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| - After dropping off Wally back at his house now that he was a Pokémon Trainer, Brendan and May continued on their journey to Rustboro City. The road there required cutting through the dark Petalburg Woods which was teeming with Bug Pokémon. While Brendan seemed just fine on the walk, May was shivering with every step. From her early childhood, she had always had a major fear of Bug Pokémon. Something about their creepy crawliness and their ability to secrete venom did not sit well with her. That, coupled with an instance where she was sent to the hospital from a Dustox sting made Bug Pokémon a no-go for her. Due to the tall trees and surplus of foliage, sunlight was barely able to crack through from the sky. Because this, it was hard for them to see what kind of Pokémon they would run into. That only made the forest creepier for May to walk through. "Brendan, I don't like this..." May complained and stayed very close behind her friend. "I really really really don't like this." "Oh, come on, every trainer goes through these woods at least once," Brendan told her. "It's not like anything bad lives is in here." "But these Bug Pokémon are creepy..." May whimpered and shooed a Wurmple away that was too close to her feet. "RAARGH!" Brendan suddenly turned and screamed. After seeing her facial expression change from fear to horror, he laughed loudly. "Stop that!" May exclaimed in fear. When her heart rate slowly went back to normal, she was able to regain a straight face. "There's already enough scary stuff in here already." "Relax, May," Brendan raised his arms defensively. "I was just messin' around." As they walked through the deep woods, a small white Bug Pokémon took notice. It had four legs, small black eyes, and tiny green wings which practically served no purpose due to its size ratio with its body. The Pokémon took a specific interest in May and stared slowly crawling behind the two. "You know, I think we're almost at the end of these woods," Brendan commented as he looked around the forest. "We haven't even run into one cool looking Pokémon for me to capture, either." "There are absolutely no cool Pokémon in here," May replied with her arms crossed. "Nothing but creepy, crawly, weird, ugly, scary, stupid Bug-types." "Hey May, what's that behind you?" Brendan asked jokingly, attempting to use a classic scare tactic on her. "There's nothi-AH!" May shouted when she turned around and saw the small Bug Pokémon standing behind her. May looked away quickly in shock. "What is that thing!?" "Oh, I didn't there would actually be anything behind you..." Brendan sighed regretfully. "But that is a really cool looking Pokémon." May stood in the same spot shivering. She didn't want to look at the thing, but she also couldn't take her eyes off of it. Even though it was doing absolutely nothing, it was still terrifying her. "Oh, would you get over it?" Brendan asked. "You're acting like a child." "I can't function with that thing staring at me!" May exclaimed. "What even is that?" Brendan asked and pulled out his PokéDex. "Nincada, the Trainee Pokémon," Brendan's PokéDex started. "Nincada lives underground. It uses its sharp claws to carve the roots of trees and absorb moisture and nutrients. This Pokémon can't withstand bright sunlight so avoids it." Nincada continued to stare at May despite her obvious disgust. Something about her attracted the small Pokémon. May shuddered in place as she had a small stare-off with the Pokémon." "Shoo, go away." May waved her hands at the Pokémon hoping it would scurry off. Instead, Nincada just stood there watching her. "Oh my gosh, will you puh-lease leave me alone!?" "May, I think you should catch it," Brendan suggested. "Maybe then it'll help you get over your stupid fear of Bug Pokémon." "It's not a stupid fear!" May defended herself. "And Bug Pokémon are super weak anyways. Nobody even uses them!" "That's a lame excuse. There's a gym leader back in Johto that uses Bug Pokémon," Brendan informed her. "And besides, I think Nincada looks like a cool Pokémon." "Then why don't you catch it?" May asked and pointed at her traveling companion. "I'm not the one who needs a fear stomped," Brendan reminded her. "You can't lose anything by catching it. If you don't like it and it doesn't like you, then just let it go back where it belongs. If you end up liking it, then you have a new strong Pokémon to use." "I guess you're right..." May responded. She pulled out a PokéBall from her pouch and threw it forward. "Corpish, I choose you!" May's Corphish was sent out of its PokéBall in a beam of light. It faced Nincada, waiting for May's orders. Nincada, on the other hand, completely ignored Corphish and continued to look at May. "Okay, Corphish, use Bubble!" May commanded. "Just get that thing outta here!" Corphish opened its mouth and fired a flurry of bubbles at Nincada. Nincada felt the pain of the hit but made no attempt to attack Corphish back. It just continued to look straight at May curiously. May tilted her head in confusion as to what her next move should be. Even Corphish was confused. "Should I just catch it or something?" May asked and scratched the top of her head. "It doesn't seem to care that I'm trying to attack it." "Try it," Brendan suggested. "Go, PokéBall!" May shouted and threw an empty PokéBall at Nincada. It shook a few times before clicking. May walked over to it and picked it up. "So I guess that's that? I have a new Pokémon?" "I guess we move on, now?" Brendan suggested with a shrug. "The faster we can get out of here, the faster we can reach Rustboro City." "Yeah, that's a good idea, I guess," May replied and took a good look at her surroundings to make sure that no other Pokémon was following her. "I think I'm just going to let Corphish walk with us outside of its PokéBall in case we get any other creepy crawlers tailing us." The two of them walked with Corphish keeping watch behind them for a while until they saw a researcher inspecting a section of tall grass. He was tall and thin with messy brown hair, thick glasses, and a large lab coat. He was parting some blades over and looking inside for something. It seemed as if he were scouting for a Pokémon. "Is everything alright?" Brendan asked as he approached the researcher. "Yes, I'm just looking for a Shroomish," the researcher answered. "Have you happened to run into one on your way here? It's my favorite Pokémon and I'd really like to have one." "No, unfortunately we haven't," May answered. "But can keep an eye out for one." "Thank you, youngsters," the researcher nodded. "You!" A voice exclaimed. "Devon researcher!" A man in ragged pants, a blue striped shirt, and a black head bandanna with the letter "A" on it approached the group. As he walked to them, he slowly tossed a PokéBall up and down in the air. The closer he got to them, the more they could sense that he smelled like rum. "Who... who are you?" The researcher asked. "What business do you have?" "I was going to ambush you in Rustboro, but you seemed to wander off here," the man said and stopped playing with his PokéBall. "Team Aqua needs those Devon Goods and we know you have it. Hand it over or face the wrath of Team Aqua!" "Leave him alone!" May shouted. "Oh, are you going to protect him, little girl?" The Team Aqua Grunt laughed. "If you want to battle me, then go right ahead. I'll show you the true power of Team Aqua." "Let's do this," May nodded and looked to her Corphish. Corphish nodded in unison. "Corphish, I choose you!" "Go, Poochyena!" The Grunt shouted and sent his Pokémon out from its PokéBall. "Corphish, use Crabhammer!" Corphish's pincers grew a light blue as it slammed them against Poochyena. Poochyena staggered backwards before getting a grip on its footwork. "Poochyena, use Howl!" Poochyena looked towards the sky and howled loudly. For no longer than a second, it glew a bright red and its eyes shined with ferocity. "Corphish, get it with another Crabhammer!" Corphish let its pincers glow again and bashed Poochyena with them. Poochyena almost seemed to give in due to the pain, but it didn't let itself fall. "Poochyena, use Bite!" "Corphish, dodge it!" Poochyena leapt into the air and went straight for Corphish. Despite Corphish's attempt to get out of the way, Poochyena was still able to get to it. Poochyena latched its teeth onto Corphish and pressed down. The extra charge from its howl was able to make the Bite-attack more powerful. Corphish didn't take the attack too well and fell to the ground. "Corphish, no!" May exclaimed and called it back to its PokéBall. "Return!" "What's your next move, little girl?" The Grunt teased. "You're up next, Nincada!" May exclaimed and threw Nincada's PokéBall forward. Her newly caught Bug-type flew out and faced the enemy Poochyena with wide eyes. "A Bug-type, eh?" The Grunt asked. "What a weakling. Poochyeha, use Bite!" Poochyena leaped forward and bit its teeth hard onto Nincada's exoskeleton. Nincada took the hit as much as it could and still stood on its feet. "Nincada, use some sort of Bug attack!" May commanded confusedly. She didn't know any Bug-type moves and it was the last attack type that she wanted to master. "Try Leech Life," Brendan suggested. Growing up in Johto with the Ilex Forest being a place he visited often, he knew a thing or two about Bug-types. "Nincada, use Leech Life!" "Poochyena, get out of the way and use Bite!" Nincada scurried for Poochyena with bloodthirsty teeth. Poochyena attempted to shuffle out of the way, but Nincada was too speedy for it. Nincada bit down onto the Grunt's Poochyena and began to drain its life energy. Since the But-type attack was more effective on the Dark-type Poochyena and it already took massive damage earlier from Corphish, Nincada's attack was the last straw. Poochyena fell to the ground in defeat. "No!" The Grunt shouted and called his Pokémon back. He stomped the ground hard in frustration. "Dammit, I'll get you next time, mark my words!" The Team Aqua Grunt turned around and ran off in the distance. May, Brendan, and the researcher all looked at each other, confused. "What just happened?" Brendan asked and looked off to where the Grunt had run off. "I don't know, but he said he wanted our Devon Goods!" The researcher exclaimed. "Uh-oh, it's a crisis! I'd better return to Rustboro!" "We'll come with you," Brendan told him. "We were just headed there and it looks like you could use the protection." "Would you two really do that for me?" The researcher asked. "Yup, we've got your back," May nodded. "Oh, thank you so much!" The researcher headed back to Rustboro with Brendan and May travelling closely behind.
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