Chapter 3
Hello everyone,
Now, we are fast approaching a true start to the story. Up until now, Brawly has just been getting his feet underneath him before heading off into the big bad pokemon world. Soon, we'll get to the real action and story. I'm thinking he needs a companion. Should I go completely OC? Or do you guys have any input on who he could travel with?
Authors note at the bottom.
Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor! If you are feeling generous, and wish to donate to my writing career, you can find me at Patreon under the same name for early access to chapters of The Ladder, Defiant, and Tsunami of the South!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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"Incredible."
The words slipped out, as I watched the scene in front of me. Hashirama stood in front of me, punching and kicking a heavy bag in a certain combination that I had developed to work on most opposing pokemon. That, in itself, wasn't very impressive. What was impressive was that his movements were more technical than my own. And I've been training since Brody decided I could throw a punch.
There wasn't the shimmer of focus energy around his fists or arms anymore. Although I knew that every few punches or kicks, he was performing the small buff before beginning another combination. Before, I had counted a six second timer on the move. Now it was almost instantaneous, and without a tell. Another impressive aspect of his improvement.
It had only been a week since I had started to train my starter pokemon, and I was ridiculously impressed with the rate of growth. Not only in skill, but in muscle mass also. Hashi's back was starting to develop as boxers in my old world did, wide, and while it wasn't shredded yet, I knew it would be.
His shoulders and arms started to cut up, also. I wasn't sure the cause to be totally honest, but I knew enough to speculate. Being a gym trainer had many perks, the first being that all of my pokemon's food was on the gym, aka the league. Add on to the fact that it was a fighting type gym, and I had to do literally zero work to find out the proper pokefood for Hashi's growth. I already had the recipe. All I had to do was just show up at any pokemart, hand them the recipe list and they would grind it all there.
I knew I shouldn't have been shocked, considering I had seen what Hashi's mother had looked like in the cave. I assumed that had been because of her age and experience. Now I thought she couldn't have been that old, because Hashirama would be there soon if I had anything to say about it.
Hashirama moved through another set of combinations and just as he was about to finish with a right handed uppercut, the door to the training room burst open. My brave starter whipped around to face the threat, in the moment of training. I calmly spared the door a glance, knowing that only a few people in the world knew where to find the room.
"Get the fuck out."
That's my father's voice. I recognized as I turned around. My eyes confirmed that it was indeed my father, and his Gallade, Junior stood behind him.
"Pardon?" I asked out of reflex. The language is what threw me off guard. 'What's he mad about?'
"Your mother says you've been training too hard, and suggests you go surf. You know, that thing you used to skip out on chores to go do?" Brody said.
"So, I work hard and I get told to skip out on work. But if I skip out on work and go surf then I'm a bum?" I argued, pointing out the lack of logic.
"Everything needs balance, kid. Or have you forgotten that?" Brody countered.
'Ah, so it is fear of the Battle Craze.' I thought. My eyes found Junior, who was staring at Hashirama as if he was the devil. 'I wonder if mom even said anything, or if it was all Junior.'
My father really did rely on his starter a lot, as most people did. I could see myself becoming that way in the future too. It was even worse considering that Junior was a fighting and a psychic pokemon, just way too convenient to not take advantage of.
'Gotta find a psychic with a single-evolutionary line.' I thought.
"Fine." I told my father. I knew it was pointless to argue with the man, especially if Junior had managed to bug him enough for him to come all the way to the back of the gym to get me. "We'll take the rest of the day off."
He actually made a good point, even if the chances of a pokemon freaking out and going into Battle Craze were slim to none. Flame licked on the edge of my memory, threatening to spill forth once again.
'I've really gotta deal with that underlying trauma.' I told myself. I tried to ignore the look Junior gave me as I walked past him.
"Come on Hashi, let's go to the beach."
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'Dad is a sucker.' I thought to myself as my starter touched the beach for the first time in his life. My mind immediately thought of how much running in sand could improve Hashi's movement.
"You like it?" I asked the little guy beside me.
He wiggled his feet into the sand for a few seconds and I had to admit that sometimes, the little guy was actually kind of cute. As cute as a weird alien, intelligent, walking nuke thing could be, of course.
"Mak." Hashirama grumbled out and nodded his head. A small grin spread across his face and he took a few steps to test out the sand.
"Good. Let's go." I said, and then I started jogging.
Hashi watched me pass before he realized that I was leaving him behind. My head swivelled around to see him start to run to catch up to me. I could almost see the horror pass through his eyes as he stumbled at the first step.
Running was not his strong suit, but it was another area of improvement for him. Instead of waddling around trying to move fast, he actually looked like he knew how to run now. The look of horror on his face turned to betrayal as he stared at the sand. Then, my favorite emotion of his took over, determination.
He deliberately picked his knees up a little higher every time he stepped and then he started running, properly. A deep sense of pride ran through me as I realized he was adapting to the circumstance but still using the proper techniques. It meant he had learned his body, and the right way to move it. A huge step for a runt of the litter.
"That's it bud!" I encouraged my starter as he made his way over to me.
Mentally I was laughing my ass off, because I was thinking about a training regimen that would equal torture for him. It was thrown out the window when he arrived at me panting, and sweating.
He shielded his eyes from the sun and let out a low croon. Then he started shuffling, as if very uncomfortable. Next, he shook his arms out, almost like they were sore. My heart fell pretty quickly at the noise he made.
I frowned. "Are you hurting?" I asked as I leaned down and started prodding at him.
He didn't give any audible answer, but he did grab his arms and motion towards his back. I wanted to kick my own ass immediately.
I had thrown him into an intense workout regime for an entire week straight, and I didn't expect him to be sore? I was a special type of idiot.
"Your arms and back are sore, huh?" I asked but didn't wait for a response. "I'm sorry, Hashi. I should have known better than to push you this hard."
Mentally I was torturing myself. I had ambitions of taking on the Indigo Plateau, and I couldn't even take care of my pokemon properly.
I felt a bump on my fist and I looked down to see Hashi giving me a fist bump and looking at me strangely. It brought a smile to my face pretty quick and I quickly jumped out of my pity party.
'Empathic abilities indeed.' I thought.
"Let's go enjoy the beach dude."
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It turns out that Hashi already knows how to swim. Was it an instinctual thing? Or was he taught by his mother? I wouldn't know how that would be possible considering there are no known water sources big enough inside Granite Cave.
We spent quite a while lounging on the beach and enjoying the sun, people watching before I moved us to a different part of the beach.
It was more shallow in this spot, and the shallow part extended further out into the ocean. This caused seaweed to accumulate in the area, making it more isolated from the more touristy parts of the beach.
I palmed a pokeball from my bag, on a whim. If I was going to see any water pokemon, it would be in this part of the beach as opposed to the overcrowded tourist spot. I had a particular interest in water pokemon, considering there were some powerful single evolutions family options that were water types.
I was not going to specialize in fighting type pokemon anymore. I was already handicapping myself with the single evolutionary families, no reason to narrow the list down even more.
A part of me still wanted to run the fighting gym in the future, but not right off the bat. Maybe as a retirement option? Gym leaders do have a lot of benefits, and good salaries too. But not up front. I needed a champion team, as I needed to defeat a champions team. I just couldn't afford to limit myself even further to fighting.
In my old life, I had always wondered why so many trainers decided to specialize. My new memories had supplied the information fairly quickly, and it was simple.
It was easier.
If all of your pokemon share a type, then it makes developing a training regime infinitely easier. It also lessens the amount of time spent doing research. I didn't care about that, because I already had a long, hard road ahead of me to reach the top. It will take me years most likely to get everyone on my team ready to take on the legendary Dragon Master Lance.
So a little research along the way is a piece of cake. It really didn't seem that bad, considering I could only carry six pokemon with me at one time unless I can con the league into granting me seven or eight. And I wasn't one to just throw pokeballs at anything that crossed my path, I didn't want to have to send it back to the gym for dad to take care of. No, I would capture six pokemon, and train them to champion level.
Then I would Conquer.
My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Hashi's startled yelp. I turned to see that he was being hit by a weak stream of water, and the source wasn't any waves.
Didn't actually expect any pokemon. I thought as I waded over to him.
He had one of his hands in front of his face, defending from the water whenever it would pop out of the ocean. I got closer but couldn't make out the small shape in the muddy water. Either way, it was a wild pokemon, and I wasn't going to let the opportunity slip.
"Hashi, attack." I commanded.
It spoke to our training over the last week when Hashi dipped low into a stance in front of me almost immediately. His eyes were locked on to the brown water, waiting for the other pokemon to show up again.
Eventually it's body showed as it was swimming around us and Hashi reacted immediately. In a focus energy enhanced leap, Hashi tore after the pokemon in the water and swung with his right hand. A fairly large splash of water obscured my vision.
Immediately I realized how futile it was, considering I was positive that he missed the opposing pokemon. I also realized how ridiculous we must have looked. Thank Arceus no one was around.
Then the strangest thing happened. A fish appeared at the top of the water, glaring at Hashi. A fish that fit my criteria for capture. A fish that would evolve into a very valuable team member.
A Feebas.
Most people would have scoffed at the idea since they were almost as common as a magikarp, and almost as weak as one too. But I knew the truth. When Feebas evolves, it evolves into something just as powerful as a gyarados, much more beautiful, and much easier to train.
A Milotic.
'Fuck yes.' I thought.
"Ready for a battle?" I asked my starter without taking my eyes off of the opposing pokemon.
Hashi nodded at me and let out a soft. "Mak!"
"Attack." I commanded.
The feebas charged Hashi at the same time that I gave the command. The feebas gained much more speed in the water than my makuhita did.
'It's going for a tackle? That means it's not a little bitch like most of its race.' I deduced.
I did not tell Hashi to use the same move, nor did I warn him of the attack. This should be something he could handle.
And handle it, he did.
The Feebas jumped out of the water, intending to hit Hashi center mass. Instead he met a right hook that impacted between his mouth and his gills. The feebas' movement was halted as soon as it met a superior force.
Hashi's arm didn't even buckle as the impact ran up from his fist. He completely overpowered the fish pokemon. The lights in feebas' eyes went out immediately and it was driven back a few yards from the hit.
'One hit KO.' I thought and my jaw dropped.
Hashi moved in for the kill, quickly. "No, no!" I said getting his attention.
Hashi stopped and looked back at me. His eyes changed from extremely focused to confused. "Mak?" He asked, pointing an arm to the floating brown fish.
"He's going to become our new team member." I explained as I produced the pokeball from earlier.
'I can't believe my luck.' I thought as I quickly scrambled through the water to the unconscious feebas. I could have thrown the pokeball, but I knew it would be just as easy to just touch the feebas.
I got closer and got a good look at the knocked out pokemon. Mainly, I wanted to check to see if the little thing was still alive after that hit. I already knew that this world was much more brutal than the games and anime made it out to be, and feebas was a small pokemon.
I saw it's small gills move sharply and then wasted no time in touching the pokeball to the feebas before backing up to see if it was successful. The pokeball dinged immediately, and I face palmed.
'Of course it's not going to put up a fight, it's fucking unconscious. Hashi didn't either.' I thought.
"Yes!" I exclaimed as I snatched the ball off of the top of the water where it floated. I turned back to my starter at the same time. He was watching over my shoulder the entire time.
"You were fucking awesome, Hashi." I told him and extended my fist out to him. His fist met mine just as he gave out a happy yell.
"I've never seen someone so excited over a feebas before."
My head whipped around to the beach to see a twenty-something year old watching me. He wore simple swimming trunks and was shirtless. I spied a pokebelt wrapped around his waist, with pokeballs in half of the slots on it.
'Three pokemon, older, confident. Been a trainer for a year probably.' I thought as I took in his appearance.
"You do realize it's useless right?" The boy said. Does he look familiar?
Hashirama moved to stand in front of me, protectively. The boy's eyes glanced down at my pokemon before deciding to talk again.
"Look, I was just trying to hel…"
"Can I do something for you...?" I asked the boy. Was I supposed to strike up a conversation after all of his implications? No, I would be problematic and confrontational like a good sixteen year old.
The boy frowned. "Names Brendan."
That finally clicked in my mind. I was looking at the older version of the game protagonist, depending on what gender you chose. For me, this was literally a character I played as while battling my way across Hoenn.
'Where in this fucked up timeline am I at?!' I raged in my mind. I was no closer to being able to use any of my otherworldly knowledge to my advantage.
"Brawly." I said as I moved out of the water and onto the beach
"Look man, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'll admit that was a bit rude of me." Brendan said as he noticed my hostile attitude. Then he said something that threw me off a bit.
"How about a battle to make up for it?" Brendan asked.
'Is that supposed to equal an apology?' I thought, incredulous.
"Sure." I answered him anyway. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. This will tell me if I'm ready.
"Standard rules?" Brendan asked as a grin appeared on his face.
Hashi seemed to understand what was about to happen because he started bouncing around and stretching. I smiled, happy that he was taking my lessons to heart.
"It's still 200 dollars right?" I asked for conversation more than anything else. I knew the rules of Hoenn by heart.
"Yea. When did you start your journey?" Brendan asked as his hand hovered over the last pokeball on his belt. He seemed unsure of which pokemon to choose. Eventually he grabbed the last one on his belt.
"I caught Hashi about a week ago, and the feebas is only my second pokemon." I answered. "But I really haven't started my journey yet, although it'll be soon." I didn't see any real reason to lie to the boy in front of me, even if he was rude.
"Ah beginners anxiety? I had it too, but my mom kicked me out and forced my hand." Brendan said as if he was reminiscing.
I just stared at him, uninterested in his back story. "Ready?" I asked both him and Hashi.
"Mak." Hashirama replied and stood in front of me a good ten yards ahead. He dropped low into the stance that we always trained with.
"Fine, let's do it." Brendan said as he tossed his pokeball in the air. It opened and the energy inside coalesced into the air.
I was expecting him to announce the name of his pokemon in some dramatic fashion. Instead his eyes hardened as I noticed what pokemon he sent out. A small white bird pokemon that greatly resembled a seagull appeared in the air and flew around in the sky waiting on it's trainers command.
'Wingull. Flying, and water type. Type advantage over Hashi.' My mind deduced and came up with a basic plan.
"Hashi, you won't be able to attack it much. Dodge any ranged attacks and wait for it to get close. Then you know what to do." I told him, and then I shut up.
Brendan waited for me to finish talking, completely confident. He should be, considering that his wingull was obviously well trained and he had type advantage. I also knew that this was most likely his weakest pokemon. That was probably why he was struggling to choose earlier.
'He knows that his pokemon are more experienced, and didn't want to use the type advantage.' I thought. 'His other pokemon must be much stronger than this one, if he still didn't choose them.'
"Water Gun." Brendan commanded simply.
The wingull swung around in the air so that it was properly aiming at Hashirama. Hashi's eyes tracked the bird, waiting for the right moment to move as I taught him.
The wingull took a deep breath and when it exhaled, a stream of water shot out of it. Then Hashi squatted and jumped to his left, covering a fair amount of ground and getting out of the way of the attack.
'It's not experienced enough to aim at a moving target.' I observed as it shot another water gun at Hashi. He dodged it once again without me having to tell him anything. This was how I planned on being as a trainer. I wanted to actually teach my pokemon to fight and win by themselves. I didn't want to teach them how to listen. I needed pokemon who could adapt on the fly, without me telling them too.
Another water gun, and another miss. Wingull was panting a little heavier now. 'Really young, weak reserves. Brendan is taking it easy on me.'
Another three water guns and another three misses was all Brendan needed to see before he switched up the plan.
"Wing attack." Brendan told his pokemon with a wince. He obviously thought the flying type move was overkill for Hashi who had only been caught a week ago. Theoretically, the move should be pretty effective against Hashi's fighting typing.
"Get ready." I muttered, but Hashi didn't hear me, he was too busy with the bird now in front of him.
The wingull's wing glowed for a moment just before he swooped low and swung at Hashi's head. Hashi made me proud by bringing an arm up and trying to deflect it. He almost succeeded, but apparently the bird packed a punch and the arm buckled. Hashi's arm hit himself in the face, and he stumbled for a second.
"Water gun."
The bird had been preparing for another run of wing attack when Brendan gave the command. Hashi had also been ready for another physical attack and wasn't prepared to dodge when the jet of water impacted him in the chest. From my vantage point, I didn't think it had the power possible to propel my starter backwards and on his ass, but apparently I was wrong.
Hashirama rolled through the sand, and the water caused it to cling to skin. He managed to stand up to see a glowing wing headed straight for his chest. The wingull impacted and once again, Hashi was sent to the ground. My starter let out a pained cry.
"Enough." I said, cutting into the battle. "You win."
Brendan actually looked disappointed at my proclamation, but nodded to me. His wingull apparently understood me also, because it soon landed on his outstretched arm. Brendan produced a treat for the bird and I walked over to my starter.
"You ok Hashi?" I asked as I kneeled down to him.
He was panting when he looked up at me, and the first emotion I saw was sadness before it was replaced with an angry glare. I weathered the glare and returned it with my own dominating one.
"Mak!"
I deduced the angry grunt as a 'why the fuck did you call the match you fucking fuck?!'
"I didn't want you to get hurt anymore and I had seen all that I needed to." I argued back to him.
"Makuhita."
'Wow, that's the first time he's said his full name before.' I thought as I realized how angry he was.
"Ok, ok, I get it. But he was about to hit you with another wing attack, and you were on the ground." I explained.
Then he fell onto his back in the same position he was when I called the match. Then he swung a leg around suddenly and a punch into the air. The battle played in my mind and I watched the wing gull approach with another wing attack. Then I saw the same move Hashi was demonstrating, and his fist connecting with the side of the wingull's face.
'Oh shit.' I thought as I realized that I really did call the match early.
"Sorry, Hashi you're right. Next time I'll trust you a little more." I told my starter. He nodded, but his anger at me was still there.
He turned away from me, and a section of sand, that he was not connected to, blew away in response. My eyes recognized the move immediately. Hashirama had just learned the ground move sand attack out of anger.
'Score!'
"That was a surprisingly good battle." I heard Brendan's voice behind me say.
I turned to the man and smiled. "It was a learning experience for sure." I said. He had already returned his wingull back to its ball and was walking over to me.
"You've got potential, even if it's a little unorthodox." Brendan complimented us. I wondered if it was normal to hang around after wiping the floor with someone. Then he revealed his true motivation for still pestering me.
"So ...about that 200 dollars."
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A ding rang out, just as I was about to crawl into bed for the night. I was exhausted from the events of the day, but I still reached over to grab the ringing device.
I looked down at the screen of my pokegear. On the front of it showed a very important document. One that would finally let me leave home.
'Transfer to Indigo league: Approved.'
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A/N: Finally! We've been waiting on that paperwork for a while now.
So we have the second member of our team! And it's weak as shit right now! What do we think about the addition of our newly acquired feebas? I struggled with the decision between it or a gyarados tbh.
There has been a glaring flaw pointed out in Hashirama's fighting ability. But we always knew that tbh. Who thought Hashi would wipe the floor with the Wingull? What about Brendan?
Let's talk about it in the reviews!
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