Scaling Walls Ch 6

Stakataka bounced ahead us towards the entrance of Route 2, appearing to understand that most Pokémon that he sees scurrying or flying across the path don't want to hurt him. "Stakataka sure looks excited today, doesn't he?" said Joel. "He sure does!" I said, watching as he carefully avoids stepping on flowers as he played in the grass. Stakataka blinked at me and gestured towards me. "Sta! Kata!" he said. "I can't play with you now! We have to get the Normalium Z!" I called him to come back to the path.

"Hey! Joel and Pierre! Over here!" came a voice. It was Ilima. "Hey Ilima!" I called back. "That's an interesting wall Skitty you've got there." he said, pointing at Stakataka, who appeared to have his eyes trained on a Cutiefly and was following it. I giggled "That wall is Stakataka. He's an Ultra Beast but sometimes forgets he is 12 feet tall and likes to act like a Skitty. Come here and meet Ilima, Stakataka." I gestured for him to come forwards. He cautiously walked towards Ilima, before approving. "An Ultra Beast? I remember Professor Burnet talking about them before. Wow! I suppose since he's happy being here, there's no need to worry about getting him home. May I pet him?" asked Ilima. "You can try." I said. "He was OK with Nurse Joy. Just be gentle when approaching him. Chances are he won't let you stop petting him."

Ilima proceeded to touch a corner of Stakataka. Stakataka let out a happy sigh. "He appears to be enjoying it!" he said. Joel poked my side. "Not as happy as he is when you pet him. He's all over you when you're standing remotely close to him." he said. I nodded. Stakataka was my Pokémon after all, and was incredibly affectionate towards me. He got up and walked away from Ilima, and proceeded to trap me underneath him, staring at me longingly. "Stataka" Stataka! Stataka!" he said, happily rubbing my face from within him. "Stakata to you too." I said, petting him back. "Hey Rotom, you're a Pokémon. Do you know what he's saying? He keeps telling me that word!" Rotom tapped on Stakataka, who let me out. "Zzzzt! Unfortunately not. I can only undersztand Rotom szpeech and human language. Neither can Teszla. I wiszh I could help you there." I gestured to Stakataka. If we didn't continue walking, we wouldn't get to Verdant Cavern before the day ended.

Stakataka became increasingly interested with rock piles as the path grew rockier. He kept getting distracted by pebbles, rolling them around. He'd try to climb rocks too, not understanding the importance of time, or the fact he'd hurt himself if he fell when climbing them. He started to climb a rather precarious boulder. "Stakataka! Get down from there! You'll get hurt!" I called out to him. Stakataka flipped a back panel and stared at me, as though to assure me he's fine, but suddenly froze and scampered down the rocks, and defensively hid behind me. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"God damnit! I TOLD you to be quiet, you fuckface!" came a voice. From behind the rocks came two edgy-looking people, around my age. "I don't know who you are but please! Language!" I said, pointing at Joel. "Shut up, lady. We've been getting reports of you owning a very rare Pokémon. And we want it now!" said the first guy. The "fuckface" pointed at Stakataka. "Don't tell me to be quiet, asshat!" said Fuckface, who looked at Asshat, then at me. "It may be a scaredy Skitty, but it's rare, and Team Skull wants it now!" he said. Ilima was about to pull out a Pokéball, but I stopped him. "This is my battle. You referee." I told him, holding Tesla's Pokéball. "You ready to smash these goons, Joel?" I asked him. He nodded. "Go Pikipek!" he said, letting out his Pokémon. I let out Tesla. "Zzzzzzt! A BATTLE-ROTO! I'M READY TO GO-ROTO!" he said, excitedly. "Zzzt! Our Mower Form's szpecial grasz type move is Leaf Sztorm!" said Rotom.

"Go, Golbat!" said Fuckface. "Let's go, Garbodor!" said Asshat. A massive stench wafted off of Garbodor as it roared. "Pikipek! Use Rock Smash on Garbodor!" said Joel. "Tesla! Use Electro Ball on Golbat!" I directed. Golbat got knocked out in one hit, but Garbodor withstood the strike from the rock smash. "Golbat is unable to battle!" Said Ilima. Fuckface withdrew Golbat and started cheering for Asshat. "Garbodor! Use Toxic on Pikipek!" he said. Pikipek attempted to dodge the hurled sludge, but got a direct hit of Toxic and fell to the ground, poisoned. "Pikipek is unable to battle!" said Ilima.

"Use Toxic on Rotom!" said Asshat. "Tesla! Use Leaf Storm on Garbodor, and leave the mower right after!" I directed. Tesla sent a flurry of leaves towards Garbodor, who in the Leaf Storm, didn't notice Tesla escape the mower, drenching it in toxic sludge. Garbodor wasn't able to withstand the Leaf Storm, despite the type advantage. Tesla was just too strong. "Garbodor is unable to battle! Tesla and Joel are the winners!" said Ilima, glaring at Fuckface and Asshat. "This ain't the last you've seen of Team Skull!" said Asshat. They withdrew Garbodor, and ran off in the opposite direction.

I immediately went to examine Pikipek. "Pikipek is badly poisoned. But I should be able to heal that with an Antid... OH NO!" I exclaimed, searching my bag for a non-existent Pecha Berry. "I thought I restocked on antidotes! Joel! Do Pecha berries grow here?" I said looking frantically around for its plant. "They sure do!" he said, looking at Pikipek. "Give me a moment. Take care of Pikipek for me!" he said, climbing past the rocks. "Pikipek, don't worry. You'll be ok!" I proceeded to clean the sludge off his feathers. Stakataka opened an eye and started to cry upon seeing the injured Pikipek. "Stakataka, Pikipek will be all fine once Joel brings back the Pecha berries!" I said.

Pikipek seemed calmer with the sludge removed, so I proceeded to clean the sludge off of the mower. Tesla re-inhabited it once cleaned. "Zzzt! Thankszzz-roto!" he said. Joel climbed over the rocks again, and opened his backpack, which was full of a variety of berries. "For you to restock, and for everyone to rest up!" he said, feeding Pikipek the Pecha berry, who perked right up upon finishing it. He fed him a Sitrus berry as well, and gave one to Tesla as well. "Does Stakataka want one?" he asked, holding out an Oran berry. I fed it to him and he purred in satisfaction. Joel grinned a beaming smile. "Alright! Now that everyone is happy and rested, let's head off to the trial!"