Chapter 2: Way of the Trainer
A.N.: Forgive my abruptness with ending the last chapter in a bit of a rush. I'm trying to create a fair pacing but I'm not sure if I'm doing this right or not cuz the version of this story before was all over the place. So here's to hoping I'm doing a better job. If not, go ahead and hate me for it. Whatever gives your lives meaning, right? (Kidding guys.)
(Music: Zero no Kiseki- Scene of a Street Corner) Jeremiah and Thomas were the only ones left still in Aquacorde Town with their starter Pokemon safely placed back into their Pokeballs. "So Thomas, what are you planning to do now?" Jeremiah asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"Might as well take care of that 'test' they want us to do." Thomas sighed in response. "Man, I did not wake up early for this..." Jeremiah could only chuckle a bit at his response but things began to grow silent. Jeremiah was too hesitant to just leave Thomas by himself and Thomas was just trying get himself a little motivated to actually start. It was one of the longest minute's of their lives as they stood there in awkward silence, pondering what to do next. "Mind if I ask something?" Thomas finally spat out.
"I don't mind." The younger boy replied.
"Why'd your sister leave you like that?" He asked, as though it had the easiest answer.
"Um... to be honest, I'm not sure. But, I guess it might have to do with the fact that we've grown up with different people. She's always been headstrong most of the time and a very outgoing person. As for me... I'm a bit of the opposite."
"Still, that doesn't excuse why she just left you like that." Thomas took a moment to ponder a suggestion he's had for a while and decided to just ask. "Would you mind if I went with you through the Santalune Forest?"
Jeremiah seemed taken aback and flustered by that question. "W-what? Why?"
"Well, you seem like the type who'd scare easily. And I've seen what kind of Pokemon you have with you, it's definitely an evil one..."
"I-I... errrr..." Jeremiah was at a loss for words. "I-I'd only slow you down." He then tried to laugh it off with that comment. "Besides, don't you have your hands full with Froakie?"
"What, Dusk?" Thomas asked. "Sure he's a little timid, but nothing a little adjusting and motivating can't solve."
"Uh, right. Wait, why'd you name it Dusk?" Jeremiah asked.
"It's a cool name. A perfect start for a confidence boost. Are you naming your Chespin?" Jeremiah sighed in exasperation as he hadn't thought of it that much.
"I haven't decided what I want to call him yet. So for now, it's just Ches."
"Cute name. Anyway, I think we've spent enough time lollygagging here. How about we get going?" Thomas asked.
"Yeah. I wouldn't want to make the others wait on us." Jeremiah admitted. With that said, the two set off to Route 2. (Also known as Avance Trail.)
However, before they can leave the city limits, Trevor and Tierno come running back into the other two trainers. "You guys..." Trevor wheezed. "We...we almost..." He was having a hard time catching his breath.
"What's up?" Thomas asked.
"We almost forgot to give you all some of these." Tierno sighed, handing Jeremiah and Thomas five Pokeballs each and five potions each. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to catch Pokemon in the first place..." The two tried laughing it off but the situation was just awkward.
"...You guys suck at your job." Thomas sighed.
"That's a little mean. It might just be their first time." Jeremiah added.
"Actually, it is..." Trevor admitted. "We're kinda knew to this whole 'guide' thing. But thank you so much for being patient at least."
"Don't worry about it. I've sat through even more boring and unimportant stuff before." Jeremiah stated. "Anyway, you remembered right before we went out. So, thanks." The two now were starting to walk away.
"One last thing..." Tierno said, catching their attention once more. "When catching Pokemon, you always want to make sure you weaken them."
"Understood." Thomas said as he saluted playfully and nonchalantly. The two went on their merry way to go collect Pokemon.
(Music: Zero no Kiseki- Crossing the Iron Bridge) Route 2 was a relatively short path to the Santalune Forest. It was just an expansive plain up until the woods, but even then the trees weren't as dense as other forests in the world and the woods didn't have much depth to them. Jeremiah looked on in awe at Route 2 and what they could see of the Santalune Forest. "Wow." Was all that came out.
"Not much to look at." Thomas admitted. "I've seen screen savers with more detail in them."
"True, but it just feels weird."
"Weird?"
"I can't explain it. I'm excited and scared at the same time." Jeremiah did his best to explain some of his emotions. "It's cool, but... I don't know."
"Is this what people call that sense of adventure? Feeling ready to step into something not knowing what will happen?" Thomas inquired, more or less in a superficial manner. Jeremiah just sighed at his jokes. "We aren't gonna satisfy that need of yours just standing around here, are we?" Jeremiah just glared at his temporary travelling companion but it went ignored.
Rika had been the first one to enter the Santalune Forest right after Elijah and began getting to work on catching Pokemon. The goal was two from the Santalune Forest, but once she started something she had to finish it 100%. She had been wandering the woods, searching for any Pokemon that she may have yet to catch. She would certainly release all the Pokemon she wouldn't want to keep after she got her Pokedex. Rika would go above and beyond to show that she should definitely embark on this assignment. Her motivation? No one could tell you for sure why Rika was always doing things at maximum effort. She was always silent around gossipers and never bothered explaining her actions entirely.
Her newly owned Charmander wasn't one to question much. It's only intentions were to assist it's trainer, and the Pokemon did it's tasks perfectly. That's why Rika chose Charmander from the bunch, because it would handle tasks without delay or questioning. She named it Sol simply because it was a Fire type, and she wasn't heartless. Rika does care for her Pokemon as more than just tools. Though where that level stands currently is unclear. Sol knocked out another Pokemon that served as an obstacle to them and proceeded onward. She had been keeping records of the Pokemon she caught and the amount of times she encountered them. Most of them seemed to be Bug Pokemon with several exceptions she had come across by pure luck but that was all. "Interesting." She said to herself, slowly losing herself into fascination at the diverse Pokemon she found in one area. "There's bound to be more around here. Though I think I'm almost done here."
"Geez, what a day so far..." Deseir complained as she just entered the forest after the other three girls. She didn't bother putting Squirtle away in it's Pokeball since it didn't make a difference either way for her. She tried giving Squirtle a couple of commands, it did them but with a bit of an attitude usually. "C'mon, can't you do it without the attitude?" She asked it. The Squirtle simply scoffed and turned it's head away from it's trainer. "Fine then. So long as you listen to me in battles at least." She sighed, giving up hope for getting along with it any time soon. Her mind began to drift elsewhere. Deseir knew she left her brother behind back in Aquacorde Town, and it was bugging her. She was hoping Jeremiah wasn't upset with her. Then again, it was rare to upset him. So as long as she apologizes next time she sees him she'll be okay! But, why did she leave him? Something about it bothered her but it was hard to explain why.
Deseir was snapped from her thoughts when she caught her sights on a yellow mouse-like Pokemon. It had a heart shaped tail and bright red cheeks. It was something she perceived as adorable, and she was willing to catch it at all costs. "Okay, let's go get it Squirtle!" She said to her Pokemon. The water type merely sighed in annoyance and proceeded to engage the Pokemon anyway.
Willow had already captured two Pokemon of different species. Though she didn't particularly like them. She didn't hate them, but when she threw them out to battle she wasn't all that motivated to use them to their full potential. But she did have to make do until she found one she did like. For now, her goal was to reach the end of the Forest trail and meet with the others for their evaluation. That'd be easier said than done if trainers she had the unfortunate luck of running into, challenging her to battles. She won fairly easy as her Bulbasaur was stronger than most of the other Pokemon able to be found in the forest. She was just bored with trainers challenging her, then not putting up much of a fight. "Not again..." She sighed as another child approached her.
Elijah figured it'd be a casual stroll through the woods. Santalune Forest is known for it's calm atmosphere that most people go to for nature walks once in a while, so in theory he should be able to cruise by without much difficulty. Well, there was one problem concerning that whole theory. It has to do with Elijah. He's what you'd call danger prone, and even worse provocative of certain situations...
Back with Jeremiah and Thomas they had just reached the Santalune Forest. Sunlight was filtering in from the tree tops, beaming through to give the forest a mystifying feel to them. The forest was mostly shrubbery and tall trees, giving off a peaceful air. "Wow, this place is just so..." Jeremiah trailed off into his thoughts of amazement.
"Seems like the perfect place for a nap." Thomas commented.
"W-what?" Jeremiah seemed baffled by Thomas's comment. "You'd just... sleep here? In a place where there's wild Pokemon that could jump out at any second?"
"Yeah. If they do attack me I'll just run when I wake up."
'T-that's very... nonchalant...' Jeremiah told to himself. "Anyway, just beyond this forest is Route 3. It's where Elijah said he'd meet us... We're just one Pokemon away from passing."
"Hopefully." Thomas sighed. They then began their trek through the forest. Before arriving they both caught a Pokemon along Avance Trail. Jeremiah caught a rabbit like Pokemon with brown spots on it's fur and large incisors and very vertical ears. It was apparently a Bunnelby, but without a Pokedex or someone with proper knowledge. Meanwhile Thomas caught a more robin like Pokemon. It was comparatively smaller than any other Pokemon they've encountered so far. It was possibly a Fletchling but without any way to confirm that they weren't 100% positive. At first glance, it may seem like easy capture. However, it was a struggle since Jeremiah's Chespin was too arrogant to take the battle seriously and got a bit of a beat down. After the Bunnelby's capture Jeremiah gave the grass type a potion, which it accepted reluctantly. Thomas had a bit of an opposite problem. He couldn't get his Froakie to step up and challenge it at first. When Froakie was eventually able to attack it only managed to perform a weak willed Water Gun. Of course, the Fletchling retaliated with nothing but it's best attack. Froakie had backed away again and Thomas gave up and tried just tossing the capsule. Luckily, it worked and they both had new Pokemon. They needed one more each to technically pass. Hopefully it'd be easier with the new additions.
After a while of walking around aimlessly, the two eventually began to get irritated. "Ugh, how much longer is this gonna take?" Jeremiah asked, expressing his frustration by crossing his arms and tone of voice.
"No clue, but I'm starting to get really tired..." Thomas yawned. "I wonder if I nap then Pokemon will come up to us."
"Yeah... that's not happening." Jeremiah responded. "We've got a lot more ground to cover, and I doubt standing in place is gonna yield any fantastic results..."
"You have a point..." Thomas begrudgingly admitted. "I hate that..." Jeremiah had fallen silent afterwards but pressed on unchanging.
'Me and my big mouth... this is why I always get into trouble...' Jeremiah sighed to himself. "...?" He gasped in confusion.
"Something up?" The older boy asked.
"N-not really. I just thought I heard something close by..."
"Maybe it's just a wild Pokemon nearby. Looks like standing in place actually worked." Thomas chuckled.
"No, I don't think it's that." Jeremiah said. "It kinda sounded like... footsteps."
"Footsteps? When did you become an explorer bravado?"
"I-it's just a guess. I don't have any real proof for it. Besides, I can't hear it anymore so I can't tell either way." Jeremiah pointed out.
Thomas simply laughed. "Still, that's some pretty good hearing."
"Oh, thanks..." Jeremiah grinned.
Rika hadn't noticed she walked past the two boys with her Charmander. She had other things on her mind, such as scrounging the area for every last known Pokemon in Santalune Forest. As she had no way of knowing when she'd have the area 100% complete, so it felt like a good idea to do a few sweeps of the same areas to ensure there wasn't any Pokemon left out. Plus it made it easier to find anything extra. On her way back around, she found something she hadn't noticed before. It was buried under some foliage that could be easily brushed away. She knelt down and brushed it aside. It seemed it was a stone structure that had mostly crumbled away but there was text that seems to still be in tact:
En mémoire de : le chevalier qui protégeait la princesse ... le magicien qui réconforta la princesse ... les voyous qui ont combattu pour la princesse ... le tacticien qui a guidé la princesse à la sécurité ... la prêtresse qui gardait bien la princesse ... l'avant-garde qui a gardé toutes les menaces loin de la princesse ... et la princesse , dont sacrifice sauvé les terres ravagées par la guerre ...
...The message cut off there. "What is this?" She asked herself, but she already knew the answer. It was written in French. She could read French with little difficulty and knew that it said:
In memorial of: the knight who protected the princess... the magician who comforted the princess... the rogue who fought for the princess... the tactician who guided the princess to safety... the priestess who kept the princess well... the vanguard who kept all threats away from the princess... and the princess, whose sacrifice saved the war ravaged lands...
Though it made little sense. Was it referring to the catastrophic war thousands of years ago? A smaller war that happened afterwards? Rika was quite knowledgeable on history, it was one of her favorite subjects in fact, but she wasn't sure what events this could be depicting. As far as she knew there was no figures in history like that. However, this piqued her interest rather than squabble her intelligence. 'Interesting. Okay then, history. I accept your challenge.'
It didn't take long for Deseir to realize she was running around in circles to try and find more Pokemon. She was getting bored of the repetition and wanted to move on. But she can't because she doesn't have the bare minimum required to pass on. She sighed in frustration and her Squirtle just shook his head at her temper. "Grr! Where are the Pokemon!?"
"They won't come if you're loud." Willow told her as she approached the frustrated adolescent. "Honestly, I could hear you all the way from the other end."
"Ugh, mind your business." Deseir growled under her breath.
"Says the girl that constantly commented on my statements just a few hours ago. Honestly, how hypocritical can you be?" Willow asked, that apathetic tone evident in her voice.
"Y-you...!" Deseir growled. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me or something!?"
"It wouldn't be much of a fight." Willow said. "Bulbasaur has an advantage over your Squirtle."
"That doesn't mean anything! It takes skill to battle!"
"And do you honestly think you have that skill right now?" Deseir winced at Willow's question.
"W-well, neither do you." Deseir tried to snap back.
"Whatever. If you want to battle so badly then I'll be sure to-" Willow was saying, but she cut herself off as something else caught her attention.
"What's wrong? Afraid to fight me?" Deseir pouted, but was secretly relieved.
"No, you idiot. Listen." Willow said, while also putting a finger to her lips as a sign to tell the older girl to be quiet. Deseir reluctantly quieted down and concentrated. She could hear a buzzing sound from the distance. And it was only getting louder. Was something coming closer?
"W-what is that?" Deseir asked, now more concerned with what is making the sound rather than her argument with Willow.
"Something nasty." Willow replied. "Stay still." The sound was even louder now, and they thought someone was screaming. Willow grimaced and brought her arm up slightly while Deseir covered her gasp in horror. Bulbasaur stood ready to fight the challenge upfront while Squirtle remained by it's trainer's side. The screaming became clearer and clearer over the droning buzzing. Some of the bushes rustled and the heartbeats of Willow and Deseir were now pounding against their chests out of fear and a bit of anxiety. From the bushes, the source of the screaming came bursting out. It was Elijah, the boy from Aquacorde Town who gave them their starting Pokemon. "You...?" Willow said, relaxing a bit. "Why are you running?"
Elijah stopped running and stood panting in front of the two girls. "Huff...huff..." He gasped, taking in gulps of air. "Let's just say... a swarm wasn't happy to see me...!"
"S-swarm?" Deseir asked nervously. "What? Bug Pokemon?"
"Right..." Elijah said. The buzzing was getting increasingly louder as they now knew Bug type Pokemon were after Elijah. "I recommend we all run now."
"W-why!?"
"Because when they're angry they attack anything within their reach."
"Did you hear that?" Jeremiah pointed out again. "It's sounds like collective screaming. Though it's getting quieter."
"Yeah, I heard that too." Thomas pointed out. Rika had stepped out of hiding and found the two boy's pondering at what they heard.
"What are you guys up to?" Rika asked.
"O-oh. You're that... Rika girl, right?" Thomas replied. "We were just thinking about something."
"What kind of something?"
"People screaming..." Jeremiah pointed out, then realized how that sounded. "That sounds... kind of crazy but... we heard it."
"Interesting. I couldn't hear a thing from where I was." Rika pointed out.
"Well, it's true. You probably weren't paying attention or something." Thomas suggested. That seemed plausible.
"That. Or maybe your both trying to trick me." Rika declared with her no nonsense attitude.
"W-why would we do that!?" Jeremiah asked in confusion. "Besides, it sounded close."
"Then it got further away, like it was running."
"Okay then, do you have any proof?"
"Proof...?" Thomas asked.
"Yes. Surely if you can make such bizarre claims, then you should have some form of sufficient proof."
"How can we have proof of that brief moment? Why are you suspicious anyway?" Jeremiah asked. "We've done nothing to make you think that way."
"True. But you haven't exactly done anything to warrant trust." Rika pointed out. She had a point, albeit a little confusing. "How about you take me to where you think the alleged screaming took place?" Both boys were shocked.
"What why?" Jeremiah asked.
"I want to know if I can trust your word." Rika explained. "Plain and simple."
"For something we don't have...?" Thomas groaned. "I'm not sure how though..."
To avoid any further delay, I'm putting this chapter up for now. Next chapter will be put up... whenever I feel like!