Pokemon Go Adventures!
Hi! My name is Caylin. I'm a Pokemon Coordinator . I'm traveling with my brother Zeek. He's a professor's lab assistant.
It's been almost two months since we set out on our journey together. We both left work and friends behind to explore the world with our Pokemon companions.
Let me tell you a little about us.
When I returned from my first journey at age 15, I enrolled in the School of Pokemon Aesthetica. As a Pokemon Coordinator I had been focused on the outward appearance of Pokemon more than anything else, bringing their best attributes out through nutrition and specialized training.
Zeek began his journey shortly after I came back home. He returned eight years later with a Pikachu he had caught for his starter companion instead of going to our local Professor for one like the rest of us had. He was tired, worn, and world weary but with a drive that surprised me. Shortly after his return, he began studying to become a Wild Pokemon and Survivalist expert as a Pokemon professor's lab assistant. We've had a lot of catching up to do since his return. A lot of that has happened during this time we've taken to travel.
That's actually why Zeek and I started this journey. We'd done what every kid before us and after us did: go out into the world with a starter companion, come home or settle down when grown-up life happened and end the Journey. When we reminisced about our individual journeys, we found we were experiencing something that was missing in our current separate lives. We could fix that.
I had started a counting journal since the beginning, about the Pokemon we've caught, the one's we've sighted, our training, the eggs we've hatched and so on but nothing this detailed or personal. Must be the lack of contact with people.
It's nearing the end of summer here. The rain clouds are moving in more often even if it doesn't always rain. The wind is mercifully cool, giving us relief from the heat that had us holed up for days at a time in camp or in town if we were lucky enough to be in one. Today we set out, keeping an eye on the horizon West of us.
"If it rains on us, I'm going to be mad at you."
We needed to get a new umbrella and a large one for both of us since he didn't want to carry one for himself.
"It's not like you haven't left stuff behind before!" I said in my defense. I had already apologized when it happened and we were two days away from town. "Besides, we'll be at Barnes' before it rains."
I was eyeballing the dark clouds. Well, it might start by the time we get there, but close enough. I'm no water witch—not that those exist—but I'm pretty good at tracking and detecting storms.
"This is part of living the dream, bro!" I pointed out. "Or do you want to head home because of a little rain? 'Cause we could have done that when the heat spell trapped us three weeks ago."
"I know," he said sullenly. He shaded his eyes to look at the gym towering before us. He nodded once decisively. "I'm gonna fight them. I can take down the first two leaders, and with my Flameron I should be able to handle their Vileplume."
"Pi!" His Pikachu, Pikachu (he claims he never found a nickname he liked for it), agreed, little furry paws clenched in fists.
The sleek gym, was new to the area. It rose high into the sky, visible for some disstance with it's floating tech shining light on the tower's current reigning team and serving as a beacon for Trainers. Team Mystic's emblem floated proudly before the hologram changed to show their defending Pokemon. I smiled at their Vaporeon. I have no team affiliation, I'm just biased when it comes to certain Pokemon. My look turned affectionate as I looked at my own Vaporeon companion, Raine. Looking back at my brother I waved him towards the entrance.
"Well, go on then."
"You don't want to see me fight?"
He'd been challenging all the gyms along our path since he and his Pokemon were strong enough to pass Professor Willow's test. With his experience, he had managed to beat a gym single handedly within our first month of traveling...for about thirty minutes before Team had called in back up. There were no hard feelings and good things for both parties. The gym got more prestige and a rose another Level and Zeek got experience and points towards earning one of the new badges. Three days ago, he earned a medal for challenging 10 gyms. I had watched the signs of battle from below or sometimes in the lobby of the gym and heard of the aftermath. And saw the aftermath. Fortunately, gyms have an infirmary area. There's no Nurse Joy stationed to these new gyms yet, but thanks to the Poke-stops being built around world, Trainers are able to pick up Potions and Medicine to revive and heal their Pokemon.
I was horrified when I saw my first battle all these years since my first Journey. Things had changed. At first I thought it was dead, but the Trainer was quick to pull his Pokemon out. I think it took five Potions to get his Pokemon back to normal. I don't remember the battles I had seen on television being so brutal. I had rarely battled. That wasn't what appealed to me and I had thought that surely, there was more to my Journey than to catch and battle Pokemon. There was. As a Pokemon Coordinator, I have an alternative to raising Pokemon for battles and badge-collecting. Instead, I can show the world new and different ways of looking and interacting with Pokemon.
"Alright, I'll come along."
We went in all the way to the top where the doors opened to the roof sized stadium. Zeek released all six of his Pokemon and walked towards the field.
I grabbed his arm. "As soon as you cross the field line, start attacking or you won't get a hit in." Their Flareon was large for its type and already spitting fire. I didn't doubt that the Trainer was taking care of his Pokemon, but it was obvious that its care was more about power and ferocity than a well groomed coat and outward discipline.
I let him go and went to wait on the side lines where non-challengers could wait in safety. Pikachu also waited in the side lines. Zeek hadn't been able to get him to battle-ready levels required for gym battles. Yet. Challenging a gym is serious and dangerous. Fun for others I suppose. There's hardly any waiting for Zeek to get into position with his Vaporeon when it starts.
He took my advice.
Both their Evee evolutions went down, but the Flareon went down first. That counted. Zeek's Flareon, Flameron, jumped in next as soon as Zeek recalled his Vaporeon. Their Exeggutor was tough, but type won here. Then it was over before it got good. Their Vileplume was a beast of a Plant type. What was this gym feeding their Pokemon? It was too was large for its type and powerful. The petal-like protusions were heavy, almost bloated looking, and the Vileplume was in a constant state of looking like it would topple over with its Body Slam attack. I mean, of course it would look like that, but the Vileplumes I had seen as a Coordinator had firmer petals, and more grace and strength in their limbs to right themselves without looking dizzy.
Zeek's Flareon got in one hit before it went down, tired after the last fight, His Exeggutor and Scyther went down in less than minute under the rage of the Vileplume's Petal Storm.
As much as I encouraged him and his Pokemon, he lost. Still, there were points and prestige and experience to go around but I didn't care. I knew Zeek didn't either—not until his Pokemon were healthy and healed again. We went down to the lower levels and I waited again while he took care of his Pokemon.
"That was crazy intense! You did good, Zeek."
"I want to challenge them again." We've argued about this—I've argued about his double challenges before and knew he would stay behind to challenge them if I decided to keep going.
"'Kay, I'll wait here."
Once the elevator closed, Raine and I went outside. It was a nice day and the sounds of battle weren't so...encompassing as they are when looking at the screen inside the gym. I could see the smoke from fire attacks billowing from the gym's roof. The floating tech in perfect position to capture the battle from several angles while out of harm's way from the debris.
"I don't care for the battles Raine," I squatted down to stroke her frills. "But we will never weak again."When we started our journey, I brought my favorite, (yes, Trainers have favorites) Raine, a Vaporeon. I had caught several new Pokemon and had begun to train in the Coordinator style but I was also picking up Trainer methods from my brother. Her wet nose pressed into my palm and she gave my fingers a little lick.
"Hey." Zeek wore a satisfied look but shook his head in negative when I quirked brow in question.
"What?" I asked, not bothering to guess what good fortune came out of this battle if it wasn't a victory.
"This." He opened his light weight white and red jacket and showed me his new additions. Level 16 Trainer and Medal 13 out of 100 for a Battle Badge.
"Nice! Way to go, bro!" We high-fived. "Ok, are we ready to go?"
"Yep." He pointed a finger to the West and with a semi-dramatic voice said, "To Barnes'!"
Zeek's Pokedex buzzed. He glanced down and gasped. "Caylin! LOOK!" He shaded his eyes from the sprinkling rain as he shoved the screen in my face. I grabbed it and settled it at a more comfortable distance. My eyes widened.
"A Voplix!" he said excitedly.
It was indeed the silhouette of the fox, fire type Pokemon and it was near enough to register on our Sightings radar.
I pulled out my Pokedex and began to chart a search zone. We headed east a few yards before the silhouette blinked out and we back tracked. We decided to split and go in opposite directions to cover more ground before the Pokemon vanished or rain came in. I had trained a Volpix before and I had one back home, but this was new.
It was ten more minutes before I suddenly found myself looking at an Abra. I would have stepped on it if Raine hadn't barked. Looking up from the Pokedex, I slowly reached for an empty pokeball in the cross-body satchel I wore apart from my backpack. With an underhanded toss, I let the ball fly and held my breath.
"Victory!" I gave my signature two-fingered sign and wink to the pokeball that captured the Abra. As soon as I came across a terminal, I could transfer it to Professor Willow in exchange for candy that I was collecting to evolve my own Abra thay I had caught a few weeks back.
"Thanks, Raine. It would not have been good to step on the poor thing."
"Vaaa!"
Seven minutes later, there it was. I stopped and dodged behind a parked van next to a Pokemon food supply store. There it was! Thank goodness for modern tech. I dialed my brother.
"Zeek, it's here! Go behind the bookstore we started at and around the hotel. It's in front of the Pokemon food store here!"
"I'm on my way!"
Over the years, Pokemon had stopped confining themselves to rural and forested areas. It was as common to see a wild Pokemon at a public fountain as it was to see someone's companion Pokemon. Larger cities were reporting massive spawnings of Pokemon, causing traffic jams and a serge of Trainers converging in one location. When I was starting out—man that makes me sound old—Trainers were usually alone or traveling with one or two others. We rarely ran into one another and Pokemon didn't venture into populated areas. Capturing them took place in forests and open spaces or out by the lakes and oceans. Now it was almost as if they were coming to us.
"Where? Oh!"
Finally, he made it. He made good timing, a little over a minute since I had called.
"Ready?" I pulled out a pokeball. Zeek did the same.
It was a little too much commotion for the Vulpix. It ran.
"WHAT?!" Zeek stared at the spot it had been with his mouth hanging open. I would have laughed at him but I was staring in much the same way, I'll admit. My mouth wasn't hanging open though. We were successfully tracking it, had it in out sights...
"If I had just been two seconds earlier...gaahh!" Zeek failed his arms and slouched dejectedly.
"...well, it makes up for the Tangela spooked last time," I offered as consolation. That one had been right outside our camp. It had been night time, but still...
"Yeah, but I didn't want it to be..."
"Me either. Let's see if the Pokedex can pick it back up. It ran off this way."
No such luck for us and the rain that was just a sprinkle was beginning to get serious. We collected some items from a nearby Poke-stop and waited out the worst in the supply store. Once the rain lightened, we headed back out and headed for the nearby camping grounds—lots in or near towns designated for Trainers when other living arrangements weren't available.
We walked in silence the rest of the way, the failure of not catching a desired Pokemon hanging over us in addition to the rain clouds.
"Oh?" Zeek stopped on the trail. The sound of his sneakers no longer crunching on the grass behind caused me to pause and turn around. He was opening his bag and began to dig carefully around. He was actually really good at packing things and managed to pull his egg out in one piece, shaking as it was.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu said softly.
"Lickiiiii!"
"It's a Lickitongue!" Zeek aimed his Pokedex at his new Pokemon to register it. "Nice!"
"Cool," I agreed.
"I'm gonna put it on reserve with Professor Willow tomorrow before we go to the next town," Zeek said, putting his Lickitongue in a pokeball and storing it in his backpack.
"Ok, then we'll send mom a message so she knows we got here and we'll get an umbrella too." Fall was on the way and in the Northwest Mountain Region, it could get wet more often than it got snow, plus we needed a replacement. "Should we get two or just one big one?"
"Uhhh, I don't know. Let's see what they've got at the store tomorrow. I wanna sleep after we set camp."
"Sounds like a plan to me, what do you think?" I looked at Raine and Pikachu.
"Eee!"
"Pi Pika!:
"Yeah. Camp, food, sleep. Tomorrow's a new day," I said.