Chapter 2: Battle with Brandon

"A tea pig?" Harper asked Professor Oaks. "What sort of Pokémon is that?" She stared at her new Pokémon. It was a small pig-like hog sniffing out steam from its nose. It was staring around the room, waiting for something to happen, much like Harper who was interested in finding out what Professor Oak had to say.

"Since my old pall Ash had gone out on adventures, there have been many new Pokémon that have been discovered,” the Professor said. “That is a new Pokémon that comes from a faraway continent called North America. I have been given two tickets to give to two lucky trainers to go to a new region called Unova. I have chosen you and a boy from another town to go to this new region. I want you to report back to me on what you find. Make sure you catch lots of Pokémon.”

"Sure will," replied Harper. "When do I leave?"

"Today of course," he said. "I have booked a plane just for you two. It will take you to Nuvema Town which will be your starting point in this amazing journey you will start."

Harper put her Tepig back into its ball and Harper walked outside. Oak said that the plane was coming late, so it would give her enough time to talk to her new travelling partner. He was wearing a petrol-blue hoodie with light blue stitching. He had muddy blond hair, a face full of freckles, and bright piercing blue eyes. He was also wearing a pair of sneakers. When Harper met him for the first time, he had his hands in his muff.

"I'm Brandon," he said.

"Hi Brandon," she replied. "My name is Harper."

"Hey since we are waiting for the plane to come, do you want to have a Pokémon battle?" he asked her. "It will be cool to show my new Pokémon I've got from Professor Oak."

"Okay," said Harper. "Come out Tepig, show this guy a lesson." She throws out her Pokémon ball and from it came her Tepig. More stream than usual was coming out of its nose.

"Is that all you have got?" Brandon asked her. "Come out Sandshrew!" He threw his ball out and from it came a Sandshrew.

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"What is that?" asked Harper.

"It's a Sandshrew. It's my sand Pokémon. It likes to dig holes," the boy answered her question.

"Okay, Tepig, do it your best. Use your tackle ability."

The Tepig started to charge at the Sandshrew causing the wind to become a sideways tornado. The wind was rushing so much that it nearly caused Harper to fall over. Even Brandon was having a struggle standing up. The Tepig got really near the Sandshrew, but before it could reach it the Sandshrew jumped out of the way. It charged around the Tepig before jumping into a ball position. It kept circling Harper's Pokémon, each circle getting closer and closer to its target. Tepig merely stood its ground, waiting for the Sandshrew to attack. The Sandshrew was sudden with its attack, swiping at Harper's Tepig, but the Tepig was waiting for the attack and was able to dodge it. The Tepig tackled the Sandshrew - knocking it out.

"Yay I won," said Harper.

"You're pretty good," Brandon complimented.

"I agree," said an older boy, coming out of a house. It seemed as if he had watched the end of the match. "My name is Gary. I was once the champion. Let's see if you are as good as you think you are." He threw out his ball and from it came a Leafeon.

The Leafeon charged at Harper's Tepig and burst a blast of poisonous green slime at her Pokémon. But Tepig was able to dodge it. Leafeon then performed Magical Leaf at the Tepig with a blade of leaves. Tepig started to charge away from it. The Pokémon then jumped over the leaves and charged the other way towards The Leafeon and a semi-moon path. Suddenly it did Ember, burning the Leafeon. It jumped around trying to stop the fire. It soon fainted.

"YES!" yelled Harper. "I won another battle!"

"You proved yourself. I bet one day you will become champion. You will do us proud when you go to Unova," replied Gary.

As he was speaking the plane came. It landed in a field near the town. Professor Oak and her mother came to see them off. They told her to be safe and not to get into any trouble. Professor Oak gave her some advice on how to train her Pokémon and look after it. He told her that the best idea was to train in the wild spots before going up against another trainer. Harper and Brandon quickly jumped onto the plane and it took off. She saw her mother and the professor waving their hands goodbye. Throughout the trip, the two talked about their Pokémon battle. They talk about which Pokémon they would love to catch. Harper wanted a Zorua since it was a pretty cute Pokémon, whereas Brandon wanted a Purrloin since he liked cats.

They joked about not wanting to get Trubbish since they were rumoured to smell horrid. If she caught one she said she would release it straight away. They soon got to where they were going. Harper felt excited.

"Time to show them what I'm worth," she said before leaving the plane.