A/N: Good evening, hope everyone is keeping safe. I want to say thank you for at least reading this series. It really does mean a lot to me, and I do appreciate all the reviews. I will be honest, I was stumped on the title for this chapter, so it might not be the best one. A little tidbit of information: Ava wasn't supposed to be his traveling companion. She was supposed to be his rival. Saul was originally the first companion but Ava decided to show up anyways. This is why I'm spending time trying to craft her backstory. Next chapter, Brandon will catch a Pokemon, though I won't spoil who :). Anyways, hope you have a great day!
Pokemon Journey: Indigo League
Chapter 11: Learning
"Squirtle, I want you to spin around," Brandon tells the surprised turtle Pokemon but he does it. "How do you feel?"
"Squirt," Squirtle replies, still not understanding why he was spinning around.
"Do you feel dizzy?" Brandon asks. Squirtle shakes his head no. "Good. Now, take 5 paces to the right."
Squirtle, still spinning, takes 5 paces to the right. He didn't feel dizzy at all. Now, Brandon requests him to take 5 paces to the front, which he follows the instructions, starting to feel a little nauseous. Brandon quickly asks him to take 5 steps forward, still spinning and that's when he thew up. Squirtle looks up at his trainer, still not sure what the point of that was, to find Brandon smiling gently.
"You did great Squirtle," Brandon says, offering Squirtle a water bottle and some food.
It was an overcast day on route 4, as the trio stops for a rest. Chloe and Ava decide to train while Brandon brought out Tangela and Squirtle. Tangela is working on some sort of exercise to increase his dodging (jumping back and forth). Squirtle sits down, with Brandon asking Tangela to join them.
"Squirtle, I'm sure you're wondering why I had you do that?" Brandon asks. Squirtle nods his head, still not sure why. "There is a move I'm trying to teach you the last few battles. Remember when you spun in your shell?"
Squirtle nods, eating his food, alongside Tangela, who remains quiet, listening to his trainer. Beside them, Chloe and Ava are training with their teams.
"You have the spinning motion down pretty well," Brandon explains, taking a sip of his water bottle. "The only thing you seem to have trouble with is being dizzy coming out of the move. I was trying to get you used to spinning and moving. I was hoping if you were spinning around outside of your shell, you would get used to it."
Squirtle nods his head, signaling he understands. The reasoning makes sense to him, and now he's starting to put the pieces together why he was doing it.
"Well, that is actually a move I'm trying to teach you. It's called rapid spin," Brandon explains further, putting away his water bottle. "I think every day, if we can work on you getting used to it, you should master rapid spin in no time."
"Squirtle," Squirtle nods, standing up. He's ready to try it again but Brandon shakes his head.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm Squirtle, but maybe take it easy right now," Brandon chuckles. "I don't want you to over-exert yourself. Now, don't think I've forgotten about you Tangela."
"You have come a long way since Viridian Forest," Brandon smiles at him as Tangela shifts his attention towards his trainer. "You seem much more comfortable, playing with the other Pokemon. I'm really happy to see that."
Tangela smiles at the compliment, as Squirtle nods his head, agreeing with Brandon.
"You both have improved so much in a short while, but we still have a long way to go," Brandon tells them. "Together, we will get stronger."
Sounds of a practice battle catches Brandon's attention, who quickly turns towards the two females.
"Pidgey, just like we just practiced. Fly low to the ground and come in with a tackle attack!" Chloe shouts, thrusting her hand forward.
"Omanyte, stand your ground!" Ava counters.
Pidgey flaps his wings and dove straight down to the ground and rockets towards Omanyte, flapping up dust as he goes by. Omanyte, however, stands his ground, trying to keep an eye on Pidgey but finding it hard to with the dust. He blinks his eyes before feeling Pidgey slamming into him.
"Omanyte, you can do it," Ava encourages him. "Use withdraw!"
Omanyte enters his shell, providing him a small defensive position, while Pidgey circles around, looking for an opening. Ava blinks, not sure if what she saw was real. Acting on that, Ava tests the theory.
"Omanyte, face Pidgey but allow him to hit you!" Ava shouts. Omanyte, unsure of this tactic, does what his trainer commands.
"Pidgey, come in with another tackle!" Chloe yells, not realizing this could be a trap.
Pidgey came in low again and smashes into Omanyte, who looks like he might faint any second now. Ava, however, remains neutral. Her experience in battles telling her not to show that is what she wants.
"Time to finish this match Pidgey. Tackle once more!" Chloe shouts, completely unaware what is about to happen.
"Omanyte, trust me alright. I believe in you!" Ava encourages again. "Wait for the last second, jump onto Pidgey's back and use constrict!"
Pidgey shoots towards Omanyte again, coming in low and creating a dust shield. Yet, Omanyte was able jump above him and land on his back before Pidgey could hit and restrains him with his two front tentacles, which surprises both Brandon and Chloe. Ava, however, was grinning.
"Thought so," Ava beams. She then frowns. "Alright Omanyte. We will have to get creative here. Start tickling Pidgey."
Chloe blinks in surprise as Pidgey began laughing, feeling the tentacles tickling his sides and crashes onto the ground. "But how? Pidgey should have been faster."
"Naturally, yes. However, Omanyte's ability makes it faster," Ava explains. "Omanyte has weak armor, which lowers his defense with physical attacks but increases his speed by one each time he's hit."
Chloe's eyes widen in realization. "So that's why you had Omanyte tank that last hit."
"Actually, I wasn't completely sure, so I had to test it. Turns out I was right, however, I'm kinda in a pickle right now."
During the talking, Pidgey tries to get up but fails as Omanyte is still tickling him. Finally, Omanyte releases his tentacles and jumps off Pidgey's back.
"How so?" Chloe asks across the field.
"Constrict is the only move Omanyte knows that damages," Ava responds. "Which is why I went creative."
"Pidgey, let's end this match now with gust!" Chloe commands, not falling into the speed trap again.
"Omanyte, withdraw!" Ava shouts out desperately. She's on the ropes right now. Omanyte can't take much more hits, and it seems like Chloe sees that.
Pidgey began to flap up a small twister and fires it at Omanyte, who ducks back into his shell. The gust does damage though, causing Omanyte to faint.
"Omanyte, you did great. I'm proud of you. Return," Ava recalls him. She nods towards Chloe. "Nice battle."
"It was fun," Chloe muses. "Though, his ability threw me through a loop."
"Always watch for that," Ava tells both Chloe and Brandon, who joins them. "If, for any reason, you can't come up with a move, improvise. That will surprise your opponent, giving you an edge. Anyways, you guys ready to continue?"
Within minutes, the trio resumes walking through the grassy route. Occasionally, they heard a caw of a Pidgey, or a rustle in a bush by the path but they didn't run into any Pokemon. Above them, dark clouds began to form, threatening them that rain was on the way. They wisely got their rain jackets out, just in case.
Nothing really of note happens in a few hours of walking. To pass the time, the trio talks about random things as the rain began to sprinkle down on them. They suddenly hear people cheering. They hasten their steps and came upon a demonstration. Curious, they join the crowd, as two karate masters were addressing them.
"We are part of the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City," The elder one speaks, bowing to the group. He had his hair tied in a ponytail and wore a traditional white martial arts suit.
"That's right Sensei Marko," the younger one replies, also bowing. He also wore the white martial arts suit but he was bald. "We're here today to send out a challenge to any trainer who thinks they have what it takes to win a tournament in Saffron City. Should a trainer win, they will be offered a prize."
Both release two Pokemon. One had a full brown battle-like armor for a torso, with it's eyes appearing behind that armor. Its arms were relatively short with three fingers. It has long, slender legs that look like it can kick a wall down. Beside him, another Pokemon emerges. It was the same color as the previous Pokemon but this one looks like a boxer with boxing gloves as fists. Brandon (and others) quickly scans them.
"Hitmonlee, The Kicking Pokemon. Fighting-type. The legs freely contract and stretch. The stretchy legs allow it to hit a distant foe with a rising kick."
"Hitmonchan, The Punching Pokemon. Fighting Type. Its punches slice the air. They are launched at such high speed, even a slight graze could cause a burn."
"Oh wow, they seem powerful," Brandon whispers to the girls and putting away his dex. Around them, the crowd also began whispering.
"Good luck to everyone," the duo say in unison, bowing again as the crowd dispersed. Chloe walks up to them and asks a question.
"Excuse me Sensei Marko," Chloe says respectfully, bowing. "A friend of mine mentioned to me about two karate masters who would teach mega kick and mega punch to a potential Pokemon. Would that be you guys?"
Sensei Marko smiles kindly and nods. "That is correct young one. I teach mega kick, while Sensei Banks teaches mega punch. Both are extremely powerful moves so we only teach those whom we deem as worthy to learn them."
Chloe brings out Pikachu, who looks up at the duo with curiosity. "I know in theory, Pikachu families can learn it."
Sensei Marko bends down and examines Pikachu. He does a quick look over of it, before trying to judge its strength. Finally, he gets up and addresses Chloe. "That is true. The Pikachu line can learn it, though many trainers opt not to. I can tell this Pikachu does have a fighting spirit but we need to see that in battle. Which one would you like Pikachu to learn?"
Chloe thought a moment, trying to determine which one. She then bends down and discusses it with Pikachu, who shows he wants to learn mega punch. Chloe smiles and stands back up.
"Pikachu would like to learn mega punch," Chloe replies. She then remembers something and excitedly looks at Brandon. Ava kinda stands back a little, knowing not one of her Pokemon can learn them."Brandon, your Squirtle can learn either of them as well."
Brandon's eyes widen in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah," Chloe answers him. She pulls him forward and addresses the duo. "My friend/rival also has a Pokemon who can learn them."
"Squirtle, come out," Brandon summons his first partner.
Sensei Marko and Banks inspect Squirtle, who folded his arms and glared at them, not really liking this. His glare intensified the longer they continue their examination.
'Squirtle, these two are Sensei Marko and Sensei Banks," Brandon explains to his unhappy Pokemon. "They can teach you a new move but they want to make sure you have the will to learn it. Would you be willing?"
Squirtle studies Brandon for a moment before mulling over it. Did he want to learn a new move? Finally, he shakes his head no, which Brandon nods understandably.
"That's perfectly alright Squirtle," Brandon tells him, before bowing to the two sensei and joins Ava.
"I respect his decision, though he would have been a great pupil to teach," Sensei Banks remarks before they turning to Chloe. "Are you ready?"
"Give me a moment," Chloe replies before coming to Ava and Brandon. "Why don't you two go on without me?"
"Really?" Ava asks.
"Yeah. Look, I might be here a while so no use of you guys staying. Besides, I did tell you guys once we entered Cerulean City, I would be going off by myself."
"Very well," Brandon replies. "Good luck with teaching Pikachu mega punch. And hopefully, we will run into each other in Cerulean City."
"If not, I'm sure we will run into each other down the road," Chloe smiles. "It was fun traveling with you guys. Take care."
"You as well," Ava responds as she joins Brandon and resumes their trek towards Cerulean City.
The first thing that hit Brandon as they finally enter Cerulean City was a mixture of a briny and a sweet smell. Stepping into the city, the duo notices all the flowers spread throughout the city, giving the city a very homey feeling. The buildings were spread out as the main road leads directly to the Pokemon Center and the gym in the distance. Brandon notices smaller roads that lead to the sides, giving the sense this was a bigger city. In the background, Brandon can dimly hear the sounds of waves crashing into rocks. What caught his attention, though, was the lineup at the gym, even at this distance. Brandon sighs as they walk through the city, passing both people and Pokemon alike.
Arriving at the Pokemon Center, they quickly enter it and make a beeline right for Nurse Joy. They both gave their teams for Chansey to check over, while Brandon inquires about rooms for the night.
"Nurse Joy, are there any rooms available?" Brandon asks, crossing his fingers.
"Are they for both of you?" Nurse Joy asks, looking at the computer.
"Correct," Ava responds.
"We do, however they aren't near each other," Nurse Joy finally says, after consulting with her PC. "Will that work?"
"They will," Ava nods her head.
"Perfect. Can I have your trainer cards please?" Nurse Joy requests. She quickly scans them and hands them back with 2 room keys. "Rooms 3 and 70 are yours for however long you need. It will take Chansey about thirty minutes to check your Pokemon if you want to get settled in."
"We will. Thank you," Brandon says gratefully, taking the room keys and passing one to Ava. They quickly went upstairs and enter their respective rooms.
Brandon notices that his room was painted a pale blue color. The bed had pale blue covers as well. The window is also shaped in a cruise ship style. He chuckles as he leaves his bag in the corner of the room, beside the desk. He notices that he has a phone in the room, which differs from the Pokemon Centers in Pewter City and before Mt. Moon. He sits down on the chair (which is a red-colored lounge chair that you might find at pools) and dials Kelly's number. Kelly immediately picks up and breaks into a smile,
"Brandon, long time no talk. How's it going?" Kelly asks. She appears to be in a room as well, as she was wearing Pjs.
"Hey, Kelly. It's going well. How are you guys?" Brandon replies, smiling back.
"Just won my fifth badge in Kalos," Kelly says proudly, holding up her badge case.
"That's awesome. Congratulations!" Brandon exclaims with a proud smile. "Not that far until the league huh?"
"Hell no," Kelly says. "I'm getting pumped, just thinking of it."
"I'm really proud of you Kelly," Brandon states. "Are mom and dad still there?"
"No. They just boarded a plane back to Kanto a few hours ago," Kelly answers him. "Speaking of badges, it looks like you are in Cerulean City. Have you battled Misty yet?"
"How did you know I was in Cerulean City?" Brandon asks.
"The room behind you. The Pokemon Center in Cerulean City is one of a kind," Kelly chuckles.
"It's pretty cool," Brandon nods. "I haven't battled Misty yet. We just got into the city like ten minutes ago."
"Good. I will definitely advise you to wait," Kelly suggests. "Misty is a tough battle. If anything, I would head north and south of Cerulean to train and possibly find a new partner."
"Thanks for the advice Kel," Brandon says gratefully. He looks at his watch, realizing the time. "I better head downstairs."
"What? You got a hot date or something?" Kelly teases him and laughs when he turns beat red. "Thought so."
"Nothing like that," Brandon hastily replies, trying to control his blushing face.
"Brandon, I'm just teasing," Kelly replies, still laughing. "But seriously, call me when you beat Misty alright?"
"Will do. And good luck with your last three badges Kel," Brandon says. "Love you."
"Love you as well," Kelley says, hanging up.
Brandon gets up, quickly freshens up, and heads downstairs, where Ava is waiting. "Sorry. I quickly called Kelley."
"No worries," Ava says. "How are they doing?"
"Kelly won her fifth badge and my parents are coming back to Kanto," Brandon replies. He looks over at the counter. "Has Chansey or Nurse Joy brought our Pokemon out yet?"
"Not yet," Ava responds. "In the meantime, let's have something to eat."
"Sounds good," Brandon nods, getting up and following Ava to the trainer's lounge kitchen. There was a buffet-style dinner, that heavily featured seafood. Brandon and Ava fill their plate and sits down at an empty table. Around them, other trainers are eating as well. Their forks scrap along with the plates, conversation fills the air as the duo digs in.
"So what's the plan?" Ava asks, taking a bite of her clam chowder soup.
"Tonight, I was thinking of just resting, but tomorrow, I want to train," Brandon replies, eating a lobster tail for the first time. Juices are running down the corner of his mouth. "And when I say training, I mean training. Not like in Pewter City, where I trained like five minutes and called it a day. I don't want to get stunned like that again."
"Smart," Ava nods approvingly. "So where will you train?"
"Kelly suggested I go north and south of Cerulean City, so that's the plan," Brandon replies, wiping the juice from his face. "Maybe start north and see what's up there."
"Sounds like a good strategy," Ava replies before something caught her attention. She points it out to Brandon and together, they watch Misty battling a random trainer before ultimately defeating him. "Well, this just got more interesting."
"So she televises her matches, interesting," Brandon muses. He finishes off his plate and takes a swig of his chocolate milk.
"You're not surprised?" Ava asks in a surprised tone.
"No. The receptionist in Pewter City told me that Forrest didn't allow for his matches to be televised," Brandon explains. "Which means other gym leaders do."
"I'm impressed," Ava says, also finishing her meal.
"And Kelly did mention that Misty is a tough match," Brandon remarks. "It is clear now that she wasn't only talking about the match. But I do think I am ready for it."
"Come on, let's go check on our Pokemon and hit the sack," Ava says, hiding a yawn.
Together, they both check with Nurse Joy, and with glee, their Pokemon were ready. They quickly said good night to each other before retiring to their rooms for the night. Brandon tosses and turns, thinking about Misty's battle and hoping that he is ready for it. Soon, he finds himself in dreamland.
Team Listings:
Brandon Adams:
Squirtle - Male, Torrent ability. Knows Water Gun, tackle, Withdraw, Rapid Spin (Work in Progress)
Tangela - Male, Leaf Guard ability. Knows Bind, Stun Spore, Absorb, Growth
Ava Mcarthur:
Eevee - Female. Run Away ability. Knows tackle, Quick Attack
Omanyte - Male. Weak Armor ability. Knows: Withdraw, Constrict