Route 17
Vito Barone bounced up and down in his seat. The boy’s eyes were focused on his Poryphone, which played a video on its screen. Watching every second of it made the boy’s heart pound in his chest.
“And I am proud to announce that the 25th Enotrian Gym Challenge begins today!” an elderly woman’s voice played from Vito’s phone.
The elderly woman had gray hair wrapped in a bun and wore a blue dress shirt, blue slacks, and a matching overcoat. Beside her was a Wigglytuff with bright green eyes who let out a cheerful cry as her trainer spoke.
Vito, no, everyone in the world recognized the woman as Champion Sienna Amato. She was the second Champion to grace the region ever since the unfortunate passing of Silvano Vinci fourteen years ago, and she had kept the title ever since.
“I take it you’re excited, aren’t you, dear boy?” Vito heard from Giuseppe Armani who sat right beside Vito
The old man had wrinkles on his face and short gray hair. He wore overalls fitting for a farmer that showed his large, sun-kissed arms. In his hands, he held onto the reins of his Mudsdale that pulled them across Route 17.
“Definitely!” Vito turned his head after pausing the video, meeting Giuseppe Armani's gaze. “Today will be the day I become a trainer, after all.”
“Indeed… it's been five years since you started working on the farm with me.” the elderly man smiled as he held the reins for his Mudsdale, which pulled them through Route 17. “To think you are already 14.”
“Right? But I’m here thanks to you and Pikachu…” Vito said and turned his head to the left. The boy’s eyes widened suddenly when he realized nothing was there. He looked behind, seeing his little partner turn his head with wide eyes as he held an oran berry in his paws. “Pikachu!”
The little mouse let out a terrified squeak, dropping his half-eaten snack, and fell into the cart full of berries that the wagon was carrying along.
Vito groaned and put his phone in his pocket. He leaned towards the cart and reached out to take Pikachu’s paw. “Get in here, you!” he commanded.
The yellow rodent crawled and jumped out of the wagon, jumping onto Vito’s arm and crawling up his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Giuseppe.” Vito apologized.
“Ah, don’t worry about it.” Giuseppe waved. “Take some berries, dear boy. You’ll need them for the journey.”
“Are you sure?” Vito leaned forward. “Won’t you get in trouble?”
“Do not worry, child.” Giuseppe patted Vito on the shoulder. “I can take care of it, but I don’t believe anyone will be aware of a couple of berries missing, and if they do I will simply pay what is owed myself.”
“Thank you, Giuseppe… really, I mean it.” Vito smiled. “I’ll remember this when I become Champion.”
“You better! I’ll need someone to take care of me, I’m an old man you see.” Giuseppe laughed, which turned to a brief cough.
Vito smiled and looked onward before his face contorted with repulsion. The stench of fish mixed with salt filled his nostrils, and that was enough for him to know that he wasn’t too far from Bellissimo Mare.
“Ah, you hear that?” Giuseppe asked.
Vito raised a brow and calmed his mind. He heard loud banging from the direction the port town was in and turned his head to Giuseppe. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I believe they’re making some quick repairs to one of the ships.” the elderly man concluded. “More than likely, a foreign vessel came by.”
“That’s weird. Don’t foreigners come to Central or Northern districts?” Vito asked.
“Most of the time.” Giuseppe shrugged. “However, some tourists do come down here as well, and I believe I’ve heard stories of a few trainers from afar starting their journeys here.”
That brought out a smile in Vito. He would have loved to meet a foreign trainer, he could have only imagined the stories they had, the Pokemon they had acquired and how powerful they were…
“Ah, and we’re here!” Giuseppe cheerfully announced, letting go of the reins briefly so he could clap his hands.
Vito didn’t need to be told. He knew it as soon as he started hearing sailors barking out orders and when Mudsdale’s hooves started clopping against the pavement. He started to look around, smiling at the sight of Pokemon moving about while Mudsdale carefully navigated through the narrow streets.
Bellissimo Mare wasn’t a large city by any means, it was a small port town. There were barely any homes, and most of them were outside of the city. Most of the buildings were businesses that were so closely packed together that you would think they were all one building. Some of these places were bars, and some were motels. Of course, with it being a port town, the best job you could possibly get is either working as a sailor or with the harbormasters.
As Vito looked around, he saw Pokemon move about. Most were Machoke and Machop, who held large stacks of lumber with only one arm, along with Ratticate and Rattata, who moved alongside sailors. Despite the fact that the streets were densely packed with Pokemon and people, they all greeted each other and passed by with no problem.
“So, I believe this will be your stop?” Giuseppe asked Vito.
“Yup!” Vito confirmed. “I’ll walk the rest of the way back if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. You’ll officially be a trainer after all!” Giuseppe declared as he pat Vito on the back. Be careful coming back, though, alright?”
“I will!” Vito cheered as he got off the wagon with Pikachu still on his shoulder. He looked at his partner and frowned. “Sorry, little guy, you gotta get back in your ball… I don’t wanna get in trouble, seeing as how I don’t have my license yet.
Pikachu let out a defeated squeak and his gaze dropped down, along with his ears and tail.
“Hey, it won’t be for long.” Vito said. “I’ll be up at the Pokemon Center for a few seconds, and we both know its not far from here.”
Pikachu raised his ears and nodded, though there was still a frown on his face.
“Don’t worry little guy.” Vito patted the mouse’s furry head. “This will be the last time you’re ever put in that thing!”
That seemed to raise Pikachu’s spirits as he finally smiled and nodded at his partner.
Vito unclipped Pikachu’s Pokeball and tapped the center button, bringing his partner into the ball. Then he reattached it and ran through the busy streets of Bellissimo Mare, a wide smile on his face as he navigated his way past the sailors and Pokemon.
It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the Pokemon Center. The large red building was one of the most noticeable landmarks. Per UR law, all Pokemon Centers had to be easily recognizable, but even then, this Pokemon Center was the only large building in the town. Everything else paled in comparison to it.
Vito stopped for a brief second. As soon as he came near the center, he saw a small crowd of people near the entrance. Not a single one of them moved into the building; instead, they stood in place, grumbling and conversing with one another.
He moved into the crowd, hearing various complaints amongst the people. He couldn’t make out most of what was being said, but he heard the name “Hawthorne” a few times, though he didn’t recognize the name.
“Back up, all of you!” a sailor shouted with a thick Galarian accent. “Da centa’ is closed for the moment. Back up!”
Vito stood on the tip of his toes and managed to get a somewhat decent look. He saw a rather pudgy sailor whose outfit barely fit standing in front of the crowd, with a few other sailors beside him. Vito surmised that that sailor must have been the one giving orders.
He once again moved through the crowd, making sure to gently push people aside so he could come face-to-face with this sailor. Perhaps he could get him to stand down and let him and this crowd through.
“Hey!” Vito called out to the sailor. “Come on! I gotta get my trainer’s license and these people probably are wanting one too!”
The pudgy sailor scowled and stomped toward Vito and pushed the younger boy!
Vito was taken aback as he fell on his rear and the back of his head impacted with the pavement.
“You’re not goin’, dumbass! If nobody’s going, you’re not goin’!”
Vito raised himself up and rubbed the back of his head. Thankfully he wasn’t bleeding, but his head still throbbed.
“Hey, he’s just a kid, you jackass!” someone in the crowd shouted.
More and more people came to Vito’s defense, screaming and hollering at the sailors.
“Oi! If you all keep on actin’ like this, then I think I’ll have some of our Leej buddies come in to perform some ‘riot control’.” the pudgy sailor declared. “We’ll even help!” he shouted, pulling a Pokeball off of his belt.
The other sailors did the same, showing off their Pokeballs to the crowd who took a step back.
The pudgy sailor had a wide grin on his face as he put his Pokeball back on his belt, but his gaze was still focused on the crowd.
Vito’s heart pounded beneath his chest, and he reached for his Pokeball. He wasn’t going to let these people get hurt, especially by such a disgusting man… but at the same time, he was terrified.
Non-trainers weren’t allowed to engage in battles. If the proper authorities got involved, Vito could be permanently banned from acquiring his license, and they would take Pikachu away… He couldn’t imagine a world without his best friend.
“Hey, are you alright?” a gentle feminine voice called from behind Vito, pulling him up. “You don’t look too banged up…”
The person from behind grabbed Vito by his shoulders and helped him upright.
“Stronzo,” Vito spat as he stood up. “Thank you.” He turned around and came face to face with a girl his age, with short dark hair that barely reached past her ears and she had bronze skin and emerald green eyes.
“No problem.” The girl smiled as she stepped past Vito and slowly grabbed a Pokeball from her belt. “These pigs aren’t gonna know what hit them.” she scowled.
Before she could do anything however, the Pokemon Center doors opened and now the sailors became quiet.
Vito looked and noticed a long-haired man step out with an ice-blue fox-like Pokemon by his side.
The man raised a brow and looked around, his pale blue eyes focused on the crowd and sailors before him. Vito could see that this man was puzzled by this strange occurrence.
A wicked grin appeared on the pudgy sailor’s face, and he turned around to meet the face of the other man. “Why, if innit the man of the hour?” The pudgy sailor spat.
The man continued to look around, pondering over this bizarre crowd and ignored the pudgy sailor.
“Oi! I’m talkin' to ya!” The sailor screamed.
The man finally turned around to meet the hostile seaman and spoke, but his voice was unable to be picked up by the observing crowd.
“Can I help you?” the sailor replied in a mocking tone laced with hostility. “Why, you’re the bloody bastard who did this to me!” the sailor pointed at his bandaged nose. “All because I asked a lil’ question.”
The man replied, and again, his voice could not be heard by the crowd.
“Who is he?” Vito murmured to the girl beside him.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.” He’s probably a foreign trainer, though. He’s got a Glaceon, and Eevee aren’t native to Enotria.”
Vito ohh’d and continued to watch the exchange.
“I looked into ya, Hawthorne.” The pudgy sailor pointed at the man. “I know what you are now, a washed-up professor’s kid who lost to-”
“Yes, and I’m sorry. Truly.” The trainer suddenly interrupted through gritted teeth. His voice was loud enough to be heard by the crowd. Yet, despite the sudden increase in his volume and tone, he raised his hands in mock surrender. “I should have never punched you. Instead, I should have hit you with a diet plan!” his voice boomed.
Vito noticed that the man’s accent was smoother than an Enotrian's, and his words were less stressed despite his clearly being enraged.
“Oh, you think you’re funny now?” The enraged seaman stepped forward.
“No, I think I’m too sober and tired to deal with some andouille and his army of branleurs.” The foreign trainer motioned towards the small group of sailors.
“Thats it! This ain't gonna be like last time. I’m gonna take you out, you and that lil’ frigerayta you got by your side.” The sailor cried and took his Pokeball off his belt.
“Hawthorne” spoke again, and his voice was quiet once more. Then he turned to his Glaceon and after a brief exchange, the trainer stepped back.
“C’mon, let's move, guy,” The girl beside Vito ordered, taking him by the wrist.
Both of them moved back, and so did the crowd. It was clear what was going to take place.
Again, Vito’s heart pounded, but not with fear. This was going to be his first-ever live battle! No streaming or TV was involved, and he would be close to it.
The ice fox stepped forward, glaring at the pudgy sailor as he waited for him to send out his Pokemon.
The sailor threw out his Pokeball, sending out a Krabby.
“Hey… Glaceon, that’s an ice type right?” Vito whispered to the girl. “I thought ice types don’t work well against water types.”
“You’ve been playing too many PokeClash games,” the girl smiled. “Types don’t decide everything. Just watch. You’ll get it soon enough.”
Vito turned his head to the battle, which soon began, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Krabby opened up with a bubble beam. The bubbles were fired at the speed of gunfire and all of them threatened to pelt the target.
Glaceon jumped into the air and performed a graceful front flip while doing so, avoiding the bubblefire coming in his direction.
Krabby barely had time to change his fire as Glaceon came in close, and so he resorted to swinging his vicious claws around like hammers. Sometimes he tried to pinch and snap at his target, but to no avail.
Glaceon kept dodging. He danced around the battlefield, treating this fight as a mere game for him, laughing and giggling all the while. He moved so fast that he was an ice blue blur of motion.
Vito found it difficult to keep up with Glaceon’s movements, and the boy’s mouth was held agape. He had tried to watch battles on TV when he had the time, but most of them were beginning battles, ranging from first to third gym battles.
This was different though. Vito had never seen a Pokemon move as fast as Glaceon, and he started to understand what the girl beside him meant when she said types didn’t mean everything.
Glaceon performed another flip, then landed on top of its target and landed a series of double kicks. Loud thunks were heard by the crowd as Glaceon’s feet impacted against Krabby’s shell.
The pudgy sailor cried and cursed, and when he saw Glaceon dance around the battlefield again, he demanded his cohorts to unleash their Pokemon.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Vito spat as he reached for his Pokeball. He didn’t care anymore, he was going to get involved.
“Calm down, bud.” The girl said as she grabbed Vito’s shoulder. “I think he’s got this.”
Glaceon was soon facing off against a Buizel, Corphish and of course Krabby and once again, he danced around all of them.
The foes unleashed a series of ranged attacks, specifically, bubble beams combined with a water gun.
Glaceon smirked and soon projected a strange pink glow that soon turned into a clear coat of energy that coated his body like a suit of armor, turning his opponent’s attacks against them.
“Frère!” Hawthorne shouted. “Let's wrap this up.”
Glaceon- no, Frère turned his head towards Hawthorne and nodded, then redirected his focus to his opponents, who were now getting up. His body began to glow an ice blue and he stepped forward.
Vito suddenly felt the temperature drop. Goosebumps started to form on his bare arms and his eyes widened.
“Arceus… these guys never stood a chance.” Vito heard the girl say.
Frère then exhaled, and cryonic power was unleashed from his body and his mouth, blowing his opponents away.
Vito shivered. For only a brief second, the temperature had dropped low enough to where it could have been a winter wonderland.
“Holy crap, that had to have been Freeze Dry!” The girl said.
“You… you f*cking c*nt! You won’t get away with this!” the pudgy sailor screamed and stepped towards Hawthorne. “I’ll get you for this, you hear me? I’m good friends with tha Legion!”
“I don’t care who you’re friends with,” Hawthorne walked forward. You have every right to come at me for what happened at that bar, but blocking off a Pokemon Center wasn’t a good call.” He pointed his finger at the sailor.
The sailor fell silent, then waved at his colleagues, barking out orders for them to leave.
They returned their Pokemon, and soon the sailors stormed off, walking past the crowd.
Vito heard the crowd talking as they started to walk towards the Pokemon Center. He looked to his right, only to see the girl who had helped him before suddenly vanish.
“Well, that happened…” He remarked as he looked around and saw the mysterious “Hawthorne” walk away with the Glaceon by his side.
Vito started to walk back towards The Pokemon Center, thinking about the events that had transpired not too long ago.
The truth was, despite Vito's desire to be a trainer, he barely knew anything about battling. He knew the very basics, but what kind of kid didn’t know that fire burned grass or that grass could beat water?
But the trainer Vito observed had easily defeated those sailors, and his Glaceon treated the entire battle like a game, laughing all the while. This “Hawthorne” never gave a single order to his Pokemon, something that Vito had observed from the very few battles he had gotten the chance to watch.
As Vito entered the Pokemon Center, an idea began to form in his mind. It was stupid, but he couldn’t help but think about it again and again, the idea of going to this stranger and asking him for aid in becoming a decent trainer.
The northerners of Capitoline got that aid. They were all rich and could afford to go to Paradiso Academy, where they were taught more than just the basics of being a proper Pokemon trainer by professionals. Hell, each graduating student got a small pack of supplies as a gift for when they set out on their journey!
Each of those students had an advantage, and any of them had a higher chance than Vito did of becoming Champion, and he damn well knew it.
“Maybe I’ll do the same thing they’re doing,” Vito said to himself as he looked around the Pokemon Center’s lobby and began heading to the right, going up to the first available nurse, and was thankfully the one he had been looking for.
The nurse sat at her desk and organized various papers before she put them in a manila folder, then she looked up. Her emerald eyes met Vito, and the nurse lit up with a smile.
“Morning, Miranda!” Vito approached her. “I’m 14 now.” he announced as he reached into his pocket, pulled out his ID, and placed it on her desk.
“Oh really?” Miranda took the ID and briefly inspected it. “Well… I guess I can upgrade your ID.”
Vito reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, he was fixing to pull out his pay card
“Oh no you don’t.” Miranda waved her hand. “Put that back right now, mister.” she pointed at his wallet.
“I gotta pay for an ID, don’t I?” Vito asked. “I don’t want you to lose your job.”
Miranda leaned forward and flicked Vito on the forehead.
“Culo!” Vito winced as he rubbed his hand against his forehead. “What was that for?”
“There is no way you’re going to pay for an ID, and besides, Centers give out freebies from time to time, so don’t you worry about a thing.” Miranda explained as she placed Vito’s card in a machine slot near her computer.
“Oh… I didn’t know.” Vito said. “Thank you, really.”
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Miranda smiled as her gaze focused on her computer. “By the way, did something happen? Giuseppe is normally here early…”
“We got here on time, but there were these sailors blocking the center.” Vito said.
“Did the League trainers get them to back off?” Miranda looked up at Vito.
“No, but there was this really cool trainer with a Glaceon! He beat them all in a battle, you should have seen it!” Vito exclaimed.
"Fottuta Legione." Miranda scowled as she glanced right back over to her computer. “Well, its a good thing that they were removed, I suppose.”
“Oh yeah! That trainer, did you happen to know his name?” Vito questioned. “They called him Hawthorne, but I’m not sure if that was his last name or his first name…”
Miranda sighed and she stopped typing for a moment. “Emile Hawthorne, probably. He was probably the reason why those sailors were screwing around.”
A wide grin crept across Vito’s face and he placed both hands on his desk. “Do you know where he’s going? He’s a foreigner right? C’mon, Miranda, you gotta tell me!”
“Woah, woah. Calm down.” Miranda waved Vito away. “I don’t know where exactly he’s going but… he did say something about going to Florentina, something about meeting with Professor Poplar.”
Vito smiled. If he was going to Florentina, then Vito knew exactly how he could find him! He just needed to get his trainer ID and he’d be all set-
“By the way, would you like a Pokedex or would you like the app installed?” Miranda asked.
Vito lost his train of thought and raised a brow at the question. He knew what a Pokedex was, but he didn’t know there was an app developed for it.
“The GlobalDex app was made recently,” Miranda explained as she saw Vito’s puzzled expression. It was made by some big brains up in Paldea, and then it got introduced in the Professor’s Assembly up in Ransei a couple of years ago. To keep it brief, it's an app that catalogs every Pokemon in the known world, and professors around the world constantly update it.”
“Ohh…” Vito replied, then immediately reached into his pocket for his Poryphone and placed it on the desk.
“Well, that answers that.” Miranda smiled and then took the phone and plugged it into her computer. “It’ll take just a tiinnyy bit longer.”
Vito couldn’t stop himself from bouncing up and down. He was grinning from ear to ear like an idiot, and how couldn’t he? He was not only getting his Trainer ID for free, but he found someone to help him be a better trainer!
He waited for a few more minutes and heard the sounds of machines whirring until finally, a loud click was heard from them.
“Alright!” Miranda said, moving her hand towards the machine and pulled out Vito’s ID and slid it back to him, then took his phone out from the computer.
Vito his ID first and smiled at it but his smile dropped when he saw that nothing had exactly changed. “I thought this was supposed to be my Trainer ID?” he turned his head towards Miranda.
“No, silly.” Miranda chuckled. “I needed your ID to be processed through official League and Ransei channels, and now that’s already done…”
The sound of loud whirring came from Miranda’s left and slowly, a small white and green plastic badge came out of a printer.
Miranda moved over to the device, pulled out the card, and then slid it over to Vito. “This is your official Trainer ID!”
Vito eagerly took it and inspected it. It was a simple ID that listed his name with a set of numbers underneath it and beside it all was a photo himself and the letters “EN” underneath that.
“Holy sh*t…” Vito breathed out with a smile as he continued to look at his badge. “Miranda, I can’t thank you enough.” he said to the Nurse.
“You don’t need to, brat.” She replied, reaching out to ruffle Vito’s hair. “Go out and kick some ass, and have fun, alright?”
“I will!” Vito replied. “Next time you see me, I’ll be Champion!” he loudly declared before he turned around and darted off.
As soon as he stepped outside, Vito released Pikachu from his Pokeball.
Pikachu took a deep breath upon being released and then exhaled loudly. The yellow mouse soon looked up and crossed his arms and his dark eyes glared at his trainer.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Vito apologized. “I didn’t mean to leave you in there for so long, but there were these sailors who were blocking the way and I saw an awesome battle!”
Pikachu’s ear perked up and his glare became a look full of curiosity as he eagerly listened to his trainer.
“I know what we’re going to do, Pikachu… but first,” Vito said before he cleared his throat. ATTEN-SHUN!”
Pikachu stood up straight and tall, pushing his chest out and made an attempt at crossing his tiny arms behind his back.
“Sergeant Pikachu, it will be a long time before we step back into Bellissimo Mare… and for our first mission, we’re going to find Emile Hawthorne!”
Pikachu tilted his head to the side, no longer keeping his soldier-like posture, and let out a squeak of confusion.
“Oh, right.” Vito said. C’mon, let’s go. I’ll give you the short version, little buddy.”
Emile Hawthorne was going to Lantana, meaning that he would likely take the quickest route there, and that was…
The Wandering Teacher
Route 17
Route 17 was quiet, Emile observed as he walked through the dirt road with Frère. Not much went on in the route, but the deeper he went in, the fresher the air became. No longer did he have to smell the salty sea; instead, he smelled the dozens of flowers and trees that surrounded the route.
From what he could tell, there weren’t that many Pokemon around either. There were Pikipek that pecked away at some trees, and if they didn’t do that, they would fly away upon noticing Emile and Frère.
“Welp, I think we’ve walked enough.” Emile sagely said as he clapped his hands together. “I think we should take a nice little nap!”
Frère groaned and turned towards his trainer. The Glaceon shook his head, displeased with the idea of napping.
The truth was, they hadn’t been walking for too long, but Emile still felt hungover. He needed something to eat and drink. Then after that, a nap.
“I could use a nice comfy bed...” The trainer remarked as he approached a couple of nearby trees and went underneath them to avoid the sunlight.
Frère joined his trainer underneath the shade, and as he did, he unzipped Emile’s backpack.
“Thanks, Frère.” Emile said as he reached into the pockets.
Arceus bless Silph technology. Emile thought as he rummaged through his backpack. After successfully implementing the Pokeball shrinking technology into things like backpacks and briefcases, life became very easy for trainers and people around the world. People could carry several outfits, enough food and water to last a month, and camping equipment all in a simple backpack, and that was just if you wanted to fill a small capacity bag up.
He would pull out a small bottle of water and a couple of Oran berries for him and Frère to snack on. It wouldn’t be a decent meal, but it would be enough for his Glaceon, and Emile had gone through worse situations.
“I should start letting a few of the team out.” Emile said as he handed a couple of berries to Frère. “Venus probably wants to sunbathe, Chevalier is probably paranoid, and Belle is… Belle.”
Glaceon began to eat the berries, nodding in response.
Before Emile reached for the Pokeballs on his belt, he heard the sound of rustling leaves and turned to his right and gazed at a moving bush. He stood still for a moment and observed three black Rattata move out from the bush.
“Well, I’ll be damned…” Emile remarked and he found himself smiling at the sight. He had never seen this breed of Rattata before and he reached into his pocket to pull out his PokeGear.
The Rattata had black fur and had a strange tuff of it under their nose that resembled a bushy mustache. There were three of the rodent Pokemon, and their red eyes were staring at Emile, or rather, his bag.
Emile loaded the PokeDex app from his phone and scanned the Rattata. He took a couple of photos of them through the app before he went to inspect a few details. He knew they were dark types and were commonly seen in Alola, but that was all he really knew about them. Seeing them for the first time was exciting and nothing was better than this-
“Glace!” Emile heard Frère bark.
The trainer raised his head and saw a group of the dark types rush towards him. His eyes widened but before he could move, one of the Rattata had jumped into the bag.
“Hey! Get outa there!” Emile demanded as he reached into his bag to grab the tiny rodent.
The Rattata in question did as Emile requested but had taken a small box wrapped in brown. The dark rat looked ridiculous as it held it in his arms, and he soon ran away with his group following close behind.
“sh*t, Frère! Get the one with the package, but be careful not to damage it!” Emile swiftly ordered.
Frère didn’t need to be told. Instead, ice energy formed from his open mouth, and he blasted an Ice Beam at the rats. Unfortunately, though, the ice type had missed his intended target and hit another rat, slamming it into a tree head-first while his other compatriots ran away.
“Merde!” Emile cursed as he chased after the Rattatas.
Frère followed, but soon stopped as he looked at the unconscious Rattata. The ice type raised a paw and lightly tapped the unconscious rodent’s head.
It jolted awake, and after it stared at Frère for a few seconds, its eyes went wide and zoomed off past him and Emile.
“Run after it, Frère!” Emile commanded as he reached for a Pokeball on his belt and threw it.
The Pokeball unleashed a humanoid figure clad in shining dark armor. She had twin blades for arms that were coated in violet fire and burned as bright as her purple eyes did, and she stood at attention in front of Emile.
“Chevalier, I need you in my shadow now. Make sure nothing and nobody comes near us.” Emile ordered.
Chevalier sunk into the ground below, becoming a hazy figure of darkness that entered her trainer’s shadow.
Emile turned his head in the direction Frère ran off at and began to follow his Glaceon.
“I’m really starting to hate this region…” he told himself.
The Wandering Teacher
Route 17
Vito smiled as he scanned Pikachu on his PokeDex app. A second didn’t pass before the app started displaying information about his beloved friend, from the types of berries he liked to moves he could learn.
“Holy crap, this thing works well.” he remarked as he jumped off the app. “I gotta look at it later, we can do all sorts of neat tricks when we start building ourselves up!”
Pikachu cheerfully squeaked, a wide smile on his face as he rode on his trainer’s shoulder.
“Ya know, I am a little curious about this Emile Hawthorne guy,” Vito commented as he went through his phone. “I downloaded an app yesterday called TrainerDex. Apparently, people use it everywhere… I think it might have something on him!”
Vito scrolled through his phone and tapped on the app in question. It didn’t take long for him to get used to its rather dull, lifeless, and gray UI, but he supposed that shouldn’t have been surprising given that this was meant to catalog trainers.
“Hawthorne…” he loudly said as he typed and began scrolling through names. Several other names appeared as well. “I don’t know who Arno and Elena Hawthorne are supposed to be and isn’t Hawthorn Lowery in the Laurum region?”
“Pi!” Pikachu squeaked and pointed at the very top where the name “Emile Hawthorne” was displayed.
“Oh, thanks, Pikachu!” Vito patted his friend’s head with his free hand while he used the other to access Emile’s page, and his eyes widened in delight as he gained access to the information. “Wow… this guy was a real deal, I think.”
Emile Hawthorne became a trainer around the same time trainers like Red from Kanto and Brendan from Hoenn did, though not nearly as famous. After all, how do you top what they did? One defeated a criminal organization and defeated two Champion-tier trainers, and the other saved the entire planet from being destroyed by legendaries.
Still, Vito thought Emile was pretty cool. He had not only stopped a few small gangs in Kalos, but had exposed the crimes of a company dedicated to Pokemon Breeding and he reached the semi-finals of the Kalos League in his first year, and unlike Red and Brendan, he travelled the world.
“Let's see… Top 8 in the Galar Cup, went silent for a bit in Paldea, then he apparently became an ACE Trainer with Sinnoh when Dawn Berlitz got rid of Team Galactic.” Vito read off, then turned his head to Pikachu and asked, “Who’s Dawn Berlitz?”
Pikachu shrugged in response and so Vito simply went back to reading.
“Went silent for a while, and then he competed in the Indigo League and… nothing,” Vito said. “Why is there nothing?” he shook his phone. “That is dumb, this app is full of sh*t! Most accurate trainer database, my ass!”
Vito put his phone away and sighed. At least he got some info, though he didn’t bother looking further. He had gotten all he wanted from this.
Pikachu suddenly jumped off of Vito’s shoulder and sniffed the air, then he started to run again.
“Wait, Pikachu! Where are you going?” Vito chased after his partner.
The chase didn’t last long, as Pikachu ran to the right, going underneath a tree and squeaked loudly as he ran around a gray backpack that laid on the floor.
Vito raised a brow as he ran forward and approached the bag. It released different scents, ranging from earthly, sweet aromas to fresh, juicy scents. These were scents Vito recognized, and he swiftly zipped the backpack up.
“This thing’s full of berries, and Lupa knows what else.” He commented, then his eyes widened as he remembered something.
This bag looked a lot like the one Emile Hawthorne wore.
“He’s nearby!” Vito realized and began to look around.
Pikachu squeaked and tugged on his trainer’s leg, then pointed to the left where there were broken twigs mixed with ice that covered the grass.
Vito was surprised to see that it hadn’t melted, but these were signs that Emile and his Glaceon had come through.
“Come on!” Vito ordered and charged to the left, where the ice and twigs were. Pikachu at first followed but soon sprung onto his trainer’s shoulder.
The further Vito ran, the more he started to hear things. It was hard to pick up at first, but he realized he was hearing the sound of high-pitched barking and someone yelling.
“Oh, you wanna blame me for getting punked?” Vito heard someone cry.
“That must be Emile.” Vito commented as he continued to walk, this time passing by various trees as he continued off route.
Loud barking was heard again. Obviously, it was the sounds of some sort of Pokemon. Perhaps it was Glaceon, Vito thought.
“Yeah, laugh all you want. Hell, you can tell everyone else, and while you do that, I’ll tell you how you missed the easiest shot in your life!” Emile hollered. “Oh yes, the great Frère took on Team Galactic and Amadis and can’t hit a Rattata to save his bloody life!”
There was more loud barking, and then a loud, pained yelp came from the direction Vito and Pikachu were moving towards.
Vito swallowed hard and turned to Pikachu. “I don’t like this.” he told his partner.
Pikachu frowned and nodded his head.
“You wanna bite me? Alright then, lets go you overgrown ice cube!” Emile hollered out.
Another yelp was heard. This time, it was high in pitch and matched the barking from earlier.
As Vito drew closer to the source of all the chaos, his eyes widened at the sight of Emile Hawthorne biting on one of the hind legs of his Glaceon while the ice type was biting on his arm.
It was quite a strange spectacle, and Vito was about to comment on it until a Pokemon clad in black armor and violet flames appeared from the Earth below!
The Pokemon charged towards Vito, it’s flaming arms aimed directly at his throat!
Vito yelped and jumped, falling on his rear and crawling backwards to avoid the stranger. His heart pounded beneath his chest and he was full of adrenaline.
Pikachu on the other hand jumped off of his trainer’s shoulder and fired a small bolt of lightning aimed to disable and paralyze his foe!
The black knight, however, swatted away the bolt of lightning with its burning sword and glared daggers at both, Vito and Pikachu.
Pikachu landed onto the ground, meeting the knight’s glare with his own. He growled as static electricity popped and crackled from his crimson cheeks.
Vito recognized this Pokemon, it was popular in many stories in Paldea and Enotria. It was called Ceruledge and was from the Charcadet line, but what was it doing here?
Ceruledge was about to strike again. It stepped forward and pointed a blade at it’s intended target. The knight was going to cut Pikachu in two.
“Wait!” Emile Hawthorne shouted from afar. “Wait, wait wait wait.” he commanded, getting up from the ground and stepping towards Ceruledge. He placed his hand on its shoulder. “Calm down, Chevalier.”
“Wait, that Pokemon is yours?” Vito asked.
“Yes, she’s one of mine. I’m sorry, we had gotten punked by a couple of Rattata and I decided to let her out just in case. I didn’t think anybody was here.” Emile stepped forward and lowered his hand for Vito to take.
Vito happily accepted it, and Emile pulled him up.
“I’m Emile Hawthorne.” He introduced himself to Vito. He opened his mouth, but then paused as he looked at the young trainer. “You’re one of the kids who was at the port town.”
“Y-Yeah, I am.” Vito nodded. “You noticed me?”
“I saw you on the ground.” Emile replied. “Those sailors aren’t back, are they?”
“No!” Vito said. “No, I uh… I wanted to find you. Here’s your bag by the way.” he continued, holding out the gray backpack for Emile to take.
“Crap, I can’t believe I left it. Thanks, kid.” Emile took the backpack and swung it over his shoulder. “So, why’d you wanna find me so bad?”
Vito swallowed hard, this was it, he thought. It was now or never, the worst he could do is say no after all right? He fell silent and clenched his fists tightly.
“I want you to teach me how to be like you!” Vito finally declared after a brief second of awkward silence.
Emile raised a brow, then turned his head towards his Glaceon. He and his partner stared at each other briefly before turning their heads back to Vito, and then back to each other. Then they both looked at Vito again.
“Listen, kid. We’re a little busy right now… but if you can help us get a package back from some Rattata, maybe we’ll work something out.” Emile said.
“A Rattata?” Vito asked. “Can’t you take care of it though? I mean, you probably got a killer team with you, don’t you?”
“Sure.” Emile shrugged. “But those Rattata have something valuable that I’m trying to bring to Florentina. Not only that, but they’ve more than likely brought that thing to their nest, and if it's in there, I’ll have to get it out.”
“Yeah, but they’re Rattata. It wouldn’t be a big deal, would it?” Vito asked.
“Sure, if I didn’t care about destroying their homes and potentially damaging the ecosystem here.” Emile shrugged. “The team I have with me are of the ‘destruction’ variety, and are too big for a rats nest.”
“Ooohh… that makes sense!” Vito nodded.
“So you’ll take care of it humanely?” Emile asked.
“Yup! Just leave it to me!” Vito gave a thumbs-up and turned around. This was already going well, he thought. All he had to do was get this little package back, and there would be a chance that Emile would take him on as a student!
“C’mon, Pikachu.” Vito said to his partner. “Lets get the package!”
AN: Many thanks to Tempera, Endgame13, and RaptorReads for beta reading. Your help has not gone unappreciated and I am forever grateful for it.
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