Red's team:

Pikachu – Zeus

Munchlax – Atlas

Leaf's team:

Alolan Vulpix – Luna

Chapter 3

After being welcomed into the team, Atlas requested to go back into his Pokeball – much to Zeus's horror.

Really, it was a mystery why Zeus hated his Pokeball so much.

After they finished packing; they started their track to Viridian City. As breakfast took longer than expected, they walked at a brisk pace and didn't even stop to fight some of the trainers they meet on the road.

And Red was okay with that. He had something else that occupied his attention.

Munchlax – Normal type Pokemon

Ability – Thick Fat

Moves – Tackle / Curse / Self-Destruct (Dormant)

Atlas had two egg moves; [Curse], which would be an invaluable weapon and [Self-Destruct].

… He didn't even know that it was possible for Munchlax to learn that move and he was more than a little worried about the consequences of using it.

'I should probably tell professor Oak that the Munchlax are walking bombs…' He contemplated. If one of the Munchlax had it, then there was a good chance that the others had it as well. 'But he probably already knows; he created the Pokedex after all…'

While Red was searching the Pokenet for any information on [Self-Destruct], Leaf was still thinking about what happened this morning.

'Did I overreact?' Realistically, she knew that she was in the right. Being a trainer was a fundamentally dangerous profession and they had to complete multiple courses on how to act around specific Pokemon in different situations.

But Red's casual disregard to those advices made her question the certainty of the lessons. '… Maybe it's because of Aura?'

Being able to understand what a Pokemon says must be a great way to avoid offending otherwise dangerous Pokemon…

Which brought her back her failure from the day before. After nearly 5 hours of just sittingthere to 'find something inside of her', she had finally given up for the day.

She should have expected it to take a while, but Red made it seem so easy! According to him, it barely took him twenty minutes to unlock his aura!

"I'm telling you, the Pokenet said it's safe to use! [Self-Destruct] only depletes the Pokemon's energy so that they are knocked unconscious of exhaustion. It does not blow them up literally!" He explained to Zeus, who answered in a sceptical tone. "Pika! Chu- Pi!"

"Koffing are the exception, they mainly use their gas to jumpstart the explosion." He pointed at something on his Pokedex. Zeus leaned over from his position on Red's shoulder to read it better. "Apparently, they only receive lasting injuries when they are unable to isolate their natural gas from the explosion. Theoretically, it makes them implode."

Both flinched away from the Pokedex, having probably found a picture of an imploded Koffing.

She sighed at their antics, but it did confirm his ability to understand Pikachu… again. If she hadn't seen him casually chatting with the Pokemon around him, she would have doubted him.

Hell, he even asked a wild Rattata for the location of any Spearow flocks earlier, to avoid a repetition of yesterday.

She sighed and started to pet her slumbering Vulpix. Luna had stayed up late to practice [Moonblast], an egg move she inherited from her father and hadn't sleep much as a result.

Luna had tried to stay awake at first. Red had translated that she wanted to be there for the whole journey, but she had fallen asleep only moments after Leaf started carrying her and she couldn't bring herself to wake Luna up.

Looking at her sleeping form made her recall the conversation she had with professor Oak after both Red and Blue had left already.

According to professor Oak, Luna was the child of Daisy's Sylveon and Alolan Ninetails and there was a good chance that Blue's sister would contact her soon to check up on Luna.

Truthfully, Leaf didn't know how to feel about that. She didn't really like Daisy's dreamy personality and her fixation on fairy-type Pokemon. That fixation went so far that she practically forced her grandfather, professor Oak, to get her a Popplio as a starter.

She shook her head. Daisy was, despite her personality, a very competent trainer, and meeting her would probably mean getting a few tips on how to better trainer Vulpix. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make for her starter.

Luna was everything and more of what she wanted in her first Pokemon after all.

But before was going to arranging a meeting with the fairy-type specialist, there were more pressing matters to focus on.

Mainly, the Viridian city rookie tournament.

Their remaining journey through Route 1 passed without any more hiccups.

After a quick stop at Viridian's Pokemon Center, where their Pokemon were examined by the iconic 'Nurse Joy', they discussed their plans for the remaining day.

"What's your plan?" Leaf asked after leaving the Pokemon Center. "Will you also join the tournament?"

"Na," he refused instantly, much to Leaf's relieve. "I want Zeus to learn [Discharge] before we enter the Viridian Forest tomorrow. Just in case we encounter a Beedrill swarm or something."

He dodged the punch to his shoulder with a grin. He was the protagonist, so something was going to happen anyways. Why not tempt fate directly then? "Anyways, good luck and have fun!"

With this, they split up; Leaf made her way over to the registry while Red left the city for Route 22.

"Alright!" Red exclaimed after releasing the drowsy Atlas – he had used the chance to get some extra sleep while relaxing inside the Pokeball.

"Zeus, your task is the same as yesterday." He commanded. "I need you to master the basics of [Discharge] before we leave tomorrow, in case we encounter a similar situation to yesterday's Spearow flock!"

Zeus gave him a resolute nod before running of to train in a safe distance. It annoyed Red a little that he couldn't do much to help his starter, but [Discharge] wasn't a move where he could give much assistance; at least not at learning the basics.

"Atlas!" Red turned, focusing on his second Pokemon. "Show me your [Tackle]."

Atlas didn't hesitate and instantly charged towards the nearest tree. While running, Atlas's shoulder started to glow and with a loud thud, he rammed into the tree.

"Well done." Red said, looking at the dent in the wood. "For today, I want you to focus on getting a feel for the normal type energy from [Tackle]. Try to hold it there for an extended period of time."

Atlas instantly gathered the normal type energy on his shoulders and held it there.

"I can already do that." Atlas exclaimed smugly before sneaking a glance at Zeus. "Can I fight Zeus?"

"Sure." Red answered with a grin. It seems like that had been underestimating him. "After you learned [Mega Punch] and [Mega Kick]! You 'only' need to move the normal type energy to your arms and legs while punching and kicking."

Obviously, it was a little more complex than that. Atlas would also need to hold it there while actively moving his arms and legs, making it much harder than it sounded.

Still, the Munchlax gave him a resolute nod and instantly started to charge up his normal type energy again.

Satisfied, Red left them to their training and sat down against a tree; it was time to experiment with his Aura!

The day before, he had barely unlocked it before he was too busy with other thinks to do anything more than to exploit its passive 'translation' effect.

It was time to see what other things aura was capable of.

With a deep breath, he focused on the aura moving throughout his body. For a moment, he just bathed in the surreal feeling of the energy moving under his skin, slowly dissolving into his entire body, doing something to him, before he willed it to move.

Which was harder than expected; it was like trying to move a muscle he never moved before. But after a few attempts he managed to sluggishly grasp part of his aura.

With gritted teeth, and what felt like pushing against a mountain, he slowly but surely pushed it outside his body.

"Wow…" He mumbled the moment he reopened his eyes. Seeing and feeling it were certainly different.

His hand was enclosed in the whitish vapour-like energy; he kinda expected to be blue, but the colour wouldn't have fit his colour-scheme anyways.

But his aura wasn't only fascinating to watch, it also felt amazing. It was like… suddenly putting on gloves on a cold winter day. His hand finally sheltered from the 'cold'. His hand felt… protected, for the lack of better words.

Sadly, this feeling left as quickly as it came. With his focus drifting, so did his grasp on the aura and it started to disperse into the surrounding, leaving his hand bare again.

He was just about to move another load of aura into his hand, this time determined to hold it there indefinitely, when Atlas skipped over.

"I've learned [Mega Kick] and [Mega Punch], can I fight Zeus now?" He asked hopefully, nearly vibrating in excitement.

"Already?" Red eyes widened in surprise. Learning a new move wasn't simple, which was the main reason why most trainers only focused on a handful of moves for their Pokemon to master. "Show me."

"Sure!" Atlas replied, casually coating his arm in normal type energy, punching the air a few times before releasing it. Without stopping, he gathered it around his leg this time, repeatably kicking the air. "Wasn't hard, annoying to make it stay while moving though!"

… It looks like his second Pokemon was a natural at learning new moves!

"Zeus!" Red called with a wide smile. This confirmed it, Atlas was going to be a powerhouse! "How far are you with your [Discharge]?"

"Not there yet." Zeus grumbled back. His pride was bruised, now that his junior managed to learn two moves while he was still stuck on his first. "Shouldn't take much longer!"

"Let's hope you manage to learn it on the fly then." He grinned deviously, drawing a 5-meter-wide circle into the dirt. "You and Atlas will spar now; with some extra rules obviously."

Zeus stopped training and joined Atlas. He was confident that he would win, even with Munchlax new moves.

"You leave the circle, you lose." He explained, instantly wrecking Pikachu's confidence. His speed was his greatest weapon, a limited fighting space would make it much more difficult to win.

"You use [Thunder Shock] or [Thunder Wave], you lose." Red continued, ignoring Zeus shout of outrage. "The winner gets to decide what we eat for dinner!"

Instantly, both of their motivation skyrocket. Even Zeus, who grumbled about unfair handicaps; which was admittingly correct, stopped complaining.

"May the stronger Pokemon win." He said after both entered the circle and gave him the signal that they were ready. "Begin!"

Leaf, meanwhile, had been steadily advancing in the tournament.

There had only been 16 trainers participating and now, after easily winning her third fight against a ground-type specialist with a Gligar, she was finally in the finals.

… And she was really nervous.

Unlike her previous opponents, she was fighting the only other trainer in the tournament who didn't focus on ground types. Instead, she focused on possibly the worst possible type for her; steel-types.

'… Is that how my opponents felt?' She mused while walking onto the stage. 'Fighting against a type disadvantage isn't fun.'

Still, Leaf was confident.

Her opponent had solely relied on her Skarmory for the entire tournament. Against a part flying type, Luna's ice type attacks will have some effect at least.

Plus, they had experience fighting airborne Pokemon!

"Are both participants ready?" The referee asked, to which both she and her opponent nodded. "Begin!"

"Don't take it personal." Her opponent, a silver eyed brunette a few years older than her, said confidently. "But as long as you don't have a hidden trump card, your Alolan Vulpix won't bring you victory."

Leaf didn't answer and they both released their Pokemon.

"LAIR-RON!" Blood drained from Leaf's face seeing the evolved Pokemon; this was supposed to be a tournament for new trainers!

"[Icy Wind]!" She shouted, her confidence rapidly dwindling. While Lairon wasn't a particularly fast Pokemon, that fact only counted when fighting Pokemon around its own level of skill.

But Luna was both young and had just started her training, so it would, inevitable, be faster than her.

Unexpectedly, the Lairon didn't even try to dodge and, for a moment, she allowed herself to hope. Only for that hope to die almost instantly. The Lairon easily tanked the hit, showing no outward reaction at all.

Without its trainer even having to say anything, it stomped its front legs on the ground, hurling mud at the unprepared Vulpix. Unable to dodge, Luna was blinded and the Iron type used the chance ruthlessly.

"Jump back and use [Powder Snow]!" Leaf yelled desperately, realizing how outmatched they were. "You need to keep your distance!"

Sadly, the Lairon was even faster than expected, and just as Luna was about to jump back, it charged forward. With its head covered in steel type energy, it slammed it head against her starter, instantly knocking Luna out.

"Alolan Vulpix is unable to continue!" The referee shouted, pulling Leaf out of her bewilderment. "Lairon wins!"

With shaky hands, Leaf returned her Pokemon and reluctantly shook her opponent's hand.

"You fought well." Her opponents words entered one ear and left through the other; something the silver-eyed girl seemed noticed, so she just gave her an apologizing smile.

While her opponent was getting her prize; a Drillbur, transferred from the distance Unova region, Leaf didn't hesitate to leave for the Pokemon Center to treat her starter.

While he she was more than a little pissed that an obviously advanced trainer managed to sneak into the rookie tournament, her Pokemon's health was more important… it didn't make her less annoyed though.

… She was getting angry unusually often recently.

"Ah, here you are." Leaf, having just handed her starter to nurse Joy, turned towards the unexpected voice. Much to her chagrin, she was greeted with the face of the 'girl-whose-name-she-didn't-want-to-know'. "Sorry about the tourney, this must feel pretty shitty for you."

Despite her choice of words, she looked genuinely guilty, so Leaf stayed instead of just ignoring her. "I've interned at Hoenn's Rock type gym before deciding to specialise on steel-type Pokemon. So, don't feel bad about losing. I have over a year of experience behind me."

Leaf kept silent, just starring at the trainer who so casually admitted to using an obvious loophole to join the tournament. The tournament was meant for new trainers, both to help them grow and to reward the winner. Not for experienced trainers to crush their opponents to get an easy rare Pokemon.

"I'll make it up to you!" She said quickly, getting unnerved by the quietly staring Leaf. "After hearing there was a Drillbur as a prize this year, I had to participate. But I caught a pretty rare ground type in Hoenn to give the finalist as compensation!"

Quickly shuffling through her back, she retrieved a Pokeball and her Pokedex. Within seconds, she transferred the ownership to Leaf, shoved the Pokeball into her hands and quickly left, unnerved by the fact that Leaf still hadn't said a word.

"…That's one way to get my second Pokemon." She grumbled a few moments after the girl left.

All this left a bitter taste in her mouth. Even with her reasoning and the 'compensation', taking part in a rookie tournament as an experienced trainer was a bitch move!

… Plus, she really wanted that Drillbur.

That girl wasn't the only person thinking about focusing on steel-type Pokemon…

Not in the right mental state to greet her new teammate, she scanned it with her Pokedex instead. If it was a common Pokemon like a Geodude, she was going to throw a fit!

Trapinch – Ground type Pokemon

Ability – Hyper Cutter

Moves – Bite / Bug Bite / Dig

… Maybe losing to her wasn't such a bad thing after all?

"Begin!" The moment Zeus heard his trainers start signal, he started to run circles around Atlas.

He couldn't risk getting cornered by him. Compared to Atlas, he didn't weight much and it only took one good hit for him to be thrown outside the circle.

Even worse, he was forbidden from using either one of his electric moves, so the only viable attack he had was [Quick Attack].

*Let's hope you manage to learn it on the fly then*

… And [Discharge], but he doubted that he could 'learn it on the fly' as Red put it.

He redoubling his focus on Atlas, who had been standing motionless while Zeus was running circles around him. At a closer look, a purple energy had stared to surround him.

[Curse], if what he remembered from the Pokedex was correct.

"Shit!" Zeus cursed. It was a boosting move, which put him onto a time-limit now!

Without hesitating anymore, Zeus used [Quick Attack]. But, much to his annoyance, Atlas barely grunted before using [Mega Punch].

He quickly jumped back. But, again, the moment Zeus was outside of his striking distance, Atlas began to use [Curse] again, further boosting both his physical offense and defence.

Clicking his tongue, Zeus continued to charge in with [Quick Attack], determined to chip away at Atlas health. But he just continued to boost himself up until finally, after one moment of carelessness, Atlas hit him with a gracing [Mega Kick], overwhelming his natural defence while also nearly pushing him over the edge.

They had reached a stalement; Atlas was buffed up and could end this match with one hit, but was slowed down as consequence of using [Curse] and Zeus had literally no way to injure him anymore.

But Zeus was getting tired. He had been moving around for the entire fight and it was starting to take its toll.

Worse, Atlas started realize that as well. With a childish grin, he slowly started to move towards Zeus, further forcing him extort stamina to keep his distance.

'I'm gonna lose if I don't do something quickly…!' Zeus thought, before deciding to take a risk. He stopped running and took a deep breath, gathered his electricity like he did so many times before.

'Denser…' He growled, aware that Atlas was coming closer. 'Denser!'

Atlas reached him and raised his arm, swiftly preparing [Mega Punch] and just as he was about to hit Zeus-

'Now!' With a roar, he released his gathered lightning and for the first time, instead of fizzling out, he released a fully functional [Discharge].

Coupled with the minor, but continual damage Atlas had already amassed from Zeus's [Quick Attacks], the [Discharge] was enough. With shout of shock – pun intended; Atlas fell unconscious.

"Zeus wins!"

"So," Red started after healing them at the Pokemon Center. "What did you learn?"

Atlas, still high on battle-happiness, started first. "I need a move to hit from a distance!"

"Exactly." Red nodded. "While you have a formidable offense and defence, your speed is always going to be a problem. Learned ways to attack your opponent from a distance is a good workaround."

He turned to Zeus, nodding at him to start.

"… I depend to much on my ranged attacks." He said bitterly. "I need more options for both offensive and defensive situation. I also need to work on my stamina."

Red smiled proudly at his team. "Good, learning your shortcomings is the first step towards greatness."

Suddenly, without warning, Red's eyes sharped and he focused intently on the suddenly wary Zeus.

"… So, what do you want for dinner?"

"Whatcha gonna chose?" Atlas asked, his own eyes intently focused on a slip of paper.

Before borrowing the Pokemon Center's kitchen to make Spaghetti Bolognese, Zeus chosen dish, Red wrote down multiple moves he knew that they could learn.

"Definitely [Iron Tail]." He answered while going over his option. "Having another limb to attack from seems really useful. Probably [Detect] as well, that would give me a defensive option besides dodging."

He looked up from his paper and glanced at Atlas's. "… Your paper is upside down."

"Oh!" He exclaimed, quickly turned the paper around while smiling cheekily. "I can't read!"

With a sigh, Zeus started to read the moves out loud. He should have expected that Atlas would be illiterate; the only reason why he could read was because of his parent's past.

They learned it from their ex-trainer and deemed it as an important skill for him to have.

By the time Red returned with a gigantic portion of Bolognese, Atlas had also chosen which moves he wanted to learn.

"I wanna learn [Hyper Voice] and [Bulldoze]!" He exclaimed between bites, looking happier than even Zeus about the food.

"Good choices." Red replied, they would help with his most glaring weaknesses for now. "We will start with [Bulldoze]. We will have to face Rock types soon, so it will be more useful. And you Zeus?"

"I definitely want to learn [Iron Tail] and [Detect]. Maybe [Electro Ball] as well." Zeus hesitated slightly. "…It wasn't on the list, but you said that [Volt Tackle] was an option, right?"

Mastering [Volt Tackle] was something of an honour among the Pikachu-line. Most, his parents included, only ever manage to learn [Wild Charge], and the selected few that could use [Volt Tackle] kept its requirements a secret.

It was actually the main reason why he started to listen to Red; casually saying he would teach him the move every Pikachu wanted to learn was a sure-fire way to earn his temporary loyalty.

"Sure." Red replied confidently, already going over a few ideas on how to teach that move. It was usually an egg move, but if remembered correctly, there was a move tutor in Alola who taught it.

In other words, it was possible. Which was the only confirmation he needed.

"But let's focus on [Iron Tail] and [Detect] for now." Red decided. "I think we need a special item for you to learn [Volt Tackle], so it will have to wait until we got it."

They didn't get to continue their conversation, as Leaf entered the cafeteria and slumped down on the chair besides Red.

"How was the tournament?" Red asked while filling her plate with food; she looked exhausted.

"… I got second." She grumbled. "Got beat by a foreign steel-type specialist. She refrained from doing the gym challenge and become a gym trainer instead, so she was allowed to participate."

Red winced. "That sounds… unfair."

Leaf looked like she was about to go on a tirade, but she gathered herself and sighed instead. "She thought so too and gave me a rare Pokemon from Hoenn as 'compensation'. You know, as excuse for 'stealing' the price Pokemon."

"Oh!" Red perked up. "What did you get?"

"… A Trapinch." She said after swallowing, nearly moaning from the taste. "Knowns an egg-move too, so getting second wasn't all that bad."

Red whistles, any future Dragon type was a great addition to any team. "How is its temperament?"

"Great!" She gave him an exhausted but happy smile. "She is really calm and docile. I named her Melody, after the beautiful sounds Flygon are said to make with their wings!"

They continued to talk for a while before they finally left for their respective rooms. It was getting late, and they had agreed to leave for Pewter City early in the next morning.

It was something Red had actually pushed for. He had no interest to stay in Giovanni's city longer than necessary.

Still, while laying in bed, Red couldn't help but dabble with his Aura again. This time it was easier and he managed to cover his entire right arm before it was getting to much and he was forced to release it again.

But it did get easier, which was enough to make him smile from widely.

Truly, life as the Protagonist was good!

Thank you for reading!

I'm not 100% satisfied with the fighting scene, but it was their first real fight – pretty early in their journey at that. So, it was pretty much predestined to be relatively lacklustre.

Anyways, I will try to upload one chapter every Friday.

Until next week!