Savannah didn't want to stop hugging her mother. She was scared. The sun was rising, and Eleflow was at her side. She wasn't ready to go, but now there wasn't any reason to wait any longer.
Just think of it as an adventure. She told herself.
"Bye mom," she whimpered as she stepped away, turned, and followed her cousin into the open grasslands.
Jason and Cheeted got a head start, but were waiting a distance away for Savannah to catch up. They walked side-by-side. Savannah's gaze focused on the ground, she dared not to look back. They walked like that for about ten minutes; silent.
"Hey, Savannah, look at this!" Jason nudged his cousin's arm.
"Hm?" Savannah lifted her head. Jason was pointing out at a few trees in the distance.
Taking time in the shade was a small herd of gray and orange Smokapi. Their dark cloudy manes blew gently in the morning wind. Savannah pulled out her pokedex to learn more about them.
"Smokapi, the Smoke Cloud pokemon. A fire type. The plants this pokemon eat are believed to be burned up in its body for energy. The smoke this produces is expelled through the pokemon's pipe-like horns on its head."
Savannah looked up at the Smokapi again, trying to spot the horns the pokedex mentioned. They were too far to get a clear view, especially with the smokey main swirling around their heads. Savannah decided to approach to get a better look, slowly, as to not startle them. She had heard many times that a panicked Smokapi could cause serious harm.
The dark gray pokemon noticed her quickly, but they didn't seem nervous. One lifted its head and watched Savannah, and eventually approached her with curiosity. Its mane of smoke was low and calm, and as she got closer, Savannah could clearly see the short round horns the smoke was coming from. The Smokapi seemed to have quite a lot of control over where its smoke went, because despite the fact that the wind was blowing towards Savannah, the Smokapi's mane stayed behind its head.
The Smokapi let out a curious bray and lowered its head down towards Savannah. Slowly, she reached out to stroke its snout, and the Smokapi seemed to have no problem with it. Savannah smiled, distracted from her earlier worries.
Suddenly, the Smokapi lifted its head up and gazed off to the side. Its pointed ears twitched, seeming to search for a sound. The whole herd seemed to be on edge. Savannah wondered what had caught their attention. She tried to listen, and look in the direction they were looking too. The sky was clear, yet Savannah could still make out the faint sound of rumbling thunder. After the sound was made, the Smokapi took off running in the opposite direction, leaving Savannah behind.
"What do you think that was about?" Savannah asked as she turned back towards Jason. "Did you hear the thunder too?"
Jason nodded. "Maybe we should keep moving. It seemed to be coming from further down the road."
Savannah and Jason picked up the pace. They didn't know how far they'd have to travel, or if whatever made the sound would stick around. A few minutes later, the two froze as they came across a dark van on the side of the road, with a familiar symbol of a white netted P on the side. Team Poach was nearby.
Luckily, the van seemed to be empty. Still, Savannah and Jason were cautious, sticking close to the long grass to hide in if they spotted anyone. They tried to get a better look at the van, to make sure no one was inside, but didn't dare get close.
More thunder, much closer, caught their attention. Savannah turned back towards the grasslands. Her eyes widened as she saw about a dozen yellow pokemon, which she recognized as Galvazelle, being chased by several Capowl, a brown, red, and black canine pokemon. Just a bit behind them were three people in Team Poach uniforms, each riding a Mudsdale. Savannah would have run out after them instantly if Jason didn't grab her hand.
"Come on Jason," she begged. "We have to stop them!"
"We're supposed to be hiding from Team Poach, remember?" He responded.
Savannah didn't take her eyes off of the herd of Galvazelle. They seemed to be getting tired. They must have been running for a while. Team Poach's Capowl were slowly gaining on them.
"We can't just let them do this!"
"Wild pokemon are caught all the time." Even as he said it, Jason was unconvinced. Savannah turned back to her cousin and saw the doubt in his eyes.
Strikes of lightning flashed as the Capowl began catching up to the herd. A last ditch attempt from the Galvazelle to defend themselves. The Capowl fought back with Dark Pulse, hitting several of the Galvazelle at once. It seemed to be a close fight, but the tides would turn when the Team Poach grunts arrived with their Mudsdale.
"But not like this," Savannah cried.
Jason watched the battle for a moment, then sighed and spoke up. "You're right. Whatever Team Poach is planning to do with those Galvazelle, it can't be good. I don't care if Team Poach is after us too, or if we just became trainers yesterday. There has to be something we can do."
Jason held out his pokeballs, ready to send out Cheeted and Oxpechick.
"Wait, don't have Oxpechick fight," Savannah said as she grabbed Eleflow's pokeball.
"Huh?"
"Cad town shouldn't be far. And since Oxpechick are everywhere, Team Poach won't notice one flying by. Send Oxpechick to Cad town to get help, so that if anything happens, we'll have backup."
Jason nodded, and sent out Oxpechick first. He quickly explained the plan, and with a nod, Oxpechick took off towards the next town. Savannah took a deep breath, watching as the Team Poach members dismounted their Mudsdale to let them join the fight, and sent out Eleflow.
One of the Mudsdale approached the group of Galvazelle, but before it could attack, it was interrupted by a blast of water hitting it in the face. The Mudsdale backed away and shook its head from the attack, before turning to face its attacker. Savannah and Eleflow stood out from the tall grass with shared determination. For a single moment, the world was still. Savannah could feel the wind blowing through her hair, beckoning her onward.
"I'll focus on the Mudsdale," Savannah said to Jason. "You take care of the Capowl."
Jason nodded, and sent Cheeted out. While Cheeted sprinted from Capowl to Capowl, using mixes of Quick Attack, Spark, and Ember, Savannah had Eleflow use Water Gun again on the Mudsdale. The equine pokemon reared up on its back legs and let out a bray, before slamming its hooves back onto the ground, sending a shockwave across the ground as it used Bulldoze. Savannah herself stumbled from the move. Eleflow stayed on her feet, but seemed shaken from the attack. The other two Mudsdale came over to join the battle.
"Three pokemon at once," Savannah whispered. "We can still take them on." She rose her voice as she selected the next move. "Eleflow, use Disarming Voice!"
Eleflow let out her trumpet of sound, sending a wave of energy to strike all three pokemon. Each of the Mudsdale flinched, but each recovered quickly. Team Poach called out for their pokemon to use Stomp, and one of the Mudsdale ran up to Eleflow, brought its front legs up, and slammed them down on her. Eleflow cried out, but recovered quickly. Savannah had her follow up swiftly with a Water Gun, fending the Mudsdale back.
Out of the corner of her eye, Savannah noticed one of the Capowl retreating a distance. Between all the Galvazelle and Cheeted's help, they seemed to be overwhelming the Capowl. Hopefully they'd be able to chase the rest back soon. Savannah wasn't sure how much longer she and Eleflow could hold their own against the three strong Mudsdale.
While Eleflow regained her barings from the previous attack, one of the other Mudsdale approached her, and prepared to use Double Kick as its trainer commanded. Savannah called out a warning to her pokemon, but Eleflow couldn't doge in time. Eleflow was flung across the ground, and struggled to get up afterwards. In that time, the first Mudsdale approached Eleflow to use Stomp again. Savannah flinched, she didn't think Eleflow could take another attack.
But, before it reached Eleflow, one of the Galvazelle ran out from the herd and charged at the Mudsdale, knocking it back with Take Down. The Mudsdale winnied before turning and fleeing. The Galvazelle stood tall, turning to face the other two Mudsdale. Eleflow stood up and went to Galvazelle's side, before using Disarming voice at Savannah's request. The two pokemon took the attack, before one of them reared up to use Bulldoze. The Galvazelle sprinted back to get out of the attack's range.
"Eleflow watch out!" Savannah called, but her partner couldn't react quickly enough. Eleflow was knocked down, and didn't seem able to get back up.
Galvazelle attacked one of the Mudsdale with another Take Down as Savannah returned Eleflow to her pokeball. Savannah looked over to see how Jason was doing. Luckily, most of the Capowl seemed to have fled, though Cheeted seemed exhausted, as well as many of the Galvazelle. It would be tough, but as is, they could pull through.
But that's when Savannah noticed the three Team Poach grunts each holding a pokeball. They had more pokemon, and suddenly Savannah felt much more unsure of herself.
The wind picked up, blowing at the two Mudsdale. They both flinched as Savannah looked up to see Jason's Oxpechick flying down to follow up the Gust with a Peck. Then he turned, hearing footsteps, and saw a man wearing black jeans, a white blouse, and a tan lightweight jacket approaching them. The Team Poach grunts seemed pestered by his arrival, one of them crossing their arms in annoyance.
The man came up to Savannah's side. "Are you ok?" He asked.
Savannah nodded. "Yeah, right now I am."
"Good to hear I got here in time." He turned to face the Team Poach grunts. "Pestering kids? Really? Why don't you just pick on someone your own size?"
"In our defense," one of the grunts spoke up, "they attacked us first."
The stranger's eyes widened, before he grinned and pulled out a pokeball. "Either way, I can't just let you harm innocent people or pokemon."
He tossed the ball, and the red light that came out formed into a large Slaking, which stared down at the Team Poach grunts, and then to its trainer. The grunts seemed even more unnerved at the presence of the pokemon, two of them even backing away.
"Hold on," one of the Team Poach grunts spoke up, panic in their voice. "We don't have to do this the hard way. Can't we talk this out?"
"Get out of here, now," The stranger said. "That's my only offer. The next time I catch you doing something like this again, it won't end pretty."
The grunt he was speaking to nodded, and quickly recalled their pokemon before booking it for the truck. The other two followed soon after, and the truck quickly sped off into the distance. The Slaking sighed and sat beside its trainer.
"Awe don't worry buddy," the Slaking's trainer said as he patted its head. "They'll be back for more trouble, and we can crush them then!"
"Thank you, mister," Savannah breathed.
The stranger turned to Savannah as Jason came up to her side, Cheeted by his feet. Oxpechick flew down and landed on Jason's shoulder. His gaze was curious. "Did you two really take on Team Poach on your own?"
"Uh- yeah," Savannah responded. "We couldn't just let them hurt the Galvazelle."
"Hm," the stranger grinned. "That's brave of you two. And it seems like you held your own well."
"Thank you," Jason murmured.
The newcomer looked to Jason, and then down at Cheeted. "I don't think I've ever seen a pokemon like that before."
"Well, Professor Quiver did tell us he was rare."
"Same as my partner," Savannah said. "Eleflow. Team Poach knocked her out before you arrived."
"In that case, let me get you two to the Pokecenter so you can heal up your pokemon. C'mon, Cad town isn't far."
"Really? Thanks!"
Savannah went to follow the man, but she felt a nudge at her arm. She turned to see the Galvazelle from earlier, the one that helped her with the Mudsdale, standing there. Behind them, the rest of the herd was walking off, grazing in the grass, but this one was here, with her.
"What is it?" Savannah asked. "Are you hurt?"
The Galvazelle nudged Savannah again, its hooves fidgeted with excitement.
"I think it wants you to catch it," The stranger said.
"Wait, really?"
The Galvazelle let out a yelp of agreement.
"You seem to be a strong trainer. I'm sure the Galvazelle saw something in you when you were battling."
Savannah slowly pulled out an empty pokeball, and gazed up at the Galvazelle. "Are you sure?" She asked.
The Galvazelle smiled, before gently tapping its muzzle to the pokeball. A light came out and surrounded the Galvazelle, before brining it into the ball. The pokeball shook once, then twice in Savannah's hand, and then clicked with a green light on the button. From her phone, Savannah's pokedex spoke up.
"Galvazelle has been registered to your pokedex!"