Paul and Dawn: First Light

Chapter 13: Supplies Surprise

Chapter 13: Supplies Surprise 

Two more days passed- Bagon was gaining speed and endurance, slowly but surely, and Dawn had begun to train her Quilava. 

The only advice I'd had for her Quilava, who knew the moves Eruption, Flamethrower, Swift, and Smokescreen, was that I imagined she could think up multiple ways to actually showcase those moves with new ones. It was something I refused to discuss further, but her brain worked overtime and I saw her training with Quilava to find new combinations and fiddling with her Pokedex on what other moves Quilava could learn. 

"Of course, when he evolves you have to teach him Thunderpunch. It's one of the only decent moves that make Typhlosion stand out among Fire Pokemon given to new Trainers, especially considering it's weakness to Water attacks. Not to mention that's the move that makes Typhlosion able to defeat a Charizard," I commented. 

She'd looked at Quilava uncertainly. "Well, Quilava did just evolve. I'm just going to worry about what we need now instead of worrying about the future, but we'll keep Thunderpunch in mind." 

I deemed that a justifiable answer and went to work with Bagon on his almost perfected Ember. I had planned to start working on Flamethrower in the next day or so. 

"We need more supplies," Dawn confirmed the next morning. "And it wouldn't be a bad idea to visit the Pokemon Center." 

"My Pokemon are fine." Bagon was the only one who was doing any real work and he recovered his strength easily- we weren't battling, just honing his skills. He was getting three meals a day and rest at night. Plus, I had medicine and vitamins to keep him and the rest of my Pokemon strong. And people accused me of abusing them. How senile of them. 

"Ok..." Dawn said uncertainly. "So I'm just going to go into town and buy some things. Would you like me to strap your pack onto Togekiss to help me restock? I won't have to visit Rustburo for a couple extra days if I do."  

I frowned. Dawn using my bag didn't sound like a very thrilling idea. If she didn't lose it, she would probably end up putting stickers of Smoochum or something "cute" looking all over it. 

"I'll bring it back in one piece, I promise!" she pleaded. 

I sighed. In truth, I did trust her more now. "Fine, take my bag. When will you be back?" 

"Tonight." She smiled as I grabbed my bag after emptying it and handed it to her. "I'll see you soon!" 

I rolled my eyes as she waved good bye and fled through the trees, Piplup at her heels. 

"What do you think of those two, Bagon?" I jabbed my finger in their direction. 

He shrugged, seeming indifferent. 

"Ready to start learning Flamethrower?" I asked, smiling lightly. Bagon's face lit up. "It'll be hard work, but your Ember is up to scratch now. So is your Bite, which we'll have to work on becoming Crunch after you master Flamethrower." 

Bagon and I began with a run, taking twenty minutes. I assumed that if he could use a full powered Ember without warming up, he'd be able to make some sort of Flamethrower after a jog. 

Panting, we came back to our clearing. "Ok, try a Flamethrower." 

Bagon opens his mouth and a rope of fire stretched about six feet out of his mouth for a second or two before disappearing. Shuddering, Bagon fell backwards. 

"Hmph. It's still better than the Ember."  

We struggled with the attack the rest of the day. Again and again he failed at producing a decent Flamethrower that was any better than the first. Frustrated, I punched a tree by the end of the session before glaring at my Pokemon. Bagon flinched and looked down at his feet, not at all his usual determined self.