He took in a deep breath and sighed. Despite his Shinx frolicking playfully in the tall grass, Harrison did not share the same enthusiasm. He had never been an outdoors person and hated the heat. This was why he made his Maestro learn Rain Dance. He would rain on someone’s parade if necessary. Damned be the heat.

  Ugh, I’m not looking forward to the journey ahead, Harrison thought. He would have to go through several cities, camp for days at a time, and likely much worse as would be required for a new Trainer going through the Gym Challenge Circuit.

  He then stopped his thoughts from wandering and took off his backpack. Setting it down to the ground, he opened it and poured out a pile of various berries. A lot of Cheri berries, some Oran berries, and even a few Sitrus berries.

  “Nova, are you done or are you still playing?”, Harrison asked.

  The Shinx stopped swiping a flower in a leisurely manner and strolled calmly back to its trainer. Its fur then sparkled with static.

  “Okay, then. We’re starting”, Harrison said as he whistled a particular tune.

  The wind then picked up significantly and a breeze rolled through the field. From above, a flock of a dozen Starlys descended from the sky. One of them was even shiny. Their sudden presence caused the lazing wild Bidoofs, Wurmples, and Kricketots to quickly scatter. The flock then surrounded Harrison and Nova in an equidistant circle.

  “The usual”, Harrison stated.

  The flock swiftly took to the skies. Using quick attack, they hastened their escape and a dozen different bright bird silhouettes soared above.

  Shinx stood still as it used Charge. Its electricity and power rose rapidly and the zapping sound increased in volume.

  A potent Thunder Shock then erupted from the little blue cat and rose towards the sky. The yellow lightning then split into branches like a tree with each branching path chasing a different Starly which desperately zigzagged and maneuvered to evade.

  The luminous Thunder Shock then struck. Each separate branch of lightning landed its mark perfectly. Each and every one of the Starlys then stopped as a small shock coursed through its body. Just enough to disrupt but not enough to ground the flying Pokemon.

  “Well done. Once you learn Spark, we can attempt this again and the power should be even greater”, Harrison said while petting his Shinx which was still charged with potent electricity. He remained indifferent to the sparks which struck his hands as he scratched it on the head.

  The dozen Starlys then awkwardly landed as every other second, a spark of Paralysis would disrupt its flight.

  One of the Starlys erupted into an overwhelming white light once it landed.

  Harrison observed in confusion but then he noticed that two other Starlys were also experiencing the same phenomenon. He then watched as they rapidly doubled in height and the curved feather on their heads became more pronounced.

  “SStar-!!!”, the three newly evolved Staravia shouted in unison.

  Harrison then stepped aside to let the flock peck at the pile he had left for them. The birds devoured the pile, especially the new Staravia, likely because their hunger increased in proportion to their new size.

  Fascinating, he thought. This would mean that his Shinx should be in range of evolving too. They trained together for many sessions as he thought of a practical way to improve Shinx’s electric manipulation which means the levels or growth (as the concept from the game likely didn’t translate well into reality) between his Pokemon and the new Staravias shouldn’t be too far apart even when taking the type advantage into consideration.

  Once the flock finished their food, they would usually fly away or request another round of training. Even if they did not like electricity, they noticed these few sessions improved their flight and strength and thus, Harrison didn’t even need to provide a food offering and just did so as a courtesy. This time however, one of the Staravias began to talk to the others.

  “Star-star-Star”, it began with the first Staravia and then the entire group began to be involved and it became a cacophony of bird noises and chirping. Quite a few times the Staravias would point towards the Shiny Starly and their wings would flutter frantically and in defensive wing stances.

  Harrison watched with interest while Nova just stretched, seemingly anticipating another session.

  The bird council then seemed to settle and the Staravia who had begun the entire debacle left the circle and landed in front of Harrison.

  “S-Star”, it proclaimed with its wing pointed directly at him.

  Other than Maestro which was a psychic type, it wasn’t always easy to interpret what the Pokemon wanted. Even Nova had been difficult when he first began interacting with the Shinx, likely because part of its communication was through electricity and Harrison was wholly unaffected. However, he was familiar with this flock and could tell.

  “You want to join my team?”, Harrison asked.

  “Star!”, she agreed and pointed at the two Pokeballs on his belt.

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  “Those are for my team”, Harrison pointed out and activated the other Pokeball which summoned Maestro. The sleeping Abra abruptly awoke before using Teleport which forcefully returned it to its Pokeball.

  Typical Maestro, Harrison thought. Abra liked to sleep in general and probably wouldn’t be a more active member until it evolved into Kadabra. It wasn’t like his Abra couldn’t do anything other than Teleport as it knew Confusion but its tendency to sleep restricted the extent of training Harrison could do. Maestro probably would have evolved already as Abra was actually his starter but the Pokemon liked to sleep as was required of most Abra so he let it be most of the time.

  “S-tar?”, the Staravia tilted its head in confusion.

  “It’s fine even if I don’t have any Pokeballs, just follow along”, Harrison said. He would have gestured towards his shoulder if it was still a Starly but as he was still a 10 year old, 30 pounds on his shoulder would have been too much to bear.

  He then conducted a few more training sessions with the flock and noted how much Nova struggled to land a hit on the Staravias as the evolution afforded them greater speed and the young Shinx struggled to match their newly attained flexibility in motion even though Nova had impressive control over electricity.

  “SHIINX!!!”, Nova yelled as the greater challenge lit a fire in its eyes and its electricity surged along its body.

  Harrison then noticed someone approaching.

  “You terrorizing the birds again?”, a deep voice resounded from the more wooded area as an older man in their late twenties marched into their field. His hand on his stubble which he infrequently trimmed partially due to being busy but also partially due to not wanting to waste time on it.

  “The usual, Ranger Travis”, Harrison stated as he continued to watch the birds in flight.

  “We’re always getting complaints about these. Haha. Bird watchers get a bit too worked up when they see their birds getting shocked”, Travis stated.

  “Yeah, I get it. That’s why I stopped training Nova every other day and toned it down a bit”, Harrison sighed.

  “I get that but I have to at least show that I’m handling the issue or attempting to. There’s nothing else going on for now or I’d be called somewhere and not babysitting Route 203. Though trouble will probably pick up when the Gym Challenges start a new year”, Travis muttered.

  The Ranger then watched alongside Harrison as the flock weaved around Nova’s electric strikes. The range was impressive but judging by the strength of the lightning, it could not be from a fully evolved Pokemon as they could color the sky with their attacks if unleashed at a full capacity.

  “Dang, kid. You even got them to evolve”, Travis exclaimed in surprise once he noticed the Staravias.

  “Route 203’s gonna be real tough this year when the little ones start crying about Staravias resistant to electric types. The Oreburgh Gym is gonna be ravaged when their only challengers need to beat Staravias just to enter the city”, Travis joked.

  “Ehh- probably not, I only train this specific flock and they know their way around Trainers by now”

  “Problem sorted already then. You know kid, you should really join the Rangers. You got a real knack for this kind of stuff”, Travis said gesturing to everything that Harrison was doing.

  “Even if you’ll go quite far in the Gym Circuit, you should consider it. I mean you’re already battling with the strength of 3 badges and you haven’t even started your Journey”

  “The start will probably be easy”, Harrison admitted.

  “But I still have a long way to go and even the Elite Four won’t be enough for the challenges ahead”

  “Ambitious! You’re really gonna give old Harold a run for his Gimmighoul Coins”, Travis stated, slapping Harrison on the back.

  Harold referred to Harrison’s father. An ace trainer known for his powerful Luxray that carried him to the semifinals of the Lily of the Valley Conference. The Luxray even fought Flint’s Infernape and nearly won. And unsurprisingly was the father of Nova, his Shinx.

  When the sky began to darken, Harrison ended the training session and the flock left after some food had been offered by Travis.

  “With you guys around, we might even become the next Fortree City”, Travis joked to the birds which side eyed him before continuing the feast.

  Once the flock left, Travis noticed one of the Staravias remained and stood next to Harrison without any indication of departing.

  “Travis, could I get a Pokeball? This guy-”, Harrison began but was interrupted by the Staravia chirping in indignation

  “This girl wants to follow me”, Harrison corrected himself.

  Surprised, Travis briefly applauded.

  “Usually I would but it’s different when a wild evolved Pokemon wants to join a kid that hasn’t even started their journey. You’re gonna have to ask old Harold”, Travis said helplessly.

  .”Treat it as a challenge. If the buff and strong Staravia keeps by your side at the end of the day, then a Pokeball won’t matter anyways”

  Travis then escorted Harrison back to Jubilife City before the two parted ways as Harrison headed towards the Condominiums while Travis continued patrolling a bit longer along the routes. Usually, Harrison would have summoned Maestro and just teleported home but he decided that Travis was right and he decided to walk home as a way to test the determination of his new Staravia.

  Along the way, some kids pointed at Harrison as the Staravia flew right above his head, following him all the way. Harrison also stopped to greet Christine who was gushing over the Primarina and their incredibly pretty blonde trainer that had been incredibly friendly and welcoming. He even briefly waved at Rick who seemed to be entertaining some foreign celebrities from Unova.

  He then got home and as he was about to twist the door knob, a piercing glare which attempted to see through him could be felt.

  “You’re later than you normally are”, a familiar voice could be heard from behind.

  “Yeah, I needed to guide my friend here”, Harrison said, pointing to the Staravia which flew in circles right above his head. The circles were very small as they were in a hallway.

  This is a good way to train control, Harrison thought. Tight corners and drifting like a car.

  “Lux!”, a growl could be heard as the large black lion scowled at Harrison as usual.

  “Haha. Easy there, Luxray”, Harold began as he patted the fur on his trusty and reliable partner.

  “Luxray’s always so wary around you. Guess I won’t have to worry about a horde of Garchomp if my son stands in the way”, Harold joked before ushering everyone in.

  Harrison just shrugged. Even if he knew exactly why Luxray was cautious. Luxray could see through things but he was inscrutable as Luxray could not see through the Adamant Orb embedded in him.