Anything Goes

Mari gaped at Kai and Tyson in an expression of absolute astonishment as they finished recounting the events of last night. They were packing up camp for the day and it was early, they still couldn't see the sun over the trees yet. Tyson presented his beaten up Torchic and Kai released the Poochyena he caught, which was still too sore to move.

"Whoa!" Mari exclaimed, looking at the Poochyena. "A black nose! That's rare." She looked at the two of them in turn and smiled. "Told you Pokémon were needed in the wild and you guys did a pretty good job, considering the odds."

"Yeah, but now I essentially have no Pokémon for the next few days, maybe weeks," Tyson pointed out.

"Nah, give a few hours with a potion and Torchic will be fine," Mari assured him. Tyson and Kai both gave her confused looks but she was already going through her bag.

"You know," Ray piped up, sitting down next to Tyson since the camp was now completely packed up, "you should have woken up the rest of us if you were worried about Kai. Things could have gone better if there were more of us."

"I wasn't worried about Kai," Tyson murmured with a pout.

"Aw, Torchic's in such bad shape. Tyson, what did you do?" Hilary snapped.

"I didn't do anything! We were just defending ourselves against that stupid Poochawena that Kai decided to catch."

"It's called Poochyena," Kai muttered darkly.

"Here," Mari announced, producing a purple and white spray bottle. She covered as much of Torchic and Poochyena's bodies as she could with the spray medicine. "You sure Magikarp is fine, Kai?"

Kai released Magikarp. She splashed about enthusiastically for a moment before Kai returned her.

"Looks like the Oran berry did help," Mari said. "Torchic and Poochyena will be okay too."

"What's that medicine you used?" Ray asked.

"This? Just a potion. We can buy some more in Oldale Town once we get there. Potions are pretty standard in a travelling Pokémon Trainer's first aid kit for healing injuries but you should only use them on Pokémon."

"I get that," Hilary nodded. "Using animal things on people and people things on animals usually yields bad results."

"Is the potion all-purpose or can you get medicine for other Pokémon ailments as well?" said Ray.

"Course! You can get Paralyse Heal, Burn Heal, Awakening – I can tell you about it all on the way to Oldale. We should get moving." Mari put away the potion and unclipped a yellow device on her belt. The bladers watched in amazement as a screen unfolded out of the quirky piece of technology and lit up. "We can make it to Oldale by dinnertime, no hurry," Mari commented, manipulating whatever she was looking at on the screen with the tracker ball.

"What is that?" Max asked, peeking over her shoulder.

"A PokéNav, of cour—oh, I forgot you guys don't really know about these things. This thing is useful for navigating the regions and keeping track of friends and achievements. Anyway, I was just checking how far away Oldale Town is from here."

"It's not very far away from here," Daichi said. "Don't tell me everything is going to be so close together like this. I want to spend more time in the forest!"

"Don't worry, Daichi. There are stretches of road that take up to a fortnight to travel without seeing a single town or city. We'll have plenty of time to camp out," Mari told him, standing up and taking her pack. "Ready to go?"

The rest of the party nodded and they left the campsite under the old tree. As they were leaving, Tyson looked back at the branches pensively. "Hey, Mari," he said. "Are there any stories or rumours about ghosts on this route?"

"Not this route but certainly on others," Mari replied. She turned to him and followed his gaze back to the tree for a moment. "Why?"

Tyson just waved it off. "It's nothing. I just thought I saw something last night, that's all."

Mari nodded and looked at the tree again, this time with a smile. "Well, okay."

The sun had climbed high in the sky and it had gotten quite warm. The group decided that now was the right time to stop for a lunch break in the shade of some trees by the side of the road. Mari checked that they were still on the right path while they ate prepacked sandwiches and relaxed. Daichi glared jealously at Kai's new Pokémon the whole time while Poochyena greedily but warily chomped down on a bowl of Pokémon food.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Tyson said, poking him in the face teasingly.

"It's no fair. Kai already has three Pokémon and the rest of us only have one," Daichi complained. "I wanna catch a new Pokémon too!"

"If you want to catch one you're going to have to find one first," Hilary said.

"How are we going to find one if we just stick to the path?" Daichi exclaimed, jumping up. "We should be in the woods exploring like real adventurers!"

"No, that sounds like a silly idea," Hilary replied. "Our Pokémon still aren't very well trained and aren't that strong. Remember what happened to Kai and Tyson last night?"

"I agree with Hilary," Mari added. "We'll have plenty of time to go through some training basics and build up strength in Oldale Town before we set of on the first real leg of the Gym Challenge."

"What do you mean by 'real leg'?" Max asked.

"Oldale Town doesn't have much for trainers aspiring to greater goals," Mari explained. "Petalburg City marks the real beginning of the Gym Challenge, you could say. It's the next town over."

"That does sound surprisingly close," Ray said.

"Not really. The Hoenn League is still a year away so there's no real rush yet. Petalburg's Gym Leader was really strong when I last faced him so it's best if we train up and aim to be in front of the Petalburg Gym in a month."

"One month!" Daichi shouted. "Are you saying you want to hang around in some dirty old town for a month?"

"It'll take a month to travel to Petalburg City if we set aside most of our time for training," Mari retorted. "Your Pokémon isn't strong enough to take on a Gym Leader yet."

"But we'll spend most of that training time in a town!"

"Course we will! It's not smart to be training heavily when you're far from a Pokémon Centre. Hilary, is he always this dumb?"

"Yep," Hilary answered.

"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Says who?"

Daichi was so caught up in the argument that he didn't notice the creature sneaking up on his lunch. It reached out to sniff the temporarily forgotten sandwiches. Ray caught the slight movement in the corner of his eye and turned. He started at the sight of the strange creature and called to Daichi in alarm. The creature scurried into the scrub just as Daichi turned around.

Ray sighed with relief. "Just in the nick of time. It almost ran off with your food."

"Was that a Pokémon?" Daichi exclaimed excitedly, eyes shining.

"Yeah, pretty sure it was," Mari replied. "Looked like a Zigzagoon."

"Then I'm not letting it get away!"

Daichi picked up the rest of his sandwiches and shoved all of them in his mouth, a feat that made Mari look on in awe and disbelief for she had never seen someone put so much food in their mouth all at once. He grabbed his back and jumped into the bushes, ignoring calls from the others to stop.

"Seriously?" Max gaped incredulously. "He's just going to run off like that? We should follow him in case he gets into any trouble." He picked up his bag.

"Can this wait until we finish eating?" Tyson grumbled around a mouthful of food. "Daichi's like some kind of chimp, he can survive in the wild by himself for a while."

"If he gets too far away he'll get lost and we won't be able to find him," Max argued.

"Max is right," Ray agreed, packing up the remains of his lunch. "Daichi hasn't really left us much choice. You can finish eating later."

Tyson groaned but it was clear nobody was going to let him win this argument because they were all packing up and shouldering their bags.

At some point, Daichi had lost track of the Zigzagoon. It was a quick little creature and while he'd been keeping up at first it had managed to slip under his nose. He tried to track it and found plenty of similar footprints and the Zigzagoons they belonged to but he was yet to catch a single one, even with the help of his Geodude. They all fled quickly. However, he figured that if he stayed determined he would come across one that wasn't a coward and he could catch it.

Geodude floated along happily beside him as he pushed his way through the long grass and undergrowth. The greenery was getting thicker and there were fewer tracks in this part of the forest. He had no idea how long he'd been out looking for a Zigzagoon but it didn't look like he was going to find one here. The others would also be waiting for him back on the path.

Finally he sighed in defeat. "Well, that does it. It looks like we won't be catching a Pokémon today. Let's go back."

Geodude didn't seem too upset about that. He followed Daichi as the redhead started to retrace his steps but the dark mud he'd been walking in had already sunk and his footprints were gone. Not to worry, though, all he had to do was remember the trees he passed and he'd make it. Half an hour of aimless wandering later, all of the trees still looked the same and he still couldn't find the road. Yet he had managed to land himself in a less dense part of the forest, which led him to think that he was on the right track. An hour later the trees were getting sparser and the grass shorter as he entered a part of the forest that he knew he hadn't passed on the way in. Geodude tapped him on the shoulder and said something in his mellow croak. Daichi was a long way off from being able to understand when a Pokémon tried to speak to him but he could tell what Geodude was thinking since he was having the same thoughts.

They were lost.

"We're not lost," Daichi told himself, slapping himself in the face in an attempt to knock the thought out of his head. "If we just keep going, uh, this way! Yeah, this way. We'll find the path then! Come on, Geodude!"

They barged through some underbrush gracelessly but the forest didn't look any more familiar. Daichi started to chew his fingernails anxiously. What if he never found his way back? He was about to lose all hope and just start screaming into the trees when he heard the crunch and rustle of leaves and twigs being stepped on. He turned to the sound hopefully.

"Guys?"

However the person who stepped out of the undergrowth with a stomp was not a member of the group. It was a boy, slightly younger than him, wearing a white singlet top and baggy, blue shorts that matched his sneakers. He glared at Daichi under the rim of his cap and suddenly pointed at the redhead and his Pokémon. "Hey you!" he barked. "You're a trainer, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?" Daichi bit back.

The boy pulled a Pokéball out of his pocket. "I'm a trainer too. Name's Jason and it's an unspoken rule that when trainers lock gazes it's time to battle! I'll have you know that I only play to win."

"Ha! Is that so?" Daichi grinned. "Well, I don't intend to lose my first Pokémon battle. Let's go, Geodude!"

Geodude took his place in front of Daichi, letting out a battle cry to pump himself for a fight. Jason flipped his hat backwards in a well-rehearsed move like something he had copied from a celebrity and threw his Pokéball. "Go Zigzagoon!" Upon release, Jason's Zigzagoon shook out its fur and stared Daichi's Geodude down determinedly. "Use Growl attack!"

Zigzagoon's Growl was a high-pitched sound but too feral to sound adorable. Geodude fell back slightly when Jason commanded Zigzagoon to go straight in for a Tackle. Daichi quickly ordered Geodude to use Defence Curl. The tackle still knocked Geodude to the ground but when he unfurled from the tight ball Geodude hardly seemed affected.

"Yeah! We're not afraid of some cute, little raccoon-monster!" Daichi said, puffing up Geodude's confidence. "Tackle it right back!"

Geodude bowled right into Zigzagoon, knocking it onto its back.

"It's okay! Just use Tail Whip!" Jason ordered.

"Tackle!"

Zigzagoon rolled onto its front and waved its tail adorably but Geodude just rammed straight into it. Jason tried to get his Zigzagoon to do another Tackle attack and Daichi did the same. The two Pokémon collided head-on and the one with the hardest head came out on top. Geodude rubbed his forehead while the Zigzagoon stumbled from the hard hit and then collapsed.

Jason gasped. "What?! No way! Zigzagoon lost?"

Daichi laughed. "Woohoo! Victory! Me and Geodude are a pretty awesome team." He held his hand up to get a high-five from Geodude and received a rock-hard clap that sent shocks through his bones and nearly broke his hand. "Ouch…"

Jason returned his Zigzagoon to its Pokéball. "Don't celebrate yet! Not done with you."

Daichi stopped massaging his hand and looked at Jason quizzically. "Whaddya mean? I just K.O.'d your Pokémon so that means I win. What, are we supposed to do something now?"

"We're not done fighting," Jason clarified, putting his Pokéball away and getting another from his other pocket. He threw it and released another Zigzagoon onto the field. This one looked more bright-eyed and amicable that the last one. "Still have another Pokémon to take you down!"

"Hey! No fair! I don't have another Pokémon to fight that one with."

"Still have your Geodude," Jason pointed out. "In a field battle with another trainer, it's anything goes! Keep fighting until there's nothing left in you! Stripes, use Tackle!"

The Zigzagoon charged for Geodude and Geodude charged right back but this time Stripes managed to land a decent hit. Geodude reeled back and Stripes had to shake its body to relieve the ache from the hit. It growled cutely as Geodude was told to tackle it. The cuteness caught Geodude off guard and his attack didn't seem to hurt it as much as it had the other one. Stripes was ordered to use Tackle again and this time it was quick enough to land a hit without much resistance. Geodude tumbled back to the ground and groaned.

Stripes was winding up for yet another Tackle and Geodude seemed to be in trouble. Daichi chewed his lip. He needed to think of something before this more powerful Zigzagoon whittled his Geodude's strength down. As far as he could gather, Geodude only knew one other attack but Daichi had no idea how effective that would be in this battle. Then again, he didn't think that constantly being on the defensive was going to win him another battle quickly. "Geodude, use Mud Sport!"

Geodude dug his fingers into the soil and scrambled to cover himself in dirt. Something seemed to have leaked onto his skin, transforming the dirt into a thick layer of mud. Daichi's eye twitched and his jaw dropped in disappointment. "That's all it does?"

"Mud Sport?" Jason sniggered. "That's not going to do you any good here. Stripes doesn't know any electric-type moves. Tackle it, Stripes!"

The Zigzagoon charged and Daichi was suddenly struck with an idea. "Geodude, let it hit you and grab it."

Geodude glanced at Daichi in confusion but did as he was told. The two Pokémon tumbled over each other in the collision and Stripes darted away. It was covered in mud and trying in vain to scrub mud away from its eyes with muddied paws. Geodude tackled it away. Jason tried to encourage Stripes to stand again. Stripes got back to its feet and went in for another tackle but it could barely see through squinted, irritated eyes. It missed and Geodude rolled up for the most effective Tackle he'd executed. The immobilised Zigzagoon couldn't avoid getting hit in a critical spot and as it tumbled thrice onto the ground it was clear that it wasn't going to get up any time soon. Jason hesitated to return Stripes, holding onto some hope that it would surprise him by still being able to fight. However, he knew he had to abandon that hope and hung his head as he returned Stripes to its Pokéball.

"So is that it?" Daichi asked. "Are we finally done?"

"Yeah… done. You win."

"Yahoo!" Daichi exclaimed, jumping in the air and making a victory sign.

Suddenly he was pounced on by a very warm bundle of fur that yipped happily. Leaves rustled and twigs snapped as somebody rushed through the bushes, trying to keep up with their Pokémon. "Woofy! Calm down so I can—oh! Daichi."

Daichi hauled himself off the ground and shoved Growlithe off in the process. Mari came into clearing, brushing the sticks and leaves off her pants. Then she punched Daichi on the top of the head and glared at him with her arms akimbo. "What's your problem? Running off like that could have gotten you in big trouble!"

"Ow! You don't have to be so mean! I was only trying to catch a Pokémon! How am I going to beat the Petalburg Gym Leader with only one?!"

"You're an official trainer?" Jason said, making a little 'o' with his mouth.

Mari sighed. "Yes, he is. Not a very smart trainer." She and Daichi exchanged heated glares.

"Man, thought I had a chance there when you mentioned that it was your first battle," Jason muttered. "But normal-types don't do so well against a rock-type."

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Mari inquired. "Quite far from the path over here."

"I was looking for some more Pokémon to catch," Jason replied. "I was hoping to get a Poochyena but they all ran away from me. I did manage to get another Zigzagoon, though. But then I suddenly just… didn't really know exactly where I was."

"Oh, so you got lost, huh?" Daichi mocked.

Mari smacked the back of his head. "You can't talk. You're lost too. Spent hours looking for you. Catch a Zigzagoon in the end?"

"Nah. And I don't think I want to anymore. Both of his were weak." Daichi jerked his thumb in Jason's direction.

"Hey!" Jason snapped.

Mari smacked Daichi again. "Rude. First rule of trainer etiquette is that you don't disrespect each other's Pokémon. Surely both of his Zigzagoons will be more powerful later on. You only had an edge because normal-type doesn't have much effect on rock-type. Everyone's probably waiting at the rendezvous point already so we should go before we make them worry and lose more travelling time. Log the battle and then we'll go."

"Log it?" Daichi asked.

"You can log Pokémon battles in your 'dex," Mari explained. "That other trainer should have a trainer ID if he's carrying Pokémon."

"Yeah," Jason said, taking his card out of his pocket and showing it to them.

"Hey, they gave each of us one of those at the lab too," Daichi noted.

"Course they did. You need that to prove that you're qualified to train Pokémon. Trainers who don't have one will usually receive it at the end of the briefing from the Regional Professor. Get your Pokédex out, this is what you do…"

Daichi pulled the Pokédex out of his pocket and opened it up. Mari directed him to use the camera to scan the chip on Jason's card and the screen suddenly showed two portraits: one of Daichi with one Pokéball icon next to him and one of Jason with two Pokéballs.

"Good trainer etiquette, to ensure honesty, has each trainer record which of their Pokémon the other trainer managed to defeat," Mari instructed. Jason duly noted that both of his Zigzagoons were defeated and the Pokédex automatically filed that away as Daichi's win.

"Okay, great," Daichi said, closing his Pokédex and putting it away. "Now what does that all mean?"

"Logged your first battle, which means that it goes on your official Pokémon League record," Mari explained. "The Pokémon League Association uses that information to generate your trainer stats and they'll even give you a bit of money every time you win. Log all battles whenever you can, even the ones that you lose. Having accurate stats is beneficial to you as a trainer if you want to see where you really stand among others and check your progress." She turned to Jason and told him: "don't worry too much about this one. Non-official trainers are listed as anonymous on the record, so no one will ever know that it was you who lost this battle."

Jason let out the breath of relief that he didn't realise he'd been holding. It would have been embarrassing to have a defeat at the hands of a newbie officially recorded forever.

"Anyway, return your Pokémon so he can rest and let's get back," Mari said, grabbing Daichi by the back of his shirt and dragging him into the bushes. "Woofy, lead us back."

Woofy barked and jumped up to take the lead while Daichi awkwardly returned Geodude to his Pokéball. Sometimes people didn't appreciate how difficult it was for someone to do things when they were being dragged away.

"Wait!" Jason interrupted. The three that were about to leave all stopped and looked at him. "You going to Oldale Town by any chance?"

"Yep," Mari answered.

"Can I come with? All of my Pokémon are out and I can't find my way back to the road. My parents will freak out if I don't make it home tonight."

"Sure, you can come," Daichi said. "Why wouldn't we let you?"

"I don't mind taking you Oldale," Mari added. "My Growlithe can lead us back to our friends by scent, just follow us."

Jason smiled and followed them with a skip in his step, happy to finally be able to leave the forest after hours of wandering it.

A/N: Having Pokémon fights because that is a marginally exciting thing that can happen. The explanation for how trainers get money is my own headcanon derived from the main series games. I used to think that the money you got was from you taking money away from other trainers after you win and vice versa and that made me feel bad for other trainers (I have very little experience with losing in Pokémon, unless I'm battling a friend). Then I got older and learned more about economics and realised that, while gaining and losing money based on battles is a good in-game incentive, it doesn't make much sense in the context of an actual economy. Having your own money docked when you have the pressures of other expenses on a journey would be largely unsustainable and a disincentive for people to engage in Pokémon training, thus the trainer industry would either collapse quite quickly or become the domain of only the very wealthy, which isn't canonically consistent. The anime doesn't say anything about this (as far as I'm aware), so this chapter is how I imagine Pokémon economy works for Pokémon trainers.