And here we go.
The pokémon that crawled and burrowed on the earth happily approached the calm lake for a drink. The pokémon that swam and paddled in the water were gentle and familiar, this was a safe place for everyone. Pokémon that flapped and flew in the air watched from above, certain in the tranquillity of the lake below.
Everything changed when Angie attacked.
"I… feel like I should be stopping this," Felix said, eyeing the field of destruction currently unfolding before him. Lilith yawned, finding the chaos a little loud. Delphim hid behind him. The rest of his pokémon had chosen to remain in their balls for the moment.
"Yes! Go, Luxio! Attack, destroy! AHAHAHAHAHHA!"
Gabriel pressed a drink of chocolate into his hand, steaming with heat. In the twelve seconds it took for him to raise the cup to his lips to drink, it had gone cold and icy. He enjoyed the iced chocolate drink anyway.
"Just think," Gabriel began, opening up his cold storage to pull out something to cook up for whatever traumatised pokémon Angie would eventually catch. Instead he was greeted with mounds of pokéball's and his mouth snapped shut.
He looked to Felix and Felix glanced away. Delphim giggled at Gabriel's annoyance, but hid behind Felix again when Gabriel turned the look on him.
Sighing, Gabriel began to pull the pokéball's out and dump them on the ground. "Don't litter!" Felix gasped as several of them rolled away.
"I'm not," Gabriel said, continuing to dump pokéball's on the ground. "Good lord, how many did you buy? You said one shop!"
Felix chuckled awkwardly. "We may have not have actually gone to the bathroom when we left Lumiose."
His apologetic laughter turned to something more genuine when Gabriel gave him an extraordinarily flat stare.
"Cut it off, you look like a stunfisk."
Rolling his eyes, Gabriel finished unpacking the pokéball's and delved into the actual food. Something exploded behind them, causing Felix to jump.
A waft of steam blew up and Angie staggered out of it, coughing slightly.
"Score!" she gasped, victoriously holding a pokéball high to the sky.
"You finally chose something?" Felix asked as she stumbled over.
"This azurill," Angie replied, spinning the ball as Luxio trotted happily behind her. He was rather winded at the moment and his fur was wet, but he was accomplished. "Toughest thing I've seen yet! Took eight Thunderbolt's before it was still enough for me to lob a ball at."
Behind her, scores of unconscious and scared pokémon littered the previously calm lake.
"I think I'll make arancini balls." Gabriel decided, pulling out rice.
"Later," Felix said, grabbing his brother by the arm. "I think it's better if we just go." Lilith was looking a little too interested at the prospect of someone tough and looking like she may want to 'play' with them.
"Yeah…" Angie agreed, glancing behind her. "We've got to get to Santalune City! Also, this kinda looks like a massacre."
"Pokémon are tough," Felix said, pushing the food Gabriel had pulled out back in. Lilith snorted at the idea that THIS was a massacre. "But still, we've got to go."
"I show her a massacre," the absol muttered before reluctantly getting up to follow.
"I think I'll call 'im Bugs," Angie said as they fled the scene of the technically-not crime.
"You're actually going to name your pokémon?" Felix asked, surprised.
"Of course."
He gave a pointed look to Luxio, he simply rolled his shoulders at him. "I'm fine with who I am," Luxio said. Felix relayed that to Angie.
"I know," she scoffed and that was that. They'd meet the azurill later.
Later would come at the evening. The three of them were heading through Santalune Forest, taking a couple days to do so.
It had surprised Felix that it surprised him when Angie said she wanted to catch a pokémon already. "As awesome as Luxio is, I need to have at least two pokémon for a Gym Battle, right?"
He had decided not to correct that. After Angie tore that tranquil lake apart to find the strongest pokémon, he wondered if he should have.
Gabriel cooked. Being in a forest whole regions away from his kitchen weren't going to stop him and the oil sizzled as he carefully dunked the arancini balls.
He tossed a potion to Angie, saying. "You better heal up your new pokémon. Right now, they are probably scared of you for the battle at the lake. Show them that you mean no harm."
She had taken the potion with a nod and unclipped the pokéball containing Bugs and activated it. Felix came in from collecting more firewood to find a quaint moment in front of him. Delphim accompanied him, carrying some 'lesser' sticks that he judged suitable to be burned, his own one was tucked carefully in his tail.
Felix had, as he always did, sent his pokémon out to do their own thing. Lilith and Shadow were off staring at the moon unobstructed by the trees and thus weren't in the clearing. Tyson was watching Gabriel and getting him ingredients. Adrien was on his side, napping. Isolde was playing with his pokégear, watching a video on it.
Angie sat with legs crossed, holding an azurill in her lap as she sprayed potion over the marks and burns while Luxio spoke quietly to them. Compared to before, when Angie initially let Bugs out, this was considerably more contained.
That tail was surprisingly heavy and thumped Felix in the chest like a bowling ball.
Bugs was a lot calmer now, and Felix smiled at Angie being delicate. He still wasn't too sure about that violent episode earlier in the day, but the pokémon should be fine.
He hoped that little espurr that had been trying to run after them would be okay. It had been shouting very grand threats, but he was sure it wouldn't be a problem.
Felix dumped the sticks by Gabriel and made his way over to Angie. Luxio looked up at him as he approached and nodded to Delphim.
"Hello," Felix said, politely, sitting down a few feet back from Angie and Bugs.
"H-hello," Bugs replied, voice quiet and gentle.
"What's Bugs saying?" Angie asked.
"Hello," Felix replied, causing the azurill to jump.
"Did you?"
"Understand you?" Felix grinned. "Sure did. Good to meet you, I'm Felix, resident pokémon whisperer."
He scooted closer and held his hand out. Bugs seemed too dazzled to react, however.
"U-Um. I'm so sorry for hitting you," she said. Felix thought it was a she, at least. It was difficult to tell with baby pokémon.
"I'm fine," Felix replied, waving it off easily. "Just apologising for hitting me," Felix explained, spotting Angie's curiosity.
She snorted. "Don't worry! I saw him get dragged around by a tauros, shocked by an electivire, and hugged by a bewear. Felix is weirdly tough."
"I'm not sure what all that means," Bugs replied, "but okay. I'm still sorry, though."
Angie looked to Felix for help. He explained. "Bugs doesn't know what all that means, but sure."
Angie laughed. "I like you." Angie gave the azurill a pat on the head, in which Bugs leaned into. Already the mental scars of the capture seemed to be fading, or Stockholm Syndrome was setting in awfully quickly.
Then again, Felix thought back to the pokémon he had captured. Very few of them had been purely through battle, he had tended to befriend them beforehand and some of them wanted battles regardless.
Not many of them were caught purely through battle.
"Tania and Andrew and Adrien were," he considered, glancing over to the snoozing aerodactyl. "Coincidentally three of my most troublesome pokémon. I better keep an eye on Bugs, at least for a while."
As if sensing his thoughts on troublesome pokémon, Lilith slunk out of the night and rubbed her scythe against his back before trotting off to demand food. Felix rubbed the small cut she had inflicted.
"That was scary," Bugs whispered. Lilith had stared the azurill right in the eyes with a predatory gaze before she had walked off.
"She's scarier than she looks," Felix advised, standing up. He looked around until he spotted Shadow, the umbreon also returning from the trip to stare at the moon.
"I… okay?" Bugs said, puzzled. Was that supposed to be said that way?
"Yes, but don't worry. She's fine if I'm around."
Bugs took that to heart, the absol was looking over at them again with that hungry look.
Angie made a 'bleh' sound and Bugs shivered when they saw Felix sit down with Lilith and allow the absol to bite his hand.
"He is so weird," Angie muttered under her breath, choosing not to look at the gross 'ritual' Felix did to keep that psycho under control.
Bugs copied her and the two stared aggressively at the trees until Gabriel called them over for dinner. It was safe, thankfully, and Felix had a bandage over his hand now.
"Can't you, like, buy blood or something for her?" Angie asked Gabriel as they sat down.
"No," Felix answered in place of his brother.
"Did I ask you?"
"I knew the answer."
"Well, why?" Angie asked, shoving some arancini in her mouth before feeding some to Bugs. "Seriously? That's really weird Felix, and it can't be good for either of you."
"It's a mental thing," Felix answered, looking over to where Lilith had retreated to lay down. She was awake and listening, smirking slightly.
"She IS mental, that's true," Angie muttered, Lilith's smirk grew wider.
"Please let it go," Felix asked, eating some of his own food. "The more she knows it bothers you, the more she'll want to do it. And it's not pleasant."
"Boundaries, Felix. For fucks sake, just say no."
"Would you prefer it if she decided to bite Luxio?" Felix replied, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Just let it go. Please."
Angie looked around, spotting her partner safe and away from the absol. "Fine," she grouched.
"Once we find my pokémon in Santalune City, I'll be able to start rotating my pokémon again. She won't always be on the team."
"I said fine."
"Okay."
"Good."
"Good."
Gabriel watched it go down in silence. It wasn't his place to tell Felix how he should manage his pokémon, especially when Felix was the most experienced of the three of them in managing pokémon on the road. Didn't mean he liked the absol biting him to 'calm her nerves'. He resolved to talk to Lilith at some point, see if he could offer something more to her taste."
By morning the small argument had been forgotten and both Felix and Angie were filled with energetic excitement.
"My first Gym Battle shall be TODAY!" Angie crowed at the top of her lungs. "So, that means we're going to fight stuff we see along the way," she said, patting Bugs on the head.
"G-Great."
"I can't wait to see Tania again," Felix cheered, he was also brimming with volume that left Gabriel red-eyed and murderous. "As well as Tristan, Baku, Andrew, Ruby, AND Horizon. I hope they aren't too upset with me."
"I don't think they'll be like Lilith," Tyson said, also being an early riser. Everyone else chose to remain in their pokéball's for a few hours longer.
Felix chuckled at the scizor as Tyson pantomimed Lilith's actions to the humans of the group. Seeing those large pincers slicing along his thin neck with KO'd expressions was amusing enough to quell Gabriel's murder plans for the time being.
As they packed up, Angie and Felix shared a keen-eyed glance. He picked up a pokéball that had rolled out of Gabriel's bed in the morning, thinking of it now THAT might have been why he was so grumpy this morning. They had covered him with pokéball's as he slept, and he had rolled several meters into the trees when he had shifted.
He tossed the ball covertly to Angie as she picked up Gabriel's thermos and unscrewed it priming the ball and slotting it in. She screwed it back up and tossed it to Felix, who stashed it in Gabriel's day bag while he wasn't looking.
With everything packed, Luxio and Bugs out, Gabriel geared up, and Tyson with his sombrero hat on, the day began.
Angie carried Bugs when she wasn't throwing the azurill at the fletchinder's in the trees and commanding Bubblebeam, which she was ecstatic that Bugs already knew.
Felix stepped into a brief double battle with Angie when a fletchinder stole Tyson's sombrero and tried to escape with it and Tyson immediately flew after it in unmatched fury.
A Brick Break and Bubblebeam quickly recovered his precious hat and the scizor buzzed happily as he returned, hat back in place and hats band fluttering in the wind.
"Keep the band on next time," Felix said, pulling the band he had added to all of Tyson's hats taut around his neck and making sure it wouldn't slip off.
"It feels weird," Tyson complained.
"Well it's that or lose the hat again."
The scizor crossed his arms, pincers glaring at Felix, but soon relaxed and forgot about it. Felix released Isolde to the world and she immediately retrieved his pokégear to continue watching whatever video she had been last night.
"I'm getting ideas," she explained, holding the screen away from Felix, "I need it."
He rolled his eyes but relented. The gardevoir was happy, that was the important part.
The rest of the walk through the forest was calm and pleasant.
Until Gabriel had them stop for lunch and went for a small wander on his own.
"Take Shadow," Felix insisted, Gabriel shrugged and allowed it. The umbreon was quiet, but along the way he noticed Shadow was somewhat distracted.
"You're free to do whatever you want," Gabriel said, smiling down at Shadow. "I can take care of myself."
"Felix asked me to watch you," Shadow muttered, quietly. It didn't matter what he said, this wasn't his trainer. Gabriel couldn't understand him.
"I don't mind the company," Gabriel said, but they continued in silence.
Gabriel hummed something pleasant under his breath and Shadow found himself stepping in tune with whatever he was humming.
As they went, Gabriel picked a few trees and bushes for fruit, marvelling at the wild berries, but never taking too many. Only what he thought they would need.
It wasn't until they had made their way back, did something happen. The road they had stopped on was in view, so Shadow ran forward, he had picked a few berries himself he wanted to share with the others.
Gabriel lagged slightly behind, stepping more carefully on his two legs, and caught a small sound.
Curious, he turned away from the road and followed the sound, passing through bushes and slapping tree branches out of his face. He came across a miserable-looking houndour, panting harshly on the ground.
The houndour had heard, and smelled, him coming and made a warning sound, so Gabriel didn't step closer. Instead, he kneeled down until they were much closer to face-to-face and observed it for a moment.
The houndour didn't have the usual battle damage indicating injury. It wasn't limping and had stood to back away slightly upon him entering its spot. It was panting awfully hard, however.
"Hello," Gabriel said pleasantly. "You alright there?"
Houndour cocked its head, relaxing a bit. This human smelled nice, a little like fruits and berries and gentleness. Houndour panted and Gabriel reached out carefully and felt its nose. Dry.
Fire-types needed hydration too, so Gabriel pulled his thermos out. Something clunked as he pulled it out, but he took it to knocking the thermos on something hard in his bag. The tip was a little difficult for Houndour to drink from, so he unscrewed the top and let the canine pokémon lap the water as it tricked out.
It drank hesitatingly at first, eyeing him, and frowned when it looked into his thermos. But Gabriel held it most carefully and the houndour decided that this was okay. It drank until Gabriel needed to tip the thermos high enough for something to roll out.
The primed pokéball tapped it on the nose, not much of a surprise to Houndour who had spotted it in the container, and sucked it in. Gabriel froze up.
The air rushed out of his lungs like a deflating balloon as the houndour he was giving water to was drawn into red light and sucked into the pokéball. It tapped as it fell onto some sticks and crunched the leaves slightly as it rolled.
The air continued wheezing out of Gabriel's lungs until he was going blue in the face. The houndour wasn't weakened, hurt, or anything. It would break out; it would break out and run. That's what Gabriel, at least, was repeating in his head.
The pokéball clicked.
Gabriel stared at the ball in abject horror before the burning need for air caused his lungs to inflate with a sharp breath. He gasped for breath, not unlike the houndour earlier, before forgetting about the need to breathe and instead progressed to panic attack lane.
He made a soft of strangled squeak that drew attention and Felix and Shadow came rushing after him, smashing through the bushes like a pair of bulldozers.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Gabriel muttered, grabbing the pokéball and fumbling with it desperately. He had to get it out of there and free.
He pressed the button in the middle for too long and it shrunk, and he panicked some more before managing to get it large and then open. In a flash of white, Houndour reformed with a happy bark.
"Oh, my," Houndour said, blinking in surprise as Felix and Shadow arrived, Angie and Luxio not far behind them. "That was interesting."
Then he perked up and began running around Gabriel, barking in excitement. "I have a trainer! I have a human trainer! This is wonderful."
Gabriel dropped to his hands and knees, showing that he was not taking in the happy sounds. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, but I can fix this, just let me." He grabbed the pokéball. "Undo this."
"Woah! Woah-woah-woah." Felix intervened and grabbed Gabriel's hand before he tried to smash the pokéball or something. "Stop, Gabriel, this is great! And look, he's so excited."
Houndour jumped on Gabriel, tackling him onto his back, and began licking his face.
"He's saying he's happy, if that wasn't obvious," Felix said, translating for his older brother.
"I… what?" Gabriel whispered, barely even noticing Houndour licking at his face. Angie arrived and immediately took stock of the situation.
"YeaaAAAAH! It worked!" She and Felix fist bumped. "You caught your first pokémon! Houndour's a great one. Good job!"
"Incredible job."
"So wonderful."
"So fabulous."
"Exceptional!"
"Sensational!"
"And all thanks to US!" they cheered together. Their cheers stopped when Gabriel turned, eyes of ever-burning wrath upon them.
"I didn't want this," he hissed, picking himself up. He held the happy houndour in his arms, but still looked frightfully angry. "I'm sorry, Houndour, but it looks like this will take longer than I thought, and I know these two won't help."
He still held the pokéball and so he stomped off as Felix and Angie took on a more guilty expression. He didn't make them lunch, simply focused on figuring out the pokéball. There weren't many buttons, but no instruction manual either, so he wasn't sure what he needed to do to free Houndour from his wicked, worthless, grasp.
"So..." Houndour started, noticing his new human companion wasn't much of a conversationalist and currently caught up in their thoughts. "What's your name, human? Either my memory is off from that pokéball to the head, or I'm just plain forgetful, but I never did catch it." He nudged against the trainer's leg for attention.
They were alone for the moment, in the human city. His human had been fiddling with the handy human device that had brought Houndour along, muttering about 'fixing this'. Houndour didn't see anything that needed to be fixed.
There was something that needed to be mended there.
The nudge seemed to bring the older brother back to reality as he stopped his staring at the Dark-type and the shock began to wear off. "Oh! I'm sorry about that! You are right. I never did properly introduce myself." He lowered himself to be at eye contact with the dog. "My name is Gabriel."
The pokémon's eyes widened when the human spoke. He was expecting some belly rubs and scratches behind the ear when he tried to make a connection, not a proper answer to his question. "You can understand me!?"
"Shhhhh!" Gabriel quickly wrapped his hands around the Houndour's muzzle. "Keep your voice down, please!" The older brother looked around if Felix and Angie were nearby, or any of their pokémon. He could never be too sure after all.
Thankfully the duo had already split up to do what they needed to do. Felix was combing through the city to find the Pokémon Centre that Tania said she had her group at, while Angie was tracking the Santalune Gym down. "Alright. I'm going to let go now, but no more shouting, got it?" The dog pokémon nodded, and that was enough Gabriel to release his hold on him.
"You can understand me," Houndour stated, but he had a big smile on his and pounced on Gabriel. "To think the human that gave me water can also talk to pokémon! I must be the luckiest pup in the pack!"
"Speaking of which," Gabriel said, reluctantly pushing Houndour off him, "don't you want to go back to your family? I'm sure they are worried about you. I did accidentally catch you, after all."
However, Houndour just waved a paw at him. "Nah, the pack will be fine without me, and I don't have any strings attached to them. I'm glad to be here! It's always been a dream to travel with a human. So who are the other two humans?" He asked, thinking of the green-haired tomboy and the sullen teenager.
"Angie and Felix," Gabriel responded. "Listen, I never owned a pokemon before and don't feel com-"
"Figures from your scent. Right, then!" Houndour hopped off and interrupted him. "Starting today, we are a pack! Don't worry about your inexperience! I know how to carry myself in a fight and-"
"Houndour, slow down there," Gabriel said. "We just met. You don't have to pretend to care all of a sudden."
"Er...?" The Houndour recoiled at that blunt reply and took a few steps back from Gabriel. "Ahahah. Guess you are right there, but we got to start somewhere, though." Houndour laughed the tension away and took a closer look at his trainer's face. "Weird. I thought trainers would be excited about partnering up with a pokemon. What's up with him?" he thought. "That's fine with me. I don't know how to run a pack with just the two of us anyway, so let's be friends. How does that sound?" Houndour asked.
"I… I don't… Houndour," Gabriel said sternly, "I'm not a trainer, I know pokémon think of getting stronger and battling powerful foes. You won't live to the fullest with me, it'll be best if I either find a way to get this damn ball to work or give you to someone who will actually give you what you want."
"You smell nice," Houndour said, nosing in close to Gabriel's bemusement. "I already like you. You'd send me away just like that?"
He peered up and Gabriel made the rookie mistake of looking down, ready to reiterate his point. He took a direct shot of the puppy-dog eyes straight to the heart and faltered for a moment.
"I don't… Houndour," Gabriel groaned. He could almost cough up blood from a blow that hard. He was a strong human; he had dealt with cute pokémon hundreds of times. Never something quite like this, however.
"Let's have fun today," Houndour barked, taking Gabriel's groan as defeat and acceptance. "I've come to a human place a few times for food! I can show you the best place to find food!"
He began to drag Gabriel along, the human walking along reluctantly, but without any fight, and began to chatter about the best places to go. There was a human building, a lovely calm lake everyone was safe at, and even a berry patch!
Gabriel smiled just a little as they walked, but his mind was still focused on cracking the code of the pokéball.
Felix was slightly annoyed. He had tried two Pokémon Centre's already, with no luck. On the second failure, he asked the Nurse Joy if she would contact the others in the city to learn which centre currently was holding a weavile, swampert, spiritomb, arbok, ninetales, and an archeops.
Privately he worried about what trouble they may be causing.
Particularly Baku and Andrew. Spiritomb weren't exactly seen as the nicest of pokémon around and Andrew was simply difficult, even for an arbok.
He had waited until Joy was free enough to make the call for him and within a few minutes she had pinpointed the correct centre.
Felix hoped it was his imagination that the Nurse Joy on the other end sounded at the end of her rope and he was advised to get over there quickly. That was also clearly just because his pokémon were missing him and not that Tania was stealing medical supplies.
Tristan would be keeping the peace. Surely.
But because he himself was eager, he unleashed Adrien and flew through Santalune City, avoiding a couple of other trainers riding large pokémon, including one interesting trainer taking a drifblim as a balloon.
It reminded him of Jessie, James, and Meowth for a moment and he smiled before the rest of his memory caught up and wiped that off his face.
Felix kept an eye out, feeling the wind wooshing by his ears. He tapped Adrien on the jaw when he spotted the Pokémon Centre and Adrien circled it for a moment, deciding on where best to crash-land.
The Pokémon Centre had a slightly occupied battlefield and as usual Adrien came down in the most inconvenient place. They slammed and rolled on the brushed dirt, shocking two young trainers having a battle.
"U-Uh? Are you okay?" one of them asked as Felix picked himself up from the crater in the ground.
"I'm fine," he said, happily and Adrien snorted before getting returned into a pokéball. "Sorry for crashing your battle, I'll get out of the way now."
He walked off.
"Did he… make a pun?" the other trainer asked; both of them as well as their fennekin and froakie remained stunned.
Felix wiped his dusty, clammy, hands as he approached the centre. He knew it was best to brace himself, the commotion of his arrival plus the earlier phone call was sure to have his pokémon upon him soon.
He was not wrong.
Felix had not even spotted the door to the centre when a shadow appeared above him. He looked up sharply, but it was too late to run.
A whole archeops worth of muscle and feathers landed on him, crushing him into the pavement instantly.
Before Felix could even begin to push Horizon off him, he was dogpiled further with an alolan ninetales pouncing on him as well.
"Where did you come from?" he groaned against the stone as Horizon and Ruby squawked and barked in excitement.
Salvation came as a large hand tugged him out from under them, belonging only to a responsible swampert. Felix was greatly relieved Tristan had come with this particular group, if anyone could curb Tania, Andrew, and Baku it'd be him. Good to know his pokemon had some sense when charging off into an unknown region with criminals to find him.
He was held by the bag of his shirt and hanging in Tristan's grip. Felix could see the relief and exhaustion in Tristan's eyes the moment they met before the physical pressure continued when the swampert squeezed him in a bear-hug.
"You live-persist!" a distorting voice howled, and Tristan released him for Baku to smother him with the smoggy body of a spiritomb. Thankfully it wasn't actual smog and Felix could breathe through all the interesting colours. "Felix is not deceased-buried in the ground!"
Tristan the swampert came to his rescue again and plucked him out of the grasp of the spiritomb and steadied the clearly dizzy trainer.
"Thanks, Tristan," Felix managed, gripping the swamperts arm tightly. Horizon jumped on him again, squawking in excitement and he was covered in archeops again.
Laughing, Felix slowly untangled himself from the rapturous archeops and gave her a hug back. "It's so good to see you all again," he said, helping himself up. "Where's Tania and Andrew?" he asked, looking around.
From the shade of a tree, the weavile Tania was leaning against the trunk, and she smirked as her eyes met Felix's. "You seem in one piece," the weavile said, stepping off and strolling over. "Damn. I had money on Lilith cutting your hand off or something."
"She threatened to," Felix laughed and ran forward, pulling Tania into a hug. The weavile rolled her eyes and patted him on the back, stealing his wallet in the process. He took it back from her as he released her, missing her snatching a few pokéballs off his belt.
She activated them and out came Tyson, Shadow, and Adrien.
"Shadow!" Ruby squealed and jumped on the umbreon, laughing happily.
Horizon and Adrien immediately took flight to circle the reunion like carrion feeders, talking as they went. It was nice to see that the aerodactyl was still getting along with someone.
Tyson simply rolled his eyes at Tania for betting incorrectly. He bared a scizor pincer as she threatened to raise trouble.
Felix quickly sent the others out as well. Lilith was largely unimpressed with Ruby's hysterics and cared not for any ninetales curse, grabbing her by a tail and tossing her off Shadow. Delphim immediately hid behind Felix's legs, barely avoiding being flattened by a falling ninetales, unsure of all these new pokémon he didn't know.
Isolde, on the other hand.
"TRISTAN!" the gardevoir cried and threw herself at the swampert. Using Psychic, she flew herself and also tugged him forward to catch her. The two beamed at each other and Tristan did a few spins, holding her in a bridal position before lifting her up.
The two nuzzled each other and everyone looked away to let the happy couple reunite with some privacy.
Except for Tania, who snatched Felix's pokégear and took photos.
"Score," Tania said, the weavile pleased at getting something to sell to Phoebe and begin paying off her crippling debt.
Tristan and Isolde stopped spinning and cooing at each other, thanks to Tristan getting dizzy. She carefully steadied him with some Psychic and he gently set her down.
"Ssso. You're back."
Felix turned and beamed at the sight of Andrew slithering his way towards him. The arbok did not look impressed, but he hardly blamed him for that.
"I ought to make you grovel for forgivenesss," Andrew hissed, raising to a towering height over Felix. The trainer was not intimidated by the pokémon's height and just smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry," Felix said, turning to look at all the new arrivals. "I was stupid and selfish, and there's no excuse for what I did. But I'm back now, are you willing to let me try to make it up to you."
"I want money," Tania said, immediately. She didn't budge even when Tristan told her off. "Newsflash, I'm still the leader of THIS little group." The weavile had some frost on her claws and a dangerous look in her eye.
"Do not speak to Tristan that way!" Isolde snapped, gliding to glare right down at Tania. A gardevoir was notably taller, but the weavile did not look intimidated.
"Girls, please," Felix asked. They scoffed at each other and turned away.
"You can ssstart by getting me some food," Andrew said, rolling his s' in that way the arbok did. His words instigated an immediate chorus of begging for food from everyone.
Laughing at their antics, Felix obliged.
"Just keep an eye on everyone for a minute," Felix asked Tristan later, once he had given everyone something to eat. The swampert nodded.
Nurse Joy looked up as Felix entered the Pokémon Centre. "Hello," she said pleasantly, with cold iron beneath it. "Felix, correct?"
"Yes." Felix nodded, giving a bashful laugh. He knew that look. "How much to cover what my pokémon have been doing?"
Nurse Joy levelled him with a flat look before the empty mask faded and she gave him a more truthful look. It still wasn't happy, but it wasn't quite so angry either.
"The swampert made sure to retrieve and return anything taken, although this behaviour from your weavile is greatly concerning."
"I've tried to get her counselling," Felix admitted. "Professor Rowan has tried, specialists have tried, she just can't seem to stop. I'm sorry."
"Yes, well, can you tell me exactly WHY you have so many pokémon wandering Kalos without your guidance?" She had been in contact with Rowan already, but Felix still needed to explain himself.
He delved into the story without much hesitation. Felix mostly skipped over the events at the end of Unova, but he was able to speak more freely about a honedge taking control of him and dragging him to Kalos.
"I can't remember much of what happened under its control," he admitted. "All I know is that it wanted to get powerful and was using me to do so."
Felix explained how his pokémon, refusing to allow him to disappear on them, had retrieved the help of someone. He didn't explain who, telling a Nurse Joy that members of Team Rocket knew him and had worked with his pokémon to find him could never go down well.
He still wasn't sure if he could face the TRio. Unova still stuck out hard in his mind, how Meowth had pretended to be ejected from the team, only to be using them all. Daring to actually take his pokémon as well, breaking the promises they had made to each other.
It didn't matter that they claimed they were going to hide his ones away and return them. He couldn't trust them again after that.
But they had brought his pokémon to Kalos, they had tracked him down and saved him. He didn't know how to feel about them anymore, so he put it out of his mind. It was for Future Felix to worry over.
Once Felix was done explaining himself, Joy nodded. "It sounds like you've got a difficult road up ahead," she said. "I'll contact as many of my family members as possible to keep an eye out for your pokémon. Until then, the professor sent these over."
She handed him the pokéball's for Tania, Tristan, Baku, Ruby, Andrew, and Horizon and Felix thanked her.
He had a day pass from Rowan to carry more than six active pokéball's, but it wouldn't last much longer. He chose to send his previous team, minus Delphim, and keep the newcomers. Besides Tristan, who wanted to spend more time with Isolde.
With his new team strapped to his belt, and Tania and Delphim by his sides wanting to remain outside, Felix decided to follow a hazy memory in order to find the Santalune Gym to watch Angie's battle.
Gabriel walked with Houndour. He remained silent, letting the pokémon do all the talking for them.
Thrilled at the idea of a human that could, in fact, understand him, Houndour talked on and on.
"So, that's when the espurr told me 'stop talking or else I'll blow'. It was funny, because when he did, I wasn't hurt!"
Despite his silence, Gabriel did listen intently. He smiled when Houndour looked up at him, checking his reaction.
Not perturbed by the overall lack of reaction, Houndour barked in excitement. "Ooh! We're nearly there." He dashed off into the leaves but returned in seconds. "Uh, haha, sorry. You're not as fast. Follow me!"
He followed behind the cheerful pokémon, its small stumpy tail wagging up a storm. Gabriel brushed leaves out of his hair and avoided branches slapping at his face.
He was sure one was a trevenant and was actually trying to hit him. Either way, he made it through without injury.
Houndour had been oddly cagey about where they were headed. Only offering a vague. "It's the best place," when Gabriel did ask. They weren't headed towards the city, so where they were headed he couldn't fathom.
Some berry patch, or handy spot for fishing, was all Gabriel could assume.
His ideas were dashed, along with the belief that things would ever be normal around Felix and Angie, when he exited the trees to find himself staring at a 7-11.
Just… a 7-11.
Not a worn-down, or abandoned, old building. A bright, well-kept, bustling 7-11.
Gabriel couldn't help but look around for any signs of mirrors or other reflective surfaces. Besides the windows of the building, nothing.
Houndour had watched a flurry of emotions cross his humans face. Shock, disbelief, suspicion, awe, then acceptance. An ending he planned for Gabriel to see Houndour himself as well. Part 1 had worked, Gabriel was here. Part 2… he wasn't sure on, but he was sure he'd work something out.
"Follow!" Houndour yipped and went around the side, not going towards the doors. He led Gabriel to the dumpster and began to try and climb up it. "They put lots of stuff in here!"
"Houndour," Gabriel said, catching Houndour when he slipped and fell. "Let's just go inside."
"No." Houndour shook his head. "The human always chases us out. This is the best spot!"
"Trust me."
He carried Houndour to the door and they automatically opened for him. A teenager glanced up as they entered and put on the customer face.
"Welcome! How may I help you?"
Houndour was stunned. There was no yelling, no broom, no dreaded loud machine of death. He was scarcely given a second look, the guardian simply accepting his presence now that he was with another of their kind.
This only cemented the decision in Houndour's heart. This was his human. The one who garnered such respect that even a pokémon known to steal was accepted immediately.
Gabriel paid for the items he was purchasing as Houndour was thinking and took them back outside. He set Houndour down and placed the food between them. "Here you go."
Houndour, delighted, immediately tore into the flaky thing. Pastry, Gabriel said, but he didn't care. It tasted even better than the stuff out of the metal cage. He ate half of it, drank two thirds of the water, all but one of some small cracker-objects, and one sandwich.
He left the rest, intentionally.
Noticing the human wasn't touching the spread, Houndour nudged a sandwich over to him. "Aren't you going to eat?" he asked, between bites.
It was funny, again, how Gabriel's face changed. Humans had such expressive features, going wide-eyed, open mouthed, to an embarrassed, composed, look, then to something resembling fond thanks.
To Gabriel, this was quite the surprise. He had helped rear pokémon for years at the Martin's Day Care. Pokémon were NOT good at sharing, least of all freshly wild pokémon.
He quietly nibbled at the sandwich, not wanting to offend Houndour. He couldn't help but consider names, for the briefest of seconds, before quashing that line of thought brutally and mercilessly.
This would not remain as such. As kind as Houndour was, oddly kind, Gabriel knew this was wrong in some way.
Especially not this houndour. It was far too good for him.
He finished the sandwich and his hands ended up on the pokéball again. He carefully fiddled with the object, searching for the release function.
Houndour's sated expression shattered into a mixture of pain and sadness before he shook it off. "Well, let's go!" he yipped, getting to all fours again. The food moved in his belly, wonderfully full. He'd like to take a nap, but clearly his human needed more convincing.
"Where?" Gabriel asked, puzzled. Good, very good, distract him until he loves you, Houndour thought.
"To the human place! So many go there, I haven't really been. There was too much going on there, but now I want to see it! Your pack went there, didn't they?"
"Felix and Angie, yes."
"I want to see them! They've got pokémon… don't they?" He almost said too but managed to hold that in.
Gabriel continued to look unsure, but Houndour didn't give him a chance to protest, nuzzling and prodding him with his nose until Gabriel was up and then trotting forward, leaving the human with no choice but to follow.
Clearly, he needed some work, but Houndour was the cleverest, smartest, and most clever of the pack! Most handsome, powerful, and humble too.
He would not give up.
Angie kicked the doors to the gym open, sending them crashing against the walls in a thunderous echo. "GYM LEADER!" she roared, rushing past a few people and onto the battlegrounds. "I AM HERE!"
"Finally," Felix snarked from where he was sitting in the bleachers. He put down his magazine to peer down at her judgementally. "I've been here for nearly thirty minutes waiting for you."
"Felix was kind enough to prepare us," the Gym Leader said, giving her a smile. "He said you may be excited about your first gym battle."
"You TOLD her!" Angie growled.
Felix raised his arms. "You're supposed to tell them!"
"I was gonna do it."
"Well, sorry."
"You will be."
Felix gave her the 'watching you' signal and Angie scoffed, turning back to the Gym Leader. "I'm Angie Martin, but he's probably told you all that already."
"Felix and I had quite the conversation," the Gym Leader replied lightly. "It was good to learn why he was so… out of it the first time we met. He has informed me of you, yes. I am Viola, the Gym Leader of Santalune City. So, Angie Martin, I accept your challenge."
Part of Angie was thankful for Felix setting everything up for her already. She could see from where she was sitting he had unleashed his pokémon to watch as well, Delphim and that weavile of his, Tania, were sitting with him while several pokémon she didn't know quite as well were mulling about.
He must have switched his team.
She was thankful he had set things up, so she could get right into this, but also annoyed. Because he just HAD to do so.
Either way, the sun was streaming through the many windows, and Angie had a battle to win.
"Luxio, I choose you!" Angie yelled, throwing a pokéball up. From it, in a burst of white light, her trusted starter pokémon Luxio emerged.
He landed on the ground and shook his mane before yelling. "LUUUUX!"
"He said he's ready!" Felix called.
"Peanut gallery needs to shut up!" Angie yelled back. Luxio spat some words at the same time, which Felix didn't translate. Partially because of Angie's order, partially because Luxio said the exact same thing.
"Good grief they ARE similar," Tania said, peering down at the trainer and pokémon. "You were right."
"Aren't I always?" Felix joked. Tania gave him a Look. "Don't answer that."
For a first challenger with absolutely NO experience, Viola summoned her nincada. A good, gentle, pokémon to ease a nervous challenger into their first large battle. Angie was filled with bluster; which Viola could tell was fuelled by nerves.
A referee waved his flags, cutting off Angie who almost went to order an attack. "The Gym Battle between Gym Challenger Angie, and Gym Leader Viola shall now commence. This will be a 2-on-2 battle with only the challenger allowed to switch pokémon. Challenger gets first move. Trainers… BEGIN!" He dropped the flags and the battle began.
"Use a Thunderbolt!" Felix yelled to mess her up.
"Shut UP!" Angie yelled. "Luxio, Quick Attack!"
Luxio shook his mane one more time before bursting into a flash of speed, crossing the battlefield in moments and slammed headfirst into Nincada. It was thrown back with a squeal. "All right!" Angie cheered.
Viola kept a smile on her face as Nincada landed, it chittered something dissatisfied before pulling itself over onto its legs. "Mud Slap!"
Luxio was immediately blinded from a sharp shot of mud being generated and thrown into his face. Into his mouth as well. The luxio staggered back, coughing and spitting, blinded as well.
"Shake it off, Luxio!" Angie demanded. He tried wiping at it, but removing mud was easier said than done.
"Get in close and Leach Life!" Viola directed, nincada spreading its wings and beating them to speed itself up. Luxio was still trying to clear his vision when something latched onto his side and sucked.
He gasped as something more than just blood was taken, Angie yelled out something in anger as her pokémon rippled with green before his energy began to get drained out.
"Oh… uh… dammit THUNDERBOLT!"
Luxio didn't need to see to do this, he just yelled out and blasted electricity from every angle. With nincada's mouth open on him, it received a shock right within its mouth, stunning it and causing it to detach.
"Hey, that worked?" Angie asked. Luxio shook his head, ridding himself of enough mud to see. Nincada was trying to roll itself onto its front, but its legs weren't quite behaving.
His eyes narrowed on the squirming insect.
"Can you do the thing?" Angie asked. Luxio shook his mane and gnashed his teeth, sparks lighting. "Alright, maybe. Luxio, Fire Fang!"
"LUUUUX!"
Luxio bit down. No fire. The bite was still powerful, and Nincada squealed.
"He's right on you, Absorb!"
Before draining Luxio again. One of his back legs buckled before Luxio shook his head, rattling the trapped nincada around, before tossing it. He panted for breath for a moment, spitting out the taste of dirt.
"Okay, that didn't work. Quick Attack!" Fire Fang may not have done anything, didn't even become anything to start with, but Luxio had a tried and true Quick Attack. He slammed into Nincada, knocking it flying again, before doing it again without hesitation.
He juggled it for a moment before it hit one of the windows and cracked it, falling back down and not getting back up again.
"Nincada is unable to battle, Luxio is the winner!" the referee called, sweeping a flag. Angie leaped up and cheered and Luxio gave a cry of victory. He wasn't the guardian of the Martin's daycare for nothing!
"Very good," Viola said, returning Nincada. "But the battle's not over yet. Wormadam, come on out!"
In a grassy, green, cloak with a few delicate flowers, the Bagworm Pokémon appeared with a girlish. "Wormadam!"
"She says 'get wrecked' Angie!" Felix yelled. Angie gave him the bird. "She was saying it to Nincada, but alright."
Viola giggled and Wormadam copied her. She composed herself and waved the referee who raised his flags again. "Round two, Wormadam vs Luxio. Begin!"
Wormadam floated a foot off the ground and reacted instantly when Viola ordered. "Leaf Storm!"
Wormadam glowed with green power as Luxio crackled with electricity. He unleashed a Thunderbolt before Wormadam had finished calling upon her own Power, but the shock unfazed his target. Her attack, however.
"LuxAHHH!"
"Holy shit, LUXIO!"
Viola took a photo as Luxio disappeared in a burst of green that'd make any hippy say. "Duuude." Once the leaves cleared, Luxio's head was halfway in the ground with his limbs twitching every few moments.
He crackled again and blasted the disintegrating leaves off him, flopping out onto the battlefield with a weak. "Uux."
"Ffffrick. Luxio, you okay?"
Luxio began to stand, coughing up green. He managed a nod.
Viola whistled, taking a photo of his defiance. "Not too many take a full-powered Leaf Storm in this gym and keep going!"
Angie grinned, but that grin would not last.
"It's not her only trick, however, Bug Buzz!" Wormadam, even depowered from using the Leaf Storm, still rang out with a rattling shockwave of sound that caused Luxio to stagger again, howling under the assault and entirely drowned out.
"Tackle."
Before Wormadam sped forth with surprising speed and slammed head-first into him, knocking him down.
They waited a moment before the referee raised his flag. "Luxio is unable to battle. Wormadam wins!"
"Shit, shit-shit-shit," Angie repeated as she ran to her starter pokémon's side. She pulled him up, gently, and cradled him for a moment. Luxio made a weak sound, but he was definitely out.
She returned him in a flash of red and stood up and silently walked back to her spot. "For that," she said, spinning around. "I'm going to destroy this gym."
Viola laughed at the threat. Not cruelly, or even mockingly, but genuinely happily. "Excellent. We could do with a redo here."
"Bugs, show her!" Angie cried, tossing a new pokémon up. Balancing on her, his? Their tail, Bugs rolled in place.
Wormadam immediately began to speak. Eyes, however, briefly, flicked to Felix. He shook his head. "I'm not translating that."
Bugs shivered in place.
"Wormadam vs Azurill. BEGIN!"
"Wormadam, Psybeam!"
"Bugs, BOUNCE!"
Wormadam fired a lilac laser from her eyes, but Bugs managed to leap above it. Bugs had bounced in place on their heavy tail before hurling themselves up with it, clearing the Psybeam easily.
"Angle up," Viola coached, Wormadam slowly pointed up at the squealing, descending, azurill. "AGAIN!"
The heavy ball of Bugs' tail slammed into the Psybeam, carving through it with surprising strength. The azurill continued to squeal in either terror or immense, unrestrained, violence before the tail slammed into Wormadam's face.
Then the tail bounced back and smacked Bugs flying. Both pokémon were launched backwards, falling in various heaps. A flash of a camera flickered out as Viola took a photo.
Wormadam mumbled something terrifying. "I'm not translating THAT either!" Felix called. His commentary continued to be ignored, Angie's eyes were too focused on the fight.
"Bubblebeam!"
"Psybeam again!"
Bubbles met some sort of mental protection and knocked up a great deal of dust and steam. The Psybeam was almost overwhelming the Bubblebeam, but Wormadam's earlier use of Leaf Storm had taxed her Power.
Viola took another photo as Angie yelled. "BOUNCE!"
Bugs was tossed into the air by their own tail, flying up in a crest before spearing down at Wormadam.
Click. Viola took another photo, without lowering the camera she said. "Quiver Dance, then dodge."
"Bugs will hit her first!" Angie said as Wormadam began to sway, glinting with a purplish, elegant, light. Bugs slammed home, hitting nothing but dust.
"Worrmmmmm," Wormadam giggled, dodging out of the way as Bugs tried to wack her with the heavy tail.
"Slam! Slam! Keep going!"
"Worm worm worma dam damam," Wormadam mocked.
"She says," Felix begun.
"I don't care!" Angie growled. "Bugs, Bubblebeam!"
Bugs didn't respond, simply continued trying to wack the unfairly fast wormadam.
"Bugs! Listen to me!"
"Wormadam, blast away with Bug Buzz!"
"BUGS!"
Wormadam shivered the entire air, sending an overly-powerful blast of greenish energy in every direction. "Bugs, BUBBLEBEAM!"
Bugs, squealing and flying away, didn't react at first. But the azurill's tail caught onto a rock and Angie repeated her order. Against the clangourous blaze, dozens of explosive bubbles began to mix in. Many exploded before long, but others flew around in bizarre directions, impacting against the windows.
Already fragile from the Bug Buzz, the windows all began to shatter.
The glass was evaporated by the Bug Buzz, or simply blown away, and Wormadam came to a stop. Bugs was still standing.
Angie opened her mouth to order.
"Leaf Storm!"
Viola took another photo of Bugs being enveloped in the storm of leaves, with Angie shrieking in the background.
"Come on, nooo!" Angie moaned; she could not lose with Felix watching. Not just Felix, but a bunch of his pokémon, they were watching, probably scoping her out. She knew what they were like.
The leaves faded; Bugs was still standing.
The azurill was panting heavily, tail still and unmoving, but standing they were. "Azuuu-MARILL!"
Bugs burst into light, blinding everyone for a brief moment. Viola took several photos on pure reflex. When the light faded, a marill stood.
"Holy… shit, Bugs evolved already?" Angie asked, gobsmacked.
"MA. RILL!" Bugs answered, thumping his chest briefly.
"Well, I'll be damned," Felix said, blinking the light free. On his sides, Tania and Delphim were equally as surprised. "Stockholm Syndrome set in fast." Tania stretched out her hand and Felix grumbled as he slapped some bills into the weavile's greedy claws.
A creepy chuckling entered the arena and Baku seeped forward, dragging his heavy stone along to rest by Felix. "When'd you get out?" he asked, receiving no answer.
Angie grinned. "Fuck yeah! I knew I picked the best one. Okay Bugs, Bounce!"
"Wormadam, to your left!"
Wormadam was quick, but Bugs wasn't exactly slow. He continued using Bounce, getting closer and closer with each landing.
"Bugs is a Water-type now, Leaf Storm AGAIN!"
"Wooorrrrm!"
Bugs blitzed forward suddenly, wrapped in water, surprising everyone. Even himself. He slammed into Wormadam and knocked her back a few feet. "Wow, do that again!"
Bugs nodded and Aqua Jetted his way into Wormadam's foul mouth three more times until she lost patience and just tried to Bug Buzz him.
This wormadam was powerful, but there was a reason Viola kept her for new challengers. She got flustered very easily and stopped listening to directions.
"Up, Bubblebeam, Slam, BOUNCE!"
Bugs leapt over a weaker Leaf Storm, met a Psybeam with his Bubblebeam, knocked Wormadam down with a strike with his tail, before leaping up, doing a summersault, and slamming his tail down onto Wormadam.
She was knocked out of the battlefield and into the wall of the arena, sliding down and collapsing.
"Wormadam is unable to battle!" the referee called; Angie shrieked a cheer. "Marill is the winner, which means this match goes to Challenger Angie!"
"I DID IT!" Angie cheered, leaping a good few feet into the air before racing in to grab and swing Bugs around. "You evolved you crazy, awesome, marill you." With Bugs tucked safely under one arm, she pointed the finger at Felix. "Shows what YOU know."
Felix laughed. He was already on his feet and cheering for her. "Damn, I owe Gabriel thirty Poké now."
Viola clapped for her as well, stashing Wormadam's pokéball in her bag before striding over to Angie. "Well done, challenger," she said, beaming. She held her hand out for a shake, and Angie took it with a grin. "Beating me gets you the Bug Badge!"
They parted hands and Angie looked down, Viola had been holding it in their handshake, but it was in her hands now. "Oh wow," she said, quietly and almost weakly.
Angie swallowed and a wide grin took her face. "I totally DID IT!"
"You did fantastically!" Viola beamed, pulling her camera up. "Selfie with me?"
Angie let Viola loop her arm around her and they both grinned for her camera. Viola held the pose for Angie to take a picture with her phone as well and soon everyone was ready to depart.
With just Delphim and Tania out, Felix met Angie at the entrance of the gym. He smirked at her and she met his look with a challenging grin.
He didn't say anything at first but eventually revealed something in his jacket. "I'm not doing the Gym Challenge this time," Felix said, revealing his Kalos badge case. "But I've still got twice as many badges as you."
Angie laughed in his face and Felix laughed too.
"Let's find Gabriel, hopefully, he hasn't run through the streets screaming about catching pokémon yet," Angie said, leading Felix to search for the wayward older brother.
She tapped his icon on her phone as they went, waiting for Gabriel to answer, while Felix talked about her gym battle and what she did right and wrong.
Mostly wrong.
"And not dodging a wave of leaves? Sure they look pretty but they are pure DEATH!"
Chapter 3 comes to a close. Angie has caught a pokémon AND won her first gym! Gabriel has caught a pokémon, for now at least. Felix has retrieved his next six beasts! I meant it when I said this story doesn't waste any time ;D