"YO (Y/N) GET THE FUCK UP WE'RE GETTING ENDORSED WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!!"
I jolt upright at the sudden shouting, my blurry eyesight fixing itself on Hop.
"IT'S SIX IN THE MORNING!" I yell after a quick glance at my alarm clock, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. He grins, grabbing my arm and tugging me out of bed.
"I know! That means we can get just a bit more training in before anyone else wakes up! Grab Scorbunny and let's go!" He says, dashing out of the room before I can respond. I stare after him in disbelief.
'What the hell fuels that boy?' I wonder, quickly changing and picking up Scorbunny, cradling the still sleeping Pokemon in my arms. As an afterthought, I slide the knife I was given for my sixteenth birthday into its sheath and attach it to my belt. Sneaking out of the house as quietly as I can, I jog along the path to the slumbering weald. Hop was waiting just past the gate.
"I wanna do something a bit different today. Let's go further in." He says, turning and entering the dense woods. I frown and follow after him, albeit hesitantly.
"Why are we going in? It's off limits." I say. He looks back and grins at me.
"What, scared?"
"For myself, no. For you? Completely different story."
"Oh come on, I wanna see what's in here before we go do the gym challenge!"
"We need to be endorsed for that, dimwit." I remind him sarcastically, ducking beneath a particularly low branch. Scorbunny stirs and wakes up, hopping down from my arms to stretch, looking around with bleary eyes.
"And we're gonna prove to Leon that we should be later. For now, though, let's explore!" Hop says, running ahead.
"Hey! Slow down, moron!" I shout as I lose sight of him. The fog around me seems to become a bit denser, prompting me to catch up to the impatient boy. Scorbunny jumps onto my shoulder, balancing precariously.
"The mist is getting thicker. Stay in sight, okay? I don't wanna have to save your incompetent ass." I say to Hop, who just laughs in return. At that moment, an unfamiliar howl pierces the otherwise quiet forest, startling us both. It didn't sound like the cry of a Pokemon that could be found around town.
"Correct me if I'm having auditory hallucinations, but you heard that too, right?" I ask, staring into the mist ahead of us with renewed anxiety.
"Do you think that was a cry of pain? It didn't exactly sound like the Pokemon that made it was happy." Hop responds, climbing over a fallen log.
"I vote we head back and never speak of this again. Not feeling like becoming forest fertilizer today." I say, already having turned around and marching back the way we came.
"Suit yourself. I'm gonna keep going." He says, running ahead before I can stop him. He disappears into the mist once more, leaving me on my own.
"Hey! Hop! Come back!" I shout, sprinting after him. The fog gets denser and denser the further I run, until I can barely see the ground in front of me. All of a sudden, Hop flies into view. I crash into him, running too fast to stop, and we fall to the ground.
"Ow! Watch where you're going!" He says, pushing me off him.
"Watch where you're standing!"
"Blind idiot!"
"Statue!"
"Scaredy-cat!"
"Speedrunner!"
Gurrrooooooaaaaarrrr!!
We stop our bickering, both freezing, our eyes widening.
"That was really close this time." I whisper, looking fearfully into the mist. Scorbunny hops to my side as I stand up, my muscles tense. A dark shape in front of us slowly becomes more and more prominent. All of a sudden the mist clears away, revealing an enormous wolf-like Pokemon. Its piercing yellow eyes stare at Hop and I as we remain frozen. I slide my foot back a couple centimetres and the beast's gaze snaps to mine, paralyzing me.
"Hop... When I say run... You get the hell away from here, okay? Go get Leon, or some other trainer nearby." I say out of the corner of my mouth, slowly reaching behind me for the handle of my knife, not taking my eyes off the Pokemon. Hop audibly swallows and nods, slowly getting to his feet and preparing himself to run.
"You better run once you get the chance." He says, his eyes wide with fear.
"Bet. Now... RUN!" I shout, unsheathing my knife and leaping forwards. Hop turns and runs back the way we came as I slash at the startled beast. It avoids my attack by ducking away, though it dodges straight into Scorbunny's attack. The little Pokemon bounces straight off the beast, not affecting it in the slightest. While it was startled, I scoop up my Pokemon at dart away, sheathing my knife. I vault over the fallen log, the mist slowly clearing, when the Pokemon behind us howls again, nearly right behind my ear. The sound startles me so much I trip over my own feet, crashing to the ground, Scorbunny thrown from my arms. Rolling onto my back, my hand around the knife once more, I prepare to fight for my life when the wild animal lands directly above me. Its snout was inches from my nose, and I could feel the hot air of its breath on my face. It locks its eyes onto mine and pulls its lips back in a snarl, drool dripping onto my cheek. I try to press myself further into the ground, my arm trapped uncomfortably beneath me so I couldn't draw my knife.
"P... Please..." I beg, flinching as it leans even lower, its golden eyes staring intensely at my face. I screw my eyes shut and turn my head to the side, expecting the worst. It opens its jaws and roars, causing my breath to catch, before turning and bounding away into the mist. I open one eye, too terrified to move, hardly able to believe it had left. Shakily standing up, I turn to Scorbunny, approaching the concerned Pokemon. My knees were quaking.
"H-H-Hey, l-little bud-dy. Y-You did great-t." I stutter, my whole body trembling. My heart felt like it was going to explode. At that moment, my legs collapse and my vision goes dark.
------
"(Y/N)! Hey, (Y/N)! Open your eyes!"
I scrunch up my eyes momentarily before opening them, blinded by the sudden light. Three dark shapes were looming over me, though I quickly recognised them as Hop, Leon and his Charizard.
"Wh..." I start, though Leon rudely cuts me off.
"Save your strength. Hop told me what happened. I'm just glad you're both unharmed, for the most part. What were you thinking, going into the slumbering weald?!"
"I didn't think the legends would be true! Blame me for it, Leon! I forced (Y/N) to come with me." Hop says, bashfully averting his eyes. I sit up, rubbing my head, then jumping in surprise as Scorbunny flings itself at me, burying its face in my chest.
"To be fair, I didn't try very hard to stop you. But, Leon, do you have any idea what that Pokemon was?" I ask.
"... What Pokemon?"
'Oh. Shit, so Hop didn't tell the whole story.'
"A huge Pokemon - big enough to ride, probably - came out of the mist and attacked us. I stayed back to buy Hop enough time to escape and get help, then it chased me for a bit, then... I think I fainted." I say, struggling to remember all the details now. "It almost killed me."
Leon throws a glare at Hop, who shrinks underneath it.
"I think that's enough excitement for you two today. Let's go back and just have a quiet time at home, okay? I was going to take you two to get your Pokedexes and see professor Magnolia, but I think it's best to relax a little. (Y/N), come up to my room later." He says, standing and offering his hand to help me up.
"I'm not disabled. I can stand on my own." I say, disliking the way he was babying me. His eyes follow me as I stand up, concern evident in them.
"If you say so. Charizard, lead the way, please." He says, turning to his trusted dragon. The Charizard leads us out of the weald, straight back to Hop's front door. Leon nudges us inside and leaves us to ourselves as he heads upstairs.
Two hours of boredom and uno games with only two people later, I remember that Leon wanted me to come up to his room. Excusing myself from the table, I head upstairs and knock on Leon's closed door.
"Come in." He calls, "And shut the hdoor behind you, (Y/N)."
I decide not to question how he knows it was me at his door, entering the tidy room and doing as he said.
"Are you mad at me for some reason?" I ask. He was sitting at his desk, the computer monitor before him lit up as he watches a recording of one of the gym leaders fighting a challenger.
"No, the opposite. What you did today took a lot of courage. So, I want to give you this letter of endorsement. Hop's gonna be a bit mad I gave you one before him, but I think he'd agree with me." He says, turning away from the screen and holding out a sealed letter. I stare at it in surprise.
"Y'know, out of everything I could've expected, this is the most surprising. I got my ass handed to me by a Pokemon, and you think I should join the gym challenge?"
"You and Hop were gonna ask me anyway, right? I'm just speeding it up a bit." He shrugs, smiling. I return the expression.
"Thanks, Leon. Though, I think I'll wait for Hop to get his own letter before setting out."
"Can I ask you a favour? Hop's pretty determined, but he doesn't have anything to really push him to get stronger. Be a rival to him, yeah? Motivate him to keep going, and to get to the championship." Leon asks. It was honestly the most Olen I'd seen him since he came home. I give him a reassuring smile.
"Sure thing."