Gyrados breached the waves, shaking its head with a deafening roar. Splashes of sea water and foam flew from the long, protruding spikes upon its crest. It's thick, serpentine body rose many feet out of the water before looming forward, casting a dark shadow over its target.
"Gyrados, charge up!" On that order, the triad of aquamarine spikes began to spark and glow. Crackling white power danced between the tips as its radiance grew.
"Blastoise, strike now! Before it can attack!" The large, bulky turtle lowered its stance and held its arms out. The rushing of water rumbled throughout the stadium as the Pokemon's shell and water cannons began to shake. Blastoise's arms quivered as he attempted to stay standing while controlling such power. The water thundered like a broken dam and finally discharged, flashing out of the cannons in two thick jets.
"Gyrados now!" The gathered energy on Gyrados' crown beamed forth with unbelievable speed. It met the other attack before it could land, causing a hefty amount of water to spray out the sides of the attack.
Both Pokemon relented, their attacks phasing out to nothing. The residue from the attack hung in the air, a wide misty haze forming over the entire arena. Rainbows sparkled in and out of view as the water shifted in the air. The audience cried out in elation, applauding furiously at the accidental beauty.
"Seeing these two fight is surely a stunning sight," speakers buzzed out a breakdown of the fight to the stands of people encircling the battle, "Hydro Pump and Hyper Beam are perfectly matched, incredible!"
"Perfectly matched." Victor snorted, turning over in his bed. He was gracious that the sun brought him out of that blasted dream, but it was still awhile before he wanted to get up. His soft sheets glued him down on the bed.
"Dad! Dad!" A small form leapt onto the bed, landing on Victor's stomach and bouncing off. It continued to bounce on the bed excitedly. "Why are you sleeping? Dad! Get up!"
"Max…" Victor groaned, covering his face with a pillow. "Why are you up already?"
"Today you said you were gonna go out and teach me all about Pokemon!" Max knelt on his father's chest and pulled off the pillow, revealing his grief stricken face that Victor couldn't look away from nor resist. "Are… are we still gonna go?"
"Nope." Victor snicked. He pinched Max's nose and pushed him down, rushing out of bed and into the hall.
"Hey! Get back here!" Max giggled, chasing after him. They raced across the house and into the kitchen, where Victor dived on the other side of the kitchen table.
"Alright great Pokemon Champion, how are you gonna get me now?" Victor smiled, keeping on the other side of the table and moving to counter whenever Max tried to go around one side.
"Go, Eve!" Max lifted a gleeful Eevee up under the armpits, gesturing with her. "Get Dad and make him teach me!"
"Eevee!" Eve provided.
"Eve, use Thunderbolt!"
"…Eevee?" The small brown Pokemon tilted its head, making its long ears sway.
"Eve can't learn electric moves, silly!" Victor instructed, leaping over the table and landing in front of Max. "I'm a big scary Pokemon, what do you do?"
"Eve, use Growl!" Max replied, finally setting Eve down now. The Pokemon lifted its back, hair standing on end, ears stuck out, and growled at Victor.
"Good! Growl makes the big stuff not as scary anymore." Victor turned and ran out the back door into the yard with Max and Eve in tow. The backyard was modest, a small area with dry ground and thin, scratchy grass. A fence added a touch of privacy from the neighbors, for while Max had taken the time to fully dress, Victor was only donning sweatpants.
"Eve, we scared the Pokemon into the backyard!" Max reported excitedly.
"The Pokemon is still bigger than Eve, and dangerous!" Victor held his arms forward, hunched forward, and curled his hands like claws as if imitating a bear. "What now!"
"Sand Attack! Kick up dust!" Max ordered. Eve responded quickly, turning and using her back legs to scratch at the dusty ground. She kicked up a small brown cloud, barely bigger than her.
"Wrong! You should have aimed for my eyes so I couldn't see." Victor tackled Max to the ground. He held down Max's arms and tickled him furiously. "Now the Pokemon got you! Oh no!"
Max laughed hysterically, tears forming as he cried out. Eve stood by his side, yipping furiously at the scene. Victor ceased the tickling and fell to his back beside Max.
"Well, Pokemon Champion, is it time for breakfast?" Victor chuckled, helping Max back up.
"I'm starving!" Max ignored him, charging inside with Eve chasing after him, her bushy tail bouncing as she ran.
Victor followed Max inside, but left to his room when he decided it was about time he properly dressed and prepared for the day. He was never too worried about leaving Max alone, the child was smart for his age and Eve was an incredible babysitter. When he was finally ready, Victor exited his room wearing a white shirt, cargo shorts and hiking boots.
"Want breakfast?" Victor took a moment to hold Max's head and kiss the top.
"Waffles!" Max insisted.
"On its way," Victor called out. He made his way into the kitchen and began to gather the necessary ingredients.
"Hey Dad," Max casually played with Eve as he spoke, "Can we invite Mom over for supper?" Victor's hand froze clutching a bag of flour. His jaw flexed and his expression hardened.
"Bud… we've talked about this. Mom isn't coming back for awhile."
"Yeah, but I thought maybe it's because she doesn't think we want her back," Max deduced, "If we ask her to come maybe she'll come back!"
"Max," Victor gulped, setting down the flour and walking to the boy. He knelt to his level and made sure to look him in the eyes. "Your mother left a long time ago. She'll be back, but it won't be for a long time. I need you to be patient for me, okay? Can you do that for me?" Max nodded wordlessly, shaking the raven hair that matched his father's perfectly.
"If I'm really patient, does that mean she'll come?"
"Maybe, bud..." Victor swallowed, then rose back to his full, tall height. Maybe."
In minutes, the waffles were finished and Max ate them with glee, only finishing it in full by dropping a large piece to Eve. When Victor had a bite to eat himself, he helped gather up Max's things and they set off out of the house, Eve padding alongside them.
"Where are we going?" Max held onto the straps of his backpack happily, for it matched the one his father had on.
"There." Following Victor's extended finger, Max's eyes landed on a tall hill outside of town. Victor explained when they continued to walk. "That's a very old shrine, older than the town for sure. It's a shrine to a Pokemon called Mew."
"Why are we going there? Is Mew there? Can I catch it!?"
"No, Mew isn't there," Victor laughed, "It's a very nice, secluded place for us to do some training.
"Oh…" Max was visibly deflated after finding out the first Pokemon he ever caught would, in fact, not be a god-like legendary.
The two trekked up the path from the village. It was a common jogging path and a minor tourist attraction, so the path was well worn. Where the path dispersed, it gave way to thin grass and small shrubs. The path had a shallow slope, easy for both Max and Eve to climb. The day had been planned carefully by Victor to make sure that everything would work for Max.
"Stop." Victor's arm stuck out in front of Max. He motioned for Max to kneel down and together they did. They slowly crept closer to a small mound alongside the road. Motioning once more, Victor showed Max how to lean against the mound and carefully look past it while remaining hidden. Two pokemon played with each other in the grass beyond.
"Those are called Ralts," Victor whispered, "See the one with the bigger horns on its head? That's probably a boy, so the other is likely a girl." Max nodded eagerly. "Genders among Pokemon are important-"
"Uh, Dad?"
"Shush Max, I'm trying to teach you. In Ralt's case, the different genders evolve-"
"Dad!"
"What?"
Victor looked from Max back to the field to see that a Ralts had crossed the distance without him knowing. It had its head tilted as it looked at Max with intrigue, it's large horns almost making it fall over. It was only a few feet away, while the other stood much farther back. Eve stood a few feet back, hair on end and tail straight up.
"Max, slowly back away with me. That's a wild pokemon…"
"Hello!" Max instead stood up and waved at it. "My name is Max!"
The Ralts stared at Max's wave and then back at its own stub hand. After a few second, the Ralts copied the action.
"Dad! Dad it likes me!" When Max spoke, the horn of the Ralts glowed and the pokemon seemed to smile holding its stumps together and shaking in the same excitement as Max.
"I… I think it does." Victor slowly gulped, he didn't think he would have to be explaining catching a pokemon yet. "Try and reach out a hand, let it come to you."
Max nodded and extended a hand out to the Ralts. The Ralts almost immediately shuffled forward and put the boy's hand on its protruding red horn. Once again, it began to glow.
"Ralts can sense human emotion," Victor explained, "Ralts can tell you are excited, and that you aren't a bad person."
"So does that mean he wants to be my friend?"
"Yeah, it does Max. Having a pokemon isn't about forcing it to fight for you, it's about slowly befriending it." Victor fished around in his backpack until he found a shiny red pokeball. He tossed it over to Max. "The right thing to do would be to set it on the ground, then let Ralts enter it on its own."
"Why can't I just throw it at him?"
"Would you want to work for me if I stuffed you in my backpack and ran off with you?"
"Okay, okay…" Max followed the instructions and set the pokeball open in front of the Ralts. The pokemon leapt up and landed above it, turning into red energy that slowly disappeared into the pokeball. "I did it! Dad I did it! I caught a pokemon!"
"Yeah, you did…" Victor shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. He found it hard to be happy for his son when he was so confused. That Ralts was practically begging to be caught. The other one out in the field held a much more practical reaction.
A shockwave rumbled across the ground, making the two boys unsteady on their feet. The distant Ralts immediately darted off into the woods. Victor immediately wrapped his arms around Max and dived over the mound. Rocks tumbled, the ground groaned, and dust spewed up like tiny geysers. The shaking continued for only a few more seconds before sharply stopping with a large boom coming from deeper in the forest. Victor waited almost a full minute, only releasing him after Max's continued squirming.
"Dad, was that an earthquake?"
"There are no earthquakes here," Victor regarded darkly. He slowly rose, peeking over the mound and scanning the road. After seeing it was safe, he vaulted over the mound and motioned for Max to do the same. "That came from the shrine, we can't leave without finding out what made that noise. Take out your new Ralts."
Max stood for a moment, shocked by his father's sudden stern tone. He fumbled with his pokeball until he managed to press the middle button and release the Ralts.
"You two." Victor pointed between Eve and Ralts. "Stand by Max and protect him." The Ralts immediately shuffled to his side. Eve whined for a moment in protest of working with the Ralts, but still took a place beside Max. Together, they began to run to the shrine.