Resting in a lightly forested clearing, I sat cross-legged on a stump, browsing on my PokePhone. Chikorita was to the side, resting, and had almost finished healing up after her battle with the wild Nidoran. I took the opportunity to look up some information on Bullet Seed on the PokeForums, trying to plan her move development ahead of time. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a post describing how a trainer had managed to develop Bullet Seed into Seed Bomb with their Treecko. Excited about the discovery, I quickly saved the post to peruse later and stood up.

"Hey, Chikorita, feeling ready to continue our search?" I asked, glancing down at my grass-type partner. Chikorita stretched lazily before getting to her feet and trotting over to me. With a nod, we both headed out of the clearing, resuming our journey through the route.

As we ventured forward, we encountered a few more wild Pokemon but none that were overly aggressive. A few Razor Leafs or Bullet Seeds from Chikorita usually had them running away. To my surprise, we were also able to find some of the plants that Amily had pointed out in her pamphlet. Chikorita took a few bites out of each one, nodding her head haughtily when they were just ripe for consumption. I made sure to pick those up and bundle them up; this should nicely supplement her regular PokeFeeds. After taking a bite out of a long fennel-like leaf, Chikorita paused and sniffed the air; something had caught her attention. Curious, I asked, "What did you find, girl?"

Without wasting any time, Chikorita darted through a nearby bush. I followed closely behind, emerging into a clearing adorned with a prominent berry bush. The bush was filled with pale yellow berries, each adorned with red-orange splotches. And right at the edge of the berry bush, nipping at one of the Figy berries, was my target—the Fletchling.

Chikorita had already been charging at the berry bush, unaware of the Fletchling, and I had just entered the clearing when Fletchling himself caught sight of us. He quickly turned around and cried out, announcing himself. Small ember flames danced around his form as he ignored Chikorita and flew above her, before suddenly diving towards me. Reacting quickly, I moved backwards into the brush, narrowly avoiding the charge and subsequent flames.

Chikorita, seeing me in trouble, launched a Razor Leaf attack and accurately hit Fletchling on his back. Startled by the attack, Fletchling turned around and dove down at Chikorita instead, its beak glowing with the Flying-type energy of Peck this time.

With a nimble sidestep, Chikorita managed to dodge the attack, but small embers floating behind Fletchling left burn marks on her body. Witnessing Chikorita's injuries, I quickly ordered her to use Bullet Seed and to try to keep her distance. Chikorita began launching a barrage of seeds while dodging from side to side, but Fletchling's agility allowed him to dodge most of them, only occasionally getting hit.

After finishing a quick dodge, the flames around Fletchling intensified as he charged toward Chikorita once more. Despite her attempts to evade, Fletchling's movements seemed to quicken, and I realized that he must have been using Flame Charge. Chikorita made another attempt with Bullet Seed, but Fletchling's increased speed enabled him to easily avoid every volley of seeds. He launched into another Flame Charge, this time connecting head-on with Chikorita.

Chikorita cried out in pain, knocked back from the charge with a sizeable area of burnt flesh right on her neck. My heart raced with concern as I quickly commanded her to retreat into the foliage beside the clearing, “Chikorita, go hide and prepare the sword. You can do it!”

Chikorita retreated into the shrubbery and Fletchling, unaware of the meaning behind my command but undeterred, charged in behind her.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Chikorita dove deeper into the forest, knowing it was up to her to come out on top. She focused on gathering energy in her head-leaf while keeping her senses alert to Fletchling's cries behind her. Finally, when her Razor Leaf attack was ready, she positioned herself behind a tree, patiently waiting.

Fletchling, seeing Chikorita disappear behind the tree, activated Flame Charge once again, and with fearless determination, lunged forward.

However, instead of finding its mark, Fletchling was met with an unavoidable blade of condensed Grass-type energy. Fletchling flapped his wings, attempting to slow down, and the flames surrounding him extinguished from the pause. Unfortunately, it was too late—the slash of energy struck Fletchling across his body with great force. Although the attack wasn't super effective due to Fletchling's type, the sheer physical strength behind it sent the fragile bird Pokemon crashing into a nearby tree, leaving it on the brink of fainting.

As I made my way around the corner, Chikorita emerged with scuffed burn marks covering her body with Fletchling almost down for the count across from her. Letting out a breath of relief, I went to take out a Potion before pausing. Recalling Chikorita's move list, I asked her if she could use Aromatherapy to heal her burns and also calm down Fletchling.

Chikorita nodded and unleashed a pink mist around her body. The soothing power of Aromatherapy quickly reduced the burn marks that marred her body and also seemed to calm Fletchling, who now gazed at me intently. I applied a Potion to the other areas on Chikorita, especially around her neck where she had taken the Flame Charge. Chikorita was still tensed with her gaze fixated on Fletchling. Returning the Potion to my bag, I stood up and cautiously approached Fletchling, initiating a conversation.

"Hey there, buddy. My name’s Avery, this is Chikorita. I’ve heard that you’ve been harassing other trainers recently around here. Is that true?" Fletchling's eyes widened in surprise, but it shook its head.

"No? So, there's another Fletchling causing trouble around here?" I inquired. Once again, Fletchling shook its head.

"Alright, so you’ve been causing trouble, but you’re not really harassing them?" I asked, seeking clarification. This time, Fletchling nodded in agreement.

"Why, though?" I questioned, curious about its motives.

Fletchling chirped and shrugged, leaving me perplexed. Chikorita, on the other hand, looked at Fletchling with wide eyes before bursting into laughter. I turned to Chikorita for an explanation. She thought for a moment, then adopted a pose with only her hind legs on the ground and her forelimbs spread out. She snickered into her shoulder and shrugged, before letting go of her pose, hunching down, and chuckling this time, in a somewhat pretentious manner.

I looked at the whole charade with confusion until I slowly began to understand the situation. Looking at Fletchling, I confirmed my guess. "Wait, you mean to tell me, you attacked other trainers because you thought it was funny?!"

Fletchling chirped happily and nodded, still lying on its side.

"That's... not very funny or nice! People were worried and got injured!" I scolded both Pokemon, and both Pokemon looked away sheepishly. Fletchling chirped and shrugged his shoulders, as if asking why they couldn’t move out of the way of his attacks faster. Incredulous and aggravated I moved on from trying to understand the full picture.

"Anyway, Fletchling, I know you're strong, and apparently have a weird sense of humor. How about joining my team? I want to travel the world, train Pokemon, win battles, and reach the top. Would you like to help me achieve that?" I proposed.

Fletchling tilted its head, then shrugged once more before giving a confirming nod. I suppressed the happiness bubbling inside my chest as I retrieved an empty Pokeball from my belt. I gently nudged Fletchling with it, and in a flash of red light, he vanished into the ball. The device buzzed once and emitted a confirming ring, signaling a successful capture.