A Cherrygrove Emergency!

"Oh, uhm," Alex stammered, surprised by the greedy bird. She shook some more kibble into her hand, letting the bird eat that as well. When it once again squawked expectantly, she grumbled a bit. She opened the cap fully, dumping the rest of the small container on the ground beside her for the bird to feast at its leisure.

"There, have at it. I don't think Chikorita likes it, anyway," Alex announced, mildly disgusted. She wondered how the bird wasn't overweight and permanently grounded if it ate like this very often. She turned back to Corsola, petting her for a moment.

"Well, Corsola, I have to get going. If you want, I can come back tomorrow before we leave town," Alex offered, reluctant to part ways with the pink coral Pokémon. She stood up, making sure she had all of her belongings before waving to the water Pokémon, and heading back to the Pokémon Center.

She finally made it back, hair still rather drenched from her diving adventure. She approached the desk, ready to reclaim her Pokémon. Her body buzzed a bit, butterflies in her stomach. Modern medicine was amazing, and there was nothing quite like getting your Pokémon back after such a close call.

Alex shook nervously as Nurse Joy handed her pokeballs over. She examined through the shells to see her two Pokémon. Cyndaquil seemed to be sleeping calmly, the shiny Chikorita looking rather pissed and feisty as ever. With a sigh of relief, Alex clipped the orbs to her belt in their proper spaces. Cyndaquil in the lead, followed by the stubborn Chikorita. She would really need to work hard with the latter in order to make him even somewhat useful to the team.

" Thank you so much," Alex said, obviously very gracious to the Nurse. As much as she wouldn't want to ask anymore favors, Alex knew her shorts and shirt were a bit wet from the bathing suit beneath them, and the cool night air probably wouldn't do her well. "Do you think maybe we could get a room for the night? If there are any left, that is," Alex asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

She hoped for a room, though she knew the later it was the less likely she was to get one. Still, a nice shower to wash off the ocean water was needed. Not to mention a fresh change of clothes. The warm bed would more or less have been a perk than anything else. Alex's stomach rumbled a bit.

"Oh and uh...maybe something to eat?" her bag smelled like fish, having put so many goodies in it. She would empty it out later and give it a good dousing of baby powder to smother the smell, but it made the remaining sandwiches within a bit unappealing. She knew that Pokémon Centers had cafeterias, though, and wouldn't mind hot food. Even if it was rather mass produced.

Given the okay for food and shown to her room for the night, Alex took advantage of the various facilities. She unloaded in her room, selecting a new, clean outfit for the night and washing her outfit from the day prior. Figuring she should shower before assaulting the others with her fishy aroma, she headed off to the shower first.

After taking an exorbitant amount of time in the hot shower, the young woman finally emerged from the steaming side room wrapped in a towel. Her hair was wet and messy, though looked more tousled than tangled. After making sure to dry off, and moisturize areas that had received more sunlight than others, she went to get dressed. No sense in drying out her skin just because she didn't burn, after all.

She threw on some dark stone washed jean shorts with button down folds on her pockets. The embroidery on them accented her curves, and the shorts fit comfortably loose, though they rode high above her knees. She put on a pink noodle-strapped undershirt with an off-white crocheted tank over top. The pink showed through, but it wasn't overwhelming which Alex enjoyed.

She braided her hair off to her right side, holding back the fly-aways with a simplistic nature toned elastic headband with wooden accents. Small wooden rings dangled from her ears, a secondary small silver hoop clasped around the cartilage of her left ear. She pulled a choker necklace on, made of natural hemp twine woven in an open box knot, a turtle claw and knuckle bones as accents alongside brownish green cats eye beads. She clasped it with the wooden bead before placing a matching anklet on her left ankle, alongside her tattoo.

Nodding into the vanity mirror, she decided she was again presentable to the public. Not that she really cared, it was all personal preference anyway. In reality she looked a bit like a beach time hippy. She pulled her trainer belt on, grasping Cyndaquil's pokéball before releasing him into the room. She knelt beside the small fire shrew, who cooed happily and jumped into her arms in a loving embrace.

"I'm so sorry I let that happen to you, Cyndaquil. I promise that from now on, I'll be a better trainer to you. And to any Pokémon who join us," Alex felt her eyes tear up again, but quickly choked them down, burying her face for a moment into Cyndaquil before pulling back.

"Don't worry about it, Alex! Everyone makes mistakes, and since we're both new to this, I doubt it'll be the last one. The point is that we both learned from it, right?" Alex nodded in response to her Pokémon's words. It was good to hear his voice again, strange though it might be. It was feeling more and more natural to hear human words coming from the fire Pokémon.

"Right. Let's go and get something to eat for now then, eh?" Alex suggested, Cyndaquil squeaking his name happily. He seemed to be very food driven thus far. Alex laughed, taking it as a yes before she led him through the halls to the cafeteria. She walked her tray down the line, getting anything that looked even mildly appetizing at the time. By the time she sat down, she had a full tray with a bottle of moomoo milk and glass of fresh squeezed berry juice.

She offered Cyndaquil anything he wanted off her tray in addition to some pokéchow that had been provided. He seemed to choke it down, more or less. He grimaced, commenting on how Alex's tasted better than the generic brand provided. She chuckled in response, shaking her head and returning to her meal. She debated letting Chikorita out, but thought he might prove to be too difficult to manage at the time.

Alex hadn't even let the thought cross her mind of how others may react to Cyndaquil. The initial shock had worn off on her, and without anyone too emotionally close she felt little need to broadcast his ability. This made it all that much more of a shock when the abrasive young girl approached. Having not invited her to sit with her, let alone give permission, Alex was already off put and grimaced a bit.

"Uhm, yeah. He talks..." Alex trailed, mildly irritated by the brashness. She wasn't unattractive, looking like a loli doll in her own respect. Alex managed to only find it more irritating, truth be told. Maybe it was some deep seeded instinct to want to be more attractive than other women, but she really found herself wanting to tear into this girl.

If that wasn't bad enough, her impudent and nearly demanding comment to follow really made Alex grind her teeth. She was already too upbeat and self centered for her liking. Taking a moment to close her eyes, a mild face of disgust showing, Alex took a breath to calm herself a bit. She could feel her heart fluttering a bit still, body buzzing from annoyance.

"It took me a long time to learn how to talk. I've been practicing for a long time with the Professor!"  Cyndaquil chimed in, seemingly oblivious to Alex's anxieties over the situation. He was upbeat himself, and polite at that. It was a wonder Alex picked him in the first place. Then again, he is a male - and a Pokémon at that.

"Right, he knew how to talk when I got him. So I don't know what to tell you," Alex said, brushing off the girl coldly. She returned to eating her meal, as if to make a point of the end of the conversation. Though considering the stranger's demeanor, it might not be enough to shoo her. Alex's eyes had gone from a deep green to a pale grey, swirling with golden flecks of hazel.

Alex found it awfully unpleasant to have the girl stick around even though she had more or less been dismissed. Her eyes narrowed as she cooed to her Pokémon, acting as though human speech was an easy task for a Pokémon. She took another bite of her food, trying to ignore her best she could as Cyndaquil remained obliviously talking.

"Yep, Professor Elm helped me work on talking! I was with him for a long time until Alex came along to be my trainer!" Cyndaquil chimed cutely. He cooed his name a bit, enjoying the positive attention personally. He looked down to the Togepi, then back up to Alex inquisitively.

Sighing with a slight eye roll, Alex put her fork down. "Go ahead," she said, giving up on him for now. It was clear he wanted to play, and she wasn't going to stop him this time.

"Quiiiil~" The blue fire shrew squeaked happily. He hopped off his seat to the floor to be at the same level as Togepi. He was bigger than Togepi, only by a little over half a foot, but with how small the two were to start it was pretty noticeable. He introduced himself, and tried striking up some game the two could potentially play together.

"You know, just because Professor Elm is nearby doesn't mean he can teach your Pokémon human speech. He's a busy guy, you know..." Alex said sharply. She already had a distaste for this person, and it would take a good deal to change her mind about her now. She hated that people - namely pkmn Trainers - always acted like Pokémon Professors and the like were there to serve them. They had their own agendas, which Alex could relate to.

She was mildly bewildered though, as the conversation seemed to have taken a steep turn and was now on her. She hated being the center of attention more often than not. Even the questions asked seemed arrogant and improper. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone else who they are?" Alex asked cooly. Especially when you approached them, she added as a mental thought.

"Anyway, I go by Alex. I just started my journey recently, if that's what you mean. Cyndaquil was my starter," she answered, figuring she would be asked again either way. Best to get it done and over with, after all. She couldn't decide if the girl was really just insufferable, or if it was Alex's outlook on life getting to her. The latter wasn't going to change any time soon, so she decided it best to keep her thoughts to herself for now.

Alex was mildly surprised to hear that this character came from her most recent city of residence. She'd never seen her before that she could remember. Then again, Goldenrod was a huge place, big enough to even have its own mall. So it wasn't so strange for the two to have never crossed paths. Not like if they had both lived in  Cherrygrove. She hated to be intimidated, but based on the girl's story, Alex probably wouldn't be able to take her on in a battle, so that was out of the question.

She hummed in recognition of the girl's words. She seemed less arrogant than moments earlier. Maybe she had just needed to be put in her place? Alex was unsure, but it was apparent she wasn't going anywhere. So she continued eating, taking a sip of the berry juice to wash down her food before speaking again.

"Goldenrod, eh?" she noted mildly. "I hate cities..." she poked at a bit of the more mushy looking vegetables on her plate. Even Cyndaquil had chosen against eating them, and he seemed to have a rather less than refined palate. The Center's food was mass produced though, they had to keep up with the demand between traveling Pokémon and Trainers. Alex wasn't about to complain to the chef, to say the least.

"I don't know what you mean by all sorts of things, but teaching your Pokémon to talk yourself will probably take years. To be honest, I'm surprised Cyndaquil is as fluent as he is. I've only seen that in psychic types for the most part," Alex explained, though she doubted it would stop the girl. She saw something she wanted and was going to remain persistent to get it. It was almost admirable, if Alex wasn't such a pessimist.

"Anyway, it's getting late. I just wanted to make sure I got some dinner before bed," Alex said, standing from the table. The chair scooted out, scratching against the tile floor audibly as Alex attempted to dismiss herself. "Cyndaquil," Alex said, walking toward the trash to dispose of the scraps. The fire shrew lifted his head, having been tumbling and faux wrestling with the baby Pokémon.

He scurried to his feet, giving a wave from his nub if an arm to the Togepi. He hustled between trainers' legs and under chairs to catch up easier. "What's wrong, Alex? Are you that tired?" the small Pokémon asked, unable to understand her sudden leave.

Alex felt a chill run up her spine, anger swelling in her belly like fire. She turned around, getting ready to tell the girl off for good when the lights flickered. Stunned for a moment, she glanced up as the room went hush. The hum of failing power was heard, the fluorescent bulbs failing their duty as everything went dark. The silence was short lived as panic spread through the room, temporarily blinding Alex with the Flash of various Pokémon.

She raised her hands to her eyes, squinting as she tried to adjust. She wasn't given much time before the backup generators began to kick in. The beeping of various appliances restarted, and the hum of air conditioning started up once more. However, Alex was more worried about the entity zipping around.

As it passed through her, she felt for a moment breathless, nauseated even. An audible snap was heard as her hair tie gave, breaking loose her braid which swiftly unfurled as some strays flew about. Her body buzzed from the static that had passed through her body, and she wondered momentarily if her heart was even still beating.

Her ears were ringing, voices muffled as she glanced about wide eyed. She could feel the panic in the room, then looked to Molly. She was saying something. All the sound came rushing back at once, Alex catching the tail end of it all. She was somewhat flabbergasted, though. No, she hadn't really seen it. In fact, she very well felt it.

Patting her torso down, Alex checked herself over. Whatever it was seemed to have passed through without causing any visible harm to her. She was still somewhat gape-jawed and wide-eyed though. "Wh-what was that?!" she finally managed to sputter, looking off in the direction it had gone.

Cyndaquil was on edge, bristled and ready for battle. The flames on his back roaring and crackling. He was ready to put up a fight if need be. "Don't worry, Alex. I'll protect you!" The fire shrew growled, albeit cutely.

Alex grimaced at the prospect. She knew well enough that with the size of Cherrygrove, a vandalism attack of this level was unlikely. No, she was more worried about the Pokémon being held in the ICU and otherwise. Still  it irked her, the idea of this entity being a Pokémon. The way it passed through her was disturbing to say the least. A Ghost type? She would have to keep on her toes.

"Right," Alex said, agreeing with Molly about joining forces. Though she had a distaste for the girl, most of the trainers there were relatively weak, or just kids. They were clearly more frightened though it still chilled Alex to the bone. "You might want to return Togepi to it's pokéball, though. It's just a baby Pokémon, after all," Alex stated, before looking warily towards the room exit. They had to head towards the ward, it was like a horror film already. Hey gang, let's split up! Yep, already sounded like a recipe for disaster to the young woman.

"Let's go, Cyndaquil," Alex prodded, looking down to her little partner. He nodded in return, ready for the worst. He was a brave little bugger, at least. Alex took a deep breath, walking toward the doorway. She paused in it, glancing around the next room before proceeding. She watched for any shifting shadows, or anything unusual. This was really bad for her, considering the ways her sister used to torture her as a child. Walk down the hall, don't run. Then walk into the room and sit on the bed. Don't turn on the light. Count slowly to ten, then walk back out. She felt her heart thud in her chest, thinking about the eerie things she grew up with.

Alex walked slowly through the ward. Pokémon with severe injuries were in the ICU and outside of their pokéballs. The general ward was different, having them able to recover using machines that locked the capsules in and administered medicines. It was pretty impressive, really. Then again, all the displays were broken. Some foggy like a busted screen, others displaying gibberish like a computer virus.

Alex was already going over a few hypothesis as to what could be causing this. She wasn't going to say anything just yet though, not until she could gather more information. She paced lightly between the machines and rows of pokéballs, glancing down through the translucent lids to check if the Pokémon were alright inside. She couldn't gather quite what...whatever this was- was trying to accomplish.

"Maybe the perp ran off, or hasn't succeeded yet..." Alex proposed, hoping for the prior though doubting that was the case. She felt like something else here was off, though she couldn't place a finger on it. Call it intuition, but something in the center besides the displays was off, it just had to be. "Let's keep looking..." Alex trailed, moving deeper into the Center.

It was really quiet outside of the cafeteria, and that just made things more unnerving. It was like Alex's words hung in the air like an ominous blanket. She hated the feeling, but she learned to trust her instincts and stay aware of her surroundings. As she walked she was careful to keep aware of her peripheral vision, as well as any potential sounds.

Alex was very unsettled, as the further into the ward they got, the darker it did as well. Her heart sat in her throat, doing best to keep a calm composure. Somewhat startled when the screams came, Alex's heart jumped along with the rest of her. Molly was off with a start, Cyndaquil bounding after. The female grunted, fighting her feet which felt heavy as weights now to run behind them.

As nurses scattered about, they brushed against Alex, fleeing the scene. She quickly stepped in the doorway, freezing for a moment as she stared at the entity. It was almost nauseating to her, the strange pale blue light flickering about. She felt clammy, but retrieved her Pokédex to see if it could be identified.

"Rotom, the Plasma Pokémon. Its body is composed of plasma. It is known to infiltrate electronic devices and wreak havoc. Research continues on this Pokémon, which could be the power source of a unique motor."

"So it is a ghost..." Alex said, swallowing hard. She looked back up to the being. Her stance was strong, though inside she felt weak. Compensating, perhaps? Either way, this Pokémon was causing problems and needed to be taken care of.

"Cyndaquil-" Alex started, choking on her own words quickly. This is the kind of thing that got them in trouble last time. Cyndaquil was severely injured before, and if she failed here she wouldn't even have a chance of saving him. She was frozen, at a crossroads due to her experience with Chikorita.

"Alex, I need an order! If we don't do something, all these Pokémon could die!" Cyndaquil pleaded. It struck Alex painfully, those words. I need an order, the same thing had been said in the fight against Chikorita. She couldn't let that happen again. She took a deep breath, shakily exhaling to loosen up a bit.

"Right then. Cyndaquil, be careful not to damage too much stuff.
Start with Smokescreen to give yourself cover, then Extrasensory!" Alex commanded, trying to pretend it was just another drill back in school.

Cyndaquil cried out, opening his mouth as he huffed out a cloud of black smoke into the room. He then used the mysterious psychic ability to try reaching out to the target. His eyes began to glow gold, a mysterious golden aura surrounding him. Opening his mouth once more, he shot the power forward at the Rotom. Though the power itself was unseeable, the multicolored circular beam was quite visible, white crescents all around it.

Alex believed the smoke to be the least of their concerns. If she couldn't get this Rotom under control quickly, there was no telling how much damage it could do! As Molly began to sputter on the smoke, Alex reached out for her, pulling her back out of the room some. It wasn't so concentrated just outside the door frame, though still somewhat unpleasant.

"Keep back, we don't know what it's capable of yet," Alex spoke, just as she heard the buzzing of the electric attack being discharged. She looked up quickly, eyes wide as her heart jumped. She screeched, grabbing  molly and covering both of their faces as fuses began to blow out. The popping glass sounds making the young woman's body tense and twitch.

"Alex!" Cyndaquil cried out, jumping between the girls and the shockwave. He took the brunt of the damage, feeling the electrical discharge pulse through his body unpleasantly. It was a powerful electric attack, but fortunately hadn't paralyzed Alex's partner.

Releasing Molly, Alex glanced up just in time to see Rotom manifest again. Though he was part ghost, it was possible to follow his electrical trail. "Cyndaquil, look out!" Alex called, shoving her partner out of the way of the Confuse Ray. He had protected her from the damaging move, but now Alex was confused! She blinked, rubbing her head.

"I can't..." she muttered, going on nonsensically as she looked around. She tried focusing on the battle, but the room kept changing on her. Cyndaquil began looking like another Rotom, disturbing colors and images swirling around the clouded room. She screamed, experiencing paranoia and delusion from the hallucinations the induced confusion was causing. She grabbed her hair, falling to the ground and burying her face.

"Alex, no!" Cyndaquil cried out. To see his trainer like that was hardly what he wanted. It was his job to protect her, after all! He would be on his own until the confusion wore off of his trainer. "Alright then, you asked for it!" Cyndaquil said angrily (still somehow effing adorable). He turned to Rotom, reigniting the flames on his back.

Leaping into the air, his body was quickly surrounded by white streaks. Suddenly, he flew through the air at the foe. He knew he would successfully slam into the foe, his Aerial Ace being unable to avoid. Afterward, he used the knowledge of where the plasma Pokémon was to launch another Extrasensory. His eyes glowing once more, the mysterious beam shot out at the foe.

It was easy to say Alex was reckless, even stupid in the situation. However, it was at least clear that she cared about her Pokémon. She sat on the ground, holding her ears as she tried to stave off the hallucinations. It was like all her nightmares coming to life. Still, deep down she knew they weren't real and tried to focus on that. Unfortunately that alone was taking her entire concentration, and wasn't helping the feeling of dread spread over her body as much as she'd have liked.

Still, Cyndaquil was in the heat of battle, and without a trainer's guidance! The astonishing yell did little damage, but the little fire shrew flinched momentarily. It was then that he heard Molly's voice calling out to him. He felt somewhat wrong, listening to another trainer's orders. However, Alex was incapacitated so he would take what he could get.

In a sudden move, Cyndaquil leaped into the air. He tilted his head back, momentum carrying him through a backflip. In a simultaneous flash, as he muzzle lined up with where he believed the sparking ghost to be, his flames ignited. The fire in his belly burned red hot, swirling up through his system and into his mouth.

The fire grew, bubbling up and lighting the darkness as he released the hot embers at the foe. It was no flamethrower, but considering both Pokémon were relatively low in level, it was pretty impressive. He shot the flames at Rotom, hoping to burn the foe and slowly drain his health as such.

Meanwhile, Alex's delirium began to wear off. Though not entirely yet, she could begin to separate reality from hallucination. It was still a haze unfortunately, falling back and forth between her current two states. She tried relying on her sense of touch rather than sight or sound, feeling around for her items in hopes that she might snap herself out of this state.

A demonic figure approached Alex, growling menacingly. Beckoning her to come with it. Her heart pounded, staring back as sweat dripped down her face as though experiencing a fever. No, it's not real. Remember, Alex, it's not real... The young woman kept reminding herself, as the haze slowly faded between reality and confusion.

No, in fact the beast wasn't real. It was Molly, pleading for her to snap out of it! Alex did her best to grab her things from the floor, slowly standing up. She still felt sickly and covered in a cold sweat from the ordeal. She looked to the battle at hand, trying to focus. Rotom looked like a menacing beast with ghastly fangs that took up the whole room. She groaned a bit, closing her eyes and rubbing them with her thumb and forefingers from the free hand.

Blinking, she looked back up to the scene at hand. Most of the haze caused from smokescreen had faded, and Rotom's illusion faded. She could see it for what it was now, a Pokémon like any other. Molly's words were yet ringing in her head. Catch it? Yes, this was an opportunity as a trainer, that's right! She was a Pokémon trainer now, and needed to start acting like one!

The discharge roared through the room again, Cyndaquil once more protecting the girls by taking the whole of the damage. He cried out a bit, the electricity pulsing through his body. Once more he was fortunate to not become temporarily paralyzed. However, the odds were now against him that he would be so lucky a third time.

"Cyndaquil!" Alex cried out, finally snapping from the confused state for good. She grit her teeth, reaching for a pokéball. However, she wondered if Rotom was low enough in health just yet. "Once more, use Extrasensory!" The new trainer ordered, hoping to knick the ghost type's health just a bit further before throwing the pokéball.

Cyndaquil glanced back as his name was called. Upon seeing his trainer back up, his fire burned brighter. "Right, Alex! Hyaaa!" Cyndaquil let out a cry as his eyes began glowing gold one last time. Opening his mouth, the multicolored beam shot forth toward the foe. Meanwhile Alex prepared the pokéball, ready to toss it where the Rotom should end up.