Camp Pokemon

Part 2

By: EmeraldDragon

 

Jace and Creidi crouched on the edge of a clearing looking out at a small flock of Mareep. The electric sheep grazed lazily in the grass without taking any notice if the two girls.

"So how do you want to do this?" Jace asked.

"You send out that pidgey you caught to make a distraction. Then I’ll send growlithe to separate a couple from the flock. We’ll have to use Cyndaquil and Growlithe to battle them, none of the others would stand a chance."

"You heard her Pidgey, do your stuff." The tiny bird took to the air. It chirped, dove, and created a general ruckus among the flock. The sheep sent off annoyed bolts of electricity and the pidgey.

"Ok growlithe, see those two Mareep closest to us? I want you to get between them and the rest of the Flock with your agility and then drive them this way." Growlithe showed its understanding with a nod its head. Then it darted out into the clearing just as it was directed. The two Mareep turned and barreled straight at the two girls bleating in fear and surprise.

"Cyndaquil Go. Fire Spin!"

"Growlithe help Cyndaquil!" Both fire pokemon released a tornado of fire. The electric sheep were engulfed in the fire.

"Pokeball Go!" the two girls shouted together. The giant flame tornado faded revealing twin pokeballs sitting still side by side. Each girl picked up a ball in delight.

"We did it." Jace said as she clipped her new ball to her belt and looked up to the sky, "Be had better head back, it’s getting dark."

The two walked side by side up the path and chatted about the pokemon they were going to catch once they had their licenses. They were 2/3 of the way back to camp when growlithe and cyndaquil stopped in front of them and growled into the heavy darkness. The girls fell quiet and looked around. Right in front of them, just out the reach of their flashlights, they saw a pair of violet glowing eyes and a set of beard white teeth.

"What’s that?" Jace asked, her voice faltering a little.

"I don’t know. Growlithe, Flame Thrower." Growlithe complied with a thick volley of flames. Creidi caught a glimpse of the creature just before the flames hit. It reminded her of a Rotwhiler pup. The creature yelped in mild pain. The creature returned fire with its own Flame Thrower.

"Cyndaquil, Fire Fountain!" Jace yelled. The little fire pokemon again released the dome of fire, shielding it and Growlithe from the fire attack. "It’s a Houndour! What luck, their rare."

"I want this one." Creidi said staring at it.

"Ok" Jace sounded disappointed," I do owe you for Natu."

"Thanks. Growlithe Take Down." Cyndaquil let down its fountain and growlithe charged the Houndour. The two collided and the Houndour was sent tumbling. With out orders Growlithe leapt again, this time for the throat. Houndour leapt up and the two dogs locked jaws. Houndour had the advantage of size, but growlithe, being thick and muscular, easily out weighed the latter.

"Growlithe, use another Take Down!" With all its might growlithe slung the houndour on its side. The two released each other and jumps apart.

"Growlithe, Volcanic Blast!" Growlithe shot a huge mushroom shaped blast into the night. Houndour was too close to dodge. When the flames faded, houndour was on the ground trying to force its legs to work and snarling at them.

"Pokeball Go!" Creidi called as the softball sized device left her hand. The ball met its target and ensnared it. The pokeball shook and bounced violently on the spot as the pokemon with in tried to escape. Slowly the ball quieted down and finally stopped moving with a soft ping. Creidi Happily picked it up and clipped it to her belt.

"We’re going to have to run the rest of the way if we want to make it to dinner." Jace said.

"Yeah, and thanks for your help." Creidi said over her shoulder. Jace smiled as they returned their tiered pokemon and set off at a dead run for the camp.

They made it just in time to slide in to their seats. The table had been set with cold juice, a plate of sandwiches, a large plate of fries, condiments, and a cupcake apiece for dessert. The trainers around them hadn’t noticed their tardiness and where talking excitedly about the battles they had been in and the pokemon they had caught. Creidi and Jace said nothing out of exhaustion.

"Now before you go back to your cabins," Phillip and Jeff had appeared in the middle of the room. Jeff was holding a clipboard. "we would like to know how many pokemon you have each caught. Is there any one who hasn’t caught any? Please raise your hands." The two kids at table 16 raised their hand confidently. Jeff wrote down their names flipped a page over on the clipboard, "Only one?" he asked. This time about a third of the room raised their hands. Jeff wrote their names down on his clipboard and flipped the page. "Two? Any one caught two?" This time most of the trainers raised their hands and it took Jeff a while to write them all down. "More then two?" he asked doubtfully. Creidi and Jace were the only ones to raise their hands. Everyone, including the councilors, stared at them.

"They’re lying!"

"No way!"

"They’re just trying to impress us." The other trainers started whispering among them selves.

"Quiet, Quiet!" Phillip called above the noise, "Girls are you sure your not Caught more then two and not just Have more then two?" they both nodded.

"Prove it!" Someone yelled.

"Now, now," Phillip said again, "Girls, we will be by your cabin later to check your story." His voice was very serious. "If you two are lying you will be removed from the tournament."

"We aren’t lying!" Jace snapped, "We’re just a cut above the rest of you!"

"That’s enough!" Jeff said firmly, "Everyone back to your cabins we will sort this out and let you know what is going on. And remember, lights out at 10."

Creidi and Jace stormed back to their cabin amid whispers of other trainers. They said nothing as they put their pokeballs on the healing machine. They didn’t have long to wait. Jeff and Phillip were soon in the doorway and looking between the two angry girls and the eight glowing pokeballs on the machine. They all watched until the machine pinged.

"Well open them." Jeff said seriously, though he sounded like he hated doing this.

"Fine!" The girls said together. They walked to the machine and throw, harder then they had intended all the pokeballs to the ground. Out of them came a Cyndaquil, a Growlithe, two Mareeps, an Artico, a pidgey, a Natu, and a Houndour. Eight pokemon, eight pokeballs, and two very astonished counselors.

"We apologize." Jeff said, smile sneaking across his face, "It’s just very few trainers to come through here have ever caught that many pokemon."

"That’s not good enough," Creidi growled, "You discredited us in front of the whole camp. I want a public apology!"

"And you will have it at breakfast tomorrow." Phillip said politely before turning and exiting the cabin with Jeff in tow.

Creidi fished four bowls and four packages of ‘Brock the Rock’s pokemon chow, one fire, one ice, one electric, and one fire/dark. She poured a package of food in to the bowls and served her pokemon. Jace had done the same for her pokemon and was now sitting at Creidi’s desk.

"You know…" Jace started, "sense we have more pokemon then everyone else that puts us at a advantage over everyone else."

"Perhaps." Creidi said thoughtfully, "Perhaps not…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yes we have the most, but we haven’t taken the time to train any of them. We have just been capturing. The others have been taking the time to train the pokemon they have caught. And on top of that, with the exception of houndour, all of our pokemon have been relatively easy to catch; meaning they are at low levels. That gives them an advantage over us in experience."

"That’s a good point. We had better spend the rest of time till lights out training them."

They waited for their pokemon to finished eating, returned them, and went out side. There they found the small training area behind their cabin. They released their pokemon and began to practice moves. Cyndaquil taught Growlithe and Houndour to use Fire Fountain. Artico practiced on his accuracy, increasing the damage he inflicted, and building the birds resistance up against ice attacks. Houndour helped Natu to stand strong against Dark types and, with Cyndaquil and Growlithe’s help, increased Artico’s resistance to fire. Before they finished for the night all their pokemon had risen several levels and Pidgey had evolved into Pidgeotto. They put the pokemon through the machine, gave them water, and climbed into bed.

The next morning Creidi, Jace, and their pokemon were up early to get another hour and a half for training in before breakfast. After healing and feeding their pokemon they made their way to the main lodge for a meal of toast, bacon, and eggs. The rest of the camp was gossiping about last night in whispers. Half way through the meal the councilors appeared and asked for silence.

"We would like to start today with an apology." Phillip began, "Last night we doubted Creidi and Jace’s story and were proven wrong. Jace, Creidi, we are sorry." Creidi and Jace felt the eyes of everyone on them. "Now that that is said, on to the tournament. Yesterday we finished the first round; today we will have the last three rounds. Because there will be less and less battles in each round we must ask that everyone who is advancing stay in camp and not go looking for new pokemon. If you have not arrived to your match within 10 minutes of being called, you will have forfeited the match. We do this so we can get all the matches in today. Like yesterday you will be called by your cabin numbers. The first Battle will be between cabin 6 and cabin 13. You are excused."

Jace and Creidi bolted down the rest of their breakfast and hurried back to get some more training in. They weren’t the only ones with this idea. The cabins that hadn’t made it past the first round headed to do different things. After they heard two other battles being called they took their pokemon in for healing and rest. Half an hour later their number was called.

Creidi and Jace entered the arena and took their place across from the other team.

"This will be a battle between Cabin 2, the fire cabin, and Cabin 16, the steel cabin."

"I started last time you go this time." Jace said.

"OK, Go Houndour!" Creidi replied.

"Go Skarmory, Steel Wing!"

"Houndour, Flame Thrower!" The Iron bird dove, wings out stretched, straight at firedog. Houndour shot off a volley of flames. Skarmory took the attack full on and was thrown off course.

"Skarmory, Fury attack!"

"Houndour Fire fountain!" Skarmory dove in fast, its steely beak at the ready. Houndour cocked back its head and released the familiar dome of flames. Skarmory changed course just in time to avoid colliding with the dome. It circled patiently looking for a weakness.

"Skarmory, Swift!"

"Houndour, Counter!" Houndour released the dome and dodged the barrage of stars. In one quick movement Houndour leapt and grabbed the bird by the neck and slamming it to the ground, then Houndour released a short burst of flames that ended the battle.

"Skarmory Return!"

"Return Houndour!"

"Now it’s my turn, Go Magnemite!" the girl said from the other side of the field. She sounded like she lacked confidence in her pokemon.

"Go Cyndaquil! Fire spin!"

"Magnemite, umm…uh…Lock on?" Magnemite started hard at Cyndaquil, who retaliated with a tornado of flames. It was a very short battle.

"Fire cabin wins!" Jeff said over the PA.

"Well that was less the stellar." Creidi said.

"They must have been depending solely on the one pokemon and didn’t bother training to other or catching any others."

"Girls?" Phillip called them to him. "You are in the next battle as well. You can heal your pokemon here." He pointed to a machine next to him. Creidi and Jace took him up on his offer then went back to their side of the field to wait. Jeff called for cabin 15, and they waited, and waited, and waited.

"Cabin 15 had 1 minute to show up of thy will forfeit the match." But cabin 15 never showed up. "Cabin 15 forfeits, Cabin 2 wins by default."

Jace and Creidi headed back to their cabin to wait for the final match.

"Why do you suppose they didn’t show?" Creidi asked

"I don’t know, perhaps they didn’t hear the announcement." Jace replied

It was another hour before they found themselves back in the arena again. This time Cabin six was waiting for them and the edge of arena was lined with the trainers from the other cabins.

"This will be a battle between cabin 2, the fire cabin, and cabin 6, the ice cabin. Begin"

"Go Swinub!" a girl with green hair yelled.

"Growlithe, go. Flame Thrower!"

"Swinub, Endure and Blizzard!" Growlithe was quick to obey and shot a column flames. Swinub glowed white and took the Flamethrower head on. When the fire cleared the ice pig was still standing, though looked definitely weakened. Then it shook like a wet dog sending a flurry of snow and ice at Growlithe.

"Growlithe, Fire Fountain!" Growlithe cocked back his head and made the dome of fire. The fire hissed and spat as the ice and snow evaporated around it.

"Swinub, Take Down!"

"Growlithe, use your Take Down!" The two pokemon charged each other and collided in the middle the arena. Growlithe skidded back, but Swinub tumbled and lay still.

"Swinub Return! Go Butterfree, Confusion!"

"Growlithe Return!"

"Go Natu, Peck!" Natu wasn’t quick enough to dodge the confusion attack, but managed to get a quick hard peck before being thrown back.

"Butterfree, Psy Beam!"

"Natu, Dodge and Wing attack!" Natu glowed and rose into the air, avoiding the beam of energy by just inches. Natu spread its wings wide and dove straight and true at the butterfly.

"Return Butterfree." The girl said disappointedly.

"My turn," a brown haired boy said, "Go Smoochum, Icy Wind."

"Return Natu!"

"Go Houndour! Crunch!" The tiny purple pokemon psychically conjured a freezing gust. Houndour ignored the wind and charged the tiny pokemon. With a sickening crunch Houndour locked its jaws around smoochum and tossed it to the ground. The tiny pokemon struggled to its feet.

"Smoochum Perish song." The boy commanded.

"Houndour, finish it with a flame wheel." Smoochum began to sing a sad song, but it never finished.

"Smoochum return. Go Mankey! Fury Swipes!"

"Houndour return."

"Go Pidgeotto! Wing attack!" Pidgeotto came out at top speed and attacked. However despite the devastating hit it received Mankey managed to grab on the bird’s leg and assault its underside with its sharp claws. Pidgeotto managed to throw the primate off with a share turn.

"Mankey, Seismic Toss!"

"Pidgeotto, Agility and Mirror Move!" Mankey leapt at Pidgeotto, but the bird put on a burst of speed and dodged out of reach. Pidgeotto dove, grabbed Mankey by the shoulders, and soared upward. The great bird made three huge loops in the air, then as it came down on the third it throw the monkey to earth with loud thud. The Mankey’s eyes rolled in its head as its trainer recalled it.

"The match is over!" Jeff announced over the PA, "Fire Cabin wins!" Most of the crowd applauded politely but some of them booed and hissed.

"I guess they don’t like us." Jace said as Pidgeotto landed on her shoulder.

"So what. Let them think what they like. Its no skin off our teeth." Creidi replied, "Let’s go collect our prize." Creidi lead the way to the center of the arena where Phillip and Jeff were waiting with two pokeballs. Jeff and Phillip looked as though they were going to make a speech, but sense all the other trainers had left they didn’t bother.

"What do you think we got?" Creidi asked as they walked back to their cabin.

"Let’s wait till we get inside I don’t trust these other trainers any more." Jace answered. Creidi could see what she meant. If she had thought the others did like them after they announced they had four pokemon each, it was nothing to how they were acting now. They weren’t even whispering what they thought any more; instead they just said their feelings out loud.

Once inside Jace locked the door behind them before they released their pokemon. They had each received and eevee. The two looked as if they were from the same litter, but Creidi’s was lighter in color.

The next morning at breakfast the councilors made another announcement.

"The second test we will put you through as trainers," Jeff began, "will be to hatch an egg. The type of egg you will receive is based on how you did in the tournament." Here there was a muttering and Jace and Creidi got many dirty looks, "Because all the eggs are different types they will hatch at different times. And as a note we know what type of pokemon you should receive, so please, no Trading."