Route 29: Day 01

Caelum and Li Miao had just begun their journey through Route 29. If the duo didn't stop walking, they estimated to reach Cherrygrove City in a solid three hours. It was thankfully a short distance, not for Caelum or Li Miao, but for the people of New Bark Town. Cherrygrove City was the closest access the residents of New Bark had to a Pokémon Center or, especially, a Pokémart. For emergencies, Professor Elm's Laboratory had a healing machine identical to that of the Pokémon Centers, but that machine rarely opened for the public.

"Didn't Professor Oak tell you how to use that thing?"

Li Miao had been distracted by her new Pokédex. Earlier, back in New Bark Town, a young boy and girl had ran up to her and Caelum to see their new Pokémon. The kids were beyond excited to see Chikorita and Cyndaquil outside the lab. From what Li Miao understood, they were just one year away from starting their own Pokémon journeys. Li Miao couldn't remember much more, but she did remember that Ethan, the boy, already had his own Marill. Li Miao had seen the Aqua Mouse Pokémon before, but hadn't registered it in her Pokédex yet, so she tried to. The Pokédex only registered a picture of Marill but none of the actual data.

"Yeah, he did," Li Miao closed her Pokédex and tucked it into her purse. She knew staring at the device wasn't going to change anything, "It just sucks that I need to catch every, single Pokémon to complete it."

Caelum smirked, "Why are you being so lazy? I thought catching Pokémon was your specialty."

"It is," Li Miao mocked Caelum's attitude, following it with a frown, "But I've never seen a Marill outside of the Safari Zone before and that place doesn't even exist anymore. What if I run into other trainers with Pokémon hard to find like Marill? It would just be really convenient if the Pokédex would recognize Pokémon I didn't catch."

"Then what's the point of your journey then?"

He had a point and Li Miao was defeated. He was right. She had no reason to complain in the first place, her new job was her hobby. She was no longer stuck on the loop of teaching young kids how to catch wild Pokémon. It was an easy job, but Li Miao never loved it. Her new job let her travel! And this time she wasn't just going to be running circles inside the Safari Zone, she was going to be traveling the entire Johto region with her very own Pokémon! Li Miao looked down at her Chikorita who was chasing Cyndaquil and tickling him. Li Miao had gotten assigned the same mission the Legendary Red had two years ago and she was already complaining about it! And on the first day too! The female wanted to kick herself, she felt like an idiot.

"Hey Caelum!" Li Miao realized she had stopped walking, but Caelum had continued on. There wasn't a great distance, but Li Miao needed to jog to catch up to him, "Hey, what did Professor Elm assign you to do?"

Professor Elm studied Pokémon Breeding and eggs, and asked Caelum to help him breed as many combinations of Pokémon possible. Apparently Caelum was even allowed to use the Pokémon Li Miao caught if she approved. The strange thing was Caelum didn't have to stay at the Laboratory, he was told to go travel Johto with Li Miao and build a strong team of Pokémon. Professor Elm wanted to study breeding between strong Pokémon to see how their strengths transferred to their infants. He said it had something to do with IVs. Li Miao had never heard of that term before. Caelum was told to pay close attention to the abilities of his Pokémon, as well as their gender (but that part was for mating purposes). Since Caelum was assigned to not only raise strong Pokémon but also to travel with Li Miao, Caelum was taking full advantage. He was going to use his journey to challenge not only trainers, but specifically the gym leaders to gain eligibility to challenge the Johto League. Li Miao wasn't complaining, she thought it was smart. Caelum was hitting two Spearrows with one stone!

Li Miao was just glad she got an opportunity to travel with her best friend.

After Caelum finished explaining everything to Li Miao, he went back to his chanting. He was reviewing type advantages and disadvantages. Fire-Types were effective to Grass-Types, but weak to Water-Types. He even knew more complex combinations like how Electric had no effect to Ground, and even how Poison could be weakened by Bug!

Li Miao was extremely impressed. She listened to her friend continue matching types up, thinking she could use the information for herself when battling wild Pokémon. Li Miao was thankful for Caelum's knowledge. She knew that even if she listened intently, there was no way she could memorize all these things Caelum knew about Pokémon battles. The young female was already losing track on what Ghost-Types were effective against!

Caelum needed to know all these type advantages because of his old job. Like Li Miao, it also involved helping new trainers. He had worked the morning on weekends at Jasmine's Gym. He taught young kids all about Pokémon types and why it was important to know them. These kids were usually from families that couldn't afford, or refused, to send their kids to the Pokéschool in Violet City. So Jasmine's Gym offered a discounted price and split the funds between the teacher, Caelum, and materials for the makeshift school. Most of the money went to the school, but Caelum made a decent earning and thankfully he saved it all. He could use it now on his journey. Regardless of the cost or pay though, the kids were always intrigued by Caelum's lessons and that's all that mattered to him. He had to admit he was sad to leave.

"Who taught you all that? A book?" Li Miao was still listening to Caelum review. He was mentioning something about Flying-Types.

"No, my dad," Caelum calmly said, "He's an ace trainer, remember? He made sure I knew everything he did."

Li Miao didn't really remember Caelum's dad; his personality at least. She knew was he a powerful trainer and had battles broadcasted on TV multiple times, "That's so cool,"

Caelum shrugged, "I suppose,"

"Don't you think that's cool, Indonesia?"

Caelum shot a look of confusion at his friend, "What did you call him?"

Li Miao just smiled, "Indonesia, that's his name now," Indonesia was one of the many countries named in Li Miao's favorite childhood book series. It was a series about Earth, their very planet, but if there were no Pokémon. It was aimed towards kids to teach them at an early age that Pokémon were important and not to be taken for granted. It was a crazy idea though— a world without Pokémon. People depended on them too much. The story was definitely creative though and Li Miao loved that; especially all the unique geographic name changes. Enchanted, Li Miao mentally decided to nickname all her future Pokémon after countries in that very book, "Why don't you give Cyndaquil a nickname? Like Chile, or Czech? Czech is short for Czech Republic!"

Caelum could almost feel his eye twitch. He wasn't interested at all. He saw no reason to give a Pokémon a nickname. He knew Li Miao would get offended if he made that comment though, so he spat a lie, "I'm not that creative. Cyndaquil is fine."

There was only thirty minutes until Cherrygrove. Li Miao and Caelum had just passed a sign pointing in the direction of the city. There was a second one that pointed back to New Bark Town. The duo had no interest in heading back, they were already tired of the wooded areas. Li Miao was crossing her fingers Cherrygrove had some form of natural-water outlet she could swim in. Some water-outlet actually, she didn't want to push her luck.

"Li Miao,"

The female turned around, "What?"

"We're almost in Cherrygrove, lets have our first battle against each other before other trainer challenges me!" Caelum had a determined look in his eyes, "I want Cyndaquil to have more experience before we arrive!"

Caelum was eager to battle, he wasn't satisfied with only battling wild Pokémon. He had battled a lot of them too. On the other hand, Li Miao couldn't stand how many wild Pokémon they had already come across during their trip. She made a huge mistake and failed to pack Pokéballs with her. Buying some was her main priority. But right now she was faced with her first challenge. She had no interest.

"I've never battled before though," Li Miao hoped the excuse would work. While she said it though, she already knew she wasn't escaping.

Caelum smirked, "It's okay, I'm not expecting you to beat me,"

That went straight to Li Miao's heart. She was offended, Caelum had never used such an attitude with her before. She glanced down at Indonesia who did not take the comment lightly. He was already walking in front of his trainer without command. Li Miao looked up at her opponent, "Don't be so rude,"

"Cyndaquil, Tackle!" Caelum had taken Li Miao's response as a signal to start the battle. Cyndaquil was the only one who wasn't involved in this verbal fight, but he was still very fast to react to his trainer's order. The Fire Mouse Pokémon starting sprinting towards Indonesia.

Li Miao responded, "Use Growl, Indonesia!" The Leaf Pokémon let out a cry just before getting hit. Thankfully, because Growl lowered Cyndaquil's attack, the tackle didn't hit as hard as it should've. Li Miao couldn't help but still feel worried, "Are you okay?"

"Chika!"

The response comforted Li Miao, "Good, now use Growl again!" Her Pokémon listened and let out another cry.

Caelum had commanded Cyndaquil to use another Tackle, so the Fire-Type Pokémon began running again.

Li Miao wasn't used to this tension. It was a completely different feeling from capturing a wild Pokémon. Her opposing Pokémon now felt like an extension, rather than a threatened mind. It didn't feel like a Pokémon battle, Li Miao felt like she was battling Caelum herself. She panicked, "Move out of the way, Indonesia!"

Indonesia responded and jumped to the side. Cyndaquil still hit him though, but the attack hurt even less than before.

"Cyndaquil, use Smokescreen," The Fire Mouse sprayed a thick, black smoke everywhere. It became difficult to see.

Li Miao wasn't sure what to do, but she didn't want to hear Caelum's voice before she made a move. She quickly exclaimed, "Use Razor Leaf!"

"Chika—ri!" Indonesia spun the massive leaf on top of its head and flung out sharp leaves. The leaves were quick enough to send some of the black smoke flying away. Li Miao or Indonesia couldn't see it, but they both heard Cyndaquil get hit. They also heard Caelum grunt something out in anger.

Li Miao suddenly saw a little flame shine through the smoke. She took the opportunity, "Indonesia, over there! Use Tackle!"

The Grass-Type Pokémon lunged at his target and managed to once again hit Cyndaquil. The black smoke was supposed to lower accuracy, but Li Miao and Indonesia were currently lucking out. Karma, Li Miao knew it. But when Indonesia attacked, Li Miao lost sight of him. She didn't like it either. She called for Indonesia to come into her view and he did, but Cyndaquil came following. His trainer called for a Tackle and Cyndaquil wasn't going to hold back.

"Quick, Indonesia, move out of the way again!" Indonesia jumped and successfully dodged this time. Li Miao smiled, "Now use Tackle!"

Cyndaquil's smokescreen was effecting Caelum. He was getting annoyed and trying to fan the smoke away, it was blocking his vision of the the battle. He was too distracted to tell Cyndaquil to dodge. The Fire Mouse Pokémon was slowing down from his missed attack, with his back to his opponent. With this mistake, it was too late. Indonesia landed the tackle! With so much force, Li Miao could tell her Pokémon hit an attack harder than his previous attacks. It was a critical hit. Li Miao had no idea where this luck was coming from, she became paranoid it would run out.

The hit had so much extra force it sent Cyndaquil to the ground, dizzy and unable to battle. Li Miao and Indonesia had won.

"We did it!" Li Miao celebrated and Indonesia came jumping up into his trainer's arms.

"Chika! Chika!" They wanted, needed that victory after Caelum's remark and were so happy to get it! Karma had landed but Li Miao knew not to rub it in and jinx herself.

Smoke still lingered but most had vanished at this point. Regardless, Caelum could already hear Li Miao's happiness. He looked at his Cyndaquil in disgust, holding his Pokéball out to return the Fire-Type, "How could I lose?" He didn't like it.

Li Miao came over, Indonesia still in her arms, "Don't worry Caelum, you can heal Cyndaquil in Cherrygrove! If we hurry up we can get there before noon! All the trainers will probably gather in Cherrygrove at lunchtime anyway!" Caelum was so fed up, he ignored his partner's words. He was staring at the Pokéball in his hand. He had chosen the Fire-Type because of its strength, but where was it in that battle? Li Miao had repeated herself and this time poked Caelum in the shoulder.

Caelum clipped Cyndaquil's Pokéball onto his belt, "All right already. Lets jog the rest of the way then, Cyndaquil needs help."

Li Miao nodded and the two started jogging, Indonesia still in Li Miao's arms.

Pokédex Entries: 003/256

Li Miao's Team:

1. Indonesia, Chikorita

Caelum's Team:

2. Cyndaquil

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Woo! So we learn a little more about Caelum! I'm really aiming to give a lot of description about him and Li Miao in these first chapters since they're original characters. I was thankfully reading through To Be a Master of the PokéUniverse by Scheherazade's Sonata while writing this chapter and got a total wake-up call when it came to character personality. I was so caught up making sure the character's history made sense that I forgot to flesh out the character's perceptions and attitudes. So I hope Caelum and Li Miao felt more like individuals compared to last chapter. I also am openly admitting I am embarrassed I haven't described Caelum and Li Miao's appearance yet! Next chapter! I promise! I can't believe I have gone this far without a single trait revealed!

Anyway! I got a couple of reviews last chapter, so thank you! They really motivate me— criticism or praise! Critiques are highly welcomed to make sure I don't let my rusty creative writing skills kill this story! But thank you to Sage of Emeralds especially! You are right about the direction of the story, I am following the game, but I am planning on branching away at certain times for the sake of my plot! So hopefully that goes as plan! See everyone later! :)