Pokemon: Fate's Path

Chapter 1

Jay Wolfe

I had been ready to go on my pokémon adventure since I was ten, however my parents had repeatedly informed me that in our region it was much too dangerous for a ten year old to go out on their own even with a pokémon at their side. But I was eighteen now, an adult by law, which meant I could now go out into Drucan and explore! I quickly picked up my specially bred Eevee, Curse as I named her, and walked outside with my backpack slung over my shoulder to see my parents one last time before I left. I of course found them tending to the other pokémon in their breeding center, which was one of the best places for getting well bred pokémon in Drucan. They even bred some starter pokémon for the professors in Rookrust to give to new trainers, usually the starters from Kanto or Hoenn but occasionally other region starters have been asked for. I swear they want me to become a pokémon breeder like them, and although it would be a great job, I'm interested in becoming the champion.

"Going somewhere?" My mother questioned as she looked up at me.

I nodded. "You said I could start my journey when I turned eighteen... well I am now!"

My father's figure appeared as he walked out of ponyta's stall with a feed bucket. "Already? The sun's barely up, can't you stay a bit so we can celebrate before you go?"

They were trying to keep me here again... hold me back. I shook my head. "I can't, I have to get going sometime and it'll get light soon enough."

He looked like he was going to argue but my mother spoke up first. "Just keep in touch alright? I would hate to know if something bad happened to you... Oh, and watch out for thieves and those cults! Even with your pokémon I'm not sure you'll be safe against them."

I rolled my eyes as I waved farewell. "I'm sure I'll be fine. There hasn't been that much activity in the news over cults or thieves in months."

"That might be true but you never know what could happen." I heard my mother call after me. "Stay out of trouble and come visit if you need anything!"

"I know." I shouted back, holding back another eye roll. "Bye!"

I started running off with Curse at my side before they could call me back again, not that running would do much good if they got rapidash or stoutland to come get me. Once I was a few blocks away I slowed down and picked up Curse again, her silver fur dotted with white snowflakes though the fact didn't seem to bother her considering she'd been in Iceshore her entire life. But I could tell she was happy to be on an adventure just as much as I was.

"Alright, we need to get some pokéballs from the professors before we get started." I tapped a few buttons on my phone and pulled up a map of Drucan with all of its cities and towns. "Rookrust isn't too far, we should get there in no time if we take Cursed Way."

"Vee?" Curse gave a slightly nervous cry.

"It isn't really cursed, they just call it that because of the ghost types that live near there. They shouldn't bother us, not that their moves should damage you anyway." I responded confidently as I brushed my dark brown hair behind my ear and put away my phone.

I started walking again towards the southeast side of Iceshore where the path would lead me through part of Spectral Woods without going through the mountains like the path to Cario would. The snowy city fell away behind me along with the few friends I had said goodbye to several days before and turned into barren land, though I could see the forest ahead and the sand near the cold ocean on my other side a few miles off judging by the distance of the water line. A few Murkrow flew by overhead, seeking the shelter of the forest ahead as the dawn light turned brighter. It was a bit warmer as the ice and snow turned into a few patches of rocks and shrubs before giving way to the start of the forest.

The shadows engulfed the two of us as we entered and I felt Curse shift a bit in my arms as she looked around at the tree branches above us. I glanced up a bit as well upon noticing the flickering shadows as Noctowl, Hoothoot, and Zubat fluttered above us, probably disturbed by our sudden presence while they were starting to settle in for the day ahead. As more light penetrated through the leaves above I could see several Burmy hanging from the branches above as well as some Zigzagoon peaking out of the bushes around the path. I gave a smile and glanced over at Curse.

"What were my parents worried about? These guys don't want to fight us... Spectral Woods is pretty neat though. I've never been this far in before." I put my partner down so she could stretch her legs and explore a bit before walking over to a tree and leaning back against it to rest for a bit.

Spectral Woods wasn't as bad as the people back at Iceshore made it sound, then again this was still only the edge of the forest, maybe it was bad deeper in. Guess I would find out. I started walking again after a few minutes, though I still allowed Curse to explore the area around us as we travelled. I took notice of several Deerling and Sawsbuck between the trunks and stayed quiet as I watched them for a few moments before more trees hid them from my sight.

The woods blocked out most sunlight by the time I was in the middle of it and the air was cooler due to the lack of the sun's warmth. Still, I didn't hear anything that could pose a threat... there weren't even any pokémon out. However when Curse ran back towards me with a startled cry I froze, a moment later a wild trevenant came rushing out from the shadows looking very upset. I backed away slightly while assessing the situation, trevenant were ghost and grass, which meant Curse wouldn't do too well in a fight against this opponent. Still, there was one thing I could do.

"Use sand attack!" I commanded.

Curse responded by skidding to a halt and turning back around to face the larger pokémon. She used her tail and paws to shuffle the dirt into the air and flinging it into the trevenant's face, blinding it temporarily but ultimately making the pokémon angrier than it was before. Tree branches coated in a dark ghostly light erupted from the ground and stretched towards us, I moved out of the way, shuddering as one almost caught me.

"Curse, sand attack again." I gritted my teeth, that was her only move that would work on a ghost type.

The good news was that the trevenant stopped attacking as it was once again blinded and I took the chance to run away with Curse at my side. I came to a stop once we were a safe distance away to look at the trees around us, how many more of those pokémon nearby? Not to mention there could be other pokémon hiding in the dark as well.

I looked down at Curse. "What did you do to tick it off?"

"Vee." Curse tilted her head innocently and I sighed before moving forward again, we couldn't stay here after all or that trevenant might find us.

We managed to make it out of Spectral Woods by early sunset and I picked up Curse once more before walking into Rookrust, it was a bit late but I could just stay at the Pokémon Center until morning before going to the professor's lab. At least I was here though instead of back home... or staying overnight in Spectral Woods, I wasn't going to stop my journey before it even started!