Chapter 2: First Steps
The smoke clears and standing before them was Neeko encased in a block of ice in the middle of the field. Astounded by the tremendous power of Rain's Hidden Power, Arc ran to Neeko to see if he was okay. Cleo quickly ended the battle and ran inside to get a hair dryer to thaw out Neeko.
"Sorry about that Arc. I guess I got a little carried away in the heat of the battle." His father said apologetically.
"It's fine dad. It was a great learning experience for both Neeko and I. Besides I'm sure he will be fine once he is warmed up." Arc said assuring his dad.
About an hour later they got Neeko thawed out and warmed up. To Arc's surprise however, Neeko was behaving very attached to him. It was as if something in Neeko opened up during the battle.
"Well it seems that Neeko is starting to trust you." His mother remarked.
"Sometimes showing your Pokémon that you care about them during the heat of battle creates a strong bond between a trainer and Pokémon. Understanding this bond is pivotal in being a good trainer." His father added as he put Rain's Luxury ball back in the cabinet.
Acting like he actually understood what his parents meant by the bond between a trainer and Pokémon, Arc left home to start his journey. Heading down Route 1 to Viridian City Arc decided to take a quick detour and stop in the field that he used to go to after school. He proceeded to walk to the center of the field and made a loud whistling noise. Waiting patiently, he heard a small squeaking noise answer his call. Turning on a heel, he found a Caterpie standing at his feet looking at him with an excited expression. Arc then got down on his knees and gave the small Bug Pokémon a pat on the head.
"How are you doing today?" He asked.
Caterpie waved its arms in excitement and gave a series of small squeaks showing that she was doing well.
The two sat in the field for a while and had lunch together. After finishing, Arc got up to go wash his mess kit when one of his empty Pokeballs fell off of his belt and landed by Caterpie. Curious to what it was, she inched up to it and sniffed the device tentatively. Arc then explained what it was and why he had it. Once he told her that he was a Pokémon trainer Caterpie shrieked with excitement and did a series of small circles. Realizing that Caterpie wanted to go with him, Arc grabbed the Pokeball and ran to the opposite side of the field from her.
"Alright, you can come with me, but only if you can prove yourself in a battle!" Arc shouted.
Caterpie nodded in agreement and readied herself for battle. Arc sent out Neeko and called for a Scratch attack. Caterpie sprang into action and let loose an attack that looked like sticky string. Bewildered by what the move was Arc looked it up in his Pokedex.
"String Shot. A common move used by Bug types that slows your opponent's movements." the Pokedex projected.
String Shot hit its mark and Neeko was entangled in the stringy goo. While Neeko struggled to free himself, Caterpie used Tackle and knocked Neeko off his feet and on the ground. Completely immobilized, Neeko looked at Arc with desperate eyes waiting for his next move. Thinking quickly, Arc tried to come up with a few solutions when Neeko's tail caught his eye.
"Use your tail to cut the string and follow up with a Growl attack." Arc shouted.
Flicking his tail as fast as possible Neeko cut himself free and used Growl on Caterpie. Caterpie dodged and used String Shot again, but missed as well. Getting flustered Arc decided to end the battle even though he didn't land a single attack and threw an empty Pokeball.
The Pokeball hit Caterpie on the forehead and in a flash of red she disappeared into the Pokeball. Excited, Arc ran up to the Pokeball, but to his surprise the ball was shaking. Watching it intently the Pokeball rattled for a few more seconds and then stopped with a small flash.
Arc leaped into the air screaming "YES!" his excitement was uncontainable.
He caught his first Pokémon ever and was on his way to being a Pokémon trainer. Letting Caterpie back out of the Pokeball Arc stared at her intently. He wanted to give her a unique nick name, but he was completely stumped. He then remembered the events that brought him and the Caterpie together and an excellent named dawned upon him.
"I know! I will call you Snow Storm." Arc stated snapping his fingers.
Seeming pleased with that name, Snow Storm waved her little feet and squeaked loudly.
Arc was about to call her and Neeko back when she dodged the red return beam from the Pokeball. He tried again to return her to the Pokeball, but to no avail. Arc sighed and decided that since Snow Storm showed no interest going back into her Pokeball, he would keep them out of their Pokeballs as much as possible.
Arc was then back on the road to Viridian City. Snow Storm sat on his shoulder and Neeko was walking next to him taking in the scenery. Due to the fact that he was still new to traveling and they had to hide for a while from an angry flock of Spearow, the trio only made it half way to Viridian City by night fall. While he was busy getting camp set up it started raining, and Arc had to move quickly to set up a tarp so the trio didn't have to sit in the rain, and to make things difficult, Neeko cowered behind Arc for protection from the precipitating water. Arc tried his best to reassure them that there was nothing to worry about, but it wasn't much help when a large explosion of lightning and sparks lit up the sky. Awestruck by what happened, Arc decided it would be best to get some sleep and try not to freak out from the incident.
The following day they were back on the road still a bit shaken up by the explosion last night. Arc was deciding what his goal was going to be on his journey, when he was sidetracked by a passing trainer battle. The first trainer was a young lad that was using what seemed to be a purple rat. The other trainer had a small bird that was barely bigger than Snow Storm. Curious to what they were Arc pulled out his Pokedex and aimed it at the purple rat first.
"Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon. Rattata is cautious in the extreme. Even while it is asleep, it constantly listens by moving its ears around. It is not picky about where it lives and will make its nest anywhere." the device beeped.
"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Pidgey is very docile and will kick up sand to protect itself rather than fight." the device beeped when Arc aimed it at the bird.
Arc stuck around while the two Pokémon battled it out. After another few minutes, the Pidgey collapsed from exhaustion and the battle was over. The two trainers then recalled their Pokémon made an exchange and the Pidgey's trainer left. Arc then walked up to the winning trainer with the intentions of asking for a battle.
"Nice battle there." Arc commented.
"Thanks, but that trainer was a piece of cake to beat." the young trainer said smugly.
Unhindered by the trainer's boastful sense of pride Arc proceeded to ask the trainer his name.
"The name's Joey. Do you want to have a battle with me?" Joey responded.
Arc was delighted that he asked since he intended on challenging the boastful trainer anyways and made his way to the opposite side of the clearing.
Staring down his opponent, Arc knew this trainer wasn't going to hold back or give him pointers like his dad did. He had to put in everything he had in order to beat this trainer. Joey threw a Pokeball and the Rattata he used before came out. Arc responded and sent Snow Storm into battle. Joey eyed up the Bug Pokémon and snickered as if she was a joke.
"This will be a one on one match. The battle is over when one of the Pokémon faints. You have the honors, and please try not to bore me." Joey shouted.
Getting slightly annoyed with Joey, Arc called for a Tackle attack. Snowstorm charged forward as fast as her little legs could carry her. Rattata easily jumped out of the way and delivered a nasty Bite attack to her midsection. Snow Storm squealed and tried to free herself from Rattata's grip.
"Snow Storm! Calm down and use String Shot to pull yourself out of Rattata's mouth." Arc said trying to keep himself from losing it.
She nodded and fired String Shot at a nearby tree and pulled with all of her might. Rattata refused to let go and went flying with Snow Storm right towards the tree. Desperate to shake Rattata off, Snow Storm readjusted her body position and swung around the tree instead of straight at it. As the two swung around the tree the string got shorter and shorter until the two crashed into the side of the tree. Rattata released his grip and fell over dazed from the hit.
"Tackle it Rattata!" Joey yelled stunned by what just happened.
Rattata got back up and shot forward to collide with Snow Storm, but she rolled out of the way and used Tackle herself. She hits her mark and sends Rattata flying into another tree.
"Use String Shot!" Arc shouted.
She responded and trapped Rattata up against the tree. With Rattata unable to move Snow Storm tackled it repeatedly with the intention of knocking it out cold. Joey stood their helplessly as his Rattata was being squished by the little bug
"That's enough! You win!" Joey said astonished by what just happened.
Arc agreed and was declared the winner. After congratulating Arc, Joey handed him a small sum of money.
"What's this for?" Arc asked.
"Usually when one trainer beats another trainer, the loser gives the winner a small reward for their victory." Joey sighed as he rolled his eyes.
Arc then pocketed the money, thanked Joey for an interesting battle and continued on his way. He moved quickly trying to put as much distance between him and the snobby brat as possible.