PokeWild

Fred and David left the stands with the crowd.

A few people remained in the stands to watch the cleanup or the next match but most joined the streams flooding out of the stand. As they left the stadium the crowds dispersed down side streets. Heading back to jobs and their normal routines.

“It’s just a shame Sharon finished with her Persian.” Fred grumbled and set his hands on his head. “It would have been nice to see a fighting victory at home.”

“I thought Crush meant fighting. Why did she have a Persian at all?” David asked. It was bugging him now that the excitement of the match was over.

“It’s her starter.” Fred said with a sigh. “We may have the dojo here but Fighting types are rare. Tyrogue’s cost an arm and a leg. Mankey are too risky to try catch for a new trainer. I was lucky Mom’s Machoke had an egg at the right time.”

David hummed in response. The league didn’t offer him any fighting types anyway.

“On that topic, I’m helping clean up at the dojo later. I’ll see you around for the matches.” Fred said his goodbyes and with a wave he was walking south.

David watched him go before turning north.

The sun was starting to lower in the sky but there was time for some work. The stands were in the east of the city and it was his first time in the area. This was a great opportunity to explore a new direction and berry hunting ground. Route 8.

As he walked out of the city he replayed the tournament battle in his mind. The Pokemon collapsed so quickly. The attacks were brutal and the Pokemon held nothing back in this ‘friendly’ match.

That Tentacruel’s shell had been cracked. How long would it take for it to recover?

And that Persian. The Azumarill that had been strong enough to fight a Mankey evolution was destroyed in one move.

Wait. David ran through those few moments again.

The Persian’s eyes had glowed. Had it used another move?

Ruthless though the battle was, it was calculated. There had been strategies. The purple water, likely poisoned, was a trap. The trainers had been guiding their Pokemon even if David was unable to hear them.

He pulled his backpack around and felt for the chilled metal Pokeball. Would Pidgey battle like those Pokemon?

Could he?

His match with Fred had been tame but when Pidgey smacked down into the dirt…

David passed another Abra sign and he was out of the city.

The league office for this route was a far cry from the small wooden booth on Route 7. Stone walls led up to wide eaves that provided shelter around the building. Like Route 7, a map and notice boards hung on the wall facing the path but David was hesitant to check these out. Judging by the smoke leaving the office’s chimney, the building was inhabited.

David peaked around the corners of the building to check if anyone was around before approaching. Reluctant though he was to meet another police officer or an ace like Warren, the idea of meeting them while breaking the route’s badge zone rules was worse.

Route 8 covered a lot more ground than Route 7. The main path was stone and winding through a valley to Lavender town. David was able to see the hills rising out from the trees from beside the office. He wouldn’t be hiking them today though. All elevated areas had a zone rating of two badges.

The reason for this was posted next to the map in bright violet. MANKEY TROOPS the title read. The notice went into more detail about the dangers during the mating season. Mankeys were not to be approached at this time of year due to their extremely aggressive behaviour. If you did run into a Mankey there were explicit guidelines.

Slowly crouch down and make yourself small.

Avoid eye contact and stay quiet.

Slowly and calmly move away.

The warning ended with a recommendation to keep a Pokemon out at all times on Route 8. It was one that David would be following. He would also be staying near the path. The Mankey evolution had brutalised the Poliwag evolution. He didn’t need berries that badly.

-.-

David waited until he had some trees between him and the office before releasing Pidgey in a bright flash. He was outside of the city but didn’t want to risk meeting a less understanding officer.

Pidgey appeared in a roosting position but sprung up quickly. She moved closer to David and quickly spun around to take in the area.

“We’re doing a berry hunt in a new area today, Pidgey. This is Route 8.”

Pidgey let out a light shrill and hopped closer to David again. They stepped off the path to the north and into the trees.

The trees on this route were a different variety to those on Route 7. Their trunks were narrow and shot off into the sky where they erupted into a wide array of branches. Branches that twisted together and tangled with those of other trees. The high canopy left the ground spacious with only glints of light shining down from above. Tall ferns broke up the leafy carpet and filled the open ground between trees.

Pidgey hopped along beside him but the gaps between trees were wide enough to try something else. After confirming it with Pidgey, they began a series of leap frog movements. David would lift her overhead and slowly turn to look for berries. At the end Pidgey would take off and fly through the trees while David jogged below.

They hadn’t spotted any berries yet but the technique kept them away from danger. During one spin, Pidgey let out a high pitch shrill. David stopped and a sliver of movement drew his eyes to a purple streak. When he made that purple streak out to be a lengthy Ekans, David fled with Pidgey still held above his head.

He wouldn’t have seen the Ekans by himself and Pidgey couldn’t from knee height. Only together were they able to spot the dark purple tones blending into the shadowed floor.

There had been no sign of any berry bushes when Pidgey broke out from the woods and back onto the winding stone path. It was a disheartening result after half an hour of walking but David found that he didn’t care. Exploring the new area and watching Pidgey fly was fun. Even this section of stone path was interesting.

Somewhere along the path the stone had changed from regular bricks to large flat slabs. It was the same kind of stone but with a more weathered appearance. Moss and weeds grew from cracks and encroached towards the centre of the slabs where footfall drove it back.

Pidgey chirped at David and he picked her up and moved back into the woods where they came out. Another 15 minutes and they would switch to the south side of the path.

A sharp intake of breath rang out as Pidgey flew onto the path again. David poked his head out to see Pidgey staring down a Nidorina with a trainer stepping back and holding up a pokeball.

“Sorry!” David called as he pushed some of the undergrowth out of the way and stepped out. “We’re just practising some flying. We didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Nini back.” The woman called before glowering at David. “Your Pidgey is lucky they didn’t get skewered. Now get them out of the way!”

Sheepishly David picked up Pidgey and stood to the side as the woman stomped past.

Pidgey let out a low squawk when she was put down, confused by the situation. David pursed his lips before replying.

“You gave her a fright when you appeared and she was annoyed. Like me when we saw that Ekans earlier.” David explained but Pidgey’s only response was to tilt her head. “Just be careful when approaching humans in future. We don’t want to get into a fight with a Nidorina.”

Pidgey let out a chirp and hopped towards the southern side of the path. David followed with a shrug. Hopefully some of that got across.

-.-

David spotted the berries first. As he and Pidgey continued their routine, he began to scan ahead for movement, trusting Pidgey to identify smaller details. This meant he saw the light navy diamonds hanging from the small pink bush first. He turned a little faster and pointed Pidgey at them.

She let out a chirp and lightly flapped her wings to push herself forward. David gave her a little push and she flew off.

David followed at a light jog, slipping his backpack off his shoulders. It had been a long search but they had found a payoff.

“What do you think they are Pidgey?”

A loud squawk answered him. Pidgey had her wings held high as he walked out from behind a tree. He followed her gaze to find.. another Pidgey.

It too had its wings spread which allowed David to make a comparison between the two.

The wild Pidgey was bigger. While his Pidgey was up to his shins, the wild Pidgey was up to his knees.

David backed away and behind his Pidgey. He looked towards the berry bush.

“We just want some of the berries. Only a few.” David spoke in a soft voice as he gestured towards the bush.

The wild Pidgey let out a screech and hopped forward with its wings flapping.

“Woah!” David shouted back, holding his hands out to the bird.

The wild Pidgey shied back.

Pidgey attacked. A heavy flap of her wings sent dust flying into David’s eyes as she flew forward.

“Pidgey!” David cursed as he shielded his eyes and tried to blink his vision clear.

When he could see again the two Pokemon were hopping around each other darting forward and back. He couldn’t tell which was which.

“Tackle!” David shouted. The Pidgey on the left hopped back and a beige haze started to form around them. A beige haze formed around the Pidgey on the right and it hopped forward. The birds collided with a sharp pop and both were sent back.

David sprinted at the bird on the right with his hands raised high.

“AARARARARARGHHG.”

The Pokemon, disorientated from the clash, hopped back and shot up in the air with a flap of its wings. It glided away from them.

David turned to see Pidgey righting herself and tilting her head at him. A bit of tension released from his shoulders and he dropped his arms to his side. He wasn’t able to tell which Pidgey was which mid clash but only his Pidgey would think that Tackle was defensive.

David picked four ripe berries from the bush. It was all that would fit in his bag and left two for the wild Pidgey. If it came back. He set off back into the woods until a low squawk turned him around.

Pidgey was sitting still behind him. As he turned she slowly raised her wings up and down.

David sighed and moved to pick her up.

‘This is going to be a thing isn’t it?’.

As the smoke from the league office came into sight David recalled Pidgey. It was a straight walk through Saffron to Route 7, the clearing and dinner.

-.-

After dinner was cleaned up and the tent was set up for the night, David turned to the resting Pidgey. He held his arms out to the sides and bounced them up and down.

“Training?”