Current Team: Gupta-Mudkip, level 9. Sadik-Torchic (Ates), level 11.
Gupta's confused at seeing pre-teens with Pokemon because he's 15-16 in this fic. It should be said that even in the original Ruby and Sapphire, the characters had the appearance of being about 13. I just wanted to make him a little older than that. He also isn't Japan, and doesn't have the same personal space issues despite being similarly introverted and quiet (almost cold) to people he doesn't know. This is a cultural difference rather than a personality thing.
The early afternoon sun beat down upon the group of Gupta, his mother, and Sadik as they headed out onto Route 102. For the first few minutes, they passed only trees and a small pond on their right hand side. Then tall grass began to sprout up either side of the path. In one such patch of grass stood a trainer. Sadik smiled at the sight.
"Seein' as ya don't seem to have the hang of trainer battles yet, I'll go first, eh? Show ya the ropes." Sadik suggested, walking towards the trainer. Gupta sighed. He wasn't the one who needed the guidance…
"Walkin' direct in front of a trainer or making eye contact with 'em's kinda a code for meaning ya wanna battle." Sadik continued, walking up to the trainer in the grass and staring them down. Gupta nodded, filing the information away, also noticing that the trainers on the Route seemed deliberately stood so that people would have to pass by them to get ahead.
"I'm Calvin." The boy standing in front of Sadik stated. Gupta had to look at the kid twice. He couldn't be older than ten!
"Hey, I'm Sadik." Said trainer greeted. "Let's have a good battle, Calvin."
"Heh." Calvin smiled. "Go Zigzagoon!" He shouted, sending out his Pokémon.
"Let's go Ateş!" Sadik called, throwing his Pokeball into the space between the trainers.
"Chic!" Ateş roared, as the Zigzagoon tensed ready for battle.
"Zigzagoon, use Tackle!" The Youngster called.
"Ateş, Ember!" Sadik responded, and the Torchic breathed fire at the Zigzagoon just before it slammed into him.
"Zigzagoon, Tail Whip!" The trainer called, and the Pokémon nodded, taking a few steps back and wagging its tail playfully.
"Uhh…" Sadik raised an eyebrow. "Ateş, Ember again."
"Chic!" Ateş agreed, breathing fire at the Zigzagoon again. The Pokémon reared up and cried out before collapsing.
"Ah, nuts. You're really good." The trainer complimented. "Guess you deserve this then." He reached into his pocket, took out some coins and handed them to Sadik, who pocketed them with a nod of thanks. "Anyway, I have to go heal my Pokémon. Bye!" He yelled, beginning to run towards the Oldale Town Pokémon Centre.
"…You get money for fighting in these things?" Gupta asked, walking up to Sadik.
"Yep." Sadik confirmed. "Ya give prize money if you lose, and you get money if you win."
"…You owe me money then." Gupta deadpanned.
"Oh, right. Yeah. Of course." Sadik laughed a little. "We'll sort it out at the next town, kay?"
"…Right. Whatever." Gupta decided. "Do these trainers stand deliberately in the path so people have to battle them to advance?" He asked.
"…Well yeah." Sadik stated. "Isn't that obvious?"
"I'm not sure why I'm even surprised." Gupta admitted.
Immediately after the battle against the Youngster, Sadik went running off down the path, claiming he was going to fight other trainers on the Route. As Gupta walked after him (he really didn't see the need to run at this point), he noticed Sadik duck behind a line of trees, passing through tall grass deliberately to avoid a trainer stood at the edge of it. Despite Sadik running only a couple of feet behind the trainer's back, he didn't turn. Sadik continued to run through the tall grass, reaching the edge of the trees and beginning to run upwards, out of the grass.
"Ya can avoid trainers by runnin' behind them like that," he shouted back, before walking at a normal pace upwards into some tall grass that covered the path a few hundred metres ahead of Gupta. "I'll take tha trainer over here," he explained. "Ya can take the one back there."
"That would be a good idea," Cleo agreed. "You'll want to get some experience against other trainers. Mudkip could use the practice too."
"Alright…" Gupta gave in, walking forwards until he was in front of the trainer. The Bug Catcher leapt towards him.
"Caught you! You have to battle me now!" He decided, walking forwards to close the gap between him and Gupta. The teen noticed that this boy also looked little older than 10. Where were all these kids getting Pokémon from?
"I'm Rick by the way," The Bug Catcher stated. "What're you called?"
"Gupta." Said teen replied curtly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Mudkip's Pokeball.
"Okay then, let's have a great battle!" Rick declared, pulling one Pokeball out of his bag. "Go Wurmple!"
Gupta stared at the Wurmple that emerged from the Pokeball before sending out Mudkip.
"Mud?" Mudkip asked, looking around at his surroundings before seeing the Wurmple and getting the idea. "Mud!"
"Okay Mudkip, use Tackle." Gupta declared.
"Wurmple! Tackle!" Rick yelled. Mudkip ran and slammed into the Wurmple, and it pushed back with some force. In the end, Wurmple came off worse.
"Wurmple! Don't give up! Use Tackle!" Rick repeated.
"Tackle again Mudkip." Gupta commanded. Mudkip was able to move faster than the Wurmple and tackled it before it could react. The Pokémon collapsed instantly.
"Ah!" Rick leapt back, before returning his Pokémon to its Pokeball. "Don't think I'm done yet though! Go Wurmple!" He called as he threw another Pokeball at the ground.
"Wurmple!" Cried the second of the Bug Catcher's Pokémon.
"….Mudkip. Tackle it." Gupta reiterated. Mudkip looked confused at the fact that there was a second Pokémon for only a moment before running towards the Wurmple eagerly.
"Wurmple, Tackle that Mudkip!" Rick commanded his Pokémon. Mudkip slammed Wurmple before Wurmple pushed Mudkip back. Mudkip panted a little before picking himself up and returning to form.
"Tackle again Wurmple." The boy asked his Pokémon. Wurmple smacked into Mudkip.
"Tackle it back," Gupta encouraged, causing Mudkip to surge forwards, hitting the Wurmple into a tree. The Pokémon laid still.
"Aww, you're too good." Rick decided. "Guess I'll have to keep practicing." He reached into his pocket as he spoke and took out some money which he handed to Gupta. At the same time, he returned his second Wurmple to its Pokeball and placed it back into his bag. Mudkip stared after the Pokémon with a spaced out look on his face.
"Um, thanks." The teen responded.
"Okay, I'll heal my team now. Bye!" He waved as he left.
"That was really good." Cleo commented, walking up to Gupta as Mudkip turned around, noticed his trainer, and wandered back over.
"Yeah?" Gupta asked, picking up his Pokémon.
"Of course. I'm proud of Mudkip too. He handled that pretty well." She continued. "I think you should heal him before you go on though."
"I should?" Gupta replied. "Mudkip doesn't look too injured…"
"There's still a long way to go on this Route." She explained. "If you get into another battle, Mudkip might end up very hurt. You want him at full strength." She stopped and mused. "Sadik is actually very lucky he hasn't come across any wild Pokémon. Running is meant to bring them out."
"Ah." Gupta noted, taking his bag off so he could rummage through it for the potion he was sure he still had, juggling Mudkip in his arms as he did. When he found the bottle, he took it out, closing up his bag and putting it back on his back before wondering what to do with it.
"Do you need some help?" His mother asked, stroking Mudkip slightly as she drew closer.
"Uhh… Yeah." Gupta agreed.
"Right." She nodded, taking the bottle from Gupta. "Just spray it over him." She guided, treating Mudkip with the potion.
"Kiiip," Mudkip sang as he felt his wounds getting healed.
"Okay." She noted once she was done, pocketing the used potion.
"Yeah. Let's go find Sadik." Gupta suggested, walking off with Mudkip in his arms.
When they found Sadik, he had walked north, past the tall grass covering the path and up a grassy hill, and was busy battling another Youngster's Taillow. Just as they drew near, Ateş scratched the Taillow in the face and it fell down unconscious.
"Wow, you're really good." Complimented the defeated trainer. "That's my 5th loss today, you know? I guess I need a lot more practice."
"Try battlin' some wild Pokémon for a while. You'll get there, I'm sure of it." Sadik encouraged.
"Okay, sure," the boy smiled as he handed some money to Sadik. Meanwhile both trainers returned their Pokémon to their Pokeballs. "Well, I'll be off to heal my Pokémon. Bye, thanks for the battle!"
"Nice guy…" Sadik mused as he left. "I think his name was Allen?"
"You went off suddenly." Gupta commented as he walked over.
"Ah. Yeah, guess I did." Sadik grinned. "I just wanted to do some battlin', but I didn't want ya ta miss out on the experience ya needed."
"Right." Gupta accepted.
"Hmm…" Cleo mused, walking past the two teens and to the right of the T-junction they now stood at. Following her, the pair saw a patch of clear soil in which berry bushes were growing. Cleo walked over to the bushes, picked the berries that were on them, and planted a few of the picked berries in the ground.
"The plants will wilt and die now that they're harvested." She explained. "But we want to leave something behind for other trainers to find." She handed some of the berries to each of the boys.
"Thanks!" Sadik smiled.
"…Are you sure you're allowed to take those?" Gupta asked, sceptically.
"Yes." His mother answered. "They're Oran and Pecha berries. Oran berries can be fed to Pokémon to heal their wounds, and Pecha cure poison." She taught.
"Cool!" Sadik decided.
"Okay." Gupta stopped to put the berries in his bag. "Should we move on now?"
"Yeah." Sadik turned around and looked towards the left path of the T-junction. "There's one more trainer I can see. How about you battle her?"
"Okay," Gupta shrugged. He supposed it was fair, seeing as he'd only battled one other trainer on the Route already.
"Great! I'll just watch or somethin' then." Sadik suggested, staying a few steps behind Gupta as he walked towards the young trainer. She was looking around the area, seemingly searching for opponents; a marked difference from the other trainers on the Route who had all stood in one spot and stared straight ahead. As Gupta got closer to her, she actually turned to face him.
"Are you going to battle me?" She asked, hand moving to her pocket where Gupta assumed her Pokeballs were. He took a moment to think, noting that although she looked slightly older than the boys on the Route, she was still far younger than Gupta- certainly no older than twelve.
"Yeah, I'll battle you." He answered finally; a little guilty for the fact that she was clearly a child. It didn't feel right to take money from such young trainers!
"Okay," she nodded. "Go Zigzagoon!"
"Zi?" The emerging Pokémon queried. As far as Gupta could tell, it didn't appear to have been caught long ago.
"Okay Mudkip, let's go." Gupta instructed, setting the dopey Pokémon down on the ground. Mudkip glanced over at the Zigzagoon inquisitively.
"Muuud."
"I'm Tiana by the way." The Lass smiled a little as she spoke.
"Gupta." The teen responded.
"Nice to meet you." She responded. "Okay Zigzagoon, use Tackle."
"Tackle Mudkip," Gupta ordered. Mudkip was slammed by the Zigzagoon, but was able to respond with a tackle of his own.
"Tackle again!" The Lass shouted to her Pokémon.
"Mud Slap." Gupta commanded. Mudkip was tackled while he was still coating his paws with mud. He leapt up and slapped the Zigzagoon who fell against the ground, fainted.
"Ah…" The girl grimaced as she returned her Pokémon to its Pokeball. "Okay, go Zigzagoon!" She threw another Pokeball at the ground and another Zigzagoon emerged.
"The trainers here seem to like having many of the same Pokémon," Gupta commented.
"Everyone but the guy I fought just now." Sadik responded.
"Zigzagoon, Tackle!" Tiana yelled.
"Mudkip, Tackle." Gupta said at the same time. Since the commands were the same, Mudkip had no issues with getting things mixed up, and took a tackle from Zigzagoon before tackling back.
"Tackle again Zigzagoon." Tiana encouraged.
"Don't give up Mudkip, Tackle." Gupta told his Pokémon. Mudkip looked back to him and nodded, taking a tackle to the body while he was distracted. He turned around and slammed the Zigzagoon into a tree, where it fainted.
"Oh no… You're too good." The girl commented, returning her Pokémon to its Pokeball. Mudkip smiled and began staring at seeds flying in the air. "Maybe I need to catch some more Pokémon." She reached into her pocket and pulled out some coins she handed to Gupta. "Anyway, I'd better heal my team. Good thing I'm only a few minutes from Petalburg. See you!" She smiled and waved as she ran off down the path.
"Heh, that was good." Sadik complimented as he walked the few steps to close the gap between him and Gupta. "Yer getting better as a trainer."
"Thanks." Gupta responded. "Are we really only a few minutes from Petalburg though?"
"Yep." Cleo confirmed, walking up to her son. "We made good time, considering the interruptions we've had…"
"Yeah." Sadik agreed. "There's just one thing I've gotta do first." He turned away from the group as he began to walk south, reaching a ledge that led down into a patch of tall grass. Beyond the grass was a line of dense trees. Gupta wondered what Sadik was doing as the teen leapt over the ledge and landed in the grass, before he noticed the potion laying on the ground in the middle of the area. Mudkip followed him and Cleo as they walked to the edge of the ledge, and nearly jumped off before Gupta caught him, placing him back on the ground.
"I've no idea who leaves stuff like this layin' around," Sadik started as he walked over to the potion and picked it up. "But we'd better not let it go to waste. Finders keepers, eh?" He smirked as he put it into his bag.
"Is he allowed to do that?" Gupta asked his mother.
"…Nothing saying he can't." She replied. "People shouldn't leave stuff lying around."
"Huh." Gupta stared at Sadik as he began to walk back towards the ledge, moving towards the side where there was a small ramp. Before he could reach the relative safety of the short grass where Gupta and his mother were standing, a Poochyena leapt out of the taller grass at him. The teen leapt back, hand moving to his Pokeball to send out Ateş.
"Chic!" Ateş sang as he was released.
"Okay Ateş, use Ember on it!" Sadik decided. Ateş looked towards him and nodded, before breathing fire at the Poochyena. The Pokémon charged Ateş, getting continuously hurt by the fire as it did. Sadik looked impressed by the Pokémon's endurance. Eventually it made its way to Ateş and tackled him to the ground. The Torchic picked himself up quickly.
"Hmm…" Sadik mused, hand moving towards his bag in thought. Gupta wondered what he was considering. After a few seconds the teen's face set in determination. He picked a Pokeball out of his bag and threw it at the Poochyena. The Pokémon could only stare at the ball as it opened and drew it inside. The ball then fell to the ground where it shook a couple of times. Gupta watched the scene, wondering how it would play out. He had never actually seen someone try to catch a Pokémon before.
"Come on…" Sadik whispered, as the ball shook one final time before clicking slightly.
"All right!" Sadik cheered, walking over to the ball and picking it up. "Guess we caught a new friend, eh buddy?"
"Tor! Chic!" Agreed Ateş.
"Okay then," he smiled, picking Ateş up and placing him on his shoulders before walking back to Gupta and Cleo a few metres away. "Should we go now?" He asked them.
"Okay." Cleo nodded, beginning to walk. Sadik, Gupta and Mudkip followed her.
A few minutes later, the group arrived in Petalburg City. Gupta knew this because the grass of Route 102 gave way for an actual road. Gupta had seen the buildings of the city in the distance, but the change from nature to town still happened suddenly and unexpectedly, so he wasn't sure what to think originally. As he looked around he noticed the houses and realised he had to have reached the city. From where he stood, he could just about see the Pokémon Centre. Cleo smiled as she realised they had arrived, while Sadik grinned and picked up the pace, wanting to reach the Pokémon Centre quickly.
"…The Centre will still be there in another few minutes." Gupta stated, deadpan.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I wanna make sure my team's all healed up." Sadik answered.
"Gupta… I should get to the Gym and check everything's okay." Cleo decided, coming up beside Gupta as he walked faster to keep up with Sadik. Mudkip whined as he was forced to run to keep pace. "I'll see you once you're done healing your team, okay?" She smiled reassuringly at the boys before walking even faster than both of them, heading off down the road towards the Gym. Gupta was left staring after her, and almost walked past the Pokémon Centre.
"Hey, it's this way!" Sadik pointed out, grabbing his arm to pull him towards the door. Gupta looked over to Sadik, not really reacting to the hold. He was used to being physically close to people, to the point he didn't even notice it when he got within touching distance of them most of the time.
"Yer acting as spaced out as yer Mudkip." Sadik continued. As if on cue, Mudkip ran into Gupta's legs as Sadik spoke, not noticing that they'd stopped.
"Oh. Right." Gupta shrugged as he picked up Mudkip and walked into the Centre.
"Hey, welcome to our Pokémon Centre!" The lady behind the desk smiled as Sadik and Gupta walked in.
"Are you the same nurse as the one in Oldale?" Gupta asked, a little weirded out by how similar the women looked.
"Nope, she's my sister," the nurse explained. "Do you have Pokémon you'd like to rest?"
"The nurses in this region are all relatives of one another somehow." Sadik elaborated as he returned Ateş to his Pokeball and handed both of his Pokémon over to the nurse. "Some of 'em are more distantly related than others."
"Right." Gupta nodded sceptically as he handed Mudkip over.
While the two teens waited for their Pokémon to be healed, they were approached by Tiana, who was also resting in the Centre.
"Hey, you're the guys from before." She acknowledged as she walked up to them.
"Yeah. Hi." Gupta responded.
"You know…" She mused, looking a little sheepish. "I've been hearing people talking while I've been sat here. They said the woman with you guys was the new Gym Leader."
Gupta sighed. Not this again. "Yeah." He confirmed. "She's my mother if you were wondering." He added, perhaps unwisely.
"No way! You're a Gym Leader's son? No wonder I lost!" She exclaimed.
"…Everyone seems to say that like it means something." Gupta thought out loud. He really had no idea why people expected him to be strong just because his mother was; he was a beginning trainer too after all!
"Well, yeah. Can't prove it isn't in the blood after all." Sadik commented.
"…Can't prove that it is." Gupta shot back.
"Heh, Touché." Sadik admitted.
"Yeah, well, I'm still using it as an excuse." Tiana giggled a little to herself. "Anyway, I have training to do. See you around!"
"Bye!" Sadik waved after her as she left. "Heh, nice girl." He mused.
"Uh, your Pokémon are healed now." The nurse interrupted.
"Thanks." Gupta nodded as he took Mudkip back, immediately letting him out of the Pokeball he had been placed in. He looked around before sniffing at the floor.
"Hey, thanks." Sadik grinned as he took his Pokémon back, sending them both out of their Pokeballs and looking them over, especially his new Poochyena.
"Heh…" He smirked as he picked the Pokémon up, flipping it over for some reason. Gupta wasn't sure the Pokémon was too happy.
"She's real strong." Sadik commented. Gupta instantly stopped his thoughts on the matter. Oh.
"Pretty good endurance too. And she seems like the sensible, reliable type. Think I'll name her Asena." He continued.
"Okay." Gupta shrugged. Mudkip walked over to the new arrival, sniffing her before smiling goofily. If the confused look was anything to go by, Asena wasn't sure what to make of him. Ateş walked up to her and jumped her unexpectedly, trying to play. She really didn't take kindly to it, kicking the Torchic away.
"Hey, no fightin'!" Sadik stepped in, separating his Pokémon. "Play nice!"
Gupta stared. Asena was far more serious than Ateş or Mudkip. She wasn't any stronger than them though. Gupta had thought that maturity came with experience with Pokémon. Seems he was wrong.
'Great,' he thought to himself. 'Mudkip's probably not getting any better anytime soon then.'
"Heh, guess she just has a serious nature." Sadik suggested, placing Ateş on his head to prevent the Torchic bothering Asena again. She sat at Sadik's feet, looking a little indignant at being captured, but deciding against trying to escape.
"Nature?" Gupta queried.
"Yeah. Pokémon have different natures. They're kinda like personalities, in a broad sense. And they affect how they fight and what they like to do. There're loads of different ones." Sadik explained.
"Right." Gupta nodded. Guess that explained Mudkip… Maybe? He looked down at Mudkip, who had wandered back over to the desk in the middle of the Centre and was trying to lick it. Who was he kidding? Nothing quite explained Mudkip.