Chapter 3

Training Begins

The sliding glass doors smoothly rolled aside as Patrick walked up to the entrance of the building. The large, squat building was somewhere between a hospital and a hotel. The ground floor severed as the emergency room and clinic where Pokémon could have checkups or be brought back from the brink of death thanks to the advanced equipment and skilled nurses and doctors that worked there. A common joke in Kanto was that Pokémon health care was even more advanced the human health care.

The upper floors had small apartments that trainers could rent out while they were staying in the city. The proximity to the emergency room was comforting to the trainers when their Pokémon were especially hurt.

The lobby of the Pokécenter consisted of a waiting area on the right, where a pair of tense trainers huddled together and shot anxious glances at the door labeled 'Emergency Room'. On the left was a small café that served drinks and simple foods for the occupants of the building. A pink-haired lady in a nurse's uniform stood at the front desk directly opposite the door Patrick had just entered through.

Crossing the distance Patrick greeted the lady with a smile.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Centre. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?" The lady responded in a sing-song, scripted voice.

"Um… No thank you, my Pokémon are fine. I was actually looking to rent a room here for a little while." Patrick said, thrown off by the greeting.

"I expected as much, most people who need their Pokémon healed run across the lobby and shout before I can finish. It's company policy to greet everyone like that though…" The young nurse said, trailing off. "Anyways, how many nights would you like? I have a couple of standard rooms available and a deluxe on the top floor."

"Standard is fine, and I'd like to charge my room to Oak Labs. I was told they have an account here..." Patrick said uncertainly, seeing the nurse nod in confirmation he continued. "And I'm not sure about the stay. Maybe a week? I was going to challenge the gym certification here but I'm told there is no gym leader currently."

"I'll put you down for 7 nights with an option to extend then. If you just hand over your trainer card, I'll do the rest." The nurse said, typing on the computer in front of her. Flipping open his Pokédex and finding his profile again, he slid it over.

The process took less than a minute and Patrick was given a key with the number 104 on the key chain. As he turned to leave, a thought occurred to him.

"Have you ever seen or treated any Pokémon in here that you didn't recognize and weren't in the Pokédex database? Usually quite a bit more powerful than an average Pokémon?" Patrick asked, thinking back on the task he had been hired to do.

"Sorry sir, we can't discuss other patients' records. Client confidentiality." The nurse said apologetically. "If you are looking for strong Pokémon, the gym is where you'll want to go! They'll be better able to answer your questions."

"Right, of course! I'll go there tomorrow morning." Heading up the stairs, Patrick retired for the night. Nidoran bounding up the stairs behind him.

0000

The red and white color scheme on the outside of the building continued inside and into the individual rooms. The small apartment Patrick stepped into was a wash of reds and whites. The comfortable looking bed at the back of the room had a bright red comforter and a pair of white pillows resting on top. A pure white area rug covered the center of the space with a desk and chair on one side and a small dresser on the opposite side. At the foot of the bed was a large circular cushion, red on top and white on the bottom, designed to look like a pokéball.

Walking across the room, Patrick threw his heavy pack onto the desk and collapsed onto the soft bed. The days on the road and sleeping on the ground had taken their toll and his body was protesting. His feet ached from the miles of walking and had developed an impressive blister on one of his heels from the new hiking boots. His shoulders and back were equally sore from the heavy pack he had carried from Pallet and he took some time to rotate his shoulders and loosen the protesting muscles.

"I'm not cut out for all this walking; can I ride on your back when you get bigger?" Patrick said jokingly to Nidoran who had already claimed the large pad on the floor. The small pink Pokémon cocked its head in confusion before going back to dozing.

With a quiet moment to himself, Patrick finally realized how he smelled and, against the wishes of his sore muscles, forced himself to his feet to shower before going to sleep. The hot water did wonders to wash away the grime of traveling as well as relax his aching muscles.

Patrick exited the bathroom accompanied by a puff of steam from the confined space. Nidoran was fast asleep on the pad and Bug was on the wall next to a power outlet, trying to chew through the plastic casing.

"Wait, Bug! I'll get that!" Patrick cried, running over to the small bug Pokémon before it could damage anything. Taking out a small screwdriver in his pack that was specifically for this purpose, Patrick quickly unscrewed the plastic cover exposing the wires in the wall.

With a squeak of thanks, Bug crawled into the opening and latched onto the biggest wire it could find. The hairs on its back started glowing as it began absorbing the electricity flowing through the wire.

With his two Pokémon satisfied, Patrick also decided to go to sleep. Turning off the overhead light and getting into bed he quickly fell asleep. Unbothered by the soft yellow glow of the Joltik nightlight sticking out of the outlet.

0000

Sleeping well past sunrise, Patrick barely made it downstairs before the café stopped serving breakfast. Sleepily he waved to the pink-haired nurse at the counter in the center of the room. He had gone to sleep quite early the night before but the journey from Pallet had sapped most of his energy and he overslept. If two days on the road made him this tired, he was worried about the week or so travel it would take to get to Pewter.

Patrick ordered food for himself and a bowl of kibble for Nidoran from a young woman with dyed blue hair at the café and sat down at one of the comfortable seats and low tables that occupied the left side of the Pokécenter.

Flipping open his Pokédex, he located the map of Viridian that had been downloaded onto his device. Each city and major route had been cataloged and added to the device which allowed easier navigation for trainers in unfamiliar territory. The maps weren't updated frequently though and towns that were growing quickly often found the maps useless and dated. Landmarks like the Viridian Gym, however, were quite stationary and were accurately represented on the Pokédex map. Since the same kind of people who would use a Pokémon Gym would also use a Pokécenter the two buildings were built quite close together for convenience.

Patrick quickly finished his meal and as soon as Nidoran was done his last kibble the two headed out to find the gym.

0000

Viridian had been a small town for years and had grown organically over a long period with little city planning. Besides the wide straight roads leading to the North, West, and South gates, the rest of the city was a mass of winding streets and narrow alleys that could quickly disorientate a visitor. The locals found the streets had a certain charm to them and any projects to demolish neighborhoods and rebuild them in a grid layout were quickly shot down.

Patrick and Nidoran were able to navigate the more crowded streets quite easily with Nidoran being so small and agile. Each town and city had slightly different rules as to which Pokémon were allowed out of their pokéballs within city limits. They had already passed several locals and trainers who had various Pokémon following them, including a Pikachu, a Ninetails, and a Bellsprout. The rule of thumb to follow was that the Pokémon couldn't be bigger than human-sized and couldn't pose as a threat or nuisance. Any fire Pokémon that had open flames were to be kept in their Pokéball and the Grimer and Koffing lines were strictly banned from all cities.

The winding street that Patrick was currently walking down was barely a dozen feet wide and lined with Pokémon and trainer specialty stores. It was the most direct way from the Pokécenter to the Gym and the locals knew and took advantage of, that fact. Everywhere Patrick looked he was being advertised to. One store was advertising organic, non-GMO Pokétreats and battle items for Pokémon. Another advertised lightweight tents, thermal sleeping bags, and multi-tools that 'every trainer should own'. The crowds were quite thin here, as there weren't as many trainers looking to buy such items as there used to be.

Patrick was admiring a large church he was walking by when he noticed the sign 'Viridian Gym' above the entrance and stopped in his tracks. The structure he had assumed was a church that looked more like a gothic cathedral than a Pokémon gym. Made entirely of grey stone, it had dozens of tall pillars around the perimeter that supported the steeply slopping grey roof almost 60 feet above them. Tall stained-glass windows ran in rows along the great stone walls, each window depicting a different scene of Pokémon in battle or at play.

A pair of dark wood doors almost ten feet tall was posited at the base of the huge structure. The wood of the doors was old and thick and a pair of iron door knockers adorned the center of each door, each depicting a Rhydon's head protruding through the wood, an iron ring hung from each mouth.

A fountain sat in the middle of the courtyard that separated the narrow street from the imposing structure. In the center stood a Blastoise carved from a white stone with its two shoulder cannons aimed at the sky.

As Patrick admired the sharp angles and deep recesses that gave the building its depth, he began to notice signs of disrepair.

The fountain directly in front of him had no water in it and the Blastoise's cannons which were obviously water sources did not spray water as they should have. There were even dead leaves lying at the bottom of the dry fountain. From his angle on the street, Patrick could see that several shingles had fallen from the roof, leaving an off-colored brown patch in the otherwise uniform grey. Even one of the beautiful stained-glass windows was boarded up, presumably broken earlier and never repaired.

Patrick walked around the fountain and up the worn stone steps to the imposing front doors. He gingerly reached out to grab one of the heavy rings, as if the iron Rhydon would spring to life. Grasping the cool metal, he hit the iron to wood with a solid 'thunk'.

Patrick stood quietly, listening to the thunk echo behind the doors in what must have been a truly cavernous interior. Several moments later the left doors slowly creaked open and a young woman appeared in the small gap.

"Good morning, can I help you?" She asked uncertainly, looking around to see if there was anyone else behind Patrick.

"Hi, is the gym open? I'd like to get a membership." Patrick replied, motioning to his Pokéballs and the small pink rodent behind him.

"Oh, a trainer! How wonderful! Come in!" The woman said, brightening up immediately. "I thought you might be from the bank! They have been giving us some trouble lately! Oh my, you are so cute!" Squatting down and scratching Nidoran under the chin.

The pink Pokémon in question wasn't sure whether to be indignant about being called 'cute' or just appreciate the neck scratches. He eventually chose the latter.

Stepping inside, the gym was enormous. Stone pillars ran in rows down the length of the interior. Each pillar adorned with ornate iron sconces that held flickering torches lighting the interior with a soft orange glow. Above the trainer's heads, multi-colored light streamed through the stained-glass windows and mixed with the orange glow of the flames. Huge unlit black iron chandeliers hung in regular intervals along the length of the room.

In the center of the room was a large square slab of concrete sitting on top of the gym's stone floors. A pillar marked each corner of the slab and chains hung loosely between them, forming a closed-off arena.

As Patrick's eyes started to adjust to the darkened interior, he noticed pieces of training equipment, for both humans and Pokémon, situated throughout the room. Several closed doors lined the walls of the left and right walls. The woman closed the door behind them and a boom echoed throughout the space.

She was wearing the same dark green uniform that the guard at the gate had been wearing the day before. Consisting of cargo pants, a long sleeve top, and a black flak jacket, both made of the same tough material. A green feather logo was stitched into the fabric on her chest.

"Welcome to the Viridian Gym! My name is Kelly and I'm one of the trainers that work here. What can we do for you today?" Kelly asked cheerfully.

"I originally came to test for a badge but was told at the gate that there was no gym leader here to invigilate a test. So, I'd like to train here and prepare to go through the viridian forest." Patrick responded. Kelly turned noticeably upset at the mention of the old gym leader.

"Cole… He just disappeared without a trace." There was an awkward pause as Kelly was lost in thought. Suddenly realizing that Patrick was still there she tried to brighten up. "But you don't want to hear about that. As for training, we don't have regularly scheduled group classes like we used to but you can sign up for privates with most of the trainers here depending on availability. We offer…" Kelly rattled off a list of topics, most of which Patrick could figure out by name but some were just bizarre. Pokémon vs Pokemon, Special Attack Tactics, and Aerial Combat all made sense but what on earth was EV training? "Does any of that interest you?" She finished.

"Um… I have had Nidoran for 8 days and we need to get through Viridian Forest alive. What do you recommend?" Patrick asked sheepishly.

"Rent a Pidgeot and fly over…" Kelly deadpanned, not sure whether the request was a joke or not. When Patrick didn't clarify she continued. "But if you can't do that, you'll want Pokemon vs Pokemon, Back Country Conditioning, First Aid if you don't know that, and Woodland Combat. I can also show you which articles you'll need to be familiar with on your Pokédex. A couple of hours a day for training and you should be ready in… 2 months? Maybe 3 months?"

"What!? Just to get through the forest? But there is a path you can follow! The Pokédex says it's a Moderate threat level." Patrick said, his entire timeline completely thrown off by Kelly's statement.

"Yeah, there is a path. And it's literally crawling with Bug Pokémon. Your Nidoran can probably beat up a few Caterpie and Weedle no problem. But it'll need to beat back dozens, if not hundreds, to get through. And if you meet any evolved Pokémon you are as good as dead. A Beedrill will gut you with its stinger and lay eggs in your corpse. In two months, you should be experienced enough to survive… Probably" Kelly added. "Did you think you could just train for a few days and stroll through?"

"I… I guess I don't have a choice. When can I start?" Patrick said, accepting the new reality that he would be in Viridian longer than expected.

"Right now." A gruff voice said as a man detached himself from the shadow of a pillar. Patrick jumped at the sudden appearance of another person and Nidoran spun and hissed. "You both will need to be more observant if you want to survive the forest. Pokémon vs Pokémon begins now!"

"You're the guy from yesterday!" Patrick realized, recognizing the guard from the gate the day before. The older man had already unclipped a pokéball and tossed it, releasing a Pokémon in a flash of white light.

A mole-like Pokémon materialized in the space the pokéball had been. It stood roughly three feet tall but was hunched forward, a thick layer of brown spikes covered its entire back. The rest of its body was covered in tough yellow scales and at the end of each arm and leg were two sharp claws. Its entirely black eyes glanced around at the trainers present before locking onto the Nidoran, who was nervously watching the new Pokémon.

"Sandslash, let's see what they can do!" The man said, grinning at the nervous trainer and now terrified Nidoran. With a grunt of acknowledgment, the larger yellow Pokémon broke into a slow run towards Nidoran. Kelly already knew what was happening and quickly stepped back to give the two Pokémon more space. Patrick was less prepared and just stared as the prickly Pokémon bared down on his own smaller, nearly as prickly Pokémon.

Nidoran glanced at Patrick looking for a command but when no command came it quickly went on the defense. Ducking under the first slow swipe from the larger Pokémon, Nidoran used its powerful back legs to spring away and give itself more distance.

With a graceful spin, the Sandslash pivoted and closed the distance between the two quickly. This time going in for a tackle. Nidoran sprung to the side to avoid it again but the Sandslash was too close and launched itself to the side as well, its shoulder connecting heavily with the smaller Pokémon's torso. Nidoran rolled several times before coming to a stop and shakily getting back to its feet.

"Are you going to help Nidoran out?" Kelly asked, leaning over Patrick's shoulder.

"Um, yeah. Right, I should!" Patrick said, snapping out of his trance. "Nidoran! Spray a poison sting when the Sandslash gets close!"

Nidoran gave a quick nod before squaring off against the large yellow rodent that was once again advancing. Trainer and Pokémon failed to notice the guard chuckle at the command.

When the Sandslash was within firing distance, Nidoran lowers its head and raised its back, the poisonous spikes on its back trembling. With a growl, it shook its back and small white needles shot out toward the other Pokémon. The small poisonous darts struck the Sandslash all over its torso and arms, however rather than pierce the skin, they shattered against its tough yellow hide. Undeterred by the assault, Sandslash strode threw the attack and backhanded the small Pokémon across the floor.

"Sandslash is a ground type and is covered in thick scales. A weak poison attack like that won't do anything." Kelly commented, still leaning over Patrick's shoulder. "Also, try not to let your opponent hear your commands." She added after a second.

"Thanks for the tips," Patrick grumbled, upset that the poison sting hadn't worked. Nidoran had finally gotten back to its feet. A purple bruise starting to show against its pink skin. "Nidoran dodge the next attack and run over here!"

Nidoran, Sandslash, and the Guard all looked quizzically at the odd command. Sandslash refocused on its tiny opponent and threw a slow swipe, purposely allowing Nidoran to duck under and retreat to his trainer.

When Nidoran got closer to Patrick, he squatted down and quickly and quietly gave Nidoran a list of instructions. Nidoran gave small nods and squeaks after each sentence to show it understood. The Sandslash stood back, arms crossed, and waited for its inexperienced opponent to rejoin the fight, foot tapping impatiently.

"Let's do it!" Patrick shouted, standing back up. Nidoran bounded over and rejoined the fight.

Nidoran stopped several body lengths from the Sandslash and showered the yellow Pokémon with Poison Stings. Once again, the small white darts shattered against the other Pokémon's hide. With a sigh at the failed attack, the yellow Pokémon ran through the hail and swiped at the small Pokémon. Prepared for the attack, Nidoran bounded to the side before the yellow Pokémon could attack. This pattern continued over and over again as the two Pokémon darted across the room. Nidoran would fire a hail of poison stings and the Sandslash would stride through, but be unable to attack before Nidoran bounded away.

After one particularly strong poison sting, Nidoran bounded away and stumbled upon landing. Its stamina finally starting to fail. Breathing heavily, it turned to see the unstoppable yellow Pokémon bearing down once again. Nidoran tried to back away but felt one of the great stone pillars stopping it from moving. The yellow Pokémon was almost upon it and raised its clawed hand to smack the pink Pokémon across the floor. Just before the spiked Pokémon struck Nidoran's heavy breathing stopped, it tensed its leg muscles and shot straight up into the air. At the apex of its jump, nearly 6 feet in the air, it placed its feet on the huge pillar and shot off horizontally way past the yellow Pokémon below it and skidded to a halt far from its opponent.

The yellow Pokémon had over-committed to its attack and its claw struck the stone pillar squarely, chipping the rock. Rubbing its injured paw, the yellow Pokémon turned to see its opponent rocketing towards it. Taking a step back to prepare for the assault, the Sandslash felt the cold stone pressing back into its spines. Launching into the air, Nidoran spun and lashed out with two powerful kicks right into the stomach of the larger Pokémon.

The air was blasted out of the bigger Pokémon's lungs and it fell to one knee, winded. Nidoran backed away to create distance again and then glanced over at Patrick, pride evident on its face. Patrick gave the small Pokémon a smile and a thumbs up in congratulations.

Getting back to its feet, the Sandslash growled and spreads its arms wide. Long sharp claws glittered in the light and the spines on its back stuck straight up, almost doubling its size. Nidoran gulped at the intimidating Pokémon, preparing for an attack. A slow clap filled the large space and stopped both Pokémon from advancing.

"Creative! Very well done!" The Guard said, clapping and grinning. "Using the environment to your advantage against stronger opponents is Pokémon vs Pokémon 101! How long did you say you've been working together?"

"8 days…" Patrick responded.

"Impressive, I would have guessed 8 weeks. Nidoran's movements were sloppy, dodges were slow and its offense was nothing to speak of. But you were creative and you worked well together. So, we aren't starting from nothing." The Guard said, giving his critique of the fight.

"Um… Thank you?" Patrick said, not sure whether to feel complimented or insulted.

"Now when you fight against a Pokémon like Sandslash, you'll want to…"

The lesson began and the guard, who Patrick was later told was named Jason, painstakingly went over every mistake Patrick and Nidoran had made during the battle. They then simulated different battles from different positions and the ideal counters to each situation. Like when Nidoran is backed into a corner or knocked on its back or blinded. Jason reminded them that as a primarily physical attacker, creating distance was a viable strategy against Sandslash. But if it had been a Ninetails or Magnemite, then close combat was necessary to prevent the Pokémon from releasing long-ranged special attacks.

The lesson went for well over two hours before Jason finally allowed the Nidoran to rest. By then, its body was trembling with exhaustion and it could barely perform the attacks and counters asked of it. Patrick's mind was equally fried as he tried to remember counters to each situation and then the counters to those counters and the counters to the counters to the counters, and so on. Learning from Jason was like trying to drink water out of a fire hose, you got some but not everything.

"And done!" Jason said as Nidoran performed its final counter to a vertical swipe from Sandslash.

With a squeak of relief, Nidoran collapsed onto the ground and took huge gasping breaths as it tried to recover. Patrick walked over gently rubbed his exhausted Pokémon's side and offered encouragement and praise. Digging a bowl out of his pack, Patrick quickly filled it with water and allowed Nidoran to guzzle down the liquid.

Sandslash was barely affected by the demanding workout it had taken part in with Nidoran and calmly walked over to Jason, who gave it a scratch behind its ears.

Jason gave one final round of tips to remember before officially ending the class. As he ended it Takashi strode forward. Takashi had appeared half an hour earlier and had watched the latter part of the practice with interest and spoke quietly with Kelly. He was dressed in a white Gi worn by martial artists and had the same green feather emblem stitched across the chest.

"My turn, Back Country Conditioning is about to begin!" Takashi announced with a grin "And we will start with a fitness test." Nidoran let out a defeated sigh upon hearing this and struggled to get to his feet.

"I'm not sure if Nidoran can handle any more training today," Patrick said, looking uncertainly at his exhausted Pokémon.

"I'm not talking to Nidoran! Come with me, you are about to do a mile for time." Takashi said, striding over to the other side of the huge gym. With a startled 'oh' Patrick quickly followed Takashi.

The perimeter of the gym had a painted white line that served as a track for trainers and Pokémon to run. The entire loop was exactly 200 meters, so Patrick had to run it 8 times to complete his mile for time. At one point during the 4th lap, Takashi had decided that Patrick wasn't running fast enough and released his Graveler to perform a slow rollout attack behind Patrick. The second half of the run was significantly faster than the first.

After the run, Patrick was barely given a chance to catch his breath before he was put through a grueling gauntlet of other physical tests. Pushups, sit-ups, scaling walls, dodging projectiles, balancing on wooden poles, short sprints, long runs, and even some light sparing. Patrick had every physical quality tested to its limit as Takashi thoughtfully scored his progress and made notes on his clipboard.

Finally, Takashi called an end to the test and went over the results with Patrick. According to his notes, Patrick was entirely average with no exceptional strengths or weaknesses… and that was completely unacceptable. Trainers had to train just as hard as their Pokémon, both physically and mentally, as Takashi saw it.

Takashi had seen Nidoran in combat and had deemed his fitness level acceptable, so for the next few weeks, Patrick was going to be the target of his training sessions. Patrick was given leave for a late lunch and told to return to the gym late in the afternoon for Woodland Combat.

Blinking as he left the gym, Patrick stepped into the bright afternoon sunshine. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened, as he never officially agreed to any of the classes Kelly had recommended to him but nevertheless, he seemed to have a full schedule now. Wandering down the street, the exhausted Trainer and Pokémon went on the search for food.