Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon
Chapter 5: Nocny gosc
Fara Knight woke up far from refreshed. Although sleep had come quickly, it had been restless and left her feeling almost ill. Though her stomach was queasy from the lack of solid sleep, Fara forced herself up and out of the tent. Again her muscles felt heavy and sore from all the exercise traveling required. Trying to push back the aches to the back of her mind she put on her shoes, grabbed her toiletries and made her way to the latrine for her morning ablutions.
Twenty minutes later Fara was making her way back from the river. The cool water had woken her up and a light exercise routine had warmed her muscles up enough that she didn't feel like the living dead as she walked. After taking a moment to change and return her toiletries she released Pidgey from his pokeball. Her pokemon began to ruffle his feathers and preen as she turned her attention to relighting the banked camp fire. What she needed now was a good breakfast. Past experience had taught her eating would help the nausea and Fara had a lot of terrain to cover today.
It was currently April 6th which meant Fara had eight days to find and catalog where the berry trees were and what varieties she would be picking. Fara would also need to make and set up a drying rack for all the berries. She planned to be in the forest until the 3rd of May and the berries would need to be dried and stored to prevent rot and for when she left. Drying the berries would also allow Fara carry a greater amount with her at once. She needed to make a decent profit before moving on to a new location.
Leaving her small pot of water to boil Fara went through her supplies and pulled out some dried meat, dried veggies, and seasoning. She felt a sense of accomplishment when preparing the dried goods for breakfast. All of her ingredients had been bought, grown and dried personally by her and had earned her extra credit in the survival courses. Mrs. Livingston, the Survival Program Director, had personally complimented Fara. It had been one of her prouder moments to be told she had all the skills she needed for living off the land.
She pulled the pot off the hotter part of the fire and added the ingredients to it before moving it to the dimmer coals, allowing a slow simmer to start. Leaving the food to cook she pulled out Pidgey's canister of pokemon food and poured a smaller than usual portion out. Her pokemon flew to her quickly once she was done. He glanced at the food than cocked his head in question. Smiling, Fara reached out and stroked his chest gently. "We are going to start your training today Pidgey. Your main goal will be to master hunting." His head cocked in the other direction so Fara continued. "Do you see the food cooking Pidgey?" He nodded sharply. "Well, I used the skills I learned to hunt, grow, and process it so I could eat on this journey without having to buy it in a store. I did this so I could become more independent and save money for emergencies in the future. I'll also be able to explore the wild regions with you longer because I won't be dependent on buying supplies as often as other trainers."
Her pokemon looked at her intently and Fara could almost see the cogs turn in his head as he puzzled the meaning of her information. "What I want to help you do is become as independent as I am. Hunting is something your wild cousins do naturally and it will benefit you in several ways. First, you will always be able to supplement your diet in times of hardship. I am going to do my best as your trainer to make sure you are always looked after but things happen. If something happened to me I would want you to be able to fend for yourself." He cut her off with a sharp coo of denial and jumped into lap to nuzzle her stomach.
"Pidgey, I'm not saying this because I expect something to happen to me. I'm being realistic and one of the first things you need to understand is I am a realist. I believe in preparing for the worst and hoping for the best." Turning she reached to stir the simmering stew before turning her attention back to her companion. "Some of the things I will expect of you and any other pokemon I decide to add to our little flock will be self sufficiency and independence. I'm not sure what we are going to do as a career in the future but I know I want to explore as much as we can as long as we can. I want everyone to be at their best." Pidgey slowly nodded his head but Fara could tell he wasn't happy.
"The second reason you will be hunting will to practice your stealth and build your strength." Pidgey cooed in understanding. "Finally, there are a lot of nutrients in eating the kills you get that will help with your development. One of the reasons John is so successful with his breeding program is that his birds tend to be more developed from those extra nutrients and the natural training hunting provides. Other breeders try to use artificial nutrients but aren't as successful as he is and I believe in following the proven methods." Fara gestured at Pidgey to get off and he did. She went to her food and pulled it out of the fire to a rock close to where she sat. After putting it down to cool she focused her attention back to her pokemon.
He was nibbling at the food so she waited for him to finish. Though she had a lot of work ahead of her Fara wanted to take her time. Aside for the soreness she was feeling there was a certain excitement to starting her job as a trainer. The last few days had been so hectic that she really hadn't had time to focus on the newness of everything. Now she wanted to go and slowly appreciate everything she was doing. The next fifteen minutes were spent eating and storing the leftovers for lunch. Once done with that she packed up her notebook, map, and other supplies necessary for a day trip.
Pidgey was finished with his food and followed Fara in the air as she ambled through the brush close to the river. Her first priority today was to start a basic map of her immediate vicinity. Fara wanted to know of any pokemon territories, where to forage for fire and food supplies, and maybe even start to find the berry trees and bushes. Depending on what varieties there were Fara was considering making some fruit leather for her consumption. Finding a good training field was another priority. Pidgey was young and needed a lot of training to reach his potential. The few battles she had had with him were clumsy and she knew the small winning streak wouldn't last.
Her brief exploration ended up being fruitful. There was plenty of wood close to the camp site and in the surrounding areas. Fara had come up with an exercise involving the wood as well. Other discoveries included a small grove of berries; some included the Kebia Berry, Pecha Berry, and even a few Oran Berry trees. The first two were used to decrease poison damage and were a poison cure respectively; both incredibly useful and worth good money. The Oran Berry's were a quick health restorative and were used for food as well as medicine. They too would provide a tidy profit.
Fara had made sure to catalog coordinates and photograph all the Berry bushes/trees for her notes. She had also taken the time while writing to put together notes for her battle reports. An entry in a journal included her brief interaction with the female Pikachu and Rattata that had attacked her. After finishing that she had eaten her breakfast leftovers and started towards a clearing that was 50 yards from camp. It was smaller than her campground by about half but perfect for training Pidgey. She set up several logs around the clearing in upright positions as well as tying some of her rope up in the air in cross patterns throughout it.
While she was doing this she had Pidgey in the vicinity trying to hunt for the first time. It was a task that Fara could only give limited advice for. She had never really watched any Pidgey hunt and only had vague stories from John to rely on. In the end her only advice was to fly high and out of view before striking. That and for him to rely on his instincts. Apparently, it had been enough. Pidgey was currently shredding a small Caterpee in a nearby tree. It was something she avoided watching. Knowing what he was doing and seeing it in action were two different things and Fara was determined not to watch.
After Pidgey finished his meal and Fara completed her training course she began his tutelage. "Now Pidgey, we are going to do several things while we stay in the area. First you are going to be completing the obstacle course I put together. We'll start with you flying slowly until you get the feel of how it goes. Then we will increase the speed gradually until you can do the course at top speed without running into anything. Doing it will help your agility and reflexes. We'll get you turning tight corners in no time. Cool?" Pidgey cooed excitedly and Fara continued. "Next you and I are going to collect fire wood everyday. Once we get a load we will both get to the campsite as quickly as possible with out dropping it. Once we get used to that we'll set up a penalty game to push us harder. This is going to help both of us build our strength. I know I need to get better at carrying my gear around, especially if I plan to do all this berry hunting. It will be good for both of our stamina's as well" Again the little bird cooed in agreement. "So the first thing I want you to do is weaving between the cords and around the logs. Go slowly for the first three times. After that I want you to go at a faster pace." Nodding the pokemon took to the air.
What followed was a disaster. Pidgey, even at his slowest had trouble weaving through the cords. Something she attributed to his age and inexperience flying. He had actually just started flying a week ago and was still clumsy like a child who first learned to walk. He constantly clipped the ropes and had fallen to the ground. Pidgey had even flown straight into the logs several times. Twenty minutes of this had Pidgey bruised and Fara upset. Deciding it best to quit she stopped the Pokemon despite his cooing protests. "Look Pidgey, I know you want to continue and I want you to as well but you need to understand your limits. You're tired and we still have work ahead of ourselves. I also need to adjust the training as well. I don't think I took your age into account when I set up this course."
Her pokemon seemed to gear up for another protest but Fara cut him off. "Pidgey you are only four and half weeks old. Normally your mom wouldn't have let you out of the nest so soon. You also just began flying and the course is a little advanced right now. I think I need to make it easier then once you master that we will come back to this." Pidgey seemed to deflate in sadness. "Hey, there is nothing wrong with starting easier you know." Pidgey looked back up at her. "I'm started off small too. I mean I told you how I needed to get stronger with my gear right?" Pidgey nodded.
"Well a few months ago I got my back pack and decided to see what it would like to carry my gear around. So guess what happened?" Pidgey cocked his head. "I couldn't even lift the bag and when I tried to force it I ended up spraining my back." Her pokemon cooed in surprise. "Yep and then I got into trouble with Mrs. Packard. You will not believe the lecture I got and then I was grounded for two weeks. When I got off that John gave me a lecture and punishment duty for a week. Do you know what they both told me? To take it easy or there would be consequences to my health like my sprained back. That is why we are taking a step back. Once you grow more and get stronger we will step the training up but not a minute before then. Do you understand?"
Pidgey nodded to her then flew to perch himself on her shoulder. Fara reached up and grimaced when she felt the encrusted blood on his feathers. "Before we do anything else though, you are going to take a bath. No buts!" Again Pidgey seemed to deflate but cooed in agreement. Fara hummed and turned towards the river. She refused to work with Pidgey when he was covered in entrails.
Later that evening Fara was tiredly poking at the fire and contemplating her day. While the morning training had started off rough everything had gone well in the afternoon. Pidgey and Fara spent an hour carrying dried wood to a cleared area in the campsite. Pidgey, unused to such work had quickly exhausted himself and was now resting in his ball. It had been far easier for her though. Past experience with carrying pokemon bird seed bags had strengthened Fara up months ago. Now she was just quietly contemplating her day and planning for the next few weeks.
Fara needed to set up a portion of her camp ground for drying the berries she would pick. The process would take about 15 days since she was sun drying them. She already had a specialized poke storage unit for the berries that would be able to store up to ten pounds depending on room. Feasibly she would be able to carry an additional five in her personal storage containers but she was debating on making herself fruit leather and dried meat instead. She could also probably dry some local herbs for seasoning as well. Between waiting on berry season and the length of time it took to dry them Fara was looking at using up most of her food supplies. The river would provide the fish to dry and she had found some regular black berry bushes close to the campsite that would be good for the fruit leather. As far as herbs went she had seen some Rosemary and spotted what looked like wild yam. Both would be welcome additions to her supplies.
She still needed to finish mapping for berry bushes and making a decent drying rack as well. Suddenly it didn't feel as she had all the time in the world. Training, foraging, berry preparation, not to mention a thousand other little tasks were going to take a lot of time and effort. Sighing she leaned back against the log and closed her eyes. While she rested a sudden tug of her hair startled her into an upright position. Looking beside her she caught a glimpse of luminous eyes before a sudden dust cloud obscured her vision. Coughing, she hurriedly called out Pidgey and tried to rub the grit out of her eyes. Her pokemon was instantly on high alert when he saw her state. "Pidgey, I don't know what it was but a pokemon grabbed at my hair. Take a look and see if you can see what it was." Nodding sharply, the little bird flew into the darkness to sweep for the trespasser.
By the time he had returned fifteen minutes later Fara had cleared her eyes with some water and was anxiously pacing in front of her tent. The sudden presence of the unknown pokemon had spooked her. Pidgey cooed softly and landed on her upraised arm. "Did you find it?" Shaking his head in the negative he looked at Fara with concern. "It's alright Hon, I'm fine. That pokemon just surprised me. If it's alright with you I want you to sleep close by tonight, ok?" Nodding sharply, Pidgey jumped to her shoulder and began to nuzzle her face gently. "Thank you. I appreciate it. I can't believe how close that pokemon got to me. Normally wild pokemon keep their distance. I wonder why that one was different." Shaking herself of her thoughts she smiled gently at her friend. "Let's go to bed, I'm tired and I'm sure you are as well." Turning she entered the tent before firmly zipping it behind. She settled herself and Pidgey down for another restless night.
Unknown to her, the same luminous eyes from before stared from the bushes in the distance. Cocking it head the pokemon watched the campsite late into the night.