Dream Heroes

Chapter 1: Wild Numel Chase

I can't say that waking to the barks of your overly-excited Growlithe after only three hours of sleep is one of the most pleasant feelings in the world. Even less so when the sleep you did get was on the painfully uncomfortable floor of a twenty year-old watercraft, but I guess it beats the alternative of being too relaxed to get up to take the damn thing off cruise-mode and cutting my adventure short by horrifically maiming myself in a boating accident.

Sluggishly pulling myself up, I took a look around to see what all the barking was about and found that within view was a small docking bay stationed in front of a widespread beach. I rubbed my eyes awake, eager to set this hunk of poorly engineered metal ashore and see if we had really made it to our destination. I steered forward and lowered the speed to pace capable of docking at. As the old boat moved closer, I could just barely make out a sign up ahead on the coast which from the looks of it read "Cianwood City - A Port of Crashing Waves".

My face lit up like a Snorlax who had just found out that the road he'd been blocking was made of Oreos. "Awright, that's what I'm talking about!", I shouted. "Do you know what this means, buddy? We made it to Johto!"

Ares nodded with his tongue hanging out, panting excitedly. I drew my boat in closer to the docking bay and screeched to a complete stop when I saw how close I actually was to knocking down the wooden walkway.

By the time I had my bag, complete with everything I should have needed for my journey, in my hands, Ares was already sprinting down towards the beach as if the boat were going to burst into flames at any second. I could see the ebony striped orange coat of fur bulleting up the greystone stairs that led into the city. "Hey, wait up for me!" I stumbled out of the boat and ran after him, as I had no intention of separating only minutes after arriving to this new region.

After struggling to keep up with my speedy Growlithe, I was relieved to spot him come to a stop after clearing the stairs, posting himself at the peak of the sandy cliff beside the steps. Finally at ease, I followed his path towards the stairs. However, as I looked up at the cliffside he was standing on, I was able to make out some creature in the distance. The creature grew larger and larger the more I stared till it became clear that said creature was a plump oval-shaped Numel who, for whatever reason, was stampeding towards the cliffside that Ares was basking in. Ares had all of half a second to react to whatever was using the sand as a marathon track, and before either of us knew it, the Numel shot up one of its stubby legs and kicked the peaceful Growlithe up towards the skies. My eyes widened in disbelief as I bore witness to Ares flailing around up in the air before careening down into the ocean blues in one massive splash.

Surely he was safe considering that the drop couldn't have been any more than 15 or 20 feet, but the brisk water smacking me in the face knocked me into action, and all I could think of was running to Ares and making sure he didn't suffer more than a few scratches and soaked stripes.

In the time it would take someone to snap their fingers, I was already all the way down the wooden dock bridges closest to where I saw him land. My eyes darted all over the place in a desperate attempt to figure out where he was, and already my mind was spinning around with thoughts of him trapped beneath the cold sea, powerless to stop his life from being drowned away by the chilling water. That was when I spotted him well outside of the water, sprinting back up the stairs with his crimson eyes firmly locked on the cliff-side settled Numell. "Oh god, please no," I wished. "Ares, get back here right now!"

I found myself charging after him yet again, knowing that things could only end badly if he did catch up to that mischievous lump-of-a-Pokemon. Once I reached the top of the stairwell, there was barely a foot between Ares and his attacker. My enraged Growlithe's dagger-like teeth were flashing against the morning sun, packed with a slow and rumbling growl that sent radiating chills down the poor Numel, who seemed to lack interest in getting into a fight just as much as I did. "Come on, Ares, he's learned his lesson." I attempted to calm him down. "We've got bigger Numels to fry." My words didn't do much to deter Ares, and I was just about ready to step in and put a stop to all of this tom foolery myself, when all of a sudden some fedora-wearing doofus came running down through the streets, most likely the trainer responsible for the Numel, judging by his backpack and travel boots.