The
following day, the doctors decide I've made a full recovery, and I'm
discharged from the hospital. I duly set off once more for Azalea
Town, this time with a promise to myself not to get cocky again. I
may have one Gym Badge, but I'm still fairly weak. I can't go around
taking stupid risks like I did back at the Ruins of Alph; my Pokémon
and I might not be so lucky the next time.
I
head back out onto Route 32 as before, but this time I head directly
south, following the main path. Having grown used to being ambushed
the moment I walk into the tall grass, I'm now ready for it, and so
it's no surprise at all when I'm suddenly attacked by a wild Wooper.
I send out Dusk to battle it, and once it's been suitably weakened, I
catch it in one of my remaining Poké Balls. It's another female, and
on account of its broad smiling face, I decide to name her Smiley.
With
Smiley now in my party, I proceed through the route, beating back the
various trainers and wild Pokémon that challenge me along the way.
Just like on Route 31, it's mostly just clueless kids with Rattata.
One of them, a girl named Liz, seems more interested in her phone
than battling me at first, but once I knock out her Nidoran, she
starts to pay attention. “You're off a journey to see the world?”
she says. “Neat! Hey, let's be friends! Can I have your phone
number? I wanna hear about everything you've seen!”
“Sure.”
I exchange phone numbers with Liz, and head off on my way.
As
I head further south, I soon find myself at the coast once more.
There's a large wooden jetty, with several fishermen all fishing for
Pokémon. I'm unsure whether or not to battle them, but one of them
notices my belt full of Poké Balls and calls me over. I end up
battling and defeating each of them in turn, but their Pokémon are
tough, and by the end of it my supply of Potions has been exhausted.
There's still a long way to go before I reach Azalea Town, so I
decide to head back to Violet City for now and buy some more.
Upon
my return to Route 32, I take the opportunity to train Banshee a
little. Right now, she only knows two moves, and neither of them are
all that useful. By the time I reach the southern end of the route,
she still only knows two moves, but she's definitely grown stronger.
I've also found two Great Balls, an enhanced Poké Ball that should
allow me to catch even stronger Pokémon.
Near
the southern exit, I'm suddenly approached by a shady-looking man in
a trench coat, carrying a cooler box. “Excuse me, sir!” he says,
blocking my path. “How would you like to have one of these
delicious, nutritious Slowpoke Tails?” He opens the box and, to my
horror, I see that it's filled with several severed Slowpoke tails,
packed with ice to keep them fresh. Ignoring the digusted look on my
face, he continues: “Right now, you can have one for just
$1,000,000! That's a steal! You'll have one, right?”
“No!”
I say. “That's horrible! How can you just cut off their tails like
that? Aren't Slowpoke supposed to be endangered, anyway?”
The
man's demeanour changes completely. “If you won't buy one, then
scram!” he snarls. All too happy to get out of his presence, I
continue heading south.
At
the southern terminus of Route 32, I find that it leads into a cave
called Union Cave. There's a Pokémon Centre outside, allowing me to
heal my weary Pokémon before I proceed. I take advantage of the
opportunity, then proceed forward into the cave. It's dark, but I can
still see well enough to find my way. Wary of any wild Pokémon that
might be in the cave, I proceed with caution.
Sure
enough, the cave turns out to be full of wild Geodude, Rattata, and
Zubat. There are a few trainers here as well, honing their skills
against the cave's denizens. Once again I defeat all challengers:
Dizzy and Smiley take care of the Rock-types, and the others help
take down the rest. We're still a little worn-out by the time we make
it out onto Route 33, though. Joey's constant phone calls don't
exactly help; while I appreciate his enthusiasm for battling, having
him phone me every twenty minutes to tell me about his Rattata grows
tiring after a while. After he calls me for the third time that day,
I resort to deleting and blocking his number. He'll have to find
someone else to bug.
I'm
perfectly content to head straight to Azalea Town and heal my
Pokémon, but before I make it, I'm ambushed by a large man in a
hiking outfit. “Hey, kid!” he calls out. “You a Pokémon
trainer?”
“Yeah,”
I say.
“I
just made it through the cave, but I've still got plenty of energy to
burn,” says the hiker. “Fancy a battle?”
I
know the rules. There's no backing down from a trainer battle.
“Sure,” I say. “Bring it on.”
“Alright
then,” says the hiker. “Go, Geodude!”
As
he sends out his Geodude, I can't help feeling a little relieved.
From the looks of him, I'd expected him to have quite strong Pokémon,
but I'd taken down half a dozen Geodude in Union Cave without
breaking a sweat. This shouldn't be too much different. “Go, Dizzy!
Use Bubble!”
Dizzy
bursts out of her Poké Ball and fires a stream of bubbles at the
Geodude. Ordinarily, this would have taken it down in one shot, but
to my astonishment, the Geodude survives. I guess this hiker's
Pokémon are pretty strong after all. “Nice try,” says the hiker,
“but your Pokémon could use some extra power. Geodude, use Rock
Throw!”
Geodude
picks up a nearby rock and hurls it straight at Dizzy, knocking her
back quite a way. The strike has clearly wounded her, for she
struggles to get back on her feet, and is limping quite badly.
Nonetheless, she courageously finishes the Geodude off with another
blast of bubbles. “Good work, girl,” I say. “Now come back.”
As
I withdraw the injured Dizzy, the man withdraws his fainted Geodude.
“Alright,” he says. “Let's see how you handle this. Go,
Machop!”
Machop
bursts forth from its Poké Ball. It's a Fighting-type Pokémon, and
somewhat muscular-looking, but its small size makes me assume it's
relatively weak. Dusk learned Peck during our time on Route 32, so
it's well-equipped to deal with the threat. “Go, Dusk!” I call
out, throwing her Poké Ball. “Use Peck!”
Dusk
flits over to the Machop and aggressively pecks at it. As energetic
as her attack is, it seems to have little effect. “Again, nice
try,” says the hiker. “Let me show you how it's done. Machop, use
Low Kick!”
It
happens almost in slow-motion. The kick strikes Dusk at blinding
speed, sending her flying backwards in a flurry of feathers. She
strikes the ground hard and tumbles to a halt, motionless. Somehow,
deep in my heart, I can tell that it's not good. Her chest's not
moving… she doesn't seem to be breathing. Dusk… is she...
The
mere thought fills me with a burning rage. I'd felt something similar
after Firebrand was nearly killed back in the Ruins of Alph, but this
is much stronger. I seize Firebrand's Poké Ball, fixing the Machop
with a steely gaze. “Firebrand, take him out!”
Firebrand
bursts forth and, as though he has sensed the seriousness of the
situation, he is suddenly enveloped in a bright light. As his
silhouette begins to change, I realize that Firebrand is evolving.
Sure enough, when the light fades away, Firebrand has evolved into
the larger, more powerful Quilava. With a roar, he unleashes a
torrent of flame that engulfs the Machop. It endures the fierce blaze
for a brief time, but is ultimately brought to its knees, and then
down to the ground, collapsing into the burning grass. I may have
actually killed it, but I'm surprised to find that I don't
particularly care. I have, at least, avenged Dusk.
The
man stares down solemnly at his Machop as the flames lick around it.
“I guess this makes us even, huh, kid?" he remarks.
***
Dusk is dead. I took her to the Pokémon Centre in Azalea Town, but there
was nothing more they could do for her. My quest has claimed its
first victim. Or rather, its first two victims: the Machop that slew
Dusk was also killed. I don't know what happened to it, but when I
returned to Route 33 to lay Dusk to rest, the trainer and his dead
Machop were no longer there.
As
the sun began to set above me, I set about digging a grave by the
side of the path, with help from Firebrand. Even though it's a small
grave, it still takes a while, and by the time it's complete, my arms
ache and my face is covered with sweat. I gently lay Dusk's body into
the hole, and with Firebrand's help, we pile the dirt back into the
grave. Soon all that's left of my brave companion is a small mound of
dirt. I take some fallen twigs lying nearby, fashion a makeshift
cross, and push it into the mound, marking the grave site. It's only
a modest grave, but it's all I can do for her.
As
I recall Firebrand, I look down at the four remaining Poké Balls on
my belt. “I'm not going to lose any more of you,” I say. “I
promise.” Wiping the sweat from my brow, I take one last look back
at Dusk's resting place, and then head back towards Azalea Town, in
the direction of the slowly-setting sun.
NEW
COMPANION: SMILEY THE WOOPER (LVL.6, ROUTE 32)
FALLEN
COMPANION: DUSK THE HOOTHOOT (LVL.3 – LVL.11)
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