Bonds and Wild Battle!

After healing up my pokemon and getting the necessities I needed from a nearby PokeMart, I headed down a path that lead to the exit of Silverwood City. I reached the exit then heard a voice calling for me from behind. I stopped walking and looked back which prompted Oshawott to look back as well.

"Atlas! Hold on!" Winter called out. She stopped in front of me then bent down to hold her knees, panting. She looked up at me with a smile. Fennekin stopped next to her and greeted Oshawott happily. "Professor Rosewood...wanted to give us a card that we can scan to use the town map. Sadly this card only scans the Kaeton Portion of Estral, so we may need to follow the same process with the other parts."

I watched her stand up straight and noticed she was handing me a card. I took it from her hand then used my phone to scan the QR Code to gain access to the Kaeton Map. I heard the beeping of my phone and noticed a notification telling me the Kaeton Map was fully viewable.

"Alright let's go. It seems the next stop will be Azurglow City. We'll have to go through Route 7 to get there." I said.

"Right!" Winter nodded and smiled.

The two of us exited Silverwood City and entered Route 7. Winter was the guide who navigated our way through Route 7. As we travelled, we had to cross through long patches of grass and soon encountered our first wild Pokemon.

"Hold on, a wild Pidgey and Taillow appeared!" I said and stopped Winter.

Winter looked ahead and noticed the two bird Pokemon flying in the air in front of us, ready to battle. "Most of the other pokemon just ran away from us. Surprised these pokemon want to battle, but so be it! Let's do this Fenny!"

Fennekin cried out and ran forward. She looked determined and ready to battle.

"Osha, Let's do this partner." I said and watched Oshawott run forward and prepare himself for battle.

Oshawott looked back at me and called out to me. He seemed pumped to battle and awaited my commands.

"You can check a Pokemon's Status with the PokeReader Feature. It should've come with the Pokedex Feature the Professor gave us earlier." Winter informed.

I took out my phone and held it towards Oshawott then pressed the PokeReader icon. It began to scan Oshawott and gave me a bunch of data on Oshawott.

[Pokemon: Oshawott

Nickname: Osha

Gender: Male

Type: Water

Ability: Torrent

Morale: High (Easier to hit Critical Hits)

Bond Link: 40%

Status Condition: None

Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip]

"Huh. This is very interesting...I'll see what all I can do with this later. For now let's take them down!" I said. "Osha, let's get this started with Tackle on the Pidgey!"

Oshawott cried out and charged toward Pidgey and attempted to slam into Pidgey but they dodged it and lunged itself at Oshawott at a speed that made it seem invisible then struck him. Oshawott cried out in pain as he was blown away. Oshawott recovered onto his feet and slid backwards.

"Osha, are you okay?" I asked.

Oshawott nodded and looked determined to continue battling.

"Good! Charge at it again with another Tackle!" I commanded.

Oshawott charged at Pidgey then noticed Taillow quickly flying towards Oshawott.

"Not happening! Fenny! Intercept Taillow's attack with a Scratch!" Winter commanded.

Fennekin dashed toward Taillow and raked the Taillow with her hard, pointed and sharp claws. Taillow cried out in pain as they were blown away. Taillow flapped their wings and went airborne again. Pidgey caught Fennekin off guard with a powerful Quick Attack, sending her crashing into Oshawott.

"Fenny!" Winter called out and hurried over to Fennekin.

Pidgey cried out in triumph and gained a boost to its attack. Pidgey was now pumped and ready to battle more.

Oshawott grunted and stood up then helped Fennekin up. Fennekin looked at Pidgey and cried out in determination. Oshawott cried out as well and looked at Pidgey seriously.

I looked at Oshawott and smiled. "I can feel his determination. Let's do this Osha! We're not gonna let some Pidgey stop us!"

Oshawott bellowed and dashed toward Pidgey. Pidgey used its wings to whip up a gust of powerful winds and launched it at Oshawott. Oshawott pushed through the winds and jumped up then slammed into Pidgey, dealing a critical hit. Taillow flew to Oshawott while he was vulnerable in the air.

"Oshawott! Use your shell to block the attack!" I called out.

Taillow cried out and jabbed at Oshawott with its beak powerfully. Oshawott grunted as he was struck, using his shell to try and minimize the amount of damage he took. Oshawott was sent crashing to the ground. Taillow flew towards Oshawott to deal the final blow.

"Fennekin! Protect Oshawott!" Winter commanded.

Fennekin ran toward Taillow and struck it with a Scratch, smacking the Taillow away, landing a critical hit. Oshawott looked at Fennekin and smiled. Fennekin nodded and looked at Taillow and Pidgey who were on the ground, fainted.

"Yes! We beat them!" Winter said happily.

"These pokemon seem a lot stronger than the usual ones. A Pidgey and Taillow that powerful is...strange." I said and looked at Oshawott who was celebrating with Fennekin. I got into my thinking pose and closed my eyes.

"Alright we can continue forward to Azurglow City." Winter smiled at me.

I opened my eyes and looked at Winter. "Huh? Oh right. Let's go."

Winter smiled and walked ahead. I followed behind her and together we explored what else the route had in store for us. We registered a few pokemon into our Pokedex while we travelled and explored the area. I managed to catch myself a Petilil and Winter caught herself an Oddish.

After a bit of exploring, we decided to take a break and set up camp for the night. I released Petilil and let her explore around and get used to Oshawott, Fennekin, and Oddish.

"So...Why did you decide to come to Estral?" Winter asked and looked at me.

I looked at the night sky and crossed my arms. "Well for one it is to test my skills as a Pokemon Trainer to see if I have what it takes to be the best. I used to be a student trainer back in Unova, I was friends with some of the strongest trainers known today. Hilbert and Hilda."

"I know of them. They are known as Legendary Trainers. Trainers of Legendary Status. I've read stories about those types of trainers, but I can tell you have another reason. It's probably the reason I'm thinking of." Winter said.

I looked at Winter. "What?"

"You must've heard about the Legendary Pokemon...how they've become randomly angry and needed to be quelled. That's most people's reason to becoming trainers. The chance to battle pokemon like Mewtwo. I don't blame you, I have also been curious but that isn't my main focus." Winter said.

"What is your focus then?" I asked.

"I want to catch and have fun with all kinds of Pokemon. I want to catch cute ones, cool ones, ugly ones, nice ones...All of them!~ I even want to learn to be a great battler!" Winter said. "We made a pretty good team back there."

"I mean we could've done better, but as starting out it was pretty good." I smiled and looked at the sky. "And you're right. I do want to quell the Legendary Pokemon, but I also want to catch them. I would need to get stronger to do so and I would need a strong team to do so as well."

I looked at Oshawott, Fennekin, Petilil, and Oddish and watched them all chat with one another and becoming friends. I smiled at them then closed my eyes.

"To become a Master. That is my dream." I said.

"Well there's no way you can do that alone! I will be with you." Winter nodded. "There's nothing like going on a super cool adventure with some friends right?"

I nodded. "Right."

Winter smiled at me and decided to get comfortable so she could become well rested for the next day. "Well, good night."

"G'night." I replied.

Just like that, we were both asleep along with our pokemon. It was a peaceful sleep outside until the sun rose. It was finally the next day and we had awoken from our sleep and prepared for the new day.

"Mmm!! That was a nice rest!" Winter said as she stretched.

I nodded and stretched as well then looked around for something for us all to eat. I walked around and found a few Oran Berries and gathered them. I brought them back to the group and set them in portions. Winter and the Pokemon thanked me and we began to have a berry breakfast.

I decided to use the PokeReader to look at the status of my Pokemon. I had already checked Oshawott's status so I decided to check, Petilil's status.

[Pokemon: Petilil

Nickname: Lily

Gender: Female

Type: Grass

Ability: Chlorophyll

Morale: Normal

Bond Link: 17%

Status Condition: None

Moves: Absorb, Growth, Stun Spore]

"Morale...it grants a number of effects depending on the levels. If the morale is high it grants a plethora of positive effects like landing Critical Hits easier or boosting the stats of Pokemon to even enduring attacks that would otherwise knock them out. If the Morale is low, it could cause the Pokemon to take more damage than usual, allow the Pokemon to take more critical damage easier or even lowering the stats of a Pokemon. There's an entire strategy dealing with Morale." Winter explained.

I looked at her. "The effects are random aren't they?"

"Yeah. Professor Rosewood told me about it before I left. There's also thing think called Bond Link. This is to show how high your bond with a certain pokemon is. Having a 100% Link will allow the Pokemon to become as strong as possible. There are ways of increasing it like battling with them, cleaning them, eating, walking, even talking. Bond Link affects the power of a specific move called Return. The higher the Bond Link, the stronger the move Return becomes." Winter explained.

I looked at Oshawott and Petilil. They looked at me and walked over to me. I reached towards them and pet them. They made happy sounds and after I got done petting them, they hopped up and reacted with joy. Winter did the same with her Fennekin and Oddish.

I stood up after resting for a bit longer then stretched. "Alright, let's clear this route and head for Azurglow City."

"Okay!" Winter smiled and nodded then stood up and returned Oddish to his ball and I did the same for Petilil.

We pressed forward along a path that would bring us straight to Azurglow City.