“Good morning” I greeted Seraphina as she came out of the center.
The sun was already up for a few hours when we finally met with her, and we took an additional half an hour before we moved out. After discussing with about the road we decided on double time it because she apparently wanted to be Virbank for an event or something like that.
And so, we found ourselves moving at a fast pace toward Aspertia, stooping only to eat, sleep and occasionally training. Most of our Pokémons found themselves to quite like the pace since even Skoll ,who tended to prefer staying in his pokeball, exited it to run from time to time.
Nike for her part found herself enjoying the company of Shinx and Litleo and so moved from her designated spot on my head to one of theirs as the ran ahead. With our pace, it took us a day and half to reach the clearing where I met ranger Mathew the previous time, reaching it just before the sun disappeared behind the horizon.
As we got close Seraphina, recalled Litleo and walked only with Shinx. While it was fine for now since they were both small pokemon, later it might not be possible to let both of them out outside of travel, so she wanted them to get used to it. Aside from the whine at first, she accepted quickly and later Litleo will come out instead. Nike was steadfast on staying outside but for now I indulged her despite the judging stare of my traveling companion.
“You know I noticed it before, but you are quite attached to Nike.” She said after watching us.
“Well yeah. She is my starter, and we also help each other when travelling so for now I let her out as much as possible.”
She blinked. “What do you mean you help each other?”
“She helps me improve my psychic abilities and I help her with the shield to filter emotions.”
She blinked again. then she looked at me wide eyed. “Wait so you are telling that you are one of those people who can read minds?”
“Nothing that deep really. For now, I mainly feel some of the emotions, but I hope to one day be able to talk with my all team. I’m used to shield my mind, so I don’t pick up emotions form other unconsciously which is what I am training Nike to do. Now that is say it out loud, I am quite like the Hatterene line minus the fairy.” I chuckled.
I was the only one laughing.
We continued to make our camp while we were talking so I had to turn around to see her. When I did, she was looking at me like I was a Beheeyem until I asked what was going on.
“So, you are telling me that you are a psychic? That will eventually be able to talk to his pokemon? What is this some kind of movie plot? That is so not fair!” She pouted.
I could not stop myself and started laughing again, this time out of disbelief and because the scene was just funny.
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black. Hello, miss I bumped into the champion of the Sinnoh region in Unova while we were on holiday and now want to become an archeologist. I mean the plot is already written.” I highlighted.
She looked like she was about to say something but realized the situation and lowered her finger while mumbling that it was still “not fair” and then joined me in my laughter.
I even surprised myself when laughing because when people used to tell me that I was lucky I wanted to point out to them that it was like having every person you meet living in your head, but this time the sheer irony of the situation was enough to make me forget that detail.
As we laughed, I caught someone on the tree from the corner of my eye. Drawn by my abruptly stopped laughter, Seraphina turned in the same direction as me and ended up on her butt.
“Yo!” came the cheery ranger Mathew who watched us crouched from the branch.
“Good evening ranger Mathew” I measured. “It seems you really like tree? And surprising people I guess.”
“Come on you are no fun! The young lady’s reaction however was on point, thank you for that.”
He received a couple of deadpan looks in reaction to his ‘sagely tone’ which prompted a fake cough to recover.
“Anyway, I apologize for the fright young lady. I saw an acquaintance and wanted to say hi, but it seemed my timing just poor.”
“H-huh? No, it’s ok I just… wasn’t expecting someone there I guess” She smiled awkwardly and got up.
“Thank you for your generosity. So Nexon what sup?”
“Everything is fine thank you for asking. I managed to catch a new companion and I am making my way back to take my first gym challenge. Oh, and thanks to you Nike manage to make progress on her move. I think she just lack the juice needed for now.”
“Already?! That was fast. It seems the little miss is quite talented.”
“You have no idea” I preened. “I myself am shocked. She actually picked up Disarming voice in one day and we will most likely be able to use it for the gym as well.”
He whistled and eyed us carefully. “You guys are quite the monsters for beginners if you pick up move this fast. But don’t forget that control is also an important factor. For the first gym it shouldn’t really matter but you might want to slow down at some point to work on that.”
“You mean beyond the point where we can use the move consistently use it in battle?” Seraphina asked.
“Oh yes. Learning more powerful is a way to get more powerful but mastery of a move can increase its power beyond what you think. Hum let me see… miss does your little kitten should know Thunder Shock yes?” He waited for her to nod before continuing. “good then let me show you. Please come out!”
He recalled his Mienshao and threw a blue and yellow pokeball in the air, a fast ball, from which a yellow and white pokemon emerged. The Amphaross stood at about shoulder height, its white belly contrasting against a bright yellow of the rest of its short and bright yellow fur. The pokemon used its long neck to look around the area, before the red jewel at the end of its tail lit up, providing a soft light and erasing its displeased expression.
It looked back at Ranger Mathew and cocked its head as if asking what was happening. Shinx for her part seemed absolutely delighted, running over and purring while rubbing against the Amphaross. The bigger pokemon smiled and even bent down, letting a small spark flash between the jewel on its head and the black striped horns generating another round of purring.
After watching the scene for a while ranger Mathew coughed to get the attention of everyone involved.
“How about moving a bit from your camp. We don’t want to break anything after all. Also call out your other Pokémon because this might be a good lesson for them too.”
Once we moved out of everyone’s way, we called out teams and Ranger Mathew asked Seraphina to have Shinx use Thunder shock against a tree. Once she did, Shinx took a few instants to charge the move and let it fly toward the tree. The results were far from impressive on the tree. There is reason grass type resist electric move after all. After the demonstration, Ranger Mathew stepped out with his Amphaross.
“Alright it’s our turn. Amphaross, use Thunder Shock on the tree.”
As soon as he said that, Amphaross let rip a bolt of lightning that I could swear was like a Thunderbolt, the upgraded move, than a ‘simple’ Thunder Shock. Looking at the hanging jaw of Seraphina it seemed she did not expect it either. Ranger Mathew for his part, looked on with a calm expression.
“Are you sure this is not Thunderbolt?” she echoed my thoughts out loud.
“This is what mastery over a move can do. Faster to use but also more powerful. Heck I even saw a trainer who never bothered to use Thunder because of the power behind his partner Thunderbolt. Also keep in mind this is a move we don’t use often since we have access to a more powerful one, so the power diminished.”
At that, Seraphina raised an eyebrow and asked dubiously. “Thunderbolt more powerful than thunder?”
“Oh yes. But honestly that particular pair is an anomaly amongst anomalies.” He shivered and continued in a whisper. “Between you and me, the pokemon survived something that was honestly thought to be impossible. But enough of that.” He clapped his hands.
For some reason, alarm bells were going off like crazy in my head. Never used Thunder because his Thunderbolt is more powerful… A pair that is an anomaly amongst anomaly… survived something that was thought to be impossible… that’s …
Didn’t Ash’s Pikachu take a bolt of lightning for Zekrom and just had to eject it from its body… nope! Not worth it to think about that! I don’t want to know! In fact, who is Ash? What’s a Pikachu? I don’t know.
Nike, seemingly sensing my thoughts poked me on the cheek until I reassured her. I then took the opportunity to look at Skoll who looked utterly uninterested. I honestly don’t know what to think of him. I thought that since he agreed that meant we would make progress fast but obviously it was not so. All he was interested in was becoming stronger and training.
Maybe training is the way after all.
The clearing where we found him was apparently his training area and it was littered with fist marks all around. Then I remembered something from the potential move for Riolu and later Lucario and Amphaross. I approached Ranger Mathew who was now talking with Seraphina to ask him about it.
“Sure, no problem I can help with that. But let me warn you it would not be as flashy as the other one. Although she knows the move due to the evolution, we don’t rely on it since she focusses on special move.”
“It’s okey. I just want him to see the move because it thought it would him a good type coverage eventually.” With that he called his partner while I called Skoll.
“Skoll, I want you to look at something. It’s one of the moves that I wanted to teach you eventually if you would like.”
The small Pokémon looked at me quizzically and then focused on the Amphaross that was moving toward a rock jutting from the ground.
“Alright everyone is ready so let’s do it. Use Thunder Punch.”
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This time, the Amphaross did take a second to charge the move showing that she did not use it often. Sparks of electricity erupted from her jewels and in an instant, coating her arms in bristling electricity that seemed barely contained. In a swift moment she brought her arm crashing against the boulder, breaking it into tiny pieces that were flying. My companion tried to maintain his calm appearance but the twitches in his fist told me he was very interested.
“You also have access to this move and others that I think would be a good idea to learn. Ice Punch is a similar move, and you also have Poison Jab for poison.” I told him making him look at me.
“In that case how about starting with an easier move to use while he gains in power?” Ranger Mathew interrupted.
“An easier move?”
“Yes, it’s called Bullet Punch. Hold on.”
After a few manipulations on his Transceiver, he showed me an entry of the move on the small screen, lowering it enough for Skoll as well. It’s a priority move similar to Quick Attack- which Skoll already knew- and Metal Claw which again he knew except it use his fist. In my mind it’s similar to Mach Punch but with Steel energy?
It seemed that Skoll likes it even more that I do as is spot him covering his fist in metallic luster already.
“Woah calm down buddy. Ok, so for short term goal, we can continue Metal Claw until you can move to Bullet Punch. With quick attack already in your roster it will make it a bit easier I guess?” Ranger Mathew gave me a thumbs up before I continued. “On the longer term, I say we work on Ice Punch first… or maybe we can ask Champion Roxy for help with the Poison Jab… we will see. How does it sound?”
The blue jackal pokemon looked at me throughout the speech and nodded seriously. And with our talk over, we made our way back to the camp with ranger Mathew following us. While he helped us the sun went considerably down and although we were not far from the camp the help of his Amphaross to light the way was greatly appreciated/
Seraphina was pestering him, asking for tips regarding training of electric type and pokemon in general which he was more than happy to answer. That is one of the differences from Earth that I am still not accustomed to. People in this world are far more amiable than I am used. I suppose that knowing that almost every person you meet has a companion that literally breaks the laws of physics on earth helps to make you more inclined to “chill out” but it seemed deeper than that.
Then again looking at pokemon like Riolu or some of the Eveelution the power of friendship is a real ass thing here.
I was brought out of my musing by the transceiver of ranger Mathew emitting beeping noises causing him to sigh despondently.
“Sorry kids, time for my patrol. Here take this for if your ever need advice or help again. It is my personal contact. I don’t know how long I am staying here so at least you can brag to your friends that you know a Ranger. With capital R please and thank you!”
While he was talking Mienshao was already back out and he called back Amphaross. Probably patrolling with light out was not practical. Before even waiting for our replies, he was back in the trees and jumping away, leaving us surprised and with a slip of paper mechanically grabbed.
“Are all Ranger supposed to move like that?” I asked absentmindedly.
“I don’t think so… either leave the cooking to me.” She moved back to camp, her companion following her this time.
I must admit, watching her cook was interesting. She had Litleo help her and the smell wafting out caused me to salivate before it was even done. Her focus was also something else, a picture of serene beauty with the flickering flame reflecting off of her silvery hair and her pale skin…
Damn this teenage body!
I shook my head and focus on my notes I was writing for the gym challenge and what to do. I still remember how people complained about how linear the Unova region was in the game, but living in it not so much since roads means nothing if you are strong or stupid enough. Experts cannot agree on the exact terminology.
For now, we don’t have much of a choice. After Aspertia, we have to go to Virbank city given that it’s the next gym and settlement. Then we will have to take a boat to Castelia City to face the Bug type Gym leader. That’s where things change. I can either go toward Nimbasa for the Electric Gym or go toward the Narene city…
That’s annoying but I think I will have to leave it to the oh so much wiser future me.
Just then Seraphina caught my attention by leaving a plate with a thick stew and some vegetable to go with the steaming white rice. The smell alone was enough to remind me how hungry I was. With that, we quietly enjoyed the food and for some reason I felt that the respect that Nike had for me decreased but surely that was my imagination. Right?
---
The night went by without much incident and in the morning, we were back on the road. I also didn’t notice the elevation to reach Aspertia before having to make the climb… this was much easier when I was going the other way.
It took us a bit more than half of the day due to the climb and our more relaxed pace compared to yesterday’s. Still moving back inside of the city was surprising because of the sheer number of people present. It was not an insane number of people but still a lot more than a town out of the way would usually get.
My only guess as to why was because the normal type is considered one of the easiest ones to fight against, so a lot of people actually travel to start their journey here. Cheren being new might also play a factor but if they thought that he was easy to defeat they were wrong. I was curious about what Cheren went through in the ‘gap’ between the two-game opus. Turns out Cheren who was obsessed by the type advantage decided to go back to the basics if you will and focus on a normal type team.
He still had his team, but he stayed under the now former gym leader Lenora who was of the normal type. After a while he took time off to go train under Norman in Hoenn thanks no doubt to his connection with Professor Juniper. When he came back, Lenora proposed to the league that he replace her as the normal gym leader. Of course, there was some pushback but in the end the league agreed on the condition that the gym was moved to the south-western part who at the time only had one minor gym. Moving the normal gym there will encourage trainers to visit or so that was the reasoning. Also, with Alder supporting Cheren, he probably was not able to stop the league from putting his hometown on the path between two gyms. Politics
All that to say that Cheren is very much competent so hoping to cheese a win is wishful thinking. Unless of course it is your first gym then you have a more than fair chance. We moved through the street when all of a sudden, Nike disappeared. Or to be more precise, Jeanne teleported in front of me, took advantage of the moment of surprise, took Nike in her arm and disappeared. The sequence was so perfect that I was speechless.
Next to me, Seraphina started panicking and shook me. “Nexon what are you doing! We need to report this to the authorities! We can still catch them.” By that point she actually started to physically drag me away until I stopped her.
“It’s fine. Well, it’s not but it’s ok. Just wait for a bit.”
She looked at me puzzled and still shocked until a Gallade teleported next to us with Nike delicately place in his arm. She hurriedly jumped onto me and wrapped her hair around me for good measure, clearly pouting. Klint for his part did not teleport but simply took a step back. Jeanne came back and tried to snatch Nike again, but her partner locked her arms in a swift motion and disappeared after a brief nod. There is simply no way for a Guardevoir to get away from a physically more powerful Gallade so I think this is the end of it.
“I have so many questions…” I heard next to me.
“I have answers” I state while taking Nike in my arm where she nuzzled in my chest. “But first I think we should go to my home. You can probably stay with us since I doubt, they will have empty rooms in the pokemon center anyway so you can stay with us.” I told her and started to walk toward the home.
Anyway, at this point Klint probably told them that I am not alone so going alone would just end up in me sleeping in the backyard…
On the way, I took my time to explain to Seraphina what just happened. Jeanne was attached to Nike, and it even happened that she kidnaped her form my room at time. Her face kept twitching as I explained and honestly. Fair.
The white walls of the house came into view after walking for a bit. On the roof, Pop’s Staraptor saw us and glided toward us before stopping. His Powerful wings created a gust of wind causing Seraphina to exclaim in surprise. The bird pokemon looked at us before smirking and flying toward the backyard.
I sighed already knowing what would happen. “Let’s go to the backyard that probably where Pops and Nana are. Also let me tell you this first but I am sorry, and you probably want to brace yourself.”
“Wait wha-“
Before she could finish a gruff voice sounded.
“Oh my, oh my! Look who is already back to present us with a girlfriend. What do you think dear? We might get to see additional grandchildren soon.”
“How sweet! It reminds me of when we started dating!” Nana said bring her hand to her cheeks.
The two of them walked out the corner and reached us. I hugged them both and ignored the command because I knew it was coming. I took the opportunity of introducing Seraphina to peak at her face who unfortunately was already reddening.
“First off, Ha Ha verry funny, and second, gross please get a room. Finally, this is Seraphina, we met on the way back so please stop that.”
“N- nice t-to meet you I am Seraphina.” She stuttered a bit but once she realized it was a joke she relaxed.
“Welcome Seraphina. My name is Penelope, and this gentleman is my husband, George.” Pops shook her hand while Nana hugged her. “Also don’t worry about his joke it’s just that it’s not often that Nex brings someone home.”
“Please you know very well the reason is because of this old man’s jokes” I scoffed but everyone ignored me.
“Don’t bother going to the center we always have a couple of empty rooms so you can stay. Also, while you were away Nex the rush reached the town you might want to register a slot for the gym and get comfortable.”
“I hoped that wasn’t the case…” Seraphina sighed. “We should probably go register now then who knows how long we would have to wait.”
We left our stuffs back with Kent who still insisted on acting like a butler for Nana and went toward the gym with our Trainers ID. The Gym itself was actually part of the local school. After the league agreed on the change of location it got expanded to act as the gym. It was located all the way to the north of the town and was in charge of teaching kids but also served as a place where you could train. You could even pay a fee to have a gym trainer assist you.
The lobby for the Gym part was packed with some people having to stand because the seats were full. There was also a queue for the front desk, so we queued up. Just then, I felt something that made a shiver run down my spine. As if something tried to tickle or caress me only it was not physical. And that was the irritating part.
I spun around looking around the room to try and spot what caused it. I was already in high alert but nothing I saw gave me any indication. My mind was protected due to my effort to control my abilities, but it was still possible for a psychic powerful enough to go through. Or a psychic type. Which was strange. Why would someone risk breaking the law to look into my mind? It’s not like I had anything unless…
Did they manage to see some of my memories and slipped? But this is even worse then who knows what they learned. What if I was now in danger because of the knowledge a have? I have no way to know.
By now, I was properly panicking and the world started to spin. Soon, however I felt a small jab of pain on my finger that shocked me enough to divert my attention. And I mean literraly shocked since when I looked down, I saw Shinx looking at me with what seemed like worry and reluctance. It was also then that I noticed Seraphina’s hand on my shoulder and some people looking at me funny.
“Hey, are you alright?” she asked clearly worried.
I took a deep breath to steady myself before replying. “I am fine, thank you. Thank you too Shinx.” I petted the small kitten before standing back up.
“What happened? You started looking around and then you started hyperventilating. I tried calling your name, but you weren’t responding until Nike said something to Shinx. Sorry about the zap.”
Only now did I realize that Nike was hugging my head firmly. Due to her light weight, I often forget that she is up there.
“Thank you, girl! As for what happened… I don’t really know. I thought I felt something but…” checking around there was nothing amiss and even the other stopped paying attention to me.
Did i imagine it?
After that nothing in particular happened. I stayed on my guard but that proved to be unneeded. We reached the of the line after a handful of minutes.
“Welcome to the Gym, how many badge do you have?” the dark-haired clerk asked us mechanically.
“We both have no badges.” Seraphina said and he nodded.
“The gym is busy currently so the first slot available is in 3 days. Morning of Afternoon?”
“Afternoon.” We said in unison which finally got the clerk to look at us.
“There is a 30 minutes wait between matches. Be aware that the time you are given might vary because of that. You will not be held accountable if your match was supposed to happen earlier due to faster matches, but you might have to wait a bit more in case we take someone else. I also have to warn you that we recommend coming 10 minutes before the start. Failure to present yourself within 10 minutes after the official start will be considered a loss and you will have to pay the customary fines. Understood?” he rattled all of that in a particularly bored tone.
“No problem” I said.
“Perfect!” Seraphina said.
We handed him our IDs and he went to type on the computer in front of him. Seraphina will go first and got the slot for 3 pm. For my slot he seemed to hesitate for a second before handing back my ID and the reservation for 3:30. Both will be public battles so we can spectate each other.
I glanced one last time inside the gym before going home with Seraphina. She still seemed worried about what happened but I myself was not sure but after thinking about it, I doubt anyone got access to my mind. I was agitated at first but after calming down, I realized that what I felt was not deep enough. If they were already scanning my thoughts and ‘flinched’ because of surprise it would have been more than a tickle…
I mean what are the chance that someone is skilled enough to skim through the mind of someone with two lifetimes-worth of managing psychic power in an out of the way town. Sure, it could also be a pokemon, but I somehow doubted that. One thing was certain, however, and that was that something was going on and I just did not know what. But I at least knew to be more vigilant.
Moving back to the house was a fast affair. Leaving us ample time to discuss with Nana and Pops what happened after I met Seraphina. Once we got home, seraphina moved her stuff to the guest room and we were in the backyard after that allowing for the pleasant conversation to take place in the shade.
Jeanne was happy because she got to fuss over Nike without Klint restraining her. They seemed to be talking about something interesting and I could only hope that Nike wouldn’t let slip what happened with Skoll given that Pops would undoubtedly know if she did. Speaking of the fighting type, he was currently pestering Klint to fight him which unfortunately for him, he was not very fond of. Despite that he made the effort to respond to my pokemon.
Litleo was curled on Seraphina’s lap and enjoying the petting through his burgeoning mane and letting his contentment known. Shinx had long ran off to follow after Nana’s blue-flowered Florgess. The fairy type was particularly fond of young pokemon and the only reason she was not fussing about Nike was because she was in Kalos where she helped one of Nana’s acquaintances taking care of a field of Flabebe and Floette.
The back yard garden was garden only in name because in truth, while the two of them did not care for a big house, a big garden was a must to house their different pokemon. This resulted in a situation where the land around was pretty much turned into a mini park. With their pokemon keeping the peace, even some wild pokemon moved it which the old coots were more than happy to accommodate.
And so, surrounded by pokemon and enjoying ourselves, we had a peaceful and relaxed day to wind down from the travel. Tomorrow, the training will pick back up for the gym.
*
The clerk watch as the two young trainers made their way out of the building, probably going to a pokecenter to wait their turn. He hesitated once he the young man turn around and scanning the room one last time and wondered if perhaps, he had made a mistake when handling him. Ultimately, his fears were for naught as the blue-eyed young man turned around, causing him to let out a breath he didn’t noticed he was holding.
Of course, as a true professional he kept the line moving even when he kept an eye for the pair. The young girl had been unremarkable, just you regular beginner so he glossed over her, barely remembering her feature after the second registration. The young man registration had caught him off guard. Once he entered the trainer Id the system had a additional pop-up showing that this ID had been flagged by the higher up for whatever reason and he was to report to the Gym leader no less.
It did not take long for a colleague to replace him after he pressed the silent button for the irregular break. He was trained to maintain a professional appearance all the time, but he had slipped up at first. It was negligible but a sign that he needed to train more, nonetheless. After explaining to his colleague that he would just make a report and come back to finish his shift he moved swiftly, avoiding any questions. If the message said to notify the Gym Leader, you didn’t blabber about it to make small talk.
Thankfully, a match just ended so the leader was free and a few second for a knock and answer was all it took. The gym leader was young for any standard. Not the youngest but young. His sharp feature a serious air however through any concern about age out the window and in Garbodor. Sitting behind the desk, the young man had black hair and no matter how many times he saw it, the unruly strand of hair poking on the top of his head ruined his serious looks.
“Gym Leader Cheren. One of the ID for the match has been flagged in the system and I was instructed to directly report to you.” He stated.
At the same time, he handed him the document of the trainer that he had taken the time to print on his way here. The young leader took it in his hand and scanned the document, his expression changing ever so slightly.
“Thank you and keep up the good work. Also see that no one disturbs me for the next few minutes.” he said neutrally.
“Yes sir!” after bidding goodbye to the leader he went on his way.
The leader was probably making a call and if he didn’t want to be disturbed that mean he would probably use the soundproofing system. There were only so many people that would have the leader take these precautions. A member of the Elite four or the Champion himself. While he really wanted to know what was going on with that young trainer, he was not nearly stupid enough to try an spy on a gym leader making a call to some of the most powerful individuals in the region. It was also well above his paygrade to worry about that.
But there was no need to fret about who the Gym Leader was calling. After all, he had his own call to make.