Cutter and Regina stepped off of the train early that morning, stretching their stiff and tired bones. Even though they had their own compartment in the train, it just wasn't as spacious as the outdoors, or even a Pokemon Center room for that matter.
"Do we want to find a Pokemon Center and get checked in? Then you can go meet with Sabrina and I can check out some other parts of the city?" Regina asked, releasing Sally. The fire and poison type scampered up Regina and draped herself across Regina's shoulders. Cutter laughed slightly. She looked like a scaly feather boa.
"Sounds good to me. There should be one close by. This city is bigger than Goldenrod, and Goldenrod has plenty of Pokemon Centers. We should have no trouble finding one here."
xx
As it turned out, the train station was right next to a Pokemon Center. They got settled into their rooms and Regina headed out with a promise to be back sometime that evening. Cutter hung back, though. He needed to talk with his team about their loss the day before. Rillo was the only one he had had a chance to speak to, and he felt awful that he had had to put the talk off so long. He could only imagine how badly they were all taking it, Silver and Bellow specifically. They were his two strongest pokemon and neither of them had taken out an opponent. Silver had barely even put up a fight against Boomer.
He would have to deal with each conversation in their own way, seeing as how each of his pokemon had such different personalities. Rillo hadn't been that disappointed. Of course she had been upset, but she had taken out a pokemon that both Silver and Nostradamus had lost to. She was proud of herself but still disappointed overall. Silver and Bellow would be taking it badly no matter what, and really Cutter had no idea how Nostradamus would react. That was his fist gym battle, and Rillo's too now that he thought about it. He thought that they would have had far better results than they did.
Cutter released Silver, wanting to get the hardest, yet most important, conversation out of the way first. Silver immediately ducked his head and turned away from him slightly. Cutter choked up, hating seeing his starter like that.
"Hey buddy." He reached out and stroked the horn of his starter. He could only imagine how badly Silver must be feeling. Silver looked up at him but didn't turn his body. Cutter sat on the ground beside him, still stroking his horn. "How are you?" They sat in silence for a few seconds before Silver finally turned to him, head bowed.
"Lar," Silver mumbled.
"Hey. We lost the whole battle. Everyone on the team lost. And when it comes down to it, that's my fault. Not yours. You did the best you could. I sent you into that battle unprepared. That's on me."
"Larv Larvitar," his starter said, looking up at him. Cutter couldn't really understand what Silver was saying, but he knew that it was surely comforting.
"You know what this means, right?" Silver cocked his head and looked up at his trainer with wide eyes. It means that we have to train harder and longer. All of us are going to have to work harder. And if anyone can lead this team, it's you. They look up to you, you know? Even Bellow. I know you think she doesn't, but she respects you a lot."
Silver looked at his trainer, a faint smile playing at the edge of his mouth. He wasn't completely cheered up, and Cutter wasn't really either. The loss had been a huge blow to both of them, but Cutter and Silver were similar in a lot of ways. They wouldn't let this loss bring them down. They would fight and bring themselves up and work to become as strong as they could. They pressed their foreheads together, mutually and silently agreeing to both do their best.
Master could be tough sometimes, but he meant well. Silver would do anything for him. He lost the battle. All they could do now was improve. And he would improve. He would show Master just how strong he could be.
Cutter released Bellow, what he figured would be the next hardest conversation. Bellow was a sweet pokemon, but she was just as passionate about being the best as Silver was. And since she was easily the strongest on the team, he figured that she would take it especially hard.
Bellow stared at him awkwardly for a moment before wrapping him up in a hug. Cutter was taken by surprise but quickly regained his composure and returned the hug, or he tried to at least. He couldn't quite move his arms because they were trapped by Bellow's powerful hug. He finally understood what people meant when they said "Ursaring hug." It was comforting in a way that Cutter didn't quite understand.
"How are you?"
"Ursa ur ur," she grunted, releasing Cutter.
"Yeah. I'm disappointed too, girl. It's okay to be upset about this, but we have to move forward from it and grow. I told Silver this, but we have to grow and get stronger. We're going to train harder from here on out. This loss was my fault. You're just as strong, if not stronger than that Diggersby. I didn't do my job as a trainer and take control. You did your best. Don't beat yourself up."
She embraced him in an Ursaring hug again and this time Cutter was able to return it.
Bellow had certainly been upset about the loss. She had spent the last several hours in suspended animation in her pokeball thinking it over. Ultimately, Master was right. She needed to train and get stronger. And she would. She would show Master that she wanted this as badly as he did.
Cutter smiled softly as she disappeared in a flash of red light. Both Silver and Bellow had taken it much better than he had expected them to.
"Rii," Nostradamus whinnied as he appeared, his tail-end head snapping and grunting lightly as a sort of greeting. As much as Cutter had groomed and been with Nos, he still made sure to keep away from the tail-end head. It had a brain separate to that of Nostradamus'. Cutter had tried to feed it once, but it snapped at Cutter viciously so he made sure to stay away. The tail-end heads were more like bug pokemon than psychic. They responded to power and authority rather than kindness and love. Cutter tried to be stern with it, but it saw the way he was soft and kind with Nostradamus's front-end head, so the tail-end head didn't buy it.
"Hey, Nos." Nostradamus bowed his head.
Hello, Father. Generally, Nostradamus was warm and cheerful, but an overwhelming amount of anger and disappointment rushed over Cutter. He had never felt this end of Nostradamus' emotions before and Cutter vowed to never let him get this low again.
How are you?
I let you down. Nos bowed his head further, completely avoiding looking at Cutter.
Look at me. Nos reluctantly looked up at Cutter, making eye contact with his trainer. You did not let me down. You did your best out there. You took down Diggersby. You lost to a pokemon that took advantage of your weaknesses. There was nothing you could do about that. You did your best, right?
There was a pause before Nos answered. Yes, Father. But still, I-.
No. You did not let me down. You lost a battle. Even the best trainers and pokemon lose sometimes. The current Champion of Johto, do you think he won every battle he was in?
No, Father.
Exactly. And neither will we. We may lose again. We will almost definitely lose again. But we can't let it get us down. We have to work harder than before. Wylie was a strong trainer, but we're stronger. He just got the best of us last time. But next time, we're going to beat him. Then we're going to beat the other gym leaders and then we're going to become the strongest team the world has ever seen. Throughout his speech, Nos had started to warm back up, the feeling of despair leaving Cutter, instead being replaced by warmth and an eagerness to begin.
Yes, Father. You are right. Our Family must grow. We cannot give up. We are strong, all five of us. You are our leader. Silver is our protector. Bellow is the caretaker. I am the brains. Rillo, well I don't really know yet, but she has something the rest of us don't have. She will find her place eventually.
What do you mean?
I do not know, Father. I sense in her something greater than in any of the rest of our family. As I learn more, I will tell you.
Cutter nodded, furrowing his brow. Yes, thank you Nos. Now, we're about to go meet with Sabrina. She is-.
The greatest psychic humankind knows. Yes. All psychic types in this area of the world are aware of her, Father. I am honored just to be able to meet her.
Yes, Nos. Hopefully she can tell us some more about your imprinting and our Mind Link, as Wylie called it.
Yes, I do hope so.
xx
"I'm here to meet with Sabrina," Cutter said, leaning against the front counter of the gym. He had found it relatively easily. He had to ask directions from a couple of locals on his way, but Saffron was a business city and it was lunch time. Many people had been out and about. They weren't as kind as the locals in Johto, but Kantoans weren't as kind as their Johto neighbors in general. Cutter chocked it up to them being in a rush, but he wasn't so sure.
"Yes, Mr. Robinson. She's ready for you."
"What?" Cutter started, fumbling over his words. He hadn't called ahead or let anyone other than Wylie and Regina know that he was coming. "How did she know?"
"She's the most powerful human psychic in the world. She has had almost half a century to hone her psychic powers. She felt you the moment you entered the city. You may enter through the door on my left." As soon as she said that, it swung open. Cutter nodded and headed through the door.
He walked through a long, dimly lit hall until he came to a single door at the very end, which swung open upon his arrival. Cutter gulped down his fear and walked through the door, struggling to remain composed. Across the room, which appeared to be the battle plot for the gym, sat Sabrina. Even from so far away, Cutter could feel the psychic energy flowing out from her. She was sitting on a large purple, throne-like chair and when she saw Cutter, she stood and floated to him. Cutter had to do a double-take. No, she's actually floating, Cutter told himself. And she was tall, too.
Mr. Robinson. Hello. She was inside his head. It's so nice of you to come here so quickly upon your arrival in Saffron. I was hoping you wouldn't dawdle in getting here. But I sense you are one of great ambition and you have a most interesting future ahead of you.
"I-."
Please, in your mind. I can read your thoughts if you direct them towards me. I have a bit of a headache and the sound only makes it worse.
Of course. I'm here to speak to you about Nostradamus, my Girafarig.
Yes, yes. Grace called me to let me know that you would be coming in with your Girafarig, but she didn't elaborate and I didn't press her. What is it that you would like to talk about?
Nostradamus imprinted upon me and we've been having some trouble.
"Imprinted?" Cutter heard her mutter and a sharp pain shot through his head.
"Yes," Cutter said, venturing to speak out loud.
I'm sorry. Please go back to thoughts. I did not mean to speak out loud. Please continue.
Cutter then went into great detail, telling the story from the moment he met Nostradamus and Praagh a little less than a month before, and everything that had happened, sparing no details.
She was silent for a moment. I would like to preface this by saying that you are an incredibly lucky young man. Pokemon rarely ever imprint upon humans, and psychics imprinting are even more rare. Lance's Dratini, his starter, imprinted upon him, and he used to be the Champion, if that gives you any context to how incredible this feat is. But the fact that yours is a psychic type makes it that much more awe inducing. I know of Praagh. I am sad to hear of his death, but it is comforting to know that you are the trainer of his lineage. If Praagh trusted you enough to pass his grandson down to you. Imprinting. It is a difficult topic, as are Mind Links. There was a brief pause before she continued. Before we begin, may I meet Nostradamus?
Of course.
Cutter released Nostradamus, his pure white coat standing out in the especially dim room. He heard her breathe a sigh of awe. Cutter had gotten quite used to this reaction when people first saw Nos. Cutter even felt that way still, each time he saw his beautiful Girafarig.
There was a moment where Nostradamus and Sabrina made eye contact and Cutter assumed they were communicating, and as quickly as their telepathic conversation had started, it ended. A flood of warmth and excitement like Cutter had never felt from Nos entered him. Sabrina brought something out in him. That was understandable. The awe Nos had expressed earlier that day showed Cutter that Sabrina was someone that psychic pokemon held in very high regard.
Father. Thank you.
Of course, Nos.
So. Sabrina began. Cutter thought that it might be hard to distinguish their mental voices, but while Sabrina's was soft and strong, Nostradamus's was young and playful. Even mental voices had their own distinct sounds. Let us begin with imprinting. That will help explain the Mind Link. When neither of them said, or thought, anything, she continued. Imprinting is incredibly rare, as I've already said. It occurs when a pokemon shows a greater trust in a human than the average pokemon might. Girafarig are known for their ability in portraying and dealing with emotions, as I'm sure you know. So Nostradamus and Praagh were able to pick you out and see that you have a pure and good heart. They knew that you would care for Nostradamus greatly. Even though Nostradamus had yet to meet you, since he was so young, he latched onto you. This takes an incredible amount of trust from a Girafarig, especially one in the lineage of Praagh. Nostradamus had, more than likely, seen its fair share of bad trainers, good trainers, mean trainers, and kind trainers. Both Praagh and Nostradamus knew that this was not enough. They needed a pure trainer.
That's where I came in, Cutter thought.
Exactly, Sabrina confirmed. You have a pure heart and the potential to be an incredible trainer. I was able to see that from the moment you entered the city. There are very few completely pure hearted trainers in the world, so when one enters my city, I am easily able to pick up on it. But in imprinting, Nostradamus connected himself with you. Essentially, the two of you became of one mind. You have separate bodies, but your minds are connected. That's where the Mind Link comes in. Since Nostradamus imprinted, a Mind Link was bound to come about eventually. It was probably there from the moment you two met, but did not appear until later. Probably not until he was able to speak directly with you. Cutter nodded. A Mind Link is not as rare as imprinting is, but it does require a great deal of trust between pokemon and trainer, which you two obviously have. A Mind Link just allows the two of you to be especially connected in battle. Since you two are one, you rarely will need to give orders. Nostradamus will know what you want and you will know what he wants. I would trust him. He is an incredibly intelligent and potentially powerful psychic type with excellent battle instincts. As for the pain, that is relatively simple. Grow used to it. It is all in your head. Usually I hate that argument, but in this case, it is true. You are not truly experiencing the pain that Nostradamus is, just a fragment of what he is feeling. You will learn to block it out as your psychic abilities grow.
"My psychic abilities?" Cutter asked, out loud, too shocked to realize he was no longer thinking it.
Yes. Your psychic abilities. You are not a born psychic, but since Nostradamus has imprinted on you, and you two have become one, you are what we call a "Made Psychic." That just means that you had an event that turned you into a psychic. In your case, that event is Nostradamus. Don't worry, though. You will not carry the existential burden that most psychics carry. Cutter could have sworn she was making a joke, but it was hard to tell. And you don't have to develop your powers very far, just enough for you to be the best trainer possible for Nostradamus. Nostradamus will need this from you. He is going to have a hard time on your team.
What do you mean?
I shall not disclose the future, but I will say one thing. Your team will not lend itself towards psychic types. You will have to be there for Nostradamus.
I don't understand what you're saying, but just know that I will be the best trainer I can be. Nostradamus is in good hands.
I believe you. Now, one more thing before you go.
Yes?
I would like to battle Nostradamus. He is a spectacular and beautiful psychic type that I would love the honor of battling before-.
Before what?
Nothing, Mr. Robinson, that you need to concern yourself with. A battle?
Cutter froze. At the height of Sabrina's power she could have easily been in the Elite Four. She may not be nearly as strong as she used to be, but she was certainly stronger than Cutter was.
No need to worry. This is merely a test for your Girafarig.
Cutter breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, then.
xx
They took their places at opposite ends of the battlefield, the plot a simple purple rubber. He had never battled on anything like this before, but if any of his pokemon could adapt to a new battlefield on the fly, it was Nostradamus.
Nostradamus stepped forward onto the field, testing out its give. It was springy, but not enough so that it would change the way he moved.
On the other end of the field appeared an Alakazam. Cutter gulped. He knew this was only a test for Nostradamus, but still. Sabrina's starter pokemon, this Alakazam, was the strongest psychic type pokemon in all of both Kanto and Johto. Sabrina had challenged Lance years ago, when they were both in their prime, and was the first person to ever truly give Lance a run for his money. Lance had had to quickly adapt to Sabrina's wordless battle style. It had eventually come down to Alakazam and Dragonite, both of their strongest pokemon and starters, but ultimately Lance came out on top, even if just barely.
Alakazam was past its prime now, but it was still far more powerful than any pokemon Cutter had. He knew that realistically there was no way to win, but he and Nos would still do their best. He saw Nos ready himself. Nervousness flowed from Nos. He knew how powerful this Alakazam was and he didn't want to disappoint either Cutter or Sabrina. Especially Sabrina.
Are you ready to begin?
Cutter didn't reply, simply nodded. His game face was on and he was as ready as he could be. He was a little worried that she would read his mind and predict his every move, but he figured she had more integrity than that. More so than that, she had been battling for forty years, and he had only been for a little less than three months. She didn't need to read his mind.
Nos, be ready. This thing is powerful. Both of their eyes glowed red, signifying the Mind Link.
Yes, Father. I can feel its power.
Hypnosis!
Riiiiii
A weak psychic beam along with the slight whinny flowed out from between Nos's horns to create the hypnosis, and surprisingly it reached the Alakazam. It managed to do nothing, though. Cutter grimaced and racked his brain. They certainly had their work cut out for them.
An excellent hypnosis for being so young, although he still has far to go. What will you show me next? Sabrina's thoughts invaded his mind, but Cutter pushed them to the side. Even if this was simply a showing for Nos, he wanted to do his best.
Dazzling gleam to get in close, then zen headbutt.
A bright pink wave of fairy energy flowed out from between Nostradamus's horns, striking the Alakazam, although it didn't seem to be doing much other than annoying it. That was the point of it, though.
As the fairy type move merely annoyed Alakazam, Nos galloped in. Once he was close enough he leaped forward and right as he was going to use zen headbutt, Alakazam teleported behind Nos, leaving Nostradamus lunging at empty air.
A good strategy, but not enough. Cutter pushed Sabrina from his mind and turned his attention back to Nos.
Agility was not a move he called on for Nos to use often, but Alakazam knew teleport and he had to try to outspeed the teleport however he could. Agility.
At the command, Nos began jogging around the field, slowly getting faster and faster until he was little more than a blur. He wasn't anywhere near as fast as Bellow was, but he didn't need to be. He was going to be far bigger and bulkier than Bellow ever would be and wouldn't need to rely on speed as much.
Before yesterday, Cutter didn't think that Nos would ever need to rely on speed. But after the humiliating loss at the hands of Wylie, Cutter realized that he would need his pokemon to do far more than all out attacking. And that could start right here with Nos getting faster.
Confusion, bind Alakazam.
A weak wave of psy energy came from wherever Nos happened to be in the moment, flying towards Alakazam. It hit, seeming to freeze Alakazam in place.
Now, Zen Headbutt.
Once again, as soon as Nos headbutted, Alakazam was gone and behind him.
Keep it up.
This went on for a few more times before Cutter decided to take a chance.
Same thing with the confusion, but fake your zen headbutt and use your tail-end head to use crunch.
Nos nodded in reply and released another confusion. This time, Nos faked a lunge forward for the zen headbutt, to which Sabrina replied, the same strategy that hasn't worked before will not work now. I thought you were better than this. Cutter just smiled.
Alakazam, as Cutter predicted, teleported right behind Nos, where his tail-end head was waiting. Nos's tail-end head chomped down with a mouth cloaked in dark type energy on Alakazam's wrist, eliciting an annoyed grunt from Alakazam.
Ahh. Excellent thinking. You led me on. Smart. But it's time for this to be over.
NOS GET OUT OF THERE!
Nos's tail-end head let go and he galloped away quickly, still assisted by the agility. Alakazam's senses were far too advanced for agility to be an effective means of escape, and the Alakazam released a highly pressurized focus blast at exactly where Nos's blurry figure was about to step.
Both Cutter and Nostradamus collapsed at the same time, and Cutter returned him in a hurry. He pulled himself to his feet and smiled begrudgingly as Sabrina appeared next to him.
Excellent battle.
Thank you. Cutter bowed his head. It was an honor.
Alakazam floated over and hovered behind Sabrina as the two of them communicated telepathically. Nostradamus has incredible potential, Mr. Robinson. Don't waste it. He is a fine psychic type and he has the potential to rival even Zu here. She gestured to Alakazam. Once you finish your gym challenge in Johto I would like for you to come back to this gym and hone your psychic powers alongside Nostradamus.
I would be honored, ma'am. Cutter smiled. His second mentorship in two days. How had he managed that? He figured that if he pinched himself, he would be awoken from the dream.
Well, I will be going now, but I wish you all the best. If you need anything during your time in Kanto, you know where to find me. And she was gone. Apparently, she could teleport, too.
xx
Getting back to the Pokemon Center proved to be a lot more difficult than coming from it. After thirty minutes of wandering around without any sign of the Center, Cutter sat down on a crate next to a dumpster in an alleyway. I just want to go back and train.
Out of nowhere, a large ball dropped right next to him, making a loud SMACK sound. It scared Cutter so badly he fell off the crate, banging his head against the dumpster.
HEEAHEEAHEEA
"What the hell?" Cutter muttered, looking up and rubbing the back of his throbbing skull. The sun shone brightly directly into his eyes and all he could see was the faint silhouette of what appeared to be a pokemon with a large bushy tail clinging to the fire escape of the building. It was a pokemon of some sort, Cutter figured, but he couldn't think of which pokemon it might be that would be found in Kanto. Maybe Aipom? No. It's too big to be Aipom.
The ball came soaring back down, startling him out of his thoughts. It bounced hard and flew back up to the pokemon, who caught it easily. He released Rillo and told her to be on guard. He had no idea what pokemon this was and what it might be capable of.
The mystery pokemon leapt down, landing on its two back legs, the old raggedy soccer ball clutched in its front two hands. Cutter cocked his head in confusion. He was sure he had never seen this pokemon before, and it certainly wasn't native to Kanto or Johto.
It had a brown torso, feet and ankles, half of its arms, hands, and snout. The lower half of its body along with the fluff of its neck and face were what Cutter figured used to be white. Now, though, it was black with oil and dirt from the city. Its long puffy tail had a single white ring halfway up, but otherwise that was brown as well. On the top of its head it wore what appeared to be a yellow construction hard hat. It was similar to an Infernape, but it was obvious to Cutter that this pokemon in front of him was not an Infernape. Cutter noticed that when it ran, it ran on all fours, even though it was bipedal and humanoid when it stood and even when it walked. When it walked, however, it had an odd gait, slouching and twisting its body in an odd manner.
HEEAHEEAHEEA
It tossed the soccer ball to Cutter lightly and ran and picked up Rillo. It spun her around before setting her back down and screeching out its HEEAHEEAHEEA again. Rillo looked over at him with alarm, not used to random pokemon behaving like this. Bellow sometimes played with her in this same manner, and that's the only reason she didn't shock the pokemon. That and the fact that her Master hadn't told her to. But to Cutter, it seemed that the pokemon just wanted to play.
"You wanna play?" Cutter asked the mysterious pokemon.
"HEEAHEEAHEEA," it screeched, jumping from foot to foot and nodding its head vigorously, confirming Cutter's suspicions.
Cutter smiled and tossed the ball back to it, and in turn it tossed the ball to Rillo. She barely caught it with her stubby arms, and she tossed it to Cutter. Cutter laughed at the image of his Flaaffy playing catch. They played for a couple of minutes, and each time the mystery pokemon threw and caught the ball, it yelled out its "HEEAHEEAHEEA" and jumped up and down in delight. All the while Cutter racked his mind, trying to come up with what pokemon this was, but he was having no luck.
"I've gotta go. It was fun playing with you, though," Cutter told the pokemon as he turned to walk away.
HEEAHEEAHEEA
"What?" Cutter asked it.
It gestured to Cutter, then pulled its arms back to itself.
"I don't know what you're saying," Cutter admitted to it, feeling defeated. If Nostradamus wasn't fainted, he could translate for him.
It ran over to Cutter, on all fours Cutter noticed, and pointed to Cutter's belt, where his pokeballs were connected.
"My pokeballs? What about them?"
Again, the foreign pokemon made the same gesture.
"Oh!" Cutter exclaimed, it finally dawning on him. "Do you want to come with me? Do you want to be my pokemon?"
The moment Cutter said that, it let out the screech Cutter had gotten used to over the last few minutes and jumped up and down.
"Alright then." Cutter unclipped an empty pokeball from his waist, no point in using a great or ultra ball on a pokemon that wouldn't resist capture, and pressed it against the pokemon's forehead, sucking it in in a flash of red light. He kept spare pokeballs on his belt for situations in which he wouldn't have time to dig around in his backpack for a pokeball. Usually the pokemon trainers tried to catch would run off before the trainer would have a chance to do that, so it made sense to have a few easily accessible. He always kept a spare pokeball, great ball, and ultra ball clipped to his waist, just in case.
The ball wiggled once in Cutter's hand before coming to a complete stop. Cutter smiled at his newest capture. None of his captures were normal, it seemed. Rillo had been rescued from a storm, Nos had imprinted upon him, and this strange humanoid pokemon with the soccer ball and hard hat, that also entered the pokeball, which Cutter found interesting, had chosen him for seemingly unknown reasons. Cutter just laughed at it and returned Rillo who looked just as confused as he did. He would take his pokemon however he could get them. As he exited the alley he pulled out his Pokedex to check out his new capture. He was eager to figure out what kind of pokemon it was.
Passimian. The Teamwork Pokemon. Passimian are a fighting type pokemon that is native to Alola. They generally form groups of roughly twenty individuals, but if a Passimian is unable to handle the intensity of the troop, it will flee. In place of a troop leader, it will search out a trainer for leadership. This Passimian is male and knows the moves Bulk Up, Brick Break, Protect, Return, Low Sweep, Rock Slide, U-Turn, and Iron Head. Its ability is Receiver, which allows it to pick up on a fainted ally's ability.
"Passimian," Cutter muttered, putting his Pokedex away. He knew literally nothing about the species except for what the Pokedex just told him. He would have to do some research and ask Regina. She was from Alola, after all. What is this Passimian doing in Kanto? It's a long way from home. Maybe… It used to have a trainer that released it? It does have an exceptional movepool. There's no way it learned iron head or return on its own in the wild. Hm. I'll have to ask Nurse Joy if I can ever find my way back to the Pokemon Center. Cutter smiled as a thought hit him. A fighting type. Wylie won't know what hit him.
xx
Over an hour later and Cutter finally found the Pokemon Center he was staying in. Eventually he had entered a large glass building called Silph Co., a famous technology company, and Cutter asked the receptionist how to get to the Pokemon Center where he was staying. She had pointed him in the right direction, and after that it only took another five minutes to get there.
Cutter dropped off Passimian and Nostradamus with Nurse Joy to be healed. He sat in the lobby as he waited. "It would only be five to ten minutes," she told him.
Sure enough, ten minutes later and he heard his name being called over the loudspeaker.
"Thank you so much, Nurse Joy."
"Of course, Mr. Robinson. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Yes, actually," Cutter said, holding Passimian's pokeball. "I just caught this Passimian today here in Saffron, and I want some information on him. The Pokedex told me the basics, but I was wondering if you could tell me if he has had a trainer before me."
"You caught Passimian here? They're not native to Kanto at all, but I can check. Can I see his pokeball?" Cutter handed her the pokeball and she placed in in a magnetic tray that was connected to the computer.
"Passimian are native to Alola," she began. "And their natural habitat is the jungle. It doesn't make any sense for it to be here in Saffron in Kanto. May I ask where you caught it?"
Cutter paused, thinking. "I honestly don't know. I was so lost that I have no idea. In an alleyway?"
She furrowed her brow, thinking. "Did he approach you, or did you pursue him?"
"He approached me. He wanted to play. He had a soccer ball and a hard hat on. I wanted to ask about that as well."
"Passimian are notoriously playful pokemon. Even though they're fighting types, they love to play. It makes sense that he approached you. As for the soccer ball and hard hat, it is a lot like a Marowak and its club." Seeing Cutter's confused face, she continued. "Marowak have a club that they keep with them. It is not a direct part of its pokemon, but you will rarely, if ever, find a Marowak in the wild without a bone club. Passimian are the same way. Almost always they have a coconut and a coconut shell to wear on its head. In your case, it's a soccer ball and a hard hat. Since Passimian is living in Saffron, it has no access to coconuts. But in order for it to keep its identity as a Passimian, it felt that it needed some sort of ball and helmet."
"I see," Cutter murmured.
The computer dinged and Nurse Joy pursed her lips. "Hm. It seems that Passimian has had another trainer, although it was not treated particularly well. I cannot tell you who this trainer is, for legal purposes, but the trainer was very powerful. He recently made a trip to Alola and that is where he caught Passimian. He has a very strict training program, and it appears that Passimian did not meet his standards. So he released Passimian here in Saffron. This was approximately three or four weeks ago. So its powerful and diverse movepool makes sense, as does its willingness to approach you and play. But this trainer is not known for playing with his pokemon. He simply wants them to become stronger."
Cutter was silent for a moment. "Thank you Nurse Joy. Is there anything else that I should know?"
"You said he played with you very enthusiastically?"
"Yes he did," Cutter told her, confused where she was going with this.
"Passimian are very smart pokemon. He is probably very hurt by his previous trainer abandoning him, and this enthusiasm is a front he is putting up. You seem like a caring and compassionate young man. Be sure to let Passimian you care for and love him. Play with him. You can be hard on him, but all pokemon grow in different ways. If you show Passimian that you truly care for him as a pokemon and not just as a battler, he will become exceptionally powerful and loyal." Cutter nodded in response. "But you're going to have to get past that façade first."
"Thank you Nurse Joy. You were a lot of help." Cutter bowed his head and walked away.
xx
Cutter walked into his room at the Center, tossing Passimian's pokeball up and down in his hand.
How best to go about this? I could easily go about this the wrong way and ruin any chance of friendship and trust. I have to be careful.
He tossed Passimian's pokeball out and Passimian appeared, immediately letting loose with one of its "HEAHEAHEA's" and tossing the soccer ball up and down.
"Hey, Passimian. How are you?" Cutter asked, reaching his hand out towards Passimian. Passimian took his hand and grunted softly.
"You're on my team now. I caught you." Cutter paused. Normally he would tell the pokemon he just captured that he wanted them to join his team and together they would become the strongest they could be. He didn't think that would work with Passimian. This Passimian desired friendship and love, and in return would give strength. Nurse Joy had said that all pokemon grew differently, and Cutter knew it to be true.
"On this team, we have a lot of fun together. We train and we play and laugh and have a good time. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?
"HEAHEAHEA," Passimian screeched, bobbing its head up and down in a nodding manner.
"We also battle, too. But the most important thing on this team is love. You will never have to do anything you don't want to."
Passimian dropped the soccer ball and leapt forward, wrapping Cutter up in a hug. Passimian was almost a foot taller than him and was very strong, and he nearly knocked Cutter off balance with the sudden hug. Still, Cutter returned it. When they pulled away, he noticed that his clothes were dirty.
"How do you feel about a bath?" Cutter smiled.
xx
The bath went extremely well, at least as far as Cutter was concerned. As it turned out, Passimian absolutely loved water and didn't mind soap. The bathroom was absolutely wrecked when they were done, however. Passimian loved throwing water and soap at Cutter, and before either of them knew it, they were having an all out water war in the bathroom. By the end of it Cutter was sitting in a pool of water on the floor, laughing as Passimian completely emptied a tiny bottle of shampoo onto the ground.
For the bath, Passimian had taken off its hard hat and the fur under that was white as well. After Cutter dried Passimian, his fur poofed up, making Passimian almost unrecognizable. Cutter couldn't help but falling into another fit of laughter that Passimian didn't understand.
When he finally regained composure and Passimian was smoothing its fur out, Cutter decided to ask him about a nickname. After that Cutter wanted to go down to one of the battle plots and get a general assessment of Passimian's skills.
"What do you say about a nickname?"
Passimian cocked his head as if thinking before quickly answering with a soft grunt and nodding its head. Cutter figured that his previous trainer hadn't been concerned with nicknames. Nicknames generally were a sign of love and equality. Trainers that didn't nickname often, but not always, saw their pokemon as lesser beings only meant for battle. That was the exact opposite of Cutter's mindset.
Cutter furrowed his brow as he thought. Then it hit him. With Passimian's awkward way of standing, the way he always carried the soccer ball, and the hard hat, he looked a lot like a football player. "How about Patriot?" Cutter asked, the name coming from his favorite professional football team. He didn't watch a lot of football, but he always sat down to watch the Patriots with his dad every Sunday evening.
Immediately Passimian screeched and jumped up and down, obviously excited.
Cutter smiled. "Patriot it is, then."
xx
Cutter and Patriot stepped onto the battle plot with another trainer named Gordon. Gordon had been training on another battle plot and Cutter wanted to test Patriot's skills. Both Silver and Bellow would be weak against Patriot. Nostradamus had a type advantage, but he didn't want Patriot battling with a disadvantage against one of his own teammates for his first battle. And Rillo just wouldn't stand a chance. Even though Patriot was new to the team, it was obvious he was strong.
"One on one?" Gordon, a tall and lanky kid that looked to be roughly Cutter's age, asked. Gordon had three badges from in Kanto and Cutter figured that they would be roughly on the same level.
"Yep. I just caught Passimian today and I want to see where he stands."
Gordon nodded, releasing a blue water type onto the field. Poliwhirl.
"You can have the first move," Cutter told him.
"Lily, use water gun!"
A blast of pressurized water flew from the Poliwhirl's swirled stomach, but Patriot easily leapt out of the way.
"Iron head!"
HEAHEAHEA
Patriot ran towards Lily, throwing his soccer ball as he got closer. Lily deflected the soccer ball with one of her white gloved fists, and Patriot capitalized on the momentary distraction by slamming his head, hardened by iron head and the hard hat, into the face of the Poliwhirl who stumbled backwards but remained standing.
"Mega punch!"
"Dodge and low sweep!"
Patriot easily ducked below the mega punch and threw his leg out, sweeping Lily off her feet. Patriot took advantage of the fallen Poliwhirl and struck out with a brick break, knocking Poliwhirl unconscious.
Cutter's mouth hung open. He knew that Passimian would be strong, but he hadn't realized just how strong he was. He had taken out that Poliwhirl with just three moves.
"You just caught Passimian today?" Gordon asked, returning Poliwhirl?
"Yeah," Cutter replied, a smile creeping across his face.
"You've got one strong pokemon, dude." And with that, Gordon left.
"PATRIOT! You did so good! Wow! You're really strong." Cutter was absolutely beaming now, and Patriot ran up to him. Cutter began scratching his back and couldn't help but think of how well he had done. He hadn't been hit by a single move. Patriot was much faster than Cutter had thought he would be, and he was stronger too. Cutter was getting excited. Patriot was going to make for an excellent addition to the team. He frowned though, because while Patriot had done amazing, Cutter hadn't had a chance to see what Patriot was truly capable of. He would have to find another trainer tomorrow.
xx
Regina returned to the room as Cutter was cleaning the bathroom and Patriot was jumping up and down on the bed with Rillo. He had just introduced Patriot to everyone and was happy with how their meeting had gone. Silver and Bellow thought he was fine, Cutter could tell. They didn't have the same nature as the lively Passimian did, and that was okay. Nostradamus thought he was fine as well, but he could tell that Nos would grow to like Patriot more. He is very… excited. Nos had told him, to which Cutter just laughed. The true friendship that had blossomed though was Rillo and Patriot. The two had been inseparable since they had been out in the room together, and they had not stopped playing.
Cutter had stopped to talk to Nurse Joy again on his way to his room and had discovered that Patriot's former trainer had seven gym badges when he had been released. That meant that even though Cutter only had two badges, he had a seventh level pokemon. Within the world of competitive battling in Johto and Kanto, there were eleven levels. One for each gym, one for the Elite Four, and one for the Champion. The eleventh and final level was one for all of the people battling competitively that were no longer in their gym challenge but were also not Elite Status. This was different in other regions, but in Johto that's how it was. If Patriot wasn't as happy and fun and accepting of a pokemon as he was, Cutter might have a hard time controlling him. But since Patriot was already so taken with Cutter, he had no reason to disrespect him. A pokemon with a less trusting and more angry nature wouldn't be the same. He had heard horror stories about trainers catching pokemon that they couldn't control. The best-case scenario was that they disobeyed their trainers in battle. Cutter didn't even want to think about the worst-case scenarios. He didn't want to have to deal with something like that. Cutter thanked Arceus that Patriot was so wonderful.
"Whoa," Regina breathed, spotting Patriot. "That's a Passimian."
Cutter stuck his head out of the bathroom, his face plastered with a smile. "Yep!" Then Cutter recounted the whole story, all the way from smacking his head into the dumpster, which Regina laughed out loud at, to the moment he had introduced Patriot to the rest of the team.
"That's incredible, Cutter. Passimian are super strong pokemon in Alola. You're super lucky. And this one is so happy, too." She laughed as Patriot searched through her hair, probably for bugs of some sort. He had finally settled down a little bit and was no longer jumping on Cutter's bed.
"Yeah, I'm super excited. He's awesome. Aren't you awesome?" Cutter smiled, scratching Patriot's back. Patriot responded with a typical speech and leapt to Cutter, wrapping his arms around his trainer. "Strong too. Seventh level. He's going to be an awesome addition to the team."
Regina nodded, pulling out a pokeball. "I caught a new pokemon today too," she smiled, releasing a Tangela onto the bed. The purple vines that covered its body squirmed as it leapt into its trainer's lap. "Her name is Squib, and she certainly made me work to catch her."
"Where did you catch her?" Cutter asked. "I don't imagine that Saffron is crawling with grass types.
"I went north of the city! I was doing some training and Squib here wandered up and watched her. When I asked if she wanted to join my team, she agreed, but she made it obvious that she wanted me to battle her for it. I used Fists and, well, let's just say that they have a bit of a rivalry now." Regina laughed as Squib squirmed in her lap at the sound of the Machop's name. "I thought about Vill or Sally, but the type advantage would have made things too easy."
xx
Cutter was lying in bed, thinking about the day. Together, he and Regina had nine pokemon, so the room was cramped, to say the least. Patriot slept curled up, his soccer ball tucked neatly under his head like a pillow and his hard hat covering his eyes, in the corner next to Rillo, who was hooked up to the wall for electricity. Silver sat upright on a pillow on the ground and Bellow was curled up next to Cutter on the bed. Cutter's bed was especially cramped. Even though this bed was bigger than the one that Johto Pokemon Center's generally provided, that didn't change the fact that Bellow took up more than half of the bed, leaving Cutter with a just a sliver of bed. Squib was under Regina's bed, and Vill slept in the bathtub. Fists sat in a meditation pose right in front of the door, and Sally slept at the foot of Regina's bed. In all, it was a cramped room, but neither of the trainers would have it any other way. Sleeping with their teams out had become a way of life. They didn't feel the same without them out.
At first they had had a few qualms about sharing a room, but the Pokemon Center and Nurse Joy decided for them. It was the beginnings of many journeys in Kanto and almost every single room in the Center was being used. Nurse Joy told them sternly that if they were traveling together, they needed to share a room. They were okay with it, though because they clicked well from the beginning and they each saw how they treated their pokemon. People who treated their pokemon well could generally be trusted.
Cutter sat on his bed, happy with the turn his team had taken that day with the addition of Patriot. Cutter and Regina had decided to spend another day in Kanto before heading back to Johto. The bug catching contest was in four days and neither Cutter nor Regina wanted to miss it. Strong bug pokemon could be hard to come by and both of them certainly wouldn't mind one.
Tomorrow, they would train. They had a lot of work to do before challenging Wylie again, and Cutter had a lot of ideas about how to utilize Patriot. He knew he didn't want to lean on Patriot as a handicap. As strong as Patriot was, Cutter could easily allow the rest of his pokemon to fall behind if he depended on Patriot too much. He drifted off planning the specifics of the training they would do. There was no better way to fall asleep, in Cutter's opinion.
xx
Hey! Thanks to everyone for reading! I loved writing this chapter and the new pokemon that Cutter caught! I have been looking forward to this new addition for a while and I'm happy that I finally got to write it! Thanks to Melior for proof reading this chapter! As usual, leave a review and a like or follow and PM me if you want to talk! I'm always happy to discuss the story!
