A Ranger's Mission: A Lost Soul

Chapter 4 - The First Battle

A battlefield of packed dirt, the sun high in the sky, no one else on the field…. If it wasn’t real life, Lena would have described the scene as something out of a classic Western movie, like A Fistful of Poké Dollars.

Most Pokémon Centers have a few battlefields in the back for both professional Trainers and townspeople to let their Pokémon work out within the confines of the town or city instead of going out to a Route. The biggest issue was that they were public for all to see, meaning someone could record them without permission.

Thankfully, Professor Juniper had apparently used her authority to request a secluded, private section with little fuss. On top of that, the Musharna which the Professor brought with her (and “belonged to her assistant”) was also monitoring the area. Said Musharna was currently setting up a psychic barrier around the field in case things got heated.

‘Granted, with a Fire Type, things are probably gonna get a bit hot either way.’ Lena mused to herself as she idly played with both Rina’s and Arthur’s Poké Balls in her hand. Normally, Lena liked to have them out spectating, but Professor Juniper had asked her to keep them returned for the time being until the battle started.

While it was a practice match, and she wasn’t going to go full throttle for William’s first battle, she also couldn’t deny her curiosity to see how he and Charon would react. The two already seemed to have a close camaraderie that professionals have only after years of working together, and yet William couldn’t have met Charon more than a couple years ago. Moreover, Charon was experienced, and held himself with an air of authority that the oldest Pokémon have only after living to old age on their own. Dare she say it, this was exciting!

‘...Damn, maybe I am a battle junkie like Rina and Arthur...’

Lena looked over to William, who was sitting next to her on the small spectator bench looking at the field. Charon, ever dutiful, stood next to him and kept looking around for threats.

“So, rules wise, how much do you know about battles?” she questioned suddenly, glancing down at him curiously.

William, too lost in his own thoughts, jolted suddenly before regaining his composure and finding his words. “Uh... fight until the opponent is exhausted and knocked out, or the other Trainer yields, returns all their Pokémon, or forfeits them from battle?” William half-asked, half-stated.

Lena raised an eyebrow as she frowned. “I mean… that’s not wrong, but… incredibly simplistic. Was this not taught in school?”

“Not… really, at least for me. Since I didn’t have a partner Pokémon, I was doing geometry or history while the others did practice battles outside sometimes. Most of what I know is… only from osmosis. Never really intended to be a professional trainer or anything like that.” William winced, as if admitting it hurt him.

“No worries. This won’t be a serious match so there’s no real major rules besides staying within the field, and no permanently wounding.” She glared the last part at Charon, who only scoffed in offense as if to say ‘Who do you take me for?’. Lena returned her look to William, forcing a kind smile on her face to try and help him feel less of… whatever he was feeling.

“We can look at the League Rulebook once we get your Trainer License after this, I’ll help you review that to get the finer details if you’d like,” she offered, which made William nod and give a smile that didn’t feel awkward or forced like she had seen before.

Then a thoughtful expression grew on William’s face like a lightbulb went off in his head. “Switches aren’t gonna matter for me, but are you gonna switch? I know you have Rina and Arthur,” he asked.

Lena shook her head and tried to give her best smile. “No, not here. Maybe if you catch another Pokémon in the future, but for this battle, I can only use a Pokémon until I recall them.” She answered. William raised an eyebrow at her phrasing, something that Charon caught onto as well, as a snort and rumble came from his chest.

‘What are they planning...?’

Before either of them could respond, Professor Juniper walked over to the bench they were sitting at, with the Musharna floating behind her as she glanced around the field. “Sorry about the wait, had to set up all the camera equipment. We should be good to go now,” she explained, with Lena nodding in response.

Charon, meanwhile, glared at the cameras around the field and let out a mix of a growl and rumble in his throat, and William noticeably winced in response. “Charon—it’s fine, Clare said that Professor Juniper stood up for us in the meeting. If she can trust the professor, we can as well.” The Typhlosion only grumbled some more and crossed his arms.

Professor Juniper seemed to understand what Charon was referring to, because she turned and leveled the old ghost with a serious expression. “You have my word that such recordings and data will not leave my lab without William and you being informed and asked first, on top of them being monitored by a data security team of Porygon-2. I only plan to inform Professor Elm, and Professor Rowan at this time about the data, who must verify their identity every time they want to access it. No one else can access, or will know about this.”

Charon stared at Professor Juniper, his crimson eyes fixed against her own green ones. A moment passed, then two, before he finally relented and gave a nod with just a faint narrowing of his eyes. ‘Keep your word’ seemed to go unsaid by Charon.

William covered his face in either embarrassment, exhaustion, or a mix of other unidentifiable emotions.

“Thank you again for being so accommodating with all of this,” Lena said, hoping to distract and take attention away from Charon’s protectiveness about William, but Professor Juniper simply waved her off.

“Please, it’s no trouble at all. I completely agree with both William, Charon, and your own wishes to try and stay out of the public eye as much as possible…. Dragon’s above, the forums are already going to be a nightmare this season,” the Professor grumbled lightly.

‘Son of a Bisharp… I’m gonna need to contact the admins later, dammit. For now, let’s ignore that… can’t do anything about it now…’ Lena forced herself to put that concern away despite the brief cold sweat she felt. Turning to William, who looked to be staring off into space at the field… she gently called his name, making him snap out of his thoughts with a jolt.

“Uh — sorry…” William said sheepishly, prompting a rumbling from Charon’s throat which he appeared to ignore. Lena figured it was pre-battle jitters… especially for his first battle, against a seasoned Pokémon Ranger.

She’d be nervous in his shoes as well, heck, she was impressed he was taking his as well as he was. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Arceus knows I wasn’t calm in my first battle. It’s okay to be nervous,” Lena said with a soft tone.

William gave a half-hearted smile, but sighed still. “Thank you, but… ah — nevermind.” William’s voice quieted and his posture looked to close off again and shrink slightly into himself. He cut whatever he was about to say by walking over to one side of the field, Charon following behind him.

Lena internally frowned at William closing himself off again so soon after opening up and relaxing. She sighed internally. ‘Baby steps, he’ll open up when he’s ready.’ Lena repeated to herself, letting out a sigh as she trailed her fingers over her belt again and mentally thought about her plan. This wasn’t a serious battle, but she did want to apply a little pressure to see what kind of Trainer William would be.

‘Let William make mistakes, see how he reacts, and then let’s see how Charon listens to him.’ Lena reassured herself mentally, nodding as she palmed Rina’s Dive Ball and walked over to her side of the field. Professor Juniper moved to the referee box, a couple cameras around the field recording the battle from multiple angles, a red light appearing all of them as she pressed a button.

“This will be a standard battle between Trainer William and Trainer Lena using Unova Regulation C for Standard Single Battles. Neither trainer will be allowed to switch, and the use of held or field items is forbidden. Both trainers can recall their Pokémon at any time, but doing so will forfeit them for the rest of the battle. The battle will end after all Pokémon on one side are unable to continue, or if a Trainer resigns. Trainers, are you ready?” Professor Juniper called out officially for the recording.

Lena always thought the official League calls were stuffy and too long but it was probably the result of some legal Garbodor that required it.

The Professor looked to both of them to make sure they were ready, but Lena was entirely focused on William, trying to gauge his posture. Lena could tell he was forcing his face to be neutral, but his left hand clenched in his sweatshirt pocket told of his nervousness. William took a deep breath and looked forward at the field as a frown found its way on his face.

Charon, however, was staring straight at Lena unwaveringly, his red eyes piercing into Lena’s very being. She had to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine, squeezing Rina’s Dive Ball tightly to try and get a modicum of comfort from the familiar feeling.

She brought the ball to her lips and whispered quietly, “Remember, we just want to see how Charon and William respond, but don’t let him push you around. With that said…” Lena took a moment to gather her words before continuing. “...If I don’t give an order to respond back to an attack, don’t act implicitly like we’ve trained; I want to test what they’ll do when they’re at an advantage.” The capsule shook slightly as Rina got the message.

William stopped looking at the field and instead looked at Lena directly; something in his eyes looked… different, but she was too far away to tell exactly what it was.

“Trainers, select your first Pokémon!” Juniper shouted to the field.

Lena reeled her arm back and threw Rina’s Dive Ball forward as a rush of excitement ran through her. “Rina, get ready!”

As the Dive Ball popped open, the Floatzel appeared on all fours in a watery blue flash before moving to her full height. A wave of excitement rushed through Rina as even without facing Lena, the Ranger could tell she was grinning at Charon.

She then vocalized something Lena couldn’t directly understand, but from her tone sounded like she was respectfully taunting her opponent. Charon gave no response and slowly lumbered onto the field, rolling his muscles and popping a few stiff joints. Gradually — and maybe a bit overdramatically — raising himself to his full imposing height, the Hisuian Typhlosion lit his collar up with the same ghostly wisps Lena had faced before in the forest clearing. Once again, the air changed, and an unnatural pressure weighed down on everyone. This time, however, it didn’t feel like the discomforting malaise that pushed her away like in the forest, or the pure distilled fear and unspoken promise of eternal retribution like in the meeting.

No, if Lena had to describe this new force she would liken it to that staring into the abyss when looking down the edge of a canyon or a cave in the dark. The very air around her stilled at Charon’s presence, as if the world around them all was waiting for the old ghost to stare back.

Lena rolled her shoulders and forced her focus on the field; the display wouldn’t shake her.

Professor Juniper looked at everyone on the field before nodding and throwing her arms down as if they had flags. “Begin!”

“Rina, Bulk Up and charge in,” Lena cried, even as Rina was already executing the move. While not outwardly visible, if Arthur was with her she would have seen Fighting Type Energy surrounding Rina’s muscles.

As Rina bolted forward on all fours, kicking up dirt, Lena shifted her gaze back to William and Charon for a brief moment, noting that William was looking at Rina with narrowed eyes.

“Stay away, use Agile Quick Attacks in between,” William ordered quietly.

‘What’s an Agile—’

Lena didn't even finish her thought, before in a white flash, Charon crossed the entire field in less than half a second, with such fervent speed that he had to use his paw to catch himself from slamming into the barrier. A shocked Rina looked at Charon with a wide expression.

Lena didn’t let that stop either of them, already onto her next plan of action. “Agility, then Aqua Jet, hit and run, let him come to us!”

Rina pooled Psychic Type Energy into her tails, speeding them up and causing the air to crack like a whip behind her. Right after, she leapt forward, Water Type Energy surrounding her body as she disappeared in a blur.

Changing her direction repeatedly — compounded by the boost from Agility — made it impossible for Lena to track Rina’s movements. Charon grunted as Rina grazed his sides as he continued to use ‘Agile Quick Attack’, forcing him to brace himself and grip the ground to keep himself upright. Rina darted away with Aqua Jet after every hit, dancing and weaving in and out like a boxer.

‘Seems like these ‘Agile Quick Attacks’ don’t have anything to do with Agility at all, so Rina’s still faster. What is an ‘Agile’ move then?’

William appeared to face similar issues keeping track as his eyes danced around the field, only to stop, compose himself, and close his eyes... and then smile.

‘Why did he close his eyes...? Rookie mistake...’

“Slow her down!”

Charon charged backwards, getting as much distance as he physically could between Rina and himself. His collar burned bright as he suddenly threw his hands forward and slid across the ground with a sparkling white aura that condensed into yellow stars—Swift. Her voice didn’t reach her throat to warn Rina in time.

The Normal Type stars shot forward, seeming to miss the Floatzel only to curve around, forcing Rina on the defensive. She jumped, took sharp turns, and even used her own Quick Attack to try and outpace them, but the Speed Stars kept coming. All the while, Charon leaned forward in anticipation, carefully watching Rina dodge and weave trying to stay out of the firing line.

‘Okay, so he’s trying to limit Rina’s movement and then punish her for tripping up. A bit naïve as a Pokémon can just shoot down the projectiles, but I’ll give him this one to see what he does with it...’

After a minute or so, Rina took a turn too sharply and her hindpaw couldn’t get enough ground. She slipped, and the Swift stars rapidly pelted into her side, causing the Floatzel to cry in pain and skid across the field.

Without any verbal prompting from his Trainer, the Typhlosion bolted across the battlefield in a white flash towards Rina with a Quick Attack before she had even landed on the ground. The momentum from Charon’s speed and weight smashed into Rina with a devastating impact that was sure to leave a contusion when they were done.

....But the old ghost wasn’t done yet.

Following Rina's launch into the air from the impact, Charon chased Rina’s trajectory to the ground and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. Rina, still reeling from the previous hits of Swift and Quick Attack, could only weakly shake her limbs in a desperate attempt to free herself.

With a feral cry, Charon pounded her into the ground with enough force to make it shake even through the barrier, forcing Lena to have to catch herself from falling. From the corner of her eye, Lena noticed the Musharna straining to keep the shield around the arena stable, but she was more focused on crying out her next command.

“Rina—Brine! Get him off!”

The ground rumbled again before a gushing rush of pressurized water sounded as a cry left Charon, hitting him in the face. He didn’t lose his grip on her though, instead dragging her across the ground and breaking into a full sprint, leaving a trail of mud and a crevice of dirt in their wake.

‘Arceus Almighty, what was that?’

...But Charon still wasn’t done yet.

Charon, still holding Rina by her neck, spun around and threw her upwards as his collar flared. Charon didn’t even take a deep breath before a beautiful torrent of flames, illuminating the area purple and orange from its intensity, hit Rina dead center in her chest.

Another noise left Lena’s partner before she landed on the ground in a cloud of dust. Charon wasted no time and quickly backed up to get some distance from Rina, finally giving her some time to recover.

Everyone waited with bated breath for the dust to settle…. Time seemed to slow down.... Lena’s heart pounded in her ears....

Rina rose from the dust cloud. Ugly red bruises coated her body; her fur was scorched in multiple places. Lena noticed her movement, staggered from the rapid succession of attacks. The Floatzel took a moment to steel herself before she spit out a bit of blood onto the dirt, and grumbled something that Lena couldn’t understand. Charon responded back with as much of a respectful tone as a snarky old man could give.

She’d have to ask Arthur later what they said.

Focusing back on the battle, the Ranger frowned… something was off. William had never battled before, but the way Charon was acting was akin to a professional Pokémon whose Trainer had worked together for years, with the kind of experience built up to know what to do without being verbally asked. Not giving the other Trainer any information on what move they’re using, and their Pokémon knowing what they meant. Following up and pushing advantages. Punishing mistakes viciously. Not giving her opponent a moment to think or react.

Lena was shown evidence of his intelligence before, but if she was being honest with herself, she didn’t believe it. How could this quiet kid who barely said more than five words be some hidden savant?

‘Unless Charon knew to do that kind of combination attack from previous experience, and all the contingencies of when it goes wrong, that kind of follow-up would only happen if—’

The realization hit her like a Thunderbolt.

‘—if William’s able to communicate with Charon non-verbally.’

In hindsight, the signs were obvious, with how William acted with Charon in the forest and during the meeting at the Pokémon League. She almost laughed at not realizing it sooner.

Rina, arriving at the same conclusion, looked back with the biggest grin on her face in years, and Lena couldn’t stop herself from smiling right along with her.

‘Alright, now we’re game. Let’s see how you handle—’

“Heal up.”

William vocalizing his first command in a while shook Lena’s concentration with Rina, and time seemed to resume at a normal rate. It took a second for Lena to process what he had just said, but once she did the sudden change in tactics made Lena visibly short circuit.

Charon blinked sleepily, then dozed off as the effects of Rest washed over him. As the scuffs and marks on his body from Rina’s Aqua Jet started to shrink on Charon’s body, she took the opportunity to capitalize on it.

“Rina, Waterfall!”

Rina surged a wave of Water Type Energy around her and charged forward, like a mighty river. Except....

Rina was slower than expected, and the effect of Agility was completely gone. It wasn’t her staggering from the beatdown before, Charon had somehow removed it. It took her a moment to figure out why, but when she did, her heart dropped into her stomach.

Bulldoze. When Charon stomped the ground, he used Bulldoze. Normally a well-trained Pokémon knew to dig in their feet to ride out the shockwave and prevent themselves from losing too much speed, but by dragging Rina on the ground she wasn’t able to do that, prolonging the effect.

Looking at the Typhlosion, her heart stopped as she noticed his eyes were blinking instead of being completely closed, just barely… groggy looking, as if he was struggling to come out of sleep…

Lena didn’t have a chance to take her command back, as William issued his first direct, proper command of the entire match. “Wild Charge! End it!”

Shock ran across everyone’s faces except for William and Charon, who jolted to sudden alertness as his fur glowed yellow from Electric Type Energy surrounding his entire body. A feral cry erupted from him as he smashed right through the Waterfall that Rina attempted to hold before faltering. The Water powered Move collapsed against Charon’s attack, and she was launched into the air with a painful cry.

Lena could only look with wide eyes as her partner bounced on the ground, struggling to get back up before letting out a breath and collapsing. Typhlosion shuddered in recoil. Lena felt Arthur’s Great Ball shaking at her side after having sensed it.

“Rina the Floatzel is unable to battle! Trainer Lena, please select your next Pokémon.” Juniper yelled from the sidelines.

Lena looked at her fallen partner with an odd taste in her mouth; it had been a while since any of her partners were outright knocked out. While, yes they had taken it a tad easy for William’s first battle, to be caught completely off guard…

Well, just meant the kid’s gloves would have to come off.

“Is… she going to be okay?” William’s cut voice across the field, looking… nervous, even a tad guilty as he stared at Rina’s electric burns and splotchy red bruises.

Lena put on a soothing smile and nodded, “She’ll be fine after the Pokémon Center looks her over.” Thinking back, she couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. “I mean, just the other day, she took a nearly point-blank Solar Beam, and came out of it with just a painful bruise.”

William’s expression was one of surprise and near disbelief, seeming to relax just a tad, but still flicked over to Rina’s body on the ground in an emotion that seemed to be a mix of worry and tad guilt… prompting her to reach for her belt. “To ease your concern…” Lena replied as she palmed Arthur’s Great Ball and pressed the button. In another flash, the Aura Pokémon appeared next to her and she could feel the aura link between them strengthen. Arthur for his part sensed the mix of emotions, giving Lena a pressed look…

He acted automatically, running over to his fallen partner and using Heal Pulse. The faint pink and blue aura flowed around the two as Rina slowly started to open her eyes. She groaned and pushed herself up, rubbing her chest lightly.

“F-Floatzel… Erk… Floatzel-Zel… Floatzel…” (A-Agh… that’s… gonna hurt. Didn’t expect an Electric move…) Rina grunted out, hissing and jerking her paw away at her still sore side.

Arthur continued to use Heal Pulse, noting the damage with a hum and a slowly forming frown. “I’m impressed and concerned that you took this much damage two days in a row… was the Solar Beam not enough yesterday?” Lucario scolded; Rina rolled her eyes, but winced as the Fighting-Steel Type helped her stand up.

Lena pulled out Rina’s Dive Ball to return her. “You did well; get some rest, okay?” she said as the beam touched her body. The Floatzel visibly faded for a moment before vanishing, but not before sending Arthur a look that said ‘have fun’.

Lena put Rina’s Dive Ball back on her belt and looked at William, whose expression was still a bit nervous even from the impromptu healing. The Ranger figured that it was most likely due to inexperience in seeing actual injuries… but it would most likely be something that she would need to help temper down through his Journey.

For now though, Lena put on a reassuring expression and tone. “She’ll be okay, don’t worry. Just needs to be looked at by the Pokémon Center when we're done… so let’s wrap this up.”

She pulled her new gloves for a moment down her wrist, making sure they were on tight and glancing at William and Charon… William’s expression could only be described as ‘oh shit’, or ‘I fucked up’.

“You know, you’ve impressed me, I didn’t expect you and Charon to be in sync so well…” ‘And not give out commands,’ went unsaid, but Lena wasn’t put down about that, in fact, she felt excited. Arthur’s aura mirrored her emotion, turning to Charon and William and getting into a fighting stance, his paws burning with a faint blue flare…

“Let’s see if you can keep up with some weights taken off” Lena said, turning to Professor Juniper who had stayed silent, and gave a nod to her. Juniper nodded back before glancing at William and Charon with a look that Lena couldn’t identify from this far, but it was enough to suddenly snap William out of whatever haze he appeared to be in.

William breathed in and out for a moment, a soothing trill came from Charon as he stayed on his side of the field, but the flames around his collar seemed to burn even brighter as he locked eyes with Arthur.

‘William’s able to communicate with Charon non-verbally like we can, albeit not with Aura. So far the two have shown to be highly aggressive and brutally punish mistakes, but can be a bit passive until they get to that point. Let’s show ‘em a thing or three, eh?’ Lena thought to herself, feeling a wave of acknowledgement from Arthur as the aura link flowed her feelings, emotions, and intent back at him…

“Trainers, are you both ready?” Professor Juniper’s voice sounded. Lena gave a resolute nod in response, in contrast to William’s tight nod. Both Pokémon stared each other down with an eager fervor, fiery blue flames fueled by aura ready to clash against purple, ghostly wisps. A silence rolled across the field with a faint breeze, echoing the western scene…

‘Heh, if only there was some dramatic music and a Brambleghast rolling by...’

‘Focus, Lena,’ Arthur chided.

“Begin!”

‘Foresight; be ready for Charon to rush in.’ Lena thought quickly. Arthur shifted his stance in preparation for an attack as a pale white film of energy surrounded him for a brief moment before vanishing.

Just as Lena predicted, Charon nor William weren’t going to hang back idly. With a speed that still felt impossible for a hundred-year-old Typhlosion, Charon bolted forward on all fours using Quick Attack, or perhaps an ’Agile Quick Attack’ as William called it. Crouching down in anticipation, Arthur summoned a glittering blue aura staff a couple feet long.

As an inferno of purple ghostly fire charged forth like a Bouffalant towards the Lucario, Charon channeled his momentum and twisted into a full-body uppercut. Arthur quickly braced himself with both hands on the staff to block the attack. He managed to avoid getting hit but was sent flying upwards from the hit, sending the Lucario sailing through the air with a grunt.

This wasn’t his first rodeo though; following on near-instinct by the amount of times he had practiced it, Arthur charged himself full of Normal Type Energy and vanished from everyone’s sight. A split-second later, an enormous plume of dust and dirt kicked up suddenly as Arthur touched the ground in a three-point landing just behind Charon, landing in a heavy crouch to prepare for a counterattack.

Lena grinned at the perfect opportunity for a counterattack with Charon’s back turned. ‘Bone Rush, put the pressure on.’

With a flash, Arthur charged forward, his aura staff creating a blue afterimage trail as spun his staff with his right hand upwards. Charon, now aware of Arthur behind him, turned around just in time to barely graze the hit.

The old ghost roared in intimidation and lit his right paw aflame and wound up a hook. Arthur, unfazed by the display, parried the punch and retaliated with a swing of his staff.

For the next few moments, both William and Lena were locked in concentration between a fierce close-quarters battle between Charon and Arthur. Charon tried to grab and throw Arthur a couple times, but was out-ranged by Arthur’s staff every time.

A flash of flames from a Fire Punch barely burning past the fur on Arthur’s body as he shifted to avoid being grabbed.

A strike from Arthur barely brushed Charon’s side before he leaned forward and went back in for another strike.

Each graze was minuscule, but each side hoped it would be enough to break the concentration of the other in this dance.

Out of frustration, Charon shot a Flamethrower out of his mouth, but Arthur spun his staff to snuff out the flames.

Charon tried to apply more force to it, his collar almost seeming to crackle as he pulled more Fire Type energy. Arthur countered by spinning his aura staff with Ground Type energy, cutting through the flames and allowing him to start stepping closer within striking distance.

In a desperate hail-mary, Charon’s collar and back exploded with a purple-orange flame that coated his whole body as he somersaulted forward into Arthur, before bouncing away at a safe distance. The Flame Wheel scorched the Lucario long enough to stop him from chasing Charon.

‘Pull back and Calm Mind.’

The lull in the fight gave everyone a moment to breathe and look at the results of the scuffle. Arthur’s fur was singed in multiple places and a couple places looked sore and swollen, but otherwise he was mostly okay. Charon was breathing heavily and had multiple scrapes and contusions scattered across his body, but the raging red eyes of his told everyone he still had enough in him to go another round or two.

William’s eyebrows were pinched together as he stared at Arthur with a mix of emotions; Lena could make out a hint of awe and trepidation… but it was snuffed out into something almost akin to vindictiveness.

Charon growled something that Lena couldn’t understand, but it must have been a Taunt as Arthur clapped back immediately.

“Rina’s Scald burns more than your flames, old man.”

Charon took a deep breath as the red eyes of both Pokémon met each other. Lucario returned his aura staff as the aura tassels on his head started to float. Lena could feel his mind emptying all outside stimuli as he became one with himself and Lena. A well of magenta Psychic Type Energy — invisible to the naked eye — surged between her and Arthur as he used Calm Mind once… then twice…

Charon and William didn't say a single word either, or react to what Arthur was doing. Lena figured they might be doing the same as Charon’s flames grew and swelled, but never seemed uncontrolled…

‘Let’s see if they can keep that control, pepper him at long range!’

An emotion of acknowledgement ran through the line, and in Arthur’s paws, wet droplets of energy coalesced in each of Arthur’s palms. The Lucario pressed his palms together to combine the orbs into one larger sphere and hurled the Water Pulse through the air with a burst.

Charon’s collar seemed to burn even brighter as if insulted and roared with such ferocity that Lena heard Professor Juniper squeak in fear.

The fiery wisps around Charon’s neck grew in intensity, with Lena barely noticing trails of purple Ghost Type Energy that were pulled from thin air in front of Charon. The energy coalesced into a large purple flame that hovered in front of Charon, and flickered with the intensity of a wildfire.

The Water Pulse hissed as it collided with the ghostly fireball and vaporized into steam. Charon lifted a hand as if holding the orb, and blew into the core, making it split from the center into three orbs and fly forward. The purple mass swirled with an inner white core, and flared wispy black flames.

Lena swore she could make out faces.

‘Swat them down, don’t let them touch you.’ Lena schooled her emotions to keep calm, which fed through her link to Arthur, soothing his nerves at the hitherto unseen move.

Arthur quickly put his palms together once more; the blue flames of his aura swirled as the signature move of the Lucario line, Aura Sphere, formed. Arthur let out an aggressive cry as he threw the Aura Sphere forward, aiming to hit at least two of the cascading orbs. The sphere of pure energy homed in on the front one, looking like it would be just able to hit the one next to it as well…

Or at least, it would have if not for the other two spheres curving around the resulting explosion as it clashed against the frontmost ghostly orb. The orbs seemed to move like they were remote-controlled, similar to Will-O-Wisp, and they were heading straight towards the Lucario.

Lena felt a rush of shock return from Arthur, but she shot it down on her end and reacted quickly. ‘Detect!’ Arthur‘s aura reacted almost automatically, gathering Fighting Type Energy to give him enough dexterity to jump and twist between the two orbs. The ghostly orbs flew past him colliding with the barrier, causing it to crack and shudder as Musharna strained to keep the barrier stable.

Arthur landed on the ground, reforming his aura to gather mold into another Aura Sphere. Boosted by the Calm Mind, it sailed through the air at near-supersonic speed before hitting Charon right in the chest. Typhlosion grunted in pain as he staggered back, clutching his chest and panting… but also confirming Lena’s suspicion that they had used Calm Mind as well, as it didn’t leave as much of a bruise as she’d expected.

William huffed, looking frustrated, but not defeated. Charon growled from deep within his chest and clenched his fist; Lena was barely able to make out faint wisps of glowing green energy around it as the Typhlosion charged forward.

Lena realized their play instantly. ‘Drain Punch — they’re getting desperate! Go for damage!’

Arthur’s palms pulsed in the air, blowing the dust and smoke around him away as a wave of water collected around his paws before throwing another Water Pulse forward at almost the velocity of an Extreme Speed.

It was too fast for William or Charon to react as they charged directly into the Pulse, Water splashing against the Typhlosion’s face. Stumbling and trying to wipe the water off of his face, he tripped and fell into the dirt. Crying out in pain from the super-effective attack, Charon struggled to push himself upwards, clenching his head like had a bad migraine. The mane-like flames on him didn’t dissipate, but they seemed to become more wild and uncontrolled… waving back and forth as Charon’s eyes started to glow red as he swayed. His eyes were wild and completely unfocused, shaking even.

Lena didn’t hide the smirk forming on her face. Unless one had an item or Ability that negated confusion, the only reliable method of curing it was recalling a Pokémon or switching out, neither of which William could do. Instead, the only true way around it was through sheer willpower and maybe some meditative techniques to help focus the addled mind.

The flames on the Typhlosion’s back crackled and grew haphazardly and uncontrollably his motor functions scrambled; his arms twitched as he panted heavily, struggling to keep himself upright. His eyes hazed over, though the flickers and wisps of feral-like anger lingered still as his body drooped over like a dying tree. The Fire Type was barely able to catch himself as he pulled against his muscles, letting out a raspy growling noise as he twitched and shook, lumbering slowly to his feet.

Of course, what she didn’t expect was for William to suddenly look ghostly pale, with his eyes widening but unfocused. Lena barely noticed that he was gritting his teeth as his legs took a step, as if trying to stabilize himself on unstable ground…

“C-Charon, h-hel—dammit—Overheat—!” His voice was strained, choked, even panicked as he screamed it out, as if giving the command hurt.

Lena’s concern was thrown out instantly once she registered what he said, her head snapping back into the battle. Charon snapped to attention as well, gaining enough awareness to execute the order. “Shi—Arthur — !” Lena started, but it was too late.

With felt like the intensity of a thousand Magcargo through the barrier, Charon’s collar overtook his own body, the normally purple flames turning orange, then white, then blue, before exploding out. The entire barrier was visible, shuddering and straining under the force and heat of the attack. The entire area was overtaken by flames, consuming the view of Charon and Arthur and forcing all the humans to cover their eyes.

Lena felt the aura link shudder, fade, and die out.

The flash of hot flames rushed upwards as the barrier visibly shook from the strain; Musharna looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel trying to keep the explosion contained in focus. Lena heard something crack and splinter for a moment… and then quiet.

Lena tentatively moved her arms away from her face and looked at the field… already seeing what she was expecting…. The entire field was charred black, burnt, and smoldering. Arthur was face down, his fur scorched head to toe, and completely unconscious.

“Arthur the Lucario is unable to battle!” Juniper yelled from the sidelines. “All of Trainer Lena’s Pokémon are unable to battle. The winner is Trainer William with a score of 1-0!”

The old Pokémon was panting heavily, struggling to breathe. The flames around his collar, normally a ghostly purple that exhumed upwards towards the afterlife were snuffed and smoldering, the spiritual energy exhausted. Finally taking a minute to relax, Charon continued to sway from the trailing effects of confusion, but managed to catch himself from falling to the ground, but was clearly exhausted and spent. William, on the other hand, looked as pale as a Moomoo Milk carton but was breathing easier. Although he looked panicked and ran over to Arthur’s unconscious body.

Lena hurried over as well, not missing the sudden stream of curses unfitting of a child flying from William’s mouth under his breath. Grunting from Arthur’s weight, Lena watched him carefully turn Arthur over to set him on the ground face up.

William sighed in relief when he saw the rise and fall of the Lucario’s chest, but he still reached into his bag quickly and started grabbing multiple items. Ranging from Burn Heals, Potions, and even Rawst Berry cream, William started applying everything with a nervous, jerky movement.

On one hand, it was impressive that William was responding so quickly for an opponent's Pokémon taking such a hit. On the other hand… Lena was concerned.

Just what were battles like where William was from to where a practice match elicited such a response?

Lena gently placed a hand on William’s shoulder, making him freeze up like when a Pokémon felt cornered or scared. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry. Arthur’s taken more damage than this before. Here, let me help.” Lena said softly, trying to reassure him, William’s shoulders relaxed as he nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped back a bit to let Lena help.

A liberal amount of medicine later, and the worst of Arthur’s surface injuries already started to heal over. William stopped spraying for a moment and stared at the Max Potion working its magic, seeming frozen until Lena nudged him with her shoulder gently with a concerned glance. He snapped from his daze right after, returning to spraying the upper body of Arthur as Lena followed behind with the cream…

‘Yeah, Arthur’s gonna feel this tomorrow, even with a Pokémon Center. Let’s focus on the first thing though…’ Lena thought as she glanced at William, who let out a breath as he finally finished applying the Burn Heal, and started speaking before Lena could.

“I—fuck, I’m sorry.” William apologized.

Lena blinked back with wide eyes and raised her hands before William could continue any further. “It’s okay. Injuries happen. Arthur has taken a lot worse before.” She tried placating. “Honestly, I’m impressed you were able to catch me and Arthur off guard like that,” ‘And concerned about your reaction in the middle of the battle,’ Lena mused, but didn’t voice, knowing that William would Withdraw faster than a Dwebble if she pressed him.

Sadly, William cringing and looking even more guilty showed it had the opposite effect. He stayed silent as he took the Max Potion and started applying it to Arthur… who finally started to come to his senses.

“L-Luc… Lucario…” Arthur’s voice was a raspy, wheezy, incoherent jumble.

Lena whistled. “Wow, Charon really did a number on you, did he Arthur?” Lena asked rhetorically. Arthur pushed his upper body up with a grunt, and William jolted back to not get in the way.

“L-Lucar—Dialga’s shiny toes—rio.” Arthur attempted to voice. Aura swirled around him as he tried to regain his bearings, a light chuckle leaving her as she shook her head.

“Don’t worry about translating until tomorrow, you hear? You need a checkup at the Pokémon Center before you do anything, mister.” Lena said with a raised eyebrow. The Aura Pokémon sighed and met Charon’s eyes. The Fire-Ghost Type stared back with a clear gaze as the confusion had fully worn off and he lumbered over next to William surprisingly quietly.

“Lucari-good battle—Rio-Cario. Your strength—Lucario.” He vocalized, Lena only picking up pieces of it, but snorted as she grabbed his Great Ball and aimed at him.

“You can discuss the battle later with Charon, for now, get some rest… Rina’s gonna have a field day with you after you know.” Lena teased. Arthur suddenly panicked as he realized what Lena meant before being hit with the beam. Lena felt the capsule shake, a faint wave of… a whimpering and pleading aura slipped through, but she just snorted and returned the Great Ball to her belt.

The Ranger returned her gaze to William, whose expression was a mix of nervousness and guilt. Hoping to shatter those feelings, she reached out her hand to William to shake. “Hey, good battle, you put my team on the ropes, and I’m impressed you were able to do that for your first battle.”

William stared at Lena’s hand for a moment, an awkward, half-smile formed that was becoming familiar to Lena as he politely reached forward to shake her hand. “I… panicked, and got lucky. I know you were taking it easy with Rina anywa—”

“Imma stop you right there.” Lena interjected, squeezing the handshake a bit tighter as William suddenly looked even more nervous. Daring him to object, she continued, “Firstly, you caught me and Rina off guard by using commands that didn’t hint to your intentions, and somehow hid that you used Bulldoze to remove Agility. Most League Tournament Trainers don’t even think to do that.” She stated, raising her other hand with one finger outstretched, then two.

”Second, you outright overpowered me and Arthur while using almost no verbal commands, which is something that no Trainer has done in a long while.” A third finger went up, William looking a bit uncertain from all of the words, but Lena kept going.

“Third, you’re even coming up with variations of existing moves that work to your strengths. I have no idea what ‘Agile’ Moves are based off of, but I’ve been battling for years and most Trainers focus more on learning a lot of moves, instead of working on expanding fundamental moves.” Another finger raised as she started onto her final point.

“Lastly, you and Charon already have a really good synergy, chaining moves together and punishing mistakes. The only thing I can see you improving on is approaching opponents when pressure is put back on you, and maybe being a little less passive when looking for an opportunity to punish a mistake, but you need to give yourself more credit than you are right now.” Lena pressed, hoping that whatever weird hangup that William had would go away.

William stayed silent, his smile getting a bit tighter before suddenly clapping from the side from Professor Juniper made him and Lena jolt.

‘Oh, right. She was observing the battle.’

“She’s right about everything, you know.” Professor Juniper started as she walked over. Musharna floated behind a bit lower than one would expect… and even with her eyes closed, seemed to be glaring at Charon.

“You’ve exceeded my expectations for how you would battle and how Charon would respond… and cemented my own decision.” Juniper said, smiling as she shifted the bag that Lena had barely noticed and reached inside, pulling out a device that made William gasp.

“P-Professor Juniper—but I’m not—”

“A sponsored lab Trainer? No, you’re not, but that doesn’t limit who I hand these out to.” Professor Juniper smiled as she held her hand out. “This is yours. I won’t take no for an answer.”

William bit his lip, seeming… hesitant to even touch the device, but he broke through whatever worry he had still and reached forward to inspect it. It was the standard Unovan Model of Pokédex, with a dual screen that slid up when active…

Lena noted — with growing exasperation — that the color scheme was yellow.

William pressed the button on the device, watching it beep and suddenly turn on, the screen underneath rising up and shifting into place, on the top screen, it was displaying the first-time boot sequence, displaying William’s Trainer ID and name.

‘A custom paint job and it’s pre-loaded with William’s information. She planned to give him this from the start, didn’t she?’

“There is one thing that I should note, though. With the introduction of new Pokémon from other regions into new habitats, I’d like to get some data on where the new populations of Pokémon now live. As you can see here—” Professor Juniper pointed out a shoulder button on the rear of the device, “—you can view and record the habitats of Pokémon in various environments. All I ask in return is that you log what new Pokémon you see in places they haven’t been documented yet. I’m sure Lena can help you as well.”

“I… thank you — I don’t know what to say…” Will said, his eyes blinking in a daze. Meanwhile, Lena looked at Professor Juniper with a raised eyebrow.

Professor Juniper smirked back with a twinkle in her eye that gave her the same creepy feeling as she did with Chairperson Erma.

She refocused quickly, as if she never had the look in the first place, and glanced down at William who had shut the device off and put it in his sweatshirt. “Then don’t say anything you’re not comfortable with. I know that this has been a lot of change for you in such a short time. Even with Charon, and Lena, you’re scared, aren’t you?” She asked, with a soft tone and expression.

William winced, but didn’t deny it, and the Professor nodded slightly. “Fear is a powerful motivator, but you shouldn’t let it control you. Do you intend to have only Charon your entire Journey, or do you plan to catch strong Pokémon to stop being ‘afraid’ and look powerful?”

William grimaced, instantly shaking his head. “I don’t… or — didn’t, plan on catching any Pokémon. It’s wrong to force… anyone to work with me.” He said carefully. Lena’s eyebrows furrowed as she digested the statement, but she didn’t have time to parse it fully as Professor Juniper hummed shortly after.

“What if a Pokémon wanted to join you, would you let them?”

“If… they wanted to, of their own accord, then… yes.” William said hesitantly before his eyebrows raised in realization. The same damn smile formed on Professor Juniper’s face (although it didn't seem to bother William as much) as she reached back into her bag and pulled out a container with three spherical shadows inside it.

“Then, let me offer you one more partner for your journey.” She said, kneeling down and pressing a button. The container hissed as it opened, and the noise of three Poké Balls opening rang out to nowhere. The forms of three Pokémon, the Unovan Starters, took shape.

Lena’s eyes scanned over them all. Snivy appeared almost smug, putting hands on their hips and tilting their head as if presenting themselves. Tepig had an excited look on their face, their coiling tail wagging back and forth as they looked around at all the people. Noticing the professor, they instead turned to Lena and William with joy and excitement.

The odd one out was Oshawott, who was quite reserved and glanced between the three humans with a guarded expression.

William instantly picked up on it, his face dropping in concern as he looked at the Sea Otter Pokémon. “Is… Oshawott okay?”

Professor Juniper’s shoulders slumped with a heavy weight as she reluctantly answered. “Oshawott here… for reasons that I still haven’t been able to figure out, seems to be a bit... skittish. Whenever I’ve observed him playing with the other Pokémon, he prefers to keep to himself, and if engaged, tends to... close off and be more defensive. A lot of Trainers haven’t really liked that, preferring a more... eager or active partner... as a result…” She trailed off. Lena was unable to hide the frown on her face…

A sudden chirp came from Charon of all people, kneeling down to meet the scared little one with what Lena could only describe as an eager expression on his face. Whatever concern Lena thought might arise from the old ghost spooking a young Pokémon silly died in her mind as Oshawott stepped forward in interest.

Whatever wordless conversation they had made William follow in Charon’s steps as he too stepped forward and kneeled down in front of the Water Type. William looked away for a brief moment, possibly trying to collect his thoughts, before turning back and speaking in a tone soft enough that it couldn’t have hurt a Joltik.

“Do you feel… lost? Like, you don’t feel like you belong with others, or you aren’t sure you fit in?” He spoke softly, with no weight or accusation in his tone as he stared into the Water Type’s eyes. Oshawott stared into the young Trainer’s own and slowly nodded.

A smile laced with melancholy formed on William’s face as he closed his eyes tight. “It sucks… it really does… I don’t know how it works for Pokémon, but humans can be the same way.” He said with a mirthless, painful chuckle that held the weight of years of built-up emotion.

It didn’t stop William from opening his eyes again and slowly offering his hand forward to the Oshawott. His smile was small but soft, and his eyes full of a warmth that Lena didn’t know he had. “Why don’t… Why don’t we find our own place together, then? If you want…”

The Oshawott stared at the outstretched hand, his own widening eyes darting between William’s hand and face… before turning to the towering Hisuian Typhlosion, and squeaking what Lena assumed was a question.

Charon quickly glanced over to William before he trilled softly back with a gentleness and love that reminded Lena of her grandfather rocking her to sleep in that old chair of his when she was still a young girl. “Typhlo… Phlosion. Typh.” His voice rumbled, though what was said exactly was unknown to her.

Oshawott looked down at the ground for a moment in thought before he looked back up at William’s still hovering hand….

A moment passed. Then two. Then maybe a couple more.

After what felt like an eternity, the Oshawott reached forward and placed his own flipper on top of William’s hand. William smiled back and squeezed gently.

“Oshawott… do you have a name?” He asked just as softly.

The Oshawott shook his head as William hummed, closing his eyes… before speaking.

“How about… Ronin?”

Oshawott looked confused but interested, stepping closer to William as he started to explain without prompting.

“Where I’m from, it’s the name of a traveling warrior looking for a home and something to believe in, wandering until he finds someone or something worthy to fight for.... When that happens, the lost Ronin becomes a mighty and respected Samurai, honorable warriors and great protectors. The word Ronin more directly translates to ‘wave man’, or ‘person of the waves’. I think that’s fitting for a young Oshawott who’ll someday grow into a powerful Samurott fighting for his family and his friends, who’s strong enough to channel waves with his physical strength.” William elaborated. Oshawott paused and looked down, ruminating on the title… it felt like another minute had dragged by before he looked up and nodded.

Charon let out a happy rumble from his chest, looking with joy between William and the newly named Ronin. Lena and Professor Juniper also smiled off to the side as the young Trainer squeezed and shook the Water Type’s flipper one more time, cementing the name and new bond with a smile that to Lena, while small, looked genuine.

“Welcome to the family, Ronin.”

Beta Readers:

David “TheBlizWiz” R

Casmii

Garmfild