Chapter 10: Back To the Forest

Fennekin, The Fox Pokemon

As it walks, it munches on a twig, which fills it with energy in place of a snack. It intimidates opponents by puffing hot air out of its ear, which can vent heat up to 390 degrees Fahrenheit.

Type: Fire'

Looking at my little Fox's dex entry, it doesn't seem to be anything I didn't already know about the species, although I am a bit surprised that she can survive off of twigs instead of actual food. It's been a few days, and I have to say she has been a little ball of sunshine since I asked her to become my partner. although it took a bit of coercion from me to get Professor Sycamore to agree.

Flashback to the day after finding Fennekin

"I've decided to take Fennekin with me." I state rather than ask the professor who is on the other end of the phone screen. "I've already asked her to come with me, and she wants to stay with me just as much as I want to have her along with my journey, plus, while Shauna may be ineligible to take another starter, I have not received a starter from any region's professor so I can fulfill the role of her trainer."

U-umm, that's well and all, but are you certain? I'd been under the impression that you were a Dragon Specialist and would rather take on those types of Pokemon. " The professor questions me on my choice." While there are cases where a specialist has more than what they're proficient in, this is a rather unique circumstance since it's an issue that came about due to an error on our part. Are you two fine with this?

Asking me and Fennekin, who has been sitting in my lap, if this decision is fine, we both give a nod in response, confirming our intentions to become partners. He's right, though it was due to a series of mistakes that compounded into getting us in this situation, but I won't look back, and I've zero intention of breaking this little one's heart or crushing her dreams, so giving him my most amicable smile, I respond.

"Yes, I'm completely sure that I want her, and as you can see, she wants me in return. Just because I want to become a dragon master doesn't mean that I'm limited to only dragon-type Pokemon. Though I don't know what it means to be a master for other people, to me, a master is someone who can fully bring out the strength and power of Pokemon through the bonds they create, and I want to bring out her potential while we support one another along the way." There is no room for rebuttal, and I firmly state my case.

"Very well, if this is something that the two of you are adamant about, I'll officially register you as her trainer. I know that this was all our fault, and I may not have the right to ask this of you, but please take care of her. She's always looked longingly at other pokemon and their trainers, so I'm sure this is something that she wants almost as much, if not more, than anyone else." He bows his head while pleading.

"As if you need to ask, I've already said I'd watch over her, and I'm not going to separate from her anytime soon. We're in this together after all, plus Gible and Dratini have already started treating her like family, so I'm even less inclined to part with her. She's like my own child at this point." I give while petting her fur, which causes her to nuzzle into my touch.

Flashback End

Honestly, I wish he had been more careful before someone nearly had their heart broken or even irrevocably locked away, but I guess it was a good thing that both of us found each other. Whether she realizes it or not, thanks to her and my other little ones, I've found myself more receptive to my gift and have been making attempts at listening to Pokemon more. some of which have actually caused me to chuckle and get weird looks in response.

"How appropriate that, just like their trainers, Lotad and Poliwag also wanted to dance about!" The first time I read their thoughts, I actually burst out laughing, causing Iris to smile when I told her what I had heard them say. She had been worried that using my ability would cause me to feel distressed again, but I eased her worries by letting her know that if I ever felt overwhelmed, I'd simply tune them out for a little bit or focus on only the voice I wanted to hear at the moment.

Anyway, where were we? I kind of got lost in thought for a little bit. Do any of you little ones recall what it was about? I ask my three kids."

'Practice'

'food'

'exploring!'

"And just like that, none of you are on the same page." I can't help but chuckle at how completely out of sync these three are. " Gible We can practice our moves a little bit once we meet up with the others. Dratini You just ate, and you're going to be molting soon anyway, so I'll feed you before then. Fennekin, we'll be taking off tomorrow back to Santalune, so if you can stay patient, I'll make all of you some poffins before you leave, okay?"

'''YAYYY''' Three VERY happy Pokemon cheer.

"Well whatever. Come on, let's go see if the others have finished their preparations." With that being said, I returned Dratini and Gible to their pokeballs, as I promised to keep Fennekin out with me today for some bonding time, and I went to find Iris and the others. eventually finding them at the same cafe we stopped at the first day here.

"Hey, is everybody almost ready to set out? i'd like to set out early so that we can cover a lot of ground rather than miss travel time due to stalling." Really, part of me wants to call a flying taxi, but since we'd agreed to take Calem, Serena, and Shauna, we couldn't all pile into one and take off, unfortunately. I' think that's something Galar and Paldea have over Kalos: the availability of high-occupancy flying taxis.'

"Yup, we're all set to head out! The three of us already gave the letters to our parents, and we used the last few days getting supplies ready to go!" Shauna energetically replies, gaining a huff from Calem and a giggle from Serana.

"Sorry you have to take us through the forest like this; I'm sure we'd slow you down a bit, but seriously, thank you for watching out for us!" Giving her thanks, Serana bows, while Calem just gives a simple thanks.

"It's no problem at all; we're heading back that way anyway since me and Iris are going to be challenging the gym there when the circuit begins, so it's no waste, plus technically, two of you are still new to this, even if you had trainer parents; that doesn't mean you have experience traveling." I wave off the overly formal thanks since it really doesn't affect us all that much, and I'd be troubled if they set out without any guidance.

"Yeah, the more the merrier, right?" Clearly liking the idea of traveling together a bit longer, Shauna expresses her excitement, but before she can do that, something needs to be taken care of.

"Not you, young lady; you're coming with me to the center to get a new license." I chide the brunette while pinching her ear and dragging her off to the Pokemon Center with much protest from the girl, with a note from the professor allowing her to get her trainer license so that if she gets injured she won't have to pay a fee for not having an updated license.

"hey Iris I know it's a little late to ask this, but Saya seems to know a lot about the league's policies, and she even managed to get the professor to pen a letter for Shauna to get her license a day early. just who ARE you two exactly?" Trevor questions Iris about our statuses, but she simply puts a finger to her mouth while muttering 'it's a sec~ret~' leaving the other confused.

After ten minutes of waiting, me and Shauna reunite with the group and start making our way to Santalune Forest while making small talk along the way, mostly with Shauna protesting at her 'unfair treatment, causing me to give her a pacifying smile that for some reason makes her clam up and hide behind Serana.

Arriving at the entrance to the forest, I turn around and question everyone to make sure that they remember the layout for our group. We decided on a slightly modified formation of the one we originally used to get to Aquacorde, with me taking the front with Fennekin Trevor and Tierno on the sides and Calem and Serana behind them. Shauna would be in the middle of the group, and Iirs would be in the back.

Seeing everyone understanding their role in the group we head into the forest. Once again being met with a densely packed canopy of leaves that block out the majority of the sunlight, we spend about half an hour traveling before Serena all of a sudden perks up.

"umm do you guys mind if we look for Fletchling while we're here? we have one at my house and i wanted to catch one of my own." Not having a reason to decline her request, we agree and have Pikachu and Fennekin keep their ears out for their cries so that Serana can have her chance.

"There's no problem with wanting to catch a Pokemon, but if you have to make sure that they're alone, if you get reckless and attack an entire flock, you'll easily get overwhelmed, especially since you guys aren't used to fighting packs of Pokemon yet. While that danger can be alleviated with more trainers around to watch your back, I can't advise you to pursue them if you're by yourself." Giving them my own advice, I continue on while making small talk, as there isn't much going on until Fennekin and Pikachu both perk up after having caught something.

'Over there!' Fennekin points in a direction a bit away from us, her paw getting a nod from me as I have the others slow down while slowly making my way over to a nearby bush to see what she caught, and sure enough, there's a lone Fletchling picking at a berry on the ground.

Seeing that its attention is not on us i motion for Serana to approach it since this is her battle while we'll be here in case something unexpected occurs. Nodding, she slowly gets out of the bushes to approach the tiny bird before getting its attention.

"U-uhh Fletchling!" She calls out, not wanting to startle the bird by sneaking up on it. When it registers her presence, it ruffles its feathers in a challenging motion before she continues. "I want to challenge you to a battle and hopefully capture you. Will you accept?" she declares a bit shakily, but the bird pokemon gets the conveyed message as it flaps its wings in challenge.

Taking that as a sign, Serana calls out Chespin, who takes to the field with a cheer, ready to have its first battle. As both pokemon stare each other down, I make note that Fletchling will have the advantage in type, but that's not all there is that can determine a battle.

'Chespin, use Tackle!" Serana decides to make the first move by having the Grass-type rush the flying-type, making it fly up into the air to dodge before it retaliates with a Peck scoring a big hit on it. before flying back up into the air, using its ability to fly to its advantage.

"quick use Vine Whip to grab it and pull it down!" Not a bad move since Chespin's biggest failing besides its typing is how it's confined to the ground and slower than its opponent. With an acknowledging cry, it releases two vines from the spines on its back, hoping to grab the nimble flying type, which manages to avoid its attempts at securing it before diving down for another peck, which the slow Grass-type barely dodges.

Not entirely sure what to do Serana thinks to herself in a panic before seeming to grasp something before calling out to Pokemon.

"Chespin use Vine Whip again to try and grab it and when it dives down to hit you use Growl." Quickly trying to readjust, they put their plan into action once more, baiting the bird pokemon to charge in for what it thinks is an easy hit, only to be stunned when Chespin lets out a point blank Growl. Using that moment of hesitation, Chespin wraps it with its vines and holds it in place.

"Alright! now hit them with a Rollout!" With Fletchling still caught in its vines, it can't fly away as Chespin curls into a ball before rolling towards it, picking up momentum before ultimately ramming into it, causing it to cry out in pain and be knocked away.

"Now!" with a loud cry, Serana hurls a pokeball at the tiny bird, making it disappear in a flash of red before the pokeball lands on the grassy floor, shaking once, twice, and three times before a click can be heard and the ball lies motionless.

"YOU DID IT!" Shauna offers her congrats at the successful capture as Serana collapses to her knees, no doubt happy that her first wild encounter went well, before going and picking up Fletchling's ball and letting it out to heal both the bird and Chespin. Having confirmed that her Pokemon are all healed up, we take a few moments to rest before heading on again to cover more ground.

Lorekeeper_Mystique

Soo here's our first wild encounter and capture of the series i wanted to make it a bit more intense but i wanted to save a major fight for a later chapter cause i have something planned for the next two chapters. Anyway thanks for reading everyone and have an amazing day!