Chapter 4: Friends, Family and Pokemon
Hey, what do you know, I'm back with a new update on this story!
Well, looking back over my previous chapters, there are things I like and things I don't like (I'm never really happy with a lot of the dialogue, in particular), and I might re-upload some of the earlier parts of this story just to change a bit of dialogue and descriptions, but I won't change any plot elements or introduce anything new, so you don't have to worry about rereading them.
Anyway, now you get another Rivet & Zeke mixed chapter. Also, do I smell the emergence of drama, a plot, a calling?
In unrelated news, heard of "Pokemon Black&White 2" yet? That's a new step for Game Freak, and Pokemon is a gaming series not known for surprising its fanbase.
Thank you to the user "Out of Pseudonyms" for his review. I'm not getting many reviews for this story, I've noticed... Ah well.
...
Rivet's hand ached.
"Ugh, at least that's just about all of my maths homework done..." the teen said to himself, putting aside his calculator and pen and leaning back on his chair with a groan. He adjusted his PokeGear to sit more comfortably on his left wrist, checking the time displayed on it as he did. 7:40pm. That meant that both of his parents would probably be working rather late again, if neither are home by now. Rivet briefly considered his options of what to do now. It was a Friday, so he could afford to stay up late if he cared to, and for once he had no homework to speak of for the weekend, save for what he just completed. Still, the break from homework and study won't be for long, considering the mid-year exams coming up in two weeks for him. It was May, after all, nearing the end of Spring.
A furred head butting against Rivet's side brought a halt to his musings. Turning his head, he saw Ken standing with a document in its mouth, dropping it on Rivet's lap. As a Zangoose, Ken was perfectly capable of carrying things with his hands, but the length of his claws and the limited dexterity of his small thumbs insured often meant that carrying thinner or smaller objects was usually easier in the grip of his jaws.
Rivet raised an eyebrow, recognizing the partly-completed document that he'd picked up a few weeks ago, it was an entry form to arrange a time to challenge the Azalea City Pokemon Gym. The Trainer ID, full name, signature and age was already filled in on the form, but it still required the signature of a guardian, a list of dates and times that the challenger will be available, payment information for the optional donation to the Gym and the various options of entrance and the team of Pokemon that will be fought with.
"What, you think you're ready to go then, huh Ken?", Rivet asked, his question already answered by the grin on his Pokemon's face. Ken gave a mock salute with a claw and a 'Zan!' in response, causing the teen to chuckle.
"Well, let's see what you can do, first. It's been a while since we've trained, hasn't it?" Rivet stood up, stretching his back as he did while Ken yipped his agreement, taking off on all fours to head downstairs. Rivet put the entry form aside, pulling on some socks and shoes before meeting his impatient Pokemon at the door, the Zangoose repeatedly shrugging his shoulders and shaking himself side to side, limbering up in anticipation. As Rivet opened the door, Ken rushed through, calling out impatiently as Rivet took the time to lock the front door behind him before following his Pokemon down the street, heading off towards the outskirts of the forest a mere ten minute walk from the house. The growing dark of the late afternoon didn't bother Rivet, and it was a warm night, but he took the opportunity to text his parents as he walked, telling them that he's out to train with Ken in case he's not home before they are.
As they continued to walk, Ken running up ahead of Rivet before turning and running back again repeatedly, stretching his legs, Rivet's thoughts turned to the Azalea Gym, and possible competition. The basic structure of challenging a Gym was simple. Once a registered Trainer of 14 years or older completes the relevant entry form, the Gym arranges a suitable time and sends back the appointed time to the challenger. For a city like Azalea, the Gym usually has at least 10 challengers per day and can often make appointments mere hours in advance. The appointment specifies a time when the challenger may fight against one of the Gym's 'trainees' or 'apprentices', volunteers that the Gym Leader has agreed to teach and train in return for them weeding out the inept trainers so that the Gym Leader is not constantly battling against challengers. If that initial battle is won, a second one may be demanded or the Leader will agree to fight, usually setting a new appointment for within a few hours time or within the next few days.
While Gyms are restricted in their Pokemon, usually required to compose teams of predetermined 'types' of Pokemon, Leaders usually take more Pokemon into battle than the challenging Trainer in order to even up the odds. Combined with the expertise and constant training that most Leaders have and put their Pokemon through, successfully beating Leader is a relatively rare feat, and usually occurs once every couple of weeks at most. For Azalea, the last winning Trainer was a traveller from Goldenrod five weeks ago, and even if a Leader is beaten it is still only a single badge of a minimum of 7 Johto badges to enter the recently changed Johto 'league'.
Filmed or spectator Pokemon Battles have been steadily rising in popularity in Johto, and the increase in international challengers and champions have led to a significant change to the league six years ago. For decades anyone who successfully collected all 7 Johto Gym Badges would then fight against the famous Elite Four, and then challenge the existing Champion – if any – to win the title. However, with more international travellers and with quarantine regulations on Foreign Pokemon being relaxed, the number of people beating the Elite Four meant that a new Champion was being introduced every couple of months, leading to the instalment of the new tournament-like structure, where once a year anyone with all Johto badges may enter and fight off against each other in 4 quadrants, with the winner of each quadrant fighting a different, randomized member of the Elite Four. Finally, any winners against the Elite Four fight each other and/or the existing Champion for the title.
'Of course,' Rivet thought, 'It's gonna take a lot of luck just to get one badge. Leader Bugsy might not be prepared for a Zangoose, or their resistance to Poison attacks, but he's beaten plenty of Trainers better than me.'
Finally Rivet stepped off the streets, having come to the edge of the city, more or less, with nothing more left but a few tracks heading off into Ilex Forest. Rivet headed down one of the tracks, knowing the area it leads to, a part of the forest where the trees are spaced well apart, giving room to move and deterring large numbers of wild Pokemon, particularly for how often it is travelled by other people.
Finding the semi-clearing, Rivet stepped off the rough stone path, Ken at his side. As he did so, Rivet took a moment to grab a few loose rocks from the track and carried them as a small pile. There wasn't anybody else around this late, but he knew of cyclists who sometimes used this forest track as a bike route, and made a mental note to keep away from the path while training. Rivet stood a few meters in front of Ken, looking his Zangoose in the eyes.
"Okay Ken, let's start. Are you ready?" Rivet called as he used his weight to snap off two large, nearby branches and put them on the ground in front of him beside the rocks he'd already left in a heap. At Ken's nod, Rivet picked up a stone in each hand.
"Okay, let's start working on your defence. Swords Dance!"
At the teen's command, Ken bounced on the spot, almost appearing to hop backwards and forwards, swinging his claws through the air in the act of limbering up. However, within a few seconds, his swings were increasing in speed and intensity even as he remained moving, hopping from left to right to backwards to right again to left, beginning to create a ward of constant slashes in the air, a threat to anything that tries to close in while at the same time getting the adrenaline flowing through the Pokemon.
"Keep going, and do as I say with each of my projectiles! Deflect!"
At the cry of "deflect", Rivet hurled a fist-sized stone at Ken, who, without breaking his pattern of jumps and slashes, knocks the heavy rock away from his head with the back of his claws with ease. At Rivet's next command of "dodge", Ken ducked and leapt to the side to let the next thrown stone pass by, before straightening and increasing the speed of his defensive slashes and bounds. Rivet picked up and threw more stones, randomly crying out orders to deflect or dodge, Ken doing each easier and more elegantly than the last, until Rivet lobbed one of the branches he'd gotten at Ken.
"Slice!"
At the new command, Ken bounded forward to meet the thrown branch, cleaving it in two with a single powerful claw as he did, deflecting the two remaining pieces easily and returning to his deadly dance. Rivet returned to the stones, throwing with greater strength and speed and returning to his old command before, as he threw the last stone of the pile, he called his final order.
"Catch!"
Ken stopped his 'dance', and caught the stone heading for him in one hand easily, before walking up to Rivet and returning it with a grin.
"Zangoose. Goosegoosegoose." Ken proudly proclaimed, still hopping on either foot, having warmed up from the Swords Dance.
"Good work. Okay, now I'm going to throw this other branch high into the air, and at my command you will slice it into as many separate pieces as you can before letting them fall to the ground. You remember this exercise?"
"Zan!"
"Good, now stand back, and wait for my signal."
Rivet put the rock Ken handed him back on the ground, and picked up the disused Branch, using both hands to lob it in an arc towards Ken, now once again standing several meters away.
"Annndd...Quick Attack!"
"Zan-", in an instant, Ken's claws from one hand had severed the branch into three pieces.
"Zan-!", in another, as the branch was knocked back from the blow, an overhand swipe with the other hand cleaved two more pieces off.
"GOOSE!", in reflexed beyond that of any human, Ken reversed the alignment of his claws, slashing them outwards towards what was left of the branch, cutting wood yet again and letting the small remaining pieces fall to his feet. A quick count shows that the one branch was now divided into 8 smaller pieces, scattered around him.
"Fantastic! Your Quick Attack hasn't slowed at all, I see. You still got four slashes onto the branch before it hit the ground, that's faster than what a lot of your opponents would be able to do. Now let's move this up in scale. I checked and couldn't see any Caterpie or Weedle in this tree I'm next to, nor any Pineco ready to drop, so we're good to go onto the next part. Stand beside this tree." Rivet cheered Ken before directing him to the rather short ten-foot tall tree in the paddock. The tree was thin, less than a foot wide, with a large number of branches jutting out all the way down to near the base of the trunk. Ken stood beside the tree, sharpening his claws upon one another, preparing to practice some more offensive attacks.
"Okay, good. Now we'll test your last two major attacks, not counting Taunt, of course...but I've never seen a Pokemon ignore your Taunt anyway, so I don't think it needs practicing even if there was some way to test it safely. Okay, on my mark, start cutting down the branches around the tree that you can reach, I want to see the bare trunk of it up to my shoulders. Ready? Set...Fury Cutter!"
With a yell of battle, Ken hacked off two branches in a swipe, and the twigs of a few others. As he did, his black dagger-like claws briefly gleamed with some almost imperceptible mix of colours, vague enough to think it was a trick of the light.
"Fury Cutter!"
Ken hacked again, this time with his other hand, the gleam of colour returning and holding for a second, looking like a mixture of colourlessness and a rainbow at the same time.
"Fury Cutter!"
With Ken's third slice, a portion of the tree was now bare, and he was widening the portion dramatically, particularly with his claws now covered in this new mix of every colour, and his claws were beginning to grow longer and sharper, beyond their normal length.
"Fury Cutter!"
Ken continued as did Rivet's commands, now hacking again and again and again, every slice lengthening his claws well beyond normal length as even his furred hands began to be covered by the liquid rainbow of colours. Finally, with a bit of sidestepping and slashing on Ken's behalf, the tree had been clipped as much as possible, and Ken's claws were brimming with indescribable energy from the hacks.
"Now! Poison Jab at the trunk!"
"Zangoose!" with a final yell, Ken's claws suddenly changed colour abruptly to a deep, sickly purple, literally glowing in the twilight of the night and keeping their temporary lengthening the Fury Cutter caused. Ken leapt past the tree, glowing claw outstretched as he did, before coming to a stop past the trunk, glowing purple scratches through the wood. A second passed in silence, before with the groaning of wood, the tree snapped at the point of the cut, falling with a crash to the forest floor safely away from Rivet or Ken.
Ken panted as his claws returned to normal shape and colour, sweat now running down his face as he turned and gave another grin to Rivet, proud of itself, even as tired as it was. Rivet smiled in return, kneeling down to give his Pokemon a hug.
"You did great, Ken, great work. I think we're as ready as we're ever going to be training on trees and rocks to battle. You think you'll be up to fighting against the Gym this w-?" Rivet asked, cutting himself off as his exhausted Zangoose nodded enthusiastically through its panting, "Alright then. Time for you to rest for the night, I think." Rivet finished, pressing a part on the golf-ball sized Luxury Ball he took from a pocket and letting it expand to full size. At Ken's nod, Rivet clicked another section of it to let a beam of red light connect it to Ken, the red light briefly covering Ken's body before he dissipated into a bolt of energy back into the Luxury Ball.
Rivet smiled, looking affectionately at the Luxury Ball where he knew his friend now rested. Shrinking it, he placed it back in his pocket, thinking over the training they'd just made as he headed back home, leaving the cut tree in the process, reasoning it can serve as a home to different Pokemon now.
Ken was good, Rivet reasoned, really good. A lot of trainers just had Pokemon from around local areas, such as Slowpoke, Pineco, Pidgey, Hoothoot or some form of basic Bug Pokemon, and none are particularly 'fighting' Pokemon for the most part. A trained Pidgey can cause a lot of damage, but Bugsy must have taught his Pokemon to handle plenty of attacks from the air. Pineco can be dangerous in a battle with their Selfdestructing, but they're little threat to a Gym Leader who tends to bring in more Pokemon than the challenger. Slowbro are highly capable Psychics, but the Shellder seemed to have moved into deeper parts of the well away from where humans can easily reach, since evolved Slowpoke are rarely found or seen.
A Zangoose, however, was resilient – if not immune – to any poisons Bugsy's Pokemon might use, if Bugsy has anything as predictable as a Beedrill for example. Besides, Zangoose are built to fight, and are built to make attacks fast enough to protect themselves from the deadly-fast Seviper, so it's reasonable to assume that such speed would tend to be beyond what most Bug-type Pokemon from the area would be able to handle. And, of course, Ken has been sparring for fun against other Pokemon, owned or wild, since not long after he hatched under Rivet's care, and his diet of human meats seems to have kept his strength up and body healthy, despite the somewhat additional weight Ken's put on thanks to his appetite.
Rivet was now on the streets again, heading to his place. Struck by a moment of déjà vu, his thoughts centred on his Pokemon as they were, he thought back to when he was walking along this very footpath, years ago, and found a disc in the bushes. A Technical Machine, to be precise. From its significant value, having psychology and physically-modifying data able to be transmitted into certain recipients, his parents handed it in to the local police, but when no-one came to claim it it was given back to the Stevens' family, and Rivet and Ken pestered his parents until they let him use a Pokemon Center PC to embed the TM's data into Ken, teaching him to use the weapons of Zangoose's ancient enemy in Seviper – Poison. Specifically, Poison Jab.
Rivet finally climbed the few steps to his front door, recognizing the car in the driveway and the lights on inside. Knocking on the door instead of opening it with his keys, Rivet glanced at the time, picking up that it was now 8:25pm, before the door soon swung inwards to his mother.
Both of Rivet's parents shared his eye colour and hair colour – Brown. Of course, the blond highlights through Rivet's hair that he's insisted upon for years means that he inevitably stands out in most family photographs, in colour if not height. His mother shared his nose but stood much taller than, him, about 6'2", three inches taller than Rivet himself, and four inches taller than his shorter father. His mother was still wearing some relatively subtle lipstick and other makeup from her day as an executive to a respected advertisement agency, with formal clothing to match, though Rivet didn't pay enough attention or have the knowledge to describe them at all. His mother was a powerful woman, who had a philosophy of letting her son do as he wished, so long as he remained polite, didn't get into trouble, and continued to do well at school. With Rivet's natural sense of caution, friendliness and a willingness to work, she had the perfect son to let the philosophy work, just as Rivet was happy with the freedom he was offered in return.
"Come in, son, did your training go well?" Rivet's mother – Jennifer – smiled, leaning down slightly to receive the kiss on the cheek she expected from her son, both understanding that she didn't return the kiss because of her lipstick.
"Yeah, mum, Ken's tired out but he did great. How was your day, and how's dad?"
"He's good, he picked me up on his way home, and it was a slow day at work for me. So how's school?"
Rivet briefly summed up his day as he went inside, tactfully choosing not to mention the event with Zeke, saying hello to his father as he entered the living room where his father was doing a crossword at his armchair before suddenly changing the subject.
"So can Ken and I go for the Gym battle? He's ready and eager to go, and this will be my last chance to have some weekend days free for a couple of weeks, since I'll be busy studying for the subjects where I have mid-year exams." Rivet asked, explaining his reasoning early. His father put down the newspaper he was doing the crossword on, taking off his reading glasses to look at his standing son.
Rivet's parents were a match made in heaven; where his mother, Jennifer, is hardworking with a strong personality who is capable of management and handing out orders, his father, Jackson, is hardworking with a strong personality who is capable of getting things done when he's told what to do, despite general absent-mindedness when he's lacking a direction of work. Both could easily be described as eccentrics as well as intellectuals, but remarkably Rivet turned out quite normal and socially active, if a bit over-analytical at times.
"Well, that's great that you feel ready. It'll be a good experience for you and Ken, I suspect, right Jennifer?", Jackson said, continuing at his wife's nod, "This late at night, though, it'll be best to send in the entry form electronically, so do you mind turning on the PC for me, son? I'll be with you in a moment."
Rivet smiled, thanking his parents before dashing off to start up the expensive PC at the house. It didn't, of course, have the complicated mixture of hardware and software of Pokemon Center PCs that allowed for connections to Pokeballs for the storing, trading and releasing of the Pokemon of a Registered Trainer, but it did have connections to the so-called "World Network" that, though having been created decades ago, had only been actively available and used by the public in the last few years, and was already helpful in shopping and communicating through video-calls, and the transfer of funds. Of course, in a city as relatively rural such as Azalea, the technology has yet to take off fully, since most of the features and more were available for free at any Pokemon Center.
As the computer loaded, Rivet's father came to stand next to him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
"So, you sure Ken's okay with this?"
"Yeah, he was pretty serious about this. I think we might actually have a chance, at least as a one-Pokemon team. By the League rules, the Gym Leader can't bring more than 3 Pokemon if the challenger is a one-Pokemon Team."
"Well I'm proud of you both, and I'm sure you'll do well. Just...don't get overconfident, okay? You don't have to win this, it's not that important. Even if you don't reach the Gym Leader, the important thing is you tried, just don't let Ken injure himself too badly." Jackson reminded Rivet, listening to his son's agreement as he brought up an online form to complete to send into the Azalea Gym.
After entering in the names of his son and himself, he clicked on a part of the form labelled "Scan Guardian ID", where he brought out his Pokedex from his back pocket and held it up to a small pad on the side of the PC screen until there was a 'beep' of confirmation. As Rivet knowingly got out his own Pokedex, his father clicked next on "Scan Challenger ID and Choose Team", where he took Rivet's Pokedex and did the same. After the confirmation 'beep', the screen suddenly changed to reflect all of Rivet's registered Pokemon as well as the dates of capture/registration and the serial number and type of Pokeball the Pokemon is currently linked to. Sure enough, a stock image of a Zangoose was there as well as the serial number of Ken's Luxury Ball.
After a few more clicks, Jackson had entered Ken into the form as the only Pokemon on the Challenger's team, and even went the extra effort of putting in a small donation of 2000 yen to the Gym through the form. While Gym's were funded by the government as well as the profits of the Pokemon League itself, the constant damage from battling led to inconsistent and often vast expenses, as well as the training facilities that all Gyms have. As such, even though Gym Leader's are barely paid aside from their huge tax reductions, and their Trainees aren't paid at all aside from education, meals and bedding, the endless costs associated with a Gym means that donations are asked of all contenders. Though completely optional, it is generally considered to be an active insult not to pay anything at all, particularly if your battles cause some kind of damage to the Gym, though the law has long held that any may participate regardless of capability to pay.
"Thanks dad!" Rivet said as his father sent in the completed form, knowing that he'll probably get a reply on his PokeGear the next morning, considering his Gear's number was on his ID information as 'contact'. Jackson shut down the PC, replying to his son as they both ignored the sound of ringing from across the house – like in most Azalean houses, the only phones used aside from PCs was from PokeGears, so it was likely just a call for Rivet's mum.
"No problem. Your mother is going to be taking the car to visit some colleagues across the city tomorrow, but I'll come along if they schedule your fight at any time. I look forward to seeing first-hand how well you two will work as a team." Jackson replied with a grin. Rivet, not embarrassed in the slightest of having a parent as a spectator, thanked his father for all his support, before they were interrupted by the call of his mother from another room.
"Rivet! Someone on the phone for you! Zeke Connor, from your school! I'm transferring the call to your 'Gear!"
...
Earlier that day: 6:46pm
Zeke ate his dinner quietly, giving short responses to each of his parents attempts to draw him into their conversation, claiming he was just thinking. It was the truth, Rivet was thinking over how to explain the Scyther...Eamon...How to explain Eamon to them, since it seemed...wrong to just leave Eamon alone now, and just leave him in a Pokeball until they just release him back into Ilex Forest. No, Zeke couldn't keep silent about it and let it end so simply, not when so many questions had been raised that Zeke was curious to get to the bottom to. Where did the Scyther come from? Who had wounded it so badly? Could Zeke release it back to where its family or swarm was? Was the Scyther healthy enough to survive, or will its scars weaken it permanently?
Oh, and also Richard was butting his leg underneath the table for the entirety of dinner, so Zeke didn't really have the option of staying quiet anyway. The butting left a very clear signal. 'Tell your parents about Eamon soon or I'll find a way to let them know regardless'.
Damn Houndour.
Zeke finished his vegan stir-fry, more comforted by the feeling of being warm and fed than by its actual taste, but didn't look up from his largely empty bowl as he quietly stated carefully-chosen words to those at the table.
"The Scyther was injured by a trainer's Pokemon. It was sent into a rage."
The response at the table was not at all what Zeke expected. Where he expected confusion and suspicion he only saw resigned sympathy for what happened, but no surprise. His dad was the next one to speak.
"So that was the reason why you took the Pokeball, to speak with the creature?" Keith asked softly, his face difficult to read. Zeke's mother, however, had a small smile on her face, even as her brow creased slightly in sympathy. Zeke looked up to read such expressions, before looking down at the bowl in front of him again, hiding the slightest element of a blush as he realized he hadn't even considered that his parents may have actually noticed that Scyther's Pokeball was missing. The lack of foresight, or unintentional underestimation, was demeaning. Zeke mumbled a small "Yeah" back, at which point his mother's smile grew.
"You're a good boy, Zeke...I'm proud of your initiative, we both are." Trish encouraged, causing Zeke to briefly glance up with a surprised smile before ducking his head, too shy to keep his head raised, "So what do you think we should do? Should we take the Scyther to a Pokemon Center?" Trish asked her son, her meaning clear. This Pokemon was Zeke's responsibility, and she wanted to make sure her son was able to deal with such a responsibility for the first time. He'd never owned a Pokemon, of course, particularly since Richard doesn't count.
"I don't think so. I used some of the berry mix and healed him, though he's carrying scars. I promised I'd look after him while he was in my care, which I can do, but...I want to bring him back to his home, wherever it is; hopefully where other Trainer's can't get to him and attack him again..." Zeke admitted, finally keeping his head looking at his parents instead of his bowl.
"I don't know about this particular Scyther, but I haven't heard of any of his species living wild this far south. Normally they're found just past Goldenrod, and even then they're rare enough." Keith pointed out, his eyes on his son. Zeke thought over this information for a time, before clearly coming to a decision.
"Well...then could I take care of him until the mid-year break? Then I could...I could take him to where the other Scyther are, past Goldenrod, right? "
Zeke's parents shared a look across the table, before his mother answered speaking sincerely.
"We can take care of him if you want, but the trip to Goldenrod and back will take about a week on foot, and neither of us could take you. Honestly, we don't want you going alone."
"But I could take Richard with me so I won't be alone, and you always said yourself I should see more of the country if I have the time and money. Well, I could always just camp out through the nights, which I'd have to walking through Ilex anyway, and buy food with my holiday allowance if I need. It's not a dangerous road, plenty of people my age do it..." Zeke reasoned, leaving out the fact that the 'people his age' taking such a road are usually young trainers looking to be the next young Champion, and happy to beat every Pokemon they come across to a pulp to 'train' for such a dubious honour.
"And what if the Scyther doesn't want to go home?"
That was Zeke's father talking, and it caused a moment of surprise for Zeke. He hadn't even considered such.
"Why...why wouldn't he?"
"Well, he was attacked by a Trainer, and one way or another was found far from his supposed home we're assuming. Maybe he doesn't want to risk being attacked like that again, or maybe he doesn't have a home that he's cared for, as such. Some Pokemon do just want a safe home and a family, Zeke, like Richard, and like many humans."
Zeke was quiet, thinking over the concept in his mind.
'It's true...Maybe the Scyther doesn't have a home, or enough of one to want to go back to. It was so...passive when I spoke to it, for the most part. But...'
"...That doesn't mean I shouldn't try to find a place where he can be happy. I shouldn't have the right to choose for him, to tell him where he should remain and how he should be happy. He didn't ask to be captured, and I didn't intend to capture him. I want to make sure he has the option to do what he wants." Zeke explained, a certain tone of finality in his voice. His parents were quiet for a second, before they nodded, first his mother, then his father.
"Okay then, son. Do well in your mid-year Maths exam, and you can take Eamon where you wish to take him. We'll help you prepare, too, okay? You're not in this alone." Keith said, smiling his pride. Zeke, technically, had two exams coming up, since the compulsory class of Advanced Battle Theory had a mid-year exam alongside Maths subjects, unlike any other class that Zeke took. Of course, though, Zeke refused to even attempt the class, "Also, once we register you as a Trainer so you can travel with Scyther and release him, we'll also transfer Richard to your profile so you can legally travel with him, too."
"Thanks dad...thanks mum. Could I let the Scyther out, then? Richard already knows him, and I'm certain he'll be, well, friendly." Zeke said, his confidence leaving him as his speech returned to little more than mumbles. It occurred to him how fortunate he was that his parents seemed to so easily accept that the Scyther wasn't – or didn't appear – violent by nature, and that they seem to have forgiven it quickly for almost killing their son.
That, or they trusted that its capture has rendered it docile, as all Pokemon tend to be for the most part, once they have the virtual world to cool their anger in, and a realization that the holder of a Pokeball has control over where its live will lead. The thought that Pokemon are forced into servitude like that awoke a fury in Zeke, but he intended to make as little use of Eamon's Pokeball as he could.
"Alright...be careful, though. I look forward to meeting him, if you've already spoken with him." Keith accepted, motioning for Zeke to stay seated as he got up, collecting the empty dinner bowls and bringing them to the kitchen sink, beside of which was the Pokeball, laying on the bench beside. Picking it up, he walked back over to the dining table, handing it to Zeke with a nod. Zeke immediately pointed the ball in a relatively empty corner of the room, where Richard would normally lay if he was not sitting beside Zeke's chair at the moment.
"Come on out, Eamon." Zeke whispered, quieter than his parents could make out across the table. With a brief flare of red energy sparking across the room, the Scyther materialised with a careful stretch of bladed arms. Even stretched vertically, the Scyther easily fit underneath the roof, considering it was much shorter than an adult human anyway.
"Scyyy-therrr..." Eamon breathed, a pleased, if slightly tense, note, before opening his reptilian eyes at once, blinking a couple of times as they adjusted to the slightly dim lighting of the indoor house. His insect-like wings fluttered in slight discomfort at the sight of three humans and a Houndour looking at him.
"It's okay, Eamon, these are my parents. We all want to help you. Mum? Dad? This is Eamon." Zeke introduced the two, Richard walking over to sit by Eamon's side as Zeke spoke. Eamon looked down at the fire Pokemon sitting beside him, who looked up in return. Eamon tilted his head to the side, as if sizing up Richard again, before making a small nod and a friendly "Scyyther" of welcome, before turning its head back to Zeke and his parents.
Zeke's mother stood up, Eamon's gaze switching solely to her as she did. Instead of freezing at the fighting Pokemon looking at her, she instead, curiously, gave a deep bow.
"It is an honour to meet you, Eamon. It is rare to lay eyes on one of your proud kind." Trish stated softly but confidently. In response, Eamon's wings fluttered slightly once again, before bending over and bowing in return, mimicking the action almost precisely. As he straightened, something was slightly different in his face, a slight twitch of muscle around his eyes that gave his face a more relaxed quality which Zeke guessed to be a small smile, or the Scyther equivalent of one. At the success of the gesture, Keith slowly did the same, followed by Zeke, feeling clumsy and out-of-place as he did. It hadn't occurred to him to be so...formal with the Scyther. The Pokemon had attacked him earlier today, and then he had later treated its wounds with his own hands. The formality was...odd, after such experiences.
Eamon bowed once again in return, standing still as Trish walked closer to the Scyther, standing quietly as the taller woman stopped a foot away from him.
"May I?" Zeke's mother asked, simply as permission to enter the Scyther's more personal space. At its nod, she stepped slightly closer, placing a gentle hand on its shoulder and looking at his back, her husband and son looking in with wonder at how gentle, even knowing, her treatment of him was, "You are a trusting Scyther, and I've met some of your species..." Trish continued, before frowning at something she saw, stepping back to give Eamon some room.
"You're young, aren't you? Recently matured?" She questioned. Eamon's wings flexed and he shifted on the spot, seeming mildly annoyed as he nodded. Trish stepped back again, glancing over her shoulder at her son, "From the Scyther I've seen, I put Eamon at somewhere between four and five years of age. Scyther grow slowly by most Pokemon standards due to their complex shape and size, particularly compared to the eggs from when they hatch. Where most Pokemon mature within a year, unless they have an infancy stage of evolution which can last longer, Scyther take about three to five years to grow to maximum height and blade length, and even then their body still has room to grow, in a manner of speaking. Specifically, the muscles which move their wings do not develop much as they age, so they can help with gliding and jumping but are not actually able to sustain flight, unless a Scyther grows the muscles through repeated exercise and effort. In fact, many Scyther can hardly sustain gliding for any length of time, unless they spend the time to develop such muscles manually. The wings on Eamon aren't very strong." Trish explained to her son.
"I didn't know you knew so much about Scyther, mum..." Zeke said, slightly confused.
"When I was much younger, a child, I spent some time working part time at a Pokemon daycare. There was a trainer who had dropped off two Scyther he had caught during one of the Bug-Catching festivals. He was so proud of his...achievement. He didn't return for many years, but they had an egg which the daycare looked after for almost the entire time I worked there, so I learnt a lot there, and a bit more through research." Trish explained with a smile, going back to her seat so her height didn't bother Eamon, even as Zeke approached the Scyther.
"I didn't know you were so young...sorry, for what it's worth, again, for what's happened to you...Eamon." Zeke said quietly. Eamon lowered his head, not making a sound, ears and wings twitching briefly when Zeke awkwardly laid a hand on his shoulder. Zeke had to resist the urge to instinctively stroke Eamon's fur. He pet Richard all the time, but he suspected the short-furred ex-wild Scyther wouldn't be so appreciative of a human's prolonged touch, "Do you, um, want to eat, or anything? We can get food, or a bed for you, if you'd prefer." Eamon shook his head, standing otherwise still. Zeke awkwardly decided to move to a different topic.
"We, um...I was going to see if I could...I mean...what do you want to do? Do you want to stay here? Do you want to go back to the forests as soon as you can? Or I can take you back to where other Scyther live, to where your species are, if you want, but you'll have to wait a bit if that's what you want." Zeke asked. Eamon was quiet, looking at the floor for a second, before looking at Zeke, then Richard, then Zeke's parents, sizing up the household again. Finally his eyes rolled to centre on Zeke, ready to give his answer.
"Scyther-ther." A shrug.
Not for the first time, Zeke had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. That was unhelpful.
"Okay then...I guess I'll take care of you as best I can, then. The forests around the city won't be safe, not if a trainer sees you and mistakes you for wild. Which means you'll be around here for a few weeks, then I'll take you to where other Scyther might be, and I'll release you there if you want, okay?" Zeke compromised, using his original plan as the final solution since Eamon didn't seem to have any strong feelings to input, "You can stay in your pokeball or around the house, as long as you're careful not to damage anything. You'll have Richard, and often me or my parents as company. Is that okay with you?"
"Scyther!" Eamon said, with that same movement of facial muscle. A smile. Finally some response to Zeke, though Zeke wasn't expecting such a positive result at the news that the Scyther will more or less be confined in where it can go for a few weeks. 'I suppose it knows it has food and, well, friendly faces around. If it didn't come from a swarm or family of Scyther, I guess it wouldn't have had that many connections with other Pokemon. I hope he continues to get along with Richard...' Zeke thought, though the sight of Richard still sitting loyally next to Scyther was an encouraging one.
"Well you're welcome to make yourself at home, just try to be mindful of your blades on the furniture, please? I'll make sure I get food that is accustomed to your species, and arrange some bedding for you to take if you ever want to sleep outside of your Pokeball like Richard does." Trish said cheerfully, "But for now or as long as you want, welcome to the Connor family, Eamon."
"Welcome to the family." Keith asserted with a smile, completely trusting of the new Pokemon.
"I promise I will take you to your natural home, Eamon...but welcome to our family." Zeke said sincerely.
"Hound! Hound!" Barked Richard, finishing the welcome.
Eamon looked between the Connors, before bowing again to the family, that same facial expression remaining.
"Scyther. Scy-scy-scyther scy." He said. Zeke felt a level of trust, and of thanks, in those words, "Scy." Eamon finished, pointing a blade-arm at the Pokeball sitting on the table with meaning.
"You want to go in for now? Are you tired?" Zeke asked, trying to make sense of Eamon's movements. At the Scyther's nod, Zeke picked up the ball. It still felt...wrong, in his hands. Somehow, he suspected it always will. Even so, he smiled at Eamon, not wanting to let his discomfort spread to the Scyther that was now his charge.
"Thank you, Eamon. We'll do all we can for you. Leave the Pokeball whenever you want; you're welcome in this house. Return."
A spark of red energy passed, and Eamon dematerialized, disintegrated into living data and protected inside the new shell the Pokeball makes. Richard made a brief whine, already missing his new friend, before barking a "Houndour!Hound!" of happiness, butting up against Zeke's leg until Zeke pet him, Richard knowing that it will help accelerate Zeke's mind into ease.
"Thanks, Rich... Look after Eamon for me whenever I'm at school, alright?" Zeke asked, kneeling down to hug the Houndour, not caring that his parents were watching. Standing up, he turned towards his parents, who were both smiling at him.
"You did well, Zeke." His mother complimented him, "We'll get food for Scyther...for Eamon, by tomorrow, but we'll leave it to you to make sure he has whatever he wants, alright? Spend what time you can with him; make sure he's comfortable both with where he is and with you, especially if you're going to take him travelling during the mid-year break."
Suddenly embarrassed, Zeke mumbled a "yes mum, thanks mum" before hurrying out of the room awkwardly, not really sure what else to say or what else had to be said, taking the Pokeball with him, and holding it close to him, protectively.
All in all, that went well.
...
Zeke had put Eamon's pokeball on his study desk next to him, and was doing some Mathematics homework when his mum knocked on his bedroom door and entered with his consent, about an hour after they had welcomed Eamon.
"Zeke? I wanted to let you know that both your father and I really are happy to help out with taking care of Eamon any way we can. But also, I'd like you to talk to your school friend, Rivet."
Zeke swung around on his desk chair, surprised at the sudden request. After all that had happened to him today, having been almost killed, then learning he had caught the Pokemon that almost killed him, then treating that Pokemon, then talking with it and his parents to decide what to do with that Pokemon, his small argument with Rivet sounded like it was weeks ago, rather than earlier in the day.
And now he thought back on it, it was a stupid fight. He was stupid, and treated Rivet stupidly. Even so, though...
"Rivet isn't my friend, I've hardly exchanged a few words with him before today." Zeke grumbled, already not liking the request or any possible reasoning behind it.
"Be that as it may, and whichever of you started that fight, you should talk about it and clear it up. Honestly, Zeke, I find it hard to believe the argument was justified, whatever it was about...Especially if it's about philosophies on owning Pokemon. I've met his parents."
'Ah, of course.' Zeke realized, 'Mum wouldn't want there to be bad blood between her son and the child of some friends of hers.' Zeke thought, his mind briefly put off Eamon for the moment, returning to his more or less default mood of 'annoyed'.
Still...Zeke himself now actually owned a Pokemon...and was actually kind of happy to be taking care of it, and it seemed kind of happy to be taken care of...
'That's different!' Zeke reassured himself, 'I'm going to give Eamon the chance to be free, which you can't to a Zangoose so far from Hoenn, from its home. Also, I'm not having Eamon fight other Pokemon, for his sake and other Pokemon's sake!'
Comfortable in his stance once again, Zeke chose to brush off his mother's words. It's not like she'll follow up on it.
"Sure thing, mum. I won't take some days off school, and I'll go talk to him on Monday." Zeke said, not 'lying' but...making a empty statement that he didn't really intend to follow through, that's all. 'It would be plain weird to just go up to Rivet, within his little circle of friends, and just go "Hi, yeah, my mum said we had to talk about our argument, so...yeah". I'm afraid, mum, that's sure as hell not going to happen.'
"No, if you go to school after the weekend, you won't really talk with him. Call him on his PokeGear. Tonight." Came the stern reprimand, keen to sabotage him.
Zeke kicked himself inwardly. His father might have fallen for that, but when his mother gets an idea in her head...Still, he had a get-out-of-jail-free card to play.
"I don't know his number." Zeke said, having to hide his glee in his voice, an inner joy that once again was doomed to be lost.
"I do." Trish pointed out, handing a scrap of paper with a number scrawled on it to her son, "I have the number for his mother. Call her; say that you're Zeke Connor from Rivet's school, and that you'd like to speak with her son. Then it's up to you once you're talking with him. Start by saying you're sorry, if you can't think of anything else."
"Okay..." Zeke said, defeated, "I'll just finish my maths homework-"
"Nice try, but you have the weekend still and told me already that you didn't have much homework to do. Make the call now, homework later."
'Damn it.'
Zeke looked down at the number, then up at his mum, watching his movements strictly, then at the number again. Slowly he adjusted the PokeGear on his wrist to a more comfortable position, then scrolled through its features until he got to the phone section, sighing as he began to type in the number, having no other choice.
'Click'.
"Hello?"
...
Surprisingly, I kept referring to the Scyther – Eamon – as an 'it' instinctively through the dialogue around Zeke's family, and kept having to go back and change the 'it's to 'he' and 'his'. I feel slightly bad for doing so, actually, considering I'm trying to uplift most Pokemon to levels of wisdom, personality and even humour to make them individuals, 'people', much like certain Pokemon in the anime and movies (some of them, anyway).
It was mostly instinct, really. I could be completely mistaken (it was a long time ago), but I THINK most Pokemon were referred to as 'it' a lot of the time in the anime...right? Did it change from the original to the English dub, perhaps? I don't recall.
One way or another, I'd like to keep referring to most Pokemon as 'he' or 'her' unless they have an unknown gender or none at all, or when certain characters/humans/trainers are talking to them or about them.
But anyway, onto more practical information...
Longest chapter I've made on this story, to my knowledge. I couldn't find a point where I could cut it off so it could still end well and be of the right length, so that's why I left it like this. And more happened this chapter than the last one. The last chapter was all about catching and talking to the Scyther, Eamon...This chapter was about integrating Eamon, planning what will be done with him and also about updating on what Rivet is doing, and readying for his Gym battle.
But you'll have to wait for the next chapter to hear how this second meeting of Zeke and Rivet go...and also how Rivet's Gym battles go.
This story is about to get a bit more interesting...if nothing else, there's actual fighting soon.
Also, some things are distinctly different to the Pokemon games, I should point out, though I imagine they're quite obvious. For one thing, Pokemon can be legitimately dangerous, especially to each other. For another, there's no limit of 'moves' for a Pokemon to learn, theoretically. Finally, many Pokemon are just plain better suited to fighting, particularly since battles aren't just a matter of 'choose a move and rely on your stats', but movement, commands, countering, dodging, etc...
Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you're all enjoying the story, and thank you to all who review, will review or have reviewed!