It's interesting to hear what Pokemon you all think the gang should have. I tried to match which suits their personalities the most, and trust me, that's not easy with now over 800 to choose from. I'm not going to lie, I have a bit of a favoritism towards fifth gen Pokemon, but I'm going my best not to show that bias in making their teams.
At the crack of dawn, the group was up and ready to face the day. After a quick breakfast, they packed up their camping equipment, and opened up a map to make sure they were actually heading in the right direction.
"If we continue northeast, we should reach the next town," said Gretchen. "According to the map, it's not too far from here."
"Does it have a gym?" Vince asked.
"The map doesn't say, but it might," said Gretchen. "First towns usually do."
"If that's the case, then I want to get some more training done," Vince said as he stood up. "I want Aiden to know a fire type move before we go to a gym."
"That's actually not a bad idea. It'll help if they knew a move of the same type," said Gretchen.
"How about we take a little while to warm up before we head out?" TJ suggested. "We can split up and explore around here some more."
The others agreed. The decided on 30 minutes to meet back up and head to the next town.
With Shocker happily walking next to him, Gus walked through the woods, keeping a close eye for any danger that might be out there. The last thing he wanted was to end up with an injury before he really got into his adventure. Not that he wanted to get injured at all, but from what he remembered in the games, the first Route was known for its weak Pokemon, and if he was going to get hurt this early on, he might as well go home.
"You think we should get another Pokemon on our team, Shocker?" Gus asked. "Spinelli and Mikey already caught one out here."
"Chu pi-chu pi!"
"Alright. Let's see what Pokemon are out here. . ."
There were plenty of Bug Pokemon around, in the tree's and bushes, but being honest, Gus was never too fond of the creepy crawling Bug types. Then again, he wasn't fond of Electric types, either, and his starter is one. The two of them stopped walking when they heard and felt a low rumbling.
"What's that?"
They followed the noise. Through the bushes, they stopped just in time not to slip and fall over a short cliff. At the bottom was a pathway, where a multitude of goat-like Pokemon were stampeding through. Some were bigger than the others, but they all had leaf like fur on their backs. The larger ones had long horns perched on their head, while the smaller one has smaller horns.
"Wow, I wonder what those are called," Gus said. He patted his pocket for his PokeDex.
"Skiddo, the Mount Pokemon. Thought to be one of the first Pokemon to live in harmony with humans, it has a placid disposition."
"Gogoat, the Mount Pokemon. It can tell how its Trainer is feeling by the subtle shifts in the grip on its hoards."
"Cool, a calm Pokemon. I want one on my team," he said. "How do I get down there. . .?"
He couldn't see any steps, so that left climbing down the hill. A kid with no hand eye coordination whatsoever.
'This is gonna hurt,' he thought.
Carefully, he tried to keep his footing as he crouched down and began to climb down. The hill wasn't particularly tall, so a tumble down it shouldn't break any bones. He hoped. Gus let out a shout when his foot slipped and he slid down the hill. Shocker followed. Gus landed just as the last of the stamped left, avoiding getting trampled, but missing his chance for another party member.
"Aw, man. I was really trying to get one, too. . ."
"Skiddo!"
One of the smaller Pokemon came running, trying to catch up with the rest of the herd. It came to a screeching halt in front of Gus, kicking up dirt and dust that made him cough.
"H-here's one. Guess I didn't miss all of them, after all," he said. He stepped closer to the new Pokemon, doing his best to look nonthreatening and not scare it. The Skiddo, however, was a lot more interested in the Pichu standing next to him, and cheerfully tackled him, sending him flying. Gus ran after his starter, arms out and ready to catch him. He jumped and rolled, catching Shocker before he could hit the ground.
"That was a close one. You okay, Shocker?"
"Chu. . ."
Shockers cheeks sparked, and he hopped out of his arms, facing the Skiddo that had the nerve to attack him. Gus couldn't blame him.
"Alright, Shocker, use ThunderShock!"
Shocker wasted no time sending a small electric bolt towards the wild Skiddo. While it slowed the Pokemon down, the Skiddo shook it off, and starting running towards them. Shocker was luckily able to jump out of the way. The Skiddo ran circles around them.
"The PokeDex said they have a 'placid disposition'. I guess you're the exception, huh, little guy? Do you want to come with us?" Gus asked.
His answer was given when the Skiddo ran around him again, and ran between his legs, scooping Gus onto his back. Shocker jumped on to not get left behind, or head butted again. Gus grabbed his small handlebar-like horns to stay on as his newest party member climbed the hill he fell down with no problem.
#
"Alright, Aiden. Let's try to teach you a Fire type move!"
The first thing Vince wanted to do was get his starter up to battling speed. Though he won a battle against TJ and his Eevee yesterday, that was a close battle, and if there might be a gym in the next town, he didn't want it to come as close as that. The more ready they could be, the better. His team was going to be filled with winners, starting with Aiden.
"Char?"
"Right! I dunno how we do this. . .can you breathe fire yet? Try letting out a big roar!"
Aiden nodded, and did his best to let out an intimidating roar. It ended up sounding weak and wavering, as if the little fire starter was unsure with himself.
"It's alright, Aiden. You don't have to be afraid of being loud, I know you can do it!" Vince encouraged. "Like this."
He let out a loud roar, foregoing any embarrassment he might face if he was caught doing this in favor of helping his timid starter. Aiden copied, and at first nothing happened. Then a small fire ball came from his mouth. It landed on the grass before simmering out.
"See, you did it!" Vince took out his PokeDex to check. "Can you do it again?"
#
TJ and Ellie stood behind a tree, quietly watching a wild Pokemon that caught his attention. It reminded him of all the times he asked his parents for a puppy and was shot down each and every time. But now that he was a trainer, he didn't have anything holding him back from catching a Pokemon that looked like a puppy.
It had light brown fur over its body, with lighter fur over its face, and a patch of blue fur on its back. It had large pointed ears and stubby little feet.
"Lillipup, the puppy Pokemon. Though it is a very brave Pokemon, it is also smart enough to check its foes strength and avoid battle."
"You ready, Ellie? That's the one I want you to go out there and attack," he said.
"Vee!"
The two of them jumped from behind the tree, the noise catching the attention of the wild Pokemon. It stopped eating berries from a bush and turned to face them. The Lillipup stood its ground, ready to fight.
"Ellie, use 'Tackle'!"
Ellie ran towards the wild Pokemon ready to attack, but she never made contact, as the Lillipup jumped out of the way before tackling, sending the Eevee to the ground. She got back up, shaking off the attack, and tried again. She successfully landed a hit. The puppy bit her tail, causing Ellie to run in circles to try and get it off. Once he tail was free, a number of bright stars surrounded Ellie before shooting off towards the wild Pokemon.
"Do that again!" TJ called out Ellie looked over at him. "I dunno what that was called, but do it again, Ellie!"
Ellie turned back to her target, who was struggling to get back onto its feet. More stars appeared around her and fired towards the puppy, causing it to fall and winning the battle. TJ reached into his pocket and tossed a PokeBall towards it, capturing the defeated 'Mon. It shook, once, twice, three times before the red light in the little circle faded away.
"Ha! We did it, Ellie!" He cheered. He scooped up the PokeBall and clipped it onto his belt. "How 'bout we go back and meet up with the others? We can get you fixed up."
#
"Look, if you're going to be on my team, then you've gotta have power," said Spinelli. She stood with Speedy the Dedenne in front of her. "There's no room for weaklings on my team. Do you have what it takes?"
"Den-ne ne!" Speedy chirped.
". . .Okay, that was kinda cute. . " She admitted. "Let's see how strong you are. Rumble! I'm gonna need your help. I want you to tackle Speedy, and Speedy, I want you to attack back. I wanna see what you're made off!"
Her Tepig nodded, and charged straight towards Speedy. With very little time to react, Speedy jumped, barely dodging the attack and taking massive damage. A bright, electric energy surrounded Speedy before a single long bolt struck forward, hitting Rumble. The fire type of stunned, unable to move.
"That was cool1 What move was that?" She asked, reaching into her pocket for her Pokeex. Reading the name of the move, she made a mental note of before turning her attention back to her Pokemon. "You're more of a fighter than I thought, Speedy! I should probably help Rumble, though."
She returned Rumble to their Pokeball before Speedy climbed onto her shoulder and they headed back.
#
After 30 minutes the group met back up at their camp sight, energized and ready to head out. However, they noticed that there were five of them, rather than the usual six.
"Hey, where's Gus?" TJ asked.
"SLOW DOWN!"
Coming from the bushes was Gus, barely staying on the back of a new Pokemon as it ran as fast as it could. When it finally came to a screeching halt, the momentum caused their friend and his starter to keep moving forward and he was tossed off the Pokemons back, landing hard on the ground. The others came to his help.
"Are you okay, Gus?" Mikey asked as they helped him up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up," said Gus. He patted the dirt off his clothes. "You guys like my new Pokemon?"
"It looks to be quite an excitable one," Gretchen commented. The Skiddo paced in circles around them happily. "Are you sure you want this one to be on your team?"
"I'm sure. He's a little hyper, but I know he'll be good," said Gus. "Now I need to think of a name for him. . ."
"You can think of a new name on our way," said Spinelli. "C'mon, I'm ready to see a gym!"
"Did anything else exciting happen to anyone else?" Vince asked. "Aiden learned a new move!"
"I caught a new Pokemon. It's a puppy lookin' one," TJ said. "I'd show you guys, but Ellie really did a number on him. I wanna get him healed, first."
The others nodded in agreement, wanting to get their own teams healed.
#
The town blended in with the surrounding woods almost perfectly. The houses and buildings were simple wood structures, almost built around the tree's instead of in a clearing. Some of the houses were even in the tree's giving tree houses a new meaning. Wooden bridges connected them, and the only building that stuck out was the red roof of the Pokemon center near the town entrance.
A lot of kids had already arrived and were gathered around the Pokemon center, as well as another building they quickly assumed to be the gym, their next destination. There were homes and other buildings, some on the ground, some perfectly built as treehouses. It left the six of them in awe.
"This is awesome. How often do you see a town like this?" Spinelli said. "C'mon, I wanna see who's the gym leader."
"We should probably have our Pokemon healed first," said Gretchen. "If you're going to the gym you might as well go in strong."
Spinelli groaned, but agreed. The six of them walked towards the building with the red top. The doors slid open silently, letting them inside. Despite the large number of trainers inside, the center was spotless. They recognized a few kids from their class, and some in different grades altogether. With all their experience in playing the game, they walked to the counter, where a pink haired woman in a nurse's dress was work.
"Hi, welcome to the Pokemon Center. Would you like me to heal your Pokemon?" She politely asked. The gang agreed. "Then I need you to put them in their PokeBalls, and I'll have them healed up."
They each put their Pokemon in with balls before handing them over to be healed. As they waited, they looked around the center. It looked like everyone was settling into their groups to travel with, though there were few sitting by themselves.
"What kind of gym do you guys think this town has?" Gus asked.
"Based on the tons appearance, I'm guessing that it's probably a grass type gym. Maybe even a bug type gym," said Gretchen.
"I hope it's a grass gym. That way me and Aiden can tear right through it," Vince said, confidently. "We wouldn't have to train anymore for it."
"Same here. Grass types are no match for fire types," said Spinelli. "The gym leader would be practically handing it over to us."
"At least some of us will have an easy time," said Gretchen.
"Oh yeah, I grass type vs a grass type is going to take forever," TJ said. Gretchen nodded.
"Alright, your Pokemon are all healed," the nurse said. She handed them each a tray with their respective PokeBalls. "Thank you for coming to Pokemon Center."
They each said their thanks and left. It took a little walking around for them to find the gym, on the opposite end of the town. Other trainers had already gathered outside, eager to get a look. The six of them headed inside through the sliding doors. Right away, they're met with another door way with a sign saying 'battle in progress'. Instead, the followed the small crowd down the hall and upstairs. There, other trainers with looking over the ledge at the battle taking place below.
Or what was taking place. The trainer returned their Pokemon and didn't make any move to bring out another. However, the gym leader. . .
"It's Ms. Grotke!" Spinelli shouted. Their teacher stood on the other end of the gym, returning her own Pokemon. She shook hands with the other trainer before waving up at the spectators.
"So all the teacher are gym leaders. That makes sense," said Gus.
"Oh god, can you imagine what kind of gym Ms. Finster has?" Vince cringed.
"Poison? Dragon?" Mikey asked.
"I'm gonna go with dragon," said TJ. "Let's see if she's gonna battle any more trainers."
They walked back out to the front, and waited for the sign about the double doors to change and let in the next trainer. Instead, someone else came out to speak to everyone.
"I'm sorry kids, but there isn't going to be any more battles today," he said. There was a collective groan. "You all can come back at 7 am if you want to take on the gym leader."
"Well that sucks. I was getting excited to battle Ms. Grotke," Spinelli said as they stepped out of the gym.
"Look at the bright side, Spin. This gives you more time to train," said TJ. Spinelli still groaned.
Seeing the only hotel in town turning away visitors, they opted for another night camping out in the woods, since they were going to train some more, anyways. If they were going to get anywhere tomorrow, then they needed to train until they couldn't anymore.
It's getting pretty long, so I'll cut it short here.
Teams so far
TJ:
Eevee (Ellie), Lillipup (Unknown name)
Spinelli:
Tepig (Rumble), Dedenne (Speedy)
Vince:
Charmander (Aiden)
Gus:
Pichu (Shocker), Gogoat (Unknown name)
Gretchen:
Chikorita (Flora)
Mikey:
Munchlax (Dionysius), Scatterbug (Volare)
Alright, some more action in this chapter. Poor Gus. He's not lucky in the slightest.
