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A/N: Hello, everyone. This chapter took way longer than I had originally hoped. Part of it being when I had made a poll to help me choose a Pokémon, only a handful of people voted so I had to reach out to others for help and that meant extending the poll. Another part of it is because I have a new niece, just born on Sunday, so I had to help watch my nephews for a little bit. Now, I know you all want to say "congratulations", but I ask that you don't. You just thinking it is enough congratulations for me. So, thank you.
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Chapter 3: The First Battle

Hello, everybody! It's Gon! I'm gonna tell you about Viridian City! It was a huge city, at least, it seemed huge to me because I'd never been outside of Pallet Town before. When Killua and I walked in, we saw a crowd up the road. We decided to check it out and as soon as we got up there, the crowd started to move away saying things like, 'He's done it again' and 'That poor child'. When the crowd was gone, we saw an old man laying in the middle of the road.

"Grandpa!" A boy just younger than me was standing by the old man, "Grandpa, get up already! You do this every time! God, this is so embarrassing!"

"What's wrong?" I asked the boy.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," the boy shot back, "Go away!"

I stepped back with my hands up. Killua was going to step forward, probably to hit the boy on the head, but I held him back. He looked at me questioning why I stopped him. I told him the boy was right and that we had something to do. I led him back down the road and to a building with a blue roof that said 'Mart'. When we walked in, we were greeted by a man behind a counter.

"I haven't seen your faces around here before," the man said, "My name is Joe. I'm the owner of the Viridian City Poké Mart."

"Hello, Joe," I said, "It's very nice to meet you."

Joe studied us, curiously. He then got out from behind the counter to look at us closely. It was a little uncomfortable, being stared at so closely by somebody we just met. It felt like he had his eyes on us for a few minutes. I was worried Killua would do something drastic, like poke his eyes. [I was thinking about it! That guy creeped me out when he did that!] (Killua! Be quiet!) [Sorry! Sorry!]

"I take it you tow are new Trainers, am I right?" Joe asked. We nodded and he stood up straight and continued, "Well, I'm gonna offer you a one-time offer! Today only, you can have anything in the store 50% off the regular price! Plus, I'll give you each a free Poké Ball!"

Killua and I looked at each other, then back at Joe. "Poké Ball?" We asked at the same time.

Joe had a puzzled look on his face. He said, "Don't tell me you boys don't know what a Poké Ball is."

We shook our heads. He told us to follow him as he walked to an isle of items. There was a section of those round objects we picked from the table at Professor Netero's lab. Joe picked one of them up and pressed the center button, making it grow. He held it out at us.

"This," he said, "is a Poké Ball. It's a special tool Trainers use to catch Pokémon. There are different kinds of Poké Balls available, but unfortunately, we only carry the basic kind. Here, you can have this one." He gave the one in his hand to Killua and continued, "Just press the button in the center to make it smaller, so it's easier to carry on your waist. And you can have this one." He picked up another Poké Ball and gave it to me as Killua pressed the center button on his. "Now, most Trainers carry around six Poké Ball on their waist and more in their bags. Follow me and I'll show you how to use a Poké Ball. Tei, open up the back area."

The woman at the counter moved to the wall and pushed a button. The wall opened up to show an outside area. Joe grabbed a few objects that looked like Poké Balls from the counter as he went outside. Killua and I followed him and the wall closed behind us. I looked around outside and noticed that the area was caged in.

"Now, boys," Joe said, holding up one of the objects, "this is a Demo Ball. I use it to teach new Trainers how to catch Pokémon. Unfortunately, the Balls and the Pokémon are property of the Poké Mart, so Trainers can't take them on their journeys."

He gave a Demo Ball to each of us and took out a radio from his pocket. [It was a Walkie-Talkie, Gon.] (Eh? What was?) [That thi-ugh-never mind. Just continue.] (Okay.) So, he spoke into his radio and told the woman, Tei, to release the first Pokémon. A small rat came out of a hole in the side of the building that had just opened up. It was different from the one we had seen with Professor Netero. Joe called it a Rattata.

"Look carefully, boys," Joe said, "When you encounter a wild Pokémon, the first thing that you do is send out your own. You then damage the wild Pokémon so it'll be easier to catch. Once you feel the wild Pokémon is weak enough, you take one of your extra Poké Balls, press the center button like so," he pushed the middle of the Demo Ball, "and then you throw it at the Pokémon!"

He threw the Demo Ball and it hit the Rattata. The Rattata was covered in a red light and soon, it disappeared inside the Demo Ball. The Demo Ball fell to the ground and Joe said that once a Poké Ball stops shaking, it means the Pokémon is 'caught'. So we waited for the Demo Ball to stop. After three shakes, the light in the middle went away.

"That's how you know when the Pokémon is caught," Joe said, "Now you boys try it. However, despite what I just told you, I can't allow you to use your Pokémon against store property. You'll just have to throw your Demo Ball."

He spoke into his radio again and told Tei to let out another Pokémon. The hole in the building opened up again and another Rattata came out. Joe asked who would go first. I volunteered Killua, to repay him for letting me choose my Pokémon first. He wanted to protest but I insisted. With a sigh, he stepped forward and Joe instructed him on how to throw the ball so it would hit the Pokémon.

"Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart," he said, "Put your less-dominant foot forward a little bit. Yes, just like that. Now, aim with your eyes on where you want to throw. Once you have a clear view of your target, bring your arm forward and release the ball, bringing your dominant foot forward to stop you from tumbling over. You got it?"

Killua nodded and a few seconds later, he threw his Demo Ball. The Demo Ball hit the Rattata and instantly, it disappeared in a red light inside of the ball. We waited for it to stop shaking. After three shakes, the ball stopped. Killua didn't really seem that excited, but I could tell he was ecstatic! He walked back to me as I held my hand up and he slapped it.

I stepped forward and Joe instructed me the same way. Joe spoke into his radio for a third time, telling Tei to release one more Pokémon. A third Rattata came out of the open hole in the building. Joe said I could throw the Demo Ball whenever I was ready so I threw it right away. The Demo Ball hit the third Rattata and, like the others before, it disappeared inside the Demo ball in a right light. The Demo Ball dropped to the ground and it shook once… twice… three times before it stopped.

I jumped in excitement and ran back to where Killua was standing. He held up his hand for a high-five, but I threw my arms around him. He pushed me off, saying it was embarrassing. Joe came over and congratulated us. He said that we were the only ones to catch them on the first throw. The other Trainers kept missing the Pokémon. He led us back inside the Mart and asked us if we needed anything else.

"Actually," Killua said, "We're supposed to pick up a package for Professor Oa- I mean, Netero."

"Ah," Joe said in realization, "I got a call from him earlier, saying he'd be sending somebody. I would've thought it was one of his Aids. Well," he went behind the counter and put a box on the counter, "here's the package. With the influx of Trainers coming through here from Pallet Town, I wondered when he was gong to order this."

I put the box in my backpack. It just barely managed to fit. We were about to leave when Joe called out to us. He asked if we had been to the Pokémon Center yet. When we shook our heads, he came out from behind the counter again and told us to follow him outside. We went out the front doors and Joe led us to a big building with a red roof. Joe explained, when we went in, that each Pokémon Center was run by a different Nurse.

"Nobody knows her real name," Joe whispered to us, "so everyone just calls her and her sisters that are at the other Pokémon Centers 'Joy', because they're always so happy."

We walked up to the counter and Joe asked Nurse Joy to explain what a Pokémon Center does. Joy said that it's a place for Trainers to take their tired Pokémon to be fully recovered. She explained about the machine in each Pokémon Center, but I didn't listen because Killua was mimicking her, with her back turned towards us. At first, I was annoyed that he was being rude, but after a few seconds, I began to chuckle. When she turned around, we stopped and nodded when she asked if we understood what she said.

She told us we should stop by whenever our Pokémon got too tired to battle. We told her we would and thanked her for taking time to explain to us. She went back to what she was doing before and we went to a table and sat down. Joe told us that he had to get back to the Mart and that he'd give us a special discount the next time we came. Killua told me to wait at the table and ran after Joe.

When he caught up to him, Killua asked him something that I couldn't hear. He came back to the table and I asked him what he had just asked Joe. He said he'd tell me later and that he had to do something. I was a little mad that he told me to wait longer. I didn't really like waiting while people did things on their own.

While I was waiting, I decided to walk around the Pokémon Center. I noticed there was a computer to the side of the counter. I turned it on and it asked for my Trainer's license. I felt around my clothes for one, but I didn't feel it. I remembered that we had left so fast that we didn't have time to get our Trainer's licenses. So, I turned the computer off and sat back down.

A little while later, Killua came in to the Pokémon Center. He was all bruised. When I asked him what happened, he said it wasn't important. I insisted but he said I should drop it. I wouldn't drop it, though, and demanded that he told me what happened.

"Here," he said, holding out his arm, "Happy birthday."

I held out my hands and he dropped a Poké Ball into it. At first I was confused. Killua got me a Poké Ball for my birthday? It didn't seem like a gift he'd get beat up over. Plus, he had been gone for a while. It didn't take that long to walk to the Poké Mart and back. Then I noticed that the Poké Ball hadn't been shrunk. If Killua had bought me a Poké Ball, it would have been small, like the ones we saw on the shelf.

"Killua," I said, realizing, "you got me a Pokémon?"

Killua looked away, a little red, and nodded.

"You went out and captured a Pokémon? For me?"

Killua nodded again.

Tears started to roll down my face as I threw my arms around him and said, "Thank you, Killua! This is the best birthday present ever!"

"Hey," Killua said, "knock it off, Gon, there are people watching!"

He tried to push me off of him, but my grip only tightened. He had to pretend he was choking for me to let go of him. I quickly apologized, but when I found he wasn't actually choking, I hit his arm. He told me I should heal the Pokémon up at the counter, because he bruised it pretty bad. I joked that he was the one that needed to be healed at the counter.

"So," I said while I waited for it to be healed, "what Pokémon did you get me, Killua?"

Killua smiled and said, "You'll just have to find out when we battle."

I pouted and he laughed. Nurse Joy gave me back the Poké Ball and said that my Pokémon was well rested and should be ready to battle. I thanked her and Killua asked if his Pokémon could get healed. I wondered why he hadn't healed it when I had mine healed. He said he only just now thought of it.

"Liar." I said.

"What?" He defended, "I didn't lie. I did just think of having my Pokémon healed."

Nurse Joy gave Killua his Poké Ball back and said the same thing she said about mine. We thanked her again and left the Pokémon Center arguing about whether he had lied or not. Outside, Killua got tired of arguing and changed the subject to what I did while he was out. I told him about the computer that wanted a Trainer's license. He figured it must be a computer that only Pokémon Trainers can use. I also reminded him that we didn't have our Trainer's licenses.

"Oh, right," Killua said, "Didn't the old man say he'd give us two Pokémon if we did his little whatchamacallit-"

"Pokédex," I corrected.

"Pokédex thing?" I nodded and he continued, "Well, we only have one Pokémon that he gave us."

"We must have left so fast that we didn't even think about any of those," I reasoned.

We walked out of Viridian City and into the Guard building. The guard greeted us and we did the same as we walked past him and out onto Route 1. It took us less time to get through Route 1 because we jumped down the ledges we had climbed before. We even noticed a ledge that wasn't on the path. When we got back to Pallet Town, we went right to the Lab.

"Hm? Ah! Gon, Killua!" the Professor said, "I'm glad to see you back."

"We have your package, Professor," I said.

"But we won't give it to you," Killua added quickly, "unless you hand over our Trainer's licenses and the other Pokémon you promised us for doing your Pokédex thing."

"Killua," I said, "we never talked about that!"

Netero laughed and said, "No need to be so hasty, young Zoldyck. I'll give you what I promised."

He handed us a Poké Ball each. Mine had a star on it. I looked over to Killuas and saw his had a lightning bolt on it. I asked the Professor what these symbols meant. He explained that the lightning bolt represented an Electric-type and the star was a Normal-type. He said that Electric-types were fast on their feet and quick thinkers, while Normal-types bring balance to everybody around them.

He also gave us a Pokédex each. He explained that the Pokédex will automatically record the data of a Pokémon we saw. It also has a few other functions but he said he couldn't explain them all or else we'd be there all day. Lastly, he took us to another room of the lab where a camera was hooked up to a computer. He said that when we got our pictures taken, they'd be printed on cards that would serve as our Trainer's licenses.

I got my picture taken first then Killua got his picture taken. Our Trainer's licenses were printed out right after. We then had to sign the back of the cards to make them official, according to the Professor. Once our Trainer's licenses were official, we headed back outside. I wanted to stop at my house before to say goodbye to my Aunt Mito before we left town again. Killua stopped me on the way.

"My challenge still stands, Gon," he said, "Let's battle right now!"

I nodded and said, "Okay!"

I reached for a Poké Ball on my belt. When I had one, I pressed the button to make it bigger. I noticed the star on the Poké Ball. It was the one I just got from Professor Netero. I threw the Ball and a small dog-looking Pokémon with a fluffy tail came out. Killua threw his and a yellow and black mouse-looking Pokémon came out.

"Hey, Killua," I said, "Don't these two look familiar?"

"Yeah," he said, "These are the ones the old man caught when we tried to leave town the first time."

[(Pokémon Battle: Gon Freecss vs. Killua Zoldyck.)]

I heard a robot voice. I looked around, trying to see if anybody else was around. I noticed Killua looking around, too. I asked him if he heard a voice, too. He nodded and continued looking around. Professor Netero came out of his lab and I called to him. We explained that we had just started a battle and we heard a voice.

"Ah," he said, "That was just the Pokédex."

"The hell?" Killua said.

"That is one of the other functions of the Pokédex," the Professor explained, "It will automatically record any battles you boys have. It also has a list of moves that your Pokémon knows so all you have to do is look at that list and just call out a move. To make sure battles don't take too long, the Pokémon League has a 'Hit-Point', or 'HP', system in place. I've programmed the Pokédex to automatically calculate the 'Hit Points' each Pokémon has."

"What about Trainers that don't have Pokédexes?" I asked.

"I'm sure they have their own way of calculating the 'Hit Points'," the Professor answered, "Now, please, continue with the battle. And, if you don't mind, I'd like to watch."

"Okay," I said, taking out my Pokédex.

[(First Pokémon: Eevee)]

"That means you go first, Gon," Netero said.

"Oh, um…" I looked at the list of moves. I saw six slots that were empty and three that had words, "Tackle."

My Pokémon, Eevee, ran up and hit Killua's with its body.

[(Tackle: 10 damage. HP remaining: 30. Pokémon: Pikachu)]

"Killua, that means it's your turn," the Professor said.

Killua looked at his own Pokédex and said, "Scratch."

Killua's Pikachu ran up and brought its claw down on Eevee.

[(Scratch: 5 damage. HP remaining 35. Pokémon: Eevee.)]

I called out for Eevee to use Scratch and it did the same thing as Killua's Piikachu.

[(Scratch: 20 Damage. Critical Hit. HP remaining: 10. Pokémon: Pikachu.)]

"Professor, what does 'Critical Hit' mean?" I asked.

"That means that your Pokémon did extra damage to your opponent." He explained.

Killua called for his Pikachu to use Tackle.

[(Tackle: 15 damage. HP remaining: 20. Pokémon: Eevee.)]

"Eevee, um…" I looked at the list on my Pokédex again, "Growl?"

Eevee let out a low growl, which seemed to frighten Killua's Pikachu a little.

[(Growl: Defence lowered. HP remaining: 10. Pokémon: Pikachu)]

Killua told his Pikachu to tackle my Eevee again.

[(Tackle: 10 damage. HP remaining: 10. Pokémon: Eevee.)]

I called out for Eevee to use Scratch again.

[(Scratch: 10 damage. HP remaining: 0. Choose next Pokémon.)]

Killua called back his Pikachu and sent out his last Pokémon.

[(Pokémon: Squirtle)]

Killua told his Squirtle to use Tackle.

[(Tackle: 10 damage. HP remaining: 0. Choose next Pokémon.)]

I called back Eevee and got another Poké Ball from my belt. When I pushed the button, I noticed it had the fire symbol on it. I threw it and out came my first Pokémon.

[(Pokémon: Charmander)]

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A/N: So, this is the new Battle mechanic I've come up with for the story. I didn't want to get repetitive during the battles and I'm too lazy to describe every action taken. If there's a new move that's called, then I will do my best to describe that the first time. After that, you'll just have to imagine what it is by the name. Also, with the mention of "six free slots", I am capping the move limit at 6. So, what counts as a move since there are already three there? The three moves already there, Tackle, Scratch and Growl, are moves that just come naturally to the Pokémon. In other words, they're staples; they can't be forgotten. Speaking of forgotten moves, a Pokémon may recall a move it had supposedly "forgotten" because you never truly forget something you've learned.

One more thing, whenever you see this: [(italic text)], it is the Pokédex talking. I might have somebody use the Pokédex to look up information so, keep that in mind. Also, I'll try and keep Gon or Killua's narrative to a minimum during battles. The reason being I don't really like having a narrative paragraph that's only one sentence, as that's what it is most of the time. More than likely, it'll be them (i.e whoever's battling) just calling out attacks. Hopefully, you'll be able to understand the battle system that this story has because I really don't want to describe "so-and-so Pokémon ran up and hit opponent Pokémon with its body" over and over again.
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