The Journal of Arthur Lindt
June 4th, 20XX
16 hours. That’s how long it took to get Pyukumuku to a Pokémon center. Lyra and I ran nearly non-stop, and the only thing I could consider a good circumstance is the proximity of where the Poliwrath family is compared to Violet City. When we had spent several days following Poliwag off of the trail to their home, I was worried we were getting further away from Violet city as opposed to closer. My fear was unfounded though, as at a walking pace we were probably only a day and half or so upriver.
Covering that distance as quickly as possible, wasn’t fun, to say the least. It was exhausting as all hell, but even when I felt drained and couldn’t keep running, I needed to keep moving at the least. Slowing from a quick jog to a walk every so often was the only method of break I had. I think I was more impressed that Lyra managed to keep up. Originally she was carrying Zee and Nova in her arms and bag, leaving them out in case we needed them. Eventually though she recalled Zee and I pulled Nova back into his ball just to limit the weight we were running with.
Poliwag, who had joined us for our trip, was officially captured and pulled into a ball as well as Lyra felt bad for them having to try and keep up with our pace. Checking stats and nicknaming would come later, as our priority was still getting to Violet City as fast as possible.
I don’t think I had ever been as exhausted as I was when I finally arrived at the center. I was drenched in sweat, and could barely speak. I stumbled to the front desk, and handed Pyukumuku to the nurse Joy. It was all I could do to say that I had found them acting out it in the river. The Joy knew enough to know that Pyukumuku is not supposed to be in freshwater, and quickly took them into the back rooms, likely for intensive care.
Thankfully due to our having run nonstop, it was very early in the morning by the time we arrived, so the lobby of the Pokémon center was practically empty. It did mean that the Nurse Joy I spoke to was the only one manning the desk, but that wasn’t really a big deal. She rightfully prioritized treating Pyukumuku, so I was left alone with Lyra in the center. I wouldn’t even be able to get a room until Joy returned, so I moved to one of the benches in the waiting room and sat. Lyra joined me, and we breathed a collected sigh of relief as we sat for the first time in hours.
I don’t know how long we actually waited for Nurse Joy to return, in honesty I’m pretty sure I fell asleep on that chair. All I remember is closing my eyes before being gently nudged awake by a Chansey. It had gestured me towards the desk where Nurse Joy was waiting. Lyra was nudged awake by me and we went to speak to the Nurse.
What followed was an even more intense grilling than the one I got when I had met Nova. Pyukumuku had almost died, his body had absorbed an excess of freshwater thanks to the process of osmosis. Their bodies' natural requirement of saltwater meant that while in fresh water their body had no method to limit how much water they would intake. The reason he had looked so smooth and large while I was carrying him was that he had actually greatly swollen across his whole body.
The Nurse wanted to know every detail about how he was found and what was going on, she even had a Kadabra brought in to verify authenticity. Most league buildings possessed a government psychic type that was used for things like enabling better communication between people and Pokémon as well as emergency teleportation.
There were a lot of rules around using psychic types safely, since they could theoretically appear anywhere and pull information directly out of the minds of people. The basic laws were that there were certain areas you were not permitted to teleport to, and using psychic powers for anything other than a communication link was forbidden. The exception was that certain league authorities could also use psychic types to verify whether or not someone was telling the truth, but that was the limit. Forcibly removing whole information from someone's mind was incredibly dangerous, and outlawed as a rights concern.
The fact that a Kadabra was brought in at all made it clear that this whole situation was very very serious. I explained everything as honestly as I could. From Poliwag leading us to the river, to my realization that it was a Pyukumuku that wouldn’t be doing well in fresh water, to our run to town from where we were. Joy seemed surprised by all of that, and had to double check with Kadabra to know I was telling the truth. Apparently the City knew about the Poliwrath community upriver, and gave them their space to live naturally out of respect to their lifestyle. Normally it took nearly two full days to travel to that spot at a walking pace. Running as we had she said was impressive, and was probably the only reason Pyukumuku survived.
She said he was being kept sedated for now, and they were going to drain excess water before letting him rest and recover in an appropriate salt water solution. The kind of damage caused by just living in an unhealthy environment wasn’t the sort of thing that could be healed easily, and it would probably be a week before he could even leave the facility.
They were able to find that Pyukumuku was actually registered under a trainer number. This confirmed that he definitely had belonged to a trainer, and according to what they had on file they were very concerned about this trainer's behavior. He had no badges, but half a dozen Pokémon registered under his name. Pyukumuku was the second most recent addition, only beaten by a Pidgey that had apparently been caught a couple days ago. There was no missing Pokémon report filed for Pyukumuku, and no official release procedure had been followed.
Pokémon have the potential to be weapons of mass destruction if used for violence, but they are also sentient creatures. Intelligent, emotional, and fully capable of understanding things like pain and love. As such any trainer is required to register a Pokémon they capture under their ID number. This allows the Pokémon to be returned to them in the case of them going missing, or heaven forbid if they were stolen and then recovered. It also made it easier to keep track of the team limits that trainers had. Only 6 Pokémon to a trainer, that was unless they had a registered facility to care for any excess Pokémon they captured, at which point they would be registered as being cared for but not carried. The only exception to this was Ace Trainers, who could carry 8 Pokémon with them at a time.
According to the files, Pyukumuku's old trainer had started catching Pokémon only 2 months ago, and had a rate of catching a new Pokémon nearly every week. Caterpie, Ledyba, Remorade, Oddish, Pyukumuku and now Pidgey. There was no sign of any storage or holding facility for these Pokémon, and it was very unlikely any trainer could afford to support a full team of six Pokémon without any badges.
That was all they were willing to share, since the whole deal with Pyukumuku was technically an issue the league and rangers would need to get involved with. I could put enough together on my own though. Whichever kid had Pyukumuku would get himself a Pokémon, find out he didn’t like it or it wasn’t what he wanted and then ditch it. He wouldn’t even bother going through the proper channel for releasing the Pokémon, so the rangers couldn’t even get the Pokémon home to their ideal environments.
The thought of it pissed me off, and I was only kept calm by Nova who had nudged up against my leg. Whoever this was had nearly gotten a Pokémon killed with their neglect, a Pokémon that according to Marill who had gone into the water and heard them, was just waiting for their partner to come back.
It was awful, and I felt as bad for Pukumuku as I possibly could. He was clearly capable, and loyal beyond belief, and yet their trust was completely and utterly disrespected. He deserved better and that much was clear. Part of me had the thought that I could do it. That Pyukumuku would be a perfect fit for my team, but that was selfish. He had clearly just gone through what would be a traumatic experience, and likely wouldn’t want to see another trainer again, much less join a new one for battles.
Still I asked Nurse Joy if they could keep me informed on Pyukumuku’s condition. I also handed her the tattered cloth I had pulled out of the river with Pyukumuku. Having had the chance to actually look it over it was clear it was a ruined focus sash, and probably how he had bested that Poliwrath. Counter after a focus sash protection would hit anyone hard, and it seemed to work. Pyukumuku had stayed on top of that ruined sash the entire time they were in the river. Even if it was from his shitty former trainer, it was clearly important to him, so I hoped they would return it when he woke up.
With the questioning concluded, Nurse Joy asked if we wanted a room in the Pokémon Center for the night. There was a decent chance they might need a second statement or something once Pyukumuku woke up and the rangers questioned him as well. Given the Pokémon Center was always Lyra and I’s plan for where to stay it was no problem, and we were each given a room on the second floor.
Lyra and I were exhausted, and just ended up saying goodnight before heading to our own rooms. Everything that had happened was a lot, but I needed sleep first and foremost. The rooms in the center were small, and really only had a small bunk, and a desk tucked away for any work that was needed. The Centers tended to value number of rooms over explicit comfort, since they were meant to hold traveling trainers during the circuit. There were probably 40 or so rooms in this center. Add to that the hotels in the different cities as well, there were almost always options for places to stay. Still Pokémon Centers were free, so that would be my preference as long as possible.
I wish I could say I thought through the events of the day, or properly prepared myself for what I wanted to do tomorrow. But I didn’t. I simply released Nova and set him in a bucket of dirt I still had in my bag. Silphco bags are pretty good at limiting the effects of weight, on top of being magically bigger on the inside, so leaving a bucket full of dirt in there was no big deal. Then I sent a message off to my Mom to let her know I had made it to Violet City safely, before getting into bed to prepare to sleep.
I can’t help but think about Pyukumuku, how capable they were even acting on their own. How I want them for my team, in spite of how selfish that want is. I also can’t help but see the funny side of things. If I did manage to convince Pyukumuku to join my team, it would be the second time I had found my new teammate by carrying them to a Pokémon Center for treatment. Two out of two. I really really hoped I wasn’t making a habit out of this.
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Arthur Lindt
The following few days were hectic. I grabbed Lyra once I woke up, sometime after noon given how the Pokémon Center was still mostly empty when we got up. Since it was so late, the center didn’t offer any breakfast any longer, meaning Lyra and I had to go out to find something to eat.
Violet City was honestly gorgeous. While Cherrygrove had a few taller buildings in the apartment complexes and office buildings, alongside the city port, Violet City was much larger. They didn’t have as many buildings, and most were smaller single story townhouses or shops. Even the hotel they had was a two story motel looking building. The City was also much more spread out, than Cherrygrove surrounding much of the lake that came here.
Two buildings broke the monotony. Two towers reached far above the trees and into the sky, standing out even more than they would have among the smaller structures of the city. The smaller of the two towers, a steel and glass structure that had a narrow tower before reaching a much larger dome at its apex. It reminded me of the space needle back home, just with a larger dome at the top. This was Falkners gym, and the battles were held in that top dome. It was a newer structure apparently constructed by the previous gym leader, Falkner’s father who hasn't been seen since he passed the gym off to his son.
The other tower was actually more impressive in the fact that it was actually taller than the gym, but entirely made of wood. The Sprout Tower stood on the North edge of the lake, and had a bridge crossing that led directly to it. It was nearly 100 ft tall, and even from the street on the other side of the lake, it could be seen lightly shifting in the wind. The tower was built around a central pillar, but given space to shift around it meant that it was much more stable in the wind than other buildings of that size.
The stories say that the central pillar the tower is built around is actually the body of what was once a hundred foot tall Bellsprout. The story is likely just that, a story, but the existence of dynamax leads a small amount of credence to it. Supposedly dynamax only occurs back in Galar, but who’s to say that’s always been the case, plenty of stories of giant Pokémon exist.
Sprout Tower also served as a place of meditation and entertainment. It was run by a collection of followers that all used Bellsprout to battle. They would battle any challengers, while also battling among themselves in their spare time. They believed that battles strengthened the bonds between man and Pokémon, and that only through that bond could real power be achieved. They were also strong advocates for Pokémon protection and rights, so overall they were pretty good guys. It was basically a gauntlet challenge, where you entered in the bottom and fought trainers progressively as you climbed the tower. The further you made it up the better you were, and the higher the payout they gave was, a reward for a good effort and participating in their game.
Lot’s of trainers would challenge the sprout tower at some point in their journey, even though I wasn’t that interested personally. Bellsprout were grass types, and Nova wouldn’t gain a lot from slapping himself against another grass type for a day. Not to mention Bellsprouts gave attack ev’s. It was great for lots of Pokémon, but Nova would eventually evolve into a Sunflora, and they specialize in special attack. That’s not to say I would waste the opportunity to challenge myself against other trainers, just that it wasn’t a priority for me.
“Art?” Lyra spoke up from beside me.
We had been walking around Violet City, getting a feel for where we were and what the city was like. The plan was to stop at the gym and apply for our battle before doing some shopping for light supplies. I had stopped walking and was watching the tower across the lake, getting lost in my own thoughts once again. Lyra’s comment is what snapped me out of it.
“Hm? Sorry Lyra was just thinking. What’s up?” She looked at me for a second before shaking her head.
“I was asking if you planned on challenging Sprout Tower before our Gym battle. We probably won’t be able to get a battle booked for a while.” She was glancing between the tower and I, and looked uncertain about something as she spoke.
“Oh. Well I’ll probably try it after the gym, but I think until then Nova and I’s time will be better spent practicing moves and coming up with strategies for Falkner specifically. Why?” She looked nervous as I asked, glancing away from me, and fidgeting with her hands. It was Zee, who was standing beside Lyra that snapped her out of it, giving her a nudge with her tail.
“Oh well. Um. I think I should be challenging it beforehand. Poliwag needs practice and to get caught up to speed with everything, and fighting a bunch of grass types will be useful for me…” She trailed off, not finishing what felt like an incomplete sentence. Looking down I could see Zee roll their eyes before looking at me and gesturing and Lyra pointedly. I may be dense at understanding Pokémon, but that was pretty easy to pick up on at least.
“Lyra, what’s going on? You’re not usually the type to be reserved. You can talk to me okay, if somethings wrong I can help.” I looked down at Marill, who gave me a little thumbs up.
“Nothings wrong, it's just…” She took a deep breath, before looking me in the eyes. “I’m going to be a water type specialist.” Despite her early hesitancy she spoke that final line with perfect confidence and little hesitation.
“Um. Okay, cool. Poliwag and Marill are good starts to that already so that makes sense. Challenging the Sprout Tower would be a good idea too, more practice against grass types.” It was an interesting idea, being a type specialist was definitely harder than being a generalist, at least as far as the league challenge was concerned. There were certain advantages to specializing of course, but having a team that shared weaknesses was a pretty big hurdle to try and overcome.
“I won’t let you change my mind, I already deci- Wait what?” Lyra had kept talking before pausing and looking at me confused.
“Yeah, I said it’s a cool idea. Challenging, but I’m sure you can do it.” I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a smile.
“I..uh. I thought you would try and talk me out of it, or tell me that specializing in water is a bad idea.” Her face turned red as she took a step away, and began fidgeting again.
“Why would I? If you want to specialize then you should. You clearly understand water types pretty well, and Zee is already a little monster. I don’t know why you're so unsure about it. You had zero fear or worries about chasing down a potentially super dangerous Pokémon through the woods because a Poliwag asked, but you're worried about admitting you want to specialize in water?” It felt really strange she was so worried about this, since she was normally so bright and confident about how she handled things.
“Well. I just.. I thought.. Shut up! I was just nervous since people look down on specialists, that’s all.” The red crossed her face again and she spoke out again. She refused to look at me as she said it though, and It felt like there was more to it than just that. Still If she didn’t want to talk about it I couldn’t force her.
“Lyra I’m training a Sunkern. I want a team of Pokémon just like him. I am the last person you need to worry about looking down on you. You got this okay. Now are we going to keep standing in the street talking about it, or do you want to go schedule our gym battles?” I asked the question and Lyra turned back, still looking a little unsure, before nodding along.
“Yeah, I should have figured that would be your reaction. Let’s go set up the gym battles.” She still looked a little down as we started walking, so I decided to give her something as a distraction.
“Honestly climbing Sprout Tower should be really good for Zee too. Probably just what you need to put her over the edge and master the ability sap sipper.” Lyra stopped in her tracks, and so did Zee, looking at her with shock as I just continued walking past.
“Wait, Marill can learn what!? Arthur you jerk tell me everything!” She began to pester me as we made our way towards the steel and glass building that was the gym. The base of the building was your standard gym affair, a two story square building with a set of blue sliding doors. Inside was where the changes were made. There was the front desk, which had a representative from the league that would take care of scheduling the battle and preparing for things. The biggest change from this gym to others was that the elevator to the arena was behind the desk and cut off from the rest of the area. The gym had no stands, the elevator would take a challenger up for their battle up in the dome. Apparently the entire dome was the battlefield, and the side windows would open to let the natural wind flow through the arena. It was an impressive space, and the high speed winds really messed with projectile attacks.
However due to the lack of stands if you wanted to watch a match you needed to go to the viewing area, a large section of the wall set up like a movie theatre, with a large screen that showed the battle currently happening. Lots of locals would come to watch gym battles, but usually only for the higher level badge challenges. The space was instead mostly used by trainers waiting for their battles. And it was full today. Clearly despite trying to get to the city early enough to start my circuit right away the city was already chock full of trainers just waiting for their chance.
Two weeks, that was the earliest we could get in for a battle. Lyra and I have ours back to back June 17th. We had to register our trainer ID and team with the assigner beforehand. In the lower gym badges this was important to allow the gym leader to make sure they prepared an appropriate team to challenge what we had available. On June 16th we would be required to show up for two matches against different gym trainers. These battles would be one on one and used by the leader to assess the strength of my registered Pokémon in order for the first match.
This sort of trainer gauntlet the day before the gym battle was something they only did for the first badge level of the gym challenge, as a way of gauging the challenger's strength. Sometimes new trainers would be gifted Pokémon with more experience than usual at this level, so these matches made it clear exactly what the gym leader could expect from the challenger. This wasn’t too much of a problem, since if you had two Pokémon you just used one for each match. However with me only having Sunkern on my team, I would be required to beat two Pokémon back to back, twice. Once for the gym trainers and then again against Falkner. At least I would get a days rest between fights.
It was a situation that had the lady working the front desk wanting to confirm that I did in fact want to challenge the gym with only Sunkern. The gym leader would use two Pokémon, even if I only had one. I confirmed I only had the one Pokémon right now, and she just made it clear that I had until 48 hours before my match to update my roster before I would be locked in to competing with whoever was in there. It made enough sense, but I had faith in Nova and I’s training. It wouldn't be easy but we would manage well enough, since we had to. If I found a Pokémon that fit in well with my team and what I wanted to do then I would bring them on the team and update the roster, but I wasn’t convinced that was happening before the gym.
After that Lyra and I spent the rest of the day just taking in the sights of the city. Nothing really surprising or new stood out, but letting Nova, Zee and Poliwag walk around with us and just explore was nice and relaxing. A good way to spend the day after the chaos of the day before. Lyra of course still found time to berate me for keeping Marill’s hidden ability a secret from her, but I simply explained that she should have searched it up herself to verify. The gym leader isn’t going to tell you how you should train or fight better before your battle. She seemed to take the lesson to heart, but I could tell she was annoyed with me.
The final destination we checked out before returning to the Pokémon center were the battlegrounds. An area on the edge of town that had three smaller arenas set up for battling your Pokémon against others. They were smaller than gym or tournament fields, and were just areas of clean dirt painted with visible white lines. This area was fairly full, and had a lot of people just watching different trainers battle.
The current matches had nothing really sticking out, just a match up between a Weedle and Poochyena, that was very clearly going in the dogs favor. The second match was a little higher stake, a Slowpoke was facing off against a Psyduck. It was rather interesting to watch such a slow battle occur between Pokémon that had very little focus or interest in battling.
The third field definitely stood out the most, though not for its quality of battle. It was simply a Pidgey facing off against a Rattata. It appeared to be an Alolan Rattata as well, judging from the dark black fur and more pronounced whiskers. No this battle stood out because of the trainers involved, particularly the trainer of the Pidgey. They were screaming at their Pokémon every step of the battle. Not in the sense that they were just loudly calling moves, no they were screaming at their Pidgey.
Hurling insults, and complaining about how their attacks were weak or how they didn’t dodge any moves. Screaming how they worked so hard to get a Pokémon that could fight and once again they’ve been disappointed.
Now, I had my immediate suspicions on who this was, but I couldn’t confirm anything. Yes Pyukumuku’s old trainer did have a Pidgey as their most recent addition, and yes I have assumed that said trainer was probably a dick. But that doesn’t mean that every kid who yells at a Pidgey is suddenly the person who left a Pokémon to die. He’s probably just an entitled brat that needed to lose a couple matches to learn how to switch up their styles.
And I mean seriously they needed to switch up their styles. Lyra and I walked up to the side of the arena to watch the rest of the match, and he didn’t call an order once. Pidgey was left entirely on their own to decide what moves to use and how to use them, and all this kid did was scream at them that they were making terrible choices when it didn’t work out. If Pidgey tried a move like sand attack, he screamed at them to actually attack, not use useless moves. If Pidgey attacked and it didn’t work well, or got hit back, he screamed at them for being bad at battling.
Even if they weren’t the trainer responsible for Pyukumuku they were managing to piss me off all on their own. The only thing that kept me from trying to stop the match was Lyra, who held me back by the arm. As much as I didn’t like his battle style, and Pidgey was almost certainly going to lose, they weren’t getting that badly injured. His opponent, the girl with the Rattata, had very good control of their Pokémon, and made sure any attack was only enough to knock out or knock bacK. It was a clean battle, even if the Pidgey trainer was awful.
Low and behold, not more than a minute after we had started watching, the Pidgey finally collapsed due to exhaustion. The young girl that had been commanding the rattata started to make her way over to shake hands with her opponent but was stopped by his sudden outburst.
“You stupid bird! Why can’t any Pokémon follow decent orders huh?! Another waste of time and effort! I can't believe I’ll have to find another Pokémon to start from scratch again. At this rate I won’t be able to start the season for another month.” A red beam of light engulfed the unconscious Pidgey as they were recalled by the young boy that had his outburst. He stuck his hands in his pockets and just turned to leave.
I wasn’t willing to leave him though. His attitude was even worse than Martin, at least he had the decency to treat his Pokémon well. I walked up and grabbed his arm, holding him in place.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Hey what are you doing, let go of me.” He looked back at me, ripping his arm out of my grasp.
He had heavily tanned skin, and a face full of freckles. His hair was an auburn that gave his whole body a sort of red tinge. With a black t-shirt and red shorts he seemed to be leaning into it, and definitely stood out among the other trainers here. Probably a foreigner, but I couldn’t recognize an accent. He looked me up and down before catching a glimpse of Nova and scoffing.
“Listen as much as I’d love to beat your little runt into the ground there, I need to get to the Pokémon center.” He started to turn away but I spoke, keeping his attention on me.
“You shouldn’t yell at your Pokémon like that.” I wanted to start gently. I didn’t know this person. I shouldn’t assume or direct any potential prejudice I had towards him. It was unlikely that he was the one responsible for Pyukumuku. I just wanted him to stop being a jerk to his partner, that’s all.
“Piss off. If a Pokémon doesn’t listen to its trainer, it gets yelled at. If it can’t handle that, it isn’t tough enough to be a trainer’s Pokémon in the first place.” He crossed his arms, and actually sneered at me.
For the first time I noticed he was definitely bigger than me. Taller and more muscular, probably a year or two older than I was. And judging from how he looked down towards me it was clear he was trying to use that size to intimidate me. Not that it was working, I found it hard to be intimidated by a kid two years older than me that didn’t even know how to give orders in a Pokémon battle.
“Listen to what exactly? I saw your battle, with groundbreaking orders like ‘attack better’ or ‘don’t get hit’ . How on earth was Pidgey supposed to win?” I questioned him, and a look of surprise flashed across his face, as well as a flush of red. Likely embarrassment.
“Hmph, well if they hadn’t wasted useful battle time trying a useless move like sand attack we would have won against that rat. It should have just listened to me.” A crowd had gathered around us now, mostly kids from the other matches who had heard a little bit of what was going on. I could see Lyra in the crowd watching us, holding Zee with a look of worry.
“Oh you’re telling me that was Pidgey’s idea. It was the only thing resembling a good move in that battle. I guess that means Pidgey is a better trainer than you.” I crossed my own arms, maintaining my look. If he actually got pissed enough to start a fight then I’d happily fight back, but I was not throwing the first punch. Self control was important after all.
“I doubt a trainer who only works with a Sunkern could understand, but sand attack is a move that doesn’t do any damage. It’s a waste of time in a battle against an equal opponent. I know Sunkern don't have any equal opponents though so I doubt you would understand that.” He looked smug in what he said, as though what he said was somehow smart or insightful. I tried not to, but I just couldn’t help myself and just started laughing in his face. A few of the trainers around us laughed as well, and once again that lovely look of red flushed across his face.
“What’s so funny?” He was trying to play it cool, as though my laughter made me the one who didn’t understand something.
“You’re an idiot. Rattata have an ability called hustle that makes them stronger than most Pokémon of comparative ability, but have more difficulty focusing on their targets. A sand attack or two would have made that Rattata nearly incapable of hitting you. While I don’t blame you for not knowing that, your Pidgey did. They hunt Rattata in the wild. What was the point of catching a Pidgey if you’re not going to trust their instinct? Pokémon are our partners, not our tools.” There were nods in the crowd at my words, while the kid in front of me looked even more embarrassed.
“I’ll have you know I caught that Pidgey because I thought they were strong. They bested my last Pokémon after all. But in the end they were weak too, I guess it just means that Pyukumuku really is just useless.”
There were several murmurs in the crowd, and several people pulled up their Pokégears and other devices to search the name. Lyra on the other hand, gasped in the crowd, realizing alongside myself exactly who this was. I was annoyed with them before, the way they behaved and treated their Pokémon had pissed me off, but I was mostly mellowed out by getting to embarrass him in front of everyone here.
After hearing him say that however, the anger was back. I went way past pissed off into a quiet, almost calm fury. I almost felt numb, I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my chest.
“What did you do to him?” I thought I spoke clearly, but it almost sounded like a whisper. I could barely hear my own voice, but his answer sounded like a siren in its volume and clarity.
“The Pyukumuku. Dumped him in a river. I don’t need losers on my team, it took a few days to find this Pidgey again, time wasted once more. I should have just sent a message back home to have them send me another Pokémon. Something more useful than a sea vegetable this time.”
"..."
I don’t remember hitting him the first time. Or the second time really. Or the third. By the time I was fully aware of what was happening I was on top of his chest and was slamming my fists into his head and the arms he had tried to protect himself. I wish I could say once I was aware of myself I stopped hitting him. That it had been a momentary overreaction from anger. But no.
I was definitely aware of myself when I punched him the fourth and fifth times. If I'm getting in trouble for hitting him anyway, I might as well hit him a few more times just to get the point across. In the end it was Lyra who pulled me off of him. Nova had just been hopping in a circle around us, and didn’t seem interested in stopping things, bless his violent little heart.
Eventually though Lyra separated us and started hauling me away. The trainers that had circled around for the fight parted as we left, not wanting to get any more involved than just watching the fight. My hands hurt, now that the adrenaline of things were fading.
“That was dumb Arthur. You should have just been the bigger person, moved on and told the center that you found the trainer responsible.” She looked concerned and was holding onto me as we made our way towards the Pokémon Center.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I don’t regret it though. Bastard needed to get his ass kicked.” I winced as I closed my hand again. My knuckles were bleeding, and it definitely felt like something had bruised or broken in my hands. Turns out Arthur was as bad at punching things as I was in my old life.
“Let’s just get your hands looked at. Then you can call your Mom and explain to her why you got into a fight on your first real day in Violet City.” Lyra just shook her head as she led the way.
“She’ll agree with me, you know.”
Lyra just shook her head as we walked.
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The Pokemon center was busier than it was around noon, a few trainers waiting by the chairs or idling in the public spaces the center offered. When I arrived at the desk I explained what had happened to the Chansey that was waiting there, as well as how I had found Pyukumuku’s old trainer. She, at least I think it was a she, hurried into the back rooms to get the Nurse Joy.
It was while waiting here that someone familiar entered the Pokémon Center. The same kid as before, holding his face in his hands, blood flowing from his nose and his one eye already swelling up.
“You!” He shouted towards me as he marched his way towards the desk.
“Me.” I gave the only response I could, turning to face him. I definitely did not want to fight again, especially not in a Pokémon Center. But I wasn’t going to back down, either.
“You got some nerve jumping me like that, what the hell was that for. I should beat you senseless.”
“I’m not going to apologize for kicking your ass when your casually talking about how you almost killed a Pokémon.”
“What are you on about? I didn’t do shit to you.” He looked surprised, but still angry as walked his way towards me.
“Not me, Pyukumuku. They’re salt water Pokémon, and you left them in a freshwater river. For a week! They would have died if I didn’t rush them to a center yesterday.” He looked shocked for a second, slowing in his march, before walking the rest of the way towards me.
“So what. If the water wasn’t good for them they could have left on their own. It’s not my fault they sat around like a useless vegetable.” He tried to close the rest of the distance towards me, but Lyra stepped in between.
“That’s enough guys. We don’t need to fight okay.” She looked towards me. “Arthur. Pyukumuku was okay, we don’t need to deal with his trainer.” I respected what she was trying to do, but I fundamentally disagreed.
“Yeah until the next Pokémon he ditches ends up almost dead. All you had to do was go through the proper release procedures, that’s it. Just abandoning them in the wilderness is cruel!” I was saying this to the kid over top of Lyra, who just scoffed in return.
“Yeah and waste a day waiting for paperwork to go through. They’re Pokémon. They'll be fine in the wild. I needed to catch a new teammate and get ready for the circuit as soon as possible.”
I prepared to shout at him again when a voice cut through the Pokémon Center, silencing us immediately.
“Arthur Lint, Lucas Kalani.”
We both turned back to see a nurse joy standing there, next to the Chansey I had spoken too. Despite her professional appearance, I could just tell that she was angry. Very, very angry.
“Both of you follow me. Now!” She said the last word like an order, and I found myself turning to follow before I could hesitate, Nova hopping behind me. The other trainer, Lucas apparently, followed along. He was still glaring at me as we walked but otherwise said nothing.
We were brought into what appeared to be an office room, there was a desk and a few chairs, as well as a Blissey waiting at the corner. Blissey was staring at the two of us as we walked in, and I felt an overwhelming sense of calm just being in its presence. It is honestly incredible the effect powerful Pokémon can have on their environments. Blissey were rare, and often only found in the service of Trainers or people who spent their whole lives helping others and acting out of generosity. As such Pokémon Centers and hospitals, as well as some charity organizations were where most could be found.
“Sit.” Joy spoke softer now, walking around to her side of the desk, taking a seat in the much larger chair and looking at both of us. We glanced at each other, and back to her before each taking a chair, and Nova hopped into my lap as I sat down.
I winced slightly as I grabbed the chair, and Lucas was still holding a hand against his face which was swelling up a decent amount already.
“First things first, Blissey, can you give these two an egg, it won't help having two injured trainers in my Center.” Blissey gave a nod before walking up, before pulling the egg out of her pouch, splitting it in half and giving one to both Lucas and I.
Recognizing the Chansey line's signature move, I happily ate the half I was given. Immediately I felt a feeling of warmth and excess energy flow through my body. The egg didn’t behave as actual food, I didn’t feel any more full than I was, but the wounds on my knuckles healed over, and the pain faded. That feeling of energy clung for a moment, before fading away and leaving me feeling better, but tired. Healing moves accelerated and boosted the body's natural talents, and this meant even if healing moves were great, they left the ones they were used on feeling weak and tired.
Lucas ate his half as well, and it was strange to watch the swelling on his face disappear before my eyes. Only a few moments after eating the egg he looked nearly as good as new, although the few spots of dried blood by his nose remained.
“There, injuries have been dealt with. Now could you explain to me what in the distortion happened between.”
“This kid just punched me out of nowher-”
“He was insulting the Pokémon he left for dea-”
We both began trying to explain our story at once, shouting over each other once we realized that the other was trying to blame the other.
“Stop. That’s not helping anything. Arthur. I had expected you to know better than seeking out trouble. The situation with Pyukumuku is a ranger matter and one that is being dealt with.” Joy silenced us both, before looking at me, pausing in a way that made it clear I was meant to explain myself.
“I didn’t go seeking anyone out. I happened to see him battling at the public fields and watched. He was treating his Pidgey awfully and then explained that he had ditched a Pyukumuku earlier. I tried to tell him how what he did almost got Pyukumuku killed but he didn-”
“That’s enough Arthur. Lucas, I hope you understand that what you did with Pyukumuku was outright negligence. If they had died, your trainer license would have been revoked for five years before a reapplication would even have been considered.”
“Yeah well they didn’t die, so I’m not sure what the big deal is, or why this jackass ev-”
“Lucas. I should have you know that given the situation, Pyukumuku’s survival is irrelevant. Your license will still be going under review, and the treatment and whereabouts of the Pokémon currently registered under your name will need to be accounted for.”
Lucas got very quiet at the mention of this, glancing at the ball on his belt before looking back up at the Joy. I swear it almost looked like he was actually worried now that he might actually be in trouble.
“The Pokémon registered under your name. Do you know where they are?”
Silence followed as she stared at the boy, who shrunk into his chair. I couldn’t find even an ounce of sympathy for him. Joy pulled out a pencil and a sheet of paper which she began filling out as she spoke.
“I’ll take that as a no then. As an employee of the Pokémon league, and a partner of the ranger union your license is going to be suspended until further notice.”
“What! That’s not fair I-” The pencil Joy was writing with snapped in half in her hands, silencing anything Lucas was saying.
“Boy, I would not speak to me about fairness. A Pokémon that was under your watch nearly died last night, and the first thing it did when it came to consciousness was ask for you. It retained loyalty and care for someone who was insulting it even after it had been abandoned. You have shown an utter lack of respect or care for the living creatures that are called Pokémon, and if it was solely up to me I would make sure you would never be permitted to have another Pokémon under your care ever again.” The look she gave Lucas had drawn all breath from the boy. He looked pale and frightened of the woman in front of him.
Blissey placed a hand on Nurse Joy’s shoulder and let out a soft coo. Joy visibly relaxed, taking in a breath before throwing the pencil she had snapped in half into a bin beside the desk. She took out another and continued writing.
“While your license is suspended, you will be asked to return to your home in Alola. The ranger union here and there will coordinate their investigation into your behavior and treatment of Pokémon. The results of that investigation will determine whether or not your license will be revoked, and for how long. You will also be asked to return any Pokémon registered under your name to the rangers. If there are Pokémon you are incapable of handing over, that will be taken in account for the investigation. Do you understand?” She finished writing, handing the letter over to Blissey, who took it with a nod waddled out of the room.
“What… What do I do if my license is revoked for a long time? What if I age out of the League circuits?” He was quiet now, not looking up at those who had thoroughly berated the young man.
“Well, then you would not be able to participate in said league. Perhaps a consequence you should have considered when you were neglecting to go through the proper release procedures.” Lucas just shrunk further into his chair. “Do you have any other questions?” Lucas shook his head no.
“Hm, then you may go. The rangers will be in touch.” Lucas stood from the chair and slowly made his way out the room, all the energy and aggression he had carried supposedly gone. Even now, I couldn’t muster any sympathy. He got what he deserved given how he was treating his Pokémon.
“Now, Arthur.” Nurse Joy spoke and turned back to face her, she was smiling lightly at me.
“I hope your hands are okay. I need you to understand that as a medical officer and an agent of the league I cannot support you getting involved in what is technically a ranger issue. Until you qualify as a certified trainer you can’t be involved in League matters.” She spoke softly, maintaining eye contact as she did.
“I understand Nurse Joy. I didn’t mean for things to happen that way, I just. Acted out. I’ll do better to be mindful of my actions.” She nodded at my words.
“Good, that’s good.” A Chansey, not the Blissey from earlier, stepped into the room suddenly, speaking quickly to the Nurse who listened intently.
“Well, isn’t that just convenient timing. Now while I would normally reject this request while a Pokémon is so early in recovery, for no reason connected to your earlier actions, I believe I might make an exception.” I looked at the Nurse confused, as I had not understood a word from Chansey, and missed whatever was being said.
“Arthur it seems Pyukumuku has expressed interest in speaking with the trainer that rescued it. If you would like to speak with them, you may.”
“Yes! I mean, yes please Nurse Joy.”
“Hm, I figured that would be your reaction, Chansey could you please get Kadabra to form a link for us. Have him meet us in Pyukumuku’s recovery room.” Chansey nodded and ran off from the room once more.
Nurse Joy stood and gestured for me to follow her. We didn’t have to walk far, only a couple doors down was a smaller room, with a decent sized tank at the back. It was filled with water, and had a layer of sand and small rocks across the bottom, as well as a little bit of vegetation. Standing next to the fish tank was a Kadabra, holding a spoon and looking rather bored. And sitting in the tank, turning to face the glass where I entered, was Pyukumuku.
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Pyukumuku
When I woke up I was confused. I was in a different place, but I felt better. Better than I had in days. The water was right here, it didn’t hurt me to breathe anymore. Everything was still sore, but I could feel things improving.
At first I thought my trainer came back for me. The last thing I remembered was being lifted out of the water, before darkness. But the Chansey that was keeping an eye on my tank explained that it was someone else. That they were trying to find my frie- my old trainer but couldn't, the one who brought me here was someone else. They said he saved my life.
I was angry at first, I thought I couldn't leave the river, that I had to wait for my trainer to come back. But now that the haziness had faded I could think more clearly. My old trainer wasn’t coming back. I lost a battle against a wild Pidgey, and they abandoned me. Told me I was weak and useless. That the item that had been sent to him with me didn’t even work to keep me from losing. He left us both at the river and told us he was going to try and find someone worthy of being their Pokémon.
It hurt.
And it made me angry. It wasn’t my fault we lost. I tried to battle for him. I listened to everything he said, even if I thought it was a bad idea, and we lost anyway. I thought he was testing my ability to listen but he got angry. I thought I had failed to show my strength independently and tried to pretend that that’s why he left me in the river. To show I was strong on my own.
I was ripped from my home in the sea, and sent far away to someone who only seemed interested that I was a Pokémon people wouldn’t recognize. They had praised me initially, and I clung to that feeling, to having a friend. They were the only ones who gave me a sense of belonging, and I clung to it.
And then the first time we lost he blamed me. It was ridiculous, it was unfair. I deserved better, I’m not weak. I was more than strong enough, even if I wasn’t thinking clearly I won in that river, I beat everyone there. Even if the sash was the only reason I beat Poliwrath I still did it. Me. I was strong, my old trainer was just wrong. He was the one that was useless, not me.
In the end I asked if they knew where the trainer who rescued me was. I wanted to thank them. They helped me when I was at my worst, hurting everyone who came near me. I was acting like a baby Pokémon and the only reason I could snap out of it is because they came to my rescue. They even brought the tatters of the sash that kept me alive, all because they thought it might be important to me.
They seemed nice, and it was only decent that I said thank you. The Chansey promised to look for them, while I was left to rest. I had a lot of free time, just being left to recover in this tank where the water was actually right for once. I wasn’t sure what I wanted anymore. I had been happy before, just living under the sea along the coast. Being forced to leave was the worst thing that happened to me. At least, I thought that. Yet when I imagine going back, just sitting on the ocean floor feasting on microbes and debris… It felt boring. Sad.
What did I want, if going home felt lonely?
Eventually there was a flash of light, and suddenly a new Pokémon was standing beside my tank. I didn’t see them approach, and didn’t recognize them, but a voice spoke in my head, sounding bored and disinterested in me.
I’m Kadabra. I’ll be here to serve as a link so you may communicate with the trainer you wished to speak to.
Oh, they found the trainer that helped me. And they were coming to talk. I felt excited at the idea, but nervous too. I was never really able to be understood by my old trainer, even if I could hear them well enough. Humans talk in a way that is strange. It’s specific, and good at details, but it lacks the emotional clarity that Pokémon speak with. They are odd, but if Kadabra was going to help then that was great.
Thank you. I appre-
I’m just here to translate, please don’t involve me with pointless pleasantries.
Well. I guess not all Pokémon spoke with emotional clarity. Kadabra didn’t sound like they liked this job very much, but I suppose that wasn’t my concern. Soon two more humans entered the room. I could see them outside of my tank as they entered. One was tall with pink hair. She was there when I woke up, and Chansey said she was the nurse. The other was shorter, with dark hair and wearing yellow. There was a small yellow and brown Pokémon walking with them as well.
That must be nice, getting to travel with your trainer. My old one only took me out of the Pokéball to show me off to other trainers, or for that eventual battle. But this one just seemed to have his Pokémon out and about with him. It looked sweet.
I felt a pressure against my head, my thoughts buzzing, and I saw the Human boy clutch his head with his hand before suddenly I could here him in my thoughts.
“Hi there, Pyukumuku. I heard you wanted to see me? I’m glad you're okay.” His voice was soft, and had more kindness than I had heard from anyone other than the Nurse.
Um, yes. I’m okay. I wanted to thank you for helping me. I would have been in trouble if it wasn’t for you.
I could see him visibly react to my response, and he smiled widely.
“Wow, that's so cool. I understood you perfectly. Um, right, sorry. You were thanking me. It’s no problem honestly. I was only there because my friend Lyra dragged me there to help out a Poliwag. When I figured out it was you in the river I figured the fresh water was messing with you.”
He just happened to be passing by, and helped me only because he could? He seemed strange, but nice. His Pokémon watched us from his feet, and spoke to me directly for a moment.
Yeah Arthur kind of just sticks his nose into things. He was worried about you though, I’m glad you're okay. Your old trainer was a real jerk. Arthur punched him for you. Lots!
The excitable little guy jumped up and down a few times, before stopping to look up at me.
Wait what. He punched… you punched my old trainer?
The boy, Arthur, turned to look at his Pokémon before tapping him with his foot.
“Really Nova, you had to say that to him didn’t you? Listen, I'm sorry. Your old trainer was saying a bunch of really mean things about you, and didn’t even act sorry when I said you were hurt because of where you were left. So I, uh, acted out.” He looked away, holding the back of his neck with his hand.
But, why? You don’t even know me, why would you get in a fight.
The boy's actions didn’t make sense, they confused me. Why would he bother getting physical with another Human over something as small as me? I couldn’t understand.
“Well, he was being an idiot. Kept saying you were weak and not worth anything. Dumb ass couldn’t even tell that he was just a bad trainer.”
You… You don’t think I’m weak?
“What? No! I mean you bested a Poliwrath. Even if you got lucky with the focus sash and counter that’s still impressive, not to mention keeping everyone out of that river even when it was killing you. Pretty impressive honestly. You’re probably really tough, Lucas was just too dumb to bring that out.”
I could feel tears welling in my eyes. I… I wanted to be seen as strong. I could tell that much. After leaving my home seeing more of the world, being shown off and praised. I wanted that again, to be powerful and recognized and to be wanted. I didn’t want to be just another Pyukumuku sitting in the sand.
“Hey, I know you went through a lot there, but… Did you have any plans for what you were going to do now? I’m sure the rangers would take you home if you wanted.” The boy asked about me again.
Why did he care so much about what I wanted? About what I was going to do or how I was feeling. What motivated him?
I… I don’t know. I don’t think I just want to just go home, but I don’t know what else I can do…
I was honest with the boy. I don’t know why, but I felt I could talk to him, tell him things that I wouldn’t share with anyone else. He just made me feel like It was okay to be unsure.
He actually paused at my response. Glancing towards the Pokémon at his feet, Nova, he had called him. He then turned away, speaking to the Nurse that had been standing by the door watching the whole conversation. He was speaking to her, but quietly, and far enough away that I couldn’t hear what was being said. Eventually the Nurse nodded and the boy ran back towards my tank.
“Hey, so if you don’t have any plans, maybe you could come with me?” I was shocked at his words.
“I know you still have to recover and everything here, but I’m planning to take on the League. I’m going to win the conference and beat the champion as a first year trainer, and I think you could help me do that.” He looked at me, his eyes fiery with passion.
The connection Kadabra set up between us had sent every emotion he felt while saying those words across the bond. He completely believed that he would win, that he wanted me to help him. I could feel his trust, his hope and his desire. He was full to the limit, brimming with a goal that took every fibre of his being, and he wanted me to join him.
I… I can’t.
I couldn’t. I might not have been weak, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think I was strong. I didn’t deserve a trainer so dedicated to their goal, I would just hold them back.
“Why not? If you don’t want to, that's okay, but you said you can’t. Not that you won’t. Why can’t you?” He asked, and I felt drawn on the spot. I didn’t want to admit my weakness, but I couldn't hold him back. Honesty is the only way he would listen.
You would be better off with stronger Pokémon. I would just get in the way. I won’t follow you just to fail you. Not when you're so committed to this. I can’t.
There, I said it. He knew I wasn’t as strong as I claimed. He was kind to ask me to follow, but he needed strong Pokémon not someone like-
“Pft, I didn’t ask who you thought should be on my team. I asked if you wanted to be.”
What?
“Pyukumuku. I don’t care about how strong you are, or how strong you think you can become. I’m asking if you want to travel with me. I promise that I will make you as strong as you are capable of becoming, and then a little more. I know you have the potential. If you have the desire, if you want this, then that’s all I need from you.”
I… what did I want? What was I afraid of?
I… I want to be strong. I don’t want to be alone and forgotten beneath the waves. I want to stand out, to be seen by everyone.
What was I saying? Pyukumuku were supposed to sit in the sea and hide. We only fought to defend ourselves. I was dragged here without a choice, why did I want to stay? Why did I want to go with him?
“Then come with me. Together we can make you strong, and I promise they won’t be able to take their eyes off of you.”
I felt it in the bond. There was no doubt. He wasn’t making me an offer. He was making a promise. There was only one way I could answer.
Okay.