PokeWild

Danny and David split up after an hour or so of chatting, each taking a direction.

Neither of them knew where they were heading, but at least they knew that they weren’t the only ones lost. When they met tomorrow they would share the results of their exploration. Until then, they were on their own.

David went south. Danny north.

He wandered, keeping an eye on the other pedestrians out of a cautious habit, but enjoying watching the Pokemon on the street more.

A crowd of school children followed behind a Jigglypuff. The toy-like pink Pokemon bounced back and forth making the children giggle at its antics. A smiling woman – likely the Pokemon’s trainer – followed behind the children.

Several blocks later, pained grumbling drew David’s attention to a Psyduck. Short stubby limbs held the Pokemon’s head as it alternated between quacking and crying “Psy”. It's appearance had more in common with a rubber ducky than a living breathing creature. Instead of fur or feathers, the Psyduck skin was smooth and waxy. Its creamy bill and paws stood out from its uniformly yellow body.

The Pokemon was clearly in pain and determined to let others know that. Its trainer didn’t ignore its pain but they looked quite exasperated as they guided the duck Pokemon down the pavement.

David watched them carefully, unsure if he should intervene or say something. Pedestrian by pedestrian passed by the two without a word. When it was his turn, he did the same. Maybe it was normal for the Psyduck. Maybe it was sick. Until he knew more he had no choice but to follow everyone else’s lead. The whole thing reminded him of Sarah’s stone throwing training method. At what point would he grow used to these things?

He left the main streets after that encounter. From there he stuck to smaller roads and streams of people until he caught sight of an interesting sign. The small plaque hanging above the road at twice his height was dominated by a flower. The flower had a creamy center and each petal was a different color, ranging from Pecha pink to Oran blue. Several small signs later he found a larger one which had text as well as the icon.

He was on the path to the Celadon gym.

The trail brought him to the south-west of the city. Signs for the gym were joined by signs for Route 16 as David traveled west and began to see more stands. The first few battle arenas he encountered were the same size as the training grounds where his training group met. They quickly grew in size from there. The first one that was a building and not an empty field, dwarfed the Saffron stands where he'd watched the tournament match.

Idly David wondered if this counted as a stadium or coliseum by Fred’s standards.

All the open field style stands were full of trainers and battles. The number of onlookers had dwindled as the season went on but every pitch and battle had at least one spectator. As he grew closer to Celadon gym the crowds and noise grew. He could hear the shouts and cries from outside and could only wonder what they were cheering for. It grew loud enough that Pidgey’s ball shook slightly against his neck. David murmured an explanation to her and resolved to leave the area after he saw the gym. He was able to release her at the stands, but worried that might be considered declaring himself available to fight.

David's steps slowed as the number of Pokemon on the pavement increased. A queue formed on the main road as the larger Pokemon caught up with each other. No, he realized. A traffic jam. A Pokemon traffic jam formed on the main road.

The powerful creatures bunching up as they all tried to make their way to the same place. Pokemon snorted or called out their names dismissively as they jockeyed for place. Trainers were quick to recall any troublemakers before a fight could break out. But there was shouting all around.

Caught up in his surroundings it took a few seconds for David to realize he’d reached the gym. In his defense, he had expected something grander.

Surrounded by the expansive stadiums, the park appeared small and almost quaint. Tall trees were dwarfed by tiered seating. Bright flowers cast in shadow by looming roofs. The few buildings spread across the grounds, joined by a network of canopies, might as well have been garden sheds next to the monuments of battling.

A heavy metal fence separated the gym’s grounds from the main road. Trainers flocked to a tall arch, capped by the gym’s icon. The entrance to Celadon gym.

David lingered a while, watching trainers return Pokemon and queue up at the gym entrance. Most left soon after speaking with the guards. Others made it inside for a few minutes before turning back.

He gave Pidgey’s ball a tight squeeze and turned away. They’d be back soon.

-.-

David had only been back on the farm for about an hour when his peaceful day off was disturbed.

The first sign he had was Pidgey standing up from her resting roost. David set the tent peg he was placing aside before reconsidering it. Instead he detached it from the tent and stood. The grove was quiet and usually Pokemon free but usually was not always. Their morning encounter with the Fearow was still fresh on his mind.

Thankfully instead of a pouncing Persian, Michael wandered out from the bushes. The young kid was grubby in the way and places only a child could manage. It looked like he’d spent the entire day wandering the wild, and David would know.

“Hello!” Michael said, eyes fixing on Pidgey.

She judged the kid for a second before plopping down into her roost.

David followed suit, sitting down and reattaching the peg. “Hi Michael. What brings you to the grove? Does... Oliver know you’re here?”

Michael considered the question for a second before nodding. “He’s busy so I’m exploring. I’m allowed everywhere except the supply shed and the greenhouses and caves behind the house.”

“Hmm.” David hummed while raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Michael squirmed a little but nodded, confirming David’s guess that he was stretching the truth a little.

“Well I don’t think Oliver had the grove in mind for your exploration.” David smiled as Michael’s face fell. “But it should be fine as long as you only come in with myself or Oliver.”

Michael’s expression brightened just as quickly as it had fallen.

David gestured around the small, Move damage-free glade he had chosen for a camping spot. “Wild Pokemon sometimes come into the grove and-” He paused as he spotted two scowling eyes and a bushy mustache poking out from a bush. The eyes narrowed further but didn’t move. Busy huh? “-you don’t want to run into them.”

David glanced down at Pidgey, but she hadn’t made any sign that she noticed Oliver. Or more likely, Oliver had arrived with Michael, and she wasn’t worried about either of them.

Either way, David chose to ignore the glaring eyes and carry on. If Oliver didn’t want to come out of the trees, then David wasn’t going to invite the man’s company.

“If you want to explore here you have to bring one of us. Alright?”

Michael pouted. Furious thoughts raced through his mind and he looked ready to object. That resolve didn’t last long. Pidgey shifted to get more comfortable and Michael's eyes were drawn back to her.

“Okay but you have to come with me. Every day.”

David snorted. “I’m not here every day. You can ask your grandfather and I in the mornings when I give him a report on the grove.”

Michael began to pout again, but David was content to turn back to his tent. Eventually the kid muttered a reluctant “Fine” and moved further into the glade. David watched him out of the corner of his eye, but it turned out that Michael had been paying attention in the morning. He didn’t move too close to Pidgey. Instead, he sat down two or three meters away to watch her.

David scanned the bush and tree line again, but Oliver was gone. With a smirk, he got back into getting the tent up.

“Are you doing any training today?”

Michael’s patience lasted longer than David expected but at the end of the day he was a kid. At least he'd waited long enough that the tent was all set up.

“Some,” David said. He set aside the ‘Sea for yourself’ leaflet he'd been reading. “Pidgey was healed at the Pokecenter yesterday so we’re taking it easy.”

“Really?” Michael exclaimed. He shoved himself up and circled around Pidgey, never coming any closer but ramping up the scrutiny.

The renewed inspection was too much for Pidgey and with a squawk she stood. With a quick flap she took to the sky. The take-off kicked up a bit of debris from the floor but nothing compared to what it would have a few days ago. All the training to master the lavender swirls – the flying type energy – that Pidgey could create with her wings was paying off and in more ways than David had expected.

Pidgey lazily glided around the glade before landing gently beside David. On the other side of him from Michael. The flight had taken her minimal effort. Their 'Launch' pseudo move brought her higher into the air but was still energy intensive.

“When are you training? Can I watch?” Michael asked, staring after her half in sadness half in joy from the flight. He rubbed dirty hands on his pants and began to shift again to get a better view of Pidgey.

David stood up and nudged Pidgey. “Now's as good a time as any. You can even help.”

Sarah had a point with her evasion practice, even if David didn’t like her methods.

“Do you know how to play catch? Tag?”

-.-

Oliver 'found' them an hour or so later. At that point they were all a little out of breath from running through the clearing and trees. David made a note to practice the exercise out in an open field as well. Pidgey was getting quite good at weaving through the trees to escape them, but she wouldn't have that luxury in battle.

David waved a tired and reluctant Michael goodbye and sat down by Pidgey.

“How are you feeling? Up for a little bit more training?”

Pidgey held her wings out wide to try to cool down after all the hopping and flying. She flexed them a little before turning to him and letting out a chirp followed by a low squawk.

“Yes but no exercise,” David interpreted.

He sighed. They did need to do training that suited the "no exercise and light work" conditions from the Pokecenter but... it was incredibly uncomfortable.

David moved around until he was directly in front of Pidgey.

“Leer.”

Incredibly uncomfortable for him that is.

Pidgey’s eyes lightened second by second until they flashed beige. An icy chill locked David’s muscles.

“Good,” David grunted out. He stood on stiff limbs and began to stretch and exercise. A minute later he delivered his verdict. “About a three.”

He’d come up with a point scale for testing the effects of the Move. One being a light chill running down his spine and ten being... well he didn’t know what ten was, but he was judging the count there by the time it took him to recover. The training was slow. He needed to recover from each attempt before they started again, but their first training session had shown him the folly of tanking multiple Moves in one go. David had no interest in experiencing that level of lock up and loss of feeling again.

Pidgey took to the Move like she’d been using it her whole life, which he supposed, she had. The few short instructions in ‘Sea for yourself’ were all she had needed to take the uncomfortable sensation to a whole new level. It wouldn’t be long before she’d be ready to use it in battle.

David sat back down in front of her. “Again.”

-.-

David jumped and grabbed onto the overhead tree branch, muscles protesting the sudden action. He groaned as his stiff shoulders and upper back stretched as he hung. The worst or best feeling was in his laterals. The burn and relief was fantastic.

With a swish of leaves, Pidgey perched onto the same branch off to his right side. She poked her head over and looked down at him.

“Hiya Pidgey. I’m fine just stretching.”

Pidgey let out a loud chip and shifted a little further away. She settled herself and gripped, talons digging into the soft bark of the three.

“Oh no Pidgey, I’m just stretching. You don’t need to practice yo-”

Pidgey’s talons tightened. The branch began to creak ominously as she weakened the wood that carried his weight.

“No Pidgey! Stop. stostostop STOP!”

Pidgey startled, lifting her wings and loosening her grip in surprise at his raised voice. The movement sent her off balance. She hung in place for an instant before she began to fall. A high pitch shrill filled the air as she threw her wings out to try and steady or slow the motion. It was no use.

Pidgey fell back and... around?

She swung down like a pendulum, talons locked together in fright around the branch.

David stared at her wide-eyed and she stared right back, eyes just as wide. Slowly Pidgey came to a stop. The branch creaked as she tightened her grip again and hung upside down.

“Huh. You look kind of like an owl.”

Pidgey let out an ear-splitting, high-pitched, shrill.

David winced until the sound tapered off.

“Right. Helping now.” He loosened his own grip and fell down.