Training Isn't Just for Moemon: Platinum Star

by KibaElunal

18 year old Vulpus and his recently divorced mother move from Unova to Sinnoh. There, he will find an adventure that tests the strings of fate and destiny, find love in the girl of his dreams (or perhaps his Moemon), and maybe even become League Champion. Stand alone, no need to read the other TIJM series. (Nuzlocke, Lemons)

3. Chapter 3

Training Isn't Just for Moemon: Platinum Star Ch. 3

AN: Sorry if this story is going a bit slow at first. It's been a while since I last wrote anything and I'm a bit rusty. It should start picking up soon. Thank you for bearing with me.

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I raced home, Dawn's words still running in circles in my head. Poor Chrissy struggled to keep up with me, but my distractions kept me from noticing her difficulty.

"M-master! Wait up, please," she pleaded after one particularly steep slope. Pausing, I turned to catch her as she jumped down into my arms.

"Sorry about that. I just really want to get back. You can ride on my shoulders if you want."

"It's okay," she gasped. "Just catching my breath."

I ruffled her hair affectionately, but waited for her to recover before continuing at a much more leisurely pace.

It was all still so surreal. Just yesterday, I was single without any moemon. Now I was a professional moemon researcher with a girl who was offering me the night of my dreams. If not for my concern with appearances, I would probably be skipping home.

Instead, I slid down one last embankment with Chrissy in tow, and we found ourselves back in Twinleaf City.

Upon arriving back at the house, my mother was surprised to hear me come in. "Oh, you're back! Did you thank Professor Rowan?"

I ran to her and gave her a tight squeeze. "The most amazing thing happened! Look!" Releasing her, I quickly pulled out my pokedex and placed it in her hands.

Her eyes went wide. "This is…"

"A pokedex! Professor Rowan said he was so impressed with my training that he wanted me as his research assistant, effective immediately. I'm going to travel all over Sinnoh and catch moemon. Maybe I'll even win the League Championship!"

"That's great, honey. I'm so excited for you."

Despite her words, there was a certain sorrow behind them. "Unless, you want me to stay," I added.

"No. No honey, I wouldn't do that to you."

I sat down on the couch, leading my mother by the hand to sit with me. "Mom, you're still missing him, aren't you?"

"Yes, very much. I'll be okay though."

I wasn't convinced. "Well, maybe I can talk to Professor Rowan. Ask him to give me a month or two, until things settle down."

She squeezed my hand and shook her head. "Vulpus, it's never going to settle down." I took a sharp breath. Did that mean she was going to go back to him? Sensing my concern, she sighed. "I'm not going anywhere, Vulpus. I'm staying right here. You were right. It was good for us to leave. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to go back. I know that that's difficult to grasp, and I can't really explain it better. Still, if you put your life on hold for me, it'd be just as bad as when I put my life on hold for your father. Do you understand?"

I searched her eyes for some sort of hint at what she was talking about. All I could see in them though was desperation. She was pleading for me to leave, yet at the same time, it felt like if I did, I would be leaving her to deal with something awful.

"Well, if you really don't want me to stay…"

"It's not a matter of what I want, dear. It's a matter of what you need. You're your own person. That means you need to live your own life, too. You want to do this, so do it. Don't worry about me."

With that, the two of us embraced again. "I'm going to miss you," I whispered.

"I'm going to miss you, too." Pulling away, she wiped her eyes free of the tears that had formed there. "Besides, there's no reason you can't come back to visit every now and again."

"Right," I agreed.

"Good boy." She gently cupped my check, just before there was a knock at our door. "I wonder who that could be."

"Not Barry. If it was him, he would have just rushed in."

Mom chuckled as she got up to answer the door. I was close. Barry's mom stood framed in our doorway, looking slightly panicked. "What's wrong?" My mom asked, inviting her inside.

"I saw Vulpus come back home, but my Barry hasn't shown up yet. I can't help but feel worried that something is wrong. Have you seen Barry, Vulpus?"

"Oh, Barry's fine," I promised her, trying to ease her concerns. "See, Professor Rowan gave us these pokedexs, and we're going to be researchers for him. I guess Barry forgot to come home to let you know."

His mother gave a big sigh of relief at the news. "Oh thank goodness. That's my son alright. Always two steps ahead of his own thoughts. Well, that's okay. I'm happy for him. But, could you do me a favor? Next time you see him, I have something for him. A care package, if you will."

"Yeah, I'll hand it off to him the next time we bump into eachother."

"Well, knowing him, he's never in one place for long. You'll probably find him in Jubilife by now." I nodded in understanding before taking the package she offered and placing it in my backpack. "And tell him to call me, please? Even if he didn't say goodbye, it'll still be nice to hear from him."

"Yes, ma'am. I will." With that, she left, leaving my mother and I alone once more. I cleared my throat. "Well, I guess I should be going then. Can't let Barry get too far ahead of me."

"Of course. Don't forget to call me either, okay?"

"I won't," I swore.

"Oh, and since you're officially a trainer now, you'll be needing these. I think they were your fathers, but seeing as how he won't be using them, there's no reason you can't have them." She walked over to a closet, pulling out a dusty old case. Opening them up, there were five pokeballs, still empty.

"Thanks, mom. Next time you see me, I'll have a whole team of moemon to show you, and I'll call you soon to tell you how things are going, I promise."

After one last hug, I waved farewell to my mother and started my new journey. My first stop was to Lake Verity. If I could find that legendary moemon, it'd really be an excellent start to my journey.

I followed the path Barry showed me, but when I reached the lake, I knew that there was little hope. With the fog gone, I could see just how massive the lake was. Finding the legendary moemon here would be about the same as finding one in the bottom of the ocean.

Sensing my disappointment, Chrissy nuzzled against my leg. "It's okay, Master. We'll find more moemon, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Let's go look."

"INTRUDER!"

I sighed.

Sure enough, the same girl as before came soaring from the tree tops. Upon seeing it was us, she scowled. "Oh, it's you two," she grumbled. "Bad enough you went traipsing on my old home, but now you're intruding on my new one as well."

Just as I was about to protest, my hand brushed against the cool metal of the pokeball at my hip. That gave me an idea. "Damn straight. After you attacked us, I decided I'd make it my personal mission to make your life hell. I don't take slights lightly, you know?"

She growled, angling her wings to dive at me. "Oh yeah?! Well let's see how you do that with your eyes gouged out, human!"

"Chrissy, use bubble!"

"Yes, sir!" Taking a deep breath, my moemon once again created the dangerous large orbs that hovered in the air.

The bird girl gave pause, veering off to avoid the first one. "Ha! That trick won't work on me again," she taunted.

She began to weave between the bubbles, allowing me to track her movements more easily. Just as she dove down for a straight away, I took aim and hurled my pokeball at her with all my might.

With all of her focus on avoiding the bubbles, she saw it just a moment too late as it struck her dead on. Light engulfed her entire being as she was pulled into the command matrix. The pokeball fell to the earth, and after shaking once, twice, and a final third time, it went still. I'd officially caught my first moemon.

Myra has been captured!

Species: Starly Level: 2 Caught in Lake Verity

Docile Nature Ability: Keen Eye

Moves: Tackle, Growl

"You did it!" Chrissy cheered, going to examine the pokeball. "She's in there? Do you think she's happy?"

It was a thought that hadn't occurred to me before. After considering it for a moment, I let her back out of her pokeball, causing her to look up at me with big eyes.

"Yes, Master?"

I scratched my head. It was kind of weird how swiftly she'd done a 180. "Are you okay?" I asked the Starly. "You seem...less angry than before."

The bird-girl pondered my question before finally shrugging her shoulders. "Honestly, I really just wanted a place to live that was my own. I guess a pokeball counts. Besides, every moemon knows that when you get picked up by a human, you can become stronger. Who doesn't want that?"

"Sounds happy to me, Master," Chrissy added.

"Well then, if you've no objections, then I guess we'll have to do some training. That being said, we need to return to Sandgem Town. Dawn's probably waiting for me."

"Who's Dawn?" Myra asked.

"Some girl," my Piplup replied. "Master has a thing for her."

"Where did you hear that?" I asked Chrissy.

"You're not subtle, Master," she teased with a smile.

Observant little brat. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you two. Let's go. Maybe we'll catch a third member on the way."

Sure enough, as we proceeded down Rt. 201, the assault from the brown haired moemon continued. We fought them back easily, but not before I managed to catch one.

It's last word as he was sucked into the pokeball was simply, "Bruh." And so, that became his name. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to do with such a weak moemon.

Bruh's along for the ride...I guess?

Species: Bidoof Level: 2 Caught on Rt 201

Serious Nature, Ability: Simple

Moves: Tackle, Growl

Soon, we'd reached Sandgem, only to find that Dawn was indeed waiting for me at the pokemon center with a warm smile. "All set?" she asked. "Ready to start a new life of adventure?"

"Most definitely," I agreed.

"Well then, let's go over some basics," she suggested. With that, she headed north from town, towards the next route. Pausing, she looked over her shoulder at me before giving me the sexiest beckon with one crook of her finger.

Like a lost puppy, I trailed after her, until we reached a patch of tall grass. She held her hand up to indicate for me to stop before slowly creeping into the field.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Shh. I'm going to show you how to catch a moemon."

"But I've already caught–"

"Shh!"

"Yes, ma'am," I uttered, falling silent. I had to admit, there was something alluring about the way she scanned the brush, looking for her target. The absolute concentration on her adorable face sent my heart aflutter. God, I had it bad.

"Here!" she cried, before sending out her Chimchar. "Torchy, go!"

Sure enough, a small moemon in an orange and beige jumpsuit appeared from the pokeball, with a swirly orange coif on his head. "Let me at 'em, Mistress!" he cheered.

Not far ahead, another Bidoof raised its head to regard them with curiosity. As it charged forward for a tackle, Dawn pointed a manicured finger its way. "Torchy, scratch him up!"

Her moemon rolled to the side of the Bidoof. His nails extended outward from his fingertips, before he raked them across the attacking moemon's face.

The Bidoof cried out in pain a moment later, it's smooth brain registering the attack on a delay.

With another flourish, the Chimchar left three neat gashes on the Bidoof's back, causing it to stumble forward.

As it struggled to rise to its feet, Dawn retrieved a pokeball and hurled it towards the brown moemon. Once it bounced off its head, the Bidoof was sucked inside, and in no time at all, was captured. I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or horrified by the one-sided display.

Dawn picked up the pokeball before presenting it to me with a wink. "So you see, the weaker the pokemon is when you throw the pokeball, the more likely it is to stay inside. You can also try putting it to sleep or something first, so it's harder for it to struggle."

"Out of anyone else's mouth, that would sound creepy as hell. But I'll admit, the way you say it kind of turns me on."

She laughed. "Down boy. Now, come on. Show me what you can do."

"Alright, alright," I surrendered, brushing past her. I mimicked her low crouch as I searched for a moemon to capture. I had no intention of getting another Bidoof.

That's when I heard it. A melodious hum drifted on the wind, drawing me further into the grass. As I separated a tuft of grass, a small girl with cherry red hair sat humming to herself. As she swayed, the bow on her head, shaped like antennae, clacked together to make a xylophone-like sound. Her clothes looked almost like a Victorian-Era composer's coat, patterned with a red and yellow fabric, with pinstripes down her middle like violin strings.

"Myra," I whispered, pulling her from the ball. "See that moemon, there?"

"The kricketot?" she asked, at normal volume, causing the girl to give a start.

I grimaced. At first, I thought she was going to bolt, but instead, the wild moemon remained still. "Myra, tackle!" I instructed.

The bird girl struck at the bug, causing her to roll from the impact. The sound of her fall sounded almost like a slide whistle. She jumped back to her feet, and I could see her body was starting to glow from the impact. She was charging up! I couldn't afford to let her erupt.

Grasping my pokeball, I hurled it at her in a spiraling screwball. The girl attempted to absorb its impact too, only to be shocked when it instead slurped her inside.

As Myra fluttered to the ground beside it, we both held our breath and waited. Soon, it fell still. "And that makes number three," I grinned, scooping up the pokeball. "How'd I do?"

"Not bad, rookie," Dawn teased. "Not exactly graceful, but you'll get there."

Theodora has joined the symphony.

Species: Kricketot Level: 3 Caught on Rt 202

Timid Nature Ability: Shed Skin

Moves: Growl, Bide

Placing the newly captured moemon on my belt, I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, at least I caught her."

"That you did. Good work." She smiled and brushed past me to head towards Jubilife City. "I imagine you'll want to do some training to get acquainted with your new moemon. Just don't take too long, okay? It's not right to keep a girl waiting."

Dawn gave me a wink before heading onward, leaving behind the smell of her floral perfume. I was tempted to rush after her, but she was right. If I wanted to take on the gym leader, I needed to get stronger. As did my moemon.

Well, no time like the present. As I advanced towards the end of the route, I sent my moemon out time and time again against the wild fauna, I began to get a pretty good grasp of their strengths and weaknesses.

Theodora and Myra were both very swift in their movements. More so than Chrissy. But Chrissy's attacks and special abilities had more oomph behind them. And Bruh...well, Bruh was Bruh.

Soon, however, just as we had struggled to defeat a Shinx, we were accosted by another trainer.

I'd tried to pass him, but he moved to block my path. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To Jubilife," I replied flatly. "Step aside, please."

"No, I don't think I will. See, noobies like you come through here all the time, and frankly, you give trainers like me a bad name. Maybe if you paid me about 100 poke dollars, I'd let you pass."

My eyes sharpened. So this was a shakedown. If he did this to other new trainers, he must be decently tough. Still, I couldn't exactly just let this behavior slide.

He seemed to see my intentions as well. Like two well practiced cowboys of the west, we drew our pokeballs and threw them forward for a fight. "Go, Starly," he cried.

With a flash of light, a more masculine looking version of Myra appeared. This could work in my favor. He was probably pretty quick, but less lithe than mine. That meant he'd have a harder time dodging.

"Chrissy, you're up," I instructed. The blue-hooded girl appeared, itching for a fight. She was no push over after our few hours of training, and against this guy, her bubble would be devastating. "Use bubble!"

"Ha, try again. Starly, quick attack!"

In a blur of movement, he vanished from sight before appearing before Chrissy and striking her in the gut. She choked, spraying out a miniscule amount of foam. If she couldn't get a deep breath, she couldn't release the bigger ones that needed to be used.

"Chrissy, watch out for those attacks of his. Try to catch your breath and use bubble again."

"Again?" the trainer laughed. "What good will that do? Starly, quick attack again!"

Sure enough, it was a repeat of before. Instead of the foam, Chrissy kept her mouth shut tight, but this resulted in a hiccup from a larger bubble. That's when I had an idea.

"Chrissy, use Bubble, but this time breathe through your nose. Just make one!"

My moemon looked at me like I was nuts, but upon seeing the knowing gleam in my eye she just nodded her head.

The trainer scoffed. "Yeah right. I'm not giving you that chance. I'm going to kill off your entire team, and send you packing back home to whatever podunk city you came from."

As starly vanished from sight again, I bit my cheek, waiting for the movement. There! "Now, Chrissy!"

Immediately, she opened her mouth and blew out one massive bubble. As the Starly manifested right before her, it's eyes widened as she held it just in front of her. With a squeeze, it burst letting out a concussive BOOM!

The pressure from the bubble sent the Starly careening back from her, giving us the space we needed. "Now, Chrissy, use pound!"

My moemon rushed towards the disoriented bird, leaping upon him and pinning his wings beneath her knees. She began to strike him repeatedly in the face again and again, until soon he fell still.

She stood, wiping his blood off on his clothes before returning to my side, beaming with pride. "Now then, I'll be charging you 100 poke dollars to keep your moemon," I snarled.

"I-I don't have that much!" he protested.

"Chrissy…" I began, before he quickly jumped in front of his Starly, arms spread.

"Wait! I don't have 100, but I have 80! Please, don't kill my moemon."

Marching up to him, I swiped the cash from his hand and counted it out. "This will do. But let me be clear. If I ever catch you threatening to kill another trainer's moemon again, I will be back."

"Right, man. Whatever you say."

With that, he scooped up his Starly and fled off towards Jubilife, leaving me behind. As soon as he was out of view, I gave a sigh of relief. "Oh my God, for a moment I thought he was going to call my bluff!"

"So you weren't going to kill his Starly, Master?" Chrissy asked.

"God, no! I just wanted him to realize how scary it was to be threatened that way. I can't stand bullies."

"That's not a bad attitude to have," a feminine voice noted.

I wheeled about to find a pretty young woman standing there. "I'm sorry if you had to see that. I promise I'm not usually that way," I tried to explain.

"Don't worry. I saw the whole thing." She gave me a slight smile. "I'm Natalie."

"Vulpus," I greeted, shaking her offered hand.

"That guy was Thristian. He's been kind of a local bully in Jubilife for a while. Good work standing up to him. Honestly, I've been trying to get to Sandgem, but was worried about losing my moemon to him. I've seen him kill other trainers' moemon."

"We should report him," I blurted. "That can't be legal."

Natalie gave a light giggle. "Wow, you really are new. It's perfectly legal. In fact, some could say it's encouraged."

My jaw dropped. "What?! Why on earth would the League encourage that?"

"It controls the population. Not to mention it keeps the League from being bogged down by an excessive amount of trainers."

Scratching my cheek in thought, I asked, "Do you ever kill other people's moemon?"

"When I have to," she admitted. "Sometimes, you can't help it. Many trainers push their moemon to extremes, until it's kill or be killed. Other times, if a moemon is too weak, it just can't handle the strain of fighting one that's more powerful. Especially in gym battles, it's not uncommon to lose members of your team."

If that was the case, that made my desire to climb the League that much more daunting. Was this what every Champion had to go through? I couldn't help but wonder how many moemon Cynthia had lost on her ascent.

My hand subconsciously went to Chrissy's hair stroking it for comfort. Was it really worth risking my moemon for all of this? "Don't do that," Natalie sternly chimed in.

"What?"

"You're having second thoughts. I can tell. Don't do that. If you hesitate in a battle, even for a second, you're going to get your moemon killed. You need to decide, here and now, if you want to keep them. Otherwise, you may as well just give away your moemon to the nearest trainer. If you're not willing to do it, someone else will."

Anger flooded my veins. "Hell no! Chrissy is my moemon. No one else! Professor Rowan gave her to me because he trusts me. And I worked hard to catch the others, too."

"Prove it, then," she said with a smirk. "Show me your conviction to be a trainer."

Another battle! "I don't suppose you'd make this a peaceful fight," I murmured.

"Not a chance. This is a test of your resolve, Vulpus. If you lose here, I will kill your moemon. It's a cruel lesson, but one you need to learn, here and now."

"Alright then, I'll come at you with all I've got!"

(Game Saved. To be continued…)