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projecthalemaw · 4 years

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The three teens were now successfully off on their adventure, and conversing amongst one another. "Alexis. Was everything okay, back at the pokemon center?" Hera asked as the three walked.

"Hm? Oh uh, yeah. My brain got overwhelmed with all of the lights, sounds, and my eyes had been hurting." Alexis admitted, adjusting her sunglasses.

"Ah. Gotcha. I experience it occasionally, although rarely." Hera nodded in understanding. "So. I'm thinking that, when we get to Nightvale city, My gran will want to have dinner with me one last time. And because shes a total sweetheart, You two can stay for dinner too." Hera spoke, slipping her hands into her jacket pockets. "So, I know Miranda's kind of a tough gym leader. Her gym is certainly eccentric, if I remember some of her battles that are televised. Three floors, each one works with a different weather effect. Remind me what they are, Lucius?"

"Sandstorm for the first floor, Hail for the second, and Sunny day for the third. The top floor, where shes located, is actually the rooftop of the weather facility in Jupiter city. It almost always rains in that city, as well. So when we head that direction, we'll wanna have our umbrella's to be easy to access." Lucius explained.

Alexis nodded, looking up from her pokedex. "I'm reading over Gible's pokedex entry, which also seems to list the ability for the pokemon, and what it does. Sand veil ups evasion in a sandstorm." She spoke. "Meaning that gible will likely be highly useful for the first floor, in my case." She spoke.

"Correct. The ability listing feature was of Professor Morgan's own design, if you're curious. Also. We should use this route, and the cave, to train our partners." Lucius spoke.

"Cave?" Hera asked.

"No. We're not going near the cave on the other path." Alexis spoke, her tone seeming to shift.

"There's a hidden cave nearby, that has pokemon that are rare elsewhere on this island." Lucius elaborated.

"Oh, okay. Sorry for my tone shift." Alexis spoke.

"All good. Yeah. That other cave, on the other path. It creeps everyone out, so mom made it illegal to go near there, at least for our towns residents." He explained, taking a pokeball out and releasing beldum. "Beldum will be harder to train, as it only learns one move until it evolves, into metang. Meaning I should get the jump on training it first, while still training Chomp, my main partner." Lucius spoke. He was going to say something, but got cut off by a girl getting his attention.

"Hey! Wanna battle? I just got a new pokemon, and wanna test it out." The girl spoke.

"You can take her on Lucius." Hera spoke, gesturing for him to go on. "Alexis and I can watch, or go train on wild pokemon."

"Y-yeah. Let's go train on wild Pokemon. Catch up with us after, lucius." Alexis spoke.

3 hard hours of training later, and one sudden thunderstorm that lasted 20 minutes

Alexis, Lucius, and Hera met back up in a Clearing in the Route. Their pokemon, had all gotten stronger.

"Anyone else hungry, or just me?" Alexis asked, as her stomach growled rather loudly. "Just realized I hadn't eaten yet."

"Well. We're close to my Gran's house, and closer to Nightvale City. It's about Lunch time at this point. We can go get lunch at a cafe, then take a few hours to relax before going to my Grandma's for the night." Hera offered.

"I got plenty of Money from the trainers I beat, meaning I can pay for lunch." Lucius nodded.

"Yeah. Let's get healed up at the pokemon center, then go get lunch. It's about another six hours or so till dinnertime, so we have plenty of time to kill at like an arcade or something. The one in Nightvale is moderately large. We can do some arcade games, if we havent blown all of our money by lunch." Hera nodded.

"What's an arcade?" Alexis questioned, not realizing she said it out loud.

"Basically, a place where you can pay money to earn tokens and play games. My dad used to own the one in nightvale city, before he sold it to the Mayor of Nightvale after meeting my mom when she joined him for a game of DDR, or rather. Dance, Dance, Revolution." Hera explained without missing a beat, as they headed toward the entrance of Nightvale city.

Once the three arrived in Nightvale city, Alexis's mouth dropped. This was one of the largest places she'd ever seen. (Not that she remembers anywhere larger.) "Woah. It's... massive." Alexis spoke, blinking slightly.

"There are bigger cities. Heck. The Island where we get our fifth gym badge, the entire place is all the city." Hera spoke.

"Ew. Sounds gross." Alexis reflexively spoke.

"Yeah. I personally enjoy places that have variety to them. I've heard Twilight Island is like a maze." Lucius spoke, as they walked into the pokemon center.

"Hi! Welcome to the pokemon center. Let me know if I can do anything for you, please." The Nurse spoke as she walked out from one of the back Rooms.

"Hi! I was wondering if our pokemon could get a quick heal." Lucius spoke.

"Can do! Just put the pokeballs on the tray here, and Blissey can take care of them for you." The nurse spoke as she put the tray on the counter in front of her.

Alexis put her pokeballs in top slots, although she was somewhat hesitant to.

Lucius put his in the middle, seeming a bit relaxed.

Hera put hers in the bottom slots.

"Blissey will bring you your pokeballs personally, after healing your pokemon. She can heal them through their pokeballs, so dont worry about her getting them mixed up. Feel free to have a seat." The nurse spoke, before turning to follow blissey to the back to work on something.

The three teens sat down, and began to converse among each other. "So. Since we're going to be traveling with each other for the foreseeable future. I guess we should get to know one another." Hera spoke, taking her hat off. "Lucius, pass me a drink?" She asked. "Gotta take my meds."

"Ah, yeah, of course." Lucius spoke as he opened his bag, and passed her a water bottle.

"Well... guess the meowth's gotta come out of the bag. I don't remember much of anything. I only know my name." Alexis spoke, rather quietly. She wasn't sure if the two would still be friends with her.

"That's quite okay." Hera spoke, as she took a couple of bottles out of her jacket, and opened the bottles. "We're not gonna look at you any differently, Alexis. Right, Lucius?" She asked, before taking her medication. Her tone had an essence of "Answer correctly, or I'm gonna smack you." to it.

"Yeah, of course." Lucius nodded.

Alexis let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I was feeling freaked out, and was trying to figure out how I should explain it." She spoke. "I dont even know where I'm from."

"Gotcha." Hera nodded. "Well, maybe we can make getting your memories back a side endeavor in our journey." She offered, as Blissey came up to their table, with their tray of pokeballs in hand.

"Thank's blissey." Lucius spoke, as the three sorted their pokeballs back among themselves.

"So yeah. We'll try our best to get your memories back." Hera nodded, her sunshine personality sort of showing in the instance.

Lucius nodded in agreement. "Yeah." He nodded. "So. Now that our teams are all healed up, where are we going first?" He asked as he stood up, hooking his pokeballs back onto his belt loop.

"Hm. Food and drink sound good?" Hera asked as she stood up, gesturing for Alexis to follow.

Alexis nodded. "Yeah, sounds fine to me." She spoke as she stood, and followed the others out.

Once the three were outside, Hera opened her map. "Now. If I recall correctly, theres a really good little cafe that doubles as a burger place, just up the street from here." Hera spoke. "I don't know about burgers myself, but I could definitely go for a Chocolate moomoo milkshake and fries." She spoke, as she put her map away, and began to walk right from the pokemon center entry.

Lucius and Alexis exchanged glances, and followed after Hera, who was already a good two feet away.

After a good Twenty minutes of walking, the trio arrived at a rather large building. "Used to come here all the time after school. Don't remember why I stopped." Hera spoke, grabbing the door and opening it.

Alexis and lucius followed her in, exchanging a look as they got greeted. "Hey there, welcome to Cathy's. Today we've got a deal on burger's and shakes. Buy ten dollars worth and get a third set free." The cashier spoke.

"You two get whatever you want, I'll just get a large thing of fries and a chocolate shake." Hera spoke, as she pulled out her wallet to start counting how much money she'd need to set aside for their meal.

After time passed, and the three sat down after ordering their food, a pair of women walked into the Café, looking no older then Hera. The most eye-catching feature the women had among the two of them was the orange haired girl having a mechanical arm. It wasn't audible what the two had ordered, but it didn't seem overly complicated, as it was done before the trio's meal.

The black haired girl who had it tied back and to the side walked up. "Hey, there's not a whole lot of places left to sit. Do you three care if we join you?" She asked. She adjusted her glasses, as she waited for an answer from one of them.

"Of course! We were just stopping in to get lunch ourselves. We just started our own adventure and all." Hera spoke, seeming a little sheepish.

"Ah, yeah. I remember those times." The orange haired girl spoke. "I think you and I started at the same time, right, rey?" She asked her companion.

"Yes, we did. Now, apologies, but we've seemed to have forgotten our manners. I'm Reyna, and this one here is Cassidy." Reyna spoke, nodding slightly.

Hera nodded. "The guy getting our food is Lucius, I'm hera, and I'll let her introduce herself."

"I'm Alexis." Alexis spoke, nodding gently to the two taller girls.

The two girls who had joined them nodded. "Nice to meet you too. You seem a little young to just be starting your adventure." Reyna noted.

"As much as I wish I were younger, I'm glad to be Seventeen." Hera laughed a little. "Means I dont have to see my parents again." She spoke lightly.

Lucius set their tray down on the table. "Hera, who are these two?" Lucius asked as he sorted their stuff among themselves.

"Cassidy and Reyna. They asked to sit with us as there isn't anywhere else that they can really sit." Hera explained.

"Ah. Nice to meet you." Lucius spoke, as he sat down.

Cassidy nodded. "Mind if I ask who you guys chose as starters? I've heard interesting things about this Region's starter selection." She spoke.

"Well. This year was a bit different, and the professor gave us each two starter pokemon." Hera explained.

"Interesting." Reyna noted, writing it down in her notebook after taking a sip from her drink.

"I chose this Region's variant of Piplup, and Larvitar. I'll let these two answer the question themselves." Hera spoke before digging into her food.

"Region's totodile variant, and gible." Alexis quietly spoke after swallowing the bite she had been chewing on. It was clear that she had something on her mind, but nobody could be entirely sure what it was she was thinking about.

"Cyndaquil Variant and Beldum." Lucius nodded.

"Interesting. And what are the types of your regional variants?" Reyna asked, glancing up from her writing.

"Totodile is dark and fairy, according to my pokedex." Alexis nodded.

"Cyndaquil is an Ice and Dragon type here." Lucius spoke.

"And Piplup is just a ghost type." Hera spoke, after swallowing the food she had in her mouth.

"Fascinating. We came to the region on business, mostly because someone called us here for said business." Reyna spoke.

"She still won't tell me, for whatever reason." Cassidy spoke, shrugging lightly as she stretched her legs out.

"Because if I do, you won't shut up about it. You'll find out in about a month's time. We mostly came a month early to get a lay of the region." Reyna spoke.

"Oh. Okay." Cassidy spoke. "Think we may try the gym challenge. Might be worth it after all, now that we're here. Y'know babe?"

"Yeah. Gives us an idea on how tough some of the trainers in this region are." Reyna nodded, as she looked up from her notepad.

"Ah. About that. Nobody's been able to complete the gym challenge in two years at this point." Lucius explained.

"That's a surprise." Cassidy spoke. "Why?"

"The eighth gym leader, Minerva, disappeared two years ago. Nobody knows where she went." Lucius explained, after taking a sip of his drink.

"Fascinating." Cassidy spoke.

Reyna simply nodded, marking something down in her notepad. "Seems interesting. I guess that's why Victory road looked untraversed?" She questioned.

"Yeah. And the league officials have been unable to hire a new leader to replace her, as her gym is sealed shut." Lucius nodded again.

"Oh, interesting." Reyna nodded. "I need to step outside for a moment, make a couple of Phone calls." Reyna spoke, standing up and stepping away from the table.

"Everything okay, babe?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah. Just gotta make a couple calls correlating to our work here." Reyna nodded, reassuring her girlfriend before she headed outside.

"So. What's with the arm?" Alexis asked, finally deciding to speak up a little. She gestured vaguely to Cassidy's metal arm, before going back to poke at her food.

"Lost my arm in a fight back home. Reyna built this one for me, when she found me bleeding." Cassidy chuckled lightly, adjusting her hoodie. "What sparked the question?"

"It just looks out of place, with the rest of your attire." Hera elaborated, since Alexis had her mouth full.

"Ah, yeah. Had to unscrew it to get through the metal detector to board the boat to get here. That was not a fun experience." Cassidy admitted.

"Yeah, I imagine so." Lucius nodded. "Anyone wanna battle? Just all friendly like?" The teen asked, cleaning up the wrappers from all of their food. "We've still got time to kill."

"Yeah, sure. I'm down." Cassidy spoke, standing up, and collecting her and Reyna's drinks. "I'll meet y'all outside." She spoke as she slipped out.

"So. Those two are eccentric, to say the least." Hera noted as she laughed a little. "You can go battle Cassidy. Think I'm gonna hit the mall with Alexis, if she wants to come along." Hera spoke, as she stood up, finishing her shake.

Alexis nodded, re-wrapping the rest of her burger she still had and stuffing it in her pocket. "I figure we'll meet back up in an hour or two?" Alexis asked, remaining soft-spoken.

Hera nodded. "Here's my number Lucius, in case you need to contact us before we meet at gran's." She spoke, writing her phone number down on the wrapped and passing it to him.

The trio separated on their own paths, to do their own thing for a little while.

Following Alexis and Hera for the next little while. Lucius will pop back in later.

"So, uh. You've been pretty quiet, Alexis." Hera spoke, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Something on your mind?" She asked.

"No, everything's fine. I'm just... I don't know. It feels weird, not being able to remember things. The food was fine, If that's what you're wondering." Alexis spoke, kicking a couple rocks.

"Alright. If you need to talk to someone, you can. Y'know that, right?" Hera spoke, nodding slightly to Alexis. "Also. Is there anything you want, while we're shopping?"

"A cellphone would be nice. I didn't have one, when I woke up in that room." Alexis spoke quietly.

"Alright. Yeah, we can look at those. You can't get most places without one." Hera smiled a bit.

Alexis nodded. "I figured. I've been observing everyone, and it seems like theyve become an intricate part of everyone's lives." She spoke, looking up at her friend.

"Yeah, it's interesting." She spoke, as they walked into the Mall. "Here we are. The Nightvale Mall. I used to come here a lot. Stopped when my friends moved away." Hera shrugged. "I'm thinking we should get you a couple more outfits, because as nice as your current outfit is, it's kind of out of place seeming." Hera explained.

"Yeah. That'll be fine. I'm keeping this jacket though, to go with any outfits we get." Alexis spoke.

"Yeah. The Jacket's fine." Hera spoke, as she and Alexis walked. "Anywhere you wanna go first?" She asked.

Alexis nodded. "Uh... hm. We could go look at the books first. I think having some reading material would be nice." She spoke.

Hera nodded. "Then off to the bookshop it is." She spoke, as she helped Alexis Navigate to the bookstore on the second floor.

The two girls walked into the Bookstore, which was Relatively empty, outside of a cashier and a couple of elderly people sitting down somewhere near the back, in a couple or chairs. "Get whatever strikes your fancy. We've got a budget about Nineteen thousand, to spend here at the mall." Hera spoke.

Alexis nodded. She really didn't have any idea where to start. After all, she didn't even know if she had a favorite genre. After about fifteen minutes of wandering the store, Alexis had picked up a few mystery novels that caught her eye. "Hey Hera. Found a few books that looked interesting."

"Oh?" Hera asked, walking over to Alexis, to see what Alexis had found.

"Yeah. Just a few mystery novels that caught my attention." Alexis spoke. "Think we should probably get the phone next, then save the outfit shopping for last." Alexis nodded as she and Hera went up to the register to pay for the books she picked out.

"Sounds good to me." Hera spoke, keeping her hands in her pockets as the cashier scanned the books, taking out her wallet when it was time.

After Hera paid for the books, Alexis took the bag that the books were put in, and held it in her left hand as the two girls walked out, and headed for the next shop.

After a while of the two shopping, Hera's phone buzzed, with a text from Lucius, asking where the two were.

Hera shot him a text back, stating that they were leaving the mall right as he texted, and were on their way.

The two girls walked through Nightvale city, eventually arriving at a house, with lucius standing outside, and Cassidy having a smoke nearby. "Hey kiddos. Lucius wanted me to come with him after the battles, as he had questions. Now that you two are here, ima dip out. Maybe we'll run into each other some other time." Cassidy spoke, not giving the two time to answer, as she left.

"...that was weird." Hera spoke. "Oh well. She's probably right, that we'll run into her and her girlfriend again." She shrugged, as she walked up the steps to the front door, and unlocked it. "Gran! I'm home!" She called.

"Hey Hera, welcome home!" Hera's grandma called back from the kitchen. "Are your friends with you?" She asked.

"Yeah! Lucius, Alexis. You two, come on in." Hera gestured.

Alexis was the last to enter, and closed the door behind her. "Thank you for having us, I think." She spoke, nodding gently.

"Mhm! I figured I should feed you three before you go off on an adventure around the Islands." Gran spoke, as she was chopping onions.

"Thanks, really." Lucius spoke, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm making sausage and mac and cheese, with sauteed onions." Her grandmother nodded. "Do any of you wanna help?" She asked.

"Yeah." Alexis spoke. "I may not be of much help, though." She spoke, putting her bags down, and heading to the kitchen.

TBC in another post, because tumblr decided it was too long.

#chapter 3 #project halemaw #Pokemon #mature

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projecthalemaw · 4 years

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As Alexis walked into Vannifar town, she got knocked over by a teenage boy not looking where he was going. "Oww! Watch it!" He spoke, grumbling a bit.

"I was watching it. You werent." Alexis muttered, as she stood up, and cleaned off her leggings. "...Where am I?" She asked.

"Vannifar town! My hometown. I uh. I assume you're lost?" The boy asked.

"Let's uh, go with that." Alexis spoke dismissively.

"My name is Lucius." He spoke, Introducing himself, as he stood up. "Who are you?"

"Alexis." She spoke, putting her hands in her pockets. "Can we get out of the rain?" She asked, shivering a little.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get to the town hall. My mom is there, and I was just getting back from doing something for her. She had lent me a pokemon so I can go do said thing." Lucius spoke as he dusted off his own Jacket, and gestured for her to follow him.

"So, Alexis. Where are you from?" He asked as they walked.

She didnt answer, as she didn't have an answer for that.

"Ah, not the talkative type." Lucius noted as they walked, and he opened the door to the town hall.

"Wanna get out of your Jacket, Alexis?" He asked, taking his jacket off and hanging it on the coat rack near the door.

Alexis shook her head no. She'd rather have her Alakazam with her in case she runs into trouble here. At the moment, she had no idea if she could even trust this Boy.

"Lucius! Did you get the Items I ordered from the Mart in Nightvale City?" A woman called from the other end of the town hall.

"Yeah Mom!" Lucius called back, as he pulled a box from the backpack he had on under the jacket. "C'mon Alexis. Come meet my Mom. Shes the sweetest lady you'll ever meet."

Alexis nodded hesitantly, as she trailed behind lucius. She felt exposed, and every instinct in her body was screaming to go somewhere else.

"Honey, go mop up the mud for me, please." Lucius's Mom spoke as she noticed Alexis's footsteps trailing Mud.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. My shoes suddenly tore while I was out earlier, just before the rain started!" Alexis apologized, hoping the lie had sounded convincing enough.

"Its fine darling, bad things happen at the worst of times. Lucius, go get her a blanket and some Hot chocolate. She looks like shes about to freeze to death." His mother spoke, as he handed her the package.

"Alright Mom." Lucius spoke.

His mom smiled. "Its nice to have a teenage son who's still willing to help clean up, and take care of people." She murmured a bit. "So, what's your name, dearie?" His Mother asked as she Was passed a wet black rag, and a dry one, and bucket from her husband. "Also, clean off your feet please. The Mud will start to cake after a few minutes. The halemaw regions sudden storms are always the result of fast acting mud." She spoke as she handed Alexis the rags and bucket.

"Thank you." Alexis spoke, trying to be polite. "My name is Alexis." She answered the question.

"Simply delightful name." His mother spoke. "You already met Lucius, I presume. That's my Husband Mark, and I'm Ava, the Mayor of this lovely little town. Despite our... professor, we do try to be welcoming to newcomers." Ava spoke as Lucius came back with a mug of Hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, and a warm blanket.

"Here you go." He spoke, a small smile on his face as he set the items down on the table next to her.

Alexis finished cleaning her feet, and simply smiled. "Ah, that feels so much better." She spoke.

"Ah, I feel the same way about mud. I cant stand feeling it on my feet." Ava spoke. "Lucius, dear. Go check on the Professor. Make sure her little... experiment, hasn't gotten out of hand." Ava spoke to lucius.

Lucius simply nodded without another word, and ran off.

Alexis had a slightly curious look in her eyes. "What's up with the professor?" She asked.

"Professor Morgan? Shes um... a bit of a character. Rather... unstable, if you know what I mean." Ava explained.

"I dont know what you mean, but I'm just going to pretend like I do." Alexis spoke, unfolding the warm blanket, and wrapping it around her legs, as she took the cup of hot chocolate, and sipped at it.

"She has... psychotic episodes. She also mostly keeps to herself, only really making an appearance when she has to give out pokemon to new trainers. I hear this year is a special year, because she's giving out six pokemon, two each, to three trainers." Ava elaborated, keeping the discussion about the Professor's tendencies to a minimum.

"Note to self, don't upset the professor, I guess?" Alexis thought as she sipped in silence. "I assume Lucius is one of the three trainers?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Yep, he's finally old enough to take on the league challenge. Or at least try to, that is. We havent had an eighth gym leader since Minerva disappeared around the same time the Champion died." She explained. "The second was supposed to be some hotshot kid that ended up going missing. And the Third is this girl Hera, from Nightvale City. Who should be arriving any moment now." Ava spoke, and as though on Cue, a Blonde girl in a Sundress, Jacket, leggings, and black boots came bursting through the door.

"I'm not late, am i?" Hera asked as she kicked off her boots and hung up her jacket.

"No! Not at all Hera, in fact I was just talking about you to a guest that Lucius found just at the entrance to Town." Ava spoke. "Come sit, please."

Hera nodded, meekishly sitting down. She adjusted her ponytail as she sat.

All that was going through Alexis's brain was one sentence. "Pretty sunshine girl." She must have been staring, as the next thing she knew, Hera's hand was waving in front of her face.

"Earth to Alexis." Hera spoke, as the door burst open again.

"Oh good, everyone is here." The tall figure of Professor Morgan spoke, as she lumbered forward to the table at the front of the room. "So, it's that time of year. Three trainer's get to choose themselves a starter and begin their journey as pokemon trainer's." Professor Morgan spoke, leaning against the table. "Except this year, there's a twist. I'll be giving two pokemon to each trainer. A regional variant of the Johto region's starters, and a Random pokemon from three random regions." Professor Morgan spoke, a hazey look in her eyes.

"Now. Let's introduce the starters I'll be giving out." Morgan spoke, as she set six pokeballs out on the table.

Morgan hit the first button on the first row, and a Black Totodile with Pink eyes, Pink Frills on it's back as well. The Pokemon's Jaw had some Pink face markings on the side of their Jaw. "The Halemaw Region's Variant of Totodile. I know not everyone here is from Our... lovely region. But this Bad Boy's A Dark and Fairy type. He May look cute now, but his later forms are Fiercesome foes." Professor Morgan explained. She moved to the pokeball in behind the Totodile, and revealed a Gible. "Gible, Land shark pokemon. I'm sure most of you recognize this one because of the Sinnoh region's Former champion, Cynthia." She spoke. "Any questions so far?" She asked, pausing.

"Uh yes." Alexis spoke, raising her hand. "Hi, sorry. New to town. Uhm... What typing is it? Sorry.. I've never seen it before." She elaborated.

"It's a Ground Dragon type, if I remember my notes correctly." Professor morgan explained. "And don't worry about having not seen it before. Gible's rare in our region."

"Ah, okay." Alexis answered. She went quiet again, and started sipping the drink in her hands.

"Now. Onto the next regional variant, Cyndaquil." Professor Morgan spoke, as she hit the second pokeballs button. Out came a Light blue Cyndaquil with Spikes made of Ice sticking out of it's back. "Halemaw's Cyndaquil species live in the Heavy snow island of the Region. The Pokemon cannot see very well, and often uses its spikes to attack anything that bumps into it. Either that or its bites the the pokemon or object it runs into." She explained.

Professor Morgan walked behind the table again, and released the pokemon from the pokeball behind it. "Now this bad boy. It's a beldum, one of the sturdiest pokemon to ever exist. A trainer passed it onto me, before leaving the region, back when it was still an egg. So now I'm giving it to the trainer who chooses it." She explained. "It's a psychic and steel type, for those of you curious." She elaborated. "Now... onto the last regional pokemon." She spoke, as she walked to the right side of the table, and pressed the ball. A Piplup emerged from the ball.

The Piplup was Predominantly Grey and White, with an odd Black fur coat around its neck. Its beak was Silver, and appeared to be rather sharp. "Piplup. Wait... That's not right. Oh well. Chikorita can be found pretty much everywhere in the waters." Professor Morgan muttered to herself. "Now. As I was saying. Piplup. Halemaw's Variant of them and their later forms are often found in abandoned Theaters, acting out old Play's with the spirits of their former trainers. The pokemon originates from the Sinnoh Region, for those of you curious." Professor Morgan explained. "Halemaw piplup's are also incredibly protective of their trainers." She continued as she reached for the last closed pokeball.

She pressed the button, and with a mild thunk, a larvitar appeared on the table next to the Piplup. "The final pokemon I'll be giving away with these pokemon is larvitar. It's predominantly found in the mountain at the center of the region. Small hordes of them are rumored to be able to eat enough dirt to form a new path inside the mountain. In recent years, it's part of the reason victory road is so treacherous to traverse." Professor Morgan spoke, then glanced to Ava. "Now. Who am I giving pokemon to this time, Ava?" She asked.

"Lucius, and Hera. Alexis, too, if she wants to take a couple." Ava spoke.

All eyes were on Alexis for a moment, waiting for an answer from her, as she tried to communicate with the Alakazam mentally. "Alakazam. You there?"

"Yes, I'm here. You should definitely take the offer. I won't always be able to protect you, little one."

Alexis nodded simply. "Took me a minute to decide, apologies. But yes, I'll uhm... take a couple of pokemon." She spoke after a moment.

"Good, Good. Since you're the one getting them instead of the last one, who left the region, would you like to pick first?" Professor Morgan asked.

"If they're okay with it, of course." Alexis answered.

"Yeah, you can go first." Hera and Lucius answered at the same time.

Alexis nodded, as she stood up, and walked toward the table. "Alakazam. Any suggestions as to which pair I should pick?"

No response from the pokemon.

"Alright then." She thought. She mustered up a memory from when she was walking out of the base, to see if she could best prepare for potentially fighting back against the organization that held her prisoner. She remembered seeing a lot of dark types asleep next to their trainers that had been passed out on the ground. "I'll choose..." Alexis trailed off, going with her gut. "Totodile and Gible." She spoke.

"Interesting choice. Hera, you're up Next." Professor Morgan spoke, gesturing to the taller girl to come pick her starters.

"I'll choose these two. Larvitar and Piplup, was it?" Hera asked.

"Yep. And that leaves Lucius with Cyndaquil and Beldum." Professor Morgan spoke as Lucius walked up to the table. "Meet me at the Lab, and I'll get you three hooked up with pokeballs, potions, and pokedexes. I'll give you three time to decide on Nicknames for your pokemon, if you're into that sort of thing. Meet me there after the storm let's up, that's all I ask of you." Professor Morgan spoke as she took her umbrella and walked out.

Hera Picked up her two pokeballs, and pressed the buttons to return them to their balls. Alexis did the same.

Lucius did the same, after deciding to call Cyndaquil, Frostbite. The three teens sat back down, and Hera let out a soft sigh. "Just Glad that's over with. How long do you guys think the storm will last?" She asked.

"Probably about another Five minutes or so." Lucius spoke. "The storms here may be sudden, but they go away within the hour, or so, most days." Lucius elaborated.

"Good point. I grew up over on Hyperius Island, which is predominantly desert. After my parents sent me here to live with my Gran, I had to get adjusted to spontaneous rain rather quickly." Hera spoke, looking at her pokeballs sat on her belt. "Do either of you know where the first gym is?"

"I have no idea where anything is." Alexis admitted. "I just arrived a few days earlier." She lied, hoping it was convincing.

"Ah." Hera spoke. "How about you, Lucius?" She asked.

"According to a book I read the other day, our first gym to challenge would be Jupiter, the Roaring thunder." Lucius spoke.

"Get going you three. The professor doesnt like being kept waiting." Ava spoke as she folded up one of the tables at the front of the room.

"Uh, question. And this will probably sound really weird. But. Is there somewhere here where I can get a pair of socks and shoes? I didnt exactly pack well." She spoke, as she stood up.

"Oh yeah! Lucius, dear. Run to the house, and in my room there should be two pairs of sneakers. One is for you, the other pair is for Alexis. And grab a pair of socks while you're at it." Ava spoke. "The other pair was originally for the trainer who was supposed to show up, but vanished. And Hera mentioned to me when I last talked to her that she didn't need a pair of sneakers." Ava explained as she started on another table.

Lucius nodded and ran out of the building, to do as was asked of him.

"Correct." Hera nodded. "So uh, Alexis." Hera spoke. "How are you enjoying the region so far?"

"I like it. The forest is nice, but I do not like the spontaneous Thunderstorms." Alexis answered honestly.

"Trust me, neither does anyone else. We still haven't really figured out why the thunderstorms happen. Jupiter, the Gym leader of Miranth City, works nonstop to figure out why they happen, but has mostly resorted to being the head of the team who alerts residents on the island to weather pattern changes, and such." Ava explained, as she poured herself a cup of tea from the nearby drink table.

Lucius returned, carrying a box. "Found the shoes. Took a little digging, but I found them." He spoke inbetween breaths. "Here ya go Alexis." Lucius spoke as he handed her the box.

Alexis opened the box, revealing a pair of sleek black sneakers, and a pair of pink socks sitting on top of them.

"I just grabbed a random pair. Sorry if they're not your type of socks." Lucius spoke sheepishly.

"They feel alright." Alexis spoke quietly, as she slipped them on, followed up with the shoes. "Also. On our way out of town, I think we should maybe stock up on supplies or something like that, just to be on the safe side." She stood up, and adjusted her belt.

"Good Idea, Alexis." Hera spoke as she walked over to the Coat rack, and grabbed her jacket and hat. She put on the hat, and slipped her pokeballs into her inner jacket pocket. "My gran gave me roughly 3,000 Halemaw Dollars, which translates to about 400,000 kantonian dollars? I forget the exact translation. Math never was my strong suit." She admitted, a small chuckle in her voice, as she waited by the door. "We can also stay in pokemon centers when it comes nightfall, if you guys would rather not stay in the middle of the woods at night." Hera spoke. "My older sister gave me a decent amount of Info, as she knew I was starting my journey soon." She explained, rubbing the back of her neck a bit.

Lucius nodded. "Umbrellas will also be good to invest in." He spoke, as he headed for the door.

Alexis nodded in agreement as she followed the two. "Agreed." She spoke as they walked to the lab.

Once the three got to the lab, Hera knocked on the door. "Professor Morgan?" She questioned.

"Just a moment. Gotta get something of mine under control!" Professor Morgan called from the inside of the lab. After a few moments, the door opened. "Come in, please." She spoke.

The three teens stepped into the building, making sure to not touch anything.

"Now. Let's make this quick. You won't only be traveling to attempt to take on the league. We all know that will be Impossible, after the disappearance of Minerva. While you're traveling, I want you all to fill pages of the pokemon index, or Pokedex for short. I tweaked it to specifications for The region. And if you happen upon an Infected pokemon, tread lightly. They're easily angered, and appear to have heightened abilities." Professor morgan spoke. "They also don't willingly approach people unless they're starving, from what we've managed to record. Any data you all can collect on these pokemon, will be grateful." She spoke, as she handed the teens each three small bags. The small bags contained identical contents. Thirty Pokéballs, ten Potions, and town maps for the three of them. "Stop at the Pokemon center on your way out of town. Theres three packages, one for each of you there. I explained in the time it took for the storm to stop, that Alexis would be taking the place of the previous trainer." Professor Morgan spoke. "Now, Skedaddle. I have my personal project to work on, you can call me from any pokemon center if you need advice on where to go next, or need to access the storage system that's linked back to my lab. I will look after the pokemon you catch on your adventure." She spoke, shooing them out.

Once the door shut behind the teens, Hera blinked slightly. "We didnt even get a chance to ask what "Infected Pokemon," looked like." She spoke as she headed for the pokemon center.

"According to some science articles my dad had been reading the other day, Infected pokemon look similar to their normal selves, except there is a color scheme change, and a typing change. The example the Article gave, was an Infected Ralts. According to the scan they had done, it was a Ghost/Fairy type. You know what a normal Ralts looks like, right?" Lucius questioned.

"No." Alexis thought as she walked alongside the two.

Hera nodded. "Yep. Little red spike coming out of its head, and it gives the impression that it can't see, because it has presumably hair covering its eyes, right?" She asked. "Oh and, a white body."

Lucius nodded. "Yeah. Take that idea, but make the spike white, and much sharper, almost like a sharpened bone. Its body is black, and it has a pink glow to it. The only thing still similar is the green almost hair-like thing that covers its eyes." Lucius explained as the three entered the pokemon center, and were greeted by a Shop attendant that had been sorting out boxes.

"Hi! Welcome to the pokemon center and mart. You three wouldn't happen to be the ones Professor morgan let us know had packages ship in for you, would you?" The girl asked, as she stepped out from behind the counter.

"Yep! That would be us." Hera nodded.

Alexis nodded as well. She walked, seemingly taking in the sight. The place was big.

"Alrighty! Give me a moment to get your packages from the back. Feel free to browse, or heal your new partners while you wait." The girl smiled as she walked to the back room.

"Alexis, everything good?" Lucius questioned, looking over at Alexis.

Alexis was in fact, not great. She had a major headache, as all of the sights and sounds were rather overwhelming. She had leaned against the counter. "I need to go Outside, for a moment. I'll be fine. Don't follow me out, Ill be back in, in a few minutes." Alexis spoke, as she stumbled toward the door, her hand reaching for her interior pocket.

"Okay..?" Lucius questioned as he and Hera watched her quietly. "We'll let the shop attendant know where she went." He spoke to Hera as the two waited inside.

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Alexis leaned against the outer wall of the pokemon center, pulling her hood up, as she slipped to an area where she figured nobody would see her. She knew she shouldn't get Alakazam out right now, but she was experiencing similar feelings to when she first woke up. Eye pain, noise sensitivity, and an inability to focus.

"Alakazam, come on out, please." Alexis spoke as she leaned against the wall, and pushed the button on the Ultra ball in her hand.

The Alakazam appeared, and popped an eye open. "Everything okay?" It asked her.

"No, I'm... I went in there and suddenly was feeling like I was back where we first met. My eyes hurt, I'm hearing things that I dont think normal people can hear. Such as the Hum of the machinery in there. The lights were incredibly bright, and it was making it extremely difficult for me to focus. Any advice?" She asked.

"Keep your hood up, and your head down. If the other two ask, just tell them you'll explain once you're out of town, and on your way to Nightvale city. Buy a pair of sunglasses, when you go back in too. Your benefactor told me you would likely be experiencing more issues then normal. You've been in a dark room for a long time."

"Thanks." Alexis murmured, hitting the button to return Alakazam to its ball, and she walked back in.

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Alexis walked into the pokemon center, again. She kept her hood up, and looked down to the ground.

"Everything Okay with your friend there?" The shop attendant asked Lucius as she scanned the items.

"Yeah. Alexis, do you want anything, while shes scanning items?" Lucius asked.

"Pair of sunglasses, that's it." Alexis answered.

"Alright. Does the style matter?" The attendant asked.

"No." Alexis spoke.

The attendant nodded, and stuck the extra supplies in each of their backpacks, and passed them to the teens after Hera paid for the items.

"Here ya go, have a nice day." The shop attendant spoke.

Hera picked up Alexis's backpack, and passed it to her. She then put on her own backpack, and then her own backpack.

Lucius grabbed his backpack and slipped it on, sticking his pokeballs in the left side pocket.

Alexis reached into the side pocket of her backpack, and pulled out the sunglasses. She tapped the edges of the frames against each other, and then slipped them on.

"Alright. Let's get going." Hera spoke, as she headed for the door.

Alexis and Lucius followed her out, and into the forest just outside of Vannifar Town.

A/N time!

Sorry about how long this chapter was. Would have been shorter, but hey. Alexis needed a moment after how intensely bright all of the noises and sounds in the pokemon center were. Now! Onto the Pokedex Entries for Regional Totodile, Cyndaquil, and Piplup. Which will be on the asks blog, for seamless reading from here on out! Same with other end of chapter stuff. There will also be an in-depth explanation of the "infected" pokemon over there. ( @project-halemaw-asks is the asks blog.)💖

#project-halemaw #pokemon #dark #chapter 2

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