Harry didn't have a great sense of direction, but he had a map of the region to help him find his way. Riolu wandered alongside him, taking in the scenery with an innocent smile.
"Okay," Harry said, "the nearest Pokemon Gym is in Oreburgh City. We could stay the night in Jubelive City and then it's about three days walk from there."
"Rio, Rio," Riolu flexed his muscles slightly. Harry smiled and put the map away.
"I know you can travel for a day and a night," he said, "But I can't."
Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes. A small Pokemon that looked like a blue and black lion cub appeared. It looked at them.
"A Shinx," Harry brought out his pokedex.
"Shinx, the Flash Pokemon. When in trouble it glows and the extension and contraction of its muscles generate electricity."
"Well it's not glowing now," Harry examined the Shinx, "How about we try and catch it?" Riolu looked at him, then at the Shinx.
"Shinx!" said the Flash Pokemon and stretched its legs. Electricity sparked and Harry took that as a sign that it was ready to battle.
"Riolu, use Quick Attack!" Harry ordered and Riolu darted forwards and slammed into Shinx. The Flash Pokemon quickly recovered and became surrounded by electricity. It then lunged forwards and slammed into Riolu with astonishing strength considering its tiny size. Riolu crashed into a tree. "Are you okay, Riolu?" Riolu struggled to stand up then fell on one knee. Shinx turned up its nose and turned away. Riolu angrily picked himself up.
"Rio, Riolu!" he called to Shinx. Shinx looked back, smirked and then leapt at Riolu, bearing its small fangs.
"Hidden Power!" Harry called and Riolu glowed white for a moment before firing white orbs at the Shinx. The Flash Pokemon was hit in mid-air and fell to the ground with a surprised yelp, "Quick Attack!" Riolu darted forwards and slammed into Shinx before it could recover. Harry threw a Poke Ball. The ball sucked Shinx inside, wobbled once, twice, three times then went still. "Yes!" Harry grinned at Riolu, "Well done, Riolu. We caught it."
"Riolu," Riolu smiled and nodded then winced slightly.
"That Spark attack hurt didn't it?" said Harry, "I don't know how it had so much power." He checked his pokedex.
"Shinx's Special Ability is Rivalry. This increases its Attack power when it is fighting an opponent of the same gender but decreases it when it is fighting an opponent of the opposite gender. Rivalry does not activate at all when battling a genderless Pokemon."
"That explains it," Harry said, "So this Shinx must be male." He took out a Potion and sprayed it on Riolu. The Emanation Pokemon smiled gratefully and stood up straight again, "Come on, let's go."
Eventually Harry stopped for lunch. He gave some Pokemon food to Riolu, then opened Shinx's Poke Ball. Shinx looked rather disgruntled.
"Hi," Harry said. Shinx turned away. Harry offered him some Pokemon food. Shinx sniffed it curiously, then bit his hand. "Ow!" Shinx smirked and turned away to find his own food. Harry looked at his bleeding hand.
"Riolu?" asked Riolu.
"I'm fine," Harry assured him, "But that Shinx isn't very friendly." He bandaged the bite and started to eat, "Just make sure he doesn't run off will you?"
"Shinx!" Shinx looked annoyed. He considered running off to be a sign of cowardice.
"Excuse me!" said a voice and Harry stood up swiftly as a ten year old girl approached him, "Hello, I'm Hayley."
"Hello, I'm Harry," said Harry.
"I want to battle with you," Hayley said simply. Harry glanced at Riolu and Shinx. Shinx's eyes instantly lit up and he darted forwards.
"Okay, Shinx is ready," Harry said shrugging, "How about you Riolu?" Riolu looked up and wiped the last of his food away, before nodding. Harry turned back to Hayley "Two on two?"
"Right," Hayley nodded, "Go Kricketot!" A small Bug type Pokemon appeared. Shinx stretched his legs and sparked eagerly. Harry scanned Kricketot with his pokedex.
"Kricketot, the Cricket Pokemon. It has small legs and stumbles often. When it does so its stiff antennae sound like a xylophone."
"Alright Shinx use Spark!" Harry ordered and Shinx lunged at Kricketot.
"Bide!" called Hayley and Kricketot tensed and glowed slightly. Shinx slammed into Kricketot and knocked it backwards but judging by the lack of damage, it seemed Hayley's Kricketot was female.
"Do it again, Shinx!" Shinx hit Kricketot with another electrically charged tackle and Kricketot skidded backwards.
"Let 'em have it, Kricketot!" called Hayley and Kricketot released a powerful blast of white light. Shinx was thrown off his feet and crashed to the ground.
"Shinx!" Harry cried. The Flash Pokemon did not respond.
"Great work, Kricketot," said Hayley, "Now return." Kricketot disappeared into its Poke Ball.
"Shinx, you have a rest," Harry recalled his Electric type, then turned to Riolu, "Your turn Riolu." Riolu nodded and stepped forwards.
"Since you're using a Fighting type, I'll use Starly!" Hayley released a tiny bird like Pokemon which landed on the ground. Harry scanned it too.
"Starly, the Starling Pokemon. Weak individually, Starly often form groups but will bicker amongst themselves if a flock gets too large."
"Weak individually huh?" Harry said to himself, "Alright then Riolu, Quick Attack!" Riolu shot towards Starly, leaving a white trail behind him as he ran.
"Dodge it, Starly!" called Hayley and Starly flew into the sky to avoid the Quick Attack, "Use Wing Attack!" Starly's wings glowed white and it dived down before slamming into Riolu and knocking him off his feet.
"You okay?" Harry asked and Riolu picked himself up. That Wing Attack hurt, but he was ready for more, "Hidden Power!" Riolu obeyed.
"Dodge it and use Wing Attack!" Hayley commanded and once again Starly dodged the glowing orbs and lunged at Riolu, with its glowing wings outstretched.
"Riolu, dodge it!" Harry called and Riolu somersaulted over Starly to avoid the attack, "Hidden Power!" This time the Hidden Power struck Starly and sent it sprawling, "Good work. Now use Quick Attack!" Riolu slammed into Starly before it could recover. "Finish it with Brick Break!" Riolu jumped and raised a hand, intending to strike Starly with a powerful chop.
"Starly, Double Team!" called Hayley and Starly split into a dozen copies. Riolu's Brick Break passed harmlessly through one of the copies. The Emanation Pokemon looked around. Harry wasn't sure what to do, "Wing Attack again!"
"Starly!" Starly slammed into Riolu and he hit the ground hard.
"Riolu!" Harry knelt beside the Emanation Pokemon. Riolu was unconscious.
"Yay!" cried Hayley, "Great work, Starly!" Her Pokemon landed on her shoulder and rubbed its head against her cheek affectionately.
"You have a rest, Riolu," Harry said and put Riolu back in his Poke Ball. He looked at Hayley. She was still congratulating her Starly, "Congratulations," Harry said simply.
"Thanks," Hayley replied and recalled her Pokemon. There was no need for either of them to say anything else. Harry turned and walked away.
When Harry arrived in Jubilife City, the first thing he heard about was the Pokemon contest taking place there. More interested in battling than in contests, Harry paid no attention to it, other than noting that the blue haired girl was quite cute. He rented a room in the Pokemon Centre for the night.
Harry thought about his battle with Hayley. It was clear that she wasn't much more experienced than he was, but she had beaten him without losing a single Pokemon. It was one thing to study Pokemon. Battling with them was very different.
Harry was lost. The map wasn't really helping; he'd never been great at reading them. Riolu was doing his best to help but there was very little he could do.
"Damn," Harry growled, "Oreburgh City is in the East but I have no idea which way we're going. A compass would be useful right now. Or maybe a Nosepass or Probopass."
Harry sat by a river and let Shinx out for some fresh air. The proud Electric type still refused to eat out of his hand, but on the bright side, he had never disobeyed him in battle.
Suddenly something moved in the water. Riolu, being the most observant partially thanks to his connection to Aura, noticed it first.
"Ri!" he called and pointed at the water, just as a weasel like Pokemon emerged. Harry took out his pokedex.
"Buizel the Sea Weasel Pokemon. Buizel spins its twin tails like a propeller and rides river currents with incredible speed!"
"Bui," said the Buizel, nodding to the trio, before going to a tree and picking a berry. It munched the berry nonchalantly.
"A Water type would be useful to have on my team," Harry said, but let the Buizel finish its meal first, "Hey Buizel, want to battle?" Buizel glanced at him, then at Shinx and Riolu. Shinx sparked slightly. Buizel looked a little intimidated by the electricity but shrugged it off and stepped forwards.
"Bui!" cried Buizel and shot a Water Gun from its mouth at Shinx.
"Dodge it and use Spark!" Harry ordered and Shinx avoided the Water Gun, shrouded himself in electricity, and charged. Buizel jumped out of the way and spun around, shooting a Sonicboom from its twin tails. The attack knocked Shinx right into the river. Harry hoped Shinx could swim.
He could. Shinx emerged a moment later, soaking wet and furious. Buizel grinned and then surrounded itself with water and lunged, using Aqua Jet.
"Spark!" Harry called and Shinx intercepted Aqua Jet with an electrically charged tackle. The water around Buizel conducted the electricity and the extra boost from Shinx's Rivalry enabled him to send the Sea Weasel Pokemon flying. Harry threw a Poke Ball. It wobbled three times, then went still. Not one to cheer or punch the air, Harry just smiled as he picked up the Poke Ball. He tried to pat Shinx's head gratefully but the Flash Pokemon shrugged him off, so Harry decided to just recall him.