< The Path We Create >
"Ponewt?! W-what? How are you here! I-if you're here then, Mr. Marcelo…" Suddenly, a loud clap echoes, soon followed by a loud footstep.
"A nice display of Aura, still amateurish, but a nice display nonetheless. Our eyes truly don't miss." Mr.Marcelo still has the same detached expression he would have when he slacks off. "I know you would come inside the forest, but I didn't actually think you would be able to push your way this deep inside. And I certainly didn't think you would be able to use Aura too, even if I know you have a surplus amount of Aura inside your body, I didn't think you would actually be able to use it."
Mr. Marcelo continued talking, not even caring to explain what he was even talking about, Aura? What even is that? But before Felicia could even ask, the Frosslass cried out, letting out a shriek so loud that it hurt her ear.
But that was quickly shut down by Ponewt, who swung her wing once, and all the sound vanished, a tornado from her wing beating. The harsh tornado immediately wrapped around Frosslass, and not even letting the other Pokémon break out, when the wind subsided, Felicia could only see the broken form of Frosslass, now looking like a normal one outside of the few missing spots.
Strong…too strong…
Mr. Marcelo walked up to the now quiet Froslass. He held up a Poké Ball and gently tossed it toward the Frosslass. The Poké Ball opened and sucked the Frosslass in, and with a harsh resistance, the ball finally let out the familiar clicking sound.
"Hm, A good child, she probably got imported here, but she managed to break out of her trainer's pokeball and escape here, probably because of her Mega form. She must be in so much pain… guess we need to review the trainer records…" He said in a quiet voice as he shrank the pokeball and clipped it onto his belt, finally turning toward Felicia.
"Right back to what I was saying, I'm honestly surprised you were able to use Aura, much less at this age. Huh, I guess prodigies are everywhere, am I right, Ponewt?" The bird Pokémon let out a low coo as she used her wing to pat Felicia and Sprigatito on the head.
"Um… I don't really understand what you are saying. In the first place, how did you even let it be so strong… Pokémon out here, causing chaos? With how strong Ponewt is, I think your other Pokémon could easily handle the Frosslass too. So…why did you let it cause such havoc?" Felicia thinks that was calm, but obviously, she can't stay calm in a situation like this, so there was a lot of frustration put in her normally quiet voice.
Of course, she didn't think this was the fault of Mr. Marcelo; in fact, she thought this was mostly her fault, because while she could see the destruction on the Ranger post, there were virtually no Pokémon harmed.
Outside of Sprigatito, which suffered an injury because it saved Felicia, due to her reckless action, causing both to fall into critical danger and almost die from Frosslass's ice.
All of this happened because Felicia didn't trust her instincts and still decided to trek into the forest, even though she knew it wasn't in its normal state.
"Hm…how should I say this…It was kind of a test, and because I was busy too, gotta deal with an Alpha who senses the presence of an intruder, took a while to calm the Papa Usaring down, gotta knock a peg or two in him before he finally retreats."
Mr. Marcelo took out a jerky from his pocket and started chewing it, handing one over to Ponewt in the process. His motion was smooth and natural, as if it were a normal day…
"Test…? What are you even testing? Why? Is this test…so important that you could risk the life of a child and Pokémon!? Ah…I-i'm…I'm sorry for yelling." Felicia accidentally let out her frustration in a yell.
"Ay, no need to apologize, it's mostly my fault, didn't think the gal would be so aggressive, that means she feels that you two are worthy of her collection, ya know, should be proud of that. Getting considered worthy of being Frosslass is no small feat, especially one with a lot of strength like this gal here." He patted the now shrunk Poké Ball on his belt, as if showing off.
"What is there to even be happy about turning into ice…" She mutters tiredly, but then she jerks up. "Sprigatito!" The situation swept her, almost making her forget about the little partner who now slumbered in her arms.
"Oh! Right, don't worry about her, let my gal handle this, come Lily." Mr. Marcelo opened his Poké Ball, and what came out was a very small Blissey, much, much smaller than a normal Blissey. It is only about a meter tall, but she is very rounded…so round that she was almost wider than she was…but her eggs were big, almost the size of Felicia's torso…
Lily the Blissey let out a soft, affectionate cry as it walked toward Felicia, giving her a pat on the head before locking her gentle eyes on the injured Sprigatito. With a determined look, she pushes her tiny hand forward, and slowly, a tiny droplet of water forms.
The tiny droplet drops onto Sprigatito's mouth, and in just a second, the fur of Sprigatito shines; the fur that starts to turn a little yellow turns bright green, regaining life in just a second.
"Nya!" Regaining her life, Sprigatito jumped out of Felicia's arm and shook her fur with so much energy that Felicia had never seen from the little villainess before.
"Haha! An energetic one! Truly one worthy of Aura User!" Mr. Marcelo laughed loudly, unlike anything Felicia had seen from the leisure man before… "Ah, right, back to your question, this should clear up most of your questions." Suddenly, he threw a piece of paper at her.
With a questioning look, Felicia opened the piece of paper. Inside was an unfamiliar handwriting, one that she didn't know off.
"Congratulations…? Huh? Is…this all inside this paper?" Falicia voiced out her frustration, as the answer she was looking for turned out to be just…a congratulatory note.
"The client is a bit of an eccentric fellow, but they did show interest in you, saying that once you grow up a bit more, you would meet them. Anyway! Now! I want to offer you something." Mr. Marcelo suddenly took out a pokeball from his belt and tossed it toward her, which she caught a bit clumsily.
"But first, a congratulations is in order, truly for surviving against a mega Frosslass and forming a bond with the Pokemon, while not very traditional as most would get their first Pokemon from a Sponsor professor, their family, or the battle academy, you get one truly forged from the basics of life and death. I assure you, the bond you have will never be replaced."
"Ah…T-thank you but…I'm not really…a trainer…" But before Felicia could even hand back the Poké Ball, Sprigatito suddenly jumped onto her and bit her cheek a little. "O-ow! I- I get it! I get it! I'm your trainer! Alright!? So stop biting my cheek!" It took more than five minutes before Sprigatito stopped biting her cheek; at that point, there was even a little fang mark on it…
Her cheek was swollen a little more than the other side; truly, she was really a little villainess…
"Nya!" The calling of Sprigatito suddenly brought her back to reality, as she looked down, Felicia could see the pokeball between herself and Sprigatito, the little feline pushed it forward, rolling it on the turf.
Felicia picked it up and closed her stare at the red and white pokeball… "Nee…Are you sure…? Even if I take you in now, you won't be able to fight to your heart's content…in fact, I don't even know if you like fighting, I don't actually know much about you, ya know?"
Sprigatito just meowed loudly, as if urging her to hurry it up, but not before it slapped its paw onto her thigh, gently as if confirming it.
"I see… then, please take care of me from now on." The pokeball in her hand extended forward, and Sprigatito used her paw to push the button. The Poke Ball opened up, and in a flash, light pulled in Sprigatito, closing the ball.
With no resistance, the ball clicks with a tiny chime, feeling the Poke Ball much heavier than before. Felicia hugs it gently, letting a drop of tears fall without knowing.
"Again, congratulations, not many people your age could even put up a performance that you did, and I could count with just my hand how many there are." With a soft clap from both Ponewt and Lily, Felicia releases Spirgatito.
The Feline Pokémon is letting out a roar more energetically than she has before. Then it proceeded to go and bite Lily gently on the hand, earning a warm chuckle from the small Blissey, which quickly turned into a chase as Blissey tried to hug Sprigatito.
With a chuckle, Mr. Marcelo turned toward her, now eye devoid of the previous playfulness; she could only see the genuine determination in his eyes.
"Now I have an offer. Felicia, do you want to learn how to use Aura?"