[NWC] Through Mud and Water

Intent to Capture: Shellos
Difficulty: Simple
Length: 36,764 characters

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"Be sure to be nice to Jumpluff, Mattie!"

You've got to be joking me, Matt thought sourly, shading his face with his left hand as he tried to aim the Pokeball at the errant Grass-type. I'm the one being bullied here; she's the one that's got to be nice to me!

The Jumpluff in question was arrogantly floating in the wind, far above any human's reach. It obviously knew how to ride the currents to maximize hang time, which was currently a hindrance rather than an advantage, considering that what he needed was for the stupid puffball to come down. Even at his impressive 6'3" height, there was no way Matt would be able to jump that high to get it back.

He sighed, pulling a Pokeball out of his pack. "Grace, come on out!"

As the capsule burst open, a few small yellow stars shimmered into existence and the light coalesced into a small, pink Clefairy. Blinking sleepily, the Normal-type rubbed a chubby pink fist against her eyes and scowled at her trainer, pouting accusatorily.

The boy held up a hand before the Pokemon could say a word, forestalling any scolding. "Yes, I know, I promised you that you could rest today, especially after we had to round up all those Phanpy yesterday, but I really need your help." He pointed upwards, and Grace followed his gaze to the Jumpluff floating idly above them. "Ava's being bratty again, and I can't reach her at that height. Could you please get her down for me?"

Grace glanced up at the Jumpluff in question, who seemed to smirk back down at the Normal-type. The little Clefairy's eyes narrowed, and she began an odd, rhythmic chant in her high-pitched voice. Though at first it seemed to have no effect, the air around her paws began to shimmer as she spoke, and soon the Jumpluff was visibly struggling to stay aloft. With a triumphant smirk, the Clefairy pounded her paws against the ground, and the Grass-type sunk like a stone. Matt quickly followed up with the Pokeball, recalling the testy Pokemon to its confines.

"Thanks, Grace. Don't know what I'd do without you," he told his oldest partner. The Clefairy smiled cheekily back at him before he recalled her to her own Pokeball, and he sighed as he replaced the two capsules in his pack. Obviously, plan "bond with stubborn Jumpluff by walking with her on travels" had failed pretty miserably.

Matt sighed wearily, running his fingers through his short brown hair. He didn't know how he was going to work with Ava, honestly. She wasn't even really supposed to be his Pokemon -- his childhood friend, Chloe, had asked him to help raise a Skitty for her, so he'd helped out and helped prime it for battles, watching its nutrition and overall health. As thanks, she'd given him a Jumpluff she'd captured a while ago but hadn't been able to devote much time to.

The problem here was the Jumpluff's belligerent personality. He was a breeder who spent very little time battling, unlike Chloe, who was well on her way to the Pokemon League. The only Pokemon who really belonged to him was Grace, and that was only because it was common sense not to go anywhere without a Pokemon for protection. It had been a stroke of luck that she'd even acquired the experience to evolve from her Cleffa form at all. Ava, as he had named her -- he liked to nickname his Pokemon to help foster closer bonds -- preferred to fight, and had been quite put out when he explained to her that he didn't battle very much. After that, she wouldn't listen to anything he asked of her, floating out of reach and generally refusing to show him any respect. It was far easier to pull her down when they were inside and her range was limited, though.

So, that's Plan E down. Matt crossed it off his mental checklist, shoving his hands into the pockets of his baggy grey jeans as he walked. What else is there... I've tried bribing her with Poffins, she's not interested in Contests, Grace couldn't bring her around, and that time I tried battling with her failed miserably... arrrgh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do here! Chloe, why would you do this to me?!

It wasn't really her fault, though; she was only trying to be nice. He sighed, kicking a rock on the dirt path. It wouldn't do to be angry at her, especially since he was going to see her parents in just a few minutes; it wouldn't be fair for him to accidentally unleash his annoyance with their daughter onto them, especially after all they'd done for him over the years. But dammit, the walk home was supposed to be relaxing, not spent stressing out over a stubborn Pokemon!

"Mattie!" That was all the warning he got before he had the wind knocked out of him, courtesy of a nine-year old girl barreling into him headfirst. Thin, tan arms wrapped around his body as the child laughed into his midsection with glee, grubby fingers clutching at the fabric of his slate blue t-shirt. "Mattie, you're back! You're back!"

The breeder grinned as he recovered from the exuberant greeting, wrapping his own arms around the girl in a hug. "Hey, Janie. Miss me?"

"Dummy! Of course I missed you!" The girl released him and grinned up at him, showing a missing front tooth. "Town's been boring with all you guys gone! Where did you go? Did you see any new Pokemon? Did you bring me a present? How about any romantic ren-dezz-vuss-es?"

"Whoah there! I'll tell you as we walk back. And it's rendez-vous, by the way. Why were you out so far from town, anyway?" Matt released the girl from his hug and took her hand in his, swinging their arms playfully as they continued down Route 209.

"So I could be the first to greet you, obviously! Why else would I go out so far?" Janie rolled her eyes to emphasize how silly Matt was for not realizing what should have been a no-brainer. "And answer my questions! Especially the one about the ran-day-vooses!"

Matt rolled his eyes at the pigtailed girl's excitement, but his grin betrayed his true feelings on her bombardment of questions. "Let's see... I went around to mostly major cities. Hearthome, Jubilife, Eterna... I stopped by Floaroma Town, too. The flowers were really beautiful, so I bought some flower seeds back home for everyone. There are a lot of different Pokemon out there, but I haven't really caught anything new..."

"Hmph! You're so boring!" the girl sniffed indignantly, wiping her hands off on her blue denim shorts. "If you see a new Pokemon, you should catch it! Chloe always calls home to talk about the new Pokemon she's caught!"

"Your sister likes to make her Pokemon battle, though," Matt pointed out mildly. "I prefer to take care of them so that they're always in good shape, whether they want to fight or not. Traveling without battling can be interesting too."

"No it can't, because that's boring," Janie shot back. "On my eleventh birthday, I'm going to set off on my own journey. I'll beat all the gyms in record time, and then I'll fight my sister for the championship! And you didn't answer my last question!" She pouted, and Matt had to look away to choke back the laughter bubbling up. Her resemblance to Grace when she made that face was completely uncanny, and now his head was being swarmed by images of Janie as a Clefairy dancing around a meteorite.

Janie stared in confusion at her neighbor as he got his fit of the giggles under control, and Matt turned back to her with a familiar, slightly exasperated expression. "For the last time, Janie, I'm not interested in Chloe that way. I've known your family all my life, and she's just a friend to me. Nothing more."

"You're lying!" the girl exclaimed with no less conviction than the countless previous times they'd had this argument. "Of course you like her! She's smart and pretty and good at battling and you're the one who knows her best, so you have to like her!"

"That's not how love works, Janie," Matt replied gently.

Janie paused for a few seconds before dark eyes glared at Matt suspiciously from under her scarlet bangs. "Are you saying that there's something wrong with my sister that you can't love her?" she demanded, her face ominous.

"Oh look, we're here!" Never before had Matt been so relieved to see the familiar shapes of the farms before him, as they'd just saved him from a potentially life-threatening situation. Janie do things with a jump rope and a pogo stick that didn't bear thinking about, and he'd rather not get on her bad side... even if she was only a little girl of nine.

Solaceon Town was by no means a major landmark on the face of Sinnoh. Oh, sure, some people passed through on their way to Hearthome or Veilstone City, but for the most part, they were just a small farming community. The daycare had been enjoying a bit of popularity, but most trainers generally preferred to raise their Pokemon themselves. Though some might scorn the humdrum atmosphere of the town, it was part of what really made it home for Matt. The rolling green fields, the cloudless blue skies, and the quiet tranquility was always comforting to return to.

As he approached his front porch, Janie in tow, a red-orange blur raced around the corner of the house and careened into Matt's legs, nearly bowling him over. "Whoah, Rex!" Matt grinned, reaching down to scratch the Growlithe behind the ear. The Fire-type barked excitedly, attacking Matt's fingers with his rough pink tongue in true doggy fashion. Janie giggled, sinking her fingers into the tuft of creak colored fur on Rex's forehead and stroking his back.

"Mattie? Is that you?" The screen door swung open, and Matt's mother emerged from the house, brightening as she saw her only son. "Welcome home!"

"It's good to be home, Mom," Matt replied, moving forward to embrace his mother in a hug. She only came up to his shoulder as they hugged, which wasn't really anything new; he'd stopped growing at age sixteen, but still managed to look like he was in the middle of a growth spurt, all gangly limbs and no meat on his bones. Her dark brown hair had a few more streaks of grey than the last time he'd seen her, Matt noted absently. She also smelled like... "Mom, you made cookies?" the breeder asked excitedly, already drooling at the thought.

His mother laughed as they broke apart, and now he noticed that she was wearing her apron, forever stained from working in the kitchen. "Of course I did, knowing you'd be coming back. Come in and tell us about your travels!" Her eyes trailed down to Janie, and she smiled knowingly. "Hello, Janie! Would you also like to come in for cookies? You did escort my son back into town, after all."

Janie grinned cheerily, but shook her head. "Aw, thanks, but my duty was just to make sure that Mattie here got home safe and sound!" She stood up straight, snapping a mock salute. Rex circled her feet, hoping for more attention. "I'd better go home now, though -- The Torrid Affair of the Diamond Luvdisc won't read itself, you know!"

"All right, dear. Feel free to come back later, though -- I'm sure we'll have extra!" Matt and his mother watched Janie skip off towards her house, pigtails bobbing. Rex almost made as if to follow her, but changed his mind and returned to Matt's side, sitting comfortably in the shade from the house.

"Honestly, I still don't understand why she's allowed to read those trashy romance novels," the breeder grumbled quietly. "All it does is fill her head with nonsense and give her the wrong ideas about romantic relationships."

His mother grinned knowingly as she walked up the white porch steps, opening the door to the house. "Ah, the old 'you definitely love Chloe' argument again, eh?"

"She just won't let it go," Matt sighed, following his mother into the kitchen. "If I've told her once, I've told her a thousand times that no, Chloe and I are not dating. But she doesn't listen!"

"Well, she's only nine," his mother replied, peering critically into the oven. "You know how kids are."

"It's a good thing I didn't mention Ava, or I'd never hear the end of it," Matt sighed, reaching for the bowl in the middle of the kitchen table and taking a macaroon. A mahogany chair scraped against the white tiled floor as Matt pulled up a seat for himself at the table, swinging his pack off his shoulders and settling it on the back of his chair.

"What's this? You've found someone after all?" his mother asked, turning with interest towards her son. "It's about time! What's she like?"

"No no no, you're misunderstanding me here," Matt replied around a mouthful of cookie. He chewed and swallowed with an expression of near-bliss, smiling at his mother. "I totally forgot how much I'd missed the taste of your cooking. But Ava's not a girl-- well, actually, she is a girl, but she's not a human girl, she's a Jumpluff. Chloe gave her to me for helping her raise a Skitty when we met up at Hearthome."

"Well, isn't that nice! Now you have two Pokemon! Does she get along with Grace?" asked his mother, donning a pair of oven mitts and opening the oven door. She hummed quietly as she slid a tray of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, setting them on the counter to cool.

Matt sighed heavily. "See, that's the thing. Ava's only interested in battling, and when I told her that I didn't really battle she was pretty unhappy. I've tried to interest her in Contests, but she just doesn't want to participate, and now she won't listen to me at all. She almost completely floated away just before I got here! I always have to ask Grace to help get her back, but it's really not her job to babysit an uncooperative teammate."

"Hmm. Well, if you're having that much trouble with her, you could always leave her at the ranch," his mother replied sensibly, walking over to sit at the table. "I'm sure her family wouldn't mind taking care of her."

Chloe's family owned the only Pokemon ranch in town, so most of her Pokemon were sent back home for her family to take care of rather than to a Pokemon laboratory. Even without Chloe's captured monsters, though, the Nortons owned a respectable amount of Pokemon, though most of them weren't really trained for battle. As such, the children of Solaceon Town had grown up side by side with the different creatures, prompting some to seek adventure out in the rest of the world.

Matt mulled the thought over. True, he could, but... "I don't know. It doesn't really feel right, because Chloe entrusted her to me personally. I don't really want to just push her off onto her family."

"It's not pushing her off if Ava will be happier there, though," his mother pointed out, leaning against a counter.

"I guess... but it still feels like shirking," Matt replied, biting into another macaroon.

The conversation turned towards his experiences in the different cities he'd visited. Matt went through the old stories easily, only half paying any attention to what he was saying; he'd told Chloe most of it when he'd met up with her, after all, so it was just rehashing the same old stuff. Instead, he took in the familiar, comforting presence of home: the cream-colored kitchen walls, painted by his mother's hand, and the familiar wooden furniture that his father had so lovingly crafted. The sunlight danced through the open window over the sink, bathing the kitchen in golden light, and a breeze carried the scent of cooling cookies throughout the house. This was what he had missed, for the entire time that he was away.

The back door banged open, and the clomping of boots on a wooden floor indicated the return of Matt's father. No matter what the weather, he always tended to wear the same heavy boots, which were covered in grime like the rest of his work clothes. The man in question entered the kitchen with a furrowed brow, but his expression quickly changed to one of happiness when he saw who was sitting at the kitchen table. "Mattie! You're home!" he boomed out, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

"Hi, Dad," Matt replied, wiping crumbs away from the corner of his mouth. "Just got back. I was going to visit you, as soon as I'd finished off some of these cookies."

"You never told me you were going to bake today!" Matt's father said indignantly, head swiveling towards his wife.

"That's because if I told you, you would have finished everything off before your son got back," she replied calmly, biting into a macaroon. "Besides, you don't need any more meat on your bones," she added mischievously, poking her husband in his rather sizable belly.

"Aww, but Louise," he whined, giving her a mock-hurt look as he sidled towards the bowl of cookies. "You know I can't resist your baking... and besides, I'm home now!" He punctuated his last statement with a swooping motion, coming up with a handful of macaroons. His wife only smiled and shook her head as he comically wolfed them down, spraying crumbs on the table. Matt, used to such clownish behavior from his dad, only lifted an arm to shield himself from the shower of macaroon crumbs.

"But Dad, why are you back so early? Shouldn't you still be in the fields?" Matt asked, grabbing a napkin to brush the cookie crumbs off the table.

His father's expression sobered as he wiped his mouth with his own napkin. "That's right, I needed to check something. Louise, dear, do me a favor and turn on the water faucet?"

Slightly confused, Matt's mother walked over to the sink and turned the handle for cold water. Liquid came rushing out, but it was not the crystal clear water typical of the town's water supply; it was instead a dirty brown color, nearly opaque with silt. Matt gasped; his father just looked grim.

"We were trying to pump water for the crops over in the fields, but the water was just like you see it here. So we came back to town, and near everybody else seems to have the same problem," the man explained as his wife turned off the water. "There's probably something wrong with the reservoir."

Though Solaceon Town was situated by a river, the river didn't actually come close enough to the town itself for them to draw water from the river directly. So, the town had diverted part of the river's flow to a small reservoir to the northwest of town, which served as their primary water source. Though it wasn't life-threatening for the reservoir water to be contaminated, it was certainly inconvenient, as the town members would now have to venture out to Routes 209 and 210 for clean water.

"I'm thinking a group of us are going to have to head up there and check it out," Matt's father commented. "It'll probably be me, Jeff, Michael, maybe Avery..."

"I'll come too, Dad," Matt offered, sliding his chair back from the table.

"But Mattie, you've just gotten home," protested his mother. "You should take some time off and relax."

"Well, it's not like the reservoir is really far away or anything," argued Matt. "It'll take half an hour to get there, tops. Plus I wanted to see everyone again anyway, so..."

"IF you want to come, I won't stop you," shrugged his father. "We'd better go out and meet the others." He gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek as Matt stood, slinging his pack back onto a shoulder. "We'll be back soon. Keep those cookies warm for us!"

The two headed out the back door and into the fields, where a group of three men were already waiting. As they approached, Matt's father waved a hand in greeting and clapped one hand on his son's shoulder. "Hey fellas! Mattie here just got home today, and he's volunteered to go with us on our little reservoir expedition."

The others were glad to see Matt, enthusiastically welcoming him home and asking about his travels as they walked. Matt answered whatever they asked of him, though his stories were more frequently punctuated by pauses as they walk progressed; the trail they were following grew steeper as they neared the reservoir, since gravity was what pulled the water down to Solaceon.

He was just in the middle of an entertaining anecdote about an encounter with a wild Stunky, hands gesturing wildly as he described his desperate attempts to escape its notice, when a cry of "we're here!" went up from the head of the group. As Matt walked to the end of the trail, he blinked in surprise. If he hadn't known that this was a reservoir, he would have suspected it to simply be a small, secluded lake. The only visible hint that it might be man-made was the evenness of the surrounding embankments, but that was easily overlooked when one considered the massive amounts of Shellos dotted about the reservoir. Groups of the blue Pokemon playing with Mud Sport attacks near the water's edge made it obvious where the contamination was coming from.

Matt's father shook his head as he looked at the Shellos scattered about the water's edge. "We're not going to be able to clear those out by ourselves... we're going to have to head back into town and ask to borrow some of the Nortons' Pokemon to help out." He looked back at his son. "Unless you've caught any more Pokemon, Mattie...?"

Matt shook his head in response, and his father sighed. "All right then. We'll head back to town to borrow some Pokemon. Mattie, watch the Shellos and try and pick out the hierarchy of power, so we know which ones to target first. Don't provoke the Shellos and stay out of trouble, got it?"

"No worries here, Dad. I'm definitely not going to try and take on all of those Shellos by myself," Matt replied.

"Okay, just stay put. We'll be back as soon as we can." With that, the rest of the group headed back the way they came, leaving Matt alone at the man-made lake.

Matt surveyed the lake from his position behind a clump of bushes; unfortunately, there weren't many trees in the area to afford him better cover. It was rather difficult to try to pick out the possible Shellos leaders, as they were at play and not inclined to look to anyone for guidance. He frowned as he watched more of the Shellos join in on the Mud Sport competition; he couldn't afford to provoke them, but he hated just sitting around and doing nothing!

Unless... The figurative lightbulb clicked to life over Matt's head. There was a way to get them to stop without drawing attention to himself, if he could pull it off. Rummaging through his pack, he found the Pokeball he was looking for and released Grace behind the bushes, watching the Shellos to see if any of them had noticed the flash of light. When it appeared that none of them had, he bent down to address the Clefairy.

"Grace, you heard about the situation from inside your Pokeball, right?" She nodded, twitching her brown-tipped ears for emphasis. "Okay. Here's the thing: there's a ton of Shellos over there, and they're the reason the reservoir's dirty. We can't attack them, though, so can you try and sing the ones playing with mud to sleep?"

The Clefairy frowned in consideration, then tugged at her curl with a paw -- her signal to indicate that she wasn't sure. Turning around, she began the first bars of a familiar lullaby, Matt plugging his ears to avoid being affected by the sleep-inducing melody. He watched as some of the closer Shellos decided that it was a good time for a nap, but the ones horsing around in the water were too far away and making too much of a ruckus to hear.

"Thanks, Grace, but it isn't working." Grace broke off her song as Matt removed his fingers from his ears, thinking. I know Ava knows Sleep Powder, but I don't know if she'll listen to me... maybe she'll help if I let her fight the leader?

"Come on out, Ava," Matt said, ignoring Grace's disbelieving stare as he released the Jumpluff from her Pokeball. Ava glared at Matt when she first appeared, but her expression brightened considerably as she noticed the massive amount of Shellos in the vicinity. Eagerly, she turned back to face Matt, her eyes practically dancing with excitement.

"Yeah, I need your help with those guys," Matt nodded in confirmation. "Could you just fly on over them and let off a Sleep Powder? Preferably over those guys," he pointed to the offending Shellos, "the ones playing around and muddying the water. Please? We're not really trying to pick a fight here; just keep them from muddying the water. But you can fight the leader when we clear them out!" he added.

Ava stared back at him for a few seconds, face unreadable, until she started floating off in the direction of the lake. Matt grinned in accomplishment -- she's finally listening to me! -- as he watched her release a shimmering golden powder from a cotton puff.

... Wait a minute... that's not heading for the Shellos, that's heading for--

He didn't get the time to finish the thought as the powder flew straight in his face. "Ackphbt!" His eyes burned, forcing him to shut them as they began to tear up, and his face started to grow curiously numb. Stun Spore! He took a few blind steps in an attempt to escape the cloud before he tripped over something soft and round that screeched in a high-pitched voice. Crashing out of the bushes, he fell right in the middle of a cluster of Shellos.

All eyes swiveled to Matt as he rubbed his eyes and cracked one open, sheepishly smiling at the surprised Shellos. "Ehehe... sorry about that. I'll, uh, just be going now?" He pushed himself to his feet and took a step backwards, hands lifted to show he meant no harm, but his foot hit a hard, shelled back that squealed with surprise.

... uh oh.

The Shellos he had accidentally stepped on cried with race, firing a Mud Slap at the breeder. This seemed to be the cue for the rest of the Shellos to advance and attack, waves of mud and jets of water all aimed at Matt's face. He yelped and ducked, instinctively shielding his head with his arms. "Grace, help!" he yelled.

The Clefairy came charging out of the bushes, giving any Shellos foolish enough to block her way a few well-placed Doubleslaps. "Fire off some Magical Leafs for the nice Shellos!" A wind swept over the group, blowing several leaves from their bushes. Paws glowing with a green light, Grace skillfully directed the leaves in different directions, smirking evilly as they connected. Now that there were fewer attacks flying through the air, Matt took the opportunity to run, Grace following close behind.

"All right, Grace, we're going to have to divide and conquer for this," he told her, scooping her up into his arms as he ran. "General diversionary tactics, but we're probably going to need more Substitutes, so you'll need to heal with Moonlight." Grace nodded, as they had used this strategy several times before, though on a smaller scale. Once again, Matt thanked any deity watching over him for Grace's bred move, as it had gotten him out of quite a few sticky situations.

With a pop, a duplicate of Grace appeared in Matt's arms, which promptly jumped down to face the Shellos. Smirking superiorly, it beckoned the Shellos with a finger in a Follow Me attack before bouncing away. Those who had seen the obvious challenge chased after the Substitute, but a good deal were still chasing after Matt. A few feet later, another Substitute jumped down to provoke the Shellos, leading yet another group in a different direction. Hopefully, with enough Substitutes as diversions, the original group would be diminished enough for Grace to take on herself.

Grace was just about to clone herself a third time when a familiar shimmer appeared in the corner of Matt's eye, and he lurched sideways to dodge. Grace squeaked in protest, but a look back confirmed that it had, in fact, been a Stun Spore; some of the Shellos had been caught in the attack and were unable to move.

Ava? Matt looked up to see the Jumpluff flying overhead, chortling; she released another cloud of powder, aiming for the general mob running around the edge of the lake. Dammit, Ava, don't aim for me! At least Substitutes aren't affected by status effects, Matt thought to himself.

As Grace sent off a third Substitute and readied herself to heal with Moonlight, Matt continued to dodge Mud Bomb and Water Pulse attacks as well as waves of Stun Spore, which mostly ended up hitting the pursuing Shellos. Evidently, some were growing angry with the Jumpluff, and one fired off a burst of water at the offending Grass-type. Caught by surprise, Ava was hit dead-on. Matt watched with concern as her flight path began to waver erratically, drifting lower and lower.

He swore. "Don't tell me that was a Water Pulse... if she hits the ground, she's not going to able to fend for herself in that confusion!" Matt looked down at Grace, who had obviously finished healing. "Grace, I need you to trust me and try to hold them here as best as you can. Make a Substitute and use Magical Leaf to hold them off. I'm going to go help Ava." The Clefairy nodded, creating a Substitute that stopped before the advancing Shellos and began aiming Magical Leafs with pinpoint accuracy. Grace herself slipped out of Matt's arms and hid behind a few rocks while Matt ran over to Ava, who had since landed.

The Jumpluff thrashed about, caught in the throes of confusion. To bewildered to fly properly, she was reduced to hopping unsteadily on the ground, launching herself at unseen foes. Matt ran up to her, keeping an eye on Grace's Substitute.

"Ava! Ava, snap out of it!" he exclaimed, kneeling down. His cries had no effect, though, and he had to scramble backwards to avoid being struck in the face by one of her cotton puffs. She stumbled heavily, knocking her head on a rock, but she wasn't fainted yet.

I can't let her keep hurting herself like this. Grace isn't cut out for battling, so I don't know how many of those attacks she and her Substitute can take... He groped for his pack, and cursed when he couldn't find it. It must have fallen off when he had first crashed out of the bushes. If I can't return Ava to her Pokeball, I at least have to get her out of here if she's not going to fight!

With his objective determined, Matt seized the Jumpluff with one hand, grabbing the stalk that connected her top cotton puff to her main body. Lifted off the ground in this fashion, Ava had no way to really hurt herself, but she clearly didn't understand the intentions behind the action in her confusion. A multicolored cloud of spores wafted from her cotton puffs as she struggled, and Matt quickly held his breath and stretched in a manner to put as much distance between the powder and his face as possible. Not only did he see the familiar golden color of Stun Spore in there, but there were also purple and green tinges to it, suggesting the presence of Sleep Powder and Poisonpowder. Breathing those in would mean serious trouble.

There was a pop, and Grace's Substitute disappeared in a puff of smoke. As Grace herself leapt out to do battle, body glowing lightly with Cosmic Power, Matt ran further down the shore to escape the cloud of assorted status-inducers. Mercifully, Ava appeared to have finished with the status powders, panting with exertion. However, she wasn't ready to go down yet, as she opened her mouth and began spraying Bullet Seeds at Matt. He grimaced, using his other arm to shield his body from the brunt of the attack.

"Ava! Ava, it's me, Matt! I'm not trying to hurt you!" he yelled in a desperate attempt to snap her out of confusion. Slowly, the barrage of seeds against his left arm lessened, and Matt slowly lowered his arm to see Ava staring at him. "Oh good, you're back to normal," Matt grinned, releasing her from his grip. Ava looked horrified, staring at a spot just left of his body; Matt followed her gaze to see blood trickling down the underside of his left arm from puncture holes, most likely from the Bullet Seed attack.

"Oh, this! Haha, it's nothing. It'll get better in no time," he assured the Jumpluff, who now had a guilt-stricken expression on her face. "Listen, I know you're hurt and tired, so you don't need to battle all these Shellos. Unfortunately, I dropped your Pokeball back in those bushes, so you need to escape. Fly away. I'll come get you later!" A cry sounded from behind them, and Matt turned in time to see Grace fall to the ground, covered in mud. "I'll be fine. You have to go!"

Ava stared at him as she slowly launched herself into the air. Matt waved at her briefly before pelting back towards Grace. Though she had hit the ground and was covered in bruises, she wasn't out yet, struggling valiantly to get up. However, she was surrounded by Shellos, who were relentlessly attacking her in an attempt to make her stay down.

"Hey, you bullies!" The Shellos turned to glare at the breeder upon hearing his shout. "Why don't you quit picking on her, huh? Come and get a piece of this! Or is fighting Pokemon who're already weakened the most you can do?" The Shellos bellowed angrily and began chasing after Matt, who started running as if his life depended on it. With this many Pokemon after me, my life really might depend on it, he thought to himself. While Grace's Substitutes had thinned the crowd, the bulk of them had still been following Matt when he'd had to let Grace down, and a good number of them were still chasing him now. He'd only be able to outrun them for so long.

Suddenly, there was the sound of multiple small impacts with the ground and cries of pain from behind him. Matt turned his head to see the Shellos halted in their tracks, struck by green glowing seeds. Wha-- Bullet Seed? Looking up, Matt saw Ava floating cheerily overhead, waving a cotton puff at him. Amazingly, she looked refreshed and ready for battle, her previous injuries mostly healed. But how?

Matt slapped his hand to his forehead in realization. Of course! I forgot she knew Synthesis! "Good job, Ava! Keep it up!" he yelled up at the Grass-type, who nodded and let out another stream of Bullet Seeds. "Grace, now's your chance! Use Moonlight; Ava'll cover for you!" he yelled over the din. Behind the clamor of Shellos being peppered with Bullet Seeds, Grace glowed with a white light as she healed herself. Soon, she was running over to the battle, ready to go.

"All right, we're making this a pincer attack!" Matt commanded. "Grace, hit 'em with a Magical Leaf! Ava, give 'em a Stun Spore and start charging for Solarbeam!" Grace fired off a barrage of leaves as Ava released a cloud of golden spores from her left and right puffs, the top one glowing as it absorbed sunlight. When it began shining with a pure white light, Matt cried out, "Fire!", causing Ava to let loose a beam of blinding intensity. It hit the standing Shellos head-on, and those who dodged were picked off quickly by Grace's deftly manipulated Magical Leaf attacks. With a groan, the last Shellos slumped to the ground, thoroughly beaten.

"We did it!" Matt whooped, running over to give Grace a high five. Ava also floated down to them, looking pleased with herself, and Matt took the opportunity to high-five one of her cotton puffs.

"Mattie!" His father came running towards the group, the other three men and an assortment of Electric- and Grass-types close behind.

"Dad!" he yelled back, waving to his father.

"Sorry we took so long to get here; we kept encountering these groups of Shellos, and it took a bit to dispatch them," his father puffed. "But I was so worried when we found your pack on the ground. I assumed the worst... You're hurt!" he exclaimed, noticing the blood dripping down his arm. Ava shrank back, abashed.

"Oh, this? It's nothing," Matt dismissed it. "Yeah, I accidentally drew their attention and had to run for it, but I'm okay! Really!"

"Don't give me that," his father told him sternly. "We are going back to town right now to take care of that arm, and you're not getting out of it. You say it's not serious, but that's what you said the last time you sprained your ankle, and you ended up walking on it and fracturing a bone! You are not going to use that arm until we get it looked at, do you hear me?"

"Aw, but Dad," Matt whined as he trailed the group back to where he had dropped his pack. Recalling Grace to her Pokeball with a word of thanks, he turned to face Ava, her Pokeball in hand.

"Well, even though we had a battle today, I've got to tell you that most of my travels won't have this much excitement," he told the Jumpluff, who refused to meet his eyes. "Hey, look at me," he commanded gently, turning her face with his hand to look him in the eyes. "I don't blame you for that Bullet Seed; you didn't know it was me, and it could have been just as easily an enemy Machamp or something that grabbed you. It's okay, really." The Jumpluff didn't look completely convinced, but he plowed on anyway. "You can either come with me still, or I give you to Chloe's family. You'll get to stay with all her other Pokemon at the ranch," he gestured at the assorted Pokemon gathered by the other men, "and there's a chance that Chloe'll come back and take you with her. So... what do you want to do? Just point to whoever you want to stay with, them or me."

---

Notes:
yeesh, I try to write a Shellos story, and what comes out is more like a Jumpluff story. But Shellos is the Pokemon I'm aiming for here, really.
Obviously taking the anime interpretation of Substitute here, as it's not a little green Rhydon-esque doll, but an exact duplicate of the user.
Open for comments from all users; concrit is always appreciated.

 

since I've graded everyone else's story in our round I'll claim yours too.

 

Intro:
Section 1: The Hook:
A defiant Pokemon was a nice hook, and the fact that it was a previously owned Pokemon given to a breeder got me interested.

Section 2: The Characters:
The first thing that got me to pay attention to your story is that your main character was a breeder. You do a good job detailing your very tall main character, describing him while also futhering the situation at hand. I was glad that you didn't lump description in one paragraph but spread them out in dialogue and actions.

Plot/Reality:
You meshed the two plots beautifully. While you were afraid that it might not be a Shellos story, but a Jumpluff story, you don't have to worry. Shellos is an integral part of the plot, furthering the relationship between a boy and his Pokemon, aww.

Length:
Fine for a Shellos!

Grammar:
Some paragraphing issues. Remember that whenever someone new actively (not just someone hearing about a past action) acts or speaks, to create a new paragraph. However, you should also create a new paragraph when a new idea occurs. See the Details Section of the Grade for more.

Another thing is dialogue errors. Certain verbs are a part of the action of someone speaking, like says, tells, speaks, screams, and they require a comma instead of a period. However, verbs like "smirked," "sniffed" and "shrugged" are separate from the dialogue and need to be closed off from it. The reasoning behind it is that you can't shrug a phrase, but you can certainly yell it.

Also:

It should be "were" since your talking about multiple things that are comforting to return to.


Details:
Minor detail mistakes:

Technically Cleffa evolves with happiness. Also, I had to read the paragraph a couple times before understanding the Ava was the name of the Jumpluff. It was confusing because you were talking about Grace in a lot of detail and then switch back to Ava without any indication to the reader. Creating a new paragraph would help or instead of saying "her" you could say "the Jumpluff." But since it is a different idea than the beginning of the paragraph, the paragraphing might be better.

Which was it? Present of Magical Leaf? Little things like this though isn't going to hurt your grade.

But the rest of the story was nicely detailed. Nothing seemed like excess details that wasn't really used. I especcially thought that when Matt was telling his stories, he was thinking about the room. It gave good insight into the state of mind that he was in.


Personal Feelings:
Shellos might have been main focus of the story, it was featured heavily and helped the plot reach the climax.

Also, when I started grading you made the mistake of saying Janie was ten once (I copy and paste from the post and then print it out so I can grade on the go), but now I see that you fixed it. Nice Job!

Verdict:

Spoiler

Spoiler

One of the Shellos follows you after feeling defeated.
Here is your Prize:


I look forward to reading more works of yours.

 

True, but you still need to level Cleffa up once in order for evolution to occur.
The rest of your point is still valid, though. Thanks for pointing it out!

Ahaha, proofreading failure here. >>; I originally was just looking at the Bulbapedia moveset, which didn't list Magical Leaf under Level-up moves because it's exclusive to Cleffa. Then I took a look at the URPG dex and promptly went "whoops" and edited it out... but not completely, apparently. My mistake.

Thanks for the grade!