Chapter 4 - Pokemon (1)

It didn't take much time for Alexander and Beldum to find what they were searching for.

Straying from the road, further into the forest but not that far, they had to follow the traces of fighting, the trees, and the ground sporting scars.

"Would you look at that...?" He commented as he stopped a few meters in front of the much bigger tree.

At the foot of the tree, an injured Pokemon was laid down on a rudimentary bed of plants.

Half-eaten berries were resting around it, though because they were not exactly the type to help with healing, they could not do much to help the Pidgeotto's state.

"So that's the girl you were protecting little guy? Your mother perhaps." Alexander spoke to the unconscious Pokemon setting it down near the Pokemon.

"... Otto..." The Pidgeotto weakly managed to mutter, with barely enough strength to lift its head to meet the trainer's eyes.

Alexander crouched down, observing the Pokemon.

"... Some injuries cut here and there but nothing that would explain this half-dead state."

Visually, nothing indicated what could be the cause of the Pokemon's state, but thankfully, Alexander was not the top student of Alola because of luck.

Setting down his bag once more, he looked around at the traces of battle around the perimeter.

"It's their territory but it seems like they had an unsavory visit... A Beedrill perhaps?"

"Let's heal this girl first, then I'll try to understand what happened."

Pulling from his bag a yellow spray, Alexander did not hesitate to properly spray the Pokemon, especially on the open wounds.

As expected, the previously faint breaths of the aviary Pokemon grew much more potent with its complexion growing much more normal when he followed up the antidote with a regular potion.

"Otto." The Pokemon managed to say, thanking the trainer before returning to its slumber, much more at ease now.

Patting the Pokemon a few times, Lex turned to his own Pokemon, Beldum, and gave him a few Oran Berries.

"Good job buddy. The day isn't over yet, let's get some training before we set up the camp and eat." The rookie trainer decided, much to his Pokemon's excitement.

Taking the other Pokeball from his waist, he let out the starter fire Pokemon, letting the two teammates meet.

"Chic!" The little chicken Pokemon exclaimed once he was out.

It began to run around his trainer before Beldum grabbed his attention.

"Dum!"

They both stared at each other for a few moments before they seemed to want to play with each other, though they did not distance themselves from their trainers.

"You guys can play for a while, just so I can properly set up the training equipment and regime." The young man commanded, making the two dual-type Pokemon nod in happiness.

"Bel!" "Tor!"

-*-*-*-

Minutes later, the young trainer called his two Pokemons by his side.

He crouched to be at their level since his Beldum was currently at the fire [Starter] height.

"Since I didn't buy a lot of training equipment suitable to your current abilities, we'll have to improvise." He said to them before pointing to an obstacle course delimited by some stones and lines on the ground.

"Torchic, you will continuously run through the course, using either your moves such as [Ability] but I would prefer you to focus on [Quick Attack] until you can't muster your normal-type energy anymore to do as much damage as possible to Beldum."

"Chic!" The fire Pokemon exclaimed, pumped up by the instructions.

"As for you, Beldum... You will have to do your best to stay out of Torchic's reach and out of the way of his attacks while you use [Agility] and [Iron Defense] when you fail to keep up with his speed."

"Dum!" Replied the pseudo-legendary Pokemon, before the two of them immediately began the training regime.

Alexander observed them for a few minutes, correcting some of their actions from time to time or modifying the instructions to better suit them before he went back to his occupations.

The young man went a few meters away from the two flying-type Pokemons just to be sure not to be a disturbance to their exhausted bodies and began to set up his sleeping tent since the night would fall in a few hours.

The tent was large enough to shelter both him and his two Pokemons, and resistant enough to withstand any kind of weather.

Talking about the weather...

"Mhm... The sky is gray. It's gonna rain heavily tonight." Alexander commented, looking at the heavily charged clouds.

Quite a rare occurrence considering it was still the middle of summer.

The installation of the tent barely took ten minutes, enough time for the rookie's Pokemon to properly be accustomed to the instruction and take their time to progress.

As he stood to the side, he took note of how his companions acted, putting down his ideas and observations into his notebook.

"Torchic is a physical attacker but tends to rely a little too much on his speed. His talent may require less training regarding his agility but his strength is even more important... I should buy some Fire TM when I reach the League.

Beldum already has quite a lot of moves so buying more would be pointless. I'll wait until he evolves and develop his psychic energy enough to be able to naturally learn moves. Though, as a defensive Pokemon, I should make him more resilient to damage.

Making these two spars together can only help them develop faster too." He spoke to himself, noting down his own words in case he forgets later.

Minutes later, he was done and put the book back in the bag.

"It's been almost an hour since they began their training." Alexander stated, approaching them to let them know about the pause in their training.

"Let's get you guys refreshed before continuing." He called, making the two Pokemons shout in glee.

Giving the two Pokemons some water filled with all kinds of nutrients excellent for the growth of fire Pokemons for Torchic and Psy Pokemons for Beldum, something his mother gave him a few moments before he left.

"Dum!" "Chic" The two Pokemon thanked him, taking a dozen minutes to rest before they decided to go back to training by themselves.

Standing on the side, Alexander sported a smile on his face as he proudly looked at his two companions exercising.

-*-*-*-

The sun began to set, casting an orange light onto the clearing, partly hidden by the tall trees of the forest.

Two hours went by, hours that were marked by two more pauses where the Pokemons rested and were healed by their trainer thanks to the various heavy items he bought before the start of the journey.

Alexander did not waste his time just observing his Pokemons though, he also installed a medium pot and began to cook some curry.

The flame beneath it was created by Torchic that was adamant about helping.

Though he was not an expert on curry since he learned it when he went on vacation to the Galar region, he learned quickly and more importantly, he was extremely serious when doing something, to the point where some consider him a perfectionist.

Something that has been proven by his result in the Alolan League Pokemon's student examinations.

Putting some Leppa Berries for the stamina-recovering virtues and Oran berries for the taste, Alexander let the berries dissolve inside the water thus tainting it with a reddish color.

Adding an ingredient he knew was universally liked by all, Smoke-Poke Tail, Alexander observed the finely-cut meat pieces cook within the pot while he added some vegetables and fanned the flame beneath to regulate the intensity of the heat.

As for the rice, it was quietly being cooked in the rice cooker.

The smell of the pot was wonderful, even Lex couldn't help but loudly gulp at it, proud that he was able to make such a thing on his own.

Soon enough, the curry has successfully been cooked and the rice too is done.

"Beldum! Torchic! Let's eat!"

The trainer called both of them, making the two Pokemons come running, more than happy to comply with the order, even more so when they smelt the curry.

Serving two large portions of rice and curry, Alexander observed the [Steel/Psychic] Pokemon and the [Fire] Starter eat with glee before his attention was attracted by something else.

"Otto." The middle evolution bird Pokemon demanded, approaching the trainer with slow steps.

Though it looked like it was just as shy as the Pidgey that was actively hiding from Beldum behind it, to Alexander the Pokemon was still weakened by its previous poisoned condition.

"You guys want some too?" The trainer asked, crouching to the 100 centimeters tall Pokemon.

"Pid!" It affirmed, trying to appeal to the human's sensitive side.

"Don't worry, I counted you two within today's meal." Alexander revealed, taking out two plates from his bag before serving them large portions too.

"Here, enjoy." The young man said, before taking his own plate and sitting down on the ground with the other four Pokemon.

In the fading light of the sun, the four Pokemons and the sole human happily and quietly devoured the dinner.

Once done and everything has been cleaned, Alexander retreated into his tent, followed by his two Pokemon that chose to stay out of their balls while the other two birds went back to their nest up the tree this time.

The tent was perfectly isolated from the rapidly descending temperature of the forest before the sound of rain fell onto the shelter.

The rhythmic sound of the water helped the trio fall asleep almost immediately, combined with both Torchic's temperature and the fulfilling meal they just had, but also the warm feeling they each had, cuddled together.

Just like that, Alexander Light's first day as a Pokemon Trainer ended, falling asleep with his first companions.