Chapter 5
The first time Alice saw a dead pokemon, she was 6. It wasn't a pokemon that had simply passed away of old age, but it hadn't been a particularly gruesome cause of death either (She would see that when she was 10).
It had been a hot summer day, and young Alice was sitting in one of the center break rooms, doodling on a notebook. The young girl wasn't old enough to help out around the center yet, but her mother had still wanted her to come often in order to get used to seeing nurses work.
The doors of the break room opened slowly, and Alice jumped, flipping to an untouched page. One of her mother's assistants (Alice couldn't remember her name, so she simply called her Purple Hair) stood at the doorway, a pale expression on her face. Hesitantly, as if she was performing some heinous act, she called out to Alice. "Y-your mother wishes to see you…She's in the operating room".
Alice tilted her head. Purple Hair was acting weird, but she couldn't keep mother waiting. The last thing she wanted was another lecture about being on time. Closing the notebook, Alice briskly walked past Purple Hair (not running, after all there was no running allowed in the center). While she knew where the operating room was, she had only been inside once, when her mother had wanted Alice to get used to the layout of a Pokemon Center. But Mother wouldn't call her if she was busy inside, so it was probably more lecturing.
Various staff members made way as Alice walked by. Even though her mother was the important one, people treated her the same. At first it was a bit funny seeing adults get nervous around her, but after a while it became annoying. Seeing adults get flustered when she was around friends was embarrassing!
The entrance to the operating room were two red doors, with a large light above them. Alice felt her stomach drop. The light would glow different colors depending on whether an operation was currently going on. Yellow meant an operation was about to begin, red meant an operation was in progress, and green meant an operation had just finished. Currently, the light glowed a hazy yellow. Suddenly, it was obvious what her mother meant to show her.
As Alice got nearer to the doors, there was a loud click, and the two doors were thrust open. Mother walked out of the room, dressed in surgical garb. Her pink hair was wrapped in a surgical cap, and most of her face was obscured with a face mask. But those piercing eyes Alice knew all too well were still visible, and they focused on the little girl in front of them.
"Good. You're here. Put these on and come". She held out a small surgical gown and mask.
Even with the small gown size, it was still too small, with her mother having to tie a part to the side to prevent it from dragging on the ground. The mask was a bit big as well, but manageable, and soon Alice was following her mother into the operating room, the pit in her stomach deepening with every step.
The first thing that caught Alice's attention in the room was the operating table. The room itself was dim, with several bright lamps focused on the table. There was something lying on the table itself, but Alice couldn't make out what was there thankfully, due to being too short to see. She was sure, however, that Mother would change that very soon.
There were three others in the room aside from Mother, however she didn't recognize the others due to the surgical gear they had on. When she looked at them, they looked away uncomfortably. They knew why she was here.
"Bring the stool." Mother said, and one of the staff members brought over a very tall stool, tall enough to encourage the dread that was building in Alice's stomach.
As she looked at the seat towering above her, Alice felt hands wrap around her waist, lifting her up into the air. She instinctively flinched, but didn't resist as she was placed on the stool, finally forced to take in the view of the entire room, of the poor shape on the table.
A pokemon lay there, a Bidoof. A species extremely common in Sinnoh to the point they were considered pests. However Alice had never seen one in this state. The Bidoof was unconscious, the only sign of movement was the mouse's stomach slowly moving up and down with its breathing. What really caught Alice's attention, however, was the wound above the stomach. A small white object stuck out the pokemon's chest, peeking out between some bandages. Where had she seen something like that before? It wasn't anything man-made. Whatever it was, it was obviously the reason for the operation today.
Alice felt her mother's hands shift to her shoulders, slowly rubbing them. Instead of reassurance, she simply felt a steadily growing pressure.
"Don't look away," Mother whispered. "There is nothing to fear, nothing to be disgusted by. This is a sight you will see throughout your life. This is simply something natural."
Alice unconsciously nodded, still trying to take in the sight before her. She felt her mother let her go and bark orders at the staff around her. However, even when the operation started, even when Bidoof's red blood began to stain her mother's hands, even when the pokemon's heart rate began to flatline, Alice didn't feel anything but that same, crippling pressure.
Trainer registration went smoother than Alice expected. Apparently, a pokedex was like a letter of recommendation from a pokemon professor, so a lot of steps could be skipped. Nevermind Alice had never even met this professor, hell she didn't even know their name, but Molly didn't press the issue, too intimidated by her younger (former) superior. By the end, Molly received a physical copy of her trainer ID, a digital one downloaded onto the pokedex, and a gym case. Alice was beginning to realize the device was incredibly convenient, but with that realization also brought fear of its loss. Could she even get a replacement, with the circumstances she got hers?
Jack, as always, didn't seem to have such worries.
"Bye Molly!" Jack crowned, as they walked away from the center. Alice could almost envision the forced smile on Molly's face. Jack had wanted to reserve a room for the week at the center, but Alice had put her foot down. She wasn't going to deal with having to sneak out the center every day, and insisted they find a hotel instead, to which Jack reluctantly agreed to. They didn't need anywhere extravagant, just somewhere moderately comfortable.
The two of them manage to find a place not too expensive, and they manage to snag the last room available. Unfortunately, it's a single large bed, so either the two of them have to share, or someone has to sleep on the floor. Alice offers, but Jack insists it's ok if they share.
"It's fine, it'll be like old times!"
"It's been a long time since 'old times'"
Alice agreed in the end. Jack was still Jack after all, she trusted her friend not to be a creep. As the two of them were getting ready for bed, Alice found her thoughts drifting to her mother again. Had she found out? Jack had wanted to spend a week here, but she still felt too close to her home.
"Jack."
"Hm?" Her friend turned to her from the mirror where she was brushing her hair. "What's up? Something bothering you?"
"That obvious?"
"Like you could hide anything from me~."
Alice smiled. "I guess I could say the same."
Jack gasped in an exaggerated fashion. "Impossible! I thought my mind was an enigma!"
"It is, but I don't need to read minds to know what you're thinking."
"Ooh, how romantic~."
"...Do you think mother has found out yet?" With a single sentence, Alice smothered the light-hearted atmosphere. Jack's smile disappeared. "You're really worried about that, huh?"
"Of course I am!"
"If she does find out, there's not a lot she could do. She could constantly call you and beg you to come back, but in the end she can't legally keep you from competing in the league now that you're 16."
"Then she'll just stop me through less than legal means."
" You really think she'll go that far? I think you're being paranoid."
"Jack, I'm pretty sure I know her better than you. For her, this isn't just her daughter running away, this is an insult to the family name itself. She won't let that go."
Jack shifted forward. "Well, I just won't let her take you."
"I doubt it'll be that simple."
"Why shouldn't it be? What could she do that I wouldn't be able to stop?"
But will you always be there? But Alice had no real answer to Jack's question other than paranoia. Sighing, she slumped on the bed. This wasn't something that could be solved today.
"Trust me, ok?" She heard Jack say on the other side of the room. "Things will work out."
One thing Alice did know however, was that she didn't deserve a good friend as Jack.
While Jack had become a competent trainer, she still hadn't overcome her biggest weakness: mornings. Even after giving her an extra hour to sleep in, it still took 30 minutes to drag her friend out of bed. By the time they got to the hotel lobby, it was already almost lunch, so they had gone to a nearby coffee shop.
"I'm honestly amazed you're still like this." Alice said, holding out a cup of coffee for her friend. "Did you oversleep for your gym battles too?"
No…I made sure to make them in the evenings when I could…" Jack mumbled, her eyes barely open. "I've had some close calls when it comes to tournaments though…"
"I'm not surprised." Alice turned her attention from her barely awake friend to a television. They were sitting at a table near the back of the shop, and on the wall a small television was showing what looked to be a news report.
"Suspicious individuals have been sighted near official league buildings across the region. If you think you have spotted any such individuals, please contact your nearest police department, or enter the number displayed on screen, 800-"
Alice recalls the police officer that had stopped her yesterday. Was that what she had been stopped for? However, unless she had missed it, the report hadn't mentioned what kind of crime the "suspicious individuals" had committed. If that's the case, it was probably something minor.
The boy and the duo she ran into cross her mind. Well, no one there had been near any government buildings, so perhaps they were unrelated.
"Alright." Jack croaked out, slamming the paper cup down. "I think I feel like a functioning human being again. Or at very least half of one."
Well, whatever that stuff was, it was none of her business. "Finally, let's go already."
"Yep, time for you to get some battle experience!"
"On second thought, we can stay a bit longer."
"Ok, let me see Houndour." Alice and Jack were standing outside the Trainer School, Alice had thought that they would head straight to the battlefield inside, but Jack had stopped just before they headed inside.
Alice blinked. "Are you going to try and get the stubborn mutt to listen to me?"
Jack smiled. "Hopefully. Or we can try to gauge why he's being disobedient."
Alice nodded. Anything that would spare her the embarrassment of having a pokemon that wouldn't listen to her. Taking out Houndour's pokeball, she lazily tossed it to the ground. There was a flash of light, and Houndour was staring at her with its seemingly permanent scowl.
"Hey buddy! Been a while, huh?" Houndour's ears perked up, and it spun around, its tail wagging slightly.
"Looks like someone really likes you, huh." Alice deadpanned.
Jack gave a confused expression. "How odd. You know, he acts like this around most people."
Alice's mind blanked. "What?"
"Yeah, I've lended him to kids before. Not for battling, but I didn't give any indication I was going to take him back, but things went fine. If there is a problem, it must-"
"Be a personal one, huh?" Alice frowned at the dark type. "What's your problem with me?"
The Houndour simply snorted and turned away. Alice looked helplessly at Jack, who was still looking at the pokemon with a contemplative expression.
"Houndour." The pokemon perked up again at Jack's voice. "Can you please try to get along with Alice?" The pokemon growled and turned away.
Does it hate me that badly? Alice groaned. Was this really worth it? At this point, it would be simpler just to get another pokemon.
"I think I want you two to battle together" Alice gave her friend an astonished look at her words. "Why?!"
"I want to get a better sense of Houndour's problem with you. Seeing you two battling together is an easy way to achieve that."
"Is that really necessary? Don't you have any other pokemon I could get? I mean, Starly's listening to me just fine, so-"
"No, I really think you two can work. Hurdles can make bonds between trainers and pokemon even stronger once overcome." Alice swore she saw sparkles in Jack's eyes.
"Did you just quote something? That sounds like something out of a cheesy motivation book."
"Doesn't make it any less true~."
Groaning, Alice looked at the pokemon front of her. Houndour had listened to her once, though it was when she had been in danger, and pleading for its help. Should she give the pokemon a chance? Houndour, noticing her stare, glared at her. The pokemon's stare almost seemed to taunt her, to dare her to reign in its actions.
"Fine," Alice said. "I'll give it a try."
The field inside the school was already in use by the time Alice and Jack got there. Two young trainers were facing each other, and another group was watching nearby. The second group seemed a bit familiar, but Alice couldn't remember from where.
"C'mon Athena, are you really going to lose to him?!"
That annoying voice. How could she forget? It was the kid that kept nagging her for a battle, along with his two friends. What had his name been again? Robby?
"Looks like we won't have trouble finding someone for you to battle, huh?"
Alice turned to Jack. "Can we go somewhere else? Please."
"Not this again. What now?"
But it was too late. Jack's loud voice had caused the kids to turn around. Even the ones battling had glanced at them. The loud one jumped up from the benches and pointed at Alice. " Ah! It's you! The coward!"
"I've never met you."
"What? Really- Wait! You won't fool me, coward! I could never forget that pink hair!"
Alice clicked her tongue in irritation. Her hair really did stand out like a sore thumb. She should probably dye it if she didn't want her mother to track her down easily.
"Aww, you made a friend on the road already~." Jack giggled.
"He's not a friend. He's a weirdo who didn't leave me alone when I said I didn't want to battle him."
"Well, that won't be a problem now, will it!" Jack grabbed Alice's arm and began walking towards the group of kids. "Hey kiddos! My friend here is a new trainer looking to get some experience battling. Who's up for a match?"
A boy with green hair was about to say something, but the loud boy interrupted him, jumping up and down and raising his hand. "Me, me, me! I'm always up for a battle!" He grinned at Alice. "I won't let you run away this time!"
Alice looked at Jack. "I'll literally battle anyone else but him. Please."
"He did ask first! Besides, I like the kid's spirit!" Jack turned back to the boy. "My name's Jack, and my grouchy friend here is Alice."
"My name's Sammy! And these are my friends Miyubi and Antonio." Sammy pointed at the two kids behind him as he said their names. The girl with brown hair named Miyubi gave Alice a small smile before pulling Sammy back and whispering harshly in his ear. The green haired boy named Antonio nodded at her. "Sorry for our friend. He likes to battle a bit too much."
"I can tell." Alice said bitterly, as Sammy pulled away from Miyubi, running down to the field yelling that he was going to battle next. "You deal with that every day?"
"It's not that bad. You just have to wait for him to burn himself out."
"Alright!" Alice felt Jack's hand hit her back. "Looks like they're done down there. You ready to go?"
Alice gave her friend a dead stare, which she simply laughed at. "That looks like a yes to me!"
It was when Alice was facing Sammy on the field that the embarrassment of what she was about to do began to creep into her mind. She was about to battle against a kid with a pokemon that didn't even listen to her. If she lost badly… Well, screw what Jack wanted, she was never showing her face here again.
Apparently the kids hadn't been using anyone as a referee. (They were just practicing after all.) but once Jack offered to referee this battle, Sammy and the other kids agreed excitedly. An older kid reffing the match made it "cooler" apparently.
"The battle between Sammy and Joy will now begin! This will be a one on one battle! Now choose your pokemon guys!" Jack was obviously taking this battle a lot less seriously than the exam. Taking out a pokeball, Sammy thrusted it forward dramatically, striking a pose. "I chose my partner, Blaze!" He released the ball with a surprising good throw to the field. There was a flash of light, and a Chimchar appeared, the orange monkey letting out a cute war cry as it jumped onto the field.
"Original nickname." Alice said dryly.
"You really think so? Thanks!" Sammy said.
"That wasn't a compliment." Antonio called out from the bleachers.
"Oh. Well… original or not, we're going to win!" Blaze the Chimchar gave another war cry at Sammy's words.
Why do I feel exhausted already? Alice sighed and took out Houndour's pokeball. She saw Sammy perk up from across the field.
"Well, let's see your pokemon's nickname! It better be suuuper original!"
"I haven't given them one".
Sammy blinked. "What?"
" I haven't given Houndour a nickname. Well, I haven't given any of my pokemon nicknames come to think of it"
"You have to! Nicknames are an essential part of being a trainer!" Sammy pointed at her. "Think of one! Now!"
"No."
"If you don't nickname your pokemon, I won't battle you!"
"Ok." Alice turned around toward the bleachers.
"Wait, wait, wait! I was joking, let's battle please." Alice sighed and turned back around. She could see Jack giving her an odd stare. Were nicknames really that important?
"Hurry up! Some of us want to use the field!" Alice heard a voice yell from the stands. Annoying little brats. With a growing scowl, Alice threw Houndour's pokeball towards the field. Houndour appeared, wearing it's same annoyed expression. The pokemon slowly took in its surroundings, and once it layed eyes on Sammy's Chimchar, the dark type began to growl.
"Hey!" Alice snapped, and Houndour slowly turned its head towards her. "Listen up. We're about to start a trainer battle, so behave, ok?"
In response, the dog snorted out embers towards the ground, and turned towards the Chimchar, growling and taking a threatening step forward. Sammy's Chimchar flinched and took a step back fearfully.
Ok. Alice thought. Houndour's moves are Ember, Smog, Smokescreen and Leer. Based on that, it's probably going to be a ranged battle where we try to keep them away.
"Don't be afraid, Blaze!" Sammy yelled. "That Houndour looks tough, but we can take anything they throw at us!" His Chimchar nodded and stood a little taller.
"Alright! Both trainers have chosen their pokemon. Chimchar vs. Houndour, begin!"
"Alright, let's start out with Ember, Blaze!"
The Chimchar took a deep breath, and let out a ball of flame towards Houndour.
"Dodge!" Alice yelled, but Houndour didn't move a muscle. Alice felt herself begin to panic, but she then watched in astonishment as Chimchar's flames were sucked into Houndour's body, the dark/fire type's body glowing a dull red.
Sammy's jaw dropped. "What!"
"Houndour has the Flash Fire ability! You can't use fire-type moves on it!" Antonio yelled from the stands.
Oh right. Flash Fire. Alice had forgotten about Houndour's ability, which was probably not a good thing to do as a trainer. For now, however, she'd take good fortune where she could. "Alright Houndour, use your own Ember!"
Houndour slowly looked back at her, and gave Alice an unamused stare. It doesn't trust me. Alice realized. Houndour thinks I'm an idiot after telling it to dodge that flame. Houndour turned back to Chimchar, and simply braced itself growling.
Sammy looked confused seeing the Houndour disobey Alice's orders, but seemed determined to press on after that beginning mistake. "Alright Blaze, use Scratch!" His Chimchar let out a cry and began to run towards Houndour. Houndour however, didn't move a muscle, remaining in its braced position as the chimp ran towards it.
"Don't stand there and let it hit you! Dodge!" Alice yelled.
Houndour still didn't move. At the last moment, when Chimchar was reaching out its hands towards the dark type, glowing with energy, Houndour spat out a black cloud right into Chimchar's face. Alice recognized the move as smog. Chimchar let out a cry of pain, but was unable to stop its momentum. Houndour stepped to the side, leaving a paw in Chimchar's path. With its eyes damaged due to the smog, Chimchar tumbled right into Houndour limb, tripping over it and tumbling across the field.
"Blaze!" Sammy cried.
Alice blinked in astonishment, still trying to process what had just happened. She heard an impressed whistle from Jack. Alice had thought the Houndour was simply stubbornly not listening to her orders, and was going to take the hit out of spite, but the pokemon had instead handled the Chimchar like it was handling a child.
"Blaze, are you alright?! Can you keep going?!" Alice heard Sammy yell. His Chimchar didn't look good, bruises on it knees and its eyes red and puffy. She could also see a slight purple blush on its skin. Houndour's smog had poisoned it. However, upon hearing its trainer's voice, Chimchar got onto its feet and let out a 'CHAR!'.
"That's the spirit! Let's keep going!" Sammy yelled happily, but Alice found herself disagreeing. On top of being poisoned, Chimchar could obviously barely see. A pokemon in that state, especially one that needed to get up close to fight, wasn't fit for battle.
Sammy, however, didn't notice this fact. "Alright, Blaze, this time-"
Sammy didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. With staggering speed, Houndour shot a ball of flame from its mouth, twice the size of Chimchar's. The chimp only had a second to cry out before it was engulfed in the fireball, the following explosion making Alice's ears ring. She could hear cries of alarm from the benches, Not a single word was said as the smoke gradually began to clear. Sammy's Chimchar lay on the ground, unconscious.
"Chimchar is unable to battle. The winners are Alice and Houndour!"
Alice was the winner, but didn't feel like she had won a single thing. It would be more accurate to say Houndour had won this match, rather than Alice herself.
Sammy returned his Chimchar, uncharacteristically silent for once. He was looking towards the ground and… oh. Alice looked away. He was crying. Of course he's crying, he's a kid and he and his partner just got so badly they couldn't land a single move. Alice thought to herself.
"Hey!" Alice looked back. Sammy had tears streaming down his face, and was shakily pointing a finger at her. "T-this isn't over! That didn't count! After all, your Houndour wasn't listening to you at all!"
"Uh…" He had a point. Alice looked at Jack, who gave a small smile.
"There aren't any rules stating that a win doesn't count due to a disobedient pokemon. If the pokemon refused to battle that's one thing, but a loss is still a loss in this case."
Sammy huffed and turned away, walking back to his friends while rubbing his eyes. Alice did feel a bit bad for him, but what could she even say?
Jack walked over to her. "Well, I didn't expect the battle to end that fast! Houndour is really talented huh?"
"Yeah, but it still didn't listen to a single order I gave! I really didn't deserve that victory."
Jack shook her head. "You and Houndour are a team now. Every individual victory is a victory for your whole team."
'Well, it certainly doesn't feel like it." Alice said, looking at her pokemon. The dark type had its body turned away from her, was relaxing, sprawled out on the dirt like it hadn't just won a battle. Alice sighed, and returned Houndour to its ball. She jumped as she heard a clap, and she turned to see Jack's eyes sparkling.
"I have an idea." She said, a grin beginning to form. Well that didn't bode well.
As the two of them walked off the field, a "HEY!" caused Alice to jump again. She turned and saw Sammy, his eyes still red and wet, with Antonio and Miyubi behind him.
"Sammy, you don't have to be that loud." Miyubi mumbled. Sammy took a deep breath and looked at Alice, determination in his eyes.
"We might have lost this time, but next time will be different." Sammy spoke lower this time, but not a trace of sobbing could be heard in his voice.
Seeing how seriously Sammy took his loss made Alice uncomfortable. After all, did it matter that much? She hadn't even given a single successful order. "Uh, yeah, sure. I guess."
Sammy dramatically pointed at her. "I declare you my rival! One day, I'll definitely beat you!"
Alice's mind blanked. "What?"
"Isn't that a bit much for someone who beat you once?" Miyubi said. "Wouldn't Antonio fit better? You guys battle all the time."
"No, it's not the same! Besides, Antonio never beat me that badly. All the greatest trainers have rivals who truly tested their skills. If I want to get better, I have to have someone who can regularly challenge me to improve!"
Miyubi looked at Antonio, who shrugged, as if he was saying 'I have as much a clue as you do'.
Alice sighed. "I'm guessing I don't have a say in this."
"No you don't! Rivalries aren't things you accept or deny! They just happen!" Sammy grinned, and walked away. Miyubi groaned and walked after him, while Antonio gave Alice an apologetic smile before running after them.
After the drama on the field, Alice welcomed lunch with open arms. After buying lunch to go, Jack led Alice to a clearing outside the city, where now the two of them were eating sandwiches on a tree stump. The bustle of the city was a distant buzz now, taken over by the sounds of animals and wild pokemon.
"Alice". Jack said, her mouth full of food.
"Finish chewing." Alice said, cringing as she saw food flying out of her friend's mouth.
There was a brief silence, again, her friend trying to chew quickly through their food.
"Alice," Jack repeated. "I really think you should give your pokemon nicknames."
Alice hummed nonchalantly, looking into the distance.
"I'm serious. It would help close the distance between you guys. Besides, do you really want to keep calling your pokemon by their species name? It'd be like me constantly calling you 'human'. It's weird."
She had a point there. Alice sighed and took out her two pokeballs. She couldn't tell the two apart yet, so she used their positions on her belt to remember. "I've never really given names before. I don't want to give a name I'll regret later, or something embarrassing or unoriginal, like 'Blaze'".
Jack chuckled. "Blaze isn't that bad."
"It is! It'd be like calling me 'Pink'. It's a name with obviously not much thought put into it!" Alice narrowed her eyes. "Please tell me you haven't done something like that naming your pokemon. Now that I remember-"
"Well, in my opinion, the uniqueness of a name doesn't matter! It's how much the name means to you that counts the most!"
"Remind me not to let you name your own kids. It'd save them years of embarrassment."
"Anyway, it's been a while since you've seen my team, right? We both have teams now, so let's get them acquainted early! Besides, they might be able to teach your pokemon a thing or two."
Alice and her team were in desperate need of experience. Relenting, she let out Starly and Houndour. Seeing her, Starly chirped and hopped over to her, while Houndour sat in place, watching the bird with curiosity. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time the two of them were out of their pokeballs at the same time.
"Um, Starly is on our team now, Houndour. So get along, ok?"
Starly let out a cheerful chirp, which Houndour surprisingly nodded at. In the end, it was more evidence that the issue was with her specifically.
"Cute!" Jack said. She held three pokeballs and one ultraball in her hands, which she tossed high in the air. "Alright, you guys, be gentle!"
Alice would never admit it to Jack, but she was always impressed by how imposing and confident her pokemon looked. The team had been through a lot, and it showed simply through their body language. Infernape, Floatzel, Roserade and Noivern all stood at attention, but once it was clear there was no threat, all pokemon relaxed. Plume the Infernape, Jack's starter, somehow looked majestic and menacing at the same time, his flame slightly heating up the air around them. Chimchar was always the most popular of the Sinnoh regions starters, and Alice wasn't surprised Jack had picked one. The fiery chimp had suited her the most, and had grown into a powerful team member.
Starly simply looked at the older pokemon in awe, while Houndour growled, taking a step back towards Alice, seemingly a bit intimidated.
Seeing the other fire type, Plume looked down curiously, while Alice's Starly slowly approached Noivern, eyes glued to the black dragon.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure Tornado could teach your Starly a bit about flying!". Jack's Noivern, Tornado, did not seem too happy about being in sunlight, grumbling while shielding her eyes from the light above. At Jack's words she looked at the small bird, at which Starly let out a small, cheerful chirp.
The tips Jack's pokemon offered centered mainly off of imitation. In Houndour's case, it was attempting to imitate Plume's Flamethrower, the dark and fire type trying to make its flames last longer, without much success. In Starly's case, Jack had Tornado do different aerial movements in the sky, after which Starly would try to imitate. After three successes, Tornado would move on to a more complex movement, but Starly seemed to have a lot more success in this area.
"Your Starly's certainly a fast learner." Jack commented, watching the small bird twist and turn in the sky. "Faster than most young birds I've seen. That bodes well for the future. The little guy should get strong fast."
Seeing her pokemon train gave Alice a sense of satisfaction. It again gave her a sense that she wasn't simply going through the motions, and she WAS taking this trainer business seriously.
After about an hour Jack decided to end the drills. Both of Alice's pokemon looked exhausted, Houndour panting with its tongue out, while Starly sat next to her side and closed his eyes. Seeing the two resting after their training, Alice came to a decision. After seeing her pokemon make all that effort, what kind of trainer would she be if she didn't put in some herself?
"Alright you two!" Alice said, causing her two pokemon to jump, and look at her curiously. "I've decided to give you guys nicknames. If we're going to be a team, I want to call you by something more than just 'Starly' and 'Houndour'."
Starly let out a cheerful chirp, which seemed to mean he was ok with the idea. Houndour, on the other hand, simply yawned. The dark type didn't seem to care.
That's not a no. Then again, I'd probably just do it anyway. Alice thought. OK, so nicknames. Houndour was her first pokemon, so she decided to focus there first.
Oh, yeah, what even is Houndour gender?
Alice took out her pokedex. Based on her pokemon's features, her Houndour was male. Same as Starly.
So, a grouchy, disobedient male Houndour. Alice thought back to the battle Houndour had won earlier. He had taken down Chimchar so methodically without any instruction.
"How about 'Rogue'?" Alice suggested the Houndour. The dark type ignored her, yawning and lying down on a patch of grass. Rogue it was.
Next was Starly. Jack had said the bird was a fast learner, and compared to Houndour seemed relatively obedient.
"In your case, let's go with… 'Paragon'!" The Starly gave a chirp in reply. Alice hoped that was a yes.
Jack walked over, curiosity clear on her face. "What's up? Giving your team a pep talk?"
Alice smiled. "I decided to take your advice! Meet Rogue and Paragon!" Alice pointed at her two pokemon.
"Sounds like nicknames given by someone trying too hard to be unique." Jack said, smirking.
Alice felt her cheeks flush. "Shut up. You're just mad I came up with names cooler than anything you could fathom."
"Bullshit!"
The two girls laughed, their voices echoing into the forest, and swirling into the crisp evening air.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It seems Alice's journey is continuing along nicely, but will this smooth sailing last? Feel free to leave a review, and I'll (hopefully) see you next time!
