Journey Through Johto |Discontinued|

Chapter 2.8: Green With Envy

"Juniper, tackle!" Zia ordered as the Chikorita charged at the opponent's Raticate. Its trainer had challenged Zia to a Pokémon battle, and it was only fair to heed his wishes to help hone his battling skills.

"Raticate, hyper fang, now!" The boy shouted as his Pokémon jumped up, its top tooth glowing before it bit down on Juniper. The move caused some damage to the already tired Pokémon. "Are you okay?" Zia asked her, getting a nod.

"Raticate, quick attack." The other continued as the normal-type ran into the smaller, causing Juniper to get thrown down again. Zia winced, knowing the injuries were adding up by now. "Juniper, maybe you've had enough for today. You should return." She said.

However, the starter Pokémon just hopped back up, ready to keep fighting. Zia tilted her head. Was she not heard or was she being ignored? Without any prompt, the Chikorita sent a razor leaf, finally getting a hit on the Raticate. "That was great, Juniper, but you're exhausted. I'm gonna have to trade you out with Rei." Zia said, not wanting to use her strongest and most experienced Pokémon on the poor beginner trainer.

She took out her pokeball, the red beam shooting out to return the corresponding Pokémon. Though, the Chikorita jumped out of the way just before, avoiding it. "Juniper? What's going on with you?" Zia asked, trying again, only for the same thing to happen. "No!" The Chikorita denied.

Zia, being the stubborn one she was, kept trying. It was getting to the point that she was about to use her psychic powers to keep the Pokémon still, even if there was another person present. Thankfully, as the sun started to set, the boy was called home for dinner.

That distracted the grass-type as Zia's eyes glowed. A purple aura surrounded the small Pokémon as she was levitated into Zia's arms. "Juniper, that was very embarrassing! I don't know why you're not listening lately, but if you aren't going to tell me, then you can go think about what you're doing." The girl chided, returning the Chikorita into her pokeball.

~~~

"How's the mission going?" Lance asked through the phone machine. After the little problem with Juniper, they had made their way to the Pokémon Center.

Zia's face took on a serious expression. "We haven't made much progress yet. The only sign of Team Rocket so far is that trio of buffoons. Even if I wanted to bring them in for questioning, they always seem to get blown away beforehand or there's people nearby. Quite annoying, to be honest." She rolled her eyes.

"Hmm. They're laying low for now. They must be up to something." Lance thought, placing a hand on his chin. "Your best option is to keep traveling around, searching and listening for any possible information. They'll pop up eventually. Stay safe, Champion." Lance told her. They both nodded to each other before the older hung up, ending the call.

Zia then walked over to where her Pokémon were eating. She was about to sit down and join them when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw Juniper siting away from the group, staring out of the window.

"Juniper? Come over and eat before it's all gone." Zia called, not wanting the Pokémon to miss dinner. The Chikorita looked over before turning her head back around. Rei picked up a piece of his food before walking over, handing it out to the grass-type by setting it on the floor. "Here." He said, nudging it closer.

However, Juniper just used the leaf on her head to bat the food away, almost hitting the shiny Eevee. "That was rude." Zia stated, not enjoying the behavior of the Chikorita. "We should start calling it Krabby! Haha, get it? No? Alright..." Emmy sulked in the corner when no one laughed at her joke.

"Pokémon behavior is clearly driven by psychology." A voice cut in as they looked over to see Nurse Joy in a dress shirt, skirt, lab coat, and glasses. "Does that Chikorita belong to you?" She asked the younger.