The next morning, Cerberus awoke before Morgan once again, although with no tree the headboard had to serve as his diving board. Once again, Morgan shot up, but this time it only took her a moment to realized what was happening.
Chuckling as she removed the lizard from her face, she asked, "Planning to make this a morning routine, are you?"
"Cko."
Always nice to receive a straight answer.
Cerberus made himself useful checking for any stray things of Morgan's in the room as she got dressed, and together they made it out the door in good time. The trainer was feeling quite proud of herself, waking with such ease so early despite her shift in schedule. Why, it was barely 9.
As she headed through the Center lobby, a voice called out. "Excuse me, miss! Are you Morgan Fayel?"
Morgan spun to see a blonde in business attire sporting a symbol she did not recognize. "Who's asking?"
"I'm with the Pokemon League. I was asked to give you this gift on behalf of your sponsor." The woman dug through a fannypack at her side, then held a strange PokeBall out to Morgan. While every other she'd seen was red and white with a black trim, this one was entirely red.
"Oh, huh. I guess this is my second starter then?" she asked as she accepted the ball.
The woman nodded. "I'll just need your Nav for one moment." Morgan handed it over, and with a few buttons pressed it was given right back. "All registered! Enjoy your new partner."
"Well, thank you very much."
"Of course." Without missing a beat, she went right along. "I'm also to inform you that Miss Birch headed north about an hour ago." She what? ...Of course she did. "You'll find the route to be a dead-end for now, so you should take a little time to get to know your new Pokemon before meeting her there, as this would be a grand opportunity for your first battle."
Morgan suppressed a sigh, but the League woman didn't seem to notice.
"Good luck on your journey, Miss Fayel!" said the woman with a bow.
As she turned to leave, Morgan started, "It's actua-" … Never mind.
Shaking her head, she thought instead of the PokeBall. "What do you think it'll be?" she asked the Treecko on her shoulder. He, in turn, gave her a look that she supposed was about the equivalent of a shrug. "Well excuse me for asking then," she mock-pouted.
Once she made it outside and a reasonable distance from the Center, she brought it out again. The shadowy form she could see through the top seemed more vague to her than Cerberus did in his ball. And without knowing what to expect or how large it would be, she thought it best to make sure she had plenty of room before releasing it.
When she did, she realized that the shadow had not been less vague at all; the Pokemon was actually that simply shaped: a tube of what appeared to be metal with a circular joint one side and several spikes on the other. Also, it floated. "Dnnnmmmmmmm," came the metallic hum.
"What… the hell?" It wasn't even an animal? Some Pokemon in the video had shapes that looked less familiar to her than others, but this… She had no idea they were this diverse. "Nav, don't fail me now…" She consulted the all-knowing device and mumbled the results aloud. "Beldum.. magnets… hooks.. magnetic.. magnets.. … Hm. So, Beldum, huh? Well, if Genevieve thinks you're a good answer to Flash, then welcome to the team."
She smiled at the Pokemon. It, in turn, continued to hover in place. It had a single red spot which may or may not have been an eye, but if so, it too remained still.
Morgan shrugged it off, however. "Right, I should name you." She checked its- or…. hm. There was no gender shown so Morgan supposed "its" was actually correct. At any rate, she checked its bio analysis for statistic information, a useful feature she'd found last night. "Hm, guess you're way too slow to be a Quicksilver," she mused. "Though… Oh wow! You're gonna be a tough guy- er, thing, huh?"
A slightly belayed, "Dnnnnnn."
"Hmmm. You know, I get how magnets work, but you're still floating, so I'm gonna pretend you're really light. Specifically, lightweight silver that's harder than steel." Both Cerberus and Beldum remained still and quiet. Cerberus blinked once or twice, slowly. ...Morgan sighed. "Mithril. I- your name is going to be Mithril."
Still nothing. Then finally, "Dnnnnnn."
Morgan forced a smile. "You two are riveting. C'mon, we should go shopping before we leave town if we want to expand the conversation. Heh."
-
"What do you mean they're out of PokeBalls?" Genevieve asked.
"I didn't stutter. But what now?"
A distorted sigh came through the Nav. "Well.. I guess keep track of all the places you visit until you get some. You'll be free to backtrack as much as need be for your route-ly catch attempt. My apologies: if I'd known I would have had the girl bring some."
Morgan rubbed her head a bit, but then brushed it off. "You couldn't have known."
"That's strange, though. I don't think I've ever seen a Mart run out. Not once, in-" She caught herself. "Well, more years than you've been alive, at any rate."
At this point, Morgan wasn't even surprised.
-
Morgan found Route 103 much the same as 101, albeit more densely forested. There were even many of the same Pokemon, a few of whom she fought on her way through. Mithril proved just how dense that armor really was as Zigzagoon after Poochyena tried to so much as phase it. Once a bird- excuse her, Wingull- threatened to give it trouble, but Cerberus quickly took care of that, proudly resisting its Water Gun. Morgan was really starting to feel she was getting the hang of this whole type match-up thing.
At last, she spied a flash of red darting behind a tree up ahead. "Oy! Sera?" she called out, running to catch up.
The pinkette stepped back out into the open, and upon seeing Morgan over her shoulder spun around excitedly. Mudkip ran behind her. "Oh, hey! What took you, Slowpoke~? I was about to come back and start looking!" She giggled.
Don't… Morgan thought, but she forced a smile. "You know. Battling, training up," she offered, straining for pleasantry.
"Ooh~ So what Pokemon did you catch?"
It took all her willpower not to physically react. "Nothing yet. The store was out of PokeBalls."
"Were they?"
Don't say it.
"They had plenty when I went."
She fucking said it.
"I even caught this Zigzagoon," she said, holding up a PokeBall.
Morgan always prided herself more on intelligence than willpower anyway, and as such she gave in to a face palm. "Of course you did." At least Zigzagoon didn't seem to be threatening in any way.
"Huh?" asked Sera. Morgan wasn't sure what was confusion, but when she looked up, she found Sera looking not at her, but at Mithril.
"Oh. Yeah, h- it's my second starter." Morgan didn't think she was comfortable calling Mithril an it. ...Maybe xe.
"Yeah, I heard."
How? thought Morgan. ...Right. Probably the constantly televised feed of their journeys. Okay.
"Super congratz, though! And he sparkles just like Flash, how cool!"
"Does he- xe? … Why do you say he?" If she was Birch's kid, Morgan supposed it couldn't hurt to ask, but Sera responded with a blush.
"Oh uh.." She grinned sheepishly. "You know. He just seems like a dude? I guess Beldum don't really have a physical sex though."
"Ah. I was thinking of going with xe, and maybe xir? As pronouns, I mean."
Sera looked perplexed a moment, but then turned to Mithril again. "Hm?" She nodded. "Yeah, xe seems to like that fine~" she chimed.
Morgan quirked an eyebrow as she turned to Mithril, who remained as still as ever, and who also still seemed no more sparkly to her than metal rightly should be, but she digressed. "If you say so."
About that time, both their Navs beeped in unison. As Morgan instinctively began to grab hers, Sera just laughed. "Whoops! I think they're telling us to get on with the battle."
"Ah. Okay, sure."
"If you don't mind, I think I'll leave Wander out of this one. The Zig I mean. I just caught him and he's in pretty poor shape. So what do you say. Starts versus starters, one-on-one?"
"Sounds fine to me."
"And no casualties, right? I mean, it wouldn't be very fun for anyone if we didn't keep things friendly between us." The giggle to follow only made Morgan more confused.
"Iiii… did not realize that was a concern? But yeah uh. Of course."
The girls found a nice open space nearby and took paces. Cerberus climbed down Morgan's arm and hopped to the ground; he and Mithril each took place at her side. Meanwhile, Mudkip did the same for Sera, and she released Flash to take her other.
The PokeNavs began to beep again, and although it was only beeps, Morgan could practically hear them saying, 3… 2…. 1….. GO!
"Flash, let's go!" called Sera, and the golden bird took centerfield.
...Huh. Morgan supposed she could see a bit of sparkle to him now. She wondered why that seemed like such a big deal to people, though. But back to the task at hand, she realized she'd never seen for sure what type he was. Assuming Flying due to his shape, Morgan answered, "Mithril, you first!"
The pairs stared each other down a moment, then at last the girls called out in near unison, "Take Down!" "Ember!"
The quicker bird began to form hot flames in its mouth, and Morgan's arms went limp. "...Say what."
-
The battle was over quicker than it began, and a very disgruntled Morgan recalled both of her charred and injured Pokemon. "I need a fucking Wingull," she muttered under her breath.
"Wha'd you say?" asked Sera, approaching.
"Nothing." Morgan sighed and shifted to a smile. "It's all right. Perhaps soon enough I'll figure out which act of heresy I'm being punished for and be able to apologize to whichever god I offended."
Sera stared blankly.
"Never mind."
"Oh, but hey, you should let me heal your Pokemon!" her rival insisted, digging out some potions. … Morgan didn't actually know that some of them were called potions; she just recognized strange liquids with healing properties in vials as being such.
"Hey, you don't have to do that. Don't waste your money on-" But Sera was already swiping a ball from her, and the nozzle of the bottle was pressed to the button of the ball. Even as Sera pulled the trigger, Morgan's Nav made a sound to indicate that a Pokemon was in much better health.
"Don't be silly. We wouldn't want you walking around without protection."
Now Morgan felt a bit guilty for being so short with her up to now. "That's… actually really sweet, thank you."
"No problem~" sang Sera as she took Morgan's other Pokemon.
"You should let me pay you back when we pass back through Oldale." Come to think, Morgan probably should have bought potions previously even if the PokeBalls were sold out. Whoops.
"Hm? Oh, no, really it's no problem! I have loads of these."
Morgan… wasn't quite sure what to make of that. "But.. we're on a limited budget, right?"
"Well, yeah," Sera answered.
Good, for a second I thought it was just me.
"But I mean, that's just what daddy's allowed to pitch in. I've got over a decade of saved allowances to put into this too." She chuckled.
"But…" Credits…? Poke-... Morgan gave up.
"What's that, Mudkip? … Oh, you're right!"
"Dare I ask."
"Mudkip feels really bad that we probably bought the last of the PokeBalls in stock, so here! You should take these!"
"Sera I-" Actually. No. No Morgan was not going to bother arguing.
The red-cloaked girl counted out 10 balls out of apparently a good number more stuffed in her basket. "Here~! That should make things a lot easier. So be sure to have lots of new Pokemon for me to fight next time we battle, all right~?"
Here, let me keep showing off my vast excess of expendable funds, because there's absolutely no way this could be condescending! Morgan mentally mocked. Oh, what? Mudkip says you're a pathetic trainer. Aren't I so damned adorable, teeheehee? ….Blugh.
By the time Morgan came out of her thoughts, she found Sera heading off already. "See yoooouuu!"
She couldn't exactly say she was heartbroken. "Byyyye," she feigned sweetly, then rolled her eyes.
"Now," Morgan huffed, finally alone. "About that Wingull…"
-
She did not catch a Wingull. In fact, Cerberus accidentally killed the next Pokemon they encountered, so Morgan caught nothing.
Deciding to try 101 again, she cut her way across Oldale, stopping for Potions on her way through. Of course, now they'd gotten in a shipment of PokeBalls, but she decided she'd be fine on those for now.
The day had really flown by. It was already mid afternoon by the time she reached 101 again.
"All right, so… Here, Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon…"
Nothing ventured too close for a while. At last, a Wurmple found itself within her sights- only to be promptly pounded until it ran scared, leaving Morgan no time to attempt capture. "And I guess we'll have no 101 Pokemon either. Well, shit."
Then, just as she was heading back toward town, Morgan heard a voice that made her cringe.
"Morgan! Over here!"
… Not again. Why was she shout-whispering? Against her better judgement, Morgan humored her rival. "What is it?" she asked as she approached, also remaining quiet.
"See that? There's a Pokemon over there!" Sera pointed in dramatic fashion to what was clearly the butt of a Poochyena.
Morgan deadpanned. "...This is a wild habitat. They tend to do that. Existing and all."
Sera smirked and rolled her eyes. "Of course, silly. But this one has a rare move!"
"...I'm listening. How do you know?"
"Just look!" She held up her PokeNav, which seemed to be issuing some sort of radar. Morgan didn't catch all the information listed before Sera took it back, but she could see it was much more than the battle screen. "If you haven't used it yet, this is the DexNav, by the way."
Morgan vaguely recalled that name, she thought. She was definitely going to have to figure out how to use that now.
"Whenever the DexNav detects an especially noteworthy Pokemon nearby, it'll inform you. Then you just have to sneak up on it!" Still, she whispered loudly.
"I see. That sounds pretty neat, actually."
"Here, watch me. I'll show you how!"
"...how to…?"
"You have to move veeeeryy….."
"Are you showing me how to sneak?"
"Quietly….."
"Sera, you know-..."
"Big…. easy…."
"I may have been a mage and not a rogue-"
"Steps…"
"But seriously, I promise you."
"Don't…"
"It's not…"
"Wanna…"
"Rocket science…"
"Scare 'em."
"I get... the idea..."
Yet Sera did actually surprise her, as when she got close enough she just… sort of… stuck her foot out and poked the Poochyena.
"A model rogue if I ever saw one," Morgan muttered to herself.
Yet somehow it worked, as the Poochyena engaged in combat. It appeared the fuzzball knew how to produce fire in its mouth, but rather than shoot it like Flash's Ember, it used it to bite. Mudkip was not terribly concerned. Together, he and Sera made quick work of the Poochyena, who the girl proceeded to capture.
"Awesome!" cheered Sera. "Great job, Mudkip. And that makes four~"
"Er… Congratz? ...Was that really your first Pokemon since coming back to the route?" Morgan asked, just a touch skeptic.
Sera grinned sheepishly. "Well… I may have avoided the more populated areas and watched my step to avoid combat until the DexNav found something, but it still was yeah."
Although 'cheater' was the first word to come to mind, the words Morgan found herself instead saying were, "...Huh. That is a really great idea."
"Right?" Sera giggled. "Man, I can't imagine being one of the poor losers doing a challenge like this before the DexNav was invented. It's a pretty recent thing, you know. Only some of the most recent entrants have had it before us."
And the most wealthy, Morgan guessed, but she supposed in this case she wouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth. ...Ponyta. She remembered that one from her video. A gift Ponyta, yes perfect. She was totally becoming an official uh.. Pokemon..world...er. Yeah, nailed it.
"But we should be moving again. I think I'm gonna head to the Pokemon Center in Oldale and get these guys healed up before moving on. You.. heading that way per chance?" The way her eyes pleaded, Morgan couldn't decide if she was sad or ecstatic to let her down.
"Nah, mine are pretty good. Plus I already blew my chance here so I want to go try out the DexNav on the next route."
"Daww.." For a moment Morgan almost believed the pout to follow, but it soon cleared up. "Ah well~ This is really better anyway. See you around again, rival!"
They part ways again, and Morgan did hope it would take a little longer to bump back into each other this time.
-
She decided rather than cut all the way back through Oldale, practically on Sera's heels, it would be much easier and faster to just cut the corner outside of town between the routes.
As Morgan approached the far side of the designated path, she could see the trees grew much thicker. Makes sense, she thought. Road less traveled. ...Or lack of road, rather. But she was only going maybe a few hundred feet at most, and she felt quite at home in dense woods. Although her lanky build may have seemed a touch clumsy, she was surprisingly light on her feet when it came to that sort of thing. Surely it would be enough to shave a half hour or so off her route, at any rate.
The moment her foot hit the line, her PokeNav began blaring.
"WARNING. YOU ARE TOO CLOSE TO THE BOUNDARY LINES. PLEASE, STEP AWAY FROM THE BOUNDARY LINES."
"What the hell?!" she fumbled and nearly dropped the device in her search for a mute button. Cerberus abandoned her shoulder, and even Mithril seemed bothered by the noise, beginning to make a few uncomfortable sounds of xir own as xe backed away.
"-SE TO THE BOUNDARY LINES. PLEASE, STEP AWAY-"
"I'm stepping, I'm stepping!" exclaimed Morgan. Once she'd put herself well back within the map's range, the blaring stopped. A few moments later, it was replaced by an all too friendly sounding ding-dang-dong~
"Greetings~" chimed a robotic but feminine voice. "This is Navalie, your personal PokeNav assistant. This is a friendly reminder that Trainers are under no circumstances to leave the designated map areas while traveling on a League Journey. This is for your own safety! Remember! The Pokemon League cares. Stay safe, trainer!" The voice shifted to a male, who spoke in a more subdued and less sing-songy tone. "This message provided by Devon Corp and the Pokemon League. Train on!"
Still catching her breath, Morgan once again eyed the boundary, and then her Nav again. "What… the hell." Another deep breath. "That's oddly… exact on the map boundaries, huh?" Cerberus shuddered, and Mithril hung closer than usual as they began to walk again. "Guess we're going around after all." Morgan meant the words to be light and teasing, but the Pokemon's lingering reactions may have spooked her more than the surprise blaring.
