AN: I wanted to clarify that everyone has the exact same birthday; January 1st. If you want to know why, it is in the seventh chapter (titled 'Birthdays') in my other fanfic called 'The World of Silver Fang; A Collection of Supplementary Information'.
Also, water pokemon can swim through the air when above land, but the lowest point of their body can't be more than half a meter above the ground. I made this dynamic up as I don't want to limit water pokemon to just aquatic terrains, but I didn't want them to have the versatility of a flying type in air. Also, just imagine how weird it would be seeing a group of Jellicent swimming amongst the clouds.
Finally, I want to thank the few people reviewing. This is the first time I've shown someone my writing (I've written other stuff which I haven't showed anyone yet) so seeing reviews really helps it sink in that there are actually people reading what I'm writing. There are view and visitor graphs and stuff I can look at, but those are just statistics.
Ray looked around, blinking. He was in a completely different place from where he was just a second ago; the Littleroot Town outskirts. One moment, he was surrounded by long grasses; the next, he was surrounded by garbage in a dark alley. The alley was dark and surrounded on three sides by buildings dozens of floors high. It was something Ray had never seen, as he had lived his whole life in a rural setting.
"What in the world..." Ray muttered, starting to walk out of the alley.
Then he saw the biker gang ride their motorcycles into the alley from outside.
There were three dudes in their prime, all ripped, and getting off of their motorcycles. They all noticed Ray at the same time, and they all scowled at the same time.
Ray took a step backwards, fear taking over his confusion.
"Hey wimp, whatcha doin' in this here alley? Eh?" One of the gang members said. He had a thick mustache and a scar running through his right cheek.
"I... teleported here? Against my will? I don't know?" Ray said, taking another step backwards. He started feeling nauseous. This isn't good. If I continue to feel this much fear, I'll lose consciousness... Aagh, I wish I wasn't such a scaredy-cat, Ray griped, just a second before falling unconscious.
The biker gang looked at Ray's body. Then they looked at each other.
"We better dispose of his body. Wait, is he dead or no?" One gang member said.
Another one shrugged. "Who cares. Just toss him in a garbage bin and close the lid," Another said. The three members agreed on that plan, but before they could pick up Ray's fallen body, a man in a white cloak walked into the alley.
"Stop right there! I sensed a powerful psychic energy shift in this location. That boy must be related to it," The cloaked figure said. He stood straight and tall, his features well defined and befitting of a royal.
The gang members noticed the newcomer, and immediately, they bowed down. "We-we-we're sorry sir! Please take him! We promise, we found him just lying on the ground!" One bike member said, standing up and presenting Ray's fallen body before the cloaked figure.
"Thanks. I will be taking this boy. If I'm correct, he is a Shifter. Someone like that will be very useful... very useful indeed..." The cloaked figure said, a wide grin forming on his face. Then he seemed to realize it, and cleared his throat, the grin fading away. "Well, I will take my leave," and the cloaked figure vanished into thin air.
I woke up on the ground of the hotel room, right next to couch where I had fallen asleep. Apparently I had fallen off.
I got up and looked around, rubbing my eyes. The room was the same as when I had fallen asleep, except now, golden sunlight poured in through the windows. I looked outside and realized it was only an hour or two until noon. I must have been really tired.
I didn't see Arice in the room at all, but her things were still in the room. I then gasped. I ran to my backpack, and checked the smallest pocket. I felt around and sighed in relief. My Beast Ball was still there. I had been afraid it might be stolen.
"Good morning," Tyson said. I peeked at the doorway, and there he was, his straight hair pointing in every direction. I noticed that his eyes were the same bright red color as his hair. "You should get ready in the bathroom before coming to our other room. The door is unlocked."
He left, and I changed, brushed, washed my face, and did some other things in the bathroom. Then I grabbed my Beast Ball before rushing into the team's other room. I smiled, remembering I was a part of a team. But I couldn't be truly happy, with thoughts of Ray refusing to let go of my conscience.
I went into the other room and noticed that it was even messier than before. There were cards strewn every; not just the one deck I had intentionally spilled the night before, but around a dozen decks worth of cards. Kyra also wasn't in the room.
"Arice and Kyra went to do a pokemon battle out in the courtyard. The two of them are aspiring to top the Pokemon League," Tyson said. He was sitting on the bed.
"You aren't?" I asked.
"That's right. Due to certain... complications... with my past, I intend to capture a Lunala or Solgaleo and ride it to... somewhere," Tyson said slowly. I could tell he was trying his best to be as vague as possible.
"Lunala? Solgaleo? The legendaries? Well, there aren't one of each of those species; no one has ever captured any of that kind of legendary pokemon. But no one has captured a Lunala before either..."
"Well, a Solgaleo has been captured once before. By Sun, all those years ago."
"And he rode off into space with it, never to return. You dream of being like that?"
Tyson frowned. "I would rather not talk more about my dream. Sorry."
I sighed. "Fine, fine. So. What should we do now?"
Tyson smirked. "The two of have a battle to do. Loser has to kiss the winner's feet or shoes."
I laughed. "Well, you seem pretty confident, setting up those kinds of stakes."
"The three of us started our journey yesterday. Arice told us everything about you, so I know you started yesterday as well. That means we should be on equal footing, yes?" Tyson said, crossing his arms.
I shrugged, leaning on a wall. "Sure. You have only one pokemon too?"
"That's right. I'm still unsure of whether to believe your starter was given to you by random aliens, though."
"It's true; you'll see. Let's go to the battlefield, shall we? This will be my second pokemon battle, and I intend to win it." I said. I wasn't surprised I would be fighting of my teammates.
Tyson frowned. "I do feel cheap for deciding to battle a trainer who can't keep up with an eight-year-old."
I ignored his comment as I followed him down the stairs, my thoughts wandering. I hadn't really bonded with my starter... he didn't seem very proactive at all. He did love training and battling though, which was something to be happy about. I noticed that there were a few trainers inside on the main floor. I recognized some of the faces, since many people from Oldale Town visited Littleroot Town; the two towns weren't that far apart.
Thankfully, the nurse had noticed me but hadn't made any comment. If I was a criminal, she would've known by then, and stopped me. It was nice to know I wasn't actually a criminal. I was also disgusted at the Littleroot Town nurse. I had known her for many years, and yet she had still tried to cheat me out of my starter.
Tyson and I walked outside and circled around the pokemon center, reaching the courtyard at the back. There wasn't any professional pokemon battle area, as Oldale Town wasn't rich enough to afford something like that, but there was ample flat ground space. There wasn't anyone else in the courtyard except Kyra and Arice, who were sitting in the shadow of the pokemon center to the side, playing cards.
"Who won?" Tyson asked, approaching them. I followed behind, curious as well.
"I did!" Arice said proudly. Kyra didn't look up from her cards. Arice looked at me, and did a thumbs-up. "Tyson has been wanting to battle you ever since he woke up. He doesn't believe you are worthy. Try to beat him!" She said cheerfully. Thinking back, I've never seen her not overly cheerful.
"Let's get started then," Tyson said, standing off to the side. I stood a distance off, and we released our pokemon at the same time. He threw a standard pokeball to reveal his starter; a Gastly. It was a ghost/poison type pokemon.
I told my pokemon we were having a battle before signaling to Tyson that I was ready.
"All right! Get ready to be defeated!"
"Poipole! evade attacks while using Move #1!" I yelled. If the opportunity comes, use Move #2! No need for Move #4!" The day before, I had numbered Poipole's moves so that the opponent wouldn't know what moves Poipole would use. Move #1 was Growl, #2 was Peck, #3 was Helping Hand, and #4 was Acid. Moves were strange, special science-defiers which pokemon could only know four of at a time. One of the many mysteries of pokemon.
"Gastonio! Stand by!" Tyson yelled. I raised an eyebrow as my Poipole started spamming use of Growl. I was lowering the opponents Attack... if Tyson was okay with it, his Gastly must've been relying on Special attack moves.
"Poipole! Switch plans!" I yelled after a few seconds; I wanted to make sure that if the Gastly actually had Physical attack moves, it couldn't use them. "Switch to the offensive, still don't use Move #4!"
My Poipole cut through the air towards its opponent, using Peck. The Gastly swiftly dodged to its left, smirking. My Poipole continued to chase after the Gastly, but it was always a little faster. "Switch to Move #4 for slowing it down! Use Move #2 as the main damage dealer!" I yelled.
Tyson still hadn't given any attack orders. I knew he had something up his sleeve. He simply watched as his Gastly barely managed to dodge the Acid and Peck attacks being thrown at it in quick succession. Finally, an Acid landed, and the Gastly fell to the ground for just a second. My Poipole swiftly floated in, and used Peck three times on the fallen Gastly before it managed to float off again.
"Good work! I can see it slowing down!" I yelled. I saw my Poipole coming closer, but I knew something was off; Tyson wouldn't just watch his Gastly get pummeled. "Poipole! Stay back and wait for it to attack!" I yelled. My Poipole looked at me. It still didn't have any emotion on its face, but I could tell it was confused. "They must have a secret attack or something," I told it. My starter nodded and looked back at its opponent, who was a couple meters away.
Tyson ran his fingers through his hair. He muttered something which I couldn't hear, but judging by his disappointed look, I could tell I guessed right.
"Gastonio! Continue to stand by!" Tyson yelled.
And that's what happened for the next few seconds. Neither pokemon moved; they were just staring at each other. I mentally sighed, knowing Tyson wanted me to grow impatient and send Poipole on the offensive. I was feeling impatient, but I didn't tell my pokemon to do anything. Professional battles were so much more full of action, with trainers having six pokemon each, and switching them out any time they wanted to keep their opponent on the edge. Each pokemon also had amazing moves of all kinds. Of course, a battle between two fresh trainers wouldn't be like that; it was actually interesting in its own way.
"Poipole, Move #5!" I yelled, smirking. Move #5; make fun of the opponent pokemon. It was like the move Taunt, although since it wasn't an actual move, it wasn't as effective. Nevertheless, it worked; I had tried it yesterday on some wild pokemon. My Poipole turned around and started shaking its rear back and forth. Then it stuck its tongue out.
The opponent Gastly didn't move from its spot, yet I saw its forehead wrinkle. I wasn't sure how that worked, with Gastly being 95% gas and all, but then again, no one knew how nearly anything worked when it came to pokemon.
Tyson gritted his teeth. "Gastonio! We can use that combo later! Instead, use Will-O-Wisp!"
I furrowed my eyebrows. I knew Will-O-Wisp didn't deal damage, but it inflicted the Burn status condition. Something like for a drawn out battle like ours wouldn't be good. The actual problem, however, was the fact that his Gastly knew such a move. I didn't think a Gastly could learn that without a TM.
As the Gastly started spitting out its long ranged purple flames, I watched my pokemon dodge. "Focus on evasion! Maintain distance!" I yelled. I didn't want Poipole to move in just yet, as Tyson had said they would use their 'combo' later on; it wasn't called off. Still, I couldn't keep Poipole on the defensive forever.
"Poipole! Continue to focus on dodging, but throw in some Move #4s whenever you can!" I yelled. My pokemon nodded, and did so. No Will-O-Wisps had hit my pokemon yet, and they didn't seem to be close to doing so. I smiled, proud of my starter.
"Gastonio! Use it now!" Tyson yelled as my Poipole was in the middle of dodging a Will-O-Wisp. My eyes widened, and before I could react, the Gastly used Hypnosis. However, my Poipole actually managed to dodge the blue rings of light that emanated from the Gastly.
"Now Peck!" I yelled, not caring about the move's code name, and my Poipole managed to close the gap between itself and the surprised Gastly and landed a clean hit. After taking the hit, the Gastly backed off before taking another. That last Peck severely damaged it however.
"Poipole! You're the best! Now just Peck it 'till it faints!" I yelled. I saw Tyson, who was standing still, his face nearly as expressionless as my Poipole's. I looked back at the battle and saw my Poipole land the decisive Peck, finishing off the Gastly.
I won my first pokemon battle.
Tyson paled, and wordlessly returned his Gastly. He said something to the pokeball before putting it in his pant pocket.
He walked up to me. I was standing stiff, knowing what he needed to do as the loser. To be honest, I didn't actually care that much about the reward; I cared more about the fact that I won.
Tyson kissed my sneakers, and walked off, apparently around the pokemon center. Maybe he's going back to the room? I thought. I decided to let him leave, as I felt like I understood what it was like to lose. And he lost to someone his age; I had to face defeat against an eight year old. I went to my Poipole, congratulated it, and decided to return it.
"Good job," Kyra said. I looked at the other two members of our group, still playing cards. I walked over to them, hoping to make conversation.
"Thanks," I said, unsure of what else to say. Although I wished I was good at small talk, I really wasn't.
"I was thinking you would lose, as Tyson had used 2 TMs on his pokemon; Hypnosis and Will-O-Wisp. Looks like you are your pokemon are actually pretty good in the end!" Arice said, smiling.
I sat down next to Arice and Kyra, who weren't playing cards anymore. "Yeah. Come to think of it, I don't even know my starter's ability..."
Kyra adjusted her glasses. "Beast Boost. Your pokemon's greatest stat is severely boosted when it knocks a pokemon out. It resets after the pokemon is returned to a pokeball or after around half-an-hour, whichever happens first. All Ultra Beasts have that ability."
I looked at her in amazement. "Wow, you really are smart. And I used to think I was a nerd."
Arice laughed. "Kyra values knowledge a lot. She plans to specialize in psychic type pokemon."
I looked at Kyra. "That's cool. A specialized trainer, huh?"
Kyra cracked her knuckles. "If you think we're inferior, then-"
"No no!" I shook my head vigorously. "I was just saying it. Specialized trainers have weaknesses, but they have strengths, too."
Kyra nodded. "It's good that you understand." Kyra then looked at Arice. "I accept him into our group. He's competent, sufficiently understanding, and analytically proficient."
"Yes yes!" Kyra nodded.
"Thanks for those compliments," I said. "So, how exactly did this group start anyway?"
"The three of us actually grew up here in Oldale Town. Tyson wanted another boy in the group, so we contacted this online friend of ours named Siegal. Or at least, that's what his username was. He grew up in Littleroot Town, and he said he would come see us last night to join us. He never actually came though," Arice said.
"That's strange," I said. "I should know him then. There were only seven kids graduating as pokemon trainers this year from my hometown, including me."
"He always talked about this one friend of his, who most people avoided. He said that friend was actually a cool person," Kyra said.
I narrowed my eyes. "Did he aspire to become the champion at the age of 14?" I asked. There was only one person in Littleroot Town who was like that.
"Yes! You know him?" Arice asked.
I grinned. "That friend of his? That would be me. Siegal is actually my best friend named Ray, the one who went missing."
Arice and Kyra gasped. "Seriously?!" Arice exclaimed.
"He never told me about you guys. I feel a little betrayed..." I said.
Arice smiled. "That's fine. You're a part of our group now. If he's out there, training hard, we'll find out about him eventually."
I nodded, and my stomach growled. I blushed and got up. "Thanks for the discussion. I'm going to go eat at the center."
Kyra started shuffling the card deck they had set aside. I sighed, unable to understand why they liked cards so much, and I walked around the pokemon center to reach the entrance. That had actually been pretty fun. I thought exploring the world with just my pokemon would be ideal, but being with other humans was pretty nice, too. These kids were all amazing. I just hoped Ray was safe...
AN: Let me know if there was anything I could improve on with my writing of that battle. I intended for it to be the first actually good battle (the one with Micah was intended to be one-sided). I want to make sure I can write pokemon battles well, because there will be a lot of important ones later on in this story (especially in the Pokemon League Challenge Tournaments).
Chapter 4 MC/age/pokemon changes:
Tyson - starter revealed to be Gastly (nicknamed Gastonio)