Guppy72: I am currently standing at 25. Will probably end with about 20 once I reach that point, tho. I just want her to have all of my favourites, lol.
blissful721: Thanks! I hope you enjoy the story moving forwards.
ProbablyNobody: I am, too, undecided on the pokemon cries. I honestly cannot wait for Olive to get a psychic so her pokemon can actually talk, to a degree. About the length, I know, but I find grammatical rules are hard to forget, lol. Thanks for your constructive criticism!
After four weeks on that Arceus dammed boat we were finally here. Seriously, I was starting to think about getting the strongest psychic type I could get my hands on so just we could teleport everywhere, sailing was that boring. Even if training took most of the boredom out of it, I was still incredibly frustrated about our slow pace.
On the plus side, after correcting Gale about his flying vices, bad habits, and just all-around mistakes, he started to shape up quickly as a nice addition to my team. Luna had reached King and Blaze in the intermediate tier, even if just the beginning of it. Gale was progressing as well, reaching intermediate tier in evasiveness and speed at the very least. He still needed more attacking power and more endurance training, but what we could do on the boat was limited.
I still had a great time watching him fly around the ranged attacks from my other members as we trained. With the addition of Gale, the flock of pokemon got to rest from the triple threats that were Blaze, King, and Luna. Those three's accuracy rose just as Gale's speed and evasiveness did. This was exactly why it was better to train as a group as opposed to individually. Still, no matter how much I improvised, the types of training we could do was limited. Hell, Luna hasn't even had evasion training yet and I have had her for almost a month, which was why I was anxiously waiting to disembark, all my team inside their pokeballs.
We had been in Slateport for over two hours when it was finally my turn. I gave my permit to the customs officer, which he accepted, stamped with a seal, and returned to me. After that it was a matter of him asking simple questions that I had no problem answering. After five minutes of that, I finally took my first step on Hoenn.
I walked around for about five minutes before entering a restaurant and ordering something to eat. While waiting for my food, I started to mull over my plans once again.
The trip took precisely 4 weeks, so there were still 5 weeks left before the start of the Hoenn Gym Circuit. Of those, I had one week to get my trainer's license and apply for a regional starter. After that, one week for the tests, of which I should only have to be present two days, one if I was lucky, and another week for the results to be sent and making our way to the regional lab. Yet after that, we had two weeks to get from Littleroot to Rustboro, just in time to get a battle with Roxanne on opening day. Maybe later if I was unlucky, though I doubted it. This meant that we had three weeks before another member was added to the team, which I considered an acceptable amount to make Gale reach the power level of the rest of my team, if only barely.
And speaking of power levels, it was time I started to seriously consider evolution, too, at least for King.
Based on my admittedly limited understanding, pokemon could somewhat control their evolutions. When they reached the threshold necessary for evolution, they would be able to tap into that energy anytime they wanted to. If the energy was not enough, the evolution would fail and they would have to accumulate it before trying again, though this took only time and no training whatsoever. Most pokemon that failed still got stronger before trying again in order to be successful though.
This was the case for King. He had been able to evolve for a while now, but I had stopped him from doing it for an, admittedly, selfish, childish, and overall stupid reason.
I wanted to take a photo of me and my team for every milestone and getting registered as a trainer was one of them.
I also wanted the pictures to depict our gradual rise in strength, and the easiest way to achieve that was by the evolution of my team. So, I wanted to get registered and maybe even get a regional starter before taking the first picture. After that he could evolve.
That was the situation with only King, though. Two of my other three pokemon had a slightly different, and harder, method of evolution that would inevitably draw attention to myself. And if you had been paying attention, you may have already figured it out.
As I said, the strength of a trainer's pokemon is a core aspect of said trainer's social standing. This is why the good training manuals were a family secret.
This, unfortunately, also applied for certain pokemon evolutions, evolutions that required a specific condition to be met, an item to be used, or an environment conductive to said pokemon.
Evolutions which included, sadly, all of my team save from Gale.
And while some of these secrets are only such to trainers below a certain level, other evolutions were just as guarded, if not more so, than elite training manuals.
Like how to evolve a growlithe to an arcanine, for example.
What is so secret about that, you may ask. It's a fire type, if it doesn't evolve after reaching a certain level then use a fire stone. If it still doesn't react, train it harder, right?
Wrong.
Thing is, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to find this out, evolutionary items are heavily regulated by the league and kept a secret from everyone, including trainers under a certain level. And even when you reach the necessary point to gain access to this information, which would be anywhere from the advanced to the elite level depending on your performance, the specific item needed to evolve a pokemon was never disclosed by the league, even when the trainer most probably knew it. Hell, the league just had a basic introduction to the items themselves, they didn't even bother naming them. And that was just clearance to be in the know, not the item itself.
And oh boy, those things are expensive.
The 'I must think this very carefully because if I don't I will be strapped for cash and living a very hard life for at least a month.' Type of expensive.
And the real kicker, only the league itself and very select league approved establishments could legally sell those items. And you had to ask them by name.
A name you didn't know.
So, basically, you needed to reach a level high enough within the league's standards to know about the existence of items that were the only way to evolve certain pokemon. A level in which you needed to have at least six fully evolved pokemon to compete in. After that you needed to either buy or somehow gain the information of which pokemon could evolve by this method, and then the name of the specific item they needed. And then, if your pokemon was one of those few, you needed to find out the specific condition in which a pokemon could evolve using that item. After that, you had to spend an enormous amount of money for something about which you had no confirmation whatsoever.
Suffice it to say, not many people took the risk, and so certain pokemon became extremely rare, even if their pre-evolutions were common as fuck.
For example, there were only five registered arcanines in the world, and all of them belonged to at least leader level trainers.
There were only three known kingdras owned by trainers, and once again, all of them belonged to leader level individuals.
And here I was, a not even rookie trainer who needed three of those items for three members of her team of four. A moon stone to evolve nidorino to nidoking, an ice stone to evolve an alolan vulpix to ninetales, and a fire stone to evolve a growlithe to arcanine.
While lines like the vulpix, nidoran, and eevee ones were an open secret regarding the items required —based solely on the commonness of those species—, some were secrets that everybody wanted to know. If I showed up with a pokemon whose evolution was unknown without being strong enough, that would not only make me a person of interest for the league, it would make me a target for every single criminal organization and petty scum wanting either my pokemon or the secret behind their evolution. It was dangerous.
Ignoring the fact that it was impossible for me to buy those items at the moment, they wouldn't even sell them to me if I could afford them. Not until I got six badges at the very least.
I knew where to find each and every one of those items in the wild, though. They were buried all over the place, resting on the seafloor, inside a rock, or even just out of sight by a tall patch of grass. It wasn't common, but definitely not unheard of, for a trainer to get one of those items by chance and evolving a pokemon by sheer luck.
Thing is, it would draw attention to myself, and that was something I didn't want at the moment. Not until I had a team of elite level pokemon at the very least.
Especially so if I turned up with an arcanine of all things to any gym battle.
So, I was going to have a problem with my future team. I could get away with evolving King and Luna before completing the gym circuit and show them at battles, but definitely not Blaze. Arcanines may not be as strong as pseudo-legendaries like dragonite or tyranitar, but their line was a thousand times more common. There were hundreds of growlithes for every dratini or larvitar, and they grew up faster. And even taking all of this into account, arcanines were one of if not the most loyal species of pokemon out there. An arcanine would never betray its trainer unless it got seriously mistreated. Like torture level mistreated. Compared to the downright confrontational stance most pseudos adopt towards their trainers at the beginning, it was incredibly easy for an adept level trainer, or maybe even a novice level one to command an arcanine if the circumstances were right. The result of all these factors was that arcanine was probably one of the most regulated pokemon in the league.
And let's not forget the fact that the way I came across this information was not precisely legal, in the strictest sense of the word. But really, what did you expect when a league-approved breeder left a folder with a classified stamp just laying on top of a table for a curious 12-year-old to find when no one was present.
This meant that Blaze was either going to have to wait until I got my eight badge before evolving, or it would see little combat before then.
Either way, it was a mess. A mess I had no doubt I would be knee-deep in not long from now.
And given the fact that most of the stronger pokemon had a certain kind of evolution condition, and I was very much aiming to get an incredibly powerful team, I was going to have a lot of people after my ass when I revealed my final team.
Ugh, it was going to be a nightmare.
"The fuck?" I murmured to myself as I suddenly realised the dishes I had ordered were already in front of me, and already slightly cold. Did I ignore the waiter when he brought me my food? Wow, that was incredibly rude. I should leave a nice tip as an apology.
"About ten minutes, if you were wondering." A voice to my side startled me so much I dropped my chopsticks and instinctually moved my hand towards my belt reaching for my pokeballs before the words registered.
"What?" They registered, but I still had no idea what they meant. I finally could see the owner of that voice, though. He was a middle aged man with dark brown hair and a short beard. He was slightly tanned, as almost everyone in Hoenn was, and wore cargo shorts with a blue shirt. He was a familiar sight, but for the life of me I couldn't fully recognise him.
"Your food, it's been there for about ten minutes while you spaced out." He casually commented. "That looked like a very interesting thought, though. What were you wondering about?" He asked innocently. I swear I knew him from somewhere.
"Just about my best options for a team and the growth rate of pokemon I already have." I answered almost absently but caught myself at the end of the sentence. I knew this guy; I just knew it.
"Truly? You are a trainer, then?" He asked rhetorically, especially since he glanced at my belt, where my hand was still hovering above my pokeballs. He didn't look threatened, though. Not even a little wary. If anything he looked… amused? "Well, what pokemon do you want to get into your team so badly that your food cooled off while you were thinking about it? Maybe I can give you some advice." He asked while also moving into my table. It startled my a little, but I didn't mind. Especially since this was a guy that screamed strong to my senses.
"Um, well, considering my current team, I was thinking something along the lines of a sceptile. It would bring coverage to my team, as well as being a very fast pokemon." I answered absentmindedly as I lost myself to my thoughts again, missing the subtle sign of surprise that his raised eyebrow betrayed. "It also helps that it could become a top tier pokemon and it has no complicated secret evolution method." I added as an afterthought.
Everyone knew that there were some pokemon that had secret methods to evolve, after all. They just didn't know that it was a secrecy the league enforced, as opposed to the knowledge hoarding most trainers seemed to participate in.
"Sceptile is a very strong pokemon when trained correctly for sure." He agreed with a nod. "But where do you plan to find one? Getting a treecko is remarkably hard even for elite level trainers." He asked with a tone of curiosity. And he was right, any starter was extremely rare in the wild, no matter the region.
"From the league, of course." I answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, to be fair, was to me. "I'm taking the next standardised test and apply for a regional starter. Either treecko or torchic would do, though I would heavily prefer a treecko. I already have a fire type, and honestly sceptile just looks way cooler than a blaziken." I answered with a small grin.
My conversation partner blinked in surprise before adopting a thoughtful frown.
"That is indeed the easiest way to get a sceptile available, but you do know that only rookie trainers can get one, right? And even then, they would have to be the cream of the crop competing in the region. The tests are by no means easy" He asked again.
"Yup." I said popping that last letter. "I just need to register with the league and apply for the tests. And honestly, the test doesn't worry me as much as the growth of my team at the moment. I think I stand a pretty good chance of passing it." I answered.
"Oh? You are an unregistered rookie then?" He asked with a hum. "I didn't expect a rookie to have four pokemon already. You should be careful about overextending yourself, training a large number of pokemon is very difficult." He told me in good faith.
"Yeah, I know, but I'm not worried about that right now. When I start to feel I am stretched too thin I will probably stop adding new pokemon to my team." I answered as I finished my food. God bless dumplings.
"Hooo, you sound very confident, young lady." He said with a smile as he too finished his meal. "Well, how about you show me your team? I don't mean to brag, but I'm very knowledgeable about pokemon in general and the Hoenn ones in particular. Maybe I can give you some advice." He said with a smile.
I observed him for a couple of seconds. Now that, in most cases, was a very rude thing to say. Asking about another trainer's team was like asking what defences you had on yourself. It could be taken as a declaration of intent. Of course, in this scenario, it was obviously an experienced trainer seeking to give advice to a rookie, but this guy didn't even know me. If I didn't recognise him from somewhere I would have denied his offer immediately, but with things as they were, and this guy giving me such strong familiarity vibes…
"Yeah, okay, sure." I answered as I stood up. "Maybe you can help me or give me some advice or something." His answer was just a smile and he too stood up.
Five minutes and a walk later, we were in an empty spot on a training ground. Every town and city had these, but they varied in size and quantity. With Slateport being the economic centre for Hoenn, the city had a lot of training grounds, and this one was just the closest one.
"Well, let's see them." He said with a smile. I nodded and released my four pokemon.
"King, the nidoran, is my starter. He's been with me for about 4 years. Blaze, the growlithe, was my brother's starter. We got them the same day, so he's been with me the same time. Luna, the vulpix, I've just had for about a month, and Gale, the pidgey, has been on the team for two weeks." I said to him introducing my team. King eyed the new guy warily as Blaze stood at my side, angling slightly towards him. Luna was curious, though also slightly cautious, standing observing everything. Gale was perched on my shoulder and eyeing him distrustfully and with a puffed up chest. Really, Gale was probably the most confrontational member on the team. Not because of a desire to protect the team, which he had, but just out of sheer principle. I'm sure he would fight a Tyranitar if the opportunity presented itself.
"I see what you mean about the development of your team." He said a little more briskly now. "And I agree, your team would definitely benefit from a sceptile, but maybe you should considering catching pokemon with an easier way to evolve. It will be a huge effort to evolve just these three, let alone anything else that might catch your fancy." He said. "And how did you come to acquire a Fairchild pidgey, if I may ask? They don't migrate to Hoenn as far as I'm aware, and I'm aware of most migratory patterns." He asked with an undercurrent of tension to his shoulders.
"Caught him on the boat on my way here, close to the Sevii Islands. Was a scavenger." I answered quickly but firmly. It wouldn't do for me to be accused of anything on my first day here.
"Oh, that's alright then." He answered, all tension about him gone. "Though I must say, it is an incredible team for a rookie. I can tell with just a glance that your nidoran is ready for evolution, and your pidgey is getting close too. Growlithe and vulpix, though, they will be a problem for you, as well as nidoran when he evolves." He added thoughtfully. "All in all I'd say that King and Blaze are at about high or top novice level, while your vulpix should be about medium novice. Pidgey is somewhere between low and medium novice as well, but without combat experience, they would drop a level or two on their performance." He said with finality. I honestly felt a little insulted.
"Novice? I had King and Blaze pegged as adept level, with Luna almost reaching it. And Gale? Well, he is the newest member of the team, but he should be at least medium novice, not between low and medium." I answered. He just turned to look at my eyes for a few seconds and the nodded.
"Well, that's just my opinion. I may be wrong, you never know." He said with a shrug. "Either way, it is a nice team. Very well trained, and the fact that you are only a rookie and yet some of your pokemon are almost at the adept level. The only thing I would advise you in I already said. Just because Nidoking and Arcanine are incredibly strong pokemon doesn't mean that you must have them on your team. I would honestly focus on building an easier team at first, and if you really want those monsters, then do your research after participating in your conference." He said good-naturedly, but I wouldn't allow it. He was just dissing my guys, and that was a big no-no.
"You are right, of course, that would be the sensible course of action." I said, earning shocked glances from all my team. The ass nodded and was about to say something else when I continued. "But I never said I was a sensible person. I am a stubborn, pig-headed girl, and I won't side-line two members of my team just because it would be easier. They've been there for me ever since we met, and I will be there for them. And if I have to participate in my conference with a growlithe and a nidorino, then I will. Because my team deserves it, ultimate evolution or not." I said with unwavering conviction.
The dude just looked surprised for a second before staring intently at me. Blaze and King were looking at me with gratitude, Luna with curiosity, and Gale with something resembling awe. That little dude is impressed by everything, I swear. After a few moments he smiled and nodded at me.
"Good. That is exactly the kind of attitude every trainer should have. Your pokemon are not tools, they are much more than that." He said, satisfied, and took out a pokeball from one of the pockets of his cargos. "And since you are so determined about this, let this be a small motivation for you." He said and released the pokemon inside. Not a second later the pokemon materialized and there, in front of me, was an image that I would never forget.
Standing regally on his four red legs, a yellow mane, black stripes on his red body, and with two canines peeking out of his lips was the most magnificent pokemon I had seen so far.
A fucking arcanine.
One of the five known arcanines in the world. The pressure the beast brought with it was massive, as if I was looking at a volcano seconds away from eruption. This was a leader-level pokemon, a creature that could destroy cities by itself if left alone to rampage. Who was this guy? The only trainer with an arcanine in the whole of Hoenn was…
And then it clicked.
"You are Birch, Hoenn's most prominent pokemon professor with specialization in pokemon habitats, distribution, and migration. How in the world did I not recognize you?" I asked myself. Must have been the lab coat, or lack thereof, because nothing else makes any sense.
"Probably the lab coat. People don't seem to recognize me without it. I've got one of those faces, I guess." He shrugged and motioned his arcanine to my team. He kept quiet for a few moments and I realized the rare opportunity that was before me. It could be a colossal mistake, but it would also help me in the future to mask my knowledge. Its risky, but my best option at this point in time.
"It was an item, wasn't it? It just has to be an item." I said with forced nonchalance. Predictably, Birch tensed minutely, but for someone like me, who was just waiting for something like that, was easily detected.
"What makes you say that?" He asked, too, nonchalantly. Though there was a gleam of interest in his eyes now.
"It just has to be. It's the only thing that makes sense. A rare item or a truly ridiculous condition." I answered with furrowed eyebrows. "Arcanine is among the strongest pokemon there are, just a tad below pseudo-legendaries. Thing is, compared to growlithes, pseudos are downright scarce. And fire is the second most common typing among specialists. That means that there should be a lot of arcanines going around, but I only know of five, which is a ridiculously small number. But still, a lot of trainers, fire specialists included, must want one, so they get growlithes. This means there must have been a lot of people trying to find out about the secret for its evolution for decades, and yet only a handful have. I think the three most plausible scenarios are proficiency in their type, an environmental factor, or an item. If fire specialists on the leader level can't always get one, its probably not mastery over the fire type, which would be trained via fire moves. As fire specialists, they must have taught their growlithes all of the fire moves they could, and they still didn't evolve. It just can't be this. Onto environmental factors, this is a bit more likely, but not by much. As soon as a trainer showcases an arcanine, everyone who wants one would find out the last sighting for their growlithe and trace the places a trainer visited in between those dates. That means there should be a lot more arcanines around. It doesn't make any sense. Hence, it must be an item, or most likely a combination of more than one. They would have to be extremely rare for people not to know about them and make a logical assumption based on its characteristics. Hell, the items could be monitored by the league, considering they could be used to have an arcanine, and they wouldn't want to keep track over that number of dangerous pokemon. It has to be it." I nodded, like trying to convince myself. And now, for the cherry on top. "My bet is on fire gems, alongside some sort of binding agent. If a fire gem can be used to strengthen a fire type move, it stands to reason more of them could be used to strengthen the fire of a pokemon of the type, it just has to have a binding agent to contain all the energy on the gems together and trigger evolution, instead of it being triggered by the energy of a move and just strengthening that." There, bam. Incredibly close to the truth, but still a wrong conclusion. Now it has been established with the pokemon authority in Hoenn that my reasoning is sound, and could therefore deduce the method to evolve a pokemon, since the three options I mentioned are the most common ones.
"Well, colour me impressed, young lady." Birch, by this point, had his eyes open and mouth slightly agape. "And everything you said makes sense, but have you considered that there could be a fourth method that you haven't considered?" He asked with a tone that suggested I take his words under careful consideration. The bastard.
"I have, but it wouldn't make sense. What kind of method? Specific words? A specific feeling? A particular physical condition? Interaction with another specific pokemon? No, it can't be any of that. It would be way too circumstantial. And while not every fire specialists who try to get one succeeds, they are still the population with the most arcanines in their teams. The current generation is a fluke, with only 3 of the 5 arcanines being pokemon of a fire specialists, but the historical percentage is about 85%. This means that there is a predictable method for fire specialists, at least the stronger ones, and not a circumstantial event. Otherwise, the distribution would be about equal. Growlithes are very popular starters, after all." I answered with a smile, as if I was proud of my reasoning. Which I really was, but figuring out the process once you know the result and parts that are involved is easier than it sounds.
"Well, all of those are very valid points." He said with a smile while just observing my team interact with his arcanine.
Blaze was, predictably, awestruck looking at the majestic beast. Even if she was trying to get him to play with her, she was still awestruck. Luna was slightly weary, which given her ice weakness and fairy ineffectiveness towards fire was understandable. King was observing him closely, as if assessing him, which he probably was. King was a suspicious bastard, just like me. Gale though… Gale was perched on his head pecking him and nibbling his ears. He wanted a fight.
My pidgey wanted a fight with an arcanine. Birch's Arcanine.
Fortunately, he didn't try for long, because the professor returned him to his pokeball. I did the same with my team, save for Luna. Luna looked like she needed coddles.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, erh…" Oh, right. Names.
"Olive, nice to meet you."
"Right, Olive. It was nice meeting you. And let me tell you that based on your team as well as your observations, you most likely will be getting a regional starter, so congratulations in advance." He smiled at me while we shook hands.
"Thanks, I've been preparing for years." And wasn't that the truth.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave. I'll be watching you in your circuit." Which, while understandable, didn't make me feel okay. And then he started leaving. The asshole.
"Wait! Was I right?" I asked him just as he stopped. I already knew, but I had an image to maintain.
"Tell you what. Reach top 3 in your first conference, and if you haven't solved it by then, I will answer any three of your questions." He said and kept walking. Well, damn.
"Deal! Don't forget it!" I told him as I picked up Luna. When he was out of sight, I slumped down.
Really, acting was exhausting. If I weren't so good at it, if I do say so myself, I would just forego it all together. But oh well.
The sacrifices we make for our dreams.
Hey! Crimson here. Thanks to all of you who enjoy my story. That being said, I have an announcement to make.
While I have close to 42k words written, 8 chapters in total, I do not know how long it will take me to actually write more than that. You see, 10 days ago I had a mental breakdown which detonated an existencial crisis along with an identity crisis. I am currently seeing a psychiatrist, but it doesn't look good. I'm telling you this because I will be focusing more on my life instead of ways to forget my problems, which reading and writing fanfiction is.
I want to publish my first book before 2022, preferably before autumn of 2021, so I will be busy on that end. I will also be switching majors from sociology to psychology(probably) or something. Thing is, I need to take back the reins of my life. I am a complete mess right now, so please forgive me for the inconsistency of the updates going forward. And even if I write consistently on my fanfics, the rhythm of the story will go up. Instead of detailing every route and her team's growth, as was my plan, I am aiming to have her competing in her conferenc within 150k words, preferably less. So if you enjoyed this slow pace, I am terribly sorry.
That being said, I really hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review, favourite, and follow if you did. Thanks for your support.
CrimsonRogue74.