Chapter Two
The girl and her pokémon had travelled for a few hours, walking and taking in the scenery. They were currently on Route 102. Alice had been through this route of course, and knew which paths to take; most led to dead ends or flimsy traps that children set. Murdoch was walking alongside her. Alice wanted some company; she wasn't one to enjoy solitude. And Murdoch seemed to enjoy the exercise and the view.
They came across a small patch of dark, moist dirt, with two berry trees in full bloom. Murdoch looked at his trainer expectantly, his eyes begging for an explanation of some sorts.
"These are berry trees," Alice started, walking towards them, the mudkip following. "Trainers are able to pick a few from each tree to use for their pokémon journeys. But it's only courteous that they replant one of the berries." She stood on her tippy-toes, reaching for the high boughs of an Oran tree. The tree was covered in thick, lush foliage, dotted with plump, blue fruit. Alice had picked five from the tree, then walked a few steps away from the tree where she knelt down and replanted one of the berries she had picked. She then repeated the process on the second tree, a Pecha tree, when something fell from the thick leafy branches. It collided with Alice's head, knocking her to the ground.
Murdoch hissed and raised his haunches, attempting to intimidate the object that had fallen and injured his master. Alice awoke in a daze, and saw what had hit her: a brown rounded pokémon with an acorn cap on its head. It was on its back, attempting to roll over to get onto its tiny feet.
"Well hey there, lil' guy," Alice said, picking herself up. "Want some help?"
She bent down and adjusted the seed pokémon so that it was standing firmly on its two feet. Alice took her Pokédex from her pocket and a monotone voice sounded from the speaker: "Seedot, the Acorn Pokémon. A solitary pokémon that hangs off of branches to absorb nutrients from the tree. It sometimes drops, often startling passersby's."
Alice looked up from the Pokédex screen to discover that seedot had disappeared. Annoyance swept over her. She had really wanted to catch the pokémon. Letting out a sigh, she shook her head in disbelief and turned towards a worried Murdoch.
"Hey, buddy, I'm just fine. No need to worry," Alice said, patting Murdoch on the head.
Despite the short amount of time they had spent together, a bond had grown between the two.
A short while later, a wurmple appeared, lying lazily in the middle of the road. Alice, feeling excited, saw this as a perfect opportunity to train Murdoch for a while. She looked at the little blue water pokémon and they nodded at each other, both thinking the exact same thing –battle.
Murdoch scurried forward and tackled the slumped wurmple. A surprised chirp erupted from the red worm pokémon, and it sprung up, dazed and confused.
"Great, Murdoch. Now tackle again!" Alice commanded, hands balled up into fists. This was their first battle, and it gave Alice nerves to think about it.
Murdoch nodded at his master's request and lunged himself at the drowsy wurmple. In retaliation, wurmple sprayed a sticky substance onto Murdoch, which hardened almost immediately into a thick white string, holding the water pokémon in place; its' String Shot.
Panic overwhelmed Alice, and her mind went blank. "Oh God, what should I do?" she asked herself anxiously. "Um, Murdoch, try to wriggle your way out of the string!"
Murdoch didn't need her to tell him that, he was struggling the entire time, but he knew she was nervous. This was their first battle, after all. He too felt the nauseating effects of first-battle-syndrome.
Just as the wurmple was about to launch a tackle, Murdoch managed to break free of his stringy prison. Taking a split second to take in what was happening, he jumped forward. The two tackles collided, and both pokémon were knocked back with the force. But only one was still conscious.
"Well done, Murdoch!" Alice cheered as she saw the red worm pokémon slump forward, unconscious. Murdoch looked at her proudly, a smile upon his tiny face.
Two more times they encountered various pokémon, one a poochyena and the other another wurmple. After defeating the wurmple, a beeping sound was heard from Alice's pocket. Alice took out her Pokédex from where the sound came from, and opened it up.
"New move learnt," the monotonous voice of the Pokédex said. "Mud Slap learnt."
Alice looked at the Pokédex, then averted her eyes towards Murdoch, then back at the Pokédex before realising what had happened. A huge grin appeared on her face. "Murdoch!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I'm so proud of you!"
She lifted the tiny pokémon up in the air, and spun around in circles. Murdoch meowed happily.
A rustle disturbed their celebration, and they both fell silent, looking in the direction of the bushes. They waited until a figure emerged; a silver-shaded humanoid pokémon.
Quickly raising her Pokédex, the monotonous voice said, "Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. It reads the minds of its opponents to determine which move it should use next."
"If it can read minds, then it must be psychic!" Alice exclaimed, putting away the machine. "Go, Murdoch! Weaken it with your tackle attack!"
Murdoch jumped at the small creature, hitting itself against the ralts. It squealed, and covered its armoured face in retaliation. After regaining its posture, it growled at Murdoch, who cowered in fright.
"Murdoch, use tackle once more!"
Murdoch nodded and proceeded to plummet at the opponent. The collision bruised both the pokémon. They both collapsed, whining in pain. Murdoch was able to stand up after a few moments, ralts wheezing heavily, eyes closed in exhaustion.
Alice was stunned when she saw the defeat of the grey human-like pokémon. She almost forgot about the Pokéball in her hand that she had prepared for catching this uncommon pokémon. She quickly threw it, not quite sure if she had thrown it properly.
Her breath held in her throat as the fainted pokémon glowed a bright red, and was enveloped within the tight confines of the Pokéball. It shook madly, ceasing after some time. It shook once more. And again. Alice, waiting for the wickedly nerve-wracking shaking to end, bit her lip. She chewed on it as the ball came to a stop. Everything was dead silent. Time seemed be stretched out. This anxiety was unbearable for the girl.
Only until she heard the tedious voice of her Pokédex did she feel a calmness sweep over her.
"New pokémon caught: Ralts. Gender: female. Shy in nature. Standing by for nickname."
"Hm, I wonder what I should call this little lady," Alice wondered aloud, looking down at Murdoch. She pressed the button on her newly acquired pokémon's ball, watching the ralts materialised from a red beam. It stared up at its' new owner, confusion overwhelming it.
Alice crouched down, mimicking the ralts' height. She had learnt in the two-week pokémon course she had attended that when addressing new, shy pokémon, it is best to imitate their height. The confrontation is less intimidating that way, apparently.
"What sort of name would you like?" she asked the cowering pokémon. "Maybe Vanora?"
Ralts thought for a bit. Vanora. It was quite an exotic sounding name. It sounded strong, brave, heroic. Everything she wasn't. A small chirp escaped from the fragile pokémons' mouth, saying: "Yes, you want to make me everything I never was. Your choice of name makes me feel like anything can be accomplished." She stood as tall as she could reach, head held high and proud.
"Very well then, Vanora it is," Alice said, smiling. She gently placed her hand on the green helmet that covered its eyes, and petted it. It purred happily.
"Nickname confirmed: Vanora," came the dull voice of the machine in Alice's pocket.
Together, the three of them walked down the dirt path on their way to Petalburg City as the scarlet sun sank behind the thick dense roof of boughs, ending the first day of Alice's journey.
At the exact moment that Alice had turned to marvel at the setting sun, on the other side of the continent, something was stirring. The swells of the waves were crashing violently, an uneasiness settling deep beneath the surface of the ocean. As a wise Kingdra hovered on the surface, observing the unrest, his companion, Relicanth, spoke:
"She's awoken."