As we left I saw a Gardevior appear near the charm scum. The glimpse is enough to make me increase my crazed speed, the backpack's position on my back the only thing slowing me down. Already my mind fills itself with mistakes, but I'm alive. Still, I'm disappointed that I lost my first battle as a trainer. Against the Pokemon line I hate the most too.

  I stuff Ian's scabbard in my bag, and it sticks out the top while he rests. When he returns to consciousness, I have him feel out rocks in the area. "Try feeling it in this rock" I say, holding a rock up next to him. For another couple hours we train this way and fight off 3 more fairy types that jump us. Ian got knocked out two times and I had to run away again. Thankfully fairy types aren't all that fast. They usually chase us for a bit before giving up. Scratch came in clutch, quick to use and sharp enough when I’m providing the force. If he has any compints about my treatment of him then he hasn't shown it or refused training, something I thank Arceus for.

  I picked berries I found along the way and ate them for lunch. I have three packaged meals on me but after that it's on me and my money. I collected up a good stock and stuff the tougher, less ripe oran berries in my bag’s water bottle pocket. We are on a small trail that was left behind by the rangers long ago and haven't yet run into other people from Forestree. I pn to stop today when the trails converge. Other trails have other dangers or are safer and longer but they all pass through the next vilge. I think its name is Ribb and we sometimes get visitors from there, traveling to trade mostly.

  By the time I want to settle down, Ian can make a small inch tall line about 3 feet wide. I'll have him make it like a tall pyramid to start and get the most out of the move before he makes it stronger and bigger. He has been humming occasionally and I can't shake the feeling that it means something as the metallic whine sounds. He pys around with wide guard by making spirals in the ground while I clean his bde, a training exercise that I thought of years ago to build dexterity with the move.

  His sheathe leans against a tree and I smell perfume slightly. I look around while getting up to prepare for the impending attack but it never comes, the scent fading away. Must have been the wind carrying it so far. I settle down once more and keep cleaning until Ian shines. I think he looks pretty cool like that. I hold him up towards the fading sunlight and see him shine in it.

  "Nice sword! Where'd you get it and where's your ‘mon?" a voice asks.

  I chuckle "Good to see you Zac, make it here in one piece?" I answer his question by tossing Ian in the air and letting him float. He hums again and I see my best friend with a Froakie by his side.

  "Yeah, Froakie here was able to stick the stronger wilds down with his sticky bubbles. He's so cool, up top" his Froakie jumps up high and gives him some palm before nding on his shoulder.

  "Nice, did you see anyone else? I thought you were traveling with Hannah?"

  "Yeah, we got separated when a Mawile popped up. She was looking for a second Pokemon in the forest. She should get here when she finds the path again. They all lead to the same pce anyways" he sat down next to the fire I created.

  We talked about our first day and he checked out my arm, calling it a "battle scar." I'd gotten other scars but his expnation made me think of this one as special, having a story behind it and everything. Hurt like a Beedrill sting though, still did even after a potion spritz.

  A team of three others reached the fire before I decided to go to sleep on the ground. We talked and decided we would rotate sleeping for the next couple nights until we split up in Blossom. For now it was hard enough to stay awake for my turn. I was grateful for the short adjustment period before I really had to rough it.

  Oh crap, I forgot to look out for that Pokemon! I looked in the treetops to see if there were any perching there but no luck. A couple of peaceful wild Pokemon came by and even a Dachsbun with some Fidough warmed themselves by the fire. Not all the time were wild Pokemon out to get you and you needed to be able to tell the difference or you’d get into more fights than you needed to. Well, that only applied when you got away from the vilge. Something about the area made them more violent towards humans, or at least I had been told my experience hadn’t been the usual kind. Kids weren't allowed outside the main vilge area alone until they became trainers or the moth man would come and that would be a bad experience with a capital B.

  When I woke up, I scowled. It was well past sunrise. Some of my other cssmates had already headed off. Zac was dutifully keeping lookout and Hannah seemed to have found her way to our camp after my midnight watch. I waved quietly and gathered my things. He motioned for me to stay but I shook my head. I would stick to me and Ian to handle our troubles.

  By the time I started picking berries for lunch, Ian had already improved his wide guard a bit, up to a foot tall trapezoid and still with the three foot base. He could also sense rock TE in an area about two arm lengths around himself and I wondered if a strong Pokemon could sense the whole world. The things I pondered in css during Paldea and Gar history haha. By the time we got to Alo in css I was barely listening, at least I remember most Pokemon from those isnds. As for the regions taught st, let’s just say I knew the local ones.

  Today, I was on sharp lookout for the Pokemon I wanted. I needed to get it before I left this area or the chances of finding it would tank until the Dragon Cliffs area. I saw a puffy pair of wings in the sky attached to a blue sphere. I tried getting its attention by shining light off Ian. After a couple tries it seemed to notice, flying down before perching on my head.

  It chirped and pecked Ian, not the move but a tap to get at the light. "Hey there, do you want a berry?"

  I held up a couple that I picked, oran, pecha, and a mago berry. It grabbed the pecha berry in its beak as I grabbed the two others I had for it. "I'm starting my journey this year and I'm going to go adventuring far and wide to get strong. I want you to be my teammate for that if your interested in something like that." I kept as still as I could and the Swablu finished the pecha berries before taking the oran and flying to look at me from a nearby branch. As it nibbled it watched me, appraising my appearance which could have been better. It kept gncing at Ian and my hair and it finished the berry before walking up to tap Ian once more.

  He had been motionless as I had told him not to scare it away. "This is Ian. He's been protecting me on my way through the forest."

  I gestured for him to float and he did so slowly. The Swablu tapped him a couple more times before flying onto my head again, this time preening my hair. "Is that a yes?" There was a sharp tug on my hair but it was chirping in a singing voice as it worked. After a couple more tugs at my retively curly hair it flew a foot away to look at its work. It trilled and happily rested on my head once more. I held up a pokeball to it and it tapped the button.

  It shook once and instantly caught it. I checked the pokedex and found that it had the ability natural cure to heal faster from status effects. It knew growl, peck, disarming voice, mist, haze, defog, and roost well enough to be recognized. Thats a lot of moves but a couple of them aren't that useful at this stage of my training. We had a lot of work left to do though as this Pokemon was already about 5 years old and apparently female. I wanted her to learn dragon rush, agility, and tailwind before she grew too old to learn them. She was already pushing the limits on if she'd be able to learn them. Ian, meanwhile, was still a baby at maybe a month and a half old according to the pokedex even if he'd been trained some by the breeders.

  I let her out of the ball and she sang happily while grabbing at my hair. Curious, I held Ian up to look in his reflection. I heard the humming again as I looked and saw that my hair looked like a birds nest, she even added some of her cotton wings to it to get more from the sides.

  When I looked in her eyes I tried to make a frown but she would only look at my hair, never meeting my gaze. When I tried to talk she starting singing in a higher pitch and louder, drowning out my words.

  I moved to fix it but got pecked hard and saw her giving me a nasty look. Same when I reached for her pokeball from the magnetic clip. Even Ian's pokeball was off limits until she settled down on my head once more and fell asleep promptly. Her talons were knitted into my hair to secure herself. Surprised and a bit annoyed, I accepted that my hair would look like this at least for awhile.

  I smiled a strained smile as I used Ian as a walking stick to continue onwards. Simple to get, annoying to keep. Just like their pokedex entry detailed the poor man's dragon. At least I already had a nickname picked in retaliation. Puff would be a welcome addition to the team.