Training Isn't Just for Moemon: Platinum Star Ch. 2
AN: Well, here we are in chapter two. It's been so long since I've done this, I'm not sure what to say in this author's note. I feel like I should say something though, so I'll just say, thanks to everyone who has been sending me messages. I have been reading them, and I apologize I haven't been responding. I've been doing a lot of work at my job, and even am trying to start my own company. I know I haven't uploaded for a while, and I appreciate everyone's concerns. Thank you, again. If you'd like to add me on Discord, my name is Kiba Elunal#6122. I've got a server where we play games and such, if you're interested in joining us.
The next day came early. I awoke to find Chrissy nuzzled up in the crook of my arm, a big smile on her slumbering face. It all came crashing back to me that I was a moemon trainer now.
I gave her a small kiss on the head, causing her to stir. "Wake up, Chrissy. It's time to go."
She beamed up at me, giving a stretch, and rolling out of the bed. It was strange how she spoke so little. I'd heard moemon were capable of carrying on entire conversations, but maybe she was just shy.
Slipping out from under the covers, I did my morning stretches before rifling through my clothes for the day. I found some dark blue slacks, as well as a burnt orange tee. So it wasn't the most stylish outfit, but I didn't want to just wear something nice if it would get dirty while I was out and about.
Chrissy watched me dress with thinly veiled excitement. "Well aren't you a little pervert," I teased, causing her to bashfully avert her gaze. "It's okay, Chrissy. I'm just teasing you." Now that I was fully clothed, I moved past her, ruffling her hair.
She gripped my pants leg and gave it a tug to get my attention. When i looked down at her, she opened her mouth and uttered one word: "Breakfast?"
"Oh, you're hungry! I suppose that makes sense. Sure, I'll whip something up for you. Come on."
We traipsed down the stairs, to find that my mother was still asleep in her room. After I'd caught her last night, I could only imagine that she probably was having trouble sleeping. Best not to wake her.
I started on breakfast, as quietly as I could, scrambling some eggs and frying up some bacon. It was a simple meal, nothing too fancy, but the way that Chrissy stood beside me on her tiptoes, salivating at the smell and sight, it was clear that she hadn't eaten a hot meal in a while.
Pausing my cooking, I fetched a stool for her, placing it a safe distance away. "Here, so you can learn how, too," I explained to her.
My Piplup clambered up the stool, sitting on it and watching silently. Maybe over time she'd speak to me more. Her eyes were the size of the moon as she stared at the food, and in no time at all, it was finished.
I scraped it all onto large plates so we could serve ourselves before going to fetch us something to drink. But when I turned back, the plates were empty, and all that remained of my hard work was a slightly pudgier Piplup. "Holy crap! Did you eat all of it?" I asked in shock.
Chrissy immediately cringed, staring down at her feet and hiding behind the stool. "I'm sorry," she murmured, in a voice that was barely audible. "Please don't hurt me."
"Hurt you?" I repeated her sentiment. "Chrissy, I'd never hurt you." I moved closer to her, and she took a step back, but I just advanced more and scooped her into my arms for a tight hug. "I'm not angry. I'm your Master. When you're hungry, I feed you. When you're scared, I'm there to help you through it. You don't have to be afraid of me."
"I...don't?"
"Of course not. I love you, Chrissy. You don't hurt the people you love."
"Oh." She wrapped her small arms around my neck and cuddled close. "I love you, too, Master. I won't hurt you either."
It was a touching moment, ruined by my grumbling stomach. I sighed, placing her back on the ground. "I guess I'll make some more. Are you still hungry?"
"Always," she beamed.
"Good to know," I laughed. "Just save some for me, okay?"
"Okay!"
Soon, we were both fed. From there, we left the house to find Barry. Sure enough, right as I opened the door, he charged into me at full speed, bowling me over.
"Ow…Sorry, Vulpus. I was so excited I ran right over as soon as I woke up. But I kept knocking on the door and there was no answer, and that's when I realized that it was like 3 in the morning, so I figured you were probably still asleep, so then I went back to my room to wait for you to wake up, and I came back at 5 but you were still asleep, I could tell because all the lights were off in your house, but then I thought about going to train a bit in the grass. Then I was like, "No, that wouldn't be fair to Vulpus. I promised we'd go together today. So instead I went home, had a wank, and now here I am, promptly at 7:30."
After the torrent of words, I surrendered on unpacking all of that, and instead replied with, "Good morning, Barry. No worries. Sorry if you were waiting long."
"No problem," he grinned. "Let's head to the lake. They say there's a legendary moemon there, and I bet if we capture it Professor Rowan will be really impressed."
Dawn, too. "Sounds good, man. Lead the way."
The two of us headed out of town, and sure enough, the lake wasn't far at all. Outside, my eyes fell upon a sign outside of it that read, "Lake Verity". Beneath it was a small inscription that detailed a moemon who supposedly brought emotions to people, rumored to live in the lake. This must be the legendary moemon Barry was talking about.
As we broke through the tree line, the lake was still covered in a morning foggy haze. It gave an eerie look to it, and we could see dark shapes in the mist.
One of the shapes grew closer, and immediately my instincts set me on edge. They told me something was dangerous, and so I prepared to give Chrissy commands to fight.
Barry however, was oblivious to all this. "Hello?" he called out to the shape. "Is someone there?"
From the mist, a man emerged, dressed in a grey and black suit. His hair was cropped spiky, and a bright blue color, similar to my Piplups. This wasn't a moemon though. He was human.
"I see, you've come to try to get a glimpse of the legendary moemon as well," he noted, eyeing us up and down. The guy gave me the creeps. His face was void of emotions, and yet in his eyes there was a look akin to rage and frustration.
"Yeah. What of it?" I demanded. I knew I was being hostile, but I hoped my message was loud and clear. I wasn't afraid to throw down if I had to.
The man gave a snort of derision that caused me to bristle. "Foolish children," he said. "When one knows nothing, they can understand nothing, and you, my dear children, understand even less than nothing."
"Who is this guy?" Barry whispered to me. "He's kind of weird, isn't he?"
"Weird?" he questioned. "I am weird? Tell me, is it weird to want to rid the world of sorrow? Of pain? From my point of view, it is the rest of the world that is weird. But then again...how could children hope to understand such things."
I stayed silent as Chrissy clung to my leg, hiding behind me. I didn't blame her. Seemingly unknowing or uncaring about my hostility, the man brushed past Barry and me.
"I'll take my leave now, children. Enjoy your time at the lake while you still can."
With that, he disappeared into the treeline. Something about his words sent a chill up my spine. Was that a threat? It didn't take long after he was gone for me to start to unwind.
"Man, that guy was seriously creepy," Barry said. "Any idea what he was going on about?" Before I could answer, we heard a strange cry from the mist. Barry's concerns faded instantly. "That's it! That's the legendary moemon. Quick we should capture...it…" He trailed off before turning to me. "Say, Vulpus. You wouldn't happen to have any pokeballs on you, would you?"
"What? Why would I have pokeballs? I literally just got my moemon yesterday, same as you."
He looked dejected at the ground. "Guess we're not capturing the legendary moemon today, then. We need to get pokeballs, and I frankly don't have much money."
"Well, let's go to Sandgem. Maybe we can find some work there," I suggested.
"Hey, yeah! Good idea! Professor Rowan should have some tasks for us. Alright, I'll see you there!"
"No, wait! With that guy we should–and he's gone…" With Barry having disappeared from view, I sighed before looking towards Chrissy. "Well, looks like we'll just have to make our way to Sandgem on our own."
"That's okay," she squeaked. "Barry wears me out."
I laughed. "Yeah, me too. This will be a good way to get some training in too."
With that, the two of us left the lake, unable to see the small shadowy figure sink back below its depths.
As we trudged through the grass towards Sandgem Town, we were immediately beset by quite a few moemon in rapid succession. They weren't particularly difficult for Chrissy, but it proved the point that Rowan had certainly saved Barry from an unsavory fate. His virginity, if not his life.
"You're doing pretty well," I told my moemon after the third or fourth brown-headed girl. "I'm not sure what these things are, but they sure are weak."
"I'll say," she giggled. "I haven't even had to try out my special move yet."
"Special move?" I asked. "You have a special move?"
She nodded.
Just as I was about to ask her for further clarification, a raven-headed girl dove at us from the tree tops. Her cloak looked like wings, as she used it to glide above us. "Looks like you'll get your chance," I noted.
"Intruder!" she cried out. "Get out of my forest!"
"Your forest?" I scoffed. "You don't own the forest."
She wheeled about, fury in her eyes. "Then I'll make you leave!" she cried.
As she made a beeline for me, I smirked. "Now, Chrissy! Your special move!"
"Okay...I'll try."
Taking a deep breath, my moemon began to blow a stream of bubbles into the air. As they all hovered there, I was horrified. This was her special move?! God, I was going to die!
Or so I thought. The bird-like girl laughed and charged even faster, ready to puncture one of the bubbles and soon my skull. However, the moment her nose made contact with a bubble, it popped. And when I say 'popped', what I really mean is exploded, creating a shock wave with enough force to knock her back from her full momentum.
She was sent hurtling back, into another bubble, and soon I watched the girl get pinballed between the bubbles before the last one sent her hurtling towards the ground. She landed in the dirt with a heavy thud, a small cloud of dust rising from the impact.
"That was incredible!" I cheered, picking up Chrissy with a big grin. "You could do that the whole time?! Why didn't you say so sooner!"
"I didn't know I could until just now, Master," she giggled. "I did good?"
"Hell yeah, you did good! You did amazing!"
"Yay!"
"C'mon, Sandgem isn't much further ahead. Training should be a snap now!"
And it most certainly was. The two of us blasted our way through the moemon that attempted to slow us down, until finally we emerged in the small city.
Standing before us was Dawn, who upon seeing me ran to us as fast as she could. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
"You have?" I questioned.
She grinned at me, looping her arm around mine and dragging me along the road. "Yep! I was hoping I'd get to see you again."
"Really?" I squeaked. "That's great. I was hoping to see you again, too. I mean, I couldn't stop think–" My words were cut off as Barry emerged from the lab at full speed. Without a thought, I shoved Dawn out of the way, only for Barry to knock me down full force.
He smiled down at me. "We've really got to stop running into each other like this, Vulpus. Someone's going to get hurt."
"No shit," I groaned, rubbing my sore backside as I stood up. "What did you find out?"
He smirked and gave me a thumbs up. "Rowan's not that scary of a dude. He's actually pretty cool. I don't want to spoil nothing, so you go on in. I'll catch up with you later. Peace." With that, he rushed off further into the town.
"Wow, something that even Barry was able to keep under wraps," I noted. "Must be a big deal indeed."
"Very!" Dawn promised, once more coming to my side with a wink. "You'll just have to see for yourself. Come on, the professor is waiting."
With little effort at all on her part, she dragged me along beside her into the lab where sure enough, Professor Rowan stood, looking as stern as ever. "Ah, welcome Vulpus. I've been expecting you."
"Y-yeah, sorry. I meant to say thank you yesterday, but I kind of got caught up in the moment."
"Hmm. Don't thank me yet," he responded, waving his finger admonishingly. "In fact, the moemon most certainly didn't come free. There is a price attached after all."
My face sunk. A price? I didn't have any money either. "I don't think I can pay," I commented. "But please, Professor, don't take Chrissy back. I'll take good care of her, I swear. And I'll work until I have enough money to–"
"I'm not talking about money," he stated firmly. "And in fact, I wanted to hire you as it is. I'd hoped to see you so soon. When you didn't show up, I began to have my doubts but…" He leaned closer to Chrissy, examining her with a scrutinizing gaze. "You've done exceptionally well thus far. She looks very happy."
"I am," she promised, causing both of them to be taken aback.
Dawn looked at me in shock.
"What?" I questioned.
"You got her to speak. We've been trying to get her to talk since she was hatched!" Dawn exclaimed. "You must really be something special."
Chrissy became embarrassed again. "Yes, Master is...special. I feel so safe around him. I can't explain. I was scared at first, but now I'm not scared at all."
Rowan stood suddenly, a fierce light gleaming in his eyes. "There can be no doubt now. Vulpus, today I am hereby hiring you as my research assistant, in exchange for Chrissy, you'll work for me. Understand?"
"Welcome to the team," Dawn said. "When the professor told me his plan, I couldn't believe it, but I'm glad he thought of it when he did."
"I don't understand. So I'll be helping you and Dawn do research? What do I do?"
"Well, in a sense," Rowan replied, stroking his mustache. "You, Dawn, and Barry will be collecting samples throughout Sinnoh, but you'll be on your own for the most part. Or you can travel together. Either way, really."
"Awesome! But uh...how exactly will I be collecting samples? Do I just give you the moemon I catch?"
"That's where I come in," he smirked. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small red device that folded open to reveal two screens. "This is a pokedex. It's a scanning device that will take samples of any moemon you encounter on your journey."
Dawn gripped me with an unusual excitement. "Congratulations. These pokedex are incredibly rare, and Professor Rowan only gives them to people he trusts. It's a big honor to get one."
"I don't know what to say."
"Try 'thank you'. Properly this time," the beauty on my arm teased.
"Right! Thank you, Professor. I'll work hard, I swear."
"Good to hear it. This of course means you'll be travelling across the country, you realize. Normally, I'd be concerned about sending you out on your own, but you've demonstrated that you are competent enough to be trusted. It's okay if you're feeling a little nervous. But I swear to you, you are destined for great things, Vulpus. Your adventure and the story of your life time starts here. Now go out and do great things!"
His words boomed over me with such presence that I couldn't help but feel inspired. "Yes, sir!"
"Dawn, show him the ropes."
"Yes, sir, Professor." She gave him a cute salute before marching me back out of the lab.
"So, does that mean you have a moemon too?" I asked her as she dragged me through town.
"That's right. I have a Chimchar. I call him 'Torchy'." She came to a stop in front of an orange building. "This is the pokemon center," she explained. "Here, you can heal your pokemon for free. They also have free room and board for trainers."
"Cool. Guess I won't be camping out a lot then."
"Wrong," she scoffed. "You still have to sleep somewhere in the wilderness, you know? But that's okay. It's kind of nice. The stars above you. Everything's nice and quiet."
"Sounds romantic," I admitted.
"It is. I'd love for a guy to take me camping some time."
"Maybe I'll take you camping," I offered.
She grinned at me. "In due time, my young pupil."
"We're the same age."
"Heehee, yeah but I've been a trainer longer than you. So just call me 'senpai'."
I looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Senpai? Wouldn't have pegged you for a weeb."
"I mostly prefer hentai," she stated, giving me a coy wink. My cheeks burned bright red, causing her to snicker. "Wow, is that all it takes to fluster you? That's adorable, really."
"Weren't you supposed to be showing me the ropes?" I pointed out, trying to change the subject.
"Righto. Next, we have the pokemart. It's self explanatory. Now back to our previous conversation. Anyone you need to let know that you won't be seeing for a while?"
Now it was my turn to try to fluster her. "Is that your way of asking if I have a girlfriend?"
It didn't even phase her. "You? Girlfriend? Doubt it."
I bristled at her comment. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Can't even listen to me talk about hentai without getting embarrassed. You're definitely inexperienced in more ways than one."
"Yeah, well...maybe you could teach me a thing or two about that as well."
Dawn cooed, and gently tickled me beneath my chin. Despite the condescending gesture, I felt warmth surge from where she touched me. "Well, I suppose it's something I could give some thought to," she hummed. "The professor did say I was supposed to teach you the ropes after all. And how's a girl to be tied up if you don't know how to use rope?"
Again, my cheeks burned a deep red. This time though, there was no mocking, no joking. The look in her eyes was one of deadly seriousness. My heart was pounding in my chest, driving blood to elsewhere in my body. And it didn't take Dawn long to notice.
Leaning closer to me, she pressed her body against mine. With a nibble on my ear, she whispered in the sexiest, husky voice I'd ever heard, "Take a cold shower, kid. Say goodbye to your family and meet me back here. We'll see where things go from there."
"Y-yes, senpai," I managed to stammer out before rushing off to head back home. I didn't know what this girl was doing to my mental state, but I'd be damned if I missed out on this opportunity.