Chapter Two: Through the woods we go

[xxninja]

Lee Ann Marie Cornelia gently cradled the little Poochyena in her arms, absently gazing out the window of Charles' van. In truth, she couldn't wait to get to the ranger base; she'd never been to one, and was always fascinated by the little loopy things they used to befriend Pokemon! Capture Stylers, were they? Maybe one of them would show her how it's done... She shuddered with excitement at the mere thought!

Izara, meanwhile, had clambered to the back where the injured Pokemon and Dragonite daemon were held. Anxious for the welfare of the poor creatures, he went around whispering words of encouragement to them, licking at their wounds or touching noses with them. Once satisfied, he trotted up to the large dragon, awe glittering in his emerald eyes that matched his human's. Suddenly he turned into a Dratini - the pre-evolved form - and began slithering around at her feet!

"Iza!" Lee snapped, craning her neck to see her misbehaved friend. "You're not bothering her, are you?" Turning back to the ranger, she offered him a sheepish grin. "Sorry about him." she apologized, running a hand through her hair. Peering out the window, she noticed the trees were thickening, allowing less light to glitter through the leaves. This must be the second Route, she realized to herself.

"So," she began, wanting to change the subject, "are we getting close yet? I've never been in a ranger base before..."

((Poor, poor Lee. She scolds her daemon for being annoying, then asks the dreaded road-trip question: 'Are we there yet?' xD))

[Birdybot]

Charles laughed as his daemon scooped up Iza, allowing the Dratini daemon to slither about her arms. She winked at Lee, stroking Iza gently before setting him down again. The Ranger grinned. "Where's ther Ranger Base? We'll see it in about five... four... three..." he counted down. When he reached 'one', a shape was visable amounst the trees. It appeared to be a log cabin at first, but, close up, it was clear that the logs were actually made of plastic-coated metal. It didn't look like much, but this Ranger Base was well hidden and certainly had had a fair amount of expense paid on it to keep it like this. Charles got out of the van, handing several Pokémon cages to Lee, while carrying the rest between himself and his daemon.

As they entered the buidling, a muscular, black skinned man with a fierce eyed Starraptor daemon spotted Charles and ran over. "Ranger Charles! You're back! How did it go?" his voice was full of power, and you didn't have to look at his shoulders to know their would be all ten rank badges there. He smiled.

Charles grinned. "Captain Opei! Sir, this girl here is Lee, the one who made the call. She was very brave, and told us how to operate the Arcanine robot. These are the Pokémon we rescued, sir. Team Tsuasa is more deadly than we thought." he answered grimly, holding up the cages.

Opei smiled. "No need to call me Captain Opei; call me by my first name, Charles. You're one of my best rangers. And, to commemorate this occasion, I'm awarding you with Ranger Rank nine. Well done!" he laughed, clipping a badge to an amazed Charles' shoulder. "Well, now we've got that out the way, let's see to these Pokémon. Lee, Charles, follow me." he said, walking through to a Pokémon Center-like room. A female Ranger with a Chansey daemon took the cages, taking each Pokémon to a larger cage, which were stacked on a wall. They were roomy, with soft fabric covering the floor, with food, water, toys, and a bed. She didn't take Poochyena off Lee. Instead, she examined him. "Girl, I think these Poochyena seems to want to travel with you. I'll heal it now, it won't take long, but after then, do you wish to keep him?" she asked, taking the dog.

[xxninja]

Lee Ann had to admit she was surprised when Charles began counting down. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, let alone a likely-huge base filled with rangers. Even as he hit one, she still couldn't spot it. Is that... A log cabin? she wondered, squinting at the building as they drove closer. But upon a better inspection, she realized it wasn't wood at all, but a cleverly-disguised metal. Lee actually had to close her mouth, realizing it had fallen open.

Once they'd approached, the two got out of the van; Iza became a Wingull again and swooped after her so she'd have more room to carry her share of the Pokemon cages. Immediately after they entered, a burly man with a large bird on his shoulders and greeted Charles. One look from the Staraptor and she could feel a wave of awestruck respect from her daemon; it was obvious this man was very powerful and important. There were, after all, all 10 ranger badges pinned to his uniform.

Lee tried her hardest to hide her grin from the praise she received, and Iza fluffed out his feathers proudly. Though it was obvious they weren't the only ones who needed to be proud; Captain Opei attached a shiny badge to Charles's uniform.

"Wow, Ranger Rank nine," Iza said into her mind, eying the pin curiously. "That's quite an honor for rangers."

Lee followed them into a large room where a nurse began transporting the beat-up Pokemon into cozy cages where they could heal properly. It was quite a relief to the young teen; after seeing them get 'eaten' alive, it was a load off her shoulders to know they would get taken care of. When all the victims were settled in, the nurse crouched next to her to examine the pooch in her arms. Lee watched quietly, cradling the hapless creature as she took account of his wounds. Soon, she stood and, taking him from her arms, explained that it seemed he wanted to travel with her. Instantly her face lit up.

"That would be great!" she replied, grinning widely. She had taken a liking to the little pup and he would be sure to make a great addition to her team.

[Birdybot]

The lady smiled, rubbing some salve over Poochyena's wounds. He let out a warning growl, then relaxed as he realized that the pain was easing away. He yipped happily, reaching over to try and lick it off. The woman tutted and laughed, giving him a bone to chew to keep him occupied. "Poochyena, you mustn't lick this." she told him. He didn't show her any reaction over than wagging his tail furiously as he attacked the bone. When she moved off him, he barked in joy. That meant he was better, right?

He certainly seemed much more full of life than before. He raced up to Lee, licking her face and barking in greeting to her. The little dog's tail whipped about as a blur. Yes. He was definately very happy. Discovering one of Lee's empty Pokéballs, he nudged it with his nose and grinned a doggy grin as he was drawn inside. The Pokéball barely wobbled until he was caught safely inside. "I wouldn't fight him in any battles for a little while. Let him rest. Well, er, I guess you can go and explore Route Two!" the woman said cheerily.

Poochyena now belongs to Lee!


Name:
Species: Poochyena
Gender: Male
Level: 7
Ability: Quick Feet
Attacks: Tackle, Howl
Personality: This Poochyena adores Lee. He is a hardy fellow, and trusts Lee to any extent since she saved his life from a giant mechanical Arcanine controlled by Team Tsuasa.

[img]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/4/4b/Spr_4d_261.png[/img]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Species:[/b] Poochyena
[b]Gender:[/b] Male
[b]Level:[/b] 7
[b]Ability:[/b] Quick Feet
[b]Attacks:[/b] Tackle, Howl
[b]Personality:[/b] This Poochyena adores Lee. He is a hardy fellow, and trusts Lee to any extent since she saved his life from a giant mechanical Arcanine controlled by Team Tsuasa.

[xxninja]

Lee watched in wonder as the nurse worked her magic on the wounded pooch, giving him a bone as a treat to tame his squirming and doggish outbursts. It seemed he was already feeling better, as his tail was wagging a mile a minute. It was certainly a very cute sight.

Once he was done with his bone, he went for her next! Lee couldn't control the giggles as his warm tongue caressed her face. They continued to play for a bit before something shiny at her belt caught the dog's eye. From what he could tell by the circular shape, round button in the middle, and oppositely-colored sides, it was a Pokeball - the kind Pokemon trainers used to store and carry their team. Excited, he tapped his nose to it and was instantly sucked in, yipping in joy as he was captured immediately.

Then the nurse from before approached the young teen and advised her to let him recuperate before asking him to battle. Iza agreed in her mind. "Thank you so much for the help!" She grinned her most winning smile before gathering her things and heading the way she came. On the way out, she congratulated and thanked Charles, then made her way into the route.

~~~

"Lee."

...

"Lee!"

.........

"Alright, Lee Ann Marie Cornelia, you can ignore me all you want, but you'll have to admit sometime that we're lost."

Izara's human groaned, throwing up her hands before flopping to the ground against the base of a tree. They'd been wandering the route for nearly two hours, and they'd already passed the very same boulder three times. The detour to the ranger base had thrown her off course and she had absolutely no idea which direction was Saliv Town. Iza, in the form of a Pikachu, took his place in her lap as she pulled out a packet of bite-size candy, plopping a few in her mouth. "I'm bushed." she admitted, handing a few to her daemon. "Remind me again why you can't just fly up and find which way to go?"

[/color] Iza sighed pointedly, glaring at her. "I've tried that. There's too many trees, I can't see the road. And if I go too high, you complain about getting hurt!" Lee sniffed, looking away. "It hurts you too..." she reminded him in a grumble.

In the end, the duo decided to just rest there for a while before wandering off again. The golden-haired protagonist released her team - all except Shadow, the Poochyena, who needed his rest - to play while she looked out for any passer-bys that may offer her a sense of direction.[/blockquote][/size]

[Birdybot]

A Pokémon was hopping through the trees, nibbling at the tasty little red berries that garnished it's branches. It let out a call, more of a little hum to itself than anything else. ~Pidge-roo. Pidge-roo. Pidge-roo. Pidge-~[/color] and so on. It sounded strangely like a cookoo, although since Lee did not live in this world, she would not know what a cookoo was. Anyway, the Pokémon could see Lee as she made her way along the path.

Pidgey's caws became louder and more urgent, changing to a warning for other Pokémon around it. This girl seemed to be a trainer. Not good! Nope, not good at all! The Flying type looked closely, folding in the wings it had been about to use to fly away. This girl seemed to be lost! Yes, there was no doubt about it! She was grumbling to her daemon, and wondering about in random directions!

Pidgey laughed. This was hilarious. Lee was no threat if she was lost, was she! The Flying type flew forwards, moving through the trees, unseen but always near. The bird felt a little sorry for her, though. With a Pidgey's amazing sense of finding it's home, it knew exactly where Lee should be going. Perhaps it should help... after all, it would be a little bit mean just to leave her like that. Sighing, Pidgey launched itself into the air.

Swooping out the trees, Pidgey landed on the path in front of the girl. Well, it might as well make this more interesting that simply just showing her the way, end of story. Puffing up it's feathers, it made up a few terms. ~Hey, you're lost, right? Well, erm, I know the way. But! You'll have to beat me in a battle first!~[/color] it chirrped. Well, after all, it wasn't about to give away guidance for free now, was it?[/size]

[xxninja]

Lee turned her head at the sound of leaves rustling down the road. Automatically, Queenie scooped up her foster fox into her arms, who had been tussling with Snark. Iza's black-tipped ears perked up as he ran a few steps toward the source of the noise, nose twitching. Suddenly, a small brown-and-white bird fluttered from the trees, perching on the dirt path. Proudly fluffing out its plume, the bird began to speak.

Iza returned to his human's side, translating the Poke-speech for her. She nodded enthusiastically, smiling brightly. "Well, Pidgey, if you want to battle, I think we can oblige!" That being said, she turned to face the mother-daughter pair. "Queenie, you wouldn't mind Aspen battling for me, would you?" The shiny Kangaskhan's face fell as she eyed the Vulpix with a worried expression. The little canine, however, seemed excited to show off her skills and licked the normal-type assuringly. With a sigh of resignation, she loosened her arms to allow the fox to jump down and take her place in front of the bird, tails fanned out above her. Lee grinned.

"Alright, Aspen, this is our first battle together, so I want you to do your best! First, hang back and use Tail Whip. Then send it a Swift attack!"

[Birdybot]

Pidgey smiled as it saw Queenie let Aspen battle. Aw, how sweet. It seemed as though the Kangaskhan had taken in the Vulpix as her foster child. Really, really sweet. Well, on with the battle. Pidgey felt it's Defense stat drop as the Tail Whip attack did what Tail Whips did, and cawed, a little annoyed. Now it had to be careful about attacks, because they would hurt a whole lot more. It was surprised to see that Aspen knew the Egg Move Swift, but now was not the time to ponder on that. Practically throwing itself into the air, the Swift missed by a feather's breadth.

Pidgey sighed in relief as it saw that the Swift had missed. Thank goodness. Swift was a strong attack, and with weakened Defense it was definately a good thing for it to dodge. However, it couldn't keep up with dodging, so it knew it needed to think up a better strategy at some point, as soon as possible. Well, for now, it could attack. Pidgey streaked through the air in a Tackle attack.

[xxninja]

Human and Pokemon gasped in unison as the bird launched into the air, wings beating furiously. Having missed its target, the star-shaped beam fizzled out harmlessly. Being Aspen's first battle, it was a little discouraging, but she knew that not all of her attacks were going to work. She would just have to shake it off and stay strong; this fight was far from over. Looking over her shoulder at her trainer with determination in her chocolate brown eyes, she barked twice, showing she was ready to keep going. It really touched Lee to see her Pokemon so confident and willing to battle.

"Wow," Izara breathed, clambering up to his human's shoulders for a better view of the battle. "Pidgey's fast! Aspen is going to have to keep her guard up if she wants to win."

When she saw her opponent going on the offensive, the Vulpix tensed, waiting frantically for instructions from her trainer. The young teen reacted quickly, shouting out to the little fox with panic, yet enthusiasm. "Quick, see if you can dodge by rolling onto your back! When Pidgey goes by, fire an Ember attack!" With Aspen's opponent in such close range, that move would probably hurt!

[Birdybot]

Pidgey watched as the Vulpix rolled over. It was so close to Aspen, it couldn't stop now! The bird tried to change direction, but that would be too close to the ground all of a sudden, and it would overbalance. Not good. Pidgey skimmed the top of Aspen, and the Ember came. A mad flurry of wings, feathers and beaks, and Pidgey was attempting to dodge. However, there was no hope from a range of just a few inches. The ember singed it's feathers, making it cry out in pain. It was pushed up a little into the air, which it used to help it gain height again.

However, that done, the penalty for such a close range attack was discovered. An angry red shiny blotch on Pidgey's skin underneath badly singed feathers made it wince. A burn. Pidgey had been given it's first status condition, a burn! This would be handy for Aspen, since it would mean that Pidgey would loose health on every turn.

But Pidgey wasn't to give up. No, that wasn't how it had been taught to battle! Pidgey looked about. It could use it's surroundings to help it, right? That would be usefull. Well, what could it possibly do right now with it's surroundings? Well, there was a lot of dirt about. Yes, that would be handy! The bird tipped dowards and dived into the ground, painlessly, because it had practiced dives before and knew how to come out of them. When it struck the ground, a huge wave of sand flew up. A Sand Attack, and one which covered such a wide area it was very accurate.

[xxninja]

Lee Ann watched with exhilaration as her beloved partner flawlessly executed the technique, making her plan work like a charm. The bird haplessly swooshed over the top of her paws, unable to change direction to avoid the balls of flame. Aspen leaped to her paws again as Pidgey regained altitude, the smell of singed feathers wafting through the air. Lee could see a patch of its skin where its plume had burned off was a bright red, throbbing slightly. She cringed, realizing it was a burn. True, that did give her Pokemon an advantage, but it made her squeamish to think that it was her fault the poor pigeon was in pain. She would have to get over that if she wanted to be an effective trainer - it was all part of the battle.

When their opponent began to frantically look about, Lee used that moment to speak. "You're doing fabulously so far, Aspen! I'm really proud of you! Keep your eyes on Pidgey - you can never be sure what its gonna do next."

[/color] she encouraged. And at that moment, the tri-colored Flying type made its move, spreading its wings in another dive for the ground. The clever Pokemon used its own momentum together with all the loose soil to create an enormous Sand Attack, hurling dirt straight for the fire fox! "Okay, now use your tails to protect your eyes!"[/color] Aspen nodded, crouching to the ground before draping the fluffy appendage over her clamped-shut eyes. That would help keep the grit out at least a little bit! "Then see if you can hit it with a Swift![/color][/blockquote][/size]

[Birdybot]

Pidgey was watching Aspen's every movement. Every slight glance, every twitch of muscle, it could all give away just what the fox was trying to do. It cooed, feathers rising a little as it became slightly uneasy, hanging their a couple of feet above the ground. This threw it a little off course, for the feathers were partly responsible for it's movement, mostly the ones on the wings. Unfortunately, it was at this moment that Aspen's attack came the bird's way. Cawing in distress as it was pelted with stars, Pidgey tried to move out the way but was battered with stars. It braved through, and made it out, sparing it only a few stars.

Pidgey wasn't too happy now, as you could probably tell. It squawked, a low croaking sound, at Aspen in a threatening manner. That done, it chose that time to make it's move, darting forwards with it's impressive speed in an aerial Tackle attack.

[xxninja]

Both human and daemon could see the break in Pidgey's concentration as Aspen's attack drew near. It gave a shrill cry as the stars hammered against it; still, anyone had to admire its bravery and perseverance as it soldiered through the ray, clearly quite aggravated. The little fox Pokemon shuddered as it made a bird's equivalent of a growl at it, then launched forward to attack.

Lee cringed. She knew their opponent was too close already for Aspen to roll over again, and it was advancing so fast there would be no way she could leap out of the way in time. The chances of her being hit were almost inevitable, and Izara could tell she knew that too. The duo exchanged glances, and Lee Ann nodded grimly. "Aspen, I want you to wait for the very last moment, then use Ember with everything you've got!

[/color]

The Vulpix gave a cry to signal she understood, then tensed her muscles, entire body quivering with concentration. It was a little scary for her; if she reacted a moment too soon or too late, she would be smooshed with the full brunt of the Tackle attack. Opening her maw slightly, she inhaled deeply and prepared to counter.[/blockquote][/size]

[Birdybot]

Pidgey saw that Vulpix was using an Ember. However, why should it stop? Why should it pull out of attacking? It was hardly going to make it easy for the little fox to dodge! After all, this would make it three times in a row, even though Pidgey definately had a higher Speed stat that the Fire type. The bird cooed. So, it was settled. It would attack. It needed to attack. After all, battles weren't much fun if it never landed a single attack.

Pidgey felt the flames wash over it, and felt a pang of dispair. It felt that perhaps it should give up and flee. After all, it had already been Burned, and hit by a strong Ember like this one before. It was far weaker than Aspen. Then again, it was proud of itself. The wimpy trainer was scared of a weensy Tackle. It had taken the attacks! Yeah! It sped up, now very close to Aspen, continuing the Tackle attack from earlier. It had never stopped performing the attack, even when being attacked.

[xxninja]

Lee Ann bit her lip when Pidgey hurtled into the blizzard of meteor-like embers, making Iza yelp and send her an annoyed glare. "You're going to have to get over that, Lee. This is a Pokemon battle; everyone's gonna get hurt. That's kind of the point." She huffed angrily, returning his look. "I know. This isn't going to stop me from being the best trainer in the world. Besides, Aspen's doing really well and--"

Suddenly, all eyes returned to the fray as the bird released a war cry, powering through the flames to pull through with the attack. Aspen gave a cry of surprise and pain as her opponent bowled into her, sending her skidding back on her paws. Lashing out her tail, she gave her head a shake, looking back with pleading eyes at Queenie. The Shiny Kangaskhan called out some words of encouragement, placing a hand on Lee's shoulder. With renewed resolve, the Vulpix growled deeply before barked proudly, fluffing out her fur to show she wasn't giving up just yet. "All right! Pidgey's tough, but it's got to be wearing down now! Another powerful Swift or two, and we should have this battle all wrapped up!"

[/color] Lee cheered, punching the air enthusiastically. Aspen boldly leaped forward before firing another round of the star-shaped ray.[/blockquote][/size]