Species: Phantump, The Stump Pokémon

Ability: Natural Cure

Type: Ghost/ Grass

Gender: Male

Age: 1 Day

Nature: Sassy

Summary: Phantump is a ghostly Pokémon possessing a tree stump. It has red eyes, a wispy black body with nubby arms, and wavy branches on either side of its head-covered tree stump. Brewing the small, green leaves near the tip of each branch can create a curative liquid.

***

"You caught a Ghost Pokémon?" Bradley asked incredulously, over my shoulder.

"It's a Ghost and Grass type," I corrected automatically, currently in the Computer room. "Not a pure Ghost type."

"Still," he said. "Ghosts are dangerous and hard to tame. Are you sure you'll be able to handle it?"

"I've got a couple of ideas." I remarked as I read through moves that Phantump learnt naturally and could be taught.

"And if it doesn't?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Then it is what it is. I'll have Zatanna finish it off and continue training my current roster while I research how to bring out the healing properties in its leaves."

"Damn," he whistled enviously. "You're lucky you caught two Pokémon and still had a pokeball left over from your Ordeal. I won't be able to capture another Pokémon until I can buy one."

"You'll be able to get one soon," I assured him. "Especially, if you are taking five or more missions each week. Speaking of, did you accept another mission last night?"

"I did," he said. "Park patrol at one of the public parks in District Three. Evening shift."

"Careful," I said. "It's highly likely that you'll run into a nocturnal Pokémon on that shift."

"I hope so," he said. "Y'all have seen some action on your missions. My first mission was pretty boring."

"You should be thankful that you weren't in danger," I told him.

"I just want a little excitement on my missions," he grumbled.

"I'm sure you'll get all the excitement you want eventually," I said, logging off, having accepted a College issued mission.

"So, until now, you were in the Lounge all day?" I asked.

"No," he said. "I was up soon after you three left the Centre. I took Deci to the training grounds to work on Hidden Power."

"Any progress?" I asked as we walked out of the Computer room.

"Yep," I could see his smug face even without turning. "He was able to find the hidden energy and bring it to the surface. He's having a little bit trouble actually forming the attack, but I figure he'll get it with a bit more training."

"Type?" I asked.

"It gave off cyan energy," he answered. "That means Deci has Ice Type Hidden Power (HP)."

"Cyan, Ice Type HP." I repeated. "Strong against Grass, Ground, Flying and Dragon; weak against Fire, Water, Ice and Steel. Could come in handy since there's a slight chance of freezing the target."

"I thought so too," he agreed.

Our conversation died out as we walked the rest of the way into the Lounge. Along the way, Bradley kept on glancing at me. There was a frustrated look in his eyes. I had a feeling that I knew what the problem was but didn't want to breach the subject. Finally, he spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Sure," I said. "Though technically you already did." He glared at me pointedly. "Come, on, relax man. I'm joking."

"Is there something between you and Caitlyn?" he asked tentatively.

"Like what?" I responded, playing dumb.

The frustrated look was back.

"Are you two...?" he began. He took a deep breath. "Are you together?"

"Not at the moment, obviously," I responded, deliberately obliviously to what he meant. "I have no idea where she is right now."

He turned to me fully and stared at me. I was trying hard not to grin or laugh. Finally, he punched me in the arm, hard.

"You ass!" he exclaimed. "You know exactly what I'm asking you!"

"Sorry," I said. "Couldn't resist. And no, we're not together like that. We're just friends. If anything, she's more like another sister. Besides, she has her eye on another guy."

"Who!" he demanded.

"You, you idiot," I laughed.

He looked happy for a second before frowning.

"Don't mess with me man," he said.

"I'm not," I told him. "You haven't noticed the looks she sometimes gives you? Or the way she teases you? She doesn't do that to me. And besides I prefer mature woman."

"What about how chummy you two were during our group sessions?" he asked, blushing. I suppose that yesterday's incident during our second group training session was still fresh in his memory.

He looked very relieved after I assured him that we were just giving him some space and that it was merely an accident. An accident brought about by a tiny bird's turbulent chaos that resulted in an unhappy lioness-to-be caked in mud.

"You really like her that much?" I asked.

He struggled with what to say for a second. "Well, she's the only female trainer in our group that's our age," he finally said. "Vivian's like another younger sister and all the other trainers are older and most likely paired off already."

"That can't be the only reason," I prodded him relentlessly, a smirk on my face.

"No, it's not," he said quickly. He ran his hand over his face before looking at me again. "I don't know what it is about her. Half the time she drives me crazy with all the teasing she does. She also doesn't take any shit from me. You have to admire a girl that will give you as good as she gets."

I rolled my eyes at young love. "If you want my advice, wait a bit before you make any moves on her. Both your lives are just starting to get settled again. No sense in rocking the boat yet. You also need to consider the kind of person she is before anything."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She was born and raised in the upper class," I reminded him. "You lived half of your life in the lower case."

"We left class behind when we became trainers," he retorted. "None of that matters anymore."

"Maybe," I said. "But she told me yesterday that she was going for a promotion as soon as possible because she didn't want to survive on D-rank missions. She mentioned something about not wanting to live like lower class."

"Damn," he said, frowning.

"Yeah," I said. "I'd say dating her won't be easy. She's used to having the best of everything. Just something to think about."

He thought about that silently for a moment. Finally, he sighed. "That won't change my mind, but I'll think about it before I do anything."

"Think about what?" a voice said.

We jumped in surprise and turned around to look at the source of the voice. A blonde our age and a short redhead were walking towards us. We made room for them on the couch.

"Think about what?" Caitlyn asked again.

"Thinking about what Pokémon Brad wants to capture next," I said quickly. "I already caught my third today so now, he wants to go get another."

Bradley gave me a thankful look.

"You caught another Pokémon," she asked excitedly. "When? Where? What Pokémon did you catch?" Likewise, Vivian was looking at me eagerly.

"During my mission in the Agriculture District," I paused for drama, grinning widely. "I caught a Phantump."

Vivian's face turned pale white as Caitlyn looked at me in alarm.

"A Ghost Pokémon!?" Caitlyn yelled. "Dexter, what were you thinking? What could have possibly possessed you to capture a Ghost?"

"Maybe another Ghost possessed him and made him catch it." Bradley said jokingly.

Caitlyn slapped Bradley's arm. "Not funny!" she snapped.

"It's alright," I said as the intensity of Vivian's glare dropped sharply, no thanks to my headpats. "Calm down.” I continued. “The other trainers there thought it was a new-born. It didn't seem to know any attacks except from Astonish and Zatanna almost vanquished it in one shot. She'll help me with taming it and if I can't, Zatanna will finish him off."

Caitlyn didn't look very happy but didn't say anymore on the matter. Discreetly, I signalled Bradley to say something. He caught on immediately.

"Have you thought of catching another one now that you have Nala pretty well tamed?" he asked.

"I haven't given it much thought," Caitlyn admitted. "I probably should though after what happened today."

"What happened," he asked.

"A group of Rhyhorn made a run at the gate," she said. "We're not sure what stirred them up, but we had to call in for backup while we held them off. We were the only ones with one Pokémon. Syrup did a great job in slowing them down by turning the terrain muddy with the Water Sport and Bubblebeam. We could have used more help until backup arrived."

"Was anyone hurt?" I asked.

"Some of the Pokémon on our side were injured," she said. "They should be fine after their trainers get them to a pokeball device. Nala didn't do much, so she was safe. Syrup had a few close encounters but Vivi managed to recall him successfully, so he's fine too."

"That's good," Bradley said. I agreed with him, listening to the group making some small talk. Upon hearing that both Vivian and Caitlyn still had a pokeball left over, a plan slowly came into mind.

"Hey,” I said to Caitlyn. “Why don't you and Bradley go out into the wilds tomorrow to catch your second Pokémon. I'll feel better knowing that he will give you some backup."

They both gave me a surprised look.

"What about you and Vivi?" Caitlyn shot back.

"I'm going to get started on taming my Phantump," I said. "It's probably best if only Zatanna and I were there. If she wants to though, I can organise a training session or accompany her in catching her second one tomorrow."

"I guess," she said. She turned to Bradley. "Well, how about it? You don't have a mission, tomorrow do you?"

"I have a mission this evening," he said. "I was going to try to accept another mission when I completed this one, but I can take tomorrow off to go with you."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. After finalizing tomorrow's events with Vivian, I left to induct the newest member of my current team roster.

***

After walking for a while, Zatanna and I found a good place. This training ground was different from most of the others as it was divided into two sections. Half of the training ground was a forest while the other was a grassland. There were practice dummies in both sections.

"This should be a good place to try this," I stated.

I put down my backpack and then pulled out the Phantump's pokeball. Before I released him, I turned to Zatanna and quickly debriefed her on what to expect and what actions to take.

She barked affirmative.

"If he remains uncooperative," I continued. "We might have no choice but to put him down. If I give you the order, I want you to use Snarl on him until he's vanquished okay?"

She barked again. I took a deep breath to steady myself. It wouldn't be my first time in dealing with a sassy toddler.

"Well," I said. "Let's do this."

I held the pokeball and released the Phantump. He materialized a moment later, orbs of fire already set up around us. He appeared floating a few feet in front of me with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and saw me standing in front of him. I noticed that his injuries weren't fully healed yet.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before his eyes started glowing bright red and he vanished.

A moment later Zatanna howled. I brought up my pokeball in the general direction that he was in before vanishing and recalled him. The beam travelled several feet away from me before impacting the invisible Pokémon and sucked him back into the pokeball.

"Good job, Zatanna!" I praised her. "Ready to try that again?"

She barked again. We readied ourselves and released him again. His intangibility didn't last long as he wasn't a pure Ghost. As all avenues of escape were cut off, it did not take long for us to reach a consensus, not that he had much of a choice. Either he was with us or he wasn't.

I christened the moping Phantump, Beleric, a guardian-to-be. He kept giving me sullen looks and occasionally took glances at Zatanna. After training them for a while, I recalled both and returned to the barracks for tomorrow's outing.

***

We all woke up early the next morning. Caitlyn was excited about possibly catching another Pokémon. She chose the south-eastern gate. Bradley was happy for her, but I could sense his unhappiness at not being able to capture one himself. The grassland in that direction had a river flowing through it where certain Pokémon were more likely to reside.

Vivian was characteristically silent though I could tell that she too was excited at the prospect of another Pokémon. Yesterday evening, I had promised her that I will accompany her in the Wilds of her choosing. This time, she chose the north-eastern gate; the forests.

We finished eating and went outside to feed our Pokémon. Zatanna, Deci, and Nala all ate food that we brought for them from the Pokemart. While Syrup ate his fill of pond insects, I suggested to Vivian that she might want to try buying food tailored for Bug/Water types from the Pokemart.

I made the same suggestion to Caitlyn who also agreed to look into it later. I also pointed out that hunting live prey would keep her Nala's instincts sharp. She said that she'll keep it in mind.

***

I found Caitlyn and Bradley in the Computer room. When I went in there, we found Caitlyn sitting at a station with Bradley reading over her shoulder. He was the first to notice me and called me over.

"Dexter!" he called out. "Check this out!"

I moved to stand behind Caitlyn and stared at the screen in front of her. On the screen there was a picture of a Pokémon with some information underneath it.

Species: Roselia, The Thorn Pokémon

Ability: Poison Point

Type: Grass/Poison

Gender: Male

Age: 5 Years

Nature: Mild

Summary: Roselia is a small, light green bipedal Pokémon with three thorns on the top of its head, and black eyes with long eyelashes. It has leaves extending from its shoulders like epaulettes and a leaf skirt with a yellow stripe running down the front. A male will have a shorter leaf than a female.

It holds a blue rose and a red rose in their left and right hands respectively. Roselia will shoot sharp thorns at anything that tries to steal their flowers and uses different poisons in each hand when it attacks. It lives in grassy areas where it drinks nutrient-rich spring water.

"Congratulations," I told her.

"Thanks," she said with a grin. "I hoped for a Grass type."

"It's also a Poison type," I reminded her. "That means you have to be extra wary when handling it. Doubly so as Poison Point not only increases the likelihood of being poisoned but also the poison's potency."

"Which explains why our Pokémon were still sick even after giving them an Antidote," Caitlyn said. "We came back here as fast as we could to heal them."

"Well congratulations," I said again. I read the information on the screen. "Mild nature. What is it with you getting Pokémon that are relatively easy to tame?"

"I guess I've just been lucky so far," she said, beaming positively.

"Some people have all the luck," Bradley muttered.

We both gave him an exasperated look. Caitlyn then turned back to me.

"Speaking of luck," she began. "Did you have any luck with the Phantump? And where's Vivian? I don't see her here. Did she manage to capture another one?"

"We came to an agreement," I said. "Of course, you did," Bradley muttered. We ignored him that time. "As for Vivi... she should be changed by now. Ah! "

I saw a small redhead making her way here. "Here she comes!"  When she walked nearer, I grabbed the small girl's shoulders and placed her into the line of fire. "And I think, that's for Vivi to tell."

Like a Deerling caught in the headlights, she froze momentarily at being the centre of attention.

I sighed. "They just want to know what happened."

After staring at her expectedly for a few minutes, Vivian finally spoke up.

"I-I caught a Pancham," she said timidly.

The room fell silent. We had expected their speechless expressions and was prepared for a barrel of questions afterwards.

Sadly, nothing could have prepared us for Caitlyn's high-pitched squeal.

Later that evening, we exchanged our experiences over dinner amongst other trainers in the Cafeteria. Some were ordinary, some were strange, and some were outright terrifying but as I sat there, head in the clouds, my mind wandered to images of burning smoke and crooked trees with creepy smiles.

Certainly, I haven't yet forgotten about the cold gaze I felt during my Ordeal.

My displeasure must have shown on my face as someone tugged the edge of my clothes. Hazel eyes peered at me curiously, asking me if I was alright. I shook my head and reassured Vivian with a smile. Still, she frowned, looking worriedly at me. So, to distract her, I sacrificed my strawberry shortcake, quite successfully I may add. Her manner of eating, savouring each bite, was so adorable that I wanted to pinch her cheeks like I do with Rosa.

Through I was certain that she would be having sweet dreams tonight, sadly, it was a restless one for me.

I dreamt of Guns N' Roses, lock and loaded, of flames burning auburn on the mountain side and a familiar emblem with crossed wings of blue and white, ripped, and tattered, but nevertheless soaring proudly in the devastated sky.

I couldn't fathom what I dreamt of, and come morning, I merely remembered bits of pieces of this strange, fiery nightmare.