Let's get going! (-o-)
Ray rested on his knees, looking at his Golett directly in its unblinking, glowing eyes. "Alright, Sentinel, I think we should try to know each other better. You're my newest Pokemon, and I have the ability to understand you now."
Sentinel just stood there, staring blankly at him.
"...Um, you're not just going to stand there all night, are you?", Ray asked.
"It's just a robot, kid."
Rex strode over. "Somebody built it a couple hundred years ago or something. It will listen to commands, and does seem to have some loyalty to whoever trains it, but it doesn't actually have emotions or a soul. It's not going to talk to you."
Sentinel turned its head to stare at him. It didn't do anything else.
"All it's going to do is guard anyone considered 'friendly'.", continued Rex, "Sorry if you don't like that. But these guys were first documented in Unova, which is where I'm from, so I know all about them."
Ray stood up, and looked down at his Golett. It stared back up at him silently.
"Well, it seems alive to me. Perhaps it does have a soul, it's just so strange a Pokemon we can't understand it.", Ray said.
Rex scoffed. "I doubt that. But believe what you like."
He strode off, and Ray patted Sentinel on the head. "You may be one of the strangest Pokemon around, but one of these days I will be as close friends with you as all my other Pokemon."
Sentinel made no motion of understanding, but Ray was convinced to prove Rex wrong. He refused to believe that Sentinel was a mindless servant.
Winona floated over to his side. "Mmm, I don't know about you, but it smells like Ulfsigr's Pokemon are actually decent cooks! Not as good as you, of course, but good."
She noticed Sentinel standing next to Ray. "Oh, it's Sentinel. Hi there Sentinel. What are you doing today? Standing around again, I see."
Ray sighed. "They're a member of the team too, you know."
Winona flicked her tail dismissively. "Oh, I know that. But they don't do anything unless you're in trouble, and that makes them incredibly boring."
Sentinel showed no sign of being offended.
Winona looked around. "I wonder when that Clara girl will come back. Her Pokemon at least seem interesting."
"Whenever she completes her battle, which might not be too long now.", Ray replied.
Winona nodded. "Well, I'll be off now. Lots of new faces to show my dominance over, you see."
She flew over to the rest of the campsite, and Ray started walking there. Sentinel started following him, eerily quiet for being made of stone. It was definitely a defensive sort.
When Ray arrived, he noticed John staring thoughtfully at the sky. He was still wearing his pink hat.
"What's on your mind?", Ray asked.
John answered, "Oh, everything, really. Wondering what my family is thinking of me right now, how I got here, how I became a Legendborn, and why I've grouped up with a bunch of strangers. No offense, of course."
"None taken.", Ray replied, sitting down. "I've been wondering similar things myself. Sure, the Darkness has awakened, but I just looped several kids into something even I don't fully understand. I'm not even a hundred percent sure if some of you even are Legendborn, or just people who ended up being in the Darkness's way when he attacked."
John nodded. "Makes sense to me. Don't worry about me though. This is going to be pretty epic, whatever it turns out to be."
Ray shrugged. "Possibly, but you do have to remember this is serious. Thousands died when the Darkness was free hundreds of years ago. The only reason he hasn't done much yet is because he's still recovering his power. We have to race against time to find the other Legendborn and learn our powers before he begins to act. And we will be his first targets when he does, so we have to learn as much of our powers as we can before that happens."
John nodded glumly. "That doesn't sound good. But I'll do my best to be a proper Legendborn, for sure."
At that moment, Winona yelped as a Gengar appeared out of the shadows under her and yanked her tail. With a furious screech, she breathed a Dragon Breath at him, but with a chuckle, the Gengar disappeared before it hit.
"Geoff is messing with people again.", John sighed.
Ray chuckled. "Winona won't tolerate that, for sure. Those two are going to be at each other all night, I think. I wonder who'll come out on top?"
John replied, "Eh, probably Geoff. That might be a freaking Dragonair, but Geoff once pranked the legendary Lance himself."
"So you're from Kanto, I guess?", asked Ray.
"Born and raised.", replied John, "I did the Gym Challenge up to five badges."
"Did you never get to complete it?", asked Ray.
John chuckled. "Oh, I would've. But life got in the way, and now here I am."
At that moment, Ulfsigr declared, "Dinner is served!"
Ray and John stood up and walked over to the campfire, where the Lopunny was handing out plates of fried rice. The Braixen was prodding the logs of the fire with her stick, making sure it was still burning merrily.
"Dig in and enjoy!", the Lopunny said.
Victor immediately dove into his food, while the others were slower about theirs. As everybody ate, they began to chat.
"Did you know that once, I got an opportunity to turn into a Mega Salamence?!", asked Diana excitedly.
Gemma the Roggenrola replied, "It still trounced you."
"I know, but it was awesome!", Diana replied.
John noticed his Chespin had fallen asleep and was snoring, face-first in her food. "Hey, Christina, wake up."
The Chespin mumbled something, but remained asleep.
Ray noticed that Remi the Raichu and Vivian had both already finished and were playing tag around the campfire. "Hey, be careful Vivian! People are eating right now!"
Vivian replied, "But I'm having so much fun though!"
Ray sighed. His Eevee was always having fun.
He spotted Geoff materializing out of the shadows underneath Winona, and disappeared with her plate. Winona screeched furiously, then stole his. Geoff did not approve of that, and attempted to steal it back. But now that he was out of the shadows, Winona took her opportunity and began barraging him with her attacks.
John winced, and Ray smiled slightly. It took quite a bit of his will to not start cheering Winona on.
An Alolan Meowth eventually came over to drag Geoff out of harm's way, and Checkmate flew over to hold the still enraged Winona back.
"I'm just going to say that your Gengar had it coming.", Ray commented.
John replied, "That Dragonair...how is she that powerful!?"
Ray answered, "She's been my partner for around seven years now. It's not much of a surprise."
John did some mental math. "Wait, that would mean you got her at around ten. She was your STARTER?! How in the world-"
"That's a long story that I won't share right now.", Ray answered, "Just like you've got stories of your own that you're not interested in sharing at the moment."
"Ah.", John simply replied.
There was a shout at the edge of the campsite. "Look!", Remi shouted, "She's back!"
Sure enough, an exhausted-looking Clara was walking out of the grove, followed by a Phantump.
Victor declared, "Hurrah! It looks like she's won! High five, Wick! We don't have to stay in this town!"
He and his Lampent high-fived each other.
Clara sat down at the edge of the fire, and the Lopunny gave her some food.
"So what was it like?", asked Rex, "Trying to figure out what I'll have to deal with in my challenge."
Clara nodded. "Well, let me tell you, it's nothing like you're imagining..."
AN: And we're done! Next chapter, our heroes will begin their journey to the next town. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. I'm excited to see what OCs I might get in the future, and I'm excited to continue this story! I'll see you all next time!