"Maybe you should come back. Just for a few weeks to calm down for a bit." Mom suggested over the Dex.
"No, mom. I've made up my mind. I'm going to continue on this journey. I can't run away." I've spent too long just waiting. It's time I actually do something.
"Alright, dear. If anytime you think it's becoming too much I want you to promise to at least call me, okay?" Even over the phone, her concern was palpable. I had just watched someone be electrocuted and taken right in front of my eyes.
But still. Running now meant running forever in my eyes. It was now or never. I choose now.
"Of course, mom. I'll call you later, okay? I gotta get going." I hung up on her. It was hard hearing her voice.
I watched the rest of the Pokecenter clear out for the day. Aside from the ever present line of people trying to reach Nurse Joy's counter people were leaving for the day in droves. Many of them were from the ship, either teleporting out or flying out. Others left in groups for Route 19. I recognized some of them as Orre trainers. They didn't look happy with their starting spot. Granted, there were a few gyms here on this part of Unova, but there wasn't much of a trainer scene to get involved in.
If I remember right the gym here is run by Cheren, a Normal-type Gym Leader. I wasn't near ready to take on a gym so I'll probably head to Virbank and train along the way to challenge the gym there.
"Ah. There you are!" I flicked my gaze onto a familiar voice. A woman wearing red reading glasses and a green hat waved at me. Her blonde hair and cheerful demeanor triggered the necessary memories in me.
"Ms. Bianca. What are you doing all the way out here?" I asked. Bianca, as one of Juniper's aids, would liaison with Aunt Jovi's lab every now and then when cooperating on research. I had met her a few times on such trips.
She put her hands on her hips. "Oh, stop it with the Ms. Just Bianca is fine, David. I'm much too young for you to call me a miss. I came to run a few errands, and then I heard the news from Professor Jovi. I'm so sorry." She looked truly apologetic. She was right. Bianca couldn't be older than twenty two at this point. The events of Black and White Two were about five years ago if memory serves me.
I waved her off. "Don't worry about it. What was your business in Aspertia?"
She anxiously eyed my obvious eye bags. "Well, the new season just started, so I delivered one of our Lab starters to their trainer. I think you'll be excited to know who it is!" She finished her sentence with a false cheer.
"Who?"
"It's the Champion's little brother! He's a very excitable fellow! You should meet him! Maybe you two could get to know each other!"
Great…. "What's his name?"
"Nate. He's out there battling one of the girls from here. You wanna come watch?" She clapped her two hands together.
"Sure, why not."
I followed Bianca to the battling grounds outside, where a few trainers were duking it out in their allotted boxes. Off to the right, a Tepig and a Snivy faced off against each other.
I recognized the trainer behind the Tepig. He looked exactly like the male version of the player character, down to his shoes. Everything about him from spiky long hair to the bag he had put down for the battle. Identical.
The other girl I didn't recognize at all. She had long brown hair in a bun. Tamed, in contrast to Nate. She had a cool demeanor to her, like she had never been caught by surprise in her entire life. Her eyes were slanted, her hands inside her jacket pockets. The jacket she was wearing was red with white accents in it. It was easily her most notable feature as it way too big for her.
"Tepig! You got her now! Go Tackle!" Nate waved his arm around excitedly as Tepig launched himself in Snivy's direction.
"Connive. Leaf Storm." The Snivy ducked down and pushed up a gust of wind by its tail, leaves manifesting inside of it until it grew and warped Tepig in as he ran right at it. The tornado swung where the tail did, and after waving Tepig around for a bit before depositing Tepig on the ground. Ugh. That leaf storm dregs up bad memories.
The tiny pig only barely stood up on its paws. "Can you still go on, Tepig?" Nate asked in a loud voice.
"Guegh!" The Tepig snorted, a plume of smoke coming out of its nostrils.
"Alriiiight! Tepig! Use Tackle! Go all out!" Tepig pushed some of the dirt behind him by his paws, revving up for an extra fast attack.
"Vine Whip."
Two tentacle-looking objects ejected themselves from Snivy's shoulder blades and slapped the Tepig away from its intended trajectory and away from Snivy.
"End it."
The Tepig put the brakes on his attack as soon as he realized he had missed. It was too late for him to dodge the clubbing that came from the vines above.
"Ah no! Tepig!"
His Pokemon was laid flat out on its back, a big bruise on its head left there by Snivy's last attack. He wasn't moving.
"Gotta say. He doesn't seem too promising." I turned back to Bianca, who was watching the aftermath of the match. Nate was shouting something at the girl and then returned his Pokemon, running inside to the Pokecenter.
"Sometimes the most passionate Pokemon trainers are the ones that go the farthest."
I watched him bump into at least three people walking along a straight path. "Yeah. Passionate."
The brown-haired girl calmly returned her Snivy, bowing towards Bianca and then straight up leaving. "Who is she?"
Bianca put her index finger under her chin. "Mmmmm. I'm not too sure, though I'm pretty sure I've met her before…"
"Right. I'm going to go before—"
"Hey! Bianca! Wait up!" Oh he's back already. He waved up at us as he came storming back. "Who are you?" He stared at me like he was eight and I was the guy his divorced mom brought home at 10 P.M.
"My name is David. I'm a trainer, from Orre."
"Oh that's cool. Say Bianca! Did you see my battle just now?! Tepig did so well! Thank you so much for giving him to me!"
Does this guy only speak in exclamation marks? "No problem, Nate. Make sure you take good care of him!" She smiled at him. "I've gotta go now. Call me if you have any issues. Bye David! Bye Nate!"
She took out a Pokeball and with a flash of light revealed an Elgyem. "Hey, Beepy. Professor Juniper's lab if you please?" The little gems on the alien Pokemon lit up, and without further ado, teleported Bianca away.
"So what are you here for, David?" Nate turned to me and asked.
He seriously doesn't know? He lives here and he hasn't noticed the massive amount of people from the shipwreck? "..I got waylaid on the way to Castelia City. I'm going to be heading there right now."
"Oh cool! Hey do you want a partner? For out on the road? I wanna go to Castelia too! I could join you!"
"Eh no th—" I stopped myself and really thought about it. It wouldn't hurt having someone along for the road. That's a long time of being alone. I only have one Pokemon on me, and on the occasion that I'd be in some kind of danger, having someone else there would also be really helpful. But did it have to be this guy.. "Sure. I'm heading out in a few hours. Do you think Tepig will be ready by then?"
He nodded vehemently. "Oooh we can talk about what we're gonna do next!"
"Sure. Let's head inside, yeah?" I was gonna regret this.
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Several hours later
Nate strapped on his bag. "Alriiiight! Let's hit the road! I'm ready!" Let's hope you are.
We walked on to the fresh and windy road of Route 19. Route 19 wasn't all that long. It would take maybe a day of non-stop travel to get through it's entirety. But that wasn't my goal today.
As soon as we made our first steps we headed into the forest and away from the Trainer's path.
"Come on out, Styx." The Eevee's Pokeball opened up to reveal an eager Styx, her ears perked up in focused attention. Today, we would be starting our first official training session, finally.
"At this level the two principal things that matter are speed and reflexes. If you can dodge what your enemy dishes out, and react faster than they can attack, you'll have the upper hand, which means, 9 times out of 10, you win. I already introduced you to the new 'Side' command. We're going to be working on that almost exclusively for the first week, along with a more regular training regime focused on getting you more comfortable with your moveset. Now, are you ready?"
Styx nodded. "Good. Now to begin we—"
"Alright Buddy! Run into that tree as hard as you can!' Nate declared at Tepig, who promptly followed the command and ran headfirst into the tree with a Tackle.
*WHAM!*
"Yes! That's great! Really make the tree shake!" He did it again. Some of the leaves rustled.
I'm gonna ignore the sheer idiocy of what passes for training for him.
"Okay. So when you move to the side, I want you to make it two rolls into a slide back up onto your paws again. Here, I'll show you a video." I pulled out my Pokedex and lowered myself into a crouch so Styx could see. The video feed showed a Glaceon pulling off the dodging roll in a tournament match from a few years ago I had archived for this express purpose. I repeated it a few times for Styx to get the minutiae. "See how the legs fold up at that angle? And then slide into the earth as support for the lift? Let's practice."
I took some baseballs from my bag. "I'm going to throw these at you while you try and recreate the dodge. Use Tackle at me and then go for it when I command you, okay?"
Taking my distance a bit from Styx I gripped one of the balls in a classic Pokeball grip, ready to throw. "Go!"
She ran
*Fwooom!*
The ball was in the air, heading straight for her. Just a second… almost—Now! "Side!"
Styx dodged the baseball, went into a roll and tried to balance herself back on her feet again but fumbled the landing, rolling a third time and almost into a tree.
"Alright let's try again." I grabbed another ball. "Go!"
She ran
*Fwooom!*
...Now! "Side!"
She dodged again, and this time she didn't manage the roll right, only getting one roll in before losing her momentum and landing awkwardly on her shoulder. Yikes.
"Do you need to see the footage again?"
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After a few hours of practice her roll was looking much better. The landing from roll to upright was still a little harder for her, but she was getting there. But that wouldn't be where the training would end.
Learning new commands and moves is kind of like learning a new riff or lick on an instrument. Once you master the lick, you have to figure out how to work it into the music tastefully. In the case of a battle, you can't just randomly insert a move into the piece, you have to feel for where it sticks right and how it marches to the beat of a fight.
Right after this there was still plenty of work to get done. We had taken a break for the day. Working for more than three hours on anything single mindedly was taxing, Pokemon or not she was still a child and adjusting to training. Not to mention I didn't feel too safe having my only Pokemon incapacitated in the middle of the night in a forest I don't know.
Nate was just finishing up his own training, (they had spent that entire time finding new things to run into) and was sitting down with an accomplished sigh, sipping from his water canteen.
"Buddy made real good progress today! I can feel we're getting stronger already! I bet we can even take that Snivy now!" I don't think so, but okay.
"You named your Tepig Buddy?"
"Yep! Because he's such a good friend already! And we're always going to be friends!" Don't say believe it! "I want to let the whole world know!" He spread his arms out to the sky.
Styx gave him a side eye from her sleeping position on my lap. She wasn't very amused by the volume.
"So. Nate. What are your plans moving forward?"
"What do you mean?"
"What are you gonna do once we reach Virbank City? I assume you're going to be challenging the gym, but then what?"
"I want to do more than just challenge the Gym! Look, see here?" He pulled out his Pokedex from his pocket almost too fast for me to follow. He showed me a map of the surrounding area with all sorts of stats lined up next to it. Anything that might be relevant towards Pokemon training was there. Even the fiddly ones. Elevation, pressure, humidity. But that wasn' what he was showing me.
In the middle of the screen there was a picture of a Mareep listed along with some stats about average weight, voltage, and diet of the Mareep observed in and around Floccesy Ranch.
"You wanna go to Floccesy Ranch to capture a Mareep?"
He grinned at me. "That's right! I already know exactly what my team's gonna be! This Mareep is for sure gonna be the first Pokemon I capture! Isn't that exciting?"
"Yeah. For sure." Crap. In the chaos of everything that happened I didn't even glance at the Habitat List! I hastily pulled my own Pokedex out.
If I remembered right from the games there was a Riolu you could catch out in Floccesy Ranch. I didn't know if that was still the case, but if so, that would be huge.
The Habitat List did indeed report several herds of Mareep near Floccesy Ranch. Every now and then there were also Flaaffy among them. Cute.
I checked the list of Pokemon. In and around Floccesy Ranch there were approximately two dozen different Pokemon regularly documented to be seen there. Riolu wasn't among them….
Damn. What do I do now? There were still a few interesting ones that popped up. Sewaddle being among them. Leavanny, despite their appearance, managed to be decently sturdy on top of being fast and strong. It would be a good option. If I wasn't facing a Poison-Type Gym leader next.
The next viable option was Azurill. A Huge Power Azumarill hit like a truck, but training an Azurill was an uphill battle to say the least, not mentioning their terrible viability in battle, they were incredibly skittish as well.
There had also been sightings of herds of Rapidash and Ponyta, but Rapidash are very protective of their young. I'd need to be a lot stronger before I could dream of challenging a herd for one of its Ponyta.
I could go for the basic Pidove option. They weren't particularly strong, but they were versatile and grew fast. But. It's a pigeon. No thanks.
Nothing really stood out, and I didn't exactly have many options going forward.
Going back onto Route 20 there were some Venipede here and there, but in Unova everyone and their mother had a Scolipede in the competitive circuits. It was strong and fast and bulky and readily available, but that also meant everyone knew how to fight it.
There was also Psyduck, but they were very stupid Pokemon, and that's exactly the oppposite of what I look for in a Pokemon.
That Riolu option would have been great right about now…
"Hey! Why so down?" Nate asked, sensing my mood.
"I still don't know what my next Pokemon needs to be. I don't like any of the options presented to me on Route 20 or Floccesy Ranch."
"What about this Route? Route 19?"
Why hadn't I checked that yet? I instantly switched over to our current location. Route 19.
Mmm. Purrlion, nope. There's a concerning amount of Patrat and Bidoof's here. There's Carvanha in the waters apparently. That sounds dangerous. As well as Poliwag— Aha! I've found what I'm looking for.
"Nate, you're a genius."
"I—I am? I am, aren't I! That's right! Nate the genius!"
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"So have you found it yet?" Nate asked, trekking through a particular set of high grass.
"Obviously not, genius. Otherwise I would have done something already."
It was the next day and we were out just a little farther from the main road to look for nests high in the trees. It wasn't as dangerous here as many other routes. For some reason there's not many high-level Pokemon in this area, which is strange. Usually the farther out you go from the beaten path the more the threat level rises, but the strongest thing we've come across so far is a sleeping Liepard and a flight of Ledyba and Ledian. (Maybe because it's the game's starting area? Who knows..)
I still had Styx out though, just in case. There wasn't much that would try to attack us here unprovoked, but not having her out was playing with fire.
"The Pokedex said there was a spotting of a brood near here. That means the next 50 kilometers is pretty much fair game. Strap in, we're gonna be searching for hours." I smiled to myself.
This was the meat and potatoes of being a trainer. Trudging through treacherous terrain, a danger at every corner, single mindedly searching for even a hint of a rare Pokemon.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
"Styx, remember to keep your ears out for any of the noises we went over." Styx nodded, her attention more focused on seeing what was ahead of her. The tall grass was indeed tall. High enough for Styx to barely make out what was in front of her. I made her listen to every audio file in the bank on the Pokemon we were looking for so she could track them out in the wild. Another reason Eevee is such an invaluable option. Their super sensitive ears.
"It's like we're an Ekans, slithering around through the grass." Nate remarked. He made several hissing noises.
….I'm gonna have to get used to this, aren't I?
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Three hours after we had begun our trek Styx stopped in the middle of the walking path. I almost tripped over her. Her ears were focused upwards like a satellite. She'd heard something.
She changed direction ever so subtly, going more northeast than east.
"Look! There they are!" Nate pulled me down further into the tall grass, pointing high up at the sky.
What looked like a hundred grey dots moved in and around a hulking of trees close to a small mountain, taking residence in and between the branches.
The chirping, once I noticed it, was incessant. It was screechy. And there were a ton. When they said they moved in flocks they weren't kidding. One of the trees looked more grey than green.
We had found our target. Not Pidoves, but Starly's.
Starly was a bit weak starting out. Not great at defense, and used to attacking in groups, but once they evolved? There weren't many flying types that really compared to their sheer attacking prowess. On top of being eager battlers, Staraptors were also cunning and resilient, just the way I liked my Pokemon.
One of those little birdies was going to be mine. I just had to think of a way to separate them from the pack.
They're certainly weak enough to chance just throwing out a Poke ball and hoping I hit one, but that came with its own problems. If the Starly is weak enough to only need a ball to the face to be mine, it doesn't say much for its potential.
I needed to know if my Starly was going to be worthwhile. I had a strategy in mind, but it would be incredibly risky. Starly's aren't much of a threat alone, but in a group as big as this they could easily be worse than a nest of Beedrills.
I waited for a few minutes, just long enough for a batch of them to separate from the main bunch into another smaller tree.
Next, I played the cry of an angry Luxray (it's natural predator) from my Pokedex on the loudest possible setting. The roar almost burst my eardrums, it was so loud, but it scared dozens and dozens of them away.
That got rid of the flighty ones. Next, I had Nate have his Tepig run against trees to shake them like he did in his training.
"Good going, Buddy! You can do this!" Nate enthusiastically encouraged as Buddy ran into another tree a few meters away from the flock.
The shaking of the trees and rustling leaves, along with the Luxray roar proved a powerful repellant. The groups just kept splintering and splintering. Some would flee altogether and fly up towards the mountain. Others would rejoin the larger group, but a smaller section would get led away by the steady stream of roars and collisions. A sort of line of disrupted trees appeared above the canopy, bisecting the small group into an even smaller one.
Just three were left after this strategy, which was good because Buddy was getting dizzy from running into that many trees.
I leapt after the remaining three, throwing a rock in their direction. All of them dodged naturally. Two of them flew off. The last one, upon seeing it was me who threw the rocks, glared and flew straight towards me in anger.
Found you.
Its wings lit up in Flying-type energy as it dive bombed at me, intent on taking me out.
"Styx! Use Sand Attack!" She dug her paws into the dirt and flung it straight at the incoming Starly. It impacted, but it didn't stop the aggressive bird from continuing its attack, now blinded.
This one's got moxie.
I rolled away from the attack, almost colliding into a tree, and skirted into facing the bird. Globules of dirt freed itself from the ground and sprayed it around as I tried to grab my footing. Holy heck that was hard, no wonder Styx is struggling with this. I wasn't even running either!
"Styx! Growl!"
The Starly came back again looking for me, but once Styx started growling in her cutesy voice, its attention shifted to her general direction.
It didn't seem all that fond of the idea of attacking her even so, meaning the move landed perfectly.
"Now, Tackle!" Styx grit her teeth flashingly at the opposing bird, flinging herself at her even as the bird tried to dodge it couldn't see when she was coming. Styx hit the bird into a tree, disappearing from sight for a second.
My eyes shifted from one place to the next, trying to scope out the little avian creature. It could pop up anywhere and try to attack me again. I needed to be on guard.
*rustle* *rustle* *rustle*
There! In the bushes to the right! I could see Styx had heard it too. "Styx, Tackle!"
Starly soared up from its hidden position before Styx could get anywhere close to it, going higher and higher and out of her reach. Then, it dropped down in another show of light in blinding speed, this time with Normal-Type energy.
That's a Quick Attack! "Tackle! Head on!" Can't dodge. Sand Attack won't stop it. Best to trade blow for blow.
She seemed apprehensive about taking to the offensive for a split second, but she didn't have much time to respond as Starly came bearing down on her and they exchanged blows. I could tell Styx had the worst damage out of that though, as she clashed off of the ground and away from the Starly. The Starly, besides showing obvious damage on its plumage, shrieked in battle lust, clearly not done yet.
"Tackle! Again!" Please, just trust me with this. She crawled herself back up just as Starly was enveloped in Normal-type energy again.
Right before Starly could launch I threw another rock in its direction, startling it out of its attack. The little starling tilted a little in surprise more than damage, but it was enough time for Styx to get her attack off, launching it all the way back.
Now!
I got out a Pokeball and kissed it. Moment of truth.
My torso threw backwards and forwards as the potential energy surged through my body to my arm towards my wrist. I released at the perfect moment, as I had practiced for hours time upon time again. When the urge to leave became too much, I practiced my throw in the garden for hours till I could go back to sleep again. I knew with ironclad certainty I couldn't miss.
A blur of red and white rocketed towards the Starly in midair just as it was recovering from Styx's Tackle, not giving it enough time to get back on its feet. It launched against its head and the bird was laid out back on the ground again.
Not for long, as the Pokeball's signal had tracked it and promptly absorbed it within its confines. Dropping to the ground it shook.
And shook.
And shook.
And… it stopped shaking.
"Did it—did it catch?" Nate asked, having been a quiet observer this whole time. Good to know he could keep his mouth shut when it matters.
Both Styx and I cautiously took steps towards the still Pokeball. It could very well be faking us out after all.
Nothing happened when we got closer, and the ball didn't move. I picked it up, making aggressive eye contact with Styx to let her know to attack the moment it tried to break out.
But it never did.
"I think we did it, girl. I think we—Woah!" Styx squealed in happiness and vacated the ground to jump into my arms. Her tongue made quick rounds on my cheek. "Yeah—yeah I'm excited too! Just give me a moment to—to scan it!"
I pulled her from me and set her on my head so she could watch. Pulling out my Pokedex and hovering it over the ball revealed that it had indeed been caught and was now registered to me.
The Starly was a he. Normal parameters for height and weight for a Starly. No abnormalities to be worried about. Well, bad ones. I smirked.
Just like I thought, this one had the hidden ability Reckless, meaning moves that have recoil damage are stronger. It also made it a fair bit more aggressive than normal, but that's exactly what I wanted.
This one was going to be good. "We got him, Nate."
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There wasn't much to say about Floccesy Town, really. It just kind of existed as far as I was aware. It wasn't particularly big, nor was it memorable. I knew Alder and his grandson live here, but the chance of running into them was slim, not that I really wanted to. I wasn't on this journey for autographs.
We were sitting down on one of the tables in the Pokemon Center, waiting for our Pokemon to be healed. Nate was talking a mile a minute about what his next plans were going to be and how many friends he was going to make. He just kept going so I kind of just nodded every once in a while and tuned him out.
The TV at the back of Nate's head came back from commercials to the news channel. "—still have no idea who orchestrated the attack on the S.S. Miriam. The Unovan League has been investigating in tandem with leaders in Orre, but so far no leads have come up in regards to the identity of the assailants."
More than a few people had their heads turned to the news broadcast, and one of the Nurse Joys turned up the volume for everyone else to hear.
"We have reached out for comment in regards to the attack to Professor Jovi Mesquite. Here is the interview."
The feed switched over to a white wall with Aunt Jovi standing in the middle, a harsh expression on her face as she was besieged by journalists. "We are currently looking into the matter. We do not believe at this time that this attack was targeting the Orre trainers on the ship. There isn't enough evidence to point towards an act of grand larceny either, as all of the rare Pokemon were left on the ship, as well as many deposits of cash and valuables seemingly skipped over. The only thing they seemed to be interested in taking were people, which means this is possibly a terrorist attack disguised as an act of piracy. That's all you'll be hearing out of me." Abruptly, Aunt Jovi turned away from the reporters, pushing one to the side to make room for her exit. The rest of the journalists followed after her, asking even more questions, apparently deaf.
Well, that wasn't reassuring.
"Professor Mesquite's claims that this may be a terrorist attack rather than the work of pirates isn't one that is currently being considered by the Unova league when pressed for comment on the matter, which suggests the two parties may not be as collaborative in the process of investigating this situation as previously thought. We have reached out to several officials on Orre's side on Professor Mesquite's speculation, but none have reached out for comment. They have, however, reassured us that they are indeed working closely with the Unova League to solve the ever present question of who is behind this. Here is Michael Gale, the Hero of Orre, on the subject."
My Pokedex dinged just in time. I stood up abruptly to come collect my Pokemon from a smiling Nurse Joy. Nate followed me, still talking my ears off about this and that as he too grabbed his Pokeball off the tray.
I nodded to Nurse Joy as we left.
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"Buddy! Ember!" Nate commanded, the Tepig responding in kind. A strong huff from its nostrils produced little balls of fire, shooting off at the opposing Patrat. The girl who was in charge of said Patrat panicked as her Pokemon was beleaguered by the attack.
"Oh no! Paddy!" The rat collapsed, his mouth wide open and frozen in pain. He was completely knocked out.
"Oh, poo. Come back, Paddy! You did your best!" Nate's Pokedex dinged green as he won the ranked match, another notch to his belt.
As soon as we stepped onto Route 20 we had been spotted and challenged by other rookie trainers looking for their first Ranked win. I had beaten two other trainers who thought I looked like easy pickings and Nate was just collecting his third.
I glanced at my Pokedex, my new ranking looking back at me.
David Gale, Pokemon Trainer. #32,894,265 | W3/L0/D0
The ranking included literally every trainer that was still alive, retired or not. Past and present Champions, Elite four, gym leaders and legendary trainers included. It wasn't based so much on how many wins you had as with who you won against. For example, if I won a ranked match against Cynthia, who's ranked #4, I would probably shoot up to the thousands or maybe even the hundreds. If I won against a hundred of these bozos, maybe I would reach closer to 8 million. Or maybe not.
What I knew for sure was that one day, I will look back on this screen and it will say #1. For now, I would have to deal with this random number.
Nate walked over to his victim and started talking animatedly to her about something or other. I wasn't really paying attention.
The coven of other trainers who were battling each other on the bridge were all rookie trainers on their way to the Trainer School that Cheren was running. Mostly people who didn't feel confident enough in their battling skills to chance going through the circuit the normal way. Not to say it was a bad route. You get discounted education, and if you graduate you earn the Basic Badge from Cheren. It just didn't give you much time to do anything else for the rest of the season.
So, not the option for me. They gave me a wide berth as the little group walked around me. My new Pokemon, according to them, was apparently fairly vicious. The little Starly perched on my shoulder glared at everyone he beat as they walked past us, the girl Nate was talking to following them as they left.
"You can ease off now, Razor. I think they get the message." Razor, the newly named Starly, chirped aggressively, which I didn't know was a thing until now.
The little avian proved to be quite a firecracker once I let him loose from his ball. As soon as we explained the situation to him he was all game, ready to become stronger than anything that stood in his way. He took to training fast for a wild-born Pokemon, eager to learn what he could. I was naturally very pleased.
Not even three days out on the road and I was already doing great.
"Hey David! Do you think that if we push it we might still make it to Floccesy Ranch before sundown?"
"I mean.. It's possible. They said it was 15 kilometers north, right?" I checked the map on my Pokedex. I love this thing. It does everything for me. "But do we really need to hurry? We could take another training day before we head off too."
He clenched his fist in front of his face. "I just get so fired up thinking about my next Pokemon! Seeing you battle with Razor makes me want to get my own second Pokemon!" I averted my eyes from the fire in his.
"Okay. Whatever you say. Let's just hope we don't run into too many trainers before then."
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We did run into more trainers. I took another victory before I decided my Pokemon were looking a little tired. I still intended to train them tomorrow morning, so I refrained from accepting any more challenges.
Nate on the other hand didn't waste any opportunities to battle other trainers. It earned him two more W's but it also meant he got his first loss.
"Machop! Finish him off with Karate Chop!" Carl the Hiker shouted.
The fighting-type had gotten into the young Tepig's guard, off and away from its head so it couldn't counterattack and hit it with a slice of a Fighting-type energy filled hand.
It was too much for Buddy, who got launched into the dirt and didn't get back up.
"NO! Buddy!" Nate ran after his Pokemon, picking him up and cradling a clearly fainted Tepig. "You did great, Buddy. You can rest now." And with that, he was absorbed into his ball and Nate's Pokedex glowed red for the first time.
The Machop was off with its trainer, pulling bodybuilding poses in celebration. I was half tempted to send Razor after him in spite, but I was better than that. Instead, I tried to console Nate, who was wearing the most miserable expression I'd seen on him yet.
"Hey. Can't win em' all now. This won't stop you, won't it?" I gave him a hand as he rose.
There was a shadow over his face. "No. It won't." He put his smiling face back on, as if by a light switch. What?
"Hey, thanks for that battle, Carl the Hiker! Next time we meet, I'm winning!" He declared to Carl. The Hiker.
Carl the Hiker laughed as he recalled his Machop. "Sure you will, buddy! I look forward to the day I beat you again!" His belly rumbled as he walked past us on his way to Virbank City.
"So, since Tepig's not in a state to battle anytime soon, wanna just make camp? I think it'll be better to get some rest in before we hit the meadows of Floccesy Ranch."
"Of course, David! Let's do it!" He shouted out to the world, apparently way excited for putting up a tent.
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Nate sprayed the exhausted looking Tepig with another potion, some of the wounds on its back fading rapidly as the moisture interacted with the skin. It was almost a miracle juice. Potions and other such inventions worked miracles on Pokemon specifically. Normally Pokemon healed pretty fast in comparison to humans, but potions sped the process up several fold. A broken leg or something would take a Pokemon a little less than a week, usually. Depending on the species. With a potion, they would be good as new the next day.
It was hella convenient, and I made sure to stock up myself. Ten normal potions and five super potions resided in my backpack, taking up almost half the space in there.
Styx was out herself, a job well done on another late night training session earning her a Sitrus berry I had bought from a stock in Floccesy Town. She was eagerly tearing into it, juices from the berry dripping down into her neck fur. We would have to hit up a creek soon for a bath, depending on how long we stayed outside the limits of the city.
Razor was, on the other hand, much too energetic to be casually eating. After playing with his food for the upteemth time after I told him to stop I had put him through his own specialized training routine.
Bird Pokemon like Starly were incredibly hard to fight because to dodge any attack all it had to do was rise up into the air. The problem was that on his own two feet, he was rather useless. His running speed was twice as slow as mine, so after touching up on my bird biology I ran him through a lift off exercise. I would show him a video, just like I did Styx of how I wanted his upward propulsion to look like, and would correct him when he made mistakes in his form. After we moved on from form all he had to do was get his time down.
He took to the training like a duck to water, and I would time him on a stopwatch every time he lifted up and recorded it into one of my notebooks.
His 'free reign' range, the point where he succeeded in the push off enough to where he could get away with gliding, was currently 2.78 seconds. Not too terribly fast, even for a heavier set bird like the Staraptor line.
He was getting more comfortable with the exercise though, which for the first day, was more than good enough for me.
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We had made it to Floccesy Ranch. Well, we've been referring to it as a ranch for the longest time now, but really the ranch was just about 5% of it. The rest of the land was more of a meadow filled to the brim with different kinds of wild Pokemon.
There were other trainers out in the field as well, but we gave those a wide berth for today. We only had one goal. Find a Mareep and catch it.
Mareep, just like most lower tiered evolutions, lived together in groups ruled over by its stronger evolutions. There were plenty of herds to find here, but none of them were safe to approach. It was going to be another matter of separating one from the group to pick them off.
We could solicit other trainer's help with that. Shepherd the group with a bunch of Pokemon into smaller chunks so we could pick them off one by one, but as soon as the herds would see a big group of trainers, they would immediately flee.
I felt like a cheetah, waiting and hiding in the tall grass for just a small opportunity to catch one of these little sheep off guard.
Wait! A Cheetah!
"Nate, these Pokemon need water right? Why don't we wait by a watering hole, wait for them to start drinking and then attack when they're vulnerable? Make us look really scary so most of them start running away, and then you can pick and choose which one you wanna target!"
Nate looked at me with stars in his eyes. "Wow! That's a great idea David! I knew there was a reason I kept you around!"
Wait what. "Excuse you—"
"No time! I saw a watering hole just a bit off from here! Let's go!" He ran off before I could get a word in edgewise.
Prick.
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The meadow was, all in all, a slice of paradise. Gentle colors of light green grass danced upon a lightly clouded sky, painting the framework and setting its atmosphere. It was relatively quiet, not many trainers in this area to stir up some noise. A gentle breeze rustled some of the plants and flowers in between the shrubbery, adding to a scent profile that was hard to ignore.
It was kind of weird, because it smelled like peace.
The watering hole Nate took me to wasn't actually a watering hole, but a river. This wasn't the savanna. But it was the perfect spot for a stakeout.
A herd of Ponyta and Rapidash were not fifty meters away from us, carefully keeping an eye on us as they indulged in whatever water their fiery bodies could handle. Across from us a pair of Pachirisu, who hadn't noticed the figures in the grass were making their way to the river bed.
"This is definitely the place." I whispered. Nate nodded enthusiastically, eyes ever vigilant for the faintest sign of light yellow wool.
A swirl of Cottonees flew by us as I saw a smattering of Azurill play in the water from the left. If I focused, I could see Tympole inside the water, looking for tiny bits of food.
I had never seen this many wild Pokemon in one place before. There was something magical I couldn't really describe about it. It was nice though. Really, if it weren't for the Mareep hunt, and those horses staring us down amping me up, I could easily take a nap right about now.
I relaxed, getting more comfortable with my place hiding in the grass, even as Nate kept his guard up. The Mareep would come to us eventually. We just had to wait on it.
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A herd of Deerling came and went, along with the very interesting presence of a singular Munna having come down for a drink and then gently floating away.
A quick glance towards my Pokedex revealed we had been here for about forty minutes now, and there were no signs of any Mareep yet.
Just had to wait some more.
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About an hour after my last check, judging by the position of the sun, a trio of Psyduck spotted us in the grass and traipsed around us, giving us funny looks. It looked a little like a dance, and I really hoped they didn't know Rain Dance. I wasn't in the mood to get soaked today.
They left eventually, but the commotion raised other Pokemon to be aware of our position and vacating their spots. The Azurill in the water left with loud squeaks, and a sunbathing Purrloin was intently watching us from its own spot in the grass.
Great. I don't even know if this place is even viable anymore with all the attention. We might have to move to another location, but if the Mareep are close by that could startle them away, and we couldn't check for their presence unless we stood up and made our presence known entirely.
In the end we just kind of stayed where we were, waiting everyone out. The Purrloin eventually left, as did a bouncing Spoink, who didn't even bother drinking any water and just stared the entire time. Maybe it was a challenge, but now really wasn't the time for a battle.
The sun was starting to set, the sky turning orange. We had been out here for a while, and I was just about to nudge Nate into packing up for the day when a flash of movement came from my peripheral vision.
That was an orange shine, from a Mareep tail. I elbowed Nate as discreetly as I could and eyed the spot. He saw it too now.
What was just one Mareep turned into five, and then ten to thirteen to twenty and then—well you get the point.
This was a huge herd. Just two Flaaffy kept their heads up in vigilance, not spotting us yet.
Nate was so excited to see them as they lowered to drink from the river he practically started vibrating. Any minute now we were going to unleash all our Pokemon and make as much noise running to them as possible.
But first, we needed a target. We couldn't just choose a random one in the moment. We'd all attack a different sheep. No, we needed to choose.
In the lowest voice I could muster from my vocal chords I whispered and pointed. "Choose."
His eyes darted across every Mareep close enough to be a target, considering and rejecting at lightning speeds. Finally, he chose a Mareep at the edge of the pack. It was a little bit chunkier than the other ones, suggesting he might be having more luck regarding access to food. Or, he might be more fit than the rest.
Whatever the case, it was good enough to catch, and who knows. Maybe it's extra fat will make it slower and easier to catch.
Nate held up a hand, fingers slowly counting down to zero.
Three…
Two…
One…
"NOW!" Nate yelled as he surged from the ground and sped off after his targeted Mareep, a flash of a Pokeball indicating Buddy's release. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
I followed suit, releasing both Styx and Razor. They came out in triumphant cries, just like rehearsed.
"Both of you! Use Growl!" They cried in their loudest voice and headed straight for the onslaught of fleeing Mareep. "Focus on getting the rest of the herd away from the one Nate's chasing!"
I ran after them as the Mareep began fleeing, absolutely feeling like a cheetah after a gazelle. The plan was working, large groups splintering off and away from each other from the ruckus just as Nate was inching ever closer to his target.
"Keep using Growl! Razor! Divert your group to the right!" Razor turned sideways in his flight in between a group heading for a collision course for Nate and his Pokemon, startling them into choosing a different direction to run.
Gotta say, these things ain't very smart, are they?
"Buddy! Ember! Get em' good!"
The Pokemon were getting farther and farther away from me now. It was getting harder to keep up with their speeds. I wasn't an Olympic athlete, I couldn't go 35 kilometers an hour off the drop of a hat to keep pace with them.
That didn't stop Nate though, who had a laser focus on what he wanted, Pokeball already in hand. I watched him go. The flock wasn't going in his direction anymore. If he doesn't horribly screw up now that Mareep is as good as his.
I started jogging to slow down, catching my bre—woah! "Ah!"
I tripped over something and fell face first into the dirt. "Gah! Styx! Razor!" I called out for my Pokemon. Whatever I tripped over, it wasn't a log. That felt like flesh and blood, meaning a potentially angry Pokemon.
I collected myself off the ground and jumped away from the—
"What the heck?! That hurt!" The figure stood up to its full height. He had a red hat on top of unruly black and spiky hair. He wore baggy jeans, and a colorful shirt underneath a blue vest with white accents. On his cheeks were weird scraggly lines as if drawn in and—
No. Nonononononononono. This is seriously too weird, it can't be him!
"Ash Ketchum!?"
I heard a celebration coming from behind me. "WOOOO! Hey David?! I caught him! I caught him!"
The man, not a boy, an honest to goodness full grown man stared at where Nate was behind me in bewilderment.
What the hell is he doing here?!