The smoke stack on the ship blow with a thunderous noise, signaling all the passengers on board that they were about to make land fall with Pastoria City.
A young man in his middle teens raced towards the bow of the ship to get a better view. His chestnut brown hair blew in the wind, held up by a sweatband with a pokeball symbol on it, as his green eyes catch the sight of the city growing larger the closer they got. He wore a red tee-shirt with a golden-yellow vest over it. On his back, a black travel backpack hung off. Brown pants were kept up with a black belt that had three slots on each side to hold pokeballs, but only one was attached to holder. And finally, he wore a pair of white tennis shoes with red highlights.
Grabbing the Pokeball from on his belt, he threw it in the air, shouting "Come check this out Chesnaught!"
It was green, red, and tan bipedal Pokémon with an armored dome on its back that had four spikes coming out of it. Its arms were covered with green armor, haved two small snipes on the top, and the fingers and toes were three brown, claws.
It called out its name and landed next to it trainer with a loud boom, which cause the trainer to shake a bit and second guess his idea about letting him out.
The chesnaught roared its name out proudly, as if it was preforming a warrior cry for the entire world to hear.
"Chesnaught," his trainer called to him, "check this out."
Chesnaught walked over and looked over the edge of the ship to see what the boy was seeing.
"There it is Chesnaught." He stated, "The Sinnoh region. We are going to have great time here. We will meet new friend, caught new Pokémon, and have some great battles!" He did not hide his excitement, smiling the whole time he told chesnaught their plan.
Once the ship landed, he wasted no time, and headed right for the Pokémon Center. "Hello welcome to the Pokémon Center. How may I help you?" The Nurse Joy greeted him from the front deck with a kind smiled.
He reached into one of his vest pockets and pulled out a Pokedex. "I would like to register for the Sinnoh League please."
"Alright then," Joy nodded, taking the Pokedex, put it into the computer next to her, and typed away for a while. "Okay… Soot Ketchum. I got you registered for the Sinnoh League."
Getting his dex back, Soot thanked her. "Do you know about the gym leader here?" He asked.
"I do, but I am not authorized to tell you." She kindly told him, "But if you want to find out, just head over there yourself."
Soot smiled and nodded. But first, he had to make a call.
Sitting in front of the video phone, Soot grabbed the phone and waited for the party on the other end to pick up.
The video screen opened, showing a woman with neck-length blonde hair and blue eyes answering with a "Hello?"
"Hey mom!" Soot responded with a smile. "I made it Sinnoh."
"That is great sweetie!" His mother shouted with excitement for him. "How was the ride getting there?"
"Fine mom," he explained, "mostly boring. I just registered for the Sinnoh League."
"Oh, that good to hear sweetie." She said. "How is Chesnaught?"
Soot let Chesnaught out of his ball, so he could tell her himself.
"Hi Chesnaught!" She waved at the Spiny Armor Pokémon.
Chesnaught smiled and waved back.
Soot watched them interact for a bit, before jumping back into the conversation. "We got to go mom. I'm going to check out the gym."
"Okay sweetie, I love you. Good luck." She waved Soot off, before hanging up.
Soot hung up on his end, turning to Chesnaught. "Ready to check out the gym?" He asked.
Chesnaught roared out its name, clearly confident in itself.
"That's the spirit!" Soot agreed and got up from his seat. "Let's go!"
The outside of the gym was nothing special. It looked like a stadium with three floors, from the three sets of windows surrounding the building.
Soot could not tell what the gym specialized in. It was not like Pewter City's rocky exsterer, or the giant tree that made the gym in Coumarine City.
"Well…" Soot thought out load, "Let's see what's inside."
The large pool with platforms floating on top gave a clearer indication that it was a Water-type gym, like the Cerulean City Gym. There were seats located on both sides of the pool, for those supporting the challenger to watch from a safe distances.
Soot looked around, trying to find the gym leader
"Well hello there!" A loud boomer voice called from out of nowhere. Turning towards the voice, Soot saw a man that seemed to be in his 60s walking over to him. How he snuck up on him was anybody's guess.
Despite his age, and the white hair and beard, he looked like he would still toss an ursaring. He wore some kind of mask that had three blue stripes forming an upside down Y on his face and what appeared to be white wings that went above his eyes.
"Um… Hello?" Soot nervously asked, not sure how else to respond to this man.
"Are you here for a gym battle?" The guy asked him.
"Kind of…" Soot explained, "I just got to Sinnoh and only have my chesnaught with me."
"Hm," The guy hummed, cupping his chin in his hand. "I can't accept your challenge. You see, my gym is three on three, but we could have a one on one battle just for fun."
Soot smiled and nodded, "Okay."
"Great!" He shouted, "Name is Crasher Wake by the way. What is your name?"
"Soot Ketchum." Soot introduced himself to Wake.
"Ketchum? Ah," Wake spoke to himself, "this should be fun."
Soot and Wake stood on opposite sides of the field, taking battle stands, as if ready to fight themselves.
"I want to let you know!" Wake shouted over to him. "Just because this in is not an official battle, does not expect me to go easy on you!"
"I'd be insulted it you did!" Soot shouted back, happy to hear Wake's words.
"Then let us go!" Wake shouted, grabbing his pokeball, and tossing out to the field "Floatzel! On the water!"
"Go! Chesnaught!" Soot did the same thing.
Both Pokémon popped out of their respected balls, calling out there names, and stood of different platforms.
"Seeing as you are my guest! You can have the first attack!" Wake offered.
"Thanks!" Soot shouted, "Chesnaught, use Pin Missile!"
Chesnaught cried out his name, as the spines on his back started to glow green. Leaning back, Chesnaught shoot forward, and the spines started shooting out towards Floatzel on the other side.
"Into the water Floatzel!"Wake order, and Floatzel drive under the water before the Pin Missiles could land.
Soot and Chesnaught looked around the pool, trying to find any sign of Floatzel. Looking back and forth, there was no sign of Floatzel anywhere. No ripples on the surface, no shadow under the water, not a single clue.
Wake just smiled, crossing his over his chest. "You're not going to find him that way!" Wake told them, "Floatzel! Use Ice Fang!" Floatzel shot straight out water behind Chesnaught.
Floatzel's jaw started to glow white, as ice fangs formed on its teeth. A cold chill flowed from Floatzel's mouth, as he hovered above Chesnaught for a moment, before dive bombing at the grass knight.
Soot could not believe it. One second Floatzel was not there, and the next he was. He had to counter right away, or Chesnaught would suffer serious damage. "Counter with Spiky Shield!" He commanded.
Chesnaught put his arms in front of him, and spikes start forming in Floatzel's path.
It was too late for Floatzel to stop its attack, as it landed on Chesnaught's Spiky Shield. The spikes dug into Floatzel, as the Ice Fang slowly started to freeze over the spot it sunk its jaw in.
"Never see a move like that before!" Wake called out.
"That is because only chesnaughts can learn it!" Soot called back, smirking.
"Then I see that we are going to have to be more careful when fighting you up close!" Wake said.
Floatzel let go of Chesnaught, jumping back to a platform close by. It rubbed and shock its face, trying to soften some of the pain it had suffered.
Chesnaught looked at his arms, noticing some of the ice still on there. He tried to shake and bash it off, but the ice only chipped a little.
"Alright then!" Wake shouted!" Floatzel! Use Ice Beam!"
A small, light blue orb formed in Floatzel's mouth, before it fired off a series of zip zap beams right for Chesnaught.
Soot knew Chesnaught was not the dodging the type, but Spiky Shield didn't work on special attacks. "Try to get out of there!" He decided.
Chesnaught started to lean towards one side, but the beam hit his feet, slowly freezing him in place.
"Oh no," Soot whispered quietly to himself. His eyes stared in shock and worry for his best friend and partner.
Wake laughed. It wasn't an insulting laugh, but more like he was having a good time. "Never underestimate the power of a Pokémon. Floatzel! Use Aqua Jet to get in close!"
Floatzel dived into the water and rocketed towards Chesnaught like a torpedo. Water surrounded its entire body, only adding to the torpedo appearance.
"Chesnaught!" Soot called out in desperation. "Spiky Shield!"
Chesnaught followed his trainers orders, putting his arms in front of him like last time.
"That's not going to work this time!" Wake told them. Floatzel did not attack Chesnaught head on, but sank under the water.
Soot and Chesnaught slightly gasped, staring at where Floatzel was.
It wasn't long however, as Floatzel fired out of the water right behind Chesnaught. "Ice Fang!" Wake shouted, and Floatzel switched up by breaking the Aqua Jet and ramming behind Chesnaught's neck with its cold, frozen teeth.
"Chesnaught!" Soot cried out, strenching out his hand as if to try to grab his friend. But all he could do was watch, as Chesnaught started to fall forwarded and into the water with Floatzel.
"Now! Let's finish this!" Wake called out, "Brine!"
Floatzel gathered up some water into its hand, forming a ball, and fired it point blank into Chesnaught.
"Chesnaught!" Soot cried out, but slowly watched as Chesnaught floated to the top. Knocked out. "Chesnaught…" Soot whispered, slowly raising Chesnaught's Pokeball and returned him.
After the match, Wake walked over to Soot, offering his hand to him. "That was a good match," Wake told him, "but you are going to need to train a lot more if you want to beat me."
Soot looked up at Wake, cracking a smile and shook Wake's hand. "I will be back, and I am going to beat you to get that badge."
"I can't wait." Wake told him with Soot a big smile.
Soot returned to the center, giving his Chesnaught to Nurse Joy to take care of.
"While you were out," Nurse Joy explained, "this came in for you." She reached under the desk and handed Soot an envelope.
Soot looked it over, not seeing a return address on it. His name was written on the front in big, bold letters.
"Who left it?" Soot asked.
"I don't know." Joy replied, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. "I went to the back and found it laying on the desk when I got back, with a note saying it was for you."
Soot was confused by this, not sure why anyone would want to leave him a letter.
He walked to a quiet corner and opened the envelope to read it.
"Dear Soot Ketchum,
I hope this letter finds you in good heal. I would like to invite you to our Resort Area in the Battle Zone located north of the Sinnoh region.
We have seen your impressive record when it came to your battle in the Kalos, Kanto, and Hoenn Pokémon Leagues.
We would like for you to participate in our Area Tournament that will be starting up within a month. Take your time if you need to train your Pokémon for the upcoming event.
However, we do recommend that you show up with at least three Pokémon on you by the time the tournament starts. If you do not, you will be barred from entering.
Please consider coming. It would be a great honor to have you at our event.
Sincerely.
The Resort Area President"
Soot was confused about the letter. Why would they be sending him a letter? How did they know he was in Sinnoh? What about the Sinnoh League? He questioned this till he heard his name being called on the intercom.
Soot rushed over, getting his partner back, and called him out. "How are you feeling buddy?" He asked Chestnaught.
Chestnaught roared its name, clearly feeling better.
"I'd suggest that you have him rest for a little while longer." Nurse Joy advised him. "Just to make sure he completely recovers."
"Okay Nurse Joy." Soot agreed. "Do you have any rooms available?"
Nurse Joy reached under the desk for a key. "You will be staying in room 113."
"Thanks." Soot told her and then turned to Chestnaught. "Let's go check it out."
Chestnaught nodded and agreed, and the two rushed off to check out their room. Soot could worry about the letter later.
Sorry it took so long. I was hoping to post this a week after the last chapter, but working on other stories, my job, and double checking the chapter after the first draft was finished caused it being pushed back.
I am currently working on the next, so hopefully have that up by the end of the month at the latest.
Please leave a review if you have any questions, leave your thoughts about the story, or just leave some encouragement to keep me writing.
I hope you all have a great day.