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TEEN: A Sine of Things to Come: a Journey of Rediscovery

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Ch 1: Given a Sine
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    • chaos_Leader

    chaos_Leader

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    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​

    Given a Sine​

    It was dark, mostly.

    The light from the computer screen revealed only the lightly bearded face of Peter Sine, staring intently back at the screen. None of his facial features were especially notable, aside from perhaps a slightly lower brow and deeper set eyes, which only accentuated the intensity of his gaze. In fact, more than any other single aspect that could be seen of him, what stood out the most about this man was the sheer intensity with which he observed and scanned the images on that computer screen.

    It was a DAW program: Digital Audio Workspace. It showed a series of audio tracks, all spread out and lined up alongside one another. Occasionally Peter would open another display window, allowing parameters and details for each track to be altered. What was of far more interest though was not what Peter saw, but what he heard: what all those audio tracks represented.

    Through the professional studio-quality headphones clasped over his ears, there was music. It wasn't finished music though, barely started in-fact. He'd transcribed a few melodic and rhythmic ideas he'd come up with so far, but nothing more than a few lines in a few tracks. Apart from expanding those musical ideas, he still needed to experiment find the right voice to carry them: synthesizer or instrumental, heavily or lightly modulated.

    To conduct these experiments, Peter had one hand on the computer's mouse, and another on an electronic piano keyboard. The hand on the keyboard played the notes, produced the tones, repeated the melodies and rhythms in Peter's mind, while the hand on the mouse altered and tweaked the voice of the tone itself. He experimented with either sharpening or softening the tone, modifying the waveform, applying filters and reverb, and several other minutia.

    For Peter Sine, half of challenge and joy of composing music in an electronic medium was the genesis of a completely new voice itself. Composers who worked with primarily instrumental material have the limitations of the instrument itself, as well as what a human can and cannot do with it. Those same limitations though did provide a familiar structure for the composer to work with. In an electronic synthesized medium however, it truly is an audio blank canvas, with no limit to what can be produced aside from the imagination and ingenuity of the composers themselves. There's a reason it's called a "synthesizer" after all. In creating this unique and original voice, the artist quite literally synthesizes a new tone from raw waveforms. However, creating the tone is only part of the challenge: the newly created voice must then be integrated into a chorus of other voices, as part of a kind of audio team, to contribute to the music–

    * Ring! Ring! *

    Peter's work and train of thought respectively were interrupted by an incoming video call. A new window for the video call overlaid itself on top of the DAW program, imploring him to answer, which he had to. The incoming call window said it was from his boss, which was odd at this hour, at 4:30 am. Still, it must've been important.

    After quickly saving his work and closing the DAW program, Peter accepted the call. The window then showed a video feed of a portly, somewhat haggard middle-aged man with curly black hair. He was Donovan Joule, manager of the Kanto Radio and Communications Service, Viridian City branch, and also Peter's supervisor there. It was a decent enough job, working maintenance on the regional radio and telecom gear. It was the kind of technical-mechanical work Peter enjoyed and was reasonably skilled at. It also often had him working outdoors, for better or worse. The hours though could sometimes come at strange times, like it did just now...

    "Good morning Donny," Peter greeted. "What's up?"

    "Pete! I'm so glad you're awake!" the older man exclaimed with a kind of energized relief. "Something urgent has just come up, and I need your help to fix it."

    "You make it sound so ominous, boss," Peter replied in a sort of half-joking tone. It could get somewhat frantic for the clients, when their radio and communication gear fail on them, but it was hardly life-or-death situations. If it was for certain vital relay stations though, well...

    "It's the radio transceiver at the Professor's lab in Pallet Town, it's gone out," the supervisor explained. "We're off to get that fixed."

    "At this hour? What about Ethan? Isn't he on call for the off-hour emergencies right now?" It was supposed to be his day off today, which was why Peter was even up at 4:30 in the morning, knowing he could sleep in later. It must've been bad if he was being called.

    "I haven't been able to get a hold of Ethan," Donny answered. "It's why I called you. I know can count on you, even in these awkward inconvenient situations."

    "Ah, well, thanks for the vote of confidence," Peter responded as he absentmindedly scratched the back of his neck.

    That was another aspect of Peter: that he'd always be willing to take the tasks nobody else wanted. He knew they had to be done, and when nobody else would step up to do it, Peter would be there to see that it was completed. Don had caught on to that, and over time Peter Sine became the go-to worker of the Viridian City service crew for such unpleasant awkward jobs, like this pre-dawn adventure to nearby Pallet Town he was being called on.

    "Look, don't even worry about coming into the shop, Pete," Donny assured with an easy wave of his hand. "I'll be over at your place to pick you up in about fifteen minutes. Can you be ready to go by then?"

    "Yeah," he answered. "I'll be ready."

    "I'll see you there." and Donny's image winked out in the window as he ended the call.

    A deep sigh escaped Peter once the call finished. It'd be another tough day, doing work when he least suspected he might. He'd put up with it though, not just because it's his job, but because it had to be done, and it's fallen on him to do it yet again. Such was the life of a commercial radio maintenance worker.

    The young man hoisted himself out of the swiveling computer chair and felt for the familiar light switch nearby. In an instant the darkness was obliterated by the sudden wash of light, and Peter took a moment to let his eyes adjust to it.

    Peter's apartment was meager, but cozy enough for a bachelor like himself. It had the usual necessary amenities: a place to sleep, a place to prepare meals and eat, and a place to relax, just like so many other units in his building, like so many other buildings in his neighborhood. Even so, Peter had done one thing to his modest living space that he felt stood out: he made a small studio for himself. In addition to the electronic piano keyboard at his desk, there was also a higher-end microphone, which was in-turn connected to a small audio mixing board and amplifier setup. Where other people may have hung pictures or meaningful posters on their walls, Peter had instead installed a series of foam acoustic panels, so he'd get a cleaner sound going into the microphone and coming out of his speakers. It was nowhere near as complex or complete as a professional studio, but Peter was reasonably satisfied with his setup. It got the job done, and that was enough for him.

    However, there was one notable non-functional item in Peter's studio: a thunder stone, set on a small display stand. A plaque in the stand read, 'Employee of the Month: March 2013'. Donovan Joule presented the stone after a particularly nasty storm had torn up half the radio gear this side of Kanto, and put the service crew through the wringer for weeks on end. Peter remembered being surprised to receive it, since at the time he figured he was simply doing his job. Nonetheless, it was a small token of appreciation for his work, and Peter had to admit, he kind of liked having it in his little home studio.

    In a few moments, Peter had briskly tidied himself up, and changed into a set of sturdy clothes suitable for work, including a hardhat, a pair of heavy steel-toed boots, and bright safety vest. Much like his face, Peter's physique was likewise rather mundane: neither tall nor short, neither skinny nor chubby. One could make the case though that he was somewhat strongly built. Peter himself would often claim that his body was built to be much thicker and stockier than he actually was, attributed to his lifestyle of physical labor and meager eating habits.

    About fifteen minutes had passed through Peter's preparations, and the young man unceremoniously stepped out of his apartment and went to the street. It was still dark out at this hour, with barely a glimmer of grayish light peeking over the eastern horizon; not enough light to see much of Viridian City itself. The air outside was cool and damp, as would be expected on a morning this early during the springtime, with just a hint of a breeze wafting though.

    Waiting at the street, just like Donny said he would, was a small utility truck idling in one of the nearby parallel parking spaces. It was one of the company vehicles, with the words 'Kanto Radio and Communications Service' painted on the side, along with the logo: a stylized radio tower and concentric circles that were supposed to represent the radio waves.

    After crossing to the passenger side, Peter opened up the door and climbed inside the truck where the smaller, portly figure of Donny Joule was waiting for him. A distinct bitter scent of coffee hit Peter's nose as he settled into the seat, and he saw a pair of paper coffee cups in the truck's cup holders in the dashboard.

    "Here, this is for you, as well as the coffee," Donny Joule said, handing Peter a paper bag. It was breakfast, probably from one of the convenience stores in the area.

    "Thanks," Pete bluntly replied as he received the bag, and fished out a simple biscuit sandwich and unwrapped it.

    "It's the least I could do for calling you in at this hour," the older man said as he put the truck into gear and drove off.

    "So what's the big deal about this Pallet Town job anyway?" Pete asked just before biting into the sandwich. It wasn't much as far as food went, but it was welcome nourishment all the same.

    "The Professor's laboratory is kind of a high-priority job in the first place," Donny explained, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him as he spoke and drove. "Still, we'd normally wait until regular hours to go to work on something like it. Today is a bit of a special case though, and we gotta have the radio up and running ASAP."

    "Special case?" Pete questioned, taking a sip of the steaming coffee, being careful not to spill the hot bittersweet liquid while the truck moved.

    "Today, Pete, is the day that the new batch of kids arrives at the lab for orientation, and then head out on that junior-trainer journey every kid tries so hard to be part of," Donovan Joule answered, offering a quick aside glance. "When I was that young, like most kids that age, I used to absolutely obsess over getting to be one of those lucky few picked by the Professor. I must've written hundreds of letters trying to get on that short list." his words carried a strong, sense of nostalgia.

    "But you didn't make the cut, right?" Pete asked between bites of the breakfast sandwich. "That's why you're with the maintenance crew, and not a professional Pokémon trainer."

    "True, maybe, but that doesn't mean I've stopped training the Pokémon altogether," the older man said with a small shrug. "Heck, I'll be entering the company tournament next month, and I bet I've got a shot at placing high this year with Amp backing me up."

    "Amp?! That rusty junk-pile of a Magneton?" Peter asked, almost in disbelief. "We use it for radio and telecom maintenance. It's trained to be a power supply, and to help us with signal testing, not for battling."

    "Oh ho! You'd be surprised just how much fight that 'rusty junk-pile' has in it!" Donny exclaimed with a hearty chortle. "I think the potential was always there, it's just been left untapped all this time, being in this humdrum life of servitude." He offered a small aside glance to Peter, and asked, "So what about you? You gonna enter the tournament?"

    "I don't train Pokémon," Peter confessed, shaking his head, "I haven't been interested in it for years, not since I was... well, that age."

    "That age?" Donny questioned.

    "You know, around ten to eleven, when every kid thinks they can take on the world with Pokémon," Peter explained sheepishly.

    "Yeah I gotcha," the other nodded, "So why'd you stop?"

    "I just... grew up, I guess," the younger man answered, then paused for a few moments, looking out into the dense Viridian forest pass by outside the truck window. "I mean, I figured a long time ago I wouldn't be good enough at training and battling to make it worth it for my living. Besides, I'm better at this anyway, and my music."

    "Oh yeah? Then maybe you should get the radio station play some of your tunes sometime." Donny suggested, "I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige."

    "I'll send it their way when it's ready, when I've got something good to show for it," Peter responded, "For now, I'm fine with just selling the occasional track online at the KrickeTunes music store on the side."

    "Good gracious, there you go again with the whole 'not good enough' routine," Donny scoffed with a sigh. "I've heard your stuff Pete: it's great, better than most of the new garbage from the so-called 'musicians' these days. Heck, if you put even half as much effort into training Pokémon as you do your music... well, lets just say I didn't just give you that thunder stone to sit idle on its display stand somewhere."

    A somewhat embarrassed tinge struck through Peter at that moment, knowing that's exactly what he'd done with the thunder stone. "I... just want to get this job done."

    "Alright, I didn't mean to pressure you like that," Donovan relented, "It's just something to think about is all."

    "Yeah, something to think about..."

    The rest of the short drive to Pallet Town was quiet and uneventful. Donny Joule didn't say anything more, and neither did Pete.

    It was true, what Peter had said, about how his interest in Pokémon dropped off early, despite how ingrained the creatures were into modern living. You practically couldn't go anywhere or do anything in the world without using or running into Pokémon doing something. Even the radio maintenance work Peter did often included Pokémon, like the Magneton named Amp he mentioned earlier. Yet even with the world teeming with so many Pokémon, with such close cooperation with humans, Peter Sine had managed to pursue other means that didn't involve them, namely in his music, which he published under the pen name of "Sawtooth". There wasn't a real need or viable use that he could think of for Pokémon, and he felt content with it. Shouldn't that be enough? What good was it pursuing those idyllic childish dreams, when there were radio antennas to be repaired, cables to be re-hung, connections to be made? Life, and the world, simply cannot wait for such wants.

    Peter and Donovan soon arrived in Pallet Town itself, just as the light of the sunrise began to bathe the area in a warm, golden light. It was a quaint little town, nestled in the rolling foothills of the imposing mountain range that formed the border between the Kanto and Johto regions. Peter had only been here once before, passing through for work. It was an instance when the major radio relay station between Kanto and Johto needed some of its gear replaced. They didn't even stop in Pallet town then, and simply drove right through. That meant this would be the very first time that Peter would be up close to the resident Professor's laboratory.

    A few minutes later, after a short drive up a gentle hill, the utility truck pulled up to the laboratory building itself. From what Peter could see on the approach, the radio transceiver array for the lab was installed on the top of a tower structure attached to the building, sharing that structure with a distinctive wind turbine. He already anticipated some major exterior work, with sensitive tools and equipment, and a safety harness. Good thing he had breakfast and coffee in his system.

    As Donny Joule turned the truck off, a lone figure could be seen stepping out of the laboratory building, and making his way toward the truck.

    "Looks like the Professor is here to receive us," the older man observed, and climbed out of the truck, along with Peter.

    The man who approached them could've only been the resident Professor. He was a very tall, round faced gentleman who sported a beaming smile and wire-rim glasses, wearing a bright floral print shirt with the ubiquitous labcoat over it. He clearly wasn't the famous Professor Oak, who'd normally taken care of the Pallet Town laboratory in the past. He was somewhat younger, with seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm...

    Great.

    "Ah! There you are Donovan!" the tall rosy-faced man greeted happily as he shook Donny's hand. "Thanks again so much for coming on such short notice."

    "It's no trouble at all Professor, just doing my duty," Donny Joule replied politely.

    "Nevertheless, your work is so appreciated–" the professor stopped himself mid-sentence when he spotted Peter, and immediately approached him, offering his hand. "You're new here? Welcome! I'm Professor Jeremy Rose."

    He positively towered over Peter, who strained his neck making eye-contact.

    "Peter Sine, just a worker with Donovan," the young man replied, returning the hearty handshake that Professor Rose had offered, then asked. "Isn't this supposed to be Professor Oak's place?"

    "It is, or was," the professor answered, gesticulating widely as he spoke, nearly creating a hazard at his size. "Oak's celebrity status keeps him away from the lab so much; with radio shows, interviews, TV appearances, guest lectures. He's been needing someone to run the day-to-day functions of the lab for a while, which is where I come in, doing exactly that."

    "Ah, okay," Peter said with a nod. It made sense; even someone as tuned out of the news as he was knew at least a little about the famous Professor Oak of Pallet Town.

    "Anyways, I don't mean to be brief, but I'd like to get the radio back up and running again as soon as possible. We can chat later if you like, but for now, let me show you fellows out to the back..."

    At a brisk pace, Professor Rose led Peter and Donovan around the laboratory building, to a large field behind it. The structure Donovan and Peter were interested in of course was the tower: a tapering conical structure attached to the rear of the laboratory building. The wind turbine had been disabled for the moment, for safety of course. Large spinning turbine blades would be an obvious hazard to any worker scaling the tower to the radio transceiver antennas at the top.

    In the meantime, Donny Joule had briefly questioned the professor about the radio issues, "... and you're sure it's not interior connections?"

    "Tested all the points I safely could myself," Professor Rose confirmed. "I figure it's something exterior, at or near the top of the tower."

    "Makes sense. The weather or other factors frequently damages exterior components," Donovan responded, while he peered up at the tower through a pair of binoculars. "Yup, I think I see the break already: transmitting and receiving coaxial cables look like they've been torn loose at the antenna base. We'll have to go up and reattach that." he turned to Peter, "Pete, suit up and get ready to climb."

    "I see," the rosy-faced man said with an understanding nod. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

    "Once we're ready, you can show my assistant to the maintenance access point, and he'll go to work," Donovan answered, giving the young man a hearty pat on the back as he sent him on his way.

    Peter gave little response to the activity, and simply opened up the back of the utility truck to make the necessary preparations. The young man fished out a safety harness, an attachable tool pouch with all the necessities of electrical work, and a two-way radio. Hopefully he'd be able to check over a copy of the building's schematics so he'd know what to expect up there, but it seemed straightforward enough.

    Once he had the harness fitted, Peter checked the tool pouch to make sure it had everything he'd need: multimeter, hand-tools, soldering kit. He might need a few pieces of specialized gear or replacement parts, but until he could get a good look at the actual damage, there was no way to know for sure. He'd just radio Donovan with any details then.

    Satisfied, Peter stepped away from the truck and joined Professor Rose, who was waiting for him near the front door of the laboratory.

    "Right this way!" He led the young worker inside, explaining as he spoke, "We'll ascend the tower from the inside mostly, and..." Professor Rose stopped for a moment, noticing that Peter had fallen behind him.

    The young worker was simply taking in the sight around him, and had slowed considerably in the process. The space itself was quite expansive, two floors high with an inner-balcony occupying the second floor. There were a number of tables lined up around the area with samples, cases of Poké Balls, research materials, notes, not to mention lots and lots of Pokémon equipment that Peter didn't recognize. The most sensitive Pokémon-related equipment Peter had worked with so far was some of the components of the transfer and storage system, when he did some work for Bill's firm. Even in that case, most of the equipment itself was proprietary, and the employees of Bill's firm performed the sensitive maintenance themselves. The regional service crew were simply extra labor for the more mundane tasks, such as cable running and installation...

    "It's an impressive setup, isn't it?" Professor Rose said, standing conspicuously over Peter.

    "Yeah, sorry," the young worker responded.

    "There's no need to apologize," the professor said, shaking his head with a small chuckle. "I had the exact same reaction myself the first time I walked in here, when I was just starting off as a lab assistant for Professor Oak. The tower access is right this way..." and Professor Rose climbed a staircase up to the inner balcony.

    Peter followed closely, and asked. "You know Professor Oak?"

    "Of course! I spent nearly ten years under his tutelage after all," the Professor answered, as they continued across the laboratory's inner balcony, "He can be a little absentminded at times, but you'll find few people as devoted to Pokémon research and expanding our knowledge of them as Oak. Nowadays though, he's more and more involved in the public promotion of research, in being a celebrity scientist, as opposed to actual research..."

    They soon arrived at a small door with a number of warning labels, which Professor Rose showed to Peter. "But anyways, here's the tower access. Be safe out there!"

    The worker gave him a short nod and stepped through the door, into a tight spiral staircase that he started climbing. Soon it became too narrow for stairs, and gave way to an interior ladder that squeezed past the wind turbine's generator, right until the ladder came to a stop at an outer access hatch. Carefully, Peter unlatched the hatch, and swung it open, revealing the same rolling foothills of the area he'd seen earlier, but from a much higher vantage point. There was a little more wind out here, not enough to be a safety concern, but it was more of a gust than a mere breeze up here. The weather was just about perfect otherwise, without a single cloud in the sky.

    Before doing anything else, Peter found the outer safety rail, and attached the carabiner of his safety harness to it. Then he set about climbing the exterior ladder of the tower to the radio mast, just a few feet further up. It was a good thing Peter wasn't too afraid of heights, or else he'd never have gotten this job in the first place. Others would be justifiably terrified to be it Peter Sine's place, with at least a good hundred feet drop or more to the ground, and the buffeting wind wouldn't have helped matters. For him though, it was just another day at work, another tower to climb, another radio antenna to fix.

    The two-way radio attached to Peter crackled to life, and Donovan's voice came through, "How does it look up there, Pete?"

    At the top of the tower, Peter finally got a good close look at the damage Donny had spied earlier, and gave the details back through the two-way radio, "it's the coax cables alright: ripped right out of their connections in the junction box. Looks like it might've been some bird Pokémon by the damage to the cables themselves..."

    Indeed, the two send/receive cables connecting to the antenna mast were completely frayed on one end, and there were clear claw marks where something tore them out.

    "We could rewire them," Peter continued, "but if the cables are taking this kind of beating, I think we'd be better off just replacing them with heavy-duty reinforced cables, make this less of an issue in the future."

    "Good thinking," Donovan replied from the radio. "I'll send Amp up with the stuff."

    Way below, Peter could see the distant flash of a Pokémon being released from its ball, and a small glint that was Amp. That old Magneton was kept in Donovan's tool kit most of the time from what Peter could tell, right next to his wrenches and wiring gear. He still couldn't believe Donny was actually going to use it for battle, even if it was just a small-time company tournament.

    Peter heard a cry somewhere overhead. When he looked up, it looked like a bird Pokémon lazily gliding above, possibly a Fearow by its outline. He was almost willing to bet it was the very Pokémon that had ripped these cables out in the first place...

    In a few moments, a whirring hum steadily rose from below, and the triple-sphere and magnet body of a Magneton floated right up next to Peter, carrying a pair of short, sturdy coaxial cables. This was Amp, and its age showed, with it's rough, dented, and partly corroded surfaces in places.

    Peter reached out to retrieve the cables, commenting, "Donny's really got you battling, does he?"

    Amp just swayed a little bit in the air, and offered a tinny metallic "squawnk" noise as it's response.

    "As long as you're here, I suppose you could keep an eye out, make sure that bird overhead doesn't interfere," Peter said, pointing up to the circling Pokémon above them. "Maybe you'll even get a little practice in if you're lucky."

    The Magneton tilted itself up, to look at the Pokémon Peter supposed, and gave another squawnk.

    "... right," was all Peter could think of to say, and he began work.

    It was all pretty straightforward: a simple mater of removing the damaged coaxial cables and jacking in the fresh ones. Honestly, this was about as routine and humdrum a job as ever. Anyone in-theory could do a job like this, even that happy-go-lucky Professor Rose if he put his mind to it. The only real limiting factor here was that it was an exterior repair at the top of a tower, and that it just might have been more complicated than it was. Nevertheless, this was the kind of work the techs at the Kanto Radio and Communications Service, like Peter Sine, did on a daily basis.

    A few minutes later, and the tattered cables were swapped out for fresh ones.

    "I'm all finished up here Donny," Peter announced into the two-way radio. "I'll have Amp test the reception and–"

    "Squawnk!"

    "What is it?" he asked to the Magneton.

    Amp was positively going haywire: spinning its magnet and bolt appendages wildly, jittering and shaking in the air, all while emitting a rising whining hum. Peter had never seen this beat up old Pokémon act so strange before.

    "Amp, I don't understand–"

    * Crack! *

    A lightning strike? But there's not even a cloud in the sky...


    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​

    And that was that!

    I wanted to carry this over into the next scene, and not leave it on as blatant a cliffhangover as this is, but it was approaching my personal 5k wordcount cap, and I'd rather not have a first chapter/prologue that drags on for that long. In any case, I hope you were able to find something enjoyable and/or interesting in that. And even if you didn't, any feedback you can give will be most appreciated. There is more stuff planned to come after this, and I hope I'll see you there!

    Edit note 01/15/2018:
    Cleaned up typos and grammar anomalies, tweaked a few lines. Added some character details to Peter: he publishes some of his music online, under the moniker/pseudonym/pen name of "Sawtooth." It's only a minor character detail, but its something that comes into play in later chapters.
     
    Last edited:
  • Index
    • Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Great beginning! Loved the description in that it informed and yet was flowing and subtle enough to not be boring. Love the realism interwoven in the story of the Pokemon world.

    I'll be excited to see where you take this.
     
    Ch 2: Shocked and Awed
  • Index
    • Response in spoiler.
    Legacy said:
    Great beginning! Loved the description in that it informed and yet was flowing and subtle enough to not be boring. Love the realism interwoven in the story of the Pokemon world.

    I'll be excited to see where you take this.
    Click to expand...

    Thanks for the response! Hopefully this next chapter will be similarly enjoyable to read, and well received.

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​


    Shocked and Awed

    A sudden crack of thunder jarred Peter awake and he bolted straight upright. He found he was breathing heavily, and his heart was racing. He was on a sofa in some kind of sitting or living room, and someone had draped a blanket over him. A pattering din of heavy rain poured outside, with the occasional rumble and crack of thunder and flash of lightning outside the windows. There wasn't supposed to be any rain in the forecast for at least a few days, and yet there was one doozy of a storm raging outside right now...

    Peter wasn't alone in the room, far from it. Sitting across from him on another sofa were two children: one was a sandy haired blue-eyed boy, and the other was a redheaded girl, both about ten years old or so. Donny Joule was there in the lounge too, and so was the Magneton Amp, along with a dark haired boy near both of them.

    "See? I told you he wasn't dead," the girl said, her words dripping with smugness.

    "Whatever," the boy next to her replied and folded his arms, trying not to look at the girl.

    "Whoa, that's weird," the third boy uttered as he touched the Magneton, and his dark hair stood up on end from the static. Amp didn't seem to mind, not that Peter could really tell what the Magneton liked or didn't.

    "Pete!" Donny exclaimed and scampered to Peter's side, relief and joy all over his squat face.

    "What happened?" Peter asked his boss, with more questions coming rapidly. "Who are all these kids? When did a storm blow in? What's Amp doing out and about?"

    "Easy there, slow down, one thing at a time," the portly little man said, full of concern. "Firstly: are you okay?"

    "Look, I'm fine," Peter insisted, tossing the blanket aside. "Maybe I'm a little confused, but I feel fine otherwise."

    "You really don't remember what happened, do you?" Donny stated, astonished.

    Another crack of thunder ripped through the background clatter of the rain, along with a flash of lightning. The first two kids barely reacted to the noise, and were far more interested in Peter now. The third boy flinched a little, and Amp just floated nearby, seemingly oblivious to everything.

    "There was a lightning strike on that tower, even though the sky was completely clear. The strap on your harness snapped from the sudden shock, and the heat..." the portly little man handed Peter the safety harness he was wearing earlier, the strap was torn, just as Donny mentioned.

    "But, I blacked out, and if my safety line broke..." Peter looked at the harness, at the ripped and frayed strap, then looked up to the Magneton hovering around the other boy.

    "Pete, Amp saved your life," Donovan confirmed in a grave tone. "You fell after the strike, but Amp grabbed you and brought you down to safety. After that it just wouldn't stay in its Pokéball, so it's been out, hovering around you a lot."

    Peter couldn't quite believe it: his life being saved by a Pokémon he barely knew. Amp just hovered, apparently oblivious, or at least nonchalant to the boy who was so closely examining him.

    "I'm... not sure how I'd thank Amp," the young worker confessed.

    "That's okay. It seems happy enough just to be out for now." Donny assured, looking at the Magneton and the boy. "But damn this is gonna be a lot of paperwork. Gonna have to file an incident report and everything..." the portly little man muttered as he wandered off, leaving Peter alone with the children.

    "So, uh, you must be the junior trainers," Pete figured, looking over the children again.

    "We do have names, you know," the sandy haired boy piped up, leering back at Peter with his adamant eyes.

    "Come on, don't be so immature!" the girl chided, then turned to Peter herself. "Sorry about him, I'm Scarlet. Mr. Joule told us about what happened out there, and I hope you're feeling better."

    "And I'm Azure!" the boy announced proudly. "Remember the name, because you'll be hearing a lot more about me!"

    Peter paid little heed to the showiness of the boy, but couldn't really hold it against him. Azure seemed like a typical confident youngster, eager to take on the world, so proud, so innocent. The girl struck him as a clever one though, thinking and calculating behind her politeness, even at her young age. That third child was something of a mystery though, and Peter couldn't quite figure him out from what little he'd seen of him.

    "What about him, by the Magnaton?" Peter asked the two children in front of him, pointing out the other boy.

    "Oh," Azure gave the other boy a quick glance, and shrugged as he answered. "That's just Pine."

    "I haven't talked with him much since we got here," Scarlet added, looking thoughtfully at Pine. "He's kind of quiet."

    "There you are!" the professor's voice boomed as he strode into the lounge, and headed straight for Peter. "I'm so glad you're awake, and looking well too!"

    "I could be lucky, but from what I've been told, it's all thanks to Amp here," he said, gesturing toward the Magneton.

    "It certainly is a fine specimen, and it's done you a great service," the professor agreed with a nod, then turned to he children. "Azure, Scarlet, Pine, I just contacted your parents and let them know you're all safe. You will have to remain here at the lab while this storm blows over though, so I'm afraid the start of your journey will have to wait until then."

    "That's okay, Professor," Scarlet replied. "We understand."

    "Do we still get our Pokémon?" Azure asked with a worried pang to his voice.

    "Of course you do!" the rosy-faced Professor reassured with a beaming smile, and then turned to one of his other guests. "Peter, if you'll join us, I believe you may be able to help."

    "I'm not sure–"

    "–with the storm," Professor Rose cut him off. "I think you can help us understand where it came from, why it's happening. Right this way everybody!"

    The Professor led his guests out of the lounge and into the research floor that Peter had seen earlier. Not much had changed, aside from the storm outside, and a trio of Poké balls laid out on one of the nearby tables.

    "There was not one single cloud in the entire sky, and there was no foul weather forecast for at least a few days," Peter explained as they moved. "We wouldn't have done the repair if there was so much as a whisper of thunder."

    "I understand, but I think there may be something else at work," the professor said, and settled himself into one of the research stations, all his guests watching intently. "Did you happen to see anything while you were up there? Anything in the sky? Anything at all?"

    "All I remember is a bird Pokémon," Peter answered. "I think it might've been a Fearow, but it was pretty far off."

    "Bird... Fearow..." Professor Rose mulled, and did a quick browse through a Pokémon database. In a few moments he stopped on a page, and showed it to Peter. "Did the Pokémon happen to look anything like this?"

    The image on the page was a fearsome, yellow jagged-winged bird, with a long pointed beak.

    "I think..." Peter began, still thinking about it. This bird could have been mistaken for a Fearow at a great distance, like the distances he saw it from. "Yes, actually."

    "Then what you saw was Zapdos," the professor confirmed, stepping up from the chair at the station, "and it would certainly explain the sudden onset of this storm."

    "Zapdos?" Pine asked quietly, his curious eyes glued onto the database page.

    "Yes. Zapdos is one of the great legendary birds," Professor Rose explained. "Zapdos contains so much electrical power, that simply by moving to a new area, it could sometimes trigger a spontaneous lightning storm, much like the one now raging outside."

    "Wow!" Scarlet exclaimed, "A Legendary Pokémon right here!"

    "Can we catch it?" Azure asked eagerly.

    "Given time and good training, I'm sure you'll be able to!" the professor assured with a delighted chuckle. "To do that however, you'll need strong Pokémon partners to help you, the first of which you'll all be getting right now. Right this way..." Professor Rose led the group to the table where the three Poké balls were resting, "For you, we have something a little different this time."

    In quick succession, Professor Rose picked up the Poké balls, and with the distinctive pop and flash of materialization, released the Pokémon on the laboratory floor in front of him.

    "Sent all the way from Professor Sycamore in Kalos: Fennekin, Froakie, and Chespin," the professor revealed, and pointed out each one as he named them.

    Fennekin was a small fox with red tufts bursting from its ears. It vaguely reminded Peter of a Vulpix, but still seemed quite different. Froakie was a little pale blue frog, who's eyes seemed to constantly be on the lookout. The last one, Chespin, was a sort of rodent with a kind of green hood or helmet over its head.

    "These are so awesome!" Azure burst out in wide-eyed amazement, then asked, "which one are you getting, Scarlet?"

    "I'm not sure," Scarlet said, while she knelt down near the three foreign Pokémon. "They all look quite interesting."

    "What about Peter?" Pine asked the professor. "Does he get one?"

    "What do you mean?" Professor Rose asked.

    What was the boy talking about? Peter wasn't here to get a Pokémon at all.

    "Well, Mr. Joule has his Magneton, and we get to pick one of these Pokémon here, but Peter doesn't have any at all." the quiet boy turned to Peter, his small voice filled with a curious concern, "shouldn't he get a Pokémon too?"

    "I don't need any, I don't train Pokémon," Peter insisted. "I'm alright."

    "Nonsense! Besides, I know just the thing!" Professor Rose said with a giddy excitement, then turned to Scarlet and Azure, "Pine and I will be away for only a moment. Feel free to discuss your decision between Fennekin, Froakie and Chespin in that time."

    Pine and Professor Rose stepped out of the lab into another nearby room. Scarlet and Azure remained focused on the Pokémon in front of them, playing with them while they figured out who should get which of the three starters. For the time being, Peter just sat a moment, while Amp drifted nearby.

    "Squawnk?"

    "I don't know, Amp," Peter replied, only guessing what the Magneton was trying to communicate, "This is all a little weird. What am I supposed to do?"

    For a few moments, Amp just hovered, slowly twirling it's magnet appendages.

    "...right," was all Peter could think to say.

    Azure and Scarlet didn't seem to notice, so engrossed in the three small Pokémon. It was only a few more moments before Professor Rose returned with Pine. The boy had a Poké ball in hand, and held it with great care as he approached Peter.

    "Here," Pine said, holding out the Poké ball. "I picked it out just for you."

    Peter looked down at the little red and white sphere, unsure of what to do. It'd been years since he'd so much as held a Poké ball, or used a Pokémon in any kind of battle. He wasn't any good at training at the time, and moved on to other pursuits. All Peter could do was shake his head as he said, "I can't take this."

    "Why not?" the boy asked, somewhat taken aback.

    "Look, I appreciate the thought, I really do," Peter said, trying to reassure Pine. "I just don't have the time to train Pokémon for battle."

    "This isn't about a means of battling, Peter," Professor Rose explained, placing a hand on Pine's shoulder. "Just because you don't battle with Pokémon doesn't mean there isn't a place for them in your life. They can still enrich our lives, provide companionship, and even –on occasion– save lives."

    At this last comment, Amp actually bumped into Peter, nudging him forward toward Pine and the Professor. There was something about the way the professor said those words, with the clear tone of insistence, and a look that wouldn't take no for an answer. Reluctantly, Peter let out a small relenting sigh, and accepted the Poké ball from Pine.

    "Will you let it out?" the boy asked, with an air of anticipation about him.

    Still unsure exactly what he was doing, Peter tossed Poké ball to the ground at his feet, triggering the pop, hiss, and flash of materialization. When the light faded, it revealed an Eevee, a little brown furred creature with large pointed ears. It looked lost, confused, and nearly jumped when it saw the much larger form of Peter towering above it.

    "This Eevee is very young, and lonely, and could really use someone to look after her," the professor said. "She doesn't need to see a single scratch of battle if you don't want her to. She just needs a friend."

    Peter knelt down to the tiny Eevee's level, where she was pawing at the Poké ball it emerged from. She cringed a little when Peter came down, but wasn't frightened; more uncertain than anything else. The young man held out his hand, and the curious Eevee approached with caution, sniffing his hand and arm as it explored. When the little one seemed satisfied that she wasn't in danger from Peter, he gently stroked the Eevee by its ears. She seemed to enjoy the attention, and the Eevee rubbed itself against the young man's leg.

    "She likes you!" Pine observed cheerfully, crouching down next to Peter.

    Only then did Peter notice how quiet it had become. The constant pounding of the rain was no more, the thunder had gone silent, and brilliant beams of sunlight had broken through the thinned clouds outside. The most prominent sounds now were simply the content purr from the Eevee, and the amused chuckle Peter only just realized he made.

    "Ah, it looks like that nasty storm has started to clear up," Professor Rose deduced, and he went to Azure and Scarlet next to the other Pokémon. "Have you decided who your partners will be?"

    "I'm taking Froakie since he's the strongest!" Azure announced with pride as he held up the little frog. The Froakie didn't seem particularly pleased about it though as it squirmed in the boy's grip.

    "I think I'll take Fennekin," Scarlet concluded, while she stroked under the fox's chin. The Fennekin seemed to like this very much, and emitted a delighted little squeal at the girl's touch.

    "Don't worry Professor, I'll take good care of Chespin," Pine promised, and calmly approached the nervous Chespin.

    "I'm sure you and your Pokémon will do just fine out there, but before you all go, there is one last thing," Professor Roset said with his beaming smile, and held out three small red handheld devices for the children. "These are your Pokédexes. They contain a comprehensive database of known Pokémon, and will store data on the ones you capture. This helps with research, since we're finding more and more new Pokémon every day. And even among those we've already discovered, we learn new things about them just as often."

    "Thanks Professor!" Scarlet said while she accepted the Pokédex.

    "We'll make good use of them, you can count on us," Pine assured with a nod.

    "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Azure piped as he scampered out of the laboratory, with the other children following close behind.

    All Peter could do a that point was watch, as a new generation of youngsters took their first steps down a path he had abandoned long ago. The Eevee he'd been trusted with seemed interested in the children, watching them leave with those curious big eyes of hers.

    "Come on Pete," Donny said as he came up alongside his assistant. "We'd best be best be heading back to the city."

    "Yeah..." Peter quietly agreed, and picked up the Eevee in his arms as he and his boss exited the laboratory. He didn't have the heart to return the Eevee to her ball so soon, and the little Pokémon didn't seem to mind.

    "I know what you said Peter, that you aren't any good," Professor Rose said as his final guests were stepping out into the world, "but if you are even the slightest bit interested, it is never to late to start again."

    The drive back to Viridian City was about as uneventful as it could be. Donovan Joule said barely anything, just dropping Peter off at his apartment complex when they arrived. The Eevee spent most of her time tucked in Peter's arms, watching the world fly past through the truck's window. For the most part, Peter himself wasn't quite sure what to think about how the day went. He'd survived a near-death experience, met a few young strangers, gotten an Eevee for his troubles, and still all he felt was a kind of tired, worn out confusion. Maybe it was shock, maybe it wasn't, but in truth Peter just wanted to settle down, and let things mellow out.

    The young man opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside the familiar space. The Eevee scampered in past Peter's legs, and began exploring the brand new area for her. Peter made a mental note to check with the landlord about pet policies, and went to the bathroom in the back. He closed the door and washed his hands of the grease he'd accumulated from the repairs–

    But then the lights flickered, and flickered again.

    When Peter turned off the water faucet, he could hear a muffled crackling and sizzling sound, and caught a horrifying scent of scorched circuits when he reflexively gasped. He didn't quite know what to think, other than he had to see what it was, how bad it was.

    Peter Sine burst out of his bathroom, and into something beyond the worst he could imagine, where he truly and completely panicked.

    Gigantic electrical discharge arcs were leaping all over the apartment, hitting the computer, the mixing board, and all the gear in his studio. His most prized pieces of equipment were all being bombarded by what Peter could only assume was absolutely destructive amounts of discharged electricity. He felt his heart rate accelerate like a rocket booster, and his breath freeze in place while he tried to find the cause of it all. At the center of all this mayhem was the Eevee he brought home with him, but she wasn't an Eevee anymore.

    The Pokémon was bright yellow now instead of brown, with several pointed tufts of fur, and a more angled face. She was cowering on the floor, trembling like a leaf and holding her forepaws over her face, whimpering beneath the cracking hissing screams of the sparks. When she finally saw Peter, with huge terrified eyes, the bright yellow Pokémon cried out and scrambled clumsily to her feet, and came toward him.

    Peter froze for a moment, watching in horror as the not-Eevee brought her wake of electrical destruction closer and closer with each stumbling step. He remembered the Poké ball, and scrambled into his pocket to find it, only now realizing how clumsy his hands became in the moment–

    "Agh!" one of the discharge bolts landed on Peter's arm, causing it to spasm violently for a moment. The bright yellow Pokémon was only a few feet away now, gazing up at Peter through the sparks with a look pure fear on her face, and Peter felt he was staring back with the exact same expression.

    Peter finally wrenched the red-and-white sphere from his pocket, held it out in his trembling hand and shouted, "Return!"

    Thankfully the Poké ball worked exactly as it was supposed to, and the not-Eevee dematerialized in a bright flash, and was removed from the apartment, leaving an eerie silence.

    All Peter could do for a time was stand agape in wide-eyed shock, heart racing and chest heaving. Every last piece of audio equipment in his studio was bleeding a stream of black smoke, and the stench of vaporized metal from overloaded circuits stung in his nose. His music, is gear, everything he was working on, was reduced to a collection of smoking husks.

    Amidst the destruction, Peter saw the thunder stone and its display stand, knocked to the floor next to his desk...

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​

    Yup, another cliffhanger.

    At least this time we get a few things going: introduce some of the kids, drop a few hints. And still more to come.

    As always, feel free to shoot me any feedback you may have. I love to hear back from you.

    Edit Note 01/16/2018:
    I've done a few tweaks to staging and dialog, cleaned up some typos. No real major changes, mostly cleanup.
     
    Last edited:
  • Index
    • Ch 3: Overload Bearing
  • Index
    • Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Overload Bearing​

    A good few hours had passed since Professor Jeremy Rose sent the fresh batch of junior trainers on their way. With luck they'd soon be arriving in nearby Viridian City, having whetted their eager appetites for the journey they'd only just begun. This would be the first batch of young trainers Professor Rose sent out since he took over day-to-day operations at the Pallet Town lab. Even when Oak spent more and more time away from the lab, when Jeremy Rose took care of more and more of the lab's legwork, old Samuel Oak would still make his way back to give another generation their send-off into the world as trainers. Admittedly it was a bit of a rougher start than what Professor Rose would've liked, with technical difficulties and the sudden onset of a storm, but it was the overcoming of such obstacles that made the journey all the more worth it, that made the experiences one earned hold that much more significance.

    The Professor mulled over this as he poured himself a hot cup of tea that had been brewing in the laboratory's kitchen, when a lab assistant approached him, full of concern, “Professor, there's a video call for you,” the assistant informed. “He says it's urgent.”

    “Who from?”

    “A rather distraught young man. He says his name is Peter Sine.”

    A flash of worry swept through Professor Rose. The tall man's rosy face suddenly went very pale, and his beaming smile vanished entirely. Without another word to his assistant, he abandoned his tea and started straight toward his computer. Why would Peter need to call him? What could've happened? It couldn't have been something to do with his Eevee, could it?

    It was only a few moments before Professor Rose returned to his desk, where his computer was displaying a video chat feed, where a grim faced visage of Peter Sine waited.

    “Professor,” the young man greeted dryly.

    “What's wrong?” the Professor asked as he settled into his chair. “You look shaken.”

    “It's the Pokémon you gave me,” Peter answered in a dull monotone. “I need you to take her back.”

    “I don't understand. You and Eevee seemed to get along so–”

    “She trashed my apartment!” Peter snapped all of a sudden. “All of the gear in my studio; the mixing board, the keyboard, the microphone, the computer; it's gone! It's all gone!”

    “What? How?”

    In a slow motion, Peter Sine held up a Thunder stone for the camera to see. It was grayed out, indicating that it was used up.

    “That little, innocent, Eevee found this in my apartment, and triggered an evolution,” the frustrated young man explained in a bitter tone. “She's not an Eevee anymore.”

    “So she's become a Jolteon already,” Professor Rose realized, only growing even more worried about what that meant. “That Eevee was barely away from her mother.”

    “That miniature apocalypse was firing off highly destructive electrical discharges all over my apartment from the moment it changed! I'm lucky she didn't start a fire that could've burned the building down, or even kill me!” Peter elaborated, while Professor Rose ran through options in his head. “That is why I am coming back to the lab, and you are going to take her back.”

    Peter was about to switch off the line of communication, until the Professor cut him short, “No no no hold on, wait!” he implored. “You're in Viridian City, correct?”

    “Yes,” Peter stepped aside, showing a quiet street that Professor Rose recognized as apart of Viridian City, “and I'm calling from a pay-phone outside, Professor, because my cel phone has been reduced to a paperweight.”

    “Take Jolteon to the gym there,” the professor suggested suddenly.

    “A gym challenge?” Peter asked as he leered back through the camera with skepticism.

    “Listen, just hear me out. The gym leader in Viridian City is an expert on Eevee and its evolved forms. He'll be able to help you, and Jolteon.” Professor Rose paused a moment, still seeing the bitter frustration eating at Peter, and he made a judgment call. “If it comforts you I will pay for the damages to your apartment and equipment, but please, take Jolteon to the gym and have the leader there look at her.”

    Peter took a few long moments to consider, and asked one more question. “And if he can't help?”

    “If he can't help, then there's no helping that poor Jolteon anyway.”

    “Fine, I'll go there,” Peter grunted, and the video call winked out in front of the Professor.

    The tall rosy-faced man let out a deep sigh of relief. Speaking of rough starts, this incident with the Jolteon was yet another snafu to add to his list. It was a bit of a risk to pay for Peter's damages, especially since it sounded like he had several pricey pieces of equipment ruined, but he had to take some responsibility for the hardships thrown in front of Peter Sine. Professor Rose could only hope the young man could find opportunity in the situation, instead of tossing this chance away all over again.

    Whatever may come though, there was one last call the professor had to make, and he rang the appropriate line on the video chat system.

    A few moments later, a young woman in a professional outfit greeted the Professor, “Viridian City League Gym. How can I help you?”

    “I need to speak with Blue Oak, immediately.”

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​

    Peter Sine walked up to the Viridian gym, up the staircase around the fountain out front. Both were made of fine marble, intricately carved in an impressive ornate style. He'd passed the gym a few times before when he went around the city, and even serviced some of the communication gear there, but Peter never had any direct contact with the gym leader himself. All he knew was that the leader was fairly young, closely related to Professor Oak, and could be hard to get a hold of sometimes.

    As Peter continued along the stone walkway toward the gym, between rows of marble columns, he noticed a figure casually leaning against the wall near the gym's front door. When he got closer, he saw the figure was a young brown haired man in a leather jacket, barely paying any attention to the area around him. He couldn't have been any older than Peter, possibly even a few years younger.

    “You Peter?” he asked Peter when they were close.

    “Yes,” Peter confirmed with a small nod.

    “Blue Oak, leader of the Viridian gym,” the leather clad young man said abruptly, and stepped inside the gym entrance, motioning for peter to follow, adding over his shoulder. “You'd better consider yourself damn lucky I'm even bothering with this.”

    “I was told you could help,” Peter said as he followed close behind.

    Blue waved passed the receptionist and continued straight through his gym's lobby without so much as a glance. The inside of the Viridian Gym was similarly ornate in its design as its exterior, if somewhat darker in its color scheme. The floors were a polished black granite, and the walls held several alcoves with statues; some of people, some of Pokémon.

    “Yeah, I can help, with a job far better suited for the Pokémon Center.” the young gym leader scoffed as he walked.

    “But the Professor–”

    “Is a snobbish, entitled jerk, trying to fill a pair of shoes that are just way too big for him,” Blue interrupted bitterly. “He hangs onto my gramps' coattails all these years, finally gets his tenure as an official Professor, and all of a sudden he thinks his word carries the same clout as the Samuel Oak. Already big Mr. smiley-face has me cleaning up his blunders, when he really ought to take care of this himself.”

    A door slid open in front of the pair, and they walked onto the main battle floor of the Viridian gym. The standard wide-open battling field was surrounded by a series of grand stone archways and columns, alluding to the long and proud history of the gym.

    None of it mattered to Peter at the moment, who was trying, seemingly in vain, to get the gym leader's attention, “I don't don't know what your problem is, but–”

    “Then let me tell you what my problem is,” Blue turned to Peter, motioning widely around him, his voice echoing through the battle floor. “I have a league gym to run: official challenges that I have to answer. I am here, in this building, to put trainers and their teams through their paces. I make them shed blood, sweat, and tears to make sure they're ready to earn the badge. Yet here I am, putting all that on hold, so I can do a checkup on some pet Jolteon.”

    “Who in their right minds keeps one of these as a pet?” Peter asked, fishing the Poké ball out of his pocket. He could've sworn he felt a small jolt of electricity shoot through his hand as he held the little sphere.

    “Most of Eevee's evolved forms are...” Blue trailed off, then sighed and rolled eyes as he said, “Whatever, let's just get this over with: send it out.”

    Peter obliged, and tossed the Poké ball to the floor in front of them. With the ubiquitous pop and flash, Jolteon materialized on the battle floor. The little yellow Pokémon was already engulfed in a torrent of electricity, firing off the same discharge arcs that wreaked havoc in Peter's apartment less than an hour ago. The hapless Jolteon simply cringed in fear, buckling herself down as close to the floor as she could.

    “Whoa...” Blue uttered. His tone had changed completely, and now he looked on Peter's Jolteon with an intrigued sense of concern. “Well, Professor Rose wasn't wrong about how bad it was.”

    “Do you know what's happening?”

    Instead of answering Peter, the gym leader produced a Poké ball from his jacket pocket and tossed it out next to Peter's Jolteon. With another pop and flash, a Jolteon of his own emerged, to which Blue ordered, “Blitz, give us a hand with this one!”

    Blitz gave a small acknowledging nod to its trainer, and approached Peter's terrified Jolteon. It didn't seen affected in the slightest by the barrage of electricity that struck it, and stood close, doing its best to reassure the young one. Peter's Jolteon looked back at the other, but made no motion toward it, still quite frightened. At the same time, the wild discharge arcs all were redirected into Blue's Jolteon, effectively containing the danger.

    “To answer your question, a number of things are happening here,” Blue began explaining. “When a Jolteon gets upset, or angry, or scared, it starts building up an electrical charge: basic fight-or-flight reaction. What's happening here though is a spontaneous, uncontrolled discharge. Your Jolteon is building up the charge alright, but it isn't dispersing built-up the energy in any controlled way, and just fires it off wildly instead. This can sometimes happen with Jolteon if the Eevee wasn't entirely ready to evolve, especially if it's a very strong one.”

    “Why is that?” Peter asked. “Isn't Jolteon is an electric type? Shouldn't it know what to do?”

    “Yes, but Eevees aren't electric type,” Blue said with a small shake of his head. “They aren't born with the innate knowledge and instincts of natural electric type Pokémon, like Pikachu are. They don't have prior experience or genetically ingrained instincts to guide them; they only become electric type from exposure to the thunder stone. When Eevee become Jolteon in their evolution, the capacity for channeling electrical energies is thrust suddenly upon them.”

    Blitz's attention, while it seemed effective to contain the dangerous discharges, didn't seem to make Peter's Jolteon any less anxious. She still kept hunkered down, even flinching away from the other Jolteon when it came close.

    “Normally this isn't too much of a problem,” Blue Oak continued. “A short adjustment period following the evolution, and the Jolteon can figure out the necessary skills on its own, most of the time. Considering just how young your Eevee was when the evolution was triggered though, and the sheer amount of power she seems to have the potential for... she just can't control it.” He motioned out to the pair of Jolteon, “Look at her: she's terrified, confused, and she's only making it worse for herself in this vicious cycle.”

    The young Jolteon spotted Peter nearby, and cried out in a desperate tone as she started to approach him. Blitz blocked her path though, much to the dismay of Peter's Jolteon, who cried out again as she gazed in worry at her owner.

    “What should be done?” Peter asked quietly as he watched the scene unfold before him.

    “One way or another, your Jolteon has to learn to control her new power, or she'll only cause more unwanted destruction...”

    Peter's Jolteon tried to jump out and rush toward him, but Blitz bit down on the scruff of her neck and dragged her back. The younger Pokémon protested with another cry as she squirmed in Blitz's grip, firing off another burst of electricity.

    “But like you said, she's terrified and confused, which means she's in no shape to learn anything,” Peter figured. He didn't show it, but it was difficult for him to see the the Pokémon struggle like this. There had to be something he could do to fix this...

    “You got that right,” Blue agreed. “Blitz can keep her company for a while. He'll keep your Jolteon safe, and it might help soothe her.”

    In response to another desperate fit, Blitz pinned the young unruly young Jolteon down on her side, holding her down under its forepaws while the other squealed in desperate protest. With her head against the floor, Peter's Jolteon stared back at him with wide, pleading eyes, and uttered a long mournful howl that reverberated throughout the battle floor, filling Peter's ears with the ringing of its cry. Seeing the scene before him, Peter Sine didn't believe that for a second that Blue's prescribed treatment would soothe the terrified young Jolteon. Something else had to be done...

    Then at that moment, something else is exactly what came to Peter's mind.

    “She needs me,” he said as he turned to Blue, a firm certainty to his words. “I need to go to her, that'll calm her down.”

    “Are you sure you want to do that?” the gym leader asked. “You're not going to be able to get close without getting hurt, and that's not going to help anybody.”

    “I'm aware...” Peter looked ahead again, where all he could do for the moment was watch the young Jolteon gaze back, and listen to her helpless pleas. Still, he had a plan, and got started on it, “I'll need a long extension chord and some tape, electrical tape if you have it.”

    “What exactly for?” Blue inquired.

    All Peter said as his answer was, “I've got an idea.”

    It seemed for a moment that Blue Oak might press him for more information, as he quizzically glanced between Peter and the two Jolteon. In the end though, he gave Peter the benefit of the doubt, and quickly made a call on his cel phone, to one of the gym staff it sounded like.

    “Get an extension cord and some electrical tape, and bring them to the battle floor...” Blue ordered. “Crack into the custodian's storage closet, it should all be there.”

    In the meantime, Blitz stepped off the young Jolteon, which simply laid helpless on the battle floor now, quivering as the discharge arcs fired off her body. Peter wasn't even sure if his idea would work at all, but it was the only idea that made sense at the time, and he had to at least try...

    Thankfully, not even a minute later, the receptionist the two had passed by earlier came onto the battle floor, carrying the extension cord and a roll of electrical tape as was requested.

    The instant Peter received the items, he pulled a multitool off his belt, flipped out the knife blade and cut off one end of the extension cord, revealing the three wires inside: the hot, neutral, and ground wires. He taped the hot and neutral wires away from each other and wrapped taped over the ends, taking great care to make sure a circuit wouldn't be completed between them. Then Peter striped the protective plastic coating off the ground wire, and taped the end of the cord to the back of his hand, with the bare copper of the ground wire extending just beyond his fingertips.

    “Plug the cord in,” he instructed to Blue, who did so with a small nod. Then Peter turned his attention to the two Pokémon on the battle floor in front of him, “Blitz, I need you to step away from my Jolteon, I'll handle her.”

    Blitz cocked its head toward Peter, and looked to Blue for further orders, who responded, “Let the man work Blitz, step back.”

    Blue's Jolteon gave an obedient nod and backed away from the other as ordered, while Peter stepped forward. As Blitz distanced itself from the other Jolteon, the sparks and discharge arcs picked up in intensity like they were before, no longer being safely contained by Blitz. The young Jolteon whined in a weak voice with her head hung low as she lay there, barely paying attention to her surroundings. She seemed to have given up hope, and Peter could hardly blame her, when all the Pokémon had ever done since her evolution was destroy everything that got close to it.

    Nevertheless, Peter Sine pressed forward, keeping his wired hand ahead as he approached Jolteon and entered the danger zone, where the uncontrolled discharge arcs flew out at random.

    With a loud snap, one of the bolts of electricity shot straight toward Peter, causing him to flinch at the noise and the half-expected electrical shock. Much to the young man's relief though, the bolt was caught by the exposed wire instead, completely missing his hand and leaving him unharmed. A few more steps closer, with the ground wire on his hand catching every spark and discharge arc, and Peter came within arms reach of Jolteon...

    The hapless Pokémon didn't even acknowledge Peter's presence, whimpering with her eyes closed and face buried in her forepaws, oblivious to everything around her. Even so, Peter knelt down next to the Jolteon, and laid his hand on the bright yellow fur of her back, just under the mane. Jolteon nearly jumped at the touch, releasing another blast of electricity that was again caught by the wire. Then the Jolteon saw that it was Peter, and stared back up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.

    “You're gonna be okay little guy, I've got you,” Peter uttered quietly. He didn't know Jolteon understood, but it felt right to say it anyway...

    The Pokémon squealed as she jumped up and buried her face in Peter's chest. For a second, Peter was worried the Jolteon might accidentally shock him again, but it wasn't the case. The dangerous discharge arcs and sparks were gone. The only electricity Peter could feel now was a minuscule tingling sensation under his hands...

    It worked: he fixed it.

    That accomplished satisfaction alone was enough to spark a small sense of pride in Peter: the kind of pride one feels at the overcoming of a challenge, or solving a complex puzzle, but there was more here. In overcoming this particular puzzle, Peter was able to help an otherwise helpless creature in this Jolteon, who was now gratefully licking the man's face. He felt his face form a smile at the affection, and heard himself laugh as he scratched the Pokémon just behind her prominent ears.

    “I'll admit, I wouldn't have thought of that,” Blue Oak complimented as he approached the scene. “Nice work.”

    “It's just a crude grounding tether, like a miniature lightning rod,” Peter explained with a shrug as he removed the wire from his hand. “It catches discharges in the wire, redirects them into the building's grounding system through the power outlet, and ultimately into the ground through a series of grounding rods.”

    “Heh, funny enough, that's more or less exactly how Jolteon normally control excess charge.”

    “That so?” Peter asked, standing up.

    “Thing is, Jolteon have four such grounding rods,” Blue informed, holding up a hand with all fingers but his thumb extended, “they walk on them.”

    “The paws, huh?”

    “When Jolteon, and many other other electric types, build up an excess charge, and they can't simply discharge directly into their environment, they'll send the extra energy into the ground they're standing on to disperse it safely.” Blue crouched down in front of Peter's Jolteon, scrutinizing the young Pokémon through a tightly focus gaze. “This poor little pup here doesn't know how to do that yet, so she can only shoot out the energy every which way.”

    The young Jolteon shrunk away from the harsh gaze of the gym leader, slinking to the safety behind Peter's legs.

    “Then let's get started to change that,” Peter said as a sense of determination built up inside him.

    Blue nodded, and directed his attention to the other Jolteon waiting nearby, “Blitz, come here and give the little one a demonstration,” the gym leader ordered, motioning for his Pokémon to join the group.

    Once Blitz came close, Blue's Jolteon began to build up a charge. It's bright yellow fur stood up on end, and a few small sparks began arcing between the tufts. There was enough of a charge that Peter could even smell the electricity in the air. The younger Jolteon cringed at the sight though, uttering a quiet whine as the other neared. Peter crouched down, and stroked the worried Pokémon's back. The Jolteon was still a little anxious, but Peter's attention comforted her somewhat.

    Blitz held up a paw for a moment, and set it down on the ground. In an instant, the sparks all over its body disappeared, and its fur settled again as the charge was released. Then it cocked its head and gave a small yip at Peter's Jolteon, who cautiously stepped forward, pausing as she glanced back at the young man who'd helped her.

    “Go on, you got this,” Peter assured the Pokémon, and the Jolteon nodded before continuing on.

    With the young Jolteon at its side, Blitz repeated the cycle of building up a charge and dissipating it. Peter's Jolteon did her best to duplicate the process, building a charge, and attempting to disperse it in the same way. She had more than few mistakes though, firing off several errant bolts of electricity a fair number times as she tried. Blitz was able to safely catch the stray discharges though, and the tutoring continued. Peter mused that Blitz might be acting like a lightning rod, similar to his own trick with the extension cord...

    “Don't forget that Jolteon doesn't just build up a charge for nothing,” Blue Oak informed while the Jolteon practiced. “Electricity is the resource it draws upon to defend itself, allowing it to release the stored energy in concentrated bursts. It's the basic principle behind any Pokémon's electric type attacks, like a thunder shock.”

    “I see...” Peter replied, while he thoughtfully stroked the beard on his chin. “So the Pokémon acts just like a capacitor.”

    “A what?” Blue asked, eyebrow raised.

    “Never mind,” Peter dismissed, waiving it off as he said, “it's a technical term.”

    “Hmm...” the young gym leader murmured as he furrowed his eyebrows.

    As knowledgeable as Blue Oak was on the subject of Pokémon, Peter still sometimes forgot that his own area of technical expertise wasn't one most people weren't familiar with. As the minutes passed, the intermittent cracks of electricity became more and more sparse, until it nearly became silent on the battle floor. In reflection of the calming state of his training, Peter's Jolteon was gaining more control, more confidence in her movements.

    “I'd say your Jolteon looks like she's getting a grasp on the necessary basics. She should be safe now, but keep her practicing regularly just to be sure.” Blue turned to Peter, changing his tone to a more inquisitive one, “You are planning on keeping Jolteon, aren't you? Professor Rose mentioned that might be up in the air.”

    “I'm... not really sure,” Peter admitted, watching the young Pokémon entrusted to him. Jolteon was no longer the walking hazard she was mere hours before, but she also wasn't the innocent carefree Eevee just a few hours before that.

    “I'll tell you what: how about you take your Jolteon to the gym in Vermilion City, and let Surge take a look at her?” Blue suggested. “If you decide you don't want Jolteon when you get there, the Vermilion gym will make a great home for her. She'll be looked after by those who have experience and and in-depth understanding of what she'll need. If you decide you want to keep Jolteon though, Surge and the other gym trainers will be more than able to teach you about the finer points of electric types.”

    It seemed a sound option to Peter, a reasonable compromise, or an excuse to kick the can down the road if he were feeling cynical. Regardless, Peter Sine didn't have a clear answer whether to return Jolteon to Professor Rose as was his intention earlier, or if he would change his mind, and nurture the Pokémon that needed guidance. Even if Peter wouldn't be that guide, the Vermilion gym sounded like as good a place as any for Jolteon.

    “I'll keep it in mind,” Peter said with a nod.

    Blue Oak uttered a harsh whistle that got the attention of Blitz, and his Pokémon walked toward the gym leader obediently. At the same time, Peter's smaller Jolteon turned around to look back, ears perked up at attention. After a few moments, the young Pokémon followed Blitz, noticeably sluggish in her stride.

    “Blitz, return!” Blue called out as he raised the red and white Poké ball, catching the Jolteon in flash of light as it dematerialized, and ultimately disappeared.

    The other Jolteon's expression was a weary, worn out one in need of rest. When she was close, the bright yellow Pokémon let out a tired yawn as she slumped at Peter's feet. The young man crouched next to the Jolteon, and gently patted her on the head, feeling not even the slightest tingle of electricity at the touch anymore.

    “You did good little guy,” Peter said quietly, and removed the Poké ball from his pocket. “Return.”

    While he pocketed the little sphere, the gym leader turned to Peter, adding, “be sure to take your Jolteon to the Pokémon Center to recover her strength. Being as young and inexperienced as she is, even this simple training has taken a lot out of her.”

    “Of course,” Peter agreed, pocketing Jolteon's Poké ball as he stood up and looked to Blue. “Thanks for your help.”

    He offered the gym leader a handshake, which Blue returned, clasping Peter's hand in a firm grip.

    “Don't mention it.” Blue said, and clapped the other on the shoulder after he released the handshake, “I'll smell ya later.”

    “Yeah, you too,” Peter replied with an awkward smile, and he turned to leave the battle floor.

    “Oh, and tell that smug Professor Rosy-cheeks that he wins the bet:” Blue added after Peter had taken a few steps, “I owe him dinner.”

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​

    Sorry I took so long to get this chapter out. It was originally going to be longer, but I feel this comes to a good close here on its own, and any further material would be better suited to its own chapter later.

    Hope you liked it! Hopefully there's more to come, and sooner than this came.

    Edit notes 01/16/2018:
    Typo sweep, cleared up a few formatting errors. No major content changes.
     
    Last edited:
  • Index
    • Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    This was really fun to read. I'm drawn by your description and realism too. I think you're a very talented writer.
     
    Ch 4: An Eclectic Charge
  • Index
    • Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Responses in spoiler tag.
    SerenaKetchum said:
    This was really fun to read. I'm drawn by your description and realism too. I think you're a very talented writer.
    Click to expand...

    Thank you so much your kind response!

    It's taken an absurdly long amount of time to get this next chapter out, partly because of writing blocks, partly because I've been busy, and partly because I have no excuse. I hope you enjoy this next next chapter, and I look forward to the thoughts and responses you have. Thanks again!

    * Ring! Ring! *

    “Hello, Donnovan Joule speaking.”

    “It's Peter.”

    “Pete? I didn't recognize the caller ID, you get a new phone or something?”

    “Yes, but that's not what I called for,” Peter answered wearily. “Something came up.”

    “You okay?” Donny asked with more than a little concern, “You sound beat.”

    “I'm fine, It's just... that Eevee, the one the Professor gave me, it evolved. The thunder stone you gave me triggered the evolution.”

    “Well good for you!” Donny said in hearty congratulations.

    “No, Donny, you don't understand...” and Peter went on to explain the fiasco with Jolteon and the training with Blue Oak that had only occurred minutes earlier, finally finishing with, “Even now, Jolteon is still shaky at best at controlling the new power.”

    “I see...” Donovan replied, sounding like he had many thoughts going on at once.

    “I called because I'm going on a trip to Vermilion City to take Jolteon to the gym there, and I need the time off.”

    “Say no more Peter!” Donny instantly responded, “Go, take Jolteon to Vermilion City, take all the time you need, I insist. Heck, after a crazy day like you had, the company is going to make you take at least a couple days off to recover, and I'm sure you could do with some time away anyway. Goodness knows you've saved up so much paid vacation time since you started. Use it already! You're supposed to!”

    “I'm just going to the Vermilion gym, I'll be back before you know it,” Peter said somewhat sheepishly over the phone. “It's not like I'm going on a training journey or anything.”

    “Alright, didn't mean to get carried away,” Donovan Joule said with a tone of finality, “You be safe out there Pete, and try to relax a bit while you're at it.”

    “Thanks a lot, I will,” Peter politely replied.

    “Don't mention it.”

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    An Eclectic Charge

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Next Day

    From a comfortable seat aboard the Magnet Train, Peter Sine watched the world go by through the window, while the young Jolteon in his lap propped herself up on her front paws and did the same. However, the young Pokémon was watching with much more awe and curiosity, so fascinated by the new world she'd never seen before, whereas Peter was still trying to straighten his thoughts out, trying to make some sense of what was going on with himself.

    After speaking with Donovan Joule and getting time off, the rest of that day was spent by Peter making arrangements for this trip. He purchased the magnet train ticket, packed the duffel bag now tucked under his seat with everything he needed for a few days of travel, and worked out arrangements with the landlord and Professor Rose.

    At least on that subject, the damages to the apartment itself were thankfully minimal and easily covered by the rental agreement's insurance. And since Professor Rose had agreed to pay the full price for Peter's damaged equipment, the young man had an ample surplus of funds to support his making the trip to Vermilion City. At some point though, he'd have to get all that gear replaced, but that'd be something to think about later. For now, the issue of this Jolteon, and what he would do about it, were first and foremost.

    Still, it seemed strange to Peter that Donovan was so insistent that he take the trip, practically pushing him out the door. Maybe it was just that subtle pressure Donny had given him before about Pokémon, about going out and training them again, and maybe Peter was just reading into things too much. Somehow though, he couldn't help the feeling that Donovan wasn't telling him something, something important...

    “Oh wow! What a cute Jolteon!” a young girl's voice squealed, wrenching Peter from his thoughts, nearly making him jump from his seat.

    An energetic girl, about seven years old Peter guessed, had rushed to the empty seat next to Peter, and leaned in close, entranced by the bright yellow Pokémon resting in his lap. Jolteon tilted her head at this newcomer, offering the child a perplexed look that reflected Peter's own sudden discomfort. It wasn't that Peter had any real dislike for kids, but this girl had rushed right up next to him, and he didn't really know what he was supposed to do, and so he ended up doing nothing.

    “Ilsa, leave the man be,” an older woman's voice urged in a gentle, but commanding tone.

    In the train car's isle, just beyond the girl, was a lady that Peter could only guess was Ilsa's mother, since they both had similar hair, skin tone and facial features. The girl responded to her mother's command and backed away from Peter, though she looked more than a little reluctant to do so as the woman put her hand on the girl's shoulder. With the mother's intervention, Jolteon seemed to relax, and took a small, tentative step into the empty seat next to Peter toward the girl.

    “I'm sorry about that,” the woman said with a polite bow of her head, “Ilsa is just so full of energy, she sometimes can't help herself if she really likes something.”

    “It's alright,” Peter assured with a polite smile as he scratched behind Jolteon's ear, to which the Pokémon purred in response, rubbing her head into the young man's hand. “She just surprised me is all.”

    “Mister, can I pet your Jolteon, please?” little Ilsa asked, gazing at Jolteon with wide, expectant eyes.

    Still unsure, Peter looked up to Ilsa's mother, maybe for some input. She must've seen that small confusion in Peter, and gave the young man a small approving nod, apparently satisfied that her daughter had politely asked permission instead of intruding into his space.

    “She's a little shy, but I don't see why not,” Peter answered, while Jolteon cocked her head, giving the young man a questioning look.

    “That's okay!” Ilsa squealed, and in her excitement practically pounced at the small yellow Pokémon.

    Jolteon though was caught off-guard by the sudden attention. She flinched at the girl's touch with a sharp yip, and sharp crack of electricity.

    “Ow!” Ilsa yelped as she jumped back, holding her hand with a look of utter shock.

    “Jolteon!” Peter scolded in a harsher tone than he'd intended, almost as shocked as the little girl was.

    At that, Jolteon jumped down off the seat and crept behind Peter's legs, where she cringed in fear; in that same confused terror Peter recognized from earlier. At the same time, Ilsa had backed away, clinging to her startled mother, the girl's expression and actions nearly mirroring those of the Pokémon that hurt her.

    In the meantime, Ilsa's mother was giving Peter an outraged glare that he could practically feel, like an icy chill from her eyes, as if the harm to her child was somehow his fault. In response, the young man only managed to mutter, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean–”

    “Hmph,” the mother huffed as she turned away, and led her upset daughter further down the isle.

    Frustrated, Peter shook his head and furrowed his brow as an exasperated grumble escaped his gritted teeth. Truly, it was incidents like this that really pushed Peter to make the trip. Even with the best of intentions, this Jolteon was still very dangerous, a walking hazard, not just to equipment or electronics, but to other people as well. There was no simply ignoring it, this absolutely had to be done–

    Peter felt something bump his free hand resting on his knee. He looked down, and saw Jolteon sitting there next to his knee, nuzzling his hand. The Pokémon looked back at him with a pair of wide, apologetic eyes and ears folded back, and let out a quiet whine as she nuzzled Peter's hand again.

    The young man let out a sigh and stroked Jolteon's head as he said, “I know you were scared, but the little girl wasn't going to hurt you. She just wanted to be friends.”

    Peter still wasn't sure if the Pokémon could fully understand him, or even if she cared. At least Jolteon seemed comforted by the attention though, as she rubbed herself against Peter's hand. Yet even now, when Jolteon was at her most content, Peter could still feel many small pinpricks of electricity jump to his hand as he scratched behind the Pokémon's ears. That couldn't possibly be normal, could it?

    That was another reason Peter was making the trip, probably the foremost one: because he simply didn't know. Despite all the hectic events that happened the day before; nearly falling to his death from a lightning strike, losing all the gear in his apartment, dealing with Blue Oak; it was not knowing about this Jolteon, not fully understanding what she needed, that truly bothered Peter the most. It was a problem, a mystery, a puzzle, a challenge, one he felt compelled to overcome himself, rather than trust someone else to do it for him.

    “Now arriving at Vermilion City,” a calm, prerecorded voice announced over the train's PA system.

    Immediately after, the Magnet Train gradually slowed down, and Peter gathered up his bag from under the seat and made his way down the isle toward the exit, while Jolteon trotted happily at his heels. Once the train came to a stop and the doors opened, Peter moved out of the train car onto the platform of the Vermilion City Station with all the other disembarking passengers.

    The station wasn't unreasonably busy for the time being, neither rushed nor empty. A quiet dull undertone of the many echoing conversations filled the air, occasionally punctuated by announcements over the station PA system. For a time, the Kanto-Johto Magnet Train didn't even have a line to connect it to Vermilion City, only going as far as Saffron City to the north. Yet in the time since the train was built, its popularity prompted the construction of new lines, connecting more of Kanto and Johto together. Still, Peter didn't have much interest in local history at the moment, not when he needed to see the local gym leader.

    Once they were out on the station platform, Peter turned around and looked at Jolteon, saying, “you need to keep your electricity under control while you're out here, or I'll have to return you to your ball, understand?” He held up the Poké ball for her to see, hopefully making his point clear.

    Jolteon replied with a shy look down, and gently pawed at the concrete beneath her feet. She seemed to know what Peter meant, and that was enough for him.

    Satisfied for now, Peter pocketed the Poké ball and proceeded through the bustling train station, and ultimately to where the Vermilion gym was. Being a host to a major League Gym for the Kanto Region, getting to the gym itself was thankfully straightforward. All Peter had to do to find it was pick up a visitor's guide pamphlet in the station, which had a rudimentary map showing the Vermilion gym's location, and follow the directions.

    In a lot of ways, Vermilion City reminded Peter of Viridian City: both were lively urban centers, as well as host to prominent League Gyms, though this city had its own unique traits. Instead of bracing mountain breezes blowing off the Kanto/Johto dividing range the way Viridian City had, Vermilion City had cool salty gusts from the ocean, with a busy port to compliment it. In fact, the Vermilion gym itself was built on an old shipping pier, jutting right out into the bay. It seemed a more appropriate place for a Water-type gym than an Electric-type.

    As Peter approached the gym's entrance though, there was no doubt about its type specialization. The structure was a fairly straightforward steeple construction with clean, angular lines, adorned with several gigantic, stylized lightning bolts. These bold architectural choices for the gym seemed dated and garish to Peter, like something that had been out of style for a few decades. Still, he wasn't here to be an architecture critic, and he made his way inside.

    Stepping into the front door of the Vermilion gym, Peter found himself in a reception area, similar in structure to the Viridian gym with the same, probably standardized amenities. This gym's interior however had no vintage or classical styling whatsoever, and was all straight clean lines and subdued metallic highlights. It all looked as if it was made strictly for function instead of form, which itself was a kind of aesthetic choice Peter supposed. The leader was called 'Lieutenant Surge' after all, and these spartan, utilitarian design choices would certainly reflect a military background.

    All the while, Jolteon followed close behind Peter, trying to glean some comfort from the proximity to him.

    In the center of the lobby was the gym's reception desk. A thin, bored looking man in about his mid thirties, sporting a long blond ponytail, was sitting behind it. He barely looked up when Peter approached, and only asked, “need something?”

    “I'm Peter Sine, here to see Surge,” Peter answered.

    “He can't see visitors right now,” the receptionist replied flatly. “Come back later.”

    “But, I need his help–”

    “Later,” the man grumbled, with a greater and more irritated emphasis.

    A small flash of irritation shot through Peter, and he felt his hand reflexively form into a fist at his side. Just when Peter was about to explain the situation, probably with a more irate tone than he'd do normally, he heard a set of footsteps as someone else stepped in to the lobby, and a polite, gentlemanly voice say, “it's quite alright, Vincent. I'll take it from here.”

    Peter turned, and saw that the voice belonged to an older, gentle faced man, between fifty or sixty years old he guessed. He was dressed sharply in a dark three-piece suit, and carried a thin briefcase in one hand.

    “My sincerest apologies, Peter. I am Gregory Voltaire,” the man said as as he approached, then set down his briefcase and offered his hand, which Peter graciously shook. “Surge is currently battling a challenger, but you are of course quite welcome to sit in and watch the battle while you wait to see him. Right this way please.”

    At that, Gregory picked up the case again and led Peter out of the lobby into a corridor, just as barren and sparsely decorated as the lobby. “You'll have to forgive Vincent, he doesn't normally cover the reception desk, and sometimes he is unclear on his duties. That is usually my responsibility.”

    “And you aren't there now?” Peter asked, glancing quickly back toward the lobby

    “You've met him,” the older man began, “I daresay you can understand why I don't entirely trust Vincent to make an important guest feel welcome.”

    “I'm important?” Peter asked as he followed, surprised.

    “Ah. yes, I suppose that's just like him,” Gregory said calmly, seemingly unperturbed, “Blue Oak called ahead about your Jolteon predicament: we've been expecting you.”

    Just then, the ground beneath Peter, Jolteon and Gregory quaked, and the low sound of a heavy impact reverberated through the corridor. Peter was nearly thrown off his feet at the sudden shaking as he yelped, “What the– Is that earthquake going on?!”

    “Indeed it is, as a matter of fact,” Gregory replied.

    The older gentleman seemed completely unaffected by the shaking floor, keeping immaculate posture as he continued toward the double door just ahead. Once there, Gregory motioned for Peter to enter the door first, which he did, closely followed by the unsure Jolteon poking her nose around the corner, and Gregory shortly thereafter.

    The double door opened up to the gym's expansive battlefield. Like the rest of the Vermilion gym, it was minimalistic in its design: the field itself was a simple rectangle of packed earth, the metal lined walls stood blank and unadorned by any ornamentation whatsoever, while the space was lit by several banks of bright lights hung overhead. Much of the space though was obscured by dust, kicked up from the packed-earth arena floor Peter guessed, which was only just settling, revealing a few more details.

    There were three people present in the arena, and two Pokémon. One man was standing off to the side of the battlefield in the referee's position, keenly observing the others, and paid no attention to the newcomers.

    At one end of the battlefield was a determined looking girl, about twelve or so by Peter's guess. She had a sturdy traveling outfit on, with her sandy colored hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. She must've been the challenger; she looked similar to so many other trainers Peter had seen pass through Viridian City to challenge Blue, all with that same fierce look that wouldn't accept defeat. In front of her was her Pokémon: a short, stocky black and gray creature with sharp tusks, and a trunk that looked more like a tire tread than something organic.

    At the opposite side of the battlefield stood the man who could only have been Lieutenant Surge. He was an exceptionally physically fit man dressed in a set of military style fatigues, and looked just shy of being middle-aged. His pale blond hair was spiked up with some sort of hair product, and a pair of sunglasses obscured his eyes, while the rest of his visible face sported a grim look. In front of Surge was his Pokémon: a simple half red and half white sphere, but it was covered in dust, scraped, battered, and wasn't making a single move as the gym leader looked on...

    “Right this way, Peter,” Gregory directed, motioning toward a wide bench nearby to the side of the battlefield. In a few moments, they were both seated, watching the battle as it unfolded.

    “Electrode is unable to battle!” the referee announced as the dust settled. “The Challenger's Donphan wins!”

    “Hmph. That's enough of that, return,” Surge grunted as he held out a Pokéball, and the Electrode disappeared into it with a flash.

    “Your wimpy Electrode never stood a chance!” the girl gloated from across the battlefield, her words inflated with pride in her Donphan's victory. “That Thunder Badge is as good as mine!”

    In response to its trainer, the Donphan reared up on its stumpy hind legs and let out a proud trumpeting bellow. When the Pokémon stomped back onto all fours, the reverberations were felt all through the battlefield, including by Peter and Jolteon, at which the little yellow Pokémon cringed worriedly.

    “You think so? The battle's barely started little lady,” Surge said calmly as he readied a new Pokéball, which he threw onto the field with great gusto. “Magneton, go!”

    With a familiar pop and flash, a Magneton emerged, hovering a few feet above the dusty floor. This Magneton seemed to be in much better condition than Donovan's Amp, being polished to a mirror-like shine, and emitting a powerful bass hum that resonated across the battlefield as it readied itself. Surge looked on with grim pride, silently daring the challenger to make her next move, which she promptly did.

    “Really? Magneton? That'll go down even easier!” the girl responded with a cocky grin, and turned her attention to her Pokémon. “Donphan, give that hunk of bolts your Earthquake!”

    An eyebrow rose from behind Surge's sunglasses and a smirk tugged at his lips, then he quickly called out, “Magneton, use Magnet Rise, outta the way!”

    With a hearty snort, the challenger's Donphan jumped straight up, coiling itself into a dizzying spinning wheel shape. When it hit the ground, the entire battlefield shook under the impact, kicking up another torrent of dust and nearly knocking Peter off his feet.

    Surge however stood undaunted, not the least bit fazed by the powerful Earthquake Donphan had used, while his Magneton rose out of the dust high above the battered floor.

    The opposing girl looked up with a small huff of frustration, but by no means worried as she called back, “so you think that's clever, huh? Donphan, use Fire Fang!”

    “Supersonic!” Surge's voice shot back at nearly the same time.

    After charging forward, the challenger's Donphan sprang up from the dust-clouded floor at Surge's Magneton, it's sharp tusks enveloped by bright flames. At the same time, an ear-splitting screech rang through the battlefield, actually causing a pain in Peter's head that wouldn't go away, even if he covered his ears. However, the screeching noise abruptly ended with a sudden metallic clang!

    When Peter looked up, now thankfully free of the noise, he saw a part of Surge's Magneton glowing bright red and warped from heat where Donphan's attack had struck. The challenger's Pokémon, while apparently unharmed, seemed to have other troubles, as it shook its head with an annoyed snort when it returned to its spot on the battlefield.

    “Alright, Donphan!” the girl said with satisfaction, raising her fist up in confident pride. “One more good hit like that and Magneton is going down.”

    “Don't be too sure,” Surge warned with a small chuckle before calling out, “Flash Cannon!”

    “Fire Fang again!” the challenger shouted back.

    Donphan cocked its head, seemingly unsure what to do. After a second, the stocky gray-and-black Pokémon charged straight forward, but didn't get further than three feet before it stumbled, tripped, and landed head-first into the ground, sliding another couple feet before tumbling to a stop. Floating ominously above the opposing Pokémon, Magneton's low bass hum Peter heard earlier now rose to a buzzing fever pitch as its magnets spun and twirled wildly. Then all movement came to a halt, and Magneton blasted a beam of pure white light into the challenger's hapless Donphan.

    When it was hit by Flash Cannon's beam, the sprawled gray-and-black Pokémon thrashed and screamed in pain, causing Jolteon to duck behind Peter's legs as she watched in horror. All Peter could do was lay a comforting hand on the trembling young Pokémon, saying, “it's okay. You don't need to worry–”

    “Donphan, no!” the challenger cried out, seeing her Pokémon laying motionless on the battlefield.

    “Donphan can no longer battle! Magneton wins!” the referee announced.

    Lieutenant Surge folded his arms across his broad chest and scoffed as he quipped, “I hope you weren't planning to sweep up my whole team with just that Donphan.”

    “Return,” the girl said through gritted teeth as she put her Donphan away, and prepared another Pokéball with fiery glint in her eyes. “We're not done yet, not even close. Meganium go!”

    The challenger thew the new Pokéball onto the battlefield, and with the same pop and flash, a tall, green sauropod-like Pokémon with what looked like a blooming flower at its neck emerged, giving a hearty call as it settled on its great legs.

    “I like your style little lady,” Surge replied with an amused smirk, before ordering. “Magneton, metal sound!”

    At Surge's command, Magneton emitted another ear-splitting screech, only this one sounded like giant rusty steel plates grinding against one another, making all who heard it wince at the agonizing noise, causing Peter to lose focus for a second. The challenger's Meganium looked like it had similar issues, as it ducked its head low, cringing in severe discomfort.

    “Fight through it Meganium!” the girl called out over the screeching noise, “Use Energy Ball!”

    Upon hearing its trainer the Meganium reared its head back, and a sphere of swirling green light appeared just above its nose. When the Pokémon flung its head forward, the Energy Ball shot toward Magneton and struck its target cleanly, cutting off the painful noise of its Metal Sound in the process. At the impact of the Energy ball, Surge's Magneton collapsed to the floor with loud clatter, and fell apart in a in a cluttered heap at the gym leader's feet.

    “Magneton is unable to battle. Meganium wins!” the referee dutifully announced.

    “You did good soldier, return and recharge,” Surge said as he held up Magneton's Pokéball and returned the battered steel jumble.

    “You've only got one Pokémon left, Surge,” the opposing girl said, brimming with confidence behind her Meganium.

    “And we save the best for last,” the gym leader said as he tossed a new Pokéball out in front of him. After the pop and flash, an orange rodent with a long, wire-like tail and sharp ears emerged.

    “You ready Raichu?” Surge asked, to which the new Pokémon replied with a confident yip, and it went into a ready pose. Satisfied, the gym leader called out, “then hit it with it a Thunderbolt!”

    “Hmph,” the challenger scoffed, unimpressed by Surge's Raichu, and gave her orders, “Meganium, Toxic!”

    With a great buzzing and crackling of electricity, Raichu was engulfed by a bright corona of sparks, before one giant bolt arced across the battlefield at the challenger's Meganium, striking the target Pokémon squarely, sending sparking arcs all over Meganium. Meganium wasn't out though, and at the end of it, the Pokémon flung one small, unpleasant looking gaseous pellet back at Raichu, which burst on the small rodent, releasing a foul-smelling odor that even Peter could smell from that distance. After a second, with the gas filling Raichu's lungs, the little Pokémon released a cough, and started to look unpleasant and sickly.

    “You'll need more than that to take down Meganium,” the girl said with a smug look.

    “Got that right,” Surge happily agreed, and ordered his Raichu, “give it another Thunderbolt!”

    “What, again?” the challenger asked, confused. “You know what doing the same thing over and over after it doesn't work is, right?”

    With another great crack, Raichu fired another thunderbolt at the opposing Meganium, which cringed and twitched at all the electricity jolting through it, before it collapsed heavily to the floor with a heavy thud.

    While the girl stood speechless, mouth hanging agape, Surge coyly answered the question she had jokingly posed just before, “Sure do little lady: persistence.”

    “Meganium is unable to battle. Raichu wins!” the referee announced heartily.

    With a sigh, the challenger held out a Pokéball and returned her defeated Meganium, saying, “I don't understand, Meganium should've been able to take more hits than that.”

    “And I'm sure it could have, normally,” Surge agreed, and explained further, “but your Meganium's ears were still ringing from Magneton's Metal Sound, making it an easy target for Raichu's Thunderbolts.” in response, Raichu struck a proud pose, while still sniffling from the poison in its system.

    “Smart play, but I've still got one more to go.” the girl said as she tossed out another Pokéball. “Let's do this Quagsire!”

    Another pop-and-flash, and the challenger's final Pokémon emerged. It was a short, stocky, dopey faced creature with smooth blue skin and beady eyes, and an expression that appeared to be just a dull happiness.

    “It's over, Surge,” the girl announced with utter confidence. “Your Raichu can only go on for so long before the poison takes it out, and Quagsire will outlast whatever you've got.”

    “Oh yeah? Then outlast this!” Surge bellowed. “Let'em have it, Raichu! Grass Knot!”

    At the order, Raichu sprang down on all fours, and channeled an energy into the ground. An instant later, thick blades of grass sprang up from the packed earth of the floor at Quagsire's feet. The green blades quickly wrapped themselves all around the Pokémon, whose beady little eyes suddenly got a lot wider at the constriction, and slammed Quagsire to the floor with heavy thump.

    “What!?” the girl gasped, completely taken aback.

    When the grass blades receded, Quagsire didn't get up again, and simply lay sprawled on the floor in front of its distraught trainer.

    “Quagsire is down. All of the challenger's Pokémon are unable to battle. The gym leader Lieutenant Surge wins!” the referee proudly announced.

    “I lost?” the girl said quietly as she held out a Pokéball and returned her beaten Quagsire. “I thought I was prepared to take on an electric gym.”

    In that time, Lieutenant Surge had stepped across the battlefield, and calmly responded to the downtrodden challenger's concerns, “you're in a whole other league now, little lady. We don't pull our punches with a seven-badge challenger: we plan ahead, and prepare our teams to cover our weaknesses. When you can think a step ahead of me, you'll defeat me, and earn the right to carry my Thunder Badge.”

    In a gesture of respect, Surge held out his hand, which the challenger shook, and looked back at the gym leader with a steely glint in her eyes, saying, “this isn't over, Surge.”

    “I sure hope not,” the gym leader replied with hearty chuckle. “It was a good battle, and I can't wait to have another just as good.”

    “Then I won't make you wait long,” the girl said as she turned away, and exited the the battlefield.

    As the challenger neared the door, she passed the bench where Gregory and Peter were sitting, and Peter caught a closer glimpse of the girl. Though she did her best to hide it, to put on a graceful face in the face of defeat, she actually looked very distraught. Her eyes were downcast in a frustrated glare, as if she'd experienced a great injustice, or treated worse than she felt she deserved–

    “Peter...” Gregory said, getting the young man's attention. He'd already gotten up from the bench, and motioned for Peter to do the same as he invited him onto the battlefield, where Lt. Surge and the referee were having a brief exchange. Most of it was just garbled mumbles at this distance for Peter, but when he and Jolteon came closer, the conversation was clear as a bell.

    “Horton, take these guys to the Pokémon Center right away,” Surge ordered the referee, handing him three Pokéballs. “They had one heck of a match, and need all the rest they can get.”

    “You got it, boss,” Horton replied with a nod, accepting the Pokéballs and the task that came with them, before he too turned and left the battlefield.

    As Surge watched Horton leave, he also spotted Gregory and Peter as they approached. “Gregory, is this who I think it is?” he asked, gesturing toward Peter.

    “Peter Sine, sir,” the young man answered, offering the small polite small bow that was common courtesy in Kanto.

    “He's the young man Blue Oak called ahead about yesterday,” Gregory confirmed.

    “Ah! Glad to see you made it!” Surge chortled, giving Peter a hearty slap on the shoulder that jarred the young man. “You catch the battle?”

    “I did, yeah,” Peter replied, gathering himself up. “You seemed a little harsh on that challenger though.”

    “Nah, that Johto girl's got way too much spunk to let it get to her.” Surge said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “A close defeat like that is only gonna only fire her up and spur her on. She'll be back, and she'll be ready I'll bet.”

    “Wait, she's from Johto?” Peter asked, a little confused. "What's she doing here?"

    “It's a bit of a weird situation, but it'll work out alright I think,” the gym leader answered with a shrug. When he saw Peter's interested gaze though, Surge explained further, “that last challenger is working to enter the Indigo League, and needs an eighth badge to do it. Problem is, one of the Johto regional gym leaders has gone missing and there's no replacement yet, which means she can only get seven there for now. Spunky girl that she is though, instead of waiting for another gym leader to step in for the Johto region, she hopped a boat here to Kanto and challenged me for her eighth badge! Ha! Gotta admire that drive in her, she'll be going places I bet.”

    “The League allows that?” Peter asked, perplexed. He wasn't too familiar with the minutia of Leage policies, but it still seemed out of place somehow. From what he understood, the eight qualifying badges for the Indigo League needed to be from the same region, either Kanto or Johto, not a mix of both.

    “Given the circumstances, the big-wigs in the League made an exception. Don't you worry though, every Gym Leader in Kanto is more than qualified to handle the situation,” Surge assured, then quickly changed tone as he got back on subject. “Enough about that though, you aren't here to blabber on about League politics. From what Blue grumbled about over the phone yesterday, there's something up with a Jolteon, yeah?”

    “That's right,” Peter confirmed with a nod. “Come on little guy, don't be shy...” he stepped aside to present Jolteon to Surge.

    “She's having trouble controlling his power. If she gets upset or scared, she'll fire off electricity at random, and she has trouble stopping it once it starts,” Peter explained.

    “She sure is a cute little spark, ain't she?...” Surge commented as he crouched down in front of Jolteon, slightly lowering his dark glasses to give the Pokémon a keen scrutinizing look. In response, Jolteon tentatively stepped forward, sniffing the air in front of the gym leader. After a few moments, Surge reached out and gently scratched Jolteon along her back, further commenting, “She's way younger than I recommend for evolution, that's for sure, but that was out of your hands from what I understand. Not only that, but it does feel like she's got a ton of power potential. It's a smart move that you've brought her here.”

    “So what can I do to help her?” Peter asked, impressed that the gym leader could judge Jolteon's power on touch alone. He must've felt that same tingling of electricity Peter felt earlier.

    “Well that all depends,” Surge responded as he stood up, towering over the Pokémon at his feet. “Has Jolteon fought in any battles?”

    “None yet,” Peter answered, shaking his head.

    “Then it's about time we change that,” Surge said as he stepped away and prepared a Pokéball, which he tossed out in front of him to the battlefield. “Elekid, go!”

    With the familiar pop and flash, a small bright yellow egg-shaped Pokémon emerged, and struck a fierce pose, insofar as it could at least, given it's less-than-threatening look. Jolteon though flinched at the sudden appearance of Elekid so close by, nearly jumping away. That's when Peter recognized Jolteon's power buildup, with much of her fur standing up on end and small crackles of electricity arcing between the tufts.

    “Easy Jolteon, you're gonna be alright,” Peter said, hoping to calm the Pokémon down, keep her under control. At hearing his voice, Jolteon seem reassured, and she eyed the new Elekid with a weary curiosity,

    “Alright, a battle it is then,” Peter told the gym leader, if a little reluctantly, “but I don't even know all of what Jolteon can do.”

    “That's okay, that's exactly what we're here to find out,” Surge assured. “Besides, I can tell you one move your Jolteon definitely knows already, and could be helpful against my Elekid: Charm,” he said, giving a big goofy grin and a proud thumb-up pose.

    “Charm?” Peter asked in a skeptical tone, with a now highly skewed eyebrow on his face.

    “Oh you bet!” Surge guffawed, motioning toward Jolteon, which seemed equally confused now. “Just look at that face: ain't she just the most adorable little thing you ever seen? Makes you wanna mellow out and relax instead of fight, doesn't she?”

    “Uh, yeah...” Peter said, scratching the back of head, “but how exactly is she supposed to use that cuteness in a battle?”

    “How indeed?” Gregory said as he stepped in, placing himself at one side of the battlefield between Surge an Peter. “When Jolteon directs her appealing charm toward the opponent, the target can be put at ease, and will be less inclined to put full force behind its attacks. It's an effective defensive measure that Jolteon can put it to good use, and she looks just precious doing it as well.”

    “Go on Peter, let's see Jolteon try it here,” Surge suggested.

    “Okay then. Jolteon, use Charm on Elekid,” Peter commanded. The Pokémon seemed confused though, and simply looked back at Peter, tilting her head to one side, at which Peter further explained, “make that face you always do with me, only do it with Elekid.”

    At that, Jolteon's ears stood up, and the Pokémon turned her attention forward again to the opposing Elekid. Striking a low-crouching pose that Peter had seen a few times before, Jolteon looked to the Elekid with big, appealing eyes. The Elekid for its part did seem affected by the attention, losing much of the aggressive bluster in its stance that it started the battle with, and stood much more relaxed.

    “Elekid, Low Kick!” Surge ordered.

    On hearing the order, Surge's Elekid let out a reluctant sigh, and halfheartedly advanced toward Peter's Jolteon. The Elekid did perform a low sweeping kick, but completely lacked the discipline, accuracy or follow-through Peter would've expected. All Jolteon had to do was step out of the way, and the attack, if it could even be called that now, completely missed.

    “See that?” Surge said proudly. “Thanks to Charm, Jolteon barely had to lift a paw to avoid Elekid's attack, even without any training whatsoever.”

    “Huh, utilized cuteness, I'd never have thought,” Peter said, genuinely surprised, as it was the last thing he'd have expected would be of use in a fight. Still, it had been so long since he'd participated in a battle, some of the more intricate battle techniques had been lost on him, or never would've occurred to him in the first place.

    “There are a great many useful techniques Pokémon can learn, many of which are not entirely obvious,” Gregory explained from the sidelines. “Knowing which ones they can learn and what they can do can potentially turn the tide of battle in an instant.”

    “Like your Raichu's Grass Knot?” Peter asked, remembering the challenger battle before. The young man could definitely begin to see why people could be drawn to advanced battling. There was so much that he needed to learn now, so many ins and outs, so many possibly unexpected turns...

    “That's right,” Surge said with a quick nod. “But of course Jolteon is an electric type, and not even this little spark can win battles with her cuteness alone.” An eager expression formed on the gym leader's face, and he pumped his fist, saying, “come on Peter! Let's see this power I heard so much about!”

    “If it's power you want, then it's power you've got,” Peter Sine said with far more confidence than he knew he had. “Jolteon, use Thunder Shock, and give it your all!”

    Jolteon promptly obliged with a fierce howl, and was instantly engulfed in bright flash of light as she discharged the stored electrical energy. The gym battlefield echoed and resonated at the immense power emanating from Jolteon, filled with a chorus of sharp snapping and crackling, accompanied with low buzzing undertones. Seeing and hearing all this in front of him, Peter Sine couldn't help but feel a sense of awe, and even pride, that his Jolteon was capable of so much...

    Then that sense of awe evaporated in an instant, replaced with a sudden fear.

    Instead of directing the electricity directly at the target as Jolteon was supposed to, the sparks and discharge arcs simply flew out at random, going every which way, and didn't stop. It was exactly what had happened in his apartment before, what had happened when he first presented Jolteon to Blue Oak.

    Then through the buzzing crackling torrent of electricity, Peter heard that desperate, terrified cry from Jolteon, and his heat nearly froze.

    One of the larger discharge arcs landed at Peter's feet, jolting the young man from his petrified stupor, and he sprang into action.

    “Careful Jolteon!” Peter shouted over the noise as loud as he could. “Remember the training with Blue! Direct the energy into the ground through your paws! You have to do it now!”

    Almost at once, the electricity dissipated, extinguishing the dazzling light show, and cutting off the noise, though its echoes lingered on for some time within the battlefield.

    Elekid didn't seem the least bit hurt, but did appear a little startled, while Surge looked on from behind it with a stern expression.

    Jolteon though was in much worse shape. The small yellow Pokémon simply stood there on the battlefield, trembling like a leaf, absolutely terrified.

    “Alright then, I've seen enough. I'm ending the battle,” Surge said in a firm tone as he held out a Pokéball. “Elekid, return.” and the Elekid vanished.

    All other thoughts were gone from his mind when Peter rushed onto the battlefield to Jolteon, he simply had to calm her down. Just as he got to Jolteon and knelt down to her level, the drained Pokémon collapsed, and Peter only just caught Jolteon.

    “You're okay little guy. You're gonna be fine, I got you,” the startled young man said, his tone wavering as he spoke to the Pokémon in his arms.

    On seeing and hearing Peter, Jolteon nuzzled herself into Peter's chest, or tired to. The Pokémon was so weak, so exhausted, that she could barely let out a relieved whine, and simply laid her head down on Peter's arm.

    His breath still heaving as he recovered from the panic, Peter looked to Surge, and said, “right, so you've seen Jolteon in action. What now?”

    The gym leader didn't speak right away, and simply stepped softly across the battlefield toward Peter and Jolteon, before he finally said. “There was a heck of a lot of flash in that Thunder Shock, but not much bang.”

    “I thought this Jolteon was powerful.”

    “Oh but she is, she's one of the most powerful I've ever seen, even at this early stage,” Surge clarified, “but so much of that power is lost, scattered, unfocused.”

    “Right, because she can't control it,” Peter said with a sigh, and gently petted Jolteon.

    “Well then Peter, it's time,” the gym leader said as he laid hand on Peter's shoulder, looking down at the Jolteon resting in his arms. “You know I can't in good conscious allow a Jolteon this powerful that can't control its own energy to stay in untrained hands. I'm set in my decision: Jolteon stays here at the Vermilion gym, where she can learn to control her power in a safe, controlled environment.”

    “I... I understand,” Peter said weakly with a knowing nod, his eyes downcast.

    “But that doesn't mean you have to leave,” Surge said quickly, stepping out in front of the other.

    “Huh?” Peter uttered, and looked up, and Jolteon did the same.

    “I'd like to keep you around, and train you as you train Jolteon,” Surge said as he offered a hand to Peter.

    “But I haven't used Pokémon for years,” Peter said as he stood up, satisfied that Jolteon had recovered from the shock of the battle, “and I was never any good anyway.”

    “That's not what I saw in you today, Peter,” Surge said as he shook his head. “I saw someone thinking on his feet, someone who learns fast and learns right, and who shows great respect and care for his Pokémon. I saw exactly the kind of person who could become an outstanding trainer, if you're up for the challenge ahead that is.”

    “What sort of challenge are we talking about?” Peter asked, with Jolteon standing now next to him, if still a little weary.

    “Not gonna sugar-coat it: training this Jolteon is gonna be a tall order,” Surge began, giving the Pokémon a steady gaze as he explained. “The regimen I have planed will be tough, brutal, dangerous even, and will demand a ton of patience before any results are seen. Despite that, I want you, and you specifically, to train Jolteon. Firstly it's because you two share such a close bond, a bond that will make things much easier on Jolteon, help the little spark through the tough times she'll face ahead. Secondly, I wouldn't even be proposing you train Jolteon yourself if I didn't see the potential in you that I saw just now.”

    “You're serious then.”

    “Dead serious,” the gym leader confirmed with a firm nod, and crossed his arms across his chest. “It's on you now, Peter. What do you say? You up for this?”

    Peter didn't need convincing, not anymore. He may have had doubts beforehand, but now there was much to learn, much to find out, and if he could put the new knowledge to good use, all the better. He knew what his answer was.

    “I'll do whatever it takes, and learn whatever I can,” Peter said, his words brimming with a renewed confidence.

    “That's what I like to hear!” Surge said, giving Peter another hearty slap on the shoulder.

    “When do I start?”

    “Tomorrow morning, be here and ready to go at eight o-clock sharp,” Surge replied, “I've got a busy day today with all these challengers headed my way, and I'll need some time to set things up for you and Jolteon. So until then, rest up, take it easy.”

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    ​
    Edit Notes 01/16/2018:
    Grammar and formatting cleanup. no major content changes.
     
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  • Index
    • Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    I love, love all the technical descriptions and science-related things in your story! The amount of detail you went into when describing the grounding scene was awesome. I'm a sucker for the science, man. Do you have technical expertise with electrical equipment? It sure sounds like it. Keep up the good work!
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Arkadelphiak said:
    I love, love all the technical descriptions and science-related things in your story! The amount of detail you went into when describing the grounding scene was awesome. I'm a sucker for the science, man. Do you have technical expertise with electrical equipment? It sure sounds like it. Keep up the good work!
    Click to expand...

    I do a lot of research on things I write about in the first place, so sometimes it can seem like I have firsthand experience in a lot of different fields. That particular instance isn't quite the case: I actually do have firsthand technical experience with that sort of electrical work, which is why Peter does. It's like I mentioned in the first post: Peter draws his inspirations from me, so almost all the skills/talents Peter has or is implied to have at the start of the story are skills/talents I have myself.

    Also, sorry about this not being a chapter update. I've been super super busy these past days, and really need to glean some serious time to write.
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    THE NAME PUNS, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE

    All right, I apologize because this review is long overdue. I always try to review those who review me and then the awards came, but... I guess that's not a fun excuse, is it? Anyway, here we go.

    To conduct these experiments, Peter had one hand on the computer's mouse, and another on an electronic piano keyboard. The hand on the keyboard played the notes, produced the tones, repeated the melodies and rhythms in Peter's mind, while the hand on the mouse altered and tweaked the voice of the tone itself. He experimented with either sharpening or softening the tone, modifying the waveform, applying filters and reverb, and several other minutia.
    Click to expand...

    Nothing bad to say here. Quite the opposite, in fact. I've always kind-of sort-of really wished I was musically talented, and I'm excited to see you're bringing music into a pokemon fic. The unique possibilities are endless. I also appreciate your description of what Peter's doing. It's simple for amateurs like me, but not overly simple and it makes it sound like Peter is pretty knowledgable and talented.

    * Ring! Ring! *

    Peter's work and train of thought respectively were interrupted, by an incoming video call.
    Click to expand...

    I've never really been a fan of sound effects being presented this way. The dash you used at the end of the preceding paragraph is enough to indicate an interruption, as well as the sentence in this quote, which directly says Peter was interrupted. Basically, as it stands, you're being quite redundant.

    That was another aspect of Peter: that he'd always be willing to take the tasks nobody else wanted. He knew they had to be done, and when nobody else would step up to do it, Peter would be there to see that it was completed. Don had caught on to that, and over time Peter Sine became the go-to worker of the Viridian City service crew for such unpleasant jobs, like this pre-dawn adventure to nearby Pallet Town he was being called on.
    Click to expand...

    I've been in this position before and have known people like this. It's not very fun and can be very stressful at times. I'll be interested to see if you go anywhere with this trait of his, particularly whethero or not you characterize it as a flaw.

    "Yeah." he answered, "I'll be ready."

    "I'll see you there." and Donny's image winked out in the window as he ended the call.

    A deep sigh escaped Peter once the call finished. It'd be another tough day, doing work when he least suspected he might. He'd put up with it though, not just because it's his job, but because it had to be done, and it's fallen on him to do it yet again.
    Click to expand...

    Some grammar things... Normally I don't point out grammar nitpicks, but these kinds of issues can turn away a reader if done too much.

    So. Speech tags.

    You have:

    "Yeah." he answered, "I'll be ready."

    "I'll see you there." and Donny's image winked out in the window as he ended the call.

    Should be:

    “Yeah,” he answered. “I'll be ready” OR “Yeah,” he answered, “I'll be ready.”

    “I'll see you there.” And Donny's image winked out in the window as he ended the call. There is no “OR” here unless you add a speech tag such as: “I'll see you there,” Donny said, and his image winked out in the window as he ended the call.

    ...Speech tags are really, really annoying, especially for newer writers. Basically, if you're using a verb (he said/he answered/he agreed/he replied/he greeted), you're always going to want to use a comma, as in the first example. If you're wanting to make your writing more diverse, the second example works just as well, as you can put a comma after the speech tag and continue the sentence. Another example: “This is an example,” diamondpearl876 started, “of how to properly use speech tags.”

    As for Donny's speech, there is no comma because there is no speech tag. You go directly into narration, so you treat it as if you would any other sentence, capitalization and all.

    And just a small comment about tense switches...

    You have:

    He'd put up with it though, not just because it's his job, but because it had to be done, and it's fallen on him to do it yet again.

    Should be:

    He'd put up with it though, not just because it was his job, but because it had to be done, and it had fallen on him to do it yet again.

    You have a good grasp of tenses, so I don't feel the need to explain this in detail, but tense switches can be jarring and make your reader re-read... which doesn't seem bad, but it kind of is a nuisance if they're confused rather than focusing on the content of the story itself.

    (If something doesn't make sense, let me know. I've never been good with explaining grammar.)

    "Pete, Amp saved your life." Donovan confirmed in a grave tone, "You fell after the strike, but Amp grabbed you and brought you down to safety. After that it just wouldn't stay in its Pokéball, so it's been out, hovering around you a lot."

    Peter couldn't quite believe it, or a lot of things really; his life, saved by a Pokémon he barely knew. Amp just hovered, apparently oblivious, or at least nonchalant to the boy who was closely examining him.

    "I'm... not sure how I'd thank Amp." the young worker confessed.
    Click to expand...

    Well, obviously the lightning strike is a mystery that you'll probably explore as the fic progresses, though I'm really impressed about how you introduced Amp. I mean, we already had some background about Amp before the rescue even happened, so it didn't feel like the rescue was unbelievable or silly or anything. So good job there.

    "I think..." Peter began, still thinking about it. This bird could have been mistaken for a Fearow at a great distance, like the distances he saw it from, "Yes, actually."

    "Then what you saw was Zapdos," the professor confirmed, stepping up from the chair at the station, "and it would certainly explain the sudden onset of this storm."

    "Zapdos?" Pine asked quietly, his curious eyes glued onto the database page.
    Click to expand...

    Also clever. I'm kind of embarrassed that I didn't figure that out sooner.

    "Here." Pine said, holding out the Poké ball, "I picked it out just for you."

    Peter looked down at the little red and white sphere, unsure of what to do. It'd been years since he'd so much as held a Poké ball, or used a Pokémon in any kind of battle. He wasn't any good at training at the time, and moved on to other pursuits. All Peter could do was shake his head as he said, "I can't take this."

    "Why not?" the boy asked, somewhat taken aback.
    Click to expand...

    Oh God, he's the cutest little thing. Make the cuteness stop.

    The Pokémon was bright yellow now instead of brown, with several pointed tufts of fur, and a more angled face. It was cowering on the floor, trembling like a leaf and holding its forepaws over its face, whimpering beneath the cracking hissing screams of the sparks. When it finally saw Peter, with huge terrified eyes, the bright yellow Pokémon cried out and scrambled clumsily to its feet, and came toward him.
    Click to expand...

    YOU DIDN'T MAKE THE CUTENESS STOP!

    But really, this scene is hilarious and sad all at once. Peter obviously isn't going to be happy about his new pokemon or his lost equipment, but this is quite literally the best evolution scene I've ever read.

    “So it's Jolteon already.” Professor Rose realized, only growing even more worried about what that meant, “That Eevee was barely away from his mother.”

    “That miniature apocalypse was firing off highly destructive electrical discharges all over my apartment from the moment it changed. I'm lucky he didn't start a fire that could've burned the building down, or even kill me!” Peter elaborated, while Professor Rose ran through options in his head, “That is why I am coming back to the lab, and you are going to take him back.”
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    The first part in this quote is pretty peculiar, but Peter's reaction is still pretty hilarious.

    “Pete? I didn't recognize the caller ID, you get a new phone or something?”

    “Yes, but that's not what I called for.” Peter answered wearily, “Something came up.”
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    I felt like Blue's dialogue was a little bit off, if only because I always feel awkward reading about canon characters. At any rate, the dialogue between your Ocs is always great, particularly here. I'm also liking Peter's personality a lot. He's intelligent, sort of aloof though he has a soft spot for some, and he's laidback and dedicated. And you've established all of that in just a couple chapters, which is good.

    However, the young Pokémon was watching with much more awe and curiosity, so fascinated by the new world it had never seen before, whereas Peter was still trying to straighten his thoughts out, trying to make some sense of what was going on with himself.
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    ...My stories always have competent pokemon and weird-as-hell trainers, so this struck me as a really nice, descriptive paragraph of what both of them are going through right now. I can't really remember the last time I read a fic that focused on both pokemon and trainer like that.

    In the meantime, Ilsa's mother was giving Peter an outraged glare that he could practically feel, like an icy chill from her eyes, as if the harm to her child was somehow his fault. In response, the young man only managed to mutter, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean–”

    “Hmph.” the mother huffed as she turned away, and led her upset daughter further down the isle.
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    Poor Peter. He doesn't seem like the most social person, and he was just thrust into that. I can see how he was thrown off, but I would have expected him to be a little more wary, you know?

    Despite all the hectic events that happened the day before; nearly falling to his death from a lightning strike, losing all the gear in his apartment, dealing with Blue Oak; it was simply not knowing about this Jolteon, not fully understanding what it needed, that truly bothered Peter the most. It was a problem, a mystery, a puzzle, a challenge, one he felt compelled to overcome himself, rather than trust someone else to do it for him.
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    This struck me as another good descriptor of Peter's personality. It's okay to have paragraphs like this that explain Peter's thought processes and such, but it's not really needed because you do a good job of showing through his actions and words already. Though I guess I should have wondered why he didn't reflect on his near-death experience. ...Then again, he barely remembered the incident happening, so what's there to reflect on? Okay, I'm rambling now.

    “That's right.” Peter confirmed with a nod, “Come on little guy, don't be shy...” he stepped aside to present Jolteon to Surge. The little yellow Pokémon was st
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    Heh, I think you forgot to finish your sentence there.

    Overall the battle was good and well written, though I'm wondering about its significance. I thought that either would inspire Peter to battle or the girl would become a main character, but I guess it was there to introduce some League rules?

    Okay, just finished all the chapters. This definitely doesn't seem like any normal journey fic I've ever read (assuming that this will eventually be a journey fic), and I'm grateful for that. You've got a good protagonist character, and particularly what I like most about him is that he's willing to take the challenge even if he doesn't really feel confident in himself. Description is good, though I can tell you're still working on your writing style, which is fine. My only big complaints are that you refer to Jolteon as “it” in narration, but as a “he” in dialogue. Oh, and grammatical errors. Proofread, proofread! It's noticeable, but nothing too distracting. I don't think I've forgotten to mention anything, but if you want me to comment on something specific, let me know...
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    diamondpearl876 said:
    THE NAME PUNS, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE
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    Yes, they are!

    But honestly, it's a thing in the pokemon franchise, and I couldn't help using traditionally pun-laden names.

    Nothing bad to say here. Quite the opposite, in fact. I've always kind-of sort-of really wished I was musically talented, and I'm excited to see you're bringing music into a pokemon fic. The unique possibilities are endless. I also appreciate your description of what Peter's doing. It's simple for amateurs like me, but not overly simple and it makes it sound like Peter is pretty knowledgable and talented.
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    I'm glad that worked out so well. For a lot of people who are expert in a given field, it can be awkward to represent it to those outside their field. I did my best to give generalized descriptions of what Peter was doing that a layman could understand, and explain what little jargon I did use (DAW = Digital Audio Workspace, for example) to keep the reader interested and not totally baffled.

    I've been in this position before and have known people like this. It's not very fun and can be very stressful at times. I'll be interested to see if you go anywhere with this trait of his, particularly whether or not you characterize it as a flaw.
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    Indeed. Sometimes it's beneficial, sometimes it's a hindrance. I supposed it more depends on context whether something like that is a flaw or a boon.

    Well, obviously the lightning strike is a mystery that you'll probably explore as the fic progresses, though I'm really impressed about how you introduced Amp. I mean, we already had some background about Amp before the rescue even happened, so it didn't feel like the rescue was unbelievable or silly or anything. So good job there.
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    Getting these moments to be a good read was especially important, since it is the inciting incident of the entire plot, the first hook to grab the readers, starting the very chain of events you just read. I'm glad that it went over so well.

    Eevee
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    Oh God, he's the cutest little thing. Make the cuteness stop.
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    Give me badass action and technical descriptions any day! I can handle that! What the heck is this fluffy cuddly cuteness thing? What am I supposed to do with it? :ksmile:

    Honestly though, figuring out how to represent the Eevee's cuteness in a written form; doing it believably and appealingly; was a challenge. I'm glad to know I did well on that front. Using very young dogs/cats I've lived with in the past as reference was really helpful though. Eevee's/Jolteon's actions and mannerisms are very much a weird conglomeration of puppy/cat, and much cute.

    YOU DIDN'T MAKE THE CUTENESS STOP!
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    CUTENESS OVERLOAD! APARTMENT WILL NOW BE TRASHED!

    But really, this scene is hilarious and sad all at once. Peter obviously isn't going to be happy about his new pokemon or his lost equipment, but this is quite literally the best evolution scene I've ever read.
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    Best evolution you've read? Really? That's quite a compliment, and the evolution itself didn't even occur "onscreen" as it were.

    I glad that went over well too, since that's kind-of the secondary inciting incident; a step-up, stakes-raised, that-escalated-quickly moment. It really kicks the protagonist down the rabbit hole and sets the stage for further development, and it was really important to me that it succeeded.

    I imagine some of the "hilarity" comes from the kind of third-person limited narration I prefer to use. For a given scene, I like to pick what I refer to as a focus character. Though I don't narrate in first-person, I use the focus character; their personality and thought process; as a kind of filter through which the narration is colored/flavored. As such, I used vocabulary in the narration there (and throughout the story where applicable) that an electrical technician/amateur musician like Peter would use. I intend for the vocabulary of the narration also to reflect the development of the focus character: as Peter gains more knowledge and experience as a trainer for example, the narration of his scenes will also reflect greater knowledge and understanding of Pokemon.

    I felt like Blue's dialogue was a little bit off, if only because I always feel awkward reading about canon characters. At any rate, the dialogue between your Ocs is always great, particularly here. I'm also liking Peter's personality a lot. He's intelligent, sort of aloof though he has a soft spot for some, and he's laidback and dedicated. And you've established all of that in just a couple chapters, which is good.
    Click to expand...

    Well, the canon characters are there, and they have their duties and responsibilities within the setting as much as the next, so I do what I can to give them a worthy representation when they appear. I wish I could figure out what seems off about Blue, because for the most part I felt pretty satisfied with how I characterized him: still his old self, but matured with the years, and ultimately helpful. But otherwise, I'm glad to hear that about Peter. The moment at the Viridian Gym is an important turning point in this part of the story, which very clearly demonstrates the "untapped potential" aspect that is a central theme to the story, especially at this point.

    ...My stories always have competent pokemon and weird-as-hell trainers, so this struck me as a really nice, descriptive paragraph of what both of them are going through right now. I can't really remember the last time I read a fic that focused on both pokemon and trainer like that.
    Click to expand...

    Ah yes, someone named Sai comes to mind.

    And is it really that uncommon in Pokemon fanfic to focus on development between trainer and mon? Because I'll be honest, I really haven't read much of any Pokemon fanfic at all (I've pretty much only read what I've left reviews for on this site). A lot of my themes and methods are inspired by the core Pokemon games and related media, in which the bonding and development between trainer/mon were often central themes.

    Oh, and on a totally tangential side-note, I actually gave a the nickname "Sai" to a Zorua/Zoroark I've been training up in-game in Alpha Saphire, inspired by my speculations of "Survival Project".

    Despite all the hectic events that happened the day before; nearly falling to his death from a lightning strike, losing all the gear in his apartment, dealing with Blue Oak; it was simply not knowing about this Jolteon, not fully understanding what it needed, that truly bothered Peter the most. It was a problem, a mystery, a puzzle, a challenge, one he felt compelled to overcome himself, rather than trust someone else to do it for him.
    Click to expand...

    This struck me as another good descriptor of Peter's personality. It's okay to have paragraphs like this that explain Peter's thought processes and such, but it's not really needed because you do a good job of showing through his actions and words already. Though I guess I should have wondered why he didn't reflect on his near-death experience. ...Then again, he barely remembered the incident happening, so what's there to reflect on? Okay, I'm rambling now.
    Click to expand...

    Rambling!

    But really, I do remember when I was writing that scene that I could use something there. It's true that a lot of what the descriptor paragraph mentions are aspects that should already be apparent, and the chapter could have potentially gone on without it. Ultimately it was more a matter of pacing than a need for exposition, to act as a bit of a narrative buffer zone between the scene with the little girl and getting to the gym. Cementing the issues in the reader's minds was really more of an extra bonus.

    “That's right.” Peter confirmed with a nod, “Come on little guy, don't be shy...” he stepped aside to present Jolteon to Surge. The little yellow Pokémon was st
    Click to expand...

    Heh, I think you forgot to finish your sentence there.
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    Doh!

    Overall the battle was good and well written, though I'm wondering about its significance. I thought that either would inspire Peter to battle or the girl would become a main character, but I guess it was there to introduce some League rules?
    Click to expand...

    It's actually not too late for the battle to have significance on all those fronts. The girl does have intentions to have a rematch against Surge, and Peter will (not really a spoiler, honestly) be hanging around the Vermilion Gym for some time. Oh, and there's some really subtle hints at foreshadowing about the whole situation too. I won't say what exactly they are, but the elements are there. For the time being, the main focus point is of course the development of Peter and Jolteon with the aforementioned "brutal training regimen" to come.

    Okay, just finished all the chapters. This definitely doesn't seem like any normal journey fic I've ever read (assuming that this will eventually be a journey fic), and I'm grateful for that. You've got a good protagonist character, and particularly what I like most about him is that he's willing to take the challenge even if he doesn't really feel confident in himself. Description is good, though I can tell you're still working on your writing style, which is fine. My only big complaints are that you refer to Jolteon as “it” in narration, but as a “he” in dialogue. Oh, and grammatical errors. Proofread, proofread! It's noticeable, but nothing too distracting. I don't think I've forgotten to mention anything, but if you want me to comment on something specific, let me know...
    Click to expand...

    You know, I could have sworn I proofread, and re-edited these chapters several times to fix a lot of the very errors you pointed out. I'll have to go through and tidy things up again, along with the sideways grammar at points.

    Thank you very much for reading this whole thing and replying as much as you have. I've been getting behind, have things I need to read, and things I need to write. This actually has been helpful to me to help figure out what I ought to get into the next chapter; what I can go ahead with now, what can stand to be saved for later and such. I was afraid at one point that the pacing might have been a little rushed, that things accelerated too quickly, and I'd have to take a "breather episode" and slow things down. Now that I see that pacing hasn't been an issue that cropped up, particularly in your very comprehensive in-depth review and analysis, I can go ahead and keep the pace I have going, and save that "breather episode" material for later when it could be more relevant.

    For now, there's a very focused singular goal at this point in the story, which I know I can concentrate my efforts on, and hold the other elements I have planned for when it's their time.
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Getting these moments to be a good read was especially important, since it is the inciting incident of the entire plot, the first hook to grab the readers, starting the very chain of events you just read. I'm glad that it went over so well.
    Click to expand...

    So legendaries (or just Zapdos) will be important in the future? Hurr hurr.

    Give me badass action and technical descriptions any day! I can handle that! What the heck is this fluffy cuddly cuteness thing? What am I supposed to do with it? :ksmile:
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    I love cute things, okay? I'll point them out all I want.

    CUTENESS OVERLOAD! APARTMENT WILL NOW BE TRASHED!
    Click to expand...

    Ah, just like Peter's? All I really have is a musical keyboard for you to destroy.

    Best evolution you've read? Really? That's quite a compliment, and the evolution itself didn't even occur "onscreen" as it were.
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    Doesn't matter. Not only was it relevant to the plot, but it wasn't a cliche. I know you haven't read a lot of fics, so let's just say that most evolutions happen in the middle of the battle and the evolution's only selling point is that it helps the newly evolved pokemon win the battle.

    Well, the canon characters are there, and they have their duties and responsibilities within the setting as much as the next, so I do what I can to give them a worthy representation when they appear. I wish I could figure out what seems off about Blue, because for the most part I felt pretty satisfied with how I characterized him: still his old self, but matured with the years, and ultimately helpful. But otherwise, I'm glad to hear that about Peter. The moment at the Viridian Gym is an important turning point in this part of the story, which very clearly demonstrates the "untapped potential" aspect that is a central theme to the story, especially at this point.
    Click to expand...

    Surge seemed weird to me too, but I didn't point it out because I pretty much chalked it up to the fact that I don't like reading OR writing about canon characters. I wouldn't worry about it, honestly.

    Ah yes, someone named Sai comes to mind.

    And is it really that uncommon in Pokemon fanfic to focus on development between trainer and mon? Because I'll be honest, I really haven't read much of any Pokemon fanfic at all (I've pretty much only read what I've left reviews for on this site). A lot of my themes and methods are inspired by the core Pokemon games and related media, in which the bonding and development between trainer/mon were often central themes.

    Oh, and on a totally tangential side-note, I actually gave a the nickname "Sai" to a Zorua/Zoroark I've been training up in-game in Alpha Saphire, inspired by my speculations of "Survival Project".
    Click to expand...

    Who is this "Sai" you speak of? :p But oh my God, that's the best comment ever. I don't know if you intend to keep reading, but the chapter released recently might shed some light on what's happening.

    And yes, it's not as common as you would think. I don't know if you judged any pokemon characters for the awards, but there were definitely some nominated even though they barely have any semblance of personality or relevance to the plot aside from a battling role. Humans are always explored, but not always pokemon. Some writers just prefer to use the setting and general plot outline without exploring the creatures that make up the world, I guess. Which is fine. But I always appreciate stories that try to balance both.

    It's actually not too late for the battle to have significance on all those fronts. The girl does have intentions to have a rematch against Surge, and Peter will (not really a spoiler, honestly) be hanging around the Vermilion Gym for some time. Oh, and there's some really subtle hints at foreshadowing about the whole situation too. I won't say what exactly they are, but the elements are there. For the time being, the main focus point is of course the development of Peter and Jolteon with the aforementioned "brutal training regimen" to come.
    Click to expand...

    Foreshadowing, huh? I admit I usually miss those kinds of hints, but I'll see what I can keep in mind. It definitely is a cool technique to implement, especially if you just keep hinting at it over and over until it all FINALLY MAKES SENSE.

    Thank you very much for reading this whole thing and replying as much as you have. I've been getting behind, have things I need to read, and things I need to write. This actually has been helpful to me to help figure out what I ought to get into the next chapter; what I can go ahead with now, what can stand to be saved for later and such. I was afraid at one point that the pacing might have been a little rushed, that things accelerated too quickly, and I'd have to take a "breather episode" and slow things down. Now that I see that pacing hasn't been an issue that cropped up, particularly in your very comprehensive in-depth review and analysis, I can go ahead and keep the pace I have going, and save that "breather episode" material for later when it could be more relevant.

    For now, there's a very focused singular goal at this point in the story, which I know I can concentrate my efforts on, and hold the other elements I have planned for when it's their time.
    Click to expand...

    I'm glad it helped and again, sorry this took so long. I didn't like seeing how frustrated you were. I'm generally good at keeping up with stories once I've started and caught up, so I'll be around.
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    I had intended to read a few chapters first, but given how long you've been waiting for a Review Game response I reckoned I'd best do it chapter-by-chapter

    Technical Accuracy/Style
    Not bad, actually. I was worried for a moment when you introduced two technical topics right away. Having said that, so far in Chapter One you strike a good enough balance between giving a good impression of the work of synthesising music and electrical engineering without getting too technical. Keep it in mind though, just in case - it's easy to forget that ordinary terms to you mean nothing to a layman. I'm the same when it comes to trees

    Story
    For a Kanto fic it's definitely a different start, which helps enormously. I get the impression of Viridian City and Pallet Town as urban areas first and game locations second, despite the relative lack of description. You've cleverly avoided mentioning game locations at all in favour of urban description, I notice. Considering that not a lot actually happens in this chapter, it flows well enough.

    Characters
    I usually don't criticise much about characters so early on, since one chapter really isn't enough space to expect any author to wow their audience. Peter Sine is fine, if I may stupidly rhyme for a moment. I think there was one too many "all in a day's work" lines in his narration for my liking - a nitpick, yes, but I have to find something to say

    I rather liked Amp. It's nice to see attention being paid to what an old service Magneton might look like, instead of the standard "It's a Magneton, everyone knows what a Magneton looks like"

    Final Thoughts
    As I say, I did intend to read rather more, and I reckon I will. Only problem is that I'm juggling things at the moment so I'd rather get a review in sooner rather than later
     
    Ch 5: Alt. Current State of Affairs
  • Index
    • Re: A Sine of Things to Come


    There was a titanic, ear-rending crack and blinding flash. The brilliant white bolt danced across the swiftly shifting clouds overhead for several seconds, splitting into several smaller branches, crossing the breadth of the sky itself, before it finally flickered out. It was lighting, that much was clear, but it was lightning on a cataclysmic scale he never could have imagined.

    Once the lightning had finished, his vision cleared, and he could see he was at the bottom of a small grassy hill. A short distance ahead of him was Jolteon, standing at the crest of the hill. The Pokémon looked back at Peter and gave a sharp yip, beckoning for him? In just her stance and action alone, Peter saw the young Pokémon display a steadiness, a confidence, an absolute certainty never once seen in the few days they'd been together. It was as if Jolteon had grown up, and matured far beyond herself...

    Behind Jolteon though, against the ever-shifting gray of the clouds, was red-orange glow, lining the entire edge of the hill, eerily silhouetting Jolteon against the horizon. Now that the ringing in his ears from the thunder had faded, Peter noticed another sound: a pervasive low rumble, a constant but unyielding roar that became the background for all else. If there were any doubts that it was fire before, a scent of burning wood and ash all but confirmed that it was. Perhaps it was started from the lightning.

    Pondering this, Peter climbed the hill toward Jolteon, but Jolteon ran ahead, disappearing over the crest of the hill.

    “Jolteon, wait!” Peter cried out, chasing faster after the Pokémon.

    A sudden, harsh gust of wind swept across the hill, almost toppling him up from the shock. Though the air was dry as tinder, the wind still stung with an icy chill that cut to the bone. That couldn't have possibly been normal, not after hearing, seeing, and even smelling the ambient effects of fire...

    When Peter came over the crest of the hill, he came upon a scene that could be summed up as 'hellish', but there was more to it. He recognized the landscape as a place in Kanto, a few miles outside of Pallet town, with Viridian forest nearby to one side, and the ocean in the distance to the south. That's where the familiarity ended though: the entirety of Viridian forest was burning. Every tree he could see, every scrap of vegetation more than a hundred yards out, was engulfed in the great inferno. The ocean to the other side was no less tumultuous, as it churned and heaved, crashing against the shoreline with the largest storm swells Peter had ever seen.

    Before the horror of it all could sink in for Peter, something caught his attention, something nearby. The shapes of two strange figures closed in toward Peter, both of which were men of similar build, but it was all wrong. One one of them staggered in from the direction of the great firestorm of Viridian Forest, while the other lurched from the direction of the storm-ravaged sea.

    The man from the forest appeared to be on fire, wreathed in flame and burning alive. For an instant Peter was afraid for him, that he might have been caught in the fire, yet somehow the flames didn't bother him. On the contrary: he simply staggered his way toward Peter while he burned, with his breath coming in dry raspy wheezes. As the burning man came closer, and the shock of the sight began to sink in, Peter saw that he was accompanied by a Pokémon: a red furred creature with large ears, standing about as tall as Jolteon, slowly padding alongside the burning man: a Flareon–

    A sickly wet cough caught Peter's attention, from the direction of the sea.

    The other man walked slowly toward Peter, dragging his feet as he moved, with his head was downcast and his stance was hunched over. This one was completely drenched in water from head to toe, leaving a trail of moisture clearly visible on the ground behind him as he walked. He let out another wet cough, and in doing so sputtered up a small splash of water, as if he were drowning. He too was accompanied by a Pokémon of his own: a Vaporeon that slunk alongside the 'drowning man' as he moved toward Peter.

    “What do you want?” Peter asked them, stepping back.

    Both the burning man and drowning man looked up at him, and Peter suddenly realized that they both had his own face: they were him. The burning man's face, with Peter's half-charred features, snarled back at him, fuming in an infinite, livid rage. The drowning man tilted his soaked, dripping wet head up, showing Peter his own face, slick with water and pale as death. He looked back through reddened bloodshot eyes, displaying a blank look of hopeless, utter despair.

    At this, Jolteon stepped in the way of the burning and drowning man, taking a ready stance. The bright yellow Pokémon growled a stern warning to the others, accompanied by the crackling of electricity as Jolteon built up a charge–

    Seemingly from nowhere, Flareon charged into the scene wreathed in a bright corona of fire. It's own roar mingling with the roar of fire, the burning man's Flareon crashed into Jolteon with a speed a ferocity Peter never thought was possible. It knocked the yellow Pokémon aside with a pained yelp, and Jolteon tumbled to ground several feet away.

    “Jolteon!” Peter yelled out, and he began to rush toward him, until–

    “Augh!” a dagger of pain shot through Peter's leg, and he tripped, falling face-first to the ground. He couldn't feel the leg anymore, and when Peter looked at it, he found it was encased in a mass of blocky ice from his ankle down.

    The drowning man's Vaporeon passed Peter, giving him a disdained, scornful look, and went after the helpless Jolteon. Had the Vaporeon used an ice attack on him? Behind him, Peter heard the burning man cackle in low, sinister voice, while the drowning man gasped and gargled in a sick imitation of a laugh.

    With an outrage welling up inside him, Peter took the multitool out from the holster on his belt, and used its hard casing to smash the block of ice around his foot, shattering it like glass and freeing himself. He quickly scrambled to his feet, and flipped out the multitool's knife blade, and assumed as good a fighting stance as he could. His once-frozen foot still felt very numb, but even without that problem, Peter had never practiced much fighting, and knew he was only an amateur at best. That would have to be enough.

    Nevertheless, Peter Sine stood his ground against the burning man and drowning man, these sick perverted reflections of himself, calling out, “get back!”

    Neither of them were impressed, and both opposing figures reached for their belts and took out identical multitools of their own, clicking open the knife blade in smooth motions. With blade in-hand, the burning man screamed out in a guttural cry, almost bestial in his ferocity. The drowning man made barely a sound, but looked into Peter with his blank, unsettling stare through reddened eyes.

    At once, both of these doppelgängers lunged at Peter, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

    “No!” Peter shouted as he clutched his chest, feeling his heart race, and his breath shudder.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Alternating Current State of Affairs

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    He wasn't in the open field in the middle of a storm. Instead, Peter was sitting halfway up in a bed, in a sparsely furnished dormitory room: the kind that were rented out by Pokémon Centers for traveling trainers.

    At once he realized he was alive, and awake, and in the Vermilion City Pokémon Center where he'd spent the night. It had all been a dream, as he'd begun to suspect– no, not a dream, but a nightmare. Still, rationalizing it didn't bring any comfort to Peter, didn't make it any less unsettling. For a moment he posited how many people would apply symbolism or seek meaning in their dreams, and what the burning man and drowning man meant to himself–

    Then Peter shook himself more awake. There'd be time to figure that out some other time if it was important. For now, he needed to know the time, and checked the clock function on his phone that he'd set down on the bedside table. The time was 6:57 am, just few minutes before his alarm was set to go off in the first place. With a sigh, Peter reached up and clicked the lamp on, washing the dorm room in uncomfortably bright light that forced him to squint, at least until he got used to it.

    Jolteon was on the bed next to Peter, and had just awoken by the looks of it. She let out a long yawn as she stood up, and stretched out her legs before hopping down to the floor, eagerly looking back at Peter, waiting for him. The Pokémon looked eerily similar to what he'd just dreamed earlier; that beckoning look from atop the storm-swept hill; it was here again, but in a thankfully more mundane capacity...

    “Come on Peter, snap out of it,” he grumbled as he shook his head and hoisted himself out of bed, then went about his preparations for the day ahead. He had no idea what exactly to expect from Surge's regimen, only that it'd be, as he put it, 'brutal'. Whatever it was that the gym leader had planned, Peter intended to be ready for it.

    The next minutes went by about as routinely as Peter expected: he quickly washed up in the facilities provided, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and got in a quick shave and trim for the beard he'd neglected over the past couple days. Peter tended to shave most of his face, especially on the neck where it'd start to itch badly after a few days, but he almost always kept some beard on his chin and part of the lower jaw, as he did today.

    With his preparations complete, Peter proceeded to down the stairs to to the Pokémon Center's lobby. It was practically empty of people this early in the morning, with only the nurse behind the main counter, and one other, sitting at one of the nearby tables. Peter immediately recognized her as the young trainer that had challenged Lieutenant Surge yesterday. She had a plate of some breakfast in front of her with a glass of fruit juice. Next to the table was her Quagsire, with its face happily buried in a dish of food in front of it–

    “Good morning!” the perky nurse greeted with a beaming smile, nearly catching Peter off guard. “We have a complimentary breakfast spread prepared for our overnight guests.”

    The nurse gestured to a nearby table, which was brimming with a wide assortment of pastries, fruits, cereals and other simple breakfast fare. There were also a few pitchers of fruit juices, a couple pots of coffee and an electric kettle for tea.

    “I'll be sure to have some,” Peter replied after he glanced over the food. Then Jolteon, sitting down next to Peter, let out a small whine, and looked up at the young man with an imploring expression he'd come to associate with wanting food. Food meant for people probably wasn't what was best for Jolteon, but the Pokémon needed something.

    “While we're on the subject of breakfast, is there some kind of food available that'd be good for my Jolteon?” Peter asked, motioning down to the Pokémon.

    Following his motion, the nurse peered over the edge of the counter, and spotted the needy Jolteon, to which she exclaimed, “of course!” and reached down to retrieve an item from below the counter.

    “For Jolteon, I'd recommend this blend of Pokémon food rich in copper and electrolytes,” the nurse continued as she handed Peter a small package of the food. “Lieutenant Surge himself provides this for his own electric type Pokémon at the gym. You'll find more of it at any Poké Mart or well-stocked department store.”

    “Thanks a lot,” Peter said, and headed for the breakfast spread with Pokémon food in hand. It looked similar to most packages of Pokémon food Peter had seen, but with pale green and orange highlights around the edges. There was a small panel on the back where the food's producer explained the nutritional benefits of a copper-rich diet for electric-type Pokémon. Mostly it was that the tissues and organs for electrical manipulation use large amounts of copper, which made sense to Peter. Everyday electrical wires, cables and other components use copper because of its high electrical conductivity, so too should the case be with electric-type Pokémon.

    In a few minutes, Peter was sitting at one of the empty tables in the lobby with his own breakfast: a couple slices of toast, a few pieces of fruit and a cup of coffee. It wasn't much, but it was enough for him. Peter had also taken an extra bowl for the Pokémon food, which he filled and set down next to him for Jolteon. When he did though, he noticed something amiss: Jolteon wasn't there.

    The young man sat up straight in a flash of panic, quickly looking around the lobby, saying, “Jolteon?”

    “Well aren't you just the cutest thing!” a delighted girl's voice crooned behind Peter, followed by a happy giggle.

    Hearing this, Peter turned the source of the voice, and his immediate suspicions were confirmed. There was Jolteon, sitting at the girl's feet as she scratched behind her ears, lavishing the attention she was giving her

    “Careful!” Peter said in an urgent tone as he almost jumped out of his seat and scrambled to the other table. He wasn't sure if he meant to say that to Jolteon, or the young trainer. He just didn't want anyone to get hurt.

    Hearing and seeing him, the girl looked up, asking with some concern, “oh, is this your Jolteon?”

    “Yeah, sorry about that,” Peter answered, then suddenly realized he still had the bowl of Pokémon food in his hand, and that Jolteon was looking up at him with a wide-eyed look of great expectation. “She's still very young, and I'm still getting used to all the extra energy she has–”

    At that moment, Jolteon pawed at Peter's leg as he let out another needy whine. At this the young man finally set the food down in front of the Pokémon, which Jolteon sniffed for a moment before she began stuffing her face.

    “It's okay,” the girl responded with a polite smile. “She seems like a very sweet Pokémon.”

    She removed a small electronic item from her pocket, which Peter recognized as a Pokédex, similar to the ones Professor Rose had given the junior trainers a few days earlier. After the girl pointed it at Jolteon, a voice sprang from its little speakers, saying in a rigid mechanical tone, “Jolteon: the Lightning Pokémon. When angered or frightened, the hairs on Jolteon's body become charged with electricity, which it uses in electric attacks.”

    “Interesting,” the girl commented, looking over the data displayed in her Pokédex.

    “I uh... saw your battle with Surge yesterday,” Peter said. It felt like such an awkward change of subject.

    “Oh, that,” the girl muttered as she clicked the Pokédex closed in her hand. “It was an utter disaster, ugh!”

    “Actually, it looked pretty close from what I saw,” Peter said in a reassuring tone as he sat across from the other trainer. “You really had him on the ropes for a while there.”

    “If only that Raichu hadn't...” her sentence trailed off when she looked down at her beady-eyed Quagsire, which didn't seem to have a care in the world. With a frustrated sigh, she looked back up at Peter, asking, “did you challenge Surge, too?”

    “No, actually,” Peter confessed with a small shrug. “I'm not much of a battler.”

    “Then what the heck were you doing at the gym?” she asked in a slightly confused tone, with one of her eyebrows skewed in a look of puzzlement.

    “I was headed there to get some help for Jolteon,” Peter explained as he reached down and scratched the yellow Pokémon's neck. “I mentioned that she's very young, but she also has trouble controlling her electrical power. Surge agreed to train me as I train Jolteon, and I start today.”

    “Well if anyone can help your Jolteon with that, it'd be Surge,” the girl responded quickly. “Man, he's a lot stronger a trainer than I was expecting, but we'll get him good next time, won't we Quagsire?” the girl said to her pale blue Pokémon, which just blinked its beady eyes back at her with a blank look.

    Peter wasn't sure if that was a positive response or not from the Quagsire, but the girl seemed to think so, as she gently massaged the top of its head. Still, as long as Peter and she were here, there was something he wanted to ask...

    “Surge mentioned that you were from Johto,” Peter began, “that you're here in Kanto because one of your gym leaders recently went missing. Can I ask what that's all about?”

    “Beats me,” she replied with a quick shrug, then elaborated, “I mean Jasmine, the leader of the gym in Olivine City, just up and disappeared, without a trace.”

    “So nobody knows a thing?” Peter said in a concerned, questioning tone. “How long has she been gone?”

    “Jasmine has been known to leave the gym on other business, sometimes for a long while,” the girl explained. “She's even gone as far as Sinnoh before, but she'd always at least let someone know where she was going, and arrange for someone to fill in for her if she needed to. This time is different: Jasmine just wasn't there, and no one knows where she's gone. It's starting to get really worrying, actually.”

    “That doesn't sound good,” Peter replied with a tone of sympathy. “I hope it all works out alright.”

    “Yeah, me too,” the girl said in a not-quite hushed tone, then switched her demeanor to one of determination. “At this rate though, Jasmine is gonna be back at the Olivine Gym before I ever get a Kanto badge. If I'm gonna beat Surge and get my last badge for the Indigo league, I'll need to train my team extra hard to be ready for him.”

    That's when Peter noticed the clock on the wall ahead of him, and realized he was running dangerously short on time if he was gong to make it to the Vermilion gym. He stood up from the seat in a rush, saying, “It was nice meeting you...” but Peter cut himself short, realizing he didn't even know the name of this trainer he'd been talking with all this time, and only managed to say, “um... I don't know your–”

    “It's Alison,” the girl supplied as she suppressed a chuckle, apparently amused at Peter's missteps.

    “And I'm Peter Sine,” Peter quickly responded, and offered his hand to shake, “though it sounds more like 'Siné' if you're using the old Kalos pronunciation.”

    “That so?” Alison said as she politely shook his hand, her interest piqued. “Are you from Kalos?”

    “Sort of, but not really. It's complicated...” Peter said, stumbling over his words as he tried to sort out a way he could explain it quickly, until he finally just sputtered out, “My family has a lot of history in Kalos, and I was born there, but I grew up mostly here in Kanto.”

    “I see...” the girl replied.

    “Sorry for the rush, but I really need to go, or I'll be late for Surge's training,” Peter said in a rushed, practically gibbering pace as he gathered himself up and prepared to leave. “I'll see you next time you're at the Vermilion Gym though, right?” he added, while he snagged a piece of toast from his neglected breakfast on his way toward the Pokémon Center's exit.

    “Of course!” Alison called out in a slightly raised tone as Peter neared the door, and Jolteon followed suit. “Don't worry about it!”

    What? Worry? About what? Peter wasn't worried. He was just rushed, and pressed for time, and was doing his best to be polite. Maybe that's what Alison meant. Still, it didn't quite feel like that was it, like there was something else he was missing. It wasn't time time to fret about that anyway, he needed to get to the Vermilion gym, and fast.

    He'd stepped out into the cool morning air of Vermilion City, but didn't take much heed of it, and just started running. The only thing on the forefront of Peter's mind was getting to the gym, which he only had a few minutes to go by his estimations. Peter was reasonably fit and in shape by his guess, and even at the fast pace he traveled he only felt a little winded, though Jolteon trotted alongside him quite happily. The little Pokémon could have completely overtaken Peter at any point by how easily she seemed to move.

    In a few moments, following the route he'd taken yesterday, Peter found himself outside the Vermilion gym. Lieutenant Surge was already standing in front of the entrance in a firm stance, arms folded over his chest, watching Peter stumble to a stop with Jolteon. Surge's Raichu clung to his shoulder and upper back, watching with a similar scrutiny.

    “You're early,” Surge commented. “That's a good start.”

    “I'm here,” Petter sputtered out between gasps for breath. Apparently he'd run faster and harder than he'd expected, or he wasn't as in-shape as he'd thought. “I'm ready for anything.”

    “We'll see about that,” Surge said as he stepped into the entrance of the Vermilion gym, motioning for Peter to follow. “Training under me has a small number of conditions that you will need to adhere to– good morning Gregory,” he greeted, curtly nodding to the reception desk in the lobby.

    “Good morning sir,” Gregory replied with a tip of his hat as Surge passed, adding, “and you as well, Peter. Good luck with your training.”

    “Thanks,” Peter said as he gave the kindly man a quick nod, and followed Surge further into the gym, saying, “conditions, okay. What are they?”

    “The first and foremost of these conditions:” the gym leader began, holding up one finger as he looked back over his shoulder, still at his lively walking pace, “over the course of training, you and Jolteon will do exactly as I instruct, exactly as I instruct it, no exceptions. Deviating from my instructions could prove dangerous, destructive, even fatal.”

    “I understand,” Peter agreed. “We'll do exactly as say, no exceptions.”

    “Good. Second condition:” Surge continued, holding up two fingers this time, “once you begin training, backing out is not an option.”

    “Not an option?” Peter asked, a little unclear. “How much of a 'not option' are we talking here?”

    “If you can't train Jolteon after starting, I doubt there will be anyone anywhere who can train her the way she needs, and that will leave Jolteon only with unsatisfactory, unsavory, unpleasant options that I refuse to entertain.” At this, Surge stopped, turned on heel to face Peter, and lowered the dark glasses that covered his eyes, showing the young man a sharp, steely-eyed glare that could chisel stone. “Therefore, backing out of training once you start is, I repeat, not an option.”

    “Right, not an option, got it,” Peter said, and he realized he'd taken a step back away from surge.

    “Knowing that, are you still willing to go through with this training?” Surge asked as he replaced the glasses over his eyes, and his Raichu moved to his other shoulder, tail whipping past his face. “This is the last and only chance I'll give you to decide not to.”

    Peter knew the answer, of course, but he hesitated nonetheless. Then he heard a small whine at his side, and felt Jolteon nuzzle his fidgeting hand. Peter reciprocated the Pokémon's need, and stroked behind her ears, saying to Surge, “I came here to train Jolteon, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do.”

    “Good, with that out of the way, you're ready to take on your first exercise,” the gym leader said in a firm tone, and he turned to opened a door behind him. As he stepped in, Surge motioned for Peter to follow, saying, “in here.”

    The room Peter and Surge were in now was small, about ten feet across, with only a little bit furnishing it. Of note was a workbench, tool chest and supply cabinet that Peter recognized as part of electrical work. Among the tools he saw immediately laid out were a soldering kit, spools of wire and containers of connectors, a variable power supply, and multimeter.

    Surge went to the workbench, where he prepared something Peter couldn't see, but said over his shoulder, “Professor Rose tells me you are an electrician of sorts, correct?”

    “Yes, of sorts,” Peter answered, looking around the small room, drawn in by his curiosity. “So what kind of exercise will Jolteon be doing here?”

    “Glad you asked!” Surge said with enthusiasm as he turned around, and showed Peter an item in his hand.

    All he had was a light bulb: just an ordinary incandescent lamp, commonly used in all sorts of everyday applications, from desk lamps, to wall sconces, to area lighting. What purpose could this serve in training electric Pokémon?

    “This is it?” Peter asked, confused and a little underwhelmed, as he'd been expecting something more. “That's the brutal training regimen?”

    “No, this is...” the gym leader said as he stepped aside, revealing what he'd been preparing on the workbench behind him. It was a very simple rig: a socket that would fit the light bulb in his hand, and two exposed leads. Surge screwed the bulb in place, stepped back, and gave a small nod to the Raichu on his shoulder.

    Responding to the silent command, Surge's Raichu hopped down onto the bench, touched the two leads with its paws, and the lamp lit up.

    “That's enough,” Surge said after a few seconds, and Raichu backed off. He picked up the small light bulb rig and handed it to Peter. “Here, have Jolteon try it.”

    With a small nod, Peter took the rig and set it down next to Jolteon, telling the Pokémon as he knelt down, “put some electricity though these two points,” he said, pointing to the exposed leads, “and light up the bulb, just like Raichu did.”

    With some trepidation, Jolteon touched the two leads with her paws and built up a charge, raising her bright tufts of fur on end. Then with a sudden flash and snap, the light bulb shattered into several shards, some of which flew into Peter's face.

    “Agh!” he grunted as he stood up, and brushed the shattered flakes of glass off. Luckily there was nothing serious. Jolteon cringed away from the rig, slinking behind Peter's legs and letting out a small nervous whine.

    “Hmm,” Surge grunted in a knowing tone, like he was expecting that to happen.

    From underneath the workbench, the gym leader picked up a large case of several more light bulbs and set them on top, coolly saying, “when Jolteon can light the bulb, without burning it out, or destroying it, come and find me.”

    Then Surge left the room, leaving Peter and Jolteon alone with one task. If that case of bulbs was any indication of what Surge was anticipating, It was going to be a very long day.

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​

    Edit Notes 01/16/2018:
    Cleaned up grammar/spelling/formatting.
     
    Last edited:
  • Index
    • Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Now I can finally do my review for this. Time to get started.

    So at first glance the title of your story actually made me think it was going to be some kind of dark fic or something...it just sounds so brooding that I couldn't resist. This clearly isn't the case as for now at least it seems to be turning into more of a slice of life fic (though the recent chapter seems to imply something else) but it's still a good way to go about it.

    I have to admit I predicted Peter getting a Pokemon and then learning of the wonders of training Pokemon and such and that it's just not too late for him to get back into the swing of things, that plot was pretty easy to see coming. Peter's background before getting his Pokemon though is a different thing. I've never seen a fic with a protagonist who was an electrician before and it was actually interesting with all the bits of trivia you threw in here and there from time to time. The fact that he's also into making his own music was another interesting twist and one that I hope you can go back to exploring at some point after the current issues are settled.

    One of the better points in your story aside from your dialogue which I think fits pretty well most of the time is probably the fact that when it comes to Pokemon you can really get their emotions across. It's really easy to feel bad for poor Eevee who just wanted to explore his new home and then suddenly ends up evolving and turning into a super power electrical being. The way you went about Jolteon being unable to control his own powers also makes sense and even how you decided to explain on how he could deal with it. You clearly either know your stuff or did your research for this :p

    It's interesting that you're using Surge as a mentor, he doesn't usually get used much in fics and usually is shown as a bit of a jerk but your portrayal of him is one that clearly shows his more militaristic background but that he's also just a really hot blooded man underneath it all.

    What's in store for Peter and for the story as a whole remains as a big question mark, chapter 5 seems to have hinted at something more even if it could've just been a simple dream and all other chapters seem to hint towards this being more slice of slice. I don't know if this'll end up being a journey and if it is then I hope this introduction arc isn't too long or anythin at the very least.
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Hey there! I do believe I owe you a review of your latest chapter. Sorry it's taken, oh, 4 days. That's a long time for me. Anyway, here we go.

    There was a titanic, ear-rending crack and blinding flash. The brilliant white bolt danced across the swiftly shifting clouds overhead for several seconds, splitting into several smaller branches, crossing the breadth of the sky itself, before it finally flickered out. It was lighting, that much was clear, but it was lightning on a cataclysmic scale he never could have imagined.
    Click to expand...

    There's a lot of adjectives packed into one small, tight paragraph - particularly in that opening sentence. Try to only pinpoint what's important. That said, I quite like the last sentence in particular, as it's a great intro into Peter's perspective on what's happening. (Though you spelled lightning wrong the first time - oh no!)

    The Pokémon looked back at Peter and gave a sharp yip, beckoning for him? In just his stance and action alone, Peter saw the young Pokémon display a steadiness, a confidence, an absolute certainty never once seen in the few days they'd been together. It was as if Jolteon had grown up, and matured far beyond himself...
    Click to expand...

    Well, this is quite interesting. I'm wondering if this is a dream sequence? Otherwise, quite the time skip you're doing here.

    At any rate, I think the impact might be better if you used a dash or ellipses here:

    The Pokemon looked back at Peter and gave a sharp yip that... beckoned for him?

    Or something along those lines. I got confused with the comma, and you don't really want to confuse readers further while introducing a concept that is confusing in and of itself.

    A sudden, harsh gust of wind swept across the hill, almost toppling him up from the shock. Though the air was dry as tinders, the wind still stung with an icy chill that cut to the bone. That couldn't have possibly been normal, not after hearing, seeing, and even smelling the ambient effects of fire...
    Click to expand...

    This is the second fic updated within a week that had a mysterious fire. Are you guys conspiring against the fairground!?

    The shapes of two strange figures closed in toward Peter, both of which were men of similar build, but it was all wrong. One one of them staggered in from the direction of the great firestorm of Viridian Forest, while the other lurched from the direction of the storm-ravaged sea.
    Click to expand...

    "but it was all wrong" is another one of those impactful lines I like, but not in terms of its placement. I'd remove the "similar build" bit - I don't think it's important (though you know better than me).

    As the burning man came closer, and the shock of the sight began to sink in, Peter saw that he was accompanied by a Pokémon: a red furred creature with large ears, standing about as tall as Jolteon, slowly padding alongside the burning man: a Flareon–

    A sickly wet cough caught Peter's attention, from the direction of the sea.
    Click to expand...

    If you manage to bring in a fic about Eeveelutions without making it cliche, I may love you forever.

    Both the burning man and drowning man looked up at him, and Peter suddenly realized that they both had his face: they were him. The burning man's face, with Peter's half-charred features, snarled back at him, fuming in an infinite, livid rage. The drowning man tilted his soaked, dripping wet head up, showing Peter his own face, slick with water and pale as death. He looked back through reddened bloodshot eyes, displaying a blank look of hopeless, utter despair.
    Click to expand...

    Ah, well, you got me. Not cliche so far (in regards to my previous comment). I mean, seeing yourself in a nightmare of sorts is common, but the pokemon addition is pretty cool.

    “Come on Peter, snap out of it.” he grumbled as he shook his head and hoisted himself out of bed, then went about his preparations for the day ahead. He had no idea what exactly to expect from Surge's regimen, only that it'd be, as he put it, “brutal.” Whatever it was that the gym leader had planned, Peter intended to be ready for it.
    Click to expand...

    All right, no weird time skip + nightmare. Just a nightmare. Clarification settled.

    “Jasmine has been known to leave the gym on other business, sometimes for a long while,” the girl explained, “She's even gone as far as Sinnoh before, but she'd always at least let someone know where she was going, and arrange for someone to fill in for her if she needed to. This time is different: Jasmine just wasn't there, and no one knows where she's gone. It's starting to get really worrying, actually.”
    Click to expand...

    I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.

    Overall, solid chapter. You're doing a good job at hinting that there may be something more to Peter's story, and the pacing is just right. Had you not started the training this chapter, I may have been skeptical, but you pulled it off nicely without dragging on with chapter length. The conversation with the trainer was also slightly interesting, though a bit heavy with awkward mannerisms. At any rate, I wonder if Peter being from Kalos has any effect on, well, anything.

    I think the best part of this was its description. A bit wordy at times, and you still have lots of typos (I didn't have time to point them out, sorry), but it definitely set the tone during the nightmare and even after that. Overall, nicely done.
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    I said I'd get around to this a while back and I keep my promises, even if it takes an eternity.

    To start, I am currently working towards a major in electrical engineering and my main hobby besides writing is electronic music production. I shit you not. I loved this story from the second paragraph alone. You mentioned doing a lot of research to make it seem like you know more than you actually do, and I'm curious if music is another exception. You absolutely nailed the whole fact that being able to control an infinite number of timbres add a whole new dimension to electronic music. Love it. I really, really like the technical aspects, particularly since they're accurate. I was ready to cringe during the scene at the Viridian Gym, fully expecting Peter to ground himself and that would somehow make him immune to electricity rather than making it much worse because anime logic. Hooray for a reasonable understanding of physics!

    The characters are great, believable and easy to understand. For a second I was skeptical of Peter agreeing to stay on to train with Surge given how adamant he had been about not being interested in Pokemon up until then, but after thinking about it I realized that's exactly what he would do. You established in the first chapter that he does what other people don't want to do because someone needs to (a trait that I highly admire in people by the way). Dealing with Jolteon was just such a situation. The Pokemon characters are surprisingly well done too. It can be hard to write good Pokemon characters without giving them the ability to talk, but I think you've got a good start by just identifying things that make them unique, like Amp being battered and old, or Jolteon being exceptionally cute (and exceptionally powerful, but that's more plot than character).

    Every last piece of audio equipment in his studio was bleeding a stream of black smoke, and the stench of vaporized metal from overloaded circuits stung in his nose. His music, is gear, everything he was working on, was reduced to a collection of smoking husks.
    Click to expand...

    THE PROJECT FILES! THE SYNTH PRESETS! OH THE HUMANITY!!! Reading this made me physically ache. Also there's a typo I bolded.

    Problem is, one of the Johto regional gym leaders has gone missing
    Click to expand...

    The second I read this I had a pretty good theory of where the story might go. Of course none of it accounts for all the ominous omens of the recent nightmare, but if the story goes where I think it's going, I really like the idea. If it doesn't, then kudos to you for being mysterious and misleading.

    “Right, not an option, got it,” Peter said, and he realized he'd taken a step back away from surge
    Click to expand...

    Capitalize.

    You've got great grammatical/spelling accuracy. I have no real complaints there. Those two typos I pointed out were minor, and I only brought them up because I know they can be hard to find and it's nice to go back and fix them. Solid description as well. I'm usually a fan of a bit more, but that's just my taste. You do a good job of painting the picture of a realistic city without needing extraneous description.

    I love the name puns too. I already consider the drowning man and the burning man to be Peter Square and Peter Saw respectively.

    Keep up the good work, I look forward to more!
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Flaze said:
    So at first glance the title of your story actually made me think it was going to be some kind of dark fic or something...it just sounds so brooding that I couldn't resist. This clearly isn't the case as for now at least it seems to be turning into more of a slice of life fic (though the recent chapter seems to imply something else) but it's still a good way to go about it.
    Click to expand...

    If I'm to be perfectly honest here, I'm sort of emulating the plot/story structure of the Pokemon games and related media. The stories, more often than not, start out being something comparatively mundane and relatively straightforward (the protagonists of the games set out on their journey, for example) but gradually uncover other, more sinister, more dangerous things afoot. Without giving things away: those hints I've dropped aren't there for no reason.

    One of the better points in your story aside from your dialogue which I think fits pretty well most of the time is probably the fact that when it comes to Pokemon you can really get their emotions across. It's really easy to feel bad for poor Eevee who just wanted to explore his new home and then suddenly ends up evolving and turning into a super power electrical being. The way you went about Jolteon being unable to control his own powers also makes sense and even how you decided to explain on how he could deal with it. You clearly either know your stuff or did your research for this :p
    Click to expand...

    Um... I guess I know my stuff and did research? if watching a bunch of the anime/movies and playing the games counts as "research." :p

    In all seriousness though, one thing that stood out to me in the anime/movies, and also the games insofar as they were able, was the emotions and distinct characterizations of the Pokemon themselves. Furthermore, this was done by and large with no capacity for the mons to have dialog of their own beyond what amounts to simple vocalizations. It was really important to me that, when I write for Pokemon, that the Pokemon themselves are as much apart of the story as the people are, that their characterizations are as complete and their impact on the story is meaningful. Getting that done without dialog is a challenge, of course, but even without a language like English, the mons do still communicate, but using a vocabulary that consists of simple vocalizations, body language, and facial expressions.

    It's interesting that you're using Surge as a mentor, he doesn't usually get used much in fics and usually is shown as a bit of a jerk but your portrayal of him is one that clearly shows his more militaristic background but that he's also just a really hot blooded man underneath it all.
    Click to expand...

    I'm glad he worked out! Surge is a gym leader for a reason, and being the resident electric expert, he'd be the go-to person in Kanto for advanced electric-type training. Being military, he would be hard-nosed and gruff, but also absolutely loyal and caring, in that gruff sort of way military people tend to be. Though really, regardless of how other fanfics show any given character (of which I've only read what I've read/reviewed here), I strive to show every character I write in the most appropriate and most relevant light I can. If I'd set this story anywhere else, I'd have done the same.

    What's in store for Peter and for the story as a whole remains as a big question mark, chapter 5 seems to have hinted at something more even if it could've just been a simple dream and all other chapters seem to hint towards this being more slice of slice. I don't know if this'll end up being a journey and if it is then I hope this introduction arc isn't too long or anythin at the very least.
    Click to expand...

    The "introduction arc" is pretty much wrapped up as it is, to be honest. It's mostly going to be tying up some loose ends, following others. Soon, elements that were introduced much earlier in the story will be making a return. that is all.

    Thank you very much for the responses. It means a lot to hear back from everybody.

    Next!

    diamondpearl876 said:
    Hey there! I do believe I owe you a review of your latest chapter. Sorry it's taken, oh, 4 days. That's a long time for me. Anyway, here we go.

    A sudden, harsh gust of wind swept across the hill, almost toppling him up from the shock. Though the air was dry as tinders, the wind still stung with an icy chill that cut to the bone. That couldn't have possibly been normal, not after hearing, seeing, and even smelling the ambient effects of fire...
    Click to expand...

    This is the second fic updated within a week that had a mysterious fire. Are you guys conspiring against the fairground!?
    Click to expand...

    Um... No! *hastily hides the gasoline cans and matches* totally not planning an arson spree.

    Really is coincidence though, like Detective Calvin's story with a villainous team named "Team Chaos" which wasn't named after my username

    The shapes of two strange figures closed in toward Peter, both of which were men of similar build, but it was all wrong. One one of them staggered in from the direction of the great firestorm of Viridian Forest, while the other lurched from the direction of the storm-ravaged sea.
    Click to expand...

    "but it was all wrong" is another one of those impactful lines I like, but not in terms of its placement. I'd remove the "similar build" bit - I don't think it's important (though you know better than me).

    As the burning man came closer, and the shock of the sight began to sink in, Peter saw that he was accompanied by a Pokémon: a red furred creature with large ears, standing about as tall as Jolteon, slowly padding alongside the burning man: a Flareon–

    A sickly wet cough caught Peter's attention, from the direction of the sea.
    Click to expand...

    If you manage to bring in a fic about Eeveelutions without making it cliche, I may love you forever.
    Click to expand...

    :blush:

    Both the burning man and drowning man looked up at him, and Peter suddenly realized that they both had his face: they were him. The burning man's face, with Peter's half-charred features, snarled back at him, fuming in an infinite, livid rage. The drowning man tilted his soaked, dripping wet head up, showing Peter his own face, slick with water and pale as death. He looked back through reddened bloodshot eyes, displaying a blank look of hopeless, utter despair.
    Click to expand...

    Ah, well, you got me. Not cliche so far (in regards to my previous comment). I mean, seeing yourself in a nightmare of sorts is common, but the pokemon addition is pretty cool.
    Click to expand...

    Um, I wasn't even aware there was a "cliche" way to do Eeveelutions?

    SYMBOLISM! I promise it won't be insignificant later

    “Jasmine has been known to leave the gym on other business, sometimes for a long while,” the girl explained, “She's even gone as far as Sinnoh before, but she'd always at least let someone know where she was going, and arrange for someone to fill in for her if she needed to. This time is different: Jasmine just wasn't there, and no one knows where she's gone. It's starting to get really worrying, actually.”
    Click to expand...

    I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
    Click to expand...

    What!? You did!? um...

    FORESHADOWING!

    Overall, solid chapter. You're doing a good job at hinting that there may be something more to Peter's story, and the pacing is just right. Had you not started the training this chapter, I may have been skeptical, but you pulled it off nicely without dragging on with chapter length. The conversation with the trainer was also slightly interesting, though a bit heavy with awkward mannerisms. At any rate, I wonder if Peter being from Kalos has any effect on, well, anything.
    Click to expand...

    Long before I started writing the story in earnest, I had already decided that Peter wasn't going to be a Kanto native, that he'd moved there in his childhood (which may or may not have played a part in his loss of interest in Pokemon training). While doing research, I found out that "Siné" is actually a French surname, and in Pokemon-vese, Kalos=France. And at the time I first started writing it, I had played through my copy of Pokemon Y.

    Even if I hadn't though, there are reasons behind even the small details of the characters, setting and story that I choose to include, the significance of which comes as the plot progresses.

    I think the best part of this was its description. A bit wordy at times, and you still have lots of typos (I didn't have time to point them out, sorry), but it definitely set the tone during the nightmare and even after that. Overall, nicely done.
    Click to expand...

    Thanks again for the in-depth response!

    AetherX said:
    I said I'd get around to this a while back and I keep my promises, even if it takes an eternity.

    To start, I am currently working towards a major in electrical engineering and my main hobby besides writing is electronic music production. I shit you not. I loved this story from the second paragraph alone. You mentioned doing a lot of research to make it seem like you know more than you actually do, and I'm curious if music is another exception. You absolutely nailed the whole fact that being able to control an infinite number of timbres add a whole new dimension to electronic music. Love it. I really, really like the technical aspects, particularly since they're accurate. I was ready to cringe during the scene at the Viridian Gym, fully expecting Peter to ground himself and that would somehow make him immune to electricity rather than making it much worse because anime logic. Hooray for a reasonable understanding of physics!
    Click to expand...

    Holy shit!

    Electronic music is actually something I do. Even if I had done the most meticulous research, I probably I wouldn't have been able to write that instance as well as I did if I didn't have an in-depth firsthand understanding to begin with. I do simple electronics on a professional level, as I have experience in theatrical lighting and audio, especially with the inner workings of the components of the devices. My personal knowledge is pretty much journeyman at best, but I do know my stuff, and I do additional research to compliment my firsthand knowledge.

    I'm really proud about how the Viridian Gym scene worked out. That is one of the defining character moments for Peter, and it as important to me that it be believable. I may draw inspiration for my story structure from the anime and games, but the nonsensical anime logic is something I won't be having in my story.

    The characters are great, believable and easy to understand. For a second I was skeptical of Peter agreeing to stay on to train with Surge given how adamant he had been about not being interested in Pokemon up until then, but after thinking about it I realized that's exactly what he would do. You established in the first chapter that he does what other people don't want to do because someone needs to (a trait that I highly admire in people by the way). Dealing with Jolteon was just such a situation. The Pokemon characters are surprisingly well done too. It can be hard to write good Pokemon characters without giving them the ability to talk, but I think you've got a good start by just identifying things that make them unique, like Amp being battered and old, or Jolteon being exceptionally cute (and exceptionally powerful, but that's more plot than character).
    Click to expand...

    I mentioned in response to Flaze's review something in a similar vein. The Pokemon themselves are as much a part of the cast as the people are, and I treat them as such. Even though they don't talk, they still communicate, and the trick I find is to figure out their vocabulary.

    I'm actually honestly very surprised at the warm reception Amp has gotten from you readers, despite only showing up for a few moments it two scenes, and despite, well, being a Magneton. Granted, said I treat the Pokemon as fully fledged characters, and I do, and I did with Amp insofar as I could with it being a Magneton. Maybe the fact that Peter did have such an awkward moment with Amp has something to do with it. But still, it's something I was never expecting when I wrote it, and even afterward.

    THE PROJECT FILES! THE SYNTH PRESETS! OH THE HUMANITY!!! Reading this made me physically ache. Also there's a typo I bolded.
    Click to expand...

    THEN YOU KNOW HIS PAIN! You know why Peter, shown to be normally fairly reserved, nearly flips his shit at Professor Rose over the pay-phone.

    Problem is, one of the Johto regional gym leaders has gone missing
    Click to expand...

    The second I read this I had a pretty good theory of where the story might go. Of course none of it accounts for all the ominous omens of the recent nightmare, but if the story goes where I think it's going, I really like the idea. If it doesn't, then kudos to you for being mysterious and misleading.
    Click to expand...

    Odds are, the story probably is going in at least a similar direction as where you think it's going, that is, if what I think I know what I think you're thinking I'm planning is what you are in-fact thinking.

    I love the name puns too. I already consider the drowning man and the burning man to be Peter Square and Peter Saw respectively.
    Click to expand...

    Oh god. I swear I hadn't thought of that... I may have to pilfer that idea now should it become a relevant story point.

    Keep up the good work, I look forward to more![/QUOTE]

    And I will write more! just as soon as I catch up on all the reading and reviewing I said I was going to do, of course.


    Thanks again everyone for the responses, support, and the extra sets of eyes that find typos that slip by me. It really means a lot to me that my dogged perseverance is finally starting to bear fruit, and that you all are enjoying it as much as you are.

    uh, GRATITUDE!
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    *sigh* Finally managed to get round to chapter two

    Technical Accuracy/Style
    Perhaps a little bit flat on the description sometimes. I'm aware that this isn't terribly useful since I can't really point out exactly what I mean but ... I don't know, it's like the chapter had the same level of tension throughout, whether the scene was about starter pokémon or electrical destruction

    Story
    Unexpected, actually, and if the story is going where I think it is, a very clever way of starting a journeyfic. It's nice to see a legendary bird turn up, and apparently for no special reason. I've always thought that it's no bad thing to actually treat legendary pokémon like, well, pokémon. I'm vaguely wondering why the Kalos starters, but it's not like the idea has no internal sense to it, so why should I care?

    The best bit though, has to be Eevee's accidental evolution. If I ever had any reservations about Peter getting an Eevee - which I don't especially - you'd have sold it with the idea of the accidental evolution and Jolteon's subsequent inability to control its new powers. Clever and unexpected

    Characters
    Unfortunately comes under the banner of "Fine, but not amazing" again, which sounds like a bad point. Honestly, though, I don't mind seeing an ordinary guy as a protagonist. Again, it is only chapter two, so it is early days. I think perhaps at this point I'm beginning to wonder what's really going on in Peter's head ... what makes him tick

    Final Thoughts
    I'm going to make a mental note to come back to this, because I'd like to find out where you're going with this story
     
    Re: A Sine of Things to Come

    Beth Pavell said:
    *sigh* Finally managed to get round to chapter two

    Technical Accuracy/Style
    Perhaps a little bit flat on the description sometimes. I'm aware that this isn't terribly useful since I can't really point out exactly what I mean but ... I don't know, it's like the chapter had the same level of tension throughout, whether the scene was about starter pokémon or electrical destruction
    Click to expand...

    Hmm. I'll have to look it over then, see if I can't discern what's what there.

    Story
    Unexpected, actually, and if the story is going where I think it is, a very clever way of starting a journeyfic. It's nice to see a legendary bird turn up, and apparently for no special reason. I've always thought that it's no bad thing to actually treat legendary pokémon like, well, pokémon. I'm vaguely wondering why the Kalos starters, but it's not like the idea has no internal sense to it, so why should I care?

    The best bit though, has to be Eevee's accidental evolution. If I ever had any reservations about Peter getting an Eevee - which I don't especially - you'd have sold it with the idea of the accidental evolution and Jolteon's subsequent inability to control its new powers. Clever and unexpected
    Click to expand...

    Thank you! And that's kind of the thing with Eevees, isn't it? very rarely do they remain Eevees. And the way I took hit here; I felt it was an excellent catalyst to the plot, providing an imperative that must addressed.

    Characters
    Unfortunately comes under the banner of "Fine, but not amazing" again, which sounds like a bad point. Honestly, though, I don't mind seeing an ordinary guy as a protagonist. Again, it is only chapter two, so it is early days. I think perhaps at this point I'm beginning to wonder what's really going on in Peter's head ... what makes him tick
    Click to expand...

    The next chapter should help shed some light on exactly that, as well as subsequent chapters.

    Final Thoughts
    I'm going to make a mental note to come back to this, because I'd like to find out where you're going with this story
    Click to expand...

    I look forward to it.

    Thanks again!
     
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