Chapter six: Canned fruit
I saw it all, thick black shaggy coat, red eyes, thick snout, metal…
“What’s wrong with you, girl?” A voice wondered.
Metal nothing. I felt the blood rise to my cheeks as I realised that what had scared me wasn’t the night time adversary who had chased me through the woods not long enough ago. It was a Mightyena and my screaming seemed to hurt its ears.
“Nothing, nothing’s wrong at all.” I excused myself, feeling all the blood rush to my cheeks.
The owner of the voice, a boy of fifteen, maybe sixteen, rolled his eyes to the sky and turned back to what he was doing before my interruption.
“Come on, Pol, let’s find those berries.” I urged my Pokèmon, preparing to skirt the area.
But Polienix stayed put, her normally placid gaze raging fire.
“Leave my brother alone!” She cried suddenly at the boy.
I blinked, okay, so that was not expected, and turned back to the Mightyena.
And that’s when I finally saw it: a splash of fiery colour against the bland browns and greens of the forest floor. On closer inspection that smear of orange took the shape of a bird, longer and leaner than Polienix, with wide feathered wings, wild flamed tail and a line of curled feathers atop its head. I recognised it immediately; Magenix, the fire Pokèmon born of the same mother as Polienix. It sounded strange, but a batch of Articairion or Marzairion eggs often hatched to reveal both Pokèmon, some sort of genetic thing. I never really understood it, fire and ice Pokèmon hatching near each other? Strange.
Right now this male Magenix was in bad shape, glaring angrily up at Mightyena and its trainer.
“I said…”
Completely ignoring the ice bird's order, the boy rang out another battle command, “Cerberus! Bite attack!”
“Grrr!”
I’d never seen Polienix angry. I know, I know, I’d only had her for less than a week, but if you knew her you’d know immediately that she wasn’t the sort of Pokèmon that gets mad often. If at all. But here she was, as close to fuming as an ice type could get without melting. I had this feeling that she was about to do something rash…
And I tend to be right on these things. With a flap of her snowy wings Polienix pulled herself higher into the air, her head tilted back. As I watched and Mightyena charged, blinding white light began to fill her open beak, bathing me in its frozen gleam. Mightyena’s trainer looked up just in time to get a full view of Polienix’s Aurora Beam as it shot from my furious Pokèmon and careened into his charging dog.
Houndour and I flinched in unison as the attack slammed into Mightyena’s side, drawing a startled yelp from the Pokèmon before it froze completely.
“Dour…” My fire dog growled apprehensively, eyeing Polienix and probably deciding never to even try to nip her tail feathers again.
In the middle of the clearing now sat a sparkling block of ice, a large black dog frozen mid-charge in its centre.
“Mightyena!” The other trainer yelled in dismay, a feeling that quickly turned to determination. “Greatball, go!”
Striking crimson light streaked from the blue and red ball and a green dog with holly leaf ears and tail appeared on the ground.
“Range!” It barked, coming forward from its sitting position to stand on all four paws.
It was about four feet tall at the shoulder and built out of toned muscle the rippled under its ivy green coat as it moved. A stone around its neck, located beneath a swath of green velvet, sloshed water and glowed slightly with blue light. Mournfully I glanced at the silver Pokèdex peeking out of my pocket, wishing it wasn’t broken. What was that thing?!
The boy blinked for a second, seeming not to have expected to see this particular creature, before shouting out a few battle commands.
“Fidranger! Leechseed and then Vine whip it! Magenix is ours!”
What I’d now identified as Fidranger tipped its head back and let out a wailing howl, its spiky leaf ears flat against its skull. For a second nothing happened, but then I saw it.
It was a very small movement at first, a tiny twitch of the ground, but then it got stronger and stronger, to the point that huge cracks were starting to grow from the lump forming in the earth. I frowned and leaned forward to get a better look, granting a worn out Polienix landing permission on my shoulder. I couldn’t see much, just this mound growing and growing and…
BAM! Dirt exploded upwards, followed by a barrage of roots that uncoiled to let a rain of seeds shoot through the air before retracting back into the hole they came from. Magenix weakly raised his wing for protection, but the seeds rained down on the poor bird, covering him with life-sucking plantlings. He lifted his head in protest, feathers drooping unenthusiastically, just in time to see a red and white Pokèball flying at his head.
“Magenix!” Polienix cried as her brother was sucked inside the ball.
It rocked back and forth, back and forth and then came to a stop with a clunk. The red light in the centre changed to white, indicating Magenix’s capture. Gently I petted Pol’s head in an attempt to settle her, but she refused to give up.
“Why’d you do that?!” she demanded of the trainer, “You should’ve left my brother alone!”
The boy watched her fly angrily around his head as he answered.
“I’m a trainer, I catch Pokèmon. I was aiming to capture all of Articairion’s new brood, but all I could find was Magenix.”
“All of us?!” Pol exclaimed in disbelief, “Every last one?!”
Trainer boy nodded, “There’s a team called Emerald around here,” his eyes flicked over to me, “And they’re trying to do the same to make sure they get the new Articairion. Marzairion is just a nice side-thing to them, but they still want it. I caught this one for his own safety.”
Well, it sounded perfectly rational, but I’m not really the trusting type. How could I tell that he wasn’t just going to sell Magenix to the Emeralds for some dosh while my back was turned?
“Oh.” Polienix didn’t sound too sure either, but she was trying to pretend she did. “I guess that’s okay then.”
“Hmm.” the trainer nodded and held up Magenix’s Pokèball, “Magenix, GO!”
As soon as the battered lava bird solidified on the ground he knelt down and held some sort of potion - super, I think - to its mouth. Magenix looked suspicious at first, then let his beak open enough to let the healing liquid dribble down his throat. He was in the same position his sister had been when I first met her: no way of winning unless the human really was helping.
The trainer stepped back, the empty bottle of potion hanging loosely in his hand, and watched its magical effects. Starting slowly at first, and then speeding up, Magenix started to heal. The long shafts of his wing feathers crackled and straightened, a split in his yellow beak drew shut and the thick orange down on his lean body re-arranged itself to lie flat against the skin.
When every last blemish had disappeared Magenix stood up on clawed talons, inspecting his new trainer through intelligent black eyes.
“Gen ma?” He chirped questioningly.
That got Mr. Trainer Man off-guard.
“How come yours talks English?!” He demanded of me.
I shrugged as if it was nothing, “Berries. We’re gonna go get some right now, come with us if you really want.”
What he didn’t know was that I hadn’t offered so as to make friends, far from it. I just didn’t trust him too much. If he came with Pol and I to the berry patch then I could keep an eye on him and Magenix. Sounded like a good idea, right? Erk. Wrong.
“Magen ixnen! Ix argen!” Magenix complained, jerking his thick plumage as far away from the snapping jaws of one annoyingly energetic puppy.
“Dour! HounDOUR!”
I walked along beside Magenix’s new trainer, fingers plugged in my aching ears and eyes bugging. Turns out Mr. Trainer Man (as I’d dubbed him after he’d had to untangle Magenix from his hair for the fifth time) was actually called Samuel, though people called him Jay most of the time. Why? Don’t ask me, people can be strange. Which is obviously an understatement. Anyway, his name was Jay and he was only just fifteen, though he could have fooled me.
Standing about a head above my 5’ 5”, Jay was an under-muscled creature who made me look even heavier built than I was. He was in possession of a mop of tawny coloured hair and sea-green eyes, as well as what had to be the biggest feet known to man. I mean, Jesus, he was size 10 or something ridiculous like that.
He had also been training for only a tiny while longer than myself, having started a month ago. Although I’d commented on his Mightyena, he’d shrugged it off as ‘extra training’. Surprisingly, I could feel myself trusting him. After all, Cerberus seemed to like his trainer perfectly well… I was just being too nervy. And I complain about my looks. If my looks are bad, what am I meant to call that grey matter that lives in my head? Brain, was it?
“Are you sure it’s this way, Pol?” I asked my starter Pokèmon, unplugging one ear to hear her response.
Polienix was flying about above us, her features displaying supreme nervousness as she fluttered above the tops of the trees and then dived back down, making quick circles around our mismatched band of bird, human and… evil dog from Hell.
“Um well…” She did another circuit, golden light dappling with green shadow over her feathers and making her look like some sort of golden commando.
“Wait, it is!” She cried and disappeared over some foliage.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say that!” Jay hollered after her, pulling Magenix’s claws out of his hair again and stampeeding off after her.
I looked down at my Houndour, who stared back up at me with the innocent puppy-dog eyes.
“Cummon, chaos dog,” I suggested, “Let’s not lose them now.”
He barked a typical puppy reply and took off after my current travelling companions.
“I didn’t say RUN!” I yelled after him, but his turbo-driven tail had already disappeared off into the forest.
Cerberus, who’d been plodding along behind, drew up beside me and gave me an understanding look. At least someone had some common sense around here. As the two of us made our way after the others I scratched him behind one silky grey furred ear and picked a few spores off his thick coat. He seemed to like that and I, with him beside me, started to relax a little bit more.
I’ll never understand why, but having a good-tempered dog by your side can be particularly reassuring. I’d spent too much time running through this forest, I decided, and Mechyena couldn’t possibly be around, not without good ol’ Cerb picking up its scent and sounding the alarm. I glanced around at all the different greens and browns around me with the same appreciation I had given it when I had stood on the edge of Malmarsh.
It was late summer at that point, and while nights were freezing cold, days were perfectly pleasant. The trees were packed full of life, from the twitch of a Spearow’s tail half-concealed by a bit of bracken to the swish of leaves where an Eevee or Skitty had just sat. Damn, I must be some sort of naturalist to show so much interest in all this. In fact, I seriously doubt that most naturalists care that much. Hmph. Bet they weren’t confined to a big ugly city for all of their childhood.
“Hey Raven, Cerb! Hurry your Slowpoke behinds up or miss out on all th’ booty!” A voice I didn’t recognise cried.
Both my wolf companion and I jerked our heads up just in time to see a flash of orange before it merged with the bracken behind us.
“Magenix?” I called uncertainly.
“Yeah Ray?” came the answering cry as the bird himself alighted in his sister’s place on my shoulder.
He looked pretty proud of himself, for speaking and all. I could even see a bit of berry skin that had escaped his beak of doom attached to the feathers below his chin.
I sighed, “Nothing much.”
“Well that’s boring. Get out more.” He suggested before taking wing again and speeding off the way he’d came, trailing calls to the few Pokèmon he glimpsed on the way.
“Rawf!” Cerberus barked, and then he too was off after Mag.
“Hey, you traitor! Get back here!” I started off after him, “I need some sanity around here to survive, y’know?!”
By the time I reached the clearing Jay was picking the last berry off the tree and popping it into a special transportation Pokèball. From what I knew, those were darn expensive. What was he, a money tree grower? And as for me… I never should have listened to those people who taught me that intelligence was useful. If that was so, how come I was the one without any magic berry things?!
“Jay?”
He looked up from clipping away the item-ball, “Yeah?”
I gestured to the empty tree.
“Mine?”
“Now now, Raven, that’d be selfish.” He waggled a finger at me, “If you had more exercise you’d have gotten some too.”
Tick tick tick. The sound of that vein in my forehead as I glared at him.
“I’LL TEACH YOU EXERCISE!! TOMORROW MORNING! YOU’LL LEARN WHAT THAT MEANS!!!!” I yelled, ready to rip his little throat out of his little neck, “IT WAS MY POKÈMON THAT LEAD US HERE SO THOSE BERRIES WERE MINE!”
“Actually, they belong to the forest, but since Polienix is so taken with you… Take some.” A musical voice decided from behind me.
THUD! Jay’s jaw hit the ground. He looked so comical, jaw slack and eyes bugging, that I would have laughed. Would have, if it weren’t for the fact that something behind me had forced him into that general position. I turned, v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, to face whatever it was. But I didn’t see it. Instead, a bushel of bright purple berries landed in my arms.
‘Berries from heaven!’ The obnoxious voice in my head exclaimed.
I didn’t bother to make up any sarcastic retort in my mind. Well, more of I couldn’t make up a sarcastic retort, not when I could see what I could see. A little above me on a thick bough of an old oak tree perched a beautiful bird, her long slender neck regally curved and graceful wings held slightly open at her sides. Her legs, feet and beak were a pale yellow and her light blue tail with its dark blue markings trailed like a waterfall behind some bushes. Right then I hated those bushes. What I wouldn’t do to see Trineth’s numerous greats granddaughter’s tail.
Beside the silvery blue creature sat the much smaller and tubbier form of Polienix, staring up adoringly at her mother, the one and only Articairion.
“Mum, this is Raven,” she introduced, “Raven, this is mum.”
Subconsciously I reached for one of the empty Pokèballs clipped to my waist, but Articairion fixed me with a powerful glare.
“It is impossible to capture the wild Articairion,” she told me, “And even if it were, I don’t think you could pull it off.”
I sighed, but she was right. Before my mother died I had been obsessed with capturing an Articairion when I reached 10 and the age legally allowed to get a license. So obsessed that I had raided Malmarsh library of every last book on the almost-legendary, from those arguing that any Pokèmon related to Trineth should be counted as legendary to those explaining that it was impossible to weaken and capture one. Of course, being six at the time I just said I’d do it anyway, but I knew better now.
“Anyway,” Polienix piped up, “It would be daddy that you wanted to capture. Mum managed to evolve before anyone could capture her, so she’s not got full stats. But daddy was captured and trained really well by some trainer so he’s very strong.”
Articairion seemed to take *minor* offence from that.
“Just because I wasn’t trained by some hooligan with an ego the size of all our forests and tundras put together doesn’t make me weak!” she snapped and spread both wings wide, revealing the glowing royal blue gems imbedded in the underside.
With two powerful beats of her beautiful wings Articairion was airborne, hovering a few feet above her previous resting place. She flicked the end feathers of one wing, turned herself in the right direction to avoid hitting a tree and…
“DOUR!”
Before I could say or do anything to stop him, Bloody Awful Fiend and launched himself from the thick mulch covered floor of the forest and snapped his jaws shut mere inches from Articairion’s tail.
“HOUNDOUR!” both Jay and I protested in unison.
It was a worldly good thing that he missed. Instead he landed half on his feet, half on his side, and received an angry glare from Articairion before she sped away through a breach in the protective shielding of the canopy.
All eyes flicked to the offending puppy, who gave us another dose of innocent puppy dog eyes.
“You,” I said, stepping forwards and scooping him up into my arms, “Are going to have some obedience lessons when we reach the next town.”
“Hopefully before he manages to dig up Fiardor and bite his tail.” Jay added dryly.
I winced, but so much as seeing Fiardor was as good as impossible. The draconic legendary was said to share a floating roost above SkyIvy town with his mythical sister, Seriance. We didn’t have a hope in Hoenn of meeting either of them, which was good while Houndour was still stuck in teething puppy stage. Fiardor was known for his fierce temper and ability to absolutely obliterate anything that got on his nerves. Strange what people know about legends, huh?
Strange what Pokèmon you can find on the wrong route too. By the time we’d walked ten steps back up out of Beechgrove we’d seen about sixteen different species that weren’t supposed to be around, from speedy Electrike to lumbering Lickitung. What had this place come to?
About a quarter of the way between the Miltank farm and Ecruteak city, Jay stopped the march, gesturing for me to have a look. At the side of the road, hidden by the light and dark greens of a patch of long grass, sat a Swinub, rooting about in the dark soil beneath the tough green stalks. Jay raised and lowered one shoulder, then whispered something like ‘see you in Ecruteak’.
That was all the encouragement I needed. I let Polienix say goodbye to Magenix, shifted the stirring chaos dog in my arms and started off again down the hard packed earth of the well used route. You see, I hated having to keep up conversation all the time, hated being social, hated having someone who saw my every move. So I was happy to go on ahead. I could easily reach and pass Ecruteak, then get halfway to the National Park and Violet city before it got too dark to see and hey presto! No more annoying travelling partner. I no-longer upheld my belief that he would sell Magenix to the Emeralds, so he was free to go.
I kept walking, undisturbed by anything but the now awake Nasty Little Bugger, who ran around and around and around and around and around to the point that I felt sick. Really sick, since he kept doing it until about the halfway mark between Miltank patty heaven and our destination. But then, suddenly, he stopped. Ears pricked and nose twitching as he evaluated some new scent, Houndour let out a low whine and started to creep forward carefully.
Polienix’s grip tightened on my shoulder, digging into the thin blue cloth and pinching my skin. I knew what she was thinking. I was thinking it too.
Just ta let you know, the images of Fidranger and Magenix are mine and aren't to be used without permission. If you ask nicely though I may be persuaded, provided you give me credit. As always, e-mail me with comments etc. at Trinethstorm@hotmail.com or black_steel9@hotmail.com. Dankechen,
Blade-chan