AN: Hey guys, I'm back! I spent about three days straight procrastinating before finally starting this chapter, so yeah. Sorry. And I had a wedding to attend. I put ginger ale in one cousin's Coke and after I put cranberry juice in another's, they told me I had problems.
Tori had traveled through half of Route 101 before night began to fall. She had been camping before in Johto with her family, but it was a bit different in Hoenn. Mainly because she had no tent. And she had to actually take care of others instead of making sure she was fine and let the adults take care of the rest. So she settled under a group of trees and bushes and let her two Pokemon out. Blaze and her unnamed Treecko emerged in a flash of light and she took a long look at her newest Pokemon. The teen had absolutely no idea what to name the Treecko, so taking out the Pokedex, she looked up to see what evolutions the Pokemon would have.
"Hmmm…. You know, you look like you have blades on your arms in your evolutions, and that seems pretty cool to me. How about I call you Blade?" Tori asked the Treecko, who was currently in a tree above her. The Pokemon nodded, and Tori proceeded to look up Blade's moves.
"Pound, Leer, and Absorb, huh? We'll work on that tomorrow, but in the meantime, both of you get some sleep." Tori's voice came out slightly stricter than she intended, and the Treecko threw a nut at her head. Blaze didn't seem to mind, curling up next to his trainer.
Blaze is definitely closer to me, probably because he was my starter, but Blade is going to take some wearing down before he even begins to start trusting me. Will he even listen to me in battle? What if he won't eat what I try to give him? WAIT. Did I even feed them?!
"DAMMIT!" Both Pokemon jumped, Blaze with his back flared up, and Blade with a menacing glare on his face, looking around. Neither saw anything except their frustrated trainer, digging through her bag. "I forgot to feed you guys!" The Cyndaquil quickly calmed down, but Blade wasn't about to let her get away with that.
The teen really should've seen it coming. The Treecko wasn't used to her, and probably wouldn't put up with her at first, either. So the Pound attack to her back while she was looking through her bag for the food capsules should have been expected. Blaze looked on in horror, but didn't make a move to help his teammate or trainer. Before Tori can react, the Treecko reaches the safety of the trees. The girl glares at the Pokemon before going back to searching for the Pokemon food. If looks could kill, Blade would be six feet under by now.
After getting her team's food ready and a granola bar for herself, Tori settled down against a tree as far away from Blade as possible. She had attempted to return the Treecko, but the Pokemon was too fast for the red beam of light to hit if he didn't want it to hit him. Blaze snuggled underneath the crook of the teen's arm, and quickly fell asleep.
It took longer for Tori to fall asleep. It was her first night alone in a long time. No, she corrected herself, I have Blaze and Blade for company. I'll be fine. But even with that mindset, it took a while for the girl to fall asleep.
OoOoO
"Come on, Blaze, we are working on your endurance today! Look at Blade go!" Tori gestured to said Pokemon, who was nearby, jumping from tree to tree with ease. He had been doing so for a while now while her starter was a panting mess.
"Cynda- quil…." Blaze protested, finally having enough and sitting down right in the middle of the grass. Tori sighed. It was obvious the Cyndaquil wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon. She began looking through her bag for the opened water bottle labeled 'Blaze'.
"Are you sure you aren't pushing your Cyndaquil too hard? He seems pretty tired to me." A boy said from behind her, causing her to jump.
A boy with brown hair, mostly covered by a white hat, was a few feet away from her, with an orange Pokemon by his side. Tori immediately reached for her Pokedex, and pointed it at the Pokemon. It says in a monotone voice, "Torchic, the Chick Pokemon. Torchic sticks with its Trainer, following behind with unsteady steps. This Pokémon breathes fire of over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, including fireballs that leave the foe scorched black."
"Well, sounds like a Pokemon I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley." Tori muttered. She was pretty sure the Torchic heard that, because the Chick Pokemon puffed itself up even further, which she didn't think was possible. She heard rustling in the trees to her right, and looked in the direction in time to see Blade emerge from the trees, staring down the Torchic, who shrank under the Treecko's glare. The boy immediately picked up his Torchic and held it close, away from Tori's Treecko. "Isn't that the problem Treecko that was left behind?" He asked her, eyeing the green Pokemon warily.
"Uh, he was the last Pokemon Professor Birch usually gives to beginners…." Tori trailed off.
"Well, I'm Brendan Birch, and I've helped raise that Treecko ever since he hatched from his egg. But if you honestly plan on keeping him and somehow get him to listen to you, that itself would be a miracle. My dad even tried giving the Treecko to elite trainers, who usually would've been delighted to have a powerful and rare Pokemon, but they all returned him within the first day or two." Tori couldn't help but glance at Blade after hearing that. She had a feeling the Treecko would be a lot tougher to train than she originally thought.
So when she heard the phrase "let's have a battle", the girl's head whipped around to face Brendan so fast it caused physical pain. Blaze had managed to pass out while the two were talking, tired out from all the walking, so the hopes of fighting fire with fire was out, so that left…. Blade. Tori returned the Cyndaquil while Brendan's Torchic hopped out of his arms.
"Blade, you ready?" Tori asked, slightly worried about battling with him after hearing more about his background, then stopped, realizing something. He's my Pokemon, right? I can't just constantly worry whether Blade will listen to me or not if I don't try to work with him!
While she was giving herself this pep talk, Brendan took his chance to make the first move. "Torch, Ember, now!" Torch immediately began trying to pelt Blade with small flames, landing a few.
"Blade, go for the trees!" Tori was relieved when the Treecko made a dash for the trees nearby, where he would have the advantage. She could now barely see the Pokemon among the leaves, and Brendan couldn't attempt any Embers without risking burning everything down. Without a command, Blade leapt from his hiding spot, hitting Torch with a Pound, straight to the head. Blade then managed to get in an Absorb, before Torch threw him off.
"Torch, Ember again then Scratch!" The Torchic again pelted Blade with small flames, until he got up close, then managed to scratch him with his claws. Tori ordered a Leer, but the Treecko went in for a Pound attack instead. When he managed to land that, Torch fell. Both trainers waited for the Torchic to get up, but when he didn't, Brendan returned him and clipped the Poke Ball to his belt. Her Treecko was also suffering from a few burns himself, so Tori returned Blade as well.
"That was a pretty great battle." Brendan admitted, digging into his pocket for cash. After handing it over, he said, "I'm not sure whether or not you're going to keep Treecko, er, Blade, but if you ever end up deciding to give him up and the lab is too far away, the Day Care near Mauville will probably take him." Tori froze, then nodded, not saying a word.
As she continued on towards Oldale Town, she couldn't help but wonder if she would ever actually be forced to give a Pokemon up.