The Ranger station was at the eastern gate to Jubilife, so it took us a fair bit of time to navigate the midday traffic in Glen's pickup truck. It was old, but at least it had AC.
It was a larger building, mostly resembling a log cabin but with more modern conveniences. There was a fenced area stretching from the side and far into the back. Currently, a Sawsbuck was taking in the sun while a Swablu was nested in its antler foliage. Once we were inside, a woman sitting at a desk greeted us. She had red hair pulled into a messy bun and soft green eyes, and wore the standard Ranger uniform.
"Hi there, I'm Ranger Tiffany, what can I do for you?"
Glen coughed to clear his throat before speaking, his typically gruff demeanor was slightly smoothed over.
"Here to see my son Nathan. He's transferring a Pokemon to Titus here."
"Oh, you're taking that Tyrogue then? I'll go get him."
As she walked away, I couldn't help but notice the state of her desk. In fact, most of the office was a bit disheveled. There were papers scattered, trash bins tipped over and more than a few bulletin boards that were very much overloaded.
From one of the other rooms, a man dressed in the Ranger uniform with close-cropped sandy hair and beard approached us. He had a Pokeball in one hand, and could've been Glen's brother for all of the resemblance. His other hand extended in greeting to me, and I shook it.
"Titus? It's nice to meet you. Come with me and we'll get this squared away."
He led us to his back office, where he sat down at his desk and gestured at us to take a seat across from him.
"Can I see your Trainer ID?"
I pulled it from my wallet, and slid it across the desk. He slid it through a card reader, and placed the Pokeball he was holding onto a little pedestal device I didn't recognize. Like the card reader, it was connected to his computer. Nathan fingers clattered against the keyboard, he clicked the mouse a few times, and the only sound in the room was from him working at the computer.
"So Dad, how's the bar?"
"Was fine 'till my best employee up and decided he wanted to be a Trainer instead. And I was just gettin' used to bein' Grandpa…", Glen replied before chuckling to himself.
"You can still be a Grandpa, just hire someone else!", I protested.
Nathan cracked a smile. I guess it had to be pretty funny watching someone else deal with your parents. He returned my ID and set the Pokeball in front of me before standing up.
"All done. Ready to meet your starter?"
I stood in the fenced area with Nathan and his Pokemon, the Sawsbuck and Swablu I'd seen earlier. Glen was on the other end of the paddock, smoking away from the Pokemon as it apparently bothered them. As soon as he lit the thing, Sawsbuck had given him a dirty look.
I held out the Pokeball and released the creature inside. In a flash of light, a pink humanoid Pokemon emerged. He had fierce yellow eyes and shoe-like feet and three little horns on his head. Nathan stepped in and knelt down to Tyrogue, placing a hand on his back.
"Tyrogue, remember what I told you? This is Titus, he's your new Trainer now. You'll get to battle and train and travel with him. Go on."
Tentatively, the Fighting Type approached me while glaring. It would've been threatening, but Tyrogue was part of a group of Pokemon known colloquially as Baby Pokemon. They were weaker, infant forms of other Pokemon, like Magby for Magmar and Elekid for Electabuzz. In Tyrogue's case he could actually evolve into one of three different Pokemon, although which one he would take wasn't something I knew too much about. I'd definitely have to look into that later.
I knelt down as Nathan had to meet Tyrogue on his level. His glare softened as he looked at me, yellow eyes blinking a few times before they closed and his arms went to his sides before bowing to me. I hadn't been expecting that at all. Did all Tyrogue do that, or was this something he'd picked up somewhere?
"It's nice to meet you, Tyrogue. I heard you like to battle and train but don't get quite as much as you need."
The Fighting Type lifted his head before nodding and replying, "Tyro!". I didn't speak Pokemon, so I took that to mean an affirmative.
"We're taking on the Sinnoh Circuit. There's plenty of strong Trainers and Pokemon to face, and we'll be traveling the whole region." I pulled my Pokedex from my pocket. "Can I scan you? Would that be okay?"
Tyrogue looked down, fumbled with his hands for a few seconds before looking back at me and nodding again.
"Great. Let's see what we can learn about you.", I replied, smiling at him as I held up the digital encyclopedia at him.
/
Tyrogue, the Scuffle Pokemon
Type: Fighting
Evolutions: Hitmonchan (no further information), Hitmonlee (no further information), Hitmontop (no further information)
Tyrogue are known for their seemingly boundless energy. They will eagerly take on more powerful foes and grow frustrated when they do not train or battle.
Ability: Steadfast (click for more information)
Learned Moves: Tackle, Double Kick, Fake Out, Dizzy Punch, Helping Hand, Focus Energy, Foresight
Potential Moves: Pursuit, Low Kick, Counter, Feint, Endure, Rapid Spin, Vacuum Wave, Mach Punch, Hi-Jump Kick…. (click for more information)
/
No luck on the evolution method then. It would've been nice to know ahead of time, but it looked like the Pokedex didn't have that information. That just meant having to do some research and talking to Trainers.
Oh. Right. It still hadn't fully sunk in yet, that I was a Trainer too. I had a Pokemon of my own, and I'd be leaving in a little over a week.
Then I noticed Glen was next to us, leering down at Tyrogue while scratching his chin.
"Should take 'em to the arenas around the city, let him get some exercise. And don't go bitin' off more than you can chew either. You see a Dragon, you bow out, y'here me? They may look cute now but drakes ain't nothin' to mess around with."
That last part was pointed at me specifically. Glen's expression had gone from pensive to serious pretty quick. I turned to my starter.
"What do you think? Want to see what you can do?"
His eyes lit up and he smiled, genuinely happy for the first time before nodding his head.
"Tyro!"
Glen wasn't finished though, but he was looking at Tyrogue this time.
" S'weird though, normally Tyrogue are full a piss 'n vinegar. This one looks downright calm." The old man squatted down, wincing from the cracking and pain in his knees as he did so. "Mmm….you an old man Tyrogue?", he muttered, chuckling to himself.
At the sound of the whistle, my opponent and I threw out our first commands of the battle.
"Karate Chop!"
"Fake Out!"
As Machop ran forward with a single glowing hand raised to attack, Tyrogue blurred towards him before slapping both sides of his head, disorienting the other Fighting Type.
"Now, Dizzy Punch!"
Tyrogue slammed a golden glowing fist into Machop's jaw, but he spread his feet and braced himself against the attack before throwing a Karate Chop of his own that made impact with Tyrogue's shoulder.
Not good. In an exchange, Machop would easily overpower Tyrogue. We would have to be quick or clever, since Tyrogue couldn't fight from a distance.
"Back off and use Focus Energy!", I ordered.
"Don't let it get away, grab it and Seismic Toss!"
Tyrogue attempted to back pedal but Machop wasn't letting that happen. He lunged for Tyrogue's arms, grabbing ahold and spinning him with all of the momentum he could generate.
"Double Kick to break free!"
Tyrogue kicked both legs in rapid succession, making contact with Machop's jaw before he was slammed into the ground. After a few seconds, the referee signaled my opponent as the victor. It stung a little to lose, but I was going into this knowing that Tyrogue was a baby and I was new to battling.
I ran onto the field to check on Tyrogue, but he was coming around now, bruised and hurting but otherwise fine. I knelt down to check on him anyway.
"You okay Tyrogue?", I asked.
He nodded before rising up on shaky legs and bowed to Machop and his trainer, Anthony. They'd been nice enough to battle with us and I figured that another Fighting Type was a good opponent for Tyrogue. I stood up and began opening my wallet. It was a sort of tradition to give your opponent a bit of cash if they won. Though Anthony waved my hand away as I fished out a few bills.
"Don't worry about it, I was happy to help. I'm surprised though, Baby Pokemon don't usually have that much fight in them. You said this was Tyrogue's first battle?", he asked.
I scratched my head. "Well yeah, and mine as well. I'm not Tyrogue's first Trainer to my knowledge, he has too many moves and the way he acts makes me think he used to belong to someone else."
I turned to Tyrogue, who was doing stretches and forms with Machop, who appeared to be instructing him, which I was happy to see. To me at least, it appeared that Tyrogue got along well with other people and their Pokemon. He didn't seem the least bit bothered that he just lost, brushing it off to learn from Machop instead of holding a grudge.
"Well, if he can keep Machop on his toes then he's a welcome opponent. We'll be around the arena for the next few days getting ready, just come find us if you want to battle again, yeah?"
He offered me a fist bump, and I returned it.
"Yeah, definitely! Come on, Tyrogue, we gotta get going."
"Ty!"
My starter bowed to Machop and Anthony again before returning to my side. As we got closer to the exit, I knelt down to him.
"We'll have to take you to the Pokemon Center to get you patched up, but before we do I want to tell you that you battled really well. Machop's a tough Pokemon and I'm proud of you."
The Fighting Type smiled, looking away and back to Anthony who was applying a Potion to Machop. They were probably getting ready for another battle.
I stood up, stretching my arms over my head. "After that, I'll show you where I live and you can meet my Mom. She's gonna love you."
Tyrogue's smile suddenly turned to a frown and his expression turned sour when he saw something behind me. I turned and Tyrogue stepped next to me, clutching my pant leg. I'd thought another Trainer might approach and ask for a battle but I was ready to decline.
It was the girl from the Pokemon Center, her companion as well as two more friends in tow, all dressed in the kind of clothing that would probably cost my mother and I several months of rent. Designer coats, shoes, handbags, the kinds of things that got worn once or twice before being thrown to the back of the closet. Her expression certainly hadn't changed, though she was wearing significantly more makeup than before. Not only that, but she had a total of three Pokeballs clipped to her belt. My attention was immediately drawn to the monster near her feet.
Jangmo-o wasn't a Pokemon I was terribly familiar with, but I could recall it from sight and knew that it wasn't native to the colder climate of Sinnoh. Its golden scales were resplendent under the arena lights, its eyes bright, sharp and focused. It looked to be well taken care of and in great shape, and its head held high in the way Dragons often did, proud and regal. The entire visage was ruined with the presence of two clip-on pink bows that had been affixed to scales on the sides of Jangmo-o's head. I wanted to be terrified, but I really just felt pity for it.
"THIS is your Pokemon?", she asked derisively while looking at Tyrogue. "It's so ugly and weak looking but I'll battle you anyway. Don't worry though, Momo and I will take it easy on you.", she said before her companions erupted into giggles. Her friend with the dark skin, who I noticed wore eyeshadow, spoke up. "Come on Alyssa, it'd be a little cruel setting Jangmo-o loose on him.", he said haughtily. This got another round of giggles and laughter from the group.
Alyssa replied, a vicious smirk plastered across her face, "I'm having fun with him Hayden, he probably knows he can't take me anyway.", before looking me straight in the eye.
My jaw locked up again, and my fists clenched, and I noticed Tyrogue doing the same, staring down Jangmo-o before I could reply. I was angry, insulted even, but Glen's advice suddenly rang in my ears.
"Come on, Tyrogue. Let's get you to the Center.", I managed to get out before recalling him and quickly exiting the arena. Heckling and jeers followed me but it was better than facing down the humiliation we'd meet from Alyssa's dragon.
A few hours later, I exited the Pokemon Center and released Tyrogue so he could walk with me on the street. He whipped his head around, clearly confused until he spotted me and anger grew on his face before he stomped on my foot. I jerked away in pain, stepping back.
"Ow, ow ow, hey what the hell was that for?!", I barked at him.
"Ty, Ty Ty Tyro!" he pointed at the Pokeball, then to me, then to himself, glaring at me all the while.
"I…I called you back to your ball? Was that it?", I ventured.
Tyrogue shook his head.
"I recalled you before you could fight that Jangmo-o?", I hazarded a guess
He looked at me, considering for a second before shaking his head again.
I think it sort of clicked for me at that point.
"You..you're not the biggest fan of this thing," I held out the Pokeball at pointed to it, "...are you?"
"Tyro!" That got an emphatic nod and was definitely affirmative.
"Did your old Trainer even keep you in the ball?"
My starter turned to look away from me, glancing around at the tall buildings as a few cars passed by. The anger had subsided and was replaced with something else but I couldn't quite tell. Tyrogue turned back to me, shaking his head.
It also occurred to me that I had recalled him without asking what he wanted. I knew he'd want to fight Jangmo-o but I knew Tyrogue couldn't handle it, especially when he was already injured. That Dragon would've burned him and torn him apart.
I scratched my head before kneeling down to the Fighting Type. I knew he'd respond better if I were eye-to-eye with him.
"Look, I'm never going to replace your old Trainer, Tyrogue. But I will listen to you. I won't recall you without telling you if it can be helped. If you're unconscious or in danger, I'll recall you immediately. Does that sound ok?"
Tyrogue had begun to frown, and I could see the beginning of tears in his eyes. He wiped them away, trying to hold it back before nodding and smiling. I put my hand on his shoulder as I looked him in the eye.
"I'm sorry I did that. And I'm sorry you didn't get to fight Alyssa's Jangmo-o. A battle with that monster would be much more dangerous than with Machop. I couldn't forgive myself if I forced you to fight it when you're injured and not ready. But I promise that when we have the tools to deal with it, we'll take it on together, ok?"
I raised a fist to him, as Anthony had done with me. His tiny pink fist bumped knuckles with my own.
"Now come on, let's head home."
I stood up, stretched my legs and began walking with Tyrogue by my side.
