5 The Ordeal (1)

Our group decided that it would be best to take the ordeal in the grasslands as it has a variety of Pokémon along with housing some rarer Pokémon. We concluded that the Northern Gate was the most dangerous as it leads solely to the desert while the western gate was almost equally as dangerous as it leads to the mountains and caves. We all hoped that we would be able to choose where we left from. Zach wanted to go to the mountains while the rest wanted the Eastern or SouthEastern gate. Days seemed to fly by as everyone diligently prepared and before everyone knew it the Day of the Ordeals had arrived.

The day of the Ordeal finally came. We were woken up early and taken to the cafe. We were told to eat quickly and then head out to the station when we were ready. Some of the chosen were so nervous that they couldn't eat anything. Many of the groups quickly left to the station while Alice's Group and Aaron were the only ones left. Alice quickly swiped a couple of pieces of food that the others left behind and put it into a couple of bags to take as bait for possible Pokémon.

Aaron sighed watching this, he didn't grab any food but had brought a few berries he had managed to gather throughout the week. "It sucks being poor and having to rely on someone else." Their whole group finished their preparations and with their small bags headed to the station where they were confronted with the large group of trainers and newbies headed by the Gym leaders.

The tall and lanky man in yellow stepped forward in front of the crowd once he saw their group arrived. "Alright, now that we are all here we can start this ordeal. He then gestured to a couple of boxes behind him. "Theses backpacks behind me each possess several items that you can use during your Ordeals. The backpacks all possess the same items so there is no reason to fight over any of them. I will give you all 30 minutes to go through the packs and familiarize yourself with their contents. Begin Now."

Immediately there was a rush to get the backpacks and soon they were all distributed to the Chosen. Aaron rummaged through his bag and found that the bags contained minimal rations and water. There was a hunting knife and some rope. There was a small bottle of Repel spray. There was also a small case that held ten small bottles. Five of the bottles contained basic Potions, while the other five bottles contained different liquids. There was one each of Antidote, Paralyze Heal, Awakening, Burn Heal, and Ice Heal. Each bottle held about three doses of the liquids. While these medicines are meant to be used on Pokémon they can be used on humans as well.

After 30 Minutes the Instinct Gym Leader named Austin began to speak "IT's time to head to the gates that you will be leaving the city-state from. Since there are forty of you this year we decided to do something different as last year the deaths seemed to be well… unlucky. This year we will have you draw a slip of paper from the bucket behind me. Since there are only six gates but there will be 7 possible results.

We have determined that each gate will have a minimum of 3 people so we wrote on those 18 papers with the direction of their gates. The rest are blank which indicates that the candidates themselves get to choose which gate that they want to exit from. 2 Candidates will be sent out at the same time and each group will leave at different intervals since we do not allow you to work together. That includes the partner you are sent out with. Now line up and draw your ticket."

Once everyone drew somewhere distraught while others had a smile on their face. The Gym leaders remained indifferent to this. Austin (Instinct Gym Leader) now said to the crowd "Now team Instinct will be in charge of the trainers exiting from the Northern and Eastern Gate, while Valor is responsible for those candidates exiting from the Southern and SouthEastern Gate. Lastly Mystic is in charge of those who exit from the Western Gate and the South Western Gate. Like most of you have figured out these are the three different areas which each Guild protects."

Aaron nodded as he knew Valor's city was in the SouthEast while Mystic was in the SouthWest and Northern City belonged to Instinct.

Aaron looked down to his paper and sighed it had a large "N" printed on it. That meant he would have to complete his Ordeal in the dessert. He then went to their respected gate groups while the candidates who drew blanks decided which gate to choose. Shortly all of the candidates had chosen and there was a definitely skewed number of people at each gate.

The Northern gate only had the bare minimum of 3 People while the Western gate had slightly more at 6. The rest of the 4 gates had split the rest of the people relatively evenly. Alice was selected for the Eastern Gate that led to the Plains while Zach chose to go to the Western Gate. Rachel chose to follow after Alice since she wanted a grass Pokémon to help with her medical studies. Lastly, Claire also got drafted to come to the Northern Gate with him. The Class President led a couple of people to the South Eastern Gate ran by Team Valor.

While Aaron was observing everyone, Zach quickly ran up to him and whispered in his ear "Please help keep Claire safe. She can be stubborn at times but please watch out for her. I will give you some of my extra items when I return" Aaron just kept quiet and nodded with a serious glint in his eyes which was enough for Zach who quickly hugged Claire and ran back to his group.

Each Gym leader lead their respected trainers to the Magnet train that headed towards their destination. The Northern Gate Group and The Eastern Gate Group were separated but were still in the same car.

Once inside the car the Gym leader had his trainers bring out three unregistered Pokeball per person. "Since these Pokeball are unregistered if you capture a Pokémon you will not be able to release it. So be careful and I recommend only going for young Pokémon."

One of the people raised his hand and asked "Why did you give us 3 poke balls?"

Austin answered "The Pokémon are a lot smarter than what you think. If you attempt and fail to catch a Pokémon it will immediately understand that the Pokeball is a larger threat at the moment and try to destroy it before it launches an attack on you. You will only have a couple of seconds to use another Pokeball or make a retreat and try for a different Pokémon. Also E-Ranks are allowed a Maximum of two Pokémon. If you catch a Pokémon and have Pokéballs left over, you can make an attempt to catch another in order to fill your Maximum.

Take my advice quit while you are head once you catch one immediately come back to the city. In this ordeal, you do not have your own Pokémon or other trainers to protect you."

Any more questions?

Aaron raised his hand "Are the Pokémon smart and can they understand human speech? Or are they berserk and just try to kill humans. What can I expect from someone of your experience?"

The train was silent as everyone just looked at Aaron. Austin looked more intrigued at this Prospect and smirked but answered the question "To Answer your questions most Pokémon will understand you but will attack immediately if threatened. If you find one that doesn't directly attack it will definitely understand you. Especially the higher leveled Pokémon as they like to toy with their food. So expect to not have a chance to talk as they will more than likely try to kill you and eat you before you might get a chance."

Now we are at the eastern Gate so everyone who is supposed to be here get off. The Northern Gate will be managed by two of the trainers behind you.

Everyone started to file off the train that was supposed to. Claire said goodbye to Alice and walked over and stood next to Aaron not saying anything. But Aaron could see she was very nervous.

Aaron just closed his eyes and waited for their stop.

…

They soon arrived at the gate why they were being escorted by Instinct trainers. One of the trainers pulled out a small box and said "The Gym Leader says this is the toughest trial zone so here, due to the unpredictability of the sandstorm. Not many official trainers dare to venture there even with their Pokémon so he gave everyone a pair of goggles for good measure."

Good luck, We will send all three of you out at the same time. There will be no helping one another because your starter would not respect you if you received help catching it.

The large double door open and a semi stone path led out to an endless sea of sand. Off in the distance, you could see the faint peaks of mountains.

Aaron "At least we know which way is West"

Claire "Shut Up"

The three of them just walked along the path until the Northern Gate was shut behind them. The other boy with them was one of the President's Lackeys and he acted like he was better than the two of them and turned to ask "Hey Claire why don't you ditch that loser and come with me. I can protect you but you need to compensate me a little" He said so while lustfully staring at Claire's body.

Claire just ridiculed "Pathetic" and marched off in the opposite direction that guy was heading.

He replied "Bit** you don't know what you missed out on. Wait until after the trial when Pres. and I join Valor then you will regret your decision." He then turned and headed by himself towards the mountains which left Aaron standing by himself.

"Why are people so immature?" After which he hurried up to catch up with Claire.

When he caught up Claire just snorted "I can do this by myself."

Aaron nodded "I know you can it is just Zach wanted me to help you out if you need it."

Claire's face eased up a bit at that simply nodding.

They continued to head out on their path in the sea of endless sand.

…

Claire "Damn it is so Hot out here. She had taken off her long clothes and was wearing a tank top and shorts with some boots. It had been a couple hours and they have been slowly making their way through the desert. They had run into a couple of small Pokémon but they just burrowed into the sand to escape. Even though they haven't seen any suitable Pokémon to catch yet they had seen some powerful Cacturn fighting from far away which scared the two of them based on their ferocity. They saw some sand hippos but Aaron couldn't remember their name.

Aaron was not getting as tired as Claire but he knew they were going through their water fast. He was constantly having a very bad feeling like they both were being watched.

Truth be told Aaron was scared, as his intuition was almost always right but when he told Claire about it she just nodded and returned to leading them.

Gradually Aaron felt a change in the temperature. He knew that this was not a good sign for those in the desert. He looked into the distance and saw the sky getting dark as it was just the afternoon this was not a good sign. It was a sandstorm and a bad one at that.

He then turned to tell Claire but he saw a ripple in the sand approaching her from behind. He immediately sprinted and shouted. He immediately leaped and grabbed Claire essentially tackling her to the ground. He felt a series of sharp pains from his shoulder. He pulled her close to him and his arm felt a little numb as he fumbled with his Repel that he was holding. Before he had time to look at his attacker he sprayed his repel.

Hissssssssssss

He heard the Pokémon and immediately try to escape back into the sand. He just saw a flash of purple before it disappeared. Aaron sighed in relief and unwrapped the stunned Claire from his chest. She started to yell at him and beat his chest but this went in one ear and out the other as he started to lose consciousness. Until he finally passed out.

...

...

…

Aaron grunted as he started to wake up. He opened his eyes and only saw darkness. "Is this Heaven? No this is most likely Hell." He then waited for his eyes to adjust and started to move his arm. It seemed to be wrapped in some torn clothes. He then looked at his side and could the faint silhouette of Claire in the darkness as she was leaning on the wall of what he assumed to be a cave. She looked pretty roughed up and she had tear stains on her face. Her light jacket had fallen off of her and she was shivering.

Aaron slowly got up he grunted in pain. His body seemed like it was on fire but it was nothing that he couldn't deal with. He then gritted his teeth and moved to cover her up when he noticed some fluffy cotton on her lap. He was startled as it was a Pokémon. He defiantly recognized as it was a Swablu. It was quite happily sleeping on her lap. He had heard about how Swablu are very friendly and will often rest on travelers' heads. But that was what the Pokedex mentioned before coming to this world. Aaron smiled and covered both of them up.

He could assume what happened. Most likely the thing that bit him was poisonous and he fainted because of the potent poison. Then somehow Claire found shelter and treated his injuries and somewhere on the way found a Swablu.

He clenched his fist he is still weak and was a burden to others. He felt a cold breeze and found that his upper body was naked. His numerous scars on his body that didn't go away once he was placed in this world were probably seen by Claire. He looked at the sleeping girl who seemed to have stopped shivering. 'She really is a beauty' he thought.

"Sigh. I can't be more of a burden. Never again" He quickly found his pack and found some extra clothes. He then looked down at his watch and willed it to show him what had attacked him.

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Skorupi [MUTATED] (Male)

The Scorpion Pokémon [CLICK TO EXPAND DESCRIPTION]

Ability: Sniper, Locked(Keen Eye) { Mutation increases the lethality of its Poison}

Attribute: Poison, Bug

Potential: Yellow

Strength: High Advanced

Moves: Poison Sting, Slash (EGG), Hone Claws, Poison Fang, Toxic(egg)

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Aaron sighed he was really lucky to survive that poison. He would have been a goner if he didn't have someone helped him so much. He was not used to this at all as he was always a loner and only interacted with people with the bare minimum. He had just met her a couple of days ago and he was supposed to help her now he owes her a great debt that he must repay.

Aaron got up and stretched his body he went to the small opening of the cave. He could smell the potent repel all around the area 'She was smart about this'. He then sat down and watched outside. He heard many roars from the Monsters desert and he could even see the numerous shadows that were flying over as the moonlight illuminated the landscape of sand. He watched and took mental notes of all the Pokémon in the vicinity waiting for the sun to rise.

…

Claire POV

The light hit her eyes and they fluttered open she stretched her arms out but quickly went tensed up. 'Didn't she find a cave after almost dying so many times. Did she fall asleep keeping watch?' Her heartbeat quickly and immediately threw the blanket off only to find the Pokémon that had led her to this place snuggling on her lap. She couldn't help but break into a small smile.

She then refocused her attention to where the boy named Aaron was supposed to be lying down. Although she had just been introduced to him the other day she found out that he was pretty weird but seemed to be reliable when it counted. She remembered Alice mentioning him a lot when they were together but she had finally was able to meet him during this change of events. He was definitely not as handsome or as fun to be around as her boyfriend Zach but he was a decent person from what she could tell. She slowly opened her eyes and turned to the other side of the small cave where he was supposed to be recovering only to find it empty.

She heard someone step through the crack of a front door only to see Aaron who still had loose bandages underneath his semi ripped clothes walk in. She could see blood seeping through her poor bandage job and grimaced 'I should have learned from Rachel before we left'. She then thought about what she had to do to treat him last night and all the older scars that decorated his body. She unknowingly turned slightly red but then wanted to ask him if he was alright before she was interrupted by a hoarse voice.

"Morning. I am glad you got some sleep. Thanks for everything that you went through. I will definitely repay you."

He then looked at the small fluffy bird Pokémon on my lap and said "Its a Swablu and it seems to like you. You should get it as your starter Pokémon. I am sure that you can catch it with no resistance. Also here are some berries for it and you for breakfast. You should head back to the city. Swablu's have a great sense of direction so don't capture it until you return to the settlement. Most of the desert monsters seem to be nocturnal." He then turned and looked outside the cave entrance and spoke "Well almost all, since the Pokémon we encountered yesterday was an exception, I hope. Your boyfriend and your friends are probably worried sick since you failed to return from the trial yesterday due to me. "

She felt pain in his voice and the way that he said that last part gave her a sour feeling in her stomach both about 'her friends' and how he said 'Your friends and Your boyfriend' it was like he was distancing himself from their group. But before she could respond he continued.

"The settlement is that way it should only be a 3-hour walk in that direction." while pointing towards the side of the wall. And with that, he grabbed his stuff and just left in the opposite direction that he pointed. She wanted to say something but it got stuck in her throat. She then felt movement on her lap as the blue bird woke up sleepily. She then thought of something she wanted to say but he was gone.

…