[Pokémon] Partners

[Aresol]

The following is rated PG.

Chapter 1
-Awake-

I woke up again just outside of Crevice City. I had forgotten about the lack of foliage in this area, a hard sleep on rocks and gravel reminded me of that. Personally I'd rather not sleep outside, but with a lack of money and little interest in the centers I'm stuck roughing it. I've been here for several days and haven't been able to pass through. Apparently there is some sort of construction on the other end of the city barring me from getting through. The city itself is suspended upon a large bridge above a giant crevice upon a mountain, hence the name.

The city used the high winds around them to power itself as well as creating a larger power source for most of the region. Despite the height there were few flyers about, but plenty of rock types. Due to the amazing power of the wind, however, the trainers of the area specialized in flyers, the challenge from them was a simple one for my partner.

I sat up and to my side was the Magnemite that had followed me for so long. He was my partner and rarely left my side. He was hovering a bit off the ground and seemed to have been awake for a while and was a bit anxious. I can't blame him, it's not often that we waste so much time in one place, we have the need to travel and that need hasn't been met in quite a while. I reached over and patted him on the top of his circular little head, his magnets spun a bit and he seemed to calm down.

"Alright, lets go", I got up and threw my pack around my shoulder, Magnemite rose to my side and we set off towards town.

The buildings of the town are rather small, I assume that they needed to be light weight in order to keep the bridge in tact. Walking along the streets of the town was something that needed getting used to. The roads were solid but still gave you that feeling of being suspended in the air, which messed with my head a bit. There were only a few streets but they were long and wide with multiple shops and homes strew along them, all of which were rather small. We barely got into town when I was unfortunately stopped.

"Hello! I'd like to welcome you to Crevice City on behalf of the Figment Organization," he was a short man, skinny and bald with a jet black goatee. He seemed way too excitable for the way he looked. He almost seemed a bit goofy as he extended his arms out wide in an odd and overly excited sort of greeting.

"Yeah, I've been here before," I told him and continued walking forward.

"We of Figment are doing a survey of the trainers in this area, if you wouldn't mind showing your Trainer card and answering a few questions," he hurried to catch up to me. When he was beside me I noticed how similar in age we were and I'm sure he would have mentioned it in his persistent manner had I not responded.

"Look, I'm not a trainer, I'm just passing through to see if the construction is done. So please, I'm not interested," I feel like I have to be harsh with these sorts of people or else they'll cling to you for good. This didn't seem to stop him though.

"Ah! So you've noticed our work on the Crevice City branch of our new Figment Park. It's a great place to hold battles or even just relax in our nice artificial environment. All of it put up by us for your enjoyment, be sure to fill out our survey once you reach the park."

"Uh, yeah sure," after that he stopped and finally turned back towards the city entrance looking very accomplished as if he had actually won me over.

I don't really care about the park, but he made it sound as if it were finished. If that's the case then I'll finally be able to leave this city. The construction had blocked off the western entrance and was the only thing that kept me cooped up on this town for so long. I continued down the road, I noticed the town's people were sitting outside their houses enjoying the day. I had an abundance of stares thrown at me as I went my way, I imagined that the locals didn't really know what to think of me hanging around the town for so many days. I tried to shrug it off and not let it get to me as I made my way down the road. The streets being so long made just walking down them quite the journey in itself and the stares only served to make the experience even longer.

I felt like I had just about made it to the other end of town when I began to notice a gathering outside of the center. We headed over towards the crowd and it seemed like I would have to force my way through as the crowd had blocked the road completely. As we pushed past the people I noticed that the thing that was attracting everyone's attention was a battle. I couldn't see any of the Pokemon or even the trainers but I could hear an abundance of growls and squawks coming from the center of the crowd. While I was competent enough to hold my own things like battles didn't really amuse me so I just kept trying to make my way past.

Part way through the noise from the crowd turned to applause, it seemed as if the battle had ended. While some of the crowd dispersed a few had remained behind and closed the circle around where the trainers had been. It must be the trainers' friends going to either congratulate or sympathize with them. Things like "Way to go!" and "No one can take you on!" where floating from them. I've always been a bit apathetic towards battling. Maybe it was the pacifist in me but the idea of getting all worked up and excited over a fight just wasn't appealing. I was more content with just traveling with Magnemite than battling with him.

I walked away further down the road, the path now clear, behind me I could hear one of the members of the group mention challenging the gym. As I reached the edge of town I noticed a large newly constructed building blocking my path. As I approached the doors Magnemite let out an excited buzz.

"I know, we're finally getting out of this town, partner." Magnemite bobbed back and forth in the air happily and we continued through the door.

Inside was a large room with couches and end tables that sat along the walls near the entrance. A reception desk sat on the left and a large circular symbol hung on the wall to the right. It wasn't the typical poke ball that adorned the centers, rather it was a rather basic design with two perpendicular lines within a circle. I headed towards the receptionist at his desk and waited for him to look up from his computer. He was young and dressed in a uniform of light blue with pale green accents. It looked similar to a rangers suit and was pinned with a smaller version of the circular symbol. He wore a cap of the same colors that just barely missed covering the ends of his blonde hair. Not exactly the kind of team uniform I'd like to be stuck with that's for sure.

"Hello sir, might I interest you in a pleasant stroll in Figment's new virtual Figment Park?" the man looked up from his computer with an eager smile. "It's only a meager 500 Poke'dollars."

"No, I'm just passing through to the other side."

"I'm sorry sir but it's impossible to get through without paying the fee and showing proof of your accomplishments within Crevice City." he didn't really seem sorry in fact it all sounded rehearsed though to his credit he managed to give it a slightly cheerful inflection.

"Accomplishments? Like what?"

"By regulations of the Figment organization we require that all users of our park must have acquired at least one badge or ribbon within Crevice City." again this all seemed rehearsed. I can't really understand why such a requirement exists in the first place.

"Listen, I'm not a trainer and I have no interest in being one. How exactly can you make a rule like this when most people don't even challenge the gyms?" needless to say I'm a bit annoyed at this point.

"How about a nice contest then?"

"I'm not registered as a contest performer, I'm not even registered as a trainer," as I said this he looked quizzically to Magnemite who was hovering to my side and then looked back at me with a raised brow. "He's not caught, he just travels with me," he didn't looked convinced but thankfully he didn't address it.

"Well I'm sorry sir, but these are Figment's regulations I really have no say in the matter. Please come again when you have one of the required accomplishments," with that he looked back towards his computer.

After this I angrily left the building back into the city, clearly arguing with the receptionist wouldn't have gotten me anywhere. I looked at Magnemite who let out a low buzz, looking a bit disappointed with this outcome. I reached over and patted him reassuringly.

"Well Partner, it looks like we don't really have a choice in the matter. Will you help me with this?" I didn't want to make him do anything he wasn't prepared for. He looked at me for a while then buzzed in agreement. With him by my side I knew we could achieve something within this town without having to stay too much longer. I would need to register for a trainer's license first though. I have absolutely no idea where to start.

 

[Aresol]

Chapter 2
-Battle-

Waiting in line at the center isn't one of my favorite things in the world but I figured that this was the best bet I have on finding information about becoming a trainer. I've never really liked being in the centers, I'm not much of a people person and trainers tend to get on my nerves. They're all out on the same journey for the same dream and normally that wouldn't be a bother if their dream wasn't a glorified way of using Pokemon for sport. It's everywhere and you'd think with the way people react to it that it was what ran the country and now I'm no better than they are. I just hope Magnemite doesn't get hurt over this.

"Hello, are you here to get your Pokemon taken care of?" the nurse asked me as I finally got to the counter.

"No, I'm here because I need information on becoming a trainer."

"Oh, an aspiring trainer! Well that's great, but unfortunately this town doesn't have a Pokemon Lab for you to properly register. We can, however, offer you a temporary license until you can make it to the nearest Lab." this was more trouble than it was worth and her reaction was kind of embarrassing given that I wasn't ten but at least this allowed me to get through.

"That's fine, I don't need it for very long. What do I do?"

"Well hold still," as she told me that something flashed in front of my face. "Ok now I'll need your name and the Pokemon you currently have with you."

"My name is Seth and my partner is Magnemite," with my eyes with adjusting after the flash I made a gesture towards my side where I thought that Magnemite was hovering. I looked kind of foolish waving in the wrong direction but I figured it'd be obvious for her to tell who I was with. After my eyes were back to normal I looked at him to see if it was ok and he bobbed in acceptance.

"Alright, all of the other info will be added when you visit the Lab, I should tell you though that this is only temporary so it will expire in one month," she reached over to a machine and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. I guess they don't laminate temporary trainer licenses.

"I won't need it for a whole month anyway," I put the paper into my side bag and headed outside.

I had been walking around this town for so many days I knew exactly where the gym was. I'm not sure if I could've gotten a contest pass in the center or not but I figured a contest would take too long anyway and the sooner I'm out of here the better. I walked down the road and turned right. On the very edge of one side of the bridge stood the gym of this city. It wasn't as large as a gym normally would be but I'm guessing that it was to conserve weight. The outside was decorated with large mosaic feathers indicating the gyms specialty of flying types.

"Well, ready partner?" I looked toward Magnemite and he gave me an assuring buzz. After spending so much time together I could tell the difference between the noises he made. They didn't vary much but he managed to put just enough tone into them to make them distinguishable given enough time.

We entered the gym and inside there was a group of people standing around in what looked to be a waiting room. They were the same group that was gathered in town earlier, I suppose they really did decide to challenge the gym. One of them looked over at me as I entered and began walking toward me.

"Hey I'm Chet, you've got a nice Magnemite there. Wanna try your hand at a battle before you go into the gym?" Chet seemed just as happy as everyone else I'd met lately, but he also seemed a bit smug in a way. He had light brown hair under a blue cap and had a backpack slung over his shoulder. His wardrobe was that of a t-shirt and shorts. He had a very "everyday trainer" sort of look to him, which wasn't surprising.

"We're not interested, I'm just here to see the gym leader."

"Hey now, I just finished facing the leader, you sure you've got enough experience to deal with him?" he was getting smugger and smugger. It was obvious that he had won his bout by the badge pinned to his backpack strap.

"I don't really care, excuse me," I pushed past him leaving a perplexed look on his face. I get the feeling that most people didn't talk to him like that.

I walked to the other end of the room and opened a door. Inside was a larger room that housed a battle field. The look of the room was brightly lit yet bland with mosaic feathers placed along the walls. There were bird cages hanging from the ceiling, all of which looked battered and broken. I know that they have to sacrifice a bit for weight but they could be a bit more imaginative. At the other end of the field sat a man in a large chair. He was petting one of the birds that sat on his armrest. I walked up to my side of the field and waited for him to notice.

"Welcome to the Crevice City Gym, home of the magnificent flying Pokemon. I am this gym's leader, Cedric." he stood up, he was a tall man who wore a long brown leather vest and long brown cargo pants. He had a brown leather glove on his right arm, probably for training the birds. His hair was brown, shaggy and unkempt, and he had clearly not shaved in days, "Here the harsh winds of the mountain bring out the full potential of my bird Pokemon. Now, trainer, are you prepared to face us?"

"Little bit," I wasn't really paying much attention to what he was saying and I had a feeling that he was quite taken aback by my answer.

"The battle will be two Pokemon each and will take place on the roof," I looked up at the ceiling and before I realized that there where no stairs the floor had begun to rise up with us on it. The ceiling opened up and we were raised to the roof where the strong winds of the canyon nearly knocked me over. "Send out your first if you are ready."

"Are you ready Partner?" I looked over to Magnemite who looked a bit confused at the floor having moved. He looked back at me, buzzed a little and then headed towards the center of the field. The wind seemed to make him bob in the air more than usual but he managed to not get swept away.

"Alright! Go all out Pidgeotto!" the bird that had been resting on his chair extended it's wings which served to make Cedric, who was now standing in front of the bird, seem as if he had been the one with the wings. It then shot up through the sky and was now circling around the field. "Lets start off with a diving wing attack." The Pidgeotto dived down and smacked Magnemite with it wings. As it flew off however it looked like it was flying a little lopsided. I looked at Magnemite, he seemed to be unfazed and waiting for me to tell him what to do.

"Magnemite, try shocking it, somehow," I just realized I didn't really know any of the move commands. Every time we ran into trouble before we always either ran or Magnemite would let out electricity, but I never commanded him like this before.

Magnemite, however, picked up on what I was trying to say and as the bird Pokemon flew back towards him for another attack he let out a long branching stream of electricity. The shock hit the bird who then twitched and fluttered in the air before falling to the ground. A red light hit Pidgeotto and it shrunk into a small ball in the Cedric's hand. He clipped the ball to his belt and pulled out another.

"You may switch Pokemon now if you'd like," he almost sounded a little hopeful. I suppose he was a bit intimidated by Magnemite's metal defense.

"Can't imagine why I'd do that." I really couldn't, even I could see that I had an advantage. Good, it'll make this go quicker.

"Alright, I warned you." I thought this was a bluff but he also seemed to have too much confidence in his voice for it to be a lie. He moved his hand over another ball and unclipped it then threw it with a flick. What came out was a blue fluffy looking bird that was clearly larger than his previous one. It had long blue feathers from its head and it's blue feet were barely visible through it's white fluff. "Altaria, I think we'll start off with a fury attack!"

The bird flew towards Magnemite and before he or I noticed it had begun pummeling him rapidly. Magnemite barely had a chance to retaliate, but I had to try something.

"Alright partner, try doing the same thing you did last time." Magnemite managed to let out another string of electricity in between attacks that hit Altaria in the chest. Altaria paused for a moment then looked up, it was stunned but far from finished. "Crap."

"Altaria, use your dragon breath!" Cedric issued the command, but I didn't know how much damage it would hold. A blue looking flame shot from Altaria's mouth and hit Magnemite who spun to the ground. For a few moments he didn't move.

"Magnemite!" I was shocked to see my partner hit so hard, I never imagined it would happen. Traveling hasn't exactly been treacherous but we've run into our fair share of troubles before and it's never seemed like anything could harm Magnemite that much. After a minute or so he wearily got up and faced toward Altaria, as he did I breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you sure you want to go on Partner?" He just nodded and continued to face the blue bird.

"For a trainer you panicked pretty easily once you saw Magnemite get hit," Cedric seemed displeased at that, "You need to keep your cool in these situations, maybe you aren't ready for this. Alright, Altaria use fury attack!"

"Magnemite, start charging up electricity." I was angry now, angry with this city for making me wait, angry with that company for making me fight, and angry with myself for letting Magnemite get hurt. No more, if I'm fighting then all bets are off, I'm taking everything he has out no matter what!

Magnemite hovered were he was and seemed to concentrate on storing energy. The Altaria, meanwhile, was charging toward him preparing another onslaught on attacks. I waited till it got just close enough.

"Ok Magnemite, now discharge all of your stored energy!" The stored energy erupted in all directions and flung the bird Pokemon backward where it hit the ground and didn't get back up.

Magnemite and I just stood there for what seemed like a long time, bewildered by the fact that we had actually managed to win. In a way I almost felt proud, I had remembered seeing him discharge his energy before and I knew that it would be good enough to use given enough time and range. At the same time though I felt terrible for having even gotten angry enough to lash out at Altaria. When we finally came to our senses Magnemite floated back toward me.

"Good job partner, I'm sorry to have put you through that." I patted him on the head and he buzzed happily though he seemed very tired.

"You've done well to beat me," Cedric began in the same over-the-top way he had introduced himself. He reached over and recalled Altaria. "I would now like to commence with the badge awarding ceremony."

"Yeah, can we skip that, I'm not that interested." Cedric nearly fell over in astonishment.

"But-but I had the event all planned out, this is the best part!" Cedric hung his head as he walked over and handed me the badge and prize money, less enthused than he had been previously. "You know the previous trainer loved my little song and dance with the badge."

"Yeah he seemed like he would. Now how do I get out of this place?" I looked around realizing that we where still in the air. What a pointless addition to the gym, it barely even made a difference. After I said this the floor began to descend, though, and we where back on the ground floor. I turned to leave the gym leaving Cedric standing there looking very alone. "Well, uh, good match." I felt bad for him and hoped that would make him smile a bit. He seemed to perk up though he still maintained a presence of defeat. Though, I think it was more over the fact that he couldn't give his speak and not so much about the battle.

I exited the gym and without stopping for anything I headed toward the park and the western gate. When I made it in I walked up to the same receptionist as I had before, place my money down on the table, showed my badge and before he could even say "Have a good day" I was out the door and out of Crevice City.

 

[bobandbill]

This is a neat start imo! Certainly a different take on the usual trainer fic - hurrah for a trainer who gets a license but doesn't really like it (I certainly wonder why it was necessary just to leave town as that does seem mighty odd, but given it is also lampshaded and all I figure it's possibly part of the impending PLOT). Magnemite is an even more interesting choice for a starting partner Pokemon imo, and I feel it's decently portrayed as well thus far.

Description is decent as well, as is pacing, so all in all this is quite entertaining and fun to read thus far.

One thing to watch out for is ending setences whn you should as sometimes you create run-on sentences; e.g.:

I had forgotten about the lack of foliage in this area, a hard sleep on rocks and gravel reminded me of that.

The pause created by the comma after 'area' doesn't really work as it sounds awkward when you read it aloud; a full stop and new sentence would work better there, or a semi-colon (as both half of the sentences on either side of the comma are related in subject)

Due to the amazing power of the wind, however, the trainers of the area specialized in flyers, the challenge from them was a simple one for my partner.

Same deal here; at 'specialised in flyrers' the comma that follows again doesn't really suit...

"Alright, lets go", I got up and threw my pack around my shoulder, Magnemite rose to my side and we set off towards town.

and here as well with both commas after the dialogue and 'shoulder', although the latter is debatable.

To solve that issue, try to keep sentences to one subject/topic rather than more. Reading aloud is also a good way to check if something 'sounds' right, and noting that besides other cases (listing adjectives, cases when someone is addressed by a name, etc) a comma should precede one of the 'fanboys' (for and nor but or yet so), not just anything. For example, the first quote I made reads as 'Talking about no foliage/reminded by this fact' are relatable so a semi-colon can fit. The second case has 'Because of wind trainers used flying types/my pokemon could beat them easily' which aren't as relatable statements as there's no other info about the partner beforehand that'd suggest that this is an obvious conclusion. And so forth.
With the third quote I'll mention that let's rather than lets fits better there, and I think you should have the comma after the quotation marks within it and as a full stop instead. Unless you're using some other norm of punctuation in dialogue I am not familiar with, but at any rate a full stop fits btter as what follows the dialogue does not flow on/tell us about the dialogue (who said it, or how it was said).

"Uh, yeah sure," after that he stopped and finally turned back towards the city entrance looking very accomplished as if he had actually won me over.

Same here (and this is partly why I don't think you're using a different norm as it was within the quotation marks). Change that comma after 'sure' to a full stop, and capitalise 'after'. Only treat the part following dialogue as one sentence with the dialogue if it 'flows on' from said dialogue by doing something like say specifically who said the line/how it was said. Or better yet only if the part following the dialogue cannot stand as its own sentence. E.g. 'He said.' doesn't work, but 'After that he stopped and....won me over' as said there does work as its own sentence.

Things like "Way to go!" and "No one can take you on!" where floating from them.

were

within Crevice City." he didn't really seem sorry in fact it all sounded rehearsed though to his credit he managed to give it a slightly cheerful inflection.

Same as before - 'he' should be capitalised there. I also feel that there should some more pauses around 'sorry' and 'though' - e.g. "...really seem sorry; in fact it all sounded rehearsed, though to his...".

again this all seemed rehearsed.

Again.

this was more trouble than it was worth and her reaction was kind of embarrassing given that I wasn't ten but at least this allowed me to get through.

This, and a comma before 'but at least'.

"I won't need it for a whole month anyway," I put the paper into my side bag and headed outside.

Full stop after 'anyway' instead of a comma.

"Are you sure you want to go on Partner?"

A comma should go before 'Partner' given that is what the Magnemite is being referred too. Also, unless Partner is its name, I don't feel you need to capitalise 'partner'.

Though, I think it was more over the fact that he couldn't give his speak and not so much about the battle.

I think the sentence sounds better without 'Though,' or at any rate the comma (or you could add 'though' at the end of the sentence instead of the start).

There's a few other instances as well in the same manner as the mistakes above, so just watch for those in any other parts of your story. Good luck with the rest!

 

[Aresol]

*Authors note: Thanks for the feedback! It's much appreciated and I took what you mentioned in to account when I was editing this chapter. I can't say I fixed everything but I'll continue to try improving and hopefully I can break my old habits with time.*


Chapter 3
-Plummet-

After an hour or so the path started to show foliage. This certainly made me happy considering all I've been looking at and sleeping on for days now have been rocks and dirt. I looked over to see Magnemite hovering contently next me. He was probably still recovering from his battle but I think he was too happy to be getting back on the road to even notice. I was just as happy as I walked and outstretched my arms to let the wind pass through my fingers. It's felt like it's been forever since we traveled. I felt so cooped up in Crevice City and I was starting to feel a little edgy. We always travel like this so when we're kept up in one place we naturally start to feel tense.

The path we were walking along was still quite a ways up above the ground. I'd say we were about halfway down the mountain at this point. We came up to a sign and stopped. It was a road sign telling us what route we were on and what town we were headed to. "Wayfall City" it read, it's not a place I've been to before so it will be nice to get a change of scenery. I looked over toward Magnemite.

"Well partner, are you ready for Wayfall?" He bobbed up and down excitedly, I reached over and patted him as usual. "That's good, we'll probably reach there by the end of the day."

As we continued down the road we caught glimpses of Pokemon crossing our paths. Various rock Pokemon rolling around. Birds nesting on the trees sprouting from the mountainside. Sounds of chirping and the scratching filled the air and every so often you could hear a faint roar in the distance. Everything about the mountainside seemed so peaceful after our stay at Crevice City but still I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling I felt after our win at the gym.

"Hey." I started addressing Magnetmite who seemed to also be enjoying the mountain scenery. "How do you feel after what happened back at the gym?"

Magnemite simply buzzed happily and continued to look at his new surroundings. He was too enthralled with the joy of being back out on the road to be worried about anything else.

"So you don't feel bothered by how I acted during the match?"

He let out a low hum and seemed to be thinking about the events of the battle. After a while he looked towards me with a questionable look while giving out a mixture of sounds and tones. While understanding him fluently was beyond me I could tell that he seemed confused and concerned by my question.

"I've been thinking back on it. I was so worried about you getting hurt by that Altaria that I completely blocked out all sense of reason. I mean, I've always viewed myself as more of a pacifist than a fighter but in that moment…" Magnetmite buzzed worriedly waiting for me to finish. "In that moment I just wanted you to hurt it back."

He looked down and remained silent for several minutes as we continued on our path. Eventually he responded in a somewhat upbeat tone as if to tell me to not worry about it. I smiled and patted him but I can't say that I felt any better. I felt scared as if there was a part of myself that just didn't make sense to me. What if we had to battle again? What would happen then and would I be able to keep myself from acting the same way I did at the Crevice Gym?

After a while I decided to try to get my mind off of things by enjoying the scenery. At this point the mountainside had become a bit more lush with bushes and small patches of grass spread out sparingly. The path had become slightly wider as well and far more hospitable to the Pokemon in the area. Further down the road I began to hear a low and weary cry. It seemed to come from within the bushes along the side of the road.

"Hey Magnemite, do you hear that?" I pointed in the direction of the bush and he floated over to inspect it.

Magnemite disappeared into the bush only to fly out moments later with a small chrome looking Pokemon hanging off one of his magnets. Magnemite was spinning around shocking frantically to no avail. The small Pokemon seemed to take no notice to Magnemite's electricity and instead remained tightly clamped onto his magnet. Eventually Magnemite's spinning managed to fling the Pokemon off of him and it landed several feet in front of me. I ran over to see if the two of them were ok. Magnemite seemed more annoyed than anything else as he let off sparks in anger.

"Enough, it's over besides I think this is an Aron which means you shocking it won't do anything." Magnemite lowered a little and buzzed. I don't often yell at him in fact he's the one person I hate to argue with the most but this simply wasn't the time for fighting.

I looked down at the small Aron which seemed to be hurt. It's tiny front leg was scratched and the armor was slightly dented. No way it could have been from being flung. It must've been something very big and very strong to do this to the metal.

"Hey are you ok little guy?" The Aron let out a small cry. "Magnemite, we're near Wayfall right? Maybe we can take this guy with us to a center." Magnemite buzzed angrily but bobbed in agreement anyway rather than argue the point. "Ok little guy, I'll take you with me for now."

I bent down to pick up the Aron and nearly fell over in the process. I had forgotten how much a metal type could weigh even a small one like this. The Aron struggled a bit as well which didn't help. It seemed to not want to be carried so I decided to let it follow me on its own which it did to my surprise considering we just inadvertently attacked it.

Our pace had definitely dropped quite a bit. The little metal Pokemon seemed to struggle to keep up so we slowed down for it. Even then we were making awful time and as the sun began to sink I felt that we'd have to camp out. I had been about to tell this to the other two when I heard a loud roar from behind us. It sounded like the same faint roar I had heard earlier only much closer. The little Aron at my side began to shudder and whine from the sound of it.

"Hey what's wrong?" I found out soon enough as a much larger chrome looking Pokemon came from around the mountain path and began to charge toward us.

This one resembled Aron in a way only far bigger. It stood on it's hind legs with a large tail thrashing behind it with two massive metal horns coming from its shiny helmet-like head. This was a fully matured Aron, an Aggron, and it was very unhappy. I think I might know what caused Aron's injury now. This thing must have some problem with the small Pokemon.

"I think that we should run," I turned around and we began a straight dash forward. I hadn't even thought about following the road until I hit the bushes which held behind them a very steep cliff. I looked around, we didn't have much time before that thing caught up with us and we were already too far off the path. Then I remembered something and immediately turned toward Magnemite, "Magnemite, we have to jump. Can you manage us?" It looked over at the Aggron then back to me and buzzed worriedly. "It'll have to do!"

With that I took the Aron in my arms and we jumped. I'm guessing the rush of adrenaline must have let me pick up Aron otherwise this wouldn't and probably shouldn't have worked. As the two of us were in free fall Magnetime flew down below my feet. I slid my feet between the openings of his magnets and we began to fall slower and slower.

I found out during a previous excursion that Magnemite could do this. Since it normally travels through the use of its magnetism if it focused enough it was just capable of carrying me. Essentially I would assume it to be like sky surfing. We haven't tested it nearly enough and when we have it never lasted long which made the whole jumping of a cliff thing an even bigger gamble. Doing this normally would have slowed me enough to grab onto a ledge, however, this time I had a very heavy Aron in my arms and our descent was not slowing fast enough.

I looked around for something I could do but it's kind of hard to concentrate when you know you're falling. My heart was racing and I was trying to keep myself from panicking, but I had to hurry or else the strain would be too much for Magnemite let alone myself. As I was looking I noticed a ledge on the mountain side, I shifted my weight a bit which let Magnemite know where to turn. We fell toward the ledge and slammed into the mountain wall. Aron fell out of my arms onto the ground which is were I soon ended up as well. Magnemite wearily hovered toward my side and collapsed next to me.

"Good job, partner," I told him completely out of breath, though, I think he had passed out by then.

We all laid there for what felt like hours, all of us completely exhausted. My arms were burning and my legs felt like mush. Crashing into the wall didn't exactly feel good on my back either. I looked over toward Aron who luckily seemed no more hurt than he already was. He was, however, still hurt and I knew I had to get to Wayfall soon.

I managed to get myself to my feet and looked up. No sign of Aggron, though I didn't think it'd be willing to follow us. I looked down at Aron who had also gotten to his feet. I wondered how he could manage to piss off an Aggron enough to make it harm him and then chase us off a cliff. Regardless of what had happened I decided to keep my focus on making it to the town. Luckily the ledge we had fallen on was more of a narrow road and continued down the mountain. The path wasn't the smoothest trip but it was better than the alternatives.

"Well guys, I think we should try to keep moving." Aron started slowly walking down the path. Magnemite on the other hand just laid there. I didn't blame him he had put a lot of effort into holding us up. I knelt down next to him. "Here bud, I'll just carry you in my pack. You deserve a rest." He let out a faint buzz similar to the one he makes when he sleeps. Luckily for me Magnemite was actually quite a bit lighter than Aron, though, not enough to make it all too comfortable.

As we headed down the path I noticed that the scenery was even greener than before. I started to think that maybe we had nearly reached the bottom, a thought that was confirmed by a large sign that we came upon. "Wayfall City, the rejuvenating waterfall resort" is what it read. I suppose we fell further than I imagined at least enough to cut the trip a bit short.

"Well Aron, we're here and pretty soon we'll get you fixed up." Aron let out a happy little growl and started walking ahead. I looked down to my side where Magnemite was hanging somewhat out of my pack, "I never thought I'd say this partner but I'm glad we made it into town." He buzzed a bit and rolled over, as we walked forward to Wayfall.

 

[Aresol]

Chapter 4
-Waiting-

When we had practically crawled our way into town we did not expect a festival welcoming. Ok, so it's not a festival for us but still the sight of it was a bit shocking. There were stands all along the cobbled road selling Pokemon masks and various festival foods. Streamers hung from lamppost to lamppost all of which were lit at this time of night and music played throughout the town. Most shocking of all may have been the people dressed in grass skirts and swimwear. Everything seemed a bit, revealing.

Regardless of the people and their choices of wardrobe I needed to find the center quickly. I looked at Aron and as ok as he seemed with walking I could tell that the little guy was in pain. Eventually we were able to find the center which had a crowd of festival goers gathered around it. We forced our way through the crowd and into the building. Inside was almost as packed as the crowd in front. I wasn't really willing to wait though so I waded my way through the people and to the front desk. Ignoring the angry voices behind me I faced the nurse behind the desk who met me with a weary smile.

"Slow day?" I said which of course gave her a bewildered look. "Look, we were in a bit of an accident and this Aron is very hurt. Could you please help him?" The nurse leaned over the desk and looked at the Aron with distressing eyes.

"Oh my! Yes, lets get the little guy fixed up right a way." She motioned toward the back room where a large pink Pokemon that almost resembled the nurse came out with a small stretcher. The Pokemon came around and lowered the stretcher in front of Aron who climbed onto it. "Would you also like him to be treated?" The nurse pointed at my pack which had Magnemite sticking out of it only just enough to be visible.

"He doesn't really like the centers. You can try all you like though." I lifted the pack to the counter and the nurse gently reached in and took out Magnemite. I thought back to a previous incident when I had brought him into a center to get treated. Needless to say I'm no longer welcomed into the Cedaredge Valley's Poke'Center. I wonder how well the nurses here will handle him.

I walked toward a couch which surprisingly had a vacant spot open and sat down. Next to me on my right was a pale looking man around my age who was fiddling with a poke ball in his hands. He seemed rather nervous about something, I doubt it would concern me so I decided not to engage him about it. To my left was a young woman who seemed to be dressed for the festival. She wore a rather small blue and red bikini top with beach shorts that extended only halfway down her thighs. I was attempting to keep my eyes off of her since she was obviously very qualified to be dressed like that.

So there I was in a crowded room with no one I really cared to speak to and completely without my partner. I always was better at talking to Pokemon than humans. There were various muttering amongst the crowd most of which was about the festival. I could hear comments on the food being delicious and the various booths with their small events. Most of the talk, though, was about that of a tournament that was supposedly being held to commemorate the festival. This didn't interest me much but what did was the lack of discussion on what the festival was actually about. I felt myself slowly getting a bit more curious about this so I decided to ask someone.

"Do you know what this festival is about?" I looked toward the girl sitting next to me. I figured she would know something about it seeing as she was dressed for the event.

"About? Well, I don't know. I never bothered to ask." She looked forward and lifted her hand to her chin in a thinking pose. She seemed to zone out after that.

"Oh great, you're dressed like that for no good reason. Isn't that fantastic." She looked down at herself and questioned it but I hadn't listened. Instead I had decided to turn to my right in order to see if the guy next to me could help.

"It's all a plot!" he belted out before I even managed to ask him my question. He started fidgeting with his hands more and more. "You see, they want us to be gathered here with all of our Pokemon. They need us to be distracted with the festival." He began looking at me in a way that made it seem like he wanted me to agree. He started inching himself closer, anxious for my reply.

"Really… Well, why do you say that?" Honestly, I thought he was a crackpot and I was hesitant to ask but I figured he wouldn't leave me alone if I didn't.

"Isn't it obvious! They want our Pokemon! Haven't you ever heard of the groups from places like Kanto, the guys in the uniforms that steal from others? They're here, I'd bet my best Pokemon that they're here!" He was getting quite worked up now and some of the people in the center had begun to stare. I didn't blame them for starting. As he went on he became far more animate than he was moments ago.

"Alright, alright, let's just calm down." I really made a mistake talking to this guy. I was trying to calm him down when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong with my swimsuit?" I think the girl had finally realized what I meant and she was tugging at the back of my shirt for attention.

"Oh, for the love of…" I was starting to get flustered too between the crackpot and the girl. I shouldn't have even sat down. I should have just found a nice corner to stand in and wait for the others to get healed. "Listen, the suit is fine so just drop it." I turned back to the man and put my hand on his shoulder which seemed to scare him a bit, "Calm down, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Besides, aren't those evil organizations just urban legends?"

None of this worked in the slightest. The man began spewing out more nonsense, something about tolls and a park and a tournament. My comment about them being urban legends really hit a harsh note as well. The girl on the other hand had decided to brag about her swimsuit and how she liked the color. I felt like I was in Hell, I could never have imagined such people. I sat there in between them with my head in my hands waiting for the center to be done with my partner and Aron. Time just seemed to slow down as I sat there watching, waiting and listening to nonsense. I hadn't even bothered attempting to calm either of them down after a while. Eventually I noticed the nurse walk up to the front counter and I prayed that it would be for me.

""Excuse me sir but you're Pokemon are ready for you!" The nurse was looking over at me from the counter. With that I practically leapt to my feet and ran to the desk leaving behind two very confused and very odd people.

"Thank you!" I said as I reached the counter from behind of which came the large pink Pokemon carrying Aron on a stretcher with Magnemite floating next to it. "You guys all better?" The small metal Pokemon cried out in happiness and hopped from the stretcher. Magnemite buzzed in excitement and looked cleaner than he had when he went in. I guess they must've polished him up a bit, I hadn't noticed how dirty he must've gotten from traveling. I looked back to the nurse, "I'm surprised it went that well with Magnemite."

"Yes, he was very good," she nodded and smiled wearily which led me to think that he wasn't so good with them after all. "Now about your bill, sir."

"My what?!" I yelled so loudly I attracted more attention than the crackpot I had been sitting next to moments ago. "What bill? I though this was a free service."

"Well, normally that would be true, but the Wayfall Poke'Center in association with Figment has decided to charge for our services in order to raise funds for our festival." The nurse gave another weary smile. I imagined that she wasn't quite used to asking people to pay and probably felt pretty uncomfortable about doing so.

"I don't exactly have a lot of money. In fact I just spent my last bit getting through one of Figment's other brilliant ideas." These guys were beginning to seem like a nuisance that just wouldn't go away.

"Well sir, Figment has stated that if a trainer cannot pay then they can participate in the festival tournament to cover their expenses." This just seemed ridiculous by now, hell maybe the crackpot was right about there being a scheme. Not that it would be evil of course, just a money making endeavor probably.

"So, what you're saying is that I have to fight in order to pay off a little tab?"

"Yes sir, that is your other option." It took everything I had not to yell obscenities at her, but I knew it wasn't her fault. I just can't believe that I have to deal with this Figment crap all over again. The nurse reached down and pulled up a clipboard with a list of names scribbled on it. "If you would just sign here and show me your trainer's license, then you will be officially registered for the tournament."

I reached into my pockets and pulled out the rumpled up piece of paper which was my temporary trainer I.D. and placed it on the counter. The nurse looked at it curiously for a minute then nodded. I picked up a pen and wrote down my name on the slip attached to the clipboard. I was not happy about this and I made that abundantly clear as I slammed the pen on the counter and walked off in a hurry with Aron and Magnemite in tail.

As I walked out of the center I looked around for a bench to sit down on. It wasn't easy to find a clear place to rest with the heavy crowd and all but eventually I found a nice little spot. After we found it the three of us stopped there for a while as I thought about what I would do.

"We could make a run for it," I looked at Magnemite who buzzed disapprovingly. "Yeah, you're right, they'd probably notice anyway."

I leaned back on the bench and looked up at the sky. I wasn't really happy about having to battle again. I was worried that what had happened last time would happen again. Something about losing myself to that kind of anger just didn't sit right with me. Some time passed on and eventually I could hear Magnemite who was floating near me and buzzing. I then noticed that Aron was surprisingly still at my feat as well. I looked down at the little Pokemon who was sitting patiently and looking up at me.

"Hey, you know Aron you don't have to stay with us." As I said this he let out a small cry and nuzzled my leg. "We're going to have to fight though, are you up for that?" He made another cry a little more upbeat than the last and pushed on my leg some more. "Well, ok then, if you're sure you want to stay then I have no objections. Welcome aboard. Though, you'll have to walk. I don't exactly have any Pokeballs with me."

I looked over toward Magnemite who was buzzing louder now. He was very clearly not too happy about having extra company. I guess I understand it, though, it's been just the two of us for a long time. I reached over and patted him knowing it would calm him down.

"Hey, no matter who comes along, you're always my partner." He bobbed up and down and buzzed a bit, "Now, I know you just got healed up but can I ask you to fight with me again?" Magnemite sounded out in agreement and almost seemed eager as well. Aron also joined in with a small cry and leaned against my leg, his weight kind of hurt but I hadn't minded so much.

With those sounds of approval I stood up and looked around the crowd. I looked at the booths and the people and everything and knew that I was again stuck in another town. The only other thing on my mind now, though, was something that I should have asked about before I left the center.

"Where am I supposed to go now?"