A.S.107
June 23rd
Today, the first step of my dream might come true.
And then she was awake to sunlight streaming in through her window. It was morning, time for her to visit Professor Rowan's lab. After a breakfast where sour food made up the majority, Dawn and Piplup headed out.
Barry would have probably raced the entire way to Sandgem town in his hurry. Dawn and Piplup set off down Route 201 at their own pace, enjoying what was probably their last hours together. Along the way, a few wild Starly tried to attack them, but each time Piplup was able to ward them off with some pounding. Maybe it was the few battles he'd had since temporarily coming into her hands, but he was certainly stronger.
"Nice one," a guy on the route applauded when Piplup took down his fourth Starly with ease. "Let me guess – you're starting out on your journey?"
Dawn nodded. Technically, she had to return home after getting the Pokédex from Professor Rowan so she and her mom could pick out a starter for her, but in a way she was all ready to go, bags packed and license shiny.
He smiled in a friendly way. "Congratulations. Tell you what – I'm a clerk at the Sandgem Mart, and I'm handing out potions to advertise our goods to trainers. Would you like one?"
"Are they free?" Dawn asked to be sure. She didn't want any strings attached to gifts.
He laughed. "Of course! Most Marts will give you a free item if you go there for the first time as a trainer."
"Then yes, please."
It was a potion. A plain, basic potion, nothing special or fancy. Nonetheless, it was nice, getting free things on her journey. Her mom had promised that she would help out if Dawn was ever in financial trouble, but other than that she was supposed to be on her own. Lyra, if she remembered correctly, had been a bit creeped out because a lot of 'old men' had given her things in the beginning of her journey way back in March, but had admitted that the freebies had been helpful so far. "Thanks!"
"No problem! Drop by the store if you ever need something!"
Promising that she would, Dawn continued on with Piplup until the tall grass began to recede and foot-worn ground showed through.
At the entrance to the town, she recognized the professor's assistant from yesterday. The boy named Lucas who now had a Pokémon with him as well, a red monkey with fire for a tail. A Chimchar – one of the three primary stages of Sinnoh's 'Big Three', of which Piplup and Turtwig were also a part of.
Apparently he recognized her too, because he came up to her, Chimchar sitting on his shoulder. "Hi," he said with a smile, much less awkward than before. "You must be Dawn."
"Hi." She extended a hand, trying to be friendly. "Lucas, right?"
He shook her hand. "Yeah. I've been waiting for you. Please just follow me this way – the professor's been waiting for you."
"Really?" Her stomach contracted – and it wasn't the several homemade muffins she had gorged on this morning, although they were swirling uncomfortably at the news now. Had he been waiting long for her? She wasn't late, was she? "Where?" she asked reluctantly, pushing down the nerve-wracking 'oh shit' feeling.
He pointed to the largest and shiniest building around. It looked smart. Every beam and brick practically radiated smartness. "That's the lab," he explained.
"Oh, okay." Not having anything else to say, the two of them began to step towards the double sliding doors when it slid open on its own. Barry came running out, narrowly missing hitting the metal. Dawn and Lucas weren't as lucky as the metal was, as he managed to run into both of them. "Ow!"
"Ow! Hey!"
So Barry was done with . . . whatever the professor had wanted to do. Now he stood, brushing dust off his palms, and made a face. "I'm not sure if he's scary, or just totally out there," he said to her, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Lucas bristled, losing some of his friendliness at the unintended insult towards the Professor, but before he could really lose his friendly face Barry waved with a huge smile. "Well, you're in for a real big surprise, but I won't ruin it for you, so see ya!"
And then Barry dashed off to the direction of Twinleaf before she could get a word in edgewise. Lucas took a deep breath and returned to his normal self. "Your friend's always in a hurry, isn't he?" he asked, grinning slightly. "Alright, let's go in.
It was a sterile environment obviously meant for research and, to a lesser degree, education. There were aides in white coats writing and looking into microscopes, and shelves filled with books. Lucas ignored them all and just continued on walking in deeper though, so she hurried after him with Piplup at her feet. He refused to be carried in her arms and she would respect that.
The professor himself was also in a white lab coat now, having traded his trench coat for the indoor lab. He had been reading a report at his desk in deep thought, but looked up when they came closer. "Hello, Dawn." He nodded to her. "Excellent timing. Come, sit." He gestured at the seat across his desk.
She relaxed a bit at that and did as she was told. So she wasn't late. Good.
Professor Rowan extended a hand to her, palm up. It was a hard, calloused hand that had seen many things, with the scars to prove the tales it told. "May I?"
Dawn handed the ball back with one last look towards Piplup. She would never forget him, she knew.
Instead of returning him, though, the professor merely checked some stats and then looked at Piplup, observing him for qualities only visible to him. The Poké ball was simply rolled around in his hands, toyed with while the professor thought. "Hn," he said at last. "It seems that you've bonded with this Pokémon."
Hadn't that been the purpose of this all? She asked him in more polite terms.
"Past my expectations," he clarified. "Very well. You may keep him."
A second later, when what he had said registered, Dawn jerked, nearly falling out of her seat. That, she hadn't expected. Big Three Pokémon in early stages were popular as starters, more so after the programs implemented by governments to promote their use, and she had always considered getting a water type for her first Pokémon, but she hadn't imagined the Piplup joining her. Truthfully, she hadn't dared. "Really?!"
Professor Rowan glanced down at the Piplup. Amazement on his face, as well as clear joy. He was making the right choice by giving her the Piplup. "Positive," he replied. "Consider him a gift from me, with best wishes for your journey. Would you like to give him a nickname?"
"Yes! But, um." She grinned sheepishly. "How do I make it official?"
He tapped at the Poké ball and pulled up something. "Normally, when you catch a Pokémon, the option for nicknames will automatically be offered," he explained, passing the sphere back to her with the keyboard waiting. Her Poké ball. Her Pokémon. "Once keyed in, the algorithms will lock the name permanently unless taken to an official name rater. For safety and security purposes, of course. What will you be naming this one?"
Dawn looked at Piplup. He was cute, she agreed, but there was more to him than that. There was a soul that wanted to become grand and great, and she knew there was ambition in the little guy, ambition in a heart far surpassing his current small shell. She had seen it in the battle between him and Barry's Turtwig, and recognized the fellow spark of determination to be the best. He was, like she had thought before, a mirror of her.
This one was born to be a king of the oceans, just like how many Sinnohan Iron Queens of the past were said to have used Empoleon as their right-hand Pokémon. And now he was her starter.
He needed a fitting name.
"Neptune," she said.
Piplup looked away, but he was obviously pleased.
Professor Rowan nodded his approval. "A fine name," he said as she keyed it into the ball. "And here is your Pokédex. I took the liberty of synchronizing it to your trainer account and ID already."
"Thank you," Dawn took the offered device. It was shiny like only new things could be, made out of some kind of light but firm metal painted red and black. The clamshell design of the Pokédex kept itself closed with some sort of magnetism, but opened easily with slight force.
"You will still have to register your fingerprints and activate the voice recognition, but otherwise, everything is in order." The professor took a sip from a travel mug on the desk, and then handed her a package. "This is the charger, as well as a portable electricity converter. It also contains five Poké balls and a TM for the move Return."
At her surprised look his beard quivered in amusement. "In your application you mentioned that you planned on becoming the Champion?"
She gave him a half-smile. Champion. The title's glory was amongst the veiled mystique of myths now, when the identity of the strongest person in the region was kept a secret.
It used to be otherwise. Before, the reigning Champion was the one who would make the decisions and call the big shots with most of the League affairs, as well as a lot of other things. The Champion was the unofficial leader of the people, the face of the region, the symbol of power. The Champion was the one revered. The Champion was the one who ruled, just like the ancient Iron Queens had in the past before the tradition was ended abruptly.
The powers of a Champion had slipped considerably in contemporary history, even before 11/9, but the significance of the position hadn't changed. A Champion, former or reigning, was still a one-man army that was easily a region's most valuable asset.
In A.S.99, the year Dawn had turned five, the world had been nearing the end of a war on a scale that had never been seen before. Orre's former government and the Orange Islands had declared war against Kanto two years prior, and the former Commonwealth pledged their alliance to Kanto in a show of gracious forgiveness.
Sinnoh had promised to help as well, partly because the region had been a part of the Commonwealth once, and partly because Orre's derisive attitude towards the Pokémon gods had always been a source of friction between Sinnoh and the odd region. The reigning Champion at the time, Victor Aguilera, Sinnoh's Seventeenth and reigning Champion, had pledged the services of seven hundred thousand League-related men and women, including infantry, engineers, naval officers, pilots and doctors.
Kanto thought it was too little, Sinnoh thought it was too much and old historical hatreds were sparked up. Victor, despite his bright smile and friendly attitude, wasn't popular for his choice, especially when the lack of volunteers led him to argue for conscription.
His choice started protests all across Sinnoh, but Stark Island – well-known by its nickname 'Battle Zone' – was particularly furious. Never having been close to mainland Sinnoh, its people resented the idea of having to fight a war they had no connection to. Combined with Victor being a devout follower of Palkia and Manaphy, and the Heatran supporters were incensed. They saw the residents of Stark Island being discriminated against, ignored and put down because they were the minority, because they were not a part of mainland Sinnoh – claims that may not have been far from the truth, considering the attitudes towards the general area of the island at the time.
From the sparks of conflict and tension, a group dubbing themselves Inferno rose. It was a group formed out of radical extremists who followed the words of Heatran to the very scratches made in the igneous stone plates from the time when Iron Queens ruled Sinnoh. They saw it as their duty to cleanse the region of the disgrace that was the Champion, just as Heatran had cleansed sins with her flames.
When Champion Victor and the Elite Four at the time – Apollo Lloyd, Will Gibson, Lark Rowan and Drina Cho – were visiting the Global Trade Station in Jubilife, members of Inferno struck. Ten men took in what was later reported to be fifty-four Graveller and six Golem into the building, and had them use explosion simultaneously. Most of the explosion had been focused around the central area where the Champion and the Elite Four were, but the collapsing building, the fire and the smoke had killed a thousand, forty-seven more with later injuries.
Five of the strongest trainers in the Sinnoh region, killed, just like that. Jubilife's darkest day, and arguably Sinnoh's as well.
As the region, suddenly thrown into chaos, struggled to regain footing in anarchic times, other extreme opposition groups began to gain their courage not only in Sinnoh, but in other regions. After Hoenn's regional professor was assassinated and a third attempt was made on his life, Hoenn's Ninth Champion Steven Stone resigned.
Impacts and repercussions from the bombing were definitely felt all over the world. Wallace, the Tenth Champion of Hoenn, had kept to a passive policy, remaining neutral in a region that was historically volatile due to religious conflicts. Every region's budget on League security doubled, at the very least. Lance, Champion of Johto, had been held back from engaging with Team Rocket a few years back when the organization had been running rampant in Kanto and Johto because Kanto's position had been vacant and Johto hadn't wanted to risk losing their own Champion.
And Sinnoh, as the only region that didn't hold League Tournaments every certain number of years to choose a Champion never revealed just who had taken over as Champion after Victor's death, nor the new Elite Four.
Essentially, they hid the Champion, the strongest piece on the board, the ace in the hole, the one-person army out of public sight.
Dawn didn't like that. Out of sight, out of mind. All the Champions had been loved – even Victor, whose popularity had been at an all-time low right before his assassination, had been forgiven and made a martyr, a beloved friend and a saint after his death. It was just what the position brought. The Champion's image was glorified; idolized; worshipped. When no one knew who the Champion was, there was no one to look to. No obstacle to overcome, no final frontier to confront.
There was no face to the person who was supposedly the strongest one within the region. It was a loss of connection between power and the rest of society.
But more than that, it was humiliating. The strong didn't have to hide. In fact, they should not have had to hide. That only meant that Inferno – the bullies – won. Yes, Inferno had been psychically tracked and systematically taken down with a fervour that matched their devotion, but their legacy lived on as a reminder every day when Sinnoh's history classes could only name seventeen champions, when trainers had no role model that doubled as the great mountain to conquer, when the face of the region was a blank.
She planned on filling that blank with her face. She planned on changing everything. She planned on becoming Champion.
"I do," she replied.
The former Champion didn't smirk in amusement at the bold words – coincidentally, words he had heard from the boy before her. He didn't make sarcastic remarks, didn't give condescending advice and didn't talk about 'back in his day' when 'he was Champion'. Nathaniel Rowan, Tenth Champion of Sinnoh, only nodded in his stoic way. "Then perhaps it will help."
"Thank you." And she really was grateful. If she could – without appearing as a total weirdo or draining her bank account considerably – she would have showered him in a ton of Gracidea flowers.
Professor Rowan extended a hand. She took and shook it as firmly as she could. "Then good luck," he said. "Your journey starts now."
Technically, her journey didn't start the moment Professor Rowan shook her hand and declared the beginning. First she had to head back home with her new Pokémon – her Pokémon – and let her mom know.
After being told, her mom smiled and nodded. Maybe it had only been a surprise to Dawn that the Pokémon given to test them would end up being their starters.
Deciding she was over-thinking it, she went upstairs to grab her things. All her bags were packed, so it was only a matter of changing out of the casual clothes she was wearing into more travel-suited attire. Her waterproof coat, approved of heartily by Uncle Palmer, was already packed in her bag, and it wasn't needed at the moment under the June sun, but she pulled on the League hat and a thin scarf. Then she pulled it off, stared at her reflection for a few seconds, debating the need to wear the tuque. Like all Leagues, the Sinnoh League gave out hats to trainers with the Poké ball logos, but most Sinnohan hats focused on keeping heat rather than offering protection from the sun due to climate and weather differences.
And as enthusiastic as she was to be heading out on her journey . . .
. . . what person wore a tuque in the middle of June, journey or otherwise?
It wasn't like she lived in Snowpoint, the city of eternal snow or anything. Dawn stuffed the tuque into her bag and settled for straightening out the stray strands of hair and her favourite yellow hair clips disturbed by the knit hat being pulled on and off her head. Then, she grabbed her bag and headed down after taking a final sweeping look at her room.
Her mom was already pulling out her favourite foods and having Jackie set the table. Neptune eyed the spicy stew with vegetables and Swinub meat, and decided that he'd much prefer the sour Pokémon food.
Dawn inhaled the food, and Neptune mimicked her. "Careful not to choke," Johanna laughed when he did, and handed him some water. Juni – or Jumpy, as Dawn always called her – the Kanghaskan brought another plate of food, this one for her mother, as well as a muffin tin full of freshly baked goods. Behind her, Jackie followed with the pitcher of mixed berry juice.
Johanna sat down in her seat and began to eat. "I have to say, I kind of envy you, kiddo. Wish I could go instead."
"You could," she suggested, taking a large bite of the stew, savouring the meat and the vegetable. "I'm sure Professor Rowan would like the help," she added, voice muffled by the food in her cheeks.
Her mom laughed. "I'm joking, sweetie. You have fun! Just call, okay? And don't get into trouble."
"I smell muffins," Barry's mom said as she walked in. It didn't bother anyone that there was no knocking, no 'may I come in'. They were practically extended family, anyways. "Oh, and by the way, has Barry dropped by to bum some food off of you?"
"Hm? Oh, Barry? He's not here. Care for a pecha berry muffin?" Jackie picked up the plate and held it out towards their neighbour.
"I'd love one," Aunt Margie said as she plucked one from the Medicham's offering fingers. "But Barry! He just barges in, shouts that he's going on an adventure and runs out before I can get a word in. He's Palmer's son," she added. Whenever Barry did something 'good', Margaret claimed him as her son, but whenever he decided to be reckless he instantly became 'Palmer's son'. Barry found it hilarious rather than insulting that he was passed between his parents depending on what he did, and so did Dawn.
Dawn paused in her chewing, but continued on eventually. It figured that Barry would leave after being evaluated by Professor Rowan as soon as he could. They were both confident about being allowed to go just as their mothers were, but unlike Dawn and Barry the moms wished that the unavoidable could be avoided for just a bit longer. The blonde woman's face grew a little wistful. "I've been meaning to give him something . . . ."
Dawn swallowed. "I'll take it." Knowing Barry, he wouldn't come back home unless he had earned at least one badge. It would be easier and faster for her to catch up to him and then deliver the package.
"Thank you, Dawn." Barry's mom looked a bit more relieved now.
And so, Dawn shoved the additional weight of a thin package into her bag. It was wrapped, but it was also thin and wide. Like a book, maybe. Not worth accessing storage for.
"Well, I should get going too." She stood up and shouldered her bag. After a thought, Dawn took a muffin – oran berry – and chewed before she stood up and packed some to take on her journey. She stuffed them into the physical compartment of her bag, not accessing the item storage technology that allowed her to carry most of her travel gear in the same fashion as a Poké ball could carry a giant Wailord. She'd probably end up eating them all by the time they got to Sandgem.
Then, she was ready to go. "Bye, mom." She let herself get engulfed in a hug and photographed. She had to pull on her hat for the sake of the League symbol being in the picture, and then fix her stray strands and hair clips again, but it was fine. "I promise I'll call every day."
The coordinator sniffed, eyes glittering with proud tears. "Just remember to drop in every now and then – and if you don't come home for winter I'll burn your old journals instead of a Yule log."
Snickering slightly, Dawn adjusted the straps of her bag one final time and skipped out of the door after another large hug.
Johanna shook her head, putting the muffins aside so they would cool down. "She thinks I'm joking," she said to Margaret, who laughed breathlessly. The two women shuffled a bit, suddenly far too aware that their children were gone because they had grown up.
It was a hollow moment for them both.
Ever since she was five years old, she had kept some sort of a journal. In her earlier years it had been a diary with all the pink fluff and childish words that made her either cringe or laugh while reading through careful cursive, but had progressively evolved into a log before turning into a report of a sort on everything and anything important that happened, as well as an extensive analysis of her day-to-day life and a planner for her plans, both present and future ones.
As fate would have it, she had filled the last page of her previous journal up yesterday, writing about Piplup's – Neptune's – behaviour. Dawn dropped by the Sandgem Mart, and picked up a spiral-bound notebook with a hard and plain cover. In addition to that, she spent a quarter of the money she had deposited into her trainer debit card buying potions, antidotes and paralyze heals. With no badges to her name, she couldn't yet buy more advanced Pokémon-related merchandise, but even basic medicine was important, and the professor had been generous enough to give her Poké balls. They wouldn't be enough, but it did allow her to use the money for something else.
And speaking of Poké balls . . . .
According to her Pokédex, which helped her search for a lot of information, the Pokémon in this general area were fairly common ones, seen all through the Sinnoh region. Lots of trainers used them in the basic and first stages of evolution because they were easy to catch, and easy to train. With the exception of a water type, any of them would have been a helpful member on her team. Maybe not her main team, but helpful now for sure.
"Ready?" Dawn said to Neptune before she stepped into the grass of Route 202, entering what was marked as wild territory, her Piplup keeping an eye out.
In the middle of the route, the grass in front of them rustled. Dawn stopped, and Neptune followed her example. The two of them watched as a blue and black-furred Pokémon with bits of gold burst through and skidded to a stop in front of them.
A Shinx. Common enough in the lower and middle western parts of the Sinnoh region, but they evolved into Luxio, then Luxray – powerful Pokémon. And they were electric types, too.
Their commonness would mean that she would get a chance to catch one later in her journey, but the Pokémon in Twinleaf's general area were weaker and younger, and therefore easier to catch, train and teach. Also, if the Shinx was weaker, then it would be less of a threat to her directly.
Yes, she wanted one. And yes, she wanted to catch the one in front of her. Dawn liked the way the Shinx stood, even if she was intimidated by the stance and the glare being shot her way. She guessed it to be the Shinx's ability that was causing a surge of approval for flight rather than fight.
But flight wasn't an option. "Go, Neptune," Dawn ordered, and it was the first time they were fighting another Pokémon with his name.
Neptune ran forwards, ignoring the intimidate, and began to pound away at the Shinx. It wasn't a ham-fisted punch that could tear through concrete, but it was still an attack, and the Shinx didn't appreciate being pounded on the head over and over again even if it was weakened. It threw its body against Neptune, trying to shove him away to gain some room.
That would have been her disadvantage in a normal battle. Not here. Neptune allowed that to happen – and when the Shinx drew back in surprise at the lack of resistance, she threw the ball she had been holding in her hands. The sphere opened and absorbed the Shinx, then closed and fell to the ground where it began to rock back and forth as the chemicals within fought to tame the creature inside. Neptune backed up slightly just as the Poké ball shook one last time and let out a ding of confirmation.
Dawn checked on its stats. Female, low on health with the ability 'intimidate'. No rabies or other troublesome diseases.
She let Shinx out. The chemicals inside the ball had done their job and the Shinx was calmed, more likely to be accepting. Dawn reached out slowly, hand constantly in Shinx's view – she had been wild until half a minute ago, after all, and it was better safe than sorry. Neptune chirped a few things that made the Shinx relax and allowed her to give her a pet, even if she tensed up at her touch and kept squirming to see her hand.
"You're a fierce girl, aren't you?" Dawn asked the Shinx. Another thing about Shinx – they were naturally social creatures. While Luxio and Luxray tended to discriminate and care only for their own unless otherwise brought up, Shinx could connect well to anyone once they were past the initial attack mode.
That was partly why she wanted a Shinx, rather than a Starly or a Bidoof. The mascot of her school in Twinleaf had been a Shinx wearing an everstone collar. She'd done a project on them once; she had more interest in them than the other indigenous species around the Lake Verity area.
Barry had actually gotten interested in that project. Having picked Starly, he declared that he would make a model demonstrating the traits of the family, and then had put more work than she had ever seen him put into anything to the mobile that now hung in the back of the Science classroom.
If he remembered that project, then he either was planning on catching, or had already caught a Starly.
Dawn offered an oran berry muffin, going with the safely bland flavour bread. After she found out just what kinds of food the Shinx liked, she would buy her something, but until then she'd stick to the safe side.
And, speaking of the Shinx . . . . "I'll name you Sekhmet," Dawn said. "Now let's get you healed up."
When she reached out to stroke her slowly, Sekhmet tensed again. Neptune chirped a warning that had her lowering her hackles, but she was still tense as she let Dawn run light fingers through the fur on her head.
After teaching Sekhmet the orders and names for different moves – not a hard task, seeing as she had only fully mastered tackle – they went to test out battles north of Sandgem, because the Pokémon on this route were pretty weak overall.
Fighting the wild Pokémon, Dawn found that while Sekhmet could wear most of them down with tackle, sometimes she had to switch in for the stronger Neptune, who managed to finish off whatever was left. When things got too much they all ran back to the Pokémon Center in Sandgem and got themselves healed, enjoying the absence of a line-up. After every healing, Dawn took the chance to pet Sekhmet. She demonstrated with Neptune first, and the Piplup showed signs of genuinely enjoying the treatment. He still had to warn her to not bite or attack Dawn, though.
So far, Neptune was ahead of Sekhmet, but the Shinx was strong. Far stronger than the other Shinx on the route, if the way she knocked them out was any indicator for her level of power.
She would go far. Again, catching her had been an excellent choice.
They were now wandering down Route 202, further than they had before. "Hey you!"
She looked up at a youngster who emerged from between the trees. "Hey back," she said to him.
"Hey back back," he countered, but continued on before she could counter his counter. "You're a trainer, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Good. I'm a trainer, too! Let's battle!"
It was rather sudden, but Dawn motioned Sekhmet up. "You're on."
The other boy sent out a Starly, who squawked when it laid its eyes on a snarling Sekhmet. "Tackle," she commanded.
"Hawkeye, you too!"
It really did look like she had an advantage over him. Starly wasn't able to attack as efficiently as it could have due to Sekhmet's intimidate, and at this rate they could wear him down faster than he could.
"Don't give up! Quick attack!"
The starly made a few motions in the air, each getting faster, until all of a sudden there was a brownish blur smashing directly into Sekhmet's side. Her Shinx flew, and hit a tree.
"Mespirit!" Dawn's hands flew to her mouth. Sekhmet had just been healed and at the top of her health at the beginning of the battle, but what if she had broken her spine?
"Holy -" the other guy muttered as she ran towards her Shinx, praying to Mespirit for her to be alright.
Sekhmet was unconscious – not seriously injured, as far as she could tell. Dawn quickly returned her, and was relieved to see that the Poké ball didn't report anything wrong with her other than her unconscious state. "Neptune, revenge kill!"
"Hey now," said the youngster nervously, seeing the cold look on Neptune's face. Such an intimidating look was a shame on a Pokémon as cute as a Piplup – it deserved to grace the countenance of a cold-blooded killer. "Let's not do anything rash here."
"It's an expression," she huffed in mild annoyance at him, partly for Sekhmet's KO'd state and partly for him ruining her drama. "He's not going to actually kill your Starly. Neptune, pound the bird!"
The Starly tried to fight back. It really did. It used growl to soften impact and put in a few tackles of its own, but it was no match for Neptune. After winning, he let out a crow and nearly choked as bubbles trickled out of his beak. Her Pokédex and Poké ball, when checked, told her that Neptune had learned a new move. "Sweet!" she said as she collected her winnings from the other guy. "Okay see you bye!"
Then she hightailed it back to the center in Sandgem, where there were only a few lounging trainers and an idle nurse that could immediately look to Sekhmet.
After Sekhmet was healed, she insisted on walking ahead of them. It looked like she wasn't happy that Neptune had gotten even stronger than before; more so because he had gotten stronger after taking out the opponent she had fallen to. The next wild Pokémon they ran into – a wild Shinx – she glared at it so hard it winced and got knocked out easily. According to her Pokédex and the data on the ball, Sekhmet had learned leer. It looked more like glaring daggers to Dawn.
The wild Shinx they ran into after that nearly burst out into tears and almost seemed happy when Sekhmet knocked it out.
"You're doing great," Dawn told her, because she was. It looked like she had calmed down, too.
And then they ran into a wild Starly.
It might have been funny on a comedy show or maybe a cartoon video online. The scene – had it been fiction produced for giggles – would have been titled something like 'Crazy Shinx' or 'Electric Type goes Wild Charging'. It was not funny in real life as Sekhmet literally got into rage mode and nearly ripped the innocent bird apart.
The growl the Starly tried to use didn't seem to placate her at all, and Dawn had to recall her to make her stop. Neptune put the poor Starly out of miserable consciousness with a neat bubble – his new move – and they hurried along, trying to get Sekhmet out of the 'anger zone'.
"It looks like Sekhmet has a grudge against Starly in general now," she said when they were out of the tall grass and her second Pokémon was walking out with them again. Dawn made a mental note to record this grudge-holding behaviour and look up other cases to compare them. She hadn't run into that kind of behaviour data when she had done the school project.
Neptune chirped in agreement.
This, though, also meant that she couldn't catch a Starly for the time being and expect to be able to use it on her team. A shame, since Staraptor were brilliant, brave birds.
With a weakness to electric attacks. She supposed she had the better end of the stick with a potentially powerful future Luxray in hand that could rip apart any member of the Starly family.
Still, it wouldn't do to have a strong Pokémon with no control.
Sekhmet twisted to see just what her hand was going to do when Dawn reached out again, but let the girl pet her without a warning from Neptune this time.
That was a pretty good landmark. Dawn took a picture of her two Pokémon, and sent it to Lyra with a message – 'started my journey!' – attached.
Come to think of it, her friend in Johto had caught an electric type as her first capture as well . . . .
Barry ran all the way to Jubilife, laughing. Champ, unlike the story where the Turtwig was slow, kept up with him easily, and didn't even look particularly out of breath when he finally stopped. "You're really tough, aren't you buddy?" Barry asked, crouching down to pat him on his head. The grass type seemed to enjoy it when he gently scratched the area around the single twig on the top of his skull. "Yeah, you're going to be a wall impossible to pass by when you grow up."
Champ tipped his head. "Like a tank," Barry continued on, mad-libbing and filling in Champ's words for him. "And you're strong, too, so you'll take any hit and them hit them back harder. So when we're champions, we'll just blow everyone out of the water."
The grass type gave it some thought before lumbering away from the city and towards the grass. "Why?" he asked. Champ made a few gestures with his head. "You want . . . food? No? Another teammate?"
Champ nodded.
Well, as awesome as it would have been to become Champion of Sinnoh with only one Pokémon – or even better, defeat his dad with only Champ at his side – he guessed that his starter had a point. "You've got a good point there," he said. "But first, let me go and buy some Poké balls. Then we'll go and see if anyone wants to join us. Sound good to you?"
It did.
So Barry ran and bought a few spheres – five from the professor plus the first two he bought himself made seven, and seven was a lucky number – and then they spent the rest of the day searching for a teammate worthy enough to join them. Wild Pokémon shied away from their combined awesomeness (and Champ tackling them) until they ran into a large Starly, much larger than the others of its specie they'd seen so far. Just one look at its determined, sharp eyes and both Barry and Champ could tell that this one was a fighter.
Besides, he knew that members of the Starly family were some of the best birds around.
"Hey you!" he shouted at the bird. The Starly, rather than flying away in a start, only stared back in a challenge. "Join us!"
The Starly eyed them a bit more before fluttering down, facing Champ. The grass turtle grinned and stepped forwards, ready to fight.
Barry readied one of the empty Poké balls as Champ began to rush forwards.
AN: Barry - some of you may be wondering why he isn't going around fining everyone. Part of that's due to me finding Pearl from Pokémon Adventures so awesome. He only threatened to fine Platinum when she was on the verge of giving up, and he looked like the boss he is. I don't want such an awesome motivational line to be made into a joke, so I'm 'saving' it for those kinds of situations.
And yes, some of the sequence of events have changed, for the sake of making it flow a little better. There will be more changes in the future, as a heads up.
The references to Lyra are going to be a story on its own. It's not published yet (not finished writing) and won't be for a while. I hope to get it, or some other novelization up before Titanium's finished, but it's set around the same TF canon as Titanium, and in the same universe.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and added to favourites.
