Chapter Text
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It was pitch black in the forests of Mondstat.
The only glow came from Bennett and his Charmander, who were training together.
Whilst the adventurer shouted out different commands, the charmander made its best attempts at doing them.
Most of the time, it fell over itself...
Kaeya and Venti watched at a distance, feeling somewhat bad for him.
Kaeya rubbed the back of his neck, looking up to the sky,
"He's been at this for hours... How is not tired yet?"
Venti shrugged, chuckling.
"Heh... I suppose he's a rather determined young trainer... really determined..."
The bard scratched his head, glancing up at the trainer.
Bennett didn't stop, and neither did his Charmander.
"Use Scratch!- No I don't think that's how you do it... N-nevermind! Use slash!" He commanded, The Charmander looked clearly fatigued by now.
It stumbled forward, swiping at the air, then sitting down on the ground, exhausted.
The young adventurer's eyes widened, walking over to his Poképartner.
"You okay Charmander? What happened?"
"You exhausted it, congratulations." Kaeya approached behind him, folding his arms.
Bennett stilled, confused.
"How? It's not even that late!"
"It's early morning, and you've been training since last sunset. I'm surprised you aren't as tired as him."
The adventurer stilled, shrugging.
"I don't get tired that easily."
"Kid, you've got bags under your eyes! A good trainer knows when they've done enough for a day.." Kaeya sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.
"That's 'cause I'm not a good trainer," Bennett walked over to his Charmander, helping it up, "I'm gonna be the very best!"
Kaeya seemed to stop, rasing his eyebrows.
"A determined one indeed... but, even the best know when to break off from work."
"What about Master Jean? She can't take a break and she's Acting Grand Master!"
"And look how tired she came out..." Kaeya turned around, looking to Venti, who was almost sleeping standing up.
The cavalry captain sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Tch... See... Even somebody as bizarre as Venti can't even stand for much longer..."
As he stared at the bard, his Articuno called out, flapping it's wings, and creating a small draught.
Kaeya stroked it's head with a finger, before looking back at Bennett.
"I'm not going to fight a kid over something as silly as this, but a good rest is necessary-" The cavalry captain cut off, realising the Adventurer had dissapeared.
A jolt of panic surged through him, as he looked around for where he could've gone.
"Kid?!" He called out into the dark forest, his icy eyes looking frantically around.
However, the panic that welled up in his chest was short lived.
He saw a faint glow by some trees, and there lay The Unlucky Adventuer, fast asleep with his cap slightly tilted, his Charmander curled on his lap.
Kaeya scoffed lightly, sighing.
"I see... C'mon Venti, we should take this kid back to... wherever he lives. Enough training for today.."
_________
The next day, the sun beat down upon the city of Mondstat.
Bennett was getting the hang of this.
"Charmander, use Ember!" He'd command, and sparks of flame would burst forth from the lizard.
"Charmander, Tackle!" He'd command, and the lizard would dart at the training dummy.
"Charmander use smokescreen!" And the Lizard would puff out a jet of smoke.
It got to the point, where both of them almost moved in sync.
Venti sipped a drink as he watched them brawl the dummy Kaeya had set out, The Cavalry captain stood beside him,
"He's quite the fighter, isn't he?" Kaeya would chuckle as Venti continued to drink.
The bard wiped his mouth and sighed,
"Ah~ I suppose so. Very determined... I wonder if he'll be one of the lucky few to receive a vision~"
"What makes you say that?"
"Hmm... Nothin' " The Bard would wink, before watching as The Adventurer raced up to him.
"Master Venti! Sir Kaeya! I think I've got the hang of it now! Did you see me?" He grinned, stars in his eyes as his Charmander called out.
Kaeyas Articuno flapped it's wings, resting on the Captain's shoulder as he spoke,
"Yes. You've improved drastically. You're a quick learner." Kaeya gave a quick elbow to Venti, who stumbled slightly, nearly spilling his drink.
Venti coughed, shooting an irritated look at Kaeya, who barely noticed.
Kaeya continued,
"Since you've gotten better at attacking, maybe you should try learning how to be on the defensive."
The Adventurer tilted his head,
"Really? How?"
"Battle a trainer, that's how."
The Adventurer froze.
His Charmader had the same shocked expression on its face.
"You mean- A Trainer from the top ranks of Mondstat!? Even I don't think I'm ready for that yet..."
Venti chuckled,
"Pshhh... You'll be fine~ Trust us, each failure is a new step to success."
The Adventurer swallowed, nervousness and excitement building up within him.
He looked down to his Charmander, and nodded, determind.
"Alright. I guess I'll try."
Kaeya grinned, his icy stare melting away into one with traces of fondness.
"Great, she'll be here in five minutes."
"Five minutes?! Where did I put my berries!?.." The adventurer fumbled around in his pockets, Venti shooting a wary glance at Kaeya.
"Seriously though If he does get pummelled, I'm not the one taking him back to the cathedral..."
Venti whispered, The Cavalry captain face-palmed in response.
________
Waiting was agony.
Anxiousness made the adventurer jumpy.
His Charmander sat beside him, much more relaxed.
He didn't even know who he was fighting.
"Could it be somebody like Jean?... Or even Grandmaster Varka..."
"No... Varka is out on expedition... Jean is far too busy to battle these days..."
"Who am I fighting against..."
These questions were soon cleared up as the sound of somebody approaching alerted him to stand.
"Hello!~ I was called?" A young female voice called out.
The challenger approached, a familiar face in the city of Mondstat.
Her deep brown hair was let down, and a red and gold hairband tied it up.
Her clothes were much more casual than a knight of favonius.
A white crop top, with a pokeball symbol on it, and a pair of shorts with a Pyro vision on her hip.
Her scorbunny hopped up out next to her, chanting.
Kaeya looked up fondly,
"Ah. Amber. Good to see you again." He nodded respectfully, the outrider smiled.
"It's good to see you too, Sir Kaeya. So, are we up for a battle, old man? Or, am I fighting the bard?" She teased, challenging him.
Her scorbuny stepped up, leaping up at a challenge.
Kaeya chuckled, sighing.
"Haha... Not me. You'll be fighting a member of the adventurer's guild."
Amber tilted her head, putting a hand on her hip.
"Oh. And that is?" She looked around, her eyes landing on Bennett, who waved shyly.
She blinked, stifling a laugh, but walked over to him kindly.
"Good afternoon! I'm Amber, an Outrider for the Knights Of favonius. And this is my partner, Scorbunny!" She introduced herself, holding her hand out to shake.
Bennett tilted his head, taking her hand and shaking it lightly.
"I didn't know the knights had Outriders." He blinked, Amber suddenly went shy.
"Haha... Well.. That's because I'm the only one... I'm always whizzing around because if it. But it's not all bad. I met Scorbunny on a patrol." She smiled, looking back fondly.
The Adventurer relaxed knowing she wasn't a raging competitor, in fact, she seemed quite relatable.
"I'm the only member of my adventure team. It's because of my bad luck."
Amber softened, sympathising.
"Awh, that sounds rough... Anyway, wanna battle?"
Her sudden switch up made The Adventurer blink, but he grinned anyway.
"Sure! I'm ready."
________
They stood facing against each other.
The two trainers were on equal ground with their pokemon beside each other.
Amber seemed to only have her scorbunny.
Bennett had two spare pokemon this side.
Surely Amber was fighting a losing battle?
Bennett turned to his Charmander,
"Since you don't like being in a Pokéball, just step aside for a second. I dont think you can fight fire with fire..."
The charmander growled, it's tail lashing at the idea.
"Having some trouble?" Amber called out from a distance, folding her arms impatiently.
The Adventurer shook hishead,
"N-no!" Then he turned to his Charmander, "C'mon buddy... Just this once?"
The Charmander huffed at his pleas, and went to sit down next to Venti, who scratched it's headlightly.
Returning back to the battlefield, The Adventurer brought out his Leafeon, who chittered softly.
The outrider grinned, her pyro vision flaring up brightly.
Amber suddenly stepped forward, yelling a command.
"Scorbunny! Use Quick attack!"
The rabbit sudden chanted, and darted towards his Leafeon,
The Adventurer reacted quick.
"Dodge it!"
The Leafeon jumped to a side, and the Scorbunny hit the ground with a bang.
The rabbit was determined, and as his trainer called out, "Now use Blaze!" ,It darted for another opportunity.
Scorbunny seemed to grow in strength, and it leapt to tackle the Leafeon down.
Bennett quickly called out a move, "Use magical leaf!"
A sudden barrage of leaves surrounded the Scorbunny, leading it to run to try and evade it.
It wasn't fast enough, and was attacked.
The Rabbit barely had a scratch.
Amber stretched,
"This is getting fun! Use Flame Charge!"
The Rabbit suddenly charged, flames erupting around its body as the Leafeon was suddenly pummelled down by a tornado of fire.
The Adventurer watched as the rabbit attacked, Leafeon now weakened.
"Right! Grass types are weak to Fire type attacks..."
He looked at the Pokeball in his other hand,
"Then... Water should be strong against fire..."
"Leafeon, come back." He held out his empty pokeball, and returned the critter, but not before bringing out another one.
"Blastoise, I choose you!"
The turtle roared as it stepped out.
Amber stepped backwards, but didn't deter.
"Hmph, okay! Use Quick attack again!" She called to the Rabbit, who charged.
Bennett stepped forward,
"Blastoise, use bubble beam!"
The Turtle's cannons suddenly flared up, bubbles shooting out quickly at the rabbit.
Scorbunny moved left and right, as fast as a lightning strike.
It smacked the Turtles head with its head, leaving its armor wounded.
The rabbit landed back infront of its trainer.
Bennett huffed, commanding again.
"Use water gun!"
Water spewed from it's cannons right at the Scorbunny, who moved left.
But the water managed to catch up to it, and it was shot down.
Amber paused, watching as The rabbit git up, slightly more wounded.
She grumbled, but simply wiped her brow.
"Ah, I see...No problem! Scorbunny! Use Firey Rain!"
A new move!? Is that even allowed!?
The Bunny leapt up, creating a large ball of flame and kicking it down.
The Turtle was too clunky to react, so was pushed down by the force.
The Blastoise was pushed over onto it's back, and the rabbit landed on it with massive impact.
The Adventurer was too stunned to move.
He'd been defeated.
It wouldn't be the first time...
He recalled his Blastoise, trying not to look on the bad side.
But, a soft blue glow alerted him to attention.
The Scorbunny was glowing a gentle blue, all the trainers had stopped to watch.
Amber walked over, kneeling down as the glow approached her.
The glow faded, and a Raboot stood before her.
Amber smiled, ruffling it's fur.
"Another great victory! For the two of us..." She smiled, The Raboot chittered happily.
The Adventurer watched, noticing that his Charmander had stood beside him.
He smiled, looking onward.
The scene was wholesome.
"Friend Bennett!" A raspy voice called out, and he turned to see from whom.
To his surprise, Razor was waving at him, his rockruff by his side with its tail wagging.
He wore a cleaner grey hoodie, with a wolf symbol painted onto it.
His pants had stayed virtually the same however.
He looked much more cared for.
Bennett grinned, racing over to him.
"Razor! Hey! You'll never guess what- I battled against somebody! And I lost!" He rambled, Razor tilted his head.
"Lost? You are not sad?"
"Not at all! I saw Amber's Scorbunny evolve! A-and it was really fun!"
"Wow..." Razor breathed in awe.p, "Bennett... Strong like wolves. But also. Bennett bright, like the sun."
The Adventurer scratched the back of his neck, warmth growing on him.
"Haha... Thanks buddy.."
Venti watched from a distance, folding his arms and watching as they laughed.
Something didn't feel quite right...
He looked upwards, to the skies.
Perhaps some mischief was brewing on the ballads of wind...
"Hey, Bennett." The bard chimed, "How about tomorrow, We get you to battle somebody else.."
The Adventurer was alerted at his voice, tilting his head and walking over, Razor following.
"Sure Master Venti, who were you thinking?"
The Bard shrugged,
"Just Grandmaster Jean. No biggie."