Part Seventeen – The Trainer of a Weed

"What did the paper say?" Bayline asked again. All their pokemon were returned to their poke’balls. But Peppermint hung to her shoulder. She felt very uncomfortable for the first time up there. Squall suggested that it had something to do with the sudden changes of weather, it already rained for fifteen minutes then snowed for five and sunny weather followed since.

"I don’t really think it’s the time, but as long as someone besides me reads it aloud, fine," Coco said. Squall volunteered to read it. She gave it to him.

"Hem hem, December 24^th, 1999. On top of Cinnabar’s volcano a rare pokemon was sighted. A weary trainer of ten claimed he saw a blue angel with long wings and graceful strides and a sorrowful song. It also had a long, glimmering tail flow on behind it. But of course, he came from a part of the northern regions of the pokemon world and has just came to visit his cousins and an aunt on Cinnabar and was not used to the fiery temperature. He nearly passed out till a cold chill came upon him and the pokemon vanished. This trainer’s name was Icy Northingate, he was an expert of Ice pokemon. Later, police accused Team Rocket of several Ice pokemon poaching and many were caught and jailed. Later, Icy once again saw the creature and the Ice pokemon population increased dramatically, mostly in his home region. People were astounded and started believing Icy’s plausible sightings. Now, Icy Northingate lives at Cinnabar Island, in hopes of seeing the creature again. But, he has not seen it yet…Whoa! Icy saw it too!" Squall said.

"All right, but why do we need to go to Pallet?" Bayline asked Coco.

"Because, Pallet’s the shortest way to Cinnabar and I want to have a chat with Icy, because he and only us have seen Arcticuno, also including Team Rocket…"

"But, Team Rocket may be killing her now!" Squall told her. Coco shook her head.

"No way, its clear they need her for something, probably to bribe in more Team Rocket members since the number of arrests were so large," Coco said. Bayline made a funny face at Squall when he wasn’t looking at her.

"Well, at least the sun will melt most of the snow. All we can hope for is to have at least some part of us will stay dry," Squall said coldly, as he stepped into another slushy pile of snow.

"BULBBAA!" Oucch! Something cried. They jumped. But, Squall jumped and fell on his back. The snow was so high it was hard what was under it. Coco quickly began digging, with Peppermint trying her best. When Coco hit something green, she dug around the sides of it to find a bulbasaur! A red mark was on its head, probably where Squall stepped on it.

"You poor thing, we’re sorry," Bayline apologized.

"For what?" Squall growled, as he got himself up onto his feet. The bulbasaur crawled out of the dug out of the hole and stared at Coco. She quickly got out a Potion and sprayed it on its head.

"Bulba," Thank you, it muttered.

"Your welcome," Squall and Bayline stared at her.

"Bulbasaur bulba?" Have you always spoke pokemon? It asked. Coco reddened and said she just began. "Bulbasaur saur," All right, my name is Minoru, meaning ‘seed’ in Japanese, Coco blinked.

"How would you know what Minoru means in Japanese?" Coco asked. Bayline and Squall stared dumbfounded. They knew a pokemon intrepid?

"Bulbasaur," I used to be owned or so to speak, but my trainer left me here, promising he would return. But never did in the last three weeks, Minoru explained. Coco put the Potion away and picked up Minoru and stood up.

"Well, your welcome to join us if you wish," Coco said. Minoru thought.

"Bulbasaur," Only if you defeat me in a battle, Minoru said gruffly.

"Fine, let the battle begin!" Coco said, putting him down and throwing Firestorm’s ball. When she was released, she looked just as uncomfortable as Peppermint.

"Hey, Fire, all right?" Coco asked. Firestorm nodded as she stared down at the bulbasaur.

"Okay! Let’s start out with an Ember attack! Go!" Coco ordered. Firestorm clumsily jumped and spun. Releasing tiny balls of fire. Many hit the Grass type pokemon, but he held his ground.

"Use Scratch!" Firestorm charged at Minoru slowly. Making Coco worried wasn’t Firestorm not taking it seriously? When Firestorm tried to attack Minoru, he dodged it and one of his vines wrapped around Firestorm’s right arm. Minoru flung her to the ground. Firestorm quickly got up.

"Use another Ember!" Firestorm did, Minoru looked plenty weak enough to capture. But she wanted to make sure because he was still standing.

"Use Scratch!" Firestorm charged at the burnt bulbasaur, who was too hurt to move. She scraped his forehead. He passed out.

"Go! Poke’ball!" Coco shouted, throwing a ball at him. The ball sucked him in and began to wiggle. It stopped as soon as a small Ding! Came.

"All right, I caught a bulbasaur!" Coco announced. But, Firestorm tapped her ball and went inside. Peppermint tugged at her jeans, asking to be held. She sighed and put Minoru’s ball away and picked up Peppermint.

"Okay…" Bayline mumbled. Squall and her was still staring at her. Coco giggled and said she did that stuff for fun. But they both doubted it. They knew she could speak pokemon, but how was what they wanted answered.

"Come on, Cerulean is about a mile ahead. We can catch the earliest Pidgeot Airways flight to Viridian City and travel on to Pallet there. Then I’m sure we can rent a boat or something to get to Cinnabar," Coco explained, looking at Squall’s map.

"Hey! How did you get that?" Squall asked, Coco handed it to him and giggled.

"Sorry, my hands have a mind of their own," Bayline laughed at Coco’s excuse.

"Pika pi," I’m not feeling so good…

"Yet, as soon as we get there, we should run Pep and Minoru to the Pokemon Center," Coco said. They nodded.

"Okay, let’s get going!" Bayline said, as she took off running. With Coco and Squall right behind.

"Don’t go so fast!" Squall shouted.

"Come on slowpoke!" Bayline shouted. Squall growled.

"Will you two cut it out!" Coco reprimanded. They went silent. They ran halfway there till they stopped to have lunch.

"The Cerulean Sisters aren’t bad at all," Bayline said, biting into a ham sandwich. Peppermint only took a few, small bites of bread, then refused to eat anymore. Coco urged her to eat, but gave up as Peppermint gave her a small shock. Her hair stood on end before they walked on.

"Have you tried asking her what’s wrong?" Squall asked. Coco nodded, all she got out of her was ‘I just don’t feel well,’. But she didn’t believe those words, Peppermint was always jumpy and full of energy, and as soon as Arcticuno was taken, she and her charmeleon were nothing, but a sack of potatoes. They even lost their personality.

"I’m getting worried, I wonder if this behavior is because of the capture of Arcticuno?" Coco wondered aloud.

"I have no clue to it whatsoever, but maybe Nurse Joy would know," Squall said. Bayline nodded even though she had her doubts since they encountered the last Nurse Joy.

"All right, but let’s hurry. The more time traveling would make more time," Coco urged them on. She finished first and put Peppermint into her backpack with the zipper open. Squall finished next and packed up his dirty mess kit and Bayline finished quickly after and cleaned up her things. Soon after, they walked on.

It was dark when the reached Cerulean City and ran the rest of the way to the Pokemon Center.

"Hi Nurse Joy, remember me?" Coco asked.

"Why yes I do, may I help you?" she asked. Coco handed her Minoru, Firestorm, and Peppermint over to her. While Bayline gave her Jenta, and Squall, Granite.

"Can we rent a room for the night?" Squall asked.

"Yes you may, here, Room ‘7’ to the right," Nurse Joy said, handing them a key and walking to the back door with the pokemon. Coco handed the key to Squall.

"I’ll meet you in there, I need to call my parents," she answered their expressions. They shrugged and walked through the right hall door frame. She heard them fighting as she walked over to the phones. She sat down and dialed her number and put the receiver to her ear.

Ring! Ring! The phone echoed. Then her father’s face appeared on the screen.

"Hi Coco," he greeted, then turned around. "Coco’s on the phone!" Her mother came into the screen.

"Hi darling, how are you?" she asked. Coco explained about Arcticuno and said she would be arriving soon.

"That’s great Coco, we’ll lend you Cassie then," Cassie was Dawn’s Lapras. She was a timid soul, but was very energetic.

"All right, we’re going to catch a flight then we’ll be in Viridian, then we’ll arrive shortly after," Coco told them. They nodded and said good-bye. (As well as her mother telling her to do hygienic chores) Then she went down the hall and into room ‘7’.

"YOU BAFFOON! IT’S YOUR FAULT!" Bayline quarreled. Coco jumped as she shut the door. A pillow missed her by inches. In the room, Fruity, Blossom, and Honey ran around wildly, dodging pillows and angry feet. Squall and Bayline obviously were bickering. Trying to solve their problem by a pillow fight.

"What in the world!" Coco said loudly. The three pokemon saw her and ran behind her. Bayline was now panting hard because she was running around, throwing pillows, and screaming at the top of her voice. Squall was trying his best to watch out for himself and fight back.

"NO IT’S NOT! YOU PUSHED ME BIG BABY!" He shouted back. They rammed into one another. The window to their room was wide open, Coco rushed over to it and closed it. But noticed something, she looked down. A small, moon-shaped crystal it looked like. She opened the window again and picked it up. Since the two were fighting, she quickly put it into her backpack. Blossom, Fruity, and Honey still attached to her shoes.

"ALL RIGHT! THAT’S ENOUGH! Now it’s time for bed, Squall would you go and get Firestorm, Peppermint, Minoru, Granite, and Jenta please. They should be done by now," he growled and nodded, then walked out the door.

"Which bed do you want?" Coco asked, there were three twin-sized beds in the room. Bayline picked the one next to the wall farthest from the other two. Coco picked the one nearest to the bathroom. Squall’s obviously had the middle bed.

"Can’t you have the middle bed, I’m sick of that big-mouthed moron!" Bayline growled. Coco sweat-dropped. Honey and Blossom jumped onto Bayline’s bed. Fruity jumped onto his future master’s bed and Coco quickly got into her pajamas, as so did Bayline before Squall came back.

"Look who’s back to normal?" Squall asked. Peppermint jumped to the bed where Coco sat.

"What in the world happened to you?" Coco asked.

"Pika!" Ask Firestorm, I think she knows, Peppermint answered. Coco took Minoru’s and Firestorm’s poke’balls and released them, Bayline and Squall did the same.

"Butter!"

"Shrew!"

"Char!"

"Bulb!" The pokemon cried. Firestorm no longer looked dazed or clumsy, she looked quite content.

"Charmeleon," It seems we either were extremely hungry or it was a side effect to what happened to Arcticuno. Firestorm answered, as if reading Coco’s mind. She nodded. She agreed to the side-effect suggestion.

"Let me guess, that’s my bed huh?" Squall asked sourly, looking at the middle bed Fruity was on.

"Yep!" Coco answered. When Granite jumped onto the bed, he and Fruity started to chat a little. Blossom, Honey, Jenta, and Bayline laughed and talked on their bed and Coco and her pokemon sat on her bed, getting to know Minoru better.

"You must be the cutest bulbasaur ever, not to bring back bad memories though. But do you have any idea WHY your trainer abandoned you?" Coco asked. Firestorm and Peppermint looked at Minoru. He shuffled his front legs.

"Bulbasaur," I’m really not sure…he answered. Firestorm growled, the thought of trainers abandoning their pokemon for no reason really ticked her off. She told this to them.

"Yeah, I know what you mean Fire. Nobody is sure what the world is thinking now a days," Coco said. The pokemon sighed. "Hey, Firestorm, look at this," Coco pulled out the moon-shaped crystal and showed it to the three. They stared in awe.

"Charmeleon," That’s beautiful, but, it doesn’t seem right, Firestorm said.

"What do you mean?" Coco asked.

"Pikachu pika," There’s a strong er… feeling around it, like it’s urging us towards it, Peppermint explained.

"To you guys?"

"Char," Seems so, Firestorm answered. Coco sighed. Bayline’s giggles were heard from the other side of the room. Squall was being held back from attacking her by Fruity and Granite. Bayline’s pokemon stared and sweat-dropped. Coco and her pokemon laughed.

"I HEARD MY NAME!" He shouted angrily.

~ Midnight ~

Hmmm, Arcticuno’s Blue Orb and now this shows up. A dazzling gem piece. What can it all mean? Please Golden Sun, give me some answers, Coco wondered. Bayline and Squall were sound asleep in their beds, the pokemon were in their balls beside their master’s beds, and Coco was sitting up in hers.

She held up the blue orb, the light inside danced. She sighed, as she examined the moon gem and the blue orb. They were pieces of a puzzle, they just weren’t fitting together like one. She looked out the window and at the crescent moon. The trees swayed and flowed with the new warm breeze, telling them Arcticuno was very weak or wasn’t near. She knew both were true. Clouds passed in front of the moon.

She felt dazed for a moment and lay back down after putting the orb and gem away in her jean pocket. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was sound asleep.

~ Morning ~

"TIME TO GET UP SLACKERS!" Bayline shouted. "Before you decided to wake up, I’m calling the shower first, so, don’t go looking around Squall," She said as Squall sat up, Coco did the same. Bayline grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom. Coco decided to go next, then Squall.

"Well, at least let the pokemon stretch," he said, jumping out of bed and throwing his two balls. The shrew and flycatcher were still sleeping when they were called out. They were both curled up on the bed.

"Hello, but if you hadn’t noticed. Time to wake up!" Squall growled loudly. They heard the shower turn on. Fruity and Granite woke up. Coco released her pokemon too.

"Good morning you three," she said sleepily, they responded by yawning. Coco got out of bed and quickly made it. Urging Squall to do the same. He did what he was told. That’s when the shower went off.

About fifteen minutes later, Bayline came out with a Blue T-shirt on and jean caprice. Her hair was still quite damp in a high ponyta-tail.

"All right, your turn Coco," Bayline said, "I’m running off with my clothes to the washer. Be back in a sec," she said, as she ran out the door. The shower turned back on, leaving Squall alone with the pokemon. He eventually felt sorry for Bayline’s pokemon and released them too. Now, the whole room was filled with native-tongue language he didn’t understand. He just sat on his bed, waiting for Coco’s shower to come to an end.

Finally, the shower was off, the pokemon were now playing or talking. Five minutes later, Coco was out in a pink T-shirt with a white vest on top of it, also with Jean shorts. Her baby green hair was put up in the same way as Bayline’s, but was through the back of her ‘PL’ cap. Her bangs were directly over her eyes-brows.

"I’ll run to the washers, and-" Coco stopped as the door swing open with Bayline, she was carrying a tray full of breakfast foods. Squall wondered what took her so long. "Hello, Bayline, I’m leaving for a moment. OK?" Bayline nodded as Squall dashed into the bathroom. The small creatures saw the food and got into their favorite spots of the room and waited patiently. The shower turned on.

Fifteen minutes later, the pokemon received their food, Coco came back, and Squall was out of the shower with the same set of clothes on, but the dirty ones on his arm. He too went to the washers and came back to enjoy the remaining moments of breakfast.

"I asked Nurse Joy about the flight, she said the next one is in an hour." Squall explained. Coco and Bayline looked up at him.

"All right, everyone almost done?" the pokemon nodded and started grooming themselves. The three quickly cleaned up, Squall and Bayline made their beds and the maid came and collected the dishes. Thanking them for making their beds. They blushed. Then they returned their pokemon to their poke’balls and said good-bye to Nurse Joy and left.

"Pika!" It’s beautiful outside! Peppermint cried, she was clinging to Coco’s shoulder. Coco nodded in agreement.

"Hey! Wanna battle?" a voice shouted, they turned around. A boy no older then twelve with blue, short hair, green, eyes, and wearing blue jeans and a red-striped shirt stood behind them. Coco stepped forward.

"Sure," she answered. Bayline and Squall sighed, but let Coco battle this time.

"Two-on-two sound good to you?" she asked. He nodded.

"I choose you!" The boy shouted, "Rosie!" A purple pokemon that had large, puffy petals on its head. It looked like it drooled. Coco took out Dexter and pointed his sensor towards it.

"Gloom, the Poison/Grass Type Weed Pokemon," it beeped, "The fluid that oozes from its mouth isn’t drool It is a nectar that attracts prey." Coco stared at the gloom named Rosie and put Dexter away. Then she put her hand on Firestorm’s ball.

"Go! Firestorm!" she shouted, releasing her fire lizard.

"Char!" A Grass-Type! Firestorm growled, this was going to be short.

"Rosie! Tackle!" the boy commanded. Rosie charged at the charmeleon.

"Use your tail to dodge it!" Coco shouted. Firestorm put her tail in front of her, Rosie charged into it, the tail didn’t budge.

"Now use Flamethrower!" Firestorm opened her mouth and flames shot out at Rosie, she fainted instantly.

"Gr, return girl!" the boy shouted, "You did great," then he took out another ball.

"GO! Xavier!" A pidgeotto appeared, once again, Dexter introduced a pokemon.

"Pidgeotto, the Normal/Flying Type Bird of Prey pokemon," Dexter beeped, "Very protective of its sprawling territorial area, this pokemon will fiercely peck at any intruder," Coco put it away.

"Xavier! Gust!" the boy commanded. The bird of prey flapped its wings harder and harder, a gust of wind soon came at Firestorm. Knocking her off her feet. "Now use Tackle!" Xavier rammed into Firestorm!"

"Firestorm! Fight back with Flamethrower!" Coco ordered. Firestorm landed on her feet and launched another fire attack. It also, engulfed the bird in flames, but when they vanished, it still stood strong. Damaged greatly though.

"TACKLE!" the boy and Coco shouted at once. Firestorm and Xavier charged at one another, each ramming into one anothers chest.

"Are you okay Firestorm?" Coco asked as they landed on their stomach.

"Char…" Firestorm said weakly as she got to her feet.

"Can you get up boy?" the boy asked. Xavier slowly got to its feet as well. They both stared at each other the most.

"Char…"

"Pidge…" they growled. Then Xavier fainted, Coco ran to Firestorm just as she fainted as well.

"You did great Fire, return!" Coco said to the passed-out pokemon.

"You too X," the boy said, returning his pokemon to its ball as well. They both stood up.

"Great match, by the way, my name is Ivan," the boy said, holding out his hand.

"The name’s Coco, and this is Bayline and Squall," Coco said, "And this is my partner, Peppermint,"

"Pikachu!" Nice to meet you! Peppermint cried.

"Nice to meet you Ivan!" Bayline greeted.

"Same here!" Squall said. They looked at each other and growled. Coco giggled.

"Did you guys come here for a gym battle?" Ivan asked. Coco shook her head.

"We’re heading to Cinnabar Island," Squall answered. Ivan gasped.

"Then you’re going to need a ride, follow me," Ivan said, running away, the three followed.

They followed him through the city and down endless alleyways till they came across a subway. They heard nothing down there, but Ivan was already running down the stairs. They half heartily followed. When they were downstairs, Coco released a revived Firestorm, which tail lit the way around the old, underground subway.

"Mom! Dad! I have some guests!" Ivan shouted, the lights flickered on.

"Hello, my name is Sandra Zailor, and this is my husband Rick," a woman in her twenties with red-pink hair in a braid and aqua eyes. She was wearing Jean shorts and an orange blouse, as well as brown boots. A man a bit older with blue hair and green eyes appeared next to her, he was wearing a plaid, buttoned shirt and long Jean pants.

"How do you do? I’m Coco," Coco announced.

"The name’s Bayline,"

"Squall," Squall finished.

"Pika!" I’m Peppermint! Peppermint cried.

"And this is Peppermint," Coco said quickly, then she returned Firestorm to her ball.

"Nice to meet you, but Ivan, why bring people here? This isn’t an attraction," Sandra asked her son.

"Mom, they beat me in a battle and were going to Pallet to then go to Cinnabar and I thought we could give them a ride," Ivan explained.

"Oh, well, our train has been tested and has been rated for a 9.9% out of 10% for any problem," Rick muttered. "But we have a few problems though,"

"Like what?" Squall asked.

"We have found proof of pokemon living in our hidden subway," Sandra said.

"What kind of proof?" Bayline asked.

"Remains, there’s also eerie noises sounding at night," Ivan explained, "These noises are the reason we keep this place, no one comes near here as long as those noises sound. But we have no idea what it is anyhow," Bayline shivered. Peppermint looked scared.

"Follow us to the Control Room, we collected some of the rock we found with the remains," Rick said. They followed the three into a square-like room with a lot of control buttons and levers.

"We’re making our own subway for only trainers that are in a hurry. If you ride it to another subway that a friends own in Viridian, he can probably get you a ride to Pallet, and maybe to Cinnabar." Sandra explained. Coco stared in awe as they pushed several colored buttons and pulled a lever or two. Video monitor screens were on as well.

"Here’s one," Ivan said, showing them a rock with bones on it.

"Wow, did you figure it out yet?" Squall asked. Rick shook his head.

"No, but we rather keep it secret if you wouldn’t mind," Sandra asked. The three nodded and promised they wouldn’t tell anyone.

"Oh, so they discovered remains of pokemon." Claudia said with a grin. Holding a stethoscope to her ear and the other end to the ground.

"Sounds like it, and Giovanni would love to research about em’," Syji added. Spearow and Meowth stood next to their trainers, listening carefully.

"I say, tonight will be stealing night," Claudia laughed as they got to work on their plan.

"Can we stay here for the night? The noises that you mentioned really sparks my curiosity," Coco asked.

"I don’t see any problem, how about you Sandra?" Rick asked.

"Why not, having company isn’t something that happens to us everyday," she answered.

"All right, I hope you guys have sleeping bags because we’re camping out near the remains and see if the owners of the voices come," Ivan explained. Bayline shivered again. Lucky for her that Squall didn’t notice.

To be continued…