Ken exited the cave leading to Oreburgh at three minutes past ten – at least two hours later than he’d initially planned. Oreburgh Gate had proven more difficult to navigate than people had told him back in Jublife. His mistake had been simple – taking a left rather than keeping straight on had been his downfall and he’d been stupid enough to believe that writing down the directions somewhere wouldn’t be needed. He hurriedly sprinted across the road to what could be considered the high street of the sleepy little mining town and throughout it all he only had one building on his mind: the pokemon centre.
The familiar red roof stuck out like a sore thumb and today, just like every other day, was shaping up to be a busy one. People had already beaten Ken to the comfy sofas that looked out across the sidewalks and even as he approached the sliding glass doors at least three trainers were in front of him. That didn’t matter though – most of these people just wanted to heal up before moving out and he was no exception. There was a ticket dispenser positioned on a pole just beyond the doors – a fairly common sight during the busier hours of service. Above that was a sign stating: PLEASE TAKE ONE in large, black letters – easily the first thing someone would notice upon entering the centre.
Ken tilted his head and reached for the tiny piece of card poking out from the muzzle of the machine and gave it a firm pull, feeling the ticket tear away from the one behind it. It was a simplistic way of keeping order but for the most part it did its job well – something that was a lot easier to handle than in Hoenn. He shuddered internally, flashbacks of being crammed into a tiny room like a tin of sardines – he was amazed his ace trainer uniform hadn’t been completely annihilated by the chaos. Thankfully there was none of that here in Oreburgh – other trainers milled about, talking to each other as they waited for their numbers to be called out on the speakers just above the windows.
There was a chiming noise that resembled the ring of a doorbell and a woman’s voice, slightly muffled by the recording equipment, broke the gaggle of chatter. ‘Attention please – we are now serving numbers fifty-five through to sixty. I repeat: we are now serving numbers fifty-five through to sixty, thank you for listening.’
Ken checked the number in his hand and let his shoulders slouch. Number seventy-two – he had at least a good ten minutes at the most to wait. This was actually a blessing in disguise to him – at least he had a few more minutes to run through the basics of his plan again. He got onto tip-toes so that he could see above the crowd, scanning the walls carefully. His brows rose when he caught sight of the glowing sign just above the doors leading to the bedrooms, displaying the word VACANCIES in green light. Good – hopefully he could bag the last one before anybody else – if not, then he’d have to rely on the hotel about a block from the centre.
It was then that a single trainer entered the building and trailing behind her was a horse pokemon that had to be almost as tall as she was. Ken gnawed at the wall of his mouth. Ponyta were fairly common in Sinnoh, but not ones like this. What gave it away were the eye-catching blue flames that made up most of this pokemon’s mane and tail as well as having a pelt that was so white it almost looked like it was sparkling. He wasn’t the only one who noticed the difference either, for people who were much closer to this trainer were following her as she got her ticket and joined the queue.
A younger girl in what Ken assumed to be a girl scout’s uniform (they were nicknamed “picnickers”, if he recalled correctly) whipped around, holding an orange fox with several tails in her arms. She straightened her back a bit when her eyes met the oddly-coloured Ponyta. ‘Oh wow,’ she said. ‘Olivia actually got something!’
‘You serious?’ another trainer piped up, removing his hands from the pockets of his denim jeans. His mouth opened a little bit when he, too, saw the horse. ‘Oh man,’ he said and nudged the scout with his elbow. ‘Looks like you won the bet with Pascal, eh?’
Ken furrowed his brow. They were obviously either regulars at the centre or local trainers (most probably the latter). But why were they gossiping about this one trainer and her pokemon? Had she been here long? He wanted to follow this trail of questions, but before he could even start the chime from the speakers grabbed his attention away.
‘Attention – we are now serving numbers seventy-one to seventy-five. I repeat: we are now serving numbers seventy-one to seventy-five. Thank you for listening.’
Ken hurriedly gathered his belongings and pushed the blue-flamed Ponyta out of his mind. He had bigger things to think about anyway – like getting a room sorted out.
* * *
Route 207 wasn’t exactly the most picturesque place in Sinnoh – it certainly wasn’t featured on many postcards anyway. Mount Coronet had stolen all of its thunder for sure – it loomed over the little stretch of earth – its peaks completely cloaked in clouds that hid its true height quite well. It was here that Ken had decided to train – he stood looking towards the mountain for a while, lips parted, before turning his attention to the pokeball in his hands.
Time to start training.
He tossed the ball into the air and shouted: ‘Bagon, go!’ and the ball unhinged, creating a beam of light that materialised into a reptilian pokemon no taller than Ken’s knees. He couldn’t help but muster a wide smile when he saw how sleek the grey armour on his newest pokemon’s head appeared. He’d paid a fortune to get the right breeder for the job – and that money had been put to good use – just uttering the name “Salamence” would cause any battler no matter how old or young to shiver in fear. Ken almost began beaming now he had one of his own – something that would prove very valuable in the Sinnoh championships.
Bagon snorted and ran a tongue over his sharp fangs, offering Ken a small squeaking hiss as a greeting.
Ken waved back. ‘Good morning to you too,’ he said and gestured to the tall grass beside them. ‘We’re going to start training today – I hope you’re ready.’
Bagon gave him a sharp nod.
Ken then reached for another pokeball on his belt and tossed it, unleashing another beam of light that formed into a blue bipedal jackal with black markings around its face. ‘Lucario here will show you how training works,’ Ken told the reptile. ‘He can sum it up better than I could, at least.’
Lucario bowed and knelt down so that he was almost staring Bagon in the eye and gestured with his paws to the grass, and then back to Bagon, who tilted his head to one side for a moment. It took Lucario another sweeping gesture to the grass for his teammate to finally understand what was going on. Bagon dipped his head and growled, raising his chin confidently, and it wasn’t long after this that Ken began walking around in the grass, trawling for good targets that the youngster could handle without much trouble.
Machop weren’t too hard to find around Sinnoh, however Ken wanted to start out easy on Bagon – he was still very young and he didn’t want to overwhelm the little guy. The championships would ask much of him – and if he wasn’t able to give it, then it could result in disaster. Ken shook his head and rubbed his shoulders. He’d heard many a tale from other trainers – stories of breakdowns and casualties both human and pokemon – he didn’t want to end up like that.
Grinding itself was a fairly mundane task – all that was really required of Bagon was to seek out a Machop (which wasn’t hard at all thanks to the grey colouration of Machop’s skin stood out quite blatantly against the reddish earth) and take it down. He struggled a bit with his first attempts – one Machop almost knocked him out by sweeping its legs across, bowling him over when they made contact with Bagon’s stumpy legs. But of course, that was what Lucario was for. After a few moments of fighting Bagon would switch with Lucario and let him finish the job. It was the oldest trick in the battler’s book, but it got the job done.
This continued for a good two or three hours until Ken decided it was time for a break. They stopped for lunch at the edge of the path leading up to the mountainside. Bagon was especially twitchy – he started jumping up and down as Ken got out his food bowl. ‘Calm down, it’s coming,’ he laughed as the baby dragon attempted to take the bowl from him with his stubby hands. Lucario sat with his legs crossed, chuckling slightly as he waited for his meal. Bagon almost fell onto the bowl when it was properly loaded with food, forcing another laugh from his owner. ‘Don’t eat too quickly, you’ll get a stomach ache if you do that,’ he said and set the other bowl down in front of Lucario. ‘There you go, boy.’
But Lucario didn’t respond – instead, he had turned in the direction of the road below, and Ken had to follow his line of sight for a minute to find out what had caught his attention.
Coming over the horizon was a very familiar sight – the blue flames gave it away. Beside the Ponyta was the girl – Olivia, he thought – who had walked into the pokemon centre so proudly. On her right was another pokemon that he assumed was hers – a tall red rodent with yellow markings that made it look like it was wearing a safety jacket of some kind. Ken set down his meal. He’d heard about Watchog before – they were native to Unova, and apparently they were just as common as Zigzagoon or Poochyena in Hoenn. He didn’t think they’d look so peculiar, however. Perhaps it was the yellow and red bands of colour that made up their eyes?
He offered a polite wave when Olivia was near enough to see him. ‘Hey there.’
Olivia snapped up, her back and neck straightening rigidly. She slackened when she realised where the voice had come from. ‘Oh, hello,’ she said before leaning over to her Watchog and mumbling to it quietly.
Ken slid down from his perch so that he too was standing in the middle of the track. ‘Are you here to train too?’ he asked. ‘That’s what I’m doing.’
Olivia stopped whispering to Watchog and paused – shaking her head. ‘No,’ she replied after a moment. ‘I’m just taking a break from hunting.’
Ken raised an eyebrow. ‘Hunting?’
Olivia patted her Ponyta on the back. ‘Shiny hunting.’
Ken felt his jaw drop, but thankfully it wasn’t enough to part his lips. He scratched his head for a moment. ‘Didn’t you just get one of those?’ He pointed to the Ponyta, who snorted and flicked its ears forward.
‘Yep,’ Olivia said matter-of-factly. ‘But it wasn’t what I was looking for – not this time at least.’
Ken barely pulled the corners of his mouth from twisting into a frown. Ponyta was a decent pokemon to have on a team – let alone a shiny one – why would she not be satisfied with what she’d managed to find?
A firm grunt cut through his thoughts – it was Bagon, who had gulped down the last of the contents of his food bowl and was bouncing up and down impatiently on the ledge above him. Lucario, on the other hand, simply rolled his eyes and tutted at the little baby dragon.
Olivia swerved past Ken and he followed her, the Watchog flicking a firm glance in his direction. ‘We’ve got more hunting to do,’ Olivia said over her shoulder and smiled when she caught sight of the very impatient Bagon. ‘And it looks like you’ve got to get back to training as well,’ she looked back at Ken for a moment. ‘Don’t worry about me – I know Route 207 like the back of my hand.’
And somehow, as Ken watched the trio shrink into the distance, he didn’t doubt Olivia’s parting statement one bit.
* * *
The crowds around the centre had thinned considerably by the time Ken returned from training – something he was incredibly thankful for. All he wanted to do as he made his way back was to eat and take a hot shower. He wasn’t at all surprised when the familiar figure of Olivia came into view, either. She waved briefly to him while she was at the counter with her Ponyta, and went back to talking with the nurse as if nothing had happened.
‘I see you’ve met Olivia,’ came a gruff voice from behind. Ken turned to see a burly man in hiking gear sitting on one of the sofas. There was a brown fox sitting on his shoulders that stood up when it realised its owner was talking to someone.
Ken tilted his head. ‘Do you know her?’
‘A bit.’ The man scratched his chin. ‘She’s been coming here for well over a month now.’
‘Ah,’ Ken said. ‘I suppose you know she’s a hunter, then?’
‘Yup,’ the man replied. ‘I’m Pascal – lived here all my life, I have.’ He cocked a thumb in Olivia’s direction. ‘But I don’t thing I’ve ever met someone as obsessed with catching a shiny pokemon as she is.’ He raised his hands ‘She just showed up out of the blue – at first we thought maybe she was just training or taking a vacation, but nope, turns out she’s been spending all this time at the base of Mount Coronet searching for a shiny.’ He slowly shrugged. ‘I don’t know why she hunts like this when there are easier ways to do it,’ he laughed and gestured to the fox on his shoulders. ‘I used the DexNav to get mine – you know, that program from Hoenn that was really popular for a couple of years.’ He smiled. ‘Only took an hour or so to find Zorua here – he was totally worth it in the end.’
The Zorua yapped as if to reinforce his owner’s opinion.
‘And I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be too hard to locate a shiny charm either,’ Pascal continued. ‘But who am I to judge, eh?’
Ken nodded without a word.
Pascal rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I can’t imagine why anybody would want to keep searching for days and days just to find one pokemon that looks slightly different from others.’
Ken tilted his head and pressed his lips into a straight line. Why
did Olivia waste so much time when there were easier methods? He rubbed his chin. He’d have to ask her if she was around Route 207 tomorrow.
He didn’t have to wait long – or perhaps that was because time felt much quicker when the mind was elsewhere. The first half of training next morning came and went, and soon Ken found himself waiting on the ledge he’d chosen yesterday. He could faintly hear the sounds of sloppy gobbling coming from Bagon as he ploughed through his meal, but that didn’t bother him. He only became aware of it when he finally caught sight of Olivia coming over the horizon with her team by her side.
He gestured to her when she got close enough. ‘Hey Olivia!’
Olivia looked up at him and dipped her head. ‘Hi there, trainer.’
Ken placed his hands on his folded knees. ‘Wanna sit up here and eat with me?’
Olivia muttered something to her two pokemon and they both nodded in unison. She then turned her attention back to Ken. ‘Sure.’
They climbed up and sat on the grass next to him – Olivia’s pokemon opting to sit with Ken’s team. Ken had to press his tongue against the floor of his mouth – he didn’t want to bombard his guest with questions, not yet anyway. He decided to wait until she looked comfortable enough; choosing to speak after shed picked a particularly fresh-looking croissant from her lunchbox.
He started out with an easy question: ‘How’re you doing today?’
Olivia took a bite from the croissant in her hands. ‘Fine.’
‘Have you found anything yet?’
Olivia swallowed. ‘Not yet,’ she replied. ‘I’m not surprised, considering I just caught Ponyta the other day.’
They sat for a while in awkward silence, chewing and thinking. Ken tilted his head and decided to pop the question. He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I’ve been wondering – why
do you shiny hunt like this when there’s easier methods to use?’
Olivia set down the box containing her lunch and paused, knitting her brow together before looking him directly in the eye without flinching. ‘It was a long time ago,’ she began. ‘I was about six years old when I encountered my first shiny pokemon,’ she said. ‘It was on a fishing trip with my dad in Johto.’ She twiddled her fingers together. ‘I’m sure you’ve probably heard about what happened at the Lake of Rage, right?’
Ken had. ‘Wasn’t that the place where a red Gyarados used to live?’
‘That’s right,’ Olivia continued. ‘I didn’t just know about it – I
saw it with my own eyes.’ As if on cue, the twinkle in her irises grew brighter. ‘It was a magnificent thing you know – it had to be at least twenty-five feet tall,’ she said. ‘And the gleam it radiated when it rose up from the surface of the water was amazing.’ She folded her arms. ‘It took a ten-year old kid to finally subdue and capture it – and I felt so jealous of him. He’d caught something truly special.’
Ken began to pack his belongings away. ‘I wish I’d been there myself,’ he said. ‘That kid had a lot of guts – he must’ve been a really good trainer if he was able to do that.’
‘He was.’ Olivia nodded slowly and thoughtfully. ‘I soon discovered that other pokemon could be differently coloured too – and that a whole community of people were searching night and day to find them – I knew from that moment on that I wanted to look for a special pokemon of my own,’ she said. ‘Easier methods don’t really appeal to me – perhaps it’s because I like a good challenge and a few surprises every now and then. Sure, it can take a long time and people make fun of me for it.’ She placed a hand on her Watchog’s back. ‘But sometimes something a little different can mean a lot to someone, y’know?’
Ken’s lips tightened. ‘That makes sense, I guess.’
Olivia began to gather her things together and her two pokemon stood up. ‘Anyway I’ve got to get moving,’ she said to Ken as she made her way back down the ledge with her team in tow. ‘By the way – I don’t believe you told me your name.’
‘Ken,’ Ken replied. ‘It’s Ken.’
Olivia waved to him as she went. ‘It’s very nice to meet you, Ken,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you back at the pokemon centre!’
Ken waved back. ‘Yeah,’ he said and cupped his hands together over his mouth and called: ‘Good luck with your hunt!’ to her.
This went on for two weeks in an almost rigid manner – Ken would head back to Oreburgh, get some sleep, would say hi to Olivia before heading out to train with Bagon again. Then he’d meet Olivia for lunch on the ridge below the entrance to Mount Coronet and they’d talk.
It was on Ken’s final day of training that things finally drew to a head. By now Bagon had grown at least a foot in height and the grey scales on his head were starting to widen. This was a promising sign – it would not be long now before he’d finally evolve and Ken could upgrade his training to something a little bit more challenging. He didn’t need Lucario now – Bagon was more than capable of taking down pokemon by himself, but he couldn’t help but admit it felt a bit strange not having the jackal pokemon by his side, ready to intervene before a Machop ended up knocking his newest pokemon out.
Lunchtime rolled by, and of course the trainers and their pokemon met on the ledge as usual. They were in the middle of their meal when Watchog suddenly snapped to attention, tail high and claws arched.
She led him over to a small group of rough-looking bushes and Watchog suddenly arched over, flexing its arms impatiently.
Olivia pressed a finger to her lips. ‘Careful,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t wanna spook it – it’s just over there by the bushes.’
Ken followed her and finally saw what exactly “it” was. It was a small bug pokemon coloured a pale shade of orange with a cream ruff around its neck. The bug pokemon was milling around underneath the bushes, plucking small berries from its thin branches and munching them down in two or three bites. Ken couldn’t supress his jaw from dropping. This was it – this was the pokemon that Olivia had spent two weeks of her life searching for. Ken frowned slightly. ‘That’s a Kricketot.’
‘Not just a Kricketot,’ Olivia whispered back. ‘A
shiny Kricketot.’ She then leant over to her Watchog. ‘You know what to do.’
Her Watchog snorted and slinked off into the grass without making a single sound. It soon appeared on other side of the clearing, its red and yellow eyes blatant against the pale shades of green and lime. The Kricketot had no idea what was about to happen – its back was turned away from its stalker as it waddled away from one bush and focussed on harvesting the next.
Olivia wordlessly pointed to the bug pokemon and held up three fingers, then two, then one.
The final finger dropped and Watchog exploded from its position in the foliage. The Kricketune had barely any time to turn around and face its attacker before Olivia shouted, ‘Watchog, use Mean Look!’
Within a heartbeat Watchog leant forward and snarled at the Kricketot, causing it to squeal and shudder – frozen in place like a statue.
But this didn’t last long – Olivia shot out from the bushes. ‘Now, Watchog, use Hypnosis!’
On her command the rodent pokemon leaned inwards so it was staring the Kricketune in the eye, its red and yellow colours starting to swirl and twist in ways that were mesmerizing to watch. For a while the bug pokemon began to mumble and teeter, subdued by its opponent, but then snapped back, eyes wide and antennae tense.
‘Dammit!’ Olivia shouted. ‘Quickly, Watchog, use Mean Look again!’
But she wasn’t fast enough. The Kricketune had already turned and started to sprint away towards the path leading away from the bushes.
Ken snapped into action. ‘Bagon, block that Kricketot’s path!’ he shouted and Bagon leapt forward just in time. He stood in front of the path, spreading his arms as wide as he could (which of course didn’t stretch very far in the end). The Kricketot screeched and slid to a halt in front of Bagon before bending down and rocketing forward, landing head-first into Bagon’s chest. But Bagon barely even flinched – instead he growled and straightened his back, pushing the bug pokemon back with the same amount of force.
Ken was about to praise Bagon for his actions but stopped when he noticed that Bagon was starting to glow. The baby dragon was enveloped in a white light that began to expand in every direction. Ken’s pulse began to race and he clenched his fists against his abdomen – Bagon was finally evolving!
The dragon’s body morphed – becoming lumpier and rounder – and when the light faded what stood in front of the Kricketot was a ball-like pokemon covered in large grey scales that covered most of its body. A pair of yellow eyes shone from deep within the only exposed area in the centre of the scales, boring down upon the now dwarfed bug and completely blocking its path. Watchog had caught up to the two of them and stood behind the Kricketot, stopping it from escaping in the direction it had been running from.
‘Great job,’ Olivia called. ‘Now’s your chance Watchog – use Hypnosis again!’
The Kricketot turned around and on cue Watchog leaned in again, the rings in its eyes began to move again, this time catching the bug pokemon’s full attention. It followed these swirls of colour for a few second before topping backwards and landing on its back, fully unconscious.
Olivia didn’t waste any time – she took out a white ball with a red rim around the middle and tossed it, watching as it spiralled towards the Kricketot. Watchog stepped out of the path of the ball and it struck her target directly on the stomach, flinging open and sucking it inside. The ball shuddered a bit before dropping to the ground, struggling once, then twice, then a third time.
Ken didn’t start breathing again until he heard the familiar clicking sound that signalled capture.
For about seven or eight seconds there was nothing but silence – which was broken when Olivia balled one of her hands into a fist and pumped it into the air. ‘Yes!’
Ken applauded, a grin forming across his face. ‘Well done,’ he said and rubbed the top of Shelgon’s armour. ‘You did good too, Shelgon.’
Shelgon squeezed his eyes shut and slowly plodded around so that he could tilt his body up and give his owner a beaming nod.
Olivia approached the ball and picked it up, her face bright and her eyes gleaming with happiness. ‘I got it,’ she whispered. ‘I
finally got it! I can move on now!’
Ken’s heart suddenly sunk a bit. Bagon had evolved – that meant he could move on too. He bit his lip for a moment but stopped when Olivia’s eyes met his. ‘Y-Yeah,’ he said. ‘I can move on too, I guess.’
Olivia stopped smiling – finally realising what this meant to her too. ‘Oh, yeah, that’s right.’
There was another silence – this one lasting much longer than the first one had. Ken shifted his gaze – he had to do something to lighten the mood. ‘Uh, hey,’ he said after a while. ‘Wanna head back to the pokemon centre for a while?’
The smile from before snuck into the corners of Olivia’s mouth. ‘I’d like that,’ she said and beckoned to Watchog. ‘Let’s go – we can eat lunch while our pokemon are getting healed up.’
* * *
Both Amber and Pascal were at the centre again when they got back to Oreburgh for the last time today. They were both sitting at the windows again and the both of them instantly got to their feet when they saw the two of them returning with their spoils. Amber was the first to greet them. ‘You’re back early,’ she remarked as they entered through the sliding doors. ‘Did you get what you were after?’
Olivia nodded. ‘Yup.’
Pascal gave her two thumbs up from where he was sitting. ‘Go on then – what did you get this time?’
Olivia shook her palms. ‘Just a sec,’ she told them. ‘I’ve gotta heal my team – I’ll be back in a moment.’
It wasn’t long after she joined the small queue at the desk when another trainer entered the building – followed by a pokemon that caused other trainers to back off slightly as it followed its owner. The first thing that caught Ken’s attention about this behemoth was the row of saw-like teeth that jutted from its mouth, followed by the amount of scars that littered its rough-looking hide. Most of these scars were especially prominent on the fin-like blades that adorned its stubby arms.
Ken knew this pokemon all too well – it was a popular choice for competitive battlers in Sinnoh. If he had a pokedollar for how many Garchomp he’d encountered in a fight, he would be a very rich man indeed. Other trainers knew to steer clear of this gigantic dragon – a flick of its tail alone would be enough to sweep most of the people and their pokemon off their feet – however this one looked as if it had been trained incredibly well. It merely offered the people below it a brief glance every now and then and it kept its tail and fins upwards so that the chance of actually hitting anybody was fairly slim.
Its trainer was quite well dressed – wearing a formal blue suit with a bowtie around his neck. Clearly this person had been in many battles and had lost very few of them if he could afford such smart clothing. He took out a pokeball and recalled the Garchomp when he joined the queue just a few people behind Olivia, who was now being served. She returned within a few minutes with Kricketot’s pokeball in her hands. ‘Are you ready to see him?’
Amber nodded while Pascal got to his feet. ‘Go for it, kid,’ he said, folding his arms and leaning against the chair he’d been sitting on.
Olivia tossed the ball and it bounced against the floor and opened, returning to her hand as it released her latest catch. ‘Here he is,’ she said. The light faded after morphing into Kricketot, who instantly began looking up at the group and tilting his head. A flurry of sparkles glittered around him. ‘Isn’t he great?’
Amber raised an eyebrow. ‘A Kricketot?’
‘Yup!’ Olivia beamed. ‘I’ve always loved how golden they look – it’s a really underrated shiny – at least it is to me.’ She reached down and scooped the bug pokemon into her arms. ‘Took about three weeks in total – but it was definitely worth it in the end!’
Pascal placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘He’s a beaut,’ he said. ‘Congrats on finally getting something that you wanted.’
Ken opened his mouth to congratulate her as well but was cut off when a guffaw came from behind the group. All the trainers turned to see the smartly-dressed battler watching them from afar. His pokemon had been healed up too – the Garchomp was by his side and looking on at them wordlessly. ‘Let me get this straight,’ he began in a stuffy tone that reminded Ken of a spoilt Meowth. ‘You wasted all that time searching for a Kricketot?’
Olivia tilted her head. ‘Yeah, so?’
The newcomer put a hand on his hips. ‘Did you at least get one with a good nature?’
Olivia looked down at her pokemon, then back up to the newcomer. ‘The nurse told me he has a bold nature, if that’s what you mean.’
The newcomer tutted and rolled his eyes. ‘The worst nature possible,’ he said. Ken felt his abdomen tighten and he started to grind his teeth. ‘Listen – that Kricketot of yours’ only strength is that it’s a different colour,’ he glanced up proudly to his Garchomp. ‘If you want to get anywhere in life, you need to spend time getting good pokemon like my Garchomp here instead of wasting your time with pokemon that wouldn’t stand a chance in battle.’
Ken snapped. He didn’t even give Olivia time to respond, instead standing in front of her and glaring daggers at the newcomer. ‘And what makes you so different from her?’ he asked, straining to keep the volume of his voice from rising. ‘You probably spent
hundreds of hours or a ton of money getting that Garchomp of yours.’
The newcomer’s back tensed up. ‘Well… yes,’ he said, his tone much softer than before. ‘B-But at least
my pokemon has a use!’ He gestured to the Kricketot. ‘Besides – why on
earth would you want to waste so much time getting a shiny pokemon when you can just commission a breeder to hatch one for you?’
Ken furrowed his brow and stepped forward, looking over his shoulder to Olivia before staring the newcomer dead in the face. ‘Because something a little different can mean a lot to someone.’
Both Pascal and Amber nodded in unison. Ken’s chest slackened a little bit – it was nice to know he was being backed up.
The newcomer’s cheeks grew bright red and he clenched his fists. ‘W-Whatever,’ he spat and brushed past the group. ‘Come on, Garchomp – we’ve got better things to do.’
The Garchomp snorted and plodded along, keeping up with his owner at a steady pace. The group followed their exit until they went beyond the glass windows and down the street – completely out of sight.
Pascal broke the silence first. ‘Wow, what a jerk.’
Amber nodded. ‘Yeah.’
Ken touched Olivia’s shoulder. ‘Are you okay?’
But Olivia, who had not spoken a word during their encounter with the young man, simply nodded her head and smiled as if it had never happened. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry about it – I get that lecture all the time.’
Pascal yawned and stretched his arms. ‘Welp,’ he began. ‘I’ve got to get going.’ He offered the group a parting wave as he walked through the sliding doors. ‘Maybe I’ll see you two around sometime, eh?’
Amber trailed after him. ‘Come back to Oreburgh at some point,’ she called. ‘I’d like to see what you’ve found in the future!’
Both Olivia and Ken waved back. God, he was gonna miss seeing them every day.
Olivia focussed her attention back on Ken while returning Kricketot to his ball. ‘Where are you going to go next, then?’
‘Well,’ Ken said, rubbing his chin slowly. ‘Acuity Lakefront has plenty of Machoke – and the constant hail would get Shelgon used to weather conditions that often show up during battles.’
‘Sounds good,’ Olivia said, shoving her hands into her pockets. ‘Snorunt often gather there – who knows – I might get lucky and find a shiny female.’ She smiled warmly. ‘What do you think?’
Ken returned the warm smile and tightened the straps of his backpack. ‘I think that’s a good target to aim for,’ he said. ‘To Acuity, then?’
Olivia patted her Kricketot on the head and followed her new friend out onto the streets. ‘To Acuity.’
THE END
And one week left for anyone still working on theirs! You can do it!
![[Imaginative]:[Clockwork]](/data/avatars/m/192/192875.jpg?1525616141){kind=avatar}
