Shortly after Alec and Auster exited the distortion, the clouds thinned and evaporated back into the sky, leaving no trace of the hellscape that they previously contained. All the enraged Pokemon inside vanished too, alongside all the damage they caused to the environment. All that was left was the heavy rain around them.
Alec sat on a nearby rock, feeling the cold air move in and out of his lungs, enjoying the simple comfort. He took tall, deep draughts of air, his chest rising and falling, in an effort to settle his raging heart rate. Occasionally, he’d raise his arm to wipe the rainwater from his eyes and hair. Eventually, the storm began to dry up as the last remnants of the cloud cover vanished into the sky. Alec’s heavy clothes hung to his form. The gleaming sun reemerging snapped him out of his trance, forcing him to blink the brightness from his eyes.
“Dartrix?” Auster chirped inquisitively, curiously hopping over to him to check if he was okay. He tilted his head, eyes heavy with concern.
Alec met his gaze with an open-mouthed grin, still panting. Of all the bizarre things to happen to him, this was the most unbelievable. He couldn’t exactly physically show it at the moment but he was bursting with joy.
A feeling of pride shoved his worry and exhaustion aside, filling him with happy thoughts for Auster. As a Rowlet, he’d already been very strong and majestic, but now he was even more so.
He really cares for me so much that he’d evolve to save me, Alec thought. Seeing me in danger finally pushed him over the brink of surpassing his limits.
Auster hopped closer and extended a wing to Alec, resting it on his shoulder. With Alec sitting down hunched over, there was only about a foot of height difference between their eye levels. Auster looked up to Alec with worry in his eyes.
Alec finally got his stubborn breathing pattern under control. “Yeah, I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. Look at you!” he said happily. “I can’t believe it, you evolved!"
Content with Alec’s assurance, Auster stepped back and grinned pridefully. Though they were doused in the rain, the wind ruffled his feathers, making him look like an action movie hero striking a pose.
“What move did you use back there? Some kind of kick? Was that a Fighting-type move?” he asked. Auster’s new body had longer legs, as opposed to the little talons he’d had as a Rowlet. They seemed very muscular, perfect for dishing out fierce kicks.
Auster chirped excitedly, undoubtedly explaining the move in his incomprehensible language. While Alec did know a fair bit about Pokemon, he definitely wasn’t an encyclopedia on the subject. He didn’t have the entire catalog of moves memorized. Alec cracked a grin at Auster’s animated movements. After Auster finished, he said, “I can’t wait to test it out. Let’s head back to camp for the night.”
As the adrenaline slowly trickled out of their bloodstreams, both of them began to realize just how tired they were. Alec felt like a balloon with a leak, helium slowly escaping and growing heavier and heavier. Looking around, the rainwater had mixed with the dirt, forming mud and washing away even the traces of his footprints. He huffed, somewhere halfway between a sigh and a laugh, at how every trace of the experience was gone. Not even any of those strange objects he’d found scattered on the ground were left.
“Wait a sec,” Alec mused aloud, reaching down into his satchel. The strange box that he’d picked up was still in his satchel, strangely enough. Now that he had a moment of calm, he inspected it closer.
It had five red sides and one silver one, with the whole thing being made out of some indiscernible and sturdy polished metal that shone in the sunlight. It weighed about as much as an oran berry. Despite the intense glow radiating from the inside, it still felt lukewarm to the touch.
Still, the large hole on the silver side shone with the energy of a condensed star, and Alec dared not poke around in there with his finger. If the light was strong enough to leave purple spots in his eyes, he figured that there was some power contained inside. Well, he didn’t have any use for it now, so he slipped it back into his satchel for safekeeping.
He checked his necklace watch, wiping the water droplets off the glass. 5:21. He only had about an hour and a half of daylight left. Regardless of what happened, he had to get back to camp before nightfall. He had no choice but to press on.
Auster chirped in agreement. Due to his evolution, Auster was now far too big to sit on his shoulder like he used to. He flew down and hovered next to Alec, trying to find a way to make it work.
Alec snorted. “Bud, you’re too big now for my shoulder. Here, you can ride on my arm for a bit. I can’t hold you for too long, though.”
He held his arm out straight, for Auster to perch on. He felt a slight pinch as his new talons clutched into his arm, only cushioned by the soaked sleeve of his hoodie. “Careful, don’t grip me too hard,” he warned. Auster shuffled slightly, relaxing his grip a little bit.
As they walked, Alec reached up and stroked Auster under the chin, eliciting a low warble as he leaned in. They walked in silence for about fifteen minutes, heading toward Jubilife, to the clearing where Alec made camp, each one content to process the events of the distortion in silence.
Eventually, Alec spoke up. “Thanks for saving me,” he mumbled. “I don’t know what else to say. I froze up, and I would’ve died if you weren’t there.”
Auster chirped in a determined voice. “And I’ll do it again,” he seemed to say. They continued to walk in silence for a little while longer.
Alec tilted his head back, yawning heavily. Today had been a long day and he was entirely exhausted.
By now, they were far away from Deetrack Island. The peak of the island still dominated the horizon but they were closer to Aspiration Hill, nearly to the land bridge connecting the two areas. He could faintly see the tips of Jubilife’s watchtowers on the horizon, though he could be mistaking trees for them.
“Alec!” a male voice shouted out in front of him. It snapped Alec from his train of thought and back into reality. He looked around and quickly spotted movement on Aspiration Hill, running toward him. Immediately, he felt a sense of unease at being around another person. In all honesty, he’d rather be alone right now.
He squinted, using his other hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Soon, he identified the person-shape, silhouetted by the setting sun.
“What is that on your arm?” Rei asked as he ran up. “I’ve never seen it before.”
“A Dartrix. Auster evolved,” Alec replied. Auster trilled pridefully, spreading his wings and showing off his plumage to Rei.
“Really? Congratulations! Anyways, have you seen anything strange around here?” asked Rei, with a slight pant in his voice, taking no notice of Alec’s exhaustion. “Like weird purple clouds appearing out of nowhere? It’s urgent.”
Alec furrowed his brows and blinked a few times. Well, he’d just have to get this conversation over with, and then he could leave and be alone back at camp. “Uh, yeah actually. Just over on Deertrack Island.”
Immediately, Rei’s eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hands. “Did you go near it?” he asked suddenly, a worried edge to his voice. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
“I didn’t exactly have a choice to go near it. Heh, it kinda formed on top of me,” Alec replied, an air of sarcastic laughter in his voice. Despite his halfhearted attempt at a sarcastic joke, he wasn’t smiling.
Rei annoyingly answered a question that hadn’t been asked. “We call ‘em space-time distortions. They started appearing a little after the rift appeared, and come back about twice a month. One of Jubilife’s scouts reported seeing one so I headed over to watch from a distance. How in Sinnoh’s name did you make it out?”
Alec pointed toward Auster. “Mostly thanks to this guy. Tricky fought off a Haunter and Auster saved me from a Glaceon. I probably wouldn’t have made it out in one piece if they weren’t there to protect me.”
Rei shuddered. “Are you hurt?”
Alec internally sighed. “No. A little rattled, but I’m fine.” Alec grabbed Auster’s Pokeball from his belt, recalling him. He needed to get back to camp.
“You don’t sound fine, though. Here, follow me back to the village. I’m sure Joyce would be happy to double-check.”
Alec shook his head, growing irritated. “I told you, I’m not hurt at all, I promise. I’ve got to go back to camp.” He tried to turn and push past Rei, who grabbed him by the arm. Alec stared incredulously at Rei, who only gripped him harder.
“No,” Rei said, a little more forcefully this time. “You’re soaking wet, and you could catch a cold. Plus, you could easily be hurt somewhere and not notice it. Let’s go, it won’t take long.”
“My body’s good against stuff like colds, I’m not worried. Let go of me,” he glared. He wrestled his arm out of Rei’s grip and stalked off, huffing angrily.
Why was Rei so concerned about him? He thought back to their small argument at Joyce’s, while Alec was healing after his fight with Kleavor. Rei had seemed upset that Alec had dared to get hurt. And this time, Alec wasn’t even hurt!
He probably thought Alec charged right into the distortion to save some defenseless and weak Pokemon from the evil clutches of a frenzied one. While he definitely wished he was some kind of superhero, there’s no way he could be like that in real life. On top of being flat-out wrong, Rei had no business concerning himself with Alec’s well-being. He shook his head as he walked off, chuckling dryly at how ridiculous he was acting.
“Why do you even care?” he asked, putting a dramatic edge into his voice. His eyelids felt like they each weighed as much as a fully-grown Snorlax. He huffed out a humorless laugh. “It’s not like my death would inconvenience you or anything.”
Rei stiffened and inhaled sharply. “Please,” he begged. His voice had the inflection and fierceness of a shout but with the volume and desperation of a whisper. Alec immediately stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Humor me. Please.”
Alec rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
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The fire in Joyce’s hearth crackled warmly. Alec sat with his legs crossed, wrapped in a towel, a few feet in front of it. He silently held his hands out, warming his fingertips and feeling the heat spread throughout his body. His soaked clothes hung above the fire to dry.
As Rei said, Joyce had been happy to keep it going for a little while longer. He’d been frustrated at Rei for being so insistent on bringing him here, but once he sat down in front of the warm fire, he realized that he’d been unreasonable.
They’d walked back to Jubilife in silence. Alec spent most of the walk staring at his shoes, trusting his sense of direction to lead him in the right direction. But his mind was elsewhere, frustratedly replaying his argument, seething at what had happened.
Yeah, it was a little bit annoying that Rei was so stubborn, but in retrospect, it was heartwarming that he cared so strongly about him, even after only knowing him for a month or so. Now that he was off his feet, warm, and comfortable, he realized just how tired he was. And he knew that, while tired, he never made the right decisions.
Alec sighed, contemplating his actions as he sat. The worst part about being wrong was the moment of introspection where you truly realized that you’d been the one out of line. Alec never had a problem with narcissism or hubris, but apologizing was a large and bitter pill to swallow regardless. And he’d done it often.
With no one else in the room, he was truly alone with his thoughts. Auster and Tricky slept nearby. They were out like a light within minutes of Alec releasing them. The fire illuminated their faces and cast long, comforting shadows behind them. The little Shinx was curled up right by Alec’s feet and Alec absentmindedly petted him. His necklace was still cold on his skin.
Joyce had said he could stay as long as he needed to, but she’d required that he smother the fire and lock the office once he was done. She’d returned to her house for the night. Slowly, the singular log in the hearth ran out and reduced to ash and Alec wasn’t sure if he should add another.
Part of him wanted to stay here forever, where it was comfortable and safe. The part that had frozen up when the Glaceon appeared, back in the distortion.
“Everything’s better here,” it promised. “As long as you’re comfortable, nothing else matters.” He’d learned to ignore that voice throughout his voice and its many false promises. Even back home, he didn’t exactly have a life where he could afford to listen to it for too long.
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When the Glaceon phased into existence back in the distortion, it said, “There’s nothing you can do to stop this, you might as well give up,” and it nearly succeeded in convincing him that time. It was right, there was nothing he could do.
But when his strength failed, his teammates were there to pick up the slack. They worked together, greater than the sum of their parts.
A few feet above the fire hung all his clothes. Joyce had also been gracious enough to lend him a towel to cover himself with so he could dry the rainwater out of them. He stood up, grabbing his clothes piece-by-piece and putting them on. The comfort could wait till he got home. To his real home. Right now, he had work to do and places to be.
Soon, he was fully clothed and ready to go. The log only had a few embers left smoldering, so he grabbed the nearby shovel she’d instructed him to use and heaped some dirt atop the log. He silently watched it for a little while longer to ensure that it was truly extinguished.
Auster and Tricky were still peacefully asleep on the floor. Alec smiled at the cute scene, the peacefulness and serenity between the two.
He’d figured out previously that he could recall them into their Pokeballs while they were sleeping and not wake them up. He’d only have to remember to release them somewhere safe and not in battle because they’d likely still be asleep when he released them next. Careful not to make any noise, he raised their balls and recalled them back.
The next time I see Rei, he thought, I’m going to apologize to him. I shouldn’t have talked to him that way. I was in the wrong.
He checked his watch. 9:32. Right about now, the nocturnal Pokemon would be emerging from their homes to hunt, so Alec would have to be careful as he left Jubilife.
He opened the door and exhaled deeply as the cold wind immediately swept past him.
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As the night sky twinkled above, Alec slept soundly at his campsite. He breathed softly and peacefully.
The moon shone down from above, barely illuminating the campsite. Beneath its faint astral glow, Alec held his two Pokemon tight as they all slept. He’d since grown used to the uncomfortable conditions. Most days, he was so tired that he simply passed out, not even bothering to concern himself with his own comfort.
This evening was absolutely one of those days. As soon as he arrived at the campsite, he released his Pokemon and collapsed, out like a light. He just unfurled his bedroll that he’d bought from Anvin and climbed inside, allowing his Pokemon to join him inside. He never even bothered to start a fire or to leave any food out for whoever kept taking it.
But the aforementioned one taking the food was understandably upset he’d forgotten such a crucial part of his evening routine.
She’d waited right by the spot where he always slept for about two hours! She’d crouched in that bush and suffered its prickly and itchy leaves. It took some serious willpower not to reveal herself with her laughter when the boy finally wandered in. He seemed rather tired, like a dead man walking. She wondered what had happened today to wear him out so much.
Judging by the position of the moon, he was considerably late today. What had taken him so long? The anticipation of waiting left a new and unknown feeling tightening in her chest. She almost felt… Bothered? Apprehensive? Distracted? She didn’t know the right word to describe it.
The feeling was strange, not one she’d felt very often. The longer she waited, the more uneasy she felt, like a snowball rolling down a hill that would soon bury her.
She watched curiously as he sat down and released his two Pokemon from their containers. They manifested on the dirt ground, sleeping soundly. Seeing the two so blatantly let their guard down around this human heaped another load onto the already mountain-high pile of confusion in her brain, all stemmed from this boy.
“Thanks for your help today, guys,” the boy said. He spoke quietly, so as to not wake them. “I’m so lucky to have partners as awesome as you.”
Partners? she thought. Ah, this was that human tradition where they captured Pokemon and subjugated them. This boy must have a gross misunderstanding of how the system works, thinking it was even comparable to a partnership. Laughable.
But what she’d seen seemed to run directly perpendicular, contrary to the stories that she’d heard, of Pokemon suffering and unhappiness spreading like a plague. Of injustice and death reaching to the edges of the land, heralded by the humans.
This boy’s idea of a partnership seemed more comparable to the partnerships back in her pack, where multiple of her brethren went off to hunt together. They’d learned that hunting in pairs or small groups tended to produce better results.
When the boy laid down to sleep, her mouth fell open in shock. He’d forgotten to set out the handful of berries! After she’d waited for as long as she did!
Humans. So untrustworthy. Why do I even bother, she scoffed, rolling her eyes.
With a huff, she leaped from her bush and silently stalked up to him. He’d fallen asleep with his head leaning up against the log he normally sat on, with that strange cloth pulled over the top of his head. His mouth was open and he snored lightly.
I’ll just have to do it myself, if he fell asleep so quickly, she thought. Slowly, she opened his satchel. Surely this was where he kept the berries, she’d seen him reach inside multiple times before. With careful dexterity, she popped open the clasp and peered inside.
To her pleasure, there was an oran berry right on the top! She snickered in mischievous success, unable to help herself. It was so simple, taking such important items from a stupid human. One who was trained to let their defenses down so often.
As she held it in her mouth and turned to leave, a cold breeze blew through the camp. She stopped in her tracks.
She wasn’t bothered by it; she’d grown up in the icelands, where every waking moment was colder than an Abomasnow’s backside. But she hadn’t been there in a long time, and she couldn’t go back, either.
For a moment, she was back there. Back in the icelands where nothing seemed to go wrong, back in the days when she was happy. And just as quickly as Tornadus sent the breeze toward her, he pulled it away, leaving her trembling. The oran berry fell from her mouth and rolled to a stop a distance away from her, thumping on the dirt with a noise that seemed loud enough to awaken the entire forest, echoing through the stillness and tranquility of the night.
She turned and looked up at the boy. What if she woke him up? He’d surely see her stealing and attack her!
With bated breath, she stared at his sleeping body. The brief breath that she gasped in felt somehow even louder than the noise the berry made. Suddenly, every noise the forest made seemed to grow in intensity, threatening to pull the boy into wakefulness. Internally, she swore vengeance against the Kricketune whose late-night singing might barely cross the threshold and cause him to stir.
He briefly stirred, but otherwise did not move. For what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only seven seconds, she watched, wide-eyed, as neither the boy nor his two Pokemon stirred.
Once she was fully confident that it was safe to risk taking a footstep, she slowly began to creep away. She spared a glance back at the boy, just to be safe and ensure he hadn’t stirred.
He was, in fact, still sleeping. Sleeping while holding his two Pokemon tight, one in each arm. Initially, she’d thought it was some mechanism for sharing warmth, but something told her that wasn’t the case.
The way the boy held that Dartrix and Shinx tight and they embraced him back was the greatest enigma she’d ever seen. It once again evoked an unknown emotion deep in her chest, one that she also didn’t know the word for. The previous unknown emotion felt like it demanded action, telling her that something was wrong and that she should go try and fix it. This, however, felt like the exact opposite, like the absence of any action, like the bastard child of jealousy and nostalgia.
Unable to process such feelings, she grabbed the berry and dove into the brush, disappearing into the night.
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The next morning, the sound of rustling trees woke Alec up. Beams of brilliant sun shone through the tree canopy from above, illuminating the world around him and signifying that morning had long passed.
Alec groaned, rolling over and squinting his eyes through the brightness. His muscles were sore and he had a bad taste in his mouth, all signs of waking up the wrong way. He sat up, disoriented.
Slowly, as the blurry world transformed into clarity, he took in his surroundings. He was at his campsite, just outside of Jubilife, and his two Pokemon were also just waking up.
Despite sleeping in as late as he did, Alec regardless felt like he’d only slept for a handful of minutes. What little rest he had was fleeting, like a gambler at a casino returning to the table with his winnings, ready to lose them again.
He smiled as Tricky shook himself awake and barked happily, chipper and ready to start the day. He felt a pang of envy for his ability to wake up so easily as he rubbed his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Morning,” he croaked, surprised at the coarseness of his voice. Tricky replied cheerfully, stretching his legs.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Shi shi shi!”
“Lucky. I slept awfully.”
“Shinx…, shinx shi.”
Alec nodded sagely, again pretending to know exactly what Tricky was saying. It was kind of fun, just nodding along with his Pokemon and holding one-sided conversations with them. Tricky knew that Alec had no idea what he said. Alec kneeled down and scratched him behind his large ears, causing the little Shinx to lean in and purr.
Alec stood up and shot a glance toward Auster, who was still half-asleep. Once he confirmed this, he spoke in a hushed whisper. “Listen, you’re gonna have to keep this a secret, but I want to do something for Auster since he evolved. We’re gonna go to the market this morning, and I’ll buy some nice food and we’ll have a celebration of sorts. What do you say?”
Tricky’s face broke into a wide smile and he turned in circles a few times, barking happily and crackling with sparks. “Shhhh,” Alec warned in a whisper-shout. “Don’t wake him up or spoil the surprise.”
He checked his watch and audibly groaned when he realized it said 10:43. How had he slept in this long?
“I know I was exhausted yesterday,” he muttered, “but this is something else. I must’ve slept for at least nine hours.”
All throughout his life, Alec had never been one to stay up crazy late and sleep in, even during school breaks. Even here in Hisui, when he was exhausted every night, he’d always tried his hardest to keep a normal sleep schedule. However, it had experienced some anomalies, such as when he decided to stay up late to hunt some nocturnal Pokemon for the Pokedex. Laventon had told him previously that ones like Gastly and Drifblim could only be found late at night.
When he stooped over to grab his satchel off from where it leaned against the log, he tilted his head in confusion. Strange, he thought. Why is the clasp undone?
He shrugged, unbothered. I probably forgot to buckle it shut last night, or something. It reminded him of how he used to wake up to find the clasp undone and a few berries missing, taken by some mysterious Pokemon during the night. It had immediately stopped after he started leaving the berries out for it, so it probably wasn’t that. He slung it over his shoulder and fastened the clasp shut, not noticing how it was exactly one oran berry lighter.
I miss coffee, he thought as he waited for Auster to wake up, before recalling both his Pokemon and setting out for the village.
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The rest of his morning was rather uneventful, apart from his pride in Auster’s evolution. He let him ride on his arm as he did his usual routine, stopping by Laventon’s to drop off the Pokemon he caught.
The guard at Jubilife’s gate did briefly stop him because he didn’t recognize Auster. Alec quickly explained what happened and was let into the village without a hitch and given a hearty congratulations.
It’s strange how nobody recognized Auster’s evolution, Alec thought. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen any other wild Rowlet around, either. Maybe it was because Rowlet was an unknown species of Pokemon to the people here.
The species was native to Alola, yet Laventon was familiar enough with them to place them at the very front of the Pokedex. In fact, the very first page of the Pokedex held a sketch of Auster as a Rowlet and the second would soon contain one of him as a Dartrix.
Regretfully, Alec didn’t remember Dartrix’s final evolution. He didn’t remember anything about Tricky’s future evolutions either, besides that the evolutions were named “Luxio” and “Luxray”. He was excited to grow alongside his team as he continued to explore Hisui.
The first thing on his itinerary was to stop by Laventon’s lab and drop off the Pokemon he caught yesterday. Due to the distortion taking up a major chunk of his day, his haul was lackluster compared to his normal work. Regardless, Laventon had told him that a decent haul would be enough to promote him up a rank and give him access to the next area.
Alec knocked gently on Laventon’s door. Upon opening the door, Laventon stepped back and did a double take. He gestured to Auster, confused. “Goodness gracious,” he said. “Might that be your Rowlet’s evolution?”
“Yep!” Alec beamed. “He evolved yesterday. He’s called Dartrix.” He quickly decided to not offer specifics on how exactly Auster evolved. He really didn’t feel like bringing up the distortion at the moment.
“Excellent! I will add his information to the Pokedex immediately,” he declared. Auster fluttered from Alec’s shoulder to the edge of a table, where he perched and allowed Laventon to measure him.
Alec entered and set his satchel on a table. “Huh,” he said, under his breath.
“What’s wrong, my boy?” Laventon asked, not looking over. He was still preoccupied with Auster, currently holding out his wings and measuring their span. “Something misplaced?”
“Yeah, actually,” Alec replied, confused. He reached inside and pulled out an oran berry. “I could’ve sworn that I had two berries in here, not just one.”
“Maybe it fell out?”
“Maybe…” Alec trailed off. It probably had something to do with the clasp being opened that morning. “Though the insides are disorganized, like someone rustled them around.”
As he pondered the details, a realization came to him. I fell asleep late that night. I woke up with the clasp open and something missing. And it was so late the previous night that I definitely forgot to set a berry out.
“Wait a sec!” he said, snapping his fingers. “The bandit!”
“The who?” Laventon asked, bewildered.
“The bandit,” Alec repeated. “The Pokemon that’s been eating my food. Once, I found my satchel opened in the morning with a berry missing. Ever since, I’ve been leaving one just outside the campfire light for them. I forgot to leave one out the other night. It must’ve gotten impatient and taken the berry itself.”
“That’s awfully kind of you,” Laventon said. “Your assumption is likely the truth. Most likely, it’s a Drifblim or a docile Gastly, as both are nocturnal and Ghost-types tend to be rather reclusive. It hasn’t shown itself to you yet, correct?”
“Nope. It always comes while I’m asleep.”
“Then that’s most definitely the case.” He laughed. “You’re in quite the pickle now, with a Pokemon that’s trained to expect food from you and that knows how to open your satchel!”
Alec laughed and shook his head. He didn’t really consider it a bad situation, though. It felt good to be able to help another Pokemon that clearly needed it. After all, it took from him first, meaning that it was desperate enough to resort to theft to survive.
“Anyways, I presume you have your catch from Deertrack,” Laventon inquired. “What do you have for me?”
“Nah, I just came by to visit,” Alec deadpanned, pulling out the twelve Pokeballs from his satchel. Three of them were the Heavy Balls, containing the evolved Shellos. “These balls are all empty, by the way.”
“Ohhh,” Laventon replied in a dramatic tone with a grin, playing along. “So it wouldn’t be a problem if I just took them off your hands? You won’t be compensated as there aren’t any Pokemon inside, of course.”
Alec laughed. “Yeah, sounds fair enough. Though, I was planning on using those balls to catch seven Shellos, three of the evolved Shellos, and two Mime Jr. You can have the balls, it’s fine.”
“Evolved Shellos, you say?”
“I don’t know what they’re called, but it looked like a larger Shellos with a different pattern.”
“That would be Gastrodon,” Laventon supplied, scooping the balls off the table. “Everything you said would net you $290.”
“Sounds good,” Alec chuckled. He took the money from Laventon and slipped it into the pouch for money in his satchel. “And that’s enough for my second star, right?”
“Quite right. Stop by Cyllene’s at your leisure and let her know I said you’re cleared for it.”
Alec grinned and nodded. The feeling of satisfaction he felt from knowing his accomplishments and hard work would soon be given tangible form was unparalleled. All the effort he continuously poured into his mission of seeking out all Pokemon was being recognized, enabling him to reach new heights.
And that joyous feeling of catharsis overflowed into his experiences of being a Trainer. While the means were rather unorthodox, he was still living out his childhood dream. A dream that he’d long written off as unattainable due to the numerous hurdles the world put before him.
And yet, here he was, with two of the best Pokemon anyone could ask for. He was even being granted the green light to go search for more and complete his team. A warm feeling spread throughout his body, like a hot and sweet drink on a cold winter’s evening.
He couldn’t wait to add more Pokemon to his team.