My Pokemon Adventure by Melissa Nichols (speed reading book TXT) 📕

“Yes, we shall.”

“Roserade, let’s go!”

“Ponyta, you’re up!”

“A very wise choice. You have learned much in such a short time. You are undoubtedly aware of the effects of the Super-effective.”

“I have a good mentor. Without him, I am nothing.”

“Admirable. You are loyal. I like loyalty. Roserade, Magical Leaf.”

“Dodge, Ponyta, and retaliate with Fire Blast!” I said, avoiding the multi-colored leaves and opening the PokéDex to check the stats of the Pokémon.

“A good move, Kiara.” Sora said, opening her own. “Roserade, Magical Leaf again!”

“Get out of the way, Ponyta!” I yelled, staying up against the Morning Glory hedge and well to the side. “Fire Blast!”

I watched as the Roserade’s HP dropped to zero from thirty and it fainted. “A good match. But we are not done yet. Rose, come on out!”

In the end, Ponyta battled seven Pokémon and won the match. She leveled up twice, now to level twenty-seven, and I gained the Badge, ten thousand Poké, two TMs, a Berry pot and a Berry.

“Thank you, Sora. That was a fun battle. I’ll be sure to come back when I am in town again!” I said, collecting the prizes and turning away to leave. It was dark now and I had to find my way back to camp.

“Anytime, Kiara. I’m always here and I’d love battling you again. Good-bye!”

I burst into camp, yelling out Tod’s name. But he was not outside. Probably asleep. I would tell him in the morning. Now, I gave Ponyta three Berries for a job well done and Rita and Tailow one for being so good.

Next, I lit a torch with Ponyta’s mane fire and wrote a few letters home, telling the recipients of my victory over Sora and how much I had learned. Then, I counted my Poké and planted the Berry as well as five others. I wanted to keep the flow of Berries growing to keep the stock from hitting zero between towns.

I finished the letters, put them in Tailow’s pouch with the others for tomorrow’s flight and called everyone inside, dousing the torch by putting it in a hole I dug on the first night of my stay in town and filled the hole with dirt. No oxygen, no flame.

I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

I did not wake up until late morning, tired out from yesterday’s battling. Immediately, I sent Tailow home with the letters and some of the money I’ve collected for the pot Mother had offereed. I looked at Tod’s tent, wondering if he ever came back last night. I mean, now that I’ve beaten Sora and I know how to battle Trainers and capture a Pokémon, I don’t really need any more tutorage. I think. I didn’t want to be over-confident but it would make sense that Tod wouldn’t be needed now that I know about the Super-Effective and how to battle, right?

Slowly and quietly, I crept over to his tent, pulled back the flap and sucked in a breath. Tod was asleep, curled into a ball with his head resting on one hand. He was shirtless, surrounded by his Pokémon and absolutely beautiful. I stared at him for a little while longer, replaced the flap and took my Pokémon into Nutmeg for a quick shopping errand before I pack up camp.

When I returned, the essentials replenished and put away, I was surprised to see Tod had already packed up his half of the campsite. His tent was gone, his backpack was resting against the table and he was training with his Pokémon.

“Good morning!” I greeted him, rushing over. He turned to face me and grinned at me. “Good morning, Kiara. How’d you sleep?”

“Like a rock. The battling really took a toll on me.”

“Yeah. So, how many Trainers?”

“At the Gym? Five Gym Trainers and Sora, the leader.”

“How’d you do?”

“It was easy! The Trainers didn’t have a chance, but Sora was a bit tougher. But I won!”

“Alright! Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” I said, blushing and looking at the ground.

“So, I assume you used Ponyta?”

“Of course! I’m so proud of her. She fought bravely. She didn’t hesitate on attacking or dodging. She never missed and she obeyed!”

“You got a good one. Most Ponyta are stubborn and won’t obey the Trainer. It takes a long time and a lot of persistence to get a Ponyta or Rapidash to obey their Trainer.”

“Rapidash?”

“Oh, the evolution of Ponyta.”

“Oh, okay!”

“So, we should get going. The next town, Hydrum, is about a week away. Do you have enough healers?”

“Yes. I bought some on our first day here, then again a few hours ago.”

“Good. Pack up and we’ll get going. Oh, you shouldn’t send out Tailow until we get there. If he misses even an hour of travel, he won’t know where we are and he’ll get lost.”

“Oh, okay.” I replied. I moved over to my tent and started the de-construction process.

“Can I borrow your PokéDex for a second?”

“Sure. It’s in my bag. When you put it on, it’s in the pocket closest to you on your right side.”

“Thanks, Kiara.”

“Hey, Tod, why do you want to use my PokéDex? What happened to yours?”

“Nothing happened to it. I just want to check on your Pokémon’s levels and mine can’t read yours.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Because yours is a newer model than mine, it picks up other Pokémon’s levels. Mine doesn’t. The technology wasn’t advanced enough when mine was made.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, help yourself.”

“Whoa! Ponyta’s a level twenty-seven! Incredible, Kiara. Rita isn’t far behind. She’s a level twenty. Tailow is a level eight. He still has a long way to go before he’s battle ready.”

“Yes, I agree. I’ve been giving him extra lessons. Say. Is it okay if he and one of your weaker Pokémon battle every night?”

“Of course. Ponyta and Rita are far too advanced for him. He wouldn’t stand a chance. In fact, I just caught a Pokémon a few days ago. I’ve been trying to train him, but he won’t listen. You have the Badge. Maybe he’ll listen to you. Here, I have his PokéBall here.”

“What are you talking about, Tod?” I asked, backing out of the tent to look. I saw Tod pull a Ball out of his hand, push the button and a weird Pokémon emerged. It was a Dark type, definitely.

“What…”

“It’s a Poochyena. Dark-type. Loyal, fearless, stubborn, powerful. A good starting Pokémon. Here. Catch!” He tossed the Ball my way and, out of instinct, I caught it. The Poochyena was now mine.

“Okay. Can I have a list of his moves?”

“Of course. I was meaning to give him to you anyway, as a gift for beating Sora.” He said, digging in his pocket for a folded up packet of paper. He handed it to me and I started getting familiar with the moves.

“Thanks. Can I have my PokéDex?”

He handed it to me and I checked the Poochyena’s level. Level  Ten. If I wasn’t careful, Poochyena could take out Tailow, which would defeat the purpose.

“Are any of these special attacks? I mean, will any of them not inflict damage?”

“Yeah. There’s Defend, Protect, Growl, Double Team. I marked them in red.”

“Oh, I see. Okay, great. Umm. Poochyena, use Tackle on that log!” I ordered. He obeyed. He charged right at it, headfirst. “Good boy.” I said, throwing him a Berry. I didn’t want to risk getting down on his level to pet him yet.

“Maybe you should nickname him. It’s a difficult name.” Tod suggested, petting the Poochyena.

“Yeah, I think so. It’ll take me a few days, though.”

“Of course.”

A few moments of silence.

“Hey, we should get going. The sooner we leave, the farther we can get before sundown.”

“That’s true. Mind if I help?”

“Not at all.”

I reached back into my tent for my folded up bed. But then I had an idea. What if my tent cube sucked up the tent, fully pitched and ready for use? I reached for my bag, pulled out the proper cube and held the button to activate the suction laser. The ten was swallowed and I put the cube back where I had retrieved it from. I sucked the last few things into cubes, then I was putting my purse back in order and gathering my Pokémon.

We stopped in town for a few last minute things before heading out.

“Tod?”

“Yes, Kiara.”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen. I’ve been training for seven years so I can help Father until he gives his laboratory to me.”

“Professor Danvers is your father?”

“Yeah. And as his son, I’ve had a very Pokémon-based childhood. I was learning about the Super-Effective before I was four, learning about each Pokémon breed in detail when I was five, learning each Pokémon’s moves when I was six, helping to tame wild ones when I was seven and battling when I was ten. When I turned eleven, Father sent me out into the region to gain skills and data.”

“Didn’t you have any friends to play with?”

“I never played. School was too important. My friends were Pokémon and my notes.”

“That’s terrible!”

“It’s how I was raised. Without my mother, Father didn’t know how to handle a newborn son on his own, so he raised me through the only thing he knew. He raised me to be the best Trainer who ever lived, cutting out all childhood necessities to make room in my days for learning. I was literally born and raised to take over for my father.”

“You poor thing!”

“Now don’t go pitying me, Kiara. My childhood is in the past and it cannot be changed, so why dwell on what’s behind instead of looking to the future?”

“But to never know the values of friendship, to never have fun, to never play, it’s not natural.”

“You’re right! It’s not natural, but it’s what happened and I’m who I am because of it.”

I was silent, shocked because Tod had raised his voice to me. It’s understandable. He had a painful past and I was probably getting close to a nerve that he would rather be left alone.

“So, what happened to your mother?”

“She died a few hours after I was born. She had lost a lot of blood and it didn’t stop. She was too weak from a day and a half of labor to survive.”

“I’m sorry. That is just…horrible!”

“I managed without her. Father’s assistant took pity on me when I was still a baby and took me under her wing. She was the one to keep me fed, to let me know of a mother’s touch, a woman’s kindness and pure heart. She gave balance to my life. I love her like I am sure I would have loved my mother if she had lived. Arabella is my mother in all ways except by blood.”

“Well, that’s nice. At least you had that natural balance, even if you were being schooled.”

“Yes. She made those years bearable.”

We were silent. I had run out of topics to introduce and I liked looking at him. He glowed when he had talked about Arabella and it lessened the hardness of his features from years of the hard tutorage that had robbed him of a normal life.

“But what about you, Kiara? I’m sure your childhood wasn’t as terrible as mine.”

“My upbringing was pretty normal. I played with the other kids, I cared for the babies, I played referee.”

“How many kids?”

“I am the third child of twenty-one. Six