Pokemon Underground (Mature)

[clef]

I'm not the best writer, but hopefully the more I write the better the story will flow.


"Cora is a teenaged girl living in a world where pokemon are feared and many people are poverty stricken. In order to support her sick mother she needs to find a way to make more money than she earns at the produce stand. That might even involve capturing a pokemon and taking on the illegal underground pokemon battles that occur throughout the region of Kanto"

Cora

image here

Age: 15

Pokemon:

Money: 170 PD

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

[clef]

Chapter 1

People and Pokemon used to live in harmony, and some say they were even allies, but that is no longer the case. People became too trusting of pokemon, and they never expected them to attack and reclaim the region for themselves. The humans were able to fight them off at first and built up a stronghold in Saffron city, but after Mewtwo became involved the city was reduced to rubble. Generations later, Kanto has began to rebuild under a new government. The land has been divided into 20 Sectors, all of them walled off from the wilds that are filled with deadly pokemon. Most of the sectors are extremely poor, and there is not much technology. The technology that does exist is mostly held in the center Sector where they work on restoring the region. Nobody is allowed to leave their sector's walls unless they are a hunter, but becoming a hunter is dangerous work and all jobs are chosen via a lottery. It is your duty as a human to take what you are given and make the best of it.

The old bonds between people and pokemon have been severed. Pokemon trainers are a thing of the past and it is completely unheard of to be friends with a pokemon. How could you in the first place? Pokemon are evil creatures set on destroying humanity. This is the story of Cora, a young girl from Sector 16, a small town located near the ruins of Viridian City. She is going to take the first steps to restoring the world back to the way it was.

--

The girl watched the clouds clear away from the sky through a cracked window dripping with raindrops. Hours earlier a storm had passed through and the people of Sector 16 were hiding indoors. The winds had knocked down a part of the Western Wall (Which was really a few logs, sticks, and rusty chain link fence) and this had allowed a few dangerous pokemon to make their way inside. Officers were outside scouring the lands for pokemon, and of course the ones they found were impaled with a spear and deposited in the trash. The hole wasn't big enough for anything but small bug pokemon to get in. After giving an all-clear symbol to the sentry up in the watchtower, he sounded an alarm which meant people could return back to their daily lives.

"Alright mom," Cora said, approaching the sickly woman who was curled up in her dingy bed, "I'm going down to the Market I'll be back in a few hours." Her mom gave her a weak smile and Cora patted her head.

She stepped out of the house and into the moist air and began her walk to the farmer's market where she ran a produce stand. Behind her she pulled a wagon full of different types of berries, herbs, and vegetables. Cora was of average height and looked pretty average. She had long blonde frizzy hair that was usually pulled into a low ponytail to keep the stray hairs from tickling her face. She wore a dark grey shirt that was extremely worn and stitched in a few places paired with a navy blue skirt she was especially proud of. On her feet were long dirty white stockings and red flats.

Cora sat on her old wooden stool while she waited for customers to approach her and buy things from her stand. On a good day she would make 500 PD, but with the economy right now she was lucky to clear 300. The only part of the job she enjoyed was the part where she got to eavesdrop on all kinds of conversations. Of course this was a boring town and nobody really did anything super scandalous, she occasionally heard about this thing called pokemon battling. Cora didn't really know what it was, but it sounded dangerous and she knew it was illegal. Pokemon were evil, weren't they?

"Here." An older boy said, breaking her train of thought as he handed her a wad of money in exchange for a basket of herbs. She knew this boy.
"Where did you get this kind of money, Phelan?" She asked rather loudly, examining the 350 PD she got from the boy. He gave her a look of confidence, and she quickly lowered her voice and her head as he lowered his head to her level.
"Pokemon battling-" He started.
"WHAT?" Cora whispered loudly, she could not believe that her friend was involved in illegal activities. Of course she wasn't perfect but she would never do something that dangerous. He backed up really quick and decided it was best to walk away before they attracted any eavesdroppers.
"Meet me at the tree after work." He said before walking away.

Cora knew where he meant- it was the tree they used to have a fort by until someone came and stole all of the planks it was made of. She looked down at her hands and examined the money. This was definitely more than the herbs had costed, but he owed her for hiding some contraband in her wagon last week. Cora pocketed the money and waited for a while. The sun began to set and she hadn't had anymore customers so she rolled her wagon back home and put the money under her mattress and sprinted off to the Tree Fort to meet Phelan.

As she approached the tree she noticed the shadowy figure of her friend. He was pretty tall ever since he hit puberty, Almost awkwardly tall, but luckily each day he looks a little more like an adult and loses his boyish features.
"Hey" He called to her quietly. She waved in response and looked behind her to make sure nobody followed her.
"So what the hell were you talking about earlier? Do you want to get arrested?" She asked and punched him in the arm.
"No." He said defensively, "It's the only way to make real money in this town. Do you really think people are keeping their families alive with the meager pay they're getting from Sector 1?" He asked.
"Yes. That's what I'm doing with my mom-" Cora replied.
"And look where you are! She's sick and her medicine costs a week's profits. You need to get into Pokemon battling, it's freaking awesome I made 3000 PD in the past two weeks."
"You made 3000 in TWO WEEKS?" She asked, amazed, but then returned to her angry demeanor, "You're a battler!?" She asked after thinking it all over.
"No way! I just bet on the winning pokemon, I've got a knack for it. I wish I was a battler but catching a pokemon is too risky. Besides I'm not a hunter I can't get out of the city." He replied.
They continued talking for 15 more minutes before the nightly curfew was enforced and then they both went home. Cora was surprised that her friend was going to Pokemon Battles, but the more she thought about how Phelan was the less surprised she became.

The girl thought about what kind of places he was going to and the kind of people are at those events. She imagined dirty men in trench coats crowded around a battlefield. Cigar smoke filling up the room as well as roaring cheers and boos. It was scary to think about Phelan being in such a place. After a while her thoughts drifted off to what he had said earlier. He was right, she wouldn't be able to afford mom's medicine for much longer, and the money she makes by selling produce is hardly anything, especially compared to what she was to pay Sector 1 for them to supply her. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go and bet 50 PD on a pokemon battle. If all goes well she will get 100 PD back and if things don't go well she only loses 50. Cora didn't have much time to think about it anymore, as she drifted off to sleep.

[mdf2711]

I absolutely love the concept. It seems so unique yet familiar. It's really good and the writing is so improved from some of your earlier work. Bravo Clef dear!

Though I did have some thoughts. First off, how do you pronounce Phelan? Wasn't sure if the e was a Spanish cardinal vowel e or maybe the name was pronounced the same as felon or what. Also, I find it odd that Cora hid contraband for him and then was surprised he was into illegal things like battling. Oh well~ Thoroughly enjoyed this and cannot wait for more, don't disappoint!

[clef]

Chapter 2

A few days had passed since her meeting with Phelan and she hadn't spoken to him much since then. Cora was still thinking about going to a Pokemon battle to make some more money, as she hadn't made any money in the past few days since her only customers were people who lent her money for her mom's medicine in exchange for free produce. It had been rather stormy and the hole in the wall was reopened after a big storm the night before. Cora always wondered why the town didn't have the money to repair the walls but had the money to repair the radio system that connects to the other Sectors.

After taking a bath and making some soup for her mother, she did some cleaning around the house and took 50 PD out from under her mattress. She pocketed the money and went to her mother. Cora sat by her for an hour or so and talked to her about her day until her mother fell asleep. She felt bad for her mom, being too sick to even get out of bed lately, but she was going to do something to change that!

A quick tapping on her window signaled for her to exit her home through the back door and walk around into the dark alley to meet Phelan. It was past curfew so they had to be very careful not to get caught. Phelan led her into the furniture store she was rather used to. He opened the door- which should have been locked- and entered, motioning for Cora to follow. They navigated through the dark store until a small light could be seen on the other side of the store. It was a man holding a candle.
"Down here." he said, and moved a large cabinet over revealing a ladder that went under the store. So this was a literal Underground Battlefield.

The room was almost exactly how Cora imagined it. Smoke clouding the room, lots of noise, and the people were all pretty dirty. She was surprised to see a lot of people she knew down there, but they didn't exchange friendly glances. None of them were ever here as far as they all knew. Cora's heart began to beat faster when they approached the Battling Area. It was an oval shaped pit on the ground with a railing around it. She looked down to see two unfamiliar pokemon biting and scratching each other, which was alarming, but couldn't watch for very long because Phelan pulled her over to the betting counter. It was a round man with greying hair sitting at a table made from an old cable spool. He had a cash box and a bunch of betting slips.

"100 on..." Phelan started as he red down a list written on cardboard, "Round 5, Rattata." He said, and then looked to Cora, "Rattata is a beast that thing always wins." Cora nodded and nervously spoke to the man taking the bets. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this, but it was too late to run away.
"Fif-fifty PD on Rattata for Round 5." She said, hoping she didn't sound naive. The man accepted her money and then handed her a slip which she could show to him to get her prize money if Rattata won.

When Round 5 came up the two stood around the ring and looked down into the pit. A kennel was set down by another teenage boy, and when it opened a Rattata emerged. It had a few scars which meant it was a seasoned fighter. On the other side a different pokemon came out of the Kennel. It looked similar to the Rattata but it was bipedal and brown with large red and yellow eyes. Cora later heard someone call it a Patrat. She didn't know what to expect from the fight, but as soon as the pokemon locked eyes they tensed up and launched themselves forward. The Patrat grabbed the Rattata with its front paws and was about to bite down with its large teeth, but the Rattata wriggled away and bit the Patrat a few times, stunning it and then finishing it off with a bite to the neck. It was pretty gruesome to watch, but it was better they killed each other than humans. She wasn't sure how to feel, but when half the crowd roared with happiness, Cora joined in, throwing her fist in the air.

They waited in line to collect their winnings, and when Cora finally got up to the man she handed her slip and received 80 PD.
"I thought my bet doubled if it won." She said.
"It did, but the house takes 10% of the win." The man said to her with a rude tone.
"That't 20% you took." She said. Everything in the room froze as the man gave her a dirty look and people behind her snickered. He handed her another 10 PD and she walked away to meet Phelan.
"Let's go now." he said, admiring his money.
"I want to stay. I bet I can make more money" Cora said.
"It's a slippery slope, you gotta be careful." Phelan warned, but Cora didn't listen and walked back to the betting table. Phelan wanted to stop her, but he had to get home before someone noticed he was gone.

"I thought Rattata already fought?" Cora asked a woman who was near the table as she read the sign. She felt comfortable asking the lady rather than one of the men.
"It did hun, but there are quite a few Rattata in this league since they're common and easy to catch." The woman slurred as she spoke.
"Oh." Cora replied, feeling rather silly. She blushed but then decided to bet on the Ratatta in round 7 since the one in round 5 looked tough. She approached the table again and spoke to the older man.

"I'm putting 80 on Rattata for 7." She said as if she was a regular in the place. The man laughed when she chose, but she payed him no mind. he was probably still mad that she knew he was cheating her. She then turned to walk towards the ring, but her ears that were trained to eavesdrop overheard a winner from a previous round collecting money. The owner of a Krabby collected some money before walking away and picking up the kennel that contained a Krabby with claws bound together.
"What does he get money for?" Cora asked out loud.
"Battlers get payed for bringing in saps- I mean betters." The greying man replied. He turned his attention to someone else while Cora walked towards the ring and looked down at her slip. "Round 7: Rattata vs Foongus" it said, with the Rattata circled in red.

She watched as the match started. This Rattata was a bit smaller than the one she saw before, and its opponent was pulled out of a burlap sack with a pair of gloves and tossed into the ring. It looked like a tiny mushroom with a small face. What could this thing do? She watched the Rattata run forward and do what they're best at: Bite it repeatedly, tearing chunks off of its foe. As it went for the finishing blow the Foongus spit out a cloud of purple spores, knocking the Rattata out as it choked on the toxic dust. The mushroom pokemon looked near-death, but it extended a root-like tendril from underneath it and began to drain the life energy from the stunned Rattata. As Rattata wasted away the Foongus was regenerating its lost parts. Rattata was dead.

"No!" Cora yelled as she realized that she had just lost all of the money she won. It wasn't much, but she was mad that she didn't listen to Phelan. Betting was way too risky to make the kind of money she needed! The girl crumpled up the betting slip and stormed out of the furniture shop and snuck back home. This sucked.
"I can't believe I did that. I should have just left with Phelan!" She loudly whispered to herself. She was so upset she forgot that she wasn't supposed to be outside and she almost stepped into the street before looking for officers. There were none to be seen. Cora continued into her home and made sure she got inside without waking her mother up. The house was more of a shack with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and then one bedroom, which was hers. The girl entered her bedroom and collapsed into her bed, exhausted and upset.

--

The next day after work she decided to go stop by a thrift shop to buy some new stockings, but there were none in stock. She did see a nice red leather doctor's bag for a rather good price, but she decided to pass it up. The bag would be good for transporting vegetables since it was well-insulated. Cora then walked over to the tree fort where she had met Phelan before. It was a place that she liked to sit and unwind since it was far from the town but still within the walls. Cora was still upset about losing the 80 PD the night before. The girl threw her head backwards in frustration and then leaned against the tree and looked up. What she saw in the tree was absolutely astonishing. It was a Weedle! It must have gotten in through the hole in the wall after the storm! Although they were laced with deadly poison, Cora had seen them in town before and squished them since it was her duty as a human to keep pokemon away from the town.

As she picked up a branch big enough to probably smash the worm pokemon, she got a better idea. This thing might be the answer to her financial problems! Cora raced back to the thrift shop to purchase the doctor's bag for 100 PD!

[clef]

Thanks Mdf~
She was surprised because pokemon battling is a lot more serious than the illegal stuff they were usually doing. Oh and his name is Fee-lan or Fay-lan it's like Stephen where you can pronounce it steven or steph-en and still be correct.

[clef]

Chapter 3

Cora returned to the tree in a matter of minutes holding the old beat up doctor's bag she had just purchased. She looked to the branch where the Weedle used to be but she couldn't find it.
"It's a worm how far could it get in 10 minutes?" She muttered under her breath as she circled the tree and looked around. The girl's attention was pointed upward so she didn't notice that the bug pokemon was now on the ground mere inches from her feet. She heard a strange gurgling hiss which caused her heart to completely stop and time to freeze as she looked down and saw the foot-long worm armed with a two-inch poisonous horn.
"Aiyee!" She shrieked into her hands as she cupped her mouth.

Cora quickly jumped back and tossed the large bag on the ground. She opened it up and then grabbed the same stick she was going to use to smash the Weedle. The worm pokemon struggled as she put the stick under it and it kept wriggling away, but eventually she got it onto the stick and she slid it into the bag. Weedle jabbed its rear spike outwards trying to jab it's assailant, but Cora moved her hand out of the way and closed the bag over it, clasping the small bronze clasps. The pokemon wiggled and gurgled causing the bag to move quite a lot. She was worried that someone would notice the bag had a pokemon in it so she took the long route home through some dark alleys.

She usually tried to avoid the alleys since some shady characters hung out in there, but after going to the event the night before she was rather brave and confident in her ability to deal with ruffians. She kept her hands tight on the handle of the bag and as she approached her house she grabbed a handful of leaves from a shrub. Cora quietly opened the back door and tiptoed into her room, where she placed the bag down and tossed some leaves into it before the Weedle could escape.
"Cora?" her mother asked from the other room, "Is that you?"
"Yeah mom!" Cora said before entering the main room where her mom lay on the couch.
"Where have you been?" She asked, sitting up and taking a bite of bread Cora had given her hours ago.
"I was just out with Phelan..." She lied.
"He came by looking for you." Her mother said, looking at her in a concerned way.
"We were playing hide and seek, I guess I'm just good at hiding." Cora lied again. Her mother wanted to protest, but she was too tired and leaned back, surrendering.

"I'm gonna buy your medicine tomorrow." She mentioned as she went to the kitchen to grab a can of Pecha Berry preserves and a slice of stale bread.
"We don't have the money." Her mom said assertively.
"We will." Is all Cora said before shoving her snack into her mouth and going into her room.

The Weedle had calmed down since it was originally brought home. It was no longer wiggling and gurgling and seemed to be at peace eating its leaves. Cora lit a lantern and hung it up from the ceiling so she could see better. She was taking a huge risk, but she was so curious about her Weedle. Cora put on some working gloves and wrapped her arms in rags just in case the pokemon was feisty. With her heart beating rapidly and her hands shaking, she opened the bag just to see two little black eyes staring back at her. She wanted to scream in fear, but instead swallowed the scream and reached in to grab the Weedle. When she wrapped her hands around it, it began to wriggle and gurgle so she instantly let go. Grabbing it was definitely something that agitated it.

Cora thought she would try something different. She lowered her hand into the bag for the Weedle to climb up her arm. When it began to latch onto her with its legs she grew fearful, but she noticed it wasn't angry and seemed kinda... curious? It crawled up her arm and before it could go all the way up she put her other hand in the way for it to climb onto that arm. She continued to juggled the pokemon for a while while examining it. Despite being an evil death machine, it was actually quite cute in Cora's opinion. She started to doubt that this thing could win in a fight against another pokemon, but that changed when she tried to lower it back into the bag and it swung its rear stinger stabbing at the rags on her arms. Luckily it didn't penetrate them, but this certainly scared her and she threw it into the bag and closed it.

"Whew." She said, out of breath from her heart beating so fast. Weedle definitely wasn't the scariest pokemon, but it was still deadly and she would have to hope that it makes it through its first fight tonight. Cora would get payed every time her Weedle fought, and the money was apparently good, so she wanted to make this pokemon last as long as possible. She relaxed in her bed, which was a mattress on the ground with a few blankets, for a while until it was time to head down to the battle spot. She wondered if Phelan would be there, they hadn't spoken about going back together but he was usually there...

--
What should happen next? Please answer the questions below in a post.
-Who should Weedle's first opponent be?
-How will Phelan react to Cora having a pokemon?

[mdf2711]

RNG says Budew and I like it. It would be nice to see the Poison/Grass again but this time against Cora's Weedle. Cora being inexperienced in Pokemon battles, I think she'd probably assume the plant-like foe with its poisonous attacks would have the upper hand like with the Rattata and her Weedle would surely die but I'd like to think that Weedle with its Poison typing would be an even match against Budew or at least slightly resistant to the attacks and her "underdog" would triumph. It would be cute.

I think Phelan would be jealous tbh. And he would want one of his own. Actually, from what we've seen of him so far, he seems excitable and mischievous and it wouldn't appear to be outside the realm of possibility for his character to be so stubbornly set on showing Cora up with his own Pokemon that he'd actually go outside the walls (they seem to be in bad shape so that doesn't appear to be a huge stretch of the imagination) and sneak around to find a wild Pokemon of his own. Just speculation, of course, but ehehehe I like it.

Still in love with the whole story, keep on writing and I promise I'll keep on enjoying!

[clef]

I just wanna see if I'm gonna get anymore interest in this story before writing another chapter. I'm thinking of updating it weekly if interest is lacking, but if anyone else who read this and liked it wants to give some opinions or show interest I might go back to daily/bi-daily