Destiny [Pokémon]

❥ chapter XV

The two Double Battles—the first one against May's Eevee and Alex's Pikachu, the second one against Kristie's Skitty and Lina's Nidoran♀—had gone surprisingly well. Your Pokémon and you had put up a good fight and ...

Oh, who were you kidding? For some mind-boggling reason you still couldn't completely grasp, you had won them both. Astounding, right?

You yourself didn't know how in the world you had managed to do that. You really had no clue. These had been your very first two battles. And they had been two-on-two ones—which were far more difficult to fight than normal ones, mind you—against your friends, who had already gained experience in Pokémon battles, on top of that! But despite all this, you had scored a victory both times—somehow. (You were still amazed by that.)

Alright, to be fair, you had only just scraped these two victories. The first battle had been an uphill one from the start, and it had already been rather difficult for you to win because your Ralts's Fairy- and Psychic-type moves weren't effective against Alex's and May's Pokémon. In other words, it had been evenly matched. But compared to the next battle, this one had been a piece of cake.

The next battle had been a close call. A really, really close call. After all, Ralts, being the secondary Fairy-type Pokémon that they were, were weak to Poison-type moves—which Azula had used, amongst others. Luckily, that was also the case the other way around: Lina's Nidoran♀ was weak to Raleia's and Rineis's Psychic-type moves, and you had played on that, of course. Just like Lina had taken advantage of your Feeling Pokémon's weakness along with Kristie.

Well, anyways, to cut a long story short, you had been victorious in both Double Battles against your four best friends (somehow—seriously, how in the name of Arceus had you accomplished that?!), and despite of the individual outcome, it had been lots of fun for everyone, including your Pokémon.

After you had used your special herbal medicine mixture (whose ingredients your friends had adamantly insisted on refunding you for) to patch up yours and your friends' Pokémon again, the five of you had, as previously agreed upon, begun to train with your Pokémon along the gravel path and in Lucus Grove, the latter of which you were currently at. Now that you had proven that you were indeed able to fend for yourself in Pokémon battles, your friends and you had split up. This way, everyone could train and fight on their own, and you avoided inadvertently scaring off wild Pokémon you could battle against and maybe even catch.

You could still hear one your friends running about somewhere nearby, though. Twigs snapped beneath her feet and leaves rustled as she ploughed her way not-so-quietly through a clump of shrubs with her Pokémon in tow ... That was probably Alex. You yourself were doing just that as well (not as loudly as her, of course), roaming the grove in search of wild Pokémon or maybe even another Trainer you could challenge to a Pokémon battle, the shiny Ralts siblings close at heel.

It was early afternoon now. The great canopy of overlapping branches filtered the sun's bright rays, speckling the leaves and forest floor beneath you where the light sifted through. Birds and similar Pokémon were chirping in the treetops and bushes. You saw smaller forest animals and Pokémon alike scurrying away here and there, scattering in all directions as you passed their hiding spots and unintentionally flushed them out. But you didn't run after the Pokémon. They obviously weren't hostile, and that was exactly why you wouldn't force them into a battle.

You had firmly resolved that you would never go around engaging every Pokémon you came across into a battle, that you would only battle those who were willing to—or defend yourself against hostile ones if you really had no other choice.

It was then that a nearby bush rustled, immediately catching your attention, and you froze in your tracks. As you stood there, stock-still, widened eyes fixated on the bush beneath one of the many trees amongst the leaf-covered ground with patches of grass and moss here and there, you expected something—a wild Pokémon at best and an ordinary animal at worst—to come leaping out of it and maybe even attack you (in case of the Pokémon).

But either failed to appear. In fact, nothing at all happened. Whatever creature was in that bush, it had abruptly stopped moving the second you had yanked your head to look at its hiding spot, and consequently, the rustling had stopped as well. Everything fell silent again—apart from the typical forest sounds.

You narrowed your eyes at what you assumed (or rather hoped) was the hiding place of a wild Pokémon. It still had to be in there. You had neither seen nor heard something run away.

"There really is something hiding inside that bush." Raleia's voice pulled you out of your thoughts. She was standing in front of you in an almost protective manner, as if she was willing to defend you from whatever could jump at you. Her horns gave off a soft glow as she stared at the bush. "I can't make out what it is, though."

Rineis was mirroring his sister's actions, looking fixedly at the supposed hiding spot while his two horns shone dimly as well. "I d-don't sense any h-hostility coming f-from it, s-so we should b-be fine."

"Well, if that's the case ..." Without further ado, you dropped down to a kneeling position to make yourself smaller and show whatever creature was hiding in that bush that you weren't a threat. "Hey there, cutie pie," you softly called, extending your hand towards the bush and clicking your tongue. "C'mere. I won't hurt you."

Expectation: If you were lucky and it really was a Pokémon, then it was bound to react to your words one way or another, either by complying or answering you directly. And if it was a wild, forest-dwelling animal, like a hare or a weasel or maybe even a fox, it would most likely not hesitate to flee. That was fine too. You were currently searching for Pokémon and not ordinary animals anyway.

Reality: Contrary to your expectations, nothing happened. Again. Neither did the creature respond nor did it come out of the bush to approach you or make a run for it. Actually, nothing indicated that the shrub was harbouring a living being at all. It was completely still. Not even its leaves were moving in the slightest.

Was the creature still in there or had it managed to take off unnoticed? You directed this question at the two Feeling Pokémon who had been watching the bush intently for any signs of movement just like you. Now, at your enquiry, both their horns gave a faint glimmer that faded a moment later—but only in Rineis's case, whereas his sister kept up her focus as she continued to stare at the bush.

"I-It's still i-in there," Rineis informed you quietly.

"It's agitated," Raleia chimed in. "Very agitated, actually. I guess because you spotted it. But there's still no hostility whatsoever."

The way the two of them were looking at you told you that they wanted to know what you planned on doing next. But just as you were about to tell them that you wanted to try and approach the creature, in the hopes that it was a Pokémon you could befriend so that it might allow you to catch it and make it part of your team, your ears picked up the rustle of leaves.

In almost comical synchrony, your two Pokémon and you yanked your heads in the direction the telltale sound had come from, only to see a dark figure, about the size of a small dog, emerge from its hiding place and start running.

You didn't make a move to pursue the creature. Still kneeling on the ground, you stayed put and watched, albeit a tad wistfully, as it flitted across the forest floor, whirling up dead leaves. It had chosen to flee from you, so you wouldn't try and run after it. The only thing you would achieve with that was that you would most likely send it into a panic.

You wouldn't be able to catch up with the Pokémon/animal anyway. It was moving way too fast for that, and furthermore, it was already too far away, both of which were the reason why you couldn't make out what it was in the first place. Though you would have at least liked to know if it had actually been a Pokémon or just an ordinary, wild forest animal ...