My shoes tapped lightly against the Whitestone steps as I made my way back from the lookout. My heart still beat against my chest, clearly audible thanks to the adrenaline from seeing my first Pokemon battle in person. It was different from how it looked on TV, there were less flashy moves, instead it was shockingly raw violence. I was an amateur, but I knew it would be more impressive the better I got.

I reached the bottom of the stairs, Bianca was nowhere to be seen so I kept walking. I stopped just before I reached the tunnel that marked the entrance to the Routes. The routes are shortcuts between cities infested with Pokemon both hidden and visible, the well lit entrance stood right in front of me, I looked back one last time, the Pokemon Center, my home and the trainer school. I would be back, my first true hurdle, the Normal type Gym Leader Cheren called the trainer school home.

I snapped my eyes back to the journey ahead, I couldn't back out now.

I made my first steps.

I heard a call from the side of the tunnel, I turned to see the guard station, a small booth jutted out of the wall, behind it sat a woman wearing a blue bowler hat. She leaned against the desk, her eyes half closed as if she was a minute away from passing out on the hard counter.

“Heva right?” she recognised me, probably from the trainer school. “Nice to see you start your journey, take some Pokeballs to tide you over.”

She placed 5 Pokeballs on the table.

“Why are you helping me” I asked, confused

“Civic duty? Hometown pride?” she asked nobody in particular, struggling for the right words “honestly, Aspertia hasn’t had any good trainers lately. Even Cheren is from out of town.”

I felt a rush of determination as I clasped the cold Pokeballs and put them into my bag

“Thank you”

I nodded, turned and strode out of the tunnel.

>route 19

The sun was blinding and the wind whistled through the tall grass. There was a path that snaked in and out of the shrubbery, the path had been used so much that nothing grew on it anymore. It shocked me that something like this could be just outside Aspertia city, it felt so strange to see so much greenery.

I found my way blocked by tall grass, it was so thick I couldn’t see inside it, although the occasional rustle made it clear that there were Pokemon. I began carefully moving through the grass when something furry brushed my ankle, I startled, reaching for Suzerain’s Pokeball.

I waited, as a small bead of sweat trickled down my brow. I felt something sharp against my leg, instinctively I yelped and kicked, a small brown rodent with piercing red and yellow eyes flew a few metres into the grass. I threw Suzerain’s Pokeball, feeling more confident as he appeared, standing proudly on guard in front of me.

I kept my eyes on where the Pokemon had fallen, the grass was rustling and I was sure that it was about to come back to attack me again, absently I reached my hand down to touch the wound.

My fingers came back bloody.

I had seen blood before. Once I had fallen off my bike and cut my whole leg open, there had been way more blood then. But despite that, looking at my own blood, I couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Suddenly the Pokemon struck from the bushes, it leapt straight for me but Suzerain responded by swatting it out of the air with his tail, it fell with a thud onto the loose soil. but it rose quickly and charged at Suzerain, its attention thoroughly diverted.

I reached desperately for my Pokedex as I watched the wild brawl between the two, I recognised the enemy Pokemon as a Patrat, usually weak but fiercely territorial. Just as the enemy Patrat lunged for one final attack, Suzerain stepped back, allowing Patrat’s momentum to send it flying before slapping it out of the air with his tail.

Patrat lay dazed, but I had a bolt of clarity, I should catch this Pokemon, I reached for the Pokeballs I had just been gifted and hurled one.

It struck the Patrat square on the head, sucking it inside in a flash of red light, the ball began to shudder as the Patrat tried to escape.

Slowly the ball began to move slower, I watched intently, my heart nearly pounding out of my chest and an order for Suzerain on my lips when the ball finally stopped, a sharp clicking noise marking the capture as successful.

I sighed in relief, feeling a breath I didn't know I'd been holding leave me along with all the strength that adrenaline had clearly been providing me, my legs turned to jellyI slumped down, sitting down in the grass, not caring if I got dirty.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I reached for the Pokeball, now sitting still, glistening in the midday sun. I picked it up and gingerly pressed the button, releasing the Patrat.

Its eyes were deeply unsettling, as if they stared into me and saw everything. A word came to me, it didn’t mean anything as far as i knew, but i felt it was fitting anyway.

“Uvald”

I watched and waited, Patrat watched back. I couldn't be sure, but its eyes seemed less aggressive. Uvald it was.

As we moved further in I kept my team in their balls, but I made sure to always have one within a seconds reach in case I was attacked again. Soon enough the path opened back up, there was only one patch of grass left, beyond it I could see the looming cliff that marked the entrance to Floccesy town.

Delving into the final patch of grass, I kept my eyes forward, excited to reach my destination.

Suddenly I felt something crunch beneath my foot.

As I looked down I saw a small structure of sticks, crushed beneath my shoe. A Pokemon nest, I barely had time to gasp before I heard the beat of paws against soft earth as something charged me from behind, threw out one of my Pokemon at random, looking back as I did. Red light walled my assailant from me and I recognised the attacker as a Patrat immediately, opposing it, emerging from the light of the ball was my own Patrat. Uvald emerged and both Patrat stared at each other, slowly the wild Patrat began circling, leering at Uvald, I ordered Uvald to attack and after a moment's hesitation he charged toward the enemy and slammed into it with his shoulder. The wild Patrat staggered, but quickly resumed circling, I was confused. I didn’t understand what was happening, in a panic I ordered Uvald to attack once more and he obliged me, but just as he began to move I realised something was off. Prepared for the attack this time the enemy Patrat stepped back, allowing Uvald to fall on his face as the enemy moved in. It opened its mouth to an impossible size before clamping it down on Uvald’s neck, its large front teeth piercing straight through his skin. The mouth clamped down harder and harder until I heard the unmistakable crunch of bone breaking. It rose to look at me, strings of viscera hanging from its teeth, red eyes burning into me.

My legs began running on their own, running away from the Patrat, running away from that horrible route. I felt something I was holding break, but I didn't know what it was, some of the trainers along the route stared at me, but I was too focused on the signature red roof of the Pokemon centre. Maybe there I could get Uvald some help.

“HEY”

I heard a voice from above me, I ground to a halt, panting and trying to see who had spoken. As I shielded my eyes from the sun, trying to see who was on the cliff, something rocketed past me and impacted the ground like a meteorite.

Rising from the ground was a man with fiery red hair and a brown poncho with 6 Pokeballs hanging from it, the legal maximum, this guy was probably experienced, definitely more than me.

“How did you jump from that high?” My voice was raspy as if I had just gargled acid

“Practice” the man responded as if that made all the sense in the world “but go easy on your voice, i'm pretty sure they could hear you screaming from Castellia”

“My Pokemon, it needs help” I muttered, I opened my hand to reveal Uvald’s ball.

It was cracked down the middle.

“Oh kid” the man said “I'm sorry, but I don't think theres anyone can help you, when the ball cracks like that…” he trailed off

I could barely see straight as tears welled in my eyes, he winced, looking around at the people watching us.

“Hey kid, I can help, I can help, but can we get out of here?” he said, looking around awkwardly.

I nodded and followed him as he led me through Floccesy town, there was something about him that felt familiar, my mind kept focusing on his mane of red hair, what did it remind me of? Who did it remind me of?

I wracked my brain trying to think of who he could be, definitely a trainer, not foreign, he had a distinctly Unovan accent. If he lived out here he must be retired, and the red hair, it left only one option.

“You’re Alder” I said quietly, more a statement of fact than a question

He examined me closer

“I didn’t think anyone from your generation would still recognise me”

“Why wouldn’t I recognize you?” I asked “you were the champion”

Alder stopped, opening the door to a wooden shack with a rough drawing of a pokeball on a sign hanging above it, gesturing to come in. he began to answer my question as I entered

“I let the region down.” he said bitterly “I was beaten by team plasma’s boy messiah.”

He paused, grabbing some teacups and setting them on a wooden bench before motioning for me to sit.

“Enough about me, what happened?”

My heartrate quickened again, I had been so surprised by alder that I had almost forgotten about Uvald.

Holding out the broken pokeball again I muttered “is he dead?”

Alder nodded gravely.

I knew pokemon could die, it was something you heard about from time to time, but i had never processed what that meant, pokemon dying was something that happened to someone else, could i even go on like this, risking the lives of my partners?

“Slow down, this will help with your voice” instructed Alder, cutting straight through my thoughts as he poured me tea through a teapot that i swore had been cold a before

“I've been where you are, I too lost a partner during my journey”

I couldn't help but stare, I thought I knew almost everything about the Unovan champions, I had followed them religiously most of my life, but I had never heard this story. I took a sip of the tea, my gaze not moving from his kind grey eyes.

“This Volcarona isn’t my first. I had one before this, it died.”

His eyes never broke from mine.

“It died because I was young. I only wanted to win and my partner died because of my recklessness. It was only after i was humbled that i could become champion. Deaths are rare, but they happen in the wild as well, it's not your fault”

It may not have been my fault directly, but i knew i could have avoided it, but I nodded along anyway

“I suggest heading to train in Floccesy ranch, i've seen some trainers around your age running up there, and you’ll need to get stronger if you want to beat Cheren”

Did i still want to beat Cheren? I thought I knew the answer. As much as I was scared to lose my Partners, I had to keep going, I could protect my partners.

"I will beat Cheren "