Chapter Text
On the way out of Lumiose, Alain and Charmander come across an unfamiliar pokemon, a bird pokemon coloured shades grey, beady eyes staring right at them. Pulling his pokedex, he holds it up to the wild bird. “Pidove, the tiny pigeon pokemon.” Alain raises his eyebrows, “Aren’t Pidove’s native to Unova? No wonder I didn’t recognize it.” He considers for a moment, pokeballs in a pouch on his belt. “Charmander? Up for battle?” No need to tell the little lizard twice, as she throws out an ember straight towards the branch the bird is sitting on.
With an angry squawk, Pidove dives down for a peck, beak glowing with energy. “Dodge, use scratch once you can reach them.” Alain says, Charmander already charging up her attack. She basically pounces on the poor bird once they missed their peck and they rough house on the dirt floor. Biting and clawing with all their might. Taking the distraction, Alain throws a pokeball, landing it square on Pidove's head, the ball shakes, once and twice and-
Pidove escapes with a sharp whistle, flapping back into the sky.
Alain changes his tactics, “Alright, Charmander. Remember smokescreen? I'm going to throw you, trap Pidove in the smog.” Charmander growls her agreement, and Alain bends his knees, grabbing Charmander by her sides and tossing her as high as he can. Smoke covers the sky and Alain can't see anything through the darkness. “Bite them!” Alain yells in hopes his voice is heard.
He sees two small figures plummet through the smoke and back down to the earth. Teeth are stuck into Pidove's wing, Alain cheers, another ball in hand. “Charmander turn to the left!” Now Pidove is directly facing Alain. Right before they meet the ground Alain aims, the ball rolls on the floor just as Charmander slows her fall by clawing on Alain. He's going to have scars after this, “Couldn't you have used a tree?” Alain complains, Charmander just laughs.
A click rings out and Alain walks towards the ball, releasing the just caught pokemon out of its confines. “Welcome to the team Pidove.”
Pidove immediately pecks his face. “Dove! Dove!” Alain has to quickly cover his face with his arms, letting them bear the brunt of the weak attacks, “Sorry, sorry! Let me heal you before you attack me again.”
Pidove's personality is charming to say the least, he loves to peck everything and anything. Random berries on trees by their route, Alain, the sleeping bag he was tucked into after refusing to stay in his ball, Alain, Charmander when she isn't looking and of course, Alain. He loves to battle, a trainer challenged Alain at the pokemon center before Alain could call home, leaving him slightly annoyed. Pidove picked up on this.
Pidove threw out the strongest gust of wind he could muster, blowing the other trainer’s Fletchinder off the battlefield and directly into the trainer. They fell in a pile and both got knocked out, while Pidove crowed in victory. Alain laughed, his stomach hurt so bad from the inability to stop. Charmander had to torch his face to get him to stop, in addition, they also had to carry the fainted partners back to center much to Nurse Joy's horror.
“So basically that was my first week.” Alain says into the camera, he decided to call using the computers of the center instead of his phone as it was charging in his room for the night.
Augustine is on the other side, eyes bright, “Pidove is an interesting catch! It must have been a released pokemon, Unova is too far for it to have flown here itself.” The professor exclaims, he's in the middle of the living room and wearing pajamas. The pokemon in question pecks at Alain’s head from where he’s perched on Alain’s shoulder.
It's only nine pm and Lysandre hasn't made an appearance, Alain knows it's because since he left, dad probably picked back up his regular work schedule again. By regular, it means overtime. As a child, Lysandre would work from home, Augustine being busy in the lab so Alain was never left unattended.
“And well, please try not to knock out any more trainers.” Pa scolds, Alain covers his ears out of spite and to make his father laugh. “Goodnight pa, tell dad I said hello.”
Augustine gives him a warm smile, “Goodnight Alain, don’t get into too much trouble!”
-
Charmander and Pidove get along like a house being burnt into ash, as they make their way to the first gym the two pokemon have begun a friendly but intense rivalry.
“Char!” She cries, chasing around the taunting bird, she catches him in her claws and he lets out the loudest squawk Alain’s ever heard. As they roll around in the dirt into piles of leaves, Alain checks his map for the nearest body of water, the hardest thing about travelling was the amount of mud and dirt they tracked on their clothes. Alain hated the feeling of it on his skin and had the sudden epiphany he was spoiled, he still tried to remain clean, yes, but it would be easier for them as they travelled if he forced himself to get used to it.
Thankfully, his salvation laid just ahead if his map was correct, Laverre City.
Laying in bed after a hot shower, Alain huffs a sigh, both his pokemon were already knocked out on one side of the bed. They arrived at the city just as the night fell, the sky coloured in warm hues of orangey pink, it was breathtaking, covering the entire city in glowing lighting. Alain chose to continue exploring the next day, snapping a photo of the ancient large tree in the middle as he passed by, light rays falling through the leaves and illuminating the floor.
Pulling out his phone he stares at the three contacts in his list, Diantha, Augustine, Lysandre. He glances at the time, 11:43pm, he presses on the last contact, and soft rings fill the air. He waits and waits, but no one answers.
He tries to ignore the aching in his chest and tucks himself tight under the blanket, he’ll process his emotions when he's not exhausted.
-
Jolting awake at the sound of Pidove flapping around the room, he stares at the offending noisemaker, the bird crows back and pecks at his phone, alarm blaring. With a groan he pulls himself up and shuts off the alarm, glancing quickly at the time and spotting three missed calls. He puts the phone back down, glancing to the window where the sun was just rising.
“Looks like we can explore a little before challenging the gym.” Alain offers as Pidove preens his feathers, Charmander still fast asleep. Alain decides to shower to freshen up, he’ll deal with the calls later.
Coming out of the shower cleaner than ever, Alain hates himself a little less and decides to call his dad back. The phone rings, once, twice- beep.
“Alain? Good morning.” His dad’s voice fills the room and Alain is instantly comforted, “Hi dad, I made it to Laverre City.”
They talk for a good ten minutes, just Alain mentioning whatever he didn’t even mention in his call to pa. “-Anyways, Pidove loves to peck at me, I think he’s just doing it for the love of the game at this point, he’s pretty affectionate otherwise.” Pidove hoots like he’s proving a point and receives a scratch for his efforts. Dad chuckles over the phone, “Have you slept yet?” The boy asks knowingly.
“I don’t sound that tired now do I?” Lysandre replies slowly, he hears the shuffling of papers in the background. Alain can’t stop a snort from escaping, “Go to bed dad, I can’t believe how you survived before you adopted me and a regular sleep schedule.”
All he receives is a hum in return, “Daaaad.” Alain drags out, “Fine, fine, take care Alain.” The call ends and Alain holds his phone to his chest, breathing in and out.
“Alright, let’s go challenge the gym.”
Waving to Nurse Joy as they exit the center, Alain is almost dragged away by a stampeding crowd, saved only by Pidove pulling him back by his hood. “Woah!” Charmader, who stepped out of the way just in time, grabs a flyer swept up by the racing feet. She holds it up to Alain. ‘Gym leader Valerie’s Fashion Action!’ Bold words meant to catch the eye.
Alain sighs, looks like he isn’t challenging the gym anytime soon, at least this means they can grab breakfast first. Stumbling around the city, they pass many different shops who have just started to open. People are pushing carts full of fruit and produce into their common places, laying down mats on the floor and placing tourist items on the floor.
Spotting the crowd, Alain isn’t sure if he wants to check the scene out yet, walking in the opposite direction and finding a small little patisserie, he enters with a little ring of a bell, Charmander and Pidove choosing to wait and sit on an outside table.
“Bonjour!” Calls the person behind the counter, she has a friendly cheery smile for seven in the morning, Alain repeats the greeting, ordering an espresso and stares at the pokemon menu. “Ah, can I give you suggestions? What type are your pokemon?”
Alain gratefully accepts the help, pays and is ushered back to his seat, the worker promising that his order would be out soon. He fiddles with his pokedex as he waits, scanning Pidove who’s staring at him with beady eyes. Information slowly writes itself onto the screen and Alain gratefully reads the description.
Pidove, level 15, the tiny pigeon pokemon, found most commonly in Pinwheel Forest.
Type: Flying/ Normal, Ability: Big Pecks (explains some things).
Movepool: Peck (egg move), Gust, Growl, Quick Attack, Taunt
“Huh, you’re higher leveled than Charmander, how did we even catch you?” Alain muses out loud, Charmander growls like she’s proud of the fact she beat the small pigeon who is still five levels higher than her. Pidove looks ready to dive onto Charmander until they are all interrupted by the kind cashier holding their pastries.
She puts down a frankly, scarily spicy looking croissant in front of Pidove who pecks at it the moment it meets the table, Alain scolds the bird who looks up, tilts his head, and goes back to eating. With a sigh and the giggles of the worker, “And here’s a charcoal toasted Brioche with Rawst berry jam for the fiery lady!” Charmander blows a small ember in thanks before digging into her own meal.
Placing another pastry down, Alain starts, “I didn’t-” “It’s on the house!” She winks, placing down his espresso and walking back inside. He stares regretfully at the pain au chocolat that he would hate to waste and takes a reluctant bite.
Once they’ve finished their breakfast they walk back towards the crowd, Charmander hopping onto Alain’s shoulders after being accidentally stepped on and Pidove settling into his hair.
A stage comes into view, the fairy type gym leader skipping into the spotlight. Her bug eyes made Alain shiver but the crowd cheered at her entrance. Models slowly coming down the runway, traditional kimonos mixed with a modern Hime Lolita style, pokemon masks hiding their faces.
Alain wasn’t even sure how the combination worked so well. A mic is handed to the gym leader and she taps it once before speaking into the voice enhancer, “Good morning my little fairies!” Screams grow louder, Alain didn’t realize she was this famous, both Charmander and Pidove deciding to escape the noise and back into their balls at the decibel increase.
“As you notice, we are unfortunately missing one of my models.” She pouts, “So I am going to choose a member of the crowd to come join me on stage!”
“You.” Valerie points, and Alain is struck by disbelief at the direction her finger is pointing at, “Me?”
Hands are on Alain’s wrist before he can run away and he’s pulled onto the stage by the models, “Your measurements are perfect! I hope you can walk in high heels.” She giggles clapping her hands.
“Wait, I didn’t agree to this.” He says, feeling everyone’s eyes on him, she smiles serenely, “You agreed the moment you attended my show! Now go change!” Dragged backstage, he feels put off, his throat closing up and eyes blinking fast without his permission.
He recognizes his distress but it's a matter of how to react to it that he’s unsure of. “Enough, don’t touch me.” He bites, swatting away the hand attempting to unzip his hoodie, it’s like the entire city was insane. “I’m ten years old, you can’t do anything to me without my parents' consent.”
It is only with that threat did the models hands pause for a moment, one of them leaving to presumably call the gym leader while the others stood still. “Sorry, I thought you were just a really short woman.” Said a feminine voice behind the mask, Alain wants to think the correct action in this scenario is to either strangle her or curse her out.
He says it’s fine instead, much to the model’s relief who pats his head softly. “Usually children don’t attend these shows and if they do they are with their parents.” She apologizes again, bowing.
A voice rings out from behind him, “This is actually an adult only event! It's a wonder you got past all the security!” The gym leader smiles apologetically, her body is bent and hovering over Alain, “Sorry for the mix-up! We’ll get another audience member instead.”
“I just wanted a battle,” Alain murmurs under his breath, “A battle! I can do that, an apology from me!” Valerie snaps her fingers, immediately the models rush back outside leaving the two of them alone. Lifting up her arms she takes off a small hairclip and gesturing for Alain to hold out his hand, he does but instead the gym leader pins his hair out of his face.
“Much better! Unfortunately I can’t keep all my fans waiting so once we’re finished please make your way to the gym.” She gracefully skips back out to the audience, leaving Alain alone backstage.
Mostly confused at the events, Alain tries his best to find an exit out of the makeshift venue. He lifts a finger to his hair, he didn’t think it was that long for him to be mistaken as a woman. That's not really a problem to him, it's more the fact they took him without his consent but still.
After walking for what felt like ages past discarded costumes and half used makeup he found a single security guard hovering against an exit door. Thankfully he’s let out without any trouble, not even needing to say a word to the guard holding the door open.
Charmander hops back out of her ball and goes to lick Alain’s face, he accepts the action meant to comfort. He suddenly remembers the flyer Charmander caught earlier, pulling it out of his pocket. He reads the whole thing as they hurry away to the gym.
‘Gym leader Valerie’s Fashion Action!’
‘For all the adults trying to have a little fun, wake up extra early for a good show ;)
PS. Please don’t bring your children!’
Alain puts the flyer down, he does not read any further than that, trying to keep his mind sane. “It ends at ten, we still have another hour, let’s just wait. I'm already emotionally compromised.” Charmander noises her agreement and continues covering Alain in spit.
-
“I didn’t catch your name earlier.” Valerie starts, Alain had entered the gym about ten minutes after the show ended, considering the fact everyone could've been held back for a while, the gym leader did in fact run late but it didn’t bother him. “Alain.”
He doesn’t offer anything more, and Charmander hops off his shoulder landing on the battlefield. “This is your first gym battle, correct? You told the attendant just now so I’ll go easy on you.” Her voice is airy, she nods towards the attendant who brings out a small book.
He reads out the rules: a one on one battle, two pokemon per trainer, when a pokemon faints it is out. As he finishes, Valerie throws her loveball out, “Go Spritzee! Start us off with a light screen.”
“If she wants to play defense, fine, Charmander use smokescreen like with Pidove.” Smoke blows out of Charmander’s mouth, until the entire battlefield is covered by the offending fog. Valerie squints, “Spritzee clear it out with fairy wind!”
Alain grits his teeth as the wind blows Charmander’s cover away but all that’s seen is a small hole in the ground. “Keep digging, we’ll wait out the light screen.” Valerie laughs in a polite manner, “I’m not sure if that's the best option, don’t have any physical attacks?” Her eyes light up, “Spritzee use disarming voice on the hole.” Sound waves begin to vibrate through the air and dig had created an echo chamber.
“Come back up Charmander! Use scary face.”
Spritzee, who had just finished their attack, gets spooked and Alain takes the opportunity “Now metal claw!” The poor sprite, unable to dodge in time, is slammed to the ground with the force of Charmander’s attack knocking them out instantly. Charmander lands on her feet with a proud toothy grin.
“Spritzee is unable to battle!” The referee shouts, Valerie’s eyes wide and her kimono sleeve covering her face, “Looks like I can’t take it easy anymore!”
Holding another loveball she recalls Spritzee and summons Sylveon onto the field. The fairy type lets out a cute cry and ribbons straighten out before curling back into its normal shape. “Let’s try to avoid the ribbons… Charmander return, go Pidove!”
The flying type springs into the air with a sharp cry of its own. “Sylveon use fake tears!” Alain grins, even as Pidove’s attack is lowered by the glossy eyes of the fairy type, “Taunt them!”
Alain effectively locked Sylveon out of any more status moves and Pidove is aware of it, without being told he uses gust to blow away the feelers attempting to grab at him. “Alright, leer, even out the stats! Then follow it up with a quick attack.” Pidove dives towards Sylveon who jumps away from getting hit, but Pidove the stubborn little bird keeps following them.
“Swift! Jump on the stars and take Pidove down!” Valerie commands, Sylveon tossing out the power-filled stars, Pidove unable to dodge is knocked off balance and slammed to the ground by Sylveon's feelers, the impact leaving a small crater. Pidove, obviously hurt, struggles against the ribbons. “Channel quick attack use it to shake Sylveon off.” Alain advises, and Pidove vibrates with energy before and bursts out of the ribbons before he can get slammed again.
Unfortunately, Sylveon grabbed onto Pidove’s leg preventing him from flying off, but the flying type lets out a cry, wings glowing with energy and sharp air cuts into Sylveon, who lets him go with a pained whine.
“He learned air cutter!” Both Alain and Valerie exclaim, one in excitement and the other in disbelief. Sylveon retaliates by charging up an attack, energy forming a circle behind their head.
Alain accepts the fact Pidove will probably be knocked out if the attack is moonblast like he’s thinking, “Alright, sharpen your wings with air cutter and quick attack!” Pidove, hits Sylveon and does that last bit of damage before the bright light comes down on both pokemon’s heads.
“Both pokemon are unable to battle, the win goes to trainer Alain!”
After the battlefield is cleared and respective pokemon healed, Valerie hands him the fairy badge, with a pleasant expression on her face, “Congratulations on defeating me!” She pulls out a disc, “And here’s a little extra, it’s the TM for dazzling gleam.” Alain considers for a moment, “Maybe in the future I’ll find a pokemon who can use it.” He accepts it gratefully. “And if you ever look for a change in style I’ll help you out!” She continues, pointing up and down at the outfit he’s wearing like it’s a personal offense.
“You picked me out of the crowd because you didn’t like what I was wearing?” Alain questions with humour receiving an enthusiastic nod. “Please go check out the boutique before you leave, just show the workers the hairclip I gave you and they’ll help you out.” She practically begs.
Thanking her, Alain exits the gym and places his first (!) badge into the badge holder Augustine had given him, one that he had used on his own journey. The metallic cover opened up to a velvet interior and he pushed the badge down until he heard the pin click.
“One badge down, seven more to go.”