All Pokémon concepts, and all characters except Rose, Walker, Mr. Edengrian, and Chance copyright Nintendo, Game Freak, and all sorts of people who aren't me. This isn't meant to detract from the show in any way.

Chansey Trainer's Stories

Episode 2: First Battlel

Rose Edengrian had stopped watching television, and she did her homework during study hall. In fact, she probably would have forgotten to eat if her Chansey hadn't been so insistent upon eating three meals a day. Whenever she wasn't in school, Rose was training Chance, teaching it--a Chansey--to fight.

Rose held out a broom with a pillow tied to the end. "Chance, doubleslap, now!"

"Chan-see!" the Chansey yelled, slapping its short arms against the pillow.

"Great! Now--can you use sing?"

"Chansey," Chance said quietly and tunelessly.

"Try again," Rose insisted.

"Chansey chansey chansey," Chance chanted in a voice so shrill, Rose nearly covered her ears.

"Well, we'll work on that," Rose said. "How about pound again?"

"Hey, Rose?" Rose's father came in.

Rose looked over, lowering the pillow. "Huh?"

"Chan--see!" Chance shouted, and rammed right into Rose, knocking her over.

"Well, you're getting better at that attack," Rose laughed.

"Chansey..." Chance said quietly, looking down.

"Don't be silly," Rose insisted, patting Chance's head. "I'm proud of you."

"It's time for dinner, Rose," her father said, smiling.

"Oh," Rose said.

"Chansey! CHANSEY!" the Pokémon shouted, running past Rose and her father into the kitchen. Rose went to follow it.

"Hey," Mr. Edengrian said, stopping her. "You doing okay? Your grades are slipping a little."

"It's almost summer," Rose said, shrugging. "I'll pass my classes."

"I know," her father said. "But it won't hurt you to study a little more for a couple weeks. It'll be summer soon enough."

Rose looked away. "If I really wanted to relive Connie's journey, I'd leave in the winter."

Her father closed his eyes. "You can't live her life, even if you'd want to."

"I know, but--"

"No," her father insisted. "I'm glad you have a Chansey. They're sweet Pokémon, and yours is a lot of fun to have around here. But it doesn't matter how hard you try--even if you were as young as Connie was when she left, this would still be your journey, not hers."

Rose shook her head. "I want to finish it for her."

Mr. Edengrian sighed. "Well," he finally said, "it's time for dinner."

Rose looked up at her father, then went to the kitchen.

"Chansey, chan-see!" the Pokémon yelled a week later, kicking its target.

"Good work!" Rose said.

Chance looked down. "Chansey, chansey, chan," it said quietly.

"No, you're getting a lot better!" Rose insisted. "Look at what you did to this pillow! You practically knocked the stuffing out of it!"

"Chansey..." Rose's partner replied, shaking its head.

Rose sighed. "I know you want to battle, but there's no one here--" She paused. "Well, there's Walker, but he'd probably beat us. And even if we won, he'd just say we cheated or something."

"Chansey," the Pokémon sighed.

Rose looked down, then brightened. "Maybe you could fight Meowth!"

Two rooms away, Meowth sneezed.

"Chansey," Chance protested.

"Well--it is weird for me to make you two fight..." Rose paused. "But--Dad's kinda like Meowth's trainer... Hang on, Chansey; I'll go ask Dad."

Mr. Edengrian was hesitant. "Meowth really doesn't have much training."

"But he catches Rattata outside all the time!" Rose didn't mention that Meowth was too tame to actually harm them; the Pokémon just played with the Rattata until he got bored or the Rattata escaped. "Not to mention all the change he brings home."

Rose's father shook his head. "That still doesn't seem like it would be a fair fight."

"Fine. We'll ask Meowth." Rose picked up Meowth, waking it from its nap. "Do you want to fight Chance?"

"Meowth," the Pokémon yawned.

"What, are you afraid of losing to a Chansey?"

"Meowth," Meowth said shortly, baring its teeth.

"Chansey?" Chance asked.

"Hey, Meowth," Rose offered. "If you win, I'll make you some meatballs..."

Meowth's eyes lit up. "Meowth?"

"Really," Rose said.

Meowth jumped down from Rose's arms and went out into the yard.

"You heard him!" Rose cheered. "C'mon, Dad, Chance. We've got a battle, right?"

"I guess so," Rose's father replied. Rose wasn't sure if he sounded nervous or not.

"Promise not to go easy on me, Dad," Rose said.

Rose's father smiled slightly, leaving. "All right."

"Chansey," Chance sighed.

"Don't you wanna fight?" Rose asked.

"Chansey," Chance said quietly.

"Well," Rose said, smiling, "I'll make you some cinnamon rolls."

"Chansey?" Chance asked.

Rose rubbed Chance's ears. "No, even if you don't win."

The Chansey's natural smile returned to its face, and Rose led it out into the yard.

Rose tried for ten minutes to make a circle with rocks to imitate a Pokémon gym in the yard. Finally, she gave up. "You ready, Dad?"

"Hey! Meowth!" Rose's dad said. The cat Pokémon yawned and finished licking its paw, then stood next to its master.

"Chance!" Rose called. The Chansey instantly ran--well, really kind of waddled--to Rose's side.

"Ladies first," Rose's father said, smiling.

"But I challenged you," Rose argued. "I should let you get the first hit in."

"Don't worry about that," Rose's father shot back. "This is your first Pokémon battle--"

"Yours too!" Rose replied.

"Is it?"

Rose stared at her father. Chance looked anxiously at Rose. Meowth licked one of its back legs.

"All right," Rose said, taking a fighting stance. "Chance, doubleslap, now!"

Chance dashed towards Meowth and slapped its face twice.

"Meowth!" Rose's father shouted. "Growl!"

Meowth narrowed its eyes at Chance and growled in a deep voice. Chance backed off.

"Don't let him get to you!" Rose yelled. "Pound him, just like we practiced!"

Chance did the closest thing a Chansey could do to a punch, but it hardly touched Meowth.

"Meowth! Use growl again!" Mr. Edengrian commanded.

Meowth growled, further reducing Chance's ability to attack.

Rose frowned. "No fair..."

Chance looked up at Rose expectantly.

"All right," Rose said, "you growl back!"

"Channnn," the pink Pokémon replied, looking angrily at Meowth.

Meowth looked ready to lick his paw in boredom.

"All right, Meowth, bite!" Rose's father said quickly.

Meowth dashed at Chance with surprising speed and clamped his teeth around one of Chance's ears.

"Chansey!!" Chance yelled.

Rose cringed. "Hang in there!"

Once the damage was done, Meowth released its grip, leaving Chance wounded.

"Doubleslap again!" Rose said desperately.

Chance slapped Meowth repeatedly, but the feline Pokémon almost looked bored. The hits hardly hurt him at all.

"Use your scratch attack, Meowth," Rose's father said, with just a hint of hesitation in his voice.

"Meowth!" Meowth said, scratching at Chance's face.

"Chansey!!" Chance squealed, unable to defend itself.

Rose watched, horrfied. "Chance, sing!" she finally said.

"Chansey, chansey, chansey," it said--"singing" does not really describe the off-key screeches Chance produced. The noise was so awful, Meowth covered its ears, which took its claws away from Chance's face.

"Meowth! Pay day!" Mr. Edengrian commanded, but the Pokémon didn't hear.

"Doubleslap!" Rose yelled.

Chance slapped Meowth again. Meowth was starting to feel Chance's hits.

"Meowth! Growl!" Rose's father yelled.

Meowth uncovered its ears and growled at Chance. But the pink Pokémon was no longer afraid.

"Finish it with doubleslap!" Rose yelled.

"Chan-see!" Chance yelled, grabbing Meowth and slapping it one, two, three...a couple more and Meowth would be finished...four...

Meowth was too tired to get away.

Five! Chance dropped Meowth, and the cat Pokémon fell to the ground, unwilling to continue.

Rose grinned triumphantly for just a moment. Mr. Edengrian ran forward and picked up Meowth. "Good work, Meowth," he said softly.

Rose looked sympathetically at Meowth, then knelt and hugged Chance. "You did it, Chance! You won our first battle!"

"Chansey! Chansey!" Chance cheered, evidently very pleased with itself.

Rose's father looked over at her, smiling. "That was a good battle, Rose. You've trained Chance well."

"Chansey! Chansey!" Chance beamed.

"But we'd better get to the Pokémon Center now," Mr. Edengrian continued.

"Meowth?" Meowth protested weakly.

"Once we get home Rose and I will cook for both of you. All right?"

Meowth snuggled back into Mr. Edengrian's arms. "Meowth," it purred softly.

"You think you can make it to the Pokécenter on your own, or you wanna go in your Pokéball?" Rose asked.

"Chansey," Chance said. "Chansey! Chansey!" It walked in several circles around Rose.

"All right, all right, you can walk," Rose laughed.

The Pokémon Center in Fuchsia City was rather difficult to get to, if you didn't know your way around town very well. But Rose and her father both knew its location well.

Nurse Joy came to meet them as soon as they came in. "That poor Meowth!" she exclaimed. She grabbed it out of Mr. Edengrian's arms, then paused, noting the condition of Rose's Chansey. "Did you two actually have a battle?"

Rose nodded.

Her father put an arm around his daughter. "My little girl beat me!" he bragged.

Rose scowled. She was 15.

Nurse Joy smiled. "Good for you! Hey, Chansey, you hear that?"

A Chansey in a nurse hat grinned. "Chansey!" it congratulated Chance.

"Chansey," Chance said softly, blushing.

"Anyway, I'll have to heal your Pokémon," Nurse Joy said, nudging Chance towards the examining rooms. "It shouldn't take too long, if you want to wait here."

"Of course we'll wait!" Rose said, sitting down. Her father sat next to her, and Nurse Joy took their Pokémon away.

Rose and her father knew the Pokémon would be fine, but they were still kind of tense, waiting, and didn't talk much. Rose read an issue of Poképal magazine that they had at home, but looked up anxiously every time she heard something shout, "Chansey!" But it was always one of Nurse Joy's assistants, never Chance. So she tried to lose herself in the magazine.

"Chansey, chan!" Rose heard. She looked up, and Meowth was standing by Nurse Joy, along with one of Nurse Joy's helpers.

"What's wrong?" Rose said, standing. "Where's Chance?" She paused, looking closer at Nurse Joy's helper. The hat had a lavender cross on it instead of a red one. And Nurse Joy didn't have a hat at all!

"Chance!" Rose exclaimed, knocking the hat off her Pokémon's head. "I didn't know you were such a trickster..." She tousled Chance's fur. "You scared me..."

"Chansey, chansey," Chance said quietly.

Rose smiled weakly. "That's all right. You just startled me."

Meowth trotted over to Mr. Edengrian and leapt into his lap. Rose's father fondly petted Meowth for a few moments before standing, knocking Meowth out of his lap. "Meowth," he said, annoyed.

"Aw, you're fine," Mr. Edengrian said. He turned to Nurse Joy. "You never cease to amaze me. Every time you see a Pokémon, it winds up better than new."

"That's not true," Nurse Joy said, blushing.

"You really are good," Rose said. "Chance thinks so too!"

"Chansey, chansey!" Chance reaffirmed.

Nurse Joy laughed. "Actually, I was considering taking that test to qualify for the Pokémon League this year..." She waited for the Edengrians to laugh at her, but they didn't.

"That's a great idea!" Rose said.

"I'm sure you'd do better than most the people there," Mr. Edengrian added.

A Chansey handed Nurse Joy's hat to her, and she put it back on. "Do you really think so?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Well, maybe someday..."

Rose's father smiled. "Thank you for taking care of Chance and Meowth for us."

"Oh, no problem at all," Nurse Joy said. "That's what I'm here for, right? Hey, Rose?"

The girl looked back.

"Sometimes some trainers come by here. You might want to keep an eye on the Pokémon Center, and maybe you can find someone else to battle with."

Rose smiled. "We could probably use some more battle experience, right, Chance?"

"Chansey, chansey!"

"I'll try to call you if anyone who looks about your level comes in," Nurse Joy added.

Rose grinned. "Thanks!"

That night, Meowth happily munched on meatballs, and Chansey must have eaten two pounds of cinnamon rolls.

"Hey, you could try going to that Pokémon League school," Rose's father suggested.

Rose laughed. "Have you seen my grades this quarter?"

"As a matter of fact, no," Mr. Edengrian said.

"Oh," Rose said. "I mean--I just wanted to train Chance. I don't care if I never make it to the Pokémon League, as long as I can spend time with my Chansey."

"I see," Rose's father said. "Well, I'm sure Chance would be happy to watch you do your homework until this summer."

"Dad!" Rose yelled.

"You've had your battle practice for today, so finish your homework, all right?"

Rose stayed up half the night finishing her homework. And Chance really did stay up with her.