Appetizer 1.7

Aaron Fulan

Route 110, Hoenn Region

I spent four days running around in the lower path looking for any signs of an electrike. It wasn't as though they were rare, not really. I'd seen glimpses of their lime-green fur several times. Even camouflaged as they were in the tall grass, their yellow highlights often gave them away. The deeper the yellow, the closer they were to evolution.

And yet, I couldn't get a battle with a single one. Unlike the games, they were perfectly capable of fleeing and the truth was that most wild pokémon didn't enjoy battling trained pokémon. Trained pokémon were often stronger after all, why battle unless you yourself were scouting for a prospective trainer?

'My lord, there!' Artoria pointed. I followed her gaze, only to catch a glimpse of an electrike's tail. I returned the pokéball in my hand back to my belt and let out a frustrated sigh. Artoria placed a comforting hand on my cheek. 'We will find one who will join us, fret not, my lord.'

On the plus side, the fast little buggers gave Artoria plenty of practice in detecting life signals. She was getting better at identifying the exact species of pokémon nearby, as well as their direction and approximate distance. From what I could remember, that kind of spatial awareness was a must for combat teleportation.

"It's fine. If we can find an electrike by the time we leave, great. If not, then there will be other chances," I told her. "You hungry?"

'Hunger is the enemy,' she said seriously.

I smiled. I'd told her that because I thought it was funny and she'd picked up on it. Though, she might mostly be doing it to humor me. She did feed off of my positive emotions after all. In a sense, she was Skinner Box-ing herself. She behaved in a certain way and it elicited positive emotions in me, which she consumed as energy. In turn, this made her subconsciously want to do it more because feeling my joy, love, or even amusement was similarly pleasurable for her.

Empathic nutrition made for the best social chameleons.

"Yes, yes it is. There's a rest stop two miles away from where we are so we'll get there and eat, okay?"

'Yes, my lord.'

A little over half an hour later, we made it to the rest stop.

The rest stop was one of the larger ones, with a full dozen firepits branching out from a ramp connecting up to the SCR. I spied the odd cyclist or three along with two groups of trainers and several loners like myself already setting up camp. Dinner wouldn't be far off and it wasn't as though there were any reservations. So long as you stayed in the campground, you could pitch a tent wherever you liked.

A small ranger station sat in the middle, one of six dotted throughout the length of the path. I walked up to the man manning the station and presented my pokédex.

"Hello, sir."

"Evening. New trainer, eh?" he said with a knowing grin. At his side was a beefy looking granbull keeping a weather eye on the campers.

"Do I look that inexperienced?"

"Yeah, you do. You look like you've never been out in the routes before. First time camping?"

"Not the first."

"Trainer school doesn't count."

"Still not the first. Been a while for sure though. Anything I ought to know?"

"Not really." He registered my pokédex's trainer ID and returned it to me. "That was all you had to do. I can give you some cup ramen if you're low on supplies or don't want to cook."

"Nah, that's fine, sir. I don't mind cooking."

"Alright then. Suit yourself. Now let's see what you remember from your wilderness survival lessons. Go ahead and set up a fire."

Nodding, I headed off to an abandoned firepit and began pulling up dried grass to use as tinder. I bunched it up into a nest and stuffed it with a cotton ball, making sure to leave enough room for oxygen to pass through. I settled it inside the pit and began to look for my lighter.

"Let me," came a woman's voice.

I looked up to find a lithe, sweat-soaked figure. She looked to be about seventeen, or perhaps a young-looking twenty. Her long, brown hair was kept in a tight ponytail, letting her face soak up the evening breeze.

She had a foldable bike slung over one shoulder and a four foot tall doduo by her side. She'd evidently just come down from the SCR and picked the nearest firepit to join that looked like it didn't have an established friend group. In her hand was a flint firestarter attached to her keychain.

I nodded and shuffled aside. "Aaron, nice to meet you."

"Wanda. You don't mind if I join you?"

"Nah, it's fine. Nice doduo."

She scattered some sparks onto the nest and began to blow gently. "Thanks, my dad works with the Safari Zone and was allowed to get me a starter from there."

"That sounds like an amazing job."

"Haha, not really. Dad's an accountant, not a ranger. He just does their taxes and whatnot. But well, the chance to keep a single doduo wasn't too much to ask so they gave it to him instead of a year-end bonus."

"Huh, still cool. Do they have a name?"

"Nope. You must be from Petalburg with that ralts."

"Nope, Mossdeep."

"Ooh, nice. Got the gym sponsorship then?"

"Yes, though it's not as big a deal as everyone says it is."

"You say that now, but it'll matter once you have a few badges."

"Perhaps," I allowed. "Do you have any badges?"

"Just one," she said with a sheepish grin. "I know, I look old enough to have competed in a conference. I should have more, right?"

"I didn't say that. Plenty of people choose to travel without collecting badges. Coordinator?"

"Nope. Guess again."

I looked her over. The evening sun made her toned muscles glisten with sweat. The lighting and bike shorts did things for me that I wasn't entirely comfortable with. I quashed the surge of puberty and got a proper look at her. She was fit. No, she wasn't just fit, she had practically zero body fat, a rarity even in this far more active world. Every inch of her seemed to be built out of whipcord muscles, built for speed and stamina over power. Her calves looked like she could kick my head clean off my shoulders.

"Professional cyclist?"

"Yup. Well, triathlete, but close enough. Doduo and I aren't too into battling. We're competing in the Hoenn Triathlon for our fourth year running."

"That's impressive. I hope you do well."

"Yeah, don't we all." She dug around in her backpack and pulled out a container of some lean poultry alongside a metal grate. A nugget of something wrapped in aluminum foil followed. "Mind if I toss these on the fire?"

"Go ahead. I'm curious to see what a triathlete eats anyway."

"Today? A baked potato and a grilled chicken salad. What about you? Don't tell me you have nothing but hot dogs and s'mores in your backpack."

"Of course not," I scoffed as I prepared a bowl of rice and clean water from the outdoor faucet. "It's curry rice."

"Nice, I definitely didn't know how to cook something like that at your age."

"What's so hard about it? The curry comes in little blocks you break off like chocolate squares. After that it's all just dumping in pork and veggies and letting it simmer. Want some?"

"No thanks. Don't tempt me. Watching my calories is hard enough as it is."

"Fair."

The two of us fell into a comfortable silence as we prepared and ate our respective dinners. As I was packing away the leftovers for tomorrow's lunch, I noticed the doduo. He? She? They? They had finished their meal long before the trainers and were now running up and down the ramp to the cycling road, burning off some of that restless energy the bird pokémon were known for.

"Say, Wanda?"

"What's up?"

"Your doduo. How do they do that?"

"Do what?"

"Run. You know, how do they decide when and where to turn?"

She grinned. "What? Did you think each head would point in a separate direction and they'd yank each other like a cartoon?"

"Heh, it sounds stupid if you put it that way," I said sheepishly.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Well they do. Or, the young ones do. Both heads have control over the whole body and it takes some time before a doduo can figure out how to work together with themselves."

"Huh, so it's just really good cooperation?"

"That's part of it. They're known for bickering with themselves a lot, but the truth is that beyond the surface-level arguments, they're incredibly well synchronized by necessity. That, and they're psychic."

That drew me back. "Wait, what?"

"Not really. Kind of. You know how some twins have a psychic connection?"

"Yup. My siblings have it. They're really powerful."

"Huh… I usually have to convince people that it's true. Well, doduo are all twins. They quickly develop an instinctive understanding of their other half even if they lack the outward expression of psychic power like telepathy. So, they're not true psychic types, but they have a sort of psychic synchronization that only applies to their twin."

What had started as idle curiosity ended up being far more fascinating than I first expected. This, this was why I loved pokémon so much. "So… Can it be trained?"

"You mean, can I train a doduo to improve their coordination?"

"Yeah."

"Yup. Why? Interested in having one for yourself?"

"No. You know how I said I'm from Mossdeep?"

"Right, fancy gym sponsor."

"Well, I'm psychic too, though not in any way that matters. Basically, I can connect to my ralts a little and we send emotions and little nudges to each other."

She caught on fast. "And you want to know if it's possible to learn to do what a doduo does instinctively. Not bad, kid."

"Thanks, so… can you teach me?"

"Nope."

"Ehh?"

"Not for free anyway. Training techniques are personal, you know that. What do I get for helping you?"

"It doesn't hurt you to help me," I tried.

"It doesn't help me either."

I offered her my box of curry. "A few good meals?"

"Tempting, but again, diet."

"Ugh, fine… I don't think I have much that can help you as a triathlete."

"Probably not. Tell you what though? I wouldn't mind telling you how I've been training my doduo, but only if you beat them in a battle."

"Seriously? What happened to techniques being personal?"

She shrugged. "It's personal so I can decide how I want to give it out. Besides, it's not a huge secret or anything. Like I said, every doduo does this instinctively so you could just find another trainer, or look it up when you get somewhere with better internet connection."

"And the battle?"

"I really want to know what a ralts is doing with a spoon," she admitted. She pointed to Artoria, who sensed our attention and immediately knelt at attention. When no command was forthcoming, she went back to polishing her spoon to a mirror finish. "Seriously, your ralts takes better care of that spoon than a hypno cares for its pendulum. What's with that?"

"So, curiosity then?"

"Yup. We'll battle at sunrise. Sound good?"

I nodded. "Artoria will be ready."

"That's that then. I'm going to towel off and get some sleep. Eighty miles a day isn't the worst I've done, but it's definitely not fun."

"Eighty? I've been walking twenty-four or so."

"That's a respectable amount if you're walking. Just don't overdo it."

"Yeah, good night, Wanda."

"Night, Aaron."

We stayed up for a while longer, though I eventually crawled into my sleeping bag. The night was far too nice for a tent so I just set up a tarp below the sleeping bag to keep the dew off. Before long, I felt Artoria crawl into the hood of my bag, that miniature pocket more like a full set of blankets to her foot-tall frame.

'We duel at dawn,' she said. I could hear the excitement in her voice.

"We do. You're going to need your rest."

'Yes, my lord. Good night.'

"Good night, Artoria."

X

Dawn found Wanda and I standing across from each other in a manmade clearing. Manmade, because the tall grass had been trimmed to more manageable heights specifically to allow trainers to battle one another in a more open environment. In front of her stood her doduo, fully rested from the previous day's run.

Artoria hopped off my shoulder in a graceful flip, landing with her spoon-sword pointed towards her opponent's heads. Or, more like their shins, but it was the thought that counted.

'This shall be a wonderful test of my skill,' she said, though it came out as "Ralts, ralts-ralts" to everyone else.

"Duo."

I didn't know what the twins told her but judging by the way her grip on her sword tightened, it was anything but flattering. Truly, I had such a prideful partner.

"You two need a ref?" asked the ranger from last night.

"No, this is a friendly spar and it's only one on one anyway. I'm not going to ask for a wager if you don't," said Wanda.

I nodded. Honestly? That was a bit of a relief. I had little expectations of victory here. Unlike the poochyena, this doduo was experienced. And unlike the machop, they clearly didn't have the patience to want to coach us.

"Alright then. I'll still be keeping an eye out so don't do anything too crazy."

"Yes, sir," we echoed each other.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Then give us your best shot!" Wanda grinned like a loon. I supposed it took a certain type of adrenaline junkie to want to become a pro triathlete.

"Artoria, forget about point locations. You're not likely to reach their head and they don't exactly have wrists. Double Team then target the joints," I told her.

She obeyed immediately. Her form shimmered into four copies, the best she could do at the moment, and they closed on the doduo as one. Before she took two steps, Wanda barked out her own order.

"Don't let her. Intercept with Peck!"

Doduo ran forward, their natural speed far outstripping a ralts'. Their long stride closed the gap between them and the nearest clone in a second. The head on the left streaked out with a glowing beak, piercing the copy through the chest. Even as the illusion faded, it was already turning left to guard against the nearest copy. At the same time, its sibling turned right to do the same.

Three more strikes lanced out in rapid succession, dispelling the rest of Artoria's illusions and sending her skidding back as she guarded the blow with her spoon.

We badly underestimated how fast a doduo could be. It was one thing to read that they were fast predators, and another matter to see it in action. I had thought Artoria could chip away at their feet like Wander from Shadow of the Colossus, but that wasn't likely to be an option at this rate.

"Double Team into Mana Burst," I called. "Hari-men!"

My little knight grunted her understanding and ran forward, three more copies springing from her side. Across from me, Wanda looked on with a confident smile, feeling no need to interrupt her pokémon.

Then, I had the pleasure of seeing their eyes widen as Artoria put on the speed. All four copies accelerated towards their opponent like loosed arrows.

"Fury Attack!"

There wasn't aesthetically any distinction between Fury Attack and Peck, only that Peck was usually a singular thrust with flying type energy while Fury Attack was a series of consecutive thrusts. In this case, the doduo reacted admirably, targeting every copy in a single second. The strikes were individually too fast for me to see, but that didn't matter. Artoria had better vision than me and she was waiting for it.

I saw her body flicker with the telltale sign of psychic reinforcement before her sword flicked out and slapped the head targeting her on the beak. The doduo's head and neck likely out-massed her entire body, but she didn't need to force it to turn completely, only just enough.

Her sword lanced out in a perfect uchi-men, a downward stroke that found her opponent's head with the edge of her spoon. A meaty thwack rang out across the clearing as its head was sent reeling back from the counter.

"Doduo!" they cried out, the second head flinching from the referred pain.

"Now, Burst into Edge!" I called.

Artoria launched herself into the air and struck out with a glowing blue spoon towards their body. The explosive force of the Confusion-enhanced spoon was enough to send them skidding back. She landed in a practiced flip that was half controlled with Confusion, sword at the ready.

As she prepared her next assault, Wanda spoke. "Alright, that might be the weirdest ralts I've ever seen. But enough's enough. Supersonic!"

Then, the two heads raised themselves into the air and let out an ear-splitting screech. The world went topsy-turvy. It was one more difference from the games that I didn't fully think through. Sound moves were fucking dangerous, dangerous and indiscriminate.

I clamped my hands over my ears and saw Wanda had produced a pair of headphones to do the same. She gave me a cheeky grin and waved with her fingers.

Up close, the experience must have been very different. Artoria was on her knees, sword forgotten as she dizzily tried to regain her footing.

"Rage!"

After that, it wasn't much of a fight. I couldn't watch the thrashing and retrieved Artoria with her pokéball in short order.

"That was unfair," I grouched. We were seated on a log, our things all packed up and ready to head our separate ways.

"No such thing," Wanda said. "It's a legitimate tactic. If it makes you feel better, in a tournament, psychic barriers will negate the worst of it for trainers."

"There's got to be a way to deal with sound moves like that.'

"Humans adapt like pokémon. Eventually, you'll get used to it. Oh, you'll never truly be able to ignore it like an exploud could, but experienced trainers aren't crippled by it."

"So, what? You just… suck it up and learn to bear it?"

"Yeah. Why do you think so many trainers hate zubat? Even being in close proximity to a group of them can be dizzying if you're not used to it."

"Damn." I sprayed some of the contents of a potion bottle into a warm sponge and handed it to Artoria. Because of her tiny size, a normal spray nozzle wouldn't be accurate enough so mom trained her ralts to treat themselves.

"I was impressed with that ralts though. Artoria, was it? I've never seen a swordsman ralts before."

"Yeah, she's unique."

"Wait, she?"

"Yup. She's going to be the first gardevoir swordmaster."

"Huh… Alright, if you say so."

When Artoria was done dabbing the sponge on her bruises, I passed her an oran berry. She took the sweet treat gratefully and started to nibble.

"So, any advice for me?"

"Other than to keep asking for advice from people with more experience than you? Not really. I'm not an expert on swords so I can't really correct your ralts and her form looked pretty good from what I can tell. Or at least, it looked really cool. I wouldn't know if it's good."

"Yeah, figures. Thanks for the battle."

"Nah, I'm the one who asked. Besides, I guess I can tell you what I did to train my doduo."

"Wait, you will?"

"I don't see why not."

"What happened to beating them in a battle?"

She shrugged. "I didn't really expect you to win. I was honestly just curious about that weird sword-spoon thing she's got going on." She dug around in her backpack and pulled out three cups, each with little pinholes at the base. She set them on the log, bottom side up. "So, way back when doduo was young, I used to hide treats under each cup. I also had these stinky pellets that looked similar, see? And then, I'd have both heads guess at the same time. They needed to make their guess in three seconds and point at the same cup. If they failed, they'd eat the stinky treat."

"That's… That's it?" I asked incredulously.

"What? Did you expect some super-secret training exercise?"

"I mean… Kind of?"

"Heh, nah, no way. Not from me. It was just a simple exercise one of dad's colleagues, a ranger in the Safari Zone, taught me. The goal isn't some special move but to synchronize their reaction times and thought patterns. Repeat a task enough, force them to cooperate enough, and you'll eventually get two heads that think as one. That's really all there is to it."

"Huh…"

"Don't they do something like this in Mossdeep?"

"Not really. Gym pokémon tended to be more experienced, so I don't have much experience with very young pokémon. I did get to sit in on some psychic seminars though. There, a more experienced psychic, usually an alakazam or gardevoir, would guide the gym pokémon in opening their minds and whatnot. It wasn't anything so… mundane."

"Mundane is just fine if it works, kiddo."

"Yeah, I get it. Thanks, Wanda."

She stood and dusted herself off. "No problem, kid. I'm going to go head out now. I think that if I start riding, I can cover another eighty miles today."

And with that, she was off.

Author's Note

I wanted to portray the life of a trainer in an established route. I figured that a route so close to two major cities would be heavily monitored and wondered what a mix of cycling and camping roads would look like. This was the result. Also, this is what shit tracking rolls get me. No thundo-doggo.

Also, Japanese people really, really like their curry rice, especially when camping. Is it stereotyping if it's true?

A top-tier cyclist can bike more than 250 miles per day in good conditions. Eighty isn't unreasonable, even if it sounds insane to a lazy bum like me. A normal person can walk three miles an hour, or about twenty-four miles per day. Aaron, by necessity in this world, is rather fit thanks to aura and anime shenanigans.

Hari-men is often mistaken for harai-men and vice-versa. Hari is a swift, strong slap to the side of the opponent's sword, intended to move their sword out of the center so your scan take its place and strike. It's a quick, sharp movement. Harai is a longer sweep rather than a slap. The distinction is semantic in my opinion, but Aaron would know the difference and drilled it into Artoria.

Normally, hari waza is not considered a counter, an oji waza, but such distinctions tend to blur together in combat.

Thank you for reading. To reach a wider audience, and because I enjoy a more forum-like setup to facilitate discussion, I like to crosspost to a wide variety of websites. You can find them all on my Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/fabled.webs.