Thank you to my new Patrons: LandoCali, Caleb Marty, uuuuuuhhh, Rohin Ghosh, John Jimmson, Saurabh K., Zackary McGee, Raisin, Syed S., Don, milos Budimski, Hayden Welch, Nik, Nathan, Knut Lindell, David Fellows, Rotislav, Wiggliey, fisherman, Rushing Soartan, Chris Jeon, Cleric
-/-
Actually, incorporating Houndour into the training cycle of Joey's relatively advanced team was, of course, not as simple as screaming motivational Japanese phrases into the forest while crying about the power of friendship.
There was research that needed to be done about the physical constitution of canine Pokemon and the best methods to train their cardiovascular system alongside their muscle strength and endurance.
The training plan that eventually settled on was to mix muscle training with irregular, intense cardio sessions. There were no weights involved yet, as Houndour was still a relatively untrained Pokemon.
The endurance for battling, one of the most important but least spoken about parts of battling, was trained directly with battling.
This was where Joey encountered his first two problems.
The first issue was biological. The fire used by the Houndour line was inherently toxic, containing certain chemical components that lead to permanent chemical scarring. The only one of Joey's Pokemon really immune to that was Metapod, since she regularly shed her skin.
The solution was rather obvious, if a tad costly. Since Houndour was a Pokemon with a fire that was known to be toxic, there was obviously a serious of products that directly addressed this issue.
The only problem was that the chemicals needed to counteract the toxicity of the flames had to be imported specifically from Johto, since Houndour was not native to Kanto.
The additional stipend from rehabilitating the puppy easily covered it, so what Joey lamented more than anything was the lost time.
Houndour sparring with any one of Joey's Pokemon necessitated Joey wiping down the sparring partner with the specific neutralising agent before immediately applying a potion.
Antidote was supposed to also work in a pinch, but was less effective overall, and one would have to apply so much more of it that it would end up costing more.
Anyway, wiping down Houndour's sparring partners became a new routine in Joey's day, one that cost an additional ten minutes every day.
Now that Joey had five Pokemon the requirements were starting to add up, and he was beginning to see why the six-Pokemon limit existed. Other than training his team, Rattata's fur needed semi-regular grooming, as did Diglett's. Metapod was on a highly specific diet due to the fact that Metapod were not supposed to, well, be Metapod that long. Misdreavus was a ghost and didn't have so many requirements, but for the sake of her mental health as a prankster, Joey had to allow her to "prank" her teammates several times a day so she could release her negative energies in a constructive manner.
All in all, his Pokemons' specific needs cost him about an hour every day.
The second problem with training Houndour was that all the other teammates were way ahead of him. This meant that Joey was constantly having to think of ways to restrict his sparring partners in a way that also improved their skillsets.
Examples included restricting Rattata to being able to use only Detect and his own physical force as a way to train his body to a stronger baseline. Restricting Diglett to only being allowed to use Mud Bomb and having to stay above ground, and restricting Metapod to battling without String Shot.
Misdreavus, as the current strongest of the team, was, funnily enough, the Pokemon that needed no restriction, since her bread and butter, Hypnosis and Dream Eater, were both psychic-type moves and thus useless against the dark Pokemon.
Suffice it to say, Joey's training plan notebook gained several dozen new pages, and the section in his Pokedex that marked what he'd recently read could fill a small library.
However, no matter how seamlessly Joey integrated Houndour into his team, had him spar, trained his moves and his body, there was one step that was as inevitable as it was necessary.
"It's been two weeks now," Joey said to Jessie as they watched the team train like a perfectly oiled machine.
Even Happiny was standing on the side, training her Pound on a tree, her recently perfected oval stone nestled into her pouch.
"In two weeks, you have Blaine, right?" Jessie asked while fussing with her hair. She'd just finished a shower after training with Happiny. The baby Pokemon had kept at it.
Joey nodded. "I'm not that worried about Blaine," he admitted. "Diglett will carry, I think. He's become the local nightmare for the fire-types up the volcano." He shook his head. "No, I think it's time for Houndour to have his first real battle."
The pair looked at where the Dark Pokemon was gnawing at a tree, training his Bite.
"You think he's ready?"
"There is no try," Joey responded.
"Huh?"
"Anyway, I want him to get used to battling, because if he's comfortable enough by the time I have my match I could ask Blaine to give Houndour a two-badge challenge. That way he won't feel left out. There's only three more badges left, and he won't be a good match for King."
"That's true," Jessie agreed with a nod. "But do you think Blaine will agree? He's probably busy, no?"
The boy shrugged, taking off his white hat. It was getting warmer as April neared. Especially on this tropical island. Doing Cinnabar in July or August was probably just asking for a heat stroke. "I'll just have to impress him. Worst he can say is no, right?"
"I guess, although it all depends on Houndour being ready," Jessie said critically before laughing. "As you said, there is no try. What's your plan?"
"Take him to the public battleground tomorrow, see if I can rustle up a few challengers at the appropriate level. Build his confidence, don't let it become arrogance."
Jessie turned her head to look critically at the puppy Pokemon who'd stopped training his Bite and had gone on to spar against the four times smaller Rattata.
The normal-type eyes glinted a burnt orange, and the Dark Pokemon was backhanded across the clearing like a skipping stone.
"I don't think you have to be worried about arrogance," she eventually said as Houndour quickly jumped back up to rejoin the fray with an angry bark of his name.
Joey looked as Houndour was sent flying again, not ten seconds later, this time into the air and right into the crown of a tree, rustling up a flock of Pidgeys.
"You're probably right," he eventually agreed.
"When did Rattata learn how to do a judo throw?" Jessie asked, confusion evident in her face.
"I let him watch whatever he wants on the Pokedex sometimes," Joey explained. "He likes martial arts and wrestling highlights."
Jessie rested her chin on her hand and rolled her eyes. "Boys," she muttered.
-/-
Joey breathed in the air of the battlegrounds, listened to the cries of defeated youngsters and victorious oldsters.
He could feel it in the air. The violence. It called to him, like a long-lost lover.
"The history of the team you have joined. It is long and profound," he muttered quietly.
"Hounddd?" the Dark Pokemon standing next to him in the dark alleyway whined questioningly.
The trainer looked at the public battlesquare behind the Pokecenter, where Rattata faced Pidgey and Caterpie faced Weedle.
Well, this was Cinnabar, so it was more Charmander facing Slugma and Geodude facing Magikarp, but whatever.
The youngsters were the same, though. Yellow t-shirt, blue cap, blue shorts. Dripped out, in other words.
"We were once a wealthy and powerful group in Saffron, the industrial core in the region," Joey began, weaving his dark tale. "We would scour battlefields such as these and feast on the remains of our opponent's wallets. We would string up the young and trick the old, growing fat on their excess wealth. Until that fateful day that is…" he muttered hauntingly with a faraway look in his eyes.
"Dourrrr!?!"
"We faced a witch even crueler than us in a tournament with the highest stakes. She fought like a cornered animal. No tactic was too cruel (evolving her Pokemon), no attack too brutal (tactical teleportation). We faced our greatest humiliation that day, and we promised." He paused dramatically. "That it would never happen again… We would travel the world, grow stronger and when the time is right… We'll strike when she least expects it."
Houndour started barking angrily at Joey's story, likely asking for the identity of the great enemy, the witch of betrayal.
Or maybe he was asking for treats, Joey still couldn't tell very well.
"You are the prophesied one, Houndour," Joey continued. "The great Dark Pokemon who shall shut down the foul psychic tactics used to hurt us in the past. The one who shall guide the witch of betrayal to her final fate. Defeated, forgotten, served her just desserts."
Houndour growled angrily, flashing his teeth.
"But you are not yet ready!" Joey exclaimed loudly, drawing some concerned looks from the people spectating the public battles in the last row.
The Dark Pokemon whined.
"You are not yet ready…" Joey whispered. "How can anyone face the black of night before they have faced the sun of day," he said dramatically, sweeping out his hands to encompass the public battlefield, filled as it was with old gentlemen in their brown suits and young swimmers in their bikinis.
"You must train, yes. Grow stronger. Experience more. Only then will your fate reveal itself, and you will have the strength to do what needs to be done." Joey's eyes glinted. "Strike down the witch of betrayal and her dastardly psychics and with that act, save the world."
Houndour looked up at Joey, spellbound.
"Are you willing to take this heavy responsibility?" The trainer asked. "Carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? For humanity?" He put a hand on his heart. "For me?"
"Houhouhouhoudourrrrrr!!!" the Pokemon exclaimed, howling excitedly, drawing even more attention.
"Let them look!" Joey screamed. "They do not know our burden, our fate!"
"Sir, are you okay?" a concerned youngster who had come up to Joey asked, twiddling with his blue cap, which he had taken off, perhaps due to being nervous.
Joey looked down at the young boy. "I see myself in you, before this cruel world took everything from me…" he whispered.
"What?" the youngster asked while tilting his head.
Joey coughed, returned to normal and stepped out of the alleyway. "Wanna battle?" he asked. "Maybe you have a Rattata or a Caterpie, preferably one with less than a week of training?"
The youngster looked confused. "Well, the season started three weeks ago, so I guess I've been training Pipi for three weeks."
"Pipi?" Joey asked.
The youngster's countenance brightened. "My Caterpie. He's going to be the strongest, I can already tell. He's definitely in the top percentage!"
The older of the two nodded. "Your Pipi sounds powerful indeed," he praised, at which the youngster puffed out his chest. "But it won't stand a chance against Houndour," he retaliated ruthlessly. "I caught him five seconds ago, and he already knows a third of a move. He's the best."
"Houndour!?" the Pokemon in question yelped.
The youngster, meanwhile, ran red in the face. "You take that back! My Pipi is the best in Kanto!"
Joey snorted dismissively before leering at the boy. "How about you… prove it?"
"I will!" the youngster retorted.
A crowd had formed around the two trainers; some participants were muttering in concern, looking at Joey's dark clothing and the dark type at his side.
It probably didn't look good.
It probably looked like someone trying to engage in a cheeky bit of rookie crushing.
The fact that Joey "forgot" to officiate the match through the Pokenav or set any stakes was actually what prevented anyone from coming forward and putting a stop to the match. This wasn't about money.
Joey only did that to prevent losing thousands if Houndour lost somehow, but he'd take the other interpretation too.
Him and the youngster quickly found a small space for their battle, at which point the other boy excitedly brought out his Pipi in front of everyone.
The crowd gasped at its size, and Joey himself was quite surprised.
The Caterpie was quadruple the size it should have been.
"Afraid already?" the youngster taunted. "I have the biggest Pipi in town, you don't stand a chance!"
"An alpha Pokemon?" Joey muttered before shaking his head. Just like humans, some Pokemon had the gene for gigantism. It didn't inherently make them better.
"I don't care how big your Pipi is!?" Joey replied. "Size is irrelevant; what really matters is skill." He pointed forward dramatically. "Show him your technique, Houndour!"
Nothing happened. The crowd looked around confusedly. Joey's opponent smiled arrogantly. The large Caterpie burped. The sand grains of the public arena gently rolled in the sea breeze coming from the port.
"Houndour!" Joey called again. "Face your destiny, one defeated enemy at a time!"
Crickets, tumbleweeds, awkward whispering.
Joey turned around.
He found the stubbly little black tail hiding from behind the legs of an awkward-looking old man with a straw hat, dark sunglasses and an obviously fake brown long wig.
"Get lost, fashion disaster," Joey shooed the man away before kneeling down in front of the trembling Houndour.
"Huh?" the old man muttered after he'd instinctually moved aside.
"Houndour," Joey started gently. "You don't believe in yourself. I understand. I, too, used to lack confidence," he confided.
"Houhou?" the Pokemon whined, shaking from feet to snout now that everyone's attention was on him.
"Yes," Joey said with his eyes closed, remembering the imaginary time when he'd lacked confidence. "But gaining confidence as a human is harder than it is as a Pokemon. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was a wee young lad of indeterminable age who'd had enough of not feeling like I was enough. I concocted a plan that would heal me. A painful plan. I dressed up in a large inflatable pizza costume and went to the town square. It was embarrassing, it was horrible. I handed out invitation flyers to my newly founded flat-earth society. People stared, people laughed. Someone threw an empty water bottle at me. I think it was the person I stole the costume from. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that at every laugh, at every jeer, I felt stronger, more confident, more uncaring about the rejection. That's because the laughs didn't change anything. I was still me. I was still alive. Their words couldn't hurt me any more than my own thoughts already had." He finished his story, looked down, and wiped a tear from his eye.
"You probably think less of me now, don't you?" he hiccuped. He put up a hand to hide his nonexistent tears.
Two paws suddenly came to rest on his knee, and a tongue licked his face.
Under his arm, Joey's frown turned into a smirk.
He stood up, crossed his arms. "Houndour," he started. "Every individual, no matter the race, species, confession, sexuality or main champion, holds within themselves a profound ability to adapt to any circumstance. Where once stood a sad, lonely boy with no self-assurance, now stands a confident young man." He uncrossed his arms and turned around, looking at the distance.
"You don't believe in yourself?" he asked rhetorically, before shaking his head. "That doesn't matter!" he suddenly shouted, raising his voice. "You believe in me, and I believe in you! Therefore, there's no need to believe in yourself. Just believe in the me that believes in the you." He pointed towards the large Caterpie, looking at them with a clear look of confusion. "Now go and face your fears! I know you can do it!" He shouted.
"Houndour!" the Dark Pokemon barked and jumped forward excitedly, stars twinkling in his eyes.
An older gentleman with dark sunglasses and a Growlithe at his side stepped forward to officiate.
"Begin when the count reaches one," he said, seemingly having been whipped up by Joey's speech.
"3, 2, 1, begin!"
"Ember!" Joey shouted.
"Pipi, cover that dog in your white goo!" the youngster ordered.
The two primal forces of the universe met.
White and red. Flame and string.
Ten seconds later, Pipi was covered in burns and lying on the ground in defeat. It hadn't separated the string from its mouth, which meant its attack had gone up in flames and helped the Ember reach it faster.
Houndour stood there, dumbstruck.
"You did that," Joey said calmly, stepping up as the youngster on the other side recalled his Pokemon. "You defeat the great monster haunting Cinnabar Island." He knelt down and put a hand on Houndour's head. "You are… a hero."
Houndour threw back his head and howled in victory.
The crowd muttered some things and dispersed.
"First Pipi, then the world," Joey whispered.
Ten minutes later, Joey was standing in line at the Pokecenter.
Houndour had gone on to challenge a girl with a Pidgey and had gotten his ass handed to him on a silver platter.
"Progress," Joey determined with a satisfied nod.
-/-
With the addition of a new team member who needed to be brought up to speed and rehabilitated at the same time, the days until Joey's fateful match against the Cinnabar flew by.
Suddenly, he woke up, confused, dazed, tired and realised that the day had come.
He'd done Houndour's monthly check-in yesterday, and the case worker had been very satisfied with the progress.
Now the only thing left on the agenda was to win the badge and take the ferry to Fuchsia tomorrow.
"You look like shit," Jessie commented from where she was sleeping next to him in her own sleeping bag before closing her eyes again.
"Gee, thanks," Joey muttered sarcastically as he exited his tent and stretched his arms in the air. The sun had yet to rise, and the dark was cold.
"I am not afraid of the things in the dark, for I am the thing in the dark that others should fear," Joey said to himself as he looked down at the Pokepile sleeping in front of his tent. Diglett and Metapod together with Houndour on the side and Rattata on top. Misdreavus floated by overhead, silent and introspective.
A smell hit Joey's nostrils. He looked down.
"Why are you sweaty? You literally showered yesterday before bed," Joey complained at his sleeping starter. "Fucking teenagers."
A rummage through his backpack brought out the little water receptor that could be used to store several gallons due to its rather expensive space compression technology.
"We have reached the future, portable showers that weigh less than a hundred grams," Joey muttered as he undressed himself and hung the plastic disc on a tree branch and activated it. He'd had Diglett get him a large stone slab and make a drainage system on the outside of the campsite. The water that came down drenched him, froze him and then drained away into the trees as he applied soap onto his body.
He was growing leaner and taller every month as the physical exercise of being an active trainer burned away his softer features.
Horrible for his soap budget, he was using 33% more soap to clean his body than he had last year.
The shower finished, but instead of towelling himself off, Joey simply stood there in the clearing and flexed his body. As he did so, ghostly energy rampaged through his body for a brief second at a very high speed.
Steam hissed, and the moisture on his skin disappeared in a flash.
Clothes replaced the steam a few seconds later. Black shorts and a purple t-shirt. He stayed barefoot.
"Let the piggies breathe," Joey groaned as he made his way to the fire-pit and idly lit the coals and kindling he'd left there yesterday.
He went to throw a few extra logs on the fire before getting the cooling box with cooking ingredients and starting to unpack.
The first thing that went on the hot coals was a coffee pot that started boiling almost immediately.
Joey's expression immediately freshened up as he took the first sip, not caring that it scalded his tongue.
"High performance day, high performance stimulants," he said in a satisfied voice before taking out the ingredients for breakfast and starting to chop them up. It wasn't easy having five Pokemon. He was starting to dread his sixth team member. But for now, he had a job to do.
His Pokemon had their high-quality chows and supplements, but it never hurt to make something extra tasty for the gang to enjoy, rather than just survive breakfast.
"High-performance athletes eat high-performance food," Joey muttered as he started stirring the large wok he'd placed over the flame with the help of the three stones surrounding the flame.
The sun slowly woke up as well and started peeking over the volcano, making it look like a Draco Meteor was rising from the depths.
Pidgey started chirping almost immediately as the light woke them up, and in the background somewhere, a Gyrados started its morning rampage.
"Nature is healing," Joey said happily as he extinguished the flame but left the wok overhead so the food would stay warm over the still glowing coals.
In a few minutes, his team would awaken.
Joey used the opportunity to fall back on the soft grass with his arms behind his head.
The sky was blue and lacking any sort of clouds.
He closed his eyes.
Focused on his breath.
In.
Out.
The emotions disappeared into the flame, leaving behind nothing.
His meditative state was broken a few minutes later by a tongue licking his cheek.
Joey opened his eyes and looked at his starter, who had walked over and was nudging him with his front paws.
"Why do you look more tired than me? I woke up earlier," Joey joked, at which Rattata simply shrugged and went off to sniff at the food.
The trainer looked at the green forest surrounding his campsite. The steaming food over the hot coals. His starter. The rest of his team untangling themselves from their dog-pile. Misdreavus is coming down from her overnight perch. Jessie peeked out from the tent with blurry eyes. Happiny clutched like a teddy bear in her arms.
"I'll remember this moment," he decided spontaneously with a smile tugging at his lips.
And he did.
-/-
AN: Lalalalala, 1 million more chapters on patreon, tier 1 one week free trial, hiatus soon, lalalalala.