Laventon rubbed his hands together in anticipation as Alec unloaded the Pokeballs from his satchel onto the lab table.
“Goodness me, that’s a massive haul. What did you manage to get this time?” he asked.
Alec thought for a second. “A Bidoof, two Bibarel, six Wurmple, a Silcoon, a Dustox, two Ponyta, and a Mime Jr. The Mime Jr. was a pain to get. It kept blocking my throws by putting up its stupid walls. I wasted like seven Pokeballs on it.”
“I can imagine,” Laventon said sympathetically. “Speaking of Pokeballs, have you spoken to Cyllene yet?”
“No, who’s that?”
“She’s Kamado’s second-in-command and the head of the Corps. I’d say you’re right up on the cusp of earning your first star, if you haven’t earned it already. That’ll mean you get more access to Corps research for stronger Pokeballs, and higher stars give you clearance to survey more dangerous areas.”
Stronger Pokeballs… Alec thought, intrigued. He seemed to have a knack for catching Pokemon, as most of his income came from Laventon. Getting a more effective Pokeball seemed like a fantastic way to increase his efficiency.
“Alright, I’ll go see if I can find her,” Alec said. “She’s at the city hall, right? Where’s her office?”
“Straight ahead when you enter. Tell her that I said you’ve contributed enough for your first star. Though be careful to knock instead of barging in, or she may have you banished.”
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After Alec left Laventon’s lab, he hesitantly made his way toward the city hall. He had no trouble finding it as the gigantic building painted the horizon with its presence. He’d never been inside the building before (which was mostly because he was nervous about running into Kamado again, but he’d never admit that).
He’d previously been warned that there was a strict no-Pokemon rule inside, so he briefly let Auster and Tricky out to warn them.
“Guys, I’m about to go somewhere where Pokemon aren’t allowed to be outside their balls. Can you please stay inside for just a little bit, until I leave?”
They seemed confused at first. Noticing their reaction, Alec spoke up. “It’s just the rules. I guess they don’t want misbehaving Pokemon to go in there and break stuff and cause a mess. I know I wouldn’t have to worry about you guys but we have to follow the rules. Sorry.”
Reluctantly, Auster complied, allowing Alec to tap his Pokeball to his forehead and return him. Tricky, however, stepped back and barked at Alec. His hackles were raised and his posture was defensive.
“You don’t want to?”
“Shinx! Shi Shinx!”
“But you have to,” Alec deadpanned, trying not to engage in an unwinnable argument. “Please, do it for me.”
Finally, Tricky chose to comply. He slowly padded back to Alec, who reached behind his ear and scratched him. Tricky purred and leaned into the scratch. After they were done, Alec returned him and continued toward the city hall.
The midday sun was out and the sky was dusted with a few thin clouds. Today was a perfectly picturesque day to go adventuring with his team.
As he walked, Alec mentally planned what he’d do with the supposed stronger Pokeball he’d been promised. Maybe it was time to try his hand at catching an Alpha?
He shuddered, thinking back to his encounter with Staravia. No, he was nowhere close to an Alpha’s level. He’d never felt more like prey than when the massive bird had looked at him.
Still, there were plenty of stronger Pokemon he’d be able to catch now. In the southeastern corner of the island in the middle of the fieldlands, he’d come across several Staravia and Staraptor. They weren’t Alphas but he probably could catch them off guard with Tricky’s help and secure them. He’d also come across Stantler and Munchlax on the island, though he doubted his abilities to sneak up on Pokemon as skittish as those.
This’ll open up so many more opportunities for me, Alec thought.
The walk from Laventon’s office was short. He’d only been in the building itself a handful of times - primarily to purchase his satchel and schedule his lessons on how to use it. Need he reiterate how pricey that was? Anyways, the building was deceptively large for a city hall of a small village, being three stories in height with a strong concrete and stone foundation. It was speckled with windows, speaking to the numerous offices, classrooms, and conference rooms that comprised its upper floors.
He entered the main door and immediately spotted the large double door at the other end of the atrium.
Laventon had warned him to knock before entering, so he rapped his knuckle on the door. The inside of the room was quiet and Alec couldn’t hear any movement inside.
“You may enter,” a monotone voice said a second later. It didn’t betray any emotion. Alec hesitantly grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open, taking in the room.
The room was rather large, with several bookcases adorned with thick books, each one without a speck of dust on them. The room itself was perfectly symmetrical, with the bookcases only lining the left and right walls. There were a few other decorations, such as two thriving potted plants at each back corner of the room.
Dead center in the room was a dark wooden desk. It was piled high with thick stacks of paper, each one carefully aligned with no papers sticking out. A nameplate on the front read “Captain Cyllene.” The woman herself sat right behind the desk.
“You must be Alec,” she said unblinkingly. Her posture was straight as a ruler and her facial structure was sharp, with an angled nose and cheekbones. She wore her steel blue hair short and neatly combed over to the side.
“What business do you have with me?” she asked.
Alec shuffled his feet, nervous. “Uh, Laventon sent me,” he said. “He said I’d contributed enough to earn my first star. And I wanted to ask about stronger Pokeballs.”
“Good. That saves me the trip of seeking you out,” she said. “I’ve been keeping track of your progress and I agree that you’ve passed the threshold to earn it. Congratulations.”
Even when congratulating Alec, her voice didn’t fluctuate at all. It seemed uncanny, like she was merely tolerating his presence.
“What exactly does a star do?”
“It’s a measure of your rank in the Corps. As you gain more, you’ll get clearance to craft stronger Pokeballs. They also serve as a measure of strength. When you get enough, I’ll clear you to survey more dangerous parts of Hisui. Step forward.”
Alec hummed and complied. Cyllene rose from her desk and walked to stand before Alec. He noticed a singular Pokeball hanging from her belt.
She opened one of the many pockets on her jacket and pulled out some fabric sewn into the shape of a star with a metal pin fixed to the back. She pinned it to the front of Alec’s hoodie, on his heart, as he awkwardly stood at attention.
“Now Anvin will sell you Heavy Balls. They function similarly to regular Pokeballs but are heavier and sturdier. Take this as well.”
She reached into another pocket of her jacket and pulled out two slips of paper.
“Here are the instructions for how to craft Pokeballs and Heavy Balls. You should have received the Pokeball instructions when you joined, but Kamado neglected to give it to you. If you have any questions, ask Rei or Akari.”
She stepped back from Alec and returned to her desk. “Will that be all?”
Alec didn’t reply for a second as he tried to process all that Cyllene had told him. Eventually, he stammered, “Uh, no, that’s all.”
“Good day then. Please close the door on your way out,” Cyllene said, already sitting back down and returning to her stacks of paper.
Legendaries Above, she’s efficient, he thought as he stepped backward toward the door. He tried to make as little noise as possible as he left. Unluckily, the door cried out with an earsplitting creak as he left, making him wince. Cyllene continued to work on her paperwork, undisturbed.
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“Ah, so you’ve finally got your clearance for Heavy Balls,” Anvin said as Alec proudly displayed his newly-achieved star.
“Yep,” he said. “Only took like six dozen Pokemon to Laventon to earn it, though.”
Anvin sighed. “I understand, but know that it has to be hard. We’ve had too many bright-eyed kids like yourself blazing through their first few stars before disappearing out on an expedition. The wild Pokemon out there don’t care about how hard you’ve worked; they only care about protecting their territory and finding your next meal.”
Alec exhaled deeply. Once again, he was reminded just how hostile this land was. Even though he had been chosen by Arceus, there was still literally nothing special about him that would save him if he found himself in an unlucky situation. The only thing keeping him from death out in the fields were his two Pokemon, his wits, and hopefully his luck.
“I’ll be careful,” he promised. “That’s why I need Heavy Balls, to get as strong as possible to protect myself.”
“Alright, well I’ll sell them pre-crafted to you or you can make them yourself with the supplies.”
“How do I do that?”
“The twins didn’t show you?” Anvin asked, surprised. “I guess I can show you how. Get your knife out, you’ll need it to carve the bottom half.”
For the next hour, Anvin carefully showed Alec exactly how to assemble a Pokeball.
He first demonstrated how to carve an apricorn into the bottom half. It was careful work, as the inside needed to be hollowed out without breaking through the skin. Alec’s knife was extremely useful, greatly expediting the process. Step one was cutting the apricorn in half, then carving around the rim. He then used the flat of the blade like a spoon to excavate the apricorn’s inside.
Next up, Anvin showed Alec how to polish a tumblestone to make the ball’s top half. It mostly involved rubbing two together as they were so tough that only another tumblestone was strong enough to erode them. Unlike the apricorn, they didn’t need to be hollowed, though Anvin didn’t know why.
I’ll ask Laventon later sometime how Pokeballs work, Alec thought. He seems like the type to know that kind of thing.
Alec listened carefully to Anvin’s careful and precise guidance. He watched in awe as his practiced fingers made short work of the supplies before him. Anvin was clearly very experienced in the art of craftsmanship. Probably why he owned a general store that specialized in pre-made goods.
Once they were done, Alec stared at the Pokeball he’d made. It was lopsided, oval-shaped, and coarse on account of his poor craftsmanship. Anvin’s, on the other hand, was picture-perfect. It even seemed to somehow be a brighter shade of red compared to Alec’s.
Anvin noticed Alec’s gaping at his work. “Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this kind of thing my whole life.”
“But I thought Pokeballs were a recent invention.”
“They were. But my family’s been craftsmen for generations and it’s literally my job to make these all day.”
Alec shook his head and chuckled. “Speaking of, I’ll buy ten Heavy Balls. Yours are definitely a lot sturdier than mine and I don’t want to waste a whole day making them only to watch them break open.”
“Sure thing. Be careful though,” Anvin laughed as he loaded them into a small canvas sack.
“Why’s that?” Alec asked as he reached to grab it from him. Anvin stayed silent. As soon as the bag’s weight was fully transferred to Alec, he immediately lurched downwards from the weight of the balls.
Anvin doubled over laughing as Alec glowered at him. “Gets me every time,” he wheezed between breaths. “Be careful of how well they live up to their name.”
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Later that day, Alec held his head low as he silently moved through the tall grass. His target, a particularly large Buizel, wandered aimlessly around its small clearing.
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“And ever since then, I’ve been wanting to see just how big Buizels can get,” said Dorian, the guard of Jubilife’s gate. He’d shown Alec his own Buizel, which measured on the lower end for the species. According to Laventon’s measurements of the species, they could get considerably larger than the one he had.
“It’d make my job as a guard far easier if I could have them train alongside each other and work together to protect the village gate,” Dorian said.
“Alright,” Alec said. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Excellent! You know where to find me.”
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Alec shook his head to clear his mind of the memory. He knew that helping the villagers was an essential part of being a Corpsman and this simple task would be the first of many.
The blades of tall grass waved to and fro in the wind, both dampening any noises he made and masking his scent. He’d learned the hard way that it was far easier to catch a Pokemon by surprise with a well-thrown Pokeball instead of engaging them in a battle. This way, he’d keep his team rested, healthy, and at peak performance in case he was discovered.
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There isn’t a good position for me to be in, Alec thought. Catching a Pokemon was a long and calculative task.
Through experimentation, he found that Pokemon typically went down easier if the ball hit them from behind. That way, they wouldn’t see the ball coming from the front or sides and prepare themselves to break out.
In his right hand, Alec held a once-used Pokeball. Its shell was smooth but its clasp was bent and misshapen from where a previous Pokemon had burst out from it, being too strong to be contained within its structure. He’d done his best to repair the ball, knowing that he had to make all of his resources count.
Currently, it stood at an awkward angle, meaning its back faced towards an open grassy area. Its line of sight was roughly tangent to Alec, meaning it would see him in its peripheral vision should he decide to strike.
Alec muttered to himself while he silently pulled an oran berry from his satchel. He’d still make a profit from the catch if he used it as bait but it made his margins far tighter. Using more than one or two berries on an ordinary Pokemon would result in a loss, as the price of the ball and berries outweighed the income from Laventon.
As Alec tossed the berry out in the open, trying to put the proper momentum behind it, he kept his eyes firmly trained on the Buizel. He winced as his throw carried the berry just too far, meaning the Buizel didn’t notice it yet.
Hopefully, I can still salvage this, he thought, lowering his hands to the ground. He grabbed a small stone, about the size of a golf ball, and lobbed it forward and up. It landed on the dirt with a muted thump near the berry, causing the Buizel’s head to snap towards it and notice the berry.
Suspiciously, it narrowed its eyes and sniffed the air. Alec reflexively sucked in a breath and held it tight, not wanting to make any unnecessary noise.
Although it only examined the area for a small handful of seconds, Alec felt like his throat was bursting when he finally inhaled again. The Buizel, having sensed nothing, made its way to the berry and bent down to eat.
Now’s my chance! Alec thought, carefully leaving the cover of the brush. In his left hand, he grabbed Auster’s Pokeball, knowing that in case of an emergency, the type advantage would make the ensuing fight go easier.
In his right hand, he nervously held an empty Pokeball. It won’t be empty for long, provided I don’t screw this up, he thought.
His footsteps seemed to echo about him, seeming far louder than they actually were. The Buizel didn’t notice anything wrong so he pressed on. Once he grew close enough, a distance of about ten feet, he drew his arm back and threw the Pokeball as hard as he could toward its back.
The ball smacked into the unsuspecting Buizel and it let out a startled cry as it was sucked inside, leaving the half-eaten berry on the ground. Alec watched with bated breath as the ball wobbled once, twice, and thrice.
He released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding as the ball released its sparkler charge into the air, crackling victoriously. The ball sat inert on the ground when he picked it up, not complaining as he gingerly held it.
“Everything’s gonna be alright,” he muttered to the ball. “I’m just taking you in for a little while. We’re gonna study you for a little while, nothing more. Once we’re done, you’re free to come back here and we’ll never bother you again.”
The message was more about settling his conscience about catching Pokemon. Logically, he knew that it was more than a fair trade. In return for merely sitting back and letting Laventon do his work, the Pokemon got several days’ worth of food. But he still felt a strum of emotion resonate with him every time the Pokemon cried out when he caught it.
Still, he pressed on. He had to seek out all Pokemon, and helping villagers with their jobs was part of that. Alec smiled, mentally checking off one of the many, many, entries on his to-do list.
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For several more hours, he wandered around the fieldlands, catching as many Pokemon as he could. Partway through, he ran out of Pokeballs, meaning he had to use the hunting knife Anvin gave him to carve a new one to keep going. He wanted to save his ten Heavy Balls for particularly tough Pokemon.
Once his resources were thoroughly exhausted, he found a large rock to sit down on and rest. He released Auster and Tricky, who sat down beside him.
Since they hadn’t seen much battle, they both seemed very energized.
“I made some good progress today,” Alec said. Lately, he’d taken to talking to his Pokemon. It made him feel less lonely during the long expeditions and provided a much-needed sense of companionship. He’d heard stories of trainers back home who’d actually learned the Pokemon language, meaning they could hold two-way conversations. Alec jealously thought about how cool that would be.
Much like how every Pokemon instinctually knew the names of their moves, they also knew the sounds that humans made when referring to each one. Contrary to popular belief, Pokemon had named their moves and humans had just reverse-engineered these names, not the other way around.
Auster and Tricky both voiced their wordless congratulations to Alec, although they both seemed disappointed they couldn’t help.
“I’m sorry I didn’t need y’all’s help at all today,” he said. “Here, how about we do some training for a bit? It’ll give me time to rest my legs and run down a bit of y’all’s endless energy reserves.”
Auster and Tricky both shouted in excitement, adopting fierce expressions as they prepared themselves to train.
“Okay,” Alec said, clapping his hands together and standing up. “Auster, stand by for a sec. I’m gonna set Tricky up with a routine to do and then we can work one-on-one.”
He turned to Tricky and knelt down. The little Shinx excitedly hopped up and down, letting off bright arcs of electricity in excitement. Alec laughed at his enthusiasm.
“First things first, work on your electric powers. Try to identify the feeling of using it, like a muscle that you can flex. That way, you’ll increase your amperage.”
One important topic that Alec was grateful that he paid attention to was how electricity worked. Back at school, the physics professor had explained the components of electricity, how it flowed, and how to cause damage with it (in the context of Pokemon, of course).
“Keep doing that for a little bit,” Alec said, rising to his feet. Tricky barked happily and squeezed his eyes shut, visualizing the flow of current in his body. “I’m gonna go help Auster for a bit. I’ll be right back.”
Tricky, instead of replying, kept concentrating. Alec could see arcs of raw power jumping from his ears, tail, and tufts of fur. Heading over to Auster, who waited patiently, he considered his options.
“I’d say the area where you need the most improvement is with Leafage. The reason why you went down in our battle with Rei and Oshawott was because it took too long to charge the move. As your only source of Grass-type damage, you need to be able to fire it off as quickly as possible.”
Auster chirped in anticipation. Flapping his wings, he conjured a Leafage in about three seconds and fired it off into the empty field beside them. This gave Alec a good benchmark of the improvement needed.
“You should be able to fire it off in less than a second, best case. How are we gonna do this?” Alec muttered under his breath. After a second, an idea came to him. He snapped his fingers.
“I think I’ve got it. When you use Leafage, you aren’t creating the leaves to use from nothing. You’re molding the grass-type energy in your body to that shape.”
Auster tilted his head to the side in confusion. But he was creating the leaves from nothing? He just focused on the idea of a leaf and they appeared, simple as that. Auster was confused by the whole ‘type-energy’ thing that his trainer kept bringing up.
Alec noted Auster’s confusion. “Type-energy is how you form your moves,” he said. “We studied it a ton back home.”
Auster tilted his head to the other side. “Right,” Alec muttered. “I have to tell y’all about that.”
Legendaries Above, that’s gonna be one hard conversation, Alec thought. He still hadn’t told his Pokemon about his home, his mission, and his meeting with Arceus.
Anyways, when you use the move, you’re picturing leaves in your imagination, right?”
“Let.”
“Right. I think that means you’re going about it wrong. Instead of that, focus on the energy in your body and imagine it flowing out. Give it a try. Close your eyes.”
Auster complied and began trying to follow Alec’s advice. As if it was muscle memory, when he started thinking about using Leafage, he immediately started thinking about grass and trees. He shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts from his brain.
This time, he focused on the energy in his body. Like a swirling whirlpool, it seemed endless and powerful. He hesitantly dipped his wing into it, feeling the energy flow around it.
Focus on letting it flow out, Auster thought. Come on, energy! You’re supposed to obey me!
The energy stubbornly stayed in place. Auster opened his eyes and chirped angrily.
Alec shook his head. “Come on, I didn’t expect you to get it on your first try.”
“Rowlet…”
“I’m not mad or disappointed. Let’s try again, you’re bound to get it eventually.”
Alec hummed. We need another approach. Auster can’t change his muscle memories that easily. Maybe if I gave a practical example?
“Think about it this way,” he finally said. “When a Pokemon uses a move, the effects disappear pretty soon, right? Like any rocks made by Stone Edge or any water made by Water Gun? It all vanishes in a few hours. So that means the leaves you make aren’t truly leaves, so you shouldn’t focus on making them leaf-like.”
Auster listened intently. He’d never noticed that with his own moves before, as none of the moves he knew before meeting Alec created anything and it was hard to see what happened to Leafage’s leaves.
It was starting to make a bit of sense. Auster closed his eyes and focused again. This time, when he visualized the whirlpool of energy within him, the energy reacted a little different. Now that he understood how it worked differently, he noticed that it felt different as he reached into it.
Memorizing the feeling, he slowly opened his eyes. “Got it?” Alec asked hopefully. “Give it a shot, let’s see what you can do.”
Auster chirped and began to focus on the feeling. Instead of closing his eyes, he kept them open as he couldn’t afford to limit his visibility in combat.
Where the energy had flowed like tree sap before, this time, it flowed like a river after a heavy rain. Auster’s veins felt energized as the energy gathered around his wingtips, aglow with a verdant hue.
“You got it!” Alec cheered. “That was only about a second!”
Auster looked to his sides, and sure enough, several leaves had coalesced and hovered around his wings, waiting for orders. His excitement almost broke his concentration. Maybe it was his imagination, but when he fired them off, they seemed to fly differently. Where the leaves previously would’ve lost height as they flew, these ones seemed to hang in the air for longer.
“Nice job!” Alec praised, holding his arm out for Auster to perch on. He scratched him under the chin as a reward. “I’m gonna go back to Tricky like I promised. You keep practicing Leafage. You just made tons of progress, but I think you can still get it faster.”
“Rowlet! Row!” Auster excitedly chirped, ready to test and push his limits. He hopped off of Alec’s arm and glided to the ground, where he perched on a stone and began conjuring another Leafage.
Alec grinned at the progress his partner was making. He thought forward to the future, knowing that Auster’s potential was truly limitless. Alec had no frame of reference for when Pokemon evolved but he knew that his partner would be unstoppable as a Decidueye.
Of all the Pokemon he’d seen back home, Decidueye had never been too high on the list of his favorites. He’d loved watching Dragon-types on TV like Hydreigon and Garchomp. A few years back, there’d been an underdog who made it to the finals of a big tournament and had a Decidueye as his ace. Alec had been amazed at its precision with its arrows.
Alec then returned to Tricky, who was still standing still and focusing. Tiny arcs of electricity still crackled off, jumping around his body.
“How’s it going?” he asked. Tricky slowly opened his eyes and happily looked at Alec. He started barking rapidly, probably explaining how much progress he’d made.
“Whoa, slow down,” Alec laughed. “Alright, let’s get to work. There’s a move you can do called Charge, where you power yourself up to make your next attack hit harder. Let’s see if we can get that down.”
Tricky stood, wide-eyed, at Alec’s explanation. He was so excited! His first new move, and a strong one at that! That must be why his trainer had him work on controlling his current!
“I’m thinking you try to fill your fur with static electricity and discharge it all when it’s ready,” he said. “I’m not an expert in electricity but do you think that’s possible for you?”
Tricky nodded and closed his eyes again. He felt his electricity flow through him, just like it always had before. The problem was, without him pointing it at a target, it just jumped off him harmlessly. How would he store it?
He continued trying for a couple more seconds before giving up and looking at Alec with big, sad, disappointed eyes.
Alec, sensing his partner’s sadness, knelt down. “Hey, none of that. Auster didn’t get it on his first try either. We’ve got all day, let’s keep going.”
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Before long, Tricky had figured out the solution. The secret was to imagine his own body as the target for the energy instead of another Pokemon. Since he was naturally very resistant to electricity, he barely felt anything as it ran through his body.
He couldn’t hold Charge for too long and they hadn’t yet tested its damage potential as the only nearby targets were Alec and Auster. No thank you.
Tricky had been extremely happy when he finally got it down and Alec rewarded him with scratches behind his ears.
Alec checked his watch and noted that two hours had passed. It was about four o’clock, meaning he had a little less than four hours of daylight left to continue adventuring.
He was apprehensive about continuing while his team was so tired from their training so he walked over and sat down on a large rock, inviting them to come sit next to him.
“Very nice job to both of you,” he said, patting them both on the back. “Y’all are working really hard and I can’t wait to see how strong we can be. Let’s take a short rest so you guys can catch your breath.”
“But I promised Auster that I’d tell you guys about me. About my home.”
Both Pokemon looked confused. True, they’d never seen him around Hisui before and Auster had encountered him on the beach when he woke up.
“I, uh, don’t really know how to explain this.” He sighed. “I’m from the future.”
Somehow, both Pokemon managed to look even more confused. Tricky tilted his head to the side.
“I’m from a very faraway region called Unova. I don’t know how far in the future I’m from, a few hundred years, at least.”
“I wanted to be a Pokemon trainer more than anything but my family was never in a position for me to have one. Back home, you couldn’t just leave home and journey like you can here.”
“But one day, I was walking home. I got surrounded by this Pokemon called Unown and, I don’t really know what happened next. But I found myself floating in a black void, before Arceus.”
Both Auster and Tricky seemed surprised at Alec’s mention of the name.
“You know Arceus? It’s the god that the Pearl Clan worships. He gave me these commands that I have to do while I’m here. He told me to protect those who can’t protect themselves, trust that it’ll help me, and seek out all Pokemon.”
“That’s why I’m here, helping with the Pokedex. I think that’s also why you’re here, with me, because Arceus said it’ll help me. It could’ve meant I’ll find two of the strongest Pokemon in the region to be my partners.”
Auster and Tricky both leaned in and Alec started scratching them both on their favorite spots. Auster’s was right under his chin and Tricky liked it behind his big ears.
“I really am lucky to have you two. It’s literally a dream come true for me and you guys are perfect in every way,” he said. “If it wasn’t for you two, I’d be dead somewhere, either killed or starved.”
“I think that if I finish those missions, I’ll be able to return home to my mom.”
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Alec’s team had been rather accepting of his confession. He knew that they’d be better listeners than Rei, Akari, Laventon, or anyone else in Jubilife. He’d tell them eventually.
After their discussion, they continued on their expedition, catching and battling all sorts of Pokemon. Nothing too eventful happened, though Alec saw it as a good thing because eventful meant dangerous.
As dusk fell, his team and he headed back to Jubilife to sell their harvest and get dinner. Alec’s feet ached from a day of nonstop walking and exercise. He could feel his socks and running shoes growing threadbare from their constant use. He obviously couldn’t get the shoes repaired but maybe Anthe could help him with his socks.
Maybe it’s time for me to buy some normal clothes, Alec thought. Everyone he interacted with on a daily basis was used to his strange attire but he still frequently got odd looks from the residents of Jubilife for his hoodie and sweatpants.
He waved to the gate guard as he walked past, lamenting the fact that Dorian wasn’t on shift right now. He was the guard who’d asked him to catch the Buizel and he wanted to get it over with, though he’d have to wait until morning.
Just as he was about to pass through the village, he heard someone call his name from behind him.
“Alec!” Rei shouted, running up. “Wait up!”
Once he got close enough, Alec said, “What’s up?”
“Nothing, just wanted to see how you’re doing.”
“Pretty good actually. I caught a lot of Pokemon today and I got in some good training with my team. My feet are killing me, though.”
“Yeah, a long day of adventuring will do that to you. Sadly the soreness never goes away, even after years of being a part of the Corps,” Rei said, shaking his head. “Anyways, what did you train your team on? Have they mastered any moves yet?”
“What do you mean by mastering?” Alec asked. “Auster’s getting pretty good with Leafage and Tricky’s getting good with Thunder Shock, if that’s what you mean.”
Rei tilted his head. “You don’t know about the Agile and Strong techniques?”
“No… What are they?”
“C’mon, lemme show you,” Rei said, turning away and beckoning Alec to follow. He walked away from Jubilife to safely demonstrate the moves outside of the city limits.
“Once a Pokemon is good enough at using a move, you can teach them how to do it with Agile or Strong Style. Agile’s weak but fast and Strong is the opposite.”
He grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and released Eevee. It emerged in a gleam of white energy and looked back at its trainer, waiting for orders.
“Eevee, show Alec what a Strong-style Swift looks like,” he said.
“Vee!” Eevee said. It got into a ready stance, low to the ground with bent knees. It concentrated for a second and then released a volley of stars.
Alec reflexively took a step back at the amount of stars Eevee made. The stars were even considerably larger than the normal ones that it’d used during their battle the other day.
It launched them off into the distance at no particular target, where they vanished from view once they got far enough away. After it was done, Eevee stood still and panted for a second, before looking happily back at Rei.
“Whoa…” Alec said.
“Yeah, Strong-style is powerful,” Rei said. “Though did you notice how it took Eevee time to charge it? Usually, it can use it just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “And it takes time for the Pokemon to properly learn how to use the Styles, too.”
“Release your Rowlet,” Rei said. “He should have enough practice with Leafage, like you mentioned. I’ll show him how to use the Styles.”
Alec complied, releasing Auster. “Auster, Rei’s gonna teach you a new technique that’ll help with battling. It’ll make you stronger and faster.”
Auster turned toward Rei with a look of awe. Rei laughed at the bird’s display and began his explanation. “The trick behind getting a Strong-style move is being able to control that much power. Normally, your Rowlet would totally be able to use Leafage with that much oomph behind it, but odds are, it’ll miss or lose control.”
Rei turned to face Alec. “When you train, the best way is to have it summon Leafage and not shoot it, but hold it ready. That way, it’ll learn how to manage that much power. When training Agile style, do the opposite. Have him summon leaves and fire them off as quickly as possible. Got it?”
“Sounds good,” Alec said. “Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime!” Rei said happily. “You were gonna sell your harvest for the day, right?” Mind if I tag along?”
“Sure!”