A true hero... in training (Pokemon Gym Leader's apprentice quest)

Another day, another excruciatingly long walk through the forest. You left behind the road and other people in favor of trees, trees and more trees. You of course saw the occasional pokemon and even tried to fight one, but it fled before you could do anything to Lily's amusement.

This was your last full day on the wilderness until you finish Maylene's training, what means that it might be the last full day on the wilderness of your life. You decided to take the longer off-road route again. And by «You» you mean you and Violet, because Lily started whining once you said you wanted to take a bit longer to reach Veilstone. At least she was having fun now.

"Those Starly are going to be talking about the weird guy chasing them for a looong time." She said, watching your last prey fly away on the late afternoon sky. It was a bit late but you were pretty close to Veilstone already.

"Well… They were just too fast…" You sighed, sitting under a tree, tired. Maelstrom was inside his pokeball to make sure he was at full energy when you needed him for a battle. Fang on the other hand refused to go inside his pokeball. He wanted to make sure he was there as soon as you needed him. The wilderness was dangerous. You then decided to try something a bit risky, not for you, but risky for one of your companions. "If only we had some sort of trainer with us capable of teaching me how things work…" You said, slightly glancing at Violet.

At first the girl seemed confused by your words. Then when she saw everyone looking at her, she realized you were talking about her. "W-what? Me? I'm not…" She started to say, looking down and falling silent.

This was a gamble, of course. Lily was already starting to look at you like you were a specially disgusting punching bag. Ready to give you a beating for making Violet remember hurtful things. It probably looked bad but you were confident on this decision. You are no psychologist, but she probably needs to face these things, not be always protected from them… You also need help because the academy never said anything about all wild pokemon running away from you and not being able to battle even a single one.

You were starting to worry when Violet said nothing. Maybe bringing this up was a mistake? Lily definitely thought that if the slight hum of psychic power was any indication. Maybe…

Then to everyone's surprise, Violet talked, more embarrassed than sad.

"O-okay… Yeah, I can do that. I've been thinking about why you can't fight any wild pokemon and I'm the one with more experience here. I should be helping you." She said with a shy smile. You felt the psychic pressure disappearing to your relief.

"Hmpf. You are lucky. Violet is an expert on pokemon and one of the most talented pokemon empaths there is." Said Lily crossing her arms over her chest. So Violet was a pokemon empath? They are famous for having weak psychic abilities capable of recognizing pokemon emotions. That was a really rare skill.

Violet walked to where you were and sat next to you. Not too close to be touching but resting against the same tree. As she did that, her mind seemed to shift gears. She now looked more sure of herself as she started to talk. "First of all. One of the problem is the location. We are in the east part of the region and it's famous for its stronger trainers. Most first time trainers come from Jubilife, simply because it's the biggest city. That means that west Sinnoh is a lot more beginner friendly than the east. Wild pokemon around there are used to easier challenges and are a bit tamer." As she talked she produced a map from her bag. It was a bit more detailed than yours and had notes on the location of some pokemon species. She was right. Most pokemon on the west side were a bit less aggressive and challenging. On the other hand you were really close to Houndoom territory. That made you shudder. Living in Veilstone meant hearing all the stories about kids lost in the forest and being eaten by them.

"That means that trainers usually cross to the east once they are stronger, right?" You asked. In part to solidify the information inside your mind and to give indication that yes, you are listening.

She nodded, pointing at a spot on the map. The pokemon league. "It also means that the strong trainers with all their badges train on the east because of this. When the league event is close the east is full of really strong trainers. That makes the wild pokemon around her more skittish around humans, at least the weak ones. They see them as more of a threat, so that's why only strong wild pokemon want to battle." She started to pack her map again and you nodded. Yes, makes sense. You found a couple more aggressive wild pokemon but were too strong and Lily had to scare them off.

"But my pokemon are relatively weak. Some of the wild ones fleeing could actually give me a lot of trouble. Why do they flee then?" You asked not fully understanding the reason. You are clearly a novice trainer. It might be a bit difficult to find weak pokemon to fight, but you are not the only novice in east Sinnoh, right? Other trainers manage to train on their own.

Violet said nothing, just took a short glance at Lily. Then you thought about it for a moment.

"So it's YOUR fault!" You proclaimed loudly, standing up and pointing at her dramatically. "You are so freakishly strong compared to my pokemon that you scare the weak ones!"

"W-what? B-but…" The pokemon sputtered trying to find something to say. "I… I'm NOT freakishly… Violet!" She said, slightly betrayed. Violet was still sitting against the tree, now looking away and trying to contain her laugh.

"I-I'm sorry Lily but… You are kind of f-freakishly strong." She said, not being able to contain her soft laugh. So she IS able to tease others, huh? At least able to tease Lily.

"Not you too…" Said the pokemon blushing and grabbing her pigtails-like hair. "Betrayed by my own trainer." She dramatically took a hand to her forehead, as if ready to faint.

You smiled. Maybe you used all your time to walk around and not actually train, but it wasn't wasted. Seeing them laugh and joke like that is…

...You heard Fang growl. You didn't need to know pokemon language to know something was wrong.

Lily stopped her theatrics and looked around. A serious expression on her face. Violet stood up and got closer to her pokemon for protection. Fang was still looking at the forest around you. Sunlight was starting to fade so you only saw shadows until they got closer. Two, three… at least five of them.



Houndour. They shouldn't be outside their territory, this close to Veilstone.

"Dark types… That's why I wasn't detecting them…" Said Lily, blaming herself for this situation. Standing between Violet and the pokemon. "Fire type too…" Her mind was racing with tactics and combination of moves. She was wondering if she should fight them off or get a teleport ready.

D-, E+, E, E+, D-

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They weren't strong but the weakest one was as strong as Fang. Your pokemon could maybe take one or two, but not more. Lily could take on the other three? She was a lot stronger than them, even if their type protected them from her stronger attacks. "Lily? What do they want?" You asked. They were snarling at your group, but even the Luxray had an actual reason to scare you off. Maybe the Houndoom expanded their territory?

The psychic gritted her teeth. "They are not letting me in. Dark types are complicated. Violet?" She asked to her trainer. The human focused closing her eyes for a second as the pokemon got closer. They weren't attacking yet, but were clearly ready.

"They feel… Angry." Said Violet opening her eyes with a worried expression. "Overwhelming anger. It doesn't feel natural." After saying that, one of the Houndour took a step in your group's direction, a bit more brave than the others. Fang started to crackle with electricity and that made the wild pokemon take a step back. They weren't attacking for some reason. Maybe they felt how strong Lily was.

"Dammit…" Said the Kirlia before doing something that surprised you. She started to talk. To actually talk like a pokemon. It sounded more high-pitched than her mental voice. It was surprisingly cute and you would be teasing her if it weren't for… Well, the situation at hand. "Kir, Kirlia, Kir, kir!" She said to the Houndour, trying to reach to them. It didn't work.

You were starting to form a plan. If you wanted to win, you needed the initiative. Maelstrom was at full strength inside his pokeball. Releasing him for a strong Aqua Jet was your best bet. With that, Fang's electricity and Lily's strength… You might be able to scare them away and run to a safer spot. You just need to find who is the leader and focus on that one. That way…

Another pokemon walked from the shadows. Snarling and with fire on the corners of his mouth.


Oh. There it is. Fuck.

Houndoom ♂
Dark/Fire Type
Rank: D+
Ability 1: Flash Fire
Trait 1: Leader of the pack [Capable of giving orders and strategize without a trainer present.]
Trait 2: Anger [Temporary trait. The pokemon is consumed by anger. It will not follow any orders from a human.]
Initial relationship: -??/10

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Yeah, this wasn't good at all. This pokemon was leagues stronger than yours. But… still weaker than Lily. "Can you take that one?" You asked, hoping for good news.

"Yeah." She said, worried. "I can, but that means I can't take any of the little ones at the same time." And… that's bad news. You are sure your pokemon can't against those five. They might be able to stall them long enough for Lily to finish her fight, but you aren't confident enough on that working.

Looking around you have some options. You could try to device a genius strategy to stall those five Houndour long enough for Lily to get rid of them. What strategy? Well, you are not sure.

You could run in the main path's direction. Not only it goes further from their territory, it's your best bet at finding help from other trainers if you can outrun the Houndour.

Your last option is run north. On the map you saw that the Veilstone pond is really close. It's not big enough to be called a lake but it has a lot of water pokemon in it. And water, of course. You might have to fight anyway if you reach it but the terrain advantage will make things a lot easier on you. Who knows. You might even find trainers camping there.

Anyway, you need to decide fast. With the Houndoom there, the Houndour look a lot more willing to attack.



[] Stay and fight. You will need a REALLY good plan.
[] Run to the pond. It's close enough and it will give you an amazing terrain advantage. You might also find other trainers.
[] Run to the main path. It's a bit further away but if there is a strong trainer there you might not even need to fight.

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This was supposed to be a longer update but I decided to cut it in half and give you some options. Decide carefully.

"Why a Houndoom? It's the worst type combination ever!"

Exactly