AN: So, I'm back already. This will not be a normal thing. There are around 500 less words in this chapter than the last one, but I honestly didn't feel like I should end anywhere else. By the way, so that nobody is confused about this (like I always am when I read a pokemon fanfic), the way pokemon moves work is different in two ways. First off, moves are used by manipulating an internal force. I'll use both the terms aura and energy to refer to it, even though I'm pretty sure canonically, aura is only manipulated by humans and the Lucario and Togepi lines, as well as a few legendaries (Other pokemon can use aura sphere, but I dont know of those that are known to manipulate aura itself). Second, pokemon can feasibly learn any move listed in the pokedex (I typically use Pokedex Database or Serebii), from every generation, but pokemon in the wild will tend to know only those listed in the level up or egg move section from Pokemon Sword and Shield (8th Generation), though there are some exceptions. Also, last thing, I find it asinine that every region is made out to be fairly small, so in addition to named areas from the anime and games, there is also what I call The Poke Wilds. Places filled with stronger and rarer pokemon. Going there and fighting anything is almost always a death sentence for those below the level of a gym leader fighting seriously with a good team. Anyway, just wanted to get all that out there so there wasn't any confusion. Enjoy chapter 2!

Early in the morning, around 6 am, Dust awoke with Eevee. After thirty minutes, the two were ready for the day and headed to the pokemart to buy twenty pokeballs and some potion. Another thirty minutes and the two were ready to head out. 'Under no circumstances am I travelling with Ash. He's both an idiot and a troublemaker.'

Heading out of Viridian, Dust began thinking again. 'Logically, I should go for a new pokemon here in Viridian Forest since I need two to face Brock. Eevee is almost a month and a half old, so I can start trying to teach her special moves in two weeks, but I shouldn't evolve her for a while, at least four more months.' The two began wandering around Viridian Forest as Dust kept an eye out for good pokemon. It was after seven hours when the first interesting thing happened. Almost to prove he was going the right direction, he heard a loud, nasally voice.

"That's right, Squirtle, use water gun on that Nidoran! Ha, we caught it! Nice going!" Then, without missing a beat, the dreaded noise began sounding.

"Gary, Gary, he's our man! If he can't catch them, no one can!" Immediately on hearing the dreaded screech of the fangirls, Dust walked out of the brush.

"I must be making good time to have finally caught up with you, Gary." The snobby teenager jumped a bit at hearing another person's voice just behind him. He recovered quickly, though.

.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the sleepyhead. Did Gramps even give you a pokemon? He made us wait almost an hour for you and Ashy boy, you know. I left right before you got there." Gary actually thought that sounded cool, closing his eyes and puffing out his chest halfway through.

"Yeah, he did, surprisingly. An Eevee of all things, not even two months old yet." Upon Dust's statement, Gary's eyes bugged out of his skull, before laughing like a maniac.

"You got that little weak thing? HAHAHAHA! That's amazing. You don't even have another pokemon yet do you? Ash doesn't either, I bet. You better spend a while here, so you don't get wrecked at the Pewter gym." Gary actually sounded sincere in giving advice, but his sly smirk besmirched his sarcastic counsel.

"I plan to. I didn't get a pokemon because I was babysitting Ash. The moron somehow offended an entire Spearow flock and got attacked with his Pikachu, so I had to carry the idiot to Viridian. I'm here looking for a good pokemon. I'm busy now, Gary, we'll talk later, I'm sure." With that, Dust walked past the offending brat away into the forest, while Gary began cackling even louder at Ash's stupidity. After a moment, Dust turned around and squinted at Gary.

"Maybe watch your volume unless you want to pull an Ash and summon a Beedrill swarm, oh child prodigy." Gary looked embarrassed, and immediately went away with his cheerleaders.

Dust also continued walking, and soon enough, he was forced to set up his campsite as it was night time. A bit of regulation pokemon food and a turkey leg later, the two were in a hammock. Dust made sure to brush Eevee's fur well, and thought a bit more, as he tended to at night.

'Eevee picked up on quick attack surprisingly fast, but it's a fairly easy move. Eevee would learn it at level ten naturally. Hell, Pikachu learned it before the third gym and it wasn't even his type. Mud slap, Eevee probably got it as an egg move, but without knowing how to manipulate energy, she didn't understand how to use it. But since she couldn't use double kick after learning energy manipulation, we'll have to spend a while longer on that. As much as I hate to admit it, we won't get it by the Pewter gym, maybe even Cerulean. She needs more muscle mass too. She'll need to fight a ghost type to understand shadow ball, and I doubt a Trevenant is just sitting around or weak enough to beat at around level 10. "Goodnight, Eevee."

The next morning the two woke up on their hammock, stretched a bit, then began training. All they did in the mornings was physical training in the attempt to improve muscle strength. Two hours afterward, they packed up camp, at a brief brunch, and moved out. It was later in the day when they came across the same group of Metapods that they realized they were lost. "Fuck! I forgot to buy a map! I knew I was forgetting something. Well, we should make it out by following the sun if we start out around 3 PM, since Pewter is due west. Let's keep going. I forgot a map, but I have a compass at least."

The two continued moving forward, until three days and many surprisingly powerful Beedrill—which required hiding or running—and weak Caterpie—unworthy of catching—encounters later they heard a fairly loud buzz. Assuming it was another Beedrill patrol, the two crouched into the grass as trainers are taught to do when they encounter swarms. Both were surprised, however, when nothing came their way. They continued forward another five or so minutes, until the two came upon a small cave covered in vines. It wasn't in a cliff, rather an eight foot tall mound with a hole leading diagonally downward. Dust decided to investigate, and luckily for him the mediation was paying off. More attuned to the environment, Dust felt warning bells flash as he leapt out of the cave and slammed into the outer wall. A small burst of flame shot out of the cave and singed the ground outside. It wasn't a life threatening attack, but it was enough to cause some pain and damage.

The buzzing sound began again, but with a slight sound of smoldering behind it as well. 'Oh. Well crap.' A massive, white, furry bug came hovering out of the cave, fire leaking from it's maw. It sent a massive fire blast straight at Eevee and Dust, who were unprotected by anything in the small clearing. Mud slap did nothing to even slow it down, and Dust assumed they would be at the minimum badly burned and passed out after that, but nope. Instead a massive fucking Heracross came out of nowhere and slammed its horn into the side of the Volcarona. Dust fell onto his ass as he watched the absolute monsters begin slamming into each other, one wreated in flame in a flare blitz, the other in a giga impact. Eevee was also starstruck, but obviously couldn't replicate the two at all.

'What is a Volcarona of all things doing in Viridian Forest? It supposedly lives in volcanoes and has unbelievable firepower? This thing could put up a fight with the elite four, and the Heracross is as strong as another of its kind is mega evolved. I get the feeling this isn't Viridian Forest anymore.'

And Dust was right. He had traversed all the way to the Kanto's border, only around a one day walk out of Johto. Pewter was actually North, and going West took him to an untravelled area that was yet to be explored by the league. A Pinsir attacked in a fly by and chopped deep into the Heracross, which then flew away to recover. The Pinsir took over for it, going after the now very wounded and exhausted Volcarona. Realizing the battle was almost over, Dust began running behind the cavern to take cover, but it only provided a slight relief. Because the Volcarona somehow used BLAST BURN in the way of its final attack. Pinsir didn't give up either though, and used fucking AURA SPHERE to try and fight back. Blast burn's radius reached out for around 300 feet, the ground cracking and erupting across the entire area of effect. Pinsir's aura sphere absolutely obliterated Volcarona, but the Pinsir practically melted.

Meanwhile, Dust was both scared and confused. Scared because fire was all around him and confused because it wasn't touching him or the cave. Finally, when both pokemon were very dead, he walked into the cave. Around five minutes of walking, he came to the end of a cave, where an egg lay in the corner, and a dead pokemon next to it, too decayed to determine its species. The egg was barely warm, nearly dead, demonstrating the Volcarona's lack of care for it, if it was even his. Dust, obviously enticed by the idea of getting a Volcarona offspring, picked up the lavender and violet striped egg and placed it inside his shirt. Immediately, he and Eevee began running back East. No other similar encounters occurred, but Dust did find it humorous that all of his pokemon were babies.

What he assumed would be one day out of Pewter, he finally had another interesting encounter. In the evening, the two came across a small pond, but while the two drank, they were pelted with little water bullets. Eevee immediately quick attacked, knocking the offender out of the water. A Krabby landed on all its limbs and started clicking at the offending brown fox. In retaliation, the Krabby used another water gun, which slammed into Eevee's side before Dust could even give out a move. The trainer gritted his teeth.

"We'll have to give it a shot, Eevee, other attacks won't hurt iit enough. Double kick!" Eevee's left foot lit up as it slammed it into Krabby, who blocked it with his pincer. The left foot did pretty much nothing. Krabby let that pincer fall limp as he leapt toward the midair Eevee, and, turning its usable pincer black, slammed it into her. She shot to the ground as her mane shook and began forcefully shedding due to Krabby's knock off. But, Krabby underestimated Eevee. She took the fall well enough, despite straining her muscles, and led a quick attack into another half successful double kick that Krabby couldn't block. Dust threw the pokeball into the path of Krabby's descent, and hit square on. It wasn't unconscious, or weak yet, but its low level made it put up less of a fight, so it was caught.

Since Eevee and Dust were already going to go to bed after drinking, they decided to talk to Krabby in the morning. Awake at 6, as per the usual, they let out Krabby. Explaining to him that they were on a journey to become and prove they were the strongest, and that the pokemon they catch join them in their journey, it agreed to go under one condition: it brings its treasure. Dust agreed, and Krabby leapt into the water to get its treasure. One by one, random items were brought to shore. It started with an old boot, then a few shiny rocks that weren't really worth anything, then a somewhat pretty necklace, a water stone, and finally the last thing that Dust expected, a mega stone. Mega evolution was more common in this pokemon universe, and some pokemon were even capable of doing it on their own, but only the best of the best were actually strong or prominent enough to use it, like champions, the elite four, and some gym leaders. Regardless, only one or two new trainers each year were able to mega evolve at all. The same was true of Z moves. The last noticeable difference of this world was the existence of pokemon in regions that they weren't in over the games or anime. Though it was still nearly impossible to find, for example, a Drednaw, in Kanto.

Just as Dust suspected, it only took around eight hours to make it to Pewter City. He immediately headed to the Pokemon Center to rest up, heal Krabby and Eevee, and check out the egg. Nurse Joy was sitting behind the desk and looked up when the door opened. The two chatted for a few seconds, then Nurse Joy put both of Dusts's pokemon in the healing machine and sat back down. Dust coughed lightly to get Joy's attention, and looking up, she saw the egg that he pulled out of his backpack.

"Can I get an incubator for this egg? I don't know what it is, but it was slightly cold when I found it. It's warmed back up now, but I'd prefer that nothing bad happens to it." Joy nodded and excused herself to the back for a moment. She returned with three incubators. Dust purchased the most advanced one (also the most expensive one), and put the egg inside. After an hour in the waiting lobby, the two were healed, so Dust went to the gym to reserve a spot. The receptionist gave him a time slot for 1 PM the next day, so he went to the training grounds.

His intent was to try and teach Krabby a move that would work for the purposes of the gym battle. An imitation of mud shot, in which the user flings wetted earth at the enemy. Krabby had no knowledge on using anything like the move before, so instead of using earth energy, he would scoop up a large amount of earth in his claws, wet in into mud with a weak water gun, then blast it from both claws using the same pressure Krabby would use with a water gun. Closer to mud slap in damage considering its lack of damage, but efficient oungh, especially against rock types, since the move involves both earth and water, both of which were super effective. It was like using muddy water but with more pressure and less water.

For Eevee, he wanted her to perfect double kick. They had around six hours to train before going to bed, then four the next day before they needed to rest and prepare for the gym battle. Ash had already left with Brock and Misty, and Flint was the gym leader there at the time. Walking in the next day, the receptionist was nowhere to be found and the lights were off. They flicked on as flint leapt from the top of a twelve foot tall boulder without flinching.

"You should come back some other time. Your Eevee is incredibly young, far too much for any gym battle." Flint looked down on him, his eyes shadowed by his red cap and a bushy beard hiding his expression. Incensed, Dust slammed his knuckle into his palm and a loud crunch resounded as a small, barely noticeable shockwave permeated the air. Working out a body in the pokemon world for nearly five months was no joke.

"I believe I'm ready, gym leader Flint." Flint narrowed his eyes at the boy, putting off as much pressure as possible. After a moment, he sighed, then walked to the other side of the field.

"Very well, if you and your Eevee want a beating, I can give you one. This will be a two on two battle. Go, Rhyhorn." And with that, a living rock rhinoceros was released onto the field. Dust had also already walked to his place at this time, and raised his arm for Eevee to run down and leap off of. Landing in front of the rhino three times her size, Eevee only stretched a bit. Flint was forced to speak loudly to reach across the field. "Challenger, you may have the first move."

'Humorous that my first pokemon battle is actually a gym battle.' "Alright, Eevee, start getting up your speed, quick attack in circles around Rhyhorn!" Flint widened his eyes.

"Don't let it, use bulldoze!"

Bulldoze is a useful move. It's practically the ground type version of surf, so when a massive pile of rubble came flyin Eevee's way, Dust was obviously worried something could go wrong. Instead of just worrying though, he called out a move. "Alright, Eevee, now jump into double kick!" Flint's eyes were so widened, one could actually see them. Dust mused that they made him seem less old.

"No, Rhyhorn, jump back!" But it was too late. Eevee used the speed gathered for quick attack to speed up onto the roof, then kick off it. While coming down, a white and brown sheen enveloped her hind legs as the first slammed into its skull and the second into its cheek, using the second kick both to deal damage and get away. The super effective move probably would have given the thing a concussion if its defense was any lower. The Rhyhorn was stunned and its brain was swimming, so Dust spoke again quickly.

"Finish it by quick attacking its hind leg and making it fall, then double kicking its belly!" The move successfully knocked down the Rhyhorn, but it regained its bearings from there.

"Rhyhorn, now use rock blast!" Like a machine gun, rocks slammed Eevee backward, but in the end, both stood up.

"Eevee, Mud slap!/Rhyhorn shock wave!"

Both attacks collided, but unsurprisingly, the spray of mud was able to overpower the ring of electricity, and mud slap took down Rhyhorn. Flint clapped slowly as he recalled his pokemon. "Not once in the past six days since I've taken the gym back over has a single trainer made it past Rhyhorn. But the next will be your downfall. Go, Onix!"

A massive snake made of rocks formed from the red energy of a pokeball as Onix took the field. Dust took the offensive quickly. "Eevee, mud slap at its eyes!"

"Onix, harden! Make sure you don't fall! Bind if you get the chance." Dust grinned seeing that Flint assumed they would use the same strategy.

"Eevee, go in to double kick it over!" Flint was now smiling again in realization that Onix would probably be able to bind it, until he heard Dust amend his prior statement. "Aim for its crest, Eevee!" Flint mumbled something similar to a curse, but Dust didn't care.

"Onix, bide, quickly!" It tensed its muscles in anticipation, and just as Eevee slammed its crest twice and jumped back, Onix released bide into Eevee's midair path. Dust clenched hi fists as Eevee bounced on the ground back to him, completely passed out, with slightly singed fur.

"Good job, Eevee. Next up, go Krabby!" Flint actually laughed as the reddish-brownish Krabby took form facing the wrong direction, but dust smiled. "Now, Krabby, use that and spin for momentum!" Flint cocked his head, wondering what a crab could do against the enormous stone serpent, but when a fairly large ball of mud slammed into the crack made by Eevee between its crest and had, and a second one in the divot between its head segment and the next one down, he froze. Onix was whimpering in pain on its side.

"Onix, get up and use a rock throw!" It slowly crawled up while slamming a tail in the ground to send an effective storm of rubble at the crab pokemon. Dust punched his palm again.

"Use knock off straight down on the ground, Krabby, put absolutely everything you have into it!" The confused red crustacean looked incredulously at its trainer, but did what it was told. Raising both pincers above its head, it charged them with a pulsing dark energy. Smaller rocks pulsating with energy flew up as Krabby began huffing. The rocks stayed floating, trying to return to the ground but unable to due to some mysterious force. Dust tilted his head when after ten seconds the rocks still hadn't fallen down. Then they slowly sank back into their position. Krabby caught at least some of its breath, and though it had yet to take damage, it was a glass cannon.

"Krabby, rapid fire water gun! Don't let it dodge!"

"Onix, use bide! You can do it!"

Onix could not do it. It took eight tiny water guns right to the face, each only around a quarter of the strength of a normal water gun, but more surface area was covered by the water that way, and Onix passed out. Flint beamed at the boy. "All of your pokemon are young and physically fairly weak, and your only even remotely advanced move was knock off. But you overcame that with tactics and a single type advantage barrage after making sure Onix couldn't take the hit. You are the first in many years to make me say I am proud of giving you the boulder badge, even including those from before I left. Congratulations on a splendid victory!

AN PS: What, did you honestly think I would make my MC stay with Ash? It's like my first reviewer said. He already has two babysitters. But, in a world where some more violent pokemon could go for the kill (as is seen in this chapter), leaving behind a new trainer in a seemingly rarely traversed forest could be a death sentence. Also, to reply to the other part of usameer16's review, I wasn't planning on giving something as OP as Soru to a new trainer (may as well let her learn dragon rush or something at that point), but having Eevee start trying to learn to use her aura/energy in the way she will need to in the future is a good choice. I appreciate any review or message I get, and the fact that I already have 15 followers for this story after just barely over a day, and as always, hope you had a happy reading!