Chapter 2: A Bond with Pokemon
Author's note: My thanks to Blaze Potter for the review of the first chapter (short, but to the point and appreciated).
Some of the Spearows squawked and flew off. Two of them still pecked at the Rattata, which Coren had somehow recognized as Tina. She was a mess. She had tufts of fur sticking out and cuts on her.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Coren, as he ran towards the Spearows. One flew away but the other one turned and flew at Coren. Coren waved his arms at the Spearow, but it dodged and pecked at Coren.
"Oww!" exclaimed Coren, putting his hand on his head where the Spearow had pecked him. He looked at the Spearow crossly, "Cut it out! I'm trying to help Tina and I have no intention of running from you!" The Spearow, landed on a near-by branch and looked at him.
Coren hurried over to Tina. He knelt down next to her, "Hang in there girl. It'll be okay. You've got to be." Coren stroked Tina. She raised her head slightly and looked into Coren's eyes, then put her head down, with a sigh. She closed her eyes. Coren sniffed. He could feel tears start to form in his eyes
"You've got to be okay. You can do it. You can pull through, I know you can."
Getting bored, the Spearow flew off, but Coren didn't notice. Coren gently stroked Tina, smoothing out her fur. Coren sobbed, tears starting to fall down his face.
"Come on, you have to make it. You can't go yet, we've only just met." whispered Coren. Coren felt wet drops start to fall on him. He looked up and saw that the sky had clouded over. Rain was starting to fall.
Coren shivered, the rain was cold, and the drops were where big. Gosh we're going to get soaked. Tina's already injured, she probably shouldn't get soaked. Coren took off his back-pack and his jacket. Carefully he picked Tina up and wrapped Tina in it. He left an opening for her head, and gently draped an extra part of the jacket over the top of her head to protect it from the rain.
Within a few minutes Coren was soaked, but he continued to hold Tina, being careful to keep her as dry as his jacket would keep her.
Rain poured from the sky. Miniature streams began to flow along the ground.
Later, Coren didn't know how much time had passed, the sky cleared up, and the rain left.
As Coren sat there holding Tina, a large Berry fell next to him. Startled Coren looked up. Perched in the branches above him was a black, bird-like Pokemon. (It was a Murkrow, although Coren didn't realize that.)
The Murkrow cawed and cocked her head. Coren felt Tina stir in his jacket. He unwrapped her. She looked just as bad as before, only slightly wet now as well.
The Murkrow started singing. Tina moved again and crawled towards the Berry. Coren picked it up and handed it to her. Tina slowly ate it. As she finished eating it, another Berry fell next to them. Coren looked up and watched as the Murkrow, still singing, flew to another tree and flew back with a third Berry.
Coren felt Tina move, and looking down, he saw that Tina was now eating the second Berry.
The third Berry plopped onto the ground next to them. Coren looked for the Murkrow and saw that she was perched on a branch above them. She now watched them in silence.
Tina finished the second Berry and quickly ate the third. Then to Coren's amazement and delight, she shook herself and started squeaking something to the Murkrow. It sounded something like "Tata tata Ra."
The Murkrow cawed.
"Hey, thank you!" Coren called to the Murkrow. She gave another caw and then flew off.
Tina came over to Coren and rubbed her head against him.
"Hi. It's nice to see you too. I'm glad you're okay," said Coren. Tina sat down and looked up at him, and said, "Rattata".
Coren sighed, "I wish I could tell if you were actually talking, and if your are, what you're saying." Coren opened his back-pack and offered Tina the fourth of the sandwich that was left. She took it and delicately ate it.
When Tina had finished, Coren stood up, "Well, now that you're okay, I've got to try and find my way home."
Coren bent over and put his lunch box away, zipped up his back-pack and put it on. Coren picked up his jacket, but didn't bother to put it on since it was so wet.
Coren could smell the pungent sent of the forest, fresh after the rain. In the distance some Pokemon were squawking, but it was a relaxed sound, simply letting others know that they were there.
A few feet along, Coren turned and looked back the way he had come. Tina's probably left by now, thought Coren sadly, but he was surprised. Tina was walking right along behind him.
"Well, hello!" said Coren, "I wonder how far you plan on following me? Oh well, It'll be nice to have your company, even if you don't stay long."
Coren walked on, followed by Tina, until his watch read 5:00, and he decided that he needed to rest. He found a fallen tree, which was roughly horizontal, and he sat down on it.
Coren sighed, "This is not good." I'm out of food, I'm just drying off now, lucky the sun came out, or I probably wouldn't of even dried off by now. I'm low on juice, and even if I found a water supply, I'd have to hope that the water was clean. I don't know how to build a fire, which, come to think of it, is probably a good thing considering my luck lately. I'd probably start a forest fire or something.
Tina hopped up onto the log, beside Coren. After watching him for a moment, she climbed onto his lap and curled up. Coren looked down at her in wonder. I hope she doesn't expect me to take care of her. Lately it seems like I can't even take care of myself!
Coren didn't move while Tina was on his lap, but after she jumped off, took off his back-pack. He opened it and took out his thermos. The juice tasted wonderful and he would have loved to gulp it all down, but forced himself to leave some.
Coren found a relatively dry spot on the ground, and laid down, using his jacket as a blanket. Tina settled down beside him.
The next morning Coren opened his eyes... And remembered that he was lost. He groaned and rolled over, onto his stomach. How long am I going to be stuck in this stupid forest! He sighed.
Coren rolled over and sat up, his jacket falling off him. He looked around. Well at least the sky is clear. Where's Tina? Coren's shoulders slumped, What was I thinking? Of course she wasn't going to stick around, she's a wild Pokemon. Besides, isn't that what I wanted? I didn't want her to depend on me, I wouldn't be able to take care of her.
Coren raised his head and looked around. When Coren turned his head to see the log that he had sat on the evening before, he froze. Coren found himself staring Tina in the face. She was sitting on the log looking at him, The height of the log raised her to Coren's head level (While he was sitting), and their faces where only about a foot apart.
Coren sighed, "Geeze, you nearly gave me a heart attack. But what are you still doing with me? I can't feed you anymore, I'm all out of food." Tina scratched her head with her hind foot. Coren shook his head, "What do I expect? Even if you could understand me, you couldn't answer."
Tina lightly jumped off of the log and landed in front of Coren. She looked at Coren and said, "Ratat? Tata." Coren stared at her. He shook his head, "I just can't understand what you're trying to tell me."
Tina ran into the woods a little ways and turned around, "Tata?"
"You want me to follow you?" asked Coren. He stood up and grabbed his jacket and back-pack. He looked over to where Tina was. She was still standing there waiting. Coren walked towards her, and Tina turned and walked off into the woods with Coren following.
Tina stopped in a small clearing that had lots of wild strawberries in it.
"Oh... Is this so that we can eat?" asked Coren, but Tina merely started picking and eating strawberries. Coren shrugged and crouched down. He picked a strawberry and gently wiped it on his shirt. Not that my shirt is going to be any cleaner then the strawberry, Coren thought dryly. Coren put the strawberry in his mouth. It was the sweetest strawberry that he had ever tasted. This is amazing, it has a delicate sweetness to it.
Coren and Tina worked their way through the strawberries until they had, had enough of even those sweet strawberries. Then Coren led the way, trying to find his way home.
Coren glanced at his watch, 11:24.
Pushing aside some branches, Coren struggled through an especially thick portion of trees. He saw a slope in-front of him. Looking at the top of the hill Coren could see lots of green grass, with only a few trees here and there.
"YES!" shouted Coren, "I'm out of the forest!" He ran forward, up the hill. Tina ran after him. When he reached the top, he inhaled sharply, and looked around in dismay. He was on an island of a hill, surrounded by an ocean of trees.
Coren sat down in the grass in dismay. Tina looked around and then putting her front paws on his arm, nuzzled his cheek. Coren stroked her head and said, "Oh Tina, what am I going to do?"
"Ra." Tina said softly.
Coren sighed and got to his feet, "Well I guess I don't have much choice. It's either keep going, or give up now." Coren swung his back-pack on.
"Alright." said Coren, with a quiet resolve in his eyes, and looked down at Tina, "Let's go." Coren strode down the hill, followed by Tina.
Later, after a lot of walking, Coren reached the top of a hill and looked down. A huge valley lay before him. The valley had sections covered in grass and sections covered in woods. There was a lake near the center. Dozens of Pokemon wandered around the valley.
He looked at his watch, 12:07. He took a deep breath and kept walking, Tina still following him.
As Coren went down into the valley, the Pokemon looked at him. Some of them just went back to whatever they were doing, or continued to watch him, but a lot of Pokemon ran and hid.
One curious Sentret bounded right up to him, but ran when it heard another Sentret screech a warning.
Coren had crossed about a third of the valley when he heard a roar resound around the valley. Coren and Tina froze. Coren looked around and saw a monstrous Pokemon stomping towards them. It was a Tyranitar, although Coren didn't know what it was.
Also moving towards them were a Meganium, a Venusaur, a Typhlosion, a Charizard, a Feraligatr, a Blastoise and a Dragonite. (Coren did not know what any of them were, except the Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise.)
"This somehow doesn't seem all that good." Coren murmured. The eight Pokemon walked up and surrounded them. The Tyranitar stuck his head towards Coren and let out a low roar. Coren closed his eyes as his hair blew back.
The Pokemon started growling, grunting and huffing. The Venusaur backed out of the circle, and stood to the side. The Charizard walked forward with his head out stretched. He moved his head left and right, his mouth slightly open. Coren tentatively stepped back. The Charizard continued to move forward. Coren slowly turned and walked out the gap in the circle that the Venusaur had left. The Pokemon moved around so that Coren was surrounded, except where they wanted him to walk. The Meganium walked on Coren's left, the Venusaur on his right. The Charizard continued to walk behind Coren. The Feraligatr, Blastoise, Dragonite, and Typhlosion followed behind.
As Coren walked, he watched the Meganium walking with her head held high. She sort of has a quiet dignity. Proud, confident, wise, but yet she seems kind, as well. Though what gives me those impressions is a mystery.
The Venusaur sure moves smoothly for his size. I wonder what kind of a temperament he has.
The Pokemon herded Coren into a forested section of the valley. Meganium watched him while Charizard flew off, and the other Pokemon started to build something.
"Zzzaap dozzz!" a Zapdos flew down from the sky and landed on a nearby branch, "Dozzz zzzza!"
"Fffeeearr Ohhhh." a Fearow dived out of the sky and landed in a tree next to the one that the Zapdos was in.
A bunch of Mankeys came scampering up, "Mannnk, Mank, mank, mank key!"
The Tyranitar, "Growr, rar rar. TYY RRAN IT AAAAR!" The Mankeys made a reply and took over the building.
Coren noticed a shimmering in the air, which turned into a Haunter.
"Caw! Row!" a Murkrow, which Coren thought might have been same one that gave berries to Tina, landed in the grass near-by.
A white streak shot out of the sky and flew in a circle around the other Pokemon. When it stopped a foot in front of Coren, he got a good look at it. In-fact it was floating in the air staring at him. The Pokemon tilted his head and said in a in a cute little voice, "Mew?"
Coren breathed out the word, "Mew."
Mew exclaimed, "Mew!" and flew in a back-flip. Coren realized that his mouth was open, and closed it. He stared in amazement at Mew, and then looked around at all of the other Pokemon. This is amazing! About half of these Pokemon I've never seen before. And Mew is Definitely a rare Pokemon. According to the museum Mew is extinct. Oh man, it would not be good if some one like Damien, who only cares about winning, found this place... Hmm, now you don't suppose that's why the Pokemon are acting like this do you? Oh man, I am in So much trouble if that's why they're acting like this.
A pinkish, purple Charizard flew out of the sky and landed in the grass. A cloud of pink smoke puffed around it and it turned into a Ditto.
A Steelix came over the field and stopped just out side the trees. (It would be pretty difficult for a Steelix to fit in a forest, they'd have to be Huge trees.)
The ground started to vibrate, and Coren looked around in alarm. Charging over the field towards them was a Rhydon. He came to a stop next to the other Pokemon, knocking some of the lower branches off the trees.
"Rrrryyy!" the Rhydon said to the others.
Suddenly Coren heard something running. Into the, now semi-cleared forest section, ran a Hitmonchan. She came to a stop, leapt in the air, and punched the air several times.
"Pinsir!" screeched a Pinsir that popped out of the woods.
"Arrrr bok." said an Arbok that slithered into view.
The Mankeys had finished building. It was a cage. Boy, that's real cheerful. I don't know what the deal is with the luck that I've been having lately. Sure enough the Tyranitar crowded Coren into the cage and shut the door.
Tina ran up to the cage and slipped through the bars. Coren sat down and Tina came over and sat in his lap. She rubbed her head against Coren's chest, "Tata."
Coren half moaned, half sighed. "I just don't know, Tina. What am I supposed to do?"
The Charizard flew back into the trees, and landed by the cage.
A Lapras came around a bend in the trees. The Pokemon started Talking', that is they made noises that Coren thought sounded like talk. (He couldn't be sure.)
A few minutes passed and the Pokemon broke up and went their separate ways. The Haunter came over to Coren.
"What is your name?" asked the Haunter. Coren stared at him in surprise.
"Uhh, wha, my name. My name is Coren." Coren managed to say.
"Coren, you have a choice. You can attempt the Four Trials of a Trainer or you can stay imprisoned here for the rest of your life." said the Haunter.
"My life! Attempt! And what happens if I fail?" asked Coren.
"If you fail then you will stay imprisoned here for the rest of your life" said the Haunter.
Some choice, stay here the rest of my life, or try something and then possibly stay here the rest of my life. "What is the Four Trials of a Trainer'?" asked Coren.
"They are four trials that you go through to see if you are worthy of being a Pokemon trainer." said the Haunter.
"What are the Trials?" asked Coren.
"The Trials remain secret until it is time for them. Then they will be explained as each one arrives." answered the Haunter.
"So... are there any risks other then remaining here the rest of my life?" asked Coren.
"None other then the risks of life." said the Haunter.
"In that case I'm taking them! There's no way I'm going to just give up and stay here!" said Coren.
"You must also agree not to go home or tell humans about this valley, until you have completed the Trials." cautioned the Haunter.
"Right. Okay, I still say it's better to try, then to just give up." said Coren.
"Do you agree to take the Trials?" asked the Haunter.
"Yes." said Coren. The Haunter opened the cage. Coren and Tina walked out of the cage.
"So, what do I call you?" Coren asked the Haunter.
"My name is Possessor." said the Haunter, "As my student you shall learn to speak the Pokemon language. I shall speed the process of learning it." Possessor floated towards Coren. Possessor raised his' right hand to Coren's forehead. Coren flinched. It feels like ice water! Coren heard a strange buzzing in his ears, and then a quiet music, like water falling in a fountain. It sounds like silver. That doesn't make sense, (how can something sound like a color?) but that's what it sounds like.
Possessor took his' hand off of Coren's forehead. Coren blinked, dazedly.
"The first Trial is getting wild Pokemon to obey five of your commands in battle. I will be watching you." said Possessor. He then disappeared.
"What just happened?" asked Coren, "And for that matter, what's going to happen?"
"Don't worry Coren, things will work out in the end." said Tina.
"I sure hope so." said Coren, "Huh! Hey! I could under-stand what you said! Can you under-stand me?"
"Mm-hmm, I can now." said Tina in wonder, "Possessor must have opened some sort of communication link! Only I couldn't understand what you said right after he left, apparently you can still talk in your old language, along with the Pokemon language."
"Well, I'm glad that I can talk with you now, but I'm also glad that I can still speak my own language. After all I still want to be able to talk to my parents and Aleena." Coren sighed, "I miss my home, and I can't go back unless I complete this training."
"You can't go home? I suppose that would make sense, the Masters don't want humans to find out about this valley, lest they come here and try to catch all of the Pokemon." said Tina.
Coren asked, "I can see that this place is special, but how come the Pokemon chose this spot in particular?"
"This valley is where Master Mew's mate was buried when she died. Since then most Pokemon have considered this valley to be sacred ground. Pokemon, from all over, come here to rest, heal, find mates, and hatch eggs.
"Some of us respect humans as part of the balance and a necessary part of the world. Others think that humans have no right to treat us the way they do, that they no longer have a rightful place in this world and that they ought to be stopped," said Tina.
"So how come they haven't tried to stop humans?" asked Coren.
"Oh some of them have tried, but as you should know, humans aren't to be taken lightly. Those that have tried mostly failed unless their goal was smaller then actually ending the human's rule over Pokemon." Tina replied.
"So how do you feel about humans?" Coren asked tentatively.
"Well that would depend on the human."
"So what do think of me?" Coren asked.
Tina tilted her head, "I think that you're alright. And you have helped me."
"Huh... So do you know why all of those Pokemon were gathered earlier?"
"That was the gathering of the Masters. They gather whenever there is something that they need to discuss." said Tina.
"Why are they called Masters?"
"The Masters run the valley. Whenever there is something that affects the valley, they gather to discuss what to do. They hold very high, honored and respected positions. There is a Master for each Element or Type. When a Pokemon holds a Master position it is their job to represent that type in the gatherings. In order to gain such a high position the Pokemon must be able to beat all of the other Pokemon of that type trying the position, at least three times out of four."
"Wow, that's a pretty tough test."
"The Masters are Pretty tough'. But earlier you mentioned that you could not return home until you complete this training? What training is Possessor having you do?" Tina asked.
"There are four trials. He called them "The Four Trials of the Trainer". He wouldn't tell me what any of them were, except for the first one. He said that I need to get a wild Pokemon to do five of my commands." Coren said.
Tina said, "Hmmm... Well I don't want to be someone's Pokemon, I like my freedom. But you did help me, and I owe you, so I will help you with your Trials. Sort of a temporary Partnership, alright?"
"Alright? Yes, of course it's alright! I'd be honored to have you help me," said Coren.
And thus Coren began his training.
After a lunch of wild plants (Some fruits, vegetables, and other plants), Coren and Tina decided to explore the surrounding area.
Tina rode on Coren's shoulders as he climbed up, out of the Valley.
Coren rounded the side of a hill, and they were on a sort of grassy plateau.
"Look Coren, there's a Pokemon over there." said Tina pointing her paw towards a Doduo that had the right head pecking at seeds in the grass, while the left head watched them.
"Hello" said Coren to the Doduo. The Doduo jerked his right head out of the grass and looked at them, in startled alarm.
"It's okay, we won't hurt you," said Coren, "Sorry about startling you."
"Well!" said the Doduo's right head, it then muttered dryly to the left head, "Nice warning there, lefty."
"My name is Coren and this is Tina. What's your name?" asked Coren.
"Well," said the Doduo's left head, The right head continued, "I am Dareno."
"WE are Dareno." corrected the left head.
"Do you live here?" asked Tina.
"Yes, we do. A few hills away is where our nest is," said the left head.
"Now why'd you go and tell them that!" exclaimed the right head, "Now they could catch us off our guard while we sleep!"
"Well I wouldn't think that with your strategies for keeping away foes, we would need to worry about who knows. At least not if they're any good!" said the left head.
"Hey! Nobody's perfect and there are always unexpected things to deal with, so don't blame me if a plan fails!" said the right head.
"Oh really! It's your job to have a back-up plan in case your first plan doesn't work. You know plan A and plan B!" said left head.
"Well I'd like to see you come up with plans all the time!" said right head.
"Yeah! Well you try to actually maneuver through all the plans that we've tried!" said left head.
Suddenly a sort of half roar, half grunt distracted them all. They all looked at where the sound came from and saw a Rhyhorn tossing his head. He looked at them and stomped. He then started pawing the ground.
"Uh-oh, that doesn't look too good," said Dareno's left head.
"Really? What gives you that idea!" said Dareno's right head.
"Hey! We don't mean you any harm!" Coren called to the Rhyhorn.
"Oh that's a good idea!" said Dareno's right head, "yell at him. That ought to get his attention on us for sure."
"Do you have any better ideas?" asked Tina, defensively.
"Sure I do," said Dareno's right head.
"RUN!" said both of Dareno's heads together, as the Rhyhorn charged towards the group. Dareno leapt into the air and ran away, across the field. Coren and Tina looked at each-other.
"Now what?" asked Coren, "There's no way we could out run a Rhyhorn!"
"I don't know!" said Tina franticly. The charging Rhyhorn roared, as he drew closer. Just then Dareno jumped in-front of Coren.
"Quick!" said the left head, and the right head finished, "Get on our back!" Coren quickly climbed on.
"You'd better hold onto me tightly Tina!" said Coren.
"Right!" said Tina intertwining her legs into Coren's shoulder length hair.
"You had best hold on tightly too!" said Dareno's right head.
"Yeah, but to what!" shouted Coren, as Dareno leapt forward into a run.
"Try holding onto our necks!" said Dareno's right head.
"Just don't squeeze too much!" said Dareno's left head, "I don't want to be strangled!"
Dareno ran across the field, with the Rhyhorn gaining.
"Quick! Go to the right, he won't be able to turn as sharply as we can!" shouted Dareno's right head. Dareno took a sharp turn to the right. The Rhyhorn changed directions too, but it did slow him down.
Unfortunately he could still accelerate fairly fast and was catching up to them again.
"No choice! We'll have to jump off the cliff!" said Dareno's left head.
"WHAT! That's CRAZY!" shouted Dareno's right head, as Dareno leapt over the cliff-like edge of the hill. Dareno soared through the air. It seemed to Coren as if they where flying. That is, until they started to go down.
They plummeted towards the ground...
Author's note: As always, if you want to read more, review and let me know!
