Pokémon After the Cataclysm

[Bulbascreen]

Summary: After the Cataclysm that lead to a downfall of cities across the world humans now live in secluded cities separated from nature by tall walls. Pokemon and their trainers are feared due to the wild nature of these animals. Forced to become a trainer, Ava does her best to survive in this dangerous world.

Author's Note: This story is based upon the world Pokemon: Chaotic World by Revenantzero with their permission. So there are going to be similar parts throughout. It's a great story and you should read it but this stands on its own with new characters.

This is my first fanfic and it is set in a world where pokemon are more aggressive. Expect to see occasional cursing/blood/injuries/death, etc. I don't plan of being too gratuitous but let me know if there are any tags that I am missing. Hopefully y'all enjoy reading!

Chapter 1: Origins ​

Becoming a trainer was the last thing Ava Stanton, or anyone her age, wanted to do.

As she rode the bus away from the only life she ever knew, in her panic, there was only one repeating thought in her head.

“I am going to die”.

…

A long time ago, becoming a pokemon trainer and taking on the Gym Challenge was what every kid dreamed about, and most at least attempted it. Even those who weren't trainers often had one pokemon as a pet or used one for work. Pokemon were so ingrained in the fabric of society that when that Cataclysm came, everything broke down.

The driving force behind the Cataclysm was due to the actions of Team Rocket, one of the most notorious pokemon gangs around. They had been working on capturing legendary pokemon to aid them in their crimes and use their destructive power to take control of the government and beat the League.

Team Rocket had created plans and preparations to be ready to fight against some of the strongest trainers in the world. Then, when they successfully captured the three legendary birds, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos, they were ready to put their plan into action. What they weren't ready for was the response of the legendary pokemon when they combined forces.

The legendary pokemon led the charge against all of humanity, across all regions of the word. Millions of pokemon, once friendly, became enraged by the legendaries and started attacking people across the globe. These animals, which once lived in peace and community with humanity, became feral and destroyed cities and towns.

The trainers were able to put up some sort of fight with the pokemon they trained previously, not seeming to be affected by the changes caused by the legendary pokemon. However, for the majority of towns and small cities, there simply were not enough people or resources to fight against the onslaught of superpowered attacks. Within a week, all that was left of humanity were the most populous cities with high League and trainer support and the few individuals who managed to hide away.

The reason these towns survived was due to the League taking strong action by rallying the remaining trainers and refugees in the bigger cities. To protect themselves they started building walls around the cities to keep out the pokemon. Trainers guarded the walls and were constantly at war to keep pokemon out.

This all seemed to be for naught as the waves of pokemon kept coming, and even bigger cities were starting to be destroyed. Then a final wave of pokemon came and broke through the walls of every city and started rampaging. It seemed to be the end of everything until, all at once, the wild pokemon froze, stopping the fighting and returning to nature.

No one knows why the coordinated attacks stopped. There were theories that it was due to the mercy of the legendaries or that they stopped, while others believed they had accomplished their goal of finding the captured legendaries and saving them. In the end, the reason was never discovered, but whatever it was allowed humanity the chance to survive.

Rebuilding was a massive undertaking, and not every place survived. With 90% of the population decimated, a lot of society collapsed. There were food shortages, an increase in crime, and a lack of essential infrastructure. The remaining Leagues and cities gathered together to figure out how to survive and keep what's left of humanity safe.

Since there were no centralized governments left, each city was declared as a city-state and given the right to rule themselves without outside interference, with the exception of the regional League having offices in all areas to deal with matters related to pokemon. With transport being extremely dangerous, it was essential that these cities could be self-sufficient and not have to rely on others for supplies.

Pokemon training also underwent massive changes. Since pokemon were still essential for protecting against outside threats and growing the city, it was necessary to keep training and catching pokemon . Things were different now, and the first generation that tried to restart training almost ended up wiped out. The changes in pokemon were permanent, and while they were not being led in battle by legendaries, they still remained extremely aggressive compared to before and would attack ruthlessly.

No longer were people flocking to train pokemon, instead they became a source of terror for most people and something they actively avoided. This shortage of trainers was dangerous and put many cities at risk of collapsing. A mandate for trainer conscription was put in place for all cities. Once a year, all people aged 15-20 would be required to take part in a ceremony to randomly choose people to become pokemon trainers for the rest of their lives.

Two hundred years have passed since then, and this ceremony, which came to be known as the Selection Day, is still in place.

This was also the day that Ava’s old life was over, and she began her new life reluctantly as a pokemon trainer.

…

Selection Day was always a gloomy affair. As the thousands of people eligible to be chosen trickled into the stadium used for the ceremony, all you could hear was the shuffling of feet and the officers directing traffic. Ava’s stomach was tangled in knots, thinking about what the future could hold. If she were chosen, the worst that could happen would be a quick death in the first week of becoming a trainer. The best she could hope for is to be forever ostracized by most people in her life, never be able to get a real job, and be stuck in a dangerous profession til she was either killed, unable to work, or could retire. She tried steeling herself. She had already survived three selections, if she gets through today, she will only have two left.

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, everything felt much more oppressive than it had at the start of the previous year's ceremonies. Every year, the number of trainers chosen fluctuates based on the needs of the city. The previous year, there had been over 100 people drafted, the highest any of them had ever seen. Higher than anyone thought possible. That now weighed on all their minds, especially Ava's, as she had been one of the first group to sit, so all she could do was overthink and wonder if that would happen again.

Ava had been sitting in her spot for the past hour when the final group of people came and were seated. If it was quiet before, now it was deathly still as a strict-looking woman walked up the stage in her trainer uniform. Quite enough to hear the steps, she climbed the stage and walked towards the microphone.

“Good afternoon, citizens of Taluda. I am Captain Cunningham, the official representative of the League. I have been tasked with leading this year's Selection Ceremony and the recruits that come from it. Furthermore, I know a lot of you are scared right now.” She paused. “And you have every right to be. Pokemon are immense in their danger, and now a select few of you are going to be in charge of training and raising them to help protect and provide for the rest of the civilians. This comes at a high risk for your life and wellbeing. I will do my best to make sure that each one of you survives,” she said as she looked out across the crowd.

Cunningham’s remarks did nothing to appease the tightly wound audience, and it only made the pit Ava felt in her stomach dig even deeper. She finished her look around the stadium before continuing, “Due to high performance and a lack of deaths in the past year, we will only have to pick out six new people to join the League as trainers.” The wave of relief across the stadium was palpable, and even Ava started to feel a little more secure.

“Before I start with the ceremony, if there is anyone who wants to volunteer and take up the mantle and join our ranks as a pokemon trainer, please stand up and raise your hand. One of the officers will be able to walk you down.” Ava turned her head, much like the rest of the people around her, trying to see if anyone would volunteer. She didn't notice anything until an officer three columns to her right started walking down toward the field with a boy following behind him. He looked to be one of the younger people here. Ava secretly thought he was an idiot, but she still felt better now that one spot had already been taken. The volunteer confidently walked down the field and up the stage to be greeted by Captain Cunningham.

After a brief conversation between them, Captain Cunningham turned back to the mic and spoke up, “This year we are honored to have a volunteer. Please welcome Oliver and thank him for his service.” After a half-hearted applause, she continued. “We now only have to fill five more spots for this year, do we have any more volunteers?” After seeing no response she said “Alright then we will move on”.

The large screen behind her lit up and started flashing through the names of all the people here. The suspense built in the air as the names started slowing down before stopping on one. “We are honored to welcome Ava Stanton as our second pick this year, please stand up and follow an officer down to the stage”.

Ava could barely hear her, her blood was rushing through her ears, and all she could process was her name, undeniably large on the screen.

...

Everything that happened after hearing her name happened in a blur. Ava was led down to join Captain Cunningham and the volunteer in the middle of the field. She knows more people were chosen and joined her on the stage, but did not remember anything about them.

Now she sat on the bus that was taking them away, and it really started to sink in. She was going to be forced to become a trainer. No longer would she be able to go to college like she planned or get to choose any job she wanted. Would she even be able to see her family anymore? Would they even want to see her? All of these questions rattled in her head as she steadily pulled herself out of the daze. This was real, and this was happening to her.

Looking around, she noticed the other people selected. Besides the volunteer, they all seemed to have a mix of shock, fear, and despair, just like she was sure she had on her face. There were four boys and one other girl, they all seemed to be processing what had just happened, so she didn't want to bother them.

As she gazed through the window, the bus entered more and more areas she had never been to, and eventually they entered the trainer district. This was the 10% of the city that was put aside solely for pokemon trainers. They passed multiple pokemon centers, stores and what seemed to be residential areas. She also happened to notice there were some pokemon traveling alongside their trainers, a sight not usually seen unless there were emergencies.

The bus finally pulled into a pokemon center, and as they piled off, they were greeted by Cunningham, who had been waiting for them in front of the building, saying, “Welcome to your new home. This pokemon center is going to be where you will stay while preparing for the Ordeals and until you are able to provide for yourself.” She led them through the doors and to the woman stationed at the desk. “This is Mary, she is in charge of this pokemon center and will be the one giving you your tours.” Mary gave a small wave before Captain Cunningham continued, “Once you have finished the tour, you will have the rest of the day and tomorrow off to gather yourself and get acquainted with the area. You will also be able to call any family or friends that you may want to talk to. Then, on Monday, we will start your week of training to prepare you for your Ordeals. I wish you luck and will see you on Monday.” With that, she left the pokemon center.

Mary took charge after Captain Cunningham left. “Hello, it is great to meet you all. As Captain mentioned, my name is Mary, and I am the one in charge of this pokemon center. You may see other people or trainers helping out, but I should be around most of the time to answer any questions you may have. Now follow me”. As she spoke, she led them through a door further into the building. “This is the lounge area where you can relax and wait between missions. It is open 24/7; however, there is no food allowed and a strict intolerance to any pokemon battles or fighting. Failure to follow these rules can result in a ban from the area. The Lounge connects to the most important areas you will use as trainers, the cafeteria, the healing center, the poke mart, the computer rooms, and the barracks”.

She continued down the hallway and entered on the first door to the left. Once Ava and the rest of the trainers filled in after her, they were greeted with rows of computers. Each computer had a device next to it where there were six indentations that would fit poke balls. “Here is the computer room,” Mary said. “This is where you will be able to access the local internet, communicate with your families, and, like all pokemon center computers, you will have the ability to view and accept missions once you become recognized as official trainers”. Ava could see a few people who were in the computer lab doing just that.

Pointing toward the device that held poke balls, Mary continued, “This device next to all the computers is called the Pokemon Connector, or a PC for short. By putting your poke ball in the slots, you will be able to access a large portion of the capabilities. You will be able to view all the data about your pokemon including gender, age, and more. Not only will you be able to view data, but you will also be able to break down poke balls into computer code to be stored in your trainer account or used to trade or sell your pokemon to other trainers. There are more specifics regarding long-term pokemon storage, but Captain Cunningham will go over that with those who pass the exam”.

The group was then led to the door right across the hall, where there were six large devices with a similar structure, “This is the healing center and will be the most used room by any of you.” Here, she paused and took on a more serious tone. “These devices are one of the most important pieces of technology that allow us to maintain a fighting force and protect the city. By putting your pokemon in here and pressing this button,” she showed them all a green button on the front of the machine, “you will be able to restore your pokemon back to full health. The healing center is open 24/7; however, under absolutely no circumstances are any pokemon allowed out of their poke balls inside this room. The same goes for any food, drink, or goofing around. If you break or damage any of these, you will be cited with a fine that would take most of your life to pay off, and your wages from any missions would be garnished until it is paid off”.

Seeing the slightly scared looks on everyone's faces, Mary felt they were properly warned. Leading them out of the room and further down the hall, they entered a glass door with a blue sign that held a white poke ball. “This is the poke mart. This is where you can buy all the supplies you need for your pokemon like poke food, potions, antidotes, poke balls, and more. This is open 8am to 5pm. We do have the ability to open it up after hours, however that is only done for emergencies, often specifically related to missions. So make sure you are always prepared.”

Walking to the door at the end of the hallway, she stopped in front of it. “This door leads to the cafeteria, for the duration of your Ordeal, and then for one month after, we will provide free lunch and dinner for you. After that period, you will join the rest of the trainers, who get one free meal a day. Any other meals or snacks will come at your own personal expense.” Ava perked up at the thought of a meal, her appetite had been nonexistent this morning and afternoon, and she was only now starting to realize how hungry she was. She was a little disappointed when Mary followed up by saying they would get a meal at the end of the tour.

Turning to the right, Mary opened the door and walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor. “Our final stop of the tour is the barracks. This will be your home for the foreseeable future. There are over a dozen bunk beds for trainers to sleep in. There are storage lockers that you can use, and laundry is at the end of the hall. You will be able to use the barracks at no cost to yourself; however, there is a limited supply of beds and storage, and they are on a first-come, first-served basis. Once you start making money, you will be able to leave and rent your own place for more privacy if you so desire. We have cleared out any current trainers to other pokemon centers for the duration of your Ordeals, so you won't have to worry about that. The boys barracks are off to the left, and the girls are to the right. Each of you should have a package with your name on it on your bed.” With a clap of her hands, Mary said, “Well, that concludes the rest of our tour, are there any questions?” When no one had any, she took her leave and left them alone.

No one seemed to know what to do until the volunteer boy scoffed, “I am going to go to my bed, you idiots can keep standing around here if you want” before stomping off. Ava thought that was really rude and wondered if she should call him a rude boy instead of a volunteer boy.

It seemed as though everyone took his lead, though, because the rest of the boys followed him while the other girl had already started to the girls' barracks. Ava scrambled to catch up to her and then reached the two beds that had a package on them. Finding hers, Ava immediately opened it. Inside was a basic change of clothes, toiletries, a single piece of chocolate, and a note letting her know her family could ship them additional clothing and items. The note also mentioned that Captain Cunningham wanted them to meet in the computer labs on Monday morning at 8 a.m.

Looking up from her package, she took a good look at the other girl, she was shorter than Ava with long, dark hair and glasses. Mustering up some courage, Ava stuck out her hand. “Hi there, it's nice to meet you. My name is Ava”.

The other girl looked up from her package and gingerly grasped her hand. “Nice to meet you, my name's Amiyra.” They both fell silent, not really sure what else to say.

Ava broke the silence. “This might just be because I was not super focused, but did they ever explain what they meant by Ordeals?”

That seemed to break some of the tension because Amiyra smiled and said, “I was thinking the exact same thing! I felt kind of stupid cause it seemed like everyone else knew.” With that, they both started laughing a little.

“Well, I was going to go grab something to eat. I was wondering if you wanted to join me?” Ava offered.

With a smile, she nodded, “I would love that,” and they both started walking down to the cafeteria. Even though there was no one else staying in the barracks, the cafeteria still had more people than expected. Ava had stopped, unsure of where to go next, and Amiyra grabbed her hand and led her to where a small line had formed. After going through the line, they were handed a plate that had a sandwich and some fresh fruit and went to find a spot to sit.

Ava noticed a rude boy and another boy from the selection ceremony and made her way over to them. “Can we sit with you guys”.

The rude boy stood up with a glare and grabbed his tray. “The tables are all yours, we’re all done here”. Ava knew this wasn't true, as he still had food on his tray. It looks like rude boy has evolved even further into asshole boy.

“Sorry guys, he's not super friendly right now,” apologized the mousy boy who had been sitting next to him. “We should definitely talk later though!” he said before shoveling the rest of the food into his mouth, real quick following after the asshole boy.

“God what a dick,” Ava said.

Amiyra seemed to be a little nicer as she tried to reason out his behavior. “He's probably just stressed and nervous, like the rest of us.”

“But he's the one who volunteered; he at least had some idea he'd end up here. The rest of us were totally random”

“Yeah, I guess you're right, he was kinda acting like a dick for someone who chose this”. Amiyra said.

Sitting down to eat, in between bites, Ava started conversations between the two. “So, how old are you?”

“I turned 20 a couple of months ago,” Amiyra said, “frustratingly close to being free from this.”

“Oh god, I'm so sorry” Ava responded. She couldn't even imagine what it must feel like getting so close to being safe and then having the rug swept out from her. At least hers happened halfway through instead of right at the end.

“It's fine. I was the one who had gotten my hopes up after not being picked last year. I shouldn't have started planning for a future that I knew could drastically change,” she said ruefully, “but what about you? How old are you?”

“Well, I turned 18 last month, so this was my fourth selection day, and I…” Ave continued to talk with Amiyra throughout dinner, each learning new things about each other, their past, and their families. After feeling more full and after the stress of the day, both of them started to feel exhausted and went back to the barracks to spend the night. Ava ate the small chocolate from her package, enjoying the small comfort it gave her.

And if Ava heard any crying that night, she wouldn't tell a soul, as long as her new friend ignored any crying that she heard.

 

[Bulbascreen]

Chapter 2: Class Time​

The screen in front of her taunted her. After waking up this morning, Ava knew she had to call back home but kept putting it off. First, she had to get used to the communal showers and then was going to go down, but the computer lab was too busy, and she wanted a private conversation, so she planned to come back. She then walked the district a little bit, saw some training grounds, but eventually got a little spooked seeing so many pokemon out and about. When she came back, well, it was lunchtime, so she had to go get her first meal of the day. And then she distracted herself for the next hour or so sitting in the lounge. Finally, she dragged herself into a computer chair and has now been staring at the blank computer for the past ten minutes.

Ava had been very close to her family. After her mom died when she was young, all that's left were her dad and two younger twin siblings. She had been a real brat once mom died, but dad had been there for her despite grieving himself. As she's grown older, they have built a strong bond. She doesn't know what she would do if he stopped talking to her because she became a trainer. After telling herself to stop being a coward, she finally turned on the computer and went to call him. After five rings, he answered the call. “Hi, Dad,” she said nervously.

Dad looked absolutely exhausted, and she could already see tears starting to form in his eyes. “Oh, Ava, it's so good to see your face.” He started to get choked up. “I am so sorry that this happened to you.”

Seeing his face was already starting to get to her, but she pushed past it. “It's alright, Dad. I can't change it now,” she said with a weak smile. “Gotta do the best with the situation I've got, right?”

“That's my girl. You have always been so brave.”

“Thanks Dad. I… I wanted to ask you something.” At his nod to go ahead, she continued. “I know this is new, and who knows if I'll even survive this, but I just wanted to ask, when things get more settled, can I still talk and visit you guys?” Ava was not used to being this forward with her emotions, but she knew she had to ask this question and not dance around it, or else it would eat at her.

“Ava, look at me.” After raising her head from where she had been looking at her hands, she looked into Dad’s eyes, who said, “You being a trainer has no change in how I think of you, and of course we still want you to visit. I love you so much, nothing can change that.”

Hearing this lifted a huge weight off her heart. Knowing that she wasn't going to be abandoned by her family made all of this almost feel possible. “Thank you,” she whispered. Clearing her throat, she asked, “So where are Olive and Noah? Can I see them?”

Dad's smile turned a little sad. “Ever since they have heard the news, they have been having a rough time. I think they are a little too young to understand that you didn't choose this. They kept crying because I told them that they weren't going to be able to come any time soon, and they didn't take it well. They are sleeping right now after crying all morning. I can wake them up.” He stood up a little to do just that before Ava interrupted.

“Don't worry about it, I will talk to them once I get more settled in.” Knowing she wouldn't be able to see them hurt a little, but she didn't want to wake them up and if she didn’t make it this call could be confusing for them.

“I'll keep working on them, they should be fine soon, especially once we get to see you again.”

She nodded a little. “Well, I should probably get going, I want to get more settled in and explore a little. I'm glad we were able to talk.”

“That sounds good Ava. Let me know if you ever need any money or want me to send anything over.” Ava nodded, knowing she would only ask for money if things were truly dire. She had a little saved up that should last her until she could start taking on missions.

“Oh, and one last thing before you go,” Dad said, his expression turning serious. “Don't think I didn't hear you say that comment about not surviving. I am telling you right now that this isn't an if or a maybe. You will survive. That is a non-negotiable. You can only die once I'm already buried six feet under, got it?”

This produced a wet smile on Ava’s face, she hasn't cried this much since she was ten and was really thankful she waited until the computer lab was mostly empty. “Thanks Dad, I love you”

“I love you too,” he responded, as the call ended.

Ava left and went to meet back up with Amiyra, and they walked around the fields around the pokemon center, exploring a little bit before grabbing dinner. At dinner, the mousy boy had come up to their table to let them know that the guys were planning on doing a little get-together in the lounge at 7 p.m. and invited both of them.

When they got down to the lounge, all the guys were already there. They sat on a small couch, joining in the circle the others had formed. Ava felt awkward with the silence but was not going to be the first one to break it. She was surprised when the first one who spoke up was the mousy boy, since he looked like he would be quiet.

“We haven't really talked since the ceremony, so I figured we could start with introductions! My name's Theo.” Pointing to a blond boy to his right with tanned skin, he said, “This guy's name is Flynn, and the guy to his right is Jacob.” The dark-haired boy raised his hand as a quick greeting.

“And you have already met him, but this guy's name is Oliver,” Theo said, pointing to where the asshole boy sat with a glare on his face. Ah, so he had a name. Maybe if she felt nice, she would actually use it.

Ava then introduced herself to the group, and Amiyra followed suit..

It got quite and Theo picked up the slack once again, “I figured we are all in the same boat, why not try to get to know each other. I'm guessing we are going to be stuck with each other for the foreseeable future, so it would be better to actually know who I'm going to be around. Also,” he cut himself off by fumbling around in his pockets for a bit before producing a deck of cards. “I was able to get a deck of cards from Mary and figured we could use something to take our minds off of this whole situation”.

Seeing the deck of cards, Ava brightened up. She was super competitive, just like the rest of her family, and card games have always been a fun pastime at family holidays. “I have a perfect game for you if you are willing to spend five minutes learning”

Getting the affirmative, Ava started to explain the rules to Up and Down the River. It turned out Theo and Flynn had already known how to play, so she just had to teach the rest of them the rules.

While going over that and playing the game, she learned more about the rest of her group, except for Oliver, who had remained silent the whole time he played. She learned that Jacob had grown up around a farm, so he was used to seeing trainers patrolling the fields, protecting the crops, but had never really interacted with them before. She learned that Flynn was on the swim team at her rival high school. It really is a small world sometimes. She also learned that Theo and Oliver had actually gone to the same school together, and while they weren't friends before, situations like these can tie even the loosest of connections close together.

As the evening wore on, and they moved onto a different card game, Ava started to get really annoyed at the asshole boy. He only seemed to respond to questions with a grunt, no matter if the question was why he chose to volunteer or even how old he was (15, Theo supplied for him).

At a pause in the games, she decided to confront him, “So what's your deal, huh?” She asked. “Cause we are all here trying to have a good time and get to know each other, and you're being all pissy and ruining the vibe. Why did you even come here if you weren't going to participate”

This got his attention, and he responded with a sneer, “Do you really want to know?”

“Of course I do, that's why I asked.”

“The only reason I am here is because Theo basically begged me to, and as he seems to have the second best shot of surviving this besides me, so I figured I'd give it a shot. The reason I am not talking to you is that I simply do not see the point. None of you have given me any indication that you have what it takes to survive the Ordeals.”

“What even are the Ordeals!” Ava said exasperatedly.

“Are you serious?” he said with some shock on his face before it turned into laughter after no one would meet his eyes. “Oh my god, you are! Well, let me be of service and enlighten you,” he said condescendingly. “The Ordeals are when, after our little week of ‘training’ we are tossed outside the walls and told to find a pokemon that we can tame or die trying. It doesn't matter how injured you get or how many times you come back, unless you have a pokemon you will get tossed right back time and time again until eventually you don't come back at all. A lot of people don't come back.”

He continued, “I know I will make it and Theo is gonna make it too. But the rest of you? You dead weights who have spent their time doing absolutely nothing and who seem more likely to give up and let something eat you before trying. No, I'm not gonna waste my time. So sue me if I don't feel like getting to know people who aren't even gonna last a week from now.” With his outburst finished, he stormed back to the boys' barracks.

The air felt much colder than it had previously. “You know what, it's getting late, I am going to head to bed too,” Amiyra quietly said. Everyone else agreed, putting the cards away and heading back to their rooms without another word.



…



When Captain Cunningham came to the computer labs at 8 a.m., everyone was already sitting with a focused look on their faces. Passing out notebooks and pens to them, she headed to the front of the room.

“As mentioned previously, my name is Captain Cunningham. I used to be a captain in the Army, but now I am an A-Rank trainer, and over the next five days I will be teaching you essential skills and information to get you prepared for your Ordeals.” Ava felt she brushed over that Army fact a little bit too quickly but didn't get a chance to say anything before she continued. “Today is the first day of that teaching, and on the sixth day you will have to take your Ordeals. The notebooks provided are for you to take notes as you see fit.”

She paused. “I will first go over the history of the Ordeals. When the Selection Days were first starting, the league provided starters to all the new trainers. However, small and untrained pokemon were still dangerous, and even the ones that acted tamed could turn on their owners, killing them or hurting others. One smaller city in our very own region had fallen because of this. During a large attack from wild pokemon, a lot of the supposedly tame pokemon used the confusion to attack their trainers, which led to chaos and the destruction of the entire city.”

“After a lot of trial and error, the League found that the best solution was to institute what we call the Ordeals. The reason pokemon were turning on their trainers was due to the fact that they felt they were weak. Having been given to the trainers by stronger trainers and prevented from attacking by stronger trainers, most never really respected or listened to their owners. So when the opportunity arose to attack, a lot took it. To avoid this, new trainers now have to venture outside the wall without an escort and catch and tame their own starter by themselves.”

“Why do we have to go without an escort?” Theo asked.

“This may seem cruel on the surface, but the Ordeals serve two important factors. The first is long-term sustainable growth as a trainer and society. Through a lot of research, we have found that this is the best way to produce real results when it comes to taming a pokemon and maintaining obedience in chaotic situations. The reason why you don't have an escort plays into the second reason. We are only able to take the strong. Training is an inherently dangerous occupation, you will be sent out and choose to go on missions outside the wall alone all the time. You will also be the one people look to in a crisis. This is a test of your resourcefulness, skill, strength, and luck. We simply do not have the time or resources to invest in people who aren't able to pass this first test.”

“I can say this is for your benefit as much as I like, however I want you to understand how dangerous this test can and will be. It is very rare for everyone to come back from this test, and it hasn't happened for the past 15 years. So the odds that some of you will not make it past this week are almost guaranteed.”

This caused almost all of their faces to fall.

Cunningham continued, her face like stone. “But that is why we have this week of training and why I am here. I promise to train you to the very best of my abilities, and I can only hope that you all make it back alive.”

After that, Cunningham started to go over the basics that they would need to know. Ava felt overwhelmed with how little she actually knew. She had never paid attention to things related to pokemon and most people tried not to talk about them too much. So information about different typings, species, how to use potions and antidotes, and all about poke balls made her brain spin. She made sure to take notes on everything Cunningham was saying until her hand was cramping.

“We are almost done with today's session, but there are a few more things I want to talk about. The first relates to pokemon care.” With that, she put her hands to her waist where a belt held five poke balls, grabbed one off and opened it, releasing a bi-pedal pokemon with black and blue fur and spikes on its hands. When it appeared, everyone except Oliver and Theo jumped to their feet. “Stand down. He won't attack you unless I order him to. This is a lucario, and he was my Ordeal pokemon.” Ava had never seen a pokemon this close up before, and her heart was pounding. The lucario looked so different from anything she had ever seen, and she hoped that she did not run into anything that looked that dangerous on her own Ordeal.

Cunningham pulled out a bag of beef jerky and gave him some, which he promptly ate while she kept talking. “Feeding your pokemon is an essential part of being a trainer. Much like humans, if you starve a pokemon it doesn't matter how tamed they are, they will do most anything to get some food. While poke balls are great at slowing down injuries and keeping them in a semi-stasis, it is not a full stasis, so time will still pass. A pokemon should be released once a day to be fed, and the same goes for any stored pokemon you may have. I would personally recommend, when in a safe, letting your tamed pokemon outside their poke ball often. I have found it helps with temperament and makes them easier to tame.”

Cunningham returned her lucario and pulled out her trainer ID, which contained her name, other identifying information about her, and a large A in the corner. “Trainer ranks and missions are the next topic I want to cover. I won't go in depth on this topic, but I will explain the basics. You guys are not officially trainers yet. Once you pass your Ordeal, you will be classified as an E-Rank trainer. E and D-Rank are the low rankings, as you get more experience, you can move on to the middle ranks, which contain C-Rank and B-Rank. After that are the high ranks, with A-Ranks containing the elite trainers of the region. Then there are the S-Rank trainers. The absolute strongest trainers in the city.”

“The amount of pokemon you are able to have will increase per rank as well. As an E-Rank trainer, you will be able to have two pokemon with one on your person and the other having to remain in the box. As you move up ranks you are able to hold another pokemon at a time, so as a D-Rank trainer, you can have three pokemon with two on your person and the other in the box. Your poke balls will forcibly maintain this, and you won't be able to open any additional poke balls unless you follow these rules and store any extra pokemon.”

“Trainers are allowed to take on missions that are their rank or the rank below them. You will only be able to take on higher ranks if you are joined by someone of that rank. Missions are classified as either D, C, B, A, or S depending on their difficulty,” she said.

Ava raised her hand. “So if we want to go on a mission as an E-Rank, we would have to ask a D-Rank trainer to join us?”

“That brings up a good point,” Cunningham said. “E-Rank trainers are not allowed on missions. You are only able to join missions once you become a D-Rank. The test to become a D-Rank is fairly easy and is focused on making sure your pokemon is trained and will listen to your commands in the field. Once you pass, you will be able to take on D-rank missions and will be given required missions to take. While you will never go back to being an E-Rank trainer, every pokemon you catch will have to pass the D-Rank exam in order to be allowed to join you on the field.”

Flynn raised his hand to ask a question. “What happens if you can't tame your pokemon?”

“If you can't tame your pokemon you will have to retake the Ordeal and your pokemon will be put down, sold, or put to use if possible.” She looked around. “I hope you find a pokemon that you can train, I would be a waste if you made it back from your first Ordeal to not come back on your second.”

“That is the end of today's sessions. I will be around to answer questions, and would highly recommend using the computer lab's pokedex app over the next few days to research more about the pokemon found outside the city. One last thing before you leave,” Cunningham said, pulling out six different envelopes and passing them out. “In this envelope is the gate that you will be leaving out of your Ordeal. Use this to help you in your research.”

She wished them luck and left the room. Opening up the envelope, Ava found out she was assigned West Gate. As much as she doubts it, she hopes it will lead to a field of flowers that only contains easy to tame pokemon. She could at least maintain that hope until tomorrow.

 

[Bulbascreen]

Chapter 3: The Ordeals​

It turns out that the west gate did not contain a lush field of flowers. Ava tries to be shocked. Instead, it led to a dense jungle full of wild pokemon. Especially ones with sharp stingers and poison. It seemed that it was the second-most dangerous gate to exit from for your Ordeals out of the four gates.

Amiyra and Oliver would be leaving from the north gate, the most dangerous gate. This would take them towards the mountains and caves where the city's ores and minerals were mined. It's also where they would find pokemon that can throw rocks and punch through walls. The east and south gates both led to the grasslands, with Theo leaving from the east gate, while Jacob and Flynn would be leaving from the south gate. Ava would be the only one leaving from her gate.

Knowing which gates they were leaving from helped focus their research. Ava spent the next five days when not in class researching the forest and the pokemon there. She needed find a way to make sure she was able to come back. The days passed too quickly, and eventually it was the night before the Ordeals, and Ava could not fall asleep for the life of her.

“Hey Amiyra, are you still up?” Ava whispered.

“Yeah,” Amiyra replied.

“Are you nervous?”

“Terrified, you?”

“Shitting my pants, but tryna stay positive, so I keep telling myself that I'm gonna kill it.”

“That's nice, I wish I was able to fake that kind of confidence.” Amiyra paused slightly. “Where do you think you would be right now if you didn't get picked?”

Ava took a moment to think about it. “Well, if we are talking about right now, I would be asleep in my room back at my dad's place. In a more general sense, though, I would probably be asking for more shifts at my job. I work, or worked, I guess, at one of those fancy clothing stores. It wasn't my favorite, but I wanted to spend the next year saving up money to be able to go to college. So I think that's what I would be doing.” Ava sat for a little while, still in contemplation. “What about you?”

“I wanted to be a doctor,” Amiyra wistfully responded.

“No shit.”

“Yeah. I had everything planned out, too,” she said with a rueful grin. “I knew what I was going to major in, what classes I was going to take, when I would apply to medical school, even down to which hospital I wanted to intern at. All my friends were waiting until they couldn't be chosen to go to college. I told myself there was no way I would be picked, so I went anyway. I spent the past two years studying and preparing just for it to amount to nothing.”

She continued quietly, “I just feel like my whole life has been a waste.”

Ava sat up, frowning a little, and looked at Amiyra. “Don't say that, your life hasn't been a waste”

“It sure feels like it has been.”

“Well it hasn't.”

Ava sat back and looked at the bed above her. The moonlight peeking through the window made it so she could faintly make out her surroundings. “I know this is totally selfish, but for what it's worth, I'm glad it's you who's here with me.”

Amirya didn’t respond for a minute, and Ava started to regret saying that until she heard a response. “For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here with me too.”

The rest of the night passed restlessly, both of them tossing and turning, unable to get any real sleep.

…

Everyone had gathered at the magnet train station bright and early after being woken up by Mary. Ava noticed that everyone seems to have not slept well, based on the yawns and tired looks. Even Oliver didn't seem immune to the nerves.

Cunningham had beat them to the station and was standing in front of a table with six backpacks on it. She was joined by four other trainers in their trainer uniforms that Ava didn't recognize.

“Now that you are all here, your Ordeal can begin,” Cunningham said. Pointing to the bags behind her, she continued, “These bags are being provided to you by the League. They are filled with essential items that can help you while you are out. They are fully yours, and you will be given time to look through them before you are sent out.” Each of the trainers standing next to her grabbed a bag and handed it to them. Ava got handed her bag by a guy around her age who stood a couple inches shorter than her with a sharp buzz cut.

“You will also be given three poke balls to be used to catch your pokemon. As of right now, they are unregistered, any pokemon caught in a poke ball will not be able to be released until the poke ball is registered to a trainer. Once you catch a pokemon return to the city gate and your escort will lead you back to the pokemon center.”

“Why are we given three poke balls when we only have to catch one pokemon?” Amiyra asked.

“There are two reasons for that,” Cunningham responded. “First, a pokemon may not be caught right away, especially if they are at full health or have evolved. If it escapes the ball or you happen to miss your throw, the first thing they will do is try to destroy the poke ball, as that is their biggest threat. You will only have seconds to try to capture it again or escape and try for a different pokemon.”

“The second reason is that you will be E-Rank trainers when you pass. This means that you are able to have two pokemon at a time. So if you find that you have captured a pokemon and have more time and poke balls, you are technically able to catch another pokemon.” Cunningham took a chance to look everyone in the eyes. “I would not recommend doing this. You can always catch more pokemon so if you find yourself with one pokemon forget about trying for another and return to the city. You never know what danger lies lurking out there, and you will not have any pokemon or backup to protect you.”

Oliver spoke up, “What happens if you get three pokemon?”

“While I have never seen anyone do it, if by some miracle you get three pokemon you will select two of them, and the third will be handed over to the city, and we will deal with it.” Ava thought that the look in Oliver's eyes was more competitive than it should be in this situation.

Cunningham moved past after responding, “Those who are entering the south gate will remain here, while the rest of you will board the magnet train and be taken to your respective gates. If you are at the same gate as someone else, one person will go first, and then 30 minutes later, the second will be sent through. Even if you have not caught a pokemon, return to the gate before sundown. If you do not return by sundown, we will assume that you are dead and not making it back at all”.

She made sure to keep their attention when she made her last remark, “My final piece of advice for all of you is to find the absolute weakest pokemon you can, catch it, and come back as soon as possible.”

With that, Ava, Theo, Oliver, and Amiyra were led onto the train by their escorts, while Jacob and Flynn got in a car to head to their gate. Ava used this downtime to take a look at what was in the backpack that she was offered. She found a water bottle, rations, a compass, a pocket knife, some rope, a repel, and a small case that contained ten bottles. Five of these were potions, while the other five were an antidote, paralyze heal, awakening, burn heal, and ice heal. She had learned in class that each of these bottles had three doses and, while meant to be used on pokemon, worked for humans as well.

Theo was dropped off first, with Amirya and Oliver following soon after. Being alone on the train made her nerves start jumping more than they previously had. She stared out at the city passing her by, hoping this wasn't her last time seeing it. It was a beautiful summer day with a clear sun and a cloudless sky. She felt like it should be more gloomy knowing what could happen. The train slowed to a stop, and she followed her escort as he led her to the gate.

Even from a distance, the wall was much larger than she had anticipated, it loomed over her, smooth and gray. Ava had never been this close to the walls before, and it was extremely intimidating knowing that she would soon be forced outside the confines of this beast.

Her escort said something into the walkie-talkie that had been sitting at his waist that had caused the west gate to start opening up. He turned to her, handing her three poke balls. “Your Ordeal has officially begun, please exit through the gate. Stay safe and return with a pokemon.”

With a determined nod, she started walking towards the gate and then crossed the threshold to enter a whole new world.

…

Ava had never been outside the walls before. The dense foliage of trees is a completely new terrain for her. The most nature she had ever seen had been at parks scattered throughout the city. She had to remind herself to refrain from gawking at how tall the trees were and how the forest seemed to go on forever. It made it easier to focus whenever the sounds of the forest reminded her that she wasn't alone in it.

She had sprayed herself with the repel before she entered the forest line. While not as useful as spraying it on a pokemon in front of her, it should work to keep most of the pokemon away while she heads to her destination. From her research, she decided to go to a small river nearby. Instead of seeking out a pokemon, she would hide and wait until one she thought she could take came for a drink.

The river was around an hour-long hike away. While it was deeper in the forest, which was more dangerous, the main thing Ava wanted to avoid was beedrill hives. All her research and every older trainer she had asked for the forest gate had said the same thing. Avoid all the weedle you can, and don't even try to catch one. She had learned that there was a strong weedle presence toward the tree line and near the entrance of the west gate. That means that there could be beedrill hives anywhere near that. So going deeper in the forest allowed her to avoid those dangerous parts at the beginning.

She was steadily making progress with her repel in one hand, trying to keep an eye out for any silk webs and any buzzing of bug pokemon. She hasn't seen a pokemon yet, besides a glimpse of shaking leaves and random appendages of pokemon running away. It seemed as if the repel was working.

Ava ventured deeper into the forest but at one point stopped. This area felt strangely quiet compared to the steady noise of the forest she had gotten used to. Looking around, she only had a small warning of rustling leaves above her before a large pokemon with four legs jumped down from above.

Ava thanked years of sport and pure luck as the reasons she was able to dive out of the way in time. She quickly turned and sprayed the repel right in the ariados’s face. Ava was glad that her first response to spray the repel was right. With how close the Pokémon had gotten, running right away would not have been a wise move.

Repels work slightly differently for bug pokemon than other types. While the strong smell is usually what drives pokemon away, if the repel is sprayed directly on the bug, it can actually burn them. Ava heard a screech but did not wait around to see if that was true and started sprinting as fast as she could, leading her deeper into the forest.

The panic from almost dying took her far, and eventually she stopped and hid behind a tree. She tried to catch her breath and stop her heart from beating out of her chest while checking to see if the ariados was following her. After a couple of minutes of not seeing any signs of being followed, she was able to think more clearly and remembered that ariados are nocturnal creatures. They don't like to be out during the day unless they are protecting their territory which Ava must have unintentionally entered. She felt a little better when she remembered that because it meant the ariados was probably just trying to scare her off. The fact that she wasn't being followed helped that theory.

Now that her adrenaline was winding down, she was able to feel the sharp pain in her leg. It looks like she hadn't dived out of the way fast enough and had a long, viscous slice from her thigh down to her ankle. It was really starting to hurt, and she had never had an injury this big before. Cleaning it as best as she could with her water bottle, she grabbed a potion out of her bag and started spraying. Wincing at the sting, she kept applying the potion until she stopped bleeding. This took all three uses of a potion to do. Ava didn't know what she would have done if the potion also didn't have a numbing agent. She also took a dose of antidote as a precaution in case she had been poisoned.

If this was the result of a five-second encounter with the pokemon she dreads to think of what would have happened if one actually wanted to hunt her. If the ariados had wanted to kill her, she's sure she would be dead by now.

With that sobering thought, she pulled out her compass and reoriented herself towards the river. It might be a little risky to keep going with her injury, but she had stopped bleeding, and it wasn't feeling that bad right now. If she could make sure she wouldn't have to retake the Ordeal she could put up with a little pain. As she trekked on, she made sure to be extra cautious and checked everywhere for webs she might be missing. Ava was worried that she only had one more repel left, and she really did not want to use that before even getting to her destination.

To her relief, after only a short walk, she could hear the babbling of a brook and headed in that direction to find her river. Finally, she could actually try to get a pokemon. She found a good vantage point where she could see the river, but was still fairly hidden against an ambush. She grabbed a long, thick stick off that ground that would be part of her plan and got into place. Standing as still as she could, she waited. She waited some more. Then she continued to wait. Frustration was building as the more time passed and he leg was starting to bother her more. She hadn't even seen one pokemon and had been standing still for well over an hour. Finally, she saw a bush near the stream rustle.

Ava held her breath, out popped a sewaddle, a baby bug pokemon that couldn't move very fast. She smiled. This was exactly what she was waiting for, a weak pokemon who was all alone. She waited a little longer, watching it inch toward the river and started drinking from it. Just as she was about to hop out from her hiding spot she saw two swadloon, the evolved form of sewaddle, join it. There goes her first chance.

Now that she knew pokemon would come to the river, she felt more confident about waiting. Pokemon came at a faster pace, but there were none that she felt she would be able to capture. There were a few starly’s that would have flown away the second they saw her, a whole crew of aipom, and a goldeen that swam down the river faster than she could react.

Ava stood at attention when a small feline pokemon with a gold coin on its head walked up to the river. Meowth usually traveled alone, but she waited until she was sure there were no other pokemon joining it before creeping out of her spot. She moved towards it as slowly as she could, trying to make as little noise as possible. It must have been engrossed in drinking the water because it didn't notice her until she was right behind it. And even then, it didn't notice quick enough as Ava swung her stick and knocked it away from the river, leaving it dazed.

Shaking off the damage, the meowth hissed at her while on all fours, getting ready to attack again. She got the stick in front of her before the meowth lunged. She caught it with the stick and was able to knock it back. However, the push had caused her to take a step back, and her foot caught on a rock, making her fall over and drop the stick, which conveniently rolled into the steam

“Oh fuck” Ava muttered. She was now defenseless in front of an animal that wanted to hurt her. The meowth seeing her weakness, pounced towards her. Scrambling around trying to find a weapon, her fingers wrapped around a rock that she swung with all her might right as the meowth was on her.

The rock slammed into its skull with a sickening crack. The meowth was knocked to the side. Seeing it start to get up, Ava started panicking and scrambled towards it, bringing the rock down on its skull again. It stayed passed out on the ground.

Ava got a little closer to check if it was still alive, and seeing it still breathing, she fumbled for a poke ball in her pocket and tapped it against the feline, which got sucked into the ball. She let out a small sigh of relief. Only living creatures can be sucked into a poke ball so she hadn't killed it. The ball gave a couple of shakes before giving a pleasant ping.


She did it. She had caught her first pokemon! The relief swept through Ava in a wave that brought her to her knees. She had actually done it, once she got out of here she was going to be a trainer.

Ava didn't let this distract her too much from where she was and quickly got up. The fighting had caused her leg to start bleeding again, so she used another potion to close it back up. Tossing meowth’s poke ball into her backpack, she grabbed the repel and started to make her way back to the west gate.

She took a longer route than she had coming in, she wanted to make sure to avoid the ariados nest she almost died in by a long shot.

Even when she was waiting by the river, it had started to get hot, but now the heat and humidity felt almost unbearable. Especially since she felt constantly on edge. Being so close to victory, everything felt much more dangerous.

Ava was nearing the gate when she heard a mangled chirping near her. Pausing, her senses on full alert, she kept listening. It was closer to her than other bird sounds she had heard. Locating the sound, she slowly moved forward, bringing the repel in front of her. She was ready to spray the final dose at the pokemon and then run like hell towards the gate.

The culprit of the noise came into view. She moved closer and found a bird with sparse gray, white, and black feathers covering it and a wing that didn't look quite right. Ava thought it looked like what she remembered pidove's looked like from her research, except weird and young. She looked up and around, trying to see a nest. After not seeing one, she looked back at the pokemon with a broken wing struggling on the ground.

There was no way this was going to be that easy. Grabbing another poke ball, she tapped it against the baby pidove which disappeared in a red light. The ball didn't even shake before a noise indicated a successful capture.

Not only had she caught one pokemon, but she was also able to grab another one right at the end. She smiled. This was going to be so fun to rub in Oliver's face.

Putting the pidove away, she quickened her pace and reached the gate.

“Hey, I'm back from my Ordeal,” she shouted at the guard tower. The gate slowly started to open, and she jumped through as soon as she could. She turned back around and waited until the gate closed fully before letting herself relax. She then let out a joyous shout of victory.

Once Ava was done yelling, she opened her eyes to see her escort looking a little surprised but with a slight smile on his face. “Welcome back. I assume that means you caught a pokemon.”

She beamed back at him. “Fuck yeah I did!”

 

[Bulbascreen]

Chapter 4: The Aftermath​

After seeing the large cut to her leg, Ava was quickly moved to a room in the guardhouse, where a nurse had been brought specifically for the ordeal.

“How did you get this?” The nurse asked as she inspected the wound.

“An Ariados got the jump on me.”

Her escort gaped at her. “No way. And you made it out in one piece?”

Ava grinned a little viciously. “Yeah, I dodged its first attack, was able to spray a repel right at its face before it could attack again, then booked it. I definitely got lucky that it was only aiming to scare me away.”

“Got lucky indeed,” the nurse chastised. “It doesn't look like it cut through your muscles, thankfully, but you could have been in a really dangerous situation out there. Since you're not dead, I assume you took an antidote.” Ava nodded in affirmation. “Good, you at least have some sense. I am going to give you another dose just to be safe, and then I will stitch up that leg.” After she shooed her escort out of the room, the nurse cleaned the wound and then, with a sanitized needle and string, got to work on closing the gaping wound on Ava’s leg.

After her leg was fixed up and wrapped in gauze, she was given a crutch and a weak painkiller with instructions on when to take it.

Her escort walked her back to the train and, once safely on, asked her, “So what pokemon did you catch?”

“I actually caught two,” Ava proudly stated. “A meowth and a pidove.”

This caught his attention, “I'll be damned, you're a twofer.” Seeing her confused face, he elaborated. “A twofer is someone who was able to capture two pokemon during their ordeal, they are pretty rare, so it always creates a bit of a buzz when someone does it. In my group there were only two people who were twofers, and we had over a hundred people take the Ordeal” he explained.

Ava was surprised, not thinking that he had been chosen from last year's Selection Day and was going to ask about it before the realization that she hadn't been alone shot through her spine like lightning. She sat up, “have you heard anything about the others taking the Ordeals?”

Her escort rolled with the serious turn of conversation. “I have not heard anything about any of the others. But we try to avoid going on the comms to report non-emergencies, so it should be a good sign. We are almost at the pokemon center, and Captain Cunningham will have more information about them.”

In her excitement, Ava had not spared a second thought about how Amiyra and the others were doing. Her guilt and worry stayed with her as they arrived at the pokemon center.

Hobbling in, she saw Cunningham stand up as she entered and gave her a smile. “Welcome back, Ava. I heard you passed, congratulations are in order.”

Ava had never seen the serious woman's lips even twitch in amusement before, so seeing her smile stunned her for a second, and she wasn't able to respond before she got pulled down the hall into the lounge.

“We have some food at the table in the lounge that you are welcome to have as much as you want. I will hold onto your poke ball while you wait” Cunningham's eyebrow raised upon seeing not one but two poke balls but didn't say anything about it. “Theo has been the only one who has passed so far, you may join him in the lounge”. Hearing that someone else had already passed gave her more reassurance than she thought it would.

Upon seeing her, Theo jumped up, “Ava! You made it!” he had made it as if to hug her before stopping, realizing they didn't know each other that well. Ava pulled him into a hug, glad she could have someone who went through the same thing she had.

The food that was sitting on the table made her realize how hungry she actually was, so she beelined there after finishing greeting Theo.

While eating, Ava recounted her tale to Theo, who acted with appropriate shock at the ariados and meowth fight and surprise at the extra pidove encounter.

He geared up to tell his own story, “I don't have as cool of a story as you, but I was able to catch a poliwag.”

It turned out he had had similar thoughts to Ava about catching a pokemon. The east gate wasn't far from a small pond. He had gone hoping he could catch a pokemon drinking off guard. He ran into similar issues that Ava had, where a lot of pokemon were too dangerous or too quick to actually catch. His pond seemed much busier than hers, which made it harder to find a time when there weren't other pokemon to get in the way. During a lull in traffic at a pond, a poliwag walked out of the pond, trying to get used to its legs. When it got far enough away, he threw a poke ball at it. He had to use all three of his poke balls, but was able to catch it with his last one and then booked it back to the pokemon center.

“I was waiting for two hours before you came back. I was getting worried that I would be the only one who made it back.” He said it with an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I'm glad you were here when I finished, that must have sucked waiting,” Ava said. “I hope the others come back soon.”

Now that she was safe in the pokemon center and had a full stomach, exhaustion was creeping up on Ava. As much as she tried, her eyes kept drifting shut. Soon her head rested against the back of her chair, and Theo’s rambling voice helped lull her to a dreamless sleep.

She was awoken by a loud noise. Jumping up, she looked around for any danger but quickly realized that the noise had come from Theo quickly standing up, accidentally knocking his chair to the floor. Turning, she realized the reason he had reacted like that was because both Amiyra and Oliver had returned together.

“Amiyra!” Ava hopped over to her as quick as she could and grabbed her in a hug.

After pulling away, Amirya responded, “What happened to your leg?”

Ava waved her off. “It's just a little scratch I got. But what about you? Did you pass?”

Nodding, she responded, “Yeah, I caught my pokemon really early. I was going to come back, but they wanted us to wait for Oliver to come back, so I was just waiting at the guard house.”

Turning to Oliver, who was reluctantly hugging Theo back and feeling petty, she made a sarcastic remark, “Well, look who ended up being one of the last people to come back. What was it you called us again? Dead weights? Weird how the tables have turned.”

He made a face and said, “Blah blah, talk all you want, but I caught two pokemon, so I'm already a step ahead of you”

Oh, this was going to be so sweet. “Hmm, that weird cause I also caught two pokemon. What are the odds.”

His face lit up in disbelief. “There is absolutely no way you were able to capture two pokemon.”

Theo stepped in and said, “guys chill, we can all talk about our Ordeals. Let's let Amiyra and Oliver grab something to eat. I'm sure they are hungry.”

They let themselves be led to the couch, still glaring at each other. Ava took the end of it so she could keep her leg off to the side. She volunteered to tell her story last, wanting to keep him in suspense. Theo offered to tell his story first, and after that, Amiyra went.

It turns out she hadn't been exaggerating when she said that she caught her pokemon really early. She had only been out for 20 minutes before a pokemon came running at her. She threw a poke ball at it to slow it down and was running to get away from it when she heard the successful capture sound. Not even an hour had passed by the time she was able to make it back to the gate. Apparently, it was one of the fastest times anyone has come back from an ordeal.

“It all happened so fast that I still don't even know what pokemon I caught.” Amirya confessed.

“Really?” Ava and Theo said in unison.

“Yeah, the only thing I remember was that it was on four legs and was kind of big, around my chest height.”

The next couple of minutes we’re spent speculating on what her pokemon could be. A stantler had gotten thrown out, but she could neither confirm nor deny it. Ava wasn't much help during this part, having spent all of her time focusing on pokemon in the forest, she had neglected to check what pokemon were around in other areas. Realizing they weren't going to figure it out, they moved on.

Oliver told his story next with much reluctance. He traveled outside the wall and kept near the wall until he found a clearing that was actually close to the forest. From there, he pulled out his chocolate and a sandwich to be used as bait, and then set up a trap using rope from the bag.

Ava suddenly felt really dumb. Why did she not think of using food as bait to bring in pokemon? Now, her idea for hitting one with a stick felt very rushed and ill-prepared.

Oliver continued telling about his Ordeal. He was able to get three uses out of the food he had. The first time a graveler had come by eating the food. He had been too big for the trap to be effective, as it was made for smaller pokemon. He was successful on his next encounter, as a teddiursa drawn in by the chocolate got stuck in the trap. Most traps wouldn’t be able to hold pokemon for very long, and the same was true for the basic trap Oliver set. However, it gave him enough time to rush in and spray a repel in the bear's face to distract and hurt it. He then took the chance to use a poke ball which worked to catch his first pokemon. He reset the trap to try and catch another, but the same graveler came back and ate the food.

Oliver decided to try to get another pokemon in the caves that littered the mountains. He ran into a lot of zubat and paras that all seemed to run away from him. Then the ground started to shift around him, he had moved away but kept a ready stance. A larvitar started eating his way out of the ground, and Oliver threw a poke ball at it. It failed, and the larvitar broke free and, in its flailing, broke the poke ball. Oliver chose to spray his water bottle at the pokemon to try to weaken it a little and threw another poke ball, this time catching it.

“No way! A larvitar!” Theo exclaimed. Oliver nodded, a smug look on his face from getting praise.

Even Ava had to admit this was impressive. While she didn’t know much of pokemon that could be found in the mountain area, in their lessons they were taught about dangerous and powerful pokemon, in hopes they would avoid them. Larvitar and its evolutions were on this list.

Catching himself, Theo moved on from excitement to scolding “Wait why did you continue even after catching the teddiursa? You if all people should know how dangerous that is.”

Ava was curious about that statement not knowing much about the two boys past and their connections to each other but wasn’t able to ask about it before Oliver responded, not really answering the question “Well I was aiming to catch three pokemon, but I wasted two poke balls trying to catch that larvitar.”

Theo looked ready to continue his questioning when the door opened and Cunningham walked in. Her normally strict expression looked even more serious than usual. Ava could tell that something must have happened.

“We received word of the situation at the south gate. Both Flynn and Jacob had been caught up in a stampede of rapidash. Jacob was able to escape and is being treated for his injuries right now. We have strong reason to believe that Flynn will not be returning” Cunningham said in a solemn tone.

Ava felt like the wind had been knocked from her. Flynn and her weren't that close, and while crass, if she had heard about this randomly, she probably wouldn't have blinked twice. But now that she was a trainer, it felt different, it felt more real. Ava knew that this was a dangerous profession, but it didn’t click until now that she truly could have died out there. She had her share of panic and fear while in the forest, and she was constantly told how dangerous the Ordeals were. And of course she knew she could die, but in the same way, one could die from falling down the stairs. A possibility that doesn’t feel real until you take a hard fall or know someone who died from it.

Amours gasped, “Is Jacob okay?”

Cunningham nodded in affirmation, “Jacob will pull through, he is in shock, but the only serious injury is a broken arm and a large amount of scrapes.”

“Was he able to catch a pokemon?” Oliver asked. Even he seemed to be taking this seriously.

“No, he did not.”

Ava finally found her voice. “What will happen to him?”

“Like I mentioned before, if anyone returns without a pokemon they will have to take the Ordeal again as soon as they can. Since a broken arm won’t restrict him from walking or catching a pokemon, he will be sent back out tomorrow.”

“That’s not fair!” Amiyra shouted. Ava was a little surprised, she had never heard the quieter girl raise her voice before.

Cunningham fixed her with a glare. “Of course, it’s not fair. If things were fair, most of you wouldn’t even be here. This is a part of being a trainer. He certainly won’t be the last person you know to get injured or even die. The protection of the city is the most important part of our job, and that will often come at a personal sacrifice. Now follow me, and we will get your pokemon registered to you,” she said in a tone leaving no room for discussion.

The group all followed her in an uncomfortable silence as she led them to the computer room.

Ava had always liked Cunningham. Despite her stern demeanor and rough way of talking, it always seemed like she did care about them and how they turned out. Now Ava wasn’t sure if that was true or if she had just latched onto the first person who knew what they were doing and imagined a stronger relationship than there was.

There was no one in the room when they entered. Going to a computer that was on, she pulled out four ID cards. Turning back, she spoke, “I once again offer my congratulations on passing your Ordeals. You are now all E-Rank trainers. I will activate your ID’s and register your pokemon you your account. Before that, I have some items for you.” She went to a table that contained four sets of clothes and four armbands and handed them out. “Whenever you are on a mission, you will have to wear your trainer uniform. We provide one, any others after this, you will have to buy on your own. When you are off duty and going to a civilian area, you will have to wear that armband so they can identify you.”

Moving back to the computer, Cunningham pulled out six poke balls with a piece of tape labeling their respective names. She first grabbed Theo's poke ball. After scanning her own ID card, she then scanned Theo's new ID, activating it. His photo popped up on the screen. Ava doesn’t remember taking a photo for this, they must have used the photo required when registering for the Selection Day.

Grabbing the poke ball with Theo’s name on it, she put it on the tray next to the computer. A poliwag appeared on the screen, and after a few clicks from Cunningham, the button on the poke ball flashed blue twice before returning to white. She handed Theo this poke ball and ID, offering another quiet congratulations before moving on.

She grabbed Amiyra’s ball next and repeated the process. They were all craning their necks to see what surprise pokemon would pop up. An image of a mudbray flashed upon the screen, but her poke ball also flashed blue before being given to her along with her ID.

Oliver was next, and when the larvitar appeared on the screen, Cunningham paused a little, glancing over at Oliver before registering it and moving on to his teddiursa. Returning his poke balls and giving his ID, she moved on to Ava.

Ava’s face popped up on the screen, and she winced. It was definitely was a photo taken when she registered for the Selection Day. She had been rubbing her eyes that entire week because they were extremely itchy for some reason, so her left eye looked really red in that photo. She had thought she would never see that photo again, but it looks like she was mistaken.

Continuing on, Cunningham scanned her first ball, and a Pidove appeared on the screen. Ava realized she had never gotten around to telling her story when she saw everyone try to peer at the screen, much like she had done when Amiyra’s pokemon appeared.

Her second poke ball was grabbed, and as it scanned, instead of a normal picture pulling up, it showed a meowth with a red shade all over its body. This caused Cunningham to really pause before standing up.

“Since you are all now E-rank trainers, you will have to pass the D-rank test to start taking missions. Once you think your pokemon is tamed enough to listen to your basic commands, I would recommend taking the exam. I will be the one who tests you. Talk to Mary or another poke center manager here to schedule that test. Ava and Oliver, can you stay back? The rest of you are free to go.” Cunningham said.

Amiyra shot her a confused look, and Ava shrugged, not knowing why she was held back either or why she hadn't been given her pokemon back.

Once the two had left, Cunningham spoke to Ava: “I need to speak to Oliver privately, but I will be right back to have a conversation with you.” Ava nodded, still confused, as the older woman led Oliver out of the computer room.

It had only been a few minutes before she heard Oliver’s muffled yell, “That’s bullshit!” Soon after, Cunningham re-entered her room.

“What was that about?” Ava asked.

“Despite being an essential tool, pokemon contain many dangers. Some Pokémon are deemed too dangerous and are illegal to own. Larvitar’s final evolution, Tyranitar is one of those pokemon. Adult ones can grow up to 15 feet, if not more. On the off chance that one rampaged, it could mean extreme danger not only for lives but for the very infrastructure we need to protect ourselves.” Her face had a stored expression. “He did not have a good reaction to the fact that if he wanted to keep it once it evolved, it would have to surgically have an everstone implanted in it to make sure it never evolved into its final form”

“What’s gonna happen to it”

“Well,” Cunningham responded. “That depends on what he wants. He can either keep it, sell it, or kill it. Regardless, right now I want to focus on you, and to be frank, I have worse news for you. Before that, though, could you tell me everything that happened during your Ordeal?”

Ava recounted her tale about the near miss from the ariados and then eventually catching her two pokemon.

Once she was finished, Cunningham had a grim look on her face. “Thank you for telling me that. It seems the damage your meowth took was very severe, and on your journey back to the gate, he did not survive.”

Ava reeled back. “What do you mean he died? I was able to catch him?”

“Like I mentioned in the training, poke balls do not work as a full stasis. While they are extremely useful to help slow injuries down to get to pokemon centers, they are not an end all be all. Pokemon can still die in poke balls if their injuries are too severe. Once you returned to the poke center, I healed your pokemon, so that means the meowth died on your journey back to the city.”

“Wait, when you mean injuries, you're talking about the ones I gave him, right?” Ava said as realization slowly dawned on her. At Cunningham's confirmation, she started to feel sick. “Oh my god, so I killed him? I killed my starter? I’ve never killed anything before!”

Sensing Ava start to panic, Cunningham got closer, putting a hand on Ava's shoulder. “Hey I want you to listen to me, hey look at me” she gently shook Ava’s shoulders. Once getting eye contact and her attention, Cunningham said sternly. “You did what you had to do. If you hadn’t, there’s a good chance you would be much more injured or worse. This just means that you're a fighter, don’t ever feel guilty or bad about that.”
“It’s not all bad, either,” Cunningham said, grabbing a poke ball and handing it to her. “Since you were able to catch two pokemon, you won’t have to re-do your ordeal if you can tame this pokemon. Not only that, but you got very lucky with the pokemon you were able to catch. This pidove is fairly young. This species has an instinct called imprinting, where a young animal imprints on whoever takes care of it and views them as if they were the same species. If you are able to successfully take care of him and get him to imprint on you, you won't have to worry about him turning on you. You will have a very loyal pokemon, a lot of trainers are not as fortunate to have that. I will also make sure to have someone take care of the meowth and return your poke ball to you. You can get reset, and then get that one and your other one registered in your name.”

Ava was still feeling a little stunned but was handed her trainer card and led to Mary who was on shift. Since her pidove is young, the care he needed was unique until he got a little older. Mary walked her through the steps of what to feed him and how to do it. She let Ava know that he wouldn’t be able to start being trained until at least a week later. Ava made sure to write everything down and accepted the papers Mary printed that had more in-depth care instructions on it, and planned to meet her the next morning.

Ava returned to the barracks, where Amiyra was waiting for her. She told her about what happened, and Amiyra helped take her mind off things by playing a card game with a deck she borrowed from Theo.

Once in her bed, she let herself feel as sad and frustrated as she wanted. But tomorrow she promised herself she would move on and work on the pokemon she still had left.

 

[Bulbascreen]

Chapter 5: Growing Pains​

Feeding her pidove was harder than Ava thought it would be. After waking up, she went down to try to find Mary. She couldn’t find her but met another poke center manager named Gavin who was on the taller side, around her height, with a slightly rounded face sporting a well-maintained mustache.

Apparently, Mary had updated Gavin on her situation, and he had been prepared to help her feed her pidove. All poke center managers had a large amount of expertise in the field of caring for pokemon. Part of Gavin's expertise was in avian's, so he was able to give more detailed instructions.

She let her new pokemon out under the supervision of Gavin. The pidove was wary of her when he first appeared. He also quickly realized his wing was fixed and ruffled the few feathers he had on it.

Ava made sure to keep him at arms length; she knew she could take him if he attacked, though, since he was so much weaker than even the meowth she killed yesterday.

“Hey there, buddy,” Ava said awkwardly. “I was able to get you healed, but you are now my pokemon and will have to listen and follow me.” He didn’t make any response indicating he acknowledged this. All he did was cock his head, looking at her.

She slowly tried to reach for him, causing him to panic and try to snap his beak at her. Pulling her hands back quickly, she put on the heavy gloves Gavin had prepared for her. She grabbed the thick syringe full of a faux-crop milk that a pidove’s parents would usually produce.

“I am going to try to feed you, okay? It’s been well over a day, and I don’t want to lose you too. This might be a little forceful if you fight it.” With that warning, Ava snaked her arm out and grabbed a hold of the bird. She made sure to keep her grip soft though to not truly hurt him.

He started straining against her, trying to get free. She slowly brought the syringe to his face, which he kept trying to avoid at first. This caused some of it to spill out. Ava thinks he started to smell the food, because once some had spilled, he got a little calmer, and she was able to get the syringe in front of him to eat.

He relaxed a lot once he was eating. Ava started to relax a little too. As he ate, she talked with Gavin to pass the time while he made sure she didn’t feed him too much. It was then he brought up an interesting point. “So what are you going to name him?”

Ava took a moment to think. Remembering everything that led to her being here with this pidove as her pokemon. “I think I’ll name him Lucky,” she said with a smile on her face.

Time passed quickly. Caring for a baby pokemon felt like a full-time job. She had to make sure that he was fed and was spending most of her free time just being around him, trying to bond as much as she could. She wanted to make sure he would imprint on her if he still could.

Cunningham had been right that he would be easier to tame. After that first feeding, he got less and less skittish as time went on. He even fell asleep in her hands recently. While she wasn’t able to train him to attack and use moves yet, she was able to get him used to learning some simple commands like to come to her and got him used to responding to Lucky.

She made sure to send a message to her dad that she had passed her Ordeal, which he was really excited about. Visiting was still out of the question; she learned that she had to pass the D-Rank exam to be able to interact with civilians.

While using her computer, she also scanned Lucky and was able to get some more information about him.

Species: Pidove - The Tiny Pigeon Pokemon

Type: Normal/Flying

Gender: Male

Age: 2-4 weeks

Moves: N/A

There was some more information about the species in general and other information a trainer might find useful. The moves section seemed to be editable, so you could track what moves a pokemon was taught. It also contained moves that the pidove line could naturally learn, and she made sure to take a look at that to see what she could start with once he got a little older.

Over the next couple of days, the person she interacted with the most was surprisingly Theo. Amiyra was still taking the situation hard and mostly remained in the barracks, which had started to fill up with other people now that their ordeals were over. Ava really only talked to her to comfort her whenever she seemed really down.

She had started talking to Theo more when she started bringing Lucky outside.

“How’s it going?” Ava asked, walking near him, where he was situated next to a small pond of water that his poliwag was swimming in.

“I think it’s going really well, actually!” Theo excitedly said. “The training seems to be effective; I was able to get her to stop attacking me or trying to run away pretty quick. Now I’m working on getting her to follow my orders when she uses her moves. She’s pretty playful, so she doesn’t always listen.”

As if she heard him, the poliwag shot a gentle water gun at Theo, getting him soaked with water. “That's another thing she does. There hasn’t been a single day yet that I don’t get drenched. I think I’m on the janitors hit list with how much water I’ve accidentally brought into the poke center. I swore I saw him glaring at me this morning.”

This caused Ava to laugh. “At least it doesn’t seem like she’s doing it to try to hurt you. What’s her name?”

He blushed a little at her question, “You can’t judge me, okay?” Ava nodded. “I wanted a name that would strike fear in our enemies, so I named her Savage. I didn’t know she would be so playful when I gave her the name.”

Ava managed to hold on to her smirk fairly well but couldn’t help but ask, “Tell me more about the abundance of enemies you seem to have.”

“Shut up, you know what I mean,” he whined, punching her on the arm.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Better safe than sorry when fighting against those who have sworn vengeance on you,” she said sarcastically. “It is a pretty cool name, though.”

“Thanks, and what about you? How's it going with your meowth and pidove?” Theo asked after giving Savage permission to play in the water.

Ava suddenly realized that she hadn't told anyone but Amiyra about having only one pokemon. She had been so focused on raising Lucky right so she wouldn’t have to retake the Ordeal.

“My meowth’s injuries were too severe, and I took too long to get back, so it ended up dying before making it back to the pokemon center.” Ava said, trying to act as nonchalantly as possible.

Theo gasped, “Oh no, I’m so sorry!”

Shrugging, she responded, “It’s fine; nothing we can do now. I’m just glad I was able to catch two pokemon. Who knows if I would have made it back my second time.”

“Yeah I would not want to go back out there without any protection again. I’m glad Jacob made it back alright.”

Dang it. Ava couldn’t believe there was another thing she had let slip through the cracks, she hadn’t even thought about Jacob since that first night. “What happened with him? I haven't seen him yet.”

“He chose to go out of the forest side this time. I’m guessing he didn’t want to go out of the grasslands gate after… the situation.” Ava nodded grimly, knowing he didn’t want to mention their dead friend. “He got back without any injuries and was able to catch a ledyba.”

“That’s great! I’ll have to visit him sometime.”

“He actually isn’t here anymore. He passed the D-rank exam yesterday.”

“Really? He started even later than us; how could he have passed already?”

“No idea, maybe he’s just super talented at training pokemon or the ledyba was really chill. But after that, I saw him packing up, and it turns out he has been offered a permanent position somewhere.”

Ava was confused. “What do you mean permanent position, can’t we not take on any other job? Also, he just passed; how could he have already gotten an offer?”

“He’s still a trainer. While it’s not common, it turns out sometimes people get offered more permanent roles by businesses and people. As long as you are able to do your required guard missions, the league doesn’t care how you spend your extra time, outside of getting a civilian job, of course. Do you remember how Jacob mentioned growing up around a farm?” Ava nodded affirmatively, vaguely remembering that from their group game night. Theo continued, “His dad actually owns that farm and offered him a permanent role to help them out around the farm. It was probably just a way to get him to live with them again.”

“Huh, that’s a really good idea. Do you think we could ask our families to do that?”

Theo shook his head negatively. “Probably not; for one, most people don’t own houses and live in civilian zones, which we can’t do. Houses are unique, and the owners can choose to let a person live there. Also, most people couldn’t afford to pay the fees. Farmers are one of the groups that get subsidized costs due to their importance and how often there are pokemon trying to steal food.”

“There goes that idea. How do you know so much about all this already?” Ava questioned, curious that he knew so much while she seemed to not know anything.

“My aunt is a pokemon trainer. I was raised by her since I was ten, so I picked up some things here and there.”

Ava could sense that landmine and decided to steer clear by changing topics. “How’s Oliver been?”

Theo took that change in stride. “He actually passed the D-Rank exam this morning. He was pissed he wasn’t the first one. I think that motivated him to knock it out today.”

Ava could understand that. She was a little bitter Oliver had beaten her to the punch. Remembering her conversation with Cunningham, she asked, “Do you know if he’s gonna keep the larvitar?”

It was Theo’s turn to look confused. “Why would he get rid of his larvitar?”

Ava hadn't realized that might have been private information but was too deep to turn around, so she explained what Cunningham had told her about certain pokemon restrictions.

“I didn’t even know they had rules like that. I know he only passed the exam with his teddiursa so either his larvitar is hard to train or he’s planning on getting rid of it. I’m not sure, though he hasn’t mentioned anything,” Theo said with a shrug.

Ava didn’t understand that. Even without fully evolving, she’s sure larvitar could grow extremely strong; why would he waste that? Knowing Theo wouldn’t have an answer, she moved on, asking more about his poliwag’s training. They spent the rest of their time together going over that and plans for the D-Rank exam.

As the week progressed, Lucky slowly transitioned from a purely liquid diet to increasing solid food. His feathers were mostly all grown now, which has allowed him to start flying. The first time Ava had taken him out, he was pretty uncoordinated, but the more time he spent trying it, the more coordinated he became, and the time he could spend flying extended.

It also seems like the imprint has taken effect because he has been really affectionate towards her. He nuzzles up against her whenever there is downtime and has been resting on her shoulder and head when he is tired. He also has been responding well to alny actions she calls for him to. It was eight days after her Ordeal that she was given the go ahead by Gavin to start actual training. It came at the right time too because the food and care required for a baby bird pokemon had been sapping her savings faster than she anticipated. The free meals at the pokemon center were a big reason she wasn’t completely broke yet.

Ava set up in a training area where there weren’t many people around. She made sure she had access to a pokemon dummy that could be used for basic training before releasing Lucky.

Materializing in a bright flash, Lucky appeared on the ground. Seeing Ava, he fluttered over to her out raised arm and landed on it, chirping happily.

“Hey there, buddy,” Ava crooned, rubbing against his neck in a way that she learned he liked. He leaned into it, obviously enjoying the light scratches.

“Today we’re going to be actually training. You gotta get stronger to be able to protect me and yourselves. Okay?” Ava knew he wouldn’t be able to fully understand what she meant, but speaking out loud made it easier to collect her thoughts.

She had learned from Theo once he passed his exam two days ago that to pass the D-Rank exam, you would have to have at least one attacking move to damage any wild pokemon. She tried asking more about the exam, but Theo was unusually tight-lipped about the whole thing.

Usually when catching a pokemon they know how to do some moves, and the goal is to get them to use it on certain commands. The issue with Lucky is that since he was a baby, he never had the chance to learn any moves from his parents. So she would have to figure out how to teach him moves she had no experience in.

The moves she wanted to try today were Peck and Gust. They were the only damage dealing moves pidove could learn this early; she hoped he was old enough to try to learn at least one.

“Okay, Lucky, I first want to start by trying to peck this dummy.”

Lucky’s head cocked in confusion, clearly not understanding what she asked.

Walking up to the dummy, she repeated, “Peck” and imitated pecking the dummy with her nose. She repeated that action with the command as pidove hopped to the dummy and looked her in the eyes before giving it a quick peck.

“Yes! Peck,” Ava exclaimed, knocking her nose against the dummy again, while the pidove followed suit. She spent a little longer getting Lucky to peck the dummy when she called out the command Peck.

“Come back, Lucky.” He flew back to her arm when she fed him some small pieces of a cut up strawberry she had prepared as a treat for today. “Good boy, you're doing so well!” She said, as he ate the food, looking proud.

“Right now you are just pecking the target, which is a great start, but for it to be an actual move you will need to use some energy. From what I've read, there is this internal energy that pokemon use for certain types, like flying moves. I want you to close your eyes and try to bring out that energy.”

This was a more complicated command, but Ava tried to talk slowly and used her free hand to gesture. She had heard pokemon were smarter than people thought, and was proved right when Lucky gave a chirp of affirmation before closing his eyes.

He stayed that way for a while, searching for something within. Ava had sat down, trying not to jostle him on her arm. She really should have moved him before starting this process, as her arm was starting to ache.

After 40 minutes, he opened his eyes, and excited, Ava said, “Lucky Peck.” While pointing to the dummy. He flew and pecked at the dummy. It didn't look any different. Ava had seen videos of pokemon using Peck, and you could definitely see some energy when done correctly. It also would have been stronger than the previous pecks, which did not seem to be the case.

Lucky fluttered over to her, looking dejected. “Ah, so you weren't able to find it, huh. That's okay, you've been doing really good so far!” She said, trying to cheer him up. She had been worried about this. From her research, she had learned that it was sometimes difficult for a baby pokemon raised by humans to be able to figure out how to use moves.

She tried practicing with Gust, not really expecting to see any results but wanting to get him used to the command just like he had with Peck. It was after this that she noticed his efforts were really starting to flag as he became more and more tired. She called him over and fed him some more apple treats before returning him to get some rest in his poke ball.

She was still thinking about how she could teach him how to find the energy to use his moves as she entered the poke center. Seeing Mary sitting at the front desk, a light went off. Remembering her help in getting information for pidove care, Ava figured it couldn't hurt to ask her if she had any tips.

“Hey Mary, how's it going?” Ava said smoothly.

“I'm doing good. What do you want?” Mary said, barely looking up from the computer she was typing on.

“What makes you think I want something? Maybe I just want to talk to you.”

Mary fixed her with an unimpressed look.

“You got me. I was wondering if you had any tips on how I can get my pidove to feel the energy to use for his flying moves. He struggled to learn it today, and I'm not sure what to do next. I'm worried since he doesn't have his parents to teach him that I won't be able to figure out how to do it.”

“If his parents didn't teach him, just get another pokemon too,” Mary casually responded.

“They can do that?”

“Of course they can.”

“Thank you so much!” Ava turned to leave before quickly stopping and turning back. “You don’t happen to know anyone who has a bird pokemon who would be willing to teach me, would you?” Ava put a smile on her face, hoping it would convince her.

“We both know someone who could help you. Gavin has a staravia, and he’s nice enough that he would probably help you without even asking for money.”

“Is he here right now?” Ava asked.

“No but he will be here tomorrow morning if you want to ask him.”

“Thank you so much!”

“It’s been my absolute pleasure,” Mary responded in a straight tone, still typing on her computer.

Ava went back to the barracks. Her and Amiyra had decided to share a bunk bed so they wouldn’t have to bunk with a stranger as more people came. Ava had taken the top bunk, while Amiyra had the bottom. Amiyra was still lying in her bed, in the same spot Ava saw her in before leaving in the morning.

Amiyra had not been doing well in training. She had actually been doing better in the week before the Ordeal. But for some reason, the past week she has barely even left her bed, let alone try to train her pokemon. Ava thinks it might be because there is no looming threat. For the Ordeals if she wasn't focused, she might not have come back. Now, though, there was no time limit or real push to make progress, so she just didn’t.

Ava sat down on the edge of her bed and spoke gently, “Hey, how are you doing?”

“Fine,” came Amiyra’s short response.

“I thought you were going to try to tame your pokemon more today.” Ava prodded about the conversation they had earlier.

“I decided not to. I’ll feed him after dinner.”

This was the response Ava had been getting for the last week. She thought that over time Amiyra would get better, but it’s already been a week and nothing seems to be changing. In fact, she would say it’s even gotten worse.

Ava thought for a moment before deciding to take decisive action. “Alright, it’s time for some tough love.”

This got Amiyra’s attention, who finally looked up. “What do you mean by th-AH!” She got interrupted by Ava picking her up and throwing her over her shoulder. Ava was always an athletic kid, which made it easier to carry the light frame of her shorter friend.

“What are you doing?” Amiyra shouted, trying to shake out of Ava’s grasp to no avail. Her grip was like iron.

“Helping,” Ava replied, grabbing Amiyra’s poke ball from her bag before walking out of the room with everyone watching her.

“No, you’re not. Let me down now!” Amiyra screeched.

Ava’s response was to ignore her and keep moving. When they got downstairs closer to the entrance, Amiyra saw Mary. “Help me, Mary!” Mary lifted her head, looking at the scene in front of her before continuing with her work, not saying a word.

“Traitor!”

It was only when Ava reached a training ground that she dumped Amiyra off of her shoulder. Scramboling off the ground, she shouted, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You've been moping for an entire week. It's time to start putting in some work,” Ava said.

“This is stupid; I'm going back to bed.” She made a move to walk back but was blocked by Ava. “Get out of my way.”

“No. I'm not gonna let you go back until you start putting in an effort, and I'm stronger than you. You won't be able to get past me. I know you had a dream and a passion that you won't be able to achieve, and I'm truly sorry about that. But you told me you felt like your life was a waste. If you keep doing what you’re doing, then it will be. While it might not be ideal, you have to accept that you will never be able to go back to your old life. You have to make the best of what you've been dealt.”

Amiyra exploded, “Why do you even care? You're just a stranger who I don't even know. You don't get a say in how I live my life.”

Ava stayed silent for a moment. “It's fine if you don't think I'm your friend, but you're my friend, and I don't want you to die.” After not getting a response, Ava continued. “If you can't tame your pokemon you will have to retake your Ordeal. Flynn already died from that; there's a chance that you won't make it back at all. At least if you pass the D-Rank exam, if anything happens to your pokemon, someone can help escort you to catch another one. Please, do this for me.”

Ava could see that her little speech affected Amiyra slightly. She no longer looked as angry and, after a sigh, gave in. “Fine. I'll start training my pokemon. I'm still mad at you, though.”

“Thank you. Have you done anything so far?”

“Every time I try to release him, he just starts running away. The only times he doesn't run away is when he gets too hungry and has to eat the food I put out. As soon as he's done, though, he tries running again.”

“I know Theo did this, but what if you try returning him every time he tries to run and just repeat the process until he realizes he can't run away?”

Amiyra agreed, and that's what they spend the next hour trying to do. Every time the Mudbray was released, it quickly tried to run away, but Amiyra was always ready and kept returning him to the poke ball. Eventually he stopped running right off the bat, but wherever they seemed to let their guards down, he bolted away. The progress seemed good, but after another hour he still seemed agitated, and besides that one attempt he had taken to sling some mud at them, nothing changed. That was not fun to be on the receiving end of.

“Okay, so let's take a quick break.” Ava said, rubbing her temple. “What do you know about mudbrays?”

“Well he eats the food from the pokemon, but he should be able to eat grasses as well. I've also read that they really like mud.”

“What if we let him out in the mud? Maybe he will like it.”

“Worth a try,” Amirya said.

They didn't really know how to get enough water to an area to make mud, and it hadn't rained recently, so the ground was pretty dry. Ava remembered that Theo had a water pokemon that liked spraying water, so they went to see if they could find him. He was in the boys barracks, having just gotten back from his first guard session, which he said went well. After hearing their plan, he agreed to help them out and joined them outside.

Letting out his poliwag he ordered it to spray water around a small area of one of the dusty training grounds. They had used sticks they found on the ground to mix up the water and ground, and kept adding water until there was a good amount of mud around the area.

Amiyra released her mudbray, and he was about to run away before noticing the mud on the ground. The change was almost instantaneous. He fell in the mud, rolling around, getting it all over himself. Ava could hear happy neighs coming from him. She and Theo backed off a little, letting Amiyra take the forefront. He allowed her to get closer while he continued to roll in the mud, even eating some of it.

Ava whispered to Theo, “Is it healthy for him to eat mud?”

“No clue,” Theo whispered back. “But he seems to like it, so I'm sure it's not that big of a deal.”

While that didn’t seem to solve all of Amiyra’s problems with taming her mudbray it seemed to be the breakthrough she needed. Ava and Theo left her be while she worked to get her pokemon to listen to her commands more.

Ava was getting ready to go to bed when Amiyra came back to the barracks. She was covered in mud, but had a stronger fire in her eyes than she had the previous week. She walked right up to Ava. “I want to thank you for what you did today. While I still don't think it was okay to basically kidnap me, I needed a push, and you gave that to me. I can't guarantee I will always do it, but I'm going to try my best to take your advice and make the best of this situation.” She rubbed her hands against each other, losing a bit of her confidence. “I also wanted to say I'm sorry. I said some mean things earlier, and I do consider you my friend. I hope my actions didn't ruin that.”

Ava smiled. “It's no problem! I'm glad I was able to help a little. Of course, you didn't ruin our friendship. You're stuck with me whether you like it or not,” she joked, secretly relieved that Amiyra still considered them friends.

“Well, I would give you a hug, but as you can see,” she gestured to herself, “I'm a little messy right now, so I'm going to hop in the shower.” Amirya left for the showers after gingerly grabbing her towel and clothes.

Ava thought that everything was turning out better than expected today. She was able to get Amiyra out of her slump and got a lead on how to teach her pidove. She and her near empty bank account were ready to pass the D-Rank exam and make some money again. With that hope, she drifted off into peaceful rest.




Author's Notes: I will use some flexibility when looking at move sets of pokemon. There are some moves like peck and wing attack that in a more real world setting all bird pokemon should be able to learn. Those common sense basic ones are the main things I’m planning on changing.