The Sea Guardian {A Pokémon Fanfiction}

Evolution Revolution

Naomi's POV~

Victory Road was a challenge for all of us. Trainers popped out every minute, challenging each of us to a battle. Most of them were Ace Trainers, each owning a Dragon type pokemon. Silver, Hazel, and I had Ice types, making it easier for us, but the rest of us were out of luck.

Our group trudged down the path, with currently no trainers in sight. Each of us were occupied in our own activities. Silver was carefully reviewing his battle strategies with Hazel in a hushed voice. She looked elate at his progress, nodding excitedly at every word, causing him to grin and shake his head.

Gold contemplated Lyra as she studied the Master Ball in her hands. She glanced up at him occasionally, silently thanking him for the gift. A Master Ball...I would love to get my hands on one of them. Uncle Kurt always told wonderful stories about what they could do. They could catch even legendaries, I'd heard.

As for me, I was occupied with my new companion, Azurill, as he bounced gleefully by my side. Gold let me borrow his Pokedex to research some of the limited moves the baby pokemon knew.

I scrolled through the small list of moves Azurill had mastered. Rollout, Pound, Bubble, and Charm were a few of the moves that had sparked my interest. He knew Splash, too, but when would that ever come in handy? It was a move to keep in mind, though, in case I was ever in a situation where I needed it.

Azurill perched himself atop my head, peering over to see the machine in my hands. I giggled lightly as he squeaked in response, his round tail brushing me on my neck.

"We should get training soon, little guy," I said. "Maybe after the Pokemon League. I'm not sure if I want to battle with you just yet."

"If you train with him, he just may surprise you," Hazel turned her head from Silver to look back at me. "This little one's got potential; I can tell." She smiled at me before engaging in another quiet conversation with the redhead by her side.

"A-rill," Azurill beamed down at me, obviously agreeing with Hazel's statement.

"Alrighty then," I agreed. "We can start training tonight. You better not disappoint me!" I joked.

He gave a firm shake of the head and I laughed, glad to see he was willing to work hard.

"Trainers!" a group of Ace trainers shouted, halting us to a stop. "We'd like a battle!"

"Of course," I mumbled, clasping a pokeball to prepare for release, but Azurill stood firmly in front of me.

"An Azurill?" one of the male trainers snorted. "Ha! How pathetic!" The rest of them joined in on the laugh, although Azurill still held his head high. I liked the pokemon's confidence.

"We'll see who's laughing when you lose," I countered, only making them laugh harder.

"Pl-ease!" a girl scoffed in between laughs. "When we lose? You're too funny!"

Oh, it's on.

~~~~~~

Azurill bounded happily in front of me, leading us away from the group of Ace trainers left dumbfounded. Their expressions- priceless. All of them stuttered at a loss for words, mouths gaping an eyes widened. Azurill snickered beside me at his achievement and I smirked down at him.

"Not bad, little guy," I praised. "Of course, I wouldn't expect any less from a member of my team."

"Silv?" I heard Gold ask behind me. "I'm starved. When are we gonna stop?"

"I guess now won't be a bad time, right?" Hazel suggested and Silver shrugged. Lyra beamed, already scouting out a place for us to set up camp.

We decided on a small meadow just west of Victory Road. We rolled out our sleeping bags, collecting wood to make a fire with the help of Hazel's Ninetales and Gold's Typhlosion.

I made everyone soup for dinner, and, not to brag or anything, I was a pretty good cook. Anna would always give me tips on a different variety of recipes. She would say it was a natural talent, but I knew she'd got it from Brock.

After our meal, I immediately turned to Azurill. He looked up at me expectantly, surely not forgetting the deal we'd made earlier.

"Ready for some training, Azurill?" I asked, poking him in the stomach. He leapt right over my head, scrambling behind the bushes. "We'll be back!" I laughed, following him.

Azurill and I trained near camp, at a clearing only about ten minutes away. He balanced his stubby legs on his tail, staring intently at me, waiting for instructions.

"Okay, Azurill," I started. "First, we're gonna work on your Bubble attack. You seemed pretty good about it in our battle, but we're gonna see if we can turn it into an even more powerful move, Water Gun. You got it?"

Azurill nodded determinedly and I pointed to a nearby tree. His eyes narrowed and he fired the attack, bubbles firing in its direction.

"Good, now try and combine those bubbles, alright?" I said, but he still looked slightly confused. "Like a stream. A slow, steady stream from your mouth, not separate little bubbles. Combine them."

Azurill tried again, but it turned out as a line of tightly packed bubbles, just nearly forming a steady wave. I nodded in approval, asking him to try again, but not to try and shape the bubbles coming out, just letting the water flow.

Hours. Hours we'd practiced, perfecting Water Gun and improving Rollout. We'd worked on speed and Defense, learning Defense Curl unexpectedly while practicing Rollout as well.

Hazel had come to check on us, but Azurill still wanted to train. We had only thirty minutes left before Hazel said we would have to head back from our training session.

My eyes widened at the following events. I..I couldn't believe it! Azurill glowed a faint white color, fading in and out. He was...evolving? Already?

Azurill looked panicked though, breathing heavily and closing his eyes tightly. The glowing began to stop, but threatened to break through.

"Azurill," I clasped his tiny hands in mine and he flinched at the impact. "Azurill, it's okay. You're evolving, it's supposed to be exciting!"

He opened his eyes slightly, still looking worried about this new process. The glowling slowly began to ease in again, and Azurill squeaked loudly, shaking his head roughly.

"Listen to me, Azurill," I assured him, staying calm for his sake. "All that's happening is your going to change your shape. It's not a scary thing- it's supposed to make you stronger. Trust me."

As soon as I said those final words, a blinding light took over the meadow, as well as a high pitched pokemon cry. Not a cry of pain, but a cry of joy from the tiny creature. A cry of determination to take on this new shape to become stronger, just like I promised it would.