404 Error

[TheDarkDragons]

...Like I said, you never know.

Chapter 7: Red's Rattata Run
~~~~~~~~

Red took several deep breaths to steady himself as he stared across the giant battlefield, though he know that his Charmander and Rattata didn't really stand a chance against a Geodude and Rhyhorn.

It's knew, not know.

Still need to fix that.

[SneaselFTW]

Nice fic. Could you add me to the PM list please!
Pretty good grammar, but I noticed one mistake.

"Charmander, Ember!" ordered Charmander.

Other than that, the grammar's fine!

[Missingno. Master]

Nice fic. Could you add me to the PM list please!
Pretty good grammar, but I noticed one mistake.



Other than that, the grammar's fine!

Sure thing! And thanks for catching that. That was weird.


The next chapter is getting done. Slowly, but it's getting done. I've just been really lazy lately. I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the week. Sometime next week at the very latest.

[Eeveeon8]

Whoo!!!
This is awesome!
Now to meditate quietly and try to think of an actual review.

[jeffdavid102]

Just caught up. Can I be added to the PM list? I'm enjoying learning about glitch Pokemon. My only comment: I know you gave Jack a lot of Poison-Types in AoA, but don't be afraid to use some again in this story. Orange can catch a Weezing or Arbok or Nidoking if you want him too. Maybe even Nidoqueen. Jack never got one of them

[Missingno. Master]

Just caught up. Can I be added to the PM list? I'm enjoying learning about glitch Pokemon. My only comment: I know you gave Jack a lot of Poison-Types in AoA, but don't be afraid to use some again in this story. Orange can catch a Weezing or Arbok or Nidoking if you want him too. Maybe even Nidoqueen. Jack never got one of them

Sure thing. And I already have Red, Orange, and Violet's final teams planned out, and there are Poison-types present in these plans. As to who gets what, I won't say just yet.

[Eeveeon8]

Oh, forgot, can you add me to the PM list?

[Missingno. Master]

Oh, forgot, can you add me to the PM list?

Not a problem.

Expect the next chapter within days.

[Missingno. Master]

Sorry for the wait. These summer days are making me lazy. More than usual, anyway.

Chapter 8: Bad Day At Moon Canyon
~~~~~~~~

"Spearow, Fury Attack!" commanded Orange.

"Z4, use your own Fury Attack!" said Orange's Bug Catcher opponent.

The enemy's Z4 sprouted several sharp stingers all over its body and threw itself through the air, though Orange's Spearow took no notice as it flew up high and attempted to dive-bomb its own trainer.

"Hey! HEY!" roared Orange as he narrowly avoided being skewered by his own Spearow. "Not me, Spearow! Attack the enemy!"

"...OK..." the Bug Catcher said slowly, as he realized that the battle wasn't likely to go anywhere fast. "I'm just gonna... leave now." He then proceeded to withdraw Z4 back into its Poké Ball and slowly walk away.

"Hah! I win again! You forfeit! I win aga-OW!" Orange exclaimed as Spearow slammed into him. "Spearow, return!"

Once Spearow was back in its Poké Ball, Red and Violet approached him. Orange grinned at his companions.

"Another victory for me!" he said. "That's four in a row now!"

"They didn't forfeit," sighed Violet for what felt like the trillionth time that day. "They knew your Spearow wasn't gonna attack their Pokémon, so they just left."

"Hey, they're the ones with no patience!" Orange said. "They leave, they forfeit!"

"Orange?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Though Orange stopped talking, he still shot a glare at Violet as the trio continued walking.

The scenery changed somewhat. Though it still looked as random as ever, there was more rock than ever mixed in with the weird square puddles of water, stacks of roofing tiles, and tall trees that looked like they were shoddily built out of fragments of drywall, chunks of brick, ice cubes, and tin cans. Then, Red saw it.

"Whoa," he murmured. For at that point, the ground looked as if it had been cracked open, on a massive scale. The resulting chasm was several miles across, easily.

"Yep," nodded Orange. "This is Moon Canyon."

The walls of Moon Canyon looked very much like the ground on which they walked- random chunks of rock, dirt, grass, odd and out-of-place puddles of water, and the occasional number. Numerous large holes could be seen in various parts of the walls, presumably leading to a network of underground tunnels.

"So how do we get across?" asked Red.

"Oh! I got it!" exclaimed Orange. "Maybe if we get up a good running start, we can jump across it! What?" he added defensively, for Red and Violet had both turned to him with odd expressions on their faces.

"Orange, a Hitmonlee wouldn't be able to make that jump," Violet said. "You can't seriously think you'd be able to."

"Wait a minute," Red said thoughtfully. "I got an idea. What if we just have Q float us across with its psychic powers?"

"Huh... that's actually a good idea," nodded Violet.

"Yeah!" added Orange.

"Nope," came a gruff voice from behind the trio. Simultaneously, they wheeled around to find themselves face-to-face with a very bulky man in hiking gear. "'Fraid that won't work. You ain't the first trainers with ideas like that, I'll have you know."

"Who are you?" asked Red.

"Name's Marc," replied the man. "I'm a hiker, see. Came out to Moon Canyon for a little fun. Gonna climb down one side, then go up the other. That's yer best bet, far as getting across this thing is concerned."

"I'm no good at that sort of thing," Violet said quietly. "Why didn't they just build a bridge across it anyway?"

"They did," Marc said. "Only thing is, there weren't enough funds, so they had to go with one of them cheap rope bridges. Snapped like a twig just two weeks back. Just glad no one was hurt, it had just been due to some Zubat gnawing on the ropes."

"So why don't they fix it?" asked Orange.

Marc shrugged. "Damned if I know," he said. "Probably they realized that kind of bridge weren't that safe, and they're saving up to build something more reliable."

"Wait a minute," Red said. "Why wouldn't using Q's psychic powers to float across the canyon work anyway?"

"Ah, now, as fer that, I can't really say for sure. Telekinetic power never seemed to work right around this canyon. Some say it was cause of that giant Moon Stone what formed this thing to begin with, but I dunno. So anyways, I dunno about you, but I'm climbing my way across that canyon." With that, he headed towards the edge and slowly began to climb down. Red peered over the side and saw that Marc was taking advantage of places where the rocks and numbers jutted out of the canyon's sides, using them to climb down the sheer slope as if it were a ladder.

"That doesn't look too hard, actually," said Red. "What say we give it a shot?"

"I dunno," Orange said warily.

"Orange, stop being such a wuss," snapped Violet. "Red's right, it looks a lot easier than I thought it would be. What's the worst that can happen?"

Though still clearly uncertain about the whole thing, Orange relented. Red started down the side of the canyon, followed by Violet, who was followed by Orange. Red was right- it was easy. The rocks and numbers that jutted out proved to be more than capable of supporting their weight, and were very easy to grip. About halfway down, however, a loud cracking noise could be heard from above Red, followed by Orange's mutter of "Uh-oh."

"I'm almost afraid to ask-" began Red before Orange, having accidentally dislodged a seven with his foot, lost his balance completely and fell onto Violet, who fell onto Red, sending the three trainers plummeting into the abyss.

Down they fell, until with a great SPLASH, they landed in what appeared to be a small pond at the bottom of the canyon, except it seemed to be immeasurably deep. As Red climbed out, he saw Violet doing the same. Then he looked around and realized who was missing.

"Where's Orange?" asked Red.

"Oh, no," gasped Violet. "He can't swim! And these things can get up to fifty feet deep!"

"Oh, man," said Red as Violet got ready to jump back into the water, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Oh, damn! Violet, we gotta do something."

"I'm gonna jump in after him," Violet declared as she approached the edge of the water. Just as she bent her knees and prepared to jump, however, a familiar redheaded figure broke through the surface of the water.

"Orange!" Red exclaimed. "Are you OK- What in the hell are you riding?" For beneath Orange was a strange cubelike being, three feet in every direction, with a blocky and random pattern of various shades of blue all over its body. Out of sheer curiosity, Red held his Pokédex out.

"LM4, the Bubble Cube Pokémon," droned Red's Pokédex. "Though famed for its violent battle style, LM4 is kind-hearted. It will always try to rescue any drowning human it encounters."

"L M," cooed LM4, happy that Orange was OK.

"Hey, guys!" grinned Orange. "Sorry about that. That was awesome, LM4 saved me!"

"I'm glad you're OK," said Red, grinning back. Violet, too, was smiling, though she remained quiet. LM4 drifted to the edge of the deep pond, allowing Orange to climb back onto dry land.

"Thanks, LM4," Orange said as the trio began to walk across the bottom of the canyon, making for the other side. They were shortly stopped, however, by Marc.

"You kids OK?" he asked. "I'd have helped out, only I couldn't climb down no faster."

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks," Violet said. "We-"

At that moment, however, a tremendous explosion rocked the entire canyon, coming from the trio's left. Red led the way as they ran over to see what was happening. Once the dust had settled, they could see a group of men, dressed in identical purple outfits, the shirts all emblazoned with a large, orange "E".

"Hey, what's going on here?" demanded Orange. This caused them to notice the trio.

"Hey! What are you kids doing here?" snapped one of the men, stepping forward, a Poké Ball in his right hand. "We're in the middle of an important mission here, so beat it!"

Violet, however, gasped. "Orange!" she breathed. "That's Team Error!"

"Oh, so you've heard of us, have you?" sneered another man. "Fans of ours, are you?"

"Hardly," Violet replied coldly. "I've heard of you, all right, the way you all cause all sorts of trouble, just like that Team Debug!"

At these words, many of the Team Error grunts let out low hisses.

"Do not compare us to those extremist nincompoops!" roared the first man. "Team Debug's goal is to wipe out entire races of Pokémon! We, the noble Team Error, exist to thwart the dastardly efforts of Team Debug!"

"So what do the explosions accomplish, anyway?" asked Orange.

"Simple," the second man replied. "Team Debug is funding research to have the fossils of ancient Pokémon restored, so we're trying to destroy all the fossils-"

"Idiot!" roared the first man, slapping the second grunt in the face. "What did you tell them that for? Don't you remember what the boss said? Never, never reveal our plans to outsiders!"

"Hey, what gives?!" said the second man defensively. "I didn't reveal our plan to... to... oh, I guess I kinda did, didn't I?"

The first man facepalmed. "I knew the boss was having trouble with finding good recruits, but this is ridiculous," he muttered.

"Uh, Jeff?" the second man said. "Don't we still gotta deal with these kids?"

"What do you mean, deal with us?" Orange exclaimed defiantly.

"I dunno. I mean, they can't be all bad, Larry," Jeff said fairly. "That LM4 there really seems to like the redhead."

"Hmm?" Orange said in surprise. He turned around, and sure enough, the LM4 from before was flopping around his feet, happily exclaiming "L! M! LM4!"

"Yeah, that's true," the second man, apparently called Larry, said. "It's rare to see a trainer that's so liked by Modern Pokémon."

"Modern Pokémon?" repeated Red questioningly.

"Yeah, Modern Pokémon," said Jeff. "The ones that are really geometric in shape. LM4, .4, 44Hy, and the like. Team Debug, see, hates those kinds of Pokémon, calls them Glitch Pokémon." Jeff made a distasteful face as he spoke those last two words. "They seem to think Modern Pokémon aren't natural, and prefer to stick with Old Pokémon, stuff like Raichu and Goldeen and Weezing. Still, for kids who like Modern Pokémon, why are you opposing us?"

"Well, for one thing, fossils belong in museums," stated Violet. "You're blowing up pieces of history."

"It's a little iffy, yeah," conceded Jeff, "but we got our orders. The boss wants us to stop Team Debug's plans before they start. Say, could we see the rest of the Modern Pokémon you all have?"

"OK..." said Orange as he took all the Poké Balls off his belt and threw them. "Come on out, everybody!"

The balls burst open and unleashed blasts of energy which formed themselves into Q, .4, and Spearow. Larry nodded approvingly at .4, but Jeff narrowed his eyes at the sight of Spearow.

"You dare possess an Old Pokémon?" he exclaimed. "What are you, a Debug loyalist or something?! You try to gain our trust with your Modern Pokémon, and then you pull this garbage?!"

"What's the difference, anyway?!" Orange exploded. "Pokémon are Pokémon! I'll admit Spearow and I don't get along that well, but I still love him the same as the rest of my team!"

Spearow, meanwhile, had paused in his ascent, which would probably have led to dive-bombing. Unknown to anyone else, he was listening to what Orange was saying.

"Well, then, we'll just have to teach you proper respect, won't we?" sneered Jeff as he threw a Poké Ball. "Go! pPkMnp!"

Jeff's Poké Ball unleashed into the open a black-and-white being with sparse blue and red markings. It was rectangular in shape, though it was more vertical than A had been. Its entire left side was cloaked in a sinister purple aura. It let loose a deep roar. Orange took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the creature.

"pPkMnp, the Fortress Pokémon," said the Pokédex. "pPkMnp moves slowly and cannot attack with much effectiveness. Its true strengths lie in its rock-solid defense. pPkMnp is of the Poison-type."

"This will be tricky, Orange," warned Violet. "Physical blows will do almost nothing to a pPkMnp!"

Before Orange could reply to this, LM4 had flopped its way in front of Orange. "Four!" it exclaimed defiantly.

"Wow," Red said. "Orange, I think LM4 wants to fight p... pkm... that thing!"

"I'd say so," Orange murmured. "Is this true, LM4?"

"L! LM!" LM4 exclaimed in an encouraging tone.

Orange then broke out into a wide grin as he consulted his Pokédex for a list of LM4's attacks. "Ooh," he muttered. "Lot of good ones here. All right, LM4! Water Gun!"

"Foooouuur!" bellowed LM4 as it let loose a stream of water from the front of its body.

"pPkMnp, use Sludge!" Jeff growled.

pPkMnp roared as a stream of thick, smelly, black liquid blasted forth from its body, meeting the Water Gun halfway. Neither move allowed the other to make any further progress, and the two combatants quickly ceased to use them.

"LM4, Quick Attack now!" Orange commanded.

With blinding speed, LM4 leapt off the ground and lunged at pPkMnp, only to bounce off the Poison-type's body with a resounding CLAAAAANG.

"Orange, I told you, physical moves won't do much to it!" Violet hissed.

"We got 'im now!" Jeff exclaimed. "Use Thunder!"

"Aurora Beam now!" Orange called desperately.

As pPkMnp's body crackled with electricity, LM4 unleashed a rainbow-colored ray from one of its corners, causing the Fortress Pokémon to roar in pain. It fell backwards and hit the ground with a thud, and moved no more.

"Nice one, LM4!" Orange exclaimed as Jeff withdrew his pPkMnp. Larry, however, took Jeff's place, throwing a Poké Ball of his own.

"Now it's my turn!" he declared. Go, 7g!"

In a flash of light, a small, pink cube with strange, dot-like black and white markings materialized. It floated in midair, appearing to be not much larger than a .4.

"G...." it muttered in a voice which suggested an overall lack of intelligence. Curious, Red held his Pokédex out at this newcomer.

"7g, the Slow Pokémon," it droned. "Though low in intelligence, it will always obey an order given to it. Even if ordered to use a move it does not know, it will attempt to use it anyway."

"LM4, you can't do this," insisted Orange. "You're a Water and Fighting-type, and 7g is a Water and Psychic-type. You're at a disadvantage."

"M!" replied LM4 defiantly as it made a motion similar to shaking one's head.

"Are you sure?" Orange asked.

"Four," was the response. This time, LM4 seemed to be nodding.

"Your funeral," said Larry. "7g, Confusion!"

"Seeeevvveeeeen...." yawned 7g as it unleashed a ray of blue Psychic energy.

"Dodge it with Quick Attack!" Orange exclaimed. Swiftly, LM4 bounded out of the way of the attack, then lunged at 7g and tackled it to the ground.

"Use Double-Edge, 7g!" roared Larry.

"LM4, PoisonPowder!" Orange commanded.

7g rose back into the air and prepared to slam into LM4, only to be met with a cloud of shimmering purple dust, sprayed from the four topmost corners of the cube that was LM4. 7g instead fell to the ground and began coughing.

"Let's wrap this up!" Orange shouted triumphantly. "Rolling Kick!"

"Foooooooooooooooooour!" LM4 called out as it bounded into the air. Out of its side sprouted a mass of glowing brown energy which formed itself into a foot-like shape. LM4 then began spinning around as it descended, and slammed its foot into 7g, plowing it into the ground.

Scowling, Larry withdrew his unconscious 7g. "This is not over," he said menacingly.

"Oh, I think it is," sneered Violet as she took out a Poké Ball of her own. "Flutters, use your Sleep Powd-"

"Error Smoke Screen!" one of the grunts randomly shouted as he threw a small, grey sphere to the ground. Almost before the Butterfree was clear of its Poké Ball, the smoke cleared, revealing the Error Grunts to have fled. Then, a familiar pinging sound could be heard from behind Orange and Violet- the sound of a Poké Ball successfully catching a Pokémon. Simultaneously, they turned around to spot Red gleefully scooping up a Poké Ball.

"Red, what's that?" asked Violet.

"Didn't you see me and LM4 battle?" asked Orange dejectedly.

"Of course I did," said Red. "But I saw that one of those rocks that was loosened by the explosion was about to flatten a wild Paras, so I did the first thing I could think of- I threw a Poké Ball at it. The ball knocked Paras out of the rock's path, and then caught it. OK, Paras, come on out," he added as he held out the ball. In a flash of light, a small, orange creature appeared. It had four small legs, and two larger front ones, which more closely resembled claws than anything else. A pair of large, beady eyes poked out of its front, directly above its small mouth. On its back sat a pair of small mushrooms.

"Paaaras?" squeaked the Pokémon, seeming to only just become aware that it was not about to be crushed by a falling boulder. Orange stifled a squeak as he hid behind Violet and held out his Pokédex.

"Paras, the Mushroom Pokémon," droned the device. "Paras burrows underground to suck on tree roots. Its mushrooms grow by absorbing nutrients from the bug host. Paras is a Bug and Grass-type."

"It's kinda cute," smiled Violet.

"It's kind of a Bug-type," shuddered Orange.

"Well, I like it," declared Red. "I was only trying to rescue it, but now that I see it up close, I kinda like this little guy." At these words, Paras happily climbed up onto Red's shoulder.

Orange opened his mouth, possibly to object to Paras's inclusion in the group, when a small cry of "Fooooour?" distracted him. He looked down to see LM4 gently nudging him.

"Wha- Ohhhh," smiled Orange as he knelt down to LM4. "You wanna come with me, don't you?"

"L! LM4!" exclaimed LM4 happily.

Now grinning widely, Orange took a Poké Ball out of his backpack and wordlessly tapped LM4 with it. The Bubble Cube Pokémon was transformed into transparent red energy and vacuumed into the sphere. The Poké Ball barely wobbled before making its telltale ping sound.

"All right!" Orange exclaimed. "I caught an LM4!"

"Cool, I guess," said Red as Orange withdrew Q, .4, and Spearow. "Truth be told, I'm still really weirded out by all these different Pokémon."

"You'll get used to them, Red," Violet said kindly. "I know, Tanko is still kind of a strange place to you-"

"Oh, come on," scoffed Orange. "What part of this place could possibly be considered strange?

"Orange?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 8.

[jeffdavid102]

I like the idea. You incorporated another off-screen capture but this one was different. It made more sense and seemed more thought out than other ones you've done in AoA. BTW, I noticed in your signature, it only says chapter 6 is up in 404 Error. I believe we're on chapter 8.
I think the following is a bit obviously going to happen:
    Spoiler:- Its gonna happen:

Show Spoiler

 
Red is eventually going to catch a Glitch Pokemon and love the "modern Pokemon" like how Misty got over her bug-phobia and became more fond of bug types than anyone else in the group.
 

[SneaselFTW]

Cool. I can't spot any grammar mistakes. My current favourite pokemon of this fic is Spearow. But I don't think that Spearow's going to attack Orange any more cause of the speech.

[Missingno. Master]

I like the idea. You incorporated another off-screen capture but this one was different. It made more sense and seemed more thought out than other ones you've done in AoA. BTW, I noticed in your signature, it only says chapter 6 is up in 404 Error. I believe we're on chapter 8.

Yeah, forgot about that. Fixed, thanks.

    Spoiler:- Its gonna happen:

Show Spoiler

 
Red is eventually going to catch a Glitch Pokemon and love the "modern Pokemon" like how Misty got over her bug-phobia and became more fond of bug types than anyone else in the group.
 

    Spoiler:- Well...:

Show Spoiler

 
Maybe. Maybe not.

What? You were expecting a spoiler in this spoiler tag?
 

Cool. I can't spot any grammar mistakes. My current favourite pokemon of this fic is Spearow. But I don't think that Spearow's going to attack Orange any more cause of the speech.

Orange's speech certainly will have had an effect on Spearow.

[Knightfall]

Nice chapter, we are introduced to Team Error and see that they are just as messed up as Team Debug. Lots of battling and two new Pokemon join the group.
Sorry about the short post, I got a bad connection where I am, but I'm not going to let that spoil my record of posting after every chapter.

Knightfall signing off...

[Missingno. Master]

Nice chapter, we are introduced to Team Error and see that they are just as messed up as Team Debug. Lots of battling and two new Pokemon join the group.
Sorry about the short post, I got a bad connection where I am, but I'm not going to let that spoil my record of posting after every chapter.

Knightfall signing off...

Glad you like it! And don't worry about the short post. I'm too impressed by your dedication to be bothered by it.

[UltimatePokemonExpert]

Awesome chapter! Finally Red captures a new pokemon, it's been awhile. Good work MM.

[Moonlight Amaryllis]

Well. This is something. I read a little bit of your Adventures of Adventureness and grew bored rather fast. But this story is actually pretty interesting!

I keep on referencing to Bulbapedia to these Glitch Pokemon, and is it my imagination, or are they all almost the exact same thing?!

Throwing in this whole parallel universe thing in actually somewhat appealing. Watching Red scratching his head along with the rest of us over the weirdness of this all is keeping me sane, I think.

There are errors. Fix them. Or else.

The oldest game I've ever played was FireRed...

Can I be on the PM list?

I made an equation with this story;

Orange=Idiot

Oh, yeah, andnfhb3685 SHUTTING DOOOWWWN ERROR ERROR

(Sorry, Knightfall for ripping you off)

[Eeveeon8]

Nice story! Now to stop reading so I can read the Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan. I can't wait for the next chapter! I might have to make sprites for the trainers. Hurray!

[Missingno. Master]

Awesome chapter! Finally Red captures a new pokemon, it's been awhile. Good work MM.

Thanks, glad to see you liked it.

Well. This is something. I read a little bit of your Adventures of Adventureness and grew bored rather fast. But this story is actually pretty interesting!

Well, I'm glad you think so. Not the part about getting bored with The Adventure of Adventureness, the bit about how this story is interesting.

I keep on referencing to Bulbapedia to these Glitch Pokemon, and is it my imagination, or are they all almost the exact same thing?!

It's probably best to consult Bulbapedia for info on the Glitch Pokémon. Some of them do indeed have things in common with each other. Some of them look the same as others (tbh I haven't worked out how I'm gonna handle that yet, but it will be addressed at one point), some share identical movepools, and so forth.

Throwing in this whole parallel universe thing in actually somewhat appealing. Watching Red scratching his head along with the rest of us over the weirdness of this all is keeping me sane, I think.

And there is a lot more head-scratching to come for poor Red. Certain... unique aspects of Tanko's unusual terrain will come into the story soon enough.

There are errors. Fix them. Or else.

Point out any errors I've missed and I'll be glad to fix 'em.

The oldest game I've ever played was FireRed...

Well, RBY's where it started for me, so I'm pretty familiar with the original games. Back in those days, Wrap was actually worth using, Hyper Beam didn't make you recharge if the opponent was KO'd by it, and Toxic + Leech Seed was a combination to be feared and dreaded. Oh, lord, now I feel old.

Can I be on the PM list?

Not a problem.

I made an equation with this story;

Orange=Idiot

You=right

Nice story! Now to stop reading so I can read the Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan. I can't wait for the next chapter! I might have to make sprites for the trainers. Hurray!

Ooh, sprites, I'd like to see those. FYI, for Red's sprite, it'd be more like how Red dressed back in Generation I than how his current sprites and artwork depict him, FYI.

The next chapter, I'll be honest, I have not started yet. I'll probably be getting out the next Special Chapter for The Adventure of Adventureness first, whenever I get that done. I'll try to get something done by the end of the month, but beyond that, no promises.

[Missingno. Master]

OK, you know how I said I'd probably get the next Adventure of Adventureness special chapter out before the next 404 Error chapter? Yeah, not so much. I'll be honest, I'm growing more fond of writing for this than for The Adventure of Adventureness. Only slightly, though. I still enjoy writing that, just not as much as this, at least at the moment. But enough about that, enjoy Chapter 9!

Chapter 9: Adventures in Psyduck-Sitting
~~~~~~~~

The rest of the journey through Moon Canyon was relatively uneventful. The trio climbed their way out of the canyon, ending up on the opposite end from where they started, with not a single issue.

"Well, thank goodness we got out of there," remarked Orange as he looked back at the vast chasm. "Should be smooth sailing the rest of the way to Ruceelna City."

"Good," said Red. "Though with the Gym coming up, don't you guys think we ought to get in some training?"

"Good thinking, Red," nodded Violet. "OK, so who's gonna battle who first? Wait, hold that thought, what's that?"

Confused, Red turned to look, for something behind him had caught Violet's attention. It quickly became evident what it was; making its way unsteadily across the rough and uneven terrain was a plump, yellow creature with a large, flat bill on its face. It waddled on a pair of webbed feet that seemed to be directly attached to the bottom of its body, without any legs, and it was clutching its head with a pair of limbs that appeared to be halfway between arms and wings.

"Oh, a Psyduck!" said Red, having spotted the Pokémon. "I've seen those before." Violet took out her Pokédex and pointed it at the Psyduck.

"Psyduck, the Duck Pokémon," the device droned. "Constantly plagued by a headache. It has been known to exhibit mysterious powers on occasion."

"Wait, so that thing always has a headache?" asked Orange. "That is weird."

"Well, I like it," grinned Violet as she readied a Poké Ball. "I think I know what I'm catching today!" She then threw the sphere. "Chompy, I choose you!" she called out.

The ball split open, and in a flash of light, Violet's Bellsprout appeared. "Bellsprout," it said as it faced Psyduck, who had only just noticed the group.

"Psy?" asked Psyduck as it tilted its head, its face registering a look of total cluelessness.

"Chompy, Vine Whip now!" Violet ordered.

"Sprooouut!" exclaimed Chompy as it extended a pair of slender green vines, intent on whipping the Psyduck with them. Psyduck, however, moved quickly; it stopped clutching its head and instead used its wing-like arms to grab the ends of the vines and yank on them, pulling Chompy in close. Psyduck then wrapped its arms around the Bellsprout and began to wrestle with it in a reckless manner.

"Is that a Submission attack?" asked Orange, somewhat impressed. "I didn't think a Psyduck could pull off such a move!"

"Chompy, use Growth!" said Violet.

"Bell... sproooooouuuut!" replied Chompy as its body began to increase in size, forcing Psyduck to let go. Then, without waiting for orders, the Bellsprout coiled its root-like body around Psyduck and began to squeeze hard. Frantically, Psyduck launched a stream of water from its bill, but the Water Gun failed to hit its target.

"Whoa, check it out!" Orange breathed. "What's going on with Chompy?" Violet's Pokédex spoke up, answering the question,

"Wrap," it said. "An attack involving the binding and squeezing of the opponent with one's long body, vines, or tentacles. Inflicts damage and temporarily immobilizes one's foe."

"Nice!" Violet exclaimed. "Chompy, you learned how to use Wrap! OK, keep it up!"

Red, however, was remembering how the Pokédex had mentioned Psyduck's mysterious powers. At the same time, he couldn't help but notice that an ominous blue glow had appeared in Psyduck's eyes- the sort of glow he'd come to associate with the usage of the Confusion attack.

"Violet, look out," he warned, "I think it's about to use-"

"DUUUUUUUUUCK!" screamed Psyduck suddenly, blasting Chompy with a ray of blue light, forcing the Bellsprout to relinquish its grip and throwing it through the air, where it landed at Violet's feet, struggling to get back up.

"...Confusion," Red finished lamely.

"Chompy, are you OK?" asked Violet.

"Sproooout..." moaned Chompy as the Bellsprout unsteadily climbed to its root feet.

"So what's the deal with this thing, anyway?" asked Orange. "What, is it Water and Psychic?"

"No, just Water," said Red. "Professor Oak told me that a Psyduck's psychic powers are more potent when its headache was worse. I'm guessing that Wrap attack didn't do much for its headache."

"Didn't even think of that," muttered Violet. "Chompy, let's try Sleep Powder!"

"Sproooooout," replied Chompy as it exhaled a cloud of glittering blue dust from its mouth. Psyduck's eyelids began to droop as the powder settled all around it. Finally, the Duck Pokémon slumped to the ground, snoring softly.

Wasting no time, Violet pulled a Poké Ball out of her fanny pack, enlarged it, and threw it. "Go, Poké Ball!" she shouted as she did this. The ball whizzed through the air, and once it struck the sleeping Psyduck, split open. At the same time, Psyduck was turned into a shapeless mass of translucent red energy, which was then sucked into the open ball. The Poké Ball snapped shut and hit the ground, whereupon it began to rock back and forth. Violet held her breath, her eyes focused upon the wiggling sphere, as if convinced here persistent glare would help keep it shut.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the ball emitted a single pinging sound and fell still. Violet exhaled and scooped up the Poké Ball. "I caught Psyduck! Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Nice," said Orange, grinning.

"Congratulations, Violet," added Red. "What are you gonna name it?"

"Migraine," she responded. "I know that once it evolves into Golduck, it won't have a headache anymore, but by that time, its psychic powers will be intense enough that it could give its opponents headaches if it wanted to."

"Clever," replied Red, clearly impressed.

"Or, you're just too lazy to think of a name that would suit it as a Golduck," chimed in Orange.

"Orange?" sighed Violet exasperatedly.

"Wh-Ohhhhhhh, no, no, no, you do not!" Orange exclaimed suddenly. "Don't think I haven't noticed this, Vi. You want me to go 'What?' so you can tell me to shut up, like you always do. Well, not this time! You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna just stay quiet and not answer you!" As if to prove his point, Orange slammed his mouth closed, and gave Violet a very smug grin. Violet raised her eyebrows at this, but did not question his logic.

"Come on," she said to Orange and Red as she withdrew Chompy. "We keep walking now, we should get to Ruceelna before nightfall." With that, she led the way, Orange still smirking smugly, mouth tightly shut. Within minutes, however, Orange's smug demeanor slowly gave way to a look of dawning comprehension.

"Hey, wait a minute!" shouted Orange suddenly. "That's not fair!"

"Took you long enough to figure that out, Orange," laughed Violet. "Mind you, I'm not complaining. The silence was a nice change of pace."

"Change of pace!?" repeated Orange indignantly. "Are you implying that I talk too much? Huh? Are you saying I talk too much? Red, do I talk too much?"

Red jumped slightly, clearly not having expected to have to participate in this conversation. "Well... I... Uh..." he stammered. Fortunately for him, Orange was far too impatient to wait for a coherent answer.

"There, you see?" he said to Violet. "Red doesn't think I'm too talkative. If he was, he'd have said something." Violet facepalmed.

"So, yeah, about training for the next Gym?" Red prompted Violet.

"Red, I thought you'd want to rush through this region as fast as possible, though," Orange said in surprise. "Don't you wanna get to Bincanar Island as quick as possible, get some answers, and get home?"

"I do," Red assured him. "But truth be told, I find Tanko to be fascinating. I do want to go home, but I figure as long as I'm here, why not make the most of it?"

"That's a good attitude to have, Red," Violet said, smiling approvingly.

"You're still not used to some of the Pokémon here, though, are ya?" asked Orange. "When are you gonna start warming up to .4 and Q and-"

"When you start warming up to Paras and Caterpie," retorted Red. This shut Orange up. Violet was quick to notice this, and smiled at Red. Orange saw this, and it seemed to further annoy him.
~~~~~~~~
Not much later, Violet voiced the notion that they should all take a break for a little while. Red, whose legs were starting to ache from the constant walking, combined with the previous bout of rock climbing, was more than happy to agree with this. Orange, on the other hand, was not so obliging.

"Come on, guys!" he whined. "I thought we were gonna try to get to Ruceelna City before nightfall!"

"Orange, relax, we're making good time," said Violet. "We can afford a short break. Why don't we let our Pokémon out, let them relax too?"

"Sounds like a plan," replied Red as he threw three Poké Balls into the air. "Charmeleon, Rattata, Paras, come on out!"

"Chompy, Flutters, Migraine, let's go!" added Violet as she launched her three Poké Balls.

"Q, .4, Spearow, LM4, we might as well," sighed Orange, who seemed to finally accept that Violet and Red weren't about to listen to his constant whining any time soon.

With a great display of dazzling white light, the ten Pokémon materialized. Charmeleon stood a fair distance from the rest of them, arms folded, and Spearow began to fly in large circles over everyone's heads, but the rest of the Pokémon began to interact with one another eagerly. Migraine, however, didn't seem too interested in talking; LM4 approached the Duck Pokémon and began to talk to it, but its responses of "Psy? Duck?" were apparently not what the Water/Fighting-type was hoping to hear, as it flopped away shortly afterwards.

"I'm so bored," whined Orange. "Why can't we keep going?"

"You don't want to rest a little bit, Orange?" asked Red, who was currently seated upon what appeared to be an aluminum tree stump. "That climb wasn't exactly easy."

"Red's right, Orange," added Violet. "We can't just wear ourselves out with constant physical activity, it's not healthy. We got to take it easy every once in a- Q, what is it?"

For at that moment, the Deep Sea Pokémon had floated over to the trio (Red, who hadn't seen it coming, tumbled backwards in shock, falling off his stump). "Kyuuu, kyuuu," it said, its voice full of urgency.

"It's trying to tell us something," observed Orange as Q motioned in the direction of the other Pokémon. The group looked at the Pokémon, trying to figure out what was wrong, when Violet suddenly gasped.

"Migraine's gone!" she exclaimed. "We have to find him!" Immediately, Red and Orange ran over to their Pokémon.

"Charmeleon, Paras, Rattata, any of you see where Migraine went?" asked Red.

"Char?" replied Charmeleon in a confused voice.

"Parrrras?" added Paras, seeming to be equally confused.

"Rattata?" chimed in Rattata.

"The Psyduck! Violet's Psyduck," said Red. "Which way did the Psyduck go?"

Charmeleon merely shrugged, while Rattata shook its head. Paras, however, gave a call of "Par! Paras!" and began scuttling off.

".4, go and search for the Psyduck from the air!" Orange was saying as Red called out.

"Guys, come on! Paras saw which way Migraine went!"

Immediately, Violet and Orange withdrew the rest of their Pokémon, only for Orange to realize Spearow had evaded the ball's beam; it was instead flying alongside .4.

"Red, check it out!" exclaimed Orange. "Spearow's looking for Migraine along with .4!"

"That's cool and all, but come on!" Violet said urgently. Paras saw which way my Psyduck went, we're following it!"

Though clearly reluctant to follow a Bug-type, Orange nevertheless took off after Red and Violet, both of whom were keeping close behind Paras, who was scuttling along the rocky, grassy, muddy, metallic, wet landscape as fast as its legs would carry it. After several minutes of this, however, Paras had lost the trail.

"Never mind, Paras," said Red consolingly as he held out its Poké Ball. "You did great. Take a rest."

Once Paras was back in its ball, an agitated chattering noise could be heard as .4 zipped up to Orange.

".4, you found Migraine?" said Orange. In response, .4 gibbered unintelligibly, zipped three times around Orange's head, and took off in a different direction. The trio gave chase, though not without difficulty; in order to follow .4, they had to navigate their way around a lot of strange rock formation/tree combinations and several odd tree-like structures that seemed to be made entirely of drywall and machine parts. After a few minutes, they came to a small clearing, with two identically dressed men in dreadfully similar white uniforms, each one with a green D emblazoned on the shirt.

"Team Debug!" exclaimed Orange, Red, and Violet simultaneously. At this, the two men wheeled around. Red could now see two steel cages on the ground behind the men- one contained Migraine, the other had Orange's Spearow.

"You twerps again!" exclaimed one of the men, who Red recognized from Ivadirin Forest.

"You're that bunch from Ivadirin Forest!" said Violet. "Give back my Psyduck!"

"And my Spearow!" Orange added.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, kiddies," said the other grunt, who Red recognized as Lou. "You see, if we're gonna thwart Team Error, we need all the extra Pokémon we can get our hands on- OW!" he exclaimed, for his associate, Will, had slapped him.

"You idiot!" roared Will. "When are you gonna stop revealing our plans to non-Debug personnel?!"

"Oh, relax, we can take 'em," said Lou as he readied a Poké Ball. "Mankey, let's go!"

"Tangela, you too!" Lou added, throwing a Poké Ball of his own.

In twin flashes of light, Mankey and Tangela materialized. Both Pokémon narrowed their eyes, recognizing their opponents.

"Let's do this," announced Red as he threw a Poké Ball. "Paras, I choose you!"

"Chompy, let's go!" added Violet, throwing her own Poké Ball.

Both Paras and the Bellsprout Chompy appeared before their respective trainers, facing their foes defiantly.

"Tangela, Constrict!" called Lou.

"Mankey, Mega Punch!" Will ordered.

"Chompy, use Wrap on Mankey!" said Violet.

"Paras, use Leech Life on Tangela!" commanded Red.

Tangela made the first move, extending a pair of teal vines from the tangled mass that was its body. Paras scuttled out of the way, then lunged at Tangela and bit one of its vines. Tangela gave a squeal of pain and tried to shake the Bug and Grass-type off, but Paras held on tight. Mankey, meanwhile, attempted to slam its fist into the Bellsprout, but Chompy merely wrapped its body around its foe once it got close enough.

"Enough of this!" Will said angrily. "Mankey, use Swift!"

Mankey screeched angrily as it unleashed a cluster of glowing star-shaped fragments of energy from its nose. The stars maneuvered through the air, returning to strike Chompy with excellent precision, causing the Bellsprout to loosen its grip momentarily. Seizing the opportunity, Manky wrenched its right arm free and executed Mega Punch, slamming Chompy to the ground. At the same time, Tangela used the vine Paras was sucking energy from to unleash its Slam attack. Paras was forced to let go as it was slammed against the ground, and it landed next to Chompy, who was struggling to get back up.

"Come on, guys," said Red quietly, desperately. Then, a stream of water struck Mankey squarely in the back, while a brown-and-red blur crashed into Tangela.

"Wh- Orange?!" exclaimed Violet. At this, Will and Lou wheeled around. There, standing triumphantly beside a pair of opened and vacant steel cages, was Orange. Q was floating by his side, and as they watched, Spearow landed on his shoulder. Migraine, meanwhile, waddled back to Violet as fast as it could.

"Little tip for you," said Orange, a smug look on his face. "You might want to consider cages with a more reliable lock. Q barely had to do anything to get it open."

"Kyuuu..." Q murmured modestly.

"Spear! Spearow!" cawed Spearow angrily, glaring at the Team Debug grunts.

"That abomination again! It's hideous!" exclaimed Lou as he pointed at Q. "Come on, Will, let's take it out! Tangela, Skull Bash now!"

"Mankey, use Thrash!" added Will.

Orange turned to face the Spearow on his shoulder and gave it a small smile, which Red could have sworn the Spearow had returned. "Use Razor Wind," Orange said simply. Immediately, Spearow took off and flapped its wings rapidly, unleashing a blast of air at Tangela and Mankey, both of whom screeched in pain.

"It obeyed him!" said Red. "Spearow's listening to Orange now!"

"Probably because Orange went to the trouble to save it," remarked Violet. "Though come to think of it, that little speech of his back in Moon Canyon, I'm willing to bet Spearow was moved by it."

"Spearow, let's finish it! Take Down now!" called Orange.

"Speeeeeeeeeeaaarrrowww!" screeched Spearow as it dove down at Mankey and Tangela, plowing them into their respective trainers. Knowing that this was probably the best time to cut their losses and leave while they still could, Will and Lou withdrew their Pokémon and fled into the woods.

"This isn't over, twerps!" roared Lou. "This isn't over!!"

"Nice going, Orange," said Red as everyone withdrew their Pokémon. "You finally got Spearow to listen to you, and you saved Migraine."

"Yeah... thanks," added Violet, albeit somewhat reluctantly, a fact that Orange was quick to pick up on.

"You really hate the fact that I did something right, don't you?" laughed Orange. "You're happiest when you get to argue with me and tell me to shut up and stuff, aren't you?"

"No," scoffed Violet. "It's just that you doing things right and saving the day, it's a new concept to me. I'm gonna have to get used to it."

"Whatever, let's get moving," said Orange.

"Yeah, we might as well," conceded Red. "Especially if there's more Team Debug goons in the area."

"Good point," Violet admitted. The trio began walking again, managing to make their way out of the grove of rock/drywall/machine part trees with little issue. As it turned out, however, their little detour had taken them quite a distance, and it was therefore not very long before the skyline of a city came into view, all the buildings appearing to be made of pieces of fence, odd numbers, gravel, and various pieces of landscaping. Some buildings seemed to have pools of water built into walls, with the surfaces seeming to be completely vertical, which, as far as Red knew, defied the laws of physics.

"We're here," said Orange. "Ruceelna City!

~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 9.

[Knightfall]

Another chapter? Alright then.

Nice scene with Psyduck, I've always had a liking for them and his evolution. He'll come in handy for the next gym me thinks.

Team Debug, when will you learn to go ahead and spend a little extra money on stronger cages?

I'm still on my vacation, so this post will have to end now. Great chapter.

Knightfall signing off...