Chikorita and I exited the Pokemon Center an hour later, healed up and Trainer Card updated, heading out north to exit Pallet Town. We were heading to Route 1 and would hopefully reach Viridian City by tomorrow night. As we walked through town, I brought out my trainer card. Chikorita was asked to pose for the trainer card picture and she looked downright fierce.

[https://i.postimg.cc/g2y64hPB/ch5-trainercard.png]

This was juxtaposed with her lazily lying on my shoulder right now. Although the battle was quick and Pokemon Centers can work miracles in terms of healing, it had still been a fast paced battle that worked her ability, so I was okay with her resting for now before we reached the woods.

The division between Route 1 and Pallet Town was a large well-trod trail. We crested a small hill and spotted our entrance, a cleared passage in between a lightly forested oak trail. Striding through, I saw my first glimpse of tall grass as well as my first wild Pokemon sighting along the route. A Caterpie was nibbling on a leaf right beside the trail, eyeing both of us before spotting Chikorita’s head leaf.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Chikorita had used Attract somehow. The Caterpie abandoned its previous meal before rearing up and bouncing towards us. Before it could even cross half of the distance though, Chikorita had jumped down off of my shoulder and tackled the poor bug, shooting it across and into the tall grass once more. We waited for a few minutes to see if it’d come back, but spotting no other response, we waded into the small path surrounded by the grass ourselves.

The tall grass in between routes was notoriously known as the source of sudden Pokemon attacks, so we were vigilant on our walk through. This initial pass until the next hill, which I could see a glimpse off in the distance, was where we would be most at risk while going through this route. About an hour into our trek through the tall grass, Chikorita paused and sniffed the air, soon followed by a shuffling of the grass towards our left. As I placed myself behind her, we saw a Rattata creep out, eyeing my bag before fixing a glare at Chikorita.

“Growl and wait for it, Chikorita.” I told her under my breath, trying not to attract any other foes. Chikorita nodded, fixing her stance and letting out a low growl while staring at the Rattata. Instead of retreating though, the noise seemed to agitate the small rat as it charged forward with its head down.

“Chikorita, Tackle to push it away. Then Razor Leaf, ranged!” I hastily ordered, fearing that the instructions might have been too complex for my starter.

Chikorita, though, proved that she was as smart as a cookie and followed the moves to a T. Before the Rattata could reach her, Chikorita repositioned slightly to the left, taking the tackle to her side before following up with a tackle of her own, pushing the Rattata to the edge of where it came out of, before throwing a glowing green leaf of Grass-type energy from her own leaf. The Razor Leaf sped through the air and hit the Rattata right on its face, knocking it further back into the foliage. Again, we waited to see if it would return but after a minute of silence, we shared a short look and continued on through the small trail.

As we continued our trek, I looked towards the distant trees lining the tall grass; I spied flocks of Pidgey and Pidgeottos fly off and land on the branches upon which hung small Pinecos, waiting patiently for their next meal. I also spied what I believed to be a Pikachu running up a distant branch before being hidden by the foliage. All around us wild Pokemon thrived; these forests also connected up with the ones around Viridian to the east and the Indigo Plateau to the west; if we headed deeper in, past the trail and through the long grass, I was sure we would see a lot more active and dangerous Pokemon.

Thankfully, that was not a part of the plan and I was more looking forward to getting through this patch and finding a place to set camp. Soon enough, we crested past another ledge and the long grass fell away to our sides, expanding upon a marvelous vista of rolling hills.

[https://i.postimg.cc/3RY1GP6V/Break-Pokeball.png]

Dusk had fallen by the time we found an appropriate spot to place camp. Chikorita had battled a couple more Rattata and a very daring Pidgey but she came out the overall victor in her battles. I staked out an area beneath a ledge that bordered another section of tall grass and started to set up the tent. Chikorita, in the meanwhile, sat a bit further away, keeping watch and resting from the day’s efforts. As the tent went up, I also brought out the firestarter and Chikorita’s PokeFeed; a ready-made meal that is suitable for most Pokemon and nutritionally average. I knew how to make my own PokeFeed but didn’t want to commit to purchasing the berries, vegetables, and proteins before I knew my starter.

While preparing her food, as well as my dinner of an average MRE, I thought about what her diet would be. Chikorita needed a healthy dose of vitamin D in their food and their diet mostly consisted of leafy greens. That would be on my shopping list in Viridian. At that thought, I added some multi-vitamin supplements to her PokeFeed before calling her to come eat.

As we both ate, the sun had finally set and the stars of the night sky slowly twinkled awake. A few minutes after finishing our meal and digesting, I felt it was the best time to start, so I looked towards Chikorita.

“Chikorita, ready to start training?” I asked with a grin. She perked up, nodding and standing across from me. I got up as well before continuing. “Okay, so I know you’re trying to learn Leech Seed, Bullet Seed, and Vine Whip. Why don’t you show me your progress on each of them and we’ll get started from there?”

Chikorita nodded.

“Okay, so let’s start off simple, Vine Whip on that tree.” I requested, pointing at a tree near the edge of our camp.

Chikorita faced her deciduous foe as I saw one of the nubs around her collar extend into a vine, it took her a few seconds to get it to an appropriate length, and she slammed it against the tree. The impact itself, unfortunately, wasn’t as vigorous, the vine falling flat right after.

Chikorita let out a low whine, winding the vine back and looking to me for instructions. I thought back on the steps through which the whip manifested itself; even though the attack was physical, the damage itself was special, which focused on a Pokemon’s use of their type energy. It was also supposed to be maneuverable, typically the first control option for Grass-types. Deciding on the path, I nodded my head and gave her my instruction.

Chikorita kept listening to my instructions, and once I felt that she understood the important points, mainly focusing on converting the type energy into a physical move and keeping the energy on a leash so that it is maneuverable, I moved on. “We’ll keep on practicing after a small break. Lets try Bullet Seed now, target the same tree, Chikorita!”

Chikorita nodded before facing her target, puffing up her chest, and quickly spitting out a small green nub, similar to the ones on her neck. The nub came out quite fast, faster than I’d have expected, but went miles wide of her target. She quickly followed up with another, and then another, and finally one more before stopping and panting. Unfortunately, none of them actually went near the target, so the issue was obvious here.

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“Alright, looks like you have most of the mechanics of Bullet Seed down so now we only need to perfect your accuracy and energy reserves before it's ready to use in battle. Now, for the final one, use Leech Seed!”

Pepped up by the clear plan on her moves so far, Chikorita once more faced the tree and focused, this time creating a small bulb of energy on top of her leaf before whipping her head forward. The now materialized Leech Seed flew straight and entered the tree, seemingly disappearing before a burst of vines with thorns wrapped around the trunk. Unfortunately, most of the thorns of the Leech Seed broke against the bark without puncturing, causing no energy return, and overall a net negative in energy expenditure.

“Great showing, Chikorita!” I exclaimed but Chikorita looked at me with a face full of both confusion and disappointment in herself.

“No no, you’ve done great. From what I remember, it's really really hard for Pokemon to develop more advanced moves by themselves without years and years of practice. You’ve already gotten this far in just a year without a trainer, it shows how hard you’ve worked, girl!” Pleased by my compliment, Chikorita nodded, a small smile plastered on her face now.

“So, for Leech Seed, the issue is obvious again. We need to have you practice making the seed as condensed as possible; your aim is great with it already but we’ll have to work on practicing on moving targets for it to be battle ready. I’m sure the thorns will be sturdy enough by then to puncture most targets, even Rock-types!” Chikorita nodded once more, expressing her understanding.

“Great, so let’s go over the rest of your moves and then we’ll train Vine Whip for the rest of the night.” I said, patting her head. Following that, Chikorita demonstrated Aromatherapy, where a sweet pink mist would spread and cover her surroundings, and both versions of Razor Leaf. Growl and Tackle were good where they were from our battles during the day. I instructed her on the importance of Aromatherapy even curing the status condition of Pokemon in their Pokeballs. She had initially learned it by spying on a Bellossom in Professor Oak’s ranch and developed it by helping out with some of the burns and paralysis the ranch Pokemon would contract from battling among themselves.

Finally, I knew she had already mastered Razor Leaf but we spent a few minutes going over its intricacies; how it could utilize both physical and special type energy due to her own biology, namely her head-leaf and what type of situations would warrant each type. Later that night, after a couple more hours of training Vine Whip’s strength and control, we sat resting inside the tent while I narrated to her our plans ahead.

“With how long Route 1 will take, we’ll be able to set camp and practice for a few more hours tomorrow night before arriving at Viridian City in the morning the day after tomorrow. We’ll do some shopping there and stay for the Conference. We’ll also try to get a few Pokemon battles in, train up, maybe get another team member. The Season should be close to starting by then so we’ll face Peter Oak at the Viridian Gym to get our first gym badge!! I declared, my fist raised, Chikorita mimicking me but raising her leaf instead.

The rest of the night, Chikorita and I spent training her moves. Since Vine Whip looked to be the least developed, we started by practicing as much as possible with it; after her energy reserves got too low, we continued with practicing the accuracy of Bullet Seed and then forming better Leech Seeds. By the end of the night, all three moves had progressed a great deal with the constant feedback and training.

We woke up just as the sun started to rise in the morning; Chikorita, with a pep in her step, was basking in the early morning sunlight by the time I had a quick bite of dried fruit and packed up the camp. We left, following our original course along Route 1, keeping an eye out for any hostile wild Pokemon. Soon enough, we were going through the next patch of tall grass.

At one point, the trees on either side of the path crept close enough to the route that the whole trail became shadowed in speckles of light, reducing our visibility quite a bit. While creeping along this patch of the path, Chikorita suddenly stopped her advance once more, signaling our first encounter of the day. We saw the grass start rustling before a wild Sentret poked its head out, likely balancing on its bushy tail, before growling at Chikorita.

Before it could come closer, I gave my order. “Chikorita, use Razor Leaf!”

The leaf on Chikorita’s head started glowing before she whipped her head and out flew a spinning leaf, easily as large as her own. The attack flew through the air but Sentret curled into itself, likely using Defense Curl. The Razor Leaf landed on its back, leaving a noticeable but faint mark. Before I could follow through, the Sentret bunched its tail against the ground and leapt at Chikorita faster than I could react. It landed on Chikorita’s left before scratching at her thrice in quick succession with Fury Swipes.

Chikorita, meanwhile, was prepared and endured the attack. “Chikorita, quickly, use Bullet Seed!” I ordered, seeing the opportunity given to us. Chikorita’s aim is still quite horrendous at anything more than 10 feet away, but the Sentret was right beside her. As soon as I finished speaking, Chikorita turned her head to face the Sentret and shot out a full barrage of seeds right at it, leaving large painful welts all over its torso and face. Fortunately, the quick counter seemed to be enough for the Sentret as it quickly scurried back into the tall grass, its tail raised above its head, and before long, it was well past the treeline.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Chikorita and I moved past and the day continued much the same as yesterday; we crossed through a few more patches of tall grass and stopped for lunch beside a small meadow on the side of the trail. Soon after, we were on our way once more, this part of our trek on a wide trail with looming oaks on both sides. A couple of Pidgeys and Rattatas tried their luck but Chikorita was able to beat them until they ran away. I did have to use a Potion on her after a nasty Peck from one of the Pidgeys but our pace was mostly to schedule. Near dusk, we spotted another meadow and decided to stop to camp; I could see the lights of Viridian City on the horizon while standing on the peak of the last hill we were on, so hopefully we would arrive before noon tomorrow.

At night, after another meal of PokeFeed with supplements for Chikorita and an MRE for myself, we started our training session again. Chikorita had developed her Vine Whip to almost completion as she used it quite a bit throughout her battles during the day. By the end of our training tonight, her Pokedex entry had a new submission.

> Known Moves:

>> Growl(Normal-SS-NV)

>> Tackle(Normal-Ph-V)

>> Razor Leaf(Grass-SA-V)

>> Aromatherapy (Grass-SS-NV)

>> Vine Whip (Grass-Ph-V)

Unfortunately, both Bullet Seed and Leech Seed didn’t make as much progress; especially Bullet Seed’s accuracy. She could hit most of her targets around 15 feet away from her now, although they were stationary. Leech Seed on the other hand seemed to be falling behind with no live targets to practice on although the thorns did look to be sharper than before.

Before we went to sleep, I laid down on the grass and faced the starry sky above, feeling at peace. I knew I had to have this talk soon, but now that it was here, my stomach couldn’t help but squirm.

“Chikorita.” I called, my voice barely a whisper, looking over to my partner. She looked at me questioningly. “I’m glad you’re with me girl. You should know this, and I’ll make sure all our future team members know it as well. But, I don’t remember anything about my life from more than a week ago.” Chikorita looked at me alarmingly, her eyes going wide.

“I don’t know what happened but I have my guesses. Regardless..”, I pointed at my head, “I have amnesia and there is a seal in my head keeping me from remembering anything about my family or past. And…” I took a deep breath, “Anytime I even try to remember something about them, my chest just burns up with anger.” I opened my eyes and looked at her, small pearly tears at the edge of her eyes. I take a deep breath, reach out to Chikorita and stroke her back. We stay quiet like that and as my anger drains out of me, Chikorita nudges my head with her leaf. “Thanks girl. I’m okay now and I know that with you by my side, we’ll figure it all out.” Chikorita mews her name softly, while the both of us stare up at the glistening jewels dotted across the dark canvas.