It had been three weeks since Arthur's declaration, he and Seedot had been training almost every day. The young trainer could tell that his starter was nearing evolution, the Seedot line evolving into Nuzleaf rather quickly. He had been fighting the local trainers as well as wild Pokemon constantly. Norman, the local gym leader, even gave him a job to clear out some Lotad that had managed to occupy the local park, earning him a small fortune, for a kid. In truth, the thousand Pokedollars wouldn't go far once a second member of the team was added, as well as having to pay for his own food and lodging. Pokemon accessories were expensive, from their specialized diets to toys. Some species would be happy with a ball of yarn, while others need a chess set and a regular opponent. Seedot for example needed constant physical stimulation, often sorted by playing tug of war or going for a run. But Arthur knew that once it evolved into Nuzleaf, that would change to more mental stimulation. The young man had brought a checkers set and had plans to buy a Shogi or Chess set eventually.
"Today is the day, Seedot!" Arthur declared, his ever-faithful Acorn Pokemon standing by his side. The small Pokemon practically vibrated with energy, showing how close it was to step over the edge and evolving. It just needed a little push, and its trainer hoped that heading into Pettleburg woods and starting their adventure proper would be what saw it through.
With a brand new standard Pokemart cylinder sports bag, given to him by his parents, the young trainer set off on route 104, his partner pokemon by his side. Seedot normally preferred staying in its ball, its tiny legs struggling to keep up, but it had broken out and refused to go back inside this time. In truth, Arthur was glad for its company.
Three steps in, and already he had made eye contact with a stranger. It was a girl, two years younger than him, as was the standard age in Hoenn, with a bright red bow in her hair. Green eyes met grey, or perhaps silver would be a more apt colour. "Would you like to battle?" She called out, a slight smile gracing her lips as she hefted up a Pokeball. Arthur almost stumbled over his words but recovered as best he could.
"Sure, two hundred a good bet?" It was Arthur's first time betting in the hundreds, yet since he was now a proper Pokemon trainer, the minimum bet he was allowed to put down was one hundred. It wasn't a hard rule or anything, just a tradition. One he liked as if he won, and he was sure he would, it would add a fair bit to his pocket.
"Sounds good to me. Go, Torchic!" The girl called, lightly tossing her shiny new Pokeball, only for it to open, and in a flash of light, there stood a small orange bird.
"Seedot hit it fast with Rollout!" Arthur called, not letting his newly discovered infatuation with this strange girl get in his way of winning. Seedot often struggled to get close to its enemies, it was a slow pokemon even at the best of times. Rollout however provided the perfect way to close the distance, all the while dealing some damage.
The girl, however, was not phased in the slightest. "Use Flame Charge to dodge to the side, then pepper it with Ember!" she called, confidence oozing from every word. The small bird did exactly that, fire coating its body as it moved quicker than it had any right to. Seedot couldn't correct course and had to end the move, only to then get hit with the Ember. The Acorn pokemon cried out in pain, but it turned to face Torchic, a look of rage on its tiny face.
"Oh? That normally knocks the wild ones out in a single hit." The girl said while looking at Seedot with interest in her eyes. "You clearly trained it well, it must be near evolution by now."
While the girl was talking, panic ran through Arthur's mind. He didn't care too much about losing at this stage, he had lost plenty against stronger opponents. Instead, he was worried about Seedot. It was clear that both were around the same level, so being crushed like this would destroy Seedot's confidence. So Arthur acted, calling out commands quickly and clearly. "Use Growth into Absorb!"
The Acorn Pokemon used its moves quickly, for a low-level battle. Absorb required practically no aiming, so there was no running away from it. Powered up by Growth, the Mon had recovered most of the damage it had been dealt. The girl, however, was no slouch and began calling out her own commands as well.
"Flame charge! Take it head-on!" She called, her Torchic following the command without hesitation. Flames covered the small bird as it charged, even faster than the last time it used the move. Arthur grimaced, almost calling out Rollout to try and counter it, but by the time Seedot was using the move properly, it would have already been hit. Instead, Arthur decided to roll the dice.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Bide!" He called out, and in an instant, the Acorn pokemon was covered in a light sheen of energy. It did not move, nor even flinch as the Torchic slammed into it, flames engulfing the pair. "Come on Seedot, I believe in you."
The dust and flames cleared quickly, the power of the attack not being strong enough to throw up much. There stood Seedot, still holding firm, if very injured.
"Finish it with Ember!" The girl called, her Pokemon doing so. Arthur could do nothing but hold his breath and trust in his Pokemon, and that trust was not betrayed. Heavily wounded, clearly suffering from the burn condition, yet still standing was Seedot.
"Unleash it all!" Arthur called, though it was unnecessary. Sedoot had already begun to move, it's body shining bright with built-up energy. It threw itself at the Torchic, who seemed unable to get out of the way.
"Detect!"
Torchic got a gleam in its eye, then at the very last moment, jumped high into the sky, dodging the energy that Seedot planned to hit it with. "Now Ember once more! Finish it!" The girl called, her Pokemon following orders perfectly. Small bits of fire flew down from the sky, smacking into Seedot and burning away at its wooden carapace. It was all too much for the little Acorn, and it fell unconscious.
"Seedot, no!" Arthur cried, all the while running to his Pokemon's side. He withdrew a potion, an item that was much more expensive than he thought it would be, and used it on the fallen Mon, waking it back up and restoring some strength. The Seedot looked very angry, but Arthur could tell from the body language that it was angry at itself rather than him or the Torchic.
"Is your Seedot ok? I'm sorry if I went a little far there." The girl asked. She had crouched down next to Arthur, he hadn't even noticed her approach. She was biting her lower lip and seemed genuinely worried, causing the young trainer to feel something pluck at his heartstrings.
"Yeah, he will be fine after a good rest. It was a great fight though, your Torchic is not only really fast, but also extremely strong." Arthur replied, returning his Seedot to its Pokeball. He sat his bag in front of him and got out the money he owed her. It looked like for a moment she would refuse to take it, but at a gesture from Arthur, she took the money. It was only fair.
"I had a bit of an advantage. Fire beats grass, the Torchic line is naturally stronger than the Seedot line, and I'm also a Sponsered Trainer, so I've had a fair bit of training before starting my journey." The girl confessed, looking away slightly out of embarrassment. "It wasn't exactly a fair fight"
"That's alright," Arthur said, though the fact she had so many advantages over him and still was the one to initiate the batter irked him a little. "Almost no battle I'll fight outside of the Gyms will be fair anyway. I should get used to fighting at a disadvantage, or at least making my opponent fight at one. I'm Arthur, what's your name?"
"May. Would you like to exchange numbers? I'd love to fight again once both our pokemon have evolved. Both the Seedot and Torchic lines are triple evolution lines, so it would be fun to see who's stronger at each evolution." The girl, now known as May, held out her Pokenav.
"I'd love to." Arthur said a little too fast, bringing up his wrist and activating his C-Gear. May looked confused at the watch phone hybrid and asked what it was.
"It's a C-gear, Communication-Gear. My family is from Unova and my father often goes back there for work, since he is still employed by a Unovan Company. He brought this back with him on his last trip so I could stay in contact with him even if he was in Unova. The signal on the C-gear is a lot more powerful than the Pokenav. It's the only special thing they gave me to start my journey. My mother firmly believes in me finding my own way, and giving me extra pokemon or equipment would be unfair to others without those luxuries." Arthur explained, all the while adding May's number into his C-gear. He didn't notice, but May's face became more and more crestfallen as she realized just how huge of an advantage she had over others also just starting out.
"Well, this will be goodbye for now then," Arthur said, knocking may out of her downward spiral.
"What do you mean?" She asked, confusion clearly written on her face. "It would be nice to have someone to travel through the woods with, there are a lot of bugs in there." The girl visibly shivered at the thought of all the creepy crawlies that inhabited the Pettleburg woods.
"I'm afraid not, though I would love to travel with you sometime in the future, but it would be bad luck to start my journey off on a loss so I'll head out tomorrow. Plus I need to get Seedot checked out, you did a number on him and I need to get that burn effect off him." Arthur explained. He didn't say it, but he also thought that his bedroom would be a much safer place for Seedot to come to terms with the loss than the woods, constantly battling next to the Pokemon who annihilated them.
May understand Arthur's reasoning and the pair bid each other goodbye, the young man headed to the Pettleburg pokemon center and the young girl headed off to the Pettleburg woods. Opposite directions from each other, yet now their destinies intertwined.