Ah, Route 2, the place that looked extremely similar to Route 3 except it just had a different number. The wind slowly blew the autumn leaf in the wind, making the air filled with colors of all kinds. I kind of wish my Deino could see this too.
All and all, it was peaceful, and somehow it made me forget that I was in a different place entirely. It looked similar enough to my home that I didn't feel alienated from the world. The only thing that was just weird to witness were the Pokémon running around like wild animals who didn't care at all if I was nearby or not.
They weren't afraid of me at all, as they only minded their own business while I just stared at them, full of amusement and curiosity. Also, they all looked so goddamn adorable.
The small puppies that looked like gold retrievers with an extremely fluffy-looking mane were chasing one another, happily barking in excitement. Then there were these cats with purple fur, large ears, and looked like they were ready to prank someone with their small smirk in place. And the last kind I could spot were these little things that were a combination of a rat and a squirrel with extremely hypnotic eyes, yet they were still cute too, as they looked like tiny soldiers with their poses.
My thoughts made me chuckle as I never thought I would compare a hard-working soldier to a squirrel of all things.
"Dei?" I heard my companion ask, making me turn to it with a smile.
"It's nothing, just some idle thoughts I found funny," I replied.
"Dei, dei," She said while tugging my coat lightly again, probably in the lines of "Can you speed things up?". I was starting to see small visible dents in my coat all of the bitting she has done for the past two days.
"We are going to have to do something about your tendency to bite coat whenever you need something," I said with a sigh while picking up the pace to accommodate my Deino's need.
Following the walked road of this route was not all that interesting, as the scenery didn't change much other than a few patches of weirdly placed tall grass here or there. Somehow I had the feeling I should avoid those at all costs for now at least, not until I would meet with Juniper anyway.
But I was thankful for the uneventful walk through the woods because I just didn't have the energy to handle anything more troublesome than that N back there. The nagging feeling of him being something a lot more than he let on still reared its ugly head. I sometimes hated how I could pick up on small details that could reveal everything I needed to know about a person.
The literal definition of judging a book by its cover, but I had a tendency to overthink a lot of stuff anyway.
However, just like last time, that 'boring' walk through Route 2 just had to be interrupted again. Two trainers were on the road, blocking me from continuing down the path. They were facing each other with their Pokémon out before hearing them shout like they are the only people on this road.
"Treck, tackle that Lillipup!" Shouted a boy with an orange shirt and a trucker hat. The squirrel soldier, who was named Treck, started running against one of the puppies who looked haggard already, with one of its eyes closed and bruises everywhere.
As that boy ordered, the squirrel tackled the puppy with its entire body, sending the puppy to the ground, whimpering in pain, before it fully passed out.
"No! My little girl!" Shouted a girl with a mini skirt and a creamy bottom-up shirt, who then pulled out a pokéball and shot out the red laser which engulfed the passed-out puppy. She looked at her pokéball with a sad expression while the boy threw his hands into the air to declare his victory.
"Hah! In your face! Treck is the best Pokémon in the world, and your Lillipup didn't stand a chance!" He boasted, while Treck crossed his arms and huffed. The girl looked at him with a glare.
"I'll show you next time that Bunsie is stronger!" She declared before going down the road.
"Hah! You wish!" The boy said while putting his hands on his hips while I glared at him, but ignored him all the same. I walked past him with my Deino who was growling at the boy who then noticed my stride before calling me out.
"You there! With the weird coat! Fight me!" I mentally groaned while I turned to the boy, ego emanated from him like a bad smell.
"No," I answered immediately before turning back to the road while the boy smirked.
"What? Scared that Treck is going to win? Or is that Deino so weak that it doesn't know how to fight?" That made my Deino snapped its head to the boy and started barking at him while I kept her down, though it was tough. It was like trying to keep a bulldog away from its prey.
"Deino, calm down," I said sternly and she turned to me with a small snarl.
"Dei!" She barked, before turning her head back at the trainer who had a smug smile. Did it want to battle that badly? But I had no experience whatsoever.
"Deino, you know I don't know how to battle," I said to her so the boy wouldn't hear me.
"Deino," She answered with a shake of her head before freeing herself from my grip and defiantly shouted another "Deino!" at the boy, who had his smirk still plastered on his face.
"So you want to fight then, huh? I will show you my Patrat is the best Pokémon!" He shouted while his partner let out a squeaky "Patrat!" as well. God, why was Deino being so difficult?
"Deino!" She shouted at me to make me pay attention to the upcoming battle while the two Pokémon had a staredown.
"Winner's strike first! Treck, tackle that Deino!" He shouted, completely throwing me off guard. What was I supposed to do!? I had no experience whatsoever in battling! Just seeing the small puppy get pummeled to submission already left me with a bad taste in my mouth, but now I have to watch my Deino too!?
She waited patiently for me to say anything, but my mind was blank. She turned her head back to me with an expectant look while I just stared at her, completely thrown off guard by this situation.
I scowled as I had no clue what my Deino was capable of before I heard a loud pound from the Patrat as he collided with Deino.
She bore through it like it was nothing, standing tall and proud, yet she still waited for me to say something, anything. The squirrel backed off after the attack, waiting for his trainer.
"Heh, I guess it is tougher than it looks. Treck, you know what to do! Tackle it again!" The boy shouted again, Treck doing the same thing.
"Ok, just calm down. You won't think of anything with a clouded mind," I thought. I breathed a long and steady breath before analyzing the situation, I was always good at that.
That squirrel only knew one attack, making it predictable, but my Deino was blind. How was I going to make it attack the squirrel without hitting something else?
Then it clicked, Deino didn't have to reach it when it would come to us instead. With her teeth, she would be able to win.
I hoped.
"Hah! Purloin got your tongue? You are just as bad as that girl I beat earlier!" The boy boasted while I just focused on the Patrat. It got closer with each moment, but I waited patiently for it, a small bead of sweat formed on my head.
"Come on, just a little closer," I thought. The Patrat was about to tackle my Deino, but that was the moment I was waiting for.
"Deino! Dodge to your left, then bite that Patrat!" I shouted to the surprise of the boy, and I could feel my Deino smirk. She dodged the attack just as told her to before biting the place where she was a second ago, catching the Patrat in her mouth. It tried to free itself from my Deino's grip but it couldn't.
"What!? Treck!" The boy shouted in panic, the smirk fading immediately, while my Deino played with the Patrat like a goddamn squeaky toy. She flailed the squirrel around, hitting against the ground multiple times before finally letting go, sending an unconscious Patrat the trainer's way.
"Deino!" She let out a triumphant shout while I stared at my Pokémon with wide eyes just how efficiently it dealt with that Patrat.
I… did not like this, at all.
"That wasn't fair! What wasn't fair at all!" The boy shouted while pointing at me, the Patrat already was inside his pokéball, "Deino's are supposed to be blind! How did she know where my Patrat was!?"
And now he was throwing a tantrum just because he lost. That was so pathetic, I had to resist the urge to spit. I called out Deino who had a toothy grin as if expecting me to praise it for what it accomplished.
I sighed before petting the Deino, "We are going to have a small talk after I deal with this boy, alright?"
Deino tilted its head slightly but didn't say anything.
"Fight me again! That was a fluke, you cheated!" The boy on the other hand kept rambling on.
Never mind, he was a lost cause. I didn't say anything while walking down the same road that little girl went. The town should be nearby.
"Get back here! I wasn't done talking to you! Fight me again!" He shouted while I heard him running towards me and grabbed me by the shoulder. My Deino was already barking at him, but I made her stand down.
I turned to the boy who was almost two heads shorter than me and gave him a piercing glare, making him flinch slightly.
"I don't have time for your little tantrum, find some goddamn decency in a loss," I then turned to his pokéball in hand, "That Patrat wouldn't be able to battle, but you would force him anyway?"
The boy backed off, speechless and mouth slightly agape.
"If anything, that Patrat deserves freedom than to be in your possession with how you treat it," I threw a potion at him that I got from the package. The boy barely caught it, "You better use that potion on your Patrat, or else."
A quick growl from a Deino finished this little scuffle and we left the tantrum-throwing brat to his charges. I petted my Deino, keeping it close once again.
"Don't worry, I won't force you to battle unless you really want to," I said to her, earning a small "Dei." from her, making me smile, "I don't plan on battling a whole lot anyway."
Suddenly, I felt that someone was staring daggers at me, and I first thought it was the kid with the hat, but once I turned around, he wasn't there anymore. I looked around a little more before hearing a small rustle coming from one of the trees close to the road.
But nothing was there once I turned my gaze towards the sound.
"Deino?" She asked and I shook my head.
"No, it's nothing. Come on, the town shouldn't be far, I don't need camp outside." I answered, and Deino nodded, continuing our stride towards Accumula town.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
I thought I had seen a lot of things already during my two days here, but this took the cake.
There was a tunnel of all things smack dabbed at the end of the road for some reason. Why wasn't it at the beginning of Route 2 then? Was there some important reason for it?
Not that it mattered, I was just surprised that they even needed to build this. Maybe it was meant for trainers as an escape route who got overwhelmed with wild Pokémon, but the worst thing that could happen here was dying of sugar overdose with how cute all of the Pokémon looked.
The only interesting thing about the tube was the giant billboard with the latest news while random messages pop up in the display on top.
"A trainer challenged Nacrene City Gymleader Lenora, but her Watchog pulled off a decisive victory over the trainer's Pignite. The challen-." It said with orange text. I had no clue how those two Pokémon looked like so I didn't bother to read the rest.
Passing through the tunnel greeted me to Accumula Town, and got immediately assaulted by the band that was playing on the small patch of grass. I heard drums, piano, and a flute surprisingly and the tune was very catchy. Almost forced me to join the light crowd and start tapping my foot.
"Hmm, maybe I could do that," I contemplated offhandedly, but first, I needed to put this Deino into the Pokémon Center. Even if the battle did little to no damage to her, just seeing her fighting just didn't bring a smile out of me, more of a grimace instead.
Finding the Pokémon Center wasn't hard as it was the only noticeable building in this small town with only a few stalls offering food and whatnot.
To my surprise, the man wasn't kidding that every Pokémon Center was built the same, it was a little disorienting at first. The feeling soon faded away, and I brought Deino to the nurse who then asked for my trainer card while also asking for Deino's pokéball.
"I… She doesn't have a pokéball yet," I sheepishly said while scratching my cheek. The nurse gave me a disapproving look before sighing.
"I would recommend getting one as soon as possible, though I am surprised the Deino hasn't run away yet," The nurse pondered while I shrugged.
"She probably likes my coat more than she likes to admit."
The nurse chuckled, "Alright then, could you please go to the mart and buy a pokéball for your Deino? It will save a lot of trouble next time you visit a Pokémon Center."
"I have a slight problem with money, I don't know if they fixed it yet in the bank," I said to the nurse who then pointed me to the PC.
"Then go ahead and use the PC over there." She prompted.
I nodded while saying a quick goodbye to my Deino before reaching the device and let it scan my credit card before a screen with a password came in.
"Ok, this looks promising," I thought enthusiastically. I typed it in and soon a screen with many options regarding my finances appeared in front of me.
"Score! Now let's see what we have here… Ah, allowance."
I pressed it before a screen showed me the number on my credit card, and… I had no clue what I was looking at. The number was more than six digits thankfully, but what was that icon on the left? That probably was the currency if I had to guess. Well, at least now I wasn't a homeless hobo without money anymore.
I was a hobo with money instead.
I turned the PC off and headed towards the mart to find a pokéball for my Deino. The selection was very similar to the one in Striaton City, but there was one pokéball that stood out from the rest.
The pokéball had a silver bottom instead of white with a few purple esthetic scratches at the bottom while the top was dark-blue, almost black, just like my Deino's mane. Well, this was rather easy, and I was sure she would like it too.
I bought the ball with one extra potion because I gave that one to that brat which I was regretting a little, but there was nothing I could do about it now.
With the pokéball obtained and a small chiming noise to alert me that Deino was healed, I went back to the counter where I was greeted by my Deino again.
"Deino!" She said excitingly, jumping down the counter to me, and headbutted my legs, demanding to be petted again. The nurse smiled at us.
"Now I know why she didn't run away. She really likes you," She said while I smiled back at her.
"As I said, I think she just likes the coat," I brought the pokéball I bought to Deino's muzzle, who started to sniff the ball. She then looked at me, before nodding, indicating she liked it.
"Great. Now, how do I-." I didn't get the time to ponder about how a pokéball worked because she just bobbed her head against the ball, engulfing my Deino inside the small contraption.
It shook once, twice, thrice, before a small click was heard. It stopped wiggling in my hand, and just like Misha in the daycare, Deino erupted again from the pokéball in white light, before striking a small pose for a dramatic effect.
I was inwardly chuckling, holding back my laughter after seeing that 'majestic' pose my Deino had done before I called her back inside the pokéball, slightly embarrassed by its antics.
"Congratulations on your first catch. Now, have you considered a nickname for your Deino?" The nurse asked me, taking slightly back.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked her.
"Well, calling your friend a Deino just wouldn't make her special, right? You already gave her an interesting pokéball to live in, why not give her a name that would fit her as well?" She pondered with her finger on her lips.
Now that I thought about it, the trainers back on Route 2 were also calling their Pokémon a different name other than their species.
"I'll think about it," I said before looking through one of the many windows in the center and saw that the sun was setting, and I had no energy left to go anywhere.
"Are there any rooms free?" I asked the nurse who nodded.
"Yes, we have a few," She went under the desk to get a set of keys, "The number of your room is on the key itself. As for the small payment…" She went into more detail about my stay, but the basic gist of it was my one-night lodging with dinner and breakfast.
I was happy that I had a roof over my head after a single day of camping outside.
The room was well maintained and had everything I needed to have a good nap, and a shower. I let Deino out of her pokéball because there was no reason for her to be inside one now, and I saw her immediately go for the bed, laying on the soft bed sheets.
"You are such a dog," I snorted, before going inside the bathroom and cleaned myself from all of the accumulated sweat and grime. It was then I spotted my small wound on my head that scarred lightly, but it was healing fast thankfully. I probably made it out to be a much bigger deal than it was.
After the shower, we both left for dinner. It wasn't all that interesting as the food the center provided wasn't anything topnotch, but it wasn't the elementary school canteen bad.
I went back inside my room with Deino, who occupied the bedsheets again while I just sat next to her, the soft mattress being extremely comfortable. But there was something I needed to ask my Deino.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" She nodded lightly.
"You like fighting, don't you?" I half asked her, and though contemplated over the answer, she responded with a firm "Dei." while nodding again, making me sigh.
"Well, I can't keep you away from fighting if you like it, but I won't be a type of a trainer that would seek them out. Would you still be fine with that?" I asked her. She fully turned to me with an unreadable expression before settling her head on my lap, before absentmindedly started to nibble my coat again, making me smile.
"I guess I can take that as a yes?" I asked, and she gave me a slight nod while still being on my lap, rubbing her cheek against my leg.
"Thank you, girl. I just hope I won't hold you back when it will come to fighting anyone," I contemplated. She bobbed my chest with her head a little.
"I'll be fine, don't worry. I just didn't like what happened back at that route," I said to her, "Anyway, I was thinking about giving you a name, and I have a few suggestions. Want to hear them?"
She instantly perked up, eager to hear out her possible names.
"So, how about Clair?" The first suggestion was met with a blank look on her.
"Oh come on, it isn't that bad. It's a nice name." I tried to justify it, only to hear a disappointed "Deino." from her.
"Alright, fine. How about Maya?" The second one wasn't any better because she started to bite my coat again because of the supposedly bad names. God, she was very picky, but she had to like the last one.
"Fine, stop. Just hear me out on the last one," She stopped tugging the coat, but she didn't let go yet, "Diana, that's a nice name, right?
She looked at me for a second before letting go of the coat.
"Deino," She said with a slight nod of her head, making me smile, "See, I told you you would like it, Diana."
I started scratching her neck again, making her lean her head against my lap again with a purr.
"Well, nice to finally meet you, Diana. Now, let's go to sleep, we will probably reach the professor tomorrow. She might know something about my place," I said to her before my eyelids became quite heavy, and sleep soon overtook my senses.
AN: Again, I don't have a whole lot to say for this one as it is just a wholesome chapter, Deino finally has a name, and Radko had his first taste in battle.
All and all, a good time.
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