Trainer: Daniel Pugh - 1 Badge
Alolan Sandshrew - Drift
Meditite - Sasha
Magby - Kai
Piplup - Slater

Chapter 10: History Living

Eterna city was vastly different than anything Daniel was used to. As he walked through the eastern gate of the city, it felt as if he was walking into an entirely different world. Snowpoint was centered around the university. The city design catered very little to permanent residents or traveling trainers. Eterna was the exact opposite.

The south side of the city, to Daniel's left, large houses grouped together to form sprawling neighborhoods. Each house stood at least two stories and had vibrant green lawns and lush flower gardens. He knew from various maps of the city that these homes condensed to eventually create dense blocks of row houses further south. Eterna differed from other major cities like Jubilife and Hearthome in that the rich tended to gravitate towards the center of the city while the working class was pushed to the outskirts, closer to the vast farmland to the south of the city.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the northern half of the city tailored itself to the constant flow of trainers. The Eterna City Gym sat in the center of the district, surrounded by various trainer shops, the pokemon center, and hotels. Further out were malls, theaters, the Sinnoh History Museum, and various other forms of entertainment.

The two districts were separated by a smooth, gray stone road. Small vendors set up rolling carts or popup tents along the edge of the road to display their wares. Selections ranged from worthless baubles to supposed evolutionary stones. The merchants yelled over each other, trying to garner the attention of pedestrians traversing the area. Every so often, evangelists would be calling out from a raised podium, begging for repentance and conversion.

Daniel pushed his way through the throngs of people distracted by the multitude of vendors and eventually found himself in a small square garden in the center of the city. A small, man-made pond sat in the center of the space. Walking paths snaked through colorful swatches of flowers. Some combee buzzed between bushes and plants. It was like this garden was a sanctuary from the chaos of the city around it.

The park was not void of people despite its serenity. A few feet away from Daniel, an artist sat on a stool putting the finishing touches on a painting of the park and its inhabitants. The work of art perfectly captured the older woman pushing a stroller containing her squirming grandchild. The love and adoration of the young couple sitting by the pond was visible even through the paints. The lillipup looked to truly be running on the canvas as the young boy threw a yellow ball to the pokemon.

It was here that Daniel finally put his finger on what was so drastically different from the world he knew in Snowpoint. He had prepared for the number of people and the hustle and bustle that came with the crowds. What he hadn't thought about was the lack of snow. The constant blanket of white drowned out almost all color in Snowpoint except for the blue skies and evergreens. Eterna was a burst of color that Daniel wasn't expecting.

With the lack of snow also came a warmth that Daniel wasn't ready for. Even having packed away the bulky winter gear that was a necessity on Route 217, he was still breaking a sweat. Taking a quick glance at his 'dex, Daniel found the temperature to be sitting in the mid fifties, which was nearly unheard of in Snowpoint.

As he turned north to find the pokemon center, he considered how this change in weather would affect his team. Kai would certainly enjoy the warmer temperatures and lack of snow. Sasha likely wouldn't care either way. Slater, too, would be fine as long as a source of water was nearby. Drift was the one Daniel was most worried about. The ice shrew would struggle with the drastic change to his natural environment. Daniel resolved to send a message to Leader Berg requesting any advice for keeping his starter healthy.

The northern half of the city was far less crowded than the dividing road, though Daniel found himself far more interested in the people he did come across. Almost everyone was a trainer, clearly marked from the pokeballs strapped to their persons in some manner. Some more experienced trainers walked around with pokemon following behind. The most common types Daniel saw were fire and grass types.

Finding the pokemon center was far easier than Daniel thought it would be. The red-roofed building was located looking into a massive circular plaza surrounding the Eterna City Gym. Trainer shops joined the pokemon center around the gym. It was clear that the city was designed around the gym.

The courtyard leading up to the gym consisted of the same charcoal pavers as the road in the middle of the city. Large, raised flower beds were set intermittently around the space, each with a maple tree to provide shade for people sitting atop the walls. In between each of the flower beds were marble statues of famous Eternians such as Champion Erez, who reigned for thirty years in 1900's, and Gym Leader Gardenia who served during Cynthia's tenure as Champion.

Ivy weaved its way up the white stone gym building that stood as the centerpiece, breaking only for the muted gray double door entrance. The gym consisted of two separate structures. The outer building encompassed the inner building like a rind. It was three stories tall with shrubs covering the flat roof. The inner stadium towered over the rest of the city with a retractable dome of tinted glass. The massive coliseum was as wide as it was tall. Daniel knew that the center stadium was only ever used for tier eight challenges and elite challenges; all other battles were held in the arenas that made up the outer ring.

In the few minutes Daniel spent admiring the gym, a few trainers entered and one left with his head lowered in defeat. A voice inside him pushed for Daniel to go ahead and make his challenge, though he held back. With only two trainer battles under his belt, he wanted to test himself against other trainers at his level before making the challenge.

To avoid further temptation, Daniel made his way into the pokemon center. Pokemon centers were the main hub for all trainers. The League funded facilities offered trainers free pokemon healing, free exercise and training rooms for pokemon and trainers, and acted as a trainer-only hotel. The only thing pokemon centers didn't offer was shopping. That was only due to laws protecting shop owners when the League first started. Regions such as Unova and Alola with much newer Pokemon Leagues didn't have the same regulations.

The center wasn't overly crowded like Snowpoint's would get during the summer months. Only a handful of trainers milled around the cafeteria as they waited for their pokemon to be returned to them. A tall man in light blue scrubs manned the reception desk. He wore a polished brass plate on his breast with his name, James, written on it.

"Good morning, sir," the nurse greeted as Daniel approached, "What can I do for you today?"

Handing over his four pokeballs, Daniel responded, "I'd like to get my team looked over. The only major concern I have is for my magby. He was starting to get pretty sick about a week ago. I'd also like to get a room."

"Absolutely! Please scan your pokedex and we'll notify you when your party is ready for pick up," James said, indicating the small scanner on the counter. "As for your room, do you know how long you'll be staying?"

Daniel shook his head, "No. I'm here for the gym, so however long that takes me."

"Of course. We can open a tab for you in that case. As normal, you are responsible for checking out upon your departure. If you do not, you are responsible for the cost of the room until it is found that you're gone. Your room number is 216. Take the stairs up one level and it will be down the hall to your right."

Some four hours later found Daniel and his fully healed team at the battle plots to the northeast of the city. While waiting for his team to be returned, he sent a few messages out, including one to Leader Berg about how ice type sandshrews fare in warmer temperatures. He also stopped by the Trainer Outpost to sell the various things he salvaged while traveling and to restock on food and other essential items. When all the transactions were done, Daniel was left with more than enough money to stay at the pokemon center for the next month and make multiple gym challenges in the case that he lost. He would need to thank Cal the next time he saw the veteran trainer for the advice on how to stay financially stable as a young trainer. He did spend a little bit of time with his team, letting them know where they were and the differences in the environment. As he expected, Drift was less than pleased to hear about the warmth while Kai squeaked happily at the information.

Eterna City's battlegrounds were located just outside of the city limits. There were eight rectangular dirt plots that were about fifty feet wide and one hundred feet long. In the middle of the fields, was a small ranger shack where two on-duty rangers supervised the ongoing battles. Alongside each field was a small set of bleachers. Each plot had a battle going on and around four or five other trainers watching and waiting their turns.

After a quick conversation with one of the rangers, Daniel made his way to the field where the one to two badge trainers were. While each field had its own sign-in sheet allowing for all skill levels to battle on any field, trainers tended to consolidate with those at their own level. This was partially due to the danger of battling against stronger pokemon. The other reason was that the League rules stated that only trainers within one badge of each other could battle for profit.

Daniel sat in the stands with the four other trainers not currently battling. He was content to watch and listen for his first day. The ongoing battle was between a pansear and a staravia, with the medium sized dark bird winning the bout. According to the other trainers, both battlers had two badges.

He watched three other battles before a dark haired trainer approached him, asking, "Hey, how many badges do you have?"

The man looked a couple years older than the other trainers hanging around the field. His eyes had a manic glint to them with dark bags growing beneath them. His clothes were torn and dirty, though that wasn't abnormal for trainers.

"One. How many do you have?" Daniel responded.

"I've got two. How do you feel about a best of three battle? I can wager two hundred bucks."

There were three different types of trainer battles that the League approved of. The first was the traditional style of battling where the last trainer with available pokemon won. The second was the best of three - or however many pokemon were decided on. Each trainer would choose a single pokemon to battle each match. That pokemon was locked into battle and withdrawing was considered a loss. The trainer who won the most matches was considered the victor. The final battle type was a double battle, where each trainer used two pokemon at a time.

Each kind of battle was designed to develop trainers and pokemon in different ways. The system wasn't perfect as there were workarounds to each type that were exploited by trainers trying to make easy money.

After a moment of consideration, Daniel responded, "Yeah I can do that. I'm Daniel, by the way." He could afford to lose the money and the battle would give him a good idea of how he would fare in his second gym battle.

"Awesome! We're up next then," the trainer said, ignoring Daniel's introduction.

Fifteen minutes later, Daniel was standing across the battle plot from his still nameless opponent. He was unsure what pokemon the other trainer had. Deciding to be flexible with his first choice, Daniel palmed Sasha's pokeball and held it in front of him. His opposite did the same with his first pokemon. At the count of three, they both released their pokemon.

Daniel's meditite glanced around when she first appeared. Based on her posture, it took her only a moment or two to figure out she was about to battle. The meditate pokemon dropped into a fighting stance, with her knees bent, body angled ever so slightly towards her opponent, and her weight balanced.

Across from Sasha, a bouncing, pink blob coalesced in a burst of red energy. The pokemon had triangular brown ears, with a spiralled tuft of fur between them. Poking out from behind its back was a curled tail and two tiny wings. The clefairy's smiling face did nothing to quell the uneasiness that built up in Daniel's stomach. The clefairy line was infamous for their unpredictability in battle. In addition, the fairy type had an advantage against his meditite.

"Teleport in and power-up punch," Daniel ordered quietly. Sasha blinked away and appeared behind the fairy. The punch delivered was weak, but Sasha teleported away before the clefairy could land a counter attack.

Daniel's pokemon managed to repeat her attack once more before the other trainer finally called out, "Disarming voice!" The clefairy let out a shrill cry, loud enough that Daniel flinched from the otherside of the battlefield. Sasha, however, stumbled and fell.

"Metronome."

Metronome was a move that baffled trainers and scientists alike. It could become almost any other known move. No one knew how pokemon utilized the ability. Even more unclear was the unpredictability of the attack as no one knew how to control it. There were reports of the attack creating fissures one second only to put the opposing pokemon to sleep the next. There were rumors stating that certain pokemon like clefairy could control the attack if they danced in a certain manner, though no one had any evidence.

"Sasha, you have to stop it. Confusion!" Daniel called out.

His meditite, still recovering from the last attack, struggled to stand and the clefairy began its dance. A hop to the left followed by a wave with its right arm. The pink fairy did a backflip and finished with a cry. As the dance reached its conclusion, an arc of lighting pulse outwards from the clefairy in a circle around it. The shock wave hit Sasha, who cried out, before teleporting away from the fairy type.

Once his meditite was a safe distance away, she closed her eyes in concentration to successfully use confusion on the clefairy. The opposing pokemon whimpered in pain, but remained standing, though it looked tired.

"Metronome again!"

"Teleport, force palm."

The clefairy got in three hops to start its dance before Sasha appeared next to it and hit it sharply with a stiff hand. The clefairy staggered away a couple feet. Sasha followed with another force palm, which knocked out the pink fairy type.

"Good job, Sasha!" Daniel called out as his opponent returned his fainted clefairy.

"I appreciate the felicitations."

Daniel smiled at his pokemon before returning her as well. He thought about who his next pokemon would be. He was up one to nothing. If he had to guess, his opponent had a pokemon that was strong against the grass type Eterna gym. Daniel decided to go with his starter, as the ice type had a decent matchup against most pokemon good against grass types. If his opponent had a fire type, then he would feel confident about using Kai to close the battle out.

The other trainer released a charjabug as Daniel released his snowshrew. The olive green bug looked like a car battery with a face. Small arcs of electricity jumped between the two orange prongs on the front of the pokemon. Its vertical beak-like jaws opened and closed mechanically.

Drift, however, did not look happy. The ice type sandshrew looked to be in immediate discomfort in the heat and surrounded by dirt instead of snow. He scratched at the edge of his icy shell and grunted. Daniel wished he had taken the time to acclimate his team to the new environment before sending them out into battle.

Daniel's opponent started the match off with the first order, shouting, "Spark!"

The electric bug burst forward, with the lightning between its prongs grown to engulf its entire body. Drift jumped to the side, though not completely evading the attack.

"Defense curl, roll out of there," Daniel called out. His starter tucked into a ball and started to spin away from the charjabug. "Now ice ball!" Drift turned back to the bug while still rolling. A thick layer of ice grew on the outside of his ball.

The two pokemon accelerated towards each other, one covered in ice, the other in electricity. The collision sent both pokemon sprawling in opposite directions. Shards of ice mixed with jolts of electricity, spraying the two pokemon.

"Drift, ice shard!" Daniel yelled as his sandshrew recovered from the impact first. A sharp, pointed blade of ice formed over the shrews right paw before Drift flung it at his opponent. The attack flew harmlessly to the side of the bug. Frustrated, the ice type tried again, landing the attack.

The charjabug began glowing as it generated more electric power. Its next attack would be supercharged. "Drift, keep your distance for a bit. Make sure you stay out of the way of whatever is coming. Icy wind."

It was a move that they had only talked about. It was a progression of powder snow, which Drift was well versed in. Despite his uncertainty, Daniel's starter gave a resolute nod. Drift breathed in deeply. With his exhale, small snowflakes and ice particles formed in the air around him. He repeated the action to form even more sleet before he thrust both of his stubby arms forward. The icy particles blew towards the charjabug, pelting the rectangular bug with the ice and snow.

A few moments after the attack, the charjabug finished charging and burst forward, encased in lightning. Despite the extra power it had, the bug moved slower with the icy particles still clinging to its exoskeleton. Drift dove out of the way of the attack and came up throwing ice shards into the back of his opponent. One, two, three shards hit before the bug could readjust its course. It fell still after the third shard connected.

"Let's go! Great job Drift!" Daniel cheered. His starter blinked a couple times before chirping happily along with Daniel. He met his starter in the middle, sliding down on one knee to treat the sandshrew to some scratches behind his ear. The ice type shivered in delight at the attention.

"What the heck?" Their celebration was interrupted by the irate trainer stalking up to them. "How are you only a one badge trainer? Were you lying or something?"

Drift moved protectively in front of him with a grunt, though Daniel gently pushed around him to respond, "No, I wasn't lying. I just got here today from Snowpoint, which was my first badge."

"Bullshit!"

Daniel heaved out a sigh, "Listen man, I don't know what your problem is. You challenged me to a battle, wouldn't even tell me your name, and now you're pitching a fit. So unless you want to get the rangers involved, I'd really rather just take my money and go."

The other trainer seemed to consider it for a moment before he thrust a wad of cash at Daniel and stormed off with a huff.

The following day, Daniel decided to enjoy the museum rather than risk running into the petty trainer. The Eterna Natural History Museum was the largest museum in the region, and was considered one of the best in the world. The entrance to the ornate building was entirely glass, with large steel columns supporting the entryway canopy. Even from outside the building, Daniel could see large displays through the huge panes of glass.

After paying the admission fee, he meandered around the smaller exhibits. A giant rocket and airplane were suspended from the ceiling. The two aircrafts were on loan from Mossdeep City in the Hoenn region and Mistralton City in the Unova region respectively. The next room had a large section of a submarine the people could walk through.

After the aerospace and nautical exhibits, Daniel came to the fossil exhibit. In the center of the room stood a full pristine aurorus skeleton, stretching thirty-five feet tall. Around the outskirts of the room were other notable fossils such as the shield of a bastiodon and the jaws of a tyrunt. Three aerodactyl skeletons were positioned to look like they were swooping through the air. To the left of the entrance, was a large display with a helix fossil at the top. The commentary below read:

"Fossil resurrection was first discovered in the Kanto region. The technology was quickly dispersed through the rest of the known world. As the knowledge spread, more prehistoric pokemon were discovered. The key to reviving these ancient pokemon is finding the specific fossil to put through the process. Scientists still do not know why only specific bones are viable for revival. There are currently over twenty revived species of prehistoric pokemon, though it is believed that there are countless others yet to be discovered due to the limitations of the revival process."

He moved through the exhibit, fantasizing about owning each of the pokemon he came across: splashing playfully with a tirtouga in the waves, ordering a fierce rampardos in battle, flying on the back of a massive aerodactyl. He even saw some skeletons that he didn't recognize. Like the pokemon similar to a bastiodon only with three massive horns sprouting from its rounded shield. Or the raptor pokemon that looked like the unholy offspring of a tyrantrum and a archeops.

He came to a life size wax figure of a large man with a thick brown beard beside an intimidating kabutops. Behind the statues was a painting depicting the Pewter City Gym. The plaque stated:

"Though many tried in the aftermath of the fossil resuscitation discovery, no trainer managed to successfully tame a prehistoric pokemon until nearly one hundred years later when Leader Stanley Piers, of Pewter City, finally succeeded with a kabuto. Due to the highly volatile nature of these pokemon, ownership is heavily regulated by the regional leagues."

Daniel breezed through the room displaying ancient Sinnoan pokemon that supposedly existed though hadn't been seen in centuries. He glanced at a few of the champions listed in the following area such as Cynthia and Raisul Sun, the first champion of Sinnoh, but didn't spend much time there either.

Finally, Daniel came to the focal point of the museum: the Origin of the World. The entire room was a replica of the Spear Pillar Ruins that was atop Mt. Coronet. The walls encompassing the exhibit told the tale of how Arceus created the world. Vague paintings provided visuals to each scene.

The story went that when Arceus was born, the universe came into being. A large, pale egg with gold bands and emerald speckles displayed the birth of the god. Arceus then created primordial beings of time and space: Dialga and Palkia, and the titans of land, sea, and sky: Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. Then he took a step back to oversee the world from his throne in the Hall of Origin.

The gods left in charge of the universe worked together to form the world and its inhabitants. Other deities were born as the world accentuated different attributes such as Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie who embodied willpower, heart, and mind respectively. Others were created to govern over certain aspects of the world such as Heatran managing the molten core of the earth or Xerneas and Yveltal who kept the balance between life and death.

Every religion Daniel knew about was represented in the room, except for one.

"Excuse me," he said, stopping a passing curator, "I noticed there's nothing on the Regi's here."

The woman snorted in derision, "We do not keep anything related to myths. Everything here is considered factual unlike those childrens' stories."

"That wall over there shows Kyogre and Groudon. Their existences have never been proven," Daniel argued.

"Check your sources, boy. Steven Stone, Hoenn champion at the time, spearheaded an anti-terrorism effort nearly five hundred years ago. The organization successfully found and roused Kyogre. The entirety of Hoenn was engulfed in a torrential downpour. Champion Stone and those with him, defeated the terrorist and rebuffed Kyogre before the storm could spread throughout the world. The existence of Kyogre provides proof that his counterparts also exist. Now, if you'll excuse me."

As Daniel watched the woman walk away, he struggled to reconcile the information he was just given with what he knew to be true after what he saw with Cal. As his thoughts wrestled, he made his way outside to the adjacent courtyard.

The courtyard held two massive stone pedestals. Standing on one of the pedestals was a magnificent blue granite statue of Dialga. The quadrupedal beast towered over the garden. Its body and elongated head were covered in plates of steel set into the stone. The pedestal beside Dialga's was vacant, though a large sign stated that the statue of Palkia was currently on display in Solaceon.

Outside the garden gates, a street evangelist yelled loud enough to be heard by the museum patrons, "There are those who will tell you that heaven will be on earth as nature intended. But I tell you this world will burn. Nature is not our mother. And this earth cannot compare to the glories of heaven. Turn back, I tell you! Turn to the one true king! Only Dialga has dominion over the sands of time. Only through Dialga can we live for eternity in heaven."

The rest of the week flew by for Daniel and his team. They spent most of the week at the battle plots both to watch and to compete. He was proud to say that they won more than they lost, and they only lost to trainers with two badges.

His team was now acclimated to the warmer weather. As Daniel expected, Kai loved it. According to Leader Berg, there wasn't anything Daniel needed to do specifically for his starter, but he was encouraged to provide him with colder temperatures whenever possible.

"Hey Pugh!" Daniel turned to find a brown-haired girl approaching him. He was pretty sure her name was Kayla. She was a two badge trainer with a growlithe she was trying to train up for her gym challenge.

"What's up?"

"Nobody has next," Kayla started, "You want to do a double battle for five hundred?"

In the week he had been here, he had yet to have a double battle with anyone. The battle style was designed to help trainers multitask in the heat of the moment and for pokemon to work together in battle. His piplup would match up well against her growlithe and Kai could cover anything his water type was weak against. Plus, it would be a great opportunity to get the two pokemon to work together despite their rivalry.

"Yeah, I'm in. Just two on two, right?" She nodded in affirmation and they made their way to either end of the field.

The battle began with Daniel releasing his magby and piplup, calling out, "Alright, you two need to work together. Slater, you're on the growlithe. Kai, keep that croagunk distracted."

The battle started off so well for the pair. Kai expertly maneuvered the poison frog away from the bout between Slater and the growlithe. Each time the croagunk attempted to make a break towards the other battle, the magby would send a spray of hot embers directly into its path. Slater kept the growlithe running from the streams of water and bubble beams. As good as it began though, things quickly turned sour.

Daniel watched it happen as if it was in slow motion. As the growlithe turned towards Kai, a mischievous light burned in Slater's eyes. Daniel heard himself yelling at the piplup to stop even as the streamlined jet of water erupted from the penguin's beak, heading directly towards his partner. The growlithe skidded to a stop, allowing the water gun to continue unimpeded directly into Kai's back. The magby flew to the ground with a pained quack.

As the Kai pushed himself to his feet, Daniel saw electricity crackle across his fists. The fire type turned and lunged towards Slater, hitting the penguin hard across the face with an electrifying right hook. As the two devolved into an all out brawl, the growlithe and croagunk retreated, not bothering to continue the battle.

Daniel saw Kayla's face growing red as she covered her mouth to hide her laughter. The other trainers in the stands did nothing to hide their laughter, the sound of which quickly mixed with the blood rushing through his ears and his face began to burn. He quickly returned his two pokemon before they could embarrass him further and made his way to his opponent.

"Listen," the girl started, but Daniel ignored her. He handed the prize money to her before fleeing the battle area with laughter still ringing in his ears.

Trainer: Daniel Pugh - 1 Badge
Alolan Sandshrew - Drift
Meditite - Sasha
Magby - Kai
Piplup - Slater

AN: Hello all! I am still updating. As every fanfiction knows, real life comes first. It's not always bad things, but it still takes priority. So, I apologize for the huge delay. I hope to be able to push out the next chapter much quicker than this one. As a note, I also went back and edited the previous chapters of grammar errors. Nothing changed story-wise though. Hope you guys enjoyed the worldbuilding in this chapter. Please, leave a review with comments and criticism.