Chapter 28: Decisions

"It seems you're angry by my comment, let me rephrase it then- What is this Pokemon to you?"

Jenny smiled softly as she spoke to the defensive Ark. He stared at her with sharp eyes as he answered.

"My Partner of course"

Jenny nodded at his instantaneous reply.

"If that's the case, then why are you not talking to her properly? You are treating her more like your child than anything else. Though you may care for her, it is not healthy in battle to be so overprotective and almost submissive"

Ark eyes widened slightly at Jennys words. While he wasn't happy about Jenny intruding on his and his Pokemons relationship, he understood that what she was saying could technically be true. For example, if he had tried, he could have injured that Scyther just enough so it would be slowed down or maybe it would prioritise healing itself before chasing after them. Yet Ark put Sylph in her Pokeball out of fear that she will get hurt. The more he thought about it, the more Ark realised how useless his approach would be if he attempted the gym challenge.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm the misguided anger, Ark closed his eyes before looking up at Jenny with an apologetic smile.

"Right, you're totally right. I will probably need to be a bit stricter, it would really suck if Sylph refused to listen to my order in battle. At that rate, I might as well kiss the Champion spot goodbye."

Jenny smiled at Arks understanding before turning around.

"I need to get going to file some paper work, if you need anything, just say you're a friend of mine and you can get a direct meeting with me. Good luck Ark"

With this Jenny walked out of the room. Ark watched Jennys silhouette leave the room and then turned his head down to Sylph. The little Pokemon had remained cuddled into his chest the entire time despite understanding the contents of the conversation. Seeing this, Ark released a small sigh before picking her up and sitting her directly opposite him. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he was resolving himself on his new decisions.

"Sylph, what Jenny said was right. I need to stop spoiling you so much, or we will stay weak"

Sylphs eyes watched Ark intently from behind her hair before shaking her head vigorously.

-No! Sylph likes Arks spoiling!-

Ark clenched his fists as he heard Sylphs statement. It took him all of his willpower to not cuddle her and take back everything he said. He knew that if he did, nothing will ever change, and he may lose the opportunity to change the relationship they share. He did not want Sylph, his very first Pokemon, to become a mascot who did nothing except take. It would be unfair to his future teams who will be working hard alongside him to win and improve.

"Sylph. Listen to me, it's hard for me too but it's got to happen. I will still care for you just as much, but I need to stop spoiling you!"

Ark raised his voice slightly at the end but quickly quietened it down before he startled Sylph too much. Sylph shook slightly at his voice but looked down at the ground and didn't move.

-Why...-

Ark was slightly surprised at Sylphs relatively calm response, if anything, he had prepared himself to sprint off after Sylph as she ran away screaming. This surprise was quickly replaced by joy as he could clearly see Sylph growing up rapidly, it made him aware of how much Sylph could mature if he didn't spoil her all of the time.

"We need strength Sylph. We are both really weak despite being gifted with amazing perks so it's a real waste. We have all of the time in the world later, but we need to get more serious about our journey. For that, I need you to stop spoiling you as much so you can be as strong as possible."

He spoke with a deep resolve evident in his voice as he refused to take his eyes off of her as he spoke his reasons. Feeling that it was not enough, he continued.

"Back then, with that Scyther... I got scared that you would get hurt. I mean how stupid is that? I want to compete in battles but was scared of us getting hurt? Sure it was stronger than us but my fear and the fact that I spoil you clouded my judgement greatly. So we need to change that Sylph, please together"

Finally, feeling that he had droned on for long enough, Ark stopped speaking and waited for Sylphs next action. Sylph just continued looking down, her face sported a look of deep contemplation, the conflicted feelings were on show for all to see.

-Nnn Sylph will try her best but, if Sylph gets super strong then Ark needs to reward Sylph-

Ark smiled wryly as he could see how reluctant Sylph was to make a bigger compromise than any she had before. He stroked her head slightly before nodding.

"Ok I can amke that deal, but that's after we achieve our dreams, and we're the strongest. After all, it will be kind of depressing if we get really strong but fall straight back down again."

Thus, Ark and Sylph tried to put more effort into becoming more serious. He knew that he would struggle to not spoil her, after all, who wouldn't want to?

"Now we've got that sorted, Sylph we need more hands. We have to get some more team members right now. I doubt you could sweep the Pewter City gym leader at the moment"

Ark started to speak to Sylph about their future game plan. Luckily for them, they had the advantage of actual communication, so they could discuss it together now that they were alone.

-Scyther?-

He shook his head at Sylphs suggestion, although a strong Scyther like that would be a good addition, he knew that a bug type Pokemon is not their priority right now.

"As strong as it is, I doubt it could overcome such a major type disadvantage with such little time to prepare any countermeasures."

Sylph remained silent as she thought of other suggestions.

"The natural counter to Pewter City gym would be grass or water... However I have not seen even a single one of those types since I started my journey. I would prefer to battle Brock before Ash does, so I only have about a week before he catches up"

As Ark was in deep contemplation, Sylph stood up and tugged on his shirt. He was astonished, this was the first time that Sylph had actually got his attention this way rather than just sitting on his lap.

-Ask that woman... She could know-

He was a bit confused by the description of 'That woman' until he looked at Sylphs face and saw the displeasure. A look of revelation appeared on his face as he realised that the only one Sylph could be so displeased with right now would be Officer Jenny.

"Good idea Sylph, thank you. Let's get going, we don't have much time."

Stretching out, Ark stood up and twisted his body to get rid of the stiffness he was feeling. Sylph jumped off of the bed and walked towards the door.

Like this, the two left the medical center by signing out and asked for directions to the Police station. With the directions, he held Sylphs hand and walked towards the station.

After a few minutes of walking, he had found that it was extremely quiet. Hopefully this was a good thing.

Ark strolled into the Police station and spoke to the receptionist.

"Excuse me, I am a friend of Jennys, could I be let in to see her?"

The receptionist looked up from the paperwork on her desk with a tired smile. Arks eyes widened slightly as he noticed the peculiarity about the receptionist, her body was slumped, there were dark bags under her eyes and her movements were sluggish.

"Sure, let me just ask her. - Erm Officer Jenny, there is a young man here to see you, he is with a Pokemon I haven't seen before."

With this short call, Ark was granted permission to go in and see her. As he walked through the corridor, he felt the strained atmosphere and knew something was wrong. Coming up to the final door in the corridor, Ark knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter.

"You may enter Ark"

He didn't hesitate and walked in, only to be completely confused by the sight in front of him...