The feeling

The feeling

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As Calvin scurried through the grass, his meeting with that man slowly seeped through…

"That man's Pokémon were powerful, probably powerful enough to wipe out my entire team with a single blow…."

"And yet, they were all killed, feathers ripped apart, bones shattered, and some of them even had limbs torn off."

"Could…one day, those Pokémon…be mine?"

Calvin shook his head, he knew better than to sulk over possibilities, his Pokémon needed someone to guide them, and he would guide them to the best of his ability.

He patted his scarlet traveling pants, as he saw the big pillar standing in front of him.

He stretched a bit, before slowly climbing up the pillar.

It wasn't hard, as when he was a child he constantly climbed the most random things, from trees to rooftops, and even Pokémon.

After a few seconds, he jumped onto the cycling road.

"Looks like someone went exploring," a voice said, Calvin, grinned as he turned to Nick, whose usual black jacket seemed to be dirty and dusted.

"Yeah, I caught a new team member!" Calvin exclaimed, Nick, smiled I,n amusement.

"So did I, coincidentally."

"Well then…"

"How about a battle?" Calvin asked.

"Well, I haven't gotten to test his capabilities, and his limits…"

"It'll be fine, Just a friendly mock battle, plus, you can test your Pokemon's capabilities during the battle!"

Nick rolled his eyes, "I guess you're right."

"I didn't get to see this fella's full might when I fought it," Nick said. "Ace, it's time to fight!"

"Inanis, sorry for making you fight so quickly, but give it your all!"

Both trainers slid out their respective Pokeballs before in a flash of brilliant scarlet light, both Pokemon appeared.

"Oi…" Calvin muttered eyes widened in pure shock.

"You were just lecturing me, what, a few hours ago!"

"Hypocrite…" Calvin muttered, although no ill feelings could be heard behind his words.

"Well, I mean, Ace chose me specifically, without much resistance after getting defeated…"

"Fine, fine," Calvin muttered but seemed to lighten up as the battle began.

"A Gastly…quite interesting…"

"Ace, start it off with a dragon rage!"

"Inanis, dodge it and use confuse ray!"

The Gastly seemed annoyed by the back-to-back battle but followed the command, Ace fired a ball of, purple draconic energy, Inanis swayed to the left, but to its surprise, was sent hurling in the other direction as the draconic attack exploded mid-air.

"Ace, fire fang!"

Ace growled as it dashed at the recovering Gastly, who couldn't do much as Ace leaped at it, sparks of fire engulfing his mouth.

"Hex!"

Ace bit down on Inanis, the flames engulfing the spot where she had been bitten, The Gastly pulled through and sent Ace hurling with a hex.

The Gible recovered quickly, growling as rage and frustration slowly crept into his eyes.

Nick narrowed his eyes, before releasing Bellator, "Restrain him if need be."

Bellator nodded, eyes glowing a bright blue.

"Ace, bite, and dragon rage!"

"Poison gas and bait!"

The Gible leaped at Inanis, the gas Pokemon quickly backpedaling, dodging the bite from the Gible, irritating it even further.

"That's odd, he didn't seem this emotional and angry when I fought him…"

Inanis released a wave of toxic fumes, "Run and dodge the fumes and use dragon rage!"

Ace leaped out of the radius, before charging another ball of draconic energy.

"Go behind the Gible and poison gas, full speed!"

The gas Pokemon moved at its top speed, which was surprisingly fast, it was comparable to Sven's speed, which is impressive.

Inanis dodged the dragon's rage, as it released another wave of toxic fumes, this time Ace instinctively leaped backward.

"Now, Poison gas again!"

"Dragon rage, fire fang if it gets close!"

The ghost Pokemon repeated the process, and an explosion could be seen, but by that point…

The entire battlefield was filled with toxic fumes, aside from one small patch.

"Tch…"

"Get outplayed, Nick!" Calvin shouted.

"Ace, charge!"

Calvin's eyes widened, "Oi, are you dumb-"

Ace leaped through the toxic fumes, as purple draconic energy gathered in his mouth.

"Now!"

The Gastly blended in the toxic fumes, but to its surprise, an explosion, far bigger than before, sent the Gastly flying deep into the air.

"Crap!"

"Fire fang!"

Ace, poisoned and on a timer, needed to finish it fast, and desperation combined with anger…

Exploded.

As the Gible slammed Inanis straight into the solid ground, before the ghost could phase through the ground and escape, the gas Pokemon was sent hurling with another dragon rage, before being caught mid-air, and slammed to the ground with a fire fang.

"Stop!" Nick shouted, scowling when the land shark didn't listen at all.

"Bellator, slam him into a tree and use disarming voice!"

The Kirlia nodded, before Ace was lifted into the air, sputtering flames, and was then slammed into the wall, before being sent hurling with a swift disarming voice.

To Nick's surprise, Inanis seemed perfectly fine, albeit a bit bruised, and angry.

"Overreaction much?"

Nick scoffed, "both you and I know that Inanis would've suffered far greater injury if I didn't step in."

"If I and Ace had spent more time together, he would've listened to me…"

"And if you were more knowledgeable about Inanis's moveset and could use strategies properly, that fight wouldn't have been so one-sided."

"Are you saying it's my fault?" Calvin retorted, "I mean…"

"Okay, it might be my fault, but-"

"Alright, keep telling yourself that, but Ace did get poisoned there, and I don't have any antidotes."

Calvin nodded, "Okay, Eterna City isn't very far from here."

"That Gible of yours should be fine in the Pokeball."

"Inanis, you did great, it was my fault that you got injured," Calvin said with a sigh, " This sucks, ya know, I always went into fights with plans, and they almost always worked…"

"But this time my plan didn't work," Calvin admitted," I should've known and accurately predicted your decisions, I mean, you have a Gible, they can take anything short-term!"

"Oi, if you beat yourself up over something as stupid as this, I am going to punch you," Nick said firmly, Calvin's eyes blinked in surprise.

"What-"

"Idiot, just because you lost once, and because your plan didn't work, doesn't mean you should be brooding like a little girl," Nick stated, pointing a finger at Calvin.

"W-well…"

"Got that?"

Calvin nodded, scratching his shoulder.

"Alright, let's head back, shall we?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nick Devolver, please come to the counter for your Pokemon!" A voice over the speakers said, Nick stood up from his chair, as he then walked to the counter.

"Thank you for your patience, your Gible has been healed of his injuries and poison, have a grand day!" The nurse joy said with a smile, Nick waved goodbye, before exiting the Pokecenter.

"Where in the world is Calvin?"

"Here…."

Nick turned his head around, as Calvin stood right behind him.

"Didn't notice me creeping up behind ya?"

"I wonder why…"Nick muttered.

"So…"

"When are we going to depart?" Calvin asked.

"It's starting to get late, I'm pretty sure the quickest route to Herthome city is through route 211, and then through Mt.Coronet." Nick stated, "So, let's set out in the morning."

Calvin nodded, "Sure, sounds good, I'll see you later then!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They left for route 211 the moment they got ready in the morning, Route 211 had some interesting Pokemon, Calvin saw a Machoke and Ponyta, while Nick attempted to catch a Graveler, but failed miserably as the rock Pokemon curled into a ball and rolled away, nowhere to be seen.

The both of them decided to train for a bit, Nick had some specific plans for his Pokemon, after all.

First of all, he wanted to have Sven work on foresight, as it would allow him to damage the ghost-type Pokemon that Fantina uses, and he also had Sven work on aura sphere, a powerful move that only Aura-centric Pokemon like the Lucario line could properly learn, although some psychic types can also learn it.

Sven was making good progress on foresight, which was a simple move, so Nick expected that much.

Next, was Bellator, Nick wanted him to master psychic, which, while difficult, would greatly control his control over his psychic abilities, which will prove incredibly useful when Nick eventually has him evolve into a Gallade.

Then, he wants to greatly improve Bellator's physical capabilities, which will only help him when he evolves into a Gallade.

Sicarius was an interesting case, Nick decided to teach her ice punch, and if she masters the move before they arrive at Hearthome, he'll teach her Ice beam, but he feels that'll be highly unlikely.

And, finally, Ace the Gible.

Nick right now prioritized bonding with the land shark Pokemon, the Gible was rather reserved and solitary, and Nick wanted to fix that/

He started prioritizing training with the land shark, teaching him bulldoze, having frequent sparring matches, which the Gible seems to like quite a bit, making sure he is provided the proper nutrient, and rewarding him for the few times he does something good.

All of his efforts seemed to at least repay with something, as the Gible now more frequently participate and seemed to blend in more with the rest of his team.

"That's enough, Ace!" Nick called out, as the Gible halted.

"You've done good, you now have a good grasp over Bulldoze, great job!" Nick praised, and the Gible growled in acceptance.

Nick smiled, as Calvin suddenly approached him.

"Oi, do you hear something?" Calvin asked, Nick, frowned, as he too heard something…

Footsteps.

"Bellator, come out." Nick said as the Kirlia appeared in a flash of brilliant light.

Ace glared in the direction of where the sound came from, as all of them slowly approached the sound.

Through the bushes, he couldn't see much…

His eyes widened as he heard a loud thud, all of them charged through the bushes…

And saw a lone teenage girl, her shoulder bleeding heavily, bruised, and bleeding from her leg.

"Call the Pokecenter through your Pokedex!" Nick shouted, Calvin, nodded, before clicking on multiple buttons on the Pokedex, and a faint ringing sound came from the Pokedex.

"Do you have a first aid kit!" Nick shouted, Calvin, nodded before hastily scouring through his bag, and flung it at Nick.

"It was a part of my ranger training to know basic first-aid procedures…"

"Shit, it's been so long did I use a first aid kit…"

Nick groaned as he did his best to patch up his wound, he could feel the pulse of the teenage girl, so he knew what he was doing wasn't pointless.

Bellator was intelligent enough to aid Nick, using his psychic abilities to help Nick.

Suddenly, Nick heard the girl's faint voice say words…

His eyes widened, and he uttered words back…

He bit his lip, as he continued forward…

Calvin used some of his potions and super potions on the girl, Nick narrowed his eyes as he scanned what the girl had, "A Katana?"

He lightly grabbed the Katana, taking note of the smooth texture, and how cold it was. "I swear I've seen this Katana somewhere," his grip over the katana tightened but was suddenly caught off guard when the Katana was held firmly.

"Don't." The girl said, as her eyes suddenly opened, refusing to let go of the katana.

"Oi, I may not be a medical expert, but to have suffered so much blood lost and injuries, any ordinary person wouldn't even be conscious…"

After several minutes, the league-licensed ambulance finally came, apparently using the call from Calvin's Pokedex as a tracker to find their location.

Some of the nurses asked both of them questions, and Nick and Calvind decided to follow them back to Eterna city, which didn't take that long, as the nurses allowed them to take a ride to the ranger base where the ambulance came from, and they then walked back to Eterna city and the Pokecenter.

"Nurse, is it wrong to ask, but is she going to be okay?" Calvin asked the nurse, as they stood outside the girl's room.

"Yeah, her body is recovering at an abnormally fast rate she is already conscious, which is weird even considering the fact you used super potions on her," The nurse stated, "She isn't an ordinary person, that's for sure."

"Do you know what is her name?" Nick asked, the nurse nodded.

"We identified her as Yuki Nomura, 14 years old, an immigrant from Kanto, who managed to obtain a Katana license, and a traveler license." The nurse stated, "she had two Pokemon on her, although both Pokemon were heavily injured and are currently undergoing treatment, they are conscious, however."

Nick gulped, "Shit…"

"My suspicions were correct."

Nick narrowed his eyes, "May I talk with her, she's conscious right?"

The nurse hesitated but nodded.

"Thank you."

He opened the door t the room, before silently closing it, the room was a bright white, with couches, desks, and drawers scattered neatly throughout the room.

The teenage girl looked at him with interest, she had short, dark blue hair, and black eyes, that was empty, nothing but void.

"That Katana…" Nick muttered, "It's made of shards of ice stones, pieced together and strengthened through psychic and ice moves, it is a masterpiece work of art…"

"That was specially made for you, Yuki Nomura."

Anger and spite in his words, memories crept up.

"The prodigy of the project, Dual typing with no downsides…"

"And emotionless." Nick grunted, "That's who you are, right?"

The girl nodded, emotionlessly.

"I don't know what happened to you after I left, but it seems you somehow escaped," Nick stated, "All I remember about you is from the constant battering of the executives…"

"Nick devolver, is that you?" The girl asked, not a single strip of emotion could be heard.

Nick nodded, "Do you have business with me?"

"The white magician, Lux, sent me here."

Nick narrowed his eyes in confusion, "Why…?"

"He said that you are my last hope of survival." The emotionless girl said, "He said that you will be willing to accept me…"

"So, please, may I travel with you?"

Nick frowned, "Why should I accept this offer?"

"Because you wish to be normal."

Nick flinched, "You want to become a hero, someone that people will look up to."

"Idiot, the things that I've done have already pulled me from the direction of a hero." Nick retorted, "For me to continue my wish of becoming a good person, I would need to run away from my past."

"And I can't do that."

The girl didn't have a single expression on her face, "Team Unity rejected my offer, and if I were to resort to the cruel hands of the government…"

"I will suffer once again."

Nick sighed, "You're trying to gaslight me aren't you?"

The girl nodded, "How could you tell?"

"The last time I trusted a pleading girl, I was only gaslit and betrayed," Nick stated.

"Sounds rough, but I can assure you, that I am of no harm."

Nick chuckled, "Fine."

"You may travel with me…"

"But if you step a bit out of line, or even attempt to do anything shady," Nick continued, "Then…"

With a crack of a knuckle, an orange aura exploded from Nick's entire body.

"Then I won't be kidding around anymore."

"Sorry, I am not intimidated." She responded blankly.

"You should be," Nick said, as he headed towards the door.

"Thank you." A faint voice said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is this a good idea, her traveling with us?" Calvin asked, "I mean, I don't want to sound rude, but she seems kind of-"

"Creepy?" Nick added, Calvin nodded.

"Well, just roll with it," Nick said.

"Hey, Um- Yuki, was it?" Calvin asked, Yuki simply nodded, swaying her dark blue hair, "Do you have any gym badges?"

"One." She responded, "I got it from helping a gym leader out with some thugs."

"Nice, so-um… can you release your Pokemon?"

She nodded, and in flashes of brilliant scarlet light, her Pokemon appeared.

"Wow, a Snorunt and Swinub, those are pretty rare." Calvin said, "Are you an ice specialist?"

"I guess so," Yuki responded.

"Hey, the Eterna gym is now open, which means they are accepting challenges, maybe you can challenge it?" Calvin asked Yuki.

"You mean that mess, is a gym?" The emotionless girl said, pointing at a piece of land in the middle of the story, with a Pokeball sign stating "Eterna gym!".

"Y-yeah…something happened and the gym sort of got destroyed," Calvin said, with a chuckle.

Nick couldn't help but laugh at the pitiful gym but stopped himself when he realized that was highly rude.

"Well…"

"Fine," Yuki said, "Maybe then I would grow stronger, strong enough to crush the foolish."

"What do you mean by that?" Nick asked, genuinely curious.

" There are people who force their Pokemon into battle, claiming that they love them and that they have formed a bond with them, yet still have them suffer injuries because of their own selfish goals." The girl said, for the first time, genuine emotions could be heard in her voice.

It was that of disdain, disgust, and venom.

Calvin frowned, "Pokemon enjoy battling, and most trainers never force their Pokemon to battle against their will."

"That may be the case…"

"But I've seen disgusting, and heinous things simply because of some subpar trainers." Yuki responded, "Those who do such horrific things…"

"Will be sliced down with one, cold slash."

"Woah there, talking about murder isn't something that you should mention in everyday conversation." Nick cooed, as Yuki frowned.

"You were the one that asked me in the first palace."

"Damn it!"

"Welcome to this shabby gym!" A feminine voice said, unnecessarily cheerful.

"Oh, it's you, boy." Said Gardenia, "What do you want in this oh-so-shabby gym."

"Well-"

"I am here for a challenge," Yuki said bluntly, as Gardenia's eyes crossed over to the teenage girl.

"Hoh, quite the intimidating katana, I pray that you don't slice me down if you lose!" Gardenia said, laughing cheerfully.

"Then I would be arrested, which would mean my mission is a complete failure, so no, I won't do that."

"Take a joke, girl!" Gardenia said, chuckling.

"...A joke isn't a physical concept-"

"Alright, Alright, I accept your challenge," Gardenia responded a genuine grin on her face. Nick felt relieved for some reason, Gardenia had seemed pale and tired the last time he saw the grass specialist

"Two On two?" Gardenia asked, Yuki simply nodded.

"Alright, judging by those two little fellas behind you, you're an ice specialist, correct.?" Gardenia asked in confirmation, Yuki nodded, a blank expression on her face.

"Okay, let's begin!"

In a flash of brilliant scarlet light, Gardenia's first pokemon, a Tangela appeared.

"Shard, begin the battle with a double team and powder snow," Yuki commanded, as her Snorunt hopped onto the battlefield, as multiple mirror images of the Ice Pokemon appeared.

"Tangela, Vine whip and poison powder!"

Vines extended from the vine Pokemon, all extending towards the mirror images of the Snorunt.

The Snorunts jumped on the vines, and some of the mirror images were crushed by the vines, but 2 clones remained, as both of them sent a powerful gust of snow and ice at the Tangela, "Dodge it!"

The Tangela followed the command, before using its vines to lunge itself away from the powder snow.

"Headbutt!"

The Snorunt jumped full force into the air, and the Tangela couldn't do much but be sent plummeting toward the ground as the Snorunt collided with the Vine Pokemon.

The Tangela fell onto the ground with a loud thud, "Shard, Frost breath!"

The Snorunt used the attack, which allowed it to stifle a soft landing.

"Now, Powder snow and headbutt!"

"Poison powder and vine whip!"

Vines extended towards Snorunt, who promptly destroyed them with a powder sow, before charging in for a Headbutt.

"Constrict!"

Tangela used its vines to stop the Snorunt dead in its tracks, before releasing several spores, which the Snorunt was forced to breathe in.

"Frost breath!"

The Snorunt puffed in air, as it released a gust of cold wind, which severely damaged the Tangela, causing it to stumble backward in pain.

But now, the poison was starting to take effect, as Snorunt's movements became drowsy and stiff.

"Frost breath and powder snow!"

In a swift movement, the Tangela was bombarded with a flurry of attacks, "Vine whip!"

In a desperate attack, the Vine Pokemon sent the Snorunt hurling with a Vine whip, "Powder snow!"

The Tangela was hit by a gust of cold wind and snow and collapsed onto the ground, defeated.

"Good job Shard." Yuki praised with a soothing face, she had a soft expression and seemed proud of her Pokemon.

"You did great Tangela!" Gardenia praised, "Roselia, it's time to fight!"

In a flash of brilliant scarlet light, the thorn Pokemon appeared, moving with grace and serenity.

Yuki scowled at the sight of the Pokemon, Nick took a specific interest in her expression, as he was still wary of her, but chose not to dig into it too much.

"Shard, if you can't continue fighting, just tell me, okay?" Yuki said soothingly, "I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want to."

The Snorunt nodded but was determined to fight despite the poison inside of it.

"Roselia, Magical leaf and leech seed!"

"Forst breath, and double team."

The Snorunt froze the sharp leaves flying at it, as mirror images of the Snorunt appeared, which caused the Roselia to be disorientated and miss the leech seed, "Powder snow and Headbutt!"

The Snorunt fired a gust of cold wind and snow at the Roselia, who evaded the attack with a swift movement to the left, "Magical leaf!"

The Snorunt attempted to fire a frost breath but was sent tumbling as the magical leaves collided with him.

The Snorunt groaned in pain, as he was struck with another magical leaf, "Frost breath."

"Magical leaf!"

Suddenly, the snorunt's eyes bulged, as it fired one last, powerful, frost breath, knocking the Roselia several feet away.

Finally, combined with the injuries it suffered and the toxins in its body, the Snorunt collapsed.

Yuki's eyes widened, as the cold air from the Snorunt-...No, her snorunt's massive frost breath remained, she stood in awe at the display of power her Pokemon just did.

"Return, Shard…"

"You did beyond fantastic."

Gardenia grinned, "That frost breath was powerful, it seems your Snorunt put everything it got into it."

Nick nodded, that frost breath was even stronger than some ice beams he's seen, albeit not nearly as controlled.

"Rav, it's time to fight!" Yuki shouted, and for the first time, in what felt like forever for Yuki, and for Nick and Calvin, the first time in their brief interaction with Yuki…

She grinned.

"Roselia, Magical leaf and leech seed!"

"Rav, Powder snow!"

The Swinub froze the leaf's mid-air and was surprisingly agile as it swayed t the left, dodging a leech seed.

"Mud shot!"

The Swinub fired a ray of mud, dirt, and sand at the Roselia, which sent it flying.

"Now, approach with take down!"

"Predicted!" Gardenia shouted, grinning.

"Poison powder!"

As the Swinub charged, Yuki attempted to call out an order, but it was too late, as the pig Pokemon was hit by the spores, Roselia easily evaded the attack with a swift movement to the right.

"Magical leaf!"

"Take down and powder snow!"

The leaves collided with Yuki's Swinub, but the pig Pokemon simply charged through, "Dodge-"

It was too late, however, as the Rose Pokemon was sent hurling by the Takedown, the Swinub then fired a gust of cold wind and snow.

"Mud shot!"

The Swinub didn't seem affected by the poison in its body at all, as it fired a mud shot, which knocked the Roselia several feet, unconscious.

Yuki was then hit by realization…

For the first time in forever, she grinned…

For the first time, she had fun…

She grabbed her katana, fingers tightening around it.

Her eyes found the Katana, as memories, alongside the adrenaline, flowed through her.

Everything felt blurry and sounded like nonsense as she was handed her gym badge, she was congratulated by Calvin, and even by Nick, albeit hesitantly.

"This feeling…"

"Is this what trainers are supposed to feel?"

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Welcome, I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Make sure to leave a review/comment, as I truly do love hearing feedback, opinions, criticism, etc.

See ya next chapter, stay ballin'!