PokeWild

Everything went back to normal the next morning, or, as normal as things could be now.

David went out on a patrol through the grove. He spent the entire time on edge but as Oliver said the night before, he would hear the ‘giant lumbering oaf’ well before a Snorlax got close enough to be an issue.

Oliver was subdued at breakfast. Dark bags hung under his eyes and his head hung low. David doubted the man had slept at all, the fury that had kept him going draining overnight and leaving little behind. Only Michael got any reaction out of the man. With loud compliments about the food and questions about plans for the day, he drew smiles and moustache twitches out of the old man.

There was little talk of the Snorlax. Even Michael, for all his excitement, had caught on that it was best not to mention the Pokemon.

Things may have calmed down but Oliver still wore four pokeballs around his waist.

-.-

The training group returned to normal today as well, everyone leaping back into training with a vengeance. Taking a day off to play cards had been fun but hours of games had brought a sense of reality back. The entire city was practising for the tournament. Winning an Eevee was a pipe dream and they had very real dreams on their waists already.

David had never held any hope for winning an Eevee himself. He now knew how to play the strange game which seemed to be based around Pokemon types, but not well. Not like everyone else who seemed to have been playing since childhood. He wasn’t even sure if he would enter after speaking with Oliver.

Like David, the owner of Nature’s scent agreed that the tournament's timing was suspicious. Oliver had his own reservations about Celadon’s ‘Game Corner’. It turned out that they were something of a political rival. The organisation didn’t have a seat at the council's table but it was dead set on building some chairs. There was no apparent connection between Team Rocket, the Voyants and the Game Corner, but Oliver seemed to think it was a thing.

David had a faint memory of a time long past and pixels on the screen, nothing he could go off but a lingering sense that supported Oliver’s theory.

“David!”

David blinked and looked up at the others.

“Game night Friday after training? Bit more prep before the tournament?”

It seemed the others hadn’t quite given up on ‘their’ Eevees yet. David thought about it for a second and gave a nod. He might not be entering but the card game was fun. There was no harm in a game or two and it was a welcome distraction.

“Great,” Sarah said with a smile. “You’re up next by the way.”

Danny held her pokeball up in challenge.

The battle went like all their battles did these days. Pidgey took to the sky. Bulbasaur started a Growth. When Pidgey got close enough, David would call “Cannon” and Pidgey would rain Gusts down. Bulbasaur dodged and retaliated with shards of pink.

The pink petal-like darts were an annoyance that Danny had pulled out of nowhere after Pidgey demonstrated the ability to attack from a distance. She remained tight-lipped on the move, only calling it a first attempt at Razor Leaf when pressed by the other grass type trainers. Judging by the oohs and aahs that followed that reveal, making that much progress was a big deal.

However, David had his suspicions. Danny never called for the Move during battle, letting Bulbasaur decide when to use it herself which only happened against Pidgey. Maybe that was normal for this Move, but something didn’t seem right.

A curved slither of pink struck Pidgey on the breast, carving a few feathers off. Pidgey opened her mouth to shriek but all that came out was a croak.

David put a finger on her pokeball’s button. What was that? The hit didn’t seem too bad. Had the Move bit deeper than it looked, slicing up to her lungs.

Pidgey dived down, sliding to the right mid air to dodge the next oval of pink. With a tilted wing, she circled back around to Bulbasuar’s left.

Bulbasaur skidded to halt mid dodge, forced to abort her movement to turn. She learned quickly that letting Pidgey get behind her was a mistake.

Pidgey reared back, coming to an abrupt stop as she spread her wings. She let out another croaking chirp that had David inching to the edge of the trainer’s platform. What had that Move done to Pidgey?

Pidgey flapped, sending a powerful ‘Gust’, swirl after swirl of lavender, hurtling to the ground below.

Bulbasaur couldn’t escape from this one. She was caught flat footed. Dark green lines were drawn on its teal skin. The ground around her exhaled, dust rising a foot above the ground.

“Match!” Martin and Tulia called. David and Pidgey had taken the advantage.

Danny recalled Bulbasaur in a flash.

David went to do the same but Pidgey dived before he could. She sped towards the ground and began to spiral, spinning faster and faster. What was she doing?

Another croak rang out.

David left the trainer’s podium and began to jog out onto the pitch. Was something wrong? He clicked her pokeball’s button.

Nothing happened.

Pidgey circled, faster and faster as she crashed to the ground.

David ran.

A final croaking caw rang out from the blur.

With a whoosh, Pidgey hit the ground, kicking up enough dirt that David couldn’t see anything.

“Pidgey!” David shouted, blinking furiously as he pushed through the dirt.

“Pidgey!”

Who was that? Did Danny run in too?

“Pidgey!”

“PiidGeey!”

“Pidgey!”

“Piiiid-Geeeeey!”

“....Pidgey?”

The dust cleared.

David blinked the last few specks out of his eyes. Pidgey stared back at him.

She fluffed herself up with a little shake and opened her beak. “PIIIIIDGEEEY.”

“Pidgey,” David whispered, walking forward.

“Pidgey,” Pidgey confirmed, hopping forward.

David crouched down and picked up the small bird Pokemon. “You said your name.”

Pidgey pecked forward and squirmed a bit as she puffed up her feathers.

“Great job Pidgey.”

“Pidge.”

The group were quick with their congratulations and it went to Pidgey’s head. She left David behind and started to go around the group on a tour. She stopped before each individual, puffed herself up, said her name and waited for the incoming praise. Everyone found it hilarious. Mostly. David found it both hilarious and embarrassing.

“David, you have a moment?”

“Huh?” David turned away from Pidgey to see Danny with a grin on her face. He sighed. “Sure. I don’t think Pidgey is going to stop anytime soon. How’s Bulbasaur?”

Danny pursed her lips. “She’s fine. A bit of time in the park under the sun and some food and she’ll be right as rain.” She patted the pokeball on her waist. “I wanted to ask for some tips with custom commands. How did you train Pidgey to respond to ‘Launch’ and ‘Cannon’?“

“Train her?” David asked, a little confused.

“Yes,” Danny huffed. “I’ve spent the last week trying to get Bulbasaur to use P-Razor Leaf with another word but nothing works! Nothing. I’ve tried repeating commands, visualisation, calling it out as she uses the move, using treats, everything.”

“Uh..” David racked his brain. Was it difficult to change the word for a Move? It didn’t seem common, sure, few other trainers that he fought had used different commands but he hadn’t really thought about it much. “I just use the commands while we train the moves and they just.. work?”

Danny stared at him dumbfounded. She blinked slowly. “They just work? No visualisation, no special method?”

“Yeah,” David said slowly. What was he missing here? “I start saying it when we have a move nearly ready.”

Danny shook her head. “I don’t understand, there’s no mental component? How does Pidgey know what to do?”

“Well she hears it,” David replied. That was the obvious bit wasn’t it?

Danny’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened and closed once. Then again. It took a few seconds for her to gather herself.

“David, you- you know that it's not the words that Pokemon obey right?”

David’s response was equally as articulate. “Wha?”

Danny’s stare turned incredulous. “How did you think water battles worked? Wait, never mind that. Stadium battles! How do you think the Pokemon heard across the entire stadium? Or-” She turned quickly and gestured at Martin and Tulia. Her face was a little desperate now. “Oddish? Bellsprout? Geodude? Diglett? Nearly every water type?”

“What about them?” David asked quietly, already wincing and dreading the response.

“They. Don’t. Have. Ears.” Horror fully dawning on Danny’s face now.

“Oh.”

Well shit. David looked around the stands to confirm and yes, on the pitch one over there was a Bellsprout with a definite lack of any kind of hearing organ on its cannon shaped head.

How had he missed this? How did he explain this?

“I guess I never really thought about it?”

The colour began to leech from Danny’s face. “Never really thought. About the bond. Between a Pokemon and its trainer?” She let out a small whimper. Without another word and with a haunted look, she walked away.

David watched her go, fighting the urge to facepalm. Why had he never thought about it? He had so many other questions about Pokemon biology. He had all those leaflets. Leaflets with sections about Pokemon biology. Why had he never looked at any of the biology sections other than the Flying type?

If Pidgey didn’t listen to his words, how did she know what he was saying? Visualisation? Was there a mental component to the orders? Were they linked somehow? Was it a psychic thing?

“Piiii-dgey!”

David glanced down and with slumped shoulders, crouched down and gave Pidgey a pat on the head.

“Great job Pidgey.”

-.-

Pidgey continued to call out her name as the training battles went on, going as far as to pause mid fight to do so. She avoided being recalled during the waits, hopping back and forth between the humans and calling her name instead.

David was worried it would become a habit but she was so happy he couldn’t bring himself to ask her to stop. He committed to letting her wear herself out, a decision he regretted later that night. Pidgey continued to call out during dinner and the evening patrol. To Michael and Oliver it was an amusing distraction.

To David, as Pidgey refused to be recalled for the night and settled above the tent to sleep instead, it was a growing horror.