Special thanks to the folks on pa-atreon for making this possible. Now without further ado let's get into it.
We spent the rest of the day mourning our lost friend. We crowded around his body and sat in silence. Almost silence. The roar from Kenpachi's jets along with the sounds of the forest prevented us from absolute silence. When the sun set, Ino roused the team from our mourning.
I walked back to the camp with the team following behind me. I went into my backpack and brought out a shovel before we returned to Quicksilver's still form. I dug the grave alone. Both Broly and Kenpachi were passionate in their desire to help. I denied them both though. I needed to do this.
When I finished the hole, I synced up with the team mentally and they saw exactly what I needed. Ino placed Quicksilver's body in the grave with her telekinesis. Kenpachi covered it up with sand and filled the hole. Broly created a giant tombstone with ancient power. Igneel sent a blast of fire onto the rock to soften it up. Kisame focused her hydro pump and used it to carve what I directed into the stone. The Trevanant, not yet a member of the team, stretched his tree arms and caused flowers to bloom over the grave.
It was perfect. I read out the stone's inscription, "Here lies Quicksilver, the fastest pokemon to roam the skies. A brother, a father, a friend." My voice choked up at the end. I broke into tears.
We left the grave by morning the next day. I'd fallen asleep leaning on the headstone and my team joined me in spending their nights there. We walked back to the camp. I procrastinated on addressing the Trevenant to implement the plan I came up with.
I sent Oak a message on the Pokedex asking to meet. To my surprise, he teleported into the clearing a few seconds after I sent my message. I opened negotiations. "I need you to find someone for me. I'll tell you about Broly's evolution if you do" I was putting a lot on the line here. It was worth it though, that Poacher would pay. He'd cost me and I'd repay that a hundred-fold.
"Who do you need me to find and why?" Of course, he'd ask questions. This was the professor. He was my only hope so I couldn't ruin this.
"A pokemon poacher. He killed Quicksilver. I can share my memories with Alakazam so you'll have a picture to go on at least." Oak nodded and I felt a presence battle with Ino's in my mind. I calmed her to allow him access and He viewed my memories of yesterday.
His presence retreated from my mind. Oak went still for a few seconds. A sure sign that Alakazam was showing him the memories. I fidgeted and moved from side to side before I caught myself. I was no child waiting for a scolding.
Oak finished viewing the memories and took a few seconds before he finally spoke. "I'm sorry for your loss. But do you still need to go after him? You had your revenge. Your pokemon felled most of his" He had to be joking. This had to be a fucking joke.
"Yes. Yes, I do. I won't rest till that bastard and his Gengar are on their way to one of the seven hells"
"Is it not enough that you've caused him the pain he caused you? Must you go farther? I've seen what revenge had done to men stronger and more disciplined than yourself. It turns the best of men into the worst of men. No exceptions."
I understood his point. But, I wasn't 15 years old. I was a grown man. The poacher had committed a crime deserving of death. Far be it from me to prevent a man from getting his due.
" I see you've set your mind on this, but I can not help you" No doubt he could see the displeasure on my face.
"I'll also tell you how to evolve Milotic from Faebas" I added. I needed this information. I'd put everything on the line to get my way at this point.
"I find it strange that you're volunteering information you claimed not to have when I first asked. As much as I want that information, the face you saw in your memories wasn't real"
What? I dreamt up Quicksilver's death? This old man had to be fucking with me.
"No, that's not what I meant. The poacher himself was as real as you and I. A powerful psychic type may project a false image into reality. He used an illusionary form to obscure his identity. I suspect that Alakazam of his was using some of its power to maintain the illusion, even while he battled". His explanation made sense I guess.
"So, you're no help?" I asked
"I wouldn't say no help. I still have plenty to bargain for that information you offered."
"I'm not interested," I said. I sounded petulant, but I couldn't budge on this. "If you can find him, then please let me know. I'll give you the information then"
"Fine, then. I'll keep an eye out for your Quarry. I only hope you know what you're doing.
"Thank …." Alakazam teleported him out of the forest before I could finish my sentence. Fucking asshole.
That was a bust. The entire interaction was a bust. I'd lost that exchange. I let him know that I wasn't as clueless as I'd tried to come across, and got nothing in return. Except perhaps, that the psychic type was much more powerful than I'd thought.
I turned to face my other goal for today. The Trevenant. He'd come alive to help my team and had since remained with us. It wouldn't take a genius to guess what he wanted. I wasn't opposed to that though. I hadn't planned on getting a Trevenant on my team, but which of my pokemon had I actually planned on catching?
The grass/ghost type would cover several weaknesses in my team composition. I walked toward him. "Hey, buddy. Interested in joining the team?" I asked.
He looked at me and then raised a branch to my forehead. I couldn't understand it but he showed me his thoughts. His memories. It wasn't a psychic-type link. It was both less and more at the same time.
The Trevanant had always been in the team. From the first day. The day I buried Growlithe's ball in the forest. He'd felt my grief that day and bonded himself to me. He had watched me while I trained in Viridian. When I left on Quicksilver's back, he couldn't follow anywhere as quickly. When I finally settled down in the Safari Zone, he'd found me after the first month. It took that long to cross Kanto on foot.
He was content with watching over the team. When he saw me in danger though, he interfered. He stepped out and fought on my behalf. He mourned Quicksilver as deeply as I did. He was the only one apart from Broly and I that had seen Quicksilver as a pidgeotto. Arrogant as nothing else, and hardworking. Competitive but friendly.
I engulfed him in a hug as large as any I could. I leaned back and said, "Hashirama". He looked confused. "That's your name" He hugged me back in an embrace so tight I heard my ribs creak.
We spent the rest of the day lazing about and resting. The team wanted to train. I felt their desires. I was too happy to have them alive though. I needed a day to bond with them and none denied me that.
Kenpachi spent the day racing around under Broly's watchful eyes. Evolution or not, he was still the baby of the team. Hashirama was building a good relationship with Igneel and Kisame. That friend group confused me. Their type compositions should have made them all enemies. Their personalities even differed. Kisame was mischievous and loved to play pranks. Igneel had a fiery personality. Always looking to prove his strength. Hashirama seemed assured in his strength and content to sit still for months.
Ino sat with me as she always did. I meditated on my aura and felt the links that connected me with my team. Where Quicksilver once was sat Hashirama's calming presence. I felt my heart ache at that. Hashirama wasn't Quicksilver's replacement. No one could ever replace my speedster. I hated how he stood where Quicksilver once did. I loved him but hated what his presence seemed to represent.
Ino was there for me. Hands-on my face and mind in mine. She soothed my worries. My negative emotions. I calmed and watched the team play and rest. I fell asleep in the lotus position, watching them.
The next day, I was up before dawn. I had planned the day out yesterday. The first thing I did was send my pokemon into their balls. I'd 'captured' Hashirama in one yesterday. I left Ino out though. She was already awake and already knew what I wanted.
I blinked and saw myself in front of the same department store as two days ago. I needed to speak to Ino about her surprise teleports. I walked in to make my purchases. I got everything I'd gathered yesterday with two major changes. I got the TM for Hyper beam instead of Giga Impact. My team had changed. That was the fact of things. Instead of being a 60-40 split between physical and special attackers, it was now a 50-50 split. The fact that most of my special attackers wouldn't be able to use Giga Impact, at least in an effective manner, tipped the scales in their direction.
I also grabbed the TM for Sunny day. I'd realized that I wasn't making the best use of Igneel's ability. Solar power was a powerful ability and we'd neglected it.
I checked out, and my account was 30,000 poke dollars lighter. I'd need to find a way to make money eventually. My original idea was to capture the Crystal Onix and sell it for a couple million. Quicksilver's loss made that untenable. Sunburst Island was much too out of the way for me to make the journey.
I'd have to challenge a few gyms and trainers then. Battles were also a source of income. A much more interesting source if you asked me. Ino took me back to the clearing and I released the rest of the team. I put Ino back in her ball to teach her hyper beam. She was the best person to teach the rest of the team a new move.
I also taught Hashirama sunny day. The move would be useful for both him and Igneel and they were already very friendly. Igneel would teach Hashirama protect. Hashirama would teach Igneel sunny day and solar beam.
I could only imagine the power of a solar beam used by a powerful Charizard boosted by the solar power ability. It would be glorious, I was sure. We started the day with the team going off to begin their individual training. Kenpachi was with me though.
His original training plan would be useless in his present form. We focused on getting him used to his new form and mode of movement. I had him travel around the forest. Taking a route between trees. He fucked up a lot. But with how thick his armour was, he could barrel through trees without even feeling it. That was both a positive and negative.
I didn't want him hurt but the lack of pain gave him no incentive to get better. He was, though. Slowly and steadily.
I left him to that and I walked over to watch the rest of the team. Igneel was showing Hashirama Protect. Did they decide to start with Hashirama's learning? That was surprising. Igneel was normally too impatient for that.
Ino, Kisame, and Broly were together. Ino was teaching them both Hyper Beam. Kisame was getting a small beam that showed she was making progress. Broly couldn't manage anything yet. That was normal though. He was a physical genius but special moves were never his forte.
The work continued all through the week. Igneel had given up on trying to teach Hashirama Protect. Now, they were working on Sunny day. It was quite foolish of me to expect Igneel to be a teacher. His temperament was ill-suited for that.
Kisame had gotten Hyper beam down and was now focusing on her water manipulation. Broly was coming along nicely with the move. He no longer needed Ino's help and she'd moved on to teach the move to Kenpachi. He needed to learn both protect and hyper beam. Protect was easier to learn and he was making progress. Hyper beam was a dud for now, at least.
I decided that we'd all made enough progress after a month passed like that. Everyone had managed to get their moves down. I had to send Ino to teach Hashirama protect but he got it down quickly with patient instruction. Igneel learned both sunny day and solar beam. I was right. When the moves came together, they formed a beam that managed to blind even me in broad daylight.
Kenpachi could travel around freely and had learned the moves he needed. Kisame's water manipulation had come into fine form.
She could use the water prison shark dance technique. It was rudimentary but she'd managed to lift up part of the lake and had it surround her in a dome. A dome at least a few hundred metres large. It was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes when I first saw it.
Ino's training was more difficult to judge the progress of. She didn't learn any new moves but focused on efficiency. She could use her moves with little warning. She'd increased the number of moves she could use in quick succession.
My team was ready. We would be completing the gym challenge. We had about a year till the conference, and we'd make good use of that.
A/N; Thanks for reading. We're already halfway through with chapter 28 on the pa-atreon page. Feel free to join me there if you can. Same username as up here. The link's on my profile.
Name; Donnell Oak
Age; 15
Hometown; Pallet
Next of Kin; Samuel Oak
Account balance; 1,050 Pokedollars
Pokemon.
· Kleavor (Nickname; Broly)- Male. Bug/Rock type
Moves; Signal beam, agility, fury cutter, quick attack, slash, swords dance, protect, stone axe, ancient power, hyper beam, and rock throw.
· Milotic (Nickname; Kisame)- Female. Water type.
Moves; Brine, ice beam, hydro pump, dragon breath, dragon pulse, water gun, protect, recover, hyper beam, iron tail and bubble beam.
· Charizard (Nickname; Igneel)- Male. Fire type.
Moves; Ember, dragon breath, scratch, bite, growl, metal claw, flame thrower, protect, sunny day, solar beam, hyper beam, and dragon rush.
· Pupitar (Nickname; Kenpachi)- Male. Rock/Steel type.
Moves; Tackle, rock throw, bite, crunch, and leer.
· Gardevoir (Nickname; Ino)- Female. Psychic/Fairy type.
Moves; Teleport, psybeam, psychic, confusion, hypnosis, dazzling gleam, moonblast, and recover.
· Trevenant (Nickname; Hashirama)- Male. Ghost/Grass type.
Moves; Sunny day, solar beam, protect, hyper beam, wood hammer, shadow claw, forest curse, and destiny bond.