I walked through the streets of Petalburg City with a Ralts on my shoulder; something I knew was bound to draw attention. People were definitely giving us looks that made me feel uneasy, but I tried my best to keep my mindset positive for Apollo's sake. I only hoped that he would be less of a spectacle as we got some distance from Petalburg, which was essentially a worldwide hub for those seeking the species.
I glanced at my shoulder to see how Apollo was doing and noticed his attention was quickly snapping between various people and things, but I couldn't quite tell if he was overwhelmed or just excited.
"Hey, you doing alright?" I asked quietly.
Amazed. Excited.
I sighed in relief. I would have thought that so many people's emotions and new things would have been hard for him to handle all at once, but he seemed to be taking it in stride. Perhaps he wasn't as sensitive as I imagined, or maybe his telepathy wasn't developed enough to give him information overload.
"Lucky!" I heard a voice yell from behind us. I didn't bother acknowledging it, opting instead to keep facing forward and continue down the street.
The first on our list of planned stops that we came across was the Pokémart. I grabbed a shopping basket and immediately made my way to the section marked 'Travel Essentials', and soon discovered that the recommended five potions and three antidotes for Petalburg Woods would set me back 1,300 credits, more than half of the 2,331 credits I had at my disposal.
My recent lesson with Miss Augustine about knowing when to ask for help still fresh in my mind, I decided to just get them from Norman. I already planned on visiting him today anyways, so I may as well accept his offer to supply them. It would mean I didn't have any potions until then, but we'd managed without them so far and I wasn't planning on battling anyway.
I let out a long sigh. As much as I wanted to do things on my own and not take any more handouts than necessary, I knew that I shouldn't let my pride eat up half of my money on something I could get for free.
Apollo must have picked up on my emotions, as he patted me reassuringly. Support. Humility.
"Yeah… I just don't hate relying on people, or being poor. We need to make some money soon." I muttered, looking through the section for anything else I might need. I ended up grabbing a repel, as well as a canister of capsaicin pepper spray. Whereas repel shrouded you with an unpleasant scent that would make Pokémon less likely to approach, the pepper spray was for self-defense against actively attacking Pokémon. I'd read many stories of trainers who claimed that it had saved their life, buying them valuable seconds that allowed them to survive an enraged Pokémon. The repel was in case Apollo ended up incapacitated and I had to travel through a route without any other Pokémon to defend me. Together they set me back 500 credits, but I considered it a small price to pay to help ensure our safety.
Seeing nothing else in this section that I needed right now, I moved on. The next section I came across was the various types of Pokéballs. I grabbed a basic Pokéball and moved on, not wanting to even entertain buying anything fancier and knowing that I had no business catching two more Pokémon before reaching Rustboro. Training three new Pokémon at the same time was bound to be a disaster and could threaten the team dynamic I wanted to build. Another 200 credits gone.
The next section was for Technical Machines, and I passed by without so much as a glance. I knew they weren't cheap and I still had plenty of work to do on Apollo's basic moves before even considering it.
Next was the section labeled 'Pokémon Care'. There were various vitamins which were each roughly 10,000 credits, and I doubted I'd be buying those anytime soon. There were also grooming kits, but Apollo didn't need anything like that due to a lack of fur, scales, features, or anything else needing routine care.
Although Apollo didn't need to eat, I grabbed two bags of dry Pokémon kibble; one meat-based and one plant-based. I had no idea what I might catch next, and it seemed like something that would be good to have on hand.
The final section was labeled 'Trainer Outfitter', a large section with lots of clothes and equipment any trainer might find useful. My eyes lingered on a collection of Pokéball clips, and I decided to get the cheapest belt clip that I could find. Although I only had Apollo's Pokéball to worry about for now it still ran the risk of falling out of my pocket, and if I caught another Pokémon there was a good chance I might accidentally mix them up. It set me back 500 credits, but I considered it a worthwhile and necessary investment.
Further skimming the section, I found the space-folding technology. I knew I wasn't anywhere near being able to afford anything with the tech, but I decided to price it out. It's well-known among the traveling trainer community that space-tech backpacks were the single most beneficial thing you could own. You could outfit various pouches and bags to carry many more supplies, and at a reduced weight. I'd hesitate to call it a pocket dimension because it wasn't quite that, it was more like a confined area with altered properties that would otherwise be impossible.
In the center of the display was a plaque explaining the various 'tiers' of technology. A bag with 2x would double the storage space and half the weight, and it continued like that up until 5x where it was quintuple the space and a fifth of the weight. There was a huge warning to never overlap space-tech, something that was near impossible to do nowadays anyway. I remembered reading that the lining had something akin to powerful magnets designed to push away other containers with the tech, but if you did manage it somehow you were almost guaranteed to trigger a small explosion. There was a story about a boy who had his Machoke force a space-tech berry pouch inside his similarly outfitted backpack, and the resulting explosion blew off an arm and left him permanently disfigured. Both bags and everything in them were destroyed, and his Pokémon was taken into League custody for care and rehabilitation, lucky to be alive.
That was two 2x pouches when the tech was still new and people didn't take the warnings seriously, so I didn't want to imagine what would happen with some of the newer, stronger tech.
I browsed the selection and found that the prices varied wildly depending on how many pockets were outfitted with the tech, and what tier it used. There were pouches, purses, belt bags, sacks, and many other variants all the way up to full-on backpacks.
The cheapest one I could find was 20,000 credits for a 2x pouch. For a 5x backpack similar to mine it was going to be at least a million credits, enough to buy a nice home with plenty of land. To me that was an insane amount of money I could never see spending. I hadn't really done any research on how much you would be awarded for completing the gym circuit, but I was positive it wouldn't be anywhere near that number. That would mean I'd have to do some extremely high-stakes battles and come out on top, which wouldn't be happening anytime soon.
Apollo tapped me a few times, drawing me out of what he must have sensed were my spiraling thoughts, so I gave a forced smile and moved on.
I threw a pack of batteries into my basket, as well as a small pocket-sized laminated book titled Survive & Thrive which was packed with instructions and graphics for a wide variety of things such as first aid, scavenging edible plants, reading terrain and cloud formations, how to prepare fish and game, what species were allowed for consumption, and lots of other topics I knew would be useful to know. I only had some surface-level knowledge on a select few of the topics covered, so it seemed like a useful resource to have.
I also grabbed a small waterproof bag, as well as a telescopic fishing pole that came with a collection of lures, hooks, bobbers, line weights and the like, all in a neat starter kit.
Finally, I also grabbed some ramen, rice, and dehydrated meals for myself, as well as a small cooking tripod and a few spare water bottles in case I had trouble finding water at any point.
Needless to say, all of this pretty much tapped me out as far as money. Luckily the common items weren't that expensive at all when compared to the overengineered specialty items specifically for Pokémon such as potions, Pokéballs and repels. When all was said and done and I finally checked out I had a whopping 171 credits left, once again broke.
I stepped to the side and took the backpack off, spending the next ten minutes packing my new belongings into it. Although it was a fair bit heavier, I was extremely content with my purchases and felt mostly ready for my journey. Of course, there were many other things that I would have liked to have gotten, but that would have to come later in my journey when I had more flexible finances. Everyone had to start somewhere, and for an orphan who had nothing a week ago I felt pretty lucky.
Contentment.
"It's all coming together, partner. I think we're pretty much ready." I said with a grin, standing up and testing the weight of the backpack. I didn't find it to be terribly heavy or burdensome, but I knew that once I had the tent stowed away it would be close to full. The backpack had quite a few straps and buckles on it, and I was able to get away with having quite a few things attached to the outside.
Our next stop was the gym. It was a massive building with a huge dome that I'd seen many times in my life, but had never been inside. Stepping into the lobby, I was greeted by a woman in her early twenties sitting behind the front desk, who gave me an appraising look before her eyes landed on Apollo, causing her brows to shoot up in surprise.
I decided not to give her the opportunity to comment on his species. "Hi, I'd like to speak to Norman if he's free. Can you tell him it's Daniel Ingram? I can wait if he's busy."
Her eyes narrowed a bit in what I took as suspicion, "If you're here to issue a challenge, you–"
"Oh no, I'm not even licensed until tomorrow. He helped me out the other day and asked that I stop by before leaving on my journey." I explained quickly, not wanting to give the wrong impression.
Her expression softened and she gave me a bright smile. "Of course! One moment please." She pressed a button on her desk, and a few moments later Norman walked in through a side door, giving me a warm smile as he saw me.
"Ah, Daniel. Nice to see you. Who's your friend here?" He asked with clear interest as he eyed Apollo on my shoulder, who to my amusement seemed to be a bit bashful.
"This is Apollo, my starter. Apollo, this is Norman, the man I was telling you about who helped get me started." I introduced as Apollo gave a shy wave in greeting.
"Wonderfully done young man!" He said with a beaming smile, clasping my free shoulder in congratulations. "Let's go into my office and talk; I have a bit of downtime right now so the timing is actually perfect."
Norman led me through the side door into a modest yet cozy office, and I noticed a Slakoth sleeping lazily on a makeshift bed in the corner. Norman sat at his desk and gestured for me to take a seat, so I took off my backpack before sitting across from him.
"You seem to have everything in order for your journey?" he started as he eyed my backpack, and I couldn't help but grimace.
"More or less, but it took nearly every credit I had. If the offer still stands, I–"
"Of course, my boy, say no more. It's no problem at all." He cut me off, waving a hand dismissively before reaching into his desk and pulling out a handful of potions and antidotes. I nodded in thanks as I stowed six potions and three antidotes into my backpack.
"Petalburg Woods isn't particularly dangerous, so long as you stay on route. The main issue is that it takes a couple of days to get through, and if you find yourself dealing with poisoning without any antidotes then that's where the danger can come into play. As long as you remain vigilant and stay on the path, you should be just fine." He reassured me. Although I already knew this, hearing it from Norman did provide me with some comfort.
"So, about your partner…" He started, seemingly considering his words as I felt my nerves spike. I gulped, giving a slight nod for him to continue.
"It's extremely impressive that you managed to get a Ralts as your starter, especially without any Pokémon to assist you. I trust you understand the rarity and… nuances of the species?" He asked delicately as I nodded my head in confirmation. I wasn't really sure what he was getting at, but he clearly had some sort of point he was trying to get across.
"There are two things I'd like to bring to your attention, and I hope you don't take offense. The first is that, as I'm sure you're aware, Ralts are highly sought after and attract many trainers to our fair city from across the world who are hoping to find one. Very few find success, but even still their population continues to be on the decline, both due to being captured as well as highly targeted by predators."
"Yeah, that's become abundantly clear to me over our time together so far," I answered truthfully.
"I won't ask you how you managed it, although I have my suspicions. Listen Daniel, I can't and won't tell you what to do, but consider this a personal request. Please don't go around giving tips to any trainer who asks on how to get one. There are conservation and poaching concerns, and their continued presence in the area is a major boon for Petalburg's tourism. I'd rather not see Ralts disappear from the area entirely." He explained carefully, eyeing me critically.
"Of course, I understand." I agreed firmly. Now I understood what he was getting at, and it made perfect sense to me. I hadn't planned on sharing the strategy I'd discovered to the world anyways.
I didn't feel comfortable mentioning the thread I'd found online that gave me the idea of how to find a Ralts; mostly since Apollo was currently sitting on my shoulder, and I doubted that Norman would be able to get the thread removed anyway, so I decided against bringing it up.
"Excellent, I appreciate it. The next thing I wish to talk to you about, which I fear I won't be able to provide much assistance with, is telepathy. I trust you know that as Ralts grows, it will become more capable with its innate telepathic abilities, and with that comes… special considerations. When you get to Rustboro, I highly recommend stopping by the Rustboro Trainers' School and speaking to somebody knowledgeable on the matter."
Norman looked at Apollo, including him in the conversation. "You need to be mindful of boundaries, both with each other as well as with others. I won't get into it too much, but you should know that having direct access to somebody's mind is no small matter. You both need to trust each other, as well as respect others' desire to keep thoughts private. What you two share with each other is your business, but I'd caution you against getting in the habit of reading other people's minds. The Ralts line passively senses emotions and intent, which isn't a concern or anything that somebody will fault you for. As a telepath's abilities grow however, they will be able to connect to minds directly, and the stronger they are the more they will be able to do. Communication and reading surface thoughts is fine; it's something stronger telepaths will do subconsciously, although there are many who would not take kindly to it. However I will warn you that it's highly illegal to rummage through a person's memories without consent. I suspect this won't be too much of a consideration for you, as the Ralts line in particular has a strong moral code embedded into them that most other telepaths don't, but I would be remiss not to at least warn you of that fact."
Apollo and I both nodded seriously. I knew some of this, but it was a very good reminder and warning nonetheless. I glanced at my partner, and I could tell that he was in deep thought, staring ahead blankly as he processed all he'd just heard. I could only hope he hadn't taken anything the wrong way.
Norman clapped his hands together, causing us to flinch at the sudden action and return our attention back to him. "That's all I wanted to discuss with you, thanks for hearing me out. Judging by your backpack, I assume today is the day you leave for your journey?"
"No, it's tomorrow. Miss Augustine helped me get emancipated, so I've been camping out with Apollo." I said a bit sheepishly.
"Ah, my apologies. I nearly wished you a happy birthday; that would have been awkward. You'll be leaving in the morning then?"
I nodded in confirmation.
"Well I wish you the best of luck, and I look forward to our future match," Norman said with a sly grin, which I returned enthusiastically along with a firm handshake. It was at that moment that I decided that I had a new goal to add to my list; to someday beat Norman's true team. His investment in me may have been small, a Pokéball and a few healing items were nothing for a gym leader, but I would make sure he saw the results of it someday.
Inspiration. Determination.
We were let out of the office and I was wished a happy early birthday before parting ways.
We made our way back to the streets of Petalburg, and I realized that my stomach was growling angrily at me for lack of food. It had been over 24 hours since I'd last eaten, and it was really starting to catch up to me.
Concern.
"Fine, you win. We'll grab something to eat really quick." I relented, looking around for somewhere to grab a meal. Although funds were rather low, I still had a little under 200 credits. I hadn't had anything I would consider good food since moving to the orphanage, and considering I planned on leaving for my journey early in the morning I figured now would be a good time to have a bit of a celebratory meal for my birthday and the start of my journey.
Not at all feeling picky, I decided to simply visit the first street vendor I found. I ended up buying a common berry for Apollo as well as some fried Magikarp filets for myself. It wasn't a particularly impressive meal, but my standards were extremely low and it was easily the best thing I'd had in years.
We began walking towards our final two stops as we both ate. To my amusement, Apollo was holding the berry with both hands and nibbling on it extremely slowly, seemingly savoring it.
"Enjoying yourself?" I asked with a knowing grin, the answer plain to see.
Apollo reluctantly broke his attention away from the berry for a moment, looking at me and giving me a furious nod. Thankfulness. Amazement.
When I had more money, I'd definitely need to make sure to get him some berries or Pokéblocks for the occasional reward.
"Is that your first berry? I know you don't need to eat, but I'm a bit surprised you never came across a berry tree." I received a quick nod before he went back to focusing his full attention on the berry, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
As I took another bite of my Magikarp filet, it dawned on me that I was currently eating another Pokémon and that Apollo either hadn't noticed or simply didn't care, although I assumed it was the former. I decided to use this opportunity to bring up the topic of hunting and fishing, to gauge his reaction.
"Say Apollo, I wanted to talk to you about something…" I started, trying to think of how to approach the subject delicately. "You know how you don't really need to eat food? Well that isn't really the case for other Pokémon and people, you know that right?" I asked, and Ralts nodded in confirmation.
"Alright good, now let me ask you this. Do you know why you get attacked by other Pokémon? Like that Taillow, and the Poochyena."
A slight tilt of the head, then a shrug. Hostility. Uncertainty.
I blinked, realizing that Apollo had just sent me an emotion that he himself wasn't currently feeling. Had he done that before, or was this a new development? I was pretty sure that every emotion I'd been sent me before was something he was actively feeling. I'd had suspicions that sometimes he picked up on some of my stronger emotions and would adopt them himself, but this was different. Rather than derail the conversation, I decided to just mentally note it and move on.
I hummed, thinking of my next words carefully. "Both of those two times you were attacked, it wasn't because you had angered them, or because they were trying to drive you away from their home or anything like that. Those were Pokémon that eat meat, which some need to do to survive. Don't get me wrong, sometimes a Pokémon might pick a fight wanting to get stronger or defend their home. But both of those situations I was with you for, well those Pokémon were trying to… kill you, so they could eat you." I admitted as I looked at Apollo, who had stopped eating his berry and was just staring ahead, seeming trying to process this information.
After a few moments, he looked at me and I saw a quick shiver. Fright. Horrified.
"Yeah, it's scary. That's a big reason why we need to get you strong and hopefully evolve you soon, so you can defend yourself and get attacked less. The bigger and stronger you are, the less Pokémon will see you as prey," I informed him before continuing. "Anyways, the reason I bring this up is because me and some of our future teammates might need to hunt for food to stay healthy. See this?" I asked as I held up a strip of fish I was currently eating. "This is Magikarp meat, a fish often found in the water. I didn't kill this one myself obviously, but I did get a fishing pole so I could catch some along our travels. Let me ask you this; have you ever seen anything die before?"
Apollo stared at me for a long moment before slowly shaking his head.
"Alright, have you ever seen a Pokémon that was dead? Perhaps decaying?"
At that, he gave a nod.
"Death is not a thing we take lightly, but it is a necessary part of life. Killing for fun or revenge is immoral, but killing for sustenance is both natural and sometimes unavoidable. Since you can feel emotions, and eventually you'll be able to read thoughts, it'll probably be especially hard for you to be around. So if you want we can make sure you aren't present when we do it, but I just wanted to talk to you about it now so you understood what it was and why it will likely happen sooner or later." I finished, taking another bite of my meal.
Apollo nodded slowly, seemingly processing everything I'd just said. When he realized that I was done talking, he turned to face ahead, lost in thought.
I noted that he hadn't sent me any emotions as feedback, but decided not to press the matter for now. He didn't seem necessarily appalled by anything that I had said, other than the revelation that those attacking him wanted him dead. It was another reminder of just how young Apollo was, and how little of the world he understood. The fact that he had seen a dead Pokémon at some point had helped move the discussion along, I wasn't sure how I would have described death to a child who had no concept of it. I didn't doubt that we would need to revisit this topic at some point in the future, but I felt as though enough had been said for now, and that he had plenty to think about.
"Hey kid! Excuse me!" I heard from behind me as I was approaching the orphanage. I didn't look towards the voice, but the calls for attention repeated and got louder until soon a tall, slender man wearing a button-up shirt and slacks positioned himself in front of me, forcing me to stop.
"The Ralts; how much do you want for it?" He asked, a glimmer in his eyes.
"Not for sale." I said simply, moving to go around him. To my annoyance, he sidestepped in front of me again.
"Oh come on now, let's talk business. I've been trying to get my hands on one for my daughter for months now, but none of the region's breeders have any and nobody can seem to find one on route, except you apparently. Please hear me out, you'd make a little girl very happy and you would come out of it with a small fortune." He said with a smile I could tell he thought it was charming, but I only found it incredibly sleazy.
Greed. Deceit.
"No. Not interested. Please move." I said firmly, trying again to get around him. Once again, he sidestepped in front of me, and I could feel my anger quickly rising.
"I can tell from your getup that you don't have much money. I'm offering six digits, it could change your life. Hell, I'll even pay good money if you have any valuable leads or tips."
I was feeling rather annoyed and angry at this point, so I decided to relay some of that in the hopes that he would realize I had no intention of helping him. "Sure, here's a tip; try being less greedy and don't lie in front of a Pokémon who's whole thing is reading emotions. Ralts here tells me you're being manipulative, which makes me think you don't even have a daughter. Now move before I find Officer Jenny."
The man seemed taken aback for a moment by being called out on his lie and adopted a scowl. Thankfully he didn't push the issue any further, seeing it as a lost cause. He backed down and walked away grumbling something to himself, much to my relief.
I sighed, hoping that this wouldn't be a common occurrence before rounding the corner and seeing the orphanage. I stood across the street from it and faced it, turning to Apollo.
"This is the orphanage I was talking about, where I've been staying the past couple of years. It's run by Miss Augustine, the woman I was telling you about. Hopefully someday you'll be able to meet her, but she doesn't want us causing a commotion by visiting, which I understand. It has about twenty kids living there, all who have lost their parents. If it didn't exist, I'm not sure where I'd be today, but I doubt I would have been able to ever meet you. Who knows where I'd be now, I might have been dead or in jail." I admitted truthfully.
A slow nod. Thankful. Support.
I chuckled softly, "Yeah… I couldn't appreciate it at the time, but looking back on it I'm extremely thankful."
A short walk later and we were standing in front of my childhood apartment. I hadn't seen it for years but it looked largely the same, although it had apparently gotten a fresh coat of paint.
"That door there, that's where I lived with my mom Patricia. It's a small and pretty cramped apartment, but my mom somehow made it feel cozy. We can't go inside since there's new people living there, but I just wanted to show you where I was raised. This place means a lot to me, and holds a lot of memories both good and bad."
Apollo stared ahead with unbreaking focus, seemingly committing the scene to memory. As I gave it a long look, I was reminded of finding my mother's body, and I couldn't help but shiver. I hate that that's what came to mind when I saw it; there were so many other good memories that could have come up, but this was my first time seeing it since being relocated to the orphanage. I stood out front for a long moment, wrestling with my rising emotions before deciding that I'd seen enough. Hopefully next time I visited, it would be a bit more positive.
"Alright, I think we're done here. Let's head back to camp and get some training in." I said with more cheer than I felt, trying to push away my lingering sorrow.
We began our march back to camp, ignoring the turning heads and whispers of some of the bystanders. Truthfully, it didn't bother me much, although I wasn't sure if Apollo was the same as me or if he simply didn't realize that the attention was on him. We were able to leave without any further incidents, although I did hear a boy slightly older than me mutter "showoff" under his breath while passing us.
We made our way back to camp, leaving the city behind us with a backpack full of supplies and a completed to-do list. All that was left was to train and sleep, then in the morning I could visit the Pokécenter to get my trainers license and finally leave this place behind.
After years of impatiently waiting, the moment I'd been waiting for was finally arriving. I was going to be an official trainer and start my journey, and there was nothing left to stand in my way.
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