Test of Fate, Part One
Chapter One- Introduction to the Game
Oh God, why am I here? I don't know if I can do this.
Theo glanced up at the sky, shielding her warm, golden brown eyes from the bright sun. The sky was a bright blue, almost cloudless. The wind whipped up out of nowhere again, blowing the red dirt into the faces of the kids who stood in the corral. The ground in the corral was bland, decorated with nothing but the red dirt that blew in the breezes and had a tendency to get everywhere, including into people's mouths and eyes. As a result, the group of twelve children stood in a small huddle, as if hoping that somehow their unity would keep the dirt out. There was a small, two story house off to one side of the corral, and a large barbed wire fence blocked off the small ranch from the parking lot outside. The fence disappeared out of sight to the south, getting lost behind the tall pine trees that made up a dense, dark forest. The sky contrasted sharply with the dull and ugly colors of the Pokémon Game Reserve's waiting area.
Theo felt a sharp nudge in her side as Tyler elbowed her. She turned and looked up at him, and he gave her a quick smile of encouragement. She smiled back, though much more weakly.
"Nervous?" he said quietly to her, leaning down slightly.
"Yah. Yah I think so." Theo bit her lip. She turned and stared back out towards the ranch house again. Tyler looked down at Theo worriedly. He could always tell how his friend was feeling, and he knew that right now she was scared out of her wits. And, although he would never tell her, he was too. Out of habit, Tyler pushed a long strand of dark hair out of his green eyes. It fell back immediately. Tyler sighed, and stared out in the direction that Theo was looking.
There was very little that the two friends had in common besides their ages. Tyler was tall, lean, dark haired, and green eyed. He was also outgoing, smart, and possessed an extraordinary sense of humor. Tyler was almost the exact opposite of the small, fair haired girl next to him. Theo was very intelligent, but most people didn't really know that about her because she was too shy to get to know them well enough for them to figure it out.
In fact, most people knew next to nothing about Theo. The girl seemed to be able to turn herself invisible when she wanted to.
Tyler thought that their personalities and appearances complemented one another's, and strangely enough most people agreed. Not that Theo ever really knew about what other people said. She had grown up in a small, quiet family, and large social settings were a bit dizzying and almost overwhelming for her. She usually stuck close to Tyler when she had to go to things like that.
Theo had been Tyler's neighbor since they were babies. Theo's mom had been pregnant when she moved to Pallet town, running away from another bad marriage. Tyler's parents had lived next door, and were very sympathetic to the abused mother. The two children were born within a month of each other. Theo was the older of the two, a fact for which Tyler had never quite forgiven her. The two had grown up together, more like siblings than anything else. Theo had trouble trusting her mother. Eloise Caughley was prone to getting herself into bad relationships with men, and was almost never home. Because of this, Theo had been left with Tyler most of her life, and felt grateful for that. Theo liked Tyler a lot, and the two got along very well, despite their different personalities.
Theo's fascination with pokémon started when she was young. Tyler had once taken her to a small shelter where he worked. The place was small, and helped homeless pokémon find families. After spending five minutes with a baby Growlithe, Theo had volunteered herself for a permanent job there.
Tyler was happy for the company.
Trainers usually started their League challenges at an early age, with ten being the norm. Theo had managed to get her mom to sign the form, and send it off early. Tyler sent out his form a week later. When they got their responses, both kids were devastated. They had both been rejected, and would have to wait at least another year until they could reapply. The two tried four more times, and each year they found a rejection slip in their mailboxes. It seemed that both Tyler and Theo, despite their obvious skill at handling and training pokémon were doomed to join the ranks of the potential trainers who simply weren't rich enough to actually become trainers.
But all that changed two weeks before Theo's fifteenth birthday. She came home from school one day two find two letters addressed to her- one from the Professor Oak's Pokémon Research Center, and one from some kind of place that called itself Pokémon Game Reserve. Theo read the one from Oak first. It was a rejection slip, saying the same things it did every year.
No surprise there.
A little bit resignedly, Theo had opened the second letter, which was larger than the first. Inside, she found a slip of paper. After reading the first couple of lines, she had nearly dropped her backpack in surprise. The P.G.R. was holding some kind of contest that she had qualified for, and the grand prize that given to those who won - here Theo's heart skipped a beat- was to become a full trainer, complete with pokédex and six real pokémon!
Theo had practically scrambled into the house to call her mother.
Later that day, Theo had gone over to Tyler's, practically crushing the letter between her two hands. Tyler opened the door even before she had rung the bell. He was panting, and his face was a little pink. His eyes were sparkling. Clenched in his fist was the same letter.
So here they were, waiting at the very place that the letter had told them to wait.
The Pokémon Game Reserve was huge, even bigger than the Safari Zone. Theo had watched it pass by on the way up. Its scenery had changed often. Sometimes the landscape was like a marsh, and other times it was perfect, rolling hills. Obviously, this place was home to all sorts of pokémon.
If pokémon lived here, of course.
Tyler looked at his watch, and then angrily scuffed his boot against the ground.
"Dammit! Theo, we've been here for two whole hours! If we have to wait any-"
Theo shushed him and pointed. The ranch house door had opened, and a man was walking out of it, heading towards them. Everyone quieted down instantly.
The man was tall and strong looking. He had short, cropped hair and salt and pepper stubble on his chin. He had an enormous stride, and covered ground between him and the children quickly. When he got closer, Theo could make him out better. She could tell he was probably in his late forties, and he had a fierce face with sharp black eyes that made Theo's knees turn to water.
"Imposing" could barely begin to describe the man.
He stopped in front of the small band of kids, and gave them a sharp, glowering stare. They stepped back quickly.
"All of you are here today to compete in the Pokémon Game Reserve's yearly competition," he stated. His voice was harsh and booming, and Theo flinched slightly. "And I am here to tell you exactly what the rules are. Then we'll see how this batch fares."
Another calculating glare.
"There are only a few rules," the man barked, "and I trust that all of you are smart enough to remember them. First of all, you should know- this is a test. If you break the rules, it will be considered cheating. And all cheaters are thrown out."
There was a lot of nervous shuffling among the kids. Theo swallowed, and felt Tyler shift his weight from one leg to the other-something he did when he was nervous.
"The test objectives are simple. Placed throughout this reserve are red flags, which you must capture and bring to Sunset Island, before five o'clock on the third day of this test. You will be given a set of six pokémon, which you must use to capture a flag. The winners will have a celebration held in their honor. The reward for passing this test will be given out after all the trainers have arrived on Sunset Island. The winners will become fully certified trainers, with a license to train pokémon, and a pokédex. They will also receive the six pokémon they used in this little test."
At this point, the man paused, and looked over the faces of all the potential trainers. Theo could see that Tyler's face, like every other kid's face, was lit up with excitement, and his eyes burned passionately.
Theo knew she had the same look on her face.
The man smirked, and his already scary eyes seemed to glow malevolently.
"Yes, kiddies. I bet you all think that this is going to be a piece of cake, eh? Well, here's the catch- there are only six flags on the island. And, if I count right, I'd say their look to be at least twelve of you here."
There was a very long pause, and Theo felt her stomach sink a little. Her face paled a bit, and she looked at the red dirt ground.
"So this isn't a test," Tyler said loudly, voicing what everyone else there was thinking, "It's a competition!" An angry flush rose in his cheeks. Theo knew how much Tyler hated it when people tricked him, and she could see that he felt tricked right now.
"It is a test," the man snapped, his eyes boring into Tyler's face, "And like every other test out there, you can fail."
Tyler's flush deepened.
"I suggest that you all get used to competition. The few of you who do actually make it through here will be facing a lot more of it."
Again, the huge man looked over the audience, but this time he looked especially hard at Tyler, who stared back at him with an equally hard glare.
"In a couple of minutes, I'm going to hand out belts and sets of six pokémon to each child here. These are the pokémon you will be using in this…competition. I will also give out backpacks with food bars, matches, and a pocket knife inside. These are the survival necessities that you are absolutely going to need during your stay here. The bars will last you through your first day, and after that you're on your own."
He paused, and a tense silence followed. Theo had never survived in the wild by herself before. In fact, she had never even been camping.
This was going to be harder than it looked.
"So now," the man continued finally, "I think it's time to go over the rules." The man reached into his army jacket, and withdrew a small piece of paper with writing scrawled over it. The man flattened it out, and then began to read aloud to them in his booming voice. "Rule One- trainers are not allowed to help other trainers out, unless it is an extreme emergency." He paused, and glowered at them. "A child falling off a cliff is an emergency. Getting lost in the woods is not."
Theo had the distinct impression that the man had added the last bit on.
"Rule two- Trading pokémon is forbidden. You keep the set that is given to you throughout the entire exercise, no matter what. If you are caught with a pokémon that is not your own, you will be disqualified on the spot." He paused again, and looked them over.
More nervous shuffling.
"Rule three- You own a flag after having possession of it for twenty-four hours. After that, that flag specifically belongs to you, and no longer counts as free to take. Before that, though, other trainers are allowed to take it from you in any way they want.
"That said, Rule four- Taking another trainer's flag after twenty-four hours is strictly forbidden, and the offender will be punished severely. And finally, you must use all of your pokémon at least once in this test. The whole point of Pokémon Game Reserve is to find the most adaptable and resourceful would-be trainers. Working with your pokémon in this exercise will teach you how to win battles later on."
The man put the sheet away, and straightened. Everyone present fidgeted nervously. Theo was suddenly struck by the difficulty of the task ahead, and found herself feeling a bit inadequate.
Again.
One glance around the area and she knew that others felt the same way she did. She heard Tyler scuff his boot against the ground, and stick his hands into his pockets. The man turned to face his unhappy audience once again.
"This is going to be a difficult task, and I would bet that most of you are going to quit halfway through. The trainers who do make it through, though, are destined to be some of the best. This test was designed to find the top potential trainers who had been passed up because of money problems. Those few who do are destined to be legends, despite their humble origins." The man paused, and looked over the children. He had an unreadable expression on his face. "Follow me," was all he said.
The man turned, and began to walk away. The kids followed him in a slightly messy line. Theo stuck close to Tyler, but didn't look at him. She was lost in her own thoughts.
The man led them out of the corral and into a small building off to one side. They all went inside, and waited. The man seated himself behind a desk piled with long leather straps and backpacks. He waited for them to arrange themselves in a line, than beckoned them forward one by one. Tyler went before Theo, and the man handed him a belt with six pokéballs, a bag, and a piece of rolled up paper. Tyler unrolled it quizzically, and looked at it.
"Oh, it's a map!" he said.
"Yes, it charts the entire reserve. The small area marked with a 1 is the Corral; where we are now."
"All the main areas have names," Tyler said, turning to face the daunting individual behind the desk, "and some have X symbols next to the names. What are they?"
"They X's mark how dangerous an area is. One X means that the area is risky, or not totally safe. Two X's means it's dangerous, and you should avoid it if you can. Three X's mean the area is extremely dangerous, and there is a good chance that you could get very hurt."
Tyler didn't speak, nor did any other person present.
They came up quietly, each taking their own set of things. When it was Theo's turn, she walked up slowly, and waited. The man looked up at her, and narrowed his eyes slightly. She met his fierce stare, but felt her knees go a little weak. The closer you got to this man, the scarier he seemed to get.
He drew his gaze away finally, and reached into the pile of bags and handed her one. Theo put it on the ground next to her, and waited for him to register her on a sheet of paper. Then, slowly, he reached into the pile of belts and drew one out. He gave the belt a look, and smiled slightly. Then he turned to Theo. She took it from him, and touched the leather reverently. Then she strapped it loosely around her waist. She stepped out of line quickly after getting the map.
Things went swiftly after that. Everyone else received their things, and then the man led them outside.
"I'd prefer it," he said to them, "If you did not release your pokémon on the premises. Some of you have received some very…big…pokémon, and it'll get ugly if they come out in here." He gestured to the Corral.
Theo shuddered as the image of an Onix crushing them all filled her mind.
"Okay," the man said, "I will ask each of you to set off now. Give each trainer fifteen minutes to go ahead of you, just so you don't risk running into each other." He paused. "Good luck to each of you."
The kids set of down the path that headed into the forest one by one, each one looking more nervous that the one before him. Finally, Tyler stepped up. He turned to face Theo.
"Well, seeya at the victory celebration then." He said, giving her a confident smile. She smiled back at him.
"I'll be rooting for you."
"Ditto."
"Move it, kid! You can talk to your girlfriend later!" the man said irritably.
Tyler winked at Theo, who was blushing deep red. Tyler's smile widened. He fastened the pokébelt around his waist, letting it fall to one side. He turned and started down the road. Theo watched him walk away. Tyler looked very self assured, almost to the point of being cocky. Theo knew it was an act.
She couldn't have been his friend from birth without knowing when he was faking it.
Tyler had always had a confident, balanced stride, as far Theo knew. But somehow, it seemed different now… Theo didn't know what it was, but somehow, Tyler looked better.
Perhaps it was the belt.
Theo sighed. She was next. Hefting her bag onto her shoulders, she walked out down the road. She gripped the straps tightly, and tried to ignore the stares she knew she was getting.
She only hoped she looked half as good as Tyler did.