Desolate [Pokémon Arven x Protagonist]

The Second Titan

Koraidon dashed off and I bounced in rhythm, now completely used to his running pattern. Doing so softened the blow on my own body and would help me not feel as sore in the long run. I had never been outside the south province. I felt this sudden titan path was good for me. I was too old to not have explored my home island yet, and I finally had a reason to. Additionally, a Pokémon team of my own to defend myself with for the rest of my life was something much needed. Some Pokémon were unfriendly and some were pretty brutal or territorial, attacking anyone they saw. If there were giant titan Pokémon now, there was no reason to believe I wouldn't run into a strong, rampaging Pokémon in the future.

We reached Contondo and passed through its streets. Palm trees flashed by and I identified the outdoor gym challenge that was bug themed, web designed fences surrounding the area. I also glimpsed the bug-type gym. I knew Nemona would be fighting there someday, perhaps even right now. I hadn't texted her to ask what she was up to today, and the weekend was a perfect time to take out the gyms. It was a very dry-terrain oriented town, but soon, the bronze-colored grass faded into a rich green hue as we entered the west province. I had seen the map of the island many times. The west province was a very lush area with rivers rolling down from the vast Cassaroya Lake in the colder north province. It also had a lot more variety in terrain height. The hills grew more and more dramatic the further we went on.

I saw Arven painstakingly marching up a tall hill. He had walked all the way over here from the academy. We strolled over alongside him. "Need a ride?" Arven jumped, not having heard Koraidon's thumping feet somehow. He looked at us, bewildered, not expecting me to be riding the Pokémon like an equine.

His surprise soon faded, however, and fell into a stern glare. "No."

I frowned and dropped myself to the ground to follow him at his own level, though he was a bit taller than I was. I tried to focus on what was on top of the hill. It seemed to be some sort of large rock. "Is the bombirdier titan up there?"

Arven continued watching his own footsteps, not turning to me. "Why do you think I'm walking up there?" I could hear panting in his breaths. Feeling perfectly fine and energized, I chose to start quiet, knowing Arven's lungs and limbs were probably burning hotter than the body of an angry coalossal. When we reached the sandy top of the hill, Arven let out a long sigh before standing up tall once again. I scanned the area. The rock I had seen earlier was yet another cave though the entrance was blocked by stone debris that would be impossible to move on our own. Otherwise, there wasn't any titan to be seen. I had a feeling Arven wouldn't like me pointing out the obvious, so I, instead, flashed him a confused look. He wasn't looking at me. He was fixed on something in the sky. I followed his vision and saw a white bird circling above. It was decently far away, but it looked huge already. "It's coming down," he pointed out. "Get ready." He took out one of his Pokéballs but didn't release it yet. Koraidon hid away, and I found Rockruff's ball.

We began to back up as the Open-Sky Titan lowered itself into the ground to protect its territory. Touching the ground, it whipped its head back and forth to look at us both with its slim, angry eyes and let out a piercing coo. "Now!" Arven shouted, throwing out a nacli. I flinched and stumbled my own fingers, not having expected the sudden jump into battle. Arven, already ahead of me, ordered a Smack Down, a super effective rock-type move. The bombirdier recognized it was in a lot of trouble. I felt empowered. The titans were enormous, but their strength didn't seem to increase too much along with their size.

"Rockruff, Rock Throw!" I wasn't certain about the rockruff's level after our training, but I knew he was at least in the twenties. Rockruff slammed the ground, conjuring rigid stones, and launched them at the flying-type Pokémon's wings. The titan screeched as the rocks tore at its feathers. It panicked and scampered past us towards the blocked cave. It spun around and evoked a sharp, concentrated gust of wind that shredded the boulders blocking the cave to pieces, likely to try to get to the special spices inside.

Arven seized the moment before the Titan got to the previous herbs. "Headbutt, Nacli!" The rocky Pokémon threw its entire body at the titan's back and it reeled, tangling its legs in an overwhelmed wreck, but it still had fight left.

One more move, I predicted. "Rockruff, quickly, Bite!" The puppy Pokémon ran forward and latched himself onto the bombirdier's leg. The titan tripped over itself in a frustrated squawk. I knew we won as it thrashed around in the sand. "Let it go." Rockruff obeyed, and the titan pushed its body to its trembling feet with its wings and dashed away downhill, wings too much of a mess to fly away.

Arven crossed his arms. "Second titan down. Let's take the herbs and get out of here."

Rockruff began to glow and wagged his tail excitedly, barking at me to pay attention. "What's going on, boy?" I asked him. He grew brighter, and I had to shield my eyes. There was a shimmery noise as the light settled down in quick succession. I opened my eyes to see my Pokémon and instead, saw a lycanroc in its place. My rockruff had transformed into a pretty brown and white wolf-like creature with a huge, unbelievably fluffy mane around his neck. I couldn't resist hugging him. "You evolved!" Because of the time of day, my rockruff had evolved into its midday form.

I saw Arven crack a smile, but he forced it down, and disappeared into the cave quietly. My new Lycanroc returned to his back and I followed my schoolmate inside. He was already picking out the glowing, green plant.

"Same as last time?" I asked him over his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said, still focused on his own work. "I brought a fold-up table this time, and the table cloth's in my front pocket." I made my way over to his backpack against the wall, and surely enough, a flimsy folding table was attached to it. I unlatched it and opened it up with a snap, placing it down by some of the boulder debris that acted as seats. I went back to the bag and unzipped the first pocket. The folded cloth was sitting inside, neatly. I threw it out and let the air flutter it evenly spread before it rested on the top of the table. Arven slammed down a good amount of various ingredients beside me and began to organize everything out.

I went to leave him alone while he worked and walked outside to gather some flammables to kindle a campfire to set up a homely and relaxed atmosphere when we ate. I cobbled some branches and twigs together and set it ablaze on the opposite end of the cave, lighting the walls with a soft, orange glow. I smiled at my work, and saw Arven finally paying attention to what I had done. His expression had softened until he saw me noticing. "Here, it's done." He reached out an arm with a fresh sandwich in his hand and I skipped over to take it back to the toasty campfire.

I sat down and Koraidon forced himself out of his ball and excitedly snapped at my meal. Before I could pull back, he had his hungry jaws around it and horked it down. Arven saw the whole thing and squinted at the mysterious, reptilian Pokémon. "Well, good thing I made extra. You're helping me out a whole bunch with the hard stuff, so it's only fair." He handed me another sub, and glared at the koraidon. "I definitely, absolutely did not make extra for you." Koraidon made happy noises in return and padded off.

Arven knelt down beside me by the fire as I took my first bite of the bitter, yet pleasing sandwich. He rubbed the crook of his neck, awkwardly, and avoided eye contact with me in some sort of vulnerable shame. "I feel like I should tell you—"

Koraidon sniffed loudly on the other side of the cave and purred. Arven shot up onto his feet and pointed a furious finger at Koraidon who was sniffing Arven's sandwich portion of the bitter herb still left unsupervised on the table. "Don't you dare touch that!" He stomped over to the Pokémon, looking like he was about to slap his muzzle away. "That isn't for you!" He shook his fists in rage, fighting his urges and holding back on something.

I raised myself up slowly. "Arven..." I had never seen someone so upset. He looked so afraid and angry and sad all at the same time. "Are you okay?"