At ten, I had great expectations, because Pokémon training was the pride and joy of my family.
Granny had made the Lily of the Valley Conference's semi-finals twice before she'd retired to focus on her research. Grandpa had enough Pokéathlon trophies to fill an entire cabinet. Most pictures I'd seen of my parents were from tourneys, their battle teams hovering in the background like old friends.
Plus, well, my sister was the youngest person to ever become Sinnoh's Champion, and by Arceus, that was a tough act to follow. Half my classmates acted so jealous like I was a shoe-in for the big leagues, just by virtue of being related to her and supposedly getting all her training secrets. Except Cynthia was so busy she barely came home anymore. So I'd spent the months since my tenth birthday badgering Granny to help me catch a Pokémon instead—
"We're here," Gran announced, clapping my shoulder. The mouth of Wayward Cave stretched open before us, a narrow black slit on the face of the mountain. Above us the buzz of wheels speeding over asphalt filled the air.
My hand clenched around the cold great ball in my pocket, clicking it larger. Soon I would have my own starter in hand, a Gible just like my sister and our mother before me. Taking a deep breath, I rushed inside the cave.
Pain exploded in my skull as I ran into something solid. "Ow."
"Careful, Claudia. There's rocks everywhere," Granny huffed, walking in after me.
Her Chimecho's bell rang out softly, and the pain in my head dulled, then melted away into tingling. "Thanks," I mumbled.
"Feel better," Sugar whispered in the back of my mind, his tail patting my shoulder.
"Light, Sugar," Gran said, and his bell glowed silver. A blinding flash flooded the cave. "We'll need to head down. Sugar, get these boulders out of the way."
I blinked. "Um, Gran, I don't think he's strong enough to push boulders around." Could Chimecho even learn Strength?
She laughed. "He'll just use Psychic."
"Easy," Sugar agreed, twirling around. A couple of boulders rose up in the air, wrapped in an eerie blue glow. They floated past me and dropped down with heavy thunks, startling a cloud of Zubat who scattered out of the shadows with indignant squeaks.
The angriest one flew straight at our faces, fangs bared. But a single chime of Sugar's bell flung it back into the ceiling, wings fluttering weakly.
"Wow," I said. "You're jacked mentally. Psychically ripped."
"Brains and brawn," he giggled, flexing his tail. Little Sugar, who usually hung out around Gran's lab levitating stacks of paper. I'd known he'd used to be a professional battler, but seeing it was something else.
We headed deeper into the cave, going down a cold tunnel into an uneven labyrinth full of ledges, steep slopes and boulders. The ground was slippery with water dripping from stalactites above.
I looked around eagerly. "They nest in small holes on cave walls, right?"
"Patience," Gran said. "Don't wander off."
Slowing down to match her pace, I stepped near a wall and squinted at every crack and indent like it held secrets. "Is that…?"
"That's a Geodude tunnel, see how it goes up? Gible nests are wider and more horizontal."
We walked ahead, weaved around boulders and climbed over ledges until my legs ached, the light of Sugar's Flash tracing quick arches around us. Faint screeches of Zubat bounced off the walls and the crunch of Geodude chewing through rock rumbled in darkened corners. Gran tapped me on the shoulder, a finger pressed to her lips.
Silently, she glanced at her Chimecho, a thought passing between them.
He sprung forward and dangled his tail in front of a notch in the wall, letting out a goading cry. A low growl came. Then a Gible lunged out, jaw open wide, snapping its teeth. Sugar spun to the side, dodging, and chimed a high note.
The Gible froze at the sound, its horns shuddering, caught in a net of blue light. It squirmed under the psychic hold, stubby arms flailing. Teeth bared, it reared up to pounce again, but stumbled over its feet and slammed its snout on the floor.
Granny elbowed me. "Claudia, pokéball."
I started, snatching up my great ball and flinging it hard. It overshot the Gible by several feet, flying over a ledge and hitting stone with a dull crack.
Cursing, I grabbed a second ball and walked closer. The Gible's head shot up, horns twitching, and our eyes met. The notch on its dorsal fin meant he was a male—Cynthia had taught me that once. I wished she was here. In the dim light, the Gible's scales flickered, dark blue under a layer of dirt. A rumbling noise rang out like stones rolling down a mountain, but I paid it no mind. I lined up my throw carefully this time, and he faded into a beam of red light as the ball struck. It shuddered once—
Then the ledge above us exploded with a deafening bang. Debris flew at us like bullets, stalactites falling off the ceiling like spears, and I screamed. The ground shook so hard it nearly knocked me off my feet.
A shimmering barrier rose up out of thin air, chunks of stone bigger than my head bouncing off it like peebles. Any debris that slipped past it hung suspended in the air, bathed in blue light. Sugar soared between shards, his Reflect and Psychic combo saving us from being crushed like some Wurmple under a rock slide.
Through the dust, the massive head of an Onix loomed, big as a car, with a mouth like a blackhole and murderous slits for eyes. It let out a bloodcurdling roar, clearly furious after being disturbed by the first pokéball I'd accidentally overthrown.
Oops.
Gran hissed something under her breath, glancing at Sugar. The Chimecho let out a sharp trill, purple energy swirling into an orb around him.
A flash of red gleamed in the corner of my vision as the Gible burst out of the pokéball. He took one look at the rampaging Onix, gulped, and scurried off back into his nest.
"Wait," I cried, diving in after him.
The nest's entrance was just wide enough I could squeeze through, but so low I had to crawl in on my hands and knees. Inside was very dark, and I could hear the Gible scuttling ahead, far faster than me. I turned on my pokétch and held it out in front of me to cast some light.
"CLAUDIA," Sugar screamed in my head, over the Onix's roars. "WHERE ARE YOU?"
A pang of worry shot through me. What if he was hurt, what if Granny was hurt…?
Sugar's indignation flooded my mind. "You're in trouble. Not us. As if I'd lose to this fat lump of rocks—"
I breathed out in relief, then kept crawling forward. They'd be okay. Sugar was strong, and Gran had potions and revives with her, and—if I went back, I'd be useless anyway. I didn't even have a Pokémon. Which was why I needed that Gible. I'd been waiting for him my whole life. The thought rose up like a shield against Sugar's telepathic yelling, shutting everything else out, until I could only hear the noise of the Gible's feet scurrying through the tunnel.
I crawled as fast as I could, scraping my elbows and knees against jagged rocks. The stench of a half-eaten carcass left rotting in the nest made me want to retch—when my pokétch's light shone on it, I saw the outline of a winged pile of bones—but I held my breath and kept going.
Then I hit a dead end. Swallowing, I tried to turn around, but it was too cramped. Would I have to crawl backwards to get out? Where was the Gible? The sound of his footsteps had faded suddenly. As I crept backwards, I felt a stretch of the tunnel where the walls weren't so tight around me, not on my left. There was a side tunnel that way, and as I peeked in, I glimpsed an opening at the end of it.
It was smaller than the one I'd entered through. I shoved my arms and head out of it easily enough, but my hips got stuck. As I wriggled frantically, a sudden cry cut through the dark, high and pained. It sounded like a Gible—
My eyes widened, and I pulled harder, wrenching myself free. I tumbled out face first onto the ground, then scrambled to my feet. My pokétch's light was too weak, so I whipped out my phone and swung its flashlight around.
I found myself in a high-ceilinged cavern riddled with stalagmites jutting unevenly out of the floor. To my left there was a wall, so I turned right and walked until I reached the edge of a steep drop. My head ached like crazy. I crouched and aimed my phone's light down, trying to see exactly how far I would have to jump.
Something was moving below. I squinted and leaned over the edge. A dark blur dashed between boulders, then another followed after it. They danced around each other in chaotic circles.
"Taunt, quick! Don't let it get away," yelled a voice. Running like a madman, a tall boy stumbled into view with a pokéball in his hand. He wore a tattered jacket and a miner's hat with a shining flashlight on it, illuminating the cavern.
As the shadows fell away, a familiar Gible stood perched on top of a boulder, snarling viciously. Facing him was a large Absol with a bright red horn, who hissed and swiped its scarlet claws in the air. My jaw dropped. Was that a shiny Absol?
"Now Quick Attack," said its trainer.
The Absol took a running leap and lunged upwards, ramming into the Gible. They both tumbled off the boulder, landing in a heap and rolling on the ground as they traded blows.
"Go for the eyes," shouted the boy, readying his pokéball. My heart jumped in my throat.
"Gible, no!" I screamed. "Dragonbreath. Can you use Dragonbreath? Or—"
The boy's head snapped up to glare at me. "Who the hell are you?"
Before I could reply, a yowl of pain came from the Absol as Gible's hot breath rushed out. But it quickly jumped back and swerved out of the way, trying to get behind the dragon.
"Bulldoze, Gible," I called out. He needed to cut down the Absol's speed advantage.
But Gible didn't take my advice this time, maybe because he didn't know the move or because I was a stranger to him. Instead, he whirled around and blew his Dragonbreath out even further, hitting his opponent squarely in the face.
"Nice," I cheered as the Absol's whole body stiffened. Now it was fighting against paralysis, Gible would have the upper hand.
Or so I thought. A sudden red beam shone as the boy released a second Pokémon, a spindly little Monferno with a bright tailflame. "Ember."
The Monferno thumped its chest, then spat out a clump of flame at Gible, who turned to face it with a snarl.
The Absol blurred forward, seizing the distraction, and rammed into Gible's back. The impact knocked him face down on the ground, and Absol stepped on top of him with both front paws, using its weight to pin him in place. Then Monferno pounced, punching Gible on the side of the head. He went still.
"Hey." I scowled. "Two on one, really?"
"Mind your business," the boy snapped without looking at me, walking towards the Gible.
"This is my business!" I yelled, grabbing a pokéball and throwing it at him as hard as I could. No, not at the Gible, at the boy.
It nailed him right on the arm, to my great satisfaction. I would have aimed for the head, but he was wearing that stupid helmet.
"Ow," the boy winced, glaring up at me. "What's wrong with you, you psycho?"
"You're what's wrong! I was trying to catch him first."
"No, you weren't."
"Yes, I was!"
"No, you—" The Absol interjected suddenly, chuffing at the boy, who nodded. "...Right, good idea, Oz. We're trainers. Let's settle this with a battle. Three on three, winner gets catching rights." He looked up at me with an air of challenge.
The Monferno cheered, pounding its fists on the ground and making shrill excited noises. Oz the Absol nodded stiffly, still standing over the limp Gible.
"Um," I said. "Look, uh—what's your name?"
"Sean," said the boy.
"Right. And that's Oz and…?"
"Pancake," he pointed at the Monferno, who stuck out his tongue and waved at me.
"So, um, can we take a raincheck on that? I kinda don't have any Pokémon right now."
"You're lying," Sean said flatly.
"I'm not."
"If you're scared to battle me, just say that—"
"I'm not. I just really don't have a Pokémon."
Sean burst out laughing. Even his Monferno snickered, and Absol shook his head stiffly. "What are you even doing here then? Do you have a deathwish, kid?"
"Don't call me kid," I snapped. He didn't look more than a few years older, gangly and round-faced. "And I came with somebody. To catch a Gible."
He sneered up at me, mouth curling into a smile so wide it looked almost evil, like a Gengar's grin. "No offense, but Gible aren't really beginner's Pokémon," Sean said, in a tone that clearly meant full offense.
"I know that, but it's my dream," I hissed. I'd grown up with the Garchomp line.
My mom used to have one, and when they'd gone missing, her Garchomp had left behind a single egg—which Cynthia hatched and then raised into her own Garchomp. It made me a little jealous, but I knew it was a good thing that Cynthia had cared for the egg. She was older than me, more responsible, and Garchomp and her were just meant for each other, anyone could see that. Still, I'd dreamed of growing up and getting my own Gible since I was a toddler. I'd even had a Gible stuffed toy I'd carried everywhere and pretended I was raising.
Sean snorted. "So what makes you think you can handle one, rookie?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it. Cynthia had started with a Gible and it'd turned out great, but I wasn't her. I was just… myself. Could I do it? What did I, Claudia, have to offer as a trainer?
Before I could answer, Sean huffed. "Whatever, I've wasted enough time arguing with you." He tossed a pokéball at the prone Gible, who melted away into a beam of red light. Monferno clapped loudly. Absol, who'd been standing half on top of Gible, stumbled as his foothold was taken away.
I scowled. "What makes you think you're so much better than me, you dumb dookie face? You're, like, twelve and you needed two Pokémon to take down one. Shut up and give your Absol a paralyze heal already."
"I'm thirteen," Sean said importantly, picking up his pokéball who'd gone still. Dammit. I slumped, watching my lifelong dream slip away. "And I have two badges. And Oz is fine. Right, Oz?" Absol chuffed stoically.
"He'll be finer if you give him a paralyze heal, moron."
Monferno climbed up his trainer like a tree, sat down on his shoulders and knocked on his helmet twice. Sean frowned, but took a bottle out of his bag and sprayed it all over the Absol, who stretched out his paws. "Now let's get going."
He turned to walk away, Pancake the Monferno waving at me from atop his shoulders.
"Hold on," I called. "No–not you, I meant Oz. Absol."
Oz stared daggers at me, tilting his head.
"Did you sense something around here… around… uh, fifteen minutes ago? Like a rock slide? Or an explosion?" I needed to get back to Granny and Sugar. And Absol were supposed to have a sixth sense for those kinds of things, weren't they?
Oz gave a slow blink, then nodded. He lifted a paw, pointing left.
"Any more after that?"
He shook his head no.
"Thanks," I said. That was a relief, if he wasn't lying.
"What do you mean an explosion—you know what, don't tell me, I don't want to know," Sean said in an aggravated tone. "Bye, psycho."
I glared at him. "Bye, moron."
Then I sighed, looking down at the steep drop before me. Should I try to jump down or go back the same way I came? Grudgingly, because I didn't want to get even more lost, I decided to turn around and try crawling through that horrible stinking tunnel again.
Now the glow from Sean's flashlight was gone, the cavern was all wrapped up in shadows again. I held up my phone to light the way as I walked. Squinting, I scanned the wall in search of the nest's entrance, but I couldn't find it at all and I suddenly felt awfully tired.
I shook my head and paced back and forth along the wall, my spare pokéballs clinking in my pocket. I'd never get to use them now. There was no way Gran would ever agree to make this trip again, not after how badly today had gone. I'd be lucky if she even let me raise a Magikarp. And Cynthia—Cynthia would be quietly disappointed, like she always was every time I messed up. I couldn't even bear to imagine the look on her face.
Swallowing, I grabbed a pokéball and chucked it angrily at the wall. Stupid Sean. If I ever became a trainer, even if it was a hundred years from now, I swore I'd hunt him down and wipe the floor with him and his stupid Gible I'd wanted so bad. I grabbed another pokéball—
A sharp pain stung the back of my ankle. As I glanced down, a tiny Zubat clung to me, its fangs buried deep in my leg, drinking my blood. I flinched and whacked it away hard. It fluttered up, letting out a screech, which was cut off abruptly as it melted away into a red beam.
The pokéball in my hand shuddered once, twice, three times, then went perfectly still.
…and I was officially a trainer now.
Claudia's Party:
1. Zubat (unnamed)
Author's Note: To clarify the timeline, this story is set pre-canon, a few months after Cynthia became Champion. Cynthia herself didn't appear this chapter because she's a very busy woman learning how to run a whole region and its political shenanigans, but once this story's plot kicks off, she'll feature heavily.
So... please let me know any thoughts you have about this chapter. If you've read it this far, thank you very much!
