The two days it took for Christopher to reach Viridian City blended into three distinct memories; a large waterfall where they camped overnight, the smell of burnt feathers from Nova's target practice, and the severe lack of all human contact. The waterfall was simple but relaxing, the small pool beneath it home to several magikarp who would often attempt to leap up the waterfall. None of them succeeded in doing so. The frequent flocks of pidgey and spearow had grown worse as the pair distanced themselves from Pallet Town, a sign of a nearby nest which would certainly cause troubles for any trainer who was not careful. With no trainers to battle, Christopher focused solely on training his starter Pokémon and the timing of its electrical discharges. If Nova could learn to control the energy with greater precision as an elekid, it would be extremely powerful once it had the electricity capacity of an electivire to channel.
It was on the morning of the second day, when Nova was alternating hands during a Thunder Punch sequence, that Christopher's mind soon fixated on a single thought. If the electricity could be channelled into Nova's fist, why not a leg?
"Nova, I have an idea to test out. Focus your electrical energies through your legs and then execute a Low Kick against that tree." Christopher requested. Nova began with a running start towards a nearby tree and then slide into a charged Low Kick. While the tree's bark was burnt and a few leaves dropped, the kick itself did not seem to do any noticeable damage to the tree. Nova, clearly annoyed at his lack of strength, began a second run.
"At least you were able to channel the energy correctly," Christopher said, interrupting his elekid's second attempt, "We can train under a fighting style once we reach Saffron City that involves your electricity. Perhaps you can learn Rolling Kick to increase momentum and power. Try combining it with a rising Low Kick, what you used against Tangela." The yellow blur leapt up towards the tree's branches and snapped the wood with a powerful twist of its leg.
"Good work, we will call this move 'Arc Kick' in the future, ok?" Nova nodded in response. "Once we reach Viridian City, which should be later today, we can search the surrounding area for a nidoran which is known to learn Double Kick. That should help us against Brock and his rock type preference. Still, it's nine months until the beginning of the Indigo League so that should be enough time to build a good team." Christopher relaxed against his bag, his mind beginning to dream of a team he might one day stand beside.
The pair continued their Northbound walk, the trainer making light conversation with his starter Pokémon as they followed the woodland path to the aptly named Viridian City. While Nova couldn't necessarily respond in great detail, the starter Pokémon was more than eager to simply listen to its trainer and show interest in certain topics.
"So, what about you then? What is it that you want to gain from our journey together?" Christopher asked a puzzled Nova. "There should be something that you want to gain from all of this, the thing that motivates you to keep going when everything else is telling you to stop. Something that causes you to endeavour for greatness. Strength, friendship, evolution, exploration, the important thing is that it must matter to you. Great, now I sound like Professor Oak giving one of his speeches." Christopher sighed to himself, the thought of spending all of his time working in a laboratory and having a head of grey hair was more than enough for one day.
The day was turning to dusk as the duo entered the large city, the streets still bustling with people making their way home for the evening. To Christopher, Viridian was just like any other major city which typically revolved around the reputation of its Pokémon Gym to attract visiting trainers. There would always be people who lived there to settle down, but the heart of the city would always belong to the trainers who battled and trained within its borders. To Nova, every street corner and person upon it offered a new mystery that had to be investigated, something that many residents were familiar with from Pokémon. It would take them an hour to locate the Pokémon Centre, after which neither trainer nor Pokémon was content to do anything but collapse in their warm beds after two days of simply walking and training.
Once the pair had awoken and refreshed themselves with a hearty breakfast, courtesy of a nearby Pokémon friendly restaurant (provided it wasn't a Snorlax), Christopher began to search for the Viridian Gym. While he would one day challenge the battleground of the infamously powerful Giovanni and his ground types, Christopher wanted to register for the Indigo League and to hopefully watch an advanced Gym Leader battle in person. Nova grew quiet upon hearing Christopher's tales of the leader's strength, especially against inexperienced trainers.
"We are not going to battle him yet Nova, I just want to spectate a live battle of his so we can gain some experience." Christopher explained as he smiled to himself.
He soon spotted the Gym and was pleasantly surprised to see two familiar faces standing outside in conversation.
"So that's what your starter Pokémon was, I never really thought of you as the kind to choose an electric type." Elizabeth declared, a curious look from Nathan was his only other greeting.
"Yeah, I was surprised too but it feels right. Nova and I have already bonded quite well over the past few days. Still, now that you have all seen my starter, I believe I should see yours in return." Christopher stated, a smile on his face from being in the familiar company of childhood friends. Nathan was the first to reveal his starter; the newly released child of Bruteroot began to chase Nova around their trainers' legs but soon couldn't keep up with the yellow blur.
"Ah, Bulbasaur seems to be quite friendly around you Nathan. I better get on its good side before it evolves into another powerhouse. I presume Elizabeth chose Charmander then?" his question causing a face of shock upon Elizabeth.
"How do you always do that? Even when we were kids, you'd always make strange predictions that would turn out to be true and then never explain yourself." she exclaimed as she released her shy Charmander who scuttled behind Elizabeth's leg.
"Professor Oak's arcanine recently had pups and that it was aggressive when we received our starters from having it taken. I then knew that Hayley had received Growlithe from her family, which she would only do if she had chosen either Bulbasaur or Squirtle and since Nathan just showed me Bulbasaur…" the amateur detective clarified to his listeners with a slight bow. "What I can not deduce is why you two are standing outside of the Viridian City Gym with no intention of entering."
"It's closed." was the simple answer, Nathan's first words in the conversation, his reserved but blunt words a constant throughout the years.
"Actually, all you had to do was knock." came an unknown voice from the door, causing the trio to leap back in surprise at the sudden noise.
"Neither of you knocked on the door?" Christopher asked, watching his rivals sweat-drop in front of him.
"It's good to know you haven't changed too much from the old days, always oblivious to what was right in front of you." the stranger said with a knowing smile.
"The old days? Is that you Harvey?" Elizabeth questioned the nodding young man in front of her. Harvey had left Pallet Town on his journey around six years ago, venturing across the regions and competing in the various Leagues. He would sometimes return to the small town and treat the youngsters to tales of his adventures in the faraway lands.
"No one has heard from you for at least the past year," Christopher quietly muttered, "Did you hear about what happened?"
"Yeah, I heard," Harvey answered, his downward glance showing his discomfort with the topic. "Still, I suppose you are all here to register for the next Indigo League. I can't let you into the Gym itself but I can register you all on the system." The elder trainer said with an outstretched hand. A few minutes after handing Harvey their trainer licenses, he returned with a satisfied expression and a set of pokéballs around his waist.
"So Harvey, are you working for the Pokémon League?" Christopher nervously inquired, having looked up to the older boy for many years.
"I am, after battling for a few years I thought I would try training under some of the Kanto Gym Leaders to gain some more insight. At the moment I'm working under Giovanni." Harvey replied as he began to lead them away from the Gym. "But what about you, have you caught any exciting Pokémon yet, or do you still struggle with actually throwing the ball?" he mocked in a joking tone.
"I can throw just fine, finding a Pokémon to battle and capture is the hard part." Christopher responded, his hand already holding a pokéball for a demonstration.
It was at that exact moment that it happened.
From beside the Gym's entrance, a small brown figure emerged. Two small spikes jutted out from its back and a large pale bone rested tightly between its two claws. A polished helmet rested on its head with a pair of dark red eyes staring back from the dark holes. The Pokémon leapt towards them with the intent to bring down a powerful overhead strike upon the unsuspecting group. Christopher reacted the fastest, throwing the already palmed pokéball towards the attacker who was too committed to dodge in the air. With a solid thud, the orb collided and with a great burst of light, the Pokémon was absorbed inside. The group held their breath, unsure of whether the capture would hold. After almost a minute of constant rocking, the sphere turned white and ceased to move.
"A cubone, not bad for you first capture," Harvey remarked, his comment relaxing the group. "I'm not sure what it would be doing here though, usually they are found in mountains or the safari reserve."
"I have to take care of this immediately; I will see you all soon." Christopher responded abruptly as he left the group partially stunned behind him. After walking beyond the city's borders, Christopher began to prepare for his confrontation with Cubone. First, he cleared away all debris from the clearing to make sure that he wouldn't accidentally trip if forced to move quickly. Secondly, he made sure that there were no trainers or Pokémon nearby so that they would have privacy. Thirdly, Christopher turned to Nova and explained the situation.
"Nova, I need you to listen to me. In my hand is a weakened but highly aggressive Cubone who I am about to reveal. If it tries to attack either of us, I want you to only defend. Ok?" to which Nova responded with his habit of a sharp nod. With a deep breath and a final check of his surroundings, Christopher let Cubone out once more.
Cubone was alert, already raising its bone into a defensive position and searching the human in front of it for weakness. The boy's hands were at his sides with a red orb in one of them. The boy was completely open with no weapon or defence, other than the elekid beside him, and that terrified it. He should have been attacking or hiding or at least be trying to contain it unless… unless it had already been captured. Cubone released a low growl.
"Cubone, look at me," Christopher began, "I do not know why you attacked us but I know you were not after me; you would be attacking me if that was the case. Right now, I am holding your pokéball which leaves me with three options:
One; I can release you back into the wild right here and you get to walk away. However, there is no guarantee that you will not try to hurt me and my friends later on so I am removing that option.
Two; I return you to this pokéball right here and lock you away in deep storage where you will most likely remain until I can either guarantee you will not hurt my friends, or your data corrupts effectively killing you.
Three; you and I agree right here and now. I can heal you and then train you to be stronger than what you are now. We can travel this region becoming powerful and then I can offer you the choice to remain with me or to leave on your own.
I would choose the third option. I am the only real method you have of finding who you were enraged at, and I will ensure you battle them for whatever reason you attacked. The choice is yours."
Christopher leant against a nearby tree as he watched Cubone, their eyes locked upon each other. The tension grew until the cubone placed its bone on the ground and lowered its head. Christopher pulled out Pokédex and scanned his new Pokémon, a quick look at the moveset causing him to be surprised.
Cubone, The Lonely Pokémon:
Type-Ground
Gender-Female
Growth-Ordinary
Ability-Lightning Rod
Moves-Growl, Tail Whip, Bone Club, Thunder Punch,
Egg Moves-None
"Seems we have another Thunder Punch wielder," Christopher stated as he returned the submitted Pokémon and turned to Nova.
"The day is still young my friend and I believe we have a nidoran to track and catch.," he calmly said, "We cannot rely on Cubone's typing alone to defeat our first Gym; especially as it does not trust us yet."
Two hours and a helpful trainer later, Christopher had located a small trail and followed it to a large nidoran burrow. He began to plan how he would approach the situation but was soon forced into action by an elekid's blind charge into their ranks. Nova threw a Thunder Punch at the closest nidoran and forced it into the burrow entrance, trapping any that had remained underground. A large female headbutted Nova's side but was met with an Arc Kick that redirected most of the force. Unfortunately, the initial shock of Nova's appearance had worn off and the nidoran were beginning to group up for defence.
Christopher ran into the clearing and aimlessly threw a pokéball towards the nidoran, hoping that the projectile would cause them to scatter. It was not the thrown orb that threw the wild Pokémon into disarray but the bright flash that soon followed it. Christopher grabbed his pokéball and Nova and ran back to the safety of Viridian's Pokémon Centre, unwilling to see whether the duo was being pursued by a vengeful pack of nidoran. The trainer decided to scan his new Pokémon before having it healed, his curiosity growing with every moment.
Nidoran, The Poison Pin Pokémon:
Type-Poison
Gender-Male
Growth-Giant
Ability-Poison Point
Moves-Peck, Leer, Double Kick, Poison Sting
Egg Moves-Counter,
"Double Kick is already learnt, that will save me some time with mastering the move. Counter could be useful provided that we train in defence and overall endurance." Christopher mumbled to himself.
He gave Cubone and Nidoran over to the nurse so that they would be healed for the following day and then returned to his room with Nova. Christopher lay on his bed staring at the ceiling while Nova recharged at the corner's outlet. Christopher began to review his plan: Pewter, Mt Moon, Cerulean and then on to wherever place he decided would be best-probably Vermillion with his current team. Cubone wouldn't need a nickname, the tension between them would have to relax far more before either of them could accept the other. But Nidoran, that was a Pokémon who needed a name.
A brief knock on the door brought Christopher back to reality, the swing of the door revealing Chansey wearing a nursing hat with two pokéballs outstretched to him. He kindly accepted and then decided to meet his new partner, a glance at Nova to make sure they were both prepared. The purple ball in front of him began to stretch its legs as if it had been cramped inside of its pokéball. Two large spiny ears that refused to flop forwards move quickly to take in the new surroundings. Large front legs, sharp teeth and very developed horn showed that Nidoran was in the waning days of its current form.
"Hello there Nidoran," Christopher beginning the words he had prepared, "My name is Christopher and I am the trainer who caught you. I intend to train you, along with my other Pokémon, to become stronger and to battle against several different trainers." Nidoran's eyes seemed to grow and refocus at the word 'stronger'. "Before we begin training together, I was hoping to give you a name; something that shows that you matter more to me than any other wild Pokémon. Would you like that?" he calmly asked his new capture. Nidoran bowed its horn to its new trainer, accepting the decision he had made. "What do you think of the name Monolith?". The Pokémon's horn rubbed against Christopher's hand, a sign of acceptance and trust between the two of them. "Ok Monolith, tonight you can stay out of your pokéball as long as you get some sleep."
A few hours later, Christopher was being to drift asleep as he traced the gradually moving form of an asleep Monolith next to a snoring Nova. He smiled to himself, three Pokémon in four days of being a trainer, provided he could get Cubone to listen to him. It was a good start to his journey, a good place to build upon.