A bit longer of a chapter. Still getting used to writing again but hoping people are enjoying so far. Would love some feedback on whether the chapter length is preferred to the shorter ones. Also wouldn't mind some feedback on how battles are written. First fic so I may be stressing a bit too much about how I write certain things, but I want it to be enjoyable for the people who do read it. Thanks for reading! 3
As the sun crested over the distant trees and its warm rays began to shine over the hills of Johto once more, Chance yawned and stretched. He found himself having to shake the dew out of his long, red hair. He also found that his new blue hoodie, and his backpack had absorbed a large amount of moisture from the morning air. He grumbled at the situation. He clearly had much to learn about sleeping out in the wilderness.
Chance reignited the fire from yesterday and allowed his belongings to dry off a bit while he prepared breakfast for himself and Snivy, who remained curled up on the pillow that she had annexed. While his breakfast cooked he released his newly captured companion. Hoothoot emerged in a bright flash of light and looked around at its surroundings.
"Hey, little guy." Chance greeted. The owl pokemon tilted its head at the new trainer before it. "How are you feeling after that battle last night?" He questioned while reaching his hand out to the pokemon, who looked at it quizzically. Chance and Hoothoot took the next few minutes slowly getting to know each other a bit so Chance could coerce his new friend to allow him to use a potion on the wounds from the previous night. When he sprayed the potion on the large bump on the bird's head Hoothoot let out a hoot loud enough to bring Snivy out of its slumber.
Snivy slowly sauntered over to its new teammate and stared at it in annoyance. The two stared at each other quietly for a moment before Snivy stuck out its hand to the other pokemon, which returned its wing in a small, makeshift handshake. Chance smiled at his pokemon having a small bonding moment.
Chance and his pokemon ate their quick breakfast and broke camp as quickly as they could, due to the large amount of eagerness they had for continuing on towards Violet City. Chance returned his hoothoot to its pokeball and headed out towards route 31, which he expected to reach by the end of the day.
The second day of his adventure was rather uneventful. Being this far from Cherrygrove City, there were far fewer trainers. He only saw one other trainer the entire day. Throughout the day he took a few breaks to let his hoothoot out to spend time with them and get to know them a bit. Near the end of the day he allowed Hoothoot to remain outside of its ball for a few hours, which he soon came to regret. Hoothoot started its stint outside of its ball by flying near its trainer, but after about an hour and a half it decided that perching on its trainer's left shoulder looked much more comfortable. Chance quickly decided that Snivy riding on his shoulder would be more than enough for the most part.
Early the next morning, Chance entered route 31, and began his journey west towards his first badge. A mixture of excitement and nerves had him jittery all morning.
"Hey, Snivy..." He started after a while. "Do you think we are ready for our first gym battle? I mean, Blake did say that this gym had flying-type pokemon, which won't be too good for you." As he spoke he reached his hand up and began to scratch Snivy's chin.
Snivy stood up on his shoulder and crossed her arms in front of her. "Snivy! Sni sni snivy!" She challenged back at him.
"Well, I am glad you're confident." He smiled at his starter. "We will take it slow the next few days and train some more so you and Hoothoot will be in top form for our match!" He grinned as his pokemon relaxed a bit.
As the daylight began to fade once more, Chance decided to settle down for the night on the edge of the forest that overlooked a lake miles below. The rest of his travel towards Violet City would be much easier, as it was almost all downhill from where he was currently. Before the trainer retired for the night he had Snivy and Hoothoot do a practice battle against each other. He was working on their speed to help them dodge the gym leader's attacks. It would be very important for Snivy to dodge any of the flying-type attacks that came her way. After a few final hours of training for the evening the group fell asleep and had a night that came with not nearly enough rest for Chance, who tossed and turned thinking about the looming gym battle. Had his sister been this nervous when she left home? He wondered as he stared up at the stars.
The next day brought a lot of easy travel for the young trainer. Heading downhill towards Violet City was much more enjoyable than the several days of going up a gradual incline that had left his legs aching each night. By noon they had already reached more level ground and come upon a small lake. Chance saw this as the perfect spot to stop and have lunch with his pokemon, as well as get a small training session in.
As the red-head approached the water he noticed another trainer not far away. The trainer's bright red shirt made him stick out well against the clear blue water behind him. Beside him was a small purple pokemon with large ears. As he looked at the pokemon a voice came across the field to him.
"You know you could come say 'hi' rather than just staring from way over there!" The blonde smirked over at Chance. Chance blushed and trotted over to the other trainer.
"Sorry about that… I just haven't seen that pokemon yet. It looks very interesting." Chance said meekly.
"Oh, Nidoran? They are actually kind of common. But that doesn't make my buddy here any less awesome!" He beamed as gave his pokemon a big thumbs up. Nidoran slowly walked over and began to sniff at Chance's shoe. The red-head knelt down to pet the small pokemon between the ears and give Snivy a better look.
"Careful there. The big horn on its head is poisonous. You don't wanna let that stick ya while you're out here!" The boy grinned.
Chance laughed. "Good to know! I'm Chance by the way." He said as he stood and offered his hand to the slightly shorter trainer.
The other boy took the hand that was offered to him and gave it a firm shake. "Adrian. It's nice to meet ya! Speaking of pokemon you've never seen before… What is that on your shoulder?" He inquired as he tilted his head a little.
Chance laughed and reach up to scratch Snivy's chin. "This here is my partner, Snivy. She and I are actually from the Unova region, but we decided to start our journey out here!"
"Well then, you really are a long way from home then! What made you decide to start in a whole new region? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"Well, my family is kind of well-known back where I'm from… I wanted to make my own name for myself rather than always being known as the son of a former league champion, ya know?" Chance replied as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I can see how that makes sense… You want to experience things for yourself rather than living in the shadow of somebody else. Make your own path rather than walking in somebody else's footsteps. It makes sense, really." The blonde nodded towards Chance.
The boys chatted for a bit before deciding to have lunch together at the lakeshore. While they were eating Adrian turned towards Chance. "So, once we are done eating would you want to battle? I am challenging the gym over in Violet City and I want to be ready."
"Hey! I am doing the same, actually!" Chance grinned. "I planned to stop down here and train my pokemon for a while because I am honestly not feeling all that ready for my first gym battle yet… So a battle with you sounds great!"
"Alright, sounds good! How about this, we will do a 1 on 1 battle, and because you've just started your journey I won't use Nidoran, because he has been with me for years now and already have a really solid bond, so we have an unfair advantage."
Chance laughed. "Sounds good to me! But ya know, you don't have to go easy on me. The gym leader certainly won't!"
"I don't plan to! But the pokemon I got from Professor Elm needs more training than the pokemon that I grew up with." Adrian replied as he scratched Nidoran behind the ear. The boys spent the next couple minutes finishing up their lunch and talking a bit about growing up. Adrian spoke about growing up with Nidoran and his older brothers, while Chance shared stories about his mother, sister, and his mom's serperior always playing with him.
Once they had finished they spread out in the field nearby. "Alright, let's get this party started!" Adrian yelled out. "Cyndaquil, it's time to battle!" As he yelled he threw a pokeball into the air and out popped a small blue and cream colored pokemon. Chance responded by pulling out his pokedex.
"Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse pokemon. It has a timid nature. If it is startled, the flames on its back burn more vigorously."
Chance looked back up from his pokedex. "A fire-type? Well then, I will go with you. Let's go, Hoothoot!" He exclaimed as he tossed the pokeball high into the air.
The owl pokemon emerged in a flash of red light and stood on a single leg, while tilting its head to the side and staring at the fire-type across from it. "Alright Cyndaquil! Time to get fired up!" Adrian shouted to his pokemon. The fire mouse pokemon responded by letting out a cry while its back burst into flames. "Let's start off with ember!" He commanded. Cyndaquil opened its mouth and out shot many small red balls of fire at its opponent.
"Hoothoot, take to the air and dodge it!" The owl pokemon did as its trainer commanded and flew up over the battlefield. "Good! Now hit it with a tackle attack!" Hoothoot dove from the air and used the drop to gain momentum towards its foe.
"Wait for it… Cyndaquil, jump left now!" Adrian's pokemon dodged at the last second before the tackle was able to make contact causing hoothoot to slam hard into the ground. "Alright! Now hit it with your own tackle!" Cyndaquil rushed the owl before it could recover and get back to its feet and slammed into its side, throwing it several feet across the field.
"Are you alright, Hoothoot?" Chance yelled to his pokemon. Hoothoot slowly got back up to its feet and shook the dirt off from its feathers.
"Hoot! Hoo!" The small pokemon cried as it narrowed its large eyes at its foe.
"Alright!" Chance cheered. "Let's try and hit it with a peck attack!" Hoothoot charged at Cyndaquil who let out an ember to try and deter the assault, however, Hoothoot was able to dodge beside the stream of fireballs and land a peck attack, knocking Cyndaquil back and causing its fire to go out when it rolled across the ground. Hoothoot kept Cyndaquil pinned to the ground as it furiously pecked at its body. Cyndaquil cowered below its foe who had overtaken it.
Adrian looked at his pokemon who laid helpless beneath the onslaught from the flying-type, but he soon got an idea. "Cyndaquil! Reignite your flame! Quick!" His pokemon obeyed and its back burst into flame once more, driving Hoothoot back away from it. "Now, hit it with an ember before it regains its balance!" The attack hit its mark and knocked Hoothoot back and out of the match.
Chance ran over to his pokemon and picked it up in his arms. "You okay, buddy?" He asked down to it.
"Hoo." It cooed softly back up to him. Chance withdrew its pokeball and held it up.
"Well, you take a nice long rest. You did great today." He smiled at the owl as it disappeared in a flash of red. He stood up and faced Adrian who was congratulating his pokemon before recalling it to its ball once more. "That was a great battle! Your tactics were fantastic!" He beamed at the other boy.
"Thanks, Chance. You did really well too!" Adrian smiled in response. "I feel much more confident for my gym match now. Having more experience against a flying-type will definitely help out!"
"I hope so! I think I still need some more practice before I am ready. My team and I haven't been at this very long and we are going in with a massive disadvantage." He frowned as he thought about the imminent battle.
"You're thinking about it too much. Type match ups are important, but they don't decide the entire battle. Just be smart about how you battle and you'll be fine." Adrian reassured his new friend as he put his hand on his shoulder.
Chance smiled back up at him. "Thanks! I hope you're right! Either way, we are going to give it our best shot. We can't let something like that keep us from the Johto League or I will never hear the end of it from my family!" He grinned.
"That's the spirit!" Adrian smiled brightly once more. "Now… If you are headed to Violet City did you want to make the trip together? I mean… We are both going to be taking on the gym. I wouldn't mind the extra company."
"That doesn't sound too bad to me. It would be nice to have somebody to talk to that I can actually understand!" Snivy yawned at this remark. "So, camp here tonight and head towards Violet City in the morning?"
"Sounds like a plan to me!" The boys spent the evening getting to know each other more and allowing their pokemon to rest and play in the water a bit. Snivy spent more time lounging than playing with the other pokemon though. Chance had a good evening talking to Adrian and watching their pokemon play together. He was much less stressed about the coming battle than he had been the previous night and was actually allowing himself to be a bit more excited again. He smiled at the thought of winning his first badge and being able to call his family and make them proud.
