Pokemons Gift Chapter 5: The Eternal City
Fog had settled in late last night giving the forest an eerie look. The normally alive and vibrant colors were now subdued and dull. The only warmth seemed to come from the smoldering fire. Shadow's floated in the distance from unknown sources. Terra watched them carefully, considering each one to be a threat to her trainer.
Terra had awakened an hour ago by an early rising Starly who had cried out at the morning sun. She was still sore from yesterday's exertion, and did her best to massage the sore areas but the shadows in the distance kept distracting her from the task. She wished that the sun would hurry up and burn through the fog so she could quit worrying about the shadows and relax.
-I feel filthy. - Terra thought as she looked over herself. Her fur was a mess, dirt seemed to cling to every square inch and in several places, it was matted with sweat. She scanned the forest and saw nothing. Deciding it was okay for her trainer to be alone for a few minutes, she walked over to the small stream and began to wash herself of the grime that had accumulated, taking great care with washing her feet and ears since those were her most sensitive areas. She smiled, enjoying the sight of the filth flowing away from her body.
-What if he sees me like this? - She blushed, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Terra looked back in the direction of her trainer. A faint glow of orange came from the fire but the thick fog obscured everything else. She relaxed; it would have been beyond embarrassed if he had seen her like this, soaked with her privates exposed since her fur refused to cover them when wet.
Finishing her little bath, Terra shook herself to get rid of the excess water and walked back to the camp. Setting up a small log in front of the fire for a makeshift chair, she sat down and grabbed the music player from her trainers pack, set the headphones in her ears, and let it play some of the music she adored. She sighed, enjoying the music flowing into her ears and the fire drying her all over.
"Good morning Terra." Ark yawned making her jump. "Sorry I startled you. Did you sleep okay?" He asked. Terra nodded as she took off the headphones and crossed her legs, hoping that her trainer didn't see anything. "I'm glad you did. I want to thank you for last night. You didn't have to bring me those leaves though I'm grateful you did." He brushed off a few leaves that were caught in his hair before looking back at her.
"Your fur looks nice today. Did you wash up while I was asleep?" Terra blushed at the compliment, and nodded slowly. "I wish I could handle that water like you can, but I'd probably catch a cold if I washed with it. Just another reason to get to Eterna city as soon as possible I guess." He pulled out the small, heavy package from his bag and carefully inspected it. "I wonder what this is. Maybe we'll find out when we give it to Adair, though with as much secrecy as my uncle used I doubt we will."
Terra nodded her agreement. Had she been born a psychic-type, she would have probably been able to identify what it was and maybe even tell him, depending on how strong her abilities could have been. Like many times before, she started wishing she were something different when a thought crossed her mind. Would she still be with him if she had she been different from what she was now, or would she still be with her original trainer? The latter changed her mind instantly. She'd rather be a Lopunny missing ear tufts with Ark, than something different without him.
"We'll head out as soon as we get some breakfast in us." He mentioned to Terra as he got the pot again and cooked up some more oatmeal, though this time there weren't any berries to help flavor it. She surprised him by grabbing one of the spoons and starting to eat.
"I guess we won't need another lesson on that." Ark said, pleased that she had remembered the lesson from last night. She even seemed to have greater control over it. "I'm going to have some more lessons for you tonight, provided we get to Eterna city today." He told her, and she cast him an exited look. "But right now we should focus on making this delivery." She nodded slowly, making sure that Ark knew she understood him.
They finished up quickly and packed up everything, dowsed the fire, and filled up the jug so they would have something to drink on the way there. Taking a deep breath they headed south through the fog, hoping it would clear up quickly.
Their travel was nerve racking, every noise from the foggy forest seemed to be unnaturally loud and made them jump. It was even worse since they couldn't tell what direction the noises came from. At one point Ark had to rest for a few minutes to soothe his frayed nerves. Despite their shaky pace, they made decent progress.
The fog cleared around midday, showing them how far they had gone. It was still several miles to Eterna city. During their journey something seemed odd; they hadn't fought a single Pokémon in all the time they had been walking.
Ark turned to Terra. "Something doesn't feel right." No sooner than he said that when an earsplitting screech erupted from overhead. He looked up and saw a massive grey Skarmory. "Uh oh." He whispered as the steel bird looked at them menacingly.
The Skarmory suddenly dived at Terra, seeing this Ark pushed her out of the way just before it swept past. Its wing clipped his pants, effectively shredding them. It raised itself into the air again and reoriented on them in an obvious attempt at another diving attack.
"We have to run!" Ark yelled. Terra nodded quickly just as eager to get away from it as he was. Looking back, he saw that the Skarmory was already beginning to start its second dive. It was about four yards away before a sudden, powerful blast of fire slammed into it. Heated air blew past them both, the sheer force of it nearly knocking them off their feet. A Torkoal that was smoking faintly showed itself, followed quickly by a female trainer and an Alakazam.
"Now finish it off with a psybeam Oliver!" She commanded. Her Alakazam obeyed her instantly conjuring a multicolored beam of psychic energy which slammed into the Skarmory with deadly precision. The Skarmory, hit by this attack after just recovering from the Torkoal's attack fainted.
"You okay?" Asked the trainer as she turned to Ark, concern showed on her face when she saw his shredded pants leg.
"Y-yeah, t-thank you." He finally managed to stutter.
"Good thing I heard that Skarmory. Looks like it would have had a nice lunch if I hadn't." The trainer said looking at Terra. "I'm guessing that Lopunny is yours?"
"Yes, her names Terra and mine's Ark."
"Ahh, I'm Rhiannon and my Torkoal's name is Jack. And this if you couldn't guess is Oliver." She pointed towards the Alakazam. "We're pleased to meet you. May I ask why you're out here?"
"We were heading to Eterna city when we got attacked by that Skarmory."
"Walking on the road less traveled so to speak?"
"I guess so, seemed like the way to head to get some real experience living as a trainer. Thank you again for helping us."
"I should be the one thanking you; it's not that often you find a Skarmory in Sinnoh." Rhiannon said as she pulled out a pure white Pokéball. She then tossed it at the Skarmory and captured it easily. "In fact I think I can be of assistance in your travel. If you want, I can have Oliver send you straight to Eterna."
"That would be wonderful." Ark replied.
"All right. Oliver could you teleport these two to Eterna city?" She asked. The Alakazam nodded, held out its arms, and bathed Ark and Terra with a deep indigo light.
"See you around." Was the last thing they heard before they found themselves in the middle of Eterna city. The city was bustling with people; each of them seemed to have somewhere to go and something to do. They ignored the sudden appearance of a trainer and his Pokémon, their minds filled with other worries. Ark tried talking to some of them to find out where the man called Adair lived each time however, he was ignored or told to go bother someone else. Someone finally told him where Adair was.
"Right next to the Pokémon gym, can't miss it." The man told him.
"Thank you." Ark replied, the man just shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
They weaved their way to Adair's house, knocked four times on the door, and patiently waited for a response. The door cracked open slightly and an eye fell on them.
"Who are you?" a gruff voice asked.
"I'm Ark; I'm looking for a man named Adair."
"Speaking, what do you want?"
Ark showed him the package and recited the words his uncle told him to use. The door flung open almost hitting Ark revealing a 40 year old man. Adair bowed with a beaming smile upon his face and took the package.
"I thank you Ark, you have no idea how happy I am to receive this, and day early too, just amazing. I'll send some funds straight to your trainer account as a nice bonus for the fast delivery. Thank you again." He started to close the door.
"What's a Trainer account?" Ark asked.
"You don't know? How long have you been a trainer?" Adair asked in genuine surprise.
"I only started two days ago, and I'm basically going off nothing."
"Well your trainer account is created as soon as you receive your trainer card. It handles any transactions of money courtesy of the Sinnoh national bank. Some examples are, buying something from a shop, winning a wager from a battle, or receiving payment from an odd job like this one. It shows a display of how much cash you have on the mid left corner. There are probably other things that I can't remember, but I'm sure if you can find another trainer they can help you. Thank you again for this delivery." Adair started to close the door "Oh and Ark, come by tomorrow I can answer some of your questions you have." Adair finished closing the door and left the two alone.
"It says I have about 10,000 yen" Ark muttered as he looked at the trainer card display, unsure if Adair had transferred them money already or if this was a gift from his uncle. "That's plenty for some supplies and the books I need for our lessons."
Terra smiled at him, wondering what lessons he had in mind, and eager to learn whatever he was willing to teach her. She felt something more than just her bond with Ark begin to grow, some feeling that she couldn't describe, something that she wanted more of.