8 Chapter 7: Victory and Subjagation
Taking my words as the challenge they were, the Poochyena charged.
"Torchic! Use-"
"No! Don't interfere, this is my fight!" I interrupted May mid-instruction.
She looked towards me in shock, "What do you mean, don't interfere!?"
Torchic makes a similar chirp of outrage.
[(MOD)Sparkles: since Dante forgot, I'll open up a betting poll, do you think he'll win?]
[The_Brave: betting all my points on Dante again.]
I ignore her in favor of focusing on the fight at hand, "Mudkip, use [Mud Slap] on the two Poochyena flaking the right side! Aim for their eyes." I mercilessly ordered.
I would of course have him attack all at once if I could, but wearing the [Mud Slap] so thin would lead to more negative results than positive. Instead spreading it just enough to disorient two individuals should be child's play for my talented starter.
Sure enough, it was.
"Mudkip!" He exclaimed, before executing my orders flawlessly.
The two Poochyena, impacted by the attack, fell over completely, the loss of perception leaving them disoriented.
Of the three left only one even bothered to look back, the other two kept charging.
"Dodge!" I yelled out.
Mudkip complied as best he could, unfortunately, the two Poochyena were quite far apart. The distance between them meant Mudkip couldn't move fast enough to dodge both, dodging the first with ease but getting impacted by the second.
He mitigated the best he could, but it was still a direct hit. I expected Mudkip to be sent flying or to at least look pained from the impact.
Instead what I got was my Mudkip looking completely fine, no worse for wear. Awaiting my next instruction, even the Poochyena that made contact looked shocked.
'What the hell?! Why is my Mudkip such a tank?!'
[PiplupSupremacy: holy shit, how is he fine!]
[Flattery: not bad for a water type, he's got that fiery spirit in him]
[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: that was some nice redistribution of momentum, Mudkip just displayed.]
I get that he's large but it's still surprising, not one to lose the momentum I order again, "Mudkip, [Water Gun]! Point blank range!"
An unexpectedly large and powerful stream of water spews out of my Pokemon's mouth, at the distance we were at, Poochyena had no hope of dodging.
The burst of water hits his front directly, knocking him unconscious.
The Poochyena that missed its tackle, as well as the one that hesitated earlier, both reinvigorated by the fall of yet another one of their comrades, flank my Mudkip from both sides.
I have to finish these two off quickly before the disoriented Poochyenas recover from their [Mud Slap] related debilitation.
In fact, I could see them recover in real time, only adding to my sense of urgency.
"Mudkip, keep it simple, [Tackle] the one on the right!" He does so, said Poochyena looking on the verge of collapse, "Again, Mudkip!"
"Kiiip!!!" With one final cry, it rams into the Poochyena one last time before it too collapses.
'That's three, two more…'
The two mud-smeared Poochyena finally recover from their blindness spell and look furious.
One of the Poocheyena leaped into the air aiming for my Mudkip.
Knowing there is no way for Mudkip to dodge at this point, I improvise the best I can, "Tense up Mudkip, you can tank it!"
I believed it too, the last attack on Mudkip barely did any damage, and the one attacking at that time was a slightly larger beast.
I was fully expecting Mudkip to tank this [Tackle] like it did the last.
Except it wasn't a [Tackle], at the last second I saw Poochyena focus a dark ominous energy into the forefront of his mouth, coating its teeth in an ominous miasma.
The little Wolf/Hyena hybrids had only been using [Tackle] up until this point so I foolishly fell into their pace and assumed they would keep doing so.
Confirmation bias is a bitch.
"Fuck! Mudk-"
CRUNCH!
[Toto: oh no!]
[Dragon_Queen667: shit]
[The_Forgotten_Sister: poor Mudkip, that's awful!]
The canine's fangs sunk into the back of Mudkip's neck, making a sickening crunch sound as it did.
My Mudkip being the badass that he was, barely let out a tiny whimper, before flopping onto its back, body slamming the Poochyena against the ground and tearing its grip off of himself.
But unlike the [Tackle] from earlier, I could tell this one actually managed to inflict quite a bit of damage.
Maybe it was the STAB provided from it being a dark type move, maybe it was because Mudkip was distracted. Or even a combination of both, regardless of what it was, Mudkip was panting out in exhaustion.
I'm tempted to use a potion…, but that's cheap! I'm sure no one would begrudge me using an item when I'm literally fighting a 1v5.
In fact, I could see my chat urging me to do so. It would be so easy to slip Mudkip a full restore and sweep what was left.
But I refuse to!
It wouldn't be much of a challenge if I take shortcuts. Mudkip will never grow as a Pokemon if it doesn't overcome adversity.
"Sorry Mudkip, I'm gonna need you to tough this out. Do you think you can?" I asked.
He turned briefly to look back at me, with a look that just said, 'You still need to ask? Of course, I can!'
No words were exchanged but I knew his answer.
"Alright, [Water Gun] the one that bit you, full force!" Mudkip doesn't hesitate not even letting out a groan of pain as he summons an even larger amount of water and shoots it out.
They were far enough apart that the Pokemon in question dodged a portion of the attack but thankfully they weren't quick enough to dodge all of it.
Combined with the makeshift Body Slam from earlier it too fell.
"Hell yes!" I can't help but exclaim, the only thing I had to fear was the Poochyena outright dodging the attack.
The battle should be won at this point, it should be easy pickings.
You'd think being surrounded by the unconscious bodies of its entire pack the last of the Poochyena would either surrender or retreat. But these little bastards were surprisingly stubborn.
In what I could only assume to be a final hail mary, Poochyena advances forward in one final [Tackle].
Anticipating the rapidly approaching Pokemon, I hold until the last moment.
"[Water Gun]." I state casually.
Just like that, it's a wrap. The final opponent before me was not able to handle the sheer difference in power between itself and Mudkip.
Yet another slightly anti-climatic victory, but given the excitement of the altercation as a whole, I can forgive it.
[Dragon_Queen667: holy shit he actually won?!]
[The_Brave: lol I'm glad I bet all my points again, I'm rolling in them at this point. I'd spend some but I'm assuming Dante will be updating his rewards soon.]
[InvincibleThunder: I can't believe he actually defeated five separate Pokemon by himself!]
[Not_Annoying: it must be those months of Tekken training.]
"You did it Mudkip! You showed them you were the best starter of all!" I praised.
My Mudkip preens under the compliments, looking as proud as he was exhausted.
His reactions do remind me to heal him however, while my chat was still freaking out over the impressive 1v5 victory, I started treating Mudkip with a hyper potion.
May who had been silent up until that point finally spoke up, "What do you mean, best starter? As if, Torchic is the greatest and it isn't even close."
"Whatever lets you sleep at night," I replied absent-mindedly.
I'll admit, I was a tad disappointed, I was hoping I'd get some type of title or at least some reward for essentially taking on a horde.
I'm not fully convinced there isn't some reward for battling more than one Pokemon at the same time. Maybe five was too small, ten seems more likely.
As I contemplate the mechanics of my system, the system in question pops out, yet another new notification.
[Your [Mudkip] has leveled up!]
[Mudkip Level 7 → 8]
'Wait… levels?'
There's no such thing as levels in this world, that's an exclusively game-related feature.
Is this system of mine perhaps more useful than I had previously anticipated?
I open up my status page and subsequently open up all my unseen messages from when I was too busy to read them fully.
They swarmed my vision all of a sudden.
[Congratulations for officially setting off on a journey alongside your Pokemon, you have taken the first step toward your grand aspirations!]
[Title Gained!]
[Title: Rookie Trainer]
(Equip? Y/N)
I see absolutely zero reasons not to, so of course I choose to equip.
[For beginning your Journey, you have been awarded one free stat point!]
[For winning your first battle, you have been awarded one free stat point!]
[Dante Cross]
[Title: Rookie Trainer]
— — — — —
[Regional Trainer Rank: None]
[Worldwide Trainer Rank: None]
[Trainer Class: Bronze]
[Win Rate: 0%]
— — — — —
Strength: D+
Durability: F
Agility: D+
Stamina: F+
Charisma: S
Appearance: A+
Strategy: D
Command: C-
Free Points: 2
— — — — —
[Mudkip: LV 8]
I already spotted something at the bottom that looked promising, before that however I might as well get the new feature out of the way, I click on my newly furnished title hoping to get some more context.
[Rookie Trainer:]
[During battle has a 1% chance of randomly increasing your Strategy or your Command by an entire grade.]
That…sucks!
One percent? What a ripoff!
Let's just hope it's that bad because it's a new and relatively low-class title, if not, and that's the level of quality I am to expect. Then suddenly I am far less excited about the new feature.
Next, I click on the little Mudkip icon at the bottom of my status.
— — — — —
[Mudkip]
Species: Mudkip
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Adamant
— — — — —
[Level 8]
HP: 29/29
Attack: 19
Defense: 15
Sp. Attack: 13
Sp. Defense: 15
Speed: 13
— — — — —
I was somewhat expecting this but I was still excited, I try adding a point to one of its stats just to see what would happen.
Clicking on its Attack stat a message pops up.
[Do you want to use a Free Point on [Mudkip]'s Attack stat?]
(Y/N)
I ended up deciding not to, it was just idle curiosity. Right now my focus should be on improving myself and therefore my future team, bettering Mudkip would only lead me to become dependent on him.
It's not like he's not already strong regardless, not many new Pokemon can take on an entire Pokemon pack, and come out relatively okay.
I'll think about how to invest my points at another time.
I decided to put it out of my thoughts and contemplate it later.
As it stands I've already zoned out for a while and I could see May getting concerned, before she could call out to me I beat her to the punch.
"Hey, May?" I get her attention.
"Yeah?"
"Your Father doesn't watch my streams does he?" I asked her.
"No," she confirmed, "He's pretty busy most of the time, why?"
"No reason, no reason." There's an awkward pause between us as May tries to figure out the meaning of my words.
"Anyways let's go!" I suddenly exclaimed.
"I'm not done battling and neither is Mudkip, isn't that right buddy!" I questioned.
"Kip!"
"That's what I thought! Let's go May, you should get some battling in yourself. Wild encounters aren't the same as trainer battles." I encouraged her.
"Yeah, you're right." She finally sighed, deciding to forget about my question before she glanced at the chat and read something.
[PiplupSupremacy: he's scared your Dad will find out about him flirting with your mom!]
[Oovoo_Javer: the rizzler has gotten into deep shit.]
[Perfume_Princess: imagine flirting with the wife of the man you're planning on meeting up with later on that exact same day, despicable]
[CourtBourt: word. The D in Dante stands for despicable]
[Flattery: just for that I'm sending the clip of him hugging May's mom to Norman]
[HeTap: lmao this stream is hilarious!]
"That's why you were asking!?" She shouted.
I used to be an American, therefore I did what any sensible man in my position would've done.
I plead the fifth.
— — — — —
We finally arrived in Oldale after two, almost three, hours of long and grueling leg work.
The route is nowhere near long enough to take that long to traverse. But May and I, specifically me, kept stopping to battle.
Mudkip and I must've taken out a couple dozen Pokemon and that's not hyperbole.
May and her Torchic took out quite a few Pokemon as well.
I only stopped because Mudkip was exhausted, not physically, of course, I truly had bought an absurd amount of Potions, but mentally.
Battling puts you on a higher spectrum of alert, it keeps your nerves and emotions high. The constant rush of adrenaline can be tiring.
May also kept complaining that we weren't making any progress so we decided to move along.
"Alright, let's stop by the Pokemon Center to register for this year's league," I told May.
She looked confused, however, "I agree we should go to the Pokemon center but can't we just register through the trainer app?"
"We can," I affirmed, "but that's no fun. It's basically tradition to register from a Pokemon center." I explained.
"I guess?" May backed down.
[Pokemon_Master12: can confirm]
[Long_OakWood: @Pokemon_Master12, my ass you 'can confirm', there's no way someone like you is a real trainer]
[Pokemon_Master12: I am too!!]
[PiplupSupremacy: Since when is that tradition? I just registered through the app]
[Future_Kalos_Queen: @PiplupSupremacy, you're a trainer too!? How many trainers are there in the chat?]
My chat then proceeded to be spammed by people also claiming to be trainers.
"You really think there are that many trainers in your Twitch chat?" May asked me in obvious reference to all the trainer claims.
"Probably not." I denied.
"I'm sure there are trainers, statistically with this many people here, there has to be at least a few. But I doubt there'd be that many, I'd assume trainers have better things to do than watch me." I elaborated on my reasoning.
"That makes sense," May said seemingly in agreement with my words.
Of course, immediately after the fact I then got my chat spammed by people saying they weren't lying. I even got a few people claiming to be gym leaders.
Pfft, yeah right. What's next, a regional Champion is watching too?
Entering a Pokemon Center was always a unique experience. I hate hospitals with a passion, and entering a Center had that same sterile vibe. Yet somehow, I don't dislike them.
Maybe it's all the cool Pokemon you tend to see out in the wild, like that Graveler or that Mighteyena!
I just entered and I've already spotted a large variety of Pokemon out in the open.
My audience was certainly entertained.
[Nebula: whoa, I've never been in a Pokemon center before.]
[Eggcellent_Scholaras: how nostalgic, I haven't needed to enter one of these in years.]
[IHev9Sun: I think I spotted a Charmander in the distance, please walk over and check. If it is, I'll donate my life savings for you to kill it. Before it becomes a disgusting Charizard.]
[IHev9Sun has received a 72-hour ban.]
Or perhaps, the real reason I like Pokemon Centers so much…, it's staff!
Upon reaching the front desk May begins to ask for permission"Is it alright if we fil here? My friend is a live streamer-"
"I know Dante, he comes around here often." Nurse Joy interrupted with a smile.
May paused for a bit, "Oh does he now?" She said as a scary smile appeared on her face.
"Mhm, I know about the streams, don't worry, he can film. Just don't harass the other trainers." She explained.
"Melissa!" I exclaimed upon seeing their discussion was over, "How are you this fine evening, you look as beautiful as the last time your visage graced these eyes of mine."
The Nurse in question blushed and shyly averted her gaze the same way she always did every other time I've flirted with her.
"It's Nurse Joy, please keep things professional Mr. Cross." She muttered.
"As you wish, beautiful." As I finished saying this, I suddenly felt a dark and evil presence behind me.
[FangRush: the rizzler of oz; electric boogaloo]
[PiplupSupremacy: in front of May too, shame!]
[JellyFilledDonut: IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME, NOT HIM!!!]
Letting out a loud grunt of annoyance, May raged, "It's bad enough that you flirt with my mom, the poor Nurse Joy as well!?" May yet again pulled a rolled-up newspaper and started whacking me over the head with it.
I thought I threw that thing away.
"Anyways Melissa," I started completely ignoring her earlier words, though I don't miss her blush getting bigger, nor do I miss the small pleased smile she develops, "Do you think you can register me and May here for this year's league?" I requested.
"Of course." She replied with a pleasant smile, "It'll only take a second."
She types something up and requests some ID, which I made sure Rotom censored, and before long we were finished.
"All done," she declared cheerfully, "Dante Cross, May Maple, I'll be rooting for you two, good luck!"
[Something_of_a_Scientist: hey! She said she was rooting for me the last time I saw her. I can never trust again…]
[Pokemon_Master12: I have a confession to make… I thought all the Nurse Joys were named Joy, I didn't know they had real names…]
[Long_OakWood: @Pokemon_Master12, you're an idiot.]
A donation notification suddenly sounded out, and I panicked a bit.
'I forgot to turn off donations, please don't say anything stupid…'
[Joyful has donated 5,000$]
(I see you're flirting with this Joy. Have you ever considered dating Nurse Joy? If so I would recommend the twin sister Nurse Joy's located at Lavaridge Town.)
That's…, a bit embarrassing sure, but it could be worse. Sure having to answer this question in front of a literal Nurse Joy is not as bad as hearing some poorly written attempt being funny.
"Thanks for the 5k first of all, Joyful. Huh? Joyful, well I guess you must be a fan with that username. To answer your question of course I'd date a Nurse Joy, provided the chemistry was there."
"As for pursuing those specific sisters, I don't know about all that." I chuckle a bit.
[Joyful_but_prettier has donated 5,000$]
(That's great to hear, if and hopefully when you bed a Nurse Joy, the ones at Lavabridge hopefully, just a little tip. Do it from the back, they have built-in handlebars for a reason.)
[Joyful_but_prettier has received a 48-hour ban.]
[Joyful: Kaylee! That's not the message we agreed on!]
[Joyful has received a 1-hour ban.]
[PiplupSupremacy: why'd joyful get banned, he/she didn't do anything?]
[Dragon_Queen667: the mods are out of pocket frfr!]
[(MOD)Sparkles: it's obviously an alt.]
[Kiyan_Tribe: what if the two Joyful are real Nurse Joys? …nah I'm trippin]
I look towards Melissa only to find her face as red as a tomato. Not like the expression, I mean it really was straight-up red, I'd be concerned if I hadn't seen it before. I even saw one guy suffer from a nosebleed before, this is an anime after all, or a game?
"Rotom, please disable donations." I requested.
"Done," Rotom replied.
'Well this is awkward, quick Dante break the tension!'
"So… is it true?" I asked the red-faced Nurse Joy.
She takes deep unsteady breaths in order to recover, "Is what true?" Melissa finally inquired.
"Those loops in your hair are they really meant to be used as handlebars?" I questioned, completely seriously.
'Nice Dante! If that didn't break the tension, nothing will' I thought completely sure of my masterful handling of the situation.
[(MOD)Sparkles: …]
[(MOD)Sparkles: I'd perma ban Dante if I could.]
[Burn_Baby!: uncommon Dante W]
[Dragon_Queen667: I'm curious as well.]
To my complete and utter shock, my carefully worded question didn't diffuse the situation, instead, things got more awkward.
Melissa Joy sat flabbergasted, her jaw agape at my words.
How could this be? I'll have to make my question simpler, I'll ask her if she prefers it from the front or from the back. There's no way that's an inappropriate question!
Before I could May pulled me back, "Alright, that's enough, let's go Dante we're holding up the line!"
She then pulled me away.
Oh well, I'll just ask her the next time I see her.
"What is wrong with you?" May demanded upon us leaving the building.
"Lots of things," I answered honestly.
[LazyCrow36: at least he can admit it]
[DarkMagicianGirl: based]
[Forgotten_Sister: my traveling companion has a lot of things wrong with him too. The first step is admitting you have a problem.]
[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: I don't see anything wrong with you, I appreciate how you always say what's on your mind. It's better than the facades most people keep up to mask their true intentions.]
"Wait, we didn't get a check-up on our Pokemon!" I suddenly remembered.
"We'll do it at Petalburg," May doesn't skip a beat as she kept marching away, "I'm too mortified to go back, everyone was looking at us, Dante!"
"May, there are over thirty thousand people here." I expressed my disbelief.
"It's not the same!" She insisted, "I don't have to see chat's weirded expressions."
"If you say so." I finally just conceded.
[PiplupSupremacy: lol Dante is something else.]
[Flattery: Petalburg, so we're close to Norman... I see ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
We debate about gathering more supplies, but we still have more than enough for at least a few more days.
Setting off however we're stopped right at the edge of Route 102 by a plump-looking middle-aged man.
"Wait, you can't pass by yet!" He screamed as we were about to cross into the route.
"Huh, why?" May asked genuinely concerned at the urgency in the man's tone.
Meanwhile, I started to feel the oddest sense of deja vu.
"You'll mess up the rare Pokemon footprints I've found!" He explained pointing at the ground near our feet.
'Oh right…this dude.'
"I've been tracking this Pokemon for years now, actually it'll be a decade soon of me searching for the Pokemon." The older man went on to elaborate.
"My name is Raymond Dance, I used to be a teacher at a prestigious academy, but I have solely dedicated my life to finding this Pokemon, known as the hide-behind."
"Wow, really!" May ended up entranced by his story, the same as my chat.
[The_Brave: imagine searching for something for almost a decade and yet not finishing it, I'd just give up at that point.]
[MakeItDouble: that's honestly inspiring.]
[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: he has the heart of a true scholar.]
"Somewhere a few years back, I noticed at times, its footprints randomly appearing near my location in the places you'd least expect it."
"I searched fervently for it, to the point my wife divorced me and took my kids away, but I just know… I'll find it. When I do, I'll earn the Pokemon research title, then I could return to my family, an honored man." He stated wistfully.
I must've made a weird face because Raymond gauged in on it, "I know I must look foolish to you young folk, but I can't help but dream." Raymond said ambitiously.
I hate to do this but…
"Rotom, please aim down, so that the audience can see these footprints in question," I instructed.
He does so and immediately my chat goes silent.
"What's with the weird reactio-, oh," May said simply upon getting a closer look.
May immediately glanced at me with a pleading expression, I would have to let her down, however.
She was obviously telling me not to tell Raymond the truth, but I had no choice, it'd be too funny not to.
"Dawg, I don't know how to tell you this," I pause to let the moment breathe for a bit, "But those aren't Pokemon footprints, they're yours," I said breaking the news gently.
"W-What?" He asked shakily, he forced down a nauseous chuckle, "Ha ha, very funny young man." He said taking in a large gulp.
But neither me nor May were laughing, he took one last glance at our expressions before lifting his foot, pressing it against the ground with a hard stomp and lifting it back up in disbelief.
The footprint he left was identical to the rest.
He collapsed to his knees in despair, "No, no, no! NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"
That was just about as much as I could take, leaving as fast as I can, I leave one final message before booking it, "May I'll meet you within Route 102, see you there."
"Wait, what!?"
I barely managed to run a dozen or so meters before I too couldn't take it, I collapsed to the ground.
Far be it for me to collapse in sadness and despair as Raymond did. I ran away because I couldn't stop myself from laughing.
Far enough away to where he probably can't hear me anymore, I let loose.
Laughing myself half to death, my lungs and my side contracting in pain from my mad cackles. I roll around laughing to myself for what feels like hours before, I calm down enough to breathe.
[PiplupSupremacy: he's such a dick!]
[Burn_Baby!: I can't blame him, this is hilarious! XD]
[The_Forgotten_Sister: a man just lost 10 years of his life chasing nothing, and that's funny to you!]
[Bob: why do we like Dante so much if he's such an asshole?]
[Hard_Boiled: @Bob, because we appreciate how real he is. NotCyn said something to this effect earlier, but Dante doesn't pretend to be someone he's not. He's honest and open, about his faults, flaws, and anything in between. He's the type of bro to tell you when you're being an idiot, but still help you.]
[Based_Professor: why is everyone painting this man as a victim? He abandoned his family in search of a fairy tale. Even if it had been a dream, family always comes first, to focus on research over them is despicable. I'm glad he feels despair, too little too late I'd say.]
"That is the funniest shit that's ever happened to me." I wipe away some involuntary tears before entering another laughing fit.
Thankfully I fully stopped laughing by the time May got here which is a few minutes later.
"I could've used your help y'know!" Right off the gate she accused, the moment we reunited.
"Sorry May, it's just he had a right to know, to not waste more of his life than he already had. But I also couldn't bear to see him broken." I lie through my teeth, using every ounce of acting talent I developed by being tree number one in my middle school play.
Thankfully she seems to buy it, "I guess that makes sense."
"Whoa, look at the lilypads." She points to some floating lily pads across a small pond.
"Those are Lotad, May." I corrected.
While we were at it, I released Mudkip from his Pokeball.
He looked around alert as usual, "I didn't call you out to battle, buddy. At least not yet. Go swim around for a bit." I tell him, much to his joy as he doesn't wait a moment longer before diving in.
I sit under one of the many trees and rest my eyes as May comes up and sit beside me as well.
May joins me, "Are we resting?" She asked.
"No. I'm resting, you said you were going to catch a second Pokemon here, remember?" I make sure to remind her.
"Oh yeah!" She said thoughtfully, "In fact, I can see him from here."
I followed her line of sight, "Azurill? Not a bad choice, nice type coverage."
"Something like that," May commented mysteriously.
"Hmm?" Now I'm confused.
"Just watch." She told me.
She approached a group of playing Azurill, they were bouncing around and diving into the pond Mudkip was currently swimming in.
I was expecting the Pokemon to freak out or disperse at the sight of a trainer, but they didn't. Maybe it was the casual manner in which she strolled up.
Maybe it was her obviously not being armed, or the fact that she hadn't pulled out her Pokemon despite almost reaching them.
Once she finally did, she didn't attack, instead she kneeled down and started saying something I couldn't make out from this distance.
Whatever she said had the Azurill in a frenzy, they started chattering amongst themselves and scurrying around.
They seemed to have reached a consensus, they all started hopping in a single direction.
I assumed they were running away, but upon closer inspection, I realized they were leading her somewhere.
'This I gotta see.' I started following her shortly thereafter.
I almost lose track of her, by the time I find her she was within the trees in yet another pond, this one far more hidden and private.
A large Marill is sunbathing on a large boulder, the Azurills lead her to it.
'Are they going to sacrifice her?' I push away the silly thought and keep watching.
[Flattery: I take it back, this is a fever dream]
[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: I'll admit I'm confused]
[PiplupSupremacy: this is odd, even for you May!]
I see her say something to the Marill that had it jumping for Joy. It started to dance around it was so excited.
Suddenly May pulls out an empty Pokeball, holds it up to Marill, and to my shock, it slams its forehead into it. Capturing himself instantly.
May did a funny-looking pose of victory, before finally leaning down and thanking the Azurills that much I was able to read from her lips.
The Azurill cheer happily then scurry back to their playing ground.
May seems to spot me and walks over with her smug gremlin smile.
"How!?" I asked as soon as she got close enough.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She asked me teasingly.
"May." I insisted.
"Fine, fine. I just asked." She explained.
"Go on," I said, requesting further information.
"There's not much to say, I approached the Azurill and asked if they knew any of them wanted to join me in traveling the world."
"If none of them wanted to, I asked if they knew anyone who did, and I couldn't really understand them, but from what I understand Marill has wanted to explore the wider world for a while now." May continued.
"So I asked him if he wanted to come with me, and evidently, he agreed." She finished.
"Just like that?" I asked.
"Just like that." She confirmed.
As expected, the easy catch had my chat going berserk.
[TutuPrince: wtf!!!]
[Future_Kalos_Queen: that's it, it's that easy?]
[Pokemon_Master12: I was hoping for an epic battle!]
[PiplupSupremacy: I wish it was that easy for me.]
I try not to express disappointment as well, but I can't resist clicking my tongue.
Seriously May, that's the way you catch the first Pokemon of the live stream!? Think about the views a climactic battle would've gathered.
There goes my hope of "First Catch" being a legendary channel clip years into the future.
You'd think May would've developed a content brain after being on camera so much. Alas, I obviously expected too much from her.
"What?" May asked upon seeing my disappointed expression.
I said nothing, however just shaking my head.
"What!?"
— — — — —
Given that we weren't really there to train or battle, we ended up coasting through Route 102 at record speed. Arriving at Petalburg within only about thirty minutes.
I wanted to immediately book it to its Pokemon Center not only to flirt with the Nurse Joy there but to also get Mudkip his long-awaited checkup.
…okay in actuality I wanted to avoid Norman, can you blame me. He has a Slaking!
Perhaps sensing my turmoil, May interlocks her arms with mine in an attempt to comfort me…, wait, no, she's actually trapping me! I can't escape now! This cunning mastermind!
We arrive and May barges into the place like she owns it, which I get it, I would too.
"Yo, Dad! It's me May!" She yelled only to receive no reply, the Gym was empty for some reason, Norman wasn't there.
'Why was it unlocked if-
"Who's in there!" A voice could be heard from behind us, startling May and me out of our skin.
We turned around, hands drawn to our Pokeballs and ready to deal with the intruder, instead of an intruder however.
We found the man of the hour, Gym Leader Norman, and in tow was a somewhat short green-haired teen around my age.
I instantly recognized who it was, this was Wally, one of the Hoenn rivals of the mainstream Pokemon games. A sickly boy with low self-esteem who grows to rival the player by the time he's ready to face the elite four.
I almost expected this to happen, I had long since realized that the current Pokemon world I reside in was a mix between the anime and the games. I had seen the Indigo Plateau live about a half a year back, I knew Ash existed. Yet the timeline didn't add up.
Too many inconsistencies caused by elements from the games kept popping up.
So I knew I wouldn't be surprised if Wally did pop up. I even figured we'd go through the same motions of helping him catch his first Pokemon, presumably his Ralts.
Instead of the timid, shy, frail-looking boy, I was expecting to encounter, what stood before me was a self-assured, still pale and sickly, yet confident young man. Apparently already armed with his starter. If the Pokeball clipped at his belt was any indication.
He wasn't at all what I was meant to expect, most people are unnerved by my red eyes upon first seeing them in person, but he didn't hesitate to look me straight in the eyes.
The green-haired boy ignored May in favor of not breaking eye contact with me.
May subsequently was solely focused on her father, "Dad!" She rushed towards him, they stood off to the side and started talking, out of the corner of my eye I saw May take out her Pokemon to show her father.
Wally and I were locked into our stare-down, he ended up being the first to break it.
Wally took a deep breath, "God I hope I timed this right." I heard him mutter under his breath.
He unclipped the Pokeball sitting on his belt and held it forward, the front pointing directly at me.
I was confused and about to inquire as to what he was doing before a notification alert sounded out from none other than Rotom.
[The_Brave has donated 10,000$]
(Dante Cross, I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle! Do you accept?)
Wally looked at me with a cocky smile and a raise of his eyebrows, "Well? Do you?"
(A/N: Chapter 7 complete. This isn't set in stone but I'm thinking of having an official schedule so you know when to expect an update. I was thinking Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun, that way I would update 4 times a week. For a total of around 12k to 16k words a week. What do you think?)
(QOTD: What's your favorite Pokemon generation? Mine is probably Gen 4.)
