Chapter 72: Send Me On My Way

"So yeah? I'm Ark?"

Ark questioned himself as he spoke to the Ivysaur who maintained eye contact. Ever since waking up, it had done nothing but watch Ark as he tried to gain some form of response from the Pokemon other than blinking.

Shaking his head, Ark decided to take another approach by withdrawing Sylphs pokeball and letting her out.

As soon as Sylph appeared, the Ivysaurs gaze focused on her rather than him. Once more, its eyes seemed to be filled with a deep curiosity.

"Hey Sylph, can you get this guy to talk?"

Sylph looked before Ark and the Ivysaur before breathing a sigh of exasperation. It was clear that Sylph found it troublesome.

'Sylph really doesn't like speaking to others huh...'

Since they had been traveling in only a small group of familiar people, Ark had forgotten how much Sylph dislikes others.

Yet, she still acceded to Arks request, that alone brought a loving smile to his face.

-You OK?-

Sylph questioned the Ivysaur. In response, it nodded its head before looking back up at Ark. It then started to make sounds as it communicated to Sylph.

Ark was fascinated by the fact that the two could communicate despite the different species, it truly made him want to discover the deepest secrets that Pokemon held, that even the top researchers or pokemon themselves didn't know.

"Ask them what they want to do"

Ark relayed to Sylph. As he had taken the Ivysaur without permission, he felt it was best to get its opinion on its current situation before making his move. Originally, he intended to catch Ivysaur when it first woke up, however now that it seemed to be curious about Ark, he felt it would be awkward if he suddenly threw a ball at its head.

-What are you going to do?-

Sylph questioned as she placed herself on top of Arks lap. Her small stature fitting snugly as she continued on with her task. Like before, Ivysaur started to make noises alongside small gestures. In response, Sylph nodded her head before tilting it backwards so that she could see Arks face above her. His warm smile grew larger as he saw her cute actions.

-He said he's sitting-

Arks head flopped as he heard her words. The worst part about it was the fact that he could not get mad since Ivysaur was just sitting, so all Ark could do in response to the sarcastic response was release a sigh.

"Sylph tell it that we want to battle"

Mimicking Ark, Sylph released what seemed to be a sigh before speaking to Ivysaur once again.

-Battle?-

Her response was short as she seemed to be over the conversation. Sensing this, Ivysaur nodded before strolling backwards a couple of paces. Ark stood up as he didn't need Sylphs translation to know the response of this one.

Although it was an unorthodox way of initiating a battle, Ark would not complain.

"Ready?"

Ivysaur nodded before small glowing leaves appeared around it. Seeing these leaves, Ark calmly spoke to Sylph.

"Space Step Sylph"

Sylph took off, her speed much faster than the time against Brocks Onix.

As she ran directly towards Ivysaur, it released the leaves, sending them flying towards Sylph like torpedoes. Approaching at rapid speeds, the leaves were about to touch Sylph before she shimmered out of existence, only to appear slightly further to the left.

A successful dodge without exerting herself too much.

"Disarming Voice, go"

Lining up her shot, Sylph released sound waves in the form of 'Disarming Voice' at Ivysaur. They travelled through the air, closing in on the grass Pokemon. Trusting its instincts, Ivysaur dove to the side, narrowly dodging the attack.

Unfortunately, Sylph was a step ahead, using her teleport technique, she appeared behind Ivysaur.

"Start it Sylph"

After hearing Arks words, Sylphs body glowed purple as psychic aura gushed out from her. The aura extended towards the bewildered Ivysaur and lifted it up high into the sky. Once it was a good distance upwards, the psychic aura started to press against the entangled Ivysaur, quickly draining its strength.

"Release it Sylph"

Another short command and Sylph dropped the fatigued Ivysaur. Its gaze looked at Sylph with an expression of awe as it did not even try to get back up. Its body realised how much of a disadvantage it was already at.

Ark walked up towards the lying down Ivysaur and showed it the Pokeball.

"You ready?"

The Ivysaur closed its eyes and nodded its head.

'Damn... anyone would think I'm offing it'

He gently tapped the head of the Pokemon with the ball, causing its body to be enveloped in a bright light as it was sucked into it. The ball shook gently before letting out a satisfying *ping* sound. Ark sat down and activated his Pokeball.

"Theres number three, come out Ivy"

Ivysaur appeared from the Pokeball, signs of its battles were still present, however it seemed to have regained some of its previous vigour just from entering its Pokeball.

"Welcome to the team, from now on, it'll be hard training but if you work hard enough, you will be able to fight at a similar level to Sylph"

Ivysaur nodded as it turned a respectful gaze towards Sylph who had resumed her position on Arks lap, looking to be spoiled some more. Despite Ivysaurs gaze, Sylph ignored it and continued watching Ark.

"Lets introduce you to our other member, come out Shellder"

Shellder appeared from a similar light like Ivysaur, its golden body catching the attention of the grass Pokemon.

"Shellder, this is Ivy, our new member. Play nice, alright?"

Shellder bounced up and down to show its agreement.

"Anyways, you three, I will leave you out of your balls tonight, stay around camp though. I will be angry if you leave"

Saying this, Ark left for the tent. Little did he expect, a conga line had formed behind him as all three of his Pokemon followed him in an orderly line towards his tent. He chuckled slightly and continued, after all, since they were travelling with Jessie, they never really did sleep together like the usually do on their travels.

"Come on then, make sure you stay on our side of the tent though. I am pretty sure Jessie would kill us if you clamp down on her hair in your sleep Shellder."

His words earned a protest from Shellder as it bounced around, demanding Ark to take it back.

"It's a joke, don't worry. We all know that you sleep with your Shell wide open to snore"

The four entered the tent and ended the day harmoniously.

The next morning, Ark had continued his morning training, however today he had focused on finding out Ivys strengths and weaknesses. After all, from the battle with Sylph, he got barely any information due to the discrepancy in ability and strategy.

From what he had observed during training, Ivy had good endurance and powerful attacks however its stature and speed let it down majorly. Consequently, it was very vulnerable to ambushes and flanks even if it adjusted its orientation in time.

"That's good enough for this morning guys, come get breakfast"

Ark had cooked breakfast for the camp, as per usual. Whilst he was serving, Jessie came out of the tent. Her appearance was tidied up as she refused to leave the tent unless she was satisfied with it.

"Mornin-"

Jessie cut herself off midway, her eyes staring at the Ivysaur eating like it was a resident.

Ark and Jessie were walking down the now cemented road, alongside Sylph who was sitting on his shoulders.

"I can't believe you caught that Ivysaur whilst I slept"

Jessie complained as they got closer to Cerulean City.

"Well it just happened. I didn't want to wake you"

A conflicted expression appeared on her face before she gave up being mad at him.

"Fine, but next time, tell me would you?"

Ark nodded with a pleasant smile. The idea of the two travelling together again was very appealing although high maintenance.

"So this is Cerulean City?"

Ark commented as he looked around at the sights. It seemed bigger than Pewter City and while it had the same city-like feel, there was subtle difference from the environment compared to back in Pewter.

"Is this your first time?"

Jessie questioned Ark as she saw his curious expression.

"Yeah, is it not yours?"

Jessie nodded her head and puffed her chest out in pride.

"In that case, I will lead you around, feel blessed to have me spare some of my time for this"

Walking ahead of Ark, Jessie entered the city, heading in deeper. Ark followed behind with a wry smile.