Pokedex One-Shots (PG)

[LadyMiir]

Spartan. Now there's a good name for a Mightyena. *makes a note of it* Nice work!

[Insane Penguin]

Could I request a Plusle/Minun story? They're a couple of my favorite pokemon.

[Ysavvryl]

^Okay! And it's been a little while. Kabutops was a really hard one to write for.

Oh, it's December, so I'm looking for reserves for the winter solstice and Christmas! Maybe even New Year's. Be sure to check the index in the first post to find out what has and hasn't been covered. I've gotten the two obvious ones of Stantler and Delibird already, after all...

Also, I had an idea for about the Black and White release. I'd like my readers here to suggest various fifth gen Pokemon as the first one covered. Whichever one gets the most nominations will be picked. But, I'll actually do two fifth gens then. I will take the other nominations and put them in a poll on my FF net account to see what the readers there want to see done. That will probably happen sometime in January. How's that work for you all?

In Process: Venusaur/Wartortle
On Deck: Latias/Teddiursa/Venonat, Plusle/Minun


Kabutops


The sunlight filtered through the warm ocean waters, causing the orange scales of the small fish to sparkle. There was a great school of them, swimming in unison to appear like a much larger fish. While it worked on most animals, there were also the Pokemon in the waters. They were much harder to fool and much harder to get away from.

Without warning, a blob of mud was hurled through the ocean water. The small orange fish all turned as one to avoid it. Then a sleek brown shape darted underneath them. It soon turned about, dashing right through the school and slashing through the water with deadly large scythes. Four of the small fish fell to the attack, while the others hurried to get away. But the Kabutops knew better than to pursue them and leave what he had gotten for others to steal. He pulled the four dead ones in and curled his spiny body up around them, so as deter any predators that might come after him.

After consuming all that he could, he left the empty husks behind and swam towards the beach. The sun was traveling in a low arc and the waters, while still warm, were cooling off. It was that time of year and the competition seemed like it would be rough this go around. Now that the sun was setting, he needed to go out there and prove his worth.

Times were still primitive and the Kabutops didn’t think of much beyond surviving to the next day. Sometimes if he came across a gathering of Kabuto that were having difficulty, he would fight the one harassing them. That was normal, just making sure that his kind overall survived as well. But this was the time to attract a mate and he would have to think to some degree for that. Sure, one could win over some females just on strength. But the better ones tended to be more demanding, looking for a male with some cunning as well.

At some point in the distant generations, it had been decided, more or less, that it was best to prove this by finding some unusual item and showing that off. His kind lived underwater constantly, though, so finding a suitable item could take months. Then, some renegade male had tried going out onto land to find something. It was incredibly risky, as it was harder to function on land, much less identify potential threats and fight them. Now in his generation, getting an item from land was nearly a requirement for finding a mate.

The Kabutops listened to the waters warily. Would one of his competitors be around going onto the beach tonight? There weren’t as many Kabutops as there were Kabuto, so he had managed to claim a good sized territory. But there were only so many places to go onto land from, and he would be going into a rival’s waters to reach the beach.

There were many kinds of fish about him, some steering clear of him to avoid being killed. Pokemon were fewer, but they were definitely out there. But a Kabutops like him, he didn’t sense his rival or any others. He kept up a quick pace, though, just in case.

As he got closer to the shore, the waters got shallower. Eventually, he was able to rest his legs on the sandy ocean bottom and raise his eyes above the salty water surface. The beach was only lit by a half moon, but he was used to seeing through the low light of the ocean. Nothing moved on the sands or in the skies. But he’d been surprised on such trips before, so he spent a few minutes watching and waiting.

It still seemed quiet, so he took a deep breath, taking as much water into his gills as he could manage. Then the Kabutops left the waters and went onto the beach. Without the water to support his body, it required scuttling low across the sands like he used to do before he evolved. It was undignified, but he didn’t really care. He had to find something that would work.

A strange almost sweet smell reached his nostrils. It seemed like some kind of food. Curious, he followed the scent to a bush that bore bright red and orange berries. They were strange and shriveled, like nothing he would find underwater. The Kabutops decided to sample one and stuck a mouth tendril onto the berry to taste it.

Immediately, a hot burning sensation hit his taste buds. No, this berry was way too spicy! The Kabutops sputtered, then decided to bolt back to the water and rinse his tendril out. Only, that didn’t work as he had hoped; it just spread the spicy burn further around. It was almost painful and he spent a lot of time rushing about, trying to find something to cool his tongue.

After catching another fish and eating it, the stinging sensation was soothed enough for him to calm down. Those spicy berries would not be suitable for a gift. He did have to find something, but that incident had worn him down more than he had planned for. Resting for a while, he observed the beach. Once he felt up to it, he inhaled more water and returned to his search.

But there wasn’t much. There were discarded shells, but those could be found underwater. There were small rocks, but nothing really seemed outstanding. Away from the beach sands, there were more berry bushes. But after the last incident, he didn’t want to try any more land foods.

In time, the water in his gills had gone stale and he had to return to the ocean to release it, then gather more. He gathered more for a third trip, but still found nothing. He did see his rival Kabutops scuttling across the beach while he had been investigating under the bushes. As they couldn’t sense as well up here, he stayed under the bushes and observed the rival. He had something that looked worthy, some kind of glossy blue stone. However, his shell seemed quite dry. Wherever he had gotten the stone from, it was some distance from the ocean.

He didn’t know if he’d want to risk following that path for another blue stone, if there were any more. But it wouldn’t look good to come up with something less worthy than his neighbor. This was the time for thought, though. Perhaps something could be done about this without risking staying out on land. He took something, then returned back to the ocean waters.

Not long after he returned, the rival Kabutops was headed right for him calling out a battle challenge for the invasion. He stopped in the water and pulled his scythes close to his chest in a submissive posture. He called back in apology, that he would be gone soon. However, the rival wouldn’t accept that excuse at this time. He appeared in the water slashing his scythes at nothing. It was a sign that he would rip the intruder apart. After staying submissive, he held out one of his scythe arms and released a peace offering. The spicy wrinkled orange berry.

This caused the rival pause, showing his pretty blue stone better. On considering it, he smirked, then swam forward slowly, mockingly swiping a scythe just an inch from the intruder’s face as he snatched up the berry. And instead of tasting it gently to drain, the rival consumed the berry whole.

Within a second, the rival’s eyes had gone wide. He tried to spit the berry out, but that was difficult for them to do. He shook his face trying to relieve the burning spice; again, that did not work. Now the one smirking, the rival snatched the blue stone away, then bolted through the water as fast as he could.

Back in his territory, the Kabutops took a closer look at the blue stone. It was oval in shape and had a strange black mark on it. That looked like the Unown that sometimes roamed the beaches; he had seen a few over his lifetime. Now this was a worthy item to give as a mating gift. He went to a sheltered cave to rest, placing the blue stone under him in case his rival appeared. Tomorrow, he would head deeper into the oceans where the female Kabutops generally stayed. This would be a good year.

…

R/S entry: Kabutops swam underwater to hunt for its prey, in ancient times. The Pokemon was apparently evolving from being a water-dweller to living on land as evident from the beginnings of change in its gills and legs.

[Luxrayess]

Yay! A new story!

Request: How about a triple challenge... Could you do Shinx, Glaceon and Weavile? (For Winter Solstice, perhaps?) Thanks.

EDIT: Praise and crit:

I really enjoyed this story. For a very naturalistic piece it was actually quite funny (in a very good way).

These excerts made me laugh XD:

A strange almost sweet smell reached his nostrils. It seemed like some kind of food. Curious, he followed the scent to a bush that bore bright red and orange berries. They were strange and shriveled, like nothing he would find underwater. The Kabutops decided to sample one and stuck a mouth tendril onto the berry to taste it.

Immediately, a hot burning sensation hit his taste buds. No, this berry was way too spicy! The Kabutops sputtered, then decided to bolt back to the water and rinse his tendril out. Only, that didn’t work as he had hoped; it just spread the spicy burn further around. It was almost painful and he spent a lot of time rushing about, trying to find something to cool his tongue.

This caused the rival pause, showing his pretty blue stone better. On considering it, he smirked, then swam forward slowly, mockingly swiping a scythe just an inch from the intruder’s face as he snatched up the berry. And instead of tasting it gently to drain, the rival consumed the berry whole.

Within a second, the rival’s eyes had gone wide. He tried to spit the berry out, but that was difficult for them to do. He shook his face trying to relieve the burning spice; again, that did not work. Now the one smirking, the rival snatched the blue stone away, then bolted through the water as fast as he could.

OH-CRAP-TOO-SPICY-HELP!!! It's an almost meme-quality funny visual.

Some things I would change though:

Now the one smirking, the rival snatched the blue stone away, then bolted through the water as fast as he could.

This is a tad confusing. Change it to:

Smirking, the Kabutops snatched the blue stone away from his [insert adjective for the spice-overwhelmed Kabutops here] rival, then bolted through the water as fast as he could.

And instead of tasting it gently to drain, the rival consumed the berry whole.

A little awkward. I like the technically-grammatically incorrect hanging conjunction, but it should be changed to 'But:'

But instead of gently tasting it, the rival consumed the berry whole.

----
That's all I've got for now.

[SugarPesticide]

Oh, the poor spice-afflicted Kabutops XD I can only imagine how the rival felt upon eating the whole thing. Speaking of which, it was interesting that you had them use tendrils for mouths, a la Omastar. I never really thought about it before, but it makes a lot of sense.

The B/W thing sounds cool, so I think it'd be nice to use a fifth gen Pokemon that's also cool: Smugleaf Snivy.

[ToeyJoey]

I'm all caught up again and might I say, I really enjoyed the Bastiodon-Rampardos one. The unstoppable force and the immovable object was genius, I loved the physics element behind it. Only you could have come up with such gold.

I'd like to suggest a Magmortar and Electabuzz one for New Year's, if you will accept. They don't really fit on the surface but I thought of my own little theme for it.

[Ysavvryl]

Okay, so I've got the three holiday stories set. But the Christmas one is a mystery! That pretty much has me set for the rest of December on requests. And with this story, I have all the Kanto starters covered.

In Process: Latias/Teddiursa/Venonat
On Deck: Plusle/Minun
Reserve: Shinx/Glaceon/Weavile (12/21), mystery (12/25), Magmortar/Electabuzz (12/31)


Venusaur and Wartortle


The Jungle of Flowers was colorful and beautiful, but dense and bewildering. So many flowers bloomed there at all times of the year, in every color imaginable. But with vague paths that often vanished under undergrowth for a hundred feet or more, it was hard to keep track of where one was. The leaves overhead covered the sky, and the many trunks obscured any potential landmarks. Still, it could be a lucrative place to clever explorers; seeking out rare flowers to bring back and sell in town would turn a tidy profit.

That is, so long as the team didn’t get lost and have to hire another explorer team to come find them.

In this place, she blended in quite well. Vesta the Venusaur had a brilliantly red flower on her back, of such a tone that she was obviously not a native. Her kin that lived here had pale flowers as the jungle canopy filtered out much sunlight. Because of her bright flower, she and her partner (both of Team Coral) had an easier time in the jungle than others, as the native Venusaurs would not bother them. Indeed, some males might even show off by fighting off other jungle natives for them.

Just so long as they didn’t attack her partner. Walter the Wartortle was a Water type, and so he always had some trouble in navigating the Jungle of Flowers. Yet he knew this place better than her. If he got into a pinch, he could always use his fluffy white tail and algae coated shell to hide among some bushes. He was holding onto the Weeping Orchid which had been their goal, using his power over water to keep it alive while they left. Or tried to leave; they had gotten lost.

“I’m sorry,” Vesta said. “I wasn’t born here and I don’t remember the way we came.”

“It’s okay,” Walter replied, looking around. He pointed to a clump of bushes. “It seems we’re headed in the right direction; those only appear in the deepest part of this jungle.”

“How are we getting out if we go deeper?” she asked, looking over the bushes. They were very distinctive, with large violet leaves and pinkish flower plumes towering overhead.

The Wartortle chuckled. “I set up a teleport pad one time I was in here. Finding the clearing it’s in is a bit tough, but I tried to leave some signs along the deep trails.”

She blushed. “Oh, right. I didn’t think there would be one here, but our team goes in here a lot, huh?”

“Yeah, we do. You know how we accept rescue missions from the poorer Pokemon?” When she nodded, he went on. “We use flower collecting in this jungle to make most of our money, so that we’re capable of covering the costs of such rescues. Most of those without much money will enter those close to town, but occasionally you get ones desperate enough to go to more distant and dangerous places. The end costs of such missions can be far more than what the client can afford. But that’s okay; no one ought to be denied because they can’t pay a good reward.”

Vesta smiled. “That’s great. I’m glad I joined a nice team. But I still have a lot to learn, don’t I?”

“You do, but don’t worry,” Walter said. “Oh, here’s one of the paths, and I think…” he walked over to a cluster of ivy that was growing up oddly. Carefully holding the orchid in one paw, he cleared the ivy with the other. There was a sign underneath, marked with Unown symbols. “Ah, we’re back on track. Can you read this?”

“Maybe.” She went up to the sign, causing him to step aside. “It’s been awhile since I’ve read this… ah, it says that ‘To leave, stay on this path’. This is one of yours?”

He nodded then nudged aside more of the ivy to continue down the path. “That’s mine, so I’m pretty sure I know where we are now. It’ll take a little while, but we’ll get to the clearing. As I was saying, I think you will make a great explorer in time. And I’ve trained a lot of novice explorers too.”

“I’ll do my best, then. But Walter, I didn’t think you were that old.”

That made him laugh. “Ah, thank you, I suppose. I am one of the founding members of Team Coral, you know.”

“You are?” Vesta asked, her eyes widening in shock. “But I heard that Team Coral was a legacy team from a distant town, generations old. I mean, Dana says that her grandfather was in Coral.”

Walter shrugged. “We’ve been through nine leaders this whole time. Including me for a brief time, but I never liked being leader and the center of attention. My mentor, a Corsola, founded Team Coral after her last team broke up and I was one of the first members, just a trainee like you at the time. The members have changed a lot, but Coral has never really broken up; I always decline suggestions of changing the name because of that. I’m the only original member left, but I’m fine with letting younger and sharper minds lead.”

She twitched her flower petals momentarily, letting its calming scent stir up briefly. “Wow, I didn’t think you were that experienced. But you’re still in your second stage, right? I’ve managed to impress the light springs twice already. Why haven’t you evolved yet?”

“That.” His expression faltered for a moment, as if saddened. “Well I made a promise a long time ago that I would get something done before I evolved again. It turned out to be harder than I thought, and I failed several times. I might be able to get through that dungeon easier if I was a Blastoise, but I don’t want to break a promise in order to fulfill it. So I turned to training new members of Coral and myself until I might be strong enough.”

“Well you are very strong and skilled,” Vesta said. “I mean, you set up a teleport pad here, in the deepest part of a Grass dungeon, and set up signs in case others get lost. And if that’s still not enough, maybe I or the others could help you.”

Walter smiled a little at that. “You would have to train a lot in order to accompany me into that place. But thanks for the offer. Maybe that could help me.”

“I mean to train myself to be much tougher anyhow,” she told him, smiling warmly. “And you’re respected by everyone on the team, so I’m sure they’ll all help too. What dungeon do you have to get through?”

The Wartortle waved his paw at the tall trees. “It is much deeper and longer than this place. It lies far away and few people know about it. But I’ve been there several times. It is a place of wonder, but much danger.”

As they walked along the path in the Jungle of Flowers, Walter told his tale of the mysterious dungeon. It put many strange images and dreams in Vesta’s mind. But that only made her more determined to help Walter fulfill his promise there somehow.

…

Emerald entry: Venusaur’s flower is said to take on vivid colors if it gets plenty of nutrition and sunlight. The flower’s aroma soothes the emotions of people.

Heart Gold entry: It is a well-established symbol of longevity. If its shell has algae on it, that Wartortle is very old.

[Ysavvryl]

It's starting to be winter driving season, so if you do drive, be careful. Unless you're in a place where doesn't snow this time of year, of course...

In Process: Shinx/Glaceon/Weavile (12/21)
On Deck: Plusle/Minun
Reserve: mystery (12/25), Magmortar/Electabuzz (12/31)


Teddiursa, Venonat, and Latias


It was a whiteout. Snow fell thickly on the already packed ground. From the looks of things, their car was going to be buried in the white stuff before long. The man looked at his cell phone. “Still not getting a signal,” he said, then sighed. “I’m sorry; this storm came in faster than I thought it would.”

“I know,” the woman said wrapped in a yellow blanket. In her lap, there was a Trddiursa who seemed to be the only content one in the situation. Of course, he was a young Pokemon, and as long as his people were around, he felt safe. He sucked on his left paw, looked up at her, then offered his sweet and sticky right paw to her. “No, I don’t want that.”

“Mmm,” the little bear cub responded, sounding disappointed that the offer wasn’t taken.

On the dashboard, a large puff of a Venonat was sitting with her eyes half closed. Little spots of shiny dampness showed where she had been, as her feet, and indeed whole body, was covered in a film of mild poison. She didn’t seem too bothered by the cold, unless her current sleepiness was triggered by it. “Krikrikri,” she clicked, then stiffened, her eyes jerking wide open. The Venonat turned and looked outside. “Tisk.”

“I thought we could get to my parents’ house in time,” the man said (for the tenth time so far). “Now no one is going to find us in this weather.”

“Calm down, dear,” the woman said. “There isn’t much we can do besides wait on a good signal and hope that we can get help soon. And no one is hurt, so that’s good.” She petted her Teddiursa’s head, making him mumble again.

“I should have been better prepared,” he replied, then looked over to where his Venonat was hopping across towards his side. Her compound red eyes were starting to glow faint pink. “No, Venonat, for the last time, no eyebeams in the car. Especially not now.”

The energy faded from her eyes as she looked to him. “Tsktsktsk,” she muttered, sounding worried. She looked back outside at the world of white.

“What has you so agitated?” the woman asked the Venonat. “You were half asleep a moment ago.”

But the Venonat’s attention was outside the car, trying to find something. But when the humans looked, they saw nothing but white. “She can see really well in the dark,” the man said. “I’m not so sure about this blizzard, though.”

It was quite in the car interior for a couple of minutes. A little while ago, they had the radio on. The storm made also it difficult to get the radio in clearly. Without that, there was just the gusting wind outside, howling and rattling trees occasionally. The snow flakes barely made a patter as they landed on the car. On the woman’s lap, the Teddiursa leaned back against her chest and kept licking through his paws. The Venonat eventually hopped over to the other side of the black dashboard, making little plastic scuffles as she did so. Her antennae were twitching.

“We could always return the Pokemon so we can get into the backseat and cuddle under the blankets,” the woman said.

“What, now?” the man asked.

She chuckled. “To keep warm, silly. What did you think I mean?”

“Well, you know,” he said, but left it at that. He checked his cell phone again. It still had no signal. “We’ve got some water, just so long as we don’t get hungry.”

“There’s the Teddiursa honey,” she pointed out.

That suggestion got a look of disgust. “From his paws?”

She shook her head, then put her hand on the Teddiursa while she leaned over. “No, the stuff I make. I brought a jar of it for your parents, but if we have to break into it.” She got back up with a decorative jelly jar filled with a cloudy amber honey inside. “They mix Beedrill honey with mashed up berries and let that soak into their paws. I just mix the honey with pureed berries. It’s a bit sweet… no, thank you,” she interrupted herself, waving down another offer of a sticky paw.

“If we’re here for much longer, we could open that up,” he agreed.

“It’s…” she stopped again, glancing out the window. A pink and white face was looking back at her, hanging upside-down from the roof. The woman screamed, startling the creature into vanishing.

“What?” the man asked, looking out her window. But there was just white snow out there, banks of it threatening to swallow them whole. He did see as his Venonat’s eyes started glow again. “No eyebeams in the car,” he stated again.

“Pfffst,” the Venonat said, sounding annoyed at being kept from defending them, but stopping her attack.

“Mmmhmm?” the Teddiursa mumbled around his paw, now looking wide-eyed around the car. The scream had finally worried him too.

“There’s s-something out there,” the woman said, leaning away from the window. “I don’t know what. Maybe some kind of Pokemon.”

The Venonat squealed, then turned to look out the front window. The two humans did as well in time to see something. But, was that something nothing? The snow that was piling on the roof ever since they skidded off the road crunched down under the weight of two triangular shaped paws, yet there was nothing there. The air over the hood rippled strangely before turning into the pink and white Pokemon.

On seeing her, neither of the humans knew what they were dealing with. She was bird-like, with a coating of feathers and winds. But her face was like a mammal’s, smoothly rounded without a beak. And her body structure was more reminiscent of jet planes than birds. Leaning down to look in at them, she blinked her black eyes slowly, not seeming threatened or threatening at all.

“What is that?” the woman asked, clasping her Pokemon. The Teddiursa responded by relaxing again.

“It’s like no Pokemon I’ve ever seen,” he replied.

“Kurrreee!” The pink Pokemon smiled at that, her amused cry coming through to them. She then tapped the windshield, seemingly curious.

The Venonat decided to reply with a series of clicks and antennae twitches. On hearing that, the strange Pokemon seemed surprised, then concerned. She nodded, then scrunched down on the hood and closed her eyes.

“I always wondered what Pokemon were saying to each other,” the man said. Right then, the car abruptly moved without turning on. “Huh?” He grabbed the steering wheel.

On the windows, the snow started tumbling off. Then the piles of snow began to recede. No, the car was getting lifted out off the ground and into the air. As there was no other reason that the car should suddenly be levitating, it had to be the doing of the strange Pokemon on the hood. They looked out the windows to see where they were going, but the thick snow obscured everything, even making it hard to see their rescuer sometimes. At least, the humans that the Venonat tried to see. The Teddiursa mumbled to himself and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

Then the car was jostled again as it hit the ground. “Shuuessasii,” the pink Pokemon said, then ruffled her feathers. In a moment, she had vanished again. A shifting of the car indicated that the now invisible Pokemon had taken off.

And there was a dark haze in front of them, perhaps solid. A building? “Hang on,” the man said, pushing off his blanket and starting to open the door.

“Be careful,” the woman said, trying not to disturb her sleepy Pokemon.

He nodded, then got out of the car. Immediately, he was assaulted by snowflakes. After closing the door, he walked to the front of the car. He paused, then came back and opened his door back up. “It’s that McDonalds and it seems to be open.”

“Of course they would be,” she said, smiling. She nudged her Pokemon a bit. “Come on, Teddiursa, we’re getting out of this car finally.” She put the jar of honey back, then picked up her bag to get out of the car. The Venonat tried to fly out, but soon had to be returned so that he didn’t get blown away in the strong winds.

The man looked above them and thought he might have seen a bit of pink through the white snow. “Thank you!” he called out.

“She rasa!” came a cheery reply.

They found out much later that their rescuer was a Latias.

…

Sapphire entry: Latias is highly intelligent and capable of understanding human speech. It is covered in a glass-like down. This Pokemon enfolds its body with its down and refracts light to alter its appearance.

Emerald entry: It licks its paws that are sweetened by being soaked in honey. A Teddiursa makes its own honey by blending fruits and pollen collected by Beedrill.

Venonat Fire Red entry: Its eyes act as radar, enabling it to be active in darkness. The eyes can also shoot powerful beams.

Note: Another one of Latias' entries suggests that there are multiple Latias too, but I decided against that one.

[Ysavvryl]

Three stories in a row and no comments? All well. They were clustered close together. And I kept forgetting the fifth gen nomination list. Be sure to suggest some, or second/third another. I'd like a fairly good list for later.

The first paragraph here doesn't work out quite as well as I'd like. There is no real autumn-like area in Sinnoh, so I did the best equivalent. It would be neat if there was, though.

In Process: mystery (12/25)
On Deck: Plusle/Minun
Reserve: Magmortar/Electabuzz (12/31)
Fifth gen nominations: Snivy


Glaceon, Weavile, and Shinx


Sinnoh was sometimes called the land of four seasons. There was the warm and sunny southern portion that often seemed like summer, with its beaches and the dry region near Oreburgh. There was the spring-like color and wind in the western area of Floaroma and Eterna. Over to the east, there were the autumn-esque chilled rains and trees that tended to turn color early (and stay colored late) around Veilstone. And then there was the northern area of Snowpoint, almost constantly snowy.

It was the official start of winter by the calendar, but Snowpoint had already been cloaked in snow for months. Those who lived there for long enough got used to it, wearing sweaters and snow pants all the time. Except for the local Gym Leader, Candice, who often wore haut couture fashions that were usually more suited for hotter climates. Like today’s outfit of a blue gingham mini skirt, a sleeveless white blouse, and a pale blue scarf. A silk scarf, at that. It was quite distinctive and cute on her, but it should not have been appropriate for the ice rink of a gym she ran.

‘Someday, I’m going to find out her secret,’ Tracy thought. She was a Trainer of the Ice Gym, had been one for ten months now. She wasn’t quite as hardy against the cold, so she came to work in various colored parkas or patterned sweaters. While she did her best to put together things that looked good, it wasn’t nearly as daring as anything that Candice wore.

Near the end of the day, she was checking over her two Pokemon, a Glaceon named Purdita and a Weavile named Gabriel. There hadn’t been many challengers today, so they didn’t seem too tired. She and the other Gym Trainers were in a room in back, preparing to close the building for the night.

But the others were gossiping about something. “Yeah, it roams the forests between here and Lake Acuity,” one boy said. “We saw it last night, a strange flash that’s here and gone.”

“But are you sure it’s a ghost?” another boy asked. “It could be a Ghost Pokemon.”

“Of course it’s a ghost. Haven’t you heard the story of the girl in white? She was drowned in Lake Acuity over a hundred years ago when her jealous boyfriend pushed her in. Her ghost flickers across the forests in brief flashes, just like me and my brother saw. It is her.”

“Creepy,” a girl said.

“Isn’t the girl in white supposed to be wearing a white dress?” Tracy asked. “You just said it was a low flash along the ground. It’s probably some Pokemon.”

“I can be the girl in white,” Purdita said, swishing her tail smugly.

“No you can’t,” Gabriel said. “I’m more human shaped than you.”

“But I can be!” the Glaceon insisted.

“You could go find out,” Candice suggested. “There is an Ice typed Ghost Pokemon which could be mistaken for a girl’s ghost. If it is a ghost, you might have an interesting discovery on hand. That is, if you’re not too scared.”

“I’m not scared,” one of the boys insisted. “I’ll get proof of that ghost.”

Tracy considered the informal challenge. Different Pokemon did come out at night. But it would be so much colder too. At any rate, Gabriel would be able to see in the darkness, so she was less likely to get lost. “You two want to go out for an hour or so?” she asked her Pokemon.

The Weavile smiled and nodded. “Finding a ghost ought to be fun.”

Yipping, Purdita stood on her hind legs. “Yeah, I like going outside! Can we go see the rock again?”

“That’s a little far,” Gabriel pointed out.

Tracy patted Purdita, then put on her gloves. “Okay, let me get prepared and we’ll go looking around the forest.”

-+-

After picking up some potions and Pokeballs from the store, Tracy and her Pokemon followed the west road out of Snowpoint. There was a full moon in the dark sky, so the darkness wasn’t that much of a problem. Still, the moonlight caused the snowy forest to have an otherworldly glow, with the sparkles of water crystals and the spots of evergreen in the white. The air would be quiet, then there would be crunches of snow of in the distance, a snap of a frozen stick, or a Pokemon’s call seeking something out.

“This is the kind of night you would expect to see ghosts,” Tracy said. “That or the lake guardian casting illusions near the water.”

Purdita sniffed around the snow, moving about in uneven spurts. “Lots of Pokemon about,” she mumbled. “Not sure about ghosts, though.”

By the human’s side, Gabriel ruffled his natural fur collar and searched all around them. His ears twitched. “I’ve never seen a Ghost Pokemon in the forest. There were tales of other spirits, though, not just the girl in white.”

“Are they friendly?”

He snickered and snapped his claws. “Not all of them.” He then hopped towards an icy rock and looked it over. “Hmm…”

“What is it?” The Glaceon looked over at her partner.

“Territory disputes,” the Weavile stated, moving his claws above some markings. He scratched out a few of his own. “That ought to throw them for a loop.”

“Silly,” she muttered, then moved ahead. On sniffing again, her ears pricked up. “Oh, here’s something not like the rest. The smell is fresh too.”

Gabriel came over and checked it out. “Definitely not a native,” he said. Then he waved to Tracy as a signal that they had found something.

“Got a trail then?” she asked. “Good, let’s see what it leads us too.”

The three went off the regular route and into the evergreen forest itself. Purdita kept to the front, sniffing around to keep track of where the strange Pokemon had gone. Staying with their Trainer in case of trouble, Gabriel looked around for other signs, whether disturbed plants or markings from his kin warning or discussing some stranger. There was a few nibbled plants, stray blue hairs, prints from a Pokemon not used to the snow. But most lost Pokemon wouldn’t get this far north of Mount Coronet.

Then the Glaceon stopped, looking up. There was a dark colored Pokemon ahead. There was a spot that flashed, then a mass of bright sparks came off it. After a moment of moving, the flash vanished, leaving just crunches in the snow. “Ack, bright!” Purdita whined.

“Then don’t look,” Gabriel said, closing his eyes and dropping down on all fours to run after the sound. Purdita yipped at him, then waited for Tracy to start running before chasing him.

“I knew it was some Pokemon,” Tracy said, then stumbled briefly. She regained her balance as she kept chasing after her Glaceon.

Ahead of them, Gabriel flicked his collar back to dash under a fir tree. He heard a crackle ahead as the stranger tried to use its flash to throw him off. He kept running, though, until he heard the Pokemon breathing. Then he leaped at it, pinning it down into the snow. Briefly, he opened his eyes to see a small black and blue feline under him. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Let me go!” he replied, struggling in a panic. His fur began to crackle.

“Gabriel!” Tracy called out.

“Hmph.” He kept his front paws on the stranger to keep him there, then stepped aside. “You’re lucky I’m not one of the wild ones.”

“A human?” he said, puzzled. The crackles died off.

“Oh, it’s a Shinx,” Tracy said, coming into view. “That explains the flashes. That’s weird, though. You don’t see them around here.”

The Shinx stilled. “Oh thank goodness. I wasn’t sure if I’d find another human.”

“The town isn’t that far from here,” Purdita said, looking to the northeast.

“Uh, really?” He sounded embarrassed, but quickly lost that to his concern. “My Trainer is in trouble; he got hurt in this forest. Can you guys help him get to town?”

“We could get help,” Gabriel said, letting the Shinx go. He held his right paw up and made some signs to indicate that this one belonged to another Trainer and that they ought to follow him. “Will you lead us to where your Trainer is?”

He got up. “Yeah, sure. I didn’t want to get too far from him. That must be why I didn’t find town.”

Tracy came up to the Shinx. “With a human, then. That makes more sense; you’re hurt, though. Hang on, and then you can lead us where you want.” She brought out a potion and sprayed it over the cut on his back. He sniffed it, then started off deeper into the woods.

Fifteen minutes later, they came to a snow cave dug into a drift by a cluster of pines. “He can’t move far, so I dug this out for him,” the Shinx said.

“Ooo, nice work on it,” Pudita noted.

Tracy knelt down by the entrance. “Hello, are you in there?”

A confused male voice answered, “Huh? Are you with the rescue team?”

“No, but I can call them for you. Are you hurt?”

“Yeah, I think I broke my foot a while ago.”

“Well stay in there for now; it’s probably warmer in there.” She pulled her cell phone out of her bag. It had large type buttons, which was useful when making calls in the cold.

While she made the call, Purdita grinned. “You had people thinking you were a ghost, Mr. Shinx, with all that flashing.”

“Did I?” he asked. “Oh, and call me Max.”

“The observations weren’t made by an observant human,” Gabriel noted. He flicked some snow at the Glaceon. “But you still can’t make yourself look like the girl in white.”

She huffed and tilted her diamond-shaped ears back. “I can too! Just watch me.”

Moving off a few paces, Purdita closed her eyes to focus her power, then stood up on her hind legs and drew in warmth from the air around her. While it was freezing air, there was still some warm energy she could pull out. She was then surrounded by tiny sparkling icy crystals as the moisture in the air solidified into a diamond dust. And when she was standing like that, it did surround her almost like a dress. That is, until the ice crystals dropped down to the floor.

Max tilted his head. “Wow, that was kind of ghostly,” he said.

Swishing her tail, she bounded back over. “Told you I could.”

“Maybe if the viewer was further off, it could be successful,” Gabriel teased.

-+-

The next day, Tracy got to the Gym late. She explained about what the flashes in the woods were. “I went to the hospital to check up on them,” she added. “That’s why I was late.”

“How are they?” Candice asked.

“The Trainer’s going to be in the hospital for a while, but the doctor thought that he should recover okay. And I gave the Shinx an extra fleece Pokemon blanket I had around, because the hospital’s still cold to visitors.”

“Well that’s a good reason to be late,” the Leader said. “But, you’ll still have to close up with me tonight.”

Tracy shrugged. “Sure thing.”

…

Shinx Diamond entry: All of its fur dazzles if danger is sensed. It flees while the foe is momentarily blinded.

Glaceon Platinum entry: By controlling its body heat, it can freeze the atmosphere around it to make a diamond dust flurry.

Weavile Pearl entry: It sends signals to others by carving odd patterns in frost-covered trees and ice.

[Missingno. Master]

Are you accepting fifth gen nominations that don't have English names yet? If so, then I'll nominate Morobareru. That's the Pokeball mushroom final evo, FYI. Oh, and I'd like to request a Nidoking/Venomoth story. In case you haven't picked up on it, I have something of an obsession with the Poison-type.

[White-Charizard]

Loved these latest ones. Loved the Venusaur/Wartortle one. :3

And if you'll have it, can I nominate a Waruvial/Ononokus story?

[Baton Passer]

Whew, just finally finished my power readthrough of 8 bit theater.

Good Comic XD

Anywho, the latest few shots have been to my liking, the latest being a new personal favorite of mine.

One thing I hate about long running works like this, TV shows and published series included, is that when the story continues after it was planned to end, or just has been around for a while, it goes and reuses old characters and settings in an attempt to ease the beggers.

I commend you Ysav, for keeping it fresh and creating new characters each time. I realize that it helps that the pokedex entries are as varied as they are, but reversing some sereotypes, rearranging some common tropes, and of course adding a dash of comedy helps just as much.

You will go on making theese above average stories. As long as you just keep to your guns and create a new story each time, keep on interesting others with unpredictable genders and tempraments, and above all else, take a break when you begin to feel too comfortable.

In other words, keep it up. XP

[Ysavvryl]

Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year! I have Heart Gold now, so now I can remember Johto a little better. This year for the holiday, I've got a story of two oddballs I hope you'll like.

@Missingno. Master: yeah, I kind of know that, heh. I'll take the Japanese names too, as I'm sure that by the time I can write the story, English names will be available.

@White-Charizard: I'll just add those to the nomination list for the 5th gen premier story.

@Baton Passer: Ah yes, that was a great comic. I stopped following it regularly around the Crescent Lake/Volcano dungeon, though. And thanks for that comment! I do work to consider each of the entries as individual stories. I hope they all end up a little unique, although I worry sometimes about copying myself by accident. It has been a long while that I've been working on this now.

In Process: Plusle/Minun
On Deck: Nidoking/Venomoth
Reserve: Magmortar/Electabuzz (12/31)
Fifth gen nominations: Snivy, Morobareru, Waruvial, Ononokus



Breloom and Poliwrath


It’s Christmas, so let’s all try to get along and not fight.

That’s what they’d been told, and so there they were, not fighting. Not yet, anyhow. Over by the window, Breloom was grooming his green mushroom cap to get off some dust. It was gray and cloudy outside, but he didn’t mind either way. On the other side of the room, Poliwrath was tearing apart some leftover present wrapping. She had been on edge for much of this visit. While she could endure the cold well enough, the dry indoors air did not agree with her blue amphibian skin. Even when she stayed near the humidifier, it was still too dry for her liking.

“Whatcha gonna do when you run out of paper to play with?” Breloom asked, shaking his head to see if any more loose skin or dust was there.

“I’ll find something else,” she answered. “Like maybe trying to take that cap off your head again.”

He chuckled. “Not likely. You didn’t even get close last time.”

She clenched her white-gloved fist, then pointed at him. “I do have the strength to do it, if you would hold still in a fight.”

“We’re not supposed to fight,” Breloom said. His grooming seemed to be done, so he had to find something else to do too. “That’s what Mike’s grandma said. And while we’re here, we gotta do what she says.”

Sighing, Poliwrath picked up the scraps of colorful paper she had and dropped them into a trash bag. “I know, I know. I’m just saying that you’re always jumping about like some over-caffeinated Mankey in a fight. Someone could get nauseous in watching you.”

He smirked. “I don’t know if I’m like a Mankey. I don’t rage quite that much. Anyhow, that’s how I’ve always fought.” He hopped from one foot to the other and back for a bit. “Keep on your toes and punch like the breeze.”

“With no power?” she said, teasingly. She punched out a fist. “I fight with power, always.”

Still hopping about, Breloom made a feint with his right fist, then punched with his left. “I fight with technique, always. Quick and to the weak spots. Some power, yeah, but I don’t have big tree trunks for arms like you do.”

Poliwrath got up; they were still twelve feet from each other, but she punched in his direction again. “You’re the plant around here, bending to the will of the breeze. I am sturdy; nothing bends nor breaks me.”

He winked. “I bend so that few can fully hit me. You cannot win if you cannot hit your foe, but you can win if they cannot hit you. It works even better if they are distracted and cannot do anything.”

“You mean using dirty tricks like putting your foe to sleep, or paralyzing them. Hmph. I do not need such tactics to win.”

There came an annoyed shout from the other room that there was to be no fighting in the house.

Poliwrath rolled her eyes. “We weren’t fighting then. Just discussing matters.” But although they could understand the humans, the humans couldn’t understand them.

“And practicing taunts?” Smirking, Breloom hopped over and nudged her. “Well she just said no fighting in the house. Want to go out on a walk?”

“A walk would be nice,” she agreed, so went into the other room. She had a human-like hand and could operate the doorknob; he only had paws with stubby fingers.

Outside was cold, with wet snow on the ground. Poliwrath’s feet scrunched right through it, hitting the near-frozen mud underneath. But the wetness made up for any coldness and she was already more comfortable out here. Breloom hopped over the snow, barely leaving impressions there. Usually, Grass Pokemon didn’t like winter’s chill.

“You all right here in the snow?” she asked.

“I’m tough enough to withstand this chill,” he replied, although he still kept from staying on one spot too long. “And I was the one to suggest this. Why, you worried about me?”

She snorted. “No, but I don’t want to get yelled at by Mikey when you get frostbite.” Well maybe she was concerned, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Well I’ll stand up for you if he does. Come on, there’s a nice spot just over this hill; I remember it from last time.” He bounded on ahead. She remembered it just fine, but let him take the lead anyhow.

Over the hill, there was a dip that couldn’t be seen well from most of the house. That made it a good sparring ground when Mikey’s grandparents didn’t like Pokemon battles taking place. and they did often complain about that kind of thing, saying Pokemon battles were too noisy and rough. And why did Pokemon and kids these days always have to be so violent, the grandma would say. Both of the fighting Pokemon were certain that it must have been much the same in the past and the grandparents were just refusing to acknowledge it. Besides, they had more fun fighting than not.

The rim of the dip was lined with pine trees covered in snow, while the snow was at least a foot deep in there, maybe more. The sky was all gray, not going to snow now, but maybe later. And it was far enough from the house that the machine noises from the human devices was muffled, almost absent. A few wild Pokemon were calling out, but they were in the distance, keeping closer to their food sources.

“Kind of a romantic place, don’t you think?” Breloom said teasingly.

“I didn’t come out here to flirt,” she said, then made a snatch for his head. “I came to snatch that silly cap off your head.”

He had made a backwards tumble to get out of the way, but was soon back on his feet. “Hey, that’s a part of my body and I’m very proud of it.” He punched out one of his small fists. “I challenge you to a boxing match for that!”

“Boxing?” she said, sounding indignant (although it was really fun). “You’re just a feather weight and I’m a heavy weight. I’ll smash you to bits and then take that cap too.”

“Bring it!” He hopped over, dodging her downward chop, then punching her side. “You couldn’t hit me unless you were lucky.”

Poliwrath then tried to sweep her arm to the side to catch him. He just hopped onto her arm, then jumped away. “But I can endure longer than you can. You’ll wear yourself out within the hour bouncing around like that, while I can cross the whole ocean and not get tired one bit. Once you get tired, then I’ve as good as won.”

“Hah, maybe you can, but that’s swimming, not sparring! I’ll land so many hits on you that you’ll fall right over like the big lump you are.” He laughed playfully and got in to punch her on her swirled stomach.

She went to feint like he did, but he dodged both the feint and the punch, then showed her his own double-feint punch. He was right in that he was really hard to hit physically when he was boxing like this. Then again, she would turn out right too if he made a mistake. But that was part of this sparring practice, to make sure both of them would make less mistakes in the battles that counted.

Breloom then managed to land an extra hard hit on her, to her face no less (after jumping onto her head, and while back-flipping off, he had punched her with his tail). It jarred her so much that she fell over into one of the snowdrifts on the side of the dip. While she’d seen (and felt) some of his tail punches before, this one proved that he was getting stronger too.

After a moment, he hopped over to beside her, looking concerned. “You okay? I don’t want to get yelled at either if you fall unconscious. That’ll be hard to explain.”

“It’s not too bad,” she said, but stayed in the snow. So cold, but the dampness felt good. “And is that all? I wouldn’t want either of us to get in trouble, because then Mikey might separate us. Then I couldn’t see your beautiful sparring motion.”

“Huh?” His tan faced turned a bit pink. “Well, uh, that’s nice to hear, but we…”

Poliwrath grinned, snatched his foot, then threw him across the dip. “Got you!”

She heard a muffled shout. As she got up, he was pulling himself out of a snow pile that he had gotten half buried in. He shook the snow out of his mushroom cap. “Aw man, now I’m gonna have ice crystals up there! Thanks a lot… not. And you were the one complaining about dirty tactics.”

Laughing, she replied, “Well you have shown me that it works.”

“But this is boxing! And that was a bit much…” he scowled, looking off to the side.

One seeing the look on his face, and hearing the sharp tone in his voice, Poliwrath felt pretty bad. Maybe that had been too far. Although, she hadn’t really thought about things in those terms. They were just friends. “Um… I’m sorry. I thought you might see that as a joke.”

His mood calmed down at that. “It would be a nice joke, I suppose.” Then Breloom shook himself and started hopping again. “Geez, and I shouldn’t be letting myself stop and get chilly this time of year. Hey, want to build a snowman? It might be tough with this kind of snow, but that would be fun. And it would show how you and I can withstand anything, even winter games.”

She laughed again, relieved. “Sure! We’ll make a really big snowman and impress Mikey with it.”

The two Pokemon then got to work gathering up snow and deciding on how to put it together.

…

Poliwrath Emerald entry: Its highly developed muscles never grow fatigued, however much it exercises. This Pokemon can swim back and forth across the Pacific Ocean without effort.

Ruby entry: Breloom closes in on its foe with light and sprightly footwork, then throws punches with its stretchy arms. This Pokemon’s fighting techniques put boxers to shame.

[Ysavvryl]

It's the last day of 2010. So here is a fun story for the occasion. Only, now I'm down to just one request! So it would be a good time to make any new requests.

In Process: Nidoking/Venomoth
Fifth gen nominations: Snivy, Morobareru, Waruvial, Ononokus


Plusle, Minun, Electrabuzz, and Magmortar


It was New Years Eve and there seemed to be celebrations everywhere. In Ecruteak alone, there were at least eight parties going on, some by invitation only. But the one held below Bell Tower was open to anyone who came by. There were dozens of colorful paper lanterns, lots of good things to snack on, cheerful music playing, and many activities to join. However, the tower itself was closed off to the visitors, guarded by two local monks.

Pokemon were allowed to wander the party too. Unfortunately, that meant that their trainer was showing off her prized Snubbull and gushing over other people’s fancy and dressed up Pokemon. Pan the Plusle and Mina the Minun found themselves looking for something to do on their own. “Well I suppose she’s just excited about her new capture,” Mina said, rubbing her blue-tipped ears. “We’ll still be important to her.”

“I wish I could tell her not to give me a girly ribbon to wear,” Pan grumbled, tugging at a red ribbon around his neck; it had a bow behind his head. “We could have swapped colors.”

“I guess,” Mina said, touching her blue ribbon. “Want to try telling her?”

He shook his head. “Nah, humans never understand us Pokemon. Anyhow… hey, look at that!” He hopped off into the crowd.

“Pan!” Mina ran off after her friend. Weaving around the feet of other humans, she added, “Don’t get in trouble!”

“I won’t,” he said, stopping by a tree. There was a Pokemon sleeping there, one that was much larger then they were. It was a bright yellow feline with jagged black stripes across his body. Unlike most of the other Pokemon, he wasn’t dressed up for the occasion. “Man, how is he sleeping through this noise?” Pan poked at the larger Pokemon’s side.

“Maybe he’s really tired,” Mina said quietly to him. She tugged at his pink-tipped tail. “So we should leave him be.”

“Huh, no, I ain’t sleeping,” the other Pokemon grumbled, opening his eyes briefly. “Just resting my eyes.” He looked over at the crowd. “Oh, has it started already?” He yawned and stretched his arms out, nearly knocking the Plusle over in the process.

“The party started over an hour ago,” Pan told him. “Hopefully it can keep going, cause clouds have moved in. We don’t want to get rained out. Hey mister, what are you? Why aren’t you dressed up?”

“Clouds, huh?” He looked up through the leafless trees. “I live here, so I don’t have to be all showy. I’m an Electrabuzz, by the way; call me Buzzard. I have an important duty.” He grinned, showing sharp teeth. “Clouds… hah! Hey squirts, want to race me to the top of the tower?”

“The top of the tower?” Pan asked, sounding interested.

“See you there!” Buzzard then jumped up and dashed over to Bell Tower with incredible speed. He opened up a window to enter the building, then vanished inside.

“Oh man, we couldn’t beat him,” the Plusle said, twitching his ears. “Even with a head start. Hey, let’s go in.”

“What?” Mina asked, worried. “But nobody’s supposed to go inside there. I mean, maybe if he really does have an important duty…”

He shrugged. “What else are we gonna do? Besides, they never open the doors, so when else are we going to get a chance to look around inside? Maybe we can find something nice too.”

The Minun put her paw to her chin. “Well, you’re right in that we probably won’t get in any other time… it could be interesting inside.”

“So let’s go!” Pan bounded off towards the open window. After a second’s hesitation, Mina followed after. No one noticed them going in.

Inside, they were reminded of Sprout Tower’s interior. This place looked much the same, with wooden floors, a large swaying pillar, and wooden ladders. The differences were remarkable, though. Instead of statues of Bellsprout, there were beautiful statues of a strange bird Pokemon. The same Pokemon was on painted silhouettes on the walls. After admiring one of the statues, Pan and Mina went to the ladder and hopped up the steps to get to the next level.

And Bell Tower was much taller than Sprout Tower. There were Rattatas scavenging around, as well as the occasional Gastly in the shadows. Being small and nimble, the two were able to avoid most of the resident Pokemon. They could not avoid one Pokemon, though. He was even larger than the Electrabuzz, with brilliant orange and red feathers covering his bulky body. A large burlap sack was by his side, one that seemed nearly as big as him. But they had seen one like him before, a Magmortar. And that made him a very powerful Pokemon indeed, one they didn’t want to fight.

Pan stopped briefly, then indicated to Mina that they should try sneaking by. She nodded; that’s what she was thinking too. With the Magmortar sitting there, they should be able to dash for the next ladder if need be. However, his ears pricked up and the Magmortar looked to them. “What are you two doing skulking about?” he asked gruffly.

“Oh, um, we’re just exploring,” Mina said, crouching down closer to the floor.

“Yeah, Buzzard challenged us to a race, although there’s no way we’re going to win,” Pan admitted. “But we want to see the top too.”

“Hmph, so that explains that.” He shook his head. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t hurt you if you’re not looking for a fight. I’ve got enough work as it is lugging this thing to the top.” He patted the burlap sack.

Now that he seemed friendly, or at least not malicious, Mina hopped over closer. He did look tired. “Why’re you doing that, Mr. Magmortar?”

“My trainer asked me too, although he couldn’t come in himself. I had to sneak in here in the middle of the day myself. There should just be one more level, and then we’re at the roof. The weight’s making my arms ache, though.”

Pan pricked his ears and stood up. “I’d imagine. Hey, we can help you feel better if you want. We’re trained therapeutic electricians.”

“Really?” he asked skeptically.

“Oh yes,” Mina said. “We use our powers to help our trainer every day. She wouldn’t be able to travel otherwise. It doesn’t hurt; it’s just a little tingly at first.”

“Hmm.” He considered it, then nodded. “All right, if it would help me reach the top. I want to do this too.”

“We need to see your arms,” she said. Once he held them down, the Plusle and Minun checked over him. It seemed like it was as he said, his muscles aching due to the heavy load. They could find the important points of his nervous system, as their innate electrical sense could feel even those minute points of power. With those found, they applied small sparks of electricity to those points, giving his energy a fresh boost.

After working on both arms, Pan said, “Okay, that should do it. How’re you feeling now?”

The Magmortar rubbed one arm, then smiled. “Oddly refreshed. I should be fine now; thank you, small ones. You may call me Magnar.”

“That’s a nice name,” the Minun said, smiling back. “I’m Mina, and this is Pan. Well let’s get going to the top before it’s too late!”

“Right!” Pan agreed, then bounded over to the ladder.

Magnar got up, picked up his heavy sack, then followed them up the stairs. But at the next level, Pan and Mina found themselves facing a group of four Rattatas. The purple rodents seemed annoyed, grumbling at something. “Why does he always have to… hey, you! What do you think you’re doing here?”

“Um, we’re just exploring,” Mina said. “We’re not going to make trouble, honest.”

The Rattattas laughed or sneered. “Oh yeah?” the one said, coming a step closer. “Well this is our floor, and we don’t let intruders off lightly. You’re gonna wish you never set foot in here!”

Behind them, there was a heavy thump as the burlap sack was tossed up onto the floor. The Magmortar then appeared through the ladder hole. Holding on with one hand, he adjusted the other until it looked as though he had a small cannon in place of his lower arm. “Hey,” he said, looking calmly towards the Rattata group. “I can burn you to the bone in one shot. Feeling lucky, punk?”

That stopped their laughs. “He’s with us,” Mina said, standing up with more confidence.

“Oh, er, is that right?” The Rattata backed down. “Uh, in that case, I hope you like your visit. Um, leave us be, please.” They then scattered off into holes along the floor.

Pan chuckled, then looked back to their companion. “Hey, thanks Magnar. That was cool.”

“No problem,” he said, coming up fully and picking up his sack again. Then he dropped his voice so only they could hear, “Not that I would really shoot fireballs inside. I might torch the place by accident and I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

“Of course not,” Mina said. “So the next level is the roof… I’m excited!”

Pan laughed again. “And you’re the one who didn’t want to come in here.”

“Well I hope that we aren’t going to get in trouble,” she added.

Past the next ladder, the Pokemon came to the rooftop of Bell Tower. It was an incredible place, with a staircase leading up to a large platform. A blue roof sloped down, then showed off a magnificent view of the land around them. While it was dark, Pan and Mina could make out a forest around the city below. There was one yellow light to the southeast that might have been the top of Sprout Tower, and a set of red lights that topped the Radio Tower to the southwest. And further southwest, the sweeping line of the Olivine lighthouse reached out even this far north. And in the center of the platform, there was a tall golden tower, topped with a yellow light of its own.

And up on the golden tower, Buzzard the Electrabuzz was hanging on by just two paws, searching the sky. He looked down and grinned at them. “Hey squirts! You’re much too slow to race me. I’ve been waiting forever to see you again.”

“We didn’t take that long!” Pan insisted, jumping up.

“We stopped to help Mr. Magnar,” Mina added, looking over as the Magmortar came up the stairs to the platform. “He wanted to see the top too.”

After giving a shrug, Buzzard hopped down. “Eh, the more, the merrier. So long as you don’t mean to harm the tower itself, I like the company.”

“I’ll be careful,” Magnar said, setting his sack down before looking over the edge. “Which way would the plaza below be, where the party is?”

“Um,” the Electrabuzz jumped down onto the roof and peered over the edge. Then he pointed towards the corner to the right of the stairway. “Over that way. Why do you ask?”

He nodded, then opened up his sack. Pan hopped over as he spoke, to investigate. “My trainer wants to try getting Ho-oh’s attention in a certain way. I doubt it will actually work, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.” He smiled as he pulled out a white object that seemed like a soda can. “Certainly worth the effort to come up here.” He reformed his cannon arm, then placed the object inside. After aiming over the crowd and at the sky, he fired it.

Moments later, there was a sharp noise, somewhere between a pop and a blast. A shower of orange and yellow sparkles appeared in the cloudy sky in the shape of a large orb. They glittered and fell, then disappeared.

“Oooo, nice fireworks,” Mina said, hopping over to the edge of the platform with the rest.

“So long as you don’t burn the tower down, I’m fine with that,” Buzzard said. “I’m one of the Bell Tower Pokemon guardians, you know.”

“I’ll be careful,” Magnar said, pulling out another fireworks shell to load it. “I’ve been doing this for several years now.” He shot off another orb firework, this time in red and pink.

“What do you do as a guardian?” Pan asked, looking up to Buzzard.

In response, he grinned. “I come up here anytime there might be a storm and protect the tower from lightning strikes. That’s how the last tower burned down, because a lightning bolt struck it just right. Or just wrong, I guess. I’m making sure it doesn’t happen again, especially not before Ho-oh returns.”

“Ho-oh?” Mina asked. “Is that the pretty bird Pokemon all the statues show?”

Buzzard nodded. “Sure is. Lots of people have tried to call the legendary sky guardian down, but I haven’t seen it in person. And you’re right; I don’t think firing off explosives from the top of the tower will get Ho-oh to come. But it is a nice change of pace.”

Magnar shrugged. “Who am I to say no to fireworks? Anyhow, how are you protecting the tower from lightning strikes? Don’t you Electrics attract lightning? Especially from the tallest place around, like this tower.”

“I got hit by lightning once,” Pan said. “And it was awesome.”

“I’ve been hit at least five dozen times,” Buzzard boasted. “All on top of this place, no less. Yeah, I call the lightning down; sometimes I even insult the clouds to get them all worked up too. But if the lightning strikes me, it doesn’t hurt me and I divert it from the tower. I swore that I’d never let Bell Tower get struck by lightning while I was alive, and so far, I’ve kept my oath perfectly.”

“That’s great,” Mina said, smiling.

Pan hopped onto the ledge. “Hey, you think if we make enough festive noise, with the party, and the fireworks, and even more, then that Ho-oh might come?” He clapped his paws together, sending off a small orb of sparks that mimicked the larger fireworks. “Make ‘em awesome, Magnar!”

The Magmortar chuckled. “It couldn’t hurt to try,” he said.

Mina got up with him, making sparkling pom-poms to match her friend’s. “Yeah, let’s make up a cheer to welcome Ho-oh! Wheee!” She spun around.

“We’re calling in the new year, so it’s a new chance to show off your might!” Pan added, hopping over Mina and clashing his pom-poms into hers to make a larger crack and sparkle.

“Aw yeah, this is gonna be awesome, squirts!” Buzzard cheered along.

They never did see Ho-oh that night. But the four did put on a spectacular light show which was much appreciated by the crowds below them.

…

Plusle Emerald entry: It has a trait of cheering on its fellow Pokemon. By shorting out the electricity it releases from its paws, it creates pom-poms for cheering.

Minun Emerald entry: At a meeting of Pokemon academics, it was announced that simultaneous exposure to electricity from a Plusle and Minun will promote circulation and boost vitality.

Emerald entry: When a storm approaches, it competes with others to scale heights that are likely to be stricken by lightning. Some towns use Electabuzz in place of lightning rods.

Magmortar HG/SS entry: It blasts fireballs of over 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit out of its arms. Its breath also sears and sizzles.

[Ysavvryl]

Year End Review

With the fifth-gen games out in Japan and coming out in America in March, I have numbers for Pokemon up to the fourth and numbers for total overall. And B&W introduce more Pokemon than the first gen did! I’ve got a lot of work coming up… but I like it so much, I don’t mind.

349/493 70.8%
349/649 53.8%

BY GENERATION:

R/B/G/Y: 112/151 74.1%
G/S/C: 73/100 73%
R/S/E: 89/135 66%
D/P/P: 75/107 70.1%
B/W: 0/156

BY TYPE:

Normal: 56/79 70.9%
Water: 49/91 54.8%
Flying: 47/64 73.4%
Grass: 45/55 81.8%
Poison: 37/51 72.5%
Psychic: 36/53 67.9
Bug: 30/45 66.7%
Ground: 27/48 56.2%
Electric: 25/28 89.2%
Fire: 24/33 72.7%
Rock: 21/37 56.8%
Steel: 19/26 73.1%
Dark: 18/23 78.3%
Ice: 18/22 81.8%
Ghost: 17/18 94.4%
Fight: 16/25 64%
Dragon: 15/19 78.9%
Special: 2/2

BY SPECIAL TYPE

Starter: 28/36 77.8%
Blastoise, Charmeleon, Quilava, Torterra, Chikorita, Feraligator, Torchic, Turtwig, Mudkip, Totodile, Croconaw, Squirtle, Grotle, Treecko, Meganium, Typhlosion, Cyndaquil, Charizard, Bayleef, Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Blaziken, Piplup, Empoleon, Chimchar, Charmander, Venusaur, Wartortle

Legend: 22/34 64.7%
Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Shaymin, Manaphy, Giratina, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Celebi, Jirachi, Darkrai, Mewtwo, Mew, Arceus, Uxie, Azelf, Mespirit, Registeel, Regirock, Regice, Latias

???/Shadow: 1
Mankey

Shiny: 7
Magikarp, Sunflora/Sunkern, Fearow, Gyarados, Stantler, Glameow

Fossil: 7
Aerodactyl, Cradily, Shieldon, Bastiodon, Rampardos, Lileep, Kabutops

Guests: 13
JammyU, Kutie Pie, darkdragontamer (2), #Chimecho# (2), elrade, shiningsloth13 (2)
Regigigas, Staryu, Starmie, Bannette, Sandshrew, Ponyta, Barboach, Swellow, Absol, Kadabra, Lucario, Arceus, Darkrai, Bastiodon, Anorith, Golem (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, Scientist, Swimmer, School Kid (male and female), Veteran

In-game Characters
Bruno, Steven, Giovanni, Silver, Professor Elm (2), Brawly, Lt. Surge, Gary Oak/Red (2), Koga, Janine, Professor Rowan (2), Lucas (2), Aaron, Blue, Professor Oak, Warden Slowpoke, Sabrina, Erica, Misty, Daycare lady, Daycare man, Blaine

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

Comments

So most everything is running into the 70 to 80 percentage range. But that will drop drastically when I adjust all numbers for Black and White. The Water type actually jumps to over one hundred Pokemon alone and it’s at fifty percent now. Ground and Rock are also hanging back in the fifty percent range too. Normal’s back at the top for now, with Dragon and Fight hanging at the bottom. The Fight type would be last place if I hadn’t pulled in the two for Christmas.

And I stopped just short of 350 Pokemon this year. All well, I'm still over fifty percent.

[ToeyJoey]

I have a new favourite Pokedex One-Shot, what a great way for the Pokemon community to bring in the New Year. "Feeling lucky, punk?” was perfectly fitting and gave me a good chuckle. I'd like to request a Swampert/Armaldo/Whiscash story because 3rd Gen has the least percentage covered.

I can't remember what your stance is on spelling mistakes but there were a couple of instances where could called it an "Electrabuzz" instead of an "Electabuzz:"

Plusle, Minun, Electrabuzz, and Magmortar

“I live here, so I don’t have to be all showy. I’m an Electrabuzz, by the way; call me Buzzard.

And up on the golden tower, Buzzard the Electrabuzz was hanging on by just two paws, searching the sky.

“Um,” the Electrabuzz jumped down onto the roof and peered over the edge.

[Ysavvryl]

I've not really been slacking; other projects are being very demanding of me. This entry was tricky too. These two Pokemon are quite different in terms of the 'dex entries, one being a tactical fighter with the other being a powerhouse. But then I wondered, what jobs would a good ninja take in times of peace and stability?

I could still use some suggestions, both for current entries and the fifth gen premier.

In Process: Swampert/Armaldo/Wiscash
Fifth gen nominations: Snivy, Morobareru, Waruvial, Ononokus


Venomoth and Nidoking


While the museum was dark, there were just enough security spotlights to navigate the building by. It helped that he had visited the place enough times to memorize the layout. He made his way through, sticking to the shadows. After all, it wouldn’t fit for him to get caught before his thieving career could really take off.

Sure, he had taken a few valuables here and there from peoples’ homes and he’d been going along well. But he liked drama. He would observe his victims beforehand, learning what items they help sentimentally valuable. When he went in for the steal, he always took those sentimental items, along with small valuable items that didn’t hold as much importance to the owner. The next day, he would return the sentimental items, either in a box on the victim’s porch or dropped off at a police station anonymously. That gave him the anguish he liked to see, but then kept the victims from pursuing his trail as intently.

That still wasn’t dramatic enough. He wanted to be able to take something in broad daylight, something major and public. However, that would take force, and a lot of it, to pull of a heist as dramatic as he wanted. He had a Pokemon partner, but it was just a Raticate, not powerful enough. And the Raticate wasn’t that good at stealthy jobs, as it liked to be noisy and pick fights. What he needed for his plans was a Pokemon strong enough and awesome enough that people would back off immediately. Or, a trio of such Pokemon.

And in this museum, there was something that could help him immensely: the Glory Flute. It was an antique artifact that was said to tame the three strongest and wildest bird Pokemon in Kanto, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. While he figured he’d need to catch more than a single Raticate to ultimately capture those three, when he had the legendary birds, then everyone would be in awe of him. And he could able to get away with anything he wanted after that.

Getting the flute was his current challenge. And there it was, on a solitary table underneath one of those security spotlights. It rested on a blue velvet base, a white flute apparently carved from a single bone. Thin engravings filled with blue, yellow, or red dye wound all around it, making it a beautiful piece as well as powerful.

It was going to be protected too. The thief had found out about what securities they used. Against the spotlight, he was simply going to use a thin black piece of silk to disguise his face while still able to see his work. Against the pressure plates on the pedestal, the alarm tiles past the security chain, the automated cameras, he had already hacked into the security network and disarmed them (that only gave him an hour’s time frame to do the job). That left just some barely visible wires, like fishing line, that held down the flute itself.

And a fine layer of dust, he noticed as he came up to the pedestal. That struck him as odd, since this museum was active and immaculately tended to. He barely saw the dark particles, but they had a dull violet look on the soft blue of the velvet. Could this be another security measure, to acquire fingerprints easier? Nevertheless, he didn’t want to back out now. He started unwinding the wires from their hidden screws, with his black gloves keeping prints from being left even with the dust there.

The dust was stirred up by his activity and was soon tickling his nose. The thief paused, waiting for it to settle, then worked slower. But, if he was too slow, the securities would be turned back on and he’d have an alarm wailing in his ears. He got the first thread done, then the second. As he worked on the third, he hurried up some, only to stir the violet dust up again. This time, he sneezed.

There was a flutter of wings from nearby. Quickly, he undid the final thread, even though that made the dust irritate his nose even more. He grabbed the flute, then saw something at the edge of the security spotlight: a blank lavender mask, sharp in features but without any eyes. Spooked, the thief bolted, crashing into a metal post and sending it with its chain barrier onto the floor.

In this silent place, it was a massive noise, one that caused strips of lights to turn on along all edges of the walls. By that, he finally saw the eyes of the creature, below the ‘mask’. It had a thick furry body and large insect wings, all in various shades of violet. A Venomoth. Not much to worry about, as his Raticate could easily beat it. But that would give the guards enough time to get to him, probably with stronger Pokemon. The thief ran out of the room.

Okay, his previous escape route wouldn’t be as useful. Instead, he went to the end of the outer hall (which was nearby) and shoved open a fire escape door. That set off the fire alarm, but he didn’t care. It would cause panic and confusion, letting him slip away easier.

It should have let him get away. However, that Venomoth was soon out with him, flying after him. It dove at his head, causing him to stumble as he tried to scare it off with his arms. But he hadn’t realized how huge one would seem when it was attacking his head, filling his vision with pale violet wings. Sneezing again, the thief felt his nose and throat start to tingle. That tingle turned into a mild burning, which threw him into a coughing fit. But all that did was worsen the pain.

Was he getting sick? He grabbed some mud from an earlier rainfall and threw it at the Bug Pokemon. That caused it to squeal, wildly shaking its head to get rid of the muck. From its wings, a large quantity of violet dust fell off. This Pokemon must have coated the Flute’s display for some reason. Not caring to know why, the thief got up and kept running.

As the pain in his nose and throat got worse, he considered getting to a pharmacy and getting something for a sore throat. Maybe even stealing it, although he disliked such petty shop-lifting (no drama whatsoever). Then there was a bestial roar from right next to him. Something near the ground came at him fast, but before he could jump it, it struck his lower legs hard enough to make him crash face first onto the hard ground. For a moment, all he was aware of was the smell of dirt and recently cut grass, as well as the burning pain inside and the new shock of pain all over.

Then he was kicked over roughly with a large foot. The thief looked up into the intimidating face of a Nidoking, dark violet with harsh black eyes and large pointed horns. How in the world had he missed this Pokemon coming at him? The beast then snatched him up roughly with its coarse paws. It pulled him close to its body, latching onto his legs with its tail, holding his torso securely with one arm, and placing its other paw lightly against his head. Now smelling the sweat of this creature, the thief was terrified. He tried to escape, or move in any fashion, but the Nidoking did not let him.

“If you squirm too much, it could get you poisoned even worse,” a woman’s voice said. “Drop the flute.”

The thief tried to look for the speaker, but could hardly see anything past the Nidoking. And it seemed strong enough to crush his head without adjusting its hold. “Fine, but you wouldn’t have caught me if it wasn’t for your Nidoking,” he grumbled, dropping the flute. He would have to find some other way to a rare and impressively powerful Pokemon… when he escaped from jail, of course.

“No, he just made things go faster,” she replied. “Do you remember the dust on the Flute’s display area? That was from Venomoth’s scales. And you feel sick now, don’t you? With a burning nose and throat, maybe even in your lungs. Before long, things will start to swell, especially in your nose, making you breathe through your mouth. But that isn’t it. No, because then the poison would enter your bloodstream, spreading the pain throughout your body. You would be in utter agony, and it would have been quickened by the fact that you were running. You’re going to spend days with that poison in your body. That is, unless you take the antidote. I have one with me, but then you’re going to have to tell me exactly how you got into the museum and deactivated the alarms. I could catch thieves with her alone; I’m just generous in giving you a chance to avoid the worst of the pain.”

“I’m not one to reveal my methods,” he said defiantly. He prided himself on his thieving abilities and wasn’t about to share his secrets.

“Fine, if you want to stay poisoned. Nido, move your hand please.” When the Pokemon did, the thief briefly saw her face. But then she blew a pile of pale violet dust at his face, causing him to sneeze hard. “And those scales are going to make sure that you don’t get away before the police come. Let’s bring him inside.” She turned and walked back to the museum.

The Nidoking loosened his hold on the thief slightly to follow after his master. By the time they got inside, the thief found that his limbs felt heavy and sluggish. He wasn’t getting away now, and the pain was indeed starting to spread. But he wasn’t going to ruin his pride just because of some pain.

He hoped he wouldn’t.

…

Nidoking Soul Silver entry: Its tail is thick and powerful. If it binds an enemy, it can render the victim helpless quite easily.

Venomoth Soul Silver entry: The powder on its wings is poisonous if it is dark in hue. If it is light in hue, it causes paralysis.

[SugarPesticide]

I am so neglectful of this. DX Well, that and my power cord broke, but that's hardly an excuse. Or is it?

Anyway. I really like how you got into the thief's head, showing us how much burglary is serious business and how he's in this for the lolz and so on. Not to mention that he wasn't part of Team Rocket, those guys are everywhere ...

With a burning noise and throat, maybe even in your lungs.

Burning noise should so be part of Victini's signature move is probably supposed to be burning nose.

I shall attempt to review more frequently, and in the meantime, keep it up! ^_^

(Oh, and ninjas take on all jobs, all the time. We just don't notice.)

[Luxrayess]

Here's a request for you:

Let's do Tyrouge, Hariyama, and Infernape.

And if you feel compelled to do a quadruple challenge, add Hitmontop to that list.

Thanks.

[Ysavvryl]

Burning noise! Some typos are hilarious. Anyhow...

In Process: Tyrogue/Hariyama/Infernape
On Deck: Hitmontop, Dewgong/Grovyle
Fifth gen nominations: Snivy, Morobareru, Waruvial, Ononokus


Armaldo, Swampert, and Whiscash


It flew beneath the seas, its colored membrane wings sending bright warnings of danger. Its rough rocky armor looked tough to break through, even through the wiles of water. Showing no fear, the predator swam in the open, watching schools of small fish for a straggler soon-to-be meal. It was an alien not just to this shore, but to this time; nothing like it existed in the memories of the native Pokemon. And when it got to the sandy shore, it did not hesitate to put down its thick legs and raise up its strong body to walk straight out of the ocean. This beast, the Armaldo, could strike fear into those who saw it for the first time.

If they spent any longer with this creature, they would find out that she wasn’t quite so threatening. Buzzing her wings briefly to shake the water droplets off, Armaldo glanced around the beach. She saw a few familiar Pokemon, sunning themselves under a clear blue sky. There weren’t any humans about. “Hoooo,” she sighed softly. She was supposed to belong to a human, but he had left her here and had not come back yet. Sometimes, she thought of going to look for him.

But for now, she would wait. That, and build a sand castle. It was something she’d wanted to do for a while now. She curled her body downward and began scooping wet sand into a pile. It would be nice if she had one of those shaped buckets that made the turret top so nice, but there were none of those around.

Before long, the surf had crept up and washed over her sand pile as she tried sculpting it. The salt water pushed the pile over, smoothing it out. “Kizzz zibitta zrabbit!” she squealed in the tone of one who was cursing. “Feh.” She scuttled further up the beach. The yellow-tan sand was drier there, and harder to form. But the tides wouldn’t be demolishing her castle so soon.

Armaldo spent a little while gathering a pile of sand again, then went back to the wet stuff to help compact the dry into a better form. It took more work, but as bricks of sand started taking shape, she was pleased with herself. She hummed and kept at her work, blithely ignoring the other Pokemon at the beach.

That is, until one forced her to pay attention. She must not have meant it that way, but the ringleader of the beach Pokemon, both on the sands and in the shallows, burst out of the ocean at high speed. Swampert shot out like a jet, leaping far above the wet sand and landing right next to Armaldo’s line of sand bricks. Much of the piled up dry sand tumbled over, while a few of the bricks cracked.

“Eeee!” Armaldo squealed. Then she glared at the large blue amphibian. “Sccrrii zii bashu zzrribbitt!”

“Oh, sorry Miss Armaldo,” Swampert replied, bowing her head. She might have had authority over the rest, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t kind. “I’m in a bit of a hurry to take care of things with my nest.” She looked over the structure Armaldo had made thus far. It was two lines of bricks almost at a ninety degree angle from each other, with four rows piled on top of each other currently. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your project.”

“Curzat,” Armaldo replied in a huff, then began sweeping the dry sand back into a pile.

I really wish I knew what she was saying, Swampert thought again. Relaxing her fins, she hoped that the strange Pokemon understood her. “I don’t think this is a good time to be building things of sand. The ocean is troubled and tense. Something bad could happen. You may wish to move further inland to be safe.”

But Armaldo was already focused on her sand castle again, scuttling down to the wet stuff to gather material to fix up the cracks. Swampert sighed. Hoping that her odd neighbor didn’t get too badly hurt in what was to come, she dropped down on all fours and hurried along for more supplies. She had a couple of eggs to watch over, after all, and her priority was keeping them safe.

The ancient alien kept on working through the day, slowly building up walls. She didn’t know how to put windows or doors in like the humans could, so she contented herself with two walls to decorate in a castle-type manner later on. As time went on, other beach Pokemon started leaving, seeking out holes for shelter or going inland towards the swamp, looking for rock outcroppings to get on. They tried to warn Armaldo too, but she cooed at them happily, or squabbled, or just plain ignored them. Swampert came back, rolling a large rock through the sand and into the ocean. While she warned others away that weren’t feeling it, she still couldn’t get through to Armaldo.

Then, there was a thumping felt in the ground. Armaldo tensed, watching over her sand brick walls and worrying about cracks. When they lessened, she turned to see a large blue fish from the swamp flopping over the ground. As Whiscash flipped his body about in curves, he forced himself to move forward despite not having true legs. He weighed so much and was so powerful that his movements caused tremors in the ground. And he ruled the swamp areas like Swampert ruled the beach.

But his tremors could have knocked down her sand castle walls. Armaldo hissed at him. “Gochibai zang!” She moved closer to the walls, holding a foreleg up to them protectively.

Whiscash pushed himself closer despite how the sand was sticking to the mucus he used to keep his scales properly wet. “Here you are, Armaldo,” he said. “You know, I don’t have a clue about what you’re saying half the time, but you’re not that bad of a neighbor. You kill and eat those parasite fish in the swamp and share ripe berries you find. So, I decided that I had to come out and warn you that you need to come back with me and get to higher ground.”

She relaxed at his tone, as he didn’t seem to be threatening her structure. She leaned down and patted his head, as her mouth wasn’t made to smile well. Then she focused on getting another damp sand brick on top of the walls.

Lacking arms too, Whiscash lightly clamped on her fanned tail with his lips and tugged to keep her attention. He let go again when she looked back. “If you can understand me, then know that the earth is grinding and beginning to shake. Somewhere out to sea, it will release that tension in an earthquake, and then the ocean will respond with a tsunami. I’ll be all right when the earth moves and even when the water comes. But you are going to be in trouble if you remain here on the low sands. Armaldo, come back with me.”

She tilted her head at him curiously. Armaldo could tell that he felt serious about something. But, she couldn’t understand his words. She couldn’t understand any other Pokemon on this beach. It usually didn’t bother her, as she hadn’t been able to understand her human either. Why was he so serious, though?

Then, it struck. The ground trembled and shook stronger than anything Whiscash had been able to pound out. Trees shook back and forth while the water rippled violently. As it was just made of sand and a little water, Armaldo’s brick walls crumbled, collapsing into a pile of damp sand once more. It only took a few seconds, but it was so strong.

Armaldo drew her limbs in and hunkered down, shaken by the experience. Then she saw the state her sand castle walls were in. After staring at them wide-eyed for a moment, she wailed. After all the effort she had put into it, her castle was gone, just like that.

“This is not good,” Whiscash said, glancing about. “The center of that one wasn’t that far off. You may not have long enough to make it to higher ground.”

By him, Armaldo put her head down on the sand. She was rattled and a bit hurt after that quake, yes. But she was having such trouble with sand castles lately. She thought she might really get one accomplished today.

Then, Swampert emerged from the ocean again. The tides were receding at an odd time, leaving a large quantity of seaweed strewn about. “You’re still here?” she asked. Save for Armaldo and Whiscash, the beach was now vacant. She tensed at seeing her rival for the swamp-beach territory, but then wondered. “Have you been trying to get her away too?”

“Right,” he replied, trying to push his head higher off the ground by putting his fins down. “But we have no way to communicate with her. And, well, I can’t really make gestures to help.”

“She is a strange creature,” Swampert agreed. “Still, she’s a neighbor and I don’t want to see her suffer. I left one of my ‘kips to watch over my nest so nothing gets lost to the tsunami. But it’s going to come quickly, and it may even return.”

Looking over Armaldo, upset over her castle, Whiscash got an idea. “Hey, do you think we can build this pile into a sturdy enough sandbar for her to hide behind? She might understand it as a safe spot when the tsunami appears.”

“I don’t know how safe it will be,” she considered. “But, it’s better than nothing.” She went up to Armaldo and patted her rocky hide. “Come on, miss, we’ll work with you.”

Whiscash took a deep breath, then summoned some water to slap into the sand, causing it to turn muddy and splat onto the sand pile. Swampert had rolled large rocks around her underwater nest to protect it, but she was quite used to moving sand about to make a wave break. On seeing them building up her sand pile, Armaldo stopped crying. She cooed, then moved over to help pile sand up. it wasn’t as elegant a way of building as her brick method. However, it would get a big structure up quickly.

Then the water line receded quickly. The two modern Pokemon recognized this as a bad sign while Armaldo continued patting sand together to strengthen it. But when the water bulged in the distance, starting to build into an enormous wave, she finally recognized the danger. Had that been what these two were worried about? She ducked down and curled up by the sand pile, quivering. While she could swim underneath the water with no trouble, that amount of water rushing right at her would surely do some serious damage.

Whiscash flipped himself closer to the sand pile too, biting down on one of Armaldo’s armor plates to stay in place. On her other side, Swampert put an arm over Armaldo’s curled form, hoping that her bulk could take some of the blow for her odd neighbor. The monster wave built, and then roared right over them, blasting salt water all over the beach and the swamp. It was violent, trying to tear them from behind their sand pile in order to shove them along the ground. Much of the sand pile melted into the water, abrasively pouring over them. Whiscash nearly lost his grip, but they all managed to stay in place, even while the water pulled back nearly as hard as it had pushed forward.

Then, it was past. Debris littered the beach, including a battered wooden boat, a lot of seaweed, a lot of swamp weeds, and discarded shells. The sand pile they had hurriedly put together was half its former size. Still, it had been enough to direct much of the water away from the three Pokemon. Armaldo was still curled up, trembling.

Swampert stood up, looking to the ocean. “Wish we had more warning of these things, though.”

“The earthquake’s been a long time in coming,” Whiscash said, after letting go of Armaldo. “There might be more in coming days. The earth is still tense, but it has let some energy free.”

“Is that so? Thanks for telling me.” She looked down at their neighbor. “Will you look after her, then? Find some Pokemon that can get her to understand and keep her on high ground until things settle down. I’m fairly certain there will be another wave coming, but you should have time.”

He flopped in the sand. “All right. I wish I knew why she’s like this, though.”

Swampert dropped down, nudging Armaldo with her nose. “It’s okay for now, but you’ve got to move. Whiscash, I think I know what the deal with her is. I’ve heard from some of the young ones that the humans can bring ancient Pokemon back to life. I think she’s one of them, originally born in a time before we developed a language for common use. That’s why she shows intelligence, yet is not nearly as developed as the rest of us Pokemon.”

“They can do that, really?” He looked over at Armaldo, cautiously uncurling. “Still, makes it extra tough for one to be released where they don’t belong. Even when, if that’s the case with her. I’ll look after her, but you’ll have to gesture her to follow.”

Nodding, Swampert did her best to reassure Armaldo and point her into following Whiscash further inland. Although overwhelmed, she got the point and now was fine with going along with their suggestions. She would have to leave her sand castle building for another time, when things were safer.

And thus an alliance between the river delta swamp Pokemon and the sandy seashore Pokemon began, all because of a strange ancient alien in their midst.

…

Emerald entry: Armaldo usually lives on land. However, when it hunts for prey, it dives beneath the ocean. It swims around using its two large wings.

Swampert Emerald entry: If it senses the approach of a storm and a tidal wave, it protects its seaside nest by piling up boulders. It swims as fast as a jet ski.

Whiscash Pearl entry: As a result of causing tremors by thrashing about, it developed the ability to foretell real quakes.