Little Pokèmon, Big Dreams

Chapter 6: Civilization and Respite

Bolt returned to camp and when she emerged from the woods she found Red and the Geodude brothers waiting for her.

"Surprise!" they yelled in unison.

They parted to reveal a new training course set up made of logs and rocks, similar to what she had made at her old home before meeting Red. It didn't take up too much of the clearing but it looked very tricky; Bolt couldn't wait to try it out.

"This is awesome you guys, thanks so much," she cried excitedly. She was so anxious to get to training that she nearly forgot to tell them she'd found water.

"Oh, wait! There's a creek not too far from here and supposedly there's a marsh beyond the meadow above our cliff," Bolt said. Red wagged his tails and turned to the cliff.

"I've never seen a marsh before," he awed.

"It'll be full of mud and water, I was told the Pokemon there are pretty peaceful though. Actually I would say alot of the Pokemon in this part of the forest are peaceful and kind," Bolt added. Marsh water probably wouldn't be the nicest to drink but the creek as a backup water source was reassuring. They also had plenty of berries for now but Bolt intended to find more soon too. Maybe they could even plant some nearby. She jumped onto one of the rocks and flipped over to a log. Even though she was finally a Raichu Bolt had to train still and keep on her toes, especially for when Luxray found them. She was no longer so small of a target since Raichu were bigger and bulkier than Pichu and Pikachu. On the bright side however she had so much more power and stamina at her disposal, as well as the capability to handle using even more new moves and attacks.

"How's the egg doing," she asked.

"It's getting more active, I can hear sounds coming from it," Red smiled. That was a good sign, it meant the egg would hatch soon. It could also be seen as a bad sign however, as when the egg hatched Luxray wouldn't hold back. Bolt hadn't had any time to train ever since becoming a Raichu either. Along with needing to find a more permanent food source and formulate a solid plan of defense there was literally so much to do in so little time. The storms on the mountain couldn't have lasted more than another week since they had left, so they didn't have a huge head start against Pokemon with bigger strides than them. They'd also been slowed down by having a fragile egg to keep safe and warm. Bolt's happiness at her gift was waning as stress clouded her thoughts. I have to keep strong and calm, if the others see how worried I actually am it'll scatter their thoughts. We all need to stay focused, Bolt thought to herself. Maybe the Geodude could go look for berries while she trained, they really were a great help to have around. She was so grateful that they'd decided to come with them.

"I hate to ask since you guys are probably tired from putting this training course together, but it's actually a perfect opportunity. I need to prepare for the battle, so would you two mind looking for food while I train?"

"Of course we will, we need to familiarize ourselves with the area anyway," the first Geodude agreed. After they'd both set off Bolt began agility training. She also worked on her Double Team attack, knowing that with Luxray being an electric type she would have to rely more on outmanuevering him than her regular attacks. Red tended to the egg but seemed to become distraught after awhile. He approached her.

"I need something else to do to help while I'm watching the egg, I know there's more that can be done and I need to help however I can," he pleaded. Bolt rested and thought it over before realizing the perfect thing.

"Well you can plant some berries with the extra berries we have," she offered. Truly they could use more berry trees and bushes for the future and gardening wouldn't be too difficult or require him to leave the egg's side. Bolt walked him over to a good spot and dug a small hole.