon.

“Where did you get such a ridiculous idea, Cray?” another Cradily asked him. “It makes no sense.”

“It does so make sense,” Cray insisted. “Every night, I have dreams of flying in the wide open skies, far above these waters that we live in. If it wasn’t every night, I wouldn’t think it meant anything. But I am having that dream every single night. Therefore, I must be destined to one day fly above the ocean.”

“We’re Rock Pokemon. And Grass Pokemon. Both of the ground, not the sky.”

“Careful about saying that so loud,” a shy Lileep piped up. “Some folks might say you’re betraying Kyogre by saying that.”

The other Cradily, named Lily, sighed and shook her short tentacles. “Fine, we’re Rock and Grass Pokemon that are definitely dwellers of the waters, not the skies. And we don’t have any loyalty to that stinking Groudon and the ground dwellers. But the point still stands. You’re not supposed to be in the sky.”

“Well I think I’m meant to live in the sky,” Cray insisted.

“And how, pray tell, do you intend to do that?” Lily asked. “You have no wings… and we don’t even swim. We walk along the seabed and come out at low tide. And even then, it’s hard to hold these rocky heads up when we’re out in the air. There is no way that you can fly.”

“I’ll find a way. You just wait and see. I’ll be flying one way or another.”

“Idiot. Come on, child.” Lily nudged the Lileep. “It’s low tide; let’s go find on shore and dig for food.”

Cray would not give up his dream, though. He trudged all the way south to a point called Sapphire Beach. In this quiet cove, there lived the oldest Cradily known along the Hoenn coastline. The Old Guy supposedly knew much of the wisdom of the sea, despite living in the shallow waters like every other Cradily. If anyone could help Cray live out his dreams, it was The Old Guy.

The Old Guy lived on the side of a large yellow-tan rock. His small but tough green body hooked onto the side, letting his large flower head drift back and forth with the tides. Some of his tentacles were cut short or shriveled. According to rumor, he hung onto the side of this rock in a stubborn effort to prove that, although he was The Old Guy, he wasn’t too old.

After twisting his head in a show of respect, Cray said, “I want to ask you about something.”

“Do you? Hmmm.” He remained like that for a minute. “There is no way to create an acid that will instantly dissolve the armor of a shellfish Pokemon.”

“What?” He shook his head. “No, that’s not it, although that really stinks. I have constant dreams of flying in the sky, so I feel that I am destined to grow wings and fly above the ocean. Do you know of any way I can do that?”

“Fly? Above the waters? That’s ridiculous. We’re Rock and Grass Pokemon, tied to the ground and loyal to Her Majesty of the Seas, Kyogre.”

Cray leaned forward. “Uh-huh, yeah. Loyal to Kyogre.”

“And we Cradilies are not meant for the skies,” The Old Guy stated.

“But I’m sure that I’m meant to fly. I dream about it every night.”

“That might not mean anything. No one under the ocean’s waters…” The Old Guy paused. “Well, all but one of us under the ocean’s waters will never fly.”

Cray straightened his stem up. “And I could be that one!”

The Old Guy sneered. “No! That one is Lugia, Master of Storms. He is said to be great of the mind, a Psychic type, and he flies equally well above and below water.”

“Is he a Water Psychic then?”

“No, you doofus. Master Lugia is a Psychic Flying Pokemon.”

“And he lives underwater and abovewater? Uh-huh, makes as much sense as our loyalty to Kyogre.”

“Because we are loyal to her,” The Old Guy agreed, missing or ignoring the sarcasm. “Lugia is the only one underwater who can fly above the water, period. Now go do some sensible things like digging up some food for me in exchange for listening to your dumb idea.”

But even the lack of support from The Old Guy Cradily did not deter Cray. As he trudged away, he muttered to himself, “Well if Lugia is the one I need to ask, then I’ll find a way to ask him. I was meant to fly, I know it.”

As Lugia was the Master of Storms, Cray figured that he should wait until a storm came before trying. He had to wait many days for this to happen. In the meantime, he walked along the Hoenn coast, never backing down on his claims that he would one day fly. The other sea Pokemon teased him, called him names, or outright ignored him. But he would persevere.

And then came the storm. The black clouds began building as the sun was setting. As it was calm, Cray acted on his plan. He came to a tall rock that stood out of the water and stuck his suction cup feet to the side. Slowly, he climbed to the top of the rock. It was a difficult task: once he was out of the water, he had to support his entire weight in the weaker air. And it took a lot of time, as each repositioning of his suction cups only progressed him by the inch. Overhead, the sky grew darker and darker.

As he was nearing the top, the winds came in, rushing past him and stirring up the ocean’s surface into a white froth. Raindrops came, cold and harsh. There was a clap of thunder. Other Pokemon were already hiding, as this looked to be one of the worst storms of the year. But not Cray the Cradily. He kept climbing the rock. No matter what it tried, the wind could not knock him loose.

Triumphantly, Cray made it to the top of the rock. He basked for a moment in the wildness of the growing storm. It was this power that was going to help him achieve his dreams. Stretching his stem up to the heavens, Cray called out in the loudest voice he could manage. “Lugia, Master of Storms, please hear me! It is my dream to fly like you do, both under and over the water! This dream is how I’m meant to be! Help me to soar above the ocean waves with you!”

He released his suction cups and jumped off the top of the tall rock.

Cray felt odd. Nothing was holding onto him, not the water, not the rocks, nothing. It was just him in the air, nearly weightless. The stormy winds blew around him, the raindrops spattered all over his body, and the lightning lit up the sky. He felt like he could fly forever, feeling like this.

A second later, he crashed back into the ocean like the rock he was.

“Hey, watch it!” A Magikarp blubbered at him in annoyance. “You nearly fell on my hiding spot.”

“I didn’t expect to fall,” Cray said, bewildered and disappointed. “I was trying to call on Lugia.”

The Magikarp blinked. “Lugia? Doesn’t he live in Johto?”

Moral of the story: Before you go calling on a legendary Pokemon, make sure it lives in your area.

...

Emerald entry: It drags its heavy body along the seafloor. It makes its nests in the shallows of warm seas. Cradily can be seen on beaches when the tide goes out.

[kuriboh361]

Lol. Here I am thinking Cradily would actually somehow do it while not thinking sense of the whole situation. *Hits self* Dumb me.... I love the story. Poor Cradily though....

[shac]

Just read through the crawdaunt/seaking/cradily entries. Awesoem stories. Loved the Seaking story most of the three. So sweet......Poor octillery. How it must have felt when seaking turned over it.

Keep up the good writings.

[SugarPesticide]

Seaking/Remoraid:

The child’s parents were obvious upset over this and demanded a refund.

Should be "obviously".

Who knew an aquarium could house such drama and tragedy? Genetics brought them together, and genetics tore them apart. The irony. =D


Cradily:

The second I read the first line, I knew it was going to be a LOL-fest. And it was. Flying Cradily is about as random as it gets, and I love random. XD And the anticlimactic ending about killed me. Great job ^_^

[Ysavvryl]

I wrote a story yesterday to get this in on time, but I really disliked what I came up with. So I put it off for some more thought and came up with something much better. Even if it's a bit late, here is a story in honor of the longest night of the year (for the northern hemisphere, obviously).

In Process: Stantler (12/25)
On Deck: Wingull/Pelliper, Ledian, Lickitung/Lickiliky, Unown, Mawile, Kricketot/Budew


WALREIN


12/21?

It is the longest night; indeed, here in the Arctic, the winter night never seems to end. It is dark and I can only tell the time by the positions of the rotating stars. And the cold is just as unrelenting, especially bad when the winds blow, biting at my skin and threatening to freeze me alive. I’ve been unable to write for several days, being too busy with working to survive. I can only confirm my feeling that this trip was a foolish dream.

But hope is not lost. This is the highest power that night has, and if I can hang on until the sun returns, I should be able to make my way back home. I have built a shelter out of ice, based on what I have seen in the native tribes, who perhaps wisely live south of here. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it was, but the structure I have now is holding and does not seem to be in danger of collapse. And most of all, I have made an ally.

It is a Walrein, a majestic Pokemon that I have seen before in my travels. When I saw them before, they were defying warmth as Ice Pokemon living in a hot environment. This desolate icy tundra is likely their native home, I believe. I had seen them with their younger Spheals and Sealeos, diving in waters so frigid that I would probably be killed in. But I hadn’t interfered, for fear of being harmed.

One particular specimen had approached me as I was trying to build my shelter. He has thick curling whiskers and brown eyes that seem oddly serious on a Pokemon. Although probably not the leader of the group, he has impressive tusks, nearly the length of my arm and solidly formed. This Walrein slid over to me and barked.

At the time, I supposed that as humans were rarely (if ever) seen here, the Pokemon weren’t sure what I was, whether enemy, rival, or friend. Given how large he was, I didn’t want to make enemies with him and his group. I might be able to outrun them over land, but I didn’t want to find another area to settle in. So I spoke to him calmly, telling him that I didn’t mean them any trouble.

He seemed to show the same kind of diplomacy as me, lumbering around watching me, but never threatening or getting in the way. Perhaps in being alone for so long, I was glad for even that company. I told him about what I was doing in building my ice shelter. I don’t know if he understood. In response to my words, he would bark or wuffle, or make some other sound I didn’t know. I thought it was strange that he was being so communicative with a creature he had never seen before. Or maybe Pokemon really are just that friendly.

After I got done with that shelter, I started searching for holes drafts could slip through. The Walrein left at that point. I was a little disappointed, but I had more important matters at hand. But not that long after, he came back and dropped a fish by my shelter. It was clearly a gift, and a very welcome one; I had such trouble fishing. I told him so and patted his snout. He bumped his nose against my hand, then went back. I guess he had to catch his own dinner.

That night, I rested in my shelter. But I woke up to cracking sounds. I got out, but the shelter collapsed. It was a great setback, as I had to make a shelter all over again. Knowing how long that took, I looked for another flat spot, then started carving ice.

I heard a bark and saw that one of the Walrein had come over. I wondered if it had been the same one as before. Although it embarrassed me, I told him about how I wasn’t experienced with building with ice. He answered with a sound I can’t quite decide how to write. Perhaps a ‘hmmm’ or a ‘so that’s how it is’, because he didn’t seem to be mocking me for my failure.

Then he went over to a large block of ice that had built up on the side of a hill. I hadn’t tried to carve ice from that block, as it was taller than me and could have come crashing down on my head. But the Walrein wasn’t afraid. He looked over the ice, then made a loud bark and jammed his tusks into the ice block. To my surprise, the entire block collapsed into a pile of ice. And the Pokemon wasn’t bothered. He seemed to laugh at his work, soon joined in by echoing laughter from his group. Then he looked back at me, as if offering his assistance.

Many of the blocks were irregular and jagged, but they were of good size and it was much faster to carve them into shape than to dig blocks out of the ground. I was able to complete the shelter faster, allowing me more time to find faults than the day before. It put me in a good mood, so I told him my story of setting off on a late journey, getting abandoned by a greedy crew, then becoming lost and wandering around the desolate land as the winter grew. It felt good to tell my story to a sympathetic friend, even if he was a Walrein and not human.

At the end of the day, I even had some time to try fishing. My friend joined me by slipping into the water and hunting them in his own way. It is another wonder of nature that a creature can bond so well with Arctic waters that he can become like them. I managed to catch two fish, although he may have helped by herding them my way. As a gesture of appreciation, I offered him one of the fish, which he graciously accepted.

I don’t really know why Pokemon befriend humans as they do. Surely, the Walrein and his herd get little advantage by making me an ally. I might even be a burden if a dangerous situation arises and I know nothing about it. On the other hand, I benefit greatly in having a Pokemon ally rather than being alone. He has checked on my well-being and helped me to survive. He even eased the burden I had in creating my ice shelter, when he declines to enter or use it.

But then, perhaps the bond of friendship is as sacred to them as it is to humans.

-the author of this journal is recorded as one of the few novice explorers to survive an entire winter far north of the Arctic Circle. And the Walrein is known as one of the first to appear in the country of his human friend.

...

Ruby entry: Walrein’s two massively developed tusks can totally shatter blocks of ice weighing ten tons with one blow. This Pokemon’s thick coat of blubber insulates it from subzero temperatures.

[kuriboh361]

Wow! That was rather touching! You always do such a good job! ^_^ Hmm, despite the story being told in Winter, the story was warm and made ever so cosy. Fantastic work!

[Ysavvryl]

Merry Christmas! Maybe a bit late in the day (and the 26th for a good portion of you), but whatever. Stantler had lots of good 'dex entries and I used parts of nearly all of them (only listed two, though). I also added Bayleef cause I felt like it. Also, this means that I have entries for all 9 forms of Johto's starters!

20 entries from 50%...

In Process: Wingull/Pelliper
On Deck: Ledian, Lickitung/Lickiliky, Unown, Mawile, Kricketot/Budew


STANTLER AND BAYLEEF


The Routes leading to Ecruteak were quiet today. Nearly two feet of snow was on the ground, making the green of the pines and cedars almost disappear. Glistening icicles hung off those branches, the signs, the country houses, and anything else immobile along the way. Although the snow had passed, the sky was still gray and the cold was still intense. But at least the wind was not blowing.

The crunches in the snow seemed especially loud then, compared to the distant calls of Pokemon. There were two distinct patterns to the footsteps. One was a steady ‘crunch, crunch, crunch’ from the boot of a teenaged girl. The other was an almost steady plowing sound of a Bayleef doing her best to walk alongside her friend and Trainer. Sometimes, the girl had to help pull her Pokemon out of a particularly deep drift.

Every time she did so, the girl got a whiff of the invigorating scent of the Bayleef’s buds and leaves. It changed slightly from time to time for reasons she wasn’t sure about. Today, it smelled like a mug of hot apple cider. It encouraged her to go on, where there might be a real mug of hot apple cider waiting to greet her.

“Are you doing okay, Verda?” she asked. “I can put you back in your Pokeball if you like.”

She shook her head and flicked her head leaf back. She was doing just fine, even if it was tough going. Besides, she didn’t want to leave her Trainer alone on this trip.

“Okay, just let me know if there’s a problem.”

The girl had no trouble on this trek, given her snow boots, snow pants, winter coat, gloves, and winter cloak. The last item was a bright red cape that came down to her knees and tied together at her neck, with a hood to go over her head. Although some of her peers poked fun at her for having nursery tale fashion at sixteen, she didn’t care that they thought. She thought it was cute, lacking the hassle of having both a hat and a scarf.

In her arms, she carried an insulated basket. In it was some soup, some cookies, some Poffins, and a loaf of banana bread. All of it was homemade, the bread and part of the cookies all by herself even. “We’re gonna make sure that our grandmas aren’t alone for Christmas,” she told Verda, even though they had talked about it before. “Everyone else is all busy or away, too concerned with themselves. But we’ll be there, even if the snow storm comes back.”

Although she didn’t make much noise, ever, Verda made a clicking sound. She agreed and was going to go, even though the weather was cold for a Grass Pokemon like herself to be out. They were still young, so they could make the trip easily.

They then came upon something unexpected. While they often ran into other Pokemon on the trips between Violet City and Ecruteak, this one was unusual. It was a wild Stantler, lying in the snowbanks behind a large pine tree. An arrow was sticking out of his shoulder, the end of it with a few Fearow feathers tied onto it. Blood was caked in its fur, so it must have been at least several hours since he’d been shot. As if that wasn’t strange enough, he wasn’t the normal light brown of its kind. This Stantler was light green, matching Verda’s skin tones.

“Oh, you poor thing,” the girl said. She took a step closer, but paused. Should she really approach an injured wild Pokemon? Maybe… she spoke softly and kindly to it. “You must have a hard time hiding at winter with that coat. I’d like to help you. I’m Rosa. Verda, could you tell him that?”

Jumping through the snow, the Bayleef made her way over to the injured Stantler. He huffed, noticeably nervous. But Verda came over and sniffed at his nose in a friendly gesture. After a moment of getting to know each other’s scent, the Stantler looked back at her, still wary but not as much. Verda looked back to her Trainer and gestured with her foot to come over.

Rosa did so, working on not making any sudden changes in posture or gait. She then removed a glove and let the Pokemon sniff her hand. Somehow, they were able to tell a lot by scent, or so it seemed to her. Once he seemed satisfied, she worked on removing the arrow. It took some work, but she got it out. Then, she took a High Potion she had and sprayed it onto the wound. While a rather expensive medicine to use on a wild Pokemon, she wanted to make sure it healed quickly.

A scab formed. On wiping the Stantler’s fur down with snow, Rosa could see that the skin around the wound was only a little pink. “Okay, you can go now. I hope the hunter who caused it isn’t around anymore.”

Making a wuffling sound, the Stantler looked up to her. She looked back over his long face and his curved antlers. They were amazing things, those antlers, so beautiful. While looking into them, Rosa noticed something strange. The air between the horns seemed to shimmer and shift. Wondering what kind of power it was, she reached over. And a strange thing happened: something came into her mind as vividly as a powerful memory. Except, these weren’t her memories.

-Rosa and Verda felt their hearts pounding, their senses heightened and alert. Facing them was a boy who had challenged them again and again, their rival. He stood by his Skarmory, smirking and believing the battle to be his. But they would not let him defeat them again, especially not at this final stage of the Johto Pokemon League.

-Rosa had spent her career searching for the most beautiful and talented Pokemon. She had rooms full of ribbons to prove it. As she came before the judges with Verda, who was showing off a new flowery scarf, she smiled with complete confidence. She would win the Grand Festival.

-Only the rarest of Pokemon would do. Those that spent months tracking down, months observing, and dozens upon dozens of battles to finally capture, these were the rarities that Rosa wanted. And even those had to be different, the coveted shiny Pokemon of unique and sparkling colorations. Her reputation as a Collector was at stake with every choice she made about her team. However, this new one… the breeder wanted Verda in exchange.

-Rosa was beautiful; no one could compare. The studios all begged for her to star in their shows, the camera men constantly followed her around for a rare candid photo, and she had fans by the thousands. She didn’t have to work for anything; she had the money to get whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it. And her servants didn’t let her do anything that might harm or dirty her. And yet, to think of what price she had paid for this glamour and luxury… poor Verda.

Rosa smelled hot apple cider. Verda bumped her cheek, helping to snap her out of the trance. Somehow, she had collapsed into the snow. “Sorry girl,” she said, patting her Bayleef before sitting up. “I’m not sure what happened.”

After she got up, she made sure snow hadn’t gotten into her protective clothing. Her red cloak had some snow stuck to it, but a good shake got that off before they soaked the thick fabric. She also saw that the Stantler was still with them. He was standing now, apparently well enough to have moved a couple of feet. From his poise, she could tell that he wasn’t sure if he should run or fight them.

“It’s okay, Stantler,” she told him. “I don’t even have an extra Pokeball on me. It’s just me and Verda, as always. Whatever I saw, I don’t want any of that. You go on back to your family. That’s where we’re going.”

“So that Stantler isn’t yours?” a man asked.

Rosa turned and saw a stranger come out of the trees. He was tall and fairly well-built, an obvious outdoorsman. In hand, he carried a sturdy compound bow, with a single arrow. The tanned hide of a Mightyena had been turned into his cloak; eerily enough, it still had pointed ears, a tail, claws, and all its fur. On top of that, he wore a quiver for his arrows. A Houndoom stood by his side, smoke curling out of the canine’s nostrils.

“He’s not mine,” Rosa said. Then she noticed that his arrows were all like the ones that had been stuck in the Stantler’s side, with Fearow feathers attached. “Why do you ask?” she added

“I’ve been hunting this one down,” the man stated flatly. “It’s a rare shiny, which will make a valuable trophy.”

“You should leave him alone,” Rosa said, angry at the hunter. “You’ve already caused him enough suffering, so just leave him be.”

“I won’t let something like this slip my grasp,” he said, then brought his bow and arrow up.

The green Stantler made a nervous whinny, then tried to run into the trees. However, it was greatly weakened and couldn’t run as fast as it usually could. Rosa wasn’t sure what came over her, but she felt frantic that her efforts to heal the Pokemon would go wasted. “I said don’t!” she shouted, jumping in front of the hunter’s arrow.

Thankfully, he stopped, hesitant to shoot a human. But his Houndoom saw her action as a threat to his master, so the black canine leapt at her and bit her arm. Rosa screamed, while Verda tried to help by tackling the Houndoom. But he wouldn’t let go.

That is, until his master ordered him. “Houndoom, no!” He gave a reluctant look to the woods, then ran off with his Pokemon.

A burning sensation ran up Rosa’s arm, causing her to drop her basket. Verda came over and whimpered in sympathy, sniffing her wound. Picking her basket back up, the girl grimaced, trying to ignore it. “W-we’d better get to Ecruteak. There’s a doctor there.”

After going a short ways, they heard a snort. The green Stantler had come back, for some reason. He came up beside Rosa and tapped her with his antlers. Then he knelt down a bit.

“Are you sure?” When he didn’t move, Rosa carefully got on his back. She left the basket down so she could keep a grip with her uninjured arm. Verda shook her head leaf, then shot a Magical Leaf through the snow to clear a path. Then she picked up the basket and led the way to Ecruteak.

An hour later, Rosa’s arm was all bandaged up and numb as she lay in the hospital bed. The wild Stantler had collapsed upon reaching the hospital with her, so one of the nurses had his Pokemon help bring him to the Pokecenter. And Verda returned, bringing with their grandmothers. “Well I’m glad that you’re okay now,” Rosa’s grandmother told her after hearing the story. “You were lucky to have found a kind Pokemon to help out.”

“I just wanted to see you for Christmas, like always,” Rosa said, clasping her wrinkled hand.

When Rosa left for Violet City a week later, she went with Verda the Bayleef and Francis the green Stantler.

((As a side note, St. Francis is the patron saint of animals.))

...

Stantler Fire Red entry: Those who stare at its antlers will gradually lose control of their senses and be unable to stand.

Leaf Green entry: Its curved antlers subtly change the flow of air to create a strange space where reality is distorted.

Bayleef DPPt entry: The buds that ring its neck give off a spicy aroma that perks people up.

[shac]

Awwwww.......so sweet. Perfect Christmas entry. Love Verda the Bayleef. And I had a shiny stantler in gold. This is bringing back memories....

[Ysavvryl]

Shiny Stantler is soooo green. You could put a big red ribbon on it and it's perfectly Christmas colored!

Year end review and stats coming up tomorrow, including the great big list of all the Pokemon I've covered so far. Now if I knew how to link to posts, I could make an index in the first post (and I should, given the 200+ entries...).

In Process: Ledian/???
On Deck: Lickitung/Lickiliky, Unown, Mawile, Kricketot/Budew


WINGULL AND PELIPPER


The town of Slateport was busy again today. The marketplace especially, with flags fluttering in the wind, colorful tents open and welcoming, many interesting goods being bought and sold, and many humans milling about, doing business. Above them, a Pelipper flew north, away from the sea. She was a large bird, with a bill nearly as big as her body. Still, she flew gracefully with the setting sun sparkling off her white and blue feathers.

She went past the town and to a grassy route that wandered about over a crystal blue lake. Landing there with a few running steps, she checked around. There seemed to be no humans about. With that assured, she crouched down and opened her bill. A small yellow and blue Pokemon hopped out.

“Gee, thanks Gracie,” the Minun said with a smile. “That was a fun adventure.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” she replied cheerfully. “And thanks for not sparking while I was carrying you.”

“Of course I wouldn’t do that! I couldn’t be that insensitive. Here’s a berry for you.” He gave her an Aspear berry, then hopped off into the lush grass. “Bye!”

“Goodbye!” She ate the berry; it would do until she could catch a fish later. Then she took off and flew over Slateport again. The wind was so good today, steady, warm, and salty. Gracie could just fly around enjoying the lovely weather, but she felt that she should check back home first.

This time, she went east, to a rockier part of the coastline. There was a cliff there. Relatively small one, but it suited her kind. She went by her nest. Immediately, she noticed the smell of old dead fish. Grimacing, she wheeled away and landed in the water by some rocks. It wouldn’t be relaxing to rest at her home with that stench.

Gracie looked at the Wingulls circling overhead in the orange sunset sky. Their kind’s younger forms flew differently, relying on the winds to stay aloft. As she could now fly wherever she wanted, she was quite glad. “Jimmy, Winnie, Bobby! I’m back!”

Her three children broke away from the group and landed on the rocks by her. They had smaller bodies than her, along with smaller bills and longer legs. So they liked resting on top of rocks rather than on the waves. “Hi Mom,” the eldest Jimmy said. “What’d you do today?”

“I took a Minun out to an island because he wanted to see what it was like out there. We had a fun time.”

“Islands aren’t much different than the mainland,” Winnie said.

“To land Pokemon, they are,” she pointed out. “What did you three do today?”

“I caught lots and lots of fish this morning!” Bobby said, excitedly spreading his wings (to the annoyance of his brother and sister).

So that was it. She narrowed her eyes at him. “And you left one at home to stink up our nest, didn’t you?”

“I, um,” he ducked his head down in embarrassment. “I was full, but I had this really nice fat one, so I wanted to save it for later…”

“Well now it’s rotted, stinky, and horrid tasting. Go dig it out and take it somewhere else.” The mere taste of having to carry the rotted fish away would hopefully teach him not to do that again.

“But Mom…”

“Go do it now.”

“Awww,” he said reluctantly. He flew back to the nest to retrieve his hidden fish.

Gracie shook her head. It was a habit of all young Wingulls to try and store extra fish they had caught, to show that they were so good at hunting that they caught too much. But unless the fish was put alive in a cold or wet place, it would die and rot. Even if it was retrieved before it stank, it wouldn’t be as good as fresh caught. Thus, it was a habit that had to be broke early.

She looked at her other two kids. “So what did you two do today?”

“I challenged Tentacools to battle so I can grow stronger,” Jimmy said. “And I hung out with Pelly too. She really likes me.” He beamed at the thought.

“That’s wonderful,” Gracie said. “You two get along so well. What about you, Winnie?”

“I found lots of treasures today,” she said, puffing her chest feathers up. “I found three pretty pearls and buried them all in the sand.” She then flicked her tail, showing some annoyance. “I also saw that jerk Kelly bury a bigger pearl nearby. She probably stole it from somebody and wanted to show off how much better she is than everybody else in the flock. But then I fixed that.”

“What did you do?” Gracie asked, in a tense voice of warning.

“I unburied her pearl and reburied it three feet away,” Winnie stated. “But I didn’t tell nobody until just now.”

“I suppose that’s all right,” the Peliper mother decided. Pokemon often forgot where they hid such things anyways. She occasionally wondered how many little treasures were hidden in the sandy beaches, the grassy lands, or the rocky hills.

“I also found some pretty round things,” the Wingull girl added. “I buried those… actually, I’m not sure where. I think in some grass.”

Forgotten just like that, every day. “They might have been coins,” Jimmy suggested. “Or buttons. Or bolts.”

“I woulda known if they were bolts, silly.”

“Hey Mom!” Bobby called, flying over with a discolored fish hanging out his bill. “Where should I put this?”

“Oh gross!” Winnie said, covering her nostrils with her wings. “Don’t bring your rotten stinky fish over by us!”

“Just go dump it somewhere away from here,” Gracie said with a grimace. “And you’re still in trouble for this.”

Bobby sighed, then flew off to find somewhere to drop his dead fish.

“There was something else neat that happened today,” Jimmy said, changing the subject. “There were these humans along the coast wearing blue clothes. They called themselves Team Aqua, and they were saying that they were gonna make the oceans bigger! They’ve been catching Pokemon to help them too, and I thought about going with them. It sounds pretty neat.”

“Humans are going to make the ocean bigger?” Gracie asked. “I didn’t know they could do that.”

“I didn’t either, but I might be gone with them tomorrow. Maybe if I can talk Pelly into coming with me.”

“But if they make the ocean bigger,” Winnie interrupted, “what’s gonna happen to our nest? And what’ll happen to the land Pokemon?”

“They can swim,” Jimmy said.

“Not forever,” Gracie said. “But maybe if there were patches of land left for them, it might be okay. There would be more fish, after all. Go if you like. I hope you get a nice Trainer.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I know what I want to do!” Winnie said, fluttering in excitement. “I wanna fly off to Sinnoh and find a Coordinator.”

“You can find Coordinators here in Hoenn, silly,” Jimmy said.

She wasn’t going to have anything to do with that, judging from the look in her eyes. “But the ones in Sinnoh don’t just groom their Pokemon and teach them to act. They actually let you dress up in pretty things! Like scarves and rings and collars and feathers and flowers and…”

“That’s interesting,” Gracie said. “But Sinnoh is a long ways off.”

“Yes, but it would be so magnificent,” she said dreamily. “I could be a star if I could get there.”

Bobby came flying back. “Okay, I got rid of it,” he said.

“EWWW, but now you stink like rotted fish!” Winnie declared. “Ew, ew, ew! You make my stomach feel queasy.”

“So you’re sleeping elsewhere for the night,” Gracie stated. “And I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Be careful where you hide your fish, get back to it quickly, and never ever hide it near our nest.”

“Awwww,” Bobby said, trying to get some sympathetic lenience. But it wouldn’t work when he was stinky.

...

Ruby entry: Wingull has the habit of carrying prey and valuables in its beak and hiding them in all sorts of locations. This Pokemon rides the winds and flies as if it were skating across the sky.

Pelipper Pearl entry: It acts as a delivery service by carrying small Pokemon in its bill. It bobs on the waves to rest.

[Ysavvryl]

YEAR END REVIEW (or, when I post big lists and lots of numbers)

TOTAL

228/493 46%

BY GENERATION:

R/B/G/Y: 72/151 48%
G/S/C: 54/100 54%
R/S/E: 57/135 42%
D/P/P: 45/107 44%

BY TYPE:

Flying: 35/64 55%
Water: 35/91 38%
Normal: 34/79 43%
Grass: 28/55 51%
Bug: 23/45 51%
Poison: 22/51 43%
Ground: 19/48 40%
Psychic: 18/53 34%
Electric: 16/28 57%
Fire: 16/33 48%
Ghost: 13/18 72%
Rock: 13/37 35%
Fight: 12/25 48%
Dark: 12/23 52%
Ice: 12/22 55%
Dragon: 10/19 53%
Steel: 10/26 38%

BY SPECIAL TYPE

Starter: 19/36- 53%
Blastoise, Charmeleon, Quilava, Torterra, Chikorita, Feraligator, Torchic, Turtwig, Mudkip, Totodile, Croconaw, Squirtle, Grotle, Treecko, Meganium, Typhlosion, Cyndaquil, Charizard, Bayleef

Legend: 10/34 – 29%
Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Shaymin, Manaphy, Giratina, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Celebi

???/Shadow: 1
Mankey

Shiny: 4
Magikarp, Fearow, Gyarados, Stantler

Fossil: 2/13 15%
Aerodactyl, Cradily

Guests: 15
JammyU, Kutie Pie, darkdragontamer (2), #Chimecho# (2), elrade, shiningsloth13
Regigigas, Staryu, Starmie, Bannette, Sandshrew, Ponyta, Barboach, Swellow, Absol, Kadabra, Lucario, Arceus, Darkrai, Bastiodon, Anorith (not counted in other totals)

HUMANS (this category may be off; I don’t track them as closely)

In-game Trainers
Bug Catcher, Channeler, Lass, Battle Girl, Fisherman, Ninja Boy, Campers, Hiker, Teacher

In-game Characters
Bruno, Steven, Giovanni, Silver, Professor Elm (2), Brawly, Lt. Surge, Gary Oak, Koga, Janine, Professor Rowan, Lucas, Aaron

Other Characters
Ashton (Star Ocean 2), Mindy (Animaniacs), Tom and Huck (M. Twain), Sinbad (Arabian Nights), Rosa (Little Red Riding Hood)


THE STARS

Magikarp, Skitty, Torkoal, Shuppet, Hoppip, Skiploom, Umbreon, Spiritomb, Gible, Shuckle, Clamperl, Spoink, Phanpy, Donphan, Snorlax, Ditto, Snorunt, Shedinja, Zangoose, Gardevoir, Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Seviper, Miltank, Tauros, Rhyperior, Pidgeot, Aron, Sableye, Metagross, Blastoise, Ariados, Heracross, Dugtrio, Sunkern, Sunflora, Exeggcute, Exeggutor, Raichu, Charmeleon, Whismur, Cubone, Marowak, Kingler, Riolu, Lucario, Quilava, Paras, Torterra, Starly, Nidoran M, Nidoran F, Persian, Rotom, Stunky, Smeargle, Mankey, Primeape, Murkrow, Honchkrow, Drapion, Abomasnow, Lapras, Chikorita, Feraligator, Flaaffy, Togepi, Sudowoodo, Farfetch’d, Bagon, Natu, Cherubi, Croagunk, Shelgon, Salamence, Froslass, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Meditite, Medicham, Blissey, Leafeon, Drifloon, Shiftry, Ludicolo, Torchic, Igglybuff, Wailord, Turtwig, Staraptor, Kangaskan, Garchomp, Dragonite, Zubat, Golbat, Crobat, Gallade, Gengar, Aipom, Piloswine, Luvdisc, Mudkip, Diglett, Dunsparce, Qwilfish, Beedrill, Porygon, Porygon2, Porygon-Z, Scyther, Scizor, Hitmonchan, Baltoy, Tropius, Totodile, Croconaw, Shaymin, Glalie, Bellossom, Squirtle, Buizel, Electrike, Manectric, Gastrodon, Milotic, Dusknoir, Meowth, Voltorb, Pupitar, Grotle, Taillow, Swellow, Phione, Manaphy, Magby, Smoochum, Elekid, Lairon, Aggron, Treecko, Politoed, Muk, Cherrim, Hitmonlee, Nidoqueen, Bonsley, Munchlax, Combee, Electivire, Electrode, Pikachu, Tentacool, Feebas, Fearow, Mareep, Kadabra, Dragonair, Nincada, Metapod, Kakuna, Silcoon, Cascoon, Gastly, Haunter, Steelix, Arbok, Weezing, Tangela, Tangrowth, Togekiss, Growlithe, Arcanine, Gyarados, Burmy, Wormadam, Mothim, Clefairy, Wurmple, Beautifly, Dustox, Delibird, Magneton, Magnezone, Probopass, Giratina, Sneasel, Vulpix, Houndour, Flygon, Machoke, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Kricketot, Kricketune, Lunatone, Solrock, Horsea, Kingdra, Meganium, Typhlosion, Alakazam, Kirlia, Yanma, Cyndaquil, Ralts, Gorebyss, Celebi, Wigglytuff, Duskull, Houndoom, Charizard, Swablu, Aerodactyl, Cloyster, Crawdaunt, Seaking, Remoraid, Cradily, Walrein, Stantler, Bayleef, Wingull, Pelipper.


NOTES

I went and handcounted the Type totals, so there's a fair chance that a few of the larger ones might be off. I didn't count Arceus in any type, though, and ones like Shaymin only counted once (as in, once for Grass and once for Flying). But it's neat to see that I'm closest to have the Ghost type completed. Ya know, even though that's one of the smaller Pokemon pools.

But then, see how Flying and Water over took Normal and tied for first place in representation? Yeah, Flying is half complete while Water is only around a third complete! Fire finally made a large jump and passed five other types, while Psychic pulled ahead of Fighting (they were neck and neck for the longest time). Steel is still lingering in last place, but at least it ties with Dragon now.

I'm actually kind of behind on the legendaries and the fossils. And of the fossils, those two only showed up this month!

But, as I said, I'm reserving two legendaries for the 246-7 slot, which is the fifty percent mark. Don't tell anybody, but they're from Kanto.

So that's the year end review. I thank you all for being readers, requesters, and fun reviewers. I also highly thank those who've written guest entries.

What's up for next year... hmm... we'll see.

[Deadly.Braviary]

Pelipper is spelled with only one 'L'. Any ways, good going and happy New Year, Ysavvryl!

[shac]

Nice Pelipper entry. Liked the mention of TA.

Whoa! You wrote a lot of stories..............!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I thought you have completed all the starters, but it's only 19/36.

You have done 4 shinies. You wrote 3. A typo, or did you count magikarp and gyra as one since it was the same mon?

Happy New Year!

[Ysavvryl]

The shiny count was a typo. I'll fix that. And Pelipper. Hehe, silly typos.

So, the request here was for Ledian and something. I'm not gonna tell you what that something is. Make a guess! I don't think it's too hard, though. And if you like this entry, check out its inspiration, Power by LampShade.

In Process: Lickitung/Lickiliky
On Deck: Unown, Mawile, Kricketot/Budew
Reserve: ???/??? (#246-7)


LEDIAN AND ???


“He’s not going to live.”

The horrifying proclamation made Cedric’s head spin. Wasn’t going to live? That couldn’t be real. There was no way it was real. But the doctor wasn’t lying and there wasn’t anything but his own denial that made it an untruth. On the countertop, his Ledian was still, breathing rather noisily. His eyes were cloudy; he was old for his kind. Still, this shouldn’t be the end.

The doctor spoke of it as a matter of fact. “The illness has spread to many of his internal organs, including the lungs. If you leave him with us, we can order a replacement immediately and have it ready by tomorrow.”

“But it won’t be him,” Cedric said, looking down and holding his Ledian’s hand.

“It will be him, an exact genetic copy,” the doctor corrected. “Or you could choose another kind of Pokemon if you don’t want a Ledian again. You don’t have another companion Pokemon, right? So you can ask for nearly any Pokemon and it should be accepted. What do you have in mind?”

It still wouldn’t be his Ledian, Cedric thought. And he didn’t want any other Pokemon. “I’ll think about it,” he said quietly, then picked up the Bug. “I’ll take care of Red.”

“All right. Make sure to put in your request before the weekend, or you’ll have to wait a few days longer.”

“Right,” Cedric mumbled, and left the Pokecenter.

If he was anyone else, Cedric knew, he would have left Red with the doctor and taken a different Pokemon instead. Sickness was a sign of weakness, and weakness was undesirable. But from his grandmother, he knew stories of before the city, stories from centuries ago. Those stories told of green landscapes with clear skies; the stories told of countless free and happy Pokemon. In this city of concrete and steel, the Pokemon were produced and never seen without a human owner.

Some of the other pedestrians gave him disapproving looks or walked out of their way to avoid him. He could have sent Red back into his Pokeball. But he didn’t want his Ledian to be alone. Cedric would get back to his grandmother’s house and put Red in a soft bed and stay with him. After that… he didn’t know.

But as he approached the house, things turned out bad. There was a group of enforcers blocking off the yard. Various people stood watching, wondering what was happening. As Cedric got to the crowd, a lead enforcer came out of the house. The only way one could tell he was a lead was because his uniform had yellow fringes. Otherwise, the enforcers all looked alike: black shoes, black pants, black jacket (with personal armor), black sunglasses, and black caps.

The lead enforcer held his hand up to quiet the crowd. “Citizens, we have a grave announcement. The resident or residents of this house have been put under arrest for spreading misinformation and corrupting the youth. He, she, or they have been telling stories of a time and place other than the city. The city always has been and always will be. Such lies will not be tolerated. We have the situation under control. Please return to your regular lives.” Then he moved back in, talking in a low voice to other enforcers.

“I didn’t know there was a corrupter in our neighborhood,” a woman said, horrified.

“I’m glad I didn’t know them,” a man said, even though he had often come over to chat with Cedric’s grandfather about vehicles.

“Huu nah?” Red mumbled softly into Cedric’s ear. He sounded confused and saddened.

He patted the Ledian gently and turned around. “We can’t fight the enforcers,” he said quietly. “But I know what we can do. We’re going to find the green lands.”

The green lands were something his grandparents had often talked about. According to the officials, the city was the only habitable place on Earth. There was nothing beyond its borders. However, his family and others believed that there were green lands, places of paradise that were being kept away from everyone. It was said that millions of Pokemon still lived free in the green lands. Cedric had always wanted to see them. Now with his grandparents under arrest, shortly to never be seen again… there was no reason for him to stick around.

After a quick stop at his home to pack a few things, Cedric took Red and set out to leave the city.

-+-

Two lead enforcers walked along a suspended metal walkway. There was open air for hundreds of feet below them. “There is one of the corruptors that we haven’t tracked down yet. Trackers indicate that he is heading west.”

“They were sentenced to execution, right?”

“Right.”

The other lead enforcer nodded, then stopped by a red glass box. She put her hand on the glass and looked into a retina scanner, double confirming her identity. With the box unlocked, she opened it up and took a transmitter. “Hunter J, activate,” she stated into the transmitter.

On a tower near the suspended walkway, a series of small orange lights appeared. There was a creak of metal being set into motion. A low grumble came from the tower.

The male enforcer handed his peer a digital clipboard, displaying data on the target. “You are to seek out and eliminate Citizen C57-825-223. He is heading towards the old city, so encounter him as soon as possible.”

After a hiss of steam, Hunter J set off.

-+-

Cedric lived in the center of the city. The elite members of society lived in the east of the city, while the poor lived in the west. As he traveled on the subway, the stations grew progressively more dilapidated and dirty as the train went west. However, there would be fewer enforcers in the west.

At the last station, he got off and went up. The houses and buildings out here were so dilapidated and drafty that no one should be living or working in them. But they were being used. Cedric didn’t intend on staying here, though. The smell of industrial smoke was strongest here, and his Ledian coughed every few minutes from it.

But there came a point where everything was so bad that no one lived there anymore. Collapsed ruins were everywhere. The concrete streets were crackled badly, in some places nothing but rubble. “I hadn’t expected things to be this bad,” Cedric said to Red. “I’ve noticed they steadily move the city east, but they’re always so clean. I thought they would clean up everywhere.”

Red warbled, flicking his feeler along Cedric’s neck. He lifted his head a little and looked around. With a twitch of his wings, the young man caught sight of the single pair of black stars on the Ledian’s shell.

“Hang in there,” Cedric said. “Maybe we’ll both find the green lands.”

Behind them, there came a terrible scratchy roar. When he turned back, there was a great steel monstrosity crashing through the ruined streets after him. It had the appearance of an impossibly enormous centipede turned into a tank. The enforcers already knew that he had run away, so they had sent a Hunter after him.

Cedric ran, even though a part of his mind said it was impossible to escape a Hunter once it found you. It began firing at him with at least a dozen guns. Some people said that they were robots that had once been built for war. Others said that they powered by Pokemon stronger than any other. The government would not release information on the Hunters, other than that they were used only for the worst of fugitives.

But how could he be one of the worst fugitives? It didn’t make sense. The stories his grandparents told couldn’t be that dangerous. And not letting them take away his Ledian wasn’t that bad either.

Red cried out in fright and worry, finishing up in a raspy gasp. A silver glow formed around his fists. “Red, you’re not strong enough to fight,” Cedric said. But then the Ledian released Silver Wind anyhow.

There was a pained screech from the Hunter, right before it crashed onto the road. Cedric managed to trip himself up in the torn up road. Trying to protect Red, he turned to the side and hit the street rather hard. He sat up and looked over his Pokemon. “Are you all right?”

“Hooo,” Red said softly, trembling in his arms.

This wasn’t good for the Pokemon while he was sick. Cedric got up, looking warily at the Hunter. From the showers of sparks flying off the machine, the attack apparently had damaged some critical power lines. Were they really going to get away from the Hunter?

Then there was a groan of metal. The Hunter lifted itself back up again. However, it did not roar, nor did it start firing again. It looked at him, doing nothing. Cedric started to back up, but nearly slipped on loose rubble. Should he just keep running? That seemed best. And yet, he felt something holding him in place, a power that he couldn’t see.

As he couldn’t react, the Hunter came up to him, picked him up with its claw arms, then placed him in a caged seat that was partly sunk into its armor. It then put a locked bar over his lap. With him secured, the Hunter went west.

Cedric was mystified. If it had been sent to retrieve him, why was it continuing out of the city? But so long as it was doing that, he checked on Red. The Ledian seemed oddly relaxed. Maybe he didn’t even realize what was going on. His ragged breaths got softer and then stopped altogether.

That attack had probably spent up the last energy that Red had. And it had only held off the Hunter for a moment, being unsuccessful in keeping Cedric free. He had been with Cedric too long to do nothing, though.

When Cedric had turned ten, he had been assigned a Ledyba as his first Pokemon companion. The government officials were always good about matching people with Pokemon that would suit them and made sure that everybody had at least one. Still, Cedric adored Red and always had him out by his side. They had battled enough for Red to evolve into a Ledian, but past that, they were simply the best of friends, as close as family.

He remembered how Red liked to watch the night sky, as brown and ugly as it was. He would warble happily under the full moon and was ecstatic any time a strong star pushed its light into being seen. During the day, he liked to help in the greenhouse that Cedric worked in, trimming trees and smelling flowers. The Ledian had all friends, no enemies. So why did he have to be taken away after such a short life?

Cedric held the body close and cried.

-+-

At the Office of Domestic Security, one of the officials spoke with a high ranking enforcer. “Why are the remote planes being deployed?”

“Sir, we’ve lost control over Hunter J,” the enforcer said. “It was sent to terminate a corrupting citizen and its mental monitors were damaged.”

“How many Pokemon does the fugitive have?”

“Just one, sir. A terminally ill one at that.”

“Then how did we lose control over Hunter J?”

The enforcer lowered his head. “We don’t know, sir. But the pilots of the remotes are well trained and Hunter J is damaged. We will retrieve it before it gets too far away.”

“You’d better. We haven’t had one of them escape in over four centuries.”

-+-

The strange Hunter had struggled to get past some of the older ruins, where rubble had been spread and was prone to slipping under its great weight. But when Cedric had the presence of mind to look around, he saw trees growing among the ruins. Trees… he had only seen them in pictures and his imagination. “Did we reach the green lands?” he asked. It didn’t seem that great of an accomplishment, though. Not with Red gone before the loyal Bug could see the trees.

Then there was a buzzing overhead. Cedric looked back to see eight remote planes flying their way. According to official records, they had been left over from past wars as well and were not supposed to be in use. But this Hunter was still going west. Maybe Red’s Silver Wind attack had made it malfunction and they had been sent to eliminate both him and the Hunter.

From below him, the Hunter made a hiss of steam. It paused in its travels. Then with a series of clanks, the robot released ten body segments that were behind where Cedric was sitting. Before he could decide why it would do that, the last body segment lifted into the air. Then, as if an invisible giant had a hold of it, the hunk of metal was lobbed into the sky. It hit one of the remote planes and knocked it out of the sky.

And then the Hunter proceeded to throw the rest of its body segments at the remote planes. It hit most of its targets, but the last three seemed to wise up to the plan. They began turning erratically, making them harder to hit. Despite that, the Hunter managed to knock down two more. The third finally got in range and began shooting.

Cedric felt an impulse, almost an instruction, to jump off the Hunter, but wait by the head segment for a moment. The lap bar released, along with that segment’s connection to the head. After sending Red’s body into the Pokeball for safe keeping, he got off of the Hunter’s back. His mind wanted him to run away right then and there, but that impulse to stay for a moment remained. So he waited, hoping that he wouldn’t get hit by the remote plane.

As the one body segment got chucked at the remote plane, the head segment changed. The left part of its face, including the eye, split up and shifted up or down. Within the depths of the ancient machine, there lay a strange Pokemon. It seemed like an infant lying in there, clothed in a white gown with two wide yellow trails hanging off it. However, it also had an oversized yellow hat with three floppy peaks. Several strips of blue paper hung off the tips of the hat. But it was a Pokemon, so that ‘hat’ was part of its body. Its eyes were closed, but its chest was moving.

Cedric pulled the Pokemon out of the Hunter machine. After he took a few steps back, the Pokemon’s tails and hat fluttered under a strange power. The head segment then lifted off the ground and was thrown at the final remote plane. This found its mark and their last pursuer was destroyed.

Although it was quiet now, Cedric wasn’t sure what to do. His Pokemon was dead and the one he was holding didn’t seem responsive. However, close examination showed that it was merely asleep. But then how had it been able to drive the Hunter machine? And throw it piece by piece without any physical contact? Even the best of Psychic Pokemon that he had seen wouldn’t have been able to manage that feat even when awake.

Then he had that impulse feeling again. Don’t worry about it. Just follow the path now.

Cedric wondered what path to follow, but then the Pokemon’s tail fluttered again. When he looked in the direction they flowed, he saw a dirt path heading further into the trees. As he didn’t want to be caught by any more forces the enforcers would throw at them, Cedric went to the path and followed it.

There were wild Pokemon in the woods. He saw them occasionally, coming to investigate this human stranger in their home. But they didn’t bother him. Maybe it was the Pokemon he was holding onto. He wasn’t sure what this one was called. As he followed the path, it grew dark.

Several hours after he first set on the path, he emerged from the woods and found a grassy field. Immediately, he noticed a Ledian fly by. She came up to him and cooed curiously, calling over another one like her. While Red only had two stars on his shell, these wild ones had a dozen or more. And it wasn’t just two. When Cedric looked over the field, he saw hundreds, no, thousands… more that he could estimate. They weren’t the only Pokemon awake on this night, but they were the ones who captured his attention.

And then when he looked into the sky, he saw an amazing sight. The night sky was not brown and muddy like it had been in the city. It was black and velvety, sprinkled liberally with so many stars. Bright and bold ones that sometimes peeked at the city were alongside tiny and shy ones that he could never have seen before. But with a sense of awe, Cedric was filled with a deep sadness. “Red would have wanted to see this,” he said softly.

There was a bubble of laughter at his ear. When he turned his head, Cedric found himself looking into eyes as pure as the black sky above. The colorful little Pokemon floated away from him, smiling and clasping its hands together. Brilliant sparkles like the stars in the sky swirled around it, then dove into the Pokeball on Cedric’s belt. Following that, there was a pink flash as the ball released its resident.

Red was there, flying alongside his wild peers. His black eyes were unclouded and sparkling. His breath came easily and he was able to smile. “Ko dah!” he squealed, then hugged Cedric.

“Red!” Cedric clasped him to his chest again and was thrilled to feel a lively response. “It’s a miracle… I’m so glad to have you back.” He then looked back up to the odd little Pokemon, who was still smiling at him. “You must have done this somehow. Thank you.”

It closed its eyes and giggled merrily. But soon, its mood turned somber. It looked east to where the city lay, as if considering something of great difficulty and grave importance. Perhaps even its power to grant miracles was small compared to the might of the city.

Something still had to be done.

...

R/S entry: It is said that in lands with clean air, where the stars fill the sky, there live Ledian in countless numbers. There is a good reason for this – the Pokemon uses the light of the stars as its energy.

Ruby entry: A legend states that Jirachi will make true any wish that is written on the notes attached to its head when it awakens. If this Pokemon senses danger, it will fight without awakening.

[Ysavvryl]

It's quiet. I've been busy.

Lickitung is one of those Pokemon that I forget about. Given that I can usually remember a large number of them (partly due to this thread), yeah, I just don't notice it. It comes up whenever I play the Kanto games because of that one trade you have to make just to get it. Because of that, I gave Lickitung and Lickilicky a fan club.

I'm thinking of something for Valentine's Day in February. Any suggestions?

In Process: Unown
On Deck: Mawile, Kricketot/Budew
Reserve: ???/??? (#246-7)


LICKITUNG AND LICKILICKY


In a kids’ clubhouse made of old wooden planks, Lucy the Lickitung observed a yellow apple on the old card table. It was sitting near the edge, near a boy sitting in a metal folding chair. The fruit had little tan streaks; not a bad sign, just the kind of apple it was. Lucy was on a bench by the wall, five feet from the apple. But that was close enough. When the boy wasn’t paying attention, she twitched her tail and flicked out her long pink tongue. She snatched the apple and was soon munching on it.

The boy turned in time to see his snack gone. “Hey! Lucy! That was my apple.”

She spat out the seed core. “<And it was a good one too,>” she commented with a goofy grin. He tongue hung out about two feet, which always gave her a goofy look.

“You should know better than to leave apples in their reach,” another boy at the table said. There were five boys total, and two girls. With them were three other Lickitungs as well as a Lickilicky. The oldest Pokemon was busily grooming himself on an old stuffed chair a little away from the rest.

“But that’s one of the things that makes them so cool,” the leader of the group said. He put a notebook on the table. “Anyhow, I’ve got a great idea for the Chairman’s contest! It’ll make our Lickitung Supreme Fan Club the obvious winner. Wanna hear it?”

The group of kids leaned forward, eager to hear about it. The International Pokemon Fan Club had a yearly contest for more specific clubs to showcase their favorite Pokemon. If a smaller club won, they got a ten thousand dollar prize and a trip, this year a weekend cruise on the SS Anne. Plus all the articles written in big magazines and lots of respect from everybody. It was an open-ended contest, though, just to produce something that made the Pokemon great. On considering entering, many small clubs were overwhelmed by the possibility. As far as they knew, no club dedicated to Lickitung and Lickilicky had yet won. It put more pressure on them to do something great enough to win.

And the club leader had something in mind finally. “We’re going to make a movie starring our Pokemon, only using them! It’ll be a western, cause we can use the old farm and the desert for the landscape. And we’ve got enough of them to make a good movie.”

“That would be cool,” one of the boys said.

“<I wanna be a movie star!>” Lucy piped up, jumping to stand on the bench.

“<Me too!>” one of her friends, Pink, added.

“<Sounds intriguing,>” the Lickilicky Mitch said, pausing in his grooming. He then licked his paw and started scrubbing his left ear.

“Who’s gonna write the script?” one of the girls asked.

“We all will,” the club leader said. “So we’ve got Mitch, Slobber, Drulz, Pink, and Lucy. Mitch can be the Sheriff.”

“Why does your Pokemon get to be the Sheriff?” another boy asked. “Drulz can be a Sheriff.” Not surprisingly, this boy was the Trainer of Drulz.

“Cause Mitch is the only Lickilicky we have,” the leader said. “But if you can get Drulz evolved in the next few weeks, we can have them be the Sheriff and the bad guy. If we only have one, the Lickilicky gets to be Sheriff, because the hero’s gotta be the strong one.”

“I guess.”

“<I will be strong, so I can be the Sheriff!>” Drulz promised, rolling his tongue up and flexing his arm muscles.

“<I don’t care one way or another,>” Mitch said.

“Can Lucy be the pretty woman?” Lucy’s Trainer asked. She was the girl wearing a cute flower-adorned hat. “Lots of westerns have a pretty woman, and I’m training her to compete in Contests, when I’m old enough.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” the leader said. “Cause she doesn’t mind costumes, while Pink won’t sit still long enough to be dressed. Pinky can be the Sheriff’s sidekick.”

Dropping down from hanging by her tongue on a ceiling beam, Pink put in her own comment, “<I can’t stand those weird bows, bleh.>” She then scampered around, looking for something new to pass the time with.

“<I love them,>” Lucy said, content with her role. “<They make me look pretty.>”

“<Does she tie them around your tongue?>” Slobber asked.

She made a face. “<I couldn’t stand that! No, she ties them around my neck or tail. And I’m not going to have a tongue piercing, before you ask.>”

Drulz picked up the end of his tongue and noted, “<I’ve thought about getting spikes pierced into my tongue. That would be a great weapon!>”

“<A tongue spike? Gross.>”

“<It would keep you from picking stuff up,>” Mitch pointed out. “<And if you’re gonna evolve soon, your’s won’t stick out as much all the time.>” He tapped his own tongue, which almost fit into his mouth. It made him look like he had a big lip instead of a big tongue. “<Then the spike would be in your mouth most of the time.>”

“<But it’s a tongue spike,>” Drulz insisted. “<It’d be really macho.>”

“Wait a minute,” one of the club members said, putting his hand on the table hard enough to shake the cereal snack mix in the large bowl. “Westerns always have a big gun fight, you know, the duel at high noon. But I don’t think anybody’s gonna let us use guns, even just for a movie.”

“We could use water guns,” another boy suggested. “Or Nerf guns.”

“That would look stupid.”

“We’ll just have a Pokemon battle instead of a gun duel,” the club leader said. “Which would make it especially cool if we had two Lickilicky stars. A double Rollout battle would be epic. And besides, both Mitch and Drulz know Fling, so we can kind of have a sort of duel.”

“Would be more like a gun duel if I could get my hands on a Shadow Ball TM,” the Trainer of Drulz grumbled. “Or Shockwave.”

“I like the Fling idea,” one of the boys said.

“I like the Rollout duel better,” Lucy’s Trainer said.

“So what’s Slobber gonna do?” Slobber’s Trainer asked.

“Slobber can be the weird gold-mining guy,” the club leader suggested. “He’s got the perfect personality for it.”

“<Does the weird gold-mining guy part have a scene where he shoots rubber bands with his tongue?>” Slobber asked. “<That’s my special talent.>”

“<I’m sure they’ll put something like that in, since you do that all the time,>” Lucy said. “<Just don’t wreck my costume.>”

“What’s the story going to be?” the other girl club member asked. “We can’t have the bad guy be a cattle rustler, as we can’t have Miltanks or Taurus to act as cattle. But we have to make an awesome bad guy, as well as an awesome Sheriff.”

“Well we’ve got a gold miner,” the club leader said, starting to write notes in his notebook. “So our setting is a Gold Rush town, which is probably wild and lawless. The people of the town, as shown by Lucy and Slobber, are being terrorized by the bad guy Drulz… or Mitch, whichever. They call in the hero Mitch, or Drulz, and his sidekick Pink.”

“Pink’s outta be known as Pink the Wild Child,” Pink’s Trainer suggested. “Cause that’s what I call her.”

“<And because Jungle Girl Pink doesn’t fit into a Western,>” she said, now standing on the bench beside Lucy.

“Right, the sidekick Pink the Wild Child. They come in to town to clean things up. We may have to make the three Lickitungs play multiple roles, so we have a big looking town and a bad guy gang. The new Sheriff and sidekick come in and put the law on the lawless town. The bad guy then kidnaps Lucy in an attempt to get even, but then the Sheriff comes in and challenges the bad guy to a duel. The Sheriff wins, and everybody’s happy.”

“Except the bad guy Lickilicky,” one of the boys pointed out. “He gets put in jail.”

“But the local priest comes in and talks him into having a change of heart,” the club leader said. “So he vows to never be a bad guy again. Then everybody has a happy ending.”

“Who’s going to play the priest? Slobber would be too silly.”

“And Pinky couldn’t act respectable.”

“Lucy can be the priest too,” the club leader said, jotting it in his notebook. “She’s the only one we could get in a priestly costume, anyhow.”

“But then who’s going to marry the Sheriff and the pretty woman, if Lucy is also the priest?” Lucy’s Trainer asked.

“We can use camera tricks for that,” the smartest club member suggested.

“And how is the bad guy going to be captured?” another boy asked. “They can’t use handcuffs.”

“<I’ve got something more useful than handcuffs,>” Mitch said. Then the Lickilicky snapped out his tongue, far faster than Lucy had when she was snatching the apple. Mitch gave the boy his answer by wrapping his enormous tongue around his body, to the point where he couldn’t move.

The club members laughed as the boy yelped. Mitch let him go readily, although even for that short capture, the boy’s clothes and hair were soaked. “Aw man, Mom’s gonna kill me for coming home covered in drool again.”

“Just tell her that’s a sign of how much you love your favorite Pokemon,” one of the girls said.

“Right,” the leader said. “So does everybody agree, that the Lickitung Supreme Fan Club is going to make a Western movie and win the Fan Club’s ultimate contest?”

“Yes!” every kid and Pokemon in the room agreed. And so it was decided to make the movie, The Fastest Tongue in the West.

...

Lickitung Platinum entry: When it extends its over-six-foot-long tongue, its tail quivers. There is a possibility they are connected.

Lickilicky D/P entry: It wraps things with its extendible tongue. Getting too close to it will leave you soaked in drool.

[IJuggler]

I love these stories

I would like to see Mawile(but of course, it's already in the planning) and Chinchou or Lanturn, if you haven't done either yet. If you have, I must've missed it O: I'll be spending a while catching up now!

[Paddypower]

I love all these one-shots, they're so cool and innovative =D.

Lickitung/Lickilicky one was awesome, I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see the actual Fastest Tongue in The West movie, but it was cool seeing them plan it.

[The_Shuppeteer_]

I liked the Ledian/Jirachi one. It made me cry.

Have you done a Mantyke one? Because if you haven't I'd like to request one. Or possibly Banette?

[Ysavvryl]

Hi new readers! I'll check on those requests, then add them if they're not in the list.

This entry is shorter than usual. But that's good, because it's a poem! I don't work with poetry very often, so I'm not too familiar with how to write traditional formal poems. It works out in this case, though.

In Process: Mawile
On Deck: Kricketot/Budew, Chinchou/Lanturn, Mantyke, Banette
Reserve: ???/??? (#246-7)


UNOWN


In my collection I had
Twenty six letters
And two punctuation marks
Neatly organized in Pokeballs
Controlled contained and tamed

But they never did much
With weak powers
With strange abilities
Lethargic and seemingly pointless
So I let them all go

Before I left the ruins
Leaving them behind
They did something strange
Six came up to me
And asked PARTY?

Party? Too strange to believe
I had abandoned them
But there was their question
Seeing no harm
I agreed to come

The freed letters seemed happy
Dashing this way and that
Squealing to the wild letters
A group came together
And spelled out BALLOONS!

To my surprise and shock
There appeared balloons!
Dozens of them
A rainbow of bright colors
All tied with curling ribbons

And this was not the end
As they decorated the dim ruins
There came PUNCH and COOKIES
STREAMERS and BUBBLE MACHINE
And even MUSIC

There came an argument
Over what kind of CAKE
Some wanted WHITE
Some wanted YELLOW
Others wanted DARK CHOCOLATE

Unable to decide
They came to me to know
Which cake to create
Not wanting to offend further
I suggested a layer of all three

The letters looked happy
And with some fuss and rearranging
Produced a grand three layer cake
With butter cream frosting
In a strange geometric pattern

They danced and laughed
Playing alphabetical games
Telling pun filled jokes
And producing many strange things
By changing places with each other

Like OBOE
ZITHER
TIFFANY LAMP
OTTOMAN
CURSIVE TYPEWRITER
IGLOO
GAZEBO
METRONOME
CORNUCOPIA
BUST OF PROFESSOR OAK
GOLDEN AXE
SEAWEED PIZZA
YARMULKE
QUIRKY HEIRLOOM TIGER RUG
And PINK FLAMINGO

They dissolved some items
And kept others around
Seeing the game I had to know
After I kept them for so long
Why had they never done this before?

They answered with ALONE
But then I had my Pokemon
The twenty six letters
And two punctuations marks
Out together on sunny days

They answered SEPARATE
And then ALONE
NO POWER
NO WORDS
NO MAGIC

Then I knew their secret
Letters of ink must be controlled
Given rules of grammar
Given strict attention
Letters of ink must be tamed

But they were letters as Pokemon
Letters of life must be free
Given company of peers
Given no orders nor rules
Letters of life must be poems

...

Unown Platinum entry: When alone, nothing happens. However, if there are two or more, an odd power is said to emerge.

[The_Shuppeteer_]

That was so sweet! Like a nursery rhyme! And I loved how they were making things like "BUST OF PROFESSOR OAK" and "PINK FLAMINGO". I laughed so hard!
Can't wait for the Mantyke and Banette ones.

[kuriboh361]

Wow! Just wow! I loved that poem which had that little lesson it in. Oh, and didn't we already do a Bannete one?