A Ranger's Mission: A Lost Soul (Pokémon, OC/SI)
- Thread starter Thewilliamspot1
- Start date
TheBlizWiz has posted in other threads to roast my cooking skills, but he's not wrong, I will be perfectly content with just a couple cheese sandwiches for far too long. I can make pasta or ramen, but... cheese sandwich is easier and faster when it's past 8 PM on a night after work.
This is entirely laziness on my part, I know.
Joking aside, glad you enjoy the chapter! Lena and William still have a bit to go, but the walls are coming down bit by bit... veeery slowly.
Chapter 6 - The Trainer’s Eye
Chapter 6 - The Trainer's Eye
The early-morning sun above beamed down on Route 2, pleasantly shining down on Pokémon and humans alike. The cool temperatures and gentle breeze added to the ambiance and serenity. A textbook-perfect morning for traveling.
"So… when is Regulation C even used? It seems… too restrictive to use. I know that the battle with Juniper was at her request, so I can get that to eliminate any variables in the data she wanted to collect…"
'Oh, right... I promised I'd go over battle regulations with him, didn't I?'
Sighing lightly, she tore her eyes away from the trees along Route 2 down at the screen of her Fine Styler, flipping it back open to show the Unova Pokémon League Rulebook on both screens. William was next to her with his Xtransceiver scrolling through the same document, albeit with more difficulty because of the screen size.
Lena thought for a moment through her memory to recall, quickly coming up with an answer. "It's most common during certain special tournaments or events. Gym Battles, Elite Four, and Champion battles use B. And A is…"
"Common street battles, right…" William finished as she looked at him expectedly, but he was slightly frowning as he glanced back at the small screen on his wrist. "The size of this thing is gonna be the death of me…" He muttered as he carefully pinched it to zoom up to scroll up faster, and then zoomed back in. The slightest touch of his finger across the screen sent him scrolling back down, prompting a curse under his breath as he repeated the action.
Lena gave a sympathetic smile, grateful for her new Fine Styler that had much bigger screens and navigation controls. 'I'd be in the same boat with my normal Capture Styler… only a button and directional pad to navigate? Only voice control to type? No thanks.'
Around them, their Pokémon were out for fresh air, as they thankfully hadn't seen any travelers in a while. Charon stood a bit behind William and stared off into the distance through the trees and forest. He was holding Ronin as he did so, who was speaking to Rina who walked beside them both.
"Oshaaawott… Osha-wott-wott?" (Water is… pressure?)
"Float-Floatzeel… Zel-Float-Floatzel." (You ever hear the phrase 'go with the flow'? For Water Types, pressure is everything. Physical water moves are all about managing your Water energy into a consistent flow, but Special moves are all about building up Water energy and releasing it all at once.)
Arthur nodded and hummed in agreement with Rina's analogy. "Indeed. When I use Water Pulse, it feels like a rush of water filling up my arm and hands, until I release the water forward. When I use Ice Punch, it feels… more akin to building it up, gathering it and adding instead of pushing…"
"Zeeeeeel." (Ice Moves are different, let's not confuse him too much right now.") Rina chastised.
"Oshawott? Osha?" (What about… Water from my body? That I don't… release?)
Lena diverted her attention from that conversation and turned back to William as he spoke up again. "What about scoring? I remember that Professor Juniper said '1-0'. Shouldn't it have been 2-0? As Charon knocked out Rina and Arthur…?"
Lena shook her head slightly but understood where the confusion came from. "No, it's scored based on how many Pokémon either side has remaining. For example, if someone had a team of… five, and I took out three, but they knocked out my full team of six, their score would be 2-0, and mine would be 0-2." She clarified.
William still seemed a bit confused. "Why would you score it like that though?"
Lena bit her lip. 'Kid always asks the tough questions, doesn't he.... How do I explain this nicely....'
"It's a... holdover... from when battling was less... organized, if you understand my meaning...."
William looked at her for a minute before the light bulbs went off inside his head. "...When battles were about survival and not for sport. Right... um..."
The conversation quieted for a few minutes before William finally spoke up again.
"There was… one other thing I wanted to ask about…" William scrolled up slowly instead of doing his pinch-swipe-pinch method, stopping at a section as he squinted to read for a moment before speaking up again. "What's… with the phrasing of 'manual switches'? How is that defined?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like…" William paused for just a moment, raising his hand out as he visibly put together his sentence before speaking. "Moves like Roar force the opponent's Pokémon to be returned, so that wouldn't be a manual switch, right?"
Lena nodded, prompting him to continue. "So what about U-Turn? That's a move a Trainer can call that attacks and then switches the user out. Would that be considered a manual switch since they chose to use it?"
"No, it's... it's more of just a property of the move itself." Lena grunted in frustration for a minute. "It's kind of hard to explain, admittedly. Moves can be weird like that." She turned to William, who was looking away with his face hardened in thought, Klinklangs turning in his head. "…You'd make a good lawyer, you know that? I don't even think the League has thought about that before."
William turned back, with that small stunned look Lena had begun to pick up on whenever he was brought out of his thoughts suddenly. "Uh… I'll pass. Too much paperwork. And I don't have a suit."
Lena laughed heartily. "True, paperwork sucks." It was strange to Lena that William was so fixated on the rules when most Trainers wouldn't even remember the first half of the book since the battle formats were so heavily standardized.
William turned his Xtransceiver off after that, seemingly satisfied with the review as he sighed and rubbed his neck. "I just hope that we don't get too many battles on Routes, the idea of being too far…"
Lena glanced at him as he trailed off, her mind filling in the blanks as to why he was so anxious about battles. The beginning of the review he focused on was practically only about when Pokémon could be returned, and penalties on the use of excessive force... "Too far from a Pokémon Center? It can be nerve-wracking the first couple of times, but that's why there's one in almost every town… plus a Poké Ball's stasis can help in dire situations."
She knew it was because of the incident with Charon using Overheat… given the not-so-subtle glances William kept giving at both Arthur's patchy, uneven fur, and the heat vents on Charon's back.
She couldn't stop herself from frowning as she thought back to when William had run forward to the field after Overheat had hit the Lucario. The panic in his movements was genuine, and how he applied the Burn Heal was stiff, but good even for a starting Trainer. It was good instincts, and he clearly had some experience with medical care, but he was going to get himself hurt if he ran up like that again....
"Yeah, without a Pokémon Center…." William murmured, but was clearly lost in his own thoughts to properly respond before he shook his head. "Doesn't matter anyway… just gotta keep going and hope —"
"Heeey!"
A sudden voice from the side cut William off, the entire group turning to the right to look at the source. From what looked like a thinner path emerged what looked like an eleven or twelve-year-old to Lena from his age and voice.
A Youngster Trainer. Someone with a limited Trainer license with permission from parents and teacher, limited only to the Routes surrounding their town, and certain Pokémon they can have in their team. He had a grin a mile wide and spoke with an excitement that made Lena's head spin. "Man, I was wondering where everyone would be today! The Route felt almost empty!"
Lena gave a friendly smile and looked back and forth for a moment down the route as she thought about it. "Well, it's early in the season. Give it a week and Route 2 will probably have a lot more Pokémon Trainers coming through."
The kid snorted slightly. "Yeah, and they'll all be a week behind everyone else. If I want to get ahead, I have to train now!"
He was so fired up that Lena practically could see the flame in his eyes alone before he calmed down and quickly introduced himself while pointing a thumb at his chest. "The name's Carmen! I've just been going back and forth to prepare for my full license next year!"
"Nice to meet you Carmen, my name's Lena, a —" A quick nudge from Arthur's aura quickly reminded Lena of what she was supposed to say, the jackal shooting her a discrete look as she nearly blurted out from muscle memory. "— volunteer right now."
She turned to face William, who was staring at Carmen with the same mask Lena had seen on him before. The polite, ingenuine smile had found itself on his face as he looked at Carmen. "Hello, hope you're doing well today Carmen. I'm William."
The change in William's posture was also noticeable, becoming straighter… stiffer. It was like all the work Lena had done to help him relax had come undone within a few short seconds. 'I hope it's just because he's being shy... or does he think something's wrong because of the lie?'
Carmen didn't notice, or didn't look to care about the awkwardness of William, simply grinning and looking at the Pokémon in their party. "You sure have a lot of strong Pokémon. Are they all yours?" He asked, turning to Lena, who had to shake her head.
"Only Lucario and Floatzel, their names are…" Carmen had already turned away from Lena, making her trail off. He was looking at the Hisuian Typhlosion with the Oshawott in his hands, his eyes trailing to William. He stared at him for a moment before realizing struck him and he pointed at him, enough to make William flinch back in surprise.
"It's you! You're the one the gate attendants were complaining about!" He cried out with a sharp, almost accusatory tone at William. Lena quickly interjected and raised a hand to stop Carmen from speaking as William started to look uncomfortable.
"Hold on, what do you mean complaining?"
"Well, I speak to the gate attendants a lot, because they have to check my Trainer Card to make sure my Youngster License hasn't expired." Carmen started, Lena following along and thinking back to when they passed the Accumula Gate to Route 2…
'Oh yeah, the guard there had given William a bit of a side eye… my own Ranger and Trainer ID had stopped questions, though.' She thought before barely wincing, seeing where this was going…
"They said that a little kid who is a smartass—"
"Hey, watch your language, kid!"
"—has been making them look bad. And they were relieved that he was finally moving on to bother other gate people, and had an Oshawott!" He said with a growing grin, eyes fixated on William, before he tilted his head with a questioning look. "They mentioned he was young, but I didn't think he was a baby."
William said nothing, holding his stiff smile and just gave a slightly helpless shrug. Charon was the one who actually looked unamused by the descriptor, and glanced at William who said nothing, but his eyelid did twitch faintly.
Almost like a scene straight out of a movie, Carmen pulled out a Poké Ball from his belt and pointed it at Will, expanding it while having a grin. "You might be smart enough to avoid the gate, but when Trainer's eyes meet, they must battle! I challenge you and your Oshawott!"
'Ah yes, the 'Trainer's eye'.' Lena mused as a reminiscing smile formed as she remembered her own younger days. It had absolutely no legal bearing and held the same weight as being 'double-dared' to do something on school grounds. Kids and younger Trainers still used it as a declaration to start a battle, even if no one could force you to battle.
'Being dared to do something, though? Oooh, you better do it then.' The thought had a teasing tone, and Lena couldn't help but chuckle despite herself. She had to admit that she entertained the idea of passing Trainers while on patrol on a Route. With a lot of Regional culture being so ingrained in battles, it was an almost… unspoken joke about what happens when two Trainer's eyes meet.
William stared at the Poké Ball for a moment before looking back at Charon and Ronin with a raised eyebrow. A brief, silent conversation happening between the three with no one else's input. Lena almost felt bad for Carmen, who was standing there awkwardly in silence as that happened, glancing at Lena with a brief look of confusion.
Whatever they silently spoke about didn't take long, with William turning to him with a faux, almost perfect customer service smile if not for the fact it was on a seven or eight-year-old face. "We appreciate the offer, but… no thanks, we'll pass."
Carmen reacted like he was physically struck, even angry like a Lillipup who had its toy taken away. "W-What?! Why not?"
"None of us are interested in a battle at the moment, so we'll be continuing on." William said with a faint bow before turning and heading forward. Lena did her best not to keep her growing smirk visible, though it was hard as Charon had also turned with William and was walking away.
Carmen looked absolutely baffled, outright confused by what was happening, almost making Lena break into laughter as he turned around to chase after William. 'Whew William, gave him a taste of reality early?'
"Carmen… might simply be a bit too eager, I feel. Our battle two days ago might still be fresh on William's mind…" Arthur chimed in, a thoughtful look on his face as Lena glanced over at him. The patches of burnt fur had mostly disappeared, but there were still faint sections that would take another day to heal fully…
'That's a fair point… William's mood after that battle had been… off.' Lena thought to herself, the laughter from before vanishing as she glanced at William now… who was doing his best to ignore Carmen badgering him for a battle.
"Come on! You're a Trainer, and Trainers battle!"
"When they want to."
"Well, duh! You aren't a real Trainer if you don't want to battle like their Pokémon!"
"So, by that logic, Pokémon aren't Pokémon if they don't battle either?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
Lena quickly walked forward with Rina and Arthur to not get left behind. William was doing an impressive job sidestepping Carmen as he held his Poké Ball out again and pointed it at William. A deeper frown formed on her face at the sight. Even most Trainers would relent after being told no… why was he so insistent?
"If you think you're such a hotshot with a fully evolved Pokémon, you should be able to beat me no problem in a battle then with your Oshawott!"
"His name is Ronin, and he doesn't want to battle either." William said, his tone similar to a parent telling a kid 'no'.
"Why not? Both too scared?" Carmen tried to taunt, William's shoulders sinking as he closed his eyes before rubbing between them and sighed. It was a bit jarring to see William so clearly frustrated.
Ronin, still in Charon's arms, looked similarly frustrated with a glare directed at Carmen. It was an emotion that Lena hadn't seen in the young Water Type and almost seemed… contradictory to what Professor Juniper described.
"Carmen, with all due respect, we just want to get to Striaton City."
"You'll be able to after battling me! It's not fair that you have a Trainer License while I am still a Youngster! Prove that you deserve it!"
'Ah, and there it is…' Feeling some sort of inadequacy at not having a normal Trainer License while a younger kid has one, and a fully evolved Pokémon.
Granted, their situations were likely very different, and if news about a Youngster licensed Trainer having a lost evolution Starter…
Just thinking of the slippery slope and tidal waves that would cross every Region from the news of that formed a physical headache for her. Said headache must have been contagious as William unfortunately looked to be feeling himself in real-time.
"Jesus kid, you're giving me a migraine already…" He continued to rub between his eyes and stopped walking, taking a deep breath while looking even more frustrated than when Lena had found him and Charon for the first time.
After a moment of silence from William, a deep breath more akin to a sigh left him, his eyes opening with a glare at Carmen. "Fine. We'll have a battle.."
There was the faintest bit of resigned forcefulness in his tone before he turned around and walked over to Lena. A wave of… almost forced calm seemed to wash over his expression before he spoke, mirroring the tone as well. "I'm sorry to ask, but can you be the referee for this match?"
Although his expression was indifferent, his posture looked exhausted in the short time he had Carmen badgering him. Lena shot him a pitying look and nodded. "Yeah, I will. Glad we reviewed those battle regulations?" She teased to try and lighten his mood. William nodded, but sighed in resignation.
"Yes, but I really should have kept my mouth shut about hoping for not a lot of battles…" William muttered, walking over and kneeling down to Ronin, who had been put down by Charon now and was staring up at him.
He spoke softly to the young Water Type, an almost guilty tone present within. "I'm sorry to put us in this situation so soon before we could work things out more, but are you okay with battling like we discussed?"
Ronin glanced over at Carmen, his eyes narrowing as he simply nodded in response. William sighed and stood up to face Carmen, who was smirking like a Liepard as he made a motion with his hand for everyone to follow.
"Come on, I know the perfect spot for a battle near here. You're going down, Typhlosion kid."
Carmen had led them to an opening on Route 2 that previous Trainers had clearly used, with evidence of previous skirmishes all around with holes, divots, and marks where Poison Type attacks had landed.
'I'll probably need to put in a report to have this spot reviewed to make sure it's not getting out of hand or disturbing any Pokémon here.' Lena noted to herself as she stood off to the side of the area, Arthur and Rina next to her to observe the battle as well.
William was on his side, kneeling down and speaking to Ronin and Charon. What they were speaking about was unknown, but William's serious face was met equally by Ronin, who nodded in response to what William was saying. Lena did her best not to frown, she didn't know if it would hold true, but William seemed to take battles… a bit too seriously.
'Is it from anxiety, though? Or something else…?' She cut her own musing on the matter to glance over at Carmen, who was casually throwing his Poké Ball up and down before he yelled across the field.
"Hey! Put away your weird Typhlosion! I don't want any tricks from whatever he can do!"
Lena could make out the offended look on Charon at being called weird, and less so at being accused of possibly cheating. William shot Carmen a glare across the field but pulled Charon's Poké Ball from his belt. He expanded it… on the second attempt this time, and the Typhlosion simply poked the button to disappear in a flash.
'Well, let's get this show on the road…'
Lena stood straighter, clearing her throat for a moment to make sure her voice was clear as it took a more formal tone across the field. "This will be a single battle between Trainer William and Trainer Carmen using one Pokémon each as agreed! No items can be used as agreed. The battle will end after either Pokémon on one side cannot continue, or if a Trainer resigns. Trainers, are you ready?"
She may have shortened it compared to Juniper, but it covered everything that would be applicable here. William's face had transitioned that would look neutral to the other Trainer, but Lena picked up on the other habits he had shown. The slightly pinched eyebrows, and the lightly clenched fist in his sweatshirt among them.
William sighed but nodded. Lena barely was able to hear him mutter "...let's get this over with…" under his breath as he forced himself to focus on the field.
Carmen gave a more enthusiastic "Heck yeah!" and raised the Poké Ball in his grasp eagerly.
"Trainers, select your first Pokémon!"
"Patrat, come on out! We've got a fight!" Carmen yelled as he wound his arm back and threw the Poké Ball forward, sailing through the air before it popped open with a white flash. On the field, the form of a Patrat appeared, who looked around from side to side before staring at William and Ronin.
"Patrat-Rat…" (You're the opponent Carmen's roped into battling today? Sorry kid, but I'm gonna fight the best I can!) The Normal type chittered out, looking at Ronin with a smirk and glance from the corner of his eyes.
Ronin simply walked forward onto the field with no preamble or call from William. Lena thought it looked almost reminiscent of Charon. Was Ronin possibly trying to be like the elder Pokémon?
'Lena, focus,' Arthur chided through the aura link, though there was a hint of amusement in his tone as Lena shook her head and focused. Rina nearly broke it again by crying out her own words of support.
"FLoatZEEEEL! FLOATZEL!" (Wash him away Ronin! You got this!)
Lena distracted herself from laughing by raising her hands, and after a moment of pause for each Trainer, she threw them down. "Begin!"
"Patrat! Go in for a Tackle!" Carmen screamed at the field, throwing his hands to the side as his partner charged forward on command towards Ronin, jumping left to right to avoid going in a straight line. The Water Type in response lowered himself, almost looking to wobble back and forth as if to gauge which way Patrat was going to go with his tail moving left and right.
"A-Avoid, like we practiced." William stuttered after a moment of pause, as if forgetting to instruct Ronin. His eyes were darting around to follow Patrat's movement as he charged forward.
Ronin halted for a moment as Patrat neared, before suddenly rolling to the right to avoid a full-body collision and darting forward deeper into the field. Patrat slid into the ground from putting his full body weight into the Tackle, but he caught himself, got back up, and quickly moved for Ronin once again.
"Keep the pressure, Patrat!" Carmen screamed as Patrat charged for Ronin again. The Oshawott in question had stopped his dash forward and was carefully following Patrat's movement before suddenly shifting to the side to avoid another Tackle. Patrat didn't land on his body this time, and instead slid a lot less, before leaping into the air towards Ronin, who had just turned to face him.
"D-Dodge! Down!" William rapidly cried suddenly, his eyes going wide as he did so. The sudden cry made Ronin freeze for just a moment, but he followed the outburst. It was barely too late to avoid all the damage, with Patrat's arms and claws catching Ronin's sides as he grazed him. The Oshawott cried out in pain and shifted from the force of the attack, but got up quickly and stared at Patrat, who was skidding across the ground with his back turned to the Water Type.
"Tackle!" William cried next, even sounding panicked as Ronin glanced at him for a millisecond before leaping into action. He slammed his entire body weight into the Normal Type almost like a football player, sending Patrat sprawling for a moment.
Lena couldn't help but frown… it was like William was attempting to use the same strategy he had used on Rina, but Ronin was far too young and green in battles to be using any status moves the same way Charon did.
"While this is Ronin's first battle technically… he and William aren't… no, hold on…" Arthur chimed in quietly, his eyes scanning the two Pokémon on the field as he closed his eyes, and his tassels floated for a couple seconds. Lena turned with a confused expression, but Arthur opened his eyes and looked impressed at Ronin and intrigued. "Tail Whip, so.. that's their play strategy."
"Still… Patrat has clearly seen more battles…" Lena murmured, glancing at William who was clearly stressed as he watched Ronin on the field. The Oshawott shifted, barely avoiding another Scratch that grazed just barely against his own scalchop, before shoving his body into Patrat with another Tackle.
"FloatZeeeell. Zel-Floatzel." (Ronin is gonna win, no doubt about that.) Rina responded confidently, crossing her arms and smiling as she watched the fight go down.
Carmen appeared frustrated by William's tactics, his face etched into a frown and his eyebrows pitched as Patrat grunted slightly while pushing himself up, a red bruise forming at his side as he stood on his two feet. "We've got the first hit in still so we're ahead, shake it—"
"Follow up — Tackle!"
While Carmen was thrown off by William interrupting him, Ronin didn't hesitate to charge forward and slammed into Patrat again with another strike of his body. Carmen looked angry with a scowl forming on his face now, turning to Lena and pointing at William as Patrat was sent flying again and rolled on the ground, the same bruised spot looking bigger now.
"Hey! That's not fair! I wasn't finished speaking!"
Lena kept her face neutral and shook her head, trying her best to act as an impartial referee. "According to League Rules, if a Pokémon is standing or listening for commands, any Trainer or Pokémon can attack or use moves. You'll need to speak faster!"
Carmen's fists clenched and he growled to himself. "Fine then! Tackle, then Bite!"
Patrat let out a chattering noise, glaring akin to a Leer at Ronin who was rubbing the raw scratch mark on his side. The Water Type leveled a glare right back with his tail still whipping back and forth.
William on his side looked a tad uncomfortable, even looking about to speak for a moment, hesitating before he seemed to change his mind on his order in his mind. By then, it was too late. Patrat already charged forward in that moment of nothing from William and was on top of Ronin.
Ronin attempted to avoid again, but Patrat used the sudden momentum of using Tackle to shift their momentum sharply, pushing him on top of Ronin and pinning him to the ground. He reeled his head back as a dark miasma surrounded his buck teeth to pierce the Water Type.
Ronin's eyes were wide as he struggled underneath, and William's posture was almost in a panic himself with his eyes wide, about ready to leap into the field himself to stop the battle.
Ronin's flippers moved automatically before any of that could happen, and he grabbed the scalchop on his stomach and shoved it forward towards Patrat's mouth at the same time he bit down.
There was a horrid scraping noise as Patrat's teeth and the Dark Type Energy of the move ground against the makeshift defensive tool, but the attack was only deflected. The momentum of Patrat's Bite carried him down Ronin's arm, and a trickle of blood formed as he scraped down it to about halfway, a painful cry leaving the Oshawott.
"R-Ronin — Throw him off and end this!" William finally grabbed his voice and used it after hearing Ronin's pain.
The Oshawott narrowed his eyes and let a growl from his throat, before practically backhanding Patrat's head with his scalchop by yanking his arm away, which cut him more, then whipping it back across his face. The movement made Patrat jerk and stagger back, as a cut formed on the side of his cheek from the force and angle of Ronin's scalchop hitting him.
Carmen waved his hand to the side, cutting the air as he cried out an order with a frustrated tone. "Oh, no you don't! Patrat! Use Tackle to get away!"
With a bit of space, Ronin pushed himself up and took a deep breath as Patrat attempted to get away with empowered Normal Type Energy, but Ronin gave chase as quickly as he could.
"It's no Quick Attack, but Tackle still forces the opponent forward a bit…" Lena murmured as she frowned and crossed her arms, but Rina was grinning next to her, looking excited and almost bouncing on her feet.
"Floatzeel. FLoatzel-Float-Float…!" (He'll catch up, I know it. Come on Ronin…!) Rina said in response with a face-splitting grin.
Ronin was panting as he ran, his eyes focused on Patrat who was darting back and forth as best he could. Almost as if a dam had broken, Ronin let out a loud cry of his name and leapt into the air as a rush of water swirled around him and added a lot of speed to his momentum. The sound of rushing water drowned the sound of Carmen's disbelief out, as did Rina's triumphant cry from the side.
The force of the sudden move shot him forward, crashing directly into Patrat who let out a squawk of pain with his eyes bulging. His body launched away from the attack and crashed into the ground in a cloud of dirt, rolling until he came to a stop, as a groan left him before falling silent. He was down for the count, and Carmen's slump of his shoulders at being defeated sealed the deal.
Lena quickly raised her hand in William's direction. "Patrat is unable to battle! The winner is William and Ronin with a score of 1-0!" She yelled even as William rushed forward to check on Ronin. Technically, Trainers were supposed to wait until the referee had finished their call out, or all Pokémon were returned, but she couldn't fault him for being worried from the drops of blood running down Ronin's arm from Bite.
'It is something I will need to talk about with him though…' She made a mental reminder to herself as she glanced in Carmen's direction to see him gently lifting Patrat with a defeated look. To be defeated suddenly by a sudden move not used in the entire battle was rough, but Carmen appeared to be lost in his own thoughts and made no motion to return him yet.
William's eyes darted across Ronin as he sprayed a Potion over his injuries, the anxious expression over his face shifting and softening slightly as Ronin looked up at him. "You did great, Ronin… you did amazing with that Aqua Jet, and using Tail Whip before practicing the idea on short notice… you took it home today." He said with a huge helping of praise and warmth in his tone, genuinely smiling at the Water Type.
'And to use it without commands… man, that's even more brutal for any unsuspecting Trainer…' Lena said before she turned to Carmen, who was frowning and glaring at William as he stepped forward with Patrat gone from sight, making her assume she had returned him.
"Hey! Why didn't you call out Tail Whip, even use Aqua Jet sooner!? Are you a psychic and said nothing to order him?!" He accused William, who was frowning as he carefully stood up and turned to face the older Trainer.
"Stat raising and lowering moves are a necessity for higher-level battles. Just because a Trainer doesn't give a command doesn't mean a Pokémon needs to be inactive on the field." He countered, giving a moment of thought before speaking again. "You could have used Leer by telling Patrat to use it from afar as well."
Carmen seemed even more sour at the advice, William only sighed and shifted his bag slightly to open up a pouch. He reached in and shuffled around for a moment before he found what he wanted, a fresh Potion, which he then lifted to Carmen to offer it.
"Use this to heal Patrat, I know we're still a while away from a Pokémon Center." William said with an attempted gentle tone, but Carmen must have felt it was patronizing from the sour expression that formed.
Still, he took the Potion with a bit of a forceful grab and ran off back toward the main Route 2 path. Lena noticed him grab Patrat's Poké Ball as he did so, clearly going to heal him, but apparently not in front of them.
William sighed, looking a mix of guilty, frustrated, and even drained as he watched him head off. In contrast, Rina was excitedly talking to Ronin on the ground, praising him for his use of Aqua Jet, prompting the Oshawott to blush from the praise. Lena ignored that conversation to focus on William's discomfort over the battle.
"You know, you could have refused to battle in the first place if you didn't want to." Lena said gently, not missing how William slumped a bit more and nodded.
"Yeah, I know. I could have, but he probably would have pestered us until we reached Striaton City…" William said as he closed up his backpack and put it back on, glancing slightly at the faded cut on Ronin's arm from the Potion before he glanced in the direction that Carmen had scurried off to. "...On top of that, I know Ronin isn't gonna get experience from just training with Rina or Charon… I need to get those bureaucratic metal pins anyway…"
Lena hummed at the bitter comment. He wasn't wrong, but battling seemed to be a source of… disconnect for him. Even when he fought Rina, the rather tame injuries made him ask her if she would be okay… it showed he was either highly empathetic, kind, nervous, or fearful for one reason or another.
"Are you scared about the injuries you cause?" She asked in the same gentle tone, William tilting his hand back and forth as he formulated a response.
"Sort of…? I just — injuries are inevitable in a battle, I know. However, I… just need to get used to them. Even with Charon's explanation on how Pokémon feel about battling, I don't… I'd rather the battle ends quicker for both sides, instead of dragging it out or — nevermind." William cut himself off with a sigh, while Lena noted how he was closing himself off again and she couldn't help but frown herself.
She internally sighed at the sight, but recognised that it wouldn't be good to push in this situation… instead, she'll piece together his performance during battle.
His actions, while sound, were a lot sloppier than when he fought together with Charon. Stuttering, having to give commands more directly besides some moments when Ronin took the initiative like with Aqua Jet or using his scalchop to deflect the Bite. The only bit that went smooth for William and Ronin was using Tail Whip without orders, which is what allowed Ronin to win as he did.
'He's not as collected as he seems. The link, or whatever he and Charon have, acts as a sort of crutch for him. He plans a lot ahead of time, though, which is impressive and carries most of his nervous actions.' Lena gathered to herself, looking at William who was speaking to Ronin for a moment before he moved his hand to his Poké Ball. Fumbling only once as he expanded it, he managed to actually return Ronin through the return beam, staring at the Poké Ball for a moment as it shook once before he minimized it.
Noticing Lena staring at him as he turned around, he quickly clarified. "Ronin was feeling tired, and… I want to get him looked at the Pokémon Center first before anything else."
Lena nodded and glanced at the sun… they should have enough daylight to reach Striaton City still if they hoof it a bit. She communicated this to William, which had a noticeable effect of making him relax a little. "That's good. Let's head out then."
Lena agreed with a hum and tilt of her head, Rina and Arthur nodding in understanding as she returned them to their own Great and Dive Balls. She placed them on her belt before she took the initiative and started for the main path, William following close behind.
Still, she couldn't help shake the feeling of wrongness, and the disconnect between battles that William had despite being aggressive with his style. A thought she had from his first battle returning to her in a different form…
Just what happened at home where William was from to create such a response to even such a low-level battle? Such nervousness and panic at the sight of injuries?
Beta Readers:
David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild
Author's Notes:
William may have the academic smarts, but the street, or battle smarts, still need to grow...
Also, I asked my co-writer @TheBlizWiz if he had any author's notes he would like me to add, and he has graced us with this message:
"william writes too many authors notes"
Fair play, fair play.
I hope this was enjoyable to read, and I hope everyone has a great day!
William is dealing with a lot but he's trying his best.
Very far from home, the culture shock in a Pokemon world, living in a universe where all the things good and bad and horrifying in the games and anime made manifest.
Also the de-aged bit.
Adult memories and feelings and whatnot shoved in a child brain and body. Not fun.
Thanks for sharing.
Very far from home, the culture shock in a Pokemon world, living in a universe where all the things good and bad and horrifying in the games and anime made manifest.
Also the de-aged bit.
Adult memories and feelings and whatnot shoved in a child brain and body. Not fun.
Thanks for sharing.
And that's only the first layer of the onion that is William, add in the fact that three groups are keeping an eye on him and have expectations for what he needs to do or how he'll act...
Well, it's a tightrope he'll need to walk carefully, and he can't depend on Charon to just carry him, especially given what happened with his battle with Lena.
Thank you for reading!
Informational - Excerpts from the Unova Pokémon League Rulebook
Informational - Excerpts from the Unova Pokémon League Handbook
Unova Pokémon League Rulebook
Galarian Version
Date of Last Revision: September 18, 2010
Pokémon Battle Type Definitions
Standard Single Battle -
Both Trainers use one Pokémon at a time, with limits on team size decided either by a designated referee, Gym Leader, or other governing body.
Standard Double Battle -
Both Trainers use two Pokémon at a time, with limits on team size decided either by a designated referee, Gym Leader, or other governing body.
Standard Triple Battle -
Both Trainers use three Pokémon at a time, with limits on team size decided either by a designated referee, Gym Leader, or other governing body.
Battle Variants -
- Full Battle
- The standard six team limit for a Trainer is used by all parties until all Pokémon on one side are unable to continue, or a Trainer resigns.
- Multi/Tag Battle -
- There is a Trainer per Pokémon active on the field. There is a total limit of the standard Trainer carry limit of six Pokémon usable across both teams in these types of battles. However, depending on format, a limit of two or three may be given
- Ex: A Multi/Tag Double Battle has four Trainers, with each Trainer using two Pokémon each for a full four versus four battle.
- Ex: A Multi/Tag Triple Battle has six Trainers, with each Trainer using two Pokémon each for a full six versus six battle.
- There is a Trainer per Pokémon active on the field. There is a total limit of the standard Trainer carry limit of six Pokémon usable across both teams in these types of battles. However, depending on format, a limit of two or three may be given
- Rotation Battle -
- A Rotation Battle consists of three Pokémon on either side; however, only one Pokémon can attack at a time. Please navigate to ' to locate facilities able to host such battles.
Pokémon Battle Regulation Standards
Regulation A -
Trainers are allowed as many manual switches as they would like. An optional, designated referee may decide on the amount of manual switches independently, or the Trainers themselves may agree to a 'gentleman's rules' amount of manual switches if they wish for there to be a limit. This however, is not enforceable without a referee. The time to decide the next Pokémon may follow a 'gentleman's rules', or be set by a designated referee.
The Trainers themselves may also agree to a 'gentleman's rules' amount of Pokémon in the battle if they wish for there to be a limit. This however, is not enforceable without a referee.
Held and field items are allowed.
Use of a field item must be verbally called out, or signaled by some other means, and the length of time can be decided by the Trainers, or designated by the referee.
Regulation B -
Trainers have a limit on the amount of manual switches designated by a referee, Gym Leader, or other governing body. The time to decide the next Pokémon during a manual switch is set at the League Standard of thirty seconds.
Both Trainers can recall their Pokémon at any time, but doing so will count as a manual switch, if no switches are left, that Pokémon will be considered forfeited from battling for the rest of the match.
The use of held items is allowed.
Field items are limited according to the referee, Gym Leader, or other governing body, and calling to use one will pause the match for one minute.
Regulation C -
Neither Trainer will be allowed to perform any manual switches, and the use of held or field items is forbidden.
Both Trainers can recall their Pokémon at any time, but doing so will forfeit them for the rest of the battle.
The battle will end after all Pokémon on one side are unable to continue, or if a Trainer resigns.
Term Definitions:
Switch/Recall/Returning -
The act of manually replacing the active Pokémon on the designated battlefield through the use of a Poké Ball to switch to a new Pokémon owned by the Trainer switching.
- Note: Moves that force a switch for either side are not considered a manual switch.
- Ex: Roar, U-Turn are such moves. Please navigate to 'https://unovaleague.gov.uv/regulations/definitions/switchrecallreturning/movelist.php' for a full list.
Prohibited Actions
The Unova Pokémon League acknowledges that battles falling under Regulation A may not have a proper referee to limit such actions. In the event that you feel a Trainer you are battling, or you witness battling has committed an offense, please navigate to 'https://unovaleague.gov.uv/regulations/prohibitedactions/report.php' to submit an anonymous complaint.
Use of excessive force -
Excessive Force for battling is defined as "the use of force beyond what a reasonable Trainer or Pokémon would use to knock out an opposing Trainer's Pokémon". If a Trainer's Pokémon is standing, awaiting commands, or the referee has not called for either side for the knock out or faint, that is not considered Excessive Force. Attacking a Pokémon when they are already knocked out is considered Excessive Force.
Purposely incurring permanent injuries -
Battling in and of itself is about Pokémon and Trainers displaying strength and cunning in an organized, safe format for everyone involved.
However, despite this, injuries can occur, and it's the responsibility of both parties to ensure that their Pokémon do not purposely incur injuries on the others in such a way that is permanent, and life-changing for both the Pokémon, and Trainer.
Purposely targeting an opponent in such a way that ensures that they can never again use any of their senses even after the battle is prohibited and illegal in Unovan Law. There are instances where it is an accident, however if the other Trainer shows a duty of care in the situation, the relevant bodies are open to providing leniency. If the opposing Trainer purposely instructed their Pokémon to do such an action to cause permanent injury, or shows a lack of a duty of care, penalties include, but are not limited to: A revoking of a Trainer License, Pokémon being confiscated or rehabilitation, jail time, fines, and a blacklist in any Pokémon League tied to the IPLA (International Pokémon League Association).
Harassment -
Harassment, including but not limited to:
- Excessive name calling. (At referee's discretion, or at opposing Trainer's request.)
- Hateful Language, including slurs, or derogatory language directed at a Trainer, or their Pokémon.
- Badgering the opposing party after a battle.
Abuse of official Online League Sites -
While all Trainer's are automatically signed up for a public* LeagueNet account that allows them to connect worldwide, and interact with Trainer's signed up for Leagues in Regions outside of Unova; abusing one's account will result in the restricted ability to communicate, post, or even lock the user out, and prevent them from searching for other Trainers. If abuse of an account goes beyond the keyboard, legal penalties may apply. Please report any suspected abuses you see and keep the online community safe, and welcoming for all Trainers.
* Certain criteria being met may call for the censoring, or privating of certain LeagueNet account information, to see if a situation may apply to you, navigate to 'https://unovaleague.gov.uv/termsofuse.html'
Beta Readers:
David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild
Author's Notes: Just a small bonus information chapter to go into some rules and boundaries of battling, and bit of worldbuilding. When @TheBlizWiz and I were outlining this story, we wanted to take a more realistic approach to the world compared to the games, and this is only a small excerpt to some of the elements currently relevant to the story. We also did this to set the tone of what official battling is like, while we got two small tastes of it, there's a lot more in the weeds we can go into, especially once the first Gym Battle happens.
We may make more of these chapters as things come up, but honestly, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts, or even hypothesis to certain rules and situations, comments fuel us and help us realize specific scenarios that we ourselves may not have come up with.
On a secondary note, for next week, there most likely will be a short one-two week main chapter hiatus for Chapter 8. I was sick in the past week and haven't been able to touch up my previous writings as much, and the two of us need to go through it and clean it up majorly between our other responsibilities, and possibly shift things to even future chapters. Chapter 7, however, is ready for release this Friday and it's one of my favorites as well (was really hard to write though, but really happy with how it turned out).
If any other informational, or even side story chapters like the email chain come to mind between that however, those may be posted between that main chapter pause, but nothings set in stone or planned specifically.
P.S: formatting sucks across four different websites. I tried to fix it the best I could to keep it standard, but I gave up after my page reloaded and lost half my edits. I tried my best, I'm so sorry.
Chapter 7 - The Dreams at Striaton
Chapter 7 - The Dreams at Striaton
Straiton City used to be a bustling hub of activity, not only having a Pokémon League Gym with the gimmick of having three leaders, but places like the Pokémon Energy Laboratory, the Trainer School, and its public garden made the city a go-to tourist attraction. It brought eyes to the usually sleepy corner of the Unova region, one that the residents had been clearly grateful for.
Even with the changes that time brought, such as the abandonment of the lab, the Gym Leaders stepping down, and even a new shiny Trainer School being built on the opposite side of the Region, Lena noted that the city still felt fairly populous and busy. The decorative street tiles were pristinely maintained, and the buildings had flowerpots and gardens hanging from the window stills, it was a healthy smaller-scale city nevertheless.
Even the loss of jobs from the Pokémon Energy Laboratory only went on to change the distribution of people who came into Straiton; the workers who went to the restaurant after a hard day of work were replaced by Trainers who explored the ruins to train or catch the unique Pokémon found in the area.
(Though privately, Lena held her own gripes about the owners of the building letting the public go free in and out of it and catch and battle as they please in a ruined, falling apart building. At least they let the Rangers in to make sure the biodiversity was kept healthy.)
They arrived at the entrance to the city almost on the dot right at 5:00 PM, the Top Ranger taking a breath from the light exercise as she stretched and felt a light burn in her legs from the hurried pace they took. It had been a while since she had done an extended jog like so on a Route, it felt nice.
Sadly, William on the other hand… clearly had a different opinion, even if the light jog was his own idea.
Even though he took off his sweatshirt and tied it around himself as they jogged, it wasn't enough to keep him cool. William was panting, red in the face, huffing for air just behind Lena, stopping just a couple feet and placing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
"Ha… dammit… gah… how the hell d-do… you…" He grasped for his water bottle in his bag, drinking as if he had never had a drop of water in his entire life, still panting in between gulps.
Lena, contrastingly, felt an amused, incredulous expression form on her own face. "I mean… just a perk of being outside constantly, I suppose. The drills they had us doing at the Ranger School were pretty brutal…"
William narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't believe Lena before he sighed, panting some more before finally pushing himself up, muttering all the while. "The 'FitnessGram PACER Test' was bullshit… didn't prepare me for anything…"
Lena couldn't help but laugh lightly at his comment, she vividly remembers some Student Rangers muttering similar curses. "I don't mean to harp too much, but we didn't have to do this, I said we'd probably still reach here by daylight even if we didn't jog."
He just nodded, grunting due to soreness from not properly cooling down after the exercise. "Y-Yeah… I know…" He stopped for a breath, and another drink of water from his water bottle again, finishing it off before continuing. "Aah… but I already knew I was out of shape, so figured… might as well… it's only gonna get worse once we're on more rocky terrain."
While she could see how he got to that conclusion with his logic, it didn't make it fully sound. "It's said that a Journey isn't a sprint…." She paused, tilting her head back and forth as she rethought that statement. "Well, unless you want it to be… what do you want your Journey to be? Rushed and hurried? With you panting like this to reach every town?"
A harsh grimace formed on William's face, Lena reasoning it was him imagining the image and physical exhaustion of that. However, he fell silent and didn't retort… his grimace not lightening as she decided to continue, seeing an opportunity with this line of conversation. 'Maybe I can get him to open up about his goals… or home.'
"Journeys are all about self-discovery, about finding and growing into one's self, finding a passion or… what you wanna do in life. I mean, some people go on a Journey for years, it's not something you can rush."
William's grimace lightened, shifting to something thoughtful. "Then what made you decide you wanted to become a Ranger?"
The question made Lena pause her thoughts, thinking back… "I think… well, I didn't go on my own Journey, so maybe not the best example…" She prefaced to be safe. William eye's got a bit sharper at the detail, but he stayed silent as she gathered herself.
A frown formed on her face as the memory started to resurface. "I think… most likely around the time when me and Rina had found the aftermath of a poacher's operation when we were young and wandering around Eterna Forest." Lena tentatively said, feeling the Floatzel's Dive Ball shake slightly on her belt at the mention of that event. Even Arthur's Great Ball shook, most likely feeling the swirl of her aura at remembering the event.
William stayed silent as Lena continued. "There… weren't any poachers there, thank Arceus, but it was clear what the operation was." Lena said with a breath as she crossed her arms, and a pointed expression came onto her face as she took a deep breath. She was too young to realize what some of the contraptions were, but she eventually learned in Ranger School, and from the rare instances of seeing Pokémon with them during her time as a Ranger.
'It was a bit of a blessing to not fully understand it when I was so young, but…'
She pushed her musings aside, not wanting to give William the same visual imagery in his head (if he didn't already have it in mind), continuing on instead. "I reported it to a Trainer in the town who was an adult since I was so young. And well, he didn't feel comfortable going to check it out even when I told him there were no more poachers, and the police took their sweet ass time to respond… " She spat with a bitter tone, crossing her arms and taking a breath to recenter herself.
A moment paused before a more thoughtful, if almost determined tone of voice came from her. "After that… I guess I, and by extension Rina, wanted to do something about it ourselves… even if we didn't know what yet. A Ranger came into class one day, I think as a part of a job fair program…? And after the presentation I think… that's just kinda what sealed the deal. It was the avenue that we could take to help Pokémon… and well, the rest is kinda history."
She remembered the day she officially became a Ranger and ran out of the gates to the Ranger School, so excited to get to her Buizel partner back in Sinnoh, only to then be tackled by Rina the second she stepped out the gate…
The memory made her smile and feel warm as she lost herself in it, so lost in fact, that she didn't even realize that they had reached the Pokémon Center until she heard the automatic door whirr open in front of her. The sound snapped her out of her own thoughts, and Lena blinked in a daze as William looked up at her with a faint look of concern. "You okay?"
"Yeah — yeah, was just reminiscing lightly." She responded quickly while shaking her head slightly to force herself to reorganize her thoughts.
William just nodded and hummed, seeming to understand as he grabbed Ronin's Poké Ball from his belt as well as his Pokédex for his Trainer ID while they walked up to the Nurse's Desk. As he and Lena walked through the usual check-in process, Lena remembered that she still had a question from their previous conversation that William managed to deflect from. "Hey, what do you want from your Journey then?"
His polite smile to the Nurse faltered slightly as he placed Ronin's Poké Ball on the tray, but not before whispering something that caused it to shake once before he set it down. A quick 'thank you' left him as an Audino took the tray to the checkup room in the back of the Center, before finally responding to Lena. "Well, it's not like I have much of a choice yet. Have to get a couple Badges to get the League or Interpol from taking Charon… or me."
Lena wasn't fooled though. 'Another deflection.'
Being direct would probably make him close up like a Clamperl, so Lena tried to lighten the mood with a teasing tone. "I mean, you have to have some kind of idea. Come on… if you're embarrassed about it, I swear you have nothing to be embarrassed about."
The younger Trainer only held his slight frown as they started to walk away from the front desk, heading down the hall to the Trainer dorms they would have for the night. "I wasn't lying though, my first… 'goal', if you can call it that, is to get through all the red tape the Pokémon League and the International Police seem determined to throw up. Getting a couple Gym Badges is the best way to do that. "
Lena could understand William's weariness towards the Pokémon League, and Interpol.... Was, well, Interpol. The thing that stuck out the most to her was that the Ranger Union wasn't on the list he mentioned.
Ignoring the petty mental laugh she did towards them in her head, she quickly responded to stay on topic. "So, your goal is to get stronger then? That's a pretty common goal, most Trainers in the season have the same goal."
William hummed… not necessarily agreeing with Lena, but appearing more to concede a point… which point it was, it wasn't clear to her. Another silence fell over them as they eventually reached William's room, and the Top Ranger could tell that William was anxious about something.
The way his hands squeezed the key card as he placed it in front of the door sensor to open it, along with all the previous comments and his… focus on getting through Gyms…. He was more tightly wound up than a Spoink. Something Lena couldn't help but feel partially responsible for…
'He needs to do something to relax, to distract him...' Lena quickly stopped him from going into his room by speaking up suddenly, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "W-Why don't we let our Pokémon relax tonight?"
William's hand hovered over the door handle, his head turned to her to show confusion etched on his face.
Seeing him pause was enough to prompt Lena to continue, grabbing her footing quickly. "It's late in the day, and early enough in the season that no one else will really be there to bother us for a battle. So we can relax as we go around the area, maybe do a quest… while our teams decompress? Then we can get dinner afterwards."
"Where would we go though? I… think that letting Charon out in the public garden park would be bound to draw eyes still…"
'Shit, he's right… ah… what else was in the area?'
Lena's mind raced, going through everything she knew about the area so as to not lose the potential chance. 'The former Gym? No, the siblings battle guests sometimes, and even if they're former Gym Leaders, they're probably at least somewhat in the loop… dammit, the only place is…'
Suppressing a faint shiver at the idea of having to feel the weird energy of the place, even just for a bit, Lena quickly spoke. "How about the Dreamyard? No kids or adults should be there around this time of the season."
William's face shifted into something considering as he responded. "Won't Ronin be looked at overnight though? Wouldn't want to leave him alone in the center…"
Though his care for his new team member was clear, it still amused Lena how he underestimated the healing capabilities of a Pokémon Center. "I guarantee that he'll be healed before the hour is over. We can wash up and get fresh clothes, and Ronin will probably be all recovered."
William still appeared oddly hesitant, but looked to be considering it at least. He rocked his head back and forth before he nodded and gave the best half-smile it looked like he could muster. "Alright, I'll… go wash up then…. Meet you in… the lobby?"
Lena smiled back, just nodding before moving to turn to her own room. "Works for me, I'll see you downstairs in a bit."
As Lena started to walk to her own room, her smile shifted to a frown… and a deep breath left her as now she felt anxious.
'Dammit kid, you've got too much on your mind. Let the adults handle all the heavy stuff and just enjoy being a kid while it lasts...' She thought with another sputter from her lips as she played with her own room card in her hand, tapping it against her palm and she thought to herself to plan for tonight…
'Alright, let's see if any small Quests can be done in… or preferably outside the Dreamyard too… something easy that can give William a goal to focus on tonight instead of stressing over Gyms or Plasma or whatever else is on his mind. Rina and Arthur can keep an eye on Charon and Ronin… yeah, yeah. That's a good plan.'
With a newly reformed smile, Lena walked with a slight pep in her step, Rina and Arthur will enjoy the time to relax as well most likely, tonight will be good.
The sky had a noticeably darker tinge, but it wasn't sunset yet thankfully, allowing the group to carefully walk about. The path towards the Dreamyard was straightforward, but it was clear that nature and Pokémon had overtaken the surrounding area with ease. The trees around made it feel like they were choking the former human establishment with nature. Still, it gave an almost melancholy feeling, yet the sounds of Pokémon echoed in the wind to counteract the feeling. It was a quiet flavor of lively, peaceful.
The Pokémon didn't even mind the rather large group of evolved Pokémon and two humans walking through, content to observe from the bushes or trees. It matched the overall tranquil aura the place gave off, somewhere you could find a nice place to rest and take an afternoon nap in.
"I'm surprised some of the supports are still standing…" William muttered to her left, his eyes tracing over the rebar that had been laid bare to the elements, twisted and chipped by time.
Lena nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it surprised me too when I first came to Unova, but Conkeldurr and Gurdurr assisting originally probably helped."
William looked interested suddenly, turning to Lena with a curious expression. "So, how does that work? Pokémon Employment? I've tried to look that up, and some stuff for Almia or Oblivia came up, but nothing really for Unova, or… any of the main regions. Hell, even Galar had more than I could find for Unova…"
At this, a chuckle found its way leaving Lena's throat that seemed… dark. Even Charon looked a tad perturbed, turning from looking at the ruins to the Top Ranger. Rina and Arthur let out a chuckle and sigh respectively.
"Float-Floatzeeel. Float." (Now you've done it. Good luck.)
"Don't talk his ear off Lena, unlike that other poor Trainer…"
"Oh, there's a lot I can tell you about Pokémon and employment and work status. I'll tell you all about it while we do the Quest, don't worry, Arthur and Rina will keep an eye on Charon and Ronin." She said with an ardent, if worryingly level, tone. Her smile matched this while turning to William.
The younger Trainer looked a bit concerned, glancing at Charon and Ronin as if for assistance, but Charon simply glanced at him and snorted, pulling the Oshawott from his hoodie to leave him to his fate. Ronin on the other hand looked slightly confused, but waved 'goodbye' at William as Lena gently pulled his sweatshirt to guide him away from the Pokémon. She did, however, hand Arthur a quick pouch from her bag before continuing to drag William off.
"W-Wait — what even is the Quest—"
"Oh, nothing too complicated, someone just wants some photos of some Pokémon nearby, that's all. Come on, I can tell you all about it while telling you about the history of Pokémon Labor Laws, starting with —"
As Ronin watched his new Trainer get dragged off, he glanced around at the group of Pokémon he now found himself in. A slightly confused… with a pinch of nervousness leaving him as he spoke. "So… what do we do now?"
Rina beside him stretched slightly, mirroring Lena as she let out a sigh and smiled as she turned to Ronin. "Now? Whatever we'd like. If you want to try and practice Aqua Jet a bit more, we can do that…" She paused, humming as she started to consider something… "...or if you'd like to get a bit of practice with Water Gun, I have an idea we could do… been a while since I've done any target practice…"
Arthur rolled his shoulders and hummed… glancing at Charon with a raised eyebrow. "If they are going to do training, I would not mind going against you again in a sparring match… Grandpa."
The Fire Ghost Type snorted, but didn't seem to take the taunt to heart as he looked up and down at Arthur with a raised eyebrow. Ronin noted that Charon's eyes paused briefly on each of the discolored patches of fur the Lucario still had. "Well, 'Grandpa' ain't interested, whippersnapper. This old man is going to explore, it's been too long since I've seen anything other than stuffy office buildings, or forests."
Charon also shot Ronin a careful look from the corner of his eyes, one that Ronin knew instantly what it meant.
'Don't reveal anything to these two while I'm gone.'
Ronin's eyes hardened just barely, and a subtle nod left him. Arthur frowned at being so thoroughly rejected but nodded as he respected Charon's choice. The Typhlosion then started to lumber off in a different direction, all while Arthur glanced down at the pouch Lena gave him and let out a sigh. "I suppose it has been a while since I've relaxed… Rina, will you be okay with Ronin?"
The Water Type snorted and waved Arthur off. "Yeah, yeah. I will be, you know me. Go ahead and find a nice quiet place where you can read whatever you want. I'll shoot our signal in the air if we need you."
Arthur nodded respectively to Rina, before nodding to Ronin as well and then turning, and leaping to the top of the towering wall, before vanishing from sight in moments as he lept further into the Dreamyard.
This left the Floatzel and Oshawott alone, Rina turning smiling at Ronin with eagerness. "So, where do you want to start?"
Ronin thought for a moment, thinking before looking up at Rina. "Can we do Water Gun? I want to get better… it seems like a better follow-up if I need to avoid an attack…"
Rina tilted her head back and forth a bit, something Ronin had noticed her Trainer do as well a couple times when William asked a question to her. "It can be, but it all depends on the situation… though, you did amazing with Aqua Jet today."
Ronin couldn't help but frown slightly from the praise, denying it with a shake of his head. "I… should have done it better, it needs a bit of a build-up right now…"
Floatzel shook her head, frowning now. "Hey now, that's no way to talk about yourself… has Grandpa been making mean comments?"
Ronin quickly shook his flippers at the fellow Water Type in a slightly panicked wave back and forth to deny her accusation. "N-No no! I just… I don't want to make my Trainer worry… he always gets so scared about seeing Pokémon hurt… so if I can have a better reaction to defend myself… he won't be scared…" He explained, Rina humming and crossing her arms before nodding.
"Yeah… I can see William being like that…." She muttered, before smiling and looking down at him. "It's nice that you're worried about your Trainer and taking initiative, but that doesn't mean you should put down your own accomplishments. I haven't heard of an Oshawott pick up Aqua Jet as fast as you!"
Ronin couldn't help but feel his cheeks warm, flustered by the praise now and turning away, only making Rina giggle before making a motion. "Come on, follow me… we'll get Water Gun down for you to show William by the end of the night, I guarantee it."
Rina couldn't help but feel giddy as she guided Ronin to an open area inside the ruined facility, the chitters and mewls of Patrat and Purrloin around them, curious about the newcomers, but not bothering them as they went along their own lives. The shade of the facility casted shadows across the floor, but they still had more than enough daylight for what Rina wanted to do.
She was practically bouncing in excitement as she glanced around at the walls and ceilings, yeah, this would work perfectly. Her tail, which was wrapped around a bundle of sticks she had collected on the way here, shifted so she could grab them with her arms.
"So! Let's get ready to practice Water Gun, but have some fun with it… have you ever seen humans play darts?"
Ronin tilted his head, shaking it as she expected which only made her grin. "Well, they have this thing called a target, which they throw a dart at. We're gonna make some targets, and use Water moves as our dart!"
As she said this, she moved to a soft patch of grass that was overtaking the concrete floor, and stabbed a stick into the ground to keep it from moving. Ronin watched with curiosity, his eyes following Rina's every movement. "Now, with this… we'll need to make the target."
Taking a deep breath, Rina could feel the cold build up inside her body, her throat feeling superchilled as frost formed in the air around her mouth as she let out a low-powered Ice Beam on the stick. The crackling of ice gathered around the tip of the dead appendage, growing bit by bit until the weight of it almost made the stick start to lean, which is when she stopped.
The size was nearly the same as a tennis racket, easily large enough for target and force practice for Water Gun… though, it did need to be cut down a tad, the front was a bit too bulky…
"Hey, Arthur, would you mind — " Rina stopped herself mid-sentence, feeling a tad embarrassed as she remembered that Arthur wasn't with her right now. "Ah… right."
Ronin stared for a moment at the makeshift target, before glancing down at the scalchop on his chest, before back at the ice. He moved forward, taking the scalchop in his flipper before he glanced at Rina. "How… how much do we need to cut it?"
Rina glanced back at Ronin, looking a tad surprised, but smiled as she plucked the stick out of the ground and laid it down carefully in front of the Oshawott. "More so on the front, the sides need to be holding most of it together so that when it's hit, it shatters, or at least enough to be noticeable."
Ronin nodded, looking at his scalchop for a moment and back at the ice, weighing the side and what Rina said for a moment before he placed a flipper on it to keep it from moving before he started to cut into it, slowly carving away from him.
Rina leaned a bit closer, curious about Ronin's movement, and noticing how comfortable he was at carving the ice, slowly flakes lightly spreading and falling to the ground where it melted. "Hey, that's pretty good, you have experience using your scalchop to cut?"
Ronin paused for a moment, before nodding and continuing to slowly carve it down. "Yeah, I'd… cut the berries with the professor sometimes, or would…" He paused, frowning as the young Pokémon attempted to find the right word. "...peel branches or trees with it. It was nice… I could be alone from the other Pokémon and they wouldn't bother me. I could think."
Rina hummed, watching Ronin continue to carefully cut more and more ice away before he spoke up again. "Besides, William was good at removing a lot of things too when he was younger, I wanna be like him."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Ronin visibly faltered, his scalchop catching in the ice as he stuttered for a moment before he spoke up. "H-He… ah… Charon said h-he had a lot of habits when he was little… er. Like p-peeling labels off of small toy cars, or… wallpaper, which… got him in trouble. Charon said t-that dexterity would be good for me to learn… please don't tell Charon or William about the wallpaper… "
Rina couldn't help but chuckle, a cheeky grin forming aimed at Ronin to help ease the young Water Type's worries. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me… and gives me the excuse to tell all sorts of stories about Lena when she was younger as we set up."
Rina was glad to see Ronin relax, the Oshawott smiling back up at his mentor as she grabbed another stick seeing that Ronin had skillfully carved off enough of the ice to make it almost perfectly smooth, yet thin enough to be broken by a strong enough Water Gun.
The Floatzel smiled, taking a deep breath and relaxing herself as she reflected for a moment. It had been a while since she was able to mentor any Pokémon, she enjoyed it more so than Arthur, though he did enjoy fighting Pokémon they did help with a move on the Quests that Lena would sometimes get that they could do…
She started to think about the moves that Ronin might be able to learn once he gained more mastery over Water Type energy. 'Surf is a good all-rounder move, but Waterfall may be better, considering he seemed to lean more for physical attacks…'
Well, she still had to cover the fundamentals with him, shaking her head slightly, she grinned as she took another deep breath as the chill of Ice Type energy filled her, and she blew on another stick once more to create the next target…
Despite the entire area almost feeling… off, in a sense that would normally keep him alert, Arthur couldn't help but feel tranquil and at peace, almost ready for a nap. He kept his wits about him nevertheless as he leapt up another level of the deteriorating facility, the roof completely gone and providing a nice source of light that was slowly turning orange.
The Lucario took a deep breath, staring out at the slowly setting sky before he shifted over to a wall and sat down against a wall. Opening the pouch that Lena gave him, he carefully pulled out a stack of three worn, but clearly very well-kept books.
'Where was I…' It took Arthur a moment as he opened the top book to where a black bookmark had been placed, his eyes scanning the page for a moment as his mind started to recall. 'Ah, yes, about halfway through the princess's time masquerading as a knight…'
Of Courage, Of Tribute, an old story that Lena had gotten when he was still a Riolu, and one to teach him how to read human language. He read the Sinnohan translation and edition during that time, but he spotted a Galarian version when they transferred to Unova. Lena grabbed that (and some music disks with written lyrics for Rina that Arthur swore he could hear in his sleep sometimes to his horror) to help them both adjust to the new Galarian language.
He intended to read it sooner… but they got swept up in Ranger work, and then the siege happened and…
'Well, it had been a while either way…' Arthur thought with a shake of his head, dispelling those thoughts before he decided to discard his place and scroll to the beginning. Though he didn't need to read the story to learn Galarian, a re-read would probably help his understanding…
The first couple months of him reading Galarian did make him wince in hindsight… but the idea of re-reading it did make him feel a bit excited, his tail wagging behind him just faintly as he started.
'Let's see… 'In a land before our time, of knightly order and of kings and queens, there was once a soon-to-be queen and her Bisharp…'
His mind started to paint the scene once again, of a castle towering over a kingdom, pale marble shining in the sunlight, a collective of both Pokémon and People milling around the castle to prepare for a festival. An energy of joy and excitement consumed the halls entirely like a wave, one that even the then princess was having fun with. She was assisting with decorations and talking excitedly with a servant, despite her position, her dutiful Bisharp standing close by, yet holding up a ribbon to keep it off the floor.
"The sight of this would cause a scandal, Lady Isabelle. A soon-to-be queen helping a lowly servant with tasks? Think of what the Rookidee will sing…" The servant said with both respect and a tone of teasing. The princess smiled and shot a look with a twinkle in her eyes back at the servant.
"Oh, let the rabble talk. I won't have a single word of protest helping a childhood friend, Joan." At this, Joan sighed and shook her head, but the smile never vanished from her face as she turned to the Bisharp standing resolutely.
"At least you have a partner like Bisharp to protect you from the masses, who knows what they'd dare say if not protected by such a strong knight."
At this, Isabelle huffed and seemed to almost pout. "How rude, I'll let you know that I can protect myself. I took more than enough lessons with squires to know how to use a sword or polearm."
Joan's expression fell flat, looking a touch unamused. "With your father's knowledge?"
"Father would love that his daughter is able to protect her people, and herself if the time comes."
"I hope that it doesn't for your safety, and my sanity."
Despite her flat tone, Joan and Isabelle couldn't help but laugh at it, even Bisharp's shoulders shook in a silent chuckle… the day joyous… energy all around and spreading… the light of the sun beaming through and seeming to almost cut through all worries…
'It's strange… knowing what comes next, though I suppose that is the joy of re-reading something you know well…' Arthur mused with a hum, smiling slightly as he was excited to read through and see what Isabelle would go through once again as he turned the page…
Charon had seen many abandoned locations throughout his time on this plane, each one having their own reason. It always differed from place to place, but the reason could always be told by the decaying architecture, the remnants of what once was, and the lingering souls that clung to the place.
The basement of the Dreamyard had sunlight shining through holes in the ceiling that had been worn by time. It was bright enough to the point where someone who wasn't a Ghost Type would have been able to see well enough. The holes may prompt questions from others about the structural integrity of the building, but Charon could feel in his bones and through the whisper of souls abound that this place would still last for decades.
He nudged a fallen paper to the side with a huff, glancing around at the bookcase that fell over. Every document was written in Galarian, but the formulas might as well have been Unown writing, and it was clear someone took the time to write it out carefully to reference, but it was just… left to rot.
'I never really understood why humans would leave things such as this in buildings… ages ago, such a loss would be considered incompetence.' He shook his head as he thought to himself, thinking about how every resource would be desperately clung onto in case they were needed later, and for fear of someone else obtaining them.
Charon stopped walking for a moment, taking a deep breath, already knowing where his thoughts were leading back to.
'No. I will not think of that again, not now.'
With a huff, he continued deeper, feeling the gentle, almost guiding pull of his being lead him into the facility, further and more remote than where other Pokémon tended to dwell. An Ariados and Raticate hissed at him earlier, but a simple stare and narrow of his eyes sent them on their way in a frantic scurry.
It was curious though, the place was stained with Psychic Type energy all around it, in the walls, the floor… even the weirdly colored glass he saw in a case earlier seemed to glow purple. Yet, he had not seen a single Psychic Type as of yet.
'It doesn't matter, as long as they do not get in my way for my duty…'
Finally, after what felt like a walk too long to find, Charon saw it. Huddled in the corner, scared, yet invisible to all except those in touch with spirits, a flickering, wisp of a soul. An almost rotten essence surrounds it, corrupting what once was a living being.
Melancholy, and a gentle weight were placed on the Typhlosion as he stared at it, it has been long since he had seen such a thing. "Now, how long have you been down here…?"
He walked forward to the flame, noticing how it would pulse and flicker at his appearance, even seeing it glow in a faint… fright? "It's alright… have you never seen my kind before?"
The soul didn't react, or respond, simply pulsing in place as Charon carefully lifted the soul from the ground, holding it in his palms as he observed it… carefully looking at the corrupting presence around it… feeling it attempt to touch him, yet easily rejected like a Paras' poison coming in contact with antivenom.
'Ah… it has lingered too long on this plane, a simple cure…'
He paused, not moving an inch as his collar lit up around him, illuminating the dark area in a pale purple and red tint as he spoke aloud. His tone measured, but like an iron wall into the darkness. "You do not hide yourself well enough, Psychic. Reveal yourself, I have no business with you."
'I'm impressed. Most Ghost Types, nor other Psychic inclined Trainers are able to sense me.' A feminine, if loose-sounding voice echoed around Charon, a glance behind him revealing his stalker. It was the same species as the Psychic who made the barrier for the battle the Professor had with her.
They looked to be a floating, sleeping baku floated up into the light, with a pink mist emanating from its head like the old incense burners that Charon lit himself ages ago.
Charon let out a grunt at the praise the Musharna gave him, as if it was to be expected. "Psychic Type tricks don't escape me, even with the staining of Psychic energy all around here…"
'Ah… you sense it as well? You are an old, old ghost. It has been too long since such a true Ghost has visited… I am the keeper of this Dreamspace.' She introduced herself, Charon turning to look at her with a dismissive noise. Maybe long for her, but he could tell she had not been alive as long as himself.
"I am Charon, and I can tell it's been too long since you've had a Ghost clean through, that's clear…" He said as he turned his attention back to the soul in his palm… taking a soft breath before breathing onto it. The spiritual flames licked his palms as he constantly blew, but the rot and stain of the soul in his palm slowly started to flake off, flickering before burning into an ethereal crisp.
Charon continued this for a full minute before stopping, and looking over the soul with a careful, crimson gaze. The aspects corrupting the soul had vanished, leaving what looked to be a newly departed soul in his palms… flickering peacefully… calmly… the ethereal flames almost seemed to have smothered it in a warm, protective flicker around it.
'Curious… I don't believe any Musharna here has not seen a Ghost treat a soul in such a way…'
Charon's flames around his collar grew as he pulled the soul close, a variable mix of warmth and cool washing through him as it was consumed by the flames, and he could feel everything that the soul was. The regrets… the joy… the memories of their being… all of it briefly brushing against his being.
'...Before they consume them.'
Embers flickered off his ghostly mane as he focused on making sure the soul was purified, whole… before releasing them to the beyond where it should have been so many years ago. The flames around his collar reached what seemed to be a crescendo, reaching almost the wall behind him and bright enough that would require anyone else watching to cover their eyes.
Just as quickly, it subsided, and the ghostly flames around his collar flickered back to their normal wisp-like appearance. It left Charon a hollow yet fulfilled feeling spiritually, a deep breath leaving the old Pokémon as he closed his eyes. He could still feel the energy of the soul on this plain, slowly traveling further and further away… until he could no longer feel it among them.
Musharna stayed silent behind him, her eyes visibly closed, but Charon could tell she was staring at him, as if wanting to read his own soul to understand why such a Ghost would be gentle.
He couldn't help but feel a twinge of some emotion at being so clearly stared at. William, of course, stared when he did this to a departed Pokémon the first time, but that was understandable for him. He watches and observes everything.
…William also understood the reason and meaning behind the process. Or at least, better than amateur so-called 'experts' on Ghost Types. The things he's heard in passing… well, he might as well dispel some myths for a young Psychic. Some at least.
"Souls don't taste as good before they are purified." He deflected with a grunt. Before continuing without letting her speak up. "I know that emotions can influence your kind, an angry soul will be blistering, stubborn to let go, and a soul that lingers too long in the elements will decay… be rotten."
'Don't Ghost Types feed on those negative emotions?'
"Some do. Such Ghosts only feed and consume. I have no interest in that, as a guide."
'Ah… a guide of souls, I see. Yes, that does make more sense… and the taste is only an afterthought?'
"Would you let rotten food go somewhere where it may harm others? Or infect other rotten food?"
'...No, I suppose I would not. Dreams are my kind's domain, but we are more… archivers, of them, rather than guides. I have had to guide some younger humans who accidentally have nightmares while asleep here… so I suppose I guide some through dreams…'
Charon's collar smoldered itself out as he started to walk back the way he came, the Musharna following. He didn't protest, a twinge of curiosity finding its way into him as to the nature of this facility. He could most likely ask William, but his information was… scattered, or limited. "And what did the dreams of the humans who ran this place say?"
Musharna stayed silent, but the cloudy mist of dreams emanating from its head shifted, akin to someone running a hand through it. 'Some dreamed of hope, for their findings to help others… some dream of the wealth that this place could have provided them only in their dreams, and never in reality.'
Charon snorted at that, the usual array of human wishes then, he saw similar things echoed in souls… "The usual for humans then."
'Indeed, but they are each a fascinating insight into a person…. Soul and dreams are similar from certain perspectives, are they not?'
Charon couldn't disagree, Sinnoh knows that the Lunar Pokémon herself would be upset if he did. "They can be. Souls are everything that makes up a being… while dreams can be everything that could make up a being…"
'Yes, I suppose they are… though, I'd like to believe that dreams can be… well, I'm sure you've had souls you couldn't understand, or were confused by.'
The Typhlosion let a chuckle rumble in his chest, stopping fully before turning to the Psychic Type. "Oh, I have many stories I can tell… in over the one-hundred years I've been on this plane, I've seen much. Why don't you sit down, young 'Keeper'. Let me tell you a couple stories of souls I've seen…"
"...and that brings us to the end of Galar's mining coal strike, with the agreement of reconciliation between the Rolycoly line native to the mines, and the miners and Trainers who supported them, and the Galarian Government," Lena said in a hushed whisper from the tall grass, glancing at William next to her who blinked once, twice, and then thrice, before he finally spoke.
"I'm… surprised that the government gave in," William muttered, before pausing and humming before shaking his head. "Actually, no, that makes sense. Rose wasn't the Pokémon League chairman then…"
Lena felt baffled as to why that would make more sense, but ignored that for now as she watched as William carefully lifted his Pokédex with the camera function on. His eyes were now entirely focused on the screen's preview of the photo, aimed solely at the side of the ruins, where two Ledian were relaxing on some fallen rubble, eating berries together without a care in the world.
He pressed the button to focus the shot, waiting a moment before pressing it in again, his Pokédex making a faint shutter noise as the shot was in almost perfect focus, much better than what Lena could have taken with her Fine Styler.
And she felt so, so tempted to ask where he got those skills, but she tried to hold back as the entire point of this detour tonight was to let him relax, and not have to worry about… much of anything.
She must have not hid it well enough on her face, as a slight glance from William made him sigh as he focused on taking another photo; this time of a Crobat hanging upside down in the shade, asleep. "You know, you can ask if you want."
Lena bit her lip, shifting slightly, though, not from any physical discomfort. "I… don't want to impose. I know how…"
"How much I try to hide things about myself?" William said while shifting his gaze to Lena with a raised eyebrow, before moving back to the camera with another focused expression, taking another photo. "It's… nothing against you, just… everything else around… give me a moment to think."
The words were soft coming from him as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. If it was to reminisce, or to carefully formulate his response, Lena didn't care at that moment as he started to speak.
"My mom, she's a photographer. Bought her own cameras and would do photoshoots of families, weddings, births… all that." He said with a smile flickering on his face as he glanced at another Pokémon, a Kricketune gently weaving a calming tune that seemed to reverberate in the Dreamyard. A gathering of Kricketot around it, rubbing their antennas together as well to match the tune, and adding a peaceful chime as a back.
"She… would bring me sometimes, sometimes needed help to carry stuff inside or to tape down the extension cords… but sometimes she had me help take photos, and taught me the basics." He murmured, listening to the tune the Bug Types with a distant look in his eyes before raising his Pokédex, and taking another moment to focus as another picture was taken.
Lena didn't stop him, even though they had already gotten the photos the Quest required.
Other Pokemon seemed to also be watching the impromptu symphony as well with them, Lena spotted some Watchog with their pack of Patrat, Purrloin watching from the side, and even a stray Munna looking down from above, the picture a perfect representation of just… peace, and tranquility.
"It's just… I don't know, the muscle memory of it, something I've kept still I suppose… of home." William spoke up finally, glancing at his Pokédex to see the photo he took. The waning sun in the sky had given way to auburn sunset at this point, with rays of light visible as it cast against the gathering of Bug Types, and the other Pokemon. It was honestly a really impressive shot, perfect for a phone background, computer wallpaper, or a magazine.
Lena didn't miss how he fell silent, his eyes transfixed by the photo before he took a deep breath and pressed a button. His Pokédex's screen went black with the top screen sliding back as he pocketed the device. He was content to watch the hoard and listen to the beautiful melody the Pokémon played.
"You'd never see anything like this at home… this world surprises me still…" William murmured, his eyes closing as he seemed content to just listen and… be, looking to actually relax as Lena had intended. His words rang true though, sights like this, while Lena knew would happen in the wild, were still a wonderful surprise to see; even for a Ranger, who was closer in touch with nature and Pokémon habits.
"Yeah… me too." Lena said softly, a smile forming as she was content to watch as well… this memory, this moment, committed to her memory.
…and as if the Twins or The Original One itself were out to spite her, a sudden, rapid series of beeping came from her Fine Styler. Her body jolted, acting on autopilot and flipping it open to shut off the notification and cover the speakers so as to not disturb the Pokémon.
Thankfully, none of them looked disturbed, minus a lone Purrloin's ears twitching, and looking in their direction before disregarding them, focusing on the music once more. Lena couldn't help but still send a mental apology to the entire group… but glanced down at her Styler's screen now, her eyes entirely focused on reading the critical notification.
"Lena?" William's voice entered her ears, but she ignored him, her eyes fixated on the notification as her heart skipped a couple beats.
UNOVA RANGER PUBLIC ALERT NOTIFICATION - REQUEST FOR RANGERS NEARBY TO HEAD TO THE NACRENE CITY POKÉMON CENTER.
ASSISTANCE NEEDED FOR UPCOMING CRITICAL MISSION IN PINWHEEL FOREST.
Notes: If possible, request nearby Trainers with Fire, Psychic, Rock, or Ground Types to join. Monetary Reward included.
Beta Readers:
David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild
Author's Notes:
This is a cliffhanger and a half to end off on, yeah. However, that's exactly why TheBlizWiz and I are going on a two week hiatus for main chapters, we both know we need to get this next part right, and we got a lot of words to work through between our jobs and other responsibilities, and we don't want to ruin the moment.
We will, however, respond to comments during then, so please don't hesitate to leave your thoughts! I hope everyone has a great day! Thank you again for everything!
Qoheleth
Archivist
- Pronouns
- Any
I can't help but feel sorry for William. I keep thinking back to the inherent curse that reincarnation SI protags have to face, the one Ray Bradbury's own (debatable) author-insert pondered in "Something Wicked This Way Comes":
It's... easy to gloss over how isolating that is, and many fics of this sort do so, treating it as only a minor problem or brushing it off with "well I was always a lone wolf anyway". This story takes it seriously. William, despite everyone who wishes him well, is terribly lonely, and there's no clear way to fix that; who would he connect to? Kids who can't understand his grown-up way of thinking? Adults who see him as a kid? He can't even be honest about his hopes and fears if he does find someone he can relax around, because it's all tangled up in his "from another world with impossible outside context knowledge" backstory, which he's clearly long since decided is too unbelievable to bother talking about.
As always, thanks for the chapter. Looking forward to more.
It's... easy to gloss over how isolating that is, and many fics of this sort do so, treating it as only a minor problem or brushing it off with "well I was always a lone wolf anyway". This story takes it seriously. William, despite everyone who wishes him well, is terribly lonely, and there's no clear way to fix that; who would he connect to? Kids who can't understand his grown-up way of thinking? Adults who see him as a kid? He can't even be honest about his hopes and fears if he does find someone he can relax around, because it's all tangled up in his "from another world with impossible outside context knowledge" backstory, which he's clearly long since decided is too unbelievable to bother talking about.
As always, thanks for the chapter. Looking forward to more.
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Yeah, I can enjoy stories where the SI abuses as much as they can, but life isn't a checklist. There are hills, valleys, side paths, all coming with their own surprises and divergences.
Admittedly, William does have his own 'goal' that he's keeping quiet on to Lena, but he's walking a fine tightrope where he knows there isn't an 'optimal' path, there is no checklist... well, besides the Gym Badges that the League are making him get, but that's a bit nebulous.
Thank you for your praise! We're going to be hammering out the next couple chapters during this two week pause to make sure the quality is the same as everything else, so I hope it's worth the wait.
You are hitting the nail on the head so, so hard, and I love it. The only one who knew was Charon for years, and even then, he had to sneak away to visit him causing Route wide searches which gave a lot of people grief. And while Ronin is on that list now of those who know, Ronin is also still the 'youngest' of the party technically, and William doesn't wanna trauma dump on the poor Oshawott who kept getting overlooked by all the other Trainers and didn't fit well with the other Lab Pokemon.
That leaves Charon, who can't really be out in towns or cities at the moment since he's still trying to fly under the radar until the first Gym, leaving William in his own thoughts. This means the only human he might be able to connect with is Lena, who he just met and seems nice, but who has to report back anything interesting back to the Ranger Union, Unova League, and the International Police.
I don't want to get too much into how he feels as that might spoil later things I plan to explore later, but you are spot on. He's lonely and stressed, but he can only keep pushing himself forward for better and worse.
Appletank
Acquire Cheese
Hey, just finished going through this in a few days, eager to read more about William's issues from a different perspective depicted so interestingly. I really like Lena trying so hard to figure out what's going on from his body language alone.
Small nitpick though, I'm not sure adding Poke-speech adds all that much to the story? It's not really feasible to get inflections through text, one has to get to the translated speech anyways to understand, unless the purpose is to show not understanding anything at all (untranslated speech).
Small nitpick though, I'm not sure adding Poke-speech adds all that much to the story? It's not really feasible to get inflections through text, one has to get to the translated speech anyways to understand, unless the purpose is to show not understanding anything at all (untranslated speech).
Thank you for the praise! Lena is trying her best to work with the clues that she's given, but William knowing how to control himself for the most part helps keep the clues low...
As for the Poke-speech, the main reason it's there is to let the Pokemon be characters just as much as the humans without be hampered too much by language barriers. In universe, the translation effect is because the other Pokemon speech has to go through Arthur's Aura to Lena so she can understand it, which is why there's the difference in speech between Arthur and any other Pokemon Lena can hear.
I'm gonna be honest though, I debated for a bit how to do it as the Pokemon aren't speaking English (or Galarian in this context heh), they're speaking their normal speech, so I tried to figure out how the best way to show that in writing. The 'noise' from the Pokemon to Arthur to Lena causes her to hear the Poke-speech, but her mind/Aura translates it so she can understand what they are trying to say. It's also to differentiate the perspective of the character if they don't have the ability to understand Pokemon, and the method. Psychic Types would speak directly into your mind for the most part, while the limited Pokemon who can speak native human languages or use Aura or other abilities to translate would have an effect similar to Arthur.
I knew the format wouldn't be for everyone for the Poke-speech, but I hope that the benefit of character building being more smooth for the Pokemon outweighs that, or at least, I hope so for the most part.
That aside, thank you again for your praise! There's still a lot for Lena to put together... and we'll have to see what clues William intentionally, or unintentionally gives...
Chapter 8 - The Crowd of Noise
Chapter 8 - The Crowd of Noise
If Lena was biting into her energy bar with a bit more aggression than normal and was pouting, she'd refute those claims, and call it an implanted memory from a Psychic Type.
'Then again, Arthur would probably be the first one to call me out.' She thought with a light mental grumble, glancing over at William who was eating a Chesto Berry and watching the windows at the passing subway tunnel.
As he watched the tunnels go by, she typed into her Fine Styler with her free hand, the photos she and William took for the Quest attached in a message to the original requester. She read it over one last time before pressing send… thankful that Stylers used both radio, satellite, and network communications as the upload speed was consistent.
'Quest Complete…' She thought to herself, somewhat grateful that she had the time to sit down and do this, since by the time they arrived in Nacrene City, it'll be close to the start time of the Mission…. Which, they would have arrived way before if William didn't insist on taking the subway.
"We could have just landed outside Nacrene City." She found herself saying without realizing it.
William glanced away from the window, raising an eyebrow. "Lena… we went over this, remember? You're technically 'supposed' to be a Trainer guiding me…" He took another bite of his Chesto Berry before continuing. "...Rangers are allowed to carry an additional person on a Flying Type in any circumstances. However, Trainers cannot use Fly for transportation of a second person unless it is an emergency, and I can't fly myself because I don't have any license to do so."
'Dammit, William, you're too smart for your own good...' Lena quasi-grumbled to herself in her head, knowing that William had a point, a really valid point… but she really wanted to fly, it was near sunset too... "I could have just said I was a Ranger to anyone watching us… I have my Fine Styler to prove it… I mean, I am heading to a Mission anyways…"
"...but you're not going there as a Ranger."
"...I'm going as a Trainer on paper technically, yes. I will let the other Rangers know though so they aren't caught off guard if they see me use my Fine Styler." Lena added, making William frown and look a bit thoughtful.
"How many others are there gonna be actually…? I know Ace Trainers are a part of Missions sometimes from the reports on TV, but how many people outside of Ranger's will be at the Mission?"
William's question prompted Lena to lean back and run through her own memory… "Public volunteers aren't called on usually unless the scale is larger than the available Rangers are able to handle… usually, something like three, or four Rangers would be able to handle an outbreak of Pokémon no problem. It's usually just catch the target Pokémon species with Styler, and remove the Pokémon from the area to a designated meeting point, and then the Ranger there will help with relocating."
Frowning, Lena couldn't help but wince as she started to think back to the message once again. "...The fact that they're asking for any able-bodied Trainers is… concerning, but shouldn't be too bad for Pinwheel Forest…" Pausing, Lena frowned as she started to think about all the policies and rules that Trainers would need to know and go over during the Mission briefing. "Maybe I should go in as a Ranger… might help keep the chain of command with Trainers who are on their own…"
William tilted his head, as if conceding the point, but looked uncertain. "Maybe, but this is safer overall if we're trying to keep a lower profile… arriving there at least, instead of flying in dramatically." William grimaced at the thought, but Charon's Poké Ball rattled on his belt, distracting him enough from his thought and making him glare for a brief moment before resuming his makeshift dinner.
Lena couldn't help but cross her arms as she finished off the energy bar. "Looks like Charon agrees with me."
"The only Flying Type that flew people in Charon's time was also a Psychic Type, and let kids jump off her with reckless abandon apparently… that wouldn't pass clearance today I bet." William shot back, rolling his eyes as Charon's ball shook again, as if offended.
Lena started to run through her mental list of Flying Types that were also Psychic, but was cut short as the train lurched side to side, the distant sound of what was rumbling echoing through the cars. The other passengers seemed unconcerned and undisturbed, and the sleeping Minccino and their Trainer didn't even wake up. William meanwhile, gripped onto his seat tightly, his eyes wide as he looked around. "Holy fucking — What was that?!"
Lena shot him a glance at his sudden swear, but paused for a moment, humming with a frown as she thought about it… they were on the Orange Line… which was the Multi Line… "Probably one of the Subway Masters using Earthquake ahead on the Battle Cars, they must have been running this line tonight."
William froze and turned to her, his eyes wide in a way Lena had not seen before, which she quickly tried to calm. "The Battle Subway has the same safety standards as a normal subway, and even tighter standards than most official battle facilities, it's safer than street battling actually."
The young Trainer's expression didn't change, shifting to incredulous as he let out a shaking breath before rubbing his face and resuming to eat the Chesto Berry in silence… Lena rolled her eyes as she started to smirk. "Regretting not flying now, are you?"
Without missing a beat, William countered back quickly. "I'd still take an Earthquake-ridden train over flying without a harness or other safety procedures any day."
Lena stared at him, before her voice was a touch softer as she realized what it might be. "Do… you have a fear of heights?"
William didn't freeze, but shook his head before he paused, hesitating. He was clearly fighting with himself as he worked out his response, as if uncertain. "More of an anxiety with flying… there's just a lot of outside factors…"
The Ranger hummed in response, but couldn't help but frown at William's phrasing. There was a lot to unpack in that sentence, but a chime sounding throughout the car's PA System took her attention…
"This is the Nimbasa bound Orange Line. The next stop is 14 St-Percy Square in Nacrene City, estimated arrival time - five minutes. " Came the automated voice through the PA, the sound awakening the sleeping passenger in the corner and her Minccino. The sight of that was enough to prompt Lena to run through her plan in her head again, nodding once.
"Alright, so here's what we'll do once we get off." She said, bringing William's attention to her again before continuing. "We'll head to the Pokémon Center, and get a room for tonight. I already canceled our rooms from Straiton's Pokémon Center, so there shouldn't be any booking issues related to that."
"...Are we sure we'll have room in Nacrene's Pokémon Center?"
Lena was starting to notice that William was a bit too paranoid. "We will, even if it's a double room. It's too early in the season for it to be booked entirely, so you might be able to get a good night of rest while I go to the Mission… probably be back past midnight."
William started to frown, prompting Lena to raise her hands in mock-defense. "What? Growing kids need their sleep, I did warn you that Chesto Berry might keep you up…"
That must have been the wrong thing to say, as William flinched slightly and winced. "I-I — that's not what I was… I mean that —" He grunted, shaking his head before sighing and focusing forward instead, his shoulder's slumping slightly. "...nevermind… "
Lena looked at him, her eyebrows pinching slightly in worry and confusion… William's mood doing an entire one-eighty from when they were at the Dreamyard. 'Did I say something patronizing? I mean, I know you're more mature than most kids, but… you do need your rest just the same as others, right? Do you think you can't rest?'
Taking a breath herself, Lena finished her own energy bar. Some day she'll puzzle him out, but for now… she'd have to refocus for tonight, and completely get back into the game of a Ranger once they got to the Pokémon Center and got a room.
"I apologize, but yes, every Trainer room is booked. Even the Ranger Rooms given the situation. You might have some luck with a hotel, but I'm getting calls saying they're overbooked as well…"
'Dammit William, you Jynxed it...'
The Pokémon Center was packed like a can of Wishiwashi; by Lena's estimates, there must've been at least 60 people all milling around trying to make space in the lobby, and the cafeteria had to be well over the occupancy limit.
"I just hope I can get my Lillipup looked at before the aftermath, who knows how long the wait is gonna be after all the Trainers and Ranger's come back…"
"What's happening with Pinwheel Forest? I saw a Ranger and a Police Officer placing barricades on the front —"
"Johnny, you're being too paranoid again. Not everything is a conspiracy; sometimes shit just happens."
"Arceus Almighty, Val, you're being so fuckin' naïve. First they start bringing in new Pokémon, and now they're blocking off the entirety of Pinwheel Forest to cover up what's happening with the Venipede and Sewaddle! It's all part of that damn diversity law led by that Fae bitch!"
Lena couldn't help but rub her head slightly, feeling the sickening, caustic aura of the guy from across the room just from his words and attitude. Definitely a heavily Poison attuned trainer.
Among all the chaotic conversations, Lena tried her best to refocus… though, the words and noise kept yanking her attention every which way.
"Where are you camping out then, since the main section is blocked for tonight?"
"Eh, might just trek to Route 3, I know it's gonna be crowded by the gate, but might as well, be somewhere close still."
"They should've let us in the damn museum, what, does the League not consider it a 'support' area just because Lenora saddled her job with the only other golden boy they had the last League season?"
"Remember last time there was an emergency in the forest and they opened the museum to the public?"
"Think there will be an Antidote shortage for a bit? I remember them talking about Weedle in the news…"
"I'm betting it's gonna be Full Heals, they always requisition the best stock for their own needs…"
"Oh boo fuckin' hoo, Lenora lost her precious little skull, let's all throw us folks in the Pokémon Center while the League Patrats are off snorting aeruginascin."
"Ayy-roo-gin-a-what-now?"
"That's the shit they put in X Special. Gets you trippin balls deep like Daddy in his one night affair with—"
"Fuck's sake Johnny, there's kids around! And how the fuck do you know this?"
"What can I say? I'm a sommelier of hard drugs."
"Ma'am? Are you okay?"
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Lena refocused on the one manning the front desk, who wasn't the usual Nurse, but instead one of the lab technicians who was usually in the back. Looking entirely exhausted.
She forced herself to clear her throat. "Yeah, sorry, got distracted by, uh, those two," pointing at Johnny and his friend 'Val', who similarly looked about done with him as everyone else around him.
The technician groaned. "Oh, yeah. That man has been going off for the past hour. I'm considering kicking him out, but he technically hasn't done anything wrong yet."
'I really need to make sure that William can be somewhere safe… I uh, don't think I want him around that Johnny guy...'
With a sudden curse in her head, Lena maintained a smile and waved it off. "It's fine… I was just trying to figure something out, sorry, I saw everyone but I just wanted to make sure there weren't any rooms… I'll get out of your hair now… good luck." She said, giving the tech a nod who smiled back with a hint of an exhausted, grateful expression.
With a quick turn, she awkwardly navigated through the crowd once again, making her way to the rightmost wall, where William was leaning against it while sitting on the floor with his bag in his lap. Lena shifted to move her bag to her right side, then similarly leaned her back against the wall before sliding down to sit next to William. A sputter started to leave her lips as Lena rubbed her arm slightly as she tried to formulate a plan to make sure William would be able to rest, but also not be out in the open…
William, in turn, was looking at his Pokédex which displayed a map of the area with pixelated representations of Pokémon spread out, his attention focused as he seemed to be pressing certain button combinations... While she was curious, she ignored that for now… "So… there wasn't anything available…"
Nodding slightly, William stopped whatever he was doing with his Pokédex to look out at the crowd once again, his eyes scanning across and flicking from person to person. "I think they… evacuated the entire forest. Look at some of the gear on some of them."
Lena looked over them all once again, picking up on what William saw. Hastily stuffed away tents, or sleeping bags either poking out of bags, or in people's arms…. Some even wore comfortable sleeping pants or shirts, hammering in the fact that indeed, they had pulled out everyone from the forest that they probably could.
Lena hissed her through teeth as she looked around… 'That… says a lot more than I was expecting… shit, I stop being an Area Ranger for less than a week and I'm that out of the loop?'
She could berate herself for her slip up later, for now, she still had to figure out how to get William somewhere away from all the chaos. Biting her lip, she tried to work through her plan once again, feeling like invisible walls kept blocking her own thoughts as they tried to gather, forcing them to slip away from her own focus.
And then, like the Twins were purposely making it so she couldn't think, William started speaking again."...I'm sorry that I insisted we take the subway, I know it took longer and… probably might have made it otherwise…" William said, almost too low for her to hear, but just loud enough to make her be able to detect the hint of underlying guilt and shame in his tone.
Waving her hand at him and turning to him, she tried to quickly assuage such feelings. "Please, no, it's fine William. It's my fault for not thinking this through, don't worry… I shouldn't have tried to press someone who had a fear of flying to fly on a bird Pokémon they didn't know. I'll make a plan for us."
William frowned, visibly his face shifted into a grimace, seeming to want to come up with a rebuttal, before he just shook his head and sighed, slumping a bit more into himself as he turned back to the Pokédex again.
His mood had shifted drastically since the Dreamyard, almost like all the work Lena had done earlier to help him relax had come undone… a pit of guilt and shame building in her stomach. Arthur must have sensed it, because his Great Ball wobbled on her belt. She passed her finger over it, feeling concern pass through from Arthur's aura, even Rina's Dive Ball shook for a moment.
"I'll be fine… don't worry, just gotta think this through… a lot is happening here…" Lena murmured, attempting to soothe her partners as she gently ran her finger over the capsules… the shaking stopped, but she still felt the lingering emotions and hesitation from Arthur. She tried to ignore it as she started to run through her remaining options…
Even if she pulled her rank for the Pokémon Center staff just to keep an eye on him, they were already swamped with work and she didn't want to give them more headache during this whole mess… plus the 'X-Special' man was…
'Yeah, no, Pokémon Center is a no go, I'm not leaving William in the same room with a… druggie with anger issues… how the name of the Twins did he even get… nevermind.' She was going to need a Psychic Type to force those memories away, even as she physically shook her head to move onto her next point.
They technically could set up a campsite a bit away from town to keep William away from people… but leaving a seven year old alone — even if he had a fully evolved Pokémon — left a taste in Lena's mouth that rivaled a Yago Berry. If a couple Trainers, or Arceus forbid, anyone newsworthy caught wind of William having a young Starter, and a fully evolved Pokémon thought to be lost…
Well, that means the entire purpose of trying to keep him under the radar until the first Gym was broken within the first couple days of her own Mission.
…Which meant the only real option was to keep an eye on William herself. During the Mission.
'Dammit… I don't want him near this, but…' Lena sighed and turned to him with a look that she could feel wasn't fully confident. "I… I hate to ask this, but would you feel comfortable coming with…?"
William's eyebrows raised, and he was clearly surprised by the change in her plan, but he nodded all the same, maybe even too eagerly. "U-Uh, yeah, I can help out if… if that's what you mean."
'I mean… not exactly what I meant, but that works.' Lena thought, sighing and glancing at the crowd. "I know it's… sudden, but… I can't really find a better solution to get you somewhere safe, and where people won't try and poke into your business if they get curious…"
William shook his head, seemingly not bothered. "It's fine, don't worry… Charon can help if we can get away from other Trainers. And if not… worst case scenario, I just try my best to stay out of your way."
Lena grimaced at his phrasing, unsure if it was coming from a place of realistic thinking, or some weird low self-esteem thing. 'Now's not the time to think about that…'
Instead, she pivoted the conversation, sighing and leaning back against the wall as a faint resigned feeling took root in her chest. "I'm sorry still, about not being able to get you a room, I mean..."
William shook his head, waving her off with his other hand. "It's fine, I've had long nights before."
"Sneaking out to visit Charon?"
He tilted his head, nodding slightly in agreement. "That's one, but not the worst I've had."
"Not the worst? What, did you stay up past —"
"Attention everyone!" A voice from a megaphone rattled Lena from her musing enough to blink and turn to the source with a jerky movement, where a Ranger had stood up on top of the front desk, and was scanning the hoard of Pokémon and people.
The crowd went silent, and all eyes locked onto him before he spoke, "I'm the Pokémon Ranger designated for this incident, and I'm calling on volunteer Trainers who are willing to assist with this matter so that Pinwheel Forest can be reopened for travel as soon as possible."
At this, some of the murmuring started again, but the Ranger continued. "Will everyone who is willing to assist, and who has any Pokémon with a type advantage over Bug and Poison Types come with me? Everyone else, please follow the directive of any fellow Pokémon Rangers, Pokémon Center Staff, and Law Enforcement at this time, thank you."
'Shoot, what's his name again? I know he's usually assigned to Pinwheel Forest…. M-something right? Matthew? Mitchell? Michael?'
Lena stopped her musing as she realized some Trainers started to follow 'M-something' down the hall, and she went to take a step forward before glancing back at William for a brief moment to speak with him…. Only, she quickly realized he was not behind her, but now in front of her, stopped a couple feet away as he realized she had not followed them.
"We're… going with them, right?"
Lena blinked, opening her mouth for a moment, before nodding and holding back an internal sigh. "Yeah, we are. Just… stay close. This isn't ideal, I know, but I'll explain more about this later."
Taking the lead, and walking a bit faster they were fast enough to merge with the group following the Ranger. Lena felt her instincts kick from when she last did a Mission like this… during the siege.
Despite the memories, she still glanced around at the other Trainers as they were led into the Center's private conference room, already gaging their strength. Her eyes flicked from the type of Poké Balls on their belts, to how they held themselves as they walked, and sorting where they might best be able to assist out of sheer reflex. She had to catch herself from saying anything aloud though, but still mentally sorted them.
William stayed close to her side, his face impressively serious as he focused on the Ranger in front without flicking to anywhere else in the room. She noted though, that he was playing with Charon's Poké Ball in his hand, rubbing his thumb around the ridge of the capsule as he focused without glancing around at any of the other Trainers. Almost as if trying to ignore the slight glances some of them were giving him.
Before she could subtly ask if he was alright, the Ranger in charge stood at the head of the table, a Simisear handing him a remote which finally sparked the name she had been trying to remember. 'Miguel! That's his name!'
"Alright, so it looks like we have all our volunteers… here…" Miguel trailed off as his eyes locked with William, the almost invisible furrow of his eyebrows giving enough away for Lena to know exactly what he was thinking. His eyes then flicked to Lena, the furrowing intensifying as he took in her 'uniform'. It was enough to prompt her to shift her left arm just enough to clearly show her Fine Styler, her own eyes staring back at him to send a silent message.
Whether or not he received it, Miguel continued smoothly along. "Ahem, anyways. Thank you so much for agreeing to assist us on this mission, I'm Miguel, one of the regular Rangers who patrols Pinwheel Forest. As such, I'm going to run through everything related to this…"
Pressing a button on the remote he was given, the screen behind him shifted to what looked like an aerial view of the forest, one that Lena herself had seen a couple times. "So, as you've probably heard, Pinwheel Forest has had a budding infestation of the Weedle line, even though they've only been approved to be on Route 12 as a stable habitat."
'So, most likely migrated? Those have been happening more often… ' Lena started to think to herself… her body naturally shifted back to not be obvious as her mind started to wander, tuning out the standard speech Miguel was giving that she had given others before on previous volunteer Missions she had run…
'I suppose that would make sense… from what I heard on the TV, they've been really aggressive too, most likely trying to establish their own hive? Were they kicked out of their previous hive…?' Before Lena could continue to go down that line of thought, she glanced back up at Miguel, just to check where they were…
On screen, was the standard instructions for properly treating poison, one that Lena knew all too well. Wash the wound with clean water, spray an Antidote over the wound… wrap it… all the standard stuff for low-level poison from Beedrill, and backups in a worst case scenario.
All things she reviewed in Ranger School over and over again. Along with various other poison treatments for more advanced Poison Types… learning how to treat poison for a Steel Type was… interesting, even if those cases were highly limited. Despite that, she made sure to review them just in case for Arthur's sake.
'Corrosion is such a weird ability… only… the Salandit line has the ability? Wait — no, the Glimmet line also rarely does…' Lena mused with a hum, before shaking her head, her thoughts were still too scattered from the day… she had to focus.
Her mind glanced around the room again, starting to take in the other Trainers to gauge who may need to be paid up with who… but her thoughts were shattered again by a passing comment she heard.
"What the heck is a kid doing here?"
Lena had to hold a wince back physically, the comment… was fair. 'I don't want William here either for his own safety… but the optics for every option aren't the best…'
After that comment though, that's when more started to fill the air, just barely under people's breath, hushed, disconnected whispers… or maybe she just started to notice them now that she was focusing… or trying too.
"He's not seriously going to be on this? Youngsters can't join Missions…"
'Well, he's not a Youngster you know, which is fair, he is young bu— '
"Probably hasn't even had a battle, look at him trying to be all serious…"
'Well, yeah he needs more experience with Ronin, but Charo—'
"Hey, she looks a bit young to be his parent… think she's his babysitter?"
'I mean, it's more like he's—'
"I bet he doesn't even have any Badges, bet you he's gonna be crying before half-a-hour. Stupid wannabe Trainer kids…"
"I hope we don't get paired up with him, bet you he has only a house Lillipup, probably all he could handle…"
"Twins above, he's past his bedtime… they're making anyone Trainer these days… his Pokémon probably barely listens to him…"
Lena felt something burn inside her at the comments at William, her teeth gritting slightly as she forced herself from turning directly at the speakers. She could also tell that Arthur and Rina similarly felt angry, with how Arthur's Aura felt tight, restraint and holding itself back from lashing out even though the Great Ball. Meanwhile, Rina's Dive Ball got colder, condensation forming around it at the comments…
She didn't let her own emotions show on her face, instead shifting her posture a bit taller, straighter… taking a deep breath similar to when Arthur showed her how he meditated… and cleared his thoughts. She wasn't nearly as experienced with Aura, or as in touch as the Lucario was, but she could feel her mind wash away the distractions, her very presence almost seeming to challenge the rest of the Trainers to continue.
Some comments trailed off mid-sentence, one even making a muffled choking noise. The attention started to shift instead to Miguel speaking now, instead of Lena or William.
'I know it's a stressful situation but that does not give people the right to make comments about a kid, make comments about me if you're going too…'
Taking another deep breath to prevent herself from saying anything aloud she didn't intend to, and with as much of a subtle glance as she could, her eyes darted to William to check on his reaction. She knew that he would be getting comments about his age eventually… but from Trainers in a volunteer Mission?
William's expression gave nothing away, she could only see the same impassive expression staring dead on at Miguel. His thumb continued the repetitive motion of before however, slowly dragging around the ridge Charon's Poké Ball in his hand and paying no mind to any of the other Trainers.
'...I'll speak to him later, make sure he's okay…' Lena mused, adding it to her ever growing checklist of things she needs to do, and keep straight…
"...with that said, please put this number on your communication device of choice." Miguel said with enough force to direct her attention to him again as he pressed a button on a remote. The screen behind him shifted slides, showing the emergency frequency number for this mission. There were a series of beeps, and clicks around the room as Xtransceivers, some PokéNavs, and even one decade old Pokégear were turned on to add that number. Lena subtly opened her Fine Styler at an angle to add it in at the top of her communication list.
"This number will be active for the remainder of tonight, if you, or your partners need to report something you see, need to retire for the night, get into trouble, anything at all… please use this line to reach a Ranger to assist." With a serious look, Miguel leaned a little over the table, leveling everyone with a firm gaze. "Do not hesitate to use this. We would rather have a false alarm and a resource be overused, than someone not using it and getting them, their Pokémon, or other hurt… or worse."
With a sigh, Miguel stood back up and nodded, gazing across the group before making a motion to another Ranger, who leaned down and grabbed a box from under the table before placing it on top. Inside, were hundreds of Nest Balls, all in their shrunken form which was impressive enough that Lena almost was about to comment, before another box of Nest Balls was placed next to it.
"Take as many Nest Balls as you can carry, however, please tell us how many you are grabbing… we sadly do have to document that." He said with a joking tone, some understanding laughter echoing from some Trainers, and others grumbling… "Once you grab what you feel you can carry, please exit the Pokémon Center and meet up with Ranger Hillary to set up groups and other procedural work, she will have her Beartic out so you can easily spot her."
At this, the room slowly started to shrink as people started to move… more and more people grabbed Nest Balls before heading out… Lena was glad that they were in the back of the group for the inevitable conversation…
Sure enough, as soon as the two of them reached the front and once the last Trainer had left the room, Miguel's posture changed. He flicked his eyes to William, who was shoveling Nest Balls carefully into the pocket of his hoodie before pausing and seeming content… before he frowned and grabbed one more, quickly moving his hand across his hoodie and tapping as he re-counted before looking up at Miguel. "Twenty Nest Balls."
Miguel blinked, then blinked again before staring at Lena. Lena glanced at William to direct him outside, but William already put the pieces together, looking just a tad guilty. "I'll… head out by Ranger Hillary, let you two speak, I'll wait for you outside…"
Holding back a thankful look on her face with Miguel staring, Lena watched as he retreated outside the room, making sure the door closed softly. The room was now silent, with only two Rangers, and a Simisear who mirrored his partner's expression towards Lena.
"So… mind telling me what's going on with…" Miguel started, making a motion up and down at Lena, making her raise her eyebrows.
"An emergency Mission goes out at nine-o-clock at night and you're surprised I'm in my civvies?" Lena shook her head and crossed her arms. "Orders from Chairperson Erma herself. I have a… long term Mission, and I can't really wear a standard Ranger Uniform."
Miguel's eyebrows shot up at the mention of Erma, whatever he was going to say in rebuttal dying on his tongue, even Semisear was shocked. "Well… alright, but how does that relate to the kid?" Regaining a serious expression, he frowned and shook his head. "He doesn't even look like he has any Badges, Lena. A Mission like this isn't a place for a greenhorn Trainer, what Pokémon does he even have that's good against the Weedle line?"
"A Typhlosion, for one."
Miguel raised his eyebrows, clearly intrigued. "Parents were professionals then, eh? Old family Pokémon?"
'Shoot, I need something quick.' Lena forced her expression to not shift as she ran through possible excuses…. She said she was a guide to that one kid William fought earlier that day, but Miguel would sniff out that lie in an instant… something to not prompt further questions, but let her stay with William… and then, like a bolt of lightning, William's words came back to her forefront.
'I know Ace Trainers are a part of Missions sometimes from the reports on TV…'
Doing her best, Lena started to speak a bit fast, as if she hadn't clearly come up with this on the spot. "Y-Yeah, kid's a prodigy or something. Apart of some early Ace Trainer program. They uh… didn't want to send him out alone though due to his age, so they're having me go with him… he was apparently taking college classes, or something with discrete math for his age, so that helped with the support to let him go on a Journey early."
Miguel, to her relief, nodded at the explanation, but couldn't hold back a growing frown. "I… can get the reasoning, but I don't like the idea of any kid being in a situation like this. Sure he can't stay at the Pokémon Center? Wait for a… smaller scale Mission for his first time?"
Even while she was giving herself a mental high-five at her lie, Lena let a sardonic laugh leave her as she shook her head, her smile having no happiness in it. "With what room? The Ranger designated rooms are taken up as well for tonight… and I dunno if you heard about the uh… 'Johnny' guy in the lobby…?"
"...Alright, fair point… hotels are booked up too?"
With a sigh, Lena nodded. "Completely booked according to the Pokémon Center staff… and he's seven years old so I don't want him camping out alone. He is a Trainer, yes, but seven still. I'd prefer to keep him out of this too but…"
A silence filled the room, a heavy sigh leaving Miguel before he spoke again. "This is a bad idea, I'm just stating that, and I think you know as well." Lena schooled her expression, but couldn't help but nod in agreement. Miguel didn't stop though, taking a deep breath before finishing his thought. "However… even though I'm one of the Ranger's assigned to this Mission, you technically outrank me now so I can't tell you what to do."
Lena's brain short circuited for a moment, before she remembered she was a Top Ranger now… which did allow her more flexibility than she expected herself to have.
"Right… I know. I don't like the idea either, but I'm going to keep an eye on him, we just need to catch as much of the Weedle line, which shouldn't be an issue for him." Lena declared, Miguel staring at her for a moment before shaking his head and laughing.
"Yeah, well with how young he is, he might drag you into trouble… just, radio in if you need anything, alright?"
With a nod, and a mutual dismissal, Lena turned and started to walk out the door. Nudging it open with her shoulder, she shifted her gloves before making sure her Fine Styler was secure around her left arm as she walked down the hallway.
Her mind was already starting to run through scenario after scenario, a plan formulating from all the information she knew about the situation… capturing the Weedle with her Styler would be fine, but she couldn't do it with the group itself, so she'll need to pull away and go her own route with William.
'Benefit of that is that he'll be able to release Charon as well.' Lena thought with a slightly relieved note, before shaking her head. She should meet up with William outside before thinking over anything specific.
After navigating through the crowd once again, it was easy to spot William, with him wearing his yellow sweatshirt; and how he clearly sat apart from the rest of the volunteer Trainers who were mingling among themselves. Though, the group did seem a bit larger now, with some of their own Pokémon out now. There was a Darmanitan, a Houndoom, a Gothorita, and even a Grumpig, all mingling close to their Trainers, but also conversing lightly with the other Pokémon.
And William and Ronin clearly kept to themselves, clearly separate; though some other Trainers did shoot him the occasional glance at William as he tapped through the Pokédex silently and with Ronin chewing on his own Chesto Berry in his lap.
William glanced up, noticing Lena and nodding before speaking to Ronin too soft for her to discern as she walked over. The Water Type nodded before William picked him up and put him in his hoodie; shifting slightly due to the weight, he stood up and walked over to Lena with a look of concern. "Everything okay…?"
'Jeez kid, you really are anxious…' With a light nod and wave, Lena tried to push his concerns aside. "Yeah, it's all good. I'll explain later."
With that, a very deliberate clearing of the throat brought everyone's attention to the Ranger next to the Beartic, Hillary's eyes glancing across the crowd for a moment. It was similar to Miguel, but this time she was sizing up everyone, identical to how Lena had done so once she had entered the room. "Alright, now that I have everyone's attention, follow me. We're going to the entrance of Pinwheel Forest where our rendezvous point and station will be. We'll also go over any questions, or minor details so don't run off."
She paused, making sure her words sunk in before turning and walking, her Beartic standing closely behind her and letting out a huff as she also huffed and mirrored her partner. The group slowly started to head in the direction of the forest, William and Lena slowly merging close with them, but still staying in the back.
After a minute of pause, William glanced up at Lena with a questioning expression. "Not gonna release Arthur or Rina yet?"
At the mention of her partners, her hand instinctively went to her belt before she caught herself and shook her head slightly. "No, once we're in the forest, then I'll release them…we're gonna go on our own after Hillary finishes, I'll take care of that though so there's no questions, don't worry."
William hummed with a nod, glancing at the night sky and taking a deep breath, rolling his neck slightly as they headed away from Nacrene City… falling silent and seeming lost in thought.
Lena decided to do the same, letting herself have a moment to think to herself before the long night, the forest seeming almost to stretch far above the group as they walked deeper into the darkness…
Beta Readers:
David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild
Author's Notes: Sorry to keep you waiting, but here is Chapter 8!
During the hiatus, I pre-wrote as much I could... multiple chapters had to actually be broken up into separate chapters but we should be back on our normal schedule for now for a bit.
Lena's just having a long day. Sadly, this Journey ain't a vacation for her... or William, and they still got the rest of the night to go through...
Fun fact of the day: Sleepless is a condition caused by Chesto Berries in Mystery Dungeon if the user eat one while not already asleep.
I know it's just the start of this arc, but I hope what we've written as the build up is enjoyable still. Can't wait to see everyone's thoughts on the situation at hand...
I hope everyone has a great day! Thank you again for your patience and kind words on the last chapter!
Big mission, exposure to lots of trainers and new people, booked up Centers and hotels forcing him to participate in such a large scale operation. William probably mildly alarmed at the big fat protagonist flags being waved his direction. Ignoring it to keep his sanity, and the world doesn't revolve around him, yeah?
Lena stressed, and admirably handling it. Growing pains, and strangers trying to find how this dynamic fit on a personal level. Mentor, bodyguard, probably friend, and all that.
Until the next Big Thing.
Have a feeling she's gonna need a vacation, and all the therapy right after. And it's not even the first gym yet.
Thanks for sharing.
Lena stressed, and admirably handling it. Growing pains, and strangers trying to find how this dynamic fit on a personal level. Mentor, bodyguard, probably friend, and all that.
Until the next Big Thing.
Have a feeling she's gonna need a vacation, and all the therapy right after. And it's not even the first gym yet.
Thanks for sharing.
Lena is doing her best, again, she's done a lot just today, being the referee for William's battle with Ronin, taking William out to the Dreamyard to try and get him to decompress and open up... and then having that all ruined by the sudden Mission announcement. The day isn't over yet for her sadly, and she's gonna have a lot to report to the Unova League, the International Police, and the Ranger Union once all is said and done...
As for William, he was already starting to suspect where this was going on the subway ride over, but honestly, there is a silver lining technically for him, but that's for later... but oh yeah, he's anxious and hiding it the best he can, especially since he doesn't have Charon out to help tether him.
Appletank
Acquire Cheese
Ah, I think you misunderstood me. The translation part is fine with me, especially since Aura/Ghost/whatever is translating it so the readers know the exact same info as the characters. Rina says "what's up", Lena hears "what's up", we hear "what's up". No issues there.
It's the untranslated part that bugs me, there's not a lot of information being transferred from "Flo-zel?" Maybe Lena can understand it from experience and the tone, but I'm not getting anything. Especially if it's translated immediately after, there's no reason for me to pay attention to the untranslated part at all. Italics or Brackets already tell me a translation filter is in effect.
Ah! I see now, I apologize for misunderstanding...
I think, for me at least... it was more a formatting thing at that point. And this is probably due to the fact that I've had to write so many college papers, and my own dad being an English Teacher so some habits rubbed off on me, but for some reason, dialogue as just parentheses doesn't... click right for me? It doesn't look right to me at least. Single quotation marks were taken for POV thoughts, and italics were taken by Aura/Psychic Type communication, so had to find a different method in my head to show the communication was different.
So, I did the verbal between quotation marks for what Lena hears, and what Lena's brain/Arthur's Aura translates to inside parentheses as a sort of compromise, but also to help specify the communication method that Lena, or others hear.
I know that's a very shallow reason for the style, and I did sit on it for a while before posting even the first chapter. I know it's not for everyone sadly, and I apologize... it probably had more to do with how my brain works with writing something, and organizing a scene...
Thank you for the clarification though, it helps shine a light on a couple things... I will think on it more to see if there may be a better way that doesn't look off to me, or readers. Thank you again! I hope you have a great day!
the mention of how the bag is graded for a dragonites hyper beam doesn't make the most sense especially since typhlsion has a higher special attack stat by 19%