A couple of days later I was all packed up and ready to go. I decided on a route south through pallet town and I would catch the ferry to Cinnabar Island. There I could do some training with ponyta to learn about fire pokemon better and if I was lucky enough I might find a fire stone to evolve one of my team. Anna had said Cinnabar is the largest source of fire stones in Kanto due to its volcano and technically they can be found around the mountain but realistically I would still have to buy one. I might even have a shot at the gym there to try get my first badge. After that ferry through the seafoam islands to Fuchsia and then onto the safari zone, where I hope to try and find wild chanseys, kangaskhan and , though I didn’t tell her, wild dratini. After that the grampa cayons to try and find the fossil pokemon or just fossils in general. Anna looked envious and sad as I hoisted my bag ready to leave.
“It has been fun having you stay Josh.”
“Don’t worry Ill give you a buzz every now and then. Maybe when one of my pokemon evolve into espeon Ill be able to teleport back”
“That will be a long way away. Teleporting that distance takes a super strong pokemon, but thanks for the thought. No remember to feed ponyta well as he is still growing. I know you want him to carry your stuff but at least wait another week or two before starting small! Otherwise you could damage his back.”
“Ponyta!” Ponyta protested making a stance to prove how strong he was.
“The kids all around here are going to miss having you around” she laughed giving him a pat.
“Don’t worry Ill take good care of him.” Stepping forward I gave Anna big hug getting a surprised squeak from her. “Thanks again Anna, I would have been completely lost without you.”
“You would have be fine you big idiot. Now go. Go get me rare pokemon!” she said.
With a laugh and a wave I headed off to catch a bus to the edge of town where I could start my walk towards pallet town.
An hour later I started my journey down Route 1 towards pallet town with Gin and ponyta by my side. Life was pretty sweet at the moment as long as I kept the horrible sadness about losing everything and everyone I knew locked away inside. Yep not thinking about that. Focus on the moment like ponyta and Gin. Ponyta was having a great time zooming down the road before realising we were not right behind him before zooming back only to zoom off in a different direction. He was loving the open road and the area to he could run around in. I had noticed that he was not at going near the edge of the forest so he might have some lingering issues with forests but hopefully he will out grow that as he grows up and get stronger. If he is anything like his mum, Hopefully she survived but I doubt it considering her injuries and the swarm after her, he has the potential to become scary strong. Not that I plan on being a massive battler but it is reassuring to know that team could throw down if the situation demanded it. Seeing the swarm in action and the carnage the rapidash made of the forest really sunk in the message that this world is not the friendly super safe world from the show or games. But as long as I didn’t take stupid risks I should ok. Plus I had always wanted to travel in past world so now was my chance to do it. Route 1 was gorgeous once you got away from the city with rolling fields of grass all around you broken up with stands of trees scattered all over the area. Further into the distance on either side the grassland receded back into forest which I could see small shapes flying over it from this distance. It was on this route Anna said that she first met pidgy and captured him when she was young. I wasn’t looking to catch any pokemon as I had my full team already and they all generally needed something to evolve rather than strength, aside from ponyta which I couldn’t remember if he needed a fire stone or just time and strength. Either way he was way to young to try and evolve. Around midday the road I was following became a crossroads where the there was a sign post pointing that if I followed that road west I would end up in a place called Terracotta Town. I was racking my brain trying to think if I new anything about it when I heard a voice call out.
“Hey mister!”
Turning my head in surprise, and ponyta’s who jumped with a snort, I looked over to the voice where I saw a group of 2 teenagers walking up the road out of the forest with a younger boy with them. The boy who called out to me was running ahead of his two travelling buddies, another boy and a girl, and all looked like they had been walking for a day or two judging by the dirt on their boots and the tired but happy looks on their faces. Looking back to the boy running up to me I replied back.
“G’day, how’s it going?”
“Great. And I challenge you to a pokemon battle!”
Huh? O yeah that’s a thing. Thankfully I had asked Anna about this before I left and she had coached me on what to say.
“I’ve only got a young team with me and no badges, how about you?”
“That’s fine! I’ve got no badges either and a I caught a new pokemon in the forest I’m training up! Go Bellsprout!” And just like that a pokeball was thrown in my direction and with a flash bellsprout appeared.
“Danny wait a moment!” called out the teenager girl breaking into a jog to run up to Danny. “Sorry mister Danny is just really excited as this is his new starter pokemon. Danny you should at least introduce yourself and then wait before letting your pokemon out.!”
“But sis he accepted! And he already has two pokemon out!” Danny whined pointing at my eevee and ponyta.
“Sorry Danny but ponyta is too young to battle yet. But Eevee here is keen, aren’t you girl?” I said looking down at her.
“Eevee!” Gin barked leaping in front of me growling at bellsprout, who waved his leaves in retaliation.
“Alright, alright I’ll ref for you. Sam can you hold my bag?” She called out to the grinning boy walking up behind them.
“Sure can Quinn. He’s keen isn’t he? At least he isn’t trying to battle us still.” Sam replied with a laugh.
“Alright I’m Quinn, what was your name mister…?”
“Josh, don’t worry about the mister part. I’m not that old.”
“Sorry” Quinn squeaked. “Alright this will be a 1 vs 1 battle, first to faint or withdraw. Prize money?”
At this Danny suddenly looked unsure, turning away to look at his sister. “Do I set the amount?” he asked.
“Yes Danny as you challenged. Remember neither of you have badges so the upper limit is how much…?”
“$100 pokedollers per badge! But but but that’s all my birthday money. Hey mister will you accept $50?” The anguish on Dannys face about the thought of giving up his money was hilarious. Wait till he’s an adult and has bills to pay, that will make you cry.
“$50 is fine by me” I said unable to keep the grin from my face.
“As you both already have pokemon out the battle will begin in 3 ….2….1… begin!”
“Bellsprout use vinewhip!” Danny shouted pumping his fist forward.
“bellllllll-sprout!” shouted the bellsprout as a vine extended from it body and leapt forward to whip the vine down onto eevee.
Thankfully eevee didn’t need my command to leap out of the way of the vine whip coming down which made a solid smack when it connected with the ground.
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“Our turn Gin, quick attack!”
Gin glowed faintly before shooting forward leaping headfirst at her opponent.
“NO dodge it Bellsprout!”
Bellsprout didn’t move its legs but leant all the way over backwards, its head touching the ground as eevee went flying over it before skidding to a stop and turning around.
“Vine whip again”
“Tail Whip!”
Swivelling around to face the right direction bellsprouts whip swung around catching eevee in the side as she leapt and turned trying to connect with tail whip, causing her to thump into the ground and roll several times before jumpng back to her feet with a growl.
Wait that’s a move too isn’t it. “Gin use growl!”
With a snap of her teeth Gin let loose a far more loud and feral sounding growl I have ever heard her make and it seemed to take all of us by surprise with bellsprout, Danny and I all flinching at the sound. Gin was the only one who didn’t hesitate at the sound and leap forward tackle into bellsprout launching it backwards. Bellsprout leapt to its feet and smacked its leaves together, though I noticed it had a wee wobble to it now that it didn’t before.
“Bellsprout use growth! We need to hit it harder!” Bellsprout stomped its foot into the ground before gaining a slight green shine to itself.
“Quick attack! Smack while its still!” Gin shot forward and smacked solidly into bellsprout as it was focusing on its move tumbling it backwards. “No bellsprout!” Danny ran forward to crouch next to his pokemon.
“Danny! Don’t run into the middle of a battle!” Quinn yelled. “Match is over, eevee is the winner!”
“Eeevee!” barked Gin in triumph before running over to me and standing between my legs.
“Awesome stuff girl” I said reaching down to pat her head, getting a happy ruff in return and I could hear her tail swinging wildly behind me. After giving her plenty of victory scratches while ponyta gave her a lick on the head we walked over to where Quinn and Sam where comforting Danny.
“……you did really good bellsprout.” I heard Danny say quietly before spraying something from a small spray bottle onto his bellsprout.
“Give him a moment, that was his first battle with his pokemon and he was sure he would win. I’m Sam by the way.” Sam whispered to me before reaching out to shake my hand.
“Josh. And he did well. He got Gin really good with that vine whip earlier. If we hadn’t done that training for the last couple weeks he probably would have had us” I raised my voice loud enough that Danny was sure to hear me. Judging by the way his sniffles stopped I’m guessing he did. Quinn turned to give me a thankful nod, before giving Danny a tap and whispering to him. Danny stood up before helping his bellsprout up and walked over bringing out his wallet slowly. I watched him as he pulled out a couple of notes before taking a deep breath and shoving them in my direction. “Your winnings mister!” he said quickly looking down.
I pushed his hand back. “Keep it, consider it thanks for a great match. Gin had to work hard for that victory.”
Dannys face lit up before shoving the money back into his pocket so fast I barely saw it. “Thanks mister! When Bellsprout is rested up we can battle again and Ill win to make us even!”
“Your being too kind to him. But thanks Josh” Quinn said with a smile. “Do you want to join us as we camp nearby? We were only going to go to the end of the road before heading back to Terracotta if we didn’t find Danny a pokemon.”
“Sure sounds good”. I wasn’t in any real rush to get to Pallet town so making camp a bit early wouldn’t hurt. Hanging out with the three of them for the evening was great fun. The three of them told me about the town they came from and things that tourists could do there, sounded like a great place to visit. I paid attention when they said a company was about to start taking tourists over to Jhoto though I knew I had plenty to see and do before I started travelling even further abroad. In return I told them about how I met ponyta and why he was getting fed a milk and oran berry mix as he was still young. Turns out Quinn and Sam were a couple and had 4 and 3 badges between them from their circuit last year. Rather than try again this year they were saving money to buy a ticket to go to Jhoto and try do their circuit now that trade was opening up again after the war. I desperately wanted to ask about that but I thought I might give myself away by asking things that everyone should know. I’ll try remember to ask Anna about it later. We where all sitting around a campfire, ponyta having a great time leaping over it, telling each other stories when a gruff voice called out from the forest.
“You lot. Hand over your money and no one gets hurt.”
All of us turned around in surprise and saw two men in dark coats and pants walk out of the shadows of the trees, their hands covered with black gloves. The one who spoke had a golbat sitting on his shoulders while the other hand no pokemon in sight. Quinn and Sam reacted instantly releasing 2 pokemon in a flash, a wigglytuff and a nidorino. Danny and I both hesitated for a second before releasing a pokemon as well, Danny his bellsprout and me Gin. The appearance of Gin made both the men pause for a moment before an evil smirk appeared on both their faces.
“Well well well, we have been looking for you eevee boy.”
Wait what? Have they? Why?
“Give us all your pokemon and none of you need to get hurt.” The second man said clicking his hand over his shoulder, and with a crash a rhyhorn came smashing through the undergrowth.
Quinn stepped forward followed by Sam a moment later. “Danny we got this. Sam you get the golbat, Wiggles will smash that rhyhorn. Wiggles use water pulse!” Straight away a ring of water blasted out of wigglytuff towards the rhyhorn while Sam shouted something as his nidorino blasted something towards the golbat that had leapt into the air. Not sure what to do I whistled to my two pokemon and grabbed Danny’s shoulder pulling him back from the battle.
“Your sister said she had 4 badges earlier right? That means she is pretty strong?” I whispered to Danny and the rhyhorn took the water pulse to the head with a bellow before charging in straight at wigglytuff.
“She’s super strong! Wiggles will destroy that stupid rhydon! Go Wiggles!” yelled Danny jumping around under my hand.
Rhyhorn charged towards wigglytuff who answered by erecting a green dome around it causing rhyhorn to come to an abrupt stop as it smashed into it.
“Wiggles, play rough.” Quinn said with a smirk on her face which paled in comparison to the evil grin that appeared on wigglytuffs face. She leapt onto the back on the rhyhorn and with a faint pink glow just started whaling on it.
Wig-ly-wig-ly-wig-ly!” With each chant of its name wigglytuff smashed the rhyhorns head and back causing it to cry out in pain while trying to shake wigglytuff from its back. It seemed odd that rhyhorn was losing so badly, at least the guy with the golbat was giving it commands and trying to win the fight, rhyhorns trainer was being completely silent. Because he isn’t there! I suddenly realised looking over in the direction he had been standing.
“Josh what are you doing? The fights over there!” Danny sounded confused as he looked up to me as I turned around, my head on a swivel looking all around trying to see were the guy had gone. Surely, he didn’t do a runner? I thought to myself.
“Eeeeveee!”
Spinning around I saw the man emerge from behind a tree as a large raticate finished slamming into Gin sending here flying past me.
“Raticate go and grab that eevee, boy if your ponyta even thinks about trying anything it won’t have time to grow any bigger!” He said, relaxing into a lean against the tree.
Spinning I quickly recalled Gin into her pokeball before the raticate could pick her up, which made the man scowl.
“Bellsprout use vinewhip!” Danny shouted. Rushing forward bellsprout swung a vine at the raticate who leapt backwards with a snarl.
Shit, Danny’s bellsprout won’t last long, especially if it took Gin out in one go. Thinking rapidly I tried to think of something to do. Do I let my whole team out and try hold him off? Do I grab Danny and run? The man must have seen the indecision on my face out and started laughing as his raticate pounced at bellsprout, who manged to dodge with his almost horizontal bending trick. Something in his laugh made me snap. Fuck this guy. His laughing stopped as surprise appeared on his face as I started sprinting at him at full pace.
“Raticate get over …”
“VINEWHIP”
Bellsprout managed to smack the raticate hard across the back as I turned around at the mans call only to snarl in rage and turn back to bellsprout.
“You stupid rat! Wait till … oomph!” All the air blasted out of his lungs as I slammed into his gut performing an almost perfect rugby tackle smacking him into the ground. Pushing myself up I just started swinging at his head while he tried to cover himself with his arms cursing non stop. I’m not sure how long we were fighting for, but I felt a sudden pull on the back of my top jerking me off balance and I rolled backwards off the man and found myself looking up at wigglytuff.
“Wigglytuff?” it said looking down at me sounding amused.
“I’m going to fucking kill you…” the man grunted getting up before wigglytuff planted one of her feet into his chest and pinned him against the ground.
“Wiggly!” How something so pink managed to look scary I don’t know but it managed to pull it off.
“Josh man are you alright?” Sam asked me as he came to a stop next to me. Heaving deep breaths of air I gave him a thumbs up while looking around. The golbat was face down on the ground while his nidorino was backing the first man up against a tree with it horn. The rhyhorn was lying on its side unconscious with the raticate not far away in the same state, while Quinn was holding Danny and bellsprout. Reaching a hand up Sam grabbed it and gave me a pull up.
“That was crazy man, why didn’t you let another pokemon out?”
“I just … just snapped you know.” Heaving air still ponyta came running up to me before sliding his head under my arm to help hold me up. “Thanks ponyta” I told him getting me a puff of air in reply.
Shaking my hand out I looked to Sam who had started rummaging around in his pockets. “What do we do now?”
“Aha!” Sam cried out holding up a blocky yellow device before popping it open to reveal a screen. “Don’t worry I’m going to call the police to take care of this. Mum was right saying I’d need this one day”.
With a sigh of relief I wandered over to my bag and sat down with ponyta to wait for the cops.