Chapter 4: The Ordeal

It turns out that the west gate did not contain a lush field of flowers. Ava tries to be shocked. Instead, it led to a dense jungle full of wild pokemon. Especially ones with sharp stingers and poison. It seemed that it was the second-most dangerous gate to exit from for your Ordeals out of the four gates.

Amiyra and Oliver would be leaving from the north gate, the most dangerous gate. This would take them towards the mountains and caves where the city's ores and minerals were mined. It's also where they would find pokemon that can throw rocks and punch through walls. The east and south gates both led to the grasslands, with Theo leaving from the east gate, while Jacob and Flynn would be leaving from the south gate. Ava would be the only one leaving from her gate.

Knowing which gates they were leaving from helped focus their research. Ava spent the next five days when not in class researching the forest and the pokemon there. She needed find a way to make sure she was able to come back. The days passed too quickly, and eventually it was the night before the Ordeals, and Ava could not fall asleep for the life of her.

"Hey Amiyra, are you still up?" Ava whispered.

"Yeah," Amiyra replied.

"Are you nervous?"

"Terrified, you?"

"Shitting my pants, but tryna stay positive, so I keep telling myself that I'm gonna kill it."

"That's nice, I wish I was able to fake that kind of confidence." Amiyra paused slightly. "Where do you think you would be right now if you didn't get picked?"

Ava took a moment to think about it. "Well, if we are talking about right now, I would be asleep in my room back at my dad's place. In a more general sense, though, I would probably be asking for more shifts at my job. I work, or worked, I guess, at one of those fancy clothing stores. It wasn't my favorite, but I wanted to spend the next year saving up money to be able to go to college. So I think that's what I would be doing." Ava sat for a little while, still in contemplation. "What about you?"

"I wanted to be a doctor," Amiyra wistfully responded.

"No shit."

"Yeah. I had everything planned out, too," she said with a rueful grin. "I knew what I was going to major in, what classes I was going to take, when I would apply to medical school, even down to which hospital I wanted to intern at. All my friends were waiting until they couldn't be chosen to go to college. I told myself there was no way I would be picked, so I went anyway. I spent the past two years studying and preparing just for it to amount to nothing."

She continued quietly, "I just feel like my whole life has been a waste."

Ava sat up, frowning a little, and looked at Amiyra. "Don't say that, your life hasn't been a waste"

"It sure feels like it has been."

"Well it hasn't."

Ava sat back and looked at the bed above her. The moonlight peeking through the window made it so she could faintly make out her surroundings. "I know this is totally selfish, but for what it's worth, I'm glad it's you who's here with me."

Amirya didn't respond for a minute, and Ava started to regret saying that until she heard a response. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here with me too."

The rest of the night passed restlessly, both of them tossing and turning, unable to get any real sleep.

…

Everyone had gathered at the magnet train station bright and early after being woken up by Mary. Ava noticed that everyone seems to have not slept well, based on the yawns and tired looks. Even Oliver didn't seem immune to the nerves.

Cunningham had beat them to the station and was standing in front of a table with six backpacks on it. She was joined by four other trainers in their trainer uniforms that Ava didn't recognize.

"Now that you are all here, your Ordeal can begin," Cunningham said. Pointing to the bags behind her, she continued, "These bags are being provided to you by the League. They are filled with essential items that can help you while you are out. They are fully yours, and you will be given time to look through them before you are sent out." Each of the trainers standing next to her grabbed a bag and handed it to them. Ava got handed her bag by a guy around her age who stood a couple inches shorter than her with a sharp buzz cut.

"You will also be given three poke balls to be used to catch your pokemon. As of right now, they are unregistered, any pokemon caught in a poke ball will not be able to be released until the poke ball is registered to a trainer. Once you catch a pokemon return to the city gate and your escort will lead you back to the pokemon center."

"Why are we given three poke balls when we only have to catch one pokemon?" Amiyra asked.

"There are two reasons for that," Cunningham responded. "First, a pokemon may not be caught right away, especially if they are at full health or have evolved. If it escapes the ball or you happen to miss your throw, the first thing they will do is try to destroy the poke ball, as that is their biggest threat. You will only have seconds to try to capture it again or escape and try for a different pokemon."

"The second reason is that you will be E-Rank trainers when you pass. This means that you are able to have two pokemon at a time. So if you find that you have captured a pokemon and have more time and poke balls, you are technically able to catch another pokemon." Cunningham took a chance to look everyone in the eyes. "I would not recommend doing this. You can always catch more pokemon so if you find yourself with one pokemon forget about trying for another and return to the city. You never know what danger lies lurking out there, and you will not have any pokemon or backup to protect you."

Oliver spoke up, "What happens if you get three pokemon?"

"While I have never seen anyone do it, if by some miracle you get three pokemon you will select two of them, and the third will be handed over to the city, and we will deal with it." Ava thought that the look in Oliver's eyes was more competitive than it should be in this situation.

Cunningham moved past after responding, "Those who are entering the south gate will remain here, while the rest of you will board the magnet train and be taken to your respective gates. If you are at the same gate as someone else, one person will go first, and then 30 minutes later, the second will be sent through. Even if you have not caught a pokemon, return to the gate before sundown. If you do not return by sundown, we will assume that you are dead and not making it back at all".

She made sure to keep their attention when she made her last remark, "My final piece of advice for all of you is to find the absolute weakest pokemon you can, catch it, and come back as soon as possible."

With that, Ava, Theo, Oliver, and Amiyra were led onto the train by their escorts, while Jacob and Flynn got in a car to head to their gate. Ava used this downtime to take a look at what was in the backpack that she was offered. She found a water bottle, rations, a compass, a pocket knife, some rope, a repel, and a small case that contained ten bottles. Five of these were potions, while the other five were an antidote, paralyze heal, awakening, burn heal, and ice heal. She had learned in class that each of these bottles had three doses and, while meant to be used on pokemon, worked for humans as well.

Theo was dropped off first, with Amirya and Oliver following soon after. Being alone on the train made her nerves start jumping more than they previously had. She stared out at the city passing her by, hoping this wasn't her last time seeing it. It was a beautiful summer day with a clear sun and a cloudless sky. She felt like it should be more gloomy knowing what could happen. The train slowed to a stop, and she followed her escort as he led her to the gate.

Even from a distance, the wall was much larger than she had anticipated, it loomed over her, smooth and gray. Ava had never been this close to the walls before, and it was extremely intimidating knowing that she would soon be forced outside the confines of this beast.

Her escort said something into the walkie-talkie that had been sitting at his waist that had caused the west gate to start opening up. He turned to her, handing her three poke balls. "Your Ordeal has officially begun, please exit through the gate. Stay safe and return with a pokemon."

With a determined nod, she started walking towards the gate and then crossed the threshold to enter a whole new world.

…

Ava had never been outside the walls before. The dense foliage of trees is a completely new terrain for her. The most nature she had ever seen had been at parks scattered throughout the city. She had to remind herself to refrain from gawking at how tall the trees were and how the forest seemed to go on forever. It made it easier to focus whenever the sounds of the forest reminded her that she wasn't alone in it.

She had sprayed herself with the repel before she entered the forest line. While not as useful as spraying it on a pokemon in front of her, it should work to keep most of the pokemon away while she heads to her destination. From her research, she decided to go to a small river nearby. Instead of seeking out a pokemon, she would hide and wait until one she thought she could take came for a drink.

The river was around an hour-long hike away. While it was deeper in the forest, which was more dangerous, the main thing Ava wanted to avoid was beedrill hives. All her research and every older trainer she had asked for the forest gate had said the same thing. Avoid all the weedle you can, and don't even try to catch one. She had learned that there was a strong weedle presence toward the tree line and near the entrance of the west gate. That means that there could be beedrill hives anywhere near that. So going deeper in the forest allowed her to avoid those dangerous parts at the beginning.

She was steadily making progress with her repel in one hand, trying to keep an eye out for any silk webs and any buzzing of bug pokemon. She hasn't seen a pokemon yet, besides a glimpse of shaking leaves and random appendages of pokemon running away. It seemed as if the repel was working.

Ava ventured deeper into the forest but at one point stopped. This area felt strangely quiet compared to the steady noise of the forest she had gotten used to. Looking around, she only had a small warning of rustling leaves above her before a large pokemon with four legs jumped down from above.

Ava thanked years of sport and pure luck as the reasons she was able to dive out of the way in time. She quickly turned and sprayed the repel right in the ariados's face. Ava was glad that her first response to spray the repel was right. With how close the Pokémon had gotten, running right away would not have been a wise move.

Repels work slightly differently for bug pokemon than other types. While the strong smell is usually what drives pokemon away, if the repel is sprayed directly on the bug, it can actually burn them. Ava heard a screech but did not wait around to see if that was true and started sprinting as fast as she could, leading her deeper into the forest.

The panic from almost dying took her far, and eventually she stopped and hid behind a tree. She tried to catch her breath and stop her heart from beating out of her chest while checking to see if the ariados was following her. After a couple of minutes of not seeing any signs of being followed, she was able to think more clearly and remembered that ariados are nocturnal creatures. They don't like to be out during the day unless they are protecting their territory which Ava must have unintentionally entered. She felt a little better when she remembered that because it meant the ariados was probably just trying to scare her off. The fact that she wasn't being followed helped that theory.

Now that her adrenaline was winding down, she was able to feel the sharp pain in her leg. It looks like she hadn't dived out of the way fast enough and had a long, viscous slice from her thigh down to her ankle. It was really starting to hurt, and she had never had an injury this big before. Cleaning it as best as she could with her water bottle, she grabbed a potion out of her bag and started spraying. Wincing at the sting, she kept applying the potion until she stopped bleeding. This took all three uses of a potion to do. Ava didn't know what she would have done if the potion also didn't have a numbing agent. She also took a dose of antidote as a precaution in case she had been poisoned.

If this was the result of a five-second encounter with the pokemon she dreads to think of what would have happened if one actually wanted to hunt her. If the ariados had wanted to kill her, she's sure she would be dead by now.

With that sobering thought, she pulled out her compass and reoriented herself towards the river. It might be a little risky to keep going with her injury, but she had stopped bleeding, and it wasn't feeling that bad right now. If she could make sure she wouldn't have to retake the Ordeal she could put up with a little pain. As she trekked on, she made sure to be extra cautious and checked everywhere for webs she might be missing. Ava was worried that she only had one more repel left, and she really did not want to use that before even getting to her destination.

To her relief, after only a short walk, she could hear the babbling of a brook and headed in that direction to find her river. Finally, she could actually try to get a pokemon. She found a good vantage point where she could see the river, but was still fairly hidden against an ambush. She grabbed a long, thick stick off that ground that would be part of her plan and got into place. Standing as still as she could, she waited. She waited some more. Then she continued to wait. Frustration was building as the more time passed and he leg was starting to bother her more. She hadn't even seen one pokemon and had been standing still for well over an hour. Finally, she saw a bush near the stream rustle.

Ava held her breath, out popped a sewaddle, a baby bug pokemon that couldn't move very fast. She smiled. This was exactly what she was waiting for, a weak pokemon who was all alone. She waited a little longer, watching it inch toward the river and started drinking from it. Just as she was about to hop out from her hiding spot she saw two swadloon, the evolved form of sewaddle, join it. There goes her first chance.

Now that she knew pokemon would come to the river, she felt more confident about waiting. Pokemon came at a faster pace, but there were none that she felt she would be able to capture. There were a few starly's that would have flown away the second they saw her, a whole crew of aipom, and a goldeen that swam down the river faster than she could react.

Ava stood at attention when a small feline pokemon with a gold coin on its head walked up to the river. Meowth usually traveled alone, but she waited until she was sure there were no other pokemon joining it before creeping out of her spot. She moved towards it as slowly as she could, trying to make as little noise as possible. It must have been engrossed in drinking the water because it didn't notice her until she was right behind it. And even then, it didn't notice quick enough as Ava swung her stick and knocked it away from the river, leaving it dazed.

Shaking off the damage, the meowth hissed at her while on all fours, getting ready to attack again. She got the stick in front of her before the meowth lunged. She caught it with the stick and was able to knock it back. However, the push had caused her to take a step back, and her foot caught on a rock, making her fall over and drop the stick, which conveniently rolled into the steam

"Oh fuck" Ava muttered. She was now defenseless in front of an animal that wanted to hurt her. The meowth seeing her weakness, pounced towards her. Scrambling around trying to find a weapon, her fingers wrapped around a rock that she swung with all her might right as the meowth was on her.

The rock slammed into its skull with a sickening crack. The meowth was knocked to the side. Seeing it start to get up, Ava started panicking and scrambled towards it, bringing the rock down on its skull again. It stayed passed out on the ground.

Ava got a little closer to check if it was still alive, and seeing it still breathing, she fumbled for a poke ball in her pocket and tapped it against the feline, which got sucked into the ball. She let out a small sigh of relief. Only living creatures can be sucked into a poke ball so she hadn't killed it. The ball gave a couple of shakes before giving a pleasant ping.

She did it. She had caught her first pokemon! The relief swept through Ava in a wave that brought her to her knees. She had actually done it, once she got out of here she was going to be a trainer.

Ava didn't let this distract her too much from where she was and quickly got up. The fighting had caused her leg to start bleeding again, so she used another potion to close it back up. Tossing meowth's poke ball into her backpack, she grabbed the repel and started to make her way back to the west gate.

She took a longer route than she had coming in, she wanted to make sure to avoid the ariados nest she almost died in by a long shot.

Even when she was waiting by the river, it had started to get hot, but now the heat and humidity felt almost unbearable. Especially since she felt constantly on edge. Being so close to victory, everything felt much more dangerous.

Ava was nearing the gate when she heard a mangled chirping near her. Pausing, her senses on full alert, she kept listening. It was closer to her than other bird sounds she had heard. Locating the sound, she slowly moved forward, bringing the repel in front of her. She was ready to spray the final dose at the pokemon and then run like hell towards the gate.

The culprit of the noise came into view. She moved closer and found a bird with sparse gray, white, and black feathers covering it and a wing that didn't look quite right. Ava thought it looked like what she remembered pidove's looked like from her research, except weird and young. She looked up and around, trying to see a nest. After not seeing one, she looked back at the pokemon with a broken wing struggling on the ground.

There was no way this was going to be that easy. Grabbing another poke ball, she tapped it against the baby pidove which disappeared in a red light. The ball didn't even shake before a noise indicated a successful capture.

Not only had she caught one pokemon, but she was also able to grab another one right at the end. She smiled. This was going to be so fun to rub in Oliver's face.

Putting the pidove away, she quickened her pace and reached the gate.

"Hey, I'm back from my Ordeal," she shouted at the guard tower. The gate slowly started to open, and she jumped through as soon as she could. She turned back around and waited until the gate closed fully before letting herself relax. She then let out a joyous shout of victory.

Once Ava was done yelling, she opened her eyes to see her escort looking a little surprised but with a slight smile on his face. "Welcome back. I assume that means you caught a pokemon."

She beamed back at him. "Fuck yeah I did!"

Author's Notes: Not only did she catch a pokemon but she caught two! Bet yall werent expecting that. Now the story can really get moving. Seeing what pokemon people catch is always my favorite part of stories. I hope I did her starter justice.