1.

The sun was high in the sky and Pelipers sailed overhead, casting shadows over the sparkling waves. Tentacool and Jellicent floated lazily just under the surface of the water. In the distance, Golden island was framed with tall palm trees and sandy beaches. In the opposite direction, the coast of Unova curved into the horizon. The flat, peaceful landscape was full of quiet tranquility. In the middle of it all was what appeared at first glance to be a floating boulder, but closer examination revealed it to be a massive Carracosta, well over three meters tall, lying on its stomach. An armored turtle Pokemon, with an extremely sturdy rock exoskeleton. Perched on top of the large Pokemon was a small lawn chair, with a fishing pole lashed to the right side of it. As the Carracosta moved through the water the line suddenly jerked, waking the chair’s occupant.

“Hm?”

The trainer’s eye lazily opened as he stared at the pole. The tip bounced up and down for a few seconds before finally pulling taut with a sharp movement. With a groan and stretch, popping noises resounding from his back, he sat upright and took hold of the fishing rod.

“I really hope it’s not another Frillish. Those good-for-nothings always clog up my lines.”

The trainer started reeling in the line, pausing every now and then to let the captured Pokemon struggle, before finally bringing it up close enough to the surface to see what it was.

“Ah damn it.”

With a heave and twist, he brought it up to dangle in the air. Visibly struggling, the Frillish spat a mouthful of water at its captor.

The trainer glared at the blue Pokemon through the water dripping off his face, before pulling out a fishing knife and cutting the line away. The Frillish relaxed as it dropped back into the Ocean, but it soon surfaced and began to curse angrily at the impudent fisherman.

“What are you yelling about, it’s not my fault you took the bait! Ella, get this bastard!”

The trainer grabbed a pokeball out of the cooler sitting next to him and tossed it down in front of him. With a cry, a Lilligant appeared and took a fighting stance. The elegant Pokemon looked as though it was wearing a grass dress, with two large pink flowers in its hair. The Frillish jumped up and took its position in front of her, staring with fiery eyes before trying to hit Lilligant with a stream of water. Angered by its attack, Ella spun around, avoiding the jet before counterattacking with a leaf blade. Barely dodging a serious injury, Frillish couldn’t avoid damage, suffering a scratch along the side of its head. Screaming with rage, the Frillish charged at Ella, who dodged the wild charge and swung again. The two entered a wild dance where Ella avoided all the attacks but only succeeded in superficial blows.

The raging battle didn’t disturb either the Carracosta they were fighting on or the trainer, who sat back down and started threading a new hook onto the fishing line. Putting it aside after a moment of fumbling, he reached into the cooler and pulled out a can of soda. Sipping his drink, he idly cheered on Ella from the sidelines, as the two Pokemon still showed no sign of stopping.

Finally, the Frillish collapsed from the blood loss caused by its many cuts. Ella panted on the side as she raised her blade victoriously. The trainer walked up to the downed Frillish and looked down upon it with disdain.

“Not even worth the cost of a pokeball.”

With a vicious kick the Frillish was thrown off Carracosta and sank limply into the water. Spotting several Carvahna beginning to approach the weakened Pokemon, he recalled Ella before bending down and pounding on Carracosta’s shell.

“Wake up Tor, it’s getting late. Time to go.”

The slumbering boulder stirred, and four fins unfurled from where they had been dangling. An armored head poked above the surface and gave a contented grumble towards his trainer. The trainer sat back down and pulled another drink out of the cooler. Tossing it to Ella, he said,

“Took you long enough, are you injured?”

The Lilligant shook her head before daintily sitting next to the trainer and sipped on the Fresh Water.

Tor started picking up speed, the trainer and Ella bracing themselves on the ridges on Tor’s back. Turning away from the coastline, Tor cruised through the water with ease, cutting through schools of Remoraid with no interruption. As they neared the island beach, Tor slowed down before riding in with the waves and sliding onto the shore.

Disembarking from the S. S. Carracosta, the trainer and Lilligant unloaded the gear and started walking up to the tree line. Tor rumbled a goodbye before turning over and falling back asleep in the surf. As they neared a hut nestled between a triangle of palm trees the trainer stopped and unfolded his deck chair, leaving it just under the beach-most tree. Placing the fishing pole on a rack horizontal above the door, he pushed the grass curtain aside and stepped inside.

It was a modest home. Only one story, the walls were made from salvaged wood, rafters curved towards a singular point in the center. Thatched with palm leaves to provide shade, only half of the floor was complete, roughly polished boards giving way to golden sand. Hanging along the back wall was a hammock, under which was a wooden chest. Running along the right wall was a bookshelf, and to the left there was a fridge and stove sitting on concrete blocks in the sand. Hanging from the ceiling was a selection of dried Basculin and assorted berries, along with a few simple camping lights. Scattered around the room were several smaller beds for Pokemon. Large windows let in the And standing in the middle of it all was one very angry Audino.

“Before you say anything,” The trainer quickly began. “It is still technically daytime. It’s not my fault you forgot about the solstice.”

Audino paused for a moment before she chirped accusatorily.

“Well, no, I didn’t get anything worth catching—”

The accusatory tone escalated into full-blown anger.

“You can’t blame me if all I catch is Frillish! Besides, I am out there working very hard to earn us a living, isn’t that right Ella?”

Caught in the spotlights, the Lilligant froze, before slowly nodding her head in confusion.

“See? It’s not my fault. Besides, what were you doing today while we were out?”

Audino angrily paced over to the refrigerator before opening it and gesturing to the lack of food inside. Slamming the door shut, she stalked around the room pointing at all the things that had been cleaned. Turning back to the trainer, she chirped with a haughty look.

“Alright, you’ve made your point. I guess we’re eating dried Basculin and berries again tonight. Tor’s gonna clean us out though.”

Poking his head out the nearest window to check on him, the trainer saw the big Pokemon rolling around on the beach, sleepily snapping up any Krabby that got too close.

“Hey big guy!” He shouted. “Go easy! If you eat too many, the rangers will start asking questions!”

Pulling himself back inside, he shook his head with exasperation. Having to deal with those stuck-up paperweights was the last thing he needed right now.

Focusing back on Audino, he asked, “I don’t suppose you have anything fresh to eat stashed away?”

Audino shook her head before walking to the trainer and handing him a small, folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, the trainer found the familiar messy scrawl of Edward, one of the islands native Pokemon trainers. At the age of fourteen, Edward was preparing to get his starter Pokemon this spring but was eager to start ahead of time. The two of them had met when Edward bumped into him trying to poach some wild Miltank because he was hungry. He had managed to convince the gullible kid that he was a former champion trying to retire peacefully on the island and was just checking up on the Miltank because he heard they might be sick. The young kid bought it hook, line, and sinker and ever since he had invited him over for dinner and to ask for his advice. The kid was mostly on his own, so nobody told him the truth. Apparently, his dad was some Pokemon researcher that traveled a lot, so it somehow all worked out.

Every now and then Edward asked for a battle to determine how far he was growing, and the trainer made sure to stoke his ego to make him feel good. Then after he lost, he would marvel at how powerful the trainer was instead of realizing how weak he was. This had been going on for a few months now, and Edward was one of the few acquaintances the trainer had on the island that didn’t despise him. When he saw that Edward was offering food for him and the Pokemon in exchange for another spar, he broke into a smile.

“It looks like our problems have been solved,” And then to Audino, “You interested in fighting? Edward mentioned last time he wanted a double battle.”

Audino carefully weighed the decision, before shaking her head and chirping proudly.

“That’s true, he has yet to defeat Tor even in a three on one, adding you might be a little too much. Well, if there’s nothing else to be done here, let’s get going.”

Ella briefly looked down from the ladder from which she was eating the berries and acquiesced.

Briefly unloading his cooler into the fridge, earning him a dark glare from Audino, he pushed through the doorway and walked down onto the beach. The sun was starting to go down, lengthening the shadows on the golden sands. Tor had given up on eating Krabby and had returned to snoozing. Letting the incoming waves break across his back, he snored contentedly.

“Alright you big lug, up and attem! You’ve got some food to earn!” Tor twitched and opened one eye for a moment before raising himself upright, shaking off the sand and a few clinging Starmie. Turning around, he bellyflopped into the water, splashing everyone. Mounting Tor, Ella and Audino climbed up beside the trainer and shook off the water.

“Okay Tor, to Edward’s!”