“Looks like we finally made it,” Kaitlyn said, stepping over a large branch on the path and pointing off into the distance. “That way leads up towards the foothills, and this way takes us on to Oreburgh,” she explained, shifting to point south of them as she looked back at Cassie and her team.
Cassie stepped up beside her to take a good look, enjoying the view of the junction between Routes 206 and 207. Three days had passed since her strange dream in the woods of Route 206, and they’d finally arrived at the intersection between the several different paths at the exit of the route late Thursday morning. Not far back from where they currently were, they’d found a small store selling supplies that they’d taken an opportunity to take a break at, situated at the cutoff point where the road diverged and headed around the foothills to let vehicle traffic enter Oreburgh from a different path. The trail continuing south from there had been nothing much to speak of, just a wide, cleared path through gradually thinning greenery and trees that eventually gave way into harsher, rockier terrain underfoot as they reached the junction point they now stood at. The path south from the intersection they stood at now looked much the same, just more hiking over craggy paths and sparse vegetation until they made it back to civilization. Oreburgh owed much of its culture and business to the local mining operations, and there were many paths that led from the city into the foothills and mountains surrounding it. Route 207 itself simply happened to be the one that was maintained by the League, kept clear of any major hazards like rockfalls or dangerous wild Pokemon.
They’d taken some time out of each day to train as they traveled, giving Cassie and her team their first experience truly fighting Rock-type Pokemon along with whatever natives wandered from the surroundings in search of practice. Ivan didn’t count, Cassie had said when Kaitlyn jokingly asked, since he never truly tried to hurt either of her team members. To Cassie’s chagrin, her fears about the uphill battle they were about to face seemed to be realized after the few encounters she’d had. Paulos was agile and speedy, not to mention a bit more of a brawler than she expected from the Pidgey, but any Rock-type attacks which connected with him utterly stopped the bird in his proverbial tracks from the clash of opposing types and the sheer impact behind the attacks. Even Orion, much burlier and more suited to taking hits than the Flying-type, couldn’t stand up to a proper barrage of Rock-type moves for long. Even the relatively common Geodude posed a danger despite their slowness; one misstep or hesitant call often led to the battle turning against them in an instant.
They’d drilled for speed intensely over the two days they’d been traveling, running obstacle courses through the tree line and in the sky as they realized that more speed and agility might well prove to be their best defense against the disadvantageous type matchup. Orion was gradually getting more used to supplementing his natural speed with the Psychic-type energy of Agility, while Paulos was refining his Quick Attack more and more. Interestingly to Cassie, the Normal TE of the move seemed to allow for movements that almost defied gravity and inertia sometimes, though she couldn’t really tell how it was doing it or how to actually make use of that oddity just yet.
She’d also taken some time during their breaks to research what she’d been suspecting regarding Paulos. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn hadn’t been of any help when Cassie had asked about the physical changes Paulos seemed to be showing, having never raised a member of the Pidgey family before, and so Cassie was forced to turn back to the Pokenet once again for answers. After some digging, she soon found some reliable information about Pidgey’s biology and species and was happy to discover that her suspicions were correct. The brightening plumage on Paulos’ head feathers were indicative that he was beginning to progress towards his first evolution into Pidgeotto, though there seemed to be no real timeframe on how soon such an evolution usually occurred after the changes began. She hadn’t noticed at first, but his three largest tail feathers had also started to change color, with the two outer ones lightening to be closer to the color of his breast while the central and longest was darkening much like his crest was doing. Paulos seemed to be reinvigorated upon hearing her findings after long hours of work and failings against Rock-types, and Orion seemed to be almost as excited as Paulos was to find that his evolution might be on the horizon.
Of course, she hadn’t left her starter out of the fun. She knew it was still a long way off, but she’d taken a cursory glance into information on evolutionary stones while she was researching Paulos’ evolution, and...to say that it was a bit of a Bunnelby hole was an understatement.
Evolutionary stones were, simply put, strange. The exact processes that created them still remained a mystery to the scientific community at large, but the leading theories and supporting research involved minerals being saturated with an enormous amount of Type Energy over long periods of time, possibly combined with other environmental changes or characteristics. For example, Water Stones were most commonly found in or around large bodies of water, or deep underground in natural springs and rivers. Leaf Stones seemed to almost grow from the ground like plants deep within lush forests and hidden in grasslands. Fire Stones...
Well, Fire Stones were most often found near volcanoes. Barring that, they were sometimes found within mountains and cave systems with high populations of Fire-type Pokemon, and Sinnoh was unfortunately a region which had little in the way of any of those conditions. As such, most trainers who wanted to get their hands on one had to settle for importing from another region, something which typically commanded a stiff price. Hundreds of thousands of credits, in fact, for the highest possible quality stone. Sticker shock was the nicest and most appropriate descriptor for how she’d felt after seeing some online sales for top-tier stones in recent months, but she vowed to herself that she was going to stop at nothing to get the best possible stone she could for when the time finally came that Orion was ready to evolve.
Evolutionary stones were evaluated both on a grading system and purity score, with the purity reflecting how intact and unblemished a stone was, while the grade was a marker of how much TE was contained within the stone. Both of these factors were important because the stones themselves were somewhat unstable. Eventually, the TE contained within the stones would cause cracks and fractures within the structure of the stone, destabilizing it and releasing more and more of the power within until it became an inert lump of rock once again. A higher purity stone would have better structure, resisting more of the breakdown for longer and thus remaining intact and viable for greater lengths of time. Not only that, but more TE meant more power to fuel a Pokemon’s evolution, increasing their power by leaps and bounds as the stone’s energy resonated with and enhanced their own during the evolutionary process. It was a far cry from the simple solution that stone evolution in the games offered, and the complexities and challenges were daunting, but it was something that Cassie swore she would learn everything about for Orion’s sake.
“So, how long do you want to spend out here hunting?” Cassie asked as Kaitlyn started to lead her towards the pathway up into the foothills. It was a bit before noon, a quick glance at her phone told her, which left them several hours of daylight to work with. Kaitlyn drew a hand close to her chin as she thought, gazing at the ground as she walked. She didn’t want to stay around too long, still feeling as if she was detouring Cassie’s journey for her own wants, but at the same time she knew that more training before such a difficult gym battle could only help. The longer they were out in the wilds, the more time Cassie’s team would have to practice against relevant opponents.
“Maybe just a day or so,” she finally decided after some thought, looking back towards her companion. “If we don’t see any signs of Skarmory nearby by this time tomorrow, then we can pack up and head for Oreburgh. Sound good?”
Cassie nodded with a grin, looking eager to get the hunt started. “Just let me know what to look for - besides the big steel bird itself, anyway.”
It definitely seemed like she wasn’t the only one excited to see a Skarmory, Kaitlyn thought. “Skarmory feathers are probably the likeliest thing we’ll find if they’re around,” she said. “You probably already know what they look like - red with a steel coating on one side. They don’t shed them too often, but you’ll sometimes find loose ones if they get banged up too badly during a fight. All of their wing feathers grow back in fresh once a year, too, which replaces any that get too damaged over time. It usually takes a few weeks for them to finish replacing the feathers, and they don’t tend to fly much around that time.”
“Would they be regrowing the feathers this time of year?”
“Probably not just yet,” Kaitlyn replied. “Skarmory typically molt around the end of spring, since they tend to breed early in the year after the winter gives way to better temperatures. That way, they can stock up on food right around the start of summer so that they can raise chicks and finish their molt without having to leave their nests too much when they’re most vulnerable.”
“I wonder if that’s why there are sightings around here...” Cassie mused, eyes tracing around the rocky environs as they walked. “Are they coming back from migration and looking for mates?”
“That’s my guess,” Kaitlyn agreed. “And if they’re looking for mates, we’ll need to be careful. Skarmory can get pretty aggressive in the breeding season.”
Cassie nodded, one arm unconsciously wrapping around the egg carrier attached to her chest. “Oh - that reminded me of something I wanted to ask,” she started, looking back at Kaitlyn again. “Do Pokemon only lay eggs?”
Kaitlyn’s eyebrow rose at that question - of all the things she thought Cassie might ask, that wasn’t one of them. “No - a lot of Pokemon can give live birth, mostly mammalian Pokemon like Kangaskhan. You usually only see live births in environments where the Pokemon feel relatively safe, though. Egg-born Pokemon seem to develop a bit faster than live-born, but some people think that they don’t grow up to be as powerful as live-born ones. Something about the slower development giving more time for their bodies to develop better and learn to use TE more effectively. I never looked into it much, but most people don’t think there’s a real difference.”
“You really know a lot about this stuff...”
Kaitlyn shrugged. “Blame Kayley - she’s the one that’s really into Pokemon care and grooming. I just picked up bits and pieces by being around her for so long. Except when it comes to Steel-types, of course.”
Kaitlyn had wondered before, with Cassie being a new trainer and all, whether she had ever attended one of the many trainer schools throughout the region, but she was pretty sure now more than ever that she hadn’t. She’d never asked outright so as to not make her feel bad, since some trainer schools could be fairly expensive for the unprepared, but the topic of Pokemon breeding was one that was commonly taught at such institutions. Trainer schools tried to prepare a trainer for every aspect of the path, after all, and it was common for trainers to visit breeding facilities in search of new team members or to go down the path of becoming a breeder themselves.
“So, what have you been checking out on the ‘net lately?” Kaitlyn asked, deciding to change the topic. With all of the myriad things that Cassie was interested in, she was genuinely curious as to what her friend was keeping up with at the moment. “Did you look up any of those Poketubers that Kayley suggested?”
“Yeah, I did!” Cassie nodded eagerly. “I actually e-mailed her back to thank her for sending me the suggestions, and she found some more for me after I told her about my team! I’ve been watching them in the evening before I go to bed, since we’re usually too busy training and stuff when we stop for a break.”
“So, she found some channels about Growlithe and Pidgey specifically or something?”
Cassie shook her head. “Not them specifically, just Fire and Flying types in general, but I did find at least one episode about Growlithe on one of the channels. They had a bunch of Growlithe puppies running around, and it was super cute to see!”
Kaitlyn laughed as she watched Cassie devolve into gushing about Growlithe puppies while Orion gradually looked more and more put out by her side. Eventually, the puppy Pokemon headbutted her leg gently to get her attention, practically demanding petting that his trainer quickly obliged him with along with reassurances that he was still the cutest Growlithe ever. Yet again, Kaitlyn found herself thinking that she was eventually going to see something remarkable out of the younger trainer. She’d seen lots of trainers and the bonds they shared with their Pokemon over her travels so far, and the toughest ones she’d ever faced were ones who shared moments just like the one in front of her.
“Oh, and Kayley told me to ask you about something called ‘Magical Wishing Star Sylveon’ - what’s that about?”
Kaitlyn blinked slowly.
“What?”
“I think she said it’s a TV show, but she didn’t tell me anything about it. She just said it’s something I’d probably like and told me to ask you about it.”
Oh, Kaitlyn was definitely going to have words with her sister later.
Cassie’s head tilted in confusion at the look that came across Kaitlyn’s face, a strange smile that was just a bit too forced to be natural on the Steel specialist’s features.
“Kaitlyn?”
“...Okay, so, Wishing Star is all about a girl named Sakura who finds a talking Eevee that gives her a magic locket...”
That was when Cassie realized what the look actually was. It was the look of someone trying to hold themselves back from gushing entirely too much about one of their favorite things.
The next thing she knew, Kaitlyn was happily recounting the premise of what sounded to her like some kind of magical girl anime as they walked, complete with a girl who gained Sylveon-themed powers to fight against alien threats and a shadowy government organization. She had never seen Kaitlyn as animated as she was now while talking about the show, and she suddenly felt more like she was seeing Kaitlyn’s sister instead of the normally-stoic trainer she was used to being around. And if she was being honest, the premise did seem kind of interesting...it reminded her of some things from home, even if she never watched many magical girl shows at all.
“You’ll have to show me an episode of it when we get some time to relax,” Cassie said, causing a very self-satisfied look to spread over Kaitlyn’s face. The sheer victory in the expression along with the wide grin left no doubt in Cassie’s mind that yes, she and Kayley were definitely twin sisters.
“So, how does it feel to know you’re gonna evolve soon?” Astrid asked, glancing over at the large form of Paulos hopping along beside her and Orion. The Pidgey gave a loud, chirping laugh as he threw his head back, grinning as much as his beak would allow.
“Paulos cannot wait for the day! The winds will soon bend to Paulos’ will more than ever before!”
“Lucky you,” Astrid replied, smirking. “I wish I could evolve...wonder what I’d turn into?”
“Something with a bigger jaw?” Orion joked, dodging the lazy swing of said appendage in his direction with a chuffing laugh.
“Har har,” she deadpanned, folding her arms. “Seriously, though...can you imagine it? What if I turned into some kind of...four-legged Krookodile thing?”
“Observation: A shift from bipedal to quadrupedal is statistically unlikely for such a hypothetical evolution,” Tera chimed in from overhead.
“Pretty sure I saw something like that on TV once,” Astrid remarked, shrugging. “Probably a weird movie.”
“Query: Should I search for theoretical evolutionary paths for the Mawile species?”
“Nah - I don’t need that in my nightmares, thanks.”
“Apologetic: This unit is only attempting to help,” Tera replied, the magnetic ‘arms’ of his body rotating around him quickly as he hovered in front of Astrid.
“No, you’re trying to give me nightmare fuel,” the Mawile countered with a laugh. “Wouldn’t be the first time, either.”
“Maybe I can ride on Paulos’ back instead when he evolves...” Orion said, sparing a glance in the Flying-type’s direction. “Those talons of yours hurt, you know.” Paulos trilled an apology in his typical boisterous manner, but Orion didn’t catch the surreptitious glance he shot at his feet when he thought no one was looking.
“What about you, Orion? What do you think about evolving?”
That caused the pup to fall silent as he considered the question. He longed to evolve, had ever since his days in the wilds as a young, newly-born Growlithe, but he also knew the realities of life in Sinnoh. Fire Stones were much rarer in the region than they were in other parts of the world, owing to the region’s overall milder climate and frigid mountain peaks that dominated the central part of the landmass. Even in his pack in the wilds, there had only been one Arcanine that he knew of growing up, and he had evolved decades before Orion was born. Arcanine were notoriously long-lived for a Pokemon, with their lifespans approaching that of most healthy humans. That said, he couldn’t put aside the sheer lust for that kind of power and strength that the mere mention of evolution by his trainer some days before had stoked in him.
“I really, really want to,” he started, “but...we’ll probably never find a Fire Stone out in the wilderness, you know. It’s not like everyone in Sinnoh is tripping over them every time they turn around.”
“Not with that attitude, you won’t,” Astrid scoffed. “Have a little faith, will you? You know we’re going to the Pokemon League eventually, and there’s a nice little place we could look at before we actually get that far.”
That drew a blank expression from the Fire-type, and Astrid sighed. “Stark Mountain. You know, a volcano?”
“Sorry...it’s not like I’ve ever been out that far before,” Orion muttered. “You’re saying you’d get Kaitlyn to drag Cassie out there and find one for me?”
“Honestly, I’d bet Cassie is already thinking about it,” Astrid said confidently. “What, you think she wants to see you stay a Growlithe forever? She’s planning on taking you guys to the conference, you know. And if she’s going to do that, you’re going to need more firepower.”
Tera laughed in the background at Astrid’s unintentional pun, the metallic warbling echoing in the air as Orion just stared back at Astrid. He didn’t doubt that Cassie would try, obviously, but...finding a Fire Stone wasn’t as easy as just wanting to find one. And if the look on her face when she had researched the topic earlier was any indication, simply buying one would be out of the question for a long time to come. Still, there was something in the way Astrid spoke of it with such unwavering surety that brought a smile to his face.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” he said, finally giving up the fight. “I’m gonna be the strongest Arcanine the Sinnoh League has ever seen!”
“Well said, flock brother!” Paulos exclaimed, draping a wing around Orion. “Shout your dreams to the heavens and warn the world of your arrival!”
“Let’s not go that far...”
“Analysis: You may be the only Arcanine the Sinnoh League has ever seen. You would be the strongest by default.”
Orion’s eyes snapped up to Tera, whose magnets were spinning in amusement again, and the look was one step shy of a full Intimidate despite the twinkling of mirth in them.
“I’m gonna melt you down and use you for my new food bowl, you...!”
Tera hastily floated out of reach as Orion started to playfully give chase, leaving Astrid and Paulos to chuckle by themselves as the pair of Pokemon flew by their trainers in a rush.
It was early into the evening by the time Kaitlyn finally made any real progress on her mission of obtaining a Skarmory. A glint of red between a group of rocks had led her to spot the distinctive silver and crimson form of a fallen Skarmory feather, the steel covering chipped and dulled at the outer edge with a large dent in the side that caused the fragile feather underneath to fray in the center. Sadly, Kaitlyn realized it was too damaged to be repurposed as anything useful like a small field knife or the like after a quick look, but Cassie had happily and carefully wrapped up the feather and put it away as a sort of souvenir. It had definitely come from a Skarmory that had been in some kind of battle, Kaitlyn knew, though who knew whether it was recent or not.
“That means there’s definitely some nearby, right?”
Cassie’s voice cut through the silence as Kaitlyn’s eyes tracked around the sky, looking to see if there were any Pokemon high above that she hadn’t noticed. “Probably,” she replied as she scanned. “At the very least, one came through here at some point, and it was probably within the last day or two if I had to guess.”
“How do you figure?”
“Like I said, it’s just a guess, but that feather didn’t have any kind of debris on it and didn’t look too dirty at all. It probably hasn’t been out on the trail for long enough to have anything start to cover it up.” She paused for a moment, taking another look around the rocky trail they were on with a frown. “Come to think of it, I don’t think we’ve seen many Pokemon at all out here - have you?”
That caused Cassie to frown as well, and she took a look around almost reflexively to see...nothing. No Pokemon anywhere to be seen as far as her eyes could find.
“I know that some routes have Pokemon that aren’t as inclined to come out in the open, but we haven’t even heard a Pokemon around as far as I can tell,” Kaitlyn continued. “It almost makes me think something is scaring them away.”
“Would the Skarmory flying over scare them off?” Cassie asked tentatively. If Skarmory wasn’t native to the area, maybe the sight of them had set the local wildlife into a mild panic.
“It shouldn’t,” Kaitlyn said without hesitation. “Skarmory aren’t common, but they do live high up on parts of Coronet. And the Rock-types out here are about as dangerous to Skarmory as Skarmory would be to any of them, so I don’t think they’d be running and hiding on sight.”
“Should we keep looking, then?” Cassie’s voice was hesitant, and it was clear that she was mildly worried about there being something dangerous out here scaring the Pokemon on the trail.
Kaitlyn pondered the question for a few long seconds. She hadn’t seen anything that led her to believe they were in any danger just yet, and it was still early in the evening. She wanted to be cautious, of course, but neither she nor any of the Pokemon seemed to have noticed anything that would suggest they weren’t safe here for the entire afternoon so far.
“Let’s keep going, at least for a little longer,” she finally said. “If we see anything that makes us think we might be in trouble, we’ll turn back.”
Cassie shifted the pack on her back, nodding in agreement after a few moments. Kaitlyn seemed to believe that they weren’t in any kind of danger, and she trusted the older trainer’s judgment. Plus, Orion hadn’t given any indication that he smelled anything nearby, and she knew already from experience how sharp the canine’s nose was. “Lead on, then.”
The pair walked onwards in relative silence for several more minutes before they finally got an indication that they weren’t truly alone out here. An ear-piercing screech cut through the air from high above, a shrill cry from what sounded like a bird of prey accompanied by the faint sounds of flapping wings up in the sky. Five sets of eyes and a single steel-encased eye snapped up towards the air as Cassie, Kaitlyn, and all four of their accompanying Pokemon searched for the source of the noise. They only had to look for a second to see the source of the commotion - high above was a flock of bird Pokemon heading nearly the same direction they were, Pokemon that Cassie had trouble making out accurately from the distance. They definitely weren’t Skarmory, though. The one at the front that was leading the group was smaller than one of the Steel avians, and the group of Pokemon trailing in its wake were each smaller still, though not by much. She grabbed for her Pokedex, hoping to get a scan of whatever was up above them, but she didn’t have a chance to line up for an attempt before the entire flock was nearly out of sight on their way wherever they were headed.
“I think that was a Staraptor,” Kaitlyn said, hand still up over her eyes to shield from the glare of the sun. “Likely the rest of its flock with it, too. Pretty neat to see a whole group like that - Staraptor aren’t too common to see out in the wild.”
“Wish I could’ve gotten a picture,” Cassie sighed. “Starly’s such a great Pokemon...”
She noticed Paulos out of the corner of her eye as she put her Pokedex away again, looking up towards the direction of where the Staraptor and its flock had gone with a focused stare, seemingly in rapt interest of the group of fellow Flying-types.
“Paulos? Something wrong?”
Paulos seemed to snap out of the minor daze he was in, shaking his head and puffing his chest out again as if to say everything was fine. Maybe he was just imagining himself being as strong as one of those Staraptor, Cassie thought to herself. She wouldn’t be surprised given that he knew he was on the cusp of evolution.
“Just think - you’re going to be as strong as one of them one day,” she said cheerfully as she walked over and scooped up the Pidgey - something which took a minor bit of effort, given the weight of the egg carrier she was wearing already. Paulos brightened immediately, giving a loud chirp and a flutter of large wings before Cassie let him take off into the sky to start flying a broad circle around the rest of the group as they started to move on again.
“Well, at least we know we’re not alone now,” Kaitlyn said, looking back at Cassie from her spot in the lead. “They’re a bit far out from where I’d expect to see them, though. Staraptor and their kin usually stay in the forests out here instead of out in the foothills.”
“I might’ve tried to catch one if I didn’t already have Paulos,” Cassie admitted, looking up at her Pokemon as he flew lazily nearby. “But I don’t think I’d trade him for anything now - just like Orion, really. I already can’t imagine being separated from either of them.” Orion gave a loud bark from her side, seeming to mirror the sentiment.
“Yeah, I think most trainers feel like that,” Kaitlyn agreed with a nod. “Honestly, I never imagined Astrid would be my starter when I first thought about going out and catching a Pokemon, but now I can’t think of it going any other way.”
Cassie’s mind turned back to the Rosewood Shelter, remembering just how many Pokemon she’d seen there that had been left by their trainers, and she couldn’t help but wonder again why anyone would just...get rid of their Pokemon. Having to part with a Pokemon because you weren’t able to take care of it was one thing, and she could understand that at least, but the way that most people seemed bonded to all of their Pokemon just made the entire thing seem like it should be impossible in most cases.
“I saw so many Pokemon at Rosewood when I adopted Orion,” she said quietly. “I just can’t imagine being the kind of person that would just...leave my Pokemon there because I didn’t want them anymore. Everyone I saw in Eterna loved their Pokemon, treated them just like family. It’s...hard to believe it even happens.”
Kaitlyn sighed sadly, offering a slow nod in reply. She’d seen it once or twice - not enough to be common, but even once felt too much in her eyes. She loved Astrid and all her Pokemon, and Kayley would probably die before letting anything happen to any one of her beloved ‘babies.’ It was just like Cassie said - most people were so closely bonded to their Pokemon that the whole idea seemed ridiculous.
Another shrill screech split the air, nearly identical to the one the Staraptor had made as it flew over, and Kaitlyn’s eyes turned back to the sky again to see if she could spot the fully-evolved Flying-type making its way back through. What she saw wasn’t the Staraptor and its flock, however - or, at least, it wasn’t only the Staraptor and its flock. The sight of evening sunlight reflecting off silvery metal filled her vision and sent spots dancing across her eyes from the glare as she spotted a small group of Skarmory flying high overhead, crossing over the trail in front of them a few hundred feet away nearly silently. Diving in towards the group with loud, screeching cries was the Staraptor they’d seen before and a flock of Staravia behind it like a squad of soldiers going to war, Flying TE already gathering around the body of the lead Flying-type as it hurtled forward at breakneck speed.
The crash as it struck the nearest Skarmory to it was immense, resounding loudly over the area as the rest of the Staravia joined the sudden melee, and sharp cries of anger burst from the beaks of the Skarmory as they found themselves under assault. Within seconds, the sky was a cacophony of wingbeats, impacts of flesh on steel, and horrid screeching battle cries of Pokemon from both sides. Cassie was both awestruck and horrified all at once as she watched, unable to take her eyes off the display, while Kaitlyn watched with a cooler head and calmer gaze. It looked like it was a squabble over territory, if she had to guess; likely the Staraptor and its flock had taken offense to seeing the Skarmory pass over what they considered their turf. She had wanted to find a Skarmory, but hadn’t imagined it being quite like this.
“What do we do?” Cassie asked, finally breaking her attention on the fight to look at Kaitlyn.
“There isn’t much we can do but watch,” Kaitlyn conceded. “If the Skarmory stick around after this, I might see if any of them want to battle after they rest. This isn’t really how I wanted to get an opportunity to catch one, though...”
Cassie hated the feeling, but the fact remained that this was part of nature too. The Pokemon world was an overall pleasant place, but nature could still be harsh, a lesson she’d learned herself mere days ago. She stood silently beside Kaitlyn, watching the aerial battle unfolding high over their heads with a twinge of pain in her heart that refused to go away.
The fight seemed to drag on, but in all likelihood couldn’t have lasted for more than a handful of minutes. For all that the few Skarmory were strong and durable, the Staraptor and its flock had a numerical advantage which was gradually turning the tides against them with every scar and dent in their metal plated bodies. The Staraptor had proven quickly that it possessed a huge amount of strength and knew both Brave Bird and Close Combat, the latter of which had dealt devastating hits to more than one of the metal-clad avians. The Staravia didn’t seem to possess any attacks that were as effective, but they kept swarming the outnumbered Skarmory with attack after attack that wore them down little by little as the minutes dragged on. Two of the Skarmory had already fled the battle, opting for self-preservation over pride, and the remaining five were looking more and more haggard by the moment.
Another devastating crash sounded as the Staraptor hit one of the smaller Skarmory with a Close Combat, folding its wing inwards with the strike and sending it spiraling towards the ground to slam into the rocky foothills below with an echoing smash. Kaitlyn winced as she saw it impact the ground, and she started to move towards it to check on it before hesitating. If she moved now, the Staraptor and its flock might see them as a threat as well and attack - better to wait until the coast was clear, she thought to herself, no matter how much she hated to wait.
Down to four now, the Skarmory in the air finally seemed to decide that enough was enough, and they quickly turned to fly back the way they’d come from as fast as they could manage after the ones who had already departed. Victorious screeches erupted from the Staraptor’s flock as they gave chase, but it seemed more of a show than any real attempt at catching up. As fast as Staraptor were, they had no chance of catching up to a Skarmory at full speed, given that the latter could reach over a hundred and eighty miles per hour at its peak. If her own Staraptor’s top speed of sixty-four was any indication, it simply wasn’t anywhere close at all. Kaitlyn waited until the gray and white avians were fully out of sight before she started to move quickly towards where the Skarmory had fallen to finally make sure it was okay. She didn’t need to look back to hear Cassie’s footsteps following her own, no doubt also wanting to check on the fallen Pokemon.
“Be careful,” she warned Cassie, glancing back as she jogged towards where Skarmory had impacted. “Let me take a look first - just stay back a little until I know it’s safe.” The younger blond obediently nodded, keeping a few feet behind Kaitlyn as she started to draw nearer to where the Steel-type had crashed. About fifty feet away from the Skarmory, Kaitlyn stopped to get a better look at how wounded it seemed to be, keeping her distance to try and not agitate the Pokemon any more than need be. If she was being honest, it didn’t look all that good at first glance. It had gotten back to a sitting position, though, and was staring her down as she started to look its body over from afar.
The Skarmory’s left wing was clearly broken, possibly in multiple places, as a result of the attack it had been blindsided with. The steel sheath that protected its feathers was cracked and warped, dented inward at the center like it had been struck by a cannonball with deep gouges from the Staraptor’s talons, and the entire wing was hanging limply at its side with feathers splayed out. Parts of its metal body were scarred and pitted, though she couldn’t say whether those injuries were old or new from where she was standing. The right wing was folded closely to its side like normal, making the awkwardly bent angle of the left wing even more jarring by comparison and also concealing any injuries on that side of its body from view.
“Astrid, let’s go - carefully,” she said to her starter, looking back at Cassie for a moment. “Stay here until I say it’s okay, got it?” Cassie nodded again, and Kaitlyn took a deep breath before slowly starting to walk towards the Skarmory, keeping her hands in full view of the avian to try and show she didn’t pose any threat.
“Hey there,” she called out, closing the distance with careful steps as Astrid watched warily. “I saw the fight you just got into - do you mind if I come check you out and see if there’s anything I can do to help?”
Astrid said something as well that Kaitlyn couldn’t really understand, but the Skarmory didn’t respond to either of them at first, simply shifting its gaze between the pair of them as if sizing them up. A few seconds later, as Kaitlyn drew within twenty or so feet, the Skarmory let out a loud cry and snapped its beak threateningly in their direction, its good wing unfurling and flaring out as it screeched at the pair. Astrid leapt in front of her trainer protectively, the jaw on her back pivoting in case she needed to defend Kaitlyn, but the Steel-type trainer didn’t waver as she stopped in her tracks.
“I only want to help you,” she repeated, holding both hands up again to show Skarmory that she wasn’t holding anything. Astrid again exchanged words with the Skarmory, only to have it snap its beak at them again, its wing shimmering a pale sky blue color as it tried to summon enough energy for an attack. Astrid growled, but Kaitlyn knelt down and put a hand on her starter’s shoulder with a shake of her head.
“It’s just hurt and probably scared,” she whispered to Astrid. “It doesn’t look like it’s fully-grown yet, either - definitely a younger Skarmory.”
It warbled something at the pair angrily, causing Astrid to retort just as angrily with a flurry of speech of her own right before it threw something that looked like a very weak Air Slash or Air Cutter at the ground in front of them with a sweep of its good wing. Astrid brought her rear jaw around to shield her from the attack as Kaitlyn threw her arms up instinctively, though the attack was hardly strong enough to do more than dig a small furrow into the ground several feet in front of them and toss a little dirt their way, a clear warning shot. As injured as the Skarmory was, it didn’t want anyone getting close, not even a fellow Steel-type like Astrid.
Kaitlyn sighed as she stood back up, realizing that she wasn’t going to make any real headway with this with Skarmory acting the way it was. She thought about just tossing a Poke Ball at it anyway, just to see if she could capture it and bring it to a Pokemon Center without any more fuss, but something in her twisted at the idea of doing so. It almost felt a step removed from poaching, given that the Skarmory hadn’t decided to battle her or even confronted her in the first place. At the same time, she really didn’t like the idea of just leaving it out here. It would be night soon enough, and it definitely didn’t look well enough to even walk very far to find some kind of shelter or safe place to rest. She was about to turn back, resigning herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to be able to convince it to let her help when she noticed Cassie and Orion approaching her from behind.
“Is there anything we can do?” Cassie asked, shooting a quick glance behind Kaitlyn at the Skarmory. Kaitlyn shook her head, pushing away the mild frustration from her inability to help as she took a few steps away from the downed Pokemon.
“Doesn’t look like it...it’s hurt enough that it doesn’t want anyone to get close,” she said. “I think Astrid tried explaining that we only want to help, but it doesn’t really seem to want to listen.”
Cassie’s face fell as she looked back at the Skarmory again. “So, we’re just gonna leave it here...?” she said softly, looking a bit upset at the idea.
“I don’t know what else to do, short of just trying to catch it and take it to Oreburgh to get checked out,” the taller blond replied, shrugging. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but if it won’t even let me get close, there’s not much I can do.”
If Cassie seemed upset before, her face looked more like she’d bitten into a particularly bitter Aspear at Kaitlyn’s response. She looked back at the Skarmory again, seeing how beat-up the Pokemon resting on the ground looked, and her feet started moving almost before she even consciously registered the motion. Kaitlyn’s hand snapped out to grab her arm, stopping her before she could take more than a step or two.
“What are you doing?”
“Kaitlyn, let me try - I don’t want to just leave it here like that.”
“Cassie, it’s dangerous. It already tried to attack me and Astrid -”
“And going into the cave to help Mira wasn’t dangerous?” Cassie shot back, her face no less upset but also far more determined now as she looked back at her friend. “Kaitlyn, please...let me do this.”
“Cassie...” Kaitlyn started to argue, but any protest she might’ve had died on her lips as she looked at Cassie. She was already set on doing this, and Kaitlyn realized after a few moments that she likely wasn’t going to be able to say anything to change her mind. They stared each other down for a couple agonizing seconds before Kaitlyn finally sighed, letting go of Cassie’s arm. “Fine...just be careful, please. It’s already attacked once, and it might do it again.”
“I will, I promise,” Cassie said, nodding quickly as she turned back to the Skarmory in front of her. Orion barked beside her, glued to her side as she slowly started to make her way towards the Steel-type.
“Skarmory,” she started, keeping her voice just loud enough to be heard, “my name is Cassie, and this is Orion. Can we please come over there and make sure you’re okay?” She stopped for a moment, waiting to see what the avian would do as Orion kept his eyes trained on it in case of an impending attack. The Skarmory screeched again, beak clacking angrily as it watched the trainer and Pokemon nearby it. It didn’t make a motion to attack, and Cassie took that as a cue to keep slowly moving forward a few steps at a time.
“That’s Kaitlyn and Astrid back there - the ones that tried to help you first,” she said, smiling as she walked. “Kaitlyn’s a Steel-type trainer, and she was pretty worried when you saw you fall...I know you’re probably hurting a lot right now, aren’t you?”
Skarmory’s eyes flicked between Cassie and Orion as it cried out again, but it was noticeably lower in volume than it was a moment ago. The angry clacking of its beak had calmed, but it kept its eyes trained squarely on both figures in front of them as they slowly walked towards it.
“I promise, all we want is to make sure you’re going to be okay. Can we please do that for you?”
Skarmory’s eyes narrowed as they neared, easily within ten feet of it now, but it made no motion to attack or even snap at them as it had a moment ago. Kaitlyn watched in surprise as Cassie walked nearly right up to the Skarmory without any hesitation, Orion saying something almost inaudible from where she was standing that caused the Skarmory to look over at him intently. A few seconds passed as Cassie knelt down to the Skarmory, still just a bit out of reach of its beak, and Orion kept exchanging words with it for a minute longer before it turned back towards Cassie. The Steel-type’s head tilted just slightly as it looked at her, seeming to examine her deeply for several long moments before it finally cawed something to Orion that caused him to bark at Cassie. Cassie stood up quickly, turning around with a big smile on her face as she waved for Kaitlyn to come over as well.
Kaitlyn looked over at Astrid to find her starter staring openly at Cassie and Orion, mouth slightly opened in confusion and surprise. The look on her Pokemon’s face mirrored her own almost perfectly as the same thought ran through both of their minds at once.
‘What in the world...?’
“How did she...?” Kaitlyn muttered, not really expecting a reply but somehow wishing one was forthcoming as she started to walk towards where Cassie and the Skarmory were. It actually took Astrid a few seconds to catch up to her trainer, confused as she was, and her stubby legs worked furiously for a moment to let her fall into step beside Kaitlyn. They crossed the distance in a matter of seconds, moving as quickly as they dared so as to not try and upset Skarmory again, though the steel-covered bird seemed to be much more relaxed now than it had been a few minutes prior. Why, Kaitlyn couldn’t really say, but she wasn’t about to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth.
“Kaitlyn’s going to take a look at you, okay?” Cassie said soothingly, grinning brightly at the Skarmory even as she stepped back to give Kaitlyn room to work. “We’re going to do our best to make sure you’re alright.” She slid the pack off her back and unzipped it, setting it down on the ground as she crouched to dig through it momentarily before coming up with what she was after. A plastic container emerged from the fabric, filled with a large amount of the smaller berries she used for feeding her Pokemon, and she popped it open before carefully picking out a few of the Oran berries inside.
“Here,” she said, standing up again and offering an outstretched hand with the berries to the Pokemon in front of her while Kaitlyn started to look over the injured avian. “It’s not much, but it might help you feel a little better until we can figure out how to help you.”
Skarmory canted its head for a moment, looking over the berries for a few seconds as if it was some kind of trick, but it gulped them down swiftly once it seemed to realize that it was nothing more than some Oran berries after all. Kaitlyn, meanwhile, worked swiftly to assess the bird’s injuries while it focused on Cassie, quickly checking it over as best she could without actually touching and startling the blade-winged Steel-type. Fortunately, its left wing appeared to be the only serious injury it had, she found. Its right wing was still just fine, and most of the cuts and scrapes it had were either old injuries that had healed up or fresh wounds that weren’t very bad in comparison. It did seem to have a nasty gash on its right leg that she hadn’t noticed at first, but the blood slowly seeping from it was manageable if Skarmory would let her bandage it up.
“Skarmory, would you mind if I wrapped that cut on your leg?” she asked, pointing to the leg as she went to take her own pack off. The bird looked down at the gash as if noticing it for the first time, trilling something low that Astrid interpreted and relayed to Kaitlyn as a yes. Kaitlyn swiftly retrieved a small first-aid kit from the bag, grabbing a roll of gauze wrap and a medical pad along with antiseptic ointment that she quickly applied to the pad. “This might sting a little,” she warned, taking a small pair of scissors from the kit before turning back to Skarmory. The bird slid its leg out a bit so that Kaitlyn could reach it, and she gently pressed the pad to the wound before slipping the gauze around to hold it in place with a few quick circles. Skarmory didn’t flinch at all under the triage, and it only took a few seconds for Kaitlyn to tie off the gauze where it wouldn’t come loose.
“Okay...now, we need to get you to the Pokemon Center in Oreburgh so they can take a look at that wing,” she said, packing the medical kit back into her bag and standing up again. “I’m going to ask first - do you mind if we put you in a Poke Ball so that we can get you there? I don’t know if we could carry you any other way.” Skarmory squawked angrily at that, shaking its head quickly in a clear sign of disapproval that Kaitlyn didn’t need a translation for.
“Skarmory, please,” Cassie said. “Are you sure you won’t let us do it just long enough to get you to town? I promise that we’ll bring you right back here once they treat -”
Another loud squawk of disapproval came from the bird’s throat, this time directed at Cassie, and Kaitlyn grunted in annoyance as she ran a hand through her hair. Skarmory looked like it was still a little young, so likely not quite fully-grown yet, but that still meant it was somewhere just under a hundred pounds if she was guessing right. That would be way too heavy to carry all the way to town, given that they were still a few hours away from Oreburgh. If they hurried, they could probably make it by nightfall, but not with the addition of the Steel-type. Maybe she could stay out here with it and send Cassie to Oreburgh, see if they could have someone from the Center come out and look at it? Or even call the Center and check that way?
No, she thought to herself, shelving the idea for the moment. It would take Cassie until nightfall just to get to town, and they likely wouldn’t be able to get anyone out - assuming they even could - until at least the next afternoon. Even if she called, Pokemon Centers didn’t normally keep any trained Flying-types on hand, usually electing to leave rescues that would need that capability to either League Trainers or Rangers. She didn’t want to leave Skarmory in pain for that long, but...what else could she do?
“What are you doing?” Kaitlyn asked, noticing Cassie fiddling with her phone.
“I was trying to see if I could look up anything that might help on Poketube, since it doesn’t want to go into a Poke Ball,” she said with a shrug. “I...couldn’t really think of anything else to do.”
A reasonable thought, Kaitlyn mused, even if they didn’t really have the supplies to deal with any kind of serious injuries on hand. A few moments later, she stopped as a thought came to mind. It was a bit of a stretch, but it couldn’t hurt to check, she reasoned as she reached for her own phone.
“Did you figure something out?” Cassie asked hopefully.
“Maybe...” Kaitlyn said absently, pulling up her contacts and scrolling through them before pressing her finger to the screen and putting the phone to her ear. “I might have an idea that would work...”