Chapter three, folks! And that means Tori is going to be introduced into the game! I've been excited about doing the OC's...hope you enjoy this! Oh yeah, it's got to be said – most of the time I will finish chapters one after the other, but I only have time to edit and post one of them before my laptop is...'confiscated'. Whenever possible, I will post as much as possible.
"Look, guys! We're almost to the dock!" Tori called, gripping the handrails tightly with excitement. Her five Pokemon – Riolu, Poochyena, Vulpix, Eevee, and Mareep – all rushed to their Trainer, staring at the approaching city with a few excited cries.
Castelia City was not necessarily the most exciting thing they'd ever seen, but it came pretty close – the flashing lights, bustling civilians, and huge structures held up the city's reputation of touching the sky well. The boat that was coming into port was moving very quickly, hardly slowing at all as it glided into Unity Pier. It bumped gently up against the cement walkway, now bobbing more that it was sitting still.
Tori got off the boat with the other passengers, and wasted no time exploring the city, her Pokemon following her closely. She dashed up and down the streets, marveling at the sights, and she finally came to the Gym's street, where an oddly dressed man seemed to be in a heated discussion with a younger girl – she looked to be about fourteen.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Tori drew a little closer, lingering near the two to hear what they were saying. Her Pokemon milled noiselessly around by her feet, sensing the need to stay quiet.
"If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. I can't tell you what's in the Egg unless you choose to join the competition. It set up the challenge, making it so you don't know what you're working with."
"I can see the point behind this, but why must it be so secretive? At least give me an idea before I join."
"It's a Bug-type, obviously, and it's from Hoenn. That's all I can give you." the girl said, shrugging helplessly. The man sighed, uncrossing his arms. "I'm joining. Do I need to go to Nuvema to get that Egg?"
"Nope!" The girl said cheerfully, reaching into her shoulderbag. "I've got it here. I figured when you called me to discuss it that you would be joining, so I brought the Egg along just in case." She pulled out a green-flecked Egg, holding it hesitantly or a minute. "Are you sure you want to join?"
"Yes."
"Then here you go." The Egg passed hands, and the girl dug in her pocket until she found a lighter. The man seemed a little confused and worried by this. "Hold out the Egg, please," the girl said, and the request was followed out. After a few tries the girl had a flame and was holding it up next to the Egg. "Look, Burgh. Can you see the Pokemon?"
"Yes!" The man looked delighted by this, staring at the Egg. The girl smiled, and closed the lighter. "That was a baby Anorith. You probably don't know it, but it's a supposed Fossil Pokemon. It evolves once, and its physical attacks are its strong point. That Egg should hatch pretty soon – two days, tops. I've got to start heading back to Nuvema, because Elesa's going to be dropping by pretty soon, and you know how impatient she can be."
Both man and girl laughed at this – an inside joke? Tori wondered. After the man walked off and the girl started to, she approached the girl cautiously – she just had to ask. "Um, excuse me. What was that contest you were talking about?"
The girl grinned brightly at Tori, apparently not bothered at all by her eavesdropping. "I call it the Trainer Challenge. Since things around Unova were hectic for a while, people got used to being busy training and battling, but then the problem was resolved and everyone's bored senseless. So I came up with this sort of challenge to pass the time and test skills as a Trainer."
Tori was intrigued by this – she'd never heard anything like it before, aside from the Nuzlocke Challenge. "How does it work?"
The girl grinned even wider, apparently seeing where Tori was headed. "Well, for starters, it's an open contest, even though only a few people were told about it. The basic rules are this – you can only fight with the contest Pokemon, and you have to beat all the original contestants to finish."
"Well...if it's open..." Tori was very interested in this competition and wanted to join in, but she'd only just gotten to Unova. Her team wouldn't be able to battle with her. Her Riolu bumped up against her, red eyes wide and excited. Clearly the little Pokemon wanted her to join, and judging from the cries from her other Pokemon, they agreed.
The girl laughed, kneeling down and rubbing the Pokemon. "You guys think so?" She was met by several cries, and she laughed some more. "Want me to tell her?" The cries grew even louder. The girl stood again, sticking out her hand. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Cade Lato."
Where did that come from...? That was an abrupt subject change... "Um...Tori." she said, not willing to give out her last name to this odd stranger. Cade smiled, looking back at Tori's Pokemon. "Just so you know, your Pokemon wanted me to tell you some stuff. Riolu says he can tell that you want to join and go for it, and the rest of them say pretty much the same thing. And Mareep wants a snack."
Tori shot this Cade person a lopsided look – she was acting like she understood the Pokemon. "Um...okay." Cade noticed her discomfort, and smacked her forehead. "Oh, sorry. Most everybody here knows I talk to Pokemon, my bad. I should have explained that. So do you want to join the contest?"
"...Sure. I'm in." Tori replied, after a pause. Her Vulpix began bouncing up and down, letting out several thrilled yips. Cade smiled, her expression a little clouded now. "I've got an Egg at home that you could have. But you seem new to the region...If you stick around town, I can run back to my place and go get it. Sound okay?"
Since Tori knew next to nothing about this new region, she readily agreed – she wasn't ready to move beyond the activity of Castelia. Cade nodded, and saluted briefly to her. "I wish you luck. Oh, and here's the rules – they're pretty simple." she said, handing Tori a folded-up piece of paper before disappearing into the crowd.
A few minutes later, Tori had found a bench big enough to fit her and her Pokemon, who were all trying to glimpse the opened paper. Tori read over the rules quickly – as Cade had said, they didn't seem too difficult, and her team could still be with her during the journey – she wouldn't have to box them away.
She cast a quick glance up, and could have sworn she saw a white dragon, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. She shrugged this off, and spent some time wandering around Castelia City. The bustle still didn't fail to amaze her, and half an hour later the bustle nearly made her miss the sound of her name being called.
"Tori! Over here!" Tori spun to see Cade, waving at her on the edge of the path. She and her Pokemon made their way over to the odd girl, who now had an Egg – an unusually small one – tucked under her arm. "This is your Egg. The Pokemon inside – Pachirisu – should hatch really soon."
Tori took the proffered Egg, mildly surprised by its warmth. And as she expected, Cade whipped out that lighter of hers, and the instant she did Tori held out the Egg. Cade seemed pleased by this, and after some more toil, she lit the little device and held it behind the egg.
"Do you see the Pachirisu?" she asked, her blue eyes bright and excited. Tori looked a little closer, and she could make out the shape of the little Pokemon. Now she knew why Cade was so eager to show everyone this. "That...is cool."
Tori began to say something else, but the Egg lurched suddenly, and she had to dash to catch it. Cade laughed, though her eyes gave away her panic. "Nice catch. Careful, it moves a lot, and it'll only get more active as it gets close to hatching." Tori nodded, her gray eyes wide.
Cade looked down at the X-Transceiver on her wrist, and her eyes widened. "Oh snap, gotta fly. If anything comes up, give me a call! Have fun in Unova!" With that, she sprinted off, and Tori couldn't help but be a little amazed at how fast she could get going. When the girl disappeared, she looked down at her Egg, which was moving just a little.
Eevee jumped up onto her shoulder, poking the Egg gently with a tawny paw. "Eeeevee? Eeeeui." she commented briefly, and nodded almost as if in approval. Tori sat down where she was so the other Pokemon could see the Egg for themselves, and all of them poked it at least five times.
Tori was just getting ready to get up and leave when the Egg wobbled violently. Poochyena let out a howl, now circling his Trainer in agitation. The top of the Egg cracked a little, drawing Tori's attention immediately. "It's...Cade wasn't kidding."
The Egg proceeded to crack some more, the fractures crawling down its sides and getting bigger. A soft squeak came from inside the shell, and a small white paw poked through it. Tori remained silent as the paw drew back and made some more holes, and finally a tiny white and blue head broke free.
"Chii!" The small cry came from the newborn Pokemon, which was now trying its hardest to pull its whole body out of a hole only big enough for its head. This made Tori laugh a little, and she pulled off a little of the shell, expanding the hole just enough for the electric squirrel to tumble out into her lap.
It looked up, big brown eyes squinted in the light. "Chiii?" he asked curiously, latching onto his tail and cuddling it. "Hey, little guy." Tori said softly, running two fingers over the little furry head. "Welcome to the world."
Tori's other Pokemon drew closer, staring excitedly at the new Pokemon and speaking in hushed whispers. The Pachirisu seemed a little overwhelmed by this, and he burrowed his face into Tori's belly. Tori stroked his back, smiling. "Hmm...I'll have to come up with a name for you..."
She thought for a little, petting the baby Pachirisu the entire time. "I don't know, really...how about we just call you Epsilon for the time being?"
D'awww. Epsilon. I luff the little guy already. Next chapter will center around Claire!