Pokémon: Leah's Journey {Rewrite}

Chapter 2: A Stroll Through the Gardens

The following morning, the trio started to make their way to Santalune City. Route 4 otherwise known as Parterre Way was more a garden filled with greenery and well-kept flowers than an actual route. The people that kept the area clean and tended to the plants saw it as a mark of pride. The area was beautiful and Leah couldn't blame Mrs. Cuddletails for running off to play with the wild Pokemon that tended to the plants. The rows of Hydrangeas seemed to attract Flabébés and Mildred was watching the little fairy types with interest. The pale blue flowers were relatively new, being freshly planted here. Leah easily picked up on Mildred's interest. She gently poked her friend's shoulder and handed her a Pokeball, "You know if you want to catch one, no one is stopping you."

Mildred nodded as a Flabébé with a blue flower flew in the area, seemingly drawn to the new rows of Hydrangeas. She eyed the Pokeball in her hand and aimed for the little fairy type, "Go Pokeball!" Mildred called with hesitation.

The ball vibrated and then clicked, Mildred had caught Flabébé. There wasn't much excitement to this catch as Mildred had caught it while it was distracted, but it still put her on edge to think that there was a chance she might not get it on her first attempt and then there was relief that it stayed in the ball. She sent out the Pokemon from the Pokeball to greet it, "Hi there, Periwinkle!" The Flabébé greeted its trainer in turn and turned to the other three Pokemon and the other two trainers. Mrs. Cuddletails barked in greeting, Lady Lemeow meowed to greet its new teammate and Níðhöggr simply stared.

The Vulpix jumped out of Leah's grasp and gave a proper greeting to her new friend. A greeting of play to be exact, Mrs. Cuddletails bowed down, her many tails wagging as she barked at Mildred's two Pokemon to induce play. The Skitty jumped out of Mildred's arms and landed gracefully on its feet before taking on a hunting crouch. It wasn't what the Vulpix intended, but who is Mrs. Cuddletails to deny play? The game was on, the moment Lady Lemeow pounced, Mrs. Cuddletails lifted a paw to push the cat-like Pokemon down. The moment the Vulpix bolted, the Skitty followed after it. Both Pokemon chase each other through the flowerbeds and between their trainers' legs. Níðhöggr simply watched the two Pokemon chase each other with an unimpressed expression on his face. Periwinkle simply looked at the Venipede in confusion.

Leah called Mrs. Cuddletails over before the Vulpix could actually do some damage to the plants and Mildred simply recalled her Skitty. The trio then returned to the road. They stopped at the centerpiece of this garden, a magnificent golden fountain that was as tall as a house, and sat near it for a breather. A duo of trainers walked up to them, the boy seemed younger than his sister, he had black hair and wore mostly navy blue clothes while his sister wore a red silken dress and had blonde hair. Leah had not expected the boy to be deadly silent. "Would you like to battle us?" he signed.

Leah realized that he's mute. She nodded, "I'd gladly battle you two, if Zayn wants to battle alongside me." she then turned to face the boy's sister, "what are your names?"

"Oh my brother's name is Spectre and I'm Vespidae."

Zayn was already standing next to Leah, Níðhöggr and Mrs. Cuddletails took battle stances, an indication that the challenge was accepted by all parties involved. Spectre and Vespidae sent out their own Pokemon: a Karrablast and a Combee. Leah wondered how Spectre would command his Pokemon if he lacked the ability to speak, but quickly realized that he could use a text-to-speech program on his phone to give out commands to Karrablast. Leah smirked, the siblings used bug types, this ought to be a breeze. "Mrs. Cuddletails use Flame Charge!"

"Níðhöggr use Venoshock!"

Mrs. Cuddletails' body was engulfed in flames and like a blazing ball of flames. Just as Níðhöggr began firing globs of purple, poisonous liquid, Mrs. Cuddletails sprinted towards the Combee. The Venoshock combined with the Flame Charge. Alarmed, Vespidae shouted, making her brother flinch in the process, "Combee dodge it!"

Combee narrowly avoided Mrs. Cuddletails, but Leah's opponents didn't expect the Vulpix to use Combee as a platform. She leapt without an ounce of hesitation and tackled Karrablast in a poisonous, flaming impact. Combee was left with a nasty burn while Karrablast was injured and poisoned.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Spectre signed, the boy was so amazed that stars could fit in his eyes.

"This old trick? We learned it while training with Korrina and the Mega Evolution Guru. Isn't that right Mrs. Cuddletails?"

The Vulpix cooed in response. As soon as they regained their focus on the on-going battle, Níðhöggr was struck with Combee's Air Cutter. The Venipede faltered, but quickly regained its footing. Karrablast managed to land a singular Fury Cutter on Mrs. Cuddletails, but before it could do it some more, the Vulpix nimbly evaded it. Zayn turned to Leah, "Do you want to do something batshit insane?"

"Who do you take me for? Of course I want to!"

Zayn smiled maniacally which prompted Leah to burst into laughter. It didn't take long for the couple to give out their commands to their Pokémon. Suddenly Níðhöggr's tail turned purple and it launched Karrablast upwards like baseball while Mrs. Cuddletails used the Venipede like a platform and summoned a blanket of orange sparks towards Karrablast. The Ember pushed Karrablast towards Combee and the nearby breeze pushed some of the Ember's blankets in the direction of the little honey comb Pokémon.

Both the flames and the Karrablast made contact with Combee. The impact of Karrablast's body knocked Combee out of the air. When the dust and flames settled, everyone got a good look at the results of the battle. Mrs. Cuddletails and Níðhöggr were still standing, but their opponents weren't, Leah and Zayn had claimed victory. Vespidae and Spectre withdrew their Pokemon and approached the couple. Leah turned her attention to the boy as he signed a little too quickly for her to understand, "Thank you for battling us. Also your Vulpix is really cute."

Leah smiled, "It was my pleasure, Spectre," she then knelt down to his level and whispered, "just a little trick, use your environment to your advantage and don't hesitate to get creative. And try to agree on a strategy with your battle partner, knowing what you're both doing can drastically increase the chances of the battle ending in your favor."

Spectre nodded quickly and returned to his sister's side. Vespidae gave Leah and Zayn a critical stare before nodding to herself, "You're both strong trainers, you were both in sync with your partners. I will have to train if I wish to best you both and form a stronger bond with my Pokemon. Thank you for this battle." She then turned to Leah, "and Leah, thank you for showing my brother kindness."

"You don't have to thank me for that, it's the least I could do."

Vespidae nodded and turned heel, prompting Spectre to stop petting Mrs. Cuddletails and followed after her. Leah and her friends waved their farewell to the siblings and Spectre reciprocated. The trio returned to the road and before they knew it, they had arrived in Santalune City.