INTERLUDE - STEPS (PART 1)

There was a certain comfort to being in a cave that Denzel found hard to explain. It could have been the humid air that coated his throat every time he took a breath, or the warm embrace of the gas lights that hung from the ceiling. Either way, he had decided that Oreburgh gate was going to be his main training area until his battle with the Oreburgh gym trainer.

“That seems like a good rock to practice on,” Denzel said. “You ready?”

“Vee!”

Eevee jumped off of his shoulder, landing gracefully onto the wet ground. Denzel rolled his shoulder and then pointed at the rock.

“Double Kick!” He yelled. His voice resonated in the cave, probably spooking trainers traveling through it.

Eevee barked in acquiescence before he turned around and kicked the rock with his two glowing hind legs. The impact left two small craters, which was more damage than yesterday, but still not good enough.

“Again,” Denzel said. “Try turning around faster and using that momentum to hit harder. Like… your turning velocity’s the hammer, and your legs are the nail. Or something like that.”

Eevee continued using their new move, Double Kick. It was something Denzel hadn’t planned on teaching his starter, but with Budew still being as uncooperative as she was, he realized that he would need a fighting type move if he hoped to even take down one of Roark’s Pokemon. Fortunately, his Pokedex had told him that Eevee could potentially learn the move, but he hadn’t expected it to be this difficult. Bite had only taken a day, as had Quick Attack back when he lived in Twinleaf. But this? Denzel feared it was taking too long, which was why he was going to spend as much time as humanly possible trying to get Eevee’s Double Kick at its peak.

That wasn’t to say that he was neglecting Eevee’s other moves, however. Bite wouldn’t be very useful against rock types given their hard exterior, but Quick Attack would still be an excellent move to use. In all the high-level battles that Denzel had watched, almost no one used Quick Attack defensively— which was, in his opinion, a waste of opportunity. The only downside he could see was that it would tire Eevee out fast, but he wasn’t counting on a prolonged battle anyway.

Eevee turned around slightly faster and hit the rock as hard as he could, cracking the entire surface. The rock collapsed quickly after.

“Great job, Eevee,” Denzel smiled as he crouched and scratched Eevee’s neck. “Let’s find another one.”

He needed to get stronger faster. He needed to catch up.

“I promised you that we’d become the Champions, didn’t I?” Denzel told Eevee.

It was as much Eevee’s dream as it was his. Back in Twinleaf, when he first thought he was going to set off on his journey at fifteen like everybody else, Eevee and Denzel had sworn to become the best in Sinnoh. His Pokemon had an unending thirst for battling that put Denzel to shame, and when his mother had stopped him from leaving, Eevee was the one who had been the most depressed.

And after finally starting to realize their dream, they had been dealt a lethal dose of reality. They were like Magikarp in a very big pond. Thankfully Grace had pulled him out of that rut, but Denzel still couldn’t help but wonder.

Was he the right trainer for Eevee? Was he disappointing him with his failures?

“That seems like a good one,” Denzel said, pointing at another rock. “You know what to do.”

Eevee barked and started hitting the rock with all he could, but it moved out of the way.

“Dude!” A Geodude revealed itself, and it was angry.

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Before Denzel could even regain his bearings, Geodude hit Eevee with a nasty Tackle, hitting him into the cave wall. Seeing his Pokemon hurt snapped him out of it.

“Eevee! Are you ok? Can you f—”

A rock flying faster than a car hit the wall next to Denzel, crumbling against it. With a scream, he flinched and fell backward, instinctively crawling away. If that had hit him… Arceus.

“Geodude!” His opponent shone, and its stony skin began to sparkle. It grabbed another stone and threw it toward Denzel with all of its strength, and it was faster than before. Unable to dodge, Denzel raised his arms to protect his face, but the rock never hit him.

Eevee jumped and destroyed the Rock Throw with a mid-air Double Kick. He growled at the Geodude, who hit the ground with its fists in frustration.

“Eevee… you saved me.” Denzel muttered.

Eevee shimmered, and in an instant, he was behind the wild Geodude, ready to hit it with another Double Kick. He only had to hit it once before it fled, unwilling to risk itself any further.

“Thank you,” Denzel simply said, clenching his jaw. Again, he had been too weak to even react.

Grace had kept ordering her Pokemon to help him in the forest on route 203 even after getting directly hit with a Bullet Seed, and he couldn’t even give simple commands to his after a miss? Pathetic. What was he doing here? Had his mother been right? Was he just wasting time—

“Vee! Eevee!” Eevee barked out.

Denzel stared at him for a second before smiling sadly. “You’re right. I can’t be beating myself up all the time. I need to look forward,” He said, remembering what Grace had told him. “I will improve. I will be the Champion.”

“Vee!” Eevee said, snuggling close to Denzel.

“The future…” Denzel muttered.

——

“Alright, remember to breathe as little as possible,” Denzel said. “I’ll do the same. Don’t hit her unless she’s about to kill me.”

Denzel stared at his Budew’s Pokeball sitting in his palm. He had decided. He was never going to give up on her. He would make her a part of his team, no matter how long it would take, one step at a time.

After making sure that no trainers were nearby, he released Budew as far away as he could. She let out her usual, ear-piecing shriek before throwing out a Bullet Seed toward Eevee, who dodged with Quick Attack.

“Budew! Listen to me,” Denzel yelled. She ignored him and continued to attack Eevee, throwing purple, toxic spores. “This thing you’ve been doing? Attacking us over and over, I understand! I understand that the way I captured you was completely unfair and uncalled for.”

Budew only screeched in response. She attacked him with a Bullet Seed, but Denzel managed to hide behind a human-sized boulder.

“I thought I could bring you a better life than out there, in the wild,” Denzel continued. “And I also wanted your strength. To help me in trainer battles. I realize now that I was being foolish.”

Denzel left from his hiding spot and started walking toward Budew, who only looked on with a fury he didn’t even know their faces were capable of.

“And I know nothing I say will ever be enough. I know I’ve robbed you from your group. Your family—” Denzel winced as a series of seeds grazed his left arm. He carried on. “I just want to let you know from the bottom of my heart that I am sorry. Truly. But I can’t release you. I can’t bring you back. I’m a selfish son of a bitch, aren’t I? Springing all of this on you.”

Budew let out another scream, probably letting him know not to get any closer. She wasn’t attacking anymore, so he listened to her and stood at a distance.

“But I have a goal I set for myself, and you unfortunately are a part of it. I know this won’t change anything between us, but I just wanted to let you understand why I did what I did. I had a reason for it— which you may disagree with, but it was a reason nonetheless. Have you even been in the sun that long since I caught you? You’re starting to look unhealthy, and your attacks against us are getting weaker and weaker. I wish we could at least come to an agreement regarding that,” Denzel paused, waiting for a reaction. There was none. “I can take you out and let you soak in the sun's rays. All I need is for you not to attack me right away.”

“Bud…”

“We can take this one step at a time. I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, but let’s at least keep you alive,” Denzel finished. “How about it?”

“Dew.” Budew agreed with a small nod.

“Alright. I’ll return you for now, and bring you out of this cave, alright?”

He recalled her and clenched at his arm. It had only grazed him, but that Bullet Seed hurt like a bitch. After thanking Eevee for the help, he began making his way out of the cave.

“One step at a time, I’ll catch up,” Denzel told himself.