Leo trudged down the bustling streets of Castelia City, having to stop himself from halting and letting his eyes roam across a city which he'd be leaving soon enough.
'Not that I'd get a chance to with this crowd.' Leo thought with a tinge of annoyance as someone bumped harshly into his shoulder and he he had to right himself. He looked to be a business man rushing towards work, which tracked since it was ten in the morning and the streets were packed to the brim with cars.
Castelia was always busy, being the beating heart of the Unova region and a city of ten million strong made that inevitable. That being said, rush hour had a habit of bringing the worst out of any city.
Traversing a sea of bodies, Leo was glad he had the foresight to return Tynamo. If caught in this crowd, his starter would certainly get lost or trampled.
'This is just ridiculous.' Leo thought to himself as he was pushed forwards. The crowd seemed to have come to a universally agreed flow, and anyone above or below a very narrow range of speed was given hostility. It sucked.
Leo was hardly new to traffic jams, but this was way beyond anything he experienced at home. It was highly inefficient, and if there were better roads then people would certainly have an easier time travelling through.
Eventually accepting the groove of Castelia's traffic, Leo's eyes eventually wandered ahead and he felt some relief when he saw that a park was in view over the heads of many adults. A few of them were taller than him by more than just a few inches, much to his chagrin. Being younger had it's downsides, like him not being fully grown quite yet and thus he was just under six feet.
Leo had been discharged from the Pokemon Centre just the night before, since he was completely healed for the most part. It took a whole ten days of healing since he was dragged from that beach, but the overprotective nurses and their Audinos were finally willing to let him go outside uncontested and independent. He still had residence there, thank god for that, but he could leave any time he wanted so long as he signed himself out.
That meant he could finally find some trainers to test his metal against. That battle with Frieda was a start, but he found himself craving more victory. Strange, he wasn't really the type to enjoy fighting, but something about partnering up with a magical creature to kick ass was just addictive.
'And Archie called them dog fights.' Leo chuckled at the thought. Dog fights? Yeah right, that comparison felt moronic. When Tynamo was fighting Ponyta it was as though the two of them were one unit, one body, raging against the enemy like a well-oiled war machine. It was indescribable to know they'd overcome the odds together, on their first attempt no less. If all trainers felt that during battle, then it was easy to understand why it was so popular.
It felt a bit empty considering they only won because of a lucky shot, but a win was still a win.
In light of this, Leo decided to pester the nurses about letting him leave on his own. After having a small taste of what battle felt like he wanted more, and they weren't going to stop him. They were reluctant, but he managed to talk them into it. This was all so that he could finally go outside and search for proper opponents.
Maybe he'd have been fine with battling Frieda again, to see who was really stronger, but she was unavailable. After Ponyta's leg had been healed, which really hadn't been long considering all the nurses had to do was realign said leg and heal it using Heal Pulse, she had taken her leave without saying much to him, but she wouldn't battle him again. Why is that?
Because life was never so simple. Ponyta's leg might have been healed, but he'd been told that the effects of healing moves were usually never one hundred percent. If a bone had been broken then it can be fixed, but the healed Pokemon will still need to rest and avoid battle so that the weakened limb is not irritated.
In other words, Frieda wouldn't be able to battle him for three whole days. There were five until his battle with Ronan, so he wouldn't be waiting around.
No, he'd be finding his own opponents in a local hotspot where trainers can meet up to battle. Tynamo had only gotten three days worth of training, but any experience was welcomed.
As the green, vibrant colours of grass and trees drew closer, Leo found himself short on breath as he departed from the crowds and entered through the park's gates. It wasn't very grandiose, but that just left him feeling emboldened.
In the distance, a battle between a Tranquil and a Murkrow came into view, along with multiple other pairs of Pokemon that were participating in their own bouts. He narrowed his eyes and palmed Tynamo's pokeball as several eyes locked onto his.
It was frustrating, Frieda couldn't help but think to herself, as she sat amongst her fellow piers as the teacher in her classroom droned on about the natural habitats of the Tynamo line in such a monotonous manner that even she couldn't be bothered to hide her boredom as she leaned onto her desk and entered deep thought.
Becoming a Pokemon trainer, let alone a successful one, took an enormous amount of effort and knowledge; there weren't any shortcuts to developing those skills. Attacks, strong points and weaknesses, fighting styles, these were all essential points to keep in mind when facing another trainer. Because you weren't just fighting the Pokemon, you were trying to outplay the human involved. It was like a game of chess, only every piece on the board could move in a different way and you could bend the rules when convenient.
Burrowing her eyebrows, Frieda clenched her fist when you thought back to the day prior, and had to bite back a grimace.
That had been far from her brightest moment, much as she hated to admit so. She didn't like to think of herself as an overly prideful person, but Leo was a beginner for Arceus sake. It should have been a simple matter to defeat his Tynamo in single combat, who hadn't even been with him for three full days. Yet, her Ponyta would be put out of commission for that same amount of time, lest she wanted to risk straining the poor girl. It was a mighty blow to her ego.
What rubbed salt in the wound was that Tynamo, despite their notorious strength as predators upon evolution, were weak Pokemon. Without the rest of their school, their capacity to generate electricity was capped exceedingly low to the point where most trainers didn't go through the trouble of hunting one down. Some even put them in the same category as Basculin and Magikarp, such as the man who was talking his head off at the front of class.
"Now, as a piece of advice from a former trainer, none of you should bother trying to catch a Tynamo." The teacher called out, oblivious to the fact most of the students weren't listening. "They are weaklings who hate separating from their kin, and finding a good quality Thunderstone isn't worth the pain of training an Eelektrik up to the point where it could evolve anyway. If you want a real electric type, then there are plenty of solid options."
Frieda felt her eye twitch as she recalled the day before, how Leo's Tynamo refused to stay down and countered most of her attacks.
Weakling? She hardly thought so.
At the peak of the afternoon, at a time when students were about to start walking home and workers would be leaving after hours of work, there was bustling activity in one particular trainer park.
This was all due to the work of two trainers and their partners. One was an older man with a white cap covering his grey haired head, whilst the other was a young man with short, curly brown hair, his eyes a striking red that seemed to glare wherever he cast his eyes. Their pokemon were an Aipom and a Tynamo, which were each scuffled from their current bout, with Aipom's fur being slightly fried from a previous Shock Wave.
"Use Water Gun!" Leo ordered heatedly.
Tynamo obeyed as pure water began to leak from his open mouth and he took aim, and the older man they were battling floundered to find an order.
"Aipom, uhhh, use-" Their opponent fumbled hard, and the injured Aipom was caught off-guard as a high powered Water Gun slammed into her guts head-on with enough force to keeled them over. The purple monkey's eyes bulged from shock as she landed on her back with all the grace of a dump truck.
Aipom squirmed and tried to rise up, but quickly fell back down as she groaned in pain. It seemed that, though not unconscious, she didn't have the will to continue.
"And that's all she wrote." Leo muttered to himself, unblinking as the old man sighed before returning his fallen friend. "Maybe the standard for casual trainers is lower than I thought."
That man they'd just fought made their battle count hit an even dozen, and for the most part he wasn't impressed by the skills casual trainers showed. The biggest challenge he had was a Tranquil that gave Tynamo a nasty strike with Quick Attack, but even that one fell due to it's weakness to electricity.
Leo kneeled and pulled out the Hyper Potion Frieda had so generously given him, with Tynamo hovering near on instinct. That Aipom had landed a single attack on him that whole fight, and that was only because he wasn't expecting for Swift stars to dart around a Water Gun like it had a mind of it's own. The move fascinated him, and he'd have to teach it to a future member of his team.
A single spray was all it took though. Hyper Potions were damned expensive, but their potency couldn't be questioned. The purple bruises left by Aipom's swift came off like paint, leaving behind unblemished skin that might as well have never been struck. Tynamo wiggled around slightly, shrilling lowly in a mixture of shock and bafflement.
'I've gotta learn what they put in these.' Leo noted as he tucked the premium product into his jacket. It was fascinating, how bruises and nasty cuts could be undone so easily, but he didn't doubt excessive use could have side effects.
'Best to save it.' Leo concluded as he rose to his feet.
The battles he'd managed to catch throughout the afternoon had taught him one thing at least: the standards for casual trainers were lower than he'd initially thought. It was a shame he didn't have any money to bet, he might have been able to scrap together enough to buy a decent set of clothes to replace the scratchy, stiff, donated ones he was forced to wear.
"That was a battle good battle, sonny." An olden voice made Leo take notice that he was being approached by his opponent, so he turned and bowed his head ever so slightly in acknowledgement.
"Thank you sir, but we're just beginners. Soon enough we'll be worlds ahead of where we are now. Isn't that right?" Leo's eyes fell on Tynamo, who shrilled in agreement.
In response, he gained a hearty chuckle. "You will be, at least in my humble opinion." In a very typical fashion, the sixty-something year old brushed his beard. "Trainer I might not be, I've seen my fair share develop from the bottom over the years. I can tell you and your pokemon have a strong bond."
"That might not be the right word." Leo corrected with a smile. "We haven't even been together a week, and Tynamo agreed to come along with me because we both want to become stronger... you could say our relationship is still in it's baby stages. A partnership, rather than a friendship."
Tynamo let out a laugh(or at least his equivalent of a laugh) and didn't refute his trainer. It was true afterall, their partnership was simply one of mutual benefit. At least for now.
"Regardless of what you are to each other, the way you synched up out there was undeniable." With an amused eye, he reached into his jacket.
Meanwhile, Leo had to wonder what he was getting at, since what he did out there really wasn't that special. He'd been watching professionals battle and tried to mimic them, just in the manner they responded. There was also the matter of him not having a proper fighting style, which all the best trainers had down pat.
"You remind me of my son when he was your age, if just a bit." Much to Leo's surprise, his wrinkly hands pulled out a few hundred Pokedollar notes. He proceeded to hold them out in offering, a slight smile through his beard. "I know we weren't battling for money, but for some reason I feel like you should have it."
Leo stared at the money with barely hidden suspicion. Bank notes had actually gone out of style years ago in this world. It wasn't for any complicated reason, they were simply obsolete. With the rapid development of technology that had come with time, including the development of Porygon, online banks had become much more secure, and thus popular. As such, unlike in his world, the odds of someone hacking into a bank account and taking your money was next to zero. In fact, physical notes weren't even printed out anymore.
Tynamo, not understanding the true value of money, simply stared in confusion at why Leo was eyeing a piece of paper as though it was precious. "Tyna!"
Leo ignored his starter and reached out, only to pause and ask. "Why are you giving this to me?"
"I thought I just explained... well, you also look like you need it." He added with a slight grin. "I might not be my granddaughter, but even I can tell those clothes aren't exactly top quality. You should use it to buy something decent."
With a snort, Leo snatched the bills out of his hands and pocketed them. Then he muttered. "Cheeky old coot." It seemed that he'd someone with a sense of humour. In a geezer no less.
"I'm only sixty." He got in return with a grin, then he held a hand out. "Also, my name is Henrik."
"Leo." He returned the gesture by taking the hand, firm but not too tight, just like his dad taught him. "And I'm gonna be the next Unova Champion." He boldly declared.
"I'll be watching you." Henrik informed. He seemed serious about that one, so maybe he'd found a possible fan.
"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy myself a sense of style." Leo let go, quickly turning around to exit the park and find a shop to spend his money. He'd done a satisfying amount of battles for the day, and if the strength trend he'd been watching held up then he wouldn't be finding a worthwhile challenge.
Still though, he had gotten a better handle on battling because of it, even if it wasn't anywhere near where he wanted to be. Plus, the money was nice, and he wouldn't have to hang around in the shitty clothes the Pokemon Centre had given him from the donations box they probably gave to homeless people. Tynamo had gotten some experience against actual opponents instead of just training, and he'd seen what the local trainers were like skill-wise.
'All in all, this was a pretty good day!'
If you want to support me, then look towards The Magician 565 in the place of patrons. I am a pretty broke student all things considered, so if you want to read additional works of mine then the donations would be much appreciated. I hope to write for you all, and if you could show your support more openly then I'd be happy to crack down!
Additional chapters:
Rising To the Top - 5
Now It's My Turn - 1
An Outlier - 5
The All Mighty Earth - 5
Power Grasping - 3
Dealing With Darkness - 2
God of Destruction - 5
Counterattack - 5
Total - 31