Tavi blinked at the pokemon that Charlie released into the water tank in their room. They had hurried to the pokemon center after leaving the party. Charlie had told him to hold off on questions until he showed him something and that something scuttled up the side of the tank, its head poking out of the water. It was a freaking Corphish, the lobster like pokemons pincers clacked happily as it looked at Charlie, foamy bubbles dribbling down its chin. He already had an idea but asked anyway. "Charlie, where did you get a Corphish?"
"Well you see, I went over to get some more food at the party and as I'm waiting there I hear this tapping noise right? I look around and see this little guy in the tank. He was banging his claws on the glass but they had them all tied up and he was trying to get free. It reminded me of your story on how you found Clash" Tavi looked at its claws and saw band marks around them. "I asked one of the chefs there if I could buy him from them, he was going to be cooked anyway so I thought they would let me. I took one look at him and knew I could not let him end up on someone's plate!" the Corphish splashed about agreeing with Charlie. "The guy I spoke to said they were not allowed to sell them but no one ever orders it and if I waited till the end of the night he could slip me one."
"Riiight, but that does not explain why you had Dusk make a distraction and we had to run out of there"
"I am getting to that" Charlie said "You remember the douchie guy at the reception?" Tavi nodded "Well he came up to the counter and pushed me out of the way and ordered a steamed Corphis! He pointed at the biggest one in the tank which was this guy" Charlie said gesturing to the Corphish. "The guy I was speaking to gave me a look and said he would need to get the station setup and it would take ten minutes, he basically gave me permission to save him! Once the douche guy left to go get a drink I talked to Corphish through the glass and he was down for a jailbreak! I got Dusk to make a distraction and caught him" Charlie finished.
Tavi nodded, reluctantly impressed at his friend's quick thinking. Corphish evolved into a dark water type so it looked like Charlie was going down the dark type specialist route for sure now. Looking at the Corphish he was gazing up at Charlie with adoration, they would be inseparable. Also Charlie having a water type would help a lot in Mount Moon, and could actually mean he would be paid for the trip as well. As he had none of the requested types he would have just been travelling with them as an unpaid trainer.
It was just at that time when there was a furious tapping at the window and Charlie sped over to let Dusk back in the room. The Murkrow was covered in what looked like some sort of soup but was very smug at the chaos it had caused. "We got him out Dusk, you did a great job" Charlie said to the bird who hopped over to the edge of the tank and inspected the Corphish. While the two pokemon communicated Tavi turned to Charlie,
"You will probably want to get him checked out by the nurse, his claws don't look in good shape." While the Corphish was large its colour was slightly muted and the marks on its claws were worrying.
"Yeah you are right I'll go down now" Charlie went over to explain what he was going to do to the Corphish and got a nod of agreement before he returned the water type. He gave Tavi another grin before he left the room to go down to the nurse.
.*.
"Run!" Tavi yelled, turning on his heel and sprinting for the gate out of the quarry. Charlie was hot on his heels, his Corphish clinging to his shoulder. He cursed as he ran, the sounds of angry rock types echoing off the rock walls of the open air quarry around them.
They had turned up for the job as requested, walking an hour outside of town. The boys had been shocked at the size of the massive quarry caved into the ground. The rock was cut in massive plateaus like a giant set of stairs descending down a cliff face. They had marveled at the huge diggers and pokemon excavating and carrying rock everywhere. After his check up, Corphish, who was now named Claw, keeping Charlie's streak for terribly obvious names going. Was advised not to use his claws for battle for a week but he was otherwise healthy. Corphish were hearty pokemon and it did not take them long to bounce back from injuries.
Since they had two water types they had decided to go together to get the job done sooner. They had brainstormed and decided they would battle each of the pokemon using water moves to trick them into getting a wash. These pokemon were not battlers so it would be pretty much easy practice, they decided on doing double battles as Corphish was new to battling and Hebo could help him out. Charlie had scanned the crustacean with his dex and was surprised to learn it knew aqua jet which turned him into a nimble little thing. They had decided to use it as a defensive move not offensive and it enabled Corphish to keep itself out of arm's reach. It also helped that they were not battling for a knockout, the plan was to just hit them with weak water moves until the pokemon were clean and then surrender. Elle had been all for their strategy and they had managed to get through most of the pokemon relatively quickly. By surrendering early, it made the rock types think they had won and go off victorious not realising they had been duped into a wash.
They had worked through the day stopping every now and then to give their pokemon a break. The day quickly wore on and with only two pokemon left to go Tavi was sad they would be done, it was actually fun work. Hebo was having a blast showering down the pokemon and Charlie's new Corphish gurgled in excitement every time they had a new 'opponent' it was actually a pretty ideal first training session for him, the low stakes and easy battles made for a good foundation. Claw himself was jumping into the training with a fever, Tavi suspected that it was trying extra hard in order to impress Charlie. A Graveler and a massive Rhydon lumbered their way onto the makeshift battlefield they had put together on one of the quarries plateaus. The quarry workers were on their lunch break at this point, and a few stood or sat around watching the boys. A surly Machop kept snickering at the rock types whenever they would walk off victorious, laughing at them behind their back. It knew what was going on and kept laughing with a Mankey at its side, making fun of the cleaned pokemon.
Hebo and Claw got to work showering down both pokemon with weak water guns. They zipped around the lumbering rock types dodging their slow moves easily. Frustrated at this the Graveler tucked in four arms and used rollout to barrel towards Claw.
"Aqua jet into the air and water gun" Charlie called out. Water coated Claw jetting him into the air zipping over the charging boulder, his aim was off however and his water gun missed the mark. He landed and glanced at Charlie before deciding to spay the Rhydon instead as it was positioned in its line of sight. The massive pokemon was trying to squash Hebo and was getting frustrated by the fast Horsea as he zipped around peppering it with weak water guns. Tavi had started Hebo on learning agility, it would be a perfect move to complement the hyperactive Horsea's fighting style and this low stakes battle was the perfect way to practice. Corphishs water gun hit it directly between the eyes and caused a low rumble of a growl to issue forth. The Rhyhorn set it stance facing Claw and lowered his head, it started a lumbering charge at the Corphis, its heavy steps quickly picking up speed. It ignored the water guns Hebo shot at it in an attempt to draw it away.
"Hebo bubble jump him" Tavi quickly called, There was a gurgle behind Rhydon and a bubble flashed past it landing on the ground right in front of Corphish launching it into the air with a squeal of joy and panic. The water attack would do minimal damage to Claw and it got him out of the line of fire. The Rhydon snorted in frustration as losing its prey.
"Use aqua jet to land Claw" with a bubbling hiss he used aqua jet to right himself and landed on his six legs, meanwhile Hebo used a slightly more powerful water gun on the Rhydon to get its attention.
The Graveler came rolling round again but Claw used a water gun to properly douse it and an aqua jet to the side this time to dodge. The Rhydon turned back to Hebo just as it got another faceful of water. Tavi studied both pokemon judging them clean enough.
"We surrender, you guys are too strong for us, our attacks are not having any effect"
Both of the pokemon stood tall and bellowed rumbling victory roars into the air. Tavi had to hide his smile at them. He returned Hebo who was dropping slightly at all of the zipping around he had been doing. Charlie ran forward to scoop up Claw placing him on his shoulder, telling him how good he did which had the Corphish buzzing with pride.
Elle appeared from the crowd of workers smiling broadly. "Well done boys, that was smoothly done." She offered them both envelopes with cash which both boys quickly pocketed.
"That went easier than you made it out to be," Tavi said.
She smiled at him "Your trick with the battles was a good idea we will have to try that again"
The Machop and Mankey were rolling laughing in the background. The massive Rhydon walked past the snickering fighting types and stopped to grunt at them. Through their laughter they explained what was going on and that had been a massive mistake. The Rhydon's eyes widened in rage and it whipped its huge tail around launching the Machop into the Mankey and sending them tumbling in the dusty floor. Enraged as being tricked it then turned its ere on the boys who stood there momentarily frozen at the sight of a charging Rhydon.
Run!" Tavi yelled, turning on his heel and sprinting for the gate out of the quarry. Charlie was hot on his heels, his Corphish clinging to his shoulder.
.*.
Tavi looked around the lobby of the pokemon center and saw a ranger sitting at a table with a clipboard. There was a line of trainers in front of him all waiting to talk to the man. He nudged Charlie and they both walked over to join the queue. They only just made it out of the quarry before the Rhydon was stopped by the heavy duty gate and quickly made their way back to town. They did not have to wait long before they were standing in front of the man.
"Hi there lads, can I see your trainer licences please?" he said looking at them both. Tavi and Charlie handed over their dex's on the licence page. The man looked down at them and to a list of names on his clipboard "I can see you are both already on the 'potential' list, I'll just need to know how many badges you both have and what pokemon you own?"
Tavi cleared his throat, "One badge and two pokemon, a Jangmo-o that knows the move counter and a Horsea" the ranger nodded jotting the information down.
"One badge and three pokemon," Charlie said, giving Tavi a smug look at having one more pokemon than him. "A Deino, Murkrow and Corphish."
"Huh, so dragon and dark specialists." he shook his head. "Kids these days just keep upping the stakes." the ranger said to himself. Looking up at them "Well you both qualify we will be escorting a research party through Mount Moon and need trainer escorts. It pays $150 per day with bonus pay in the event of a hoard attack. Bonus amounts will depend on the severity of the hoard." Both boys nodded "You will be expected to bring your own supplies and utility equipment, it will take approximately two weeks to make it through the mountain so make sure you bring enough food. The expedition team will have support pokemon with healing abilities but we still advise you bring your own medical supplies just in case. If you are happy with all that then please sign here" he placed a form in front of each of them with a pen resting on top. Both boys quickly signed the forms and handed them back, the ranger stamped down a rubber stamp with "approved" on the form and placed them in a small pile.
"Happy to have you along lads, we will meet in the lobby here at 7am in five days time. If you are not here in time we will leave without you and unless you have a valid reason like sickness or injury you will get a warning on your license"
.*.
Tavi and Charlie spent the next few days training and battling behind the pokemon centre. One thing Tavi noticed was that a lot more trainers were using pokedexes, it seems that the league had rolled out their first wave of the devices. The small advantage they had gotten from having the devices early was well and truly over.
Tavi had made it a habit to check the pokemon location tracker feature on his dex now he knew other trainers also had the devices. Mostly it showed him the pokemon normally listed around Pewter, such as Mankey, Nidoran and a host of bug, rock and flying types.
He was currently watching Charlie battle a bug catcher, his Deino Shadow going up against the bug catchers Beedril. He had just finished a battle with Hebo and was taking a break.
Clash had been able to teach the basics of protect to Shadow in the last few days, she was only able to use the move once per battle but it was a game changer when it came to her bawling style of battling. Tavi idly flicked through the Pokédex pages and opened up the tracker. He swiped around on the map looking at the pokemon sightings in the area around Pewter and sat up in shock. There was an icon on the screen of a pokemon he had been looking for the entire time they had been in Pewter. He jumped up poke balls jangling on his belt and sprinting from the battle courts.
"Pokemom gotta go, see you later" he blurted out to Charlie who was too focused on his battle to reply.
Tavi ran from the town in the direction his map indicated the pokemon was. The tracker said it was sighting only five minutes ago. If he hurried he might just find it. He skirted around pokemon and people and made it to the city gate in record time.
Sprinting past the guard and out the gate Tavi hit the tree line outside the city and slowed down, he was in a hurry but still needed to be careful. Hebo was resting after his last battle so he released Clash in front of him, who looked around before picking up his trainer's excited energy.
"We are hunting a flying type we need to be quick but quiet, it should be in a meadow in that direction" Tavi said pointing in the direction his map indicated.
Clash nodded and prowled off the way Tavi pointed, Tavi followed along scanning the tree tops around them. It was not long before they found the meadow. They broke out of the tree line and Tavi heard the sound of yells which made his heart sink. In his haste he had not taken into account the trainer that had scanned the pokemon.
Tavi scanned the meadow and saw his prize. A blue bird-like Pokémon with puffy white wings which was drifting round the meadow gracefully. The Swablu was beautiful, its movements were elegant even as it slammed into the pokemon it was currently battling. A trainer stood in the meadow giving orders to a Pidgeotto which was currently reeling from the hit, from the look of its disheveled feathers this was not the first hit it had taken. The boy looked about the same age as Tavi, with short black hair and dark skin. He was wearing normal clothes for a trainer but the main thing of note was a thick leather glove on his left arm. Based on that, the fact he had a Pidgeotto and was trying to catch a Swablu, Tavi guessed he was a flying type trainer.
"Gust it Beaky" the boy yelled out, Beaky Tavi thought this guy might be worse than Charlie at names. His Pidgeotto cawed out a challenge and pumped its wings, a whirlwind of energy took shape and was launched towards the Swablu. The blue bird lazily flapped its wings and casually drifted over the whirlwind. It opened its beak and harsh discordant sound echoed around the clearing causing both Tavi and Clash to wince. The full effect of the move hit the Pidgeotto and caused it to tremble, it scrunched its eyes against the pain. The Swablu used that moment to swoop in and pepper the pidgeotto with a furry attack, its beak hitting the bird in quick succession. This proved to be too much and the pidgeotto was knocked out falling to the floor. The Swablu drifted over to a branch on a nearby tree and started preening its fluffy white wings dismissing the boy.
The boy returned his pokemon with a pained expression. It was clear he was out of pokemon now was Tavi's chance.
"Hey, mind if we try?" he said, stepping into the clearing with Clash at his side. His sudden appearance made the boy jump and whirl around.
"Try what?" he said, thrown off by Tavi's sudden appearance.
"I'm going to catch that Swablu" he said nodding to the bird that was still preening its wings, ignoring them.
The boy looked panicked for a moment looking between Tavi and the bird. "You can't!" he stammered. "It's my pokemon, we were just training" he looked slightly desperate, his eyes hopeful that Tavi would believe the lie.
Tavi said nothing and just flipped open his dex scanning the pokemon. At the sight of it the boy cringed.
"Swablu, also known as the cotton bird Pokémon, is a normal/ flying type Pokémon native to the Hoenn region. Swablu evolves into Altaria the dragon/ flying type Pokémon" the Dex recited. "Swablu are normally friendly towards humans and obsess over keeping their wings clean. This Swablu is female and is not registered to any Pokémon trainer" the red device finished.
The final line made the boy deflate, he started to stammer out more reasons why Tavi should not catch it but Tavi was done listening to him.
Standing straight Tavi took a deep breath to settle the excitement. "Clash, charge that Swablu!" With a loud clang of his scales Clash issued a challenge to the blue pokemon who had stopped her grooming to regard the pair below. Clash hissed out a growl never taking his eyes off his opponent. The Swablu chirped back in answer to the challenge and swooped off its perch a sheen of energy coating it as it dived towards Clash. "Scary face and jump to the side"
Clashes eyes glowed red and back tendrils flowed around him as he faced down the oncoming bird, the Swablu's flight faulted for a moment before a squawk of resolve issued from its beak. Clash tried to jump to one side but was clipped by the tackle, sending him spinning away. Impressed by the little bird's resolve, Tavi was all the more convinced he wanted this Pokémon on his team. Clash quickly got to his feet facing the blue bird. Tavi yelled out his next command. "Wait for its next swoop, dragon tail on my mark" Tavi was not sure they would be able to land a dragon pulse on a flying target yet so they would need to wait for it to come to them. The Swablu zipped around in a smooth spiral elegant in its movements and sped in for a second tackle a white sheen coating its front as it powdered up the attack. Tavi waited for it to get just a bit closer before yelling his command.
"Now, dragon tail!" A Turquoise glow enveloped Clashes tail as he leapt into the air and swung it down onto the oncoming bird in a direct hit. Forcing it to sprawl onto the floor and roll in a mess of fluff and leaves. Before Tavi could throw the pokeball he had ready the blue bird was back up with a cry of distress at the state of its wings. Moving faster than Tavi thought capable, it was on Clash peppering him with pecks. Tavi could see that Clash was staggered by the furious onslaught.
"Protect" Tavi quickly said, a sheen appeared between the two pokemon deflecting the bird's blows.
"Quick follow up with a tackle" bending his legs Clash launched himself at the Swablu, being so close it did not have any room to dodge and took a direct hit, sending it to the floor of the clearing. The bird's chest puffed up and the same discordant noise burst forth staggering Clash with the super effective disarming voice. Tavi winced, that was their first time coming up against a fairy attack it would be very effective again Clash. The blue bird could not keep up the move for long though and the attack soon cut off. Clash swayed and there was a small hiss of a "yes" from the trainer behind him. Tavi focused back on the battle, tuning out the other boy.
"Dragon pulse" he issued the order quickly, now that the Swablu was on the ground Clash had a better chance of landing the move. Clash set his stance and reared back his head the turquoise draconic energy collecting in his jaws, the orb formed quickly and launched at the Swablu impacting it just as it was taking another big breath. The blue bird was sent tumbling along the floor landing in a heap stunned.
Tavi primed the pokeball he had ready and threw it at the downed bird. The ball struck it, turning the Swablu into red matter and sucking it into the pokeball. Tavi held his breath watching the ball shake on the ground as the pokemon trapped inside tried to break free. The ball stopped shaking and an audible click locking it in place signified that the capture had been successful.
"We did it!" Tavi jumped for joy as he rushed over to retrieve the pokeball. "You did amazing Clash" his starter puffed up his chest at the praise. Picking up the pokeball Tavi shrunk it down and locked it into place on his belt next to Hebo.
He looked over Clash to make sure the Jangmo-o was okay after the battle. He offered to return him but the little dragon type shook its scales in negative, instead padding over to Tavi's side. His mood was slightly dampened by the boys voice behind him.
"I hope you are happy, thief, I'll be reporting you to the rangers." He said, crossing his arms.
"For what, catching a pokemon?" Tavi said turning to the boy. "Go ahead I'm sure they will take you seriously" the boy had been out of pokemon, Tavi had been well in his rights to catch the Swablu. While some people would call it a bit scumming to battle a pokemon already potentially tired from a fight. Tavi had not seen any evidence that the boy had really put up a challenge to the Swablu. And there was no way in hell he would give up the chance to have another Dragon type on his team. He told the boy as much, but it did not seem to change his mind. He had decided that Tavi had stolen a pokemon that should rightfully be his.
"I'll be watching for you thief, I'll make it my mission to bring you down. The name is Miles Stoll, remember it. " Tavi rolled his eyes.
"Whatever dude" he said, him and Clash walking past the boy, as he got to the edge of the clearing he called over his shoulder "feel free to follow us, you don't want to be stuck out here with no pokemon." the boy cursed and Tavi could hear him following.
.*.
Tavi was back at the pokemon center waiting for his team to be healed. Miles had not stuck around once they were in sight of the walls, he had pushed past Tavi, still bitter and ran ahead to get his pokemon healed. He had promised to challenge Tavi next time they ran into each other.
He had not been waiting long when his name was called out on the speaker. Quickly collecting his pokemon he moved out the back of the pokemon center. Charlie was still battling, his Murkrow dodging vines from a Weepingbell.
Tavi walked to the back of the training area where it was quieter and released Clash and Hebo. Clash looked around expecting to see the Swablu and looked at Tavi a question in his eyes.
"I wanted to fill Hebo in first, and it would be better if we met her together," Clash nodded and Hebo looked back and forth between them. "We have a new team member" he told the Horsea who bubbled in excitement at the thought of a new friend. "She is a flying type. I have a few ideas on names but we will see what she likes" he held the Swablu pokeball and realised he was babbling nervously. He laughed and enlarged it. He looked to Clash and Hebo to see if they were ready. Clash nodded in affirmation and Hebo gurgled in excitement.
Kneeling on the floor so he would not tower over the bird and be too intimidating he placed a pile of kibble in front of him and pressed the release button on the pokeball. With a flash the blue bird was released from the pokeball. Still looking a bit worse for wear with leaves sticking out of her fluffy wings the flying type did not look too happy at all. The center must have done an in-ball heal when Tavi mentioned she was a fresh catch. With a squark of outrage the Swablu set to the task of cleaning its wings completely ignoring the three of them.
Not the reaction that he was expecting, Tavi tried to get the attention of the bird. "Swablu my name is Tavi, this is Clash and Hebo" he said, nodding towards the Jangmo-o and Horsea "I captured you and will be your trainer" the bird was making a clicking noise as it snapped its beak in frustration trying to reach a twig sticking out of its wing. "As I was saying it would be great if you came along with us" the bird was furiously nipping at the mess ignoring the boy in front of it. It repeatedly clacked at a twig that was just out of reach from its beak. With a sigh of exasperation Tavi reached forward and plucked the twig from the fluff that made up its wing, the creature made a coo of appreciation and went back to work cleaning its wings. Seeing he would not get its attention until the pokemons wings were spotless, Tavi set to helping make sure it was free of any debris. They worked in silence for a few moments, Tavi reaching the parts that she could not get. Soon enough her wings were spotless. That done, he tried to get her attention again.
"As I was saying, I want you to come with me and be my pokemon." The Swablu, still not listening to Tavi saw a pile of food on the floor and hopped forward to tentatively snap up a pellet before chirping happily and primly dug into the food. Once it had finished snapping up its meal the bird finally looked around noticing Clash and Hebo it trilled happily at them not seeming to care in the slightest that it was no longer a wild pokemon. Both pokemon greeted her back Clash bowing to her and Hebo gurgled a welcome.
"Welcome to the team I guess." Tavi said lamely, quickly forgetting the speech he had prepared for his new pokemon. The Swablu drifted over to his two other Pokémon chirping away. Tavi took out his dex and brought up the page on Swablu, looking through all of the information. He could see his new Swablu knew the moves, tackle, peck, growl, disarming voice, mist and fury attack. With her white and blue colouring they could have some fun coming up with some ambush attacks with mist. She also had the egg move Astonish, a ghost type move which was a welcome surprise. Overall she was a great addition to the team. The Swablu finished talking to his pokemon and drifted towards Tavi. She landed on the floor in front of him and looked him up and down. He maintained eye contact with her, while she was not a full dragon yet but it was clear she had the pride of one. She squawked, as if to say you'll do and flapped up to land on the top of his head, Tavi imagined he looked like he was wearing a fluffy white hat. Content with her perch she settled in with coo.
"Make yourself at home… " Tavi said to the bird, he had the sinking feeling that he was the one to be captured, not the other way round.
"What do you think of the name Drift?" he asked her, she hummed to herself hesitantly at the name "You seem to drift with the breeze when you fly it is beautiful to watch." He evidently said the right thing because she let loose a very pleased chirp. He felt her nodding on his head and smiled. "Drift it is then" he was quickly coming to understand that she was a bit of a vain little thing.
She settled on his head as he walked over to Charlie who had finished his battle. He turned away holding a few notes of money from the trainer he had just beaten and glanced at Tavi before letting loose a massive laugh.
"Bahahaha what is that on your head?!"
.*.
A/N
So both Tavi and Charlie have new additions to their teams and Tavi has the beginnings of a potential rival! I have big plans for Drift she is going to be an important part of Tavi's development as a trainer.
Thanks again for all the reviews and the follows, we have surpassed the 40k word mark! All your kind comments have been a huge motivator and keep me up late into the night writing!
