Trainer Files: Journeys in the Region of Fire

Characters:

Jenny: 12

Laura: 12

Seto: 13

{In a forest}

“Guess what?” asked a male with sarcasm. He was walking with two other girls in a thick forest. The trees even blocked out the sunlight, creating an eerie setting, even though it was still noon.

“What?” asked the shorter girl back. She had shoulder-length black hair. She also was about 5’ and had on a black shirt with jeans. She was Chinese.

“We’re lost!” replied the male. He had brown hair. He wore a light blue shirt and beige pants. His collar and cuffs of his sleeves were yellow.

“Wow. You’re a natural genius,” said the taller girl. She was 5’ 6” and was always being a smart-alec. She had long brown hair. Her most prominent feature was her hat, which had a pink arch and a pink band near the rim of the hat, which went all the way around it.

“I’m glad you think so, Jenny,” returned the boy.

“Oh please, I’ve met SLUGS that are smarter than you, Seto,” replied Jenny.

“Sphea!”

“Huh, what was that?” asked the short girl.

“I don’t know, Laura,” replied Jenny.

“Look, over there!” pointed out Seto. There was a large lake. In it was a Gyarados attacking a Spheal!

“Hey, you Gyarados! Stop hurting that Spheal!” called Laura. She was met with a threatening glare. “Well, it you’re not going to stop, then we’ll just have to battle! Go Marshtomp!”

“Marsh!” Marshtomp called.

“Raaaa dos!” Gyarados used Hyper Beam.

“Huh?” said Laura. “Marshtomp--”

“Go Pikachu! Thunder!” called a voice.

“Pika… chu!!!”

The Gyarados fainted at Laura’s feet. The man with the Pikachu threw a Pokeball at the Gyarados and captured it. The Remoraid started to swim away.

“Oh no you don’t! Go Eevee! Stop that Spheal!” called Laura.

“Vee!”

“Sphea?”

“Now use Tackle!” Laura commanded. The Tackle almost knocked out the Remoraid. “Go, Lure Ball!” The blue ball shook three times, the middle button glowing red. Suddenly, the ball stopped with a bing noise. Laura caught her first Pokemon! “I caught… a Spheal!”

“Vee eevee!” Eevee replied happily. Laura named him Odie.

“It can’t be!” muttered Jenny.

“Can’t be what?” both Laura and Seto asked at the same time.

“The guy with the Pikachu. It has to be him!” replied Jenny excitedly.

“Who?” Laura and Seto asked again.

“You don’t know? I’m talking about the Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum!”

“Yes. That’s me,” replied the man. He slid down from the cliff he was standing on and introduced himself and his Pikachu.

“What other Pokemon do you have?” Jenny asked eagerly.

“None at the moment, except for that Gyarados.”

“So you started all over again?”

“Yes. Here, in the regions of fire, I wanted to see what exotic new Pokemon there might be. But, so far, I have found none.”

“There are rare fire Pokemon in this region, but we haven’t seen any,” Seto told Ash.

“Ah. Well, gotta be on my way. Come on, Pikachu,” said Ash as he walked away.

“Wow. I can’t believe I met Pokemon Master Ash!” Jenny’s eyes were sparkling as she though about her first encounter with a public image.

A silence followed, broken by Laura’s cry of, “Wow! Jenny, Seto, come look over here!” Laura exclaimed. They followed her voice to find a lake.

“Wow, it sparkles like crystal!” exclaimed Jenny. The three decided to stop at this lake, Lake May it was called, to have a picnic lunch. Suddenly, a sound was heard. Or, rather two sounds.

“Illumise!”

“Volbeat vol!”

“Wow!” Jenny said through a mouth full of food. “An Ilmllmumise and a Volmbmeat!”

“Wha?” asked Laura.

Jenny swallowed her food. “An Illumise and a Volbeat!” she exclaimed. There were two trainers standing on the dock. Laura recognized them immediately.

“Why, those are Romeo and Juliet!” she exclaimed. Romeo looked over at them.

“Hello. Are you here for the show?” asked Romeo.

“Well, we weren’t, but it wouldn’t hurt,” said Jenny.

“Ah! That’s great,” remarked Juliet. The trio watched the light show and got bored almost to death. They went on their way to another town.

“Finally, we’re out of that forest!” exclaimed Jenny.

“There’s a gym in this town,” remarked Laura.

“WHEEEEHHEEE! GYM, HERE I COME!” Jenny raced over to the gym.

“Uhh… it’s a water gym…” said Laura. Jenny was too far away to hear, though. Inside the gym, Jenny met her opponent.

“Like, hi!” exclaimed the voice. She had purple hair and a strange look on her face.

“Seel seel,” commented her Pokemon partner.

“You’re the gym leader, right?” asked Jenny.

“Ya, I’m like Violet from Cerulean City. I moved here, since it is like soooo much better!”

“Oh, I’ve heard of you. Water trainer,” said Jenny matter-of-factly. “I came here for a battle.”

“Oh, well it’s a two-on-two then,” replied Lily.

“Ready when you are!” exclaimed Jenny.

“Go Horsea!”

“Go Ponyta!”

“Hah, a fire Pokemon in a water gym? Bad choice,” commented Lily.

“Types can be deceiving. Ponyta, use Stomp!”

“Dodge Horsea!”

Horsea failed to dodge.

“Now, use Fire Spin!” Horsea was captured and fainted.

“Good job Horsea, return. Go Dewgong!”

“Ponyta, use Stomp!”

“Use Waterfall!”

Both attacks hit, but Waterfall did much more damage to Ponyta than Stomp to Dewgong. Ponyta knees buckled, and it collapsed under its own weight.

“Return Ponyta. That was a great effort. Now finish this, Quilava!”

“Quilll ava!”

“Dewgong, Hydro Pump! Let’s end this.”

“Now, Quilava, do you trust me?”

“Quil.” (“Yes.”)

Jenny hoped this would work. What if it didn’t? What if Quilava couldn’t use that move?

“Now use Flame Wheel!”

“Quil… ava!”

Protected by a shield of roaring flames, Quilava charged into Dewgong before it could launch its Hydro Pump.

“Finish it with Ember!”

At the hands of the fiery barrage, Dewgong fainted. At that time, Laura and Seto walked into the gym building.

“Well, like, you win. So, like, take this Dew Badge. It shows you, like, totally showed me.”

“Yes. YES YEAH! I won a Dew Badge!” exclaimed Jenny.

“Quilava!” exclaimed Quilava.

Seto’s and Laura’s jaws dropped.

“You--you won?!” asked Seto with shock.

“Well, duh!” said Jenny.

“Well, let’s go!” Laura exclaimed impatiently. “I want to get to the next city. I want to be a Coordinator, and the next town has a Contest Hall!”

“That’s cool, Laura,” sighed Seto.

Laura’s eyes locked with his own. He was hiding something, that was for sure…

After much walking, the trio found a place to set up their camp.

“Jenny, Seto and I are going to pick some berries. We’ll have a jolly good time, won’t we Seto?”

Jenny smiled at the look of horror on Seto’s face, and the look of innocence on Laura’s. After they left, Jenny decided she might as well keep on training her Pokémon.

“Go, Ponyta! Eevee! Quilava!” she called into the darkening sky. Wait, darkening? It wasn’t that late was it? The black clouds took over the blue skies. A torrential downpour started out as a drizzle, but then evolved.

“Gah! We need shelter!” cried Jenny. The four made it back to camp, or so Jenny thought. “Wait… WHERE’S EEVEE? Stay here you two. I’m getting Eevee.”

“Poony!”

“Quilava!” (“You can’t, the storm’s too strong!”)

“I’ll be careful. You two, stay here!”

The two listened to her command. She had to find her poor Eevee…

Jenny made her way outside. She heard her poor Eevee cry ‘EEEE!’ Jenny followed that sound to find that a giant Swampert was attacking Eevee!

“Get away you Swampert!” Jenny called to the monster. Swampert turned and glared at Jenny. Gulping, Jenny backed away, however didn’t run. She would protect her Eevee. She was ready for anything.

Swampert decided to attack her with the Hyper Beam it had been preparing. A sparkly glow enveloped Eevee as the attack came closer to his mistress.

“What’s happening Eevee?” asked Jenny. Just then, the Hyper Beam stopped in its tracks! In the place of Eevee there was an…

“ESPEON!!” cried Espeon.

“Y--you evolved for me?” asked Jenny.

“Esp, peon!” (“Of course silly!”)

“Use Psybeam!” Jenny commanded. Espeon complied, sending Swampert flying!

Returning to the camp site, Jenny felt like something had changed. Could Espeon have really wanted to protect her that much? After all, they barely knew each other. Perhaps Espeon could sense her good intentions? Jenny told her other Pokémon to come out and meet their new friend. Plus, as soon as Swampert had been defeated, the rain had magically stopped! Jenny and Quilava thought they had seen a familiar bird of rainbow colors, but were mistaken. Or so they thought they thought they had seen it.

In the distance, Jenny heard a rumble. A strange vehicle with a mystery driver stopped by the shiny lake. He threw two Pokeballs and out came an Espeon like Jenny’s and an Umbreon. Espeon, happy to see one of his own kind, ran over to meet the Espeon.

“Esp esp?” asked Jenny’s Espeon. The other guy’s Espeon didn’t listen. The guy looked up at Jenny.

“Hello Miss. How are you?” he asked.

“I’m fine, and you?”

“Good, but my sidekick had to return to her home town. She was a close friend of mine, so I’ve been a bit down about it, I guess. And your name is…?”

“Jenny,” replied Jenny.

“Hi Jenny. I’m Seth. My job is to snag Pokemon and make them pure again if the door to their heart has been shut.”

“Wow. Sounds cool! Well, the helping Pokémon part. The evil Pokémon don’t sound too cool.”

“That they are not,” confirmed Seth. “Here, let me show you in a battle.”

The two locked eyes, each showing the other their strength and determination. The Pokéball which Jenny threw released a flaming horse with tannish fur and red kind, yet determined eyes. Otherwise known as Ponyta. Seth maximized one of the Pokéballs and called, “Go Furret.” His voice was grave, like he was trying to do something of utmost importance. Did battling help purify Pokémon?

The fuzzy ferret with its tan and brown striped fur, and its cute little paws, came out and Jenny could see no obvious differences. But the name of the attack that Seth used sent shivers up and down her spine.
“Shadow Rush.”

Just the name made her nervous. “Shadow Rush? Is that even an attack?” she thought nervously. A few seconds later, her question was answered when Furret charged at her Ponyta, surrounded by darkness, so thick even the light of the outside couldn’t penetrate it. She had always been afraid of darkness. Now her greatest fear was staring her in the face, and Jenny had to face it with all her might.

“Use Agility! Hurry Ponyta!” Jenny was unable to hide the fear lacing her words.

Ponyta didn’t move. Not a step. Was it true Pokémon could sense your fear? Was it why Ponyta wasn’t moving?

Shadow Rush hit its mark. Ponyta tried to regain her ground, but fell to her knees.

“Ponyta! Get up!”

Struggling to stand, Ponyta’s eyes flashed angrily. Jenny could see she wanted to win. And if Ponyta could have that kind of determination, she could too.

“Fire Spin attack!”

“Slam attack, my Furret!”

A thick tail nearly knocked Ponyta senseless, however Fire Spin shocked Furret so much he forgot his attack command, and was trapped within the fiery cyclone.

“Yes! Now Take Down!”

“Shadow Rush!”

Ponyta slammed into Furret full force and it collapsed at Seth’s feet.

“Ah. I see. You are indeed powerful. If Furret hadn’t gone into Hyper Mode and attacked you instead, though, I probably would have been the victor…”

“Hyper Mode?” came a feminine voice, voicing Jenny’s same thought.

“Hey, you guys are back!” Jenny exclaimed happily, turning around to face Laura.

“So, are these your traveling buddies?” Seth asked.

“Good thing he didn’t call them friends, because Seto wouldn’t qualify,” thought Jenny. Out loud she replied him with, “Yes, this here is Laura, and that idiot back there is Seto.” She chuckled lightly as said idiot staggered backwards with the weight of the berries and all sorts of other things he was carrying.

“Stop staring and help me!” exclaimed Seto in a huff, causing Jenny to laugh louder.

“You love seeing this guy suffer, don’t you?” Seth asked, smirking.

“Duh! It’s too funny,” Jenny replied.

Rolling his eyes, Seto gave half his load to Laura and they put it into a bag.

“This here is our Berry Pouch, and I’m keeping watch over it,” said Laura happily.

“Hurray.” Seto’s voice was saturated with sarcasm.

“Oh, stop being so sarcastic, Seto!” exclaimed Laura, with playful anger in her voice.

A Chinese-accented voice interrupted Jenny’s thoughts. “You pathetic being! Get out of my sight! Ekans, destroy this worthless creature!”

Panic gripped Jenny as she recognized the voice. She ran, ushering Ponyta, the only Pokémon which she had out with her, to follow.

“Where are you going?” asked Seto.

Jenny gave no response, as she tried to find that stupid, evil little--.

“Wait up!” Seto cried.

“What is it now? Have you come to bother me?” growled Jenny.

“N--no! I just came to see what was the matter!” responded Seto.

“That counts as bothering me,” replied Jenny. She began running off again, until she heard a cry in the forest ahead. “What was that?” Jenny asked herself. “Ponyta, let’s run!”

She ran as fast as her long legs would carry her. They led her to the owner of the accented voice. It was Clifton, from school! A badly bruised Torchic lay on the other side of a vicious looking Ekans.

“C--Clifton! What have you done to that Torchic?” asked Jenny.

“Nothing, nothing,” he replied evilly.

“Clifton, if you hurt that Torchic anymore, I’ll--”

“Here’s a deal. If you can defeat me in a 1-on-1 battle, I’ll give you this Torchic. Go, Croconaw!”

The evolved form of Totodile hopped out of the red and white ball.

“Quilava, go!” called Jenny, at the same time returning Ponyta to her Pokéball.

“Water Gun!”

“Use Quick Attack now!”

As Quilava executed its Quick Attack, Seto caught up with Jenny to see her battling against Clifton.

“Jenny, what are you--?” Seto began to ask.

“Nothing; just be quiet,” she replied. “Now, Quilava, Flame Wheel!”

“Use your Scary Face and follow up with Bite!”

This looked bad for Jenny. Jenny was in shock that her Quilava wasn’t doing well at all. Fear was etched onto her face.

“N--now, Quilava, use Ember!” She tried to sound confident, but failed miserably.

Since her trainer was too scared, so was her Pokemon. Quilava failed to attack.

“What’s wrong Jenny? Quilava?” asked Seto.

“Too scared… I can’t…” replied a shaking Jenny.

“This isn’t like you! You’d never give up in the face of danger! That’s why I admire you enough to consider you a rival. Because of your fearless and wild spirit!”

“I’m not me anymore…”

“Hahah! Do you forfeit, Jenny?”

“No, because I take her place!” exclaimed Seto, calling on Bulbasaur.

“Use Ice Punch!”

“Dodge and use Vine Whip!”

The force of Vine Whip send Croconaw into a tree, knocking him out.

“We did it, Bulbasaur!” Bulbasaur responded his trainer’s cry of victory with an enthusiastic “Bulba!”

“Since you didn’t defeat me, you don’t get your prize!” exclaimed Clifton, running off.

“What prize?” asked Seto, however he was quickly answered.

“That poor Torchic…” said Jenny. “What’ll he do to it next?” Jenny fell down onto her knees. “It’s not fair! Why do I always screw things up!” she shouted. She began to cry.

“Please don’t cry!” exclaimed Seto. When it came to comforting others, he had no idea what to do. What should he do? What would his… Seto sighed sadly and decided to complete the thought.

“What would my mom have done?”

Jenny’s voice shook as she talked. Seto couldn’t understand any of it though, because of all the sniffling and crying. However, he comforted her the best he could. That’s when Laura came into the forest, fed up with waiting. She wanted to kill the second she saw what she did. Jenny was acting like a big baby, crying into Seto’s shirt. So, finally the truth was revealed. Jenny was a crybaby on the inside, even though she pretended to be strong.

“Seto, forget her and let’s go!” exclaimed Laura impatiently. This horrible outburst from Laura made Jenny cry even more.

“Oh, now look what you’ve gone and done!” exclaimed Seto. “Not only is she crying more, but how many days will it take now to dry this shirt?”

A stifled snort of laughter came from Jenny, however Laura was displeased.

“Stop it with your lame humor and let’s go! Who cares about her anyways?”

“I--” Seto couldn’t say he did. It would be a lie. His heart hardened by anger and tragedy could no longer truly care for anyone.

“I knew it. You guys don’t care about me.” Jenny’s brown eyes flashed sadly. She hopped to her feet and ran.

“Where are you going?” called Seto. There was no response, however soon Quilava followed.

“Aren’t you going after her?” asked Laura.

Seto shook his head. “I believe she’s gone on a journey to discover herself!”