We walked out of the busy Rustboro City and along the route to reach our next destination, Rusturf Tunnel. It was one of the accessible pathways to Verdanturf Town, which leads to several different cities with gyms built there. The Gym Leader I was planning to challenge next was Wattson, the Mauville Gym Leader. It was not the usual route everyone takes in their journey in Hoenn, but I had not found any convenient way to Dewford Town yet, so I decided to obtain some gym badges and board ship to Dewford in Slateport later.
The casual walk along the route was a nice experience. I was able to talk to my Pokémon about the gym battle we just had in the Rustboro Gym and viable strategies for future battles.
Suddenly, a building caught my attention as I stopped walking. It was a small house with drawings of Pokémon from the Hoenn region on the walls. There was also a sign above the windows that said:
Pokémon Adoption Centre
"Where the Pokémon await for a new life."
Feeling slightly sympathetic about the Pokémon in the centre after reading the description, I asked, "Wanna have a visit around the place?"
They agreed with my suggestion and I gently knocked on the door. An old man with white hair and moustache welcomed me with a smile, "Nice to meet you, visitor. Interested in the Pokémon around this place?"
I nodded, making him delighted, "Good, good! I shall give you a tour around this place. It's small, but I still hope you're able to enjoy your stay here regardless." I shook my head, implying that I didn't mind about the condition of the house.
He showed me several rooms in the house where many Pokémon were playing around with each other. Seeing them being happy warmed my heart, but thinking that they probably had a somewhat miserable past to begin with made me slightly upset.
Finally, the old man stopped at one of the rooms, signalling me to enter. Upon entering the room, the Pokémon turned towards me, making me blush due to the sudden attention. The old man chuckled, "Don't worry, they are just curious about a new visitor."
"I see..." I glanced around the room and asked, "There's so many Pokémon in here. What happened to them?"
"Oh, these Pokémon... They were either found in the wild in poor conditions, or they were left by their trainers in the centre. While some trainers had personal reasons, most of them just considered their partners weak and gave up training them for battling." He sighed.
"T-That's dumb!" I blurted, "Pokémon should never be treated as tools for battling. Even when a Pokémon is lacking behind, a trainer should do his best to help the Pokémon improve, not abandoning them."
"I wish everyone has the same mindset as you, young one." The old man smiled with a hint of helplessness, "Enough talking from me. Why don't you spend some time with the Pokémon here? I'm sure they would enjoy your presence." I nodded and thanked him before he left the room.
Most of the Pokémon around can be found commonly around the Hoenn routes, like Zigzagoon, Poochyena and Wurmple, who I assumed were early catches from starting trainers and eventually got abandoned by them after their irresponsible trainers did not want to continue their duties of taking care of their partners. It still hurt for me to imagine what they went through. There were also a few rare but frail Pokémon that were probably suffering from some poor conditions. Feeling sympathetic towards them, I quietly scanned them with my Pokédex.
I tried breaking the silence as it was awkward getting stared by several Pokémon at once, "H-Hello, everyone. How's it going?"
One of them said, "Why is this trainer asking something like that?"
"Yeah, it's not like he could understand us..." Another agreed.
"Actually, I can understand you all just fine." I answered, bringing shock to the Pokémon in the room.
"Oh my Arceus! This guy's a Pokémon talker!" A Poochyena exclaimed.
"Was there even someone called the Pokémon talker?" The Seedot beside it asked.
"W-Well, it's a device that helps me to understand Pokémon language." I answered.
What I did apparently worked out in breaking the silence. In fact, it worked out too well. The excited Pokémon gathered around me and my team, eager to talk with us. I raised my hands, signalling them to quiet down. Fortunately, they were obedient as they slowly quieted down, allowing me to finally speak.
"I'm glad you all are excited to talk and all, but let's not be too noisy around here, alright?" The Pokémon nodded, some giggled with a hint of embarrassment from their previous excitement.
"I'm sorry, trainer. It's just that every time we wanna share some of our experiences to new visitors, it was no use as they won't understand a single thing that we said!" A Lotad said.
"I agree. It's always nice to talk to Pokémon here, but some company from humans would be nice too."
"Are you all willing to share your experiences with others? I thought that would be something personal for you all." I asked.
"Well, some Pokémon definitely dislike talking about them, but most of us don't mind." A Zigzagoon explained, "The experiences hurt at first when we recalled them. However, it's been years since the bad things happened, so we are pretty much over them already."
"He explained it quite well. No point dwelling on it, so why not share the experience as a way to show that we're alright now? Besides, it's a good topic to share when the conversations get slightly boring with close friends here." A Wurmple followed.
I sighed in relief that most of them were no longer drowning in sadness anymore. I asked, "Does anyone wanna share their experience, then?"
"I don't mind being the first." A female Lotad replied, "A few years ago, my trainer and I were battling with his rival in the route. I wasn't able to defeat his rival's Nincada, which was a battle I was already at a disadvantage to begin with. Anger overtook my trainer, and he called me a failure and released me from my Pokéball. I thought I was going to be done for, not knowing how to survive in a strange area I've never been before." She sighed, "At least the owner of the Adoption Centre was able to notice me and brought me in. I'm still thankful towards him till this day. I might've gotten abandoned by my trainer, but I was able to meet someone nicer and made new friends here. Though, I would still be sad sometimes when recalling what my trainer did to me."
I was angry at the trainer for being so inconsiderate, but I suppressed my anger and forced a smile, "Lotad, don't worry. I'm sure that you'll find another better trainer one day."
She smiled at my response, "Thank you. Though I'd probably feel mixed emotions when a trainer actually wants me to join their team. It'd be fun to travel again, but I would miss my friends here. Besides, I would be afraid that the same thing might happen with my new trainer."
"I'm sure it's hard regaining trust towards trainers after that incident, but I'm sure when a new trainer decides to adopt you, they have faith in you and hope for the best for you. Try to be hopeful instead of afraid when that happens, Lotad. You deserve it." I encouraged her. She appeared delighted as her smile grew wider. I was happy I was able to reassure her a little about the future.
"Let me be next, let me be next!" A male Zigzagoon was eager to talk about his story. "Unlike what happened with Lotad's trainer, I left the team by myself."
"H-Huh?" I was surprised, "Why did you do that?"
"My trainer was super nice to me. She wouldn't let go of any one of us, even though it's affecting her battling performance. I suddenly suffered from an unknown disease while I was in the team. It made me have no energy to even contribute in battles. Lots of her friends suggested she come here, to the point where even I agreed with their suggestions..."
He sighed, "But she was persistent, too persistent. She didn't want to leave me no matter what everyone else said. But I knew that I would feel worse if I continued bringing her team down. I felt like a burden as time went on, so in the end, I left the team on my own without her noticing."
"Zigzagoon..." I was heartbroken.
"It's alright, I'm okay!" The Zigzagoon tried cheering himself up and continued, "I was sad to leave my trainer, and I knew she would be, too. But it was definitely for the best. When I was just wandering around and was on the verge of collapsing, the old man found me and took care of me. Somehow, he got rid of the disease I had, too!"
"You two must have shared a strong bond together. That decision must've been hard for you, but you went through it, anyway for your trainer. You're a very brave Pokémon, Zigzagoon." I complimented the Normal type.
He beamed, "Thanks. It's been a few months since I came here. It was nice and all, but sometimes, I still wished my trainer could be at my side, even if it's just for a moment."
"I hope that day comes soon." I said.
"I would like to share a thing or two as well." A male Poochyena said, "It was a similar situation to Lotad's, my trainer losing a battle against the Rustboro Gym Leader."
"Then, your trainer left you here and continued his journey?" One of the Wurmples asked.
"Not really... In fact, it was the complete opposite." He explained, "That day, he was feeling so distraught, that he released all his Pokémon that day and brought us to the Adoption Centre. The reason was because... he thought he was the one who was the weakest in the team, and keeping us with him would waste our potential."
"Where are the other Pokémon that were brought here?"
"They already joined new trainers who came here over the past few months. Though, I honestly couldn't imagine being with anyone else over him. The time we had was short, but fun regardless." He wistfully said.
"Don't worry, Poochyena. Who knows? When he is ready to return to battling again, he might come and look for you again." He slightly regained hope, holding onto that thought and thanked me. I sincerely only wished their lives get better from there.
I continued listening to some Pokémon sharing their experiences before coming to the Adoption Centre. However, what caught my attention mid way was the lonely Pokémon sitting around the corner of the room. After finishing up the sharing session, I quietly walked towards him and scanned him with my Pokédex, [Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon. It quickly scales even vertical walls. It senses humidity with its tail to predict the next day's weather.]
I approached it and asked, "You don't feel like joining the others?"
Treecko replied, "I-I don't get what's the point of being excited over a new trainer coming."
"Well, apparently they are more excited than usual since I could understand them."
"I just don't think that it's worth getting excited over trainers."
"That's fair." I said, thinking he probably went through some unpleasant experience before living in the Adoption Centre. I sat beside the male Treecko, slightly surprising him.
"What's your story, Treecko?"
"...There's nothing good talking about it. It's awkward." He tried to end the topic.
"No worries if you don't feel comfortable talking about it. I had those experiences too." I gave him an understanding nod.
"Y-You do?"
"Yeah, Trainer School was not fun for me back then." I slightly chuckled, feeling a small connection with the Treecko.
I could tell he felt slightly more comfortable and replied, "I-It's just not really worth it approaching trainers when there was zero chance they will accept me in their team."
I disagreed, "That's not true, Treecko. Someday, you'll definitely find the trainer who truly loves and cares about you."
"I-It's not as easy as it said, honestly." Treecko sighed, "I'm used to being lonely, but it still hurts from time to time when seeing other Pokémon joining new trainers. Sure, I'm happy for them, but I'm also envious."
"You never imagined that you might be one of them one day?"
"...Not really. I've lost hope about this for long enough already."
I could see tears forming in his eyes, "...Treecko?"
Tears rolled down his face, "If there's a chance that I would get accepted by someone, w-why did my partner never try to find me after we separated?"
I tried reassuring him, the sympathy building up inside of me, "Don't worry, Treecko... Your trainer probably hasn't given up on you yet. Besides, if no one was interested in you, I wouldn't be here talking to you, right?"
The Wood Gecko Pokémon still continued crying. "You don't have to give me false hope... I accepted it. I accepted the fact that no trainer would want me anymore, not even my original partner-"
I hugged the male Treecko, tearing up a little myself. Treecko tried to say something else, but instead continued crying in my shoulder. It must had been a while since he had someone who can give him a hug and let him vent his thoughts.
Mixed emotions built up inside me. I was upset by the sad stories shared by the Pokémon, angry towards the irreponsible trainers who left their Pokémon like they were tools and sad for the Treecko who I felt a connection with. It felt like the switch that showcased the bad memories I longed to forget were triggered again.
Just two individuals scarred by the past giving each other a comforting hug.
A Pokémon and a human.
We seemed to be different...
But in the end, we were just the same.
I left the room and asked the owner at the counter, "Hey... I made up my mind. I would like to adopt a Pokémon."
The owner was delighted, "Sure, young one! I bet the Pokémon chosen would like to join you."
I walked back to the room, and walked towards the Pokémon I desired to have.
"Treecko, would you like to join my team?"
The Treecko gasped, surprised by my decision, "A-Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure, Treecko. Let's go on an adventure together and help each other get stronger."
Realization dawned on him that it wasn't false hope anymore, it was turning into reality: he's going to join a new trainer.
He finally looked up towards me, and gave me a nod with determination on his face.
"...Welcome to the team, Woody." I nicknamed him, which he seemed to be content about, and caught him with my Pokéball, officially having this Grass type Pokémon in my team. I bid farewell to the Pokémon here before leaving the room, hoping only the best for them in the future.
As I walked towards the counter, I sent out Woody to give his last goodbye to the owner of the Adoption Centre. Upon seeing my choice, he smiled, "It seems that you picked Treecko as your future partner. Take good care of him, he's been through a lot. But I'm pretty sure you already know what to do from here." I nodded.
Then, he patted Woody's head and said, "Treecko, I'm so happy for you... I hope you only go up from here with your new life. Remember, you can always come back to visit your friends when you feel like doing so." My Treecko nodded with tears in his eyes, knowing that he would not be able to see the man who looked after him for years anytime soon.
As I bid farewell to the owner and went outside, I almost bumped against a female trainer standing in front of the entrance. She was startled as she apologized, "I'm sorry! I was just checking out the place."
"No worries. What are you looking for? A new Pokémon?" I asked.
"Well, not really... I've been searching for this Zigzagoon of mine who I have been missing for months. Some of my friends did suggest searching for this place, so I came here when I had the chance. I hope Diggy is alright. He has been frail for a while now..." The girl explained.
C-Could it be...
"There might be a Zigzagoon like that around the centre. You should go in and search for him." I encouraged her.
"Are you sure? I'm just scared that he wouldn't be willing to go with me if I find him."
"Well, you never know if you don't try. Besides... it seems like you care about him deeply. I'm sure he would be delighted to know that you're searching for him all this time." I said.
"...Thank you." The girl said, fueled with determination as she went towards the entrance and knocked on the door. Shortly, the owner welcomed her as she entered the centre.
...I hope everything goes well for you all.
Harry was casually traveling the route to reach the next city for more gym badges. However, from a distance, he saw Lows with a Treecko, which he assumed was his newly obtained Pokémon.
...A Treecko, huh?
That Pokémon shouldn't be with a pathetic trainer like him... He only emphasizes love and care about his Pokémon. That wouldn't lead him and his team anywhere.
Besides...
The only time I cared about my Pokémon, it only made me lost a lot more.
Looking at the Treecko, a flashback of a past memory struck Harry.
Flashback...
He remembered before he was at legal age to become a trainer, seeing trainers running around the town with their Pokémon made him jealous.
One day, he was finally fed up with everything.
"Dad... I want a Pokémon too! Why can't I have one?"
"You're too young to take care of Pokémon right now. Just wait a little more and you'll be able to have your own Pokémon, Harry." His father explained.
"I don't want to wait for that long... You can ask Prof. Birch to bring me a Pokémon, right? Please..." He begged.
"Fine, fine! I'll ask Prof. Birch about it and see how it goes. Don't get your hopes up too much." Brawly said, exciting his son further.
Harry's father didn't disappoint him in the end. After hours of discussion with Prof. Birch, Brawly was able to bring home a Treecko. That was one of the biggest surprises for Harry in his entire life. He finally had a partner to be friends with.
Treecko immediately became best friends with the young boy, and they stayed together in whatever they did. Brawly even once joked, "Now you're even closer to Treecko than to me!"
However, the happiness was not able to last long.
He still remembered that day; it started off from him casually taking a walk with Treecko around the town. However, the cloudy weather struck the duo as a heavy storm came shortly after. The two tried their best to stay at each other's side, but the impact was too strong for them to keep up.
When one large gust of wind came towards them, the Treecko lost his grip on Harry's arm and was blown away.
"Treecko!" Harry tried to grab Treecko back to his side, but it was to no avail.
Just like that... Treecko was out of his sight... and the two were broken apart.
The one who he considered his partner and friend, who was just by his side just a few moments ago before tragedy strikes, was taken away from him just like that.
After the storm, Harry and his father looked everywhere around Dewford and even gathered help from others, but it was no use. The Wood Gecko Pokémon was nowhere to be seen. Till this day, it was still unknown whether Treecko is alive or no longer here anymore. But deep down, he still had hope that the Treecko is somewhere around this world.
After the incident happened, Harry completely transformed into another person. Before he started his journey as a trainer, he had already decided that he would not even try bonding with his Pokémon. The lesser he cares for his Pokémon, the lesser the pain will be when he has to leave his Pokémon again.
Unfortunately, that mindset of his gave others the impression that he was just another heartless trainer who only cared about winning. His Pokémon didn't feel happiness battling alongside him, and even people close to him started questioning why he acted this way.
They don't know anything.
His mindset was more firm when he was able to transfer his Pokémon after the indigo League without any negative feelings emotionally. As such, he decided to keep it this way along his journey. After that, he immediately contacted Prof. Birch through his Pokégear.
"Professor, can you transfer a starter Pokémon to my PC? I don't want to wait any longer."
[...That was fast, Harry. But sure! What Pokémon are you choosing?
He immediately answered, "I would like to choose Mudkip. It is the toughest out of all three in terms of strength, potential movesets and type matchups."
[O-Oh, I thought for sure, you would choose- never mind.] Prof. Birch sighed, [Alright then. I will transfer a Mudkip to your PC.]
As he arrived in the Hoenn region, he planned to continue what he was doing in Kanto, but there was this annoying trainer desperate to make him change his ways: Lows.
He admitted, he could get a little mean sometimes, but it was the best decision for everyone. This was why he despised Lows: a trainer who probably wouldn't be able to protect his Pokémon after making empty promises and giving pointless love and care to them. Just pathetic.
We would never think the same about Pokémon, Kantonian.
And soon, you'll know who has the right mindset through the Ever Grande League.
Woody has a Lonely Nature, which made him act awkward towards my team at first, but I believed that he would get along with my other Pokémon just fine eventually. I was walking with Woody along the route, getting closer to our destination, Rustboro Tunnel. However, the familiar trainer appeared at my sight again.
"Harry..." I blurted.
"Well, how unlucky I am to see you again." He smirked.
I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore him and continue my way. However, he had other plans as he purposely blocked my way. Woody was just beside me, worried with what was happening.
Harry seemed to have noticed my new Treecko and said, "Will you look at that! Another Pokémon bribed into your team. It probably didn't know what was coming for him!"
"Bribed? I don't think so, Harry. Besides, the moment I caught him, I decided to take care of him the best I can."
"Take care of him? You won't be able to help him win a single battle." He retorted, "How about I'll prove it to you right now? Let's have a battle with my Pokémon against your Treecko."
I was not sure whether Woody was ready for a battle, but I noticed Woody, who looked determined to defeat the arrogant trainer in front of us. I nodded and said, "Let's do this, Woody!"
"Destroy that Treecko, Machop!" He sent out the Fighting type Pokémon. Although I had seen it before in the Kanto region, I scanned it with my Pokédex anyway, [Machop, the Superpower Pokémon. Its whole body is composed of muscles. Even though it's the size of a human child, it can hurl 100 grown-ups.]
However, acting completely different from his strength, the male Machop seemed to be frightened by his sudden appearance in the battlefield. He tried reassuring himself by taking a deep breath before facing Woody, a hint of fear in his expression.
"Woody, use Quick Attack, then Bullet Seed!" Woody dashed around the battlefield with high speed, making Machop unable to track the Wood Gecko Pokémon. Then, when the timing was right, my Grass type attacked Machop successfully from the back. Startled by the sudden attack, Machop fell face first onto the ground. While Machop was still trying to recover from the attack, Woody took the opportunity to release multiple seeds from his mouth, hitting the vulnerable Machop once again. Machop took a decent amount of damage, but he was still able to battle.
"Machop, what are you doing?! Fight back with Focus Energy, then Mach Punch!" Machop issued the command as he focused, his eyes turning red. Then, his fist glowed light blue as he dashed towards my Grass type, giving it a powerful punch. Woody seemed to take more damage from the move, causing me to realize that Focus Energy contributed in increasing the chances for critical moves.
I should be careful. "Don't give up, Woody. Use Bullet Seed, then Pound!" He released another row of seeds towards the Fighting type.
"Machop, dodge and use Low Kick!" Machop was desperate to dodge the attack, but unfortunately got hit by the last two seeds. He tried to recover once again, but it was to no avail when Woody managed to hit the Superpower Pokémon with his tail. Machop winced in pain, and became wobbly in his movement.
I felt bad for the Machop. He did not seem to enjoy this battle a single bit. I suggested, "Why don't we stop here, Harry?"
However, Harry sneered, "So you can call this a tie before I win the battle? No way, Lows!"
It was obvious who had the upper advantage, but I decided not to say it before Harry became angrier. He continued commanding, "Machop, use Low Kick again!"
"Woody, dodge and use Quick Attack!"
Machop forced himself to dash towards Woody and attempted to give him a powerful kick, but the efforts were no use as Woody was able to dodge the attack with a swift jump. Woody then dashed around the battlefield, making the already weak Machop more vulnerable than he already was.
Finally, Woody was able to land his final attack onto his opponent. I noticed the attack was not too powerful, which I assumed it was because Woody noticed Machop's condition and did not want to go too hard on the final blow. Machop still collapsed on the ground from the impact, unable to move.
Harry was unable to accept the outcome, "Machop, get up and defeat that Treecko!"
"That's enough, Harry. You shouldn't force your Pokémon to go over their limits! It would just hurt them in the long run."
"Don't get in my way of doing things, Kantonian!"
"I just want you to take care of your Pokémon for once before something bad happens to them. It's not that hard, Harry."
However, he seemed to ignore me and said, "Fine, you win this time. But it's because this Machop is just plain weak! I'll train him harder so he won't lose anymore." He returned the energyless Machop and left the area.
Does he have no room to change at all...?
I used a Potion on Woody, and praised him for his great performance. "You did well, Woody."
He smiled as his face turned slightly red, slightly embarrassed by the compliment, "T-Thank you, Lows. I just did my best, that's all."
"Keep it up, Woody." I beamed, as we walked towards Rusturf Tunnel, ready to continue our adventures together.
The future will only be bright from here.
I can feel it.
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Squirtle, Male) Jolly Nature, moves: Withdraw, Growl, Bubble, Water Gun
Ziggs (Zigzagoon, Male) Naive Nature, moves: Tackle, Growl, Headbutt, Rock Smash
Grace (Ralts, Female) Calm Nature, moves: Growl, Confusion, Double Team
Woody (Treecko, Male) Lonely Nature, moves: Pound, Quick Attack, Bullet Seed