Andrew walked a bit out of town before releasing Ekans. She hissed slightly eliciting a chuckle from the boy.
"Okay Ekans first order of business before we head out for good. Do you want a name?" Amber eyes peered at him with confusion.
"Being a member of us, as a team, gives you individuality. I want something that differentiates not only you but me from other trainers. I'm not planning on catching every Pokémon out there. In fact, at most I plan on catching 12 if not 14 Pokémon here in Kanto. All of them will be our own little family or pack in some cases. I want us to be a tight knit group and by having a name gives not only power but recognition to that fact among all of you. What do you say?"
She let out a trill in approval which he grinned at. "Okay so I've been thinking of a few names. Kaa? Nagini. Medusa. Nala. Ivy?"
Ekans shook her head at most but she did ponder for a second on the second to last name. "What about Eve?" Her tail rattled as she hissed at that one.
"Alright Eve it is. Come on walk with me while I tell you what I have planned for training." She hissed but instead of following his words, she slithered up his body and curled around his torso while resting her head near his neck making him roll his eyes in amusement.
"First I want to go over something with you. Weaknesses to other Pokémon types. Pokémon that are Psychic and Ground types are your worst nightmare right now and the first gym is Ground focused."
Eve tensed slightly at his words before nodding in understanding. "Your species only has three ways of combating the two, and two of them are only capable after you evolve into an Arbok. But for now, let's focus on strengths and how we can use those against your weaknesses. See that boulder over there? Go use Poison Tail on it."
Nodding, Eve slithered off of him and sped towards the rock. Her tail glowed violet with energy and slammed it into the rock. "Now use wrap on that tree over there." He said pointing to a relatively thin tree.
She was confused but complied. Wrapping her body around the tree she squeezed breaking the bark beneath her scales.
Andrew nodded in approval. "Okay now come over here so I can show you what I mean. Now looking where you used Poison Tail, you managed to scuff up the rock rather well. Not enough to shatter it yet but it's a great start. Then that tree you wrapped around? You damaged it just as well. As an Ekans and Arbok your whole body is literally strong in dealing damage, not taking it because your whole body is pure muscle. Even your mouth is too. When you evolve, your fangs get bigger and sharper allows you to use coat them in Ice, Fire and Electric and in your current form, you'll learn to harness Dark energy which will help fight off the Psychic types you are weak to while the Ice in your will help fight off ground types."
Eve rattled her tail in excitement making him chuckle. "The problem right now though, is that as an Ekans you don't have access to those moves right now. But there is a way around that! There are two moves just like Poison Tail that I plan on you learning which can both be used against Ground types. They are called Iron Tail and Aqua Tail. One makes your tail as strong as steel while whittling away at a Pokémon's natural defenses while the other is a powerful elemental strike. Those will be our main focus for now, but I have plans on also increasing your poison levels to be able to use Acid and Acid Spray."
The snake Pokémon looked at him in alarm at the workload he was laying out before her, but he held up his hands in a placating matter. "I know it sounds like a lot but that's all in the future. For now, I mostly want you to focus on your tail moves when we start training on Route 22. In the meantime, I'd like you travel beside me. It'll help your stamina, endurance and speed in doing so. Stop me when you're getting too tired, but with my plans you'll be the strongest Ekans this world would know before you even become an Arbok."
Eve shot up straight nodding quickly as she uncoiled herself and was prone to the ground once more. Andrew slowly started to walk along Route 1, Eve slithering next to him. Every so now and then, Eve would stop and simply rest in the middle of the path. Andrew had immediately stopped on the first one and turned to face him, but she had flicked her tail in a 'go hither' motion.
A few moments later, Eve sped forward with ferocious speed. She did it repeatedly, seemingly to not get tired.
Andrew almost stopped her before grinning softly. The little snake had no idea they still had around four hours left of travel before they would arrive at Viridian City.
He stopped only once, eyes catching a glimmer of blue berries. Walking over, he pulled his backpack off and grabbed his berry box. Eve curled up next to him, head tilted but eyes hungry.
Tossing her an oran berry, he got to work. Of course, he had brought food, but there was no way to carry a month's worth of food for some of the longer routes. So, he brought basics and also collected berries whenever possible, as they were edible to every living Pokémon and human. It didn't take much to fill up and mashing them together in a paste and letting it harden overnight created perfect bars for munching on over a long day. Soon he had plucked all but five berries, leaving the rest for wild Pokémon. The box wasn't even a quarter full but Andrew still hitched it on the back of his bag to prevent from squishing them.
Eve slithered forward and stole another berry from the bush.
They continued their trek for a couple of minutes until they heard a loud shriek. Both Startled at the noise and turned to see a Rattata scurrying away fearfully from a Spearow that was divebombing it.
Rattata began using Quick Attack to evade the predator, but the tiny bird was apparently waiting for that. With a flap of its wing, the dark energy of Pursuit came out and collided with the mouse like Pokémon cancelling the move as it shrieked in pain.
Not wasting a moment, Spearow lunged at the downed mouse and clamped onto its struggling body with its talons. Fangs began glowing as the rodent flailed its head to bite at the talons but because of its positioning it couldn't reach it's intended target.
In retaliation Spearow's beak turned white and lunged at the mouse's neck. Blood shot out staining the purple fur and the beak which punctured it. Rattata's body twitched a bit in its death throes as its red eyes slowly turned lifeless.
Spearow removed its beak and stared at it's prey a bit as if expecting it to still move. After a few seconds of waiting it began to eat.
Andrew grimaced as he watched the sight. It had not been the first time he has watched a Pokémon eat another Pokémon since was part of the lessons that Samuel taught him. He was used to seeing them in a child friendly show where they were mostly benevolent creatures. While he did understand the course of nature, it was hard to actually witness it in person.
"Alright I think we've seen enough. C'mon Eve let's go." Andrew whispered. Much to his surprise she wasn't next to him anymore.
Alarmed he searched the area and caught a glimpse of white scales through the brush eliciting a hiss of frustration from Andrew.
"Damn it." He decided to stay silent to see what his Pokémon would do and if the Spearow would notice.
Fortunately, the flying type did not hear nor see Eve as she positioned herself behind the unaware bird and coiled up.
Seeing this as an opportune moment Andrew took advantage of the situation. "Poison Sting then Wrap!"
His sudden shout startled the avian which then let loose a cry of pain as multiple pink needles shot out of the brush into it's unprotected back.
Brown eyes narrowed as it let out a shriek and went airborne to avoid the lunging snake. Much to his surprise he noticed that Spearow's face had a darkened hue to it signifying that it was poisoned.
A grin formed onto his face as Spearow growled at Eve making her stiffen as the moves effect took hold. "Counter it with Leer and follow up with Poison Tail."
Eve's amber eyes glowed red which to Andrew looked pretty menacing. In response, Spearow's beak glowed, albeit with a weaker hue to it then before and lunged as the rattlesnake Pokémon. Eve attempted to dodge but got nicked by the beak.
Hissing in fury Eve's tail turned purple and retaliated with a blow to the Spearow's head making it squawk as it got a little disoriented.
Noticing this Andrew capitulated on the weakness. "Wrap it!"
With practiced ease, Eve coiled around the tiny bird Pokémon and held it tightly within her body and squeezed. It exhaled sharply in pain as it tried to fight its way out of Eve's grip.
"Use Leer while you're wrapping it!" Andrew ordered with narrowed eyes.
Amber eyes turned red once more making the Spearos sag a bit as it's energy depleted not just from the decreased defense, but from the constant pressure of Eve's body crushing it along with the poison attacking it internally.
Using the last bit of it's energy, Spearow's beak glowed once more and tried attacking furiously with Fury Attack. A few landed scuffing the scales making her hiss in pain but she did not relent as her hold on it got even stronger.
Eventually the energy held on the beak petered out and the avian Pokémon went limp as it fell unconscious. Seeing that the battle was finished, she released the unresponsive bird.
Andrew nodded happily at the results as he walked up and rubbed the Ekans' head. "Good job Eve. It was a bit slow, but we got the job done. Next time you want to battle at least let me know before disappearing on me."
She nodded with a breathy hiss and slithered right back to him. Taking note of the wounds from the Fury Attack and from the Peck. Fishing through his bag, he grabbed a Potion and applied it to the wounds making her wince and hiss in pain from the application.
"That should tide you over till we get to Viridian city. You think you're good to continue walking?" Nodding Eve quickly took the lead once more as they continued their trek.
As they walked Eve decided she wanted to battle a few more times. She took on a Rattata without much help needed from Andrew one time. A lone Oddish which Andrew thought was a bit out of place here on Route 1 but went through with it without much hassle either.
It was the last battle that really pushed the pair. There was a Pidgeotto that attacked the pair out of nowhere and scored a nasty bruise on Eve's back. It would keep it's distance using Gust and use Sand attack to blind Eve and would attack with either a Tackle or Quick Attack.
If it wasn't for the trust Eve had in Andrew's commands, she would have not scored a hit with Poison Tail on the Bird Pokémon. The fight would have gone on for longer but the Pidgeotto probably decided that it wasn't worth the effort anymore and flew off much to their relief.
After using a bit more of the Potion, the two find themselves further on the path. Eve was still going strong as she still wanted to stay out of her ball but watching her struggle one last time and Andrew stopped.
"You were doing great but don't overwork yourself. Here." he said, offering an oran berry. That would heal his Pokémon from some of her exhaustion and pain, enough to last him through the hour and a half they had left until they got to Viridian City.
Eve snatched it up, eating it faster than anything else. Andrew carefully picked up the Pokémon, guessing her to be about twenty-five pounds. Eve willing latched onto his torso, tail curling around his waist and head on his shoulder.
"Eventually you're going back in your Pokeball, you got me?" He threatened, though by the skeptical look Eve shot him, the Pokémon didn't believe him at all.
And it was true. He needed to train himself to travel long distances as well, and the combined weight of his backpack and Eve would help him get there as well.
So, they started walking again, and Andrew started to talk to Eve. Meaningless stuff at first, just empty babble about what he knew about Pokémon. But then it dissolved into his plans for the adventure and the Pokémon he wanted to capture.
There weren't many. Every kid wanted a Dragonite and he was no different, but there were more he was interested in. While he did say he wouldn't specialize, Andrew did say he would not pass up the chance to catch another Pokémon with the same type.
Unlike other trainers who would like the rarer species of Kanto, he was fine with the more uncommon species such as Vulpix, Staryu, Onix, Magnemite and some common like Magikarp, Bellsprout and Geodude.
Eve listened to it all, making soft, trilling laughs when he admitted more private things about his home prior to this and some of the silly things that happened between him and his siblings.
But finally, just as the sun began to sink below the horizon of trees, Andrew caught sight of Viridian City at the end of the route. Eve perked up as Andrew began to trot the rest of the way, stumbling through the front gates.
The town was quiet at night, but people still buzzed and hummed as they walked around, chatting happily. Eve hissed happily, twitching her rattle.
But even as they started to move, a rather tired looking Officer Jenny appeared in front of them. Andrew jolted, Eve hissing angrily in his ear.
"Hold on, you. Do you-" she stifled a yawn "-have any reason why this… Ekans isn't in its Pokeball?" She asked after taking a good look at the off-colored snake.
"Yeah, I was training with her, but she got tired and I still wanted to talk to her about our plans." He answered calmly.
"May I see its Pokeball?"
Once prompted, he grabbed the one Pokeball on the left side of his belt, lifting into the air. With his other hand, he grabbed his Pokedex. "And here's my identification."
She peered at it for a second, narrowing her eyes. And then she leaned back and stretched, blue hair curling around her shoulder. "All right. You're free to go. I was just checking."
Andrew started to walk away, Eve hissing furiously and rattling her tail warningly at her back making the boy roll his eyes in exasperation.
He continued his trek towards the Pokémon Center, panting harshly as Eve's weight finally started to hit him. But he pushed open the doors emboldened with the Pokeball symbol, walking quickly into the room.
Nurse Joy, pink locks bouncing, looked up at him and smiled. Her lips quirked at Eve sleepily yawning on his shoulder, but Ash trotted up toward her and she greeted him warmly. "Hello! Welcome to the Pokémon Center. How may I help?"
"Do you think you could heal my Pokémon? We got into a few battles on the way here and is just a little exhausted after some training. I did apply some Potion but I'm no trained professional."
She nodded. "I see. I'll take a look then. But you may want to recall her first. Is she alright though, that skin tone is not natural for Ekans. Nurse Joy asked a bit worriedly."
He blinked in confusion briefly before his eyes widened in realization which made him chuckle. "Oh no its actually fine. See Eve here was born like this. It's a rare genetic mutation in the skin. Almost like how Pokémon can be shiny. Instead of altering and brightening their skin, this rare mutation removes the pigmentation in the skin. Professor Oak calls them albino Pokémon though Eve here was the first recognized case which Professor Ivy also confirmed."
A few trainers who were milling around listened with interest while the Pokémon nurse stared at the Ekans with renewed interest. "I see."
Andrew held up the Pokeball. Eve rattled her tail once before Andrew pressed the button, turning her into red mist.
He snapped up straight, Eve's weight disappearing from him. A breath hissed from between his clenched teeth.
Nurse Joy laughed and extended her hand, and he offered his Pokeball. She took it, holding it up to a scanner on some machine next to her counter. There was a beep and then she looked at the results.
"I should have your Ekans out in only ten minutes, Andrew."
He waved it off before she said any more and nodded in understanding before wandering off. Seeing as he had some time, he decided to check out the Pokemart in the Center. It was rather small, mainly filled with every type of medicine known to mankind. But there was also a short aisle that was filled with circular disks.
Curiosity took over and looked over what discs were on display. He noticed that there was a decent assortment, but nothing really stood out to him at the moment. Since he only has Eve now, there was no real reason to grab a reusable one just yet until he gets more Pokémon.
That was another thing that was different in this world. TM's. Believe it or not one does not truly need a TM to learn the move. They can be taught like tutor moves but are far more difficult unless you have another Pokémon who knows the move, or you invest in a lot of time studying then trying to teach the Pokémon itself. TMs on the other hand were created to implant the basics of whatever move was being taught.
Originally way back in the day when they had Psychic Pokémon extract the knowledge, it would work only once for one Pokémon. Nowadays with the help of the Porygon species, they made it reusable. Both versions still exist only because of the idea for marketing purposes. Reusables are always more expensive than their single use counterparts.
Now while he did have the money to purchase one, probably two with the money he received from working for the professor as well as starting money from Lance, there was no reason to at the moment.
"Looks like I'll be heading to route 22 sooner rather than later." He mused thoughtfully.
He then turned to stare over the room of trainers. There were only a few, the rest either having left or gone up to their rooms. Maybe six, including one bright-eyed boy that couldn't have been any older then ten. Probably had gotten his starter in this town and was coming to the Pokémon Center after a day of battling, preparing to set out his journey. He probably only had his starter.
And then Nurse Joy's voice echoed across the room. "Andrew Sandler, please take your Pokémon!"
He trotted dutifully over to her, smiling wide. She handed over Eve's Pokeball, smiling back. "Take good care of her Andrew. She seemed restless even through the Pokeball."
A breathy chuckle escaped his lips. "Yeah, she usually is."
She smiled and he left, holding the ball tight in his hand. It wasn't that late, but it was too late for anyone to start traveling anywhere.
Looking at the trainer he was eyeing before, made him smirk. Goal in mind, he strode over to the other trainer with a grin making the boy look at him.
"Sup man! Want to battle?"
Andrew grinned, pocketing the rest of the money he had won from the kid. Much to his surprise the kid had a Ledyba of all things. Mind you, it was not a fast won battle. With it knowing Supersonic and swift, Eve was mostly dodging using Leer to whittle its defense while using Poison Sting at a distance which managed to poison the ladybug like Pokémon in the early battle. What led to his victory was when he called for a Tackle, which not only did Eve avoid, but retaliated with a Poison Tail knocking it out.
It hadn't been much money - they were both just starting their journey, after all - but it was enough to get him hopeful. He remembered from the games that tons of Bug specialists liked to stay in Viridian Forest to hunt for the rarer species that may show up along with Johto bugs who migrate during different times of the year.
In all honesty, he wasn't concerned about the majority. It was the minority who actually managed to catch what they wanted that would be a big issue. However, if he played his cards right, with the training he wants to put Eve on will give her an edge.
Eve looked up at him, blinking amber eyes once. There had been several bruises on her body, but Andrew had already taken her in to Nurse Joy, who had quickly fixed him up with one raised eyebrow and a low chuckle.
He shrugged halfheartedly with a small grin but said nothing. He waited till Nurse Joy finished with Eve before releasing her.
"You did great against that Ledyba Eve. It was a good start to see how fast you are against trained Pokémon, but that's something you'll need more than strength or defense. For now we'll get some sleep then head to Route 22 tomorrow. Climb aboard I know you want to."
Eve gave a happy hiss punctuated by a rattle and slithered up Andrew's leg, twining around him once again. Andrew chuckled under his breath and stroked her chin before making his way to his room for the night.
He had gotten a room key for room 6 which was on the first floor. But it was only eight o'clock, and there was still something he needed to do. Shuffling over to the back of the Pokémon Center, he dodged one of the last trainers heading up to their room and sat down at a phone booth. He held his Pokedex up to the scanner, waiting for it to beep brightly. A second later, it lit up with the free setting trainers could use. Quickly dialing a number, he sat back and waited.
It only rang twice before the screen popped up, showing a familiar face.
Delia smiled warmly at him, bright white teeth shining. "Hello, Andrew! Did you make it to Viridian City?"
He nodded, grinning back at her. Delia truly was an amazing woman. Ash should feel lucky that he had such a caring mother.
"How are you doing? Caught any new Pokémon so far?" She laughed loudly as Eve leaned forward, head tilted in confusion. She poked her snout at the screen only for it to stop her before she could reach Delia and hissed uncertainly.
Andrew stroked her neck, feeling a soft rumble under his fingers. "It's fine, girl," he murmured. "No, nothing yet. I was planning on hitting route 22 tomorrow morning to get some training in while scouting for another Pokémon. I plan on training for a few days with just Eve unless I find something to join us and then take on Giovanni."
She frowned uncertainly at that. "Are you sure that's a good idea. Giovanni doesn't hold back much even when against rookie trainers. Not to mention after what was explained-" "Don't worry about it Delia, I've got plans for whatever may occur. Not to mention I plan on letting Lance know prior to my battle. If I start getting targeted by the Rockets immediately after taking on his gym he would be forced to either take down his men or reveal clues that tie him to the Rockets. I've got plans and Lance is willing to listen and have my back when I need it."
Delia sighed but nodded. Despite her understanding she did not like it in the slightest.
"By the way, have you checked the news yet?"
He grimaced. "Not yet and quite frankly it doesn't matter at the moment. I'll check tomorrow morning since if something is happening now I'm not going to be up to deal with it. Maybe something will come up before I leave the center."
"That's fair."
Andrew grinned softly. "Thanks, Delia. I'll call you the day I get to Pewter."
She returned the smile wholeheartedly. "I know you will. Have fun, Andrew!" *click*
He stayed staring at the black screen, a smile still glimmering on his face. "That was nice. Oh yeah, I should probably let the professor know I'm here too."
Pressing the screen again, he started flicking to trainer contacts. There was a League number, a list of Pokémon researchers, and an emergency contact with Professor Oak's name. The screen hummed once before starting to ring.
This time, it rang out considerably longer, long enough for Andrew to switch his attention to scratching Eve's neck. The Pokémon rumbled happily, stretching her head up to let Andrew at it easier. Her scales were softer on her stomach and neck. But also itchier, and Andrew happily scratched her to his heart's content.
The screen hummed again before blinking on, showing the lab. And Professor Oak's hair. The bright white shock of hair bounced as Professor Oak perked up, presumably smiling into his screen.
"Hello, Andrew! What do you need?" The man was still bright and warm in his personality, bouncing around from topic to topic, even through a screen.
"To see your face for starters?" He snarked easily amused by the moment.
Oak stiffened before the screen flickered black, coming back to with Oak facing him. "Ah! Wrong camera. No matter. Why are you calling me? Did you catch a Pokémon?"
Andrew shook his head. "Not quite. I figured I'd just give you an update that I'm in Viridian now and to bounce some ideas off you."
He nodded, sitting down in a chair. "What do you need?"
"I wanted to know if there were any long range super effective attacks that Eve can learn against ground types. While I know that when she evolves into Arbok she'll learn Ice Fang but that's a bit far into the future and it's also a close-range attack. I'll be working on Aqua Tail when we get to Route 22 but it doesn't give her the ranged cover that I'd like her to have."
"Eve?"
The Pokémon perked up at her name, tilting her head to the side. She had learned not to hit the screen but she still seemed very confused.
Professor Oak nodded his head. "Ah. Give me a moment." He stared off into space, eyes flickering rapidly. He was always interesting to watch when he started to think about Pokémon - he knew everything about them, but he often had to search deep to find specific details.
"There are some other Tutor moves. From what I can see some long range super effective moves Ekans can learn are Giga Drain, or Seed Bomb. Both have their own benefits, but it all comes down to personal preference as to what you want for her."
Andrew nodded in understanding. "That sounds about right. While Seed Bomb would be beneficial to learn and focuses on her strength, Giga Drain will probably be better since it heals the user, so I'll probably go with that. Seed Bomb we can focus on another time. Probably after she learns Mud Bomb since she learns that naturally. It'd be easier with a move that is similar in technique at least."
Samuel smiled and nodded. "Well, it looks like you've got a plan. Do remember that tutor moves are rather difficult to learn especially when they are a different element from their own."
"I remember. Thanks for the help."
The professor waved it off with a smile. "It was no problem at all Andrew. Before you hang up, I actually wanted to tell you that someone wants you to meet them by the lake on Route 22 around 7 in the morning, so I suggest getting up early. Oh, looks like my food is here."
Before Andrew could get a word out the call ended leaving both the human and Pokémon confused about who would want to meet them so early in the morning for. Shrugging his shoulders, he went to their registered room with thoughts running wild.