"Morning, Zubat, Munchlax."
The morning sun painted Munchlax, curled up on Auron's bed, in golden light. Auron sat up, rubbed his eyes, and greeted his two Pokémon, already awake.
"Today, we're all going out together."
"Munch!"
"Zuu~!"
Both Pokémon seemed delighted. After breakfast and some quick tidying up, the three of them set out for the meeting point.
"Morning!"
"Morning."
As usual, Tim Wynn was already there, waiting for everyone.
Auron eyed the van parked behind Tim, curious.
"What'd you bring this time?"
"Pretty much everything we'll need for a barbecue," Tim replied.
"Awesome."
The two chatted while waiting for Jace and Serena.
Soon, all four were together. They piled into Tim's family van and drove out toward the mountains—their destination this time was the southern range outside Vantora. The Nanshan Mountains were huge, and rumor had it that deep inside, wild Pangoro could be found.
But today, they were just heading to the outer foothills, near some farm stays, just past the busy recreational area but still safe.
Auron dozed off in the car, only waking as they approached the destination. The scenery outside was enough to fully shake off his sleepiness. The van wound its way through a lush green world, the trees thick on either side, wild flowers blooming along the road. Caterpie munched leaves while watching out for Pidgey and Spearow above. Metapod and Kakuna hung from branches, and Silcoon hid among the leaves, only an eye showing through a crack.
They stopped by a clearing near a river—perfect for a barbecue. There was a pebble bank nearby, and while nobody brought swimsuits, wading and playing by the water was fair game.
Once everything was unloaded, everyone released their Pokémon.
Everyone knew what to do: Auron started the fire, Tim and Jace prepped the food, Serena handled threading the marinated meat onto skewers.
Munchlax happily waddled over, carrying bundles of kindling to help Auron build the fire. Watching Munchlax work so enthusiastically made Auron laugh out loud.
Meanwhile, Dratini and Beauty splashed each other in the river, watched from a distance by Goldeen and some dazed Magikarp. Growlithe, once released, ran laps nearby, while Torkoal settled by Auron, mesmerized by the crackling charcoal. Zubat flew up to a tree and watched the whole cozy scene through half-lidded eyes.
Auron couldn't help but smile. Who would have thought that a scene like this, once only a dream in his old life, would actually come true?
Once everyone—human and Pokémon—had their fill, they sprawled out on the soft grass, basking in the afternoon sun, lulled by birdsong and the buzzing of bugs.
Half-asleep, Auron heard the faint rustling of a plastic bag nearby. He cracked an eye open and saw a slender blue Pokémon with a massive, crystalline crest atop its head. It was holding a plastic bag in its mouth, heading toward the group's trash can.
"Suicune!!!"
Auron shot fully awake, every trace of sleep gone. Instantly, his mind was filled with Suicune's data:
Pokémon: Suicune
Gender: Genderless
Type: Water
Ability: Pressure (causes opposing Pokémon to use extra energy when attacking)
Potential: Gold
Base Moves: Extreme Speed, Sheer Cold, Gust, Water Pulse, Crunch, Ice Fang, Psychic, Surf, Hydro Cannon, Blizzard, Scald…
Egg Moves: None
Suicune carefully placed the bag in the trash, then looked back at Auron. Just as it bent its legs to leap away, Auron blurted out,
"Wait, Suicune!"
Suicune turned back, clearly seeing the awe and joy in Auron's eyes. For a moment, it hesitated, then slowly approached him.
Man and Legendary met each other's gaze. Auron, heart pounding, reached out to stroke Suicune's head. The Legendary gently lowered its crest, accepting the touch—a reward, perhaps, for the group not littering or harming the environment.
"Whoa! Suicune?!" Jace, groggy from his nap, rolled over and stared, then rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
His shout startled Serena and Tim awake, and also spooked Suicune just as Auron's fingers brushed its forehead.
A chilly northern wind swept across the field. By the time Serena and Tim sat up, all they saw was Suicune's silhouette disappearing into the woods.
Auron stared at his hand, dazed. As that cold wind blew past, he almost thought he heard Suicune's voice in his mind:
"Human, we'll meet again."
"Whoa, Auron, that was Suicune! Did you see Suicune?!" Jace was shouting, unable to hold back his excitement.
Auron rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I saw Suicune. But you shouting like that scared it off—how do you think I feel?"
Tim stared blankly at Suicune's vanishing form, then looked to Serena.
"That… that was Suicune, right?"
"I think so," Serena replied in a daze.
"Ahh! I actually saw Suicune! Suicune!!" she suddenly shrieked, the realization finally hitting.
"Calm down, it's already gone," Auron said with a sigh.
Who'd have thought they'd see Suicune in the Nanshan mountains? But then again, traces of Suicune appeared all over the world. As the embodiment of the North Wind and guardian of clean water, maybe it wasn't so strange to find it here after all.
Everyone was quiet for a while, trying to absorb what just happened. Even a glimpse of that blue, elegant figure would stay with them forever.
Suddenly, with a splash, Beauty leapt from the river and flopped down at the group's feet, wiggling on the grass.
"Hey Serena, your Beauty just fished up a Shellder!" Jace was the first to notice the Shellder clamped on Beauty's tail, laughing as he pointed.
Auron and Tim saw it too, recognizing the Pokémon right away:
Pokémon: Shellder
Gender: Male
Type: Water
Ability: Skill Link (always hits max times with multi-hit moves)
Potential: Orange
Moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Withdraw, Ice Shard, Leer
Egg Moves: Aqua Ring, Life Dew, Rock Blast, Mud Shot
Auron glanced at Serena in amazement. "Wow, talk about luck. I mentioned Cloyster yesterday and now you find a Shellder with Skill Link and Rock Blast? Unbelievable."
"Come on, Beauty, get it off—unless you're planning to feed us!" Serena joked, half laughing, half crying.
Beauty flopped its tail helplessly. Clearly, it wasn't bringing back the Shellder on purpose, it just couldn't shake him off.
The Shellder, hearing Serena, looked absolutely terrified. In a flash, it let go and tried to shoot back into the water.
"Quick, catch it! That's a perfect addition to your team!" Auron yelled.
Serena darted forward, cutting off Shellder's escape route. The four of them watched as the Pokémon bounced awkwardly on the ground, trying to get away.
"From here, it's not gonna be easy for him to get back," Jace said dryly.
"Guess not," Tim agreed.
Auron grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, got a bit too excited."
"Come on, Shellder, battle me! If you lose, you join my team!" Serena called, brimming with energy.
Shellder turned and bounced away, determined to refuse.
"Hey, fight me!" Serena circled around and challenged him again.
Again, Shellder bounced away. After four or five attempts, he finally just flopped down and lay there, exhausted.
"Alright, Shellder, if you lose, you're joining my team," Serena insisted.
Tim, catching on, said softly to Shellder, "If you become her Pokémon, you won't get eaten."
At that, Shellder seemed to brighten, leaping up and ramming into the Poké Ball Serena offered. With a flash of red, it was caught.
"Yay! I caught Shellder!" Serena cheered, stunned but delighted.
"Didn't expect that one to be so clever!" Auron and Jace congratulated Tim, patting him on the shoulder.
Tim blushed, "It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea…"
After that, the group spent some more time playing with their Pokémon.
As the sun dipped lower, they packed up all their things and garbage, loaded into the car, and headed home, full of laughter.
By the riverbank, peace returned. It was as if no one had ever been there. With a gust of northern wind, Suicune reappeared, standing in the shadowy woods, watching the car depart. Who knows what it was thinking? Moments later, it vanished into the breeze.
That evening, Auron arrived home to find his mom already making dinner.
At the table, Auron recounted the day's big event to his dad.
"Dad, I saw Suicune today."
"Suicune? Really? Did you get a picture?" His dad jumped to his feet in surprise, and even his mom stared at him in shock.
"Sadly, no. Suicune showed up while we were napping. I woke up just in time to see it—and even got to touch it. But Jace woke up and shouted, and Suicune took off."
His dad sat back down, disappointed. "No photo, huh?"
Auron frowned, "Why do you care about the photo so much?"
"You don't get it," his dad explained. "For researchers, the ultimate goal is to study Legendary Pokémon. Aside from the ones bound by national alliances, we know almost nothing about them."
He shook his head regretfully.
"Even the alliance Pokémon, we only know superficial things—moves, maybe a few abilities, sometimes gender. But any Pokémon who didn't actually fight in that war? We have zero data."
"So there's no info on the Legendaries at all?" Auron asked.
"There's a little, but it's just surface-level. No one knows their hidden abilities, their real traits, or even their genders most of the time."
Auron's eyes gleamed with a new kind of curiosity. There might be a business opportunity here… but that was something to think about later.
(End of Chapter)
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