A/N: I don't own anything, Pokémon belongs to Nintendo, Game Freak, etc. and Kaskade belongs to Lockstin and Gnoggin. Enjoy.
Taming the Primals
Ch3. A Flare for Battle.
"Human speech"
"Pokémon speech"
"Pokédex entry"
May 15, 5:40 pm Hoennian Standard Time (HST).
Upon reaching route 101, I could definitely hear screaming and yelling, but I could also hear growling, snarling and howling. It Seemed that the professor was surrounded by wild Pokémon. Walking into a clearing I saw Professor Birch in a tree that had been surrounded by a group of angry black and gray canine Pokémon.
No When he caught sight of me he exclaimed, "Oh Brendan, thank goodness, can you and your Axew scare off these Poochyena!?"
"We can try but San doesn't have much battle experience, we would need help!" I called back.
"Use one of the pokémon in my satchel, they have a little battle experience!" Sanguine hopped down from my arms and we ran over to the dropped satchel.
I ran over, tearing the satchel open. There were three symbols on the pokéballs, I didn't have time to look at them so I grabbed the first one I saw. Throwing the pokéball, I yelled, "we need your help, come on out!"
What appeared was a small, orange and yellow chicken pokémon, probably a fire type.
"What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" It asked.
"No time," I chided, "Professor Birch is in trouble!" I pulled up the pokédex app on my pokénav.
"Torchich, the chick pokémon, Torchic sticks with its Trainer, following behind with unsteady steps. This Pokémon breathes fire of over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, including fireballs that leave the foe scorched black. Torchic has a place inside its body where it keeps its flame. Give it a hug-it will be glowing with warmth. This Pokémon is covered all over by a fluffy coat of down.
This Torchic is level 5, male, has the ability Blaze, and knows the moves scratch and growl."
"Alright, Torchic growl, Sanguine use leer!"
The poochyena, of which there were four, had turned to face us, snarling at those they saw as an obstacle to their prey. Then flinching slightly at the sudden growl and glare. While not doing much to scare off the poochyena, their stats were lowered.
"Once more you two!"
Sanguine just barely managed to pull off his leer before needing to dodge two of the poochyena's attacks. Torchic however wasn't so lucky he took a direct attack from one of the poochyena and barely escaped the other's attack.
"I guess it's now or never guys! Sanguine use Iron tail, Torchic use scratch!"
Sangine's tail glowed a dark metallic gray and Torchic's talons glowed white. They nodded and each other then charged. Sanguine swung his tail at one of the poochyena with such force that it flew backwards into its pack mate. Torchic's scratch actually caused the poochyena he attacked to faint from pain.
It was at that point that May appeared, along with a small blue fish like Pokémon that had orange crests coming out the side of its head.
"Skipper, use Water gun!"
The Pokémon that she called skipper shot a blast of water at the remaining poochyena. Soaking wet, and seeing how outmatched they were, one poochyena ran and the other two grabbed their fallen comrade then legged it.
"Dad get down from there, we have to go now, where there's poochyena cubs, there's a mightyena that is going to be pissed when it sees what we did to its babies!" She pulled up a picture of mightyena on her pokédex and showed it to me.
"Agreed, let's get the hell outta here!" I said, seeing as a picture of a mightyena was enough of a look at one.
Ten Minutes Later
"Thank you for getting me out of that tight spot, don't know what I would've done if you two hadn't come along!" Professor Birch exclaimed as we reached his house.
"No problem professor, just remember to be careful out there!" I teased.
"Yeah dad, you would've been toast if Brendan hadn't come along!" May sweat-dropped.
"Hehe… well," the professor chuckled, desperately thinking of a subject to steer the conversation towards. "Brendan, why don't you stop by the lab tomorrow morning! I believe we have a few things to go over before you begin your journey!"
"Erm, ok professor… Good night then." I started to walk away when Sanguine said to me;
"Dad, what about the torchic you borrowed?"
"Oh, right! Professor, I believe that this belongs to you." I said as I held out torchic's pokéball.
The professor merely turned and smiled. "How about you hold on to him for tonight? Get to know him a little. After all, he is one of the starters I was considering giving to you!"
"Really? You sure professor?"
"Absolutely my boy!"Birch replied.
"Thanks professor!" I said and turned around to walk home.
'In fact the way you two were battling today, I would not be surprised if you two were meant to be partners!' Birch thought as he walked inside his house.
May 15, 7:08 pm HST
An hour after saving Birch I was in my room while my mom and I were waiting for takeout to arrive. Sanguine and I were sitting in my bean bag processing the day's events. Eventually I decided to send out the Torchic that Professor Birch lent me.
"Alright, start explaining! Who are you, Where am I, and why aren't I with beardy mcbeardface?" Was the first thing that came out of his beak.
I laughed at his name for the professor and said "Ok, to answer your questions in order; my name is Brendan Maple, I just moved here from Unova. Second, we're in my family's house, more specifically my room. And lastly, the Professor suggested that I should get to know you, as he was going to give me a starter before I began my journey. Any other questions?"
The Torchic had a skeptical look then said, "How can you understand me?"
"I'm not actually sure, all I know is that I realized I could talk to pokémon after Sanguine here hatched."
"Alright… you there, Sanguine was it? What kind of human is this one?" Torchic asked my partner.
"Who, my dad? He's the best! Maybe a little too overprotective when I am training and battling, but he's really smart and caring!"
I couldn't help but blush at Sanguine's comments. Both the complaint and the praise.
"The only reason that I might be overbearing is that you're not even two months old yet! You're still a hatchling and I don't want you to end your career before it can even begin!" I huffed.
"What career?" Torchic asked, with hope filling his eyes.
"Sanguine and I want to be professional battlers, but he gets a little too eager sometimes and forgets that hatchlings shouldn't engage in battle too much until their skin and bones fully harden." I ranted.
"Then why'd you let him battle earlier?"
"We had no choice, with as many poochyena as there were, there was no scaring them off without a battle. Even then San isn't nearly strong enough to take on that many opponents by himself. I explained.
"Which is why you needed me." Torchic surmised. "One final question, if you're really serious about becoming professional battlers…can you please take me with you?"
I was surprised by the begging tone coming from this Torchic so far it had seemed sarcastic and prideful, so the begging seemed weird for its personality.
"Is there a reason why you want me to take you? No offense, but you seem like the type who would rather have a more experienced person as a trainer."
"At this point I don't really care. I just want to get out of that lab and away from beardy mcbeardface. I get scolded every time I try to battle any of the other Pokémon at the lab. I just want to be strong like my mother. She was a gym leader's ace and I want to be even stronger than her!" Torchic raved.
I considered the starter's words then asked, "will you be able to follow my orders?"
"What do you mean?"
"Will you be able to listen to my commands in battle and will you be able to retreat or return when I tell you to? As a trainer my first priority is my Pokémon's and my own safety and health. So I ask you once again, will you be able to follow orders?" I asked. I was deadly serious when it came to my partners' safety. I had heard stories of trainers that "lost" Pokémon due to lack of care for their Pokémon's health.
"Yes sir," Torchic replied. "I can follow orders."
I relaxed. "Then first thing tomorrow I'll tell the Professor that you are the starter I want."
"Really!? Thank you so much sir! I won't let you down!" Torchic cheered.
"None of that sir stuff, we're going to be partners, so call me Brendan." I insisted. I thought for a moment then asked, "do you have a name, or do you want one?"
"I don't have a name, but yes, I would like one."
"Hmm… well you are a fire type, and fire type moves are pretty flashy and dramatic. How about Flare?" I suggested.
Torchic thought about it and finally said, "Flare, huh? I like it, it's nice and intimidating. Yes, Flare will do just fine." A small smirk crossed Flare's face.
"Well then, I suppose it's settled! Welcome to the team Flare!" I said.
"Brendan, dinner's here!" My mom called from downstairs.
"I will be right back, for now just get to know each other and explore the room."
"Ok dad!" Sanguine chimed.
"Sure thing Brendan!" Flare agreed.
Walking downstairs I was thrilled that I now knew which starter I would choose, and I was excited to start our journey.
Flare's POV:
It was strange and thrilling to think that I finally had a trainer! I was finally getting outta that lab and away from Mr. Overbearing beardy mcbeardface. As I explored the room I noticed that despite its size it was rather bare. I suppose Brendan did say he had just moved, perhaps that was why. Continuing to explore I quickly found two incubators with eggs and three nests.
"Alright bub, let's get a few things straight." I heard Sanguine say. "First off, stay away from my siblings' eggs, I don't want you breaking them by accident."
I nodded, "That's reasonable I suppose. What else?"
"I'M dad's starter, so don't you dare try to take my place!" He glared
I merely rolled my eyes and nodded. Hatchlings and their jealous nature I suppose.
"Finally, don't you EVER ask dad again how he got his ability to talk to Pokémon. As best as I can figure he got his heart broken on our birthday and that broke or unlocked something in him that allows him to talk to us. He may not show it, but I can tell he is still very much in pain, and asking him about it brings up bad memories. So don't bring it up again, capiche?"
My eyes widened and I nodded once more. I was surprised both at my trainer-to-be's story, and the ferocity from this hatchling.
"Are you going to give this speech to every Pokémon our trainer catches?" I asked, my voice positively dripping with sarcasm.
"Absolutely, gotta make sure the newbies know their place." Sanguine retorted.
"Umm… ok. Hey, why do you call Brendan dad?" I was desperate to change the subject after seeing what I call Serious face Sanguine.
"Because he was there when I hatched and is the one raising me, duh." Sanguine rolled his eyes.
"Oh…how about your biological parents, do you know who they are?" I asked.
"All I know is that my dad was a Unovan Gym leader's ace." Sanguine relaxed, "how about you?"
"We have something in common actually, my mother was Lavaridge's former gym leader's ace! And my father has sired many of the starter Torchic." I proudly bragged.
We soon bonded over the fact that we wanted to be even stronger than our ace Pokémon parents and very quickly began to get along.
Eventually Brendan came upstairs and found us curled up in the beanbag asleep. He woke us up, poured two bowls of Pokémon food for us, then sat down and started watching a show about some Kaskadian detective who hunted down murderers and criminals that were really monsters that only he could see.
{Props to anyone who gets this reference}
Around Ten in the evening Brendan shut off the show and got ready for bed. Sanguine and I snuggled up next to him and we soon fell asleep.
May 16, 8:45 am HST (Brendan PoV)
After waking up to Flare crowing alongside my alarm, I got up and got ready for the first day of my journey. After eating breakfast and a goodbye to my mom, I set off for Professor Birch's lab.
Upon entering the building I saw a massive foyer mixed with a library with hallways that led off to three different directions. The lady at the front desk looked up and skeptically asked "can I help you young man?"
"Ah, Professor Birch said to stop by this morning…" I said awkwardly. I was unsure as to whether or not I actually was expected to be here.
Then from the hall behind the adie's desk came the Professor. "It's alright Janet, I am expecting him. Brendan, so good to see you! Sorry about my assistant, she used to work for Professor Elm. She was present during a break-in that occurred at his lab a few years back, so she's a bit paranoid about strangers entering the lab."
"Better safe than sorry sir." Janet replied then went back to working on the computer.
"Follow me Brendan." Birch waved in the direction he came from. "This hall leads to the conservatory and medical facility. So, any consensus toward that Torchic?"
"Actually yes, if it is ok with you I would like to pick him as my Pokémon." I explained.
"I had a feeling that would be the case!" He smiled. "Just seeing you two battling reminds me of your dad and that old Furret of his."
"Really, I never knew that Furret was a battler."
My dad's Furret used to basically be my babysitter when mom was busy. He passed away when I was 11. Apparently he had heart issues.
"Anyway, let's get Torchic registered to your license." he said as he walked over to a computer. "Do you have a nickname for him?"
"Flare, his name is Flare."
"Ah, cool nickname." Professor Birch said, as he finished registering Flare to my account. "Alrighty, all set! Flare is officially your Pokémon!"
"Thanks professor, now our journey can really begin!"
Before you set out, do you think you could do me a small favor?" Birch asked.
"What do you need, Professor?"
"Please just call me Eugene or Gene for short. Could you please run over to route 103, and bring May back over to the lab? She's studying Pokémon that live on that route, and she forgot her lunch here, I would give it to you to give to her but it's refrigerated and I don't have a cooler bag here." He apologized.
"Yeah, no problem Gene, anything else?" I asked.
"No, but why don't you two have a battle while you are over there, it'll give you a good opportunity to gain some battle experience!" Birch suggested.
"Alright, sounds good. See you later Gene!"
I nodded to the receptionist on my way out and began to make my way to route 103.
A/N: Alright chapter 3 done. I'm enjoying writing this so far and would definitely love to hear your feedback. I think I have a good idea of what I want to do with the other two eggs Brendan has and I have a good idea of what I want the team to look like. Leave a review if you find any issues plot or grammar wise or have any questions! Till next time, auf Wiedersehen!