Arc Three // Ten Million Relief Plan // Chapters 22-28
The next morning, Alec was abruptly awoken by the sound of loud and panicked squawking.
He shot upwards in a panic, only registering a few blotches of movement in the room with him. His subconscious quickly recalled that he was in a spare room at Solaceon Village, following his victory over Lilligant.
He rapidly blinked the sleep from his eyes, focusing the blurs into distinct shapes: Auster and Tricky. A quick jolt of panic shot through him as he reacted to Auster’s panicked sounds. Had someone broken into their room? Was everyone okay?
He shot to his feet, tossing the blanket onto the floor.
And froze once he got a good look at what was going on.
Auster wasn’t squawking in panic—he was chirping in joy. He flew in circles above Tricky, playing with his newly evolved friend.
Once they saw Alec’s reaction, they quickly came to a stop. “Dar?” and “Lux?” they asked, tilting their heads.
For a brief moment, Alec’s heart melted at the cute display. “Uh,” he stammered. “Auster, you saw the news! It happened last night—we didn’t want to wake you up.”
Auster seemed to consider the excuse for a second before nodding approvingly.
“Good, you aren’t upset with us. Now you both are one evolution away from your full strengths,” Alec smiled.
“Dartrix dar?” Auster asked, turning to Tricky. Alec got the feeling he was asking about how it felt to evolve.
“Luxio!” Tricky said, turning to Auster. The two began conversing in their language that Alec couldn’t understand.
Alec just chuckled and sat down on the bed. Beside him, he noticed that his satchel had fallen over in the night, making its contents visible. He noticed a green glint from inside it.
He reached in and pulled out the Grass-type Plate. He still hadn’t experienced its effect on him. Its weight felt strange in his hand and it seemed to hum with anticipation.
If I’m right, then I can’t use more than two Plates at the same time. T he question is, how do I cancel one I’ve already touched?
He tried digging the Bug and Psychic-type Plates from the bottom of his satchel, hoping that touching them again would have some kind of effect. He tried holding them, not holding them, focusing his energy, clenching his muscles, et cetera.
“Arceus, I could use some help,” he muttered, frustrated. “Maybe if I throw these stupid Plates in the river, maybe that’ll help.”
Once he finished that train of thought, he felt a strange
Once he finished that train of thought, he felt a strange shift in of the energy in his body.
He clutched his hand over his heart and furrowed his brows, surprised by the unexpected sensation. Curiously, he repeated the same thought again in his head: I should throw the Plate into the river.
And the sensation returned. It felt like a breath he’d been holding for years was finally escaping from his chest.
So I just need to think about getting rid of the Plate, he thought triumphantly. But now I need to decide which one to get rid of.
Of the two Plates, the Psychic-type one was without a doubt the more useful one. He’d briefly felt the Bug-type’s power and he would definitely miss the sense of direction that the Bug-type Plate brought. Still, he knew that the Grass-type Plate’s power—which was definitely healing-related—would be more useful than it.
He then squeezed his eyes shut and pictured the scene with as much clarity as he could. The weight of the Bug Plate left his hand. The sound it would make when it splashed into the water. How it would glimmer through the glassy water.
When he opened his eyes again, he instinctively knew it was finished. The world felt ever so slightly quieter and his mental map of the mirelands grew foggier.
With determination, he reached out to touch the Grass-type Plate. His fingers brushed against its cold surface—
—And his eyes flew open.
Unlike the past two times, he immediately recognized the episode to be of lesser intensity than the previous two. Where his mind had been overloaded with new feelings and stimuli before, he felt like he was merely watching a movie this time. The stimuli flowed in at an unpleasant but pain-free speed.
He still saw the room around him, still heard Auster and Tricky playing a few paces from him, but the Plate’s power completely consumed his thoughts.
The Grass-type energy was that of new beginnings. Of laying the foundations of a building. Of making the first brushstrokes of a masterpiece painting or chipping off the first piece of marble for a grand sculpture.
In his head, he saw the complexity of a seed buried in the dirt. Though the Plate didn’t include it in the vision, he knew that in a few years it had the potential to become a massive, ecosystem-shaping force.
A massive oak, too big for him to wrap his arms around, all built up from a single seed.
It was incredible. Inspiring. Beautiful. Tear-invoking. Concluding. Finished. The brief torrent of emotion subsided, allowing Alec to return his focus to the real world.
The first thing he noticed was a strange tingling in his legs like tiny Joltiks were crawling up them. He quickly pulled up his pant leg to inspect it.
His leg hairs were standing straight up and—incredibly—the shallow scratches he’d gotten from Lilligant were scabbing over and healing. The thin scabs turned from red to brown to tan. Just as quickly as the sensation started, it ended, leaving perfectly healed skin beneath.
He exhaled in amazement. “Whoa.”
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A few hours later, Alec regretfully wished his farewells to Solaceon Village and the Diamond clan. Among others, Adaman, Arezu, Mai, and Iscan met him at the gate to see him off. Melli, the pretentious Warden he’d met at the festival, was notably absent.
Each Warden shook Alec’s hand, promising that he’d be welcomed with open arms whenever he needed to stop by.
Part of him wanted to remain there forever. The village itself was picturesque and peaceful, Auster and Tricky loved it, and their culture fascinated him. He’d be happy there. Even in the moment, he was exhausted from how late he’d stayed up last night. He just wanted to crawl back into the bed they’d lent him.
But he knew that he had bigger plans. He knew that he couldn’t stop, not for a second, from pursuing his mission. To protect Hisui, seek out all Pokemon, and return home.
The wagon ride back to Jubilife was a quiet one. He wasn’t in the mood to offer any conversation to Dorian, and the guard didn’t feel like forcing any. The only sound to keep them company was the staccato thump of Mudsdale’s hooves on the dirt. The sunlight felt like music on his skin.
Tricky rested beside him. He mindlessly stroked his mane to pass the time. The brand-new black fur around his neck was extremely fluffy and a perfect stress reliever.
He basked in the sunlight, enjoying the sun’s gentle touch on his skin. For a moment, an intrusive thought commanded him to take his shirt off and bathe in the sunlight. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, attributing it to his tiredness.
Eventually, they made it back to Jubilife Village. The first thing Alec saw was Rei and Akari’s distant forms running towards him.
“Alec!” they shouted from the distance.
He hopped out of the cart, followed by Tricky, and ran towards them.
“You made it!” Akari shouted. Marigold, her Pikachu, rode on her shoulder. “You’re safe!”
“How’d it go?” she asked once they got close enough to not shout.
“Awesome,” Alec grinned. “Lilligant barely scratched me. Everyone’s fine.”
“And Arezu?”
“Healed. It’s the first thing we did once Lilligant was back to its senses.”
“Thank Sinnoh,” Akari sighed.
Meanwhile, Rei was inspecting Tricky. The newly-evolved Luxio sniffed him as Rei looked apprehensive. Alec surmised that he was one of the biggest Pokemon he’d ever been around, not counting docile ones like Mudsdale.
“And Tricky evolved too,” Alec grinned. “He’s a Luxio now. It happened after the fight, believe it or not.”
“I can see that,” Rei trembled, taking a small step back.
“Oh, don’t worry. He’s bigger, but he’s still the same at heart. Tricky, don’t scare Rei; he’s not used to you being so big.”
Tricky nodded and Rei chuckled nervously.
Alec didn’t get why Rei was acting so strange. Tricky was nothing like the wild Pokemon, who attacked and ate anything that moved. Tricky was friendly—and very cute. He’d never done anything to warrant any distrust.
Rei seemed to build up some confidence and offered his hand for Tricky to sniff, seemingly forgetting that they both knew each other already. Tricky sniffed it a single time and rubbed against Rei’s hand, purring gently.
Alec turned his attention back to Akari. “We should take you two by Joyce,” she said. “She likes to examine newly-evolved Pokemon since they’re so uncommon. You should get checked out too, just in case you’re hurt somewhere and don’t know.”
“I didn’t get hit anywhere, though,”
“I’ve said the same thing before. I don’t know how, but Joyce still found a small wound on my ankle. She says it's better to find them preemptively than discover them later once they start to fester.”
Alec shrugged and returned Tricky to his Pokeball. By now, Dorian had caught the cart up to them, so they hopped in and rode the short distance back to the village.
Before they went their separate ways at the village, they made plans to meet up at the Wallflower and have lunch to celebrate Tricky’s evolution.
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“Strange,” Joyce muttered. “And you’re sure you got scratched by those vines?”
“Yep,” replied Alec. He sat on her examination table, letting his feet dangle off the side. “As they pulled me down, a few pricked me. Nothing too deep—I didn’t see any blood—but I definitely got cut.”
“Well, I can’t find a single bit of bruised skin on your legs,” she said matter-of-factly.
Immediately, Alec remembered the Grass Plate and how it healed the scratches on his legs. Oh no. Nobody knows about the Plates, and I’d like to keep it that way.
He stammered, trying to think of a response. “Uh, Lilligant must’ve healed me. It sent out a wave of energy after it came to its senses which caused a bunch of flowers to bloom. That must’ve healed me.”
Joyce gave him a strange look but the explanation seemed to suffice. “Okay, though make sure to come by if you think something’s wrong.”
Alec nodded, though he knew that he wouldn’t. His reputation with Kamado and the majority of the Survey Corps was still pretty rocky so he didn’t want to be wasting their resources. Plus, he now had the Grass Plate, which could heal him just fine. He’d have to experiment and see just how much it could heal him from.
As he moved to stand up and leave, Joyce stopped him. “Wait a sec. Akari mentioned that one of your Pokemon evolved.”
“Oh yeah,” Alec said, pulling a Pokball from his belt. “My Shinx—Luxio now.” He tapped the button and released Tricky.
“Luxio?” He turned to face Alec confusedly, seemingly asking Alec who the stranger was.
“Tricky, this is Joyce, our medic. Remember her? She examined you when I first caught you.”
Tricky looked at her and blinked a few times before nimbly leaping onto the table and sitting next to Alec. He sat with perfect posture, trying to appear as tall as possible before Joyce’s careful eye.
Joyce shot a glance toward Alec, seemingly asking for permission to inspect Tricky. Alec just tilted his head toward Tricky, indicating that he wasn’t the one to be asked.
She hummed. “Tricky, do you mind if I give you an examination? I just want to make sure that there’s nothing wrong with you after your evolution.”
Tricky, satisfied with her respect, nodded enthusiastically. Alec reached over and started petting his mane, comforting them both.
As Joyce began her examination, Alec’s curiosity got the best of him. “You haven’t ever seen a Luxio before, how do you know what to look for?” he asked.
Joyce chuckled. “There isn’t anything specific, really. There are a few patterns, like making sure they don’t have any ticks or fleas. Knowing human anatomy helps, too.” She continued her prodding, feeling around the joints of Tricky’s forelegs, much to his dismay.
Alec nodded knowingly. The Pokedex doesn’t exist here, it makes sense she doesn’t know each species’ anatomy, he thought. It’ll take a few centuries for everything to be documented.
He tilted his head and looked upward. Maybe I’ll help get that process jumpstarted? he thought wistfully.
They sat in a conversational lull for a little while, with Joyce occasionally asking Tricky to breathe deeply and the like.
When she finished, she stepped back and confirmed Tricky’s health.
“It’s interesting,” she said. “From the few evolutions I’ve examined, almost all of them are completely healthy. Scars and lost limbs weren’t fixed but everything else was. Sinnoh’s power is mysterious indeed.”
“Sinnoh?” asked Alec, palming Tricky’s Pokeball. As far as he knew, the people of Jubilife observed neither the Diamond’s Sinnoh nor the Pearl’s.
Joyce made a dismissive motion. “It’s just a myth Jubilife took from the Clans, mostly to explain how evolution happens. They say that the white glow during evolution is Sinnoh’s power. By growing stronger, they gain Sinnoh’s favor and their reward is a new body.”
Back home, evolution was still a widely debated topic and he was fascinated by this ancient explanation.
Even in modern times, evolution was difficult and expensive to study. Pokemologists already knew nearly everything about evolutions triggered by Evolution Stones or other stimuli but standard evolutions were shrouded in the unknown.
There was no concrete way to predict when a natural evolution was coming so it was nigh impossible to prepare any sensors or readings beforehand. The depressingly little bit of data they had came from the few times they’d gotten lucky.
“Either way, congratulations, Tricky,” Joyce said. “Stay safe out there and make sure Alec doesn’t get himself into too much trouble.”
Tricky barked affirmatively a few times. Alec facepalmed and returned him. He gave his thanks to Joyce and headed out.
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A little while later, Alec met up with Rei and Akari again.
When he arrived at the Wallflower, they were already sitting at the picnic table, chatting and idly sipping at cups of tea.
Alec sat down to join them, finding a steaming cup waiting for him. It was a perfect way to fend off the chilly air of the approaching winter.
“We went ahead and ordered for you since we always get the same thing,” Rei grinned.
“Thanks, Rei.” Alec took a long sip from his tea and savored its warmth.
He mentally estimated how long it would take for Beni to finish preparing their food. Legendaries Above, the idea of food multiplied his hunger a thousandfold.
Akari took a long drink from her cup, finishing it off, and slammed it on the table. “Alec! Have a battle with me and my Pokemon!”
“Right now?” Alec replied, taken aback.
“Of course! It’s been forever since we’ve last battled, and I want to show you how strong we’ve gotten. Show me what the Mirelands have done for you and your team.”
Alec looked worried. “Are you sure? Both of my Pokemon are evolved, so you'll be seriously disadvantaged unless you’re keeping an evolution secret from us.”
“Who d’you think you’re talking to? I’m Akari the Great, and I’ve never lost a battle before, especially not to an outsider like you.”
“Never lost a battle?” Rei repeated. “What about all those times you’ve lost to me?”
“Shut up!” Akari hissed. “I told you, those don’t count.”
While the two siblings bickered, Alec mentally strategized for the battle. He absentmindedly stared at the bottom of his cup.
Akari has a Pikachu and a Cyndaquil. Sunshine—her Cyndaquil—could be an issue for Auster, but he’d easily take out Marigold—her Pikachu. I probably don’t need to worry too much about getting the right matchups, though, since Akari doesn’t focus on battling. She earns money by gathering resources instead of catching Pokemon.
He felt a little bad about immediately dismissing her skill but it was a simple fact—Alec knew that he was stronger than her by a large margin.
A moment later, Akari turned back to him. “Ready? It’ll be a two-on-two.”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He stood up and walked across the street, to where he’d stand during the battle. He made sure to leave ample distance between them, to make sure neither of them would get hit by any debris or crossfire.
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He raised Tricky’s Pokeball to his lips and whispered a message. “Tricky, we’re battling Akari and her Pokemon. They’re a lot weaker than us, so make sure to go easy on them.”
It’s not out of pity, Alec thought in justification. We’re battling for fun, I’d be a bad friend if I demolished her.
Tricky’s ball faintly wobbled, indicating that he understood. Alec tapped the button, releasing the Luxio onto the street. He roared imposingly, mane fluttering in the wind.
From across the street, Akari raised her own Pokeball. From inside emerged Marigold, her Pikachu.
Part of Alec was glad to have a safe environment for Tricky to experiment with his new power since he likely wouldn’t be able to control his energy output very well yet.
However, the reverse was also true: Tricky could easily overshoot his strength and seriously injure Marigold.
With that in mind, Alec readied his first command like a bullet in the chamber.
He bent down and picked up a pebble from off the path. “When this stone hits the ground, we start, okay?”
“Sure!” She gestured for Marigold to come close and whispered some instructions to him.
Alec took a deep breath and tossed the stone up.
When it hit the ground—
“—Roll out of the way!”
“—Use Thunder Shock!”
Before Alec could utter his command, Akari had already called for a dodge. The air crackled with Tricky’s attack but Marigold was already several paces from the point of impact.
“Pika!” he cheered, looking back at Akari for praise.
“Good job! Stay on your toes and use Growl,” she ordered.
Tricky tilted his head. Why wasn’t Akari ordering Marigold to attack him?
Marigold bared his fangs and stood up straight, trying to look intimidating. However, due to the obvious power difference, Tricky was unphased. Alec saw his forepaws waver slightly, though.
Alec looked up and saw Akari staring at their battle with laser focus. Her knees were bent and her breathing was steady, as if she was including herself in the battle, too.
But confusingly, she wasn’t calling for any other moves. Marigold simply kept his intimidating stance, emitting a low growl.
By now, a few townspeople had noticed the commotion and came over to investigate. Their battle had several spectators, though they stood easily twenty paces back, clearly afraid of both his and Akari’s Pokemon.
Hesitantly, Alec shouted another command. “Bite! Don’t let him get away from you!”
A few of the townspeople gasped or flinched at Tricky’s imposing stance. He trusted Tricky to account for Marigold’s inevitable dodge. It was uncomfortably different, having an opponent stick to the defensive instead of meeting them head-on in offense.
In all honesty, it made sense, since Akari wasn’t used to attacking. Fighting Pokemon wasn’t her specialty—harvesting was. She likely hadn’t ever trained to teach her Pokemon a new move, regardless of how difficult it was for her.
With a bark, Tricky charged forward. His fangs left a trail of black wispy energy that seemed to stain the air like black ink in water.
Alec saw Akari’s eyes widen and she hesitated for several seconds, wasting valuable time. “Marigold, get out of there!” she shouted.
Marigold scrambled out of the way, without the use of Quick Attack. He just rolled to the side. Tricky’s Bite barely skimmed the fur on the tip of his tail.
“Counter with Tackle, while he’s off-balance,” Akari shouted.
“Pika!” Marigold acknowledged. He charged forward, expecting to catch Tricky unawares.
—But Akari forgot to account for the fact that Tricky was pulling his punches.
If Tricky had put his whole strength into that Bite, she would’ve been right. And so, Tricky had plenty of time to pivot his footing and dodge the Tackle.
“Marigold!” Akari gasped as the attack went wide.
Tricky looked over at Alec, expecting another command to capitalize on Marigold’s weak position. But one never came.
Alec subtly shook his head. He didn’t want to completely destroy Akari. He still intentionally avoided eye contact with her in case his expression betrayed him.
After a moment, he caved and gave a command. Charge was off-limits for obvious reasons so he defaulted to the next best thing. “Thunder Fang,” he commanded.
Tricky growled in affirmation and leaped forward, focusing his Electric-type energy into his mouth.
Because of Alec’s delay, Akari had ample time to react to Tricky’s attack. She knew Marigold wouldn’t have the time to get out of the way. “Baby-doll Eyes! Quick!”
“Pi pi pi!” Marigold cooed, shedding his intimidating posture. Now he looked as small and feeble as possible, like a cub or kitten.
Caught off-guard, Tricky faltered and the crackling of his electricity noticeably decreased. Just yesterday, he was about as small as Marigold.
The Thunder Fang still connected, and Marigold cried out in pain. With a flick of his head, Tricky tossed his opponent inside.
“Marigold!” Akari gasped, covering her mouth. For a split second, she bent her knees as if she were about to charge onto the battlefield and scoop him up.
“Pi…,” he grunted. He tried to get up but his knees buckled.
Though Marigold could still fight, Akari recalled him with a tap of his Pokeball following their agreement to not majorly injure each other’s Pokemon. She whispered some unintelligible words to the Pokeball before affixing it to her belt.
“Good one,” she forced out. Her movements were stiff and her eyes stayed affixed to the dirt. Alec felt a pang of guilt.
He frowned, not wanting to continue if it was making her uncomfortable. “You alright?”
“Yeah.” All the symptoms of disappointment vanished; she stood up straight and perked up back to her usual cheerful self. “Give me a sec, I’m strategizing.”
She released Sunshine, her Cyndaquil, and scooped her up. Alec caught faint whispers from their huddle, though he tried to ignore them. He had enough of an advantage; eavesdropping on her plan would only make his problem worse.
He waved for Tricky to come over. Akari cheered up to fast, he knew something was off. His best guess was that she didn’t want to embarrass herself by looking weak. But still, there was no way for Alec to justify his victory without coming off as condescending.
Well, she asked for the battle, and she can call it off if she wants, he thought with a sigh.
Tricky yipped and ran to Alec for celebratory ear scratches. “I think Auster should take this next one,” Alec said. “Akari already feels bad about her loss, and you sweeping her team solo without a scratch on you would make her feel worse. What do you say?”
Tricky thought it over for a second before nodding. “Thanks,” Alec smiled as he recalled Tricky. He then released Auster, who fluttered onto his outstretched arm. He warbled with anticipation as Alec explained the situation.
“Hey buddy, up for a battle against Akari and Sunshine?”
Auster cheered and flapped his wings, clearly indicating yes.
“Alright, here’s the plan: We’re a lot stronger, so don’t go too hard on them. This battle should be over pretty quick, though.”
Alec continued explaining for a little longer, predicting how Sunshine would attack and prepping Auster to dodge. Once both Trainers were ready, their Pokemon took their positions back on the field. Instead of flying, Auster chose to stand.
When Akari saw that Auster was the one taking the field, not Tricky, her expression hardened and her glare intensified. She must be determined to win this, thought Alec.
He wordlessly grabbed another pebble and tossed it upward to signal their start.
“Start with Gust, Agile-style!”
“Sunshine, use Flame Wheel, like we practiced!”
Alec was momentarily taken aback at Akari’s reckless start. Luckily for her, she’d gotten lucky and guessed—or predicted—Alec’s opening move. Even an Agile-style Gust left Auster immobile while he built up Flying-type energy.
The burning exterior of Flame Wheel perfectly countered the Gust as Sunshine’s forward momentum counteracted the backward force of the wind. Auster immediately took to the skies, narrowly dodging the attack.
The speed advantage of the Agile-style left Auster in the perfect position to counterattack but Alec decided against it. His only options were Leafage and Axe Kick; The former would barely tickle Sunshine and the other would likely end the battle.
Not missing a beat, Akari called for Swift, a faint air of urgency in her voice. Sunshine squealed as she channeled her energy and released several glowing bolts. However, there were only five in total, and Tricky could consistently summon eight or nine without much effort.
The bolts curved toward Auster. Alec called for Auster to barrel roll, hoping to exploit a weakness in Sunshine’s control.
At the last second, Auster tucked his wings in and zipped to the side. The bolts curved past him.
“Sunshine, bring it back around!” Akari shouted.
Exhibiting a great deal of control, the little Cyndaquil barked in determination and caused the bolts to loop back around toward Auster. It seemed that what she lacked in amount, she made up for in control.
“Counter with Leafage!” Alec shouted. Despite knowing that the bolts would do negligible damage, he didn’t want to outright ignore them and further humiliate Akari.
Like buckshot, Auster’s small but numerous leaves shot out and annihilated Sunshine’s attack.
While he was occupied, Alec didn’t notice Sunshine charging up an Ember. Instead of gathering the energy in his mouth like other Fire-types, she flared the flames on her back.
“Go!” shouted Akari, sounding confident.
So this was what they planned earlier, thought Alec with a hint of impressment. Akari had really stepped up her game from the first round of the battle. Even with the disadvantage, she was still reminding Alec that she was tougher and smarter than he figured.
Sunshine’s flames weren’t focused on a single point like a typical Ember—they were spread out like buckshot so Auster couldn’t reliably dodge. He still tried to fly out of the way but the small projectiles peppered him, scorching a few of his feathers off. He chirped in annoyance.
Alec winced though he quickly realized that Auster wasn’t in any lasting pain. There were a few grayed spots on his feathers, indicating where he’d been burned. Alec made a mental note to give him some rawst berries after the battle was over, which acted as a potent burn remedy.
“Again!” Akari shouted, victoriously pumping a fist.
Following her order, Sunshine began charging another Ember. She made a crucial error, however, in forgetting that it took Sunshine time to charge up.
“Evasive maneuvers! Fly fast!” Alec shouted. Auster tucked his wings in and dove down like a bullet. He flew around wildly and randomly, seemingly without any plan.
Sunshine’s thin eyes tried to follow Auster’s blurring form to aim his Ember. He eventually gave up and unleashed it anyway, aiming in an even wider cone than before.
The flaming particles quickly petered out without any mass to sustain them before reaching Auster. Sunshine rasped a few coughs, exhausted from her exertion.
“Oh no! Sunshine!” Akari flinched.
“Now, use Axe Kick,” Alec commanded, knowing the battle would be over when it connected. Under his breath, he murmured, “And take it easy on her,” not for Auster to hear but to settle his conscious.
The growing crowd—about a dozen or so people—all gasped at how Auster’s form suddenly blurred beyond recognition. Like the bird of prey he was, he tucked his wings and began a steep dive, heading straight toward Sinshine.
Luckily, Auster remembered Alec’s advice to hold back. His strike was noticeably weaker compared to their training. At the last moment, he’d flared his wings to act as a drag chute, slowing him down enough to not seriously injure Sunshine.
Sunshine squealed in pain, the wind knocked from her lungs. He didn’t fall but the impact left her reeling. Auster flew back to Alec, perching on his arm and warbling with pride.
“Thanks, buddy,” Alec said, scratching him under the chin. Unthinkingly, he accidentally brushed his fingers over one of Auster’s burns, causing him to wince.
Startled, he rummaged in his satchel and pulled out two rawst berries—perfect to heal Auster’s wounds. He happily ate them, leaves and all, and the scorch marks on his feathers faded slightly. They wouldn’t cause pain anymore and the discoloration would be gone in a few hours.
Akari slumped as she scooped up Sunshine and deposited her onto her shoulder. She delicately carried him, not wanting to agitate any of his wounds. Alec saw her mouth moving as she spoke to her, but they were too far apart for him to make out her words.
“That was a good battle,” he said, walking over.
Akari wouldn’t meet his eye. “Yeah, it was,” she said.
Alec could tell she felt bad—he couldn’t tell whether it was anger, disappointment, or weakness. “You put up a good fight,” he said. “Those tricks with Flame Wheel and Ember really caught me off guard, nice job.
A pleasant smile crossed her face. “I thought I’d get you with those,” she chuckled. “I only challenged you ‘cause we spent weeks practicing.”
“You know, battling is a great way to train your Pokemon,” Alec suggested. “It’s how we’ve grown this fast.”
From his arm, Auster chirped in agreement. They’d spent long days out in the wilderness, creeping through the underbrush in pursuit of Pokemon, too many long days to count. The monotony of harvesting berries, vegetables, or supplies simply didn’t appeal to Alec like catching Pokemon did.
“Really?” Akari asked. “Isn’t that dangerous? Confronting wild Pokemon in their territory and picking fights?”
“Well, not if you’re careful. Just don’t approach anything with advantages on you—size, type, that sort of thing—and you’ll be perfectly safe. I’d keep an exit plan, too, like a berry.”
Akari nodded eagerly. Alec could see the gears in her head turning as she planned.
And just as Alec was about to continue his advice, Rei suddenly appeared and joined their conversation. Alec realized he’d been silently watching their battle from a safe distance the whole time—honestly, he’d forgotten he was even there with how quiet he’d been.
“Alec, care for another battle?” he asked, holding up a Pokeball.
Alec quirked an eyebrow. “Now?” He shot a glance back to their picnic table, catching a glimpse of Beni disappearing back into the kitchen. Steaming plates of mochi sat on their table.
Rei followed his gaze. “Ah, suck it up, we’ll be quick. I don’t wanna wait until after we eat.”
From his arm, Auster chirped excitedly, not wanting the thrill of battle to fade as quickly as it did. Alec could tell that he wanted a real challenge, not to hold back against a weaker opponent.
Alec sighed, knowing that he’d been outvoted. “Fine, but on one condition—we just do a one-on-one.”
“Deal,” Rei cheered, jogging over to where Akari had stood. He released Ronin—his Oshawott—and began strategizing.
Alec’s stomach rumbled. “Alright buddy, I’m starving and this was your idea. Let’s give it all we got and finish it quick, okay?”
Fired up, Auster cawed in agreement and flapped over to the field. A second later, Ronin joined him, a fierce grin on his face. He stood with his knees slightly bent and brandished his shell, clearly ready for battle.
Alec picked up another pebble, figuring Rei would know the drill by now. He tossed it up and prepared his first command to Auster while it arced upward.
When it hit the ground—
“Axe Kick!”
“Ronin, use Water Pulse!”
Auster quickly took to the skies with a mighty flap of his wings. Once he gained sufficient altitude, he tucked his wings in and swooped down.
Ronin, on the other hand, stayed in place. Around his shell, an amorphous mass of water started to form, condensating from the moisture in the air.
Alec knew that Rei had been training—he’d seen it firsthand—so he confidently believed that Rei could hold his own, at the very least. That was why he’d immediately called for Auster to use one of his strongest moves, figuring that Rei would have a counterstrategy prepared.
He did see Rei faintly wince for a split second as Auster picked up speed. Interestingly enough, he didn’t call for Ronin to abort and dodge. Alec got the inclination that Rei had a plan.
It took about five seconds for Ronin’s Water Pulse to reach the size of a softball. When it was ready, Rei grinned confidently and shouted for Ronin to let it loose.
“Oshaaa…. Wott!” Ronin grunted, flinging the aqueous orb with all his might. It didn’t have the homing properties of a move like Swift, but it seemed to defy gravity and keep its straight trajectory.
“Kick through it!” Alec reacted, expecting that Auster’s strength was greater than that of the attack.
In the split second that followed, the Water Pulse closed in and Auster prematurely swung his leg around. He kicked straight through the attack with a reverberant caw, sending a shower of mist over the battlefield.
“Now Tackle him, Strong-style!” Alec shouted with a wide grin. Auster didn’t have time to twist back into an aerodynamic position but he still had all the momentum from his first Axe Kick. His wings glowed with light gray energy.
He heard Rei call for Ronin to brace himself, knowing that there wasn’t enough time to dodge. That was the beauty of the Strong style—if you could get the right setup, its drawbacks would be mostly mitigated.
Auster slammed into Ronin, driving him down onto the ground and jumping back up into the skies. Ronin managed to deflect Auster’s talons with his shell, blocking most of the damage, but he was winded regardless. He used his shell to support himself as he climbed back onto his feet.
“Ronin! You okay?” Rei asked. Ronin grit his teeth and barked determinately, practically begging for his next command. “Alright, use Leer.”
As Auster circled back above them, Ronin raised his chin and gazed defiantly at Auster. That was nothing, got anything stronger? he seemed to ask. He even had the nerve to laugh. His eyes glinted with the same colored energy as Auster’s wings.
Auster cawed irritatedly and looked back at Alec with a glare. Alec immediately got the message: He wanted to attack, and he wanted to do it now.
Alec thought it over for a second before giving his command. “Use Leafage, Agile-style.”
With barely a moment’s notice, Auster cried out and summoned his Grass-type energy. With every flap, another volley of razor-sharp leaves shot out from his wings.
Again, Alec saw Rei’s eyes widen. “C-cut through them with Slash,” he retorted.
Ronin’s shell glowed white with Normal-type energy and he looked up with a confident grin on his face. With seemingly practiced finesse, he repeatedly sliced at the incoming leaves, leaving a trail of white behind him.
While he missed a few leaves, earning several shallow cuts along his face, he managed to deflect or block the majority of them. Since the move was Agile-style, there wasn’t enough to overwhelm him.
They’re putting up a surprisingly good fight, thought Alec with a hum. Ronin just dealt with two of our strongest attacks with minimal damage. Impressive—I can definitely see the results of their training. But if he wasn’t able to fully deal with an Agile-style move, we can push forward on that advantage.
He clenched his fists, feeling the rush of energy that always accompanied an action-packed battle. “Leafage again, Strong-style!”
Again, Auster wickedly beat his wings, imbuing them with as much Grass-type energy as he could muster. Just like last time, the move would cost a significant chunk of his energy and power. Alec figured that Auster’s reserves of Grass-type energy would be about half exhausted based on their past training.
“Ronin, get outta there, fast!” Rei shouted, an edge of panic in his voice. He’d seen what Auster’s Agile-style Leafage could do—and really didn’t want to see what going all-out looked like. “Use Slash before he attacks!”
There wasn’t any terrain for him to take advantage of, like rocks or trees to hide behind, so Ronin just ran straight toward Auster. He brandished his shell, causing it to glow with Normal-type energy.
Alec was taken aback by how reckless Rei’s command was. In fact, Rei’s entire battling style was very reckless, leveraging Ronin’s speed and having him tank through strong attacks.
Unluckily for him, Ronin was quick but Auster was quicker. Even charging up a Strong-style attack, Auster managed to ready it before Ronin could win his reckless gambit.
“Dar!” he cawed as the volley of leaves shot out, looking like a blizzard of flora.
They raked across Ronin’s body, making him yelp in pain and stumble. When the blizzard cleared, Alec saw him kneeling with dozens of little cuts, leaking blood from several of them. He grit his teeth and tried to stand but his strength gave out and he collapsed.
Alec pumped his fist in celebration and Auster flew over, panting heavily. “You did great, all your training is paying off,” he congratulated before returning him. He then quickly jogged back to the table.
Over on the other side of the field, Rei comforted his Oshawott.
“Yeah, I know. I’m disappointed too, but it just means we’ll have to catch up to him,” Rei said, pulling out an oran berry for him to snack on. He too joined Alec back at the picnic table.
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The moon above Akari glimmered brilliantly. Her campfire cast a warm auburn glow on the trees around her. The smoke billowed toward her face, but it didn’t bother her. The ashen smell felt strangely comforting and welcoming. Home-like. As if she’d be safe as long as the scent was in her nostrils.
Beside her, Rei snored softly from inside his bedroll. Her brother always snored, but it didn’t bother her too much. Well, it was a little annoying, but she’d rather have a constant reminder that he was by her side than the quiet.
His Pokemon were snuggled into his side. Ronin’s wounds had completely healed thanks to the berries he ate, though he now bore a thin—and nearly invisible—scar along his cheek from a particularly sharp leaf. The little Oshawott had almost seemed proud of it, excitedly showing it off to them all.
Marigold was asleep as well, curled up atop Akari’s still-folded and unoccupied bedroll. She’d have to move him when she finally settled down to sleep, but she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.
She absentmindedly stroked Sunshine’s back as she stared into the campfire, thinking.
That was why she was awake—she couldn’t wrangle her mind into recognizing that it was time to sleep. Her mind kept returning to one simple thing: The emotions she’d felt after losing to Alec in their battle.
By all logic, it made sense. He spent almost all his time out in the wild, fighting Pokemon and growing stronger.
But it still made her feel…inadequate thinking about it.
This newcomer to the village—she still hadn’t fully unpacked the fact that Alec had fallen from the massive rift in the sky —was stronger than her. By a considerable margin. As it currently stood, he would be better at protecting the village from a threat than her.
And he’d only been in the village for a few months! She’d had Marigold for years and Alec’s Luxio easily dealt with him. Why wasn’t she strong enough to protect their village? That was her responsibility as a Corpsman! If something did happen one of these days and Alec was occupied, could she stop it?
“Cyn?” Sunshine asked.
She looked down, realizing that she’d accidentally stopped petting her. “Sorry girl,” she whispered, unclenching her fist and starting again. Sunshine purred softly as she continued.
And that little reminder of the Pokemon by her side gave her an idea.
“Sunshine, we lost today,” she whispered. The little Cyndaquil yawned and turned to look at her with her big orange eyes. “And it wasn’t close. Alec was holding back ‘cause he didn’t want to offend us.”
Sunshine cocked her head.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that ever to happen again. I don’t wanna get left in the dust while some outsider does our job better than us. He’s still my friend and all, but I don’t wanna lose to him.”
Sunshine gave her a toothy grin, clearly agreeing.
“Whaddya say to some training tomorrow, like he suggested? Next battle, he’ll have no choice but to come at us with all he’s got. And if something attacks the village, we’ll be strong enough to fight it off.”
And so, a raging fire ignited in Akari, passed from Alec to her. She would burn brightly with her Pokemon, so that they could be there for anyone who needed help.
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The midday sun above Rei sent beads of sweat dripping down his face. He wanted to leap into the rushing river next to him and cool off, but he knew he had work to do. He could have fun when his daily jobs were done.
Ronin rode on his shoulder, occasionally dousing him with a weak spray of water to cool him off. He walked along the northern part of the Ramanas River, near the Horseshoe Plains. He was gathering the blue tumblestones that could be found on the riverbank. There was something about the water that caused them to form differently, lighter but more fragile.
Buizel and Bidoof tended to frequent this area. Both species were great to practice battling against. Occasionally, he’d have Ronin pick a fight with one if they crossed paths.
Because the job was so boring—he was literally just walking and looking for glints in the water—his thoughts kept drifting. Much to his annoyance, they wouldn’t stop returning to his battle with Alec the previous day.
He’d lost, and there was nothing he could tell himself that made the feeling any less impactful. Alec’s Dartrix, who’d only been training with him for a few months, had cleanly defeated Ronin without as much as a scratch.
Ronin and he had done some cool tricks with Slash, but that was about it. That was the only fruit their weeks of training had born.
And that deeply aggravated him.
Even before Alec appeared, he’d trained with Stella, albeit in a rudimentary way. For the most part, it was just fending off wild Pokemon that attacked them while he was gathering resources. And even after Alec showed up and started growing at an explosive rate, his training stayed mostly the same. Sure, he tried to mix things up every now and again, but it wasn’t anything too intensive.
And now he realized just how much he’d been slacking on his training.
Just then, a rustling of leaves caught his attention. He stopped in his tracks, quickly taking in his location. He recognized that rock, these trees, these landmarks.
Oh no. He was in the Rapidash’s territory.
He’d been too preoccupied with his thoughts to realize that his feet had carried him farther than he intended to go, right into a dangerous Alpha’s territory.
He quickly crouched behind a rock, feeling nervous standing out in the open. He peeked over, scanning the plains for any sign of the Rapidash that would surely kill him if it saw him.
This Rapidash behaved rather strangely to other Alphas—it allowed several herds of regular Rapidash and their Ponyta foals to graze in its territory. It still despised humans like normal Alphas, though.
As he scanned the nearby area, there was no sign of any danger. Curiously, he only saw a single Ponyta instead of an entire herd.
“What is that?” Rei muttered incredulously. The Ponyta had a blue flame instead of the normal red one, completely defying the species’ most prominent characteristic. It was completely unaware of his presence as it grazed.
Rei knew that Laventon would be ecstatic to study such an anomaly.
He also knew that it would be dangerous to leave the cover of his rock.
But Alec wouldn’t hide behind a rock, would he? he thought. No, that’s how Alec and his Pokemon grew so fast—they didn’t shy away from danger, instead confronting it head-on. Rei had just been content with his monotony, allowing his Pokemon’s strength to plateau.
And so, Rei decided to jump into the deep and figure out how to swim the hard way. Cautiously, he pulled a Pokeball from his bag and crept around the rock, staying low in the tall grass. He’d grow stronger too, and stand side-by-side with Akari and Alec as the strongest in all Hisui.