Project: Titans -- A Pokemon Story (OC x Piers)

Chapter 4

I woke up in possibly the most awkward position humanly possible. Shelgon was curled up at my feet, Salazzle was snoring with her head on my shoulder, Skrelp was snuggled under my blanket, Espeon was sitting on my chest and Meowsie's tail was in my mouth. Spitting out the Meowth fur, I gently nudged Espeon off me, shook Shelgon awake, woke the other two and then picked up Meowsie and set her in my backpack.

It took a lot of time to wake her up, and that was a luxury we couldn't afford right now. X was in Galar, and with my luck, he would be trying to gain Father's favor by collecting Wishing Stars for him. I even snarled aloud at the thought of the stupid, smug look on his face.

I returned my partners to their Pokeballs, clipped them to my belt, and roughly grabbed my bag. Meowsie, miraculously, was still asleep. I pulled it over my shoulders, took the tent down (which was a lot less tedious than putting it up), and packed everything. Espeon was out of her Pokeball, ready to carry my bag. After the long rest last night, she was raring to go.

After everything was packed up, I rummaged through my bag for the most important item for my mission. I grabbed the wig, tugging it over my hair and sliding it into place. Then, I grabbed my case of contact lenses and selected the pastel green ones. Flipping open my compact mirror, I was pleased with my new look. My hair was now a muted bubblegum pink cut in a short bob, and my eyes were the color of mint candies.

We trekked across the Wild Area, encountering many Pokemon and catching every single one to send back to Kanto. Pancham, Tyrogue, Wooper, Duskull, and many more varieties of powerful and interesting Pokemon. And, some Pokemon from Galar that excited me also made an appearance. Chewtle, Rookidee, Galarian Meowth (which Meowsie completely despised) and even Nickit added diversity to my Pokedex.

We made it to Motostoke in amazing time, with about three, maybe four, hours to spare before we had to start our mission. Plenty of time to make our way to Turffield and get a letter of recommendation. I'd singled out the Grass-type gym leader after a really long process, and even after that it was a long shot that we'd get in.

Getting letters of recommendation from the Champion or Chairman Rose was nearly impossible, so I immediately crossed them off my mental list. The Fairy-type leader lived in the middle of some strange woods, and I didn't feel like getting turned into a mushroom while hiking there, so she was out. The Dragon-type leader was a narcissist, so maybe if I stroked his ego he might've given me one, or, Meowsie said pointedly, he could be so wrapped up in himself that he completely ignored me.

The Fighting-type gym leader was busy training elsewhere, the Ghost-type leader rarely spoke, and the Dark-type leader was a recluse, so they weren't options. The Ice and Rock gyms were constantly fighting, and I never like family squabbles. The Water and Fire-type gyms might've been easier to convince, but they wanted strength. And to play to my strengths in this mission, I needed to act a bit weak and helpless, only looking for fun in battles, which would appeal to the Grass-type gym leader.

So, I decided to learn all about the Grass-type gym leader, whose name I learned was Milo. He was strong. He liked having fun in battles. He herded Wooloo, so he was good at taking a leadership role. He had a Yamper. He had trouble going all-out on weak opponents, which was important to remember when I fought him eventually. All in all, a bit of a boring leader, but I knew better than to complain. The sooner we beat the Gym Challenge, the sooner we could challenge the Champion, and the sooner we could go home.

We were encroaching on the staircase leading to Motostoke, when I thought I heard a voice yelling, 'Look out below!' I looked around me, but didn't see anything. Then, I looked up, and leapt back before an enormous cage landed on me. A moment later, a bird Pokemon landed in front of me. "Sorry," a female voice shouted to me, clambering off of her ride. She was a girl, about my age, with honey colored hair that hung in two braids. She looked really young, and had the kind of face that seemed like she would be full of mischief. But, now, her silver eyes were sparkling with worry.

"Are you okay," she asked, tugging off the furry overcoat she was wearing. "I'm so sorry we almost crashed into you!"
"It's fine," I assured her. "I'm fine. No broken bones, nothing bruised, I'm all good."
"I am so sorry," she apologized again, pink embarrassment creeping up her neck all the way to her ears. "I'm Maddie-"

"Maggie," I asked, alarmed. "As in short for Magnolia, the professor?!"
"No, silly," she laughed. "Maddie. D-d-d-d-d. Dee. Everyone confuses my name for the professor's, but it's fine. I've gotten used to it. Like I said, I'm Maddie, and this is my partner, Braviary."

The bird Pokemon from before cawed at being recognised. Upon closer inspection, I saw she had a harness strapped to her, and a saddle on her back. But the thing that really drew my attention was the cage-like structure that had almost landed on me. It was very big, constructed of black metal with a huge perch for Braviary to sit on on the very top.

"What is that thing?" I asked, and I felt the need to slap myself when Maddie gave me an odd look. Meowsie probably would have done it for me, had she not been obligated to act like a regular Meowth while civilians were around. "You've never seen a Flying Taxi before?" she asked, bewildered.
"I'm not from around here," I lied. "I'm originally from Goldenrod City, in Johto. I wanted to partake in the Galarian Gym Challenge, and get a change of pace from busy city life."

"Cool. Where're you headed next?"
"Turffield. I'm looking to get a letter of recommendation from a friend there."
"Nice," she grinned. Then, her face lit up with excitement. "Say, why don't we give you a lift there, then?"
"Oh, no thank you, I wouldn't like to burden you like that," I said, hurriedly trying to come up with an excuse that wasn't 'I don't want to become a living pancake'.

"No, I insist," she smiled. "Think of it as an apology for almost smashing you with the carriage."
"Well, it's free transportation," I mused. "Alright, we accept." Maddie broke into a huge grin, and tugged her jacket back on. "Guv', you're about to experience the wonderful service of the Flying Taxi drivers of Galar."

**********

The ride to Turffield wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be. It was actually quite pleasant, with the cold wind blowing through the open windows, and the serenity of the clouds. A few times, we dipped and I thought for a moment we'd been dropped, but then we righted ourselves again and continued on towards the town.

Maddie had an earpiece in her ear, and I could radio her from inside the coach, which was a huge relief to me. "So, Maddie," I asked after a long period of silence had passed. "You said you're a part of the Flying Taxi service, correct?"

"Well, ummm," she mumbled. "I'm not exactly a part of the team yet," she admitted. "My dad runs the service, and he works in Wyndon almost constantly. I've been asking him for years to teach me the trade, but he never does. So, I took it up myself. Me and Braviary want to be the best in the business, even if we aren't using Corviknight to carry passengers."

"Mm hm," I said, trying to not be sick. I was now flying over a thousand feet in the air, carried by a girl with absolutely no professional training whatsoever in carrying people and Pokemon around, and to top it all off, she wasn't even using the right Pokemon for the job!

"I know it sounds a bit risky," she said. Meowsie mouthed a No kidding! to me and I nodded in agreement. "And I know we're not exactly the world's best people for the job..."
"Really, I can't fathom why," I mumbled sarcastically.
"I heard that," she said, and I immediately felt guilty. "It's okay. I know I have a long way to go before I can be a Flying Taxi driver. But I'm happy you were willing enough to let me fly you to Turffield. It means a lot to prove ourselves, right, love?"

Braviary cawed in agreement, and the carriage shuddered. A few minutes later, we touched down in the middle of a grassy field. I exited the coach, Meowsie clinging to my shoulder. Maddie hopped off of Braviary and offered her hand in farewell.

"Say, I never got your name," she said.
"Dharmira," I smiled, taking it. "But everyone calls me Mira."
"Well, then, guess I'll be seeing you around, then, Mira," she smiled, and clambered back onto her mount. With a great flapping and cawing, Braviary lifted off the ground and flew off, over the rolling hills of golden grass.