PokeWild

“Are you sure you’re ready?”

David couldn’t hold back his grimace, or the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. Louis looked away, turning his focus back to the climbing equipment he was meant to be inspecting.

Above them Cloudburst sweated, laboriously climbing into the sky as fast as possible.

“No, but I’ve already signed up. And it fits my plans. It’s just...”

It hurt him to admit it, but Louis wasn’t asking to condemn, or to pressure. They’d had a conversation about the challenge earlier in the week. Louis hadn’t told him it would be easy, but he hadn’t tried to talk David down from it either, which he was taking as a good sign. There was a little concern on the ranger apprentice’s face, but it was overshadowed by contemplation and puzzlement.

“Still, tomorrow?” Louis asked, setting the harness and metal brackets aside. It wasn’t like he’d make much progress on it for the last five minutes anyway. He’d clearly been building up to talk about it again. “I thought you were planning on booking a few days from now?”

“I was,” He said, setting aside his own task - reading through the Silver League leaflets he owned again and again. ‘Beleaf in them’ for Bellsprout and Oddish, and ‘Down to Earth’ for Nidoran. He even read through ‘Sea for yourself’ earlier in case there would be a pool of water with a Tentacool in it tomorrow, or the short paragraphs held some other nugget of information about Poison types. “I even asked around, and everyone said they were booked for days. I thought I wouldn’t get a slot until Wednesday.”

“It’s always booked up,” Louis agreed. He tweaked one of the harness straps a little too hard. It wasn’t to test it, just to occupy his hands. “They don’t let people wait outside either. You book, you get a slot. No exceptions. So how?”

He groaned. “They had a cancellation right as I was booking in. I was talking times for Wednesday with the receptionist when one of his colleagues came over.”

“You have the rebook fee?”

That reminder made David grimace. In this world, gym challenges were like drugs. The first hit was always free, but the price rose after that, when they had you hooked. The price also increased with every badge, as you chased larger hits, stronger rushes. The fee to rebook your first challenge was 250P. The second, 500P. The third 1000P.

“I do.” He had 635P even. It was a very slim margin, especially given that he had to pay for Venonat’s mixed battle record. He shot Louis a smile. “Why? You think I’ll need it?”

“No! I... You said you were on a timeline that’s all. A month per badge isn’t... It’s not a record pace, but it’s not exactly a slow one either.” Unsure of what more to say, Louis abandoned his tugging and picked up the harness to resume his inspection again. Far above them, Cloudburst gave a tired chirp.

Rubbing his eyes, David packed his leaflets away. Louis had figured out his gym timeline from all their conversations, even if he didn’t understand David’s hurry. David was in no rush to explain. He leaned back and watched the small creamy brown bird Pokemon descend leisurely. She didn’t like his bird equivalent of hill sprints. To her, it was a lot of work, and it was only the progress she saw that made her treat them with reluctance and not disdain. If Louis wasn’t here, David was sure he’d be running sprints back and forth while she worked out. Cloudburst was not so willing to bargain or sulk when he was around.

As much as she hated the vertical climbs, she loved the flight down. Especially today when she could take her time. This was not a heavy training session. He’d only suggested this exercise to tire her and keep her occupied. Experience taught him that when she was on her sixth inspection hop around a clearing, he needed to find entertainment fast, or he would become it. This would be her last climb of the day though. He needed her to be fresh for tomorrow.

Cloudburst was only a small dot in the canvas of blue. With no sense of distance, she could nearly be mistaken as a normal size bird. She was gliding now, wings tired from all the effort of climbing, but enjoying flight too much to tuck them in and dive. As he watched she titled slightly, adjusting to some force unseen. It slowed her slightly and for a second she seemed to grow smaller in the sky. That only lasted a second however, and she plummeted down with a squawk of disappointment.

He snorted as she fought to save the flight after the falter. After several panicked flaps she was able to make another dozen laps around the clearing before finally touching down in front of him.

“Nice flying.”

Cloudburst preened her feathers without response, but she did puff herself up a little.

“That’ll be the last of training today-” Cloudburst let out a squawk he continued talking over. “-you need to rest for tomorrow.”

She turned and hopped away to continue preening.

“Tomorrow,” Louis muttered again, poking at the harness.

“Yeah,” David said dryly. He eyed the leaflets again, but his head was a little fried. “Anything I can do to help with those?”

-.-

“Has everything been well?” Marie asked, studiously not looking away from her newest project. It was a complex weave of a couple of different kinds of rope, most definitely not a centise, but nothing he recognized.

David shrugged. “No news from Fuchsia yet.”

Not that he was expecting news from the city itself, but it was easier to refer to the people running the city as the city itself rather than a ‘junta’. That had too many connotations for him to want to touch. His response wasn’t what Marie was asking, but for the last two days she had danced around the question she wanted to ask for ten minutes while he tried to figure out what she was getting at. Today he thought he’d save on everyone’s time. Given the polite frown he got, the attempt was not appreciated or was too blunt to be.

Still, Marie did not nitpick or correct him verbally, a sure sign that she was still feeling guilty about the pamphlets. A guilt that lingered as the small reward she had told him about failed to appear.

“I am sure it will arrive soon. I will take steps otherwise,” Marie said, stabbing her fingers through the woven rope with a little more force than necessary. “Now, I am sure I asked how your team, and you were doing.”

Perhaps not feeling guilty enough to let manners slide then. “Good. Alright. Venonat won two battles yesterday, but they were small things.”

The battles had reminded him of Celadon with how quick they were. It made him wish he’d found a training group here too. Then again, Venonat’s fights ended in one of two ways, and a victory was usually... quick in a way that wasn’t suitable for a training group. Bug Bite was strong. If Venonat was able to land a hit, it hurt and it hurt badly. Not one battle had lasted longer than two hits. Venonat would win, or type effectiveness would take him out before then. The battles weren’t as complex as Cloudbursts, and that worried him.

However, time was running out. They had eight days left. One for the challenge. Seven too many if everything went right. Far too few if anything went wrong. There was no such thing as too much training, but battles were limited. That was another downside to the speed of Venonat’s battles. He tended to inflict bad damage or take it himself. It made other trainers reluctant to commit their Pokemon, and him reluctant to risk serious injury with so little time left for recovery.

This was the compromise. One attempt, with enough time to try another. Still dealing with eggs, frail and easily broken, but in two baskets instead of just one. Louis had been puzzled by the expression when David used it to explain his reasoning. In this world eggs were incredibly tough. You couldn’t break them by accident.

“I’m not sure he’s ready.” David continued after a long pause. “Cloudburst on the other hand can’t wait.”

“You’ll be fine. Work with your Pokemon, and you’ll figure it out,” Marie said dismissively. “All stocked up on Antidotes?”

David did not glance down at her forearm, covered by the long sleeves of another elaborate dress. Marie did not take well to being nursed or looked after. He was also well within range to be whipped by cord, as he’d found out. The welt still stung.

“Yes, I have two full ones.”

Marie nodded. “When in doubt spray, drink and inject. You had best bring a bag of sand too in case you fight a Bellsprout or the like. Water for Oddish or Koffing.”

“A friend used to bring a bucket of sand, water and dirt to training. I think I remember the mix.” He wondered what Tulia was up to now.

“A nice catch-all for emergencies. It’s best to keep them all separate if you know what you’re doing-” She eyed David. “The gym will of course have specialists and their own supplies. They’ll let you know what to do. Still, always better to be prepared.”

David hummed, already considering the best way of carrying the sand. He had that paper bag he used to store berries in. “Know a good place to get sand in Fuchsia?”

-.-

Venonat squeaked again, making David twitch. It wasn’t a new sound, but the pitch always got to him. There was something about the noise. The panic it induced, like that of a fire alarm by your ear at two am. It also made his ears ring for a few seconds, especially when he was this close.

Finn was several meters away, and didn’t seem to be similarly affected. In fact, he was looking at David with amusement. “I don’t understand how you still jump.”

He made a face at the psychic and went back to combing. The Fuchsia library had several books about Venonat and its evolution, Venomoth. While few had useful tips about training the Pokemon, there was information about their care. Venonat used several different techniques to keep their fur clean. Their two small tan forelimbs and snout were for the delicate work, clawing out curls in the fur, or drawing them out with a single pincer. The longer two limbs they stood on had better reach, but were more from brushing work or to knock loose dirt. They did not, however, possess unlimited flexibility. They were unable to reach the fur on their back. When together in families or eclipses, Venonat would clean each other. Allogrooming it was called.

David didn’t have pincers or claws, but given his Venonat’s happy squeaks, a comb was a great alternative. The thick gloves he was meant to wear for the whole thing were awkward, but they were easy to find and cheap enough in Fuchsia.

“Any luck with the thing?” Finn asked cautiously, all humor gone.

David frowned as the comb met a particularly tough tangle of hair. Battling seemed to cause all these knots. And blood, and what passed for a Venonat’s sweat, was very awkward to get out. “The Psychic thing?” He asked absently.

Finn twitched himself, standing and scanning the empty training grounds before sitting down again and shooting a glare at David. “Yes!” He hissed. “And don’t say it out loud!”

“I thought you said you could tell if anyone was around?”

“I can,” Finn said, eyeing the surroundings nervously. “But Pokemon can hide from that if they’re strong enough.”

David gave him an odd look. “Why would anyone like that be out here?”

Finn rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, but more importantly I don’t know what they’d do. Knowing Fuchsia I’ll wake up in a vat of acid while you’d just be dumped at the border. Just answer the question- without making it obvious!”

Venonat trilled again, turning David’s snort into a cough.

“The ‘thing’ isn’t really going. You were very clear about what not to do-” Venonat training the ‘thing’ after using Bug Bite, or any Bug related Moves, or any training at all really. “- and very unclear about what to do. Given the timing...”

“What do you expect? An instruction manual?” Finn asked with a scoff. “You’re lucky I gave you any tips at all, and didn’t just punch you in the face.”

David winced at the reminder. “I didn’t think it would be a thing.”

“You didn’t think asking a Voyant to teach the- thing- in Fuchsia would be a thing?” Finn’s voice was arch, dry and a little amused. He was enjoying this. “It’s like asking the Fuchsia junta about their poisons, a Seafoam about their maps, a shrine maiden about their dead, a-”

“Alright, alright. It was a stupid question. I forgot you have that thing.” He also didn’t recognize two of those examples from anywhere.

Finn’s eyes and smile widened. “You forgot?”

“I’m low on time and the instructions are too vague.” David raised his voice as he forcibly changed the conversation. Venonat still had a lot of fur to work through.

Finn sniffed, but didn’t push it. The smile didn’t fall off his face though. “What did you expect? I can’t give away family secrets, and even if I could, you’re a blank-blind, I mean you-”

“I’m what?” David asked, bewildered.

“You’re- can we forget I said that?” Finn winced.

Not a chance. This was payback after Finn hounding him earlier. “Blank?”

Finn remained quiet, but David was happy to wait him out. When he finally spoke it was cautiously. “Blank. If you had the thing- any kind of the thing, you’d know.”

“How does that work? Surely there’s not nothing?” He waved his comb hand above his head. “The emotion thing wouldn’t work then.”

“Not that. If you- it’s like- there’s a... bump.”

“A what?” David said loudly with a laugh. “Have you been trying to ‘bump’ me? Do you go around bumping other people with the ‘thing’?”

“Ssssh” Finn hissed. “And don’t twist my words. You don’t know the term for it.”

“So you used bump?”

“Do you want me to talk or not?”

“Fine,” David snorted, but he wasn’t going to forget this anytime soon. “So I’m a blank. Like a muggle.”

There was a pause.

“What’s a muggle?”

“Hmm?” David asked, looking up from the pile of dirt the brushing had accumulated on the ground. The book was very clear about not touching it.

“A muggle? What is it?”

David’s eyes widened. Something that Finn didn’t miss. Well crap. That was another slip.

“Tell me.” It was not a question.

He made a face at the psychic. At least this one was easily explained - truthfully without revealing anything that is. “It’s a word from a story. In the story it’s what people without magic were called.”

“Magic? Like Fairies?” Finn's brow furrowed and his cheeks scrunched. Whatever answer he was expecting it wasn’t that.

“Yeah,” David said hesitantly.

“Muggles,” Finn repeated, tasting the word. “I think I like it.” He stood and faced the exit of the training grounds.

“MUGGLES!”

“Christ!” David swore, jumping at the sudden noise. Finn’s laughter didn’t help either. “Are you trying to wake the city?”

“Maybe,” Finn said, still laughing. “Muggles. You’re going to have to tell me this story.”

‘Oh crap’