David kept a careful eye on the city around him as he walked.

The streets were quiet this morning even as the sun rose steadily higher in the sky. Few were out exercising as the city recovered from the festival. It was surprising how clean the streets were. Given the crowds that had passed through them yesterday he expected more litter and dirt, but everything was orderly. There weren’t even any cleaning crews out frantically setting things right before the city woke up.

But David’s caution wasn’t caused by the quiet, clean roads.

He was not getting lost again today. Yesterday was a mess of wrong turns and unnoticed loops. He didn’t have time for that.

Well, he didn’t think he had the time. The training group had agreed to meet at 10am in the same park as yesterday. The only issue he had with this was that he didn’t have a watch. The sun was the closest thing he had to a clock these days.

At least Oliver had given him more wiggle room with a vague lunchtime meeting.

The solution to the problem was simple enough - arrive early. It’s not like he had anything better to do. Pidgey wasn’t awake yet, and he’d been strictly instructed not to touch the berries in the grove of trees that was his new home.

The grove was... comfortable. Last night had been the best night’s sleep he’d had since arriving in this world. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he was in a city again, safe from Pokemon, or maybe it was because he'd left Saffron and Team Rocket behind. It might simply be the peace. The grove felt more like the forests back home. It was less active. There weren't constant Pokemon calls or even any signs of their presence. The camping spot was so comfortable that he’d even slept in.

When he arrived to the park he sat down in the same spot as yesterday. Dragging his backpack over, he began to dig through it. It might be a long wait, and he had an idea on how to occupy his time. To his frustration he needed to unpack half the bag before he found what he was looking for. If his future conversation with Oliver and the job at Nature's Scent worked out he might be finally able to stop lugging all of this stuff around. Even just leaving the tent in place would be a relief.

The ‘How to wing it!’ leaflet was starting to look a little battered. Being shoved into the backpack and compressed under everything else was starting to take its toll on the glossy paper. David gently opened it and began to flick through to the Training section.

He needed to figure out what Pidgey was doing with her gaze.

After the tent was set up last night they'd run a short training session. Pidgey’s enthusiasm was at an all-time high, and she took to the exercises with a new gusto. She shot higher in the sky when she practiced Launch. The target branch for Peck split in half on the first try. Her Tackle formed fast enough that he could see how the haze swirled around her feathers as it grew, emanating from her torso and spreading out.

Unfortunately the only thing that matched her enthusiasm was her growing tiredness. Pidgey launched half as many times as usual. She ran out of energy for Peck long before the amount of dead branches within easy reach did. Her Tackle formed slower and the pop wasn’t as forceful. In the end he decided not to practice the new Move while she was this tired. They stopped early and ate dinner while David tried to explain that she couldn’t eat the berries in the surrounding woods. Pidgey didn’t get it. She was particularly upset when, after spotting a bush of spiky red berries, David picked her up and carried her away without a taste.

Five attempts later Pidgey seemed to get the message but not happily. She settled on the other side of the small clearing from him and spent the next hour or so with her head tucked under her wing.

David couldn’t blame her. After all, since the first moment they’d met they’d spent a lot of time together searching for berries. Days of training her to find them only to now flip that around and tell the Pokemon ‘not these ones’.

Thankfully a tired Pidgey was a slow Pidgey. He’d been able to catch her before any of the berries had been eaten.

David jerked up from the leaflet and looked around the park. A cold feeling had run down his spine. The park was empty but the cold persisted. He couldn't shake the feeling. While he scanned the park, his gaze continued to return to the entrance.

A minute passed without anyone peeking out from behind the fence.

David sighed and looked back at the leaflet. He could have sworn he felt someone watching. But it was just more paranoia. If Team Rocket had found him they would have already approached him. They hadn’t been subtle before and that was unlikely to change.

He focused on the descriptions of Moves again.

 

-.-

 

“What are you looking up?”

Danny was the first to arrive. She was more ruffled than yesterday and her green headband was slightly askew. Like David, she brought her large backpack to the park again today but unlike him, she had at least changed her clothes. She wore exercise clothes again today, but had traded the green for a dark purple.

The change of clothes was such a small thing, but it reminded David of his own lack of clothes. He was still wearing yesterday and last week's outfit. The reminder of his poor circumstances was not appreciated.

David set the leaflet down with a sigh. He'd skimmed through the leaflet twice already. Nothing fit. The search wasn't going as well as he'd hoped, and now that Danny was here his progress was going to grind to a halt. Then again, you didn't get a Bulbasaur without a high STAT score. She might be able to help. It also couldn’t hurt to ask. Pidgey had already done whatever it was to Sarah, so it wasn’t like he could keep this a secret.

“Pidgeys been doing something. I think it's the start of a Move, and I’m trying to identify which.”

Danny sat down opposite him. “What kind of Move?”

David chewed his lip and looked at her. Danny stared back, gray bags under her eyes, but interest shined within them.

He flicked through the leaflet until he came to the paragraph that came closest.

“Mean Look. Frequently used by Zubat and Gastly to prevent their prey from fleeing and inhibit recall.” He paused to look back at Danny. “Pidgey looks at you and you feel cold. Exposed.”

“It’s...” She began but paused. After a few seconds of consideration she started again. “It reminds me of something in one of the other leaflets.”

She shuddered and seemed reluctant to name it as she spoke again. “Sea for yourself.”

“Oh.” David said with a frown. Well that was a lot of time wasted searching. “Why would it be left out of this one?”

Danny smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “A lot of different kinds of Pokemon can learn each move. The leaflets are meant to be read as a group, but politics made the program less.”

He shrugged and reached for his bag. It sounded familiar. Politics was the same everywhere it seemed. As he rooted through his stuff a thought struck him.

“You don’t think the Move is in there because of the pun?”

Danny narrowed her eyes. “I hope not.”

Terry and Tulia joined them before David could delve too deeply into ‘Sea for yourself’. Martin and Sarah followed soon after. Sarah was wearing a blouse today. It had a dark stain by her rib cage, the source of which was quickly revealed.

“I know we said we were meeting later, but I was cooking this morning anyway, so...”

Sarah barely had time to set the container down before Tulia snatched it away.

“Oh, thank Arceus I’m starving.” Tulia pried the lid off and pulled out two stick-like pastries.

Sarah pulled the box back with a cry.

“You Munchlax!”

Tulia let her take it without a fight, fully focused on enjoying the pastries she’d claimed.

"Mmmhm."

Martin burst out laughing as Terry covered her eyes in embarrassment. Danny and David could only smile.

“Absolutely fantastic work Sarah,” Tulia said, licking her fingers one by one. “The recipe continues to improve.”

“It will be perfected by the time I let you have another one,” Sarah replied with a sour look as she rearranged the pastries inside the box.

“Oh come off.” Tulia complained and reached out towards the box. “One more. I barely had time to get changed after work let alone eat.” She wore more outdoor clothes today instead of heavy waxy overalls.

Sarah took one pastry from the box before passing it around in the opposite direction to Tulia’s grabbing hands. “I’ll consider it after everyone else has eaten.”

Terry and Danny took two pastries with a thank you to Sarah. Martin took three which he gleefully displayed to Tulia. David picked two from the box and passed it on. They smelled amazing. Sweet and warm.

The pastries were heavier than they looked. Their crisp crust was a dark golden color broken up by small bits of fruit. He took a hesitant bite and was surprised by how fluffy the pastry was after you got through the crunchy exterior.

“So where are you two from?” Sarah asked, her gaze lingering on the nibbled pastry in David's hand before she turned to Danny.

Danny and he spoke at the same time.

“Out west.”

“Near Saffron.”

They looked at each other and blinked. They looked back at the others who were unimpressed.

“Right...” Tulia drawled and reached for the pastry box again.

Sarah pulled it out of her reach. “So why Celadon?”

They looked at each other again. David gestured her forward with a mouth full of pastry.

“I have family in the area.”

David blinked at her. Given the backpack and how ruffled she looked he had assumed that she was camping like him.

“And you David?” Martin prompted.

“I needed to get out of Saffron.”

Sarah looked at them glumly. She didn’t protest as Tulia stole the pastry box back either. “Those are terrible answers.”

He and Danny looked at each other again before looking back at Sarah and shrugging.

Martin laughed. “How about we talk about the training for now?” At Sarah’s disgruntled face he continued. “We can get to know each other better during the battles.”

“I don’t know about rematches,” Sarah began reluctantly. “But we haven’t all fought each other yet. Danny in particular.”

“Officially.” Terry amended.

“Yes, officially. I don't think what we were doing last week really counts. It's different on a pitch,” Sarah said. She snatched the box of pastries back off Tulia. “Victors can get one of the last few of these.”

“I’m first up anyway,” Tulia said, licking her fingers again. She gave Martin a withering look when he snorted. “Because I only got one battle yesterday, not the pastries.”

“Same applies to you Danny,” Terry said quietly. “Do you want to go first?”

Danny smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

 

-.-

 

Danny and Tulia’s match was interesting but not very diverse.

Both Pokemon started with two rounds of Growth before Danny ordered her Bulbasaur forward. Tulia’s Bellsprout was happy to let Bulbasaur come to it and gathered more gray slithers from the ground around it while it waited.

Bulbasaur hovered a little out of Bellsprout’s reach and tried to bait the Pokemon forward with a Growl but Bellsprout ignored it and continued to use Growth.

The two Pokemon eventually met in an ineffective Vine Whip clash before Danny ordered Bulbasaur to finish it with a Tackle.

It wasn't a battle of titans, but it set the training group off to a good start. Bellsprout, like Pidgey, seemed to suffer from a small move pool though it seemed worse in its case. Still, Danny listened intently to what Tulia was saying as they left the field.

David and Terry were up next.

He was nervous, but a little excited as he took the pitch opposite the shy woman. He had nothing against Rattata or Oddish, but he’d seen both species plenty of times before on Route 7. Terry’s Sandshrew was the only one of its kind he’d ever seen. And it was a strong one if the match against Danny and her Bulbasaur was any indication.

One thing that stuck out to him from Terry’s previous matches was Sandshrew’s defense. The straw colored scales that protected its head, limbs and back were tough, even considering that Pokemon were powerful creatures and their Moves defied logic. When Bulbasaur struck Sandshrew with a full powered Vine Whip, those scales had been marked but not broken.

In that regard, Pidgey was Sandshrew’s opposite. While her species were young they were frail enough that even the most basic of physical Moves like Tackle wasn't recommended.

The battle would be so simple if Pidgey knew just one Move that would work from a distance. She could hang back or fly above Sandshrew without fear of reprisal. Instead, this would be a physical and risky fight. A fight where Sandshrew would have the advantage. An advantage that would only grow if Sandshrew was given time to strengthen itself with a Defense Curl.

Pidgey's only chance was to strike fast and hard.

Terry and he signaled their readiness to Tulia, and she began to count.

“1.”

“Go!”

Pidgey and Sandshrew were released in twin bursts of light.

“Into the air. Peck.” David ordered immediately. He was starting to grow used to the timing of a pokeball.

“Defense curl.” Terry shouted.

David grimaced. He wasn’t alone in his prediction of the match.

Pidgey hopped forward and with a flap of her wings, shot into the sky. Unlike her usual vertical launch, this was more horizontal. The momentum of her hop worked to her advantage and she was propelled forward by the angle of her wings.

Across the pitch, Sandshrew responded just as quickly. The Pokemon sank to the floor and curled up, tucking its head and eyes into its chest. A beige haze started to gather on its outer plates.

Pidgey glided towards the prone Pokemon, but her initial burst of speed slowed. She drifted back down towards the floor. She was going to be too late.

Pidgey seemed to sense it too and folded her wings slightly. She began to descend faster, making more speed but falling to the ground well short of Sandshrew.

David couldn't help. Any orders he gave now would do nothing but distract Pidgey. He could only wait and hope that Sandshrew wouldn’t have time to execute another Defense Curl.

Pidgey fell towards the ground and extended her talons. When she got within a meter of the ground, she let out a shrill call and flicked her slightly folded wings back. With a flap that scattered transparent swirls of lavender, she rose back into the air, talons drifting within inches of the ground.

David clenched his fist and smiled. Maybe they could do this.

Across the way, Terry frowned. “Get ready for Sand Attack.”

As the last of the beige haze disappeared into Sandshrew it began to uncurl. Each of its limbs dug deeply into the ground around it, disturbing the soil and gathering the loose clumps together into mounds.

Pidgey tucked her wings in and dived towards Sandshrew.

David tensed in surprise. She wasn’t going to land first?

The change seemed to surprise Terry who had also watched Pidgey battle the day before. Neither trainer had time to respond before the Pokemon met.

Pidgey angled her beak forward and Sandshrew spun.

The mounds around Sandshrew were knocked apart as it turned and presented its scaly back to Pidgey. Light brown clouds engulfed the powdery dirt and propelled it towards Pidgey.

Pidgey was too close at that point for the Move to have much effect. She threw her wings out wide to slow her down even as she made beak first contact with the other Pokemon.

Sandshrew let out a loud squeal and shook as it tried to move away from the sharp beak.

The tan covered sand smacked into Pidgey’s wings and body. Each impact helped push her further off balance as she landed awkwardly on one foot.

“Scratch!” Terry yelled.

“Launch out of there!” David roared back. Pidgey had the advantage now. If she kept out of reach she could harass the other Pokemon with diving attacks.

Pidgey was slow to gather her balance and wobbled a step or two to the side before she could adjust her wings.

This gave Sandshrew time to recover itself. The Pokemon pushed itself back up and towards Pidgey.

David clenched his jaw. Was Pidgey going to make it out in time?

“Switch to Sand Attack!” Terry yelled. Terry was closer to the action, and it seemed that she thought that Pidgey would escape.

As Pidgey lifted her wings up high for a powerful flap, Sandshrew dived forward and skidded into its dirt hole from earlier. Sand was thrown forward, and familiar light brown vibrations gathered more dirt from around the Pokemon to hurl forward.

Pidgey’s wings shot down as the sand sought her out.

Most of the clumps of sand were blown away by the force of the flap. Some carried on unhindered, soaring into the air after her. A few clumps struck Pidgey before she could glide away. One struck her right between the eyes and scattered dust.

Pidgey’s flight wobbled, and she let out a high pitch shrill.

“Chase her!” Terry screamed. Now that he was facing her, it was unnerving to hear her yell but see her stand relaxed with her arms crossed.

Sandshrew picked itself up and started after the faltering bird.

“Stay in the air Pidgey!” David shouted back.

Pidgey gave no signs of hearing as she drifted towards the ground.

Sandshrew chased after her. It was slower along the ground but as soon as Pidgey landed Sandshrew would be on her.

David watched the gradual descent with trembling hands.

Pidgey was a meter above the ground when she straightened. Her wings shot back and spurred by faint eddies of lavender she flew back into the air.

He grinned. The lavender was something else to investigate, but things were looking up.

“Curl!” Terry shouted as Pidgey took off into the air again.

“Peck.” David ordered happily. One good blow and the match should be called in his favor.

Sandshrew curled up in the dirt as Pidgey swung around. Once more she folded her wings slightly and began to speed up as she dived at Sandshrew.

Victory was in their grasp. Pidgey would reach Sandshrew before it could complete the move. The beige haze wasn’t even visible across Sandshrew’s scales yet.

‘Wait, why isn’t it visible yet?’

David only had seconds to contemplate before Terry screamed across the field.

“Scratch!”

“Scratch!”

Sandshrew uncurled instantly and lifted itself up to face the descending Pidgey. 'Curl' he realized. Just 'Curl'. Terry hadn't given the order he thought she had.

Pidgey let out a loud chirp and pushed her beak forward.

Sandshrew turned to the right and presented its left shoulder. The ground type let out an awful hiss as Pidgey's beak struck but this time the Pokemon was prepared and remained steady as it was driven back a few inches.

Sandshrew turned again, and its left foreleg swiped down.

Pidgey shrieked in pain as her right wing was struck.

A feather drifted to the ground.

“David!” Someone bellowed angrily.

“David!” Someone bellowed angrily.

He ignored it and the follow up shouts.

David skidded to the ground by Pidgey as he reached for her wing. The Pokecenter was close enough. Maybe a five-minute run. He could go now and...

Pidgey tilted her head at him and let out a low squawk. She didn’t tug her wing away from him, but he could feel her pulling it away lightly.

She was fine.

“What was that?” Sarah called angrily.

David turned to see Danny, Martin and Tulia following behind her as they jogged onto the pitch. Terry was walking closer too, her hand and pokeball falling back towards her side. Sandshrew was gone.

“Sorry, I...” He began, letting Pidgey’s wing fall from his hands.

She folded it back in before spreading it out and giving it a gentle wave. Satisfied it was fine she tucked it back in and looked at David.

“You can’t just run into a Pokemon match!” Sarah exclaimed. “Do you have a death wish or something?”

“No it’s-” David looked up at the five standing around him and staring expectantly. How could he explain this? “Pidgey’s right wing was hurt before. Badly. She couldn’t move it for a while, and it's only just healed.”

“Oh.” Sarah shifted. “Sorry.”

“That’s not a good reason.” Danny crossed her arms as she spoke. “Pidgey is tougher than you. If you’re worried, recall her. Stupid gestures like this help no one.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment as no one refuted her words.

“Well,” Tulia broke it hesitantly. “I think the battle was in David’s favor, but he forfeited by leaving his position.”

David nodded his agreement and picked up Pidgey.

Terry released Sandshrew who crouched down before the Pokemon realized he was amongst them all and relaxed.

Danny and Martin took their place on the field.

The three staying on the sidelines with him didn’t seem too upset, but they were a little stiffer. Something had changed.

‘Shit.’