Rolo and Lopo Ark: 4
Outside the mine, workers and parents alike wondered what would happen next. Aria disappeared into the tunnel and the only thing that could quell their worries was silence. When a burst of squeals popped out of the entrance, ending as quickly as it started, the entire crowd jumped. Samuel and Carol moved to the front of the group. Hatchling or not, houndour had teeth, claws, and fire ready to defend themselves from any threat. Aria emerged into the light as they approached with a freshly filled classic ball in her hand. She held it up for the world to see.
"Problem solved," she said.
With the mine now clear and stories told, the Wicket family returned to their mountain home. Aria sat on her bed with the inferno colored egg in her lap and the classic ball seated on a pillow in front of her. She rested her chin on the top of the shell and ignored the furiously wiggling creature inside. It always amazed her how pokeballs worked. Even after all the research in the world, no one knew exactly what was going on inside. The mysteries of the universe could have unraveled and the only question Aria was interested in was whether or not pokemon needed to eat while contained. She imagined the countless times hunger had pained her when waiting for the next meal after a rousing day of play. Great stone walls would collapse against the ferocity of her grumbling stomach. Aria couldn't imagine what it would be like for a growing and maturing pokemon in need of food. She planned on releasing the hatchling back to the pack tomorrow morning but it was better to be safe than sorry. The dinner bell rang and the family gathered for dinner, pokemon included. Aria fed Sebastian and Styx in the backyard, being careful to keep Sebastian's portion away from the miniature cement pool Styx splashed around in. She sat on the edge with her head in her hand. Now that she was out here, doubt tickled her thoughts. When releasing and relocating wild pokemon, the less contact they had with people, the easier it was. But with her pokemon munching away nearby, she couldn't help but feel like she was jiggling a steak in front of a bundle of bones and black fur.
Styx floated over to her side. The red and white pokeball caught his eye. It had been there before but this time, it wasn't empty. He wiggled a tentacle at it, and when Aria didn't notice, he rubbed a few tentacles over her back and waist to coax the story out of her. Sebastian finished his meal and wandered off to nap in front of the house at the bottom of the porch. Aria bit her bottom lip. If she let the little houndour out right now, Sebastian would never notice. Carol and Samuel were both preoccupied with dinner. Styx was out but there was little he could do from inside the basin. Aria tapped her fingers against her lips while Styx found her cold shoulder a little too frigid. He lowered all of his tentacles except one, pulled it back, and jabbed Aria in the ribs. She straightened with a yelp before twisting upon the culprit.
"Oww, geez Styx, what was that for?"
Aria rubbed the forming bruise between her ribs. Her threshold for pain grew with every new day thanks to her pokemons' antics. Styx motioned to the newly filled pokeball. Aria apologized for the delay and recounted the tale of the hatchling's capture and future. By the end of it, she couldn't resist letting the houndour out to eat. Aria snuck into the kitchen, stole a food bowl, and gave Styx strict instructions not to meddle with her decision. He agreed and the introduction began. Aria stepped out into the lawn and unhooked the classic ball. Her hands shook and her breath was shaky as she enlarged it. Releasing a pokemon for the first time after you caught it was a moment in time that could never be recreated. It was the first time the pokemon inside appeared as your pokemon under your full care and guidance. It was the foundation for the relationship you would have for the rest of your life.
Releasing the hatchling to the wild would happen tomorrow afternoon, tonight, he would be her pokemon. Aria threw out the ball to put space between her and the energy stream. The pokeball slapped back into her palm as Houndour materialized. He glanced from side to side. Waking up in a strange place was just as scary for pokemon as it was for people but luckily the woods were familiar scenery. Houndour's gaze fell onto the human in front of him and he put his nose to the air. Despite her unfamiliarity, he felt obligated to remain where he was as if entranced or charmed by her presence. Aria bent down and shook the bowl to indicate the food inside. She placed it in the grass, backed away, and sat on the edge of the basin. Houndour watched her retreat and looked back to the bowl. He edged a little closer. The nose of a wild pokemon could always find a food source. Houndour took mouthfuls to fill his empty tummy. Aria squeezed her hands in silent victory. She remained quiet as he finished and dipped into his courage. The hatchling roamed the yard, sniffing tools scattered across the lawn and exploring the side of the house. Each new object introduced a round of flinching investigation until his curiosity turned to the living.
Aria stiffened when Houndour turned in her direction. His approach was casual until he noticed the tentacruel looming behind her. Houndour's ears perked like two sonar microphones scanning for alien life. He stretched out and bobbed up and down with his unevenly distributed weight until he fell over into the grass. Aria died at the sight and went to heaven when the Houndour compensated his fumble with courage. He jumped onto the basin next to her to investigate the living blue shell. Styx floated closer to the edge. Houndour continued to crane his neck despite his courage and managed to sniff the tentacruel's crested helmet. All seemed well until Styx lightly wrapped his tentacles around the canine's waist and lifted him off of the basin and onto his helmet.
"Styx!" Aria yelled.
He twirled away before she could stop him. Houndour sprawled over the top of his helmet with claws outstretched in a panic. Before Aria could shout again, Styx came back to the edge. He propped the ridge of his helmet on the wall and released his hold on the hatchling. Houndour scrambled onto the safety of dry ground, falling off the basin into the lawn in the process. Experience told him to run for the woods but instinct told him to stay put. The stalemate made him immobile and Aria withdrew him before things could get any worse. The ball clicked shut.
"What did I tell you? You just scared the living daylights out of him!" she hissed.
Styx put two tentacles to his helmet and sloshed back and forth. Aria growled a sigh and covered her face with her hand. She trusted the tentacruel with her life, but the menial task was like conquering World War 3. The classic ball locked back into place and Aria slumped onto Styx's helmet with a twinge of disappointment. Maybe releasing Houndour wasn't such a good decision after all. Styx probably traumatized the poor thing. Plus, it wasn't right to keep him from the pack that was probably out scouring the forest for him right now. Aria patted Styx and her determination back into place. She left into the house and the sun went with her. Midnight cast a quiet blanket over the Wicket household but there was never a silent night in the woods. There was always the wind, a cricket, pokemon rummaging around the house in nightly migration, or the howl of a houndour pack. Aria sat straight up out of bed as the howl of a pack filled the house louder and clearer than ever before.
Aria threw off her covers, leapt out of bed, and tripped over her nightstand. A few frantic seconds later, she grabbed her pokebelt and flung open the bedroom door. Her heart raced. Her feet tapped down the steps so fast it could have sounded like the line of a xylophone. Years of encountering wild pokemon reminded her that stealth was critical. Aria slowed as she moved through the house and didn't bother to flick on a light. It would only blind her and scare off the pokemon outside. She found the nearest window and peered out of it. Houndour were not called the dark pokemon for nothing. She couldn't see anything and the howling had stopped as if they knew their comrade was stirring. She had no doubt the little hatchling heard his brothers and sisters. Aria moved to another window and caught a glimpse of two black forms sniffing around the yard. Their silver bone crests flashed as they caught the starlight. At the corner of the house, a sensor light clicked on. The back legs of a houndour scrambled back into the woods. Aria's hands shook with excitement as she pulled away from the window. The pack was right outside her door but falling into the nightstand had knocked all common sense out of her. She unhooked Houndour's ball from her belt, unlocked the front door, and snuck out better than a burglar.
It was hard to see anything in the dead of night. The tree line was nothing but a patchwork of black shadows and the grass was only noticeable from the dirt because it didn't have the shine of mineral pieces to it. Aria's memory guided her off of the porch towards the back yard. She moved away from the house to avoid tripping the sensor light. The pack wouldn't come too close to the house but hopefully she could get far enough away to keep them interested. A chill tickled Aria's spine and left goose bumps in its wake. The forest was never empty but this time Aria felt several sets of eyes follow her trek into the open portion of the yard. The dash of swift feet nearby fluttered her heart. The pack was lingering just out of sight. Aria stopped and looked around. Now that she was several feet away from the house, in skimpy pajamas, without shoes, and within reach of a pack of wild pokemon who were looking for the hatchling she had stolen: coming outside didn't seem like a smart idea. Releasing Houndour and retreating into the house as soon as possible was her primary objective. Aria fumbled with Houndour's ball to find the release and several soft whines echoed from the woods. The pack knew he was inside the pokeball, but how?
Alright, it's now or never. Aria thought. Your friends have come to pick you up. Good luck.
Aria pressed the release and a bright stream of red energy snaked out. It was only in the dead of night, that the true nature of the stream could be seen. Houndour's energy flowed to the ground like a ribbon of weightless liquid. Silver flecked the length of the stream while the primary red glow melted into various shades of fiery oranges, yellows, and reds. Black shadows twined into existence from something within. They expanded until black and silver completely covered the pulse. The last of the red glow flashed off when the energy molded into the shape of a houndour and the hatchling fully materialized. It only took seconds to happen but Aria felt as if she had watched a work of art be created and destroyed. Houndour remembered being in the yard this evening but this time familiar scents and sounds came to him. Several houndours came out of the woods onto the edge of a line Aria couldn't see. Houndour's tail wagged back and forth. It was the sign Aria was waiting for. She stepped back but the motion was not missed. Houndour looked back at her.
"Go on, you're free," Aria whispered. "Your pack is waiting."
Houndour looked back to his pack, took a step, and stopped to look down at it. It wouldn't move any further. There was no more obligation, right? Something shifted behind the line of houndour. It emerged from the darkness quieter than the sigh of a ghost. This pokemon was much larger than the rest. Its two grey horns formed out of starlight and its coat melted out of the night sky above. The Alpha Houndoom stepped onto the lawn and placed its reflective gaze directly on Aria. An intimidate struck her in the chest like a dive into artic waters. She stumbled back, tripped over her heels, and feel to the ground in terror. She had seen the results of a houndour pack on the hunt. They would shred her to pieces. With the human successfully immobilized with fear, Houndoom looked down to the hatchling who shook as much as the human. An intimidate was not a localized attack. Houndour swallowed his fear with memories of nursing with that very same houndoom. He also remembered how the alpha left him during that terrible storm and in the cave when the humans had appeared. Aria was alone, cold, and scared, the same way he was until she showed up, brought him home, and fed him a meal.
Houndour slowly took a step back. His mother was already beautiful, powerful, and happy. She had a pack. Aria didn't. The hatchling turned around and ran over to her. He jumped at her legs, cried, and turned around to the pack and growled. Houndoom took a long look at her hatchling, looked at Aria, and turned away. She disappeared into the night with her pack in tow. Aria kept her eyes on the forest and felt her body thaw. She would have become afraid of the dark pokemon species right then and there if it wasn't for the hatchling pawing at her thigh. His glowing green and silver eyes didn't turn away as he pawed, gnawed, and tugged on her clothes in an attempt to snap her out of the intimidate. Aria looked down and scooped him into her arms. She hugged him against her chest and laughed for reasons she didn't really understand. Houndour wagged his tail so fast he could have taken off into outer space. The pressure he felt after being captured in the pokeball felt the exact same way as her hug. Aria rushed back into the house with her new pokemon in her arms and retreated into her room. She flicked on the light, put the pokemon on the floor, and went to show him all of her wonderful things (it was far too exciting to go to bed now) until she realized that the steady clacking of the pokemon egg had stopped. Her eyes went straight to the egg nestled in a pile of blankets on the floor. Houndour cocked his head at it. Several cracks appeared before pieces of shell rained down onto the blanket. A small burst of flame that could have been mistaken as a hiccup puffed out of the opening. Aria dropped to her knees in front of it. Houndour waddled onto the blanket and used her thigh as a platform. Two paws broke through before a fluffy and furry growlithe rolled out onto the blanket. Aria screamed.
Houndour barked and jumped off of her leg. He raced over to the hatchling not that much smaller than himself and got a swift kick in the face as the growlithe scrambled to find his footing. Aria couldn't help but laugh as Houndour returned the favor by pouncing on his new compatriot. They tumbled together in a mass of confusion before Aria picked Houndour out of the mess to give the new hatchling a chance to catch his bearings. It didn't help because all he did was roll back and forth across the floor as if he didn't have legs. Aria sucked in her breath. She switched puppies and held the growlithe nose to nose.
"Rolo," she announced before looking over to Houndour, "and Lopo."
"It's perfect."