Post by Pastyourbedtime on Dec 21, 2016 9:14:21 GMT -8
Chapter 1
Getting Back on Track
Getting Back on Track
It had been one week. A long, confusing, emotional seven days that Davis Kerrigan had struggled through, but it was time to accept the truth. It had been a week since Davis had last seen his Elgyem, and now he knew for sure that the Pok?mon was not coming back. He had waited in vain, and in hindsight he had known from day one that this was how their story would play out. He had never been in control with Elgyem, and the Pok?mon had simply given up on its trainer. Whatever potential Elgyem had seen in Davis that caused him to join his team in the first place had clearly taken too long to manifest itself. He wasn't going to get his Pok?mon back by waiting for it; he had to train harder and become worthy of Elgyem's respect, and maybe one day they'd cross paths again and things would be different. But for now, it was time to move on and to move forward.
There was determination in his stride as he left town that day. All week he had felt as empty as the third Pokeball that still hung from his belt, but now he was filled with purpose. He had learned and grown so much since he began his journey, but it wasn't until now that he made the realization that this journey wasn't all about him. Each Pok?mon he caught had its own path to take, and it was his job as their trainer to guide them on that path. He had failed Elgyem, but it wasn't too late for his other Pok?mon.
At first, it was a difficult endeavor traveling alone with just two Pok?mon at his command. More times than he could count, he had just barely managed to escape from wild Pok?mon when his team was too exhausted to continue fighting. But they were growing stronger on their own, and the experience they'd gained from battling wild Pok?mon, and the occasional trainer, was starting to show. Davis finally felt confident again.
---
Davis had been enjoying a bright and pleasantly breezy day until he stumbled into a small desert-like terrain. Suddenly the sunlight seemed much harsher, and the wind was whipping sand at his face and into his eyes. He trudged slowly through the dunes until he was brought to an abrupt halt by a stern gaze from a wild lizard Pok?mon who was sunbathing on a rock ahead. Grabbing a Pokeball, he awaited the oncoming attack. But the Pok?mon didn't attack, instead it seemed to be challenging him to make the first move.
With a smirk, Davis accepted the challenge. "Go, Staryu!" he cried, throwing the Pokeball and releasing his strongest Pok?mon. The battle began immediately, and the lizard jumped down from its rock and began racing through the sand in zig-zags. It was almost impossible to see it in the sandstorm, and Staryu was struck head on by a Quick Attack that they didn't have time to avoid. "Water Gun!" Davis commanded before he could lose sight of the wild Pok?mon again. Staryu locked on to its target and knocked it backwards with a formidable jet of water that sent the lizard tumbling through the sand.
Shaking off the sand that had stuck to its wet body, the Pok?mon took a powerful stance and surprised Davis when it extended and unfolded its long frills. It began crackling with electricity and, hissing, it fired off a powerful Thundershock at Staryu. Davis ordered a Rapid Spin attack just in time; the star shape Pok?mon spun violently and began kicking up sand, which absorbed the electric attack and prevented the super effective move from making contact. Staryu slammed into the wild Pok?mon forcefully. It crashed into the same rock it had been resting on, and before the Pok?mon could get up, Davis threw a Pokeball and captured it.
"An Electric type, huh?" He mused as he placed the Pokeball on his belt. "That type disadvantage could have really screwed us over, but you did an amazing job Staryu. Thank you." Davis returned his Pok?mon to its ball, attached both Pok?Balls to his belt, and eventually found his way out of the desert.
---
At the next Pok?Center, Davis learned that the Pok?mon he had caught was a Helioptile. He hadn't had much experience with Electric types before, aside from his first and only gym battle, where he had lost to Sunyshore's Volkner. He knew to respect the power of Electric types, and Helioptile seemed to mirror that respect to him as well. As he and Helioptile trained, Davis grew used to the shocks he'd receive every now and then, and so when he accidentally walked into an electrified spider web in the forest one day, he managed to recover pretty quickly.
"Hey!" A voice called out in anger as a trainer ran over to the web that Davis was picking off of his clothes and hair. "What do you think you're doing destroying our trap like that!?" A large Galvantula walked beside him, and Davis could see that the remaining gossamer strands of the destroyed Electroweb were all connected to the spider Pok?mon.
"Why are you laying traps out here in the first place?" Davis asked as he cleaned off the last of the webbing, suffering one last shock from the residual electricity. He locked eyes with the trainer, and with tensions fairly high between the two of them he knew a battle was inevitable.
"Obviously, I was trying to capture wild Bug Pok?mon." Sneered the trainer. "I am a Bug catcher after all." He added proudly.
Several insults were exchanged, but in mostly good taste, and eventually the battle broke out. Galvantula was the trainer's only Pok?mon, but it was tough enough to knock out Helioptile before being brought down by Staryu.
"So, I guess you specialize in stone-evolutions, then?" The Bug catcher asked after the battle was finished.
"No," Davis said, a little confused. "I don't have any Rock types, and none of my Pok?mon have ever evolved."
The trainer stopped in the middle of counting out prize money and rolled his eyes. "DUH, of course none of your Pok?mon have ever evolved. Stone-evolution doesn't mean Rock type. It means a Pok?mon that can evolve from a reaction caused by certain stones. Like Staryu with a Water Stone, or Helioptile with a Sun Stone. I can't believe I was beat by such a rookie!"
Although he'd grown stronger from traveling on his own, there were some things you just had to learn from other trainers. "You mean, all I have to do to evolve Staryu and Helioptile is give them a stone?" Davis asked, stunned that after all their training, evolution had been a literal stone's throw away all along. The Bug catcher nodded smugly. "Do you know where I can get those stones?"
"Well, they're kind of uncommon. You won't find any stores around here that sell them, but there's a Trainer's Market every week in town, and I'm sure someone there will have one to trade." Davis thanked the Bug catcher for the battle, and declined his money, insisting that the advice he'd shared was enough.
---
Davis had woken up early, hoping to beat the crowds, but when he arrived at the Trainer's Market it was already packed. Some people had set up booths or tents to sell their items, while others were simply flagging trainers down to see what they had to trade or sell. Davis followed suit and began asking around to see if anybody was selling rare stones.
He found tons of trainers selling homemade PokePuffs and PokeBlocks, others who were trading hand-knitted Pok?mon clothing, and even a few trainers who were offering Pok?mon eggs. It didn't seem like anybody had any stones to trade, and Davis was almost ready to give up when a powerful hand grabbed his shoulder. He spun around quickly, expecting to face a large man but was instead surprised to see that the trainer who had grabbed him was an old woman. She was wearing shorts and a straw sunhat, and her grey hair was tied in a waist length braid. Her blue eyes stared at him intensely, but her kind smile put him at ease.
"If I heard correctly, you seem to be interested in rare stones." Her tone sounded curious, and Davis suddenly found himself opening up to her without even meaning to. She was a great listener and conversation flowed easily between the two of them. He barely even noticed that they were walking, as he told her about his Elgyem leaving him, and how he wanted him and his Pok?mon to get stronger. He mentioned that he needed the stone's help with that.
They eventually arrived at a small yellow house overlooking the ocean when the woman spoke up again. "So then, do you know the names of the stones you are looking for?" She had that curious, amused tone in her voice, and Davis was aware for the first time that he had barely even talked about the stones.
"Yes, I need a Water Stone and a Sun Stone, to evolve my Staryu and my Helioptile." Davis answered. The old woman didn't react immediately, but soon her wrinkled eyes closed and she let out a small chuckle.
"I suppose you and I have different definitions of rare stones, then." She laughed, unlocking the door of the house and stepping inside. "Bye now." She was about to close the door behind her when Davis stopped it with his hand.
"Wait!" He shouted, and the woman turned back around to listen. "Please," Davis begged, "All I want is to be the best trainer I can be for my Pok?mon. I already let down Elgyem, but I know that if we keep working hard then we'll reach our full potential! If there's anything you can do to help, I would really appreciate it. We all would."
She studied him for a bit, her intense blue eyes staring him up and down before she nodded. "Alright," She said finally. "I'll give you the stones you need, and in exchange you will do three favors for me. Is that fair?"
Although he wasn't quite sure what he was getting into, Davis didn't see any other option than to accept her offer. He hadn't thought much about what he could trade for the stones anyways, and he didn't exactly have a busy schedule. "That's fair." He agreed. "What do you need me to do?"
"Meet me here tomorrow morning." The grey haired woman said, as she slammed the door shut in his face.