Wade woke up at the crack of dawn, it wasn't a voluntary awakening, for Houndour decided it was time for his trainer to wake up. Feebas had been put into her pokeball the night before, to make getting out on the road very slightly easier for everyone. At the foot of Wade's bed sat a backpack, which was packed with basic supplies. From food, to his pokemon's food, to a way to start a fire, Wade was prepared. While he did question why he bought a new lighter, with Houndour being a very willing, sentient, canine-shaped lighter. Later he realized that said sentient lighter also couldn't be at his side at all times, and needed a backup in case he got separated from Houndour.
During the first few weeks of living in Unova, Wade could tell that the region was a bit chillier than Wyoming, not that Wade knew what Wyoming was like(he existed, Wyoming's residents don't), but it was a bit colder than what he was used to. Luckily Houndour was more than happy to agree to be a cuddle buddy when things got a bit too cold for the alien. Of course that's until the winter.
Despite how rude the awakening was, Wade quickly thanked Houndour. It was White's birthday and the first half of it was going to be spent throwing a bit of a party, White and her friends picking their starters, and then heading out at noon with full bellies to Accumula Town, which would only take a day or two of constant travel. Realistically, while accounting for breaks, breakfast, lunch and sleeping it would take about half the week to get to Accumula town.
Wade patted Houndour. "C'mon bud. I said I'd help Juniper make the cupcakes." The canine took no protests of getting out of this room. While being able to relax for the first few weeks of his sudden existence was nice, Houndour wanted to get moving. There was a whole world to see, things to stare at, and many inconvenient times to do his business in Wade's boots. And most importantly he'd do it by his trainer's side.
It was safe to say that Houndour, for sure, loved his trainer. The last couple weeks the two spent together had proven that Wade heavily cared for the canine's health, and went out of his way to make sure Houndour's health was good. From learning how to cook pokemon food(albeit with a a cookbook), to refusing to do things that may end with his pokemon injured, Wade made sure that his Houndour's well being came first.
Even if Houndour wished Wade was more willing to do friendly battles; they were fun. Although Wade likely couldn't stomach seeing his beloved friend, pet, and partner be thrashed about if they met a competent trainer. In fact, Wade would beat himself up for not being able to direct his pokemon properly and would think he's responsible for Houndour's theoretical beating. So for Wade's peace of mind, Houndour agreed to Wade's desire to remain out of battling.
The two of them had stepped out of their room and out into the hallway. Unsurprisingly, Professor Juniper was standing at the door and waiting for him. "Are you ready for today?" The professor asked.
"Not really, but hey, I'd rather live than survive if you get what I mean. I think that's what the captain from Wall-E said. Did I butcher the quote?" Wade shrugged. He noticed Juniper looking a bit confused, and Wade chuckled. "I think that's something I wish I could do. Show you all the movies I loved and grew up with back in my world. Could be a pretty fun date and all… I think I had a few movies downloaded on my phone actually!"
Wade grinned. "I have an idea for the next time we go on a date, even if there's probably going to be a big chance it just doesn't work. I doubt my phone's battery even has a charge," he sighed. "Could be fun if it does work."
"I can probably reverse engineer a charging cable for your phone. It's then just be a matter of getting one of my friends, who's more talented in electronics than I am, to make a cable for your phone. Then we can try your idea out when we get some time alone."
Wade nodded and the two walked down the hall together, both ready to start the day.
"I choose you!" White was given permission from Professor Juniper, and from Bianca and Cheren to choose her pokemon first. It was the girl's birthday, so she got first picks. Oshawott was the girl's choice, cute, but had potential to be powerful. Cheren was quick to choose Snivy, as Bianca didn't fuss over which pokemon she wanted, she was just happy to get one. This left the girl with Tepig, the fire pig was ecstatic to realize that his trainer was probably going to spoil him.
Bianca sat in a chair with her new friend in her lap. She smiled warmly at the fire pig, and Tepig kept his gaze locked toghtly onto his trainer. Sure, she probably wasn't going to make him the strongest pokemon in thw world, but he didn't mind that. As long as he could win the bet that he made with the other three starts he was happy. Those thoughts were pushed to the side as he felt the girl begin to scratch his chin, which felt so good! Tepig let out an 'oink!' As he revelled in the apparent affection.
Snivy used shook his trainer's hand, both he and Cheren having an immediate understanding of each other; they wanted to be strong. Snivy figured it'd be nice to make a name for himself, while Cheren simply wanted to be strong… also to be strong to protect people. That was going to be a duty of his when he became Champion after all; protect your region until your final breath.
Oshawott and Whiite were an instant hit with each other. The young girl, being a natural in Wade's mind, quickly won the otter's heart. Now said otter was playing 'bite the hand that feeds you' where White touched his belly, nosy, anything really, and he'd tried to catch the hand and nip it. It was a game that White had played with Houndour a couple times, although the canine wasn't nearly as stoked about playing with somebody that wasn't Wade.
"You know what this calls for?" Cheren grinned as did Snivy. "We all have our own pokemon now, so how about he have a tiny little tournament? Me and Wade have a battle, White and Bianca fight. The winners from each pair face off in the end," he proposed. White and Bianca nodded while Wade nervously sighed.
"I dunno about that Cheren, you might be starting out, but I'm a complete dunce when it comes to battling. Sure, I beat Trip, but that was more Houndour having a type advantage. I wouldn't be much of a match for you," Wade sighed. "Plus I…" the man looked down at Houndour who gave a resolute nod. "You sure bud? We might get our as- butts kicked." This was met with another determined nod from Houndour.
"C'mon Wade! It'll just be for fun! We're all friends, right? So why does it matter if one of us is weaker than the other? The journey is to help us become better trainers," White placed her hands on her hips. "Plus I want to see what my little buddy can do," she added.
"Well, Houndour wants to join in on this, so why not?"
"Before you four have your fun, you are not doing this inside my lab. We are going to go to the training field, and. Not destroy my dining room. I like not having Houndour slinging Snivy into the window, or having Tepig burn the place to the ground," Juniper said. "Though I suppose I should watch, so I can referee." Juniper grabbed a league grade coach whistle from the table and set it inside of her lab coat's pockets.
The group had found themselves on the same training fields where Wade had his first battle against Trip. It felt odd being here, as Wade never managed to find anybody who'd be willing to battle, even if he wanted to battle anybody. It seemed like the whole 'Houndoom are very aggressive' thing passed down to Houndour, so nobody wanted a fight with Wade. It made the man's life easier, as he didn't want to watch Houndour get his head slammed into the ground.
That would give Wade a heart attack no matter how quickly Houndour recovered from such a thing…
"So it's going to be one on one. That means you can't use Feebas, Wade. Or Girafarig, but I doubt you're going to use him," Cheren said as he took his end of the field.
"Well, the poor thing's still recovering from being starved. So he's not even coming on this journey until Aurea gives the ok!" Wade glanced at Juniper for a second in appreciation; she had helped out immensely with caring for the giraffe. For that, he was grateful, and wanted to make it up to Aurea no matter what the professor said. He was in the woman's debt.
Gothitelle raised psychic barriers around the four trainers, with Wade and Cheren getting their own set of barriers, while White and Bianca got their own. "Alright Snivy, I know we're at a huge disadvantage, but let's give it our all! The first battle is our most important!" Snivy leapt into the air and landed in front of his trainer. The determination set in the snake's eyes was clear to anybody who looked into them.
Wade and Houndour looked the other in the eyes and nodded. "And no, we are not going to pin Snivy down and blast him with fire, Houndour. Friendly match; we don't gotta kill the poor bugger," Wade chuckled when Houndour faked a disappointed sigh. "With acting skills like that, you'll be a star, my friend. Let's just get this battle over with, and we'll cuddle in a sleeping bag tonight."
Houndour stepped forward, he felt no need to make a show. It was a fight, sure it wasn't serious, and he was sure he'd enjoy it. Making a big show just didn't feel right… Wade was rubbing off on him. All of his trainer's clear desires to not be a celebrity was something Houndour could admit was nice. Being popular was cool and clung onto the idea.
And it was a friendly match, no real fire, no real burns. No eternal suffering.
A small crowd had formed around the four trainers' matches. Many have seen White, Cheren, and Bianca. They were Lab Trainers, which gave them some notoriety. Especially when said lab they had worked for was Juniper's lab. This meant that seeing the three spar would be fun, record, and archive. Sure, it wasn't as grand or flashy as a battle with two Elite Four members, but it was still fun.
None of them had really seen Wade, which he was thankful for. Sure, the alien had been around town a bit, but he'd spent most of his weeks in his room like a loser, studying and reading away. Wade found it a bit funny, here he was, in fantasy land with everything he could want. He had a girlfriend, a pokemon, and a whole world at his fingertips. Instead he spent it reading pokemon trainer rules, which he had a copy in his backpack, or other things. Wade just loved reading, and most of the books Juniper had lent him proved to be interesting.
"Let the battle begin" Professor Juniper blew her wristle.
"Use tackle!" Cheren thrusted his hand forward. The grass snake was enveloped in a transparent, white light; Normal Energy. It was something Wade had read a bit about, but didn't fully understand. He did know what color of aura corresponded with what typing. Plus it was pretty hard to not know that Tackle was a normal type move… Wade did manage to forget what Leer did, which lowered the defenses of a pokemon.
"Houndour roll out the way!" Houndour ducked under Snivy's line of trajectory as the snake overshot his target. "Now grab'em!" Before Snivy made it out of Houndour's reach, in a flash(Wade could barely see Houndour move), the canine grabbed ahold of Snivy in his jaws. A sudden idea came to mind, and Wade knew he had to try it. "Flamethrower!" Wade sighed, this was a random idea he had come up with. Houndour didn't have hands and used his jaws to latch on, grab, and hold things.
Houndour's fire only could only escape in two ways from the canine. Through Fire Spin or Flare Blitz, which envelopes the user in 'Battle Mode' Fire Energy, or through the dog's mouth. So Wade put two and two together, and figured if he could get Houndour to grab an opponent, it was game over. Needless to say, this was something he wanted to dwell on later. Perhaps a fiery Body Slam was possible.
This was a cheap trick.
Flames erupted from the dog's jaws, enveloping Snivy, but had unintentionally let go off the snake to give more air for his fire. It wasn't actual fire, but Fire Energy did benefit from oxygen as Wade had guessed(he had no real proof for this, but still taught Houndour to do this anyways). Snivy landed on the ground with a thud, knocked out, but lacked any burn marks. No endless suffering from a burn! Houndour gave his trainer a canine grin before trotting back.
Cheren sighed and withdrew his pokemon. "Are you sure you aren't much into battling? I don't think I've seen that strategy before," he noted.
"It just came to my noggin honestly. Fire Type pokemon, excluding Ninetales and Vulpix, as discovered by some dude in Hoenn, tend to have their fire escape through two means. That being through the use of Flame Wheel, Flare Blitz, or Flame Charge. The next is through the throat. Vulpix and Ninetales can just summon fire, or Ice, if they're from Alola, from wherever on their body. So I fogured something I might as well try."
"Grapple an opponent, and light their ass on fire… literally and figuratively I guess," Wade winced when Juniper gave him a glare. "I know, my potty mouth is awful." This elicited a giggle out of her despite half her focus being stuck on White and Bianca's battle.
"Well, I suppose a naughty boy such as yourself will know how unprofessional I can be in bed." Wade's cheeks lit and picked Houndour up. He buried his embarrassed face into the canine's fur. "And I just struck a nerve, can't wait to exploit this more," the Professor whispered.
White and Bianca's battle was surprisingly more balanced than Wade and Cheren's match. Both Tepig and Oshawott were panting, both covered in bruises and claw marks. Oshawott was doing a bit better than the fire pig, but was still obviously fatigued. Wade figured that this batch of starters didn't have any natural moves out of the gate. Oshawott and Tepig had been slamming into each otjer for the last five minutes.
"Oshawott, use Tackle!" White cheered her otter on as it slammed into Tepig, who was now too fatigued to react or even respond to Bianca's calls to dodge the attack. Soon afterwards, Tepig and Oshawott fell to the ground, and were both knocked out. Oshawott slammed his head into Tepig, which seemed to be the final straw for the otter as well.
"It is a draw!" Juniper announced, and the small crowd gave an applause. Sure, they thought that Houndour and Wade's perfomance was good, but it was quick and had little to no substance to it. The crowd quickly caught onto White and Bianca's battle, loving every second of it, wincing when one pokemon took a nasty hit, or cheering when the crowd favorite got up.
That crowd favorite was Tepig, the underdog in terms of type advantage.
Both girls recalled their unconscious pokemon and walked towards the center of their makeshift arena. They shook hands and pulled the other into a hug. "Well played, White… it was kind of hard to to strategize when all we could only use Tackle," she giggled.
"Well, maybe we'll see who's the better trainer once our pokemon know more than just tackle and growl or leer. That way it'll be more fun, like a game of chest," White said.
"Oh by the way, I recorded your matches, you four. I've got to say Wade, your idea was a bit smart, if a bit unfair in a battle, Juniper waved her hand in dissmissal. "Anyways, if you ever want to see how you started out, just ask me and I can send you videos," Juniper grinned.
"Now c'mon, let's get lunch! You four still have an hour before you should be off, so let's eat out!" The four trainers nodded. "And Wade, tell me that list of 'fair' tactics and strategies you've come up with. I know you've got a couple," she added.
"Sorry, that's patented. Plus I won't be battling much anyways. What Houndour did is pretty underhanded, for dealing with criminals," Wade shrugged. "Also Cheren, sorry about how…" Cheren just shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. That did teach me that I probably shouldn't send Snivy at a Houndour without rhyme or reason. Especially when that Houndour has You as a trainer. You play dirty."
Wade laughed. "I mean, according to everybody, Houndour and Houndoom are devilish little creatures. Fight dirty, betray everyone, cause pain and suffering with toxin infused fires that Burn Heals don't work on... Might as well be adopt the mentality Houndour in a fight, eh?" Wade asked.
"But are you trying to prove that Houndour and Houndoom aren't like what you just described?" White asked.
"Yeah, it also kinda sucks that they're seen like that. But hey, if I don't gotta follow league rules when it comes to battling, then I'm gonna learn some underhanded tactics to go hand and paw with Houndour. Don't worry, other than today, I won't be a dirtbag while battling you three," Wade patted Houndour on the head.
"If you do, I'll gut you," Cheren said.
"No you wouldn't. Houndour's just as protective as a Ninetales," Wade chuckled. "Although I think he likes the taste of my flesh, he does nip and lick me a lot."
This elicited a nip from Houndour.
One birthday party, a helping of cupcakes, and a quick visit to Juniper's personal 'boo boo ba ding ding' machine(Wade's words. The actual name was long and complicated, so he just called it that). The group bid Professor Juniper farewell, and stepped out the doors.
"Alright Cheren, we know you've got a map, so lead the way!" White shoved the boy forward and he chuckled.
"Alright! To Accumula Town!"
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aight so, read another review. Honestly, the only dex entry I was probably going to use was Houndour and Houndoom's entries on the 'forever burn.(I barely remember half the dex entries anyways).
Then kinda implemented the whole 'Real' and 'Not Real' power system from I became Vulpix. And realized how it negated my point of why Houndour and Houndoom aren't allowed in the pokemon league/gym challenge. So I also added the fun little fact of Houndoom constantly turning on their trainers for seemingly no reason.
I dunno how much I empathize on it, and if I didn't, then I will probably have it explained more in-depth in a later chapter(probably next chapter will just straight up be the pokemon trainer hand guide).
Also I ain't gonna get mad at actual criticism(I wouldn't be the good writer I wish I was if I did). Sure it does sting a bit, but it's a good sting. Anyways, I did kinda have the whole thing planned as for why Wade wouldn't be doing the Gym Challenge.
From aggression to generally just not wanting the attention that comes with being a Gym Challenger.