Change the Course

Katy flew to an outdoor Pokémon Café, the most popular chain restaurant among trainers. She ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit for herself and hot breakfast Poffins for each member of her team. She paid the clerk and thanked them as she took her bag to an open round, stone table, giggling at the trainer who was trying to baby-feed their Solosis that seemed insistent on not trying a new food. "All right, gang, let's eat." Katy tossed out each Ball in her bag and their noses all started working the moment they were in the fresh air, sniffing the scent of their favorite breakfast. "A sour orange cream Poffin for you, Houdini."

Her Zoroark hobbled up on four feet before standing on its hind legs to take the Poffin. He gave a sort of a snicker before sitting on his haunches nearby to feast.

"A bitter dark chocolate Poffin for you, Banksy." Katy handed down the food to her Raichu who stepped up next in line then followed Houdini's lead. "Spicy red pepper and egg for Charlie."

Her tall Charizard waddled forward and carefully took it from her hand in his teeth then stepped out of line with a snort of contentment.

"Another dark chocolate for you, Bentley." She handed the Poffin to the next dragon in line. "And another orange for you, Mozart." Her Scraggy snatched the food and scurried under the table to eat. "And last but not least, a plain ol' biscuit Poffin, Xander's favorite." She smiled and held out the food.

Her Lucario stepped up and took the Poffin in one clawed paw and sniffed it before he took a bite. He made some noise in his throat before sitting down on the stone bench to finish it.

"Eat up, guys." Katy turned to her bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and happily took a bite. While she ate, she went back to have a look at William Milord's profile on her brace. When she tapped to view more information, under his picture was that triangle symbol. "Hm, he's a Deviant." She would bet Points that he was a fire Deviant since he had a Volcarona. Sometimes she wished she had been a Deviant. Not only could they have Pokémon, but they had powers of their own, too. Many of them would train and battle alongside their Pokémon, have duels for Points just like a regular battle. She'd seen only a few of them. Apparently it wasn't very popular to duel another Deviant for fun. Dude, if she were a Deviant, she'd duel everyone. She hoped she would be a Deviant with the acid Ability, the rarest of the five that had been discovered. How cool would that be?

Plus, Pokémon were drawn to them— Pokémon of the same type, that is. Fire drew Fire, water drew Water, ice drew Ice, electric drew Electric… and evidently acid drew Poison. It wasn't the same thing, but tons of acid Deviants had reported Poison Pokémon having an affinity for them. It must be close enough. And those Deviants who had Special Abilities drew the Psychic Pokémon. Katy was so jealous. These Pokémon could sense Deviants, like all these wondrous creatures had a little radar in their heads that alerted them of Deviants and Abilities. And if they had something in common, the Pokémon sometimes sought them out, if not just to get a glimpse of these beings that seemed to be biologically closer to Pokémon than they did human. What Katy would give to have Pokémon flock to her, just because she existed.

She was awakened from her day dreaming to a snort in her hair. Katy turned to see Charlie staring at her expectantly. He had finished his Poffin, and he was ready for another. "Oh, sorry, pal. Here." She reached into the bag and handed him another one of his favorites. "There you go."

This one, he must not have cared to savor, because he gobbled it down straight from her palm and finished it with a few smacks of his lips.

She sighed. "All right, guys. Let's see if we can scrounge up some Points." Katy stood up and prepared her bag.

She was much more choosey about her next opponent. Keeping an eye on her trainer's brace, Katy flew relatively close to the ground to see the profiles that appeared and what they looked like, and what their average loss/reward was. Some trainers had their "BATTLE" option disabled. This was actually fairly common. Lots of trainers didn't care for the confrontation of battling other people and would typically stick to battling wild Pokémon. Katy used to be like that. It took quite a while for her to become aware of her own team's true strength because of how isolated she kept herself.

Since the age of eighteen, all Katy did was train. Starting with Charlie, her first Pokémon given to her after receiving her keeper's license, she spent her days and nights with her beloved Charmander. She'd saved up money her whole life, and with the help of her parents, she eventually accumulated enough to pay for college. But by the time of high school graduation, she'd decided she'd rather spend it her next partner. "Are you sure this is what you really want," her parents asked her a thousand times. When her answer was always the same, she received their blessing and purchased Houdini when he was a rambunctious young Zorua. Between training, leveling up, learning moves, and evolving, with a never-ending goal to get better, Katy had easily overlooked just how strong they'd become. So, she began to battle other trainers and soon had all the Points and money she could hope for as a full-time trainer. She had built an impressive bank account that she only touched to make important purchases, like Bentley when he was a Dratini, and Poké Balls to catch Banksy as a Pichu, Mozart, and Xander when he was a Riolu. Now at the ripe, still-young age of twenty-five, Katy's goals had hardly shifted. Being better than yesterday was all she cared about.

The sun was setting on another full day of battling. Katy could rest easier now with her Trainer Points now up to two thousand sixty-eight. She leaned against Charlie who had already begun to snore and watched the stars peek out into the blackening sky. When her brace lit up, she looked to it to find a message from the officer she had spoken to earlier that morning.

"Here you are, Katy. Thanks for your help."

Her Points went up to two thousand two hundred eighty-two. She smiled and messaged back. "Thank you so much!" Oh, right. William. "Hey, did you find out where he found Taron McCallister's brace?" She waited eagerly for her reply.

"Yes; he said he found it around West Franklin in Bourbonville."

"I hope the brace makes it back to Taron! Thank you, officer!" Katy scrolled through her contacts and tapped William's profile picture, then pressed "MESSAGE." "She said it was found around West Franklin in Bourbonville." Now she waited. When she had finally decided to lean her head back again, her screen lit up. He replied.

"Thanks"

"Sure thing" Katy closed the menu then leaned back and stared at the stars some more. No, it was true. Her path had really not deviated far from getting stronger. She'd seen a ton of places, sights and views that she wouldn't trade for the world. But what had she ever been a part of other than her own little story? Perhaps it was time to change the course. Just to see what happened.

Katy tapped the screen on her brace and went to the map app. She typed in the destination of West Franklin, Bourbonville and saved the route before turning her screen off and leaning back against Charlie again. Now was time for rest. Tomorrow, she had an adventure to begin.