AN: Hello! I'm Zaviei, and welcome to my first fanfiction.
I've never written anything really massive before so I have no idea what I'm doing, but I wanted to try my hand at something I never saw in this fandom before. So here I am! English isn't my mother language, so pardon any awkwardness. I would love any criticism and correction of this first "test" chapter, and other chapters of course. I'm planning to have a storyline written in my notes at some point before I start working on a new chapter. And then I'll look for a beta reader (probably). So don't be shy and be a grammar Nazi, a heartless critique and a guiding hand to this endeavour of mine!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The Pokémon franchise doesn't belong to me.
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An arcanine was speeding through the forest as if flying above the undergrowth. Her trainer was currently on her back while the wind of her extreme speed whiped his dark hair behind him together with his untied scarf. A green furred minun was holding the scarf as best as he could while clinging to his trainer's collar.
Earlier, sexteen years old Xavier had overheard a conversation between two trainers in the pokémon center. They were about to head to the police and gym leader and he had asked what the commotion was about. It seemed there were poachers North-West of the city, near a salamence and her egg. He had politely excused himself, released Aerin and jumped on her back. He had ordered an extreme speed as he was pointing to the given direction. Aerin had shot out and had smoothly went from a run to a quick attack to finally an extreme speed. When they had gone past the tree line she had made a curious bark and he had explained to her.
Aerin started growling moments before they came out in a clearing near the bottom of a cliff side. The smell of blood strong without any wind, as if Nature itself was holding it's breath.
Xavier dropped down and let Raza out while looking at the scene before them. The serperior slithered away without a sound, not breaking the tense silence in the clearing. Two men and four pokémon were laying still on the bloody ground among blasted and burned trees. There was a houndoom, a staraptor, an electabuzz… and a salamence. Xavier closed his eyes in pain and pity. His stomach was churning in disgust at the sight and smell. It smelled of death, blood and charred meat. His breathing sped up but that only made the smell worse. Aerin put herself in front of him and pressed her head to his stomach. He leaned down and breathed deeply the familiar smell of the charcoal that she carried. His breathing back to normal, he stepped arround her and looked over the scene again. Raza was up in a tree to his left eerily still. Aerin was growling and started sniffing around. Mini clasped the scarf in his paws and let out small electric shocks. Xavier took the cloth from his little paws and coiled it back around his neck and Mini's body. There were traces of struggle all around the clearing and on the cliff side, the hyperbeam kind of struggle.
"Where is the egg?" He wondered out loud. Aerin started to bark for his attention. "What did you find?" A whine followed by a growl. The egg (probably) and a threat. "How many?" One bark. Well, that will be easy.
He mounted and was about to return Raza when Aerin shook her head. Xavier tilted his head to the side but obediently cliped the pokéball back onto his belt. Aerin didn't go at a run but kept her steps quiet. She was prowling. Poor sod, I almost pity you. Raza was scouting ahead from above. Soon they heard a one sided conversation.
"...The deal isn't off. It's just the prices that have changed." A pause. "My coworkers died for this egg! I'm not lowering the prices! I'll just find another buyer if you call off the deal." Another longer pause. "Very well." The poacher scoffed and snapped the phone shut. It was an old model from before the 'GPS in every electronic' mania. He then headed towards a van parked at the side of an old dirt road.
Xavier had heard everything he could at the moment so he signaled Raza. The serperior literally came down on the man, one vine whip immobilizing his arms, the other swiftly taking two pokéballs from his belt.
"Ompfff! What in the-?!"
"Aerin, head back to the city and guide the police here please." Xavier's voice had a small tremor to it yet was not expressing all of his inner turmoil. Disgust, shock, anger and even self satisfaction were warring for dominance. He gripped the rational part of himself and tried to keep his emotions at bay. Aerin let out a whine and nuzzled his neck, sensing her trainer's distress. Xavier leaned in the touch then said "Go." She barked and went away with a flash of extreme speed.
Xavier turned back to see the poacher gagged with one vine and struggling in the coils of a rather smug looking serperior. Seeing Raza leering meanly at the man brought a smile to his face. If possible the pokémon looked even more pleased with himself after seeing his expression. Xavier sent a thankful look to his starter, his shenanigans bringing some light-heartedness to this situation.
"Mini, thunderwave." He whispered into his scarf.
Ten seconds later, the poacher was still in Raza's embrace twitching from paralysis. Xavier turned to the van when a small cry came from within. Trainer and pokémon blinked at each other.
"The egg didn't hatch, right?" Not expecting an answer, he went towards the vehicle's back. It was locked. Raza throwed a bundle of keys in front of him. "Thanks, Raza."
He opened the back of the van after trying many keys and stuggling with his shaking hands. Inside were many cages and an occupied incubator. At first glance, the cages seemed empty but as his vision adapted to the lack of light, Xavier could see a small pokémon in one of the bottom cages.
"Hey there, are you all right little one?" he asked quietly. The pokémon let out a whimper and pushed himself against the back of the cage. "I won't hurt you, I promise. Let me open this cage for you."
As he fumbled around with the keys, Mini started to chat with the pokémon. It took him a while but he finally managed to free the pokémon. He didn't coax them out however and went to the incubator instead. He carefully took out the egg and stepped out of the van. His hands and arms were steady while holding the egg, thankfully. That's when he heard the barks in the distance.
"Took you long enough." He muttered. Mini and a larvitar followed him out of the van. Xavier only allowed himself a blink of surprise before crouching in front of the pair. Larvitar was trying to make himself (he was a him right?) small behind Mini, making an adorable and hilarious picture. "Hello Larvitar. I'm Xavier Sulann, Mini and Raza's trainer." He gestured to his minun and serperior in turn. "And Aerin's as well. She's the one barking the loudest over there." He added looking toward the barks.
Larvitar followed his gaze just when Aerin burst out of the undergrowth. He jumped a good five centimeters off the ground. Impressive for such a heavy pokémon. Mini took the opportunity to dive into his scarf. The police officers followed with their growlithe and ladyba. A police car was also coming from the dirt road. Xavier stood up with the egg still in his arms and looked down at something pulling his pants and found larvitar hiding behind his leg holding it for dear life. Still not a good hiding place buddy.
"Are you that arcanine's trainer?" The officer Jenny of the group asked. Hello to you too. The other officers went to free the poacher from Raza's 'loving' embrace.
"Yes. I'm Zave Larnas. The serperior is mine as well. The egg and larvitar I found inside the van." Xavier felt the grip holding his leg loosening and the little pokémon's confusion and suspicion. She blinked down at the larvitar and noted a few things to her pad.
"Would you mind passing by the station to give your version of the events after giving the egg and larvitar to the pokémon center?"
"No problem. What will happen to them?" He asked with concern in his voice.
"For now they will stay in the pokémon center. They will then be sent to an adoption center for larvitar and a breeder for the egg." She then hesitated "I'm sorry I have to ask but… Your arcanine made us go through a small clearing below a cliff-"
"Yes, I saw" He interrupted, looking down to the egg to get away from her gaze. And he was shacking again. "This little one's mother is… gone." She gave a curt nod. After giving direction to the police station, she left him alone with his pokémon. Raza having slithered over during the conversation. As the poacher was loaded to the car, Xavier took a deep breath and crouched down before larvitar again. "My name is Xavier, my nickname Zave. My last name is Sulann but officially it's my adoptive parents' 'Larnas'." The pokémon was still giving him a guarded look. "I know that some pokémon are sensitive to false names so I didn't want to make things awkward. I'm not very used to my legal name. My adoptive parents went ahead and did the paperwork without me, and they used my nickname for whatever reason." He knew he was rambling at this point. "Well it seems I made things even more awkward." He finished a bit meekly.
Raza was snickering behind him, then hissed something (to the larvitar presumably). After that, the larvitar stayed close as they walked but kept Xavier in his sight at all times, even when Mini decided to join him on the ground.
Xavier let out a soft sigh. It bothered him that larvitar was bothered. He wanted to comfort him, to tell him that everything would be alright, that there were humans he could trust, that he would be protected rather than left in a PC until this mess was sorted. He wanted to help, but hunting down poachers was not helping. As long as there was a demand for rare pokémon, poachers would pop up like weeds. He could perhaps build influence in ''elite'' circles and cut the problem at the roots. The Inter League Tournament was coming up soon. But tackling the rich and powerful in a power play would take years to set up. And even if he had names and the influence (read blackmail) to make some stop, other greedy collectors would pop up. Instead he could maybe help the pokémon themselves. He didn't want to study to be a healer, but he could be a mind healer. The field was still developing for humans, but he had never heard of mind healers for pokémon. Healing a wound was fairly straight forward, but the mind was ever changing and unique for each individual. It was an intriguing challenge. Then there was the obvious barriers between humans and pokémon. The language barrier more annoying by the day as his telepathy with Ary, his gardevoir, was becoming more and more difficult. He'll have to ask a psychic about that someday. Sure there were breeders and connoisseurs who doubled as behaviour experts but even they only knew the little that related to their speciality. They also had no knowledge on how to help the problems that they might notice. He'll have to look a few things up, then send a few mails to pokémon professors and breeders. Perhaps this world needed a new profession. 'PokéTherapist' sounded nice.
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AN: It just came to me: the little I know of psychology and therapists comes from my own experience with one (45 minutes isn't much) and the television series Hannibal... What did I get myself into?