Chapter 2: The Training, and a Lesson Learned

Harley looked around as they started walking up and down tree covered hills and crests to get to the City. He had to smile as he saw a Butterfree fly around him seeming to be talking to him. He looked at Destiny who smiled and repeated what the Butterfly Pokémon was saying to him.

"She says that you look so cute carrying an Egg around like that" She smiled and looked up at the Butterfree.

"Um I'm not used to being called cute" Harley said looking up, "But I guess, thanks Butterfree" He smiled and decided to do a quick check around him to make sure that no trick prone foxes were after him again. It was peaceful in this neck of the forest. He looked down at the egg. I wonder what this egg will hatch into, He said to himself not really willing to be doing anything else while he just walked through a forest all by himself with just his Pokémon to keep him company.

Held still held the egg in his hands while Destiny kept herself balanced on his shoulder. He remembered when he was first able to understand Destiny although he was happy that he could understand her actual language, the day that came before was rough and nearly ruined their relationship for life. It was a great moment hearing her real voice instead of hearing her talk to him telepathically… but he couldn't remember that time without remembering the day before it.

~~Flashback~~

Harley was barley 7 years old and sat in his room working on homework from school, waiting for his mom to call him to the dining room table because dinner was done. He was interrupted by the loud yelling downstairs… sounding like it was coming from the kitchen. Being a little kid he was noisy and decided to go down to see what was going on. He ran down stairs and to the door leading into the kitchen. He peeked through the door which was slightly opened. He saw his dad holding Destiny by the neck. She was sweating badly and looked to be very sick again. The kitchen was a mess, Destiny had too much energy built up again. It was like when they had first met and his mother had let him take her inside and try to help.

"Dad stop, she's sick again" Rachel stormed into the kitchen from the backdoor. Rachel was his big sister who became one of the Kikkio Regions best Pokémon Rangers, "Her power burst out… let her go"

"You want her, go get her" His dad through the small Ralts out the kitchen window, glass following her to the ground outside.

"Destiny!" Harley yelled running through the kitchen to the backdoor, pushing his dad over in the process. He ran around the corner of the house and saw her walking away… the rain washing away the sweat and cooling her off, "Destiny… please don't leave?" He said with a frown, Tears mixing with the rain on his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Harley" He heard her voice in his head, "I can't be around your dad anymore"

"You ruined my research papers" His father came running out the door at Destiny.

"No!" The instinct to protect his friend kicked in, he charged his father recklessly. Harley got close enough and jumped with his shoulder forward but fell short and continued running. The large foot lashed out stopping Harley and breaking his arm as well. Rachel ran up with a pan in her hands and she swung hard, knocking their father out cold. Harley crying harder reached for Destiny who stood starring at him, "I won't let him take you away from me"

XXX

Harley woke the next day with his right arm in a black cast. He got up and walked down stairs to find his dad walking out the door and his sister on the couch with her knees to her chest, crying. He knew why she was crying… they had probably gotten into another argument and he hit her. He walked to the kitchen even with what had happened the previous night, his heart was overtook by joy seeing Destiny sitting at the table. He ran to her and with his good arm, hugged her.

"Oh, Harley, You're okay" He smiled pulling away from her, "You're arm's in a cast"

He smiled and hugged her again, "Yeah, it was snapped right in half the doctor told me. It itches really bad to"

"Wait" She looked into his eyes like she did when he amazed her in surprising ways, "Harley, you can understand me now"

"What do you mean?"

~~End Flashback~~

Harley looked at Destiny as a hum started next to him. Destiny was smiling and humming as he continued walking the trail. He smiled as he looked away from her, they would need a lot of training to evolve her so they could take on the Goldarious City gym. He looked at his friend again, she looked happy as could be, happier then he had ever seen her.

"Hey Destiny" He smiled looking into her eyes, "You've been with me for a long time, how come you never told me what attacks you know?"

"Because we've never had to actually battle" He smiled and stepped to the next trail that held a sign saying Goldarious City, "But if you must know I have all four… Magical Leaf, Psychic, Hidden Power, and Psyshock"

"Oh, my deadly little baby" Harley teased watching her blush, "think we can train enough for you to evolve?"

"You mean fight someone?"

"Yeah sure" Her said looking down the trail, "Goldarious City is fu;; of beginners like us because you need a Metallic Badge before you can take on the Crevice City gym"

"Who's the leader of the Goldarious gym?"

"That would be Derk Newman. He's a brute force trainer" He looked at Destiny once more, "He really likes Fighting and Rock Type Pokémon"

He had flames in his eyes as he knew he had the perfect Pokémon for both types. Psychic were strong against Fighting Types, Grass wasn't exactly super-effective against Rock but Grass Type attacks had a high critical hit ratio against Rock.

"So we have the perfect leader to face first" Destiny said with a smile as they walked up another hill.

Harley felt his stomach growl knowing he hadn't eaten anything for since he left the day before, "I think it's time for a food break"

"I agree"

Harley walked up to a tree on the side of the trail and sat down, taking off his pack while gently setting the egg next to him. He smiled and pulled Luvana's Pokeball from his side and looked at her as he called her out, catching it when it came back to him. He dug into his pack pulling three berries out and handed one to Destiny then one to Luvana. He had given a Pecha berry to Destiny knowing that she loves foods that tasted good and that she really loved sugary sweets. He held a silent chuckle as she started eating it and had it gone before he even took his third bite. Luvana was patient with her eating… enjoying every bite she took, until…

"Haha, another trainer" Luvana jumped looking at the two that ran from further up the trail, "Oh man he's eating"

"What happened to the simple Hello?" Harley asked sarcastically before biting off another piece of his berry, "Hell, you don't even have to say hi, just ask for a battle before rushing up and throwin' out a Pokeball"

"Oh sorry" The girl bowed slightly in apology, "Hello, would it be too much to ask for a double battle"

"No it wouldn't be to much" He smiled taking the last bite of his berry before leaving only the stem and seeds that would grow more berries on the side of the trail. He got to his feet and introduced himself, "My name's Harley"

"I'm Alexandria but most just call me Alex" She smiled looking at him as he put his backpack on, "And this is my little brother Jacob"

"Nice to meet you both" Harley said then heard the sigh in his ear, "Oh yeah this is Destiny and Luvana"

"A Snivy and a Ralts" Jacob said looking at them, "Is Luvana your starter Pokémon?"

"No, that would be this little cutie on my shoulder" Harley said with a smile, "We've been together since I was 5"

"Well let's get this battle started" Alex smiled pulling the Pokeball from behind her, "Go Oshawott"

"Go Pichu" Jacob smiled as the little mouse appeared, "You ready Harley?"

"Okay Luvana, I'm depending on you to help Destiny dodge okay"

"Okay" He smiled placing Destiny on the ground.

"Well" Alex smiled, "How much you want to put up as winnings?"

"How about $50 even" Harley smiled pulling his wallet from his back pocket. He looked at them as they pulled $25 each, "Alright"

"Let's start with Aqua Jet Oshawott"

Oshawott was surrounded with swirling water as he shot forward like a jet, "Luvana use Attract" Oshawott stopped, his eyes locked on to Luvana, a small droplet of drool falling from his mouth. Harley had to smile as Alex became mad.

"Pichu, use Thundershock"

"Destiny, use Psyshock" Harley said and smiled when the stream of electricity was interrupted and the wave of psychic energy attacked Pichu, "Good job Destiny"

"Oh please attack Oshawott" Alex said looking at the Pokémon, "Use Razor Shell"

Despite his infatuation Oshawott pulled his shell and charged forward as the energy appeared from the shell looking like a sword. He had to think fast and had it in the matter of a minute, "Luvana use Leaf Blade" Harley said, "Destiny attack Pichu with Magical Leaf"

Luvana's tail end glowed as she spun, attacking Oshawott. Oshawott fell back as he fainted from the attack… the leaf that appeared glowing in waves of different colors slammed into Pichu also knocking him and knocking him back to Jacob's feet. Harley cheered pickoing up and twirling with both Pokémon in his arms.

"You two were awesome" Harley smiled and looked at his opponents, "That was a fun battle… considering it was my first battle ever"

"This wasn't even our first battle" Jacob smiled looking at his sister.

"And we still lost to him" Alex said looking at him with a smile, "Maybe he has some skill. Here's your money kid"

Harley had to smile as he noticed that they were calling him kid thinking that they were the same age, "Thanks… and I'm not a kid" Harley smiled walking away from them with a huge smile on his face as he looked back with a wave of his hand, "I'm 16 years old"

"Sorry" Alex yelled as he started walking to the tree then picking up the egg began walking down the trail with his Pokémon, "Well I guess we should go back to trainer school Jacob"

"No I can't go back there" Jacob said with a smile, "Being a trainer isn't like what they say it is. It's about being on an adventure and having fun with your friends and Pokémon"

"Well nothing better to do let's go back to the city at least"

Alex and Jacob started walking seeing Harley was just a spec in the distance.

XXX

Harley smiled upon seeing the great city that was Goldarious. It was big and building covered the place, tall skyscrapers that were everywhere and he smiled looking and seeing the gym in the distance. It was big and held a picture of the Metallic badge on it. He smiled and walked to the nearest Pokecenter. He let the beautiful Nurse Jenny take his Pokémon for some check up and stuff while he picked out a trainer room for the days he would spend in the city until he could take on and beat Gym Leader Derk. He smiled as he found an empty room and flipped the label on the door to occupied and through his bag in.

"Okay time to go see what we can do in this city" Harley smiled walking out the door and into the lobby. He wanted to get on one of the PC's and see what was in the city. He had been here once but he only knew two places and that was because he was driving to his uncles, to work, then back to his uncle's house. He got on and started looking at maps and awesome trainer hot spots, "Oh the battle gym"

"Excuse me sir" Nurse Joy was standing behind him, "Your Pokémon are ready and waiting"

Harley got up and walked to the counter and picked up the Pokeball and put it on his ball then picked up Destiny and put her on his Pokeball. He thanked Nurse Jenny and started walking out of the canter to walk to the battle gym. He smiled seeing people pass him and wave even though he had a small Pokémon on his shoulders that didn't look like she would match the way he looked they didn't really bother him.

"So are we going to find someone to battle?" Destiny asked with a smile.

"No… we're going to find a whole building of someones to battle" Harley smiled, "It's called a battle gym… sometimes they hold tournaments that name the best Trainer in the city… But we're just going there to find a couple of good battles to evolve you"

"Okay that's good"

Harley decided to stop and hail a cab. They were soon riding on to the battle gym. He stepped out when they got there and he walked inside. He smiled as he saw the trainer's in the battle arenas around them. A loud announcement man got on the stage on the other side of the gym.

"Seems the roster for the tournament is full" He said loudly, "Without further ado every trainer on the floor get your Pokémon ready and… battle"

Harley was surprised to find that it was a walk in tournament that happened to be on the first day he tries a battle gym. Ah man, what the hell am I gonna… damn it. A trainer stepped across from him on the other side of the field. He throughout his Pokeball and smiled as the Spinarak appeared in front of them. Harley put Destiny on the ground softly and looked at the trainer across from them.

"Harley I thought you said we weren't here for a tournament" Her telepathy still came in handy when they wanted to talk without an audience hearing them.

"I didn't think there would be a walk in tournament today" She read his mind as he thought about this, "I got it… Read my mind while you do this. I'll give you a move and they never know what we're going to say"

Harley smiled as he started telling her the move he wanted her to do without speaking and left the other trainer completely in the dark as they moved in and attacked over and over keeping not giving the trainer a chance to fight back. Harley smiled as her last move, which was Hidden Power, made the Spinarak faint and the trainer admitted defeat and he was on to the next trainer that was using a very different Pokémon. Harley decided to switch to Luvana as Totodile was sent to find him. He smiled as the trainer had a look of fear in his eyes. He smiled as he told her to start with Attract to see what the man was doing. He smiled as he found the Totodile was male. He stood staring at Luvana ignoring the commands his trainer gave him. Harley told the beautiful Snivy to charge with a Leaf Blade and fallow with a Razor Leaf. The Totodile was still standing tall and looked to still be infatuated in his love laced daze. Harley smiled as he gave the name of the final move which was Leaf Storm.

XXX

Harley was sweating hard as him and the very last trainer walked to each other to shake hands before they battled. Harley placed Destiny to the ground once more and smiled as she was psyched to be fighting the very last trainer they had. The trainer they were facing was a very cute looking Cubchoo. The Pokémon snot ice blue and dripping from his nose like a giant drop of water. Harley was a little weary but smiled looking at his partner who was reading his mind already as they had their stare down with the trainer that was the only other left standing.

"Harley this one won't be as easy, he's good"

"I know but that doesn't mean that we can't beat him and win"

Harley gave her the moves as they started battling but the man was actually able to get his Pokémon to ignore everything that caused it pain. Harley didn't like it as he smiled and looked at the Cubchoo cheering him on as Harley and Destiny became frustrated. He had to calm down but for some reason he couldn't… something about this trainer was driving him nuts. He smiled once more then told the Cubchoo to run forward and use Ice Beam at point blank. Luvana barely managed to jump out of the way as the beam froze the man next to him. He smiled as the man was starting to get his wind and they were attacking full force on him.

"Ah Forget It!" Harley said then felt his mind was somewhere else.

Relax Harley… This isn't what you wanted when you first started this journey. This is what you wished would not happen ever. Look at him with a smile and have some fun battling with him and having a good time. Just be yourself and be the best you can be.

"I Got It!" Harley yelled going from mad to the happiest teen in the world, "Let's take this guy down Destiny"

"As you wish" She said feeling his happiness.

"Use Magical Leaf and Follow up with Psyshock" The two moves went as he smiled and looked at the man. Cubchoo was avoiding the Magical Leaf but the leaf kept following him. The shock wave of Psyche energy was sent out and he paused for a second but he wasn't that good as he was still avoiding the Magical Leaf, "This is fun after all"

"Harley something strange is happening" Destiny said as she started glowing.

"Destiny you're evolving" Harley shouted feeling the joy fill him once more as he got happier. The Cubchoo started glowing as well in mid run. The Cubchoo was now a Beartic as Destiny was now a Kirlia, "Now that's more like it"

"Congrates kid" The trainer said with a smile, "Just have fun with it… I forfeit this match"

"And the new champion of Goldarious City" The announcer said, "Come up here and except your prize sir"

Harley grabbed Destiny and put her on his shoulder as he ran up onto the stage. He was given a travel phone, it was like a cell phone but he could call from anywhere in the region. He smiled as he found it also had much more trainer useful additions to the applications. He looked around at every little person that was cheering for him.

"So what's your full name my fair trainer" The spokesman said as he held the microphone to Harley.

"My name's Harley R. Sharp" Harley said looking at him with a smile.

"May I ask what the R, stands for"

"No you may not" He smiled looking at the crowd. He didn't like his middle name cause it was sort of girly.

"Come on no one will make fun of you for it"

"Alright, this is the only time you will hear it got it" Harley said looking bravely at the crowd, "My middle name is Rose"

"Well that seems to suit you young man, considering that you wear a red shirt that is emphasized by the black you wear under it, is your favorite flower the red rose?"

"Actually it's the black rose" Harley smiled looking at the man with a smile feeling Destiny fall against his neck in exhaustion, "I'm sorry but I need to get my friend to the center so she can rest… Me as well"

"Well I hope she's okay"

"She will be she's just tired as I am" He said waving to the crowd, "I'm sorry but I got to go, "I'll be sure to come back for the next one"

"Give him a big round of applause"

He walked out the gym and hailed another cab not having the strength to walk as far as he needed to go. He thought he might even fall asleep in the back of the cab. He probably had…

XXX

Harley lay in bed with a full strength but still tired Kirlia next to him with her head resting on his chest. Destiny looked at him with a smile as she started feeling drowsy, listening to his small intake of air and his steady heart beat. He's such an angel when he's sleeping, She thought to herself as she tried to fall asleep, I'm so happy that he found me when he did, he's a wonderful person… I wonder what he would like if he was a Pokémon. Destiny laid her head on his chest once more letting the sleep wash over her as she was tired and needed to rest for now they needed to beat the gym leader of Goldarious City.