Chapter 2 – Gains upon gains.

I reflected on Serena's last words as I departed for home. "If you have a Pokémon partner, you have nothing to fear from wild Pokémon." It wasn't something I really thought of before; because my mom and I had always had Davie and our trusty Rhyhorn, "Boulderdash". It was a measure in safety in traveling to various towns. However, no one talked about what happens in you step foot outside a city without a Pokémon— or rather, how aggressive wild Pokémon can be. It's a sort of taboo, one of those uncomfortable truths to life, I imagine. Frankly, it's easier to stay in one place than having to catch and raise a Pokémon so you can travel a lot. It's easy to forget why there are 'Pokémon Rangers;' because sometimes accidents happen and people need rescuing from lethal encounters.

I began to wonder what I was getting into, especially since I unexpectedly enjoyed the Pokémon battle with Shauna; however, my mom interrupted my thoughts as she was watering the garden. "Hello, Cale; back so soon?"

"Err, yeah mom. I have something for you," I handed her the letter. "Perfume?" she asked as she opened the letter, taking another sniff and laughing slightly. "What is this, a love letter?" Her chuckle, however, died as she read the letter, frowning some.

Breaking into a smile, she chuckled to herself with a slight blush. "With his handwriting, it looks like a love letter." She looked up. "Well, you've been chosen to go on an adventure. So before you leave for this mysterious journey that the Professor wants you for, let's meet the new addition to our family!"

I summoned Delphi from the Pokéball, to which my mom and Davie introduced themselves to Delphi. As Delphi and Davie were getting to know each other, Mom snuck off. "Don't let the kid sleep in too much, a good tackle always works" said Davie as he winked to Delphi, going into the best places to tackle me. Apparently I am getting a new alarm clock. Yay? , Mom then came back outside with my backpack.

"Now Cale, I've packed you a spare set clothes and a map of Kalos so you don't get lost."

"Thanks, Mom; I'll be safe. And Boulderdash," I said, "Make sure to win plenty of races for me, ok?"

With some chirps, Davie cheerfully agreed that he'll keep Boulderdash in racing shape (much to Boulderdash rolling his eyes at that thought), and as I turned to leave Boulderdash roared in send-off. Delphi and I headed out and towards the town gate. Unbeknownst to me, as I left the town gates, my mom wiped away a tear, "He's all grown up now…" She whispered as she went back inside.

My thoughts quickly turned from home and were on Delphi, my Fennekin, walking beside me. "So Delphi, how do you like your new family?"

Delphi took a moment to ponder. "Your mother is nice, and for a rock type Boulderdash is OK, I guess."

"Heh, you guess? He and my mom have won a couple racing championships together."

"Yeah… I guess that is cool. If running in circles is your thing. My thing—our thing, by the look of it—is battling."

"That's true Delphi; I certainly surprised myself by how much I enjoyed battling against Shauna and her Chespin. It's not something I thought I would enjoy. It was always been a sort of foreign sport."

By this time, we were returning to the spot where Delphi and I met a couple of hours before, expecting to see at the very Serena waiting for us. To my dismay, they were all gone. "Weren't they going to wait for us?" I asked, turning to Delphi. Delphi shrugged hesitantly as he sniffed the air. "Well, let's hope they haven't gotten too far!" I said as we both took off running to the town square to look for the girls, picking up some potions while I was at it.

I didn't pick up any more supplies though as some older gentleman pointed out he saw two girls matching Serena's and Shauna's description crossing the bridge out of town a few minutes ago. As I rant to the bridge, a large man quickly jumped up from his chair next to the bridge, blocking me from getting on. "Hey young fella, I can't let you cross – ", he began saying, before his eyes fell on Delphi behind me. "Oh! You have a Pokémon; you can cross then young fella. Yer Pokémon will help keep you safe. Go on then young man!" Waving me off, he promptly sat down and picked up a newspaper by his chair.

It was just another reminder of how dangerous the world can be. Of course, that didn't matter anymore: I had Delphi at my side, and nothing could stop our adventure! Not even a persistent Pidgey that flew at us could get in our way. All it took was to scare it away with a few ember attacks in the small tornado-like gust attack it sent at us. As soon as the dust cleared from the gust attack, and recalling Delphi so he could rest, I saw Serena and Shauna talking a little ways off. In catching up to them, Serena noticed me and waved (and no, I was not blushing. You can't prove anything). "Hey Cale, I was explaining to Shauna how Pokéballs work and how to catch a Pokémon."

"They go in the Pokéball… but how?" asked Shauna.

"There are rumors that the Pokéballs are bigger on the inside," Serena said with a wink to me. "Here, let me show you how to catch a Pokémon." Wading into the tall grass, she looked around and spotted a rabbit like Pokémon. Pointing my Pokédex at the Pokémon a monotonous voice rang out, "Bunnelby: It has ears like shovels. Digging holes strengthens its ears so much that they can sever thick roots effortlessly."

Serena grunted in annoyance, as I turned my head back up to her battle, a Fletchling emerging out of the Pokéball in Serena's hand, "Feel free to pay attention anytime, Cale!" The Bunnelby began chittering in laughter at my scolding. Embarrassed, I put the poked back in my pocket. Serena, noticing the Bunnelby was distracted shouted; "Fletching, tackle attack!" and her Fletchling dove down at it, knocking the Bunnelby off its feet. The Bunnelby winced and glared at the Fletchling, but before it could do anything else an empty Pokéball hit it, pulling it in. After the Pokéball stopped shaking, Serena picked up the Pokéball and walked back to us. "As you can see, you have to shake the Pokémon up some so you can catch it."

"That was totally awesome! Especially with it going inside the Pokéball!" exclaimed Shauna.

"That's how you do it, Shauna." Looking at both of us, she said "Your Pokémon adventures will be easier, and safer, if you have more than one Pokémon. You both should know better, especially you, Shauna, since you had a chance to buy some Pokéballs when I was getting mine." Noticing both of our embarrassed looks, she sighed, "Ugh, fine; here are a few Pokéballs for each of you to catch your own Pokémon. I don't want either of you biting off more than you can chew; only using one Pokémon."

"Tha… Thank you," I managed to stutter out to Serena.

"No problem Cale. There is something else that you need to know as well, the league catching rules. Other regions just let trainers however, so many Pokémon they want per area. Kalos is different. While Pokémon battles are often seen as competitions of strength, the Kalos League recognizes that it is the trust between a trainer and their Pokémon that enable that strength and create the best competitions. For example, in the Kanto league a few years ago a young trainer used a Charizard that did not trust or respect him at all. It wouldn't listen and ended up refusing to battle, despite the trainer pleading with it. It was a complete embarrassment to the Kanto league. Kalos wants to discourage that sort of battle, and attitude, where strength is the only thing that matters. They have a limit that trainers may only catch one Pokémon per area. Trainers who they find break this rule are disqualified from participating in the league for Pokémon abandonment. It also helps keep the numbers of Pokémon up, and helps our relations in some regards as Pokémon released are often poisoned against humans in the future."

I just stared at her. It was a lot of information to take in. She sighed, clearly thinking I didn't understand everything she said. "Listen; just… just don't get into trouble. I'm going to head into Santalune forest, good luck to you!" she said dashing off before I could form a sentence. Taking a deep breath, I called Delphi out of his Pokéball and quickly encountered a Bunnelby that was chewing on a carrot; it must have taken it from someone since there were no carrot patches around here. The Bunnelby took a small, shy step backward before taking off running. Delphi squealed in anticipation, launching an ember attack that singed its fur and distracted it enough for me to catch it in a Pokéball.

I called the Bunnelby out of his Pokéball. He finished eating the carrot and asked, "What's… what up Doc?" Raising my eyebrow I chuckled, "Do you ever watch human TV?" The newly caught Bunnelby gave a huge smile, "You mean box devices that have those fun, metal stick things? Yeah!"

"Err… Well, there's this show where a Diggersby says that exact same thing as you. He goes by the name of Bugs. OH! This here is Delphi." Delphi gave a slight bow, with a look like he was measuring the Bunnelby's potential "And we're on an adventure to catalogue all the Pokémon that live in the wild, and perhaps enjoy a battle or two along the way. Would you please join us?"

The Bunnelby took a moment to look at each of us, me sitting down looking and Delphi who gave a slight approving nod, and said, "OK, I'm in, Doc. And call me Bugs, too."

"No, my name is Cale."

"Whatever you say, Doc."

With a chuckle between us, and after a quick Pokémon battle with an anxious looking kid that fielded a Zigzagoon at the mouth of the forest, Shauna stepped forward, "Umm, Cale?"

"Oh hey Shauna, I almost forgot you were behind us there. What's up?"

"Can I walk with you through the forest? I'm sure something super exciting will happen, and I'm a beginning Pokémon nurse; I can help tend to your Pokémon if they get too injured", Shauna excitedly exclaimed in one short breath.

"Sure, Shauna, you're welcome to travel with us. Wouldn't it be more exciting if you and your Chespin traveled together to get each other more?"

Shauna shook her foot nervously, "Well… I'm not a huge battler like Serena, and the forest gives me the heebie jeebies." Without pausing a beat, Shauna suddenly was right in front of me giving me the biggest puppy-dog eyed look that I've ever seen she pled, "Please Cale, please may we walk with you through the forest?"

I looked back to Bugs and Delphi, and Bugs stepped forward with the same grin from when he talked about the television antennae, putting his paws together to begin saying, "Well, we can't promise it won't be scary."

Shauna gasped. Her Chespin gave Bugs a dirty look and Delphi put his paw over Bug's mouth. "No. No scaring the little girl."

Chuckling nervously, I said "Yeah, you can come with us."

"Yay!" Shauna shouted excitedly.

As we entered the forest, a Scatterbug dropped from a tree limb, trying to imitate a Mankey. "I am the mighty Mothra, plebeians, and you are my next victims!" it shouted. Of course, in its boasting it failed to see me gesture to Bugs. He circled around to tackle "Mothra" from the side.

"Treachery!" cried out the Scatterbug as it flung a string shot in the direction of Bugs, and then used it to do a swinging tackle into Bugs. After another tackle, it was obvious that even though winded, Mothra would not give up. Rushing forward for another tackle Mothra began to scream out, "Never give up, never –", before the Pokéball I threw hit her, capturing her.

Letting Bugs wander off briefly I called Mothra out of her Pokéball, "Surrender!" she finished shouting, looking confused. Looking at me, she hung her head in disappointment. "I… lost. Didn't I?"

Before I could speak, Shauna pushed her way forward with a potion, "No, you have won friends!" Smiling, and taking Shauna's cue as she applied the potion, I introduced us. "This is Shauna, and she's right. More than that though, we're part of a team."

"Hmmn," Mothra stated, peering up at me. "Why should I listen and be a part of your team though? By the looks of you, it appears that you are… What is the term you humans use? Green around the ears? What chances do I have to be on a winning team, of experiencing victory with you?"

I sighed, "You're right, I am new. I never thought about battling or having my own Pokémon until today. Before, I would just like to read and tend to the small family garden. But I'm now discovering the thrill and adventure of traveling and battling with Pokémon. You could say, like you, that I have yet to evolve fully. So what do you say; would you like to evolve together?"

Mothra considered for a moment, taking a glance at Delphi, "Well I guess this is acceptable. I shall join this team of yours."

It was at that moment Bugs returned, carrying with him a great ball and a hyper potion. "You won't imagine what people drop on the forest floor!" Bugs claimed excitedly "It's a treasure trove out there!"

Both Shauna and I raised an eyebrow, "You just… found these?"

Bugs turned his head in slight indignation, as if hiding something. "Of course!" All I could do was sigh. Maybe it was true. But how crazy is it for someone to drop a great ball and hyper potion and just forget about them? Shrugging, I put them in my pack, "Well if someone comes looking them I'll be sure to let them know who it was that found these for them, Bugs."

"Great", Bugs replied in attempted cheerfulness as we resumed our journey through the forest. In exploring and documenting the various species of Pokémon each of us, especially Mothra, we were getting a taste for battling. Mothra… we had to restrain and calm her down some after switching her out so she could rest. She hated that, as she considered it a form of loss. Despite that, we ended up making good time through the forest, surprising even Serena as we reached the other end of the forest before her (and more Pokémon spotted too, at least according to our compared Pokedexes).

As we all exited the forest, I spotted an Azurill bouncing up and down near a pond. "I bounce on my butt!" it exclaimed joyfully over and over. After watching this blue bundle of joy for a few minutes, I signaled to Bugs to initiate a battle with it. Spotting Bugs charging at it, the Azurill flexed its small muscles and shouted, "Come at me bro!"

Pushing through a couple of bubble attacks, Bugs landed a solid tackle attack against the aquatic mouse, disorienting it enough to catch her. Letting her out her Pokéball though was interesting. She would just look up at me and say "Duuuuuuuude!" I think that means she is impressed with me. I'm not sure.

"So... What is your name then?"

The Azurill looked up at me, saying frankly "Bluchu. That's what I call myself. It's a tough fighter's name. And, I'm tired." Then she promptly went back in her Pokéball.

Walking with the others, we entered Santalune city in which Tierno gave my team a better explanation about Pokémon Centers than I was trying to give. Deciding to explore the city a little before the sun set, my team and I went to a Pokémon school first where we all learned up on Pokémon status changes. Mothra was obsessed about the paralysis effect, and in asking her about it would only say, "I can dish it."

Afterward we returned to the Pokémon Center to rest up, having had a full day getting to know each other and traveling through Santalune Forest.

Pokémon caught: 4
Pokémon fainted: 0