Chapter no.15

"Deal," I said as I stood up and accepted the offer. When I glared at him for dragging me away from Xander without my permission, he stopped leading me to the cave and his grin widened in a triumphant expression of satisfaction. He laughed awkwardly and then mentioned that it was just a test, and that I must have cared a lot about the Lotad in order to pass it.

It opened my eyes to how much I had changed over the years and how much more I was still evolving. If I had been living in my own time, I would have either let the creature fend for itself or I would have killed it. And here I was, after not even a week of being with him, wanting to ensure that he was happy and secure in his surroundings.

In all honesty, it gave me chills.

The caves were very dim.

Before I entered that particular one, I had never before given any thought to how dimly lit they were, which may seem like a silly or obvious admission on my part. I overheard Adryan cursing and mumbling to himself as he rummaged around in his pack looking for a torch while also cursing.

The guy really did swear an excessive amount of the time.

He yelled out in jubilation, "Success!" as he pulled out a torch and turned it on, illuminating us both in a dreadfully sickly yellow light. It projected a large circle onto the ceiling above, which, to tell you the truth, was only of marginal assistance. "Yeah, it's a bit battered and old," he conceded as if reading my thoughts at that time as if we were having a conversation in the same room. He asked me as he whirled the light towards me and stopped just by my side so as not to blind me. "You got one?" he asked as he did this.

I made a few hesitant blinks. How much exactly did Jennifer put into my bag that she was packing? I was so unprepared for a trip that I didn't even give a second thought to double checking that I had enough food and water before setting out. I had been a soldier for years and gone through extensive training, but just two weeks in this new location caused me to forget everything I had learned in my earlier years.

I awkwardly searched through the contents of the pack after turning the pack around and putting it into my hands. I was amazed by the amount of space that was contained within, as I was unaware of how much was actually contained there. It appeared as though everything, regardless of their size or weight, could be compressed brilliantly in order to fit into the single space available for storage.

I was positive that I had located a baseball bat within that area somewhere.

I said, "Here," as I pulled out the torch that I had no idea was even in the drawer. Because I appeared to have everything figured out, I couldn't help but reflect in silence on how much I actually loved Jennifer at that point. I turned on the light and quickly covered my eyes as the beam shot out, easily outshining Adryan's torchlight. Not only was mine a brilliant bright white, but it was also at least twice as large.

He gave me a single blink while staring at me with his mouth gaping open. When I pointed the light down a cavern path and probably managed to blind a few Zubat, he mumbled in good humour, "Show off." "You could have just pulled that out in the first place and saved me the embarrassment, you know? " "You could have saved me the embarrassment by doing that."

I gave him a grin despite the pitch blackness. "I don't see where the fun would be in that."

He laughed and then shook his head in agreement, which meant he was conceding the point. "Still, there's no need to bring out the mini-sun to outdo me," he said with a light tone as we made our way through the cave, stumbling over the occasional Geodude, which would typically grunt at us in annoyance.

As we rounded another corner, he asked me with interest, "So what are you going to be as a trainer?" His question came out of nowhere, but he seemed genuinely interested in my answer. "Did you know there are a lot of different careers available? Some examples include breeding, research, triathletes, type specialists, gym challengers, and coordinators-"

"Coordinators?" I repeated with an obvious air of bewilderment on my face. In all of my time spent playing Pokémon, I had never once in my life come across the term. It reminded me of a girly-girl trying to teach a large group of ursaring dressed in tutus how to dance in a delicate manner.

And then, all of a sudden, being attacked by them all.

"Yeah, never heard of them before?" he replied with a confused expression on his face. I gave him a playful shake of the head, and he grunted in response. I laughed at his words, which caused him to chuckle, and he said, "They train Pokémon to make use of their moves and selves to make themselves look pretty in front of crowds." I snorted at his words, which caused him to laugh. "They divide it up well, so you have some people showcasing Pokémon strength, others their beauty, and even toughness. It sounds like a wimpy profession, but trust me; I've seen coordinator trained Pokémon take down some of the strongest trainers that places have to offer." "It's actually not as bad as it sounds. They divide it up well, so you have some people showcasing Pokémon strength, others their beauty, and even toughness."

As he laughed once more, he must have noticed the shocked expression I had on my face. They train their Pokémon to use offensive fire attacks like Flamethrower as a makeshift shield, and some even form ice domes over themselves to stop fire. Most trainers get their Pokémon to fight each other head-on, or even just strategize to play to a Pokémon's strengths, such as getting more durable Pokémon to take more hits and the like. Coordinators, on the other hand, think of things most people don't. They train their Pokémon to use offensive fire attacks like Flamethrower as a makeshift "These days, the majority of trainers try to incorporate some sort of coordinator's touch into their fights, but it's a lot more difficult than it appears."

"I mean, tell a Pokémon to make a dome of ice around itself when it's never been trained to do so? "I mean, tell a Pokémon to make a dome of ice around itself?

He gave a solemn shake of his head and said, "They might manage it, but it's likely that they won't know how to get rid of it afterwards." They run the risk of breaking the ice and being injured or killed by falling chunks of it, or even just suffocating if they are buried beneath it and it collapses on top of them. The Pokémon a Coordinator commands need to be able to think on their feet just as quickly as the Coordinators themselves, or else-" he symbolically drew a finger across his throat to emphasise the point.

It would have taken far too long for me to get my Pokémon trained enough before my time was up, but Adryan appeared to be extremely knowledgeable on the subject matter. I gaped at him for a moment in bewildered awe. Being a coordinator sounded like a truly worthwhile investment, as it trained the trainer's mind as well as the Pokémon. However, it would have been impossible for me to become a coordinator.