Chapter Twelve:
Train

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in any way, shape, or form. The only "ownership" I can claim are the personalities and my interpretation of howPokémonlook in a more realistic light, but other than that...yeah, I don't own anything on them. XD I do, however, own my original characters and writings, unless otherwise stated. In an exceptional case, a few special OCs belong to their respective owners, I'm merely borrowing them for the story that's to unfold. I'll point them out when their time to show up comes. :3

Note: Thanks again to those who reviewed or watched this story! I appreciate the support, and would love to hear from more of you! :D Please feel free to drop a review!

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"What do you suggest?"
"I'm thinking…"
"Don't strain yourself."
-Bela and Dean, "Supernatural"

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"I still can't believe that monumental jackass just stole Chikorita. I knew something didn't smell right. I hope the police catch him…"

"People steal pokémon. It happens. It's unfortunate, but it happens. Just like when a person gets robbed or…or killed. Things aren't perfect."

"Is it a regular occurrence? The pokémon stealing, I mean."

"Not normally. But desperate people tend to be the usual offenders. It mostly stems from wanting stronger pokémon right from the get go and not wanting to put in the effort or time to train them. Rookies who want dragons and have no way to control them, for example, tend to get injured more. Everyone knows that dragon types are among the strongest out there. That doesn't mean they don't have weaknesses, they have type disadvantages just like the rest of us, but dragon types are very powerful and take a lot of time, care, and patience to raise. Sometimes it can take years to cultivate them to their fullest potential."

"Like…the Champion for the Indigo Plateau, Lance."

"Exactly. You're quick."

Lupin stared over the glossy book pages in her lap, Riptide hovering over it and curled against her, staring just as intently at the pictures. He claimed he couldn't read human language, but he seemed to know the gist of each page. Lupin suspected it was because of the pictures. She continued browsing through the glossy pages, stopping long enough to stare at the information and pictures of the aforementioned Champion, who had, according to the text, conquered all eight of Johto's gyms and all eight of Kanto's, in record time. Then he challenged the Elite Four and the former Champion, before taking the title after blowing them all away with his powerful dragons. He's held the title for nearly twenty years, undefeated and undisputed reigning Champion of the Johto/Kanto regions and the Indigo Plateau. Few have advanced far enough during the tournaments to face him and those that had had been obliterated. Some pokémon had even died in battle.

As Lupin read this, she felt a queasiness settle in the pit of her stomach.

"Pokémon…die in battles?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Yes, they do. It's a small percentage, but some do." Lupin shifted uneasily on the spot and Riptide tilted his head to stare up at her. "You don't like my answer."

"No. I don't," she admitted. "It's just…why? Why would you put yourself at risk of that?"

He stared at her for a long minute, his jaws wired shut and his yellow-red eyes unnerving and still as they studied her. The tension grew between them, and the longer it stretched on, the more she regretted asking.

"We all want to be strong. Or a large population of us do. Pokémon, that is. And trainers, as an extension, I suppose. Most dream of taking down the Champion and gaining that prestigious title for themselves. Others dream of being the best breeder or contestant for pageants or whatever it is they want. But there's always a risk, both for pokémon and trainers. You risk being hit by a bus or a car every time you walk across a street, don't you?"

"I…I guess."

"And yet, you continue to walk across those streets, thinking that you will be fine. It's all about chance. It's the same with battling. If a pokémon dies in battle, at least they went out swinging. They went out a way they wanted—or at least, that's my impression. Besides, battling one another is key to a better life for pokémon."

Lupin tilted her head at him now, brows drawn up quizzically. She paused long enough to cast a few wary glances around her. They were resting at a local Pokémon Center in a small town whose name she'd already forgotten, night having fallen almost an hour ago. Almost as soon as they had arrived at the lab, and dealt with the cops, that edginess began to creep into her bones again. She had wanted out, she felt cooped up and cramped in the confines of the lab after only a few days. Professor Elm must have sensed her unease in being back, and not long after that, he'd presented her with more durable supplies for longer stays outdoors. The gifts had almost been rejected, but he had waved off her stutters and polite, yet failed rejections, telling her he understood and insisted she take them.

"You need to find answers, and you're not finding them here. Go, see the world, make friends, find out who you are. Totodile—sorry, Riptide—seems to have taken a liking to you, so that's a good start."

He'd even presented her with a pokédex, explaining that Professor Oak had had it mailed to his lab the other day and wanted it to be given to her.

The electronic device now sat in her pack by her feet. She had yet to really pop it open and fiddle with it, find that she preferred the feel of books instead. But that same book in her lap was forgotten in lieu of her questions and curiosity, and now she was regretting asking. Not if it meant being pinned under those unnerving little reptilian eyes. Riptide finally looked away, and it took every ounce of self-control to keep herself from letting out a sigh of relief.

"If I remember what Professor Elm said correctly…battling helps us level up and evolve more quickly. When a pokémon lives in the wild, they fight for survival, and only sometimes for the joy of it. Even when wild pokémon battle, they don't grow as quickly, they don't evolve. It can take them years in the wild. But battling is the main way we stay healthier, that we…we're more powerful than wild pokémon. And trainers, when they take in a pokémon, put them on their main roster, those pokémon develop quicker, they learn their move sets faster. If I was wild, for example, I would probably remain a Totodile for several years longer, and hope I don't get eaten or killed."

Riptide paused, watching as a young man with an Abra stroll by, the psi pokémon clinging to its trainer's backside.

"Trainers…bring out the best in pokémon. And, on most—not all, mind—occasions, they do the same for in reverse. That's usually where breeders come in. They want to raise and spread out the best of the best. They help bring out that best through their breeding programs, helping trainers raise possible future-champion worthy pokémon. It's…"

He fell short, his words petering out as he searched for a viable explanation. He wanted her to understand.

"You strive to be better than your wild cousins. You want to live to the expectations of your breeders and parents," Lupin surmised. He nodded, although it wasn't the whole story, just a part of it.

"I…have things to overcome. Blocks to…push over," he admitted. He ignored the wry, knowing smile flashed his way. Instead, he focused on the book in her hands. He didn't notice the way her lips curved downward into a frown seconds later, and the furrowed brow that drew up while worry crept in her eyes.

"But…that still doesn't answer why you'd ignore the risks. I mean, survival, yeah, I get it. In the wild, I mean. But why go out of your way to pair off with people, and risk dying just to get better."

"From the studies I gleaned while at the professor's…it's been theorized and studied as to being more beneficial to a pokémon's health, like I mentioned. A pokémon who battles even only once every few months, their health and immunity jumps up higher than before. Something…there's something about battling that helps boost a pokémon's personal health versus one that never battles. There were other studies from other professors in different regions that Professor Elm was reading about and he was on a hype about it for several weeks, saying it could be another link to their faster evolution. A healthier immune system equaling out to a faster yet easier transition when it came to their growth cycles into the next stage of development." He laughed, glancing at her again. "But it's also fun to beat the snot out of someone else."

She scowled at him, and flicked the side of his snout. Riptide laughed again.

"You should get more pokémon, though. I know I'm strong, but I can't hold the two of us afloat for forever, you know."

"Excuse me?"

"Catch another pokémon. Is it that hard a concept to grasp? Phillip gave you some pokéballs before we left, didn't he?"

She stared at the side of his head, but her eyes soon drifted to the side of his neck, as they were usually wont to do nowadays. The flesh had long since healed and the once-large puncture marks where the fangs had pierced were barely discernable now, but she still shivered all the same. She conceded that he had a point, but she hesitated in voicing that. She didn't feel she was ready to take on another pokémon, an unknown newcomer with no idea on whether they'd hate her guts or if they'd try their damnedest to flee her presence.

The little Totodile snorted and whipped his tail against her arm, smacking it lightly. "Relax. Not all pokémon are like those sheltered ones back at the lab. I know you've noticed how the city dwellers didn't seem to mind you all that much. There are bound to be plenty of wild pokémon who can stand your smell too. Some might even be attracted to it."

Lupin gave him a disgruntled look.

"Not that way, you sicko."

"I wasn't thinking about that!"

"You are now," he replied dully, swiping a page with his paw to turn it.

"Only because you friggin' mentioned it. If anyone's the pervert, it's you. Just—how old are you, are you even allowed to talk about that shit?"

"We don't measure our ages the same as you," Riptide replied, but he paused, contemplating. "But if I were to do so…perhaps two. My kind grow slowly at my stage. The breeders want to develop potential fighters and it takes time."

"…that's not a comforting thought. You're two years old."

"Wait until I'm a Croconaw. I'll be equivalent in age to your young adults. Or a human's, at least. How fast do werewolves grow?"

"I…I don't know," she admitted, her face flushing and her ears pressing tighter against her skull beneath her hat. "It…my journal doesn't say. But I don't think I was a…born one."

Riptide fell quiet and so did she, and the silence stretched on. Neither of them had fully broached the subject about Lupin's missing bits and pieces of her past. She wasn't quite ready to share what she knew from her book—which was, admittedly, not much. And he wasn't quite ready to poke the Ursaring, so to speak, for answers, not since the full moon, even after their growing mutual understanding and respect to one another. If he could blush, he probably would have been doing so for carelessly forgetting and slinging the question her way. He knew enough as well as her that she had been bitten and torn asunder, and that was most likely how she'd come to be what she was. The scars written across her body were testimony to that.

He reflected once again that it might have been a blessing in disguise that she didn't know who had done it, but then he remembered her night terrors. She woke every morning before dawn in a panic and cold sweat, reeking of terror and desperation to get away from…whatever it was she had been dreaming of. She claimed to never recollect what she'd been seeing, and he believed her. It was hard not to, when the confusion set in shortly after she awoke, the knitting of her brow and upsetting frown forming on her face. She both yearned and feared to know what she was trying to remember while she slept that her conscious mind refused to glean access to.

A young girl in a flowery sun dress skipped past them, and a trio of Bellossom followed in her wake as she approached the front counter. Riptide watched them for a few spare moments.

"I'm sorry," he said at last, "I didn't mean to—"

"I-It's okay…really." She lifted her hand to cover the back of his head, her index finger stroking the area just behind his eyes. They closed on reflex, both sets of eyelids sliding shut at the pleasurable tingle her scratches emitted and he let out a long, drawn out hiss.

"Ohhhh, yessss….right there…"

She chuckled, but it was short-lived and the silence quickly built up again, but he didn't feel the same amount of tension and awkwardness shielding the bubble around them now.

"Do you…really think I could be a trainer? Like, an actual one. Not just…an assistant lab tech."

He peeped one eye open and tilted his head to glance at her.

"…I do. You have potential. You catch on to things quick. I'm sure whatever they teach in those classes, you'd learn fairly quickly. I saw the way you watched the professor worked, especially around the machinery. The way your hands twitched unconsciously. I think they remembered the way they used to tinker and work. Phillip's hands do the same. They twitch too, aching to do something when there's nothing to do."

He paused, closing his eyes again. They had remained in solitude in their little corner of the center, with no one spying on them or eavesdropping. No one bothered them as they carried on their conversation.

"I know you noticed how you smell like machine oil too. It's faint, but it's there…and there's a reptile musk about you, too. You must have been a trainer at some point, but something happened. You lost them, and now you have to start over, but…I think you'll be just fine. Maybe you'll find them again."

A small amount of false hope, they both knew it was just that, but it was a nicety he knew she'd appreciate it to some degree.

"Maybe…we should go to Violet City, then. And sign up for the trainer classes."

"You'll have to pay a large fee," he warned. "Older trainers tend to get hit harder than the children do, for obvious reasons."

"I suppose that's true," she nodded and sighed. "I guess…I'm gonna have to find a way to get the money saved up, then."

"You might get a discount or a cut in the price if you call the professor."

"I don't want to impose—,"

"Shut up with the nice act, call his ass, and demand a trainer's license. Put on some pouty lips you lot can do and maybe some tears and he'll crack."

Lupin glared at him as he rattle-laughed.

"I don't cry on cue." She huffed back.

"Then I will. A poor ailing pokémon doomed to never see the real side of battling. I'm sure he'll be touched enough to cover most of the fees."

"I'm not getting him to pay!"

"Then suffer under an assistant lab tech's license and live with the regret." He countered, and she groaned.

"You're an evil little croc, you know that?"

"I learned from the best in my family," he chortled back, smacking her book. "Come. Put that dead weight back into that magic bag of yours and let's get some chow. We should be able to reach the Haunted Forest so we can make it through by tomorrow night if we get an early start."

"Just don't eat the rental pokémon."

"This again? I told you. Wild ones are better. They're fatter."

"Have you ever had one?"

"Once and it was delicious. I relish in having another someday." He paused to jump off her lap, then added as an afterthought, "And no, I won't eat the rental pokémon. I swear."

"Should I even believe you?"

Lupin began to carefully push the book back into her pack, mindful of the egg that sat nestled in her pack. It was the very same one Professor Elm had had her fetch, and now she was on a new mission for him: to care for the egg until it hatched. He had admitted, rather sheepishly, that he and Phillip simply didn't have the time for the small nuances of egg-care. He had rattled on about how traveling seemed to encourage them to hatch rather than sitting in an incubator in a lab day in and day out, something or other, but Lupin had agreed nonetheless.

She ran a hand over its smooth surface, comforted by its warmth and the faint movements she could feel from within. It must be close to hatching, she figured, before carefully reassembling her sleeping bag over it as additional cushion. Shouldering her pack at last, she sighed as Riptide continued. "Would this face lie to you?"

"Yes, I believe so," she answered without looking at him, scooping him up to perch on her shoulder. He skittered across the length of her shoulders, snorting as he settled down.

"Fun killer."'

She sighed in exasperation. "I told you, it's 'killjoy', not 'fun killer'."

"I like mine better."

"Of course you do."

Violet City, if she had mapped it out correctly, was a little over a week away. The rest for the night will be a welcome relief, but she knew they had a ways to go.

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"All right, so…the books said I'd have to—"

"Forget the books."

"But—"

"Forget. The. Books. I told you, I know how to do this."

"Riptide, I—"

"Dammit, you stupid woman, I can do this and I have more experience, so you'd best listen to me!"

Lupin stared at the blue-scaled reptile, frozen in shock and bewilderment at his hissy outburst. They had bypassed Cherrygrove several hours before, and were now resting, although Lupin would hardly call what they were doing 'resting'. Riptide was restless. He wanted to battle and with much reluctance, she'd given a bit of slack in the leash she'd had him on along the way to Cherrygrove. She had even promised, after several days' worth of grating pleads and whining from Riptide, to add another pokémon to their roster.

Her bemusement quickly settled into annoyance and her ears flared back against her skull. He stared back, unimpressed at the glower she presented him with. They held their stare off for several long seconds before he snorted, turning away to stare into a sea of rippling grass that grew in tall stalks on one side of the road. The side they were on, was clean of it all, the ground worn from previous resting bodies. He glanced back at her, the sun making his yellow-red eyes dance.

"The grass is the best place to go sniffing out pokémon. There are plenty of beginner-worthy ones in there," he continued with a faint nod of his snout. "You track one down or stumble over one, or they come rushing you, or maybe we can catch one by surprise—it doesn't matter. As soon as that happens, I can take it from there, weaken it enough for you to catch in one of those empty pokéballs. Simple enough, yes?"

"Uh…"

"What? Is it too hard to grasp? Need me to break it down even more?" He asked dully.

"Rip…"

She nodded over back toward the grass. He turned his attention back and blinked. A Pidgey had come hopping out of the grass, pecking at the ground. Its dusty brown and cream coloured feathers fluffed up and the little bird shuddered, tail feathers rattling back and forth as it paused in its pecking. Riptide looked up at her and she stared back. Then they both turned their attention back to the Pidgey who either didn't care that they were there, or wasn't paying very good attention to its surroundings.

"…well?"

Lupin hesitated for another moment, digging into her pack for a spare pokéball. After pressing the button to expand it, she nodded to him.

"Water gun."

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"Do I come across you lot, kicking up dirt and spaying air into your faces? Nooo, I didn't, I was just minding my own business and then you rude lot come and attack me!"

"Please. Please, let me eat him. He's so annoying, he won't shut up!"

Lupin sighed, her arm propped up on her knee, her chin in her hand as she watched the little Pidgey rant as he strutted and hopped and fluttered back in forth. Riptide was attempting to cover his ears with his paws, but they couldn't quite reach his head all the way.

"Um…Syd?"

"I'm not done!"

"Yes, yes you are. You got caught. Live with it."

The Pidgey puffed up, looking rather indignant, before the feathers all settled back down and all the air came hissing out of his beak.

"Fine. I'm done," he muttered. Then he perked and hopped over to Lupin, landing on her free knee. She sat back up, leaning on her arms. "So. You're my trainer. My brothers and sisters were caught by some of you types running through here over the last few years. But…I don't think any of them had those things sticking out of their heads."

He began preening himself.

"Well…I'm not exactly human. Can't you smell it?"

"Some birds don't have that great a sense of smell, lady. We depend more on our sight and sound than our noses. You don't really smell all that much, except kinda…musky."

"'Musky'," Lupin repeated dully. Riptide rattle-laughed. Lupin reached over and flicked his hide.

"Yeah. Musky. Ain't too much else to say. Except you look weird." Syd cocked his head to the side. "Doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Weird can be good, too."

Lupin didn't feel very moved or convinced by the bird's reassurance, but she didn't press the issue. Instead, she shifted to gather her pack and motioned to Riptide to come over. He waddled closer and she scooped him up, replacing him on her shoulders. Syd fluttered into the air, circling overhead and came in for a landing—right on Riptide's head.

"Get. Off. Me."

"Naawww, I think I like this spot. You make a good perch, there, uh…what's your name again?"

"You won't live long enough to remember it by the time I'm through with you, bird. Get off my head."

"Empty threats, you wouldn't eat me." Syd hesitated, then leaned closer to Lupin's twitching ear and muttered, "He wouldn't, would he?"

Lupin shrugged. "I dunno. He kept staring at some of those rental Hoothoot down at the Haunted Forest like they were ready-to-go meals…"

She grinned at a little at the startled chirp Syd made. He promptly jumped back into the air with a flutter of his wings and came to settle on Lupin's other mostly-empty shoulder. His wing pressed against her cheek, warm and comforting and the smell of feather dust kept drifting over to her. It was…pleasant.

"I'm not taking my chances with that stinking reptile. I just remembered I heard about one of my cousins got offed by one of them Totodiles not too long ago."

"Smart Pidgey," Riptide crooned back with a chortle. "Know your place in the food chain and this team."

"Oi. No one is eating anyone while they're on my roster. Be nice," Lupin finally said, deciding it was time to intervene and nip this in the bud. She didn't want things getting ugly if they didn't have to. She knew she shouldn't have egged the situation on, but hell…she couldn't help it. It was kinda funny.

"Fine, fine," she heard from Riptide. Nodding in satisfaction, Lupin picked up her hat last and carefully tucked her ears away under it. After she did that, she started back down the path again.

"Well, now that that's over, why don't we start heading out to Violet City now."

"Violet City? I'm from around there. If you need directions, just let me know."

"Thanks, I'll take it into consideration. I kinda wanna try this new device I got from Cherrygrove City."

Lupin dug into one of her inner coat pockets and pulled out a blue device that she flipped open. A screen lit up and displayed a map of the Johto region. Syd and Riptide leaned in a little.

"Ooh. A pokegear. Isn't that the one the old man in Cherrygrove had?"

"He gave it to me while you were snapping at those Murkrow, yes," Lupin answered. She flipped it closed and put it back into her coat pocket. Syd sneezed.

"Ah, the tech you humans come up with."

"Lupin, where did it say we were on the map? Show it to us again," Riptide interrupted. She glanced at him. The little croc hissed, one of his yellow-red eyes level with her.

She frowned, but obliged in bringing it back up, showing where the little glowing dot was.

"From what I figured, each pokégear is tracked via satellite and can tell every registered user where they are. I did some research on it while we were still in Cherrygrove. The Silph Company is the leading technological corporation in Johto and Kanto. So long as we update the software, and even the digital maps, we can use this just about anywhere. It's not as popular in the other regions as it is here, but it's possible we could go to, say…hmmm. Unova? Is that it? Well, if we went there and uploaded a map card of that region, we could have the same advantages as say, here."

"Like I said, the tech you humans come up," Syd repeated, ruffling his feathers against her cheek. "I personally think a regular map woulda done nicely. Or my eyes up above, but hey, whatever works. Just don't go crying when it fails ya. Tech might be handy, but I seen plenty of humans get lost due to glitchy tech."

"We'll be fine, Syd. Don't worry," Lupin reassured. She still had her paper map tucked away in her pack, and she could guide them as far up as Mr. Pokémon's home. After that, it should be a breeze to make the appropriate trail over to Violet City. Riptide hummed against Lupin's other cheek, bumping his snout against it.

"We still have a week's worth of traveling to do. I suggest training while we do that."

"Those damned spiders are back just north of here. Everyone's vacated the area. We'll have to move in the daytime to get past them," Syd concurred. Riptide shuddered and Lupin reached up to pat his side.

"We had a run in with them coming back down after an errand a few weeks back."

"The Rangers mighta taken care of them, but I doubt it. They take forever to get their tail feathers down here. Evidence this and proof that…tch. Burn them out, I say. Might lose a bit of forest and a few pokémon, yeah, but something else will grow back. It always does."

Lupin frowned at the Pidgey's rather calloused opinion and it reminded her of the night she had brought fire to life with only her will. She had felt tempted, she would admit, to do the very same thing. It had been a fleeting idea, one that didn't stick, but now she wondered what would have happened if she had followed through. Riptide made no comment, and she wondered if he even knew.

She pushed the thoughts from her mind.

"Well, we don't exactly have a fire-type with us and I doubt we'd find one, short of trading one of you away or adopting one."

"You can keep an eye out. It'd be useful against the bug-types that roam the place, especially the poisonous ones. The grass-types are more docile, but a few can get uppity every once in a while. Those Spearow, though, they're a pain. They're always attacking me and my flock, and Ho-Oh forbid if those damned Fearow don't join in on their terrorizing us." Syd grumbled. "A fire-type would probably scare off any who try to attack us, too."

Riptide hummed again.

"We'll see. One step at a time. Let's just make it up to Violet City first."

"What're you gonna do up there, anyway? Challenge the gym leader there?"

"Who's that again?"

"Falkner. He specializes in flying-type pokémon, like me. I toldja, I live around the area. I know a thing or two about the place," Syd continued. He went to preening himself again.

"Um…well, not really. I'm not going there to challenge the gym leader. I'm…going to school."

"School."

"To…get my license, to be a trainer."

There was a brief pause, and the longer it dragged on, the more awkward it got. Syd became very still. Riptide froze as well, waiting.

"Wait a minute. You mean to tell me…you're not a licensed trainer?"

"Not…exactly," she admitted. "I…don't exactly remember…anything. About myself, where I'm from, who I was. I got amnesia. I didn't have a license on me when I was found, so I have to get a new one."

"Oh. That sounds…simple enough."

"Not really. I have to study for three weeks and then take some kind of test. I could use some help, though."

"From me, right?"

"And Riptide. He's…he's pretty good at this stuff. So, what do you say? Feel like sticking around for a while longer?"

"You askin' me? You're the aspiring trainer-to-be. Wait. Hold old are you?"

"Uh…according to my dog tags, I'm…thirty-four."

"…You're old."

"Shut it," she snapped back, although it wasn't entirely calloused. Syd chirped back, nipping at her bangs. She flapped a hand at him and he nipped at her fingers before going back to her bangs and preening through them with his beak.

"I meant you're old for a starting trainer," he backtracked. "Don't take it too personally. There's plenty of adult students that go to the academy in Violet City. Looks like they got all sorts that go through there."

"She'll do fine. She's smart," Riptide said on her other side. "If she pays attention and doesn't forget."

"Oh, here we go again. Forgetful jokes at my expense. Ha-ha."

He rattle-laughed. "You make it easy."

"Shut it," she reiterated again with a sigh.

This was going to be another long trip, but now with double the company. Joy. She smiled in spite of herself, however. It wasn't going to be as lonely though, she reflected. Even if Professor Elm had snuck in Riptide to do this in the first run up here, she was…glad. She looked back on the idea of doing this alone and found that it wouldn't have been as fun to pass the time. It would have been lonely. She liked this a lot better.

And who knows, maybe she'd meet more amicable pokémon like these two. One could only hope, right?

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