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Ch 77 - Counter
🕑 Added 2024-02-07 14:52:40 +0000 UTCPidgey - Cloudburst stood on the packed dirt, facing off against... the Bug type. The purple bee without wings. His new Pokemon.
“I really need to find out its name,” David murmured as he watched them. Today.. Today had been a bit manic with the early morning wake up, meeting Louis, the ranger, and arriving in Fuchsia city in general, but it’d been less than 24 hours and calling the Pokemon.. nothing was starting to wear on him.
The Pokemon needed a name.
Almost as if sensing his attention, the huge red eyes turned towards him. Both they and the two quivering antennae, were strangely bright in the dark.
Across the pitch, Cloudburst settled into a comfortable ready position. None of her earlier tiredness was visible. She flexed her talons, carving furrows into the dirt. Her wings swayed gently, not open but always in movement.
“Go!” David shouted.
Cloudburst sprung into the air, scattering all the dust dug up by her talons into a cloud beneath her. Powerful wings beats took her up into the night sky, higher and higher.
Red eyes tracked her, but they made no further movement.
David didn’t quite know what to make of that. Standing in the open field, the Pokemon was an easy target. It had to know that right?
“Oh Christ. What if it’s never been in a Pokemon battle before?”
He might have jumped the gun with this catch.
Whoop. Whoop.
The sound of wingbeats drew David’s attention back to Pidgey, but he had trouble spotting her in the dark sky. The stars were bright and it wasn't pitch black outside, but she was still a small Pokemon. In the end, it was only her cream belly feathers that made it possible for him to see her.
Each wingbeat brought her closer to her target.
Unlike David, its red eyes had no trouble tracing Pidgey’s path through the sky. Yet still, it remained motionless. Just watching and waiting as the predator neared.
David cursed under his breath once more and readied the shinier of the two pokeballs that he was carrying. This could go badly quickly. The Pokemon hadn’t understood him, but he'd thought that Cloudburst had gotten through to it. Maybe it wasn’t taking the threat of battle seriously, but Pidgey’s Cannon was no joke. He’d seen it carve lines into the ground, trees and even rock.
‘Does the pokecentre open this late?’
The thought had barely crossed David’s mind when Pidgey reached a distance she deemed acceptable. She tensed, dipping down briefly in the air as she prepared to unleash Gust.
A small part of David’s mind noted the tell and made a note to try work on it with her.
A larger part of his mind was occupied by the stationary purple bee below. It still had yet to move, staring up at the Flying type above, doing nothing to escape the incoming super effective Move.
Wings swept forward.
Eyes stared.
One heart skipped a beat.
Cloudburst flapped, sending out spirals of... nothing?
She dipped down in the air again, the force of her swing just not being there.
A confused squawk filled the air. David couldn’t help but mirror it himself with a ‘huh’. That had never happened before. Cloudburst had failed the Moves hundreds of times when they were still learning it, but never since. Cannons missed, but they didn’t just fail.
His eyes flicked to her opponent. It was still standing there in the same place it had started without a care.
Had Cloudburst noticed how unprepared the other Pokemon was? Was she holding back instead of.. punching the equivalent of an unprepared child in the face? He eyed the pitch again. Or was it something about this being a training match and she didn’t want to hurt her fellow Pokemon? It’d never been an issue before, but Danny’s Bulbasaur or Terry’s Sandshrew weren’t his Pokemon either.
The squawks grew louder and angrier. Cloudburst readied herself, and swung forward once more.
Nothing.
And again. Nothing.
The fuzzy purple Pokemon watched it all, only giving a single reaction - a small squeak, after Cloudburst’s third attempt.
David frowned. None of the above reasons then. So why was Pidgey not using Cannon? It wasn’t exhaustion. She was tired, but not wrung out of energy. Training had not been that harsh.
“Piiiiiiii-dgey!”
Great. Now she was really angry.
Abandoning her attempts, Cloudburst dived. Tucking her wings tight to her body, she pointed her beak at her opponent and prepared. David thought he even saw a flicked of lavender run down the pointed pink beak. Tensing once more, he brought a finger to hover over the button on the shiny pokeball. Cannon issues aside, there was little that beat kinetic energy and a sharp point. If this attack connected it would deal damage.
For the first time in the battle, his new Pokemon moved. It waited to the last second before springing to the side off of two long tan legs. The movement was fast, closer to a spring than a dash.
Pidgey squawked again, aborting her dive and attack at the last second. Her talons scraped against the ground, the friction twisting her body, but she stayed aloft. All that training in the swamp yesterday had paid off and she didn’t crash down.
Once more she took to the skies.
Once more, the Bug-type Pokemon stood still, waiting, conserving energy and watching. Always watching.
Cloudburst attempted another dive. The Bug type Pokemon dodged again last second.
Pidgey's next cry was less a squawk, and more a scream of anger. Buffeting her wings, and swooping down, Pidgey decided to even the playing field. She landed lightly, and now, five metres from each other, the two Pokemon faced off.
David counted down the seconds - fifteen, until one of the Pokemon made a move. Pidgey dived forward, glitching in the air for a second as streaks of beige propelled her forwards.
This time, her opponent didn’t or couldn’t get out of the way in time. Beige met beige, and the purple Bug was driven back. The Pokemon let out a quiet rattle, but focused its attention on preparing itself.
“Tackle then,” David said under his breath. Not the worst Move, but far from the best or most interesting. The Pokemon used it offensively too, unlike Pidgey. The offensive approach hadn’t worked out for them in this clash, as Pidgey’s more.. compact energy blew threw the attacking move used from a standstill.
Both Pokemon readied for the next clash. Cloudburst was ready sooner. She blitz forward, again using Quick Attack to smash into the Bug type. It was a strong attack. As she steadied herself from the clash, the Bug type bounced back along the ground.
It was clear when the purple Pokemon stood that the hit had disrupted its preparations, but it began to ready another attack. Cloudburst was slower to ready now. Her wings heaved as the small bird fought to recover from the strain of two Quick Attacks in fast succession.
Beige shimmers appeared in the air around the Bug first. It began to hop towards Pidgey.
Unfortunately, as David looked at Pidgey he knew that the hops wouldn’t be quick enough. Cloudburst was tensing, readying to explode towards her opponent in a burst of energy. She'd be prepared in a few seconds. It would be another exchange of Moves and one that his new Pokemon would lose. Its Tackles weren’t practised enough to beat even Pidgey’s newly learned Quick Attack.
“STOP!” David shouted, walking out onto the pitch. He wasn’t quick or foolish enough to try and get between them, but he wanted to get closer just in case he’d be mopping up.
Cloudburst obeyed the order instantly, relaxing and straightening up. It took the other Pokemon another hop closer and several seconds longer, but to David’s happy surprise it stopped too. Beige faded away and both Pokemon turned to look at him expectantly.
“Great job!” He said truthfully to both of them. It’d been a simple match with many mistakes, but it was a great start. His new Pokemon didn’t know a lot of Moves, but it could move well. Its dodges were fast and brilliantly timed. It didn’t waste energy or give in to panic, even when a Pidgey was right up in its face.
Cloudburst had messed up several times, but it was better for that to happen in this training match than one with Poke on the line. They could work on fixing those mistakes tomorrow. Where she excelled in this battle was with her Tackles, Quick Attacks and use of Normal Type energy. It was clear from the collisions that even with Quick Attack, a new Move for her, that her control was improving and the Beige energy falling more and more under her control.
And David needed to let both Pokemon know that. He repeated it to them, only for Cloudburst to object.
“Pidddd-gey!” She snapped, jabbing her beak at the purple Bug type watching her movements closely.
“It’s okay Cloudburst. It was just one battle. We’ll work on Cannon tomorrow.”
Pidgey let out one short angry squawk before snapping her beak shut and letting out another slower, more put upon squawk. She jabbed her beak at the purple Bug.
David blinked. “Are you saying it was them?”
Pidgey jabbed her beak forward again, before flopping down into her roosting position. She let out one chirp before burying her head under her wing. She was tired and done.
“Sure,” David said absently, raising her pokeball and recalling her. Then he and his new Pokemon were left alone on the field.
“So that was you?”
Two red eyes stared back at him.
“So you can counter their Moves, stop them in their tracks. No. Not counter, you just stop them.”
It did remind David of something. There was a Move like that, something that could stop a Pokemon from using a Move. Like Protect, but not. It lasted several turns and forced you to use another move, just like Cloudburst had. A grin grew on David’s face. This was going to be good.
His Pokemon spun, turning to watch another trainer further down on the field.
Going to be good. For now, David had work to do.
-.-
With a yawn, David lay back down on the ground. The training grounds were empty now, just him and his new Pokemon left.
Their first training session had been a mixed bag. Unlike Pidgey, the new Pokemon seemed eager to learn, not requiring any bribes, but the training was more awkward too. The Pokemon seemed unable to practise Tackle like Pidgey did, requiring a target to be able to use the Move. A cardboard box David found on the street sufficed, but it only lasted a few hits before it was in pieces. Pieces his new Pokemon had a nibble on. Only one nibble as the taste didn’t seem to be to their liking.
They were out of targets now though, and David was exhausted. He could barely keep his eyes open as he looked up at the dark sky above. He turned and jumped.
Two red eyes stared back at him, never blinking. They couldn’t blink. Not with compound eyes like that. What must it be like to have eyes that could never close, never shut out the world when you got tired and weary?
“Great job,” David said through a yawn. “I think we’ll have to call it here though.”
A thought popped into his mind, giving him a small boost of energy.
“Hey! We need to come up with a name for you.”
Two white antennae twitched.
“I really need something to call you for training and battles. I’ve been using a couple of things in my mind but they aren’t real names. Bee, purple fuzz-”
“Venonat.”
“Baby moth and.. What?” David shook his head and looked at the Pokemon again. “Did you just say something?”
Two red eyes stared.
“You did. Veno.. Venonat.”
It chirped at him, a high pitched, buzzing chirp. Its two pincers swiped forward at him.
David rubbed his eyes and looked down at its.. Venonat’s pokeball. “You want to go back? Sure. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, Venonat.” He closed his eyes for the flash.
And then he was alone on the field.
“Venonat.” It sounded odd from his mouth, but he kind of liked it. A Pokemon that could stop any move. A Bug Pokemon that could stop any move. It was to put it simply, a perfect counter. He felt a lot more confident and-
“huuuurh.” He yawned. Tired. Very tired.
David staggered out of the training grounds and across the street. He sleepily greeted the campsite manager, who was still reading that Ninetales book, before staggering through the site in the pitch black to find his tent.
He fell asleep between one blink and the next.
-.-
Cloudburst woke him up the next morning by pinching his cheek with her beak. After glaring at the sun which was far too high in the sky, David ensured she was fed before setting off into the city.
The Fuchsia market was quite odd compared to the rest of the city. The tightly packed stalls were closer to the city’s alleyways than the wide thoroughfares, but they differed still in cleanliness and age. Put simply, the market was a mess.
There were no straight roads or lines in the market. It was a cluttered warren full of boxes and decorations. Even the walls were slanted, some leaning precariously out onto the pedestrian path while others squashed their neighbours only to be propped up by whatever goods were on sale there. Everything was worn and not one stall matched the clean walls and tiles of the buildings surrounding it.
The market was a confusing mess that looked one large breath away from collapsing.
This was to David’s benefit. With so many people and goods packed into such a tight space there was a rule that only applied to this part of the city and a guard was posted at each entrance to enforce the rule.
No Pokemon.
No Pokemon meant no free labour. Instead, a job board could be found at the entrance for the next best alternative. Cheap labour. It paid nothing like his job at Nature’s Scent, but the hours were very flexible and it would help pay for the food sachets.
He cheered after finding the notice.
-.-
There wasn’t much difference between the Saffron library and the Fuchsia one. The building’s materials were different, but inside the setup was much the same. A quiet woman sat in a booth beside a turnstile, reading a book herself.
When David reluctantly presented his trainer’s licence after much thought, the librarian put down ‘Shellder IN Obscurity - Imaged’, and after inspecting the licence, let him through. The bookshelves he could access with his one badge were a lot more varied than those in the no badge area. It didn’t take him long to find a book on the subject he was after. He picked up one of several copies on the shelves. This room thankfully had chairs so he settled down and dug into ‘Venonat - Moths and Legends’.
The culture around Venonat cannot be discussed in Kanto without delving into the region and people it came to represent. While officially never recognised by Fuchsia for historical reasons that this book will delve into, it is officially recognised by every other region in Kanto as the signature Pokemon of the great city.
While Venonat can be found anywhere along Kanto’s wetland east coast, it is on the peninsula that is Kanto’s most southern point that Venonat has made the largest impact.
Venonat, like many Bug types, had historically been treated as a pest, but unlike many others, not a particularly bothersome one. The Pokemon’s large, roaming hunting grounds and nocturnal preference saved it from some of the larger attempts to control Pokemon biodiversity in the region and for a long time it was overlooked. This changed during the Peninsula uprising, commonly known as the Marsh uprising. It was due this very characteristic of being overlooked that Venonat became widely used.
Pokemon ownership in the Fuchsia region pre-uprising was heavily controlled. The punishments for ownership of restricted Pokemon at the time have long since been banned in all known countries. Due to these restrictions the marsh rebels needed to train and empower Pokemon in hiding, and the unassuming, overlooked Venonat was the perfect choice for this. The practice spread until the presence of a Venonat nearby was understood to be a marker of nearby rebels.
It is this history and practice of secrecy that leaves Venonat unrecognised today. While the Pokemon’s presence is well known, so too is the history, and the continued show of secrecy is thought to be a gesture of respect for the many rebels and Pokemon that fell during the uprising.
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I’m enjoying returning to the market/ library combo, but the formatting is a paaain.
Let me know if this works for you on this site.
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