The first few steps out of town were awe inspiring. A well trodden dirt trail lead out ahead of us, but the path was not straight. There were trees ahead, but a bit thicker to the sides. From what I could see, the land was open with small rolling hills, areas of high grass and trees strewn about. It was so much more open that how the games portrayed, then again not surprising given the limited space. We saw multiple other trainers ahead as well. Some were already pursuing wild Pokémon, others seemed to be making a beeline to the next city. Some, like our group, seemed to be taking in the sights.

"Wow" I said, eyes wide open scanning the area. "This is absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I'm here."

"What do you mean silly?" Ez said playfully. "You always did well in class, you knew you were gonna be a trainer from basically day one."

"I have to concur" Marc added. "You have done well in your studies and shown you have great potential. I doubt you were referring to Route 101, since you could just go there any time."

I looked at Marc with a bit of confusion. "Wait, what do you mean? I thought you could travel the routes with having your own Pokémon for safety."

"Well yes, that is technically true, but only for children. Once you are 18, you can freely travel with or without Pokémon. It is not advised, for obvious safety reasons. However, many people will go to areas not far from the city or town they are in to hike, camp, or just exercise. I've been working out in the Petalburg Woods for years.

"Really?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I spent the last two weeks in the gy...fitness center or on the walks to and from."

"Well, I started out in the fitness center in Petalburg City. After a while, the equipment there began to give...diminishing returns. Most of it is limited in what it can provide, but it is well suited for the average person or someone who is just starting their journey. You should train where you will need it. Since I plan to travel this world, then I should train in the world."

"You have a very practical view on things. Many people seem to over complicate things like this, but you look at it from the most practical and direct way possible. That may raise some eyebrows from people, but I admire it."

A soft smile broke across Marc's face. "Thanks man, that really means a lot coming from you...".Marc stopped quickly, eyes locked ahead. "Look ahead" he said as he pointed, drawing me and Ez's attention.

Across the path in front of us bounced out a small rotund Pokémon with brown fur, tall ears, and a rather large tail that was supporting it's entire body. "Look, a Sentret." Other than the Zigzagoon from the park, this was the first wild Pokémon I was seeing. "So...what do we do?"

"Well, we would approach it and do battle in an attempt to catch it." Marc said. "However, I am not that interested in this Pokémon, so I will only battle it if neither of you wish to."

I had a team that my heart was set on, and Furret was not really part of it. "Hey Ez, how about you take his one?"

Ez looked with wide eyes. "Really? You guys sure?"

"Absolutely" I said as I put a hand on her shoulder. "Sentret and Furret are both really fast Pokemon, and will be great compliment to your Yamper. Plus, I'd love to see you in action."

That last comment made her turn red, but she composed herself a moment later. "Thanks" she said as she nodded and stepped forward. Elektra ran ahead of her as she walked ahead. "Sentret!" She yelled. "I'm going to catch you!". This got the Sentret's attention as it saw Elektra running towards it. It didn't run however, and turned to face the Yamper.

"Elektra, tackle attack!" Elektra built up momentum and charged towards the Sentret. The Sentret managed to dodge the hit, but only barely. It responded by swinging it's tail, hitting Elektra and sending her sliding away.

"Be careful Ez" Marc said. "With its tail, Sentret can do a very strong Pound attack."

"Got it. Elektra, try another tackle." Elektra shrugged off the hit and and charged again. This one also missed, but was really close. Both Pokémon were fast, but the Sentret seemed slightly faster and was probably a little more durable. It swung around with its tail again. "Elektra, dodge that." Elektra just managed to avoid the hit, rolling away as the tail hit the ground, leaving a rather impressive dent. "Guys, I'm...I'm not sure what to do. I can't land a hit on it." Ez was looking upset, this battle seemed harder than she anticipated.

I took a moment to think. "Hmm, the Sentret seems faster than Elektra, so we need to put it in a positions it can't avoid...or slow it down..."

"Marc, do you think Elektra can take one of those hits?" I said.

"I think so, first one pushed her away so she didn't take the full impact at once. Why do you ask?"

"I have an idea" I said. I ran over to Ez and whispered in her ear.

"Are you sure?" She said.

"Yeah, as long as Elektra can handle a hit, it should work."

"Ok Alex, I trust you". She turned to Elektra, who just dodged another strike. "Elektra, tackle again aiming for its tail." Elektra barked and charged again full speed. The Sentret hopped slightly and jumped up in a front flip just as Elektra would have connected. The Sentret spun, bringing it's heavy tail down once again, directly above Elektra. "Elektra, brace yourself for the hit!" Elektra tensed up her body as the tail struck her right in the back, pushing her into the ground.

"Checkmate" I said under my breath.

"Elektra! Use Nuzzle!" Sparks of electricity danced around Elektra and suddenly shot up through the Sentret's tail, engulfing it's entire body. The Sentret tensed up and fell to the ground, unable to stay balanced on Elektra's back from the strike. "Now, tackle again!" Elektra rammed full power into the Sentret, knocking it back several feet. It attempted to get up, but the paralysis kicked in and it couldn't move. Ez grabbed an empty pokeball from her bag and tossed it. The ball opened, a bright red beam of light coming from it toward the Pokemon. The Sentret turned red, and the light retracted into the ball as it fell to the ground. The center of the ball turned red as it shook once, twice, three times...the light went out.

"OHMYGOD I CAUGHT MY FIRST POKÉMON." Ez rushed up to pick up the ball, jumping up and down. She then rushed over to pick up Elektra, who was happy with the victory but definitely looked tired. "We did it we did it we did it!" Ez cheered as she dances around holding Elektra and her new Pokémon.

As Marc and I walked up to Ez, he turned to me. "That was a good move. Elektra'a electrical attacks could slow it way down, but it was too fast to really land any. That was an...interesting way to make the attack connect."

"Yeah, it wouldn't my be my first choice, but it's all I could think of. I figured if Elektra aimed for the tail, it would jump to dodge and use the momentum to slam downwards. That contact was the perfect chance to pass the shock on, but only if Elektra could take the hit. Plus, I figured she would have built up some extra static power with her fur rubbing together the whole time she was running around. You seem like you would be more in tune with a body by it's looks than me, so that why I wanted your take on Elektra. It's not like we have hit point bars out here to gauge that." I laughed as I said that, not trying to remember how much I had gotten used to relying on them.

"Well, that was a brilliant move. Sometimes you need to take a hit if it gives you the chance to take the upper hand, but you need to also gauge your loss as a result. It is a gamble, but this one paid off, no pun intended."

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading and following. This was my first time trying a battle scene, I hope everyone enjoys it. I got a lot of inspiration from another author: Jmoul18 - "Brendan's Journey. It's a retelling of the entire third generation games all rolled together and is truly amazing.

Leave any comments of feedback, all is appreciated. Trying to have a chapter out every 1-2 weeks, still new to writing but love the support so far and thank you so much.