"A Ghost Hunter?"
The admissions director nodded. "His Partner Pokemon is a Dark type, that means he's chosen to be a Ghost Hunter." They slid the dark clothing Father had shoved away back across the desk. I hadn't known that your specific Trainer type was decided by your Partner Pokemon, but I certainly found it ironic that I was becoming a Ghost Hunter considering there was currently a Ghost type Pokemon in several layers of containment in the dorm they had shown me to when I arrived. Father did not appreciate the amused snort that escaped from me, probably assuming I thought it funny that the thing he thought would save me from sin was actually just going to drive me deeper into it. I straightened immediately, my eyes tracing the room for something to focus on. I decided on the name plate for this admissions director. Arnold Bailsworth. Bleh. Father turned back to him.
"Then give him another chance. Let him catch a different Partner Pokemon. My son is an idiot, so he certainly didn't know-" Father's protesting words spilled out of his mouth like the Wooloo spilled out of their shed when you opened the door, but were cut off by Arnold's raised hand.
"There are no second chances. You are given one apricorn for free, and that apricorn is used to catch your Partner Pokemon which decides what Trainer Class you are. It could be worse, you could be another basic Arceian Trainer with Normal type Pokemon." Arnold didn't even look up as they kept scribbling with their quill on the entrance paperwork. "Besides, Ghost Hunters are always in high demand. It takes a firm hand and a powerful soul to train Dark type Pokemon. Powerful Trainers, but easily corrupted." They nodded as though they'd seen that corruption first hand a million times. They stacked the paper on top of a red journal and slid both across to me. "Sign that and the Journey Journal is yours."
"Journey Journal?" I questioned, thought I was already in the motion of scribbling across the spot I had been told to sign. I didn't know how to write, only how to read, and even that was a miracle. Oscar had taught me before he left but some words still escaped me; usually longer ones like nearly every word on this paper.
"Use it to keep track of any Pokemon you see or important notes." Arnold explained flatly as he took the paper back and stuffed it in a drawer. "Or throw it away, I don't care."
After that, Father left to return home, leaving me alone to unpack my things. Fortunately, I didn't have much to unpack; I didn't even have a blanket since Father had said the blanket I used as home was his. I hung up my clothes and then sat in my bed, holding the apricorn that contained Honedge in my hands. I slowly pushed the button on the top. It had been in there for several days now and I figured it wasn't very comfortable inside there. In a flash of red light, Honedge appeared in front of me and blinked its one eye at me. "Edge," was all it said before it started to slowly float around the room as though scanning the place for danger. As I watched it, it finally started to dawn on me that even the Ghost type Pokemon that I had was scary to me. Even though I controlled it, even though it was in my apricorn, I had no idea what it could do. I looked at Honedge. It really was just a sword, so it probably did sword things. But maybe it leaned more into being a ghost than it did a sword.
My door swung open suddenly, and without thinking I reached out and grabbed Honedge's hilt. A beefy man wearing heavily used armor stood, filling the entire doorway with his form. He spoke with a heavy Galarian accent. "Ah, ya already got a weapon. Not somethin' I expected of the farmer boy, but good on ya I suppose."
I was confused for a moment, before I realized I was holding Honedge like a sword. I spun my hand over so its blade was sticking up and it didn't look like I was about to stab myself in the gut. "Uh... yeah. Well... if my Houndour wasn't enough, gotta protect the Wooloo somehow."
"Aye, but don't go swingin' that thing around in here! Ya know that if ya cut up the bed or the walls, it comes outta yer pay! Get a scabbard on that thing and get out to the trainin' field, I'm gonna be groupin' ya up today!" The man stepped out of the doorway and stomped heavily down the hallway.
I looked at Honedge, and its eye stared back at me, still refusing to blink. I slid it back into its scabbard, and then tried my best to hang it on myself like a sword, but really just ended up hanging it on my back and letting it wrap its scarf thing around my shoulders to keep it in place. By that point I had already changed into the dark clothing a Ghost Hunter apparently wears, which was oddly flowy yet still somehow very heavy. The armored jacket that had been included was long, and nearly swept the floor as I walked to the training field; a massive dirt oval in the middle of the well-kept lawn of the Arceian Church here in Ecclessi City. As I walked, I saw Trainers of all types: Psychic type Trainers wore flowing robes and interesting circlets or hoods with runes drawn on them, Flying type Trainers leapt from their Pokemon into the dirt, letting their tied belts flutter and gliding accessories catch the wind to break their fall, but most of the Trainers walked with their Pokemon by their side, mostly in standard leathers, and mostly with Normal type Pokemon. I looked around and, realizing I was the only person without their Partner Pokemon out, let out Blitzkrieg. As I did, people gave odd glances and stepped away, but Blitzkrieg trotted loyally by my side, and Honedge hung on my shoulders. I felt oddly proud to be probably one of the only people here with two Pokemon... even if one of those Pokemon was illegal.
As we gathered on the dirt field, the beefy man from before returned. "Form up, rookies!"
Everyone clamored to get into a line, and those that didn't followed the ones that did, the latter group including myself. The beefy man paced in front of us.
"You are all new to being Arceian Trainers, is that correct?!" The man shouted.
"Yes sir!" was the response, from everyone but one person. A voice like bells rung through the air and pierced through monotonous noise of agreement.
"No, I am not."
The beefy man stopped and looked slowly down the line of new trainers, before stopping on the girl who had talked to Father out at the farm. I had been so busy looking at everyone else, I had somehow completely missed her. He walked over to her, armor clanking as he did, and bent over to look her in the eye as best as his large form would let him. "Yer sister might be one of The Legendary Trio, but it would be best for you and yer classmates if ya came down off your high Rapidash, and took a breath of what we were breathin', Miss Allison." He spoke to the girl sternly, and the girl looked at him like she had no time for his lectures, yet she did not speak again as he straightened up and went back to shouting at us. "My name is Sir Rowan MacBass, and I am yer trainin' instructor! If you've got a problem with that, feel free to turn in yer Partner Pokemon at the front desk and leave yer Trainer License with Arnold." Sir Rowan paused a moment. No one moved. "Good! Now, the basic of Pokemon battlin' are simple! First-"
"Dear Arceus, we've all seen a Pokemon battle!" The boy next to me spoke, causing me to jump a bit. The boy in red armor. How had I missed him? Even in this crowd, he stuck out like a sore thumb. What were these people doing here? They surely weren't sending rookie teams out to deal with problems like potential Ghost types, were they?
"Ah, ya know all about battlin' then do ya, Mr. Percius? Why don'tcha step up here and demonstrate for us then?" Sir Rowan gestured to the field he was standing on. "Why don'tcha grab that lad right next to you there and see if ya can't show us what yer so confident about?"
Percius placed a hand on my back and shoved my towards the field in front of him. "Gladly." Even behind his helmet, I could tell Percius was looking forward to kicking the stuffing out of me.
"Yer the Jackson lad, ain'tcha?" Sir Rowan asked as he walked up to me. I nodded. "Good luck to ya." He patted my shoulder with a large hand as he walked to go join the group outside the field. "One Pokemon each! No killin' blows! Once yer pinned, yer out!" He announced.
"One Pokemon is all I need." Percius announced as he pulled out an apricorn and I came to the realization that his Partner Pokemon wasn't out with him a moment too late. A Dragon type Pokemon nearly the size of me appeared next to Percius, announcing itself with a roar, "Haxorus!" Without thinking, I had grabbed the hilt of Honedge and pulled it out of the scabbard on my back.
"Flashy little stick you've got there," Percius taunted. "Check out mine." He pulled a rod from his belt and swung it like a sword, but instead of producing a blade the rod extended outward before expanding like an umbrella into an impressively long red lance that matched his armor. I hadn't been able to find out what kind of Trainer he was at home, but in that moment I knew.
He was a Dragon Lancer.
Before I knew it he was rushing me, Haxorus at his side. His lance came up on one side of me and Haxorus swung himself at the other. I froze, but my arm yanked me forward. Honedge was wrapped around my arm, and had directed me away from the attack. It spun me in place, slicing across Haxorus' face and blasting him with slicing winds. Golden blood erupted from the slice and Haxorus stumbled away, nearly toppling over before he balanced himself by slamming his tail on the ground. Percius raised his lance at me and snarled "One little cut isn't gonna bring me or Justice down!" I didn't have time in that moment to comprehend that Justice was the name of his Haxorus.
"Blitzkrieg, use Ember on Percius!" I shouted despite not knowing in that moment where Blitzkrieg was. That problem was fixed easily when Blitzkrieg dashed up and blew a hot flame on the largest target he could reach: Percius' butt. Percius screamed in surprise at the sudden pain and dropped into the dirt to cool himself off, and Blitzkrieg slammed against his back, knocking his helmet off and causing it to roll into the dirt. I knew he had been scowling at me the second his initial strike of trying to skewer me hadn't worked, but it turned out to be full of much more hate than I originally had imagined. I had been distracted giving Blitzkrieg orders and suddenly Justice was bearing down on time of me. I tried to step back out of its range but it sliced it's axe-like mouth parts across my chest, just barely slicing across my skin, my own blood just as noticeable in my black shirt as Justice's golden blood was against it's own plating. Honedge swung before I could even think, slicing across Justice's own chest and causing more golden blood to splatter across the field and onto me. He roared in pain and as he roared a glowing ball of purple energy appeared in his mouth.
"Justice, stop!" Percius shouted, trying to scramble to his feet frantically. "Move, kid!" I registered this demand at the last moment and dove to the side before a shockwave of destructive energy exploded from Justice's mouth and ripped across the field and tore a hole into the side of the church before sputtering out into nothing. Justice stood completely motionless for a moment before falling forward into the newly created rut in the ground like a freshly cut tree. Percius ran over and tapped his apricorn against Justice, who turned into red light and disappeared. Percius looked at me with contempt. "He wouldn't have had to do that if you had just took it like the Ghost Hunter you're supposed to be." Percius spat at my feet before moving to grab his helmet and walk back to join the now whispering group, sulking.
Sir Rowan came over and helped me up. "And that, lads and lasses, is why we don't get cocky. If ya get cocky, then some farm boy with a Houndour knocks ya on yer ass and slices up yer Dragon type Pokemon. Quite the blade ya got there, lad. It got a name?"
I looked down at the blade. I had never really thought about it, but people usually did name their swords, didn't they? People also usually gave their Pokemon nicknames to differentiate them from wild Pokemon, so it was really killing two Pidgeys with one stone. I thought about how Honedge had helped me just now. If it hadn't pulled me out of the way, I would have been out of the fight and probably in the hospital for who knows how long. I remembered hearing a story about a king from a far away land who had a sword that helped him in battle. I smiled as I looked down at Honedge, and it looked back at me.
"I call it Excalibur."
