Aidinza hardly remembered moving off the stage. Between the cheering crowd, beating a Gym Leader, and Sandile pulling off sand manipulation in the heat of the moment…
It was just a moment he tried to stretch out into eternity.
But soon enough he found himself sequestered in a backroom by a short-stayed Edith, who soon after she pulled him from the arena said that she had “inspiration to attend to darling!”
Carefully he breathes out through his nose, running a hand through his sweat-slicked hair in front of one of the many mirrors that seemed endemic to this gym. He did not realise how sweaty he got, standing up there, the heat of the moment perhaps ironically taking away the heat of the moment.
Somehow in front of the mirror, he looked worse and better than he ever had. He could see the tired exhaustion in his eyes and could see the smudged makeup Edith applied as clear as day, making him look like a half-melted painting. But when he pulled back slightly, stopped looking so closely, it was almost like all of that did not exist. Between his high cheekbones and intensely green eyes, he could almost delude himself into thinking he looked noble, or fierce.
Edith had done good work, for all that it was being washed away by sweat he mused, and for all the little she had to work with, he ended in his mind with a wiry grin. He pushes himself to his feet, leaving the stool in front of the mirror to glance around the small room. There was some sort of closet in the corner full of feathers and fluff, a dazzling array of yellows and blue garments.
But he only gave them a brief look, instead, he slumped over to a couch pressed up against the wall to sprawl out over the surprisingly cool black leather, wondering if he should stay or if he should try and brave the confusing labyrinth of the gym, but even Bi At Ini lost himself in the endless mists of the Na-si-yiz Tséʼáán, the cave of the great ruler of the beyond realm, and to Aidinza there was little difference between the two.
“You did very well.” A voice startles Aidinza, nearly sending him toppling off the couch. Wide eyes snap towards the entrance of the room, where a tall blonde was politely covering her mouth to hide a small giggle.
“Honoured leader Elesa!” He blurts out, hurriedly rising from where he lounged on the couch to properly address the Gym Leader. “The sun sings for your health!” He rushes through the words, mind half taken with berating himself for forgetting them in the first place, and for making someone as August as Elesa address him first.
“You don’t need to be so formal, after a performance like that you’ve earned being at ease.” She gives him a cool smile, as she struts over to the mirror, checking something on her face.
“I didn’t do much, Sandile did it all.” Aidinza immediately obfuscates, unwilling to ever appear conceited in front of someone so far above his station, even if he did just ‘beat’ her.
“Not an uncommon thought for many trainers, and it makes me glad to see you know your partner's value.” She looks away from the mirror, her cool smile melting into something intensely warm and pleased. He blushes at the sight of it. “But you always have to remember that our Pokémon rely on us just as much as we rely on them. To train them, to care for them, to guide them in battle.”
“The bonds you talked about in the fight, right?” That earned him another pleased smile, and he could not help but start to preen under it. He always enjoyed it when he did well in his sisters' impromptu lessons.
“You’re very right.” Elesa paused for a moment before her vibrant eyes went distant and melancholy. “Just as many trainers do the opposite of undervaluing their own part in the relationship, more even. Pushing their Pokémon too hard, demanding more than they can give, and not looking after them. Their negligence and neglect hurt their Pokémon, and they don’t care. So many trainers become abusive.”
Elesa’s grave eyes met Aidinza, and the young nomad knew that writ across his face was an uncomfortable, or even repulsed expression.
“It's good to see that expression on your face. Too many people, even if they don’t abuse their Pokémon themselves, are ambivalent to the suffering others cause.” Elesa, rather than strutting like she was usually so prone to, seemed almost tired as she walked to a strange metal door in the corner of the room, pulling a bottle from within. “Nimbasa used to be like that before the league started… before the league put itself back together. So many abuses, so much pain. Gang sponsored pit fights to the death, dozens of Pokémon thrown against one Pokémon, just to name the surface of the depravity.” Elesa spits, her smooth, timeless features twisting in disgust, and for the first time, Aidinza saw that she was not as young as he thought, that for however smooth her skin had been kept, for however young she seemed. She had been around for a long time. “And no one cared. The league was fractured, and the people of Nimbasa ignored it all, or they were a part of it. Until I put a stop to it.”
Aidinza swallowed heavily, as he found himself pinned by Elesa’s passion, eyes fierce and back straight. He could almost imagine what Elesa had done to put a stop to it all, with eyes like that, there it was no surprise that she was an honoured leader. With eyes like that, she seemed like she could change the world.
“The world sounds like it's a better place for it.” He tentatively tried, and it is only then that Elesa seemed to notice how he was shying away from her.
“I’m sorry, this might seem a bit much for you… I’m one of the only gyms that keep a roster trained for every skill level of trainer. I’m also the only gym badge absolutely required for a trainer to compete in the Unovan Conference. One of the concessions I forced out of the league, back when it was desperate to stop us from spiralling into Ore two point oh.” She snorts, a surprisingly unladylike sound from the graceful woman, but it does nothing to detract from the clear pride in her posture. “Every year I make sure that Unova’s best are taking care of their Pokémon, or at the very least aren’t abusing them. That’s my mark on this league, that’s how I make up for the horrors of old Nimbasa.”
“Are you…” He trails off, not sure that he wanted to finish that sentence, his heart freezing in his chest. But he gathered his courage and tried to forge forward. “Are you saying you think I’m abusing Sandile?” His voice takes on a dangerous edge at that, almost reminiscent of the rumble he used to rouse Sandile’s instincts.
“No.” The single word sends relief surging through him, and he feels his tense shoulders relax. “Sandiles is very well treated, he likes being with you. He would not have managed that unpractised sand manipulation unless he did.” She gives him a soft smile, and despite himself, he finds himself preening again under the praise. This woman was just too good at hitting his buttons. “But he’s your only Pokémon right?”
“You noticed that?” He chuckles nervously, and wonders if he was going to get in trouble of some kind for not even meeting the basic standards of the fight.
“I did, you looked very nervous when it was announced. But that doesn’t matter. What does is that it is easy to care for your starter. There’s a bond there that tugs at the heart of even the cruellest trainer.” She trails off, studying Aidinza where he stood before her, hip cocking slightly, not that it made any difference between their heights. “It’s the other Pokémon. The one’s not quite as ‘special’ as the starter, that to the callous lose their identity. Become just another fighter to them. I wanted to make sure you knew that was wrong. I also wanted to ask for you to come back when you have a few more badges, a few more team members. So I can see them.”
Slowly Aidinza nods, despite the swirling frustration at being accused even in the slightest of potentially being the sort to abuse a Pokémon. This was an honoured leader, someone with wisdom and valour. If she needed him to prove himself twice, then he would.
“Is that why you name them?” That question did not seem to be what Elesa expected, and the woman raised one elegant brow at him. “Your Pokémon had names. Do you name them so you don’t forget that they’re individuals?”
The widest smile yet spreads across Elesa’s face at that, a beam that ensnared Aidinza with just how bright and proud it was. “Yes, some of my partners don’t want them, my oldest friend Zebstrika never needed one. But when they want one, I make sure to give them one.”
The young Ya’an-ah hummed thoughtfully at that, as his eyes drifted to the Pokéball at his side. He wondered if Sandile would want a name. Or if like Elesa’s Zebstrika it would not matter to him.
“You know. I have something for you.” She reaches into a… pocket? Aidinza’s brow furrows as he watches Elesa pull a small disk from what he had assumed to be a skin-tight piece of clothing, tightly hugging her thigh.
The fact that he was utterly unable to tell any difference after the fact was even more baffling to the young Nomad. When his wide green eyes met Elesa’s sparkling blue eyes, he saw her lips pulled into a mysterious smile.
“It’s a TM. A technical machine. It teaches Return, without having to spend days or weeks trying to learn it by yourself. You still have to master it obviously but your Pokémon will have a good idea of how to use it. It’s… it's a move that grows stronger the more your Pokémon is willing to trust your commands” She hands over the small disk to Aidinza, and he takes a moment to examine it, eyes tracing over ‘Return’ painted stark on its back, briefly unsure why it seemed so familiar. Then it struck him, and after a moment of rooting around in his pocket he pulled out a similar if more bulky disc. “That’s an older version, the newer versions can be reused, so be careful who you use that on.”
Aidinza stares at the two disks, tilting his head as he tries to figure out just how in the sun’s name they were supposed to teach Sandile. Was he supposed to eat it? It looked like it was supposed to be inserted somewhere, but that was an uncomfortable thought to have. He was not sure what his face looked like when he glanced back up to Elesa, but clearly, it was funny enough to draw a short chuckle from her.
“You press it to a Pokéball while it's inside it. I’m afraid you’re not privy to the functionality of it, but it will handle the rest.” She gives Aidinza an encouraging pat, before she struts over to the doorway, sipping at a bottle as she does so. She pauses just before she leaves, glancing over the smooth expanse of her shoulder. “You seem like a good kid, Aidinza, I’m sure you’ll make your people proud.”
“I’ll honour the sun.” Comes his quick promise, and a moment later, Elesa sweeps out the room, the last sight he catches of her the cables that hung from her headpiece.
Left alone, he continues his examination of the disk, but his mind was distant, not on the disks. Instead, it was rolling over the conversation with Elesa. Remembering his Pokémons individuality… it sounded simple in his head. It sounded like something that was obvious.
The idea that it was something people had trouble with was… difficult to him. Sandile could be a bit airheaded, and more interested in play, but he was intelligent, fiercely so.
‘it is easy to care for your starter’
The words bounced in his head, a taunt in his own mind, even if it was not one when formed on her lips. A challenge.
Distantly his mind turns to leaving Nimbasa, turns to the Pokémon that could be found between here and…
Driftveil.
Turned to where he would find his next Pokémon, and how he would rise to meet Elesa’s expectations.
-
It’s comfortable being outside of the concrete walls of Nimbasa’s aptly named skyscrapers. While Aidinza still had to contend with thick forest, and all the trees that implied, it was far better than the cloying feeling of a city.
The moment that Edith remembered to lead him out of the Nimbasa city gym, he had been a man on a mission, stopping by the Pokécentre to drop Sandile off, before heading about to secure supplies. While he was happy enough foraging for food, his reading told him that Pokémon, especially at higher evolutions, were required by law to have their meals supplemented by the league approved food, to prevent a hungry third stage Pokémon from depopulating whatever region it found itself in.
While he did find himself accosted by a strange woman and a man with a large camera, they went away satisfied when he answered their questions, and he knew to avoid people like them lest he ends up trapped in a cycle of answering questions.
Then it was just a matter of collecting Sandile. He had been bruised from the fight, but bruises to a healer as august as Nurse Joy were like water to a drain. There was a while when Aidinza followed the wide road very similar to the road that cuts through the Desert Resort, but he quickly found himself abandoning it.
Like many things in wider Unova, it was busy. Strange cars roaring down the road, cyclists and bikes. Merchant hawkers with large trailers that would attempt to wave the young Nomad down.
It was not for the Naisho’h boy. The calm of the forest, however, was. There were certainly Pokémon out and about, rustling in the trees he saw strange grey-furred Pokémon, with large whitetails, competing with the many Pidove and Pidgey for tree space. On forest floor he would occasionally catch sight of a pack of purple feline - he took careful care to avoid their path, he had read about the dangers of getting in the way of hunting Liepard - and once he was completely certain that he saw what was one of the foul-smelling bags he saw in Nimbasa moving about.
Occasionally a Pokémon would attempt to fight him, catching sight of Sandile cheerfully - as cheerfully as he could manage with grass under claw - bounding beside Aidinza and seemingly taking umbrage with Sandile’s presence. He quickly proved superior to most of them, especially when the heat and strength of Moxie started pumping through his veins. Though there were occasions where Aidinza found himself having to call Sandile off before he did serious damage to a light-hearted challenger and one time where he even had to return the Sand Crocodile, moments before its powerful jaws would have closed with dreadful finality around a Pidove’s body.
“Hunter?” And through it all, Aidinza had been throwing out names for Sandile’s judgement. The reptile had seemingly been open to a name when he asked but had thus far proven to be rather pervicacious in actually accepting any of his suggestions. “Dodge to the right, and flex on him, time to finish this!”
Sandile’s muscles bulged, as he sneered at the opposing Venipede, the toxic bug nearly as large as him, as it approached in a ball. He dodged its attack, but before it could properly pass him, he slammed it as hard as he could, sending it crashing into the tree that had been to Sandile’s left.
Then he turned to face his trainer and shook his head with a definitive “bwuh”, and a rumbling hiss.
The Venipede, clearly realising it was on the losing side of this fight, took advantage of the distraction to skitter away. Aidinza merely watched the bug passively, thumbing at the pokéball at his belt. Wondering if this was the Pokémon he wanted to add to his team as the second member. But it just did not feel right, something in him hesitated a gut instinct he was loath to ignore, especially with something as important as this felt.
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“Sandy?” He instead turns back to his starter, who only gave another shake of the head. Aidinza hums at that, eyes tracing around the forest he was in half for some sort of inspiration, half for something to do.
It was then his eyes came to rest on a rather new sight in the forest. At least for him. It was another bird Pokémon that was obvious at a glance, with powerful talons gouging into the wood underneath it, and tiny blue wings tucked tight into its body. But it was its eyes that really caught his attention, thick black iris, and a tiny spot of white pupil, all lit with a fire obvious even where was standing. Its hooked beak cracks open and a piercing caw fills the air, as its claws shone an infernal light, and its body bulges in the familiar signs of Hone Claw.
Sandile’s answering primal growl fills the clearing in response, the malicious noise of keratin against keratin filling the short gap between trees. Not as gracefully as other birds that Aidinza had seen, its flight was rough, and the beat of its wings heavy. It did not cut through the air as other birds did, he could see that outright.
No, the white plumed bird was forcing itself through the air, with all the force it could muster.
“Sandile.” His smile could have reached his ears for how wide it was, as that gut feeling that had been warning him away from other Pokémon screamed out that this was it. “We’re catching this one.”
As if in response, the bird cawed once more, the piercing noise rattling through the air as it began a tight descent towards Sandile, its wing beginning to shine with a bright white light.
Sandile, his head firmly screwed on his shoulders, wasted no time in getting out of the way of the dive, throwing himself to the side and leaving his enemy to dig a thin furrow of dirt into the ground with its wing. Aidinza resisted wincing, thinking that the bird had injured his wing with that manoeuvre, the other flying types he had fought certainly seemed to struggle with any damage to their wings. But the bird hardly paused after splitting the earth.
“Sandile, sand tomb!” Aidinza snapped out, after the breakthrough in the fight versus Bolt, Sandile had made great strides towards basic mastery of the move, able to keep a dervish of sand a metre or so in the air.
Unfortunately, a metre or so was nothing compared to a flying Pokémon, and the moment that the sand began swirling, the bird was rising into the air once more.
“Looks like he won’t be making this easy on us Sandile! You’re going to have to hit him when he comes down for an attack!” Sandile gives an acknowledging hiss at that as he moves to keep the bird in vision.
Thankfully, the Pokémon wasted no time in coming back around, his wing glowing once more as he built up to a brutal speed. This time however rather than Sandile throwing himself out of the way with no plan, he went to mimic his previous success against the Venipede, muscles flexing in a taunt against the bird, as he skittered to the side and prepared to slam into his enemy before the bird could pass him.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the bird was smarter than the centipede, or else had learnt from watching the fight, because instead of letting himself hurtle passed its opponent, he instead snapped powerful and comparatively large wings snap open, ripping his moment to a stop, as his two powerful talons dug into the ground a more effective break not to be seen.
So instead of Sandile smashing into the birds' side, instead it overextended and ended up stumbling in front of the bird as it hit nothing but air. The piercing caw that the bird let out caused both trainer and Pokémon to wince before his hooked peak snapped out to dig painfully into Sandiles ribs, a clean and painful hit.
One that Sandile amped up by Moxie and Hone Claws, was not going to let go unpunished, and the beauty of flexing on his opponents, was that the attack did not just have to come from him throwing his body into his enemy.
Sandile turned on an absolute dime, his body already intensely strengthened, and rage only contributing. There was nothing that the bird could have done to avoid what came next, aside from perhaps just not being there. Sandile’s powerful tail slammed into the bird's side, sending skidding back, its claws still dug deep in the ground, leaving six rivets as deep as you please.
It said all that Aidinza needed to hear, that the bird was not just still standing after a hit like that, but still seemed raring to go, eyes lit up with a burning will to fight.
He did not even need to consciously have the thought, for the ball to be hurtling through the air, opening up not far from the flying type and sucking it into its red-white confines.
One shake.
Two shakes.
Three shakes.
Aidinza was sure that he saw four shakes before the Pokéball dinged. “Rufflet, Male captured!”
A wide grin crosses Aidinza’s face, that gut feeling singing with joy at those beautiful words.
He had done it, he had a second Pokémon.
Of course, the moment was slightly ruined by the fact that Sandile decided to investigate his newly caught teammate by chewing lightly on the ‘Rufflet’s’ ball.
“Sandile!” He chastises immediately.
“Bwah.” The desert croc vaguely ignores him.
-
Retrieving the Pokéball from Sandile took a bit of coaxing. In the end, the Ya’an-ah just returned the playful desert dweller. The Pokéball itself was not in much danger, Sandile’s jaw was strong, but Pokéballs were made of some of the most robust steel in the world.
They had to be, to survive some of the stuff that trainers got up to. No, aside from a few scrapes to the red paint, and it being covered in croc saliva, it was perfectly fine.
Still, he can’t imagine it would have been particularly pleasant for the rufflet inside to see the jaws of a Sandile gumming on it. Though, would the rufflet have seen anything? Aidinza pauses, as he glances at the Pokéball he was cleaning in front of him, wondering just how much the Pokémon inside perceived.
Something to look up when he reached Driftveil, he supposed as he leaned back against one of the many trees of the route. Now he should probably get to seeing to any injuries his - His! His own, second Pokémon! - new pokémon had. After all, Sandile hopped up on Hone Claws and Moxie packed a mean punch.
Aidinza glances around the forest for any sign of a Pokémon nearby, only seeing tall trees and thick canopy around. A strange sight if he was being honest, though Pokémon did not teem from every crevice of the forest, he had gotten used to at least seeing a pidgey overhead or a Venipede crawling up a tree. At least when he was alone, without Sandile to scare away anyone he cared to.
But he did not give it much thought, it meant that he would not have to send out Sandile to chase them off before meeting the rufflet.
He pressed the release button on the Pokéball, the Flying-type he had captured only ten minutes before appearing in a flash of red a few metres from him in the dewy, thick grass of the clearing they were in.
The bird glanced around cautiously, his white pupiled eyes no longer filled with a fighting fire, instead, he looked almost curious, and as he finished his look around, he turned his attention to the human in front of him, studying him with a keen eye.
Aidinza saw no reason not to do the same now that the Pokémon was not hidden in the blur of fast movements.
The first thing he saw was that Rufflet had a single red and white feather jutting up from his forehead, calling to his mind very briefly the dress of the Ti’an-oi, one of the Ya’an-ah tribes that he had only seen once. One of the deepest desert tribes, where dangerous Pokémon that made even the most cantankerous Krookodile he had met look convivial roamed. The feather rests against the comparatively massive plumage of the bird, a ruff of white fluffy looking feathers that Aidinza found himself tempted to run his hands through. The fluffy feathers extended down the bird's shoulders, making him look slightly amorphous between his head and his body.
Rufflet’s body was made up of a blue feathered barrel chest, and Aidinza could see the clear pride in how he puffed up his chest. The chest had two powerful wings folded into it, ones that looked deceptively small curled up into his body as they were. The Naisho’h remembered how they almost seemed to beat the air into submission as the bird flew.
The trainer's eyes continued to wander down, towards the powerful talons underneath the bird. He had made a mistake when he first saw Rufflet, thinking that the bird only had three wickedly sharp digits. Instead, there were four, three pointing forward and even now proving how easily they could dig into the thick grass, and one pointing backwards. Though how large the talons were would almost look comical compared to how large the talons usually are on a bird, but on Rufflet they fit. They carried a sort of rugged power that the bird seemed to embody even this young, and an errant thought crossed Aidinza's mind, of course, he needed tree trunks for legs, how else would he hold up his powerful body?
There were injuries there too, that the Ya’an-ah took note of, displaced and matted clumps of feathers, probably the result of coagulated blood, and his left-wing was being held slightly further from his body than his right.
But it did little to detract from the powerful majesty that Rufflet managed to embody, even as young as it was.
The young Ya’an-ah found his eyes sliding back up Rufflets body, and in some strange coincidence, found himself meeting his eyes just as the bird finished its own inspection of the human.
The eyes matched the body, peeking out from the break of the fluffy white ruff coating its head, the white pupils held a spark inside them that was anything but transient. A fierce pride, a fierce drive.
Aidinza found himself wondering what was sharper, the bird's curved beak, or his sharp eyes.
The two of them kept eye contact for a long moment, though he was unsure if that was because Aidinza found himself resonating with that spark, or if he was waiting for the majestic creature to make the first move.
Finally, Rufflet does indeed move, head tilting to the side. “Cwa?” It choofed out, head tilting slightly the other way.
“I caught you.” He finally speaks at last, and the reminder causes Rufflet’s eyes to flash dangerously. His powerful wing flutters by his side, the fluffy white ruff that gave the species its name bristling.
A piercing, territorial cry pierces Aidinza’s ears. The same cry that it let out when it challenged Sandile.
Maybe it was the close contact with Sandile the last few weeks that caused what happened next, maybe it was the training of Hone Claws. Maybe there was just something about the Naisho’h that was closer to the Sandile that populated their dunes than they knew.
All that Aidinza knew was rather than flinching away from the bird and attempting to calm him down he instead let out a deep, territorial growl, as dark and powerful as any Krookodile he had ever heard.
Rufflet, for all his powerful and proud features, hesitated as the noise rattled his bones, and reminded him of a loss fresh on his mind. The flying type seemed to war between backing down and snapping out with its wickedly sharp beak at the threatening noise.
“I caught you.” He reminds the rufflet, the words hitting the air with all the iron certainty of a hammer. The Pokémon almost backs down at it, the flash of emotion in his eyes no longer as sharp, his ruff beginning to settle.
But something in Aidinza’s mind told him that it was just a stay of execution, something that was going to fester under the surface. Rufflet was proud, that was incredibly obvious, Rufflet had a fire in him that would rage against his situation. Rage against the claim that Aidinza had staked over him.
Unless…
“Do you want to come with me?” His words seem to startle the flying type, a seemingly complete gear shift from how the Pokémon expected the conversation to be going. The young nomad supposes he was not surprised by that, the claiming growl of a Krookodile probably left little doubt in Rufflet’s mind of his intent, and the lack of choice the flying type had in it.
But giving the proud bird a choice, letting it choose to come with him… well Rufflet was proud, that was obvious enough, and as long as Aidinza did not give him reason to regret it, there was no doubt in the Naisho’h’s mind that the Rufflet would bear his decision with pride.
That was, of course, assuming that Rufflet said yes.
The moments of Rufflet’s decision weighed heavily on Aidinza’s perception of time, the moment seemingly stretching into the same infinitive eternity of his victory over Elesa, but in a far worse way. Rather than wanting it to stretch on forever, it was the nerves and constant questions of what if that stretched it out.
There was a part of him that wished he could take the words back, that wanted to have just forced the Rufflet into following, and proving himself along the way. Or dealing with the bird's pride as he had to.
But the words were out there, and even attempting to backtrack on them, or attempting to ignore Rufflet’s choice from here on…
It would be a disaster.
So instead of letting his nerves run roughshod over his mouth, he simply waited.
And waited.
Even when Rufflet’s eyes slid along the tree’s around them, and he flexed his wings, he waited. Letting him come to his own choice.
Until, slowly, suspicious white pupil’s narrowed on him, and a fluffy white head nodded, first hesitant, then far more decisive.
“Welcome to the team Rufflet.” A wide relieved smile crosses Aidinza’s face at that, and he feels the tension that had been carving itself down his body loosen. Even Rufflet seemed swept up in the face of the nomad’s genuine relief, his own tension bleeding away, as he let out a soft coo. “Now, come here, I have potions and I can see your wing is hurting.”
He carefully kept which wing he thought was hurting to himself, unable to tell yet if the rufflet holding a wing tight against him, or gingerly away from him was a sign of his pain. Luckily, Rufflet wasted no time in hopping over, eagerly stretching out his left-wing, exposing a patch of feathers that was broken and split, underneath which was a nasty bruise.
Aidinza wasted no time in cracking out one of his potions and spraying the area, before setting about picking the damaged feathers from the wing, an important task that Nurse Joy recommended for any time a flying type was injured. Most flying types would groom themselves, but the taste of the potion was foul to most of them, unlike most other Pokémon. So it was better if the trainer did it.
“Now, what’s your opinion on a name?” He asks as he takes the opportunity to run his hand through the incredibly soft and down ruff of Rufflet, to the bird's obvious pleasure as it coos.
-
“Astazhei, Raptor King, the name of one of the Pokémon from the Ya’an-ah Sun legend. When the land was coated in an endless sky sea of ash, so thick and deep that not even the sun could pierce it. The Bi At Ini, the great hero larvesta, sought out five great Pokémon to help pierce the Ash.
Astazhei, a Pokémon whose wings created hurricanes with every beat, was the second Pokémon to be approached.” Aidinza closed his eyes and tried to remember the story as the Ti’an-oi elder told it, though it was a common tale among the Ya’an-ah, few tribes honoured Astazhei as fiercely as the Ti’an-oi.
“When Bi At Ini first approached Astazhei, the great bird mistook the larvesta, then a weak fragile Pokémon little greater than a Venipede, for a meal and took to the skies to hunt him. Bi At Ini protested the hunt, claiming that he had a mission from the Sun, and Astazhei would doom the world if he consumed him.
Astazhei, perhaps so prideful as to believe that the Sun itself was beneath him, told the larvesta that if the sun needed the help of such a weak morsel, then the world was already doomed.
Bi At Ini, though knowing his weakness of body compared to the great Astazhei, who carved mountains with every wing beat, challenged the Raptor King. He would prove that he was not weak, by surviving for three days from the Raptor Kings hunt, and when he did so, Astazhei would acknowledge the world's need and help. Claiming that if he did so, the Raptor King would be able to boast of defeating a chosen of the sun.
Astazhei, sure that there was no chance Bi At Ini would be able to escape his powerful beak for three days agreed to the challenge, his pride prickling at the chance to prove himself grander than the grandest of all things.
On the first day, Bi At Ini merely hid from Astazhei in the sand storms that the Great Raptor left in his wake with every wing beat, Astazhei was convinced that none could survive in his wake, so he never checked the caves and valleys that sheltered the larvesta. It is from this that the Ya’an-ah learned how to weather sandstorms, how to find shelter and keep safe.
But at midnight the great bird claimed that it was not strength, but cowardice to hide from sight, and claimed that if he spent all three days hiding then the bird would be the victor.
So as Astazhei returned to his mountain roost, Bi At Ini learned the land, mapping out the entire desert while the Raptor King slept, learned of every dune and every Oasis until he knew every part of the desert as well as he knew his own face.
Then when Astazhei began his hunt once more, instead of Bi At Ini hiding, he instead fled in the open, using his knowledge of the land to stay ahead of the Great Raptor. It is from this that Ya’an-ah learned to always know the dunes, no matter how they shifted.
But once again at midnight, the great bird claimed that it was not strength, but cowardice to flee before a hunter, and claimed that if he spent the last day hiding then the bird would be the victor.
So once more as Astazhei returned to his mountain roost, Bi At Ini set to work. He raised from the sand a mighty castle, unlike any ever seen before, made of sandstone and larger than even the mighty Dzilmagi, the mighty mountain crab that Bi At Ini first befriended. This later became the Relic Castle. Yet while the castle was mighty enough to turn aside any assault it was too heavy, sinking deep into the sand, so quickly that in minutes it would be submerged.
Seeing the distress of his friend, Dzilmagi offered to bear the great weight on his back, the great mountain born by the crab was large enough to hold the castle, and Dzilmagi himself would simply hold himself from sinking into the sand.
And so, Bi At Ini set the castle onto his friends' back and began to gather his strength inside, as Astazhei attempted to blow down the castle with mighty hurricanes, hammering into the sandstone with force enough to reshape the desert. Yet to the Relic Castle it was a mere breeze, so large was it that not even the sandstorm the hurricanes kicked up could slip past it. Then Astazhei attempted to batter down the castle with his body, flying high into the side and diving down on the castle with a terrible crash. The earth shook for kilometres, forming many of the valleys that dotted the Ya’an-ah desert to this day, but the castle stood firm. Then Astazhei noticed Dzilmagi and though his great pride tore at him, the Raptor King descended to the ground to coax the great crab to abandon his duty. While Dzilmagi was a steadfast friend, the Raptor King was a king, with a King's charisma, and realising that if he continued to listen to the great Bird that he would betray his friend, Dzilmagi instead chose to descend into a deep slumber, from which nothing could rouse him.
Astazhei, worried that he would fail this challenge, shrank himself down from the mighty titan he was so that he could enter the Relic Castle through its entrance. While it would mean that he would not have access to much of his great power, the great bird was certain that the tiny larvesta did not need much.
But Bi At Ini had not wasted his time sequestered into the temple, instead, he had been praying for strength through the thin connection to the sun available to him through the Ash Cloud, gathering its strength within his body. As the Raptor King approached in his lesser form, Bi At Ini unleashed the power he had gathered in a powerful beam of solar energy, knocking the mighty raptor out with a single blow!
It did not take long for the Raptor King to stir, for he was mighty indeed and if he so chose he could have slain and devoured Bi At Ini right there. But the proof of strength was enough for the great bird because while he held pride high, he held something higher than that. His honour.
Astazhei promised Bi At Ini that when the larvesta called to him that he would come and fulfil whatever he needed to free the Sun from the Ash Clouds hiding it, before leaving the castle and retaking his massive form. It is from this that we learn a lesson from not Bi At Ini, but Astazhei, that even when mighty you must always treat your enemies with respect, and you must always honour your word.”
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Aidinza felt slightly lightheaded as he finished the tale of Astazhei, taught to him in detail by a Ti’an-oi elder in his youth. The tale was only one part of six tales of Bi At Ini’s journey to free the sun from the Ash sea, eventually leading to the larvesta becoming Volcarona, and bringing the sun back to the land, by bypassing the Ash in the sky.
The young nomad takes a deep breath and turns towards his surprisingly attentive, and silent audience. “Rufflet, do you accept the name Astazhei? Do you promise that no matter how mighty you become, you are always honourable?”
Astazhei had been the first name that Rufflet seemed interested in, but Aidinza was not willing to let Rufflet take upon the august name lightly, if the Eaglet wished to bear the name of the great bird, then he would need to commit to the ideals of the legend which he took his name.
However, the tale did little to stifle Rufflet’s enthusiasm for the name, and perhaps unsurprisingly, he was unwilling to back down from the challenge presented in the name, as he closed in to look up at his new trainer with wide eyes.
“Then bear the name Astazhei with pride.” He smiles, and reaches down to scratch at Astazhei’s ruff, as the bird trilled with pride, and puffed up even further.
He feels a bump at his side, and reaches out with his left hand to scratch along Sandile’s side, the desert croc quick to slump on his side and let Aidinza’s fingers scratch at his soft underbelly.
“We’ll probably find a name you like soon, Sandile, don’t you worry.” He quietly assured the reptile, though the croc had already rejected most of the names of the heroes from the Ya’an-ah tales already.
The reptile croaked, and snuggled deeper into his trainer's thigh, stretching out to give him even more access to his underside.
A resigned grin crosses Aidinza’s face, as Astazhei hops onto his knee, talons digging just enough into his flesh to be noticeable, but not yet painful. It seemed that his Pokémon had decided that the three of them were staying here for a while yet.
And rather than protesting that, he simply leans back into the tree behind him and enjoys being close to his starter, and his new friend.
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