Chapter 2- Love Travels On
I gasped awake and sat straight up, as if from a nightmare. There was what looked like a hospital room around me, stark white sheets and all.
"What is this?" One minute I was bleeding out from hundreds of stab wounds, now I was here, "Where am I?"
"You're in the Aquacorde Town Hospital," A soft, familiar voice swirled through my mind as an Alakazam with a particularly long and silky mustache entered the room
'So I got a second chance...'"Sage! What happened? One minute I was swarmed by Combee on top of Litleo, the next I'm in a hospital bed," Sage was one of my endorser, Jon Seven's elite Pokemon. Jon was the Anistar City Gym leader and the father of a friend of mine, I was lucky to have him as an endorser. Trainer Endorsement was started in Galar as a way of weeding out weak trainers, you have to prove yourself to an accomplished trainer like a Gym leader or an Elite four member before taking on the Gym Challenge. The Kalos League had appropriated it and made it to fit its own needs, as had other nations and their Leagues.
"You were lucky," He floated over to me, coming to hover near the end of my bed, "A Combee Hive in the Santalune was disturbed a few days ago, you happened to be caught in the crossfire,"
"Oh," I processed the information, 'Maybe it had something to do with the dead elite on Talisin's team, did he have a Vespiquen?'
"Yes, Stinger was her name, she died without an apprentice to overtake her,"
"So that's why they swarmed huh,"
"Did you catch the Litleo recently? I don't remember him," Sage thought-spoke matter of factly, his massive intellect never forgets anything, "He is quite fearsome, the ranger had to knock him out before he was let anywhere near you, "
'Litleo...protected me?' "How'd they bring me back? Those Combee practically gutted me," I was amazed at how little pain I felt, it was if I was sore from a hard workout instead of a near-death experience. I searched for a painkiller IV, but the only thing I was connected to was a heart rate monitor.
"Blissey egg shots, I heard he needed to use two of them to revive you,"
That explained a lot, Blissey extract was a near-miraculous healing serum when it came to serious wounds. The egg elixir had revolutionized modern medicine with its ability to regenerate any tissue, human or pokemon.
'Hm, I'm glad I pressed the panic button for them to find me, if they needed to use Blissey shots it must have been bad,'
"Quite, your psychic distress signals were through the roof, That is why Jon sent me,"
"You could hear me from Anistar?" 'That's impressive,' I picked off my heart monitor and began to stand up, ignoring the pain in my back and arms. I noticed tiny scars up and down the back of my limbs, all that remained of my meeting with the swarm.
"No, that would take too much energy to keep up, Instead, we had placed a psychic marker on you before you left for Lumiose, it can tell when you are in danger,"
"Oh, could you warn me next time about something like that, its a bit creepy,"
"Of course, Would you like me to take you to your room here in the Pokecenter?"
'Hm, I forgot that Aquacorde's Pokecenter is connected to the hospital,' I looked down at my hospital gown, searching for my clothing or my Pokeballs, and finding none, "Yes, that would be appreciated, Oh, but first, I have to ask about her,"
"She bore you, you could at least use your mother's name,"
"Where did they take her?"
"Camphier, not on-site as we thought,"
'So they want to catch me on the way, is it?' I asked in my mind to the barest of nods from Sage, "Well, I won't fall into that trap, I'll take the alternate route instead,"
The Alakazam seemed to mull it over for a second, before approving my plan with a silent nod.
"Jon would like me to add to not stress yourself for the next few days, as Blissey serum does not solve everything" I followed Sage as he floated out of the hospital and into the Pokecenter, which was chock full of trainers and Pokemon of all shapes and sizes.
"Why are there so many trainers here? Aquacorde doesn't have a gym."
Sage did not stop but spoke in, "Aquacorde is opening a brand-new Performance Theater. They are holding their first Contest for debut Performers tonight,"
"Interesting," I walked past a Brionne and her trainer as she balanced a precious ball of sparkling water on her nose, then followed Sage into the hotel space of the Pokemon Center through a hallway. He stopped in front of one of the numbered doors and floated a small white keycard over to me.
"Here is your room key," He tipped his head to me in a respectful nod, "Jon is calling me, Good luck,"
He Teleported away without light or sound, a show of true mastery over the move. I opened the door to my room and looked inside.
'Wow, They must be pressed for rooms,' My room was barely bigger than a closet with room only for a bed, nightstand, and a mat for a small Pokemon. There was a new set of trainer clothing on the bed to replace the destroyed set and my backpack with my Pokeballs attached. I quickly got dressed, then I detached my Pokeballs and released Nozomi and Edge.
Nozomi whined when he saw me, sliding on his slime to reach me and began to nuzzle my shin. I picked him up and put him on my shoulder. Edge was much more reserved, with only a glint of relief in her eyes to show that she was glad I was okay.
"Guys, I'm fine," I told them what happened with the swarm, with Nozomi making worried gurgling and Edge cocking her head in interest, "I'm going to let Litleo out now, protect me if he attacks," 'But I don't think he will,'
I held up the third Pokeball I detached, the blue and red coating shining in the fluorescent light. Edge jumped behind me, just as the bright red light coalesced into the Lion Cub Pokemon.
The moment the last of the red light left his fur, Litleo lunged for me. On a hunch, I stopped Edge just in time for Litleo to hit my body, and begin to lick my face with his sandpaper tongue. I laughed, Litleo, once a feral beast, was worried about me! Nozomi shifted on my shoulder to allow Litleo access to my ears, then joined in with him, his slightly acidic spit tingling on the roughed up skin left by Litleo.
"So, Litleo, do you want to join the team and get stronger?" I pulled Litleo off of my clothing, now covered in cat hair, and placed him on the bed next to Edge. Litleo tail curled and uncurled as he nodded without hesitation, "Hmm, well, First things first, do you want me to give you a nickname? It will help me distinguish you on the battlefield."
I let Edge explain what a nickname is to Litleo in their own language, with Litleo wary of the Pokemon who defeated him at first, before calming after listening to her and getting a feel for the Frogadier's cool personality. When Edge finished, Litleo looked towards me and shook his head.
'That was unexpected, I thought Litleo would want to be separate from all the others of his kind…'
I studied the fire type closely for the first time since I caught him. He appeared to be about two years old, which meant that his full mane and evolution will not occur for about a year. His eyes were a fierce golden color, which accented his dark brown fur and fiery red mohawk. You could see some of his ribs through his fur, he wasn't emaciated but the hard exoskeletons and potent poisons of most bug-types obviously gave him some trouble while hunting. He was a few inches shorter than Edge, but would most likely be taller if fed well. He was powerfully built and I could see how he would be a threat to his pride, 'But how did you end up so far away from Route twenty-two?'
"It's okay if you don't want a nickname, would you like one when you evolve?" I had heard of pokemon who wanted to differentiate themselves as an evolved pokemon instead of a lesser state, perhaps Litleo simply wanted to be known when he gets stronger. This time, Litleo had to think for a minute before answering with a nod, 'So that's how you work...you have honor,"
"Welcome to the team Litleo," I returned Edge and Nozomi, they still needed rest after two days of beating sense into Litleo. It seemed that the spirited Pokemon had been treated by Nurse Joy, his eyes were bright and his pelt no longer had scratches and bruises all along its surface.
"Now Litleo, I'm going to hold up my Pokedex and scan you, Just hold still," I took out and held up the phone-sized device to the lion cub. By scanning in Litleo, I would register him as my Pokemon in the eyes of the League, and I would do the same to register his evolved form later.
The device beeped,
Litleo, The Lion Cub Pokemon, The stronger the opponent it faces, the more heat surges from its mane and the more power flows through its body-
I skipped the basic description and went down to his moveset,
This Litleo knows the moves Tackle, Leer, Ember, Headbutt, Flare Blitz, and Noble Roar.
'A powerful egg move! He probably doesn't have the ability for it yet, No wonder he was banished so far away,' The egg move meant that Litleo's father was a different pokemon than the lead Pyroar of his pride. Egg moves were not as rare as they once were, especially now with the many imported Pokemon from places like Alola and Kanto, but I would welcome powerful moves like Flare Blitz any time. I put away the Pokedex and began to walk towards the door without my excitement for the powerful move showing, he would learn in time, "Do you want to come to get food with me? There's going to be a lot of people and pokemon there, you might not be able to handle the noise…"
Litleo yowled with indignation then hopped off the bed and stood his ground next to me, he wouldn't be defeated by a little noise!
"Okay, if you're sure about it," I opened my door and stepped out into the hallway, "Come with me,"
He bounded out into the hallway at my side and we began to make our way to the Pokecenter's cafeteria.
'What time was it anyway?' I had no concept of how long I was unconscious, so I checked my Pokedex and discovered that it was almost noon the next day. 'Wow, I was out for nearly 24 hours...No wonder my Pokemon were nervous,"
As we got closer and closer to the main lobby, Litleo's ears pinned back more and more and he began to growl softly, yet when he noticed my eyes on him, his ears went back up and he acted like all was normal, 'What a stubborn Pokemon,'
I turned my head to him once we entered the busy lobby, "Litleo are you sure you don't want to go back into your Pokeball?"
Suddenly, the scars on my back lit up with pain as a young man slammed into me, nearly knocking me over.
"Oh! I'm so, so sorry are you okay?" He apologized as I stood up woozily and the pain died down. The man gasped when he saw my face, " Angel… is that you?"
"Hmm?" I looked the man over, noticing his fine features and jet black hair, "Julien…?"
"Aha! It really is you, Angel! It's been so long, where have you been?"
"Where have I been...I should be asking you that question, it's been years,"
"Oh, here and there, Hoenn has been kind to me," He opened his cloak to show me two Contest ribbons with a slight smirk.
"Wow..." I knew how hard it was to get even one Contest ribbon in Hoenn, where Pokemon Contests were just as popular among trainers as battling, it must have taken him at least a year to get even those two, "But why are you here? You need three more ribbons to enter the Grand Festival right?"
"For training of course, after all, Kalosian Performers have that je ne sais quoi that lends them to winning" It was true that Performers seemed to have a special flair that gives them the edge in the televised Contests I have seen, "But enough about me, Who's this little guy, is he new?"
Julien stepped back and crouched down to Litleo's level. The lion cub growled suspiciously at him, to which Julien only held out his hand for him to sniff.
"Yes, I just caught him a few days ago" I smiled as Litleo snapped at Julien playfully once he realized Julien wasn't a threat, in return, Julien waggled his finger at him and got back up.
"He's already feisty like you, funny how Pokemon can be so much like their trainers so quickly,"
"Hey," I punched his arm lightly, "I might just sic him on you if you keep acting like that,"
Litleo growled as menacing as a tiny lion cub could, only to be laughed at by Julien, "Still the same I see,"
Julien put his arm around my shoulders and led me to one of the few open couches left in the Pokecenter, "Talk to me, it has been so long, what has happened to my Angelique,"
"It's been quite a year, with Leo and all,"
Julien's eyes darkened at the mention of our mutual friend, "Yes, I would have never expected you to become a trainer, it was always his dream...so, how many badges do you have?"
"Just the one, it's a bit of a story,"
Julien put his head on his palms, "Do tell,"
Litleo jumped onto the couch and laid across my knees, his impressive body heat warming me to the core. I told Julien about my entire Gym battle and what came afterward, all the way up to waking up in the hospital next to the Pokecenter. Julien's expressive features showed his thoughts to me as if his face were an open book. His eyes widened with awe at the mention of Edge's evolution, his dimples laughed silently at the trial it was to tame Litleo and the tightening of his jaw was all it took to show how afraid he was for me at the mention of the Combee swarm.
"That is quite the story…" He had taken out a Pokeball in the middle of my story and was in the process of throwing it up and down, before catching it in one hand when I reached the end. " I want to propose a challenge, for old times sake, Angel will you battle me?"
I hesitated, the last time we had a battle was right before he left, four years ago. It would be an interesting opportunity, especially now that Julien was a Contest trainer. "I don't know…"
Taking my hesitation for disinterest, Julien spoke up once again, " Why don't I add a little wager to the mix, If you win, I will give you an egg that I acquired from a fairy specialist in Hoenn,"
My eyes twitched with interest, granting me a smile from my childhood friend, "And if you win?"
"You get a front seat to my debut in Kalos, and become my volunteer from the crowd to dance with me, I heard you have a great waltz,"
I smiled, 'Oh, Julien,' "It's on,"
"Who will you be using?"
" I believe Litleo needs a chance to prove himself, besides, I still need to hand off both Nozomi and Edge, they took quite the beating in the taming process,"
"Outside in five minutes then,"
"Yes," We shook on it and I went to hand off my other two pokemon. The Nurse Joy on hand was so busy with all the trainers that she barely gave me a second glance once I gave them over. I exited the din of the Pokecenter to the battlefields in the back with Litleo at my side, who looked visibly relieved to be leaving the noise. A couple of other trainers were currently battling, so I walked over to the second field.
Julien smirked at me from the other side, "You ready?"
"What do you think?" I encouraged Litleo to take his place in front of me, he had seen the other trainers battling and was eager to begin, flame licking up and down his small mane. "Now Litleo, I know you are not used to this, but try to follow my orders in this battle, I'll help you win,"
Litleo responded with a growl, he was ready for anything.
Julien threw a purple-colored Pokeball in the air, one that I knew well, "Allons-y, Adalene!"
Red light poured onto the battle, growing and changing into the rabbit-like form of a Lopunny with gorgeous silver fur. My eyes widened, the last time I saw Adalene, she was but a tiny Buneary with twitchy ears, now her leopard features were almost humanoid. Her long, powerful legs were dwarfed only by her large ears, which now hung about two-thirds the length of the rabbit Pokemon's body.
Adalene was a special breed of Lopunny known as a Silver Fox, which accounted for her silvery fur, but it had been far less pronounced as a Buneary. Now, the silver in her fur glimmered in the noon day sun, as if drops of quicksilver had coated her ears and accented her body. I knew that Adalene must be an incredible Pokemon to have in performances, Julien had chosen his starter well.
"Let's begin. You have the first move, Angel," Lopunny settled herself in front of Julien and opened her scarlet eyes, daring Litleo to attack her.
"Litleo, Use Leer then attack, go for the ears!"
The lion cub's golden irises met Adalene's and flashed, then he charged recklessly towards the Lopunny. Adalene seemed unnerved by Litleo's eyes, so much so that she hardly noticed his Headbutt until it was too late. Still, her legs jumped up and out of the way, only getting clipped by the attack, before retaliating by slamming her feet into Litleo's head and using it as a springboard to flip to the ground behind him.
"Adalene, dance circles around him!"
"Litleo, use Ember! Try to spread it in a wave, don't let Adalene get close!"
As Adalene began to dance to the beat of the battle, Litleo collected Embers in his maw until his cheeks seemed to be blown up like a Skwovet. He breathed out a voluminous cloud of burning ash in a circle around himself, with some of the embers landing on his fur and setting it on fire. The embers from his own internal flame did not seem to hurt him, in fact, the extra fire only seemed to egg him on, as if the heat of the flames stoked the fire in his own soul. I could see the potential for his egg move, his fire type skills were at peak performance.
Meanwhile, Julien focused for a few seconds, then called out, "Adalene, Use Mega Kick once the Embers settle!"
I cocked my head at the mention of the powerful move, Lopunny can only learn Mega Kick from a T.M or a mentor.
"Litleo, use Workup, then Noble Roar, she may be fast but let's keep her guessing as long as we have cover,"
A few seconds passed as the Embers settled to the ground, had Litleo refused my orders?
Suddenly, as the last of the embers , and fell to the ground, a voice like rolling thunder echoed across the battlefield in a throaty roar that couldn't possibly come from the small body of my Litleo. Julien froze and Adalene stopped in her dance to turn and see where the sound had come from. In the beat of a second, Litleo jumped out of the remaining ash behind Adalene and Tackled her to the ground to begin sharpening his claws on her sensitive ears.
Outraged, Adalene kicked Litleo off of her and tried to stand, yet Litleo was relentless now that he had the advantage. The greenish glow of Work-Up aided him in the strength of his attacks as he Headbutted her back down to the ground, then began to tussle and roll around with the Lopunny in the dust. Julien winced as his precious Contest Pokemon was put out of her depth by the one thing he didn't expect from me or my Pokemon; good old-fashioned roughhousing.
Litleo was well versed in the act of wrestling with other Pokemon, a remnant of his days as a young cub most likely. No part of Adalene was left unpummeled, from her delicate ears to her perfectly manicured feet. Julien visibly blanched at the amount of dirt and dust being pounded into her fur, he knew that there was only one way to save his Pokemon from complete disgrace.
A red light encompassed Julien's traumatized Lopunny as he called out, "Stop, Stop, we forfeit!"
Litleo looked confused for a second at the absence of an opponent, before realizing what the strange light that had taken Adalene away was. He bounced back to my side, pride lighting up his dust-covered features. I knew now for certain that I had found a loyal battle partner, so different from the feral lion of only days ago.
"So Adalene can't handle a little tussle in the dust can she?" I taunted Julien, who walked across the battlefield with a smile, albeit a slightly sad one at his defeat.
"You know my weakness then, ah Angel, you were always the strategic one," He shook my hand, then sighed, "Well, we did have a bet…"
I followed Julien back into the Pokecenter, then waited as he went to his room to grab his side of the bet. I sat on one of the few available couches near the back of the Pokecenter then looked down at the dirt-covered Litleo.
"Litleo, we just won our first match together," He shook off the dirt and made a smug noise, then jumped onto my lap again, I could tell that this would soon be a regular occurrence, 'That was too easy, perhaps Julien didn't want Adalene dirty for her performance...but then, why would he use her in the first place?"
I stewed in my thoughts for the five or six minutes it took for Julien to bring me the egg. He sat down next to me and revealed the shiny incubator with a flourish of his hands, like a master jeweler showing off a rare and beautiful diamond, "Your egg, as ordered,"
"You just wanted to give me the egg didn't you Julien, I knew you were pulling your punches,"
He laughed and handed me the incubator, "Yes, think of this as a make-up gift for all the birthdays I missed,"
"Julien…" I began to examine the egg. It was about a foot tall, a pretty standard egg size for most pokemon, and was a pure white color with a couple of blue and pink speckles across its surface. "How far along is it?"
"It probably has a few weeks or so to go, the specialist said that it would be pretty obvious when it was ready to hatch,"
I already had my suspicions as to what the egg contained but still asked, "Do you know what's inside?"
"If I told you, that would ruin the fun wouldn't it?" He gave me a ball with black, gold, and red markings, a Luxury Ball, "Put it in this when it hatches, the specialist said that it goes a long way to helping it evolve,"
I smiled, most Fairy type pokemon and some "baby" pokemon evolve not from experience in battle or an evolutionary stone, but from the connections, they made with their trainer. Somehow, the technology in a Luxury ball predisposes a captured pokemon to make a strong connection or friendship with their trainer. It was a wonderful and most likely expensive gift.
"Ah, Angelique, do not worry about the expense. My Contest money was more than enough to pay for it, besides, this Performance will only add to that amount,"
"Getting cocky are we?"
"Ha, it is not being cocky if you know it to be true,"
I shook my head, "You haven't changed Julien,"
For some reason, he seemed to grimace for a split second, then he looked at the time on his Pokedex, a noticeably Hoennese model, "Ah, though it burdens my heart to leave you, my Angel, it is time for me to prepare, Will I see you there?"
"Perhaps," I answered, knowing it will drive him crazy.
He sighed and got up to leave the Pokecenter, "Adieu,"
I stood up after he left and got my Pokeballs from the front desk. Both Edge's Net Ball and Nozomi's standard Pokeball were buffed to a shine, a special treatment the Pokecenter's reserve for the night of a Performance. I nodded to the exhausted Nurse Joy at the front in thanks then left with Litleo at my side and the incubator in my arms to go back to my room.
First, I released Edge next to Litleo on the small mat at the side of the bed. Then, I released Nozomi on my shoulder, he shook himself as if waking from a nap, then burbled at the sight of Litleo and me.
"Litleo and I had our first battle while you were away," I told the both of them, "Now, Nozomi remembers Julien, and Edge, you've heard of him correct?"
Nozomi purred and Edge nodded affirmation, "Well, He is the one we battled, and I have to say, Litleo, you are going to make an incredible battler someday,"
He growled pridefully, "Not only that but as a result of his efforts, we gained a future team member,"
I turned around, revealing to Edge and Nozomi the egg I had set down on the bed. Even Edge reacted to the beautiful white egg in awe, I knew that there would not be any problems integrating whatever hatched out into the team.
"This is going to hatch in a few weeks, so in the meantime, I expect all of you to treat it with respect, If it comes out of the incubator for too long the Pokemon inside might die,"
I looked at Litleo especially as I said this, I still did not trust him completely.
"Now, speaking of the next few weeks, our plans to get to Cyllage City have been altered a bit."
I sat next to the bed and began to absentmindedly play with the Luxury ball, "We are not going to be taking the usual route back to Lumiose. I have decided to instead take the Allearth trail."
The Allearth trail was an alternate route through the temperate mountains of southwest Kalos. Though it cut the time between Santalune and Lumiose considerably, given that most trainers get held up at the Battle Chateau, it was chock full of dangerous pokemon and fewer trainers to battle; thus, it was far less popular than the conventional trail. I knew that it would be more of a challenge than the conventional trail, but I wanted to earn more experience in a wild environment so that I would not be underprepared for a situation like a swarm again, 'It also gives a convenient excuse to avoid Camphier, I'm not ready for that yet,'
"I feel that all of us need to get more in tune with nature, if I had listened to the signs of the forest around me and Litleo, we might have been able to take cover from the swarm, Also, the trainers we do find will be much more experienced than the wannabes we defeated on the route from Lumiose, We're all going to get a lot more experience,"
All of my team nodded their assent, they were revving for the challenge.
"Okay, now that that is settled, I believe that a session in daycare for all of you guys is long overdue,"
Both Nozomi and Edge reacted with excitement at this, while Litleo looked slightly bewildered.
I turned my head to him, "Oh, you are going to like daycare, they give out plenty of treats, Come with me,"
Leaving the Incubator on the bed with the Luxury ball, I led my small entourage down the hallway and a stairway to the basement of the Pokecenter.
The basement of the Pokecenter boasted a cavernous room with multiple Pokemon training and play areas. There was everything any type of Pokemon could want, from piles of delicious scrap metal for the steel types to a field of flowers under impressive UV lights for grass and bug types, and even a mini power station for electric types. I simply walked forward with my pokemon until we came to a reception desk manned by a light-haired girl in her thirties.
"Hello, and welcome to the Aquacorde Daycare center, Are your Pokemon here for long term care or short term?"
"Short term, I'm going to the debut tonight," The difference between long and short term care is that the long term Pokemon are brought to a larger location right outside of town where pokemon can enjoy a more natural environment.
"Alright then, who do we have today?"
I plucked Nozomi off of my shoulder, placed him on the counter between myself and the lady, and put his Pokeball beside him, "One dragon-type, prefers freshwater swamps if you have one,"
"What a cutie! We have the perfect place for him," She typed something on her computer, then hit a button on a small pager that was connected to the apron she had on. A tiny Natu appeared next to Nozomi and spirited him away to some far off part of the underground complex while the receptionist took his Pokeball, "Next?"
"One recently evolved water-type, she likes being around fighting type pokemon,"
"Ooh, We have a great spot for her," She hit a different part of her pager and waited as Edge easily hopped onto the counter with her Pokeball, a minute or so went by before a darkly pigmented Machoke came by to take her to the fighting-type arena. "And last but not least?"
"This is Litleo, fire/normal type, I recently caught him, If you have any experienced fire-types, that would be greatly appreciated,"
Litleo growled pridefully at the mention of himself, which caused the receptionist to laugh, "Oh, Lassie's going to love you,"
This time, the receptionist took out a weathered Pokeball of her own and released a massive Arcanine, to which Litleo growled unsuredly at.
"It's okay Litleo, I'll see you in a little bit, I'm sure Lassie is going to teach you a lot,"
The good-natured Arcanine got down to Litleo's level and began to growl and whine right back at him. After a small conversation between them, Litleo seemed comforted and both began to run farther into the daycare.
"Lassie, Show him the ropes!" The receptionist called after the two fire types to an affirming bark from the Arcanine, She then turned to me, "Now, are there any special requests for their training during their stay?"
"For the Goomy and the Frogadier, I would like a focus on defense and stamina," I handed over my Pokedex for the receptionist to scan and give back, it proved that I was an active battling trainer and would receive their services for free, "The Litleo just needs a general introduction to training and perhaps an examination of his fire abilities, he has a powerful egg move that requires his pyrosac to be a bit more developed,"
She finished typing in the instructions to send to the Daycare trainers in each of my Pokemon's sections, then looked up at me and smiled, "That's all, I hope you have a wonderful time at the Performance!"
I went to the front yet again and asked Nurse Joy for a ticket for the debut. She frowned and typed at the screen, but then brightened at the sight of what showed up, "You're in luck! There are a couple of seats near the back that are still open, is that alright with you?"
"That's perfect," I paid for the tickets then the electronic ticket was sent to my Pokedex.
For the rest of the time until the debut, I stocked up for a month of travel, which sucked up the last of my reward money from my grinding on route four and the Gym, then napped with the egg until about an hour before the performance started. Then, I showered and got on my nicest set of clothing, which wasn't saying much considering I was a trainer that just spent the last week in a forest. Finally, I walked from the Pokecenter across the Aquacorde town square to the shiny new Performance center and found my seat just as the debut started.
Though I zoned out for most of the Performance, I knew the basics of how it worked. It was split into three rounds. The first usually depended on the town, in Aquacorde it seemed to be a sort of synchronized swimming contest between three contestants each time to a total of nine times. After this was a thirty-minute intermission as the stage was set for the freestyle rounds. The first freestyle round also had three contestants on the stage at the same time with about two minutes allotted for each of the nine contestants. Finally, was the second freestyle round, the only one anyone pays attention to, which is why it is such a coveted spot for a debut.
First up was a wispy ghost-type specialist. Her performance starred a Misdreavus with feathery, long, "hair" who sang in a chilling alto as the girl and a Sensu-style Oricorio danced around it.
Next was a cheery girl with two Eevees, one with a fire stone tied to its wrist, and another with an ice stone. Almost everyone in the audience knew what was coming next, yet still applauded when the two Eevee evolved into a Flareon and a Glaceon in a gorgeously choreographed dance of ice and fire. The trick was an old one but still a stunning display of timing, Julien would be hard-pressed to top these two performers.
I leaned forward in my seat as Julien was raised to center stage in a bowed position. Next to him was Adalene, who was cleaned of dirt but still had ruffled fur from her tussle with Litleo, and a Roselia who, upon closer inspection, was male. Before he began, Julien studied the audience, as if looking for something. He did not seem to find it and made a small signal to his pokemon just as the track for his debut started.
First, as a cheerful violin duet filled the ears of the audience, Julien and Adalene began to dance around the male Roselia. The Roselia leaped into the air and, to the surprised gasp of the audience, viciously severed the two roses from his arms. As each rose slowly floated to the ground, both Adalene and Julien caught one in their mouths.
Julien's rose was a deep blue not unlike the highlights of his hair, while Adalene's was a bubblegum pink shade, the exact color of my hair. They began to dance to the duet together in a playful manner, one that evoked a feeling of childhood. At the climax of the duet, Julien took the flower out of his mouth and held it out to Adalene, who cocked her head, but then shot past him and continued dancing, as if they were still playing tag. One violin began to pull ahead of the other, the slower one a romantic harmony, while the faster continued the cheerful melody. Julien began to desperately chase after Adalene around the stage, the blue rose still clenched in his right fist.
About three minutes of the five-minute performance consisted of Julien almost catching up to Adalene, only to have her dodge, curve, or flip out of the way, the pink rose firmly clenched between her teeth. The violins followed their movements, with the romantic one representing Julien and the playful one representing Adalene. I began to realize what this meant, but continued to watch, enraptured like the rest of the audience in Julien's story.
It was as if an invisible force refused to let Julien get to Adalene. The violins began to turn to a more mature tone, and just when it seemed like Adalene would stay still long enough for Julien to catch up, her violin ended on a high note and she left the stage. Julien stops as his violin begins a melancholy solo and kneels in the same position he was in when Adalene disappeared, desperately reaching out to the audience. His Roselia, who had been floating on conjured Fairy Winds to create special effects for Julien and Adalene's dance, landed at Julien's side and placed a cut arm on his shoulder. To end the performance, a single tear dropped from Julien's chin and hit the ground just as his violin ended on a low, poignant note.
With the spell of the performance ending, I fully realized just what this dance meant to Julien. Just as the entire audience stood in a rousing ovation for his beautiful performance, I ran out of the performance center and back to the Pokecenter.
In a daze, I received my pokemon and a report of their progress, which I ignored for the moment. I stumbled into my room and released all of my pokemon, with Nozomi in a small tank that must have been sent in while I was gone.
All of them noticed my change in attitude. Edge looked me in the eye with silent affirmation, a fresh coat of moisture shining on her skin, while Nozomi tried to make me laugh by making bubbles in the water. Litleo simply jumped up into bed with me, a routine that I knew was soon to be a regular one. I fell asleep to his comforting warmth with a single thought running through my mind, 'Julien…'
I woke early the next day with a refreshed mind and new resolution, I had to put Julien behind me for now. To start, I busied myself with going to breakfast with my Pokemon, then returned them, and packed up the incubator and luxury ball into my trainer bag. A Trainer's bag is a marvel of modern technology that brings supplies and other items into the same digital dimension as Pokeballs. Though it was very expensive to purchase, my bag more than pulls its weight by allowing me to travel lightly with all of my survival gear, speeding up the time it takes to travel significantly.
I checked out of the Pokecenter and decided to start my journey on the Allearth Trail by cart. I hitched a ride with a Gogoat shepherd who would take me to the first ranger station about twenty miles into the trail, in the foothills of the Blackbelt Peaks. The man was old and stoic, not much of a talker, which suited me just fine. I passed the time by reading the progress reports of my Pokemon, as slowly rolling green hills passed me by. In time, all thoughts of my old friend were pushed away into a back corner of my mind.
-Goomy performed well in his training, especially with his defense based moves such as Protect and Bide. However, he did not do as well in stamina training, using the move Protect takes a lot out of him, to the point that he could only use it once or twice before he exhausted himself. We suggest stamina training in that particular move until he could graduate to passively defending himself against single attacks while counterattacking, his species is well known for being stationary powerhouses after all. Another suggestion is to start focusing on his mid to long-range attacks such as Water Pulse and Dragon Breath. A final observation is Goomy's developing skills in changing the weather, it was not quite the move Rain Dance as of the end of Day Care but he is very close. In closing, it was a pleasure to work with your little dragon, he loved playing with all of the water and grass types!
- Frogadier shows an expected improvement in all her skills since the Froakie we previously had on record. She performed well in the stamina side of training, but, since her species has little in the way of natural defenses, we worked on speed and deflection instead of taking hits. We noticed that she has a new development in a previously hidden ability, Protean, it is quite powerful and we suggest that she trains with or against strong pokemon that are not her aura type of water. She has the spirit of a fighting type, I can see why you requested her to train with us.
-Litleo improved the most out of your Pokemon today. Though at first wary, he grew to enjoy training drills, especially those disguised as games such as tag (stamina/speed), wrestling (strength/attack), and Fire Chicken (attack stamina/defense), a particularly wild game in which our fire pokemon throw flames at each other until one either chickens out or exhausts themselves. He does have an increased affinity for fire than most Litleo, which will allow him to use the powerful move Flare Blitz. However, he will not be able to use it properly until he evolves and gains a larger pyrosac. We suggest that he continue to work on basic skills until he is on par with the rest of your team and perhaps shaping his rather powerful Ember into a Flamethrower.
'Ah, Daycare always is spot on with the training suggestions, this was just what I needed,' As I finished reading the rather expansive raw data on my pokemon's exact abilities, the cart stopped at the Ranger station, a large wood complex on a raised foundation. I tipped the shepherd, then continued on foot past the station into the largest foothills of the Blackbelt Mountain Range. Two hours of looking for a suitable shelter later, I found the perfect cave about ten minutes off the official trail, with a dirt field for training right outside of it. I released my Pokemon, checked the cave for any wild Pokemon, which there was none, then set up camp. By then, it was only about 6:00 so I set Edge and Litleo to a no-holds-barred game of tag, making sure Edge would reign Litleo back in if they got too far away. Next, I asked little Nozomi to try practicing his underdeveloped Rain Dance in the middle of the field as I did my self-defense training nearby, so I could help him if needed.
Three hours later, a light rainfall that was partially Nozomi's fault fell upon the field, my extremities were numb, and Litleo and Edge came back exhausted from a romp that had more than a few scuffles with the local rock and ground-type Pokemon. I collected firewood and lit a fire in the cave with the help of Litleo, cooked and ate our food then took out my bedroll and laid it next to a strangely smooth boulder to act as my pillow. Then, I returned Nozomi and Edge and took out the incubator from my backpack. During the ride, I had also taken the time to read about Pokemon who evolve through friendship, and apparently, talking to the egg shortens the time needed for its evolution considerably. I took out the egg and began to tell it, and the ball of dark fluff that was Litleo at the foot of my bed about myself. Twenty minutes later, my eyes were drooping, so I replaced the egg and put the incubator back into my backpack, and fell asleep before my head even reached my unconventional pillow.
I woke to Litleo's rough pawing with a crick in my neck.
"Ungh…" I rubbed my eyes as I got up and looked at the boulder that had caused me so much trouble.
"Litleo, you can go outside to do your business," I released both Edge and Nozomi to do the same and looked closer at the rock, there was something about it…
I gasped, causing all three of my pokemon to rush back inside. The unnatural smoothness, the jutting structure, it was a fossil! 'What are the chances… well, I guess this means we're making a pit stop in Ambrette before we get to Cyllage, this thing is huge.'
"Litleo, Edge, help me get this out of the ground," We loosened the rock with a combination of hot fire type moves and cooling water pulses. The fossil was about three feet wide and shaped like a pointed dome, a. Since the fossil would not fit into the mouth of my bag, I simply captured it with an extra Pokeball, confirming that it had viable Pokemon DNA, and placed it into my bag for safekeeping.
Taking the discovery of the fossil as good luck, I began a month-long journey to Ambrette Town through the Allearth Trail. During this time, I got a decent amount of money from the occasional trainer I came across such as rare bug catchers and fighting type trainers in the mountains, enough to get a few T.M.s once I reached civilization. Other than the occasional battle, I mostly trained, until one day, about a week and a half in.
At this time, I was well into the Blackbelt mountains, and the fighting type pokemon they were well known for were becoming more and more common. Following the daycare's advice, I had Edge out to battle at all times, which she enjoyed immensely especially when she could lord it over Litleo during our nightly training sessions. It was in the middle of my traveling hours with Edge, and we were currently traversing one side of a small, flat valley when my Pokedex beeped at my side,
"Warning, large gathering of wild fighting type pokemon sighted nearby,"
"You know, you should change that to vibrate, it can attract the wrong kind of attention out here," I fumbled with my Pokedex, turning it to silent mode as a man with dark hair and red eyes stepped out of a small cave and stretched as if just getting up.
I recognized his face, it was Shoto, the Shalour city gym leader famous for his Champion Match in which he lost his Blaziken last year, "You...You're Shoto the fighting-type gym leader! Wha-What are you doing out here"
"Ah, You have a good eye," The phrase sparked something in my mind, he reminded me of Shiro, the Ranger who saved my life, "I'm out here on sabbatical, while my trainers take care of the gym, Now what do we have here?"
He dropped to Edge's level, who stepped back a little at his now intense gaze.
"It's okay Edge, he's a gym leader, he won't hurt you," Edge looked up at me, then stepped forward and looked at Shoto with a quiet fury in her eyes, most likely remembering her last gym battle.
Shoto cocked his head and smiled, "She's got quite the fire, You know what, I'm in the mood for a battle, So, Edge, is it, do you want to battle a future member of my elite team? No strings attached,"
I studied Shoto, as Edge nodded vigorously, 'A future member of his elite team, huh, he must have seen something in Edge...what was it?'
"Come with me," Shoto brought me down to the small, rocky valley and released his starter, a battle-scarred Infernape, "Is it alright if Kazuya watches, he enjoys watching potential bloom,"
"Sure," Edge leaped to the center of the makeshift field as Shoto tossed a relatively new Pokeball into the air. The red mist coalesced into a small, white, rabbit-like figure, a Scorbunny, before it could even blink, I ordered, "Edge, Quick Attack with Water Pulse!"
In the span of a split second, a ball of water slammed into the little fire bunny before it could even react, "Now, back off, see what it does,"
"I like the way you think, Hokage, Double Kick!" Shoto commented as the little bunny raced after Edge and slammed into her with both feet, then, something strange happened. The golden light of Fighting-type aura that usually only coated a pokemon's legs for the span of Double Kick, now coated Scorbunny's entire body.
'Hmm, could it have Protean?' "Edge, react with a water pulse," Edge shoved the ball of water at the Scorbunny's center mass as it landed, but it dodged with ease.
"Low Sweep," The rabbit kicked outwards and swept Edge's legs from under her. Edge faltered for a second, but quickly flipped upwards and began to fight the bunny hand to hand. They danced across the field in a series of punches and kicks, neither having the time to collect their energy to perform an actual move. Even though the Scorbunny was physically smaller and weaker than Edge, it quickly gained the upper hand through its greater technique. It kicked and punched in a way that suggested extensive martial arts training, something Edge lacked. Just as Edge was about to land a solid hit, the bunny flipped out of the way and placed her into a solid Johtoan jujitsu hold that I knew from a glance was nearly impossible to get out of. I needed a miracle, so, as a last-ditch attempt, "Edge, Use Lick!"
The rabbit's hold grew tighter and tighter as Edge tried desperately to gather the ghostly energy, her tongue rolling about in her mouth. He was forcing her to submit, choking her out, with Edge's skin turning more and more purple with each passing moment. Just as it looked as if Edge would pass out from the effort, she managed to force her tongue out of her mouth and lash out. It caused the Scorbunny to flinch, but the tough little bunny stood his ground, if something doesn't happen soon, Edge will lose this fight.
Then, I noticed something strange, the purple skin around Edge's neck from the hold had now spread across her entire body, I blinked, and she appeared behind the Scorbunny instead of in his paws! She pounded a water pulse into the bunny's back before he could react and her skin returned to normal.
Shoto locked eyes with me, intrigued, and I realized what happened when the Scorbunny counterattacked with a Flame Charge and continued their melee. Edge had used her Protean Ability for the first time, gaining the abilities of a ghost type, including their intangibility!
Both Edge and the rabbit upped the ante on their melee, becoming a blur of fiery red and watery blue, so fast that neither Shoto nor I could yell commands even if we wanted to. Edge would not fall for the same trick twice, and it looked like it would be a draw between her raw strength and his technique until the little Scorbunny began to glow.
He was evolving mid-fight, Edge fought against his shifting form to no avail as the Scorbunny shot up to the same height as her, and a new Raboot stepped out of the light. The fight began to go heavily in the Raboot's favor, even with her type advantage, the rabbit's new fire began to beat her into the ground. The Scorbunny was fast before, but the Raboot was literally on another level. In fact, the Raboot seemed to be playing with Edge, dodging her kicks and punches as if she were a hatchling. It smirked at her desperate attempts to attack, then began his counter attack.
He shot around the field in a combination of Flame Charge and Agility, that was so fast that it was hard to follow, before leaping into the air and slamming both feet into Edge's head before she could even react. Dust plumed into the air, and it was unclear if Edge was fast enough to counterattack. I held onto one last hope that our training might have been enough until the dust cleared to reveal a proud Raboot hopping off the broken body of Edge and walking back to his trainer.
I lifted my Netball to recall her, but no, she still had some fight left! My Frogadier stood on two shaky legs as scarlet oozed from multiple cuts across her torso and a broken arm. However, the Raboot just sneered at her and recalled himself, she wasn't worth fighting. Edge clung to her stance as long as she could but had to give in to her injuries and collapsed, so I returned her. I was saddened by my defeat, though that was quickly taken over by my pride at giving the gym leader a run for his money even if it was on a weaker pokemon than the gym norm.
Shoto came over to me with his Infernape and shook my hand, "I am sorry for Hokage's attitude at the end, he is arrogant at the best of times and with the evolution hormones…"
"I get it, Edge is one of my most chill Pokemon, she'll probably be okay with it,"
"Now, your Pokemon, are you aware of her special ability?" Shoto seemed to look around, "Ahh, it looks like we gathered quite the audience, didn't we?"
"Ye…" I interrupted myself to study my surroundings. All around us on the two mountains that surrounded the small valley were fighting types of every size, shape, and variety. It was mostly first evolution types like Machop, Tyrogue, Pancham, and Mienfoo, but I spotted the occasional second or third evolution such as Machamp, Gurdurr, and Mienshao. They must have been watching the entire fight, I was so focused on Edge that I hardly noticed, "Huh, guess the Pokedex was right, what do you think they want?"
"Hmm, I believe they heard the sounds of battle and were attracted to it," Shoto's Infernape hooted a greeting to the collection of fighting types, who were beginning to trickle into the valley, "I believe they want to train with us, I would release your other Pokemon, things might get ugly if we refuse."
I immediately released Nozomi and Litleo who growled when he saw the Pokemon around us. I watched Shoto release his other elite Pokemon, a Machamp, Lucario, Gallade, and Decidueye, with the noticeable absence of his Blaziken after his Championship fight a year ago plus a couple of other fighting types that I assumed were part of his gym team.
And so began an impromptu melee training session. Shoto's team took on the tougher fighting types such as Machamp, Conkeldurr, and Pangoro, while Litleo played rough with the Machop and Pancham and Nozomi learned from a massive Hariyama and its offspring. Though I knew Edge would love this, I wanted her to heal in her Pokeball a little, both mentally and physically. An hour in, I noticed Shoto begin to spar with the fighting types himself. I initially refused, but when a particularly adorable Riolu came up to me with a simple question on its dog-like face, I couldn't refuse.
It's been a while since I sparred with a physical being, at first I was rusty, but I quickly was sucked into the rhythm of an actual fight. I could tell the Riolu was holding back, even the simplest fighting-type move would shatter my bones after all, 'Though I could have sworn I saw Shoto tank a Karate Chop from a Machamp, probably just my imagination…' It was exhilarating, and before I knew it, it was getting dark and most of the fighting types had already scattered to the mountain's various caves. I finished up my current match with a Machop, called Litleo over and returned Nozomi, then began to look for a cave in one of the valley mountains to make camp.
Shoto beckoned me back, "Here, you can camp with us for the night, I still want to discuss our battle,"
I began my nightly routine of making dinner for myself and Litleo while Shoto and I talked,
"To answer your question, yes, Edge has Protean, she hasn't activated it before now though, did you know about it?"
"Quite observant aren't you," He sat on a rock next to the small fire as I heated up my trainer rations and fed Litleo his dry food, "Yes, my brother Shiro told me about the young girl with the Frogadier he met in Santalune, I did not expect to meet you so soon,"
'No wonder he looked familiar, He looks just like Shiro,' "Your brother saved my life in Santalune after a Combee swarm, I owe him,"
"He always had a hero streak…" Shoto continued as I ate my meal, " Hokage has a similar ability known as Libero. They were evenly matched, at least in the beginning. If I were you I would put a priority on technique with her, try sparring with her as you did with the fighting pokemon today. You'll be surprised at how fast both you and your Pokemon progress if you train together instead of apart. Other than that, your Frogadier needs to figure out Protean by herself. I look forward to testing you on the battlefield,"
I drank the advice in, It had never occurred to me to train with my pokemon instead of above them. However, the emphasis he placed on you in the last part unsettled me, what would his gym battle be like? Though I had seldom watched Pokemon battles or contests on TV when I was a child, even I knew that a Gym leader decides the type of battle and that it varies from Gym to Gym or even from Gym battle to Gym battle. I put a mental note to watch Shoto's previous battles anyhow, just in case.
I finished my rations and pulled out the egg as Litleo rolled in the embers of the now dying fire.
"Is that…" Shoto marveled at the egg as it sparkled in the flickering light, "That's quite the rare egg,"
"It's a gift from a friend," I took the egg out of the incubator and began to talk with it as Shoto watched. At first, I was self-conscious, but soon, he simply faded into the background. A while later, Shoto made his farewell and left the cave, just as I finished my conversation and put the egg back. I crawled into bed and slept soundly, content with my encounter for the day.
The next two and a half weeks were full of training, I integrated my self-defense training with theirs and was soon doing suicide sprints with Litleo, swimming with Nozomi, and sparring with Edge. After her battle with the Raboot, Edge worked herself harder than ever, especially when it came to her ability, it was almost second nature for her to become ghost-typed now, and I couldn't wait until I could widen her movepool with T.M.s once we got back to civilization. It was when I was on the last leg of my journey through the mythical All-earth forest when something incredible happened.
It was at the end of a long, hard day of travel and harsh training with my Pokemon. Litleo was so tired that I had to return him after our dinner, leaving me alone on my bedroll with the egg. In the past week, the incubator had been sending mixed signals about the egg, and the egg was cool to the touch. If Julien was anything to go by, whatever's inside should have hatched by now, I was worried.
I began my conversation, "Hi little buddy, how are you doing today,"
I felt the surface of the egg, It was ice cold, not a good sign. There was nothing to suggest that the egg was ready or about to hatch. "Not doing so good huh?"
I told the egg about my day as I do each night. Litleo had learned Fire Fang about a week ago and was learning to use it in conjunction with other moves, such as Work Up and Takedown to make a sort of Fire Fang Blitz, a useful combo that uses a relentless Takedown as an opening to a series of buffed Fire Fangs. "It was funny to watch him try the tricky combo over and over again on the poor trees and boulders of the Trail, he still has the bump on his head from his first attempt. Nozomi tries as hard as ever, he mastered Rain Dance, Water Pulse, and Dragon Breath, and is now working on Body Slam. He's so close but still needs to learn to coat his entire body with Normal-type aura instead of just his foot. Edge seems to have a fire lit under her ever since our battle with Shoto. She loves our spars even though she has to hold back and has even started to learn the rock-type move Smack-down early. I'm a bit worried about her though, she works herself to the bone every day, that can't be healthy, even for a prime specimen of a Frogadier like Edge. I should tell her to cool down a little bit; I can't believe I'm telling that to a water-type Pokemon, but she certainly needs it."
By the end of my explanation, my eyes were drooping, as deep exhaustion finally began to register in my bones.
"So, little buddy, you better come out soon," I yawned and began to lay back onto my pillow and put the egg back into the incubator beside me, " 'Cause if you don't by tomorrow, I...I'll…"
I fell asleep and woke what seemed like seconds later. The egg was no longer by my side!
I stood up and looked all around, I was still in the clearing, but there was no campsite and a thick mist swirled around me. There was nothing around me, nothing except a large, mossy rock right where my campfire would have been. I looked atop it, and there, in all its shimmering white glory, was the smooth, ovoid form of my egg. I tried to move towards it, but I couldn't move, and only watched as a golden hoof appeared out of the mist in front of the rock. The hoof was followed by the most beautiful pokemon I have ever seen.
He was cervine in body with thin cobalt and black fur and golden accents. A seven-point crown of antlers topped his head, adorned with crystals in every color of the rainbow. Xerneas, the Life Pokemon, and the most beloved Legend in Kalos. His infinitely knowing black eyes locked with mine, acknowledging me and I froze in my efforts to watch him touch the egg with his nose.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a bird-like shadow as large as Xerneas lept from the egg, it's cold blue eyes burning with hatred, then it turned and flew past me deeper into the forest. Xerneas gave chase, leaping across the clearing in an instant, before he was gone, somewhere in the misty All-earth forest.
I shot awake to the incubator beeping loudly as the egg began to rock back and forth inside. It was hatching! I immediately moved aside my blankets and brought the incubator in front of me.
A cloud of shimmering gold dust flaked off of the little egg to reveal triangular patterns of red and blue. The egg shook harder and harder as I realized just what sort of Pokemon Julien had gotten me. Then, two little feet and arms poked out of the previously unknown weak spots of the hard shell, wiggling fruitlessly on the smooth floor of the incubator. A crack appeared at the top of the egg then another, and another. The incubator collapsed to let the egg roll into my waiting arms as pieces of shell fell away to reveal tiny soaked, white feathers. Finally, as the remaining pieces of shell drop away, the off-color white crest of the newborn unfurls from the tight confines of its egg, and two little brown eyes open to its first sight.
"Toge-piii?" the baby Pokemon asks as it stares at my face in wonder.
"Hi little buddy," The Togepi chirps with joy at my voice, and I bring out a ball with red, black, and gold markings, "I think I'm going to call you Felix,"
I captured the little ball of happiness with ease, 'I better keep you there until I reach a Pokecenter, just in case,'
I checked the time, it was about five in the morning, the time I usually wake anyways. I released my pokemon and told them about the hatching, but that we wouldn't be able to see it until we get him checked at a Pokecenter. They helped me pack up the campsite and make breakfast, then I returned all of them except Edge and went on my way, wondering whether or not my dream was real the entire way to Ambrette Town Pokecenter.
I checked in my Pokemon, with the exception of Felix. After the rest of my Pokemon left with the Pokecenter Wigglytuff I asked if I could come with the nurse for the last one.
"My last Pokemon just hatched today, I want to make sure I'm imprinted before you checked,"
"Oh! I just love babies! Follow me, I know just the place" The young nurse seemed very excited and quickly led me to a private examination room in the back, 'They haven't gotten to her yet, that's rare these days…'
"It's a little Togepi," Currently, little Felix is technically genderless as the Pokedex is unable to scan what its gender is until Felix evolves. Until then, I'll use him as a stand in.
I released him on the examination table facing me.
The tiny ball of happiness did not seem to realize or care that time had passed while he was in the Luxury ball and simply chirped joyfully at the sight of my smiling face, no imprint problems there. Nurse Joy did her work quickly as I distracted little Felix with sweet nothings.
He barely reacted to her pokes and proddings with me there, even a full round of vaccinations only made him softly cry out until I got his attention by tapping his foot and began to talk with him again. At the end of the exam, the Nurse gave Felix a clean bill of health and sent me on my way. I returned him and grabbed my room key and my other pokemon from the front desk then journeyed to my room.
I released Felix onto the ground and tickled a few of his delicate spikes to perk him up.
"Now little guy, I have a couple of friends I'd like you to meet, they're going to be your buddies for a while, you ready?"
"Pii?" I found it curious that the fairy Pokemon really did say its name as they do in the cartoons, it was a strange quirk probably as a result of listening to my speech for as long as it did.
"Okay, now first up is Nozomi, you heard me talk about him, he's my starter and my closest friend, he's been excited to meet you for a while," 'Nozomi should be the easiest for Felix to swallow, I'll do Edge next and Litleo last,'
I released my Goomy right next to Felix. Nozomi burbled at the sight of me, then turned to Felix and gurgled with joy. The Goomy inched closer and closer to Felix so as to not scare him, then tackled the little spike ball with affection when he chirped back at him with the same amount of joy. I could tell they would be two peas in a pod.
"Okay, Okay," I pulled the two apart with a squelch, 'That went well,' "Now, Next up is Edge, she's the one who acts really cool, but she's a softie on the inside,"
I released her in a flash of red. Edge didn't immediately react as the daze of release faded from her eyes, but she cocked her head when Felix chirped again. She folded herself in a squat to get to Felix's level and watched him curiously as he waddled up to her and fell on his face, only to get up again and chirp in greeting as if nothing had happened. Edge looked up to me and nodded, Felix will do.
"Okay, finally is my newest friend beside you, his name is Litleo, he has a fierce and fiery spirit, he's been working on Fire Fang Blitz," 'Now he's the one I'm worried about, I'm not totally sure about predicting his actions like I am about the other two, Here we go,"
I released Litleo from his Great Ball a little ways away from Felix, to give Litleo time to process before the little Togepi tried to come over. He froze when he saw Felix and growled curiously.
Felix took it as a sign that Litleo didn't like him and began to cry softly with a little frown on his face. Litleo looked affronted at the sound, then his face softened as he realized where this Pokemon came from Felix's egg-like shape. He immediately got lower to the ground and made a soft sound that I never heard him use before. It was a breathy humming sound that he changed as he got closer to the Togepi. Felix looked up at him with a trembling lip, confused, until Litleo got in his face and licked him affectionately, his sandpaper tongue ruffling the baby's minuscule feathers.
I breathed a sigh of relief I didn't realize I was holding, glad that all had gone well.
"Well, now that that's over and done with, I'm going to the Ambrette Pokemon Lab for a bit, Edge, can you watch these three and make sure they don't escape while I'm gone?"
She nodded and leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on my other three Pokemon.
I left the room and went to the lobby of the Pokecenter.
Currently, the Pokecenter was mostly full of civilians with Pokemon companions. They were here for a special event at the famous Ambrette Fossil Lab, the hatching of the first Tyrunt since their extinction. Fossils had always been cloned sterile since the technology came out nearly a century ago. Sterility had always been a practical choice as the scientists worked to make fossil pokemon a reality in modern battling. It would have opened a can of worms the pioneers of the technology weren't ready for. Now, with all the kinks to make fossils reliable battlers worked out, scientists turned to the next challenge, releasing fossil pokemon into the wild safely so that all trainers have a chance at the rare pokemon.
I ventured out into the dusty streets of Ambrette and followed the helpful event signs that led me to a massive complex just outside of town. The lab consisted of multiple enclosed environments suited for fossils, a cloning lab, and many side labs that focused on the reviving and cloning of ancient plants and bacteria.
I continued along with the signs to the reception area. It was a few more hours until the predicted time of hatch, so the receptionist looked at me strangely as the door slid open and closed behind me.
"I'm sorry, the lab isn't open to civilians until twelve, "
"Oh no, I'm not a civilian, I came here to get a fossil revived," I said as I flashed her my Pokedex as proof of my I.D. "You still do that here right?"
"Uhhh," The young receptionist looked out of her depth as she checked something on her screen, "I don't believe the lab is open for anything today, all of our scientists are observing the hatch,"
"Nonsense Sheila," A tall, grey-haired man with a Helioptile on his shoulders strode into the reception area just as I made to leave, "We can't refuse any fossil findings even today, what if this young trainer found a new species or variation? Why, we could be refusing the find of the century,"
"Are you sure?" I asked, turning around to face the man and his pokemon. He seemed to be a scientist or professor of some sort, as he was wearing an unbuttoned lab coat with an ID around his neck, "I mean I could always come back tomorrow, you guys must be busy with the hatch and all,"
The scientist laughed, causing the small electric lizard to shift as to stay on his shoulders, "Let's just see the specimen first, then I can decide If it is more worth my time than looking at a simple egg,"
I pulled out the extra Pokeball that held the fossil, which the scientist seemed to note as a good sign with a grin. I released the three-foot-wide rock a few feet in front of him. At first, he had no reaction to it, but once he bent down to look closer, his eyes widened in amazement, and then seemed to fill with a sort of hungry desire.
"I've never seen a specimen this large...could this be..." He seemed to mutter to himself before he stood up and pivoted to the sliding doors that led to the rest of the lab, "Come with me, we must find an examination room,"
I returned the fossil and just barely got through the doors as they closed, then I jogged to keep up with the man's fervent pace. We were in a hallway of sorts bordered on both sides by multiple large glass windows. Past each window, I got a glimpse of different environments for different kinds of fossil pokemon. One was a snowy tundra for Aurora and Aurorus, then a grassy plain for Shieldon and Bastiodon, an aquarium for Lileep and Cradily, next to a jungle area for Velozolt and Dracosteg and of course a rocky mountain top for the famous Tyrunt and Tyrantrum.
We passed the environment hallways and entered the cloning labs, where a few pokemon were in various stages of growth, like an Omanyte in the middle of growing a shell and an Archen curled in a fetal position. Finally, we found ourselves in an abandoned cloning lab with a large table, most probably for revived fossils of larger pokemon like Aerodactyl and Armaldo.
The doctor swiftly pivoted towards me and extended his hand, with the Helioptile mimicking his motion, "Ah, I forgot introductions in the excitement, My name is Dr. Louis Kensington, of the Kalosian Pokemon Paleontology Unit, and this is my assistant, Hugo, what is yours?"
"I'm Angel," I shook his hand, then the Helioptile, "So, what type of fossil do you think this is, Doctor?"
"Release it on to the table, I want to confirm my suspicions," The doctor busied himself with gathering different lab equipment as I did so, then got to work on analyzing the fossil with all matter of gadgets and samplers. The Helioptile hopped down from his shoulders and brought him each instrument as he asked for it.
About ten minutes went by without him saying a word as he studied the plethora of readouts from the lab equipment, then he spun to me with a grin just on the edge of insanity.
"This, my Archeus-sent Angel could be the best find of my career. It's a Skull fossil, one three times larger than any anyone has ever found, Do you know what this means?"
"It has a King's Nature…" Pokemon with the gene for the King's Nature are extremely rare, the gene causes a pokemon to grow to gargantuan proportions, becoming a "king" of their respective species. As far as I know, there has not been a King Skull fossil found in recorded history, so this is a truly great find, "What do we do?"
"Why, revive it of course!" He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, "Normally, I would have you pay a small fee to revive a fossil you found, but this, this I'll do for free,"
He heaved the fossil onto one shoulder, the Helioptile scurrying between his legs, and placed it in a machine that looked like a copper oven.
"What are you going to do to it?" I asked as he shook the dust from his hands and pressed a button on the machine, which began to hum with power.
"Well, first, this machine is going to extract the viable DNA from the fossil and send it to the combiner, which adds DNA from modern rock-type pokemon to fill in any missing parts," He walked to one of the cloning pods, "We activate the DNA to create a fertile egg cell then place it in one of these Genesis pods, in which the Pokemon grows for a couple of months to full size, this is also when we give the clone its updated immune system. Finally, we release it into one of our enclosed environments to get them used to modern-day climates and Pokemon. After that, we send the first clone to you to use as your very own pokemon. Ahh, but I must be boring you with this explanation, I get very excited about these sorts of things,"
He released his hand and rummaged in his pockets until he came up with what looked like some sort of visitor's pass. "Oh, I almost forgot again, We always offer a private tour of the facilities whenever a visitor comes with a viable fossil, publicity and all that. So how about a tour of the lab, with your very own scientist as a guide?"
Of course, I accepted and began a very informative backstage tour of the fossil lab. I got to get up close to some of the Genesis pods, which revealed that what I thought was a partially formed Omanyte before, was actually a pale Kabuto with a strange shell pattern. Louis then led me to a backdoor that I hadn't seen before into an even larger cloning lab which held a single, massive Genesis Pod. He explained that the pod was for any Aerodactyl or Tyrantrum fossils, which were rare, but not as rare as one might think. Apparently, an Aerodactyl had just been cloned a few months ago, and a second clone is growing as we spoke. The doctor pointed out the tiny curled form of the embryo in the center of the pod before we left. Next, we visited a couple of the environments. First, the jungle environment with one very excited pair of Velozolt who played with Hugo as the doctor showed me their pregnant Dracosteg from afar. Then we bundled up to go to the snowy environment and play with an Amaura that had hatched last week while its majestic Aurorus parents watched over us. Next, I peered into the aquarium environment, which, upon further study, held Dunclovish and Relicanth as well as Lileep and Cradily. To top it all off, I was able to watch the little Tyrunt being born in a spray of dragonsfire with the crowd that had entered as Dr. Louis looked over my fossil. As I left the lab, Dr. Louis called after me.
"Wait, Wait! Give me your Pokedex," He jogged up to me as I left the reception area. I handed him my Pokedex, and he entered his contact, "I'm going to call you in about six months to send you the clone, make sure to study how to take care of a fossil pokemon until then."
"Thank you, for all of this, Your tour was awesome."
"It's my job," He smiled at me then began to walk back to the lab, "You know, I have a feeling you are gonna go far someday, remember me when you do,"
With that in mind, I began my journey down the long dusty road to the Pokecenter, wondering about my future, and preparing for the ever-closer reality of my next Gym Battle: Cyllage City.
