Categories > Games > Pokemon > The Spirit of Alola - Book 2
I awoke slowly to a dim light shining above me. All around, gentle sounds of slumber could be heard. It was still early, the rays of sunshine coming through the skylight on the roof, still struggling to ward off the night. A pink-orange glow laid about the house, casting its color upon the sleeping forms of the people within.
Beside me, the curdle-up body of me daughter lay, still wrapped snuggly in her own world of dreams. The child was peaceful, almost angelic in her slumber and I couldn't bring myself to look away. It’d been a rough year, for Himiko and I, so moments of quiet like this could sometimes be rare.
The floor beneath me was hard and uncomfortable though, despite the mat the white-haired Professor had provided the night before, and I found it increasingly difficult to stay still. Taking care not to wake my toddler, I extracted myself from the covers and rose slowly to my feet.
The room, though brightening with the sun, still cast shadows too deep to make out the forms, but to my relief, the movement hadn’t seemed to disturb anyone. With one last glance, to be sure Himiko continued to sleep, I crept to the front door, pulled it open, and slipped out, gently closing it behind me. I took a short jog down to the beach, hoping to be allowed some time alone.
The air was crisp and the breeze blowing off the sea had only just begun warming. To the East, the sun was still struggling to clear the tops of Hau’oli City. The site pulled my mind to my twin sister. Sashi loved early mornings, and a sunrise as clear as this one would certainly be a site she would have refused to miss. These thoughts grow dark swiftly, and I quickly tried to turn my mind to something else.
Maybe it’d be good to take this time to, um. I paused in thought, trying to come up with the proper word, “bond”, I finally decided, with the Pidgeot.
The green Pokeball was still on me, though I would have usually set it aside when going to bed. With an easy movement, I released the large bird Pokémon, then swiftly stuffed the capture device back into my pocket, remembering the disaster it had been yesterday.
“Alright, Pidgeot.” I started, speaking quickly to try and prevent the bird from becoming afraid once more. “You and I will need to work together. You’re a Pokémon, so you will do as I say.”
The bird groaned gently, head bowed in worry, flicking back and forth as it tried, once again, to return to the safety of its ball.
“No.” My voice was firm as I pushed the large brown head back. “I’m not letting you back in there until we’ve done some “training.”
It paused its searching at the word. Kai had used it often when speaking to it, so I was hoping it would take that as a positive. Though its confidence didn’t seem to return, it did stop twitching nervously.
“Use an attack,” I looked around, “in that direction.” I pointed towards the sea, away from the house. When it didn’t move, I continued. “Go on. Over there. I don’t care what move it is. Just do something.”
The Pidgeot clicked its beak a few times, ruffled its feathers with a nervous shake, then looked back to me. A movement of its eyes to a spot behind me alerted me to turn around finding, to my annoyance, that I was, all too quickly, no longer alone.
“I’m busy,” I tried calling, hoping to stop the shuffling form of Professor Burnet as the woman drew near. She either didn’t hear or refused to listen, as there came no pause in her approach. “Go away.” I growled. “You should be resting.” I added, noticing a look of weary exhaustion on her face.
She doesn’t look like she slept at all last night.
“I thought, maybe we could train together.” Burnet finally said, undeterred by my growing anger, pausing at the start of the sand on the beach. She held a red and white Pokeball in her hand, then lifted it up, so I could see it more clearly. “I have my Munchlax. What would you say to a battle?”
As badly as I wanted to be left alone, the idea of someone, who would have a far better time at knowing what to do for training, did make more sense. It was either that, or I could continue spouting commands to a Pokémon that clearly didn’t know what I was saying.
I took a deep breath, then resigned with a sigh, pushing out the simple word “Fine.”
Burnet released her Pokémon, a short-legged, somewhat rotund, dark-green creature. It was far smaller than the Pidgeot, and I felt a laugh bubbling in my stomach at the idea of the giant bird easily defeating the slow-looking thing.
The Pidgeot was fast. Very fast.
I squinted my eyes to hold back a chuckle, but a smile still escaped my lips. I looked at the bird, who merely stood by again, moving nervously.
“Munchlax, use Body Slam.”
With surprising speed, the green Pokémon took off from its spot at a dead run, though it was still a few heartbeats before it made contact with the Pokémon I was using.
“Move out of the way!” I tried yelling, but the attack landed before I could finish getting the words out, realizing too late that the bird had also been surprised by the swift movement.
Pidgeot took the hit in full force, getting thrown back and knocked off its feet. It slammed onto the ground heavily, and used its wings to push itself back up, but was then knocked promptly down once more.
“Pidgeot, do something! Tackle it back!” I tried to think hard about the moves Kai would called out when using the bird, but I realized with a sudden jolt that I couldn’t recall ever seeing it in battle before. “Come on! Attack back!” I hollered, the uncertainty rolling in my stomach making me frustrated.
“Munchlax, wait,” Burnet called, but the Pokémon didn’t listen, and instead continued to attack with the same move as if the thought of winning a battle was too exciting an idea to allow the opportunity to slip away. As well, it seemed the move was growing more powerful with each hit.
“Pidgeot, move! “ I tried once more. “You have wings. Fly! Go into the air and get out of reach!”
“Munchlax, return” the white-haired woman hollered, walking swiftly up to the ongoing battle. The red light engulfed it but broke off with a distinctive snap, the Pokémon barely seeming to notice.
“Burnet, what are you doing? We’re in the middle of a battle.” Fury rose in me that she, who suggested this in the first place, would try to end it before Pidgeot even got a chance to attack.
“Recall Pidgeot. This battle is one-sided. I don’t think it’s going to even try fighting back.” Burnet said, sounding frustrated and worried. She tried pulling Munchlax in with the ball a couple more times but still, it ignored her commands.
“No! It just needs to get its head in the battle, that’s all. Give Pidgeot a moment, and it’ll figure out what to do.”
“Anya,” now the woman sounded exasperated.
“Meganium, use Sleep Powder on Munchlax.” A new voice called from the direction of the house. A large light-green Pokémon with a long neck and pink petals around it jumped down the small rock wall, skidded to a halt in front of Pidgeot, and released a cloud of spores. It struck the Munchlax, almost like a wall and the attacking Pokémon fell to its stomach mid-jump.
Beside me, the curdle-up body of me daughter lay, still wrapped snuggly in her own world of dreams. The child was peaceful, almost angelic in her slumber and I couldn't bring myself to look away. It’d been a rough year, for Himiko and I, so moments of quiet like this could sometimes be rare.
The floor beneath me was hard and uncomfortable though, despite the mat the white-haired Professor had provided the night before, and I found it increasingly difficult to stay still. Taking care not to wake my toddler, I extracted myself from the covers and rose slowly to my feet.
The room, though brightening with the sun, still cast shadows too deep to make out the forms, but to my relief, the movement hadn’t seemed to disturb anyone. With one last glance, to be sure Himiko continued to sleep, I crept to the front door, pulled it open, and slipped out, gently closing it behind me. I took a short jog down to the beach, hoping to be allowed some time alone.
The air was crisp and the breeze blowing off the sea had only just begun warming. To the East, the sun was still struggling to clear the tops of Hau’oli City. The site pulled my mind to my twin sister. Sashi loved early mornings, and a sunrise as clear as this one would certainly be a site she would have refused to miss. These thoughts grow dark swiftly, and I quickly tried to turn my mind to something else.
Maybe it’d be good to take this time to, um. I paused in thought, trying to come up with the proper word, “bond”, I finally decided, with the Pidgeot.
The green Pokeball was still on me, though I would have usually set it aside when going to bed. With an easy movement, I released the large bird Pokémon, then swiftly stuffed the capture device back into my pocket, remembering the disaster it had been yesterday.
“Alright, Pidgeot.” I started, speaking quickly to try and prevent the bird from becoming afraid once more. “You and I will need to work together. You’re a Pokémon, so you will do as I say.”
The bird groaned gently, head bowed in worry, flicking back and forth as it tried, once again, to return to the safety of its ball.
“No.” My voice was firm as I pushed the large brown head back. “I’m not letting you back in there until we’ve done some “training.”
It paused its searching at the word. Kai had used it often when speaking to it, so I was hoping it would take that as a positive. Though its confidence didn’t seem to return, it did stop twitching nervously.
“Use an attack,” I looked around, “in that direction.” I pointed towards the sea, away from the house. When it didn’t move, I continued. “Go on. Over there. I don’t care what move it is. Just do something.”
The Pidgeot clicked its beak a few times, ruffled its feathers with a nervous shake, then looked back to me. A movement of its eyes to a spot behind me alerted me to turn around finding, to my annoyance, that I was, all too quickly, no longer alone.
“I’m busy,” I tried calling, hoping to stop the shuffling form of Professor Burnet as the woman drew near. She either didn’t hear or refused to listen, as there came no pause in her approach. “Go away.” I growled. “You should be resting.” I added, noticing a look of weary exhaustion on her face.
She doesn’t look like she slept at all last night.
“I thought, maybe we could train together.” Burnet finally said, undeterred by my growing anger, pausing at the start of the sand on the beach. She held a red and white Pokeball in her hand, then lifted it up, so I could see it more clearly. “I have my Munchlax. What would you say to a battle?”
As badly as I wanted to be left alone, the idea of someone, who would have a far better time at knowing what to do for training, did make more sense. It was either that, or I could continue spouting commands to a Pokémon that clearly didn’t know what I was saying.
I took a deep breath, then resigned with a sigh, pushing out the simple word “Fine.”
Burnet released her Pokémon, a short-legged, somewhat rotund, dark-green creature. It was far smaller than the Pidgeot, and I felt a laugh bubbling in my stomach at the idea of the giant bird easily defeating the slow-looking thing.
The Pidgeot was fast. Very fast.
I squinted my eyes to hold back a chuckle, but a smile still escaped my lips. I looked at the bird, who merely stood by again, moving nervously.
“Munchlax, use Body Slam.”
With surprising speed, the green Pokémon took off from its spot at a dead run, though it was still a few heartbeats before it made contact with the Pokémon I was using.
“Move out of the way!” I tried yelling, but the attack landed before I could finish getting the words out, realizing too late that the bird had also been surprised by the swift movement.
Pidgeot took the hit in full force, getting thrown back and knocked off its feet. It slammed onto the ground heavily, and used its wings to push itself back up, but was then knocked promptly down once more.
“Pidgeot, do something! Tackle it back!” I tried to think hard about the moves Kai would called out when using the bird, but I realized with a sudden jolt that I couldn’t recall ever seeing it in battle before. “Come on! Attack back!” I hollered, the uncertainty rolling in my stomach making me frustrated.
“Munchlax, wait,” Burnet called, but the Pokémon didn’t listen, and instead continued to attack with the same move as if the thought of winning a battle was too exciting an idea to allow the opportunity to slip away. As well, it seemed the move was growing more powerful with each hit.
“Pidgeot, move! “ I tried once more. “You have wings. Fly! Go into the air and get out of reach!”
“Munchlax, return” the white-haired woman hollered, walking swiftly up to the ongoing battle. The red light engulfed it but broke off with a distinctive snap, the Pokémon barely seeming to notice.
“Burnet, what are you doing? We’re in the middle of a battle.” Fury rose in me that she, who suggested this in the first place, would try to end it before Pidgeot even got a chance to attack.
“Recall Pidgeot. This battle is one-sided. I don’t think it’s going to even try fighting back.” Burnet said, sounding frustrated and worried. She tried pulling Munchlax in with the ball a couple more times but still, it ignored her commands.
“No! It just needs to get its head in the battle, that’s all. Give Pidgeot a moment, and it’ll figure out what to do.”
“Anya,” now the woman sounded exasperated.
“Meganium, use Sleep Powder on Munchlax.” A new voice called from the direction of the house. A large light-green Pokémon with a long neck and pink petals around it jumped down the small rock wall, skidded to a halt in front of Pidgeot, and released a cloud of spores. It struck the Munchlax, almost like a wall and the attacking Pokémon fell to its stomach mid-jump.
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