"Mmmm…"
It was a much tougher decision than I thought it was going to be. Looking at the selection of PokéToys in front of me, I realised that I had no idea what I should get for the contest. Maya had sent me a few videos of Performance Stage displays that utilised various toys in their performance. She thought that, since I was still getting used to being a trainer, using items that could be bought at any regular Poké Mart during my performance might help me gain some extra points from the judges.
It was a good idea. It would help me bond with Lupin and Aria, and if I was able to figure out a way for them to show off with it, it would help make the first stage of the contest much easier.
But Maya and I overlooked one thing.
Pokémon were very different from animals in my world. And as such, the toys were a lot more varied.
Where I was used to squeaky toys shaped as burgers and feathers on strings, the things on display here were much more varied. There were inflatables of various shapes, some small muscle training equipment, machines that released bubbles or threw clay pigeons, and some small metallic orbs that according to the box "shine when influenced with your pokemon's psionic abilities."
I was able to spy some more familiar items like frisbee's and balls of various sizes and rigidity, but closer inspection of them showed that they were designed for specific pokemon types.
There was a plethora of choices, and this was just a run-of-the-mill Poké-Mart. Maya had said that when I was more comfortable, I could try looking at a specialist store, making me wonder just what could be available if this stuff was considered non-specialist.
In the end I ended up buying a weirdly bouncy ball for Lupin and an aerobie designed for flying pokemon for Aria, and started making my way to the fields east of the town.
Wedgehurst was a lovely looking town, with brown brick buildings lining the streets with plenty of trees and plants arranged around the place giving the town a cosy look. It honestly looked like the quaint English towns people assumed littered the countryside of England.
It made me feel like I wasn't in a different world for a few minutes. At least, until I passed a pokemon.
After twenty minutes of walking, I had reached a clearing just outside the town that I thought would be a good place to practise with my pokémon. Taking their balls off my belt, I threw them up into the air and in a burst of light Lupin and Aria materialised in front of me.
Aria immediately took to the air, looking happy as she started circling above us. Lupin let out an excited yip and began chasing her, Aria playfully dipping close to him before quickly flying out of his reach.
I let the two pokémon play for a while, sitting on a nearby stone wall as I watched them chase each other, playfully nipping and pecking at the other before darting out of their reach. It was great seeing how well they got along. Lupin enjoyed having another pokémon to play with, and Aria, who took to her new name with enthusiasm, enjoyed the attention she received from Lupin and took to sitting on him whenever she had the chance.
She even fell asleep on his back last night, forcing me to take a picture of them as Lupin did his best to remain still. It was adorable.
But eventually it had to come to an end. As I took off the label on the aerobie, both pokémon paused their play, looking at me inquisitively.
"Are you two ready to train?" I ask, throwing the disk through the air. Lupin charged towards it, leaping into the air with the intent of catching the disk when Aria flew past him and dived beneath the aerobie. Spinning in the air, a massive gust of wind suddenly picked up, and the disk was lifted high into the air, far out of Lupin's reach.
"Woah…" I blink up at the toy in surprise as it starts to fall some distance from us, before an idea hits me.
"Aria, think you can continue using Whirlwind to keep it in the air near us?" I ask. Aria gives me a tweet, before zipping after the aerobe. A few seconds later, another gust of wind blew the dick into the air, starting to spin to the left before tipping over completely in the air, falling to the ground.
"Lupin, can you grab it for me?"
Lupin was off as soon as I'd asked, and moments later he had returned with the aerobe in his mouth. Aria also returned, looking a little down. I raise my arm and let her land on it.
"Hey, don't worry about it. We're still learning things," I tell her, gently patting her head. She let out a chirp that almost sounded like a sigh, before Lupin had jumped up at me, his paws on my leg as he offered me the areobe in his jaws. I take the disk and hold it up so she can see it.
"Want to try again?" I ask. She puffed up slightly, giving me a more assertive chirp as if she was saying "Let's do it," and with that, I threw the disk again.
For three hours we trained together, practising Lupin and Aria's moves and trying to figure out interesting interactions that we could get from them. During that time, Lupin lad learnt how to direct his Rock Throw to make basic outlines on the ground with the stones, and Aria had become much better at manipulating the aerobe through the air to the point where she was able to effectively throw it back to me by hitting it with a directed gust of wind.
So when it was time for lunch, Lupin and Aria were starving, and I was feeling incredibly proud of how hard they had been working. So we sat on the grass, happily eating as we took some time to unwind.
Which was when we heard a man screaming. Alarmed, we quickly ran in the direction of the noise.
Not far down the road we saw what looked like a postman, letters and parcels strewn on the ground next to a post van as he jumped in the air trying to catch a parcel. As we approached the van I saw three pokémon I'd never seen before, one on the roof of the van and the other two on the ground. They were small and pink with large heads, and were currently playing keepaway with a parcel, the poor postman trying to reclaim it from them as they threw it over his head.
Feeling confused, I pull out my Rotomphone and point it at one of the pokémon.
Impidimp, the Wily Pokemon. The reason this Pokémon causes trouble is because it sucks in the emanations produced by people and Pokémon when they feel annoyed. Impidimp itself gets irritable if it can't absorb negative emotions.
Huh. Must have been one of the pokémon that was going to be introduced in the upcoming game. They must have intercepted the van as he was doing deliveries and took that parcel.
"Lupin, Rock Throw on the one on the van. Aria, when they are distracted grab that parcel and bring it here."
No sooner had I given the instructions my two pokémon were off. Lupin ran towards the van as the rocks around his neck started glowing. He stopped just short of the van as an orb appeared on the end of his tail. The Impidimp on the van appeared to notice Lupin's approach too late, as the moment it started turning to him Lupin fired a number of rocks at it. The pokémon was launched off of the van in a cloud of smoke, the package in its hand thrown through the air.
The two other Impidimp seemed startled at the sudden attack, turning to look at Lupin and myself. As their attention was drawn, they didn't notice Aria until it was too late, the Pidgey managing to grab the twine wrapping on the package in her beak as it soared through the air. One of the Impidimp noticed her as she caught the package, and raised it's hand to fire a beam of black and purple energy rings at her.
"Whirlwind!"
Aria's wings started glowing, and with a single flap the air in front of her was pushed violently back. The Dark Pulse and Whirlwind collided, the resulting explosion hiding Aria from view for a few seconds before she dived through the smoke, darting past the Impidimp in the momentary confusion. As soon as she was close enough I raised my hand, and she dropped the parcel safely onto my open palm.
The Impidimp seemed annoyed that we had gotten in the way of their fun, two of them charging at us with a growl.
"Lupin, Rock Throw. Aria, Twister."
Aria rose into the air slightly, before a small twister formed in front of her, quickly slamming into the charging Impidimp. The two pokémon paused as the wind of the Twister battered them, and it almost looked like they were going to be able to weather the twister when Lupin's Rock Throw slammed into their paused forms.
I thought that the stones would spin around in the Twister, dealing more damage to the Impidimp as the rocks repeatedly slammed into them. Instead, the simply cut through the wind and into the pokémon, the resulting explosion causing the Twister to falter slightly before picking back up as the smoke swirled around the twister. A few seconds later I see two small forms get thrown through the air away from us and into a copse of trees in the distance.
The remaining Impidimp saw their friends get thrown through the air and, with what I assume was an insulting face made towards us, ran off in the direction they were thrown.
With the Impidimp gone, I looked towards the mailman to see if he was alright. He was currently collecting the scattered letters and packages from the ground with an urgent look on his face.
"Are you alright?" I ask, walking over to him. He looks up at me and gives me a relieved smile.
"Yes, thank you for intervening," he says, taking the letters and packages he'd picked up and putting them into a bag. "Never seen Impidimp this far south, so they took me completely by surprise. Don't know what I would have done if you three weren't here."
I frown, handing him the package that Aria had saved.
"Don't you have a pokémon?" I ask. As far as I could tell, even if they weren't for battling, most people I'd seen had at least one pokémon with them. The man laughed slightly.
"I have an Umbreon, but she likes to sleep during the day, so I left her at the office. I was on my way there to drop these off, if you needed a lift to Wedgehurst?" He offered. I looked down towards Lupin and Aria. They'd been working very well today, so I supposed that we could call it a day.
"If that's ok with you?"
"Of course," he says, opening the passenger door for me before closing the back of the van. As I sit in the seat, Lupin jumps onto my lap and Aria lands on my head, both pokémon making themselves comfortable as the mailman got into the driver seat and started up the van.
"Name's Patrick by the way. You're doing me a great favour actually. Got an important parcel for the professor, and it's good to have a trainer on hand, especially with those Impidimp around."
I just smile as Patrick talks, letting him take control of the conversation as I gently pet Lupin as we watch the countryside blur past.
"So!" Patrick says a bit louder, nudging me as he did. "Are you going to be entering the Gym Challenge? You seem good enough for it."
"Don't know…" I tell him honestly. "I'm going to enter some contests, see if I can get a trainer pass for Alola."
Patrick gave me a low whistle, before side eyeing me.
"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you. At least you have some time to get ready for the next circuit."
My hand pauses on Lupin's fur, taking in what he said. "Next circuit?" I ask questioningly.
"Yeah. Galar contests end just before the Gym Challenge begins so they don't overlap. I think Wedgehurst is hosting the last one in this circuit because the champion's hometown is nearby."
I think for a few moments. Maya hadn't said anything about this, although she did tell me that she didn't know much about contest logistics, so it might have been something she didn't know about. But it made an issue for me.
How was I going to be able to get to Alola?
Eventually Paterick pulled up outside the Pokémon Centre, thanking me for my help as I climbed out of the van. As I made my way back up to my room, I thought about what I could do.
If I did well enough in the contest and the prize was enough, I could get a ticket to Alola and go to the region as a tourist instead of a trainer. Problem was I didn't know if there was a monetary prize, and even if there was I would need to beat a number of trainers who were a lot more experienced than me.
I could always join Austin in the Gym Challenge, but I'd need to find someone to sponsor me in order to enter it.
ZZZ-YOU HAVE MAIL-ZZZ
I jump slightly as my Rotom Phone flys in front of my face. Taking the phone in my hand, I read the message being displayed on it.
Hi Sam.
Your identification finally came through. I've attached it to this email, just ask your Rotom Phone to download the files and you'll be able to access them from it. Also means you'll be able to sign up to the contest now, so please do it before Austin starts hounding you about it.
Maya
A second later, there is a download animation, and a green tick appears on the screen before disappearing and returning the phone to the home page. I lower the phone and look towards the bed. Lupin was trying to play with Aria, the bird doing her best to ignore him as she preened herself. I took a deep breath and sat between them, picking Aria up so she was on my lap.
I didn't know exactly what I was going to do after the contest, but that was an issue for another day. For now, I had Lupin and Aria with me, and that was enough.
Hello again! Managed to get this done, so that's great. I will try to continue to get chapters out at least once a fortnight, so please bare with me.
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