4 Chapter Four

I looked at the shrine that was in the middle of Celestic town nostalgically. This was a good place, used to play around it a lot, me, Zorua, Cynthia, and Gible.

The best buddies forever!

I chuckled, she was so naive, having a pseudo legendary at her side yet still enjoying life like it wasn't in danger if Gabite was just slightly pissed off and decided that her head was the delicacy of the day.

Now, she was a champion, and I had enough blood on my hands to fill pools.

Ah, how time flies.

Turning around I decided that it was enough time reminiscing and time to travel the world.

Granny Carolina was not here, anyway, what was the point of staying?

Humming, I thought for a moment about where I could find a Shinx. It was easy to capture and would be a powerhouse if I trained it correctly, along with its X-ray vision, it would be helpful.

And I had nothing but time to train my future team member.

I looked at the sky, noticing the sun was about to set in a few hours, and frowned. How long was I standing there staring at the shrine? Humming out thoughtfully, I shrugged and continued to route 211.

My destination was Route 204, where Shinx was common there.

I paused, blinked, grabbed a Pokeball from my belt, and let out Corviknight. She looked around, spotting that there was no threat, and turned to me, reading my deadpan face.

She cooed and I just rolled my eyes in annoyance, why walk there when I can fly? What am I? A civilian?

Getting on her back, we traveled to Route 204.

Now... you catch a Pokemon with a Pokeball, and I have two of them to fill my roster.

It was getting darker by the second but I didn't just want to go to a city and look for one in the morning.

Returning Corviknight when I reached the ground, I let out Sceptile.

"Scep?"

He asked, looking down at me due to our slight height difference. I pointed at the ground.

"Looking for a Shinx, think you can help?"

He nodded and crouched down, pressing a hand to the grass. Seconds passed in silence before Sceptile finally looked to our left and pointed to the woods.

"Scep, Sceptile."

I nodded and turned in the said direction, walking unhurriedly while Sceptile walked in front of me. As soon as we reached the trees, the grass-type Pokemon stopped and pressed a hand on the first tree he came across.

I waited for him to do his thing, I never fully understood the intricacy but I did provide the idea of sensing through nature.

He pointed slightly right to where we were going and we both went forward, passing a few trees, Sceptile paused and looked to his left with me following his line of sight.

I spotted what we were looking for. A Shinx, currently enjoying what used to be a Bidoof. Blood splattered the grass around it and the fur around its mouth was stained red.

I walked forward, letting my footsteps sound out as the Shinx twisted its head toward us and growled.

I reached for my belt and took off an empty Pokeball, enlargening it.

The Shinx sparkled with electricity, most likely using Charge and I didn't let it get far with its thought process.

"False swipe."

Air rushed past me, as Sceptile sped forward with the blades on his wrists glowing pure white.

The Shinx was blown back, hitting a tree and dropping down to the ground.

Hmm, he went easy on it.

Walking closer, I crouched down and checked its breathing... Yeah, he was alive.

Pressing my Pokeball to its head. The Shinx turned to red light as the Pokeball opened up and sucked the light inside.

When it closed, the ball shook a few times before finally stopping.

Neat.

Standing up straight, I raised a hand and Sceptile slapped it in a high five. Perfect teamwork.

Even though I did nothing.

"Thanks, buddy."

Sceptile just smirked proudly and tilted his nose up in the air. I just patted his head, getting an indignant huff in response and recalling him back to his Pokeball.

Smiling, I turned around to head into the Jubilife City, which was about half an hour away.

I should probably use a max potion on it, but, well, the Pokemon center was right there and I didn't want to waste a perfectly good full restore on a Shinx.

Humming a cheery tune, I walked down Route 204. I have to admit, in a world where animal cruelty was not only legal but also encouraged, people were not very... good at it.

No, it would be more accurate to say that they sucked at it.

Some lacked strategy, some lacked power, some lacked both.

People focus on one type and others over generalizing.

It was vexing. It was bad when I was just starting out and seeing kids trying to battle me for no reason at all with a worm but now it was even more so.

I took a deep breath and looked at the entrance of the city.

The sun had set and the lights of the buildings shone brightly, I had to squint my eyes slightly... Now, time to start the speed run.