I'll begin this chapter by saying thank you once again. I thank everyone who has read this story so far, and everyone who has left a review so far. That being said, sorry for not responding last chapter, I completely forgot.
Mystic: if I read your review correctly, you ask if Jason has a fear of Ghost types. Jason, as you can tell, loves all Pokémon, no matter which type or appearance. This does not mean, however, he's not afraid of some. There will be Pokémon that will scare Jason. But do remember that Jason is just a teenager. This journey will not be kind to him, and it will form him.
That's all for today. I'll no longer keep you from reading this chapter, OwlProductions Jason, signing off.
As I was walking through the forest, I held my map.
"Alright, guys. We need to travel further east, at least for another mile. Then, we should see the entrance to a cave, where there should be a gym, according to Al." I said. I noticed a lone Starly, flying high above us. It slowly descended until it sat on a branch in front of me, where I recognized what Starly it was.
"Hey, Starly. Missed me?" I called out, as the Starly looked at me. He called out as well, flying towards me. My pokémon began getting acquainted with Starly, while I was looking for the entrance to the cave. Following the path, I saw a small entrance, with a stream of water right next to it.
Just before we went into the cave, the egg in my arms began to radiate a lot of heat. I began running into the cave, as the map told me to follow the cave until I arrived at the village. My pokémon followed me, with Soad on Starly's back, and Heath running on all fours. As the egg began glowing white, I began to panic. I ran as fast as I could, trying to reach the village as soon as I could. I could see a light at the end of the tunnel. But before I could reach it, I fell. The egg fell right in front of me, as small crack began forming. Pieces of shell popped off, as blue fur was seen from the openings. As the egg fully opened, a small blue furred pokémon was seen, sitting jon the floor with an eggshell on its head. A Riolu stared into my eyes, smiling soft.
"A Riolu. Thanks Riley." I said. The Riolu tilted his head, before a baby like voice entered my head.
"Yolu. Eily." I heard. It took me a while to figure out the source of the voice, but when I saw the Riolu hopping around happily, it hit me.
"Aura..." I said under my breath.
"Ara." I heard again.
"I'm going to call you Aran. Do you like that?" I asked, upon which the Riolu began laughing. I picked Aran up and slowly began walking towards the light again.
As I exited the cave, I was met by a wooden village on the edge of a cliff. I slowly walked around, looking for anything resembling a gym. A young girl walked past me, wearing gray clothes. She turned around, walking next to me, before turning herself in front of me, to face me.
"Are you looking for the gym?" she asked, in a sweet, young voice, hands behind her back.
"Yes, how did you know?" she puffed her cheeks.
"Hmpf, everyone only comes here to fight the gym. Why does nobody just come here to play." she said annoyed, before walking away. I slowly walked towards a building labeled as "Sleepy Spearow."
As I entered the building, I could see multiple villagers sitting around a table, playing cards. A woman walked up to me, with a toxicroak behind her.
"You must me Jason. The gym leader is already expecting you. I am Maria, and this is my toxicroak, Happy." she began. The toxicroak croaked, nodding politely. "I own this inn. And Al told me you were quite the trainer. Consider your stay here a gift, if you manage to beat the gym leader, that is."
"It's okay ma'am, I can pay for my stay here." I tried shrugging her off, but she shook her head.
"Like I said, if you beat the leader, you can stay here for free." she said, handing me a key, before walking away.
I entered my room, a rather small 1 bed room with a desk, and began setting up. Soad jumped on the bed, together with Heath, while Aran was holding my leg. I had opened the window, and Starly had flown in. Then, I sat down on the floor, feeding Aran with something Maria had given me. The rest of my pokémon had also been given some food, and were happily eating it after they were done playing on the bed.
After we all ate, Soad, Heath and Starly fell asleep in the straw bed next to mine. I picked up Aran and went for a little walk with him. There, I found a wooden pathway, looking out over the mountains. We sat down, looking towards the trees, in the direction of the ocean.
"Aran, that island over in the distance, across that forest, is where we're from." I said, pointing in the direction of the Iron Islands.
"Ome..." Aran spoke in my mind.
"Yes, our home. You're a really fast learner."
we stared towards the forest for a while, until I heard someone walk up to us.
"Mind if I sit with you?" the girl from before said.
"Not at all, go ahead." I replied. The girl sat next to me, looking to the forest as well. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"It really is. I'm happy I'm finally traveling Sinnoh."
"You're from the Iron Islands, right?" I nodded. "Must me nice there, all those nice people all working together, those karaoke nights."
"Why don't you come over one day? If you want, I could even show you around the island. I bet you'll get along with all the buizel and wingull over there." I began getting excited, thinking of all the times I played with them.
"Sure, I'll come over one day." she said, before getting up, and skipping away.
I woke up in my bed, with all my pokémon close to my. Heath had decided to lay down on my legs, Soad had fallen asleep next to my pillow, Starly had placed himself on my pillow, and Aran had moved some straw into the bed, to stay warm. I stretched myself, upon which Starly hit me with his wing right in my face.
"Hey, wake up." I yelled in annoyance, waking all four of my pokémon. Heath threw a fireball at my face as he jumped up, while Soad heatbutted me, and Aran pushed me off the bed.
"Alright... I get it. No yelling..." I moaned. We all got up, and I began getting dressed for the day.
We all walked through the village, Aran holding my hand as Starly rested on my arm. Heath and Soad held on to my shoulders as usual. Looking around, I couldn't find the gym, until an older woman walked up to me.
"The gym is back into the mountain. There, you have to follow the left path." she said, before walking away mumbling.
As we arrived at the gym, all I could see was foliage, covering the cave, letting in next to no light. I could see no gym leader, nor did I see anyone to welcome me.
"Jason, you are here to challenge the gym leader, aren't you!" I heard echoing through the cave. In front of me, two shadows emerged. "This will b double battle. You send in two pokémon, and whoever defeats the last pokémon of the opponent, will win."
"I'm here to win! Now let's go. Starly and..." Aran looked at me, as if telling me he wanted to fight.
"No, Aran. You're too young. Just watch Starly and Heath." I told him, as both my pokémon got onto the field.