Chapter 2: Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear
So… it's been awhile. Over a year in fact. In other words… I fucked up. And I'm lazy. But no more! Okay, maybe a little more. But now I'm here and I'm gonna focus on this story for a few chapters at least. So, people to thank! Thanks to .18, Vixal and SoloAcrobat6 for the follows and favorites. Onto the story!
I basked in the sun, absorbing its light. A gentle breeze wafted through the area, bringing with it a sense of freshness. It seemed like a natural Aromatherapy that could cure all forms of status conditions. It loosened the muscles, soothed aching pai-
"You know something?" A voice distracted me. I turned to look at the person sitting in the chair next to me. He casually took a sip of his tea before continuing. "This place is just so… so boring."
"Oh thank Arceus, I thought I was starting to go crazy," I replied. He nodded his head.
"I mean, this place only has houses, cafes and a general store. There isn't even a pokecenter for Arceus's sake!" He exclaimed. I noticed someone shoot him a glare at another table, so I shot him a harder glare. He stood up, which surprised me. Most people shied away from my glare. He wasn't a wimp though, just an idiot.
"Hey!" He called over to us.
"Wha?" The guy next to me answered intelligently.
"You need to keep that Gogoat of yours on a leash or something! Practically looks rabid," the other man said.
"Rodrigo?" My trainer asked.
Yes, my name is Rodrigo. And I'm a Gogoat. Of course, Rodrigo is my human-given name. My real name carries little weight anymore. Nothing but a reminder of the past.
"Whatever its name is. It looks like it wants to attack me," the guy said.
"That's not untrue," I remarked. My trainer started to laugh but quickly stifled it. That was one thing that was really noticeable about him. At the start of his journey, if I told him I was hungry, he'd start asking me about a 'Little Timmy in the well'. Now, he understood us, his pokemon, just about perfectly with occasional specifics being lost on him. To this day though, I still don't know who Little Timmy is or why he always seems to be in wells.
"Uh… I'm sorry?" My trainer basically inquired. His communication skills with his own pokemon were outstanding. His communication skills with humans were… less than desirable.
"I also couldn't help but overhear you talking bad about Aquacorde Town and I think you need to be taught a lesson!" I perked up at that, now interested in where this was going. "I challenge you and your Gogoat to a pokemon battle!"
"Oh… uh, are you sure about that?" My trainer asked. I stood up at the prospect of battling.
"What's the matter? You're not scared are you?" The other man taunted. I would have taken offense… had it actually been offensive.
"I am concerned," my trainer admitted. "For you and your pokemon's safety if we do battle."
"That's it! Follow me. I know where we can battle," he said, pulling out a great ball from his pocket. My trainer blinked in surprise.
"This town has a battle court?" He asked.
"Uh… sure," the other trainer replied. My trainer got up to follow him, which surprised me. But I was glad for something to finally happen as every minute here was beginning to feel like an hour. We followed him through the small town to a back alley were the 'battle court' was. Which was basically a spray-painted area of compact dirt with tufts of weeds broken out everywhere.
"Wow… no wonder there's no pokecenter. No one battles here," my trainer remarked.
"That doesn't mean we're weak though," the other guy countered. My trainer stared at him.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure those things correlate. You can't get stronger if you don't battle," he pointed out.
"Whatever! Go Magmar!" The guy scowled before throwing out the flaming bipedal pokemon.
"Oh wow, a Magmar. Those are rare to find in Kalos," my trainer said. The other dude puffed out his chest.
"Yep, I caught this guy at the Fuego Ironworks in Sinnoh," he seemed to brag.
"Oh, then this should be fun," my trainer said, a twinkle that was all too familiar
xxxXXXxxx
"That wasn't fun at all," my trainer said. I bleated in annoyed agreement. That had been one of the worst battles I've ever fought. "And what's the deal with giving me P20? Like great, now I might be able to buy a plain envelope."
Admittedly, I didn't have high expectations for the battle, but it had just been so… woeful.
"They guy even used a physical move! Any competent trainer knows that Magmar from the Fuego Ironworks has a higher special attack due to the environment. Honestly! Does no one read Prof. Birch's papers?" He asked me, though, it was rhetorical. But part of me felt like that wasn't common knowledge.
We were now on our way back to Santalune City, having spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing while in Aquacorde. Maybe all the towns off the gym circuit were like this. Though, a town like this would be right up Rosa's alley. I then noticed that I had been spending more time out then Rosa lately. Which was odd. Though, my trainer was probably just scared of her wrath. Not to say I wasn't. Her flames were… hot. And… vast.
"You ready to go back into Santalune Forest?" My trainer asked, grinning like an idiot. Then again, he was an idiot. So I guess he was just grinning normally.
"With your sense of direction? Never," I replied. He rolled his eyes.
"Arceus Rodrigo, we weren't even that lost," he said. It was my turn to roll my eyes.
"You turned a three day trek into a week-long survival mission," I said.
"It was not that ba-"
"Twisted Woods," I interjected.
"THAT PLACE WAS RIGGED AND YOU KNOW IT!"
"That's a strong looking Gogoat there," a voice cut in, interrupting our squabble. We looked over to see a human female tossing a pokeball up and down in her hand.
"Oh… uh, thanks," my trainer said.
"What's your name?" She inquired.
"It's Romaeus," he replied. And in all honesty, I had almost forgotten what his actual name was.
"Well then Romaeus, I challenge you to a battle!" The girl shouted. I blinked in surprise. Two battles in one day? Today must be special.
"No thanks," my trainer said, causing the girl to halt in her wind-up. I looked at him, curious as to why he had rejected the opportunity to battle. He had never turned down a battle before.
"Wh-What?" The girl asked, clearly shocked that her challenge had been denied.
"I said, 'no thanks'. I'm good," he repeated. "I'm… not even a trainer."
This startled me. What was he trying to pull?
"Then why does your Gogoat look so well trained?" She asked with hint of suspicion. At least this human female had a good eye.
"Oh… um… he is… my pack carrier. He's a pack pokemon," my trainer said, removing his backpack and hanging it on one of my horns. I blinked and turned to glare daggers at him. He sent me a quick apologetic look before looking back to the female.
"So… you're not a trainer?" She asked, still carrying a tone of suspicion.
"Nope. I just travel. You know, experience the culture and stuff of places. I make money by… selling stuff. Because I'm a merchant," my trainer lied. I shook my head lightly. He was terrible at it, there's no way she wa-
"That's really cool!" She exclaimed. I stared in disbelief as she bought his story.
"Yeah I guess it is," he said, puffing out his chest. I shook my head. I was surrounded by idiots.
"So are you travelling around Kalos now?"
"Uh, yep. It's a really nice region. I've toured here several times already."
"Why don't we travel together?" She suddenly suggested. My trainer blinked before taking it into consideration. "If you're going to be going around Kalos without any trained pokemon then it might be a little dangerous. And I'm on my gym circuit right now. But I also tend to get lost a little easily so having a guide would be super helpful!"
He stared at her for a lengthy period of time, which confused me. There's no way we could anyway.
"That sounds like a great idea!" He exclaimed. I rammed my horns into his side, causing him to topple over.
"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" She asked, but she didn't try to help him up or get closer to us, displaying a sliver of intelligence.
"Yep," my trainer wheezed out. "I think he's just a little shy."
He shakily got up and dusted himself off. He offered her a hand.
"Just to reintroduce myself, my name's Romaeus. And you are?" He asked.
"Molly," she said, taking his hand and shaking it. With that, we entered into the Santalune Forest.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Molly," my trainer said.
"Likewise. So, how'd you end up getting that Gogoat?" She asked, trying to spark some idle conversation as we entered the forest. I looked at my trainer and he looked at me.
"Hm… I was 15? Maybe 14, it's a little hard to remember exactly. I was traveling along Route 7, it was storming pretty bad-"
"Then why were you traveling then?" the girl interrupted.
"Because I'm an idiot, but that's beside the point. So as I was going down the route, I came across a Skiddo unconscious and injured on the ground. So I did what any person would do-"
"Carried it to shelter all by yourself, treated its wounds, gaining its respect and trust and then captured it?" She interrupted again.
"What? No, I caught it while it was unconscious," my trainer said. Which was true. Granted, I also could have not collapsed in the middle of a route trainers frequent on.
"That's not right!" She exclaimed. My trainer looked at her in confusion.
"Um… that's like trainer 101. If you come across an injured pokemon, you try and capture it first," he said. The girl went to say something, but he quickly continued, "For several reasons actually. One being that you don't know how the pokemon will react when it comes to. It could be very volatile, which you don't want to take that risk. The second reason is that once the pokemon is registered in your system, you can usually find the root of what's wrong with the pokemon. Third, and kind of the most important, is that the pokeball puts them in a stasis. This allows you to get them to a pokecenter to receive professional help. Stuff like full heals and potions only go so far."
"Oh. That… that actually makes a lot of sense," the girl admitted. "So how did he end up there? I know that the Skiddo evolutionary line is from the more mountainous part of Route 4."
"I dunno. Never bothered to ask and he's never volunteered that information," my trainer responded. I nodded my head. This was true as well. We were on a need-to-know basis with one another. And he did not need to know how I ended up there.
"I mean like taking him to a psychic," she said, causing my trainer to look confused again. "It's not like he can speak English."
"Well duh, but it's not that hard to understand what he says," he replied. I rolled my eyes. It had taken him a few years to get to where he is now. Yet it only took me several months to adapt to the human's language.
"You can understand your pokemon?" She asked in surprise.
"Can't you? You're a trainer and everything."
"W-Well I can understand them a little bit," the girl said with her cheeks taking a red tinge.
"Mhm. So Molly, how long have you been a trainer?" He asked, diverting the topic to her.
"About four months."
"And you said you were on the gym circuit? How many badges do you have right now?"
"I got my third before coming back home."
"Wow, to have three badges in your first four months of being a trainer. That's pretty impressive."
"Isn't it? I've been told I'm a battling prodigy."
"I bet you have."
And that's where we'll end the chap. So yes, this story will have alternating POVs each chapter probably. All rotating between Romaeus and his team of pokemon. And what's with him deciding to join a rather rookie trainer? Does he really want to shirk his responsibilities that much? The answer to that one is yes, yes he does. But this chapter was all about getting to know one member of his team, Rodrigo. Please review and tell me what you think of him so far!
In other news, I'm starting up my own discord server just for my stories! Though, my dream is to just make it a server for works of fanfiction in general. So like, an upgraded community on . But for now, it's just me and my mod so... iz a little bare. If you're interested in joining and adding some of your own stuff maybe, just shoot me a pm. All I ask before you get a link, is that you at least follow/favorite just one of my stories. Hopefully I'll get more people soon and see some of you there ;p
