“A ranger’s partner Pokemon is their strength, the force with which they may impact the world.”

My father reaches down and pats Spidop’s head, getting a content chitter in return. I grimace; I never liked bugs, something about them made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was the legs, perhaps the way that they skittered, maybe even the disconcerting noises that nearly every one I had ever encountered made. Spidops and other arachnid Pokemon in particular made me queasy unlike anything I had encountered before.

“To be a man is to use that strength to protect you and yours. For us, that means the people of Paldea," He stated, like it was natural sense, "When you come of age, you’ll be entering into the Ranger Union as a student ranger, to join me and your mother in the field.”

“What- I thought I was going to Uva Academy?!” I coughed out in shock.

The man before me simply laughed as if I was joking. I most definitely wasn’t.

“Me and your mother agreed long ago that you’d be joining the Union," He said with a impassive face, "We might be separated now, but our past decision still stands.”

Grumpily, I storm out of the room and up the stairs, flopping down in my bed once I slam the door behind me. It was unfair; All my friends were going to Uva, why couldn’t I? Just because dad said so? Because becoming a ranger is to become strong?

Is strength all that matters for men?

Sometimes, I wished I wasn’t a boy.

Awakening with a gasp, I find myself precariously hanging half off the cliff I had gone to sleep on the previous night. Sucking in a breath, I quickly fumble backwards, my back hitting the stone of the mountain’s edge. Giving my ropes a quick tug, I find that to my relief they were still taut. Not like they didn’t nearly give me a heart attack.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, I clutch both of my arms tight. I really, really hated mountain climbing. It was definitely a blessing that I didn’t have to manually climb up the sheer cliffs of the south Kalos range, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t terribly afraid of heights. Groaning, I begin to pack my things- Eve would return soon, now that I was awake.

As if by magic, as soon as I finish cleaning and throw my bag on, Eve quietly lands on the small remainder of flat space left behind me. I turn to glance at her, finding her ivory fur, blood red eyes and ebony implements of death as unblemished as they always were. Eve is small for an Absol, according to what I found online, but I honestly didn’t really trust that the information was accurate. Thankfully, I’m quite small, so my weight doesn't really seem to impact her very much.

I try to open my mouth to complain, to decry our decision to travel like this, but find myself unable to. We are too far in now; Kalos is definitely close, and it’ll take longer to double back to find a different way. I sigh, walking over and with practiced ease, swiftly mount up onto Eve’s back. She sends me a wave of concern over my well being, I just respond by sending back a bit of affection as I stroke her neck. Eve glares back at me, but begins our movement regardless.

As Eve leaps from ledge to ledge, I close my eyes and lean my head against her. The feeling of falling makes me anxious and queasy, something I assume is due to my fear of heights. I’ve somewhat learned to deal with it, but I know that I would have to ask Eve to stop before long. If I wasn’t careful, my anxiety would boil over enough that I would shut down. Not a great thing to happen when riding a saddle less Pokemon while they leaped between ledges hundreds of feet in the air.

As we fly through the air, I clutch my partner's neck harder than before. My mind begins to wander, and before I know it memories of the events that led to my current situation begin to dominate my attention. Anxious thoughts begin to rise alongside them, but one stands out among the others. Did I do the right thing?

It was a normal Sunday, just like any other, until my father came slamming into the living room waving a letter in the air above his head. I didn’t even need to hear him say what was in the letter to know what it was. There was only one thing the man got so excited for.

"Good news! We just got the letter confirming who your partner Pokemon will be!" He yelled, the typical way he entered into rooms.

Anxiety begins to rise as my father slams the paper down in my lap, as I reach to take it I find my hands trembling. After a futile attempt to mentally shake myself out of the demon gripping my heart, I gulp as I open the letter. Taking its contents out from inside, I read aloud the words that quickly sent dread into my heart.

“Congratulations! You have been selected as a Student Ranger for the Paldea region! As part of your training, you will be assigned a newly hatched… Tarountula…” In horror, I look up at my father, finding him with a proud toothy grin stretching from ear to ear.

“I pulled some strings, you could say, to get you a relative of Spidops!" Reaching over to pat me on the shoulder, his perfect teeth shined. "Isn’t it great!”

Feeling like my stomach is going to empty itself, I slowly nod.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

“Y-Yup. It’ll be fine," I breathe, doing my best to convince myself, "I can deal with it, I’m strong.”

It was not fine. Four months and three Tarountula’s later, I still hadn’t managed to form the partner bond that connected rangers and their Pokemon. Looking back on it, the first two probably realized the problem, refusing to interact with me until my father got frustrated and replaced them. I simply wasn’t able to connect with the bugs; something deep inside me prevented me from forming a bond that I would hate.

Eve pulls me out of my memory filled daze with a jolt of concern, bringing me to reality once again. We were now at the bottom of a grassy valley, beside a spring rippling through a stack of rocks. Eve kneels down, and I step off her back with my legs trembling. I stumble over to the stream, then unclip one of my two thermos to fill up. Eve knew the water wasn’t safe for me to drink, but she also knew that I could make it so that I could.

After filling it up to its lid, I swap to the other bottle and drink as much water as I can handle. I end up emptying it, then shrug and fill it up too. Having two bottles of clean water would be really nice tomorrow.

After returning my thermos to their clips, I spot Eve chatting with two Fletchinder who were roosting in a nearby tree. My partner excitedly barks at them, and the birds chatter smugly in response. Sending her a bit of curiosity, Eve responds with a slice of joy. Good news, I guess.

After giving a quick bow, Eve rushes over and nuzzles me in excitement, pleading for me to get onto her back again. I laugh to myself as I climb up again, but yelp in surprise as my partner immediately begins to sprint at full speed. Clutching my arms hard around the Absol's neck in an attempt to stay aloft, memories of the day we met come flooding back.

After another two months, my father had nearly given up on me. During my daily ‘bonding’ sessions with the Tarountula, he had taken to storming out whenever I would forcibly break the connection. I had learned how to start the process myself a few weeks previous, but had decided when I did that even if I got the chance I wasn’t going to allow a bond with the stubborn bug.

Finally, the night before that fateful day, He came slamming into my room as he always did, but this time a bit more excited than he had been in a while. He was carrying a typical ranger issue bag and outfit, which nearly immediately set my anxiety to a max.

“Well, I have managed to get you one last chance. You’ll be coming with me to Montenevara, where we’ll be tracking down a malicious Pokemon that has been causing problems." Tossing the items down, his voice is gravely and disconcerting. "Make sure you take everything you need, but not too much. We’ll be flying there tomorrow morning.”

I nodded, if just to get him out of my room as fast as possible. He had been insufferable lately, for more reasons than one. A few days ago I had caught him hiding letters from my mother when I went to the post office to drop off a request to the union for him. He made excuses, but I now knew he had lied to me. I couldn’t trust him anymore.

The morning was rather uneventful, and the stomach wrenching taxi flight besides, it was actually quite pleasant. Father was quiet, which allowed me to really take in and enjoy the deep white terrain of the mountain around Montenevara. We visited with a few elders, all of which spoke of an ill omen intruding upon their lands. My father said nothing, simply writing down their statements and moving on to the next. Before noon, he said he knew where to find the beast.

Or well, he thought he did. After an hour of breathtaking snow everywhere I could see, I had quickly learned to dislike the freezing chill that accompanied it. My father was growing frustrated, but didn’t stop in his search despite a small snowstorm starting. Eventually, I was unable to keep up the search myself due to exhaustion, and upon asking to return, my father simply scowled before waving me away.

As I followed my phone’s GPS back to civilization and warmth, a subtle rumbling began to envelop the air around me. Unsure of what exactly was happening, I tried my best to speed up, but my boots were deep in the snow and every step felt like I was taking a hundred. When I looked up to see a wall of white heading towards me from the peak, I thought my life was over. I closed my eyes to await my fate.

But it never came.

Instead, a sudden lurch fills my entire body before I am covered in a deep warmth. I opened my eyes to see that an Absol had thrown me onto its back, putting itself into danger to get me to safety. Eve, though I didn’t know her as that yet, jumped nearly twenty feet in the air onto a nearby tree, where we waited for the crashing snow to pass. Once it did, she let me down, but as I was completely exhausted I could barely stand. Obviously worried about me, Eve tried to get me to follow her, but I stubbornly refused and began to follow the GPS again.

Eve followed me regardless, staying close to me so that the little heat she gave off would keep me a bit warmer. As I reached the edge of Montenevara, I found my father waiting for me, elders standing behind him and whispering wildly among themselves. I was hoping for a smile of warm relief on his face, but instead I saw disgust and anger. At me, and at Eve.

When he flicked his wrist to reveal his Capture Styler, I knew words were pointless. Reaching up, I placed my hand defiantly onto the Absol's neck, getting a look of surprise from both her and my father. I knew from experience the Styler wouldn’t work when someone was too close to the Pokemon, so if I didn’t move, he wouldn’t be able to forcibly tame her. Then, Eve looked me in the eyes, and I knew what I had to do.

In an instant, I completed the bonding that I had failed to do with the Tarountula for six months. Furious, my father clipped his Styler onto his belt and began to stomp towards me. He freezes when I pull out the gift that my mom had sent me; A deep crimson and black pokeball.

“Boy, you know the consequences for using that," My father growled, pointing his finger at me.

Resolute, I nod, then hold the ball up to Eve. She grins, sending me a huge wave of joy just as she presses her head against its trigger. In a flash of light, I am no longer a student ranger, no longer my father’s child. I became a Pokemon trainer at that moment, and nothing could take that away from me.

I was better for it.

When my mind returns to the surface, the sun is halfway through its journey. Eve has slowed down considerably, likely due to me being only half conscious there for a minute. Shaking my head, I pat her twice on the side of her head, getting a content purr before she starts her dash once again. As we crest the side of the current mountain, I put my hand up to my eyes to block the sunlight. When Eve comes to a stop, I look down and gasp.

We had made it. It was small and rather undeveloped, but it was hope.

Vaniville town, the place where I would hopefully soon begin my journey through Kalos.