AN: Updating a day early because I won't have time tomorrow.
Reign had to stay in the center for at least a few more days and while that sucked, Yun got to stay for free until her stitches had to be removed. That bought her some time as her funds dwindled fast without any income from battles. She could attempt to challenge trainers with just Tenno but the chance to lose was too high and frankly she wasn't sure if she could stomach a battle so soon after the incident.
In hindsight, she was glad she let the ranger treat her to breakfast that one time.
She spend her time between visiting Reign and wandering around Oreburgh, pretending not to be a trainer while anxiously letting out Tenno so he could spread his wings. He probably didn't get all the exercise he deserved but she was terrified of being challenged. At one point she even told another trainer her bird was just a pet, something that earned her an indignant squeak from said bird and a very painful peck in her good hand.
Her new tactic to avoid battles backfired the very next day. After she had visited Reign who was healing up nicely, according to nurse Joy, she had sat down for a scarce lunch of rice and pickled vegetables and had let out Tenno to share it with him.
"Now I know it isn't mu- Tenno! TENNO!" Her heart leaped out of chest when her bird flew off, batting his wings furiously. Lunch forgotten, she dashed after him but soon lost him in the crowd.
"Tenno?" She called once more as panic made way to a sense of loss and betrayal. People glanced at her briefly but soon lost interest. She knew what they saw, a dumb little kid who lost her Pokémon. Her bird no longer wanted to be her bird... and he actually did deserve better. A real trainer that didn't get scared off by one encounter with an unfriendly Pokémon.
She sunk to her knees and hugged them.
"He-hey get lost!" A startled voice boomed through the crowd making Yun look up. Then she heard another sound that she immediately recognized as Tenno's battle cry for whenever he faced an opponent too ambitious for him. She had never though she was even able to run as fast as she did.
Sure enough it was Tenno pestering a roselia with his beak and claws. "Tenno stop!" That never worked before, so it was no surprise that it had no effect what so ever now.
"Hey kid, not cool, you have to challenge me first! Bara, take it down."
To her horror a clearly older boy briskly stepped up to her and she noticed the five Pokeballs hanging on his belt.
"I'm sorry." She said breathlessly while bowing deeply. "H-he's just been a little s-stir crazy because we haven't been able to t-train." Then she did something she thought she'd never do and purposefully waved her bandaged arm in front of the boy, hoping he'd take pity on her. It seemed to work as his annoyed expression softened into something more neutral.
"That's your only Pokemon?" He asked looking her up and down.
She nodded vigorously and added softly. "My starter is still being treated in the center."
"Fine, one on one then."
Yun's heart sank. While it was a generous offer, as he had every right to sick all five of his Pokemon on her, she had kind of hoped he'd just let it drop so she could recall Tenno. Type advantage or not, that was an evolved Pokémon. To make matters worse they had also gathered a bit of a crowd.
Both of her Pokémon were very independent fighters as she did her best to remember type match-ups and other weaknesses or special abilities of their opponents Reign nor Tenno needed prompting to dodge, defend or attack. A little information and some suggestions were usually enough for them to decide their own approach to things. And while she trusted their judgement mid-battle better than her own... it did manage to make her feel a bit silly standing there silently with the eyes of an audience on her.
The older boy on the other hand, was very deliberate in instructing his Roselia in every move it made. And while it was a bit disheartening to hear the other trainer device ways to knock the little bird out the sky as fast as possible, Tenno on his part wasn't deaf either.
He did fine dodging the poisoned thorns hidden between its roses and while he sometimes got in range for its mega drain, it was never long enough for it to do much.
"Bara use stun spore, and I mean spam it."
When the Roselia started ejecting clouds of yellow-ish dust while Tenno was diving low, Yun felt the need to intervene.
"Go back up!"
She let out a relieved sigh when he immediately did so and their eyes locked for a moment. While she couldn't decipher what she saw in them from that distance, he had listened to her so she felt he might still be willing to be her Pokémon. At least she hoped so.
"Careful, if you get stunned it's over."
He bobbed his head once and then started circling the Roselia like a miniature vulture. When the spores finally died down Tenno immediately tucked in his wings and pelted towards his opponent.
"Stun spore."
And he flew back up but not before breathing in some of the spores. He sneezed harshly and Yun swore she saw something like smoke coming out of his nostrils. That couldn't be good, but at least he was still in the air.
Unfortunately, there was no way that would last as her bird only had close range attacks and he would be at risk of getting stunned every time he tried to get near the Roselia. It was only a matter of time before the grass type would get to him. Its trainer came to the same conclusion and gave her a cocky smirk.
"Looks like the little guy bit of more than he can chew."
And while that was nothing new, the demeaning tone he used annoyed her. To make it worse, the crowd chuckled along and she felt her cheeks heating. Tenno was fierce and would grow up to be an amazing fighter some day, at least if she had anything to say about it.
"You can give in any time now." He taunted over Tenno's indignant squeak.
She tucked in her chin and gathered the courage to mutter, "This isn't over yet." Even if it seemed hopeless, her Pokémon deserved her support.
Then, as she was trying to come up with something that could help him, he spared her the effort and angrily spat out a ball of fire. Yun felt her mouth fall open as it managed to hit the grass type straight in its face. It stumbled backwards for a moment before tipping over. She held her breath, inwardly counting to ten but the Roselia stayed down.
"Yes!" She exclaimed happily as Tenno returned to perch on her shoulder, puffing his feathers proudly. The people around them gave a short applause before dispersing back into the daily throng of their city life.
The boy walked up to her. "Well, Bara is my youngest team member."
For a second she feared he would back out of his previous offer as he moved to grab a Pokéball but he just returned his fainted Pokémon. "Still that was impressive, I don't know a lot of bird types that can use fire attacks this young."
Yun only managed to nod. It wouldn't do to tell him she had no idea that Tenno could do that either, less she looked like even more of an amateur. "Thank you for the battle." She added humbly.
He laughed. "Just make sure to challenge people properly from now on. How old are you anyway?"
"T-twelve?" It sounded more like a question then a reply and Yun scolded herself inwardly for being so unsure when talking to new people.
The guy took in in stride. "Ah, I see, you just started out then." Then, to her surprise, he pushed a few bills and some coins in her hands.
"For winning." He answered her confused look.
"But-" She started to protest, then immediately thought better of it and just mumbled her thanks.
Turning away from her, he waved once. "See you around, kid." And then he walked off.
After he disappeared from view she booted up her Pokédex and checked Tenno's entry. Sure enough it now listed ember as one of his moves. She doubled checked his type but just as she remember he was a normal and flying type, as most birds were.
Turning to him, she asked. "I don't suppose you have any hidden water type moves in you?"
The responding chirp was a clear negative. Stroking his chin she sighed. "Please don't ever run off again."
He gave her a hard look and started a long explanation Yun couldn't understand. Even so, she believed she got the gist of it.
"I'm sorry. You are not... you'll never be just a pet."
But that was just it... if she didn't want to be a trainer anymore then she had the choice to either sell her Pokémon or keep them as companions. And even though she had only met them both recently, selling them was not an option she could stomach. Not after they had both risked their lives for her. Tenno had made it clear he wouldn't stand for the other option either and she could only guess as to what Reign would think.
After taking a moment to gather her thoughts she offered, "I won't run from training anymore if you'll never run from me again."
The melodious notes that followed were clearly in agreement.
Instead of smiling as Tenno hopped up and down on her shoulder she kept her tone serious.
"But as long as Reign is out, we have to choose our battles carefully."
He stilled on her shoulder and gave her a petulant stare.
"I'm serious Tenno! I know you are strong but you are also just one Pokémon. This guy had a team of five and believe me, you wouldn't have had the type advantage on all of them."
He muttered something that may have been an agreement. Stroking his feathers, she continued a little softer. "We will get to the point where we can battle trainers like that but to get there, we have to work our way up."
Then she finally smiled holding out their prize money. "But enough of that, how about we get you a proper lunch."
An enthusiastic chirp was all the answer she needed.
Tenno's impromptu battle seemed to have drained him somewhat as he was calm when they spend most of their afternoon inside the center, with Reign. The two Pokémon seemed to be making conversation and Yun was content to just to sit back and enjoy the moment. If there was one good thing that came out of the whole ordeal it was that her team actually treated each other like... well, teammates now.
Suddenly she thought back to the psychic's accusations and deflated inwardly. This was not thanks to her. If she wanted to be a competent trainer, or a trainer at all, she would have to do better.
With that in mind she took out her Pokédex and looked into a detailed Pokémon map of Oreburgh city. Both Tenno and Reign would have a hard time fighting rock types and Roark wasn't a pushover. Without at least one Pokémon with a type advantage, she was never going to make it.
She was still set on a water type especially since two of Roark's Pokémon had a double weakness to water. That meant she either had to find a natural water source or she had to wait for rainy weather so the water types would stray further from their usual territories.
"Of course, now that I could use some rain..." The weather forecast was decidedly dry, if not a bit cloudy. Any rain that could fall wouldn't last long enough to make an impact.
There was no other option, she would have to make her way to a river, a pond or any other source of water. However leaving for a trip out of town while Reign had to stay behind didn't sit well with her. As soon a he could rejoin the team, they were leaving Oreburgh behind for a third team member. After that, they could finally tackle that gym.
Soon came around faster than Yun would have thought, as his Pokéball was handed to her the day after her stitches were removed, leaving angry red marks across her wrist. The nurse gave her a stern reminder to stay on the routes and keep keep him on light exercise only for a few more days. Her expression softened when Yun thanked her with watery eyes and she handed her a few energizing berries to add to his diet. Thanking her once again, this time accompanied with a deep bow, she scurried out of the center in high spirits.
Finally, they were back on track. She skipped to a nearby bench and immediately released Reign on it.
"Scooo." He greeted happily and her heart lurched when she saw him for the first time with his cast off. There was a lighter line running through his exoskeleton, probably where it had been broken.
A lump formed in her throat but she fought to keep her voice steady as she smiled widely at him. "Welcome back on the team."
When she extended her gloved hand to him, he scuttled around it unsure.
"We're travelling together today." Wiggling her fingers she pressed the back of her hand into the bench and she saw the understanding light up in his eyes. Then he scrambled up her arm and immediately positioned himself on her shoulder, the side Tenno tended to preferred.
She huffed bemusedly but didn't say anything. Their relationship seemed to have improved but it was still competitive. Which didn't have to be a bad thing, she reminded herself. A little healthy competition could be a great motivator, she just needed to keep them on even ground to make sure it was fair.
Reign was a bit larger than Tenno and Yun had to suppress a flinch when his claw almost poked her eye as she turned to him. They were not poisonous, she reminded herself as she showed him the map.
"This is where we're going. We've been here before, do you remember?"
"Ru."
She had no idea if he could actually make anything out of her tiny Pokedex map but or was just pretending but he he bobbed his head as if nodding.
Sandgem town was not exactly a hot spot for trainers. It was nothing more than a small secluded village near the border, it had no gym, no academies and no other noteworthy features other than Rowan's lab. Sponsored trainers started their journey there and then usually never came back. Except, it did have access to a natural beach and the local news occasionally reported sightings of rare water Pokémon there. If there were none then they could try lake Verity, it wouldn't be much further. Even though they had to travel back quite a bit, Yun thought it was their best option.
Tenno made it clear he hated water and Reign couldn't join heavy battles yet. Since there were no gym leaders and barely a trainer population to speak of, the rangers kept the routes there very tame for the local population. Which meant only low level Pokémon lived nearby and this suited Yun just fine. It might take a bit longer to train up any Pokémon she could manage to catch however she preferred it to travelling further and risking defeat with only one and a half battle ready Pokémon.
The bus would take her to Jubilife for relatively cheap and from there it was only a few hours of walking to Sandgem. They could be there as early as diner time.
Mind made up, she planned to make her way to the bus stop but a voice halted her mid step.
"Hey you, I challenge you to a battle."
Turning around she caught sight of a trio of trainers, two boys and a girl. The first one's cocky grin was nothing new but it was the girl behind him that had her hairs on end. She was nonchalantly tossing her Pokéball up and down while staring down her nose at Yun with nothing other than malicious intent.
It wasn't hard to figure out what the trio was up to. Ganging up on a trainer was illegal but hard to prove.
It happened sometimes, they warned her about this in school. If she managed win the first battle, the second trainer would step up and defeat her already tiring Pokémon. And if that didn't work, the third one would surely finish her. Then they'd get back whatever money they lost with interest and split the profit among themselves. Yun clenched her fists. This was not how she had imagined her reunion with Reign to go. They would have to scurry back to the center without the day having even properly started.
With a sigh of defeat she reached into her pack for her money, intending to forfeit. It would be a blow to her funds but perhaps she could ask her parents to send her allowance a bit earlier this month.
"You guys care for a double battle?"
AN: In case you're wondering I'm deciding on Yun's Pokémon with a random Pokémon generator (yes it exists!). I have two rules: no (pseudo) legendaries and if it shows me a Pokémon with a type she already has, I can (but don't have to) try again. Sometimes I really have to write around the outcome xD