Story Notes:
This story is effectively a serial, and will contain sex at various points.My last update was years ago. I hope I can get back into writing..
Just Water
Leo watched as Matt struggled with his water bottle. Having pulled the cap off with only his teeth, and squeezing firmly at the base with just his wrists, Matt yelped as a jet of water sprang up towards his face. He pulled his face back instinctively, the water gushing wastefully all over his arms, dripping and splattering loudly onto the grass beneath him. Undeterred, Matt continued to squeeze and shake at the bottle, splashes of water flying everywhere until his hands and the bottle itself were both completely drenched.
Unable to keep silent any longer, Leo finally raised his voice. "What in the world are you doing?"
Matt barely gave him a glance before returning his attention to the soaked, now near-empty bottle. "I'm trying to wash my hands without getting my bottle sticky. My fingers are covered in chocolate."
Leo's eyes narrowed, and he turned his head to the Pokemon gathered on the grass, munching noises still emanating from them. "Why don't you just ask Squirtle to rinse your hands for you?"
Jolting to a halt suddenly, Matt slowly peered down at the bottle in his hands, virtually all the water now wasted as it soaked into the soil at his feet. He rocked his head from side to side, shutting his eyes as he realised his own enormous oversight. "...Yeah, that probably would of made more sense..."
The gathered Pokemon, including his own, began to snigger loudly at him. Discarding the bottle and starting to collect up the spent poffin wrappers, Matt began to pack up his section the campsite, Leo again giving him a curious stare.
"You haven't let your Rattata or Pidgey out yet. Won't they go hungry if they don't have breakfast?"
Matt shrugged casually, still packing, splaying his small fireproof blanket across the fireplace to starve the remaining embers of air. "They'll be fine. Being inside their Poke Balls means they can last longer without food. And besides which, you haven't let your Rattata out either."
Arching his back up suddenly, Leo scratched at his nose. "Uh, yeah, well, he had a big meal at the Pokemon Centre last night. I figured he didn't need another." He stood up quickly, walking carefully backwards towards the trees at the edge of the clearing. "I'll be back in a second. Keep packing without me!"
Matt glared at him, raising his voice in annoyance as the younger trainer disappeared behind the trees. "Don't think you can get out of packing your own stuff! I'd sooner leave it here than pack it for you!" After several seconds of no reply, he sighed dejectedly, glancing down to see Bulbasaur, who was sneaking up to sit at the trainer's feet. The Pokemon met Matt's gaze, giving him a cute, wide-eyed smile, obviously trying to convince Matt to give him more chocolate. Matt felt himself weaken for a second as the huge eyes stared at him, but he finally waggled his finger at the Pokemon. "You've had enough junk food."
The Pokemon's smile immediately fell away, the stare becoming begging and pitiful. Matt's gut wrenched, and he immediately felt guilty, quickly continuing his sentence. "Umm..I might give you some more this afternoon if you're good...okay?"
Bulbasaur plodded back to the other Pokemon, grinning triumphantly about the group as he sat back down. Matt watched as the other Pokemon continued to chew the remainders of their meal, each of them with a different-coloured pile of poffin wrappers before them. It seemed that each of them preferred a different type of poffin, though none had yet been able to stomach one of the blue, bitter variety that Leo had choked on earlier. Matt gazed with a chuckle into the trees where Leo had vanished, but his smile faded as he glimpsed a flash of red light creep around the edge of the foliage. Becoming slightly concerned, Matt opened his mouth call out again. "..Hey, Leo, are you okay?"
To Matt's surprise, Leo instantly stepped back into view from behind the trees, moving back and sitting down on his sleeping bag as though nothing were out of the ordinary. "Absolutely, why?"
Matt stuttered, pointing towards the bushes. "Well, you..I just saw.." He noticed Leo staring quizzically at him, and he waved his hand dismissively. "You know what, forget it. I probably imagined it."
Shrugging and fiddling with his trainer belt, Leo finally and slowly began to pack his own things, tossing and shaking his sleeping bag about in an attempt to remove the leaves and dirt. "..I still think it'd be a good idea to give Rattata and Pidgey some food."
"They'll be fine for a couple of hours."
Leo wiped his eyes, sniffing at his hands and grinning as he realised that he too had traces of chocolate on his fingertips. He started shifting towards Squirtle, before pausing and frowning in thought. "Hey, wait, 'a couple of hours'? Why are we having lunch that early?"
"So that we can train during the 'real' lunchtime. Isn't that what you said you wanted?"
Leo shrugged, and Matt rolled his eyes, reaching down for the last item to put away, his water bottle. Blinking as it felt surprisingly heavy in his grip, he gave it a quick shake, realising that it was somehow full again. Glaring suspiciously around the clearing, his eyes fell on Squirtle, the Pokemon covering his face with his paws to conceal a large grin, tail bobbing excitedly. Matt shot him a strong look, wiping down the bottle and putting it back in his bag. "That had better just be water in there, Squirtle."
Shortly afterward, the group was on the move once again, trekking slowly through the dark undergrowth. Dratini noted that the trees seemed to get closer and closer together the further inside they went, until the sky was almost completely hidden by the thick covering of the leaves above. The sights and sounds of the growth felt distinctly alien to her, so much so that she found herself almost longing to be back in the sea.
Matt's Rattata crept silently beside Matt's feet, apparently also intimidated by the dancing shadows surrounding them. Leo's Pidgey and Spearow were back in their respective Poke Balls, following an argument over the ownership of a certain large Oran Berry they had found. As it turned out, neither received the pleasure of claiming it, with Leo now tossing the firm berry back and forth between his palms, squeezing and poking at it casually.
This appeared to quickly get on Matt's nerves, his eyes flicking to the berry every few seconds as his expression became progressively more aggravated. "Are you going to actually eat that, or just grope it all day long?"
Leo looked at him obliviously before staring down at the berry. He stretched his hand out to Matt, offering it to him. Matt continued to glare at him for a few seconds before accepting it, digging out his water bottle again and giving it a quick rinse. He turned his head the other way, giving another glare in Squirtle's direction and holding up the bottle indicatively. "Okay, seriously, this really is just water, right?"
Squirtle smirked and nodded, and Dratini watched Matt hesitantly take a bite into the side of the berry, only to immediately pull his head back, hand to his jaw.
"...I think I just realised why only Pokemon eat these things."
Leo began to laugh at him, and he sighed and span slowly on the spot, backpedalling as he offered the berry down to Dratini. Smiling up at him appreciatively, she took it from his palm into her mouth, feeling a pleasurable, glowing sensation on her tongue as the berry's juices spilled over it. Chewing loudly as she continued along, she glanced around, noticing that Bulbasaur seemed to be wincing slightly as he walked. Dratini immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry, did you want it?"
Bulbasaur looked up at her in apparent confusion, before noticing her moving jaw and shaking his head dismissively. Squirtle had now seemingly noticed Bulbasaur's limp as well, and the Seed Pokemon began to walk slightly slower, blushing from the stares he felt drilling into him.
"..Really, I'm fine." he said dully. "I'm just feeling..a bit sensitive today."
Both Dratini and Squirtle stared at him for a few more seconds before reluctantly facing forward again. Rattata and Pidgey were well ahead of them, the former still tense and jumpy as the bird Pokemon tried to encourage him to play. Rattata's tail soon began to twitch in fear as Pidgey's squawking stirred up rustling from within the undergrowth. The small quadruped ran quickly back to Matt, clinging his forepaws around his trainer's leg fearfully. Matt immediately stopped and looked down, meeting the small Pokemon's fright-filled gaze as it stared up at him. Matt finally sighed, unclipping Rattata's shrunken Poke Ball from his belt.
"You want to go back inside?" he asked slowly, and Rattata began to nod eagerly, tail twitching from side to side. Matt smiled sympathetically and enlarged the ball, and a thin beam of light flew from it to Rattata, who quickly disappeared back inside his virtual home. As the Poke Ball closed, Leo chuckled again. Matt gave him another glare in response, but the younger trainer ignored it, continuing to grin back at him idiotically.
Dratini suddenly felt a question come to mind as she focused on Rattata's Poke Ball, and she turned her head back to Bulbasaur again. "Hey, Bulbasaur, what does the inside of your Poke Ball look like?"
Bulbasaur jumped as he was addressed, blushing again and staring down at the ground as he limped after them. Dratini waited expectantly for him to answer, but after several seconds with no reply, Squirtle evidently decided to answer himself. "Mine's got a pair of ponds joined by a really tall waterfall, and when you jump off the higher one and hit the bottom, the water from it flows back underground and into a tunnel that leads back up to the top one again. So you never have to climb back up for another jump."
Dratini grinned approvingly as she imagined it, nodding approvingly. "Mine's just got a big clear lake and really long grass. It's pretty." Still smiling widely, she turned back to Bulbasaur again, still determined to get an answer out of him.
Once again feeling their expectant gazes on his forehead, Bulbasaur sighed and finally looked up. "Mine's...got my mother's grotto."
Dratini blinked, not understanding, while Squirtle tilted his head to the side, listening very intently. Stopping for a moment, Bulbasaur looked back and forth between the two of them before continuing on.
"Back before I came to the laboratory, I was raised at a camp by my mother and a couple of humans. My mother had a wonderful private grotto that we'd go to, along with my half-sister. We'd hang out there all day and play, swimming around, chewing on leaves, rolling around on the mossy rocks..." His voice trailed off as he stared into the distance, obviously reminiscing.
Dratini felt slightly embarrassed watching his blank expression. Not wishing to interrupt his thoughts, she turned back to Squirtle again, slithering slowly along as Matt and Leo continued slightly ahead of them. "So...Squirtle, were you raised in a camp like that too?"
Squirtle nodded. "All of us from the lab were. We were all born at the camps, and then sent to Professor Oak once we'd grown up a bit. Apparently that's how it always works, a human at the lab told me about the process once." He glanced at Bulbasaur before smiling back at Dratini. "My Poke Ball doesn't resemble my camp at all, though. So what about you? Where were you raised?"
Flicking her tailtip about hesitantly, Dratini tilted her head back and stared up at the thick leaves concealing the bright sunlight. "Just in the sea. I don't really remember much about my parents, I lost both of them years ago. I mostly just raised myself."
Squirtle's smile faded, and he held his paws to his chest awkwardly. "Oh. I'm sorry."
Dratini continued to stare into the air for a little while, before lowering her gaze to the ground. She tried her best to smile, not wanting to make Squirtle feel bad, but she couldn't help but feel a little empty as she thought about it. "It's okay. I've come to terms with it. And I wasn't alone the whole time, I met a Pokemon that helped cheer me up. He was almost like a new father to me."
Lowering his own head down, Squirtle tried to think of something appropriate to say. "..Do you miss him at all? That Pokemon?"
Dratini giggled, giving a small smile. "A little, but it's okay. I'm far happier being with you guys than I was in the ocean. It makes me glad that I decided to sail up that river that day."
"River?" asked Squirtle curiously, watching her as he walked.
"Yeah, I suppose nobody's mentioned it to you yet." Dratini chuckled louder. "It's a funny story, actually. Matt 'caught' me not too long ago on a fishing line, completely by accident." She grinned wider, trying to continue despite her laughter. "His face when he first saw me was hilarious, though it was a bit hard to appreciate it at the time. I was all panicked from being pulled out of the water." She kept laughing to herself loudly, causing Matt and Leo to glance down at her.
Squirtle grinned back, forcing a chuckle of his own and waving innocently to the trainers. "I'm not surprised. All's well that ends well, right?"
Dratini looked down the path ahead of her slowly, before shutting her eyes, her grin fading slowly. "Maybe. But I still prefer to think that the real adventure is only just beginning."
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Exuro opened his maw, another wide batch of sizzling embers bursting out from within. Glowing from their own intense heat, they arced high through the air before dropping swiftly downwards, scattering across the ground like a large, glowing minefield, surrounding the enemy Pinsir and cutting off its retreat. Harm watched as the larger Pokemon looked up at its trainer for guidance, gnashing its horns in frustration. The pudgy, gaudily-dressed teenager seemed suddenly panicked, stepping backwards as the air before him distorted from the heat. Appearing to crumble under the pressure, he threw his hands up dramatically.
"Alright, we surrender! You have defeated us!"
Harm continued to stare intensely at the teen, even as the Pinsir faded back into its Poke Ball. She finally broke her gaze away, exhaling loudly as she felt an incredible weight suddenly lift from her chest. Exuro also visibly relaxed, his shoulder slumping tiredly as the glowing embers amongst the grass faded to nothingness. He strode slowly back to his trainer slowly, lowering his head and leaning against her leg with an exhausted sigh.
The boisterous bug-catcher seemed relatively unfazed by his loss, inflating his chest and tossing his head back with a loud, annoying laugh. "Well, I guess that's another year! It's back to training for me. That's quite the Pokemon you've got there."
Harm glanced at him as she stroked her Pokemon's head. "Do you always challenge the new trainers from Pallet?"
"Always!" yelled the boy immediately. "We try to fight them all as they pass through the forest. While I have never won against them yet, I will continue training until I am an unstoppable force! Thus is my pledge as Samurai!"
Only barely listening, Harm instead began to focus intently on the occasional sounds coming from the surrounding trees. The clearing they had fought in was the only well-lit spot she had come upon all morning, the rest of the forest barely illuminated by the light peaking through the treetops.
After a long silence, she finally spoke, still staring into the trees. "..Have you seen any other trainers from Pallet today?"
Lowering his voice a little, the boy lowered his head. "No, but my Butterfree claims two trainers passed by yesterday, as night began to fall. I could show you to their trail, if you wish. I still intend to catch up with them to battle."
Harm grimaced, feeling surprisingly exhausted from the brief battle. Exuro hugged tightly at her leg, staring up at her with drooping eyelids, obviously feeling the same way.
"Umm...It sounds like a good plan, but I'd really like to rest first?"
Samurai nodded and started enthusiastically towards the tree-line, his voice growing loud again. "My cottage is this way! Come! Now!"
Harm sighed, dragging her feet slowly after him, resisting the urge to cover her ears as the boy continued to shout.
Leo found himself with a sudden desire to scream. For the fifth time, they had passed through a large clearing, and yet Matt still refused to stop for lunch. Leo had promised himself that he would keep his secret until then, but his desire to simply shout it out was slowly killing him.
A sudden cooing noise rose him from his thoughts, and he quickly disguised his frustrated expression. He turned his head to see Matt hand-feeding poffins to his Pidgey, curled up in his arms.
"Check it out," chuckled Matt. "He likes those blue ones that you were choking on."
Leo blinked as he watched the tiny bird peck at the deep blue poffin hovering over his head. 'Liked' was an understatement: The Pokemon would of been swallowing the poffins whole if Matt weren't feeding him slowly. Leo shrugged dismissively, turning his head back down to the grass in front of him. He started to feel tense and anxious again, grinding his teeth lightly in his impatience. Matt, however, seemed not to notice, simply continuing to feed the Pokemon in his arms.
After a short while, the grass began to light up again from sunlight, the gloom of the dense tree covering lifting. As they passed through the large clearing, Leo slowly looked up, daring to feel hopeful once again. To his pleasant surprise, Matt suddenly stopped by the flattened stump of a large, fallen tree, dropping his waist bag on it and relaxing his shoulders with a loud sigh. "Stop here for lunch, you reckon?"
Leo could barely contain his excitement as he nodded feverishly, grinning from ear to ear. Matt appeared to again not notice his enthusiasm, instead looking around at his Pokemon as they spread out comfortably across the wide, clear space. Dratini, in particular, began to beeline straight for an area of shade under a small tree nearby, Bulbasaur jumping about happily in the sun. Looking out above the tree-line, Leo could see a huge tree off in the distance, shimmering from the masses of Bug Pokemon assumedly in it. The dense trees surrounding the clearing would intermittently grow and fade in colour, as the shadows of the clouds above shifted to and fro over them.
After a short time, Leo finally spoke. "So, what's for lunch today? Something actually made for humans, I hope?"
Matt shrugged, fishing through his bag as he sat on the stump. "I was thinking we'd rest a little before we ate. How about just a nice, balanced meal? I have some chilled ham here...and it wouldn't be too hard to find some berries in a place like this."
"Sounds fine by me, but I'm not looking for them." Leo replied immediately. He yawned widely as he sat down on the large log next to the stump, his fingers twitching anxiously towards his belt as he continued staring out across the clearing. "So we'll train after that, right?"
Matt and Leo nodded in unison. An awkward silence fell across the clearing as Matt continued searching through his bag. The pair sat there quietly as their Pokemon gambolled about the clearing, Matt finally pulling out a small container of meat. Placing is next to him on the stump, Matt gave a small cough. "So...what is it you've been keeping a secret, anyway?"
Leo suddenly sat bolt upright, nearly collapsing off the log from his surprise. He gripped at a branch on it firmly, holding himself up, giving Matt a casual smile as he did his best to keep his voice straight. "W-what do you mean?"
Matt raised an eyebrow at him, dumping his bag off the stump. "You've been keeping something. You've been skittish and moody all day. What's bothering you?"
"Nothing's bothering me!" Leo replied quickly, rubbing his hands together. "In fact, I've been wanting to show you something special! I promised myself I would wait until now. So are you ready to see?"
"Sure!" Matt nodded, pausing for a moment before turning and waving his arm, beckoning his Pokemon to approach and watch as well.
Leo grinned wider as the group came closer, gathering close around him. Moving off the log and kneeling on the ground, he detached a Poke Ball gingerly from the left side of his belt. Exhaling loudly, he carefully enlarged the ball, glancing up at Matt again. "Ready?"
Matt nodded, the surrounding Pokemon shifting back slightly to create more room. Leo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and clicking the ball open. A dazzling burst of light immediately poured from it, beginning to form on the ground into a small, quadruped shape, Matt's eyes narrowing as the stream quickly took the form of a Rattata. As the glow faded, however, Matt suddenly recoiled backwards, letting out a gasp. Shocked sounds emanated from the surrounding gallery of Pokemon, stirring and shifting about as they examined the newcomer.
Matt felt his jaw hang slightly open as he stared at the Pokemon, its piercing gaze shifting from side to side as it studied the mass of eyes staring at it. Matt finally forced himself to swallow, a lump sliding down his throat as he softly forced his words out. "It's...white..?"
Leo smirked with satisfaction at Matt's stunned expression, giving a tiny, almost unnoticeable nod. "..It's albino."Chapter End Notes:If you liked the story, please review. Feedback is what encourages me to continue writing
Unable to keep silent any longer, Leo finally raised his voice. "What in the world are you doing?"
Matt barely gave him a glance before returning his attention to the soaked, now near-empty bottle. "I'm trying to wash my hands without getting my bottle sticky. My fingers are covered in chocolate."
Leo's eyes narrowed, and he turned his head to the Pokemon gathered on the grass, munching noises still emanating from them. "Why don't you just ask Squirtle to rinse your hands for you?"
Jolting to a halt suddenly, Matt slowly peered down at the bottle in his hands, virtually all the water now wasted as it soaked into the soil at his feet. He rocked his head from side to side, shutting his eyes as he realised his own enormous oversight. "...Yeah, that probably would of made more sense..."
The gathered Pokemon, including his own, began to snigger loudly at him. Discarding the bottle and starting to collect up the spent poffin wrappers, Matt began to pack up his section the campsite, Leo again giving him a curious stare.
"You haven't let your Rattata or Pidgey out yet. Won't they go hungry if they don't have breakfast?"
Matt shrugged casually, still packing, splaying his small fireproof blanket across the fireplace to starve the remaining embers of air. "They'll be fine. Being inside their Poke Balls means they can last longer without food. And besides which, you haven't let your Rattata out either."
Arching his back up suddenly, Leo scratched at his nose. "Uh, yeah, well, he had a big meal at the Pokemon Centre last night. I figured he didn't need another." He stood up quickly, walking carefully backwards towards the trees at the edge of the clearing. "I'll be back in a second. Keep packing without me!"
Matt glared at him, raising his voice in annoyance as the younger trainer disappeared behind the trees. "Don't think you can get out of packing your own stuff! I'd sooner leave it here than pack it for you!" After several seconds of no reply, he sighed dejectedly, glancing down to see Bulbasaur, who was sneaking up to sit at the trainer's feet. The Pokemon met Matt's gaze, giving him a cute, wide-eyed smile, obviously trying to convince Matt to give him more chocolate. Matt felt himself weaken for a second as the huge eyes stared at him, but he finally waggled his finger at the Pokemon. "You've had enough junk food."
The Pokemon's smile immediately fell away, the stare becoming begging and pitiful. Matt's gut wrenched, and he immediately felt guilty, quickly continuing his sentence. "Umm..I might give you some more this afternoon if you're good...okay?"
Bulbasaur plodded back to the other Pokemon, grinning triumphantly about the group as he sat back down. Matt watched as the other Pokemon continued to chew the remainders of their meal, each of them with a different-coloured pile of poffin wrappers before them. It seemed that each of them preferred a different type of poffin, though none had yet been able to stomach one of the blue, bitter variety that Leo had choked on earlier. Matt gazed with a chuckle into the trees where Leo had vanished, but his smile faded as he glimpsed a flash of red light creep around the edge of the foliage. Becoming slightly concerned, Matt opened his mouth call out again. "..Hey, Leo, are you okay?"
To Matt's surprise, Leo instantly stepped back into view from behind the trees, moving back and sitting down on his sleeping bag as though nothing were out of the ordinary. "Absolutely, why?"
Matt stuttered, pointing towards the bushes. "Well, you..I just saw.." He noticed Leo staring quizzically at him, and he waved his hand dismissively. "You know what, forget it. I probably imagined it."
Shrugging and fiddling with his trainer belt, Leo finally and slowly began to pack his own things, tossing and shaking his sleeping bag about in an attempt to remove the leaves and dirt. "..I still think it'd be a good idea to give Rattata and Pidgey some food."
"They'll be fine for a couple of hours."
Leo wiped his eyes, sniffing at his hands and grinning as he realised that he too had traces of chocolate on his fingertips. He started shifting towards Squirtle, before pausing and frowning in thought. "Hey, wait, 'a couple of hours'? Why are we having lunch that early?"
"So that we can train during the 'real' lunchtime. Isn't that what you said you wanted?"
Leo shrugged, and Matt rolled his eyes, reaching down for the last item to put away, his water bottle. Blinking as it felt surprisingly heavy in his grip, he gave it a quick shake, realising that it was somehow full again. Glaring suspiciously around the clearing, his eyes fell on Squirtle, the Pokemon covering his face with his paws to conceal a large grin, tail bobbing excitedly. Matt shot him a strong look, wiping down the bottle and putting it back in his bag. "That had better just be water in there, Squirtle."
Shortly afterward, the group was on the move once again, trekking slowly through the dark undergrowth. Dratini noted that the trees seemed to get closer and closer together the further inside they went, until the sky was almost completely hidden by the thick covering of the leaves above. The sights and sounds of the growth felt distinctly alien to her, so much so that she found herself almost longing to be back in the sea.
Matt's Rattata crept silently beside Matt's feet, apparently also intimidated by the dancing shadows surrounding them. Leo's Pidgey and Spearow were back in their respective Poke Balls, following an argument over the ownership of a certain large Oran Berry they had found. As it turned out, neither received the pleasure of claiming it, with Leo now tossing the firm berry back and forth between his palms, squeezing and poking at it casually.
This appeared to quickly get on Matt's nerves, his eyes flicking to the berry every few seconds as his expression became progressively more aggravated. "Are you going to actually eat that, or just grope it all day long?"
Leo looked at him obliviously before staring down at the berry. He stretched his hand out to Matt, offering it to him. Matt continued to glare at him for a few seconds before accepting it, digging out his water bottle again and giving it a quick rinse. He turned his head the other way, giving another glare in Squirtle's direction and holding up the bottle indicatively. "Okay, seriously, this really is just water, right?"
Squirtle smirked and nodded, and Dratini watched Matt hesitantly take a bite into the side of the berry, only to immediately pull his head back, hand to his jaw.
"...I think I just realised why only Pokemon eat these things."
Leo began to laugh at him, and he sighed and span slowly on the spot, backpedalling as he offered the berry down to Dratini. Smiling up at him appreciatively, she took it from his palm into her mouth, feeling a pleasurable, glowing sensation on her tongue as the berry's juices spilled over it. Chewing loudly as she continued along, she glanced around, noticing that Bulbasaur seemed to be wincing slightly as he walked. Dratini immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry, did you want it?"
Bulbasaur looked up at her in apparent confusion, before noticing her moving jaw and shaking his head dismissively. Squirtle had now seemingly noticed Bulbasaur's limp as well, and the Seed Pokemon began to walk slightly slower, blushing from the stares he felt drilling into him.
"..Really, I'm fine." he said dully. "I'm just feeling..a bit sensitive today."
Both Dratini and Squirtle stared at him for a few more seconds before reluctantly facing forward again. Rattata and Pidgey were well ahead of them, the former still tense and jumpy as the bird Pokemon tried to encourage him to play. Rattata's tail soon began to twitch in fear as Pidgey's squawking stirred up rustling from within the undergrowth. The small quadruped ran quickly back to Matt, clinging his forepaws around his trainer's leg fearfully. Matt immediately stopped and looked down, meeting the small Pokemon's fright-filled gaze as it stared up at him. Matt finally sighed, unclipping Rattata's shrunken Poke Ball from his belt.
"You want to go back inside?" he asked slowly, and Rattata began to nod eagerly, tail twitching from side to side. Matt smiled sympathetically and enlarged the ball, and a thin beam of light flew from it to Rattata, who quickly disappeared back inside his virtual home. As the Poke Ball closed, Leo chuckled again. Matt gave him another glare in response, but the younger trainer ignored it, continuing to grin back at him idiotically.
Dratini suddenly felt a question come to mind as she focused on Rattata's Poke Ball, and she turned her head back to Bulbasaur again. "Hey, Bulbasaur, what does the inside of your Poke Ball look like?"
Bulbasaur jumped as he was addressed, blushing again and staring down at the ground as he limped after them. Dratini waited expectantly for him to answer, but after several seconds with no reply, Squirtle evidently decided to answer himself. "Mine's got a pair of ponds joined by a really tall waterfall, and when you jump off the higher one and hit the bottom, the water from it flows back underground and into a tunnel that leads back up to the top one again. So you never have to climb back up for another jump."
Dratini grinned approvingly as she imagined it, nodding approvingly. "Mine's just got a big clear lake and really long grass. It's pretty." Still smiling widely, she turned back to Bulbasaur again, still determined to get an answer out of him.
Once again feeling their expectant gazes on his forehead, Bulbasaur sighed and finally looked up. "Mine's...got my mother's grotto."
Dratini blinked, not understanding, while Squirtle tilted his head to the side, listening very intently. Stopping for a moment, Bulbasaur looked back and forth between the two of them before continuing on.
"Back before I came to the laboratory, I was raised at a camp by my mother and a couple of humans. My mother had a wonderful private grotto that we'd go to, along with my half-sister. We'd hang out there all day and play, swimming around, chewing on leaves, rolling around on the mossy rocks..." His voice trailed off as he stared into the distance, obviously reminiscing.
Dratini felt slightly embarrassed watching his blank expression. Not wishing to interrupt his thoughts, she turned back to Squirtle again, slithering slowly along as Matt and Leo continued slightly ahead of them. "So...Squirtle, were you raised in a camp like that too?"
Squirtle nodded. "All of us from the lab were. We were all born at the camps, and then sent to Professor Oak once we'd grown up a bit. Apparently that's how it always works, a human at the lab told me about the process once." He glanced at Bulbasaur before smiling back at Dratini. "My Poke Ball doesn't resemble my camp at all, though. So what about you? Where were you raised?"
Flicking her tailtip about hesitantly, Dratini tilted her head back and stared up at the thick leaves concealing the bright sunlight. "Just in the sea. I don't really remember much about my parents, I lost both of them years ago. I mostly just raised myself."
Squirtle's smile faded, and he held his paws to his chest awkwardly. "Oh. I'm sorry."
Dratini continued to stare into the air for a little while, before lowering her gaze to the ground. She tried her best to smile, not wanting to make Squirtle feel bad, but she couldn't help but feel a little empty as she thought about it. "It's okay. I've come to terms with it. And I wasn't alone the whole time, I met a Pokemon that helped cheer me up. He was almost like a new father to me."
Lowering his own head down, Squirtle tried to think of something appropriate to say. "..Do you miss him at all? That Pokemon?"
Dratini giggled, giving a small smile. "A little, but it's okay. I'm far happier being with you guys than I was in the ocean. It makes me glad that I decided to sail up that river that day."
"River?" asked Squirtle curiously, watching her as he walked.
"Yeah, I suppose nobody's mentioned it to you yet." Dratini chuckled louder. "It's a funny story, actually. Matt 'caught' me not too long ago on a fishing line, completely by accident." She grinned wider, trying to continue despite her laughter. "His face when he first saw me was hilarious, though it was a bit hard to appreciate it at the time. I was all panicked from being pulled out of the water." She kept laughing to herself loudly, causing Matt and Leo to glance down at her.
Squirtle grinned back, forcing a chuckle of his own and waving innocently to the trainers. "I'm not surprised. All's well that ends well, right?"
Dratini looked down the path ahead of her slowly, before shutting her eyes, her grin fading slowly. "Maybe. But I still prefer to think that the real adventure is only just beginning."
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Exuro opened his maw, another wide batch of sizzling embers bursting out from within. Glowing from their own intense heat, they arced high through the air before dropping swiftly downwards, scattering across the ground like a large, glowing minefield, surrounding the enemy Pinsir and cutting off its retreat. Harm watched as the larger Pokemon looked up at its trainer for guidance, gnashing its horns in frustration. The pudgy, gaudily-dressed teenager seemed suddenly panicked, stepping backwards as the air before him distorted from the heat. Appearing to crumble under the pressure, he threw his hands up dramatically.
"Alright, we surrender! You have defeated us!"
Harm continued to stare intensely at the teen, even as the Pinsir faded back into its Poke Ball. She finally broke her gaze away, exhaling loudly as she felt an incredible weight suddenly lift from her chest. Exuro also visibly relaxed, his shoulder slumping tiredly as the glowing embers amongst the grass faded to nothingness. He strode slowly back to his trainer slowly, lowering his head and leaning against her leg with an exhausted sigh.
The boisterous bug-catcher seemed relatively unfazed by his loss, inflating his chest and tossing his head back with a loud, annoying laugh. "Well, I guess that's another year! It's back to training for me. That's quite the Pokemon you've got there."
Harm glanced at him as she stroked her Pokemon's head. "Do you always challenge the new trainers from Pallet?"
"Always!" yelled the boy immediately. "We try to fight them all as they pass through the forest. While I have never won against them yet, I will continue training until I am an unstoppable force! Thus is my pledge as Samurai!"
Only barely listening, Harm instead began to focus intently on the occasional sounds coming from the surrounding trees. The clearing they had fought in was the only well-lit spot she had come upon all morning, the rest of the forest barely illuminated by the light peaking through the treetops.
After a long silence, she finally spoke, still staring into the trees. "..Have you seen any other trainers from Pallet today?"
Lowering his voice a little, the boy lowered his head. "No, but my Butterfree claims two trainers passed by yesterday, as night began to fall. I could show you to their trail, if you wish. I still intend to catch up with them to battle."
Harm grimaced, feeling surprisingly exhausted from the brief battle. Exuro hugged tightly at her leg, staring up at her with drooping eyelids, obviously feeling the same way.
"Umm...It sounds like a good plan, but I'd really like to rest first?"
Samurai nodded and started enthusiastically towards the tree-line, his voice growing loud again. "My cottage is this way! Come! Now!"
Harm sighed, dragging her feet slowly after him, resisting the urge to cover her ears as the boy continued to shout.
Leo found himself with a sudden desire to scream. For the fifth time, they had passed through a large clearing, and yet Matt still refused to stop for lunch. Leo had promised himself that he would keep his secret until then, but his desire to simply shout it out was slowly killing him.
A sudden cooing noise rose him from his thoughts, and he quickly disguised his frustrated expression. He turned his head to see Matt hand-feeding poffins to his Pidgey, curled up in his arms.
"Check it out," chuckled Matt. "He likes those blue ones that you were choking on."
Leo blinked as he watched the tiny bird peck at the deep blue poffin hovering over his head. 'Liked' was an understatement: The Pokemon would of been swallowing the poffins whole if Matt weren't feeding him slowly. Leo shrugged dismissively, turning his head back down to the grass in front of him. He started to feel tense and anxious again, grinding his teeth lightly in his impatience. Matt, however, seemed not to notice, simply continuing to feed the Pokemon in his arms.
After a short while, the grass began to light up again from sunlight, the gloom of the dense tree covering lifting. As they passed through the large clearing, Leo slowly looked up, daring to feel hopeful once again. To his pleasant surprise, Matt suddenly stopped by the flattened stump of a large, fallen tree, dropping his waist bag on it and relaxing his shoulders with a loud sigh. "Stop here for lunch, you reckon?"
Leo could barely contain his excitement as he nodded feverishly, grinning from ear to ear. Matt appeared to again not notice his enthusiasm, instead looking around at his Pokemon as they spread out comfortably across the wide, clear space. Dratini, in particular, began to beeline straight for an area of shade under a small tree nearby, Bulbasaur jumping about happily in the sun. Looking out above the tree-line, Leo could see a huge tree off in the distance, shimmering from the masses of Bug Pokemon assumedly in it. The dense trees surrounding the clearing would intermittently grow and fade in colour, as the shadows of the clouds above shifted to and fro over them.
After a short time, Leo finally spoke. "So, what's for lunch today? Something actually made for humans, I hope?"
Matt shrugged, fishing through his bag as he sat on the stump. "I was thinking we'd rest a little before we ate. How about just a nice, balanced meal? I have some chilled ham here...and it wouldn't be too hard to find some berries in a place like this."
"Sounds fine by me, but I'm not looking for them." Leo replied immediately. He yawned widely as he sat down on the large log next to the stump, his fingers twitching anxiously towards his belt as he continued staring out across the clearing. "So we'll train after that, right?"
Matt and Leo nodded in unison. An awkward silence fell across the clearing as Matt continued searching through his bag. The pair sat there quietly as their Pokemon gambolled about the clearing, Matt finally pulling out a small container of meat. Placing is next to him on the stump, Matt gave a small cough. "So...what is it you've been keeping a secret, anyway?"
Leo suddenly sat bolt upright, nearly collapsing off the log from his surprise. He gripped at a branch on it firmly, holding himself up, giving Matt a casual smile as he did his best to keep his voice straight. "W-what do you mean?"
Matt raised an eyebrow at him, dumping his bag off the stump. "You've been keeping something. You've been skittish and moody all day. What's bothering you?"
"Nothing's bothering me!" Leo replied quickly, rubbing his hands together. "In fact, I've been wanting to show you something special! I promised myself I would wait until now. So are you ready to see?"
"Sure!" Matt nodded, pausing for a moment before turning and waving his arm, beckoning his Pokemon to approach and watch as well.
Leo grinned wider as the group came closer, gathering close around him. Moving off the log and kneeling on the ground, he detached a Poke Ball gingerly from the left side of his belt. Exhaling loudly, he carefully enlarged the ball, glancing up at Matt again. "Ready?"
Matt nodded, the surrounding Pokemon shifting back slightly to create more room. Leo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and clicking the ball open. A dazzling burst of light immediately poured from it, beginning to form on the ground into a small, quadruped shape, Matt's eyes narrowing as the stream quickly took the form of a Rattata. As the glow faded, however, Matt suddenly recoiled backwards, letting out a gasp. Shocked sounds emanated from the surrounding gallery of Pokemon, stirring and shifting about as they examined the newcomer.
Matt felt his jaw hang slightly open as he stared at the Pokemon, its piercing gaze shifting from side to side as it studied the mass of eyes staring at it. Matt finally forced himself to swallow, a lump sliding down his throat as he softly forced his words out. "It's...white..?"
Leo smirked with satisfaction at Matt's stunned expression, giving a tiny, almost unnoticeable nod. "..It's albino."Chapter End Notes:If you liked the story, please review. Feedback is what encourages me to continue writing