Route 3

Brock told me that because I had earned the Boulderbadge, I could sign up to receive training from him.

"It seems that you're very skilled as a trainer already," he said. "But I could still offer some insights."

So I came back the day after and Brock showed me some skills and training exercises my Pokemon could do to increase defensive techniques. It was invaluable knowledge. By the end it seemed even my little guys could take some rough tackles, but most importantly, my main fighting group was tankier than before. Halfway through the training my Weedle evolved into Kakuna, and together with Metapod, served nicely as punching bags (don't worry, I kept an eye on them so they weren't being too abused).

There was still plenty of daylight after training with Brock, so I grabbed all my stuff, got my team in tip top shape, and started for Route 3. On the way, I went to the local Pokemart and got a bunch of empty Pokeballs. I also had the foresight to grab an additional bag for all these extra Pokeballs. I was going to catch a lot of new Pokemon.

The Pokemart, like the Pokemon Center, was a fun place to browse because there were so many merchandise that were unique to this world, and I had never seen them before. There was a lot of Pokemon food, medicine, and accessories. People enjoyed dressing up their Pokemon with clothes or pins, etc. There were also Pokemon toothbrushes, wet wipes, and other things that one might associate with pets and livestock. It really confirmed the idea that they were living, breathing beings that I needed to take care of.

The Pokemart was also a place for people stuff. They had magazines on Pokemon trivia, training tips, and latest Pokemon League news. Every monthly issue also published names of trainers who earned which badges as well. Some articles of clothing, the most notable of which was a magnetic belt that held Pokeballs quite securely. I purchased one to more conveniently access my Pokemon. There was also camping gear, and I grabbed a good flashlight for the upcoming Mt. Moon trip.

Snacks and ready-to-eat meal packages were the best at the local Pokemart. It had a whole array of different types of food, all quite delicious and easy to prepare (usually by adding boiling water, which was easy to take care of with Squirtle and Charmander).

"Is there anything else we could get for you?" The store cashier asked.

"Oh yes," I remembered. "Do you guys have earplugs for people? ...And for Pokemon?"

Thusly prepared for the next leg of the journey, I set out to Route 3, which, I judged, would take about 3 hours to hike all the way through, and possibly more if I took my time to battle and catch new Pokemon.

On the route I felt that the trainers were significantly better than those I faced by the Pewter City Gym, and I think this was likely a result of these trainers being the ones who have also beaten Brock, or at least his coaches. For those who haven't even beaten the coach, they usually stuck in town to get stronger before being out on the official routes.

Most of these trainers were polite and gracious in their defeat. There was a particularly mean girl, though, who just wouldn't handle it.

"YOU CHEATED!" She yelled.

I'm not even sure how I could have cheated having my Pidgey destroy her Rattata with one gust move.

"You're so weak!" Now she turned to her Rattata, quivering in fear of her. "You're useless!"

She started kicking dirt at her Rattata. Nasty little brat, this girl.

I did tell her to stop and advised her to treat her Pokemon with kindness, but unfortunately, I could not get her to change her ways. This was just one of the realities of this world.

One particularly good trainer had a Zubat that used supersonic rays on Charmander, who was not entirely "confused," but got disoriented due to his advanced sense of hearing. It was a good thing that Zubat was too weak to follow up with a finishing move.

"Wow, tough Charmander!" the big bearded guy said, after the fight. "That move knocked out all the other Pokemon!"

He was a nice teddy bear of a man who marked down on my interior map of Mt. Moon where he caught his Zubat. I later caught one there.

Route 3 offered species of Pokemon that I hadn't seen in Viridian and Pewter. It gave me and my Pokemon opportunities to create new strategies. Spearow and Mankey were two especially aggressive Pokemon that came after me. Or the food in my backpack, rather. I caught one each after knocking them out with Squirtle. He was getting better with conserving water within his body, and his water gun was becoming stronger. Once I had caught them, they were both obedient and subdued.

Once, walking along Route 3, I caught up to my Rattata that I told to walk ahead of me. He was unhurt, but was knocked out on the ground. Something had put it to sleep.

I quickly reached into my pocket for earplugs and plugged my ears. I also put Rattata back into his Pokeball and brought out Bulbasaur, who already had his earplugs in.

The Jigglypuff was just chilling behind a bunch of bushes. I must've made more noise than I wanted, because my efforts to sneak behind her didn't work. She immediately turned towards me and Bulbasaur and started to sing. The effect was powerful, even with the earplugs on. You just feel this invisible force that presses down on your mind and body, trying to get it to sleep.

Good thing I had one Nidoran bite my ankle and the other bite Bulbasaur's (then they fell asleep). The pain kept me and Bulbasaur awake long enough for the vine whip to connect with the Jigglypuff. The constriction of the vines around her body made it impossible for her to sing any more. A couple of slams on the ground, and she was easily caught.

And finally I ran into a small Pikachu. She was smaller than average (according to my Pokedex), so I was thinking maybe I would pass on her for a bigger one I saw next. Then the Pikachu used thundershock and I changed my mind.

You don't see the electric wave as much as feel it in the air. It was hard to believe the power that came out of this little Pikachu. She was a fiesty one that put up a fight. She stood her ground and kept on sending out electric moves even as she started growing tired. She kept on growling. I considered using Charmander or Bulbasaur, but I decided to take a different approach. Jigglypuff was more than happy to sing her heart out and the Pikachu fell asleep.

I battled half a dozen more trainers the rest of the way and picked up some more tips, items, and money.

It was with this growing team and wealth I finally reached the Pokemon Center at the base of Mt. Moon entrance and got a room to rest up for the night.