Route 30 was mostly gravel and dirt. A thin line of man made order surrounded by a sea of trees. The forest stretched out seemingly endlessly to the west and to the foot of the mountains in the east. The sea of green was interrupted at times with islands of color. A grove of colorful berry trees in the distance or a wild cherry tree blooming with its proud petals in the last days of March. The first blooms were often seen as the start of the league season. If I had taken the Egg I would have traveled through Cherrygrove which was famous for their waterfront and the cherry trees that bloomed along it. The petals would gently float down to the water and be taken to the sea to dance among the waves. They would wash up on the shore forming long lines of pink petals on the sand.

To either side of the route the treeline had been cut back about fifty yards. It was just enough that it might allow travelers to react to any large or aggressive pokemon that had wandered down. The mountains to the east were honeycombed with caves. Every now and then something would be driven out from them so rangers patrolled from time to time. The most civilization we passed was the odd ranger station, some isolated farms and homes nestled into the woods. Most of the residents along the route were involved in maintaining it in some manner. Overall it was a fairly peaceful and rural route.

We didn't pass many trainers as Mal and I traveled along the route. We had hit a kind of lull in the stream of trainers that would move along these routes. From Mr. P's we were starting near the end of the route close to where it met someplace called Happy Town before turning into Route 31 and becoming more mountainous. The early bird trainers that wanted to rush to the first gym had already passed through in the days before the season started. The bulk of the trainers that left with the proper start of the season would be starting from Cherrygrove or further beyond. The route wasn't completely deserted however as we did pass the odd local. A farmer with a herd of Mareep watched over by an Ampharos gave us a wave when we passed. They grazed upon the grass along the route to try and keep it short. Him and others like him all across Johto would cover a couple miles of their local route every week.

The harsh winds of the lion that heralded the beginning of March were fading and we were getting the peaceful lamb as the winds calmed and the sun announced its return. Mal and I trained as we walked. I'd name a type and Mal would turn into it with Conversion. In the games Conversion would change Porygon into the type of the move in his first move slot. It wasn't very useful as you gave up a turn to change type and you only had one set type to change into. Real life however didn't have move slots or turn order. He was only limited by his stamina and the time it took him to switch. Porygon could freely change into any type with the move. Being able to freely choose what type he turned into led me to prioritize it over Conversion2 which was much more reactionary. I hoped if he could become skilled enough and fast enough with Conversion, he'd be nearly impossible to take down in a battle.

In my mind Normal Type was the basis from which all others flowed. I couldn't exactly prove it, but when the god of the pokemon universe is Normal type there might just be something to it. One of the strongest pieces of evidence in my mind was that the type housed natural type changers. Sometimes it just got to be all the types.

Type changing wasn't exactly unheard of. It was rare but mostly possible through the use of moves. The issue was nearly all those moves changed your opponents types and not your own. There were a few exceptions like Burn Up and Roost. Roost in particular was interesting, if a pure flying type used the move they would still lose the flying type but instead of becoming typeless they would gain a type. They would become Normal, they returned to the default type the root of all the others. There was another method of type changing that being Terastallization. It allowed any pokemon to change it's type. However, Terastalizing was limited to Paldea. I was very very thankful for that. I never wanted to go there. I didn't like to think about what exactly was watching from those crowns as it dreamed... Some things are better left asleep.

There were a few pokemon to talk about when it came to type changers and they were nearly all normal types. Arceus, the big sky llama could change type at will through the use of Plates. Silvally who had been made out of all the types and formed in the mocking image of the divine sky llama used its Arceus system... I mean RKS system and memories to change type. There was Ditto who could freely change into nearly anything and who I very much wanted on my team. Castform was a living cloud and artificial pokemon that changed type in different weather conditions. There was of course Porygon with two signature moves that changed type. Then there was Kecleon.

That little chameleon was providing me with a lot of inspiration when it came to Mal. Kecleon had two different type changing abilities. His first was Color Change. He switched types to the type of the move that last hit him. After being hit he would then resist follow up uses of the move, the issue with the ability was he needed to actually be hit for it to trigger. His second and hidden ability was Protean, which changed him into the type of the move he was about to use. This allowed all of his moves to benefit from STAB. It was his signature ability before the starters began to rip him off. Those starters were also the only natural type changers outside of the normal type I could think of.

Most people only ever saw the offensive use of Protean. They saw speedy starters with a good ability and saw sweepers. Kecleon was very much not a sweeper, instead he was an interesting special tank. He had the bulk to be able to come in and soak up some special attacks but it was his use of priority moves that was the really interesting part of his kit. He often ran two priority moves that allowed him to change type before your opponent moved. He could do things like Shadow Sneak or Sucker Punch to change types to get a favorable defensive type matchup. It also made your opponent have to try and predict what type he actually was going to be when their move landed. This defensive play with Protean was something you just didn't get to see often.

The dream was for Mal to become skilled enough with the move Conversion that it would act like some sort of Protean that he would exploit defensively. Ideally he'd be able to react to an attack and change types to resist it or be immune. In time he might even become skilled enough that it would almost be second nature for him to use it before attacking moves so they could benefit from STAB. He would be a tanky digital duck that kept switching types to resist whatever was thrown at him, and in time would have access to a self heal with Recover. He would be a complete nightmare to take down. I wasn't even sure if what I envisioned could be done but we sure as hell were going to try.

However, a very scary Porygon did not make a team.

Mal would always be the cornerstone of my team. He was a good all around tank and special attacker. But, I needed more team members to fill other roles. I didn't want to show up to Falkner with only one pokemon. No matter how much Mal should destroy that team. For now I wanted something on the more physical side of things. Normal was one of the most common types but I was fairly limited with what I had access to locally. I didn't really have the funds or something to trade for the more exotic.

The most common normal type around was the humble Rattata. I pretty much discarded it as an option right away. Rattata... was a bit of a meme between Lonnie and myself. Youngster Joey was the most famous Rattata trainer and had what seemed to be an inability to ever catch another pokemon. He reminded Lonnie of a Young Master from cultivation novels. I could hear the mocking voice now, You dare challenge this Young Master Jo Yi. My Rattata is far superior to all others, it is in the top percentage. What need have I of other pokemon with my mighty Rattata at my side? You have eyes but can not see Mt. Coronet. Come this Young Master will teach you the difference between heaven and earth. Still I could train one up but some very risky strategies would have to be employed to have it compete at the highest levels.

The next most common ones were Hoothoot and Pidgey. I was going to pass on a Hoothoot for now. It would eventually become a decent special attacker with some utility moves but I had that covered with Mal. Pidgey was more physically focused but could run some mixed sets and was tempting. I kept debating it over in my head.

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Normal/Flying was a very common typing. Falkner's gym could nearly be considered a Normal type gym. All his pokemon used in the first battle in the games were also Normal. His full team had four pokemon with the typing on it. The typing was so common you ended up with people like Larry in Paldea. He had gotten his start as a Normal type specialist and claimed that the type called to him. In time he became a Normal type gym leader. Due to his familiarity and work with Normal/Flying types he had been called up to serve as E4 for his region, as a Flying type specialist. Some of his pokemon even made appearances on both teams. The specialist forums fought over Larry constantly. Each wanted to claim him and argued about who had the better claim. The Normal specialists claimed him as it was his chosen type while the Flying specialists claimed him as he had 'flown farther and reached greater heights' with their type. The fact that there had never been a Normal type E4 member was constantly thrown in the faces of the Normal specialists.

Sooner or later I was going to end up with a Normal/Flying type, it was just a question of when and who it would be. But I was in a key phase of a team's development. The fewer members I had on my team the more personal instruction I could give them. Starters got so strong in part due to how much individual attention and training they received. They became the cornerstones of their team like Mal would be for mine. I really needed a physical attacker that could get through mons that Mal might struggle with. Ideally that member would also provide synergy to the team in other ways becoming a pillar that would help support the whole. So my eyes turned towards the Dark Cave on Route 31. I was going to pick up some supplies in Happy Town and camp out around the Dark Cave until I got what I needed.

"Hey, what's that pokemon?", a young voice called out.

Turning to them I was greeted by a young boy maybe twelve years old wearing a t-shirt, shorts and a ball cap in the still slightly chilly air of late march. A single pokeball rested at his waist. He had to be a local to be out here like this.

I gently patted Mal on his side as he floated next to me, "This is Mal. He's a porygon. Aren't you cold?"

"Nah, I'm training. Gotta get strong and beat Mikey. Porygon looks like he's from those boring old games, my pops plays. You two are pretty weak ain'tcha?" It all seemed to come out in a rush.

Mal let out an annoyed sounding, "Pory."

I couldn't help myself. I had to give the kid the look. The look that got passed down as some sort of secret technique from parent to child. The are you serious right now look.

We made eye contact and he grinned. "Ah ha, now we have to battle!"

The whole eye contact meaning you have to battle was a cultural thing that was slowly fading out. The older generation and those that were more traditional held more stock in the entire thing. This world valued strength, strong trainers kept civilization safe and kept the wilds at bay. By locking eyes it could be seen by some as issuing a challenge. With eye contact you were saying that you were the other person's equal or stronger. You were bringing the other person's strength and status into question. Of course by the logic of this world the proper way to resolve it was with a battle to see who was stronger.

I grinned it would be our first battle against someone. I was fine with teaching a kid a lesson and getting some practice in. "1v1, no items, Final Destination, Fox only."

"Huh?"

"It's a joke kid. 1v1 as Mal here is my only pokemon. Standard wager, I hope you like losing." The standard wager was only about twenty bucks.

"You don't know what you're talking about, loser. Me and Fang are going to teach you a lesson. He's the best." He flipped his ball cap backwards and released his pokemon in a flash of light. "Go Fang!"

A large and healthy looking Rattata formed. Fang's eyes focused on Mal eager for battle.

Mal floated over to face him. "You get to call out the first move kid."

"Fang Quick Attack!"

The Rattata seemed to disappear in a blur of motion.

"Ghost." I commanded.

Mal began to change but just wasn't fast enough to complete the Conversion in time. Fang impacted Mal with the Quick Attack sending him floating backwards, eliciting a soft grunt of "Gon."

"Alright now follow it up with Tackle!" the boy commanded.

Fang charged forward with the Tackle. When he was about to make contact he just kept going right through Mal. Mal was clouded by a dark ghostly energy that swirled off of him and he had turned partially transparent. Conversion had finished.

"Tackle."

"Uh dodge it!" The boy's voice was uncertain and held confusion as he gave out a command.

Fang recovered quickly, finding his footing after failing to hit with the Tackle. But Mal's Tackle impacted, sending Fang skittering across the gravel and dirt path.

"Get height." I commanded. Mal rose higher into the air, topping off at about ten feet.

"Um, Fang Quick Attack into Tackle. Reach him!"

Fang seemed to disappear again as he gained speed and then jumped with a Tackle aimed at Mal.

"Dodge, follow with Stab Thundershock."

"Stab?"

Mal couldn't move out of the way in time. He might be a digital duck and could fly to an extent but he lacked the speed of a bird. Fang was able to reach Mal in the air but once again went flying through him as the Youngster watched frowning in confusion. Mal became wreathed in sparks his eyes glowing yellow. Stab was the command I had settled on to use Conversion before an attack. Mal looked like an angry little storm cloud as he tracked Fang through the air. With a cry of "Gon!" he released a Thundershock against the Rattata.

Fang cried out in pain as the attack landed. A soft "...ta" was heard before he collapsed.

"Dang it! We lost!" The youngster recalled Fang. "What the hell kind of moves were those?"

"Mal can change type. You have a good Rattata kid. He's a fast one." I smiled and petted Mal as I looked him over for any injuries.

"Uh, thanks. Fang is the best." The youngster grudgingly accepted the praise. "If that thing can change type then what type is it?"

"Whatever it wants to be. But it's base type is Normal. I plan on specializing in it." I answered.

"Like Whitney?" the youngster got a bit of a far off look in his eyes as his cheeks colored.

The cheeks didn't go unnoticed by me, I guess he was reaching that age and had a bit of a crush going. I didn't blame him. Whitney, the gym leader of Goldenrod specialized in Normal types. She was pretty popular and had this sporty tomboy farm girl thing going on. Her family ran a bunch of Dairy farms and she had rather huge tracts of land herself. She was only behind Clair in popularity. I honestly pitied Clair a little. Her fans asked to be stepped on while Whitney's just bought the yearly calendar her and her softball team put out.

"Yeah kid, like Whitney. What's your name?"

"It's Joey. Me and Fang are gonna get really strong. We'll beat Mikey, Whitney and you!"

It couldn't be could it? This was route 30 it wouldn't exactly be a stretch that he was a local.

"You can call me Gray." I struggled but was able to keep the mirth out of my voice, "Fang is strong he might even be in the top percentage of Rattata."

"I know he's awesome. He.."

"But." I interrupted. "If you want to get even stronger he needs to learn some Dark type moves. Normal type trainers like Whitney and myself find ghost types really annoying. Mal here turned himself into a Ghost type during the battle and that's why Fang's moves didn't work on him."

"Oh. That was smart..." Joey trails off as he goes over the battle in his head.

An idea struck me and I just couldn't resist. In the games Joey never caught any other pokemon but that Rattata. Eventually it would become a Raticate with a pretty decent move set. He always called to brag about it and talk about how he couldn't seem to catch anything else. Just a little advice to a kid shouldn't cause too many ripples. It could help him grow as a trainer.

"Yep. But there's something else you could do as well. What's better than one Fang?"

"Nothing's better than Fang." Joey confidently replies.

I smiled, "Two Fangs. You ever hear of Alola?"

At his blank look I began to explain...

Fifteen minutes later Mal and I were on our way again and as for Joey. He had a mission to catch something he could trade on the Global Trade System to get another member for his team. I was sure it would be fine.