[The Next Morning, Route 202]
[Y/N] got up that morning with one goal in mind. He wanted to catch his first Pokémon.
He already had three Pokémon, but that didn't stop his hunger to personally snag one himself. Part of the supplies he had been given included not only the starter's Poké Balls, but also five empty capsules for him to use on his journey. It wasn't a lot however it would suffice for now. As a trainer, building up a strong team was one of his first prerogatives, varied enough to combat any potential threat that he came across.
And, despite Piplup, Chimchar, and Turtwig being quite strong for any new trainer, there was something that none of them could do...
And that was fly.
No, rather his entire team was locked to the ground. The fire-type could scale trees and buildings well enough, but he needed something that could soar high above the competition, something that would be much harder to hit. [Y/N] came to the conclusion that, while maintaining a distant fight was easy in concept, if both Pokémon were landlocked then it didn't matter much either way. Piplup could fire as many beams as she wanted, but there wasn't any real way that she could totally avoid conflict.
A flying-type would make a good substitute, agile and mobile in the air, able to make quick, hard hitting attacks, and evade without receiving any punishment. Against a ground-type it still wouldn't have been very effective, and the same could've been said for electric- and ice-types. Just like every Pokémon they all had different strengths and weaknesses. Fortunately, flying-types didn't seem to be that rare, rather he had come across massive flocks of Starly all along the way since leaving Sandgem Town...
It was the early hours of the morning when he unzipped his tent door open, trudging out and greeting the rising sun, showering the land in its golden glow. He let out a yawn and stretched his arms, the desire to sleep slowly overpowering him, but he resisted its devious temptations. If he was going to be the best then he needed to train morning till evening, a break wasn't time he could afford to lose now. The fire pit sat, blackened and ashy, with the remnants of last night's meal strewn about. He tidied up the place, not wanting to leave it in a worse condition than when they'd arrived. Most importantly, nothing stirred from Cynthia's tent, she was still fast asleep, and probably down for another few hours.
He was slightly hesitant leaving her alone while she slept, what if something were to happen when he was away? However he quickly ignored the worry, knowing that Cynthia wouldn't give up without a fight, and with Gible at her side there weren't many who could overpower the duo.
Either way, it meant he could go about catching a Starly using only his wits, and his team. If he was lucky he'd be back before she even woke up, and with a new addition to his party. And, if he wasn't successful than there wouldn't be anyone else who know.
He pulled on his jacket and woke himself up properly, assembling all his items for travel in preparation for their departure. There was no excuse for being unprepared. And, with all that done, from his belt, the three used Pokémon Balls exploded with light revealing the starters, each of them just as tired as he was. [Y/N] put a finger to his mouth. "Don't speak too loudly until we leave." He warned them, earning a few weary nods.
"You all remember the promise, right? Training starts today." [Y/N] said, slinging his rucksack over his shoulder, both Piplup and Turtwig peeking out from its open top, Chimchar atop his shoulder. "We're going to be the strongest, never forget that." And the three of them wandered off into the forest, without a real direction, just simply meandering about, skulking past the enormous trees and heavy underbrush.
The ground was certainly filled with Pokémon. They spied a fair few different sorts, but nothing that filled [Y/N]'s requirements. No wings, no beaks, no feathers. Then he had an idea, pulling out the Pokédex. The device snapped open and he began sifting through the vault of information. "Char?" The small fire-type asked. "I'm cheating." He answered, trying to find Starly's entry in the database. "There might be some information that I can find to help us."
And, before long he found it. "Starly, the Starling Pokemon..." The robotic voice spoke. [Y/N] raised an unimpressed brow. "How original." It continued on unable to hear his commentary. "They flock in great numbers, however, they bicker if the group grows too big. They are barely noticeable when alone. Though small, they flap their wings with great power and its cries are very strident." Piplup cried at him her disapproval, and he knew exactly what she meant despite not speaking the penguin's tongue. "If you weren't a flightless bird than I wouldn't need to get one, alright?" He said, leaving the water-type to sulk. Turtwig chuckled at her antics, a low raspy sound.
All he had learned was that they move in large groups, and had very noticeable bird calls, and he was quickly realising that this was going to be slightly more tedious than he expected. [Y/N] sighed but he wasn't deterred, this was a part of the trainer's journey, he just had to accept it.
He hoped that it wouldn't take much longer, but in reality he hadn't the faintest clue how long it would take...
Deeper into the woods however, a rather confusing scene took place, unbeknownst to the travelling trainer and his three Pokémon.
A large flock of Starly called out, shrieking with fury, beating their wings in an intimidating fashion, settling a serious dispute. There had to have been around twenty in total, and they all stood on one side of the clearing. At the front of the force of birds was one larger Pokémon, a Staravia, the second-stage evolution of Starly. It was far fatter than the rest, but also more damaged, with a dark mark atop it's temple.
Opposing them was one lone Starly, battered and bruised, with one eye shut closed, and his beak clamped tight. There was a defiant anger behind the bird's eyes, staring down the rest of the roaming flock. He cawed out at them. "Star..." He muttered with an evident malice, but also a hint of betrayal to his voice. However, despite how hurt he looked, he never backed down, standing tall against the army of his brothers and sisters. A brave warrior facing down overwhelming odds...
And yet he refused to give up now, he simply couldn't. His pride was too valuable to simply throw away. Even if he died here, he would die doing so with the most honourable death in the entire history of his flock. His old flock, Starly didn't have a flock anymore, he had been kicked out. It had grown too large too fast and far more charismatic, more personable Starlys took the helm.
He was seen as an outsider, rough around the edges, prone to ignore their rules, and do his own thing. They didn't like that, it upset the flock's dynamic, and they simply couldn't have one of their kind disobeying orders. It wasn't hard to tell he wasn't liked by the rest, and over time he became the flock's black sheep. There had been attempts to get rid of him sooner but today was the final straw, when he fought back against the pushing and prodding and bullying. It wasn't worth the abuse, and he struck back against their leader, earning him a red bump.
They didn't take that very well at all.
For the last twenty minutes they had been at a stand-off, unable to accept the attack. There had to be some punishment for the egregious offence. And so, with the force of the entire flock at their disposal, it soon became one versus all. There wasn't any chance that the sole rebel would escape alive, it was impossible. They had the group on their side, and numbers were the most important factor. However, not everything was going as they may have wanted...
They initially wanted to scare the lone Starly, force them to cow down and accept their brutalisation without getting hurt, but that option wasn't available, the small bird's resolve as strong as steel. Eventually, one of the closest Starlys was forced to go first, and hesitantly followed its orders, diving straight for the former flock-member. It screamed its name and struck with the sharp pointed end of its beak, but the lone warrior didn't move, or make a noise even.
Rather, this was exactly what he wanted. As the first Starly attacked him he took the brunt of the damage without even attempting to evade, much to the confusion of the rest of the flock. Yet, there was strategy behind the apparent madness. And, just as the attack was finished, his gaze hardened, and with his own beak the lone Starly stabbed forward like a snake striking at its prey. The first Starly cried out its name as the damage that they had done was returned back to them in kind, but even worse, and far more excruciating...
His judgement unleashed upon them.
It fell before the lone Starly, unconscious and still. He panted, sweat building against his temple, but his resolve fully intact. "Star..." It threatened once more, a warning towards any who dared come any closer, lest they face the same fate as the first Starly had. This message was not taken well by the flock's leader who insisted upon sending wave after wave after the rebellious traitor. And, for the next few minutes, that same Starly never fell, taking attack after attack after attack, and throwing back his own with a calculated discipline. It never took more than a single hit, knocking out each attacker with overwhelming force. Pained Starly cries echoed out through the forest, each one viciously retaliated against with an unmatched precision and force.
However, this strategy wasn't going to work forever, as with each attack the Starly took, his endurance was slowly breaking down. Each hit was chipping away at him, and while his will was strong, he wasn't the most tanky Pokémon to begin with. He wasn't sure how many more hits he could take but he could already see the world around him dimming at the peripheries. Suddenly, another hit caught him off guard, and this time he hadn't been prepared, unable to counter with a heavy attack...
This temporary weakness was all the rest of the flock needed to see, and they swarmed as one, gorging themselves upon the small bird, pecking one after the other, digging past his feathers, hitting the hide beneath. He couldn't stifle a cry anymore as the pain only grew worse and worse. After what felt like an eternity the Staravia graciously called off his mad dogs, and gave him one more spiteful look. The wounded Starly held the leader's glare, but he simply couldn't move his body. The attacking flock retreated and left him laying there upon the solid ground, wounded and bleeding out.
And, in the end, despite his defiance, he had lost. The courage and honour that he clung onto so strongly meant nothing in the end, simply casted away like useless trash. He may have taken down a few in his final moment but what did it matter if he still lost anyway? It was the complete opposite of honourable, it was dishonourable rather. Left a bloodied mess, his fate left up to nature's cruel whims.
Giving up wasn't an option available to him just yet however, and he pushed through the aching pain coursing through his entire body, forcing himself to stand, limping along the forest ground. He didn't have a home to return to now, his flock having turned their backs to him, he was no longer welcomed amongst his family, already a distant memory.
Each step he stumbled, pushing one leg forward, and then the other, making incremental strides away from his assigned open grave, concealed under the trees and greenery...
The lone Starly walked on for a while longer, not strong enough to wield its wings and take flight, relegated to the ground like most other Pokémon. He kept his eyes honed towards the ground, unable to look ahead, too ashamed in himself. It didn't matter whether it was an unfair fight, he had lost, and lost badly, and he had fallen against his enemies. He was weak, and his weakness had finally whittled him down enough until he couldn't stand any longer.
What was there left for him now? Nothing, just an ordinary Starly. And, even though he had been betrayed by his home, he couldn't help but long for the family he once had surrounding him. It wasn't nice to be lonely in such a large world.
He needed strength if he wanted that connection in this world, but he had already ruined that chance, he hadn't been strong enough. How he would've jumped at the opportunity to redo it all again, and train to become the strongest Starly that ever existed...
And then, ahead of him, suddenly a rustling sound broke through the underbrush, and out peaked a humanoid figure. Starly's eyes went wide and he immediately assumed a defensive position, assuming an enemy was before him. His body hurt even more with every movement, forcing him to recoil in pain. If he were to fight now then there wasn't going to be much he could even do, but that didn't mean he could just give in and accept defeat.
"Hey, look at that guys, we actually got lucky for once." A man's voice spoke out, seemingly to himself, his expression hidden underneath the brim of a hat that covered the top of his head. At first he appeared alone, just as Starly had, but then he noticed three other figures on his person, a small monkey perched on his shoulder, and a Turtwig and Piplup sitting within a backpack.
A four on one fight, just his luck...
"Chimchar, you want to settle this one?" [Y/N] turned to his companion. The small monkey jumped up and down, bashing a fist into an open palm. He chuckled at the starter's enthusiasm. "Alright, you're up." He said, and Chimchar leapt from his shoulder, standing opposite the weakened bird. "Chim! Chimchar!" A shrill cry threatened, but Starly wasn't backing down, staring the monkey down with a steely look.
If this was going to be his last hurrah then he definitely wasn't going out without a fight.
Channelling all his energy into one final attack was going to be his best option, and Starly took an aggressive footing, aimed towards his opponent. Chimchar tilted his head, noticing the Pokémon's weakened condition, and so did [Y/N]. Most of the Pokémon they had seen along the way appeared relatively healthy, but this one looked like it was on the verge of collapse.
Starly cried out a shrill battle cry, and took a valiant step forward, before falling flat onto his face, laying face first in the grass and dirt, out without even a single attack being made. Chimchar's disappointment was immeasurable as he too collapsed, his first real battle ending before being able to even use a single move. However, his trainer had a different reaction. Chimchar turned to notice [Y/N] marching past him. "What happened to you, little fella?" He said aloud, kneeling down before the unconscious Starly. He could tell it was weak from a simple glance, its feathers matted with fresh blood, and its hide deeply bruised. Whatever had happened to the small bird must have been brutal...
It would've been cruel to leave the thing out in the middle of nowhere to fend for itself in its condition, but catching it also seemed weird, seeing as it hadn't even the choice to fight back. [Y/N] enveloped the bird within his arms, while Chimchar resumed his favoured seat. "Chim?" He asked, curiously. "I'll take it back to camp and let it rest, give it some food and potions."
And with that they began the journey back towards their camp, having been gone for just under an hour, a far less arduous mission than [Y/N] expected, but now they had a new problem...
At least they had found a flying-type.
However, the story behind why this particular Starly was in the condition it was, was another concern altogether. [Y/N] couldn't help but feel a strange kinship with the bird, lost and alone but putting up a fight even at its weakest. That was worthy of respect.
====================
[Two Hours Later]
Starly awoke to a loud crashing noise all around him, and he quickly believed that he was under attack, frantically looking all about for whatever, or whoever it was coming after him. And yet, with each small movement the small bird suffered a throbbing pain. His memory was cast back to earlier on, where his entire flock had turned against him under the leadership of some rogue Staravia. Just because he was the strongest they all followed him, but such was the way of the world, he supposed.
However, Starly quickly realised that he was not under any imminent threat, despite how his body may have felt. Rather, he sat quite comfortable atop a small pillow, overlooking a hastily assembled camp. And then his eyes latched onto four recognisable figures. It was that person from before, and his three Pokémon, he was sure of it. Yet, why were they here, and why was he here too? It wasn't really clear, considering his last memories were of falling in battle, not even getting a final move to save his pride. It was a shameful display, and his hunger to grow stronger only strengthened...
He looked back at the three Pokémon, a fire-type, a water-type, and a grass-type, and they were all first-stage evolutions just like he was. And the person behind them, a trainer. He was commanding them, telling them what moves to use. There was a strange synergy between them, one leading and the other following, and it made their attacks appear far stronger and well-coordinated. "Nice Chimchar." [Y/N] kneeled down, scratching the fire-type on the head. "You're getting really good at Ember! Now we just need to keep that intensity up." He advised, and Chimchar smiled back, shaking its head like crazy. At first, training seemed like it would be boring, but now that they were actually doing it he found it far more entertaining.
Chimchar would race up from tree to tree, and swing from branch to branch, training his mobility and speed. He was already the fastest out of the three so that was his area of expertise, outpacing the competition. That meant he had to balance the energy he spent on attacking, versus the energy spent on movement very carefully. It was an intricate balance, but one [Y/N] was helping him to understand. He was agile, but working on athleticism was another point to avoid a fall mid-battle. Chimchar wasn't clumsy, however, from time to time he could get a little ahead of himself. That made it more likely for a mistake to happen, and they didn't want that...
Piplup and Turtwig were performing a much different sort of training, as the water-type continually doused the grass-type with bolt after bolt of water, leaving the turtle damp and sodden. There was a method to [Y/N]'s madness, one that would improve both Pokémon's core strengths. Turtwig was slow but bulky, an impenetrable fortress that given enough training could negate most damage. Piplup was a ranged attacker, and could potentially even fight without ever needing to really face her opponent up close.
[Y/N] eventually decided that to train both defence and special attacking capabilities, Piplup would continually train her Water Gun move against Turtwig's hard shell until they both tired. And, even if the move wasn't necessarily effective, both were earning valuable experience along the way, with technique and grit. It was only one day into their strict training regimen but already they could see some results, especially in the three's discipline. One of the main problems with when they fought against Cynthia was Piplup's sudden inability to listen in the heat of battle. In an actual fight that couldn't be allowed to happen, or else they would never win...
Despite being just a simple Pokémon, Starly watched the combination of human and Pokémon in awe, amazed at how fluid everything worked with a solid enough foundation in place. He had never been much of a people person, relegated towards the rear of the flock always, but that didn't stop him from wanting connection with others. And their training, while slow, was sure to reap results eventually. They would get far stronger.
Stronger.
He wanted to get stronger, right?
[Y/N] stood up straight admiring the work of his three little partners. They were sure to give it their all, and he appreciated their commitment to training. There was a level of respect between them already, it was clear to see. They weren't on some uneven footing, master and servant. He saw it as an equal relationship, give and take. Separately, they may have been strong, but together they could become a lot more stronger. They weren't just HIS Pokémon, they were a team.
Suddenly, from behind, he heard a low cawing, and he turned only to face the Starly from earlier, who he believed to be still unconscious, slowly walking towards them. [Y/N] was confused at first, resting was the best medicine for him now. He had already administered a potion, and he planned on leaving a few berries for it to eat. And yet, here he was, pushing through the pain.
"Star..." The small bird called out, staring at him with a steely resolve. This time he even caught Chimchar's attention, and the small fire-type grew even more excited, seeing this as an opportunity to redo their failed battle from before. [Y/N] held him down before he could charge the wounded Starly. "Hey, you probably shouldn't be moving around." He said, not really sure if he understood what he meant, but his three starters seemed to understand him well enough.
he called out once again, continuing to slowly hobble towards him until it practically sat at the base of his feet. [Y/N] raised a suspicious brow. "I don't want to fight anymore, you can leave when you want." He said, but Starly didn't leave; rather he looked towards the small bundle of Poké Balls that had been left out prior, only a small distance away. Then he waddled over until he stood right above one of the red and white capsules, and with the tip of his beak, the Starly jabbed the centre button.
In a bizarre sequence of events, where the Starly had once stood now was nothing, as the creature's mass was enveloped within a blinding light and pulled into the small container. It rattled a few times, rolling from left to right, until it fell silent and still. [Y/N] and Chimchar looked at the display dumbfounded. "What." That was all he could say. "Chim..." His partner responded.
He had another Pokémon now, he guessed, and he didn't even need to battle or weaken it...
[Y/N] marched over, holding the ball within his palm, he held it out before him and unleashed its contents. Once more the bright shining light erupted out and the scarred Starly reappeared. "These aren't cheap, you know?!" He shouted at the small bird, realising he was now down a Poké Ball. And considering they could literally hold and shrink living beings, he assumed they were quite expensive. "Why did you do that?!" He continued, unsure as to how he should even respond to the situation.
Starly looked back at him with an iron resolve, and then looked over towards Turtwig and Piplup, who despite the small scene, had continued their back and forth without stopping. There was almost a misty look to the bird's gaze, unable to tear himself away.
[Y/N] followed his line of vision, latching upon the other two training. "You want Piplup to beat you up?" He asked. And then he thought about it a little more. The wounds and the bruises, alone in the woods by himself, the Pokédex entry had made sure to note they always travel in flocks. Had he been abandoned, and if so how come? Had he been too weak? If so, it would make sense then that he would want to get stronger, no?
Watching Piplup and Turtwig train to get stronger must have elicited a strong enough reaction from the small bird that he believed following him along would lead to strength. Was that the answer? Strength. It was fair enough. [Y/N] wanted a flying-type either way, and one who wanted to get stronger was great from his perspective.
"Alright, fine, you can come." [Y/N] said, and the Starly turned around to meet him, nodding along. "HOWEVER!" He spoke out, raising his index finger. "This won't be a fun ride, alright? You're in for the most gruesome, grizzly, horrific training of your entire life. We don't do breaks here, only blood, sweat and tears, you hear me!" Chimchar threw both his arms up, pumping the air and jumping from one leg to another.
Starly seemed to understand well enough, and it lowered its head in a respectful manner, almost as if thanking [Y/N] for allowing him in his service. "No, you're on the team. We're partners, you got that! You listen to me but that's it. You'll get stronger with my help, but it will be your hard work!" Starly was a little surprised by his speech, knowing only the survival of the fittest, and the stragglers who couldn't keep up were ostracised. This was an entirely new realm, but not one he disliked at all...
"STAR!" It called back with a much more stern call, as if standing to attention. [Y/N] smirked back. "Good, you're going to be the strongest flying-type that Sinnoh's ever seen!"
"[Y/N] why are you shouting, it's too early..." Cynthia's groggy voice shouted out from within her tent, forcing him to retreat. Evidently, they had been a little too loud. Hopefully she wouldn't be too angry...