Episode 2: Up and at 'Em

After finally arriving in the Anora Region on their way to meet Professor Locust, and having arrived in a park for some rest and relaxation, Ash and Pikachu have decided to try and ask around for some directions to his lab.

"Hey, do you know the way to Professor Locust's lab?" Ash asked one guy passing by, but the man simply ignored him.

"Umm, hey miss, do you know where I can find Professor Locust?" he asked a woman, who also seemed to ignore him.

"Weird…"

Pikachu nodded his head in agreement.

"Pika…"

"H-hey, um, ex-excuse me…" a timid voice called to him.

Ash turned around to see a boy around the same age as him, hiding behind a tree in the park.

"Um, hello? What is it?"

"I uh… heard you were looking for Professor Locust's lab… I was going there too…" the boy answered shyly.

"Oh well, maybe we could go look for it together?" Ash said with a friendly smile. "Oh! By the way, my name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. This here is Pikachu."

Pikachu smiled happily and waved to the boy.

"Pikaaaa!"

The young boy smiled and slowly stepped out from behind the tree. He had spiky blond hair, with a headband around the lower half of his hair. He also wore a blue hoodie with a Poké Ball design right in the middle, and he also had baggy jeans.

"Um… my name is Mircea…" the boy replied nervously.

"Nice to meet you, Mircea. So, you're a starting trainer here in Anora?"

Mircea gasped in surprise. "H-how did you know that?"

Ash laughed. "Well, it's just a hunch I had. Hey, perhaps I can teach you how to be a great trainer, and give you some helpful hints and tips?"

Mircea looked down at his shoes briefly before looking back up at Ash and nodding.

"O-ok!"

"Awesome! Now then, I'm on my way to go to Professor Locust's lab to give him something. This something!"

Ash opened up his backpack and pulled out the greenish-blue scale and held it up to Mircea.

Mircea's eyes widened as he looked at the sparkling scale.

"W-woah! That's so cool! Is it off a Pokémon?"

"I think so. My friend in Kanto, Professor Oak, asked me to bring it to Professor Locust all the way here in Anora!"

"Oh, that's amazing! Y-you know Professor Oak?" Mircea beamed with excitement.

"Y-yeah, he's been a friend of mine for ages." Ash replied.

"Oh man, that's so cool! I-I can't believe I know someone who knows Professor Oak!"

Ash chuckled and placed the scale back into his backpack.

"Right then, let's go to Professor Locust's lab." Ash declared and began to walk away.

"Ye-yeah!" Mircea replied and followed along after Ash, though not as fast.

As the two of them walked along away from the city, Ash looked over at Mircea, who still looked very nervous.

"H-hey, Ash?"

"Yeah?" Ash asked.

"What Pokémon do you have with you besides Pikachu?"

"Oh, just Pikachu! Pikachu's my best buddy, and the only one I have with me so far."

Mircea breathed a sigh of relief, though tried to hide it from Ash.

"Oh g-good… glad you don't have any Ghost types…" he looked back down at his shoes.

"Um what-?" Ash began before being interrupted.

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all!" Mircea blurted out.

Ash looked back at the path they were walking along and said nothing else.

Eventually, Ash and Mircea found a smaller town. There weren't many houses or people, but it was still rather big. The two of them looked around for the lab.

"Hey excuse me, miss!" Ash asked an old lady, who was watering some plants with a Lombre. "Do you know where Professor Locust is?"

The old lady smiled and chuckled. "Oh, Locust, eh? He spends all his time in his little apartment just over that way."

She pointed to a rickety old apartment building, standing nearby the three of them.

"Th-that's his lab?" Mircea asked, confused.

"Sure is, sonny. His room number is 96." the old lady replied, "Though I'd take care when talking to him, he's not the friendliest of chaps, that's for sure.

The Lombre nodded in agreement.

"Lommmm!"

Ash and Mircea looked at each other, then at the lab and sighed.

"Guess we should just head in there?" Ash asked, slowly walking over to the apartment building.

"Um… y-yeah…" Mircea replied timidly, shuffling along behind him.

The two entered the building and climbed the staircase towards the door with the plaque "96* above it.

Mircea hid behind Ash and held his eyes shut.

Ash looked back at him but said nothing and gently knocked on the door.

Both of them, including Pikachu got quite a startle when the door immediately flung wide open, revealing a grown man with scruffy looking hair, unshaven chin, green flip-flops, baggy grey sweatpants, and a tatty white lab coat, which looked like it had been torn apart and ripped.

Ash nervously looked up at him, Mircea didn't say a word.

"Um, are you Professor Locust?" Ash asked.

"Did the landlord send you?!" The man began to yell and panic. "I'll have the money by the end of the week, I swear! I can get one or two of my bills paid soon, honest I-"

"H-hey easy, we're not here for that!" Ash exclaimed.

The man calmed himself down and looked down at Ash, though his eye kept twitching ever so slightly.

"Then what are you here for? If you're here for my research, just take it."

Ash and Mircea shared a glance and then looked back up at the man.

"A-a-are you Professor L-Locust?" Mircea asked, slowly looking out from behind Ash's backpack.

The man looked closely at the two of them and sighed heavily before slowly walking back into his lab.

"You two don't look bad to me, I guess you want to start your Pokémon adventure?"

"Y-yeah, that'd be me…" Mircea nodded his head.

"Right, come in here then." he slowly walked over into his tiny apartment and sat down at his desk, which was in front of a wall of poster, drawings and pictures. Ash and Mircea followed behind him.

"Th-this really doesn't seem like much of a lab to me…" Mircea glanced around at all the cobwebs and stains, then at the broken glass window.

Professor Locust glanced at his wall and picked up three photos of Pokémon, before holding them up to Mircea for him to look at.

"So, what are these?"

"In most regions, trainers start out with one of these three Pokémon."

He pointed to the first photo, which showed a mostly green looking rodent-like creature, with small ears and it looked rather round in shape.

"That's Marmelon, the Marmot Pokémon. The Grass type starter."

He then pointed to the second photo, which showed a red ox-like creature, with black ears and a yellow stripe going across the middle of its head and back, a little flame on the end of its tail.

"This here is Bonafine, the Ox Pokémon. The Fire type starter."

Finally, he pointed at the third photo, this one showing a baby blue coloured bear creature, with a lot of fluff around its ear and paws, a water drop mark on its chest.

"And last is this one, Drizzlub, the Little Cub Pokémon. The Water type starter."

Ash and Mircea looked down at the photos held in front of them and then back up at Professor Locust.

"Don't you have these Pokémon with you?" Ash asked.

Professor Locust put the photos back down on his desk and sat down again.

"No, something about my 'lab's' environment and me in general must have scared them to not go anywhere near me. I couldn't take care of them, and so they ended up running away. Really sorry I can't give you one now. But hey…"

He then opened a desk drawer and pulled out a shiny new Pokédex with the same design as Ash's and handed it over to Mircea, then got out some Poke Balls from another drawer and then handed them to Mircea.

"Standard Anoran Pokédex and some Poké Balls, these will help you out on your adventure."

"B-but what about my starter Pokémon?" Mircea asked.

"Look kid, you'll have to try and find it for yourself. All I know is that all three Pokémon ran off to the woods around that area." he pointed over to where Ash and Mircea could see rows of trees nearby the town.

"Think of this as training for becoming a trainer. It'll teach you basic skills about travelling out in the wild, finding Pokémon, catching them, yadda, yadda, yadda…" he trailed off and looked back at the wall in front of his desk, before looking over at Ash.

"And you wanted-?"

"I came to bring you this." Ash explained, before pulling the scale out of his backpack and handing it to Professor Locust, who took it in one hand and squinted at it. "Professor Oak asked me to bring it to you."

"He did, did he?" Professor Locust began to look closer at the scale before slowly placing it on his desk in front of him and sighed.

"Ok, you two can go out and get your Pokémon, I'll just be in here examining this."

Ash and Mircea shared a glance with each other, and then looked back at Professor Locust before slowly turning and walking away.

As both Ash and Mircea headed out of the town, they looked all around for the three starter Pokémon.

"Man, th-that Professor Locust guy was kinda weird, don't you think, Ash?" Mircea asked.

"I guess, but I've met weirder people before." Ash laughed, before going back to looking with Mircea.

As the two of them continued to search, they suddenly spotted something green rolling around in a circle underneath a big tree.

"Hey, that must be one of the starter Pokémon!" Mircea exclaimed.

Ash held up his Pokédex in front of it as it continued to roll around. The Pokédex activates.

"Marmelon, the Marmot Pokémon, and a Grass type. Marmelon due to their round shape get around places by rolling. They sometimes spend a lot of time underground getting ready for when it is time for them to evolve, though they also prefer to spend a lot of time near places with lots of things to eat."

"Ok, so I throw a ball at it?" Mircea asked, before chucking a Poké Ball at the Marmelon.

"H-hey wait!" Ash tried to cut in, but the ball had already made contact with Marmelon's head and had pulled it in.

Ash, Pikachu and Mircea stood in silence as they watched the Poké Ball wiggle left and right a few times before it burst open and Marmelon bounced out.

"Marmellll!" it cried.

"Aw man, that didn't work!" Mircea exclaimed, disappointed.

"You need to weaken the Pokémon first before you catch it." Ash explained. "Let me help you out!" He pointed at the Marmelon. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"Pikaaaaaa!" Pikachu lunged forward at the Marmelon before knocking into it. The force from Quick Attack sent Marmelon flying backwards and rolling down a hill.

"Marmelllll!" Marmelon laughed happily as it rolled away.

"Oh no! Come back, Marmelon!" Mircea cried as he chased after the Marmelon, Ash and Pikachu close behind.

Marmelon's rolling around was cut short as it bumped into a red ox looking Pokémon.

"H-hey, that must be Bonafine!" Mircea pointed to the new Pokémon.

Ash held up his Pokédex to Bonafine.

"Bonafine, the Ox Pokémon, and a Fire type. Bonafine are known for being quite rambunctious and impatient. When running about, they will leave a fiery path in their wake. They are thought to be ancestors to other cattle Pokémon such as Tauros and Miltank."

Bonafine hooved the ground and snorted as little flames flickered out its nose.

"Bonaaaa!" it cried.

"Mar, mar!" Marmelon waved its arms about at Bonafine, trying to explain that it didn't mean to hit it.

"Bonaaaaaa!" Bonafine blew out an Ember attack and scorched Marmelon, who squealed and rolled around and around in circles to try and get away, Bonafine chasing after it.

"H-hey, leave him alone, Bonafine! He didn't mean it!" Mircea called out, but it did no good.

"Hey! You two!" a sudden voice rang out.

Ash and Mircea looked over their shoulders to see a young boy, most likely around the same age as them, strolling down to them. He had a very wealthy look about him, a maroon-coloured suit, clean trousers that didn't appear to have any dust on them, and a perfectly coiffed hairstyle, his brown hair with a curl on one side of his head.

"Where you talking to us?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, you cretin!" the boy called out angrily, before smirking with a sniff. "Don't you know to step out of the way when someone important is approaching? Honestly, people like you don't know any manners?"

"Wh-what makes you so important?" Mircea asked, a tad annoyed.

The boy looked over at him and scowled before beginning to speak again, this time with a laugh.

"Don't you know who I am? I'm Dante Ironside, heir to the company of Ironside Industries, surely either my name or the company name at least rings a Heal Bell to a couple of commoners such as yourselves?"

"I don't think I've heard of you or this company." Ash replied.

Dante tutted angrily and clenched his fist.

"Low-life." he sneered before shoving past the both of them and walking over to where Marmelon was still being chased by Bonafine.

"Hey, what's your problem?!" Ash snapped angrily, running over to Dante and holding his wrist.

Dante glanced down at his wrist then at Ash and growled.

"Take your filthy hands off me, scum." He pushed Ash down to the ground before continuing to walk over to Bonafine who by this point had stopped moving and was now looking up at Dante.

Dante spent a few seconds looking down at Bonafine before throwing out a Poké Ball. Out popped a Porygon.

"Poryyygonnn!"

"Use Tackle!"

Porygon dashed towards the Bonafine and landed a well-placed Tackle, Bonafine rolling back along the field.

Dante casually threw a Poke Ball at the Bonafine and it went inside. After just a few shakes, the ball clicked and Dante picked the ball up, looked at it for a few seconds before placing it inside his pocket, then he returned Porygon to its ball.

"Tch. Guess this will have to do." he sneered before walking away.

"Hey! At least apologise before being such a jerk to us!" Ash shouted at him.

Dante stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at Ash and frowned.

"Honestly, scum like you shouldn't even be allowed to talk to me. You're nowhere near as rich or famous as me. Just remember not to talk to me ever again, I couldn't abide something like that."

He began walking away again, but Ash shouted at him once more.

"Have a battle with me right here! I'll see if you're still smirking then!"

Dante didn't stop this time, he just kept walking away.

"You're not worth my time!" he called back.

Ash grit his teeth angrily as he and Mircea watched Dante leave.

"Man, th-that guy sucks!" Mircea huffed angrily.

"Yeah…"

But as they turned away from watching Dante leave, they saw that a blue bear Pokémon was running towards Dante. It bumped into him, knocking him into a nearby lake with a big splash.

The Pokémon turned its head to the water and looked curiously at its reflection.

"Drizzzz?"

Dante sat bolt upright angrily, his face red with rage.

"You insignificant little-!" he screamed. "You've ruined my beautiful outfit!"

The bear Pokémon titled its head to the other side and kept staring at Dante.

Dante chuckled out a Poke Ball in rage and Bonafine popped out.

"You! Get my clothes clean immediately!"

Bonafine stared at Dante and then blew out an Ember attack, singing his clothes.

"Yowcccchhh!" Dante yelped, "You idiot!"

Dante didn't realise that Marmelon was still rolling around and it rolled all the way to the lake, bumping into him and knocking him back down in the water, getting his clothes even wetter.

"Mar mar!" Marmelon clapped happily, not having a clue of what just happened.

Dante screamed with pure rage and returned Bonafine to its ball before racing out of the lake and away from Ash and Mircea.

"My beautiful suit! Ruined!" they heard him yell in the distance.

Ash, Pikachu and Mircea shared a laugh before they looked back at Marmelon and the bear Pokémon.

"That must be Drizzlub." Mircea pointed to the lake, where Marmelon and Drizzlub were busy looking at each intently.

Ash held his Pokédex up once more to the Drizzlub.

"Drizzlub, the Little Cub Pokémon, and a Water type. Drizzlub are very curious Pokémon, though also rather slow and sleepy. They enjoy spending time in places with lots of water that they can absorb into their bodies to power up their attacks. They also enjoy sleeping very frequently."

But as soon as Ash held down his Pokédex, the Drizzlub had disappeared.

"W-where did it go?" Mircea asked, looking all around for it.

"I guess it just got bored, and decided to leave." Ash pondered, before looking over at the Marmelon sitting down in the lake, splashing around and giggling.

"Ok, let me help you out a bit more!" Ash declared to Mircea before Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and ran towards the Marmelon.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

"Chu Pika!" Pikachu cried out as he leapt into the air and slammed his metallic tail down onto Marmelon's head, causing it to bounce away into the air.

"Mar mar, meloooonnn!" Marmelon shouted and curled up tightly before spinning down from the air at an extreme speed.

"It's using Rollout! Blast it away with Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pikaaaaaa… chuuuuu!" Pikachu launched his signature attack at the Marmelon's Rollout, causing Marmelon to bounce off and back down to the lake with a splash.

"Ok, before it gets back up, throw a Poke Ball quickly!"

"R-right!" Mircea fumbled around with a Poke Ball in his hands before throwing towards the Marmelon.

The Ball hurled through the air and bonked on the Marmelon's head, before Marmelon went inside.

It shook once.

Then twice.

Then thrice.

Before it clicked.

Mircea plodded slowly over to the ball and poked it once or twice before picking it up with a big smile.

"I-I did it!" he said happily. "I caught a Marmelon!" he jumped into the air.

"Awesome, now with Marmelon, you can battle other Pokémon and trainers and use Marmelon to catch other Pokémon too." Ash smiled proudly.

"Th-thank you ever so much, Ash!" Mircea beamed, "I never would have been able to do this without your help!"

"It's no problem at all!" Ash grinned, "Now, we should head to a Pokémon Centre and heal up your Marmelon."

"O-ok!" Mircea replied and the two of them headed back into town.

"Thank you for visiting the Pokémon Centre, your Marmelon is fully recovered." Nurse Joy at the counter, who looked very similar to the Nurse Joys from other regions except she had more of a frizzy hairstyle.

"That's awesome, thanks Nurse Joy!" Mircea smiled as he slowly took back Marmelon's Poke Ball and placed it in his pocket.

"I take it you two are Pokémon Trainers?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yeah, well Ash here is a way better trainer than me." Mircea replied, Ash chuckled, his cheeks blushing red.

"Well, you two should know that there are Gyms here in Anora that you can challenge for Gym Badges in order to become better trainers."

Ash's eyes lit up at the sound of this. So did Pikachu's.

"Did you hear that, buddy? There's a Pokémon League here in Anora! We've just got to battle all the Gyms here!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu replied happily.

"Could you let me see your Trainer iD?" Nurse Joy asked, "I can get you qualified to enter the League."

"Yeah sure." Ash handed her his Trainer iD. Mircea thought for a moment before handing Nurse Joy his iD too.

"All right, here you are." she smiled as she handed back their iD cards. "And here are your Badge Cases, for storing your badges when you win them in a Gym Battle."

"Awesome, thanks so much!" Ash exclaimed.

"Th-thanks!" Mircea replied.

A little while later, Ash and Mircea were sitting down together, having some lunch.

"H-hey Ash?" Mircea nervously asked as he slowly ate his sandwich.

"Yeah, what is it?" Ash asked, busy chowing down on some spaghetti.

"If you're going to travel around Anora collecting badges, can… can… can I come with you?" he blurted out.

Ash looked at Mircea for a few seconds before smiling.

"Of course you can! It's always great to have friends to travel with!"

Happy tears began to form in Mircea's eyes, and he blubbered.

"Th-thank you so much, Ash! I'll make sure to become a better trainer like you!"

"Hey now, you don't need to cry." Ash patted his back and Mircea managed to hold down his tears and nod his head.

"Ye-yeah!" he replied.

"Alright then, well, we better find out where the first Gym should be located."

Mircea rummaged around in his backpack before pulling out a lengthy guidebook.

"Th-this has a map of the Anora Region, and it says here that the nearest Gym to us right now is in Marguerite City, that's the biggest city in all of Anora."

Ash immediately stood up from his seat, surprising Mircea.

"Well then. Let's get going to Marguerite City!" he declared.

Mircea stood up a few seconds later and nodded in agreement.

"R-right!"

And so, Ash not only met Professor Locust, and made a new friend in Mircea and a new enemy in Dante, AND he has seen more new Pokémon and gotten qualified for the Anora League, Ash and Pikachu are now set on their new goal, to get all the Gym Badges in Anora. With so many new Pokémon and friends along the way, you've just gotta stay tuned…

To Be Continued...