Charlie Arthurson
Chapter 2 - Part 1
By the time they allowed Charlie to leave the lab she was quite fed-up with the place. They'd kept them all for questioning, which wasn't surprising as there'd been a kidnapped Professor and vandalized lab. Charlie would have been worried if they
hadn't kept them for questioning. But it had been quite annoying to explain to the police over and over again that, no, she had no idea who the people were that took the Professor and, no, she didn't know why either. The only thing she'd been able to tell them were the things the strange woman had said.
The strangest thing was that, instead of cancelling the whole thing as would have been sensible, she'd been advised to keep going with her Pokémon journey, something Charlie definitely hadn't been very happy about. But she'd promised her mom to at least give it a try, and so she would. She'd simply turn around when, and she knew she would, she'd lose against the first gym leader. She decided against telling the mom about what had happened at the lab, as that would only drive her to worry, and headed straight to the route going out of the town. Just as it was in sight, however, she was stopped by a suspicious-looking man in a trenchcoat.
"Ahem, excuse me miss?"
"Yes," Charlie responded reluctantly. She didn't much like strangers, let alone strangers who looked so down-right suspicious. What could the man possibly want with her? She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? Or maybe he was a criminal or something equally devious?
"My name is Looker, I'm a detective," he said, which didn't calm Charlie's suspicions at all. Anyone could put on a trenchcoat and fedora and say they were detectives. "A distressed Professor Rowan contacted me about a week ago, telling me to deliver these letters to his newest trainers."
"How did you know I was one of them then?" Charlie challenged.
"Oh," Looker, if he was who he said he was, dug in one of his coat's pockets and produced a few photos. He looked through them and gave one of them to Charlie. When she looked at it she saw herself staring back, the photo from a few months back that her mother had mailed to Professor Rowan along with her application. "You see now, miss? I was told to wait here today and give you these letters, so here you go," he gave Charlie an envelope. "I was also told that you were not to open the envelope until after your first gym battle, it was very important so do listen to the instructions."
"Wait, did he know what was going to happen?" Charlie asked, many doomscenarios going through her mind.
"I don't know, miss, I only know what Rowan told me. Best to keep on going now, we don't want our conversation to be monitored, and I've other letters to deliver. All the luck on your journey," he made a sort of "chapeau" gesture with his fedora and turned back toward the entrance of the route, while Charlie kept going.
It was only after she\'d walked briskly for about ten minutes that she remembered about her Eevee. "Oh, right, I guess I should let you out now," she muttered, not sure what the trainer protocol was for travelling with Pokémon. She released the Eevee, who then stared up at her quizzically. "We haven't really properly met, have we? I wouldn't count that haphazard battle much of a meeting. I'm Charlie Arthurson, your new trainer." Eevee made a meowling sound back, which didn't sound particularly greeting, it was more a sound of uncertainty. "You were really brave back there, you know," Charlie started. Eevee cocked her head. "You were! Especially how you pushed through even with those Screech attacks scratching at your eardrums. That finishing move was brilliantly done. You're a strong Pokémon, I can only hope to do you justice."Eevee nodded but didn't make any more sound. She was obviously not very comfortable around her new trainer yet.
They walked ahead in silence, Eevee mostly staying next to Charlie, looking around at every little noise. "You don't trust me, do you?" Charlie offered. Eevee looked at her and meowed again, a very soft sound. "I don't blame you," Charlie muttered, sticking her hands in her pockets. "I wouldn't trust me either, I mean look at the trouble I got us in on the first meeting, that can't spell out much good. But we'll give it a shot, okay? I promise that I'll return you to the lab if it doesn't work out, and you could find another trainer who's better suited for you. Someone who wanted to be a trainer in the first place. You're strong, and from what I gathered you're pretty rare too. I'm sure anyone would be happy to have you."
Eevee remained silent and continued walking, and the pair advanced a little more in the route. It wasn't long after that they were approached by a boy maybe one or two years younger than Charlie. "Hello," he greeted politely.
"Are you talking to me?" Charlie asked, looking around her to see if there were other people around, but there weren't. Why would this stranger be addressing her?
"Why yes, who else would I be talking to?" The boy said, but not in an unkind way. "Would you like a battle? I've just caught my first Pokémon and I'd love to give him a try battling another trainer."
"Oh, I'm not sure if I'm very suited for that," Charlie started, already starting to walk forward again, trying to get away from this stranger.
"Oh but please, I would really like to battle, and who knows when I'll find another trainer next?" The boy pleaded. "It won't take very long, like I said I only just caught him, and I'm just starting out as a trainer. I mean I've had a few battles before, but none with my very own Pokémon. I would just be so happy if you would do me the favor of battling me."
Charlie sighed, normally she'd have very little problems refusing, but this boy seemed so polite, she had trouble saying no. "Alright then, but don't expect me to be much good at it, it'll only be my second battle, as well as Eevee's."
"Oh I'm sure you'll do fine," the boy said. "My name is Nathaniel, please back up a little so we can make a battlefield."
Charlie stepped back, creating quite a bit of space between her and Nathaniel. "Well, let's go then Eevee," she said and Eevee stepped forward, taking her place on the battlefield. Nathan called out his own Pokémon, which turned out to be a little Starly.
"Gregoire, let's see what you're made of!" Nathaniel cheered. "Ladies first."
"All right, I won't turn that down, Eevee start with a tackle!" Eevee ran towards the Starly. "Wait," Charlie started. "You named your Starly Gregiore?" The Starly few up before Eevee could reach him, leaving Eevee to stare up at it in annoyance. It was unfair that some creatures had wings and some didn't. If she could evolve into so many different species, why wasn't there one with wings?
"What's wrong with Gregoire?" Nathaniel objected. "Gregoire, use Quick Attack if you please." The Starly flapped its wings once and dove down, trailing a white energy behind him. He hit Eevee before Charlie could say anything to counter it, hurting her quite a bit.
"Eevee use tackle before it can fly high again!" Eevee jumped up just in time, slamming her head upwards and hitting Starly in the ribs. The bird squacked, flapping his wings furiously to stay aloft. "Oh I don't know, doesn't it seem to be a bit out of place?" Charlie asked Nathaniel.
"Maybe when he's little," Nathaniel began, before turning to his Gregoire. "Turn around and use quick attack again!" He turned back at Charlie. "Pardon me. When Gregoire evolves his name will suit him quite well."
"Quickly, crouch low!" Charlie quickly commanded and Eevee crouched, causing the Starly to soar above it. "And tackle up NOW!" as Starly was right above Eevee. She jumped up, hitting Gregoire in the exact same spot again.
"The question is, why haven't you named your Eevee?" Nathaniel enquired. "Gregoire, would you growl for me please?" A very un-birdlike noise came from the back of Starly's throat, a deep growl that made Eevee's hair stand on end. She was suddenly much less eager to fight Gregoire.
"Well Eevee, we can mix a bit of our own can't we? Use tail whip," Charlie ordered. Eevee shook her head, trying to shake the growl from her mind and turned her bum towards Gregoire, slowly shaking her tail back and forth. At first the Starly payed little heed to it, but he found it difficult not to look at that tail going right, left, right, left. Gregoire found himself flying towards the Eevee, wanting to take a closer look at that hypnotizing tail. Charlie had an idea, and acted upon it. "Eevee move a little to the left please, right in front of that rock, but stay above it." The rock in question wasn't very tall, Eevee's head was visible behind it, and her tail definitely was, which was the most important thing. As the Starly came close Charlie ordered the Eevee to gradually get lower to the ground, and Gregoire responded as she hoped he would. He was following the tail, flying closer and closer to the ground until BAM, he smacked straight against the stone.
"Gregoire, are you harmed?" Nathaniel asked, concerned for his new partner in crime. Gregoire shook himself, pecking momentarily at a few askew feathers, before flying up again. He was definitely shaken up though, that much was clearly visible, more so than Eevee was. Charlie was beginning to hope that she could actually win a real Pokémon battle, even when she wasn't provoked or in danger like the last time. She'd heard of people doing amazing feats while threatened, so she'd brushed it off as that and a healthy dose of luck, but it was looking like she might really be able to win a battle. Even just from a beginner with a Pokémon probably much weaker than Eevee was.
"To answer your question," Charlie said. "I haven't really thought about naming Eevee, though I do see now that it's something I should do." Nathaniel smiled, seemingly glad that he'd made her see that naming her Pokémon was a good idea. But soon he ordered Gregoire to use tackle at Eevee. "Dodge!" Charlie quickly commanded, but it seemed that, head on head, Eevee hadn't put the growl behind her yet and seemed rooted on the spot. The Starly hit her sharply with his beak and Eevee rolled backwards from the impact. "Eevee, get your game back!" Charlie pleaded.
"Gregoire, finish this with a quick attack, if you please." Gregoire flapped his wings again, soaring in a dive right towards Eevee.
Charlie, who saw that Eevee was now positioned right next to a tree, saw her chance and took it. "Eevee jump aside and tackle it, just like we did before!" she ordered and Eevee nodded. She jumped aside at just the right moment and tackled Gregoire straight into the tree. This was the last the little Starly could take, and it fell to the ground, panting. Eevee's breath came laboured too and in the end both Pokémon weren't really fit for battle anymore, but as it was Eevee who had handed out the last move Nathaniel insisted that Charlie had won.
"I told you you'd be great," Nathaniel said with a big smile as they both took their Pokémon in their arms. "Would you like to take a break? I've got a bag of Oran berries just waiting for consumption. You know about Oran berries I presume? They help quicken your Pokémon's recovery time as well as giving them a short-term burst of energy. Quite wonderful they are."
"No I didn't know about the Oran berries, but I'd certainly love to take a break right now, and it's nice of you to share your berries with me." Charlie replied. the walked to a patch of grass where they sit down, and Nathaniel offered her some berries that Charlie gave her Eevee. Charlie found it a lot easier to trust Nathaniel than she would have normally trusted strangers. There was something about the boy, be it his overly politeness or his obvious naiveté. Charlie was fairly certain that the boy was incredibly sheltered, and kind of wondering if it weren't incredibly irresponsible of his family to let him go on a journey alone.
"Pokémon really have a remarkable recovery system, much quicker and efficient than humans do," Nathaniel noted, feeding another berry to Starly who gulped it down eagerly. Both Pokémon looked a lot more recovered from how they'd been before. "They can get hurt in battles pretty badly, and recover considerably in but a day! And Pokémon Centers make use of this, they have machines and medicine that quickens the recovery speed of Pokémon even more. Isn't that fascinating."
"It is," Charlie agreed, genuinely, though it might be so fascinating because Nathaniel was so enthusiastic about it. She fed Eevee another berry. Both Pokémon were up and running again. "Where are you from Nathaniel?"
"I'm from Jubilife. Well, actually, my family lives just outside of the city. I just came down to catch a Pokémon of my own." Nathaniel replied, patting Gregoire on the head, who chirped happily back to him. "How about you, what are you doing here?"
"I'm on a journey," Charlie said, though she didn't voice her doubts on going through with it. "so I'm heading to Jubilife now.if you're going back there, maybe we could walk the last bit together?"
Nathaniel smiled. "I'd love to."
