Episode 3: What's in a Name?

Our days always start with breakfast, then training. Our training had begun hours ago. "Alright, Pidgey, dive from the sky, then try and flip directions right before you hit the ground! Don't fret, the pillow will break your fall if you end up doing it wrong! Squirtle, jump, withdraw, and water gun the ground! That'll help your balance and strengthen your water gun! C'mon guys, we need to be in tip-top shape for the next gym match! Oh, I'm making peanut butter and berry sandwiches for lunch. How many would you guys like?" I dig through my backpack for supplies.

"*2!*" cries Squirtle.

"*1!*" chirps Pidgey.

"None for me, I'm a pokedex, remember?" Dextra says casually.

"No duh, Dex. Well, lunch'll be ready no later than in 15 minutes," I say, grinning. "Until then, keep training."

"Please, don't call me Dex," mutters Dextra.

Fifteen minutes later, we are sitting at our camp eating some tasty sandwiches and juice from juice boxes.

"*Dee, why don't we have names?*" asks Pidgey, chewing contently at the sandwich at her feet.

Hydro acnowledges Pidgey's question. "*Yeah, my pal Bulbasaur's named Vine, his trainer Vickie named him. Why don't I have a name?*"

"Gee, you guys, I never thought of names before. I guess I was too into training, sorry. Squirtle, how about Bob?" I suggest. Hey, Bob is a cool name! "Pidgey could be Bobett!"

"*I'd have to kill you before I let you call me Bobett.*"

"Then maybe something else..."

Dextra decides to join the conversation. "How about Veronica? Or Elicia? Squirtle could be James, or Luke!"

"*Those are all human names,*" replies Squirtle.

"So?"

"Dextra," I intrude, "Why don't we just ask the locals for some help?"

"Good idea," my pokedex replies.

So we walk on to the next town. It takes about a half hour, mostly because Dextra's map had a glitch (..."It's all Maple's fault!" she cried...) in it, but we finally reach a place called Kimosha Village...

"...the village of beauty that is far past skin deep," I say aloud, reading a sign. "Is there a gym here, Dextra?"

My ever-so faithful Pokemon acknowledge my question. "*Nuh-uh, you're naming us first!*" Nice, ne?

"You guys, if you really want names that bad, let's go see Nurse Joy about it. She'll probably come up with something really awesome," I say.

About an hour later...

Pidgey's back in her pokeball, and Squirtle's riding in my backpack.

"*Are we there yet?*" he whines, tired from following me. His short legs just couldn't catch up to my longer strides.

"The Pokemon Center should be just around the corner," says Dextra in a I'm-sure-this-time tone. Now how many times have I heard THAT tone before...

Squirtle is just as skeptical as me. "*Are you sure, Dex?*"

"Positive, and please don't call me Dex."

"The only way to know is to turn the corner, and I'm dead tired so it better be there!" I yell with newfound energy. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!" I run off and around the corner so fast Squirtle has to grab onto my backpack to keep from falling off.

***

"Nurse Joy? Are you here?" I ring the bell on the counter for the fourth time. Finally, a pinkish-white thing comes out of a door. From my knowledge of pokemon, this thing happens to be a Chansey.

"Chansey, chan-cy!" it cries in a high-pitched voice. The Chansey appears to be pressing a button under the counter, and within a few seconds, a television screen slides down from the ceiling. A red-haired lady wearing a hat with a red cross on it appears on the screen.

"I'm sorry, I'm away on other business right now. If you would like your pokemon healed, please feel free to ask Chansey. If you would like my assistance for any other reason, I will be back by 4:30 PM. Until then, have a nice day!" The red-haired woman smiles than the screen goes black.

As the TV slides back into its previous position, I sit down with a million and one thoughts rushing through my head. Where could Joy be? How am I going to name Squirtle and Pidgey with absolutely no inspiration? And how in Heracross's name am I supposed to get my second gym badge?

"*Let's go and find Joy, then we'll get our names," Squirtle says.

"What's with you and wanting a name anyways?" I ask.

"*No comment on that one,*" he replies.

"He means he doesn't know either," teases Dextra, grinning with her small digital eyes narrowed on the PokeDex screen.

I sigh. "Let's go to Officer Jenny, I think I saw the police station right across the street from here." Dextra and Squirtle nod.

***

"Out on duty?!? Does everyone here have to work so hard?" I sigh again. "Guess you and Pidgey aren't gonna get names for a while. That is unless we find out what Jenny and Joy are up to! It could be one of those 'Missingno. Impossible' secret mission things! Kewlness to the extreme!" Squirtle and Dextra sigh while I dream of insanely complex spy gadgets and the like.

"*Snap out of it, Dee,*" says Squirtle, blue eyes narrowed.

"She has a point there," comments my pokedex, "We can meet Jenny and Joy at wherever they are now."

"See, Squirtle, I have a point!"

"Hmph. You're taking Dextra's word for it?" I don't reply.

So, we wander around the town for about an hour more until we reach a large white fountain. There, I take a break and sit down. All this walking is starting to annoy me...-.-;;

"*Hey, what's going on there?*" cries Squirtle, startling me. I turn around to where Squirtle's pointing to see a crowd of people huddled around something. Picking up Squirtle and putting Dextra in my pocket, I walk up to the crowd and somehow squeeze through to see Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy in front of some big building.

I "excuse me" my way through a few more people to try and get a better look at the building. "Is that..."

"According to my zoom-in feature, that's a bank," comments Dextra. "I think it's been robbed."

Suddenly, another voice joins the conversation. "Actually, the funny thing is it wasn't robbed."

"Huh? Who said that?" I cry. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around to see a guy with longish jet black hair and piercing green eyes.

"Hi, I'm Viper, " he says, holding out his hand.

"Oh, I'm Deena, nice to meet you," I say, shaking his hand enthusiastically as Squirtle jumps onto my shoulder.

"Same here," he replies, grinning softly. "You must be new here, would you like me to show you around town?"

My stomach growls, as does Squirtle's. "Erm...can you just show me where we can find someplace to eat maybe?"

"Sure. You're a Pokemon Trainer, right?"

"Yup. Squirtle here was my first Pokemon. I just started a few months ago."

"Interesting. Well, would you like to battle later on?"

"Okay, but under one condition; can you tell me what happened here?" I point a finger at the bank.

Viper grins. "Alright. They say some theif broke into the bank. The funny thing is, nothing's been stolen. My theory's that the theif was after something special."

"Hmm...that would make sense, since nothing was stolen..."

"Well, then, let's go and get you some food." He starts walking and beckons me to follow with a wave of his hand.

"*Fine with me,*" says Squirtle. He jumps off my shoulder and grabs my hand, then drags me behind him. "*Let's go!*"

***
We're now eating in Kangaskhan Barbeque House, and Squirtle's on his third dessert...-.-;;

"*More ketchup, please!*" he shouts.

"*I prefer mustard,*" says Pidgey.

"You guys, you're not supposed to eat ice cream with ketchup and mustard," I say, eyes narrowed.

"*I don't want ketchup AND mustard, I want ketchup!*" Geuss who said that...-.-;;

Viper sighs. "Do you go through this a lot?"

"More than that."

"Oh...," he grins. "Lucky you."

"Just full of luck am I."

"What?"

"Nevermind. Say, both of my pokemon need nicknames. Got any ideas?"

"Hmm...how about Jet for the Squirtle, and Pidge for the Pidgey?"

"Hmm...not bad names. What do you guys think?" I look at my pokemon...and they're both busy chowing down. "...Nevermind. Viper, let's battle after we finish eating, ok?"

"Alright with me."

***

"*I'm ready and rearing to go! Just say the word and that Viper dude'll be cryin' uncle! C'mon! Bring it on!!!*" cries my overexcited Squirtle. Honestly...I don't think it was a good idea to buy him that Electrode Blast ice cream sundae...of course it was either that or drowning in a Water Gun attack...-.-;;

Dextra seemed to agree with me. "No more Kangaskhan Barbeque House for you, Squirtle."

Choosing not to criticize Dextra's comment(mostly because I agree with her...), I say to Viper, "Well, we're ready."

A gentle breeze lifts a few dead leaves off the forest floor. "Venom, go." He tosses a red and white ball into the makeshift battle field. Out comes a black snake with silvery gray rings around its neck and a rattle of the same color on its tail.

"Woah! Is that what I think it is?" I mutter to myself. I point Dextra to the discolored pokemon.

"Oh my...this is quite strange, I don't have an Ekans of this species in my files."

"Deena? Is something wrong?" Viper looks straight into my eyes, sending a slight chill down my spine.

"Wha...? Oh, no problem, everything's peachy."

"Your move then."

"Okies. Squirtle, start off with Withdraw!"

"Poison Sting!"

The black snake charges forward fiercely and literally spits out venom. The little turtle pokemon quickly pops into his shell, the venomous white needles bouncing off his shell harmlessly but with enough force that his shell spins out of control. Squirtle comes out of his shell, waddles aimlessly in a drunken fashion, then regains his senses with a shake of his head.

"Squirtle, are you ok?"

"*Peachy,*" he replies.

"Venom, wrap!"

"Squirtle, jump, withdraw, and water gun Venom's face while airborne!" The discolored Ekans hurls itself towards Squirtle, who jumps, flips upside-down, and tucks himself into his shell. A jet of water hits the Ekans whilst Squirtle shoots himself into the air. He comes out of his shell, flips, then lands gently on the ground with a "thud".

"Venom, get up!" His pupils shrink in horror as the realization of defeat appears before him. "Venom!"

"It seems Squirtle has defeated Ekans," Dextra comments.

Ignoring the urge to say, "No duh, Dex", I walk over to Viper.

"Hey," I say, holding out a hand to help up Viper, who was now leaning over his pokemon. "Good match."

I hear numerous sobs from him. All of a sudden, the sobs become soft giggles, and Viper looks up at me with a very scary look in his eyes.

"Wha...? Are you okay, Viper?" I say, now a bit worried. "Sorry about Ekans, you can have a rematch anytime if you want...^.^;;"

"Why have a rematch? You've proved your worth to my master, and now you've proved your worth to me," he says in a chilling voice, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the ground. "Welcome to the squad."

"...squad?..."

"The Serpent Squad."

*Next Episode: "Old and New:Battle in the Forest!"*