1. Meeting Matias

Travis was lost. Though, to his credit, Viridian Forest had a very convoluted geography. Or at least, that's what he kept telling himself.

The young kid passed a hand through his black hair as he reached the same dead end for the fourth time, groaning. His journey had just just started, but he had already met his match: his terrible sense of direction.

He gritted his teeth and tried scampering at his left, only to feel his arm pulled. He turned around, seeing a Bulbasaur shaking his head. He dragged the boy closer with a vine, while pointing the opposite direction with another.

Travis nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Bud."

Bud smiled proudly while he and his trainer took the opposite route. However, a loud crack made them stop, raising their guard.

"What was that?" Travis gulped, eyes darting everywhere while Bud readied his vines.

Another crack. Travis frowned, palming another Poké Ball.

"Prince, I need you." A male Nidoran materialized, and Travis pointed onward. "Something's coming."

Bud and Prince took a battle stance, ready to strike, Travis gulped, eyes on to order at any moment.

Then something him right on the face, and he fell down on the grass.

"Ow!" Travis yelled, raising back up. He rubbed his forehead and scowled, then grabbed what hit him, and blinked. It was a Quick Ball.

He then heard several steps running towards him, and turning around saw a smiling blond teen, around five years older than him, rushing his way towards him with an Hippopotas in tow. The moment he arrived and saw Travis, however, the smile disappeared.

"Oh, you are just another human." He pouted and kicked the ground. "Damn it, I was so sure it was here!"

Travis, Bud and Prince blinked. "Uhm, what?"

"The legendary Pokémon Virizion! I heard it had this forest as his home!"

"Virizion?" Travis tilted his head. "Never heard of it."

"What?" The teen widened his eyes, jaw dropping. "How can you not know one of the Swords of Justice? They are one of the most famous Unovan legends!"

"Uhm." Travis rubbed his cheek. "This is not Unova, it's Kanto."

"Kanto?" The teen blinked, scratching his hair and turning around. "Wait, so this isn't Pinwheel Forest?"

"I sure hope it isn't, because I thought I was in Viridian Forest." Travis shrugged.

The teen kept blinking, before producing a PokéNav. He stared at it for a few seconds before tossing it to the ground.

"Oh, come on! That salesman told me this Town Map was accurate!" He scowled, while the Hippopotas glared at it.

"Well, I'm sorry for you." He and his Pokémon tried walking past. "Now excuse me, I was going to Pewter-"

"Really?" The teen turned as well, smiling. "Mind if I tag along? I need to go back there and look into how to return to Unova now. Virizion is not gonna wait for me!"

Travis looked to Bud and Prince, both shrugging. He then sighed and turned towards the teen. "Sure, why not."

"Alright, then!" He smiled, thumping his chest. "My name is Matias, and he's Hip."

The Hippopotas raised a paw and gave a big, dopey smile, matching his trainer's.

Travis scratched his head again, nodding with his Pokémon. "Nice to know you, I guess."

"Same!" Matias beamed, before pointing onward. "Now, what are you waiting for? Lead the way, kid!"

Travis gulped, turning around and finding a three-way crossroads in front of them. That forest trip just got better every minute.

2. Nicknames

"You named your Bulbasaur Bud." Matias repeated, staring at him. Bud frowned and stepped away uncomfortably.

"Yes, so?" Travis placed his hands behind his neck. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, it's just so..." Matias shrugged. "Generic, I guess?"

"Hey! I've spent hours thinking about it!" Travis scowled, grabbing Bud and showing his back. "He's male, and he has a bud on his back. It's perfect!"

"It's an awful pun wrapped in a generic name, you know?" Matias crossed his arms. "Not that your Nidoran is any better. The Pokémon that turns into a Nidoking is called 'Prince'. How much did it take to find the name?"

"... Two hours, I was out of ideas." Travis turned the other way, blushing as he set down his Bulbasaur.

Matias shook his head repeatedly, "You should never give your Pokémon ill-conceived names. They are likely gonna keep those for the rest of their lives, they must be cool! Unique! Personal!"

"Like what?" He glared at the Hippopotas following them behind. "Didn't you call your Pokémon simply Hip?"

"That's the short version." Matias grinned. "His full name is HippoHorray!"

'HippoHorray' grinned as well, and trainer and Pokémon nodded at once. Travis just went pale, speechless.

Matias nodded, grin widening as he gestured wildly. "Can you feel the sheer celebration of victory of the name? The passion and drive it conveys? It's perfect, isn't it?"

"Yeeeeeah." Travis nodded slowly. "Yeah, it is, probably."

Travis and Bud paced slightly onward, gulping. Just a few trees from Pewter City, then they could've said those weirdos goodbye.

He hoped it was just a few trees, at least...

3. Persistence

"That Onix is hax, I tell you!" Travis pouted, arms crossed and glaring at the ground. Bud mimicked him at the side. "He can't be this strong! We have the type advantage!"

Matias shrugged. "Type advantage isn't everything if you can't be strong enough to use it."

"Then we will get stronger!" Travis scowled, clenching his fists. "It's the only way!"

"Actually, it isn't." Matias put his arms akimbo. "Brock is not the only Gym Leader around, you know."

Travis and Bud raised an eyebrow in sync. Matias grabbed his PokéNav, opening the Map page.

"There's a Fairy-type Gym Leader that set up shop just a few towns away. If we go there-"

"With that phony map of yours? No thanks." Travis shook his head. "I'd rather keep trying here."

"Actually, this is a legit map I downloaded in the Pokémon Center." He turned the Map around, now zoomed out to show every active Kanto Gym, pointing at the Fairy one. "See? It's just there. There's even a few other options if you don't want to try this: a Grass-type Gym Leader, a Water-type just next door, even a Normal-type if you want some kind of neutral challenge. There's everything you can ask for!"

Travis and Bud observed the map and all the options, before turning to each other. They frowned at once, and Travis shook his head once more.

"Nope." Travis sighed, raising a hand. "It has to be Brock, I will defeat him eventually. That's the only way that makes sense."

"Why exactly?" Matias cocked his head. "I mean, it's nice and all to be so driven, but at some point it just crosses into stupidity, and you're just a tiny bit over that edge now."

"None of your business." Travis grumbled, walking away with Bud. "I will be near Diglett Cave if you need me."

Matias scratched his head as he watched his student leave to train. He didn't know if he deserved praise or a lifeline now.

4. Coverage

"So, how many defeats are we at? Ten? Twelve?" Matias tossed the soda can at Travis, which caught it without turning.

"Seventeen." He sighed, taking a sip. "I took a few tries while you slept."

"You do realize that the more you fight Brock, the more he understands your strategies, right?"

"Then I will find a good, new strategy." Travis stared upwards, determined. "With Pokémon, possibilities are endless!"

"I'd usually love a nice boast like that, but really Travis," Matias sighed, looking at the Bulbasaur and Nidoran eating breakfast in the corner. "You have just two Pokémon, Bud and Prince. Both are Poison-types."

"And what's the problem?" Travis cocked his head.

"There's this little thing called 'coverage'." Matias raised a finger. "It means using Pokémon of varied types to be able to face any situation. Repeating types is a pretty bad choice for a trainer, unless you plan to train a monotype team, which has its pros and cons. If you keep repeating the same type unintentionally, you won't go far."

Travis folded his arms, frowning and listening. "So, you mean that I need different types to defeat Brock?"

"It might help, yes. Of course, given Brock uses Rock-types, you should-"

"I already know what to do!" Travis grinned, opening his Pokédex and looking at the Pokémon Habitats. "I can get a Zubat in Mt. Moon, and a Weedle in Viridian Forest! They are Flying and Bug, so they'd help, right?"

Matias blinked. "Well sure, but-"

"Alright!" He shoot upwards, arm raised. "Bud, Prince, we're going to catch new Pokémon!"

His two Pokémon turned and nodded, rushing after their trainer as they left the Pokémon Center.

Matias and Hip just started at the closing door before facing each other. "How do we tell him that he's going to fill his team of Poison-types?"

Hip shrugged, and Matias slouched on the sofa.

5. The final battle

The day he met Matias still felt like yesterday. Travis found it hard to believe that seven years had passed, even with all the adventures and experiences they had shared throughout their partnership.

And now they were there, in the Indigo Plateau stadium, staring down each other on the opposite ends of the battlefield. Even when they entered the Conference together, they didn't expect both of them to make it this far.

"What a coincidence, eh?" Matias chuckled, rubbing his head. "Our first real chance to win a League, and we are in the finals together."

Travis shrugged. "So it seems."

They shared another glance, then each of them grabbed a Poké Ball in sync, turning serious.

"I've waited since I was little for this. I'm not gonna lose just to make you happy." Matias frowned.

"Good, I would've been offended if you did." Travis grinned. "And same goes to me."

"Heh." Matias tossed the Ball up and caught it. "May the best one win, then. The loser pays the restaurant later."

"Sure. I'd love a nice pizza and a drink."

"Cocky." Matias pointed the Ball onward. "We'll see how much it lasts."

The two shared another glance, and grinned. Neither of them could afford to lose now.

They threw their Poké Ball at once, and the League finals began.

A small idea that I decided to pursue today, at once a writing exercise and a way to write something between writer's block or simply wanting to try something different from time to time. Some of the inspirations of this story are the stories "Master, Pokémon?" by Saphroneth and "Sasha's Story: After the Ashes" (both stories I reccomend to read), which made me interested in trying out the snippet storytelling. While most of the snippets from now on will be in anachronic order, all the ones published in this chapter happen in the order they are published, with the last one being the end point of the story or close to it.

I hope you will enjoy it, and thanks to everyone that will read!