Friday, June 2nd, 1978, 1500

I watched in fascination as the newborn Larvitar trundled around the cabin, curiously looking at everything it could get its hands on. Paws? He didn't have hands, but paws didn't fit either. Claws, I finally settled on. The saurian pokémon stood just over two feet tall but was much denser than expected. Although the egg and incubator weighed just over ten kilos, the pokémon must have weighed fifty kilograms or more of rock-hard scales. It was evident how heavy he was by the plodding sounds that were easily audible as he explored the cabin.

Pokémon regularly broke all known laws of physics, so I had been expecting this, but I didn't realize baby Larvitar would be so absurdly heavy. I sincerely hoped he could keep up on his own since I didn't want to keep him in his pokeball or, Arceus forbid, carry him.

Eon tentatively padded up to Larvitar before pausing to see how he would react. When the baby pokémon only looked up at her expectantly, she seemed to take this as tacit approval. She moved forward to give his head a good grooming.

She cleared any remaining eggshells on his body before gently licking him dry. Larvitar seemed to enjoy it and gave a soft "Lar-lar, vi-vi" of contentment. After watching this for a few moments, Nana seemed unimpressed and plodded off outside in what I assumed was an effort to find some prey. Nana had always been formal and aloof, and I wasn't shocked at his lack of interest in the baby pokémon. I hoped he would warm up eventually, considering he would likely be Larvitar's primary instructor of type-energy.

I was, however, pleasantly surprised at Eon's display of maternal energy. I had been raising these two for years and had never seen them display anything much in the way of nurturing actions. They worked together, but it was clearly more like co-workers rather than anything more personal.

"Larvitar, that pokémon that just ran off is Nana, and this here is Eon. They're my other pokémon and will be working closely with you. I'm glad to see your first meeting is going well," I explained with a grin as I moved from my seated position on the bed to join them in the center of the cabin.

His eyes tracked me, darting all over to take in my appearance. That hopefully meant he was imprinting on me as Kiriel had said the previous morning. It would be awkward if he thought Eon was his mom instead.

"You must be hungry?" I said with a smile.

"LAR!" the pokémon bellowed, clearly understanding my meaning even though he had just joined the world. I consulted my guide, pulling it out of my pack.

"Larvitar's diet consists entirely of rocks. Due to its slow speed, it is believed to be an evolutionary development meant to promote growth in the absence of abundant prey. Researchers hypothesize that Larvitar may grow faster on a normal pokémon diet, but nothing has been clearly substantiated due to lack of samples."

"Okay, this sounds a bit weird, but I guess you eat rocks?" I muttered skeptically as I looked critically down at my smallest team member.

"Tar! Tar!" Larvitar confirmed with a curt nod as he dispelled any concerns I might have about him not understanding me.

"Okay, let's go find you some tasty rocks then. I still want to see what happens if you eat a normal carnivorous diet. Hopefully, Nana finds us something good to work with."

I decided that instead of looking for Nana, I would just wait for him to return when he saw fit. He was a grown pokémon and could take care of himself and deal with just about anything we might encounter in this area besides maybe an adult Kangaskhan.

I noticed Ellie's pokémon looking at us excitedly as their trainer continued dozing fitfully in the afternoon heat. Unfortunately, This cabin lacked air conditioning, and I was frankly at a loss as to how Ellie managed to sleep in sweltering environment.

"River, Petal, keep an eye on Ellie for me, will you? I doubt anyone will enter our cabin, but if they do, wake up Ellie."

"Totodile," River said formally with a deep nod as he calmly accepted the burden I had placed on him. Petal looked on at him with condescension evident in her eyes. She clearly didn't trust the little water type much, and he wilted as recognition dawned in his eyes at her reaction, tears springing to life in the corners of his eyes as he cried literal crocodile tears.

"Bulba-bul," Petal said as if to confirm that she, and not River, would keep watch over Ellie. River looked on in indignation when he realized Petal wasn't buying his ploy. Regardless of their antics, I was confident they would wake Ellie if anything went wrong.

Exiting the small cabin, I realized I had indeed made the right call to cut our march short for the day; it was hot. Far too hot to be traipsing around. The afternoon heat was absolutely stifling when paired with the natural humidity in the region. If we had continued traveling, we would have been dehydrated and exhausted in no time. Also known as easy prey for hungry pokemon.

Our little troupe set off, looking for any indications of a rock deposit. Most of the area in Route 14 was tropical, with lush greenery abounding. If there were going to be any significant rock deposits, we were likely going to have to walk closer to the coast.

As we walked toward the edge of the camp, I observed Larvitar carefully. The guidebook had been correct; this line of pokémon was slow. I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt since he had just hatched after all, but compared to my other pokémon, this would take some getting used to. Eon and I had to slow our pace and sometimes wait outright for the baby pokémon to catch up.

We had nearly made it to the edge of the large clearing, and I was preparing to head down towards the coast when a familiar voice called out behind me, "Where do you think you're going? It's not safe to just waltz into the forest like that."

I turned around and caught the gaze of the trainer I had beaten earlier that day, Dani. She had walked out from behind one of the other cabins on the edge of the encampment and was headed my way.

"I have my pokémon here; it's not a big deal," I countered. "Besides, I'm familiar with this area and have traveled this route before. I appreciate the concern, though," I said politely.

"You sure are confident," Dani noted as she approached us. "Do you mind if I join you then? I've never been here before and didn't feel comfortable exploring alone. Also, pardon my rudeness, but what is that," Dani asked as she gestured towards Larvitar.

"Tar! La," Larvitar proudly explained, gesturing to himself as if that covered it. I was quietly relieved that I didn't have a timid pokémon on my hands. That type of personality would be ill-suited for what was required of him.

I pondered momentarily, weighing the pros and cons before deciding there was no reason to say no, and in fact I would benefit from spreading the word of my supposedly powerful, and more importantly, Johtan, pokemon. "I don't see a problem with it. Do you have a third? I assume your Venonat and Beedrill are still recovering from earlier."

"Yup, a third and a fourth. Beedrill and Venonat are hanging out in my cabin for now taking a long nap," replied Dani as she fell into step with us. "I'll follow your lead since you apparently know this area."

I gestured at Larvitar as he curiously examined the nearby cabin. "As for this guy, I haven't come up with a name for him yet, as he just hatched a few minutes ago. He's a Larvitar, a species native to Johto that lives in the Silver Mountains. He's hungry and we're trying to find him some dinner. He eats rocks," I added helpfully as I stepped into the forest.

Dani followed suit behind us, easily keeping up with our admittedly slow pace. "Rocks?"

"Rocks," I confirmed without looking back. "Boil em', mash em', you know. The good stuff."

"Right," she giggled. "What was I thinking, who doesn't love a good rock on a rainy day?"

"Yup," I nodded as we continued walking. "So, you said you have a third and a fourth? Care to share? I'll admit I'm a bit curious, you had seemed indecisive when picking your pokemon out earlier."

"Yeah, but I'm surprised you picked up on that, though. I almost used my Sycther, who I caught recently. He's stronger than Beedrill but he's a bit..." she paused, searching for a word. "Aggressive? Violent? In either case, I wasn't confident about a match with that many people around. With how it went, it probably would have been fine, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty," she explained.

I felt my respect for her grow; it was probably difficult to resist the urge to use a stronger pokémon in battle, even if you didn't have complete control.

"You're a bug specialist?" I asked with a curious glance her way, but she scrunched her face up in distaste.

"Ugh. I knew you would say that. Everyone always assumes I'm a bug specialist." She shrugged. "I guess I am, in a way, but it's not like I'm particularly into them or anything. I just sort of happened. I also have a Rapidash that I inherited, but he's really not suited for casual battles like that."

I found myself nodding along with her explanation. "It sounds like you are, in fact, a bug specialist, but I digress. Thanks for taking it easy on me. Scythers are notoriously dangerous, and Rapidash can be very difficult to manage from what I've seen. My father also has a Rapidash, incidentally. Did you inherit him for the Gym Challenge?" I asked as we continued wading through the jungle.

"Something like that," Dani responded evasively. "But enough about me, can you tell me more about Larvitar? I've never even heard of that species before. You said it was from Johto? Not many Fuchsia kids using Johtan pokemon these days."

"I don't really know much more than I told you, honestly. They're really reclusive and live in the mountains, rarely seen. They eat rocks and eventually evolve into a monstrous armored pokemon called Tyranitar, but it apparently takes months and months of training, if not years, to get to that point. Hopefully I'll be able to move his growth along just a bit faster than that if I'm lucky."

"Sounds like a pretty rare pokemon, then?" asked Dani.

I gave her an odd look. "Yeah, I guess so? What's your point? Who are you, anyway. Now that I think about it, approaching me like this is kind of suspicious. Care to explain why you were waiting for me outside my cabin?"

Dani stopped, turning to face me directly with a slightly bashful look. "You're right, my apologies. I'll admit I came on a bit too strong. My name is Daniella Fiore, but I obviously go by Dani. I'm from Fuchsia City, and this is my second year attempting the gym challenge. It's a pleasure to meet you," she declared with a slight inclination of her head. "Who might you be? I don't believe you ever gave me your name, mister mysterious, shirtless trainer."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I was caught entirely off guard by her earnest response and could feel my face reddening. I tried to ignore it in the hopes that she wouldn't notice.

"Uh... m-my name is Mare Seiichi. It's a p-pleasure to make your acquaintance," I managed to stammer out awkwardly. I inwardly cursed; I had never been this frazzled before.

"Seiichi? As in the Seiichi clan?" Dani asked with her eyebrows raised as she tactfully ignored my stammer. "That explains things nicely."

"Explains what nicely?" I asked as we continued walking now that introductions were out of the way.

"The fact that you kicked my butt. I'm no pushover, so losing like that on day two of my second circuit was a bit of a shock. After you beat me so handily, I figured there was more to the story, so I kept an eye out for your party."

She whirled around, eyes wide. "But I promise I'm not a stalker!! I just wanted to talk and satisfy my curiousity," she said, flapping her hands frantically in front of her.

The discrepancy between her previously cold demeanor was striking, and I couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. She reminded me of myself, if I was being honest.

"I don't know, you do seem like the stalker type," I replied as I narrowed my eyes, trying to play it up to see how she reacted.

"No, I swear!" she groaned. "I'm just sick of traveling with the group I'm with! I thought it would be good practice, but they're all first-years, and none are very good! I'm basically a glorified teacher slash babysitter, and it's been awful. It's only been a day, and I already can't handle it!"

I chuckled, happy she didn't catch my sarcasm. My jokes never worked at home, so this was a pleasant change. "I'm just messing with you! I wouldn't know what a stalker type is anyway. I haven't spent much time with people my age," I admitted.

"Uhh... I don't know where to start. Stalker types are like-" she began, but I interrupted her with a wave of my hand.

"It's fine, let's just move on. Are they really that bad? The first years, not the stalkers," I clarified as I saw her confused look.

She shrugged, relaxing now that the attention was off her. "They're not that bad for first years. I just had my hopes up high that I could train and learn something from them," she explained as we continued our journey to the shore. "Why haven't you spent much time with people your age? You seem to get along just fine with your friend?"

"Are they amenable to matches frequently, at least?" I asked, thinking of all the potential matches for Larvitar they might offer. I felt a plan forming, but I needed some more details. "Ellie and I just met yesterday, anyway. We're something of forced family friends. I'm generally only around other clan members, but differences in station prevent us from interacting normally."

"Uh, I guess so? That's a weird way to ask that. I've done a few matches with them since yesterday, so they're open to battles, even though they've only lost. They seem motivated, to say the least. There are five of them, and they've been friends for years, as far as I can tell. They found me on the way out of town and begged me to let them join. This area is hazardous for most travelers, and it made more sense to go in a group than alone."

Once again, she slowed down and faced me directly. "What do you mean by differences in station? Like positions? I don't know much about clan dynamics, to be honest."

"Something like that. I'm from the main family, so kids my age from the branch families basically walk on eggshells around my sister and I even if they train around us." I sighed. "It really blows, honestly. It makes it impossible to just have a normal friendship."

I hated thinking about my childhood. The whole time was spent not quite connecting with anyone. Being Kiriel's son really came with its own set of unique pressures and challenges. Everyone just had such high expectations living a normal life felt impossible.

"Wait, wait, wait," Dani said, holding her hand up as if that would somehow pause our quest for rocks.

"What?" I asked, pointedly not waiting for her.

"Do you mean to say that you're a Seiichi Seiichi, like not just a clan member but directly related to Kiriel and Sula Seiichi?" she asked with wide eyes.

I could feel my face sinking in disappointment. Even now, on my journey and in the middle of the jungle I was unable to escape my family's legacy. Of course you can't, Mare. Stupid, Mare. Never get your hopes up.

"Yes, my sister and mother, if you can call her that," I answered glumly as I turned away, tugging Larvitar along with me, as he was apparently enraptured with Dani's reaction. Better just to move on.

Dani paused, taking a breath before following behind us. "Damn. Okay. I definitely didn't expect to run into random Seiichi royalty of all things. Well, cool. To the beach we go! Not like it really changes anything out here. I doubt you can camp very well, anyway."

"That's it? Nothing else to say?" I asked incredulously, expecting a much stronger reaction. Most kids from Fuchsia I had interacted with seemed to idolize Kiriel or Sula, or both.

She gave me an unimpressed look. "What, you expect me to fawn all over you because you're part of Fuchsia's ruling clan?" She shook her head decisively. "Hell no. I'm sick of hearing people fangirling over Sula at Fuchsia High. Makes me gag." She made a retching noise that earned a chuckle from me.

"No, your perspective is refreshing, honestly. I expected you to get all weird and distant or try to suck up. I too, am sick of Sula's fangirls. It's a pleasant surprise to find an independent thinker," I said, feeling a huge sense of relief that I might be in the beginnings of what could be a normal friendship.

"I'm definitely that. I'd like to think I'm pretty neat, if I do say so myself," she said smugly. "Anyway, what are you and your friend's plans for the circuit?"

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "Why, you want to join?"

I immediately felt my fragile ego curl in on itself at the cringy response. There was no way this beautiful and confident girl—no, woman, wanted to come with us— she was probably just satisfying her curiosity.

"Wow, you really don't beat around the bush, do you?" Dani said as she eyed me speculatively.

I took a breath, trying to recover the conversation. "It just seemed like you might have had an ulterior motive. From my knowledge, trainers don't usually chase down and follow opponents they just lost to. If I'm wrong, I apologize for the insinuation."

We had just reached the edge of the bluffs overlooking the deep blue water. It was probably around two or three in the afternoon, but you could immediately feel the temperature difference closer to the ocean. A cool mist rose up as the waves lapped gently at the shore. There wasn't much wind, so the ocean appeared relatively calm, but we could still almost taste the salt in the air. We both sighed audibly in relief at the welcome change.

I looked at Dani to observe her joyfully taking in the scenery. Her dark hair hung limply over her shoulders, damp with sweat. Her braid had come partially undone since our battle earlier, but if anything, that only added to her charm.

"It's so beautiful! Even though I'm from Fuchsia, I never tire of seeing the ocean! It's much better after a long hike than just going to the beach anyway," she said with a bright smile.

Dani turned back towards me to answer my question, "And yes, I was planning on asking you to travel with us for a while, and then if it went well, I was going to ask you and your companion if I could join you. That's doubly true now that I know you're from the Seiichi, especially from the main family. Probably more to learn from you, anyway."

A smile broke onto my face as I answered her, "I think that might work perfectly. Larvitar needs weaker pokémon to battle against until he grows stronger. I plan for him to take down Kuon's entire team in Vermilion since his ground and rock typing nullifies anything he can throw at us, assuming he uses is first badge team. Your friends might do the trick if what you've said is true. Ellie doesn't seem well suited for battle, so I'm not sure I can rely on her for the training I'm planning," I replied. "Also, what do you mean, learn from me?"

She rolled her eyes. "What I said, duh. If you're being direct than I'll be direct, too. I don't care about political bullshit, but love them or hate them, your family clearly have something right in the way of training. I want to learn and improve. That's it. A motive can hardly be ulterior if everyone knows about it, after all."

I nodded. That made sense to me, and it actually made me feel better to know that there wasn't anything suspicious about it. I could respect wanting to improve, but I had a few more questions. "How serious are you about this whole thing? If this is your second year, how far did you make it last year? Why do you even want to be a trainer?"

Before she could answer, Larvitar tugged on my leg urgently, "Tar! Tar!" he cooed while gesturing at the ocean with wide eyes.

"Wait, let's get down these cliffs, and then you can answer my questions. We could cool off in the water while Larvitar finds some rocks for dinner," I suggested.

"Sounds good to me! Lead on," Dani said as she stepped aside with the classic 'ladies first' gesture.

I started searching for some handholds to begin our descent down the rocky face. True to his rock typing, Larvitar was much less clumsy on the cliffs, and I noticed him casually snacking on some loose shale. His strong teeth easily crunched through the brittle material.

I wondered if it mattered what kind of rock he ate or if it would affect his growth whatsoever. Were rocks like carbohydrates for him, or protein? I vowed to carry on the research that was still wanting from the guidebook I had on his species.

It took us fifteen minutes to make it down to the shore. I was impressed; even after the strenuous trek downwards, Dani breathed evenly. I could tell she worked out frequently, but fit or not, we were both drenched with sweat at this point. Although it was technically downhill, it required enough dexterity that it was much more challenging than simply romping through the forest as we had been thus far. Eon and Nana, with their animal grace, had easily beaten us and were waiting down on the beach.

Eon was calmly grooming herself, and I could easily hear her contented purrs even from where I stood near the cliffs. Nana proudly displayed the results of his successful hunt; a semi-charred Rattata corpse lay at his feet. His tail wagged as he waited expectantly for my reaction.

"Good boy! It doesn't even look too burnt. Nice work on your control," I congratulated as I knelt down to start slicing out a portion for Larvitar with the knife I kept at my waist. True to my word, the small rat pokémon was charred but not completely carbonized. Nana, as a fire pokémon, naturally liked more burnt meat, and I had been working on training him to make it more palatable for other pokémon.

Dani looked at me with abject horror as I completed my grisly task with a detached sense of professionalism. "What are you doing?? Why did your Growlithe kill that poor Rattata?" she shouted, her face contorting into a grimace of disgust.

Unbothered, I picked up the cuts of meat I had selected and brought them over to Larvitar, who was peacefully gnawing away at the cliff face, utterly oblivious to everything around him.

As I set the meal down next to him, he looked up at me and cocked his head with confusion. "Lar? Vitar?"

"I'm thrilled that you have found an easy and free meal source, but I want you to try this as well. Given your teeth and build, I suspect your species was once fully carnivorous and adapted to eat rock during famines. This is pokémon meat, and carnivores will never grow optimally if they are only fed on store-bought pokémon food," I informed the hungry pokémon, who didn't appear to be absorbing what I was saying, distracted as he was with investigating the hunk of flesh on his lap.

I turned to Dani and attempted to explain. "Sorry for the unpleasant surprise. Nana must have been hungry when I encountered you. Considering you have completely herbivorous pokémon, it only makes sense that this is a shock. What do pokémon eat in the wild?" I asked in a tone a teacher might take with an unruly student.

"Plants?" she offered hopefully.

"Sometimes," I agreed. "But the full answer is that they eat whatever makes sense for their place in the ecosystem. Plant pokémon subsist on sunlight and water. Bug pokémon eat plants, and small mammalian pokémon forage for berries and insects. Bird pokémon eat berries, small pokémon, and occasionally plants if they're starving. And larger carnivores, like Larvitar's eventual evolution, eat everything else."

"In the wild, Growlithe have a diet made up almost entirely of Rattata or Pidgey if they're lucky. Due to our constant proximity to pokémon, many people feel uncomfortable thinking about what pokémon are like in the wild, and they choose to look away from the brutality of it. Pokémon may be many things, such as friends, partners, or even family, but they are still wild at their core, and there is inevitable savagery as a result."

As I explained the Seiichi outlook on pokémon to Dani, we watched as Larvitar happily tore into the semi-charred flesh, squealing with pleasure at the treat. His reaction answered my question; rocks could do the trick, but the Larvitar line was certainly no stranger to meat.

Dani resignedly shook her head, sitting away from me on another rock. She absently watched as my trio of hungry pokémon enjoyed their dinner.

"Okay. I'll admit I reacted a bit strongly to the poor Rattata. Everything you said made sense, but I never considered it like that. If I travel with you, will that happen daily?" she asked.

I nodded in confirmation. "Most likely. Eon doesn't always eat meat, sometimes preferring Seiichi blend Eevee food, but the other two will probably eat a pokémon or two a day if they can catch them. I can order them to do it away from camp, though, if you like," I offered as a compromise.

"Nah, it's all good. Sorry I reacted so strongly; I was just surprised. Besides, none of my pokemon besides my Rapidash are herbivores, they eat plenty of meat. They just do it where I can't see it, " Dani said as she stood up. "Now, as much as I appreciate the stark lesson on pokémon brutality in the wild, I believe you asked me several questions before we started down that exhausting cliff. I don't know about you, but I feel disgusting and sweaty and would like to go for a swim to wash off. I'll happily answer any questions you might have if you'll join me?"

"You stink," she added as she started stripping down.