Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon
Chapter 3: Zegnaj
The first word that popped into Sam Oak's mind as he gazed at the young girl in front of him was tiny. Persistent cinnamon curls escaped from under a green bandanna, tickling the corners of the child's grey eyes. A button nose, full mouth, and heart shaped face was set with exhaustion. Her small form was covered with tan and gray hiking clothes and held a too large, charcoal hiking bag. Fara Knight seemed too small for the adventure she was about to embark on. Frankly, he would be surprised if the girl weighed more than 60lbs.
However, his keen gaze caught the details others would miss. There was a slight defiant tilt of her chin as she matched his gaze squarely. It was also telling in how her body stood tall despite the obvious exhaustion and heavy load she carried. This child had grit, a trait he found lacking in many other new trainers. It was, as far as he was concerned, one of the most important aspects a trainer could have. Skill could be gained; knowledge could be learned but grit; that was something he felt was a talent someone had to be born with. It was something essential in succeeding as a Pokemon Trainer. These children were trying to train beasts with the ability to kill them in a heart beat. You needed true stubbornness to be able to stand in the face of this reality and push forward to progress. His smile grew larger, Fara Knight would do and he was curious to see how far she would go.
Fara was starting to feel like she would keel over any minute. Traveling just under twenty miles in twelve hours had taken more out of her then she had thought it would. Now she was standing under the gaze of both a gargantuan Arcanine and his master; one of the most celebrated Pokemon Researchers in the world. It was just a little too much pressure for her exhausted state but she stood steady. Mr. Davis had taught her to never slouch in face of adversity; be it person, pokemon, or situation. So, despite the bedraggled state, she was in she stared straight back into the eyes of the professor while trying to ignore the large canine just in front of him. A small snort escaped the Professor as his smile grew larger.
"Well you have pluck, that's for sure." Blinking, Fara stared at Oak in slight confusion. Another snort left the Professor before he walked in front of his pokemon, his hand held out in greeting. "Welcome to Pallet Town Fara. I wasn't expecting you until later or tomorrow." She took the Professor's hand into hers. "Why not, I thought Mrs. Packard told you what time I would be here."
"She did but it's rare that new trainers such as your self can make the journey from Viridian to here in such a short time." He gestured for her to walk towards the lab while continuing the conversation. "It usually takes them time to build the stamina to go long distances in short spaces of time. I'm curious; do you have experience with traveling?"
Fara gave the Professor a sideways gaze as she forced herself up the stairs. "No, not really, I usually spend my time helping out Mr. Davis at the aviary in Viridian. I help out with feeding his pokemon. There is a lot of heavy lifting involved and he made me work a little harder when I asked him too. I wanted to get stronger when I had trouble with my gear during some test trials of carrying it." Oak hummed softly as they reached the door and entered a security code in the side panel. The door opened and Fara felt a blast of cool air hit her. Smiling at the pleasant sensation she walked in behind the Professor and took in her surroundings.
"When you said Davis did you mean John Davis of the Viridian Avian Breeding Center?" Oak asked. She tore her gaze away from the homey looking entrance hall. "Yes, do you know him" she asked. The question drew a chuckle from the man. "Do I know John?" he asked with a tone of amusement. "John Davis was one of the first people I gave a training license to after I earned my graduate degree. If I remember correctly he made it to the top 8 in the Indigo League before he got into pokemon breeding. He did that well too. John became the authority in avian pokemon and spearheaded the pokemon mailing system." Oak focused on her face and smiled. "I can understand how you made it out here so quickly now. John is a hard task master to those who work with him. I'm sure he pushed you as much as he could."
Fara tried not to grimace at the memories that statement brought up. Hard task master was an understatement; Mr. Davis had pushed her to the edge of exhaustion on more the one occasion from the work load. In addition, he was a perfectionist to the extreme. Fara had been forced to redo tasks repeatedly until he felt that she had done the job right. In fact, she sort of blamed Mr. Davis for her current list obsession. Her memory wasn't poor but under the keen gaze of a person as meticulous as John Davis she had needed to write down everything until she could remember how to do the tasks properly. She shuddered; Fara still remembered the time she had mixed up the feed of the Altaria and Fearow. Between the fight that Mr. Davis had to stop, the mess she was forced to clean up, and the two hour lecture she endured due to her careless mistake, Fara had made sure she didn't make such a mistake ever again.
Looking back at the Professor she realized they had reached another security door. He entered another code and the door opened to reveal a lab. The sterile walls and machinery along the walls made it obvious. Following the Professor in, Fara stopped when he gestured her to. "Fara, you can go ahead and leave your gear by the door. We need to go over some things before I give you the license. After that we'll take your bag to your room so you can freshen up for dinner. Doing as the Professor told her she placed the bag against the wall then followed the Professor to a room connected to a lab. It was a homey looking office filled to the brim with paperwork. The Professor took a seat in the chair behind the desk. Fara followed suit in the chair in front at Oak's silent gesture.
"Now, from what I understood you finished your pokemon license examination at Viridian's pokemon school, correct?" Oak asked. At her nod he turned on a high tech laptop on his desk and began typing. A few moments later he seemed to find what he was looking for and turned his attention back to her. "According to the school report you scored in the 90th percentile in all areas except the battling seminars. You barely passed that class and test. Can you tell me why?" He questioned. Fara swallowed at the question. It was a sensitive subject for her. "I don't really like battling. When I was little I accidentally got caught in the crossfire of a battle. I got burned pretty badly from a Chimchar's ember attack and had to stay in the hospital for four weeks. I get nervous when a battle is going on. It took me a long time to just watch a battle on TV let alone start participating in one. The Counselor at the Home, Dennis, spent a lot of time getting me comfortable enough to try it so by the time I could it was examination time. I hadn't really got the hang of it by that point." Fara focused her gaze on her lap at the confession. She had been so ashamed of herself through school because of it. All the other kids had loved the battle class while she hadn't. It had made her an outcast to a certain degree.
"Fara, look at me." Oak stated in a firm tone. Looking back up at him Fara noticed his gaze had softened despite the tone of his voice. "You do realize you have nothing to be ashamed of right?" he asked. At her hesitant nod he continued. "You had a bad experience Fara, one that would normally prevent someone from even wanting to be involved with pokemon let alone becoming a trainer. You have overcome something traumatic. I can personally say that it takes a great deal of courage and I applaud you for it. The only reason I ask is because battling is essential for pokemon trainers. Your future pokemon will need it for their physical development and you will need them to be able to protect you. We don't live in a perfect world and I have had the unfortunate experience to watch as children and adults alike die because their pokemon couldn't protect them." Oak said. His gaze seemed to turn inwards a hint of what seemed like grief shone in his eyes.
"I promised myself a long time ago to try and make sure all trainers that come to me are as prepared as they can be. So I want you to understand that I am going to give you some guidelines to follow in order to keep your license. If, at any time, you fail to follow the rules I will suspend your license and inform the League. Your Guardian will be informed and you will be placed to the appropriate home until you can prove yourself capable of starting training again." Oak paused and looked back at her. His gaze was firm and his tone broke no argument. "Some of these guidelines are the normal regulations that all trainers have to follow, of which you already know. The rest are personal ones I will be placing on you for safety's sake. I have written the personal ones down for your use." He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to her. After taking it from him she looked down and began to read.
-Trainer will be responsible for submitting weekly reports to Professor Oak detailing location, trainers physical condition (verified monthly checks must be performed by local Pokemon Center), pokemon's physical condition(s) (also verified monthly by Pokemon Center), and career focus.
-Trainer must participate in pokemon battles twice monthly and submit report detailing experiences to Professor Oak.
-Trainer must call and speak with professor bi-monthly at pre-scheduled time.
-Trainer must report emergency situations and any issue with trainer fund shortage. Please note a shortage constitutes less than 1000 pokemon dollars in savings.
-Trainer must report any issues with Pokedex immediately.
All in all the rules were pretty basic but she had some questions. Looking up to Oak she started questioning him. "How do you want reports submitted?" she asked. "There are multiple functions available with the Pokedex I will be giving you. Among them will be an app for writing reports or any other documentation required. The Pokedex also has Wi-Fi capabilities that will allow you to email them to me directly. I have already preprogrammed the device with my number and email as well as all general emergency numbers." Oak stated. Nodding Fara continued. "Why do you want me to have monthly physicals at the Pokemon Center's" "I am requiring them for you and your pokemon to both keep a eye on you but also to measure your progress. Eventually, I want to be able to release you from these additional rules. To do so I want you to prove you are maturing both physically and mentally. Doing these activities will allow me to do so."
Thinking over what Oak said made sense to Fara. She also understood the battling he required was probably to help keep her skills sharp. Battling people was different from pokemon and sometimes trainers came across other people like poachers and thieves. It was necessary to protect ones self. However, understanding did not make the prospect enjoyable. She hated battling. Hearing the Professor cough she turned her attention back to him.
"I want you to know I have you scheduled to speak to me every two month's on the fifth day of the month between 2-3pm. Your first day will be next month on May 5th." Seeing her silent affirmation the professor continued. "I want to be clear that you need to be honest with me. If you have a problem and don't report it I will be harder on you than if you did. Every journey has its issues and by communicating with me we will be able to mitigate most of them. Breaking the rules will result in consequences from being grounded to a local Pokemon Center to having your license revoked. Are we clear?" he asked.
"Yes sir." Fara replied. Nodding at her Oak then turned his attention back to computer screen. "Besides your battling class you seem to have done a wonderful job. I am particularly impressed that you signed up for the survival courses. That should help you with your journey. Altogether it looks like you are ready to go." Smiling Oak stood up. "Follow me and we will see about finishing the registration paperwork and getting you your license."
What followed was twenty minutes of paperwork and a photo to add to the Pokedex ID function. It was easy but Fara was tired and quite happy to finish it off. The Professor told her the only thing she would need to do was take her Pidgey to Viridian's Pokemon Center and have the nurse register him to her. Fara was also told that she would be responsible for having her ID inscribed into the bar codes of all pokeballs she bought or received. It was a function she had been unaware of due to it being a new regulation by the League to prevent theft and proof of ownership. Apparently all poke shops and Pokemon Centers had a machine designed for the inscription purpose. Later after a quiet meal Fara was taken to a guest room and went to bed. Exhaustion claimed her quickly and she fell asleep.
Two days later Fara was just reaching Viridian City. It was still early and the weather was clear and pleasant. She was currently in an old Jeep being driven by one of Oak's research assistants, Emily. A storm from the day before had prevented Fara from traveling to Viridian City and Emily, who was going on a supply run, had offered to drive her back today. Thankful for the opportunity to rest her still sore muscles, Fara had accepted without hesitation. It had been a pleasant ride filled with informative chatter from the still teenage Emily. However, now that were almost in the city Fara was too excited to pay much attention to the conversation.
After passing the city limits Emily drove to the Pokemon Center on Main Street. When they stopped Fara said her goodbyes and after a quick hug from the personable Assistant headed down the street towards the aviary. It was located a mile from Main Street on Coral Avenue. Mr. Davis' Avian Breeding Center sat on 20 pristine acres of forest and fields. The main house in front was a modest two bedroom cottage. There was a large protective structure further back near the forest designed with a series of box like areas for the avian pokemon. An old barn that housed equipment and food also stood close by. Fara couldn't help but grin. While the Home had been her first home, the aviary had been her second.
Almost skipping to the main residence Fara impatiently rang the door bell several times. After a minute of no answer she repeated the process. Shortly after, John Davis answered the door. Standing at 6'1" he was almost two feet taller then Fara's 4'5". He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes and was in his late twenties. Smiling at him Fara pounced and hugged him. "Fara, what the heck do you think your doing?" He asked with a scowl. Giggling Fara released him. "Hello Mr. Davis! Where's Pidgey?" she asked.
Instead of responding to her question he gestured her to come in. "Fara, I have told you time and time again to just call me John. When are you going stop with this Mr. Davis crap?" he asked. "I'll stop when you stop scowling." she said. His frown deepening John huffed and started towards the kitchen area. Fara followed quickly, knowing how impatient the man got if someone didn't follow his silent commands. Fara had known John since she was four. In fact he had been the man to help stop the battle that had injured her and had taken her to the local hospital. Despite his stern exterior, Fara still remembered how gentle he had been to her when the accident had happened. John had even brought some of the new baby bird pokemon to visit when she had been healing.
Two years after the event he had let her start working for him doing odd chores. In a way, he was Fara's hero. Strong but gentle he had help her work through a lot of her difficulties with Pokemon and proven himself a fountain of knowledge in her Journey prep. That was why she felt comfortable enough to tease him despite his scary exterior. Shaking her thoughts she turned her attention to the perch situated near the window of the kitchen. On top of it sat a tiny cream and brown bird. Squealing she ran forward only to be stopped by a hand holding the back of her bag. "What do you think you're doing girl?" John asked. Turning towards him she replied. "Saying hi to Pidgey, I missed him." Snorting John gave the give me gesture. "Hand it over, no touching the Pidgey until I see the license." Fara grumbled but reached into the pocket of her vest and pulled out a light grey Pokedex. Flipping it open John pressed a button and scrolled the license information. After looking it through he handed it back to her.
However, the moment he did a small form flew in his face and John received a sharp peck in the nose courtesy of Fara's future partner. "Damn it, what the heck was that for?" shouted John. He was holding one hand to his face and shook the other at the Pidgey, which now sat on Fara's shoulder, and was preening. Fara could hardly control the laugh that threatened to escape. Her little Pidgey was the only bird pokemon John couldn't handle. A fact that burned his ego each time he tried and failed to reason with the little bird.
The fact that he liked Fara, a girl that wasn't even an experienced trainer, irked him more than anything else. Raising her hand Fara started stroking the little one's back and grinned smugly at John. "That's what you get for keeping us apart. I tried to greet Pidgey first but you stopped me." Scowl deepening John started to speak. "You and that little demon deserve each other. If it's not you needling me it's him biting. In fact, you can take him without paying. I'll even give you his food for free as well. The sooner he's gone, the sooner I can stop being maimed."
Ignoring his dramatic anger Fara lit up and once again shackled the irate Breeder in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed. The little Pidgey was dislodged at the movement and perched himself on the back of a kitchen chair. John swore the little monster was smirking at him. Turning his attention away from the pokemon John gently pried the girl off him. He wasn't big on touch and wanted the girl off him. "Alright, I get it. Your happy, now hands to yourself." He snarled. Fara backed off and once again felt Pidgey's light weight on her shoulder. Happily she watched as the breeder walked over to the kitchen island where a canister sat. Picking it up he brought it back to her and gave her the time to place it in her bag before escorting her outside.
After a few reminders on the amount and time when the Pidgey should be fed John raised his hand to shake Fara's. However, Fara just ignored it and hugged John again. Swallowing slightly John patted her back instead of pushing her away as he had done earlier. This little girl had been a big part of his life the last few years. He usually despised people, preferring his feathered friends, but Fara had brought out a protective instinct he hadn't realized he had. He was going to miss the little brat. Ignoring the wet stain growing on his shirt where her head rested John held her. Shortly after, Fara released John and was on her way towards the Pokemon Center. Pidgey was sitting tightly on her shoulder and she turned around to wave goodbye, Fara shouted. "Bye John!" and went on her way. John watched her go with an almost invisible grin on his face.