Chapter One: School and 'Sprouts

This story is about a Trainer named Leah, who grew up in Ecruteak City. Leah got two Pokemon as a present from her dad for her thirteenth birthday, and set out on a journey to make a life for herself and her Pokemon.

I was stood in front of the Gym, a place where I hoped that I could start my future, and took a deep breath. I had jumped at the opportunity to become a Gym Trainer, and had made the short, but tiring, journey from Azalea, where I was staying, to Violet City. I thought back to when I had begun my journey, around two months ago, in Ecruteak, where my family lived. Had been given my two Pokemon as birthday presents from my dad, and had instantly fallen in love with the beautiful little creatures. I remembered how I had trained them around my hometown before setting out on a journey to make a future for myself. I had hoped that I could find a job in Goldenrod, but both my Pokemon were afraid of the glaringly bright lights of the big city. Azalea was a country town, which my Pokemon preferred, but there wasn't much going on, and no hope of bringing in any money whatsoever. And besides, the Slowpoke didn't seem to like me at all. So when I saw the poster about becoming a Trainer at Violet City Gym, it felt like a sign. I guess some people might have called it destiny, but I didn't really believe in that kind of stuff.

So here I was, stood in front of Violet City Gym, with my two Pokemon, Drifter and Blue stood beside me. Drifter was my male Drifloon, who was hyperactive and naughty, but also caring and loyal. Blue was my beautiful female Swablu. She was intelligent and thoughtful, and obeyed everything I said, in and out of battle. They were my best friends, most loyal companions and my trusted allies as well. Someone tapping on my shoulder awaked me from my daydreams of becoming a Gym Trainer. I turned around to see a large man with dark locks giving me a toothy smile.

"You challenged Gym Leader?" he asked. I shook my head, wondering what the man wanted. I could detect a French accent, which made me even more confused as to who he was. "Well, you come with Earl then! To the Trainers' School!" he grabbed my hand and led me across the city to building. "Trainers' School! Learn you must, and beat Gym Leader you will!" Earl said, pointing one fat finger to the door. I went inside, and all around me people were studying. Two children were trading excitedly. I stared around me in awe. I had never seen a school for Trainers. Earl went to the front of the classroom and sat behind a desk. It suddenly clicked. He was the teacher! The students all stopped talking as he tapped the board with a long ruler, and looked up at him with wide eyes. I hurriedly found an empty desk and sat down, quickly calling Blue and Drifter back into their Poke Balls with two clicks.

Earl began to teach. His lesson was about status conditions, such as frozen, burnt, paralyzed and asleep. I took notes in the small notebook I carried with me everywhere, and wrote down what types of moves could inflict status conditions, what moves could heal them, what abilities could causes and heal them, and what items to use if any of my Pokemon ever get inflicted with one. After the lesson finished, I thanked Earl for teaching me, and he encouraged me to battle the Gym Leader, saying I could win. I thanked him, even though that wasn't what I really wanted to do, and then went outside. I let Drifter and Blue out of their Poke Balls and they followed alongside me to the Poke Mart. I stocked up on all the items I had learned about, as well as some more Poke Balls and potions. The sun had begun to set as I headed for the Poke Centre. I went inside and booked a room for the night, knowing that the next day I would have to train rigorously with my Pokemon. Both of my Pokemon's eyes were drooping as we went upstairs to room 303, and they fell asleep almost immediately on the beds I had made for them out of extra pillows and blankets. I got changed and slipped under the covers as well, before drifting into a peaceful sleep.

The next day came, and an excitable Drifter woke me up. Once he could see that I was awake, he proceeded to bounce around in Blue's face. I left Blue and Drifter to play in the room for a while whilst I showered and got dressed. We went downstairs and I ordered a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice for me, and two bowls of Pokemon food for our breakfast. Nurse Joy brought it over to us, smiling brightly and petting Blue on the head. She shied away, blushing slightly, as Drifter nudged her in the back, wanting all the attention, as always. Nurse Joy laughed and patted his head as well, before returning to her position behind the counter.

After we had eaten, we headed out onto Route 31. It had a variety of Pokemon, including Rattata, Pidgey and Weedle, and Ledyba. It was a long morning of rushing back and forth between the Poke Centre and Route 31. I tried to conserve my precious supply of potions and status condition healers, because after looking at my funds I saw that they were lower than I expected. If I didn't get the job at the Gym then I'd have to go back to Ecruteak to live with my family. I didn't really want to go back to my hometown. As much as I'd enjoyed living there, it was nice to be independent. At noon, we went back to the Poke Centre for lunch. The morning's training had been worthwhile. Both of my Pokemon were on Level 13. Because they had learnt new moves, I wrote down their new move sets in my notebook. I was always organized, and writing things down helped me get my thoughts straight.

Drifter

Constrict

Minimize

Astonish

Gust

Blue

Peck

Astonish

Sing

Fury Attack

After I had written it down, I ordered lunch for the three of us. I was planning the rest of the day in my head. We would go to Sprout Tower to challenge the Elder, and hopefully Blue and Drifter would become stronger. I had heard that the Sages there only used Bellsprout, so it should be easy to win against them with Blue's Peck and Drifter's Gust attacks. However, I had overheard a Trainer on Route 31 talking about his battle with the Elder. Apparently he'd had a Pokemon that wasn't Bellsprout. I ate my lunch, pondering over what the other Pokemon could be.

After we had finished out lunch, I healed Blue and Drifter, and headed for Sprout Tower. It was eerie inside. The pillar in the middle swayed, which made both my Pokemon and me dizzy. There were lots of Pokemon hidden in the shadows, including Ghastly, but thankfully Blue and Drifter took them out easily. There were many Sages waiting for me to battle them, but they all had a few low-leveled Bellsprout, and the battles were short and one-sided. I reached the top floor quicker than I had expected, and before I knew it, Elder Li had challenged me to a battle. I sent out Drifter first, who took out Li's Bellsprout easily with a couple of Gust attacks. Then, to my surprise, Li sent out a Hoothoot. I had expected him to use another Grass-type Pokemon, perhaps a Hoppip. I had seen a few of the tiny pink Pokemon wandering around in the grass before I got to Violet City. I hadn't expected a Hoothoot though! I switched Drifter for Blue, and after Elder Li's Hoothoot had missed trying to make my Pokemon fall asleep with Hypnosis, Blue used Sing. It sent the Hoothoot into a deep sleep, which was my chance to attack. I had hesitated over using Sing at first, because some of the Hoothoot I fought on Route 31 had an ability called Insomina, which meant that they didn't fall asleep. I had learnt about it in the Trainers' School.

However, as the Hoothoot obviously didn't have the ability Insomina, Blue used Fury Attack. She kept hitting the Hoothoot. The owl Pokemon woke up, but it was too late to do anything as Blue took it out with another round of Fury Attacks. After the battle, Elder Li congratulated me, and gave me TM Flash as a prize for winning. I used the Escape Rope I had found in the Tower and was returned to the entrance. I rushed back to the Poke Centre as the sun dipped in the sky, and healed Blue and Drifter. They had both gained a level, but no new moves, since I stopped Drifter from learning Focus Energy when he leveled up.

We ate dinner, and then went up to room 303 to sleep. I searched through my bag for a while after Blue and Drifter had fallen asleep to find the poster that I had first seen in Azalea, which gave me all the information I needed to know about applying to become a Violet City Gym Trainer. I got changed, and pulled the covers over me, still clutching the glossy sheet of paper in my hands.