Chapter 10 - Bibimpap
"Sugoi," Yurie said quietly as she looked out onto the ocean. Torchic sat near the railing next to her. The two gazed out at the vast open space in awe. "Isn't it beautiful, Torchic?" The Pokémon nodded.
Logan yawned as he walked up to the main deck. "Good morning," he said quietly.
"Ohayou," she replied. "Have you traveled on the ocean a lot?"
Logan nodded. "A lot of my traveling in the Alola Region was going from one island to the next. It was usually by boat. I've had my fair share of ocean travel."
"I'm jealous of you," Yurie said.
"Why? You have a chance now to go and do whatever you want, Yurie. Now is your time to travel."
Yurie looked down at Torchic. "Let's travel everywhere together, Torchic!"
The group arrived at Dewford Port around noon. Poochyena and Torchic rolled around in the sand on the beach, and Yurie immediately started looking for the Pokémon Center.
"As fun as camping is, I desperately need a shower and a soft bed to sleep on," she said.
"And it couldn't hurt to eat some hot food," Logan remarked.
"You two handle your business here. I'll be around for awhile. If I have to leave before either one of you, I'll try to make arrangements with one of my friends to get you to Slateport. But like I said, I should be here for a few days," the captain told them. "Enjoy Dewford while you can!"
"So, Yurie, what kind of food do they have in Dewford?"
"This is called Bibimbap," Yurie explained while handing over a bowl of mixed rice to Logan. "It's actually a dish that was imported to Hoenn awhile ago. You see, Dewford is actually pretty far away from the mainland, so a lot of the food culture was influenced by foreign lands."
"Bibimbap?"
"Bibimpap!"
"That sounds incredibly made up," Logan remarked while he took a bite. "But it's delicious!"
"I'm glad that you enjoy it! It's my first time trying it," Yurie said. "So, what are the plans while we're here? Gonna go take on the gym immediately?"
Logan shook his head. "I want to train for a little bit. There's also a cave nearby called Granite Cave. I know that caves sound scary, but I think it'd be fun to go and see what kind of Pokémon they have."
"Let's go! I'm sure there are a bunch of cute Pokémon to make friends with," Yurie said excitedly.
Logan smiled. Only two weeks traveling and he could already see that Yurie had changed so much. "You should probably call your mom first. Tell her about everything that's happened."
"I'll call my mom if you call your aunt!"
"Oh. Wow. I don't want to do that."
"Call your aunt, Logan!"
The two made their phone calls to their family members, updating them on where they were.
"Dewford Town?" Juniper asked. "Have you had Bibimpap?"
"Yes."
"It's delicious! So, now that you're taking on the gym challenge again, are you wanting some of your old Pokémon back? They spend all day running around and battling with one another. It's all friendly of course, but I imagine they'd love some real action," she said.
Logan took a look at his Emboar. "Buddy, I'd love to bring you onto this team, but if you could all hold it down for me over there. I want to do my best with this new team. I think I owe it to them to raise and train them."
Emboar gave Logan a thumbs up. "Emboar!"
"Thanks, buddy! But trust me, we'll see each other soon," Logan replied with a smile. "I'm gonna go now. I'll talk to you later."
"It was good talking to you! Bye bye!"
With that, the two hung up. Logan took in a deep breath.
"Why don't you want to meet your old Pokémon?" Yurie asked. "It seems like it'd make the gym battle challenge a lot easier."
"I love my Pokémon. They're all my best friends," Logan said. "It's complicated, but I feel like I failed them. If I can become stronger, then I will feel worthy of being their trainer."
"I bet they still think you're worthy. Emboar looked like he still respected you," Yurie noted.
"It's not just that," Logan said. He gripped the straps on his backpack tightly. "I have a lot of memories with those Pokémon. Not just the Pokémon, but the person that I traveled with previously. When I see Emboar, I remember a lot of the good times that I had on my travels with not only my Pokémon, but that person too."
"Who is it?"
"Can we not talk about it right now?" Logan said. He smiled. "I'm wanting to get to the cave. I've been excited to see it."
"Okay. Let's go," Yurie said. She watched as Logan walked towards the Pokémon Center doors.
Granite Cave was almost pitch black. Logan came prepared though. He handed Yurie a flashlight, and even Poochyena received a small one to hold in his mouth. Yurie scanned the various Pokémon that she saw with her Pokédex.
"There are a lot of Zubat," she remarked. "They're kind of cute."
Logan laughed. "You really think so? Most people don't like them."
"Well, those people are wrong."
They continued, and eventually, they came across a familiar face.
"Look at all of those Nosepass!" Logan said. They were all still and pointed north. "They look like statues."
"Nosepass sounds like a difficult Pokémon to raise. Roxanne was the right kind of trainer for one," Yurie said.
Eventually, the duo came across a part of the cave that had lights set up. Workers in hard hats were walking around with tools and digging throughout the tunnel. They watched the workers, but continued on their path. They passed where the workers were and came across a giant room with lights, but it was quiet. A man sat in the middle, looking at stones.
"Is that-" Yurie wondered while trying to get a closer look. "Steven?"
The man turned and smiled at Yurie. "Oh, Yurie! It's nice to see you again!"
"How do you know this guy?" Logan asked.
"This is Steven! He's the son of the president of the Devon Corporation! I mentioned that he had a really strong Pokémon!" Yurie explained.
"Oh! I see."
Steven stood up and walked to them. "So, you must be Logan? I heard that you were the one who battled on behalf of my colleague. Thank you for your help."
"Just did what I thought was right."
"I also heard that you're a strong trainer."
"How would you know that?" Logan asked.
Steven smiled. "I'm in the kind of business where I should know those kind of things." He laughed. "So, what are you doing here today? Come to look at the fine rocks of Granite Cave?"
"Logan wanted to come here before his gym battle!"
"I've read that this is a sightseeing area, so I was interested."
"I see! Well, I'm here to study stones, as usual. I also find it rather relaxing here, but I'm just about finished." He lifted his bag onto his shoulder, but then paused and reached into it. "This may seem like a weird question to ask out of the blue, but are you by chance the trainer who is helping Professor Birch with his research?"
Logan was taken aback. "Oh. Yeah. He mentioned Mega Evolution, or something. I'm supposed to help him figure it out."
"Well, one thing that I started studying on my free time is something that we're calling Mega Stones. They are probably linked to Mega Evolution in some kind of way. Did you receive any Pokémon from the Professor?"
"Mudkip," Logan answered.
"In that case, I'd like you to have this." He pulled out a blue and orange stone from his bag. "This is Swampertite. If and when you're Mudkip evolves into Swampert, you will be able to use this stone to make it go to the next level during battle. At least, that's the idea."
Logan held the stone in his hand. The light reflected off of the blue, making it shine. "Thank you. I'll take really good care of it."
"You best! Make sure that you try to get a good look at all of the Pokémon that you can while you're here. There are some strong ones, so if you feel like adding anything to your team here is the place."
"Thanks for the advice!" Yurie said.
"And thank you for the stone," Logan added.
"I'll be off then," Steven said. And with that, he left the two alone.
"That was really nice of him!"
"Yurie, do you know who that was?" Logan asked. He was trembling.
"Steven Stone! Are you okay?"
"I mean, do you know how important he is?"
"He's the son of the president of the Devon Corporation, so I'd guess he's important. Why?"
"It's not that he's the son of the Devon Corporation, Yurie. Steven Stone was the Champion of the Hoenn League. He's one of my idols," Logan explained.
"He was what?" Yurie asked in disbelief.
Logan held up his new Swampertite. "When I was studying to become a trainer, I watched tape of the Pokémon Champions from around the world, and Steven was always my favorite. I didn't want to look like a fanboy, but I was shaking that entire interaction. But I have this now, which is 10 times better than an autograph!"
"I could never imagine you fanboying over someone," Yurie said with a laugh. "What do you say we finish our small tour of Granite Cave?"
"I'm so pumped up now! I feel like I'm working for Steven too! If I had my OG team, I would have challenged him right there!"
"Okay, calm down."
The two continued their way through Granite Cave, reaching more tunnels that were dark.
"I'm getting worn out," Yurie said. "Can we take a break?" She sat down.
"We can start heading back anytime that you want to," Logan replied. "I didn't realize it was going to be this dark."
Suddenly, the small rock that Yurie had taken a seat on started moving. Yurie screamed and then jumped up. She looked down and noticed that it was a Pokémon.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to use you as a chair!"
"It's dark so it makes sense," Logan added. "What is it?"
"Aron, the Iron Armor Pokémon. This Pokémon has a body of steel. To make its body, Aron feeds on iron ore that it digs from mountains. Occasionally, it causes major trouble by eating bridges and rails. With one all-out charge, this Pokémon can demolish even a heavy dump truck. The destroyed dump truck then becomes a handy meal for the Pokémon," Yurie's Pokédex chimed.
"It's so cute! But this one looks a little bit dirty," Yurie noted. She wiped the dirt off of the Aron's head. "Are you okay, buddy?"
The Aron groaned and tried to turn away, but it winced loudly.
"I think it's hurt," Logan noted. He bent down and put his hand on the Pokémon, feeling its scratches on its body. "I think it may have recently been in a battle."
Poochyena licked Aron. He slightly nudged the Steel-type with his nose.
"A-Aron," the Pokémon softly cried.
"We should get it to a Pokémon Center!" Yurie said. She grabbed Aron and tried to lift it, but she immediately fell to the ground. "It's so heavy!"
"You have Poké Balls. Let's catch it and then get to the Pokémon Center as fast as we can," Logan said.
Yurie nodded. In the darkness, she randomly pulled her Luxury Ball from her bag and lightly tapped Aron with it. The Pokémon was absorbed and without a struggle, the Poké Ball let out its signature ding. "Got it."
"Let's go!"
The two ran quickly to the Pokémon Center and handed Aron over to Nurse Joy. She took the Pokémon to the back, and the trainers waited in the lobby.
"We're lucky that you found him when you did," Nurse Joy said. She came to the lobby wearing a surgical mask. "He's in real bad condition."
"What do you think happened?" Yurie asked.
"This looks like it was the result of Aron losing a battle. It is Aron mating season, so it could have lost a battle of love. It's damaged physically pretty bad, but it also looks very withdrawn and sullen," Nurse Joy said. "Heartbroken."
"Poor guy," Yurie said.
"And not just that, but if you found him alone like that, there is a chance that he was kicked out of his group. Or he chose to leave."
Logan turned to Poochyena. "Poochyena was also kicked out of his group."
"It's just the nature of wild Pokémon," Nurse Joy said. "I'll keep you updated." She went to the back.
"This happened to Poochyena?" Yurie asked. She bent down and pet the Dark-type.
"It happens all the time," Logan replied. "Like Joy said, it's just the nature of wild Pokémon. I think people forget that Pokémon have lives outside of being with trainers. There's a whole side of Pokémon that we rarely see."
"It's kind of scary."
The two sat around for a little while longer. Once Nurse Joy let them know that Aron was in stable condition, the two made their way to the Pokémon's room. Yurie sat by Aron's bed side. She ran her hand of the Pokémon's rough body, feeling the shredded steel.
"In time, when Aron begins to level up, the steel will become smooth again," Nurse Joy said. "That is assuming that Aron continues battling. It probably won't be able to go back to its group."
Aron held its head down in shame.
"He's heartbroken," Yurie said.
"You can stay here with him if you want to," Nurse Joy said. "But try not to keep him up. He'll need his rest." Yurie nodded, and Nurse Joy left the room.
"So, technically, that Aron is yours," Logan said. "He may not be able to go back to his old group, but with you, he has a chance at a new family."
"But maybe he won't want to go with me."
"That's true, but give him a few days of rest here, and then let him make his own decision. I'm gonna go train a little bit in the courtyard. I have to prepare for my battle, but maybe you should stay here and talk with Aron for awhile." With that, Logan left.
Yurie pet Aron's head. "How are you feeling?" Aron looked up at her. "You know, I've been rejected pretty hard too. Maybe not as bad as this, but I understand what you're feeling." Aron blinked. "I had a crush on this boy who went to the same school as me. He was so cute, and the other students looked up to him. When I did tell him how I felt, he told me that he had feelings for someone else. He left two years ago for his journey, and I haven't talked to him since. But, I think I've moved on. And you will too! I promise!" Aron smiled slightly, but then put his head back down.
Back in the courtyard, Logan prepared to train with his Pokémon. The courtyard was different from a lot of the other ones that Logan had gone too. The main area was filled with sand, stones, and shells from the beach, and in the middle was a small pool for Pokémon to relax in. Surrounding the courtyard were rows of palm trees, which shaded roughly half of the space given.
"Alright, team. I'm not sure what we're gonna be up against tomorrow at this gym, but I'd like for us to prepare our best," Logan told his three Pokémon. Mudkip listened attentively, but Vigoroth sat around and looked bored. She started to twitch her nose, and then stood up and walked towards the Pokémon Center door.
"Vigoroth," Logan said. The Pokémon turned. "I'll make you dinner after we've finished a bit of training." Vigoroth sighed and then returned to the group. "So, I think for tomorrow's battle, I'd like to battle with Vigoroth first. I want to get a feel for how we'll gel as a team." Vigoroth flexed. "Today's training is going to be intense. Mudkip and Poochyena, I want you to team up and take on me and Vigoroth. You'll be moving independently without my directions, but I know that you'll do good together. Vigoroth, please listen to me, and we'll see what magic we can make." The Pokémon all shouted out happily, and Poochyena and Mudkip moved to the other side of the courtyard.
"Okay, everyone. Let's begin!" Logan said. With that, Poochyena and Mudkip started to run towards Vigoroth.
"We'll start with Fury Swipes!"
Vigoroth lunged forward and began to swipe her claws at the two Pokémon. She connected with Mudkip, but Poochyena shifted his body and smashed his tail into Vigoroth's side. The Normal-type rolled over, but quickly stood up.
"Let's try Slash now! Target Poochyena!"
Vigoroth nodded. She darted forward, her claw glowing. She slashed at Poochyena, making the Pokémon fly back. Mudkip suddenly appeared behind Vigoroth and used his Water Gun attack. Vigoroth turned around and glared.
"Slash!"
Vigoroth didn't listen and instead started flailing its claws around. Mudkip jumped back to avoid the attack. Poochyena tackled into Vigoroth's back and the Normal-typed flopped forward. She stood back up, fuming. She began to swipe her claws furiously while screaming.
"Vigoroth! Try to calm down! We can still do this!" Logan yelled. Vigoroth turned to Logan. She started to bound forwards, and prepared to attack her trainer. Logan calmly lifted the Luxury Ball and returned Vigoroth inside of it.
"Mudkip?" the Pokémon wondered.
"It looks like we have some work to do," Logan noted. "But I said that I'll be teaming with her tomorrow, so that's what I'm gonna do. I'll just have to work with what I can. Hopefully the Luxury Ball can calm her a bit. Let's make dinner!"
Yurie fell asleep with her head down next to Aron's. She drooled onto Aron's pillow, so the Steel-type shifted a little bit. He stood up and looked at Yurie. He laid his head back down near Yurie's but away from the drool. Logan entered the room, holding onto some leftover lunch. He noticed the two sleeping and put their food down on a small desk nearby. He grabbed a blanket and put it over Yurie, and then he moved Aron's blanket onto his small body.
"Get some sleep, guys," he whispered. He walked to the door and turned off the light. "It looks like you're finally starting to understand how Pokémon feel."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Wanted to focus more on giving Logan and Yurie a bit more "backstory" in this one. Even if it's small, I think it's important to give them a bit. I'm also gonna work on giving more description to the settings that they're in. My writing is usually script writing and is very dialogue and character driven, so I don't spend a lot of time actually describing the setting. The stories that I work on that I'd like to eventually publish are the same way.
Next chapter is going to be a gym battle, so get ready for that.
I just broke my finger, but I'm gonna try to keep writing. Already have around 25 chapters finished, so it shouldn't affect anything immediately.