Entry 2

Hi, it’s Barry again. Leaving home was bittersweet, but I still remember the hope I felt taking those first steps away from Aspertia. The look on Hugh’s face as he talked about the pokemon he wanted. The smell of the Autumn breeze. Those first steps never left my memory, even now as I write 10 years later. So much has happened since then… Yet even now so many years later one moment stands out among the rest, as if a nail was driven into my memory. A moment that didn’t even last a second, and yet Hugh and I still believe it defined what our journey would be like. Thinking about it makes me feel smaller than I ever have.

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Barry

Hugh and I were just entering the Aspertia City Connector, a large man made tunnel that connects cities to routes. They aren’t very common in smaller towns but nearly every city with at least 10 thousand people has one.

“Hugh, Barry! I need to stop you both right there, you know you aren’t allowed out into the tall grass without pokemon. Turn back around boys before I tell your mothers.” Ms. Felia chides.

This isn’t the first time she catches us trying to go out onto the route. Hugh and I used to think that if we could sneak past her, we could finally get our own pokemon and start our journey early.

“But Ms. Felia, we both have our own pokemon now!” I claim, gesturing to the pokeballs on our belt. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she began to motion us over to her desk.

“Why ain’t that a treat, so you boys are finally getting started huh? Well come here, I have a present for you both. I had this ready since the first day you two tried sneaking by me, looking ready to take on the world only for you to trip on each other. It still amazes me that you made it so far down the tunnel.” Ms. Felia says, her eyes shining as she looks up to the ceiling. “Well, here you are. 2 potions for the both of you, and 5 pokeballs. My treat. Now get out there and make Aspertia proud!”

“Thank you Ms. Felia!”

“Yeah, Thank you Ms. Felia! We really appreciate it! We completely forgot to stock up on supplies!” Hugh adds, rubbing his head as he realizes we forgot to buy anything.

Ms Felia’s eye twitches barely hearing that we didn’t buy any supplies. “Oh so help me Arceus.. What do you mean you didn’t buy anything? You have been preparing for years and now you’re finally walking away and you don’t even have pokeballs?” Our shoulders slouch a little as Ms. Felia continues to lecture, before she finally lets out a breath and waves us on.

We wave at Ms. Felia as we continue walking down the tunnel, a long narrow connector between route and city. Mom says they’ve been up ever since she was a little girl, but that stories were told of what life used to be like without the walls. The tunnel is the only way in and out of cities now, and each one is protected by a different ACE Trainer, like Ms. Felia.

The light at the end gets brighter as we exit, and it gets brighter, and brighter. Eventually Hugh grabs me by my arm, and I look over to see him looking up with wide, scared eyes. I follow his gaze to a small white pokemon with a large, yellow, 3 point star on its head and small blue tags at each end. I freeze immediately, time itself coming to a stop with me. A powerful chant begins to ring out, like a million choirs singing at once.

YOU WHO DO NOT BELONG ON THIS MORTAL PLANE

WHO GAINS BELONGING FIGHTING IN VAIN

DO AS YOU ONCE DID, GO AGAINST THE GRAIN

NOT MERELY A MORTAL, BROUGHT IN PAIN

BELONG TO THE GODS, THE BLOOD OF OUR VEIN

ON MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS

THIS IS BUT THE BEGINNING, YOUR IDEALS BRING RAIN

MORTAL STRUGGLES, SEEK TRUTH OR SEE FLAME

PLANES FROZEN ASUNDER, YOU WILL FOREVER REMAIN

My vision darkens, before a bright flash takes over and my sight is returned. “BOYS! BOYS! ARE YOU OK!” I hear behind us, turning around to see Ms. Felia sprinting forward. “Both of you just went completely still, what happened?” I turned to Hugh, hoping that maybe he would have something to say. I choke up as I see him, standing next to me looking so pale he was nearly translucent.

“Hugh?” I said, moving closer to nudge his shoulder, “Are you ok dude? Did you catch all of that?” He gives a slight nod, still frozen. I breathe out, an audible sigh of relief escaping, before turning to Ms. Felia. “I’m not sure, I think a pokemon just appeared. Everything was so bright, it was so powerful I couldn’t even move. It… spoke to me. In my head. Then it just disappeared.” I explained, trying to process.

“That’s not good, it sounds like you might have met a legendary pokemon, and rarely do they appear before humans. Do you know what it looked like?” Ms. Felia asked.

“It was small and white, and it looked like it had a star on its head? I don’t know, I didn’t know pokemon could even get that strong. How do we even protect ourselves against them?” I asked, scared of what she might say, remembering what the pokemon said about this just being the beginning.

“You can’t. Legendary pokemon move mountains, they cause thunderstorms of regional proportions, wildfires, they are natural disasters, and the worst part is usually all they do is pass by. The last time a legend was angered… Well, you remember those earthquakes we felt 3 years ago? The ones rumored to have come from Hoenn? Rumor has it, some group had tried to awaken a legendary off the coast of Hoenn to terraform the world. We don’t know how, and we don’t know what stopped it. Listen to me Barry, the next time you think you are in the presence of a legendary? You run, or you do as they say. Do NOT attempt to fight or catch. You understand me?” Ms. Felia finished, her tone deadly serious.

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I nod my head in agreement, still in shock. I look over to Hugh and see the color has returned to his face, his breath coming more frequently. I tap his shoulder and he looks over, taking a deep breath, “I can’t believe that just happened. Barry, we need to get strong. We need to get really strong. I’m leaving now, I want to meet this trainer as soon as possible and get started with Tepig’s training. I hope that you will join us.” Hugh says, sounding impatient.

“Ok, that’s fine Hugh can we please talk abo-.” I stop as Hugh begins sprinting in the direction of Floccesy town, showing no signs of turning back.. I couldn’t believe it. Did he hear the legendary speak to him as well? I wasn’t sure. Guess I’ll see him soon when I make it to Floccesy, but I really wanted to try and figure out what the powerful legendary meant, maybe he could know more.

Hugh

Hugh ran faster than he ever had in his life. He didn’t know what he had just seen but it was still difficult to even think about what he had been shown. Pokemon so strong and large they moved mountains, or destroyed them utterly. There was no fighting them as he was now. He would be split apart in seconds.

Hugh was terrified. He knew he did not have the strength to help as he is now. Seeing the sheer magnitude of destruction, he wasn’t sure it was possible he ever could. But he knew one thing. In order to accomplish his goals, to move forward and finally find the one he lost, he had to become the strongest. Like a wildfire was lit inside his chest, his focus became singular. Hugh was going to stop all of it from happening, and if he collapsed on the path towards his goals, then he was never meant to accomplish them anyways.

Hugh saw Floccesy town in sight, and began to increase his speed through the grass. As he was passing by the cliff, a large orange haired man in rags jumped down in front of him, a stern yet gentle face. “Ah, hello there young man. What are you in such a hurry for? Do you not see the beautiful sights and Pokemon around us?”

Hugh comes to a stop, breathing hard as he tries to find an answer. How does one explain the end of the world? “I need to get my training started as soon as possible. I just realized that. I don’t have the time I thought I would.”

“Well it’s mighty fine to see a young trainer already putting their head to the grindstone so early. Word of advice for you kid? Less is more. Don’t burn yourself out with too many expectations, it can take many years to accomplish their goals. Being motivated is a good thing, but what happens when there is nothing left to do?” The old man replies, the crows feet tightening around his eyes as if he was remembering something painful, “Yes, do your best to grow strong young man, but do not forget who you are. Do not forget that your health matters too. Now go on, I can see your impatience building.”

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Barry

Ms. Felia stayed around for a while lecturing me on good habits and keeping clean as I thought about my next steps. She seemed antsy as she spoke, her face was slightly scrunched and her hands kept fidgeting by her left pocket.

Not a few moments later a call comes in, saving me from being lectured about subjects I’ve studied for years. “Hello? Hi yes sir this is ACE Natalie Felia. No I am not alone, I am with a young trainer. We need to speak.”

Ms. Felia turns to me and waves me on, turning on her heel back to her post with notes she took after Hugh ran off. I wave goodbye, turning back to the path towards Floccesy Town. I looked around, enjoying the scenery on the route, however the more I walked, the more anxious I got. Looking down, I unclasp Snivy’s pokeball from his belt and release him on the ground next to me.

“Sniiivvyyy, Snivy?”

“I’m ok buddy just feeling a little jumpy, I kind of wanted to talk about what just happened with you, this is going to affect you just as much as me.” I begin to explain to Snivy about the mysterious message that the legendary Pokemon had given me. I was anxious about how to proceed and what I needed to do to hopefully try and fulfill whatever tasks it seems the deity believed I owed it.

“I think we need to become much stronger than before. A level nobodies seen before. I was a little apprehensive of accepting my moms help so early in the journey but I guess she was right, we need to meet that trainer Hugh ran off to, and then we need to talk with Hugh about what we heard. It’s going to be hard, I don’t know if we will ever have an extended break for a long time, but I have a feeling I was meant to do this. We were meant to do this. Are you with me Snivy?” I ask, unwilling to bring Snivy along to his possible end.

“Snivy. SNIVY!” Snivy exclaimed, steadfast and seemingly uncaring of anything that would find its way in front of our path.

I couldn’t help but smile at my starter's loyalty. We were going to do amazing things together. There was still so much I had left to tell him but until I could properly understand why I knew so much information about pokemon and famous trainers and groups around the world, I don’t think I should tell anyone. They might actually be able to convince me that I’m crazy.

“So I’ve been thinking that maybe we could figure out a name for you? A symbol, a way to set yourself apart from the pack. Now I might be getting ahead of myself but how would you like the name Moss? It sounds almost like mas you know, which means more in Paldean.”

Snivy becomes thoughtful, pondering the name heavily before giving a swift nod.

“Alright Moss! Now let's start walking, the days are moving and I’m willing to bet Hugh’s already hit the town already, maybe we can beat him to the trainer. WHAT SAY YOU!” I yell, hitting a crouch and pointing at Snivy.

Moss starts to laugh, jumping side to side until he settles into a light circular dance. Pure joyful emotion seemed to exude, “Sni-vy!- Sni-vy!” He chanted on and on excitedly. Purple and yellow sparks began to envelop Snivy but quickly disappeared as the small grass type lost his focus on his dance. Moss looked around confused almost like he was trying to find out where they ran off to. .

“WOAH! Moss, what was that buddy? It almost looked like you were using a move. Have you ever done that before?” I ask, excitement brewing. I knew Moss would eventually evolve to gain a dragon typing but this seemed far too early to be using any of those moves. Alas, Moss gave me a cute unknowing look, as if it had no idea what I could be referring to.

“Never mind that buddy, let's get going! We have a bit of a way to go until we make it to the ranch. Look, we can already see the cliff! Come on, up we go.” I say, picking Moss up from where he had curled into itself on the grassy edges of the route. With Moss by my side, the path to greatness felt ever smaller.

CHAPTER BLOOPER:

“Hugh?” I said, moving closer to nudge his shoulder, “Are you ok dude? Did you catch all of that?” He gives a slight nod, still frozen. I breathe out, an audible sigh of relief escaping, before turning to Ms. Felia. “Is it too late to call our mothers?”

Sorry about how long this took to post, Its been ready for the most part, I just wanted to finish editing but it got away from me for a few weeks. Next chapter we will be meeting Alder and heading into the town and then the ranch to find Hugh. Leave a review of what you thought.