"When do you think he'll get here Pichu?"
"Pichu! Pichu-Pi!"
"I know, but he's leaving today and I wanted to surprise him!"
"Pi?"
"It would be fun traveling Matroh, seeing the sights, plus I don't think I could stand to be without him for God knows how long."
"Pichu, Pichu-pi!"
"Your right, but my mom won't let us-THERE HE IS!"
"PICHU!"
Rhean "Rhea" Whitepedal squealed at the sight of Jason, her boyfriend, walking towards them on the road to Ishtale village. She ran towards a surprised looking Jason and threw herself into his arms.
Jason, deeply confused, inquired "What are you doing here Rhea?"
The bubbly female almost missed the question she was so lost in his eyes, "I'm coming with you babe."
"But you're parents don't-"
"Screw my parents! I told them, no us, no me. So that's what they're getting!"
He couldn't help but smile, she was so beautiful…
She kissed him softly and looked him in the eye with that "Don't try to stop me" look. He sighed; this battle was one he couldn't win.
"You do realize," he said, "That there's no turning back, right?"
She smiled and hugged him, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
Jason rolled his eyes, "I'm drowning in melodrama! Help!"
His "humorous" remarks were rewarded with a punch to the arm. And pain, lots of it.
With laughter trailing off behind them, the love-struck trainers walked on their merry way to Ishtale village, where the first badge of the journey lies in wait.
Close behind them, Shinx and Pichu were playing happily atop the back of a very annoyed looking Absol, who hoped to Arceus that his master wouldn't catch anymore of these peppy little grievances. He grunted, "…Sol."
Ishtale village, AKA the village of wind, was known for it's specialty in bird Pokémon. More than that, however, it was known world wide as the village of arrogance, and sure enough it was. Everyone who lived there had the mindset that being able to live comfortably and adapt to such a windy climate meant you were some of the most skilled in the entire region. Sure it was admirable for one to live successfully in such a windy place, but these people felt that they were entitled to greatness in all fields.
The epitome of this self-absorbedness took the form of the village's local Gym Leader Ishmael. He was born as the next member in the line of gym leaders for the last century. While he had only been leader for the last 6 months since his father died, he so far had only been beaten a handful of times, most of them to money. His was a truly cocky nature, rivaled by none. He woke up today with a sense of happiness, for today was starter day, when a whole new batch of aspiring Trainers would come knocking at his door, practically begging to be beaten. It was his favorite day, probably better than Christmas.
He arrived at the gym, late as usual, and flopped down on his big soft chair, his arena stretched out in front of him leading to two double-doors where on the other side, his pupils were most likely already busy battling the new meats. He smiled, if his training got through to any of them, he might not have to crush any souls today. That's a pleasant thought, a day off.
His hopes were quickly smashed when one of his newer underlings came bursting through the door, "Mr. Ishmael…sir?"
The leader was in no way amused by this interruption, "What in Entei's name could you possibly want from me?!"
The pupil, scared, responded, "Um, there's a trainer here…he…want…he wants to fight…fight y-you."
"Well?! You know the rules! Go kick him to the curb."
"Well you see…sir….he already beat all of us, like, 10 min. ago…we've been waiting for you…sir." Ishmael struggled with every fiber of his being not to hurt this apparently unskilled trainer, why did he even think about taking this idiot under his wing?
"You mean to tell me that a lowly beginner somehow managed to defeat all three of you? Who trained you, Lance?" He chuckled at himself, Lance, what a pushover.
"Oh, he's no beginner sir, he's really good. And he's got an Absol, strong one too." The pupil spoke up for once, he was actually excited to see his arrogant teacher lose for once, but he would never tell Ishmael that.
The gym leader groaned, "Fine, bring him in…perhaps it would be good for you runts to learn how to battle with skill."
The pupil nodded and scuttled through the doors, more than relieved that he wasn't a victim of Ishmael's anger today. After all this was over, he really needed a new job, or at least a well-deserved vacation.
Jason was ecstatically petting Absol, celebrating yet another victory at the Ishtale gym. The body count was now three, and all that was left was Ishmael. Shinx and Pichu, though somewhat unaware of the events at hand, decided to join in the party and began chasing each other in circles.
"Good job Shadow! This gym leader isn't gonna be much of a problem for you is it?"
His Pokémon smiled, "SOL!"
Rhea hugged him, "We can celebrate later honey, because right now you've got a badge to win!"
Jason stared towards the ominous-looking doors looming in front of him, on the other side, his challenger was waiting. Jason was eager to earn his first badge, any nervousness he had fluttering in his stomach melted away when he looked at his Absol.
He smiled, "Ok, let's go see a man about a Gust Badge."
Rhea Jumped with excitement and charged through the doors, more than startling the self-absorbed leader standing on the other side of the arena.
Ishmael sweat dropped, is it seriously a girl?!
"Prepare yourself!" She exclaimed eagerly, "Jason Bailey is in the building and here to claim victory!"
She ran back to her embarrassed-looking boyfriend, smiled and said, "I know you can do it, Pichu and I are cheering for you!"
Ishmael laughed, "Aww how cute, so you're the "amazing trainer" I've been hearing so much about?"
Jason smirked, "Yeah, and apparently you're the self-absorbed gym leader who is obviously way too confident in his abilities." Absol smiled, just like his master to start with the verbal abuse.
Ishmael flared, this puny challenger dare to insult him. "No one talks to Ishmael like that!" Jason glared evilly at his challenger.
"Well, I just did, so you obviously don't garner as much respect as you wish you could. Now, about that Gust badge…"
Ishmael roared, "You insignificant little punk!" He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and threw it towards the ground, "Staraptor! Let's teach this beginner a lesson!" And sure enough, a Staraptor flew out of the orb and stood, poised and ready to attack.
Jason, clearly unphased by this foe, simply spoke, "Shadow…" His Absol nodded and stepped out onto the arena. He began running towards the bird Pokémon, picking up speed until he smashed into the creature with extreme force. Staraptor, though hurt, stood tall and prepared to retaliate.
The battle for the gust badge was on.