Flames of Hoenn

Chapter 3: Battle Begin!

      Terry, knowing he’d be lonely, had decided to play with Cyndaquil and wait for Lydia. “You need a name, don’t you?” Cyndaquil looked up at him quizzically, then made a smile and yelped a hearty reply.

      “Hmm, let’s see here. What works here? You’re a Fire type, should probably incorporate that. Or am I thinking too much here? I bet a version of me in some other reality figured this out faster…” Cyndaquil, having seen a butterfly, had started running around, chasing and jumping happily. She tripped and rolled, ending up sitting on her rear end, confused. Terry walked over and picked her up. “Careful, there!” Laughing, he sat and began to stroke Cyndaquil’s back. Pyra. That was her name. It went with this bubbly personality. At least, he thought so.

      Growing up, feeling he would get a starter from his home region, he had always wanted a Mudkip. He enjoyed the amount of power and dominance that a fully evolved Swampert could portray in its battling, a trait that he had been admiring for some time. His second choice was Treeko. It’s first several stages were a little girly for him, being a much more graceful style, but Sceptile became quite a powerful foe, especially in a pinch. The Torchic family was a lot more elegant. While Blaziken could pack quite a punch, he had never really felt it as a dominating kind of Pokémon.

      Never in his wildest dreams did he think of using something from a different region. He had never really watched many battles involving any of the Cyndaquil Family. What could he learn from this little Pokémon? He looked down at her, still stroking her back. Pyra was making all kinds of purring, appreciative sounds. He smiled. You know, naming really isn’t something I’m very good at. But maybe this’ll stick. She deserves some fire in her. At the moment he thought that, Pyra looked up at him and nodded happily.

      Still stunned from Pyra reading his thoughts, he didn’t even notice when Lydia ran up. “Hey, Terry!”

      Shaking himself from his stupor, he looked up and instantly grinned wide. “Why, hello there! What took you so long?”

      “I battled Derik! He’s pretty good!” She seemed surprised.

      “Really? Who won?”

      Lydia grinned, and started walking away, leaning back as she whispered, “I’ll never tell!” At that, she ran. Terry, laughing, chased after her.

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      Oldale was FAR. Terry was getting tired, and by the looks of it, so was Lydia. Oldale might not be as far as it felt, but they hadn’t been adventurers for long. It was getting darker still, and by the looks of it, there were no homes around to stay in. Terry let out a deep sigh.

      “You know, I DO have a sleeping bag, and I’m sure you have one too. We could set up a fire and get some sleep. We could even take turns doing watch and stuff! That’d be cool.”

      Lydia, rolling her eyes, agreed to the idea. She also was able to convince Terry to take the first watch (not that it was that difficult). So, after using the fire kit Lydia’s Dad had sent her, she settled in and was soon fast asleep. Terry, using all of his willpower, tried not to look at her. He knew that if he did, he’d be forced to draw all sorts of funny things. So, he left himself to his thoughts as he stared up at the now bright yellow moon.

      Is this really happening? I’m a Pokémon trainer! Here I am, Route 101! The first night of the rest of my life. What’ll I do? Who’ll I meet? Terry looked over to where his Cyndaquil, whom he had left out of her Pokéball, was resting. Her, too! My first Pokémon. From Johto! I wonder what kind of place that is? That was it. He decided, then and there, that he was going to travel to every region he could find. If there was a world to explore, well, darn it, he was gonna explore it! He looked over towards Lydia. I wonder if she would go?