The Journal of Arthur Lindt
May 26th, 20XX
Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote in this journal. I originally kept it with the intention of writing in it as close to everyday as I could, but that plan fell through quickly. Day to day in New Bark Town is the kind of living where not much happens. Sure I could open it up and write, today Nova and I trained some more, his growth rate is incredible. Yeah that wouldn’t be very interesting to write or read. Besides, I ended up getting a second notebook, which I’ve been using to record Nova’s training information in. This is opposed to leaving the notes at the back of this journal, which is what I had been doing before.
So because of this I ended up not writing much until now. Honestly even now a lot hasn’t actively occurred. I mean in the two and half months Nova has made a mountain of improvements, but event wise there’s been nothing going on. The reason I’m writing now however is because this changes tomorrow morning. Tomorrow Ethan gets his starter from Elm, Nova and I have a battle and then we all set off on our journeys. I’m going straight to Violet city to challenge Falkner as soon as possible, while Ethan is headed to pick up a package for Elm and come back.
Lyra is going on her journey as well, and will actually be joining me for the trip to Violet City. I originally had wanted to travel alone, practice in secret for Falkner and everything, but the truth is Lyra and I have been practicing together constantly. It seems every other day Nova and Zee have a battle and test new moves and techniques on one another. Actually just a week ago, during one of these battles Zee finally evolved into a Marill, which was huge for her. We celebrated pretty hard after the fact, even though Nova still ended up winning the battle.
There’s been a lot of improvement from both Nova and Zee, and Nova has definitely not won every battle we’ve had. It turns out Zee’s ability is huge Power, which is absolutely busted and makes her a total nightmare to deal with in close quarters. Nova has yet to figure out sunny day so we don’t usually have the speed in our growth increases or movements to directly counter Zee’s new strengths as Marill. Thankfully evolving into Marill gave Zee a water typing, meaning Nova’s grass moves are even more effective. It’s been interesting getting to train against her, at least, and it’s been good for testing Nova’s own ability.
Now we haven’t been able to completely confirm it yet, since as I said Nova hasn’t figured out sunny day yet, but we are pretty sure his ability is Solar Power. This is due to the fact that his mega drain seems to hit harder, and he tends to faint easier the sunnier it is outside. This isn’t the biggest deal now, since Sunkern doesn’t have a great special attack to start with, but once he becomes a Sunflora, under the effect of sunny day he will have a special attack stat that can rival the strongest Pokémon out there. Speaking of that I should probably mention abilities, since they haven’t really come up a whole bunch yet, but they’re bound to be more important once I enter the League Circuit proper.
All Pokémon have something called an ability. This ability is essentially an extra effect or bonus feature that that Pokémon in particular has. For example, Zee has huge power. This ability basically means that her attack stat is almost twice as effective as it normally would be. In the case of Nova and our presumption, he has solar power, this would mean his special attack is nearly 50% more effective, but he would lose health over time. Now the reason I specify things like about twice, or approximately 50% is because these numbers aren’t concrete.
In the games, any effects from abilities were immediate and calculable across all Pokémon. Here in the real world it’s a little more fluid. Abilities can be trained and worked on in order to increase their effectiveness or reduce their negatives, as well as even giving them the opportunity to learn additional abilities they are capable of knowing.
In the games Pokémon could ever only know a single ability, usually available from 3 options they are capable of knowing. Here a Pokémon will have one ability they gravitate towards or know naturally, but the others are able to be learned as long as it is possible to be practiced and trained in the first place. Some abilities you do just have to be born with, or only are known to certain evolutions of Pokémon. For example the Elekid evolution line learns the ability motor drive when they evolve into Electivire, but there is no way for them to learn that ability before evolution.
So, since Nova leans towards solar power, at some point I will want to train him to learn chlorophyll as well, making them both stronger and faster under the sun. Lyra has been specializing Marill’s diet to help them develop the body type for the thick fat ability as well. It’s not easy to train a second ability, and only top Pokémon contenders ever actually have Pokémon that do it, but it becomes a must have at the top of the circuit. Every advantage is needed and missing out on one of your Pokémon’s few abilities is a huge weakness when others could have taken the effort to learn it.
That said, not all abilities are positive. Some have negative drawbacks, like Nova becoming less resilient under prolonged exposure to intense sunshine, or certain abilities that make Pokémon slower or lazier. Truant comes to mind in regards to Slaking. While abilities can’t really be forgotten once they are learned, they can be worked on to reduce how negative they truly are. So it’s worth researching to know if an ability your Pokémon can learn is one worth trying to.
Lyra isn’t really the type to do much researching, so I don’t think she realizes that Marill has a much more useful third ability option to learn called sap sipper. It would basically make them invulnerable to grass type energy, and actually make them stronger if they are hit by moves containing that energy.
Given Zee’s repeated battles against Nova, and how mega drain seems to be doing less and less over the course of our battles, I think they are already on their way to learning it. I could tell Lyra of course, but we are technically rivals in the league. No point in revealing that potential advantage to her just yet. If she doesn’t figure it out before Azalea I’ll let her know then. I don’t want to be too mean, but she does have to figure these things out for herself too.
Type energy is its own basket of worms, but I’ll save a more detailed explanation for a different entry. For now just know that some Pokémon have certain type energies they exude, as do certain attacks. These energies can clash in ways that result in one harming or ignoring the other, and is how immunities to certain types work. Absorbing this type energy from defeated Pokémon is also how you gain EV’s from battling, so it’s pretty interesting. There’s a lot more to it of course, but I’ll leave it at that for now.
As for tomorrow, the travel plans are pretty simple. Battle Ethan, patch up, leave for Violet City. Given we aren’t doing a return trip like Ethan will be, I’m pretty confident I’ll manage to avoid Silver, the rival. He shouldn’t break into the lab until after Ethan leaves, and should bump into him in Cherrygrove. Lyra and I should hopefully be like a week or so ahead by then, which I hope means we don’t have to deal with him.
Battling and training with the protagonist is already as close to the main plot of this game as I want to get. Dealing with the rival, or god help me Team Rocket, is not something I want to do.
As for the results of our training, things have been going incredibly well. Nova picked up on absorb very quickly, and after a month of regular practice I was pretty confident in saying that it transitioned into mega drain by then. It’s by far his strongest attacking move for now, and stacks very well with leech seed. Thanks to repetitive training he’s managed to make leech seed a very quick ability. Where before they sort of lobbed out of his head towards the enemy, now they fired out of the top at speed. Not quite strong enough to be considered bullet seed or anything, but much more effective to use in battle.
Eventually his use of those seeds would be essential for Nova learning worry seed and seed bomb, but that was far down the line still. There unfortunately wasn’t much change to tackle as a move, but it seemed Nova just wasn’t built for using his own body to attack that way. That said our improvements with growth were more than enough to make up for it. In the end I had to decide what I wanted Nova to focus on, reducing the time it took for growth, or the ability to use growth while moving.
While I considered mobility important, Nova was so slow that it made very little difference whether he was standing around or hopping slowly across the field. As such making sure it got off as quickly as possible seemed more important to his specific style. Focusing on that over these last two and a half months has paid off, at this point it only takes him three and a half seconds to get off the full attack, which is crazy given we don’t even have a badge yet.
Ingrain has also made some improvements. Eventually Lyra figured out that while he was using the move the best way to interrupt it was to force Nova off of the ground. This led to Zee often trying to sever Nova’s roots with a focused water gun, or just straight up hitting him with enough force to knock him loose. This had the effect of training Nova to make thicker and sturdier roots when using the move. At this point the only way he got out of the ground while using the move is if he was hit with a ton of force or chose to sever his own connection, which took a lot of time and focus to do.
It was on the list of eventual strategies to have him learn to stop and start ingrain as quickly and easily as he can, so he can heal while sitting still without sacrificing mobility. That was still a long way off for us, but the durability of his roots had increased to the point I was debating some new move ideas. Sunkern couldn’t learn wrap or constrict normally, but perhaps… Eh, something to think more about I’m sure.
The final big reveal that was discovered actually came right away after Elm gave us the Pokédex. It turns out that Nova actually knew three egg moves. Leech seed, ingrain, as well as morning sun. Yeah, it turns out his fascination with sunshine in the early mornings was actually a move. He didn’t know it either. Morning sun allowed him to use the sun to restore some of his health. The amount varied depending on how intense the sunlight was, but essentially Nova had the potential to become nearly undefeatable, at least in a prolonged fight. Leech seed and ingrain could grant him passive healing, while mega drain and morning sun gave temporary boosts while using those moves. Combine that with the fact that I could get him a TM for grassy terrain, yeah he was going to be very tough to defeat without overwhelming power in one hit.
All that is left is our battle against Ethan tomorrow, and then the journey begins. Feels like it took forever to get here but now that it’s tomorrow I’m almost too excited to sleep. I wondered what starter Ethan would pick. Totodile was always my favorite from the games, but Cyndaquil felt like he would be more Ethan’s style. Probably pick the fire starter just to have the advantage against Nova early on, but I would be damned if I would let a little type advantage give him an easy win. Lyra and I have been practicing for months, he didn’t have a chance.
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Arthur Lindt
My morning started the same as any other. A morning run (and hop) with Nova around the perimeter of New Bark, home for a shower and then some breakfast, and then visiting with Mom and Morganna for a bit. The changes come in the next part. Normally I would head out to train on the edge of the route after eating, or have a battle with Lyra. Today I instead decided to spend more time at home. I left later today, both Mom and Morganna knew that. By now I had been living as Arthur for months, but it was honestly safer to say that Arthur had my old memories. I considered myself as Arthur, his family as mine. And now I was preparing to leave them for the remainder of the year. It would be unlikely I would see them in person until I had at least my fifth badge and could get a flying license.
We didn’t talk about that though. We just talked about the pointless things families will discuss. Pointless gossip, and idle chatter, with plenty of teasing between siblings. Just enjoying each others company and pretending it wasn’t going to end. Eventually all things do, and our pleasant morning was interrupted by a buzz on my Pokégear.
It was Lyra again, with a message from Ethan. Despite having his own Pokégear he absolutely refused to use the messaging feature, electing to call people instead. This would be fine except he was also more of the strong silent type anyway, so he rarely called either. If he wanted to see me he would ask Lyra, who was always hanging around him or the lab if she wasn’t at home or training with me.
Hey, Elm finally called Ethan in. It’s time.
It was all she said, and I knew exactly what it meant. Ethan was going to pick his starter from Elm’s options. I had tried to ask him who he was thinking of picking beforehand, but he had been exceptionally cagey about the whole thing, refusing to discuss it. Not that it mattered, I would see who he had picked in a few minutes.
“That’s Lyra. Ethan’s going to pick his first Pokémon now.” I spoke to my family, who had gone silent when my phone buzzed. Morganna looked down and sniffled, but didn’t cry. Mom simply put a hand on my sister's, and then looked at me.
“Go see your friend, I know he wanted you to be his first battle. Take care of what you have to, heal your Pokémon and we will meet you at the entrance to the route. Say our goodbyes then.” My Mom smiled, but there was a look in her eyes. One I couldn’t quite recognize, it wasn’t sadness, but it wasn’t quite happy either. But seeing it I felt I was going to start crying myself.
“Thanks Mom. I’ll see you guys before I leave okay. Come on Nova.” I turned to leave and Nova hopped after me. He had a special seat at the table now, one we had a bucket filled with dirt placed on so he could sit with us and participate in breakfast and conversation.
“Sun… Sunkern!” He looked longingly at the table before hopping after me. He had grown to love my family as much as I did, and I could tell he was a little sad to be leaving.
Even with that sadness though, he was determined to be the best, and our journey was the way to do that. He knew that and I knew that, so as we left the house we walked with confidence and pride. We had to act strong now, so they wouldn’t worry so much when we were gone.
I had my Sylphco bag over my shoulder, filled with the supplies I would need. A tent and sleeping bag, a bucket and bag of dirt for Nova in case we were in areas without any easily accessible. There was also a shovel, for gathering dirt and… other things. Spare clothes matching my usual look with the dark jeans, white shirt and yellow vest. There was a thicker jacket, a pair of boots, an umbrella, and a pair of swim trunks as well, just in case they were needed.
Obviously there were also my spare Pokéballs; the net ball, nine regular pokéballs and one premiere ball. And of course the four potions I had left. Having access to Elm’s first aid machine meant Lyra and I didn’t need to worry about spending potions to heal our team after battles, so I still had them on hand thankfully. It was everything I would need, so I felt ready crossing town to the lab.
Nova and I used to get more looks when we started training. A new Pokémon in town was a pretty big deal to a smaller community like this, but at this point everyone was used to Nova and I. We got nothing more than the occasional wave or a wishing of good luck. It was basically the town's biggest news that we were leaving. New Bark hadn’t had a new kid go on their journey since Lyra’s older brother, so three kids leaving on the same day was pretty big news. I had a feeling it wouldn’t just be my family showing up to wish us luck as we set off this afternoon, but It was fine. Nova and I both enjoyed being a little celebrity.
Ethan probably would have been a bigger deal, being a lab trainer and all, but he really did seem to prefer being in the background. Nova and I soaked up all the attention we could get, so we were the ones people talked about. It was funny, given Ethan would probably sweep the gyms with relative ease once he got started, that people thought Lyra and I were the major contenders. Ethan was the protagonist, he would be as much a monster as Red or Blue were three years ago.
I arrived at the front door of the lab to see Lyra leaning against the wall beside it, Marill in her arms. She gave me a small wave as I arrived, and Marill jumped down to greet Nova.
“Hey Art. Ethan’s been in there for about 20 minutes, I wanted to give him some privacy in making his choice.”
“Oh sweet, what were the options from Elm?” I knew the answer of course, but technically the Pokémon that the professor would have the potential to hand out would change year to year.
They were always rarer Pokémon, native to the region, and always of the core types. Fire, water and grass. This meant that the selection was fairly predictable, but there was still some variety. Lyra’s brother actually had a Horsea as his starter from Elm.
“Oh it was a good selection this year. Cyndaquil, Totodile and a Chikorita. Tough choice for him I’m sure.” She looked down at where Zee and Nova were hopping after each other in circles. They had become pretty good friends over these months of training.
“Damn no kidding. Well if he wants to try and beat Nova and I he would be best off picking a Cyndaquil.” Nova glanced at me and stopped running from Zee when I said his name, which simply caused her to catch up and smack him with her tail before running away again. He cried out in frustration before chasing back after her. Their little game of tag was entertaining for Lyra and I to watch as we talked.
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“Yeah, it would also round out our little group well. Grass, water and fire. Still we will have to see what he wants to go with.” She looked excited at the prospect of training alongside Ethan as well.
It was a stark change from the girl who had only battled me as a mock first battle. She had always been more interested in contests than in battles, and yet now she had well and truly caught the bug. She enjoyed every minute of training with Zee, and battling with Nova and I. I couldn’t help but think that I was glad I was traveling with her for the start of my journey.
“Art?” I was brought back to reality by her voice.
“Uh, sorry what was that?”
“I had asked if you were nervous about leaving, but you were just staring at me. Oh Arceus, do I have something on my face?!” She pulled out her Pokégear and began looking at her reflection in black screen of the device.
“What uh, no sorry I was just um. Thinking. About traveling. Just traveling.” I could feel my face getting red as I had been caught staring at her. I wasn’t even thinking anything weird, why do I feel so embarrassed. I coughed to clear my throat. “I’m not really nervous. I think I’m mostly going to miss my family while I’m gone, but I’m excited to travel and train. To battle new and strong trainers. What about you?”
Lyra looked relieved when I said there wasn’t anything on her face, before looking down at her feet to avoid eye contact with me.
“I... I’m pretty nervous actually. At first I just wanted Zee and I to practice for the contests. But since battling you and training I’ve really really enjoyed it. But… I’m not that good at it. You win almost all our battles, and I’m afraid to get out there and to have Zee get hurt in a fight we just aren’t able to handle.” She whispered the last of her sentence, keeping her voice down to avoid Zee or Nova hearing what she was saying.
“Lyra. I know nothing I can say will convince you, since I’ve been the only person you’ve been battling for three months. When we get onto the route, challenge another trainer. Believe me when I say that you’re a lot stronger than you think you are.” She looked up at me, before giving a half smile.
“Sure. You’re probably right. I’m definitely just overthinking things.” She smacked herself on the cheeks before standing up straight. “Zee and I are strong. I trust that.”
She looked better and like she had much more confidence in her step now. Good. She was genuinely making Zee into a little monster, she just hadn’t realized it since she had been fighting another monster for this whole time.
I was scared for the first kid that challenged her thinking she would be an easy challenge.
“Well, let’s see what Ethan decided on.” She got up from against the wall, calling Zee over who came bounding up to her side.
“Wait, I thought we were going to wait for him to come out with a proper decision?!” I called after her but she ignored me, going through the front door of the lab without stopping or looking back. Nova looked at me with confusion, turning his whole body on angle to make the appearance.
“I don’t know either buddy. Girls are confusing.” Nova nodded in agreement, as though what I said was a wise piece of advice. We walked in after her, trying not to be left behind.
Ethan and Elm were in the main room of the lab. While Elm's desk and the first aid machine were against the back wall, most of the center of the room was an open space that usually would have had a desk or something. It instead was occupied by two Pokémon running in circles. A Totodile chased a Cyndaquil around the room, never quite catching up but always staying close behind in some strange sort of game. Cyndaquil did not look to be a willing participant and instead seemed to be genuinely worried as it ran away from the little alligator.
Ethan was standing to the side of the group, holding a small Chikorita in his arms. She seemed comfortable in his arms, and fully unwilling to go down onto the ground where Totodile was playing. Elm, to his benefit, was watching them play with avid attention, and taking notes on his giant IPad of a Pokédex.
“Um, shouldn’t you stop them from chasing each other around the lab? I don’t think Cyndaquil is having fun.” I looked towards Elm who didn’t seem to have heard me, still looking through his Pokédex at everything.
Cyndaquil however did seem to hear me, and ran in my direction, taking cover behind my legs as Totodile ran up as well but slowed as Nova jumped in front of them, blocking his path to Cyndaquil and me.
“Sunkern! Sun. Kern.” Nova made his stance clear, and in no uncertain terms told Totodile to watch his behavior.
Totodile did not seem to register that Nova was actually a threat and instead tried to bite at him instead. Nova simply threw his body against Totodile and sent the little crocodile across the room. He rolled over the floor before coming to a stop and shook his head before standing. Instead of returning to run around, he moped and slowly walked to the corner of the room before sitting down on his butt. He refused to look at anyone and watched the ground.
Ethan, to my surprise, set down Chikorita on the first aid machine and walked over to where Totodile was pouting. He leaned down close and spoke to him softly enough I couldn’t hear what was being said. Whatever it was seemed effective though as Totodile nodded along before sitting up and walking over to Nova and I before bowing his head and mumbling his own name. Nova simply scoffed before jumping to the side.
Cyndaquil stepped out from behind my leg and walked up to the Totodile and said its own name quietly before spitting a small poof of fire in his face and running off. Totodile cried happily and chased after them, the game restarted with much more involvement from Cyndaquil now. It looked like both were having a good time now that whatever had caused the problem before had been sorted.
“Well done, well done. You have a talent for dealing with infant Pokémon Ethan. Have you decided on your pick yet?” Elm asked Ethan, finally lowering his Pokédex to speak with the boy.
“Yes. I’ll go with Chikorita.” He spoke softly but without any hesitation or doubt, he knew what he wanted.
Still sitting on the first aid station where they had been left, Chikorita jumped up happily, crying out her name. They jumped down and ran over towards Ethan, giving his leg a nuzzle before jumping up into his arms.
“Hm. Interesting choice. Now do remember that Chikorita is only a few months old. While she’s perfectly able for battles and things by now, she is still in her infancy and will require close guidance. Would you like to give her a nickname?” Elm looked ecstatic at Ethan’s choice, and he quickly pulled Ethan aside to discuss the finer details of caring for a Chikorita.
Ethan’s choice surprised me, but in the end it was his decision and it was clear he was confident in it. I could see Lyra looked a mix of excited and nervous and I couldn’t blame her. Now both of her ‘rivals’ had grass starters, not exactly an easy position to be in. On the other hand, Ethan was basically her best friend, and had just gotten his first Pokémon. A difficult position to be in for sure.
I turned my gaze away from Lyra, just looking around the lab, when I remembered something interesting. Looking around the room I could see a Window on the left side of the building. As my view crossed the window itself I saw a flash of the color red moving out of sight. Silver. It made sense, he was supposed to be here by now. Seeing it confirmed was interesting, a little unnerving actually, but it did really convince me that this is absolutely the beginning of what would be the game's plot.
This left me partially torn, while I definitely didn’t love the idea of Silver stealing a Pokémon from the lab like he planned to do, interfering felt like a bad idea. Silver would end up helping Ethan dealing with a lot of the problems with team rocket later on in this story, and while he was kind of a dick he wasn’t actually a bad guy. In the end I decided not to bother interfering. Things would happen as they needed to, and Ethan would handle most of the issues that would come up. I’d rather not get involved with a threat like Team Rocket unless I absolutely had too. This situation didn’t need me to touch it.
It only took about 10 minutes but Ethan eventually returned, Elm following close behind. Ethan wasn’t carrying Chikorita, as she instead followed closely behind, walking with confidence. Ethan looked excited, at least as excited as he was capable of looking. He was consistently glancing back at his Chikorita, smiling whenever he did so. He stopped just in front of me, looking me in the eye.
“I would like that battle now.” I glanced between him and his Chikorita, who looked at me before letting out a little call of her own name before stepping forward.
“Are you sure? Nova is pretty tough at this point, I doubt it would be a fair match up as far as experience goes.” I wanted to battle Ethan, don't get me wrong, but the feel of this situation reminds me of Nova’s first ‘battle’ with that heracross. All it did was make Nova feel bad about the situation. At a certain point you didn’t learn anything from battling someone that much stronger than you. I didn’t think that the difference between Nova and Chikorita would be that large, but it was worth mentioning.
“I’m sure. It will give Cheeka and I something to work towards.” Well, as long as he was certain.
We made our way out to the same field Lyra and I had been using to have battles for months now. It was marked and scuffed, and had areas where fresh grass had grown to repair the divots cut into the dirt by pressurized water. Lyra volunteered to ref, while Zee sat to the side to watch.
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I wish I could say the battle was close, or all that interesting. It wasn’t. Chikorita was still very young, and as far as move options went only knew how to use tackle or growl. I had told Nova to keep in mind how young Chikorita, and told him specifically no mega drain or leech seed. We weren’t going to take it easy on Chikorita, but there was no need to use our ranged moves in order to sweep without effort. Chikorita’s first battle should at least be a battle, not a smackdown.
Unfortunately the difference in experience just left Chikorita no opportunity. Nova hit harder, was tougher and had better reaction time. The most impressive part of the battle was actually her teamwork with her trainer. Even if Chikorita had never battled before, her trust in Ethan was already full-proof, and she obeyed his every command without question.
He had kept the pressure up from the start, closing distance and tackling relentlessly to keep Nova from using growth for free. We did use the move once but paid for it with two separate tackles in that short time. It was clear Ethan had planned battling Nova already, given he had been referee for so many of Lyra and I’s battles.
The most impressive move he had was when Chikorita feint a tackle to release a growl in Nova’s face instead. He pulled this off right after our use of growth, so he got two hits in and then removed half the benefit we got from the move. It was definitely well played, and once Chikorita got some experience under her she would be very tough to beat. For now though, it was our win. Nova and I didn’t celebrate as hard as we might have, not wanting to rub it in on Ethan or Cheeka, but still congratulated him for a match well fought. He simply nodded in thanks and began mumbling to himself about strategies and potential moves.
Yeah, he was going to be a monster too, I was certain of that much.
After our battle we went back to the lab, where Elm healed up our Pokémon. He commented on the bond between Ethan and Cheeka already growing, and other standard Pokémon lines. It took us only 20 minutes for our partners to be healed. We accepted them back and thanked the Professor for his time. He turned to face Ethan specifically, reminding him of the address he was supposed to visit to grab Elm’s package before beginning his journey proper.
After that we were on our way. I sent a message over to my Mom, letting her know we were headed to the route entrance. Lyra did the same for her parents and Ethan’s mom. We made our way mostly in silence, most of the conversation seemed to be among our Pokémon who walked along behind us. Even after all these months I didn’t understand Nova well enough to know what he was saying without watching his face as well, but I knew enough to know they were talking about battling. Nova only ever got this excited about that topic.
Arriving at the edge of town, where the path onto route 29 and the rest of the region led, we stopped to rest. We would wait for our families to see us off before we moved on, since for at least Lyra and I, it would be the last we’d see of them in person for some time.
“So Art, it will take about a week of travel to get to Violet City, are you looking for any Pokémon on the way?” Lyra broke the silence of our waiting with a question. “People usually try to have two Pokémon by the time they reach the first gym, since gyms have to use at least two Pokémon to battle no matter what.”
Lyra was right of course. Your first badge was basically your entry into the league, while it wasn’t considered that difficult, it was still a battle against two Pokémon. You had to be committed enough to either have two Pokémon yourself, or strong enough to win against two without the help. A surprising number of trainers couldn’t even manage this, so it was the first step. If 90% of the population had a Pokémon, only 75% would ever get past the first badge. That dropped all the way to 30% getting 5 badges, to less than 3% getting 8. It was a steep curve that you had to stay ahead of, but I wasn’t that concerned.
“I mean I’ll keep my eye out, but I’m not looking for anything in particular. I’m confident Nova and I can handle the gym alone, and I'd only take another Pokémon that fits with our team.” I gave my honest answer, I had no intention of lying to them.
“Right, your whole underdog thing. I guess that makes sense for you. Of course you’d be stubborn enough to challenge the first gym with only one Pokémon. One who's weak to flying types on top of that.”
“Underdog?” Ethan asked the question quietly, and Lyra jumped to answer.
“Right, you never actually had Arthur explain his plan to you huh? Well basically, Arthur wants his team to be filled with Pokémon like Sunkern. Underestimated, and with a drive to be the best. I don’t really get it personally, wouldn’t just making Nova strong prove your point?” Lyra explained it well enough, but she never really understood why I was doing what I was doing.
“No, it wouldn't, people would just say that Nova is an exception, that he’s backed up by other strong Pokémon and is just a strong support. I’m not trying to prove that Nova can be strong, I know he can. I mean he’s probably the best suited to becoming strong I’ve seen. The point isn’t that Nova can become strong, it’s that any Pokémon can become strong.” They were both watching me as I talked, although Lyra was only paying half attention, playing with Zee since I had explained this all before.
“If it was just Nova that wouldn’t mean anything, people would brush it aside. If it’s an entire team of Pokémon they look down on, kicking their asses. That means something. Means they were wrong. They didn’t just underestimate one Pokémon but all of them.” I had explained it before but I never got tired of saying it again. I was certain I’d have to justify myself another hundred times but I would do so happily.
“Why?” Ethan asked the question still watching me.
“What?”
“Why do you have to prove this point? Why does it matter?” He was looking at me as he asked and it caught me off guard. No one had really asked me why I bothered, just telling me it was a dumb idea or accepting my goal.
“Um. Honestly? Spite.” I gave my answer with a little bit of embarrassment.
“Wait, spite?! Your reason for doing all of this, for making things that much harder for yourself. Is Spite?!” Lyra looked shocked, raising her voice as I answer. Ethan looked surprised as well, but allowed Lyra to ask the question for him.
“I mean yeah? Listen, when I met Nova some assholes were talking about how useless he was as a Pokémon, not worth training. It pissed me off, everyone knows that any Pokémon can be strong, and to decide that someone doesn’t have value just because it would be more difficult. That sucks. It pissed me off and I decided they were going to eat those words. A team of Pokémon like Nova would prove them completely wrong. Undeniable proof it’s not just about finding the exceptions, but just about the amount of work you put in.” I looked across my friends who were watching me with a baffled expression. Lyra was the one who broke the silence.
“Ahahahaha. Because you got angry with some bullies you decided to make your life as difficult as possible? I’d be shocked, if that wasn’t exactly like you to do. Petty but understandable.” Lyra kept laughing at the situation, which even Ethan started to chuckle at.
It didn’t take long before we were all laughing at the absurdity of it. Sometimes you don’t need some deep or profound motivation to do something. Sometimes it’s just because you want to accomplish the things others say you can’t or shouldn’t.
We sat like that, chatting for roughly thirty minutes before we could see a group of people approaching. Our families, of course, as well as Professor Elm. Further back were other members of town, all having come to see us off.
I waited for Mom and Morganna to approach, stepping away from Lyra and Ethan who had started speaking with their own parents. Morganna looked like she was about to cry, and Mom wasn’t doing much better in all honesty.
“Oh Arthur. You’re ready for this right?”
“Of course Mom. Ready as I've ever been.” It was hard, saying goodbye to your family. Even if it wasn’t forever, and I’d be coming back and could call whenever. It still felt difficult.
“Art..” Morganna sniffled as she walked up, before hugging me around the waist. “You better win all your battles. If you’re leaving then you gotta win.” She was crying again, tears wetting my shirt as she hugged me. I simply held her close.
“Come on sis it’s me. Nova and I are gonna win it all. When I make the Conference you and Mom are gonna come watch in person. I’ll fly you myself if I gotta.” I gave her a smile and she sniffled again, burying her face in my shirt.
I looked over at Mom who was just smiling at the two of us.
“I know you’ll do amazing Arthur. Just be careful okay. And you call us everytime you make it to a new town or city.”
“Of course Mom, you know I will.”
Mom walked over to me, before wrapping both Morganna and I in a hug. We stood there for like a minute, just holding eachother close before we had to separate.
“Sun… Kern!” We were interrupted by the sound of Nova struggling his way to worm in between us all, wanting to participate in the group hug.
“Aha, yes Nova, we will miss you too. You look after Arthur for us okay?” Mom spoke to Nova, breaking off the hug as she did. Nova simply gave a nod in response, as though it was his plan all along.
“Okay, no more tears, before you go. I got something for you. It was your Dad’s on his first journey in Galar.”
Mom reached into her coat and pulled out an object. It was a gray Scally Cap. The funny looking not quite beret’s known in Galar. It was a little weathered with time, and a single yellow pin on the side for some color. It was exactly what I needed to complete my look, one that would surely become iconic. I put it on my head, and looked at Mom with a smile.
She simply smiled back, before giving me a nod.
“You’re ready. We will see you on the battlenet. Do your best, and have fun. Make memories. Everything that this journey is all about. I love you Arthur.”
“I love you too Mom. Both of you.”
I took a step back from my family. I had to go before I wouldn’t have the strength too.
“Come on Nova.” I gestured to my partner, who took the chance to hop from the ground up to my arms. I opened the back of my bag and he rested in the opening, using it as a makeshift carrier.
I turned away from my family, towards route 29, where my friends were waiting. They had finished their goodbyes and were waiting for me. Running up to their side we turned back as a group to wave to those who came to see us off. We turned off as a group, finally making our way out of town and into the light of the sun. It all started here, and I couldn’t wait for what came next.