Chapter 21: Skylark's Day Off—Mapping Out Kanto

"No, sir, you aren't battling today. You fight Thursday, Friday and Saturday if you keep winning." A security guard in front of the rec room said. "You got a day off."

"I do?" Skylark asked again.

"Yes sir. Enjoy the day!" The guard said again, pushing him away. Skylark nodded as he was pushed away and walked back to his hotel. On his way back, though, he ran into another trainer in the square. The man ran forward and stopped Skylark.

"Wait! We must battle! It's a trainer's way!" He shouted. Skylark stared at him, confused, but the man was insistent. He threw out his Pokéball which held a Metapod. "Harden, Metapod!" Metapod grew much stronger in defense as Skylark sent out Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, tackle!" Bulbasaur ran forward, slamming into the Metapod. Is face showed great pain as it was knocked backward.

"Metapod, tackle back!" Metapod got up and hopped furiously toward Bulbasaur, who managed to dodge the attack.

"Tackle again!" Skylark shouted. Bulbasaur hit Metapod again, knocking it over for good. It passed out. "So I guess I win?"

"Nope! I still have another one!" The man shouted. "Go! Caterpie!" He threw out a second ball, sending out a Caterpie. Skylark was shocked, as he was used to only one on one battles. "Caterpie, use string shot!" Caterpie immediately hit Bulbasaur with string, covering her two front legs, leaving her immobile.

"Bulbasaur, try your Vine Whips!" Bulbasaur nodded and started to whip at Caterpie. Grass type is not very effective against bug types, but Bulbasaur easily outnumbered Caterpie in levels. The vine whip knocked Caterpie out.

"No! Darn it." The man shouted. He felt around in his pockets, not finding any source of cash. He frowned, but then began to speak. "I don't have money to pay you, so take this." He walked over, took off his hat and gave it to Skylark. It was a straw hat with a green band, which most bug catchers wore these days. "The hat was about 100 Pokédollars. I hope it suffices!"

"Whoa, what? Why are you paying me and giving me stuff?" Skylark asked, surprised. "All I did was win a battle.

"You must be new to training, aren't you?"

"I'm actually not a regional trainer yet. I'm in the tournament, but after I win I intend to go after the regions."

"Hahaha, after you win? Pretty cocky attitude. Anyways, I'll go ahead and tell you. After you beat trainers, once you're regional anyway, they have to pay for losing. So, since I lost to you, I had to pay a certain amount. Most people pay around 300 to 1000. But by law, the lowest amount you can pay is 100 dollars or an item worth that much."

"So I just get your hat?" Skylark looked at it. "Well, it looks rather nice."

"Yeah, I just got it yesterday. It's a beautifully crafted hat too, I bought it from one of the best weavers in the Kanto/Johto land. I usually wear my hats in the forest or on the beach to protect from sun burn." The man said. "By the way, my name is Roger. I hope one day we can have a rematch! Preferably when you're a regional trainer. Maybe we'll see each other in the Viridian Forest!"

"Viridian Forest?"

"Yeah? The forest that leads to Pewter City, where the first gym leader in Kanto is located."

"Is that close?" Skylark asked.

"Sort of. Well, I suggest you stop by Pallet Town and talk to Professor Oak first. He'll make you an official regional trainer as well as give you a PokéDex. I would say he'd give you a starter, but it seems as though you already find one!" Roger said as he walked away. "I was stopping in on the tournament, my cousin is actually competing in this tournament."

"Oh cool! Who is he?"

"Actually, it's a she. Her name is Celia. Celia Robin, actually. Her dad is my dad's brother! I was hoping she would win, but seeing you battle today I'm sorta tied between you two now." Roger replied. Skylark nearly fell over. Roger was her cousin!? Why was everyone in her family a trainer?

"Oh, cool. I hear she's good." Skylark tried to play cool.

"Well, you seem clueless as to the Kanto Region. Am I right?" Roger said. "Here." He gave Skylark a map of the Kanto Region, with certain spots circled and named while others not so much. Skylark stared at it intently, confused. Some of the circles had numbers by them.

"What is this?" Skylark asked.

"Ah, the circles are the cities with gyms in them. The numbers are the number gym they are. That 1 right there is Pewter City. Basically, the gyms are arranged in a circle type thing that end up leading back near Pallet Town, which then leads to Victory Road and to the Elite Four." Roger replied. He helped Skylark significantly that day. He gave him advice on the journey, the fastest routes and the longest routes, as well as the cities to stop by. Some of them weren't even Gym cities, but just cities to stop by for a vacation or a break.

It almost seemed like fate for Skylark to meet Roger. If he hadn't, he would have no plan and he would have been lost from the start. They talked for another hour, and then walked to a center to heal Roger's Metapod and Caterpie. Then, Skylark invited him to lunch, where they talked more about each other and about the journey unfolding.

Before he knew it, the day was over. Skylark was upset, but glad to have made a new friend. At the edge of the city, Roger had his backpack on and his Pokéball at his waist. Roger bid him farewell, and told him he'd be listening to the radio to hear who the winner would be. Roger walked off into the wilderness, planning to make his way back to the Viridian Forest. There, they would rematch.

With Wednesday now over, Skylark checked the tournament results to find that another fifteen people were knocked out of the tournament. One game involved cheating from both sides, which eliminated both players. Celia had again advanced, which only made Skylark more nervous.

Tomorrow was Thursday. Then Friday and Saturday. With only 3 tournament days left, Skylark had to give it his all those three days if he wanted to advance at all. He would have to overpower and defeat his enemies if he was serious about his dreams.

Authors Notes: I understand that Roger and a straw hat allude to One Piece, but seriously, I'm not trying to do that here. Every Pokemon character has a hat, plus I thought it'd be useful for forests or whatever, so I was like "he can get it here!" So yeah. Not trying to make another allusion to One Piece as I usually do :P