Careful Making Wishes [Mod]

[Valerie Turner]

Finding her way out of Port City had been much, much easier than finding the proper building once she had entered the big city. Now that she was out, Valerie visibly relaxed as she stepped out onto her first Route as a Pokemon Trainer. Now that there was no pressure to make major life-altering decisions, the girl was excited again. She was a Pokemon Trainer now! She had two Pokemon to start out with and was about to journey away from the home she had known for her whole life to make friends with all kinds of other Pokemon, as well as forging a strong and unbreakable bond with the Pokemon she had chosen to accompany her on this quest. How exciting was it that she would be doing this all on her own? Frightening, yes, but also empowering and beautiful. 
Valerie reached into her bag and retrieved the two Poke Balls the nice ambassador had given her, the two containing her new partner Pokemon. She didn't know yet which ball was which, but she would find out now! Both balls were tossed with flourish at the ground, where they burst open in a white light and released a Snivy and a Skitty onto the grass. They both cried out as they appeared, as if ready for battle, though neither of them looked disappointed that there wasn't a battle to be had right now. 
"Sni? Snivy snii?" Valerie didn't understand what the Pokemon was saying, of course, but she did assume from the Pokemon's voice that it was a female. She picked up the bright green Pokemon and held her up into the air, looking her over. "Hm.. May I call you Heather?" The newly-nicknamed Heather looked pleased at having received a name, and wiggled in delight. "Sniiiii!" Valerie smiled at Heather as the Pokemon climbed onto her arm and to her shoulder to cling there. "Okay, now it's your turn." The Skitty waved its tail and said "Skiiiiiii!" Not surprisingly, the Skitty was also a female, according to her voice. Just like with Heather, Valerie picked up the pink cat and held her at arm's length while she decided on a name. "And you shall be.. Calla." Calla smiled and cried out, "Skitty skit!!" In a copy of Heather's move, Calla climbed to Valerie's other shoulder and clung to her new trainer happily.
"Well, now that that's out of the way, are you two ready to get going?" Valerie asked. A unanimous 'yes' seemed to ring from her Pokemon's cries, and with a big smile Valerie took her first steps into the tall grass.

[EssGee]

The tall grass did not last very long, of course. In fact, the terrain was mostly rocky, with cracks and holes and boulders and large dirt formations making up much of the scenery. Only a few scraggled trees could be seen scarcely dotting the area. There was a little grass here and there, though, including occasional small patches mostly a little off the path. The main path through the route was actually very well worn, so the only grass actually on it was that at the very beginning. ...And of course, the whole route was wide enough that one could easily miss it if they weren't specifically looking for the path, or walk around it if they were, so it was a little suspicious. Actually, that grass seemed a bit greener than any other patch in Valerie's line of sight. Did.. they specifically plant this patch here just to give trainers a first step into tall grass? Whether Valerie knew it or not, that did seem exactly the sort of plan Quercus Oak would come up with.

At any rate, the first several minutes along the path were uneventful. A few times the trainer or her Pokemon would briefly catch a faint rustle or skitter or a flash in their peripherals, but nothing close by or distinctive.

Then from behind Valerie their came a lounder rustling, accompanied but the sound of rocks being knocked around. There was indeed a patch of grass close-ish to the path that she'd just passed, but before she could even completely turn around, it caught fire. ... Well that explained the lack of much vegetation, didn't it.

Out of the flickering blackening shapes, a figure rose to what must have been going on seven feet tall. It was a Heatmor, with a face and claws and bracers obsidian black, a body the color of blood, and scarlet markings that seemed to glow. It let out a gutteral roar unbefitting its body shape before glancing down at Valerie. Its eyes seemed to set firmly on the Snivy on her shoulder, and it did not look pleased.

Somehow, this did not seem the ideal battle for a trainer as fresh and green as the route's suspicious first patch of tall grass.

[Valerie Turner]

Valerie thought that this was an unusual start to her big Pokemon journey, a route with no Pokemon on it, and was beginning to worry that she had somehow gone the wrong way or something. She slowed down in the process of these thoughts. Calla jumped down onto the ground in front of her new trainer and gave a small cry, as if asking what was wrong, and Valerie just stared at the Skitty. "What are you trying to say?" she mumbled. Perhaps with time she might grow to understand her Pokemon's thoughts and feelings, but for now, she knew nothing.
She fully understood the next thing her Pokemon were trying to tell her as both of them leapt up in shock and stared behind her, eyes and mouths open wide in surprise. Slowly turning around, fearful of what she might find, Valerie saw the largest Pokemon she had ever seen in person in her entire life. She had no idea what it was, but it did not look happy, and she thought that it was glaring at her rather than at the Snivy perched next to her head. "Oh.. oh dear Arceus..." Valerie stammered as she backed away slowly. It occurred to her at least to take out a Poke Ball, somehow, through the fear and uncertainty. Seeing and sensing their trainer's fear, Calla and Heather looked at each other and slowly nodded, then Calla stepped forward to block the huge monster from reaching their brand-new and terrified trainer.
"Skii ski! Skiiiiit!" Calla seemed to be telling the big Pokemon that to get to the trainer, it had to get through her. The instant the beast made an aggressive move, Calla had a Fake Out attack ready to stop it. Valerie was even more shocked by her Pokemon stepping forward to protect her than she was by the sudden appearance of the scary Pokemon. "Calla, that thing is at least six times your size!" she exclaimed in alarm, but Calla just gave another sharp cry as if that decided it. Valerie was moved by her Pokemon's bravery, but was still too afraid to think to give her any orders.

[EssGee]

Calla made contact, though not before being scorched by an Incinerate, which seemed to hurt her a fair bit. Thanks to the nature of Fake Out, Heatmor did cringe, though only briefly. In the process of doing so, her eyes slid down to set on Calla. "Heeeaaat mooooooor!" a deep, gutteral voice thundered to Valerie's ears. To Heather, it was something between that and utter gibberish.

Calla, however, would hear it something like, <Gouu dare bubboze mvee, ivvle kgat.> That was some hell of accent but it.. moooostly sounded like words?

The fiesty feral was appalled by the utter audacity shown by the Skitty.

[Valerie Turner]

Valerie cringed when her Skitty was hurt by the Incinerate attack and took another step back. "Calla..!" Heather grasped at Valerie's hair from her shoulder and tugged it to get her attention. "Sni sniiii!" This was something along the lines of 'help her!' but Valerie still couldn't speak Pokemon. She was frightened for herself as well as for both of her Pokemon, and she didn't know what to do. It dawned on her that she should probably give her Pokemon an order instead of letting her fend for herself entirely, and she nervously stepped towards the Heatmor and her brave little Skitty. "Calla, use.. um.. Tackle?" Calla heard her trainer and decided that Tackle would, indeed, be the best course of action, so she lunged at the huge Pokemon with her whole tiny body. "Skitty skit skiiii!" <I won't let you hurt them!>

[EssGee]

Although the Heatmor did seem to wince slightly, the tiny Skitty bounced off her bulk as if it had tried to tackle a brick wall. A great hand rose in the air as if to swat the pest away, which no doubt would have sent Calla flying, but at the last moment, it paused and opted to Hone Claws instead. It's fiery tongue flicked menacingly, doubling as a means of tasting the air, and with it Calla's scent.

"Morrororrororororor," came the gutteral roar again. <Gouu zound dranje,> she spat, disgusted if slightly curious. <Gouu enver nai errigory, ivvle un. If gouu den zeeve ikt I VELL erju.> This was accompanied by no verbal sound, but was clear (as it could be, at any rate) to Calla.

[Valerie Turner]

Calla understood enough of the Pokemon's speech to know that she was in the Heatmor's territory and should not be, but the last bit was beyond her. "Sni snivy sniii!!" <Let's get out of here!!> Evidently, Heather had understood what Calla hadn't, and she punctuated this by motioning to Valerie what she had just said to Calla by pointing away from the Heatmor. Valerie was more than happy with this plan once she got the gist of what Heather was trying to communicate, and she moved forward to retrieve Calla as the pink Pokemon leaped up into her trainer's arms. "Skii!" <Sorry!>
The trio turned away from the Heatmor and continued on the way they had come, moving at a much faster pace than previously in order to give the Heatmor the room she wanted.

[EssGee]

The Heatmor roared triumphantly before shooting a Fire Spin after the trio. It didn't ever quite reach them, as if more meant to urge them to pick up the pace a little more. When they were far into the horizon, she sniffed indignantly and returned to looking for her dinner. Perhaps when Valerie was better equipped, she could seek out the Heatmor again.

As for now, it would be several minutes before the growls and heat behind Valerie fully faded, during which time she'd see a few Durant skittering in the corners of her vision, but once again nothing particularly close by. By the time she could have reached any of them, they'd have been long underground.

Finally, she came to another patch of grass growing around a large slab of rock, under the nearest edge of which was a medium-sized hole sloping down into the ground. Very faint noises seemed to be coming from inside. A brief way down the path, a very tiny patch of grass was rustling next to a tree stump. Valerie could probably check out one, or attempt to split her forces for both (though given what she'd already learned even this 'beginner' route could conceal..), or she could just ignore both for now.

[Valerie Turner]

As soon as the heat and the growls faded away, Valerie slowed down and stopped panicking as much as she had been. That had been the scariest thing she had ever experienced. She was still carrying Calla, stroking her head occasionally as if to make sure she was still okay. The tiny pink feline was fine, maybe a little scorched, but otherwise unharmed. The adrenaline of protecting her new trainer and fellow Pokemon had worn off, leaving her a bit tired and perfectly fine with being carried for a while. Heather seemed anxious every time there was a noise behind them, but when she saw the peaceful Durant she would visibly relax.
Valerie was half afraid when she spotted shaking grass again, but was also fairly convinced that there couldn't possibly be two gigantic terrible Pokemon in nearly the same area. Either way, she was cautious as she approached the grass. It couldn't hold a huge Pokemon like that anyway, could it? It was only a normal-sized patch, right? Heather was too curious to want her trainer to move on, and Calla was still too tired to pay attention.

[EssGee]

As Valerie approached, a small Bunnelby hopped out of the grass, its back to her. It was an entirely normal Bunnelby, average size, average color, nothing strange worth noting. It seemed Valerie was actually capable of encountering these!

After a few seconds, it hopped a few paces more, just sort of meandering and sniffing around for anything interesti-- hm? Slowly it turned and saw Valerie, immediately jumping back five feet when it did before freezing and shaking in place.