Shifters: Chapter 10; A Team Effort

Jubilife city was still a fair way away as Kai and Hope set up camp that night on the side of the trail, the sun sinking below the horizon as the duo sat by the fire on the first night of their adventure. The tent had proven relatively easy to erect, which relieved Kai to no end and before long, a pot of stew was merrily bubbling over their camp fire.

That night at least was uneventful, spent watching the sun go down, not many words spoken between the two as they sat by their fire, chowing down on good food and the feeling of camaraderie that they felt toward each other. That night Kai slept as a Ninetales, curled up next to Hope as the pair slept through the first night of their great adventure together.

The next morning was an early one for Kai and Hope. Packing up their camp the moment it was light enough to see outside, they set out, keen to arrive in Jubilife. They had barely been walking for ten minutes though, when they were brought to an abrupt stop when a teenage boy came bursting out of a small clearing to the right of the path, still pulling on a shirt and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, pulling a pokéball out as he approached them. Kai looked over at Hope "I think he's trying to challenge us"

The boy grinned as he faced down Kai "Too right I am!" he said "I challenge you to a double battle!" This surprised Kai, what to do now? With a grin he made his decision- if the kid wanted a double battle he would get it. "Alright then" Kai said, already Shifting, his tails erupting out from behind him as he grinned at the expression on the other teens face. He finished the Shift and took up a battle stance as he called out to his opponent "Bring it on!"

The other trainer finally snapped out of his reverie and gave a small grin in response "This should be interesting" he said as he held up two pokéballs and brought out his team "Mightyena!, Magnectric! Come on out!"

Two flashes of red light engulfed the clearing and the two pokémon appeared, baying their challenge at Kai and Hope before launching straight at them with fearsome growls. Surprised at the sudden onslaught- the trainer hadn't spoken a word- Kai and Hope gave way to the attack, falling back and letting loose their own attacks. Hope's ember attack joined with Kai's own flamethrower forming a huge whirlwind of fire that engulfed the two dogs. Wasting no time, the duo sprang forward with dual quick attacks that easily knocked the two dogs down. The Mightyena went down hard, but the Magnectric wasn't felled so easily.

A huge bolt of lightning streaked from its body shot out, striking the ground between Kai and Hope, blowing the pair to opposite sides of the clearing. Fortunately both were mostly unharmed and sprang up again, Kai thinking fast, what could he do? The electric canine was strong, and wasn't easily brought down. It was also unpredictable, he reflected- the trainer was calling out orders but it simply ignored them and sat in the middle of the field, eyes on Kai and a growl splitting its muzzle.

Kais thoughts were interrupted though, by a bright flash of light at the opposite end of the field. With a shock, he realized that it was coming from Hope, who had risen after being tossed away by the thunderbolt, a snarl on her face and was now glowing a bright red, flames erupting from her fur as she growled her own challenge to the Magnectric, which turned around in shock.

With a great bound, Hope started forward, flames trailing from her as she ran incredibly quickly towards the electric pokémon. In seconds she reached the canine and barrelled forward, an explosion of flames bursting from her as she struck with unbelievable force, sending the Magnectric flying past Kai's head on the opposite side of the field and into a tree, where it fell limp and unconscious.

Hope staggered, the Flare Blitz had taken a lot out of her, and slumped, trying to stay upright as Kai hurried over to her to check on her injuries. They were not severe, so Kai, Shifting back to human form, walked over to his pack and retrieved a potion, which she drank down, restoring much of her energy and healing some of the minor scratches and bruising she had endured. Once he was sure she would be fine, Kai turned to the young man, who was tending to his own pokémon.

"How long have you had these pokémon?" Kai asked as he joined the other trainer, who returned his pokémon and faced Kai with a sigh. "They're my father's" the teenager replied "He gave them to me for my own adventure but..." his voice trailed off "They don't trust me yet".

Kai gave a small snort of amusement at the young man's predicament "Just keep working with them" he said eventually "train with them and earn their respect for you as a trainer. Take on the gyms, win their trust for you, because otherwise they won't bother with you, and a team not built on trust and respect will never go far" he smiled as he added; "and your shirt is on backwards by the way".

After bidding their hapless opponent farewell, Kai and Hope set off again, fortunately not encountering any other trainers, they were bruised and battered enough already as they made their slow way up the trail towards Jubilife, the trail became more and more crowded as they neared the city.

The city itself was huge, and as Kai found himself surrounded by huge crowds of people, he felt slightly claustrophobic, so many people in one place made him quite uneasy. Nevertheless, the two made it to the pokémon centre without incident, and in time for lunch- the cafeteria served trainers for free. Kai booked a room upstairs and the rest of the day was spent lounging around and tending to bruises and minor scrapes. The next day they would need all the energy they could for the next leg of the journey- on to Orebourgh and the first Gym.