Arthur took that first true step on his adventure again. This time, Seedot was in its Pokeball and there was no overpowered, and totally not cute, Sponsered Trainer waiting to ambush him. Seedot took the loss harshly, barely having done any damage to the opposing Torchic. however, at the idea of a rematch after they both evolve much of that self-hatred had been turned towards something productive. Namely beating the shit out of an orange chicken.
May had called him late last night. Apparently, a stray Nincada had wandered into her tent, looking for somewhere safe to sleep at night. But other than that incident, she had been progressing smoothly. Her Torchic burnt any and everything they saw to a crisp and had begun to show the early signs of evolution. Though as it got stronger, more strength would take longer. May guessed that Torchic would either evolve while in Rustboro gym or shortly after. Seedot meanwhile looked to evolve in the forest.
Route 104 was uneventful. There were a few trainer battles that Seedot easily defeated, earning a nice amount of money, while also using up a lot of the Potion stock. Yet the wild pokemon stayed away, sensing Seedot's evolution near. No one wanted to get the crap beaten out of them by a strong Pokemon. The pair stopped at the pier for a bit, looking for any water-type Pokemon. Other than a few Magikarp and a Marill who fled the moment it saw them, there was nothing of interest. He was hoping for a Corphish or Carvanha, yet none showed up. There was always the massive flock of Wingull, but Arthur hated how loud they were.
Now the pair stood before their most daunting challenge yet, having to sleep outside in the Petalburg Forest. The trip through the forest takes roughly a day and a half, not the biggest set of woods around, but stepping off the main path meant practically guaranteeing getting lost and having to call for a Ranger to come save you. It would be embarrassing to explain to May the reason why he was so late in reaching Rustboro was that he had to be saved like some damsel in distress.
Hosting the shiny Pokeball that held Arthur's partner, he put his most confidant grin on. "Well Seedot, this is it. Once we cross into the forest there is no turning back. No more being a big fish in a little pond, we will have to look for others to join us and fight every step of the way, going from a little fish to a Sharpedo." The young man's voice was confident, unwavering in the folly of youth. The hard loss to May has already been forgotten under the weight of a handful of minor wins.
Coastline turned into a dense forest in only a few steps, the constant smell of salt on the wind that Arthur grew up with was instead replaced with the damp smell of fallen leaves and fertile ground. Already the sounds changed from the cries of Taillow and Wingull to the soft sounds of Shroomish, Surskit, and Nincada. A lone Slakoth hung in the trees near the entrance to the woods, though Arthur had no interest in that pokemon. Its lazy nature was too hard a barrier to the young trainer.
As Arthur walked, Seedot's Pokeball ready in his hand, he noticed a few other pokemon had also been introduced into the forest by the Rangers. Rattata scurred into the tall grass at the merest sight of a human, Metapod and Kakuna hanging from trees. Bellsprout stood in the sun of a clearing while Spinarak sat in their webs, ever watching from the shadows of massive trees. There was even a pair of Sudowoodo pretending to be trees, with a tiny Bonsly between them. Even with the increased biodiversity of the woods, the pokemon native to Hoenn greatly outnumbered the invaders. Such was normal, the non-native pokemon would be more appealing to trainers, keeping their numbers lower than the native species.
Arthur was amazed at the sudden change of life around him. Norman had been against the introduction of non-Hoenn pokemon under his jurisdiction, much to Arthur's displeasure. As far as he was concerned, the more Pokemon the better. But that kind of decision where far out of his reach, for now, he had to focus on what was in front of him. For the next few hours, it would be bugs, bugs, and bugs. May had been right about how many there were. The creatures were everywhere. Most kept their distance, but a few Shroomish had taken up the challenge, mostly because they got trod on while hiding under fallen leaves.
It was early the next day when things started going wrong. The night had been fine, peaceful even. The songs of Kricketot had lulled him to sleep as a Noctowl kept its watchful eye out in a tree above his tent. Not watchful for Arthur, but instead for the clutch of eggs it sat on. That was fine with the young man, he had no plans to disturb the nest.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Around two hours into the day, Arthur heard shouting in the distance. Being the responsible young man he was, he ran to investigate, Seedot's Pokeball in hand. That is where he saw it, three Seviper attacking a lone, small Zangoose. It clearly wasn't very old, perhaps a few months. Around half the height of a full Zangoose, while all three Serviper were fully grown. The cat ferret pokemon was trying its best to fight them off, but not only was the fang snake pokemon individually stronger, but they also outnumbered the poor creature. Striking out with Feints, they were playing with their prey, letting it try to run only to trip it and circle it.
"Hey! Cut it out!" Arthur screamed, throwing out his Seedot so that it would land between the Sevipers and the Zangoose. Everyone knew these two were mortal enemies, so this was about the worse thing he could do. "Force them back with Rollout! Make some room!"
Seedot, bless his heart, did exactly that. The Acorn Pokemon channeled its Rock-Type energy and flung itself at the snakes, knocking two of them back. The third dodged and struck out at the Acorn pokemon with Poison Tail. Unable to defend itself, it was flung to the side.
"Seedot!" Arthur called out, worry clear in his voice. He had gotten lucky, however, for it wasn't placed into a critical spot, nor was Seedot poisoned. "We have to wear them down! Use Leech Seed on all three!" From Seedot's mouth, a handful of seeds shot out, planting themselves on all three of the snakes. Orbs of green were pulled out from the Sevipers and moved into Seedot's body, healing all the damage just done.
With the Sevipers distracted, the Zangoose struck, launching a Quick Attack into one of the hurt snakes. Instead of running, like a normal Pokemon would, the sheer hatred the two species had for one another forced the clearly weaker Pokemon to fight on, regardless of if it lived or died. Arthur was not one to let this sudden advantage go either. "Strike that one with Astonish!"
Seedot opened its mouth and screamed, striking the off-balance Serviper. It did little in the way of damage but caused the snake to flinch, letting the Zangoose land a flurry of scratches. The other two Servipers didn't appreciate their comrade being ganged up on, and split off, one taking Zangoose and the other Seedot. "Rollout! Get between Zangoos and that Seviper! It can't keep taking hits!"
Seedot took the hit from its opponent, a solid Bite, in return for hitting it with Rollout and moving past to strike the other Seviper in the back. It was quickly followed up by an Absorb to regain some health. "Use Harden, make sure Zangoose doesn't get hit. Rollout to keep yourself between them, and use Absorb to heal any damage done. Let Zangoose finish off that Seviper."
Seedot moved like a monster, striking out where it could with little input from Arthur. The fire of righteousness had been lit in the small Acorn Pokemon's heart, and it would not be quenched by the venom of these foul snakes. Not even after it had been hit by a particularly hard Poison Tail and was inflicted with the Poison status. It took some time, and many healings from both Absorb and Leech Seed, but the wild Zangoose managed to finish off the stunned Seviper, who had no opportunity to strike back between the wild ferociousness of Zangoose and the stalwart defense of Seedot.
"Nice work!" Arthur called out, clenching his fist. He really didn't like how hurt Zangoose was, it looked beyond the point of fainting. Likely knowing the moment it went down meant its death, so it fought on beyond the point of sanity. With the first snake dealt with, Seedot had much more room to maneuver. It still had to defend the Zangoose, but once the wild pokemon started attacking it didn't give its opponent a chance to fight back. It truly was a wild beast, with nothing but bloodlust in its eyes. Two quickly became one, then that one was overwhelmed in a massive show of force.
"Zangoose," Arthur called out, getting the wild Pokemon's attention. It still had that wild look in its eye, but it could tell that it wouldn't have survived without Arthur stepping in. The young man knew he would only have one shot at this. He could just reach into his pocket, pull out one of his three empty Pokeball and catch the Zangoose without any problems. It was too weak to fight back, but that felt wrong. Not after fighting together. "I want you on my team. You have a heap of potential to become strong. I can put you in fights that would bring out that potential, without risking your life every day. Come with me, and never fear another Seviper again."
Arthur held out an empty Pokeball, hand clenched around it tightly. He wouldn't throw it. He would let Zangoose choose. Slowly, it began to step forwards, unsure. Yet, each step becomes more confident, more sure of itself. With a nod, a single claw touched the ball. Zangoose disappeared in a bright light, the ball clicked shut. It did not shake. Zangoose was caught. Seedot moved with energy that showed it was on the very edge of evolution. One more strong battle, and Arthur would have a Nuzleaf.