Chapter 2: The Encounter

I had told Ace about the assignment that Grandpa had given us and we were well on our way to Brookstream forest. "So do we use the Poke-balls now or later?" Ace asked, "I never gave it much thought," I replied ",I guess we do it now." I grabbed Ralts off my off my shoulder and placed her on the ground, "now Ralts I know this is kind of weird, but would you consider being my Pokémon?" I said as I pulled out one of the 2 Poke-balls that Grandpa had given me. The ball was steady in my hand, Ralts stood there in silence. With a loud chirping sound Ralts clicked the Poke-ball and a small red light emanated from inside it. Ralts slowly shrunk in size and was pulled into the small red and white ball, Ralts was mine." I did it!" I yelled throwing my Poke-ball into the air ", come on out Ralts." The Poke-ball opened and Ralts was released in a shining white light, she made a loud chirping sound and teleported onto my shielded. "Hey Zymph toss me a ball will ya?" a yelled, I gave him the other Poke-ball and turned to his Rhyhorn who had been following Ace since we left the lab. Ace didn't say anything, he merely locked gaze with Rhyhorn and I knew they both had an unspoken deal. Ace let the ball fall from his hand and onto Rhyhorn, a red beam struck Rhyhorn and he shrunk in size until he was inside the Poke-ball. Gracefully Ace picked up the ball and threw it into the air, Rhyhorn came bursting out then landed right next to his new trainer. "Good Job buddy." Ace told his Rhyhorn. With this current experience in our mind we set off to our destination in gleeful silence.

The open clearing slowly turned into a tree spotted meadow which quickly turned into a dense forest. The trees around us cast their shadow on the forest floor and the wild Pokémon could be heard in the distant. I was in true awe of the world around me, the sounds and smells of the forest swallowed my senses. We passed several wild Pokémon such as oddish and geodude along before we even uttered a word to each other.

"Hey Zymph, what do you say to catching our second Pokémon today?" Ace asked as he pulled out 4 Poke-balls. "I don't think we should mess with the forest, it seems wrong. We are supposed to train here so our Pokémon can evolve." As soon as the last word left my mouth Ace tossed 2 of the Poke-balls towards me and set off in a run with Rhyhorn at his side. "You don't have to use them but I am gona' catch my second today!" Ace yelled as he ran off into the distance. I tried to catch up to Ace but his head start gave him a quick escape. I was left alone with Ralts and some new Poke-balls.

"Well I guess it's just you and me," I uttered to Ralts ", let's make the best of today I guess." With that I trailed off into the woods. I was walking for about 30 minutes before I came across a river that had Buizel playing along its edge. I sat down a few feet away from the river's edge and took Ralts of my shoulder; Ralts seemed happy with her surroundings and shuffled over towards the wild Buizel. The cool breeze brushed my skin and the sounds of the moving river made me tired, I decided to lie down. I kept my eyes open and stared up at the trees; the grass that I was lying on was soft. The light the escaped through the trees danced around me, I felt at peace with this place. I was listening to Ralts play with the Buizel before drowsiness overtook me and I feel asleep.

I awoke almost immediately; the friendly forest had turned dark and sinister. My Pokémon was nowhere to be seen. Panic stricken I stood up and took off in a sprint. As I ran I cried out for Ralts "RALTS WHERE ARE YOU?" Terrifying laughter struck the forest and I fell to the ground in fear. Dark figure approached me and I screamed, but before they could reach me the darkness was broken and figures were blasted back. The world around me started to dissipate in a blur and I was back in near the river. Groups of Gastly were floating around me in a crazed pattern. Ralts was keeping them at bay with her confusion attack while the buizel were shooting them with water gun. I had never seen Ralts use this much power before, her body had a slight blue glow and I could feel the waves of energy that was being released from within her. The Gastly slowly trailed off into the woods. Before they could all get out I pointed at one and yelled "Ralts, use confusion on the one and bring it in close." Ralts let out a cry and her body emitted a slight blue glow once again. The Gastly that Ralts had targeted gained the same aura but lost control of his body, he was coming closer. Without thinking I pulled out a spare Poke-ball and threw it at the Gastly. As soon as the pull was in the air it cast out a beam of red light that hit the wild Pokémon. Within a few moments Gastly was inside of the Poke-ball and it was shaking back and forth, the ball made three ringing sounds before it clicked and became still. I had caught a Pokémon. I had feeling of guilt that quickly turned into feelings of triumph, I realized that catching Pokémon was not wrong, I was a Pokémon trainer.

I turned around to thank the Buizel for helping Ralts protect me. I know they didn't understand me but they let out a happy cheer and squirted water in the air. The water came down and hit my face, it was cold and refreshing. After this gustier, the Buizel made their way back into the river, Ralts and I stood at the edge of the water and waved goodbye.

I had to tell Ace what just happened, I picked up Ralts, put her on my shoulder and ran into the woods the way I came. The forest seemed brighter now; the light came through the trees and illuminated my path. I wondered how Ace was doing and what progress he had made, I pondered this as I ran.