Pokémon Slate Gray

Season 2 - Episode 02: Soft Reset

Slate ran like his life depended on it, and maybe it did in some ways. Leaping over large tree roots, and ducking low branches, he wound his way through the wooded path as fast as he could, sweat dripping from his brow, his knees close to buckling. Gasping for breath and trying to ignore the stitch in his side, he spotted light ahead. The end was in sight.

Determined to reach his goal, Slate mustered up a final burst of speed, heading straight for the sunlight the green canopy overhead denied him. Upon crossing the wood's boundary, feeling the setting sun's warm rays on his skin as his eyes adjusted, he spotted Eevee and Cryote waiting for him in the grassy clearing, sitting atop a large boulder.

Slate smiled. Well, that was what he was going for, but he suspected his expression had been more of a grimace. In return, the two Pokémon let out barks and yips of encouragement. As soon as he reached the rock, his legs gave way. He collapsed onto his stomach, rolled over, and immediately reached for his Pokédex, which as usual, he had placed at the foot of the rock, beside his bag.

"Yes!" Slate cheered between laborious breaths as he tapped the stopwatch app, "Made it! And — with ten — seconds — to spare!"

The two Pokémon bounded down from the rock and licked Slate's face in celebration. They were also breathing hard.

"Looks like — you guys — beat your best times — by a good amount — too! Good job!" he expelled happily, observing the first two timestamps and the paw print smudges on his device's screen. He scratched Eevee and Cryote behind the ears. "Our hard work's — paying off! I think — we're ready!"

Slate lay there on his back for a few minutes, staring up at the cloudless, blue sky as he caught his breath and waited for his heartbeat to slow. He listened peacefully to the nearby sounds of water slapping against Almony Island's cliff face and the panting breaths of his Pokémon partners. They had done it. They were getting faster, Slate included!

The small quadrupeds easily outran him through the wild terrain, but it only seemed fair that Slate trained alongside them, so he had devised a training regimen that they could all participate in. Every day from sunup to sundown, breaking only for lunch and to hydrate, he, Eevee, and Cryote went through a series of exercises to improve their accuracy, speed, power, and stamina.

This included target practice, evasion tests using balls, strength training with rocks, and running drills, culminating in a daily, timed sprint through Almony Woods. The island's eastern wilderness wasn't that vast an area, but it was a solitary one, and Slate mapped out an arduous route through it by marking trees with arrows drawn in chalk.

It had been a month since their first attempt, which had been an abject failure, especially for Slate, who had never taken Phys Ed all that seriously. Even Eevee, who had received some training in the past, couldn't manage the workout. However, Slate refused to give up, and the two Pokémon seemed to understand the importance of the activity, so they stuck it out too.

Since then, Eevee and Cryote had developed by leaps and bounds, and Slate felt fitter and stronger than ever. They weren't just completing his ambitious routine now; they were besting their daily records. Slate closed his eyes and reflected on how they had reached this point.

***

They had moved his mother into the Larches' apartment over two days. Just getting her there had taken a good chunk of the first day, seeing as how she would occasionally run away from Slate in a panic during the journey down to and across Marcona Village. Eevee and Cryote had fun chasing her down every few minutes. Slate did not.

Once they finally arrived, much to Slate's relief, he found that April had already departed. The professor informed him that she had left to meet her brother, August, as they had previously planned to do together, and that she would be gone for an indeterminate amount of time.