Lunar Dance: Part 4

They got very, very lost on the way through the route. So lost, in fact that Kaze and Issui reached level ten while they were walking. Yami, who had switched with Yugi, convinced he might have more luck than Yugi in finding their way, was training with Hane when they were attacked by a Starly.

Yami wasn’t too worried, by this point they had fought against so many wild  Starly that he was confident Hane could win against the larger Pokémon. The pair of bird Pokémon went at it, attacking each other by tackling each other in midair.

Keeping a close eye on Hane’s health using the Pokedex, Yami was about to use a potion on his bird, when suddenly the opposing creature managed to land a blow that sent Hane tumbling from the air. Before Yami could recall his Pokémon, the pokéball in his hand shattered and the bird falling from the skies disintegrated into purple shards before fading away.

“What the...” Yami stared at the empty air where his Starly had been. Pokémon didn’t do that when they fainted, not in real life. This had to be part of the rules of the Shadow Game. Probably yet another rule Bakura had failed to mention to them.

Yugi was just as shocked as he was. In fact he had started to like his Pokémon and watching one of them just disintegrate into the evening air. They were still in shock when they stumbled into town, where Hikari met them at the entrance.

She sulked when they had one more Pokémon in their Pokedex than her and then was just taking them to the Trainer School when they were interrupted by some strange man who claimed to be from the International Police. Codenamed Looker, the man was certainly odd enough to pull Yugi out of his shock and cause him to focus.

Author Note: Lunar Dance Team Update

Species: Piplup Nickname: Issui Gender: Male Nature: Calm Characteristic: Good Perseverance Ability: Torrent Level: 5 --> 12

Species: Pidove Nickname: Kaze Gender: Female Nature: Modest Characteristic: Mischievous Ability: Keen Eye Level: 4 --> 10

Lunar Dance: Part 3

A brief stop at the PokeCentre and the local mart later, Yugi left town fifteen pokéballs, one premier ball, one potion and two antidotes heavier and Y3500 poorer.  He wasn’t actually sure he needed all of that, but Yami had reminded him that they had started the game with that much money for a reason. It was better to be prepared than not when they didn’t know what they were getting into.

Hikari was waiting for them on the outskirts of town and shoved them back towards the houses, the game’s plot forcing them to detour back to their arrival point to talk to their ‘mom.’

Once there they got a journal to write in and a parcel from Jun’s mother to deliver to him when they saw him. Then it was back to town again. By the time they got back, Issui had learned Bubble and they had left a trail of knocked out Starly behind them.

When they got back to where Hikari was still waiting, she was a lot more helpful. In fact she gave them a demonstration of how to catch a Pokémon, her Chimchar allowing her to catch the wild Bidoof they encountered easily. She also gave them another five pokéballs, making Yugi wish he hadn’t spent so much money on them.

Once she was gone, Yugi managed to catch the first Pokémon they ran into. His Pokedex informed him that it was a female Starly and that it was currently level 4. He wasn’t sure what the levels meant in game terms, but since Issui had been gaining levels through battle experience he assumed that his Starly, who he decided to call Kaze, would need training in order to get stronger.

Something weird happened when he tried to catch the next Pokémon to come along though. The pokéballs refused to work. He wasted three, which he picked up after the Bidoof had been defeated, before he finally had to give up. Hikari was watching from the ledge above him and started giggling at him as he searched through the grass for the missing balls.

“You can’t catch any more Pokémon here.” She called down to him, causing him to turn to her, confusion obvious, “It’s a rule the Boss put down. You can only catch the first Pokémon you catch on each route.”

‘That means we can’t go back to the route between here and ‘home’ either.’ Yami huffed.

“No but the forest is still open, we never ran into any Pokémon there.” Yugi reminded him, before looking at Hikari, “Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem.” Hikari replied with a smile, “It’s not a fair game if you don’t know the rules after all. Oh, by the way, don’t forget you have to keep your Pokedex ahead of mine.”

“What?” Yugi asked, confused again.

“You agreed to it, remember?” She asked, “We’re racing to fill the Pokedex. Don’t worry, you don’t have to catch every Pokémon, just seeing them counts, but if I get ahead of you, the Shadows might not like it.” Yugi gulped, having not realised he had been adding to the rules when he had agreed to race her. “Good luck.” She waved and carried on down the route merrily.

‘So we can’t catch more than one Pokémon per route and we have to somehow keep our Pokedex ahead of Hikari’s?’ Yami asked with a growl, taking spirit form to pace through the long grass.

“And we can’t lose a single battle.” Yugi replied, nerves settling in a little as he realised the scope of their task. “We have to get to the Champion and beat him without losing a match.”

‘We’ll do it.’ Yami reassured Yugi, who headed back to the forest they had met the man from Galactic in. ‘It’s just another game. And we never lose, remember?’

“True.” Yugi allowed, the thought cheering him up as he caught their third team member. Another Starly, another female one, this one nicknamed Hane. “And Bakura will sulk for ages when we get out of here.”

Yami grumbled something Yugi didn’t quite catch, but he suspected was along the lines of ‘murder the bloody tomb robber.’ For once the hikari didn’t call his darker half on it. Yami was allowed to be ticked off about this and as long as he was just grumbling, he probably wouldn’t do anything that would get him in trouble.

They got into a little trouble with a Kricketot, the bug Pokémon had absorbed their attacks for a couple of turns before landing a blow that had nearly knocked Issui out. Yugi had had to rush back to the PokeCentre, where Yami skimmed through the Pokedex while they were waiting for Issui to be treated. ‘Bide,’ the move he finally figured out the Kricketot had used against them, absorbed the power of the attacks that they had launched at it and countered with that power.

It was something they were going to have to watch out for in the future if they wanted to get through the game safely.

Lunar Dance - Part 2

Part 1 

The walk from the lake to Sandgem Town wasn’t particularly difficult. The only problem that emerged was when a small, brown feathered bird attacked them, only to get slapped in the face repeatedly by Piplup. The tiny blue penguin seemed quite level headed, though it had lost its cool for a little bit when the other bird had gone for Yugi’s new backpack.

Talking to the non-player characters on the way proved had fruitful. One of them apparently worked for the local shop and gave him a free Potion. Jamie had explained what a Potion was ages ago, but he was not sure what the in game mechanics were for it. He guessed he would find out when he used it since he still did not have a Pokedex.

Nor did he own a map, so he had honestly expected to get lost when he reached town. However Hikari had been waiting for him at the town’s entrance and she had been about to lead him into the Professor’s lab when Jun had emerged at high speed, once again knocking Yugi on his rear.

“What the... hi Yugi!” Jun grinned at him, offering Yugi a hand up. “That old guy, he’s not scary. He’s just totally out there.” He continued as Yugi took it and pulled himself up right, “Aww it doesn’t matter, I’m out of here.” With that Jun was gone.

‘He’s nuts. Completely. You realise that?’ Yami asked Yugi, who just grinned after the NPC who was supposed to be his best friend.

“He reminds me a bit of Joey.” Yugi replied, before following Hikari inside, mentally grinning as Yami chuckled, easily able to see an overly excited Joey acting the same way.

‘Okay, you might have a point there.’ Yami allowed as they stood before the Professor once again.

“Ah there you are,” The old man nodded sagely as he looked him over, “Yugi? Was it?” Yami nodded, “Let’s have a look at your Pokémon.” Piplup wandered over happily and let the Professor look it over, “This Pokémon seems happy. I’m glad I entrusted you with it. So, are you going to give it a nickname?”

“A nick...” Yugi paused, then nodded, looking down at the penguin, “Issui?” He asked it. The penguin nodded happily and latched onto his leg.

“It’s a good name.” The professor nodded. “When I first saw you two about to step into the tall grass without any Pokémon I was shocked. Even the most foolhardy children know better. Now, however, you’ve proved that I was right to give you a Pokémon.”

“I’m so glad you’re kind towards Pokémon.” Hikari smiled at him, “If you weren’t, I’d have to... oh, I just can’t say it.” She didn’t have to, Yugi could feel the Shadows swirling, waiting to take a bite from them.

“Er-hem.” The professor interrupted, “Let’s move on to the main topic. There’s something I want you to do for me. I am Professor Rowan, I study Pokémon. First off I want to know every kind of Pokémon that lives in the Sinnoh region. To do so I need to collect data using the Pokedex. This is what I wish to ask of you. Please take it and record every type Pokémon in the region.”

“Sure.” Yugi nodded, knowing he would need a Pokedex if he was going to survive this Shadow Game and not wanting to tick off the man willing to give him one.

Rowan didn’t need any other impetus. He handed the small red machine over without question. “The Pokedex automatically records data on every kind of Pokémon you encounter. Any you catch adds extra data to the system.”

“I have one too.” Hikari informed Yugi, “We should race to see who can fill it first.”

“Sure.” Yugi agreed, thinking he was adding to the in-game chatter when he felt the Shadows shift and settle on something. Suddenly the Pokedex in his hand felt a lot heavier.

“What did you feel when you walked up route 201 with your Pokémon?” Rowan asked, “I’ve lived for 60 years with Pokémon and I still get a thrill when I’m with a Pokémon.” The professor smiled properly for the first time, “Now go! Yugi, your grand adventure begins right now!” He handed over a small computer disc. “Use this at a Pokémon Centre. It can teach your Pokémon a new move.”

“Me and Chimchar will help you out where we can.” Hikari promised before leaving the premises.  

“Good luck.” Rowan nodded to Yugi before ushering him out the door. “You’re going to need it.”