21 Chapter 21 Kyle's Resolve and the Applin Challenge

"You know the first time she rescued me and I woke up at the cave…I was so scared. For the first three days I was constantly under the impression that I was being saved up as a delicacy", said Kyle looking at the Articuno's grave with a sad smile.

Faust smiled at his friend and picked up the Galarian Articuno's Pokeball. After hesitating for a bit, he held it out offering it to Kyle.

"He's right here, weak and hardly able to fight back. You can decide to do with him as you like. I don't know whether it'll help with the grief but-"

"No, I don't really blame the Pokemon as much as I blame my own self for being so weak", Kyle cut Faust off pushing the Pokeball back to Faust.

Faust didn't say anything and just bent down to place the Pokeball on the ground. The two of them just stood there staring at the grave. Kyle looked out into the distance with a blank look on his face for a while.

"Hey, Faust."

"Yeah?"

"I want to get stronger."

"Yeah me too buddy."

Kyle was silent for a moment before he said, "You know…before all this, all I ever wanted was to do was catch up to my brother. Just show all those people that Kyle Goodwin could be just as good as Scott Goodwin. Thinking of it now, it seems like such a…insignificant goal to have. I want to get stronger Faust, no…I need to get stronger. Articuno was right about what she told you, that I would blame myself. I do blame my incapability, but I know my limits. I want to surpass those limits. I need your help, Faust. I never want to feel like this again, ever!"

Towards the end, Kyle broke down and Faust simply grabbed him in a brotherly hug. 

"Don't worry buddy, we will get stronger. Much stronger. Strong enough to take from others and never let anything be taken from us."

Kyle pulled out and simply nodded. In his heart, he had already resolved to do whatever it took to make that a reality. Kyle then pulled out a Pokeball and held it out towards to Faust. 

"Umm…what're you doing? She specifically mentioned that you had to take care of her child", said Faust with a confused look on his face.

Kyle sighed and said, "Yeah I know but there's no way I'm gonna be able to care for a legendary Pokemon. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to have it with me when I am as weak as I am right now. I can't protect the little guy for now. So I need you to take care of it till I'm ready. Of course, I'm also hoping you can get it a better environment and resources given your position as a researcher in RL. I plan to go to Grand Coast City after the graduation. I was thinking of attending the Trainer's Academy over there and that way I can visit Articuno whenever I want."

Faust looked at the Pokeball for a moment before pushing it back to Kyle.

Kyle looked at Faust in confusion at what he assumed to be a refusal.

Faust quickly said, "Hey don't look at me like that, as a researcher I have the authority to sponsor and have up to three trainers work for me. Or at least that's what it said in the contract which I didn't sign but was given the perks of nonetheless."

Kyle was dumbstruck for a moment before he suddenly exclaimed, "Faust are you going to sponsor me!? Damn RL sponsorships are not easy to get and you could have stronger trainers work with you!"

"Hey it's not that big a deal. Didn't you just say you wanted to get stronger? This is the first step. I mean you could turn me down like a foolish proud individual preaching against nepotism but having friends in high places is a strength in itself."

"Are you kidding me!? While I never would have made such a shameless request of you voluntarily, but if you're offering yourself…why would I not accept it!"

Faust smiled and held out his hand, "Well then I look forward to working with you Trainer Kyle."

Kyle chuckled and shook Faust's hand.

"It's an honour to be working with you esteemed Professor Faust."

Faust and Kyle looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Faust then mentioned a pressing matter.

"Our first order of business is to get the Applin. We only have until tomorrow till our leave from the school expires. While I am not really concerned about the school authorities, if we get delayed the Mayor might send out a search party. That would be troublesome. So let's get going, although looking for Applin is gonna be a drag, they could be anywhere in the rift."

"Oh yeah I totally forgot about that. Although I got myself Amaura and Weavile, adding a dragon type to my team sounds like a good idea."

Faust nodded and then said, "Okay so while we may not know the exact value of the time dilation inside the rift, roughly it's about 1:168, one hour in the over world is about a week in here. So we have about something close to twelve weeks inside the rift before we have to go back. But there's another problem, the Galarian Articuno might recover in that time and so we can't stay for long. I can't estimate how much time but we better move fast and get it over with quickly."

Kyle nodded and said, "Yeah, although you are technically the trainer of the Galarian Articuno, you haven't tamed it yet and I don't think it would let go of any opportunity to get back at us for what we've done."

Faust used the rift core to leave the rift with Kyle and opened another gateway. But this time it was close to the forest they had caught the Weavile in. Climbing down the mountain would have taken a lot of time since they didnt have Articuno to ferry them anymore.

Walking through the forest aimlessly, they came across multiple Pokemon such as Alolan Vulpix, Snover, Cubchoo and so on but they couldn't find a single Applin.

Leaning against a tree to catch his breath, Kyle said, "Faust this is gonna be really difficult. At least with Articuno around we had a credible guide to lead us around the rift."

Faust knew that Kyle was correct, while they did have the rift core and could technically be considered rulers of the rift, they had spent at most a few months in it. They knew very little about the layout of the rift, moreover the Applin were not native to the rift and could be anywhere. Just as Faust was trying to come up with an idea to tackle their current predicament, his eyes fell upon the claw marks on a tree. As if he had suddenly gained enlightenment, Faust instantly knew how to go about their Applin search.

"Kyle call out your Weavile, I've got an idea", he said quickly calling out his Sylveon.

Kyle didn't think to much and called out Weavile.

"Weavile! Weav--vile?", the Weavile appeared apparently expecting a battle before looking at Kyle and uttering a questioning cry.

"Okay Sylveon, we need you to take charge of your former….ummm…crew and have them help us out with finding a certain Pokemon.

"Sylv-veon?", Sylveon tilted its head trying to understand Faust's request.

Faust patiently told Sylveon that he needed her to ask the Weavile pack to look for a certain species of Pokemon. Kyle on hearing the idea suddenly exclaimed, "Oh thats an amazing solution Faust. Weavile are quick and they probably know this forest like the back of their claws!"

Now all Faust and Kyle had to do was wait, Kyle's Weavile had gathered all of her packmates and Faust had showed them a picture of Applin to help identify what their search was for. While the Weavile worked to scan the entirety of the forest, Faust and Kyle had set up camp and were eating dinner. 

Faust found Kyle's unusual silence unsettling but ignored it. Normally, Kyle would either be talking about Pokestars or complaining about how he missed his bed and the internet. But he didn't think too much about it, after all grief manifested in all sorts of ways. Faust knew that the incident was too sudden. Just visiting the grave and making silent resolutions was not equivalent to coming to terms with the change. A loss wounded a person in a way that could only be mended by time.

Faust was checking his Daily Item list when Kyle's Weavile returned. Apparently the Applin along with a few Flapple and Appletun had found an Apple grove deep within the forest to settle down in. Faust was surprised that Apple trees could grow in such cold conditions because while they did need a relatively cooler climate, the rift was a little too cold.

Following the Weavile, Faust's doubts about the apple trees were answered as the temperature rose substantially as they walked deeper into the forest. Soon Faust started to feel a bit uncomfortable in the five layers of clothes he was wearing and took off his coat. It wasn't hot but it wasn't cold enough to be wrapped like a dumpling.

They soon met up with rest of the Weavile pack who had a number of Applin piled up next to them. Seeing Sylveon, the leader Weavile let out an uncharacteristically amicable cry and pointed to the Applin pile. Sylveon just humphed and walked around the Applin pile as if inspecting it. Meanwhile, Faust was using his system to identify suitable Applin but found out that most of them had either Red or Orange aptitudes. Faust wasn't satisfied, Red and Orange meant that on evolution they most probably wouldn't even hit Green.

Kyle on the other hand was ecstatic seeing so many Applin.

"Wow! Weavile, great job!"

Faust simply sighed at his friend's ignorance, turned to the Weavile and asked, "You didn't encounter any other Pokemon trying to fight you off?"

The Weavile looked at Sylveon quickly before meeting Faust's eyes and shaking his head.

'Hmm…that's odd. No Flapple or Appletun came forward to stop them.'

Just as Faust was thinking so, the Weavile suddenly moved, enclosing Faust, Kyle and Sylveon in a protective circle. Faust was confused for a moment before he saw the trees and bushes around them rustle as multiple Flapple and Appletun stepped out.

Faust was surprised on seeing the two Pokemon in real life. Flapple did indeed look like a dragon with it's apple skin wings, snout and horns on its head. The puffed cheeks looked quite comical but Faust didn't dare laugh. He knew that the cheeks stored a strong acid capable of causing chemical burns. Appletun on the other hand looked more like an oversized dog than a dragon. Faust was surprised at the size of bulbous mound on it's back. A very sweet scent permeated the air making Kyle gulp unconsciously, even Faust felt his mouth watering. This was the mechanism for it to lure in prey. An adaptation to make up for it's extremely slow speed.

The two groups faced each other in a tense stare-off. The Pokemon on both sides letting out warning cries. The Flapple were getting impatient as they tried to move closer to the Weavile to retrieve the captured Applin. Faust suddenly thought of something and moved closer to Kyle's Weavile to whisper something to it. Hearing Faust the Weavile looked at him in confusion before complying with his idea.

The Weavile called out to it's pack-mates and they suddenly moved to clear a path leading to the Applin. The Flapple were confused for a bit before they finally caught on and two of them vigilantly stepped forward to retrieve the Applin. 

Having retrieved the Applin, the Flapple vigilantly made their way back to their group. Once again the two groups were separated in a tense stand-off. Suddenly Faust tossed something over towards the Pokemon group. The Pokemon vigilantly looked over at the coloured Pokeblocs and then looked at Faust who put one of the Pokeblocs in his mouth trying to make it clear that it was safe and edible.

Faust was sure that the Appletun and Flapple would be intrigued by the Pokebloc and probably eat it because of one of the abilities he had identified using his system. The ability Gluttony, in the game, the ability hastened the use of a berry in a pinch. Faust figured that in the world that simply equated to the urge to eat. And he was correct as one of the Appletun stepped forward and carefully gave the Pokebloc a taste. Suddenly it paused while chewing, gulped the food down, looked at Faust, then turned down towards the food and started eating it with gusto. The other Pokemon were surprised and finally under the influence of their ability and the curiosity started eating the Pokeblocs. Soon the Pokeblocs were all eaten and the Pokemon looked over at Faust expectantly. Faust chuckled and reached into his bag before pulling out dozens of containers with Pokebloc in them. He could've sworn he saw stars in the eyes of the Flapple and Appletun.

"Well I have a proposal, I'll give you all these Pokeblocs but only if you can beat us in a battle. Also if you lose, let us choose two Applin and take them with us as our Pokemon", said Kyle loudly and even mentally projected his intentions onto the group.

Kyle just simply stood there observing Faust watching him handle the situation. To his surprise, a few moments after Faust had declared the proposal, a larger than average Flapple in the back gave out a cry and the entire group of Pokemon retreated backwards leaving a single Flapple behind.

Faust smiled and turned to Kyle.

"Well it looks like they accepted. You're up Kyle. Pro tip, dragons are weak to ice. That's a strong Flapple, might wanna go on with your strongest as well."

"What? Why me!?", asked Kyle surprised.

"You want the Applin…work for it."

"Ah…yeah…of course!"

Faust looked at the Flapple's information.

[Pokemon: Flapple(♀)

Ability: Hustle

 

Type: Grass/Dragon

Aptitude: Blue

Strength: Mid Senior(Lvl. 42)

Moves: Grav Apple, Acrobatics, Leech Seed, Dragon Breath, Dragon Dance, Dragon Pulse, Iron Defense, Fly, Protect, Acid Spray, Sucker Punch, Solar Beam, Twister]

The ability was a troublesome one. In the game, Hustle increased the attack power substantially while compromising on accuracy. Faust didn't know how this would manifest in real life but he knew that Kyle had a tough challenge in front of him. Kyle didn't know any of this as he took his place opposite the Flapple with his Weavile in front of him.

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