In Progress Tales of Acceptance (Rating: T)

Summary: I always wondered what the world was like outside my home. Now that I'm out and about, it's nothing like what my friends and I expected it to be. But you know what? We wouldn't have it any other way.

Hello people of TCoD. I have a story I would like to share with you because a certain Scyther suggested that I should post my piece of written work here. After some consideration, I decided to take up his suggestion.

This piece of fanfiction is originally posted at Fanfiction.net (click the "Tales of Acceptance" banner if you wanna read my story there), where I'll be updating this story first, followed by this forum. This story is rated T for several reasons that are to appear within this fic throughout, such as death.

My writing skills may not be the best but what I'm asking for is that you give this story a chance please.

Alright, then, let's get this story going! But firstly, I would like to thank BlazieAura for being my beta-reader (as in reading my story with a critical eye). And secondly, if you've read my fanfic at FF.net, then the wording here of the first chapter will be slightly different but the plot still remains (I'll get to editing the current chapters of my fanfic at FF later on).

Now then... enjoy. (Also, try and guess what inspired me to write this and I might reward you).

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.................. Oh, you want me to say more here?


PART I

Chapter 1-1 — Misled

“This tree looks familiar,” I said aloud with uncertainty present in my voice. However, something told me that I had already seen this large old oak tree before. “Have we already passed this, Sprik?” I looked down at the Cacnea who stood by my side, whose eyes stared me in the face with a look that said, ‘Gee, I don’t know, you tell me’. It was official, we were lost. “Where’s a map stall when you need one?” I deeply sighed.

Of all the things I forgot to bring, it had to be a map! I packed my bag, food, sleeping bag, medicine, a tent, extra clothing… yet the need for a map of this entire region never crossed my mind! This certainly was a bad way to start off as a trainer… then again I was a rookie to begin with. Nice going trailing off the main route, rookie! I mentally scolded myself. It would have been nice if Teal came along on my journey, though. Actually, anybody with a good sense of direction to accompany me into these woods would have been nice, too. Currently, it was just me and my starter Sprik, my Cacnea.

Normally, you wouldn’t start your Pokémon journey with a Cacnea but rather the region’s three starter Pokémon: a fire type, water type or grass type. However, unlike Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh, Boniaer had no specific starter Pokémon because there was no professor to distribute them. This meant it was common to start your journey with a Clefairy, for example, or Elekid or Duskull or Stunky or whichever one you preferred. Unfortunately, the problem was going about capturing them with no Pokémon to weaken them in the first place. Instead, the majority of trainers in Boniaer would in fact buy their starter Pokémon from a catalogue called Pine’s Collection, hosted by the well-known trainer of the region in the market under the same family name, Clark Pine.

Sprik was no exception. My parents bought him for me as a present six years ago on my ninth birthday, and back then he was really grouchy. As weeks passed, we grew to cooperate with each other and not rip each other's hearts out, as well as train side by side. A year later, Sprik and I did agree on one thing for once: we both wanted to get out of the house and go travelling. Unfortunately, my parents, being the overprotective kind of adults, prevented us from leaving and they suggested I continue school until they thought I was old enough to be responsible and secured, which was concluded to be around 30 years old. It took us five years to convince them of letting me out of the house much to our annoyance (school work was mostly to blame, too).

During those five years, though, Sprik and I bonded a little more. I also came across a pamphlet that gave details about the Pokémon League of Boniaer. In the end, I decided to give it a try; it seemed fun, plus I could explore the land, too.

And because of my decision, I now stood here lost in this darn forest while the sun basked down its wavy rays upon the both of us! “Maybe the main route’s this way?” I pointed to the east direction with my right hand, unsure of where the path led to, whereas my left hand wiped the accumulating sweat on my forehead.

As we marched along the trail, I occasionally surveyed my surroundings in hopes of discovering the main route. As a result, it was a futile attempt. To my left, my vision was barricaded by tall forest trees; to my right, another set of tall trees that hindered my vision; and to my front, guess what? More tall trees!

No, wait a minute…

“Cac!” Sprik’s warning woke me from my trance and before I knew it, my foot was an inch away from stepping over the edge of a cliff! When I completely came back to my senses, I stumbled for a bit and fell on my butt.

“Thanks for the warning, Sprik!” I turned my head to face my companion. Instead of greeting me with a ‘you’re welcome’, the little cactus Pokémon grimaced with his club-like arms folded. Grouchy as ever I see. It couldn’t be helped though; it was a part of his personality.

I got back on my feet, dusting away the dirt on my pants and walked over to Sprik. I stopped mid-step forward when my senses were suddenly alerted to a rustle in the bushes. Finally, our first Pokémon encounter!

“Sprik, get ready,” I commanded. Truth be told, I was pretty nervous, but who wouldn't be if it was their first battle? We were lucky enough to not encounter any wild Pokémon since home to this location someplace far from home. If I caught it, I’d finally have a new friend to hang with. I mean, c’mon, being alone with grouchy here for the last six years has given me quite a headache.

“Vee!” it yelped as it came out of the bushes. Well, what do you know, an Eevee. They were rare around these parts, that I was sure of. Maybe getting lost wasn’t so bad after all…

Before going cactus-to-mammal, I noticed the Eevee panting heavily, as if it were running from something. “Hold up, Sprik.” I heard him grumble something in his language, but that didn’t matter. When I tried to take a step forward again, another being came out from the bushes.

This time it was a human wearing a dark outfit which had a large P inscribed in the middle and a diagonal slash running across the letter. He also held an open cage over his head madly. I took one quick glance at his eyes, feeling an ominous vibe emanating from them, and right then I knew he had to be a bad guy.

“I gotcha now, ya little runt!” he yelled as he tried to put the cage on the Eevee. Unfortunately for him, it leaped over my Cacnea and landed right in front of me on all four. The Eevee took to hiding behind me, and it was then that the man noticed me standing there. “Who the hell are you?”

“Just a kid who knows for a fact this Eevee ain’t yours!” I answered back with confidence. “If you want it, you’ll have to go through me and my Cacnea.”

“Cac!”

“Ya think yer all that, huh?” he placed a hand to his belt and grabbed a Poké Ball. “Looks like I’ll hafta take it by force! Come outta here and fight!” He threw the red-white orb into the air and it opened up, shooting a white light to the ground which then formed into a... small purple... mouse.

Seriously, a Rattata? C’mon, I was expecting something… stronger. Then again maybe I shouldn’t have wished too much of it since it was my first battle.

I gulped out of nervousness. Oh well, here goes, I thought.

“Rattata, use Tackle!” he ordered while Sprik got into defensive position. We waited for the attack… but it never came. While the man was shouting harsh words to his Pokémon, we noticed it was afflicted with sleep status (probably from a previous battle).

Now's our chance! I mentally cheered, while grinning at our good fortune. “Alright, Sprik, just walk up to Rattata, you know what to do.”

Generally, trainers would give commands to their partners. Sprik, on the other hand, was practically impossible to get through. I did my best to execute orders from him five years ago but there was no such luck. After a few more hopeless attempts to obey me, I came up with a new style of training. Instead of issuing commands, I got him a sparring dummy to train with— specifically me, which resulted in lots of hospital visits.

By allowing Sprik to fight the way he wanted to, we were actually getting somewhere with our training! What’s more, he would actually listen to me as I was gave some pointers on how to improve swinging his club-like arms. If I were to send him out to battle (like I did now) I wouldn't have to worry about what moves he would use in whatever situation. He was a smart Cacnea. I had total faith that he could take care of himself, so I saw no need to continue disciplining him.

Anyway, back to the fight, Sprik swung his right arm, then his left, and then an uppercut; a three hit combo! Unfortunately, it woke up the Rattata.

“Use Tackle!” the man ordered harshly.

No time for Sprik to block it. It wasn’t necessary, but I yelled, “Jump!” and he obeyed. I hope he wouldn’t mind if I warned him of incoming dangers.

“Again!” the man ordered and the Rattata charged. I didn’t need to warn Sprik the next time for he blocked the attack and smacked the mouse away, doing another three hit combo on it.

The battle continued on in the same manner and I just watched on excitedly. That Rattata sure has a lot of stamina, I’ll give it that, I mentally commented to it, but then immediately pondered, ...How? Rattatas were generally weak Pokémon to begin with. Perhaps the man put him through some sort of special training to stay up this long in battle. Maybe Sprik and I should have that kind of training session when we get the chance.

My thoughts were then interrupted when I looked down to see the Eevee sitting by my leg, staring at me face to face. I admired the cuteness of its tail hitting my leg somewhat hard, and in an instant I was crouched down petting it. It was so cute looking; how could I not ignore the urge of petting something so adorable?

But it also distracted me long enough to not see the man sneak up in front of me.

“Boo!” he quietly caught me off caught, which consequently led me to stumble backwards…. Bad idea. I then remembered I was standing at the edge of a cliff!

“Cac!” I heard Sprik cry out, followed by what I thought was a successful Tackle attack from the opponent.

Quickly, I grabbed onto the ledge with a hand, trying my best to get back up. Reluctantly, I looked down below. Just great, I couldn’t even see the bottom! And to make matters worse there were jagged rocks protruding a ledge or two down!

“Vee!” I glanced up and saw the mammal’s concerned face.

“You're mine now!” the man said as he went to grab the small mammal, and what happened next left me utterly speechless.

The Eevee spun around to face the man, and as soon as its mouth opened, small flames were being directed at the man. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Did that Eevee use Ember, a fire type move an Eevee isn’t supposed to be able to learn through any means?

Without thinking, I took my hands to rub my eyes to ensure my vision was alright and… uh oh.

“AHHHH!!!” I fell, screaming a long wail at the very top of my lungs as time suddenly slowed down all around me... slowly ticking the last remaining seconds of my life.

Heh... I guess this was the end. I had only just started my journey today... and here I was now. I couldn't believe it happened so fast... but who was I to kid? It felt so real. Oh, the irony...

“I’m sorry, Sprik,” I whispered, tears beginning to well up in my eyes, “but you’re gonna have to venture through these lands without me. And Eevee... I hope you’ll successfully escape the evil clutches of that man.”

I closed my eyes as gravity decided to slowly push me downward, while waiting patiently for the light to engulf my vision completely…

… I continued falling…. And falling…. And eventually, I felt a rough, sharp edge touch my back…

… And before I knew it… a light had covered my world…

… A dim light… to be exact…


So what do you think? Leave a review if you want, they're highly appreciated (especially constructive ones).

Moving along, I have the second chapter ready but I still have to make edits to it before I post it here (and then replace it on FF.net). And speaking of the second chapter, it was by that time that I started to accept OCs from people at FF.net, and now I'll start accepting OCs from you guys here at TCoD. Here's how to submit, and please put some thought to your characters:

Name/Nickname: Self-explanatory

Gender: M/F/Other (explain)

Species: Pokémon (what type?)/Human/Special*

Age (in human years):

Personality:

Background info: (Optional; I could make it up if you want)

Noticeable features: Shinies are okay but are limited

Special abilities/features (Pokémon/Special only, unless you can come up with a good reason why a human has a special feature on them): For example, a Pikachu using it's electrical powers to create a protective barrier around itself; a Grovyle's leaves on it wrists act like an actual blade, so there's no need to unleash a Leaf Blade move; an Arcanine running at the speed of sound without the use of Quick Attack or Extreme Speed move; etc.

*Could be a Pokémorph, reborn human/Pokémon, transformed human/Pokémon, robot, etc. "Special" species will be limited unfortunately.

Send the information to me by PM and we'll negotiate if necessary. And one last thing about OCs: they won't join the main group on their journey because I already decided on that. They will confront the main group more than once throughout the story, though. (However, depending on the character you give me, I may be able to come up with an excuse for said character to remain with the group, thus making him/her an exception...).

For my last message, I would like to say that I have... difficulties updating, so I encourage you to harass me to work on the next chapter because the pestering will motivate me to get to writing it up.

EDIT: 14/07/2009 (Yeah, I tend to do these to fix up mistakes. =P)

Skroy...

Well, I only have a few problems with it, I'm not all that great of a reviewer.

When the Rocket Grunt said 'ya' that kind of threw me off. OK, admittedly, he may have used slang, but it still, just, looks stupid in the middle of normal text.

'Three Hit Combo' also looks a bit dumb. There is a problem with this, however. It looks as if it belongs in a video game.

And having the Canea attack him... well, I could see it happening once, however, wouldn't his parents find it fishy.

And if I was about to die, well, I wouldn't think of the Eevee in that situation. The closest thing is possibly the cacnea, but something I just meant? No. No I wouldn't.

And, well, you're collective writing style tells me that your main character is most definitely going to live. I can't give yo much advice on that, and for that I'm sorry, but you must work on the suspense if you really want to give the possibility that he will not live.

Yay, you posted it here too, Skroy. Well, now I don't have to go get an FF.net account to properly review it. xD I like what I see so far... your style shows a lot of potential. I noticed a slight improvement in wording from the FF.net version, which is good. The main character feels so alive and is so easy to relate to - it really makes the story more believable. I also like the witty humor strung throughout, and the general feel of it. Scyther kinda had a point about the suspense though... When I read the chapter the first time on FF.net, I knew something was gonna happen so he didn't die. I was surprised at what you did with it, (I'm not gonna spoil it though =P) I was kind of expecting something more... obvious. Also, a few nitpicky kinda things:

“Your mine now!” the man said as he went to grab the small mammal, and what happened next left me utterly speechless.

Click to expand...

Should be "You're mine now!" 'Cause, you know, it's "you are", not "your" like your hat... Probably just a typo... I used to make these all the time. xD

And...

Before going cactus-to-mammal, I noticed the Eevee panting heavily, as if it were running from something. “Hold up, Sprik.” I heard him grumble something in his language but that didn’t matter. When I tried to take a step forward again, another being came out from the bushes.

Click to expand...

I don't know... just sounds kinda choppy here. I think the "I heard him grumble something in his language but that didn't matter" sentence might need a comma in there. Maybe "I heard him grumble something in his language, but that didn't matter." Probably just my ear - I'm sensitive to weird stuff like this. xD

Keep up the good work! =) I hope you can get your style finalized so it flows a bit better. I think that's about all it needs right now insofar as writing style. As for plot, I need to see more to judge that.

Argh why is it always Eevee? Eevee this, Eevee that... and now you've coupled this with the other cliche, meeting generic grunt from team Procket, come to make your life miserable.

...It's really much the same as Scyther's fic (My guess is you guys are in cahoots, so that would make sense, wouldn't it?) There's some things I like-- the random, "cool" starter Pokemon (nobody loves Cacnea, so this is awesome), the region name (Boniaer? I can't even pronounce that, but fuck yeah, I'm moving there) and, uh... well, that's all the constructive compliments I can give; the latter half of your story is, um. Well. I can pretty much see now where this is going-- he's going to get kidnapped by the evil guys, who are trying to awaken the legendary and rule the world, and along the way he'll meet up with a spunky girl and a moody boy with a troubled past, and they'll go on an advenchurr and beat the evil guys. Amirite? Nothing wrong with that, except... well, y'know. Try harder. Do a little worldbuilding, make your evil team cool (not just kool), and make it different from the rest. That would be even cooler.

They...aren't...Rocket Grunts.

And whose to say this won't be the coolest fic in the world? It's the first chapter.

Involuntary Twitch said:

Argh why is it always Eevee? Eevee this, Eevee that... and now you've coupled this with the other cliche, meeting generic grunt from team Procket, come to make your life miserable.

...It's really much the same as Scyther's fic (My guess is you guys are in cahoots, so that would make sense, wouldn't it?) There's some things I like-- the random, "cool" starter Pokemon (nobody loves Cacnea, so this is awesome), the region name (Boniaer? I can't even pronounce that, but fuck yeah, I'm moving there) and, uh... well, that's all the constructive compliments I can give; the latter half of your story is, um. Well. I can pretty much see now where this is going-- he's going to get kidnapped by the evil guys, who are trying to awaken the legendary and rule the world, and along the way he'll meet up with a spunky girl and a moody boy with a troubled past, and they'll go on an advenchurr and beat the evil guys. Amirite? Nothing wrong with that, except... well, y'know. Try harder. Do a little worldbuilding, make your evil team cool (not just kool), and make it different from the rest. That would be even cooler.

Click to expand...

Um... actually no. I already read the second chapter at the other place Skroy posted it, and it doesn't go in that direction at all. I agree that it needs improvement, but give it a chance - I think it has potential.

Mm-hm. It goes in a compeletely unexpected direction. I've read the first three chapters, though, and it hasn't really settled into the main plot yet. Skroy has huge plans for for this story.

BTW, Skroy, I liked most of the changes you made. I don't think I'll nitpick today. After all, you could just post the chapter here and everyone would be happy to point out minor (or major, I guess) mistakes. I suppose I need to work harder next time I beta. :/

You guys keep saying that it goes off in a different direction, and that's fine, but there is this to consider: the beginning of the story is the first thing that a reader will read. If the beginning looks generic and uninteresting (which I'm not saying that this is), then it's very likely that the rest will be, as well. So a beginning should never be written uninteresting with the excuse that it turns off in a totally different direction. Just my two cents~

Anyway, I really like the starter thing and the bits of "personality" given to the area with the details about where the Cacnea was bought and such. Nice job with that. I'm also curious as to why the Eevee knows Ember; I thought that Ember might be one of Eevee's egg moves, but it's not.

For some reason, I don't really like the fact that the Eevee is jumping out of the bushes. Picture a wild animal, a squirrel or a rabbit maybe. They don't jump out of bushes; they run through the bushes and gain no height as they're leaving the bush. Just a nitpicky thing, I guess. =/

“I’m a fifteen year old kid who knows for a fact this Eevee ain’t yours!”

Click to expand...

Is someone really going to shout at a complete stranger that they're a fifteen year old kid? Go back and look at this sentence; if this is really what your character would say, then leave it. But if the only reason he says this is so that the reader knows for sure that your character is fifteen years old, get rid of it. There's better ways to incorporate age.

I'm not really believing that he actually removed his hands from the cliff to rub his eyes. As shocking as it is that Eevee is using Ember, I'm pretty sure that the shock of hanging off of a cliff wouldn't that easily be forgotten. =/ Maybe, instead, the flames from the Ember attack come too close to his hands, and he instinctively pulls them away from the fire? I'd have an easier time believing this, as that's more of an instinctual reaction than rubbing your eyes.

Sorry if any of this sounds like I'm snapping; I'm not, I'm just pointing out stuff. xD;

I know it's probably not my place to say this, but it doesn't sound at all like you're snapping ^.^

Okay, thanks. ^^ That's good to know.

Thank you for the reviews you guys. I really appreciate them. ^.^

Especially Sandstone-Sandshadow's post. You weren't snapping at all; you were just pointing stuff out, and that's exactly what I want. By pointing out my mistakes, I'll go back and edit those mistakes so that this story will be more enjoyable to new readers or for when you decide to reread this story for whatever reason. However, if whatever you point out happens to be intentional, a plot device or something I can explain easily in a chapter or chapters later, I won't fix it.

Anyway, guys, here's the second chapter to ToAccept, so enjoy.

Disclaimer: *Holds up picket sign saying, "Skroy Horitz does NOT own Pokémon", and then rabid Mightyenas start chasing him*


Chapter 1-2 — Clear Skies

My eyes shot open; my body quickly shot upright; my heart rate sped up; my mouth let out heavy pants; and to top it off my vision was blurry. I felt immense amounts of dust spread across me as well, probably an indication of wild movement in my sleep. Despite the lack of focus in my eyes, I still saw the dust cover my orange body as well as on my creamy belly, yellow collar and the blue fins on my arms thanks to the gloomy light of the moon up in the night sky.

As my eyes were adjusting to the surrounding, I dusted myself while rubbing my head to ease the headache I had. “That dream...” I said to nobody in particular, “That’s the third time this week. Is there some sort of special meaning to them?”

As I pondered, my eyes were finally fully adjusted to my surroundings. I was currently sitting at the entrance to a rocky cavern— more like a small shelter really—, where I could see the woods lying straight ahead a distance away and the stars on the clear moonlit skies. Based on the position of the moon, it wasn’t even close to morning yet. Furthermore, how long had I been asleep?

“Whoever laid an egg here could’ve at least cleaned up their mess!” a voice of a female commented, followed by a kick of an object, probably an old egg shell. I averted my attention to the small, blue, dog-like Pokémon entering the cave, bearing lots berries and fruits in her paws that nearly covered her black ‘mask’. It was a good thing she had food with her; I was starving.

“You need help carrying those, Riolu?” I offered, but she shook her head.

“I’m good,” she replied, setting her findings into a pile. “But now that you’re awake, Buizel, you could clear these egg shells while I search for more berries.”

Sure thing, mother, I mentally groaned as she left the premises.

Just as I had finished cleaning the hard ground a while later, she came back with more berries and signaled me over to eat. We silently ate with the now huge pile sitting before us, randomly grabbing any berry from it and staring at the night sky as we munched. Yep, just another regular night eating beside my friend, Riolu.

That was until she broke the silence all of a sudden. “So… did you have a nice nap?” For as long as I had known Riolu, it was highly unusual for her to start up a conversation while we ate. On regular nights, we would either sit there chewing berries without exchanging words for the entire night or I would strike up a conversation about something that got the better of my curiosity, such as the dream I had.

Since she managed to catch my attention, though, I answered back as I reached for another berry. “I… I had that strange dream again.”

“The one where you’re a human, right? That makes it how many times you’ve had it?”

“It’s the third time this week, and I don’t know why I keep dreaming about being human. Any ideas what they could mean?”

“Maybe someday a human will catch you and you’ll have to go travel with that person?”

“That’s impossible. In today’s dream, I— that person got into a Pokémon battle, then began hanging for his life on a cliff all of a sudden, then this Eevee used Ember against the enemy and as he took his hands to rub his eyes, he began falling and into some jagged rocks.” Riolu didn’t seem fazed at all, probably because it was the same uninteresting story I told her a few nights ago for a third time. However, there were extras bits to this dream, most notably the Ember-breathing Eevee which I had never gotten a clear look at until just now and the human rubbing his eyes. But even that sort of information wasn't enough to get any sort of reaction from her, possibly because of its unlikelihood of it really happening.

“So,” she spoke as she grabbed another berry from the pile, “you recalled the same dream from a few nights ago today and this time there was an Eevee who could use Ember? Now I've heard everything! Listen, Buizel, don’t think too hard on it; a dream’s a dream. Firstly, Eevee can never learn Ember, whether they wanted to or not. And secondly, you mean to tell me that the human hung for his life on the cliff`s edge and he fell as soon as took his hands to rub his eyes? That’s unrealistic; maybe you were moving in your sleep and you happened to rub your eyes or something.” That would explain the odd sight of the dream and the accumulated dust on my body when I got up. “Besides, would you even want to journey with a human?”

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind. How ‘bout you?”

“Me, with a human? Not a chance!” She took a loud bite from her berry, chewing and swallowing the pieces noisily before she continued. “I travel alone and have always done so until I spotted two cream spots and an orange body passed out in the forest two weeks ago.”

“You mean me, right?”

“Who else would I be talking about? And speaking of which, why were you passed out in a forest anyway, Buizel?”

In all honesty, I had no idea. I had a habit of forgetting my reasons for leaving my home because it was an everyday thing for us Pokémon. Then again, I couldn't really say I had a place to call home. I was actually a wandering Buizel going around the world seeing the sights, though I never knew why. I must have been weird because everybody had a reason to go out traveling, except for me who, on the other paw, was already walking on the dirt path for reasons unknown. Maybe I got lost from some tribe or something when I was younger, and I continued trekking the lands never realizing I was alone. That was until I met Riolu in the forest once I came to from passing out.

“Buizel?”

Speaking of which, I haven't yet answered her question. “I went out searching for food— I think— and I must’ve got caught up in a battle, then collapsed.”

“Figures.”

I tried to reach for another berry but she slapped it away, then glared at me and said the rest were for tomorrow morning. Oh well, time for plan B, which consisted of me trying to conjure up the cutest Buizel face any human or Pokémon had ever seen. In the two weeks I had accompanied her, though, I doubted it would work; she was just too serious to be taken in by cute things.

“… Just one but that’s all,” she responded. I smiled in delight as I snatched a berry at random and chewed it to the core.

Alright, a Wacan berry, my favorite…

________________________________________

I woke up earlier than usual the next morning, most likely because I had slept more the day before. Letting out a sleepy yawn, I watched the morning sun rising up to the sky while sitting behind the…. Hold up! Where was that huge pile of berries from last night? I could’ve sworn I slept right in front of it next to Riolu! By the way, where was she?

My question was then answered when her body suddenly flew straight toward me. Luckily I caught her, and as soon as I got a quick glance at her body no explanation was required. Bruises covered her, but they didn’t seem permanent from what I could tell. As for her eyes, though, they appeared extremely tired— and by extremely, the linings below her eyelids were darker than her bruises and mask. I guess she hadn't gotten much sleep during the night.

I laid her down on the ground gently. “Who could’ve done this to her?”

“We’re not finish— oh,” a gruff voice called out. “Well, well, look who we have here.”

I averted my gaze to two Pokémon who stood before us a foot away: a Geodude and Spearow. I bet they had stolen our berries the night before. They walked/flew over to me threateningly, and I tried to move away from them but my feet wouldn’t budge.

“Guess we gotta beat this brat outta our cave or the boss’ll be angry, eh, Geodude?” the Spearow said to his friend, who simply cracked his rocky knuckles in response. A battle was stirring about, I could feel it. Just great.

“We shall reign victorious in this furnace of war!” Geodude exclaimed, raising his fists into the air.

“F… Furnace of war? Whatchu talkin’ about?”

“I’m practicing my victory pose once we defeat this weasel.”

“How do I put up with this every day?” Spearow mumbled, followed by an exasperated sigh.

“Who cares ‘bout some dumb victory pose? Let’s just get this over with and beat the snot outta that Buizel. Taking down that Riolu was exhausting work.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” The Geodude then struck some poses with his fists. “Does this pose shout out 'victory is mine'?”

“… You… are an idiot. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the rocks in yer body made up yer brain. Wait a sec, that ain't right; rocks don't have brains!”

The insult got the rock to angrily glare back at his feathered friend. “You calling me stupid, you little furball!?”

“Bird, actually,” Riolu quietly corrected. Wait a minute…!

“You alright?” I whispered worryingly, quietly tiptoeing over to her to avoid disturbing dummy A’s and dummy B’s argument. “You’re seriously injured. Let’s get outta here while they’re still at it.”

“Can’t… do,” she said, breathing heavily in between phrases. “Despite their… intelligence… they’re quite… alert and… they’d spot you escaping… quickly.”

“So I have to f-fight them? B-But I never fought against an opponent before.”

“Didn’t you… pass out… in a battle… right before I… found you?”

“Yeah, but I never said I fought in it.”

“… What… moves do you… know?”

“O-only SonicBoom as far as I'm aware of.”

“This… isn't good. Hmm…” she went into deep thought while I remained on guard for any sudden attacks. A minute later, she spoke again. “Guess there's… no choice but… to fight with… your bare paws.”

“Hold on! You seriously expect me to struggle against—”

“YEAAAAARRRGH!” The cry of the Geodude suddenly alarmed me.

“Fine, fight him alone. See if I care when ya lose to a Buizel; a water type; your WEAKNESS!” Spearow said, flying a safe distance away to watch the fight.

“Just… go for…it.” And those were Riolu’s last words before falling unconscious. Just go for it, huh?

I stood my ground in front of the cave's entrance as the rock came charging at me. He managed to connect his Tackle attack, but I was quick enough to block it, and then counter back with my left jab, then a right jab and tail swing for an added touch. The force of my attacks sent him tumbling a few feet away, knocking him down in the process. Not a bad start on my part. What's more, he felt surprisingly extra delicate than rough for a rock; at least it would make fighting him a lot easier.

Suddenly, the Geodude got back up, struggling to hold a boulder he found from who knows where over his body. He threw it at me and I jumped out of the way, letting it land just inches away from Riolu. Fortunately for me that toss left him tired, so I used this opportunity to attack back with a move.

“How d’ya like this?” With a swift movement of my forked-tail, I released a shock wave heading toward the enemy (in other words, a SonicBoom attack). It made contact, and I released two more Booms to knock him down a second time. Heh heh, this is actually kinda fun!

“Urgh, you little…” my opponent said as he got back up yet again. This time he charged at me with a Tackle attack at full power. I dodged him, but not quickly enough to avoid being grazed on the side of my stomach. I couldn’t help but kneel down, wincing in pain.

“Is that the best you can do?” He directed a cocky grin at me.

“No way!” Being a Buizel did have its advantages. For instance, I rushed in front of Geodude unnoticed, catching him completely off guard. I thrashed the gravel out of him with rapid punches plus tail slashes, followed by a close-ranged SonicBoom to finish. The force of my hits sent him hurtling into the air and crashing down like a meteorite a few feet away from me. Just in case I remained on guard for a few more seconds, and when he didn’t stir, I realized he had fainted.

“I-I won? I actually defeated him?” Wow, I never knew I had it in me; it was almost as if I'd done this before. For my first battle, that wasn’t so terrible. To celebrate, I punched a fist to my paw and raised it high the air for my victory pose. The moment was short lived, however, as pain from my scrape told me a different story of my condition and I knelt down to the ground. Too bad I wasn't used to having injuries or I would've been tending to Riolu already. But at least the fight was over….

“Aw geez, you fainted, Geodude,” Spearow commented. “And what's more, he didn't even hafta use any water based moves on ya. See what happens when ya act all reckless? Guess it’s my turn.” With a single flap of his wings, he came charging at me as fast as a Bullet Seed.

Crap, I had forgotten about that bird! I tried to take a stance but that last battle left me totally exhausted. And to make matters worse, the scrape left me paralyzed. In short, I was a sitting, defenseless Psyduck. Urgh, I couldn't go down just yet, not when my friend needed help…

All of a sudden, a blue sphere of sorts passed right by my head at high speed, knocking Spearow out of the air before he made contact with me. Was that a…?

“That should knock him out for a few minutes,” I heard Riolu from behind while she panted. I glanced back to the cave to see her standing still in place and with her arms lurched forward covered in some sort of blue energy before it disappeared. Talk about a fast recovery. “C’mon, let’s move!” I nodded and stood up, trying to ignore the pain. In the end, we made our escape into the nearby forest.

________________________________________

A few minutes later, we still managed to run quite a distance away from the cave despite the pain we were feeling. Hopefully, if Spearow and Geodude were following us we would’ve lost them through the trees by now. Just in case I took a glance behind us; no sight of that fierce bird or dumb rock, fortunately.

“Thanks for protecting me, Buizel,” my friend thanked me from behind.

“It’s nothing. And besides, I still owe you for saving me a while back,” I spun around just in time to see a blush form on her face. Well, this is a rare sight, was the first thought that came to my mind as I stared at her face turning into a Tomato berry. She caught my gaze, and looked the other way just as quickly.

“A-A-Anyway,” she stuttered, “we should get going now that we had our sudden morning ‘exercise’.”

“Where to though?”

“There’s a river not too far from here. We’ll follow it downstream which will lead us to a human town, and from there we’ll head east.” A human town… I'd never been near one before, let alone inside of one; what was the place like, I wondered?

Then all of sudden, a thought crossed my mind. “You seem to know your way around this place.” I noted.

“Um, this is my second time in the area, so I’m familiar with the surroundings.” I didn’t bother to ask about her time here. Her journey before meeting me was none of my business, so I dismissed the thought immediately.

With that encounter over with, our journey resumed. I followed her closely along the path as she speedily led the way to the river. As we strolled down the pathway on this peaceful trip, the sun beamed down on us and all was silent with no trainers or feral Pokémon in sight along the trail. The silence also gave me a lot of time to think over just about anything, such as the battle I just had, for example; I still couldn't believe I had such power inside me. But my own ability wasn't what piqued my interest the most...

“That was awesome!” I exclaimed out of the blue. “I didn’t know you could use aura, Riolu. Then again I'd never seen you fight before.”

“I-It’s nothing special.” She replied almost immediately with an indifferent expression on her face, which kind of disappointed me since I was hoping for her to look ridiculous for once when she bragged about it or failed trying to hide her powers.

“Don’t be so modest. While you were searching for berries a few days ago, I heard about the powers of aura while eavesdropping on a pair of traveling humans and from what I heard, a Riolu isn’t supposed to be able to manipulate aura into an attack! Where’d you learn how to use it?”

“… I don’t know.”

“Whaddya mean you don’t know?”

“I. Don’t. Know. Simple as that. Look, you can pester me all you want about it but that’s my only response.”

“Geez, is it bad for a Buizel to be curious?” But I should’ve expected that kind of response from her; she would become rather annoyed at me if I badgered her with trivial questions. The last time I had done so was when I first met her and… let’s just say my collar was still tightly secured to my neck.

Speaking of her, another thought suddenly crossed my mind today. And before I knew it, I faced Riolu, who in turn faced me questioningly, and then I spoke, “… You look cute when you blush.”

In return, she stared at me in disbelief. “W-Where did that come from?” She replied, being taken aback. Unbeknownst to her, however, another blush started forming on her face again, which I just so happened to notice.

“See, you’re doing it again!”

“Doing what?”

“Blushing! It makes you look cute.”

“Y…Y-You really feel this way about me, Buizel?”

“Huh?” I was confused at first until her words processed into my mind. “… W-Wait, that’s not what I meant when I said you were cute! Why would'ya think that?”

“… You're the first Pokémon to call me c-cute. A-And you're also… a m-male.”

“Oh, is that all?” I couldn't resist chuckling at her reaction over the whole ordeal. “No worries, it's not like that. I only meant it as a compliment.”

So we left the conversation at that and continued marching down the path, forgetting that our discussion actually occurred.


Now, who wants to take a guess which battle theme music I was listening to while I was typing up the battle scene? (Hint: The battle theme music is not from anything Pokémon related. The title of the battle theme is within the chapter in plain sight.)

EDIT: 29/07/2009

Battle Theme...
R/B/Y gym battle? Geodude make me think of Brock's gym.

The only thing that kimd of bothers me is that you say that Riolu went back to sleep after talking to Buizel. I don't know if she would be able to fall asleep in pain and with a big battle happening. Maybe she fell unconscious, or was in too much pain to talk? That seems more realistic to me.

And I love the whole 'victory pose' argument. xD