A few days of battles showed results. It meant my Pokemon were internalizing the training that we had done. Dodging was done with a tighter focus, and their accuracy was up. No longer relying on just overwhelming power, but a skilled single attack to end the battle was a sure sign of Dragonairs improvement.

She especially enjoyed the fact that Arcanine was still struggling with not overwhelming speed and power from the get go. Meaning Dragonair was improving in some ways faster than Arcanine was.

It was funny how grumpy Arcanine was when Dragonair showed off.

Still it was useful. Dragonair has improved so much! We both knew it. I could see it in the way she moved, and reacted. The way she listened to me.

We had developed a real bond, an understanding that following me, listening to my training had changed her from a strong Dragonair, to a monster of her type.

I could see the way she kept pushing herself in battles as well. She wanted to push to the next stage. I could feel it.

But battling like that meant that time flew by, and finally Erika’s Gym re-opened. I had an early scheduled match all ready for me. So when I walked into the Gym it wasn’t much of a surprise that I was quickly led into the Gym arena.

What was surprising was just how many people were there.

“What’s going on?” I asked the Gym Trainer that was leading me inside.

“Heh, are you surprised? You’ve been battling the trainers in the city for the last few days, of course everyone would want to see your match with Erika-Sama.” She replied as she led me to my position. Erika was sitting Seiza across from me. Since the entire arena looked more like a forest clearing it looked surprisingly comfortable as she rested among the flowers and grass.

“Welcome Challenger. To Celadon Gym. I am Erika. I understand you wish to challenge my true team?”

“I am Victoria Ferrous of Viridian City. I do! Face me with your strongest Pokemon!” I called out almost eagerly. Battling was fun!

“Very well. Standard League Rules.” She agrees standing. Her real team already on her. Good she had listened to my request I had put in for this timeslot. Although my eyes widened, full League rules meant that she could return Pokemon without them being counted as out.

That was weird for a Gym match. Usually Gym Leaders accepted a handicap that they couldn’t return Pokemon.

“Then I will release my Pokemon first. Go Vileplume!” She calls out releasing a surprisingly large Vileplume. It was definitely a Pokemon that was both well taken care of, and used to battle.

“Go Dragonair!” I called out. Much to the surprise of the crowd, and Erika herself.

“I am surprised. I expected your Arcanine.”

“I don’t like leading off with Type Advantage.” I offer with a shrug.

“Very well.” She nodded simply.

“The match begins!” The referee called out, and Dragonair roared as she began a Dragon Dance. Without a word from me.

“Vile!” Erika’s Vileplume called out as it suddenly seemed to explode in a heavy cloud of powder. Although I couldn’t tell without any further info.

“Dragonair! Use Twister to blow the powder away!” My instinct to use safeguard was probably the wrong plan here. Twister not only pushed the powder back, but also knocked the Vileplume a little.

Defense and Damage combined. I just had to keep fighting Smart. I didn’t want to get lost in the fight like I had against Surge.

“Sunny Day!” Erika called out then, and I felt my eyebrows raise. Sure Grass types were heavily boosted in it, but that also enhanced fire attacks. I watched as the Gyms Skylight suddenly let all the light in as if it was in the middle of a noonday sun.

“Rain Dance!” I taunted back. Watching as the sun above swiftly clouded over and began raining.

But it actually started raining inside the Gym.

“Very well! Toxic!”

“Extreme dodge! Don’t get hit!” I cried out instantly, as Dragonair was forced to use every inch of training she had up to now to wiggle and squirm away from the glob of horrible toxic mass that shot at her.

“Petal Dance! Support the Toxic!” Erika called out as Vileplume danced, hundreds of petals bursting off of her and shooting across the arena. They gathered under the toxic goop as it fell, and I realized that it wouldn’t be the last time I had to deal with the sludge.

“Extreme Dragon Rush! Get in close! Disrupt the Vileplumes concentration!” I called out, knowing that moving Petal Dance like that would be hard to do unbothered.

Considering Dragonair already had a Dragon Dance active, and so disappeared in a fzzt of speed as she blitzed across the Arena only to build up her Dragon Rush aura, smashing the Vileplume into the ground made me sigh in relief as the mass of Toxic was released, and Petal Dance was let go.

“Sleep Powder!” I gasped as on impact Dragonair was enclosed in a cloud of powder, her body slipping to the grass.

Erika hadn’t even needed to call out! Her pokemon was well trained, even as Dragonair smashed into Vileplume it had already released the Sleep Powder. Practically in reaction. Or maybe in reaction in truth.

Dammit Maybe Safeguard would have been smarter.

“Return!” I call out instantly, pulling Dragonair out of the sleep fog, and putting her on my belt.

“Milotic Go!” I release. Much to the surprise of Erika and the people present. In all the battles over the last few days, I hadn’t used Milotic at all.

“Beautiful, but not as beautiful as my own flowers.” Erika called out with a smile. Sleep Powder finally cleared revealing Vileplume looked rough, but was still on its feet.

“Milotic won’t lose to anyone in handsomeness!” I called out in return as Milotic gave off a cry of agreement, earning surprised looks from many of the crowd that Milotic was a boy and not a girl.

“Huh. Interesting! Vileplume! Toxic leaf!” She called out and I blinked before gasping as all those leaves created by Petal Dance suddenly rose up!

She hadn’t lost control of them, but was saving them for another Pokemon! I was so surprised as was Milotic that neither of us had a moment to react before Milotic was plastered with Toxic covered leaves.

Safeguard on the tip of my tongue far too late.

The attack enhanced that I could see Milotic take damage from the grass even as the Toxic hit.

Wow. A muli-attack move that could be used as an entry hazard!? That was insane! I felt myself smile even as Milotic grunted at the attack. Despite being a grass attack it didn't hurt my boy too bad.

“Milotic Aqua Ring.”

“Vileplume mega Drain!” She called out and instantly a beam of green shot out aiming for Milotic.

“Dodge!” I cried out and this time Milotic had time to see the attack coming even as he was building his aqua ring. He shifted his entire body snake like shifting until the green beam hit nothing but air between his coils as he was ready.

“Dragon Tail!” I called out and Milotic moved. Much faster than most people would probably expect. Even Erika was startled at how fast he zipped across the arena. It wasn’t Extreme speed level, but for a non speed enhanced move, it was fast.

Just like before Vileplume was struck, unable to move away fast enough, and again she released a Sleep powder on hit.

I nodded. It had definitely been part of Erika’s training of Vileplume to release that move whenever it was struck. Smart. Brilliant even.

But it didn't matter since Milotic already had a status Condition.

“Return!” Erika called back Vileplume. Who to my surprise had been standing back up after a second massive hit from my team.

Amazing. I had considered Erika might be around Brock level in strength, they were both about the same age, but Erika was proving that to be incorrect.

Her Team were definitely fighters.

“Venusaur!” She chose her second Pokemon and I grimaced. Venasaur was a tough Pokemon to beat.

“Ice Beam!” I ordered as fast as I could once Venasaur was in the battle.

“Light Screen!” Erika ordered just as quickly, the two of us eyeing each other over the field as our Pokemon moved.

Light Screen weakening Ice Beam severely. Which had me grinning. What a fight! I hadn’t expected Erika to be this strong!

“Petal Dance!” Erika called out, and just in that moment I knew it was a powerful attack!

“Water Pulse! Blow the petals away!”

“Miiiii!” Milotic cried out as he began blasting water against the hurricane of petals bearing down on him

I grimaced, his toxic would be draining him all along as well… I would have to do something. The Petal Dance was pushing Milotic back.

“Ice beam! Right through!” I call out, the now wet petals would be alot easier to take out with the effective move.

But Erika wasn’t done.

“Keep it up Venusaur!” She called out only seeming to charge up more petals, even as the Ice beam crushed through the dizzying array of petals all of them that came too close simply freezing over and falling to the ground.

“Ice beam again! Hit the Venusaur!”

“MIIIII!” Milotic was getting upset, I could tell. He may be my most relaxed out of my team, but he was also my starter. My partner. In a lot of ways he hated that he wasn’t the strongest. Arcanine was at the moment, and Dragonair was swiftly catching up.

But Milotic was my partner. The pokemon that would go well above and beyond for me in a crutch.

So this time his Ice beam despite blasting through the Petals, despite waning terribly by the Light Screen, continued on, and Venusaur only had a moment to cry out as it was frozen over.

“Miiii!” Milotic called out in challenge, looking proud of itself.

“Return buddy!” I called out, while Milotic had been happy to crow over his victory, I could see the Toxic had weakened him terribly.

I wasn’t even sure he would have time for a recover…

“Return.” Erika called out a moment later as Venusaur disappeared. “Go Exeggutor!”

“Arcanine!” I called out, and the two new Pokemon took the field. Arcanine calling out her arrival with a roar that caused gasps from the crowd.

“Very impressive indeed. But you will find this a difficult battle! Hypnosis!”

“Extreme Fire Fang!” I called out instantly. Falling asleep now would be horrible! Luckily Extreme speed overcame any concept of who attacked first.

Exeggutor cried out in pain as Arcanine slammed into it, pinning it down with his bite, the damage I could tell instantly, was damn close to an instant loss. As the flame around Arcanines mouth wasn’t let up, simply biting more against the eggs.

But then its Hypnosis went off. And Arcanine slumped asleep.

Although Exegutor didn’t have much going for it. Both Erika and I grasped what happened instantly.

A burn.

“Return!” She called quickly, desperate to keep the burn from knocking her Pokemon out of the battle. She hesitated for just a second before throwing out a second ball.

I was surprised to see Vileplume back on the field. It looked exhausted, but it was still active.

“Aromatherapy Vileplume!” Erika called out and I gaped before cursing.

Her Frozen Venasaur and burned Exeggutor were now back in action! Aromatherapy removed status conditions from your entire team. But then in an instant I remembered something.

“Return!” I called back desperately, before throwing my next Pokemon.

“Chansey chance!” My pink blob called out as she danced a bit upon her entrance earning gasps from the crowd, and a surprised look from Erika. Chansey looked around for a moment trying to figure out her role.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She still didn’t really like fighting, but she did like popping onto the battlefield to help out her friends.

“Chancey! Copycat!” I yelled in delight a moment later Erika’s face turned into a frustrated scowl.

Aromatherapy was a recovery move. It removed status conditions from an entire team. Including those in Pokeballs! And Chansey had Copycat which performed whatever move was last used!

“Vileplume! Mega Drain!” Erika was on it. Hitting Chansey with a move that my blob winced but mostly ignored as the Green beam hit her, before I raised her Pokeball. “Return! Thanks Chansey. You saved the whole team!” I told her earnestly, as I grabbed a different ball.

“Go!”

“ARCANINE!” She yelled out. My girl was mad. “Extreme speed! Flame wheel Counter shield!”

“Mega-” Erika didn’t even have a chance to call out the move. Arcanine disappeared. A fireball surrounded her as she smashed into the flower pokemon. Her Flame Wheel kept active even after the hit.

Vileplumes instinctive powder attack burned away in flame as Vileplume rolled to a stop infront of Erika. Knocked out.

“Excellent performance.” Erika offered a nod. An acknowledgment of quick thinking. “But not enough. Tangrowth!”

A massive Tangrowth landed on the field. At least it looked massive to me, it wasn’t exactly a common enough Pokemon that I knew its normal size.

“Ancient Power!” Erika called out, and I startled. Wait, Tangrowth… That’s right. It was one of the Ancient power evolutions! Man. I barely ever thought about Tangrowth. Grass types weren’t my speciality.

“Extreme Fire Fang!” I called out in response, Arcanine disappearing in a burst of power to smash into the grass type. Her fangs burning into the tangled vines biting and tearing away.

But then the earth shifted and blasted Arcanine away. She landed with only a few grunts. Her body more than ready to handle a type effective attack, but I could tell that Ancient Power might have just changed the game. Tangrowths Ancient Power had definitely kicked in. Empowering the Pokemon as an aura of odd colors shifted around it.

“It’s going to be faster and tougher! Extreme Flame Wheel! Blast past it, don’t let it get a hit in!”

“Ancient power again! Knock it down!” Erika called out. But again Extreme speed meant her attack simply couldn’t keep up. Tangrowth was once again blasted into with a fire move, and I doubt it could have stayed in the battle if not for the buff Ancient Power had given it.

A moment later Arcanine was running past it a ball of fire dashing around. Chased after by a glowing rock power that simply couldn’t keep up as Arcanine rushed through the arena, jumping off trees and rebounding back.

“Power Whip!” Erika called out, and I winced. That was a powerful Grass move. But it wouldn’t stop Arcanine!

“Plow through it!” I called out and Arcanine listened, making no move to dodge the attack and instead tanking through the type weak move to smash into Tangrowth putting it down. Even if Arcanine was wincing a little from the move slamming into her side as she plowed Tangrowth into the floor.

“Arcanine Return. Take a break. You can’t hog all the battles.” I remind my girl as I once more throw out Dragonair.

Dragonair who was no longer sleeping. And she was a little annoyed at having been put to sleep.

“Parasect!” Erika called out although from her look she wasn’t confident that this battle was going her way. “Use Stun Spore!”

“Twister! Push it away!” I call out instantly, and the battle began. Parasect was simply too slow. I could tell and Erika could tell.

“Keep using Stun Spore!” she called out and I frowned. What was she planning?

“Twister it away!” Twister was a great move, and it was hitting Parasect who wasn’t enjoying the experience.

“Again!”

“Do it again, Dragonair!”

Once more the spores were blasted away but I finally noticed what Erika was going for.

“Dragonair watch out, the spores are still in the air!” I call out, startling Dragonair as she noticed the spores that were now filling the entire room.

The Gym was an enclosed space! And Parasect was letting out a monstrous amount of spores on each attack. Even I started noticing my body getting a little sluggish, and I could see most of the crowd was feeling it too.

“Apologies. I am immune to Stun Spore, but I know how uncomfortable it is.” Erika called out, as she shifted her actions to attack. “Giga Drain!”

“Dragonair! Safeguard!” I called out I wasn’t going to risk it again this time. Destroying any hope of Stunspore doing anything to my dragon. Tanking the Giga Drain which wasn’t very effective Dragonair began moving even before I called out.

“Extreme Dragon Rush!”

“Preee!” She cried out as she blitzed through the haze of stun spores, uncaring of their danger with Safeguard protecting her. Smashing into Parasect, the poor bug and grass type smashed into the ground a long ways away. Unconscious.

“Excellent work Parasect. You set the battlefield perfectly for our victory. Take a nap. Victreebel!” She called out releasing a fresh Pokemon. Dangerous but nothing I couldn’t handle!

“Use Swords dance!” She called out instantly.

“Dragon dance in return!”

Both Pokemon powering up as Erika and I kept our eyes locked on each other.

“Move into the sky! Use Twister!” I decided, I didn’t like the look in Erika’s eyes.

“Swords Dance again!” I frowned. I had hoped to see what her plan was, but no way was I going to let Dragonair anywhere close to a Pokemon empowered with Double swords dance! Its physical attack power would be monstrous!

“Stay high and use Draco Meteor. Blow it away!” I called out, revealing Dragonairs ace with Draco Meteor.

“Sucker punch!” Erika replied and I gasped as Victreebel jumped into the air in a flash. Not extreme speed, but Sucker punch was as fast as a quick attack. But! But! How did a Grass type fuckin Fly!?

“Apologies. My Victreebel was trained to use her vines in order to leap into the sky. Yours is not the first time I faced a flying Pokemon. I once lost a tournament to a similar problem. I swore it would not beat me again.” Erika called out and I gaped because Dragonair fell unconscious to the ground.

My hands went to my belt. I knew the smart play would be Arcanine. My Extreme speed trumped Sucker punch.

But on the other hand, I could feel a certain partner of mine for once actually truly furious.

His Big Tailed Dragon GF had just been punched.

“Go Milotic!”

And my partner appeared. Surprising Erika with his appearance.

“MIIIIIIIIIIIIII!” He roared into the gym. The loudest I had ever heard him. As he absolutely raged. I could practically feel the water in the air shift as he roared.

“Sucker punch!” Erika called out as she noticed Milotic so angry.

“Safe Guard!” I called out instead, causing Victreebels preparation to attack lead to nothing. Sucker punch only worked if there was an attack incoming.

And Milotic was my partner. No way would he disregard my order no matter how mad. A moment later with immunity against the Stun Spore in the air.

“Milotic! Extreme Speed!”

“Sucker punch!” Erika called out, and I could feel her frustration that so many of my team had Safeguard rendering them immune to her plan to win.

He had never managed Extreme Speed before. On land he simply struggled to develop the speed. Where Dragonair had her flight. But I knew it was possible. Dratini could learn it, and they didn’t fly.

So Milotic hadn’t managed it… Mostly cause he was a lazy fish.

But right now he definitely wasn’t lazy.

Milotic was absolutely pissed.

He slammed into Victreebel, Sucker punch failing utterly since it only worked if it hit before the Opponent, and Milotic wasn’t about to allow that.

Thankfully Victreebel had a low defense.

“Victreebel, switch to Leaf blade!”

“Dragon Tail! Like we learned Sword fighting!” I called out and I knew it probably wouldn’t be enough.

Victreebel had its physical power enhanced about four times the norm with Swords Dance.

Milotic may be a powerhouse physically, but that was nowhere near the same thing. But what Milotic did have was speed.

He was far superior to Victreebel, and this time he wasn’t playing around.

Victreebels leaf blade swung down and it was parried to the side, the Dragon Tail just managing to disrupt the attack, and then again and again.

Both Erika and I were silent. We both knew that this was no longer a battle of trainers, but of Pokemon. This is what Surge had been trying to tell me, what Zelos had understood so casually.

The two Pokemon were battering each other. Victreebel’s Leaf Blade hammering over and over, if it hit a single time, Milotic would be done, but it didn’t. Over and over my lazy fish parried, and dodged, using his superior speed to make all that power, that enhanced overpowering type advantage attack pointless because it simply couldn’t hit Milotic.

And it wasn’t just skill. Milotic was buzzing. Literally, disappearing and moving in Extreme speed as he snarled at every strike. And over and over, his Dragon tail was cutting into the Grass type.

Slight hits not using all of his power, because dodging was more important. Not getting hit was the goal.

Until finally. Milotic went for the kill.

Victreebel groaned. Dragon Tail slammed onto its head so hard that it nearly flattened the Pokemon.

But Victreebel wasn’t some new trainers Pokemon.

Leaf blade in the last moment when it realized it was going to be hit, had struck out.

And Milotic slammed into the ground.

I would have to do something nice for Zelos next time we met. Because if not for Milotic and Serperiors constant battles and training Victreebel would have just wrecked Milotic.

We both returned our Pokemon. Taking a moment to size each other up. I knew that Erika hadn’t expected to be pushed this hard. She was younger than most of the other Gym Leaders. Other than Misty and Brock she was the youngest. Although I wasn’t sure who was actually the youngest between them.

But she was not playing, her grass types had fought like monsters.

But I wasn’t about to lose. I couldn’t. Arcanine wouldn’t ever live with herself, if she was taken out.

“Arcanine!”

“Venusaur!”

We both looked each other over for a moment.

“Extreme Flame Wheel! Burn away the Stun Spore and attack!”

“Guard it! And Double Edge once it hits!”

We both called out, watching as our Pokemon battled. Arcanine slammed into Venusaur with a bang, but surprisingly, the tough Pokemon survived the hit.

Damn that Venusaur was likely the Kanto starter Erika received. Even if her Oddish and Vileplume was her actual starter. That meant Venusaur had been at her side her entire battling Career.

Its return attack and Double Edge slammed Arcanine back the attack causing me to flinch at the sound of the two Pokemon hitting each other.

Thankfully, despite Arcanine stumbling away and shaking her head, Venusaur didn’t take the hit well. It shifted a bit and slumped, knocking itself out with its attack.

But now there was only one Pokemon left.

“Go Exeggutor!”

“Again Arcanine!’

And I could see Erika looking closely, hoping that her chance would happen. Even as she called out, “Confusion!”

But Stun Spore hadn’t affected Arcanine much yet. Despite how dense it was, she was blazing in fire burning it all away.

And Exeggutor fell.

I slumped tired. I had won. Damn. I had thought after Surge the battles would be easy again for a bit. But Erika was a bit of a monster.

“I am impressed.” She finally offered after returning her Pokemon. She strode across the field even as big fans began blowing, sucking the spores out of the Gym. I was grateful, because I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.

A moment later a mist begin spraying into the Gym, and I could see the relief of the crowd as people suddenly started moving and shifting again.

“Antidote for StunSpore. Unfortunately my Gym is required to be able to handle any effects my battles might have on the Gym.” She offers with a shrug. “It's unusual it ever gets this bad of course.”

“I still can’t believe some of the moves you pulled. Exeggutor managing to sleep Arcanine wasn’t something I dreamed could happen.”

“Says the girl that has a Chansey, and manages to Copy a move that puts half her team back into combat condition.” Erika snarked a little with a disgruntled look.

“You sucker punched my Dragon!”

“Your Pokemon are all too fast!”

“Your Pokemon used Toxic on Petal Dance and then surprised my Pokemon with it! You created an entry hazard move with two offensive moves!”

“Your Pokemon fought back against Victreebel without getting hit!”

“Your Victreebel knocked out Milotic! That is crazy!”

“You have Legendary Pokemon!”

“I can’t really argue against that.” I muttered as I realized the two of us had been snarking at each other in front of the whole crowd who were all cheering at our back and forth. Both of us flushed a little at the audience. I rubbed the back of my head, while Erika simply returned to her lady like persona.

“Victoria of Viridian City. Please take this Rainbow Badge. You earned it.” Erika spoke, pulling a badge out of her sleeve. I accepted it with a bow. When I stood both of us were smiling.

“Pokemon center?”

“Oh absolutely.” Erika assured me, as we both left the Gym and the crowd to get our Pokemon checked out.

—--

Erika and I chatted as our teams were looked after by Nurse Joy. Despite being half a decade older than me, Erika and I were getting along pretty well. Talking about our Pokemon and previous battles.

Turns out while she was now a Gym Leader, she had gone through the Indigo league and ended up in top eight before being knocked out by someone that had a full team of Fire Type Pokemon.

“That’s rough.”

“Type advantage is a difficult hill to surpass. Sometimes you can make the climb, sometimes you can’t. Your Arcanine cut off many of my normal ways to overcome fire types with its speed. I can’t say I have ever seen a Pokemon move so fast.”

“My speciality is Physical strength and speed. Surge mentioned that I needed to stop relying entirely on it, and start adding some actual skill training in. I didn’t get what he meant, but Zelos, my friend showed me a few things. It helped.”

“Ah yes your Unovan friend.” Erika spoke a slight hint of distaste in her voice, although she kept it very hidden.

“Yep! Milotic did great fending off your Victreebel, I would have lost if he couldn’t keep it back.”

“Defeat by a thousand cuts, yes. Victreebel does tend to get hyper focused when he is empowered. This will be a good learning experience for him not to lose track of the battle. A single hit would have taken out your Milotic at that point considering how hurt it was from Toxic.”

“Yeah. I’m just lucky he learned Safeguard. Otherwise your Stun spores would have come into play.” I add earning a chuckle from Erika.

“If you hadn’t taken out my Sunny day, your Pokemon would have struggled far more with Solar Beam. Although even though most of my Pokemon move far faster in the sunlight, your extreme speed still trumped that. I am almost tempted to ask how you taught all of your Pokemon that move. It’s… Exceptionally useful.”

“I can’t go into it. But Arcanine learns it automatically, it’s their signature move.” I explain earning a nod of acknowledgement from Erika.

“She is a beautiful Pokemon.” She admits with a heavy sigh. One that I recognized.

“Want to pet her? She loves attention.”

“Oh no. I couldn’t… Perhaps just a few moments?” She asks shyly and I snicker at her desire to touch the fluffy tail.

—--

After hanging out with Erika for a while she had to head back to her Gym for another battle, but I was once more alone. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to head first. Koga? Sabrina? I shuddered at that idea. I think I would go off and battle some other Gyms first. I really didn’t want to be turned into a doll.

So Fuschia it was. Koga and his stupid Poison types would be annoying, but I could deal. I took a break that night, resting my entire team and rewarding them all with a lavish dinner. Watching Dragonair absolutely swoon over Milotics victory as she cuddles up with him on my bed afterwards was super cute…

I might need to get a second incubator at this rate.

Well that was future Vicky's problem!

Arcanine and I cuddled after eating. My dog was utterly pleased with herself. This was her victory after all, and she didn’t even get knocked out!

In the morning I saddled her up, and we blazed out of Celadon. I wanted to take a short vacation.

We traveled through Kanto stopping pretty frequently when something caught our eye. We hung out in a stream with a pod of Poliwhirl while Milotic and Dragonair went swimming. We raced a herd of Ponyta on some ranch. We even slowed down to a trot as we passed through a really beautiful forest that was full of bird Pokemon, each of them chirping at us at our intrusion.

It was perfect. This is what a Pokemon adventure should be. I realized that despite everything. I hadn’t really done much traveling up to now. Most of the time I was just stuck in one place training, or following along making sure my friends were okay. Sure while traveling with Zelos I stopped and played with Pokemon, but I had kept my distance while traveling.

I guess I was afraid to get attached. My Pokemon instinct was to catch every Pokemon I ran across, but I knew that was dangerous. Foolish even. I didn’t have a Professor to send my Pokemon to. Anything I caught went home. And Mama and Papa had to take care of it.

Hmm.

I hadn’t really considered what Pokemon I wanted. That I had to have. Sure I always wanted a Dragonite. And Arcanine was amazing. Milotic had been a surprise chance that I never would let go, because they are awesome.

But what other Pokemon did I want to capture?

As we walked under the branches of the forest as Pokemon Bird song filled my ears I found myself unsure. Did I want to build my team for pure competitive power? Or just a team of my favorites? Did I want to try Contests? I hadn’t really thought about any of this. Just enjoying being in a peaceful world full of awesome creatures.

I patted Arcanine, earning a wiggle from my girl as she felt my attention.

I took a deep breath and let it out.

Who cares? This life was a gift. I wasn’t going to waste it getting stuck in thoughts about the path I should take. A Journey wasn’t about choosing where you wanted to end up and heading there in a straight line after all! A journey was about the places traveled in between.

Like Celadon. I had just spent a few days battling all the kids in the city, Arcanine was practically famous there. How many young trainers had battled Arcanine, or seen her battle and decided right then and there, they wanted an Arcanine? That they would train a Legendary Pokemon as well?

I smiled at the thought, deciding it was fine. Whatever path I went down I would do it with a smile on my face and a team of fun Pokemon to play with. If my Pokemon wanted to battle. We would battle. If they wanted to do contests, we would do that. If they wanted to be a lazy fish… Well Milotic really did need the exercise, and I knew Dragonair would be unhappy if he went full lazy, so he has to keep training to get stronger too.

I laughed a little at my own image of Milotic desperately trying to escape for a few minutes of lazy rest with me, his trainer hounding him, and his Dragon GF constantly wanting her man to get stronger.

So funny!

“Hey Arcanine. I don’t care which direction. Let’s just go and see what is over the horizon!” I call out suddenly, Arcanine eagerly barking at my words as she started running.