Descendant: Chapter 1; From Humble Beginnings
#1 of Descendant Series
<Author's Note>
Okay guys and gals, RozWolf is back in business. I'm trying to break out of a rut I've generated in my main story to bring you an all new adventure! Hopefully this gets me back on track while I ponder how to go about continuing Shifters. As usual, please, please, please review and comment. Cheers guys, hope you enjoy it.
Descendant: Chapter 1; From Humble Beginnings
Leif had been less than a year old when his parents had left him. He didn't know their names, where they had come from or where they had gone. Hell, he didn't even know if they were still alive or not. All he knew was that one blustery autumn morning sixteen years previous, he had been found on the front doorstep of the Solaceon Pokémon Centre wrapped in a thick shawl, and had been looked after ever since, by the elderly couple running the day care centre.
Geoff and Lisa had been as parents to him from an early age, and as he had grown up alongside the pokémon of the day care scarcely did he think of his birth parents or indeed, of anything past his schooling, and the pokémon of course.
Sinnoh's new age restriction on pokémon training had been a blow early on to his life's dream of travelling the world, pokémon by his side. The change had been abrupt; he'd had friends a year older who were already successful trainers, co-ordinators and breeders, and he could not help but feel left out. But the time had at last come to pass. Exactly sixteen years had passed since he had arrived in the vibrant town community, and now he would leave it on his "seventeenth" birthday.
For now though, there were the farewells. Solaceon was a small town, with even smaller year groups of two or three young people of any age, and as such individual celebrations could be held when and if a graduate decided to leave town to pursue adventure. Today, he would be celebrating his own departure, and a huge lunch-time banquet had been prepared, against his solitary nature but in keeping with the small town enthusiasm of Solaceon.
Walking down the main drag into the centre of the town for the last time was a strange feeling, he reflected, one of fulfilment, but also nervousness. His backpack was already fully laden with the necessary supplies he would need on his journey; the party would end in a send-off, after which he would collect his pokémon, bid his adoptive parents farewell, and depart for Hearthome City. There was only one problem. He had yet to choose a pokémon to begin his journey alongside. Every one of the pokémon at the day care he got along with, but none jumped out at him as a potential partner.
"Well, no sense worrying about it now" he muttered to himself. Come what may, he would be leaving this town in a few hours with a pokémon by his side.
At last Leif came to the centre of the town, and as he rounded the last corner a cacophony of noise erupted at the sight of him. A grin reached his face as familiar faces crowded around him, offering handshakes and clapping him on the back. The town wasn't large, but the turnout to see him off was staggering, the promise of good company and better food a tempting offer for the tightly knit community.
Weaving his way through the crowd, acknowledging congratulations and greetings from all angles, Leif eventually found his way to the head of the table where his foster parents had left him a seat of honour. As he sat down, Geoff leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Sixteen years ago, Lisa and I were entrusted with your safety. Sixteen long years, and now you're finally ready to find your own place in the world" his eyes moistened for a moment as he struggled with his emotions. "I'm proud of you kid".
Leif was also struggling. Sixteen years was a long time, and he had never been far from home in his life. Saying goodbye, even though he knew he would be back was the most difficult thing he's ever done. "Thanks Geoff" he replied lamely, unsure of the words to describe his appreciation to the man who had cared for him his entire life.
Lisa too leaned in, and kissing the top of his head added her piece. "All your life you've been a son to both of us, you know that? We're both so proud..."
A clamour at the opposite end of the table cut Lisa off, as a bellow of outrage sounded. Standing, Leif craned his neck to glimpse a white shape surrounded by townspeople. Pushing and shoving his way through the crowd, he finally reached the altercation. A large man Leif recognised by sight as a ranch-hand on a nearby farm stood, swearing profusely at a pokémon Leif had never seen before. It was snow white, with a grey face and tail, as well as a large scythe-like blade fixed to its head. In its mouth was a huge pecha berry, the centrepiece of the feast, which it was already eating, without taking its eyes off the large man.
As he examined the strange pokémon, Leif took note of its body shape, ribs visible through fur, and its desperate demeanour. As the man raised a foot to kick out at the thieving pokémon, Leif stepped between them. The ranch-hand balked, just managing to pull the kick back in time to prevent it from connecting.
"What on earth are you doing lad!?" the man asked loudly. "That greedy mutt's run off with the food!"
"Shame" said Leif softly, and the man stopped, taken aback. "Shame on you for condemning this poor pokémon, obviously starving and in a bad way!" he shook his head in disgust, turning back to the pokémon, which had resumed eating the berry, still tense and wary of the crowd surrounding it, preventing escape.
"Kid, that's an Absol, they're nothing but trouble" the man said, still fuming, more out of embarrassment now as frowns of disapproval began to appear on nearby faces. "Eh, what do I care" he grumbled, spitting on the ground and walking off through the crowd.
Leif fetched some food from the table, placing a selection of berries, fruits and other sweets on a tray, before approaching the pokémon he now knew to be an Absol. When he reached a couple of paces distance it growled softly, the now mostly-eaten pecha berry still grasped firmly in its mouth. Stopping, Leif placed the tray on the ground nearby, and took a few steps back.
The Absol finished its pecha berry, and still hungry, crept forward, eyes darting between the plate of food and Leif for any sign of deception. Apparently satisfied, the Absol descended on the plate of sweets, devouring the lot in a few short moments. Leif smiled, and was about to speak when with in a blur of white and grey, the pokémon was gone, vanishing into the long grass nearby.
The rest of the celebration went as planned, and despite the dramatic intermission to events, was enjoyable. But Leif's thoughts kept returning to the Absol and the look it had given him in the split second before it had left. Their eyes had met and a bond had been formed, he knew it, as unlikely as it sounded something had clicked. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts; he was probably just imagining things.
Soon enough, the time came for his to be gone. Geoff and Lisa joined him for the short walk to the Day Care Centre, where he would receive his first pokémon. About halfway down the road though Leif stopped, the back of his neck prickling. His foster parents carried on down the road a few steps before they realized that he wasn't walking alongside them.
"What is it Leif?" Geoff asked, frowning in apprehension. Leif shook his head remaining silent, staring at a patch of long grass to the side of the road.
A white blur leapt from the woodlands and landed in front of Leif. The Absol glared sharply at him, and he felt something click. Understanding dawned on him, and he quickly moved into a fighting crouch as the pokémon threw itself at him, claws extended and fangs bared. Lisa shrieked in horror as the Leif and the Absol dropped to the ground in a bloody scuffle.
The Absol of course, had the weapons that nature had provided it with, and it's claws raked across Leif's front, and teeth snapped in front of his face, but it was a purely physical onslaught, a sense of fair play established, that Leif was keen to exploit. Years of hard work at the Day Care and on neighbouring farms had leant to a lean muscular frame, and Leif gave as good as he got, fists swinging back and forth, even getting in a solid head-butt, which elicited a grunt of pain from his furry assailant.
The scuffle lasted for some time, neither party yielding, blood running in rivulets down Leif's body, the Absol feeling the bruises that instantly welled up with the punches and kicks that Leif delivered.
Finally, Leif's arm snaked around the Absol's throat, tightening and causing it to gasp for air. The Absol though, twisted, and latched hold of his opposite shoulder between its teeth, one snap would destroy his arm. They lay like that for a couple of seconds before an agreement was passed, and both surrendered their grip, rolling over to lie side by side, both gasping for air. Leif turned his head to look at Geoff, who stood, white as a sheet several metres away.
"Gerr e a ouwl" Leif spluttered, and miraculously was understood. Fumbling through his pack, Geoff picked out a pokéball and, walking over, placed it in his hand. Leif looked over at the Absol lying beside him. The pokémon nodded once in acknowledgement, and the deal was struck. Reaching over, Leif pressed the pokéball to the Absol's side and watched in fascination as red light enveloped it, before fading and disappearing into the ball. The pokéball gave a small, almost inaudible click and it was all over. Leif had a pokémon.
"Ooway!" he exclaimed proudly to two mortified guardians. "I aught a owkeyom!"